This hour has 22 minutes...

22 minutes into the Obama presidency and the failed wingnuts are already blaming Obama for Iraq?

I believe you'll find Goldfarb and his disciples of extreme ignorance among these Americans:

The White House has a Blog...

Via Crooks and Liars, I am trying to imagine what it would have looked like under the criminal bush administration?

THE BLOG:

TUE, JANUARY 20, 12:01 PM EST

Change has come to WhiteHouse.gov

The first post on WhiteHouse.gov.

TUE, JANUARY 20, 12:01 PM EST

A National Day of Renewal and Reconciliation

President Barack Obama's first proclamation.

TUE, JANUARY 20, 12:01 PM EST

Honoring Dr. King’s Legacy and Serving America

The President, Vice President, and their families attend service events in Washington on Martin Luther King Day, one day before Inauguration.

TUE, JANUARY 20, 12:01 PM EST

Read The Inaugural Address

The full text of President Obama's Inaugural Address.

TUE, JANUARY 20, 12:01 PM EST

The Whistle Stop Tour

Following the same route that Abraham Lincoln rode 150 years ago, President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and Dr. Jill Biden made their way to the inauguration on a whistle stop train tour that wove its way from Philadelphia through Delaware and Maryland on its way to Washington.

We have yet begun to fight...

I was over at The Field Negro's Blog - reading how he was going to live up to his promise of running through the streets of Philly nekid if Obama won - Anyways, I did have a little suggestion for him:

"To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high."

It is an inscription on the wall of the dressing room of the Montreal Canadiens and is often used as rallying call for sports teams up north. It is taken from the poem "In Flanders Fields".

You might want to consider carrying a torch on your run, my friend. There is a lot of talk kicking around the news and the Blogs about the historic nature of this day. How this is such a huge positive change. But there is still a lot to do, and a lot of different battles that we all have ahead of us.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
— Lt.-Col. John McCrae

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Flanders_Fields

The poppies referred to in the poem grew in profusion in Flanders where war casualties had been buried and thus became a symbol of Remembrance Day. The poem is part of Remembrance Day solemnities in Allied countries which contributed troops to World War I, particularly in countries of the British Empire that did so.

The line is appropriate for everyone, liberal activists pushing for change, minorities and Black activists that still have a long way to go... Everyone that has been on the outside looking in at the dismal failures in American politics.

Yeah. I am stoked for change. And I have a dream too.

The real fights are just about to begin and the real challenge is to keep the torch burning as we move forward.

This is the end of the bush years. The worst president in the history of the USA.

The end of the worst government ever to enter into power in Washington, D.C.. Power hungry fools with a reckless disregard for the needs of the people.

The end of the of the neoconservative reign of terror. Modern day Jacobins that use terror to instill fear in the American population.

We have begun the change. And started to live up to the possibilities of so many dreams.

But it is, still, only the beginning.



[update] Via joesaho at MLN, How appropriate for this post:

The Bushes Depart | 12:56 p.m. The helicopter steps are folded up. The blade begins to rotate. The Obamas and Bidens are standing still, holding each other’s hands, as they watch the helicopter rev up. We now have lift-off; the Bushes have left the Capitol at 12:55 — almost half an hour ahead of time. The Obamas wave.

The helicopter is swinging out over the Mall first instead of heading directly to Andrews. Surely the Bushes can’t hear the crowd below, but the chant is one that sports fans jeer to the opposing team: “Na Na Na Na/Na Na Na Na/Hey Hey Hey/Good-bye.”

A cheer that started at the old Forum in Montreal. :)

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.