Fact-esque

Prince Spaghetti is a Dish Best Served Cold

Cold spaghetti is all the time I've had time to cook lately.  And by cook I mean taking the plastic wrap off the pot before I put it on the table in front of the kids.   I'm kidding.  I feed my kids real food.  I'm the one eating the cold spaghetti.

It's been a crowded month.  Apparently every school event involving my children was scheduled to happen in May.  For me, of course, there were the primaries to lose.  You'll be surprised to find out that it can take the same amount of time to lose an election as it does to win one.   Who knew?   In the case of Casey, it took a lot of time avoiding the primary in order to win it, which he did masterfully.  The avoiding that is. 

With no legislation in place to mandate a voter-verified paper ballot and a proper audit of the election results, most of PA voted on unverifiable and unsecure voting machines.  The reviews from the corporate media are in.  Predictably, since no machine sprung to life and killed actual voters, the electronic systems were routinely describedin the corporate media as effective or even in once case "swell."    The gaping security hole in Diebold's TSX, which was used in sixteen Pennsylvania counties was largely ignored.  The failures of machines all over the state were written off as glitches.  It fell to me, Cassandra that I am, to remind anyone who cared to read what I write over at the PhillyBurbs site that even if we can set the hundreds of "glitches"  and stunning programming weaknesses aside, we really have no idea how the machines that did work performed because we haven't audited those results and we have no means to do so. 

Democracy is on the march, people.  Speaking of which, I wrote about Haiti for the American Street.  Even though nobody thought to fly me down for Preval's inauguration, which happened on Sunday, I'm not holding any grudges.  I'll keep trying to figure out what's going on down there. 

The Haitian elections got a ton of well-deserved press but, with the election of Preval, a true reformer, the story of what comes next is going to be even bigger.  After the nightmare coup and disastrous rule of Latortue, universally acknowledged as a puppet of the governments that sponsored the removal of Aristide, Haiti has a real shot at strong leadership from Renee Preval.  He's had this job before so it will be hard for his enemies to cast him as inept should he displease them by refusing to rebuild Haiti on the already strained backs of the poor. 

For my part, I'm absolutely fascinated to watch him navigate the very dangerous waters he's found himself in.  And despite being a Cassandra, I'm enough of an idealist to think that he can find a way to get to that middle ground he so clearly seeks and maintain his ideals of social and economic justice.  It would be a miracle if he can accomplish that but if there's anywhere due for a miracle, it's Haiti.

Vote Your Beliefs

It's Pennsylvania Primary Day!

Woo hoo! It's primary day in Pennsylvania.   We're looking at rain off and on all day, which should suppress a turnout that's already projected to be somewhere in the high teens.  Democracy is on the march.   I'll be standing at the polls for a couple of hours in the morning handing out literature for Chuck Pennacchio but then it's off to a nature center for a field trip with the preschooler until noon.  Then it's calling people to remind them to vote until I get on a train to NYC and ... I'll tell you later.  I don't want to jinx it. 

I wonder if they'll let me bring a camera into the voting booth.  This could be the last time I'll be able to vote on a lever machine.  If you look at this colorful map, you'll see that Bucks County is the lone white space.  That's because our County Commissioners didn't pick a new eVoting system in time to have the miserable things installed for the primary so we get one more election on machines that work before our votes are cast into the ether on the Danaher Steal-a-Vote 5000 or whatever the damn thing is called.  Pretty soon we'll be purple.  Purple sucks.

When you take a look at the map notice how many counties are the neon green color.  That means that those lucky folks will be voting on the Diebold TSX machines, which have just been exposed to have a security hole so huge that you could back a Humvee through it.   It's being described in the corporate media as a "glitch" but the truth is that the hole is a feature of the programming, put in to make it easy to load software.  And if that software steals votes?  Well, don't you worry your pretty little head about that.  Bradblog has the whole sad story here.   

Missed Opportunities Matter

Authur Silber, writing about our loss of freedom under BushCo's rule:

If there are any national leaders who understand these issues and have the courage to fight for our freedom here at home, they ought to realize that the battle must be waged now.

