After a month of discussion, I’ve joined with several other bloggers and commenters to form a committee, if you will, to try to coordinate letter writing campaigns on important issues. So, I’ll be issuing Action Alerts on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, provided there is an Alert. As it happens, I’ve been having problems with Hotmail this week, so I’m posting Wednesday’s Action Alert today.</p. We are asking that you write to AARP, and say the following: 1. That we are disappointed in AARP’s failure to oppose the administration’s “reform” of Social Security; 2. That we expect AARP to stand up … Continue reading Action Alert: Social Security

From Holden: Support our troops: He lost his arm serving his country in Iraq. Now this wounded soldier is being discharged from his company in Fort Hood, Texas, without enough gas money to get home. In fact, the Army says 27-year-old Spc. Robert Loria owes it close to $2,000, and confiscated his last paycheck. [snip] Like many soldiers wounded in Iraq, Loria’s injuries were caused by a roadside bombing. It happened in February when his team from the 588th Battalion’s Bravo Company was going to help evacuate an area in Baqubah, a town 40 miles north of Baghdad. A bomb … Continue reading Iraq Outrage: Part I

From Holden: WTF??? Why is the U.S. Military warehousing corpses in Fallujah? Could it be that they don’t want the dead to be identified by family members, as they are innocent civilians instead of freedom-hating terrorists? The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Friday expressed concern about civilians in Falluja, where sewage is flowing in the streets and hundreds of bodies apparently lie in a warehouse since a U.S. assault. [snip] “Our team was told by the U.S. army that there are several hundred dead bodies in a warehouse in the city,” Westphal told Reuters, adding that the … Continue reading Iraq Outrage: Part II

From Holden: Georgie wants to borrow even more of your children’s money and flush it down the toilet he created in Iraq. The Bush administration, facing mounting violence in Iraq and demands for upgraded equipment, is assembling a funding package for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan that could surge beyond earlier estimates to as much as $75 billion to $100 billion, congressional sources and experts said on Thursday. Administration and congressional officials estimated in October that the funding package would total between $60 billion and $75 billion. The Army’s request alone could top $51 billion, far more than the $35 … Continue reading Iraq Outrage: Part III

From Holden: Progressives by definition believe in equality for all. “For all” means everyone regardless of age, race, ethnicity, religious belief, or sexual orientation. An article in Wednesday’s New York Times suggested that the leadership of the Human Rights Campaign was willing to comprimise on the issue of same sex marriage, and even went so far as to suggest they were willing to trade support for gutting Social Security in exchange for same-sex couple benefits. As expected, there was a strong reaction to that report. Dozens of prominent advocates for gay rights sent a letter to every member of Congress … Continue reading Core Principles Must Not Be Compromised

A. Continue reading Friday Ferretblogging

From Holden: It looks like Krugman is back for good: How, then, can privatizers claim that they could secure the future of Social Security without raising taxes or reducing the incomes of future retirees? By assuming that workers would invest most of their accounts in stocks, that these investments would make a lot of money and that, in effect, the government, not the workers, would reap most of those gains, because as personal accounts grew, the government could cut benefits. We can argue at length about whether the high stock returns such schemes assume are realistic (they aren’t), but let’s … Continue reading Don’t Cry For Me…

Him. Listen to NPR’s report on detainee abuse in New Jersey jails. Akaka appears near the end of the report, promising to publicize reports of any abuse at immigration detention facilities under the control of the Department of Homeland Security and hold congressional hearings if necessary: “Our country was once known as the humane nation, and when you hear reports like this, well, it’s certainly not humane.” Tell him thank you for paying attention. A. Continue reading Another Democrat To Love

Or, the utter fatuousness of sports fans, the gutlessness of editors, and what’s really wrong with journalism today. Here’s how it began: A sports writer refused to rank his home football team highest in an Associated Press poll. The reason? He felt another team was better. When home team fans, who make freepi look like reasonable participants in public debate, deluged him with e-mails and threats, the writer told them, in the bitchy deadpan only really good sports columnists can manage, to go fuck themselves. Which he was perfectly within his rights to do, and frankly, as somebody who’s been … Continue reading No Joy In Huntsville

