Bush at a New Ratings Low

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A new CBS News poll puts President Bush's approval rating at his all-time low of 34 percent -- taking an eight-point dive from last month. And Vice President Cheney's numbers are worse, at just 18 percent. From the ports controversy to pessimism about the war in Iraq, what's hurting them most? (full story)

Why the Separation of Church and State is so Important

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Democrats Eye 2006 Races

New Mexico Governor Bill Richards predicts Democrats could potentially go "from 22 Democratic governors to 27 or 28 after the '06 elections." He went on to say: "The real reform and the real action in the Democratic Party is with governorships. It's a good omen for strengthening the Democratic Party for '08."

The Democrats certainly need to do SOMETHING before the 2006 and 2008 elections! One suggestion would be to get a spine transplant!
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Democrats Look for Historic Shift in Governors' Races

By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
February 26, 2006

Republicans face a potential upheaval in the states this November, with Democrats positioned to capture a majority of the governorships for the first time since 1990 and seize an early advantage in the 2008 presidential contest.

While the battle for control of Congress has drawn more attention, the states may be the most competitive arenas in this midterm election year. Historically, shifts in power in the 50 capitals have held long-term implications for both parties, and control of statehouses can give parties tangible organizational advantages during presidential elections. (full story)

Actions have consequences

South Dakota Ban on Abortion Signals Pitched Court Battle Over Roe v. Wade

Statement of NOW President Kim Gandy
February 24, 2006

In passing a law today that bans all abortions except when the life of the woman is at stake, South Dakota legislators gave right-wing zealots what they have been waiting for since the 1992 Casey decision: another shot at Roe v. Wade. That landmark decision recognized a woman's fundamental right to privacy in deciding whether to continue her pregnancy.

By a vote of 50-18 in the House and 23-12 in the Senate, state lawmakers virtually assured a legal battle that will reach the Supreme Court. And given the current breakdown of the High Court, whose two newest justices have a history of opposition to women's rights, the outcome could well be a reversal of Roe.

Every Senator who did not filibuster the Supreme Court nomination of Sam Alito to replace Sandra Day O'Connor will share responsibility for what follows.

Hmmm ... how convenient that Cheney email 'suddenly' appears ...

White House 'Discovers’ 250 Emails Related to Plame Leak

By Jason Leopold
t r u t h o u t Report
Friday 24 February 2006

The White House turned over last week 250 pages of emails from Vice President Dick Cheney’s office. Senior aides had sent the emails in the spring of 2003 related to the leak of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald revealed during a federal court hearing Friday.

The emails are said to be explosive, and may prove that Cheney played an active role in the effort to discredit Plame Wilson’s husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, a vocal critic of the Bush administration’s prewar Iraq intelligence, sources close to the investigation said.

Sources close to the probe said the White House “discovered” the emails two weeks ago and turned them over to Fitzgerald last week. The sources added that the emails could prove that Cheney lied to FBI investigators when he was interviewed about the leak in early 2004. Cheney said that he was unaware of any effort to discredit Wilson or unmask his wife’s undercover status to reporters. (full story)

Patron Saint of the Ethically Challenged

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United Farm Workers - TAKE ACTION

Help Stop Gender Bias in the Grapes!

TAKE ACTION
Sign the petition telling Kovacevich "5" Farms such behavior is not acceptable

Kovacevich "5" Farms of Delano, CA, a grape grower with operations in both Fresno and Tulare counties, is being sued by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for alleged sexual discrimination for supposedly refusing to hire women workers.

The federal lawsuit claims that between 1998 and 2002 Kovacevich "5" Farms hired 300 seasonal workers. Not one of them was a woman.

According to the Fresno Bee, EEOC San Francisco District Director Joan Ehrlich said, "The EEOC has received many charges of sexual harassment and other forms of blatant discrimination in this sector. But under no circumstances, in this day and age, have we seen this zero hiring of women in the work force."

This is not the first time Kovacevich "5" Farms has been in legal trouble. Workers at Kovacevich who were organized by the UFW have brought separate lawsuits against the company. In October 2005, the grape producer was ordered to pay $1.7 million in back wages to approximately 500 workers who were required to report to work at 6 a.m., but who were not put on the clock to be paid until 30 minutes later.

