Interesting read on Unions and Politics

From Sunday's Times Magazine -- the link will expire soon

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/30/magazine/30STERN.html?oref=login

MoveOn asks for calls against Gonzales

MoveOn is asking people to call their Senators to vote no on Gonzales. Hey why not? The calls and e-mails did seem to push the Dems to the 10-8 vote on the Judiciary Committee.

Dear MoveOn member,
This week, the full Senate will vote on the nomination of Alberto Gonzales for Attorney General. Far from the rubber stamp Bush expected, the outcry from groups like Amnesty International, Win Without War, FaithfulAmerica, TrueMajority, People for the American Way and tens of thousands of MoveOn members has created a powerful opposition -- making this vote a real opportunity to hold the Administration accountable for the torture scandal in Iraq.
Last week, we scored a huge victory when every Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee bravely voted to oppose Gonzales. This week, we need every Senator of conscience to do the same.
Please call your Senators today and ask them to vote against the confirmation of Alberto Gonzales for Attorney General. Senator Arlen Specter: 202-224-4254 Senator Rick Santorum: 202-224-6324
In January, 150,000 MoveOn members and a broad coalition of faith groups, human rights advocates, and national security experts called on Gonzales to clearly repudiate his position that torture is a legally acceptable practice for the
United States. He refused.
During his confirmation hearing, Gonzales insisted that the President had the authority to order torture.[1] He defended the memos he wrote and approved while serving as White House counsel authorizing the use of torture to interrogate prisoners and declaring the Geneva Conventions "quaint".[2] Gonzales' appalling legal equivocations are in direct violation of international laws ratified by Congress, including the Geneva Conventions and the United Nations Convention
Against Torture.[3]
As chief White House counsel, Gonzales' disregard for the law shamed our nation
and outraged the world at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. As a judge on the Texas Supreme Court, he took tens of thousands of dollars from Enron and handed down historic decisions in the company's favor.[4] As chief legal counsel to the State
of Texas, he pushed for then-Governor Bush to sign the most death warrants of any governor in history, even executing the mentally retarded and foreign nationals
who were not accorded their rights under international law.[5]
Simply put, the record and positions of Alberto Gonzales have already cost our nation dearly and render him unfit for the office of Attorney General. Please call your Senator today and urge them to oppose his nomination and show the world what America stands for.
Let us know you called by following the link below:
http://www.moveon.org/callmade17.html?id=5065-5262787-qprY7uJVPnJ_UdfuJRKTLg
Thanks for all that you do.
--Ben Brandzel, Eli Pariser, and the whole MoveOn.org Team Monday,
January 31st, 2005

(1) When asked by Senator Durbin whether the President could bypass the law to authorize torture, he replied "I guess I would have to say that hypothetically
that authority may exist."http://www.moveon.org/r?r=635
(2) When asked by Senator Leahy if he still supported the memo written at his request authorizing extreme measures such as "waterboarding" and unlimited psychological humiliation such as occurred at Abu Ghraib, Gonzales responded "I don't have a disagreement with the conclusions then reached by the Department."
http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200501/012605.html
(3) The Convention on Torture clearly states: "no exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability, or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture". While one of Gonzales' memos read "Gonzales' legal memo advised the president he had the authority "to approve almost any physical or psychological action during interrogation, up to and including torture."
http://www.hrweb.org/legal/cat.html
http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/91.htm
(4) New York Daily News, February 2, 2002
(5) Center for American Progresshttp://www.moveon.org/r?r=636

Log of Select Documents Received from DIA/DOS/FBI

See the torture memos obtained by the ACLULog of Select Documents Received from DIA/DOS/FBI

Bush Aims To Forge A GOP Legacy (washingtonpost.com)

Bush Aims To Forge A GOP Legacy (washingtonpost.com)

Voices against Bush now heard emanating from unlikely places

Voices against Bush now heard emanating from unlikely places

worth a shot, I guess -- know any progressive Jews?

