I remember the war, that happened a long time ago. I remember the draft, I will remember this war, the young man that came home in a body bag. In this small county, that man was a symbol of a needless death that our county could ill afford. But, as a Republican county, they suck it up and still won't go against President Bush. Amazing how accountability can get swept under the rug.

I feel for the loss of any one, especially in the service of their country. The death of he, and others for the sake of the greedy in this country is senseless. In the "other" war, the draft was a way to get rid of the undesirables, In this one, it is a way to get rid of people that go against the present leadership. We are in the middle of greed and power with no way out.

Corruption (and the use of dishonesty to mask that corruption) for personal gain and ideological advance must be targeted, exposed and punished. Honesty and ethical behavior have to become the norm in government in order to create effective and universal opportunity and justice for all members of all societies. Sadly, the American society does not seem to exhibit an abundance of honesty, ethical behavior or a sense of justice for all.

It's time for Americans to recognize that deregulation and privatization are really theft of public resources by politicians who are in the pockets of Big Business.

People have become complacent, with their myopic way of life. They're not willing to take risks, unlike the students who died at Kent State, these people don't want to rock the boat, they cling to what LITTLE bit of country that they think they own.

Everyone is called to something, like the ocean which demands every drop of water come back into the sea as the tide goes out. We need to be accountable to ourselves, to have a conscience as to where the leadership is leading this country.

It's time to reform the Electoral College, and its winner-take-all voting for electors, which disenfranchises large numbers of American voters. Up to 49% of a state's voters may be disenfranchised, since all of a state's several electors are chosen by the political party of the winning candidate. Its wrong and un-Democratic.

My sympathy and support goes out to all of those who have to do as our leadership dictates, you see my youngest son is now in Iraq.

We need a change of leadership that will take this country out of the exploitation and conquering the world business. The United States was not founded to conquer and dominate the world. It was created as a home for people that need freedom from tyranny.
Lets put common sense back in the Constitution, and this November, vote for conscience and not greed. Vote to prevent any future war of aggression.

Through conscience is accountability. Don't sweep it under the rug, VOTE!

Ron McBride
Simpson, IL
Join WeDemocrats at: http://dfalink.com/group.php?id=2043

‘Dubya’ and those guys in the White House and their Republican buddies in Congress are telling us to sit down, shut up and 'stay the course' - well, WeDemocrats are not going to. And I don't think you will either.

Truth is the American bottom line.

Freedom of speech and the right to dissent are cornerstones of our democracy.

As November 7th draws near, we'll read a lot about the issues. You will hear what is likely to be: Iraq, national security, healthcare, immigration, and gasoline prices, among others. But, in reality, there's only one issue: Do you trust the Republicans?

In deliberate defiance of Congress and the families of mineworkers killed on the job this year, President Bush has appointed Richard Stickler to head the Mine Safety and Health Administration. Because the Senate refused to confirm him twice, Bush made a recess appointment which he is allowed to do without Senate approval when Congress is out of session. Another sneaky move by a corrupt Administration. The constitution is very clear on the responsibility of Congress to serve as a check on the excesses of the executive branch.

Mineworkers called on Bush to withdraw the nomination, as did the AFL-CIO and the Charleston Gazette.

Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, West Virginia Democrats, said the appointment indicates that the administration does not consider mine safety a priority. "We need a bulldog agency that will place miner safety over all other priorities, and not an agency that will continue to place a higher priority on mine production than on miner protection," Byrd said in a statement.

500 NEW MEMBERS IN FIRST 15 DAYS IN ALL 50 STATES AND DC!!! It’s a Start.

George Bush has lost the trust of the American people. We only have to look at the woeful record of his Administration: failure to protect the nation; failure to help average Americans; and failure to address major national problems.

"The escalating sectarian violence coupled with the recent increase in the number of dead and wounded Americans are but the latest indications that neither the current U.S. plan, nor that of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, will bring stability and security to Iraq," read a letter to Bush from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and 10 other Democratic leaders.

George Bush and the Republican National Committee are in panic mode.

This election can be won or lost on ground. And we can't win this without your help. Our Democratic base is more energized than ever, we just need to make sure they get to the polls. WeDemocrats are building a sophisticated GOTV machine, but we need your help, volunteer now for Blogger Corps, as County and State Coordinator for your State. Become a Precinct Coordinator to work with the Democratic Party officials in your area.

It'll be an interesting and exciting 17 days. In my humble opinion, we're not done with GOP scandals, and Iraq is going to be in the news every day (and none of that helps the GOP). So, if money, time and effort can do the trick, this is an election to invest in, and an election to be a part of, and an election to remember.