Please sign the online petition and tell Kovacevich "5" Farms that sexual bias and other forms of farm worker abuse are not acceptable.

Support the United Farm Workers! Visit their web site at www.ufw.org today! “Si Se Puede”

Your Tax Dollars at Work ...

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The Senate Coverup Committee

From Truthout.org

FOCUS: LA Times The Senate Coverup Committee
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021906Y.shtml
The United States Senate has a body called the Intelligence Committee, according to The Los Angeles Times an irony George Orwell would have truly appreciated. In a world without Doublespeak, the panel, chaired by GOP Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas, would be known by a more appropriate name - the Senate Coverup Committee.

Tollbooths on the Internet Highway

The New York Times - Editorial
February 20, 2006

When you use the Internet today, your browser glides from one Web site to another, accessing all destinations with equal ease. That could change dramatically, however, if Internet service providers are allowed to tilt the playing field, giving preference to sites that pay them extra and penalizing those that don't.

The Senate held hearings last week on "network neutrality," the principle that I.S.P.'s — the businesses like Verizon or Roadrunner that deliver the Internet to your computer — should not be able to stack the deck in this way. If the Internet is to remain free, and freely evolving, it is important that neutrality legislation be passed. (full story)

What you get ...

... from an administration that can't shoot straight.

America divided

· There are 37 million Americans living below the poverty line. That figure has increased by five million since President George W. Bush came to power.

· The United States has 269 billionaires, the highest number in the world.

· Almost a quarter of all black Americans live below the poverty line; 22 per cent of Hispanics fall below it. But for whites the figure is just 8.6 per cent.

· There are 46 million Americans without health insurance.

· There are 82,000 homeless people in Los Angeles alone.

· In 2004 the poorest community in America was Pine Ridge Indian reservation. Unemployment is over 80 per cent, 69 per cent of people live in poverty and male life expectancy is 57 years. In the Western hemisphere only Haiti has a lower number.

· The richest town in America is Rancho Santa Fe in California. Average incomes are more than $100,000 a year; the average house price is $1.7m.

From: 37 million poor hidden in the land of plenty

Hunting for a Straight Shooter

by Maureen Dowd
The New York Times
February 18, 2006

Maybe I've had Dick Cheney wrong all along.

Maybe he's not maniacally secretive, manipulative with the truth and contemptuous of democratic institutions. Perhaps he's cruelly misunderstood in his heartfelt desire to disseminate information.

It was at the end of his interview with Brit Hume, when Shooter talked about Scooter, that his eagerness to share important facts with the press and public -- a well-concealed trait in recent days, years and decades -- burst forth. He pronounced himself a Great Declassifier.

Asked by the Fox News anchor if a vice president had the authority to declassify secrets, Mr. Cheney replied that there's an executive order giving him that power, adding: "I've certainly advocated declassification and participated in declassification decisions." This neatly set up a defense for Scooter, who testified that "superiors" had authorized him to leak classified information on Valerie Plame. (full story)

Thoughts on the Vice President ...

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Hunting with Dick Cheney?

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Don't leave home without it!

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Congratuations to Shani Davis

On Saturday, 23-year old Shani Davis became the first black athlete to win an individual gold medal in Winter Olympic history. Davis won in the 1,000-meter speedskating race.

Ask anyone who has ever done it and they will tell you being 'the first' is tough.

Fully aware of how much he stands out in the mostly white sport, Davis told the Associated Press "I'm one of a kind. . .a different type of person. I have a different charisma. A lot of people don't understand me."

Sadly Davis received a luke warm reception from many of his team mates, and an even worse reception from some individuals who posted racially charged messages to his personal blog. People saying they "hoped I would fall, break my leg, [and] using the n-word," Davis said.

What I would like to say to these people is, it's 2006 -- get over it!

Congratulations again to Shani Davis, winner of the gold medal in the 1,000-meter speedskating race.

How Will George Bush Be Judged?

Scholars Rate Worst Presidential Errors

By ELIZABETH DUNBAR, Associated Press Writer
Sat Feb 18, 2006

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - From engaging in sexual relations with an intern to letting the Vietnam War escalate, U.S. presidents have been blamed for some egregious errors.

So who had the worst blunder? President James Buchanan, for failing to avert the Civil War, according to a survey of presidential historians organized by the University of Louisville's McConnell Center.

The survey's top 10 presidential blunders were announced Saturday during a President's Day weekend conference called "Presidential Moments." (full story)
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How They Stack Up:

1. James Buchanan -- failing to avert the Civil War.
2. Andrew Johnson -- siding with Southern whites after the Civil War, opposing justice for Southern blacks beyond abolishing slavery.
3. Lyndon Johnson -- allowing the Vietnam War to intensify.
4. Woodrow Wilson -- refusal to compromise on the Treaty of Versailles after World War I.
5. Richard Nixon -- involvement in the Watergate cover-up.
6. James Madison -- failure to keep the US out of the War of 1812 with Britain.
7. Thomas Jefferson -- Embargo Act of 1807, prohibition on trade with Europe during the Napoleonic Wars.
8. John F. Kennedy -- the Bay of Pigs Invasion that led to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
9. Ronald Reagan -- the Iran-Contra Affair.
10 Bill Clinton -- Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Abramoff and Bush Buds?

Does the slime ever end when it comes to George W. Bush and his administration? Here is the latest from BuzzFlash.com. [NOTE: If you don't support BuzzFlash.com, consider doing so today! We need independent media.]

Abramoff Admits Authenticity of Photos with Bush But Now is Fearful Their Publication Would Harm His Plea Agreement. In Short, As BuzzFlash Predicted the DOJ is Cutting a Plea Agreement with Jack A. that Will Protect the White House.

Lobbyist Abramoff Describes Pictures of a “Bearded, Fatter Me” With President Bush

Washingtonian - February 17, 2006

[Editor’s note: A version of this story was posted briefly on Monday of this week. Within an hour, Jack Abramoff contacted the author, Washingtonian national editor Kim Eisler, and asked that the report be deleted from the Washingtonian.com Web site because public disclosure of his communications would damage his status as a witness and undermine his plea agreement with federal prosecutors. Abramoff has pleaded guilty to three felonies and could receive 31 years in prison for his part in the lobbying scandal. US District Court Judge Ellen Huvelle will decide the length of Abramoff’s prison term. The link was taken down while Mr. Abramoff’s concerns were investigated, but Mr. Eisler found no confirmation that publication of the item would damage any aspect of the wide-ranging probe. Thus we are posting this updated story.]

Time magazine published a photograph that showed Jack Abramoff in a scene with President Bush. This photo is not one of the five photos referred to in the February Washingtonian story that revealed the existence of pictures of the two men together. One of the photos referred to in the Washingtonian story was taken at the same event as the photo published by Time; in it the President and Abramoff are shaking hands. The Time photo showed Abramoff in the background. (full story)

Doing the President's Dirty Work

The New York Times - Editorial
February 17, 2006

Is there any aspect of President Bush's miserable record on intelligence that Senator Pat Roberts, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is not willing to excuse and help to cover up? (full story)

_________________________

TAKE ACTION
Call Today to Demand an Investigation!

Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Pat Roberts: 202-224-4774
House Intelligence Committee Chair Peter Hoekstra: 202-225-4401
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist: 202-224-3344
Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert: 202-225-2976

Does Military Breed Rapists?

How tragic that the very forces charged with protecting us, do some of us the most harm. Here is just the latest example.
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Coast Guard Senior Cadet Charged With Rape

By STEPHANIE REITZ, Associated Press Writer
February 16, 2006

NEW LONDON, Conn. - A senior at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy has been charged with sexually assaulting six female cadets in the campus barracks and other sites.

Webster M. Smith, 22, of Houston was separated from the rest of the student population after the first complaint was filed with administrators Dec. 4, the academy said.

