Reichert, Goose-stepping Toward Election Day

Reichert agrees with the birth provision of the state platform, though he said he realized that constitutional issues need to be addressed.

"I don't think we should have a system that says you automatically are a citizen if you are born here," he said. "There should be processes you go through in order to become a citizen of this country."

(Source)

Holy Cow! What country is Dave Reichert talking about? How many crazy-ass ultra right-wing voters does Dave think live in the 8th district?

...pollster Stuart Elway said the platform may require candidates to clearly distance themselves on this issue. An April telephone poll Elway did found that about two-thirds of Washington voters favored allowing illegal immigrants who have lived in the U.S. a number of years to apply for legal status leading to citizenship if they meet conditions, such as paying a fine and back taxes.

He said that in the poll, 65 percent of Republicans supported illegal immigrants applying for legal status.

Elway said the GOP platform was "clearly not in line with the majority of Washington voters."

"It's hard to see how it's going to help them," he said of the candidates seeking office. "In this state you have to pick up independents and a few members of the other party in order to win."

Elways polling doesn't seem to indicate there's any sentiment toward trashing the Constitution because of some stupid urban legend about parking-lot babies. If Reichert is playing to win with the racist vote, he's running in the wrong State.

Action Alert! Tell WUTC to investigate NSA Spying

If Washington (DC) won't protect our Rights, perhaps Washington (Our State) will. It's not quite investigating the NSA, but it would be an investigation of whether Washington State telecom's have been violating our privacy rights by turning over records to the fed's. The ACLU of WA has a webpage set up to send an email to the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission urging them to investigate.
Please - ACT NOW - the WUTC has an open meeting today (Wed. 5/31/06)

Published: Wednesday, May 31, 2006

NSA call requests may get a review

By Eric Fetters
Herald Writer

State telecommunications regulators will talk today about opening an investigation into whether Verizon and other companies illegally disclosed phone records or other customer information to the National Security Agency.

The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission is meeting in Olympia this morning to discuss the American Civil Liberties Union's request to consider the issue...

...In a May 23 letter to the utilities commission, the ACLU's statewide director said the commission should examine the actions of all companies providing telecommunications services within Washington.

"The seriousness of the allegations, the inconsistency of the telecommunications company statements and the varied reports all underscore the need for an independent review by the Utilities and Transportation Commission to uncover the truth," wrote the ACLU's Kathleen Taylor.

Representatives with the ACLU, Verizon and AT&T are expected to be at today's hearing, along with the Attorney General Office's Public Counsel Section, which advocates for consumers.

Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.

Give your comment Anyone who would like to register an opinion on whether the state should investigate alleged sharing of consumer telephone records with federal officials can comment on the Washington Utilities and Transportation CommissionÂ’s Web site at www.wutc.wa.gov/comment. Comments also can be sent by mail to the WUTC at P.O. Box 47250, Olympia, WA 98504.

(full article)

WA-GOP embraces Racism

United States Constitution
Amendment XIV

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

It would seem that for all their squawking about Strict Construction, when Republicans don't like the results the Constitution goes right out the window.

Tuesday, May 30, 2006
GOVERNMENT

GOP against immigration provision

ASSOCIATED PRESS

YAKIMA - The Washington state Republican Party has adopted a platform that would revoke the constitutional provision granting automatic citizenship to the U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants. ...

...The platform resolution was adopted Saturday with little debate and few dissenting votes. Delegates supporting it said their concerns included the cost to public hospitals and the expense of welfare for the children of indigent or deported illegal immigrants.

David Postman of the Seattle Times asked Republican Congressman Dave Reichart what he thought:

Congressman Dave Reichert told me yesterday that he is willing to consider a proposal that would end automatic citizenship for babies born here. "It makes sense to me. This is people taking advantage of the system," he said. Reichert said that he has heard stories of pregnant Mexican women "just moments before the baby is born crossing the border and having the baby in a parking lot ... then claiming they can't leave because their baby is a citizen."

