5/2/09

What day is it?

Just a reminder, from the archives, concerning what a big part of Blogging is all about. Also, it is a reminder that every day is Blogroll Amnesty Day:

Celebrating Blogroll Amnesty Day!

It is a little early but Mike the Mad Biologist brings back an idea that skippy the bush kangaroo and Jon Swift got a lot of people involved in last February after January's link assault by some "A list" Bloggers:

"Speaking of Jon Swift, the start of 2008 seems like a good time to have another Blogroll Amnesty Day. If you're not on my blogroll, and I'm on yours, leave me a link below and I'll add you (note: racists, creationists, and flat-out weirdos won't be accepted). Instructions below the fold.

Please put your blog name on one line, and the url on the second line, like so:

Mike the Mad Biologist
http://scienceblogs.com/mikethemadbiologist/

or give me a line of html code, like so:

Mike the Mad Biologist

Thanks!"

Same goes for this Blog. If I am on your Blogroll and you notice that you are not on mine, tell me! I will fix it. Heck... Add me to yours and I will add you to mine. Just drop a note in comments here.

For me, it doesn't matter whether you are covering local Connecticut stuff, national politics, and or pretty much anything else. And if you click around you should be able to get a link from Mike, John Swift and skippy as well as from here! Four Blogroll links just for being astute enough to add 4 links from your Blogroll... Does it get any better or easier than that? [ed. note: Of course, for the cost of a few comments once in awhile you might be more likely to get links?]

Some ideas are worth repeating over and over again. It is all about building a better Blogtopia! (y!sctp) I was re-repeating the mantra to left leaning people to "Link Damnit!" in a piece on the "Blog Link Meta Backlash" around the time all of that stuff was going down:

(Here I am with another "Link Damnit!" moment...)

Skippy hops along in Jon Swift's "Liberal Linking Policy" footsteps:
skippy the bush kangaroo:
we got yer 'amnesty' right here

"and who are we to limit political discourse diversity? what's going on here? it's as if the major blogs are trying to emulate the democrats in washington who suddenly forget about their constituents.

(ok, it's not. our metaphors suck tonight. but we're pissed. so cut us some slack.)

ergo, we here at skippy are planning to retaliate by offering real blog amnesty. and here's how it goes:

many smaller blogs link to skippy for one or more of a few reasons: out of politeness, out of a hope that we might notice them and link back, or simply out of the imitation of what it takes to make a good blog. it's the second reason that interests us (we really should have put it as the last reason to be more clear with sentence structure (on the other hand, using less parenthetical phrases in a paragraph would go a long way towards grammatical clarity (too late now))).

to wit: any blog that has linked to skippy and has not received a reciprocal blogroll link will now be included on our roll! all you have to do is notify us in our comments section or email us, and we will happily include you! that will show those big shot elitists too good for the little guy blogs! ha!"

At a time when the bigger Blogs need to be doing more to help build the left community some are, and some aren't. I find it ironic that I posted just last week on Chris Bowers argument that we need to link more effectively:
If everyone on the left works a little harder on this we can turn the tides on on the Google Wars and win. We have already made a lot of inroads since this 2004 picture:


The graphs represent the aggregate linkage going on leading up to the 2004 election. Reds (them) are the Republican bloggers, and Blues (us) are the Democratic bloggers. The full expanation of the graphs particulars are on page 9 of the PDF paper. Basically, the first graph connects dots (blogs) when there is strong linkage between them (+25 during the period), the second one where there is less stronger linkage (+5), and they've a 3rd map that includes all linkage that I've not included.

Between blogs then (not taking into consideration that diaries on #8DailyKos and #17MyDD serve to allow massive coordiantion and spreading of message), there's just a lot more coordination through linking among Republican than there has been with Democratic bloggers, at least on the surface of particular URL's. The other interesting thing I noted was that the blog by George Bush's campaign didn't even make the top 40-- now that's pitiful.


We were less coordinated in '04. But in '06 we did little things a little better. I am sure the more recent graphs would look a lot better. But you know that we can still keep on improving on this.

