It is, or should be by now, plainly evident to most observers that the current crop of Republicans will run the kind of Rovian sleazoid campaign that has worked so well for them in the past.

They will co opt the message of the Democrats at every opportunity and swift boat anyone who gets in their way. They will, as in the past, use the politics of personal destruction, of sneer and smear, a style that has become a necessity in modern Republican strategy as it so purely reflects the mentality and ethos of a sizable and increasing fraction of their base.

The party that has come to reflect the endemic racism, sexism, religious intolerance, and the rapidly widening schism between economic classes in this country has nowhere else to turn. They have become directors of a noisy, and potentially dangerous lynch mob. A criminal mob acting to serve the interests of an out of control business culture and an irrational priesthood that sees the face of God in its own self righteousness.

Republicans dare not run on their party's record of governance over the last eight years. The record is abysmal and they know it. As much as possible that record will be kept in the dark dank shadows with the sordid history of the modern Republican Party. It will be hidden in that shameful place where they will store Bush, Cheney, their denial of health care to America's children, denial of decent wages to America's workers, our terribly fractured economy, serious unemployment, two misguided and mismanaged wars and the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of innocents.

One of the highlights of this week was a slapdown of a Texas Republican by a Wisconsin Democrat in the House during a debate over funding the Iraq Quagmire. Check out the video. It is wonderful to watch.

Another wonderful video is Chris Matthews, not someone I generally like, slamming a Republican for making references to Neville Chamberlain without having a clue of the real history. Parroting lame talking points is no longer working for the Republicans. Their gross ignorance is showing and even conservative talk show hosts are getting irritated by it.

This week's newsletter focuses a little more on simply winning as Democrats and a little less on primaries within the Democratic Party than my recent newsletters, but it is time we start focusing on winning the Senate and Presidency. I do still refer to the need for progressives to win primaries, and once again draw people's attention to my Progressive Primary Act Blue Site. Hope you guys can help in these primaries as well as in the Senate races I highlight. But mostly, this weeks newsletter directly confront's John McCain as the candidate who promises us nothing but more war, more recession, more inflation.

The year is such a big one for politics. I am amazed how many people are extra involved. One friend describes it as "Democrat fever," and is finding that people are eagerly digging deeper than usual to win. And there are already payoffs.

One of the most important things to happen this last week was Kofi Annan has finally gotten the battling factions in Kenya to sign a peace agreement. I was watching a segment on Current TV about the situation in Kenya and it was really worrisome. Some thought it could turn into another Rwanda, though others felt Kenya would pull itself together before it sank that low. But the truth is, one of Africa's more stable nations nearly collapsed into a bloody civil war. Kofi Annan has for now eased the crisis and could deserve a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. The chaos in Kenya had a personal connection for me because some of my loans through Kiva were in the areas of Kenya where the fighting was taking place. As I write here, the situation there was really bad and many of the businesses I loaned to in Kenya may no longer exist.

Lots more below the fold!

For those who are focused on Congress, you might be surprised to learn that Alaska may be among our best shots at picking up one Senate and one House seat. Keep an eye on Alaska. Republican corruption has been exploding, with four State level politicians arrested, some pleading guilty. One Alaska Senator and their single House Rep are also  implicated. This gives us a great shot at winning the state. Alaska may turn blue this year if we pay some attention to it.

On a personal note, I have a new scientific paper coming out in the Journal of Cell Biology. This comes from work I did more than two years ago! My current work is going slower, but overall looks promising. I hope to write up my current work within a year.

This week I discuss the Bush family's endorsement of John McCain, re-enforcing my assertion that McCain offers nothing but a Third Bush term. I also discuss Republican corruption in Alaska and voting irregularities in NYC. And I continue to highlight local events in all the states where I have had a good number of readers. I also highlight some peace rallies, alternative energy events and impeachment events around the nation. Don't forget to visit an advertiser or two and if you want more, please visit Culture Kitchen.

"When once a republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil."~~- Thomas Jefferson

Each new year ushers in a myriad of "Top Ten" lists -- 10 best things, 10 worst things, things we need to do, things we did but shouldn't have -- and this year, even a hilarious list of WTF? things popped up.  I'll admit I'm not as well organized as those who progress in 10-step increments.  My problem is narrowing the atrocities down to 10 -- and then narrowing those 10 down to a single year.  I'm confident I could compile a really neat list if I could decide which in the tangle of loathsome assaults should be Number One.

In Nigeria Police Force, corruption is prevalent, and hampers the nation's quest for a true democracy, a just society and sustainable development The Shame of the Nigeria Police Force

Recently, I was involved in getting prosecuted a man who raped a ten-year-old girl in in Imo state in Southern Nigeria. In the course of this, I visited several police stations in Southeastern Nigeria where I met, interacted and encountered various police officers.  And I must say that I was deeply shocked and disappointed by what I saw-by what I noticed going on at the police stations in the name of police work.

In this piece I will share with you some of my experiences and insights, and hope that the Nigerian government would find them useful in its efforts to fight corruption and enthrone the rule of law in the country.      

