Grieving Parents

I would never deny the right of anyone to grieve the loss of their child; but I have to question the thought processes behind those who honor their fallen soldier children by NOT speaking out against a war they themselves find wrong.

Such are the cases of several parents in the San Francisco Chronicle this morning.

The Chronicle interviewed parents and other family members who'd lost children to the war in Iraq. Many had gone to protest in Crawford with Cindy Sheehan. Some were pro war. And then there were the ones who said they themselves were opposed to the war but could not protest it out of respect for their fallen soldier children. Loretta Bridges is one such mom:

"My son believed in what he was doing," Bridges said. "I would never go protest against what he believed in and died for."

Another parent, Mark Crowley, also did not support the war:

"His belief was, this was about our freedom," he said. "He did it for country, family and friends."

As for protesting the war, Crowley said, "it's not about what I want, it's about what he wanted."

I'm sorry, I know it's hard to think your children died in vain; but how is this different from grieving parents of Jonestown Massacre victims, saying, "It was what my son wanted. He drank the Kool Aid because he believed in it," and thereby sanctioning the lunatic cult of Jim Jones?

Or the parents of the Heaven's Gate cult, who believed the Hale Bopp comet was accompanied by a space ship and that by "shedding their containers" (read bodies) on earth, they'd be beamed up the Mother Ship? Would they support space alien worship, because it's what their kids wanted?

I think not.

If the war was wrong before your child was killed, isn't it all the more wrong now that he's given the "ultimate sacrifice" for the cult of George Bush? Wouldn't you honor their deaths more by denouncing the war machine that sent them into a meaningless battle without proper equipment, without adequate rationale, without any plan to get them out of there?

What we are doing in Iraq isn't any different from asking people to drink the Kool Aid. Only worse, because thousands of innocent non-believers (we call them Iraqi citizens) are forced to drink right along with the believers.

Honor your fallen soldiers by grieving their death, respecting their memory and mourning their gullibility. Your anger could help other parents not have to go through what you have.

STUPID DESIGN

I hear there's something called "Intelligent Design" to explain all the strange and unknowable things about our world.

Like how come there are black widow spiders? And why do penguins go marching?

I'd like to know how come there are so many people doing so many really dumb things like those bank robbers you read about writing their demand note on their deposit slip.

And how about the lady who ate 24 pizzas and then exploded? Is that intelligent I ask you?

No, and that's just the tip of the unseen iceberg. Which brings up another thing. Why are the icebergs melting? OK, you can talk about global warming, but I think it's Stupid Design.

Stupid Design to have so many different types of life forms that have to go around eating each other. And that's not counting stupid people, or shall we say intelligence challenged?

If the designer of this planet was so intelligent, that intelligence ought to have considered things like global warming in the first place. If you were writing your company's business plan you'd have something in there for contingencies, wouldn't you?

I'd say global warming is a honking big contingency.

I'm inclined toward believing the designer of our earth was some big dumb alien. I know people like to think a Supreme Being did all this, but what kind of Supreme Being puts George Bush in charge? Unless this planet is just a dumping ground for nature's mistakes. But if you believe in Intelligent Design by a Supreme Being, there wouldn't be any mistakes right? What good is a Supreme Being who makes mistakes?

So that brings us back to Stupid Design and a dumb alien doing the designing. Maybe we're a Junior High School experiment. I could see that. Junior High School students I've known are totally capable of coming up with the concept of creatures that devour their mate just for the grossness factor.

Maybe not Stupid Design then, but just thoughtless, adolescent design. Maybe someday, the alien mom and dad will step in and clean up the kid's mess. But somehow I doubt it. I think we're on our own, along with the marching penguins and melting ice. If the mother ship does return someday, I may ask to go along on the ride home.

PRACTICAL POLITICS CLASS FOR YOU

All you would be politicians and s*** disturbers, listen up! (Yes, this is a family Blog - so we keep it civilized)

Any of you in the San Francisco Bay Area can sign up for my Practical Politics seminar at the College of Marin on September 17th.

Details below.

If you're not in the Bay Area, or can't make it, I do activist trainings throughout Northern California and am happy to travel to you. The classes are fun and I learn just as much from you as you (hopefully) do from me.

There's lots of work to do and we can do it better together!

Read on.

