It seems nearly preposterous to me that some here are getting themselves into a knot over whether or not Senator Obama should have gone on the TEE VEE because Fox is to be scorned at all costs. Good grief, has anybody been paying attention to the fact that ALL the major networks are corporate-owned bastions of right wing garbage? Wasn't it just a few weeks ago we were all yelling about Charlie Gibson and the ABC debacle we erroneously were told was a debate? Fox may have a larger corner on the market, but they don't have Glenn Beck, Lou Dobbs, Pat Buchanan, Joe Scarborough (you get the point).

I just received this invitation for an Obama fundraiser and it reads (in part):

Mark Califano
Cheryl and Cleve Christophe
Annie and Ned Lamont

&
Gail Worthington

Cordially invite you to join them in welcoming
Tony Lake

Obama for America
SENIOR FOREIGN POLICY ADVISOR  

I have been a staunch Edwards supporter, to the point where I didn’t even want to hear anything the other candidates had to say. I gave more money than I could afford to the Edwards campaign (shhh. don’t tell my husband), I argued with my 27 year old daughter over her vote for Obama on February 5th here in the Connecticut primary, and then after Obama won the CT primary, I moped for a few day thinking it truly didn’t matter whether it was Hillary or Obama after Edwards dropped out of the race.

Here I am on one of the gloomiest January Connecticut days we’ve seen in a while and it matches my mood. The catalyst for this mood change came from reading Ned Lamont’s endorsement of Barack Obama, not simply because I am an Edwards supporter, but because this endorsement made me realize that our government is beyond repair.

Step back in time to 2006. The excitement that gathered around Lamont’s candidacy was stunning. We finally had an answer to a lobbyist’s dream politician who loved the Iraq occupation as well as dollars from the big pharmas, not to mention so many other regressive causes. Many Nutmeggers had “had enough” of Joe, to the point where Lamont actually won the primary and lost to Lieberman in the general election, when the power brokers rushed to his aid. My husband and I worked our hearts out for Ned, met his wife and children and walked in our Labor Day town parade with them. I couldn’t have been more hopeful that there were big changes looming. The “Kiss Float” was everywhere and it underscored the basic unsavory liaisons that had formed within the Washington elite, Bush and Lieberman in a liplock.

Yesterday I spent over an hour on the phone with Citi bank contacts, with both customer service as well as the fraud department. I had received a notice from Citi Cards stating that I had a balance of  $230 on my account. I called because I hadn’t received a bill from Sears ( now billing through Citi bank)  for years, as I haven’t purchased anything from Sears within the last several years.

The plot thickens below:

Here in CT, a year ago, I was getting ready for our town’s annual Labor Day Parade. Because ours is the only Labor Day parade in Connecticut, it has traditionally been the kickoff to the political season The Progressive Dems in CT were flying high, with Ned Lamont just having taken out Joe Lieberman in the August 8th primary. The big brouhaha was whether Lieberman would even walk in the parade and as what? We already had our Democrat and Lieberman still hadn't become an Connecticut for Lieberman candidate.  What was Joe going to do? Well, the little man showed up and walked with Nancy Johnson (R-CT-5), which makes perfect sense because he votes with the Republicans on so many key issues. And so Joe, with no political affiliation, decided to rain on our parade.

Thinking back on the current Democratic presidential hopefuls there were only two who had determined that Ned Lamont was the voice of CHANGE and took the brave step of campaigning with him. One was Connecticut's Chris Dodd and the other was John Edwards.

I know a little about seizures because our wonderful German Shepard has suffered with this illness for a few years. Unfortunately she doesn’t have health insurance and so we have paid enormous amounts of money in diagnosing her condition, as well as buying her medications.

Our Bodie, like you, only had a few seizures to begin with. We were able to keep them under control, but then things escalated. She ended up having seizures on a monthly basis; we jokingly started calling her Luna, in a reference to lunatic…. whereby these seizures happened on a monthly basis.

After months of agony, not to mention great expense, our emergency Vet suggested we try Tufts Foster School of Medicine. We brought her to the University and they, after hours of consultation, eliminated causes for the seizures.

No, I’m not talking about Bush and Cheney starting a war based on cooked intelligence, nor dismantling habeas corpus, nor employing illegal wiretapping, nor inserting signing statements into bills not vetoed, nor…well, you get it.

I'm talking about Democrats, yes, Democrats. As obvious as it should be that the Republicans are the ones who have committed treason this article entitled When Does Politics Become Treason accuses Democrats who dare to question DICKtator Bush in a time of war of being traitors. Written in 2003, published in Insight on the News by Michael Waller and Kenneth Timmerman, both rightwing smear merchants, every single word in their 2003 article could easily be the playbook for the Bush/Cheney evildoings.

I was thinking about the best gift my daughter gave her father on Father’s Day back when she was ten years old (she’s now 25). Actually it wasn’t a gift she was giving her father; she was asking her father to give her a gift. And that was a promise to quit smoking. He did, and to this day I can’t think of a better gift where everyone ends up better for it.
Tomorrow is Father’s Day when lots of ties and shirts will be bestowed upon the dads of the country but how about doing something different this year? In a time when so many in the rest of the world (and in this country) are suffering, maybe the children can lead the way and do something different, something meaningful.

Some ideas for a really meaningful way to celebrate your Dad under the fold.

Dear Mr. Bush,
These stunning words actually spewed out of your pathetic, twisted mouth when you were recently interviewed by People Magazine:

I must tell you, I'm sleeping a lot better than people would assume, he said.

He said he drinks a couple of cups of coffee in the morning and drinks a lot of water and, of course, no alcohol.

I don't drink alcohol. I can remember when I used to drink, I had trouble sleeping at night, the President said.

Gratitude: n. a feeling of thankfulness

Dear DKOS Friends,

I’m not even sure how I found this amazing cyber village, but you all have saved my sanity, and for that I am deeply thankful. Since it’s nearly Thanksgiving consider this a big card to wish you all a day that I hope is filled with gratitude, grace and friendship.

In today's New York Times there is a short letter to the editor written by Bob Kerrey and Warren Rudman (both former US senators). Their letter addresses what they believe to be the core reason that voters are pessimistic. They point the finger at campaign finance reform.

The last paragraph sums it up:

Any such national forum must first of all fix our broken system by calling for public financing of all federal elections.

But that's only part of the problem, as far as I'm concerned.

As we head toward November 7th there are some very specific things you can do to make sure that your vote WILL count.

With Republican desperation running rampant it's hard to know to what new depths voter fraud will sink. So here is some practical advice in case you feel you are in jeopardy of losing your vote.

I decided to take a look through the Hartford Courant archives, panning for some Lieberman nuggets. One thing you can say for him...he stays the course when it comes to pleading his case. "Bi-partisan" has apparently been a term he's used to great advantage, but the truth lies in more than than these flippant sound bites.

Take a walk down memory lane and see if you think Joe's a moderate Democrat (well Connectictut for Lieberman party now) or a closet Republican.

I want to pass this information along, for those of you who are able to get to Washington DC at any time between September 5 through the 21st.

After reading David Swanson's article "Where Were You When They Took Your Rights Away?" I am hoping this event will have an enormous turnout that will be the beginning of a hopeful time in this country.

Swanson opens his article with the following words:

Last week Joe Lieberman made a campaign stop at Kevin's Community Center in Newtown, CT.
http://www.kevinscommunitycenter.org/...
to highlight the need for better healthcare in the United States.

According to the article in our local paper, The Newtown Bee, it was a

chance for him [Lieberman] to tout several health care proposals he supports, including the establishment of a national health care plan for small businesses

This really torks me because he used a volunteer clinic to highlight what's wrong with our healthcare system. The point is we shouldn't have to EVER rely on volunteer clinics in the richest country in the world. I'm sick of the "thousand points of light" method of taking care of our citizens.

As we approach the August 8th Democratic primary here in Connecticut the political ads and flyers keep on coming. In the last three days I've gotten mail from both Lamont's and Lieberman's campaigns.

Joe's literature gets more and more desperate, but if its intent is to change the hearts and minds of CT Dems who haven't quite switched over to Lamont's camp...it's my opinion that his rhetoric will have the opposite effect.

As a school librarian I have just received this letter from well known author/artist Patricia Polacco. This was actually a mass mailing to many interested educators and librarians, which is why I have posted the letter in its entirety. For those of you familiar with Polacco's work she brings to her writing her rich Irish/Jewish background. Her books are ones that bring the reader to laughter and tears. I remember reading her book "Pink and Say" to a group of fifth graders. Not able to finish reading because I was all choked up, I had to ask a student to finish for me. So here we are, the muzzling of yet another American citizen. Read on and think about where we are going in this country: