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The daily drip

AUSTIN, Texas -- We need to keep up with the daily drip, that endless succession of special favors for special interests performed by Congress, or we'll never figure out how we got so far behind the eight ball. While the top Bushies lunge about test-driving new wars (great idea -- the one we're having is a bummer, so let's start another!), Congress just keeps right on cranking out those corporate goodies.

Earlier this month, the House effectively repealed more than 200 state food safety and public health protections. Say, when was the last time you enjoyed a little touch of food poisoning? Coming soon to a stomach near you. What was really impressive about H.R. 4167, the "National Uniformity for Food Act," is that it was passed without a public hearing.

"The House is trampling crucial health safeguards in every state without so much as a single public hearing," said Erik Olson, attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council. "This just proves the old adage, 'Money talks.' The food industry spared no expense to ensure passage."

Tsotsi: Social redemption or sentimentality?

Tsotsi: Written and directed by Gavin Hood, based on the book by Athol Fugard. Running time: 94 minutes.

Tsotsi, the recent Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Film, is currently playing at the Drexel East Theater. The film centers on a young hoodlum (Presley Chweneyagae) from the Soweto township of Johannesburg, South Africa. He goes by the name of “Tsotsi,” which is the local street slang for “thug.”

America’s "noble" cause: preserving its right to murder, exploit, torture, and impoverish with impunity

America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between.
---Oscar Wilde

“Why are we over there in Iraq?”
“To protect our freedoms.”
“How are the Iraqis threatening our freedoms?”
“They attacked us on 9/11.”
“If that is true, why are so many Americans against the war?”
“I don’t know, but I think Cindy Sheehan and all the other war protestors should be rounded up and shot.”

I was involved in this exchange with a co-worker about two months ago. I was utterly perplexed at how this individual managed the obvious cognitive dissonance created by thinking that we are fighting to protect our “freedoms” while simultaneously holding the notion that non-violent dissidents “should be rounded up and shot”.

The real problem with Bush's leak

Politicians, pundits, journalists and bloggers have been debating President Bush's ultimate motivation for authorizing the leak of classified information about the Iraq war to Scooter Libby. But the central issue in the case is not whether or not Bush broke the law per se, or whether he sought isolated revenge against Joe Wilson. What's important to understand and determine here is whether or not this leak is part of a much broader scandal; part of the Bush administration's cover-up of a pre-planned invasion of Iraq, and the cherry-picking of intelligence to fit that mission.

Gangster government: a leaky president afoul of 'Little Rico'

It's a crime. No kidding. But the media has it all wrong. As usual.

'Scooter' Libby finally outed 'Mr. Big,' the perpetrator of the heinous disclosure of the name of secret agent Valerie Plame. It was the President of United States himself -- in conspiracy with his Vice-President. Now the pundits are arguing over whether our war-a-holic President had the legal right to leak this national security information. But, that's a fake debate meant to distract you.

OK, let's accept the White House alibi that releasing Plame's identity was no crime. But if that's true, they've committed a BIGGER crime: Bush and Cheney knowingly withheld vital information from a grand jury investigation, a multimillion dollar inquiry the perps themselves authorized. That's akin to calling in a false fire alarm or calling the cops for a burglary that never happened -- but far, far worse. Let's not forget that in the hunt for the perpetrator of this non-crime, reporter Judith Miller went to jail.

Censure movement catching fire

The media has largely been ignoring the fact that the Feingold Resolution to censure George W. Bush has been gaining support among leading Democrats. The Corporate Mainstream Media made it a huge story that the Feingold Censure Resolution did not immediately gain massive public support from other Democratic Senators. Senate Democrats are starting to rally behind the resolution after exploring the issue and examining public opinion on the issue.

Senator Barbara Boxer of California and Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa are now co-sponsors of the Feingold Censure Resolution. Senator Harkin has written an excellent article on the subject titled “Why I Fully Support Bush Censure”.  This article can be read at Tom Harkin.com http://www.tomharkin.com . Former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina recently declared his support of the resolution.

Stunning grassroots congressional challenge may unseat pro-war democrat

Marcy Winograd has strong words for Democratic Congresswoman Jane Harman: "She is pro-war and has voted for the Patriot Act three times. Do we really need her in Congress?"

Winograd, 52, is a grassroots activist who has just won a stunning victory in her challenge for Harman's southern California Congressional seat. In a district pre-endorsement meeting, Winograd won 35% of the delegate vote, denying Harman the 70% she needed to enter the statewide Democratic convention with a clear home district endorsement.

"It's almost unheard of for a six-term Congressional incumbent to walk into the Democratic party convention without a pre-endorsement," says Winograd. "Harman can't possibly feel like she has the backing of the people of the district."

Are mainstream churches finally standing up to the GOP’s hateful “Christian” blitzkrieg?

Right-wing church movements have been a staple of American politics since well before the 1692 witch trials at Salem. But only in the past few decades has the extremist church served as the grassroots base for a new breed of corporate totalitarianism. That unholy union has been nowhere more powerful than here in Ohio, and it has finally provoked a response from the state’s mainstream churches.

With huge torrents of cash from Richard Mellon Scaife, the Ahmanson family and other super-rich ultra-rightists, the fundamentalist church has formed the popular network that has spawned the Bush catastrophe. The totalitarian alliance between pulpit, corporation and military is unique in U.S. history.

DEMAND VOTING RIGHTS FOR KATRINA SURVIVORS

New Orleans Stands Up By Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. 4/4/2006 - Tribune Media Services
Thousands of New Orleans residents marched on Saturday to demand the right to vote. They marched across the Mississippi River Bridge where Gretna police had repelled residents as they tried to escape the horrors of Katrina. Forty years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act, African Americans once more must march to gain the right to vote.

There's an election called for New Orleans on April 22, but the South has always had elections. After centuries of slavery and segregation, the reason for the Voting Rights Act was to defend the right of blacks to vote. The Act requires the federal government clear ahead of time - preclearance - any changes in voting procedures to protect against any trick or scheme that would dilute the voting rights of minorities in those areas of the country with a history of discrimination.

ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT AGAINST GEORGE W. BUSH

The ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT AGAINST GEORGE W. BUSH by the Center for Constitutional Rights (Melville House). Impeachment Book can serve as a useful handbook. It states the case for impeachment clearly, concisely, and persuasively. It is not a polemic, and you don’t have to be an attorney to comprehend what it says. It includes:

€ the case exactly as it could be presented by the House of Representatives to the Senate . . .
€ necessary evidence and legal precedents for each article of impeachment . . .
€ what the Constitution says about impeachment . . .
€ a brief history of impeachment . . .
€ the rules of procedure . . .
€ the articles of impeachment brought against previous presidents, Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton, for comparison . . .
€ a “webliography” including links to numerous other resources and groups on the Web . . .

Melville House Publishing has launched a campaign on its website where people can send a copy to their congressperson and the publisher will pay the shipping and handling costs.

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