It’s been a while since we’ve talked about the movement to instigate impeachment via the Vermont Legislature as per the procedures and precedents contained in the Jefferson’s Manual. A bill was finally introduced in the House with several co-sponsors, but in the waning frantic weeks of the session, it went nowhere. Still, the bill made it past the Statehouse doors and most of it’s sponsors will be back under the Golden Dome when the next session opens in January, hopefully ready for a January relaunch of 603 legislation.

And further brightening the future of the Vermont Impeachment movement is the likely arrival of a “603” ally in the Vermont Senate. Former Senate President Pro-Tem and Lieutenant Governor Candidate (and almost-Governor candidate) Peter Shumlin will likely step up to run for the Senate seat in Windham County being left open by retiring Senator Rod Gander. Gander is a fine man and will be much missed in Montpelier, but his retirement opens up the return of a major political player in Shumlin, who is one of the signers of the online impeachment petition (click here for the page his name appears on) that specifically calls on the legislature to take up Article 603 legislation. If he does run, Shumlin would be a virtual shoe-in, putting him into an ideal position to work with those like-minded legislators in the House who have already stepped forward on the matter — particularly if he returns to leadership.

Meanwhile, the Impeachment movement — both those activists who worked on “603” and those involved in the town meeting motions — largely continue their work, but in a more coordinated and regionalized way. Expect to see some local events bringing the issue to communities as proponents continue to work behind the scenes promoting the petition to build up a head of steam for a return in January. With the news of ever-greater and more astonishing attacks on our very society by this administration, it becomes clear that those of us who care are obliged to do everything we can within the bounds of morality and civilization to stop the erosion of our Democracy.

And thanks to the Jefferson Manual, this is something we can do.

( – promoted by odum)

Crossposted at Daily Kos

For the second day in a row, the corporate media is running with the new revelations
around the Bush administration’s data mining adventures.

Arlen Specter, so aptly named for his tendency to vanish when the lights go on, is puffing
harder than ever over this issue, and our own Pat Leahy, ranking Democrat, is nearly
apoplectic with rage.

Bush just limboed below the magic 30% approval number.
BEFORE this story hit.

The strong feeling I got from my surfing yesterday, is that this transgression crossed a line with the American people, and I am inclined to agree.
So doesn’t this transform Senator Russ Feingold’s censure resolution from ‘fringe politics’ to a no-brainer?

And why is nobody talking about it?
More after the jump 

Like many progressives, I dutifully wrote and called both VT Senators urging support for
the Feingold censure resolution. One (the democrat!) ignored my letter, Senator Jeffords
office responded with a personal letter saying he was concerned and would wait for the
“investigation” into the matter to be completed.

No doubt he knows this, as we all do, but the investigation was just decapitated yesterday. 
So now what?

Senator Jeffords, you just lost the escape hatch.
There is no reason left for any Democratic or Independent Senator NOT to cosponsor Feingold’s
resolution.
Likewise, Republican Senators can be forced to state their support for unchecked executive power by opposing this resolution.
I wrote both senators again this morning, highlighting this specific point, and I urge you to do the same.
http://leahy.senate.gov
http://jeffords.senate.gov

Maybe this is the subject for another diary, but here’s some thoughts about the ramifications of this odious program;

What happens if somebody outside the father/protector/decider/bigbrother government gets ahold of this information? Do you think the NSA is keeping these records in a hack-
proof vault somehere? (I would remind you that the other hallmark of BushCo is its
systemic incompetence).
Read this story and sleep comfortably (not!!)  This guy was looking for UFOs. The next guy might be looking for your identity, or when you’re not at home, or when you’re home alone.
Or, how about this one?  Saying “hi, babe” over the phone is a coded terror message. See you in Guantanamo. That is, if they take our hoods off.

Finally, some cozy thoughts. I will preface this last by saying that I do not believe for one second that this program is “limited” to analyzing calling patterns. BushCo has unfailingly lied about every aspect of this program, and is illegally blocking investigation of its own illegality.
Fool me three times, I’m a fool.

The venomous wingnuts who still run to Bush’s defense like to claim that if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. 
Think about what you have to hide, for a moment. 
Have you ever dialed a phone sex number? Bought a little pot over the phone? Confided to a drinking buddy about how you don’t remember driving home last night? Discussed a loved one’s illegal activity over the phone? Cheated on your spouse and confessed to your best friend on the phone? Called in sick to work, then didn’t go to the doctor? Called in a prescription you’d rather everybody didn’t know about?  How about those calls to your doctor discussing your medical situation? Then have you ever discussed that awful family secret (you know the one) with your trusted confidant? Come to think of it, can you vouch that no one you have spoken to via telephone since 2001 has anything to hide? 
Because that makes you a target. 
Everything you have said over the telephone for the last five years is known to the government. When some bored adolescent hacks into the database and publishes it on the web, you gonna have some ‘splainin’ to do. Or maybe sooner.

You know what to do. Censure is a moderate first step. Let’s at least get that far with this.

http://jeffords.senate.gov

http://leahy.senate.gov

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John McCain the “maverick” has been sucking up to Jerry Falwell who he once called an “agent of intolerance” and has been rightfully beaten up for it the media and the blogs.

Now its Vermont’s own Howard Dean’s turn on Pat Robertson’s pet “news” show:

Dean told Christian Broadcasting Network News that the 2004 Democratic platform declares “marriage is between a man and a woman” — just one of the points he made in reaching out to religious conservatives who are largely hostile to the party.

But the platform does not define marriage that way, and his remarks prompted the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force to return a $5,000 donation from the Democratic National Committee.

Dean later acknowledged his misstatement, but the group sent back the money anyway. “We need for Governor Dean to demonstrate real leadership on our issues,” executive director Matt Foreman said in an interview, “not to equivocate depending on the audience.”

There’s a difference between reaching out to new or alienated traditional Democratic constituencies, and pandering to the bad guys. This crosses that line.

Do I think Dean was “bearing false witness” so to speak? No, just speaking impulsively, but he should keep in mind that he is not “the Party,” and if he’s going to go reaching out to people who have values inconsistent with the values of everyone he works with, he should at the very least take a little more care not to misrepresent me and other Democrats in the process. I feel more than a little slimed by this report.

The guy is doing a great job as Chair, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t call him on things like this. If anything, since he is DNC Chair, we have a special responsibility to.

( – promoted by Ed Garcia)

The name Catamount Tavern came about when Grantees from New Hampshire posted a stuffed catamount on the tavern’s signpost to repel the New Yorkers who claimed their land. The Catamount served as headquarters for the Green Mountain Boys while making their plans against the New Yorkers and the British. Ethan Allen planned the capture of Fort Ticonderoga here and John Stark planned British General Burgoynes defeat here which turned out to be successful in the famous Battle of Bennington. The Catamount was also the meeting place of Vermont’s only form of government then, the Vermont Council of Safety.

I find myself angry today. This gives me pause, because on reflection, I find I spend the vast majority of my time in that state. So if I’m pissed off enough to blog it, I’m obviously close to the tipping point.
Which is why we’re tipping what we’re tapping tonight.
The Catamount is in business – come on by, we’re just a jump away.

“Those who invalidate reason ought seriously to consider whether they argue against reason with or without reason; if with reason, then they establish the principles that they are laboring to dethrone: but if they argue without reason (which, in order to be consistent with themselves they must do), they are out of reach of rational conviction, nor do they deserve a rational argument.”
-Ethan Allen

I am pleased and privileged to be posting this brown acid rant via Verizon DSL. My ISP and telephone company is giving my telephone call records to the government. And I am not happy.
Verizon, along with AT&T(!)and BellSouth, began turning over records of tens of millions of their customers’ phone calls to the National Security Agency program shortly after the September 11, 2001, attacks, according to today’s USA TODAY.

At the White House, President Bush said the administration acted within the law and “fiercely protected” Americans’ privacy while doing everything possible to prevent terrorist attacks. “Al-Qaeda is our enemy, and we want to know their plans,” he said. “We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans.” He didn’t address specifics of the program and walked away without responding to reporters’ questions.

