A Special Comment worth it's weight in Gold..

Hopefully, those wonderful folks at Crooks and Liars will have KO's Special Comment up shortly..because sista...it was mahvelous!!!

Mukasey's kid is a lawyer that represents one of the big Telco's among other things addressed in KO's SC tonight..its a grand Special Comment folks..simply eye-opening. A short piece of it from MSNBC:

In a Presidency of hypocrisy, an Administration of exploitation, a labyrinth of leadership, in which every vital fact is a puzzle inside a riddle wrapped in an enigma hidden under a claim of executive privilege supervised by an idiot, this one is surprisingly easy.

President Bush has put, protecting the Telecom giants from the laws…ahead of protecting you from the terrorists.

He has demanded an extension of the FISA law, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, but only an extension that includes retroactive immunity for the Telecoms who helped him spy on us.

Congress has given him, and he has today signed, a fifteen day extension, which simply kicks the time bomb down the field, and has changed nothing of his insipid rhetoric, in which he portrays the Democrats as 'soft on terror' and getting in the way of his Superhuman efforts to protect the nation... when, in fact, and with bitter irony, if anybody is 'soft on terror' here it is Mr. Bush.

Its hell trying to watch the Debate and KO tonight..thank god for DVRs..

Edit..here is the Special Comment. I am now off to watch the second edition of Countdown tonight since the Debate is now over. A big Thank You to C&L for putting it up..you folks rock.

If you think the Telco's don't have the Dems in their pocket..think again.

Surely this isn't a surprise to anyone that pays attention. In an investigative piece for TruthOut, Matt Renner's opening salvo is this:

A think tank with close ties to the telecommunication industry has been working with a key Democrat in the Senate on a domestic surveillance bill that would provide telecommunications companies with retroactive immunity for possibly violating federal law by spying on American citizens at the behest of the Bush administration.

Well, I'll be damned..somehow I kinda figured with Rockefeller leading the charge there had to be an ulterior motive involved. Isn't 'think tank' just a code word for special interests these days?

Third Way, a non-profit "progressive" think tank that is funded and controlled by hedge fund managers, corporate lawyers and business executives has advised Sen. Jay Rockefeller on a domestic surveillance bill that includes immunity for telecommunications companies with which Third Way board members have close ties.

Rockefeller is the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and has been the leading Democratic proponent of granting immunity to telecommunication companies that allegedly gave spy agencies access to their communication networks and databases without a warrant.

"I think we will prevail," Rockefeller told the Politico on January 23, referring to the disagreement over retroactive immunity for telecoms, "it's a pretty bad idea to appear cocky ... I'm not pessimistic."

Democrats connected to Third Way were integral in defeating a bill, supported by a majority of Senate Democrats, which might have prevented the telecoms from getting immunity.

Fuckers...read the rest..it's guaranteed to piss you off my dear reader. If it doesn't piss you off..well..you didn't need those pesky civil rights anyway..

Tags: Jay Rockefeller, Third Way, retroactive immunity

Just because your paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.

The government plays wargames. They use situations where Bloggers and Journalists are the bad guys.

Seriously..they do. The RawStory writeup this morning was a freaking trip to read..lemme tell ya. From the writeup we learn which departments took part in the 'exercise'-The Homeland Security Department ran the exercise to test the nation's hacker defenses, with help from the State Department, Pentagon, Justice Department, CIA, National Security Agency and others.

Whoa, all the heavy hitters no? Then the situations they used:

Imagined villains include hackers, bloggers and even reporters. After mock electronic attacks overwhelmed computers at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, an unspecified "major news network" airing reports about the attackers refused to reveal its sources to the government. Other simulated reporters were duped into spreading "believable but misleading" information that worsened fallout by confusing the public and financial markets, according to the government's files.

Its that damn liberal media don't ya know? They are plotting the overthrow of the US government. Yeah, we all want to be under the umbrella of the Islamists..oh fuck yeah.

What do these wargames cost? Three million bucks according to the writeup. And, they are planning another one this coming March. The Associated Press has been pushing, via a FOIA request, for two years to get the low-down on these international wargames. The 328 page report was of course heavily redacted.

At least our government is trying to figure it out, I suppose we should be glad about that, right? It was an international affair including "government officials from the United States, England, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and executives from leading technology and transportation companies". I have read various writeups that state the 'next big attack' will be more a cyber attack than anything else, and with the internet being the main culprit used to bring down American security forces. Richard Clarke's book lays it all out..how it could happen and what would be the result of a cyber attack on our security systems that are old and not up-to-date. This next to last paragraph in the RawStory writeup was interesting:

However, the government's files hint at a tantalizing mystery: In the middle of the war game, someone quietly attacked the very computers used to conduct the exercise. Perplexed organizers traced the incident to overzealous players and sent everyone an urgent e-mail marked "IMPORTANT!" reminding them not to probe or attack the game computers.

Gotta be ready for anything from any angle..

Edwards will end it where he began..NOLA

AP states he will not throw his support to either Hillary or Obama today, this per an unidentified advisor to his campaign. His populist message appealed to me more than any of the others besides Kucinich. I now have no idea who I will vote for next Tuesday.

Also, Edwards is calling it a "suspension" of his campaign..for obvious reasons.

A good site that lays out the delegate dance and such is located here. H/T to Washington Independent's Holly Yeager for pointing it out on their site this morning.

Edit: Here is Edwards goodbye speech.


Tags: John Edwards

A new signing statement by Bush.

If he doesn't like a specific part of a bill he signs..he makes it disappear by issuing a signing statement. The newest of these, via The Progress Report:

Earlier this week, President Bush signed the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008, which included a statute forbidding the Bush administration from spending taxpayer money "to establish any military installation or base for the purpose of providing for the permanent stationing of United States Armed Forces in Iraq."

But Bush quietly attached a signing statement to the law, asserting a unilateral right to disregard the ban on permanent bases in addition to three other measures in the bill. "Provisions of the act...could inhibit the president's ability to carry out his constitutional obligations...to protect national security," the signing statement read.

Reacting to the statement, Center for American Progress Senior Fellow Mark Agrast said, "On the merits, for the president to assert that Congress lacks the authority to say there shouldn't be permanent bases on foreign soil is fanciful at best." Bush's "frequent use of signing statements to advance aggressive theories of executive power has been a hallmark of his presidency," writes the Boston Globe's Charlie Savage, who has authored a book on that topic.

