Thursday - Do Something

Barack Obama responds to John McCain's "I have a message for you" comment.

...the war goes on ...and we continue to get the bill.

free Gov. Siegelman

hilarius post over at Think Progress.......

Rove confronted with ‘Free Don Siegelman’ banner.
Yesterday, blogger Alan Bleshauer met Karl Rove before Rove was set to give a speech in Los Angeles. During the encounter, Bleshauer unrolled a banner reading “Free Don Siegelman” which Rove reluctantly agreed to hold. Watch it:

full post

previous post here

bring in the grown-ups.......

i would hope the Senator Clinton would reevaluate the advise she is getting or, if this is her idea, shame on her. i do not like being mocked by someone who, if nominated, will be asking me to work hard to get her elected. and then there are all those fine Americans who have been awakened to their civic duty by Senator Obama. how will they feel about her candidacy after being mocked?????.... i want the president of the United States to model the best behavior, not this adolescent, borderline bully behavior. Stop it, Hillary!!!

free Gov. Siegelman....

watch 60 minutes video ........


great chance for people in Alabama to watch as it apparently got blacked out there.......
encourage CBS to continue to follow this story here

ATTENTION: CONGRESS special prosecutor NOW

send encouragement to Gov. Siegleman:

Don Siegelman
Inmate 24775-001
FPC P.O. Box 5010
Oakdale, LA 71463

previous post with good video and links

The Not So Maverick

John McCain has spent many years cultivating his image as the maverick who isn't influenced by lobbyist. But behind the image there's a very different McCain with a different set of friends.

John McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign, and yet he said
"I'm the only one the special interests don't give any money to."

Sign
the petition demanding McCain return the millions of dollars raised by
lobbyists.

http://therealmccain.cm/friends.php

free Gov Siegleman

just heard on Thom Hartmann that 60 minutes will air the Gov. Siegleman story next sunday.....check it out on their announce page

previous post with good video

Recommended Reading

If you feel like something's fundamentally wrong with the economy but you can't quite put your finger on what it is, then you should read this article at ourfuture.org by Terrance Heath:

The Society of the Owned
By Terrance Heath
February 19th, 2008 - 10:30am ET

Part One of a series.

When George W. Bush first spoke of "the ownership society," he led most Americans to believe, and many did believe, that he was talking about them. Now, four years later, it's easy to conclude that the president, his party and conservatism itself has failed to deliver the ownership society.

But the very crises now being described and decried in both the new media and the old can actually be taken as signs of conservatism's success, depending on one thing: identifying who really belongs to the ownership society. Because conservatism, depending on how you look at it, has successfully built the ownership society—albeit a very small, narrowly defined one—and strengthened it by building or expanding its essential support: the society of the owned.

The term "owned" has its origins in the realms of hacking and gaming, but I'm only partly borrowing the slang definitions—"To dominate another person or thing so completely as to humiliate them" and "To be made a fool of; To make a fool of"—here.

As the grandson of sharecroppers, I grew up hearing stories about how the system of sharecropping worked. Farmers worked all season, buying the goods they needed—food and clothing for their families—from the plantation owner, on credit and at high interest. By harvest, they always ended up owing more than their yield was worth, often due to various adjustments by the plantation owner. The bottom line was, as long as they were in debt they couldn't leave. And the system all but assured they never got out of debt. Sharecropping was post-slavery, so they weren't literally owned; just nearly so. Sharecropping itself died with the the advent of farm machinery, but there's a lot going on in America today that looks an awful lot like it. ...(Read the rest)

Obama wins & Wins

Here in Washington State, the results of Sec. o' State Sam (R)eeds Taxpayer funded Presidential Candidate Popularity Poll are coming in:
Barack Obama - 50%
Hillary Clinton - 47%
54% of precincts reporting

- And in a contest that will actually send delegates to the Democratic Party's National Nominating Convention:

Obama Wins Wis. for 9th Straight Triumph

By DAVID ESPO
AP Special Correspondent

...With the votes counted in more than 80 percent of Wisconsin's precincts, Obama was winning 58 percent of the vote to 41 percent for Clinton.

