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Lesson Plans
- Helping Victims of Katrina (Veterans for Peace)
Provides information about helping in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. 9-05
Lists
- News on Washington DC and the World (McClatchy News)
Formerly "Knight Ridder," a media company that owns 32 papers. McClatchy was one of the first media companies to provide stories from outside of the United States and deep inside the U.S. intelligence community regarding errors in mainstream media coverage of the justification for war in Iraq. 06-07
Materials
- Alternative Media (MichaelMoore.com)
Describes alternative media, mostly with progressive views. 10-04
- News Stories About the Bush Administration (DoYouKnow.org)
Provides links to news stories about positions and policies of the Bush administration that progressives will probably not like. 10-04
Multimedia
- -NOW Videos and Transcripts (PBS.org - Moyers)
Provides "a full listing of NOW broadcasts by week. Simply click on the show date to find a full listing of each week's Web-only features, the show transcript and related resources." 11-04
News
- -08-06-08 Paris Hilton Responds to McCain's Ad (FunnyorDie.com)
Presidential candidate John McCain included Paris Hilton in a political ad against Barack Obama. This is her light-hearted response. 08-08
- NPR Hourly News (NPR.org)
Provides radio news. 7-03
Papers
- -01 Fact or Falsehood? (FactCheck.org - Annenberg Public Policy Center)
In an attempt to discredit political opponents, political candidates have, on occasion, distorted the facts. The Annenberg Public Policy Center checks allegations to determine if the facts are presented truthfully. Provides links to original sources of information when "debunking" a statement.
The site quotes Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan: "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." 09-10
- -01 Fact or Falsehood? (Politifact.com)
In an attempt to discredit political opponents, political candidates have, on occasion, distorted the facts. Provides facts to back up its ratings of statements by candidates on a "Truth-O-Meter." The statements of candidates, including ads, can go from True to "Pants on Fire." 09-10
- -01-04-08 Editorial: Everything You Heard in the VP Debate Is Wrong (New York Times)
"Since the vice presidential debate on Thursday night, two opposing myths have quickly taken hold about Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska. The first, advanced by her supporters, is that she made it through a gantlet of fire; the second, embraced by her detractors, is that her speaking style betrays her naïveté. Both are wrong."
"The concerns raised by the Couric interviews — that Ms. Palin memorizes talking points rather than grasping issues — should not be allayed by her performance in the forgiving format of a debate."
"The impression fits with the overall theme that Ms. Palin and Senator John McCain have been trying to advance: that expertise is overrated, homespun sincerity is better than sophistication, conviction is more important than analysis."
"Being able to see Russia from Alaska, then, means you have an understanding of foreign policy; living in an Arctic state means that you have an understanding of climate change." 10-08
- -01-04-08 Editorial: Palin Has It Wrong on the Role of Vice President (New York Times)
"In all the talk about the vice-presidential debate, there was an issue that did not get much attention but kept nagging at us: Sarah Palin’s description of the role and the responsibilities of the office for which she is running, vice president of the United States."
"Any president deserves a vice president who will be a sound adviser and trustworthy supporter. But the American people also deserve and need a vice president who understands and respects the balance of power — and the limits of his or her own power. That is fundamental to our democracy."
"So far, Ms. Palin has it exactly, frighteningly wrong." 10-08
- -01-04-08 Editorial: Pitbull Palin Mauls McCain (New York Times)
"With a month to go, the 2008 election is now an Obama-Palin race — about 'the future,' as Palin kept saying Thursday night — and the only person who doesn’t seem to know it is Mr. Past, poor old John McCain." 10-08
- -01-04-08 Editorial: Talking in Points (New York Times)
"This entire election season has been a long-running saga about the rise of women in American politics. On Thursday, it all went sour. The people boosting Palin’s triumph were not celebrating because she demonstrated that she is qualified to be president if something ever happened to John McCain. They were cheering her success in covering up her lack of knowledge about the things she would have to deal with if she wound up running the country." 10-08
- -04-02-07 Ex-Aide Loses Faith in Bush (New York Times)
"A top strategist for the Texas Democrats who was disappointed by the Bill Clinton years, Mr. Dowd was impressed by the pledge of Mr. Bush, then governor of Texas, to bring a spirit of cooperation to Washington. He switched parties, joined Mr. Bush’s political brain trust and dedicated the next six years to getting him to the Oval Office and keeping him there. In 2004, he was appointed the president’s chief campaign strategist."
"Looking back, Mr. Dowd now says his faith in Mr. Bush was misplaced." 04-07
- -04-16-08 ABC News: Condi Rice Approved Use of Torture (CondiMustGo.com)
Provides evidence that the Secretary of State directly approved use of torture during some interrogations. 05-08
- -04-25-07 Editorial: Guiliani Is Exploitating Fear to Gain Power (MSNBC - Olbermann)
"At least that Republican president under which we have not been safer has, even at his worst, maintained some microscopic distance between himself and a campaign platform that blithely threatened the American people with 'casualties' if they, next year, elect a Democratic president — or, inferring from Mr. Giuliani’s flights of grandeur in New Hampshire — even if they elect a different Republican." 04-07
- -06-15-10 Editorial: The Very Angry in the Tea Party (New York Times)
"Sometimes it is hard to know where politics ends and metaphysics begins: when, that is, the stakes of a political dispute concern not simply a clash of competing ideas and values but a clash about what is real and what is not, what can be said to exist on its own and what owes its existence to an other."
"The seething anger that seems to be an indigenous aspect of the Tea Party movement arises, I think, at the very place where politics and metaphysics meet, where metaphysical sentiment becomes political belief. More than their political ideas, it is the anger of Tea Party members that is already reshaping our political landscape."
