Harry Taylor, American Hero

Here's how the AP is reporting it:

It was a moment brought to you by the First Amendment.

Minutes after finishing a face-to-face verbal assault on President Bush, Harry Taylor was talking about the experience with reporters who covered the president's visit Thursday to Charlotte.

Speaking from the balcony of a theater at Central Piedmont Community College, the 61-year-old commercial real estate broker had laced into Bush for his conduct of the war on terror, his environmental record and his opposition to legalized abortion.

"In my lifetime, I have never felt more ashamed of my leadership in Washington," Taylor told the president. "And I would hope from time to time that you have the humility and grace to be ashamed of yourself."

Of course, he was booed by the "patriotic" Bush supporters in the crowd. The White House has a transcript of the event here. Here's the exchange from the transcript:

Q You never stop talking about freedom, and I appreciate that. But while I listen to you talk about freedom, I see you assert your right to tap my telephone, to arrest me and hold me without charges, to try to preclude me from breathing clean air and drinking clean water and eating safe food. If I were a woman, you'd like to restrict my opportunity to make a choice and decision about whether I can abort a pregnancy on my own behalf. You are --

THE PRESIDENT: I'm not your favorite guy. Go ahead. (Laughter and applause.) Go on, what's your question?

Q Okay, I don't have a question. What I wanted to say to you is that I -- in my lifetime, I have never felt more ashamed of, nor more frightened by my leadership in Washington, including the presidency, by the Senate, and --

AUDIENCE MEMBERS: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: No, wait a sec -- let him speak.

Q And I would hope -- I feel like despite your rhetoric, that compassion and common sense have been left far behind during your administration, and I would hope from time to time that you have the humility and the grace to be ashamed of yourself inside yourself. And I also want to say I really appreciate the courtesy of allowing me to speak what I'm saying to you right now. That is part of what this country is about.

THE PRESIDENT: It is, yes. (Applause.)

Q And I know that this doesn't come welcome to most of the people in this room, but I do appreciate that.

THE PRESIDENT: Appreciate --

Q I don't have a question, but I just wanted to make that comment to you.

What followed was the usual BS about how his "terrorist surveillance program" is really Constitutional. It was complete bullshit, of course. No one outside of Wingnuttia believes that.

Taylor said he was surprised to be given a ticket to one of Bush's "open" events (note to the undereducated: my use of the quotation marks around that word indicates that I am using it ironically. Same thing happened above when I did the same thing to the word "patriotic."). Good thing the current regime has more respect for the 1st Amendment than the 4th.

In any event, it was a great Norman Rockwell moment (and I am certainly not the first one to notice the similarity). Here take a look:



A few thoughts: I wonder how long it'll take the wingnuts to swiftboat this guy. One blogger got it right:

Well, one thing is for certain, Harry Taylor is not a member of the establishment media.

Let's see, in one week Tom Delay abdicates, The Plame scandal touches the Oval Office and George Bush get's pwned in North Carolina. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Here's the video.

No wonder Bush couldn't find the Plame leaker -- it was him! (And, we know that Bush couldn't find his own ass with both hands.)

Now he has to fire himself, right? Just like he promised.

From the The New York Sun:

Bush Authorized Leak to Times, Libby Told Grand Jury
New York Sun Web Exclusive

By JOSH GERSTEIN - Staff Reporter of the Sun
April 6, 2006

A former White House aide under indictment for obstructing a leak probe, I. Lewis Libby, testified to a grand jury that he gave information from a closely-guarded "National Intelligence Estimate" on Iraq to a New York Times reporter in 2003 with the specific permission of President Bush, according to a new court filing from the special prosecutor in the case.

"Nothing worse than a woman know-it-all"

The above quote is by Tom DeLay referring to Hillary Clinton. Worse still, he made the comment to MSNBC's Chris Matthews who didn't exactly chime in to disagree. The entire conversation is gag-worthy with Matthews fawning all over the disgraced DeLay (though Matthews gag reflex appears to have been surgically removed -- all the better for his line of work).

Read the full story at firedoglake.

Found video of the off-camera remarks at The Huffington Post.

DeLay's "Selfless" Act

From the Washington Post (via Josh Marshall):

DeLay was determined to hang on to his seat at least through the primary, said Carl Forti, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. That was because he considered his three Republican challengers gadflies and traitors and he was determined to try to block them from succeeding him.

[snip]

An additional impetus for putting off the resignation until now was suggested by
John Feehery, a former aide to DeLay and House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). "He needed to raise money for the defense fund. That was the bottom line,"
Feehery said. "He wanted to make sure he could take care of himself in the court of law." Under federal campaign rules, any reelection money a lawmaker raises can be used to pay legal fees stemming from official duties.

So if I have this correctly, not only did DeLay fool people into donating to his defense fund, he denied the Republican voters in his district the chance to choose their own candidate as the GOP candidate will now by selected by the party chairs.

What a prick.

Al Franken Spanks Ann Coulter!

I guess there was some sort of debate between the two recently. Franken's posted his opening statement here. One of the many things I found interesting was this little deconstruction of one of Coulter's many lies. I quote:

And she has developed her own techniques for misleading, by leaving out important facts. Let me give you an example of Ann lying by omission.

Also in her book Slander, Ann tells her readers that Al Gore had a leg up on George W. Bush when applying to their respective colleges. Harvard and Yale. Ann writes:

“Oddly, it was Bush who was routinely accused of having sailed through life on his father’s name. But the truth was the reverse. The media was manipulating the fact that – many years later – Bush’s father became president. When Bush was admitted to Yale, his father was a little-known congressman on the verge of losing his first Senate race. His father was a Yale alumnus, but so were a lot of other boys’ parents. It was Gore, not Bush, who had a famous father likely to impress college admissions committees.”

What does Ann omit? Well, that Bush’s grandfather Prescott Bush was also a Yale alum and had been Senator from Connecticut, the home state of Yale University. That Prescott Bush had been a trustee of Yale. That Prescott Bush had been the first chair of Yale’s Development Board – the folks who raise the money. That Prescott Bush sat on the Yale Corporation for twelve years. That Prescott Bush, like George W. Bush’s father, George H. W, Bush, had been a member of Skull and Bones. That the first Bush to go to Yale was Bush’s great great grandfather James Bush, who graduated in 1844. That in addition to his father, grandfather, and greatgreatgrandfather, Bush was the legacy of no less than twenty-seven other relatives who preceded him at Yale, including five great great uncles. Seven great uncles. Five uncles, and a number of first cousins.

Now why did Ann leave out these somewhat relevant facts? Ann grew up in Connecticut. Ann, did you really not know that Prescott Bush had been your senator when you were born?

Ann, is it possible that when Prescott’s son George H. W. Bush became president, it totally escaped your notice that his father had represented your state in the United States Senate? Did neither of your parents mention it in passing at the dinner table? Did no one at home in Darien make any comments about the new president’s lineage?

Understand. This isn’t sloppiness. This is deliberate. For Ann’s purposes – to claim that the media that was manipulating facts here – Ann herself had to manipulate facts – in such a shameless way. This is what she does.

And she does it over and over and over again.

Heeheehee!

The rest of the speech is pretty good, too.

Well, this is interesting

Take a look at how The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review views the Delay resignation. I'll set all the weasel words to bold for your viewing pleasure. Here's the beginning:

DeLay bows out: A selfless move

Cynics will argue that Tom DeLay, under indictment in a trumped-up Texas election law "scandal," decided to leave Congress because a former top aide pleaded guilty to ancillary lobbying scandal charges and now is a cooperating witness.

So in the view of DickieCougarMellonScaife's rag, one would have to be a cynic to believe that Delay resigned because of the scandal itself Please notice the irony-setting apostrophes surrounding the word - are we to believe it's not a scandal?. And if it's not a scandal, what's "trumped-up" about it?

But he could not overcome the fallout from the taint of perceived scandal. Though he thought he could win a 12th House term in a tough re-election battle, his poll numbers were iffy; there was just enough possibility of a loss that he decided to pull in the lightning rod and place the party above himself.

Again, "percieved" scandal? And notice the distancing. It's not "the scandal." It's not even "the percieved scandal." No no no. It's the "taint of the percieved scandal."

And notice how they point out how selflessly The Hammer "place[d] the party above himself." That's Tom Delay, alright.

I wonder if anyone on the editorial board has even bothered to read the news.

And of course I guess we don't really have to point this out (but it's fun anyway) this is a Republican Scandal. No weasel words, no apostrophes.

