Great article BTW, I felt the same thing.

But what I mean is... how did we get to this polarizing enmity in our national politics and discourse?

You heard the stories they told of Teddy and how even his most ardent opponents came to love and admire him. And I do believe there used to be a hell of a lot more of that in the past. I remember even Ex-Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY) bemoaning the fact that congress critters didn't develop friendships like they used to in Washington. No getting together for drinks anymore, no golfing or camping trips either. And I'm talking about both within the same party, but particularly between parties.

My old man, a Marine Bomber (B-25) pilot in WWII, was before and after that (plus Korea) a journalist. He wrote for a Chicago paper as a police reporter, then for the San Diego Union, the Copley News Service, Cox... and eventually was part of the California Highway Commission which built our state's freeway system. He knew, at least in the cosmos of California, all sorts of politicians, lobbyists, and movers and shakers. Hell, he'd hold cocktail parties, and I as a young tyke would spend my time stealing the onions out of the martinis of state senators and assemblymen.

Hell, when Reagan was running for re-election for governor of California, he invited the journalists covering the capitol, and their families, to the mansion for a huge BBQ complete with a cowboy on a horse doing rope tricks and such. Me and Skipper, now known as Ron Reagan, were the terrors of the dunk tank that day. And everybody, young old Republican or Democrat had a great time. My dad would not allow me to wear my Jesse Unruh button to the party, but he did get a kick out of the attempt.

My point is, from what I saw in the late sixties and into the seventies, from my youngish viewpoint, was that these guys, and they were almost always guys, seemed to actually get along no matter their party. They may have vociferously disagreed, defended their positions, their donors and their constituents, but they always seemed to like and respect each other at the end of the day.

And I sometimes wonder if some of this was the generation that survived WWII, and the fact that they had survived it. I mean they all knew guys that didn't come back from the war, and many that came back in pieces, both physically and or mentally. And I tend to think that with the support of the GI Bill and society in general, they took their good fortune at surviving and ran with it.

Hell, they basically built the middle-class and modern society as we know it. And they also seemed to respect and know each other in a sense, apparently. I was surprised to find out, my old man knew Pierre Salinger, and the author of 'In Harms Way', even getting drunk and hitting a bridge abutment trying to take his buddy Joe Rosenthal (Iwo Jima picture\memorial fame) from San Francisco to the state fair in Sacramento. Mom had to go rescue them.

I'm probably rambling here, but I think that the shared experience of WWII, and the surviving of it, combined with an entire society backing their second chance at life, may have been something profound as to why even though politically from opposite sides of the aisle, they could respect each other. They fought hard, they worked hard, and they played hard, and left a better America for us all. And although everything wasn't perfect back then, or even totally fair, they seemed to get things done, and America seemed a little more... I don't know... American back then???

Watching the Kennedy services and funeral this week reminded me of those times. It reminded me that there were, and still are, honorable men and women that want to do what's right for this country. But it was people like Teddy, and others now gone from Washington, and my dad, now gone since 1975, and his fellow compatriots, that knew how to derive joy out of the thing. That could share a heartfelt laugh, or give honest human support to the guys and the gals on the "other" side.

God I hope that we haven't lost that with the passing of Teddy.

Anywho... great article, and thanks for listening.

WillyT

The Green Brief #20 (July 06)

<snip>

These are the important happenings that I can positively confirm from Monday, July 6 in Iran.


Protests

1. As reported yesterday, people did indeed gather in front of Evin Prison with flowers and gifts for prisoners. These individuals were there to celebrate Iranian’s Father’s Day. However, the peaceful gathering resulted in the presence of security forces – which again used force in order to scatter the crowd. It has not been confirmed if anyone was injured in the incident. Videos of people chanting in front of the Evin prison have been released, but dates cannot be confirmed on any of them.

2. UAE police last night prevented roughly 100 Iranian expatriates from signing a piece of cloth which said, “Ahmadinejad is not our president!” It was supposed to be sent to Paris and used as a petition where it would’ve joined similar petitions from around the world. The UAE police told protesters that they had the right to gather, but did not have the right to sign petitions against the Iranian government.

3. In an interview on an Iranian website, the spokesperson for Imam’s Way Faction (members of Parliament) accused security forces of attacking people’s homes and abducting Iranian students from universities in Tehran. He also complained that the government was blocking their website, Parlemaan News, from time to time. He demanded the government to stop filtering news from reaching the people.

4. Protesters are widely being dubbed as “rioters” by the Iranian Media and government officials. It has increasingly replaced the word protesters in government channels. Ayatollah Khamenei called the participants of the post-election protests a ‘depressed’ and ‘distressed’ minority.


Opposition

5. There were reports today of a meeting between Rafsanjani and Mousavi, however, it could only be partially confirmed. Rafsanjani is proving to be very elusive for both sides of the conflict - so anything attributed to him needs to be considered with great caution.

6. Mousavi celebrated Imam Ali’s birthday today with a small group at his house. Mousavi said, “The flaws in the system had become more apparent because of the election.” He called the government illegitimate and stated that he and his followers will continue to work to achieve their goal of nullifying the election. He went on to say, “the real issue has not disappeared simply because the protests have quieted down - on the contrary, we will continue to work to the very end.”


Government / International / Clerics

7. Ali Larijani, Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, congratulated Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on his victory as President today. He was being eyed as a key member of the government who might be swayed to join the pro-reform movement, however, despite earlier indications; he has remained firmly in Ahmadinejad’s side.

8. It must be noted that except for one statement from pro-reform clerics in Qom supporting the protesters, no pro or anti-protester statement has been released by major clerical organizations from Qom. Reports indicate that the majority of clerics in Qom are against crackdowns on protesters and meetings are daily held between various factions to determine their course of action.

9. Hossein Subhani-Nya, a key member of the Iranian parliament’s foreign relations committee, told Iran’s Al-Alam TV today that they had indications that 6 member nations of the G8 group had already decided to call back their ambassadors from Iran after being urged to do so by Britain. He did not divulge the names of the members. He added that Iran would never bend to Western pressure and that it will take action against countries who call back their ambassadors on a case by case basis.

10. After Joe Biden’s statements yesterday, Alaeddin Broujerdi, the head of Iran's parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, said today that Iran was going to take ‘real and decisive’ action if attacked by Israel. He defended the government’s crackdown on protests and called the situation in Iran calm and peaceful. Today, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that the Iranian people deserved a better government.

11. Ayatollah Khamenei warned the West to not interfere in Iran’s internal affairs. He urged Western countries to not meddle in Iran and warned them of a reaction by the Iranian nation if they didn’t pay heed to his warnings. News of Khamenei being abandoned by senior officials is intensifying. It was reported today that the spokesperson for the Guardian Council – Mr. Kadkhodaie – will be resigning soon to focus on teaching. Reports indicate it is a move by Kadkhodaie to distance himself from the government.

12. Grand Ayatollah Abbas-Ali Amid Zanjani – a former chancellor of Tehran University and a member of the Combatant Clergy Association – said today that every healthy mind doubted the impartiality of the election. He said that the large scale arrests of post-election protesters was regrettable and slammed the government for killing protesters and then branding them as rioters.

13. Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the IRG, said today that the IRG had taken a large role in quelling the protests. He said that the opportunity had presented itself and the Guard had to take action in order to restore calm in the country which it did almost flawlessly.


Arrests / Releases / Killed

14. Ahmadi-Mogham, a high-ranking police official in Tehran, today said that the police had not fired a single shot at protesters. He also denied any relationship between plainclothesmen and the police and the Basijis. This comes at a time as more and more sources report that at least 100 people were killed in Tehran during the protests – many of them by Tehran’s police.

15. Reports indicate of the arrest of at least one female French citizen in Iran. It cannot be positively confirm when she was arrested and where she is kept at this point. It has been reported by the BBC that she’s an academic who had spent 5 months in Isfahan and was arrested on her way out of Tehran at the city’s main airport.

16. Farnaz Moyerian, a student activist and reporter, was released today from Evin Prison. It has been reported that Mousavi will be meeting with the families of detained protesters sometime in the next few days to discuss their release.


