ROVE RESIGNS!

TODAY on Basham and Cornell Progressive Talk we'll be discussing Rove's resignation as well as other juicy politcal news.

The Basham and Cornell Show broadcasts weekday mornings at 8 am Pacific Time on AM 1230 KLAV in Las Vegasat 8 am Pacific (11 a.m. Eastern). All shows are simulcast on the Internet (and archived) and can be listened to at BASHAM AND CORNELL.COM

If you missed it, you can listen in the archives. This past Friday August 10th, Senator John Edwards was our guest, and Tomorrow, Tuesday August 14, we are having Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan, author of "Take This Job and Ship it: How Corporate Greed and Brain Dead Politics Are Selling Out America."









Open Thread.

SYMPHONY OF HOPE

I heard Nancy Pelosi this morning. 'She said that the whole point of the military surge, is to bring forth a peaceful political process. But the Iraqi government seems to be disbanding, desite reports that the military part of the surge is having some success. We can't just stay indefinitely using only military means, since the whole point of the surge was to bring the Democratic government to the table. Are we supposed to stay there forever, providing a virtual police state? The cost to our troops and to our nation is too great.



The following two articles will blow you away. I am a symphony lover and grew up in a family of musicians. I wanted to see if Iraq had a symphony and if there were any signs of hope in Iraq at all. So I Googled "Symphony in Iraq: and here's what I found from this amazing journalist embedded in Iraq. God Bless Terry McCarthy. He also wrote a bizarre and astounding article below called "Prints of War" You will not believe it. In addition, he did an interview last week with Iraq's Prime Minister Maliki, and was shocked at how "dead" Maliki's spirit seems to be.

SYMPHONY OF HOPE by Terry McCarthy of ABC News

July 26, 2007 6:23 PM

We look hard for signs of hope in Iraq. And so we were pleasantly surprised when we went to a music festival in Erbil -- about 300 Iraqi musicians and dancers had been flown in to the northern city, and were given the run of an enormous performing arts center, courtesy of a grant from the US government. On hand were nine American music and dance teachers, who were giving classes on such subjects as Baroque keyboard technique, hip hop dancing and contemporary jazz. It was fun to see the Iraqi musicians soaking it all in. For 10 days, in the relative safety of Kurdistan, they got to act like most musicians in the rest of the world who don’t have car bombs and gunshots constantly disturbing their sense of harmony.

Michael, the hip-hop teacher, was from Texas and very extroverted -- the young Kurds who wanted to learn hip-hop quickly lost all their shyness and inhibitions in the face of his antics. His first task -- to update their musical knowledge. They had been downloading most of their music on their cell phones, which Michael thought was cool -- until he heard it. “There is a definite time lag,” he said. “I had an argument about it yesterday. They still feel Michael Jackson is the King of Pop.” Once that issue was settled, he began teaching them a robocop dance routine. They loved it.

Other inhibitions melted away. Iraq is in the midst of a bitter sectarian conflict, and today people are usually very slow to socialize outside their own group -- it is a simple matter of safety. At the festival there were Sunnis, Shiites, Christians, Kurds and Arabs, flown or driven in from all over the country. On the first day the organizers noted that people pretty much stuck to their own cliques when they sat down for lunch or gathered in the hallways. But after about 24 hours thrown together in class rooms and the concert hall, religious and ethnic differences began to be pushed aside, as the musicians and dancers found common interest in their craft.

By the end of the festival they had put together what they called a “Unity Orchestra”, made up of musicians from various cities around Iraq, who were to give a performance on the final evening to an invited audience. A conductor from Baghdad, Mohammed Amin, said the whole point was “to show that we are still here, that there is still hope for Iraq”.

The music festival in Erbil reinforced my sense that, if they are given a modicum of security, Iraqis can lay aside their differences fairly quickly. In the context of today’s violence, provoked by some very vicious extremists, that is a pretty massive “if”. But as the conductor says, the moderate, non-extremist, non-sectarian majority of Iraqis is still here. And so, there is still hope.