State Attorney General Rob McKenna, a Republican, said denying citizenship to babies born in the United States would be unconstitutional. Reichert said that is something "for the lawyers" to hash out. ...
(link to article)

Soooo.... Reichart thinks if someone is "brown", being born in the United State might not be enough to make them a citizen. Is Reichart really willing to base National policy on 'stories he's heard' or has he signed onto The 'Southwestern Strategy', promoting racism thinly veiled behind talk of Border Security.

Taking the approach of stealth Racism is nothing new for the Republican Party.
Ronald Reagan delivered his first major campaign speech in Philadelphia, Mississippi, where three civil rights workers were murdered. He declared his support for "states' rights" - a code word for resistance to black advances clearly understood by white Southern voters.
George H.W. Bush used his "Willie Horton" ads.

WA-GOP Doesn't Like The Constitution!

So it's official, the Washington State Republicans don't like 'brown' people or the Constitution. The headline says "Tough stance" but clearly the Republicans are openly racist and just plain inhumane.

Tough stance on immigration

By Andrew Garber
Seattle Times staff reporter

YAKIMA — In an unexpected move, the state Republican Party on Saturday adopted a platform that states children of illegal immigrants should not be allowed to become United States citizens.

The platform, at least with respect to the children of illegal immigrants, goes further than measures currently under consideration in the Congress. The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution recognizes citizenship for all persons born in the United States. ...

...State Democratic Party Chairman Dwight Pelz said the GOP platform "is a punitive and inhumane response to the immigration issue America is confronting."

Pelz predicted it would be an "embarrassment" to Republican candidates. "Abraham Lincoln is turning over in his grave," Pelz said.

The state Republican Party's position on immigration goes in a different direction from a bill just passed by the U.S. Senate. That measure would let illegal immigrants who have been in the country five years or more to remain and eventually become legal permanent residents and citizens. But they'd have to pay fines and back taxes and learn English.

The Senate bill is considered by some as a bipartisan compromise to a House measure passed last year on a largely party-line vote. That bill had no provision to allow illegal immigrants to become citizens. It also made their illegal presence in the country a felony.

A recent poll by Seattle pollster Stuart Elway found that most Washington voters felt that illegal immigrants should be allowed to become citizens.

About 67 percent of Washington voters said immigrants who have lived here a number of years should be allowed to apply for legal status and eventually become citizens if they meet conditions such as paying a fine and back taxes. And 13 percent said illegal immigrants should be declared felons and not allowed to work. ...(full article)

GOP still playing the Race Card

"Yes, I Am Actually Calling Them Racist"
by Molly Ivins

Last week, Bush visited Yuma, Ariz., to tour a portion of the U.S.-Mexico border by Border Patrol buggy. Maybe Jorge was doing a little measuring for the $3.2-million-a-mile fence the Senate recently approved, which I guarantee will be really helpful.

Are they insane? As Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano observes, “Show me a 50-foot wall, and I’ll show you a 51-foot ladder.”

Meanwhile, Republicans in the Senate have constructively declared English the national language. That’ll fix everything. Every foreigner at our borders will stop and say: “Gosh, ma foi! English is the national language here. Good thing to know. I’ll begin speaking it immediately.”

Yes sir, you want a solution, call a Republican.

Of course, I am enchanted to discover that the entire project will be turned over to Raytheon, General Dynamics, and other military contractors—think Halliburton with noncompetitive bids, anyone? Because this outsourcing stuff is just working like a charm. Another Republican solution....

...By all means, reform immigration with this deep obeisance to the Republican right-wing nut faction and their open contempt for “foreigners.” But do not pretend for one minute that it is not a craven political bow to racism (yes, racism—I am actually calling them racists, although they pretend it hurts their feelings. Try reading their websites and see for yourself), and to nativism, to xenophobia and to Know-Nothingism. Just don’t forget what you are throwing away in the process.

Help Stop Illegal Surveillance

ACLU Launches Nationwide Action Against NSA Snooping on Americans’ Phone Calls

The ACLU is suing the National Security Agency for violating the U.S. Constitution. The illegal NSA spying program authorized by President Bush just after September 11, 2001, allows the NSA to intercept vast quantities of the international telephone and Internet communications of innocent Americans without court approval....

The FCC has the authority and the obligation to investigate the NSA spying scandal, despite their wrong-headed refusal to act. Add your name to the public record and support the formal demand.
Tell the FCC to Get the Spies Off the Line

The Republican Criminal State

When a government invokes 'state secrets' priviledge to thwart justice, it is a criminal regime.

Main Entry: police state
Function: noun
: a political unit characterized by repressive governmental control of political, economic, and social life usually by an arbitrary exercise of power by police and especially secret police in place of regular operation of administrative and judicial organs of the government according to publicly known legal procedures

For at least the fifth time in the past year, the Justice Department yesterday invoked the once rarely cited state secrets privilege to argue that a lawsuit alleging government wrongdoing should be dismissed without an airing, this time in the case of a German citizen seeking an apology and monetary compensation for having been wrongfully imprisoned by the CIA.

Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Joseph Sher said yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia that the government cannot confirm or deny the allegations made by Khaled al-Masri, who sources have said was held by the CIA for five months in Afghanistan. His allegations, Sher contended, "clearly involve clandestine activity abroad." Therefore, he said, "there is no way that the case can go forward without causing the damage to the national security."...

...The state secrets privilege was invoked about 55 times from 1954 to 2001, according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and in the first four years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, it was invoked 23 times. ... (full article)

US FCC chief says won't probe NSA call program

Tue May 23, 2006 1:52 PM ET
By Jeremy Pelofsky

WASHINGTON, May 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission will not pursue complaints about a spy agency's access to millions of telephone records because it cannot obtain classified material, the FCC's chairman said in a letter released on Tuesday. ...

..."The classified nature of the NSA's activities makes us unable to investigate the alleged violations," FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said in the May 22 letter...

...Martin, a Republican designated chairman last year, worked at the White House and for President George W. Bush's 2000 presidential campaign before joining the FCC in 2001 as a commissioner. ...(full article)

The Snooping Goes Beyond Phone Calls
How the government sidesteps the Privacy Act by purchasing commercial data

Furor and confusion over allegations that major phone companies have surrendered customer calling records to the National Security Agency continue to roil Washington. But if AT&T Inc. (T ) and possibly others have turned over records to the NSA, the phone giants represent only one of many commercial sources of personal data that the government seeks to "mine" for evidence of terrorist plots and other threats.

The Departments of Justice, State, and Homeland Security spend millions annually to buy commercial databases that track Americans' finances, phone numbers, and biographical information, according to a report last month by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress. Often, the agencies and their contractors don't ensure the data's accuracy, the GAO found.

Buying commercially collected data allows the government to dodge certain privacy rules. The Privacy Act of 1974 restricts how federal agencies may use such information and requires disclosure of what the government is doing with it. But the law applies only when the government is doing the data collecting.

The Justice Dept. alone, which includes the FBI, spent $19 million in fiscal 2005 to obtain commercially gathered names, addresses, phone numbers, and other data, according to the GAO. ...(full article)

coincidences.....

Is it a coincidences that where ever Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller torture blooms and flouishes???????

In August 2003, with American troops facing a growing insurgency in Iraq, and frustration rising over the failure to uncover “weapons of mass destruction” or to capture deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller,
who oversaw the interrogation efforts at the U.S. military base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, was sent to Iraq. In the words of Maj. Gen. Taguba, Gen. Miller’s task was to “review current Iraqi Theater ability to rapidly exploit internees for actionable intelligence.”131 As the Schlesinger report noted, Gen Miller brought with him the secretary of defense’s April 16th memo (the final of three memos) outlining Guantánamo interrogation techniques and presented it as a possible model for interrogations in Iraq.132 As Gen. Taguba highlighted and criticized in his report, Gen. Miller recommended that “the guard force be actively engaged in setting the conditions for successful exploitation of the internees.”133 full article

and where john negroponte goes death squads are the speciality......

