Peace Train Sounding Louder

Now I’ve been happy lately,
thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be,
something good has begun

Cause out on the edge of darkness,
there rides a peace train
Oh peace train take this country,
come take me home again

All of the news this week has just gotten me in an optimistic frame of mind. It looks like we’ll be rid of Gonzalez soon, and the Democratic Congress is doing a Zugzwang on Bush, Rove is going to be subpoenaed by both Houses of Congress, and how can you not love Patrick Leahy. The country seems to really be finally be waking up and realizing that we have all been living through a fascist nightmare for the past six years. Even right-wing conservatives, the real ones, seem to also be waking up and coming to the realization that our government has been stolen by a bunch of lying, thieving thugs and needs to be taken back.

My mother taught me as a boy that the truth will out, one way or another, and that we can trust the collective, innate knowledge of right and wrong in us and our fellow citizens to eventually do the right thing

This morning I came across this Late Night FDL post by Trex and this song just came to me right away. I remember listening to this song endlessly during the summer that the Watergate hearings were being held on TV, and impeachment proceedings were beginning against Richard Nixon. It looks like we may be in for similar entertainment during the summer ahead of us. Looking at what has happened just in the past couple of weeks I can’t help thinking that all roads lead to impeachment. All that needs to happen to destroy a web of deceit is to break one strand.

Confrontation?

by Stephen Fleischman

Rejoice! Congress seems to have come to life!

The President has drawn his line in the sand and a Senator has crossed it!

“We will not go along with a partisan fishing expedition aimed at honorable public servants,” President Bush said in a last ditch effort to keep his manipulator, Karl Rove, and his former attorney, Harriet Miers, from being questioned under oath in a Congressional hearing. They would be grilled on the scandal that’s been hanging over the Justice Department, and particularly Alberto Gonzales, the Attorney General, about the dismissal of eight US Federal Attorneys allegedly for political purposes.

Senator Patrick Leahy, D-VT., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is the man who stepped across that line in the sand and threatened to send out subpoenas for Rove, Miers and their aides if they didn’t appear voluntarily. “I want testimony under oath. I’m sick and tired of getting half-truths on this,” said Leahy. “Testimony should be on the record and under oath. That’s the formula for true accountability… it is not helpful to be telling the Senate how to do our investigation or to prejudge its outcome.”

Rep. John Conyers, Jr., Democrat of Michigan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee doesn’t want anyone like the President telling him how to do his investigation, either. He is also preparing subpoenas for Rove and Miers to get their sworn testimony in the House inquiry.

Do You Think It’s Time?

This is one of the few people in our government who truly “get it”.

Please share this liberally. (h/t STOP George@My Left Wing)

Impeachment on a Silver Platter

There is a terrific diary up a dKos this evening which is definately worth a read.

What an extraordinary gift Bush has given the Democratic Party and the American People. For months if not years, Democrats and Progressives have wrung our hands and beaten our heads against the wall: should we move to impeach? Whom, exactly, should we impeach? How can we do it? On what grounds? Will the American people stand with us, or against us? Above all, how can we do it without making Republicans look like the victims of a partisan witch hunt?

[...]

In sum, Bush has given us every possible political cover and excuse for impeaching him, on an issue for which he has little to no congressional support among Republicans. It’s wrapped up in a neat little package with a bowtie. It is, frankly, a generous gift to our Party, our Nation, and our Constitution.

All we need is the courage to open it.

Read it all here. It’s a truly a fascinating and hopeful analysis of today’s developments.

Iraq Veterans Memorial

This is why it is so important for all of us to stay active, and keep fighting to end this horribly misconcieved disaster of an occupation. No one should have to suffer such loss, each life is precious and too many have been lost already in this folly. We must end it, and we must bring the perpetrators of this horror to justice.

Visit the Memorial here.

Fate of the Democrats

by Stephen Fleischman

In the fateful election of 2008, let’s hope we don’t see a replay of days gone by. If the leading Democratic candidates are destined to be Hillary Clinton or Baraka Obama, or John Edwards or one of the others following right behind, they all seem to be playing the numbers games so early in their careers. When do we get out of Iraq? In six months? Maybe a year? End of 2008?

Hillary Clinton is slicing the bacon very thin. “Anything Bush can do, she can do better…”

In the old days, they were called the “social democrats”. They’ve been around a long time. They’re an old international bunch. In Europe, before World War I, they were part of the Second International (SI). Why did they call themselves that? I suppose to distinguish themselves from the First and the Third. They claimed to believe in socialism achieved by democratic means. They could have stopped World War I before it started if they voted no funds for war in their respective nations. But they didn’t. In the end, they went with their war parties. And we know what that cosmic clash brought upon us.

