First Door on the Left

Holy Toledo, Batman!

As of last Sunday morning, June 22, the Dean for America campaign had raised $3.2 million in this quarter. Since that morning–beginning with the Sunday Meet The Press interview, through our announcement of candidacy, continuing with our victory in the MoveOn primary and through Saturday June 28th–we have experienced an unprecedented surge in contributions, and have now crossed the $6 million dollar mark.

That is a surge in contributions of $2.8 million in just eight days. Of the $2.8 million over $2 million has come from Internet contributions — including our first $500,000 day on Friday June 27th.

This is amazing! We’re on our way. We’re really going to get our country back! If you’ve joined me in contributing, thank you! If you haven’t, please do so now. If you have, please give more if you can. (Click on the “Contribute” button in the right column.) The 45 hours reference is to the second quarter filing deadline with the FEC, when it is determined how much we will receive in matching funds from the feds. The more we can raise by then, the higher the amount we will receive. Let’s take ‘em for all they’re worth!

The Bush view:

President Bush, who last year denounced remarks seeming to endorse the segregationist past of former U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond, Friday praised the late senator as a friend who served his country.

“Sen. Strom Thurmond led an extraordinary life,” Bush said in a written statement following Thurmond’s death Thursday at the age of 100. “He served his country as senator, governor and state legislator … I saw first hand the tremendous love he had for his constituents, and the admiration the people of South Carolina had for him.”

And the true view:

James Strom Thurmond was born December 5, 1902, when Theodore Roosevelt was president, and over a year before the Wright Brothers historic flight at Kitty Hawk. His political career began when he became superintendent of education in Edgefield County, South Carolina in 1928, and ended after he had served in the Senate for nearly fifty years.

As might be imagined, he is being remembered as a hero in his home state. The local media would have you believe that the earth itself spun only because he willed it to. We have a tendency, as a people, to not speak badly of those who have passed away, but it’s important to remember people for who they actually were, not some rose-colored vision of who they were, or pretended to be.

It’s with that in mind that I want to paint a picture of what Strom Thurmond really stood for. He was a racist. No amount of sugarcoating or excuse-making can change that. In fact, he was one of the most important figures in the history of the Segregated South.

Once again, Mr. Bush demonstrates his weak grasp of reality.

The only thing “extraordinary” about Strom Thurmond was that he lived to be 100.

Is this what George W. Bush means when he says “support our troops”? Fact is, after the big tax cuts for his rich friends, there just isn’t much money left for the men and women who are fighting and dying in his wars.

In recent months, President Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress have missed no opportunity to heap richly deserved praise on the military. But talk is cheap — and getting cheaper by the day, judging from the nickel-and-dime treatment the troops are getting lately.

For example, the White House griped that various pay-and-benefits incentives added to the 2004 defense budget by Congress are wasteful and unnecessary — including a modest proposal to double the $6,000 gratuity paid to families of troops who die on active duty. This comes at a time when Americans continue to die in Iraq at a rate of about one a day.

Similarly, the administration announced that on Oct. 1 it wants to roll back recent modest increases in monthly imminent-danger pay (from $225 to $150) and family-separation allowance (from $250 to $100) for troops getting shot at in combat zones.

Then there’s military tax relief — or the lack thereof. As Bush and Republican leaders in Congress preach the mantra of tax cuts, they can’t seem to find time to make progress on minor tax provisions that would be a boon to military homeowners, reservists who travel long distances for training and parents deployed to combat zones, among others.

Incredibly, one of those tax provisions — easing residency rules for service members to qualify for capital-gains exemptions when selling a home — has been a homeless orphan in the corridors of power for more than five years now.

The chintz even extends to basic pay. While Bush’s proposed 2004 defense budget would continue higher targeted raises for some ranks, he also proposed capping raises for E-1s, E-2s and O-1s at 2 percent, well below the average raise of 4.1 percent.

Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean said Friday that the Bush administration’s energy and fiscal policies were putting U.S. soldiers and the nation’s security at risk.

“This president, because of his economic policies, is a threat to the security of the United States of America,” Dean said during a campaign stop in San Diego. He said Bush’s economic policy was driving the nation deeper in debt and weakening crucial programs.

“Not only will we undercut Medicare and Social Security, ultimately we will undercut our ability to adequately defend ourselves if this president’s fiscal policies continue the way they are,” he said.

Speaking before 500 people at a City Club of San Diego luncheon, Dean said that the American people may have been misled by the president into going to war. He said either the U.S. intelligence community were mistaken about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, senior White House advisers withheld information from the president or Bush himself “did not tell us the truth.”