Remember that every time you link to any site you are, over time, creating a kind of GOOGLEBOMB effect on that site when it comes to site rankings, search results, etc.. Tagging and choice of words that are used to link are important in these cumulitive effects as well.
Now this week... Brilliant at Breakfast has the scoop on how MyDD has become an apologist for those attempting to cut out the links that we need to build the Left:

Shorter Chris Bowers

"We innovate more than you, we hired people to help us, and because we did that there is no place for you lone bloggers anymore -- because WE decide who makes it and who doesn't."

Oh, you really have to read this self-congratulatory drivel to believe it. It's truly amazing to see one blogger fellating the entire Big Name Blogosphere in one post, while at the same time consigning the rest of us to the ranks of the MySpacers.

Kool Kidz Klub indeed.

It's funny how Bowers uses a quote by Jeffrey Feldman to illustrate his point, because as I've mentioned before, I had a very nice conversation about blogging just last week with Mr. Feldman, who seems to be in no way a blog snob. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to see that there is at least one Big Name Blogger who isn't puffed up with his own self-importance.

But with Kos and Atrios making a big show about "culling the blogroll", and Chris Bowers playing "Mine's Bigger" with the rest of the blogosphere, is this really what it's come to? Is this the Revenge of the Nerds come to fruition? Is this the guys who DIDN'T get laid on prom night finally staking their claim to coolness?

If so, are we going to sit by and take it? Are we going to just toil away while guys like Atrios and Kos and Chris Bowers define the rules and brand the rest of us as useless?

What an amazing flip-flop-contortion there Bowers... This leaves me wondering just how committed he really is to the cause.

Jon Swift puts it all in perspective:
I adopted this policy in a spirit of both self-interest and altruism. In the blogosphere links are like capital. By offering links to others, others would be more inclined to offer links to me. But I am also very grateful to those who helped me out by throwing a link my way or adding me to their blogroll when I was just starting out. Now that I am a Large Mammal, according the Truth Laid Bear Ecosystem, I have tried to return the favor by helping out those further down the food chain.
Links are capital! It is the foundation of bringing views from fellow bloggers out of obscurity and into the top of search engine results. And just how much does it cost any blogger to spend some of this valuable capital?

ZIP. Zilch. Zero dollars.

Not even one penny to use the most effective marketing tool that Blogtopia has to offer.

All you have to do is put a few seconds into the act of cut'n'paste into your Blogroll or into a post... And you make a huge difference for everyone in our fight.

As ctblogger commented in an earlier MLN diary of mine on building a better community:
We should all work together to fight the good progressive fight and not be so critical in terms of other people's sites. I read CTBlue, Ed's Daily Rant, CT Local Politics, and the watch sites everyday and I learn something new from all of those guys which I incorporate into my site and that's the way it should be. Learn something from me and I learn something from you.

2006 is going to be a HUGE election year and Connecticut will be ground zero in terms of who controls Congress (2nd, 4th 5th district races). The faster we can all work to get this site up to full-speed, the more national attention it will receive.


He also called me out for not having links to his sites... Which I quickly fixed. lol

2006 is behind us but there are still a lot of common causes that we all share, and we can all help each other in achieving our goals. Linking is the first, easiest AND cheapest way to start.

For more background on all of this: Boston Joe has a Meta diary up x-posted at BooTrib and at MLW covering a bit more of this Meta discussion in a thoughtful way. Both have generated a lot of comments. I usually hate Meta... But this topic is the foundation of what Blogging is all about.
We can do better than we have been doing. And if we keep building on what we already have our numbers (and the fact that we deal in reality) will easily overcome the right wing echo chamber's lies and propaganda.

Start the new year off kicking Blogtopia (y!sctp) up a notch! BAM!

[update] Many Bloggers chose to participate in Blogroll Amnesty Day, but did it work?

Yes! But not perfectly:
I hope that helps a little in fixing the problem, and I still plan on using these Blogs for references in future posts...

Do you read a lot?

