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December 29, 2005
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Wednesday's Links
Activism
Gold Star Families for Peace. As Cindy Sheehan waits and waits and waits for President Bush to talk to her, we don't just have to sit back and cheer her on from afar. Her organization is linked to above, and we encourage you to go there and make a donation, if possible. The money goes to assist families impacted by the war. If you have the time, head on out to Crawford and support her that way! But that seems rather unlikely, and if you can't afford to donate, at least send a letter of support for her to your local paper. It's stunning to us that the mother of a fallen soldier is demanding more from the President than our elected representatives, but that's the way things are these days.
News
Ad Campaign Says Roberts Backed Violent Protesters. And the battle is joined. NARAL Pro-Choice has released an ad which suggests that John Roberts sides with extremists. While the facts depicted within the ad are skewed enough to give most people pause, it does highlight the need for Congress to have access to all of Roberts' briefs, something the White House will not allow. Still, you can bet that NARAL's ad won't be the last. How soon will it be before the Federalist ads start rolling through? What's most interesting is that Congressional Republicans and Democrats have been downright polite during debate. It'll be special interest groups like NARAL (whom we normally support) that raise the electricity of this nomination.
Katherine Harris Kicks Off U.S. Senate Campaign. Is there any woman in Florida more despised than Katherine Harris? The woman who singlehandedly gave Bush the 2000 election, Harris is now officially running for the Senate in Florida against Ben Nelson, whom the Republicans see as holding a "weak" Democratic seat. When Harris isn't trying to convince people that she is running on a "conservative but progressive ticket," she's whining about how newspapers "distort" her image with color photographs, an illegal practice. Yet Harris would not (or could not) produce any evidence to support her claims. Aside from the fact that we obviously support Nelson over a Republican (although Nelson's closer to being one himself than we'd like), we can't think of anything we'd like more than to see Harris get destroyed in this election (she trails Nelson in every statewide poll taken so far).
Rich Liberals Vow to Fund Think Tanks. No, they aren't a myth. Rich liberals do exist in America, and they have come together under the Democracy Alliance to compete with the Republican machine. Rob Stein, longtime Democratic strategist, has studied what the GOP has done, and formed the Democracy Alliance, in an effort to "level the playing field." The goal of the alliance is to "foster the growth of liberal or left-leaning institutions equipped to take on prominent think tanks on the right" like the Cato Institute and the Heritage Foundation. We'll be following the progress of the Democracy Alliance, and keep you appraised of their doings. It's about time there was something to balance the "Right-Wing Noise Machine".
Editorials
The Message Thing. Jim Wallis, author of the fascinating book God's Politics offers some thoughts on the Democrats' message (or lack thereof). The Republicans obviously have a strong message; like it or not (and chances are, if you're reading this, you don't), it is a message that has galvanized parts of the country. Meanwhile, the Democrats are floundering in theirs. Wallis offers five topics that the Democrats need to encompass - poverty, wartime tax cuts, global warming, abortion and national security. Wallis's editorial should be considered required reading for all those in the DNC, as his suggestions are exactly what the party needs right now.
Government Reduces In-Prison Education Even Though it Helps Lower Recidivism. John Britton tries to understand why Republican leadership doesn't want prisoners educated. After all, prisoners who gain skills (like reading, writing and computer skills) are far less likely to committ more crimes once they are released. A similar editorial in the New York Times a few weeks ago takes the same stance. Do Republicans truly believe that those in prison aren't worth any attention? Of course they do - most of them aren't allowed to vote, remember?
Blogger Commentary
Minutemen: A home for extremists. By now, you're probably heard of the "Minutemen". They're the civilians who have taken it upon themselves to patrol the border and keep out illegal immigrants. They claim that they're on the up-and-up, and no one's really going to argue that our immigration policy needs to be review. But the fact remains that "vigilante justice" (as Howard Dean aptly termed it over the weekend) is not the answer. The minutemen claim to just be looking out for America's interests, but there's always been a clear undercurrent of hate and bigotry there. Well, now it's out in the open, as Dave Neiwert exposes. They may claim to just be "keeping America safe", but we know the truth.
Barney Frank and Partisanship. Here's a commentary that we're not entirely comfortable with, but presents an interesting idea. Even though we're clearly quite liberal, we tend to reject partisanship for partisanship's take. That is, we won't support or endorse a particular idea or candidate simply because it's Democratic. It's got to make sense. Unfortunately, our opponents don't think that way. They don't care if their proposals make sense. What that means is precisely what Corked Bats says Barney Frank's message was: "...at this point in American history, there quite simply is not a good reason for me to ever consider choosing a Republican over a Democrat." It's sad to say, but he's right. If we want to take this country back, maybe we should embrace partisanship right now. It's just incumbent upon us to recognize when it's gone too far.
|
December 29, 2005
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Wednesday's Links
Activism
Gold Star Families for Peace. As Cindy Sheehan waits and waits and waits for President Bush to talk to her, we don't just have to sit back and cheer her on from afar. Her organization is linked to above, and we encourage you to go there and make a donation, if possible. The money goes to assist families impacted by the war. If you have the time, head on out to Crawford and support her that way! But that seems rather unlikely, and if you can't afford to donate, at least send a letter of support for her to your local paper. It's stunning to us that the mother of a fallen soldier is demanding more from the President than our elected representatives, but that's the way things are these days.
