Bless you Brad, I emailed Lou Dobbs and asked him to read your blog. Guess he got more than one. I'm glad you are recognized for your hard work and gracious, tenacious attitude. Read on waynemadsenreport a letter from Cynthia McKinny asking for donations. She said she had 1,000 people last election at the polls to ensure there was a zero count at the beginning of election day. Next election, this won't be allowed in Georgia. Pretty surprising, since election fraud is getting on MSM.

Great news, Brad! Looking forward to it. Immensely.

You rock!

Not quite on topic, but I really wish Air America would not let all its radio hosts take off on vacation all at once. It really gives the whole operation an amateurish, chickens-with-heads-cut-off feel. Not a good way to spread the progressive message to the sheeple.

Get some rest and be at your best ... we will all be watching ... good news!

OT

The Supreme Count just slapped the republican dictatorship down in Hamdan v Rumsfeld.

I noticed that they did not blame democrats for not stopping the republican dictatorship ... they simply said that the republican president is acting illegally.

Rob #3

I just notice that Brad said:

So Open Thread here as ya like!

So, neither you nor I were actually off topic.

OPEN THREAD folks per Brad.

I'm breaking my vow, and watching CNN for the first time in months, instead of Democracy NOW! on LINK-TV & FSTV. Hopefully, they won't put a neo-con shill on with you, blurting you out.

well, i'll stay on topic and wish you a great good luck and i'll be watching you tonight, brad!

i'm assuming the oceanside rally went well, wish i could have been there. hope you'll write all about it when you get a free moment, which should be sometime in 2008, right?

Looks like I MUST arrange my schedule to watch.

Brad,
SO GLAD HE IS HAVING YOU ON THE SHOW!!
What we need is one of those loudspeakers like Tim Robbins had in The Shawshank Redemption - no - make that a few thousand of them, so your words can go wafting across the nation. Point a few especially big ones towards Washington, 'cause they definitely have a hearing problem.
GO BRAD!!!

Good catch, Dredd #5, reminding me of one of my all-time favorite BradBlog rules: You can never be OT on an open thread.

As you may know, The World Cup (the quadrennial world championship of soccer) is now being played in Germany. After three weeks of play, the field has been reduced to 8 teams (from the 32 who qualified) and Ukraine is among the final 8. This was entirely unexpected especially after their opening-round 4-0 loss to Spain.

Meanwhile, the USA (which expected big things) failed even to reach the round of 16, after losing to both the Czech Republic and Ghana. Nobody could ever prove it, but I have a sneaking suspicion that soccer is rewarding Ukraine for taking their exit polls seriously in November of 2004, and punishing the USA for failing to do so.

"The Beautiful Game" works in wonderous ways.

I made an error/omission last night in my comment in the thread under Brad's post "Washington Post: 'A Single Person Could Swing an Election'". In my comment#33 I was discussing what happened at the Town Hall Meeting in San Diego last night. I concluded that comment with this paragraph:

"One important thing that did happen at this meeting was that Mimi Kennedy sent out and then collected pieces of paper on which we wrote our addresses, e-mail, etc. and made a pledge of money that they may call on to help pay for a lawyer to get the ball rolling on legal actions (if it comes to that) in San Diego and California in regards to the illegal election that took place in the 50th Congressional District on June 6th. I'm sure she wouldn't be upset if you e-mailed her at 'Mimi Kennedy, PDA' and offered her some kind of monetary pledge, as well."

The full and correct e-mail address for Mimi Kennedy should have been: "Mimi Kennedy, PDA" with e-mail address: info@pdamerica.org

RE: Comment #1 --- I emailed Lou Dobbs also, and asked that he please have Brad on as a guest. Maybe, just maybe --- we can...save our democracy?! Brad deserves a medal for his work on this subject. In my opinion, it is the most important one --- if voting is a sham, then everything else is moot!

Go Brad!

Brad, I'm absolutely thrilled that you've been invited to be on the Lou Dobbs program. I will be watching! Maybe, just maybe, the lion has awakened. I hope he tears those voting machines to shreads.

Way to go, Brad!!!

You are a gift and an inspiration.

Brad - U-DA-MAN

"Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar" Sigmond Freud

Butt not this Time . . . . . Enjoy . . .

http://democrats.com/node/9339

This is prolly WAY too optimistic, but....

Now that Chimpy and his brown-shirted enablers have started threatening publishers, editors and reporters with charges of treason, maybe....just maybe our formerly free press is ready to stop rolling over and finally get back to DOING THEIR JOBS!

If that is REALLY happening, maybe our formeraly free press will START reporting stories of genuine consequence - such as ELECTION FRAUD! And if they expose the CLEARLY FRAUDULENT RESULTS of '04, maybe we'll see a serious effort to OUST CHIMPY and his cronies!

I'll be there, parked right in front of CNN... watching you tell it to the world!

Now, to make sure my elections commissioner knows!

Steve re #11 thanks for that address. Your comment in the previous thread has been corrected. Cheers, amigo!

I'll definitely watch!

Lately I have found myself riveted to Dobbs' show in the afternoon (AZ time)-- and then watching for the re-runs later in the evening.

Thanks for being so relentless on this issue, Brad --- and good luck!

OT (just kidding) I see Isreal is going to pound on the Palestinians again

Break a leg Brad !

Go Brad Go!!!!!

Help - In a hurry right now - show will be over for me before I leave work - is it re-transmitted on the web?

Thank You...Thank You... Thank You... Thank You... Thank You... Brad, for your amazing tenacity! So I went out to see An Inconvenient Truth (Truly Scary,everyone has to see it) today and come home to find this wonderful news. My day could not have been better. Oh wait a minute I can dream of other things that could make my day better, "ITMFA" Brad kick some ass, We ALL got your back and thats a fact Jack!

Sitting by the tv, waitin' for Brad to come on....

KNOCK 'EM DEAD, BRAD!!! I KNOW YOU WILL!!!

I really feel sorry for this poor girl
Link
Its so bizarre, I don't know if she flipped or what

ITMFA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here we go.

Brad you look Mahvolous on TV. Even corporate controlled main stream media! Especially msm! ITMFA!!!

I just seen good old Brad on Dobbs

I was hoping for more from Brad.

It sound like they're going to break him on slowly if he gets on tomorrow again
Maybe a little longer the next time ?
Good shot Brad !

Gee, I'm....underwhelmed! Though I'm still very happy Lou Dobbs is keeping at the vote-tampering issue, what did Brad get...about 10 seconds?

Maybe we can flood Jon Stewart and/or Stephen Colbert with requests to have him on, emphasizing in those requests the CRITICAL nature of the issue.

They may both be "fake" news guys, but they have both spoken truth to power.

Joan, actually I'm pretty impressed that our buddy even got on at all, considering what the last five years have been like

I like "Brad Friedman, Bradblog.com" at the bottom of the screen, what a plug !!!!

Joan! What a great idea!

I'll take what I can get....a moment or two of Brad is worth.....??? "Priceless" !!!!
Emma

Joan,

It's amazing how Jon and Stephan's Fake news is so much more accuarate than than tha "Real News"!

Joan - ITMFA as in Urban Dictionary . . . . . ASAP . . .

#24 Floridiot

Followed your link and it sounds like a bad dream.
Maybe its a little story concocted by the mis-info brigade to make left wing protesters look like the mentally incompetant.
Its worth keeping our eyes open to see if more story's like this proliferate. Likely it's more right wing propaganda.

JOJ

Thanks - I've been meaning to ask about it, but felt I was out of it since I didn't already know!

ITMFA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!AND !

. Sally said on 6/29/2006 @ 4:08 pm PT...

Brad knows Ed so maybe he could find out what the hell is going on with that

I already sent Lou an email asking him to give Brad more time on this subject. I told him Brad would blow him away with all he knows about the voting machines. Obviously 6 or 7 have already been emailing Lou, now we just have to keep the pressure on him. All I know is I 'm shocked that we finally are seeing this on the boob tube. Especially with Brad on there educating people even if it is only for 10 seconds. Just think about how far Brad has taken this since 11-02-04. Brad I am choked up thinking about how you have brought this almost single handedly to the forefront of peoples consiousness! Let me just say how proud I am of you. You my friend, are my HERO! A REAL AMERICAN PATRIOT! I am not trying to demean any of the other Patriots that are also carrying the Flag of truth into battle against this evil dictatorship....ITMFA....