Dotty

Practical Politics

The Nuts and Bolts of Grassroots Activism

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever does" -Margaret Mead

Learn effective political techniques whether you are running for office, lobbying elected officials or creating a "buzz" for your cause. Topics include:

Developing a grassroots strategy
Frame that issue! (or what we can learn from Karl Rove)
Recruiting and training volunteers
Getting the Press you deserve
Creating effective campaign materials
Identifying natural and unlikely allies
Know your opposition
Dialing for dollars
New Section: Running for Office: How to decide what's right for you!

Handouts and a bibliography will be available.

Read George Lakoff's Don't Think of An Elephant before class if possible. Widely available in paperback. Handouts and bibliography will be provided. Please bring a bag lunch.

Dotty E. LeMieux has more than 20 years of grassroots activism under her belt, and currently runs progressive political campaigns and trains grassroots activists throughout Northern California. She served as California Political Director for Dennis Kucinich's Presidential Campaign.

Saturday, 10am-4pm
Sept. 17
Kentfield Campus, Harlan Center 171
Fee $37 (Includes $7 materials fee)
Course #8431 EC

Call (415) 485-9305 to register or register online at:



Dotty E. LeMieux
Green Dog Campaigns
(415) 383-3715
del@greendogcampaigns.com

OUR PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS IS OFFICIAL!

Wow! After all this time, the CDP has officially recognized our Progressive Caucus at this weekend's E-Board meeting in Sacramento. It's been a long haul and we are grateful that the Rules Committee saw fit to realize that we represent a large and growing group of Democrats who want to see our Party flourish while moving in a more progressive direction.

Go to this site for more info:

http://www.progressivecaucusCDP.org

Dotty

CONDALEEZZA RICE EXORCISES THE NEWS HOUR

On Jim Lehrer last night Condaleezza Rice got a chance to weave her spell. Got to hand it to the lady. She looks him right in the eye and doesn't twitch or blink excessively when she accuses people of "making excuses" for terrorism.

Here's an exact transcript of the segment followed by how I wish the rest of the interview had gone:


TRANSCRIPT:

JIM LEHRER: What about the additional element here that, increasingly, terrorism experts and Muslim experts are saying that the combination of Iraq and other foreign policy decisions by the United States are actually creating more terrorists every day than they are eliminating them.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE: When we are going to stop making excuses for the terrorists? The terrorists on Sept. 11 attacked the United States. We weren't in Iraq. We weren't even in Afghanistan on Sept. 11.

They have attacked in places that had no forces in either place. They've attacked all over the world. They've attacked in Morocco and in Bali and in Egypt and in London and in Madrid.

When are we going to stop making excuses for the terrorists and saying that somebody is making them do it? No, these are simply evil people who want to kill. And they want to kill in the name of a perverted ideology that really is not Islam, but they somehow want to claim that mantle to say that this is about some kind of grievance. This isn't about some kind of grievance. This is an effort to destroy, rather than to build.

And until everybody in the world calls it by name -- the evil that it is -- stops making excuses for them, then I think we're going to have a problem. And I hope that after the bombings of innocent people in London, innocent people at Sharm el-Sheikh, innocent children in Iraq, that people will call this by name and stop making excuses for these people.

No one is making them do it. They're doing it because they want to create chaos and to undermine our way to life.

END REAL TRANSCRIPT, START FANTASY TRANSCRIPT:

Lehrer: Wow, you said it four times in one monologue. People are making excuses for the terrorists. Care to elaborate?

Condi: I said what I said. People make excuses. It's the liberal media, wanting to give them therapy and understanding. They don't need therapy; they need exorcism.

Lehrer: That's a tall order. Exorcism. Does that mean you think they have the Devil inside?

Condi: They're terrorists. Nobody made them do it. They're evil.

Lehrer: Wait a minute, if they're evil and need exorcism, didn't the Devil make them do it; isn't that what you're saying?

Condi: Stop twisting my words. They're evil and they like to kill. Stop making excuses.

Lehrer: Who's making excuses. Did the Devil make them do it or not?

Condi: That's not for me to say.

Lehrer: But how do they get to be evil? Are they born that way, or is it a lifestyle choice?

Condi: It's a choice, it's the way they are; it's not for me to say. Stop putting words in my mouth!

Lehrer: Is it like being gay?

Condi: That's a lifestyle choice and I'm here to talk about evil, and people who want to kill Americans and undermine our way of life.

Lehrer: Because they're evil?

Condi: And they want to create chaos. It's just how they are. They hate Americans and our way of life, and I wish people would stop trying to make excuses.