News
Ad Campaign Says Roberts Backed Violent Protesters. And the battle is joined. NARAL Pro-Choice has released an ad which suggests that John Roberts sides with extremists. While the facts depicted within the ad are skewed enough to give most people pause, it does highlight the need for Congress to have access to all of Roberts' briefs, something the White House will not allow. Still, you can bet that NARAL's ad won't be the last. How soon will it be before the Federalist ads start rolling through? What's most interesting is that Congressional Republicans and Democrats have been downright polite during debate. It'll be special interest groups like NARAL (whom we normally support) that raise the electricity of this nomination.
Katherine Harris Kicks Off U.S. Senate Campaign. Is there any woman in Florida more despised than Katherine Harris? The woman who singlehandedly gave Bush the 2000 election, Harris is now officially running for the Senate in Florida against Ben Nelson, whom the Republicans see as holding a "weak" Democratic seat. When Harris isn't trying to convince people that she is running on a "conservative but progressive ticket," she's whining about how newspapers "distort" her image with color photographs, an illegal practice. Yet Harris would not (or could not) produce any evidence to support her claims. Aside from the fact that we obviously support Nelson over a Republican (although Nelson's closer to being one himself than we'd like), we can't think of anything we'd like more than to see Harris get destroyed in this election (she trails Nelson in every statewide poll taken so far).
Rich Liberals Vow to Fund Think Tanks. No, they aren't a myth. Rich liberals do exist in America, and they have come together under the Democracy Alliance to compete with the Republican machine. Rob Stein, longtime Democratic strategist, has studied what the GOP has done, and formed the Democracy Alliance, in an effort to "level the playing field." The goal of the alliance is to "foster the growth of liberal or left-leaning institutions equipped to take on prominent think tanks on the right" like the Cato Institute and the Heritage Foundation. We'll be following the progress of the Democracy Alliance, and keep you appraised of their doings. It's about time there was something to balance the "Right-Wing Noise Machine".
Editorials
The Message Thing. Jim Wallis, author of the fascinating book God's Politics offers some thoughts on the Democrats' message (or lack thereof). The Republicans obviously have a strong message; like it or not (and chances are, if you're reading this, you don't), it is a message that has galvanized parts of the country. Meanwhile, the Democrats are floundering in theirs. Wallis offers five topics that the Democrats need to encompass - poverty, wartime tax cuts, global warming, abortion and national security. Wallis's editorial should be considered required reading for all those in the DNC, as his suggestions are exactly what the party needs right now.
Government Reduces In-Prison Education Even Though it Helps Lower Recidivism. John Britton tries to understand why Republican leadership doesn't want prisoners educated. After all, prisoners who gain skills (like reading, writing and computer skills) are far less likely to committ more crimes once they are released. A similar editorial in the New York Times a few weeks ago takes the same stance. Do Republicans truly believe that those in prison aren't worth any attention? Of course they do - most of them aren't allowed to vote, remember?
Blogger Commentary
Minutemen: A home for extremists. By now, you're probably heard of the "Minutemen". They're the civilians who have taken it upon themselves to patrol the border and keep out illegal immigrants. They claim that they're on the up-and-up, and no one's really going to argue that our immigration policy needs to be review. But the fact remains that "vigilante justice" (as Howard Dean aptly termed it over the weekend) is not the answer. The minutemen claim to just be looking out for America's interests, but there's always been a clear undercurrent of hate and bigotry there. Well, now it's out in the open, as Dave Neiwert exposes. They may claim to just be "keeping America safe", but we know the truth.
Barney Frank and Partisanship. Here's a commentary that we're not entirely comfortable with, but presents an interesting idea. Even though we're clearly quite liberal, we tend to reject partisanship for partisanship's take. That is, we won't support or endorse a particular idea or candidate simply because it's Democratic. It's got to make sense. Unfortunately, our opponents don't think that way. They don't care if their proposals make sense. What that means is precisely what Corked Bats says Barney Frank's message was: "...at this point in American history, there quite simply is not a good reason for me to ever consider choosing a Republican over a Democrat." It's sad to say, but he's right. If we want to take this country back, maybe we should embrace partisanship right now. It's just incumbent upon us to recognize when it's gone too far.
|
December 29, 2005
Gold Star Families for Peace. As Cindy Sheehan waits and waits and waits for President Bush to talk to her, we don't just have to sit back and cheer her on from afar. Her organization is linked to above, and we encourage you to go there and make a donation, if possible. The money goes to assist families impacted by the war. If you have the time, head on out to Crawford and support her that way! But that seems rather unlikely, and if you can't afford to donate, at least send a letter of support for her to your local paper. It's stunning to us that the mother of a fallen soldier is demanding more from the President than our elected representatives, but that's the way things are these days.
