DSM Update

From Paul the Spud at the Sister's place (I'm lazy and there must be 30 links over there on this page):

400,000!
A Non-story the media can afford to ignore?

As Daffy Duck would say, "My feathered fanny!"

If you haven't signed the letter yet, get going.

IMMEDIATE UPDATE: Oh, my mistake... it's actually 450,978.

That sound you hear is Bush wetting his pants.

the Minutes

William Rivers Pitt's take on the Downing Street Memo. It's a good piece, you should read, and he boils it down to this:

And now, the Minutes. Tomorrow, the Minutes. Every day, the Minutes, until there is a reckoning.

That about sums it up, I think.

Tonight on NOW

From Truthout:

There is an important national debate raging about the place for God and faith in America. From the rise to political power of the Christian right to the separation of church and state, the changing role of religion in the public square has far-reaching consequences for the nation. On Friday, June 10, 2005 at 9 P.M. on PBS (check local listings), NOW goes in-depth on these issues in interviews with journalist and author Chris Hedges and former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama Roy Moore.

I don't know who Hedges is, but I will. Moore (Damn, I wish he had a different name!) is a christo-fascist wingnut whackjob. This oughta be good.

Mean Dean

All you Dean fans need to go read what John Cory says about the Doc. Via Truthout.

The Bush GOP is a Wal-Mart of five-and-dime ethics, self-enriching corporate sponsored war, imitation morality made in China, and a fresh baker's dozen of half-truths for every occasion. America on sale: to the right folks in the right place at the right time for the right price. Going once, going twice ...

Bible-thumping-bunko artists shove the hand of God into your pants pocket for thirty pieces of silver to buy membership lists from the likes of David Dukes and the KKK, because we all know, Heaven is white with just a touch of beige. And if you question that, James Dobson will take his Bible belt and show you the lashing love of Jesus.

Bush lied and people died. Nope - not news. Ohio Republicans involved in financial and voting scandal. Nope - not news. Republicans jam Democratic phone lines during 2004 election to stop the vote. Republicans hack into Democratic computers. No news there. Tom Delay has repeated ethical lapses and takes money from lobbyists like Jack Abramoff. Nope - not news. The White House edits critical environmental reports to refute scientific fact. Nope - no news there. Wait a minute - this just in:

Howard Dean said something mean.

Oh my God! Stop the presses! Did you hear? Dean has gone mean, pass it on. Get Candy Crowley at CNN and Chris Matthews at MSNBC. Don't forget Scarborough. This is a week's worth of programming! Get Holy Joe Lieberman to speak for the good Democrats. Get Jive-Joe Biden, he'll be good for a sensible quote to contrast with the madness of Howard "Beal" Dean.

Quick, do you know why Republicans are against federal money for stem cell research? They're afraid the Democrats will use it to grow a spine. (ba-da-boom)

Like I said in the beginning, this administration has stocked its shelves with half-truths. The price of one half-truth is a whole life. And a whole lot of life is dying for the dollar lies of Bush Inc.

I want someone who will stand up not stand down. I want someone outspoken and outrageous and out there, for me. I want someone on my side, not on my back for more money. I want someone who fights, not folds at the first sign of fake indignation.

To paraphrase my good friend Titus: You whiny Democratic Leadership wussies - get down off the cross and use the wood to build a bridge to get over it! We love Howard Dean!

John Cory is a Vietnam veteran. He received the Purple Heart and Bronze Star with V device, 1969 - 1970.

I enjoyed that so much I'm speechless.

Gratitude

As you all know, Shakespeare's Sister and Pam Spaulding have done a MASTERFUL job coordinating and organizing the Big Brass juggernaut. My sincere gratitude to them for attempting, and being successful, in this Herculean effort.

I would also like to express my gratitude to The Heritik and CNTodd at Freiheit and Wissen who have done yeoman's work aggregating the Swarm on a daily basis.

