The Democratic Activist
I thought you might enjoy this fantastic animated music video of neocon Republicans contracting with gutless, pleading Pelosi/Reid/Conyers Democrats, called "All We Want to Do is Eat Your Brains" by upcoming songwriter Jonathan Coulton.
It's a truly excellent commentary on the Democrats' latest pathetic cave-in to the "big, bad, bully neocons." This time, it's a new 15-day extension of the "Protect America Act" to enable Bush time to get everything he wants, yet again ... namely, a "Trust Us" Government and updates to FISA that further eviscerate the Constitution by virtually requiring government spying ports on all computers and eavesdropping jacks outside all U.S. homes.
Thank you.
Pass it on.
The Democratic Activist
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Brattleboro, VT Threatens To Arrest Bush and Cheney for "Crimes Against the Constitution"
The Democratic Activist
Please consider supporting the courageous town of Brattleboro, Vermont with a quick phone call or email today.
It seems that this fiesty New England village has decided to make George W. Bush and Dick Cheney subject to arrest for "crimes against the Constitution," should they ever make the mistake of visiting Battleboro.
From an article in Yahoo! News:
---
BRATTLEBORO, Vt. - A town petition making President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney subject to arrest for crimes against the Constitution has triggered a barrage of criticism from people who say residents are "wackjobs" and "nuts."
In e-mail messages, voicemail messages and telephone calls, outraged people are calling the measure the equivalent of treason and vowing never to visit Vermont.
News of the measure made the rounds on the Internet, and soon people started calling and writing. The Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce got about 60 e-mails Monday, all of them negative, said Executive Director Jerry Goldberg
A day later, he said, "we had three or four calls in a row that were very positive. One even volunteered to help."
---
Please contact Jerry Goldberg to express your support of Brattleboro's courageous move to do what Congress is obligated to do ... namely, to "support and defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic."
Here's how to contact Mr. Goldberg:
---
Jerry Golberg
Executive Director –
Battleboro Area Chamber of Commerce
180 Main Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
802-254-4565
877-254-4564
info@brattleborochamber.org
---
Click here to go to the Brattleboro Chamber of Commerce web site, and here to access the site's contact page.
Though it's not terribly likely to happen ... wouldn't you just love to see the Brattleboro police putting Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney in cuffs?!
If you get a chance to visit the beautiful state of Vermont, be sure to stop over in Brattleboro and pay a visit to its independent and patriotic inhabitants.
Brattleboro ... we salute you!
Thank you.
Pass it on.
The Democratic Activist
Please consider supporting the courageous town of Brattleboro, Vermont with a quick phone call or email today.It seems that this fiesty New England village has decided to make George W. Bush and Dick Cheney subject to arrest for "crimes against the Constitution," should they ever make the mistake of visiting Battleboro.
From an article in Yahoo! News:
---
BRATTLEBORO, Vt. - A town petition making President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney subject to arrest for crimes against the Constitution has triggered a barrage of criticism from people who say residents are "wackjobs" and "nuts."
In e-mail messages, voicemail messages and telephone calls, outraged people are calling the measure the equivalent of treason and vowing never to visit Vermont.
News of the measure made the rounds on the Internet, and soon people started calling and writing. The Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce got about 60 e-mails Monday, all of them negative, said Executive Director Jerry Goldberg
A day later, he said, "we had three or four calls in a row that were very positive. One even volunteered to help."
---
Please contact Jerry Goldberg to express your support of Brattleboro's courageous move to do what Congress is obligated to do ... namely, to "support and defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic."
Here's how to contact Mr. Goldberg:
---
Jerry Golberg
Executive Director –
Battleboro Area Chamber of Commerce
180 Main Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
802-254-4565
877-254-4564
info@brattleborochamber.org
---
Click here to go to the Brattleboro Chamber of Commerce web site, and here to access the site's contact page.
Though it's not terribly likely to happen ... wouldn't you just love to see the Brattleboro police putting Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney in cuffs?!
If you get a chance to visit the beautiful state of Vermont, be sure to stop over in Brattleboro and pay a visit to its independent and patriotic inhabitants.
Brattleboro ... we salute you!
Thank you.
Pass it on.
The Democratic Activist
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Tell the Senate: NO IMMUNITY for Bush and his telecom buddies!
The Democratic Activist
(Note: in my haste to get this action alert out, I copied, pasted, and modified material from various email alerts I'd recently received, in order to get this alert up and out as quickly as possible; therefore, much of the text below was not authored by me.)
Tomorrow, 1/27/08, the Senate will vote on reauthorization of the "Protect America Act." For those of you who don't speak Orwellian, the plain English translation of the "Protect America Act" is the "Destroy America by Eviscerating the Constitution (which IS America) Act." Ostensibly an update to the FISA law, the bill rushed to the Senate floor would make the Orwellian PAA permanent U.S. law, and includes language granting retroactive immunity to telecom companies that wiretapped Americans illegally, without warrants, as required by FISA and the 4th Amendment (activity first denied by Bush during the 2004 presidential campaign but then outed much to his chagrin in December, 2005). What's worse is that any bill that grants telecoms immunity -- and codifies that warrantless wiretapping is legal -- could also grant President Bush immunity from prosecution for spying on Americans and breaking the law. As a blogger on Daily Kos succinctly framed it: "telecom immunity is Bush immunity."
To stop this assault on our right to privacy, Senator Chris Dodd has reaffirmed his promise to filibuster any Senate bill that contains retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies. Senator Dodd needs our full support (see below, for what you can do to help in this critical effort to save our civil liberties).
An amendment offered by neocon collaborator Senator Diane Feinstein (D - California) would have the secret FISA court itself -- instead of a public court -- determine whether the telecoms deserve immunity. According to Feinstein's amendment, the FISA court's decision would be based on whether the telecoms had a "good faith, reasonable belief that assistance was legal."
That's ridiculous!
Here's what you can do:
---
1. Call your two U.S. Senators – to express your fervent opposition to any provision for telecom immunity in the new FISA bill before the senate vote on telecom immunity that will likely occur the morning of Monday, 1/28/08. Urge your two senators to fully support Senator Dodd's promised filibuster of any FISA bill containing immunity provisions for criminal telecom companies that colluded with Bush in blatant and flagrant violation of the law. Don't let them give Bush and his friends in the telecom industry a "get out of jail free" card!
The easiest way to call your U.S. senators is to call the toll-free Capitol Switchboard number, and ask to speak to the office of a particular U.S. senator or congressperson (Capitol Switchboard operators can tell you who your two senators are, if you're not sure):
1-800-828-0498.
To find complete contact info for your senators (Washington D.C. and district office phone and fax numbers, email and web site links, etc.), click here and then enter your zip code in the field indicated for finding your elected officials.
2. Call Senator Diane Feinstein – and urge her to drop any effort to "compromise" on the question of telecom immunity in FISA. Tell her that you and millions of Americans are terribly concerned about letting crooks off the hook, that we're watching carefully what she does on this issue, and that you expect her to do the right thing and support Senator Dodd's courageous filibuster of any FISA bill containing immunity provisions.
Senator Feinstein can be contacted through the Capitol Switchboard (see above), or directly through her senate offices in Washington, D.C. and California (why not call and/or fax all her offices ... just to be sure she gets the message!):
Washington, DC office
Phone: 202-224-3841
Fax: 202-228-3954
Los Angeles office
Phone: 310-914-7300
Fax:310-914-7318
San Francisco office
Phone: 415-393-0707
Fax: 415-393-0710
San Diego office
Phone: 619-231-9712Fax: 619-231-1108
Fresno office
Phone: 559-485-7430
Fax: 559-485-9689
Click here to email Senator Feinstein.
3. Send out a link to this post – to anyone and everyone you know who thinks the rule of law in America is important, and that criminals in giant corporations and in our nation's highest offices should not be allowed to place themselves above the same laws that would put you or I in jail for the rest of our lives.
---
When you ask Senator Feinstein to support Senator Dodd's filibuster, a staffer may respond that Senator Feinstein has introduced amendments to the bill reauthorizing FISA.
Wiretapping Americans without a warrant is illegal. And Feinstein's "good faith" amendment is totally unacceptable.
FISA is a secret court. Of the many thousands of requests for wiretaps that it has considered over the last 30 years, it has rejected a small handful -- perhaps as few as five. This is not the same as a court of law, where the public has the right to examine evidence and file their own claims. FISA courts do not provide for the protection of basic rights. And to allow the FISA courts to determine the legitimacy of telecom actions is to take this crucial decision out of the hands of the courts, therefore undermining the rule of law.