In 2006, the American Bar Association condemned signing statements as "contrary to the rule of law and our constitutional separation of powers." Bush's latest signing statement was immediately met with anger on Capitol Hill. "I reject the notion in his signing statement that he can pick and choose which provisions of this law to execute," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) added, "Congress has a right to expect that the Administration will faithfully implement all of the provisions" of the law -- "not just the ones the President happens to agree with."

The Dipshit-in-Chief has issued over 800 signing statements during his reign of terror. John Dean has a pov about this bullshit here. Its worth your time to check it out.

Tags: Bush Signing Statement, Permanent military bases in Iraq

Instead of rebates, lets fix our infrastructure and put people to work

With the news that every working American will get a rebate check from Uncle Sam, it made me wonder just how far $600 is supposed to go to 'fix' our economy? To some of us, the economy has been in the crapper for quite awhile now. Choosing between paying bills, filling the gas tank, buying medication and putting food on the table has been the problem of many American's for some time now.

The Senate seems to realize that only putting money in the pockets of those that work will not be enough. As they fight it out in Congress over the next couple of weeks we can all watch to see the final outcome. Will they extend unemployment for those hit by the dive of the housing market? The ripple effect of that debacle is far-reaching. My local newspaper has laid off almost half their staff and they point squarely to the housing downturn as the reason for the layoffs. Unemployment numbers fed to us by the federal government are notoriously skewed since they do not count people who have used up their unemployment benefits. New job growth is in the same boat since it only counts numbers, not the quality of those jobs created.

Meanwhile, many of us think the economy needs more than a stimulus package that most likely will come in the form of another loan from, who else, China. Meanwhile, there is a bill out there that would create jobs and fix our nations infrastructure, its called the Dodd-Hagel National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2007, or S 1926. It was introduced into committee back in August of last year. The American Society of Civil Engineers explains it this way:

The bill, S. 1926, would create the National Infrastructure Bank as an independent entity of the federal government. The bank would be required to evaluate and fund "capacity-building infrastructure projects of substantial regional and national significance."

Infrastructure projects with a potential federal investment of at least $75 million would be submitted to the bank by a project sponsor, state, locality, tribe, or local infrastructure agency, e.g., a transit agency. To determine a level of federal investment, the bank would employ a sliding-scale method that incorporates conditions such as the type of infrastructure system or systems, project location, project cost, current and projected usage, non-federal revenue, regional or national significance, promotion of economic growth and community development, reduction in traffic congestion, environmental benefits, land use policies that promote smart growth, and mobility improvements.

To continue reading, click here.

Tags: National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2007, Economy

From our Dept of WTF? - NYS NOW chapter slams Kennedy

Slams is a mild way to put it..they rip him a new one over his choice of Obama. Their press release starts out with this:

Women have just experienced the ultimate betrayal. Senator Kennedy's endorsement of Hillary Clinton's opponent in the Democratic presidential primary campaign has really hit women hard. Women have forgiven Kennedy, stuck up for him, stood by him, hushed the fact that he was late in his support of Title IX, the ERA, and the Family and Medical Leave Act to name a few. Women have buried their anger that his support for the compromises in No Child Left Behind and the Medicare bogus drug benefit brought us the passage of these flawed bills. We have thanked him for his ardent support of many civil rights bills, BUT women are always waiting in the wings.

Is this woman saying that Hillary should be supported regardless? As a woman and a feminist I take umbrage, no..I am highly pissed the hell off with this fuckwitted statement. Her brand of politics is what drives me insane. The rest of the 'statement' should raise the hackles of every progressive:

And now the greatest betrayal! We are repaid with his abandonment! He's picked the new guy over us. He's joined the list of progressive white men who can't or won't handle the prospect of a woman president who is Hillary Clinton (they will of course say they support a woman president, just not "this" one). "They" are Howard Dean and Jim Dean (Yup! That's Howard's brother) who run DFA (that's the group and list from the Dean campaign that we women helped start and grow). "They" are Alternet, Progressive Democrats of America, democrats.com, Kucinich lovers and all the other groups that take women's money, say they'll do feminist and women's rights issues one of these days, and conveniently forget to mention women and children when they talk about poverty or human needs or America's future.

This latest move by Kennedy, is so telling about the status of and respect for women's rights, women's voices, women's equality, women's authority and our ability – indeed, our obligation- to promote and earn and deserve and elect, unabashedly, a President that is the first woman after centuries of men who "know what's best for us.

The National Chapter of NOW is backing Hillary as well.The well-known blog Feministing is also aghast at this press release as well as Feministe and CultureKitchen. I wonder how Marcia Pappas feels about Bill's thinly veiled race-baiting of Obama or the outright lies about his record? Does she approve of that bullshit? I have not settled on a candidate since Kucinich dropped out but this kinda bs won't help me make up my mind in favor of Hillary.

For me, being a woman and a feminist means thinking for myself. Pappas' press release makes no sense and has set back feminism a few decades, in my humble female opinion. She does not speak for this feminist. If you live in NY state and you find this 'press release' disgusting you might want to contact the author and head of NOW in NY: For more information contact: Marcia Pappas, 518-452-3944 - 518-469-2661

Tags: NOW NYS, Marica Pappas, Hillary Clinton, Ted Kennedy

Well, that was 53 minutes I will never get back..

Could the Republican's give the Idiot-in-Chief any more standing ovations? Christ almighty what a bunch of ass kissers.

I bet myself he would toss in 9/11, and true to form he did..at least twice.

He mentioned how Iraq voted for the first time..that was over three years ago you nimrod.

He again made it obvious by using the same tired rhetoric about keep America safe is tied to his worthless Protect America Act that expires at the end of this week. He also tossed in protecting the Telco's from litigation.

His bullshit and bravado about the economy made me queasy as hell when I heard this line:

"Americans can be confident about our economic growth," Bush said. "But in the short run, we can all see that growth is slowing."

Oh for the love of Pete..you lying sack of sheep shit. It hasn't been strong in years. Replacing $14 bucks an hour jobs for $7 bucks an hour jobs isn't what Americans have in mind.

I need to get another glass of wine..

Oh..and Tweety's remark about Condi did make me spit wine across the room..wtf was that all about?

Edit: Crooks and Liars has Tweety's comments which I filched and present here..in case you missed them.