From me, and on behalf of my partners here at the Brain, I would like to say thank you. You have our undying gratitude. Somewhere the Founding Fathers are smiling on you, for you are all examples of the best traditions of American activism. Good work and good on ya's. I'm proud to be associated with you.

Update: 15:10:

The Sister left a comment and I thought I'd put it up because it seems I left out some folks:

I also have to add that Charlie from Shades of Grey has been doing a bunch of programming work and Misty from Expostulation is helping me with pulling news into the Alliance News thread at the Forum. And there were lots of other people who helped me coordinate this whole thing in various ways, but I really relied on Charlie and Misty, who stepped in to save me just as I was about to go over the edge.

Shit does happen

I woke up this morning to an email from Shakespeare's Sister bringing good news.

Raw Story:

The ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee has scheduled hearings on the 2002 minutes between senior British and American officials which asserted that intelligence was "being fixed" to support the case for war in Iraq, RAW STORY has learned.

The hearings, which will be held next Thursday, will bring renewed attention to what is being called the "Downing Street memo," actually official minutes of a secret 2002 meeting.

Conyers office has revealed that they will introduce new documents that corroborate the Downing Street Memo at the hearings June 16.

[. . .]

We've done this, ladies and gentlemen. The hundreds of us who've banded together under the Big Brass Alliance banner and other groups who've done the same. I hope you all realize the power we have to get things done when we speak with one voice and demand action. We are powerful and we will take this nation back. We will put America back on the right track.

But we still have a lot of work to do. We have to give our reps support in the coming Repub shitstorm that will surely swamp us when the hearings start. We want to come out of this hearing with Articles of Impeachment in hand. We can do this if we continue the Swarm.

Pep rally

The Rude One:

The Rude Pundit's said it before and he'll say it again: Howard Dean will fuck your shit up. Stand that motherfucker up at the gates of hell. Let that son of a bitch loose in the dainty Democratic china shop and let's break some fuckin' dishes. Howard Dean knows the score, man; he knows that the faithful, those who actually believe that the fight is not the path to surrender, want a spokesperson who's willing to pick up the unpinned grenade that just landed near him and shove it up the ass of the enemy who tossed it. Goddamn, it would have been magnificent to have seen him debate the President. On stage, Bush would have been begging for the privilege to lick the sweat off Dean's balls. [my emphases]

[. . .]

That's right. Pack their collective ass with gunpowder and a fuse and light the sumbitch. We need Howard Dean, and tell your Dem representatives to listen to the fucking party chairman and not undercut him. Are you listening Senators Edwards and Biden, Governor Richardson? Get with the program or shut the fuck up.

Soldier Rap, The Pulse of War

I don't listen to rap, but the kids like it and most of the front line trigger pullers are kids, so this was bound to happen, and it's a good way to let off steam and let their vatos back home know whassup. From Newsweek:

It took only a few ambushes, roadside bombs and corpses for Neal Saunders to know what he had to do: turn the streets of Baghdad into rap music. So the First Cavalry sergeant, then newly arrived for a year of duty in Sadr City, began hoarding his monthly paychecks and seeking out a U.S. supplier willing to ship a keyboard, digital mixer, cable, microphones and headphones to an overseas military address. He hammered together a plywood shack, tacked up some cheap mattress pads for soundproofing and invited other Task Force 112 members to join him in his jerry-built studio. They call themselves "4th25"-pronounced fourth quarter, like the final do-or-die minutes of a game-and their album is "Live From Iraq." The sound may be raw, even by rap standards, but it expresses things that soldiers usually keep bottled up. "You can't call home and tell your mom your door got blown off by an IED," says Saunders. "No one talks about what we're going through. Sure, there are generals on the TV, but they're not speaking for us. We're venting for everybody."

Read the story, but here's some of the lyrics:

One of their most popular numbers starts in a hushed tone, almost a whisper:

"There's a place in this world you've never seen before / A place called streets and a place called war / Most of you wanksters ain't never seen the fleet / You talk about war and you've only seen the street." ("the fleet" is what Marines call the Fleet Marine Force, the combat arms - Ed.)

