Tom O'Brien made the BIGTIME

Tom's letter to the editor made it to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel....

Here's the Text:

FOREIGN POLICY


So who are the bad guys these days?

In case anyone missed it, Russia and China have invited Iran to join them in a mutual defense alliance. So they're back to being bad guys, right?

Maybe it's not that simple. This latest development is no surprise. It is the logical follow-up to U.S. policy since the invasion of Iraq. The world has seen what we're capable of, and people are afraid of us. Only instead of kowtowing to us as we expect, they're banding together to "contain" us.

Who wouldn't? When we threaten other countries with nuclear first strikes, as we have in the case of Iran, the obvious, predictable consequence is to motivate Iran to do something about it.

Russia, China and the Islamic world account for more than 2.5 billion people. Even Latin America is rising up against us at every opportunity. And our traditional allies in Europe are sick of President Bush and want nothing to do with him.

Can it be that the whole world is "bad" and we're "good"? I doubt it. Truth is, we've become the bad guys. With every new policy from this administration, we find ourselves increasingly alone and friendless in the world. Why should we be surprised? As every kindergartner knows, nobody likes a bully.

Tom O'Brien
Wisconsin Rapids

Way to go Tom......!!!!

So since when?????

Since when did I become a radical?

Because I believe in the Bill of Rights?

Because I believe Government should be accountable?

Because I believe Goverment should listen to the will of the people?

(no idea what I'm talking about? ....see here)

Whew!

Man....things are moving fast.

First, there's the news that "Snotty Scotty" has been replaced by Tony (don't eat the yellow) Snow. There are almost too many jokes here....I like barb that it isn't a new job (going from Fox News to the White House) it's just an interdepartment transfer.....no kidding.

Even funnier? How 'bout all the quotes from Snow "trashing" Bush in the past? Some goodies from Keith Olbermann

Here are a few gems:

– Bush has “lost control of the federal budget and cannot resist the temptation to stop raiding the public fisc.” <3/17/06>

– “George W. Bush and his colleagues have become not merely the custodians of the largest government in the history of humankind, but also exponents of its vigorous expansion.” <3/17/06>

– “President Bush distilled the essence of his presidency in this year’s State of the Union Address: brilliant foreign policy and listless domestic policy.” <2/3/06>

– “George Bush has become something of an embarrassment.” <11/11/05>

– Bush “has a habit of singing from the Political Correctness hymnal.” <10/7/05>

– “No president has looked this impotent this long when it comes to defending presidential powers and prerogatives.” <9/30/05>

Okay, so let me get this straight: Now, Tony Snow is going to stand before the Press Corps every day and DEFEND Bush after trashing him FOR THE RECORD as recently as March 17 of this year.....

the word is:

HYPOCRITE!


Probably the best news on the net?

How about this about our old, almost forgotten friend KKKarl Rove? Here's the link

It seems that KKkarl had a meeting with special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and is now meeting with his lawyers.

Could it be? Could it finally be.....



















Post away....enjoy

e

WOOOOHOOOO! We made Dailykos!

Thanks to Lolo who was going to post this for us but got an error message from blogspot.com....Here's a great description of our Convention in Barron and it even has a picture of Peg Lautenschlager addressing the group, you can even see Marlys (7th CD Chairperson) and her husband sitting next to her.

here's the "linky thing"

aand a couple of neat snippets:

(btw: I wonder who Rhubarb is?_)

Per State Senator Bob Jauch: Wisconsin is becoming the "Mississippi of the north," because of Republicans' intolerance of dissent of difference. He urged a return to the values of Bob LaFollette and others who worked to make Wisconsin a shining example for the other states. Of all the State Senate races, Jauch cited Pat Kreitlow's bid as the most important, and the most credible since Zien took office 17 years ago.

And Pat Kreitlow added: "Dave Zien understands the security of a concealed weapon, but he does not understand security in health care. And Dave Zien has had 17 years in which to provide you with tax relief. He hasn't. I will. That's why I am going to win."

Be sure to click on the link and read the whole article (and look at the pictures)

Read About 7th CD Convention on the Blogs

Someone nicknamed "Rhubarb" has posted an excellent summary of all the speeches given and the resolutions discussed at the 7th CD Convention held in Barron on Saturday, April 22. Here is the link to get you to the main site:
http://www.dailykos.com

Then scroll down the right side until you reach"Recent Diaries". Click on "Wisconsin's 7th CD Holds Its Convention, Honors Gaylord Nelson's Legaacy."

Dawn is coming

Steve Hudson Photography...

beautiful picture on the web of sunrise over Captiva Island on Florida's SW coast.

As Democrats we have flet that we have been stumbling around in darkness for the last five years or so and every ray of hope has been quickly extinguished for us. In short, it's been just down right depressing but yesterday gave some of us some good reasons to be optomistic about the future of our country, state and the Democratic Party in general.

Yesterday was the 7th Congressional District Convention in Barron, Wisconsin and a lot of people from our county were there. Dave, John, Bill, Lois, Ed, and Warren and his wife were there as well as a lot of our friends from Marathon, Clark and Portage counties. In addition to the "real" people there, a lot of my web friends were able to attend also and become, just for the convention, "real" people too. You may recognize some of the names from various websites: Goddess40, Sybylla, Madashell, JackpineRadical. Just sharing the company of people who share your beliefs and passions is uplifting in itself but the real bonus was getting to hear from the people who are running against Republicans in state elections this year and, as an added bonus getting to hear from our state's TOP elected officials.

Lt Governor Barbara Lawton gave us a great "pep talk" and our own, favorite Congressman, Dave Obey fed us a generous helping of raw, red meat to get us fired up about the November elections. Dave is really good at firing up a crowd.

In addition, we heard from Pat Kreitlow of Eau Claire who is going to beat the living crap out of Dave Zein this year.

And Zein's partner in crime, Snotty Scotty Suder is in for a run this time too from Tim Swiggum in Clark County.

Mary Alice Williams in Taylor and Price Counties has not one, but two really good Democrats straining at the traces to take her on in Novemeber.

(for lolo and Sybylla: Yes, I deliberately picked the "prom queen" picture)

Bryce Luctrahand told us that if there are any uncontested seats in the legislature this year, they'll be Democratic seats.....I believe him.

I'm fired up.....I hope everybody else is too.

e

edit 4:08PM....I forgot to mention that Dean was along with us also....and in addition to being a good Dem, he's also great company on a road trip....along with Dave and lolo....

I also forgot to mention that Peg Lautenschlager gave a rip-roaring speech also and Northwoods favorite Gary Sherman gave a "surrogate speech" for Kathleen Falk... Senator Bob Jauch, from Superior has been a state Senator since about 1988 and he gave us ALL the good reasons to take back at least one of the State Houses this year.......so there was a lot there for political junkies to chew on...

This is VERY disturbing

I'll admit that I don't like Dubya but this goes beyond anything foul I've ever thought about him. This series of pictures was posted by Attaturk on Rising Hegemon. The attractive young girl in the picture is U. S. Champion Figure-skater, Michelle Kwan. I won't add any additional commentary but you can draw your own conclusions.


In addition to this little bit of .....news...., there is also the information about one of our all-time favorites, Katherine Harris, having a $2,800 dinner with the conviceted Defense Contractor Michael Wade, which she claimed she reimbursed for...actually said she paid $100 which is a far cry from the $2,800 it actually cost. It's hard to say just exactly what or how much Wade expected to gain from the elaborate luncheon.

IMO...three guesses. Read the whole story here

See you in Barron?

e

OMG....it keeps getting worse!

"[Harris] took him by the hand and led him over to the bar and said she wanted to have a 'nuclear' conversation with him...and wanted to 'talk about nuclear technology.' Then she led him back to the table and sat him down, sat next to him, and her foot was brushing against his foot, her knee was half-an-inch away, she leaned in real close and started calling him 'honey.'"
The poor young reporter told Elliot:
"I had my face in my notepad a lot, because everytime I looked up she was so close to me."

read the whole thing here

e

Great Minds etc., etc.

Mike Davis has a way with images, doesn't he?

E

Meeting Reminders:

Caption:Wood County Dems engage in "spirited" debate over when to hold the next meeting.

Tonight....regularly scheduled monthly meeting in Pittsville, at the American Legion Hall at 6:30 PM....

Saturday...7TH CD Caucaus in Barron!

Re-arranging the deck chairs

Scott McClelland, the Presidential Press Secretary, resigned this morning. link here

McClelland, variously known on liberal blog sites as, "Puffy McMoonface" "Snotty Scotty", or, to the press corps "Chummy McShark-bait", is the latest in a series of changes being made by the White House in an effort to "refresh" the Bush Administration. You might recall that Andrew Card, the White House Chief of Staff was the first to go and he was replaced by Bolton.


It's also been reported that KKKarl Rove has been "relieved" of his policy portfolio and will concentrate solely on the Mid-term elections.

So somehow the Bush administration thinks that replacing their spokesperson will shore up the President's tanking poll numbers. It's time for this administration to play "GET A CLUE" because it's not HOW the message is being delivered, it the freaking MESSAGE THAT'S WRONG....

It is, truly, a sensible as re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

e

Carl Bernstein Nukes George W. Bush

Wow? Did any one else happen to catch the article in Vanity Fair by Carl Bernstein advocating immediate impeachment proceedings against the administration? The piece is lengthy but loaded with main points and supporting details. The link is http://www.vanityfair.com

A blogger on Daily Kos alerted me to this article and provides perhaps an even more precise link.

Tbogg has been a baaaaaad boy

He posted this picture with the caption, "You've got your Easter Bunny and I've got mine!"


You can read his blog here

He's quickly bcoming one of my favorites....


E

Neil Young Rolls Out Rock Against the War Album

As an ancient rock fan who has collected just about everything Neil Young has ever composed, I happened to catch this on the news yesterday. Watch for an anti-war album soon to be released by Young. One song mentioned prominently is "Impeach the President". Young tends to compile concept albums and this promises to contain other anti-war anthems as well. Peace!

Happy Easter Everybody

To all those who are observing (celebrating) the day, I hope you have a happy holiday.

To those who are not, I hope you're enjoying the day.....


P.S.
If you want a great laugh, flip on over to this link:http://jameswolcott.com/

Open Thread for Saturday

...what a beautiful day.....it's getting a little overcast now but there is only a small chance of rain tonight and tomorrow.....


The City-wide "Easter Egg Hunt" was held in the park across the street this morning. There must have been 250-300 kids out there with their baskets. Some poor schmuck had to walk around in an Easter Bunny Costume. Does anybody know just how it came to pass that rabbits, pastel-colored eggs and candy became associated with this religous holiday? I don't.

Anyway, I took the wife up to Powers Bluff a little while ago but its still closed to traffic and neither one of us was wearing shoes suitable for hiking. I guess it opens May 1 or so. I'm looking forward to going up there.

Would Powers Bluff be a good place for an "unofficial" Wood County Dems picnic? Post your ideas below.

Or, if you prefer, just gripe all you want about any subject.

e

When Mamma ain't happy

...ain't NOBODY GONNA BE HAPPY!

Sorry for the repeat of the picture from Coretta Scott King's funeral but I ran across it and figured a reminder wouldn't hurt.......this picture sort of makes the "Laura, the kind, gentle, first lady theme a bit of a lie, doesn't it?

e

He's baaaaaaaaaaaaackkkkk......

Tommy Thompson is like a nightmare that won't go away. It looks like he's baaaaaaaaaacccccckkkk.

I'm not sure of what radio station was "teasing" this, but the conventional wisdom is that Tommy Thompson is going to announce for Governor at the Republican state Convention in May. Here's the linky-thing.

The bad news is that if he ran against Herb Kohl, he'd win. Although there isn't any thing on record yet about running against Doyle. Here's a link to the poll results.
ttp://www.strategicvision.biz/political/wisconsin_poll_030806.htm

A couple of things worry me about Thompson getting back into the race....

first, as much as I dislike the man, professionally and personally, I have to give the devil his due. He's a remarkable politician and he knows how to work a crowd. His memory caught me flatfooted once because, after having been introduced to him only one time before, I ran into him in the hallway of the State House and he greeted me BY NAME! (This was before he was Governor by the way)

Second, he's a money-raising machine. He knows which buttons to push to make the cash flow and against either Doyle of Kohl, he'll raise an astounding amount of money.

Third, he has a lot of National Republican Party support. It has been said that Tommy Thompson carried more water for George W. Bush than Gunga Din and because of that, they OWE him big time.

The only good thing about Thompson running for Governor is that he would, inadvertantly for sure, rid us once and for all of Mark Green.

Too bad we have to wait a month to find out.

Just enough time to catch our breath

the Spring elections are over and we're either celebrating or licking our wounds depending on where you lived.....some of us were deeply involved in the local elections and some of us were able to "sit this one out" but just as surely as the buds are blooming on the trees and the days are getting longer, the really, really BIG SHOW OF '06 is just about ready to begin.

Let's start at the proverbial "top of the ticket" for the fall elections...Dave Obey. Dave has three challengers in the 7th CD...well, that's three Republicans seeking the nomination and one libertarian....The Repubs are your normal mix from the conservative universe....a moderate, a Christian Moralist and an AEI and Heritage Foundation trained Neocon. If you follow the political axiom that "you run for your "base" in the primary and run for the "center" in the general election, you'd have to give the edge to the AEI type....and having said that, I also say that he stands as much of a chance of beating Dave in the 7th CD as a snowball has in hell. But we've still got to work and we can't take it for granted. Remember, these Neocon types are full of nasty, nasty, nasty little surprises. So mark of a day or two to work for Dave...or drop a few dollars into his campaign... either way, it will help assure that Dave serves another term.