Floridiot #39

Yes this one has got me wondering.
She may infact be being harrassed and also have an allergic reaction to something that causes her to windpipe to swell up.

She really probably needs medical help for that condition as people do die when their winpipe swells up (due to allergy) and they cannot breath.

Severe allergy sufferers keep adrenalin injections handy as time can be short with a bad attack.

Sally and Floridiot... I think we should throw in a visit to the shrink as well. Sounds an awful lot like the onset of paranoid schizophrenia to me. We're all buggy about the Black Ops, but this is carrying it a little far.

Agent99 #42

Sadly I agree.

Thats exactly what I thought too 99...so sad when that happens
I seen it with a guy who had? the mafia after him for something or another, he ended up institutionalized

Paranoia may be entirely warranted in the not too distant future. See Chris Floyd's latest. After all, what will those KBR detention camps be used for? Day care?

BTW, what does "ITMFA" mean exactly? My lingo's not entirely up to speed.

OOPS!! Guess I didn't do that just exactly right. My preview window almost never appears, so I can't check. Will this close the blooper?

for Peg #45 (and perhaps some others)

ITMFA = Impeach The Mother Fxckers Already

And while we're impeaching, let's not forget Scalia, Thomas, Roberts and Alito. Kennedy can stay. Stevens, Souter and Ginsberg definitely can stay.

What can I say? I aim high!

Peg - (C) #45

ITMFA - Was wondering myself,.. to embarrassed to ask.
(came up with some funny guesses tho)

-------------

Winter Patriot - (C) #47

THX for clarifying that.

Another reason to impeach these warmongers,..

Brave soldiers,.. then broken minds.

Scroll down then open chapter 1,2,3,4.

Video Link

http://www.urbandictionary.com/

Is a good reference for acronyms, phrases, pols, celebs concepts etc.

One querry I found particularly interestingly rude was "santorum" . . .

JoJ,
Is ITMFA in the Urban Dictionary? Um...Is there an Urban Dictionary??
ITMFA, fyi, was started by Dan Savage of New Times. He sells ITMFA buttons ($5 each) & tee shirts, too.

link to ITMFA site

At least, I THINK it was started by him!

#32 Floridiot,
True. So glad he was on, and I hope they do have more of him on tomorrow!
Darn, I'll be out & my vcr doesn't tape! Brad, thanks so much for posting all of it (on next thread) & please do the same tomorrow...I'd hate to miss it.

#33 Agent99,
Yeah, lets get those emails to Jon going...wouldn't you all love to see Brad on the Daily Show?! It's about time he started talking about vote fraud anyway!!!

Red Staters,.. no movie screen showing Gore's
Inconvenient Truth,..
download : gore.asf here

Link to Gore Video - (gore.asf)

#51 Joj,
Thanks for that! Jeez...I just checked out 'santorum'...eeew! Who knew? (my gay friends never shared that info with me!)

Thanks, all, for enlightening me!

Now I can express my heart's dearest desire without having to sdpell it out!

Oh, cool! This is from the ITMFA site:
"...Last week, as promised, the first ITMFA checks went out: $4,000 to the ACLU; $2,000 to Bob Casey (the Dem running against Rick “Fecal Matter” Santorum in Pennsylvania); and $2,000 to Ned Lamont (the real Dem challenging faux Dem Joe “There is no morality without religion” Lieberman in Connecticut)..."

Great job, Dan Savage!!

How about this for an email campaign (since Dan intends to give all ITMFA profits to progressive causes):

I'd love to see some of that money go to helping pay for any elections that may need re-counting (hint to Francine Busby) Oh wait...that one still hasn't even been COUNTED yet...
But I bet he might be open to that suggestion.

From his contact info:
"Send us comments and pictures of people wearing ITMFA t-shirts, buttons, etc."
dan@itmfa.com

Joan - I had to shower after I read that. . . . . . He must be a popular guy in some circles. . .