Lehrer: But why do they hate our way of life?

Condi: I keep telling you, they're evil; they're perverted and evil and they hate us and they like to kill. Got it? Hate us. Like to kill.

Lehrer: And we hate them and looks like we like to kill them too. Or torture them; what about Abu Graib?

Condi: What about it? Those people are evil.

Lehere: The detainees or the ones torturing them?

Condi: We don't torture people. And anyway, I told you, they're evil. Kill the evil. Kill the Devil. Anyway, it's exorcism. Cleansing. You liberals ought to like that.

Lehrer: So is this a Christian thing? A Catholic thing?

Condi: Let me be perfectly clear. We are not advocating one religion over the other. Most Muslims are good people. It’s the perverted ones, the evil ones, don’t you get it?

Lehrer: I guess not. So do you think our killing them is helping? I mean, are we getting rid of the Devil if we kill them?

Condi: Exorcising them. Exorcising the Devil. Stop making excuses.

Lehrer: OK, let’s move on. About John Bolton

Condi: Man of peace. Whip that evil UN into line. I mean exorcise it. Look at all the evil countries on the Security Council. There's a lot of work to do there, let me tell you.

NEW CLASS IN PRACTICAL POLITICS SEPTEMBER 17

Another Activist Training Class in PRACTICAL POLITICS is coming up September 17, at the College of Marin.

Here's an example of some of the things we will be discussing this time.

Save the date. More to come.

Any questions, email me at del@greendogcampaigns.com

Our last class filled up, so register early!

Dotty

Pay for NO Services

I see in today's San Francisco Chronicle that Wells Fargo Bank is willing to let you not have your identify stolen if you pay them $12.99 a month.

In the same edition, an outfit called Direct Marketing Association will put your name on the Do Not Call list for a mere $1. There's only one catch. You have to be dead.

Otherwise, your family will be bombarded with telemarketers trying to sell their deceased loved ones goods and services, cemetery plots and wreaths I presume.

We already learned that magazines are the gift that keeps on giving unless you take affirmative steps to cancel instead of using that old fashioned method of letting the subscription lapse.

What's next? Will the IRS stop sending you tax bills after you lose your job for a mere $5.00 per month?

Will magazine and newspapers subscriptions returned marked "deceased" on them, be discontinued only if accompanied by a $20 bill?

Will your credit card company promise not to broadcast your secret pin number on the internet if you cough up $5.99 with each purchase.

It's enough to make you want to join the economic underground. In my youth, cash was king and most of my friends kept their "savings" in a jewelry box or cookie jar, but that was only because as starving students, our savings amounted to a few dollars, and lasted only a few days.

We didn't need banks or credit cards, and we didn't have the internet to purchase items on, so identity theft was kept to a minimum: younger siblings "borrowing" our driver's license for a night on the town; pizzas being ordered by rival fraternity houses.

Property theft was kept in check too. Not too many burglars coveted the ancient black and white TV inherited from parents, or the 8 track tape player. Mortgages were unheard of.

This new fervor for charging you NOT to be ripped off is really nothing new. Anyone familiar with gangster movies, most of them starring Robert Di Niro, knows the ploy. Pay up or get your kneecaps whacked.

Who'd a thunk the Mob would take over all the financial institutions of this country? But then, who'd a thunk Alfred E. Newman would be in the White House?

Kudos for Lynn Woolsey

Here are some comments by that erudite scholar, Thomas Gangale, author of the innovative approach to Presidential primary campaigns originally known as the "California Plan."

Tom will comment more on this after this post, so go to the comment section and check in.

Let the Green Dog know what you think.

Dotty

Here's Tom's post on our very own Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey:

Woolsey's Sound Bites for Peace

Copyright 2005 by Thomas Gangale


In reading Chris Coursey's "Opposing War in Five-Minute Increments," which
appeared in the "Santa Rosa Press Democrat" on March 28, 2005, I gained an
increased admiration for Rep. Lynn Woolsey. Her lonely evening vigil in the
nearly-deserted House chamber, where she bears witness to the folly and
evil of war, may seem quixotic on the surface. On the contrary, her
campaign against the Iraq War is exactly the sort that one should wage
against an opponent of superior force: small, incremental victories that
wear down that opponent over time. It is the strategy of Fabius over
Hannibal, Washington over Cornwallis, Giap over Abrams.

