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SUPER
TUESDAY!!!!!!!!
by
IseFire
- Mon 03/01/04; 9:16 pm EST
Okay, folks, it's tomorrow: Super
Tuesday. FINALLY! Watch results on CNN.com's
special page. These are the states (and delegate
counts) involved: California (370), New York (236), Ohio (140),
Connecticut (49), Georgia (86), Maryland (69), Massachusetts (93),
Minnesota (72), Rhode Island (21) and Vermont (15).
If you live in one of those states, remember to VOTE!!!!!!!
If you can't because you're not registered, register
to vote online, or call City Hall and ask them how
you can register, so you're good to go come the General Election
in November.
IseFire's
first exclusive video clip
:)
My exclusive video...all 4 or 5 seconds of it...of John
Kerry's sis stumpin' for her bro on the Upper West
Side yesterday.
American empire built on economic sand?
by
IseFire
- Sun 02/29/04; 7:26 am EST
Empires come and go. Some, like Alexander's, last less than
a generation. This, among history's lessons, is third in importance
only to the consistency of human nature and the fact that the past
actually never repeats itself. When George Santayana (1863-1952)
said "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat
it," the subject is "Those," not history or "the
past." History doesn't repeat itself; but--true enough--human
beings often fail to learn from the stories of other people and
other tribes, including those who have come before. Jonathan Marcus'
six-part
"Age of Empire" series on BBC World Service online
is a must-read. In the
final installment, Marcus wonders if debt will do
in the American empire.
[Excerpt] But economist Will Hutton told me [Marcus] of what
he calls "the dark underside of the United States economy"
- the condition of its international accounts.
Put
bluntly it owes the rest of the world $3trn dollars, and that is
debt which is increasing by $500bn a year.
This is, I suppose, perfectly fine if the debt is a smart investment,
if it is buying infrastructure and appreciable assets. But is it?
What if it's buying all terribly short-term things?
The debt's also not an issue as long as no one comes collecting.
A world divided between Communist-leaning and Capitalist-leaning
prevented that. However, [excerpt] Veteran diplomat Henry Kissinger
told me [Marcus] that anti-Americanism was not new, but he said
he was deeply troubled by the extent and intensity of the contemporary
phenomenon. This, he feared, was leading to a decline in America's
legitimacy.
Commentator
Fareed Zakaria shared some of these concerns. His worry was that
if things continue as they are, then America could end up being,
as he put it, "not only the most powerful country in the world
but also the most distrusted country in the world".
Are we, largely due to the Bush regime's unilateralism, at risk
of uniting the rest of the world against us? I don't evoke here
armed conflict, but economic conflict that forces America to a more
equal status with a united Europe and other economic entities.
Here's
some news. For the first time in history, the European
Union has hit us with sanctions.
Marching
for Lt. Kerry
by
IseFire
- Sun 02/29/04; 6:16 pm EST
I walked with about 100 West Side Democrats for Kerry this
afternoon. Joining
the foot soilders: John Kerry's sister, and his adorable neice (maybe
7 or 8 years old). They got her to say "Please vote for my
uncle!" into the megaphone once. Signs
in hand, the group, including veterans, walked up Broadway from
72nd Street to 96th Street. Below is a pic of some of the group
passing by Fairway,
one of New York's famous gourmet markets. The gorgeous Ansonia
hotel is in the background.
Several people I spoke to at the march agreed Kerry had not done
well in today's debate. Someone else confided to me today that they
think Kerry is suffering from foot-in-mouth problems lately.
Another pic below for extra credit...Larry Hirsch, a former Democratic
District Leader, and Marc Landis, a current DL, both of Community
Free Democrats (CFD), stumping for Kerry in front of Barnes &
Noble. Note the poster for Brinkley's book about Kerry's Vietnam
years in the window behind them. Back in January, Larry flew to
Iowa to do phone banking for Kerry the night of the caucus. Now
that's dedication!