And we all agree with that, of course.  We applaud those kind of sentiments.  Hooray for encouraging national leaders to stand up against the burgeoning dictatorship.

But blogtopia (hail skippy) doesn't support people trying to become those national leaders and it sits by as Bob Casey, Jr., who will not stand up against this president and his criminal administration on any count, is anointed the next Dem Sen candidate from PA. 

As I always say in these posts about the failure of lefty blogs re: the PA Senate race, Casey doesn't have a hope of beating Santorum and so we won't have to worry about what his DINO ideas about bi-partisan cooperation would have cost us.   But, by tacitly supporting his candidacy instead of fighting like hell against his nomination and for Chuck Pennacchio, blogtopia shares the blame for missing the opportunity to watch Chuck use his campaign for the Senate to drag BushCo's many crimes into the sunshine.

Vote Your Beliefs Not Your Fears

The Centre Daily Times recently printed nine letters in support of Chuck Pennacchio in a special primary election edition.  Schlomo gives us the breakdown of all the letters printed. "Nineteen letters were printed. Ten letters were written on behalf of local candidates. Nine letters were written about the US Senate race--all of them supported Chuck Pennacchio."

I put them all in the extended entry.  The theme is the same: Casey can't win because he is not substantially different from Santrorum on issues that matter, like ending the influence of corporate money in our political system.  Casey does not inspire voters to act.  Chuck does.  Conviction wins.  It couldn't be more simple and it's reflected in the latest polling as Casey slips and slides. 

The latest Casey slip prompted Gar Joseph of the Philly News to implore Casey to act more like Chuck:

Here's how Bob Casey Jr.can stop the poll slippage in his race against the more charismatic and outspoken U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum: Fire everyone on the campaign sent to you by Washington Democrats.

Rid yourself of the national consultants. Ignore the focus groups. Forget about taking only "safe" positions. Speak your mind. Be yourself. Voters won't mind that you lack charisma if they think you're being straight with them.

Be frank about the tough choices we need to make - on Iraq, on the budget deficit, on gas prices, on Social Security. You'll be seen as a refreshing change from today's made-for-TV, consultant-muffled, easy-answer, con-artist candidate.

And if the big-money national Democrats say they'll shut off financing if you don't dance to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee tune, go on the 6 o'clock news and tell them to shove it.

But Gar, Casey doesn't even know how to begin to do what you are asking him to.  When I think of the possibilities we had in this race and how they were thrown away with both hands by great minds like Chuck Schumer ... it's just so sad to watch.  But pity for the party isn't a reason to reward bad behavior by voting for Casey in the primary or in November, if it comes to that.

Linkety, Link, Link, Link

Riverbend on the new American hostage crisis in Iran.   

DarkSyde in praise of solar energy.

Apparently nobody in Connecticut knows who Ned Lamont, the darling of blogtopian (hail skippy) royalty, is.   That's a problem he's raising money to solve but when those ads start running, he'd better have something better to say than, "I'm not Joe Lieberman."  That platform is enough for me but probably not for the 59% of Connecticut voters who think he's doing a good job.

Dan Froomkin draws the right conclusion about the message behind Colbert's WHPCA speech: Don't believe a word BushCo says.  (via Atrios)

Casey on the Radio. He's an Independent Whore.

Casey's being interviewed on Radio Times (local NPR talk show).  Here's what I've heard so far:

1. He'd vote to overturn Roe if he had the chance to do so in the Senate.  He doesn't think he'll have the chance though. 
2. He's been honest about that position and people respect it.
3. He's for funding research into embryonic stem cell research that doesn't damage the embryo.  He called that a "third way."
4. He wants to amp up border security and crack down on employers who hire illegal workers.  But he doesn't want to go down a road that would "send people back."   
5. He thinks that not debating Sandals and Pennacchio in Philly is the same thing as not debating them in Erie and Johnstown. 
6. He wants more ATF officers on the ground. 

I missed most of what he had to say about homeland security (I think) because I'm getting ready to go to a funeral later today and I really don't have time for this.   The interview will show up in the Radio Times archives.