Novak states Obama will pick John Edwards as AG if elected..

Since I think Robert Novak is a fucking tool..I really don't know what to say about his latest column:

Illinois Democrats close to Sen. Barack Obama are quietly passing the word that John Edwards would be named attorney general in an Obama administration.

Installation at the Justice Department of multimillionaire trial lawyer Edwards would please not only the union leaders supporting him for president, but organized labor in general. The unions relish the prospect of an unequivocal labor partisan as the nation's top legal officer.

In public debates, Obama and Edwards often seem to bond together in alliance against front-running Sen. Hillary Clinton. While running a poor third, Edwards could collect a substantial bag of delegates under the Democratic Party's proportional representation. Edwards then could try to turn his delegates over to Obama in the still-unlikely event of a deadlocked Democratic National Convention.

Does anyone else think this is bullshit? Why would any self-respecting Democrat talk to that fuckwit about anything?

tags: Robert Novak, John Edwards, Obama, Attorney General

Repubs lose on the clouture vote re:Surveillance Bill

Per TPM muckraker, the Rethugs attempt to block amendments to the Surveillance Bill fell short..YAY! Made my monday ;) From TPM:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) cloture vote failed 48-45 just now, well short of the 60 votes necessary.

In the end, four Dems crossed over to vote with the Republicans: Sens. Mark Pryor (D-AR), Ben Nelson (D-NE), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA). Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) was the lone Republican to vote with the Dems.

Now we're on to the question of whether an extension will be passed. We'll have more on that in a moment.

Using our Tax Dollars to kill an Endangered Species

Our public service announcement for this week comes from the NRDC, of which I am a member:

The reintroduction of the gray wolf into Yellowstone National Park and surrounding wild lands, where they had once been wiped out, is one of the greatest success stories of the Endangered Species Act. And our tax dollars helped make it happen. Today, some 1,500 of these magnificent, endangered animals roam the Northern Rockies, where they have played a key role in reviving both the region’s environment and its tourist-based economy.

Unbelievably, the Bush Administration, bowing to pressure from Wyoming and a relatively few vocal ranchers and elk hunters, has just issued a new rule that allows the mass killing of gray wolves. Instead of doing its job to protect animals on the Endangered Species List, this administration is preparing to slaughter them. Even worse, it plans to issue a second rule that would strip wolves of federal protection altogether.

www.CallOffTheGuns.org

Using our tax dollars, the federal government would trap, hunt and gun down entire packs of wolves -- even from airplanes. Under either rule, hundreds of wolves could be killed. It’s madness.

Here are the facts: While some hunters complain about wolves killing elk -- their natural prey -- elk populations are at all-time highs across the Northern Rockies. And ranchers on private land already have the right to kill wolves that harass their livestock. No matter. The Bush Administration is determined to allow the killing of wolves -- and to reverse an environmental success story paid for by the American people -- just to satisfy politically powerful constituencies.

There’s still time to call off the guns. That’s where you come in. Go to CallOffTheGuns.org and tell your U.S. Representative to oppose the Bush wolf-killing rule.

Tell your elected representative this is total bullshit.

I am sick and tired of BushCo giving in to special interests. Please do what you can regarding this important wildlife AND environmental issue, even if its only sending your Congressional rep's NRDC's email. Every little bit helps..it surely can't hurt. The sickening Irony is this: The wolf is doing well enough to now remove it from the endangered species list because of the work done with our tax dollars to reintroduce them into Yellowstone National Park. The revised rule is aimed not at protecting cattle or sheep but at protecting elk and deer for hunters. As my father, an avid hunter, would say..this is a truly fuckwitted move by BushCo. Read an OpEd piece on the NYT website today about this issue and how friggin retarded their rationale is here.

Tags: Gray Wolf, Environment, endangered species

Ted Kennedy's reasons for backing Obama

Edit: Patrick Kennedy is also backing Obama as of today ;)

From an email I got this morning:

Barack Obama inspires me.

That's why I'm about to take the stage with him here in Washington and endorse his campaign to become the next president of the United States.

It's that simple. Through Barack, I believe we will move beyond the politics of fear and personal destruction and unite our country with the politics of common purpose.

All Democrats in this race have strong ideas to address the challenges before our country. But Barack is the candidate who can inspire Americans to act and bring us together to achieve those goals -- an economy that works for everyone, health care for all, and at long last ending the war in Iraq and bringing our troops home.

I remember another leader who inspired the nation, especially our youth, to fulfill a promise of change. Those inspired young people marched, sat in at lunch counters, protested the war in Vietnam and served honorably in that war even when they opposed it.

That leader challenged them to ask what they could do for their country and, together, they changed the world.

So in the words of that leader, John Kennedy: "The world is changing. The old ways will not do... It is time for a new generation of leadership."

I have found that next generation of American leadership in Barack Obama.

I respect the strength, the work and dedication of two other Democrats still in the race, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards. They are my friends; they have been my colleagues in the Senate. Whoever is our nominee will have my enthusiastic support.

But I believe there is one candidate whose extraordinary gifts of leadership and character match the extraordinary demands of this moment in history.

Barack will be a president who refuses to be trapped in the patterns of the past. He sees the world clearly without being cynical. He fights for the causes he believes in -- but refuses to demonize those who hold a different view. He's tough-minded, but he also has an uncommon capacity to appeal to "the better angels of our nature."

In Barack Obama, I see not just the audacity, but the possibility of hope for the America that is yet to be.

I love this country. I believe in the bright light of hope and possibility. I always have, even in the darkest hours. I know what America can achieve. I've seen it. I've lived it -- and with Barack Obama, we can do it again.

Sincerely,

Senator Edward M. Kennedy

Disclosure: I am a member of Ted's DemocraticMajority group, which is why I received the email this morning explaining his reasons for backing Obama.

Tags: Edward Kennedy, Patrick Kennedy, Obama, Kennedys endorse Obama

Toni Morrison backs Obama, not Clinton

Ironically, it was Ms. Morrison that dubbed Bill Clinton the "First Black President":

In an October 1998 essay in The New Yorker, Morrison wrote: "Years ago, in the middle of the Whitewater investigation, one heard the first murmurs: white skin notwithstanding, this is our first black president. Blacker than any actual person who could ever be elected in our children's lifetime."