Bradley Whitford filmed a great short video for couragecampaign.org explaining the issue and asking Senator Feinstein and the rest of the U.S. senate to stand up for the Constitution.
Check it out:
Time is of the essence.
Your calls need to go out as early as possible on the morning of Monday, 1/28/08 – the senate may vote on FISA immunity provisions as early as the start of business that day.
Please ... spread the word ... far, wide, and with haste.
Then make your calls!
Thank you.
Pass it on.
The Democratic Activist
(Note: in my haste to get this action alert out, I copied, pasted, and modified material from various email alerts I'd recently received, in order to get this alert up and out as quickly as possible; therefore, much of the text below was not authored by me.)
Tomorrow, 1/27/08, the Senate will vote on reauthorization of the "Protect America Act." For those of you who don't speak Orwellian, the plain English translation of the "Protect America Act" is the "Destroy America by Eviscerating the Constitution (which IS America) Act." Ostensibly an update to the FISA law, the bill rushed to the Senate floor would make the Orwellian PAA permanent U.S. law, and includes language granting retroactive immunity to telecom companies that wiretapped Americans illegally, without warrants, as required by FISA and the 4th Amendment (activity first denied by Bush during the 2004 presidential campaign but then outed much to his chagrin in December, 2005). What's worse is that any bill that grants telecoms immunity -- and codifies that warrantless wiretapping is legal -- could also grant President Bush immunity from prosecution for spying on Americans and breaking the law. As a blogger on Daily Kos succinctly framed it: "telecom immunity is Bush immunity."To stop this assault on our right to privacy, Senator Chris Dodd has reaffirmed his promise to filibuster any Senate bill that contains retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies. Senator Dodd needs our full support (see below, for what you can do to help in this critical effort to save our civil liberties).
An amendment offered by neocon collaborator Senator Diane Feinstein (D - California) would have the secret FISA court itself -- instead of a public court -- determine whether the telecoms deserve immunity. According to Feinstein's amendment, the FISA court's decision would be based on whether the telecoms had a "good faith, reasonable belief that assistance was legal."
That's ridiculous!
Here's what you can do:
---
1. Call your two U.S. Senators – to express your fervent opposition to any provision for telecom immunity in the new FISA bill before the senate vote on telecom immunity that will likely occur the morning of Monday, 1/28/08. Urge your two senators to fully support Senator Dodd's promised filibuster of any FISA bill containing immunity provisions for criminal telecom companies that colluded with Bush in blatant and flagrant violation of the law. Don't let them give Bush and his friends in the telecom industry a "get out of jail free" card!
The easiest way to call your U.S. senators is to call the toll-free Capitol Switchboard number, and ask to speak to the office of a particular U.S. senator or congressperson (Capitol Switchboard operators can tell you who your two senators are, if you're not sure):
1-800-828-0498.
To find complete contact info for your senators (Washington D.C. and district office phone and fax numbers, email and web site links, etc.), click here and then enter your zip code in the field indicated for finding your elected officials.
2. Call Senator Diane Feinstein – and urge her to drop any effort to "compromise" on the question of telecom immunity in FISA. Tell her that you and millions of Americans are terribly concerned about letting crooks off the hook, that we're watching carefully what she does on this issue, and that you expect her to do the right thing and support Senator Dodd's courageous filibuster of any FISA bill containing immunity provisions.
Senator Feinstein can be contacted through the Capitol Switchboard (see above), or directly through her senate offices in Washington, D.C. and California (why not call and/or fax all her offices ... just to be sure she gets the message!):
Washington, DC office
Phone: 202-224-3841
Fax: 202-228-3954
Los Angeles office
Phone: 310-914-7300
Fax:310-914-7318
San Francisco office
Phone: 415-393-0707
Fax: 415-393-0710
San Diego office
Phone: 619-231-9712Fax: 619-231-1108
Fresno office
Phone: 559-485-7430
Fax: 559-485-9689
Click here to email Senator Feinstein.
3. Send out a link to this post – to anyone and everyone you know who thinks the rule of law in America is important, and that criminals in giant corporations and in our nation's highest offices should not be allowed to place themselves above the same laws that would put you or I in jail for the rest of our lives.
---
When you ask Senator Feinstein to support Senator Dodd's filibuster, a staffer may respond that Senator Feinstein has introduced amendments to the bill reauthorizing FISA.
Wiretapping Americans without a warrant is illegal. And Feinstein's "good faith" amendment is totally unacceptable.
FISA is a secret court. Of the many thousands of requests for wiretaps that it has considered over the last 30 years, it has rejected a small handful -- perhaps as few as five. This is not the same as a court of law, where the public has the right to examine evidence and file their own claims. FISA courts do not provide for the protection of basic rights. And to allow the FISA courts to determine the legitimacy of telecom actions is to take this crucial decision out of the hands of the courts, therefore undermining the rule of law.
Bradley Whitford filmed a great short video for couragecampaign.org explaining the issue and asking Senator Feinstein and the rest of the U.S. senate to stand up for the Constitution.
Check it out:
Time is of the essence.
Your calls need to go out as early as possible on the morning of Monday, 1/28/08 – the senate may vote on FISA immunity provisions as early as the start of business that day.
Please ... spread the word ... far, wide, and with haste.
Then make your calls!
Thank you.
Pass it on.
The Democratic Activist
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Net Neutrality Ninjas Needed NOW
The Democratic Activist
A nondiscriminatory, open, equally available internet represents perhaps the greatest advancement in human society since the invention of the printing press. A level playing field for all people, businesses, and ideas has supercharged the possibilities for democracy and real freedom in the world and for vastly improved economies and lifestyles across the globe.
However, the free and equal internet as we have always known it may be nearing extinction.
The Critical Issue ...
Telecom conglomerates (ATT, Viacom, Comcast, etc.) are trying to “buy” the internet! Their plan is to create a two-tiered system to maximize their private profits from an internet system originally created by public, government funding: a super fast new fiber optic internet for their best paying customers, and a slow “dirt road” for the rest of us. Only the biggest companies would be able to afford placement on the “super internet,” relegating other medium and small businesses, individuals, and organizations to the uncompetitiveness and obscurity of their internet “slow lane.”
The internet, under this horrible system, would quickly devolve into just another medium of commerce and advertisement for the biggest businesses in America, as happened with television several decades ago. Why would anyone patronize “Mom and Pop" bookstores or get their news at “So and So’s Blog” if using “Borders.com” or “Fox News” was 100 time faster, more convenient, and more reliable?! The critical democratizing aspect – the “level playing field” – of today’s internet, would be dead and gone.
That’s why groups as diverse as the conservative Gun Owners of America and the Christian Coalition on the right, and liberal MoveOn.org and the American Civil Liberties Union on the left, together with companies such as Google and Microsoft that depend on a free, vibrant, healthy internet for their survival, have come out strongly in support of re-enacting legislation to protect Net Neutrality (to replace laws put in place at the inception of the internet but allowed to expire in 2006 during the Republican 109th Congress).
Contrary to the deliberately deceitful pronouncements of giant telecoms and their supporters in Congress, the "Net Neutrality" movement does NOT seek to impose new regulations on the internet, but only to keep in place the legal protections and safeguards that have been in existence since the internet began -- the very laws which have enabled the amazing growth and innovation that has always characterized the internet, and for the tremendous social and economic advancement that a free and open internet has brought to our own country and to nations and peoples throughout the world.
But unfortunately, the fantastic, miraculous, nondiscriminatory internet as we know it may soon disappear from our lives ... without your support, and that of your concerned friends and associates.
Visit the following site to get full and complete information on the subject, and to find out what you can do to protect the internet from yet another attempt by “free market” oligarchs to kill competition and build an undemocratic information monopoly:
http://www.savetheinternet.com/.
Here's another wonderful site that does an excellent job of presenting the true motives and intentions of the telecom industry, and how bad things could get if they succeed in turning the now public internet into their own private cash cow:
http://www.weownthenet.org/.
The following video, produced by savetheinternet.com, is a great introduction to critical need to reinstate strong federal Net Neutrality regulations:
For an entertaining if slightly irreverent look at the issue, click here to watch another video.
The Current Opportunity ...
