This isn't much of a diary as it is a public service announcement.

It is illegal to park a Hummer overnight in Seattle.

Seattle has a city ordinance declaring it illegal to park any vehicle over 80 inches in width between the hours of midnight and 6am, unless in a manufacturing or industrial area.  H2 Hummers are actually 81 and a half inches wide.  See this site for more details.

To report parking violations in the city of Seattle, call 206-625-5011.

If there is one person who has the ability to stop the wrong-headed FISA bill that would provide retroactive immunity to the tele-comms, it's Chris Dodd.

He has made the Constitution a centerpiece of his campaign from day one, and has a chance to back his words with action ... today.

Big Tent Democrat at MyDD urged Senator Dodd to "lead the resistance to the Dem Senate Cave in on FISA" and I think we all agree we need someone to step up.

Atrios talked a little bit more about Dodd's unique position to do something about it.

Dodd is our best chance to stop this bill.  Read more below to take action.

Have you ever thought about how terrible the lit-piece was that local candidate put out, and how you could have done a much better job with 30 minutes of your hand at Photoshop?  What about that pathetic website (or lack of website!) the candidate had that you could have helped her with?

The fact is, campaigns need creative and technically skilled people, but they only use volunteers for stuffing envelopes and knocking on doors.  Most of us have some sort of professional skill, whether it's writing, graphic design, web design, acting, comedy, or something else.  These are the people that campaigns need, but they never ask for help with this stuff, instead they simply have an intern do it or pay market-rates (way too much) for the work.  The problem is that they don't know where to look for help from us.

Wouldn't it be great if there was some way to match campaigns up with people who can provide professional for free or very low costs?

Now there is...

According to the Hotline, Hillary just announced her Q1 numbers.  In addition to the $10m she transferred in, Hillary raised $26m this quarter.  The campaign spokesman did not say how much of that is for the general and how much was for the primary, but said that there was "considerably more" primary money than general election money.

Peter Daou said that $4.2m of the money raised was online, with $600k coming in during the final push.

Update: Terry McAuliffe, Clinton's campaign chair, says he "expects Sen Obama will have a comparative amount."  If that is true, that would be huge news, given that Hillary was expected to far exceed everyone else.  Of course, with such a statement coming from the Clinton campaign, it is most likely just setting expectations.

Today is Howard Dean's 58th birthday.  We in the progressive movement have a lot to thank him for, and what better way to do so than by making a contribution to the DNC today, or better yet, getting yourself a Democracy Bond?

One-time donation
Democracy Bonds

Please join me in making some contribution, however small, to thank Howard Dean for his leadership at the DNC.  Also, it had been discussed over a few other diaries the past couple days about what the best way to send him a message would be, and the decision was to end your donation in $xx.50 to represent the 50-state strategy.

Join me below the fold for all the reasons we need to thank Howard Dean.  Feel free to contribute your own in the comments and I'll add them to the list!

We've all gotten those emails from Chuck Schumer and Rahm Emmanual asking us to donate to the DSCC or DCCC, and that some generous Congressmen will match our donations, effectively doubling it.  If you're anything like me, you've probably doubted whether those Congressmen were actually going to hold back their donation if enough of us did not donate.  Regardless, I take them up on the offer on occasion.

Howard Dean wants to do it differently.  He just sent out an email from the DNC where he lays out a new idea, where WE are the ones matching donations, and the people we are matching are people who have never donated before to the DNC.  This idea is brilliant.  It'll get new people to contribute to the DNC's 50-state strategy, help regular people network amongst themselves, and show that people-power really works.

Let's help out the good Doctor on this one and prove that it can be done differently!

Make a pledge to match someone's donation and bring aboard a new DNC donor.

Below the fold is the text of the e-mail I just received...

I just received the following email in my inbox from Howard Dean & the DNC.  It talks about the DNC's plan to utilize their 50-state strategy to win elections up and down the ballot this year, but also keep the operations going for future elections.  This is something we in the netroots have been advocating for quite a while and it's great to see that the official Democratic Party is fully on-board with the idea and plans on implementing it, so I thought I'd share it with you.

Dear Fellow Democrat,

We're trying something different for the next 50 days -- and the payoff could be historic.

For the first time in decades, we Democrats have a true 50-state operation on the ground. Over the last year and half, we've invested in building the infrastructure for a permanent Democratic Party -- one that doesn't need to be rebuilt from scratch for every election.

How is this going to pay off this November, in what could be the most momentous election in a decade?

We're transforming our 50-state strategy into a 50-state voter turnout operation for candidates up and down the ballot everywhere.

