What would you ask Cynthia McKinney?

If you bumped into a presidential candidate in the hallway, what would you want to ask?

I can think of a dozen possibly unanswerable questions for a third party candidate like Cynthia McKinney.

• First of all, is the political process even meaningful any more? It’s getting harder and harder to tell the parties apart. And isn’t the selection process largely determined by the corporations that make the large contributions and the media pundits that decide which film clips to use–and which ones, both good or embarrassing, to bury?
• Does a third party do anything more than act as a spoiler, taking votes away from a more viable candidate with a similar platform?
• Do third parties shift the priorities of the major parties, if so how, and is it a Good Thing?
• Why would someone want to work with a group like the Greens, as opposed trying to inject their political views into a more mainstream group?
• Are the Greens just a bunch of crackpots? Greens are all over the world now, but are there just crackpots all over the world?
• The Green party was rumored today to be in financial trouble. Are they serious about their political views or are they just playing? How will they get their message across without money?

I pondered all of this while walking around the city of Chicago today as the Green Party was wrapping up its 2008 presidential nominating convention over at the Palmer House. Yesterday they nominated Cynthia McKinney as their candidate, but I was at work during all the official news conferences and when all the speeches were being given.

I have seen other presidential candidates speak, why not this one? Maybe if I wandered around the hotel I would accidentally bump into her. The concierge had no information, but a hot rumor sent me to this room, with a sign on the door saying “do not enter, taping in progress”. Aha! Taping what? And through a crack in the door I could see cameras on tripods. Sure enough, eventually someone walked out of the room who looked a whole lot like McKinney. Was it her? A guy walking next to her introduced her to me as the next president of the United States. Eureka! So I asked if I could take her picture.

Then I asked what she wanted to accomplish by running for president…with the camera running:

“I would like to build a movement…

one, an outreach party

…we have been failed terribly by the two corporate parties…

And I’d like to build a movement

for justice

and of course

respect for this planet.

Yeah.”

Cthulhu eats Green Party

Last night the website for the Green Party’s 2008 election cycle, greenparty2008.org was working just fine.

This morning I refreshed my screen and they were down–on the morning after their big nomination announcement when the eyes of the entire nation are searching for answers to life’s persistent political problems, like sexism and FISA.

So what happened? Everyone accessing their website at once bring it down? Hackers on steroids, maybe ? They’re not taking contributions from corporations, right? Maybe they’re out of money already, and didn’t pay their webhosting bill.

But wait, what’s this? I just tried it again and here’s the message: “Squid did not receive any data for this request.”

A squid is waiting for a message? There’s only one invisible squid I know of and it’s name is Cthulhu.

Keep your eye on their party website, http://www.gp.org. Who knows, that might be next.

As the Cthulhu for President campaign says, “Why vote for the lesser of two evils?”

Consideraton of FISA bill HR 6304 delayed: Hey senators, how about reading the bill?

In one furious blog after another, this week bloggers have ranted, fumed, and waxed eloquent over the perfidy of Obama in reversing his opposition to FISA and over the shortcomings of the FISA bill itself. But if you read far enough into the comments you will see frequently repeated the phrase: “I haven’t had a chance to read the FISA bill yet, but…..”

Judging by the remarks of some of the senators, (did I say Senator Obama????) it doesn’t look like they have read it either.

Well, it looks like the consideration of the bill has been delayed until after the fourth of July weekend, so kiddies, this is your chance to put FISA on your summer reading list. You can find the official version of HR 6304 on Thomas right |here| or at the unofficial GovTrack site |here|.

As for myself, I haven’t had a chance to read the FISA bill yet, but……

Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T try to buy congress–is your freedom worth $53.6 million dollars?

As the “FISA compromise bill” HR 6304 makes its way to the senate floor, the Center for Responsive Politics is telling us how much it is costing the telecoms to buy retroactive immunity for their illegal wiretapping activities.