We have already seen blatant moves towards making a two tier, censored toll road out of our wide open democratic internet. Comcast recently began unfairly discriminating against particular users and disfavored content, and, after first calling Net Neutrality a solution in search of a problem, AT&T then censored Pearl Jam's criticism of Bush during a live internet concert broadcast and Verizon likewise censored NARAL's pro choice text messages.
The FCC has bowed to pressure and is investigating complaints that Comcast is selectively blocking traffic. On 1/14/08, the FCC released a request for public comment on the establishment of rules to govern "network management practices by broadband network operators" -- i.e. the reinstitution of formal Net Neutrality regulations. The outcome of this investigation and the collecting of public comment on this question could be critical in the fight to defend the internet from usurpation by private corporate interests.
This is our chance ... to save the internet!
The deadline for filing public comments with the FCC on this issue is 2/13/08. To facilitate submission of public comments on this issue, John Leasch (a great "New Democrat" with a real shot at winning the congressional seat in Dennis Hastert's old district) and PEN (People's Email Network) have created an action page that pipes your personal comments into the FCC electronic filing system and also sends your messages to your congressional representatives at the same time!
The Urgent Call To Action ...
Now is a critical moment in the effort to save the internet, a pivot point in time when your action is urgently needed and its effectiveness will be greatly multiplied.
Here's what you can do:
---
1. Speak out! Use the action page to send your comment strongly supporting the adoption of strict federal Net Neutrality rules to the FCC and your congressional reps. Tell them that you ardently support federal regulations guaranteeing true Net Neutrality, and that you oppose any attempts by giant telecoms to weaken or dismantle the foundational principle of internet freedom and neutrality for all people, organizations, and businesses, large or small.
2. Spead the word! Send a link to this post to everyone you know who appreciates the internet miracle or who depends on it in their business or daily lives (isn't that just about everyone?), and urge them to send their comments in support of Net Neutrality to the FCC before the 2/13/08 deadline passes.
---
If enough of us put out enough energy on this, doing our duty as citizens and internet users, we can keep the precious public internet out of clutches of corporate media conglomerates, and keep it the free, open, neutral, miraculous shared resource it is today.
Let's do it!
File those comments!
Spread the word!
Thank you.
Pass it on.
The Democratic Activist
A nondiscriminatory, open, equally available internet represents perhaps the greatest advancement in human society since the invention of the printing press. A level playing field for all people, businesses, and ideas has supercharged the possibilities for democracy and real freedom in the world and for vastly improved economies and lifestyles across the globe.However, the free and equal internet as we have always known it may be nearing extinction.
The Critical Issue ...
Telecom conglomerates (ATT, Viacom, Comcast, etc.) are trying to “buy” the internet! Their plan is to create a two-tiered system to maximize their private profits from an internet system originally created by public, government funding: a super fast new fiber optic internet for their best paying customers, and a slow “dirt road” for the rest of us. Only the biggest companies would be able to afford placement on the “super internet,” relegating other medium and small businesses, individuals, and organizations to the uncompetitiveness and obscurity of their internet “slow lane.”
The internet, under this horrible system, would quickly devolve into just another medium of commerce and advertisement for the biggest businesses in America, as happened with television several decades ago. Why would anyone patronize “Mom and Pop" bookstores or get their news at “So and So’s Blog” if using “Borders.com” or “Fox News” was 100 time faster, more convenient, and more reliable?! The critical democratizing aspect – the “level playing field” – of today’s internet, would be dead and gone.
That’s why groups as diverse as the conservative Gun Owners of America and the Christian Coalition on the right, and liberal MoveOn.org and the American Civil Liberties Union on the left, together with companies such as Google and Microsoft that depend on a free, vibrant, healthy internet for their survival, have come out strongly in support of re-enacting legislation to protect Net Neutrality (to replace laws put in place at the inception of the internet but allowed to expire in 2006 during the Republican 109th Congress).
Contrary to the deliberately deceitful pronouncements of giant telecoms and their supporters in Congress, the "Net Neutrality" movement does NOT seek to impose new regulations on the internet, but only to keep in place the legal protections and safeguards that have been in existence since the internet began -- the very laws which have enabled the amazing growth and innovation that has always characterized the internet, and for the tremendous social and economic advancement that a free and open internet has brought to our own country and to nations and peoples throughout the world.
But unfortunately, the fantastic, miraculous, nondiscriminatory internet as we know it may soon disappear from our lives ... without your support, and that of your concerned friends and associates.
Visit the following site to get full and complete information on the subject, and to find out what you can do to protect the internet from yet another attempt by “free market” oligarchs to kill competition and build an undemocratic information monopoly:
http://www.savetheinternet.com/.
Here's another wonderful site that does an excellent job of presenting the true motives and intentions of the telecom industry, and how bad things could get if they succeed in turning the now public internet into their own private cash cow:
http://www.weownthenet.org/.
The following video, produced by savetheinternet.com, is a great introduction to critical need to reinstate strong federal Net Neutrality regulations:
For an entertaining if slightly irreverent look at the issue, click here to watch another video.
The Current Opportunity ...
We have already seen blatant moves towards making a two tier, censored toll road out of our wide open democratic internet. Comcast recently began unfairly discriminating against particular users and disfavored content, and, after first calling Net Neutrality a solution in search of a problem, AT&T then censored Pearl Jam's criticism of Bush during a live internet concert broadcast and Verizon likewise censored NARAL's pro choice text messages.
The FCC has bowed to pressure and is investigating complaints that Comcast is selectively blocking traffic. On 1/14/08, the FCC released a request for public comment on the establishment of rules to govern "network management practices by broadband network operators" -- i.e. the reinstitution of formal Net Neutrality regulations. The outcome of this investigation and the collecting of public comment on this question could be critical in the fight to defend the internet from usurpation by private corporate interests.
This is our chance ... to save the internet!
The deadline for filing public comments with the FCC on this issue is 2/13/08. To facilitate submission of public comments on this issue, John Leasch (a great "New Democrat" with a real shot at winning the congressional seat in Dennis Hastert's old district) and PEN (People's Email Network) have created an action page that pipes your personal comments into the FCC electronic filing system and also sends your messages to your congressional representatives at the same time!
The Urgent Call To Action ...
Now is a critical moment in the effort to save the internet, a pivot point in time when your action is urgently needed and its effectiveness will be greatly multiplied.
Here's what you can do:
---
1. Speak out! Use the action page to send your comment strongly supporting the adoption of strict federal Net Neutrality rules to the FCC and your congressional reps. Tell them that you ardently support federal regulations guaranteeing true Net Neutrality, and that you oppose any attempts by giant telecoms to weaken or dismantle the foundational principle of internet freedom and neutrality for all people, organizations, and businesses, large or small.
2. Spead the word! Send a link to this post to everyone you know who appreciates the internet miracle or who depends on it in their business or daily lives (isn't that just about everyone?), and urge them to send their comments in support of Net Neutrality to the FCC before the 2/13/08 deadline passes.
---
If enough of us put out enough energy on this, doing our duty as citizens and internet users, we can keep the precious public internet out of clutches of corporate media conglomerates, and keep it the free, open, neutral, miraculous shared resource it is today.
Let's do it!
File those comments!
Spread the word!
Thank you.
Pass it on.
The Democratic Activist
Friday, January 25, 2008
Retire The Savage Weiner! NO SAVAGE!
The Democratic Activist
Michael Weiner, a.k.a. Michael Savage , is the third most popular talk show host in America, and reaches 8 million listeners every day 400 radio stations throughout the U.S. with his ultra-right extremist radio talk show, The Savage Nation.
Savage's message is truly savage: unyielding hate, authoritarian demagoguery and bullying, and fascist persecution. The same kind of religious hate, intolerance, bigotry, racism, and fascism that in the 1920's through 1940's turned democratic Germany into the sickest, most brutal nation the world has yet seen.
Click here for a sample (warning: this audio is upsetting ... but after hearing it, you'll likely want to do something to stop this guy). Then, on the same page, scroll slightly down and look to the left for a list of a few of Savage's other contemptible and chilling remarks (text and audio).
Don Imus was taken off the air and humbled for his offensive remarks, and rightly so. But Michael Savage, who's ten -- no -- a hundred times worse than Imus ever was, is for some strange reason still sponsored and allowed with impunity to continue using our publicly owned and funded airwaves to spew his crazy, disgusting, hateful daily diatribes.