Thnx, Joan. Comforting to be connected to sane people.

Oops my bad - #59 in responce to #56 - slow keys . . .

I hope y'all are as tickled about the SCOTUS smack down of *'s little military tribunals today as I am. This has implications for more than just military tribunals. Oh, hell yes. It's dumping their flimsy authorization to use force argument down the toilet where it came from.

#62 Agent99 - Ya, the spin from the gop created such a wind that it blow me outa my seat. . . Kangaroo SCOTUS

Darn it..!!!!! I put my feet up and was all ready to watch Lou last evening and I nodded off and missed Brad the boss, but won't let that happen today. I'm going to program the VCR, just in case Brad gets invited back. If he doesn't, we should all avalanche Lou again with e-mails demanding 'more Brad'...lol..!!!

Anybody started a Brad fan club yet.....and if not, why not...lol..!!

Winter Patriot # 10

Yes, 'beautiful game' indeed..!! My hometown team years ago was Manchester United. What a comeback they had from their tragic plane crash that wiped out a lot of the team back in the 60's (I think..!!) The old memory isn't as good as it used to be, but I do remember Sir Stanley Matthews. There, that admission dates me as to what an old broad I really am.....lol..!! Strangely though, I still feel like a teenager inside......where did the years go...!!!!

I'm putting my money on Brazil......their footwork is akin to poetry in motion. How many passes was it in one of their earlier games......26 I believe..!! That has to be a record.

Question time WP.....

Since your warm welcome back here from all your friends after your absence, have you given any thought to resurrecting your website.....??? There's some neat stuff there. I'm still working my way through it when time permits.

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph".

Thomas Paine, "The Crisis", December 23, 1776

JoJ #63

I finally think Kennedy can stay, but the Monarchist Four have got to go. It looks as if Kennedy's judgment is the thread by which our democracy is hanging. I guess Roberts didn't get to weigh in because he heard it in a lower court, but we know how he'd have voted. Everyone's hollering ITMFA, and I think the Supremes can be impeached as well. Seems to me their unconstitutional "unitary executive" crap fits that bill.

I do believe some of them were heartily sorry for their judgment in Bush vs. Gore, and maybe one of them has found it within himself to be a real justice after all. If you want to watch a Princeton lecture by Justice Breyer, go here.

Anybody.....

This might seem like a stupid question, but what is the purpose of mid term elections..?

Your electoral process sure is complicated...

Mar #66

The US Constitution requires that members of the House of Representatives face election every two years.

Senators face election each six years, and the president each 4 years.

The purpose is accountability, a peer review by the people to see how they have been doing.

There has been a conspiracy to water down the people's right to choose their congress members.

One technique is gerrymandering which still plagues us, even tho some gerrymandering has been held illegal (e.g. last week in LULAC v Perry: http://caselaw.lp.findla...vol=000&invol=05-204 ).

Another is electronic voting machines that can be controlled by other than the people.

For Mar: "Midterm elections" is a phrase used by political writers. It has no specific meaning in any Constitutional sense.

Senators are elected for 6-year terms, thus one-third of all Senators are elected in the even-numbered year between presidential elections (midterm).

U.S. Representatives are elected for 2-year terms, so every office is up for grabs in the same mid-term year.

The Bilbray-Busby election was held to fill the seat vacated by "Duke" Cunningham, who resigned in disgrace. Occasionally a special election is held to replace a Congressperson who dies or resigns to become Secretary of Somethingorother.

RE: Hamdan v Rumsfeld

I thought I would give a little history of Hamdan.

Judge James Robertson granted Hamdan the writ of habeas corpus in the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia (link here).

It was appealed to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, where it was reversed. The current Chief Justice Roberts, while he was an appeals court judge, was in on the decision reversing District Court Judge Robertson.

It was then appealed to the US Supreme Court, where the Chief Justice could not participate, because he had already made up his mind. He was recused.

The Supreme Court, 5-3, reversed the District Court of Appeals, and said Judge Roberson had been correct in his original decision linked above.

Now it is being sent back to District Judge Robertson's court. BTW he is the judge that resigned from the FISA court, some say as a protest of the president's NSA spy-on-america ventures.