Nearly 2200 years ago, Marcus Porcius Cato the Censor invented the sound
bite by ending every speech in the Roman Senate, regardless of its subject,
with the words "Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam" -- "In
conclusion, I believe that Carthage must be destroyed." One can imagine
that Cato's colleagues thought him quixotic, and some may have laughed at
him in secret when he brandished a branch of figs, allegedly of
Carthaginian origin, as "proof" of Carthage's resurgence as a Mediterranean
power and a mortal threat to Rome. Yet armed with this flimsy evidence,
much as Colin Powell played tape recordings to the UN Security Council two
years ago, Cato eventually won the day. Carthage was destroyed.

But Cato could not have foreseen the consequences of victory. Whereas many
of his contemporaries were only too glad to believe that Rome's pre-emptive
war against Carthage was an act of self-defense, history has judged
otherwise. Rome paid dearly for its hubris; in the course of the next
century its republic was battered down by its own imperialism. Rome was
destroyed.

Quo vadis, America?

It is a historical fact that the persistent drumbeat of oratory can drive a
great nation down the road to war. Perhaps our generation can answer this
question: can the patient vigil of one person of conscience move a great
nation down the road to peace?

In conclusion, I believe that Lynn Woolsey must be reelected.

-----

Thomas Gangale is an aerospace engineer and a former Air Force officer. He
is currently the executive director at OPS-Alaska, a think tank based in
Petaluma, California, and an international relations scholar at San
Francisco State University. He is the author of the California Plan to
reform the presidential nomination process.

PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS WEBSITE AND NEWSLETTER

We must be official! We now have a website and newsletter for the California Democratic Progressive Caucus. This is YOUR home if you are a progressive Democrat and want to meet like minded individuals and help advance progressive values.

The website is http://progressivecaucuscdp.org Go there and sign up for the newsletter or to work on a committee or support progressive legislation.

Here are some excerpts from the first newsletter:

IMPEACHMENT RESOLUTION SUBMITTED BY PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS!

Submitted to the Resolutions Committee of the CDP this past week, the impeachment resolution is the talk of the town!

special thanks to Joye Swan for the crafting of this critical resolution!

"WHEREAS, the Downing Street Meeting Minutes show that President George W. Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld began planning and executing the illegal war against and occupation of Iraq before seeking Congressional and UN approval;

WHEREAS, UN weapons inspectors showed prior to the invasion that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq; and

WHEREAS, there is further mounting evidence that the Administration lied to or misled the American people and the world about IraqÂ’s weapons capacity and plotted to commence war proceedings prior to seeking UN or Congressional approval as revealed by the following statements contained in the 2002 Downing Street Meeting Minutes, "Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action! , justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Progressive Caucus asks Congress to immediately begin impeachment proceedings against President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld.


You are encouraged to take these resolutions and get them passed, or endorsed by any other clubs or groups you are additionally affiliated with, and contact the Progressive Caucus about sponsorship;

progressivecaucusCDPinfo@hotmail.com

Now is the time.

This is the place.

Progressives unite.

Green Dog Democrats Bite the Right!

FIFTY OVER FIFTY

The first few nominations are coming in for Fifty Over Fifty. We Boomers and older folk need to celebrate our acheivements. I can think of several. But I want to hear from you. Who has done something wonderful, artistic, innovative, amazing, etc. after the age of fity?

Here are two to get the ball rolling!


I nominate Lynne Twist..

A global activist, author, and fundraiser who has raised more than $150 million in individual contributions for charitable causes, has dedicated years of her life to the eradication of hunger on the planet and plays an active role in The Pachamama Alliance support indigenous people She demonstrates the human qualities of deep compassion for humanity, vision for a workable future, understanding of complex global problems and a desire to make a difference one person at a time! Thanks Judy


Wendi Kallins

In 1999, Wendi Kallins, then 47, began research into a program that would
encourage children to explore transportation alternatives, while using the
"Walkability Audit", a citizen's process for creating more walkable
communities, specifically for schools. She found the Safe Routes to Schools
program in England and Canada, which was exactly this combination.

Working with friend, Deb Hubsmith, they put together a number of grants, including being designated a "national model" program by the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration. With cash in hand she launched the Marin County Safe
Routes to Schools program. In two years they had succeeded in increasing
the number of kids walking and biking in their pilot schools from 21% to
38%. The County of Marin Congestion Management Agency adopted the program
and it soon grew to over 40 schools.

