I can't believe it's not a democracy!

More of this, please:

Thousands protest bailout bonuses at Chicago bank meeting.

This is how you do it:

DFA Won’t Pull Their Health Care Ads Attacking Mary Landrieu. Jane Hamsher reports: In response to the Washington Post article this weekend indicating that Obama had "expressed his concern over advertisements and online campaigns targeting moderate Democrats," Democracy for America's ad atttacking Mary Landrieu was singled out.

I asked Charles Chamberlain of DFA for a response:

For the record, Democracy for America, will not be pulling back our ads.

If we do anything because of it, DFA will expand the campaign now we know they're running scared enough to demand we stop.

There's a bit more at the link. Long and short, when the democrats whine, that means you got their attention. Time to double up.

If the mediocre political class won't do the right thing, then the people will do what they can:

Broad Coalition Of Groups Files Disciplinary Complaints Against Twelve Bush Administration Lawyers Who Advocated Torture Of Detainees. Hope it leaves a mark.

About fucking time:

NY governor introduces bill to allow gay marriage. Good, yes? Of course. But the hate is on it's way: At the same time Paterson was announcing his proposal, Sen. Ruben Diaz of the Bronx, also a Democrat but an opponent of same-sex marriage, met with religious leaders to discuss how to block the bill. Of course he did.

Diaz continues: "I think it's a laugh in the face of the new archbishop," Diaz said Thursday before the start of his meeting. "The Jews just finished their holy week. The Catholics just received the new archbishop. The evangelical Christians just celebrated Good Friday and resurrection. He comes out to do this at this time? It's a challenge the governor is sending to every religious person in New York and the time for us has come for us to accept the challenge." Because challenging equal rights for the gays is what Jesus would do.

It's pretty fucking appalling that the NY democratic party can't twist this asshole Diaz' arm, but they won't or can't. Which is one way of saying that I expect to be disappointed, and I also expect the democrats to say that "we want this to pass, but we just don't have the votes." Well fucking find them. Because they could if they really wanted to.

Things are bad in Fargo, and they are going to get worse:

New estimate raises ND flood higher than sandbags. I've been following this story very closely, because my sister lives in Fargo. To preserve her privacy, I won't talk about her job, but she--like everyone--is involved in dealing with the flooding. Long and short, the worst is yet to come. She told me that co-workers who live in areas that are not considered part of the flood plain are getting water in their houses. Keep in mind that these people don't have flood insurance because they were told they weren't in the flood plain. Long and short, many of them are going to lose their homes and will have no insurance to replace them. More pressing is that the flooding is coming at the worst possible time--it's still unbelievably cold in Fargo, and, as she told me, there is no way anyone can wade through this water and live or keep their legs. Think about that. Fortunately, her workplace is pretty secure and has a strong dike nearby, so she may have to live there for a while. So, if you believe in prayer, now would be a good time to say a prayer for the people of Fargo, North Dakota, Moorhead, Minnesota, and the surrounding communities. For the nonbelievers, send good wishes. The local government in Fargo has been exemplary, but they are going to need a world of help dealing with the aftermath...whenever that comes.

Wonder what Howard Dean is up to?

He's returning to Democracy for America: Howard Dean is BACK! Once Obama picked Rahm Emmanuel (asshole, IL) as his Chief of Staff, it was clear that Howard Dean wasn't going to get a fucking thing from this administration. Well I for one am glad of it. Howard Dean can do much more good by rallying the true progressives and liberals to reform the democratic party. Because the party won't reform itself, that's for sure.

Connecticut to be invaded by polygamist cult, allies:

Gay Marriage Now Legal in Connecticut. If you are in Connecticut, grab any same sex stranger and get yourself down to a town hall before the fucking Mormons swoop in (and keep an eye out for the catholics and baptists too). You know something truly evil and fucked up is planned when the catholics are willing to work with the mormons and baptists. Let's be prepared this time.

Proof--as if you needed it--that Americans are aware of just how fucked up things are:

Consumer confidence tumbles to lowest level in 28 years. The republicans can try to trot out gay marriage and the other usual bugaboos they use to scare their base to the polls, but nothing says "we are all fucked" like $4 a gallon for gasoline. Yes, they are going to try (California and Arizona will likely see "condemn the queers" ballot initiatives), but these tactics are best employed when people have the luxury to focus on demonizing the other rather than wondering how they are going to pay this month's bills. And yet the GOP will go for what worked in the past, seemingly unaware that the times have changed or unable to tweak their play book on election strategy.

Sadly, I believe that if the democratic leadership in Congress reacted to the mid-term elections by exercising their new-found power to work on ending this travesty that is Iraq, enforced their subpoenas against administration figures and held public investigations into the lead up to the war, a new 9/11 review, the theft by those awarded no-bid contracts, that they would sweep the congress so resoundingly this November that the GOP would be dead for at least a generation or two. That is, the democrats will have earned their gains. But they didn't use the power we gave them in 2006. Still, despite their lack of political will and principle, they will win significant gains in November, not due to strong action, rather due to the missteps and obvious moral bankruptcy of the GOP. Personally, I look forward less to the overwhelming democratic sweep this November than I do to a crushing republican purge. And it will happen.

Gotta makes some phone calls tomorrow, folks:

Join Chris Dodd to Oppose Retroactive Immunity for telecom companies that aided and abetted this administration's violation of our fourth amendment right against unlawful searches and seizures. The Dodd campaign writes: This week the Senate will be voting on FISA reform legislation that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies.

Senator Dodd has been fighting to stop retroactive immunity - now he needs your help.

Email the Senate and ask that they vote against any legislation that includes retroactive immunity for telecoms.

It's time to see the Senate stand up for the rule of law.

You don't demonstrate leadership in the footnotes of a press release, or parroting responses from focus groups.

Leadership is demonstrated through action. [That's for you, senators Obama, Biden and Clinton.]

If the telecom companies get retroactive immunity, then the fight is over. Think about it. Once corporations know that they can get retroactive immunity for engaging in government sponsored illegal activity, then any time an administration goes to them and demands access to information or otherwise asks them to engage in activity that violates our constitutional rights, they will do it knowing that they have nothing to lose. Call your senators and demand that they stand with Dodd and filibuster telecom immunity. And call Harry Reid's office (202-224-3542) and tell them that he is a douchebag for ignoring Dodd's hold on the immunity provision of the FISA bill. Ok, you may want to use a different word, but call.

Click the link above and you will see a link that allows you to e-mail your senators and another link with a list of all senators and their DC phone numbers.

Update: Not sure why this is a big deal? Then read this: Wider Spying Fuels Aid Plan for Telecom Industry. The NY Times reports: For months, the Bush administration has waged a high-profile campaign, including personal lobbying by President Bush and closed-door briefings by top officials, to persuade Congress to pass legislation protecting companies from lawsuits for aiding the National Security Agency’s warrantless eavesdropping program.

But the battle is really about something much bigger. At stake is the federal government’s extensive but uneasy partnership with industry to conduct a wide range of secret surveillance operations in fighting terrorism and crime.

The N.S.A.’s reliance on telecommunications companies is broader and deeper than ever before, according to government and industry officials, yet that alliance is strained by legal worries and the fear of public exposure.

* * *

In a separate N.S.A. project, executives at a Denver phone carrier, Qwest, refused in early 2001 [that's pre-9/11, folks] to give the agency access to their most localized communications switches, which primarily carry domestic calls, according to people aware of the request, which has not been previously reported. They say the arrangement could have permitted neighborhood-by-neighborhood surveillance of phone traffic without a court order, which alarmed them.

The republican god Ronald Reagan fought against the Soviets (bare-handed, apparently), so that W could use Soviet tactics against us. Hard to believe that it isn't all part of some grander plan. Now I'm off to buy some tin foil to make hats for xmas.

The voting has begun for the 2007 Weblog awards,

and if you enjoy reading Maud Newton go on over and show her some love. TBogg is also in the running in the "Best of the Top 251-500 blogs" category. And a certain rightwing asshole whose existence I have the misfortune of knowing about is winning in his category. Normally I would like to the voting page and suggest one of his competitors, but the whole lot of them stink to high heaven. Perhaps I should send the folks behind these awards a copy of my blogroll, because their selections in the categories encompassing lesser read (but loved) blogs is seriously fucked up.