John Conyers once again proves why he is in the elevated position he's in at the HJC. He wipes the floor with Joe Klein and Time magazine over the mis-information perpetrated upon the American people over the language in the Protect America Act related to foreign and domestic surveillance and he does it with a vengeance.

This was on my inbox this morning, and risking breaking the rules on diary editing, I'm posting the entire thing since he urges us to share this information. See all of it below the fold

Although this may not get much attention tonight due to the oh-so-enthralling  CNN U-Tube Rethug debates, I wanted to get it out there.

Wayne Barrett of The Village Voice just dropped this bombshell on Keith Olbermann, and Rudy's entire "terror" platform just dropped from beneath him with his neck in the noose.

It's an intricate tale involving the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifah al-Thani, a man who had a hand in the creation of Al-Jazeera, and is apparently one of Rudy's BFFs, not to mention a client who paid Guilani's Partners quite a hefty sum of money.

And the most damning piece of the story is on the other side of the orange lineWayne Garrett's Article

UPDATE Here's the video link

http://video.msn.com/...

This is short, but to the point:

On August 7th, from 6:00 - 7:30 CDT, our most intrepid journalist Keith Olbermann will host the AFL-CIO Presidential Candidates Forum on MSNBC and on XM Satellite radio.

You get to vote on the questions you'd like Keith to ask and it appears all the likely candidates will be attending.

http://www.aflcio.org/...

GRACE LEE BOGGS: "I don't see any leaders, and I think we have to rethink the concept of "leader." 'Cause "leader" implies "follower." And, so many-- not so many, but I think we need to appropriate, embrace the idea that we are the leaders we've been looking for."

This 91 year old Chinese American woman was unknown to me until I saw this piece on Bill Moyer's Journal from last night. She has been an activist since her youth, first studying Karl Marx, then becoming active in the black community as a follower of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X.

So much of what she has to say about our (r)evolution as a community of diverse individuals reminds me of conversations I've read here lately revolving around how our leaders have let us down. She seems to brush aside the ability of the system to make real basic changes which would truly benefit our fellow citizens, and proves that only through community activism can we affect the change that we want to be.

Read the entire transcript:

http://www.pbs.org/...

Follow me below the fold to hear some of her answers to Bill Moyer's excellent questions:

It is my hope that anyone with hopes of Al Gore entering the race will take a moment to write him a letter letting him know how you feel, if you haven't already done so.

h/t to ezdidit for the address in comments to another diary:

The Honorable Al Gore
2100 West End Ave.
Nashville, TN 37203

My letter is below the fold:

Yesterday I received a response to a letter I had written to my senator, Claire McCaskill, calling for impeachment of the president and vice-president. I'm sure it's a form letter but I felt the need to respond back to it, since I fervently disagree with the reasoning behind her answer. The letter is below in it's entirety, as well as my response. If I've broken any rules, sorry, be gentle, it's my first diary.