==================================================

URGENT ALERT: Torture Issue: Our calls might turn Senate around

==================================================

http://www.actionstudio.org/public/page_view_all.cfm?option=begin&pageid=5871&tmode=0

Dear Friends,

I met yesterday with a couple of people in Washington who have been working with religious and
human rights organizations on the issue of torture, and its bearing on whether the Senate should
confirm Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General.

As things stand, there will be a day of floor debate next week and the vote of the Senate as a whole
will come on Thursday NEXT WEEK. So action is URGENTLY needed.

The Washington folks (and I) were greatly encouraged by the 10-8 vote of the Senate Judiciary
Committee in favor of confirming Mr. Gonzales. We were encouraged because when the President
first nominated Mr. Gonzales, it looked as if there might be no No votes at all. Just a few weeks
ago, when the hearings began, it looked as if there would just three Noes. Getting a floor debate is
itself a big victory; originally the Administration's hope was a speedy, costless OK.

Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, chair of the Judiciary Committee, voted for the nomination
despite the visit by and earnest discussion he had with eight Philadelphia rabbis, and a letter from
21 Philadelphia rabbis. Had he voted No, the committee would have been tied and no
recommendation would have come from it to the Senate.

Senator Specter's Yes was an unfortunate and saddening abdication of his own role as guardian of
the law and the Constitution, in favor of partisan considerations of backing the President.

Yet there is still a chance, I was told, to give Senator Specter an out for moving in a new direction -
and not only him, but a number of other Republican Senators (not just the so-called "moderates")
who are very uneasy about Mr. Gonzales' views.

That out is insisting that Mr. Gonzales' nomination not be voted on by the Senate but returned to
Committee until crucial documents are supplied to the Senate about how he decided to recommend
to the President that he has the authority to abandon the rule of law, annul the Geneva Conventions,
shield lawbreakers from prosecution, and authorize the use of torture by US forces and even worse,
the "rendition" of US prisoners to other countries known to use the most brutal conceivable forms
of torture.

Those documents are necessary to make an objective, not partisan, decision, about Mr. Gonzales.

So I urge that we all do ONE of the following:

1) Call Senator Specter's office in Washington at 202/224-4254 and urge him to vote to return
the Gonzales nomination to the Judiciary Committee until those documents behind the pro-torture,
pro-unconstitutional expansion of Presidential power are supplied to the Committee;

OR

2) FAX or Email Senator Specter at 202/228-1229 or arlen_specter@specter.senate.gov your
own letter expressing your sadness that he voted to confirm Mr. Gonzales and urging that he vote to
return the nomination to Committee until these crucial documents can be secured from the
Administration.
Click here:
http://www.actionstudio.org/public/page_view_all.cfm?option=begin&pageid=5871&tmode=0

OR

3) Call or write your own Senator to urge him or her to oppose confirming Mr. Gonzales and
insist that this crucial information be made available to the Senate. You can call 202/ 224-3121 and
ask for your own Senator, or click here:
http://www.actionstudio.org/public/page_view_all.cfm?option=begin&pageid=5871&tmode=0

If your Senator is a Democrat, urge an outright vote to reject Mr. Gonzales' nomination. If your
Senator is a Republican, tangled in party politics, urge s/he demand the documents and hold up the
nomination till they are produced.

We are offering brief model letters you can modify to make your own. We also suggest drawing on
a powerful letter that Rabbis for Human Rights/ North America has sent every Senator, drawing on
Jewish teachings. It is now the lead story on our Website Click here:

http://www.shalomctr.org

Two questions that people have raised: --

First: Shouldn't we avoid focusing on a person and focus on the issue of torture instead? Isn't
focusing on a person partisan? Wasn't the vote by eight Democrats against the nomination a
partisan act?

