"The action I am taking is no more than a radical measure to hasten the explosion of truth and justice. I have but one passion: to enlighten those who have been kept in the dark, in the name of humanity which has suffered so much and is entitled to happiness. My fiery protest is simply the cry of my very soul. Let them dare, then, to bring me before a court of law and let the enquiry take place in broad daylight!" - Emile Zola, J'accuse! (1898) -

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

"Family Angel" Beth Ann Kucinich Joins The Angels” (Plus Other Matters Of The Day)



Congressman Dennis Kucinich's youngest sister, Beth Ann, passed away today.



Please keep her and the Kucinich family in your prayers and in your hearts.

CLEVELAND, OH (Tues. Nov. 11) - Proud Army Veteran, Beth Ann Kucinich, beloved youngest sister of Congressman Dennis Kucinich, died today, Veteran's Day, at Veteran's Hospital in Cleveland, after a battle with acute respiratory distress syndrome. She was 48 years old.


Her family was at her side throughout the three week ordeal, as she struggled to survive while on life support.


Beth Ann Kucinich served in the US Army at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky. A talented musician as well as an artist, she sold many of her works of art to her fellow veterans at the Brecksville Veterans Center. Her specialty was drawing famous cartoon characters for friends and loved ones on special occasions.


An avid heavy metal fan, she attended many local area concerts and practiced her own music with a guitar, with an extraordinary impression of Janis Joplin.


"She was pure love. Every action, every sentiment, every piece of art, every word she spoke was an expression of love. Beth Ann was our family's angel, our 'Heavy Metal Angel', said her eldest brother Dennis.


"Our brother, Perry, passed away last December. Beth Ann never got over Perry's sudden passing. The two had been inseparable. She talked about Perry constantly and she longed to be with him," Dennis said.


She was the beloved mother of Asher; treasured sister of Dennis, Frank, Gary, Teresa, Larry, and the late Perry Kucinich; and dear aunt and a great aunt.


The Kucinich family will receive visitors at Golubski Funeral Home, 6500 Fullerton Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio on Wednesday, November 12, 4pm to 9pm, and on Thursday from 9:30 am until 11:00. The funeral service will begin at 11:00 am, with interment at Calvary Cemetery


The Re-Elect Congressman Kucinich Committee


Not too late to impeach Bush, others
It is time to
impeach the not-yet-convicted felons occupying the White House. Their term is not over. This must be accomplished before George Bush pardons himself and everyone else who has done his bidding over the last eight years.
NewburyportNews.com, Newburyport,... - http://www.newburyportnews.com/


'Bush, Cheney guilty of war crimes'
By Bobbi Lea(Bobbi Lea)
Mukasey, saying outgoing President George W.
Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney should be taken accountable for treason, murder, bribery and other high crimes. "This is not about getting them out of office, that's impeachment. ...
News Cottage - http://newscottage.blogspot.com/


Impeachment Is Still On Our Table: George Bush, The Most Unpopular ...
By Ed. Dickau(Ed. Dickau)
"This is not about getting them out of office, that's impeachment. This is about holding them accountable," said David Swanson, the founder of After Downing Street (ADS). On the way to the department, the crowd, however, was stopped by ...
The Impeachment Hearing Room - http://theimpeachmenthearingroom.blogspot.com/

The Secret Service takes a lot of risks for the first family. So it's only fair that the agency gets the honor of coming up with code names for the president-elect and his family. Various sources within the Buzz recently revealed the not-so-secret nicknames.


Mr. Obama will be known as "Renegade" (move over, Lorenzo Lamas). Michelle, a woman of many talents, will be referred to as "Renaissance." Malia Obama's name will be "Radiance," while little sister Sasha's will be "Rosebud."


And what of the Bidens? We were hoping the Secret Service would stick to the "R" theme and dub Joe "Rogaine." Alas, his name will be "Celtic." His wife Jill will be "Capri." A bit boring, but hey, nobody asked us for our opinion.