An article recently appearing in The New York Times recounts the rise of The Savage Weiner, the controversy surrounding him, and the boycott now facing sponsors of his show. Hoping to further complicate things for The Weiner, activists at bravenewfilms.org have recently initiated a NO SAVAGE campaign to remove the stench of this man's message from American radio.
The good news is that several major sponsors of The Savage Nation have pulled their advertising since the NO SAVAGE movement began: Citrix Systems, Office Max, Intuit (TurboTax), TrustedID, Chattem (Gold Bond, Icy-Hot, Garlique), Union Bank of California, ITT Technical Institute. Congratulations and thanks to these companies for admitting their error and doing the right thing! Please reward them with your patronage and messages of approval.
The bad news is that, as of 1/25/08, the "still proud sponsors" of Savages's radio bullying include: Geico Insurance, Office Depot, Wyeth Consumer Healthcare (Advil, Robitussin, Centrum), and Stamps.com.
Citizens concerned with beating back the reactionary, fascist bigotry, unvarnished hate, and savage brutality that Savage and others like him promote every day across the public airwaves should urge Savage's remaining commercial sponsors to pull all advertising from his show.
Here's what you can do to help finally retire Michael Savage:
---
1. Call, email, or snail-mail the sponsors of The Savage Nation, using the links above.
Don't attack them, but let the sponsor know that Savage's insane bigotry and hate mongering is shocking and unacceptable, that you're sure they wouldn't want to be associated with such cruel and ugly behavior, that you'll not be a customer of theirs if they continue to sponsor Savage, and that you'll be encouraging others to act likewise.
2. Then have some fun!
The call-in number for his radio show is 800-449-8255, and he is generally on the air between 6-9pm ET. Bite your tongue in order to get by the phone monitors, but when you do and you get on the air, enjoy yourself. Take the high road. Don't go to his level. You might consider expressing your dismay that particular sponsors are supporting and promoting this sickness.
---
Together ... we can retire the Savage Weiner!
NO SAVAGE!
Thank you.
Pass it on.
The Democratic Activist
Michael Weiner, a.k.a. Michael Savage , is the third most popular talk show host in America, and reaches 8 million listeners every day 400 radio stations throughout the U.S. with his ultra-right extremist radio talk show, The Savage Nation.Savage's message is truly savage: unyielding hate, authoritarian demagoguery and bullying, and fascist persecution. The same kind of religious hate, intolerance, bigotry, racism, and fascism that in the 1920's through 1940's turned democratic Germany into the sickest, most brutal nation the world has yet seen.
Click here for a sample (warning: this audio is upsetting ... but after hearing it, you'll likely want to do something to stop this guy). Then, on the same page, scroll slightly down and look to the left for a list of a few of Savage's other contemptible and chilling remarks (text and audio).
Don Imus was taken off the air and humbled for his offensive remarks, and rightly so. But Michael Savage, who's ten -- no -- a hundred times worse than Imus ever was, is for some strange reason still sponsored and allowed with impunity to continue using our publicly owned and funded airwaves to spew his crazy, disgusting, hateful daily diatribes.
An article recently appearing in The New York Times recounts the rise of The Savage Weiner, the controversy surrounding him, and the boycott now facing sponsors of his show. Hoping to further complicate things for The Weiner, activists at bravenewfilms.org have recently initiated a NO SAVAGE campaign to remove the stench of this man's message from American radio.
The good news is that several major sponsors of The Savage Nation have pulled their advertising since the NO SAVAGE movement began: Citrix Systems, Office Max, Intuit (TurboTax), TrustedID, Chattem (Gold Bond, Icy-Hot, Garlique), Union Bank of California, ITT Technical Institute. Congratulations and thanks to these companies for admitting their error and doing the right thing! Please reward them with your patronage and messages of approval.
The bad news is that, as of 1/25/08, the "still proud sponsors" of Savages's radio bullying include: Geico Insurance, Office Depot, Wyeth Consumer Healthcare (Advil, Robitussin, Centrum), and Stamps.com.
Citizens concerned with beating back the reactionary, fascist bigotry, unvarnished hate, and savage brutality that Savage and others like him promote every day across the public airwaves should urge Savage's remaining commercial sponsors to pull all advertising from his show.
Here's what you can do to help finally retire Michael Savage:
---
1. Call, email, or snail-mail the sponsors of The Savage Nation, using the links above.
Don't attack them, but let the sponsor know that Savage's insane bigotry and hate mongering is shocking and unacceptable, that you're sure they wouldn't want to be associated with such cruel and ugly behavior, that you'll not be a customer of theirs if they continue to sponsor Savage, and that you'll be encouraging others to act likewise.
2. Then have some fun!
The call-in number for his radio show is 800-449-8255, and he is generally on the air between 6-9pm ET. Bite your tongue in order to get by the phone monitors, but when you do and you get on the air, enjoy yourself. Take the high road. Don't go to his level. You might consider expressing your dismay that particular sponsors are supporting and promoting this sickness.
---
Together ... we can retire the Savage Weiner!
NO SAVAGE!
Thank you.
Pass it on.
The Democratic Activist
Thursday, January 24, 2008
The Problem? It's Nadler ...
The Democratic Activist
For weeks, now, activists supporters of democracy all over the world have been waiting for a miracle to occur ... namely, for Democratic leaders to grow a spine, remember their oaths to defend the Constitution, learn to throw a punch, and begin impeachment hearings against American Vice President Dick Cheney.
What's the problem? It's Nadler.
The Cheney impeachment resolution is stalled in the House Judiciary Committee .(HJC) ... specifically, in the sub-committee headed by Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY, 8th). Despite overwhelming pubic support of impeachment, and growing pro-impeachment pressure in the House, Nadler and company are, apparently, determined to defend not the Constitution but rather Republican criminals and emperor wanna-bes currently holding our nation's top elected offices.
Democrats like HJC Chairman John Conyers are even floating a proposal for non-impeachment hearings on the "imperial presidency" that they hope will enable them to run out the clock while mollifying the burgeoning impeachment movement that's been giving anti-impeachment Dumb-o-crats all such a headache.
Whether his policy of no-impeachment for imperial presidents and vice presidents is his own or was handed to him by Democratic Fuhrer Nancy Pelosi, it appears that Nadler is now the pivot point on the impeachment issue. He's the decider right now ... and as I opined in an earlier post, Mr. Nadler has become the man whose mind we need to change.
Here's what you can do:
---
1. Call, fax, and/or write Congressman Nadler to express your ardent support for impeachment and demand that he respect his oath of office, stop stalling impeachment hearings, and allow the Cheney impeachment resolution (H. Res. 799) now stuck in the HJC subcommittee he chairs to advance out of committee to full hearings before the House.
Nadler is the man, at this moment. He's the pivot point. Call him every day, if possible! (It really only takes a minute.)
Contact info:
Hon. Jerrold Nadler
2334 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-5635
Fax: 202-225-6923
Email (only for those in Nadler's district):
http://www.house.gov/nadler/emailform.shtml
-
2. Call, fax, and/or write HJC Chairman John Conyers to communicate your pro-impeachment message, question the delaying tactics he and other Democratic leaders are using to stonewall impeachment, and insist that hearings be held on Cheney's impeachment immediately.
Conyers's flip-flop on impeachment is unconscionable. Let him know!
Contact info:
Chairman John Conyers, Jr.
House Judiciary Committee
2426 Rayburn Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-5126
Fax: 202-225-0072
Email: John.Conyers@mail.house.gov
-
3. Call, fax, and/or write to the "Quilsing Queen" herself, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to tell her that she has no right to take constitutional provisions like impeachment "off the table" and that she and other leading Democrats must get out of the way of the people and allow impeachment to go forward.
Further, make sure that Ms. Pelosi understands that, absent a quick turn-around in the priorities of invertebrate Democratic Party leaders, she and other Democrats will pay with their jobs as a vast number of inflamed, irate democratic activists work to remove them from office and replace them with progressive candidates who do value the constitution and the privilege of representing us.
(Note: Cindy Sheehan is opposing Nancy Pelosi in the upcoming November election. Please ... lend all the support you can to Cindy's attempt to unseat Pelosi in California's 8th district! Click here to go to Cindy's campaign site.)
Contact info:
Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Office of the Speaker
H-232, US Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-4965
Fax: 202-225-4188
Email: AmericanVoices@mail.house.gov
-
4. Call, fax, and/or write to your own congressperson. It's easy! Just call the toll free Capitol Switchboard number during business hours and ask to speak to the office of any member of the House or Senate (if you're not sure who your representatives are, they can tell you).
