Two Vermont Towns Vote to Indict Bush and Cheney

The two sanest towns in the nation:

Brattleboro, Vt., voted today in support of a measure calling on the town's police force to arrest and indict Bush and Cheney. The vote was 2012-1795.

Marlboro, Vt., passed a similar measure at its town meeting today at which the vote to indict Bush and Cheney was 43-25-3. That's 43 in favor and 3 abstaining. Thus Marlboro beat Brattleboro to it by a few hours. In Brattleboro, the indictment question was on the primary ballots for both parties.

Here's a kit for other towns to use:
http://afterdowningstreet.org/indictkit

Here is background on Brattleboro's indictment ballot initiative, written prior to the vote:

When citizens and voters go to the town meeting and primaries in Brattleboro, Vermont, on Tuesday, there will be a question on the back of all ballots, and a circle to mark Yes and one to mark No:

"Shall the Selectboard instruct the Town Attorney to draft indictments against President Bush and Vice President Cheney for crimes against our Constitution and publish said indictments for consideration by other authorities, and shall it be the law of the Town of Brattleboro that the Brattleboro police, pursuant to the above mentioned indictments, arrest and detain George Bush and Richard Cheney in Brattleboro if they are not duly impeached, and prosecuted or extradite them to other authorities that may reasonably contend to prosecute them?"

Read more...

Radio Plugs Melanie Morgan's Gaping Gas Chamber

More of a radio un-plug, as they kill Melanie Morgan's special brand of wingnut hate radio. But fear not far right wing dumpster divers! She still has other unscrupulous outlets to collect a check from:

Right-wing radio host Melanie Morgan — who once called for the editor of The New York Times to be “sent to the gas chamber” — has been fired from her job at KSFO 560 AM, but will continue her World Net Daily column. “[J]ust because Melanie Morgan is off the air doesn’t mean she’s off our radar,” said Media Matters spokesman Karl Frisch.

Yes. You can always count on World Nut Daily to help keep the wingnut welfare gravy train hauling GOP trash.

Is Clinton Running as the Republican VP Candidate?

I am not kidding here:



Via turnerresq's diary at dKos:

There has been quite a bit of news on the statement by Hillary Clinton that she and McCain had experience, and Obama simply has a speech.

"I think that I have a lifetime of experience that I will bring to the White House. I know Senator McCain has a lifetime of experience to the White House. And Senator Obama has a speech he gave in 2002," Clinton says.

This has gotten a lot of criticism on the web. And Keith has just weighed in. I don't have a link yet, but we've got what was just discussed on Countdown. He and Rachel Maddow were incredulous at her 3AM video, as well as her statements.

Rachel Maddow:

"That's what you say when you want to be John McCain's Vice Presidential choice. That's not what you say when you are trying to become the democratic nominee for president."

Keith:

"Unbelievable."

Absolutely on point. Hillary's statement is outrageous, essentially cutting an ad for McCain in the general if Obama is the nominee. Olbermann openly wondered why she was playing this card, and also cited the inability of Hillary advisers to point to where she has been tested on foreign policy.

And some Democratic supporters wonder why many independents look at her campaign and say they will never vote for her? She and her campaign are the epitome of the reasoning behind some in the left voting for 3rd party candidates.

Telecom Immunity and Chris Murphy

We already knew that he Rep. Chris Murphy opposes immunity for the telecoms but just to be on the safe side, and with another vote in the House coming up that includes immunity in it, I had to give a call. The gentleman that answered Rep. Murphy's phone (Call NOW! 202-225-4476) assured me that Chris Murphy would not support any legislation that included immunity.

The only reason I am posting on this is the fact that we need to remain vigilant on this issue. You know for a fact that there are a few in the right wing noise machine that are cranking out phone calls, Emails and faxes (never mind the GOP's failed fearmongering campaign) trying to persuade Representatives across the country to toss the Constitution in the garbage.

Fortunately the majority of Americans are against immunity for telecoms for the obvious reasons that it is illegal and unconstitutional, and I made certain to point that out in my phone call. Make sure that your voice is heard loud and clear.

You can find contact information for your Congressional Representative here. There is also a petition you can sign on to over at PFAW.

Musician Jeff Healey Dies of Cancer

There are a lot of songs that I love listening to running through my head right now:

Rock and jazz musician Jeff Healey died Sunday in a Toronto hospital after a battle with cancer, his publicist said.

He was 41.

Healey's battle with cancer began at age one when he lost his sight due to Retinoblastoma, a rare form of retinal cancer.

Man... I saw him play before he was big and the place rocked and everyone left that bar knowing that he was going places. RIP Jeff Healey...

U.S. Home Foreclosures Jump 90% as Mortgages Reset

And the results of the bush ownership society start rolling in:

Bank seizures of U.S. homes almost doubled in January as property owners failed to make higher payments on adjustable-rate mortgages.

Repossessions rose 90 percent to 45,327 last month from the same period a year ago, according to RealtyTrac Inc., a seller of foreclosure statistics that has a database of more than 1 million properties. Total foreclosure filings, which include default and auction notices as well as bank seizures, increased 57 percent.

``The most troubling thing is that we are seeing more and more of these properties actually going all the way through the process and going back to the banks,'' Rick Sharga, executive vice president of Irvine, California-based RealtyTrac, said.

snip

More than 233,000 properties were in some stage of default last month. Total filings increased 8 percent in January from December, RealtyTrac said today in a statement.

Yes! The banks problems are the most troubling issues. Never mind the millions of American families that are or will be looking for new places to live, *IF* they can with their credit in ruin. Of course, the banks and mortgage companies are more worried about their demands for corporate welfare to keep them afloat through their hard times than they are about Joe and Suzy Sixpack living in the front seat of their car with the kids in the back seat...

This is only the beginning and it is only going to get worse.

Can Foreign Born John McCain Be President?

The fact that John McCain was born in a foreign land has even the McCain campaign scrambling for legal cover:

Mr. McCain’s likely nomination as the Republican candidate for president and the happenstance of his birth in the Panama Canal Zone in 1936 are reviving a musty debate that has surfaced periodically since the founders first set quill to parchment and declared that only a “natural-born citizen” can hold the nation’s highest office.

The phrase “natural born” was in early drafts of the Constitution. Scholars say notes of the Constitutional Convention give away little of the intent of the framers. Its origin may be traced to a letter from John Jay to George Washington, with Jay suggesting that to prevent foreigners from becoming commander in chief, the Constitution needed to “declare expressly” that only a natural-born citizen could be president.

Ms. Duggin and others who have explored the arcane subject in depth say legal argument and basic fairness may indeed be on the side of Mr. McCain, a longtime member of Congress from Arizona. But multiple experts and scholarly reviews say the issue has never been definitively resolved by either Congress or the Supreme Court.

Just some food for thought as conservatives seem to be on their way to nominating the first Panamanian born candidate for President of the United States of America. Not that he is likely to win, and I wonder if McCain is related to Manuel Noriega?