From Holden: I’m not the only one who has had it with Little Scottie’s “answers”: Q Borrowing, that’s borrowing. Just use English — that’s borrowing. Continue reading Gaggle Extra: Oh, the Frustration

From Holden: Jeebus on a pogo stick, trying to get a straight answer from Little Scottie on just what the preznit’s principles are in regards to Social Security is yoeman’s work. First, one press pooler was as confused as I was by the preznit’s comments this monring. Q So the President says that he will not prejudge any solution, but then he rules out a tax increase. Isn’t that prejudging a solution? Then it really got ugly. Q Would raising the $87,900 ceiling cap on taxes, would that constitute a tax increase? Or is he open to doing that? MR. … Continue reading Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle

From Holden: Rummy: “Great. Now these guys are gonna ask me for helmets ’cause their turbans won’t stop shrapnel from an IED. Buncha whiners.” Continue reading Today’s Caption Contest

From Holden: Jeannette Rankin (1880 – 1973) The New England Journal of Medicine posts a photographic essay, Caring for the Wounded in Iraq. NOTE: The linked photo essay includes several graphic images from operating rooms. Addendum: From Boston.com we learn: US troops injured in Iraq have required limb amputations at twice the rate of past wars, and as many as 20 percent have suffered head and neck injuries that may require a lifetime of care, according to new data giving the clearest picture yet of the severity of battlefield wounds. Continue reading “You Can No More Win a War Than You Can Win an Earthquake.”

From Holden: Jeannette Rankin (1880 – 1973) The New England Journal of Medicine posts a photographic essay, Caring for the Wounded in Iraq. NOTE: The linked photo essay includes several graphic images from operating rooms. Addendum: From Boston.com we learn: US troops injured in Iraq have required limb amputations at twice the rate of past wars, and as many as 20 percent have suffered head and neck injuries that may require a lifetime of care, according to new data giving the clearest picture yet of the severity of battlefield wounds. Continue reading ”You Can No More Win a War Than You Can Win an Earthquake.”

From Holden: Sidney Blumenthal reviews Bernie the K’s illustrious carrer and cocludes: In line with other second-term cabinet appointments – Alberto Gonzales as attorney general, Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state – Kerik will be an enforcer, a loyalist and an incompetent. The resemblance is less to Inspector Clouseau or Chauncy Gardner than to Caligula’s horse. Continue reading Of Course, Of Course

From Holden: Peggy Noonan gets the Deep Thoughts treatment over at World O’ Crap. Continue reading I Hope That Some Animal Never Bores a Hole in My Head

From Holden: Your preznit granted the press the privilege of asking a couple of questions this morning. Q The transition to personal accounts may cost $2 trillion. Can the country afford to borrow that much? THE PRESIDENT: I think what’s really important in the discussions is to understand the size of the problem. And that is we are faced with a present value of unfunded liabilities of about $11 trillion. What’s important, Steve, is before we begin any discussion is to understand the scope of the problem. And that’s why these trustees are vital in helping educate the American people, … Continue reading Reaming Out Social Security

From Holden: Who really cares about our troops? George Bush and legions of republicans who ponied-up a buck-fiddy for a yellow ribbon magnet to slap next to the silver fish on the trunk of their cars? “The concerns expressed are being addressed and that is — we expect our troops to have the best possible equipment,” Bush said at the White House. “If I were a soldier overseas wanting to defend my country I’d want to ask the secretary of defense the same question. And that is, ‘Are we getting the best we can get us?’ And they deserve the … Continue reading Support Our Troops

From Holden: Looks like our neighbors to the north are roughly five years ahead of us. Canada’s highest court said Thursday the government can redefine marriage to include same-sex couples, but it added that religious officials cannot be forced to perform unions against their beliefs. Link. Continue reading Canada Gets It Aboot Right

From Holden: The Army Reserve is in trouble. It has only 70% of the captains and lieutenants it needs, while officers’ resignation requests have grown from 15 in 2001 to 370 this year. Here’s a handy chart from the Seattle Times. And here are some snippets from their article on this problem. The Army Reserve is facing an extreme shortage of company officers, a situation aggravated by a surge in resignation requests. The shortage — primarily of captains — has seriously reduced the capabilities of the Reserve, and continued losses will further reduce the readiness of “an already depleted military … Continue reading Reserve Officer Resignation Requests Increase 2,460% Under Bush

From Holden: Charles Pickering retires from the court Bush put him on while Congress was in recess rather than face yet another tough fight in the Senate. Link.</p Federal judge Charles Pickering, appointed by President Bush less than a year ago without Congressional approval, said Wednesday he will step down from the bench. President Bush elevated Pickering, 67, with a recess appointment in January, which temporarily sidestepped the confirmation process. Some Democrats accused Pickering of being racially insensitive and harboring anti-abortion views. Such recess appointments, which need no Senate confirmation, are valid only until the next Congress takes office, in … Continue reading We Win One By Default

From Holden: A brief program note. I’ll be doing some guest-blogging over at skippy’s place for the next couple of weeks while he and mrs. skippy take a romantic winter cruise. Some of the content will be shorter versions of what you see here, some will not. I don’t expect First Draft to suffer, in fact this will be a good opportunity for Tena and Athenae to get a few words in edgewise while my attention is divded. Continue reading blogging without the shift key

From Holden: We’re learning more interesting facts about Fatherland Security Secretary designee Bernie Kerik, aren’t we? First we found out he fathered and then abandoned a child in Korea. Next, we hear he lied in his autobiography about the events that lead to his expulsion from Saudi Arabia. Now today it is reported that he made $5.85 million last month by exercising stock options in torture device manufacturer Taser International, a company that intends to do more business with Fatherland Security and on who’s board of directors Kerik continues to serve. Bernard Kerik, President Bush’s choice to run the Homeland … Continue reading More on Bernie the K

From Holden: skippy exhorts us to freep the People’s Choice Awards by voting Fahrenheit 9/11 as your “favorite movie”. And while you’re at it, pay a visit to Filkertom’s new blog, thank you, michael moore. Continue reading Give Michael Moore a Mandate

From Holden: Last week we had 357,000 new unemployment claims. Just in time for the holidays. In the week ending Dec. 4, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 357,000, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week’s unrevised figure of 349,000. The 4-week moving average was 341,250, an increase of 4,750 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 336,500. Continue reading New Bush Boomless Numbers Continue to Rise

From Holden: Lawyers for Time Magazine’s Matt Cooper and the NYTimes’ Judy Miller appealed the reporters’ contempt order in the Plame case yesterday: Federal appeals court judges suggested yesterday that reporters might be able to refuse to reveal the names of their confidential sources in selected criminal investigations but have no blanket protection against the responsibility to testify before a grand jury. The three-judge panel weighed arguments yesterday in a press-freedom dispute that pits reporters’ ability to gather information about an increasingly tight-lipped government against the Justice Department’s right to require their testimony in its investigation of suspected leaks from … Continue reading Decision in Miller-Cooper Contempt Case Expected Next Week

Swiped from my colleagues at Seditious Libel, here’s a remedy for the holiday blues and those twinges of withdrawal from daily doses of Big and Medium John. Every day a Kerry/Edwards photo, every day a quote about the best of us, every day a new Democrat to meet, learn about, enjoy. Go. So much fun. A. Continue reading Happy Democrat Photo: Advent Calendar Edition

From Holden: John Snow: “Oh the shark babe, has such teeth dear…” Continue reading A Swingin’ Caption Contest

From Holden: First up: ask Little Scottie a question that he does not like and you don’t get a follow-up. Q Scott, two questions. One, right after meeting President Bush in the White House in the Oval Office, General Musharraf told CNN that it was — he joins Mr. Kofi Annan of the U.N. criticizing the U.S. war on Iraq. He said that it was a big mistake why the U.S. to invade Iraq, and later on he went to London, in the House of Commons and he said that the U.S.-led war — the way the U.S. led the … Continue reading Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle

From Holden: In today’s gaggle Les Kinsolving is worried about Target’s ban on bellringers: Q Scott, the Target Corporation of Minneapolis has barred the Salvation Army’s Christmas bell ringers from the area of its 1,272 stores. That’s cost the Salvation Army almost $9 million. And my first question, does the President have no concern about this at all? MR. McCLELLAN: I think the President has talked about his views when it comes to faith-based organizations, and their ability to retain their identity as they help people. But in terms of this specific issue, I don’t know the familiars of this … Continue reading Obsession Extra – Compare and Contrast