Local races ...

As I said, I'm going to be highlighting local House races from now until Election Day, in addition to our support of Dave Mejias and Charlie Brown. Today I'm sending you to Democracy for New Mexico (I found 'em via Skippy) who seems to be all over the NM locals with info on the candidates and issues. Remember Dr. Dean's 50 State Strategy? This is how we put it to work. He put the infrastructure on the ground and it's up to us to either contribute or volunteer. We can't do much if we don't take the House.

Gimmie some o' dat, mon!

One of the reasons I love Mr. H.

Charlie Brown

I clicked on the link in the left sidebar and all my wishes were fulfilled! Well, not yet, but thanks, Fixer, for making it so easy. Here's some of LtCol. Brown's stuff:

[In difficult times and a dangerous world, America needs proven leaders for whom integrity, duty, honor, courage, and responsibility are not just words---they are words to live by.

That's why (insert name of organization {OK - us'ns}) is proudly supporting Charlie Brown for California's 4th Congressional District. And, that's why ethics challenged Republican incumbent John Doolittle is facing the fight of his political life.

Charlie has dedicated his life to serving our country--as a 26 year Air Force officer, a credentialed teacher, and law enforcement professional. He brings the real life experience with keeping our country safe that is sorely missing from this Republican Congress. And, he'll fight to defend our constitutional rights, eliminate corruption, put our fiscal house in order, protect our environment, invest in education, and improve access to quality, affordable healthcare for all Americans.

Charlie Brown is truly a candidate we can all be proud to support.

John Doolittle is more vulnerable than he's ever been. He's the only member of Congress involved in both the Jack Abramoff and Duke Cunningham corruption scandals, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Since he can't run on his record, he's going to try and hide behind his right wing fear machine and swift boat character assassins.

Doolittle can run, but he can't hide. Charlie needs our help to fight back!

Visit www.charliebrownforcongress today and make a contribution, sign up to volunteer, or join the mailing list.

Together, we can take back our Congress from corrupt right wing ideologues, and restore a government by and for "we the people." Please go to www.charliebrownforcongress.org, or call 1-800-727-6968 to take action today.]

This is a little different than in Fixer's district - Col. Brown's headquarters are a hundred miles away from here, and I don't have any info yet on a local branch. For now, my support is pretty much via this here crystal set.

CA-04 is a long-time conservative district. The Republican monolith is well-entrenched. Col. Brown is almost literally a mouse battling The Elephant. Get enough mice together, though, and we've got a chance.

[Sorry to dick around in your post, Gord, but I wanted to add the link to Charlie's ActBlue page (where folks can donate too) and the map of CA-04 [You got that already, oops] (so you folks can see if you can vote for Charlie in November). - Fixer]

Bush Should Stand Trial, Says Nuremberg Prosecutor

One World

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 25 (OneWorld) - A chief prosecutor of Nazi war crimes at Nuremberg has said George W. Bush should be tried for war crimes along with Saddam Hussein. Benjamin Ferencz, who secured convictions for 22 Nazi officers for their work in orchestrating the death squads that killed more than 1 million people, told OneWorld both Bush and Saddam should be tried for starting "aggressive" wars--Saddam for his 1990 attack on Kuwait and Bush for his 2003 invasion of Iraq.

"Nuremberg declared that aggressive war is the supreme international crime," the 87-year-old Ferencz told OneWorld from his home in New York. He said the United Nations charter, which was written after the carnage of World War II, contains a provision that no nation can use armed force without the permission of the UN Security Council.

Ferencz believes the most important development toward that end would be the effective implementation of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is located in the Hague, Netherlands.

But on May 6, 2002--less than a year before the invasion of Iraq--the Bush administration withdrew the United States' signature on the treaty and began pressuring other countries to approve bilateral agreements requiring them not to surrender U.S. nationals to the ICC.

Three months later, George W. Bush signed a new law prohibiting any U.S. cooperation with the International Criminal Court. The law went so far as to include a provision authorizing the president to "use all means necessary and appropriate," including a military invasion of the Netherlands, to free U.S. personnel detained or imprisoned by the ICC.

Bush may be an idiot, but he's no dummy. He knew that if we were a party to the ICC there was a damn good chance he and his accomplices would swing. Note also the provision for our military to spring him if he got popped for his crimes.