The calls:
It looks like the Santorum supporters are out in force.
1. Employer in North Carolina: I employ illegal workers and they work hard!  I can't get Americans to do the jobs and they come in drunk or drugged and you're going to shut me down?  I pay over 25,000/year (in something - I missed it)! 

Casey: Laws are laws.  Gotta enforce'm.  The real problem is the single-party rule in Washington.  Gotta elect some Dems. 

2. Repealing the tax cuts is communist.  Are you about punishing success or raising revenue?

Fiscal responsibility.  Can't have tax cuts for the top 1% in wartime.  Fiscal responsiblity.  Can save $25B - $60B a year by cutting out waste in the budget. 

3. Guns.  We need leadership to cut down the guns on our streets.  Casey doesn't support closing the gun show loophole.  Why is that?

Casey: You gotta live in the real world of what can happen in Washington.  There's no support in Washington for new gun laws.  But we can support programs that address the underlying causes of gun violence.  Don't simplify the issue by making it about gun laws.   We have to defeat Rick Santorum, get a Democratic Senate and move forward on a lot of these issues.

Marty: You haven't been to work while running for office.  Are you doing your job?
Casey: I can do my job without being at my desk.  Santorum has well over 90 days when he's been out of the office raising money.  I've done my job well.  We've been getting money back on our investments at an impressive rate.  We've done something good for hospitals.  We've done something that made Wall Street happy.  Santorum is trying to deflect attention from his very sorry record on fiscal responsibility and the fact that he votes with BushCo over 98% of the time.  It'll be a debate in the end on our records and I'll do well.   The big question though is if we're going to stay on the road of partisanship in this country or get on a new road. 

Marty: You've had to raise a lot of money.  People say that people who give money get special attention.  What can you say to get us to believe that that isn't true?
Casey: Look at my record.  I'm very independent.  No special interest group will be able to control what I do.  (Look at his health plan to find out how true that is. -eR) 

The GOP had a chance to show that they were tough on lobbyists and they blew it.  I did a photo op at Abramoff's old restaurant to talk about my ethics plan.  It's a good plan.

Marty: Unregged non-profits are pumping money into your campaign.   Would you favor legislation that requires disclosure about all that?

Casey: I would.  The group you're talking about, Lantern, is a 527 so they have to disclose their donor list.  Americans for Job Security is the other player in this campaign.  They don't have to disclose their donors.  I've called on them to do that.  Santorum won't.  (Pennacchio has information about Casey's money from AJS here.)

Question: How are you going to go after Santorum when you take money from a lot of the same PACs? 
Casey:  If you want to talk about the big interests - the insurance industry, K-Street, big oil, pharmaceutical  ... - they are all lock stock and barrel for Santorum.  All lobbyists who give to me know that I'm independent.   I get most of my money from labor, teachers, all kinds of labor groups.  That's the bulk of the support I've gotten.  So I'm proud of that.

Question: What about the environment?
Casey: I'm opposed to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.  Santorum supports it.  The GOP is committed to oil companies.  That's what you get with one-party rule.  We have to restore polluter pays.  Make a committment to reducing emissions. 

Casey didn't do too badly.   I have to go get my kid at preschool. 

Enough of the Incompetence and Failure

From Talking Points Memo, a suggestion for the Dems leading into the midterms:

We have many challenges overseas today.  Chief among them, as one of the Democrats' senate candidates puts it, is "refocusing America's foreign and defense policies in a way that truly protects our national interests and seeks harmony where they are not threatened." The period of peril the country is entering into isn't tied to an Iranian bomb. It turns on how far a desperate president will go to avoid losing control of Congress.

Go to his heart. Go to his weaknesses. Though the realization of the fact is something of a lagging indicator, the man is a laughing stock, whose lies and failures are all catching up with him.

To the president the Democrats should be saying, Double or Nothing is Not a Foreign Policy.

The great bulk of the public doesn't believe this president any more when he tries to gin up a phony crisis. They don't believe he'd have much of an idea of how to deal with a real one. Enough of the lies. Enough of the incompetence and failure.