Locally, we've got to get out and work for Amy-Sue again. The Repubs are probably going to target her and I wouldn't put it past Suder and Zein to stick their mitts into the race in some way or another. The good news is that Suder may be busy covering his own...er...ah...ass-ets ..because there is a reasonably viable candidate ready to take him on. If it looks like Amy-Sue is doing okay, you might want to think about helping Suders opponent....I think there might be somebody at one of our meetings to ask for our help.

The Sheriff's race is coming up but I don't see much on the Republican side of the ledger right now.

I have been up to my neck in local politics for the past week and I've got more meetings tonight so I'm going to leave this to discussion...join in with your thoughts....

Ready?

Set?

GO!!!!

E

Rubber Stamp Republicans

You know, it probably won't make much difference, but you have to admit that it's fun to give Republicans a case of good old Administrative Hallitosis. They probably didn't change the world but Jane Hamser, Christy Hardin Smith, Matt Stoller, Digby, Atrios and a few others teamed up to run the Rubber Stamp Republican Program and they chose Senator Arlen Spectre as their first.....
er....ahhhh.....recipient.

The background is on firedoglake.

Crooks and Liars.com has the video.

Like I said....won't change anything but it's sort of like flipping off the bully on the block when your safely behind a 10 foot fence.

e

This was just too good to pass up

You've got to hand it to those "photoshoppers".

I saw this one over a year ago and captured it but given the article by Sy Hersch this seems too appropriate to pass up.

For those of you who like "Framing"

Firedoglake has it right....there's only one way to "frame" the whole Plamegate Affair.

It was about the ELECTION!

Bush release the information because he didn't want the Wilson piece to embarrass him. It had nothing to do with National Security. It had nothing to do with whether the President has the right to declassify or classify anything. No, it was nothing so high-minded. It was about politics and about being re-elected.

It was about covering up his incompetency and arrogance in his rush to war.

It was criminal conspiracy.

Try that for a frame.

Would it be too much trouble?

For our new media to do a little "fact checking"?

Or maybe do a little research?

Bush actually admitted that he leaked/declassified "parts" of the National Security Estimate (NIE) so that "people could see the truth." The Raw Story has the rest of the story as it's breaking from Reuters.

Great admission from the Commander-in-Chief (aka Leaker-in-Chief) except for a couple of "minor" little details.

Like detail number one: He declassified it alright. But he declassified it AFTER Libby had his conversation with the lovely and talented (barfing) Judith Miller.

And, of course, there's detail number two: He declassified ONLY those parts of the NIE that backed up his position and NOT those which contridicted his position.

Oh yeah, one more thing, Libby is reported to have testified that he told Judith Miller that the rest of the NIE, the part not declassified, only further solidified the President's case for the war.

LIAR! LIAR! LIAR!

So, I ask again. Corporate Media: Would a little research hurt all that much? Hell, would reading the blogs hurt?

I'm getting frustrated over all of this....

e

Was it "the robin" or "the grill"?

I'm having a hard time remembering which it is ....

The soothsaysers say: The Robin/Grill must be snowed upon three times before it is Spring. I'm not taking any chances, I dragged the grill out this afternoon. I may even get brave enough to try grilling something tonight.

Speaking of food, I think I'm going to abandon my "heart-healthy" diet and I 've developed a dynamite, convincing, fool-proof argument to convince the FOOD NAZI that I should leave the diet behind and pig out on the most unhealthy (but nonetheless delicious) foods on the face of the planet. And I owe this ingenuous argument to Sy Hirsch of the New Yorker Magazine.

So far the only traditional electronic journalist who has interviewed Hersh about his article which was just hitting the web last night has been Wolfie Blitzer of CNN. (I still say he looks like a U-boat Captian). Unless you happen to have a stomach strong enough to tolerate CNN, you might have missed the story. Here's the Yahoo! report on the story but the long and short of it is that the Bush administration, spurred on by George W's belief that "saving IRAN will be his legacy, plans to use nuclear weapons to take out Iran's nuclear development sites. Apparently many military men are convinced that the plan is absolutely NUTS and plan on resigning if the administration doesn't back off of the plans.

But wait, it gets better.
snippet:

One former defense official said the military planning was premised on a belief that "a sustained bombing campaign in Iran will humiliate the religious leadership and lead the public to rise up and overthrow the government," The New Yorker pointed out.

Now, just where have we heard that before? Want some more....(in case you have a bad case of narcolepsy, this should keep you awake at night forever....)

