Still Fighting

Activism

MoveOn recently sent out an email to its 3 million members, asking them to go here and pose a question (or rate the hundreds that have already been asked) to the DNC Chairman candidates. The site will be up through Friday, and then the highest rated questions will be posed to all six candidates, who will respond. The goal of this process is February 7th, when MoveOn will ask all of its members to vote for a DNC Chair. This process should be considered very important, as MoveOn is one of the largest and most active Political Action Committees in America, and the results of the vote will surely help the 440 voting Democrats in their choice for DNC Chair. We ask that you take a moment to pose a question, or rate the questions listed. As MoveOn put it in their email, "With no Democratic President, Speaker of the House or Majority Leader, the DNC chair will likely be the single most important Democratic organizer, fundraiser and spokesperson for years to come. Whoever is chosen needs to know that if they embrace a bold progressive vision and put the grassroots at the heart of the Party, you'll be there to back them up every step of the way."

News

Traditionally, the president picks cabinet members who, although they may have their own share of criticism, are still qualified enough for their position that once they pass their Senate Confirmation Hearing, it's a matter of formality. Last week, the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee voted to proceed with Rice 16-2. Yesterday, the full Senate voted to confirm Condi Rice by a count of 85-13. Before you throw stones at what seems like a very one-sided vote, keep in mind that the 13 "no" vote was the largest for any SecState nominee since 1825 (Henry Clay, who received 14). Nine hours of Democratic debate preceded the vote, and many Democrats were hoping to find a voting button labeled "yes, with reservations," but had to settle for the "yea" button. We commend the 13 Senators who voted no, and we now turn our attention to Alberto Gonzales, who was confirmed by the Senate Judiciary Committee 10-8, and will now be voted on by the full Senate. However, Gonzales is expected to win a closer vote in the full Senate, due to the Republican edge (55-44). Charles Schumer (D-NY) has our quote of the day, saying Alberto Gonzales being "less polarizing than John Ashcroft is not enough to get my vote." In a close second, Joseph Biden (D-DE), "His judgment is defective."

Senator Wayne Allard (R-CO) is reintroducing a bill that would nationally define marriage as being between one man and one woman. His reasoning, we think, is that enough of the Senators who voted to shelve the bill are now gone. In order to become an amendment, the bill (called the ridiculously named "Marriage Protection Amendment" would need to be approved by 2/3 of the Senate, 2/3 of the House, and 3/4 of the states. The fact that we are even forced to write about this shows how many steps backwards we've taken since January 20th, 2001. We live in a nation of tolerance, and yet we're considering an amendment to our constitution to limit the rights of individuals who live within out borders. What really scares us is that we can't simply laugh this off - it is entirely possible that the Senate could vote to approve, and pass it to the House.

For Democrats, part of the problem that resulted in the loss to Bush in the 2004 was the old cliche of "too many Indians, not enough Chiefs." The party had nine candidates for president, but wasn't throwing its weight behind any of them, preferring to see how the primaries turned out. That left Kerry with very little time to have the spotlight on his own. The same thing seems to be happening with the DNC Chair position. As we mentioned above, there are six candidates running for DNC Chair, and there is no clear cut winner. By now, you know that our choice is Howard Dean, yet many in the party seem to be doing everything in their power to keep him from getting elected. Once again, the party is being reactive, and not proactive. One thing is sure, though: whomever does become chair, whether it is Dean, Frost, Rosenberg or one of the other three, they will have to unite this party.

Editorials

And speaking of Howard Dean, check out the transcript of his appearance on This Week with George Stephanopoulos last Sunday. There's no doubt in our minds that Dean has the energy, vision and diligence to lead the DNC these next four years. This appearance only reaffirms that belief.

Hey, We ARE Making A Difference. MyDD gives us a breakdown of how Democratic blogs are becoming more and more important than Republican blogs. This may sound a little silly, but MyDD links to several important things Democratic bloggers have helped accomplish.

Closing the Fence After the Horse Has Bolted. Bush ordered his cabinet to not rent any more journalists to promote propaganda. Certainly, this is on the heels of the Armstrong Williams/Maggie Gallagher debacles, but we, like the New York Times, wonder why this wasn't made clear last year, during the propaganda news reports for the prescription drug plan became apparent.