People want to start celebrating, but we haven't won yet.

Ron McBride
Join WeDemocrats at: http://dfalink.com/group.php?id=2043
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Help today with a contribution. Use Paypal WeDemocrats@hotmail.com
Contributions to WeDemocrats are not tax deductible for federal income tax purposes.

Quote of the Day
Republican Logs on the Fire!

The spreading web of Republican law breaking has begun to influence various election races around the nation. If votes get counted properly in 2006, the Republican Party is in very serious trouble nationally.

The Republicans seem to enjoy adding more fuel to the fire that will consume them November 7th, as two more Candidates are added to the mounting number of scandals in Washington.

Progress Report:
Under the Radar
ETHICS -- CONGRESSMAN UNDER CORRUPTION PROBE CARRIES OUT MASS FIRING OF INVESTIGATIVE STAFF: Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, abruptly "dismissed most of the panel's team of waste and fraud investigators this week, firing about 60 contractors who had been examining federal spending related to Hurricane Katrina, the Iraq war and other programs." The investigators, who were "brought on to handle the extraordinary level of fraud investigations facing the panel," said they were told "not to come to work on Oct. 17 and that they had a week to turn in their congressional ID badges and collect their belongings." "This eviscerates the investigatory function. There is little if any ability to do any oversight now," said one of the investigators, a former FBI agent. "This staff has saved billions and billions of dollars, we've turned up malfeasance and misfeasance. Its results justify the expense of the staff. I have no idea why the chairman would do this." Lewis is currently under federal investigation over corruption charges reportedly uncovered during the Duke Cunningham investigation. He has spent nearly $800,000 in legal fees since May to defend himself against the probe

CIVIL RIGHTS -- CONSERVATIVE CANDIDATE BEHIND VOTER SUPPRESSION LETTER VOWS TO STAY IN RACE: Orange Country congressional candidate Tan D. Nguyen (R) was asked to withdraw from the race Thursday "after he acknowledged that his campaign was involved in sending out a letter intended to scare off Latino voters." The letter, written in Spanish and mailed to 14,000 Democratic Latino voters, falsely stated that immigrants could be arrested and face deportation if they tried to vote in the Nov. 7 election. Twenty-two organizations have written to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and requested a federal investigation into the Orange County voter suppression. California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson has already called for an investigation into the mailing, which may have violated the Voting Rights Act. Nguyen denies being "personally involved in sending the letter," but believes a staff member might have "used his voter database to send out the letter without his knowledge." The staff member has since been fired. But after speaking with the state attorney general and the private company that distributed the letter, local party chairman Scott Baugh concluded "that not only was Mr. Nguyen's campaign involved in this, but that Mr. Nguyen was personally involved in expediting the mailer." Despite a formal request from his party to leave the race, Nguyen "has no intention of dropping out of the race."

Scandals in the making or already made:

President Bush's "recess-appointed former coal industry executive Richard Stickler to head the Mine Safety and Health Administration..." The Senate twice refused to confirm him because "the mines he managed from 1989 to 1996 incurred injury rates double the national average..."

In trying to implement the new Military Commissions Act, the Bush administration ignores the constitutional separation of powers by having "formally notified the U.S. District Court here that it no longer has jurisdiction to consider hundreds of habeas corpus petitions filed by inmates at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba..."

Congressman “Duke” Cunningham in California and Ohio Governor Taft criminal charges.

Congressman Jerry Lewis of California to Montana US Senator Conrad Burns to Alabama Governor Bob Riley seem to be very deeply implicated in or connected to the Abramhoff corruption scandals. Abramhoff had great influence in Republican circles and basically none among elected Democrats. His scam was a Republican operation in every important detail.

Abramhoff was closely connected to Bush and Cheney. His operation reached deeply into the Bush White House. He was no stranger to Pennsylvania Avenue during the time frame of the scandals.

Illegal wiretapping already has the Bush Republicans deeply worried. The Abramhoff scandal seems to be even more potentially damaging to Bush Republicans. It is important to note that the investigations of the outing of Valerie Palme as a covert CIA agent has not been completed. The possibilities of charges being filed against Karl Rove or Vice President Dick Cheney remain. Impeachment has become a mainstream political discussion not outside the realm of possibility in 2006 and 2007.

From state to state, election fraud issues are starting to take hold. The controversies range from Republican primaries in Arizona to the Presidential vote count in Alaska. Electronic voting machine issues are gaining attention. Citizens are demanding a look at the internal procedures and mechanics of the Republican connected voting machine companies like ES&S and Diebold. Every look at these issues seems to show fraud, bias or incompetence that has been benefiting almost exclusively Bush Republican candidates.

Mary Shaw is a Philadelphia-based writer and activist Wrote. An article from The Nation tells us that "[t]he US-backed special tribunal in Baghdad signalled Monday that it will likely delay a verdict in the first trial of Saddam Hussein to November 5." How convenient. The article goes on to ask, "Why hasn't the mainstream media connected the dots between the Saddam's judgment day and the midterm elections?" Saddam will surely be found guilty, and will likely get the death penalty. Will that influence the American voters when they head to the polls two days later? And is the average American voter stupid enough to be swayed by something like this? (The latter, of course, is a rhetorical question.) Karl Rove couldn't have done better himself. Or did he?

by Bob Burnett. George Bush has lost the trust of the American people. We only have to look at the woeful record of his Administration: failure to protect the nation; failure to help average Americans; and failure to address major national problems, among other shortcomings. As fresh evidence emerges, it's clear that in the period prior to 9/11 the President and his advisers did not take seriously warnings of an attack by Al Qaeda. It's also apparent the war in Iraq was an epoch miscalculation, a blunder that made America less safe by fueling the flames of terrorism. Indeed, it is difficult to think of any area of foreign policy where the Bush Administration has been successful. National security is hardly their strong suit.

Excerpted from: http://www.rawstory.com

CONGRESSWOMAN ON PAGE BOARD BURIED FILE ON HUSBAND'S
ABUSE ALLEGATION ... Brian Beutler

A file allegedly suppressed by Congresswoman Heather Wilson (R-NM) has been obtained by RAW STORY.

In 1995, just three days into her tenure as Secretary of the New Mexico Children,
Youth and Families Department, Wilson removed a routine working file alleging that her husband had engaged in inappropriate contact with a minor. The file was then transferred to the department's attorney in her own Albuquerque office, where it soon went missing. ….snip… More than ten years later, RAW STORY has uncovered and confirmed the authenticity of the police incident report believed to be contained in the missing dossier. Filed as a case of child abuse in 1993, it contends that Wilson's husband Jay Hone, an Albuquerque attorney, touched a then-16 year old boy "in a manner that was not welcome."

Charges were never filed against her husband, but Wilson's handling of the affair drew
the ire of Bob Schwartz who at the time served as district attorney in Bernalillo County. He described Wilson's actions to the news team as "absolutely inappropriate," citing her "obvious conflict of interest." He also admonished Wilson for not following official procedure for the removal of official documents. "If this file is behind Secretary Wilson's desk," Schwartz said, "then she shouldn't be behind this desk anymore. She should resign."
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Congresswoman_on_page_board_buried_file_1019.html

By Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone says:
These past six years were more than just the most shameful, corrupt and incompetent period in the history of the American legislative branch. These were the years when the US parliament became a historical punch line, a political obscenity on par with the court of Nero or Caligula - a stable of thieves and perverts who committed crimes rolling out of bed in the morning and did their very best to turn the mighty American empire into a debt-laden, despotic backwater, a Burkina Faso with cable.

The Republicans who control this Congress are revolutionaries, and they have brought their revolutionary vision for the House and Senate quite unpleasantly to fruition. In the past six years they have castrated the political minority, abdicated their oversight responsibilities mandated by the Constitution, enacted a conscious policy of massive borrowing and unrestrained spending, and installed a host of semi-permanent mechanisms for transferring legislative power to commercial interests. They aimed far lower than any other Congress has ever aimed, and they nailed their target.

"The 109th Congress is so bad that it makes you wonder if democracy is a failed experiment," says Jonathan Turley, a noted constitutional scholar and the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington Law School. "I think that if the Framers went to Capitol Hill today, it would shake their confidence in the system they created. Congress has become an exercise of raw power with no principles - and in that environment corruption has flourished. The Republicans in Congress decided from the outset that their future would be inextricably tied to George Bush and his policies. It has become this sad session of members sitting down and drinking Kool-Aid delivered by Karl Rove. Congress became a mere extension of the White House."

The end result is a Congress that has hijacked the national treasury, frantically ceded power to the executive, and sold off the federal government in a private auction. It all happened before our very eyes.

Closed rules, shipwrecked bills, secret negotiations, one-vote victories. The result of all this is a Congress where there is little or no open debate and virtually no votes are left to chance; all the important decisions are made in backroom deals, and what you see on C-Span is just empty theater, the world's most expensive trained-dolphin act. The constant here is a political strategy of conducting congressional business with as little outside input as possible, rejecting the essentially conservative tradition of rule-by-consensus in favor of a more revolutionary strategy of rule by cabal.

