Senator Gravel on The Ed Schultz Show

Listen to the Senator interviewed by Ed Schultz. His campaign got a boost from the first debate and I concurr with a lot he has said. "The congress is more powerful than the president." Gravel has "the kind of toughness that they have to have..." and suggests it is the type of leadership we need.

Also on The Ed Schultz Show there is an interview with Former Major General John Batiste on some targeted ads by Vote Vets and on the "big mistake" in Iraq.

"If the president won't listen, the congress must." Major General Paul Eaton.

Eastside Democratic Dinner

[The military course and just desserts.]

Navigating the sensibilities is what comes to mind as I belatedly note the excitement surrounding the speakers, Senator Patty Murray, and Retired Major General Paul Eaton. What follows are three perspectives Perspective one.
Perspective two.
Perspective three.

Auxiliary links:
The General in the Darcy Burner Camp.
At the NW Progressive Forum.

[LATEST: Darcy Burner Newsletter Report on the General and his plans for Iraq]

[10-17-07: I must note that I am excited that the author of Perspective 2 has found this site and commented below, and also that he now links a video of the heart of the excitement,as well as a Washblog link on the event. I hereby add two links I have yet to read:
12 former captains on Iraq
"out of control"??
Speaking of more than one perspective, I also added the subtitle.]

"Thank You VETERANS!" DAY

I was going to say happy Veteran's Day,
but that has always been awkward,
no matter the times.

HONOR OUR VETS!
The Living! The dead have their own day.

Thank you for your "hard work"
and the best tribute would be
to do our "hard work" at home.
If this sounds redundant or political,
that is becaus it is.

They have fought for our rights and
what better way to honor them than
to use them. Our rights not the troops.
Before there is neither left.

OK... enough of my ramble.
Thank You for your particular combination of "hard work": 1st Lt. Ehren Watada

Thank you Parade? That is really hard work.
But some are jeered.

More Hard Work?

Speaking of veterans, Thank You Major General Paul Eaton(retired) for speaking up. I have yet to comment on the events of Saturday, but continuing on the Ray of Hope theme, Admiral Fallon is speaking out and General Eaton expressed confidence in Secretary of Defense Gates, and while this report(link) is not too informative, it agrees with the General's emphasis on diplomatic and economic approaches and some hope.

Thank you Vets! And those who serve.

NW Progressive Convention

Yesterday America in Solidarity
held its first NW Progressive Convention
A friend said to me: That name sounds socialist.
That shows you how the language has been hijacked.
Does this sound socialist?

Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration. Abraham Lincoln

[Presentations]
[[Presidential Poll]]

Congresswoman Lynne Woolsey - Congressman Adam Smith - CIVIL RIGHTS PANEL: 8th Congressional District Candidate Darcy Burner, ACLU Attorney Salvador Mungia, Backbone Campaign Executive Director Bill Moyer - - Retired Major General Paul Eaton - Washington Fair Trade Coalition - Washington Public Campaigns - Washington Community Action Network - Healthcare for All Washington
[Other Attendees:]
Americans United for Separation of Church and State - The Sanctuary for Veterans and Families - Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

Tuesdays wit'MorE[!]

Tuesday December 9th was too prolific.
MSNBC - 8
B.P. - 7
Lean Forward File - 6
RYB - 5
Torture Report - 4
J D-B / NewsNation - 3 FYI / FYI
(FP!) - 2
UVC - 1

To sort'n translation/transition:
ICBM, - I can't breath, message. -
Ferguson Your Information.
Box of Chocolates / Issa -  Morning Joe /  Will of Nation
Ronan Farrow Daily / Major General Paul Eaton
Ari's Angle.
The Cycle Senator Angus King -
NOW / [!] CYA - Lame Duck Tales in Budget Deal

Protest Mitt-Flop Conference!

The Iron Knee of Budget Bandits!*

*rates Charts label
[Any Democratic representation should be touting the insanity of austerity**, the cuts that have been made, the revenue that has been lost and the investments in infrastructure that have not been made.  Not to mention the Mitt-Flop of the USPS in contrast to lost pensions nationwide.]

** If I don't hear that it won't be because of the Tea-Party media.

Getting past the lede: (see *rates)

5-16-12 update / tweet 

Martin Bashir (AM) (Bain or ... the alternative ?)

Thom Hartmann, Bernie Sanders
The View Obama "states Right" congress drones on.
Rachel*** Major General Predecessor Maddow.
The Last Word...and Hoagies?

***5-17-12 A battle of caricatures.
[Better Triangulate Than Never]
[Mitt the Zipper, Twighlight Drawers:  Vulture capitalism gives a bad name to vultures.  Mitt gives a bad name to Forks.]
5-18-12
[Note: image (& sarcasm) related to *rates, lede & Getting]
[Footnote]

"the lesser of two evils" In Perspective.

It is disturbing, the exchange that is going on within the Democratic race. It is good that there is still a choice. And it is good that they are being testy in preparation for the general. But it must be remembered that the choice that is important will be in November. Of course the choice now is still important and it's a shame that there is still not more choice. But no matter the choice now, the November choice is the one that is really "the lesser of two evils".