My choice would be #3: “did not tell us the truth.” I have a hard time believing the other two choices.

Further results from the MoveOn.org presidential primary:

In addition to the pure choice vote, in our second ballot question we asked members to indicate all candidates they would enthusiastically support.

28.47% of those who responded to this question said they would enthusiastically support ANY Democratic candidate. In addition to this base, here’s what our members said about which candidates they would enthusiastically support:

BRAUN 155628 50.54%
DEAN 264866 86.02%
EDWARDS 172076 55.88%
GRAHAM 153045 49.70%
KERRY 231830 75.29%
KUCINICH 210164 68.25%
GEPHARDT 163110 52.97%
LIEBERMAN 132447 42.01%
SHARPTON 109249 35.48%

We are encouraged by this sense of unity and the broad support for Democratic leaders.

I am somewhat discouraged that only 28.47% responded that they would support ANY Democratic nominee. I would have expected more support of the party. Does this mean that 71.53% are saying that they will not support the party unless their favorite candidate gets the nomination?

I am encouraged, however, that 86.02% say they would enthusiastically the candidacy of Howard Dean! Governor Dean is clearly emerging as the front runner in this campaign. That is indeed very good news! I firmly believe that the 2004 election will be won by the Democratic party following the very first debate between George W. Bush and Howard Dean. I can’t wait!

Democrat presidential hopefuls parrot Howard Dean. The liberal media has turned the other candidates into Stepford Democrats. To receive any coverage, they have had to ape Dean. This has skewed the Democrat presidential campaign to the far left. It is amusing to observe.

There is an eerie quality to the campaign. It is so predictable. Dean will fly off the handle and attack President Bush. A day or two later, John Kerry comes out with his version. Dick Gephardt will follow with something about how furious he is with the President. Even Joe Lieberman has been seen growing red faced over this or that.

One will recall the movie, The Stepford Wives. Plutocrat husbands turned spouses into mind numbed robots. They became perfect wives. The media has done the same to the Democrats. If they don’t appear angry, they are ignored. The more outraged they appear, the more intense the coverage.

Governor Dean cannot be blamed. With little money and no name recognition, he came out swinging. Many commentators found his performance on Meet the Press uneven. Tim Russert bore down, forcing Dean to define himself. Dean showed he has a way to go as a true frontrunner.

Even though an imperfect candidate, Mr. Dean calls the tune.

(snip)

Nothing can be taken away from Howard Dean. Through sheer force of will, he dominates the debate. The others are like puppets. They hop to and fro, puffing out their medals, shaking their wattles at the television cameras. They are his Stepford shadows.

Republicans love anything that moves their opponents left. The premature clinking of champagne glasses could prove distracting. No doubt such premature celebration will vanish if Dean begins to surge. Republicans know how to run scared. They have had a lot of practice.

Who is this brash newcomer from the tiny state of Vermont? How is he writing his name across the Internet and the front pages of national newspapers? This man was born with nothing except a dream. It is the American dream. Across our fair and radiant land, hear the cry.

Run, Howard, run!

Howard Dean is the perfect candidate for these times. He is the one capable of evicting the roaches that currently infest our nation’s capitol. Indeed, “Run, Howard, run!”

And you…. Contribute! Let’s make the American dream come true!

MoveOn.org Primary Results

Friday, June 27, 12:00pm—No candidate won a majority in this week’s first-ever Democratic online presidential primary, therefore MoveOn.org PAC will not make an endorsement at this time. Howard Dean received the highest vote total with 43.87% of the vote (139,360 votes); followed by Dennis Kucinich with 23.93% (76,000 votes); and John Kerry with 15.73% (49,973 votes).

The rest of the field was in single digits: John Edwards, 3.19% (10,146 votes); Richard Gephardt, 2.44% (7,755 votes); Bob Graham, 2.24% (7,113 votes); Carol Moseley Braun, 2.21% (7,021 votes); Joe Lieberman, 1.92% (6,095 votes); and Al Sharpton, 0.53% (1,677 votes).

I don’t know… seems to me that 43.87% of the vote, with the closest competitor about 20% behind, is somewhat of an endorsement. Maybe that’s just me. Anyway, congratulations, Governor Dean!

The Governor’s Statement

“On Monday, I stood in Burlington, Vermont and said that my campaign-our campaign-was built on ‘mouse pads, shoe leather, and hope.’ Today, we see just how far that combination can go: We have won the Moveon.org primary by a landslide.

