Read this'Saddam-Lite in the Making':

A senior Jordanian official who met the new Prime Minister 'dozens of times' before the US invasion was always worried about an Allawi ascendancy. He explained to the Herald this week: 'He made it clear that he was going back to Iraq with vengeance; it was never going to be about a beauty of democracy, so much as a settling of scores

There's plenty more in the article, but not much surprising info. It seems like Allawi doesn't quite share the vision of democracy touted by the Bush administration. But we know they never really believed in it either.

There are reports indicating that maybe Bush wasn't lying about WMD, at least not all the time:

Iraq uranium claim gets some support
WASHINGTON -- It was one of the first signs that the intelligence used to go to war in Iraq was wrong: White House repudiation of 16 words in last year's State of the Union speech that had suggested Saddam Hussein tried to buy uranium in Africa. Yet even as two recent reports sharply criticized prewar intelligence, they also suggested President Bush's claim may not have been totally off-base.

Hmmm. Do you find that hard to believe? I do and I'm not alone. Check out Josh Marshall's detailed exploration of the uranium from Africa intelligence.

Here's a very interesting post from Deconsumption

So perhaps we might, for the sake of argument, entertain the idea that “the American Dream” is not simply a cultural Ideal—that it might be a brilliant study in propaganda: in maintaining authority over the society at large while allowing them to keep an individual sense of progress and hope. This would seem to be precisely what the American Dream—which is predicated in its roots on a lifestyle of steady “consumption”—has provided. As generally stated, the American Dream tells us that if we work hard we can expect to achieve a better life. The “trick of the devil” is that the definition of “better” was implied to be Material Acquisitions and a Consumption Lifestyle, instead of “more family time” or “enlightened understanding” or “dedication to civic and personal purpose” or some such….

and it goes on to say

It’s been said that “the trick of the devil is that he tempts us with small choices, and then blinds us to their consequences”. Maybe the American Dream is not the conspiracy of some Illuminati group. Maybe it’s just the result of our collective desire to envision an ever more glamorous life for ourselves and then immediately rush out to buy it on credit. In actual fact, the truth is probably somewhere in between. But when we’ve come to live the American Dream without compassion, to justify ourselves as wholly deserving our good fortune, when we can no longer remember the feeling of suffering under a tyrannical authority or even find the fire within to take up the banner and march against one…then as a society we have to ask ourselves the question: “Do we have any real feelings left at all?”

I recommend reading the full post.

Save Our Wild Forests
My children might not ever see a wild forest if Bush has his way. He's
once again proposed opening up our nation's forests to road building so
that logging trucks and oil wells can get in. Tell them we're not tolerating it. From the Florida PIRG

Stop the Genocide in Sudan
Send a message to your Senators and Representatives telling them to call the atrocities in Darfur genocide. I sent this out before from MoveOn, but nothings been done. This time its from TrueMajority. They also have a tool to write letters to the editors of your papers. Check it out.

Protect the Western Arctic Reserve
The Bush administration is using the recent rise in gasoline prices as
a pretext to sacrifice one of America's greatest natural treasures--the
Western Arctic Reserve of Alaska -- to massive oil development. Take Action From the Natural Resources Defense Council

Stop the INDUCE act

Do you like your CD burner? How about your MP3 player? Well Republican
Nut Job, Orrin Hatch, wants to take them away from you. He's sponsoring
the INDUCE Act which will cripple digital innovation and prevent anyone
from creating devices that can copy digital media. Sounds crazy eh? Its true, go ask Chris. Thensend a letter to your Senators telling them to quit even considering this nonsense.

Protect your Right to Know

In an alarming attack on public access to information, language buried
deep in the Senate transportation bill would allow the government to
conceal important information from the public on serious environment,
health, and public safety issues. This bill is now before Congress;
send a message today supporting your right-to-know about
hazards in your community. Take Action From Environmental Defense

Don't you love those pretty colors? Thanks to Blogger for updating the posting module, it does have a few bugs though.