I say this from an independent perspective in NOT that I call them both evil, but from a Democratic and American perspective, they are less good and more evil.[*] The Democrats get diluted by the independent vote, and the Republicans get deluded by their departure. While the Democrats have lost some of their good by the wayside, and it is now the lesser of two goods, the Republicans have lost the lesser of their evils if it remains McCain.

Now Huckabee may be the compassionate conservative that has no chance, but his rhetoric and revelations may be relevant. Unless a viable alternative is in the race, it is a choice between the major parties. Even an un-viable candidate, Nader, will be a vote that is not against the greater evil and for a lesser good. But a more balanced un-viable ticket, Nader / Paul might be the too good and the least evil, but at least represent the "hard work" of dialogue needed, and if these efforts are not attempts to broker the issues, would still be likely spoilers for the balance of good and evil.

It would be an interesting independent ticket if Bloomberg/Nader or Bloomberg/Paul or even Bloomberg/Huckabee could work on their issues. But that is a dream and what needs to be worked on is preventing the nightmare, and in that case a dangerous Republican ticket might be McCain/Huckabee.

[*] 6-3-08 UPDATE inserted NOT and it must be further clarified I am talking about the November choice.

QCON: TruthOut

Quick Comment On the News or Question Context:

The following pieces deserve a more careful read, but for me, not yet.[*] TruthOut does a filtering of sorts, and I notice rather heavy reliance on the NY Times. Not that that is a bad thing, just not necessarily a liberal thing. The left, right and the middle can characterize a source as from a different perspective, but that should be the mark of good journalism. Again, not that they have hit the right mark, from our own perspectives.

While Super Delegates are an example of a problem that voters wish they could fix without being a part of the process, so are the choices of primary, or caucus, and financing and electoral college procedures. These are all complicated by the nature of our goverment, its three branches, a bi-cameral legislature, and the individual composition of state governments and their rights in relation to the federal government. And have I thrown in partisanship? This is not a civics lesson, but it would be nice if it were in schools.

For me this is the first time in 24 years I have not come out of my precinct caucus a delegate for some candidate. This year it was by design or rather lack of design. I was for Edwards. I ran the caucus as a PCO and was a decimal point or voter or two shy of ending up an uncommitted delegate. This is more than I intended to say today, but I guess it ties in. Because even if civics were in schools, the media and the voters would still have a very big job to understand what mechanisms are operating in each state. Did I mention partisanship? Not to mention the constitution? I won't go there, but too many feel that there is a conspiracy, and there is, only if you are not part of it.

What is represented in the following articles may very well be best efforts to represent reliable pictures, but that is not to say that other perspectives and sources do so well. [*] While some of the tactics candidates use are not appreciated by many, they are apparently working on some. And it must be remembered that we filter as well or poorly as the media or format we use.

I would like to close this comment with the feeling that it is hard to unite when the leader is still unknown, but it is better than being party to having a leader who will unite without knowing who the enemy is. If there is any obtuseness in this, maybe it is a riddle to solve.

In Two Battlegrounds, Voters Say, Not Yet
By Patrick Healy
The New York Times

Ballot Shortages Plague Ohio Election Amid Unusually Heavy Primary Turnout By Ian Urbina
The New York Times
A Clean, Fair Fight
The New York Times | Editorial

McCain Clinches GOP Presidential Nomination By Michael D. Shear and Peter Slevin
The Washington Post

[Update: Just as I put the finishing links on this post, breaking news on Thom Hartmann Show, about the Texas crossovers that Rush Limbaugh encouraged. (Guest David Sirota) Where in the primary, voters got their ballots, and if they were Republican and wanted to vote for Hillary, found that there were no Rebulicans on their ballot. Hmm. Who needs a civics lesson? Well, of course it seems wrong, but parties should be able to decide their candidate not a talk show host who wants a circus. Republicans were disenfranchised, by trying to vote for Hillary while not intending to support her in the general election. They could not vote for Hillary, and hope to influence their own party on local elections too. This "monkey business" is why the parties and the process is so complicated. It is further complicated by the electoral college process not to mention the winner take all nature of that delivery system. Independents and third parties are so hard to fit into this picture without major changes that themselves are so hard to bring about, but I really don't want to go there.(the link not the idea). Oh and that ploy by Rush Limbaugh may have hurt some local candidates and I won't hurt our heads by figuring that out, but it is a way to sort out some math.]

[*] I have yet to fully digest the four links above, but apparently the press have nibbled on some ribs. (Links, sausage, democracy: get it?) But I did scarf this down and indeed have had my own beach party.

Yeah Leahy! [More Democratic Kudos]

Sorry for the disrepect but Senator Leahy, Chair of the Judiciary Committee plans to withhold confirmation of replacement Attorney General until questions are answered about the last AG. He will know when he has enough answers when he knows what questions to ask the nominee about "what's going on". (5:48 into clip) This merits respect for the Senator for his mission to stop the disrespect to the constitution and congress. As I put it just after the '06 election pull up the chairs. For shadowing "What's Going On?" In my post May 9th '07, If you investigate... I found a major typo/misstatement in not using the word "suing", I was so much supporting, of Speaker Pelosi.

[9:40 AM More signs of a steady course or KUDOS TO CONGRESS. Bush Success Rating at Historic Low House Democrats "stongest opposition from either party" in 54 year Congressional Quarterly record.]