“We want to thank everyone who helped make this victory possible. To the volunteers and Dean supporters across the country, thanks for all of your work. To the 139,360 who supported me, thanks for casting the first votes to take our country back. You have demonstrated that you really do have the power.

“This primary was participatory democracy at its finest. This week’s vote was not about money-other campaigns devoted far more resources to this primary than ours did-and it was not about special interest groups buying access to government. This primary, the first online primary of the modern age, was about individual Americans influencing the process directly. Hundreds of thousands of ordinary Americans researched this race, voted, and told their friends to vote.

“This is a milestone that will be remembered. It is moments like this that will help restore American democracy to the ideals upon which it was founded-ones that make the processes of government accessible to every American.

“We are excited to move on bolstered by the many thousands this process has brought to our campaign. We are taking the country back-one voter at a time.”

Well, I’ll be danged…

The Supreme Court struck down a ban on gay sex Thursday, ruling that the law was an unconstitutional violation of privacy.

The 6-3 ruling reverses course from a ruling 17 years ago that states could punish homosexuals for what such laws historically called deviant sex.

Laws forbidding homosexual sex, once universal, now are rare. Those on the books are rarely enforced but underpin other kinds of discrimination, lawyers for two Texas men had argued to the court.

The men “are entitled to respect for their private lives,” Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote.

“The state cannot demean their existence or control their destiny by making their private sexual conduct a crime,” he said.

Of course, this was the only logical and consititutional ruling they could make, but given the makeup of this court (and the fact that they gave us George W. Bush), I will admit I had my doubts.

I did expect this:

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented.

In writing his dissent, Justice Scalia effectively destroyed any argument the Court may have in the future against same sex marriage:

“If moral disapprobation of homosexual conduct is [of] no legitimate state interest for purposes of proscribing that conduct, and if, as the Court coos (casting aside all pretense of neutrality), [w]hen sexuality finds overt expression in intimate conduct with another person, the conduct can be but one element in a personal bond that is more enduring, what justification could there possibly be for denying the benefits of marriage to homosexual couples exercising [t]he liberty protected by the Constitution? Surely not the encouragement of procreation, since the sterile and the elderly are allowed to marry. This case does not involve the issue of homosexual marriage only if one entertains the belief that principle and logic have nothing to do with the decisions of this Court.”

But then, given their decision in Gore vs. Bush, one might argue that principle and logic do have nothing to do with the decisions of this Court. (The “Christian right” must be screaming their heads off about now, if not screaming for Scalia’s head on a platter.)

Here is Howard Dean’s statement on the ruling:

“I applaud the Supreme Court ruling in the case of Lawrence v. Texas overturning the Texas anti-sodomy law. This decision marks a significant advance toward achieving equal rights for all Americans. For too long, laws like this have divided us by race, by gender and by sexual orientation. As a Governor who worked hard to protect the rights of gay and lesbian couples, I am extremely pleased with the Supreme Court’s ruling.

“Every American, regardless of sexual orientation, should be afforded the right to privacy. The Texas anti-sodomy law was nothing less than government-sanctioned intolerance and discrimination. The fact that President Bush defended the law while he was Governor shows that he is not the uniter he claims to be.”

Statement on Scalia’s Dissent:

“In today’s landmark Supreme Court ruling striking down the Texas sodomy law, six Justices understood that private consensual sexual conduct is just that – private. It is none of the government’s business, and it was unconstitutional for the State of Texas to make it a crime.

“Justice Scalia, Justice Thomas and Chief Justice Rehnquist opposed the civil rights of homosexuals. Scalia wrote a harsh dissent filled with words that will be hateful to many Americans. He spoke darkly of “the homosexual agenda” and echoed Senator Rick Santorum by writing that laws against homosexuality further “the same interest” as laws against fornication, bigamy, adultery, adult incest, bestiality, and obscenity.

“As a former Governor who appointed many judges to the Vermont bench, I value the quality of judicial temperament. Scalia’s intemperate dissent in this case shows why he should never have been appointed to the Supreme Court in the first place and why he is not fit to serve as Chief Justice should a vacancy occur. His increasingly shrill opinions have become an embarrassment to the Supreme Court.

“President Bush says we need more Justices like Scalia. I say we cannot afford more Justices like Scalia, and we cannot afford four more years of the President who would appoint such Justices.

Wow! I got e-mail from Martin Sheen! Actually, I’m pretty sure lots of people got this e-mail, but the point is this particular message was addressed to me! It had my name on it! And it came from President Bartlet!

