On his trip to Great Britain, George Bush had a meeting with Queen Elizabeth He asked her, "How does one manage to run a country so well and so effortlessly?

"That's easy," she replied, "You surround yourself with intelligent ministers and advisors."

"But how can I tell whether they are intelligent or not?" he inquired.

"You ask them a riddle," she replied, and with that she pressed a button and said, "Would you please send Tony Blair in." When Blair arrived, the Queen said, "I have a riddle for you to answer for me. Your parents had a child and it was not your sister and it was not your brother. Who was this child?" Blair replied, "That's easy. The child was me.

"Very good," said the Queen, "You may go, now."

So President Bush went back to Washington and called in his chief of staff, Karl Rove. He said to him, "I have a riddle for you, and the answer is very important. Your parents had a child and it was not your sister and it was not your brother. Who was this child?"

Rove replied, "Yes, it is clearly very important that we determine the answer, as no child must be left behind. Can I deliberate on this for a while?"

"Yes," said Bush, "I'll give you four hours to come up with the answer."

So Rove went and called a meeting of the White House Staff, and asked them the riddle. But after much discussion and many suggestions, none of them had a satisfactory answer. So he was quite upse t, not knowing what he would tell the President. As Rove was walking back to the Oval Office, he saw former Secretary of State Colin Powell approaching him. So he said, "Mr. Secretary, can you answer this riddle for me. Your parents had a child and it was not your sister and it was not your brother. Who was the child?"

That's easy," said Powell, "The child was me."

"Oh thank you," said Rove, "You may just have saved me my job!"

So Rove went in to the Oval Office and said to President Bush, "I think I know the answer to your riddle. The child was Colin Powell!"

"No, you idiot!" shouted Bush, "The child was Tony Blair!"

This makes one wonder why Republican actors are taken more seriously than Democrat actors. People would throw a fit if Sean Penn ran for President. Can anyone tell me the difference (besides Thompson being a former Senator)?

Big news: The Democratic Party of Nevada is dropping Fox as the host of its presidential debate!
We accomplished this together:

    * More than 265,000 of us signed the petition saying "Fox is a mouthpiece for the Republican Party" and asking Nevada Democrats to drop Fox.1
    * Over 3,000 of us called and emailed Nevada Democrats.
    * Robert Greenwald's new film Fox Attacks: Obama generated over 300,000 views on YouTube.2
    * John Edwards showed real courage by announcing he would not attend the Fox debate.3
    * Nevada bloggers like LasVegasGleaner.com and RenoDiscontent.com—and national blogs like MyDD.com and DailyKos.com—kept up the heat.4
    * Nevada MoveOn member Danny Coyle got the Carson City Democratic Central Committee (in Nevada's capitol) to overwhelmingly pass a resolution urging that Fox be dropped.5

The Drudge Report, Fox's partner in the right-wing smear machine, says our defeat of Fox means "war"—that's fine, our side is ready for battle.6 Film director Robert Greenwald will continue making his Fox Attacks online videos exposing Fox's smears—and we'll keep working with him to achieve big victories.

We could feel our momentum growing on Thursday when Nevada Senator Harry Reid told bloggers, "I don't like Fox."7 That night, Fox President Roger Ailes proved why—making remarks that associated Barack Obama with Osama Bin Laden.8 This was the final straw—Nevada Democrats sent Fox a letter Friday saying, "We cannot, as good Democrats, put our party in a position to defend such comments."9

Hopefully, this sets a precedent for all Democrats: Fox should be treated as a right-wing misinformation network, not legitimized as a neutral source of news. All the media coverage of this fight has certainly reminded the public and the media that we can't trust Fox.10

We couldn't have dealt such a defeat to Fox without Outfoxed director Robert Greenwald's powerful online video Fox Attacks: Obama—which exposed Fox's smears. This video was viewed over 300,000 times on YouTube and was very effective in recruiting thousands of new people into our fight against Fox in Nevada. Robert's videos will be vital to future fights against Fox.

Savor this victory—and know that you helped make it happen. Thanks for all you do.

