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.
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.
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.
Former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor spoke at Georgetown on Friday, and the only coverage her speech got was by Nina Totenberg of NPR. (See, there remains one voice of quasi-independence in the media, still to be squashed!)
Anyho, in her speech, she warned of judicial activism of right wing forces, and a weakening of the judiciary in the face of stronger exec and legislative branches.
Make the jump with me and see what darker gloom she forecast if things are not changed, with a link of links.
"I look around me and I see Wall Street executives being dragged away in handcuffs. I see a national deficit so high that I can't count the zeroes. I see the government paying farmers not to plant their land while the homeless go hungry on the streets. Something's rotten out there - and it's not in Denmark."
"The only way to get this country back on track is to return to good old-fashioned horse sense. We've got to start with the basics: how we raise our kids, how we care for our sick and homeless, what it is each of us truly believes. And we've got to remember what America stands for, so that we can take our tarnished values and make them shine again."
- Lee Iacocca from his 1984 book, Talking Straight
I've read loads of posts on Reid's action yesturday, and while I totally agree that it is one hell of a shot across the bow of the Republican thugs, I think it needs to be clear:
The focus of his action needs to be soley on the runup to the Iraq war. To bring Alito's nomination into it only clouds the waters as the Republicans intend.
Iraq. War of choice. Focus!
On so many levels, this administration failed or manipulated evidence or actions to build the case for war. A modest list below the fold, which you're invited to add to.
The fix, the new WAPO blog by Chris Cillizza, points out that Repub benefactors of Rove Fundraising efforts will be compelled to return money from events he oversaw if he is indicted. I'm not sure if it's law or not, but, according to Cillizza (and the press in general) Rove has canceled a handful of recent events, including a fundraiser in Fairfax, Va., on Oct. 15, and another in Greenwich, Conn., to benefit the RNC two days later. That is old news.
But what was news to me, at least, is that, according to The Fix, "Should Rove be indicted, expect Democrats to immediately call on candidates and committees to return all campaign cash that he helped raise. How many Republicans bow to the pressure (and how quickly) would be an interesting study in political self-preservation."
A list of those campaign fund recipients below the fold.
It is time for the Democratic party to formulate that cohesive, solid message that has been wanting for so very long.
Here on this great blog, the ideas have been postulated and gathered, and now, in the face of this administration's shortcomings To it's very own party is the time for all good men to come to the aid, not just of their own party, but of the country
more below the fold, of my idealistic cookie cutter campaign for America:
Now this is purely speculation but I'll explain my rationale afterwards, so bear with me.
The Senate has a Job Posting Bulletin Board that lists job openings in various senator's and committees offices.
In my quest for riches, I've visited the site weekly since the Elections last November. There were always a mix of jobs, Dem to Rep, and it seemed there were more Dem openings than others.
Lately, though, it looks like Republicans are jumping ship at a fast rate and I just wanted to throw the observation out there and see if anyone else is observing signs of confirmation that things ain't going so well for the righties?
First, there was a diary posted on this two days ago that only got four responses and imho bears repeating for it's importance.
Second, since I've received a couple of bashings for reposting similar stuff, I did a search and found no other link to this piece in The Hill which elaborates on Goodman's work on this.
Finally, a rant and question veering off topic slightly, but it's one that's been bothering me since the start of all this: Where is Laura Bush and why is Al Gore taking the Eleanor Roosevelt and Princess Diana role and not her?
Below is testimony by Eric Tolbert, former Director of FEMA's response division who left late last year to become CFO for an energy company. Sadly, it seems his leadership, expertise and coordination skills were sorely missed here (though I could name a few others who failed to lead as well).
Below is testimony he gave before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee back in 2003 relating to FEMA's efforts to prepare for and deal with Hurricane Isabel which hit the east coast in Sept. of that year.
The telling thing in all this is how proactive the agency was, and how well-coordinated with a wide range of other federal agencies days before the hurricane struck the Outer Banks.
This, sadly in striking contrast to the "on holiday" approach to this tragedy where "Nobody could have anticipated..." Bullshit is spouted.
First, background, it is from a city administrator who I respect. With years as a firefighter, Vietnam War medic, and City Fire Chief who was at the cleanup of 9/11, I want to understand and get through these arguments to the honest-to-god truth about the initial evacuation.
After the first, short and reasoned arguments, there's another post I received on a military e-mail list I'm on which I of course blased for this. The bullshit from the second (in italics) makes me sick and I hesitated sharing this but would love to refute it point by point.
At least in the questions it has been posing to McClellan, as in Yesterday's Grilling.
Not many Gannon's in the crowd that I could see, as in these questions:
Q Scott, the reality at hand right now is that the President said that we still live in an unsettled world. This is an administration that has told us since 9/11 that it's not a matter of "if," but "when" that we could be struck by a terror attack and, obviously, other disasters that are the result of Mother Nature. So at this point, where is the accountability? Is the President prepared to say where this White House, where this administration went wrong in its response to Katrina?
McClellan's answers, of course are pure bullshit and I won't waste the space. But here are more questions, below the fold:
Think about it, the Bush family, and its history in Eugenics, and what we have just witnessed in the Gulf Region. Surely there were emergency planners that were aware the buses and Amtrak had left town before Katrina struck?
Surely they KNEW that tens of thousands would be "left behind?"
This is another one of those "nah, it could NEVER really be that blatant" moments, isn't it?
Kind of like invading a country unprovoked?
or could incompetence and lack of planning REALLY be the excuse?
I've been covering the relief efforts from our Middle Tennessee region and to me, at least it is clear that this administration didn't start taking this seriously until THURSDAY!!! THURSDAY!!!
more below the fold
I rarely watch TV anymore, and when I do, it's not the morning shows, but this morning, I was compelled to watch, since Harry Connick Jr. was to be on NBC's Today show.
It was touching, he was horrified, and his voice was almost spent from clearly, doing what needs to be done down there, sharing a glimmer of hope, shining the light on humanity.
He recounted to Katie Couric the ease he had getting down to the convention center, the reported "looting" being measures of survival by those who've gone without for four days now.
I honestly don't know what to say about this, it's open for comments. It's posted in it's entirety.
"Vox Taciturn pointed me towards this story, which has been making the rounds in the last couple of days. A breathtaking story that points out heroism and great leadership."
