"Better" Democrats?

Goldy over at horsesass.org thinks we need a few more“better” Democrats in Congress. This seems to be a change in his attitude since he and other “liberal bloggers” were telling me (and others) who were unhappy with Maria Cantwell over certain less than Progressive votes that we should support our incumbent until we gained a majority in the Senate. They reasoned that even a "flawed" Democrat with money and the power of incumbency was better than risking a vote for a “better" Democrat who might lose to a republican.

So what has lead to this apparent change in view; from a simple majority to a majority of “better" Democrats? Well I guess it must be ok to anoint George Bush with the sole authority to send people off to die based on lies, ok to subpoena library records and perform “sneak and peek” searches of our homes, and fail to stand up with your convictions to filibuster a Supreme Court nominee who you have just said will likely trample our rights as Americans but voting for torture (especially when Cantwell voted “No”) crosses Goldy’s line. I guess that’s fine BUT, if the Democratic voters in the home states of the 12 “not so better" Democrats who voted for Bush’s “Get Out of Jail Free Act” are anything like Goldy or any of his cohorts in Washington State Democratic circles, they have probably just been protecting their incumbents while waiting for a Democratic majority to make it safe to replace them.

Now I know that this is going to be spun as some sort of sour grapes hit-piece on Maria Cantwell after her primary victory and I will be reminded that I should be attacking Mini-Slade (especially after reading this ) but what I saw on C-Span yesterday has me sick to my stomach and reading about the need for “better" Democrats from any of the party-line hacks in this state right now does not make it any better.

By the way, for my friends over at the Backbone Campaign: Have you ever asked anyone to return an award?

FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 508
(Republicans in roman; Democrats in italic; Independents underlined)

S 3930 YEA-AND-NAY 29-Sep-2006 2:47 PM
QUESTION: On Passage
BILL TITLE: Military Commissions Act

---- YEAS 250 ---
Brown (OH)

---- NAYS 170 ---
Inslee (WA)


Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue

Compromised - Update

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/28/washington/29detaincnd.html?hp&ex=1159502400&en=f804341525b03650&ei=5094&partner=homepage


WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 — The Senate today rejected an amendment to a bill creating a new system for interrogating and trying terror suspects that would have guaranteed such suspects access to the courts to challenge their imprisonment.


The vote was 51 to 48 against the amendment, which was offered by the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont. The action set the stage for final passage of the bill, which was approved on Wednesday by the House of Representatives.


The bill’s ultimate passage was assured on Wednesday when Democrats agreed to forgo a filibuster in return for consideration of the amendment.


Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue

Rubberstamp Reichert

Apparently believing that water boarding is an activity enjoyed by his constituents along the shores of Lake Sammamish, Dave “Rubberstamp” Reichert (R-WA8) voted with his neo-con companions to anoint George W. Bush with sole authority to determine America’s definition of torture. By a vote of 253 to 168 (mostly along party lines) the US House approved the “Military Commissions Act” that, in addition to allowing Bush to set the mark for what constitutes proper interrogation techniques for detainees in the so-called war on terror, confers Congressional approval to the secret military tribunals that had recently been struck down by the US Supreme Court. Reichert’s vote was also an affirmation of Bush’s suspension of Habeas Corpus.

If the good folks in the 8th CD needed any further convincing that Reichert is not the moderate he would have them believe, they need only ask themselves if “The Sheriff’s” embrace of secret CIA prisons, torture via outsourcing, or his disregard for the safety and well being of our own troops in the captivity of some future enemy are values they share. By breaking out his rubber stamp on this legislation, Reichert is saying that he is fine with America abandoning the very values we are supposed to be defending. By standing with George Bush in defiance of the Supreme Court and International law and treaties, Reichert is ceding the moral high ground that has defined this country for so long.

It hasn’t taken long for that tin star to become tarnished.

Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue

In Memorial

On September 27th the Department of Defense released the name of Sgt. Velton Locklear III of Lacey as the 53rd Washingtonian to die in George W. Bush’s invasion and occupation of Iraq. Sgt. Locklear becomes the 3rd Washingtonian to be killed in Iraq in the month of September and the 12th thus far this year.