Two answers:

a) The specific people who make up a government matter. Remember the furor in 1999 over
whether the far-right Austrian politician Joerg Haider should be invited to join the Austrian
cabinet? The government of Israel threatened to cut diplomatic ties with Austria if Mr Haider
joined the cabinet, and the European Union threatened sanctions against Austria. Abstract
opposition to anti-Semitism and neo-Nazism was of course not enough. The person mattered. Here
also.

b) If the Democrats had been responding out of partisanship, they would have voted to confirm
Mr. Gonzales because they have been anxiously courting the Hispanic vote. It is those Senators
who suppressed their own qualms to vote FOR the nomination in order to support their party's
President who were voting for partisan reasons.

Second question: Why take on what is sure to be a losing battle?

Also two answers:

a) It's no longer so certain (though still probable) that it will be a losing battle. Already we have
won much more than seemed possible a few weeks ago: eight No votes in Committee, and a
reluctant agreement by the Senate leadership to a real debate about Mr. Gonzales that will be the
first Congressional debate about torture.

b) Even if we cannot totally derail the nomination, we can build support for the future, just as the
religious right spent years campaigning around their issues, only to be defeated time after time --
building their defeats into a long-range mass movement.

Religious and spiritual communities ought to be especially able to stand firm for what is right, even
when defeated. Think of the histories of Judaism, Christianity, Islam. Think of the history of
abolitionism, Black struggles in the South, the struggles of women for equality.

The Roman general Pyrrhus said after a bloody victory in battle, "One more such victory, and I am
undone!" Such "triumphs" became known as "Pyrrhic victories." I am suggesting we should with
care and courage be taking on issues that are profoundly in touch with the Spirit - like the abolition
of torture. We should accept momentary "Pyrrhic defeats"; and we should say, "One more, two
more, ten more such defeats, and we will transform our country to the good!"

Aside from the original memo, has Gonzales done anything wrong? His responses to Judiciary
Committee questions about the actuality of torture were evasive, full of "I don't remember" in
regard to a very important and unprecedented memo he gave the President (a surprising thing to
forget) and in regard to memos he received about torture from lawyers in the Justice Department.

And in the hearings he explicitly repeated the Bush Administration's assertion that the Geneva
Conventions do not apply to people the Administration unilaterally labels "enemy combatants"
rather than POW's

Even worse, he has not been willing to repudiate the definition of torture that was so extreme that
most forms of torture would be permitted.

The torture carried out by US soldiers was not only at Abu Ghraib but also at Guantanamo, in
Afghanistan, and in many Iraqi locations - plus foreign prisons to which the US has "rendered"
prisoners for the worst forms of torture. And the methods used were not "only" the humiliations we
saw at Abu Ghraib, but beatings to death, near drownings (repeated on the same prisoners again
and again), inserting burning matches into prisoners' ears, and the use of electric shock.

FBI agents who witnessed what was happening at Guantanamo were horrified, and called it illegal.
So did the International Red Cross.

Enough. No one who was willing to permit all this is worthy to become Attorney
General. PLEASE SAY SO.

Shalom, Arthur



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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I enclose (as my tax-deductible gift):

__ *$360; __ *$180; __ $72; __$36 ____ Other

* If my gift is $180 or more, send me an inscribed copy of Godwrestling --
Round 2 or another of Rabbi Waskow's books, inscribed as follows:

Name ________________________________________________
Address ______________________________________________
Phone/s______________________ Email___________________

******************************************************
We draw on the spiritual wisdom of Jewish and other traditions
to challenge the pharaohs of our generation -
unaccountable corporate and governmental power,
and our own blind habits, overwork, arrogance, and envy --
and to seek peace, justice, compassion, and healing of the earth.

Our postal address is
6711 Lincoln Drive
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19119
United States

Local activism success story

Breaking News -- Lawsuit Update – CSX derails its own request for Injunction!

CSX Railroad has second thoughts about the "need" to fence off Race and Locust streets.

On Wednesday, January 26, CSX Railroad submitted a response to Judge Kauffman asking for a 45 day "stay" (delay) in his decision on CSX's own request for a preliminary injunction requiring the City to "barricade" the Race and Locust at-grade access points.