"It is not for the sake of acquiring political power that Tea Party activists demonstrate, rally and organize; rather, Lilla argues, the appeal is to 'individual opinion, individual autonomy, and individual choice, all in the service of neutralizing, not using, political power.' "
"My hypothesis is that what all the events precipitating the Tea Party movement share is that they demonstrated, emphatically and unconditionally, the depths of the absolute dependence of us all on government action, and in so doing they undermined the deeply held fiction of individual autonomy and self-sufficiency that are intrinsic parts of Americans’ collective self-understanding." 06-10
- -07-28-08 Editorial: How Obama Became Acting President (New York Times)
"He never would have been treated as a president-in-waiting by heads of state or network talking heads if all he offered were charisma, slick rhetoric and stunning visuals. What drew them instead was the raw power Mr. Obama has amassed: the power to start shaping events and the power to move markets, including TV ratings. (Even “Access Hollywood” mustered a 20 percent audience jump by hosting the Obama family.) Power begets more power, absolutely." 07-08
- -08-07-08 McCain Ads: Subliminal Message or Innocent Levity? (Time.com)
"Sapp knows that the phrasing and images could just be dismissed as a peculiar coincidence. After all, it was Oprah Winfrey who told an Iowa crowd that Obama was 'the one!' But, he insists, 'the frequency of these images and references don't make any sense unless you're trying to send the message that Obama could be the Antichrist.' Mara Vanderslice, another Democratic consultant who handled religious outreach for the 2004 Kerry campaign, agrees. 'If they wanted to be funny, if they really wanted to play up the idea that Obama thinks he's the Second Coming, there were better ways to do it,' she says. 'Why use these awkward lines like, "And the world will receive his blessings"?' 08-08
- -09-03-08 American Wife, a Fictional Laura Bush (Time.com)
"It is a classic story. the demure small-town librarian swept off her feet by the handsome prince — a story with its roots in Cinderella ... and also, in this case, in the rather unbelievable recent history of our country." 09-08
- -09-04-08 Editorial: Fact Check on Palin's Speech (Washington Monthly - Hilzoy)
"Palin: 'But listening to him [Obama] speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform - not even in the state senate.' "
Hilzoy contradicts Governor Sarah Palin's statement with a list of Obama's achievements and a statement: "I gave a rundown of Obama's accomplishments in the Senate here. They include the Lugar-Obama bill on nonproliferation, and an ethics reform package that the Washington Post called 'the strongest ethics legislation to emerge from Congress yet.' " 09-08
- -09-04-08 Editorial: Reversals in McCain's Key Positions (TheCarpetBaggerReport.com)
"It’s obvious that the McCain campaign and the RNC have decided to go after Barack Obama as a flip-flopper. What’s equally obvious, though, that Republicans couldn’t have chosen a worse narrative." 09-08
- -09-14-08 Editorial: Making America Strong (New York Times - Friedman)
"Sorry, but there is no sustainable political/military power without economic power, and talking about one without the other is nonsense. Unless we make America the country most able to innovate, compete and win in the age of globalization, our leverage in the world will continue to slowly erode. Those are the issues this election needs to be about, because that is what the next four years need to be about."
"There is no strong leader without a strong country. And posing as one, to use the current vernacular, is nothing more than putting lipstick on a pig." 09-08
- -09-14-08 Study: 'The Power of Positive Unthinking" (New York Times - Dowd)
Gov. Sarah Palin's "explosion onto the scene made Obama seem even more like a windy, wispy egghead. Like W., Sarah has the power of positive unthinking. But now we may want to think about where ignorance and pride and no self-doubt has gotten us. Being quick on the trigger might be good in moose hunting, but in dealing with Putin, a little knowledge might come in handy." 09-08
- -10-05-08 Editorial: Governor Palin Is a Master of the Nonanswer (Christian Science Monitor)
"I've debated Governor Palin more than two dozen times. And she's a master, not of facts, figures, or insightful policy recommendations, but at the fine art of the nonanswer, the glittering generality. Against such charms there is little Senator Biden, or anyone, can do."
"And when she does answer the actual question asked, she has a canny ability to connect with the audience on a personal level." 10-08
- -10-06-08 When Regulators Look the Other Way (Baltimore Sun)
"Confident men took leave of common sense and bet on the idea of perpetual profit in the real estate market and crashed. But it wasn't their money. It was your money they were messing with. And that's why you need government regulators. Gimlet-eyed men with steel-rim glasses and crepe-soled shoes who check the numbers and have the power to say, 'This is a scam and a hustle, and either you cease and desist or you spend a few years in a minimum-security federal facility playing backgammon.' " 10-08
- -Are Liberals Smarter than Conservatives? (Time.com)
"A libertarian (and, as such, nonpartisan) researcher, Satoshi Kanazawa of the London School of Economics and Political Science, has just written a paper that is set to be published in March by the journal Social Psychology Quarterly. The paper investigates not only whether conservatives are dumber than liberals but also why that might be so."
The author reports on the conclusions of various studies with uncertain overall results. "The jury may be out on whether conservatives are less intelligent than liberals, but there's evidence that they may be physically stronger." 02-10
- -Editorial: Bush and Cheney Should Resign (MSNBC News)
" 'I didn’t vote for him,' an American once said, 'But he’s my president, and I hope he does a good job.' "
"That—on this eve of the 4th of July—is the essence of this democracy, in 17 words. And that is what President Bush threw away yesterday in commuting the sentence of Lewis 'Scooter' Libby."
"Watergate—instantaneously—became a simpler issue: a President overruling the inexorable march of the law of insisting—in a way that resonated viscerally with millions who had not previously understood - that he was the law."
"Not the Constitution. Not the Congress. Not the Courts. Just him."
"Just - Mr. Bush - as you did, yesterday." 07-07
- -Editorial: Clintons Have History of Ties to Colombians (Huffington Post)
"The story of how [Bill] Clinton helped funnel all that money to Colombia is a textbook case of much that is wrong with the way our political system operates."
"For instance, to avoid resistance from those who did not believe this was the best way to spend over a billion in taxpayer dollars, the Clinton administration decided to introduce the Colombian aid as part of a larger emergency-spending package -- bundling the potentially controversial measure with proposals to provide $2.2 billion for relief from natural disasters, and $854 million for military health care. It's an old legislative ploy designed to squelch debate and force politicians to vote for wasteful -- or even terrible -- measures just because they don't want to be painted as being against God, country, and disaster relief." 04-08
- -Editorial: Evangelical Leaders Pushing Politics Are Losing Credibility (Time.com)
"If Giuliani captures the nomination [for president in 2008] despite the threat of an evangelical revolt [by evangelical leaders], it will be a long time before Republican strategists pay attention to the demands of conservative Christian leaders again."
"For the first time in many years, white evangelical identification with the Republican Party has dipped below 50 percent, with the sharpest falloff again among the young, according to John C. Green, a senior fellow at Pew and an expert on religion and politics. (The defectors by and large say they’ve become independents, not Democrats, according to the polls.)"
Frank Page, president-elect of the Southern Baptist Convention, "told convention delegates that Southern Baptists had become known too much for what they were against (abortion, evolution, homosexuality) instead of what they stand for (the Gospel)." 10-07
- -Editorial: The All-White Elephant in the Room (New York Times)
"It is entirely fair for any voter to weigh Mr. Obama’s long relationship with his pastor in assessing his fitness for office. It is also fair to weigh Mr. Obama’s judgment in handling this personal and political crisis as it has repeatedly boiled over. But whatever that verdict, it is disingenuous to pretend that there isn’t a double standard operating here. If we’re to judge black candidates on their most controversial associates — and how quickly, sternly and completely they disown them — we must judge white politicians by the same yardstick."
"Mr. McCain says he does not endorse any of Mr. Hagee’s calumnies, any more than Barack Obama endorses Mr. Wright’s. But those who try to give Mr. McCain a pass for his embrace of a problematic preacher have a thin case. It boils down to this: Mr. McCain was not a parishioner for 20 years at Mr. Hagee’s church."