Too bad, because while we don't have the power to assign nicknames to the world's most powerful family, we can dig up the most popular nicknames in Search. Here they are below for your enjoyment. And if you have your own ideas for code names for the future first family, chime in below. Buzz Log, over and out.


Maybe There Is Something We Can Learn Here!

A Quiet Windfall For U.S. Banks

With Attention on Bailout Debate, Treasury Made Change to Tax Policy

Links to this article

By Amit R. Paley

Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 10, 2008; Page A01


The financial world was fixated on Capitol Hill as Congress battled over the Bush administration's request for a $700 billion bailout of the banking industry. In the midst of this late-September drama, the Treasury Department issued a five-sentence notice that attracted almost no public attention.


But corporate tax lawyers quickly realized the enormous implications of the document: Administration officials had just given American banks a windfall of as much as $140 billion.


The sweeping change to two decades of tax policy escaped the notice of lawmakers for several days, as they remained consumed with the controversial bailout bill. When they found out, some legislators were furious. Some congressional staff members have privately concluded that the notice was illegal. But they have worried that saying so publicly could unravel several recent bank mergers made possible by the change and send the economy into an even deeper tailspin.


"Did the Treasury Department have the authority to do this? I think almost every tax expert would agree that the answer is no," said George K. Yin, the former chief of staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, the nonpartisan congressional authority on taxes. "They basically repealed a 22-year-old law that Congress passed as a backdoor way of providing aid to banks." (More, Much More…)


http://liebermanmustgo.com/

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/11/11/obama_supports_keeping_lieberm.html

What a week! Has it sunk in yet? In 70 days, President-elect Obama (!) will take office and kick off a new era. For the first time in over a decade, we'll have a Democratic President, House and Senate. This is our chance to undo the damage of the past eight years and move America in a fundamentally new direction.



That's why
your voice is so important. What are your top priorities for the new administration? Your decisions will inform our planning for the next seventy days and beyond, so please take a minute and vote.


CLICK HERE TO VOTE RIGHT NOW


Over the past 12 months, we've led in moving the progressive agenda forward. Our Million Doors for Peace day of action brought attention back to Iraq, and we opposed the crazy march to war against Iran with our traveling Iran Mobile. We led the fight against telecom immunity and rallied against the Wall Street Bailout. YOU have shown the power of TrueMajority members to stand up and shape the progressive agenda.


Now, we are going to have a lot to do: passing health care for all, increasing energy independence, ending the war in Iraq, and restoring the constitution. But, we can't act without you.


VOTE ON YOUR PRIORITIES RIGHT NOW


After you vote, I'll be following up in the next few days to hear more about why you voted the way you did and about any other priorities you have for our work in the next year. So vote right now.

Let's move this country forward,

-Ilya

Ilya Sheyman
Online Organizer

'Make my decade'
The Week Magazine - USA
He cites a pointed observation by retiring Congressman Tom Davis of Virginia—a capable legislator denied a chance even to run in a Republican Senate primary ...
See all stories on this topic


'Make my decade'

Across the post-election landscape, Republicans have called for a reappraisal of the party’s relevance and rationale. A tide of blue has left few red enclaves outside the Great Plains and the deep South, with even North Carolina and Virginia falling to the Democrats. Predictably, conservative true believers favor a move even farther right. However, pragmatists and some influential conservative commentators have concluded that threadbare condemnations of liberalism, hollow attacks on “unpatriotic” Democrats, and ritualistic charges about “class warfare” and tax increases are the residue of a bygone era. These Republicans envision a broader reach to suburban, younger, and minority voters.



While the post-mortems on the death of the Reagan-Bush era differ, they have one feature in common: Everyone seems to agree that something must be done.



Except
Shrum. He cites a pointed observation by retiring Congressman Tom Davis of Virginia—a capable legislator denied a chance even to run in a Republican Senate primary because he bears the non-scarlet letter of moderation. Davis said the Republican brand is so discredited that “if we were a dog food, they would take us off the shelf.” So far, so good. But Frum immediately pivots to an improbable celebration of the “robust . . . market share” McCain won as a foundation for the Republican future. Frum’s silver lining has a lot of clouds, political and otherwise.



First, the political front: Frum inches up McCain’s share of the vote from 46 to 47 percent, apparently to enable a slightly favorable comparison with Michael Dukakis’s performance in what Frum calls “the not-so-bad Democratic year of 1988.” This is the first time I’ve read that doing as well as Dukakis is an encouraging sign.



If the popular vote is Frum’s preferred metric, then perhaps he should note that Barack Obama secured the second highest percentage of any first term President since Dwight Eisenhower—higher than Reagan’s total in the realigning year of 1980. Frum focuses instead on a racial booby prize: McCain’s lead in “the white vote.” But the trend here is all wrong for Republicans. Obama increased the Democratic share among white voters by seven percent in Ohio; 15 percent in Virginia; 17 percent in North Carolina; and an astounding 22 percent in Indiana—where he actually carried white working-class voters.


At the same time, Hispanic support for Republicans collapsed, a seismic shift triggered by the party’s scarring (and scary) rhetoric during the immigration debate. The fallout here has only begun. Within a few years, Texas, where Obama captured 44 percent of the vote without campaigning, is likely to change from red to blue.



So Shrum’s forensic analysis offers Republicans little more than demographic doom, ignoring altogether another, potentially decisive, trend—that younger white voters went heavily for Obama. Even worse, his recommendations would further disgrace the party of Lincoln, which, in effect, he proposes should become even more the party of Rove.



How would Frum mobilize what he calls the Republicans’ “residual assets” (and what others less charitably call the Republican “rump”)?



First, appeal to “nationalism.” Shrum describes the exuberant reaction to Obama’s victory in Kenya and decides that Americans might ask: “Who is this guy working for anyway?” This is ridiculous. Election night here brought outpourings of relief and happiness everywhere, not only in Asia and Africa but across Europe, Canada and, most significantly, these United States. Is an American President only supposed to be popular in majority-white nations? Or is he or she perhaps only supposed to be white?



Second, Shrum advises Republicans to go after Democrats as the party of “affirmative action” and “the racial spoils system.” He puts an edge on this recipe for backlash politics by positing Republicans as the true representatives of “American indigenous culture.” (Who knew they represented Native Americans?) He pictures Obama as someone who “offers a very different vision of what it means to be an American.” Incredibly, amid the dismal gloom of President Bush’s poll ratings, Frum concludes that Bush is seen by Americans as “more authentically their own.” This is exactly the stereotype of “the real America” that failed disastrously in the campaign and left John McCain’s reputation in the bargain bin.



Shrum does pay lip service to the idea that Republicans need “new policies and a new tone.” But he would marry these to base appeals that would again lead the Republicans down the dirt road to defeat.


When I heard McCain’s graceful concession speech last Tuesday, I thought: Where has that guy been for the past few months? The McCain of election night would have been better for America—and he would have had a better chance to win American votes, indigenous or otherwise. Something like that is what a lot of Republicans are thinking and saying now. But are there enough of them to pull the party back from the brink? Instead, the party very well may follow Frum’s advice. If I were to put politics—and not country—first, my reaction would be this: Go ahead. Make my decade.


- Robert M. Shrum has been a senior adviser to the Gore 2000 presidential campaign, the campaign of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and the British Labour Party. In addition to being the chief strategist for the 2004 Kerry-Edwards campaign, Shrum has advised thirty winning U.S. Senate campaigns; eight winning campaigns for governor; mayors of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and other major cities; and the Democratic Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives. Shrum's writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times , The New York Times , The New Republic , Slate , and other publications. The author of No Excuses: Concessions of a Serial Campaigner (Simon and Schuster), he is currently a Senior Fellow at New York University's Wagner School of Public Service.


Shrum is an idiot past his prime and out of touch with the times. He is done and considered a boring wind bag with an inflated resume.


Poll Crashers Tilt Unscientific Polls Their Way

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