Communications

17. SMS services have been disconnected in Tehran again. Iran’s national broadcasting agency has been removed again.


Miscellaneous

18. Tehran's Air Pollution Monitor Center warned citizens not to go out on Tuesday as air pollution was above Crisis Level because of recent dust storms. Due to air pollution, all government offices and educational institutions in Tehran will be closed tomorrow. The chants of Allaho Akbar echoed across Iran again at night, even as the roofs could be hardly seen because of low visibility.

<snip>

Link: http://iran.whyweprotest.net/news-current-...

Link: http://jointheimpact.wetpaint.com /

Please keep this kicked for an hour or two?

Thanks!

November 4, 2008 - CNN Ticker

VA/Richmond: Machines down, no paper ballots

Link: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/... /

VA/Fairfax County Machine Problems

Link: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/... /

NJ/Willingboro Machines Broken

Link: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/... /

And the day has just barely begun!!!

If people are reporting problems here, they might just be correct. The earlier we know, the more time to do something about it.

November 4, 2008 - CNN Ticker

VA/Richmond: Machines down, no paper ballots

Link: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/... /

VA/Fairfax County Machine Problems

Link: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/... /

NJ/Willingboro Machines Broken

Link: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/... /

And the day has just barely begun!!!

If people are reporting problems here, they might just be correct. The earlier we know, the more time to do something about it.

From Staff Reports
Published: October 31, 2008

<snip>

North Carolinians believe the Democratic Party is better able than the GOP to handle every major domestic policy issue facing the nation and now show greater levels of support for Democratic candidates in the presidential and U.S. Senate races this fall, according to the latest Elon University Poll.

Democrats receive significantly higher levels of support for their positions on health care, education and for understanding the concerns of the middle class, poll results show. The only area where respondents lend more support to the Republican Party is on managing the war in Iraq.

The state of the economy is at the forefront of this election, with 63 percent of respondents identifying it as the most important statewide issue. When contrasting the two major parties, Democrats were said to be better suited to manage the economy than Republicans at 47 to 39 percent, respectively.

Forty-nine percent of residents hold the Republican Party responsible for the current state of the economy. In regards to managing the economy, 51 percent of residents said Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama would do a better job, while 41 percent felt Republican presidential nominee John McCain would be best suited in this role.

"As the economy dominates the news, it appears to be benefiting Democratic candidates," said Hunter Bacot, director of the Elon University Poll. "The other side of this equation is that citizens are holding the Republicans accountable for the state of the economy."

North Carolina residents placed their support with Democrats on nearly every major issue:

Education: Democrats (54%), Republicans (33%)
Energy Independence: Democrats (50%), Republicans (39%)
Health Care: Democrats (55%), Republicans (33%)
Social Security: Democrats (47%), Republicans (33%)
Home Foreclosures: Democrats (44%), Republicans (34%)
Taxes: Democrats (47%), Republicans (43%)
Financial Crisis: Democrats (48%), Republicans (37%)
Concerns of the Middle Class: Democrats (56%), Republicans (34%)
Iraq War: Republicans (47%), Democrats (45%)

Residents also rated how qualified state and national candidates are in their pursuit of office. Twenty-nine percent of poll respondents identified Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin to be unqualified. Ten percent of respondents said Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden was unqualified.

Conversely, Obama was seen as unqualified by 16 percent of respondents, while 11 percent saw McCain as unqualified.

Because the Elon University Poll does not restrict respondents by voter eligibility or likelihood of voting in an election, residents were asked about which party they support this fall. Their answers:

Presidential election: Democratic (45%) Republican (38%)
Senate election: Democratic (44%), Republican (37%)
Congressional election: Democratic (40%), Republican (34%)
Gubernatorial election: Democratic (40%), Republican (40%)

The poll, conducted Oct. 27 – Oct. 30, surveyed 797 North Carolina residents and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. The sample is of the population in general, with numbers that include both landlines and cellular phones.

<snip>

Link: http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/content/2008... /

The west coasties, plus Hawaii and Alaska, need to GOTV no matter what they're seeing on the tubes election night!

DOES NOT MATTER if it looks like a win\landslide early on...

We NEED EVERYBODY to vote in EVERY TIME ZONE !!!

No relaxing and not voting!

Let there be a real judgment on Republican rule... let there be a true Democratic MANDATE!!!

