Miami Terrorists Threat Just Government Hype ?

The Daily Show Deconstructs Fed's Miami Terrorists Hype
From: Veredictum

Jon Stewart examines the recent arrest of seven "terrorists" who were allegedly plotting to destroy the Sears Tower in Chicago. After their arrest in Miami, the Bush Administration conducted a media blitz designed to show the effectiveness of Bush's "war on terror." In his usual irreverent style Stewart uses the administration own statements to show there was little threat from the seven "terrorists". Not only did the accused men have no operational plan, they also had no money, weapons, or the mental capacity to carry out the fantasy of bringing down Chicago's tallest building.

http://sofocleto.blogspot.com/2006/07/daily-show-deconstructs-feds-miami.html

Republican Control of House Is Tenuous

With Election Day just a little more than three months away, the Morning Edition polling team was asked to take the pulse of likely voters in the most competitive districts across the country.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5585086

Opinion: Democrats must be practical in their straggly to win seats in this Congressional election. They must engage in strategies which clearly are of concern to voters today: opposing the Iraq War, the economy & jobs, healthcare, and brining unity back within the country.
Democratic candidates must take clear positions and bring plans forth on all of these issues.

Democrats must also seize an opportunity to directly target certain demographics: Hispanics, African Americans and Evangelicals.

The strength of Democrats would be ore effective on the grass roots; wining through volunteer organizing. A ground organization can beat the money of the GOP.

Senator Obama Wins Evangelicals Back for Democrats

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama talks with Renee Montagne about his call for Democrats to reach out to evangelical Christians. Republicans have long laid claim to that powerful voting block. He believes that Democrats can win them back with issues like the drive to end poverty.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5556961

Homeland Security Blamed for Waste

The Department of Homeland Security has wasted money on no-bid contracts and inadequate management of the contractors, according to congressional investigators. Their report's individual complaints have been discussed publicly before, but the document unifies them. DHS officials says the agency is working to correct the problems.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5587588

Black Student Enrollment at UCLA Plunges

Fallout from Prop. 209

Passed by referendum in 1996, Proposition 209 barred the state of California -- including its public colleges and universities -- from giving preferential treatment on the basis of race. The 1998 freshman class was the first within the University of California system to feel the effects of the ban.

While minority admissions as a whole have risen sharply, the number of African-American students admitted has plummeted -- particularly at the UC system's two flagship schools, UCLA and Berkeley.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5563891

G.W. Bush Finally speaks with NAACP

As a former local chapter NAACP President I am pleased to see Mr. G.W. Bush speak with this the oldest USA civil rights organization after refusing to for 5 years.

Mr. Bush also admits that racism still exits in the United States.

"WASHINGTON -
President Bush' acknowledged persistent racism in America and lamented the Republican Party's bumpy relations with black voters as he addressed the NAACP's annual convention Thursday for the first time in his presidency. "

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060720/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_naacp

A Call for New Democratic Leadership in the House.

The Democratic Party must not overlook a potential weak link in its goal to retake the House of Representatives in November 2006.

In my opinion Nancy Pelosi is this weak link.

Pelosi is currently poised to become the next Speaker of the House. Being the primary proponent of a democratic strategy based solely on the culture of corruption, which failed in winning Duck Cunningham’s Congressional seat in her home state of California Pelosi has possibly shown herself to be an inept leader.

I welcome any supporter of Pelosi to dispute this analysis.

Steny H. Hoyer is poised to become the next Minority Leader. In his present role he has provided little leadership in articulating a coherent Democratic message.

With all respect to DNC Chair Howard Dean, the Party also needs voices that are considered to be mainstream & reasonable in the eyes of moderate, independent and swing voters.

The voices that would better articulate the message of the Democratic Party in the House lie with two men of distinction: John Murtha-(Pennsylvania) and John Lewis- (Georgia).