In honor of their service and sacrifice:

Name - Rank/ Home Town/ Date Killed

Cedric E. Bruns, Lance Corporal/ Vancouver/ 5-9-03
Justin W. Hebert, Spc/ Arlington/ 8-1-03
Duane E. Longstreth, PFC/ Tacoma/ 8-7-03
Kerry D. Scott, PFC/ Mount Vernon/ 10-6-03
Benjamin J. Colgan, 1st Lt/ Kent/ 11-2-03
Robert T. Benson, Spc/ Spokane/ 11-4-03
James A. Shull, Cpt/ Kirkland/ 11-17-03
Nathan W. Nakis, Spc/ Sedro-Woolley/ 12-15-03
Curt E. Jordan Jr., Sgt/ Green Acres/ 12-28-03

Christopher Bunda, SSgt/ Bremerton/ 1-25-04
Michael R. Adams, 1st Lt/ Seattle/ 3-16-04
Jacob R. Herring, Spc/ Kirkland/ 4-28-04
Jeffrey R. Shaver, Spc/ Maple Valley/ 5-12-04
Cody S. Calavan, PFC/ Lake Stevens/ 5-29-04
Dustin L. Sides, Lance Corporal/ Yakima/ 5-31-04
Marvin Best, SSgt/ Prosser/ 6-20-04
Jeremiah W. Schmunk, Spc/ Richland/Kennewick/ 7-8-04
Gregory A. Ratzlaff, Cpt/ Olympia/ 8-3-04
Yadir G. Reynoso, Sgt/ Wapato/ 8-5-04
Kane M. Funke, Lance Corporal/ Vancouver/ 8-13-04
Caleb J. Powers, Lance Corporal/ Manfield/ 8-17-04
Jason Cook, Sgt/ Okanogan/ 8-21-04
Jacob H. Demand, Sgt/ Palouse/ 9-14-04
Steven A. Rintamaki, Corporal/ Lynnwood/ 9-16-04
Michael Lee Burbank, SSgt/ Bremerton/ 10-11-04
Jonathan J. Santos, Spc/ Bellingham/ 10-15-04
David G. Ries, SSgt/ Clark/ 11-8-04
Nathan R. Wood, Lance Corporal/ Kirkland/ 11-9-04
Blain M. Ebert, Spc/ Washtucna/ 11-22-04
Andrew M. Ward, PFC/ Kirkland/ 12-5-04
Damien T. Ficek, Sgt/ Pullman/ 12-30-04

Curtis L. Wooten III, PFC/ Spanaway/ 1-4-05
Jeffrey B. Starr, Corporal/ Snohomish/ 5-30-05
Casey Crate, SSgt/ Spanaway/ 5-30-05
Steven M. Langmack, Sgt 1st Class/ Seattle/ 5-31-05
Daniel Chavez, Lance Corporal/ Seattle/ 6-9-05
Regina R. Clark, PO 1st Class/ Centralia/ 6-23-05
Christopher W. Dickison, Spc/ Seattle/ 7-5-05
Shane C. Swanberg, Lance Corporal/ Kirkland/ 9-15-05
Lawrence E. Morrison, Sgt 1st Class/ Yakima/ 9-19-05
Joseph P. Bier, Corporal/ Centralia/ 12-7-05

Christopher J. Vanderhorn, SSgt/ Pierce/ 1-1-06
Jaime L. Campbell, 1st Lt/ Ephrata/ 1-7-06
Charles E. Matheny IV, Sgt/ Stanwood/ 2-18-06
Abraham G. Twitchell, SSgt/ Yelm/ 4-2-06
Eric D. King, Spc/ Vancouver/ 4-22-06
Devon J. Gibbons, PFC/ Port Orchard/ 6-23-06
Justin Dean Norton, Sgt/ Rainier/ 6-24-06
Jason Hanson, PFC/ Forks/ 7-29-06
Tracy L. Melvin, SSgt/ Seattle/ 8-6-06
David J. Ramsey, Spc/ Tacoma/ 9-7-06
Robb G. Needham, MSGT/ Vancouver/ 9-20-06
Velton Locklear III, Sgt/ Lacey/ 9-23-06


Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue

The Continuing Mushroom Cloud Condi Watch....