In its response, CSX said that "the City's submission has the potential for a possible resolution of this matter." The City's submission, January 14, 2005 stated that pedestrians and public safety could be accommodated by installing protective warning devices such as flashing lights signals, and movable automatic gates. Preliminary drawings were attached to illustrate one possible type of grade crossing. Click here to read CSX's Response and City's Submission.

You did it!

Your letters, faxes, affidavits and email messages contributed greatly to this important turning point. Hopefully, we're on the right track to a good resolution that serves all parties.

By the way, did you know that Jacksonville is not only the home of this year's Super Bowl XXXIX, but is home to a CSX approved grade crossing? Several miles from CSX's corporate headquarters is an active rail line that crosses the Jacksonville-Baldwin Trail, a recreational trail like Schuylkill River Trail, Click here to see several photos of the crossing, (scroll down the page). What's good enough for Jacksonville, should be good enough for Philadelphia ! It's the Eagles in the Super Bowl, not the Jaguars!

Go Eagles!
Free Schuylkill River Park

Dick Cheney, Dressing Down (washingtonpost.com)

Dick Cheney, Dressing Down (washingtonpost.com)

Permanent funding - Now!

Philadelphia Daily News | 01/12/2005 | Transit coalition starting campaign today

Philly March Against Bush

Photos from the Philly March Against Bushphillyaction.org:::J20 Pics

Whitman speaks out against White House policies

Our Zell Miller? Well, not quite. At least she resigned when Bush screwed her over, unlike some other people (cough Colin Powell). If your're reading What's the Matter with Kansas, this obviously falls into the mods vs. cons theme. Whitman speaks out against White House policies

Gonzales Approved 10-8

Senate Panel Approves Attorney General Nominee 10-8

Gonzales Watch: Democrats Scold Rice, Prepare to Dissent

Liberal Oasis notes that this piece refers to the growing campaign against Gonzales: Democrats Scold Rice, Prepare to Dissent. Both the Washington Post and NYT have editorials against Gonzales. If you haven't already sent e-mail to the Democratic Senators on the Judiciary Committee, or to your own senators, do it now if you can. You can bring up the new shit that has come to light--the new torture palace and these new editorials.

Save the Filibuster Petition - PFAW Interactive

Save the Filibuster Petition - PFAW Interactive

Pentagon Files Reveal More Allegations of Abuse in Iraq

Pentagon Files Reveal More Allegations of Abuse in Iraq

WASHINGTON — Pentagon documents released Monday disclosed that Iraqi prisoners had lodged dozens of abuse complaints against U.S. and Iraqi personnel who guarded them at a little-known palace in Baghdad converted to a U.S. prison. Among the allegations was that guards had sodomized a disabled man and killed his brother, whose dying body was tossed into a cell, atop his sister.

Also from Newsweek: Gonzales: Did He Help Bush Keep His DUI Quiet?

I was also surprised to find this story in Newsweek:

Gonzales: Did He Help Bush Keep His DUI Quiet?

Gonzales Watch: Senate Democrats Speak of Slowing Confirmation Votes

Malcontents keep sending e-mail to the Democratic members of the
Judiciary Committee!

A number of committee Democrats - including Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, Dianne Feinstein of California and Charles E. Schumer of New York - say they are leaning against voting for him or rethinking their support.
As a result, Mr. Gonzales could face "no" votes from six or more of the committee's eight Democrats.
The pressure is working. Keep it up.