Here's the number:
1-800-828-0498.
Click here to find your own congressperson's web site.
---
It literally takes just five minutes to make calls to these four congressional reps. Do it every day, if you can!
Again ... here's the toll-free Capitol Switchboard number (have you memorized it yet?:
1-800-828-0498.
In addition, it's important to lobby the mainstream media to publicize the impeachment, and the problem currently posed by sticks-in-the-mud Pelosi, Conyers, and Nadler. Click here to go to this blog's media contact page where you'll find dozens of live email links to key national media outlets. Please also consider contacting local, national, and international newspapers to express your support for impeachment and request more coverage of the issue.
Contrary to the president's stated belief, the constitution is not just a "goddamned piece of paper" but the living foundation of law in our nation. And contrary to neocon collaborators Pelosi, Conyers, and Nadler, impeachment is not optional. Impeachment is a requirement written into the constitution by our nation's founders to equip us to deal with exactly the kind situation we find ourselves in today ... with an iniquitous president and vice-president who fancy themselves dictators, men above the law, and rulers over us.
Time to get out those calls, faxes, and letters, people!
Right now ... it's Nadler.
Let's nail him!
Thank you.
Pass it on.
The Democratic Activist
For weeks, now, activists supporters of democracy all over the world have been waiting for a miracle to occur ... namely, for Democratic leaders to grow a spine, remember their oaths to defend the Constitution, learn to throw a punch, and begin impeachment hearings against American Vice President Dick Cheney.What's the problem? It's Nadler.
The Cheney impeachment resolution is stalled in the House Judiciary Committee .(HJC) ... specifically, in the sub-committee headed by Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY, 8th). Despite overwhelming pubic support of impeachment, and growing pro-impeachment pressure in the House, Nadler and company are, apparently, determined to defend not the Constitution but rather Republican criminals and emperor wanna-bes currently holding our nation's top elected offices.
Democrats like HJC Chairman John Conyers are even floating a proposal for non-impeachment hearings on the "imperial presidency" that they hope will enable them to run out the clock while mollifying the burgeoning impeachment movement that's been giving anti-impeachment Dumb-o-crats all such a headache.
Whether his policy of no-impeachment for imperial presidents and vice presidents is his own or was handed to him by Democratic Fuhrer Nancy Pelosi, it appears that Nadler is now the pivot point on the impeachment issue. He's the decider right now ... and as I opined in an earlier post, Mr. Nadler has become the man whose mind we need to change.
Here's what you can do:
---
1. Call, fax, and/or write Congressman Nadler to express your ardent support for impeachment and demand that he respect his oath of office, stop stalling impeachment hearings, and allow the Cheney impeachment resolution (H. Res. 799) now stuck in the HJC subcommittee he chairs to advance out of committee to full hearings before the House.
Nadler is the man, at this moment. He's the pivot point. Call him every day, if possible! (It really only takes a minute.)
Contact info:
Hon. Jerrold Nadler
2334 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-5635
Fax: 202-225-6923
Email (only for those in Nadler's district):
http://www.house.gov/nadler/emailform.shtml
-
2. Call, fax, and/or write HJC Chairman John Conyers to communicate your pro-impeachment message, question the delaying tactics he and other Democratic leaders are using to stonewall impeachment, and insist that hearings be held on Cheney's impeachment immediately.
Conyers's flip-flop on impeachment is unconscionable. Let him know!
Contact info:
Chairman John Conyers, Jr.
House Judiciary Committee
2426 Rayburn Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-5126
Fax: 202-225-0072
Email: John.Conyers@mail.house.gov
-
3. Call, fax, and/or write to the "Quilsing Queen" herself, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to tell her that she has no right to take constitutional provisions like impeachment "off the table" and that she and other leading Democrats must get out of the way of the people and allow impeachment to go forward.
Further, make sure that Ms. Pelosi understands that, absent a quick turn-around in the priorities of invertebrate Democratic Party leaders, she and other Democrats will pay with their jobs as a vast number of inflamed, irate democratic activists work to remove them from office and replace them with progressive candidates who do value the constitution and the privilege of representing us.
(Note: Cindy Sheehan is opposing Nancy Pelosi in the upcoming November election. Please ... lend all the support you can to Cindy's attempt to unseat Pelosi in California's 8th district! Click here to go to Cindy's campaign site.)
Contact info:
Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Office of the Speaker
H-232, US Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-4965
Fax: 202-225-4188
Email: AmericanVoices@mail.house.gov
-
4. Call, fax, and/or write to your own congressperson. It's easy! Just call the toll free Capitol Switchboard number during business hours and ask to speak to the office of any member of the House or Senate (if you're not sure who your representatives are, they can tell you).
Here's the number:
1-800-828-0498.
Click here to find your own congressperson's web site.
---
It literally takes just five minutes to make calls to these four congressional reps. Do it every day, if you can!
Again ... here's the toll-free Capitol Switchboard number (have you memorized it yet?:
1-800-828-0498.
In addition, it's important to lobby the mainstream media to publicize the impeachment, and the problem currently posed by sticks-in-the-mud Pelosi, Conyers, and Nadler. Click here to go to this blog's media contact page where you'll find dozens of live email links to key national media outlets. Please also consider contacting local, national, and international newspapers to express your support for impeachment and request more coverage of the issue.
Contrary to the president's stated belief, the constitution is not just a "goddamned piece of paper" but the living foundation of law in our nation. And contrary to neocon collaborators Pelosi, Conyers, and Nadler, impeachment is not optional. Impeachment is a requirement written into the constitution by our nation's founders to equip us to deal with exactly the kind situation we find ourselves in today ... with an iniquitous president and vice-president who fancy themselves dictators, men above the law, and rulers over us.
Time to get out those calls, faxes, and letters, people!
Right now ... it's Nadler.
Let's nail him!
Thank you.
Pass it on.
The Democratic Activist
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Study: 935 False Statements About Iraq in "Orchesrated Campaign" to Deceive
The Democratic Activist
I heard this story broadcast on the CNN news this morning over the car radio. Apparently, even the mainstream media is finally getting it.
A recently released study by the non-partisan Center for Public Integrity confirms that:
"President George W. Bush and seven of his administration's top officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, made at least 935 false statements in the two years following September 11, 2001, about the national security threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Nearly five years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, an exhaustive examination of the record shows that the statements were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses."
Read the entire report here.
(To access the searchable database of 935 false statements used in the study, click here).
So, apparently, it's official: Bush lied, a million died.
How much more of this kind of misleadership are we Americans going to take ... or can we afford to take?
If you're like me, your jaw just can't drop any lower without dislocating, and you've truly had enough ... click here, here, and here to see what you can do.
Thank you.
Pass it on.
The Democratic Activist
I heard this story broadcast on the CNN news this morning over the car radio. Apparently, even the mainstream media is finally getting it.A recently released study by the non-partisan Center for Public Integrity confirms that:
"President George W. Bush and seven of his administration's top officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, made at least 935 false statements in the two years following September 11, 2001, about the national security threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Nearly five years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, an exhaustive examination of the record shows that the statements were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses."
Read the entire report here.
(To access the searchable database of 935 false statements used in the study, click here).
So, apparently, it's official: Bush lied, a million died.
How much more of this kind of misleadership are we Americans going to take ... or can we afford to take?
If you're like me, your jaw just can't drop any lower without dislocating, and you've truly had enough ... click here, here, and here to see what you can do.
Thank you.
Pass it on.
The Democratic Activist
Monday, January 14, 2008
Support Wexler's Impeachment Presentation!
The Democratic Activist
(Update: It looks like we got the details wrong on this. Apparently, Congressman Wexler was scheduled to make a pro-impeachment speech to congress the evening of Wednesday, 1/15 and to present his online petition and letters appealing for impeachment hearings to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Conyers and the other members of the HJC sometime on Wednesday, 1/16 [here is the speech, and here are the letters]. Sorry about that. At least we were early!)
---
The pressure for impeachment appears to be building.
Last month, Congressman Robert Wexler (D – Florida, 19th) and two fellow members of the House Judiciary Committee and launched a high-profile effort to lobby other HJC members to support the Cheney Impeachment Resolution, H. Res. 799. Congressman Wexler started an online petition urging Cheney's impeachment that so far has garnered nearly 200,000 signatures, and will be presenting his petition to Congress this Tuesday, 1/15/08, between 7 and 10pm, EST.