Bush’s Latin Slip

by Stephen Fleischman

Bush put the bear-hug on Brazil’s president, Lula da Silva, on the first leg of his vaunted South American trip. That picture, featured in the media, must have sent shivers up the spine of most Latinos.

The five nation tour of Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico, aims to improve the image of the colossus of the north but it may be having the opposite effect.

“I don’t think America gets enough credit for trying to help improve people’s lives” Mr. Bush said at a press conference in Sao Paulo.

Brazilians must feel otherwise. Protesters were out in force throughout the region, calling for the “gringo” to go home as well as calling Bush everything from a murderer, a fascist and a hypocrite. They also called him a warmonger and planet polluter. Polls show widespread opposition to the Iraq war and U.S. trade and immigration policies.

The Real Question Behind The Plame Leak

Dave Lindorff published a peice over at Common Dreams the other day which focused on the real question which the Libby conviction raises,”Why did Libby lie to the Grand Jury?”

The whole focus of the media in this case has been on the narrow, inside-the-Beltway question of who leaked information about Plame to the media.

Entirely forgotten or ignored has been what this leak was all about to begin with.

For that, you have to go back and look at what Wilson did in the first place that so enraged or frightened the Vice President and the President.

And that was to go to Niger, one of the poorest nations in Africa, to prove conclusively that there was no truth to a set of forged notes on the letterhead of the Niger embassy in Rome, purporting to be receipts for 400 tons of Niger uranium ore allegedly being sought by Iraq’s Saddam Hussein.

Wilson knew those documents were cheap forgeries–the name of the mines official on the papers was someone who hadn’t been in office for years–but he went to Niger anyhow, just to make doubly certain that no such purchase attempt had been made.

None had.

So the real question then is, who is behind those forged documents?

It’s So Ironic

From The Marine Corps Times:

Cpl. Matthew Sanchez, 36, now a member of the Individual Ready Reserve, has made national headlines since, as a student at Columbia University, he stood up to war protesters who publicly vilified him for his military service while administrators there refused to intervene, citing freedom of speech.

Sanchez has appeared on cable television programs such as Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor” and “Hannity & Colmes,” and penned an editorial for the New York Post. He also wrote a Back Talk column for the Jan. 1 edition of Marine Corps Times titled, “Missing the big picture: Ivy League protesters feel superior to service members.”

Sanchez also appeared at last week’s Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington where he was photographed with his arm around Coulter, who caused a stir when she gave a speech at the conference in which she slammed Democratic presidential contender John Edwards using a vulgar word for a gay man.

On March 6, four days after Coulter’s comment, homosexual blogger Joe.My.God. published the picture of Coulter and Sanchez and alleged that Sanchez had spent the mid ’90s acting in gay porn films such as “Man to Men” under the screen names Rod Majors and Pierre LaBranche.

In a letter published on www.salon.com Thursday, Sanchez confirmed that “I acted in several adult movies 15 years ago,” but that he no longer does that.

[...]

While Sanchez says he has put his gay porn past behind him, the Marine Corps hasn’t. Homosexual behavior is prohibited by an article of the Uniform Code of Military Justice that forbids “sodomy.”

As a member of the IRR, Sanchez falls under the authority of Marine Corps Mobilization Command in Kansas City, Mo., where the commanding general’s staff judge advocate, Lt. Col. Michael Blessing, has begun an inquiry into the revelations about his past, according to command spokesman Shane Darbonne.

“We’re looking into it and we’re going to verify facts and determine if any further action is warranted,” Darbonne said.

As of Friday afternoon, officials at Marine Forces Reserve in New Orleans were unable to confirm whether Sanchez had enlisted prior to the end of his film career or if Reserve Marines were prohibited from doing porn when not in a drilling status.

At AmericaBlog, John Aravosis’ comment cuts to the quick:

…the irony here is that Matt Sanchez’s friends on the right, who gave him an award for his service, want him kicked out of the Marines, while the folks on the left, who he claims hate him, are the ones fighting for his right to serve. Think about that one, Matt, the next time you do interviews talking about how much the Party of “Faggot” embraces you.

This is just sad. Because of Sanchez’s seeming blindness to his own exploitation by the right-wing media, in the guise of the likes of Coulter and Malkin, he has been, and continues to be, used by them. It so frustrating to me to see those being exploited speak so loudly to enable their own exploitation.

Saturday Funnies

I’m always so happy when I stumble across these.

Thanks Bob!