I do...
Just a Blogroll edition in an effort to keep the links in the technoratie count of my faves since Blogrolls don't do as much used to anymore:

Caterwauled
The 40 Year Plan
Region 19 BOE Gazette
Main Street Danbury
The Mad Liberal
CT Bob
Tom Gogola
CT Smart Growth
Ravings of a Semi-Sane Madwoman
Saramerica
Laura Elizabeth
My Left Nutmeg
The Nutmeg Grater
Without a Purpose
Colin McEnroe
Connecticut Local Politics
Hat City Blog
Jim Himes Blog
Presidential Politics
Politics Press
Jaded Prole
Undercurrents
Cool Justice
Savoir Faire Scribenoir
Stop The raids!
1percentmoreconscious
Drinking Liberally in New Milford
West Hartford Blog
Denis Horgan
Irregular News
CT Progressive News Wire
New Britain Democrat
CT Blue
Politics in the Zeros
ConnecticutBlog
NB Politicus
Spazeboy
CT News Junkie
CT Voices for Civil Justice
FatMixx
New Haven Independent
Orient Lodge
CT Working Families

by BlogRolling1percentmoreconscious
New Haven Independent
Politics in the Zeros
Tom Gogola
The Mad Liberal
Presidential Politics
Denis Horgan
Saramerica
Colin McEnroe
CT Smart Growth
CT Working Families
Drinking Liberally in New Milford
Hat City Blog
Cool Justice
CT Voices for Civil Justice
Without a Purpose
Politics Press
Laura Elizabeth
Irregular News
Jim Himes Blog
NB Politicus
CT Bob
New Britain Democrat
ConnecticutBlog
Main Street Danbury
Undercurrents
Savoir Faire Scribenoir
Spazeboy
Jaded Prole
My Left Nutmeg
CT Blue
Ravings of a Semi-Sane Madwoman
Caterwauled
Stop The raids!
FatMixx
Region 19 BOE Gazette
Orient Lodge
West Hartford Blog
Connecticut Local Politics
The 40 Year Plan
The Nutmeg Grater
CT Progressive News Wire
CT News Junkie

African American Politcal Pundit
An Inch at a Time
Arabisto
Blue Gal
Booman Tribune
Brilliant at Breakfast
Cannablog
Come Speak To Me 2
Demokat
Disabled Americans for Democracy
Dr Scotts Pulp Culture
Drinking Liberally in New Milford
ePluribus Media
Eternal Hope
Everybody Comes From Somewhere
Fetch My Axe
Firedoglake
Francis L Holland
Hahn at Home
Howard-Empowered People
Hypnocrites
Independent Bloggers Alliance (Blogspot)
Independent Bloggers Alliance (WordPress)
Intrepid Liberal Journal
jc's designs
June Revolution
Liberal Oasis
Mike the Mad Biologist
MWAPP
My Left Wing
Namaste
NG Blog
Pam's House Blend
Pharyngula
PSoTD
Pushing Rope
pyzch
Reno and its Discontent
Shadow of the Hegemon
Simply Left Behind
skippy the bush kangaroo
Surf Putah
Survivor Left Blogistan
The Blogging Curmudgeon
The Bonddad Blog
The Crone Speaks
The Field Negro
The Impolitic
The Strange Death of Liberal America
Thoughts of an Average Woman
Turn Maine Blue
Universal Health
Videot Speak
Waiting For Dorothy


What? I wasn't kidding... I really do read a whole lot.

I just stole from Blue Gal...

And I feel B.A.D. about it.


I wonder how long it will be before she notices that I did a panty raid while I was there?

B.A.D Blogger... Very B.A.D. Blogger.
this upcoming weekend we will be celebrating the second anniversary of blogroll amnesty & blogroll bloodbath anniversary remembrance day!

this year our partner in this endeavor, jon swift, will join us in celebrating this blogtopian-wide holiday all next weekend beginning on saturday.

update: we will officially start on saturday, jan. 31. the original blogroll amnesty day is february 3, but we're calling for a four-day weekend! huzzah!

as you may remember, the modus operandus of blogroll amnesty day is to link to 5 blogs smaller than your own, thus introducing your readers to new voices.

and may we stop all the stupid jokes right here, right now: yes, there are blogs smaller than yours, no matter who you are.

mas update: ok, so we can't even stop the jokes before they start. ergo, we will ammend the parameters: if you really don't believe there are blogs smaller than yours, then in lieu of making the stupid joke that there aren't any, ha ha, please link to five blogs with traffic equivalent to yours (or in the same ball park). as long as they represent new voices (new to your readers, at least), you will have satisfied the requirement. just please don't do the stupid joke!!
The moral of the story? Link up, link sideways, link down... And never trust a guy like me anywhere near your knickers...

