Court Of Impeachment And War Crimes

MoveOn.org: Impeachment (If Not Now, When?)

2008-08-06T15:02:00.000-07:00

MoveOn.org: Impeachment (If Not Now, When?)

Moveon.Org Has A Lot Of Questions To Answer For Its Members If Expects To Keep Its Membership And Support!

And I am one of those members who will not ante up another dollar or make a move to support or join another street action in Washington DC until they do so.

I will not, as of this day, even post an announcement or a request from MoveOn until our questions are answered.

1) What is the organization’s official position on Impeachment?

(If not now, when?) ( are you going to continue burying the issue in confusing survey forms, the dating of which has given rise to the wide spread resurfacing of this issue as they seem to be little more than lazy Performa recycling of previous documents.) I am not prepared to pay for that form of advocacy.

2) Given the fact that the House Committee on the Judiciary has already conducted one hearing on the efforts of Mr. Kucinich and his supporters nationwide; is MoveOn prepared to join the battle and make a real difference.

An unwillingness or failure to do so would say to me that MoveOn is no longer an advocacy organization of the people but a submissive collaborator and wholly owned subsidiary of the Pelosi-Reid Democratic leadership.

3) Has MoveOn bought into the “spin lines” that it’s too late to do anything now, and that there are other things more important at the moment than the restoration of Constitutional Law in this land and Executive Accountability, (like doing anything controversial might endanger the election of Democrats in November regardless of whether they are worthy of election or reelection)?

4) Is MoveOn prepared to explore or support the exploration of the Suskind allegations?

5) Is MoveOn prepared to act on the clear fact that this administration has engaged in Torture, contrary to our own laws and in total arrogance and defiance of The Geneva Conventions?

6) Has MoveOn become a co-opted organization, co-opted by the Democratic Party leadership to the point where it will sit out any issue that the leadership deems to be uncomfortable and represent that position as the will of the membership of MoveOn as determined by survey techniques designed to provide cover for the leadership of the organization while it enjoys the fruits of the members donations?

These questions need and deserve candid “no spin” responses. In Google groups and organizations across America serious questions are being raised as to the value and integrity of MoveOn. When Members raise such questions; something is very wrong; trust has been lost.

I am not pleased to have to raise these matters in such a public forum.

But when you do not answer my email inquiries and I get a telephone run around after having to do some serious searching even to initiate some calls; I have no other choice.

The Electric Car | I Told You So!

2008-07-12T08:11:00.001-07:00

Carmakers' Plug-in Plans (The Electric Car…I Told You So)

by Peter Valdes-Dapena
Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Americas top-selling car companies have plans to bring plug-in technology mainstream. Here's what they're working on.

General Motors is sticking to its guns, insisting that the Chevrolet Volt will be ready for production by 2010. If GM can produce this vehicle on time and in significant numbers - and it works well and reliably - the Volt will stand as a milestone in automotive technology.

But if it doesn't turn out well, GM could stand accused of "killing the electric car" again.

The Volt is not a hybrid car. It will run entirely on electricity. Unlike other electric cars, though, it will not conk out if the battery runs low before stopping to charge. A small on-board gasoline engine will run as a generator to charge the batteries and keep the car moving.

The Volt is expected to go about 40 miles before that needs to happen and most drivers should be able to go most days without using a drop of gas.

Don't expect the Volt to look just like this concept version. The final car will have a more rounded front end look and a sharper-edged tail.

MORE……………… I Told You So!

http://www.thesupercars.org/lamborghini-super-cars/the-lightning-gt-super-car/

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/105353/Carmakers'-Plug-in-Plans

It’s just The Beginning; The real new electric power plant is in the works…consider these interim!

Obama McBush Lapel Flap

2008-06-16T11:45:00.000-07:00

The Really Important Campaign Issues: Today Buttons and Lapel Pins. The Hell With Death, Destruction, Deceit, Deficits, Gas Gouging Impeachable Criminality, Torture and Spying and…Oh Well You Get The Point.

But let me offer above what to my design tastes would be appropriate campaign materials for Candidate McCain McBush III.

Roll Call flags absence of American flag lapel pins in Obama's campaign store, but not their absence in McCain's store

A June 16 Roll Call article on merchandise vendors for the 2008 presidential campaigns reported that Tigereye Design, Sen. Barack Obama's "official outfitter," "is maintaining Obama's online store, which sells a $12 DVD of the candidate's speeches, $10 lapel pins -- though no American flags -- and $50 fleece jackets, perfect for those chilly Iowa winters." But Roll Call did not note that Sen. John McCain's store doesn't offer American flag lapel pins, either. McCain's campaign store does, however, sell several other lapel pins, including a "McCain" lapel pin for $150.

Media Matters for America has previously documented examples of media figures falsely claiming that Obama refuses to wear a flag pin and falsely asserting that Obama had not given a speech with an American flag backdrop prior to March.

From the Roll Call article:

“Tigereye has expanded from 30 employees to 120 since last year and will likely add more to keep up with orders. The company is maintaining Obama's online store, which sells a $12 DVD of the candidate's speeches, $10 lapel pins -- though no American flags -- and $50 fleece jackets, perfect for those chilly Iowa winters. Proceeds from the sales of merchandise on the Obama Web site are considered donations and go to the campaign's war chest. The campaign did not return calls requesting information on sales and revenue.”

As for Tigereye; they do fine work and have free of charge once produced and mailed overnight Bush Impeachment Stick Ons of my design for a DC March/Rally and as you can see they have our next Virginia Senator’s materials in production.

Call 1.800.TIGEREYE (844.3739) to place an order.

Tigereye Design - Custom Promotional Products, Promotional Items

Tigereye Design specializes in the design, production, and supply of imprinted promotional items. All items are Union and American made.
www.tigereyedesign.com/

Union Products

Featured Promotional Products

Union Buttons

FAQ

No Scabs" Button

https://www.tigereyedesign.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=OINF&Store_Code=AES (You’ll like this product line)

I'm Voting Republican and here is why!

2008-06-15T06:05:00.000-07:00

I’M Voting Republican

http://www.imvotingrepublican.com/ To Get The Embed Code for yourself

Spread the word!

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/imvotingrepublican

From Ohio Progressive: McCain's War on Women

John McCain is often painted as a moderate.

But where does he really stand on issues that affect women?

McCain's Senate record may surprise you. From equal pay to domestic violence programs, from sex education to the fundamental question of what conversations a woman may or may not have with her doctor, McCain is no moderate.

McCain's War on Equal Pay

McCain skipped a recent vote on Equal Pay, and said that instead of legislation allowing women to fight for equal pay, they simply need "education and training." (Women are currently paid less than men for the same work, even when they have the same Educationand training as men). [Source]

McCain's War on Birth Control

McCain has never cosponsored or supported legislation that would reduce the need for abortion by preventing unintended pregnancy [Source]
McCain voted against requiring insurance companies that pay for prescription drugs (like Viagra) to pay equally for women's prescription birth control [Source]
McCain voted for the domestic & global gag rules, which prohibit federally funded family-planning clinics from giving women full information about their reproductive health options [Source]

McCain's War on Women's Health

McCain voted to terminate the Title X family planning program, which provides millions of women with health care services ranging from birth control to breast & cervical cancer screenings [Source]
McCain voted to de‐fund the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), an organization that provides family planning services - not abortion - for the world's poorest women [Source]

McCain's War on Sex Education

McCain voted against funding teen pregnancy prevention programs and against ensuring that "abstinence‐only" programs are at least medically accurate [Source]
McCain voted to earmark one‐third of all HIV/AIDS prevention funds for ineffective, unproven, and dangerous "abstinence‐only" programs [Source]
McCain voted to take $75 million from the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant to establish a new "abstinence‐only" program that censors information about birth control [Source]

McCain's War on Choice

Voted anti-choice 125 out of 130 times in his congressional career [Source]
Voted in favor of anti-choice Supreme Court Justices like Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas and Chief Justices like John Roberts [Source]
McCain routinely votes to block women's access to abortion care for low-income women, voted for the Federal Abortion Ban, and opposed federal Medicaid funds for abortion even in cases of rape or incest.[Source]
McCain voted to deny abortion services to U.S. military women serving overseas, even when they wish to pay for such services with their own money [Source]
McCain's War on Domestic Violence Programs

Voted against a measure to increase funding for law enforcement programs, including the Office of Violence Against Women programs and the Center for Missing and Exploited Children [Source]
Opposed grant programs to aid children who have witnessed domestic violence [Source]

YES SIR; I'M VOTING REPUBLICAN!

The Nation Is On A Knife’s Edge…Literally.

2008-06-12T17:25:00.000-07:00

The Nation Is On A Knife’s Edge…Literally.

Now Is The Time To Bombard Judiciary Committee Members And Your Congress Criminals Relentlessly To Move Forward To Hearings! Enough Voices Of “We The People” Screaming For Impeachment Is The Only Way To Get The Traitorous Congress To Act while it is still peaceful in America.

We would be more effective with 1,000s converging on the house physically than 1,000s of emails, phone calls and fax messages…both would be better and if nothing is done by August you can save your time planning to campaign for any Democrat, because it won’t matter and it won’t do any good!

Having just returned from a private conclave in Colorado; I can assure you that action of this issue and several other fronts is not forth coming before August this country will be confronted with violent actions, the Democrats will not regain The White House and a course of downward spiraling into near revolution will begin in this nation.

Using the “alcoholic analogy” that I have resorted to before; If America cannot stand up NOW it will be driven to the bottom of the bottle, driven to get as bad as necessary for people to stop talking and get rid of every corrupt member of Congress by either defeat at the elections or forcing their resignation as the price for the restoration of order.

It is happening! Once again, as with the Vietnam Era, America is looking in the wrong direction, the media is silent and the police powers that will be called upon to deal with disaster are outnumbered and will face citizens prepared to die. It is not a matter of whether one condones civil disruption and violent resistance; it is a matter of the public and our leaders preventing it by acting to resolve the grievances provide for justice and a resumption of Congress fulfilling its oath. Failure will find blood on many hands.

It has gone this far as the pent up rage of some Americans who have lost faith in even we who are trying our best at peaceful actions is being organized skillfully into a huge potent force that will unleash a proverbial “Pandora’s Box. Traditional wisdom and advice is irrelevant to those prepared for massive confrontation this summer. I will have more to say in a future blog post in the next couple of days.

We and the Congress have very few days left to address the Constitutional Crisis that faces this nation. Hearings must come quickly, be focused and efficient and government officials who fail to yield to subpoenas must be arrested on the spot. The time for fun and games is over!

There is a force in the shadows; it is poised to emerge and over come.

Kucinich Vows to Reintroduce Impeach Articles if Dems Let Them Die in Committee

Ohio Congressman Says He'll Bring More Co-Cosponsors; Promises 'We'll Come Back with 60 Articles, Not 35'

It Is Time for us to make it impossible for The House Judiciary Committee to do anything else but to commence hearings. They do not have a piece of paper by floor motion to simply put in the file cabinet. They need to understand ,in the most strident terms, that as the article below is entitled: “The Republic Is On A Knife’s Edge”…literally!

The Republic on a Knife's Edge
By one vote, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected President George W. Bush's right to imprison people he calls "unlawful enemy combatants" indefinitely at Guantanamo Bay. But this issue of an all-powerful Executive may spill over to the November election. June 13, 2008

The Real John McCain Exposed

2008-06-11T21:16:00.000-07:00

The Real John McCain Exposed: Or What Is Wrong With John McCain?

There is more to John McCain that people need to understand other than he is an inconsistent conservative, war hawk and an old man with old ideas from a time past.

While visions of “War Heroism: swim in his mind along with “victory at any cost” in the manner of Generals who squandered life like water in the massiveness of World Wars; John McCain not only holds positions on social, economic and political issues that are clearly out of touch with reality, he has them all wrapped in a package of a foul “legendary” temper that surpasses the irrationality of Nixon.

And when it comes to women, one has to question the very core of McCain’s being as he seems to hold women in utter contempt as window dressing sex “trophy Wife” objects.

The abandonment of his first wife is not only tragic; it is a horrible commentary on the personality and real values of The Real John McCain.

The wife U.S. Republican John McCain callously left behind

By Sharon Churcher
Last updated at 1:45 AM on 08th June 2008

McCain likes to illustrate his moral fibre by referring to his five years as a prisoner-of-war in Vietnam. And to demonstrate his commitment to family values, the 71-year-old former US Navy pilot pays warm tribute to his beautiful blonde wife, Cindy, with whom he has four children.

But there is another Mrs. McCain who casts a ghostly shadow over the Senator’s presidential campaign. She is seldom seen and rarely written about, despite being mother to McCain’s three eldest children.

And yet, had events turned out differently, it would be she, rather than Cindy, who would be vying to be First Lady. She is McCain’s first wife, Carol, who was a famous beauty and a successful swimwear model when they married in 1965.

She was the woman McCain dreamed of during his long incarceration and torture in Vietnam’s infamous ‘Hanoi Hilton’ prison and the woman who faithfully stayed at home looking after the children and waiting anxiously for news.