Last month Snap learned that an explosion had killed a good friend in Iraq. "It just makes me want to be here more, knowing that people want to hurt us," he says. He and Ten Gram rap on: "I'm a pit bull at night, I'm out to gitcha / Devil Dog mentality bitin' whoever's witcha / I taste blood, I'm tired of marchin' in the mud / I throw down my 9 and now I'm pumpin' slugs." Refusing to give in is what the music is all about.

If you would like to hear or download some of Snap and Ten Gram's stuff, go to 4th25.

Thought Criminal and Proud of It

Or What We Still Haven't Learned from George Orwell. Go read it.

Throughout his life, Orwell fought unrelentingly against the conformist mentality, believing that it hindered the ability of citizens to think politically and behave socially. Orwell's presence on this front is still sorely needed. Take the two recent U.S. presidential elections.

For Orwell, "freedom" for a writer meant the freedom to criticize and oppose anyone and everyone, including those closest to you. Orwell was a socialist and so wrote, "paradoxically, in order to defend Socialism it is necessary to start by attacking it." Just the same, in order to defend the Democratic Party, one must identify what is wrong with it. Or, in order to defend a war in Iraq, integrity requires one to point out everything that has gone wrong. Applicable to all ideologies and allegiances, this is a principle you either understand, intellectually and intuitively, or you do not.

Not exactly Headline shit, but a good view of the guy who predicted our looming situation. Readin' makes ya smart.

More ineptitude . . . squared

I gotta get the Mrs. from the station, but go read this at TomPaine. Iraq's previous fuckup is running our Intelligence Community now, so Chimpy found himself a new one.

Thanks to Elise for the link.

DSM/Big Brass Update

Major DSM News!

Two big pieces of information:

1. Since joining the campaign to get signatures on Congressman Conyers' letter to President Bush this morning, MoveOn.org has received over 240,000 signatures to that letter and is currently receiving several thousand new signatures each minute.

2. House Judiciary Democrats have invoked Rule 11 of the House Rules and requested an additional day of hearings on the Patriot Act and civil liberties implications of the Administration's terrorism related efforts.

BradBlog reports:

[. . .]

See the Sister for more details.

Hey?

The Yelladog connects some dots:

[. . .]

1. "intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy" as early as one year before the invasion- confirmed by the DSM. What if it was even earlier?

[. . .]

I agree whole heartedly, my friend:

I'd be willing to be the farm, Chimpy Inc planned to invade Iraq long before September 11th

.

Yeah, what did we get?

Pissed Off Patricia:

It appears that all of bush's judicial nominees are marching straight through the Senate and to the bench. Frist says the nuclear option is still on the table. So what exactly was the agreement that the seven Democratic Senators agreed to when the gang of fourteen met? What did the Democrats compromise and what exactly did the Republicans compromise? Again, what exactly did the Republicans compromise?

[. . .]

How true. Once again, the Democratic Party learns what the Republican idea of 'compromise' is. I said it before this whole compromise thing got hashed out(here and here):

NO FUCKING JESUS-FREAK JUDGES, period.

No, no, no, no, no, no! Listen to me, Lugnut. The Repubs killed 69 of Clinton's appointments in committee. We're only filibustering 7 of Bush's. Repeat after me. No Compromise, No Quarter, No Deal. Stand up to the wingnut sonsabitches for cryin' out loud.

Nobody listens to the F-man. How many of the 7 we had problems with will blow right through Senate confirmation? 5 or 6, if not all 7 I'll bet ya. Jesus Christ, grow a set will ya's. If it weren't for Harry Reid, Howard Dean, and Teddy Kennedy, the wingnuts would be stretching our butts more then they are already. I don't know about you, but I'm getting sore.

Update: 2 seconds later:

Jane has something tangentially related.

When Marine recruiters go way beyond the call

You ain't gonna believe this one! Oh, sure you will. From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

For mom Marcia Cobb and her teenage son Axel, the white letters USMC on their caller ID soon spelled, "Don't answer the phone!"