More on The Delay Resignation

Ok, so the Other Political Junkie beat me to posting this story. Butin my defense, look at when she posted it. It was frickin 3:20 this morning! Good going OPJ, scoop me on a story when I'm asleep!

Hahahaha. It's just such a wonderful day. Tom Delay will longer be fouling the already foul air of DC with his unique stench.

I just wanted to add a few things. Take a look at what Josh Marshall has to say about it:

So DeLay is out. But it's DeLay's House. DeLay's Republican DC machine. They built and fortified it with the money he brought in. The great majority of them voted for the "DeLay Rule" custom tailored for Majority Leader DeLay to avoid stepping down even after indictment. The current Republican membership of the House ethics committee was hand-picked to provide protection for DeLay and the old membership was purged. He's their guy. Their rule rests on his machine. They can run but they can't hide.

You wouldn't know it from that paragraph, but there are two references in there to our very own Melissa Hart. She voted for the "Delay Rule" (just click the Pennsylvania link) and she was installed onto the "Ethics" Committee after the purge. She even got fifteen grand from ARMPAC. She's part of the Republican DC machine Marshal mentions. I wrote about it here.

Incidentally, one thing that Marshall makes obvious is that it's a *cough* REPUBLICAN SCANDAL.

You'd think that God's Own Party wouldn't be so dirty, would you?

Save us from the PA Legislature!

ACTION ALERT!

No, I'm not talking about the freakin' pay raise. I'm talking about the real damage that they try to do and how you can help.

Call your representatives TODAY and tell them to VOTE "NO" on H.B. 2381 and on budget amendments A06491 and A06630.

H.B. 2381
The PA House of Representatives is expected to vote on the so-called "marriage amendment" to the state Constitution probably today, Tuesday, April 4. The amendment (H.B. 2381), which would go far beyond existing PA law in taking away legal protections (for unmarried straight couples too!), has had its first of three required readings in the full House, and we're getting strong indications that the vote will happen today.

Here are some key reasons to oppose the amendment:

1. It's unnecessary and divisive. Pennsylvania already has a law that denies civil marriage for same-sex couples. As for claims that the marriage law is somehow under threat in Pennsylvania, the state Supreme Court recently ruled in the Devlin case that Philadelphia's domestic-partnership registry was only legal because it was something less than and distinct from civil marriage. Pushing this constitutional amendment only has one purpose -- exploiting fear of a minority for possible political gain.

2. So-called “marriage protection amendments” affect all families, not just same-sex families. While supporters in other states have said these amendments are only about same-sex marriage, that is not true. In Ohio, courts have ruled that unmarried people, including unmarried heterosexual couples, may not seek protection from abuse orders in domestic violence cases. The Beaver County Times in western PA looked in-depth at the legal mess Ohio's amendment has created. From the Times (Feb. 13, 2006):

Magistrates in some cases are also refusing protection from abuse requests for assault victims "living as a spouse" because it conflicts with the marriage (amendment).

"Based on anecdotal evidence, it's deterring women from coming forward because if they file charges and the charges are dismissed, it's worse than before. The batterer can retaliate," said Mike Smalz, senior attorney with the Ohio State Legal Services Association, which does advocacy work and represents clients in civil cases, including domestic violence victims.

(Columbiana County Assistant Prosecutor John) Gamble said the prosecutor's office has had four or five cases ruled unconstitutional. Three are currently in appeals court, where Gamble said cases have poured in from all over the state.

Budget Amendments A06491 and A06630
These two amendments would completely eliminate the Women's Medical Services program. In 2005 funding from the program provided medical care for 320,000 low-income patients. Elimination of these services is the type of outrageous extremism that simply will not be tolerated in our state.

The Women's Medical Services program helps to prevent countless unintended pregnancies, prevents the spread of sexually transmitted infections and literally saves lives through the early detection of breast and cervical cancers.

None of the funds from this program are used to promote, encourage or perform abortions.

If you don't know your rep. (or their phone #), you can find that info here.

Same Ol' Same Ol'

Vs.


God, those Bush women are BITCHY!

From Laura Bush: An Intimate Portrait:

On December 18, 2000, just after the Supreme Court ruled on the election, Hillary Clinton gave Laura Bush a tour of the White House. The incoming-First Lady was dismayed at what she saw: Not only were carpets and furnishings fraying and in disrepair in the West Wing and public areas, the Oval Office was done in loud colors—red, blue, and gold! The East Wing was cut up into small offices and had exposed electrical conduits. Many of the furnishings looked dated.

Laura Bush noted how the Lincoln Bedroom looked worn out.

DeLay to Quit -- Takes the Coward's Way Out

First of all let me repeat that:
Delay is quitting. He's announcing his "retirement."

Let me illustrate that:


So why is Delay "retiring" early (like the end of May)? Time has the answer:

The surprise decision was based on the sort of ruthless calculation that had once given him unchallenged dominance of House Republicans and their wealthy friends in Washington's lobbying community: he realized he might lose in this November's election. DeLay got a scare in a Republican primary last month, and a recent poll taken by his campaign gave him a roughly 50-50 shot of winning, in an election season when Republicans need every seat they can hang onto to avoid a Democratic takeover of the House.

[snip]

DeLay said he is likely to leave by the end of May, depending on the
Congressional schedule and finishing his work on a couple of issues. He said he will change his legal residence to his condominium in Alexandria, Va., from his modest two-story home on a golf course here in the 22nd District of Texas. "I become ineligible to run for election if I'm not a resident of the state of Texas," he said, turning election law to his purposes for perhaps on last time. State Republican officials will then be able to name another Republican candidate to face Democrat Nick Lampson, a former House members who lost his seat in a redistricting engineered by DeLay.

Virginia, huh? Maybe he can move in with Lil Ricky. Hmmm...if DeLay's move from Texas to VA makes him ineligible to run as a Texan, why can Tricky Ricky Santorum run as a Pennsylvanian from VA?

Blogroll!

It was long past time that we updated our blogroll.

First, two local blogs have been removed because it's been more than six months since they've posted -- Freedom's Gate and Urban Democracy -- but we will happily add them back if they start blogging again.

We've added the following local blogs:
I Heart Pgh
Lou's List
MacYapper (John McIntire's blog)
Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents
Tunesmith & Anthony

While I Heart Pgh and Tunesmith & Anthony aren't exactly political blogs, they do occasionally stray that way. And, T&A's "Pigeon Sniper Video Tribute" (May we never forget…) is must viewing!

We've also added the following non-local blogs:
feministing
Firedoglake
Hullabaloo (Digby)
The Huffington Post
Think Progress

As always, blogs are added because someone here at 2pj reads them regularly.

I told you so...

Casey's lead slips from doube digits to single

The latest Zogby/WSJ poll still has Bob "I Put My Own Self to Sleep When I Speak" Casey ahead of Santorum. However, he's gone from a double digit lead to only 8 points. Casey's lead has grown progressively smaller as the race goes on.

Could it be that the BLUE STATE of PA electorate is finally discovering Bob "The State Owns Your Uterus" Casey's positions on crucial issues (despite Bob's best efforts to keep them in the dark) and doesn't like what it sees? (And, it ain't just abortion.)

Bob Casey in His Own Words:

On Stem Cell Research:
“I support the current federal policy on embryonic stem cell research and would oppose the Castle bill to expand federal support of embryonic stem cell research.”

On the Influence of Religion on His Role as a Public Official:
“My Catholic faith and the values reflected in that faith have always had a profound impact on me as a person and as a public official. I try to live up to the teachings of my faith in my personal life and in my public life. “

On Abortion Rights:
“As a pro-life Democrat, I have a different position on abortion than many national elected officials and that’s why an organization like NARAL won’t support me in the campaign.”

“Most Americans people recognize [the right to privacy] to some degree or another, and I think that some privacy-related court decisions… are correct. But let me add that I do draw a line. The right to privacy does not trump the right of the unborn.” "You can’t say you have a position I have and not believe that [Roe v Wade should be overturned].” "You can't have it both ways and say, 'I am pro-choice but,' or 'I am pro-life but."

Lancaster County Action Questionnaire asked whether Casey supported a woman's 'right to abortion. He responded 'Oppose.'

On Equal Rights for Gays:
“I don’t support gay marriage, but I also don’t support a constitutional amendment banning it. That would be tremendously divisive. However, I do support same sex unions that would give gay couples all the rights, privileges and protections of marriage.”