No buying into another of the president's phony crises.

There's only one person running for the Senate from PA who agrees with what Josh is saying and it isn't Bob "nuclear war pragmatist" Casey.   

Support Chuck Pennacchio in the home stretch before the PA primaries on May 16th. 

Coalition for Peace Bucks County Congressional Candidate Forum

Over the weekend I went to the candidate forum held in Newtown at the George School and co-sponsored by the Coalition for Peace.  The Coalition for Peace Action formed twenty six years ago in Princeton and has expanded to include a very active group in Bucks County.  I've been to a few of their forums and they are always well organized and informative.   Saturday's forum was dedicated to foreign and military policy.   The panel included the two Democratic congressional candidates, Andy Warren and Patrick Murphy and two of the three Dem Sen candidates: Alan Sandals and Chuck Pennacchio.  It was my understanding that all candidates from both parties for the two offices were invited.   

Since most voters in the area didn't show up, I'll run down what each candidate said based on my notes.

The format allowed each candidate to make a fifteen-minute opening statement.  After that questions from the crowd were collected on index cards and each candidate had two minutes to answer the ones that were asked.   It was a good format.  Each of the candidates commented about how they appreciated the time for the opening. 

Before any candidates spoke, the Reverend Al Krass, who organizes Coalition for Peace in Bucks County, opened the panel by saying that we are lucky to have candidates of a "quality and number we have not seen for a long time."  He's right about that.  The four people who showed up on Saturday would all make good replacements for Santorum and Fitzpatrick.   

Patrick Murphy opened first.  He started by saying that he is a witness to our foreign policy, referring to his time in the army and, I guess, specifically Iraq.  He said that he's comitted to making the changes necessary to our foreign policy and our policy in Iraq.

He supports a "Soldiers' Solution."  Bring the troops home in 2006.  50K home in summer of 2006.  50K home by the end of 2006.  Leave a strategic strike force in Kuwait.  He acknowledged Jack Murtha.

Murphy told a story about when he taught at West Point and a cadet from Belgium asked him why we aren't giving detainees in Guantanamo Article Five hearings.  He explained that Article Five hearings are very brief hearings held to determine if a person was taken into custody appropriately.  He said that he had no answer for the cadet. 

He said that America should be a "reluctant warrior," that not only he believes that war should be undertaken only as a last resort but most of America does as well.   We should not be talking about military options in Iran right now.  We need to use every diplomatic and economic means possible to make sure that they abandon their pursuit of a nuclear weapon. 

He closed by saying that we need people to stand up to the president and to speak truth to power.

Andy Warren:  US does not have the luxory of waiting 2 1/2 years until we can replace the president.  We have to change the voice of the Congress.  We have to change the congressman from Bucks County. 

He emphasized the cost of the war ($1T - $2T) and talked about what else that money could buy.   He likes Kerry's plan for Iraq: If by May 15th the Iraqis have indicated that they have a government in place, we'll stay to support it.  If not, we're out. 

He brought up the BushCo nuclear deal with India and H.R. 4898, which would take $60B Cold War money and invest it in health care.  He repeatedly tied domestic  policy to foreign policy. 

On Iran, he wants to go the diplomatic route as well, looking to China, Russia and the international community  for assistance. 

Chuck Pennacchio:  Chuck opened by introducing himself and his qualifications.  He gave a very brief lecture on the history of American imperialism and why it doesn't work - because Americans don't respond to it.   He talked about the lack of any historical perspective in the Senate today on either side of the aisle.   America does best when America is lifting up the world, which isn't happening now. 

Alan Sandals: He said that he brought a message of hope: America is catching up to the peace movement.  He talked about how energy policy is foreign policy.  He read from a Foreign Affairs magazine that said that lack of energy independence is on top of American's "worry list."   He wants to convince people that they are right.  Discussing conservation provides an opening to discuss Iraq, Iran ... it's all a part of the global struggle for energy.   We need to take conservation seriously and view the energy threat as as great a threat as Hitler was in the '40s. 