Although AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and the other companies facing more than 40 lawsuits haven’t spoken at all about it publicly, they’ve been heard loud and clear on Capitol Hill. The industry has spent a total $13.4 million on lobbying in the first three months of this year, putting it on course to surpass last year’s $40.2 million total. Both AT&T and Verizon moved up in the ranks of companies spending on lobbying efforts (including those in all industries), from eighth and 13th last year to third and fourth, respectively, so far this year.

That’s right, At&T, Verizon, and Sprint have spent $13.4 million in three months to take away your 4th amendment rights.

Sounds like corruption. But is it working?

Yup.

And how much does it cost to get one representative to change a vote?

$8,359

According to maplight.org, which tracks government corruption, 94 Democrats changed their vote on FISA between March 14 and June 20. The average contribution that Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon made to those campaigns was $8,359, as opposed to $4,987 for those who did not change their votes.

My, my, my, I see here DNC heavyweight Rahm Emmanuel from Illinois’ 5th district changed his vote after receiving $28,000. He is always so impeccably dressed, too. Click |here| to see if your rep is on the list.

Then check your phone bill.

Who is your service provider?

Obama’s office answers the phone

What is Barack Obama’s position on FISA?

The blogosphere has been freaking out ever since an earlier report that Obama had switched his position on FISA and was ready to vote for the bill. Bloggers trying to contact his office have reported a busy signal all day.

Well, I just got off the phone with Obama’s DC office (yes, I have voted for Obama repeatedly, going back to his days as a state rep ) and here is what they said:

• They’re “not entirely sure” when the bill will come up for a vote.
• Senator Obama “has reservations” about “retroactive immunity”.
• Senator Obama is “working with Senator Feingold and Senator Dodd” to “strip retroactive immunity” provisions from the bill.
• Senator Obama is interested in whatever callers want to say about it.

=============================

OPPOSING FISA:

An aide from Senator Dick Durbin’s (D-Illinois) office earlier today said the senator does not yet have an official position on the “FISA compromise bill”, however, last time FISA came up for consideration he was against it, and does not foresee changing his position.

=============================

IN FAVOR OF FISA:

The offices of Nurse Rached, Snidely Whiplash, Darth Vader, and Cruella de Vil all reported to be in favor of the new FISA bill.

In addition, the office of Lord Sauron of Mordor gave the following analysis of the FISA bill:

No official translation was available, however Babelfish gives the following approximation: “One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them.”

There is absolutely no truth whatsoever to the rumor that Senator Obama’s reaction to the Lord Sauron’s statement was “Preciousssssssssssssssssssss”….

Secret domestic spying bill–H.R. 6304–goes to Senate

Last week the U.S. House of Representatives hastily and quietly passed the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 without the text of the bill even being posted on Thomas. The bill was rammed through the House under special rules that only permitted one hour of debate.

The bill would allow unlimited wiretapping without a warrant, searches of homes and offices without a warrant, and retroactive immunity for telecom corporations that have already used wiretaps in defiance of the law.

While the blogosphere went ballistic, the mainstream media remained eerily quiet.

This week the bill is being moved to the senate. The bill was placed on the senate calendar Friday. Yesterday a closure motion was presented on the floor of the Senate.

The bill is now available to read, but for some reason there are now three versions. By the time the public can wade through this mess, it will be too late.

Are we ready for a KGB in America?

An internet mystery: Where is that nasty email about Obama?

“They’re going to try to make you afraid of me”, predicts Obama, as he launches a new website to counteract whatever it is that “they” are going to do.

We’ve been hearing about those nasty anti-Obama emails for ages.

So where are they?  I’ve never gotten one, and I get a lot of strange stuff.  I don’t know anyone else who’s gotten one.  I have been able to google other emails I’ve received and find it interesting to see how they morph and how the one I get might be slightly different from the other copies that are out there.

But I can’t find the text of even one of these supposed emails anywhere.

An internet mystery: Where did Obama’s statement about H.R. 6304 come from?