But he responded differently to a Questionnaire that asked: What is your position on government requiring that benefits be provided to same sex partners? Casey’s response: “Oppose”

Questionnaire: What is your position on legislation allowing homosexuals to adopt children? Casey’s response: “Oppose”

On the Iraq War:
“I don’t think we were intentionally mislead [in the runup to the war in Iraq].”

“I don’t think you can, as a matter of policy, articulate a long-term strategy if you don’t have the facts to make that determination.”

"Once [Iraq] was underway, like a lot of Americans, I was supportive of what our troops were trying to do there, based on what we were told by our government. We found out later the intelligence was, at best, faulty and, at worst, misleading. We can learn a lot of lessons from that, but the key thing now is to finish the job."

“Some people think that pulling out is a good idea and a timeline is a good idea -- I don't agree with that.”

On Congressional Intervention in the Terry Schiavo Case:
"I think you should err on the side of life. I think some kind of congressional review was appropriate.”

On Display of The Ten Commandments in Government Buildings:
"I don't oppose [such displays]. I do think politicians spend a lot more time talking about that question than trying to live the 10 Comandments. No matter what your religious beliefs, there are some universal truths in those commandments that we all ought to live by."

On the Death Penalty:
Questionnaire: What is your position on repealing the death penalty in Pennsylvania? Casey’s Answer: “Oppose”

“I believe that the death penalty is an appropriate punishment for those who have committed heinous crimes.”

On Gun Control:
"I've been a strong supporter of the second amendment, the right to bear arms. That's evidenced not just by what I've said but the support I've gotten over the last decade from sportsmen's groups, including the NRA."

“I don't think [the people of Pennsylvania] want battles to take place on a whole list of laws and regulations that impact gun owners and the right to bear arms."

"Casey is not only not with us on this stuff, but he's a little bit hostile," said Peter Hamm of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

On the Patriot Act:
"The agreement on the PATRIOT Act reauthorization is a victory in the war on terror and a triumph of bipartisanship. This agreement should clear the way for the renewal of this vital law and will continue to give law enforcement the tools that they need to target terrorists and prevent another terrorist attack. We cannot let the PATRIOT Act expire and we cannot give the terrorists an opening to plan another attack. I am pleased that the reauthorization addressed some of the issues regarding the protection of the rights of Americans.”

On the Nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court:
"...the arguments against Judge Alito do not rise to the level that would require a vote denying him a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court."

On Warrantless NSA Wiretaps:
"I think we should be making sure we give law enforcement and federal agents the tools they need to fight terrorism."

And on their legality: "Well, that is a judgment that lawyers are going to make," said Casey, a lawyer.

Told you so!


www.chuck2006.com

Jack Kelly's doing it again

Something about rightwing nutbags, they can't seem to grasp that reality is far more complicated than the typical "Conservatives are good. Liberals are bad." meme.

Take a look at Commando Kelly's column today. He does his usual song and dance about how the Democrats would screw up everything if they were in charge (yea, like the Republicans are doing such a wonderful job!) with a series of criticisms of a newly released Democratic plan called "Real Security." It can be found here, by the way. There' s no reason for you to trust what Jack Kelly says about it.

Here's one of his criticisms about the plan for Defense Spending:

This would be a welcome change from past Democratic practice. A majority of Democrats in both houses of Congress voted against the B-2 bomber, the Patriot missile, the M-1 tank, the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, ballistic missile defense and virtually every other weapon system that brought us victory in the Cold War, the Gulf war and the march on Baghdad.

I think we might need to flesh this one out a bit. Pop quiz! Who said this at a State of the Union address?

After completing 20 planes for which we have begun procurement, we will shut down production of the B-2 bomber.

I'll give you a hint. It was the Dubya's dad. In January of 1991.

As for the rest of it, it's almost worthless as evidence for anything. Kelly's phrasing ("A majority of Democrats in both houses of Congress voted against...") is so open ended that it's impossible to tell exactly what he's talking about. When was this vote? Were they multiple votes over many Congresses or just one? Of course, he doesn't say.

For instance, the Bradley fighting vehicle entered service in 1981. How many votes were there for its initial and then continued funding? What bills were they in? What were the reasons for the votes? Of course, Jack Kelly doesn't say. He's just hoping you won't bother to check. He's betting that you agree with him that liberals are bad and conservatives are good.

There are some other flat out lies in today's column. Take a look at this:

Since eliminating Osama bin Laden isn't exactly a radical departure from the policy President Bush is pursuing, Democratic stress on this objective suggests they think they could be more successful in obtaining it than the president so far has been. But the Democratic "plan" provides no hint of what Democrats would do differently to catch bin Laden.

Perhaps what Democrats have in mind is to build a time machine, and go back to February 1996, when Sudan, where bin Laden was then residing, offered to turn him over to the United States, and the Clinton administration refused to take him. Where's H.G. Wells when you need him?

Let's ponder for a moment Dubya's own flip flop on Osama Bin Laden. Initially he said he wanted bin Laden, "dead or alive." Then there's this press conference from March of 2002 in which Dubya sed:

Well, as I say, we haven't heard much from him. And I wouldn't necessarily say he's at the center of any command structure. And, again, I don't know where he is. I -- I'll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him.

So which is it? Does dubya want bin laden dead or alive or what? Which policy is Bush pursuing? Jack Kelly doesn't say.

Then we get to the great myth. It's has been told and retold so many times it's now become common knowledge.

Except that it isn't true. Here it is, in case you missed it:

...Sudan, where bin Laden was then residing, offered to turn him over to the United States, and the Clinton administration refused to take him...

Take a look at what the 9/11 commission wrote. You'll have to go to the bottom of page 3 to read this:

Diplomacy had an effect. In exchanges beginning in February 1996, Sudanese officials began approaching U.S. officials, asking what they could do to ease the pressure. During the winter and spring of 1996, Sudan’s defense minister visited Washington and had a series of meetings with representatives of the U.S. government. To test Sudan’s willingness to cooperate on terrorism the United States presented eight demands to their Sudanese contact. The one that concerned Bin Ladin was a request for intelligence information about Bin Ladin’s contacts in Sudan.

These contacts with Sudan, which went on for years, have become a source of controversy. Former Sudanese officials claim that Sudan offered to expel Bin Ladin to the United States. Clinton administration officials deny ever receiving such an offer. We have not found any reliable evidence to support the Sudanese claim.[emphasis added]

And then on the top of page 4:

Sudan did offer to expel Bin Ladin to Saudi Arabia and asked the Saudis to pardon him. U.S. officials became aware of these secret discussions, certainly by March 1996. The evidence suggests that the Saudi government wanted Bin Ladin expelled from Sudan, but would not agree to pardon him. The Saudis did not want Bin Ladin back in their country at all.

U.S. officials also wanted Bin Ladin expelled from Sudan. They knew the Sudanese were considering it. The U.S. government did not ask Sudan to render him into U.S. custody.

According to Samuel Berger, who was then the deputy national security adviser, the interagency Counterterrorism and Security Group (CSG) chaired by Richard Clarke had a hypothetical discussion about bringing Bin Ladin to the United States. In that discussion a Justice Department representative reportedly said there was no basis for bringing him to the United States since there was no way to hold him here, absent an indictment. Berger adds that in 1996 he was not aware of any intelligence that said Bin Ladin was responsible for any act against an American citizen. No rendition plan targeting Bin Ladin, who was still perceived as a terrorist financier, was requested by or presented to senior policymakers during 1996.

Yet both Berger and Clarke also said the lack of an indictment made no difference. Instead they said the idea was not worth pursuing because there was no chance that Sudan would ever turn Bin Ladin over to a hostile country. If Sudan had been serious, Clarke said, the United States would have worked something out.

However, the U.S. government did approach other countries hostile to Sudan and Bin Ladin about whether they would take Bin Ladin. One was apparently interested. No handover took place.

Under pressure to leave, Bin Ladin worked with the Sudanese government to procure safe passage and possibly funding for his departure. In May 1996, Bin Ladin and his associates leased an Ariana Airlines jet and traveled to Afghanistan, stopping to refuel in the United Arab Emirates. Approximately two days after his departure, the Sudanese informed the U.S. government that Bin Ladin had left. It is unclear whether any U.S. officials considered whether or how to intercept Bin Ladin.

Interesting detail about the United Arab Emirates, huh?