News
Ad Campaign Says Roberts Backed Violent Protesters. And the battle is joined. NARAL Pro-Choice has released an ad which suggests that John Roberts sides with extremists. While the facts depicted within the ad are skewed enough to give most people pause, it does highlight the need for Congress to have access to all of Roberts' briefs, something the White House will not allow. Still, you can bet that NARAL's ad won't be the last. How soon will it be before the Federalist ads start rolling through? What's most interesting is that Congressional Republicans and Democrats have been downright polite during debate. It'll be special interest groups like NARAL (whom we normally support) that raise the electricity of this nomination.
Katherine Harris Kicks Off U.S. Senate Campaign. Is there any woman in Florida more despised than Katherine Harris? The woman who singlehandedly gave Bush the 2000 election, Harris is now officially running for the Senate in Florida against Ben Nelson, whom the Republicans see as holding a "weak" Democratic seat. When Harris isn't trying to convince people that she is running on a "conservative but progressive ticket," she's whining about how newspapers "distort" her image with color photographs, an illegal practice. Yet Harris would not (or could not) produce any evidence to support her claims. Aside from the fact that we obviously support Nelson over a Republican (although Nelson's closer to being one himself than we'd like), we can't think of anything we'd like more than to see Harris get destroyed in this election (she trails Nelson in every statewide poll taken so far).
Rich Liberals Vow to Fund Think Tanks. No, they aren't a myth. Rich liberals do exist in America, and they have come together under the Democracy Alliance to compete with the Republican machine. Rob Stein, longtime Democratic strategist, has studied what the GOP has done, and formed the Democracy Alliance, in an effort to "level the playing field." The goal of the alliance is to "foster the growth of liberal or left-leaning institutions equipped to take on prominent think tanks on the right" like the Cato Institute and the Heritage Foundation. We'll be following the progress of the Democracy Alliance, and keep you appraised of their doings. It's about time there was something to balance the "Right-Wing Noise Machine".
Editorials
The Message Thing. Jim Wallis, author of the fascinating book God's Politics offers some thoughts on the Democrats' message (or lack thereof). The Republicans obviously have a strong message; like it or not (and chances are, if you're reading this, you don't), it is a message that has galvanized parts of the country. Meanwhile, the Democrats are floundering in theirs. Wallis offers five topics that the Democrats need to encompass - poverty, wartime tax cuts, global warming, abortion and national security. Wallis's editorial should be considered required reading for all those in the DNC, as his suggestions are exactly what the party needs right now.
Government Reduces In-Prison Education Even Though it Helps Lower Recidivism. John Britton tries to understand why Republican leadership doesn't want prisoners educated. After all, prisoners who gain skills (like reading, writing and computer skills) are far less likely to committ more crimes once they are released. A similar editorial in the New York Times a few weeks ago takes the same stance. Do Republicans truly believe that those in prison aren't worth any attention? Of course they do - most of them aren't allowed to vote, remember?
Blogger Commentary
Minutemen: A home for extremists. By now, you're probably heard of the "Minutemen". They're the civilians who have taken it upon themselves to patrol the border and keep out illegal immigrants. They claim that they're on the up-and-up, and no one's really going to argue that our immigration policy needs to be review. But the fact remains that "vigilante justice" (as Howard Dean aptly termed it over the weekend) is not the answer. The minutemen claim to just be looking out for America's interests, but there's always been a clear undercurrent of hate and bigotry there. Well, now it's out in the open, as Dave Neiwert exposes. They may claim to just be "keeping America safe", but we know the truth.
Barney Frank and Partisanship. Here's a commentary that we're not entirely comfortable with, but presents an interesting idea. Even though we're clearly quite liberal, we tend to reject partisanship for partisanship's take. That is, we won't support or endorse a particular idea or candidate simply because it's Democratic. It's got to make sense. Unfortunately, our opponents don't think that way. They don't care if their proposals make sense. What that means is precisely what Corked Bats says Barney Frank's message was: "...at this point in American history, there quite simply is not a good reason for me to ever consider choosing a Republican over a Democrat." It's sad to say, but he's right. If we want to take this country back, maybe we should embrace partisanship right now. It's just incumbent upon us to recognize when it's gone too far.