"That defense implies, incorrectly, that Mr. McCain was a passive recipient of this bigot’s endorsement. In fact, by his own account, Mr. McCain sought out Mr. Hagee, who is perhaps best known for trying to drum up a pre-emptive 'holy war' with Iran. (This preacher’s rantings may tell us more about Mr. McCain’s policy views than Mr. Wright’s tell us about Mr. Obama’s.) Even after Mr. Hagee’s Catholic bashing bubbled up in the mainstream media, Mr. McCain still did not reject and denounce him, as Mr. Obama did an unsolicited endorser, Louis Farrakhan, at the urging of Tim Russert and Hillary Clinton." 05-08
- -Editorial: The All-White Elephant in the Room (Time.com)
"It is entirely fair for any voter to weigh Mr. Obama’s long relationship with his pastor in assessing his fitness for office. It is also fair to weigh Mr. Obama’s judgment in handling this personal and political crisis as it has repeatedly boiled over. But whatever that verdict, it is disingenuous to pretend that there isn’t a double standard operating here. If we’re to judge black candidates on their most controversial associates — and how quickly, sternly and completely they disown them — we must judge white politicians by the same yardstick."
"Mr. McCain says he does not endorse any of Mr. Hagee’s calumnies, any more than Barack Obama endorses Mr. Wright’s. But those who try to give Mr. McCain a pass for his embrace of a problematic preacher have a thin case. It boils down to this: Mr. McCain was not a parishioner for 20 years at Mr. Hagee’s church."
"That defense implies, incorrectly, that Mr. McCain was a passive recipient of this bigot’s endorsement. In fact, by his own account, Mr. McCain sought out Mr. Hagee, who is perhaps best known for trying to drum up a pre-emptive 'holy war' with Iran. (This preacher’s rantings may tell us more about Mr. McCain’s policy views than Mr. Wright’s tell us about Mr. Obama’s.) Even after Mr. Hagee’s Catholic bashing bubbled up in the mainstream media, Mr. McCain still did not reject and denounce him, as Mr. Obama did an unsolicited endorser, Louis Farrakhan, at the urging of Tim Russert and Hillary Clinton." 05-08
- Air America Radio (AirAmericaRadio.com)
Provides news from a progressive view.
- Editorial: Self-Promoting Values and a Sham (New York Times)
"But despite Rudy’s fleeting stabs at fudging his views, they are well known now, and still he leads in national polls of Republican voters and is neck and neck with Fred Thompson in the Bible Belt sanctuary of South Carolina."
"But the most obvious explanation is the one that Washington resists because it contradicts the city’s long-running story line. Namely, that the political clout ritualistically ascribed to Mr. Perkins, James Dobson of Focus on the Family, Gary Bauer of American Values and their ilk is a sham."
"These self-promoting values hacks don’t speak for the American mainstream. They don’t speak for the Republican Party. They no longer speak for many evangelical ministers and their flocks. The emperors of morality have in fact had no clothes for some time. Should Rudy Giuliani end up doing a victory dance at the Republican convention, it will be on their graves." 10-07
- Grassroots for America (GrassrootsforAmerica.us)
Provides information on Grassroots for America, a progressive activist group.
- Progressive Democrats of America (PDAmerica.org)
Provides information on Progressive Democrats of America, an new political party established by Howard Dean, former Democratic candidate for president.
- Progressive News (CommonDreams.org)
Provides news on activities of progressives.
- Progressive News (FreePress.org)
Provides progressive views on current political events.
- Progressive News (OpEdNews.com)
Provides news from a progressive point of view.
- The Alliance for Democracy (TheAllianceforDemocracy.org)
"The Alliance believes the development of a full public funding system is the crucial domestic reform of our age and that the achievement of such a system will dramatically improve the health of our democracy -- a democracy that is being smothered under the weight of large corporations and the private interests they embody."
- The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and Conservative Causes (TheNation)
"Hundreds of ALEC’s model bills and resolutions bear traces of Koch DNA: raw ideas that were once at the fringes but that have been carved into “mainstream” policy through the wealth and will of Charles and David Koch. Of all the Kochs’ investments in right-wing organizations, ALEC provides some of the best returns: it gives the Kochs a way to make their brand of free-market fundamentalism legally binding." 04-12
Projects
- -02-06-12 Editorial: Rush Limbaugh's Incorrect Statements (Fair.org)
"On his radio show, his syndicated TV show, and in two best-selling books, Limbaugh has advanced the idea that volcanoes are the real ozone culprits. This theory, like so many of Limbaugh's claims, has only one problem: Limbaugh doesn't know what he's talking about." 02-12
- -11-30-12 Editorial: Fiscal Cliff Fictions (Time.com)
"It’s really amazing to see political reporters dutifully passing along Republican complaints that President Obama’s opening offer in the fiscal cliff talks is just a recycled version of his old plan, when those same reporters spent the last year dutifully passing along Republican complaints that Obama had no plan. It’s even more amazing to see them pass along Republican outrage that Obama isn’t cutting Medicare enough, in the same matter-of-fact tone they used during the campaign to pass along Republican outrage that Obama was cutting Medicare." 11-12
- -Are Liberals Smarter than Conservatives? (Time.com)
"A libertarian (and, as such, nonpartisan) researcher, Satoshi Kanazawa of the London School of Economics and Political Science, has just written a paper that is set to be published in March by the journal Social Psychology Quarterly. The paper investigates not only whether conservatives are dumber than liberals but also why that might be so."
The author reports on the conclusions of various studies with uncertain overall results. "The jury may be out on whether conservatives are less intelligent than liberals, but there's evidence that they may be physically stronger." 02-10
- -Editorial: Addicted to Bush (New York Times)
"Again, Republicans aren’t trying to rescue George W. Bush’s reputation for sentimental reasons; they’re trying to clear the way for a return to Bush policies. And this carries a message for anyone hoping that the next time Republicans are in power, they’ll behave differently. If you believe that they’ve learned something — say, about fiscal prudence or the importance of effective regulation — you’re kidding yourself. You might as well face it: they’re addicted to Bush." 07-10
- -Editorial: Al Gore in '08? (ABC News)
"Make no mistake: Former Vice President Al Gore will be our next president."
"I am as confident about that assertion as I am that George W. Bush will go down in history as America's worst president ever." 02-07
- -Editorial: Bush Has Built a Radical Regime (OpenDemocracy.net - Blumenthal)
"Ultimately, a people is responsible for its leaders. Bush's legacy will precipitate a crisis over democracy that only the American people can resolve." 09-06
- -Editorial: Bush Is in Credibility Gulch (CBS News)
"The Bush administration has again come after its captors with guns blazing in a daring attempt to escape from Credibility Gulch, a dangerous place for a president to get trapped. Even so, the escape plan may be backfiring."
"Here is the part of the president's response to his critics (and not just the Democratic ones) that made them so ornery so fast:"
" 'The stakes in the global war on terror are too high, and the national interest is too important, for politicians to throw out false charges. These baseless attacks send the wrong signal to our troops and to an enemy that is questioning America's will. As our troops fight a ruthless enemy determined to destroy our way of life, they deserve to know that their elected leaders who voted to send them to war continue to stand behind them.' "
"The 'demoralizing our boys and comforting the enemy' line is a last ditch, McCarthy-lite gambit that doesn't work in this country. Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon used it to fill their credibility gaps, without success. It was cheap and cowardly then and it still is now."