By now everyone is talking about the big shocker. Senator Barack Obama has reversed his previous opposition to FISA from back in February and now supports the FISA Amendments Act of 2008. The Obama statement has echoed around and around the echo chamber that is the blogosphere and everyone is reprinting it along with expressions of shock and dismay. How could Obama support retroactive immunity for the telecoms, they say? How could Obama support warrantless wiretapping and searches of offices and homes?

Only one thing bothers me. Where did Obama say it? Was it part of a speech or a question and answer session? It sounds too formal and tightly written to be off the cuff. Was it an official press release? Then why can’t I find it posted on either the Obama election website or the Obama’s official senate website? The mainstream media isn’t reporting it, and there isn’t even one video out there. I’m on the Obama email listserve–nothing there, just another “contribute” button.

The first blogger to post the statement seems to be Glen Greenwald–most blogs point back to that one. But does Greenwald speak for Obama? Where did Greenwald get the information?

Does John McCain want to destroy Jordan?

It was all a hoax, but the Arab world keeps talking about it all the same.

A report that an aide to presidential candidate John McCain wants to turn Jordan into a Palestinian state is apparently a hoax. It was reported widely in the Arab world that Robert Kagan had given a speech at a New York university that advocated turning Jordan into a Palestinian state. But Kagan denies making the statement or even that such a speech took place. The university in question can find no record of any such event where such a speech might have been given.

The speech was reported by news tabloid service Ammonnews, but it was later revealed the information came from the Israeli site Filkka Israel.

In case there is any question about the agenda of the above Arab-language blog, they list (in English) one of their goals as “Destroying the kingdom of Jordan peacefully and bringing back its land to its normal situation as a part of great Palestine.” They have also been known to write dubious stories about such topics as “Saudi Ambassador Saves 3 Mossad Agents but a 4th is still in Beirut [6/15/2008] as well as stories about Israeli intelligence borrowing cars from the wives of Hizbullah members”. Hee, hee, hee.

The above Arab language blog post is translated, rather laboriously, as might be expected with machine translation, with the FoxLingo toolbar as follows:

John McCain Adviser for Foreign Affairs: John built a solid option Jordanian final solution for the Palestinians. نيويورك - جاين بيتيفت New York - Jane Ketevan