Wisconsin offered 74 national convention delegates. There were 20 delegates at stake in Hawaii, where Obama spent much of his youth.

The Illinois senator's Wisconsin victory left him with 1,303 delegates in The Associated Press' count, compared with 1,233 for Clinton, a margin that masks his 145-delegate lead among those picked in primaries or caucuses. It takes 2,025 to win the nomination at the party's national convention in Denver. ...(full article)

Dear Democrats...........

The caucus and events surrounding it have driven me to speak out in the hope we really can save our Democracy..........

Dear Democrats,
The corporatists have been very successful selling a spectator democracy to us. Moving to the primary to send delegates on to the national convention, in an open primary state, will seal the deal in Washington State.

Our party should not consider using the primary until we publically declare parties. Even then I don't quite get how that would work. The nominees are the choices on the ballot. Who are the delegates? Hmmm....anyway......if anyone thinks we could move to other than the open primary, after the fact, doesn't understand how indoctrinated a fairly large portion of our society is. My parents are trained to hiss and growl if anyone dares suggest they have to declare a party. This crosses party lines. The marketing in this area has been a huge success.

The primary came to Washington in an initiative delivered to the legislature in 1988 by the very party elite everybody says they're against. It passed in the legislature in 1989. As we are a membership of voluntary association, supported by our donations, a large part of the grassroot work done by some amazing volunteers, we retain the right to decide how we advance candidates to nomination. We want our party to insist on represention by representatives who also believe in a society where all boats are raised.

If the corporatists prevail and we give up our caucus for the primary in this open primary state we will never get it back. In spite of the large price tag of $9,700,000 to the taxpayer, their marketing appears to be working well.

Me...........I want to press the flesh and look eyeball to eyeball with my neighbors. I want to keep our democracy. I want to build our neighborhoods and communities. I want a world that is safe, secure and prosperous for all inhabitants of earth. I pledge to work to make our caucus better than ever in 2 years. Let's make our platform the best ever. And every 2 years we can make it great. I want a participatory democracy in real good working order to pass on to those who come after. We have got a lot of work to do and we all need to roll up our sleeves!!!!! I believe we can!!!!!

WA02 - Rick Larsen May Have Friendly(?) Rival

Seattle-Times Chief political reporter David Postman has the news that Rick Larsen may get a Republican opponent after all.

MOUNT VERNON -- Former Snohomish County Sheriff Rick Bart is close to announcing he’ll run for Congress against Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Lake Stevens. Bart appeared last night at the Skagit Valley Republican Party’s Lincoln Day Dinner. He said in his brief remarks:

There needs to be a new sheriff in Congress, and it’s going to be me.

Bart told me he hasn’t made his final decision, but said, “We’ll give it a shot, more than likely.” He’s been talking to people in the 2nd Congressional District and checking to see what the money situation is. Raising campaign funds, he said, looks to be “very, very, very tough.”

In the '06 race, Larsens opponent Doug Roulstone(R) got his campaign seed money from dozens of Republican Congressmen and fundraising help from the Bush Administration but wasn't getting help this cycle and recently dropped out of the race. With a couple dozen Republican Congressmen having already announced their 'retirement', of course it's going to be tough to raising money to run against a Democratic Congressman who, in '06, strolled to re-election with two out of three votes.

Dave Postman reports that Dave Reichert (R) is "Among those urging him to run" and that Reichert calls Bart weekly; Bart says "He’s begging me to run and I keep asking him why and he says he’s lonely."

You've really got to wonder if Rick Bart is going to run to win or run to give some cover to beleaguered Republican Congressman Dave Reichert (WA08).

Democrat Darcy Burner is running against Reichert and Reichert is running scared.

Dave Reichert should be afraid, very afraid. Darcy is a great progressive candidate and she has Howard Dean and the DNC's 50-State Strategy backing her up.

Jim Hightower Lowdown

Cowboy George, Horse Thief

More at www.hightowerlowdown.org! We've learned the hard way over the past seven years that George W lives in his own fantasy world--a place in which reality is whatever he wants it to be, facts notwithstanding.