"(Here's [Republican Senator Chuck] Hagel on the administration's new counter-offensive: 'The Bush Administration must understand that each American has a right to question our policies in Iraq and should not be demonized for disagreeing with them.' ") 12-05
- -Editorial: Death of Habeas Corpus (MSNBC News - Keith Olbermann)
Congress passed a law that now allows the President, on his own, to decide who is an enemy. Such a person can then be placed in prison without trial, a court hearing, or any legal process to determine if he or she really is an enemy of the United States. This law is a clear violation of basic rights according to legal scholars, such as Senator Arlen Specter, Chairman of the Judicial Committee of Congress.
Keith Olbermann notes, "The reality is without habeas corpus, a lot of other rights lose their meaning. But if you look at the actual Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments of that pesky Constitution, you’ll see just how many remain for your protection."
"So as you can see, even without habeas corpus, at least one tenth of the Bill of Rights, I guess that’s the Bill of Right, now—remains virtually intact. No. 3 is still safe."
"We can rest easy knowing that we will never, ever have to quarter soldiers in our homes as long as the third amendment still stands strong." 10-06
- -Editorial: Did Obama Get His Groove Back? (Time.com)
"President Obama is beginning to recognize that firm limits — and not simply self-compromise or attempts at reasoning together — are necessary for that [less partisan gridlock] to happen."
"What he may be discovering as well is that when he stands firm, the people who elected him — as well as the Democratic Party itself — will follow." 12-11
- -Editorial: Judge Alito Treats Women Like Girls (Slate.com)
"Now, I'm seeing two arguments there. One is that the woman has some kind of misperception about her marriage or her situation, and her husband can set her straight. And the other argument is that the husband has such a profound interest in keeping the fetus alive—and his wife has such a small interest in controlling what happens to her body—that the government can force her to consult him even if she's so afraid of him, or so certain she can't have this baby, that she won't talk to him unless we threaten her with criminal charges. And you implied that Justice O'Connor, the justice you're planning to replace on this court, would agree with you."
"In point of fact, you were wrong about that, weren't you, Judge? I mean, we have the actual answer to that question, because Justice O'Connor, along with Justices Kennedy and Souter, wrote the Supreme Court's controlling opinion in Casey a year after you issued your dissent. And she pretty flatly rebuked you, didn't she?" 11-05
- -Editorial: Lou Dobbs: Our "Leaders" Are "Out of Touch" (CNN News)
"Never before in our country's history have both the president and Congress been so out of touch with most Americans. Never before have so few of our elected officials and corporate leaders been less willing to commit to the national interest. And never before has our nation's largest constituent group -- some 200 million middle-class Americans -- been without representation in our nation's capital." 05-06
- -Editorial: Moderate Voters Aren't So Moderate (CBS News)
"There is no doubt that the difference between the number of people who tell pollsters they are conservatives and those who say they are liberals should be a matter of concern for Democrats. But if they respond to that concern by 'moving' to an imagined 'center' — in other words, by making their positions on issues more conservative — they will find themselves in an even worse hole than they are now. The Democrats' 'liberal' problem isn't about issues, it's about identity."
"In fact, the people who call themselves 'moderates' aren't midway between the two parties. When you examine them as a group, you find that they look much more like liberals than conservatives. 12-05
- -Editorial: Overcoming Our National Polarity (NoneSoBlind.org)
Schmookler argues that "it is essential for those who oppose the forces presently ruling America to remember that the heart of the problem is not that these ruling powers are too conservative, or that they are too aligned with 'traditional' rather than 'progressive' values."
"To wage the struggle in those terms is not only to misunderstand the nature of our adversary. It is also to continue to fall into the trap that they have so successfully set for their opposition, and to abet their continuing seduction of millions of good people on the conservative side of America’s cultural divide. It is to help foster that spirit of divisiveness on which they feed."
"The heart of the problem, rather, is that these powers are not what they pretend to be. The darkness of the spirit that animates them is manifest in their ruthlessness and arrogance and dishonesty."
"Only by selling their false image of righteousness to good, conservative Americans could these forces gain power. But that which depends on moral lies can be defeated with moral truth—for, if these good people can be helped to see that these emperors have no moral clothes, they will withdraw their support." 12-05
- -Editorial: Pass the Bread (CommonDreams.org - Bill Moyers)
"Bread is life. But if you're like me you have a thousand and more times repeated the ordinary experience of eating bread without a thought for the process that brings it to your table. The reality is physical: I need this bread to live. But the reality is also social: I need others to provide the bread. I depend for bread on hundreds of people I don't know and will never meet. If they fail me, I go hungry. If I offer them nothing of value in exchange for their loaf, I betray them. The people who grow the wheat, process and store the grain, and transport it from farm to city; who bake it, package it, and market it--these people and I are bound together in an intricate reciprocal bargain. We exchange value."
"This reciprocity sustains us."
- -Editorial: Pass the Bread (CommonDreams.org - Bill Moyers)
"Bread is life. But if you're like me you have a thousand and more times repeated the ordinary experience of eating bread without a thought for the process that brings it to your table. The reality is physical: I need this bread to live. But the reality is also social: I need others to provide the bread. I depend for bread on hundreds of people I don't know and will never meet. If they fail me, I go hungry. If I offer them nothing of value in exchange for their loaf, I betray them. The people who grow the wheat, process and store the grain, and transport it from farm to city; who bake it, package it, and market it--these people and I are bound together in an intricate reciprocal bargain. We exchange value."
"This reciprocity sustains us."
- -Editorial: Republicans Have a Simple Message, Democrats Don't (CBS News - Meyer)
"Democrats need to do two simple things: look at the 2005 party fundraising reports and read the speech Karl Rove delivered last Friday to the Republican National Committee. A whole lot will get real simple if they do that. They'll realize they need a boatload more money and some knockout punch lines for campaign debates."
"The 2006 GOP/Rove platform can easily be put on an index card, if not a Post-it note. It reads something like this: we are at war against foreign terrorists who want to kill you and your society and we'll do what it takes to stop it and the Democrats won't; we will cut your taxes and give you money and Democrats won't. Every Republican candidate in the country can spit that one out." 01-06
- -Editorial: Romney Praises Israel's Socialized Medicine (Forbes.com)
"Speaking today to a small group of Israeli contributors to his campaign, the GOP presidential candidate—and supposed sworn enemy of government controlled healthcare—had kind words for the success of Israel’s healthcare system."