THE PRINTS OF WAR

July 31, 2007 2:30 PM

Some time ago a good friend, Chris Morris, a photographer for TIME magazine, told me how he had been traveling through Somalia during the bad days there and had come across a makeshift medical station in an abandoned house north of the capital Mogadishu. There was one doctor, an English-speaking Somali surgeon, who was dealing with a large number of wounded civilians and soldiers who had been brought there from the fighting further south. His equipment was rudimentary – a small number of scalpels and forceps, not many drugs, a wooden table on which he was operating.

Chris, with a photographer’s eye, noticed that the whitewashed walls of the room where the operations were carried out had been decorated with red palm prints. He shot a few frames, and asked about the significance of the designs. The doctor was blunt. There was no water in the building, and he had no latex gloves, so the only way to get the blood off his hands after each operation was to slap them against the wall, before moving on to the next patient.

That image stayed with me, and it popped back into my mind today during a conversation I had with an Iraqi surgeon who has become a good friend to the ABC bureau here, Dr Jamal Taha. Dr Jamal works in the ER of Yarmuk Hospital, one of the busiest in Baghdad, and over the last four years he has seen an unimaginable array of human suffering – gunshot victims, carbomb survivors, victims of torture – and many dead bodies. We talk to him frequently, and he has become a bellwether for us on the level of violence on the streets. He sees the effects first.

I asked him today about supplies of drugs and medical equipment for his hospital – there has been some news recently about how corrupt officials in the ministry of health here have been diverting drugs from hospitals onto the black market to make profit for themselves. Dr Jamal said yes, there was a shortage of drugs, but that wasn’t the worst of his problems. “Many times,” he said, “we have to delay our operations because there is no tap water to wash our hands.”

History repeats itself, often for the worse. The movie “Blackhawk Down” about the war in Somalia starts with a quote from the Greek philosopher, Plato: “Only the dead have seen the end of war.” Iraqis understand that with a tragic sense of the inevitable.

And they desperately need running water in Yarmuk hospital.

ABC News' Terry McCarthy has been reporting on war, peace, and everything in between from all around the world for 20 years. He writes about daily life in the areas he is reporting from.ABC News

http://blogs.abcnews.com/bizarrebazaar/2007/07/symphony-of-hop.html

"No water, no eat, no everything," Symphony conductor al-Ghazali says. "And we think it's the end of life on the Earth. But we say, 'Hamdallah, we can do the new life.'"

JOHN EDWARDS on BASHAM & CORNELL RADIO SHOW FRIDAY

On Friday August 10th, Senator John Edwards will be the guest on the Basham and Cornell Radio Show at 8 am Pacific Time on AM 1230 KLAV in Las Vegas. The Basham and Cornell Show broadcasts weekday mornings at 8 am Pacific (11 a.m. Eastern). All shows are simulcast on the Internet (and archived) and can be listened to at BASHAM AND CORNELL.COM



John has dedicated his career to representing families and children just like the families he grew up with in Robbins, North Carolina. Standing up against the powerful insurance industry and their armies of lawyers, John helped these families through the darkest moments of their lives to overcome tremendous challenges. His passionate advocacy for people like the folks who worked in the mill with his father earned him respect and recognition across the country. In 1998, John took this commitment into politics to give a voice in the United States Senate to the people he had represented throughout his career. He ran for the Senate and won, defeating an incumbent Senator.

Senator Edwards brought a positive message of change to the 2004 presidential primaries. During the primary season he spoke about the two Americas that exist in our country today: one for people at the top who have everything they need and one for everybody else who struggle to get by. This powerful message resonated with voters all across America. After the Democratic primaries, Senator John Kerry picked Senator Edwards to serve as his running mate in the 2004 general election, and Senator Edwards crisscrossed the country and campaigned tirelessly on Senator Kerry's behalf.