Tim Eyman Not Filing PDC Reports

Eyman Running Initiative Campaign without Filing Required Reports with Public Disclosure Commission

Tim Eyman and friends are once again in violation of Washington State's Public Disclosure laws. This morning MajorityRulesBlog filed an official compliant with the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission regarding the lack of filing of campaign contributiuon and expenditure reports for Initiative 985.

In a phone call this morning I confirmed with the PDC that there was no error on their part - no reports have been received by them from Eyman besides a C1pc on initial formation of a committee entitled Reduce Congestion.org on January 3, 2008. ReduceCongestion.org has not updated this report with any additional information or reported any contributions or expenditures as of today, Feb 14, 2008. The deadline for filing Jan reports is Feb 10, 2008.

Yet they have sent mailings to people soliciting money, have a website up asking for money on behalf of ReduceCongestion.org which they secured on Dec. 18, 2007 , and are sending out e-mail asking for money. ...(more from Majority Rules Blog )

Tim Eyman is breaking the law and abusing the initiative process... again. He and his business partners should be held to the same standards as anyone else who runs a political campaign in the state of Washington.

Just today the Bellingham Herald ran an editorial complaining about House Bill 2601, which would regulate the work of paid signature-gatherers, requiring them to provide their name, home address and other information. And all signature gatherers, paid or not, would have to sign the petitions they turn in. In their editorial they turned to Eyman for an argument against the Bill: "But we think Eyman is right when he argues that it seems absurd that signature gatherers will have to register with the government to exercise what is considered a basic civic right by our state’s constitution."

It's pretty pathetic when a guy like Eyman who thinks he's above the law is looked to as an authority on what is and isn't a "basic civil right" ---

Tim Eyman has turned filing initiatives into a personal business in which he is extravagantly compensated for championing millionaires personal agenda's. Eyman knows what the reporting requirements are and should be held strictly to account for ignoring the Public Disclosure Laws.

Caucus 2008 ...debrief

Whew!! What an amazing week....I helped make it happen in my little corner of the world. I worked along side amazing dedicated Democrats who volunteered untold hours and put sites together all over Whatcom County. (attendance was up 278%. 3477 in 2004, 9674 in 2008)They trained all of us volunteers to manage our sites (mine had 13 out of the 119 precincts) and run our precinct caucuses. And thanks to the generous donations of great Democrats who suited up and showed up and said “I'll help cover caucus costs”, I had a daunting task ahead as the party treasurer. On Monday morning 3 enthusiastic Obama supporters showed up ready to pitch in. Wow!! They assured this ole gal “no big deal.” It's a big deal to me cuz I get to enjoy the garden as spring approaches and everybody likes me better when I get to do that.

I will even be able to handle the calls that continue to trickle in at our office. Most are the disgruntled or lonely or both. We have been receiving the blame for what I believe belongs at the Secretary of State's office. There is so much confusion(no accident in my opinion) about the primary and the caucus. The Democrats in the state of Washington have always used the caucus to select our delegates to move to the presidential nominating convention. The primary came about as an initiative to the legislature in 1988 and passed in 1989. The Democratic party, a voluntary association, makes the decision how we choose our delegates. It is not an election! (The election happens in November.) Democrats from all over the state met this spring and again chose the caucus. This is the only thing that makes sense for us because we are an open primary state and do not publicly record our party. We would have no way of knowing if Democrats were the ones selecting our nominee to the general election if the primary was used.

Two similar calls I received had very different conclusions. Both times I spent a fair amount of time explaining the situation and how common it was for us to be confused. One ended with woman klucking at me repeatedly and saying “wait till I tell my husband.” Another woman finally said “well I guess I'm going to have to just come down there and see if there's something I can do.”

It is my opinion we need to end this spectator democracy and take our democracy back and the caucus moves us in that direction. We can make it better. And we can build the community necessary for our children and grandchildren's future. Yes we can!!!

and I just recieved permission to post this from a hard working Barack Obama supporter......

Dear everyone:

I completely understand why many of you prefer a primary and your frustration with the current system. If you think I'm being facetious, imagine me being the site leader and chair of my precinct of 198 people in a building designed for 65.

