Not Democrats

The following Senators voted to end the filibuster against Samuel Alito, and need to be defeated when they come up for reelection (*= up for reelection in 2006):
Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas
Mark Pryor of Arkansas
Ken Salazar of Colorado
Joe Lieberman of Connecticut *
Tom Carper of Delaware *
Bill Nelson of Florida *
Daniel Akaka of Hawaii *
Daniel Inouye of Hawaii
Mary Landrieu of Louisiana
Max Baucus of Montana
Ben Nelson of Nebraska
Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico *
Kent Conrad of North Dakota *
Byron Dorgan of North Dakota
Tim Johnson of South Dakota
Maria Cantwell of Washington *
Robert Byrd of West Virginia *
Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia
Herb Kohl of Wisconsin *

Contain Hamas

I listened to conservative talk radio today and they were comparing Hamas to Hitler. I think if Hamas is contained, it won't matter if they recognize Israel's right to exist. If they're providing services for the Palestinians, maybe this can mark the beginning of a long cooling off period. If they can prosper and stay on their own side of the wall, maybe things will work out ok.

Force cloture

http://tomstream.blogspot.com/2006/01/40-votes-or-not.html.
http://tomstream.blogspot.com/2006/01/force-nuclear-option.html.

Blue State Ball

After the Green Party winter conference I went to the Blue State Ball, hosted by AM 950, our local Air America affiliate. It may have been Blue, but there were a number of Greens there. We may disagree on tactics, but we are united in our utter abhorrence of Bush. Michael Cavlan, candidate for U.S. Senate, was among the Greens in attendance. Now that Patty Wetterling has dropped out of the race, Michael is the only peace candidate. Candidates Lourey and Rowley were there, and I spoke with the latter, the former woman of the year. ; ) I also had a chance to meet talk show hosts Wendy Wilde and Ed Schultz, and visited with Ed’s wife, whose name is also Wendy. In addition, I met Burt Burlowe, host of a new show, Spirit Radio. Burt’s email is berlowe@tcinternet.net. One idea I floated was to get Instant Runoff Voting passed in those states where Democrats control the governor’s office and both houses of the legislature. Another subject that came up was 9/11. Help me get this straight. Was WTC7 demolished or did it collapse on its own? The owner said it was demolished.

Green Party Conference

After work yesterday I caught the last two hours of the Green Party of Minnesota Winter Membership Conference at the Harriet Alexander Nature Center in Roseville. The Greens elected three new members to the central committee, all women. I attended two of the workshops, one by Elizabeth Dickinson who had an impressive run in the St. Paul mayoral race, and one by U.S. Senate candidate Michael Cavlan about his experiences as an election recount observer in Ohio 2004. He told us about unsecured ballots, being told which precincts to recount, technicians replacing chips on machines that were about to be compared against paper ballots, and much more. If it weren’t for minor parties like the Greens, the recount effort would have dissolved. However, Cavlan did recommend a book based on the hearings of one Democrat, Rep. John Conyers, titled "What Went Wrong in Ohio." For now, I’ll take his word for it. I’ve seen the videos of the long lines. Funny how the dems didn’t do more to get more voting machines. At least they brought around umbrellas, coffee, and donuts to the people waiting in line.

Who's comforting the enemy?

Bush complained that critics of the war in Iraq are giving "comfort to our adversaries." I'd say Rove did that when he outed CIA agent Valerie Plame, and Bush is giving comfort to Rove. It's not the soldiers' fault that we're getting our ass kicked in Iraq. It's Bush's fault, cause he f'd up. In the Kosovo War, we didn't lose any guys in combat operations. In Iraq we've lost over 2,000. And the funny thing is, I didn't even like Clinton. But he was a better military strategist. Of course, that's not saying much, because Bush is so incompetent. Nobody is disputing the fact that 80% of Iraqis want us out of there, and 45% think it's ok to kill U.S. soldiers there. We're not wanted. Let's just get the hell out. But we won't, because we drive big fat SUVs and we need the oil. Heaven help us.

40 votes or not

40 votes or not, all it takes is one Senator to at least attempt a filibuster.

Force the nuclear option

Samuel Alito can’t be trusted to join the Supreme Court. Either he lied on his resume or he lied about his racist and sexist past. He’s not answering the questions on abortion, on privacy, on torture. Most chillingly, he supports a presidential power to nullify any law simply by making a signing statement. This is the equivalent of a little boy who lies but thinks it’s ok because he’s got his fingers crossed.

If ever there was a time to filibuster, this is it. Let the Republicans use the "nuclear option" and outlaw the filibuster. It will show how undemocratic they are. But don’t back down this time. Don’t be fooled by a lying obfuscater and his snivelling wife.

Forget impeachment

The Bush administration is guilty of leaking legal spying and effecting illegal domestic spying, and then has the gall to attack the leaking of the illegal domestic spying. Right wing talk radio even calls it the "domestic spying program," like it’s no big deal. For all we know, the most secretive administration in history is snouting around for private personal details of political opponents, an unfair advantage indeed, even when the victim has nothing to hide. People who think this is ok are nothing but a bunch of low-life, voyeuristic perverts. Forget impeachment. Just indict the president.