In Sunday article "McCain sees right-of-center nation as he moves against Obama" syndicated to newspapers all over the county, the Associated Press political reporter Liz Sidoti let's the Republican spokesperson label Obama in the following way:

"There is an overwhelming difference between the right-of-center John McCain and the most liberal member of the Senate, Barack Obama"

Obviously this is the Republican-McCain spin, derived from the phony baloney partisan National Journal rankings, and we need to push the Media from accepting it at face value.

Personally I wish that it was true that Obama was so liberal.  But alas, based on the impartial academic analysis of VoteView, while McCain really is an extreme right winger from the 4th to 2nd most conservative senator, Obama's true ranking is in the range of 10th to 21st most liberal. Truth is, McCain is more of an an extremist conservative, and (for better or worse) Obama is a moderate-liberal

Arizona Marriage Amendment Update - Arizona House To Vote On SCR 1042, Monday, May 12 - Help Is Needed!

Seeing as how only Obama or Clinton get play around here I figured I would throw his name into an out of context diary. Of course Obama is not a cosponsor as this is originating in the house, haven't heard him talk much about it either though. Obama has nothing to do with this, but like sex his name gets eyes around here.

"White Discussion" Live

I talk of freedom
you talk of the flag
I talk of revolution
you'd much rather brag
and as the decibels of this disenchanting discourse
continue to dampen the day

the coin flips again and again, and again, and again
as our sanity walks away
all this discussion though politically correct
is dead beyond destruction
though it leaves me quite erect

and as the final sunset rolls behind the earth
and the clock is finally dead
I'll look at you, you'll look at me
and we'll cry a lot
but this will be what we said
this will be what we said

Look where all this talking got us, baby.

I know, I know.  I just about lost it when I read the headline in this morning's New York Times.  I had to put the paper down and finish cooking breakfast, have another cup of coffee and calm down.

I read the article and calmed down a little more.  The White House and a Republican both suggest Mr. Reyes is a little "too optimistic."  So perhaps our intrepid Speaker and Democratic Congress-Critters won't cave in.  Again. So everything seemed fine, just one Texas Dem talking out of school.

Then I read the article again and caught the key phrase.

Please, email your member of Congress and ask them to support the Judiciary Committee’s actions concerning contempt of Congress charges against Bolton and Miers.

In the New York Times article published this week, "House Vote on Contempt Is Expected Soon," it is reported that Democratic officials have decided to pursue contempt charges against Joshua Bolten and Harriet Miers for refusing to testify before a panel in the investigation into the dismissal of U.S. attorneys for political reasons. Citing the protection of Congressional oversight authority, Democratic officials feel this is their only recourse against the administration.

As you all know, the Senate will vote to cover up the crimes of BushCo today.  So it is our last chance to put the pressure on them.  If we bombard their offices with faxes, we can perhaps flip the one or two which we need to uphold a filibuster.

So, do the following.  It is simple and only takes two minutes of your time.

This diary has nothing whatsoever to do with political campaigns, the horse race to the White House, or the nefarious behavior of our public officials.  It is about saving lives, plain and simple.

Yesterday the Ohio Senate heard testimony on proposed S.B. No 244.  If passed, this bill would make it possible for law enforcement authorities to use electronic monitoring devices (ankle bracelets) to track the activity of individuals who violate an order of protection issued for stalking, adding a much needed layer of protection to the victims of stalking.  For some history on this issue and why it matters to me, and should to you, join me below the fold.

"Democracy Begins With The Integrity Of OUR Voting Process..And Ends Without It"

After Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004 voters are beginning to feel like the democratic process has ended in America.

A bill will be introduced in congress this week by Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12). With the very promising title "Emergency Assistance for Secure Elections Act of 2008" an editorial in today’s NYT calls it A Quick Fix for Electronic Voting

The solution is for all votes to be recorded on paper records. Voters can then verify that their choice has been accurately reflected — and the paper record can be used as a backup for the electronic machines. Whenever votes are tallied on electronic machines, there should be an audit of paper records as a check on the electronic results. If the paper totals do not match the electronic tallies, something has clearly gone wrong — and the tally of the paper ballots can be treated as the official one.

This is the Mothership. The captain has turned on the no smoking sign. Fasten your seat belts, yadda. :)

This afternoon, Congressman Wexler announced his intention to present his petition to move forward with impeachment hearings for Cheney tonight at 7pm. Details here. As of 6:45pm, the number of signatures on the petition stands at 189507.

United for Peace and Justice is calling for a nationwide call-in TOMORROW on the issue of impeachment, details are here, to include links for calling and emailing your representatives, and an in-depth analysis of the background of the bill and it's sponsors and cosponsors.