I won't deny that there are advantages to a primary. More people can vote, more time is allotted to accommodate schedules and mail-in ballots are an option for everyone rather than just some.

Now please humor me while I talk about why I love caucuses. While the conservatives talk of the demise of the family, it is the demise of the community that is the real concern. Most of us don't know our neighbors and are far too busy (and too isolated by computers and televisions) to take the time to know one another.

The caucus is above all a chance to gather with local folks. It encourages us, not just to talk about candidates, but to talk about ISSUES, something rarely mentioned in the press. When we attend caucuses, we can bring a resolution about any damn thing we want. These resolutions form our county, then state, then national platform. You have a chance to create the political party you want it to be.

This opportunity, time consuming as it is, happens ONCE every four years. Ask yourself, is two hours every four years really too much time to get a chance to know who shares your neighborhood?

On to delegates. You already know that every state sends delegates to the national convention, and those folks decide the party's candidate.

In a primary, you are still choosing delegates, not voting for president. However,you're looking at a set of names of folks you've never heard of before. Who will really represent your candidate? Who is only out for their own advancement? Who is undecided? You have no way of knowing.

Not only that, but who gets on that ballot? Activists like me, folks. And I tend to believe that activists like me shouldn't be the only ones getting to go to the national convention.

In Washington State, we have an affirmative action goal for our national delegates. We read this at every caucus and encourage people to choose folks who represent diversity. Yesterday my precinct chose folks who were Black, Asian, Pacific Islander and recent immigrants. But the most moving story was a new friend of mine who shyly stood up, introduced himself, and announced that he is transgendered.

I could tell he had never spoken these words out loud to a mixed group of people. I hugged him afterwards as did others. He was one of the first delegates chosen.

And when it was all over, folks looked around, smiled, and asked how we could keep in touch with each other. That plus this wonderful moment of coming out made the entire lengthy, sweaty process more worthwhile than any damn ballot I've ever completed.

Stephanie Kountouros

Whatcom for Obama

Caucuses - Some Don't Love 'em

Hillary Clinton had some disappointing things to say about the grassroots of the Democratic Party.

... "These are caucus states by and large, or in the case of Louisiana, you know, a very strong and very proud African-American electorate, which I totally respect and understand."

Clinton has publicly dismissed the caucus voting system since before Super Tuesday, seeking to lower expectations heading into a series of contests that played to Obama's advantage. His campaign features what many consider to be a stronger and more dedicated grassroots organization than Clinton's.

Noting that "my husband never did well in caucus states either," Clinton argued that caucuses are "primarily dominated by activists" and that "they don't represent the electorate, we know that." ... (CNN - Clinton dismisses weekend losses )

Spoken like a true triangulator. I suppose she's just trying to spin her losses, but her comments aren't doing anything to undo her image as queen of the DLC (the corporatist wing of the Democratic Party).

Until yesterday I was all set to get out and work for which ever candidate got the nomination. Now that Hillary has insulted all us "activists", if she does become the Democratic Presidential candidate, I'll certainly make a point of reminding her supporters that they need to get out and campaign extra hard for their candidate.

In other local news:

Representative Rick Larsen (D) has spoken, to politics reporter Sam Taylor, about his stance as a superdelegate to the Democratic National Convention; Update on Larsen's pick: There isn't one

In more entertaining news:

WA state Democratic Party Chair Dwight Pelz has offered to help Republican state Chairman Luke Esser with his caucus vote counting problems.

From: Dwight Pelz Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 3:45 PM
To: Luke Esser
Subject: Dean is available

I can get Dean Logan in on short notice.

Esser's problem, if you haven't heard, is that Huckabee wants a recount of Republican caucus votes and that's going to be tough because the WA state Republican caucus was a sham. Maybe those Rossi '04 supporters can find a new use for their "ReVote" signs.

Whatcom County Democratic Caucus - A Big Deal!

Yesterday was the WA State Democratic Party Precinct Caucuses. I spent the afternoon (noon - 4PM) at our local (Ferndale) Caucus. I then spent the rest of the afternoon at the Whatcom Democrats office, helping with the tallying and paperwork needed to compile all the information from the precinct caucuses and report it to the State Party.