<snip>

Reuters reports that McCain shared details of Obama's trip to Iraq at a fundraiser:



Josh Marshall points out that there's something very wrong with this:



In fact, McCain was furious when the press reported on his son serving in Iraq -- he feared the coverage would make him a target.

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/18/m...

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG4vJxi9Kis

Just in case we forgot such idiot talk has no consequence.

"I'm a farmer...(interrupted by cheering from the audience)...I don't know how to speak to twenty people at one time, let alone a crowd like this. But I think you people have proven something to the world — not only to the Town of Bethel, or Sullivan County, or New York State; you've proven something to the world. This is the largest group of people ever assembled in one place. We have had no idea that there would be this size group, and because of that you've had quite a few inconveniences as far as water, food, and so forth. Your producers have done a mammoth job to see that you're taken care of... they'd enjoy a vote of thanks. But above that, the important thing that you've proven to the world is that a half a million kids — and I call you kids because I have children that are older than you are — a half million young people can get together and have three days of fun and music and have nothing but fun and music, and I God Bless You for it!"

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcBPYsLFoq0

Peace...

This election for the President of the United States, as it is currently configured, has three historical possibilities. The first Woman president, the first African-American president, or the first Vietnam Veteran president.

This election\primary season (as far as the Democrats are concerned) is gonna have a whole bunch of us, from all points on the political spectrum, going through all sorts of painful self-examination, and dealings\concerns with our coalitions that have banded together in the past.

If you happen to be a Hillary Clinton supporter, some of the shots at HRC have been sexist. Not all, pretty much not most, but certainly some.

If you happen to be a Barack Obama supporter, some of the shots at BO have been racist. Not all, pretty much not most, but certainly some.

My point is that all of us, while trying very hard not to be sexist or racist, grew up in a nation, state, community, family, that WAS sexist and racist.

And I'm not talking Big 'S' sexist, or Big 'R' racist...

There used to be, back in the '70's when I was first being "enlightened" during my college experience, a riddle (told as a story) that went something like this...

"A father and son are on an airplane flying from the west-coast to the east-coast. Over the Appalachian Mountains, the aircraft experiences severe turbulence and crashes into the mountains. Most everybody dies, except for a few survivors. As the rescue crews do their work, they find the boy, barely breathing, but still alive, and manage to get him off the mountain and into a waiting ambulance. The boy's father unfortunately, had died instantly upon impact.

They rush the kid to the nearest Emergency Room, and wheel him in. The team is assembled, and when the boy is brought in, the doctor immediately looks at him and says, "I cannot operate on this boy. He's my son!"

Question: Who is the doctor?

Now if you've heard this before, maybe give it a beat or two before answering. But I can tell you with major confidence, that back in the '70's, it took many minutes of silence before somebody could figure out the answer.

And the fact that these days, the younger generation doesn't take so long to figure it out is a GREAT THING!!! It means that we've actually done our work. Job's not finished by any means, but we are moving in the correct direction.

The fact that young people now can figure it out in a couple of seconds, is 10 times better than the previous generation, and a 100 times better than the generation before that!

I guess what I'm trying to say, is that when we grow up in a sexist\racist world, no matter how hard we try, there will be some of that disgusting crap that rubs off on us, whether we recognize it or not. And with both sides in the Clinton\Obama debate, it's gonna rear its ugly head. Even by the most well intentioned.



Answer: The doctor, was his mother.

Something to listen to, while you view the pictures: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNiv48dSg0Y















Lyrics:

Would you look around you now
And tell me what you see
Faces full of hate and fear
Faces full of me
Do you feel the rumblings
As your head comes crumbling down
Do you know what I mean
Run, you better, run you know
The End is getting near
Feel the wind of something hard
Come whistling past your ear
As they try to get you
Where it will upset you
Down
Now you know what I mean
Someday you will see how long
We've waited for the time
To show you how we've died
To get together with you all

Twist and turn your head around
'Till everything's unclear
Twist and turn your arm around
Until it is not there
And they'd love to burn you
Or at least to turn you around
Now you know what I mean
Can you look around you now
And tell us what's to be
Can you look inside yourself
And tell us what you see
As you feel the rumblings
As your head comes crumbling down
And you know what I mean
Someday you will see how long
We've been waiting for the time
To show you how we've died
To get together with you all

CTA

VIDEO (please watch): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm4F9Q0nH18

I Love y'all!!!