By now everyone on the planet is aware of “the interview”. That would, of course, be the Bill Clinton interview on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace. In the interview, Clinton insisted that he had made efforts to thwart Osama bin Laden and Al Qaida. He said that, even though he had tried and failed in stopping them, he had at least tried - which was more than the incoming Bush Administration could claim in the first eight months in office. He said this was despite the fact that his administration had provided the Bush team with a comprehensive plan for disrupting the Al Qaida threat. Enter “Mushroom Cloud” Condi Rice and the New York Post.

On Tuesday (9/26/06) Condi gave an interview to the Rupert Murdoch owned rag in which she disputed the information that President Clinton had leveled Wallace with on Sunday. In the article, she says, ” The notion somehow for eight months the Bush administration sat there and didn't do that is just flatly false — and I think the 9/11 commission understood that," she said. Rice also took exception to Clinton's statement that he "left a comprehensive anti-terror strategy" for incoming officials when he left office. "We were not left a comprehensive strategy to fight al-Qaida," she told the newspaper, which is owned by News Corp., the same company that owns Fox News Channel.

So what is the real story here? Well thanks to Rachel Maddow over at Air America, we are directed to pages 196 and 197 of the very 9/11 Commission report that “Mushroom Cloud” Condi refers to. Note: Emphasis in BOLD is mine TLS

“THE 9/11 COMMISSION REPORT - FROM THREAT TO THREAT”

Page 196
In late 2000, the CIA and the NSC staff began thinking about the counterterrorism policy agenda they would present to the new administration. The Counterterrorist Center put down its best ideas for the future, assuming it was free of any prior policy or financial constraints. The paper was therefore informally referred to as the “Blue Sky” memo; it was sent to (Counter Terrorism Czar, Richard) Clarke on December 29.The memo proposed:

• A major effort to support the Northern Alliance through intelligence sharing and increased funding so that it could stave off the Taliban army and tie down al Qaeda fighters. This effort was not intended to remove the Taliban from power, a goal that was judged impractical and too expensive for the CIA alone to attain.

• Increased support to the Uzbeks to strengthen their ability to fight terrorism and assist the United States in doing so.

• Assistance to anti-Taliban groups and proxies who might be encouraged to passively resist the Taliban.

The CIA memo noted that there was “no single ‘silver bullet’ available to deal with the growing problems in Afghanistan. “A multifaceted strategy would be needed to produce change. (Footnote 153) No action was taken on these ideas in the few remaining weeks of the Clinton administration. (National Security Advisor, Sandy) Berger did not recall seeing or being briefed on the Blue Sky memo. Nor was the memo discussed during the transition with incoming top Bush administration officials. Tenet and his deputy told us they pressed these ideas as options after the new team took office. (Footnote 154)


Page 197
As the Clinton administration drew to a close, Clarke and his staff developed a policy paper of their own, the first such comprehensive effort since the Delenda plan of 1998.The resulting paper, entitled “Strategy for Eliminating the Threat from the Jihadist Networks of al Qida: Status and Prospects,” reviewed the threat and the record to date, incorporated the CIA’s new ideas from the Blue Sky memo, and posed several near-term policy options.