Since he has been vindicated in his decision, he is the one the administration must deal with now.

Here is a bit more about Judge Robertson.

For those interested in what legal scholars have to say about the Hamdan v Rumsfeld decision, I offer the following:

The Georgetown Law Center will be hosting at noon today a faculty discussion on Hamdan, featuring Neal Katyal, Mark Tushnet, Carlos Vazquez, and David Luban. It will be held at the law school, 12th Floor of the Gewirz building. C-SPAN will carry it live.

Georgetown has also started a faculty blog, which will no doubt have a lot of great material on Hamdan.

(link here, bold added).

What may prove to be interesting is that some think, including myself, that the language and tone of the Hamdan decision gives a warning to the regime that will spill over into the NSA and other spying cases.

Likewise on torture and secret detentions, renditions, and a whole host of pure bullshit the regime has been spewing on the american people.

FLORIDIOT #24

She also sounds like a few meth addicts I've met. The paranoia part.

#64 Mar,
Thanks for that wonderful quote. Yes, I heartily agree.

WP, Brad & many others will 'go down in history', as the saying goes, as true heroes and patriots who refused to give up and allow their country to be sullied & disgraced by a few greedy, power-hungry UN-AMERICAN theocratic thugs!!
We need to do whatever it is in our power to do in support of them.
WP, we love you, man. Your writing is inspiring. It bears repeating: You were sorely missed around here & it's great to have you back!

Some news from what our friend Mr. Colbert called that "graham-cracker crust of corruption":

"Oh. Bad, bad days for Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH).

We seem to have arrived at the run-for-the-hills phase of the Ney probe. Roll Call's John Bresnahan is reporting (sub.req.) that three of Ney's key staffers are quitting their jobs with the ensnared congressman...
....Matt Parker, Ney's District director, just got tagged with a subpoena..."

link here

What a Blast : Al Franken's conversation with the Air America Radio's ombudsman. He's more edgy than Al . . .

Many thanks to MAR #64 and JOAN #72 for such kind words. Thanks also for the difficult question:

... have you given any thought to resurrecting your website???

I assume you are referring to my former blog, since you quoted from it? YES I have thought about it, but NO I don't expect it to happen anytime soon. It's a question of time really: I have only so much and I'm trying to make the best use of it.

Believe it or not, I have only 24 hours per day, just like the rest of you, and of course most of it is devoted to this crazy little thing I like to call "my life" ... It seems to me that if I can spare an hour or two a day (which is all I can do at this point, if I'm lucky), the best place I can spend that time is here helping Brad.

If had 30 or 35 hours per day, and if I had time left over after doing all I could do here, I would probably think first about resurrecting The Whispering Campaign which seemed to be a good way to reach more people with more truth faster than conventional blogging. In essence I abandoned my former blog so I could spend more time whispering.

But if I had 40 or 45 hours per day I would be able to help Brad, revive The Whispering Campaign amd either resume my former blog or maybe even start up a new one.

What the world needs now is one more blog, right?

Now that I think about it, the solution seems quite clear: What I really need is a time machine --- if I could have two passes at each day that would give me 48 hours where I now only get 24 and I could do all these things and then some. Maybe I could even return to my former career as a Formula One driver.

But that's all a pipe dream at this point, not likely to happen anytime soon. In the meantime, if you are so inclined, please explore both my former blog and The Whispering Campaign. There's lots of good material at both sites [he said modestly]. Or so I've been told!

All work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy . . . . . Except for Brad . . .

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has visited the home of his musical hero,
Elvis Presley, as a guest of US President

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/...a-pacific/5132376.stm?ls

I thought you might enjoy a letter by "Stranger" which I found at blah3 via bartcop courtesy of skippy the bush kangaroo. It starts like this:

Dear Media,

I hope you all enjoy lying in that bed you've made.

All those years of making excuses for George W. Bush's ineptness, inadequacies, and illegalities have earned you absolutely nothing. You brushed aside his lack of experience and intellectual incuriosity in 1999 and 2000, mostly because you didn't like Al Gore. Your behavoir gave him a much better position from which to steal the 2000 election.

You bought the spin from Bush's minions, ignoring the crisis that was taking place in Florida after the election. You believed every lie they came up with, from 'The votes have been counted and re-counted and re-counted' to 'Al Gore is trying to steal the election,' and you decided that letting Bush take office (in the most literal sense possible) was 'best for the country.'

You papered over the fact that he was scared out of his mind on September 11, 2001 - to the point where he flew to Idaho to hide - in favor of painting him as a 'resolute leader.' You swallowed, hook, line, and sinker, every lie that came out of the White House in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq - in many cases embellishing the lies to make them sound more plausible.

You let the elite members of your profession use their positions as opinion-shapers to shove cooked intelligence down the throats of the American public. You placed that cooked intel on the front pages of every newspaper and magazine in the country, and you played that cooked intelligence at the top of every hour on your cable news outlets.

You never once asked, 'Where is Osama bin Laden?'

It gets even better, and I won't spoil the ending but you can click here and read the whole thing.

Taking advantage of the OT,

Anyone care to tell the business model people within the MSM that they are not "out" simply because blogging is "in" but rather that blogging is in because it's been the only way to get actual truthful earnest news since at least Nov 3, 2004?

I can recall being desperate for actual news from that day on. And since that time, only the blogs have been providing that---with gusto, clarity, perserverance, and good will toward good men and women!

Yet the MSM wasn't then and still isn't in tune at all. Oh it's a timliness issue the business model people may say, but the truth is, most don't mind getting the news a day or two after the blogs---because every good journalist who brings a different and unique perspective, together with the truth, is a much sought after jewel among intelligent readers. We loyally wait days for good news analyses.

Yet lately, all I've seen and heard are snapshots of swollen bloody dead faces, children dead, people injured, people crying, people grieving. And Bush and Rove and Cheney smiling. You goddamn goddamn fuckers.
And all the MSM offers is this same old same old crap that's been puked up by the shameless, gutless, money-mongering "free" press. Don't tell them but...their voice has been been stolen along with their vote.

Well, they can blame their diminishing readership on "technological advances" but let it be said, here and now, it's because they've lost their free-thinking intellectuals. Pretty faces, pretty names, knowing nothing but how to deliver bad news with a nice smile, or how to argue just for the sake of arguing, are all they have to offer. How disgusting. How demeaning unto themselves, really.

Miss P, I don't think its OT at all. Thanks for the post,It mirrors my sentiments exactly!

Laura, when Miss P wrote "taking advantage of the OT" she probably intended "OT" to mean "Open Thread" rather than "Off Topic" ...

Isn't it strange that we use the same abbreviations to mean such very different things? You can never be OT on an OT! or something like that anyway ...

and Miss P I agree with almost everything you've said ... but I don't think I've seen any real news from the MSM since September 10th, 2001.

Thanks Winter Patriot, If I would have comprehended what I read I would have relized my mistake.

OT on the OT - Pretty dead around here tonight - everyone must have taken off for the weekend.

In some ways it almost seems like a travesty to celebrate the 4th. Things just ain't what they used to be!

As Joan would say ITMFA!

Oh - Hi Laura!

Miss P:

You're on my wavelength with that one too!

Imagine what it's going to be like when they take away the internet. They are just itching to pass the C.O.P.E. act so they won't have to send out so many form letters and have to worry that we're getting informed.

Maybe that will be the thing that finally drives us into the streets!

Bluebear,
Speaking of ITMFA, here's an idea for the 4th:
I happen to have a flagpole in my front yard. I could fly a nice big ITMFA flag.
Anybody else have a flagpole?

Hmmmmm...anyone surprised by this:
"Spy Agency Sought U.S. Call Records Before 9/11, Lawyers Say"

June 30 (Bloomberg) ---
"The U.S. National Security Agency asked AT&T Inc. to help it set up a domestic call monitoring site seven months before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, lawyers claimed June 23 in court papers filed in New York federal court...
...``The Bush Administration asserted this became necessary after 9/11,'' plaintiff's lawyer Carl Mayer said in a telephone interview. ``This undermines that assertion.''..."

link here

Hi everyone, I'm still here and BB2 I feel the same way about not being able to get into the hoopla for the 4th of July festivities. When I got home from work today I logged onto my husbands page to log him off and I noticed on micosoft page has rules on how to fly the flag. What a crock, it says that the flag should never be flown upside down because it is a sign of distress. I'm headed out to fly mine upside down because I have never seen my country in so much distress as it is now. You think anyone will even notice? I have my doubts.

