Thousands of FREE tickets to Inaugural Parade

Via afterdowningstreet.org - Ya gotta love a Pink Lady!

http://arrestbush2009.com

While they are involved in this typically bold action, Via the WaPO, there is an air of excitement evident in other positive actions that they will be undertaking at this historic event:

Code Pink, Arrest Bush, the Coalition for Peace and other liberal activist groups plan to jam the Mall and line the parade route on Inauguration Day. They will hoist banners, wave signs and call for action. It might look a lot like a protest rally. But don't call it that.

"It's not a protest; it's a celebratory event," said Jose Rodriguez, a longtime activist who is coordinating an Arrest Bush demonstration in front of the FBI building Tuesday.

...snip...

"We don't want to be seen as protesting against [Obama] so much as pushing him to fulfill his promises," said Medea Benjamin, founder of Code Pink. "It's totally, totally different."

I, for one, am always impressed by the bold actions they have taken on behalf of those that think just writing about all of these problems will make things happen. Actions that some of these same "thinkers" would denigrate because they think things will just suddenly change if we ask nicely. Politics in the USA is a push and shove game and the media will ignore those that are passively watching the real shakers and movers that bring much needed attention to these thoughtless idealists. You need to take a carrot and stick approach. And CodePink is the stick that has been shoved so far up the asses in Washington - much to others bemusement and my admiration.

Dissent is patriotic and these ladies are some of the most active patriots in modern American history.

Bottoms up and here is to you and everything you do, CodePink:

Modern History - Lieberman's Betrayal of Progressives

Think Progress has provided an in depth study of Lieberman's betrayal of progressives. The information will not come as a shock to anyone on the left that has followed him closely and recognized this unholy alliance early on as Lieberman pledged his allegiance to the warmongering neoconservative whack jobs and their likudnik/AIPAC allies. Lieberman's story is a bizarre combination of apologist for their neoconservative failures and an accomplice in covering up their crimes.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with Lieberman's self-propelled decent to this hellish low, please adjust your internal thermostat in order to keep your cool as you read because, in reality, this is not simply a chronicle of the betrayal of progressives, and the left in general, but of Joseph I. Lieberman's betrayal of America and some of the most basic principles she was founded upon.

“I’m a Democrat with a 35-year record of fighting for progressive causes, for the middle class, for civil rights, for women’s rights, for human rights and a lot more. I voted with my Senate Democratic colleagues 90 percent of the time.” — Joe Lieberman, 7/6/06

“I want Democrats to be back in the majority in Washington and elect a Democratic president in 2008.” — Joe Lieberman, 7/7/06

While Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) has fought for progressive policies in the past — such as protecting the environment and expanding civil rights — his recent record demonstrates that he’s a progressive no more. As this report documents, Lieberman has embraced the right wing on far more than foreign policy. In fact, he has betrayed progressive principles on a variety of domestic issues. As he has lurched to the right, Lieberman has actively worked to undermine the progressive agenda.

CONTENTS

– Undermined Progressives

– Domestic Policy

– On Leading The Homeland Security Committee: ‘We Don’t Like Investigating.’

– On Energy: Drill Baby, Drill

– On Taxes: ‘I Think It’s Wrong To Raise Any Taxes Now’


– On Health Care: Supported McCain’s Tax On Employer Health Care

– On Social Security: ‘Individual Control…Has To Happen.’

– On Alberto Gonzales: He ‘Deserves Our Appreciation’

– On The Christian-Right: Defended Pastor Hagee

– Campaigned Against Progressive Candidates

– National Security

– On Torture: ‘The Person Is In No Real Danger.’

– On Terrorism: Fear-mongering With The Radical Right.

– On Iran: Bomb Iran

– On Syria: Bomb Syria?

– On Iraq: U.S. ‘Did The Right Thing’

Read the entire piece here...

Be still my single payer heart...

Via DCblogger at Corrente and emphasis mine:

Mercury News

Daschle, the point man for Obama's campaign to revamp the health care system, supports the concept of "a government-run insurance program modeled after Medicare." It would, he says, give consumers, especially the uninsured, an alternative to commercial insurance offered by companies like Aetna, Humana and WellPoint.

But the proposal is anathema to many insurers, employers and Republicans. They say the government plan would have unfair advantages, like the ability to impose lower fees, and could eventually attract so many customers that private insurers would be driven from the market. "The public plan option is a terrible idea — one of our top concerns in the health reform debate," said James Gelfand, senior manager of health policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Why would employers object to a public plan that would be better and cheaper for their workers?

Here, not only do we have the right wing Chamber of Commerce health care Czar telling you flat out that the for profit health care providers can not compete in a free market with Medicare, a government run single payer program... But the fact that it starts with a Tom Daschle hint of things to come that damn near made me have a heart attack.

If this is the starting point of the health care debate than it is already over... (And, for a change of pace from the last 8 years, America wins!)

Holy Crap! CNN actually fact checked something?

Via Buzzflash, we have a single instance of a CNN reporter actually getting the facts, concerning Israel's fault in the current Palestinian slaughter, checked out and reporting on them:

Slowly, though, something is changing. As Israel pulverises Gaza, questions and doubts about Israeli policy are becoming more prominent in the American media. The failure of the war in Iraq and the attendant discrediting of neoconservatism has opened up new space in the American conversation. With the American right dejected and weakened, there's less pressure on the press to display the kind of boorish one-sidedness that self-congratulatory conservatives like to call "moral clarity". Israel's disproportionate retaliation in Gaza is increasingly recognised as both brutal and, in all likelihood, ultimately futile. In destroying Gaza, Israel is also destroying the American taboo that has ensured the country such unstintingly favourable media coverage.