[update] Other Blogs that participated in B.A.D.:

BLKDGRD
Reconstitution 2.0
Mahatma X Files
Peace Arena
Just an Earth-Bound Misfit
Corrente
Simply Left Behind
Outta the Cornfield
Mock Paper Scissors
Vagabond Scholar
Blue Herald
Drinking Liberally in New Milford
Virtuous Skeptic
Cheyanne's Campsite
A Blog Around the Clock
Tangled Up in Blue Guy
The Hackenblog
WTF Is It Now?
Ornery Bastard
Moue Magazine
Newshoggers
Readin
distributorcap ny
Talking Dog
Welcome Back to Pottersville
Rip Coco
Comrade PhysioProf
Mike the Mad Biologist
Rotus
Chuck for...
The BoBo Files
William K. Wolfrum
From Pine View Farm
That's Why
Clark's Picks
TwoTonGreenBlog
The Aristocrats
Darkblack
Life's Journey
Just My Little Piece of the World
Kiko's House
That's Right Nate
Politickybitch
Kittywampus
Slobber and Spittle
Upper Left
Saying Nothing Charmingly
Carolina Naturally
NYC Educator
Barking Rabbits
Bark Bark Woof Woof
I'll Never Forget the Day I Read a Book!
Third Estate Sunday Review
Thrilling Days of Yesteryear
Rawrahs
Thorne's World
Madam Miaow Says...
Right Wing Wiz Kid
The Great Endarkenment
Brilliant at Breakfast
At Home with Books
Graphic Truth
ThePoliticalCat
Zen Yenta
Stop the Press!
Ramblings
Brass and Ivory
Capitol Annex
Mahablog
Liberal Values
Miriam's Ideas
Watergate Summer
Steve Audio
Rubber Hose
J-TWO-O
Greg Laden
Pushing Rope
Badtux the Snarky Penguin
Mikeb302000
Pajama Pundit
Media Bloodhound
Some of Nothing
Liberty Street
Foma
Tin, Steel and Rust
Crooks & Liars
Onyx Lynx
Diary of a Heretic
Southern Fried Science
Scriptoids
Lost in the Ozone
Phil Nugent Experience
Jobsanger
Liberal Journal
Meta Watershed
When Will I Use This?
Divided We Stand, United We Fall
Scribble City Journal
Zaius Nation
Oooh, Hecky Nawl; That Guhl is Raw
Bifurcate in the Road
Left in Alabama
Buzz Twang
The Moderate Voice
Thinking Outside
Independent Bloggers Alliance
Muddy Mo
Popehat
Vast Variety
JM Bell
The Modern Left
Alyson Love
Almost Diamonds
Knight and Stars
Asian Conservatives
MS Maze
My Saturday Evening Post
The Flying Trilobite
Evil Mommy
The Impolitic
True Blue Texan
Drifting Through the Grift
The Quaker Agitator
Blogroll Amnesty Day Blog
Democratic Daily
Howard Empowered People
Ken Levine
Sciencewomen
Redlady's Reading Room
Social Seppuku
Slothropia
Evolving Complexity
That's Why
driftglass
Naked Opinions
Miss Cellania
Frieddogleg
The Reaction
Today's Sermonette
League of Ordinary Gentleman
Dinosaur Trader
Chawed Rosin
Wetmachine
Kirmalak
By Neddie Jingo
Johnny Pez
Republic of T
Sma' Talk Wi' T
Rob Singleton
yikes!
eTrilobite
American Street
The Garlic
Political Byline
Heresy Today
Evolving Complexity
Scientiae
GOPnot4me
Gone Like the Wind
Suzi Riot
Two Ton Green Blog
Over the Cliff, Onto the Rocks
Pushing Rope
Cookiesinheaven
Abandoned Stuff by Saskboy
Inverse Square
Truth, Justice & Peace
News Hounds
Connecting.the.Dots
Unspeak
Bug Girl's Blog
Indigo Journal
Byzantium's Shores
Balloon Juice


Anyways...

