"spreading the wealth" ?

great article by Frida Berrigan

Too Many Guns
More than 200 years after our founding fathers enshrined the right to "bear arms" in our Constitution, we have more arms than we can bear, writes Frida Berrigan in her latest column.

please click link to read more...

Thoughts on Powell's endorsement...

The only reason Obama got this endorsement is because Colin Powell is black. Also, the only reason Admiral John Nathman, Brigadier-General James Smith, Four-star General Merrill McPeak and 20 other military leaders have endorsed Obama, is because Colin Powell is black." --Stephen Colbert

Obama wins the support of aspiring war criminal

-- Charley Abboud

Barack Obama is the worst thing that could have happened to the progressive, anti-war movement. He absorbed it and nullified it. He co-opted it and subverted it.

Colin Powell, the aspiring war criminal, the shamed devil sycophant, has now been guaranteed a leadership position by a guy who has pledged to increase the size of the military, conduct the occupation of Iraq more "responsibly," deliver an increase of American cannon fodder to the unwinnable clusterfuck that is Afghanistan, and open up new fronts in this bullshit "war on terror" that we have inflicted on the world.

Obama was given a chance to affect "change" as a Senator and failed. He campaigned vocally against the Iraq war in his Democratic primary in Illinois. Once he got elected, he fell silent.

He spoke out against telecom immunity, but when it came time for the actual vote he slapped his constituents across the face and dared them to complain. They didn't.

He chose Joe Biden, self-described Zionist and early Iraq-war propagandist, as his running-mate. No one talks about Joe Biden.

See, as long as people keep voting for the lesser of two evils, it gives the lesser evil a shield from accountability, and the freedom to remain evil and to become more evil as long as the threat of greater evil is there to play its role.

Obama is just a smaller step in the wrong direction, not the beginning of incremental improvement.

Here's a Twofer, make that THREEfer, Misses Palin!

What You Don't Know About the U.S. Bailout

Voters are rightly furious at the proposal to spend $700 billion that the government doesn't have, just to bail out Wall Street bankers who created the current economic crisis in the first place.

But did you know about the trillions of dollars the Federal Reserve is pumping into the system on top of that?

Or the trillions missing from the Pentagon?

Do you know what the real cost of the bailout of Wall Street may end up being?

Bush issues two more presidential signing statements.

Yesterday, President Bush asserted “that he had the executive power to bypass several parts of two bills: a military authorization act and a measure giving inspectors general greater independence from White House control,” the New York Times’ Charlie Savage reports:

In the authorization bill, Mr. Bush challenged four sections. One forbid the money from being used “to exercise United States control of the oil resources of Iraq”; another required negotiations for an agreement by which Iraq would share some of the costs of the American military operations there. […]

In the other bill, he raised concerns about two sections that strengthen legal protections against political interference with the internal watchdog officials at each executive agency. One section gives the inspectors general a right to counsels who report directly to them. But Mr. Bush wrote in his signing statement that such lawyers would be bound to follow the legal interpretations of the politically appointed counsels at each agency.

Bush has issued signing statements to bypass more than 1,100 sections of laws. A recent report by the House Armed Services Committee said Bush has used the statements in a “broad and unsubstantiated” manner and that 78 percent of them “have raised constitutional or legal objections.”

Gun Violence Prevention Groups

Endorse New York State Assembly Candidates





New York, NY - Three major gun violence prevention organizations today announced their endorsements in several New York State Assembly races. New Yorkers Against Gun Violence (NYAGV), GunFreeKids.org, and The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence along with its Million Mom March Chapters work together to help protect New Yorkers from the threat of gun violence and support candidates who support strong gun laws.

The endorsed candidates announced today include 12 Democrats and 2 Republicans.

“The Assemblymembers we endorse today have been strong leaders in the fight to enact life-saving legislation,” said Jackie Hilly, Executive Director of NYAGV. “All New Yorkers deserve representation in Albany by people who share their ideals and will work hard for sensible gun laws. We can make a real difference in the fight against gun violence when our elected officials work with us to remove illegal weapons from New York communities.”

“The State Assembly historically introduces and passes a range of strong gun violence prevention bills only to watch them die on the vine in the State Senate,” said Andy Pelosi, President of GunFreeKids.org. “This year we want to recognize the Assembly leadership for their long-standing efforts in working to reduce gun violence, while also highlighting other members from both sides of the aisle that share the commitment of reducing gun violence in our state.”

This year microstamping and improved gun dealer regulations - both important law enforcement tools to help investigate and pursue crime guns and the criminals who use them - are at the top of the groups agendas. In 2008, the State Assembly passed both bills, but the Senate refused to act.

“We make it too easy for dangerous people to get dangerous weapons, and these Assembly Members will continue to fight for common sense gun laws to help keep our children and our families safe,” said Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign.

The Endorsed State Assembly Candidates Are:

Speaker Sheldon Silver, 64th Assembly District (Manhattan)

Assemblymember Patricia Eddington, 3rd Assembly District (Medford)

Assemblymember Steve Englebright, 4th Assembly District (East Setauket)

Assemblymember Charles Lavine, 13th Assembly District (Glen Cove)

Assemblymember Michelle Schimel, 16th Assembly District (Great Neck)

Assemblymember Tom McKevitt, 17th Assembly District (Garden City)

Assemblymember Tom Alfano, 21st Assembly District (Franklin Square)

Assemblymember Joseph Lentol,. 50th Assembly District (Brooklyn)

Assemblymember Annette Robinson, 56th Assembly District (Brooklyn)

Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh, 74th Assembly District (Manhattan)

Assemblymember Michael Benjamin, 79th Assembly District (Bronx)

Assemblymember Ruben Diaz, Jr., 85th District (Bronx)

Assemblymember Amy Paulin, 88th Assembly District (Scarsdale)

Assemblymember David Koon, 135th Assembly District (Fairport)

New Yorkers Against Gun Violence (NYAGV) is a statewide advocacy group working to build public awareness of the devastating impact of gun violence in New York and across the country, while advocating for sensible gun legislation on the city, state and federal levels.

Visit NYAGV at www.NYAGV.org

GunFreeKids.org is working to help empower voters in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and other states to participate in gun violence prevention activities in their communities and to support state-based candidates who favor strong gun laws.

Find out more at www.GunFreeKids.org

As the nation's largest, non-partisan, grassroots organization leading the fight to prevent gun violence, the Brady Campaign, with its dedicated network of Million Mom March Chapters, works to enact and enforce sensible gun laws, regulations and public policies. The Brady Campaign is devoted to creating an America free from gun violence, where all Americans are safe at home, at school, at work, and in our communities.

Visit the Brady Campaign website at www.bradycampaign.org .