Some of you know that me and thereisnospoon are managing BlogTalkRadio's progressive radio lineup at Heading Left.  And for those who didn't know this, please check out Heading Left for some real good progressive podcasts.

But that isn't really why I am posting this.  I am posting because one of the things that I really wanted to do was get more and more of us from the netroots involved, and one of the ways to do that was to use BlogTalkRadio's "Debate Central" show to give us progressives the chance to show off what we got and stick it to our right wing counterparts.

hey there all--

For those who don't know, some of the folks at ePM have helped me (and some others from Big Orange) set up a Blog Talk Radio site under "ep radio".

This is one of the formats (we have 2 weekly shows and 2 others that are more "interview based" that aren't as regular).

Tonight (even though most are done on Wednesdays) we are proud to have another edition of "Don't Hijack My Thread!", which is a 60 minute live interactive talk radio show put on by yours truly and thereisnospoon which focuses on the week's hot topics in progressive politics.

To be fair, right up front, there wasn't enough room in the title to also include theKK and hekebolos as well as some of the good folks at ePluribus Media but they are all an integral part of this project.

With the problems that Air America has been through, and the general devolving of "mainstream" punditry into shouting, talking points, lies and misstatements, it is long past time for the progressive left to start getting the truth out there in as many ways as possible.  This obviously includes blogs and citizen journalism but also includes the "message machine" - but very much unlike what we are used to seeing over the past decade.

With that, we are launching Political Nexus, which we plan to be an interactive, multimedia center focusing on progressive political issues.

So, let's recap.

Fire Imus for making racially charged comments.  Fire Ann Coulter for, well, just about everything.  Fire Glenn Beck for being a pig headed moron.  Fire O'Reilly for lying.  Fire Katie Couric for being a lightweight.  Fire Matt Lauer for repeating GOP talking points.  Fire Brian Ross for not issuing a retraction or clarification about the anthrax "evidence".  Fire Chris Matthews, Andrea Mitchell and Tim Russert for being too close to the Bush administration and for not being up front and honest.  Fire all of FOX News because, well, they are FOX News and aren't really news.  Fire the WaPo and WSJ editorialists because they are right wing shills.  Fire TIME because they put bible stories on the American version of their magazine, while all other versions have "Talibanistan".

Notice a pattern here?  

A short post to let y'all know (if you already didn't) that The Koufax Awards nomination period for 2006 has started this past week.

The good news is that once again, The Pond has been nominated for a Koufax Award in the "Best Blog Community" and everyone here should take a bow.

I know that it has been an honor to write with and get to know the folks around here this past year, and I look forward to much more in 2007.

I will note that, out of all of the communities that I post at, only My Left Wing has any nominees for Best Writing.  With all of the excellent researchers and writers around these parts, I would hope that some of this most excellent crew would be nominated as well.

Head on over and check it out - especially after the nominations are finalized and we can vote for our favorites!!!

Fuck the "vaunted GOTV effort" of the republicans.  In fact, fuck the republicans.  And while we are at it, fuck Karl, George and Dick as well.  You too, wingnuts.

Because it's about to end.  Not "come-to-a-screeching-halt" kind of end, but this whole robbing and killing and stupidity and arrogance and violating just about everything (and everyone...) with no repercussions shit is going to end.  

We are already into that magical 72 hour GOTV time that is supposed to scare us all.  Things are looking mighty shitty for God's Own Party.  The news is dominated now by stories about the Army Times editorialabout dumping Rumsfeld, Mr. 18%'s "stay the course" moment, and republicans losing ground.

Just a short note, certainly not a FP worthy post so I'll put it in the diary section....

I just wanted to say thank you, THANK YOU to all of you for the well wishes and kind words about my new gig on the FP.

Some of my HS and college buddies get a kick out of the fact that I never liked to write back in the day, and here I am posting diary after diary - and even getting people to comment, recommend and say all the warm and fuzzy things that y'all have been saying - both here, at big orange as well as MLW and ePM, etc.

When BooMan asked me earlier in the week, I was truly flattered and certainly hope to continue to write things that you find interesting, helpful, or just share in my outrage :-)

So, a big thank you from the bottom of my heart.  I have really enjoyed posting here at the pond and hope to do so for a long time!!!