So there's no evidence of any offer from the Sudanese government to turn bin Laden over to the US. So Jack, how can there be any refusal on the part of the Clinton administration for that offer?

But Jack Kelly asserted both - doesn't he even bother to check his facts?

Nope. He doesn't have to. He's a conservative and they already know that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. And in the words of my good friend Fred Honsberger, why let facts get in the way of a good story?

IMPEACH

Pennacchio Weekend Events

Friday (Today!):
Friday evening (March 31st) we’re going to be doing a walking tour of Squirrel Hill WITH Chuck. Join us at the 61C coffee shop on Murray Avenue at 6:30.
Change of plans!
We're meeting at the Beehive Coffeehouse at E. Carson and 13th St. on the South Side at 6:30PM instead of in Squirrel Hill. Come and meet and walk with Chuck!

Saturday:
On Saturday (April 1st), we will be leafleting and talking Chuck up at the Regent Square Peace Vigil. The vigil is being held on the corner of Forbes and Braddock at noon so we should be there by about 11:30.

The Harris Theater, 809 Liberty Avenue, in downtown Pittsburgh is showing the documentary “Why We Fight.” Please join us on Sunday (April 2nd) at 1:30 PM (before the 2:00 showing) to spread the “Chuck” word.

chuck2006.c0m

More subtle media bias

When the wingnuts speak of media bias, they're usually talking about "liberal" media bias.

But take a look at this. It's Maeve Reston's article at the P-G describing how the Senate has approved new rules about lobbying. All this in response to the Jack Abramoff and Duke Cunningham scandals.

And not once is the word "Republican" used in the piece. The closest Reston gets is to put the "R" when mentioning the Republican members of Congress.

But let's remember, friends, that the Abramoff scandal was a Republican scandal. And that the Duke Cunningham scandal was a Republican scandal.

If you didn't know the details, you could reasonably guess from Reston's piece that Abramoff was an equal opportunity briber (which he wasn't) or that the lobbying corruption is shared in equal parts by both parties (which it isn't).

In this piece it looks like the Senate has come together in a bipartisan way to clean up a bipartisan mess.

Uh-uh. Not true. It was a partisan mess all along. A Republican partisan mess.

Here's a thought experiment. Imagine it happening to Democrats. Doncha think the whole frickin news media would be pointing it out?

Of course they would.

It looks like there's a conscious attempt to AVOID mentioning the word "Republican" and the word "scandal" in the same sentence - heck, in the same news article.

HAPPY DAY

Take a look.

KDKA Radio said it has named John McIntire as permanent evening host to fill the 8-10 p.m. weekday slot, the station announced today.

AND he has a blog.

Today's a good day.

Scalia = Potty Mouth

On Monday, the Boston Herald reported that Justice Antonin Scalia "Minutes after receiving the Eucharist at a special Mass for lawyers and politicians at Cathedral of the Holy Cross" made an obscene gesture "when asked by a Herald reporter if he fends off a lot of flak for publicly celebrating his conservative Roman Catholic beliefs."

While the gesture was immortalized on film, the United Press International reported that Scalia told the photographer, "Don't publish that."

On Wednesday, 'Famously feisty Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia yesterday denied that he made an obscene gesture Sunday inside the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, accusing the Herald staff of “watching too many Sopranos episodes.” '

Later that day, AmericaBlog demanded that the photo be released.

Today, the Boston Herald released the photo:


Whether or not you believe the gesture to be obscene (meaning "fuck you") or not (meaning "I don't care") seems to depend on how many generations removed you are from Italy.

That said, the Herald also reported today that while making the gesture, Scalia had some choice words to go with it:

“The judge paused for a second, then looked directly into my lens and said, ‘To my critics, I say, ‘Vaffanculo,’ ” punctuating the comment by flicking his right hand out from under his chin, Smith said.

For those who don't know, "vaffanculo" translates to:

"FUCK YOU"

UPDATE: Photographer who took the picture of Scalia has been fired by the Archdiocese of Boston’s newspaper.

Eyes Wide Open: Pennsylvania

The AFSC’s [American Friends Service Committee] widely acclaimed exhibit on the human cost of war is branching out.

Eyes Wide Open: Pennsylvania features one pair of military boots for every Pennsylvanian casualty in Iraq and 50 pairs of civilian shoes, tagged with Iraqi names, representing the 50:1 ratio of Iraqi to US casualties in the current conflict. As of January 2006 Pennsylvania has lost over 110 soldiers, the third highest state casualty count in the US.

This exhibit is available to communities across the state and will be on tour in the spring of 2006.

Pittsburgh Events – March 31st through April 2nd:

Thursday, March 30 – 7:30PM to 10:00 PM - Film showing at A20 Porter Hall, Carnegie Mellon University.

Friday, March 31st - 11:00 AM to 8:30 PM – Eyes Wide Open boots exhibit at Friends Meeting House, 4836 Ellsworth Ave in Oakland . One of the persons reading at this even is Friend of 2PJ, Zuri, as seen on this blog on September 27th participating in the March Against the Iraq War in DC.

Friday, March 31st - 7:00 PM – Eyes Wide Open Candlelit Vigil and reading of the names of PA service people killed in Iraq. At Friends Meeting House, 4836 Ellsworth Ave in Oakland

Saturday, April 1st - 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM – Eyes Wide Open exhibit at East Liberty Presbyterian Church, Penn and Highland Aves in East Liberty Saturday, April 1st - 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM – Film showing sponsored by Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom at East Liberty Presbyterian Church, Penn and Highland Aves in East Liberty

Saturday, April 1st - 7:00 PM – Eyes Wide Open Community Forum, a chance to share your thoughts around the human and economic cost of the Iraqi war. East Liberty Presbyterian Church, Penn and Highland Aves in East Liberty

Sunday, April 2nd - Noon to 3:30 – Eyes Wide Open exhibit at East Liberty Presbyterian Church, Penn and Highland Aves in East Liberty

Sunday, April 2nd - 4:00 PM – Pittsburgh Playback Theatre production: Reflections on the Human Cost of War. East Liberty Presbyterian Church, Penn and Highland Aves

The "foreignization" of all Latinos

Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez at La Queen Sucia decrys the chief pinche cabron (Lou Dobbs) in an "open letter to CNN and other mainstream US media outlets."
(Hat tip to Atrios)

Her points include:

1. The vast majority of Hispanics/Latinos in the U.S. (75 percent of us) were born and raised here, including many of us who have roots here that predate the arrival of the pilgrims.

2. "Immigrant" is not synonymous with "Latino" and the media should stop pretending they mean the same thing.

3. The CNN analyst who said today "Keep in mind, Latino voters are LEGAL immigrants, not illegal immigrants" should be FIRED for sloppy thinking. MOST LATINOS ARE NOT IMMIGRANTS AT ALL, PINCHE CABRON.

[snip]

6. You can be a Mexican American and never have had an ancestor come over the US border; vast portions of the United States of today USED TO BE MEXICO or SPAIN. If you failed to learn this in high school, your teachers should be fired.

7. The vast majority of Hispanics/Latinos in the US speak English as a first language. The Pew Center for Hispanic research shows that by the third generation, all Latin American immigrant descendents - 100 percent of them - are English-first, English dominant. Zero percent speak Spanish as a first or primary language by the third generation.

See all 16 of her points here.

(Yet again I have to ask) What Liberal Media?

From Mediamatters:

Since a March 27 New York Times article confirmed that a leaked British memo appears to contradict President Bush's repeated claim prior to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that he wanted to avoid war, media have failed to note the full significance of the document and in some cases ignored the story altogether.

If there really was a "liberal bias" in the media, don't you think that would be front and center? Since it is not, what's left of the "liberal bias" claim?

For those who missed it, here's the Times article.

In the weeks before the United States-led invasion of Iraq, as the United States and Britain pressed for a second United Nations resolution condemning Iraq, President Bush's public ultimatum to Saddam Hussein was blunt: Disarm or face war.

But behind closed doors, the president was certain that war was inevitable. During a private two-hour meeting in the Oval Office on Jan. 31, 2003, he made clear to Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain that he was determined to invade Iraq without the second resolution, or even if international arms inspectors failed to find unconventional weapons, said a confidential memo about the meeting written by Mr. Blair's top foreign policy adviser and reviewed by The New York Times.

Media Matters notes that:

...major newspapers have yet to feature articles on the memo, and Fox News has not once mentioned the document. CBS and ABC have limited their coverage to several brief mentions of the story. And numerous other reports have failed to contrast the memo's depiction of Bush with his public statements prior to the war.[emphasis added]

Yep, "fair and balanced" FNC ignores yet more Bush-era mendacity. Hardly surprising, I guess.