4/28/09

Senator Arlen Specter Dumps the GOP

Holy Crap! Senator Arlen Specter dumps the GOP for the Democratic party:

Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter shocked the political world Tuesday by jumping from the GOP to the Democratic Party – likely handing President Obama an EZ-Pass to drive his agenda on Capitol Hill.

The sudden move, coming as the veteran lawmaker already faces a fierce 2010 primary challenge from the right in the Keystone State, all but gives Democrats and Obama a roadblock-free Senate, putting them on the cusp of a 60-vote majority.

"I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans," Specter announced on his campaign Web site.

I really thought he would become an independent...

[update] Via William K. Wolfrum, The batshit loopy GOP base lays its cards on the table:

From Twitter, Erick Erickson of Red State - which is truly the base of the GOP these days - had this to say about Arlen Specter’s move to the Democratic Party:

Guess now that Larry Craig is gone & Specter realized there was no teabagging at the #teaparty, he had to go Dem for Frank to fondle him.

Today’s conservatives - if someone upsets you, call them gay.
Truly dealing from the bottom of the deck on a sinking ship of fools...

Take a good hard look at the new face of NOM

The newest member of the anti-marriage equality group NOM, Orson Scott Card, is just a plain old lunatic that clearly proves, in his own words, that this is all about treating homosexuals as less than equal.
The hypocrites of homosexuality are, of course, already preparing to answer these statements by accusing me of homophobia, gay-bashing, bigotry, intolerance; but nothing that I have said here -- and nothing that has been said by any of the prophets or any of the Church leaders who have dealt with this issue -- can be construed as advocating, encouraging, or even allowing harsh personal treatment of individuals who are unable to resist the temptation to have sexual relations with persons of the same sex.
Not Card - He isn't homophobic... And he isn't advocating harsh treatment of them. Is he?

After blabbering on about how homosexuals must admit that they are sinning according to the rules of Card's personal lifestyle choice, his own personal religious views that he is trying to force on everyone else, he later goes on to discuss appropriate punishment for homosexuals:
This applies also to the polity, the citizens at large. Laws against homosexual behavior should remain on the books, not to be indiscriminately enforced against anyone who happens to be caught violating them, but to be used when necessary to send a clear message that those who flagrantly violate society's regulation of sexual behavior cannot be permitted to remain as acceptable, equal citizens within that society.
And he has the gall to title the piece "The Hypocrites of Homosexuality"...

You see, this has and always been about equality. The loonies at FIC, NOM and other anti-marriage equality groups are truly radical wingnuts that advocate Christianist hate and for treating others as second class citizens.

The latest face they have added to their stable of hate at NOM proves that it is all about equality.

But these days they know that they have to hide that fact because their real views are about as radical and un-American as it gets.

Chele, over at MLN, shows that Orson Scott Card has some serious problems with the US government. It is safe to say that his words do advocate for overthrowing the government and tossing The Constitution into the garbage:
When we're tempted to dismiss the anti-marriage equality crowd as a bunch of passe cranks who are losing their battle against civil rights and who will soon disappear to lick their wounds, we need to remind ourselves that their organizations harbor a lot of seriously deranged people. Family Institute of CT on a local level, and the National Organization for Marriage on the larger stage have the potential to be much more dangerous than they appear at first glance.

