The Democratic Division Championship

I love analogies...

The Democratic Division Championship

With a touchdown on the first possession of the game, Quarterback Barack Obama showed he came to the game to take out the team most favored to win, the Clintons. Quarterback Hillary, threatened with being sidelined, cried out a play that kept her in the game.

Through the second quarter, both teams put points on the board, but the story was how team Obama were proving to be worthy opponents, inspiring the fired-up crowd. With each passing touchdown and field goal, it was clear this was going to be a tough-fought battle for the championship.

But it would become clear that only the Obamas were prepared to go past halftime. During the third quarter, the Clinton offense fell apart. The multiple-touchdown lead that everyone assumed Hillary would rack up faded away as the Obamas ran the ball downfield several times, with a few long passes for show. The Clintons pulled the dreaded "kitchen-sink" defense at the end of the third, but Barack weaved in and out of their attacks to successfully pass another ball into the end zone.

If the Obamas could keep their momentum through the fourth quarter, their victory seemed assured, but the drama was really about to unfold. On Team Obama, an offensive lineman barely off the bench, Jeremiah Wright, was penalized with a personal foul, bringing morale down. Sports reporters on the sidelines questioned how Barack could stick with his longtime teammate. Hillary created her own problem for the Clintons when she twisted herself executing the "sniper-fire" offense. She lost a lot of yardage with a few big penalties. The climax of the quarter so far, was when Wright was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct prompting his team captain to finally get him off the field.

When the fourth quarter hit the two minute warning, Obama defensive lineman "Gastax Holiday" (these players have the funniest names nowadays) grabbed the ball from Hillary's hands during a fake and scored another touchdown, ensuring a few more field goals from the Clintons would not overtake his lead. Since this interception, the crowd has been heading for the exits.

"But!" Hillary cried, "if you remove the yards the Obamas covered while making field goals, and you add the yards I should have gotten when I was penalized, then I have about 75 more yards traveled. Nevermind that I don't have the points. Nevermind that I have fewer visits to the end-zone. Nevermind that the other team has a larger salary cap and fan base. Nevermind that I didn't strategize my game to win with the existing rules."

"I have more yards traveled," Hillary said. "If this were 'hide and seek,' I'd already be the winner. If we changed the rules, I'd barely be ahead. And that's what makes me more qualified to go to the Superbowl. Pick me!"


So now there's only a few more seconds remaining on the clock, and the Clintons have remaining time for only three plays. Unless she can pull off the never-before seen "Superdelegate Reversal," it will be the young quarterback Barack Obama who will go on to face a wounded-but-dangerous Republican team, and their warrior-quarterback John McCain.

Joe Is for Obama

I saw Barack Obama for the first time when he gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. I knew immediately I would one day be supporting his campaign for presidency.

I believe in my generation. I know that's an odd thing for an Xer to say, but it's true. Xers, also known as the 13th Generation, are going to lead the world. For a decade and a half I've believed it would be our destiny to clean up the mess created by the idealist generation before us.

From the 1990 book "Generations: The History of America's Future" by William Strauss and Neil Howe:

"Their Elders don't see it yet, 13ers themselves only dimly sense it, but this streetwise generation does indeed bring a bag of savvy tricks their elders lack - skills that may come in handy the next time America gets into real trouble. More than anyone, they have developed a seasoned talent for getting the most out of a bad hand."

I have sensed Obama's directness over the years in interviews. He actually answers questions. He responds with an intellectual honesty that treats the American people with respect for their intelligence.

I have always hated how Boomers treat politics like a game instead of the means to govern. And now that their politics of personal destruction have scorched the political landscape, the American people are ready for a new way to run their own government.

Obama thinks he can bring the country together, be direct with the American people, and get citizens back in the process of running their country. It's a very Xer message: Cut the crap, and just do it.

"I think there is a great hunger for change in the country–and not just policy change," Obama told U.S. News...

... On December 10, in his debut speech in New Hampshire, Obama said, "America is ready to turn the page. America is ready for a new set of challenges. This is our time. A new generation is prepared to lead."

I believe American society will only progress when citizens take responsibility for their government. I believe Barack Obama knows this and is capable of bring Americans there. And that's why I'm for Barack Obama for President of the United States of America.

Senator Hatch Supports Adultery and Prostitution, but not Gay Americans.

Bullshit, Senator Hatch.

"'I've never judged a human being on those type of issues,' attested Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah)" about Senator David Vitter's (R-Utah) recent announcement that his number was on the DC Madam's call list.