Senator Edwards will be in Las Vegas on Friday August 10, for a Town Hall meeting. It will be held at the Laborers International Union Local 872 - 4201 East Bonanza Road #101. The event gets started at 4:45 p.m. Some of the topics Senator Edwards will discuss will be trade, keeping jobs in America, getting real universal healthcare for all Americans and stopping the threat of global warming.

Attendance to this Town Hall meeting is free, but the Edwards campaign would like you to at least RSVP if you will be attending. You can go to their web site, at www.JohnEdwards.com; you can email them at nevada@johnedwards.com; or call 434-3978 here in Las Vegas.

Nevada is a red state, but we have the ONLY Progressive Talk-radio show in Las Vegas! Basham and Cornell Show is now a DAILY SHOW! Tune in LIVE FROM 8-9 a.m. Monday thru Friday online or live from LAS VEGAS (KLAV 1230) BASHAM AND CORNELL PROGRESSIVE TALK


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SUPPORT LABOR * MINERS NEED TO UNIONIZE
Before we get into the sex lives of the presidential candidates, I want to mention how important it is for our coal miners to unionize. In Canada, during a recent miner's catastrophe, all the miners walked out alive. Why? They were unionized. Their safety came first. The coal companies built underground "safe rooms" stocked with water, food and enough air to be able to live for a month. The miners demanded this and of course they are all alive.

If our coal miners were unionized, they wouldn't be trapped underground facing death. The greed of coal mining companies has prevented safe guards which could save lives. The owners brag that they prevent their workers from unionizing, thereby saving money — and their stock rises!

FAMILY VALUES: DEMOCRATS KEEP THEIR VOWS AND STAY MARRIED... BUT WHO KEEPS TRADING FOR TROPHY WIVES?




Republicans, the party of so-called "family values" has none. Guiliani is on his third wife, Fred Thompson is on his second, and she is 30 years younger. And we all know about Newt Gingrich, Ted Haggart, Rep. Bob Allen, Mark Foley and all the right-wingers who preach family values but are closet cases...

Democrats stay married. John Edwards is still married to Elizabeth and sticks by her through her cancer treatments (remember Newt Gingrich forced his ailing wife to sign divorce papers on her cancer bed, so he could marry a younger model); Hillary stuck with Bill through devastating trials as their vows and Biblical principles prove in "For better or for worse;" and Obama is married happily to his first and only wife Michelle. Al Franken also is still married to Frannie for over 30 years.

Democrats care about health insurance for children.
Republicans don't.

Democrats care about labor unions. In fact, if the coal miners had a union, they wouldn't be trapped underground facing death. Republicans brag that they prevented their workers from unionizing, so their stock could rise.

In Canada, during a recent miner's catastrophe, all the miners walked out alive. Why? They were unionized and insisted on building underground "safe rooms" stocked with water, food and enough air to be able to live for a month. The miners demanded this and of course they are all alive

The greed of coal mining companies has prevented safe guards which could save lives.

This is the American dream?

WHERE HAVE ALL OUR FREEDOMS GONE?

I am out of town and can only leave short posts until August 10. Meanwhile Larry is holding down the fort, and doing a great job. I was going to write a post about the Bush administration called "If They Have Nothing to Cover Up, Why are they Covering Everything Up?"

THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM is a terrific spy-thriller, but if this is the way the NSA is spying on us, then we don't stand a chance of ever getting our "freedoms" back. It also closely parallels what is going on in the Bush administration today. It's a socio-political parable. I got goosebumps at the chilling way it mimics exactly what is going on right now in America, in the CIA and with our troops. Watch the ending. Let me know what you think. - Lydia

More on that later...

Where Have All Our Freedoms Gone?
Guest Blog by Larry



On a balmy day many decades ago, the Senate of Rome voted overwhelmingly to make Ceasar their Emperor. It was also a balmy day in America, as the U.S Senate voted 60-28 to violate the constitution and allow George W Bush the freedom to spy without warrant on any American he may choose.