خلال محاضرة ترويجية لأفكار المرشح الجمهوري للرئاسة الأميركية جون ماكين في قاعة ألمرت هولمز بوبست في جامعة نيويورك . During the lecture promotional ideas for the Republican presidential candidate John McCain at the American Chamber salary Holmes Stopes at the University of New York. وأمام الآلاف من الطلاب والأكاديميين أعلن الخبير في شؤون الجغرافيا السياسية والسياسات الدولية روبرت كاغان وهو يشكل مع ويليام كريستول الفريق المكلف بتقدم تصور مفصل لإستراتيجية السياسة الخارجية في الشرق الأوسط للمرشح الجمهوري . Faced with thousands of students and academics announced expert in the affairs of political geography and international policies Robert Flanagan It is with William Kristol team progress to imagine a detailed strategy for foreign policy in the Middle East for the Republican candidate.
أعلن روبرت كاغان أن المرشح الرئاسي عن الجمهوريين قد تبنى بالفعل إستراتيجية الخيار الأردني للتخلص من العبء الذي تشكله قضية النزاع الفلسطيني الإسرائيلي حول الأراضي في الضفة الغربية على السياسة العامة للولايات المتحدة في الشرق الأوسط. Robert Flanagan announced that the presidential candidate of the Republican strategy has already built the Jordanian option to get rid of the burden posed by the issue of Palestinian-Israeli dispute over land in the West Bank on the public policy of the United States in the Middle East. الخبير المعروف في الشؤون الدولية والمحسوب على الصقور المسماة ” نيو كون ” قال بأن السياسة الأميركية الخارجية مع جون ماكين ستأخذ منحى مباشرا للتعامل مع القضية بشكل يريح المنطقة ودولها للتفرغ بمعاونة الأميركيين لنشر الديمقراطية ومحاربة إرهاب الإسلام الفاشي. Known expert in international affairs and calculated the hawks, called “New fact”, he said that U.S. foreign policy with John McCain will take direct action to deal with the issue and its comfort zone for full-time help of the Americans to spread democracy and fight terrorism fascist Islam. وفي شرحه للإستراتيجية الجديدة قال: In his explanation of the new strategy, he said:
الأردن هو الوطن الطبيعي لملايين الفلسطينيين من سكانه وكذلك هو الحل الأمثل لقضية اللاجئين الذين ذاب أغلبهم في المجتمعات التي يقيمون فيها ولكن البقية ممن تعيش في المخيمات سيكون عليها الإختيار بين البقاء في أماكنها أو الإستيطان في الأراضي الفلسطينية شرق الأردن . Jordan is the natural home for millions of Palestinians of the population and also is the best solution to the issue of refugees who have mostly melted away in the communities in which they reside, but the rest of those who live in the camps will have to choose between staying in place or settle in the Palestinian territories east of Jordan. وقد أثار إ‘ستخدام روبرت كاغان لتعبير ” الأراضي الفلسطينية شرق الأردن ” وهو الخبير الأميركي المعروف بأنه كاتب إستراتيجيات عدة بخصوص الدول العربية إستفادت منها الإدارة الأميركية برئاسة جورج بوش وهو مقرب منها، أثار إستغراب الأكادميين الحاضرين فوجه أحدهم سؤال لكاغان فور إتاحة الفرصة له وقال: The effects of a ‘Khaddam Robert Flanagan of the term “Palestinian land east of Jordan” which is known to be an American expert writer strategies regarding several Arab countries benefited from the American administration headed by George W. Bush is close, the effects of amazement academic attendees drew one of them asked Flanagan soon allow him and said:
هل يعني ذلك أن الضفة وغزة لن تكونا مكانا لدولة فلسطينية مستقبلية وفقا لإعلان جورج بوش العام 2003؟ Does this mean that the West Bank and Gaza will not be a place for a future Palestinian state, according to George Bush declared the year 2003? فأجاب كاغان: Agha replied:
الأردن يضم أغلبية فلسطينية ومن الطبيعي حين نتحدث عن الدمقراطية أن تحكم الأغلبية في بلدها، وبالتالي لن يكون هناك حاجة لدولة أخرى لأنها بالفعل موجودة وهي قائمة ويمكن للعائلة الهاشمية أن تبقى في الملك إن أراد الشعب الفلسطيني ذلك، أما عن الضفة الغربية فمشكلتها بسيطة، التجمعات السكانية الإسرائيلية تبقى جزءا من دولة إسرائيل والتجمعات السكانية الفلسطينية يتم تبادل الأراضي فيما بينها وبين إسرائيل حيث هي غير قابلة للتواصل مع الدولة الفلسطينية شرق الأردن والباقي يصبح جزءا من فلسطين التي تمتد من حدود العراق إلى حدود إسرائيل. Jordan has a majority Palestinian Of course when we talk about Damaqratih that govern the majority in the country, and therefore there will be no need for another country because it already exists a list of the family can remain in the Hashemite king that he wanted the Palestinian people, either from the West Bank problem is simple, residential areas Israel remains part of the State of Israel and the Palestinian population centres are exchanging land between them and Israel, where they are not continue with a Palestinian state east of Jordan and the rest become part of Palestine which extends from Iraq’s borders to the borders of Israel.
سؤال آخر وجه لكاغان عن غزة فقال: هاواي تبعد الاف الأميال عن الأراضي الأميركية ورغم ذلك هي جزء من هذه البلاد . Another question to face Flanagan said from Gaza: Hawaii thousands of miles away from U.S. territory, although it is part of this country. طالب أردني إعترض على كاغان وقال له بأنه من أصل فلسطيني ولا يوافقه الرأي فأجابه : Jordanian student objected to the songs and told him that, of Palestinian origin does not share his opinion replied:
وأنا لا أوافقك الرأي ايضا …لقد أصبحنا متعادلين ويمكننا أن نكون أصدقاء ما أثار الضحك في القاعة . I do not share his ideas … We are also equivalent and we can be friends as the effects of laughter in the hall.