Over the past couple of weeks, I have had a number of email exchanges with my mother, who is almost ready to but still not quite willing to shed all of her wingnut leanings and thoughts.  They are mainly about the appalling lack of willingness on Bush's or Condi's (or pretty much anyone in this administration) part to call for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel/Lebanon "situation".  However, I have experienced the same theme here as I have in the past when it came to debating Iraq, Afghanistan as well as Israel/Palestine.

The discussions aren't always with my mother - sometimes they are with my father, a friend, or others in a larger overall conversation.  But the theme is always the same.  Bombings of innocent people, torturing of prisoners or overwhelmingly aggressive and destructive military action that may not result in killings but do result in displacement of thousands as well as destruction of cities are explained away and "justified" by any number of reason.  And I am sure that many of us here have been in similar conversations over the past few years.

In Thursday's Desert Dispatch News, it was reported that approximately 30% of the 2,000 or so troops who have returned to Fort Irwin from Iraq over the past six months are suffering from some form of PTSD.  Many of these troops have to return from Iraq, where they have seen and participated in acts that they probably never could have imagined.

The flashbacks, nightmares, sleepless nights, anger, anxiety and other things that take over their lives, as well as the lives of their families require therapy, other treatment, as well as long term monitoring and support.  The veterans who are suffering from these symptoms are not counted in the "casualty statistics".  These people, who have put their families and lives on the line to fight for what quickly was discovered to be lies and greed, will never be the same.  

Despite the fact that the minimum wage bill that didn't pass the cloture vote was due to the fact that it was tied directly to a massive rollback of the estate tax and $38 billion in other tax breaks, we are going to get a barrage of the "democrats are filibustering the minimum wage hike" nonsense.

With all of that, it is painfully obvious that any increase in the minimum wage should be a stand alone bill as opposed to part of something that would be as Senator Durbin said "the worst special-interest bill I have seen in my time in Congress."  Which also gives the opportunity to make the Republican Senators eat their words and look the damn fools that they are.  

Especially these seven millionaire Republican Senators who are against a straightforward increase in the minimum wage.

No, there is no class warfare here in the US.  While we hear about fights against raising the minimum wage, and while I have written about the shrinking middle class as well as how lower income families pay more for services than their higher income counterparts, we hear about how the estate tax must be eliminated or reduced because it is oh-so-unfair to the wealthiest of the wealthy.

And now, a new Senate report has been released by the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations which outlines how the super-wealthy are using tax shelters (both legal and illegal) to cheat the IRS out of approximately $70 billion per year.

Each day brings us another sad example of how our rights in this country are being suppressed, eroded or disregarded.  Sometimes it is in the name of "fighting terrahTM", sometimes it is in the name of "following the rule of law" and more often than not we actually find out that it is really in the name of "putting on a pretty face for political purposes".

Today is one of these times.  According to today's NY Times, court documents in the lawsuit over the denial of permits for peaceful protests during the 2004 GOP Convention here in NYC, Bloomberg and his office were less concerned with the potential destruction of the Great Lawn or public safety than they were over the political fallout of massive protests against the Republicans and their failed warmongering policies.

On the heels of what will be yet another month-long vacation for Dear Leader, unless he decides to cut it short this year (after all, he is the Decider), it is as good a time as any to point out that we are likely in for some other major disaster.

After all, pretty much every year, when shit met fan, Bush went AWOL (just like when he was in the National Guard).  Or maybe, Bush went AWOL and then shit met fan.  Either way, it is a very telling statement about this complete failure of a president and waste of precious oxygen and space when you look at his vacationing and complete disregard for the catastrophic events that seem to occur around the time that Bushie heads for the Crawford brush to play cowboy.

This may be the best insight into the priorities of the man who bears a tremendous share of the responsibility for this world teetering on the edge of Armageddon (or the raptureTM if you are a "true believer").  And it shows how much of a cowardly charlatan Bush really is and how ill-equipped he is to deal with, well, anything.

I don't even know where to begin with my absolute contempt for what I have read over the past few days.  And I won't even talk about the death and destruction that Dear Leader and the neocon war criminals have wreaked or contributed to in the past two weeks alone.

No, what I want to direct my disgust at are the numerous things that I have seen lately - whether it be domestic policies, the absolutely horrible position that Bush and Condi's antics (because you can't call them "actions") have put us in around the world, and the horrible reflection this is on our once-proud country and its beliefs.