I'm actually (not always) enjoying this election season so far! I mean, once you get away from the back-biting, self-immolation, and "Good-Bye DU" threads, this is pretty great!

A bit of back-story...

Although my old man was a political analyst\reporter when I was a mere lad, and my folks hung out with (and hosted) many a fete with the California Heavy's (state legislators, Governors, et. al.) back in the 60's early 70's, and although I "attended" those parties as a toddler\waif, my first truly political awareness came on November, 22nd, 1963.

I was in the 3rd grade, and I walked home from Alice Birney Elementary School for lunch, and found my mother face down on the couch and bawling. I had no idea what was wrong, but the TV was on and I soon figured it out. We huddled around that TV for the next four or five days trying to fathom what had just happened. My old man was a Navy\Marine guy from WWII, and he just sat there, looking at the TV, fuming. I was getting my first dose of politics, on steroids.

It was that same year, that my best friend at the time, Terry Osuga (we would walk around the school with our arms over each others shoulders being best friends, LOL), brought for show and tell, a book that his father had salvaged from a house somewhere in Europe during WWII. The book was in pristine condition, and showed the Nazi highlights on their rise to power. The photography was outstanding.

What I was too young to realize, was that my best friend's dad had been in one of the few Japanese Battalions allowed to fight in Europe in that war. What had happened to the rest of my best friend's dad's family during the war I have no idea, because I had no knowledge or hint that they might have been rounded up, and sent to camps. All I knew then, is that my best friend had brought this really cool relic of WWII, and we all got to touch it and examine it thoroughly.

The next year, 1964, was the first time that I remember actually watching a political convention. I'm sure my parents had probably watched a convention before, but I have no memory of that. I barely have a memory of the '64 Convention itself, except for this. The night Bobby Kennedy was to speak before the convention, as he was introduced, he came to the podium, and for almost 20 straight minutes the crowd cheered and shouted an applauded. I believe they had just shown a film in memory of his brother John. He tried to start his speech several times, but they wouldn't let him. They kept their standing ovation to the point of exhaustion, and my parents, my sisters and I, even at our tender ages were totally and absolutely in tears.

The following year 1965, my mother had me sit down with her for a talking to. She informed me, that the kids from Argonaut School were gonna be coming to our school from now on. Now you have to understand, that Argonaut School was the Elementary School literally across the tracks from Alice Birney. Seriously. From Alice Birney you could see the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks, as you could from the back (other side of the tracks mind you) of Argonaut. There was a road that could get you from one side of the tracks to the other, and I remember many a times taking that road on my bicycle and wondering why there was some dead animal or another hanging (as in having been hung) from the trestle that went over that adjoining road.

Well, my mom informed me that the kids from Argonaut would look different from what me and my sisters were used to (and I confess that I don't remember if she said negroes, blacks, people of color...) but she warned me that if she EVER heard me use the word "n***er", she'd tan my hide good, and make me eat a bar of soap. I looked at her seriously, and asked, "Ok, but what does that word mean?" She immediately teared up, because we had never used that word in our house. EVER. And none of my friends had ever used it either. It wasn't until Junior High that I was introduced to the world of racial hatred.

And while in Junior High in 1968, after the Reverend Martin Luther King was assassinated, we had race riots. Huge rolling riots where the teachers locked themselves into their room because of fear. And then Bobby Kennedy was assassinated, and then the 68 Democratic Convention, and then Richard Nixon, and Vietnam, and Watergate, and the Ford' Pardon of Nixon, and...

Sorry if I jumped the shark there, but I really am proud of the Democratic field we\they put forth this year, and as much fun is it can be to be a full-blown intra-Democratic partisan, I find myself for some inexplicable reason, enjoying (unlike 2000\2004) this year's race. As long as we don't riot, put each other in camps, or shoot one another, we should be fine.

Could somebody please explain me to me, LOL?

Any NorCal DUer's wanna party ???





Oops... Forgot Links!!!

Info: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/11/2...

Tickets: https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.p...