February 20, 2008 archive

I could not believe my eyes. Elected officials are finally beginning to seriously contemplate impeachment of the president for abuse of power and violating the Constitution. Concern over “deposed judges” is one of many issues that is causing leaders of both political parties to consider the issue of impeachment. This must-read article suggests that “debate on possible impeachment may gain currency in the days to come.” It evens quotes some high profile Democratic lawmakers, who have been reluctant to press for the impeachment of George W. Bush in the past.  Senator John Kerry, pointing to a clause for impeachment in the Constitution, said this was a “great opportunity to work together to strengthen democracy.”  Not to be outdone, Senator Joseph Biden also got into the act.

“This is an opportunity for us to move from a policy that has been focused on a personality to one based on an entire people,” Biden said.

A powerful editorial also pushed for impeachment.

But if he is reluctant to call it a day voluntarily, the choice will be between banding together and getting rid of him or letting him stay as a lame duck president.

Could it be that the rule of law may finally be defended by members of the Democratic Party and the media?  

1. The New York Times reports that After his wins, Obama is the focus of McCain and Clinton. “Mr. McCain has turned his attention to Mr. Obama, calling on him to pledge to abide by the limits of public financing for the campaign. Mrs. Clinton also focused on Mr. Obama as she went on the offensive early Wednesday in a speech at Hunter College in Manhattan, charging that her rival has substituted rhetoric for practical experience. ‘It is time to get real,’ Mrs. Clinton, of New York, said. ‘To get real about how we actually win this election and get real about the challenges facing America. It’s time we moved from good words to good works, from sound bites to sound solutions.'” Clinton is campaigning in New York, while her “must win” primaries are in Texas and Ohio.

   Mccain’s motivations are obviously not driven by belief that campaigns should be publically financed. Rather, “Mr. Obama has broken all political fundraising records in this election he has taken in more than $150 million so far, $36 million in January alone, and Mr. McCain’s advisers have privately questioned why he would disarm himself of that advantage and not spend the prodigious amounts he has raised on his own.”

   Meanwhile, The Guardian reports the Obama campaign urges Clinton to concede. “Obama’s campaign manager, David Plouffe, dismissed her camp’s hopes of making a comeback… ‘This is a wide, wide lead right now,’ Plouffe said in a conference call with reporters. ‘The Clinton campaign keeps saying the race is essentially tied. That’s just lunacy.’ The argument from the Obama camp appears designed to paint Clinton as a nuisance candidate — much like Mike Huckabee… Clinton’s hopes of upsetting that equation now turn on delivering a convincing performance in tomorrow night’s Democratic debate in Austin, Texas”.

2. The AP reports the Supreme Court says 401(k) participants can sue under a pension protection law to recover their losses. The court’s decision was unanimous. “James LaRue of Southlake, Texas, said the value of his stock market holdings plunged $150,000 when administrators at his retirement plan failed to follow his instructions to switch to safer investments… Justice John Paul Stevens, in his opinion for the court, said that such lawsuits are allowed. ‘Fiduciary misconduct need not threaten the solvency of the entire plan to reduce benefits below the amount that participants would otherwise receive,’ Stevens said… The Bush administration argued in support of workers. The government said the appeals court ruling barring LaRue’s lawsuit would leave 401(k) participants without a meaningful remedy from any federal, state or local court when plan administrators fail to live up to their duties. Business groups supported LaRue’s employer.” Will this make any difference to most people?

3. Newsflash! Well, maybe not… Just more bad news. Bloomberg News reports Federal Reserve outlook predicts more joblessness and higher inflation. “Fed policy makers now expect U.S. gross domestic product to increase by 1.3 percent to 2 percent in 2008, compared with the 1.8 percent to 2.5 percent they predicted in October. The fourth-quarter jobless rate will be between 5.2 percent and 5.3 percent, up from a range of 4.8 percent to 4.9 percent in the last forecast… Inflation, excluding food and energy, will run at 2 percent to 2.2 percent this year, compared with 1.7 percent to 1.9 percent projected in October. Total consumer prices will rise by 2.1 percent to 2.4 percent; the FOMC projected an increase of 1.8 percent to 2.1 percent three months earlier… Food prices rose last year at the fastest pace since 1990, the Labor Department said Jan. 16.”

   Oh and Reuters reports Oil steadies at $100 after touching record high. As predicted, $100 per barrel is now the new low. Meanwhile in Germany, Spiegel wonders if their country is about to have the “worst financial crisis since 1931?” Because, according to them German state-owned banks on verge of collapse. So if history repeats itself, which country will be the first to fully embrace fascism. My money is on the U.S. this time around.

4. If you live in a cave, you become accustomed to the dark. So, it was with great enthusiasm that I read the news in the Washington Post that Scientists create a black that erases virtually all light. “Researchers in New York reported this month that they have created a paper-thin material that absorbs 99.955 percent of the light that hits it, making it by far the darkest substance ever made — about 30 times as dark as the government’s current standard for blackest black… By voraciously sucking up all surrounding illumination, it can give those who gaze on it a dizzying sensation of nothingness.”

   Of course the military is interested in (and funding) the research, but the article also explains that “Solar panels coated with it would be much more efficient than those coated with conventional black paint, which reflects 5 percent or more of incoming light.” Maybe something good will come from the darkness?

The People’s House, The House of Representatives. Emphasis on……Represent. Conceived as the most basic building block of our democracy, elegantly simple. The People living in an area choose someone, one of their neighbors, to go to Washington and sit in The Peoples House and represent their interests, their concerns and their identity within our national government. But all too often this most simple of mechanisms of democracy has been corrupted, and those who are chosen to Represent The People…. instead represent the moneyed and powerful interests who would use our democracy for far less noble ends.

Especially those darn Republicans!

So when there is a chance to elect one of those “better Democrats” that we all wish to see in the halls of The People’s House, it is incumbent on us to do so. When we can take a seat that has been held by those aforementioned Republicans, it is URGENT that we do so.

And today, and for the next 24 hours, you have a chance to help!

I give you Gilda Reed, Candidate for Louisiana’s First Congressional district.

This will be posted at Daily Kos in one hour, to kick off the Round-The-Clock  Fundraiser, please head over there then…and do what you can to help. As usual, you Dharmaniacs are ahead of the curve!

There was once a little kitty. She was black with a crooked tail. She was quite neurotic all by herself and her neurosis should in no way be attributed to the person who fed her and napped with her and petted her on demand.  Not at all!  They shared a life and so maybe some neurosis spilled over but her fear of cars and traveling was all her own.

This kitty traveled half-way across the country, twice. She really hated highways. She never offered to drive and when the car stopped she’d howl like a banshee. She once tried to escape to an Amish village.  She was fiercely opposed to modern methods of transportation and thought the Amish might be her people and a good place to find a home. She was captured and kept from that life and never quite forgave her capturers for not allowing her to fulfill her destiny as a Cat of the Amish.

She really didn’t like tornadoes, either and took thunder and lightening sort of personally; fireworks, too. She had a special shoebox she’d go to whenever the gods of the sky made themselves known. She did like SciFi however and was a big fan of Mystery Science Theatre.

The kitty had many stories to tell.  There are many stories to tell about the kitty.