In a further indication that things are heating up on this issue, the New York Sun reported on the recent arrest of activists engaged in civil disobedience to support the impeachment effort.
From the Sun's article on 1/4/08:
"Four anti-war protesters were arrested at Rep. Jerrold Nadler's Brooklyn office Wednesday night when they refused to leave after closing hours.
The demonstrators, part of a group of about 15, sought to convince Mr. Nadler, who sits on the House Judiciary Committee, to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney."
Congressman Wexler needs a huge deluge of support for impeachment right now to bolster his important presentation to congress this Tuesday evening!
The word has gone out to activists to get back on their phones and fax machines, and inundate key House reps with calls and faxes supporting Cheney's impeachment from early on Monday, 1/14/08 through 10pm EST on Tuesday, 1/15/08. In your communications to congressional reps, tell them of your enthusiastic support of the effort to impeach Dick Cheney, ask them for immediate hearings on H. Res. 799, and urge these reps to co-sign Wexler's impeachment letter to HJC Chairman John Conyers and to send their own formal pro-impeachment letters to the HJC chairman.
Here's what you can do, specifically, to join the effort:
---
1. Sign Congressman Wexler's petition here urging the immediate impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney, if you haven't already done so.
2. Call the Capitol Switchboard toll free at 1-800-828-0498, and ask to speak to your own congressperson, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, and each of the nine Democratic members of the HJC opposed to impeachment (the infamous "Ninny Nine," listed below). About 15 minutes is all it takes to make these calls!
Congressman Jerrold Nadler, whose local office was the target of pro-impeachment civil disobedience earlier this month, is one of the "Ninny Nine" and chairman of the HJC subcommittee where the Cheney impeachment resolution is currently stalled. Right now, and until H. Res. 799 is moved forward to a hearing, it's especially important to contact Mr. Nadler ... in every way possible, as often as possible.
3. Compose a short letter template, and fax personalized copies of it to Chairman Conyers, Speaker Pelosi, and each of the "Ninny Nine" (snail-mail letters likely won't arrive in time before 1/15/08, but are always good for follow-up). See below for a complete listing of names and full contact info.
4. Spread the word! Publish and/or email a link to this post to as many people as possible who may be interested in working to support the cause of impeachment at this critical time.
---
Other ideas:
I've received reports that at 11:00AM on Monday, 1/14/08, Cindy Sheehan will be delivering between 7,000 and 10,000 pro-impeachment letters to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco office. Pro-democracy activists will also be on hand to deliver thousands of petition signatures urging Cheney's impeachment. Right now, your additional calls and faxes to Nancy Pelosi's local office (see Pelosi's contact info, below) sent in conjunction with activist efforts taking place early this week could have an even greater impact.
These days, we activists have to lobby the mainstream media as well as government representatives. It's easy, in a very short time, to send dozens of emails to key media outlets urging greater coverage of the impeachment issue and particular attention to Wexler's upcoming presentation to congress using the letter template you created (in step 3, above) and the live email links provided on this blog's media contact page.
Finally, a call and/or fax to Congressman Wexler thanking him for his principled, patriotic stand in support of impeachment is certainly appropriate and always greatly appreciated.
---
The "Ninny Nine:"
Hon. Howard Berman
2221 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: 202-225-4695
Fax: 202-225-3196
Hon. Frederick Boucher
2187 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-3861
Fax: 202-225-0442
Hon. Artur Davis
208 Cannon H.O.B.
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: 202-225-2665
Fax: 202-226-9567
Hon. William Delahunt
2454 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-3111
Fax: 202-225-5658
Hon. Zoe Lofgren
102 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: 202-225-3072
Fax: 202-225-3336
Hon. Jerrold Nadler
2334 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-5635
Fax: 202-225-6923
Hon. Linda Sanchez
1007 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-6676
Fax: 202-226-1012
Hon. Debbie Wasserman Schultz
118 Cannon H.O.B
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-7931
Fax: 202-226-2052
Hon. Adam B. Schiff
326 Cannon House Office Building
Washington D.C. 20515
Phone: 202-225-4176
Fax: 202-225-5828
---
Hon. Robert Wexler
213 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-3001
Fax: 202-225-5974
---
Chairman John Conyers, Jr.
House Judiciary Committee
2426 Rayburn Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-5126
Fax: 202-225-0072
---
Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Office of the Speaker
H-232, US Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-4965
Fax: 202-225-4188
---
To find your own congressional representative (on any other congressperson), click here.
---
Okay, now ... let's get moving!
Make those calls! Send those faxes! Distribute this info!
Thank you.
Pass it on.
The Democratic Activist
(Update: It looks like we got the details wrong on this. Apparently, Congressman Wexler was scheduled to make a pro-impeachment speech to congress the evening of Wednesday, 1/15 and to present his online petition and letters appealing for impeachment hearings to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Conyers and the other members of the HJC sometime on Wednesday, 1/16 [here is the speech, and here are the letters]. Sorry about that. At least we were early!)
---
The pressure for impeachment appears to be building.
Last month, Congressman Robert Wexler (D – Florida, 19th) and two fellow members of the House Judiciary Committee and launched a high-profile effort to lobby other HJC members to support the Cheney Impeachment Resolution, H. Res. 799. Congressman Wexler started an online petition urging Cheney's impeachment that so far has garnered nearly 200,000 signatures, and will be presenting his petition to Congress this Tuesday, 1/15/08, between 7 and 10pm, EST.In a further indication that things are heating up on this issue, the New York Sun reported on the recent arrest of activists engaged in civil disobedience to support the impeachment effort.
From the Sun's article on 1/4/08:
"Four anti-war protesters were arrested at Rep. Jerrold Nadler's Brooklyn office Wednesday night when they refused to leave after closing hours.
The demonstrators, part of a group of about 15, sought to convince Mr. Nadler, who sits on the House Judiciary Committee, to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney."
Congressman Wexler needs a huge deluge of support for impeachment right now to bolster his important presentation to congress this Tuesday evening!
The word has gone out to activists to get back on their phones and fax machines, and inundate key House reps with calls and faxes supporting Cheney's impeachment from early on Monday, 1/14/08 through 10pm EST on Tuesday, 1/15/08. In your communications to congressional reps, tell them of your enthusiastic support of the effort to impeach Dick Cheney, ask them for immediate hearings on H. Res. 799, and urge these reps to co-sign Wexler's impeachment letter to HJC Chairman John Conyers and to send their own formal pro-impeachment letters to the HJC chairman.
Here's what you can do, specifically, to join the effort:
---
1. Sign Congressman Wexler's petition here urging the immediate impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney, if you haven't already done so.
2. Call the Capitol Switchboard toll free at 1-800-828-0498, and ask to speak to your own congressperson, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, and each of the nine Democratic members of the HJC opposed to impeachment (the infamous "Ninny Nine," listed below). About 15 minutes is all it takes to make these calls!
Congressman Jerrold Nadler, whose local office was the target of pro-impeachment civil disobedience earlier this month, is one of the "Ninny Nine" and chairman of the HJC subcommittee where the Cheney impeachment resolution is currently stalled. Right now, and until H. Res. 799 is moved forward to a hearing, it's especially important to contact Mr. Nadler ... in every way possible, as often as possible.
3. Compose a short letter template, and fax personalized copies of it to Chairman Conyers, Speaker Pelosi, and each of the "Ninny Nine" (snail-mail letters likely won't arrive in time before 1/15/08, but are always good for follow-up). See below for a complete listing of names and full contact info.
4. Spread the word! Publish and/or email a link to this post to as many people as possible who may be interested in working to support the cause of impeachment at this critical time.
---
Other ideas:
I've received reports that at 11:00AM on Monday, 1/14/08, Cindy Sheehan will be delivering between 7,000 and 10,000 pro-impeachment letters to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco office. Pro-democracy activists will also be on hand to deliver thousands of petition signatures urging Cheney's impeachment. Right now, your additional calls and faxes to Nancy Pelosi's local office (see Pelosi's contact info, below) sent in conjunction with activist efforts taking place early this week could have an even greater impact.
These days, we activists have to lobby the mainstream media as well as government representatives. It's easy, in a very short time, to send dozens of emails to key media outlets urging greater coverage of the impeachment issue and particular attention to Wexler's upcoming presentation to congress using the letter template you created (in step 3, above) and the live email links provided on this blog's media contact page.