Those results were: Clinton 23.5%, Obama 74.58%.

I was hearing enthusiastic anecdotes about the large turn-out at every Democratic precinct caucus in the County. But I had no idea just what a big deal the turn-out was until this afternoon when the final attendance count was added up.

The total number of Democrats who went to caucus in Whatcom county on Feb. 9 was 9674. What makes that a big, big deal becomes apparent when you compare it to the number of voters who choose a Democratic ballot in the 2006 primary (all mail-in voting). It works out that 48.6% of those who mailed in a Democratic primary ballot in '06 made the effort to show up in person at a precinct caucus this year. Wow!

(UPDATE) The 2008 Democratic precinct caucus attendance in Whatcom county was nearly three times larger than for the 2004 Presidential precinct caucuses. Double Wow and Zowie!

Ferndale's Democratic Caucus

Democrats from precincts in and around Ferndale held their caucuses at the Horizon Middle School.

Four years ago at our Presidential caucus we felt the turnout of nearly two hundred was quite good. This time our turnout was phenomenal; over five hundred!

People began arriving before noon; happy, enthusiastic people. It was a little frantic at time but things went off without any major hitches.

The results for the Ferndale area were pretty much like the rest of Whatcom County: Clinton 23.5%, Obama 74.58%.

Obama supporters were elated and Clinton supporters were disappointed but not disillusioned.

Wexler wants help.....

attention: congress

still no Washington signatures.....

New members of Congress added to letter to Chairman Conyers Congressman Wexler urges support for Cheney Impeachment Hearings

The following members of Congress have joined as signatories to my letter to Chairman Conyers in support of Cheney Impeachment Hearings:
(*= member of the Judiciary Committee)
Baldwin, Tammy, WI, 2nd *
Capuano, Michael E., MA, 8th
Clarke, Yvette D., NY, 11th
Clay, Wm. Lacy, MO, 1st
Cohen, Steve, TN, 9th *
Farr, Sam, CA, 17th
Grijalva, Raúl M., AZ, 7th
Gutierrez, Luis V., IL, 4th *
Kucinich, Dennis J., OH, 10th
Lee, Barbara, CA, 9th
Moore, Gwen, WI, 4th
Moran, James P., VA, 8th
Thompson, Mike, CA, 1st
Towns, Edolphus, NY, 10th
Woolsey, Lynn, CA, 6th
Wexler, Robert, FL, 19th *
Wynn, Albert Russell, MD, 4th

January 16, 2008

Dear Judiciary Colleague:
Over the recess, I began collecting signatures online from citizens across the country in support of beginning impeachment hearings pertaining to Vice President Cheney. I was shocked by the overwhelming response. In just a few weeks, I have received almost 200,000 signatures. What I have learned is that Congress is way behind the American people on this issue. According to a November 13 poll by the American Research Group, nearly three-quarters of Americans believe that the Vice President has abused his power in office, and almost half believe he should be removed from
office immediately. Now I am asking you to join me in supporting hearings by signing the attached letter to Chairman Conyers.

As I said in my op-ed with Representatives Luis Gutierrez and Tammy Baldwin in the Philadelphia Enquirer (attached), the issues at hand are too serious to ignore, including credible allegations of abuse of power that if proven may well constitute high crimes and misdemeanors as provided in our constitution. You do not have to believe that the case has already been made to support hearings. One of the important functions of hearings would be to put all the evidence on the table and let the facts determine where to go from there.

Chairman Conyers has been a leader in holding this Administration to account for its consistent pattern of ignoring the balance of powers set out by our Founding Fathers and baselessly asserting that it is above the law. I hope that you will sign the attached letter to Chairman Conyers asking that now he join us in support of impeachment hearings as well.

Sincerely,
Robert Wexler

sign up to support

Obama Gets BIG Washington Endorsements

Governor Gregiore has endorsed Barak Obama and so have four (count 'em... four) Bellingham Mayors.