"Or does the Governor simply not understand that Israel’s healthcare success story—including their ability to control costs— is the direct result of the nation’s socialized healthcare system that has existed since the country’s founding in 1948 and institutionalized by law in 1995?" 07-12
- -Editorial: Texas Public Schools Are Teaching Creationism (Slate.com)
"In a previous Slate column on the Texas textbook wars, I explained that Texas’ current science standards were designed to compromise the teaching of evolution. The standards require teachers to 'analyze, evaluate, and critique' evolution and teach 'all sides' of evolution to encourage 'critical thinking.' These requirements are a back-door way to enable teachers to attack evolution and inject creationism into the classroom. If teachers are questioned on their materials, they can shift the responsibility for what they’re teaching onto the state." 01-14
- -Editorial: The Need for Network Neutrality (The Nation)
"The Stevens bill not only proposes to scuttle network neutrality rules but also undermines key policies designed to insure community influence over how broadband networks serve the public interest--including the ability of American soldiers stationed overseas to phone home." 10-06
- -Editorial: The Need for Progressive Mass Media (The Nation)
"Under the radar of all but the most savvy Internet users, powerful commercial forces are rapidly creating a digital media system for the United States that threatens to undermine our ability to create a civil and just society. The takeover of YouTube by Google announced October 9 and the 2005 buyout by Rupert Murdoch of MySpace are not just about mega-deals for new media. They are the leading edge of a powerful interactive system that is being designed to serve the interests of some of the wealthiest corporations on the planet." 10-06
- -Editorial: The World We Actually Live In (New York Times)
"It is a globalized economy in which the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, America’s largest business lobby, has opposed Romney’s pledge to designate China as a currency manipulator and is pressing Congress to lift cold war trade restrictions on Russia, a country Romney has labeled America’s “No. 1 geopolitical foe.” It is a world where, at times, pulling back — and focusing on rebuilding our strength at home — is the most meaningful foreign policy initiative we can undertake because when America is at its best — its institutions, schools and values — it can inspire emulation, whereas Russia and China still have to rely on transactions or bullying to get others to follow. It is still a world where the use of force, or the threat of force, against implacable foes (Iran) is required, but a world where a nudge at the right time and place can also be effective."
"Add it all up and it’s a world in which America will have greater responsibility (because our European and Japanese allies are now economically enfeebled) and fewer resources (because we have to cut the defense budget) to manage a more complex set of actors (because so many of the states we have to deal with now are new democracies with power emanating from their people not just one man — like Egypt — or failing states like Pakistan) where our leverage on other major powers is limited (because Russia’s massive oil and gas income gives it great independence and any war we’d want to fight in Asia we’d have to borrow the money from China)."
"This complexity doesn’t argue for isolationism. It argues for using our power judiciously and in a nuanced fashion." 10-12
- -Editorial: Why Did Obama Put Medicare on the Table? (Economic Populist)
"Question: Why did President Obama put Social Security and Medicare on the table in the budget negotiations when 80% of the people oppose cuts to these programs?"
"Answer: The president is not in office to represent those people. He was selected, funded and carried over the finish line by corporate America." 07-11
- -Most Liberal and Most Conservative Cities (Forbes.com)
"At least according to The Economist, which pulled data from an MIT study on how city governments reflect their constituents’ politics to produce a ranking of cities with populations of over 250,000. The results, overall, are predictable – San Francisco is the most liberal, while Mesa, Arizona is most conservative – with a few surprises embedded in the list." 02-15
- -Predicting Your Politics (Science.Time.com)
Time Magazine asserts: "In the following interactive, we put together 12 questions that have a statistical correlation to a person’s political leanings, even if the questions themselves are seemingly apolitical. At the end of this (completely anonymous) quiz, we’ll use your responses to guess your politics." 01-14
- A Progressive View for the Future (Truth-Out)
"Go way beyond overturning Citizens United and back the Environmental and Social Responsibility Amendment (ESRA) to the US Constitution, which would require public funding of state and federal elections and bar money from any other (private or corporate) source, require free and equal media time for all major candidates, and require large corporations every five years to prove to a jury of ordinary citizens that they have been pursuing environmentally and socially responsible policies or else risk losing their corporate charter and permission to function."
"The amazing thing about big money is that it has enabled a tiny minority of wealthy people to get access, through media, to anywhere between 40 and 50 percent of the voting population and sell them a distorted picture of the world in which the real alienation most people in this society feel gets blamed upon the poor, the powerless, the immigrants, the homosexuals, the feminists, the liberals or progressives, or even the Democrats. It's an amazing accomplishment for the 1% to still be able to get 40-50 percent of the American voting public to vote for policies that are contrary to the needs of the majority of Republicans, but instead serve the needs and interests of the 1%." 11-12
- Alternet (Alternet.org)
Provides a progressive view of government. 6-03
- American Constitution Society for Law and Policy (ACSLAW.org)
"The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy (ACS) is one of the nation's leading progressive legal organizations. Founded in 2001, ACS is comprised of law students, lawyers, scholars, judges, policymakers, activists and other concerned individuals who are working to ensure that the fundamental principles of human dignity, individual rights and liberties, genuine equality, and access to justice are in their rightful, central place in American law."
"ACS is committed to fostering a progressive vision of the law on issues such as access to the courts; anti-discrimination and affirmative action; civil liberties; consumer rights; criminal justice; disability rights; freedom of speech; gay rights; international human rights; immigration; labor law; open government; privacy; protection of health, safety and the environment; and women's rights and reproductive choice." 01-06
- Branding Suggestions for Democrats (OurKarlRove.com)
Provides branding suggestions.
- Bush Record on Forests (TWS.org)
Describes how Bush administration policies have influenced protection of our forests and wilderness areas. 7-04
- Bush's IQ (New York Times)
"To Bush-bashers, it may be the most infuriating revelation yet from the military records of the two presidential candidates: the young George W. Bush probably had a higher I.Q. than did the young John Kerry."
"Mr. Bush's score on the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test at age 22 again suggests that his I.Q was the mid-120's, putting Mr. Bush in about the 95th percentile of the population, according to Mr. Sailer. Mr. Kerry's I.Q. was about 120, in the 91st percentile, according to Mr. Sailer's extrapolation of his score at age 22 on the Navy Officer Qualification Test." 10-04
- Contesting Bush's Assertions (BushWatch.com)
Provides information designed to refute some of President Bush's claims. 7-04
- Contesting Bush's Assertions (PantsOnFire.net)
Provides information designed to refute some of President Bush's claims. Put more directly, the site calls some of Bush's key statements "lies." 7-04
- Contributors to Bush or Republican National Committee (North Texas Indy Media Center)
Lists the largest contributors. 1-05
- Democratic Candidates for President - Interviews (Moveon.org)
Provides interviews with Democratic candidates for President, including Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun, Governor Howard Dean, Senator John Edwards, Congressman Dick Gephardt, Senator Bob Graham, Senator John Kerry, Congressman Dennis Kucinich, Senator Joe Lieberman, and Reverend Al Sharpton. 6-03
- Democratic National Committee (Democrats.org)
Provides a Democratic view of government. 6-03
- Democratic National Committee
Provides information about the party positions and candidates.
- Dominionism (Awesome Library)
Provides information on a strong conservative movement toward Christian theocracy.