It
was a train wreck of a debate--Kucinich
won; Kerry did horribly
by
IseFire
- Sun 02/29/04; 2:03 pm EST
The Democratic Presidential debate this morning was a mess.
It was ruined in large part by Elizabeth Bumiller, one of the "moderators,"
a churlish amateur who writes what one fellow blogger moments ago
called "treacly Bush valentines" under the title "White
House Letter."
The
winner of the debate: Dennis Kucinich
*When the candidates were asked if we're safer under Bush, Kucinich
was clear and direct: no--Iraq didn't make us safer; we're not going
after Al Qaeda...then Bumiller cut him off. *He managed to give
the most direct answers pretty much every time. He set himself apart
sharply from the rest on NAFTA and Iraq especially.
*He was generous in coming to John Edwards' defense, yet
*he was always able to muscle his answers in to the poorly-moderated
melee, but never was rude.
*He was able to call Edwards' bluff about NAFTA by citing a recent
New York Times interview in which Edwards said he supports
NAFTA.
Kerry badly bungled the gay marriage question (which was essentially
"just exactly what is WRONG with gay marriage?" / "Why
NOT allow it?". Instead of answering "nothing" and
"no good reason" (which as front-runner he won't say...and
arguably shouldn't), he said that he just didn't believe in it.
He alone referred to gay and lesbian Americans as "they"
in his answer. No other candidate did that in reference to any minority.
He said he's been to a gay wedding. To me, that sounded a bit like
the ol' suspect, "Some of my best friends are Jewish"
line.
Sharpton then called Kerry and Edwards on the disingenuous nature
of their "states rights" answer to gay marriage. Aren't
civil rights a federal issue? he asked. (Of course they are.)
There's a meme I see emerging among Democrats out in blogland, and
it was said best on DailyKos: Under fire in Vietnam, Kerry was
fearless. But rarely if ever has he shown comparable bravery on
the political battlefields at home.
I think that's harsh. But, memes are memes, and they sometimes take
on lives of their own.
We've got to remember that this is about beating Bush. And I think
Kerry can beat him. A Kucinich world is the one I'd like most, but
it's not an option yet. Working hard for John Kerry will help us
get there though. (Thank you, Hank Honig, for the wise words on
that score this afternoon!)
To show my Kerry support, I'm going to create a Kerry for President
portal on Isebrand.com, o replace the
Clark one I used to have.
Gore
Vidal
by
IseFire
- Sun 02/29/04; 12:00 am EST
If you haven't already, peruse The
Gore Vidal Pages. (If any of the selections seem
long, print them out, for goodness' sake, and read them at your
leisure! And buy some of the man's books.)
He's America's most important observer of American politics. He
foresaw Reagan's rise decades before; he understands and is born
of America's "political class;" he is politically-incorrect
because he is bluntly accurate; he is ignored at our republic's
peril. Here's a Vidal quote I rediscovered recently:
"Liberal" comes from the Latin liberalis, which
means pertaining to a free man. In politics, to be liberal is to
want to extend democracy through change and reform. One can see
why that word had to be erased from our political lexicon.
(If you read but one thing of Vidal's on this site, it should be
this.)
Fine,
dandy and diddly for Tony...until that darn Clare Short spoke up
again
by
IseFire
- Sat 02/28/04; 6:25 pm EST
[Excerpt from Simon
Hoggart sketch in The Guardian] And as
for [Short's] allegations? [Tony Blair] would not
deny them because he would have to deny everything. But the security
services always worked within the law, national and international.
So
that was a denial? No, he denied it was a denial. But Kofi Annan
was a good friend. The implication was that he would probably have
sent anything they'd picked up from the bug (which may or may not
exist) on his Christmas card.
Kucinich:
Greenspan
should resign for urging Social Security cuts
by
IseFire
- Sat 02/28/04; 12:57 pm EST
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), also a candidate for the Democratic
presidential nomination, has joined a small but growing choir calling
for Fed Reserve Chair, Alan Greenspan, to resign.