Bush could always say in his own defense that he "vass chust following or-DAHS!". We all know he's a Cheney/neocon puppet. With his half-vast grasp of history he might wonder why all those Nazis who were hung didn't try that.

Daily Dave

I also Dave-ized my Ranger.

Dave for America - Learn how to help Dave Mejias defeat Peter King in November and where he stands on the issues.

ActBlue - Donate to the campaign.

Can you vote for Dave? Click here to find out.

Quote of the Day

An Iraq War widow to Preznit Chimpy McFlightsuit*:

She continued: "I said, 'As a Christian man, you realize that when you've made a mistake it's your responsiblity to end this. And it's time to end the bleeding and it's time to end the war.'"

'Christian' don't mean what it used to. Or maybe it does.

*Link thanks to Maru.

On career women ...

A lot of the ladies in Left Blogtopia (y!sctp!) have been on this for a couple days, and Texas Jaye does a great point/counterpoint on this stupid article about why men shouldn't marry career women.

Point: Don't Marry Career Women
Counterpoint: Don't Marry An Asshole.

I figured, since I'm a man married to an exremely successful career woman, I should add my two cents. Simple, for these morons to understand.

The guys who have a problem with successful women have a problem with themselves first. If you're a 'stuff' kinda guy, one of those 'he who dies with the most toys wins', find yourself a subservient woman. Find yourself a girl who can live with being one of your toys. One of those who doesn't mind being an accessory to you, much as women accessorize their outfits with belts, bags, and shoes. An independent, successful woman won't put up with that attitude for long.

If the amount of money you make is a competition for you, marry a girl who doesn't mind working for minimum wage. Your little weenie is gonna take a serious whack when she starts making more than you do. Same thing if she reaches a higher position in the corporation than you do.

If you think that once you're married, your new wife should suddenly turn into your maid, find a woman who wants to stay home and pick up after your lazy ass. A career woman will come home from a hard day's work the same way you do, tired and pissed. Expecting her, after a full day of work, to start cleaning the house is selfish and stupid, and it's gonna bite you in the ass eventually.

If you're a guy who subscribes to the doctrine that your woman whould stay home and spit out kids, find a woman who wants that life. If you try and force a woman to do what she's not willing to, it will also come back to bite you in the ass.

If you have visions of grandeur, that you are the patriarch and what you say goes, period, find an American Christian woman. A woman who's a mover and shaker in her particular field ain't gonna come home from work and say 'yes, dear, whatever you want', not for long anyway.

Marry a career woman if you want a partner. Marry her if you want someone who can think on her feet, be able to socialize with anyone from the Hell's Angels to the Rockefellers, and stand her ground in adverse situations. Marry her if you don't care she makes more than you do, and actually take pride in her success. Marry her if you don't need her to make you a man, this means you Hummer and sports car drivers, and she doesn't need you to make her life complete. Marry her because you want to share the housework duties. Marry because you want to share your lives, not because you need each other to fill some little space on your trophy shelf.

I'm married to a beautiful, intelligent, independent woman who makes 10 times what I do, hobnobs with the presidents and CEOs of Fortune 500 companies and international conglomerates, and has a global reputation in her field. Mention her name from Tokyo to Paris and it will be recognized. Guess what? She doesn't need me. She wants to be with me, has been for 17 years, and I like that. She doesn't need me for a source of income or anything else. She wants to be with me for who I am, the kind of man I am, not for 'stuff' reasons, and that is a very good feeling because if she wanted she could get any man she set her sights on.

Don't marry a career woman? My ass. If you're fortunate enough for a career woman to take a shine to you, the onus is on you to be a real man because career women can tell the difference.

And let me just add this disclaimer after the fact. I do not mean to say women who are stay at home moms are any less of a woman than a career woman. The job of raising kids is one of the hardest jobs going and if the husband is a lazy bastid, there will be problems too. The Mrs. and I were of the same mind regarding kids, neither of us wanted them, and we hashed that all out before we got married. We were well aware of each other's expectations when we did say 'I do'. That doesn't mean it's been all bliss either but when two people honestly love and respect each other, anything can be worked out. We've changed and grown with each other and that's what makes for an excellent marriage. Marriage is about genuine compromise whether the woman stays at home and raises kids or is a big macher in business.

