Well, it's been a crazy month. Flying back-and-forth to Seattle for holidays, running up to New Hampshire to volunteer for the Obama campaign for a while, and hitting the ground here in NYC to hopefully make Hillary spend some of her cash defending her home turf. Oh, and there might be a trip to South Carolina tomorrow as, apparently, the Obama people now know I'm somebody who is willing to travel.

I've taken some great pictures and met some great people, and sometime I'll blog about it.

All I can say is, if you feel strongly about it, we need your support. So, go to barackobama.com and do what you can.

Grad school and student loans means only $50 from my family in all of 2007, so I volunteered my time instead. It's not glamorous, but it's needed and at least I can always say I did my part. I got to see Sen. Obama speak after the NH primary and I already know it is one of the highlights of my life and will be forever.

I'm in the bloggin' mode now (and luckily this break wasn't as long as the previous) so let's get rollin'!

I agree with Grover Norquist. It pains me to say it and type it. I never thought those words would cross my mind. Yes, I agree with the ultra-right wing creator of Americans for Tax Reform.

I was watching MSNBC a few mornings ago (note: admitting you've watched MSNBC is almost more embarrassing than admitting you agree with Norquist) and Grover came on to talk about a new constitutional amendment he's pushing which I completely support. (also note: I've never seen a picture of Grover before and he looks quite different than I thought he would)

TimesOnline: Fear of a dynasty denies Hillary Clinton votes (Nov 11, 2007)
Norquist has commissioned lawyers to draw up a constitutional amendment that would ban family members from succeeding one another to elected and appointed office. If passed, it would not apply to the Clinton's as a Bush was elected in between them. But Norquist believes that it will alert voters to the perils of dynasty.

Here's the kicker, there's a quote from Peggy Noonan, former Reagan speech writer and Wall Street Journal hack, that I also agree with in that article. What is the world coming too?

Dynasticism brings with it a sense of deterioration. It is dispiriting.

Noonan! Noonan!

The measure to permanently repeal the estate tax thankfully went down in the Senate today. But Washington voters haven't likely heard the end of the estate tax.

As I talked about last November, anti-infrastructure and anti-education zealots are poised to bring I-920 to Washington state voters this fall. If it passed, I-920 would eliminate a tax which only 210 of the richest estates in Washington pay.

I-920 is led by anti-Tax and anti-Gay zealot Dennis Falk who, in 1981, led an unsuccessful campaign to overturn the sexual orientation provisions of Seattle's fair employment and open housing ordinances.

Slimy folks like Falk (and the Seattle Times editorial board) will surely create "heart-string" ads like this gem from the Free Enterprise Fund which has been running in Washington state this week against Sen. Cantwell:


click for Windows Media Player link
Expect I-920 to bring these to the next level. Old women in wheelchairs explaining to Billy and Cindy that Gov. Christine Gregoire is the reason they'll have to go to Community College instead of Vassar and such. Black and white tilted photographs of Frank Chop and sad family-owned farmers exclaiming that they'll have to fold up shop after 10 generations of farming in Monroe (even though farms are exempt from the tax in Washington). Oh, modern American politics.

I know this site is supposed to be about sound politics, and I have a tendency to focus on national issues, but I have to say this today because my belly is full. Bush authorized leaks via Scooter Libby. Essentially (and we’ll have to see how this plays out) he is the man that authorized the leak of Valerie Plame. Bush said that he would fire anyone involved in the scandal, so I’m wondering if he’s going to fire Cheney before he resigns. The men in charge of our country have authorized treason, and one more day for them in office is another day that democracy rots in its grave. Today I can truly say that I am absolutely ashamed to call George Bush my president. The son of privilege, using his lies and his stupid smirk to sell his bogus programs, wars, and agenda. There’s no way to spin out of this, and I wait with baited breath to hear his talking heads try to do so. This is truly a black day for America.

Once again, it's Happy Hour where you - the loyal readers, bloggers and lurkers pipe up. In between the wonderful viaduct debate, I thought I'd briefly turn our attention towards the national spotlight.