Aaaanyway, here's an interesting point:

At their meeting, Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair candidly expressed their doubts that chemical, biological or nuclear weapons would be found in Iraq in the coming weeks, the memo said. The president spoke as if an invasion was unavoidable. The two leaders discussed a timetable for the war, details of the military campaign and plans for the aftermath of the war.

And I like how it's put: "the president spoke as if an invasion was unavoidable." He's the Commander-in-Chief! It's written as if he had no say in the matter. But according to Article 2 of what's left of our Constitution, he's the Commander-in-Chief!

And check this out. That day, at the news conference both men were asked:

Do you believe that there is a link between Saddam Hussein, a direct link, and the men who attacked on September the 11th?

And Bush answered:

I can't make that claim.

So they doubted that WMD would be found and they stated that they couldn't claim a link between Saddam Hussein and 9/11 (I wonder if Stephen Hayes was watching that night), and they asserted that military action was inevitable anyway - while all the public statements point in the exact opposite direction.

And yet, Fox news and their fellow travellers in the mainstream media have yet to notice.

What liberal media?

Bush Trying to Subvert Democracy Again

But this time it's not in the US

From the New York Times:

BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 28 — Senior Shiite politicians said today that the American ambassador has told Shiite officials to inform the Iraqi prime minister that President Bush does not want him to remain the country's leader in the next government.

It is the first time the Americans have directly intervened in the furious debate over the country's top job, the politicians said, and it is inflaming tensions between the Americans and some Shiite leaders.

The ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, told the head of the main Shiite political bloc at a meeting last Saturday to pass a "personal message from President Bush" on to the prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who the Shiites insist should stay in his post for four more years, said Redha Jowad Taki, a Shiite politician and member of Parliament who was at the meeting.

Ambassador Khalilzad said that President Bush "doesn't want, doesn't support, doesn't accept" Mr. Jaafari to be the next prime minister, according to Mr. Taki, a senior aide to Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, the head of the Shiite bloc. It was the first "clear and direct message" from the Americans on the issue of the candidate for prime minister, Mr. Taki said.

Shiiit!

What about all ths purple fingers? Like the ones that the Rethuglicans held up at Dubya's State of the Union Address only one year ago:



Once again, Bushy replaces those fingers with his favorite one:

They need your help NOW

CHUCK PENNACCHIO

Here's an opportunity to meet Chuck and come out in support of his campaign! Chuck is pro-choice and anti-war, to mention just two of his positions. For more info, go to: www.chuck2006.com

1. Supporters of Chuck will meet this evening at the Beehive on the Southside (corner of 14th and E Carson St) at 7:00 PM

2. Chuck Pennacchio will be in town this Friday (March 31st) to do a walking tour of Squirrel Hill. Meet at the 61C coffee shop on Murray Avenue at 6:30 PM. They will be walking the district and handing out information and talking to people about Chuck Pennacchio!

Tell your friends and bring some along!

For more info, contact Henry Lipput at h_lipput@hotmail.com or Janis Williams at janis.jwm@comcast.net


SHAWN FLAHERTY

There are loads of opportunites to support Flaherty!

There is only ONE race that pits good guys (Dems, of course!) vs. the bad guys before the General Election in November. That is the race for State Representative in the 30th District on TUESDAY, APRIL 11, between Shawn Flaherty, the only Democratic candidate for State Representative in the District 30 Special Election to replace Jeff Habay, and the Republican candidate he is running against. To pull off a win for the Democrats, we need YOUR help- and there are lots of ways to get involved.

Aside from being the only opportunity in the next month to take a state house seat back to the Democratic side, this race has further reaching implications. This state representative district is in the same area of Allegheny County that gave birth to Republican Congresswoman Melissa Hart and Senator Rick Santorum when both were just rising stars on the national scene. The Republican candidate for this race is a Santorum-Hart clone, and we can't afford another one.

Shawn Flaherty, on the other hand, son of former Pittsburgh mayor Pete Flaherty, will bring commonsense solutions to create real property tax reform, protect the quality of our public education, and ensure a more open government. Shawn is the only candidate with the experience of helping residents reduce their property taxes. His law firm has helped homeowners save more than fifty million dollars in assessments, and as Representative, he will bring that same smart approach to Harrisburg with the Shawn Flaherty Plan for Real Property Tax Reform.

The Special Election is April 11, so with only two weeks to go, Shawn, and the Democratic Party, need your help.

There are visibilities scheduled for Rush hour this Friday at the intersection of: Mt. Royal Blvd & Rt. 8 - It's the fisrt traffic light after exiting Rt. 28 at the Route 8/Butler exit.

There are also opportunities to phone bank, canvasss, etc. We MUST win this race!!

The campaign will be canvassing Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and all day on Saturdays and Sundays. Please sign-up for whenever you may be available. The campaign will also be phoning whenever anyone is available.

On the weekend of April 8-9, the last weekend before the election, the PA Young Dems will also be organizing a statewide Campaign Invasion, providing lodging to Democrats from across PA willing to come in and help for the final push. More information on this effort to follow.

If you'd like to get involved, make a real difference, and get yourself tuned up for the rest of the big races in 2006, please email or call the campaign at (412) 418-7330 to get involved and talk to Campaign Manager, Shawn Westcott (shawn.westcott@yahoo.com ). For more info, check out www.ShawnFlaherty.com .

If you missed it...

...("it" being David on offQ), you have a last chance to catch it again at 12:30 PM today on channel 13.

"Fair and Balanced"

ABC News broadcasted a story yesterday that asked, "Was Confusion Over Global Warming a Con Job?"

The subtitle on their website states, "Some Claim Disinformation Campaign Attempted to Create the Impression Scientists Were Broadly Divided."

Well, D U H !

The story says:

The vast majority of scientists has determined global warming to be a real threat. So why has it taken so long to convince Americans?

Misinformation Campaign

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ross Gelbspan blames a 15-year misinformation campaign by the oil and coal industries.

"The point of this campaign was not necessarily to persuade the public that global warming isn't happening," Gelbspan said. "It was to persuade the public that there is this state of confusion."

[snip]

The industry's influence even extends into the White House — where up until a few months ago a former oil industry lobbyist, Phil Cooney, chief of staff at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, was one of the president's top environmental advisers, editing scientific reports to make global warming seem less threatening.

"From now on, we don't have scientists write reports and just take them," said Rick Piltz of the group Climate Science Watch. "We pass them through a White House filter before they're ever published. I mean, that's scandalous."

What the ABC story leaves out is the media's complicity in all this.

Moreover, they miss the bigger picture which is the Right Wing's War on Objective Reality.

While the Right Wing has been screaming about "moral relativism" on one hand, the have been assaulting any notion of "object truth" or just plain old facts on the other.

The Right will claim, for example, that Fox News is "fair and balanced" because it presents "both sides of the story." Forget for a moment that the Left side is given by anemic spokespersons for a fraction of the time that is given to the Right's talking points and look at the bigger picture:

- They cry that Creationism (in the form of Intelligent Design) must be taught in schools to provide students "other views."

- Climatologists who regard global warming as being overblown are given equal weight in coverage of the subject even thought they represent a minuscule fraction of all scientists or are concerned by global warming.

- Doctors are dragged out from under rocks to claim that Terri Schiavo is not brain dead despite all hard evidence to the contrary.

- Partisan fringe groups like "Swift Boat Veterans for the Truth" are given massive media coverage despite the fact that their claims differ from the testimony of the men who were actually on the same boat as John Kerry and official military records.

- They cry that "good news" stories must be found in Iraq despite that fact that if car bombs were to be blowing up on a regular basis in, say, Pittsburgh, the news would not be focusing on fireman rescuing a cat from a tree or the opening of a new store.

ETC., ETC., ETC.

And it isn't just FOX of course. The Right has been screaming so loud and long about "balance" that they have bullied the entire media to give up any ghost of presenting facts in context lest they be accused of having a "liberal bias."

It's long passed the time when we must all cry "FOUL" at this assult on science, reason and critical thinking.

2 + 2 does =4.

We can't let any amount of screaming from the Right Wing tell us (or bully the media into telling us) otherwise.