.........John Negroponte was ambassador to Honduras from 1981-1985. As such he supported and carried out a US-sponsored policy of violations to human rights and international law. Among other things he supervised the creation of the El
Aguacate air base, where the US trained Nicaraguan Contras during the 1980's. The base was used as a secret detention and torture center, in August 2001 excavations at the base discovered the first of the corpses of the 185 people, including two Americans, who are thought to have been killed and buried at this base. full article

Now, NEWSWEEK has learned, the Pentagon is intensively debating an option that dates back to a still-secret strategy in the Reagan administration’s battle against the leftist guerrilla insurgency in El Salvador in the early 1980s. Then, faced with a losing war against Salvadoran rebels, the U.S. government
funded or supported "nationalist" forces that allegedly included so-called death squads directed to hunt down and kill rebel leaders and sympathizers. Eventually the insurgency was quelled, and many U.S. conservatives consider the policy to
have been a success—despite the deaths of innocent civilians and the subsequent Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages scandal. (Among the current administration officials who dealt with Central America back then is John Negroponte, who is
today the U.S. ambassador to Iraq. Under Reagan, he was ambassador to Honduras. full article

and this from Daily Kos.....

Did John Negroponte organize the Iraqi death squads?
by Eternal Hope
Sat Feb 18, 2006
at 05:07:19 PM PDT

Remember John Negroponte, the last US Ambassador to Iraq? He was the man who organized right-wing death squads within El Salvador to wipe out dissident groups there. Now, there are reports that death squads of a similar nature are working in Iraq, killing off Sunni dissidents and people not deemed
pure enough. I would not be surprised if this has Negroponte's handiwork, given his proven track record with this. A new blog, Iraqi Death Squads, is being set up to expose these death squads. This blog is being run by the same blogger who runs the site The Truth About Iraqis. full article

just thought these 2 sickos should be featured again cuz they are still slimmin' around........

Mark Wilson

Cindy Sheehan supports Mark Wilson for US Senate

Friday May19,2006
..........Cindy is happy to see a Veteran for Peace standing up for us all. Mark is also a member of Military Families Speak Out. And Mark IS speaking out!

Help put a Progressive in the 42nd LD Senate Seat

If you're down there in the Seattle area, clear your Sunday schedule; Jesse Salomon (a Dean Delegate to the 2004 Democratic National Convention) is having a fund raiser.

DFA-Link Event: Fund raiser for Jesse Salomon for State Senate (42 LD)

CAMPAIGN NOTEBOOK
Brandland challenger holds fundraiser in Seattle

JON GAMBRELL
THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

State Senate candidate Jesse Salomon, who questioned Sen. Dale BrandlandÂ’s aggressive corporate fundraising, will hold a Seattle gala to raise money for his campaign.
The event for Salomon, a Democrat running against the former Whatcom County sheriff, will be held at 5:30 p.m. Sunday at the Newmark Tower, 1415 Second Ave.

"The invitees to my fundraiser are personal friends and acquaintances from when I went to the University of Washington School of Law," he says.

Salomon said "big corporate donors" such as Anheuser-Busch and Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America - both have donated to BrandlandÂ’s campaign - will not be among those attending.

More information can be found at http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=8297.

If you can't make it to the fund raiser, you can donate to his campaign on-line.

Who have you been calling? Big Brother Knows

...The controversies involving the NSA are sure to complicate Senate confirmation hearings on Hayden's nomination as CIA director. Hayden may find himself fielding questions about whether the administration has reconstituted a heavily criticized massive data-collection effort known as Total Information Awareness that was once run by the Defense Department. It swept up billions of pieces of consumer and personal data and analyzed them in an attempt to detect patterns possibly linked to terrorism.