But warnings and liquid crystal lettering can fade. So, two weeks ago when Marcia was cooking dinner Axel goofed and answered the call. And, faster than you can say "semper fi," an odyssey kicked into action that illustrates just how desperate some of the recruiters we've read about really are to fill severely sagging quotas.

Go read about the "odyssey". And if you see some guys in Undress Blues hanging around your kid with a big sack, grab him and run for his life!

Reefer Absurdity

Sorry, folks. It'll go away in a few days. Couldn't pass this one up. Will Durst on you-know-what:

That roar from the red states you hear is the orchestrated shout out that conservatives normally toss whenever we godless heathens have been defeated. And one of the ironies can be found in the accompanying sound of millions of brewskies being popped in celebration. What is wrong with these people? Don't they realize that marijuana grows in the ground? They don't call it "weed" for nothing you know. Think of all the different complicated operations you need to perform in order to make liquor. It's not like you can walk into your backyard and pluck a pina colada off the cocktail tree. Pot: you pick it, dry it and smoke it. Hope you're not saying God screwed up here, are you? It's pot. It's not heroin. It's not acid. It's not even Marlboro Lights. For crum's sake, you can bake it into brownies. Brownies! What's more American than that?

Read the rest. It's funny.

The Famous DSM

At Truthout:

In setting up his question to Mehlman on Sunday, Russert said, "Let me turn to the now famous Downing Street memo" (emphasis added).

Famous? It would be famous in America if the D.C. press corps functioned the way it's supposed to.

The fact that it took five weeks for more than a handful of Washington reporters to focus on the memo highlights a striking disconnect between some news consumers and mainstream news producers. The memo story epitomizes a mainstream press corps that is genuinely afraid to ask tough questions and write tough stories about the Bush administration. Worse, in the case of the Downing Street memo, it simply refuses to report on the existence of a plainly newsworthy document.

"This is where all the work conservatives and the administration have done in terms of bullying the press, making it less willing to write confrontational pieces -- this is where it's paid off," says David Brock, CEO of Media Matters for America, a liberal media advocacy group. "It's a glaring example of omission."

Slowly, the Downing Street memo is getting that attention. "Stories are starting to trickle in now only because so many ordinary people are raising hell about it," says David Swanson, co-founder of AfterDowningStreet.org, which launched on May 26. This week, thanks to constant exposure on the Air America radio network, the site is receiving 1.7 million hits a day, according to Swanson. "My colleagues are doing more radio shows than we can fit in during a day."

If the mainstream media showed little interest in the memo and its ramifications, those outside elite newsrooms did. On Tuesday, a query on the blog search engine Technorati retrieved 3,039 sites on which the Downing Street memo was being discussed.

Looks like the ol' poultry truck is grabbin' a gear.

A related story about Step and Fetchit's response to questions.

More housekeeping

Whenever Mrs. F comes home from a business trip, she tells me about people she runs into who read the Brain (yes, even in Ohio). The usual line, when she tells them she's married to the F-man, is 'That's your husband'? Trust me, if you knew the Mrs., you'd wonder why she lowered her standards too.

Anyway, I just wanted to extend the invitation to those folks who read regularly, to comment. No pressure, but if you've got something to say, don't feel shy about saying it. We welcome intelligent debate (sometimes not so intelligent) here, pro and con. All I ask is that you don't recite Republican talking points. We all know 'em and have heard enough of 'em. That's it, have a nice day.

You may now return to regularly scheduled activities.

Way uncool

Reprinted in its entirety:

a skippy contributor - yours truly - has been fired from a major "liberal" blog - and his work of the past several months destroyed. nobody will tell me why. it's either for the crime of a) criticizing john edwards, with whom the editor recently socialized, b) being too easy on howard dean, which is odd, because i've been getting heat from dean supporters for the same post, or c) criticizing an influential liberal blogger for seeming to favor edwards. (or, of course, some combination of the above)

i wrote more about it here .... skippy, jill, and the rest of the gang - we're still friends, right?:

it seems so stalinist, so kafka-esque. I feel like one of those soviet officials who gets deleted from the photographs of dignitaries on the reviewing stand after falling from political favor. are we on the left now censoring each other? is the 'blogosphere' now becoming another battleground between the 'ins' and the 'outs'?