From the EFF: Press Room

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said yesterday that development of CAPPS II - the government's controversial airline passenger surveillance program – will not continue. As reported by USA Today:
Asked Wednesday whether the program could be considered dead, Ridge jokingly gestured as if he were driving a stake through its heart and said, "Yes."
EFF Senior Staff Attorney Lee Tien said, "Finally, the Department of Homeland Security has recognized what EFF has been saying all along: the proposed CAPPS II system would be an ineffective, expensive, and unnecessary invasion of travelers' privacy."

Check out this post on BattleGround States Blog. It deals with an article from The Economist concerning Florida's precious electoral votes. The good news is that Kerry can take this state, the not-so-good news is its gonna take a whole lotta work. So stop reading blogs and go register some voters.

There's an interesting report, about Iyad Allawi personally executing insurgents:

Iyad Allawi, the new Prime Minister of Iraq, pulled a pistol and executed as many as six suspected insurgents at a Baghdad police station, just days before Washington handed control of the country to his interim government, according to two people who allege they witnessed the killings.
They say the prisoners - handcuffed and blindfolded - were lined up against a wall in a courtyard adjacent to the maximum-security cell block in which they were held at the Al-Amariyah security center, in the city's south-western suburbs.
They say Dr Allawi told onlookers the victims had each killed as many as 50 Iraqis and they "deserved worse than death".
The Prime Minister's office has denied the entirety of the witness accounts in a written statement to the Herald, saying Dr Allawi had never visited the center and he did not carry a gun.

Of course this is just according to these two 'witnesses' so it can't be just accepted as fact, but

But in a sharp reminder of the Iraqi hunger for security above all else, the witnesses did not perceive themselves as whistle-blowers. In interviews with the Herald they were enthusiastic about such killings, with one of them arguing: "These criminals were terrorists. They are the ones who plant the bombs."

Is Illawi trying to demonstrate his 'strongman' abilities to prove himself capable of ruling Iraq? The report is frightening given the fact that Illawi has been discussing martial law and postponement of elections, not to mention the fact that he himself is a 'former' terrorist. Maybe this shouldn't be such a surprise coming from Bush's man in Iraq; Bush loves a good execution and has made it clear he's no fan of democracy; "A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there's no question about it,"

I sent this letter out today to the Gainesville Sun and some politicians

Demand an Investigation

In this country we pride ourselves on being a democracy. Yet right here in the beautiful state of Florida, our Governor and Secretary of State have done incredible damage to our sacred form of government. Voting is the essential right that makes our system of government function. It is this right to vote, to decide who will lead us, that makes this country great. The recent "felon-purge" list, put forth by Gov. Bush and Secretary of State, Glenda Hood, sought to remove over 48,000 voters from the rolls. The administration sought to hide the list from public scrutiny, but was thwarted by a lawsuit and a judge who ruled the list should be made public. Analysis of the list revealed there were three times as many Democrats on the list as Republicans, most of them black. Hispanics however were strangely absent from the list, making up only 61 of the 48,000. Hispanics tend to vote Republican in our state. Not only that but there were approximately 2,000 names on the list belonging to people that received clemency or weren't ever felons. These revelations led to Gov. Bush dropping the list altogether. But the fact is, he never wanted us to find these flaws, he tried to keep this list a secret. We need more than apologies for incompetence, we need a full investigation. The disenfranchisement of our citizens is such a serious threat to our democracy that anything less undermines the credibility of our government and the very ideals on which this country was founded.

Florida Residents: Find your state rep. here.
Find your state senator here. (Gainesville Residents: Rod Smith is your state senator, smith.rod.web@flsenate.gov.) Tell them to demand an investigation.
And it wouldn't hurt to write your Congressperson & Senators too.