The Senate, who is controlled by the Democratic majority was told by George W Bush, that they couldn't go on their month long summer vacation until they agreed on his desire to spy on every American.

This is another freedom that has been taken away by those we elect to protect our interests. The Congress has already allowed Mr. Bush to send the FBI to enter your house without a warrant and without your permission, did you know that?

The government can read your postal mail without your permission, do you realize that? The National Security Agency can read your e-mail and listen to your private phone conversations, are you aware of that?

Congress gave Mr. Bush the right to install the "Patriot Act" which in essence allows the government to arrest anyone they "suspect" may commit a crime in the future. This act requires no warrant.

The entire Congress gave Mr. Bush the right to institute Martial Law on the citizens of the U.S, for any reason, any time he so chooses. This act was done, by Executive order, with little opposition from Congress.

Where have our other freedoms gone? Our assets can now be seized by the government if it is decided a citizen may be interfering with Bush's duties as President by protesting the Iraq war.

George W. Bush was demanding that Congress rewrite the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), so that the U.S. government can more easily spy, not on terrorists, but rather on innocent Americans. Bush has his wish and each American will pay the price.

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Americans overwhelmingly oppose giving Bush the right to spy on each of us without warrant and without cause. What about the rights of "We the People" or does it really matter.

It doesn't matter because, if these past six-plus years have taught "We the People" anything, it has taught us that America can survive terrorist attacks, but can it survive the threat posed by the extremist agenda espoused and practiced by the dictatorship of George W Bush and today's Republican Party.

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This morning from 8-9 a.m. PST Basham and Cornell discuss the new law Bush signed giving himself unlimited spying powers and condoning all the laws he broke the past 6 years.

If you're in Vegas, tune in to: KLAV 1230 to listen live or on the interent BASHAM AND CORNELL PROGRESSIVE TALK

Nevada is a red state, but we have the ONLY Progressive Talk-radio show in Las Vegas! Basham and Cornell Show is now a DAILY SHOW! Tune in LIVE FROM 8-9 a.m. Monday thru Friday online or live from LAS VEGAS (KLAV 1230) BASHAM AND CORNELL PROGRESSIVE TALK

Murdoch and the Media of Propaganda

CONGRATULATIONS! This blog is a 2006 triple Koufax nominee: Best Writing, Best Post (for Lydia's "Bush's Last Will and Testicle," and More Deserving of Wider Recognition. Also, Clif was nominated for "Best Commenter." Worf was nominated for Best Commenter for two other blogs, but his nomination for Sutton Records was supposed to be for this blog. (Michael Sutton, CEO of Sutton Records is a friend.)

PLEASE Vote in the finals by registering and emailing your vote — although I have no idea when voting closes, as everyone is on hiatus. Please go to KOUFAX AWARDS
and click on Best Writing, Best Post and vote for "Lydia Cornell Blog." Thank you very much.

Nevada is a red state, but we have the ONLY Progressive Talk-radio show in Las Vegas! Basham and Cornell Show is now a DAILY SHOW! Tune in LIVE FROM 8-9 a.m. Monday thru Friday online or live from LAS VEGAS (KLAV 1230) BASHAM AND CORNELL PROGRESSIVE TALK

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Rupert Murdoch has just bought the Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones and Co. The purchase of this media long-stay will cost Murdoch nearly $6 billion. The takeover ends a century of family ownership by the Bancroft family, and adds a new resource to his global media empire, News Corp.

Rupert & Homer

Murdoch has grown his mammoth media company, "News" Corp. into one of the largest and most influential media groups in the world from a small town newspaper in Australia.

Murdoch wields considerable power with his global media company and is often wooed by politicians to persuade him to favorably cover their campaigns. His empire covers television, filmed entertainment, cable network programming, book publishing, direct broadcast satellite television, magazines and newspapers operating in the United States, Australia, Europe, the United Kingdom, Asia and the Pacific.

