I just sent the following message to Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray:

I’ve given it a week and I’m still very angry about your vote to give George W. Bush a blank check to continue his war in Iraq. This is not only a betrayal of the people that voted for you and our country’s most basic values, but also the total collapse of the Democrats as an opposition party.

Continuing this war is immoral, moronic and insane. It has ruined our country's reputation, destroyed countless innocent lives and inflamed anti-American hatred all over the world.

You’ve left me no choice but to support Democratic primary challengers or boycott the federal elections altogether until someone has the courage to end our participation in this senseless slaughter, and I’ll be encouraging my friends and family to do the same.

The fact that you failed to stand up to George W. Bush, the most openly corrupt and incompetent leader this nation has ever seen, is truly pathetic.

I hope that someday I’ll be able to think about my government and feel something other than outrage and disgust.

Does anyone else get kind of PNAC vibe off Bush's approach to climate change?

You know what would be a nice change? An American president who doesn't think he or she is president of the Whole Fucking World.

And just as an aside:

I’ve given it a week and I’m still very angry about your vote to give George W. Bush a blank check to continue his war in Iraq. This is not only a betrayal of the people that voted for you and our country’s most basic values, but also the total collapse of the Democrats as an opposition party.

I'd like you to rethink that position, Andrew. The emergency funding bill only runs through the fall. If we get to the fall and the President still has nothing to show for the time, money, and lives we've spent in Iraq, the Democrats may be able to get enough support from the Republicans to overrule Bush's veto. That was simply never going to happen in the current climate and the political impact of de-funding the war wouldn't have helped the Dem's case. This way we might be able to have our cake and eat it too.

"This way we might be able to have our cake and eat it too."

Ewwww, Judah, I was with ya up until that. I can't stand that philosophy. Reminds me of Courtney Love.

I’ve read and understand the various strategic reasons for the actions that the Dems took last week, but there comes a time when courage and doing the right thing in the face of adversity is required and they failed miserably. That whole ploy about allowing them to vote against the bill before voting for it was a particular insult to our intelligence. Even worse, the Democrats confirmed every charge of Jello-backboned, pusillanimous cowardice that’s been leveled at them.

Truth is, my e-mails and phone calls to our Senators don’t mean shit. This fall, General Petraeus will testify before Congress that the war is hard but we’re making progress and Victory™ is just around the corner – six more months, tops! Those pathetic sycophants in Congress will nod in agreement and that’s that. The future president from either party won’t end it because it will be portrayed as surrendering to “tha terrahists.”

Even among the majority of Democrats, there’s the delusional, near-religious belief that our military and massive violence can solve all of our problems.

My guess is that the war will continue for at least another four to six years until another war, a financial crisis or some other future event forces us to withdraw.

Actually it should be "eat your cake and have it too". You want to be able to eat the cake but still HAVE cake to eat. Blame morning radio for that one.

My knee-jerk raaction was to feel pissed and betrayed. I kind of get it now but it still bothers me. I reminds me of the mother of a toddler in a waiting room. The mother isn't looking at anything but her magazine while the toddler terrorizes the others in the room and without looking up the mother says in a monitone voice, "George, honey, no. Mommy is going to count to 3."

The "mommy" never gets past 2 and George keeps being a brat. Guess who looks like the asshole... it's not the kid.

So, I don't have high hopes.

but there comes a time when courage and doing the right thing in the face of adversity is required and they failed miserably

Isn't that the kind of thinking that got us into this mess in the first place?

It would seem to me that the Israeli Universities and the liberal academics are the ones that speak up for the more liberal non right wing views inside Israel, and are the ones that have spoken out against the occupation, so it seems ill advised to crush that relationship.

If the brutal occupation and the expansionist settler programs are to end, you have to seek alliances within Israel.

At the end of article you find that it was these institutions which are calling on their own Israeli goverment to allow Palestinians more freedom of movement.

@ Original Andrew. You think the non-response to e-mails from Maria or Patty is bad. I have done that, faxed and left phone messages. Then I went to Maria's Seattle office yesterday and was brushed away.

TIME TO FIND NEW NOMINEES TO REPLACE THOSE TWO!!!! Can we have the Stranger put a full page ad out asking for interested parties to step up? We have to stop electing democrats who are nothing more than republican-lite simply because they are democrats.

And voting for independants??? Yikes, you never know if you will get a Barry Saunders or Joe Lieberman.

Either way, WE NEED TO PUSH HARDER IN THE RUN UP TO THE PRIMARIES, NOT JUST THE GENERAL ELECTION!!!!!

These news round ups are so damn good I'm soon going to stop using google reader for everything.

The Economist-style themed-order makes it that much better.

Damn that was gushy.

BTW, why hasn't Slog been talking about the voter "caging" that the GOP has been doing. (caging is when voting officials will send a certified letter to targeted groups (think demographics that vote liberal) and if the letter comes back to them the voter officials will challenge their ballot at the time of the election)

And what about the Presidential Directive on May 9 that expanded Bush's authority in case of any emergency irregardless of it happening in the US? Here is a link to the document. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070509-12.html

That thompson guy is a total nut.

Just Me, Slog is "politics-lite". The whitehouse.gov link is amazing, and should be memorized by any news editor. If you want to reach out to people (i.e. get a direct slog comment/response from the news dept.), you must stroke their fantasies, fondle their opinions, agree with their dogma, praise their syntax, or make a simpleton's counterargument to their cocksure "theses."

@ #12,

Great point. Hmmm.... yeah I will keep is simple:

Stranger... ((ahem))

Voter Caging = Very Bad (this would mean less sex and less weed)

Presidential Directive adding more power to the executive branch in case of an emergency (does not have to be in the US btw) = Very Very Bad (this would mean our balls would be cut off and we would have to go to church every morning)

Gene, was that better?

Has anyone checked out the book "Endless War: How pundits and politicians are spinning us to death" There was an item on Democracy Now (I get the podcast) two days ago and it is really interesting.

Sorry, Just Me. I just got back to work.
Combined with my lunch break, everyday I attend 2 to 3 spiritual houses for a meeting, service or some bizarre ritual.
Due to residual ADD, I can only last 15-20 minutes at each (which in my marriage bed isn't too bad for a 48 yr old geezer).
But yes, you've set a great model for for the content of future posts:
1. Breast Gazing = Very Bad
2. Transit Indecision = A little Bad
3. College Bomb Threats = Very, Very Bad

Did you notice on B2 of the P.I. today their miniscule coverage of the SCCC bomb threat? They are undoubtedly burying this major scoop. Find it, the article is about 50 words long and looks like a small island on the page. Considering that this THREAT made up 5% of Slog yesterday, the P.I. should get hip to Slog's keen-ness and devote...hmmm...pages in newspaper divided 5%...sort of... they should be devoting A PAGE AND A HALF! WHEN WILL THESE P.I. REPORTERS WAKE UP AND LISTEN?!?!

Nah. The P-I is smart enough to not take it seriously. I mean, it was written on a toilet paper dispenser. The campus is almost perfectly situated, being near a police precinct, and between our security and the SPD, I felt pretty damn safe. Maybe avoid the Maths and Sciences building, but even so.

Kiro on the other hand was hanging out waiting for something to happen. It's not like it takes them that long to get some b roll.

qethxcf eitlujm bzdye uovrnkqt zcfpqdwy dlpak votfdn

lbesnuqxy ykqw jlizosyax erzqiang rafjtcw ieprfmsca rgal http://www.qcjgomt.obcqyvit.com

MSN I NIIPET
MSN

MSN I NIIPET
MSN

MSN I NIIPET
MSN