Ms Morrison is a Nobel Prize winning author. I love my irony served up hot and fresh in the morning..don't you? The NYT has a writeup about her letter to Obama here on their blog page.

Tags: Toni Morrison, Toni Morrison endorses Obama

FCC Opens Special Comments Period On Net Neutrality

Tell the FCC and Congress You Support Net Neutrality
Read the FCC Notice here in PDF form

We got the heads up from John Laesch, Democratic candidate in the
special election to replace Dennis Hastert in IL-14. The FCC has made
provision for comments from the public on net neutrality, and on
John's request we created a special action page that pipes your
personal comments into the FCC electronic filing system, AND sends
your messages to all your members of Congress at the same time.

Net Neutrality FCC Comments:
http://www.usalone.com/laesch/pnum786.php (anyone can use this link)

We have already seen blatant moves towards making a two tier toll
road out of our wide open democratic internet, as when Comcast
started discriminating against particular users recently. And you
remember when the AT&T censored Pearl Jam's criticism of Bush, and
when Verizon censored NARAL's pro choice text messages. This is our
chance to speak out and make our voices heard to defend our free
internet.

John Laesch's special primary election is coming up in just 1 week on
Feb 5th, which can help set the tone for the entire primary season to
come. Please submit the action page sponsored by John above, and
please also consider making a donation to encourage him to keep
standing strong on the issues you care about.

John Laesch Donations: http://www.usalone.com/donations_laesch.php

As the Democratic nominee in 2006, John Laesch pulled 40 percent
against the powerful incumbent Hastert in the general election, and
John is in the running again. With numbers like that, and especially
given the shift in public sentiment in the last two years, this is a
very winnable race.

Here is John's message to you on the importance of acting now to
ensure network neutrality:

***********

The FCC has bowed to pressure and is investigating complaints that a
major internet service provider is selectively blocking traffic. We
need to let the FCC and Congress know that we are willing to defend
net neutrality from big corporate interests.

The FCC is asking for public comments. Let the FCC know that you
support true net neutrality, and you oppose any attempts by giant
telecoms to weaken or dismantle it.

Paid for by Friends of John Laesch

*** End John Laesch Message ***

Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed
to be ours, and forward this alert as widely as possible.

If you would like to get alerts like these, you can do so at
http://www.usalone.com/in.htm

Tags: Net Neutrality, FCC

A Kennedy endorses Obama..

MSNBC, Keith Olbermann just stated that Caroline Kennedy will endorse Obama tomorrow in a NYT OpEd piece.

Wow wee. Can't wait to get my NYT later this evening.

Edit: The OpEd by Caroline Kennedy is now online here. (A subscription might be required) The following is her column entitled: A President Like My Father.

OVER the years, I've been deeply moved by the people who've told me they wished they could feel inspired and hopeful about America the way people did when my father was president. This sense is even more profound today. That is why I am supporting a presidential candidate in the Democratic primaries, Barack Obama.

My reasons are patriotic, political and personal, and the three are intertwined. All my life, people have told me that my father changed their lives, that they got involved in public service or politics because he asked them to. And the generation he inspired has passed that spirit on to its children. I meet young people who were born long after John F. Kennedy was president, yet who ask me how to live out his ideals.

To continue reading..click here.

Tag: Caroline Kennedy, Obama, political endorsement

Senators say Not so fast Frat Boy!

The Shrub wagged his finger and told Congress to just pass the damn bill. He threatened, he cajoled, he sternly issued a warning("I strongly believe it would be a mistake to delay or derail this bill,") and yet..

Yet Both parties want more added to Bush's bullshit stimulus package according to WaPo this morning.

I say amen mutha fuckas..get to it. Load that bitch up. Perhaps Bohner will cry again when he sees what the Senate Finance Committee comes up with. Only this time..it will be real tears because Bohner and his boy Bush won't be getting their way. From the WaPo writeup:

But there is nothing partisan about the opposition developing ahead of next week's meeting of the Senate Finance Committee, which will draft its own economic stimulus bill. Republicans and Democrats alike said the administration does not have the right to force a plan on senators who had no say on its details.

Try adding items that will actually help those struggling ya dumb sumbitches. Like extending unemployment for all those folks laid off in the construction trades due to the friggin housing market taking a huge shit. Wait..thats not what they want to add to it? Apparently not:

Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and other administration officials that he will try to add a tax break for corporations that quickly reinvest overseas profits in the United States. None of the officials offered opposition.

Give me an effin' break..the Corporatocracy doesn't need help you jackass..the people are suffering for Christ's sake. Like elderly folks that have to choose between buying their medicine and food. Food that is skyrocketing price-wise through the fucking stratosphere.

As The Shrub spoke to his loyal followers..aka a meeting of Republicans in some cushy setting..it appeared they weren't real keen on his package:

His audience appeared lukewarm about the stimulus plan. Conservatives have complained that it redistributes wealth for political reasons and would be ineffective at jump-starting the economy. When Bush praised Pelosi and Boehner for their leadership in building it, the Republicans did not react until a White House aide at the back of the room started the applause.

So basically we have Rethugs that want the folks at the top of the food chain to get the bulk of the largess...and here I thought they might actually care about the masses...

Silly fucking me. But WAIT! some politico's back home in DC do still care:

In Washington, however, senators were busy drawing up lists of potentially costly additions to the package. Collins said a bipartisan coalition of Northeastern and Midwestern senators will push to secure as much as $800 million in heating assistance for the poor, a provision that House Democratic leaders dropped in favor of securing payments for about 35 million families who earn too little to pay income tax.

Praise Jeebus! There just might be some elected reps that actually give a shit about the poor folks, and those who have been increasingly struggling to make ends meet under the Bush Regime. Collins is a Rethug my dear reader and Buddha bless her, she is thinking of the masses. What a concept!

Collins said she will push to restore about $12.5 billion in unemployment benefits and $5 billion in food-stamp extensions that House negotiators also eliminated, a call echoed by her fellow Maine Republican, Sen. Olympia J. Snowe, who vowed to add funds next week in the Finance Committee. Snowe will be joined by another Republican on the committee, Sen. Gordon Smith (Ore.).

Methinks this package won't be a slam dunk for The Shrub..and it warms the cockles of my little black heart don't cha know? The Republican's that still care are pushing back! Sound the alert! Nothing better than watching the Rethugs eat their own..nothing, except maybe watching them tar and feather the Idiot-in-Chief and drag him out of town kicking and screaming..but thats a recurring dream I have, excuse me for fantasizing. ;>p Nothing better than a Rethug Rebellion..nothing!

