More Videos of the days activities.

By David Swanson

Today was the day for Stop-Loss Congress. We notified every Congress Member and Senator over the past two days that they were being stop-lossed and denied permission to leave until they end the occupation of Iraq. Today we took action. A group of activists dressed as Ghosts of War stood and spoke in the Senate and closed the place down - 10 arrests, I’m told.

Then groups of dozens of people, primarily college students, split up and blocked intersections and garage exits around the Hill. I went with a group of 40 or so to the intersection of Independence Ave. and 1st Street, which we blocked for a long time, with people and coffins and banners and megaphones. Dozens were arrested, most of them college students, some Vets for Peace and other old folks too. I shot video of the whole thing.

Crooks and Liars:

Donate if you can to our new FISA page. The Blue Dogs for retroactive Immunity are stomping their feet and writing letters to Nancy Pelosi:

In a January letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, 21 Blue Dog Coalition members made it known they supported granting immunity to the telecoms, and urged Pelosi to move quickly to pass the Senate version of the bill. (The 21 members who signed the letter are listed below.)

Members of the Blue Dog Coalition were integral in the passage of the highly controversial Protect America Act (PAA), a Republican-backed bill that greatly expanded spy powers in August 2007. The PAA was allowed to expire in February in the face of stark warnings from the Bush administration.

Rep. Boehner is threatening to shut down the HOUSE at this moment over the bill because these crybabies aren’t getting their way. From the comments: John Boehner and the Repubs have just brought a 4th motion to adjourn on the House floor, in yet another tantrum to “shut down the house” until their FISA BS is voted on.

Jane Hamsher says:

These are the same House members who do this again and again when it comes to any legislation that isn’t horribly corporatist and regressive. They hold the Democratic party hostage, and can effectively passing legislation most any time they want to join with the Republicans to do so…

Glenn Greenwald writes: Targeting Bad Democrats

The only real prospect for changing any of that is to attach a political price, some form of meaningful punishment, when they do things such as vote to abolish habeas corpus or to vest new warrantless eavesdropping powers in the President or to grant amnesty to telecoms. That needs to be done even if it means weakening the bad Democrat in question. Last October, when six House Democrats announced that they would vote to sustain Bush’s veto of SCHIP legislation, a group of blogs — including FDL and C&L — raised funds to run negative robocalls in the districts of all six, and five of the six ended up switching their position.

Howie has a great quote form John Hall (D-NY), twice endorsed by Blue America on FISA. And we were successful in our efforts on SCHIP. Here’s what we did….. Jane set up a poll and the top two Bush Dogs picked will be the targets of our newest push against them so go and vote. We need your help in fighting back so please give what you can to our Blue America PAC against FISA page

We’ve had great success fighting against these Bush Dogs and will not back down now…

Howie sez: These 6 have been consistent Bush Regime rubber stamps across the board and each signed a letter to Nancy Pelosi supporting retroactive immunity.
John Barrow (GA)
Chris Carney (PA)
Leonard Boswell (IA)
Brad Ellsworth (IN)
Zack Space (OH)
Heath Shuler (NC)

Help stop the madness…

Campus Circle
By Jessica Koslow

The messages range from “Vote for Change” to “Stop Wars” (designed like Star Wars) to “I Recycle (the recognizable symbol) Stuff.”They’re good for the mind, the environment (100% organic) and the world, but are people buying them?

“A big accomplishment is the fact that we now have more than 50 boutiques around the country carrying pieces from our line,” says Carly Miller, the company’s Director, “whereas at the beginning of 2007, that number was closer to five.”

Full Story

Vision Magazine:

I don’t wear a lot of slogan T-shirts anymore, but the ones I wear have often come from Clothing of the American Mind (COTAM). Their message is simple and clear and their shirts wear and feel great. Made from organic cotton, they are soft and supple. Lately, I love wearing my Stop Wars T-shirt because it gets a lot of feedback from many different kinds of people. Fashioned after the Star Wars logo, I can see the “Ah-Ha” on people’s faces as they first view me as a Trekkie and then a peacenik—the latter of which I most definitely am. On the back it says, “Because the Force is With Us.” Which I believe it is. Clothing of the American Mind is a great source for political T-shirts and other clever protest wear. They are a grassroots apparel company dedicated to stylishly promoting, supporting and articulating progressive values through fashion.

Full Story

by Eric Boehler, Media Matters:

The Associated Press last week got a preview of how this presidential season is going to unfold, and how online liberal activists aren’t going to stand down when the press takes cheap shots at Democratic front-runners.

After AP reporter Nedra Pickler wrote a news story highlighting how some fringe Republican operatives were raising questions about Sen. Barack Obama’s patriotism, angry readers dispatched nearly 15,000 electronic letters protesting the piece. Why? Because instead of providing balance and context, which is what good journalism does, the article simply offered a platform for Obama’s opponents to roll out their smears, to broadcast their dark doubts about the senator’s character.

That kind of media shortcoming has become predictable; reporters love to quote partisan Republicans about how deficient Democrats are. And in the past it would have likely produced angry denunciations online within the liberal blogosphere — a blog swarm, perhaps. In fact, within hours of the article being posted on the wires, John Aravosis at Americablog condemned the news agency for the way it regurgitated “right-wing lies about Obama lacking patriotism.” (Aravosis was simultaneously irked by an interactive poll posted at CNN.com that asked readers if Obama was sufficiently patriotic.) Even without an organized effort, it’s likely the Pickler article would have prompted scores of blog readers to send off a fistful of angry missives to the AP.

