Funny how peace advocates like Sen. Russ Feingold and Rep. Tammy Baldwin become leading champions for veterans, and chickenhawks like Dick Cheney and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) take direct aim at our veterans.
This difference of opinion and commitment is the one reason veterans' advocates maintain hope for a change' [...]
McClatchy Newspapers reports President Obama to go the LBJ route, 34,000 more troops. If true, perhaps Obama can run in 2012 on a platform of 'not as many dead.'
From Iowa comes sanity and courage. United States candidate for the Iowa Democratic nomination for Senate, Bob Krause, became the [...]
Unfair, outrageous hyperbole? No. This is the effect of the vote on an amendment offered last month on a vile story not told widely enough.
by Gordon Duff
Is it this plain? Are the facts this clear? Did 30 Republicans vote to allow defense contractors protection if their employees are [...]
Tradewell is on the bleeding edge of criticism that our military is leveling against its Democratic commander-in-chief.
From the Times report Monday (Bumiller): "Last week the national'" [...]
I come from down in the valley
[...]
I love Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA).
For a period during the Bush administration, it felt like the only compelling loyal Democratic opposition was from Waxman, Feingold and Kucinich.
But Waxman has earned the wrath of veterans the nation-over for his bizarre commitment [...]
I love Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA).
For a period during the Bush administration, it felt like the only compelling loyal Democratic opposition was from Waxman, Feingold and Kucinich.
But Waxman has earned the wrath of veterans the nation-over for his bizarre commitment [...]
And so is our country.
How President Obama reacts to three catastrophes will define his presidency.FDR was once a rather large target.
Our Vietnam War Marine veteran friend has another typically fascinating piece out at Veterans Today, Background to Tyranny: Bush Family Terror Ties Decades-Old.As the GOP makes clear that it will not let go of its racist foolishness as it plays to its white base, the New York Times reports that "four of the panel’s seven Republicans invoked the 'wise Latina' reference."
Good, this should certainly help the White Party [...]
PUMA (Party Unity My Ass) scream the commenters across the blogs of those who dare criticize the leader.
The issue is Obama's decision to bar release of torture photos, and you are a PUMA if you criticize Barack Obama. The Party merits your unwavering support.
Some of the shall [...]
Update: Greenwald on Obama's latest effort to conceal evidence of Bush era crimes. Dittoheads beware, Greeenwald links to John Aravosis (Obama's logic was "a bit Bushian") Steve Hynd ("Obama Trades Our Principles For Cheneyism") TPM ("Obama falls back on Bushisms") Dan Froomkin ("Obama Joins the [...]
Note: After a lifetime of fighting bigotry I have been called anti-Semite and Jew Hater (at Daily Kos yesterday). Such is the mindset of those dedicated to war and militarism. Stand up for innocent Palestinian families and you are a "Jew hater". [See The Politics of Anti-Semitism for [...]
If you want to know why RNC Chair Michael Steele and his allies have become so shrill, it's not only because these guys are unhinged.
They have access to electoral data and a changing America spells trouble for a major political party that is overwhelmingly white, xenophobic, hateful and ignorant. [...]
As the world health authorities contend with halting the Swine Flu, John Nichols points to the almost pathological disdain that Republicans have for the government's promoting public health, and specifically stopping pandemics in his GOP Know-Nothings Fought Pandemic Preparedness (The Nation).
When House Appropriations Committee chairman David Obey, [...]
Popular New York Times columnist Gail Collins hits our state slogan, "Live Like You Mean It,” today.
Wisconsin has unveiled a new official state slogan, much to the dismay of some Wisconsinites who wondered why their tourism department spent $50,000 to come up with a catchphrase that used to [...]
Update II: Gideon Levy in Haaretz: "The only recognition that is needed now is Israel's recognition of the Palestinians as human beings."
Update: Inside Gaza: The Land of Ghosts
Some wonder if the humanistic dictum of standing with the victims of militarism and racism that - far away from the [...]
Republicans and their legal allies are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to end forcing "states and localities with a history of discrimination to submit changes in their voting process and procedures to Department of Justice or a federal D.C. district court for approval (preclearance)" in Northwest Austin (Texas) [...]
