John Murtha just made a live statement on CNN (and other shows, I'm sure), that I found quite powerful.  I have transcribed the live coverage below the fold.  

Here is a link to the actual resolution he introduced today asking for Rumsfeld's resignation.

He is referencing as well a report as to military readiness that he has reviewed.  I will try to find a link and update the diary.

It has taken me a few days to collect my thoughts on the Bush veto of federal funding for stem cell research.

I was on my way to a meeting and listening to CNN via Sirius when he made his remarks to explain his reasoning for this, his first veto nearly six years into his Presidency.  Initially, I was absolutely infuriated as I listened.  Expletives leapt to my lips and streamed out.

I have since calmed down and taken a more analytical approach to what I like to call the Bush Moral Boundary.  Perhaps a further exploration and definition of these boundaries will help me better understand and see the logic behind the veto.

Make the jump.

I'm not the only person who has written here about Thomas Paine.  I was, however, pretty surprised to see that only 8 diaries had been previously tagged with Paine's name.  No matter - Paine is a great subject and the story I'm going to tell is relevant not only to politics today, but to you specifically, because you're reading this and it's posted on a blog.

This will be a multi-part diary series.  I'll complete additional parts as time allows.  Each diary will stand on its own, however.  The ultimate goal is to illuminate - to bring home to each and every one of you the relevance of Thomas Paine to your lives especially, and to the lives of Americans generally.

This diary and the ones that will follow arise out of my reading of an excellent book - Thomas Paine and the Promise of America.  Follow me after the fold.

I watch the news every morning as I'm getting dressed for work (yes, I have a day job - it really interferes with my blogging habit).  My preferred morning show is CNN's American Morning.  In the way that only CNN can announce so-called "breaking news", the tell-tale "breaking" music came on this morning and caught my attention.  I put down the hair brush and gave the TV my full attention for the announcement of (drumroll please) the resignation of Andy Card.  I listened to the commentary and found myself wishing...

Oh to be a fly on the wall as Bush made the decision to accept Card's resignation.

Jump with me.

While rightfully distracted by the ill-conceived (and frankly ridiculous) proposal to cede control of six major US ports to a company controlled by a foreign government, we have barely registered the fact that a blatant frontal attack is being mounted at the state level which threatens a woman's right to choose.

In the first substantive challenge likely to come before the newly-configured SCOTUS, South Dakota lawmakers are getting ready to vote on a bill that would outlaw nearly all abortions in the state.

Make the jump.

Yesterday I did a diary on a proposed Constitutional amendment to give Congress the power to regulate campaign finances.  Really, an editorial in The Washington Post caught my eye and I decided I'd do a diary on it.  It's not an incendiary or especially "WOW"-ish subject and I was pleasantly surprised to see it make the recommended list and to see some discussion, pro and con, on the issue.  The comment thread also produced alternatives and information about other initiatives to accomplish the same essential goal.

One commenter indicated that s/he felt that campaign finance reform (in whatever iteration) and the integrity of the vote were the two single biggest issues with which Dems should be dealing.  Whether or not to agree with the prioritization, voting integrity is up there on the list.  I subscribe to an email list from VoteTrustUSA.org and below the fold, I'd like to highlight some of the information they've sent me.

It's been a wild week over at Daily Kos.  We hate professional politicians.  We love professional politicians.  We hate liberal talking heads.  We think Kossacks are missing the point.  We post diaries to lift the spirits of our fellow Kossacks, designed to highlight the good and not the bad.  We witness the emergence of a Kossack "leader" (and hopefully get his point in the process), and we debate the ups and downs of actually winning in '06.  All the while we have had both excellent and downright goofy diaries on the birdshot-heard-round-the-world.

So now allow me to switch gears to a discussion of an issue that isn't sexy or necessarily inflammatory.  Money, politics, the power of potential reform, and the value of 624 hours.

Thunderstruck

That's what I am - thunderstruck.  I am reading a book - nonfiction.  I'll give the details after the substantive body of the diary because I don't want any distraction from the message that floored me.

There has been a lot of talk here lately - much of it very valuable - that centers around the leadership of the Democratic party, the state of the American in which we find ourselves living, and dedication to righting the wrongs we see in front of us.  Attendant to these diaries is a great deal of frustration - a sense that many of us are hanging on by our teeth, fighting the good fight, but becoming slowly worn down by the news, by our perceived (and often very real) lack of progress, and much gnashing of teeth and clenching of fists about the future that lies ahead of each of us.  Things are hanging in the balance.

Allow me to provide a little bit of thunderstruck relevance through historical perspective and then apply that to the challenge we face today.

This begins after the fold.

I have the good fortune to split my time between an actual office and a home office.  I have the further good fortune of having access to C-SPAN in both places, as well as CNN - either on TV or via my satellite radio setup in the office.

This past week, a lot of the news sources I listen to regularly have been having discussions about Ken Mehlman, Hilary Clinton, Democratic anger, and the 2006 and 2008 elections.

Make the jump.

Yes, you read the title correctly: TUCKER CARLSON nailed a crucial point in providing his analysis of the State of the Union speech.

After the flip, I'll tell you why.  So you know, however, I am not a big huge fan of Tucker Carlson's but I don't hate him, either.  He is not, in my opinion, one of the blindly supportive pro-Bush pro-Republican talking heads ala Sean Hannity.  His criticisms of his own party and of Bush, therefore, carry some weight with me.

Specifics below the fold.

Although a diary I did over the weekend slid by over at Daily Kos and here without much notice (current events have been dominating the attention at dKos and here, as they should).  I believe it might grow to be a series for me.

Go back and read it if you like - this one will make more sense if you have an idea of the first one.

After all the blustering, pontificating and hand-wringing, it appears the Alito cloture vote has come to a literal close without even what I would consider token resistance by the Democrats.

It's time to plan.  Make the jump.

I am not a person prone to a depressed personality.  Like most people, I have good days and bad days.  The former outweigh the latter by a large proportion, I'm glad to say.

I'd have to characterize today as a bad day.  I am, today, overwhelmed by American grief.

More on the flip.

And no, the answer is not because you're blogging here, though I'm sure all of us have wondered as much recently.

An official disclaimer, before I begin.  I do not hold a security clearance.  I have never held a security clearance.  To my knowledge, no one has ever disclosed classified information at any level to me.  Having said that, I have been around the technological side of the law enforcement and intelligence communities long enough to have a picture of the technology behind intelligence and investigative analysis and the laws that back it up.

Want to know why you might be under surveillance?  Make the jump.

Certainly the Bush administration is in a pickle over the recent revelation that Bush himself, in 2002, authorized the National Security Agency (NSA) to conduct electronic surveillance against US citizens.  Presumably, and I'm paraphrasing the President himself with this, it was only to listen to bad guys talking to bad guys.  According to Bush, this action was not only legal but required in his solemn duty to protect America and its citizens.

I think it's worthwhile to take a closer look at FISA itself, inform ourselves, and be prepared for the arguments the administration is going to make as to why these secret, warrantless surveillance activities are not, as the President asserts, illegal.  In fact, his argument is that they are proper.

Read on.