–Noah, Adam G., Wes, Eli, and the MoveOn.org Civic Action Team
  Sunday, March 11th, 2007

In New Mexico, the Judiciary Committee will be the third Senate committee to vote on impeachment, probably Monday afternoon. If it passes Judiciary it will go to the full Senate for an historic vote. Our NM impeachment coordinator, Leland Lehrman, has a full report:
http://mothermedia.org

In Washington State, several hundred citizens participated in an ethusiastic rally outside the state house on Thursday. Speakers included Phil Burk of ImpeachBush.TV, Col. Ann Wright, and Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson. The deadline for Sen. Eric Oemig's resolution SJM8016 is March 14, but it will only come up for a vote if Senate Majority Leaders Lisa Brown, Tracy Eide, and Harriet Spanel give their approval. Details here:
http://www.washingtonforimpeachment.org/impeach/

Senator Patty Murray (D) and Rep. Jay Inslee (D) are pressuring state Democrats to block the impeachment resolution using completely dishonest arguments which treat impeachment advocates like idiots. Bob Fertik replies:
http://www.democrats.com/warning-to-congressional-democrats
So does Dave Lindorff:
http://www.democrats.com/node/12168

In Vermont, Newfane Selectman Dan DeWalt led a Town Meeting Democracy Tour with Vermont veterans, Cindy Sheehan, and John Nichols (who filed this report). Town Meetings will be held this week and impeachment resolutions will be considered in as many as 44 towns. It's all on DeWalt's excellent blog:
http://www.vtimpeach.com

In the progressive media, more and more voices are calling for impeachment. Bloggers Tristero and Poputonian of Hullabaloo.blogspot.com and Ian Welsh of Agonist are speaking out. Air America's Laura Flanders interviewed our own David Swanson, and Mike Papantonio discussed Dick Cheney's impeachment with Florida attorney John Morgan.

Do your favorite bloggers and radio talk show hosts support impeachment? We're keeping track! If they don't, urge them to make a pro-impeachment statement and send us a link:
http://www.democrats.com/impeachment-blog

Call Congress on Monday and Tuesday to Vote No on the Iraq War "Supplemental"

The House Appropriations Committee is about to vote on whether to give Bush and Cheney $93 billion more for the Iraq War, on top of the $363 billion they have already spent to create a historic catastrophe based entirely on lies that has increased global terrorism by 700%.

This will bring total war spending to $456 billion - every penny of which has been borrowed so our children and grandchildren will have to pay for the Bush-Cheney War. It has also cost the lives of 3,171 U.S. troops and an estimated 655,000 Iraqi civilians, many tortured to death by militia trained by the U.S.

This is not what we elected a Democratic majority to do.

1. On Monday, Call Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee

If your Congress Member is a Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, please phone their office as soon as you can on Monday and tell him/her to vote against the supplemental spending bill in committee.

We are not interested in excuses or fancy strategies. Voting No when the Supplemental reaches the the full House is not enough; nor is voting for amendments to "improve" the bill. Every Democrat must Vote No on the Supplemental in the Appropriations Committee.

Democratic Members of the House Appropriations Committee: David R. Obey (Chair), John P. Murtha, Norman D. Dicks, Alan B. Mollohan, Marcy Kaptur, Peter J. Visclosky, Nita M. Lowey, José E. Serrano, Rosa L. DeLauro, James P. Moran, John W. Olver, Ed Pastor, David E. Price, Chet Edwards, Robert E. "Bud" Cramer, Jr., Patrick J. Kennedy, Maurice D. Hinchey, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Sam Farr, Jesse L. Jackson, Jr., Carolyn C. Kilpatrick, Allen Boyd, Chaka Fattah, Steven R. Rothman, Sanford Bishop, Marion Berry, Barbara Lee, Tom Udall, Adam Schiff, Michael Honda, Betty McCollum, Steve Israel, Tim Ryan, C.A "Dutch" Ruppersberger, Ben Chandler, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Ciro Rodriguez.

Call 202-224-3121 and ask for your Representative's office. Or find their number at http://www.democrats.com/congress

2. On Tuesday, Call All 435 House Members

Tuesday is the day Democrats.com is in charge of trying to shut down the Congressional switchboard with citizen calls urging Representatives to vote No on the Iraq War Supplemental. Once again, voting for amendments to "improve" the bill is not good enough for us.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that the White House will ignore restrictions placed on the war by Congress. That is why cutting off the funds is the only way to end the war.

Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) is leading the fight to end the war. Tony Trupiano of Progressive Democrats of America has an excellent podcast interview with Woolsey:
http://blog.pdamerica.org/?p=1009

Americans are now solidly (71%-23%) against the Bush-Cheney war. A majority (51%-46%) support funding restrictions. Of course the views of the majority of Americans are never heard on TV, so that's why calling Congress directly is essential.

Call 202-224-3121 and ask for your Representative's office. Or find their number at http://www.democrats.com/congress

Your calls on Tuesday are part of a rolling series of call-in days with the same message coming from numerous organizations:
3/5 - Voters for Peace
3/6 - Democrats.com, After Downing Street, Progressive Democrats of America, US Labor Against the War
3/7 - Code Pink, Global Exchange
3/8 - Gold Star Families for Peace, Democracy Rising
3/9 - Peace Action
3/12 - United for Peace and Justice
3/13 - Everybody call again!

This is the ad:

In a news conference last weekend, Vice President Cheney inched closer to war with Iran.

Does this feel like déjà vu to you? Experts agree that escalating the war into Iran will make things worse, and Congress has the constitutional power to stop the White House. But they need to hear from all of us that Americans don't want a widening war—and we expect them to do something about it.

So, we've prepared an ad to send a simple clear message to Congress, and we need your help to make sure it gets into national newspapers. We need to act now before it's too late. Can you chip in? To see the ad and contribute, click here:

http://pol.moveon.org/donate/iranad.html

New Mexico Governor and Democratic Presidential candidate, Bill Richardson, described the stakes this way:

Saber-rattling is not a good way to get the Iranians to cooperate. But it is a good way to start a new war—a war that would be a disaster for the Middle East, for the United States and for the world. A war that, furthermore, would destroy what little remains of U.S. credibility in the community of nations.

A better approach would be for the United States to engage directly with the Iranians and to lead a global diplomatic offensive to prevent them from building nuclear weapons.

Over the last week, more than 175,000 of us have sent personal messages to Congress. And now we need to back that up with a public message that the American people won't tolerate more reckless behavior in the Persian Gulf.

Please help make sure this ad gets seen by millions of people—and decision makers in Washington. You can add your voice by making a contribution at:

http://pol.moveon.org/donate/iranad.html

This time we see the warning signals, and we're organized to make a difference. As Governor Richardson closed his op-ed:

This is no time for chest-beating and dangerous brinkmanship. It is time for alliance-building, direct engagement and tough face-to-face negotiations. For the United States to attack Iran without exhausting all diplomatic options would be a terrible mistake.

Thanks for all you do.

–Eli, Ilyse, Karin, Jenn and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
  Tuesday, February 27th, 2007

P.S. The Times of London reported on Sunday that some of our senior military commanders are ready to resign if the White House goes into Iran. This is unprecedented and shows how divisive this administration is.

We just got word from our allies that the House of Representatives are planning vote on the Employee Free Choice Act within the next 10 days.

This is a historic opportunity to secure workers’ rights for generations to come—but we can’t celebrate yet.  It’s going to be a very close vote.  And that’s where you come in.
 
Urge your Representative to vote YES on the Employee Free Choice Act.

Even if you've contacted your Representative before—regardless of whether they've committed to sponsoring the bill—they need to know that this legislation is important to you and that their constituents are paying attention.

Please write your Representative NOW to vote YES on the Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 800) when this critical legislation comes up for a floor vote:

http://action.americanrightsatwork.org/campaign/araw_efcavote_feb07

The Employee Free Choice Act is the most important workers' rights legislation to come along in decades.  The bipartisan legislation would hold anti-union employers accountable; guarantee workers a fair method for forming unions; and force employers to stop dragging out contract negotiations.

While momentum is on our side, we cannot underestimate the opposition's efforts to derail our progress.   Right-wing anti-union forces are busy mobilizing against this legislation—placing ads, creating new ‘front' groups, and inundating the Congressional switchboard with calls.  In order to combat their well-funded efforts, we need to reach each and every member of Congress with letters from their constituents in support of the Employee Free Choice Act over the next few days.