Smith, a linebacker on the academy's football team, was charged Feb. 9 under military law with rape, assault, indecent assault and sodomy against female cadets, said Chief Warrant Officer David French, an academy spokesman. (full story)

Accident or not, Cheney's responsible

Dick Cheney goes hunting

by Molly Ivins
February 14, 2006

AUSTIN, Texas — Of course the jokes are flying all over Texas — what's the fine for shooting a lawyer? — and so forth. Dick-Cheney-shooting-Harry-Whittington is fraught, as they say, with irony. It's not as though the ground in Texas is littered with liberal Republicans. I think the vice president winged the only one we've got.

Not that I accuse Harry Whittington of being an actual liberal — only by Texas Republican standards, and that sets the bar about the height of a matchbook. Nevertheless, Whittington is seriously civilized, particularly on the issues of crime, punishment and prisons. He served on both the Texas Board of Corrections and on the bonding authority that builds prisons. As he has often said, prisons do not curb crime, they are hothouses for crime: "Prisons are to crime what greenhouses are to plants." . . .

. . . I am not trying to make a big deal out of a simple hunting accident for partisan purposes — just thought it was a good chance to pay tribute to old Harry, a thoroughly decent man. However, I was offended by the never-our-fault White House spin team. Cheney adviser Mary Matalin said of her boss, "He was not careless or incautious (and did not) violate any of the (rules). He didn't do anything he wasn't supposed to do." Of course he did, Ms. Matalin, he shot Harry Whittington.

Which brings us to one of the many paradoxes of the Bush administration, which claims to be creating "the responsibility society." It's hard to think of a crowd less likely to take responsibility for anything they have done or not done than this bunch. They're certainly good at preaching responsibility to others — and blaming other people for everything that goes wrong on their watch. (full story)

Right to Life?

Religious right activists are working overtime in 2006 to elect candidates that will write discrimination into the US Constitution. They are concerned that if loving lesbian and gay couples are allowed to marry that somehow "traditional values" will be in jeopardy. So I must ask, where were those "values" for little Sarah Chavez?

Florida will soon decide whether or not to allow lesbians and gays to adopt. Not that long ago another young girl, who fell through the cracks in Florida's system, was killed by her mother's boyfriend. She had been in the care of a loving gay couple, but tragically they were deemed unsuitable parents in the eyes of the state.

Over the past three decades I have heard far too many stories similar to these. How many more children must die before our culture recognizes that it's not who you love, but what kind of person you are that should determine whether or not you are fit to raise a child?

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A Child's Death Reveals a System's Tragic Flaw

Crucial information from foster mothers was missed; it might have kept Sarah Chavez alive.

By Noam N. Levey
Times Staff Writer
February 13, 2006

Corri Planck and Dianne Hardy-Garcia were overjoyed when they got the call.

Driven by a hope they might someday adopt a needy child, the Los Angeles couple had spent months training to become foster parents. Now, county welfare officials were looking for a safe home for Sarah Chavez, a 2-year-old girl.

Like giddy new parents, Planck and Hardy-Garcia rushed to buy furniture, toys and a stroller for the toddler. "We felt like, wow, what an amazing gift," Hardy-Garcia said recently.

Over the next three months, the women took Sarah to the zoo and on long walks in the neighborhood, where the little girl waved at strangers. Sometimes they would stay up at night just watching Sarah sleep.

Then it all changed. On a Monday afternoon last April, the couple was told to pack up Sarah's clothes because a court referee had ordered the toddler returned to her aunt and uncle, even though social workers had once suspected them of abusing her.

By fall the little girl with pigtails, who liked snails and dancing to show tunes, was dead — beaten, prosecutors now allege, by the same aunt and uncle. Both have pleaded not guilty. (full story)

Secret Service ... Don't Ask, Don't Tell

If someone is willing to give up their life for my freedom, why should I care who they love? A ten year study indicates policy is costing taxpayers millions!
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Report: 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Cost $363M

By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer
February 13, 2006

WASHINGTON - Discharging troops under the Pentagon's policy on gays cost $363.8 million over 10 years, almost double what the government concluded a year ago, a private report says. (full story)

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On the net:

Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military: http://www.gaymilitary.ucsb.edu/

It's started ...

Indiana Proposal: Life Starts at Conception

By DEANNA MARTIN
Associated Press Writer
Sat, Feb 11, 2006

INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana women seeking an abortion would be told life begins at conception under a proposal that would give the state one of the furthest-reaching abortion consent laws in the country.

Only one state — South Dakota — has gone so far in what it orders doctors to tell women before they can get abortions, and that law has been blocked by a court.

Supporters say the legislation would provide women key information before making an irreversible decision, but critics argue it blurs the line between church and state and could infringe on doctors' First Amendment rights. (full story)

Only on Fox

Cable channel aired photos of aliens attacking Library Tower

In a February 9 speech, President Bush disclosed details of what he described as a foiled Al Qaeda plot to fly a commercial plane into the tallest building in Los Angeles. Shortly after his speech concluded, Fox News aired numerous images from the 1996 film Independence Day (Twentieth Century Fox) showing the reported target of the attack -- the Library Tower, now known as the U.S. Bank Tower -- being destroyed by alien invaders.

On the February 9 edition of CNN Live Today, anchor Daryn Kagan also noted that the tower "was depicted as being blown up" in Independence Day, but, unlike Fox, CNN did not show movie images of the building being attacked. (full story)

____________________

TAKE ACTION!
Contact information:

FOX News Channel
1-888-369-4762
Comments@foxnews.com
1211 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036

When contacting the media, please be polite and professional. Express your specific concerns regarding that particular news report or commentary, and be sure to indicate exactly what you would like the media outlet to do differently in the future.

EQUALITY NOW!

ACTION Alerts from Equality Maryland and Equality Florida:

MORE THAN A THOUSAND MARYLANDERS SET TO
RALLY FOR FAIRNESS IN ANNAPOLIS ON MONDAY

With anti-gay legislators in Annapolis still pushing to write LGBT Marylanders and their families OUT of the State Constitution, Equality Maryland announced what will likely be the largest ever statewide congregation of LGBT and allied individuals. A rally will take place in Lawyer’s Mall, in front of the Maryland State House, at 5:00 p.m. Monday, February 13, 2006. The rally is to oppose a proposed amendment to Maryland's state constitution defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

The gathering coincides with Equality Maryland’s annual lobby day, whose focus this year is to urge legislators to reject placing discrimination into the very document designed to protect the rights of all citizens.

If you live in Maryland, please plan to attend! If you don't, please share this with everyone you know in Maryland, and urge them to attend!

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HISTORIC OPPORTUNITY TO DEFEAT FLORIDA'S
ANTI-GAY ADOPTION BAN

On Tuesday, February 14th, Florida's infamous ban on lesbian and gay adoption will be voted on in a committee of the Florida state legislature - for the first time in nearly 30 years. The Committee on Children and Families will hold an historic hearing on Senator Nan Rich's bill (SB-172) this Valentine's Day. When passed, this bill will allow judges to bypass the ban and, guided only by the best interest of each child, place children in permanent homes with loving, qualified lesbian and gay parents. [More]

If you live in Florida, please contact your state senator immediately! If you don't, please share this with everyone you know in Florida, and urge them to contact their state senator now!

Why we need more women in leadership

Republican Who Oversees N.S.A. Calls for Wiretap Inquiry

By ERIC LICHTBLAU
February 8, 2006

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 — A House Republican whose subcommittee oversees the National Security Agency broke ranks with the White House on Tuesday and called for a full Congressional inquiry into the Bush administration's domestic eavesdropping program.

The lawmaker, Representative Heather A. Wilson of New Mexico, chairwoman of the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Technical and Tactical Intelligence, said in an interview that she had "serious concerns" about the surveillance program. By withholding information about its operations from many lawmakers, she said, the administration has deepened her apprehension about whom the agency is monitoring and why.

Ms. Wilson, who was a National Security Council aide in the administration of President Bush's father, is the first Republican on either the House's Intelligence Committee or the Senate's to call for a full Congressional investigation into the program, in which the N.S.A. has been eavesdropping without warrants on the international communications of people inside the United States believed to have links with terrorists. (full story)

Back to the future?