But when McCain returned to America in 1973 to a fanfare of publicity and a handshake from Richard Nixon, he discovered his wife had been disfigured in a terrible car crash three years earlier. Her car had skidded on icy roads into a telegraph pole on Christmas Eve, 1969. Her pelvis and one arm were shattered by the impact and she suffered massive internal injuries.

When Carol was discharged from hospital after six months of life-saving surgery, the prognosis was bleak. In order to save her legs, surgeons had been forced to cut away huge sections of shattered bone, taking with it her tall, willowy figure. She was confined to a wheelchair and was forced to use a catheter.

Through sheer hard work, Carol learned to walk again. But when John McCain came home from Vietnam, she had gained a lot of weight and bore little resemblance to her old self.

Today, she stands at just 5ft4in and still walks awkwardly, with a pronounced limp. Her body is held together by screws and metal plates and, at 70, her face is worn by wrinkles that speak of decades of silent suffering.

For nearly 30 years, Carol has maintained a dignified silence about the accident, McCain and their divorce. But last week at the bungalow where she now lives at Virginia Beach, a faded seaside resort 200 miles south of Washington, she told The Mail on Sunday how McCain divorced her in 1980 and married Cindy, 18 years his junior and the heir to an Arizona brewing fortune, just one month later.

Carol insists she remains on good terms with her ex-husband, who agreed as part of their divorce settlement to pay her medical costs for life. ‘I have no bitterness,’ she says.

“My accident is well recorded. I had 23 operations, I am five inches shorter than I used to be and I was in hospital for six months. It was just awful, but it wasn’t the reason for my divorce.”

“My marriage ended because John McCain didn’t want to be 40, he wanted to be 25. You know that happens...it just does.”

Some of McCain’s acquaintances are less forgiving, however. They portray the politician as a self-centered womanizer who effectively abandoned his crippled wife to ‘play the field’. They accuse him of finally settling on Cindy, a former rodeo beauty queen, for financial reasons.

McCain was then earning little more than $25,000 a year as a naval officer, while his new father-in-law, Jim Hensley, was a multi-millionaire who had impeccable political connections.

He first met Carol in the Fifties while he was at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis. He was a privileged, but rebellious scion of one of America’s most distinguished military dynasties – his father and grandfather were both admirals.

But setting out to have a good time, the young McCain hung out with a group of young officers who called themselves the “Bad Bunch”.

His primary interest was women and his conquests ranged from a knife-wielding floozy nicknamed ‘Marie, the Flame of Florida’ to a tobacco heiress.

Carol fell into his fast-living world by accident. She escaped a poor upbringing in Philadelphia to become a successful model, married an Annapolis classmate of McCain’s and had two children – Douglas and Andrew – before renewing what one acquaintance calls ‘”an old flirtation” with McCain.

It seems clear she was bowled over by McCain’s attention at a time when he was becoming bored with his playboy lifestyle.

“He was 28 and ready to settle down and he loved Carol’s children,” recalled another Annapolis graduate, Robert Timberg, who wrote The Nightingale’s Song, a bestselling biography of McCain and four other graduates of the academy.

The couple married and McCain adopted Carol’s sons. Their daughter, Sidney, was born a year later, but domesticity was clearly beginning to bore McCain – the couple were regarded as ‘fixtures on the party circuit’ before McCain requested combat duty in Vietnam at the end of 1966.

He was assigned as a bomber pilot on an aircraft carrier in the Gulf of Tonkin.

What follows is the stuff of the McCain legend. He was shot down over Hanoi in October 1967 on his 23rd mission over North Vietnam and was badly beaten by an angry mob when he was pulled, half-drowned from a lake.

War hero: McCain with Carol as he arrives back in the US in 1973 after his five years as a POW in North Vietnam. Over the next five-and-a-half years in the notorious Hoa Loa Prison he was regularly tortured and mistreated.

It was in 1969 that Carol went to spend the Christmas holiday – her third without McCain – at her parents’ home. After dinner, she left to drop off some presents at a friend’s house.

It wasn’t until some hours later that she was discovered, alone and in terrible pain, next to the wreckage of her car. She had been hurled through the windscreen.

After her first series of life-saving operations, Carol was told she may never walk again, but when doctors said they would try to get word to McCain about her injuries, she refused, insisting: “He’s got enough problems, I don’t want to tell him.”

H. Ross Perot, a billionaire Texas businessman, future presidential candidate and advocate of prisoners of war, paid for her medical care.

When McCain – his hair turned prematurely white and his body reduced to little more than a skeleton – was released in March 1973, he told reporters he was overjoyed to see Carol again.

But friends say privately he was ‘appalled’ by the change in her appearance. At first, though, he was kind, assuring her: “I don’t look so good myself. It’s fine.”

He bought her a bungalow near the sea in Florida and another former POW helped him to build a railing so she could pull herself over the dunes to the water.

“I thought, of course, we would live happily ever after,” says Carol. But as a war hero, McCain was moving in ever-more elevated circles.

Through Ross Perot, he met Ronald Reagan, then Governor of California. A sympathetic Nancy Reagan took Carol under her wing.

But already the McCains’ marriage had begun to fray. “John started carousing and running around with women,” said Robert Timberg.

McCain has acknowledged that he had girlfriends during this time, without going into details. Some friends blame his dissatisfaction with Carol, but others give some credence to her theory of a mid-life crisis.

He was also fiercely ambitious, but it was clear he would never become an admiral like his illustrious father and grandfather and his thoughts were turning to politics.

In 1979 – while still married to Carol – he met Cindy at a cocktail party in Hawaii. Over the next six months he pursued her, flying around the country to see her. Then he began to push to end his marriage.

Carol and her children were devastated. ‘It was a complete surprise,’ says Nancy Reynolds, a former Reagan aide.

‘They never displayed any difficulties between themselves. I know the Reagans were quite shocked because they loved and respected both Carol and John.’

Another friend added: ‘Carol didn’t fight him. She felt her infirmity made her an impediment to him. She justified his actions because of all he had gone through. She used to say, “He just wants to make up for lost time.”

Indeed, to many in their circle the saddest part of the break-up was Carol’s decision to resign herself to losing a man she says she still adores.

Friends confirm she has remained friends with McCain and backed him in all his campaigns. “He was very generous to her in the divorce but of course he could afford to be, since he was marrying Cindy,” one observed.

McCain transferred the Florida beach house to Carol and gave her the right to live in their jointly-owned townhouse in the Washington suburb of Alexandria. He also agreed to pay her alimony and child support.

A former neighbor says she subsequently sold up in Florida and Washington and moved in 2003 to Virginia Beach. He said: “My impression was that she found the new place easier to manage as she still has some difficulties walking.”

Meanwhile McCain moved to Arizona with his new bride immediately after their 1980 marriage. There, his new father-in-law gave him a job and introduced him to local businessmen and political power brokers who would smooth his passage to Washington via the House of Representatives and Senate.

And yet despite his popularity as a politician, there are those who won’t forget his treatment of his first wife.

Ted Sampley, who fought with US Special Forces in Vietnam and is now a leading campaigner for veterans’ rights, said: ‘I have been following John McCain’s career for nearly 20 years. I know him personally.

There is something wrong with this guy and let me tell you what it is – deceit.

“When he came home and saw that Carol was not the beauty he left behind, he started running around on her almost right away. Everybody around him knew it.”

“Eventually he met Cindy and she was young and beautiful and very wealthy. At that point McCain just dumped Carol for something he thought was better.

This is a guy who makes such a big deal about his character.

He has no character.

He is a fake.

If there was any character in that first marriage, it all belonged to Carol.”

One old friend of the McCains said: “Carol always insists she is not bitter, but I think that’s a defense mechanism. She also feels deeply in his debt because in return for her agreement to a divorce, he promised to pay for her medical care for the rest of her life.”

Carol remained resolutely loyal as McCain’s political star rose. She says she agreed to talk to The Mail on Sunday only because she wanted to publicize her support for the man who abandoned her.

Indeed, the old Mercedes that she uses to run errands displays both a disabled badge and a sticker encouraging people to vote for her ex-husband. “He’s a good guy,’ she assured us. We are still good friends. He is the best man for president.”

But Ross Perot, who paid her medical bills all those years ago, now believes that both Carol McCain and the American people have been taken in by a man who is unusually slick and cruel – even by the standards of modern politics.

‘McCain is the classic opportunist. He’s always reaching for attention and glory,’ he said.

After he came home, Carol walked with a limp. So he threw her over for a poster girl with big money from Arizona. And the rest is history.”

McCain had already met and romanced, while still married to Shepp, the woman who would be his second wife — Cindy Lou Hensley, seventeen years his junior, the only child of a wealthy Anheuser-Busch distributor from Phoenix.

Cindy’s father, Jim Hensley, had been a World War II pilot, shot down over the English Channel. In 1955 he formed his company, Hensley & Co., now the country’s sixth-largest beer distributorship.

Cindy had gone from cheerleader to rodeo queen to graduate student at University of South Carolina by the time she met McCain in 1979. A year later, McCain and his first wife were granted a divorce; six weeks later, McCain married Cindy.

Why McCain didn't reup with first wife

Ted Sampley, who fought with the Army's Special Forces in Vietnam and knows McCain, said: "When he came home and saw that Carol was not the beauty he left behind, he started running around on her. ... Eventually, he met Cindy, and she was young and beautiful and very wealthy."

McCain's campaign had no comment on those allegations. But it's apparent he has the support of Carol, who no doubt is indebted to him. In return for giving him a divorce, McCain agreed to pay for his ex-wife's medical care for the rest of her life, according to the Mail.

Cindy McCain Stands Tall as Husband Rejects Infidelity Rumors

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Cindy McCain did not hesitate as she stepped toward the microphone, taking her place in the history of political wives who stood by their men in the face of rumored or alleged marital infidelity.

“Well, obviously, I’m disappointed,” she said, her voice low but clear and self-assured. “More importantly, my children and I not only trust my husband, but know that he would never do anything to not only disappoint our family, but disappoint the people of America. He’s a man of great character.”

“The allegation of infidelity is still a powerful allegation, and it remains powerful because it’s about trust and responsibility, the idea that if you’re cheating on your spouse, what can we expect of you in the presidency,” he said.

Well, The New York Times's article on John McCain's relationship with Vicky Iseman sure did make Mark Salter mad. It's often unclear at times, however, what exactly Salter is trying to say. The Times story is a bit odd and innuendo-y, hinting at a sexual relationship between McCain and Iseman but they clearly don't have the goods. Salter says McCain spoke to New York Times editor Bill Keller and "denied any personal 'romantic' involvement with Iseman, and said that he did not 'betray the public trust.'"

Obviously, I don't know whether or not McCain had sex with Iseman. I suppose by "what the meaning of the word 'is' is" standards, he didn't even deny having had sex with Iseman. Certainly it'd be a bit rich of McCain to get outraged that anyone would even suggest that he might engage in sexual improprieties.

After all, it's well known that he repeatedly cheated on his first wife Carol, of a number of years, with a variety of women, before eventually dumping her for a much-younger heiress whose family fortune was able to help finance his political career.

That's well known, I should say, except to the electorate, who would probably find that this sort of behavior detracts from McCain's "character" appeal.

Meanwhile, there's all this stuff Salter doesn't deny (because, again, it's true) about McCain's questionable ethics. He wrote "letters to government regulators on behalf of the [Iseman's] client," he "often flew on the corporate jets of business executives seeking his support," he resigned as head of a non-profit when "news reports disclosed that the group was tapping the same kinds of unlimited corporate contributions he opposed, including those from companies seeking his favor," his Senate office and his campaign are run by corporate lobbyists, etc.

Meanwhile, there's a storm of speculation surrounding the Iseman story, which continues to be a weird lead for the piece, and we'll have to see what else comes out.

Let’s Just Take A Look At That Temper and His Devotion To His Beautiful Dutiful Meal Ticket Wife! http://rawstory.com/news/2008/McCain_temper_boiled_over_in_92_0407.html

John McCain's temper is well documented. He's called opponents and colleagues "shitheads," "assholes" and in at least one case "a fucking jerk."

But a new book on the presumptive Republican nominee will air perhaps the most shocking angry exchange to date.

The Real McCain by Cliff Schecter, which will arrive in bookstores next month, reports an angry exchange between McCain and his wife that happened in full view of aides and reporters during a 1992 campaign stop. An advance copy of the book was obtained by RAW STORY.

Three reporters from Arizona, on the condition of anonymity, also let me in on another incident involving McCain's intemperateness.

In his 1992 Senate bid, McCain was joined on the campaign trail by his wife, Cindy, as well as campaign aide Doug Cole and consultant Wes Gullett.

At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain's hair and said, "You're getting a little thin up there." McCain's face reddened, and he responded, "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt."

McCain's excuse was that it had been a long day. If elected president of the United States, McCain would have many long days.

The man who was known as "McNasty" in high school has erupted in foul-languaged tirades at political foes and congressional colleagues more-or-less throughout his career, and his quickness to anger has been an issue on the presidential campaign trail as evidence of his fury has surfaced.

As Schecter notes, McCain's rage is not limited to the political spectrum, and even his family cannot be spared the brute force of his anger.

Schecter, who also blogs at The Agonist, said in an interview the anecdote is "an early example of his uncontrollable temper." In the book he outlines several other examples of McCain losing his cool and raises the question of how that would affect a McCain presidency.