America's workers cannot afford to lose this opportunity.  With your help, they won't.

Take two minutes today to urge your Representatives to VOTE YES on the Employee Free Choice Act.

With your continued support in the days ahead, I'm confident we can win a historic victory for America’s workers.

Thank you again for your dedication to protecting workers' rights!

Liz Cattaneo,
American Rights at Work

www.americanrightsatwork.org

The Democratic Party of Nevada just announced plans to let Fox News host a presidential primary debate.1 But Fox isn't a legitimate news channel. It's a right-wing mouthpiece like Rush Limbaugh and the Drudge Report—repeating false Republican talking points to smear Democrats.

Fox has already tried to skew the '08 race by accusing Senator Barack Obama of attending a terrorist school. CNN immediately exposed the charge as false,2 and Obama hit back by refusing to appear on Fox—sending them scrambling.3 Democrats can force Fox to be fair and balanced by fighting back hard.

Can you sign this petition asking the Democratic Party of Nevada to drop Fox as its partner for the presidential primary debate? 

The full text of the petition is: "Fox is a mouthpiece for the Republican Party, not a legitimate news channel. The Democratic Party of Nevada should drop Fox as its partner for the presidential primary debate."

Clicking here will add your name to the petition:
http://civic.moveon.org/foxdebate/

It's very important to also invite our friends to sign this petition. If ever there was a battle where we could beat Fox, this is it—since Democrats will make the ultimate decision, not Fox executives. But to be convinced, Democratic leaders need to see a growing public backlash.

We'll deliver the petition signatures to the Democratic Party of Nevada and let petition signers know what next steps they can take to make a difference.

When you click the petition link, you'll see a great new YouTube video from filmmaker Robert Greenwald called "Fox Attacks: Obama." It exposes Fox's numerous attacks on Senator Obama—saying he attended a terrorist school, belittling his race, and implying that his name sounds like that of a terrorist.

Fox has also spread false smears about Hillary Clinton this year.4 Plus, when Democrats trusted Fox to host a presidential debate in 2003, Fox undermined Democrats with on-screen headlines like "Democratic Candidates Offer Grim View of America."5

We can fight back. The Washington Post reported that "the Obama camp has 'frozen out' Fox News reporters and producers in the wake of the network's major screw-up in running with the erroneous Obama-the-jihadist story." "'I'm still in the freezer,' one Fox journalist said." Fox News CEO Roger Ailes has personally called Obama twice to smooth relations.3

As the 2008 cycle begins, we need to show Fox there will be serious repercussions for being part of right-wing smear jobs—and we need to show voters they cannot trust Fox for news.

Thank you for all you do.

–Noah, Adam G., Marika, Wes, and the MoveOn.org Civic Action Team
  Thursday, February 22nd, 2007

Congrats! I voted.

THE PROGRESSIVE REVIEW - February 22, 2007

Accused Terrorist Is Big GOP Donor
By Justin Rood
ABC News

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC)
won't say what it plans to do with thousands of dollars
in campaign donations it received from an accused terror
financier.

Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari gave $15,250 to the NRCC
since 2002, according to FEC records published on the Web
site opensecrets.org.

On Friday, Alishtari pled not guilty to funding terrorism
and other crimes, including financial fraud.

The NRCC is the main political group dedicated to helping
the Republican party win seats in the U.S. House of
Representatives. Reached Monday morning for comment, an
NRCC spokeswoman declined to discuss the matter on the
record.

The indictment against Alishtari unsealed in Manhattan
federal court Friday charges him with providing material
support to terrorists by transferring $152,000 between
banks to allegedly be used to purchase night-vision
goggles and other equipment needed for a terrorist
training camp.

Alishtari, aka Michael Mixon, was paid for his efforts to
collect and transfer the funds, which included $25,000
sent from a bank in New York to a bank in Montreal, Canada,
the indictment alleges.