Tags: Stimulus Package, Economy, Recession, Shrinking Middle Class

All but one of our recessions came under Republican Presidents..

So says John Dean in his latest OpEd on FindLaw's website, the first of several parts on this subject. Deans says the only one that didn't come under a Republican Prez came when the Repub's controlled congress..

So basically they are batting a thousand at this point right?

Dean's writeup links to this NYT article which is titled: Maybe Too Little, Always Too Late. It's a chart that starts with the date the recession hit, the date it ended and when the Government finally passed legislation to right the sinking ship. It contains 8 different periods in our history, but back to what John Dean has to say:

Here are the recessions and their Republican presidents: August 1957 to April 1958 (Eisenhower), April 1960 to February 1961 (Eisenhower), December 1969 to November 1970 (Nixon), November 1973 to March 1975 (Nixon and Ford), July 1981 to November 1982 (Reagan), July 1990 to March 1991 (Reagan), and March 2001 to November 2001 (Bush II).

As we all have watched the stock market this week, thoughts of past major crashes have no doubt popped into the minds of many. Republican presidents oversaw them. Herbert Hoover, of course, was president when the great crash of 1929 occurred, and Ronald Reagan was president with the most recent serious crash - Black Monday in 1987.

The Republican Party has long been the favorite of the business world. But when one steps back to look at the facts objectively - as business leaders who want to remain in business must do, and now seem to be doing - the question must be asked: Is a Republican bias actually good business?

It's a good read, it lists 6 factors which show why businessmen and women are leaving the GOP. Check it out at the first link in this post.

Bill Moyers-Must see TV for Friday evening

“The elections are manipulated by religion, by money, by corporations. And then once the people are elected and they go to Washington, they fall under the influence of really serious money.”- John Grisham


This week on BILL MOYERS JOURNAL (check local listings)

* Bill Moyers interviews John Grisham, best-selling author of The Firm, The Pelican Brief, and The Rainmaker, in a far-ranging conversation that gives viewers insight into the beliefs and background that influences Grisham's work and provides an unexpected look at his views about the state of the nation. “I get angry when you look at our democratic system, and I wonder how democratic it really is,” says Grisham, a former criminal defense attorney and former member of the Mississippi state legislature.


* Economic downturn. Bill Moyers gets perspective on the state of the economy and what it means for Americans from Katherine S. Newman, author of The Missing Class: Portraits of the Near Poor in America.


* As spending on political television ads is set to reach a new record - 2.5 billion dollars - the JOURNAL looks at Big Media's opportunities to feed off the fat of the campaign trail.


* A Bill Moyers essay separating the facts from the spin coming out of the World Economic Summit in Davos, Switzerland.

If you can't watch it..tape it! ;>)

Chinese Economy is strong, while ours is in the toilet

I find it interesting that the Chinese economy has a fifth straight year of double digit growth..and ours is struggling to stay out of a recession. From the VOA writeup:

The 11.4 percent growth in China's economy last year was the greatest in 13 years.

Xie Fuzhan, the commissioner of the National Bureau of Statistics, announced the annual economic figures in Beijing Thursday.

Xie says the second quarter last year saw the highest growth, of 11.9 percent. That eased to 11.2 percent in the fourth quarter, indicating a modest slowdown.

The government has been trying for the past few years to moderate economic growth. But a number of measures, including several increases in interest rates last year, have failed to make much of an impact on the roaring economy.
*snip*
Total trade volume rose 23.5 percent, and the already huge trade surplus - which has prompted heated disputes with the United States and the European Union - rose by almost 50 percent to $262 billion.

They can thank NAFTA for at least part of that growth don't ya think?

Edit: It has just been pointed out to me that NAFTA has nothing to do with China(duh North American Free Trade)..but the WTO does, not to mention all the "free trade" bs.

Kucinich drops out of Presidential race.

MSNBC is reporting it this afternoon:

In an interview with the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the congressman said he was quitting the race and would made a formal announcement Friday.

"I want to continue to serve in Congress," he told the newspaper.

Kucinich said he will not endorse another Democrat in the primary.

Per Politico:
The Cleveland-area congressman is facing a challenge to his seat in the House from Joe Cimperman, who has begun running an attack ad accusing Kucinich of being a "part-time congressman" and missing more than 300 votes in the House.

Bipartisanship my ass..

Lame excuse and no one that pays attention will buy it. From the Politico link:

House Democrats will postpone votes on criminal contempt citations against White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers, while congressional leaders work with President Bush on a bipartisan stimulus package to fend off an economic downturn, according to party leaders and leadership aides.

Senior Democrats have decided that holding a controversial vote on the contempt citations, which have already been approved by the House Judiciary Committee as part of its investigation into the firing of nine U.S. attorneys, would "step on their message" of bipartisan unity in the midst of the stimulus package talks.

I swear, these asshats think we are as dumb as BushCo does. Rent a set of balls you bastards and get it done.

The Traditional Media and our election

I have the so-called MSM listed as “traditional” media in the title because there are other ways to get our news now, and for that I am so friggin grateful.

I define the traditional media as the big three networks (CBS, NBC and ABC) plus the major newspapers like the New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, Chicago Tribune and other regional powerhouses that are owned by huge conglomerates. Also, the radio airwaves, although not as powerful as they once were, are also part of the traditional media. Generally speaking, any media form owned and operated by a big-assed corporation is in this mix ok?

Now, by big-assed corporation, I mean a corporation that is either publicly or privately owned, but the kicker is that they own lots and lots of other companies which might or might not also be considered media outlets. For a complete, and I do mean complete listing of these conglomerates, check out the Columbia Journalism Review site here. It's interacting in that you utilize a pull down menu that contains all the players in the Traditional Media and who owns them, along with what else they own.

Lets look at General Electric as an example. They own NBC and the following companies:

• 14 Local tv Stations

• 14 US Telemundo Stations

• Salon.com

• CNBC

• MSNBC

• Bravo

• Mun2TV

• Sci-Fi

• Trio

• USA

• Universal Pictures

• Universal Parks & Resorts

• Paxson Communications(30%)

• NBC Universal Television Studio

• NBC Universal Television Distribution

• Other General Electric Businesses

• GE Aircraft Engines

• GE Commercial Finance

• GE Consumer Products

• GE Industrial Systems

• GE Insurance

• GE Medical Systems

• GE Plastics

• GE Power Systems

• GE Specialty Materials

• GE Transportation Systems

To continue reading this post, click here.