Joan #85

Dang it! Now I've got to go get a flagpole!

Bluebear,
Well, I don't actually HAVE a big ITMFA flag....but I've got 3 days to make one. How hard could it be??

It'd sure make a good picture to send to Dan Savage!

Ok, 4th of July project underway.....

Laura -

The upside down flag was a standard around my place in the 60's. Flew it in the demonstrations and in my window.

I always love it when the have pictures or videos of the flag behind politicians with the blue field on the right.

Technically that is upside down!

While we're talking about flags,

What really bugs me is they are making such an issue over burning of the flag, yet when have you ever heard a complaint about using it for advertising?

Show me a flag flying in the dark or in the rain (both forbidden) and I'll show you a McDonalds!

I got this email from a friend:
"I HOPE you have all seen the reports about how Sears is treating its reservist employees who are called up? By law, they are required to hold their jobs open and available, but nothing more. Usually, people take a big pay cut and lose benefits as a result of being called up.

Sears is voluntarily paying the difference in salaries and maintaining all benefits, including medical insurance and bonus programs, for all called up reservist employees for up to two years. I submit that Sears is an exemplary corporate citizen and should be recognized for its contribution.

I suggest we all shop at Sears, and be sure to find a manager to tell them why we are there so the company gets the positive reinforcement it well deserves.

Pass it on."

From snopes.com:
"Claim: Sears pays the difference in salaries and maintains benefits for their called-up military reservist employees.

Status: True."

Cool. Kudos to Sears!

Joan Thanks for that. Isn't it unbelieveable that this is not the norm in times of war? Support the troops, not with the SCUMbags we have in charge of corporate Amerika. I most definitely vote with my dollars every day in everything I buy. I got off the corporate dollar consumption treadmill right after I found this blog. I realized that was the only way to be independent of this country's bullshit policies. I still owe, but it is a hell of a lot less then I did five years ago. I think the ITMFA flag for 4th of July is a FABULOUS idea! I had 2 flags on my property since 9-11. After Bush wae re-elected in 2004(yeah RIGHT!)I took the one off my backyard deck and swore I would not put another up until Bush was no longer pResident of my country. I think an arts and crafts weekend is in store. I'm lucky enough to be off this next week. SOOOOOOO ITMFA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wonder if Arlen Sphincter will open the door . . . . . for an investigation into domestic spiing . . .

Dredd # 67 & RLM # 68

Thanks to both of you for the info, it really helped me better understand your political system.

Gerrymandering, from what I gather, is where the boundaries of voting districts can be changed to include areas where there would be a larger concentration of supporters for a particular party, which in turn would translate into more votes for that parties candidate come election time.

Forgive me, don't mean to confuse the issue, but shouldn't the term be 'gerrym(e)andering', as 'meandering' means to 'wander aimlessly or casually'...

Joan # 72

I have to 'fess up......I borrowed that wonderful quote from Winter Patriots' former blog.

Amazing isn't it that, even way back then in 1776 when life was probably a lot less chaotic, the words that one man penned are so relevant in this day and age. What a wise man Thomas Paine was..!!

I take my hat off to all of the people here fighting to restore democracy to their country, god bless you all, and ..........

GOD BLESS AMERICA !!!!

Winter Patriot # 75

Sorry to hear you won't be resurrecting your former blog anytime soon, but I hear you about there being only so many hours in a day, and like you, I could use one of those time machines also...

Thanks for the link to 'whispering'......another interesting site to peruse when time permits.

You said...."What the world needs now is one more blog, right?"...........I say, "why not", just as long as it is of the same quality, as informative and with such dedicated bloggers as there are here...

Will someone please forward a time machine onto WP so he can follow all of his dreams...!! Maybe there's a used one up for grabs on E-bay...