Following a public outcry over privacy concerns, the department said in 2003 it was dropping the program, which was an initiative of retired Navy Adm. John Poindexter, a central figure in the Reagan administration's Iran-contra scandal.

The existence of a second covert information-gathering program suggests the administration has reconstituted at least parts of the TIA program, said former Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., a former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

At least parts of the TIA program have been revived at NSA, according to a Feb. 23 report in the National Journal. Earlier in February, Intelligence Committee member Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., asked Hayden if several of the TIA programs had been shifted to other intelligence agencies.

"Senator, I'd like to answer you in closed session," Hayden replied.

(full article)

Supposedly John Poindexter has retired and the Total Information Awareness program has closed down, but... the Information Awareness Offices slogan is/was "Scienta est potentia," Latin for, "Knowledge is power" and that phrase pops up in the first paragraph on NSA's Signals Intelligentce webpage

The National Security Agency collects, processes and disseminates foreign Signals Intelligence (SIGINT). The old adage that "knowledge is power" has perhaps never been truer than when applied to today's threats against our nation and the role SIGINT plays in overcoming them. ...

Whatcom County Dems

Whatcom County Central Committee Meeting
Garden Street Family Center (Brigid Collins)
Wednesday, May 107:00 PM
We have invited Hong Tran, another recently announced opponent of Seantor Maria Cantwell in the primary. She will discuss her stance on the issues and then there will hopefully be time for questions and answers. If you would like to read more information about her prior to the meeting, please visit:http://www.hongtran.com
Let's have a good showing and display our welcoming Whatcom spirit to our guest!
Joan Ging

42nd Legislative district

The 42nd LD General Meeting will be held on
May 13th at 10AM,
at the Union Hall in Ferndale,
1064 Vista Dr. between 3rd and 4th St.
Questions? 360-758-7112

The program will be Listening Forum with County Councilmen Seth Fleetwood (2nd Dist.) and Carl Weimer (3rd Dist.). Bring your questions and concerns for Seth and Carl.
Refreshments and open discussion on Legislative Issues will follow the program.

Hope to see you there!

Eleanor

got this quote at the annual Eleanor Roosevelt dinner and loved it....and the dinner was big fun too....

"I once had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue: no good in bed, but fine up against the wall."
Eleanor Roosevelt

How Low Can He Go?

Bush approval rating hits new low
Updated 5/8/2006 1:42 PM ET

By Susan Page, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — President Bush's approval rating has slumped to 31% in a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, the lowest of his presidency and a warning sign for Republicans in the November elections.

The survey of 1,013 adults, taken Friday through Sunday, shows Bush's standing down by 3 percentage points in a single week. His disapproval rating also reached a record: 65%. The margin of error is +/- 3 percentage points.

"It is a challenging political environment," acknowledges Tracey Schmitt, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, "but we are confident that ultimately voters in November will recognize that a Democrat Congress would simply not be equipped to ensure either economic or national security for our nation."

Bush's fall is being fueled by erosion among support from conservatives and Republicans. In the poll, 52% of conservatives and 68% of Republicans approved of the job he is doing. Both are record lows among those groups.

Moderates gave him an approval rating of 28%, liberals of 7%. ...(full article)

Meet up in Ferndale

Well what a great time we had today talking and listening with Democratic Senate Candidate Mark Wilson!!!!

i loved Maria Cantwell's environmental votes and when she stood up to terrible ted. i still haven't gotten over her vote for cloture on alito. after her votes on trade, unpatriot act x2, the frigging war, negroponte, rice, and more, i just lost all faith. i have heard everything from: i will vote for the republican candidate(Thom Hartmann interview with Mark) to i'll never vote for Maria, to how dare you go against our incumbant candidate. i respect everyone's opinion. people who are paying attention are mostly a passionate bunch and these are very difficult times. i will support her if she is the Democratic candidate in the general election.