Activism

If you've been following the debacle known as the "Condi Rice Confirmation," you know that everyone seems convinced that it's going to happen. Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (with the exception of Boxer and Kerry) voiced concerns over Rice, but admitted they would vote to confirm her anyway (and did). This is appalling to us! Are you there to serve the people, or your own interests? Isn't it much more telling if the Senate FRC votes 10-8 to confirm her? Doesn't that send a stronger message to Congress, who will now vote, instead of the 16-2 that was? We urge you to call your Senators and Congresspersons and demand that they vote no on Rice. Be polite, courteous and intelligent, but get your point across. If you're feeling overly active, you should contact Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), and thank her for asking all the right questions to Rice.

News

T-Minus Four Days. It has been twenty months since Saddam Hussein was in power, yet you wouldn't know it from reading this article. Iraqi police, jailers, and intelligence officers, many of whom held the same positions under Hussein, continue to torture Iraqi criminals and civilians. It is a sad, sorry state of affairs when private organizations and the media find this information out and release it to the public before the administration does. Is there any doubt as to why Iraqis are not at all hopeful about the election? Of course, we can't hold the Iraqis completely at fault here. Why, if our own investigations into torture at the hands of our own troops are woefully inadequate, how can we expect the Iraqis to do any better? "Do as I say, not as I do" doesn't quite work. In fact, Colin Powell was recently asked by Bush how he felt the war was going, and Powell replied, "We're losing," reflecting the accurate, if bleak, view of the outgoing Secretary of State. Bush then asked Powell to leave the room. So maybe Bush's message is simply, "Do as I say," which certainly dovetails with his reckless abandon of American values and responsibilities. For example, as you can see, the war is costing us an almost unfathomable amount of money, which doesn't seam to bother the administration one bit, because they'll just cut the budget from areas that won't affect the elite.

It is interesting to note that the 9-11 Commission came up with the idea of an "Intelligence Czar," to oversee all federal intelligence organizations. We applauded this plan then, even though we have no faith in this administration to do it intelligently. Now comes a report by congressional investigators in the GAO showing that the information-sharing process among all levels of government and the private sector is threatening homeland security. We're really at a loss to understand why something so initially embraced by and so vitally important to America is playing the part of the red-headed stepchild of the government.

Raise Your Hand If You're Shocked. Congressional budget estimates now show that the budget deficit will reach an all time high $427 billion this year, which includes another $80 billion Bush is planning to ask for to help with Iraq. To put that number in perspective, if you took the deficit amount, and divided it up equally among every human on the planet, they would each receive $66. White House officials were quick to point out that they were still on track to keep Bush's campaign promise of cutting the deficit in half by 2009; a meaningless promise since Bush alone caused this deficit (anyone else remember our surplus?), and the "half" number is based on a fictitious estimate, and not the real deficit. And if he doesn't cut the deficit in half, why should he care? He's not up for re-election, and it's highly doubtful that Cheney will consider a bid for president. This is just an awful, ugly situation that might be slightly alleviated by Bush raising taxes to help defer the costs of war. We said on Monday, and we'll say it again today: There is a reason that the deficit is rising, and Bush is the only wartime president to not raise taxes.

Editorials

Howard Dean's Weekly Address. This week Dean discusses what worked - really worked - in his campaign. By taking less control at the local level, he let his supporters"run with the ball," so to speak. Obviously, each city is different, and each requires a different way of approaching voters (or prospective voters). He admits he didn't invent grassroots, but he does say the most important innovation of his campaign was ceding power to the folks on the local level. It is precisely for ideas like this that we fully endorse Howard Dean for DNC chair. The status quo is certainly not working for Democrats. Let's turn the kids loose and see what they can do. They rose to the challenge for Dean.

No Comparison. At some level, many of us have a large amount of disdain for politicians. And can you blame us? They're often self-serving and power-hungry, only interested in perpetuating or increasing their power. This often leads to many Americans ignoring little manipulations and the detailed proceedings of the Senate and House, because it becomes so tedious or disheartening. So it's tempting, when you hear about ethics violations or egregious abuses by the Republicans in power, to just blow it off and say that's how it's always been done, and we're just upset because we're not longer the party in power. But Sam Rosenfeld outlines how there's really no comparison, and how the Republicans are taking their corruption to a whole new level. This is an important article to read if you want to understand why we must take back the Senate and the House.