Civil Rights Icon. Grave. Spin.

Nine black children attending Red River Elementary School were directed last week to the back of the school bus by a white driver who designated the front seats for white children.

Dispatch from the Palace.

Big Pharma

Dave Johnson:

...

The pharmaceutical industry quietly footed the bill for at least part of a recent multimillion-dollar ad campaign praising lawmakers who support the new Medicare prescription drug benefit, according to political officials.

...

And those would be Republican lawmakers.

Daily Dave

Today Digby does a smackdown on the bigot:

...

[Rep. Peter] King has always had a little problem with New Orleans and I think we can guess why. This was, you'll recall, the prevailing view of many critics like King during the crisis last year. The "problem" was all the lawlessness. Mogadishu in America. The natives were running wild. This was later shown to be simply the fevered rumormongering you tend to find in crises where communication is down. But King and the rest of the hankie wringers naturally assumed the mob was taking over despite the fact that there were cameras all over the city and no one captured the crazed marauding beasts doing anything other than liesurely looting a local Wal Mart. Their bedwetting fearmongering did more to delay the response than any other single reason.

...

This clown needs to go. Support Dave Mejias in NY-03.

Dave for America

ActBlue

U.S.-Iran Nuclear Program

Gee, it's no wonder any longer why BushCo is so worried about Iran's nuclear development: they know where they got the means to do it. Chicago Tribune:

In the heart of Tehran sits one of Iran's most important nuclear facilities, a dome-shaped building where scientists have conducted secret experiments that could help the country build atomic bombs. It was provided to the Iranians by the United States.

U.S. officials point to these activities as evidence Iran is trying to construct nuclear arms, but they do not publicly mention that the work has taken place in a U.S.-supplied facility.

The U.S. provided the reactor when America was eager to prop up the shah, who also was aligned against the Soviet Union at the time. After the Islamic revolution toppled the shah in 1979, the reactor became a reminder that in geopolitics, today's ally can become tomorrow's threat.

Another overlooked concern about the Tehran reactor is the weapons-grade fuel the U.S. provided Iran in the 1960s--about 10 pounds of highly enriched uranium, the most valuable material to bombmakers. It is still at the reactor and susceptible to theft, U.S. scientists familiar with the situation said.

Countries that provide Iran such technology "ought to know better," said Bolton, now the American ambassador to the United Nations. If foreign companies aid Iran, the U.S. "will impose economic burdens and brand them as proliferators."

What Bolton didn't note: America's role in Iran's nuclear program.

What's next? Did we give Kim Jong Il his shit, too?

I'm just fuckin' speechless.

Housing Gets Ugly

Paul Krugman, obviously a regular and dedicated reader of the Brain, heartily concurs: POP!

Bubble, bubble, Toll's in trouble. This week, Toll Brothers, the nation's premier builder of McMansions, announced that sales were way off, profits were down, and the company was walking away from already-purchased options on land for future development.

Follow the money. When it runs away, take heed.

And with prices falling in many areas, the speculative demand for houses has gone into reverse, as people try to get out with a profit while they still can. There's now a rapidly growing glut of unsold houses. This is a recipe for a major bust, not a soft landing.

Moreover, it could be both a deep and a prolonged bust. Since 2000, much of the nation has experienced a rise in home prices comparable to the boom in Southern California during the late 1980's. After that bubble popped, Los Angeles house prices began a slow, grinding deflation, eventually falling 20 percent (34 percent after adjusting for inflation). Prices didn't begin a sustained recovery until 1996, more than six years after the downturn began.

Now imagine the same thing happening across a large part of the United States. It's an ugly picture, and not just for people and companies in the construction business. Many homeowners - especially those who bought their houses with interest-only loans or with minimal down payments - will find themselves in financial distress. And the economy as a whole will take a hit.

As far as I know, Nouriel Roubini of Roubini Global Economics is the only well-known economist flatly predicting a housing-led recession in the coming year. Most forecasters consider his call alarmist, and many Federal Reserve officials remain optimistic. Last week, Richard Fisher, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, dismissed "Eeyores in the analytical community who worry about a possible recession.