Senate Democrats Speak of Slowing Confirmation Votes

What to Do Next

From Why Bush Won; What to do Next: Analysis of the 2004 Election by Peter Dreier in Dissent

To those suffering from post-election depression, Rick Perlstein's book, Before the Storm, about the Goldwater movement offers some solace and lessons. If you think Democrats are depressed now, think about how depressed the Republicans were in 1964 when President Lyndon Johnson beat Goldwater in a real landslide and the Democrats won huge majorities in Congress. (One of Goldwater's volunteers was a young Arizona attorney named William Rehnquist who, in the early 1960s, served as a poll watcher assigned to keep Hispanics and Blacks from voting). At the time, almost every pundit in the country wrote the conservative movement's obituary. Goldwater's right-wing supporters were viewed as fanatics, out of touch with mainstream America.

But, the GOP's right wing regrouped. With the help of conservative millionaires and foundations, they created new organizations, professorships at universities, and think tanks to help shape the intellectual climate and policy agenda. They recruited a new generation of college students and funded their campus organizations. They created a network of right-wing talk radio stations. They identified potential political candidates, cultivated and trained them. They took over the atrophied apparatus of the Republican Party. They helped change the political agenda. In 1980, they elected Ronald Reagan. In 2000, they helped Bush steal the election. On November 2, they helped Bush win a second term, almost fair and square.
The late social critic and activist Michael Harrington used to say that progressives have to be long-distance runners. We're in this for the long haul. We lost a big battle on Tuesday, but we won a few skirmishes (the Florida and Nevada minimum wage victories; California's tax on the very rich to fund mental health services). More importantly, there is still a war to win -- a war of ideas, a war of position, and a war of organization and strategy.

The next two years will be brutal and painful in terms of Bush's foreign policy agenda, domestic agenda, a war on the poor and workers, and Supreme Court appointments. It is time to take to the streets as well as the workplaces, living rooms, church basements, union halls, and neighborhoods. The issues are clear: Bush's mismanaged occupation of Iraq (and any additional wars Bush might have in mind), Supreme Court nominees, further dismantling of environmental, worker, and consumer protection laws, and attempts to slash the social safety net and Social Security. There are also pro-active campaigns to raise the minimum wage and to organize workers at Wal-Marts and other corporations.

America today is holding its breath, trying to decide what kind of society it wants to be. Liberal and progressive forces are gaining momentum, but still lack the organizational infrastructure needed to effectively challenge the conservative message and movement. They have begun to invest in building that infrastructure -- think tanks, grassroots coalitions, technology, recruitment of staff, identification and training of candidates. Some of that investment bore fruit on November 2, but there is more to be done. It is also time to regroup for another round of voter mobilization, organizing at the local and state levels, and preparation for the 2006 Congressional elections, only two years away. We can try to checkmate the worst part of Bush's agenda while building for the 2006 elections, the 2008 elections, and beyond.
This is no time for hopelessness.

Peter Dreier, professor of politics and director of the Urban & Environmental Policy program at Occidental College, is coauthor of The Next Los Angeles: The Struggle for a Livable City and Place Matters: Metropolitics for the 21st Century.

Dream On America

Dream On America

The amazing true story of the liberal evangelical

Boston.com / News / Boston Globe / Ideas / The amazing true story of the liberal evangelical

Interest groups are losing interest in SEPTA talks

Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/23/2005 | Interest groups are losing interest in SEPTA talks

Some See Risks as Republicans Revel in Power

Reason to hope? Some See Risks as Republicans Revel in Power

Bush to raise taxes

Part of Bush's plan to "fix" SS requires raising money. Apparently he's going to do that through "fixing" the tax code.

According the linked article:

"The changes are meant to be revenue-neutral. To pay for them, the administration is considering eliminating the deduction of state and local taxes on federal income tax returns and scrapping the business tax deduction for employer-provided health insurance, the advisers said."

Chuck Schumer (D, NY) appears to see through W's plan. He rightly calls this an attack on Blue States. It also is a burden for any urban-dwellers who usually pay a hefty city tax.

Getting rid of the business tax deduction for employer-provided health insurance seems insane. Yeah, let's disincent employers to provide this expensive benefit.