People for the American Way's Right Wing Watch has noted that the science fiction writer Orson Scott Card has joined the board of NOM. PFAW shares an interesting quote from Card, which appeared last July during the Prop 8 battle, in the Mormon Times:

How long before married people answer the dictators thus: Regardless of law, marriage has only one definition, and any government that attempts to change it is my mortal enemy. I will act to destroy that government and bring it down, so it can be replaced with a government that will respect and support marriage, and help me raise my children in a society where they will expect to marry in their turn. [...] American government cannot fight against marriage and hope to endure. If the Constitution is defined in such a way as to destroy the privileged position of marriage, it is that insane Constitution, not marriage, that will die.

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/...

NOM has put a man who advocates overthrowing the American government on their Board of Directors. One can only assume that NOM and their followers either agree that the government is their "mortal enemy" and that the Constitution is "insane" or at least have no problem with people advocating that the government of the United States be destroyed and brought down.

But these people at NOM aren't the radicals.

We are. Because. we. preach. real. equality.

And they aren't homophobes preaching violence, either...

(h/t Box Turtle Bulletin)

"About half the energy we use in America is wasted"

The BBC looks at the possibility of the USA "Innovating a way out of recession":

"About half the energy we use in America is wasted," says Dean Allen, the company's chief executive.

Half? That is an astonishing amount in a country that consumes as much as the US does.

"When it's free or cheap we tend not to focus on it."

The problem is how to divert the oil supertanker that is the US economy onto a more sustainable footing.

For many years there was not the political will to change. Now though more people here believe energy sustainability is important, either for the good of the environment, or to reduce America's dependence on foreign imports of oil.

4/27/09

5 members of Congress Arrested By Secret Service

For protesting human rights violations in Darfur:

Five members of Congress and two Darfur activists had themselves arrested Monday outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington, D.C., to draw attention to the continuing humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Uniformed Secret Service officers put plastic handcuffs on Reps. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), John Lewis (D-Ga.), Donna Edwards (D-Md.), Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), and Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), along with Save Darfur Coalition president Jerry Fowler and Enough Project co-founder John Prendergast after the group stepped behind yellow police tape in front of the embassy.

Before being taken into custody, each of the arrestees addressed a small crowd of reporters and other activists who had been tipped off about the event. Each speaker called on the Obama administration to do more to stop the conflict in Sudan.

3 years ago:

5 members of Congress Arrested By Secret Service

For protesting human rights violations in Darfur:

Five members of Congress, including Rep. Tom Lantos (D-San Mateo) were arrested today when they blocked the front entrance at the Embassy of Sudan in Washington, D.C. Their protest and civil disobedience was designed to embarrass the military dictatorship's ongoing genocide of its non-Arab citizens.

All told, 11 people were arrested outside the Sudanese embassy on Massachusetts Avenue, including six activists as well as representatives Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Houston), Jim McGovern (D-Worcester, Mass.), Jim Moran (D-Virginia) and John Olver (D-Massachusetts). They were held in a jail cell for about 45 minutes and then released.

"If you're looking for lack of international morality, Darfur encompasses all aspects," Lantos said before his arrest. "Here we see the slaughter of innocent black women, children and men by a monstrous regime."

The eleven people were arrested and hauled down to a D.C. police station to be charged with "disorderly conduct and unlawful assembly, a misdemeanor."

[UPDATE] as Tengrain noted, the article I originally posted was the wrong one...

4/24/09

Help Wanted: Beat The Press Blogger Wanted in D.C.

Since there are so many over qualified candidates for this job in the Nutmeg state and so few good jobs available anywhere, I thought I would pass along this Think Progress opportunity:

Interested in working for ThinkProgress?

ThinkProgress is hiring a reporter/blogger to join our team at the Center for American Progress Action Fund. We're looking for enthusiastic applicants who slave away at a keyboard have strong research/writing experience, don't sleep have a desire to consume large amounts of news, beat the media at their own game have a passion for researching and reporting online, and don't mind being stalked by Bill O'Reilly's crew. Our new team member will produce content for ThinkProgress and our daily e-newsletter, The Progress Report. This is a full-time salaried position with benefits and requires the candidate to work out of our Washington, DC offices. A full job description can be found here. If you're interested, please email us your resume and a cover letter.

tppod1.jpg

4/21/09

Harman: "Help Build My Defense Against Prosecution!"