Call me Eeyore. While I don't share Mr. Roubini's certainty, I see his point: housing has been the main engine of U.S. economic growth over the past three years, and with that engine now going into reverse, it's hard to see how we can avoid a serious slowdown.

No 'recession', just a 'serious slowdown'. Ever the cockeyed optimist, eh, Krugman?

Post 9/11 Science: Americans are World's Only Humans

MRZine. Massive Liquid Alert!

(PU) Just in time for the 5th anniversary of the World Trade Center disaster, scientists have discovered that United States citizens -- alone out of every other people on planet Earth -- possess qualities identifying them as homo sapiens.

Scholars predict this breakthrough, besides inspiring T-shirts for the 9/11 Commemoration, will transform major academic disciplines, particularly the field of anthropology. "It could reconfigure the concept of evolution, itself," surmises Dr. Joan Bloodloss, Senior Fellow at The American Homunculus Foundation. "Although we still believe our species began in Africa, we are now beginning to see that those individuals who migrated north and westward -- particularly across the Atlantic Ocean -- developed more advanced traits as they went, until they reached the North American continent, just below Canada and above Mexico, where, around the year 1776, they became fully human.

"Those who migrated in other directions," continued Dr. Bloodloss, "have remained essentially bipedal primates. You'll see this pattern all across Europe -- except for the French who are, of course, rapidly devolving. Arabs? I'm not even sure if they're primates. We won't really know until we can bomb more of them."

President George W. Bush, in celebration of his godlike powers over life on this planet, is scheduled to speak on September 11 at the World Trade Center Commemoration. There, to a battle-fatigued and shell-shocked world, Mr. Bush intends to proclaim his humanity.

Unrelated, but I couldn't resist:

(PU) Actor Mel Gibson, apparently distraught upon discovering that his hero and savior Jesus Christ was Jewish, was arrested again last night on charges of drunkenness, as he drove his car head-on into a large statue of Jesus that adorned the Church of the Immaculate Bris, on Pasadena Boulevard.

"Take that, Jew-Boy," Gibson was heard to scream, as he repeatedly backed his car over the white plaster shards that covered several square feet of lawn.

At press time, reporters were unable to determine if Jesus had accepted Mr. Gibson's apology.

I bet you're glad I warned ya, huh?

Activist Judges

Go read Molly Ivins on what the 'activist' judges are really up to.

Conservatives in this country have been yipping in chorus for years about "activist judges," and frankly, like fools, many of you bought into the phony political rhetoric about those terrible jurists.

Somehow, activist judges are held responsible for gay marriage, Roe v. Wade and everything else Americans disagree about, as though Americans would never disagree without their encouragement. Conservatives have been mad at the Supreme Court since it decided to desegregate the schools in 1954 and seen fit to blame the federal bench for everything that has happened since then that they don't like.

As any liberal could have told you, the conservatives didn't want a right-wing shift on the nation's courts because of "social issues" -- that's just a handy political ploy. Honestly, people, haven't you figured out what this is all about yet? Money. The conservatives are in a snit about "liberal courts" because of money.

Corporations being prosecuted for breaking the law! Tobacco companies forced to pay huge fines! Oil and chemical companies made to pay for cleanup at Superfund sites! Oh, the horror, the horror. The Wall Street Journal's editorial page couldn't stop shivering over it for years.

Meanwhile, what a nice gift from the federal bench to the insurance companies when a federal judge in Mississippi decided that hurricane insurance policies excluding water damage are "valid and enforceable." As many of our fellow citizens had an opportunity to learn during Katrina, it's a challenge to sit around in a class IV hurricane, trying to figure out which is wind and which is water damage. "Ooops, there goes the roof, probably wind, followed by a huge run of waves rolling over the house, could be water."

Money, money, money is the motif of the "New Activist" federal judges, but they have also been busy, busy limiting congressional authority and individual rights. As People for the American Way notes, federal appellate courts -- effectively the court of last resort for most Americans -- are working on: questioning the constitutionality of the Endangered Species Act, overturning the National Labor Relations Board rulings against anti-union discrimination and other unfair labor practices by employers, allowing the Bush administration to keep secret the records of the Cheney energy task force and rewriting by court order a state law on First Amendment activity.