I have a question:

Have you had enough of this shit yet?
Ask everyone you know. When you get a blank look, ask them who got voted off American Idol last week.
The shit they get away with – and it’s because NOBODY’S LOOKIN’, my friend.

His Honor Kagro X has a diary up on dKos in which he draws a damned depressing picture. He points out, essentially, that the ultimate oversight of the executive branch rests with – the executive branch. It only looks involved until you read it, and then you see it’s actually kind of simple.
Either that, or you didn’t see it at all because you were watching American Idol.
Here’s some more anger:

Senator Kerry, today in your speach you said:

 

Presidents and politicians may worry about losing face, or votes, or legacy; it is time to think about young Americans and innocent civilians who are losing their lives.

And, Congressman Conyers, today in your diary you said:

 

Congress has failed to provide this critical oversight which has led us to the courts.

The Bush administration, with it’s Republican enablers in the House and Senate, have made your duty, oversight, IMPOSSIBLE.
Lives are at stake, as is the very foundation of our democracy, the Constitution.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
We have been lied to enough.
We have had our constitutional rights denied enough.
We have had our free speach impaired enough.
We have seen scandals and bribery enough.

SHUT THIS PUPPY DOWN NOW! Walk out, hold a press conference on the steps of our Nations Capitol, and tell the American people that “help is on the way”.

This 50 year old mother of 5 has seen and heard enough. Have you?
-Lisa Lockwood (dKos)

This is directed to John Kerry:

  I get the impression (59+ / 0-)
that you’re here for the same reason the rest of us are —
To vent, and to speak to like minds.
The thing is the rest of us came here because we were feeling helpless.
You are a United States Senator.
So we’re kind of curious what you’re planning on doing about this. 
When are people in your position going to DEMAND THE RESIGNATION OF THESE GOONS?
Because THAT’S what we should be talking about. 
The Bush administration should RESIGN.
Bush has shamed the office of the presidency.
He has shamed the United States of America
He has thumbed his nose at our Constitution.
He has proven himself to be a menace to public safety.
We should accept NOTHING LESS than the entire administration’s RESIGNATION.
by theyrereal on Thu May 11, 2006 at 01:20:47 PM EDT

I wrote this a while back in response to an angry email my boss got in response to a Christmas song I played on the air:

Just now Eddie Garcia played a stupid song about “I saw George Bush Tapping Santa’s phone”….No, I do not worry that someone is illegally tapping my phone … my life isn’t nearly interesting enough to justify anyone’s time.

IN OTHER WORDS: “If you’re not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about.” This is cowardice of the most contemptible sort. It is unpatriotic, unAmerican and subversive. A person such as this who refuses to stand up for the values we are taught this country represents has no place here. This person should leave, and I will contribute money toward his passage. This is an individual who is willing to surrender his freedom in exchange for a promise of security. This is a person willingly victimized by a protection racket. This is a person who chooses to cower in fear and place blind trust in the Government to defend him from the “bad ole ter’rists”, blind, deaf and dumb while the Government shows itself to be the very enemy it claims to defend against.

Now see, I’m reading your mind. You thought I was going to blockquote Ben Franklin here, didn’t you? Yes, you did, you little subversive, you.
All this rah-rah and fluff begs the question: What does it take?

In the spring of 1775,Allen and Benedict Arnold led a raid against Fort Ticonderoga. Fort Ticonderoga is a large 18th century fort built at a strategically important narrows in lake champlain where a short traverse gives access to the north…The relative roles of Allen and Arnold are not entirely clear. Neither is it clear to what extent the campaign was formulated by the strongly anti-British faction in Connecticut; to what extent it was the idea of the Green Mountain Boys headquartered at the Catamount Tavern in Bennington; and how much of the enthusiasm was fueled by alcohol rather than by patriotism.

Okay, I never said I wasn’t drunk. Be that as it may….if today’s sound bites, in the context of an MSM controlled by the Main Enemy, didn’t convince you….if the fact that this noise is even getting through the filter at all doesn’t convince you, I’ll look for you on the floor after we blow out the lamps in the tavern.
Last call for alcohol. You ain’t got to go home, but you got to get the hell outa here.

I M P E A C H