As Murdoch acquired many widely read newspapers in Australia, the United Kingdom and the U.S. he brought much controversy with his ruthless and aggressive management style. Murdoch once remarked “I’m a catalyst for change, You can’t be an outsider and be successful for more than 30 years without leaving a certain amount of scar tissue around the place.”

Murdoch developed Fox News channel, with red, white and blue colors flowing throughout the set. He hired anchors from rival news channels, many being attractive women who always wore short skirts to attract male viewers.

He hired Roger Ailes to run his cable news venture, who like Murdoch has always had leanings of being ultra conservative. The slogan “Fair and Balanced” was used throughout each Fox News interview and segment.

As Murdoch and Fox News now had the appeal factor ready for viewers, they often twist conservative views into each news broadcast and interview. A daily log of conservative guests gave Fox anchors hourly opportunities to spread the conservative message, and attack the “Liberal” views of the opposition.

Murdoch and his media outlets worked tirelessly trying to destroy Bill Clinton. They often shattered the truth to spread their propaganda against Presidential candidates Al Gore and John Kerry during their run for the White House.

Murdoch used Fox News to promote Bush’s twisted reasons for war. They tend to twist the mounting toll of deaths in Iraq, into attacking the “liberal media” for not covering the truth.

Murdoch and the Fox propaganda helped bring the Republicans and George W Bush into power, and now they feverishly try to spin the war, although their propaganda message has turned the public away, due to the increasing costs of war.

Since Rupert Murdoch’s offer was made public, volumes have been written on what this historic deal might mean to journalism in America. A fair bit of the criticism and concern surrounding News Corp.’s bid for Dow Jones has focused on Murdoch himself and his well-documented penchant for employing his media outlets to advance his political and business interests.

Maybe we ought to be most concerned with the health of our media system. Media consolidation, by its nature, diminishes the variey of voices represented in our media. With fewer points of view available, those select few with an outlet increase their capacity to shape public opinion, politics and daily life.

Today’s media system isn’t simply the evolving result of capitalism at it’s best,
it is the result of policies created by Congress and enforced by the FCC. Without those policies, Murdoch couldn't have built his media empire. Only by restoring public input in the policymaking process, can we reverse this trend and make America’s media a healthier place where a variety of ideas and the free market can co-exist.

When Adolph Hitler took power in Germany he also took over the media, and he used it to shape a modern, civilized country to his ends. With full control of the national press his propaganda minister Paul Josef Goebbels developed sophisticated and very effective tools of propaganda to control public opinion in Germany, and even in other countries. He proved that if you repeat a lie often enough in mass media, most people will accept it as the truth.

This is very powerful, and propaganda may be the most dangerous weapon developed in the Second World War. The atom bomb scared so many people that we had mass movements trying to control it, but the general public seems to have missed the significance of the power of propaganda.

As media conglomerates like Murdoch and News Corp continue to be allowed to buy up every means of information resources, the propaganda of conservatism will continue to give the public a pre-arranged slant of reality.

Hitler took over the media and he used it to further his own goals of hate and power, while the current spread of conservative propaganda in the media is being used to place political parties into power, start wars and silence the critics.

The conservatives with their media conglomerates like News Corp and others, are practicing the same philosophy used by Hitler during his reign of terror. If we the public sit idly by while media giants control our flow of information, then we will fare worse than Hitler's Germany.

STEREOTYPES *

Please read Larry's excellent article "Stereotypes" below. But first I want to add this riveting news. Bush is trying to sell the Saudis a large cache of U.S. made high-tech weaponry for a $20 billion dollar asking price. Just now on Randi Rhodes show, evidence was presented that this is absolutely high treason, considering that most of the 911 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia. And right now Saudi Arabia is emptying their prisons to unleash all their high-risk criminals. Guess where they are sending them? To Iraq, to kill American soldiers.

