http://www.democraticunderground.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Sun, 22 Nov 2009 09:24:59 Sun, 22 Nov 2009 09:24:59 The evidence of US culpability in the destruction of democracy in Chile could not be more clear and undeniable. The disclosure of memos from the CIA, National Security Agency and other official sources points incontrovertibly --despite the lengthy catalogue of blatant denials by Henry Kissinger and ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/WinterBybee/29 Mon, 25 Dec 2006 12:27:30 By Roger Bybee

Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet now lies dead in his coffin at 91, disgraced by ever-expanding revelations about the $28 million or more he stashed away in secret accounts drawn from “public service” and his record of death and torture following “the first 9/11”: the US-su... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/WinterBybee/28 Mon, 18 Dec 2006 16:50:09 ‘Last socialist mayor’ in US?
Frank Zeidler’s remarkable legacy
By Roger Bybee

The recent death of Milwaukee’s former mayor Frank Zeidler, 93, an ardent Socialist, ignites memories of a truly remarkable man who combined a lifelong commitment to justice, an unquenchable burning curiosity about ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/WinterBybee/27 Wed, 19 Jul 2006 18:46:50

By Roger Bybee and Carolyn Winter

Peace activists have traditionally longed for the day when the Pentagon would need to hold bake sales to fund their activities while human needs in the US were adequately funded.

Yet this prospect has never been more remote as the current Administration... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/WinterBybee/26 Mon, 17 Jul 2006 21:01:59 Strong Stance on Iraq is Imperative for Democratic Victory

By Roger Bybee and Carolyn Winter

How do the Democrats fantasize that they can make serious advances in the coming mid-term elections without a clear position on the Iraq War, the elephant in the room?

Yet the Democratic leadershi... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/WinterBybee/25 Sun, 09 Jul 2006 21:58:27 GOP seeks to revive estate-tax repeal
With timber tax cut strategy in the Senate

By Roger Bybee and Carolyn Winter

Just when progressives were complimenting themselves on last week’s victory of stopping the estate tax repeal, House Republicans are once again frantically rushing to the rescue ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/WinterBybee/24 Thu, 22 Jun 2006 23:52:52 I, too, was appalled by many of the arguments in George McGovern's recent piece on how labor must stop expecting "more" in the LA Times and Milwaukee Journal. So appalled, in fact, that I sent him a personal message detailing how the most pressing economic problem is hardly working people expecting ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/WinterBybee/23 Sun, 11 Jun 2006 18:43:36 Glad you found the review useful.
Indeed, the only content to the book was conventional wisdom of the most banal variety, and that was provided with a pro-Republican twist. In a sense, Eilperin is like an attorney conceding that her clients engaged in a nasty barroom brawl (with the Democrats bein... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/WinterBybee/22 Sun, 11 Jun 2006 18:26:03 'Fight Club Politics' is an appallingly bad book whose most revealing moment is the elevation of Billy Tauzin--who sold out America's senior citizens to inflate drug industry profits-- and then took at $2 million job with PhRMA--to heroic status for his emphasis on "civility."

One of the many cri... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/WinterBybee/21 Sun, 11 Jun 2006 09:17:20 BOOK REVIEW/’Fight Club Politics’ pulls punches against GOP House dictatorship

Juliet Eilperin, Fight Club Politics: How Partisanship is Poisoning the House of Representatives (NY: Rowman and Littlefield in cooperation with Hoover Institution, 2006) 168 pages, $19.95

By Roger Bybee

Despite ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/WinterBybee/20 Wed, 07 Jun 2006 12:47:11 Repulsive Repeal of the Estate Tax
Reveals Real Bush Agenda, Media Bias

By Roger Bybee and Carolyn Winter

The proposed repeal of the estate tax by the Bush Administration and its allies, especially at a time of record deficits and massive roll-backs in taxes already granted to wealthy citizen... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/WinterBybee/19 Tue, 06 Jun 2006 17:29:25

By Roger Bybee

“Failed state” has become an insult very selectively used by US officials and pundits, hurled at backward nations whose out-of-touch rulers fail cynically to meet the needs of their own people, while operating as out-of-control states refusing to abide by international norms.
... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/WinterBybee/18 Thu, 25 May 2006 18:36:49 When it comes to rock music, the Right clearly has a tin ear, as revealed by the Top 50 choices of conservative rock songs.

1) There's a basic truth about popular music that they utterly fail to comprehend. The message and music transcend the lyrics to convey a much more powerful message. "I Foug... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/WinterBybee/17 Sat, 20 May 2006 09:45:03 The Parallel Universe of Bush Legality

By Roger Bybee and Carolyn Winter

Just as the bloodthirsty bandit leader in the film “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” proclaimed, “We don’t need no stinking badges,” the Bush Administration similarly didn’t see any need to bother with a warrant or permi... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/WinterBybee/16 Wed, 17 May 2006 23:40:49 Dear SoonerShankle:
1) My point was not to express my personal like or dislike about Begala and Carville , but to confront the structural problems facing those of us who want to transform the Democratic Party into a fighting force for economic justice at home and a human-rights-based foreign policy... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/WinterBybee/15 Thu, 11 May 2006 20:35:36 Dear SoonerShankle:
First, I agree that Carville and Begala should be given credit when they are right, as on the absolute centrality of a simple, powerful message. Developing and disseminating such messages has been a major focus of my own work, and I attempted to give C & B due rewards for that p... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/WinterBybee/14 Thu, 11 May 2006 10:33:17 Dear Wisteria:
As I understand your post, you perceived my review of Take It Back as a one-sided criticism of Kerry while neglecting the Republicans' astonishingly sleazy and negative campaign.

Yes, Kerry was the target of a disgusting attack on his military record. Yes, the GOP campaign was sha... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/WinterBybee/13 Thu, 11 May 2006 10:17:49 Yes indeed! Carville & Begala try to conflate narrow legislative proposals that
every group has with the broader progressive agenda they seem to fear.

In fact, about 2/3 of Americans want single-payer health care; 2/3 want an end to job-outsourcing deals like NAFTA (including 57% of Americans e... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/WinterBybee/12 Wed, 10 May 2006 10:46:23 Good question. There are lots of Democrats (and Independents like Bernie Sanders) who are more articulate, more passionate, and actually have substance to offer. But these folks like Russ Fengold, Tammy Baldwin, and Barbara Lee fall outside the image that the Democratic leaders want to project and a... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/WinterBybee/11 Wed, 10 May 2006 10:31:43 Well-stated. Let me begin by giving Begala and Carville due credit for 1) opposing the Iraq War; 2) denouncing Dems who failed to oppose outrageous Republican tax giveaways to the rich and takeaways from the poor; and 3) providing an up-to-date account of Bush's most recent failures like Hurricane K... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/WinterBybee/10 Wed, 10 May 2006 10:25:51 Absolutely. Just think of how Kerry moved the nation in 1971 with his testimony about the pointlessness of more deaths in Vietnam, and then consider his refusal to make the same point about Iraq in 2004. His position on Iraq was so nuanced (a polite term for muddled) as to render the most loyal Demo... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/WinterBybee/9 Wed, 10 May 2006 10:19:09 Love your name as a long-time fan of "the Harder They Come"--film and music.

The Democratic leadership's unwillingness to put forth big ideas--even any ideas--could really result in much smaller and shallower gains for the Dems this fall. Not only may they win fewer seats than they potentially c... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/WinterBybee/8 Wed, 10 May 2006 10:06:56 ‘Take It Back’ won’t ease looming
civil war among Democrats

By Roger Bybee

Beware of Washington Beltway insiders masquerading as streetfighting men.

While attempting mightily to deliver a road map to victory, Democratic consultants Paul Begala and James Carville, in Take It Back: Our Part... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/WinterBybee/7 Tue, 09 May 2006 16:03:28 There is an unmistakeable "blame the victim" mentality underlying much of the furor over immigration. I found a distinct scent of that in one of the responses to our article, and have included my exchange with the respondent (whose name I have excised, since I didn't seek his permission to included ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/WinterBybee/6 Tue, 25 Apr 2006 19:47:38 Contrary to the near-universal claims of the nation's daily press (just 2 of 1,300 dailies opposed NAFTA by my count) and the promises of US corporations themselves (61 of 65 corporations studied by Global Trade Watch reduced their US employment after NAFTA's implementation), the US has lost some 87... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/WinterBybee/5 Tue, 25 Apr 2006 15:34:43