Jim Klauser is a very smart GOP operative advocating that Mark Neumann throw his hat into the ring against Jim Doyle in 2010.
Writes Klauser in his open letter in WisPolitics:
Mark Neumann, a former Congressman who nearly defeated Russ Feingold [in 1998), is a potential candidate. Mark is [...]
Update: Intelligence analysts at the Homeland Security Department ignored objections by civil-liberties officials before sending out a controversial report on the resurgence of domestic right-wing extremism, a department official confirmed Friday.
April 19, Sunday is the anniversary of two American tragedies: Waco (1993) and Oklahoma City (1995).
Waco [...]
Mark Horowitz, a teacher at Golda Meir School in Milwaukee, and a large group of hosting families and staff, students, and seemingly the whole community of Dyssegaardsskolen, Denmark, have again collaborated on the exchange of fourth graders from Milwaukee to Denmark (for the 15th time).
Pool [...]
"Sued for living on a hill," said attorney Patricia (Patti) J. Epstein this afternoon in oral argument before the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Suppose you live in a house uphill from another house downhill.
Subsequently, the City installs curbs, gutters and a sub-division around the downhill house.
Then the downhill house [...]
Update IV: MJS: Sign of anti-Obama protester reads "Keep your change. I'll keep freedoms. God bless the USA."
Update III: Time for TEA and a Fair Tax by Chuck Norris
Update II: Brian Beutler at Talking Points Memo has an insightful piece on the astroturf-nature of the the Tea [...]
Some resources below for a needed reform: Policing the prosecutor.
Wisconsin should lead on this.
Prosecutors tend to forget such notions as public interest, justice and prosecutorial discretion, instead focusing on political careers and an unthinking, rabid utilization of the power of their offices.
From the Justice Project:
Prosecutors decide [...]
Don't know what your living situation is, but a black man moves in a couple doors up and watch the property taxes in the hood move right on down.
Black people [depicted above-left from Google Images] are like magic this way; no way white guys can do [...]
Lauren Hermele has a photo essay on 1960s civil rights veterans in Salon. Great stuff.
A lot of the people comprising the civil rights movement have names that history will not record.
And quite a few live in Wisconsin today.
Registering voters, demanding jobs, risking their lives, enforcing democracy; that's what [...]
When is killing enough killing?
From Robert Fisk in The Independent:
(Peace activist) Tom Hurndall had stayed in Rafah. He was only 21 where – in his mother's words – he lost his life through a single, selfless, human act. 'Tom was shot in the head as he carried [...]
Hillary the Movie is pretty funny.
Last year’s film is mostly Ken Starr-inspired and other discredited news headlines with Ann Coulter, Dick Morris, Newt Gingrich and other rightwingers saying they do not like Hillary and Bill, with dark overtones reminiscent of Jerry Falwell’s The Clinton Chronicles (1998).
What’s [...]
As Gov. Doyle grapples with the giant budget deficits, it's worth recalling a time when zero national debt was feared and states argued about how much fiscal revenue they should shave off for their budgets.
In 2001 Fed Chair Alan Greenspan testified before the Senate Budget Committee on the potential [...]
Update: Bill Lueders of Isthmus broke this story at 9:58 this morning.
Mayoral candidate Jay Allen supports policies facilitating terrorists living in Fitchburg, says Allen’s opponent, former Fitchburg mayor Mark Vivian.
Mark Vivian is a hard worker; I respect him.
But Vivian has reportedly teamed up with GOP [...]
Ethan Bronner has what should be a blockbuster in the NYT, excerpted below.
[Shot below shows Israeli humanism at work, an all too typical photo from the Gaza Strip.]
How long are we going to support this hyper militarism and continuing war crime? What will Obama do?
What’s the worth of an American’s work?
If you believe that America ought to resemble feudalistic serfdom—not very much.
But since the later part of the ninetieth century when workers began organizing with fellow workers during the industrial revolution, the social and economic value of work, its worth, has been [...]
Suffice to say that many activist veterans are not too happy with Rep. Dave Obey (D-Wausau).