Check out this interview by Amy Goodman of Democracy Now and Dennic Kucinich

AMY GOODMAN: Well, what about the charge that your delegates-- that you backed down because you didn't want to have a platform fight over what many considered a key peace plank in the platform that they wanted to get in.
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH: Well, I still consider the withdrawal from Iraq as being central not only to America's security, but to peace in the world. However, we didn't have the votes to be successful in a platform fight. You know, we barely had enough to start the discussion. I've carried this campaign in challenging the war for two and a half years. But there comes a point where we have to realize, whether we have the votes or not, to be able to prevail in insisting on our point of view, or if we're going to create a rupture that would make it impossible for a Democrat to be elected president.

Well to answer the question posed in the title of this post: I don't think so. I think Dennis gets it. We need to get Bush out of the White house. Kucinich fought the good fight, he tried harder than anyone else, with a persistence that brings tears to my eyes, to lead the Democratic party on the path to peace. But he didn't win. In our two party system (which needs to change) we're left with only one viable option for removing Bush from the White House.
If you haven't already please read "The Push" by William Rivers Pitt. There's an excerpt in the post below. Recently Howard Dean, in reference to this election, "When the house is on fire, its not time to fix the furniture." He's right. I would have loved it if Dean was the nominee, he's the first politician I've financially supported. But he isn't the nominee and rather then have my vote allow Bush to remain in power, I'm going to take my chances with Kerry.
Does that mean when Kerry wins I can relax? Not at all. While I might be celebrating wildly on the night of November 2, when I wake up on November 3 I'll be holding Kerry's feet to the fire. I won't be satisfied with giving him a free ride, and neither should anyone else. We all need to keep on working and struggling for peace, social equality, protecting the environment, health care, education, Instant Run-off Voting and a whole host of other issues. Electing John Kerry as president is just one step in the right direction.

William Rivers Pitt - The Push

Today, few groups have more power to throw the race one way or another than what could be deemed the 'Anti-War Left.'
There is no single description to encompass this voter bloc. They are the people who were against the Iraq invasion from day one, the people who know the 'War on Terra' is an advertisement for incalculable profiteering by corporations in the business of war. They are the people who see corporate supremacy in America as a cancer affecting the air, water, soil and soul of the nation and the world entire.
They are also the most undependable voter bloc in the country. They are nobody's base, because they hold principle above all else when it comes to politics. They will not cast a ballot for someone who has acted against the principles which are at the core of that anti-war sentiment. If a candidate appears to have gone against those principles, that bloc will bolt. In many respects, this is what politics in America should be about. Pragmatism should take a back seat to virtue, and people should be encouraged to vote their hearts instead of their fears and prejudices.
Unfortunately, in this corrupted age, voting on the basis of principle alone allows the unprincipled to win the day. Voting with a strict moral code solely in mind allows those without morals to kick down the door and pillage at will. When confronted by problems that cannot be immediately fixed, the only solution is to focus upon the problems which can be fixed. In the matter of the 'Anti-War Left,' the problem which must be fixed is this: The idea that American elections are not about morals, or ethics, or principles, but power, must be seated firmly in the mind of any and all who see the country charging towards dissolution.

We are moving perilously close to a one-party state. Republicans, neocons, religious fanatics and corporations have formed an alliance that has brought them and their corrupt values to the heights of power. We cannot allow them to hold on to that power. Liberals, Leftists, Anti-war protestors, hippies and the disaffected need to come together with the common purpose of taking the government from these Right-wing corporatists. Do not let your vote go wasted.

I haven't had time to listen to this debate yet. But you can listen to it here. Here's the Nation's take on it.

Check this out.

t r u t h o u t - Report: Touch screen Voting Flawed in Florida: "An analysis of just under half of the ballots from the March 9 election shows that votes were not recorded for about one out of every 100 people using the new machines, or a 1.09 percent rate of undervotes, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported. An undervote is when a selection cannot be detected on a ballot.
That's at least eight times the number of undervotes in the same election on paper ballots marked with pencils and tallied by an optical scanner, which had a 0.12 percent rate of undervotes, the newspaper reported. "

The electronic voting machine people are claiming that this discrepancy is the result of voters not choosing a candidate on the touch screen machine; they argue that the voter chose not to choose. While that may explain the discrepancy, how do we really know? After all there is no paper trail, to help clarify a voter's intention.