Remember, our government once upon a time, PROMOTED Saddam! We were “in his corner,” giving him support. Until he was no longer useful to us, that is, and served us better as a “bad guy” (which he already was, granted, but up to then we found it convenient to ignore that fact).

And we wonder why the rest of the world doesn’t trust us.

According to CNN, one of the more controversial proposals will probably be selling the Saudis, for the first time, satellite-guided bombs known as JDAMs. The sale may include a 500-pound and a 2,000-pound version of the aerial bomb. The Israelis are said to be very concerned about the Saudis having that precision-strike capability, so the United States will discuss basing the weapons as far away from Israel as possible, the official said. Other elements under discussion are new naval vessels, an advanced version of air-to-air missiles already used by the United States, and advanced Patriot missiles.

Hmmm... Bush wants to sell our weapons to the Saudis. Will we never learn? - Lydia



Stereotypes
Guest Blog by Larry

We all face being stereotyped in one way or another. That is just a part of life, a view that people may have of us, right or wrong. Some stereotypes are totally inaccurate, while a few may be close to reality.

Some of us are viewed as having the world at our fingertips, that we can do no wrong, when in reality the private world may be filled with insecurities and failures that are masked to the public eye.

Some of us may be stereotyped as elusive and cold when in reality we are shy or just not comfortable with being open with others for fear of betrayal or possibly even disbelief.

There are some of us who are stereotyped as being perhaps merely a country hayseed, one who can barely string two audible sentences together, or write anything of significance, when in reality we may be fluent in the proper settings and have the gift of written words.

Whatever the stereotype you fall under, you are viewed in a certain way by those who have never taken the time to know you. They have never taken the time to see the person inside of you, and what you are all about.

In 2000, America was presented with a projected stereotype of George W Bush. There were millions who were led to believe that George W Bush was a kind man, a compassionate man. A man of good morals.

Millions of Americans were led to believe after 9/11 hit, that Mr. Bush was a fearless leader who would seek those who harmed our country and bring them to justice. Some believed that Mr. Bush was the only one who could save our country.

Often in stereotypes, we discover that the person we have one view of is totally different than what we once believed. We find that those we thought had it all together is really scrambled and confused, that the country hayseed is really very articulate and gifted with words.

Those millions who thought George W Bush was a kind and compassionate man, discovered he is really cold and calculating. Those who thought Mr. Bush was filled with morals and principles now see a man with the principles and morals of an alley cat.

Those millions who stereotyped Mr. Bush as honest and trustworthy now see a vision of corruption and greed. Those of religious beliefs who once thought Mr. Bush was a man of peace, now see a man filled with hate and war.

As we see people we barely know in a vision we have in our minds, we often see the wrong stereotype. We see what we want to see, not what is behind the surface of the inner person.

After nearly seven years, America now has the true stereotype of George W Bush. As we see the arrogance and contempt for our rights and freedoms being stripped away, as we see thousands die shameful deaths due to greed and power, we now have the true stereotype.

Let us all hope if we get another opportunity to choose a leader for America, we will look inside the soul of the person before we choose. America can't afford another stereotype of shame.