But nearly 15,000 letters sent in just a matter of days in response to a single news wire article? That’s something else entirely and could mark the dawn of a new era in progressive media activism. The phenomenon has received very little mainstream media attention (journalists probably don’t want to encourage this sort of thing), but make no mistake: It was a very big deal.

In part because it’s become clear that if there’s going to be an effective media pushback during this White House run, it’s going to have to come from online. Even progressive pundits within the mainstream press corps remain reluctant to step out and criticize their colleagues in any meaningful way. That is still very much a closed Beltway club.

Also, this White House campaign is going to be the test case to see whether the more fully matured liberal blogosphere is able to alter the mainstream media landscape at all, whether it’s going to be able to knock the press off some of its favorite, predisposed biases against Democrats. From the looks of the eruption the AP created, progressives have already made enormous strides since the 2004 campaign.

Indeed, Sen. John Kerry’s former campaign aides must see this kind of rapid response and think about what might have been if they had an army of online activists ready to battle the press when reporters and pundits took cheap shots trying to defame the Democratic front-runner back in 2004. And poor Al Gore. Imagine if 15,000 letters to newspaper were dashed off the week the inventing-the-Internet fairy tale first began to take root in the press?

What prompted the organized outpouring of angst last week against the AP was when the website Firedoglake took action, embraced a new organizing tool, tapped into a wellspring of enthusiasm for Obama, and pointed angry readers not in the direction of the AP itself, but toward their local newspaper clients. Why? Because newspapers are more responsive to complaints filed by nearby readers, and because the newspapers pay the AP’s bills as newswire customers.
Continue Reading »

Puro Obama YouTube Channel

Call Today! Call Today! Call Today!

Call Speaker Nancy Pelosi at 202-225-0100

Call Majority Leader Steny Hoyer at 202-225-4131.

Tell them to stay strong against warrantless wiretapping and billions more for the Iraq war.

From http://www.unitedforpeace.org

In a surprising display of courage, the House Democratic leadership last week stood up to Bush and the weak-kneed Senate and refused to bring to the floor a bill that would allow Bush to continue to spy on the people of this country without a warrant. Can this newfound courage last?

We need Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer to continue to stand strong against domestic spying and telecom immunity. And we need them to learn from this — they do have power if they choose to use it — they do have the power to end the occupation of Iraq. Pelosi and Hoyer can start by refusing to allow Bush’s $102 billion Iraq war funding request to come up for a vote.

THURSDAY: Join the Massive National “You are NOT a Lap Dog*” Call-In Day!

Call Speaker Pelosi at 202-225-0100 and Majority Leader Hoyer at 202-225-4131. If you don’t get through to an actual person, leave a voicemail message.

Talking points:

1. Thank you for standing up to the president and the Senate and refusing to allow a vote on the Senate bill letting Bush continue warrantless wiretapping of people in this country and granting immunity to telecom companies who facilitated illegal wiretaps.

2. Please continue to stand up for the Constitution and refuse to allow a vote on a bill that would condone warrantless spying on us or immunity for telephone companies that break the law!

3. Stay strong! Refuse to allow a vote on Bush’s new $102 billion Iraq war funding request. If Democrats want to end the occupation, they must take the first step and stop funding it.

We must stay strong as well. UFPJ member groups and allies around the country are currently mobilizing for a wide range of powerful actions marking the 5th anniversary of the war and occupation in Iraq. Join us in March to say, 5 YEARS TOO MANY!

BACKGROUND

* “We’re not the lap dog of the president or the United States Senate.” –Rep Hoyer on Feb. 13, when the House leadership refused to bow to political pressure on FISA legislation.

Early last week, the Senate passed FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) reform legislation that trampled civil liberties and offered immunity to telecoms that facilitated illegal wiretaps. The president and the Senate wanted the House to quickly pass the Senate bill, because the act it was written to replace was due to expire on Feb. 15. The House stood up to Bush and the Senate and allowed the “Protect America Act” to expire, without passing the replacement bill. The fear-mongering has not stopped, with Bush claiming that terrorists are planning an attack that will far surpass 9/11, and he will be helpless to stop them without the ability to spy on us without a warrant.

Unfortunately, the battle over domestic spying and telecom immunity is not over. The House will return to the subject next week. The leadership must be assured that they did the right thing by refusing to bow to pressure and fear mongering, and that they must continue to defend the Constitution.

The battle over FISA teaches an important lesson about congressional power — the Democrats have it, if they care to use it. Pelosi and Hoyer have demonstrated that they are willing to go to the mat over domestic spying and telecom immunity — now we want to see them go to the mat to end the occupation of Iraq.

Bush has requested another $102 billion for Iraq — which would push total spending on the war so far above $624 billion. Rep. Murtha, Chair of the Defense Appropriations subcommittee, is preparing a bill to fund that request. He says the bill will be ready by the end of February. The peace movement will have to wage a strong campaign to defeat the war supplemental, or to turn it into a bill that only funds the withdrawal of all troops and contractors. It won’t be easy — the presidential elections are capturing the attention of activists and the general public. We must keep the pressure on!

A group of over 30 people gathered in front of the Hollywood Armed Forces Recruiting Station, prompting the early closure that day of this entry to the killing machine.

Response was mixed, some actually laughed at seeing the orange suited detainees and we sharply responded, do you think torture is a joke? Is waterboarding a joke? Many of them were silent after that. One of the strongest responses we got was a Latino middle-aged couple – the woman thanked and applauded us.

Full Report

The ACLU Foundation Advisory Board cordially invites you to I ‘heart’ Civil Liberties Happy Hour. Complimentary hors d’ouvres & drink specials. A $10 donation is suggested.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008
7:00pm - 10:00pm
Chocolat Restaurant & Bar
Los Angeles, CA

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