- Editorial - "Moral Values" Question Not Asked Well (CBS News)
"The subject matter is 'moral values.' The theory is this: Kerry lost because he was very unpopular with people who believe moral values are the most important issues. This group of values voters is growing and Democrats are doomed until they can win them over."
"First, the poll: If the poll had been worded or constructed only slightly differently, moral values would not have been the top issue. We’re building a worldview out of a small, odd vista."
"This years' failure is not intrinsic to what the Democratic Party is or what it might stand for. Family values were a very big deal 20 years ago in the reign of Ronald Reagan. (One of the more visible advocates was Democrat Tipper Gore.) Yet Democrat Bill Clinton then won two terms. The so-called values voters’ crisis can be solved by the right candidate. It’s not brain surgery." 11-04
- Editorial - Loss of Civil Rights and the Patriot Act (PublicInterestPictures.org)
" 'We created Unconstitutional to show Americans the extent to which our civil liberties and our freedoms have been trampled upon by our government since 9-11,' said Robert Greenwald, the film's executive producer." 9-04
- Editorial - Marginalization of Grassroots Activism (Alternet.org)
"This year’s presidential campaign has already provided many reasons to bemoan the state of American journalism. Here’s one more: the marginalization of grassroots activism."
"This marginalization is caused by two reasons. One, the media does not cover instances of popular political expression, including demonstrations, issue-based activism and other organizing outside of the two-party system. Or, if these activities are covered, they are presented as spectacles – not as an integral part of our ongoing democratic dialogue." 9-04
- Editorial - One Country, Two Moralities (AlterNet.org - Cooperman)
Provides a progressive view of the divisions in the nation revealed by voting preferences for the president."
"There are indeed sides, but the dividing line is not morality. It is the ability to tolerate uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity, unknowability, relativity."
"And this tolerance is less a matter of brainpower than of temperament."
"The asymmetry occasionally perturbs me, because I can appreciate their tastes far more readily than they can appreciate mine. But I would wager that our differences have even more to do with genes than they do with upbringing or education. Desire for novelty and risk aversion are both hardwired."
"So I must abandon the solace of thinking my political opponents benighted, uneducated and cognitively impaired."
"But I refuse to think them more moral."
"There are as many moral values at stake in opposing the slaughter of innocent Iraqi children as there are in opposing the abortion of innocent unborn children. As much moral sensitivity in defending the world's wilderness from exploitation as in defending our ... er ... homeland security. And as much moral courage in supporting the rights of people of all sexual orientations as in supporting traditional marriage."
"How does one participate in a democracy in which more than half the people want righteous certainty at any cost – and a significant minority despises this certainty as ignorance, bigotry and cruelty?" 09-13
- Editorial by Gore: Bush Repeatedly and Persistently Broke the Law (MSNBC News)
"Former Vice President Al Gore asserted Monday that President Bush “repeatedly and persistently” broke the law by eavesdropping on Americans without a court warrant and called for a federal investigation of the practice."
"Gore, also a former member of the Senate from Tennessee, proposed that a special counsel be appointed by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to investigate whether there have been violations of the law." The full text of Gore's speech is available here. 01-06
- Editorial: A Short History of Taxes (RollingStone.com)
"After taking office, Clinton immediately seized the mantle of fiscal discipline from Republicans. Rather than simply trimming the federal deficit, as his GOP predecessors had done, he set out to balance the budget and begin paying down the national debt. To do so, he hiked the top tax bracket to nearly 40 percent and boosted the corporate tax rate to 35 percent. "It cost him both houses of Congress in the 1994 midterm elections," says Chafee, the former GOP senator. "But taming the deficit led to the best economy America's ever had." Following the tax hikes of 1993, the economy grew at a brisk clip of 3.2 percent, creating more than 11 million jobs. Average wages ticked up, and stocks soared by 78 percent. By the spring of 1997, the federal budget was headed into the black." 02-12
- Editorial: Bill Threatens "Unwritten Constitution" (FindLaw)
"Last week, the Senate unanimously approved a defense authorization bill which, if approved by the House, will dramatically curtail the ability of prisoners held at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to challenge their detention in federal court."
"The Amendment's key provision would strip the federal courts of jurisdiction to entertain habeas corpus petitions from Guantanamo Bay detainees--except in two circumstances."
Editor's Note: The purpose of the writ of habeas corpus is to release a person from unlawful imprisonment. The writ addresses whether lawful procedures were used to imprison the person, not whether the person is guilty of a crime. 12-05
- Editorial: Dangers of Computerized Voting (VoteFraud.org - Dugger)
Provides a history on why and how computerized voting, without paper verification, poses a danger to democracy. Article written in 1988.
"The election-equipment companies, which thus both sell and program the computers that tabulate public elections, have long contended, in and out of court, that they own the source codes and must keep them secret from everyone, including the local officials who conduct elections." 12-04
- Editorial: Fox Propaganda Machine (RollingStone.com)
Provides five purported "talking points" to respond to President Obama's State of the Union speech. 02-12
- Editorial: GOP War on Voting (Rolling Stone)
"In a systematic campaign orchestrated by the American Legislative Exchange Council - and funded in part by David and Charles Koch, the billionaire brothers who bankrolled the Tea Party - 38 states introduced legislation this year designed to impede voters at every step of the electoral process." 02-12
- Editorial: Gingrich's Poetry of Hate (CNN News)
"We -- Americans of every stripe, gender and race -- are brothers and sisters in that great and ever-changing experiment of democracy. We are not enemies. If someone has a better plan he or she should ascend to our presidency. If they have lied we should know it. If they are corrupt it must come out. But we cannot allow our emotions to be ignited by hidden messages of fear and hatred. This election is about us working together to implement our brightest potentials, not our basest natures." 01-12
- Editorial: Our Role in Fundamentalist Wars (CommonDreams.org - Moyers)
"To save the American Dream, 'we desperately need to reaffirm the principle that it is possible to carry out an analysis of social life which rational human beings will recognize as being true, regardless of whether they happen to be women or men, whites or black, straights or gays, employers or employees, Jews or born-again Christians. The alternative is to stand by helplessly as special interest groups tear the United States apart in the name of their "separate realities" or to wait until one of them grows strong enough to force its irrational and subjective brand of reality on all the rest.' "
"That was written 25 years ago, just as the radical Christian right was setting out on their long march to political supremacy. The forces [Marvin Harris] warned against have gained strength ever since and now control much of the United States government and are on the verge of having it all."
"It has to be said that their success has come in no small part because of our acquiescence and timidity." 9-05
- Editorial: Radical Right Successful in Undermining Independence of Public Broadcasting (DemocracyNow.org - Moyers)
"Moyers says, 'I think we're at a moment in American history that is unique. I think we are in danger of losing our democracy because of the domination, the monopoly of power being exercised by the huge economic interests, both directly and indirectly. In public broadcasting we need to get back to the revolutionary spirit of dissent and courage that brought us into existence in the first place, and this country does, too.' " 6-05
- Editorial: Roberts, John G. (NOW.org)
Provides a progressive view of the nominee for Supreme Court. "As Deputy Solicitor General, Roberts argued in a brief before the Supreme Court that 'we continue to believe that Roe was wrongly decided and should be overruled. The Court’s conclusion in Roe that there is a fundamental right to an abortion...finds no support in the text, structure, or history of the Constitution.' " 7-05
- Editorial: Rudy Guiliani, One-Day Wonder or Contender? (BBC News)
"On 10 September 2001, Mr Giuliani's political career seemed to be in terminal decline."