thankfully i have another option in the primary and a damn good one. i've heard Mark 3 times in person now and each time i am more impressed with him. he spoke directly to the issues that i am most concerned about. publically funded campaigns and publically owned vote, ending the war and war foreign policy, peak oil and the coming need to reorganize how we live, global warming, healthcare, veterans issues, ending the war on drugs and funding recovery for those afflicted ...and the list goes on.

the disasterous neocon ideology has been playing out since the 1980's and it's time to stand up. absolute power corrupts absolutely and the state of our nation is rotten to the core. the American people are good people and we are being criminally represented by the current one party rule. at least 50% of us have no voice and it's magnified when our Democrats vote with them, too!.

i want leaders who will stand up and tell the truth and vote for policies that put America in good standing in the world community and ensure those that come after us have a home.

Stephanie on the Lou...

if you have the high speed, grab a beverage and take a few minutes to enjoy Stephanie Miller on the Lou....here

From the Wilderness.....

very interesting....with comment by Michael Ruppert

Launching of Iran's Oil Stock Exchange inMayEstablishment of Oil Stock Exchange in its final stage
Irib NewsTehran, Iran
Sunday, April 30, 2006

Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh said on Wednesday that the establishment of Oil Stock Exchange is in its final stage and the bourse will be launched in Iran in the next week.
He told reporters, upon arrival from Qatar where he
attended the 10th General Assembly of International Energy Agency and consultations with OPEC member states, that registration of the Oil Stock Exchange is underway and the entity will operate after being approved by the Council of Stock Exchange.
He rejected a statement attributed to him saying that Oil Stock Exchange will bring to the ground the US economy and said, "I don't know who has speculated that I've not talked about US economy." Asked about conference on energy in Doha, he said that more than 60 countries and 30 oil companies and consultants took part in the conference........full article

Meetup in Ferndale

Meet with Mark Wilson May 7th 12-2 at Pioneer Park ferndale May Meetup
Upcoming Events › Meet with Mark Wilson May 7th 12-2 at Pioneer Park ferndale May Meetup
When:
Sunday, May 7, 2006, 12:00 PM
Where:
Pioneer Park
2004 cherry st Ferndale , WA 98248
Map/Directions
Description:
Come to an old fashioned Sunday afternoon social. Meet-talk -listen to Mark Wilson, candidate for the US Senate democratic primary. Hear his life story as a veteran, fisherman, businessman, and political advocate for you! The two questions you may want to ask yourself are “Is this the person you would want to send to Washington D.C. to help fix things?” and “When was the last time Maria Cantwell came to Ferndale to meet you?” The results of Bush foreign, economic, and social policies have been tragic for the people of Washington State. The grassroots absolutely must be completely engaged to defeat the Republican opponent. Now you have a real choice. I want to go to Washington, D.C. on your behalf to:
Achieve an immediate orderly end to the occupation of Iraq.
National Health Insurance for all Americans (As enjoyed by Congress.).
Stop the outsourcing of American Jobs and build the economy of the U.S.A.
Public Financing of political Campaigns (Eliminate the Jack Abramoff style of bribery, which has been going on in Washington for years!).
Promote the Interest of the American people (Not do the bidding of the international corporations.). Mark Wilson
Free! Come as you are.

Riverbend...

Riverbend's latest post paints a very bleak picture for our troops in Iraq if bush is stupid enough to attack Iran.......looks like the bull-eyes on their backs will suddenly get larger....

..........The big question is- what will the US do about Iran? There are
the hints of the possibility of bombings, etc. While I hate the Iranian
government, the people don’t deserve the chaos and damage of air strikes and
war. I don’t really worry about that though, because if you live in Iraq- you
know America’s hands are tied. Just as soon as Washington makes a move against
Tehran, American troops inside Iraq will come under attack. It’s that simple-
Washington has big guns and planes… But Iran has 150,000 American
hostages.
full post