Matt’s full story is here: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/101906R.shtml

The constitution is very clear on the responsibility of Congress to serve as a check on the excesses of the executive branch. The House and Senate, after all, are supposed to pass all laws - the president is simply supposed to execute them. The Republican-controlled Congress has created a new standard for the use of oversight powers. That standard seems to be that when a Democratic president is in power, there are no matters too stupid or meaningless to be investigated fully - but when George Bush is president, no evidence of corruption or incompetence is shocking enough to warrant congressional attention.

When Bill Clinton left office, the nation had a budget surplus of $236 billion. Today, thanks to Congress, the budget is $296 billion in the hole. This year, more than sixty-five percent of all the money borrowed in the entire world will be borrowed by America, a statistic fueled by the speed-junkie spending habits of our supposedly "fiscally conservative" Congress. It took forty-two presidents before George W. Bush to borrow $1 trillion; under Bush, Congress has more than doubled that number in six years.

A federal judge has ordered the Bush administration to release information about who visited Vice President Dick Cheney's office and personal residence, an order that could spark a late election season debate over lobbyists' White House access.
The Washington Post asked for two years of White House visitor logs in June but the Secret Service refused to process the request. Government attorneys called it "a fishing expedition into the most sensitive details of the vice presidency."
US District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina ruled Wednesday that, by the end of next week, the Secret Service must produce the records or at least identity them and justify why they are being withheld.
Representative Bob Ney is headed to prison early next year after pleading guilty to charges of accepting tens of thousands of dollars in illegal gifts from lobbyists. Until then, Mr. Ney, a six-term Republican from Ohio, has a comfortable place to bide his time.

Arrgh…. What was I talking about, oh yes scandals, least we forget the Foley-Hastert-Shimkus House Page scandal, investigation is on going, with Republicans doing their best to thwart the FBI and Congress investigations, attempting to narrow the investigations to single email that wasn’t damaging, it sure will be enlightening when the testimony of those called before the committee is made public…. But you can bet it won’t be before the election.

As November 7th draws near, we'll read a lot about the issues. Hear they're likely to be: Iraq, national security, healthcare, immigration, and gasoline prices, among others. But, in reality, there's only one issue: Do you trust the Republicans?

Quote of the Day By Joe Kogel

"The worst thing in your life may contain seeds of the best. When you can see crisis as an opportunity, your life becomes not easier, but more satisfying."

The Republicans awash in crisis, WeDemocrats see opportunity!

Votes for Sale?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/101906U.shtml
Airing less than three weeks before Americans go to the polls, "Votes for Sale?" will spotlight the so-called Clean Elections movement, a radical experiment adopted in Maine and Arizona to revolutionize how campaigns are conducted. It may not only help clean up politics, but also open the door for more average Americans to run for office and win. This time on NOW.

I think we risk becoming the best informed society that
has ever died of ignorance. ~ Reuben Blades

Well Reuben WeDemocrats are changing that informing and educating society that they can once again take back this country. Ignorance is still rampant, but it is centered in the Republican Controlled Washington.

Fight Back, Take Back, Roll Back the ridiculous laws that have enriched the Republicans and their Corporate supporters.

Ron McBride

Join WeDemocrats at: http://dfalink.com/group.php?id=2043

Paul Morrison, a career prosecutor who specializes in putting killers behind bars, has the bulletproof résumé and the rugged looks of a law-and-order Republican, which is what he was until last year. That was when he announced he would run for attorney general -- as a Democrat.
Nor is Morrison alone. In a state that voted nearly 2 to 1 for President Bush in 2004, nine former Republicans will be on the November ballot as Democrats. Among them is Mark Parkinson, a former chairman of the Kansas Republican Party, who changed parties to run for lieutenant governor with the popular Democratic governor, Kathleen Sebelius.
"I'd reached a breaking point," Parkinson said, preparing for a rally in Wichita alongside Sebelius. "I want to work on relevant issues and not on a lot of things that don't matter."
Not all Republicans are bad, there are those who can think for themselves and work on issues instead of maintaining the corrupt regime in Washinton.
A long-standing split among Kansas Republicans has deepened in recent years. One fresh sign came from the Johnson County Sun, which said it would endorse virtually the entire Democratic ticket, including Morrison and Parkinson, after endorsing fewer than a dozen Democrats in the past half-century.
"So what in the world has happened?" publisher Steve Rose asked in a recent column. "The Republican Party has changed, and it has changed monumentally. You almost cannot be a victorious traditional Republican candidate with mainstream values in Johnson County or in Kansas anymore."
Republicans control three-quarters of the state Senate and two-thirds of the House. The state has not elected a Democratic U.S. senator since the 1930s, although voters have been more willing to put Democrats in the governor's mansion. Rep. Dennis Moore became the lone Kansas Democrat in Congress in 1998 by appealing to crossover moderates -- the heart of this year's strategy.
Democrats consider it significant that 58 GOP incumbents in the state House drew Democratic opposition this year, compared with 39 in 2004. In the September primary, moderates mobilized to carry two Board of Education seats held by conservatives who had embarrassed many Kansans by endorsing a fundamentalist-Christian critique of evolution.
This all took place long before the Foley Scandal, and shows that We Democrats are at the forefront of a new wave revolution in the political landscape.
The Democratic National Committee is spending money and sending staff to Kansas as part of Chairman Howard Dean's much-debated 50-state strategy of extending the party's influence in unlikely places. The DNC will not reveal its spending or the size of the staff, but a spokesman said the infusion permits a statewide organizing effort not possible before.
The above again shows that even with the best efforts of Howard Dean, the DNC is still not able to bring support in all areas, something that WeDemocrats intend to do, we intend to fill in where the DNC can’t. Together we CAN take back this country!
We must stop Bush's irresponsible policies now. We need a new direction. WeDemocrats is that direction, embedded within the DFA and the Democratic Party; we hold a unique position, whereas we can influence the direction that the party takes in 2008.
Our official kickoff for the 2008 elections is November 8th, but for those interested in helping to get the ball rolling, contributions can be made to WeDemocrats thru Paypal to the WeDemocrats@hotmail.com account. Mail ins will have to ask for a form that federal law requires be filled out when you pay by check.
Parts of this post if from the Washington Post, you can read the full article here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/18/AR2006101801679.html?referrer=email&referrer=email&referrer=email

Ron McBride
Join WeDemocrats at: http://dfalink.com/group.php?id=2043
General Meetup Room for Members: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheMeetupRoom/
Committee Meeting Room Only: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WeDemocrats

Once President Bush signed the new law on military tribunals, administration officials and Republican leaders in Congress wasted no time giving Americans a taste of the new order created by this unconstitutional act.
Within hours, Justice Department lawyers notified the federal courts that they no longer had the authority to hear pending lawsuits filed by attorneys on behalf of inmates of the penal camp at Guantánamo Bay. They cited passages in the bill that suspend the fundamental principle of habeas corpus, making Mr. Bush the first president since the Civil War to take that undemocratic step.
Not satisfied with having won the vote, Dennis Hastert, the speaker of the House, quickly issued a statement accusing Democrats who opposed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 of putting “their liberal agenda ahead of the security of America.” He said the Democrats “would gingerly pamper the terrorists who plan to destroy innocent Americans’ lives” and create “new rights for terrorists.”
Dennis, Darn let the ink dry and wait until a Democrat has said something before you attempt to spin…You can Spin but you can’t Win!
This nonsense is part of the Republicans’ scare-America-first strategy for the elections. No Democrat advocated pampering terrorists — gingerly or otherwise — or giving them new rights. Democratic amendments to the bill sought to protect everyone’s right to a fair trial while providing a legal way to convict terrorists.
While the Republicans pretend that this bill will make America safer, let’s be clear about its real dangers. It sets up a separate system of justice for any foreigner whom Mr. Bush chooses to designate as an “illegal enemy combatant.” It raises insurmountable obstacles for prisoners to challenge their detentions. It does not require the government to release prisoners who are not being charged, or a prisoner who is exonerated by the tribunals.
The law does not apply to American citizens, but it does apply to other legal United States residents. And it chips away at the foundations of the judicial system in ways that all Americans should find threatening. It further damages the nation’s reputation and, by repudiating key protections of the Geneva Conventions, it needlessly increases the danger to any American soldier captured in battle.
In the short run, voters should see through the fog created by the Republican campaign machine. It will be up to the courts to repair the harm this law has done to the Constitution.
Full article here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/19/opinion/19thu1.html?em&ex=1161403200&en=e775cfe4f5b8924e&ei=5087%0A

Ron McBride
Join WeDemocrats at: http://dfalink.com/group.php?id=2043
General Meetup Room for Members: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheMeetupRoom/
Committee Meeting Room: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WeDemocrats