Good News in Iraq

From Americablog:

I've come to the conclusion that AMERICAblog has been far too critical of the war in Iraq, so we're going to devote an entire post to the good news about Iraq. Happy news. Puppy dog warm and fuzzy kind of news. Please feel free to add your own good news in the comments.

Ten good things about Iraq:

• No Ann Coulter
• Only 69 people died in today's violence
• If the number of dead hits 70, Bush can say that Muslim's read backwards so it's really only 7
• At least they don't put Christians to death
• No more torture
• Flowers
• Electric bills are at an all-time low
• Freedom is on the march

Any more happy news?

Let's see if I can add some more:

• There's two different ways for Americans to pronounce the name of the country: ih-RACK and EYE-rack. Neat, huh?
• They never had to suffer through Cop Rock
• They probably hate the United Nations

Feel free to add some more in the comments.

Stiff Competition! Calling All Artists!

Planned Parenthood Western Pennsylvania's Action Fund (PPWPAF) proudly invites you to participate in Stiff Competition 2006: Firm Beliefs.

It's been two years since PPWPAF's last Stiff Competition, and things have certainly changed in the world of reproductive freedom. Abortion is banned in South Dakota, some women have been turned away from their local pharmacies when they tried to fill their birth control prescriptions, and more than half of all sexual assault victims can't obtain emergency contraception from statewide emergency rooms.

PPWPAF wants participants to be thinking about and supporting these major issues affecting reproductive freedom. They are asking entrants to create engaging and eye-catching posters that will be used to educate the public and legislature about three of Planned Parenthood's most vital issues.

They are issuing a call for artists to submit message designs based on one of the three current public awareness campaigns:

1. Emergency Contraception in Emergency Rooms
("EC in the ER") Securing statewide protocol that emergency contraception in available in all emergency rooms for victims of sexual assault.

2. Pharmacist refusals to fill contraceptive prescriptions
Individual pharmacists refusals to fill prescriptions and pharmacy chains refusal to sell contraceptives

3. Abortion bans
The recent South Dakota abortion ban is a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade and interferes with the constitutional right to make private, personal decisions about health care.Polls consistently show the majority of Americans support a woman's right to choose. Abortion ban legislation is wildly out of step with mainstream America. We want to let our governor and legislature no that we will NOT allow it to happen here.

Pieces can be submitted directly to Planned Parenthood offices at 933 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222.

Additional information -- including Contest Rules and Entry Forms -- can be found at:
http://www.stiffcompetition.org

The artworks will be featured in an exhibition at The Andy Warhol Museum on June 8, 2006 and auctioned off to raise funds and awareness for PPWPAF. A panel of judges will select a winner in each theme category and an overall winner.

Deadline for entries is Friday, May 19th, 2006. There is no entry fee.

Short note about Jack Kelly

From his blog:

People who read the post below may wonder why I did not report on the good things the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard has done in Iraq. The reason is I've been fired as the national security writer. I've been forbidden to write news stories about national defense.

I'm not sure whether he means the Post-Gazete or the Toledo Blade. But no matter. Jack explains:

What happened was this: My column in September about the response to Hurricane Katrina was the subject of a hit piece on David Brock's Web site, Media Matters. The criticisms were a piece of crap, which I was able to demonstrate. But it got the Lefties among the editors here and (especially) at our sister paper in Toledo all exercised.

Hmm...

I seem to recall something about that. Here's Jack's column. And here's what Kelly calls Media Matters' "hit piece." And here's Kelly's response.

You can read it all and decide for yourself. Just as Jack Kelly's bosses have decided and (in his words) "fired [him] as the national security reporter."

Of course it's all the fault of all the "Lefties" on those editorial boards. The fault can't possibly lie with Jack.

Of course not.

Report from OffQ

Wow, what a blast that was!

Here's the basic story. A few weeks ago, there was in the "guest panelist" chair a woman named "Ellen James." First thing I thought of was "Wow, she's named Ellen James and yet she can speak." (If you don't get the joke, go read "The World According to Garp." You'll thank me later.)

Ms James was described on the show as a freelance writer who publishes a literary journal called "Salt." Here's the online version and here's the blog connected to it. (Geez, does EVERYONE have a blog these days?)

When I saw that, I thought to myself: Hey, I'm a freelance writer (I have a political column over at The Front) and I write for one of the bigger lefty blogs in town (this one), why can't I be on the show?

So I dropped the good folks at WQED an e-mail asking them if I could be on OffQ - and they said yes.

I was told that they'd send me the topics of Friday's show on Friday afternoon - so I took the afternoon off and headed down to the public library in Oakland. Had a great cheeseburger at a place called "Five Guys" and made it in to the Carnegie at about 2. Read everything I could until about 4 and waited. Then I went over my notes and waited some more.

The waiting was excruciating.

I arrived at QED at about 6:45 and got shuttled into the green room (and I THINK it was actually green - though I wouldn't trust my memory on that).

About 7:10 I met Chris Moore and he gave me some general pointers and then we went into the studio. I sat in my chair, got miked and thought to myself, "What am I doing here? This could turn into a whole mess of humiliation." But then I thought, "Yea, but this is really cool." And it was.

Fred Honsberger walked in about 7:15. Alan Cox a few minutes later. Handshakes all around. Alan was wearing a "Suicide Girls" t-shirt and (I think) some brand new Converse All-Stars. I'm pretty sure they were All Stars, I'm just not sure they're "brand" new.

Ruth Ann made it in at about 7:25.

Then the show began. After a few early jitters, I began to enjoy it big time. I made a few points, cracked a few jokes. There was one that can't really be heard on the air (everyone was talking), at the end of the story of the "pidgeon shooter," Ruth Ann said that if you get to them early enough, pidgeons are squab - and added something about how they should utilize all this locally raised produce at the nearby Culinary Institute. I said, "Yea it would be like killing two birds with one stone."

Get it? I thought it was funny, but I don't think anyone else heard it. Every one did giggle when Fred "thanked" me for listening to his radio program (I think he actually said "bless you.") and I said "You can give me a dollar later."

Everyone was very nice and I was honestly surprised how cordial everything was. With any luck, I'll be back on the show sometime soon.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming of incisive political commentary.

IMPEACH

Reminder

Just a reminder - I'll be on OffQ tonight. Channel 13 at 7:30. It'll be rebroadcast later in the evening, 11:30 I think. Check your local listings for details.

I'll be the bearded guy sitting next to The Honzman.

Ohmigod, I am like, you know, so psyched over this!

Seriously, I am very excited about this. Who wouldn't be?

IMPEACH

Tricky Ricky Santorum News

First up, from the New York Times (via AmericaBlog)

WASHINGTON, March 20 — Weeks after the Internal Revenue Service announced a crackdown on political activities by churches and other tax-exempt organizations, a coalition of nonprofit conservative groups is holding training sessions to enlist Pennsylvania pastors in turning out voters for the November elections.

Experts in tax law said the sessions, organized by four groups as the Pennsylvania Pastors Network, could test the promises by the tax agency to step up enforcement of the law that prohibits such activity by exempt organizations.

Such a test could define the boundaries for churches and other groups.

[snip]

The first training session, on March 6 in Valley Forge, included a videotaped message from a single candidate, Senator Rick Santorum, the Pennsylvania Republican who faces a difficult re-election fight.

"I encourage you to let your voices be heard from the pulpit" on vital issues, Mr. Santorum said, urging the pastors to champion a proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, according to a recording made by a person at the session. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a liberal group critical of the effort, provided the recording to The New York Times.

After the tape, organizers offered participating pastors copies of the senator's book "It Takes a Family."

[snip]

Pennsylvania appears to be the sole state where advocacy groups are pouring so much into working with churches so early. The outcome of the effort, and the way the tax agency responds, could have an influence far beyond the state.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) alleging that a get-out-the-vote training session offered by the Pennsylvania Pastors Network (PPN) may have violated IRS rules governing charities.

According to CREW:

As §501(c)(3) organizations, the Pennsylvania Family Institute and the Urban Family Council are barred from engaging in any activity that supports or opposes a candidate. This prohibition extends to implicit candidate endorsements and events designed to suggest a favored candidate. Sponsoring get-out-the-vote training in which Senator Santorum delivered a message, but the Senator’s opponent in a closely contested race, Bob Casey, was not invited to do so, likely constitutes impermissible political activity.