Iran, because it is oil-rich, can thumb its nose at the world.  When you combine rogue states with the ability to drive energy markets, it is a lethal combination.  He agrees with a Republican Senator I can't remember now: "Energy is America's foreign policy albatross."   He wants to seize on this message to talk about what's on people's minds, speak to their pocket books, speak to their common sense.

Question One: Should US troops be subject to an international criminal court?

PM: The ICC was set up for immature justice systems.  We have the UCMJ, which is a great system that works quicker and provides more rights than in our civil system. 

AW: We can't expect to be excepted from an international process so the answer is yes, absolutely.

CP: Absolutely. 

AS: Yes, but only if the Sec Def is subject to it as well.  The result of Abu Ghraib showed that something isn't working with the system we have in place.

Q2: Can the UN be effective in resolving international conflicts?

AS: Yes.  Go to the Darfur Rally on 4/30 in D.C.  Darfur is the greatest crime of the decade.  Right now the UN works when the offending nation is 2nd or 3rd tier.   We need to realign the way the votes work in the Sec. Council but I doubt we'd have much luck with that.

CP: The root cause of most of these conflicts is gross poverty and inequality of wealth around the world.  The UN can address that by working to elevate the world to a living wage.  We should let the UN do what it does best, which is these kind of programs.

PM: WE need to support the UN.  We need to be a responsible neighbor.    He just read "Invisible People," which talks about the world's poor.  We need to build a strong releationship with the UN.

AW: The UN isn't perfect but it's better than the next best thing, which is chaos.  UN can and should be effective but without the US, it will not be.

Q3: How do we prevent a civil war in Iraq if we withdraw precipitously? (just for CD8 candidates)

AW:  He made the point that we can't be sure we're preventing a civil war now.   The American troop presence in Iraq is a stick in the eye to the Arab and Muslim world.  We've accomplished what we're going to accomplish there. 

PM: I lived in Baghdad for seven months.  There is a low-level civil war going on now.  Our presence is a factor.  Iraq is a rallying cry for terrorists.  I have a timeline for withdrawal.  We need to supply monetary and diplomatic reconstruction support. 

Q4: Do you support giving US military aid to Israel?  Why is it okay for India to have the bomb and not Iran? (Senate candidates only)

CP: We were the first state to recognize Israel for a reason - because of the Holocaust and because of our history in the 1930's.  We could have done better.  We support Israel and two-state solution.

It's not okay for any state to have a nuclear weapon. 

AS: It's hard to know which way the flow of military aid is going.  There are weapons being developed in Israel that are coming here.  Israel is the only state taht lives with threats to its existence daily.  Its geography makes it vulnerable.  It developed nuclear weapons as a last resort.

Iran is different because of its rhetoric so the answer is to keep applying pressure.

Q5: What should we do to address radical Islam jihadism?

PM: First we have to recognize that it exists.  Second we have to ask why a young person would consider it an option.  The CIA says that the number one reason for its growth is Iraq.  We need to bring troops home.  We need to be a good neighbor.   Look at Africa.  Africa needs clean water and AIDS to be stopped.  Third, we need to educate internationally, e.g. re-fund Radio Free America.

AW: We have to get out of Iraq, encourage other Arab nations to help and use diplomatic and economic influence to invest in reconstruction.

Q6: Are you in favor of impeachment hearings? (Senate candidates only)

CP: Absolutely.  This is a criminal administration.  It is complicit in lying to the American people.  It instituted an illegal NSA domestic wiretapping program.  It sold out a CIA agent.   I would relish the opportunity to have an open and honest and fair hearing.

AS: We need to make the case that this administration lies.  Katrina; it has ties to Exxon, which lied about global warming; Plame.  Americans are ready to hear that this administration is not only incompetent and corrupt but also dishonest.

We need shadow impeachment hearings in Philly.  They should happen right after Labor Day.

Q7: Are you in favor of US adopting a policy of no first strike?

AW: Yes.

PM: Yes.  We should use diplomatic and economic means to end the nuclear club.