STRANGE GOINGS ON

Now Bush wants low-income children to have no health insurance? Can this be possible? Aside from bankrupting our nation, lying us into war with three different, changing versions of lies, usurping the Constitution with 750 "secretive signing statements" giving himself absolute power with no Congressional oversight; manipulating intelligence in the rush to war; declaring global permanent war in order to usrurp our rights; war profiteering (over 12 billion of taxpayer "reconstruction money" was stolen in Iraq by Haliburton ghost employees; illegally wiretapping us, allowing TORTURE of human beings by usurping Habeas Corpus; not helping the people of New Orleans during Katrina; declaring himself the sole 'decider' of who is a terrorist sympathizer; being able to confiscate U.S. citizens' property, money and computers without allowing the citizen a right to legal counsel; appeasing Osama Bin Laden by quietly closing our military bases in Saudi Arabia; not pursuing Osama Bin Laden after saying he would never stop pursuing Bin Laden; putting people in secret prisons; advising his advisers to ignore subpoenas in contempt of Congress; yelling "Fire' in a crowded theater by manufacturing false "terror alerts" and keeping us in constant state of fear; covering up the murder of Pat Tillman; covering for criminal behavior in the outing of a CIA agent; trying to sell our ports to the United Arab Emirates — the very people who harbor terrorists; using a preemptive strike and war of aggression to invade a defenseless nation for reasons we cannot know; usurping our civil rights and lying to cover crimes within his own administration... John Conyers drafted a 370 page report documenting the full scope of Bush administration misconduct and "crimes," the WORST OF WHICH is possibly the election theft and replacement of all Federal judges with Bush cronies and "yes men" who do the president's bidding, resulting in a complete dismantling of our fragile democracy.

YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS! BBC REPORT TUNE IN LIVE FROM 9-10 a.m. online or live from LAS VEGAS (KLAV) and LOS ANGELES to our show BASHAM AND CORNELL PROGRESSIVE TALK

We have an astounding report on a 1933 plan by right wing businessmen - including Prescott Bush (W's granpappy) to stage a military coup against the US government; assassinate FDR; and set up a fascist government. It's an absolutely amazing report - and the best part is - it didn't come from a fringe, whack-job site, it came from the BBC this week! From an award-winning investigative series no less!

In the second half, we have Tina Richards, a Marine mother whose son is in the military - served 2 tours in Iraq - has PTSD - he's tried to commit suicide more than once since being honorably discharged - tells his mother he killed too many innocent women and children in Iraq. Please go to her amazing site: Grassroots America 4 Us

She's the lady whom Democratic Congressman David Obey yelled at in his hallway, that was captured on tape. She was also arrested outside Nancy Pelosi's office.

We broadcast live -- or go to our website and click on the link to hear the entire show in the archives.



George Bush promises to veto a popular bipartisan program that provides health insurance for low-income children. Below, please read Rev. Jim Wallis' astounding article. "Remember, this is a president who is content with spending $12 billion a month on war, yet finds spending $7-10 billion a year on making sure that kids have health insurance 'wrong' and 'a mistake.' I can’t imagine a more clear case of utterly distorted priorities..." (or more un-Christian!)
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Before reading Jim Wallis' article, please read this by Doug Basham:

"We all know how the right bristles whenever a comparison is made between George W. Bush and/or his administration and either Adolph Hitler and/or fascism. Perhaps this BBC report will shine some light on why they bristle. Perhaps it hits a little close to home?"

From Wikipedia…
“On October 20, 1942, the U.S. government ordered the seizure of Nazi German banking operations in New York City. President Franklin Roosevelt’s Alien Property Custodian, Leo T. Crowley, signed Vesting Order Number 248 seizing the property of Prescott Bush under the Trading with the Enemy Act. The order, published in obscure government record books and kept out of the news, cited only the Union Banking Corporation (UBC) connections with Von Thyssen.”
This is a huge report,folks, and it doesn’t come from any fringe organization. I’ve already received one email asking me “Where do you get this stuff?” Well… this “stuff” comes from the BBC. From an award winning investigative series. I strongly recommend y’all give this “stuff” a listen.

I’ve always found it fascinating how right wing mouth pieces have no problem calling far left liberals “communists,” but so vociferously reject the truism that far right conservatives are “fascists.” (Or maybe not even so far right?)

Anyhow, this is just one more reason why I have contended for the longest time that the biggest threat to this country isn’t communism or terrorism - but rather, conservatism." - Doug Basham

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HEARTS & MINDS by Jim Wallis of Sojourners

The Right Thing to Do

Imagine a popular program that has existed for 10 years with bipartisan support, providing health insurance to about 6 million low-income children. The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) is up for reauthorization this year, and Congress is debating how to extend the hope of coverage to 9 million children who are currently uninsured, while protecting coverage for the 6.6 million children who depend on SCHIP to see a doctor. But SCHIP is caught in the middle of a political battle—between a bipartisan majority in Congress and the nation’s governors on one hand, and an isolated, defiant, ideological president on the other.