Finally, a call and/or fax to Congressman Wexler thanking him for his principled, patriotic stand in support of impeachment is certainly appropriate and always greatly appreciated.
---
The "Ninny Nine:"
Hon. Howard Berman
2221 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: 202-225-4695
Fax: 202-225-3196
Hon. Frederick Boucher
2187 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-3861
Fax: 202-225-0442
Hon. Artur Davis
208 Cannon H.O.B.
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: 202-225-2665
Fax: 202-226-9567
Hon. William Delahunt
2454 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-3111
Fax: 202-225-5658
Hon. Zoe Lofgren
102 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: 202-225-3072
Fax: 202-225-3336
Hon. Jerrold Nadler
2334 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-5635
Fax: 202-225-6923
Hon. Linda Sanchez
1007 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-6676
Fax: 202-226-1012
Hon. Debbie Wasserman Schultz
118 Cannon H.O.B
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-7931
Fax: 202-226-2052
Hon. Adam B. Schiff
326 Cannon House Office Building
Washington D.C. 20515
Phone: 202-225-4176
Fax: 202-225-5828
---
Hon. Robert Wexler
213 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-3001
Fax: 202-225-5974
---
Chairman John Conyers, Jr.
House Judiciary Committee
2426 Rayburn Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-5126
Fax: 202-225-0072
---
Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Office of the Speaker
H-232, US Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-4965
Fax: 202-225-4188
---
To find your own congressional representative (on any other congressperson), click here.
---
Okay, now ... let's get moving!
Make those calls! Send those faxes! Distribute this info!
Thank you.
Pass it on.
The Democratic Activist
Thursday, January 10, 2008
A Nation Dying for Health Care
(Update: It's getting worse ... as of 4/15/08, the U.S. is now 47th in life span and 43rd in infant mortality. For confirmation, click the indicated links below.)
The Democratic Activist
The French spend about half as much as Americans do per capita on health care and yet receive MUCH better health care than we do (evidenced by longer life spans, half our infant mortality rate, 40% fewer deaths preventable by adequate health care, etc.).
Under our wonderful, cripplingly expensive, privatized health care system, the U.S is now 42nd in infant mortality (worse than in South Korea, The Czech Republic, Ireland, etc.), and 45th in life span (below Cuba, Jordon, Portugal, etc.).
How is it that America (the only developed nation on Earth not to have a single-payer universal health care system) has somehow come to the conclusion that shorter life spans, higher infant mortality, higher rates of preventable deaths, much higher per capita cost, spotty coverage with large numbers of citizens completely or partially shut out of the system, etc. ... is a good idea?
How does having an inferior, unfair, grossly over-priced, incompetent system, one that results in up to 100,000 deaths annually due to medical errors (a greater tragedy than thirty separate 9-11 attacks ... each year!) do anything to help our economy, our nation, or our people?
What's wrong with this picture?!?
Where's all the constant jawboning about the need to shred the Constitution and give up hard won democratic liberties in order to "protect American lives" by fighting and winning a vital, impelling "War on Medical Errors?"
How does such a crazy thing happen in an advanced, modern "democratic" society like ours?
Oh yeah. I forgot. A few uber-wealthy, ultra-powerful corporations and individuals trade their support for tax cuts ... while the rest of us trade our trust for suffering.
Paul Krugman highlights the story in his piece titled:
A health care system to die for.
Thank you.
Pass it on.
The Democratic Activist
The Democratic Activist
The French spend about half as much as Americans do per capita on health care and yet receive MUCH better health care than we do (evidenced by longer life spans, half our infant mortality rate, 40% fewer deaths preventable by adequate health care, etc.).
Under our wonderful, cripplingly expensive, privatized health care system, the U.S is now 42nd in infant mortality (worse than in South Korea, The Czech Republic, Ireland, etc.), and 45th in life span (below Cuba, Jordon, Portugal, etc.).
How is it that America (the only developed nation on Earth not to have a single-payer universal health care system) has somehow come to the conclusion that shorter life spans, higher infant mortality, higher rates of preventable deaths, much higher per capita cost, spotty coverage with large numbers of citizens completely or partially shut out of the system, etc. ... is a good idea?
How does having an inferior, unfair, grossly over-priced, incompetent system, one that results in up to 100,000 deaths annually due to medical errors (a greater tragedy than thirty separate 9-11 attacks ... each year!) do anything to help our economy, our nation, or our people?
What's wrong with this picture?!?
Where's all the constant jawboning about the need to shred the Constitution and give up hard won democratic liberties in order to "protect American lives" by fighting and winning a vital, impelling "War on Medical Errors?"
How does such a crazy thing happen in an advanced, modern "democratic" society like ours?
Oh yeah. I forgot. A few uber-wealthy, ultra-powerful corporations and individuals trade their support for tax cuts ... while the rest of us trade our trust for suffering.
Paul Krugman highlights the story in his piece titled:
A health care system to die for.
Thank you.
Pass it on.
The Democratic Activist
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
George McGovern Joins the Impeachment Movement
The Democratic Activist
Last Sunday, former WW2 bomber pilot, congressman, senator and candidate for president George McGovern joined the impeachment movement with a piece at washingtonpost.com blisteringly critical of the Bush/Cheney administration entitled:
Why I Believe Bush Must Go.
In the article, McGovern sums up the case for impeachment nicely:
"Bush and Cheney are clearly guilty of numerous impeachable offenses. They have repeatedly violated the Constitution. They have transgressed national and international law. They have lied to the American people time after time. Their conduct and their barbaric policies have reduced our beloved country to a historic low in the eyes of people around the world. These are truly 'high crimes and misdemeanors,' to use the constitutional standard."
Reflecting on the questionable elections of 2000 and 2004, the explosion of our national debt under Bush/Cheney, and administration attempts to legalize the abuse and torture of prisoners, McGovern asks:
" ... has any administration in our national history been so damaging as the Bush-Cheney [administration]?"
Commenting on the "murderous, illegal, nonsensical" U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq, he wonders:
"How could a once-admired, great nation fall into such a quagmire of killing, immorality and lawlessness?"
Nixon's Democratic opponent in the 1972 presidential election goes on to opine on the karmic fallout from the Bush/Cheney years by invoking the words (and worries) of Thomas Jefferson:
"Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just."
McGovern is under no illusions that the cause of impeachment isn't facing a steep, uphill climb in order to have any reasonable chance of success (or even of serious consideration by Congress). He takes responsibility for his own "belated" coming out as an impeachment supporter, and goes on to highlight what is certainly one of the most serious and irksome problems facing our nation, at present:
" ... a lack of courage and statesmanship on the part of too many Democratic politicians."
The entire piece is excellent, a concise, passionate exposé by one of our nation's greatest patriots that briefly but convincingly outlines the case for the immediate impeachment of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. I recommend it to you for your own edification, and as a tool to use in waking up those somnambulant sleepyheads you may know who haven't yet woken up to the social, cultural, and constitutional crises we now face, courtesy of these dastardly, impeachable, criminal Machiavellian twins.
(To see what you and others can do, right now, to support impeachment, click here.)
Thank you.
Pass it on.
The Democratic Activist
Last Sunday, former WW2 bomber pilot, congressman, senator and candidate for president George McGovern joined the impeachment movement with a piece at washingtonpost.com blisteringly critical of the Bush/Cheney administration entitled:Why I Believe Bush Must Go.
In the article, McGovern sums up the case for impeachment nicely:
"Bush and Cheney are clearly guilty of numerous impeachable offenses. They have repeatedly violated the Constitution. They have transgressed national and international law. They have lied to the American people time after time. Their conduct and their barbaric policies have reduced our beloved country to a historic low in the eyes of people around the world. These are truly 'high crimes and misdemeanors,' to use the constitutional standard."
Reflecting on the questionable elections of 2000 and 2004, the explosion of our national debt under Bush/Cheney, and administration attempts to legalize the abuse and torture of prisoners, McGovern asks:
" ... has any administration in our national history been so damaging as the Bush-Cheney [administration]?"
Commenting on the "murderous, illegal, nonsensical" U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq, he wonders:
"How could a once-admired, great nation fall into such a quagmire of killing, immorality and lawlessness?"