The Greenspan Succession. We've been worrying a lot about the Supreme Court appointments Bush might make, but what about the Chairman of the Fed? Greenspan, while having becoming increasingly irresponsible, still has some credibility. He's due to retire next year, and then what? Will Bush appoint someone who will actually inspire confidence, or will he just find another yes-man to push the Administrations partisan and fiscally irresponsible agenda? Only time will tell...

Activism

What's important to you? Do you believe that a woman's right to choose is important? Should this administration be allowed to restrict a woman's reproductive freedom? Sign NARAL's "We Are Pro-Choice America" pledge here. Remember, supporting a woman's right to choose does not mean we should abandon the ideas of education and counseling, nor is it carte blanche for reproductive irresponsibility. But removing this right goes against the idea that America was founded upon - the right to be free to make choices about one's own life.

News

A Knight Ridder analysis of government statistics shows that, despite all of the positive things we've done in Iraq, the insurgency is getting worse. The analysis goes on to state that, unless something truly dramatic happens, the U.S. will not win this war. Certainly, many of us have believed this for a while, but our belief alone hasn't changed anything. Maybe this analysis will help the administration see that something must be done, or more Americans will continue to die in a losing effort.

Although neither of us were raised Christian, we're pretty sure that one of the pillars of Christianity is to help thy fellow man. That's why we are so disgusted by this story: Christian missionaries denying aid to Hindus in India because they would not convert to Christianity. As a result, the missionaries left town. We know that this is an isolated example, but we are not talking about a simple pilgrimage. This village was razed by the tsunamis, and its inhabitants desperate for food and medicine. The result is yet another shameful episode for a religion that is already viewed by many Muslims as the source of their oppression.

The Republicans, formerly the party of fiscal responsibility, control the House and Senate, and eagerly await Bush's budget proposal. We point out their fiscal responsibility because the president will submit a budget that has severe cuts in many benefit programs, including Medicaid, and we are hoping that Republicans remember that America's citizens must come first. There is a reason why Bush is the only president to cut taxes during a war, and so instead of asking all Americans to pay a little more money in the past few years, some Americans are going to lose a lot of government services this year. Just watch as Bush claims to be doing something about the deficit crisis (for once he's right - it is a crisis - one he created) and slashes worthwhile programs in the name of "responsibility", when in fact, it will be precisely the opposite: Irresponsible to the core.

Editorials

On a recent episode of the network drama Boston Legal, an American from Sudan, with family in Sudan that was being slaughtered by mercenaries, successfully sued the U.S. Government for repeatedly proclaiming that they would help, yet not following up with that help. Sure, it's not realistic, and the lawsuit would not have a snowball's chance in our legal system. Yet, that is exactly what is happening in many parts of the world, including, for example, Somalia, as Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) recently spoke about. Condi Rice promises to "keep these items on the agenda," which sends a message to other countries that, "hey, we'll handle it." But we don't. We've seen it in Sudan. We've seen it in Uzbekistan. We've seen it in Somalia. Bush, Rice and the rest of the administration have to be made to realize that they can't have it both ways - we cannot pledge to help a country, and then let them drift in the wind. Oh, and speaking of Sudan, see what a little help will do? Note that America had nothing to do with these changes, and that's fine. No one expects America to solve every problem in the world. But at least let's solve the ones we promise to.

A book review? In the Editorials section? Absolutely, when the review makes a great read by itself, and that's exactly what we have here. The book is "The Most Activist Supreme Court in History," by Thomas Keck. The review is written by Stephen Pomper, who succinctly summarizes Keck's point - that for the last 18 years, we have had a Republican-led Supreme Court that has defended civil rights and not really shaken the status quo. A great summary of this court's past 18 years, and well worth your time.

Tim Russert, host of Meet the Press and NBC's News' Washington bureau chief, was recently interviewed by MSNBC on what he calls the Bush Doctrine. Russert is certainly one of the most politically connected people in Washington, and has long built a reputation on being fair. Perhaps the most important thing he discusses is Iraq: "America's exit strategy in Iraq is simple: train the Iraqi security forces and military to protect their own people and then withdraw. If the Iraqis do not have a government that is perceived as legitimate, it can not train a military force and we can't get out." We couldn't agree more.

Humor

Submitted for your amusement on this Monday, Patridiots presents an open letter from John Cleese to the citizens of America. To be honest, this seems like something that will be circulated for years and will turn out not to have actually been written by Cleese, but it's still quite amusing, regardless of who wrote it.