About those missing emails Dick..

The wonderful folks at CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) has a wonderful timeline up on the website. Its a detailed accounting of the national news events that took place on the dates for which there are missing White House emails. From a Rawstory writeup on the subject of the 400+ days of missing emails:

Ironically, Cheney's office is missing emails from the very day President Bush told reporters he'd "take care of" whatever staff member had actually leaked the CIA agent's name. "If there is a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is," Bush said Sept. 30, 2003. "And if the person has violated the law, the person will be taken care of."

The day before, then-White House press secretary Scott McClellan had said there was "nothing, absolutely nothing" to suggest any White House involvement. "And that includes the vice president's office, as well," McClellan added.

Much remains to be learned about what happened to White House e-mails on 473 days for which they seem to have disappeared. A lawsuit brought by CREW and the National Security Archive and planned hearings from the House Oversight Committee are trying to find out just how much of the historical record of the Bush administration ended up in the White House recycling bin.

Cheney's office also is missing e-mails from Oct. 4, 2003, when the Justice Department demanded that the White House turn over "all documents that relate in any way" to the leak of Plame's identity. E-mails are also missing for the following day, during which the probe intensified and CIA director George Tenet found himself at the center of it, "caught between his loyalty to the president and defending an agency enraged" at Plame's exposure, according to the New York Times.

Ironic indeed..Dirty, rotten bastards destroyed the evidence, you can take that to the bank.

Fred the lazy bows out..

He was never really in it if the truth be told. WaPo gives us his short but sweet swan song:

"Today I have withdrawn my candidacy for President of the United States," he said. "I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort. Jeri and I will always be grateful for the encouragement and friendship of so many wonderful people."

Right Freddy..what-fucking-ever.

MLK had a dream and so do I

When will it be realized?

This is the entire speech, not just a piece of it. Its 17 minutes long, but imho..worth your time.

Now, the second video is MLK at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, which btw, is the same Church Obama spoke at yesterday. It is MLK talking about why he opposes the Vietnam war. Its just as timely today as it was in 1967. He talks about the government silencing dissent..its scary how true everything he says in the video equates to NOW.



For a full text of this Anti-War speech you can go here, or after the jump read the passages which scare me because they are true today..just take out Vietnam and put in Iraq.

To continue reading MLK's words about War click here

I think I have become one of these..

This post by a fellow blogger seemed to nail it quite well for me and my new frame of mind lately..is that bad?

Well, I know its not good..but seriously..don't many of us feel like that since the dawn of the "Spineless Democratic Congress"? Say it with me now..I.am.a.political.nihilist. Ok, then don't..but you know you want to ;>P

Nannie has said she will keep impeachment off the table..I mean recently said it again..as pointed out by Christopher here. Pelosi deserves the lowest rung in hell for that stand. I really don't give a rat's ass if it causes division within the nation..how the hell is that any different than the entire "hate the gays", "long live Jesus", "cronyism is good" type of politics practiced by the Republicans the last decade or so?

You got your closeup Ms. Pelosi..now get the fuck off the stage.

Tags: Pelosi

The reign of Terrah will end..

One year from today folks..should we celebrate? Nah..we still have an entire year for this nitwit-in-chief to bring America to its knees.

Bush outlines his plan to kick start the economy

As I listened to the Fuckwit-in-Chief this morning, I wondered if he actually believes what he is saying or just hopes to hell we believe it?

He wants the tax cuts for the top one percenters to be made permanent..but the ones he is outlining for the rest of America should only be a one-time deal.

Of course this part really chapped my ass: Folks at the bottom of the economic rung shouldn't get shit..because that is considered welfare.

Fuck you Frat boy.

When his speech is online..I will post the hilarious parts..or in the case of the middle and lower class..the pathetic parts.

Edit: Here it is..what the Jackass-in-Chief wants and what bullshit he spewed. Some lowlights:

Our economy has seen the longest uninterrupted period of job growth on record – 52 months of job growth – but job creation has slowed recently. Consumer spending has been growing, but the housing market is declining.-Ok..now the December report on how American's spent their money showed it was in the toilet, the worst since 1991. The NYT stated: Strong evidence is emerging that consumer spending, a bulwark against recession over the last year even as energy prices surged and the housing market sputtered, has begun to slow sharply at every level of the American economy, from the working class to the wealthy.

Sorry Bush, but your full of shit on that first point right out of the box. The way the government fixes it's statistics on job growth have been bullshit for years. Too many variables that should be included in that statistic aren't.

Wages are stagnant and good paying jobs disappear

while the income of the top one percent of Americans that don't actually work for a living and that love their stocks and hedge funds has continued to grow. To say we are growing and jobs are being created might be true..but what is the average wage of those 'new' jobs? The NYT article linked above shows how the lifestyles of average American's has changed drastically:

One consequence is an upending of the traditional pattern, in which middle-aged children take in an elderly parent. As $15-an-hour factory jobs are replaced by $7- or $8-an-hour retail jobs, more men in their 30s and 40s are moving in with their parents or grandparents, said Cheryl Thiessen, the director of Jackson/Vinton Community Action, which runs medical, fuel and other aid programs in Jackson and Vinton Counties.

The Economic Policy Institute, EPI tells you and shows you graphs and charts on how wages have suffered for the working part of America:

With the release of today's consumer price index for December—up 0.3% for the month and 4.1% for 2007—we can now examine how real hourly and weekly earnings did over the course of last year (comparing this December to last December).

As shown in Figure 1, both hourly and weekly earnings fell in 2007, a sharp reversal from the gains in 2006. After growing by about 2% in 2006, both hourly and weekly earnings fell, after adjusting for inflation, by about 1% last year.

To continue reading, click here.