Guess what? There were only 61 people who identified themselves as Hispanic on the 48,000 person Florida felon purge list. What are the odds of that happening? Could it have been some tragic mistake? Could it be that there were only 61 Hispanic felons trying to vote? Check this out:

The glitch in a state that President Bush won by just 537 votes could have been significant -- because of the state's sizable Cuban population, Hispanics in Florida have tended to vote Republican more than Hispanics nationally. The list had about 28,000 Democrats and around 9,500 Republicans, with most of the rest unaffiliated.

Of course Jeb Bush says this was a mistake; but I'm not buying it, and hopefully nobody else will. The only mistake Jeb & his cronies made was losing the suit that brought this purge list to the public. After stealing the election in 2000 is there any reason to trust him? The fact is that this list was designed to insure a Republican victory in Florida, again. It should not be surprising to anyone that groups that tend to be Republican were left off the list. Just look at the numbers; 28,000 of these felons were registered Democrats. The fact that this list is being thrown out is a victory for democracy and the free press. My thanks to everyone involved in breaking this story (Sarasota Herald-Tribune) and uncovering these misdeeds. There is hope for us yet.

The PATRIOT act has not been amended, again. This time at issue was our freedom to read what we please at the public library. Read this.

The effort to defy Bush and bridle the law's powers lost by 210-210, with a majority needed to prevail. The amendment appeared on its way to victory as the roll call's normal 15-minute time limit expired, but GOP leaders kept the vote open for 23 more minutes as they persuaded about 10 Republicans who initially supported the provision to change their votes.

See how your Representative voted here. I recommend sending a letter of thanks if your reps voted for it, or a harsh textual lashing if they voted against it, especially the if they are a democrat. A big thanks to Corrine Brown, my rep, for voting for this amendment. Speaking of locals, Cliff Stearns, of the 6TH congressional district, which includes much of Gainesville, voted against the amendment. It's time to get rid of this puppet of the administration. Check out Stearn's competition, Dave Bruderly. This assault on our civil liberties could have been thwarted by a single vote. Keep this in mind, November 2ND isn't just about getting rid of Bush, we've got to take back as many seats in the House and Senate as possible.

The Preservator
Yup, Bush loves animals. Especially dead ones. By gutting the endangered species act to allow the importation of endangered species, in live or dead form, Bush is opening up the market for trade in these animals. Watch this video and send some letters about this.
Help Canadian's protect Wild Salmon
We all know by now that farmed salmon has way more contaminents then wild salmon, and that its not so healthy to eat. But farmed salmon also presents some problems for wild salmon, one of which is sea lice. Apparently some salmon farms have becom breeding grounds for these sea lice and they are spreading to wild populations. Click here to send a letter to the corporations involved.

While some of us are plotting to undermine coverage of the Republican National Convention with protests or concerts (DraftBruce.com), the Bush adminsitration might have much more dramatic plans for undermining the Democratic National Convention. From The New Republic:

This public pressure would be appropriate, even laudable, had it not been accompanied by an unseemly private insistence that the Pakistanis deliver these high-value targets (HVTs) before Americans go to the polls in November. The Bush administration denies it has geared the war on terrorism to the electoral calendar. "Our attitude and actions have been the same since September 11 in terms of getting high-value targets off the street, and that doesn't change because of an election," says National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack. But The New Republic has learned that Pakistani security officials have been told they must produce HVTs by the election. According to one source in Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), "The Pakistani government is really desperate and wants to flush out bin Laden and his associates after the latest pressures from the U.S. administration to deliver before the [upcoming] U.S. elections." Introducing target dates for Al Qaeda captures is a new twist in U.S.-Pakistani counterterrorism relations--according to a recently departed intelligence official, "no timetable[s]" were discussed in 2002 or 2003--but the November election is apparently bringing a new deadline pressure to the hunt. Another official, this one from the Pakistani Interior Ministry, which is responsible for internal security, explains, "The Musharraf government has a history of rescuing the Bush administration. They now want Musharraf to bail them out when they are facing hard times in the coming elections." (These sources insisted on remaining anonymous. Under Pakistan's Official Secrets Act, an official leaking information to the press can be imprisoned for up to ten years.)