Police and FBI agents arrested Alishtari in New York City
on Friday. A day earlier, agents raided his Ardsley, N.Y.
home, according to the "Lower Hudson Journal News." When
a reporter for the paper reached a woman claiming to be
Alishtari's wife on Friday and informed her of the charges,
she cried and said he was innocent, the paper reported.

The NRCC would not confirm it had received donations from
Mr. Alishtari, or that he had received numerous awards
from the organization, as is claimed by an online list of
personal accomplishments that appears to have been posted
by Mr. Alishtari.

The list says he was made a life member of the NRCC's
"Inner Circle" and was named New York State Businessman
of the Year by the group in 2003 and 2004.

The NRCC "Businessperson of the Year" fundraising campaign,
which gave such "awards" to at least 1,900 GOP donors, has
been derided as a telemarketing scam by political watchdogs.

The online list also claims Alishtari was appointed to the
president's "USNRCC White House Business Advisory Group."

An archived Web site for one of Alishtari's companies,
GlobalProtector.net, claims it had demonstrated a "Web
filter" technology for officials at the Department of
Defense's Miami, Fla.-based Southern Command (SouthCom),
which coordinates U.S. military operations in Central
and South America and the Caribbean and oversees the
controversial Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

SouthCom spokesman Steve Lucas would not confirm or deny
any contacts between Alishtari and officials there.
SouthCom personnel he spoke with said SouthCom does not
use the company's software, and could not rule out the
possibility they had received a sales pitch from him or
another company representative.

A database of unclassified federal contracts at
FedSpending.org does not show SouthCom or any other
government branch awarded business to Alishtari's
company.

A call to the telephone number which had been listed on
GlobalProtector's site connects to a recorded message
offering the caller to "spark up your days and nights"
by calling a 1-800 phone chat line.

Happy Birthday!

That should be interesting. I recall, years ago, there being a building full of his work in Yosemite. Anyone know if that's still there?

P.S. Our friends at Free Press have more on how to save NPR and PBS once and for all:

http://www.freepress.net/publicbroadcasting/=policy

Sources:
1. "Bush Proposes Steep Cut to PBS Funding," TV Week, February 5, 2007
http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=11508

2. PBS' Ready to Learn program (funds "Sesame Street" and other children's shows)
http://www.pbs.org/readytolearn/

3. "Tomlinson Slinks Away," MediaCitizen, November 3, 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2347&id=9851-6614772-83CBoe557vOJCtpKiE006w&t=4

4. "2005 'Open to the Public' Objectivity and Balance Report," Corporation for Public Broadcasting, January 31, 2006
http://www.cpb.org/aboutcpb/goals/objectivity/

George W. Bush is trying—yet again—to slash funding for NPR and PBS. This week, Bush proposed a new budget with devastating cuts to public broadcasting.1 "Sesame Street" and other ad-free kids' shows are under the knife. So is the independent journalism our country needs.

Enough is enough. We've fought this fight before and won—but we can't afford the risk anymore. With the new Congress, we can make sure this never happens again. We need Congress to insulate NPR and PBS from the political winds.

...

Congress can protect NPR and PBS from future cuts. The long-term solution to save public radio and TV is to:

    * fully restore this year's funding
    * guarantee a permanent funding stream free from political pressure
    * reform how the money is spent and keep partisan appointees from pushing a political bias

Bush's budget would cut federal funds for public broadcasting by nearly 25%.1 According to PBS, the cuts "could mean the end of our ability to support some of the most treasured educational children's series" like "Sesame Street," "Reading Rainbow," and "Arthur."2

As telecommunications chair Rep. Ed Markey said, "In a 24-7 television world with content often inappropriate for young children, the public broadcasting system represents an oasis of quality, child-oriented educational programming. We owe America's children and their parents this free, over-the-air resource."1

The cuts could also decimate one of the last remaining sources of watchdog reporting on TV—continuing the partisan war on journalism led by the ex-chair of public broadcasting, Ken Tomlinson.3 More people trust public broadcasting than any corporate news media.4 President Bush would rather undermine our free press than face reporters who are asking tough questions.

...

Thank you for all you do.

–Noah, Marika, Eli, Adam G. and the MoveOn.org Civic Action Team
  Thursday, February 8th, 2007