Last year they were able to reduce traffic congestion by 13% in participating schools. the program promotes a healthy lifestyle, reduced congestion and pollution and helps to create more livable communities. Now, at age 53, Wendi is recognized as one of the national leaders in the Safe Routes to Schools movement and travels the country speaking at conferences, conducting trainings and consulting with
other SR2S programs. Marin County passed a 1/2 cent sales tax which includes 11% funding for Safe Routes to Schools including money for the program, crossing guards and infrastructure.
Wendi

Wendi Kallins
Program Director
Safe Routes to Schools


More to come. Send in your own now. Don't be shy. Nominate yourself!

And more have come in:

Interesting to note, so far they are all women!

Cool. Here they are:

Hi Dotty,

I'd like to nominate Barbara George from Women's Energy Matters who
works away defending us from Utility corruption and 'impostors' like
CPUC commissioner Susan Kennedy, with humor and flare at the CPUC -
all basically under the radar. Her website is
www.womensenergymatters.org. She has been living in Fairfax for the
last 6 months.

Thanks ,
Rebekah Collins

I would like to nominate Joyce Seigel. Joyce has been a tireless worker for Gun Control in Marin County. She is responsible for an ordinance which banned in-home gun dealers in San Rafael, she worked to rid the county of Saturday Night specials, and she was instumental in getting the ordinance passed that banned firarms and ammunition on County property. (Because of this ordinance, Marin no longer hosts a gun show on Thanksgivig weekend.) She volunteers weekly for Legal Community Against Violence, LCAV. Joyce is a housewife and is little bit over 50, but is dedicated to making the county safer.

Barbara Matas

Dotty, Katherine Graham popped in my mind first thing. Here is what is said about her on the web site (which I found by googling). It was obviously written before her death. She became president of the Washington Post Company at 46 and publisher at 52. Does that qualify? From http://www.sacbee.com/static/archive/news/projects/people_of_century/sci_biz/graham.html:

Mike


From attending movies with Henry Kissinger to helping expose the Watergate scandal, Katherine Graham has been always been in the spotlight.

Her remarkable ability to assume the publishership of a major national newspaper, The Washington Post, and control of a Fortune 500 company, the Washington Post Co., was an incredible accomplishment for anyone, particularly a woman in the 1960s.

In her Pulitzer Prize-winning memoirs, "Personal History," Graham shared the story of her rise to success. Hers is a tale filled with characters such as Warren Buffet, Robert McNamara and George Schultz.

Graham's father was a multimillionaire who in 1933 decided to leave private business and restore the down-and-out Washington Post.

After much success, he died in 1946. He left the newspaper to Graham's husband.

"My father said to me, and I certainly went along with it, that 'No man should work for his wife,'" she recounted in her memoir.

Her husband, who suffered from manic depression, committed suicide in 1963. Graham became president of the company following his death.

"I had very little idea of what I was supposed to be doing, so I set out to learn," she said. "What I essentially did was to put one foot in front of the other, shut my eyes, and step off the edge."

In 1969, Graham was named publisher of The Washington Post, a title she held for a decade. In addition, she's served as the Washington Post Co.'s chief executive officer and chairman of the board.



Dotty

Democrats Behaving Stupidly

I know I'll get flack for this because we are supposed to be pulling together for the good of the Party. But I'm here to tell you, from all outward appearances, there's no one minding the store.

Feeling in a feisty mood, I turned my TV to Hardball last night. Who would be skewered tonight? Oh goodie, I thought, he's got a Democratic and Republican strategist squaring off against each other on the Bolton and upcoming Court nominations. I settled in for a good debate.

The Republican was a chipmunk faced fellow with pasted on plastic hair. The Democratic side was represented by a perky 30 something. Her hair was tastefully frosted. She looked spirited.

What happened next was pathetic. Ok, I know Chris Matthews' job is to lob zingers across the plate so fast you can't catch your breath, but don't they prepare people for this show?

Mr. Plastic Hair was cool calm and collected. The Reps, besides providing a pre-program intensive with Carl Rove or the like, probably have the foresight to slip their guy some valium.

Besides snorting in derision and making faces at Mr. Plastic Hair's comments, "our" girl (and I say that in all deliberateness) took spirited to new heights, twitching and bouncing in her seat as she managed to completely blow questions on the line of "when did you stop beating your wife?"

Here's a virtual transcript of the exchange. Chris Matthews: "Are the Democrats opposed to John Bolton?"

Dem. Strategist: "Well, Yah!" Snort, twitch.