On December 31, CNN took on the contentious question of whether Israel or Hamas broke the ceasefire, precipitating the current fighting. First, the network aired a clip of the liberal Palestinian legislator Mustafa Barghouti saying: "The world press community or media community is overwhelmed with the Israeli narrative, which is incorrect. The Israeli spokespersons have been spreading lies all over. The reality and the truth is that the side that broke this truce and this ceasefire was Israel. Two months before it ended, Israel started attacking Rafah, started attacking Hamas and never lifted the blockade on Gaza." Ordinarily, TV journalists would follow such a clip – if they even aired it in the first place – with one of Israel making its case, and would stop at that, leaving an audience already predisposed against the Palestinians to sort out the truth. Instead, anchor Rick Sanchez did something that should be commonplace, but sadly is not: he endeavoured to find out who was right.

"And you know what we did? I've checked with some of the folks here at our international desk, and I went to them and asked: 'What was he talking about, and do we have any information on that?'" said Sanchez. And he reported that his sources confirmed that Barghouti was right.

Which leads me to wonder if Wolf AIPAC Blitzer's head will explode live and on the air sometime soon or will he simply continue to dance around the issue while the rest of the world, his coworkers included, already recognizes the truth? Here is my best guess...

On an equally serious note as the situation in Gaza, will fact checking become a regular part of CNN programming? I would gladly welcome the opportunity to say that facts no longer had a liberal bias and that the media no longer danced to an AIPAC and neoconservative choreographed tune. Something they seem to be showing some minor signs of, recently.

Connecticut Bob has some interesting information and actions on the current I/P situation that deserves some serious consideration.

The Tennessee GOP is stunned and freaking out!

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No one saw this coming!

The Republicans -- who had just finally won control of the State House for the first time in 40+ years – were suppose to elect their Speaker of the House today. And failed!

Anaxamander has the details in his/her diary. The Tennessee State House has 50 Republicans and 49 Democrats. Well, Rep. Kent Williams (R-TN) got the support of all 49 Democrats plus his own vote to put himself in the Speaker’s chair.

The TNGOP is freaking stunned and freaking out!

Sorry... Couldn't help myself. :D

Nancy Johnson Deserves a Donut Hole

Not a high paying lobbying job working for Hartford. We can't get rid of these corrupt GOP cling ons in Connecticut. The voters flush them and they recycle as lobbyists or in other places of influence that they do not deserve given their complete and utter failure to represent the people while in office.

Will CT Investigate Ann Coulter For Voting Fraud?

Gotta love those fraudulent GOP values voters. Via C&L, Ann Coulter getting caught with her hand on the wrong voting lever AGAIN:

Ruh roh...another Coulter voter fraud issue...will she be able to weasel out of this one too? News Hounds:

Ann Coulter was cleared in a 2006 voter fraud investigation in Florida after an FBI agent/friend "intruded," but new questions have arisen about her previous voting record in Connecticut. The New York Daily News reports that Coulter voted there via absentee ballot in 2002 and 2004 while records show she actually lived in New York City. Given FOX News' obsession with voter fraud, can we expect an investigation from the "we report, you decide" network? A prime time discussion covering one of their most frequent guests on the "fair and balanced" network? Don't hold your breath. The Daily News reports that Connecticut will begin a formal investigation if they receive a complaint under oath.

Anyone feel like testifying? And should The Hartford Courant try to inflate their website stats with this story?

I thought I should point out that the Hartford Courant is inflating their website stats, Drudge-style, by including this on their homepage:

< : meta http-equiv="Refresh" content="900" / : > (Ed Note: slightly and symbolically modified with two colons to make the code viewable here- CM1)

They should knock it off.

How low do you have to sink to have someone honestly and factually compare you to Drudge?

If you can't trust them when it comes to something as basic as their web stats, how in the hell can you trust anything they have written on those inflated websites of theirs? That goes for both Drudge and the Courant. I don't need nor do I want them to refresh my page for any reason whatsoever. Though, I don't read Drudge because he is just plain stupid. You have to be completely brain dead to think he has anything of value to offer on those wingnut fantasy pages of his.

Meanwhile, over at Firedoglake they catch another wingnut, Peggy Noonan, doing the two faced two step:

How can you tell a Democrat is about to move into the White House? When Nooners writes something like this:

The Founders, who were awed by the presidency and who made it a point, the early ones, to speak in their inaugural addresses of how unworthy they felt, would be astonished and confounded by the over-awe with which we view presidents now. We treat them as if they are the Grand Imperial Czar of the Peacock Throne, and we their 'umble servants. It's no good, and vaguely un-American. Right now patriotism requires more than the usual candor. It requires speaking truthfully and constructively to a president who is a man, and just a man. We hire them, we fire them, they come back for photo-ops. They're not magic.

Yep, presidents are just ordinary, regular schmoes who we hire and fire every 4 years.

Unless of course, they're Republicans.

GOP wingnuts with absolutely nothing of value to offer come in 3s:

Peggy Noonan, Ann Coulter and the eggman,
Matt Drudge, strolling down wingnut lane together.

Sorry if that pic made you taste yer puke there... Maybe this story will make ya all feel a little better?