"Then 9/11 changed everything and he emerged, caked in the dust of the World Trade Center, as America's mayor." 04-07
- Editorial: Spinning Science (BillFisher.Blogspot.com)
"We know that from a multi-year series of findings that the administration of President George W. Bush has systematically manipulated science to comply with ideology – and satisfy the political agenda of his right-wing base." 11-06
- Editorial: The Impeachment of George W. Bush (TheNation.com - Holtzman)
"Finally, it has started. People have begun to speak of impeaching President George W. Bush--not in hushed whispers but openly, in newspapers, on the Internet, in ordinary conversations and even in Congress. As a former member of Congress who sat on the House Judiciary Committee during the impeachment proceedings against President Richard Nixon, I believe they are right to do so." 01-06
- Editorial: The Impossible Will Take a Little While (Buzzflash.com - Loeb)
"Inclusive faith respects the stories of all in the human community, and makes those stories the ground of our politics. It recognizes our profound interconnections, so that if we deny someone justice or damage the earth halfway around the globe, our actions may come back to haunt us at home, as occurred in 911, or with global warming."
"Inclusive faith also recognizes that courage is contagious and that the actions of people in one community may light a spark in another -- the way the US anti-nuclear movement influenced people in the Soviet Union who modeled their actions on our Nevada test site protests, or the way that rebellious American rock music influenced the Czech rock band,that helped spearhead their democracy movement." 01-06
- Editorial: The Republican Brain (Truth-Out.org)
"Here's what our data showed: The conservatives in the study were spending a lot less time reading our essays than liberals. Unbeknownst to them, we had a timer, measuring down to the millisecond how long each student spent on each page of essay material we gave them to read (on a computer screen). And it didn't matter whether it was an essay that supported their beliefs or one that opposed them. It didn't matter if it was a political topic or an apolitical one. And it didn't matter if they were an economic conservative, a social conservative, an authoritarian and so on. Across the board, all kinds of conservatives spent less time reading our essays." 04-12
- Editorial: U.S. v. Bush (BillFisher.Blogspot.com)
"The scene is a Federal Grand Jury room. There, impaneled ordinary citizens listen intently as a veteran Federal prosecutor asks them to return an indictment unique in American history."
"The charge is Conspiracy to Defraud the United States. And the defendants are President George W. Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, and former Secretary of State Colin Powell." 11-06
- Editorial: Words That Make Republicans Mad (RantPolitical.com)
"These are the things we liberals say that make them [Republicans] even angrier than they normally are.
- Editorials by Howard Dean (Yubanet.com)
"The two critical issues for every president are national security and economic security. While much media attention has been focused on Iraq and al Qaida, most Americans have been quietly focusing on their economic plight. What they are seeing is not pretty." 10-04
- Editorials: Progressive Views on National Politics (BillFisher.Blogspot.com)
Provides essays with a progressive view. 11-06
- Election Reform
- Elections Reform (National Voting Rights Institute)
"Founded in 1994, the National Voting Rights Institute is a prominent non-partisan legal center in the campaign finance reform field. Through litigation and public education, the Institute aims to redefine the issue of private money in public elections as the nation's newest voting rights barrier, and to vindicate the constitutional right of all citizens, regardless of their economic status, to participate in the electoral process on an equal and meaningful basis."
- Essay - Paperless Voting Machines Corrupted the Results (BartCop.com)
"My preference would be that you read my argument from the viewpoint of a member of a Grand Jury being presented with a summary set of facts. You are being asked to decide whether or not they indicate enough of a possibility of wrong doing to warrant issuing an indictment and conducting a full and thorough official and public investigation."
"Secretaries of State and local election officials certify vote counting software based solely on [Shaun] Southworth’s say so. They do no independent examination or testing of the code themselves beyond simple logic and accuracy tests which security experts have called completely inadequate to the task of ensuring the software to be safe, secure and accurate. In essence this means that outside of the programmers who actually write the code, there is only one person in the entire US who has had access to the code and he is at best a shadowy figure who is dependent for his livelihood on the companies whose products he tests and certifies."
"In many states (including AZ), a legal recount consists only of running the ballots back through the same central tabulator."
"In the 2002 midterm election, there were fourteen House and Senate races across the U.S. where Democratic candidates were leading in the last pre-election polls by margins of 4 to 10 points. The votes in all those races were counted on either ES&S or Diebold optical scan or touchscreen systems. In all fourteen races the Republican candidate won by 3-7 percentage points. Republican control of the House and Senate were decided by these races. In the case of Senator Max Cleland of Georgia who was defeated by Saxy Chambliss, it took a sixteen point swing."
Editor's Note: The tone of this article is very partisan. 4-05
- Full List of ALEC Members (Common Cause)
Provides a list of corporations funding the conservative organization. 05-12
- Full List of ALEC Members Revealed (Truth-Out.org)
"The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has been under fire lately after the 15 major corporations and organizations pulled their support for the conservative organization, which helps quietly implement corporate-backed legislation in statehouses across the country."
"Now, the watchdog advocacy group Common Cause has released a complete list of corporations on ALEC’s task forces."
"Not surprisingly, four of the five major oil companies are members, as are many other energy companies." 05-12
- Gore Starts New TV Network (ABC News)
"Al Gore, once known as the stuffiest man in Washington, isn't wearing a tie these days, and with his new TV network launching, he's clearly hoping to prove a point."
"The former vice president now describes himself as a "recovering politician," and today he turns the page on the next chapter of his life with the launch of Current — a cable and satellite TV network — that he claims will reinvent TV by letting its viewers supply the content." 8-05
- Half of Clinton Aides Now Lobbyists (ABC News)
"A study being released Monday by the Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan watchdog group, ranked the top 100 officials serving when President Clinton left office two years ago and found 51 now lobby the government or work for companies that do." 3-03
- Heuvel, Katrina Vanden (TheNation.com)
Provides a professional profile of the progressive commentator and author. 9-05
- Judge: Justice Can Be Served Within the U.S. Constitution (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
"U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour said the successful prosecution of Ahmed Ressam should serve not only as a warning to terrorists, but as a statement to the Bush administration about its terrorism-fighting tactics."
" 'We did not need to use a secret military tribunal, detain the defendant indefinitely as an enemy combatant or deny the defendant the right to counsel,' he said Wednesday. 'The message to the world from today's sentencing is that our courts have not abandoned our commitment to the ideals that set our nation apart.' " 7-05
- Karl Rove's Strategies (MSNBC News)
"The reelection strategy was built on the belief that with U.S. forces in Iraq, the outcome there uncertain, and fighting terrorism still at the forefront of Bush's presidency, Bush had to shape and win the debate on national security and still contend with Democratic criticism that he had ignored domestic problems."