SEPTA citizen adviser:

SEPTA has a "citizen advisory committee." I'm glad this guy's on it.
Philadelphia Daily News | 01/21/2005 | SEPTA citizen adviser:

Brad and Jen: a scholarly discussion

For some levity:Brad and Jen: a scholarly discussion

Deconstructing Bush's speech

For a quick pointing out of the hypocrisies, check my personal faveLiberalOasis and also Slate's Today's Papers.

Iran next?

ThisisLondon

Gonzales Not Over

LiberalOasis for January 20th has a good roundup of what's going on with Gonzales. Check it out. Then send e-mail at moveon

"Dr." Rice

Don't you love how the right is supposed to be all anti-intellectual but then they fall all over themselves when one of their own is a "dr.?" What phonies. Howard Stern had this to say: "She's a doctor? She can feel my balls." Maureen Dowd feels pretty much the same way.

:: Donald Rumsfeld Must Resign ::

:: Donald Rumsfeld Must Resign ::

Bush Upsets Some Supporters (washingtonpost.com)

Bush Upsets Some Supporters (washingtonpost.com)

In What's the Matter with Kansas Frank notes that the religious conservatives have been unsuccessful in getting their social agenda enacted (p. 101). Not much progress is made on abortion, even though they've been working on it since the 1980s. Frank seems to imply that the Republican Party in fact benefits from a never-ending, unwinnable, and largely symbolic culture war that continuously keeps the base stoked and feeling victimized. Meanwhile, tax cuts are passed and the welfare state is dismantled.

I'm just back from Boston, belly of the so-called liberal elite. I was in the Back Bay, where they have a cleverly designed indoor mall making it pretty much completely unecessary for a convention goer to ever step foot outside (which was good because it was -10 windchill and it snowed 2 inches). On the train home, I started What's the Matter with Kansas; I'm loving it. Great book. More on that soon.

Here's Barbara Boxer questioning Condoleeza Rice yesterday. I have to admit I love this. But as the NYT points out, it's mostly political theater.

Look at this:

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Calif.)
predicted yesterday that partisan warfare over Social Security will quickly
render President Bush's plan "a dead horse" and called on Congress to
undertake a broader review of the problems of an aging nation.

need fodder for ranting and raving about the SS issue?

A couple of informative articles from Sunday's liberal elite NY Times Magazine: (the links will only remain free for 5 or so more days).
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/16/magazine/16SOCIAL.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/16/magazine/16TAXES.html

Start practicing your leafleting technique

I'm thinking I'll be hangin' at 30th Street on Wednesday, and maybe Thursday too. Anyone else up for it? Below I've posted an e-mail I got from Phillytransit (which appears to have morphed into Pennsylvania Transit).

Pennsylvania Transit Coalition
22 S 22nd Street, 2nd Floor • Philadelphia, PA 19103 • (267) 295-2040 • info@phillytransit.com • www.patransit.com

What You Can Do to Save Public Transit

Distribute Leaflets
Join us to distribute leaflets about our cause at Center City Philadelphia train stations on Wednesday and Thursday, January 19 and 20 from 4:15 to 6:15. Contact us immediately if you would like to join that effort.

Leaflets for distribution at bus stops and other train stations will be available on-line and at select locations next week. Contact us if you would like to distribute them.

Become a Station Captain

We are looking for individuals who will be station captains. Your task will be to organize supporters at your train station or bus stop. During the week of January 24 to 28 we would like our supporters to come out early to their train station or bus stop, bring their cell phones, and asking people to call their state legislator then and there. Other transit activists can seek names and contact information for folks who would like to express support for and volunteer to help our campaign for public transit. Please contact us immediately if you would like to be a station captain or take part in this effort.

Rally in Harrisburg Monday, February 14, 2005
We will are planning a massive rally in Harrisburg. Free trains and buses will be available. More information about the rally will be available soon. In the meantime, save the date.