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An undue burden ...

Just what is an undue burden? Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said today that requiring the National Security Agency to seek court approval before allowing them to secretly wire tap US citizens would present an undue burden.

Let's think about that for a moment. As the law stands right now the NSA can eavesdrop on the private conversations of US citizens for up to 3 days (72 hours) without seeking a warrant.

The President and his Attorney General don't think that's good enough. They want to be able to spy on US citizens secretly, and apparently indefinitely. Even though the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court is said to almost never refuse a request -- which brings me back to the question of undue burden.

As a lifelong feminist, I think it's an undue burden for women to have to wait 24 hours before they can have an abortion. I think it's an undue burden for a young woman to need approval from her parents before she can seek an abortion. For women who must travel sometimes as much as 100 miles to get to a doctor who provides abortion, asking them to wait 24 hours after consulting with the doctor seems like an undue burden to me.

I have an idea! Why don't we let women and young girls go ahead an have an abortion, and then give them 72 hours to decide whether or not to let their boyfriend/ husband/ parent(s) know!

In Memoriam: Betty Friedan

Feminist Author Betty Friedan Dies at 85

By Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Betty Friedan, whose manifesto "The Feminine Mystique" became a best seller in the 1960s and laid the groundwork for the modern feminist movement, died Saturday, her birthday. She was 85.

Friedan died at her home of congestive heart failure, according to a cousin, Emily Bazelon.

Friedan's assertion in her 1963 best seller that having a husband and babies was not everything and that women should aspire to separate identities as individuals, was highly unusual, if not revolutionary, just after the baby and suburban booms of the Eisenhower era.

The feminine mystique, she said, was a phony bill of goods society sold to women that left them unfulfilled, suffering from "the problem that has no name" and seeking a solution in tranquilizers and psychoanalysis.

"A woman has got to be able to say, and not feel guilty, `Who am I, and what do I want out of life?' She mustn't feel selfish and neurotic if she wants goals of her own, outside of husband and children," Friedan said.

In the racial, political and sexual conflicts of the 1960s and '70s, Friedan's was one of the most commanding voices and recognizable presences in the women's movement.

As a founder and first president of the National Organization for Women in 1966, she staked out positions that seemed extreme at the time on such issues as abortion, sex-neutral help-wanted ads, equal pay, promotion opportunities and maternity leave. (full story)

Time to Play Hardball with Matthews

Matthews: Maybe liberals and gays burned down churches in the south

From Crooks and Liars
February 3, 2006

On his TV show tonight Chris Matthews suggested, without any proof at all, that maybe liberals or gays were responsible for a series of terrible church burnings last night in central Alabama. Here's what Matthews had to say about it tonight on Hardball (see the video here):

MATTHEWS: Is there anything in the papers down there where a Baptist church has taken a position on some social issue, gay marriage, something that's hot, where that would have aroused somebody?

ATF AGENT CAVANAUGH: I haven't seen that Chris, but it's very viable because we had an arson at a Unitarian church in rural Virginia, back in the summer, and it was right after the church at a national level had embraced gay members. There was an attack on this church in Staunton (?), Virginia, so things like that can happen.

MATTHEWS: That's why I'm thinking like that because the more liberal churches would drive some people on the right crazy and maybe a more liberal person, who's gay for example, would feel that they've been terrorized by the beliefs of another church too. We don't know.

No, we don't know, Chris, so why suddenly suggest that liberals might be the felons? (full story)

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TAKE ACTION
Email Chris Matthers at Hardball -- hardball@msnbc.com -- to demand an apology!

Coretta Scott King: Vouchers vs. Justice

February 3, 2006
The Capital Times, Madison, WI
EDITORIAL

As Wisconsinites mourn the passing of Coretta Scott King, they would do well to recall the message she delivered during one of her last visits to the state.

Delivering the keynote address at that year's Wisconsin Education Association convention in Milwaukee, she condemned proposals to divert taxpayer dollars from public education to private schools.

Describing strong public schools as an essential underpinning of a functional and free America, King said, "Anything that undermines them does a shameful disservice to children."