[snip}

CREW’s executive director, Melanie Sloan said “it appears that rather than engaging in legal, non-partisan get-out-the-vote efforts, the real mission of the Pennsylvania Pastors Network is to assist Senator Santorum in his re-election campaign. This is exactly the sort of political activity prohibited by IRS law.” Sloan continued, “the IRS has already taken action against a liberal church in Pasadena, California for much less egregious activities. If the IRS is serious about enforcing the law equally, it will take action against those involved in creating the Pennsylvania Pastors Network as well.”

And, then there's this amusing bit at Atrios:

Just caught last week's Veronica Mars on Tivo. Plot involved someone blackmailing gay students. At one point the fake name used by the blackmailer was "Rick Santorum."

Time to rid PA (and the Nation) of the embarrassment of Santorum.

Cecilia Reigns Fire and Thunder on SD's Antiabortion Law

According to an article in Native American Times (subscription only), Cecilia Fire Thunder, president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe at Pine Ridge, SD is "incensed...that a body made up of mostly white males would make such a stupid law against women" regarding that state's antiabortion law.

So what will Ms. Fire Thunder do with her righteous anger?

"To me, it is now a question of sovereignty," she said to last week. "I will personally establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on my own land which is within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation where the State of South Dakota has absolutely no jurisdiction."

However, the law states "jurisdiction for non-Indian criminal offenses on the reservation lies with state or federal courts: Crimes committed on the reservation by non-Indians against non-Indians are subject to state jurisdiction." (See New York ex rel. Ray v. Martin, 326 U.S. 496 (1946); Solem v. Bartlett, 465 U.S. 463 (1984).) So any abortion clinics established may need to have Native Americans performing abortions.

(Hat tip to Sunfell at Daily KOS)

Cheney Sighting in the 'Burgh?

There was a bit of a ruckus in downtown Pittsburgh today when a man was sighted on a rooftop with what appeared to be rifle. Streets were closed. The SWAT team was brought in.

As it turns out, it was only someone who was using a pellet gun with a scope to scare pigeons.

We haven't seen pictures of the guy, but we're thinking he may look something like this:

Female Trouble

Why name a post about the dearth of Pennsylvania women in political office and the executive ranks of business after a John Waters film?

While aside from the fact that watching Divine as Dawn Davenport knock over the Christmas tree on her parents because she didn't get the pair of cha-cha heels that she asked for is hysterically funny, it would seem that a man in drag has a lot better chance of moving up in this little corner of the world than an actual woman does.

Today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports the following on Women (not) at the Helm in business:

So we tried to do what hasn't been done before: gather data on the number of women executives and board members in the every public and private corporation and nonprofit institution in the region. Business reporter Dan Fitzpatrick spent two months surveying dozens of companies and worked with the Women and Girls Foundation of Southwest Pennsylvania, an advocacy group for gender equity, to produce this ground-breaking report.

The results are revealing and discouraging. Women hold only 9.8 percent of the executive positions and 9 percent of the board seats at publicly traded companies in the region. Only one public company -- ESB Financial in Elwood City -- has a female CEO. Several have no women executives or board members, including Federated Investors, the Downtown firm with $213 billion under its management.

Compared with Pittsburgh, the U.S. figures are better but still surprisingly low. Nationally, women occupy 15.7 percent of key executive positions among Fortune 500 firms and 16.9 percent of the board seats at Fortune 100 companies, according to Catalyst, a research organization aimed at advancing women's careers.

You can participate in an online chat on the P-G article "Women at the Helm" with Dan Fitzpatrick and Heather Arnet at noon on Thursday at www.post-gazette.com .

Things aren't much better on the political front.

The United States is 50.2% women and yet they represent only

14% of U.S. Senators
16% of U.S. Representatives
14% of Governors
less than 20% of Mayors
0% of the Pittsburgh area's delegation to the State House

This issue will be discussed at:

"The Spark": Women in Local Politics
Host: GAAP, Women's Center, Office of Gender Issues, Pre-Law Society
Location: The Heinz School, Room 1000 of Hamb 4800 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA
When: Friday, March 24, 5:00 PM- 6:30 PM
Phone: 412-491-9938

Join a panel discussion with women improving these statistics by changing public policy and running for public office.

Find out how they found the courage to run, learned the art of campaigning and negotiation, and developed skills to compete in the political arena. Refreshments will be served.

RSVP HERE

And perhaps because March is Women's History Month, there is a competing panel discussion on the same day:

YWCA Panel Discussion: Women & the Global Community
Host: YWCA Greater Pittsburgh
Location: YWCA Greater Pittsburgh, 305 Wood Street in downtown Pittsburgh
When: Friday, March 24 from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Phone: 412-255-1257, Terri Balogh (tbalogh@ywcapgh.org)

In celebration of Women's History Month and International Women's
Day, the YWCA Greater Pittsburgh will be hosting a panel discussion
comprised of five women reflecting the global community.

The three major topics the panel will be discussing are:

1) How is the global economy impacting women worldwide?
2) Why are we hearing less and less about AIDS and is it a woman's
disease?
3) What are the most pressing issues facing women today?

Please feel free to bring a guest. Heavy hors d'oeuvres will be served.

So what can you do to make a change?

The Progress Pittsburgh blog recently ran "A Run Down of the Run Baby Run Candidates":

Run Baby Run is a Pittsburgh based organization that is supporting women candidate running for state office in 2006. Currently there are no women from Western PA in the state house. Here is a run down of the "Run Baby Run" candidates who you can support:

Susan Banahasky
Democrat - District 20
Contact: susan@susaninthehouse.com
Campaign Manager Matt Preston: mattpreston@gmail.com
Website: www.susaninthehouse.com
Incumbent Walko
District includes most of Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville
neighborhood, parts of the Northside and parts of
Reserve, Ross and West View.

Lisa Bennington
Democrat - District 21
Contact: LisaForHouse@comcast.net
Website: www.LisaForHouse.com
Incumbent Pistella
District is made up of Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield,
Shadyside and Morningside neighborhoods, as well as
the towns of Etna, Millvale, Sharpsburg, and parts of
O’Hara, Ross and Reserve.

Jodie Goughnour
Democrat - District 58
Contact: questions@JodieGoughnour.com
Website: www.jodiegoughnour.com
Incumbent: Harhai (D)
District consists of towns in both Fayette and
Westmoreland counties, including Belle Vernon, Fayette
City, Monessen, Sewickley Township, Rostraver and
parts of East and South Huntingon, Hempfield and West
Newton.

Deberah Kula
Democrat - District 52
Campaign Assistant: Jill Kula, lmi2@atlanticbbn.net
Incumbent: Shaner, retiring
District consists of parts of Fayette and Westmoreland
Counties, including Connellsville, Dunbar, North
Union, Scottdale and parts of Mt. Pleasant.

Kathy Marks
Republican - District 59
Contact: kmarks3088@zoominternet.net
Incumbent: Stairs (R)
District consists of parts of Fayette and Westmoreland
counties, including Saltlick, Bullskin, Fairfield,
Hempfield, Mt. Pleasant and Ligonier Townships.

Marilyn Messina
Democrat – District 34
Contact: marilynwmessina@yahoo.com
Incumbent: Paul Costa (D)
District includes Braddock Hills, Swissvale, Edgewood,
Rankin, Braddock, Forest Hills, North Braddock,
Chalfont, Turtle Creek, Churchill, Wilkins,
Wilmerding, and East McKeesport.

Chelsa Wagner
Democrat - District 22
Contact: chelsa@chelsawagner.com
Website: www.chelsawagner.com
Incumbent: Diven (R)
District includes parts of the city of Pittsburgh,
Baldwin Township, Castle Shannon and Whitehall.

Eileen Watt
Republican - District 33
Contact: eileenwatt@yahoo.com
Incumbent: Dermody (D)
District includes East and West Deer, Fawn, Frazer,
Harrison, Brackenridge, Tarentum, Oakmont, Indiana,
Harmar, Cheswick, Springdale and parts of Plum.

You can also support Valerie McDonald Roberts in her efforts to get Lt. Governor Catherine Baker Knoll to particpate in a debate.

Yes, this female vs. female, but PA needs a Lt. Governor who knows that our Governor is not "Edward G. Robinson."

Catherine Baker Knoll has declined to debate her challengers on the issues at the heart of this year’s election. The League of Women Voters has scheduled a debate for April 25th in Harrisburg and May 1st in Scranton, but it looks like Knoll will be a no show.

McDonald Roberts released this comment on the upcoming debates:

“Debate is at the heart of Democracy. The first amendment in the Bill of Rights protects freedom of speech, because our founders knew the importance of discourse in choosing our leaders and protecting our democratic government. No one has the right to rule. Office holding is a privilege granted by the people and the people have a right to be informed by the candidates themselves. I invite Catherine Baker Knoll to participate in the democratic process by joining me and the other candidates in debating the issues important to this state.”

Chuck Pennacchio on KDKA Radio Tonight

Chuck Pennacchio will be on KDKA Radio (AM 1020) tonight at 8:00 PM with John McIntire.

You can live stream this at:

http://www.kdkaradio.com

58th Annual Global Solutions Education Fund Dinner with John Nichols

Global Solutions announces their 58th annual Global Solutions Education Fund - Pittsburgh Spring Dinner

WHEN: Thursday evening, April 20, 2006
WHERE: Omni William Penn Hotel in Downtown Pittsburgh.

This year they will be hosting John Nichols, who will present "The Perils of Empire: How Unilateral 'Nation-Building' by the United States Undermines Democracy Abroad and at Home."

The evening’s events will begin with a reception at 6:00 pm and continue with dinner at 7:00 pm, followed by a presentation from John Nichols at 7:30 pm.

Guest Speaker:
John Nichols, Washington Correspondent for The Nation

The Perils of Empire: How Unilateral "Nation-Building" by the United States Undermines Democracy Abroad and at Home.

This year, John Nichols, The Nation's Washington correspondent, will speak at their 58th Annual Spring Dinner. Nichols has covered progressive politics and activism in the United States and abroad for more than a decade. Formerly a writer and editor for The Toledo Blade and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newspapers, he is now editorial page editor for The Capital Times in Madison, Wisconsin. He has covered electoral politics for The Progressive for a number of years. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune and dozens of other newspapers.

Nichols has covered four presidential elections in the United States, along with elections and political activism in Britain, Ireland, Israel, India, Palestine, El Salvador, Jamaica and South Africa. He has interviewed Bill Clinton, Al Gore, George Bush, Bill Bradley, John McCain and Patti Smith. His editorials on corporate responsibility have been honored by the Inland Press Association as the best in the country and his columns on presidential politics have been acclaimed by Women in Communications International as the best appearing in a daily newspaper.

He is the author, with Bob McChesney, of It's the Media, Stupid (Seven Stories), which features introductions by Ralph Nader, Barbara Ehrenreich and Paul Wellstone, and Jews for Buchanan, on the 2000 presidential election, published in November 2001 by New Press.

Reservations:
Reservations are $40 per person and $280 for a table of eight. Student reservations are $15.
To RSVP or for more information, please email rsvp@globalsolutiospgh.org , call 412-471-7852 or visit www.globalsolutionspgh.org/sd2006.html .

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And, yes, Global Solutions has sponsored an ad on this blog, but I've subscribed to The Nation for years and read John Nichols, so I would have posted this any way.

Run, Baby, Run & LUPEC Happy Hour Tonight!

WHAT:Run, Baby, Run & LUPEC Happy Hour
WHEN: Tuesday March 21, 2006, 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
WHERE: Tonic - Liberty at 10th St., downtown Pittsburgh

Join Run, Baby,Run and LUPEC (Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails) as they celebrate Women's History with LUPEC's special style.

It's Gin & Sin time!

Everyone is welcome.

Twofer! Help "Greet" Bush & Santorum in Sewickley!

WHAT: Candlelight Antiwar/Peace Rally
WHEN: Friday, March 24, 2006, 7:00 PM
WHERE: The corner of Beaver and Broad in Sewickley at the Gazebo

The evening of 3/24 George W. Bush will be in town for a fundraiser for Rick Santorum at the Simmons on Quaker Hollow 5-7. (General Reception is $1,000.00, Photos with the president: $10,000.00 per person/couple***.)

At 7:00 PM there will be an antiwar/peace rally at the corner of Beaver and Broad in Sewickley at the Gazebo. (Permits have been issued.)

Please come with friends (spread the word) with candles and signs.

After the rally, a gathering will be held in Osborne at 1315 Linden St. (For more information, contact: natashasoroka@aol.com )

Western PA has a history of making a stand for what is right -- let's once again set a national standard!

***Or you can break your piggy bank, RSVP the fundraiser for PA's -- and the Nation's -- shame, and get a way kool snap with you and Bushie!

Plight Deepens for Black Men, Studies Warn

From yesterday's NY Times:

BALTIMORE — Black men in the United States face a far more dire situation than is portrayed by common employment and education statistics, a flurry of new scholarly studies warn, and it has worsened in recent years even as an economic boom and a welfare overhaul have brought gains to black women and other groups.

[snip]

These were among the recent findings:

¶The share of young black men without jobs has climbed relentlessly, with only a slight pause during the economic peak of the late 1990's. In 2000, 65 percent of black male high school dropouts in their 20's were jobless — that is, unable to find work, not seeking it or incarcerated. By 2004, the share had grown to 72 percent, compared with 34 percent of white and 19 percent of Hispanic dropouts. Even when high school graduates were included, half of black men in their 20's were jobless in 2004, up from 46 percent in 2000.

¶Incarceration rates climbed in the 1990's and reached historic highs in the past few years. In 1995, 16 percent of black men in their 20's who did not attend college were in jail or prison; by 2004, 21 percent were incarcerated. By their mid-30's, 6 in 10 black men who had dropped out of school had spent time in prison.

¶In the inner cities, more than half of all black men do not finish high school.

[snip]

According to census data, there are about five million black men ages 20 to 39 in the United States.

Terrible schools, absent parents, racism, the decline in blue collar jobs and a subculture that glorifies swagger over work have all been cited as causes of the deepening ruin of black youths. Scholars — and the young men themselves — agree that all of these issues must be addressed.

[snip]

Arrests of black men climbed steeply during the crack epidemic of the 1980's, but since then the political shift toward harsher punishments, more than any trends in crime, has accounted for the continued growth in the prison population, Mr. Western said.

The high levels of incarceration among Blacks also leads to disproportionately fewer Blacks being able to vote.

A reminder that the Pennsylvania General Assembly recently passed a bill making it hard for those with a felony conviction to vote which was fortunately vetoed by Governor Rendell.

Further surpression of the Black vote can be expected in New Orleans. As ColorOfChange.org notes:

On April 22nd, New Orleans will hold it's first mayoral election since the storm. Everyone watching knows what will happen if elections go forward without a change--the Black vote will be suppressed and the ability for Black New Orleanians to claim their future compromised. During Iraq's election, the U.S. government provided polling places in U.S. cities with large numbers of Iraqi-Americans. Why won't it do the same for thousands of mostly Black displaced New Orleanians?

You can join ColorOfChange.org in calling on Governor Blanco to protect the voting rights of Katrina survivors by demanding satellite voting and, if necessary, postponing the election to do so HERE.

OffQ

I am very pleased to announce that I'll be the "guest panelist" on this week's OffQ.

For those who've never seen the program, it's a lively discussion on current events between Ruth Ann Dailey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Alan Cox of 105.9, Fred Honsberger of KDKA and a guest panelist.

This week, as I stated above, the guest panelist is little old me.

Is that a kick in the pants or what? I get to sit next to The Honzman himself.

Oh, yea. I almost forgot - Bush is still breaking the law.

IMPEACH

SAFEGUARD OUR ELECTIONS !

NO PAPER, NO PROOF, NO WAY!
VOTER-VERIFIED PAPER BALLOTS (V-VPBs)

*** CONTACT THE BOARD OF ELECTION
Dave Fawcett, John Defazio, Dan Onorato
dfawcett@county.allegheny.pa.us
jdefazio@county.allegheny.pa.us
executive@county.allegheny.pa.us

*** CONTACT COUNTY COUNCIL
Phone: (412) 350-6490
council@county.allegheny.pa.us
http://www.www.county.allegheny.pa.us/council

*** SPEAK TO COUNTY COUNCIL
MARCH 21st AT COUNTY COUNCIL, 5:00 PM
Request to speak before County Council at: http://www.TINYURL.COM/M3TV3
County Courthouse
436 Grant Street
4th Floor - Gold Room
Pittsburgh PA

NO PAPER, NO PROOF, NO WAY!
http://www.www.votepa.us


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You can view a 60 second video on this subject by Democracy for America at:
http://tools.democracyforamerica.com/petition/paperballot
And sign a petition there!

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Is it just me or is the formatting all screwed up?

UPDATE: Nevermind. Seems to be back to normal.