CM: "Oh, so this request for more information really IS a stalling tactic!"

Ms. DS: "Is not!"

Mr. PH: "Well, Chris, as the Republicans have pointed out time and again, if it wasn't a stalling tactic, the Dems would go for the up or down vote."

Ms. DS: "Well, of course, they don't listen to MY advice!"

CM: "Oh, you would advise them to go for the up or down vote?"

Ms. DS: "No."

Mr. PH: "I rest my case."

Ms. DS: Sputter, twitch, snort.

CM: "OK, how about the Supreme Court nominations. What if Bush nominated Antonin Scalia for Chief Justice. Would the Dems filibuster that?"

Ms. DS: "They can if they want to, so there!"

OK, I exaggerate a little. But not much. (Go to http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8058417/ for the actual transcript.) A 14 year old debate team member could have done a better job. A middle school teacher wouldn't let her charges loose without some advance knowledge of the format.

Or is this the best the Dems can do?

I KNOW we have progressive minds who can keep their heads even in these trying situations. Or is it a Republican plot? Was this kid a ringer masquerading as a Democratic strategist?

Who's in charge here anyway? First the Dems go all Republican lite; then they send in the Valley Girls. If we want to be taken seriously, we have to act serious, even when faced with the ludicrous. Not to say we should go all dull and pedantic. But if this girl was a Democratic Strategist, I'm James Carville.

Speaking of which, where IS the Ragin' Cajun these days? Ragin' is one thing. Twitching and blathering quite something else.

I hope someone is noticing the difference. Dr. Dean, are you paying attention?

Activist Training successes

Green Dogs and Friends,

I have been pleased to have participated in some activist trainings lately, most recently my class at the College of Marin, with 36 active and eager students, ready to jump into the political fray.

Last weekend I went to beautiful Mendocino for a training of local Democrats on the art of running for office.

The photo below shows Rachel Binah, Democratic activist and member of the DNC, giving her "Rachel's Rules" for fundraising.

We had past and present members of the Board of Supervisors, City Council members, potential candidates for judge, Council and Supervisor. All in all, a successful day!

I look forward to many more, as we go forward toward 2006. Will YOU be a candidate?

Dotty the Green Dog Democrat

Mendocino Democratic Training 

NEWSWEEK OR NEWSPEAK?

Everyone in the Administration is all atwitter over Newsweek Magazine's printing of an uncorroborated story of a Quoran being flushed down the toilet at Guantanamo Bay Detention Center.

It really isn't the content of the story that has them concerned; these stories have existed for awhile; But now says White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, "The image of the United States abroad has been damaged" by such an action that has the righteous Righties up in arms.

The damage done to the "image" of the United States? The image they are trying to portray as spreading democracy and freedom around the world by invading countries and occupying them and killing thousands of civilians into the process?

The good image of America rooting out terrorism by detaining uncharged Muslims and holding them for months or sending them to countries where they can be tortured or worse? Or maybe it's our unblemished image as a caretaker of prisoners at Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq?

Which image of America has been so tarnished? Oh, it must be the one of America as installers of puppet regimes in Afghanistan or maybe stealers of oil or desecration of Mosques or shooting of Italian journalists, or....

America specializes in symbolic desecration of the Quoran every day. That's probably one reason it was not surprising to hear about an actual physical desecration.

Who should be apologizing to the Muslim world, to the whole world, for conduct unbecoming a Democratic Superpower?

CULTURE OF DEATH

THE CULTURE OF DEATH:
WHO OWNS IT?

The Culture of Death does not belong to Islamic fundamentalists. Who worships a dead guy on a cross? Who sends its young into warfare ill equipped and unprepared? Who rains down bombs on people who have done them no harm?

While Islamic fundamentalists with nothing to lose may look forward to an afterlife with plentiful nooky, Christian fundamentalists are trying to bring about Armageddon, that time when death and destruction will overwhelm the earth and the "saved" will ascend to Heaven to sit on the right hand of God. Sounds boring compared to 72 virgins, but it's a Culture of Death nonetheless.

When I heard Air America's Randi Rhodes talking about the "culture of Death" as being practiced by the Muslim terrorists (in a somewhat twisted explanation on how we can’t hope to win in Iraq, because those who are resisting us practice a culture of death, meaning they never give up, same as the Japanese in WWII, that's why we had to bomb them into smithereens), I figured the term had originated with some right wing-nut to describe Moslem extremism.