The Progressive Democrat Newsletter grew out of the frustration of the 2004 election. So I have bene doing this almost exactly three years. And boy are my arms tired! (sorry!) Having organized protests against the Republican Convention, I found I had a core of activists who needed some encouragement after Bush "won" re-"election". My carefully thought out suggestions as to where we could go from that defeat led to this more-or-less weekly newsletter.

This week I discuss the corruption and pedophilia...yes, pedophilia...that is rampant in the Republican Party. I discuss why Rudy Giuliani should reject Pat Robertson's endorsement...and if he doesn't he should be held accountable for the fanatical extremism of Robertson. I also cover election results and some local events in many states. Don't forget to visit an advertiser or two and if you want more, please visit Culture Kitchen.

The Progressive Democrat Newsletter grew out of the frustration of the 2004 election. After much pressure from readers, this email newsletter is now going the blog route. I update the blog once a week focusing on both national issues and issues of interest to particular regions or states. In general, NYC, California, New Jersey, Virginia and the Midwest get special attention simply because those are the areas where I seem to have the most readers. However, these days I am too busy to give each region the attention I used to. As my readership on Daily Gotham and Culture Kitchen goes up, I have to spend more time on those sites. So this newsletter is fading a bit. I hope it is still usefull to you, though.

This week I talk about corruption in government, focus on a Sierra Club action targeting Home Depot and Fox News, energy solutions and I focus on some local goings on in New York, Florida and New Jersey.

The Progressive Democrat Newsletter grew out of the frustration of the 2004 election. After much pressure from readers, this email newsletter is now going the blog route. I update the blog once a week focusing on both national issues and issues of interest to particular regions or states. In general, NYC, California, New Jersey, Virginia and the Midwest get special attention simply because those are the areas where I seem to have the most readers.

This week I discuss the Democratic fumble in Congress, yet another example of Republican Corruption (in Kentucky), discuss American Muslims (something to shit our pants over or well-integrated and hard-working Americans) and present some interesting aspects of unemployment figures. If you visit my blog, PLEASE don't forget to click on an advertiser or two since that helps me keep the blog going. It really makes a difference! As usual I also highlight local events and organizations for several states. And, if you want more political and social discussions, please check out our offerings on Culture Kitchen.

Tired of hearing about so much corruption in the contracts handed out for Iraq reconstruction, the Republicans once again used a tried and true technique - kill the messenger. What's this got to do with Diblert?

First the news: Investigations led by a Republican lawyer named Stuart Bowen Jr. in Iraq have sent American occupation officials to jail on bribery and conspiracy charges, exposed disastrously poor construction work by well-connected companies like Halliburton and Parsons, and discovered that the military did not properly track hundreds of thousands of weapons it shipped to Iraqi security forces.

The Republican echo chamber attacks anyone who disagrees with their madness and derides them as pawns of the HollywoodLiberalElite®.  Never mind the fact Hollywood entertainers hold more clout in Republican policy circles. Facts are tedious, boring things. Besides, a few well timed jokes about Michael Moore's weight and you can keep folks laughing and distracted for days.  

That difference in approach captures the basic problem with public discourse.  We want to talk substance, they want to talk personalities.  Like it or not, people prefer their approach. There is no point denying human nature; we need to embrace reality and use it to our advantage.

Fortunately, this election season the Republicans have provided a perfect opportunity for us to beat them at their own game.  I'm talking about the Corrupt Bastards Club.  Here's the best part... you can play too.

I remember when Richard Pryor dropped the n-word from his routine.  It was after he went to Africa.  He realized there weren't any over there...even though the continent was chock full of black folk.  He came back and decided to label himself, his brothers and sisters in a more dignified and respectful way.

What we call ourselves says a lot about how we view ourselves and how we want others to view us.  

We do the same thing with political labels.  Democrats become "Liberals" become "progressives" become "reality-based."  Republicans have gone from calling themselves "Conservatives" to being members of the "GOP," the "Party of Lincoln," or more recently, the "Corrupt Bastards Club."  This is not an epithet I am hurling around like "fascist" or "liar."  I wish I had thought of it... but I didn't.  This is a term Republicans used among themselves behind closed doors...

The Presidency or Regency of George Bush the Lesser is nothing more or less than a vast carefully crafted criminal enterprise.

The Bush Administration and it's extended crime family has taken organized crime from the mean streets and ethnic social clubs of urban America and transferred it high above those meager environs into the steel and glass, leather and mahogany world of the American Corporate boardroom.

The scale of the criminality of the members of this nefarious organization would make the most experienced and successful Mafiosi or Asian or Russian gangster weep with wildly envious frustration.

In this day and age, our politicians spend far too much of their time looking for campaign contributions and not enough communicating with their constituents.  Far too many campaigns (like CA-50) spend an obscene amount of money per vote they receive.  This not only give the appearance of corruption (and all to often the reality as well), but it shapes the kinds of candidates that run for office.  Too many of our candidates are rich or very well connected.

We need to seek solutions, and ones which improve politicians' ability to communicate to their constituents, and decrease the time they spend begging for money.   As I have mentioned before, we should consider requiring television and radio stations to provide advertising to candidates as part of the broadcast license.  We should also reduce the connection between money and access, as well as reduce the contribution limits.