What should voters make of this pattern? In February 2008 Tim Russert succinctly described McCain on MSNBC's Morning Joe. A devilish grin spread from ear to ear as Russert, no McCain hater, leaned forward and spoke in a whisper, "He likes to fight." Russert got it right. But the big question isn't whether McCain likes to fight: it's who, when, and how.

The exchange between McCain and his wife was not reported anywhere when it happened, Schecter said (a LexisNexis database search confirms this).

In 1992, McCain's mention in the national media revolved mostly around his involvement in the Keating Five scandal, and only local reporters closely followed his re-election bid.

McCain is well known for his rapport with the national media covering his presidential bid (he's jokingly referred to the press as "my base"), but Schecter said this incident was buried not out of fealty to the Arizona senator. Rather, it was uneasiness about how to get such a coarse exchange into a family newspaper, and he didn't fault the local press for not covering the incident.

"Members of the media are squeamish covering stuff like this so they let it go," Schecter told RAW STORY in an interview Monday. "Back in '92, when people use naughty words, [reporters] don't know as much what to do with it."

Much has changed since then. President Bush's reference to a New York Times reporter as a "major league asshole" was reported in at least 47 newspapers during the 2000 campaign, when the off-color remark was overheard, according to a database search. And more than a dozen newspapers have reported Dick Cheney's recommendation that Sen. Patrick Leahy "fuck yourself."

McCain and his aides have brushed off suggestions that his temper could impede his ability to perform the sometimes-delicate tasks asked of a president. The candidate was asked about his legendary temper last week on "Fox News Sunday," where he cited his ability to work "across the aisle" while in the Senate.

"You can't scare people or intimidate them if you're going to reach agreement with your colleagues and your contemporaries And I've worked hard at that, and that's what the American people want," McCain said. " The second thing is if I lose my capacity for anger, then I shouldn't be president of the United States. ... When I see the waste and corruption in Washington, I get angry."

McCain's campaign did not return a call from RAW STORY seeking comment Monday morning.

Schecter says McCain's anger is much more than a passion for the issues. One can only imagine what would happen if McCain were to try to squeeze that temper into the tight confines of diplomacy.

"The public certainly has to know what this guy might do as president," Schecter says. Examples like the ones in his book "should worry people, quite frankly."

From The Brave New Films Organization

John McCain's record on reproductive rights couldn't be more appalling. There, we said it! We said it because the corporate media won't confront McCain on the real issues in this election. They won't tell you, for instance, that McCain has consistently received a big fat zero from NARAL on its pro-choice scorecard. Nor will they tell you that McCain has flip-flopped on Roe v. Wade and now supports overturning this all-too-crucial case.

Because the corporate media has failed to do its job, we have to work extra hard to do ours. And so we've created McCain's Clinic, a sneak peek at what a women's health clinic could look like if McCain were elected. Yes, we're presenting McCain's reproductive rights record through comedy, but our hope is that it will help get our point across effectively.

For more information on this issue, watch the video

We must spread awareness about McCain's record now, especially considering a recent Planned Parenthood poll found that half of female voters in 16 battleground states don't know enough about McCain's views on reproductive health. What's more, one in four pro-choice McCain supporters would be less likely to vote for McCain after knowing he opposes Roe v. Wade and backs abstinence-only education.

Here's what you can do: send this video to everyone you know and digg it! By taking these steps, you can help educate female voters in battleground states about McCain's anti-choice record. And don't forget to donate to Brave New PAC so we can continue our campaign to bring you the REAL McCain.

We're talking about a man who has voted anti-choice 123 out of 128 times. A man who wouldn't require prescription coverage for birth control. A man who voted against allocating $100 million to preventative health services that would have reduced unintended and teen pregnancies. A man who could irreparably damage women's rights in our country unless we get the word out about him now.

But it wasn't until 2000 that McCain, possibly emboldened by Clinton's survival of his scandals, became the first confessed adulterer to have the nerve to run. Now, just a few years after infidelity was considered a deal breaker for a presidential candidate, the party that presents itself as the arbiter of virtue may field an unprecedented two-timing trifecta.

McCain was still married and living with his wife in 1979 while, according to The New York Times' Nicholas Kristof, "aggressively courting a 25-year-old woman who was as beautiful as she was rich." McCain divorced his wife, who had raised their three children while he was imprisoned in Vietnam, then launched his political career with his new wife's family money.

In 2000, McCain managed to deflect media questioning about his first marriage with a deft admission of responsibility for its failure. It's possible that the age of the offense and McCain's charmed relationship with the press will pull him through again, but Giuliani and Gingrich may face a more difficult challenge. Both conducted well-documented affairs in the last decade--while still in public office.

John McCain's Record on the Issues

A vote for John McCain is a vote against women's issues.

During his long Senate career, John McCain has racked up a poor record when it comes to supporting issues important to women. Learn the facts so you can make an informed voting decision.

For the past 25 years, John McCain has consistently voted against women's health. From opposing funding for family planning programs to voting against requiring insurance coverage of birth control, McCain has taken extreme positions. He has voted against women's health and has not supported legislation that would help reduce the rate of unintended pregnancies and the need for abortion. This has earned him a zero rating - the lowest rating we give in the U.S. Senate. (Source: Planned Parenthood)

A poll conducted by Planned Parenthood in 16 likely battleground states uncovered the following:

Despite his extreme voting record, 51 percent of women voters in battleground states have no idea what John McCain's positions are on women's reproductive health issues.

Forty-nine percent of women currently backing McCain express pro-choice views, and 46 percent of women supporting McCain over Obama/Clinton want to see Roe v. Wade upheld – yet McCain supports overturning the legislation.

Help spread the word that John McCain is not a candidate women can count on to advocate issues important to us. His record speaks for itself.

In addition to his terrible record on women’s issues, McCain also has a troubling record on general issues of interest. Following is a summary, for details about his complete legislative record in the U.S. Senate, search online at the Library of Congress.

DEFENSE & HOMELAND SECURITY

GUN CONTROL

TAX PLAN vs. OBAMA

On The Issues.org ontheissues.org / http://www.ontheissues.org/default.htm

Crooks and Liars " McCain and women's issues: It's more than just Roe

A McCain presidency would be very, very bad for women even if not a single ... the kind of impact McCain policies can and would have on women's lives every day. ...

Why Do Women Give McCain a Zero?

Click here to forward this video to all the women you know

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/02/john_mccain_and_the_iraq_war.html

The foremost reason given by supporters of John McCain for why he should be president is that McCain is best qualified to lead the country during this "time of war." Indeed, fighting and winning the Iraq War is the raison d'etre of McCain's presidential campaign. It was the main theme of his campaign announcement speech in April 2007, and it was his most compelling talking point during the Republican presidential debates. Exit polls consistently showed that McCain was the overwhelming favorite among Republican primary voters whose top concern was Iraq.

The question is whether McCain's steadfast support for a war that is deeply unpopular with the American people can propel him into the White House this November?

After five years of fighting, approximately $500 billion in expenditures, and nearly 4,000 dead and 30,000 wounded, McCain advocates an even larger military, economic, and political commitment to Iraq. In sharp contrast with President Bush, who received the loudest bipartisan applause during last month's State of the Union Address when he declared that, due to the success of "the surge," he was planning to bring troops home from Iraq, McCain promises to increase troop levels. See here. And McCain adamantly opposes any timetable for withdrawal. At a town hall meeting in New Hampshire on January 3, 2008, McCain went so far as to declare that it would be "fine with me" if American troops remained in Iraq for "maybe a hundred years."

Unfortunately for McCain, a large majority of the American people -- including significant numbers of Republicans -- strongly disagree with his positions on the war.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll from February 1-3, 2008, reported that 64% of adults nationwide oppose the war in Iraq, while only 34% favor the war -- despite the fact that 52% agree that the U.S. military "is making progress in improving conditions in Iraq and bringing an end to the violence in that country."

A Rasmussen Reports poll from January 29, 2008, reported that 59% of Americans want U.S. troops to be brought home from Iraq immediately or within one year, while only 35% want U.S. troops to remain in Iraq "until the mission is complete." According to this poll, not only do 80% of Democrats favor withdrawal within a year, so do 38% of Republicans.

Similarly, a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll from January 18-22, 2008, reported that 63% of registered voters think the United States should withdraw its troops from Iraq right away or within the next year, including 90% of Democrats, 66% of independents, and 32% of Republicans.

It is clear that even with the undeniable success of the surge in reducing sectarian and terrorist violence in Iraq, most Americans -- including large numbers of Republicans -- prefer to end the war (which, at this point, would be better described as a police action or peacekeeping mission) and bring our troops home. Yet, unless McCain changes his publicly stated position on Iraq, a vote for McCain is a vote to continue and even expand the war. Given that the Iraq War is (currently) the second most important issue on the minds of voters, after the economy, this does not bode well for McCain this November.

In my opinion, to improve his chances of winning the general election, McCain should re-think his approach to the Iraq War and reject the Bush Administration's current project of trying to turn Iraq into the leading edge of a movement for "freedom" and "democracy" in the Middle East.

Let us remember why we invaded Iraq in the first place: Because in the aftermath of 9/11, President Bush recognized -- properly so -- that the preeminent national security threat of our time is the risk that Islamic terrorists, who are dedicated to the destruction of the United States and its way of life, will acquire weapons of mass destruction from "rogue" regimes, and use these weapons against us. As President Bush explained at West Point in June 2002, thereal danger "lies in the perilous crossroads of radicalism and technology," specifically, "chemical and biological and nuclear weapons." With such weapons, "even weak states and small groups could attain a catastrophic power to strike great nations." It was the risk posed by the spread of weapons of mass destruction to terrorist groups that provided the principal justification for the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 (whether or not, in hindsight, U.S. and European intelligence regarding Saddam Hussein's WMD program was flawed).

Based on our original national security objectives, the Iraq War was "won" more than four years ago, on December 13, 2003. This was the day that U.S. troops captured Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, famously pulling him from of a "spider hole" near his hometown of Tikrit. By that point in time, the Iraqi military had been routed, Saddam's regime had been deposed, and -- most importantly -- Saddam's ability to develop weapons of mass destruction and to support Islamic terrorism had been eliminated. These objectives were achieved in spectacular fashion in only nine months.

As I previously argued, up to that point in time, the Iraq War remained broadly popular among the American people. In the post-9/11 environment, most Americans recognize that protecting our national security requires taking a more "muscular" approach to confronting and deterring Islamic terrorists and their state sponsors. But Americans, by a wide margin, do not support President Bush's more grandiose vision for "transforming" the Middle East. While the surge has succeeded in reducing the number of U.S. and Iraqi deaths in Iraq -- and in removing the war from newspaper and TV news headlines (for now) -- it has not produced any increase in support for the war among the American people.

While only a minority of Americans want the U.S. to pull out of Iraq "immediately," most Americans are eager for a reasonable plan to end our occupation of Iraq in the foreseeable future. This means in the next year or two, not a decade or more from now. The prospect, which John McCain currently endorses, that significant numbers of U.S. troops will remain in Iraq for years to come, is simply unacceptable to most Americans -- including, I reiterate, large numbers of Republicans, without whose support McCain cannot win in November.

I do not disagree that, compared to Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, John McCain is the best candidate to lead this nation during these times of increasing international conflict, which includes not only the threat of a nuclear Iran, but also unrest in already-nuclear Pakistan, China's rise as a global superpower, and the re-emergence of a hostile Russia. Both Clinton and Obama are woefully unprepared to serve as Commander-in-Chief. I suspect that most Americans would agree with this assessment.

But the Iraq War is so unpopular that it may end up electing the Democrats' candidate this November, despite McCain's inherent foreign policy advantage. To avoid this result, McCain must offer the American people a new strategy for Iraq, something between the Bush Administration's unpopular democratization strategy, with its open-ended commitment to staying in Iraq, and the "cut-and-run" alternative offered by the Democrats.

I predict that if John McCain were to come out with an "Iraqi Peace Plan" that proposed significant reductions in U.S. troops by the end of his first term, he would neutralize the Democrats' ability to use the war as a rallying cry, and all-but-guarantee himself election as the next president of the United States.

Things have changed and I wouldn’t go that far. John cannot help himself but to attempt to resurrect the war as a campaign issue, dragging it kicking and screaming over the economic depression that is setting in. It is all is he comfortable with. This is his one dimension, his one issue, save that he is more experienced. That didn’t work for Hillary and it’s not going to work for the old man war monger.

What’s Wrong With John McCain (Some it seems rather familiar)

http://www.democrats.org/a/2007/04/whats_wrong_wit.php

Above Top Secret.com (Loaded) http://www.abovetopsecret.com/tags/john+mccain.html

The Real John McCain http://therealmccain.com/

No matter how you slice it John McBush or a Bush Third Term it’s all the same or worse! And by the way, Yes John McCain may have more experience at some things than Barack Obama, but I’m not sure they are either good experiences or that they qualify him for the Presidency…Quite the contrary.

End Post…

Contact Every Member Of The Judiciary Committee!

2008-06-09T20:05:00.001-07:00

Impeachment Is Within Our Reach. Dennis Has Rolled The Table Tonight.

With The Kucinich Actions Of This Day And With The Unraveling Of The Bush Administration And The Initiation Of Several Hearings And Subpoena Fights Being Conducted By The House Judiciary Committee It Is Time To Flood The Switch Boards, Fill The Email Boxes, heat up the fax machines of the House judiciary committee members and then every other member of the house to move on the Impeachment of George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney, delivering the message that those who do fulfill their duty and their oath will receive our support and those who do not will earn our opposition in their reelection campaigns, (all Democrats and Republicans alike).

All the tools needed for contact are found in the links below:

CALL THE HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: (202) 225-3951

REACH THE PRESS

THE HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

IT’S THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE STUPID!

http://www.zimbio.com/Congresswoman+Debbie+Wasserman+Schultz/articles/2/Judiciary+Committee+Stupid+Program+Leave+No

(commercial software for sending faxes from your computer, no fax machine required)

Judiciary Committee website/emails

http://courtofimpeachmentandwarcrimes.blogspot.com/2007/11/its-judiciary-committee-stupid.html

CALL THE HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: (202) 225-3951

REACH THE PRESS
http://capwiz.com/aauw/dbq/media

THE HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
http://judiciary.house.gov/CommitteeMembership.aspx

IT’S THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE STUPID!
http://courtofimpeachmentandwarcrimes.blogspot.com/2007/11/its-judiciary-committee-stupid.html

THE LETTERS

“Open Letter To Nancy Pelosi”
http://courtofimpeachmentandwarcrimes.blogspot.com/2007/11/open-letter-to-speaker-pelosi.html

“Open Letter To John Conyers”
http://courtofimpeachmentandwarcrimes.blogspot.com/2007/11/open-letter-to-john-conyers.html

“Open Letter To Steny Hoyer”
http://courtofimpeachmentandwarcrimes.blogspot.com/2007/11/open-letter-to-congressman-hoyer-basis.html

“Open Letter To Judiciary Committee Members”
http://courtofimpeachmentandwarcrimes.blogspot.com/2007/11/dear-congressmen.html

Encourage them also to provide all time necessary to question and hear Scott McClellan and John Yoo.

Dennis Kucinich Makes History Again - Impeach Bush!

Joseph A. Palermo

Representative Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, just finished reading on the House floor a 35-count impeachment resolution against President George W. Bush. Kucinich's lengthy and detailed indictment of this wayward president is the most thorough and powerful case made to date. He outlined a litany of high crimes and misdemeanors and showed without a shadow of a doubt that George W. Bush deserves to be impeached and removed from office. Kucinich made clear that Bush has violated his oath of office and his Constitutional duty that the laws be "faithfully executed."

Kucinich's impeachment resolution comes after the shocking revelations contained in the 107-page Senate Intelligence Committee's report that confirmed, once and for all, (and with the vote of two Republican Senators), that President Bush lied the American people into war. There can be no more dire and serious offense than a president lying to his fellow Americans on issues of war and peace. Bush should be impeached forthwith. The House Judiciary Committee should vote on the Kucinich resolution and split it up into Articles of Impeachment. All the committee needs is one Article to impeach Bush, Kucinich has provided dozens of potential Articles.

I've agreed all along with the Center for Constitutional Rights and other groups on the need to impeach Bush. It is not a "political" issue; it is a Constitutional issue. He must be impeached and removed from office even if the proceedings don't start until January. The Democrats chickened out on impeachment when they took the Congress in January 2007. That was the most disillusioning decision of the 110th Congress -- taking impeachment "off the table." It was also giving the Congress's consent to Bush's behavior.

People will scream about how impeachment might backfire on the election of 2008. But that was never the issue. The president is guilty of grave crimes against the republic and should be held accountable. He does not have to be found guilty in a court of law; impeachment has a different standard. Bush has committed crimes against the nation. There are 4,100 dead Americans and 500,000 to 1 million dead Iraqis as a result of his lies and deceit. The Scott McClellan book just drives home everything the Intelligence Committee uncovered. It is time for the truth! If Bush can keep the prospect of attacking Iran "on the table," then the Congress should keep impeachment on the table too.

Thank you Dennis Kucinich.

You once again demonstrated that you are the most courageous and principled member of Congress.

WASHINGTON,

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/06/09/Kucinich_introduces_impeachment_resolution/UPI-19361213067270/

June 9 (UPI) -- Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, introduced 35 articles of impeachment against President George W. Bush in the U.S. House of Representatives Monday night.

Kucinich read into the Congressional Record a litany of alleged illegal and improper acts on the part of the president, The Politico reported.

Kucinich has previously introduced articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney. That resolution has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee, which has taken no action on it, Politico said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and other leading House Democrats have said Congress will not pursue impeachment of Bush. During the 2006 election campaign, Pelosi told CBS' "60 Minutes" impeachment was "off the table."

Kucinich and others in Congress -- including Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla. -- have pressed for impeachment of Bush and Cheney, accusing the administration of multiple offenses, including lying to Congress and the public about its reasons for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

The Kucinich Articles

http://chun.afterdowningstreet.org/amomentoftruth.pdf

Republicans for Impeaching Bush and Cheney : not an option, a duty http://republicansforimpeachment.com/

Approximately 7:50 EST tonight Rep. Dennis Kucinich was reading 35 articles of impeachment Nov. 6, 2007, articles of impeachment against Cheney, C-Span did what C-span never does: it did not re-run it. That was how they buried it, nothing in the newspaper the next day, so it never happened. This time we call C-span to demand they re-run this to death like they do everything not nearly as interesting. C-Span contact page. against George Bush. The last time he did this on

C-span is a private corporation, so it pretty much does what it wants, but since the airwaves are, you know, public property and all, what the public can do is revoke their broadcast license. As treasonous collaborators with the Bush-Cheney Neo-Con cabal.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/09/mcclellan-to-testify-befo_n_106128.html

Black Water Is Back In The News!

2008-06-09T19:23:00.000-07:00

Black Water Is Back In The News!

I've got some bad news.

My friends at the Courage Campaign asked me to convey it to you personally by email, given this community's activism against Blackwater over the last year.

Last Thursday, after a federal judge cleared the way, Blackwater opened a large training facility in San Diego, just three blocks from the border that separates California and Mexico.

As you may know, I wrote a book ("Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army") chronicling how this dangerous private security corporation leveraged over $1 billion in taxpayer dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan to build an elite Praetorian Guard for the "global war on terror." Now, Blackwater is setting its sights on the so-called "war on drugs" and recently opened its own private CIA, called "Total Intelligence Solutions," marketing "CIA-type services" to Fortune 500 companies.

Blackwater is aggressively building up a parallel infrastructure to the U.S. national security apparatus as its owner, Erik Prince, promotes Blackwater as the "Federal Express" of the military industrial complex.

And now Blackwater has set up shop in California a stone's throw from the Tijuana International Airport. But this battle with Blackwater is not over. Grassroots activists in San Diego, led by relentless local groups like Citizens' Oversight Projects, Activist San Diego, and the Peace Resource Center of San Diego, are ramping up their campaign to shut down Blackwater's base of operations on the border.

This Wednesday, June 11, from 3-5 p.m., these local groups are organizing a major protest outside the Blackwater facility at 7685 Siempre Viva Road in Otay Mesa. I will be there and I hope you will as well, even if you do not live in the San Diego area. After all, Blackwater's beachhead on the border threatens everyone's security in California.

The Courage Campaign has also invited me to join you on a special statewide conference call this at 4 p.m. this Thursday, June 12. On this "Courage Campaign Conversation", you can talk with me directly about the San Diego situation, Blackwater's ominous contract renewal in Iraq, and how the outsourcing of our security to these mercenaries threatens our democracy. Please reserve a phone line now by RSVP'ing at:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/JeremyScahill

Chris Hedges, the former Middle East Bureau Chief for the New York Times, brilliantly captures the threat that Blackwater represents to us in this excerpt from his review of my book:

"These hired guns... appeared on the streets of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. They operate, at home and abroad, beyond the bounds of legal constraints and are controlled by secretive puppet masters, such as Erik Prince, who have close ties to the radical Christian right.

Should our nation enter a period of instability following another terrorist attack on American soil, an economic collapse, or a series of environmental disasters, the tyranny that groups such as Blackwater impose on others could become the tyranny they impose on us. The rise of this unchecked mercenary force... could presage the final stage in the collapse of American democracy."

Those are harrowing words, I know. But this is not hyperbole -- it's reality. And that's why we need to spread the word that Blackwater has just opened a base of operations inside California. If we don't act soon to push these mercenaries out of California, the nightmare scenarios described above could be realized right before our eyes.

I'll be talking more about what it will take to stop Blackwater on Thursday's "Courage Campaign Conversation" as well as during my book tour across California this week. By clicking here, you can RSVP for Thursday's 4 p.m. conference call now, submit your questions, and review a list of my appearances in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Berkeley:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/JeremyScahill

If you know any friends who would like to join us at 4 p.m. on Thursday's call -- or at any of this week's events in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Berkeley -- please forward this message to them. Space is limited on Thursday's Courage Campaign Conversation, so please hurry to RSVP before lines fill up.

Thank you for taking time to read this message and send it to your friends. I'm looking forward to talking with you on Thursday.

Jeremy Scahill

P.S. If you are interested in reading more about Blackwater, and would like to buy my book, please consider making it a two-for-one action by making a donation to my good friends at the Courage Campaign.

If you contribute at least $50 to the Courage Campaign, I'll sign a copy of "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army" and Courage will send it to you as soon as possible:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/JeremyScahill

This Is The Nature Of Things...A Large Map!

2008-06-09T17:36:00.000-07:00

The Democratic Party Is Far From Having A Lock On The 2008 Elections.

Click On The Map For Full Viewing!

http://courtofimpeachmentandwarcrimes.blogspot.com/2008/06/democratic-party-is-far-from-having.html

The Streets Of Denver Could Trash Every Hope As Problems Left Unresolved By The Party May Well Finally Prove To Be The Undoing Of Our Party. The Voice Of Rage Voters And More Radically Inclined Activists Is At Hand! Will All The Democratic Party Dreams Go Up In Smoke In The Summer Heat In The Streets Of Denver And Minneapolis? Will They End In Blood Steel And Fire In Summer Convention Protest Turned Riots?

http://courtofimpeachmentandwarcrimes.blogspot.com/2008/06/graphic-political-commentary.html

The Democratic Party Is Far From Having A Lock On The 2008 Elections.

2008-06-09T12:37:00.000-07:00

The Democratic Party Is Far From Having A Lock On The 2008 Elections.

Current Related Graphic Political Commentary: (1) Political Piranha, (2) Ed’s McCain Button, (3) McCain Rambo Bomb Iran, (4) Save Us From K Street, (5) Voters Are Not Dumb, (6) Bush Guilty, (7) We’ll Swear, (8) Obama Veep, (9) Denver/Minneapolis {#s} : 1,2,3,4 and 5.

One danger in Denver may have been eliminated by Hillary Clinton’s Campaign Closure but as long as she has not released her delegates, (the stated reason being the legal ability to continue fund raising to pay down her debt), the potential for a problem still exists and will remain in the fore front of the minds of those prepared to protest in Denver.

The issue of Barack Obama’s nomination integrity seems well in hand, but issue concerning the integrity of the Party, Racism, Iraq and Iran , Justice and Impeachment, and the legion long list of War Crimes and Constitutional defiance by this administration still stand and answers will be called for in the streets of Denver and Minneapolis.

The situation remains dangerous. My next post with be from Denver with an update from the inside…but for now…currently estimating that 100,000 demonstrators will fill the streets of Denver.

Those protesters will come responding in anger to the Democratic Party’s obvious belief that “if you do nothing; there will be no consequences”, or least that has been the party line from the day that Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared Impeachment “Off The Table” and laid waste to her position in history. There are consequences for inaction as surely as there are for ignoring a melanoma spreading on one’s arm in the belief that it will simple go away on its own.

There are two components to the dilemma facing the party as it begins the journey towards Denver: (1) That harpy line that we can’t do anything that “might” generate sufficient controversy to endanger the election of Democrats and the recapture of The White House in November 2008, and (2) that which they do not wish to even whisper, let alone acknowledge, the fact that a vast majority of the Congress are as guilty of a collaboration with the administration in both unconstitutional and criminal enterprises as flagrant as Nazi collaborators in World War II, either by design or by incompetence…and they know it, and we know it and we will carry that knowledge to Denver seeking redress.

They know full well that their guilt is so egregious that the only way that they can avoid the clear focus, exposure and definition in the media in editorial tabloid sensationalism is to move obliquely ahead ignoring every mention and diverting the attention of the electorate in whatever direction is necessary to affect deflection. They need not fear for that media is a tainted as the administration and the congress.

As the Bush Administration has begun to unravel as of late, as Gasoline prices soar over the record $4.00 mark headed for Fourth Of July pyrotechnic explosion at $5.00, as consumer choices now food, gasoline, medications and just paying the mortgage and monthly bill, all imperiled, and the electorate’s feeling of impotent hopelessness is giving way to rage and some very ugly thoughts and words…finally.

There are more people worried about their personal economic survival than there are those enthralled by the success of Barack Obama. That is not good!

As you read further and consider the sources and personalities of the restless radical protestors determined to have their say and make their points one way or another, just tuck this thought in the back of your mind; what would happen if in the midst of the potentially explosive mix in the streets the labor unions of America, principally the Teamster Truckers would say: ”We have had enough, and the big rigs descended on Denver with a vengeance”.

The veil of oil pricing is being lifted and explained in terms that even the layman can grasp and now understand that he is being bled dry by design, raped by speculators who don’t give a damn about anyone but themselves or this nation’s welfare and the Congress is impotent, incompetent and to politically timid to lift even its little finger.

Iraq may once again become a campaign issue because that is all War Hawk McCain knows, but it has languished because it was not personal to a sufficient population of America. The economic crunch facing America is local; it is personal and for all but the elite rich it is becoming increasingly intolerable by the day. It is the stuff of which social and political explosives are fashioned…and it being carried to Denver and Minneapolis!

The out front lead in Denver protest/resistance organization is Re-Create “68”. There have been break- aways and there have been new organizations join the fold either under the umbrella or in confederated alliance mode.

http://www.recreate68.org/

http://www.recreate68.org/album1_dnc_015.htm

World Can’t Wait What if people came forward and put out a political pole in opposition to the Democratic convention in August? What if THIS was the new terms of things? The Democratic nominee in 2008 will not speak for us. We have to challenge their accommodation to the Bush program.

World Can’t Wait is endorsing the ReCreate 68 coalition, and forming our own working group for Denver.

http://www.ruckus.org/

http://dncdisruption08.org/

http://dncdisruption08.org/?p=74

http://www.unconventionalaction.org/

It is not a matter of no one being aware of a build up of protest elements in Denver, Minneapolis and across the country; it’s more a function of people not paying attention, more of the “it can’t happen ostrich syndrome: and simple damn dumb denial. It really doesn’t matter that within the protest elements and organizations that there has been a sifting out of those dedicated to non-violence from those either inclined to confrontation or violence, or at least suspected of that inclination, because when is all said and done, it’s a matter of over 100,000 people in the streets with a multiplicity of concerns, grievances and advocacies in the rarified Denver atmosphere, the heat of August and pent up frustrations of trying to gain access to exercise free speech, and whatever it is that folks have in mind.

There are elements of the far left and far right that will be close contact, police powers dealing with a situation that they have no experience with. All it takes is one mistake one flash and you have hell to pay. No reason or rationale for calm and preserving the victory that Democrats thirst for matters; some of these folks just don’t care; some of them want a revolutionary change within our party, and some are willing to allow, or even cause things to get worse in the hope that the inevitable reaction will usher in the paradigm shift in American politics that will truly right the ship of state.

There are too many accumulated issues, political, social, economic, philosophic, world-versioned and local all in the stew pot. That can make for a bad brew. I have said so often that such confrontations are the result of multiple movements and ferment coming together. We are there. Chicago “68” was labeled a police riot. It is so easy to drag that label and vitriol back out. Any act of resistance and arrest can suddenly became “police brutality” in the streets and the mob move into action!

Anarchists Stalk Democratic Convention Published: January 24, 2008

Unconventional Action hopes to see the largest gathering of anarchists in American history in Denver in August. The group that may be the most prepared for the 2008 Democratic National Convention is also the least likely to be prepared. It doesn't represent labor unions or mainstream progressives, but anarchists. A loose coalition of anti-authoritarian factions from across the nation have formed an outfit called Unconventional Action, with the express goal of disrupting and shutting down the DNC and RNC. Activists say that anarchists in this country have never planned such a large-scale action so far in advance of a specific event, and certainly not with such openness and strategy.

The stylized website www.unconventionalaction.org includes mission statements, how-to guides and downloadable posters, maps and zines. "Only direct action will stop the war," reads one flier. "Start organizing to smash the conventions," says another. Resources includes a printable map of downtown Denver, with the Pepsi Center and hotels where delegates will be staying clearly marked, as well as such other potential targets as the offices of Halliburton, Northrop Grumman and Newmont Mining. In Minneapolis/St. Paul, where the RNC will be held, anarchists operating as the RNC Welcoming Committee are compiling maps, photographs of the city and timetables of political events where they may stage such disturbances as blockades, infiltrations and other actions.

American anarchists regard both Democrats and Republicans as enforcers of the same imperialist system, and their drive this time is fueled by disappointment with the 2004 convention protests. Though tens of thousands of demonstrators filled the streets of New York and Boston, many radicals felt the actions led by large liberal groups like ANSWER and United for Peace and Justice had little impact. So this election cycle, affinity groups such as the Black Bloc and Crimethinc are spurring the radical movement to take the lead.

"There's nothing better than the convention to encapsulate the essence of the Democratic Party and the two-party system," says Clayton Dewey, an organizer for Denver's Unconventional Action. "It is a sham democracy. The candidates have been chosen, the platform has essentially been chosen by the party leaders. They bring in some delegates, and really, all they do is cheerlead for these scripted events. The media fawns over it. It's a multimillion-dollar party at the expense of taxpayers and Denver residents."

Chapters have been formed in San Francisco, New York and at least a dozen other cities. Since last August, planning conferences called "consultas" have taken place in St. Paul and Denver. Along with building a "horizontal, inclusive framework for protests," groups have even begun fundraising. Organizers estimate that each city will need $50,000 for convergence centers, legal costs and other expenses.

"We are not going to let the Democrats have a free ride," says Dewey.

Their theme: Anarchists Arise!”

http://www.thedenverdailynews.com/article.php?aID=606

http://thedrunkablog.blogspot.com/2008/04/free-lunch-and-dnc-disruption-training.html

FBI seeking informants in the Twin Cities

http://midwestgreenscare.wordpress.com/2008/05/14/fbi-seeking-informants-in-the-twin-cities/

http://crashtheconventions.com/2008/05/15/fbi-seeking-out-informants-in-twin-cities/

http://crashtheconventions.com/2008/01/28/anti-dnc-landmarks-in-denver/

http://newsds.org/bulletinfiles/sdsbulletin3-electronic.pdf

http://www.workers.org/2008/us/conventions_0228/

Republican National Convention

The Republican National Convention (RNC) will be held on Sept. 1-4 in St. Paul, Minn. On Feb. 9-10, in St. Paul’s twin city of Minneapolis, the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War met with more than 60 other organizations to plan events protesting the Republican agenda.

The coalition consists of local anti-war and solidarity organizations, unions and social justice groups. Three national anti-war coalitions were also represented at the conference: Troops Out Now Coalition (TONC), the ANSWER Coalition and United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ).

Other organizations present included the International Action Center; Freedom Road Socialist Organization; Latinos Against the War; Fight Imperialism-Stand Together; Students for a Democratic Society; New Jersey Solidarity-Activists for the Liberation of Palestine; the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera; Teamsters Local 743 and AFSCME Local 3800.

A press conference for local and national media included speakers from the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War, TONC, UFPJ, ANSWER and the Arab American Action Network.

Conference on RNC and DNC in Olympia

On the same weekend as the Minneapolis conference, youth and students met in Olympia, Wash., to discuss preparations to counter both the Republican and Democratic national conventions. About 100 people attended, mostly students from Seattle and surrounding areas, with others from Minneapolis and the states of Colorado, Oregon and California. The National Lawyers Guild and a few educators were there to listen, observe and offer advice when asked.

Protest organizers from Minneapolis and from Denver, where the DNC will be held on Aug. 24-28, gave presentations on the preparations that had been made, problems encountered and the significance of the respective conventions.

For the DNC, two activists who are part of the Recreate 68 Alliance spoke. Glenn Spagnuolo of the All Nations Alliance and Larry Hales of the youth group Fight Imperialism-Stand Together (FIST) presented to the audience in the late evening for an hour and a half. Spagnuolo explained that R68 was formed in January last year by local Denver activists from the Latin@, African-American, Native and white communities, representing such different issues as racism, imperialism, anti-war, anti-globalization, for immigrant rights and Indigenous rights. They agreed to work together to create a week of political solidarity in resistance and protest.

The idea of Recreate 68 is being used to move communities forward by looking back at a time of great resistance to war and racism.

Spagnuolo made reference to the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense and its Ten-Point Program, where the party provided security, free breakfasts for children programs and education in many communities.

He also spoke of the government’s brutal attacks in response to the party’s activism, the anti-war positions of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, the mass movements against oppression headed by organizations such as the American Indian Movement, the Young Lords, the Gay Liberation Front and many other groups.

Racism, imperialist war, poverty—all the things that come with capitalism—are still with us, Spagnuolo explained, and though Cointelpro is not around in name, the government has other forms of surveillance and of targeting activists, such as the massive Homeland Security apparatus.

The Larry Hales Issue will be prominent on The Denver Table!

http://www.raisethefist.com/index1.html

Larry Hales of FIST spoke about the numerous cases of police brutality in the Denver area, such as the case of Loree McCormick-Rice and her then-12-year-old daughter Cassidy McCormick, who were both beaten by an Aurora, Colo., cop. He spoke of the occupation of the oppressed communities by police and the role of police in capitalist society.

http://panafricannews.blogspot.com/2007/12/larry-hales-denver-activist-attacked-by.html

http://www.workers.org/2008/us/hales_0424/

http://www.iacenter.org/actions/hales0208/

http://fistyouth.wordpress.com/2008/04/21/fist-leader-at-aa-picket-line-fighting-a-common-enemy/

http://www.proletarians.com:8080/2007/us/dem-con-0405/

Hales asked the students to be mindful of the communities and the people whom they are claiming to represent. The residents of communities of color are faced with police terror all the time, not just during marches and rallies. Police brutality is a daily reality for many working and oppressed people.

He told them that they must be sensitive to the needs of the people and be aware of history that is being made today. For instance, Hales said, a white woman and a Black man are running for president. Though they both represent the interests of the imperialist U.S. ruling class and their agenda would be to appease the ruling elite, there are many oppressed people who see the fact that they are running and that one or the other may likely win the general election as a milestone.

People will be out in the streets for many reasons, and activists have to keep focused on the issues while at the same time being aware that some people are looking at these candidates as a victory for women and Black people. It will take time for them to see what the development really means, as the next president goes about her or his business running the U.S. imperialist colossus.

A whole week of activities, rallies and marches is planned for the DNC by Recreate 68. To find out about them, visit recreate68.org.

The loose coalition of groups opposed to American involvement in the Iraq war, which helped defeat Republicans in the 2006 midterm elections, is considerably less sympathetic to the Democrats and plans massive protests at the party’s national convention next summer in Denver, said Michael T. Heaney, a political science professor.

“We see a very clear shift in the anti-war movement against the Democratic Party just in the last couple of months,” said Heaney, who has written an article on anti-war activists that appears in the July edition of American Politics Research journal. “And the basic reason for that is the anti-war forces are very disappointed that the Democrats have not kept their promise to bring the troops home, which was their mandate after the 2006 election.”

The upshot is that instead of focusing their energies on demonstrating at next year’s Republican Party convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul as they did at the party’s 2004 convention in New York, the key players in the anti-war movement have decided to shift their emphasis to the Democratic gathering in Denver, Heaney said.

“We’re going to see tens of thousands of people protesting outside the Democratic National Convention,” he said.

The danger for the Democrats is that the news media will seize upon the disunity and project an image of the party not having its act together, which will ultimately create public uneasiness with the idea of a Democratic candidacy, he said.

“It definitely has the risk of costing the Democrats the election,” he said. “And this should be an election that the Democrats walk away with just based on the fact that the American public is so dissatisfied with the war in Iraq.”

Contrary to conventional wisdom that anti-war groups are aligned with the Democratic Party, Heaney and Fabio Rojas, a sociologist at Indiana University, found divisions within the movement. Roughly 40 percent of these activists support the Democrats, 20 percent a third party such as the Green Party and 2 percent the Republicans. Another 39 percent identified themselves as independents. (Percentages total 101 percent due to rounding).

We’ve been working with national organizations, among them A.N.S.W.E.R.org, United for Peace and Justice, CODEPINK and others, as well as numerous Colorado organizations, to prepare for this event.

Tent State University, Adam Jung Alliance for Real Democracy

RAIM-Denver

Just Bear In Mind That These Groups Are Determined to Rain On The Democratic Party Parade!

Anti-abortion groups set DemCon '08 protest plans

Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, Christian Defense Coalition, Operation Rescue

Since 1988 the Christian Defense Coalition has been protesting the national conventions of both parties. In their first year, Mahoney said, hundreds were arrested during the Democratic convention in Atlanta for protesting at abortion clinics.

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/groups/christian_defen/index.html

The new coalition, called Alliance for Real Democracy, is a network of local and national groups, including Code Pink, United for Peace and Justice, the American Friends Service Committee, the Green Party of Colorado, the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Colorado Street Medics, and Students for Peace and Justice.

On The Net all Of The Following lead back to “ ReCreate “68”

DenverDNC.org
2008DenverDNC.org
Denver2008DNC.org
Denver2008DNC.com
2008DNCDenver.org
2008Denverconvention.com
ChangetheDNC.org
ChangetheDNC.com
Stopthe2008DNC.com
Stopthe2008DNC.org
NoDNC2008.org
NoDNC2008.com
Recreate68.com
Recreate68.org

And we have these types of things being said with increasing escalating frequency!