What do you really think she really meant when Jane Harman was demanding all of the tapes be released to her?

Harman: "Bring It On"

In a MSNBC appearance moments ago, Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) gave a strong denial that she in any way intervened in the AIPAC case or sought to make a deal to intervene in return for support for her becoming chair of the intel committee.

--David Kurtz

Trying to turn yourself into a victim of illegal spying is not going to change the fact that you are busted.

Also, AIPAC is not an advocacy group. They are a faux political arm spying on our country and helping American neoconservative traitors in a coordinated effort to spread propaganda for a foreign countries' interests.

The indictment of the two senior AIPAC staffers follows the indictment in may of Feith's footpad Larry Franklin. Franklin worked in the Office of Special Plans, run by then-Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith, who reported to then-Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz. The OSP functioned as a "shadow" intelligence service on Iraq, and provided much of the information to the White House that was used to justify the American invasion of Iraq. Some wags have called it "Feith-based intelligence", since much of that intelligence and information has now been proven to be utterly false. At the beginning of May, Franklin was arrested by the FBI for the passing of classified documents to two AIPAC staffers, who were then to pass them to Israel. The documents in question concerned Iran.

One of the two newly-indicted AIPACers isn't just anybody. Steve Rosen, 63, is the man who built AIPAC into the $40 million dollar Capitol Hill powerhouse it is today. Buried in a Washington Post profile of AIPAC from May 19 is the skinny on Rosen as the power behind the scenes at AIPAC. Said the Post:

"For more than two decades, Rosen has been a mainstay of AIPAC and the architect of the group's ever-increasing clout. Though Rosen was listed below Executive Director Howard Kohr on AIPAC's organizational chart, people familiar with AIPAC's history say that Kohr is a protege of Rosen's and got that job with his help. Kohr declined to be interviewed about Rosen. 'He [Rosen] is a quiet guy,' said M.J. Rosenberg, director of policy analysis for the Israel Policy Forum, another pro-Israel group, and a former AIPAC employee. 'But everyone knows he's the brains behind the outfit.'"

Now, just what is AIPAC, you may well ask? AIPAC is the enforcer of the knee-jerk support for the Israeli government which characterizes the political and governing classes in this country, -- Israel is the real third rail of American politics: touch it with criticism, no matter how carefully couched, and you die. Both the Democratic and Republican parties fall all over themselves to kiss AIPAC's boots -- because AIPAC and its well-filled war-chest helps make sure they toe the line on Israel, and has been responsible for the defeat of a significant number of politicians over the years who dared to criticize Israeli policies. Earlier this year, AIPAC played a major role in destroying the candidacy of Tim Roemer for chairman of the DNC. There's an in-depth, critical profile of AIPAC by RightWeb's Michael Flynn that gives an in-depth look at AIPAC's arm-and-leg-breaking political style. And the newly indicted Rosen is The Man Behind the Curtain. Even though he formally resigned from AIPAC, the organization is paying his legal bills, and Rosen is still pulling the strings.

The reason for putting some daylight between Rosen and AIPAC is that the puissant political arm-twister is deathly afraid it will be forced to register as a foreign lobby, as the Jewish weeily The Forward reported earlier this year. Americans don't like the sight of their elected officials pocketing campaign cash from foreign governments, and AIPAC fears being forced to register formally as a lobbyist for Israel would thus diminish their clout on Capitol Hill. Bush won't make AIPAC register, and the spinless Democratic Congressional leadership won't lead the charge to make them do so either. But today's indictments of string-puller Rosen and his AIPAC colleague for spying on the U.S. gives progressives who want to see a peaceful, two-state, land-for-peace solution between Israel and Palestine a strategic opening to press loudly for AIPAC's formal shil registration as a shil for the government that built the Israeli Wall of Shame. It's a measure long past due.

Yeah... Harman may be just a horsehead in the bed... A warning shot to other guilty politicians. But she is also a fool if she thinks we are buying any of her faux outrage.