CP: Casey embraced the nuclear option regarding Iran.  The United States has a special responsibility to ramp down nuclearization of the globe.

AS: I can't think of a scenario where a nuclear first strike would make sense but I never say never.  So, no.

Q8: Iran has never invaded another country in 200 years.  If Iran develops an H Bomb, do you support an attack on Iran?

AW: If the question is just because they have it should we attack, then no. 

PM: America should be a reluctant warrior. No matter what arsenol is developed, we have to make war the last option.  We must end cowboy diplmacy now.

AS: The mere possesion of a bomb isn't enough to warrant a strike.  What else are they saying and doing?  What is the behavior associated with the possesion of the bomb?

CP: No.   But During the Iraq/Iran war, we fed both sides.  The fact is that countries don't work for peace as they prepare for war.  Iran and the world are  now following America's lead of pre-emption which is fueling an arms race, which is fueling poverty, which is fueling religious extremism.

That's it.  It was a good forum.  Every candidate had stand-out moments.  Sandal's idea to tie energy policy directly and repeatedly to foreign policy is good idea.  Chuck's absolute faith in the capacity of America to lead and lift up the world is nothing short of inspiring.  Patrick's point that Americans are reluctant warriors was a good one to which he returned a few times.  Andy did a good job of keeping his answers brief and on-point.  His strongest moment came during the question about attacking Iran if they developed a nuclear bomb.  While the other panelists seemed to be waiting for another to answer first, Warren stood up and gave his answer directly. 

The Coalition for Peace will be putting out a voters' guide in time for the primary.  If I get my hands on a copy, I'll share with you what it says.

Related:  Next Direction was there as well.

Climbing in the Way Back Machine. Roll the Dice and Take Your Chances

I think the opposition to Casey and the failing Democratic machine that is forcing him down our throats in PA runs deeper and wider than Casey's anti-Choice position.  When he loses either in May or November it will be because the base was neutralized on every important issue and, as far as November goes, the GOP will have turned out not only their base but also all the swing voters who vote character above all else.  When it comes down to that key issue, Man-on-Dog has Casey beat hands down.  All that said, I think this race is extremely important to Choice voters and activists but not because it matters who, if the choice is between Casey and Santorum, wins.

If you watched the debate on Wednesday, you heard Casey give this response (end of Part One) to a question about the filibuster, which turned into a discussion of Alito:

I think that one of the things that was very clear from the testimony and the record ... one thing that stood out ... he [Alito] spoke directly under intense questioning to the question of privacy. ... And that involves a couple of issues.  It involves whether you have a broad or more narrow definition of privacy - Fourteenth Amendment privacy as opposed to a limited search and seizure right to privacy. And finally one more point, with regard to privacy, Eisenstadt, Griswold, the landmark privacy cases that affect things like birth control in this country, he supported.  And that was a very important consideration and that was a very important factor that I weighed.

I've long believed that this PA Senate race would reveal more about the state of politics in the United States than it does about politics in Pennsylvania.  Way back in November 2004, I was naive enough to think that the Dems would have learned the lessons of the Kerry loss and be ready to come at Santorum and everything he represents head on.   Stupid me, I didn't figure on the Dems representing most of what Man-on-Dog represented. 

So it's the fascinating but  largely ignored primary with its struggle among left, right and a nebulous third way that's giving us the look into the state of US politics.  The national Dem leadership has chosen where it stands.  We've known since Clinton at the very least that corporatism and corruption -  not GOP-level, K-Street corruption, but corruption nonetheless - is the lifeblood of the party.  The rich get richer and workers will have to figure out their own way to survive a global plantation economy.  But now, with Casey, something else is clear: Roe is behind the Democrats.  Griswold and Eisenstadt are the new battleground for reproductive rights.  (And what about Eisenstadt?  Was mentioning it some kind of code answer?  Casey didn't mention but should know, that Eisenstadt makes a good case for the right to privacy to extend to abortion.)

Whether Casey wins or not, we're going to fight this fight all over again with Democrats like him making the case for our side.  Someone has to pin Casey and all the rest of them down on this.