"Rove said that when he and Bush first talked about a reelection strategy in December 2002, the president, anticipating a race that resembled 2000 in its closeness, laid out a series of requests. He wanted a strategy designed to enlarge GOP majorities in the House and Senate, not what he called a 'lonely victory.' He wanted more emphasis on grass-roots volunteers. And he told Rove he wanted a campaign about big things and big issues, not 'mini ball,' and finally said he wanted to leave the Republican Party 'stronger, broader and better.' " 11-04
- Media for Democracy (MediaforDemocracy.org)
"Media For Democracy 2004 is a non-partisan citizens' initiative to monitor mainstream news coverage of the 2004 elections and advocate fair, democratic and issue-oriented standards of reporting. The project links voters with more than 100 independent media reform groups in a targeted campaign to prevent the types of media mistakes -- such as early, erroneous and politically biased projections -- that plagued the 2000 election." 9-04
- Microtargeting and Domestic Spying (MyDD.com)
"Today a staggering amount of personal information is being collected by the government on millions of Americans. This information is being used to compile a massive social network of American citizens that we are told is for the purpose of identifying terrorist cells. But others say it is easy for terrorists to avoid being caught up into this type of data-mining. I find it curious that what may be of little value in uncloaking terrorist cells is precisely the type of data-mining you would dream about for political election microtargeting."
"Why have Republicans recently won some close elections by margins that surprised many analysts?"
The Republican's had a 'get out the vote' (GOTV) advantage. The advantage came from having long lists of Independents and even Democrats who were likely to vote for a Republican candidate this time that were compiled using modern microtargeting techniques. These groups tend to be very difficult to identify for GOTV efforts. But if you can identify them and get them to the polls to vote in a close election, it can make the difference." 10-06
- MoveOn (MoveOn.org)
Provides a progressive view of government. 6-03
- Moyers: Politics, the Environment, and the Rapture Index (CommonDreams.org)
"For the first time in our history, ideology and theology hold a monopoly of power in Washington. Theology asserts propositions that cannot be proven true; ideologues hold stoutly to a world view despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality. When ideology and theology couple, their offspring are not always bad but they are always blind. And there is the danger: voters and politicians alike, oblivious to the facts."
"In this past election several million good and decent citizens went to the polls believing in the rapture index. That's right - the rapture index. Google it and you will find that the best-selling books in America today are the twelve volumes of the left-behind series written by the Christian fundamentalist and religious right warrior, Timothy LaHaye." 12-04
- New Progressive Dictionary (CBS News)
"The ever-expanding genre of anti-Bush books has now entered the reference field. Coming in August from McSweeney's, the publishing house founded by author-activist Dave Eggers, is 'The Future Dictionary of America,' a Utopian tome set 'sometime' beyond the present." An example of how the word "ralphnadired" might be used: "He ralphnadired their relationship when he condi-scendingly denied that he'd cheneyed their joint account." 12-05.
- Pelosi, Nancy: First Woman to Lead a Political Party in Congress (U. S. House of Representatives)
Provides a political biography of Rep. Nancy Pelosi, up to her gaining leadership of Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives. 11-14-02
- Plan for Energy Conservation and More (GreedyBastards.com)
"Every choice to align the interests of energy users and efficiency reduces our military entanglements, cuts our trade deficit, increases our freedom, and preserves our planet; every choice to breach it destroys it." 06-12
- Political Position - Assess Your Political Position (PoliticalCompass.org)
Provides questions to position you on a political graph, ranging from "left wing" to "right wing" and "authoritarian" to "libertarian." Also positions prominent British politicians on the chart. 7-01
- Progressives Opposing Bush Agendas (AmericaComingTogether.com)
"Tax cuts to benefit the wealthy … More arsenic and mercury in the water, fewer parks, wildernesses and forests for our future … Turning back the clock on civil rights, on women’s rights, on workers’ rights."
- Propaganda - How Our Mainstream Media Let Us Down on Iraq (PBS.org - Bill Moyers Journal)
Ahmed Chalabi "was a creature of American propaganda to a large degree. It was a [sic] American company, the Rendon Group, that — working secretly with the CIA — basically created his organization, the Iraqi National Congress. And put Chalabi in charge basically."
"What he did was reasonably clever but fairly obvious, which is he gave the same stuff to some reporters that, for one reason or another, he felt would simply report it. And then he gave the same stuff to people in the Vice President's office and in the Secretary of Defense's office. And so, if the reporter called the Department of Defense or the Vice President's office to check, they would've said, 'Oh, I think that's-- you can go with that. We have that, too.' So, you create the appearance, or Chalabi created the appearance, that there were two sources, and that the information had been independently confirmed, when, in fact, there was only one source. And it hadn't been confirmed by anybody." 2-02
- Religious Views of George Washington (VirginiaPlaces.org)
Provides what is known about the religious views of George Washington. 12-03
- Republican Donors Gather (Huffington Post)
"At a private three-day retreat in California last weekend, conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch and about 250 to 300 other individuals pledged approximately $100 million to defeat President Obama in the 2012 elections." 02-12
- Republican Mind, Democratic Mind (ABC News)
"The last presidential campaign was one of the nastiest in recent history, but tantalizing new research suggests that even in the midst of that bitter battle, partisan voters didn't want to buy into it." 07-06
- Short History of the "Christian Left" (NOW with Bill Moyers)
Provides a short history of the organized involvement of Christian progressives in politics and public policy. 12-03
- Sustainability and Leadership Issues (Ode Magazine)
"Ode is an independent magazine about the people and ideas that are changing the world."
"Sometimes it’s difficult to see beyond the war, poverty, exploitation and pollution that the mainstream media use to fill our view of the world. But there is more to life. There are other stories to report. Stories of countless initiatives being launched around the globe by people devoted to justice, respect and equality. Stories that bridge the gap between thinking and doing, between rage and hope, and the painful gap between the rich and poor – and thus build peace and sustainability. That is the news that Ode promises to deliver. By reading Ode you connect to a network of positive change and inspiration. Ode points the way to knowing better, doing better and feeling better." 9-05
- The Most Conservative and the Most Liberal Cities in the USA (Forbes.com)
Provides the cities. 03-16
- The Rapture Index (EdifyingSpectacle.org)
Describes the rapture index, very well known among religious conservatives and fundamentalists. 12-04
- TrueMajority (TrueMajority.org)
Provides a progressive view of government. 6-03
- Letters to the Editor (MoveOn.org)
Provides a "Letter to the Editor" form for sending to various national newspapers. 3-05
- Promoting Political Discourse (CommonCause.org)
Provides a toolkit for working to improve discourse and views available from the public airwaves in the period before the election. Presented by the Public Interest Public Airwaves Coalition. 9-04
- Writing to the Media - Contacts (Congress.org)
Provides information for writing letters to the editors and other media campaigns.
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