Wexler says the "I" word on the floor of The House

Watch this powerful video from ThinkProgress via Alternet.I love this man for his grit and spunk. His Impeachment Petition is on my sidebar..please take a couple of seconds and sign it if you believe the Big Dick Cheney should be impeached. It's worse than Watergate he says on the video and he is spot-fucking-on..From the ThinkProgress writeup;

On Tuesday night, Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL) took to the House floor to urge the House Judiciary Committee to begin impeachment hearings into Vice President Cheney for "high crimes and misdemeanors." Wexler, who has already acquired nearly 190,000 supporters through his website, explained his next steps:

Tomorrow, I will deliver these names to my colleagues on the Judiciary Committee with a letter to my friend, Chairman Conyers, calling for hearings. I will ask my colleagues to sign this letter … Continuing every day for months, I will publish in the Congressional Record several thousand names of supporters who signed up.

History demands that we take action, because the case against Vice President Cheney is far stronger than the illegality surrounding Watergate.

If you believe this action is needed(and what progressive doesn't?), please forward this video, or post it on your website with the link to Wexler's Petition website.

Canada warns about US torture policies..

Bout damn time too! Bush and his Bushies might not call it torture but everyone else in the friggin world does..



I want the world and all our so-called allies to bring it up. They need to say it loud. The Asshat-in-Chief thinks we progressives are nuts..but what about his buddies in the war on terrah?

Mitt Romney-The Candidate most folks want to get into a barfight with.

This snark and sass is courtesy of the folks at The Onion. I need some snark in my life lately. Too many things are depressing the living shit out of me. The state of the economy, the world and my personal pocket book..just to name a few of them. I am so bummed lately I had given serious thought to throwing in the blogging towel..but Betmo talked me out of it. I heart that woman for taking the time to talk me off the edge of the abyss. ;>)


Poll: Mitt Romney Is Candidate Most Voters Want To Get Into Bar Fight With

The "R" word finally rears it's ugly head

With the stock market taking a crap yesterday on the news that Citigroup will take an $18B write-down..people are finally using a word that BushCo still won't utter: Recession.

Gee, the regular Joe's and Jane's have known the economy was in the shitter for months now. How can we not know? We are the ones who have been feeling it, living it..choosing between gas for our vehicles and food for our tables in many instances.

Robert Borosage has a fine read up over at TomPaine which btw, has changed it's name to OurFuture. In his article, which is titled "Its the Recession, Stupid", Borosage first takes the Rethug Presidential candidates to task:

In the January Myrtle Beach Republican debate, the candidates were asked what they would do to get the economy going in the event of recession. The answers expose just how preposterous conservatism has become.

He makes fun of each and every plan the Rethug candidates lays out. Of course the Rethugs probably aren't feeling the recession yet..those folks are usually well above the middle class financially. The Recession usually starts at the bottom and works it's way upward. Borosage then dissects the Democratic candidates plans for dealing with the recession:

Once more John Edwards drove the debate, releasing a serious short-term stimulus plan, mixing tax rebates for low income people with direct spending and aid to the states. Hillary followed with the largest plan, with a good mix mirroring that of Edwards. Obama's plan relied almost entirely on tax cuts, quicker but less effective than direct spending.

Then, he starts on the Democrats in Congress:

Democrats on the Hill seem more muddled. The conservative Blue Dog Democrats are reported as demanding that the tax cuts and spending of any stimulus "be paid for," which would, of course, eliminate their stimulus effect. This preposterous proposition has led Pelosi and Reid to seek pre-emptive agreement with Bush on a plan. That virtually ensures that what emerges will be too small to make a difference, and weighted towards tax cuts. (The President suggested that repealing the estate tax permanently would be a stimulus. Other than exciting the Paris Hiltons of the world, it isn't clear what he had in mind.)

His final word on the subject is this:

This debate has just begun, but it's got to get a lot bolder. This is a $13 trillion economy wounded by successive body blows. It will take a lot to get it turned around. Consider the last recession after the collapse of the dot-com bubble and the shock of 9/11. The Fed lowered interest rates to the lowest levels in memory; Bush racked up record deficits with massive top-end tax cuts and increased spending on the military and homeland security; Chinese and Japanese central bankers lent the money needed to prop up the dollar and limit inflation – and still we witnessed a slow recovery in which employment as a percentage of the population and income never returned to pre-recession levels.

Sadly, he doesn't give us a winning strategy to kick start our economy. But then, he doesn't have to, he isn't running the show...BushCo still is for another year. Will we better or worse off by the time the next President takes office?

Tags: Economy, Recession

Nevada Supreme Court rules against Kucinich..

This is per Keith Olbermann on Countdown. Fuckas.. Here is MSNBC's response.

As of right now..Kucinich is in the Debate..

At least according to the NYT he is still in the debate.

Updated | 6:11 p.m. One hour after the Supreme Court hearing was scheduled to conclude and three hours before the debate was expected to begin, the court had yet to announce a decision, leaving it unclear whether Mr. Kucinich would participate in the debate.

Fuck MSNBC. Fuck em long and hard..They are trying last minute bullshit to keep him out of the debate.

If you weren't paranoid before..this should do it.

Oh yeah..this will do it..from RawStory:

National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell is drawing up plans for cyberspace spying that would make the current debate on warrantless wiretaps look like a "walk in the park," according to an interview published in the New Yorker's print edition today. Read the PDF here.

Debate on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act "will be a walk in the park compared to this," McConnell said. "this is going to be a goat rope on the Hill. My prediction is that we're going to screw around with this until something horrendous happens."

Read all our emails? As if they haven't done that already.

McConnell is developing a Cyber-Security Policy, still in the draft stage, which will closely police Internet activity.

"Ed Giorgio, who is working with McConnell on the plan, said that would mean giving the government the autority to examine the content of any e-mail, file transfer or Web search," author Lawrence Wright pens.

"Google has records that could help in a cyber-investigation, he said," Wright adds. "Giorgio warned me, 'We have a saying in this business: 'Privacy and security are a zero-sum game.'"

I am speechless, seriously and utterly speechless. Congress better step up to the plate on this bullshit. The infrastructure to tap into Americans' email and web search history may already be in place.-May be? Fuck it IS in place boys and girls, its called Room 641A. AT&T has the capabilities NOW, just ask Mark Klein.



Tags: Spying on Americans, Warrantless Wiretapping, Mike McConnell, Cyber spying

BushCo to announce $20B in arms sales to Saudi Arabia

Tomorrow, according to AP, Bush will announce a huge arms sale to Saudi Arabia.

You remember that country right? It's where most of the terrorists that flew the planes into the twin towers hailed from.