“We need a revolution of the oppressed over the oppressors. Obama and the democrats need to be overthrown also.”

On “Recreate 68.” It seems that every liberal with a bone to pick says something about the name.

GET OVER IT, THAT SHIP HAS SAILED.

For anyone who has been listening, Recreate 68 has stated their intentions quite clearly.

I’m not a cliff-notes for liberals who are at the moment too busy vouching for the democrats to listen for 2 seconds, so I guess they can stay lost in their sectarian fog. They have been warned, informed and alerted of the plan(s)--developed in association with local groups like Recreate '68.

Anarchists and Anti-Authoritarians: join us in Denver, Colorado, August 24th-28th as we engage in coordinated Direct Actions against the Democratic National Convention, its corporate sponsors, and the military/police occupation of public space. Respecting diverse tactics and the autonomy of affinity groups and individuals, Unconventional Action has created the following framework to maximize our impact as we disrupt the DNC.

Unconventional Action’s strategy at the Democratic National Convention will hold the Democratic Party accountable for promoting unjust policies: environmental degradation, the enforcement of arbitrary borders, attacks on the poor, complacency in war, and racist policing. We will expose to the nation that the Democrats and Republicans are two sides of the same coin, both parties funded by the same corporations and upholding the same unjust political system which fails to meet the needs of the vast majority of people. Anarchists and Anti-Authoritarians are urged to engage in a broad variety of tactics to disrupt fundraising events and prevent Democratic delegates from voting for no-choice candidates. Unconventional Action will honor and support autonomous actions while coordinating a highly publicized assault on the pageantry, violence, and abuses of the Democrats and the two-party capitalist system.

Unconventional Action will target a variety of the 1,500 proposed fundraisers, countless delegate hotels, and designated institutions perpetuating global injustice. Using space reclamation, street theatre, direct confrontation, positive action, and a broad array of other tactics, we will force the national media to question the Democratic Party’s failures, hold Democratic candidates accountable for their abuses of power, and engage in direct actions that reflect our ultimate goals of joy and liberation through creativity and confrontation.

Asked whether the Recreate ’68 will bring a repeat of the rioting and violence that gripped Chicago during the ’68 convention, Spagnuolo said: "That will be up to the Denver Police Department. Any violence would be at the hands of the Denver Police Department."

In today's Denver Post June 06, 2008 : Greens Advocate Peace

Denver Greens chair and Colorado Greens co-chair, Claire Ryder, emphasizes that the Green Party stands by its Ten Key Values and the principle of non-violence:

We promote non-violent methods to oppose practices and policies with which we disagree, and will guide our actions toward lasting personal, community and global peace.

We are proud of our commitment to this credo -- we stand for peace in Iraq, we stand for peace in the United States ... and in Denver, Colorado.

Link: Convention Protest Hit By Groups' Split | Denver Post

The American Friends Service Committee, the Green Party of Colorado, the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Colorado Street Medics, and Students for Peace and Justice.

(In can tell you after my last multi-state tour that not all of the members of these organizations support or are inclined to follow their leadership, so don’t be misled into believing that great solidarity exists within all of them.)

Activists who plan to protest at the Democratic National Convention this summer are splitting with the umbrella organization, Re-create 68, because of concerns over its rhetoric and tactics.

"We've separated ourselves; we're not part of Re-create 68," said Claire Ryder, chairwoman of the Denver Green Party.

Ryder said many activists had attended Re-create 68 meetings and were not comfortable with its organizational techniques.

Nevertheless, she said, "This has all been very difficult because a lot of them are our friends. We've worked together on a lot of other issues over time."

Glenn Spagnuolo, an organizer with Re-create 68, said he doesn't mind the new structure.

"More power to them," he said.

Spagnuolo characterizes the groups that are splitting with his as liberal Democrats who are largely white and middle-to-upper class and want their party to guide the country out of the war in Iraq.

(To Spagnuolo and those of like mind; these are the same people who celebrated the 2006 elections and were betrayed by the very people and party they supported, activists that have explored every peaceful passive path of ”proper resistance” to bring the Iraq War to closure and Bush and Cheney to Impeachment, both failed goals as they are viewed as noisy talkative, petition signing, meeting going failures. They are seen as Ghandi lovers and supporters of The Declaration of Independence.)

He described Re-create 68 as representing minorities, anarchists, communists, socialists and "radicals" who don't support Democrats or Republicans.

(People of this cast of mind don’t care who is elected because they don’t see anyone as an improvement so long as the system remains intact so that line of logic and plea falls on deaf ears. Change has to be more than cosmetic and symbolic; and promises have to have substantive programs behind them, the meat on the bone, not just altruistic rhetoric.)

Both his organization and the Alliance oppose the war, he said, and neither one advocates violence. (Obviously, there are those who don’t believe those words.)

However, the statement of nonviolent principles listed on the Re-create 68 website includes the right to self-defense, which has raised questions within the moderate flank of the local activist community.

Adam Jung, a University of Denver student who represents Tent State University, which pulled out of Re-create 68 in May, said he doesn't think Re-create 68 is planning violence. But he expressed concerns about Spagnuolo's insistence that he would resist police.

"This isn't like Cuba or the Revolutionary War," Jung said. "If attacked by a police officer, I wouldn't respond violently. I'm going to comply."

And that is where the two sides part company if and until something goes very wrong in the streets of Denver or Minneapolis; then all bets are off!

Michael Heaney, a political science professor at the University of Florida who has studied the antiwar movement, looks at the local split against the larger backdrop of the new political scene now that Sen. Barack Obama is the presumptive Democratic nominee.

"This forces them to strategically rethink the whole idea of protest (tactics).

"Do they really want to create chaos in the Democratic Party at a time when the Democrats are poised to nominate the first African-American candidate in history who many are satisfied with?"

For some the answer is yes. For The far Right their issues are not Obama’s issues.

Posted on June 06, 2008

New to the mix, avoiding the internet pretty much, is a new element Resistance “08”. This organization is a truly radical shadows group that I am still in the process of becoming familiar with their operations.

Their intent is clear and it is not peaceful.

As soon as I am able to ferret out the working and full agenda of the group I will be reporting.

http://courtofimpeachmentandwarcrimes.blogspot.com/2008/06/graphic-political-commentary.html

But for now; take care I am off for Denver.

Graphic Political Commentary

2008-06-09T12:18:00.000-07:00

Gas Price Hits Record High; Senate Committee Looks Like Fools

2008-06-08T20:49:00.000-07:00

Gas Price Hits Record High; Senate Committee Looks Like Fools And American Business Is In Russia This Weekend Planning For An Even Bigger Worldwide Screwing.

Do you ever get the feeling that the Congress is totally useless, totally out of the loop, totally incompetent or bought off?

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Gasoline rose to a milestone mark Sunday as the national average compiled by motorist group AAA reached $4 a gallon for the first time.

The average price of gasoline jumped up another 20 cents a gallon in the past three weeks to a record-breaking $4.00 a gallon for self-serve regular.

The milestone was expected after a surge in crude oil prices added more than $16 to a barrel of oil over the last 2 trading days. Crude settled at a record $138.54 a barrel Friday, up by $10.75, after setting an all-time intraday high of $139.12.

The $10.75 gain was the biggest one-day advance in dollar value ever, nearly doubling the previous mark of $5.49 set Thursday. Weakness in the dollar, geopolitical concerns and an analyst's prediction of $150-a-barrel oil by July 4 helped spur Friday's advance.

The average price is $4 a gallon or more in 14 states and the District of Columbia, according to the survey. California pays the most for gasoline, averaging $4.436, with Alaska and Connecticut both at $4.296. Other states above $4 are Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and West Virginia. The area with the highest average gas prices was Stockton, Calif., which posted $4.41 per gallon.

The price of diesel fuel, used by truckers hauling goods across the country, rose 0.8 cent to $4.762 a gallon.

On its Web site, AAA says the information is gathered by Oil Price Information Service based on credit card swipes at 85,000 gasoline stations across the nation.

Soros Gives The Senate Commerce Committee A Lesson and They Look Totally Blank Faced and Stupid. I Watched The Hearing and I felt Sick! (ed.)

WASHINGTON: The growth of funds designed to mimic the price of crude oil and other energy futures is reminiscent of a similar craze that precipitated the stock market crash of 1987, billionaire financier George Soros told lawmakers Tuesday.

The surge in popularity of commodity index funds is "intellectually unsound ... and distinctly harmful in its economic consequences," Soros told a Senate hearing. When speculators enter a market mostly on one side — in this case, betting on rising oil futures — it "distorts the otherwise prevailing balance between supply and demand."

He likened it to the rush to invest in portfolio insurance more than 20 years ago. When those investors tried to exit the market at the same time, stock markets around the world crashed.

Soros said he has spent years studying market "bubbles" that begin with a trend based in reality, but are then followed by some misinterpretation of that data. He sees no imminent crash in oil prices, however, and said a decline in consumption will not occur unless the U.S. and other developed nations' economies fall into recession.

"That makes it desirable to discourage commodity index trading while it is still inflating the bubble," Soros said. He has urged regulators to improve market oversight and to place limits on speculative positions.

Crude prices have risen more than 42 percent since early December and were trading near $127 a barrel Tuesday morning. U.S. gasoline prices are nearing a national average of $4 a gallon ($1.05 a liter), up from about $3.16 a year ago.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission last week said it was six months into a probe of U.S. oil markets focused on possible price manipulation. The commission said it is investigating potential abuses in the way crude oil is purchased, shipped, stored and traded nationwide.

The CFTC said it would immediately require monthly reports from large institutional investors with a dual goal of quantifying such index trading and ensure it was "not adversely impacting the price discovery process."

But Sen. Maria Cantwell on Tuesday said the CFTC's latest actions do not go far enough and that the agency must fully regulate all trading of U.S. energy products and close foreign-based trading loopholes.

"It is abundantly clear to me that the CFTC is not doing everything it can to protect American families and businesses from the possible oil price manipulation," Cantwell said, adding that if the commission does not do so on its, she will introduce legislation to force them to do so.

Sen. Byron Dorgan noted that the CFTC's staff is roughly 10 percent smaller than a few years ago, while commodity trading has exploded.

A CFTC spokesman was not immediately available Tuesday morning.

Manufacturers feel the squeeze from high oil costs

Record oil prices knock down Asian shares

West's business elite swarm to Russia's honey pot this WEEKEND!

ST. PETERSBURG: The lineup told it all about Russia's importance today. There, rarely on one stage, sat the chief executives or chairmen of BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips, Total, Schlumberger and Dow Chemical, plus the chairman of the Russian energy giant Gazprom and the president of the Russian oil company Lukoil.

The busy big men of energy, accustomed to jetting around the globe, seemed scarcely to believe themselves that they were all in one place, and, indeed, in this place, a conference center on the Gulf of Finland, in the grand capital that Peter the Great forged from the swamps 300 years ago.

While Alexei Miller of Gazprom exuded pride (that, too, characteristic of today's Russia) at attracting such a group to his hometown, Andrew Gould of Schlumberger, which provides equipment to extract oil and natural gas rather than doing that job itself, voiced some concern this weekend at being with "six of my top 10 customers at the same time."

Regardless of the conflict over BP's partnership with some of Russia's most ambitious billionaires - a conflict that a senior government official suggested Sunday could end badly for the British oil giant (Page 12) - big Western businesses seem here to stay, swarming around the Russian honey pot for large contracts and access to its resources.

And if politicians in Western Europe fret over their own inability to develop a cohesive energy policy - and some fan fears of a newly resurgent, aggressive Russia, and Gazprom, as a result - many of the sharpest minds gathered here at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum seem focused on something quite different: ensuring that, this time, Russians benefit from economic plenty.

Jim O'Neill of Goldman Sachs, who coined the phrase "BRIC countries" to describe Brazil, Russia, India and China becoming leaders among world economies, surprised the crowd by predicting a conservative overall average of 3.3 percent annual economic growth by 2020.

Russia, he said, would have a 4 percent share of world gross domestic product, compared with 2 percent now, but weaker relative to Brazil, India and China because of far fewer people at work (India alone would grow by 300 million people - twice Russia's current population - by then).

Michael Klein, chairman and chief executive of the institutional clients group of Citigroup, was ebullient: "The future will exceed by a big stretch the plans for 2020" - the government target date for certain improvements. "Russia is clearly one of the most successful economic stories of the decade," and possibly "the first scale economy to sustainably avoid the resource curse," the evils often brought by easy money from such fast-rising commodities as oil and natural gas.

Anatoly Chubais, despised by poorer Russians for the way he privatized the economy in the 1990s but a clever survivor of politics and business here, even broached a subject normally taboo: the moribund, regimented state of politics, which have crystallized around the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin, the prime minister and last president (who this weekend left his protégé, Medvedev, to shine alone in their hometown).

"We can't avoid discussing the political component of the state's impact on the economy," Chubais said in careful language. "The state must be judged from the point of view of quality of services that it provides for the country as a whole. In my understanding, it is impossible to evaluate the quality of this service without real give-and-take and a truly competitive political mechanism."