Pelosi has served well, but the Democrats strength no longer lies with her role as an opposition minority leader but today the Democratic Party should move to invest in unifying leaders. Pelosi in her current post would without question loose the Democratic Party votes. The Party cannot ignore the truth of a conservative leaning ideological shift throughout the country.

Who could win the swing votes? Who could be respected by Conservatives to be the next Speaker of House? Lewis & Murtha both elder statesmen, with coherent views would offer realistic & practical leadership.

Lewis may in deed be the idea candidate for Minority Leader. Our nation is more political divided and racially agitated than it has been in years. The proof is this: 1) the revelations brought forth in the governments response to hurricane Katrina. 2) The rise pf Immigration issues and worker protest. The time is ripe for the Democratic Party to bring together the black & Hispanic communities and hold their block of votes for years to come.

John Lewis was a leader within the civil rights movement; he walked with Martin Luther King. He is a Christian. Lewis could be a strong uniting force.

Lewis is not, how can I say, an African American leader whom has be pigeon holed into simply representing for the black community. Lewis already holds the post of senior chief deputy whip being the 7th highest ranking Democratic House member.

The Republicans are afraid of the potential influence of 1 current representative alone, the Honorable Mr. John Murtha. His name speaks for itself. Murtha would do well as Deputy Minority Whip, articulating a united Democratic position on the War in Iraq. The ambiguous stance the party now holds is doing nothing but loosing potential votes.

Changes must be made within the Democratic Party. The same old tired strategies have not won elections. The House, the Senate, the White House are in the hands of Republicans. 8 years of Republican rule.

It is time for Democrats to aggressively take the lead and retake the U.S. House of Representatives.

-Anthony T. Brooks, Checks & Balances Blog


John Lewis:
http://www.house.gov/johnlewis/index.shtml

John Murtha:
http://www.house.gov/murtha/

Report on Murtha’s interest in Leadership:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=2059044&page=1

VOTING RIGHTS ACT

VOTING RIGHTS ACT: Voting 390 for and 33 against, the House on July 13 sent the Senate a bill (HR 9) to extend the Voting Rights Act for 25 years beyond its scheduled expiration next year. The law was enacted in 1965 to outlaw discriminatory policies such as poll taxes and literacy tests, and expanded later to require voting materials in certain jurisdictions to be printed in languages in addition to English. A yes vote was to pass the bill.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/opinion/15060243.htm

33 Republican and 0 Democrats Voting against the Reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act.

Here are their names: Congressmen

Baker
Barrett (SC)
Bartlett (MD)
Barton (TX)
Bonner
Burton (IN)
Campbell (CA)
ConawayDeal (GA)
DoolittleDuncan
Everett
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Garrett (NJ)
Gingrey
Hefley
Hensarling
Herger
Johnson,
SamKing (IA)
Linder
McHenry
Miller, Gary
Norwood
Paul
Price (GA)
Rohrabacher
Royce
Shadegg
Tancredo
Thornberry
Westmoreland

These representatives are not fit to serve the People of the United States of America, for they seek to tilt the balance of equality for all voters and therefore should be voted out of Congress.

Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., displayed photos of civil rights activists, including himself, who were beaten by Alabama state troopers in 1965 as they marched from Selma to Montgomery in support of voting rights.

"I have a concussion. I almost died. I gave blood; some of my colleagues gave their very lives," Lewis shouted from the House floor, while the Rev. Jesse Jackson, another veteran of the civil rights movement, looked on from the gallery.

"Yes, we've made some progress; we have come a distance," Lewis added. "The sad truth is, discrimination still exists. That's why we still need the Voting Rights Act and we must not go back to the dark past."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/13/AR2006071300369.html

Americans want Democrats in power

WASHINGTON - Republicans are in jeopardy of losing their grip on Congress in November.

With less than four months to the midterm elections, the latest Associated Press-Ipsos poll found that Americans by an almost 3-to-1 margin hold the GOP-controlled Congress in low regard and profess a desire to see Democrats wrest control after a dozen years of Republican rule.

Further complicating the GOP outlook to turn things around is a solid percentage of liberals, moderates and even conservatives who say they'll vote Democratic. The party out of power also holds the edge among persuadable voters, a prospect that doesn't bode well for the Republicans.
The election ultimately will be decided in 435 House districts and 33 Senate contests, in which incumbents typically hold the upper hand. But the survey underscored the difficulty Republicans face in trying to persuade a skeptical public to return them to Washington.
The AP-Ipsos poll of 1,000 adults conducted Monday through Wednesday found that President Bush has stopped his political freefall, with his approval rating of 36 percent basically unchanged from last month. Bush received slightly higher marks for his handling of the Iraq war and the fight against terrorism, weeks after his surprise trip to Baghdad and the killing of Iraqi terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in a U.S. airstrike last month.
But a Democratic takeover of either the House or Senate would be disastrous for the president, leaving both his agenda for the last two years in office and the chairmanship of investigative committees in the hands of the opposition party. To seize control of Congress, the Democrats must displace 15 Republicans from House seats and six Republicans from the Senate.
The AP-Ipsos survey asked 789 registered voters if the election for the House were held today, would they vote for the Democratic or Republican candidate in their district. Democrats were favored 51 percent to 40 percent.
Not surprisingly, 81 percent of self-described liberals said they would vote for the Democrat. Among moderates, though, 56 percent backed a Democrat in their district and almost a quarter of conservatives - 24 percent - said they will vote Democratic.
Democrats also held the advantage among persuadable voters - those who are undecided or wouldn't say whom they prefer. A total of 51 percent said they were leaning Democrat, while 41 percent were leaning Republican.
"We still have wind in our face. It's a midterm election in the president's second term," said Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-N.Y., chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. "Today is a little bit better in the atmospherics of Washington than it was maybe a month ago."
The president's party historically has lost seats in the sixth year of his service. Franklin D. Roosevelt lost 72 House seats in 1938; Dwight D. Eisenhower 48 in 1958. The exception was Bill Clinton in 1998.
By another comparison, polls in 1994 - when a Republican tidal wave swept Democrats from power - the two parties were in a dead heat in July on the question of whom voters preferred in their district.
"It comes down to a fairly simply question: Can Democrats nationalize all the elections? If Republicans prevent that, they have a shot. If they don't, they lose," said Doug Gross, the GOP gubernatorial candidate in Iowa in 2002 and the state finance director for the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign.
Overall, only 27 percent approved of the way Congress is doing its job. Lawmakers get favorable marks from 36 percent of conservatives, 28 percent of moderates and 17 percent of liberals.
Some criticism of Congress has focused on lawmakers' inability to control spending, with lawmakers tucking in special projects for their home districts.
"They used to say there's nothing worse than a tax-and-spend liberal Democrat," said Gary Wilson, 51, a self-described liberal from Gaithersburg, Md. "There is something worse: It's a borrow-and-spend Republican. This is going to come back to haunt us."
One bright spot for the GOP is that Republicans hold an advantage over Democrats on issues such as foreign policy and fighting terrorism - 43 percent to 33 percent - and a smaller edge on handling Iraq - 36 percent to 32 percent.
The AP-Ipsos poll was conducted after the divisive Democratic debate in the Senate over setting a timetable for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq. Potential voters were paying attention to the GOP complaint that Democrats want to "cut and run."
"It seems like the Democrats want to pull out or start to pull out, and I don't think that's the correct thing to do," said Eric Bean, 24, a college minister in Fort Worth, Texas. "I'd much rather see a Congress that would support our president. I think George Bush is doing the best he can. I think Republicans will support him."
John Dendahl, the Republican candidate for governor in New Mexico, said Democrats, with the help of some Republicans, have been successful at obstructing legislation in Congress while heaping the blame on the GOP.
Tom Courtney, a Democratic state senator in Iowa, said U.S. voters are ready to trust his party to lead.
"I honestly think it's ours to lose," Courtney said. "My experience, we're not above that. Americans are ready for change."
The poll of adults had a margin of error of 3 percentage points and the survey of registered voters had a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.

Poll: Americans want Democrats in power
DONNA CASSATA
Associated Press

Several Republicans Oppose Voting Rights Act

We live in a nation where in at least in the South every city has distinctive black usually poorer neighborhoods.

With just this one fact how can these ‘Conservatives’ argue there is no longer a need for a strong Voting Rights Act. This act is the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Now let’s talk about Florida, probably the most progressive of the southern states. In my home town of Plant City the black neighborhood is ironically encircled by railroads tracks. Where in 2004 the Republican Party prevented eligible black votes from casting a ballot in Jacksonville. Where there are cities that hold strong to their evil racist history, where no minorities live.

These are still the facts of today.

Hell yes! The Voting Rights Act is not out dated, it must be reauthorized.

As free speaking American citizen I would like to respectively take this opportunity to call every Congressman that votes against or to waken this act a Racist.

More to come…..

(above caption: lets never forget Katrina)

GITMO: Strike #1

The new Conservative Supreme Court deals a decisive blow against the Bush Administration in declaring the Geneva Convention and the military code of conduct do apply to detainees at Guantanamo Bay Prison.

This case will bear upon, foreshadowing legal decisions to come on all questionable matters where the President claims to have far reaching powers simply because the nation is at war. Torture, Spying on U.S. citizens, Data collection on U.S. citizens, an official Executive Branch policy that states the “spirit” not the word of Geneva Convention will be applied.

What kind of illegal flip flopping law dodging jargging do you call that?

Such laws must be defined by law, they are not all encompassing within presidential powers not does the president have the authority to create such policy. The Constitution is clear the President has only the authorty to execute law, not create it. And certainly not to act before such authorities are granted by Congress.

This present Congress however, having the immediate oversight of such programs before Supreme Court have failed to perform their duty.

In light of recent policy this Congress has earned the title of the “Rubber Stamp Congress” and G.W. Bush the “Empty Suit in Chief”.

The President seems to act without respect for the word of Law and for our Constitution. Will he begin to attempt to enact programs that are solely in the "spirit" of the Constitution?

I pray not, these are Powers the President of the United States does not possess. It is the Courts whom intreprets the Law. Certainly grounds for Impeachment.

Even the new Conservative Supreme Court dominated by Roberts, Alito, Thomas and Scalia could not find reasoning within the great Constitution of the United States of America to justify our government detaining any human being indefinitely without charge and without their day in court.

The Supreme Court rendered a good judgment, standing up for pure American Justice.

C&B calls this Supreme Court Decision strike #1 in proving that warnings and opposition to such moves by the Administration were right. Once Strike #3 is reached. I predict the nation will be engaged in of the following: the Impeachment of G.W. Bush or the swearing in of a Democratic Congress.

Strike # 2& 3 could come from numerous places, but it does not take Nostradamous to make a logical guess. The truth will bring strike 2& 3 from Iraq & negative economic issues sparked by artifically inflated consumer prices by the Oil & Gas Industry. The result will be victory for advocates of a better way in the upcoming elections.

Department of Defenses Reaction:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jun2006/20060629_5543.html


NPR:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5546821

CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/06/29/scotus.tribunals/index.html

Summary & Position: The United States of America, and all she represents must treat even terrorist humanely.

above caption: Reuters

NASA: Its a Go!

Count down has started.

Lets keep our fingers crossed.

Successful Lift-off.

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

The Real Issues

The War in Iraq must be Ended. It possesses no justification, it robs money from the Homeland needs of U.S. citizens. The War in Iraq seems to be more important to the Republican Party than the Healthcare, Education, and Jobs of Americans.

The Republicans have decided to spend $90 BILLION dollars a year in Iraq. They however are opposed to spending a fraction of this amount to better education, create jobs, establish a National Healthcare Program or secure the Social Security Program.