Present and past Bellingham Mayors endorsing Obama:
Dan Pike, 2007 to present
Mark Asmundson (1996-2006)
Tim Douglas (1984-1996; 2006-2007)
Ken Hertz (1976-1984)

Don't forget... Saturday is Caucus Day

Less Jobs. More Wars.

BraveNewFilms needs help to continue making these great videos. Help them Continue.

Democratic Presidential Precinct Caucuses - Saturday

If you're a Democrat or feel kinda like a Democrat or just don't like the Republicans anymore, Saturday is your chance to help decide who the Democratic Partys Presidential candidate will be.

Find out where your precinct caucus is - Whatcom County Democrats - 2008 Caucus Locations or at the WA State Democratic Party Caucus Information Center

After Super Tuesday the race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is close! At the Washington State Caucus on February 9th you will have a huge role in deciding the next president, we checked out some of the Super Tuesday parties to see how people feel about the race.

What's Bellingham radio got that Seattle radio doesn't?

Michael Hood at BlatherWatch has written an enlightening and very nice piece about Joe Teehan, his wife Laurie and Whatcom County's new Progressive Talk radio station (930AM):
Tale of two joes: bellingham gets live & local & liberal!

Stepford Republicans by Jeff Cohen

here's some amazing video and theory about what happens to humans with a lust for power.....it is a mystery how humans can behave so badly.....i keep thinking..."they have children and grandchildren......i don't get it." John McCain's 8 yr old daughter is trashed in 2000 by the bush/rove machine and he can't hug on bush enough now...????

i'm gonna go with Jeff's abduction theory and they are dangerous.... here we go into a big presidental election......alls i can say is "brace yourself effie."

Stepford Republicans: All Caught on Tape!

by Jeff Cohen

"TheStepford Wives" tells the chilling story of once smart, independent women who get abducted and turned into tamed, mindless robots. I have a theory about a similarly subversive process that turns grown men once capable of independent and reasoned thought into robotic extremists. Call them Stepford Republicans. The nefarious transformation always occurs before the individual gets close to becoming a Republican president or vice president.
Stepford Wives become robotically subservient only to their husbands; they pose no threat to the rest of us. But Stepford Republicans become subservient to right-wing forces of corporatism, war and prejudice. Once converted into mindless ideologues, Stepford Republicans are a threat to us all.
article and great video

Deficit Dino

It seems the luster has just gone from Dino Rossi's one claim to fame, a budget deal he struck during his one and only term as a state senator.

Rossi's campaign has been yammering about a six year projection that sez Governor Gregoire's 2007 would lead to a $2.5 billion deficit in 2013. The trouble with Rossi's finger-point about budgets is that when the same six year projection is applied to the 2003 budget he claims as his own, it shows that HIS deficit will be $5 billion!

Josh Feit at Slog has the ugly details.

So... with a Rossi budget that has a 'projected' deficit double Gregoires, should we start calling him Deficit Dino? Or maybe instead of 'Dino Rossi (R)' we should all be writing 'Dino Rossi (har har har)'.

Progressive Radio On Air in Bellingham

With little fanfare Cascade Radio Group, owners of Bellingham radio stations KAFE KISM, KGMI, KPUG & KBAI, has switched the format of KBAI 930AM to Progressive Talk. There was an article in yesterdays B'ham Herald and today it's on the air...

Progessive radio station debuts in Bellingham
A new radio station is on the air in Bellingham. A-M 930 has changed its format from "good time oldies" to "progressive talk." The lineup includes Thom Hartman, Stephanie Miller, Randi Rhodes, Ed Schultz, Rachel Maddow and Alan Colmes. Local Progressive Talk show host Joe Teehan will simulcast his 6 p-m show on both KGMI and the new AM 930. (source: KGMI Local News)

For those with technical curiosity:

KBAI-AM Technical Info:
Status - Licensed Class B AM Station
Area of Coverage View Daytime Coverage Map, View Nighttime Coverage Map

Hours of Operation - Unlimited
Antenna Mode - Directional - Nighttime Only
Daytime Transmitter Power - 1000 Watts
Nighttime Transmitter Power - 500 Watts
License Granted - August 10 2006
License Expires - February 01 2014