I did a diary search and couldn't find another post on this in the past quarter, surprisingly.  If it has been and "Operation Chaos" wasn't in the title, mea culpa.

Before the PA primary, my radar went up when I heard of the tremendous number of newly registered Dems and how a good percentage were former Republicans.

Now, it would be nice if all 120,000 new voters, and 86,000 voters who switched from Republican to Democratic party affiliation in Pennsylvania since January 1 had pure motives.  

But go below to see how the plot thickens.

Without going into too much of the backstory, know I'm a college grad with strong professional credentials and an impressive resume, my husband was with a major company for eight years, earning accolades for his professionalism, work ethic and etc.

It never occurred to us we'd both be laid off in the same six month timeframe and out of work with no benefits to speak of.

We have a home, two cars, (had) a nice life.  It hasn't come crashing down, but there's this pervasive sense of insecurity in all we do now.

Reasoning behind my support for John Edwards below the fold.

Let's go back, way back to 2003 when the case was made to go to war with Iraq.  

It is now known that Dick Cheney's office was instrumental in the effort, as he is now pushing to go to war with Iran.

His evidence, testimony, and key information came from who?  Remember?

Cheney and company built a plan around Ahmed Chalabi, their primary source for pre-war information about Iraq, the man on whom they pinned the hopes of the new Iraq, the man they intended to install as the new Prime Minister of Iraq once Saddam was outsted.

Their respect and appreciation of Chalabi's contribution was so great, according to a Think Progress summary of Tenet's book You had the impression that some Office of the Vice President and DOD reps were writing Chalabi’s name over and over again in their notes, like schoolgirls with their first crush. Tenet wrote.

And what happened?

THEY WERE PLAYED BY IRAN and now Dick wants retribution. Oddly (or not), this is not at all reported by the media when reporting about the Iranian threat.  The monster created by our own Vice President Cheney.  

Our chief diplomatic officer these days?

I don't watch the news 24-7, but it seems to me when Petraeus said there is no military solution on Iraq back in March, it should have been code for "Paging Dr. Rice, Dr. Rice needed in the Green Zone, stat!"

But no...

Then counter with Bush, in executing wars on two fronts, is weakening America!  

Republicans, Reagan supporters simply cannot have it both ways.  

Disconcerting cites supporting the weakening of the U.S. armed forces and why it's so critical below:

Something was confirmed in Dan Fromkin's White House Watch that some of us suspected from '04:

In his Friday WHW he wrote:
"Rove lieutenant Matthew Dowd apparently acknowledged during a conference at Harvard shortly after the 2004 election (that) during the primaries, Rove was considerably more afraid of then-Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina than of Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, Dowd said."

Fromkin's lead in to this article is based on his curiousity over Rove's very early and strong attacks on only one opponent: Hillary Clinton and the suspicion Rove is doing this to ensure the party rallies around her.  

I'm not an I.T. pro, but it seems that there needs to be another type of measurement of a candidate's success as relates to this upcoming presidential election, instead of the media's beloved "fundraising gauge."

As we all know, Hilary is well out ahead of all other Dem candidates and while that does indicate a level of support, to me, it shows support by the corporatocracy (including, let's not forget, Rupert Murdoch, majority shareholder of NewsCorp, Fox, etc.)  

To me, a fairer matrix of the level of support each candidate garners comes from the commitment of the candidate's volunteers.  

Follow me below for more.

Lincoln Chaffee, in a very clear and concise Op Ed in the New York Times today explains it.  

In summary, it was an amendment proposed by Sen. Levin just 11 hours before the actual vote to authorize the war took place and in nearly a mirror-image vote, those who opposed the Levin amendment (called the Multilateral Use of Force Authorization Act of 2002) voted for the authorization which led to the Iraq war, including all of the Senatorial candidates that are running for presidency today.

Levin's amendment, as Chaffee writes, "called for United Nations approval before force could be authorized. It was unambiguous and compatible with international law. Acutely cognizant of the dangers of the time, and the reality that diplomatic options could at some point be exhausted..."

Follow below the fold for more.

McCain and the “last push crowd” are OK with the fact that Army combat and support units scheduled to deploy to Iraq in 2007 will have less than the required one year period for rest and re-training, and far less than the two years General Peter Pace recently told a bunch of National Guard and Reservists.  (That is already happening, by the way... I spoke with an officer from the 101st Airborne Unit based in Clarksville, TN who’s been back about a month.  He said he is due to go back within 250 days.

Backstory:  Lamar Alexander is up for re-election in '08.  He's got a good pedigree (according to Tennessee Republicans and the mindless rest), having been Secretary of Education, Governor, and now, adding Senator to his resume.  He has also tossed his name into the ring for Minority Whip.  Bad news for any possible Dem Opposition in '08 (Namely, Harold Ford Jr. who we hope we can entice...)

The following, though, from The Hill, is good news: He's got opposition.  See below the fold.

And I bring hope:  

I was there to watch the polls at the end of the day, and had several umbrellas cause it was pouring, offering them to all who came to vote.  Depsite the rain, voters came.  In droves.

I was told turnout was greater there than it was during the '04 election.  

Keep the hope alive.  '69 Mets, '80 USA Hockey Team, Harold Ford Jr.  Keep the hope alive.

I knew it was a fluke!

Ford's internals showed him ahead by 6, temper that with some oversampling of D's and you get near break-even.

Corker's internals showed Corker ahead by 1, temper that, too with some oversampling of R's.

This race is dead-even, neck and neck and the latest Zogby cancels out all others as outliers.  

Read below:

So there I am, waiting for an event to start with Harold Ford Jr. and there's a guy waiting too.

I see the bus outside and know it's the Ford Campaign bus driver, waiting to pick the Congressman up from a flight across the state.  

"So, how long you been with him?"

"I've been driving him around for eight weeks now," Charles or Charlie the Vietnam Veteran who could pass for a redneck says.

"You support him, do you?"

move on to hear his reply

Is it fear-mongering if it is true?


Despite pronouncements that the army is making its enlistment goals, I can tell you from experience this is clearly not the case.


Case in point.  Son #1.  Served in the Marines during two deployments to Iraq and two more counter-terrorism deployments. He was honorably discharged last year, got a great job, started college at night and is living the life of any good civilian.

)
He was called to "muster" last weekend and said after extensive conversations with commanding officers, it is very likely he'll be one of the Marines called back.  (Remember that news announcement this summer?The actually call up will take place after the elections.


Follow below the fold for the other son's story.

 
Monday, October 16, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NATIONAL CONTACT:        Matt Cary, President                    Tel: (202) 841-1687                    president@vmfp.org

21st Century non-partisan, non-profit Veterans and Military Family organization endorses additional candidates nationwide for House and Senate seats in November.

Announcing the Formation of a New 21st Century Veterans and Military Family Organization that Intends to Get Political!

Washington, DC:
 
Veterans and Military Families for Progress (VMFP) claims there will be "no mas" for lawmakers that offer only lip service to the military and veterans of America, and fail to back up their words with legislative action.

 
Unlike other veterans service organizations, VMFP advocates on issues of policy affecting veterans, military personnel and their families; endorses and works on behalf of candidates for public office who support our issues; and welcomes family members who participate fully in the organization.  



Follow me below the fold for more:

Sad but true, this article in the local Gallatin News Examiner.


The homes have been sitting at this manufacturer's site for some time, 100 in all. My guess is, since the "parking lot" of FEMA homes were discovered, as in North Carolina where there were, as of February, 509 stranded, and Arkansas which stored 10,000 as of early March,  Mississippi or wherever that other mass of homes was discovered recently.  

More below the fold
 

I woke up from a nightmare this morning, one I've had intermittently for three years.  I am a mother enduring a third deployment of a son to Iraq and feel powerless in the face of this immoral and grave experience.

    I say immoral because, whether this for-profit war was justified or not, it was immoral to send troops to war without proper equipment, armor, or supplies. Three years in, my son lives in a shelled-out building without running water, with no electricity, and dines on one freeze-dried Meal a day. To provide sustenance, I send canned pasta meals, and tuna fish and mayonnaise packets.
   
Another son went into battle three years ago in this for-profit war-of-choice and I devoured CSpan's coverage of the run-up to the war. We went in there under false pretenses. History will decide whether it was honest mistake or intentional.  




Follow the jump for the conclusion to this tome