The article goes on to discuss another source who says that any announcement of capturing these al-Qaeda operatives be set forthe specific dates of July 26TH, 27TH, or 287TH. Read this article and be prepared.

Hand scanners to keep tabs on students at Boca middle school: South Florida Sun-Sentinel: It's for the teachers' protection as well as the kids',' said Sales, whose two sons will attend the school. 'My kids are telling everyone about it. They think it's so high-tech, so FBI, so cool.

Good, get the kids acclimated and complacent about biometric scanning. They're so much more malleable when they're young. Besides these hand scanners are way 'cooler' then having hall monitors or some degree of responsibility on the part of teachers and administrators.

From the EFF

The USA PATRIOT Act is under more scrutiny than ever, but a few congressmen are itching to expand some of its most troubling provisions. The Anti-Terrorism Intelligence Tools Improvement Act (H.R. 3179) would strengthen the government's already overbroad authority to gain secret access to your personal info - including phone, Internet, and financial records. It would also allow law enforcement to target domestic suspects with no ties to any foreign government or terrorist group - extending the reach of powerful surveillance laws originally intended only for spies and other 'agents of a foreign power.'

Tell your Representative to oppose this bill.

Have you ever had the misfortune of working for minimum wage? The last time I had such a job, the minimum wage was $5.15 an hour. And it still is today.Floridians For All is organizing a petition to raise it to $6.15. While there are many obvious reasons to give a boost to poorly paid workers, the group points out another benefit of this petition:

In a year where voter turnout is of the utmost importance, 52 percent of less likely voters indicate they would be more interested in the 2004 election if a minimum wage proposal is on the ballot, and 30 percent say they would be much more interested.

Download the petition here.

I recently read this article by Robert Jensen on Common Dreams. Here's an excerpt

The claim that 'Fahrenheit 9/11' is a conservative movie may strike some as ludicrous. But the film endorses one of the central lies that Americans tell themselves, that the U military fights for our freedom. This construction of the military as a defensive force obscures the harsh reality that the military is used to project U.S. power around the world to ensure dominance, not to defend anyone's freedom, at home or abroad.
Instead of confronting this mythology, Moore ends the film with it. He points out, accurately, the irony that those who benefit the least from the U.S. system -- the chronically poor and members of minority groups -- are the very people who sign up for the military. 'They offer to give up their lives so we can be free,' Moore says, and all they ask in return is that we not send them in harm's way unless it's necessary. After the Iraq War, he wonders, 'Will they ever trust us again?'
It is no doubt true that many who join the military believe they will be fighting for freedom. But we must distinguish between the mythology that many internalize and may truly believe, from the reality of the role of the U.S. military. The film includes some comments by soldiers questioning that very claim, but Moore's narration implies that somehow a glorious tradition of U.S. military endeavors to protect freedom has now been sullied by the Iraq War.
The problem is not just that the Iraq War was fundamentally illegal and immoral. The whole rotten project of empire building has been illegal and immoral -- and every bit as much a Democratic as a Republican project. The millions of dead around the world -- in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia -- as a result of U.S. military actions and proxy wars don't care which U.S. party was pulling the strings and pulling the trigger when they were killed. It's true that much of the world hates Bush. It's also true that much of the world has hated every post-WWII U.S. president. And for good reasons.