RJ Eskow is one of my favorite bloggers. Fortunately, I never did visit BOP much and never linked to them. If I did, they'd be off the 'roll instantly. We're about what's good for the Party, and criticism of our reperesentatives, when they drop the ball, is part of our strength.

Just to make clear, I don't censor my partners here, whether they agree with me on an issue or not. Debate and opposing opinion should be welcomed in light of making our Party more inclusive. Criticizing John Edwards, or any other Dem, is part of the process when they make a bonehead move. If we didn't, we'd be nothing more than Republicans.

The GM atrocity

Aside from the fact that their automotive electronics suck (Delphi be damned), Travis has a roundup of where all their money went;

[. . .]

$12,798,572: GM CEO Wagoner's 2003 compensation including stock options
$12,477,364: Wagoner's unexercised stock options from previous years

[. . .]

But it's pension plans and worker compensation that are killing the car giant. Not! It's crap cars and executive greed.

Generosity revisited

Are you one of those who bitch, 'we're supporting every foreign country, yadda, yadda, yadda'? If you are, just shut the fuck up. Via my esteemed colleague SheaNC at Pourquoi Pas:

President Bush kept a remarkably straight face yesterday when he strode to the microphones with Britain's prime minister, Tony Blair, and told the world that the United States would now get around to spending $674 million in emergency aid that Congress had already approved for needy countries. That's it. Not a penny more to buy treated mosquito nets to help save the thousands of children in Sierra Leone who die every year of preventable malaria. Nothing more to train and pay teachers so 11-year-old girls in Kenya may go to school. And not a cent more to help Ghana develop the programs it needs to get legions of young boys off the streets.

[. . .]

According to a poll, most Americans believe that the United States spends 24 percent of its budget on aid to poor countries; it actually spends well under a quarter of 1 percent. As Jeffrey Sachs, the Columbia University economist in charge of the United Nations' Millennium Project, put it so well, the notion that there is a flood of American aid going to Africa "is one of our great national myths."

The United States currently gives just 0.16 percent of its national income to help poor countries, despite signing a United Nations declaration three years ago in which rich countries agreed to increase their aid to 0.7 percent by 2015. Since then, Britain, France and Germany have all announced plans for how to get to 0.7 percent; America has not. The piddling amount Mr. Bush announced yesterday is not even 0.007 percent. [NYT] [my emphases]

[. . .]

So stop worrying that some poor unfortunate brown or black person in some Third World toilet is getting your 'hard-earned money'. Stop saying 'charity begins at home'. We give nothing unless it suits U.S. interests and a bunch of poor spearchuckers in Africa, without oil, are just gum on the bottom of our shoes. You know who gets the money?

Israel:

[. . .]

The Israeli government is the largest recipient of US financial aid in the world, receiving over one-third of total US aid to foreign countries[4], even though Israel's population comprises just .001% of the world's population and has one the world's higher per capita incomes.
[. . .]

Egypt:

Out of a US foreign aid budget of about $14 billion in 2003, Egypt was the second largest recipient with $1.3 billion in military aid; $615 million for social programs.

That was the bribe for them to stop shooting at each other. Israel and Egypt, Begin and Sadat, the Jews and the Pharaohs. Maybe it's time we started cutting some of the billions we send there until a realistic peace is worked out. Maybe we should send some of that to people who really need it instead of to Occupiers and Jihadists.

So, the next time you catch yourself saying 'what are we sending all that money overseas for', keep your big trap shut and don't show your ignorance. Ask yourself instead why we're supporting Egypt and Israel to the detriment of the really needy.