A Senate bill was approved by the Senate Finance Committee last week by a 17-4 vote, with six Republicans and all 11 Democrats supporting an increase of $35 billion dollars over five years. Several leading conservatives were strong supporters. The New York Times reported Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) as saying, "I am proud to support this important bill, which will provide health insurance coverage to approximately four million more children who would otherwise be uninsured." According to the Los Angeles Times, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), one of the original authors of the program, said: "It doesn't make me comfortable to advocate for such a large increase in spending. But it's important to note that [the program] has been tremendously successful. And one of the lessons we've learned is that it's going to cost more to cover additional kids." The bill is scheduled to be on the Senate floor next week.

For its part, the House is proposing legislation that would provide an increase of $50 billion, which would cover about 5 million more children. Both versions would be at least partially funded by an increase in the federal tax on tobacco products.

Last weekend at their annual summer meeting, the National Governors Association sent a letter to the president and Congress. While not specifically supporting either bill, the governors said: "While we have not taken a position on the actual overall funding amount or the sources of revenue used as offsets, we are encouraged by the Senate Finance Committee's efforts to move a bipartisan reauthorization bill that provides increased funding."

And President Bush? He says he’ll veto either version. "It's a way to encourage people to transfer from the private sector to government health-care plans. ... I think it's wrong, and I think it's a mistake." A White House spokesman added that the president’s advisers "will certainly recommend a veto" of the Senate committee's proposal because of its size and the plan to fund it with a tax increase. The administration's plan for an additional $5 billion wouldn’t even cover all the children currently insured.

Remember, this is a president who is content with spending $12 billion a month on war, yet finds spending $7-10 billion a year on making sure that kids have health insurance "wrong" and "a mistake." I can’t imagine a more clear case of utterly distorted priorities. Compassionate conservatism has been on life support for the last several years of this administration. President Bush's threatened veto of SCHIP will officially pronounce it dead.

We have been working with the PICO National Network, one of the leading groups organizing for SCHIP, to remind policymakers that children’s health coverage is a moral issue for the faith community. Father John Baumann, executive director of PICO, had this reaction to the president’s threat: "(SCHIP) is a highly successful program that has always had bipartisan support as a pragmatic way to help states reach children who are not poor enough for Medicaid but whose parents cannot obtain coverage for their children at work. SCHIP is a popular and successful program that should not be dragged down into a partisan political fight over health-care ideology."

I agree. For far too long, Americans in poverty have been trapped in a partisan debate. Now, a strongly bipartisan program that works is trapped by a president who sees only ideology. Call your members of Congress, and urge them to support the necessary expansion of SCHIP for America’s kids. It’s the right thing to do.

Take Action

Your congressional members need to hear that as a person of faith you believe that no child should go without treatment or depend on an emergency room for care because they lack health coverage. If we are judged by how we treat the least among us, we must make sure that all our children have coverage. Call your members of Congress today at (877) 367-5235, a free number set up by our friends at PICO National Network.

Tell them that people of faith are counting on them to stand up for the millions of uninsured children in the U.S. SCHIP has successfully reduced the uninsured rate for children by one-third over the past decade. Now Congress needs to pass a strong SCHIP bill by a veto-proof majority to provide hope to the millions of children in America who still go to sleep at night without health coverage.

For more information and other ways to take action, please visit www.coverallchildren.org

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And finally, this:

Quote of the Week: "Not surprisingly, the poll data showed that white evangelicals were somewhat more permissive toward torture than other religious groups."

- from a New York Times report on the Evangelical Declaration Against Torture (Source: The New York Times )

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