Here are the two photographs that appear on the blog with the hoax:

And who might Robert Kagan be? He is one of the neoconservatives (as opposed to “pragmatists”) currently vying for McCain’s favor, although he claims he is not a Straussian. That appears to be his photo on the right. Here is a podcast of him speaking about his book The Return of History, and the video of an interview with Charlie Rose here.

And who might be the other photo? Is it “Jane Ketevan”, the purported author of the piece? No Google hits on that name. What about spelling it more like the Arabic spelling–”Jane Beteft”? Still no hits. if you click on the photo in the original blog and check the properties, it gives the information “pitfieldmain.jpg”. Could this be a photo of Canadian politician Jane Pitfield, who once ran for mayor of Toronto? Could be. Maybe a really old photo of her. This “destroy Jordan” thing doesn’t sound like the type of thing she would be interested in though.

Oh, but what does it mean? By now everyone in the Arab world has figured out the whole thing was a fake, but they keep talking about it just the same. Does anything happen by accident over there?

Maybe it’s an attempt to discredit Kagan and the neocons ahead of the U.S. elections–after all, Kagan’s brother is the architect of the Iraqi “surge”. Or maybe it is a another push towards Palestinian statehood, as the clock keeps ticking on the American political window of opportunity for George W. Bush. Bush could set it up for McCain, so McCain can ride the euphoria of an apparent Middle East resolution into the November elections without incurring blame or displeasure from the conservative Jewish vote.

What IS the Bush administration doing about Palestinian statehood???

Abortion is not a woman’s issue

The latest Obama political mantra is for the female supporters of Hillary Clinton. Support Obama, they say, or Roe v. Wade is toast and none of you will be able to get safe, legal abortions. At the same time these Obamaites like to dismiss the followers of Clinton as uneducated, middle aged women. Sort of a disconnect there.

If they are middled aged, then they aren’t exactly the right age to have children, if you know what I mean.

It all got put into perspective for me last week by a male friend who is a lapsed Catholic. For some reason we got on the subject of going to church. “I killed a baby with my girlfriend by having an abortion,” he told me. The bitterness in his voice was not so much for the choice he had made–with his girlfriend–but for the interpretation put on it by his religious establishment. Clearly he would not be back to church in the near future, if ever.

The other piece of his outburst was that it had taken place some time ago, when he had a gilrlfirend who was still young enough to get pregnant. Abortion–and the corollary issue of birth control–is an issue not just for women but a decision many couples–young couples of childbearing age–make together.

Older women, or older couples, are not likely to be personally affected by changes in abortion and birth control legislation. But they are more affected by social attitudes to women working. So when the Obama campaign appeared to attack Hillary Clinton by innuendo about her gender, this was seen as weakening the credibility of working women and their ability to make a living.

McCain has been quick to capitalize on this by promising more federal jobs for women.

The DNC keeps up their Roe v. Wade mantra, totally oblivious to the damage they have done to working women everywhere. And many younger women–perhaps dependent on males for their livelihood and well-being–seem to be choosing reproductive freedom over financial freedom so far. After all, at that stage of life, the ability of a couple (not just the woman) to make reproductive choices that limit the number of dependents in the household, as well as the spacing of pregnancies, can have a large impact on both physical health and financial well-being of the entire family. But the older women know the realities of life. The still-high divorce rate and a higher death rate for men means more women will be trying to make it on their own without a male paycheck in the household.

The only thing the DNC is promising female voters is reproductive freedom. But age has given many women–and couples–that freedom already. Women, young and old alike, need financial security. The DNC just doesn’t get it.