Anyway… the message itself is pretty important…

Please do something after reading this email. Do what you can, but please do something.

A few days ago Howard Dean did something we haven’t seen in our country in decades.

He called on all of the American people to participate again in our common future.

Governor Dean spoke out loud and clear against the crisis of community our current President has created at home, and against the Bush administration’s abandonment of the heritage of America as the Idealistic Moral force in the world.

And then he said this:

“The history of our nation is clear: At every turn where there has been an imbalance of power, the truth questioned, or our beliefs and values distorted, the change required to restore our nation has always come from the bottom up from our people. You have the power to reclaim our nation’s destiny.”

Each of us acting alone — which is what the Bush people think America should be — leaves us powerless to change Washington or the direction of our nation.

But if Americans — all of us — do something, and do it together, we really do have the power to change forever the way politics is conducted in our country and make a profound impact on our nation’s future.

Over 121,231 of us have signed up to support Howard Dean’s campaign to take back our country.

Think about that, 121,231 Americans.

If each of us contributed $100 today it would mean over $12 million dollars in contributions to Howard Dean’s campaign in one day and we would not only shock the press and pundits we would take a giant leap towards taking back our country.

And so I am asking you to join me today in giving what you can — $100 if you can, but do something, contribute whatever you can afford to contribute but please contribute today.

http://www.deanforamerica.com/contribute

Please do not delete this email before taking a common action with the other 121,230 of us who are committed with you to returning government to the people and helping Howard Dean become our next President.

Martin Luther King Jr. said “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

What is happening to our country today matters– Howard Dean is not silent, on the contrary. In one day we can provide the resources needed to make sure his voice and ours is heard loud and clear — “we want our country back.”

http://www.deanforamerica.com/contribute

Please forward this email on to someone else, to help me spread this message.

I am a supporter of Howard Dean and all that I ask is that today we all do something together to move his candidacy and the cause of America forward.

Thank you,

Martin Sheen

Please join me in contributing what you can. It’s very, very important. You and I are not the type who get invited to Bush’s $2,000 per ticket picnics (at least I know I’m not), but we’re still Americans and this is still our country, and we need to reclaim it.

I have read this article all the way through four times now, and I still can’t figure out if its author is being positive or negative toward Governor Dean.

For months, I’ve been scratching my head over the Howard Dean problem. On domestic issues, Dean beats the rest of the presidential field hands down. He knows the nooks and crannies of all the policy debates. He’s been an executive. He’s principled where he ought to be principled and pragmatic where he ought to be pragmatic. He hurls fire and brimstone with the best of them. He isn’t one of those wishy-washy liberals who inspire contempt on both the left and the right. And he states his views in a way that everyone can understand and most people can support.

The problem is national security. It isn’t just Dean’s opposition to the war in Iraq, which is eminently defensible. It’s subtler and broader. Every time Dean talks about foreign affairs, he gives off a whiff of hostility or indifference to American military power.

Wednesday morning, I went to see him discuss this subject before the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C. One advantage of being there was seeing things the cameras don’t catch, such as the pair of shorts that Dean’s media consultant, Steve McMahon, was wearing below his suit jacket. (McMahon had a knee injury, but the rest of us would gladly have shed our pants in the heat of the room.) The other advantage was clarifying that whiff Dean gives off. I think I now understand his national security problem. It isn’t weakness. It’s arrogance.

You tell me. I’m confused (again).

President Bush called on Congress yesterday to make it easier for federally funded religious groups to base their hiring decisions on a job candidate’s religion and sexual orientation.

A White House position paper sent to Capitol Hill argues that “religious hiring rights” are part of religious organizations’ civil rights. “When they receive federal funds, they should retain their right to hire those individuals who are best able to further their organizations’ goals and mission,” the document says.

I’ll have to admit that I’ve got myself a bit confused over this one. First, I do not see why anybody would want to go to work for a religious organization whose views they do not share. Talk about a hostile work environment. Second, I am completely against Bush’s so-called “faith based initiative.” I believe in the separation of church and state. I do not want my tax dollars going to support any religious group, regardless of what they are trying to do.

Now that I read what I just wrote, I guess maybe I’m not so confused after all. Bush is promoting discrimination and bigotry, but nothing new there. He’s a born again alcoholic, so his feelings that he needs to buy his way into “heaven” are completely understandable.

So where’s the confusion, Len? I don’t know. I thought I was confused a few minutes ago. We’ll just leave it at that, shall we?