On Our Way
Over Sixty Organizations Support Pennsylvania Transit Coalition

On Wednesday we held a press conference successful beyond our wildest dreams. Over sixty community, labor, business, religious, and advocacy organizations joined us to announce the formation of the Pennsylvania Transit Coalition. (Here is our current list of supporters. More names are being added every day.) Many of these organizations have already been activated. They are reaching out to their members throughout the state, asking them to contact their state legislators. Many of these groups are also contributing money to make the efforts we describe below possible.
Thomas Paine Cronin Radio Appearance

Thomas Paine Cronin, President of AFSCME District Council 47, and co-chair of the Pennsylvania Transit Coalition will appear on Talking Unions with Wendell Young III on Saturday, January 15, from 10:00 am to Noon on WHAT 1340 am. Call in (267) 285-1340 to show your support for the PTC and dedicated funding for public transit.

Please forward this email to your friends and ask them to show their support for public transportation by signing up to received future emails at our website www.patransit.org

A Wide Variety of Protest Planned for Inauguration (washingtonpost.com)

A Wide Variety of Protest Planned for Inauguration (washingtonpost.com)

Where's Our Ken Starr?

The New York Times > AP > National > Senators Request Education Dept. Records

Counter Inauguration Activity

There's a Philadelphia March Against Bush on Jan 20th, and a call to Turn Your Back on Bush. A

Liberal Oasis is claiming that Bush is losing on Social Security because Republicans haven't come out to back him.

Lessons in Activism: be relentless. The Free Schuylkill River Park group continues to amaze me. Recently I got an email from them with a link to a video clip of a chlorine tank car going through Philadelphia; which they connected to the recent deadly accident in South Carolina. The video zooms in on part of the train that says "chlorine." They then connect this up with a letter to CSX asking them to reroute the cars around Philadelphia. I was almost starting to see my neighbors point-of-view on this issue, who claims CSX shouldn't have to take on the liability of installing grade crossings. A judge recently said otherwise.

There was a small hubbub in the library community the past few days about Jon Stewart's book being banned in a public library in Mississisppi. CNN covered it, and then the library board backed off.

If you want to go toe-to-toe with a Christian, check out this article from Christianity Today:

Scandalous behavior is rapidly destroying American Christianity. By their
daily activity, most "Christians" regularly commit treason. With their
mouths they claim that Jesus is Lord, but with their actions they
demonstrate allegiance to money, sex, and self-fulfillment.

Gonzales Fight not Over?

Every Monday Liberal Oasis gives the Sunday talk show break down. LO says today that Biden and Schumer are now on the fence on Gonzales and that we should e-mail them to give them a push in the right direction.

Seize this precarious moment. Contact the Dem members of the Judiciary Committee and tell them to vote no of Gonzales.

As Metaphysical Detective says, these people can't act without grassroots support, so send those e-mails! People for the American Way has a good letter to send.

Instructions on How to Post

In order to post to this Blog, members can just click on the e-blogger logo or go to www.blogger.com. Then, log in and click on the New Post button. Don't be shy, the more the merrier, and let a hundred flowers bloom.

Philly Democratic Meet-up

Philadelphia Democratic Party Meetup Group has an event tomorrow.
See who's coming and RSVP (it's not too late!):
http://democrat.meetup.com/8/events/3891304/
What: Philadelphia Democratic Party January Meetup
When: Tuesday, January 11 at 7:00PMWhere: Joe's Coffee Shop1100 Walnut Street
215-592-7384

Keep the Malcontent Rage Alive!

Let's keep our malcontent rage alive! I was glad to see that metaphysical detective is still among the raging and contributed a few new fresh comments (dead on target as usual). Let's not have our rage dissipated into throw-your-hands-up-in-the-air cynicism and wretched contentment. Hell no people! First we get informed, then we get enraged, then we post/comment to the blog, then we act! For getting informed, check out cursor.org and also this free Lexis-Nexis news site. There's so many good reasons to be enraged right now. If anyone else knows some good liberal blogs please post them. I wish we could have a little list of web sites on the side of this thing.