Thomas Friedman says it’s taught in Saudi Schools. Right wingers says Muslims hate life and revere death; so what do you expect? They hate us because we want to be alive, and they just want to hurry up and die already. Couldn't it be that they want to live their lives too, and if we let them do so without US troops and bases, and sanctions and bombs, they’d do it.

So I Googled Culture of Death. And I found that this is a catch phrase used to describe all manner of people-who-don't-think-like-we-do. Abortion is a Culture of Death, Assisted Suicide in Oregon is a Culture of Death, Marxism is a Culture of Death, of course, the Holocaust may have been the best known example of the Culture of Death, then there's Columbine, and the War in Iraq represents the Bush Administration’s Culture of Death.

Look it up yourself, Google Culture of Death, you'll be amazed.

So I got to thinking it over, and whoa Nelly, the Muslims have nothing on the Christians in the Culture of Death Department. What do the Christians worship? A dead guy on a cross and bunch of martyred saints.

Also, the fundamentalists have this thing about "rapture" which seems to involve the death of the whole world. Armageddon will destroy the earth, and let the "saved" ascend into Heaven, where they get to sit at the right hand of the Lord. I envision quite bit of jockeying for position, unless God multiplies his right hand so there’s one for everyone. Or maybe one or two will actually get the go.

The rest of us will damned to eternal hellfire, or worse, aeons of pestilence, plague, boils, locust and all manner of environmental destruction. These guys are so serious about this that they are actively trying to hurry it up through promoting turmoil in the Middle East.

James Watt, remember him? former Secretary of the Interior, said "When the last tree falls, the rapture will come" or words to that effect.

Death of the earth, death of the soldiers, the Iraqis, the poor people and ascension to the right hand of God for the "good" people.

Who has a Culture of Death?

FIFTY OVER FIFTY

We've all seen them, those cute stories entitled "Forty under Forty" or even "Thirty under Thirty" about young people accomplishing big things.

Well, it's time for us oldsters to have our day, us late blooming boomers. I want to write a story called "Fifty over Fifty" about fifty remarkable men and women who have come into prominence later in life.

Maybe they were homemakers, schoolteacher or insurance salespeople who launched a new career. Maybe they struggled their whole life at writing or painting or philosophizing and are finally getting the recognition they deserve.

Maybe they just came up with some brilliant idea or program that has made a difference in their community.

Whatever, as the kids say, if you know someone who could fit this description, send in their story to del@greendogcampaigns.com and I'll post the fifty winners here on the Blog. (Heck, I'll post them all, and YOU vote on the winners!)

Go ahead and nominate yourself.

Tell your friends and colleagues. This could be fun.

Dotty the Green Dog "over fifty" Democrat

California's Progressive Caucus

Convention news. Our new California Progressive Caucus is off and running! We exceeded our expectations on Friday, April 15th with a standing room only and not enough of that at our first meeting of the California Progressive Caucus, still called Progressive Issues coalition by the powers-that-be. More than 350 people showed up, signed in and joined the Caucus. We elected officers and passed a set of by-laws.

The officers, interim until the next meeting, when we hopefully will be ratified by the State Party, will be listed here when I get all the correct names and spellings.

It was a lively and energetic crowd, ready for an opportunity to put our progressive values to work. It was a gratifying experience for those of us who have worked these many months to bring this vision to fruition. We were visited by a host of elected officials and candidates, all amazed at our numbers, all realizing that the "Democratic wing of the Democratic Party" is alive and well! Our own State Treasurer and gubernatorial Candidate Phil Angelides joined our Caucus on the spot! Go Phil! Watch out Ahnold!

Yay for us!

And we know we are needed when a resolution supporting single payer universal health care failed to pass on the Convention floor on Sunday morning. Despite widespread support.

We are proud that several other resolutions authored by some of our members did pass, one opposing the war in Iraq and another commending our great Senator Barbara Boxer for her courageous stands on voting rights, against Condaleezza Rice's appointment as Secretary of State and many other progressive stands. Go Barbara!

Now we send our materials on to the Rules Committee, where decisions are made. We have the numbers; we have the determination; we will work to see our Caucus recognized.

Photos from our great caucus are posted in the Blog.

Dotty the Green Dog Democrat

State Treasurer Phil Angelides joins the new Progressive Caucus! 

Congresswoman Barbara Lee mets with Members of the new Prorogressive Caucus 

Look How Crowded our Caucus is!