If the big energy men gathered on Saturday had a clear worry, it was this: that the huge investments they must make to get to Russia's oil and natural gas would fail to yield returns because the government changed the rules, as happened, most recently, to Shell over Sakhalin Island and may now be happening to BP. In both cases, the Kremlin asserts that it has not interfered directly.

But, like some Europeans in the military and energy spheres, the companies are wary.

Russia, emphasized Rex Tillerson, chairman and chief executive of Exxon Mobil, "must improve the functioning of its judicial system, and its judiciary. There is no respect for the rule of law in Russia today."

In both cases, differences stretch back beyond the past decade of prosperity to the 1990s. In the West today, some paint Russia as newly defiant of NATO expansion, ignoring that Russia in the 1990s did, too, but was too weak to be convincing.

As Klein of Citigroup put it, for the West, the 1990s was the "period of transformation in Russia," when Communism crumbled and free markets and democracy got their start.

Russians, Klein suggested, preferred to emphasize the radical changes of the 2000s. But these successes are based on the export of such basic resources that Western consumers, attuned to China's conspicuous brands and advances, are almost suspicious, he said. "The High Street and Main Street do not understand the Russian achievement."

In the same vein, Miller of Gazprom said he found it "simply astounding" that anyone should fear its advance from energy supplier into direct delivery to European customers.

Misunderstanding has plagued Russia's complex relations with the outside world for centuries. In St. Petersburg, Peter's window to the West, this weekend produced a royal show of at least momentary unity, foreign and Russian business elites plunging together into a world where their money might talk even louder than the missiles and military prowess from which Russia traditionally has drawn strength.

Do you ever get the feeling that the Congress is totally useless, totally out of the loop, totally incompetent or bought off?

Hillary Bows Out…For The Record Posting.

2008-06-07T16:38:00.000-07:00

Hillary Bows Out…For The Record.

Thank you so much. Thank you all.

Click here to watch the video excerpt of Hillary's speech.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24993082/

Well, this isn’t exactly the party I’d planned, but I sure like the company.

I want to start today by saying how grateful I am to all of you – to everyone who poured your hearts and your hopes into this campaign, who drove for miles and lined the streets waving homemade signs, who scrimped and saved to raise money, who knocked on doors and made calls, who talked and sometimes argued with your friends and neighbors, who emailed and contributed online, who invested so much in our common enterprise, to the moms and dads who came to our events, who lifted their little girls and little boys on their shoulders and whispered in their ears, “See, you can be anything you want to be.”

To the young people like 13 year-old Ann Riddle from Mayfield, Ohio who had been saving for two years to go to Disney World, and decided to use her savings instead to travel to Pennsylvania with her Mom and volunteer there as well. To the veterans and the childhood friends, to New Yorkers and Arkansans who traveled across the country and telling anyone who would listen why you supported me.

To all those women in their 80s and their 90s born before women could vote who cast their votes for our campaign. I’ve told you before about Florence Steen of South Dakota, who was 88 years old, and insisted that her daughter bring an absentee ballot to her hospice bedside. Her daughter and a friend put an American flag behind her bed and helped her fill out the ballot. She passed away soon after, and under state law, her ballot didn’t count. But her daughter later told a reporter, “My dad’s an ornery old cowboy, and he didn’t like it when he heard mom’s vote wouldn’t be counted. I don’t think he had voted in 20 years. But he voted in place of my mom.”

To all those who voted for me, and to whom I pledged my utmost, my commitment to you and to the progress we seek is unyielding. You have inspired and touched me with the stories of the joys and sorrows that make up the fabric of our lives and you have humbled me with your commitment to our country.

18 million of you from all walks of life – women and men, young and old, Latino and Asian, African-American and Caucasian, rich, poor and middle class, gay and straight – you have stood strong with me. And I will continue to stand strong with you, every time, every place, and every way that I can. The dreams we share are worth fighting for.

Remember - we fought for the single mom with a young daughter, juggling work and school, who told me, “I’m doing it all to better myself for her.” We fought for the woman who grabbed my hand, and asked me, “What are you going to do to make sure I have health care?” and began to cry because even though she works three jobs, she can’t afford insurance. We fought for the young man in the Marine Corps t-shirt who waited months for medical care and said, “Take care of my buddies over there and then, will you please help take care of me?” We fought for all those who’ve lost jobs and health care, who can’t afford gas or groceries or college, who have felt invisible to their president these last seven years.

I entered this race because I have an old-fashioned conviction: that public service is about helping people solve their problems and live their dreams. I’ve had every opportunity and blessing in my own life – and I want the same for all Americans. Until that day comes, you will always find me on the front lines of democracy – fighting for the future.

The way to continue our fight now – to accomplish the goals for which we stand – is to take our energy, our passion, our strength and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama the next President of the United States.

Today, as I suspend my campaign, I congratulate him on the victory he has won and the extraordinary race he has run. I endorse him, and throw my full support behind him. And I ask all of you to join me in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me.

I have served in the Senate with him for four years. I have been in this campaign with him for 16 months. I have stood on the stage and gone toe-to-toe with him in 22 debates. I have had a front row seat to his candidacy, and I have seen his strength and determination, his grace and his grit.

In his own life, Barack Obama has lived the American Dream. As a community organizer, in the state senate, as a United States Senator - he has dedicated himself to ensuring the dream is realized. And in this campaign, he has inspired so many to become involved in the democratic process and invested in our common future.

Now when I started this race, I intended to win back the White House, and make sure we have a president who puts our country back on the path to peace, prosperity, and progress. And that's exactly what we're going to do by ensuring that Barack Obama walks through the doors of the Oval Office on January 20, 2009.

I understand that we all know this has been a tough fight. The Democratic Party is a family, and it’s now time to restore the ties that bind us together and to come together around the ideals we share, the values we cherish, and the country we love.

We may have started on separate journeys – but today, our paths have merged. And we are all heading toward the same destination, united and more ready than ever to win in November and to turn our country around because so much is at stake.

We all want an economy that sustains the American Dream, the opportunity to work hard and have that work rewarded, to save for college, a home and retirement, to afford that gas and those groceries and still have a little left over at the end of the month. An economy that lifts all of our people and ensures that our prosperity is broadly distributed and shared.

We all want a health care system that is universal, high quality, and affordable so that parents no longer have to choose between care for themselves or their children or be stuck in dead end jobs simply to keep their insurance. This isn’t just an issue for me – it is a passion and a cause – and it is a fight I will continue until every single American is insured – no exceptions, no excuses.

We all want an America defined by deep and meaningful equality – from civil rights to labor rights, from women’s rights to gay rights, from ending discrimination to promoting unionization to providing help for the most important job there is: caring for our families.

We all want to restore America’s standing in the world, to end the war in Iraq and once again lead by the power of our values, and to join with our allies to confront our shared challenges from poverty and genocide to terrorism and global warming.

You know, I’ve been involved in politics and public life in one way or another for four decades. During those forty years, our country has voted ten times for President. Democrats won only three of those times. And the man who won two of those elections is with us today.

We made tremendous progress during the 90s under a Democratic President, with a flourishing economy, and our leadership for peace and security respected around the world. Just think how much more progress we could have made over the past 40 years if we had a Democratic president. Think about the lost opportunities of these past seven years – on the environment and the economy, on health care and civil rights, on education, foreign policy and the Supreme Court. Imagine how far we could’ve come, how much we could’ve achieved if we had just had a Democrat in the White House.

We cannot let this moment slip away. We have come too far and accomplished too much.

Now the journey ahead will not be easy. Some will say we can’t do it. That it’s too hard. That we’re just not up to the task. But for as long as America has existed, it has been the American way to reject “can’t do” claims, and to choose instead to stretch the boundaries of the possible through hard work, determination, and a pioneering spirit.

It is this belief, this optimism, that Senator Obama and I share, and that has inspired so many millions of our supporters to make their voices heard.

So today, I am standing with Senator Obama to say: Yes we can.

Together we will work. We’ll have to work hard to get universal health care. But on the day we live in an America where no child, no man, and no woman is without health insurance, we will live in a stronger America. That’s why we need to help elect Barack Obama our President.

We’ll have to work hard to get back to fiscal responsibility and a strong middle class. But on the day we live in an America whose middle class is thriving and growing again, where all Americans, no matter where they live or where their ancestors came from, can earn a decent living, we will live in a stronger America and that is why we must elect Barack Obama our President.

We’ll have to work hard to foster the innovation that makes us energy independent and lift the threat of global warming from our children’s future. But on the day we live in an America fueled by renewable energy, we will live in a stronger America. That’s why we have to help elect Barack Obama our President.

We’ll have to work hard to bring our troops home from Iraq, and get them the support they’ve earned by their service. But on the day we live in an America that’s as loyal to our troops as they have been to us, we will live in a stronger America and that is why we must help elect Barack Obama our President.

This election is a turning point election and it is critical that we all understand what our choice really is. Will we go forward together or will we stall and slip backwards. Think how much progress we have already made. When we first started, people everywhere asked the same questions:

Could a woman really serve as Commander-in-Chief? Well, I think we answered that one.

And could an African American really be our President? Senator Obama has answered that one.

Together Senator Obama and I achieved milestones essential to our progress as a nation, part of our perpetual duty to form a more perfect union.

Now, on a personal note – when I was asked what it means to be a woman running for President, I always gave the same answer: that I was proud to be running as a woman but I was running because I thought I’d be the best President. But I am a woman, and like millions of women, I know there are still barriers and biases out there, often unconscious.

I want to build an America that respects and embraces the potential of every last one of us.

I ran as a daughter who benefited from opportunities my mother never dreamed of. I ran as a mother who worries about my daughter’s future and a mother who wants to lead all children to brighter tomorrows. To build that future I see, we must make sure that women and men alike understand the struggles of their grandmothers and mothers, and that women enjoy equal opportunities, equal pay, and equal respect. Let us resolve and work toward achieving some very simple propositions: There are no acceptable limits and there are no acceptable prejudices in the twenty-first century.

You can be so proud that, from now on, it will be unremarkable for a woman to win primary state victories, unremarkable to have a woman in a close race to be our nominee, unremarkable to think that a woman can be the President of the United States. And that is truly remarkable.

To those who are disappointed that we couldn’t go all the way – especially the young people who put so much into this campaign – it would break my heart if, in falling short of my goal, I in any way discouraged any of you from pursuing yours. Always aim high, work hard, and care deeply about what you believe in. When you stumble, keep faith. When you’re knocked down, get right back up. And never listen to anyone who says you can’t or shouldn’t go on.

As we gather here today in this historic magnificent building, the 50th woman to leave this Earth is orbiting overhead. If we can blast 50 women into space, we will someday launch a woman into the White House.

Although we weren’t able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it’s got about 18 million cracks in it. And the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time. That has always been the history of progress in America.

Think of the suffragists who gathered at Seneca Falls in 1848 and those who kept fighting until women could cast their votes. Think of the abolitionists who struggled and died to see the end of slavery. Think of the civil rights heroes and foot-soldiers who marched, protested and risked their lives to bring about the end to segregation and Jim Crow.

Because of them, I grew up taking for granted that women could vote. Because of them, my daughter grew up taking for granted that children of all colors could go to school together. Because of them, Barack Obama and I could wage a hard fought campaign for the Democratic nomination. Because of them, and because of you, children today will grow up taking for granted that an African American or a woman can yes, become President of the United States.

When that day arrives and a woman takes the oath of office as our President, we will all stand taller, proud of the values of our nation, proud that every little girl can dream and that her dreams can come true in America. And all of you will know that because of your passion and hard work you helped pave the way for that day.

So I want to say to my supporters, when you hear people saying – or think to yourself – “if only” or “what if,” I say, “please don’t go there.” Every moment wasted looking back keeps us from moving forward.

Life is too short, time is too precious, and the stakes are too high to dwell on what might have been. We have to work together for what still can be. And that is why I will work my heart out to make sure that Senator Obama is our next President and I hope and pray that all of you will join me in that effort.

To my supporters and colleagues in Congress, to the governors and mayors, elected officials who stood with me, in good times and in bad, thank you for your strength and leadership. To my friends in our labor unions who stood strong every step of the way – I thank you and pledge my support to you. To my friends, from every stage of my life – your love and ongoing commitments sustain me every single day. To my family – especially Bill and Chelsea and my mother, you mean the world to me and I thank you for all you have done. And to my extraordinary staff, volunteers and supporters, thank you for working those long, hard hours. Thank you for dropping everything – leaving work or school – traveling to places you’d never been, sometimes for months on end. And thanks to your families as well because your sacrifice was theirs too.

All of you were there for me every step of the way. Being human, we are imperfect. That’s why we need each other. To catch each other when we falter. To encourage each other when we lose heart. Some may lead; others may follow; but none of us can go it alone. The changes we’re working for are changes that we can only accomplish together. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are rights that belong to each of us as individuals. But our lives, our freedom, our happiness, are best enjoyed, best protected, and best advanced when we do work together.

That is what we will do now as we join forces with Senator Obama and his campaign. We will make history together as we write the next chapter in America’s story. We will stand united for the values we hold dear, for the vision of progress we share, and for the country we love. There is nothing more American than that.

And looking out at you today, I have never felt so blessed. The challenges that I have faced in this campaign are nothing compared to those that millions of Americans face every day in their own lives. So today, I’m going to count my blessings and keep on going. I’m going to keep doing what I was doing long before the cameras ever showed up and what I’ll be doing long after they’re gone: Working to give every American the same opportunities I had, and working to ensure that every child has the chance to grow up and achieve his or her God-given potential.

I will do it with a heart filled with gratitude, with a deep and abiding love for our country– and with nothing but optimism and confidence for the days ahead. This is now our time to do all that we can to make sure that in this election we add another Democratic president to that very small list of the last 40 years and that we take back our country and once again move with progress and commitment to the future.

Thank you all and God bless you and God bless America.

Is Hillary Sincere?

2008-06-05T11:04:00.000-07:00

Hillary Clinton… I'm Skeptical At The Moment, BUT, Let’s See How Sincere This Turns Out To Be.

Dear Ed.,

I wanted you to be one of the first to know: on Saturday, I will hold an event in Washington D.C. to thank everyone who has supported my campaign. Over the course of the last 16 months, I have been privileged and touched to witness the incredible dedication and sacrifice of so many people working for our campaign. Every minute you put into helping us win, every dollar you gave to keep up the fight meant more to me than I can ever possibly tell you.

On Saturday, I will extend my congratulations to Senator Obama and my support for his candidacy. This has been a long and hard-fought campaign, but as I have always said, my differences with Senator Obama are small compared to the differences we have with Senator McCain and the Republicans.

I have said throughout the campaign that I would strongly support Senator Obama if he were the Democratic Party's nominee, and I intend to deliver on that promise.

When I decided to run for president, I knew exactly why I was getting into this race: to work hard every day for the millions of Americans who need a voice in the White House.

I made you -- and everyone who supported me -- a promise: to stand up for our shared values and to never back down. I'm going to keep that promise today, tomorrow, and for the rest of my life.

I will be speaking on Saturday about how together we can rally the party behind Senator Obama. The stakes are too high and the task before us too important to do otherwise.

I know as I continue my lifelong work for a stronger America and a better world, I will turn to you for the support, the strength, and the commitment that you have shown me in the past 16 months. And I will always keep faith with the issues and causes that are important to you.

In the past few days, you have shown that support once again with hundreds of thousands of messages to the campaign, and again, I am touched by your thoughtfulness and kindness.

I can never possibly express my gratitude, so let me say simply, thank you.

Sincerely,

Hillary Rodham Clinton

And Here Is A good Reason To Hope That Hillary Is Telling The Truth For A Change!

End Post…

An Open Letter To Hillary Clinton: You Disgust Me.

2008-06-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

An Open Letter To Hillary Clinton: You Disgust Me.

Dear Hillary,

I have long embraced the notion that when one who aspires to being a political office holder, as opposed to a public servant, and needs the position as desperately as an alcoholic needs the next drink or an addict needs the next fix, they should be rejected.

I listened to your speech given from the communications sheltered New York venue and what I heard were the words of a “Single Issue” candidate; the issue: “Me”, “I”, “Mine” with a few obligatory and manipulative, almost after thought “you(s)” and “we(s)”.

I have no use for single issue candidates and am deeply troubled by the dangerous myopic impact of single issue voters, including “The Right To Life”, Anti Gay and hysterical Xenophobia anti-immigrant crowds. But I am even more deeply troubled and alarmed by what I hear in your words, see in your eyes and the road you have walked in this campaign, a road of deceit, lies, exaggerations, spin, misrepresentations, racism and that “Assassination Card” marks you forever as one cannot be trusted.

Your smiling plastic demeanor cannot hide the rot of your soul revealed in that moment. I shall never trust you or any word you ever utter again. The words “Hillary and Respect” will never again be linked after the period at the end of this post.

The talking heads, babbling pundits and self-anointed political experts will fill the air ways with their dissection of why “The Inevitable” candidacy failed. It really does not need a microscopic examination because in the most basic terms it failed because you are a remnant of politics past, a corporate Democrat, a hypocrite, an egomaniac who tried to pass herself off as a modern Joan of Arc, victimized by an anti-feminist media, (you are always the victim of some conspiracy…this time not the right wing), over confident and boastful to the point of being embarrassing you declared you entitlement, your right to the Oval Office as if by some right of Royal Coronation…and we rejected that.

Your managers, “the business as usual”, manipulators who hold the voting public in utter piss ant contempt as mere numbers to be manipulated by every subterfuge of public opinion formation sucked up your Tom Sawyer White Wash invincibility job in their typical arrogance, matched only by your own; they miscalculated everything from delegate allocation formulas to no preparation after Super Tuesday, after all the sky was to open the next day and behold the shining light gracing the crown of “Queen Hillary I”. It was ordained. Super Tuesday was to have been end game.

The game was to open and finish with a grandstand long distance pass and touch down; you we’re not prepared to have to grind it out on the ground in a 50 state full length game.

Though the nation’s involvement with the Iraq War was waning, the fade did not come fast enough for you to avoid being found in the corner hiding in the shadows of the wrong side of the issue, the Bush side.

Your message never became consistent beyond “I am Woman” and “I am Experienced”. The themes were recast almost daily looking for a resonance that never came. The old parliamentary adage comes quickly to mind: “Confuse; you lose!”

Your financial planning was a disaster and it became so obvious and crystal clear that the tons on initial cash poured into your campaign came in legally squeezed maximum $2,300 checks, one each for the primaries and the general election. This was the coin of the wealthy not the common man. You bought every pontificating pundit and pollster that money could buy and assembled a with brew stew of ego driven planners, schemers and manipulators. The brew was bad and the stench spread as did division and competition within your own campaign.

Your field operation was infected with the same arrogance, certainty, hesitancy, confusion and miscalculations. It cost you $23 million to finish third in Iowa. That should have told you something other than go back to the bank rollers. It did not.

In debate you became the cliché candidate of opportunistic deflection, evasion and non answers. This says a great deal about your own lack of intelligence and native ability…certainly nor Presidential!

You consistently refused to admit errors preferring to simply lie your way out, or so you thought. America has had enough lies with George Bush and you were seen paddling in the same canoe. And in that canoe you started on the long drift down river in steady decline.

One self-inflicted wound followed another undermining every claim you made to foreign policy expertise, and your integrity went to hell with the “Bosnia Fiasco” and hero Hillary was seen as a simple fraud. You started to blame the media, accusing them of sexism, as you have accused so many others of other things in the past, when they began to seriously examine what you were saying. You just couldn’t get away with lying at will any longer.

Surprised, Obama proved to be more than just a traditional opponent, and your usual Clintonista tactics — big-scale fundraising, high-powered political connections, failed in the face of old-fashioned grit and determination and a breath of fresh air calling for change and not more of the same old garbage of the past. You simply were no match for Obama and a candidacy uniquely suited to the moment, the change this nation was thirsting for.

As you faded away you said: "I've really enjoyed the process of being able to go out and see this country anew." But what you have not understood is that this is a country that wants someone new, and not you. It’s not about a woman being rejected; it’s about what you stand for and represent that is being rejected. Marin Luther King Jr. immortalized the words “content of one’s character” and the content of your character has been found to woefully deficient.

"I want to hear from you," you told your cheering supporters last night. "Go to hillaryclinton.com ...and… That was not a moment of unity. It was a moment of further divisiveness.

And so Hillary; what is it that you want that we are all so stupid as to not be able to figure it all out?

You want more money from your mesmerized folk to forgive your debt. The conjecture has already surfaced that you are prepared to negotiate with Barack’s people to buy your support in return for the coin. If that is factual it is contemptuous, and if it is not it should demonstrate to just what gutter depths folks believe you are capable of sinking.

Your seeming quest and obsession to press your case for relevancy at the risk of widening the divide between Barack Obama's supporters and your older, whiter, working-class coalition is seen as a deliberate attempt at self preservation at the expense of all else including the Party. We all take it for granted, that no matter what happens that you will demand a prime-time speaking role at the Democratic National Convention.

Your ego can take no less. I would not extend you that courtesy as we’ve heard enough of your pre-fabricated hollow rhetoric, hypocritical pretentious verbal lint. I am convinced you will say anything to please with no sincerity of conviction. You have no vision but that of you sitting in the Oval Office.

"This has been a long campaign, and I will be making no decisions tonight," you said last night, begging patience of a party desperate to unite. "In the coming days, I'll be consulting with supporters and party leaders to determine how to move forward with the best interests of our party and our country guiding my way." What a pile of rubbish. You beckoned your troops to keep the fires fanned and to serve you, not the party, not the nominee, not the nation. You must really take us for fools.

You are circling like a vulture. We all know that all that matters to you at this moment is retaining some portion of your political leverage. Your “advisers” have admitted that fact privately, eying a spot on the ticket, a convention role and perhaps “other benefits”.

You ran as the establishment candidate against the headwinds of change, a hawk in a party of doves, a Clinton for better and worse, you failed to match Obama's timing. His celebrity was too big, his political savvy too much and Internet-driven ground game too powerful for the candidacy of the '90s. He represents change; you do not; you cannot!

We all know that you want to be president — still — and that you wants the respect you feel you are due and that line that Obama has to respect your voters is a declaration of blackmail.

You have become an ugly transparent obsessed self-serving blot on the party and even your peers are now moving to put an end to your ambitions.

With the final primary concluded barely hours before, top Democratic Party leaders in Washington early this morning ratcheted up the pressure to force all remaining uncommitted superdelegates to make their choice of candidate known by Friday -- and thus end your now hopeless, one-time front running campaign.

In a joint statement obviously pre-planned in anticipation of your continued machinations and timed for issue shortly after you refused to concede the presidential nomination's victory to Barack Obama, who's gained sufficient delegates to clinch the party's nomination, Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and West Virginia Gov. Manchin, chairman of the Democratic Governors Assn., issued the brief statement for unity just minutes ago:

"The voters have spoken," they said, adding later, "Democrats must now turn our full attention to the general election. To that end, we are urging all remaining uncommitted super delegates to make their decisions known by Friday of this week, so that our party can stand united."

Their carefully-worded statement, which does not urge the superdelegates to go one way or the other, is a clear step to force an end your efforts to manipulate and use the voices of the nearly 18 million voters who cast ballots for you in recent months.

Your hand is being forced by the Friday deadline, with no meeting with party leadership. You have worn out your welcome.

The move, quite frankly Hillary, is also a very sly one politically, since it leaves Obama free of any appearance of forcing you to quit and, thus, alienating your millions of supporters and greatly lessens and hopes you had for quick grand meeting with you trying to show America who will be the boss if you are on the ticket…unthinkable.

In exit polls throughout the just-concluded primary season, an unusually high number of your voters indicated they were likely to reject Obama and vote for the Republican Party's presumptive nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona. That comes as no surprise to me because your followers are rather cult-like in their adherence and there is really no difference between you and McCain on many issues, including the war that will reemerge as an issue in the Fall.

The complete text of the Democratic Party leader's joint statement is available below.

Joint Statement by Democratic Leaders on the End of the Presidential Primary Process

"We have come to the end of an exciting primary and caucus process - the voters have spoken. As the Democratic leaders of the Senate, House of Representatives, the Governors and the Democratic National Committee we commend all of the participants of the 2008 primary process, especially Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, for making this such a transformational election.

"Because of the enthusiasm our candidates have inspired, our party has brought record numbers of voters to the polls, gained millions of newly registered Democrats and now has advantages in states many thought were difficult to win. We are grateful to the millions of Independents and Republicans who have crossed over to vote for a Democratic candidate for President.

"Democrats must now turn our full attention to the general election. To that end, we are urging all remaining uncommitted super delegates to make their decisions known by Friday of this week so that our party can stand united and begin our march toward reversing the eight years of failed Bush/McCain policies that have weakened our country.

"We once again congratulate all of the candidates for their leadership and dedication to providing this country with a New Direction. We look forward to working with them and with all Democrats to win the White House, congressional seats and state capitals so we can deliver the change the American people deserve and demand."

There is no excuse left for HRC to not end this now, help bring the party together and move forward. The longer you delay to gain some negotiation advantage the more marginalized you become. You have lost a great opportunity last night. Let's hope you can stop the narcissistic grandstanding and quickly wrap this up – for your own sake as well as the party's.

I fear you are stuck on obsessive stupid and yet you say you want to do what is best for the party. Prove it. Concede, support Obama, or get out of the party!

And to all other Hillary lovers, if you care that much to vote for the opposition, then that is just as dumb as a spoiled brat youngster taking his football home because he can’t be on the team he wants to be, or play the position he wants to play, or folks don’t want to play by his/her rules. Is that all America is worth to you. If it is you are a member of a cult or personality and your crazed leader is Hillary Clinton. These things do not come to good ends.

Let me close Hillary, with an excerpt from an email I received today that goes even further in angry expression than I have: “She's despicable. Obama is an angel compared to her lowly selfish, bottom feeding, divider, conniving witch self. Leave the country now Hillary. We don't want you anymore. You've shown your true colors. They are bigot black and white.”

Hillary we don’t need you and we don’t want you on your terms. Stop looking in the mirror and asking: :” Mirror, mirror on the wall; am I still the fairest woman of all?” You are not!

In Disgust, Ed. Dickau -50 years a Democratic Party Member-