Bush's War diverted the funds that could have saved New Orleans

It appears that the money has been moved in the president’s budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that’s the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can’t be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us.

-- Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; New Orleans Times-Picayune, June 8, 2004.

For more on how the War in Iraq cost us New Orleans

Read a Great Book: Women of the West by Dorothy Gray

This is a really great book to read right now. This is a book of short, well written profiles of extraordinary women in the American old west. The women come from all over the spectrum, but the one thing that they have in common is that they overcame tredmondous odds. I was inspired, unlifted and encouraged. Order it and read it and feel better about what we can accomplish today, Women of the West

Deal reached on Nuclear Option in the Senate

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ON JUDICIAL NOMINATIONS

We respect the diligent, conscientious efforts, to date, rendered to the Senate by Majority Leader Frist and Democratic Leader Reid. This memorandum confirms an understanding among the signatories, based upon mutual trust and confidence, related to pending and future judicial nominations in the 109th Congress.


This memorandum is in two parts. Part I relates to the currently pending judicial nominees; Part II relates to subsequent individual nominations to be made by the President and to be acted upon by the Senate’s Judiciary Committee.


We have agreed to the following:


Part I: Commitments on Pending Judicial Nominations


A. Votes for Certain Nominees. We will vote to invoke cloture on the following judicial nominees: Janice Rogers Brown (D.C. Circuit), William Pryor (11th Circuit), and Priscilla Owen (5th Circuit).


B. Status of Other Nominees. Signatories make no commitment to vote for or against cloture on the following judicial nominees: William Myers (9th Circuit) and Henry Saad (6th Circuit).


Part II: Commitments for Future Nominations


A. Future Nominations. Signatories will exercise their responsibilities under the Advice and Consent Clause of the United States Constitution in good faith. Nominees should only be filibustered under extraordinary circumstances, and each signatory must use his or her own discretion and judgment in determining whether such circumstances exist.


B. Rules Changes. In light of the spirit and continuing commitments made in this agreement, we commit to oppose the rules changes in the 109th Congress, which we understand to be any amendment to or interpretation of the Rules of the Senate that would force a vote on a judicial nomination by means other than unanimous consent or Rule XXII.


We believe that, under Article II, Section 2, of the United States Constitution, the word “Advice” speaks to consultation between the Senate and the President with regard to the use of the President’s power to make nominations. We encourage the Executive branch of government to consult with members of the Senate, both Democratic and Republican, prior to submitting a judicial nomination to the Senate for consideration.


Such a return to the early practices of our government may well serve to reduce the rancor that unfortunately accompanies the advice and consent process in the Senate.


We firmly believe this agreement is consistent with the traditions of the United States Senate that we as Senators seek to uphold.

San Diego

Just arrived home from a very refreshing week in San Diego. What a lovely town. Took the kids to the zoo, where my husband observed that the animals are fed an ultra healthy, nutrient rich diet, and the humans eat chemo-crap. We also visited the Star of India and the aircraft carrier Midway. The Flower Fields in Carlsbad are also quite spectacular.

Very pleasant trip, indeed. the biggest news is that I'm pregnant again. Baby is due at the end of the year. We will offiically be outnumbered. Everyone is hoping for a girl, even though everything I have already is for boys.

NPR sucks

I'm driving a rental car this week because the fuel pump died in my car. Anyway since it's a rental, I'm not listening to any of my music since I know I'll forget and leave the disc in the player. Which means the radio. I can't stand commerical radio, so it was either NPR or my own thoughts. I tunes into NPR.

Once upon a time we listened to nothing but our local public radio station. But over the last two years I've been growing increasingly unhappy with the NPR's news coverage. Dan Shore and Scott Simon are still wonderful but the rest are pretty biased, imho. I first noticed it when they began attacking Howard Dean. And then during the general election they gave way too much air time to the trivial and nothing to really substantial issues.

But today was the worst. Top story over and over was the shrub denouncing the Senate for being "political" and not confirming Bolton to the U.N. They played experts from his speech and quoted him and made it sound like the only thing holding but the nomination is the Democrats playing "politics." Nothing about how Republican senators are having doubts. Nothing about the increasingly substantiated charges against him. No news, just repeating endlessly Bush's lies.

I was actually considering rejoining our local station this past membership drive because they are nice folks, play nice classical music, even if their blues show is weak and jazz is nonexistent. What was I thinking?

Slime mold beetle named after Bush

Cheney and Rummy also get slime mold beetles of their own.