Nixon's Democratic opponent in the 1972 presidential election goes on to opine on the karmic fallout from the Bush/Cheney years by invoking the words (and worries) of Thomas Jefferson:
"Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just."
McGovern is under no illusions that the cause of impeachment isn't facing a steep, uphill climb in order to have any reasonable chance of success (or even of serious consideration by Congress). He takes responsibility for his own "belated" coming out as an impeachment supporter, and goes on to highlight what is certainly one of the most serious and irksome problems facing our nation, at present:
" ... a lack of courage and statesmanship on the part of too many Democratic politicians."
The entire piece is excellent, a concise, passionate exposé by one of our nation's greatest patriots that briefly but convincingly outlines the case for the immediate impeachment of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. I recommend it to you for your own edification, and as a tool to use in waking up those somnambulant sleepyheads you may know who haven't yet woken up to the social, cultural, and constitutional crises we now face, courtesy of these dastardly, impeachable, criminal Machiavellian twins.
(To see what you and others can do, right now, to support impeachment, click here.)
Thank you.
Pass it on.
The Democratic Activist
Monday, January 7, 2008
Most Absurd Overstatement of the Millenium
The Democratic Activist
From a recent Mitt Romney television ad:
"In the next 10 years, we'll see more progress, more change than the world has seen in the last 10 centuries."
Really, Mitt?
More progress and change in the next 10 years than in the previous 1000?
More than since the Dark Ages? More than Arabic Numerals, the Magna Carta, the Great Crusades, the scientific method, gunpowder, the Renaissance, the European conquest and colonization of the Americas, Africa, and Asia, the Protestant Reformation, the telescope, Newtonian physics, the printing press, constitutional democracy, the industrial revolution, railroads, electricity, air travel, the telegraph, relativity theory, automobiles, telephones, radio, two world wars, antibiotics, atomic weapons, television, quantum mechanics, widespread environmental pollution, space travel, micro-electronics, over population, personal computers, the human genome project, manmade global climate change, and the Internet all put together?
No, I am not making this up. Romney actually made that very statement!
Here's the ad ... see for yourself:
Should candidates be able to say just anything at all, no matter how patently absurd, in order to sway emotions and manipulate the nation ... and get away with it?
Should such a man be entrusted with leading the "free" world?
It would be hilarious if it weren't so serious.
Thank you.
Pass it on.
The Democratic Activist
From a recent Mitt Romney television ad:
"In the next 10 years, we'll see more progress, more change than the world has seen in the last 10 centuries."
Really, Mitt?
More progress and change in the next 10 years than in the previous 1000?
More than since the Dark Ages? More than Arabic Numerals, the Magna Carta, the Great Crusades, the scientific method, gunpowder, the Renaissance, the European conquest and colonization of the Americas, Africa, and Asia, the Protestant Reformation, the telescope, Newtonian physics, the printing press, constitutional democracy, the industrial revolution, railroads, electricity, air travel, the telegraph, relativity theory, automobiles, telephones, radio, two world wars, antibiotics, atomic weapons, television, quantum mechanics, widespread environmental pollution, space travel, micro-electronics, over population, personal computers, the human genome project, manmade global climate change, and the Internet all put together?
No, I am not making this up. Romney actually made that very statement!
Here's the ad ... see for yourself:
Should candidates be able to say just anything at all, no matter how patently absurd, in order to sway emotions and manipulate the nation ... and get away with it?
Should such a man be entrusted with leading the "free" world?
It would be hilarious if it weren't so serious.
Thank you.
Pass it on.
The Democratic Activist
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Help John Edwards Get Coverage!
The Democratic Activist
John Edwards is getting ripped off ... and so is the American voting public.
While news and informations abounds throughout the media about both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, coverage of the John Edwards message and campaign is almost non-existent.
The reason is obvious: Edwards is the only viable populist, anti-corporatist candidate running for president in 2008, and corporate-owned media outlets are loath to bring any real attention to his message and candidacy.
These days, we activists have to learn to lobby media outlets, as well as government representatives. And now is the perfect time to do so, when Edwards desperately needs all the activist support and mainstream media coverage he can get.
Inspired by the efforts of activist friends who invited me to become involved in this effort, I spent roughly 30 minutes sending 50 email messages to electronic media outlets highlighting the unfair non-exposure given to John Edwards by the national media and requesting equitable, proportionate coverage of the Edwards message and campaign. It was easy, using a short, generic template message and live email links provided on this blog's media contact page.
Here's the message I just sent out:
---
Dear People,
Why is the media virtually ignoring John Edwards, while over-covering the campaigns and candidacies of Obama and Clinton?
This unfairness is noticed, and remembered.
We can find all the news we want about Hillary and Obama on lots of other stations. It's everywhere. I am tired of hearing the same spin on the same candidates. By comparison, coverage of John Edwards is almost completely absent from the main stream media.
The American news consumer deserves hard facts and updates on the Edwards Campaign. You can be the first media outlet to move news, information, and coverage about John Edwards into reasonable proportion compared to the time spent covering the other two major Democratic candidates for President in 2008.
Will you do it?
Please reply, and let me know about what you plan to do to stop the coverage blackout on John Edwards.
Thank you.
---
Please ... take half an hour, and do the same!
You can use the message I wrote above for talking points or as a starter, but please don't just copy and paste it verbatim, since doing so will dilute the impact of such messages. (Feel free to use part of it, or even most of it, but do make sure your template message is recognizably your own, and not just part of some sort of mass mailing.)
UPDATED 1/8/08: At The Shonbrun Report, writer Will Shonbrun has just written an excellent piece explaining why he's supporting John Edwards as the best candidate for the Democratic Party nomination for president in 2008. In his most recent post, titled From Kucinich to Edwards in ‘08, Shonbrun concisely outlines the reasons liberals should rally around Edwards at this critical time and lend all available support to his campaign. His article is a great place to get a quick look at precisely why John Edwards is the best person for the job.
Let's get John Edwards the coverage that he deserves, and that Americans have a right to receive!
Thank you.
Pass it on.
The Democratic Activist
John Edwards is getting ripped off ... and so is the American voting public.While news and informations abounds throughout the media about both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, coverage of the John Edwards message and campaign is almost non-existent.
The reason is obvious: Edwards is the only viable populist, anti-corporatist candidate running for president in 2008, and corporate-owned media outlets are loath to bring any real attention to his message and candidacy.
These days, we activists have to learn to lobby media outlets, as well as government representatives. And now is the perfect time to do so, when Edwards desperately needs all the activist support and mainstream media coverage he can get.
Inspired by the efforts of activist friends who invited me to become involved in this effort, I spent roughly 30 minutes sending 50 email messages to electronic media outlets highlighting the unfair non-exposure given to John Edwards by the national media and requesting equitable, proportionate coverage of the Edwards message and campaign. It was easy, using a short, generic template message and live email links provided on this blog's media contact page.
Here's the message I just sent out:
---
Dear People,
Why is the media virtually ignoring John Edwards, while over-covering the campaigns and candidacies of Obama and Clinton?
This unfairness is noticed, and remembered.
We can find all the news we want about Hillary and Obama on lots of other stations. It's everywhere. I am tired of hearing the same spin on the same candidates. By comparison, coverage of John Edwards is almost completely absent from the main stream media.
The American news consumer deserves hard facts and updates on the Edwards Campaign. You can be the first media outlet to move news, information, and coverage about John Edwards into reasonable proportion compared to the time spent covering the other two major Democratic candidates for President in 2008.
Will you do it?
Please reply, and let me know about what you plan to do to stop the coverage blackout on John Edwards.
Thank you.
---
Please ... take half an hour, and do the same!
You can use the message I wrote above for talking points or as a starter, but please don't just copy and paste it verbatim, since doing so will dilute the impact of such messages. (Feel free to use part of it, or even most of it, but do make sure your template message is recognizably your own, and not just part of some sort of mass mailing.)
UPDATED 1/8/08: At The Shonbrun Report, writer Will Shonbrun has just written an excellent piece explaining why he's supporting John Edwards as the best candidate for the Democratic Party nomination for president in 2008. In his most recent post, titled From Kucinich to Edwards in ‘08, Shonbrun concisely outlines the reasons liberals should rally around Edwards at this critical time and lend all available support to his campaign. His article is a great place to get a quick look at precisely why John Edwards is the best person for the job.
Let's get John Edwards the coverage that he deserves, and that Americans have a right to receive!
Thank you.
Pass it on.
The Democratic Activist
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