As for action, I'm working on my letter to the editor to the Philadelphia Inquirer about Social Security. They had an article on SS on Sunday so my plan is to respond to that. I'm going to try to connect how Bush invented a crisis for the war in Iraq and how we don't want social security to end up like Iraq. Something like that. Anyone else have any pithy suggestions?

On Alberto Gonzales, someone pointed out to me that we now are at the point where our Attorney General is promising not to torture.

Did anyone see this article in Slate on federalism for liberals?

New blood! We're adding new members from the coastal epicenters of liberal malcontentedness, NYC and SanFran. If you know any fired up liberals with time on their hands let me know and I'll send them an invite. Btw, you can now find the blog by Googling "liberal malcontents."

My copy of What's the Matter with Kansas should arrive today. I also picked up The One-Hour Activist : The 15 Most Powerful Actions You Can Take to Fight for the Issues and Candidates You Care About.

Was this lame or what?

From Reuters:
California Sen. Barbara Boxer and Ohio Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, formally lodged objections because of Ohio, although they said they recognized Bush had won and were not trying to overturn the results.

How lame was this? The Dems should have had a more coordinated effort to bring more attention to the election irregularities and throw some doubt on the legitimacy of the election. Bush's approval ratings are at the lowest point for any returning president. What are the Dems afraid of? Throwing doubt on the legitimacy of the election could in effect act like a scandal and hurt Bush's attempt to privatize Social Security.

How about the lamest of all:
Kerry did not endorse Boxer's bid to challenge the Ohio vote. Traveling overseas this week, Kerry released a statement on Wednesday noting that he had conceded to Bush but would continue to support "a close examination of voting irregularities in Ohio and elsewhere because it's critical to our democracy."

Wehner Memo

Talking Points has posted the full text of the Wehner Memo. The memo outlines the whitehouse strategy for pushing social security reform. It's an interesting read.

I am impressed by how they frame their overall goal of an "ownership society": "an Ownership Society -- one in which more people will own their health care plans and have the confidence of owning a piece of their retirement." This is a powerful, positive message. Who wouldn't want to own their healthcare plan? But clearly what they have in mind is a "payer society." And there are a lot of people looking to make a buck off of us payers.

Liberal responses to this message need to counteract the "ownership" frame with an emphasis on the paying aspect.

Letter to Editor on Social Security

Liberal Elite is right, the battle for Social Security is just beginning. Anyone want to turn it up a notch and send a letter to the editor about Social Security? Let's see who can get one in.

Worse than Ashcroft?

To do: e-mail Specter and Leahy about not confirming torture-happy Attorney General nominee Alberto Gonzales. The Nation provides a convenient way to do this.

Bush's social security plan looks to be in trouble. For a behind the scenes look at how this is happening, check out Liberal Oasis. LO refers to an article in the LA Times that mentions George Lakoff, who wrote a book called Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate--The Essential Guide for Progressives. Maybe we should put that one on the reading list.

Happy Tuesday

Hey fellow Liberal Malcontents!

I'm very excited that the Duke invited me to join this blog.

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about two things: co-opting the liberal elite moniker and constructive engagement with people on the right.

For the first, I'm sick of the right using the boogie man of liberal elite. So since they never define who they're talking about, I might as well define it for them. So from now on I'm telling everyone that I'm a card-carrying member of the liberal elite. I suggest you do the same. It's fun, cheap, and easy--kinda like me in highschool.

For the second, I Ioved that politics had become the new sports in the run-up to the election. It's nice to get out of the echo chamber and bounce ideas around. Thoughts?

Happy New Year!

With the new year, I felt I needed a new alias, so I am now calling myself "the Duke." Let's have a great new year filled with liberal activism and an active blog! The malcontent reading group will soon start reading "What's the Matter with Kansas." Stay tuned for more details. Did anyone get in any juicy political discussions/arguments with family over the holidays? My brother-in-law offered some bait, but I mainly laid low.