Yesterday, the Blogosphere erupted with Jeff Stein's CQ article suggesting that Jane Harman may have interfered in the prosecution of alleged Israeli spies in exchange for a committee chairmanship in the 2006 congress. The information was based upon leaks from wiretaps, according to the CQ article, of a "suspected Israeli agent". Today the NY Times adds new information that should send a chill down everyone's spine. The wiretapped "suspected Israeli agent" was working closely with California Billionaire, Haim Saban, a Major Democratic Donor. This whole affair is starting to smell rotten....

[update] I think that this Think Progress headline says a lot about the stupidity of Harman's position:

Harman: 'I'm Just Very Disappointed' NSA Wiretapped Me, After I Voted To Allow Them To

Hey, Joe! Where Ya Goin'...

With That Smoking Gun In Your Hand?
AN SUSTEREN: Even if it's -- first of all, is waterboarding torture?

LIEBERMAN: Well, I take a minority position on this. Most people think it's definitely torture. The truth is, it has mostly a psychological impact on people. It's a terrible thing to do...

Why do I think it was a mistake to give it out? I wasn't necessary. It just helps our enemies. It doesn't really help us.

Again, the president can decide what tactics he wants the CIA or the military to use on people we capture, suspects of terrorism. But to let our enemies know what we are going to do or not do, that's not a good idea.

Bullshit, Joe!


The President of the United States of America is subject to every single law and treaty that every single other American citizen is subject to. If his decisions are not legal within the framework of the law then he should be tried and found guilty of the crimes.

And those of you that participated in engineering these decisions to carry out these crimes of torture and rendition and/or participated in the cover up of these crimes are accomplices and just as guilty as the CIA officers, contractors and soldiers and prison guards that did your dirty deeds.

And it is no longer some BS debate about whether or not it was torture.

It was torture.

  • There are guilty people in both political parties.

  • There are guilty people in the military, the CIA and many other government agencies.

  • There are guilty people on the civilian side.

  • And there are even guilty people in other countries.
And you will all be served your just desserts at the end of the criminal investigations.

The one and only way to ensure that this never happens again is to prosecute every single one of the criminals and to ensure that they all do their time in jail.

And moving forward is impossible without looking back.


And Obama, the media and others can stop lying to yourself about bullshit catchphrases of "enhanced interrogations." This was torture.

Clearly torture. There is no rose on your bloomin' piles of BS.

4/19/09

Congressionally Approved Torture Tools for Lobbying 2

Since both the White House and Congress no longer consider prosecuting torture as a crime, it is safe to assume that we can begin to legally use these methods as legitimate tools to lobby our Congress and White House for the real changes we expect from our government. These methods that I document will be equally applicable to those who lobby against the interests of average American citizen on these issues.

Congressionally Approved Method of Lobbying #2

Method for lobbying Congressional members and White House administration officials that push for hate based and bigoted legislation against the LGBT community and Marriage Equality:


Making them face their own inner demons that are, often times, based on a self loathing because of repressed feelings concerning their own confused sexuality might begin to arouse their interest in equality for all as founding documents clearly defines it.

Standard Connecticut policed state disclaimer: Please read and clearly understand the meaning of "SNARK" before you waste my time and the taxpayers money following me around on the internet and in the real world. Just remember how stupid illegally harassing Ken Krayeske made all of you look.

This the second in the "Torture as a Lobbying Tool" series:

Congressionally Approved Torture Tools for Lobbying

Since both the White House and Congress no longer consider prosecuting torture as a crime, it is safe to assume that we can begin to legally use these methods as legitimate tools to lobby our Congress and White House for the real changes we expect from our government. These methods that I document will be equally applicable to those who lobby against the interests of average American citizen on these issues.

Congressionally Approved Method of Lobbying #1

Method for lobbying Congressional members and White House administration members that push for funding of energy non-solutions such as the proven mythical "clean coal":


The symbolism of turning their mythical clean energy into a tool for lobbying for real clean energy solutions ought to shock them into doing the right thing.

Standard Connecticut policed state disclaimer: Please read and clearly understand the meaning of "SNARK" before you waste my time and the taxpayers money following me around on the internet and in the real world. Just remember how stupid illegally harassing Ken Krayeske made all of you look.