Cross-posted at MyDD

My Democracy for America group decided to take up a new project this semester: write, publish, print, and distribute a progressive newsletter.  The idea would be to let people know what the Republicans are screwing up, and how progressives would make it better.  The purpose of this newsletter is two-fold:

1. Recruit members into our DFA group
   
2. Spread progressive ideas to apathetics, the disenfranchised, and those who otherwise believe the Democrats "have no new ideas."

We hope that other groups around the country can pick up on this idea, either by printing and distributing our newsletter, or creating their own.

Go below the fold for more, and to see the first edition!

Cross-posted at MyDD

My local Generation DFA group is working on putting out a newsletter every other week.  The first edition (below the fold) is in the works right now, and will be printed and distributed in a week and a half.  I think this is something that people can do anywhere (you can even use/edit our newsletter) to make an impact in their local communities.

The newsletter itself will be pretty short: only one page front and back.  Each edition will have a particular topic, with the first being the Republican Culture of Curruption.  The key is that we will both talk about the Republican screwups on the issue, and the Democratic/progressive attempts to solve it.  It will be short, light-hearted, and easy to read, but it will also contain solid information.

More below the fold...

The past week or two have been pretty amazing to watch, and as a Democrat who thinks Joe Lieberman is in the wrong party, what I am seeing is quite encouraging.

In the past, I never heard any prominent Democrat talk about how they disagree with Joe Lieberman, or how Joe Lieberman doesn't speak for the majority of Democrats.  But check out what's happened all within the last week or so...

In his Washington Post column today (which I won't link to), Chris Cillizza brought out the same talking point that will be brought out every three months while Howard Dean is still DNC Chair: Howard Dean is drying up the Democrats' funds.

To make his point, he states how the Republicans are beating Democrats in fundraising 2 to 1.   NO SHIT, SHERLOCK.  The Republicans have always outraised us, except they usually beat us by much much more.

More below the fold...

The latest poll on the Reform Ohio Now ballot issues (2 through 5) show two of them winning, one of them losing (redistricting), and one of them tied (the role of the Secretary of State).

I just received an email from RON asking for volunteers all across the country to help with a last minute GOTV virtual phone-bank.  You don't need to be in Ohio to participate.  Please sign up for the phone-bank and help with the last-minute GOTV push to get supporters to the polls!

RON will send you a script and the phone numbers to call.  You will be calling confirmed supporters to remind them to vote tomorrow, so these phone-calls will be really easy!

Text of the email below the fold...

It's sad that a few months ago ago I wrote almost a carbon copy of this diary when he voted to confirm anti-choice Janice Rogers Brown to the "second-highest court."  Now he's voting to confirm anti-choice John Roberts to THE highest court.

From NARAL's website:

Earlier today, "Pro-choice" Senator Lincoln Chaffee announce that he will vote to confirm John Roberts to the US Supreme Court.  NARAL opposed his nomination and has been urging Senators to vote against him.

Like many of you, I am stuck somewhere in this country where it is not possible for me to get to Ohio to help out on the ground.  I've been reading about Hackett and contributing to his campaign, but there's little else that can be done without physically being there.

Lukily, there IS something you can do - you can phone bank from wherever you are.

More on the flip...

From NARAL's website:

Earlier today, "Pro-choice" Senator Lincoln Chaffee voted to confirm Justice Janice Rogers Brown to the US Circuit Court of Appeals for DC (widely considered the "second highest court" in the nation).  Brown is seen asone of the people Bush might nominate for the Supreme Court.

Today there was a statewide meeting for Democracy for America - Massachusetts.  I just got back from the conference.   It was the first such statewide summit in MA.  Chris Warshaw (DFA Field Director) was the host, and Jim Dean (Chair of DFA) was also there.  In this diary entry I'll report on what went on, and also some pretty important news about Meetups and event organizing.

More below the break...

You may have heard about the 'filibuster' going on in front of Princeton University's Frist Student Center (yes, THAT Frist).  A group of a dozen or so students decided a few days ago that, to protest Bill Frist's efforts to eliminate the filibuster, they were going to hold their own filibuster... in front of the very building Frist's family paid for!

They started their filibuster Tuesday morning around 11am.  The original plan was to do 24 hours total in two 12-hour shifts (starting again Wednesday morning at 11am).  They decided that wasn't good enough, and have instead NOT STOPPED SINCE TUESDAY MORNING.  That means they have been going for over 48 hours now, non-stop.

Read on for more details...

I just got an e-mail from Tom Hughes, Executive Director of Democracy for America.  In it he asks us to go to DFA's site and suggest a slogan to be put on billboards around the Texas 22nd Congressional District (Tom DeLay's district).

This has to be one of the neatest things I've seen DFA do yet.  Check out the email: