Phelps has made history and broken world records. The Cold War might be coming back if the neo cons have anything to say about it. A Tropical Storm is heading our way. But what is consuming me right now is an email I glanced past and then read after my mom sent it to me saying she signed it.

The Bush Administraiton is trying to redefine abortion to include birth control. Un-freakin-bealiveable.  Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt has been trying to float variations of this all week. The Houson Chronicle posted the details. YOU can sign the peitition through Planned Parenthood and MoveOn.Org and let Leavitt know this will not go unnoticed. The rule change is repressive. It's fascist. And as Janet Crepps from the Center of Reproctive Rights said, "It's pernicious."  

73% of Americans believe birth control should be available and accessible to women regardless of income.  The HHS might be backing down from this stealthly insertion/rule change - which by the way does not require Congressional votes. This is from the Houston Chronicle: 

         " Health and Human Services officials are considering a draft regulation that would classify most birth control pills, the Plan B emergency contraceptive and                intrauterine devices as forms of abortion because they prevent the development of fertilized eggs into fetuses.

The rule, which does not require congressional approval, would allow health care workers who object to abortion on moral or religious grounds to refuse to counsel women on their birth control options or supply contraceptives. It would forbid more than half a million health agencies nationwide that receive federal funds from requiring employees to provide such services. Pharmacists could use the rule as a justification for refusing to fill birth control prescriptions, and insurance companies could cite it as a basis for declining to cover the costs...

[The] draft rule could void laws in 27 states that require insurance companies to provide birth control coverage for women requesting it. The rule also could counter laws in 14 states requiring that rape victims receive counseling and access to emergency, day-after contraceptives."

So the pill might no longer be covered by health insurance. But you can bet Bush's hypocritcal bippy that Viagra still will. And don't even get me started on the whole "Bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century," garbage.

 
Take action now. Sign the petition below. Then call your Senators and Congressional Rep. and raise a stink.

Birth control is NOT abortion.

 

Yup, apparently Pultizer has a new prize category: Gutter Journalism. That's how the White House referred to Ron Suskind's new book, "The Way of the World." Why would the White House do that? Well, for those of you who haven't been tuning into Keith or reading Daily Kos, or the Daily Telegragh for that matter, allow me to explain. Remember back in '03 when The Sunday Telegraph printed an article saying the letter that linked Al-Qaeda to Iraq was a forge? The letter claimed that 911 ringleader, Atta, trained in Iraq but was later dispelled by British Intelligence. Sound familiar? If it doesn't you can read all about it in Susskind's book. The book also claims that, hold onto your hat, an Iraqi Sr Intelligence Official let the Bush Administration know that Iraq had no WMDs way before the invasion. Holy bajesus. They knew? And lied us into war? No way!

This news comes on the tails of spending an evening listening to Rep Robert Wexler  speak at Books and Books about his new book, "Fire Breathing Liberal." Wexler is a breath of fresh air in a stagnant and spineless Congress. He stands up for the Constitution, for this country and for Americans when he demands hearings into crimes that if committed by anyone else, would be investigated, prosecuted and sentenced. 

 

So, truths known and ignored 5 years ago, rear their ugly truthy-filled heads once again, and all that's going through my head is that kid who asks the wise owl "How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop?" Except, I replace the licks and center of Tootsie Roll Tootsie pop, with how many crimes need to be committed and how many people need to die before you actually open an investigation. And I replace the wise owl with Nancy Pelosi. Be forewarned, it's be easier to ask the wise owl about Tootise pops than to ask her if she sees the irony in the title of her new book.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz Still Sandbagging Taddeo

by DavidNYC

Tue Aug 05, 2008 at 08:55:26 AM PDT

The Uprising: Thank you to everyone who came to the David Sirota Book Signing at Books and Books. It got so crowded it was standing room only and was a great way for David to end his book tour. Of course, the car breakdown probably was not a great way to end the trip, but hey he and his awesome wife Emily got to spend the night at Casa Rose and be entertained by the one and only Chapy.

 
Today is a great opportunity for grassroosts activists throughout Miami Dade County to show the DCCC we mean business. The DCCC has challenged targeted campaigns to do a massive phone bank. And Annette Taddeo's campaign (D-18) was chosen to participate. The campaign that reaches out to more voters gets their hands on a phone list of 3 million Democrats. So head on over to her campaign HQ and join in. Food and refreshments will be served, the room is air conditioned, AND you will be making a huge difference. Taddeo for Congress HQ, 11509 South Dixie Hwy 12:00 - 5:00pm
 

Today is also a day to put on some comfortable shoes and hit the streets joining one of the canvasses taking place for Barack Obama, Joe Garcia, Michael Calderin and Frank Morra.  There are also organizational meetings taking place all over the county for the Obama campaign.

Last but not least - TAKE THE DFAM GREEN CHALLENGE. Red or Blue wont make much of a difference if we don't go Green. So click on over, sign up, and save the planet. 

 

Thanks for all of your hard work! And if you haven't paid your dues (a weensy $24) please make yourself official today!

From the Orlando Sentinnel - Campaign 2008

No fuzzy math: State Dems sign up voters 7-1 over GOP

 

 

Aaron Deslatte |Tallahassee Bureau

July 12, 2008

In a state with 10.45 million voters, the new figures didn't significantly change the overall ratio of Democrats to Republicans; the state is still roughly 41 percent Democrat and 37 percent registered Republican, with most of the rest No Party Affiliation. That partisan edge has existed for years, but it hasn't delivered many statewide victories to Democrats.

In 2004, the state had roughly 360,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans -- and George W. Bush defeated John Kerry by 380,000 votes.

Still, this year's figures are an ominous sign for Republicans. The new voters materialized without any large-scale state party registration drives or even a settled candidate atop the Democratic ticket.

"It's a huge swing," says Marian Johnson, the veteran political director for the Florida Chamber of Commerce. "I looked at that and said, 'Wow.' "

Tallahassee GOP strategist David Johnson said that, at the least, the numbers should prompt Republicans to ramp up registration efforts.

But Florida GOP spokeswoman Katherine Gordon noted that in 2004, the party got more new voters to the polls than Democrats did even though the GOP registered 60,000 fewer new voters.

"Will so many new voters register and actually vote that they can outpace the tested Republican grass-roots machine that essentially hasn't lost a targeted statewide race in 10 years?" she said. "Doubtful."

County elections supervisors said the spike in Democratic registration was partly because of earlier-than-usual registration drives by third-party groups such as the League of Women Voters and ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, which targets black and Hispanic voters. The groups were trying to get ahead of a 2007 law that dramatically increases fines on third-party groups that don't turn in registration applications within 10 days.

The law has yet to take effect because the League and two labor unions filed suit to block it, arguing it discriminates against minorities who rely more heavily than whites on third-party organizations to register to vote. A ruling is expected soon.

"We wanted to get as many people registered as we could before the [state] started enforcing the law," said Marilynn Wills, state president of the League of Women Voters.

Meanwhile, ACORN, which organizes low-income voters, says it has already turned in about 123,000 registration forms in Central and South Florida -- where Democratic gains this year have been the biggest. "People are looking at their pocketbook, and they really want to see a change," said Carolyn Patmon, an ACORN volunteer leader from Orlando.

Orange County Elections Supervisor Bill Cowles credited ACORN and groups like it for most of the nearly 12,000 new Democratic voters so far this year, compared with a loss of 2,500 registered Republicans.

Nationally, Democratic voter registration and turnout surged this year during the heated, months-long primary contest between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Florida officials were stunned when a record 1.75 million Democrats voted in the state's Jan. 29 primary even though no Democrat campaigned in the state.


Aaron Deslatte can be reached at adeslatte@orlandosentinel.com or 850-222-5564. 

Democracy for America Miami-Dade joined a Flotilla during the Mayors Conference in Miami. The event was called "Money for Cities, Not War." Organizers had worked for weeks to get permission to rally by land and sea. We were told we would be fine if we remained 150 feet from shore. Bad weather caused many boats to cancel. The Coast Guard took care of the rest. At the last minute, they decided to block off the water 1,000 feet from shore at Vizcaya and closed off the channel. Prior to this we were sitting on the water, engine off, near the Rickenbacker. Out of nowhere a Miami-Dade police boat, doing their best impression of drunk teenagers on jet skis, charged us at top speed, stopped short and buzzed our boat creating a huge wake. They circled us and rode off when we took out cameras and started taping. They belong in a water safety class at the very least.

We headed back to shore and drove by the activists rallying outside Vizcaya.  We blared the horn and did two passes.

Friday was a sad day for our Constitution. Congress enabled the White-Outting of our Fourth Amendment and the Coast Guard atttempted to erase the First.

Folks,

I just sent the email below to the Governor of our great state. I'm extremely concerned that political expediency is clouding the debate over an issue that is so important to Florida - keeping oil rigs off our shores. The bottom line is that no amount of drilling will reduce gas prices, and politicians shouldn't be giving people this false hope.

Please read my email and help me get the truth out about drilling by writing a letter to the editor of your local paper today.

Governor Crist,

You and I have worked together on many, many issues. While we don't always agree, I have always respected you for your willingness to engage an honest debate and avoid the rank partisanship that has defined our state for too long.

So it is in that spirit that I urge you to reconsider your support of Senator McCain and President Bush's position to lift the moratorium on drilling off the shores of Florida. Although I am confident that we will disagree on who to support for President, we both should be able to agree that Florida's pristine coastline should not become just another chit in presidential politics.

What is most distressing has been the argument that we should lift the ban because of the high cost of gasoline. It is simply not fair or accurate to suggest that allowing oil drilling off the Florida coast will do anything to alleviate the currently oppressive cost of fuel. In fact, the Bush administration issued a report saying exactly that just last year, and John McCain himself admitted as recently as three weeks ago that this would not help consumers at the pump.

I think your initial instincts on this were right and I urge you to retreat to your original position that protects our pristine coastlines.

You and I agree that we should not gamble with our state's economic future. So let's protect our coastlines by maintaining the moratorium on drilling off Florida's beaches.

Your friend,
Dan Gelber

I feel very strongly about this issue, as I'm sure you do. I want lower gas prices like everybody else, but misinformation and dangerous policies won't do anything to bring them down.

With our help, Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States, and he understands that if we're going to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, we're going to have to get serious about investing in clean, renewable sources of energy - not destroying our beaches for a relatively minute amount of oil.

Don't let your friends and neighbors be fooled by this political ploy. Drilling won't reduce gas prices, and we ought not to even consider risking Florida's tourism-based economy.

Click here to use the Party's Letter-to-the-Editor tool to set the record straight today.

I'll let you know if I hear back from the Governor.

Sincerely,

Dan Gelber
Democratic Leader, Florida House of Representatives