Bush wanted the announcement to coincide with his visit to Riyadh tomorrow. How nice..from the AP writeup:

The Bush administration will notify Congress on Monday of its intent to sell $20 billion in weapons, including precision-guided bombs, to Saudi Arabia, moving up the announcement to coincide with the president's arrival in Riyadh, The Associated Press has learned.

Despite concern about the deal from some lawmakers, the State Department, which last month said it would delay the notification until after Congress comes back into session, will announce the proposed sale on Jan. 14, a day before the House returns to work and more than a week before senators return to Washington, said a senior official.

Nothing like arming your enemies to keep the war on terrah going strong is there?

Artwork courtesy of The Worried Shrimp

What do you get for $736M-A huge Fire Risk

Sweet Jesus in a speedo..they couldn't even get a decent firefighting system? WTF? According to the Washington Post..the answer is..NOPE!

The firefighting system in the massive $736 million embassy complex in Baghdad has potential safety problems that top U.S. officials dismissed in their rush to declare construction largely completed by the end of last year, according to internal State Department documents, e-mails and interviews.

A State Department Official, who wants to be anonymous, has said the following about America's huge money pit in Iraq:

"The fire systems are the tip of the iceberg. That is the most visible. But no one has ever inspected the electrical system, the power plant"

A-fucking-mazing my dear reader..This complex is four times the size of the Pentagon, and evidently unsafe as shit. And they knew it:

As early as October 2006, State Department fire inspectors raised concerns about the embassy's alarm and sprinkler systems. Several sources said the inspectors were denied permission to reinspect the systems after Golden and French assured them that the problems had been fixed.

Then, in September 2007, the pipes burst during a pressure test, and the inspectors discovered that many of the problems they had identified had been ignored. The inspectors documented hundreds of violations of the contract specifications and of fire codes and regulations, according to portions of the report made public by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in October.

Nice..so friggin nice..Gotta love those Iraq contractors.

B of A buys Countrywide..

In a deal that saves the ass of the nation's largest mortgage lender, Bank of America has agreed to buy Countrywide in a 'stock-only' sale. Countrywide has been rumored to of been considering a Chapter 11 filing recently with the value of their stock at a garbage rate of $5 a share in December. "As of Sept. 30, Countrywide's savings bank held about $79.5 billion of loans as investments. Three-quarters of these loans were second-lien home-equity loans -- where Countrywide doesn't have first crack at the collateral in case of default"-according to the Wall Street Journal.

The WSJ has a nice explanation of what it all means here. The person who makes out like the bandit he is in this deal?

Why, the founder of Countrywide of course. Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo. Angelo might be taking home a nice little golden parachute of..wait for it...

$70 million bucks

Yep, that ain't a typo folks. Meanwhile the stockholders will get: 0.1822 shares of Bank of America for each share of Countrywide. Yes, that is a big fat fucking zero in front of that decimal point. Sure, they now will own stock in the largest bank in the US, but damn, that trade-off sure doesn't look real inviting does it? Bank of America gets a company that was valued at one time the amount of $24 Billion, and they got it for the bargain basement price of $4 Billion.

Oh, and Angelo will also get his countryclub dues paid through the year 2011 and get to use the corporate jet. Chuck Shumer had this to say about Angelo's sweet deal:

"Mr. Mozilo could display some good will by donating any severance pay he stands to receive to the nonprofit housing counselors trying to prevent foreclosures,"

Somehow, I doubt that will happen Chuckie..

80 arrested for protesting Gitmo at SCOTUS today

From TruthOut via the NYT:

Eighty Arrested at Protests Calling for Closure of Gitmo The Associated Press
Friday 11 January 2008
Washington - Eighty people were arrested at the Supreme Court Friday in a protest calling for the shutdown of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Demonstrators wearing orange jump suits intended to simulate prison garb were arrested inside and outside the building in the early afternoon. "Shut it down," protesters chanted as others kneeled on the plaza in front of the court.

They were charged with violating an ordinance that prohibits demonstrations of any kind on court grounds. Those arrested inside the building also were charged under a provision that makes it a crime to give "a harangue or oration" in the Supreme Court building. The maximum penalty is 60 days in jail, a fine or both.

The court is considering whether prisoners still detained at Guantanamo Bay have a right to challenge their confinement in U.S. courts.

Officials briefly closed the court building during the protest. It reopened around 2 p.m. EST.

The NYT writeup adds an international flavor to the worldwide protests today to close Gitmo:

Protests were also held some other world capitals.

In Manila, Philippines, about 30 activists picketed the U.S. Embassy to demand the camp's closure. ''We are appealing to President Bush and the U.S. government to close Guantanamo Bay now,'' said Aurora Parong, director of Amnesty International in the Philippines.

Small demonstrations by Amnesty supporters, also in orange jumpsuits, were held in Rome; Prague, Czech Republic; Brussels, Belgium; and Budapest, Hungary.

I don't care how small they were..people all over the globe know what bullshittery Gitmo is.

NBC the latest to uninvite Kucinich..

This is the media's attempt to marginalize Kucinich and it's wrong on every level. Thank You Corporate media..you are running true to form.

NBC un-plugs Kucinich from Presidential debate
Re-writes criteria to exclude candidate with 'dissenting' positions

Less than 44 hours after NBC sent a congratulatory note and an invitation to Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich to participate in the Jan. 15 Democratic Presidential debate in Las Vegas, the network notified the campaign this morning it was changing it announced criteria, rescinding its invitation, and excluding Kucinich from the debate.

NBC Political Director Chuck Todd notified the Kucinich campaign this morning that, although Kucinich had met the qualification criteria publicly announced on December 28, the network was "re-doing" the criteria, excluding Kucinich, and planning to invite only Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and former senator John Edwards.

The criteria announced last month included a fourth-place or better showing in a national poll. The USA/Gallup poll earlier this month showed Kucinich in fourth place among the Democratic contenders.

In an email to the Kucinich campaign at 2:35 p.m. on Wednesday, January 9, Democratic Party debates consultant Jenny Backus wrote:

"Congratulations on another hard-fought contest. Now that New Hampshire is over, we are on to Nevada and our Presidential Debate on Tuesday January 15. This letter serves as an official invitation for your candidate to participate in the Nevada Presidential Debate at Cashman Theatre in downtown Las Vegas. You have met the criteria set by NBC and the Debate."

This is our media setting the agenda. This is wrong. No matter how you feel about Kucinich's message, it should be heard.