Progressive Democrats of America also has an action alert with links and information here.

The presentation is being streamed live on CSPAN. You can use either RealPlayer or Windows Media Player to view it.

Attention all kossacks in Florida!  Time is running out to get an amendment on the November ballot that would be an important step forward in creating a sustainable Florida.  Yesterday the Florida Secretary of State announced that the Hometown Democracy initiative, a grassroots citizen-backed effort to require local referenda for changes to local land use plans, is about 110,000 signatures short.  Business groups and developers are using every dirty trick in the book to keep the initiative off the ballot, and we only have until Feb. 1 to gain the 611,009 signatures it needs.  If you haven't signed the petition, please do it today.

Margaret Mead, one of the founding mothers of the science of Anthropology, noticed a common theme when comparing cultures from around the world: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

Before the official foundation of NonStop Radio, I had seen this principle in action a number of times.

For those who are inclined to take action as a result of the excellent diaries of gchaucer2 and BlueTape on the effort by some Army apparatchiks to intimidate and crush the unfortunate U.S. Army Lt. Elizabeth Whiteside, below the break is a listing of contact names, links, addresses, and phone numbers for directing your comments.

I managed to track down the Whiteside family yesterday and spoke by phone for several minutes with Elizabeth's father, a former Marine officer who served in Vietnam. I brought gchaucer2's excellent diary to Thomas Whiteside's attention, and he called back to praise gchaucer2's excellent summary of the initial powerful investigative piece, 'A Soldier's Officer,' by Dana Priest and Anne Hull in the WaPo on December 2nd.

As gchaucer2 noted yesterday, this is a case that compels not just passive outrage, but action.

Below the jump are key contacts, as well as the connecting of a few related dots.

I don't have much time to flesh this out, so I'm just going to post an action alert I received from The Vote Solar Initiative this morning. To summarize, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are planning to strip the Renewable Electricity Standard and the $32 billion tax package for renewable energy from the Energy Bill in order to try to keep increased fuel economy standards in the bill. In other words, they're caving to Republican demands AGAIN.

I've posted the text of Vote Solar's action alert below the fold.

I received a letter in the mail on Saturday from the public officials who run my city of Covina, CA.  The letter states because voters (apparently, ill-informed and/or lied to voters) struck down the Utility Users tax in our city, they will have to shut down or limit services in a severe way.

I'll be honest.  I pay very close attention to elections, but I'd never even heard of this one back in March that was about this issue.  I'm willing to bet many others in our small city didn't know either.  We're comprised of roughly 50,000 people, with a median income of around $50,000, but 12 percent of residents live below the poverty line, and 40% of the households have children in them.  What this means is while there is a fair amount of people doing quite well, there is a healthy percentage of people who depend on city services. (See Wikipedia entry here.)

Details below the jump....

I have an account over at RedState, and they'd emailed me wanting me to be on their Action Alert list. Well, low and behold, today they've sent one out, for the SCHIP vote. They want several members of congress contacted, presumably to persuade them to vote to deny children healthcare. I thought it would be fun to share this with everyone here. Maybe we can counter their efforts, maybe that's just wishful thinking. Either way, we can't win if we don't fight.

I really hope this is not a redundant diary. I searched and didn't find anything, and even if this is repetitive I think it bears repeating.

If you haven't read the full account of this horror, here's a link.

It's bad enough that a good political-action group like MoveOn has to suffer from the usual right-wing blowhards bashing their efforts; but the fact that a U.S. Senator is introducing legislation condemning MoveOn's truth-telling just makes my blood boil.

Eli Pariser has just sent out an e-mail call for help to fight the wingers in the U.S. Senate. (Gee, don't they have anything better to do...like end a war or something?)

Details, parts of the email, and info for calling your Senators are at the flip.

CALL TO ACTION FOR LGBT EQUALITY!

If you're straight, (or know someone who is), here's your chance to show your support for fairness, equality and the principles of non-discrimination.

Seven Straight Nights

During the week of October 7-13, 2007 straight allies will hold vigils in support of the LGBT community and for LGBT rights. The goal is to hold a vigil on one night in at least one town in each of the 50 states. We want to create a nation-wide media event that will demonstrate the widespread support among all people (not just LGBT folks) for Equal Rights.

The event is being organized by Atticus Circle (an organization of straight people fighting for LGBT rights) and Soul Force (dedicated to equal  rights through "relentless, nonviolent resistance"). It is supported by Equality Texas and others. It is endorsed by Judy Shepard, Matthew Shepard's mother.