Spring at last

Lovely, lovely spring is finally here. It's currently 81 degrees here in Central PA. I had a great workout — did almost a mile on the treadmill, plus everything else. My trainer sure can pack a lot into an hour. I also clean out some kitchen cabinets and scrubbed all the bathrooms. Now we're off to the dairy for ice cream. Oh and I wrote a letter to Rick Santorum. But I don't know if I'll mail it or not. I may have to wait a bit. Looks like Casey Jr., son of the "beloved" late Governor, is running on the Democratic side. Casey is Catholic and anti-abortion, but he's a zillion times better than Santorum. Although both Joe Hoeffel and Barbara Hafer have apparently dropped out of the primary, I am intrigued by Chuck Pennacchio.

Out of touch

I know the pope died and that the Schiavo woman finally died. But aside from that I am woefully out of touch, delibrately so. I cancelled cable. I sometimes read Frank Rich's column in the NY Times, and an occasional book review, but that's about it. The rest is too depressing. NPR is no longer a trusted news source. Instead I'm rediscovering my old CDs, most of which I haven't listen to in ten years. Guess what. I still like them. I am getting my life in order so that when the time comes again to wage the good fight, I'll be ready.

In the meantime, I am lightening our load, so to speak. I took four bags of old clothes to Goodwill today. That's a total of fourteen bags, plus an armload of my husband's old suits. I am cleaninf out closets and cupboards like mad. We just have too much stuff. The rampant consumerism in this country is sickening.

Hello Spring

I had an excellent workout today. I can't believe what I am able to do. I still have bad pain, but I can finally see the day when I can start running again. I am getting my life back. Now if only I could get my country back as well.

A New Beginning

Today I finally sorted through all of my old Howard Dean campaign stuff — my lists of local members and my lists of addresses for Iowa and New Hampshire, the position papers and the fundraising letters, the official campaign literature and the stuff we made ourselves. Almost all of it went into a big plastic garbage bag to go out to the curb next trash day. I kept a few blue bumperstickers, a half dozen buttons, a pair of official bat-shaped pens, a Christmas card from Dr. Dean, a photo of the man, and a few "Commonsense" pamphlets.

After the media and the party power elite killed our campaign, I couldn't even bear to look at all that stuff. After a few months though, I started to warm up to Kerry. Late last summer I finally cleared all the Dean stuff off our dining room table and stuck in a crate. The crate went to the basement office. After the election, I couldn't face the crate. The betrayasl, the failures, the lies, the promise of what might have been.

But tomorrow Howard Dean is going to elected to head the Democratic National Committee. The one that all of the insiders tried so hard to discredit and destroy is rising again, like a phoenix.

UPDATE: Today's the day.

Please join me in contributing to the DNC through the Actblue account set up by Markos and other bloggers.

Contribution amount:
$

Foxes guarding the hen house?

I have been following the Gannon/Guckert story for a while on Daily Kos. It just keeps getting better and better. Now the New York Times has the story, but with the gay porn angle. Oh well, can't have everything. Have a great day!

You Have The Power

It's Dean. The last of the other candidates has dropped out.
You Have The Power Remix
Listening to him again and all I can think is I can't believe that this man is now going to lead the Democratic Party. It's a miracle. I do feel empowered.

Reid on Gonzales: No on torture.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid's statement on the confirmation of Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General:

We are a nation at war--a war in Iraq and a war against terrorism -- but this war does not give our civilian leaders the authority to cast aside the laws of armed conflict, nor does it allow our Commander in Chief to decide which laws apply and which laws do not apply. To do so puts, I repeat, our own soldiers and our Nation at risk. But that is what has occurred under the direction and coordination of the man seeking to be Attorney General of the United States, Alberto Gonzales, a man I personally like, but whose judgment on these very serious matters was flawed and is flawed. I have heard a great deal on this Senate floor about Judge Gonzales's background over the last few days, how his parents were migrant farm workers, and how he worked his way up from poverty. It is an inspiring story, and it is one that resonates with me. I met with Judge Gonzales after the President sent his nomination to the Senate. We talked about our childhoods, about coming from small rural towns, some would say without many advantages. The fact that someone from a place called Humble, TX, and someone from a place called Searchlight, NV, have had an opportunity to achieve their dream is what America is all
about.

But, embodying the American dream is not a sufficient qualification to be Attorney General of the United States. The Attorney General is the people's lawyer, not the President's lawyer. He is charged with upholding the Constitution and the rule of law. The Attorney General must be independent, and he must be clear that abuses by our Government will not be tolerated. Judge Gonzales's appearance before the Judiciary Committee raised serious questions about his ability to be that force in the Justice Department. That is why I am going to vote against him.

It looks like its Dean to head DNC

This is the best news in quite a while.

I have a reason to go on.

I have decided that there is a reason to keep fighting. Actually there is always a reason to keep fighting, but after last November, I felt badly discouraged. I'm not very good at fighting endlessly losing battles. But I have found one that is winnable. The defeat of PA GOP Senator Rick Santorum. There is no reason on earth that Pennsylvania, a blue state with a Democratic Governor that voted for Kerry should be represented by that slime. Who's with me?