Kucinich's call came after Greenspan on the 25th told the House
Budget Committee that Social Security benefits should be cut to
deal with the deficit.
Kucinich said in a statement:
It is a disgrace that the chairman of the Federal Reserve would
advocate making tomorrow's old, infirm and disabled pay for today's
tax cuts to millionaires. That is exactly the effect of his testimony
to the Budget Committee, and if it ever became law, it would have
highly prejudicial effects.
Bush
wimps out on Greenspan
In related news, Bush
disingenuously distanced himself from Greenspan's comments,
even though they were clearly in-line with what have always been
President Bush's thoughts on Social Security (kill it) and tax cuts
weighted in favor of the wealthiest 1%-5% of Americans (make them
permanent).
Viacom
refuses to allow Democratic ad
by
IseFire
- Fri 02/27/04; 7:17 am EST
Viacom, which owns CBS, refused to air MoveOn.org's
political ad during the Super Bowl's half-time show.
Now they've squelched another hard-hitting but perfectly fair anti-Republican
ad--this time, a
billboard campaign in Missouri.
State Democratic Party Chairwoman May
Scheve Reardon said the ad was set to run for a month along I-70
in predominantly black sections of St. Louis and Kansas City. The
ad, featuring a black man's face against an American flag, states:
"Missouri Republicans have a plan. You are not a part of it."
On
a horn-tooting note
(cough)
by
IseFire
- Fri 02/27/04; 12:27 am EST
As of tonight, I'm a Vice-president (one of three) of Community
Free Democrats (CFD), probably the largest Democratic club in Manhattan
and the best in The Big Apple, if I do say so myself. CFD's Web
site will be up in about 7 to 10 working days. Rest assured that
I'll link to it when it's finally live.
IseFire
not totally "gay"
-- as if that would be a bad thing :)
by
IseFire
- Fri 02/27/04; 12:10 am EST
Lots of news this week about Bush's idiot divisiveness over
civil rights for gay Americans, but check
out the archives--shameless plug, I know; there's
a presidential race going on, too. And daily there are more revelations
of Bush lies and government-by-pocket-lining in D.C. The best of
last week's posts is the link to Poe's
essay about Vietnam vets finally coming into their
own as a national political force, and how that helps Kerry.
New
Paltz, NY, mayor to start issuing marriage licenses today (Friday)
by
IseFire
- Fri 02/27/04; 12:05 am EST
[Corrected
- 2/28]
The village of New Paltz, NY, will start start performing marriages
for same-sex couples on Friday!
Marriage
Equality New York is seeing this as the time for the New York City
LGBT community to demand that Mayor Bloomberg instruct the City
Clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples as soon as
possible.
Apparently,
there will be at NY City Hall a press conference on Sunday (Feb
29) at 1:30 pm with community leaders and elected officials to demand
that marriage licenses be issued in The Big Apple. For more info,
contact Marriage Equality NY at info@marriageequalityny.org
Salon.com
writer: What about Rudy Giuliani as GOP ticket Veep? Nah.
by
IseFire
- Fri 02/27/04; 12:00 am EST
Eric Boehlert wrote a piece published on Salon.com wondering
what former-mayor Rudy Giuliani would say to his (extremely
close) gay friends if he was tapped
to be Bush' running mate. Here
it is.
Annan
& UN bugged by UK
intel
by
IseFire
- Thu 02/26/04; 7:00 am EST
Tony Blair's has a problem on his hands now. A big one. Legal
or not, it's distasteful that the
UK bugged Kofi Annan's office, and the British people
are not going to be pleased w/ Mr. Blair.
 Not-so-poor
Mary Cheney
by
IseFire
- Wed 02/25/04; 11:19 pm EST
Here's
a site worth checking out: DearMary.com.
Poor Mary Cheney. I guess she got the "Silence equals consent"
thing and "Silence is golden" thing confused. She's silent
on gay issues while aiding an enemy of civil rights. (Love how Dicky
voted against Mandela's call for a US boycott of the white South
African gov't.) You go [somewhere else], girl!
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