Today's topic - Al Gore in '08

No, I'm not the dbag you think I am. The American Prospect sets up the dominos in an article I think everyone should read (especially you wonky technology meets political kids!):

Here’s the scenario: Hillary Clinton continues rolling forward, amassing establishment support and locking down the large donors. Anti-Hillary voters prove unable to coalesce around a single champion, so Clinton is able to suck up all the oxygen but, as with most faits accomplis, attracts little genuine enthusiasm. At the same time, her hawkishness and ostentatious moderation sparks widespread disillusionment among the online activist community. Inevitably, the liberal wing of the party begins calling for a Bigfoot of its own to enter the primary, and the obvious prospect is Gore... The press corps, sensing a Godzilla vs. King Kong battle, begins covering the events. As Marty Peretz, publisher of The New Republic and a longtime friend of Gore, says, “if he were to find that there was some groundswell for him, I think it would be hard to resist.”

But why Gore? I'm as surprised as anyone that I might be landing in the Draft Gore camp. The 2000 Election was the first presidential election of my lifetime, and I voted proudly for Nader. But this ain't the Gore I remember.

Activist films about global warming. Searing indictments against the state of modern journalism. Intelligent foreign policy speeches in which he properly pronounces all nouns and verbs.

Is anyone else taking a second look at Gore?

The bar is open.

With the end of session in Olympia, we are one step closer to the beginning of real campaign season for the 2006 cycle. Soon we'll all start seeing the flyers, fund rasing letters, ads and pleas for volunteers. The question is, what are we going to do in response?

For my part, I'll probably pick a couple of races that mean a lot to me, places where I think I can help make a difference, and where there's a condidate that has the same priorities that I do (community development, good government, smart spending). I could also see myself getting ivolved in a race where I am more concerned with defeating an incumbent than I am helping a challenger.

What are you going to do this session?

What do you wnat BetterDonkey to do this session? (do you care what BD does?)

A couple of online resources you might find helpful in figuring this out:

The Washington State Democratic Party: A good place to start, learn about the party in general, check out the election calendar, get plugged in.

• Boehner is welcomed
  — (Yale University News), Well he usually is, but in this case, not so much
• Clutch of businesses pins hopes on Boehner’s election
  — (The Hill), Wow. Sounds painful
• Ex-Boehner Aide Planned for Abramoff Trip
  — (Leading the Charge), Apparently, the man only used to be a boehner
• Boehner watch begins in House
  — (FortWayne.com), Business as usual
• Boehner Has Lobbyist For Landlord
  — (CBS News), Boehner parks it in his garage
• Boehner's Broken Promises
  — (Yahoo News), I'll last forever!

Remember the days of "if you're not with us, you're against us?" Boy, were they sweet. Tucked away in his nonsense about doing his part to create a civil, bipartisan dialogue, last night Bush rolled out yet another way to divide up the country: "You're either for the war, or against foreign aid."

It used to be that being against the war just meant that we hated America. Which, you know, is fine. I mean, I don't hate America, but I've got a thick skin, and I'm not going to get all hacked off if you try to tell me otherwise.

Last night, though, Bush upped the ante. Opposing the war-- and everything that goes with it, like illegal wiretapping and unlawful imprisonment and torture of detainees-- now doesn't just mean you hate America. It means that you also don't want to send aid to refugees or help girls go to school. Don't want to fight? You hate the world.

What's fucked up about this is that if in the first place we'd actually did all of this "showing compassion abroad" and "believing in the God-given dignity and worth of villagers with AIDS" stuff he was talking about last night, we might not be in the place we are right now as a nation or at least would have a lot easier time getting out of it.

The Seattle times is reporting that several prominent Democratic senators (i.e Kerry and Kennedy) have called for a filibuster of Samuel Alito's Supreme Court nomination.

If you think Murray and Cantwell should join them in this effort, please give the call.

• Contact Senator Murray
• Contact Senator Cantwell

I’m surprised at how dead the site is with so much going on lately. Is anyone else alive out there?

First, we have the wiretapping scandal, and the requisite spin put on it by the pundits. All the talking points say that the president needs to do what needs to be done to protect us. Yes, he does, but he also needs to follow the constitution. If it was an emergency, then he had up to 72 hours to get the subpoena after the info was gathered. He did not, and it reeks with its illegality. Remember that when your conservative blowhard uncle says that. Constitution followed by subpoena. 72 hours. Watch the smoke coming out of his ears trying to think of a response to that.

Next we have the Abramoff scandal. First off, who is this guy Abram who keeps getting jacked off? Such profanity doesn’t belong on TV! Oh, the guys name is Jack Abramoff? Oh, never mind. So I was watching c-span last night, it was a repeat of the hearings on the Abramoff-Reed Indian Gambling Scandal. There were the managing partner of Greenberg Traurig, Abramoff’s last firm, the outside counsel of the Louisiana Coushatta Tribe, and one of the tribal council members of the tribe. You could just see the disgust on their faces for being associated with the scumbag Abramoff, and to hear what they had to say makes me hope that although he’s getting a plea deal that his penalty includes some time in federal “pound me in the ass” prison. I hope the same happens to Ralph “good Christian coalition” Reed, Grover “drown the government” Nordquist and Michael “fucking douche bag” Scanlon. They basically worked both sides of the Indian gambling industry, eventually having several tribes paying money to the Christian coalition to stop other tribes from opening casinos. I draw particular offense to this because I am part Choctaw, and to see my people be extorted by these right wing fucks really gets me by my velvet plum sack. I hope everyone involved in this scandal get theirs in a big way. Maybe we will get lucky and not have to vote out all the scumbags, they’ll do it all for themselves.

I was going to make my first blog post on Better Donkey a cheerful one about interesting political and news podcasts that are rocking my iPod right now. But while reviewing a recent podcast of NOW, I heard an interview with Democratic Congressman Jim Cooper, of Tennessee.

NOW's commentator remarked that a conversation with Cooper was "a downer." --That's because Rep. Cooper is a realist and a fiscal conservative who is understandably concerned about our federal fiscal situation. So concerned, that Cooper created "The Budget School", a Power Point presentation that effectively (some might say devastatingly) explains the national debt, it's significance, and the deep threat it poses to our generation. If you've been wondering why your American greenback hasn't been stretching as far recently, click the link to get informed.

So all of you NPR junkies probably also heard the discussion on "The Conversation" about astronomic biology--or the idea that there is intelligent life outside of Earth.

(By the way, I'd put links on here but I haven't learned how to do that yet, so you are on your own.)

The guest was talking about some biological shiznit that I'll never comprehend, but I did have a thought (this is a rarity in itself). You know how we always picture God as this conservative Being? I mean, I think Jesus was probably a socialist--I mean, read the Bible already. But the GOP has got us believing that God is staring down at us with his snowey white beard, laughing a jolley laugh and preparing his sleigh for all the good boys and....

oh shit, sorry. wrong guy.

Like I was saying, the GOP has got us believing that God is staring down at us going, "NO! I didn't create homos! You people are BAD!" and "Stem cell research, who do you think you are?! ME?!?!"

But what if my Main Man God is up there in his "Howard Dean Rules my Kingdom!" t-shirt going, "Jesus Christ, you guys. You and your intelligent design vs. evolution shit. You found the scientific evidence I left for you morons that shows that you actually did come from apes. Deal with it. Will all you bible-thumpers PUH-LEESE acknowledge that science is actually legitimate and, oh, I don't know, THAT I CREATED SCIENCE?!?!"

Posting has been a bit light this week. Must be all the post Thanksgiving tryptophan.

Enjoy...



Related Links:
Medicare.gov - Prescription Drug Coverage
The Onion - America's Finest News Source

So if you haven't heard, Sen Harry Reid ordered a closed session of the Senate to discuss the pre-war intelligence on Iraq. It would seem that sombody just grew a pair, and I'd like to see where this is going. Please see my poll and tell me what you think.

Cheney Keeps Power from being restored to two Louisiana Hospitals in order to keep Pipeline running

It's time again for - The Lame List.

MSNBC reported this evening that shortly after Hurricane Katrina struck South Mississippi knocking out electricity and communication systems, calls came from the Vice President's office ordering power restored to a pipeline that sends fuel to the Northeast.

The Hattiesburg American and a post on Motherjones.com reveal that Jim Compton, general manager of the South Mississippi Electric Power Association, said he "reluctantly agreed to pull half our transmission line crews off other projects" which included restoring water to rural water systems and two rural hospitals - Stone County Hospital in Wiggins and George County Hospital in Lucedale.

"We were led to believe a national emergency was created when the pipelines were shut down," Compton said.

The story gets thicker from there, as The Hattiesburg American reports:

(click read more to continue)

Don't Give In to the “This Land was Made for Me, Not You” Game

Red versus Blue. Those colors never used to matter, did they? That’s rhetorical, but I’ll answer it: they didn’t. They were shorthand, and they were temporary. Yes, they represented something, but it was understood that beyond this shorthand were whole ideologies, complexities, gray areas.

Enter the turmoil of 2000 and its stomach churning repetition in 2004. The Media—by which I primarily mean cable and network television--- latched onto the colors like they meant something. All of a sudden, you and I were playing for one team and the guy down the street was playing for the other. All of a sudden it was Homecoming and even the kids who ate lunch huddled alone in a corner were rooting for the football team, crying foul on every call against us, giving the old Ivy League cheer time after time when it was clear the home team was going to lose.

Now we are bombarded on a daily basis by the idea that who we voted is who we are; that right down to the particulars of our lifestyle we are entirely different from, and utterly superior to, that distant red-dyed "other."

Okay....I have to admit that I have a bit of a Joe Biden thing. I have always liked him, and he is a bit of a family friend. I am psyched that he is going to throw his hat in the ring this time, and was on my way to his pre-prez site Unite Our States (careful, it has audio that plays when you visit). Suddenly, I stumbled accross this amazing piece of web-foolery/brilliance:

Biznass, my biznass

Beez has dropped his latest bomb for the streets: the Unite Our States PAC. (Those of you peeping our shit illegally at work should be warned that Biden is audible dropping dope lines on the front page. The shit is mad dramatic, 2Pac style, but will piss off your supervisor.)

If, unlike JBITO, you have money, you should pass the shit along to Beezy, who is going to do all types of high-minded unity-related activities with the scrill. Further, there's no doubt that some of that money will find its way into the Biden '08 war chest. Because, as important, if discredited pundits have noted in the past, all money is legal.

Think there need to be more women in politics? Want to run for office some day but have no idea how to make it happen?

Well honey, you and I are in luck. The White House Project, a nonprofit organization "dedicated to advancing women's leadership," is accepting applications for its Go Run! training September 23-25 on Bainbridge Island right here in Washington State.

Go Run is a weekend long training dedicated to equipping you, the future candidate, with the skills to run and win. The training aims to demystifying the political process and increase the number of progressive women in the political pipeline. Go Run provides the nuts and bolts of running for political office by focusing on such areas as communications, fundraising, and campaigning, amongst others.

As the lazy days of summer gradually wind down, our fearless...or should I say feared...leaders will be headed back to our nation's capitol to continue the business of partisan bickering, selling out to interest groups, and raising more money than you can shake a stick at. They'll probably also appoint someone to the Supreme Court, they have to pass their Appropriations bills, and they'll get the BRAC recommendation to approve.

My question to you is if you could put one thing on the national agenda for this next session of Congress, what would it be? How would you like to see your issue resovled?

Watching the News Hour this past week, I was entertained to see an out-matched proponant of Intelligent Design get smoked in a debate over its inclusion in public school curriculums as an alternative to the theory of evolution. As likely you know, the topic has come into vogue since W’s endorsement of the largely unsupported theory. “Those zany creationists!” I chuckled as I turned off the television. I thought nothing more of it at that point.

Then, while perusing the headlines this morning, I learned the Kansas Board of Education
“has tentatively approved new state science standards that weaken the role evolution plays in teaching about the origin of life." “What the,” thought an exasperated I. It was quickly determined this required some looking into.