No, Senator Hatch, you won't judge a fellow rich white heterosexual male Republican if he cheats on his wife while championing typical BS "family values" from the Senate floor. You don't mind when heterosexuals form "Big Love" style families with two or ten moms ("I'm not here to justify polygamy. All I can say is, I know people in Hildale who are polygamists who are very fine people"). But you will judge and justify denying an entire population of people based on their sexual orientation. To you, gays are bad, indecent, and unclean. According to HRC's congressional scorecard, when your JOB is judging issues that affect human beings you have no problems judging based on sex; you vote 100% against gay and lesbian issues.

I have been thinking recently that there is this fundamental divide between progressives and Republicans. Progressives get SOOO mad at hypocrisy, as if hypocrisy itself is the issue. We consider hypocrisy itself enough evidence to show an argument to be wrong. The problem with that is, Republicans don't give a shit about hypocrisy. From the White House to your neighbor's house, it's part of normal operating procedure. Hypocrisy, intellectual dishonesty (you know, when facts and reality get in the way of even the basic structure of your argument, you just ignore them), and outright lies are what fuels Republican talking points.

Forget about hypocrisy! Republicans don't care about it. The media doesn't care about it. As far as I'm concerned, Sen. Hatch wasn't being hypocritical, he was stating his support for Vitter's illegal, adulterous behavior.

Face it. Republican politicians know that "traditional family values" is a myth. It just happens to be a high-and-mighty myth that wins them xenophobic votes. When a party's fundamental tactic is deceit, is it any wonder all the perverts getting caught in office are Republicans?

Just keep chanting, maybe it will come true

Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama  Gore/Obama 

Obama's Tough Love

A friend in Republican recovery sent me an e-mail bemoaning Obama's "airing dirty laundry" of the African-American community , comparing it to Bill Clinton's Sister Souljah moment. He's convinced white voters who responded to Clinton's move wouldn't vote for Obama anyway, while black voters may punish him for speaking out about these (not just) black issues.

I think, in the end, he won't pick up any of those white voters Clinton did, and he's going to permanently lose a lot of black voters who were questioning just how "black" he is.

in my opinion, while these issues affect the black community, it's not just the black community. Education and self-respect is an issue in every community, maybe especially in poor and minority communities. When people speak out, they get backlash, but inevitably there comes a time when people who need leadership will begin to listen.

This was my reply to him:

I think you're being too cynical. There's no evidence this is just a political move. He isn't saying anything near radical. These are common themes discussed regularly, including by him in the past. Plus he's not doing this to distance himself from anyone, like Clinton was.

Maybe he doesn't want people to throw trash out of their window not because he wants to pick up white voters, but because it's correct. I see that kind of littering don't-give-a-crap-about-my

-front-yard mentality every day, and it's always in neighborhoods that are a wreck - people dumping their Filet-O-Fish boxes on their own front steps.

If anything, maybe he's calculating that he can pick up black support by talking about issues that are resonating with black voters. I think black leaders are tired of their own constituents' attitude as well. I've seen it firsthand. I've covered events in my neighborhood where this very thing was discussed. "Stop killing each other."

Stop thinking like a Republican. Not everything is a cynical move. Sometimes things are about leadership.

John McCain on The Daily Show

America's court jesters, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, are able to bring to the surface and speak truth to power because comedy is a powerful way of communicating with people's instinctive selves. When Stephen Colbert says ironically to Sean Penn, "Why should I care what any actor says about politics or international relations other than Ronald Regan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Fred Thompson?" he's speaking volumes about the hypocracy of the Right, the foolishness of their arguments, and the fakery of their leaders. Colbert so rocked the foundations of the White House Correspondents Association dinner last year that Washington is still feeling the aftershlocks in the form of the comedy stylings of Rich Little. But you can't BLAME Rich Little for bombing. His was a different time, and his material is stuck there. He's a walking "Best of" act from another era. This is the new millennium, a time of take-no-prisoners communication.

Jon Stewart sat down with John McCain last night and asked pointed difficult questions and gave blowback when McCain dodged the issues. Stewart's comedic relationship with McCain allowed for an interview that you would not see on a Sunday morning, where political talk shows are more about getting someone on the record instead of honestly debating issues. And it was infinitely deeper than most cable-talk "gotcha" shows that Stewart himself derided while a guest on the set of the thankfully-cancelled "Crossfire."

But even before the heat began, McCain began his interview with a joke about him wanting to kick a dog, and with a joke about bringing an IED (improvised explosive device) back from the infamous Iraq market stroll as a gift for Stewart to put under his desk. No, really, he actually said this. These are the comedy styling of John McCain, the man whose run for presidency ended before it began. At least he wasn't the entertainment at the White House Correspondents Association dinner.

Photos this weekend

The story about this weekend's counter-protest wasn't the Iraq war, it was really about the Wall. I made it to the protest area as the march was leaving DC to go to the Pentagon. I decided not to follow the march because I got caught up talking to some people who came to DC to counter-protest. My report didn't exactly come together as I had expected. I spent a lot of time at the Wall.

Also... I missed the action at the Pentagon, but I caught some protesters as they returned to DC to get arrested.

Protest Rally Point Brings Counter-Protesters Out in Large Numbers, Arrests

Why is Barack Obama so popular?

I'll tell you why.

In his e-mail today marking World AIDS Day, he talks about the challenges we face with the pandemic. And this is how he frames it:

"We can turn away from these Americans, and blame their problems on themselves, and embrace a politics that's punitive and petty, divisive and small.

"Or we can embrace another tradition of politics - a tradition that has stretched from the days of our founding to the glory of the civil rights movement, a tradition based on the simple idea that we have a stake in one another - and that what binds us together is greater than what drives us apart, and that if enough people believe in the truth of that proposition and act on it, then we might not solve every problem, but we can get something meaningful done for the people with whom we share this Earth."

This man is inspiring. He knows the importance of leadership. He actually ansers questions instead of dancing around talking points. He's becoming a symbol for the "Common Good," and America needs that right now. The world needs it.

I don't care if he's just a "Freshman Senator."  I'm ready for him to be President. Today.

Keith Olbermann telling it like it is

Holy shit.



Keith Olbermann telling it like it is. He better be careful or he might be dissappeared.

Mark Foley: Worst Coming Out Story Ever

Dear Mark Foley,

It really is a shame that as an out gay man you are spending your first National Coming Out Day today in "rehab" (wink, wink). But really, Mark, perhaps it's best that you stay out of the limelight for now, because besides the fact that gays don't want to claim you, your coming out story is a tragic tale.

If oppressive religious bigots had their way, every gay man would live like you did, Mark. They aren't so much against the idea of homosexuality, they just don't understand why they have to acknowledge its existence. Between Beverly LaHaye saying kids of gay parents are better off born into a sham family and Ex-Gay practitioners saying how happy a gay person will be if they only pretend to be straight, it's obvious that they Just Don't Want To See It. They want to put us in a closet with the rest of society's skeletons, and they don't care whose life is destroyed in the process.

They fear it because they don't understand it, and it just creeps them out. (Hey, I don't blame them. Every time I see two heteros kiss in a Big Red commercial, I get kinda queasy myself. I don't mind straight people, I just don't understand why they have to flaunt their sexuality. ) They would much rather gay men like you and me remain quiet, hidden, out-of-sight. They want us to deny our own existence so they can comfortably ignore us.

But that's tough to do, isn't it Mark? It's tough to suppress sexual feelings. After all, human sexuality is a driving factor in all that we do. When we are not allowed to nurture our natural human sexuality properly, it can destroy us. My guess, Mark, is that you just never grew up. I don't think your misdeeds were so much a matter of power, and it certainly wasn't pedophilia. I think it was a matter of sexual feeling misplaced toward youth because you never allowed your sexuality to mature. You longed for your own romantic youth. I bet you actually cared for these young guys, Mark. That's the reason you were co-chair of the Congressional Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus, wasn't it? You wanted to protect these young men from the real predators, not from a caring father-figure like yourself. Oh, how ugly it must have been fooling yourself that way.

The ultimate point is you used the government page program that asks parents to entrust their kids' well being in congress as your own personal farming operation to find underage guys you perceived to be gay, hot, or interested. Then you contacted them once they got home and hoped to hook up with them when the became "legal." While it's still a question whether you've done anything illegal, it's pretty creepy, man, and certainly conduct unbecoming anyone who uses the word "The Honorable" in his title. (I mean I knew there were chickenhawks in congress, but still.)

Mark, THAT ISN'T HEALTHY SEXUAL BEHAVIOR. You must have been begging to get caught. That amount of hubris either comes from a feeling of absolute power or self-destruction. Were you crying out to be able to be out? Were you so desperate to not disrupt your Republican Lifestyle on the surface that you had to unconsciously risk everything in order to be who you really are?

Because uptight fundamentalists are bugged by actually acknowledging reality, they've manipulated their religion into an oppressive weapon. Along the way, Republicans like yourself sold out their conservative party to these fundamentalists and have risked turning America into a theocracy during one of our most trying times as a country. It must have been getting tough on you, Mark, to pick up that gay-bashing weapon to win votes. Was that weapon getting so heavy on your shoulders that you were willing to get caught in a scandal that will end up being the nails in the Coffin of Republican Congressional Rule? Wow! Talk about self-destructive behavior. You've brought the whole government down with you!

It was when you started to be called "disgraced" and "a pedophile" that you were willing to say, through your lawyer, that you are "a gay man." Well, Mark, I guess it's a start. It's a horrible start following possibly the worst gay coming out story ever, but it's a start.

I only hope that young gay men, lesbians, and all those questioning whether they have "normal" sexuality look at your sad tale as a warning on how living a lie can be so destructive inside and out. Will you emerge from rehab with new found understanding that you only have one life, and you have to live it honestly in order to be happy? Will you level us with excuses and accusations so common to a Republican Lifestyle, or will you allow yourself to be an example of Who Not To Be?

You only have one life, Mark. How are you going to live it now?

Happy Coming Out Day.


'( '-' )' Bearnaked Joe

Pelosi on Meet the Press

I like House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, I just wish she would answer questions directly. She looks nervous. She dances around things instead of just going in for the kill. Check out these twenty seconds of completely wasted airtime on Meet the Press, Sunday May 7, 2006:

Russert: ...Has anything (about the situation in Iraq) changed (since you declared we should not pull out)?

Pelosi: No.

Russert: Do you think it's secure?

Pelosi: No.

Russert: ...then why would you withdraw troops?

Pelosi: Because th-i-b, it's not, it-, Yes! I would withdraw them because on the strength of expert advice - and now you see the generals speaking out on this - eh-th-e-eh-nuh - so much time went by - it was a year and a half between those two statements - and what we have still had not seen was a plan on the part of the president. The president continued to dig a hole in Iraq. He refuses to come out of there and see the daylight, and know that there's a change. There are only two courses of action in Iraq. The president's - to stay the course and some other president sweep up after him - or what the democrats are saying - 2006 must be a year of significant transition in Iraq with the Iraqis taking responsibility.

Ugh! JUST SAY IT! Try this next time...

Russert: ...Has anything (about the situation in Iraq) changed (since you declared we should not pull out)?

Answer: No! And that's the problem. It's been two years since I made that statement and we have still not seen a real plan on the part of the president. The president continues to dig a hole in Iraq. There are only two courses of action in Iraq: the president's - to stay the course and wait for some other some other president to sweep up after him while Iraqis and American soldiers pay the price - or what the democrats are saying - 2006 must be a year of significant transition in Iraq with the Iraqis taking responsibility.

Later, when she says she supports public financing of elections, Russert asks:

Russert: Who's going to pay for that? Do you think the American Taxpayer is going to want to pay for campaigns?

Pelosi (matter of factly): It can be an add-on, or the American People can decide...

Russert: What do you mean add-on?

Pelosi: They can add on to (tax returns)

WHAT?!?

Try this next time. And be pissed!

Answer: American taxpayers are already being fleeced ten times over the cost of financed elections when Republican systematic corruption robs from the treasury of the American people. Honest elections leads to honest and financially responsible government. Tim, honest elections pay for themselves.

Republicans Against the Common Good

Programs Bush Wants to Cut or Kill - Yahoo! News

Tax cuts for the richest. Everyone else is on his own.

The "Ownership Society" = the "Your On Your Own" society.

Republicans don't care about the common good.

I did a little math. The total costs listed here equal about $14.75 billion. Accordng to the Congressional Budget Office that's just equal to a little over a month-and-a-half of our costs in Iraq.

Bush - "the education president" - has proposed nearly $4.5 Billion in cuts in education. See the chart below for more insight into the president's priorities. Dollars are in millions. Click to enlarge.





TERMINATIONS: in Red

AGRICULTURE:

Microbiological data program, $6 million.

Community Connect broadband grants, $9 million. The Community Connect Broadband Grant program is a competitive federal grant program which enables communities to connect the essential services of police, fire protection, local government, hospitals, libraries and schools to broadband telecommunications services.


From the USDA
Commodity supplemental food program, $107 million. CSFP works to improve the health of low-income pregnant and breastfeeding women, other new mothers up to one year postpartum, infants, children up to age six, and elderly people at least 60 years of age by supplementing their diets with nutritious USDA commodity foods. It provides food and administrative funds to States to supplement the diets of these groups.

Research and extension grant earmarks, $196 million.

Ocean freight differential grants, $77 million.

Forest service economic action program, $10 million.

High cost energy grants, $26 million.