Clarke and his staff proposed a goal to “roll back” al Qaeda over a period of three to five years. Over time, the policy should try to weaken and eliminate the network’s infrastructure in order to reduce it to a “rump group” like other formerly feared but now largely defunct terrorist organizations of the 1980s. “Continued anti-al Qida operations at the current level will prevent some attacks,” Clarke’s office wrote, “but will not seriously attrit their ability to plan and conduct attacks.” The paper backed covert aid to the Northern Alliance, covert aid to Uzbekistan, and renewed Predator flights in March 2001. A sentence called for military action to destroy al Qaeda command-and control targets and infrastructure and Taliban military and command assets. The paper also expressed concern about the presence of al Qaeda operatives in the United States. (Footnote 155)
***************

The fact that both Richard Clarke and George Tenet stayed in their respective positions during the first eight months of the incoming Bush Administration and they were the primary advocates for pursuing a robust offense against Al Qaida and the Taliban would suggest that Condi either has an unfortunate case of ADD or she has a significant problem with the truth.

Oh wait; this is “Mushroom Cloud” Condi we are talking about.


Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue

Mark - Say it ain't so.....

To:
Mark Wilson
C/O
Cantwell 2006

I have just been reading David Postman’s post entitled “Green candidate Dixon says Cantwell campaign wanted him out of race” dated yesterday (9/25/06) and I have to say that a very sour taste is developing in my mouth. At first glance at the title you might say “Duh!”; but then you read the following that Postman attributes to Joshua Frank at New World Trust,

”As Dixon tells it, "Mark [Wilson] called and basically told me that a lot of people have a lot of money within the Cantwell campaign, and he said that they could put on a fundraiser for Central House that would 'blow my mind.' He called a week later and basically told me the same thing. I didn't bite, ending this war is too important."
When asked if exiting the race would have been contingent on there being a fundraiser for his organization, Dixon answered, "It wasn't said directly, but it was certainly implied."
Dixon also said that Mark Wilson was not the only Cantwell staffer to call his campaign headquarters with the hope of convincing him to drop out, but Dixon declined to elaborate. The Cantwell campaign declined to comment on Dixon's allegations.”

Mark, please tell me it isn’t so. Please tell me that you would not be involved in any effort to buy off the competition! Tell me this isn’t the type of outreach Senator Cantwell had in mind when she hired you to work on her campaign. Or, wait! Maybe you should say that you did do this and that you were acting alone as a sort of “rogue operative” and that Senator Cantwell had no knowledge of this action! That would be much better. Or not! I don’t see, if there is any truth to this allegation, how this makes anyone at Camp Cantwell look good. I mean, after all, didn’t Hong Tran also say she was offered a buy out?

With the race tightening up again, this kind of thing just can’t be helpful in shoring up support from the left. Postman says that he has not been able to reach you for comment. I would suggest that, with less than 2 months to go before the general election, you had better do something to either repute or defend this claim or risk the potential of being labeled “The leak that sank the ship.”

Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue

IWR News

Iraq Body Count: 9/26/06
Americans Killed: 2703
Americans Wounded: 20,322
http://icasualties.org/oif/
Iraqi Dead: Est.: 48,215
http://www.iraqbodycount.org/
.......................................................

Latest Confirmed Casualties:

*Sgt. 1st Class Charles J. Jones, 29, of Lawrenceburg, Ky., died in Baghdad, Iraq on Sept. 20.

*Cpl. Bobby T. Callahan, 22, of Jamestown, N.C., died on Sept.19, in Baghdad, Iraq.

*1st Lt. Ashley L. (Henderson) Huff, 23, of Belle Mead, N.J., died in Mosul, Iraq, on Sept.19.

*Sgt. Allan R. Bevington, 22, of Beaver Falls, Pa., died in Ar Ramadi, Iraq on Sept.21.

*Lance Cpl. Howard S. March Jr., 20, of Buffalo, N.Y., died Sept. 24 in Al Anbar province, Iraq.

*Lance Cpl. Howard S. March Jr., 20, of Buffalo, N.Y., died Sept. 24 in Al Anbar province, Iraq.

*Lance Cpl. Rene Martinez, 20, of Miami, Fla., died Sept. 24 in Al Anbar province, Iraq.

*Pvt. Eric M. Kavanagh, 20, of Glen Burnie, Md., died in Baghdad, Iraq, on Sept. 20.


Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue

And the Race Begins........

