Last week was the 5th Annniversary of Bush's idiotic "Mission Accomplished" moment. And John McCain tried defending Bush, blaming it on the Navy. This led to a considerable amount of attention on John McCain's own suggestion that we should stay in the Iraq Quagmire for 100 years. Howard Dean in particular slammed McCain for his willingness to sacrifice American soldiers for oil profits for 100 years. Poor John McCain didn't like having people pick on him, so John "wimp" McCain began whining and complaining about it. Well, Mr. McCain, if you can't take criticism of a stupid policy, how the hell are you going to stand up to al-Qaeda? Oh, yeah...just like Bush you plan on wasting time, money, and lives in Iraq for 100 years rather than actually fighting al-Qaeda, the people who attacked us.

[Posted with permission from Deep Harm at ePluribus Media/Daily Kos]
As the Bush administration enters its final six months, truthtellers in government positions should take care: government officials will be tempted to sweep their agencies clean of evidence and whistleblowers before a new administration takes over.

Already, the Bush administration has issued a new executive memo allowing government agencies to conjure up their own penalties for disclosing information covered by a new, broad and poorly defined controls on information  (thanks, smintheus). It's a bad portent of things to come.
Saving truthtellers and restoring government integrity depends on proposed legislation that would give whistleblowers badly-needed protections; legislation that is now stalled.

This week, May 12-16, the International Association of Whistleblowers will hold a conference in Washington, D.C. to publicly describe the challenges they faced in bringing to light corruption and abuses of power by the federal government, its contractors and the medical community.

The event is free, and the public is invited to attend. The schedule of events (including times and locations) is available on the IAW website. Even organizers say you can disregard the registration fee requested on the registration form.  Below, is a summary of the schedule along with details that are not available on the event  website.

(Note: This is the last column in the series.)

Pope Benedict XVI said in 2005, "Absolutizing what is not absolute but relative is called totalitarianism." To conclude this series of papers, I will say that Sean Hannity's political ideology unconsciously demonstrates a new form of totalitarianism which defines right and wrong in an artificially narrow sense; regards national security as the greatest good, elevating it above human rights and the law of God; accepts the coexistence of American big government, big business, and a swollen military to achieve the objective of national security; blends sin and sinners into a single homogeneous mass that must be defeated to preserve our national security; and intolerantly refuses to admit into its framework any clear facts that contradict its methods or call into question its objectives.

This week was Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. It also was the fifth aniversary of Bush's infamous "Mission Accomplished" speech. This aniversary was unique in that for the first time the Bush administration has admitted that the banner was a huge mistake...though John McCain blamed it on the military, excusing Bush for the fiasco. The Republicans are finally acknowledgig the dismal failure of "Mission Accomplished" but refuse to take the blame. Typical. Absolutely typical. Republicans wouldn't know responsibility if it bit them in the ass.

This week I am once again candidate oriented. Somewhat coincidentally I focused this week mainly on women. There are some particularly great women running in Alaska, and locally in Wisconsin that I want to introduce you all to. And I continue to try and keep my focus on what's going on state by state as up to date as possible. Interestingly, Georgia, Virginia and Pennsylvania are now the three states after California and New York where I have the most readers. Pretty good diversity of readership I think. I keep thinking I should cut back on the states I try to cover, but next week I may be adding Ohio!

This week's newsletter below.

Mr. Hannity: "We would be foolish to assume there is any quick fix, any single solution, to the challenges America will face in the continuing battle with our terrorist foes. But keep in mind that the Cold War was a marathon as well, lasting some fifty years." (p. 276)

Mr. Hannity: "We are at war." (p. 219)

This week I have been focused on my real job, so this week's newsletter not quite as in depth as I sometimes do. This week I am focusing on what I consider some interesting races around the country. I may do that for a few weeks or so because I am learning about so many really good people running who I want to help. This week I focus on Nebraska Senate, Oklahoma Senate, and an Iowa state legislature race.

by Cody Lyon
It is, after all, the toxic culture of special interest and corporate influence in Washington that the Obama campaign has built so much of its foundation on during its crusade to take the White House.

I tried to post this in the Code Blue section.  It disappeared.  I'm not sure why since I was not contacted about it.  I find that to be a bit disturbing.  It smacks of censorship.
These are desperate times which, as we all know, call for desperate measures.  I don't see or hear of anyone taking such measures.  This is my attempt to do so.
Please follow the link and sign the petition.  Forward the link to everyone you can.  If I can secure sufficient signatures I will hand deliver the petition to the United Nations.

Gallup's polling of 13,000 voters, released April 17, shows Barack Obama ahead of McCain in competitive so-called Purple states, as well as deep blue states. Here's the summary (link is found below).

Reading further tells you that Clinton would also better McCain in the purple states. However, it is Obama who has the larger margin in be trusty stalwart blue states. (Obama ahead of McCain by 14 points, Clinton ahead of McCain by 11.)

So all together that beats down the idea that Obama's not our electable candidate. The numbers show it's he who's the one who is more electable.

Mr. Hannity: "I'm no opponent of open and honest debate, even over questions of foreign policy...I would never claim that an earnest difference of opinion about foreign policy is unpatriotic....But when it comes to debate during wartime, I think one principle is clear: The only responsible argument is one that's made in good faith. The Democrats have violated that principle." (pp. 214-215)

Last week I discussed the economic mess we are in. Someone commented that I am making things up and that job growth has been fine under Bush. She claimed I gave no evidence that job growth has been nearly flat during the Bush administration. Well, let me quote Paul Krugman, with an illustration:

A historically significant political point, regardless of Harding's racial makeup, one thing is certain, even in the face of rising outspoken and virulent racism that had manifest, even legitimized itself in the national politics of the 1920's through groups like the Ku Klux Klan, as President, Harding brought the discussion of race to the table, even in what was then, perhaps the nation's most most segregated city.