Public broadcast grants, $5 million.
Watershed protection and flood prevention operations, $75 million. "The purpose of the Watershed Program, including River Basin operations, is to assist Federal, State, local agencies, local government sponsors, tribal governments, and program participants to protect and restore watersheds from damage caused by erosion, floodwater, and sediment, to conserve and develop water and land resources, and solve natural resource and related economic problems on a watershed basis."

Total $511 million

___

COMMERCE

Advanced technology program, $79 million.

Emergency steel guarantee loan program $49 million

Telecommunications construction grants $22 million

Total $150 million

___

EDUCATION

Educational technology state grants, $272 million

Even Start, $99 million

High school programs terminations:

Vocational education state grants, $1,182 million

Vocational education national programs, $9 million

Upward Bound, $311 million

GEAR UP, $303 million

Talent search, $145 million

Tech prep state grants, $105 million

Smaller learning communities, $94 million

Safe and Drug-Free Schools state grants, $347 million

Elementary and secondary education program terminations:

Parental information and resource centers, $40 million

Arts in education, $35 million

Elementary and secondary school counseling, $35 million

Alcohol abuse reduction, $32 million

Civic education, $29 million

National Writing Project, $22 million

Star Schools, $15 million

School leadership,$15 million

Ready to Teach, $11 million

Javits gifted and talented education, $10 million

Exchanges with Historic Whaling and Trading Partners, $9 million

Comprehensive school reform, $8 million

Dropout prevention program, $5 million

Mental Health integration in schools, $5 million

Women's Educational Equity, $3 million

Academies for American History and Civics, $2 million

Close-Up fellowships, $1 million

Foundations for Learning, $1 million

Excellence in Economic Education, $1 million

Higher Education Programs:

Education demos for students with disabilities, $7 million

Underground Railroad Program, $2 million

State grants for incarcerated youth offenders, $23 million

Postsecondary Student Financial Assistance Programs:

Perkins Loan cancellations, $65 million

Leveraging educational assistance programs, $65 million

Byrd Scholarships, $41 million

Thurgood Marshall Legal Educational opportunity, $3 million

B.J. Stupak Olympic scholarships, $1 million

Vocational rehabilitation programs:

Supported employment, $30 million

Projects with industry, $20 million

Recreational programs, $3 million

Migrant and seasonal farmworkers,$2 million

Teacher Quality Enhancement, $60 million

Total $3,468 million

___

ENERGY

University nuclear energy program, $27 million

Oil and gas research and development, $64 million

Geothermal technology program, $23 million

Total $114 million

___
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control preventive block grant, $99 million

Real Choice System Change grants, $25 million

Community services block grant, $630 million

Community economic development, $27 million

Rural community facilities, $7 million
Job opportunities for low-income individuals, $6 million
Maternal and child health small categorical grants, $39 million

Urban Indian Health Program, $33 million

Total $866 million

___

HOMELAND SECURITY

Office of grants and training, $229 million

___

HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

HOPE VI, $198 million

___

INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs Johnson-O'Malley assistance grants, $16 million

Land and water conservation fund state recreation grants, $28 million

National Park Service statutory aid, $7 million

Rural fire assistance, $10 million

Total $61 million

__

JUSTICE

Byrne discretionary grants, $189 million

Byrne justice assistance grants, $327 million

Community Oriented Policing Services technology grants, $128 million

Juvenile accountability block grants, $49 million

National Drug Intelligence Center, $23 million

State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, $400 million

Total $1,116 million

___

LABOR

America's Job Bank, $15 million

Denali Commission job training earmark, $7 million

Migrant and seasonal farmworkers training program, $79 million

Reintegration of youthful offenders, $49 million
Susan Harwood training grants, $10 million

Work incentive grants, $20 million

Total $180 million

___

TRANSPORTATION

National defense tank vessel construction program, $74 million

Railroad rehabilitation financing loan program, $0 million (no funds were enacted in 2006)

Total $74 million

___

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Unrequested projects, $277 million

___

OTHER AGENCIES

National Civilian Community Corps, $22 million

President's Freedom scholarships, $4 million

National Veterans Business Development Corporation, $1 million

Small Business Administration microloan program, $14 million

Postal Service forgone revenue appropriation, $29 million

Total $70 million

_____

MAJOR REDUCTIONS: in brown

__

AGRICULTURE

Conservation operations, $77 million

Resource conservation and development program, $25 million

State and private forestry, $100 million

In-house research, $123 million

Environmental quality incentives program, $270 million

Market access program, $100 million

Rural Economic development grants, $89 million

Watershed rehabilitation program, $ 65 million

Farmland protection program, $47 million

Value-added marketing grants, $40 million

Wildlife habitat incentives program, $30 million

Agricultural management assistance, $14 million

Broadband, $10 million

Ground and surface water conservation, $9 million

Renewable energy program, $3 million

Biomass research and development, $2 million

Total $1004 million

___

COMMERCE

Manufacturing extension partnership, $59 million

Technology administration, $5 million

Total $64 million

___

EDUCATION

Perkins Loans Institutional Fund recall, $664 million

Teaching American history, $71 million Why teach American history, when you can reinvent it?
Physical education, $47 million

Mentoring program, $30 million

Total 811 million

___

ENERGY

Environmental management, $762 million

Weatherization assistance program, $79 million

Clean Coal Power initiative, $45 million

Total $886 million

___

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Service Administration- Children's Graduate Medical Education, $198

HRSA Health professions, $136 million
HRSA Poison control centers, $10 million
HRSA Rural health, $133 million

Social Services block grant, $500 million

Substance abuse and mental health programs, $71 million
Total $1,048 million

___

HOMELAND SECURITY

Office of grants and training, $694 million

__

HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

Public housing capital fund, $261 million

___

INTERIOR

BIA school construction, $50 million Schools for native Americans
Bureau of Reclamation reductions, $127 million

USGS Mineral Resources program, $22 million

Total $199 million

___

LABOR

State job training grants consolidation, $514 million

International Labor Affairs Bureau, $61 million

Office of Disability Employment Policy, $8 million

Total $583 million

___

TRANSPORTATION

Amtrak, $394 million

Federal Aviation Administration, Airport improvement program, $765 million

Total $1,159 million

TREASURY

Internal Revenue Service business systems modernization, $30 million

___

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Alaska Native villages, $19 million

Clean water state revolving fund, $199 million

Total $218 million

___

INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS

Assistance for Eastern European democracy, $83 million

Assistance for the state of the former Soviet Union, $68 million

Total $160 million

___

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

Aeronautics Mission Research Directorate, $160 million

___

OTHER AGENCIES

Corporation for Public Broadcasting, $114 million

Denali Commission, $47 million

National Archives and Records Administration, $8 million

Tim Kaine

Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia is giving the Democrat response to the State of the Union Address. He sounds and looks like a young salesman working his way through a presentation. He's like a bad infomercial. Totally unbelievable. I'm so disappointed.

State of the Union

Watching this State of the Union is like watching the Golden Globes instead of the Oscars. Everybody is just a little bit wacky.

USATODAY.com - Sen. Judd Gregg wins $853,492 in Powerball

USATODAY.com - Sen. Judd Gregg wins $853,492 in Powerball

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg called a news conference for Thursday to announce that he's one of 47 Powerball players who matched five of the lottery's numbers, minus the Powerball number — winning him a total of $853,492.

On the Republican Agenda: Tax the Poor by Rewarding the Rich then Claiming Bankruptcy

Republicans award huge tax cuts to the richest of the rich and dole out corporate welfare. Republicans took America's savings - the surplus handed to them after eight years of prosperity - and divided it amongst themselves. Average Americans saved a few hundred dollars, but quickly saw that money evaporate in state taxes and oil profits. Now to pay for our American Rainy Day, the Republicans want to break the backs of the poorest of the poor. They want to pick the pocket of the the sick to keep precious tax cuts for the wealthiest.

We had a tax system that was doing just fine. Prosperity, savings, opportunity. But the money the wealthiest were making wasn't enough for them. They won't even pay for the war, instead charging our China Platinum Card and expecting our kids to pay it off.

Rob the poor to give to the rich. That's the Republican way.

House GOP Leaders Set to Cut Spending

House Republican leaders have moved from balking at big cuts in Medicaid and other programs to embracing them, driven by pent-up anger from fiscal conservatives concerned about runaway spending and the leadership's own weakening hold on power.

Beginning this week, the House GOP lawmakers will take steps to cut as much as $50 billion from the fiscal 2006 budget for health care for the poor, food stamps and farm supports, as well as considering across-the-board cuts in other programs. Only last month, then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (Tex.) and other GOP leaders quashed demands within their party for budget cuts to pay for the soaring cost of hurricane relief.

Democratic Mechanic: Dean to Overhaul Democrats

This is why I donate monthly to the Democratic Party. I think Howard Dean is taking absolutely the right approach to reform the party. Now if only elected Democrats in congress would follow his lead and grow some balls.

Newsview: Dean Aims to Overhaul Democrats

Dean is putting four or five DNC staff members in every state with orders to organize every precinct. One of the organizers' first mandates is to conduct four major events a year, one or two of which are mainly social.

Dean learned from his own campaign that it is critical to form relationships that turn into small communities and build into networks of people who feel part of a bottom-up operation with a purpose larger than themselves.

It's a long-term investment that runs counter to the political culture in Washington that, in the last years of the 20th century, has valued multimillion-dollar TV buys over grass-roots organizing.

'You've got to recruit people. You've got to ask them to do something,' Dean said. 'You have to treat them like a community.'

Nominate your friends to the Supreme Court

Bush completed an exhaustive search of twenty square feet and found his friend and crony, Harriet Miers, to nominate to the Supreme Court in order to shield him from court challenges on his presidency (torture, civil liberties, term limits?). Now at Dean's Democracy for America website, you can nominate your own friends to be your political safety net on the country's highest bench.

On the Republican Agenda: Disclosing an American Spy's Identity in Wartime for Politics

Scott McClellan also told us that Karl Rove had nothing to do with the treasonous leaking of a CIA agent's identity in an attempt for political gain. Now it looks like Rove may be targeted for indictment.

Selling out an American CIA agent for a day's worth of political talking points. Disgusting. Republican.

Sen. Rick Santorum is an Elitist Homophobe

So let me get this straight: Sen. Santorum gives his full support to his gay aide, but wants to deny rights and dignity to all other gay Americans?

Philadelphia Inquirer | 07/16/2005 | A top Santorum aide is gay(registration required)

PageOneQ reports on the article.

Sen Santorum says the fact that his aide is gay and being reported in the media is an invasion of privacy, but the fact that I love my boyfriend and want my right to pursue happiness is somehow his business to attack for political gain?

This is just more evidence how hypocritical Republicans abuse both the religious right and gays to obtain and keep power for power's sake.

Runaway Right

While you are watching the terribly important Runaway Bride story unfold, State of Florida Republicans are forcing babies to risk their lives having babies. A 13 year-old girl must relinquish her right to an abortion as permitted by state law because (get this) she's too immature to make that decision.

The Case of L.G.

Which rights are they going to take away from you?

If you think this is important, please pass it along. The mainstream media has barely picked it up.

It's just them stirring up their base. Ho Hum. Nothing to worry about.

When they stir average people who are seriously misguided because of economic depression, they are actually inciting intolerance toward gays. Once these people are stirred, what happens next?

These stirred people covet the courts. Once they get the courts, they will be able to remake the laws of America into the "righteous" laws of their god. They want bad judges with closed minds who will side with them and with their god.

They will take away your right to hold a job. They will take away your right to adopt, or house foster children. They will ban sodomy.

And then once those changes are secure, they'll stir some more.

They will lie about you. They will call you diseased. They will say you are evil.

They believe that your lifestyle, with two men having sex and genuine tenderness, is abhorrent and must be stopped. They will close gay bars, under pretense of "morals." They will demand hotels not host gay events. They will reverse indecency laws and they WILL take your porn.

They will allow children in the schools to believe that hating gays is OK. Another young gay teen will kill himself.

These things are not that far away. If you believe your countrymen will not let this happen, let me say I never thought they'd condone a lying president. I never thought they'd condone torture. They have. Even if we vote them out once America wakes up, we will be unable to prevent the damage that will be done in the meantime. It will take years of work just to reattain the strides we've made to today.

Just last week Texas has passed a new law (voted 135 to 6!!!) restricting our rights. Foster children will be torn from the arms of gay guardians.

Every time they stir up their base, we need to stir up our base. Why aren't we having "Defense of Gay Rights" rallies every month all over the country? At what point do we start realizing that the more they "stir up their base," the more the base controls the party?

We need leadership.

We might be able to sit back and not worry about them stirring up their base if we had some power. But we are barely holding any power as it is, why do they need to stir up their base so much? What else do they have planned? What reward will the Republicans hand them for giving them victory? Imagine what the reward will be if Reconstructionists give Republicans a supermajority in 2006? One more Republican congress after 2006 will do serious damage to civil liberties, especially affecting the quality of life for gays. We need to demand that we have a brand new congress with new direction under Democratic leadership in 2006.

Gay people have the potential to be seriously damaged in the changing winds. Might makes right. Good doesn't always win.

We are down. We need to stir up our base. Every single day.

Is This "Common Sense?"

Is this going to be the "Common Sense" of our times?