The adviser warned that bombing Iran could provoke "a chain reaction" of attacks on American facilities and citizens throughout the world and might also reignite Hezbollah.
"If we go, the southern half of Iraq will light up like a candle," the adviser is quoted as telling The New Yorker.

So, you see, we're ALL GOING TO DIE ANYWAY if George W. has his way so what's the sense of sticking to a diet? The argument is absolutely FOOLPROOF....

OH, wait a minute....

this isn't a joke.......

oh-oh....

e

on edit....here's the Crooks and Liars link to the video of Wolf's interview with Sy..here

I don't want to know....

I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY DON'T WANT TO KNOW!

Uncanny Resemblence

I was pretty busy yesterday and didn't get a chance to capture the blog photographs of the man who stood up and challenged Bush in North Carolina yesterday. In case you missed the story, here's a linky-thing.

A poster on Democratic Underground.com found a striking resemblence between this man and a Norman Rockwell painting and pasted them together for comparisom.

Pretty scary huh?

Actually, when I saw it, I got a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye.

Like many of you I was raised in classrooms with those prints hanging on the wall. There were several of them ,if I recall, depicting the freedoms spelled out in the Bill of Rights but the picture on the right, depicting Freedom of Speech, and another depicting Freedom of Worship are the two I remember most vividly.

Those pictures harken us to remember the time when we learned how prescious and sacred our rights are and how we need to be constantly viligent to guard them from assaults by demagogues and would-be usurpers coming to us in the guise of "protectors".

Lump in the throat?

Tear in the eye?

You bet.

e

Knee-deep, knee-deep

No that's not a frog call, that's where I am after only 48 hours after the election.

The phone has been ringing off the hook and I think I'm going to be knee-deep in issues for a long, long time.

....people are STARVING for leadership

...people are STARVING for just one person in government who will even LISTEN to them.

I suspected these things but I never knew I was actually right....

Oh yes, one more thing. I got an object lesson yesterday in why I ran for public office the first time. I'll bore you with the details:

I had to pick up a prescription at a local drug store. Being the organized (not) person I am at times, I didn't call it in ahead of time so I had to wait. While I was waiting, there was an elderly woman at the counter who was very troubled about the cost of her perscriptions. I won't say how much, but I will say that the amount was much more than my monthly mortgage payment.

Her Medicare Part D wouldn't pay for it and the pharmacist's assistant had to explain that she had reached her "donut hole" in the part D Contract....that's the part of the Prescription drug program that goes from $2250 to $3500 where Part D pays NONE of the prescription drug costs until after the $3500 and then it pays 100%. In the meantime this elderly lady had to pay a huge amount of money. She kept asking if she should call her health insurance carrier and the pharmacist said she could but it wouldn't do any good because by law no carrier can "fill" the donut hole.

I don't know the elderly woman. Maybe she's better off than any of us and can afford the big bucks for her perscription, or, maybe she can't. Maybe she'll have to go to the food pantry for the rest of the month. I don't know.

I just know what was happening to her was wrong.

We've got to fix it.

You and me.

Together.

e

Funniest Pic Ever!!!!

Here's Marshfield Mayor Mike Meyers when he was told that there had been an error in tallying the votes and instead of LOSING BY 19 VOTES he actually WON BY 81 VOTES


This appeared on the front page of the News-Herald today.





Here's a more dignified picture of the "good Mayor".....

I told Dave earlier this evening that Mike better get used to that expression because I'm going to be on the Council for the next two years....ROFL.....


e

A Picture = 1,000 words

Gotta be one of the best pictures a Democrat could hope for.

Other blog reports seem to clarify why Delay stayed in the race so long. It seems that it's legal for Delay to use the campaign money he raised to pay for his legal fees. Imagine that. Staying in the race long enough to raise his defense money. This guy wrote the textbook on sleaze. Read the Post's Story here.

Oh yeah, one more thing, if you needed any additional proof about Chris Mathews bias this should just about cinch it. Take a look at the "pre-interview" with Tom Delay here.

Later.....

e

Marshfield Has New 5th Ward Alderman

Congratulations to Ed Wagner who is now alderman in Marshfield's 5th Ward.

Delay Retiring!

The big news on Daily Kos just now is that Tom Delay is retiring. Apparently both MSNBC and CNN have confirmed this. I hope this is true; I haven't been near a TV all day. The painters have kept me busy emptying closets. The link is: http://www.dailykos.com
The author is "kos" and the comments are funny. "Kos" was giving his son a bath and blogging simultaneously, so of course people wanted to know how one can blog from the bathtub. One blogger claimed he was making toast from the bathtub and then concluded with appropriate keys to indicate he got "toasted" himself!