Though generally regarded as a progressive, the words I most often hear from folks across the political spectrum (from small business owners to anti-war activists) describing Obey are swearwords directed at Obey's personality [...]
Update: Mike Madden in Salon - "President Obama urges pork reform and signs a bill with earmarks in it on the same day. Republicans make an unconvincing show of outrage."
From today's State Journal: "U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl D-Wis., added $951,000 to the federal Omnibus Appropriations Bill for Black [...]
President Barack Obama will speak to the American public tonight via an address to a joint session of Congress.
This critical address comes as financial markets are tumbling while the American public continues to express high levels of confidence about Obama as president and his agenda addressing [...]
Update: Wisconsin budget: Prisoner proposal defended
"They hate us for our freedom," George W. Bush used to bellow, except for that one-in-100 people in jail thing.
Gov. Jim Doyle is calling for a cost-effective and sensible initiative in his state budget that would cut the sentences of non-violent [...]
Update: Related piece by Adam Cohen warns that the Supreme Court May Be About to Kill Off the Exclusionary Rule (NYT)
"They conferred, as against the Government, the right to be let alone - the most comprehensive of rights, and the right most valued by civilized men. To protect that [...]
You can't just mock the Lord like Google is doing in its graphic today (below) honoring Charles Darwin's 200th birthday.
Right. Amazing, the astounding ignorance and fear of the religious mind.
A University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor, I think it was Ronald Numbers, [...]
A Palestinian schoolgirl inspects her classroom which was burnt during Israel's offensive, at UNRWA's (UN Relief and Works Agency) primary school in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on January 24, 2009. Some 200,000 Gaza children returned to school for the first time since Israel's offensive, many having lost [...]
Update II: Krugman - "Nationalization is actually as American as apple pie."
Update: Time Magazine - "According to Reuters, there are over 8,300 FDIC-insured banks in America. Last August, dour economist Nouriel Roubini told Barron's that 1,400 banks in the U.S. would eventually fail."
The [...]
Justice Diane P. Wood is drawing attention as a leading candidate to fill the first vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Wood is famous in some circles (especially in Wisconsin) for her judicial equivalent of voiced disgust shown towards Stephen Biskupic, former U.S. Atty for the Eastern District of [...]
Update II: Senators Reach Tentative Deal on Stimulus Package
Update: On stimulus, Senate Dems ready to go it alone
President Obama called for action today in a Washington Post op-ed piece implicitly reminding obstructionist Republicans that their policy views are what got us here in the [...]
It's about time someone spoke up against Kathleen Falk's bone-headed approach to addressing the issue of operating a vehicle while intoxicated (OWI) and the non-issue of Wisconsin's alleged drinking "culture" problem.
Falk's criminalization and anti-civil liberties OWI agenda drew reproach from her opponent, Nancy Mistele, at the first [...]
In 1989-90, I covered an area controversy for the Capital Times about a bunch of farmers and landowners in Dane and Green counties who took exception to the plans of a wholly owned subsidiary of the Houston-based Enron Corporation [now infamous for its iconic lies and fraud].
Enron’s Northern Natural [...]
Update: Mills: "(Q)uite frankly, I have been unimpressed with Falk's leadership, and am deeply concerned by the glaring holes left in her record by the massive fuck-ups with the 911 center."
Rath: Falk dodges as Mistele fires
The Dane County Executive race is off and running with [...]
Update II: House passes Obama stimulus bill 244-188.
Today's the big House vote on Obama's economic stimulus plan that among other things "would shower the nation’s school [...]
Dane County dispatcher Nathan Waite is a hero.
In the Capital Times we read that Waite is being recognized for some superlative work.
From Mike Miller:
Dane County officials were happy Friday for something positive to celebrate at the 911 Center when they honored dispatcher Nathan Waite for the [...]
Can you believe this? Sick.
Merrill Lynch, with CEO John Thain presiding, paid fifteen billion dollars in bonuses in December with public money. This news is sure to be iconic.
As in outrageously sociopathic; meet the Jeffrey Dahmer of finance: Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain.
From Clusterstock.com, read John [...]