Living Under Fascism - Davidson Loehr, November 7, 2004, First UU Church of Austin, TX

My thoughts this week have been based on morality, atheism, and the nature of the political and religious prostitution going on. I was convinced there needed to be some new guide to morality for Americans, because Americans are obviously yearning for it. Christianity is obviously not working, considering morality must lack hypocracy. Self-help books fly off the shelves, and yet people still watch Desperate Housewives

So when I discovered Davidson Loehr's sermon, this paragraph really stood out for me:

As some critics are now saying, and as I have been preaching and writing for almost twenty years, America’s liberals need to grow beyond political liberalism, with its often self-absorbed focus on individual rights to the exclusion of individual responsibilities to the larger society. Liberals will have to construct a more complete vision with moral and religious grounding. That does not mean confessional Christianity. It means the legitimate heir to Christianity. Such a legitimate heir need not be a religion, though it must have clear moral power, and be able to attract the minds and hearts of a voting majority of Americans.

So are we living in Fascist Times? Green Day seemingly thinks so.

Here is an excellent article: FRAMESHOP: American Fascism: The Questions Begin Again

What do you think? (Read the articles before you supply your answer.)

I Love Christian Republicans. I Really Do.

Here on Justice Sunday, let me say for the record that I have no problem with Republicans or Christians. I really don't. I feel for them, really.

Those who believe in Jesus and adhere to the ideals of love, forgiveness, humility, and service to others are wonderful people. It's when Christian teachings are twisted (with the help of the helpless Bible) into judgmentalism, self-righteousness, and an attempt to control my government, that I see evil. Christians are not my enemy. Extremist hijackers of the Christian message are my enemy.

Republicans who believe in lower taxes, less government, free religion, states rights, and individual liberties are patriots. It's when Republicans use Christians to win elections - and go on to solidify power by strong-arming and further corrupting Washington, illegally redraw voting lines, dismantle our Constitution, and reward the rich for bringing them the $$ to sell their corrupted message - that Republicans are traitors.

Look, these Christian Reconstructionists have stolen the Bible and are using it and America's mindless grip by religion to control our government. They already control two branches of the government and are salivating for the third (read this!). They have chosen battles to get their troops motivated and divide the rest of the country. They want to remake America in the image of a Christian theocray. These radical, misguided people, are fighting for their God. They've taken their own prejudices and are using religion to further them and codify them into government. This isn't hatred, this is applying religion to misguided personal prejudices in order to find meaning to life.

I have no problem with Christians, but Christians need to realize they need to stop falling into the trap of the "reconstructionist" right by handing them Repuglican victories. These theocratic constitution killers are no more tolerant to moderate Christian views than they are to my gay atheist views. Once they've managed to dismantle gay rights protections in this country, they will continue to work on abortion, Hollywood, science, adult entertainment, the Internet, the schools, cable TV, satellite radio. Not to mention the courts, the media, the congress. They might come after your church, too, if you don't believe what they say you should believe.

Mr. And Ms. average everyday American Christian, you are helping the radical right obtain complete control of our country. Please stop!

DeLay Froths at the Mouth

DeLay has gone comepletely batshit for the cause of the American Taliban radical religious right.

He wants:

the House Judiciary Committee to investigate the clause in the Constitution that says "judges can serve as long as they serve with good behavior," he said. "We want to define what good behavior means. And that's where you have to start."

He's threatening to rape the US Constitution because judges disagreed with daLeader and his religious whackos? This man is an embarrassment. When will we have our generation's "Have you no shame?" moment?

DeLay Slams Supreme Court Justice

The Beasts and the Children

The Concerned Women for America list these as their core issues:

Definition of Family
Sanctity of Life
Education
Pornography
Religious Liberty
National Sovereignty

If you check their links and posts, you see no priority for:

Child Abuse
Domestic Violence
Divorce
Drug Abuse
Alcohol Abuse
Homeless Families


If these self-righteous, self-appointed moral monitors of our society cared about making a real difference in the lives of families and children, they would be outraged and at least link to this horrific story:Couple in Florida Tortured, Starved Children. I promise you if the couple had been of the same sex, they would be all over it.

Please Americans of a reasonable mind, help end the intolerance and instead work to improve the real problems confronting society.

More Conservative Shills

I always knew there was something suspicious about Maggie Gallagher.

Maureen Dowd offers to sell her services to the Bush administration after learning, "from the media reporter Howard Kurtz that the syndicated columnist Maggie Gallagher had a $21,500 contract from the Health and Human Services Department to work on material promoting the agency's $300 million initiative to encourage marriage."

But only man-on-woman marriage...

And what gave the administration the belief that it is their responsibility to encourage marriage?