Other Bush appellate judges have ruled to deny protection to workers who file claims of race and disability discrimination, made it harder to protect the environment, and issued other decisions that will affect our lives and liberties for decades.

Activist judges, indeed.

I like Molly. I never have to add much.

Talking Points for Dems

OpEd News

34 talking points for Dems. In case they decide they want to govern again.

30. Would you like Bush and Cheney re-questioned about 9-11 and compelled to answer under oath?

31. Had enough fear?

32. Had enough abuse of power, contempt of congress, violations of the Constitution, violations of the court, arrests, indefinite detainment, and torture without trial?

33. Had enough of being ashamed of your own country, all on account of a few contemptible criminals?

34. Tired of being held hostage to elevated terror alerts before elections and having your patriotism questioned when you notice they're compulsive liars?

If you have had enough, realize that the ONLY way to change this disastrous course, is to elect Democratic representatives who will act to remove Bush from office. A vote for ANY Republican anywhere, is a vote for more of the disasters you've already seen and worse to come.

A good list to print in large bold type and distribute around yer 'hood.

Dwarf president

Satirical Political Report

In a move heavily anticipated for the last five years, the National Academy of Historians has ratified what had been generally accepted knowledge, and officially demoted George W. Bush to status of "Dwarf President."

Some historians actually recommended that Bush be further downgraded to "satellite," given his inability to break the gravitational pull of the Neo-Con Solar System, also known as Cheney Destroy-e-alis. Still others voted to designate him as a mere ass-teroid.

When informed that he had been accorded the same treatment as Pluto, Bush replied that he "appreciates that, since Pluto was always my favorite Disney character."

More later if I can figure out how to work "Uranus" into this.

More local races

Serious link love going on here, but Froggy has info on more local races, these from NJ-07 and NJ-12.

I realize House races don't get as much attention as Senate races, but we need a majority in the House too. Find out whose district you're in and learn about the issues affecting it. Learn. Particpate. Vote. We need a landslide, a true mandate from the American people, to turn this nation around after the Rethugs have screwed it all to Hell. The only way to do that is to win in a way there is no question of the direction Americans want to take. Get up and do something.

When we want facts ...

We'll give 'em to ya. Lurch:

In today's NY Times Mark Mazzetti has written a strange article. It seems that our national intelligence organs aren't delivering the right intelligence about Iran:

...

It's a basic political trick. Down at the polls? Facing a wholesale turn out in the elections? Start a war. And, of course, now that Iraq has been such a terrific success, it's time to move on to new horizons. [my em]

...

For all of you who were alive in 2002 and 2003, this should all be very familiar. Remember the Downing Street Memos? That imperial folly cost us thousands of American troops and most of our international prestige. Don't let 'em flush what's left down the toilet.

November, people, November.

Update:

Larry C. Johnson's take on this is good too.

Quote of the Day

Pessimist at Left Coaster:

Osama's team might as well sit on the bench and watch us defeat ourselves without any opposition on the field. Al Jazeera will just loop a tape of Osama shaking his fist at The White House on the Jumbotron and the Bu$hCo offense will fumble the ball behind their own goal line.

VA Senate/Daily Dave

Mimus on the Jim Webb race in Virginia.

Oh, you noticed I'm highlighting races around the country? Good, Election Day is a couple months away and it's time you people know what's going on in your own districts. It's time for you, and I'm not talking about all of us who blog about this stuff all the time but you folks who just pass through here, to get involved. It's time for you to do some work too. It's your duty to vote and you should know about the people who will be representing you in Washington. Especially now during this national, and constitutional, crisis called the Bush administration. This November, we'll be voting to clean their enablers out of Congress and elect a Democratic majority in both houses. Then we can work on getting the Chimp and his minions behind bars, where they belong.

Check out your local or state races. See where your candidates need help and give 'em a hand. If you have some extra scratch, give it to 'em. Stick a sign out front in your yard or in your shop window. Plaster a bumper sticker on your car. Do something. Your children are counting on you. Most of all, vote in November.

And I should combine it with a 'Daily Dave', since I'm talking about local races.

Dave Mejias needs your help to kick Rep. Peter King's Bush-crony ass out of NY-03.

Dave for America

ActBlue

Update:

Digby has some incumbent news from Alaska.