Update: On the federal level, US SC dilutes the 4th
One repulsive feature in the liberal arguments for routine police roadblocks [advocates call them “sobriety checkpoints”] is one of omission: The absolute refusal to address why roadblocks are offensive to liberty and specifically Fourth Amendment concerns.
Instead, we are treated [...]
Update: MAL's crazy, young nieces are great sports as the hours-long, snaking lines funnel towards the capitol. And a thank you to Rep. Tom Petri's office (R-Fond du Lac) whom my sister reports as the most gracious, welcoming presence that she has encountered during this truly beautiful experience.
Today is [...]
Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk has joined the let’s-set-up-police-roadblocks-(sobriety checkpoints) bandwagon.
See, Falk—she of the let’s-cover-our-asses-fast reaction to the Dane County 911 Center’s widely reported screw-ups leading to the murder of Brittany Zimmermann—says she wants to change the attitudes towards and culture of Wisconsin drinking.
Gee, changing the culture, that's [...]
Update III: Fond du Lac Police Captain Steve Thiry: "Obviously, people were offended," or we would not have investigated the incident. The Fond du Lac Reporter's lede gets knocked down.
Update II: Check out the xenophobic comments on the bottom of the Fond du Lac Reporter's piece, and you [...]
Update: Rights group: Israel uses white phosphorus in Gaza
Sunday, January 11, 2009 3:41 PM EST
The Associated Press
By JASON KEYSER Associated Press Writer
JERUSALEM (AP) — Human Rights Watch said Sunday that Israel's military has fired artillery shells with the incendiary agent white phosphorus into [...]
Update: Washington Post - Bad Economy May Fuel Hate Groups, Experts Warn
© by Michael Leon
A social diversity event held last night at the Fond du Lac, Wisconsin Public Library entitled "¡Hola! Hispanic and Latino Experiences in Fond du Lac" was marred [...]
Not news among veterans’ advocates, but three pieces paint a sordid picture of what our country intentionally inflicts upon our veterans when it makes war.
War tends to produce results dysfunctional to future war-making so veterans and serving military personnel who point to any evidence of this truism risk a [...]
Wisconsin is home to a multitude of outstanding citizens who have fought for the very fabric of our democratic government against a radicalized Republican Party that has become home to a faction of corrupt, militaristic reactionaries. Here are a few who have fought for freedom and the rule of law:
[...]
Here's who you will not see on CBS News, for example, anytime soon as Israel kills innocent Gazan civilians:
- Jennifer Loewenstein, Associate Director of the Middle East Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Robert Fisk, columnist from the Independent:
But you should see these people and their [...]
Update: Israeli Navy attacks and wounds human rights 'Dignity' ship in International Waters
Update: Washington Post: Food and Medical Supplies Grow Scarce in the Gaza Strip.
Personally, I can no longer regard Israel as a moral entity; it has lost its status as a state dedicated to humanism, veering into savagery [...]
Update: Percentage of Americans who believe that God created man pretty much in his present form in one instance within the last 10,000 years: 47 percent. ... Rick Warren is one of these people.
Most here have heard the indictment that Barack Obama's inauguration will include a "humiliating" (Maddow) slap at [...]
President-elect Barack Obama has tremendously more on his plate than reinventing government and restoring some semblance of accountability to Americans.
Ensuring that the world does not enter into a second depression, halting a war or two, saving the environment, formulating an industrial policy on alternative energy, one can go on; all [...]
Looking good for Al in our neighbor to the west.
Check out StarTribune: 171 Vote Projected Franken Lead at MyDD!
Norm Coleman is going to have to be a little more dishonest to successfully steal this race.
Update: Wall Street Journal: "We are running out of the traditional ammunition that's used in a recession, which is to lower interest rates. They're getting to be about as low as they can go. And although the Fed is still going to have more tools available to it, it [...]
Update III: History of the Filibuster and Cloture - Great for those who seem believe that we just cannot survive without this relic from the 1850s.
Update II: Thank you William Greider: Stop Senator No, Senate Dems should disable the rule that gives Mitch McConnell a virtual [...]