While the wife of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. said she saw value in religious education, she added, "I see no good reason private schools should be subsidized by taxpayers."

Speaking specifically about so-called "voucher programs," which require taxpayers to fund the education of students who do not attend public schools, King warned that those who would use public money to fund religious or for-profit private schools are robbing the great mass of American children of an opportunity to secure the education they need.

Coretta King understood that supporting public education is essential to advancing the civil rights struggle, to which she and her husband dedicated their lives. Today, conservative special interest groups are funding a radio advertising campaign that seeks to associate defenders of public education with segregationists such as former Alabama Gov. George Wallace. The campaign is a grotesque distortion of history and the truth and we hope that, out of respect for Coretta King's memory, it will be discontinued.

Tom DeLay Busted?

DeLay's Defense Fund in Red
Congressman raised $590,000 last year but still owes hundreds of thousands more

By: MICHAEL HEDGES

WASHINGTON - Embattled U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay raised more money for his legal defense in 2005 than ever before but still owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to lawyers, according to documents released Tuesday. DeLay, fighting an indictment in Texas on charges of illegal fundraising while facing scrutiny by federal prosecutors in Washington for his ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, raised $181,851 between Oct. 1 and the end of the year.

That amount brought the total raised for his legal defense fund in 2005 to $590,520, significantly more than the $439,550 recorded in 2004.

But during 2005, DeLay's legal expenses topped $1 million, said Brent Perry, a Houston attorney who administers the fund.

"We paid out well over $500,000 in legal fees (in 2005)," he said. The payments would leave DeLay owing lawyers at least $500,000, a figure Perry said was probably low. (full story)

Cindy Sheehan: What Really Happened

By Cindy Sheehan
Wednesday, February 1, 2006
t r u t h o u t Perspective

As most of you have probably heard, I was arrested before the State of the Union address last night.

I am speechless with fury at what happened and with grief over what we have lost in our country.

There have been lies from the police and distortions by the press (shocker). So this is what really happened:

This afternoon at the People's State of the Union Address in DC, where I was joined by Congresspersons Lynn Woolsey and John Conyers, Ann Wright, Malik Rahim and John Cavanagh, Lynn brought me a ticket to the State of the Union address. At that time, I was wearing the shirt that said: 2245 Dead. How many more?

After the PSOTU press conference, I was having second thoughts about going to the SOTU at the Capitol. I didn't feel comfortable going. I knew George Bush would say things that would hurt me and anger me, and I knew that I couldn't disrupt the address because Lynn had given me the ticket, and I didn't want to be disruptive out of respect for her. I, in fact, had given the ticket to John Bruhns, who is in Iraq Veterans Against the War. However, Lynn's office had already called the media, and everyone knew I was going to be there, so I sucked it up and went.

I got the ticket back from John, and I met one of Congresswoman Barbara Lee's staffers in the Longworth Congressional Office building and we went to the Capitol via the underground tunnel. I went through security once, then had to use the rest room and went through security again.

My ticket was in the 5th gallery, front row, fourth seat in. The person who in a few minutes was to arrest me, helped me to my seat.

I had just sat down and I was warm from climbing 3 flights of stairs back up from the bathroom so I unzipped my jacket. I turned to the right to take my left arm out, when the same officer saw my shirt and yelled, "Protester." He then ran over to me, hauled me out of my seat, and roughly (with my hands behind my back) shoved me up the stairs. I said something like "I'm going, do you have to be so rough?" By the way, his name is Mike Weight.

The officer ran with me to the elevators, yelling at everyone to move out of the way. When we got to the elevators, he cuffed me and took me outside to await a squad car. On the way out, someone behind me said, "That's Cindy Sheehan." At which point the officer who arrested me said, "Take these steps slowly." I said, "You didn't care about being careful when you were dragging me up the other steps." He said, "That's because you were protesting." Wow, I got hauled out of the People's House because I was "Protesting." (full story)

NOTE: I've lived in the Washington, DC area since 1990, and continue to be amazed at the lack of free speech in our nations Capital. I think if more citizens were aware of what actually takes place here, they would be appalled.