I think Robert Jensen makes a great point with this article and I'd say its a must read for all fans of Fahrenheit 9/11. While I don't necessarily agree with everything he writes, his central argument is something we should all keep in mind. Stopping American empire is a bigger and more difficult task then simply replacing the president.

Its probably pretty obvious to readers of this blog, that I'm backing Kerry for President. Now you too can make your support obvious by putting a Kerry-Edwards sticker on your car. Get your free sticker here.

Help Protect Deep Sea Coral & Sponges
From Oceana

Oceana's fight to defend deep-sea corals from the destructive fishing practice known as "bottom trawling" has reached a critical moment -- we have petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to put regulations in place protecting corals and sponges from bottom trawling, and they have opened the issue up for public comment.

Let them know you want to protect thse valuable natural resources.
Protect your Freedom to Read
From the ACLU

As early as tomorrow, the House is likely to vote on an amendment to the annual appropriations bill for the Justice Department that would forbid the government from using any money to use the USA PATRIOT ACT to search your library and book-buying records without probable cause of crime.

Tell your Rep to support the amendment.
Quick Reminder:: Today is the national Democracy for America Meetup Day. Visit dfa.meetup.com to find a meetup near you.

Write your senators to stop the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator, Advanced Concepts research, the Modern Pit Facility, and enhanced test readiness. These programs only undermine non-proliferation and make the world a more dangerous place. From the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Read thist r u t h o u t - Florida Purges Valid Black Voters:

'It's a throwback to a very ugly period in American history - a time when state officials in the deep South threw up irrelevant stumbling blocks to keep black people from voting,' said Randall Marshall, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.
But administrators of the Florida Division of Elections, in the midst of a controversial effort to remove ineligible voters from Florida's rolls, argue that they are following state law.
'Florida law requires that a felon must register to vote after being granted clemency in order for that registration to be valid,' Secretary of State Glenda Hood said in a news release issued Friday.
Hood's remarks came in response to a Herald report Friday that revealed that at least 2,119 voters on the state's list of potentially ineligible voters had received clemency after their convictions and appear entitled to vote. Black Democrats make up the largest portion of the list, The Herald found.

Is any one surprised? This is what the list was meant to do, the reason why it exists. Hopefully the local supervisors of elections will ignore the supposed 'requirements' and allow these people to vote anyway.
The Miami Herald has created a searchable version of the list here.

For some time now, we've all been hearing reports of a potential genocide in Sudan. The situation seems very serious with estimated death tolls reaching up to 300,000 if nothing is done. Arab militias called the Janjaweed are killing and raping black Muslims. The situation is worsening as refugees cannot return to their homes and therefore have no access to food. Humanitarian aid is being blockaded and the rainy season that begins soon will severely limit what aid might come through in the future. This week Colin Powell and Koffi Annan both visited the Darfur region where the worst atrocities are said to be taking place. These visits are hopefully only the beginning of an effort to stop this massacre;
From the Washington Post:

The draft U.N. resolution being circulated by the Bush administration would ban the Sudanese and other governments from arming, equipping or training the Janjaweed. It also calls for a travel ban on militia leaders and gives the Sudanese government 30 days to halt militia activities and allow unfettered access for relief officials.
If the steps against the militias fail, sanctions could be applied to "any other individuals or groups responsible for the commission of atrocities in Darfur," according to the draft. U.S. officials said that phrase was designed to warn the government that the United States may press the Security Council to impose sanctions on Sudanese government officials if the situation worsens.

A vote on the resolution should take place soon. However, according to an email I got from MoveOn today:

This week, on NPR, Powell said: "Why would we call it a genocide
when the genocide definition has to meet certain legal tests, and
based on what we have seen, there were some indicators but there was
certainly no full accounting of all indicators that lead to a legal
definition of genocide, and that's the advice of my lawyers..."

Calling the situation a genocide would galvanize the world community and do much to aid the situation. So get active and call Colin Powell now. Call your Rep and Senators too. Tell them to recognize the genocide and condemn it publicly.

Secretary of State Colin Powell 202-647-4000 or 202-647-6607 or 202-647-6575
Florida Residents :
Senator Bob Graham
Washington, DC: 202-224-3041
Senator Bill Nelson
Washington, DC: 202-224-5274
Some Gainesville Residents
Congresswoman Corrine Brown
Washington, DC: 202-225-0123

I called this morning and Bob Graham was out of the country, Bill Nelson's office couldn't find their statement on it, and I got someone's voicemail in Corrine Brown's office who 'might know about it.' So obviously these people need to get it together on this.

In a small victory for voting rights, the State of Florida was forced to disclose its latest felon purge list. Hopefully the release of this list will help stop illegal disenfranchisement of voters. Find out if you're on the list here. Making sure people who aren't felons are allowed to vote is a great first step, but what Florida really needs is to abandon this archaic law and let everyone vote.

John Kerry is expected to choose his running mate soon. Many people have suggested John Edwards, or Dick Gephardt. Both are uninspiring. I didn't like either one when they were running for President, and I don't like them now. Which brings me to Howard Dean. Dean was my choice for President, and now with Kerry running a boring campaign, a little bit of Dean's fire might be the remedy. Check out this Zogby Poll comparing a Kerry/Dean, Kerry/Gephardt, and a Bush/Cheney ticket. According to this poll, Kerry/Dean does way better then Kerry/Gephardt.
Another important consideration, is the Nader factor that I mentioned yesterday. Barring the electoral college manuveur, putting Dean on the ticket could dry up a great deal of Nader's support.
Personally, I'd rather see a Dean/Kerry ticket, but thanks to the foolish 'electability' non-issue that was raised during the primaries, that's not going to happen.
If you agree that Dean could be the inspiration John Kerry needs the sign this petition to Draft Dean for VP.

An appellate court has recently decided that internet service providers can read your email all they want. Read Chris's post. Somewhere Big Brother is smiling.

Howard Dean and Ralph Nader will debate for 90 minutes on July 9th for NPR's Justice Talking(Unfortunately, that show doesn't air on my NPR station). Dean will be debating that Nader's supporters stay inside the Democratic party and vote for Kerry. Nader will be advocating his position, whatever that is.
I, like many people, have mixed emotions about Nader's run for the presidency this year. In 2000, I campaigned for Nader. That campaign inspired me to become politically active and gave me hope that a better future was possible. I was sorely disappointed when Nader did not get the 5% of the vote he needed to assure the Greens a larger role in national politics. Even more upsetting, given hindsight, was that George W. Bush was allowed to occupy the White House.
Now we all know there were many factors that lead to this outcome; Gore was a boring candidate who played to the center,Gore refused to advocate a state-wide recount instead carefully selecting counties he felt would benefit him, Katherine Harris & Jeb Bush conspiring to eliminate eligible voters from the rolls, the Supreme Court's disturbing ruling to stop the recount and Ralph Nader. Perhaps if you eliminated any one of these factors things could have gone the other way (Gore did actually win the election, just not the presidency, remember).
Was it wrong to vote for Ralph Nader in 2000? I don't think so and I have absolutely no regrets about doing so. We shouldn't be blaming those who dared to hope for real substantial change when faced with two candidates who advocated the status quo.
But now Nader is running again. Many people call him egotistical, even egomaniacal. I don't know what's really motivating Ralph to run this time, but I hope its only to scare Kerry into moving Left. In this scenario, Nader's run is a direct threat to John Kerry, but is Nader offering the ultimatum, 'Go Left and I'll drop out or I'll stay in and you'll lose the election'? There are some hints of this. I heard Nader quoted on the radio last week saying something like, Why not give the democrats a scare before you vote for them? But these statements themselves undermine Nader's threat. If John Kerry knew Nader was going to drop out, then there is no threat. If Nader stays in, even if he makes statements such as 'what you do in the voting booth is your business', he will likely collect a number of votes, which could be significant in a close election. So what is the point of Nader's run? If its solely to raise issues or pull Kerry to the Left, then Nader would hopefully reach some agreement with Kerry and drop out, or together they could pursue a much more exciting and innovative stategy.
I mentioned this in one of my first posts. What if Nader nominated the exact same individuals to the electoral college that Kerry did? My limited understanding suggests that when we vote for a candidate for president, we are actually voting for that person's chosen nominees to the electoral college. These nominees then cast their votes for the candidate that nominated them. If Kerry where to choose his nominees, and Ralph Nader where to then choose these same individuals, would not a vote for Ralph Nader then be equal to a vote for John Kerry? Of course there are questions about the nominees being beholden to two candidates and some states might have laws that could restrict this. But if there is a real possibility that voting for Nader would actually elect Kerry, while still indicating a desire for a more leftward leaning candidate, shouldn't we (Progressives) pursue that goal? Using the electoral college in that manner would be tantamount to instant runoff voting; with the electors voting for whichever candidate that had nominated them with the majority of votes in their state. Instant runoff voting has been endorsed by people like John McCain and Howard Dean. In their upcoming debate, I'm interested to see if this electoral college issue comes up, because given Dean support for instant runoff voting, I believe he would be in favor of the idea. That said, I'm no expert on the electoral college, and this idea might not even be possible, but Yale law professor, Bruce Ackerman believes it is. If this plan is indeed possible, Progressives should aggressively get behind it, rather then bash Nader.

Another good read at The Nation : Born Under a Cloud of Irony

There has been little media follow-up to reports in early June that Allawi's work for the CIA amounted to much more than trying to win hearts and minds. Yet what we do know is damning enough. In 1996, one of Allawi's top officers and his group's self-proclaimed chief bomb maker detailed the mechanics behind Allawi's murderous actions in a videotape subsequently obtained by a British newspaper, the Independent. On the tape he even expresses annoyance that the CIA had shortchanged him on one job, a car bombing, allegedly paying only half the agreed-upon amount.

Remember Dennis Kucinich? He's still around and he's still out campaigning. I had the pleasure of seeing him speak here in Gainesville a few months ago and he was quite inspiring. What's also inspiring is how in the face of Kerry's presumptive nomination, Dennis has been out campaigning for a progressive policy shift in the Democratic Party. I firmly believe that the key to winning this election for the Democrats is not pandering to the Right, but rather energizing people who have dropped out of politics. The way to do that is to promote progressive causes, and that is what Kucinich is doing. He has a series of petitions he plans to deliver to the Democratic Party: Creating a Dept. of Peace, UN in US out of Iraq, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transexual rights, Universal Healthcare, and Fair Trade. Sign the petitions here.

I recommend reading this:
Bush's AIDS Hypocrisy Cons the NY Times

"The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is constantly telling Americans, 'Use Seatbelts!' It's all over their website. But the American College of Emergency Physicians concluded in a study that seatbelts fail to protect lives 55 percent of the time, and fail to protect health 45 percent of the time. For the Administration to engage in its constant drumbeat that condoms--which are not 100 percent effective for all sexually transmitted diseases but are nearly so for preventing AIDS--are 'ineffective' in HIV prevention, while promoting seatbelts as 'effective,' shows that the CDC's anti-condom requirements are all about politics, not science.'

We've known for some time that Bush is vehemently against condom use, a trait that quite unfortunately for us, his parents also shared. Apparently, the NY Times got all excited and claimed Bush supported condom use to prevent AIDS because he mentioned the word 'condom' in a recent speech, however the guidelines put forth by Bush's Centers for Disease Control tell a different story. Bush's continued misinformation campaign regarding the effectiveness of condoms in AIDS prevention is costing lives. Add that to your list of reasons to get out and vote Nov. 2.