With a nod to Darryl over at Hominid Views , it appears the huge and commanding (heretofore, “insurmountable”) 17 point lead that Maria Cantwell held over Mike! “Mini-Slade” McGavick just barely three weeks ago has dwindled back to a 6-point (48% to 42%) lead that falls just outside the 4.5% +/- margin of error. The new numbers take us back to the June 13th numbers (44% to 40%) that some have argued prompted Senator Cantwell to “buy out” a chief rival and start releasing a series of “re-defined” positions on Iraq to placate the Progressive wing of her party.

Darryl offers a couple of possible explanations for the earlier 17-point lead now appearing to be an anomaly, ” This new poll shows the race closer than the Rasmussen poll closing on September 6th that had Cantwell leading 52% to 35%. Some of the difference may reflect ordinary sampling error; however, the previous poll may have been particularly bad for Mike!™ because of his botched DUI confession.” I might suggest it could also have something to do with the fact that the day AFTER the poll was announced, the media began to talk about a possible lobbyist problem that may have somewhat tarnished the image of our junior senator.

So we are back where we started. We have an incumbent senator who has fallen back under the 50% mark standing almost even with a politically shrewd challenger who has pretty much put his dirtiest laundry out in public and remains standing. Considering that 10% of Democrats in the recent primary chose “other” and that there will be two 3rd party challengers (both running to the left) in the general election, it will be interesting to see where Senator Cantwell goes for those winning votes.

UPDATE:
Apparently David Goldstein over at HorsesAss.org agrees with my assesment - well, sort of......"Assuming my sources are correct, we now have two independent polls, two weeks apart, that peg this race within the margin of error. That’s not a good place for an incumbent to be six weeks before the election."



Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue

Compromised?

A compromise has been reached! That is the word coming out of Washington DC this week over a demand from the Bush Whitehouse that Congress create legislation that would allow the US Government (specifically the CIA and NSA) to continue to engage in illegal and immoral activities in the detention and interrogation of suspected so-called enemy combatants or terrorists. Indeed, if the language of this legislation passes the congress, a compromise will be reached; a compromise of American values and any claim we ever had to a sense of moral integrity.

In the face of continuing disclosures of secret prisons, “extraordinary renditions”, use of torture techniques in interrogation, and a recent Supreme Court decision declaring secret military tribunals unconstitutional, George W. Bush demanded that the congress act to write new law that would make all of these things legal – and to make it retroactive! Apparently the biggest sticking point was Bush’s demand that the congress write specific language “defining” Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions that addresses detainee treatment. Bush wanted language inserted into the bill that would list specific acts that the US would consider to be cruel and degrading. These acts would obviously exclude any techniques that had been employed by US interrogators up to this point in time. This position was challenged not only by many in the global human rights community but also by former Secretary of State Colin Powell, five former Chairs of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the top legal counsels for all branches of the US Armed Services, but also by three very influential republican senators – John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and John Warner of Virginia (a former Secretary of the Navy). Bush wanted this provision as a means to shield US CIA agents from being held accountable for war crimes if victims of torture accused them of such acts. The overwhelming objection to this provision was based on the Geneva Conventions as a global treaty and the suggestion that any “redefinition” of Common Article 3 could lead to other countries using that precedent as a defense in cases where they might be guilty of torture of US service members who might be captured in future conflicts.

The compromise? According to The New York Times, ”The proposed legislation outlaws under the War Crimes Act “grave breaches” of the Geneva Conventions, including specific crimes such as murder, torture and rape, but also broad descriptions that might encompass a variety of crimes: maiming, extreme physical pain, trying to cause physical harm, and serious mental harm.
But the law leaves to the White House to say by executive order whether any techniques that do not rise to the level of grave breaches, but are still objectionable, would also be prohibited.
The executive order is to be published in the Federal Register, where it would be subject to review by Congress. The White House had resisted this proposal, but Senate Republicans insisted on it.
The White House said Friday that it had not yet begun to talk about what techniques the order would include.”

In other words, the Senate has created a loophole through which “The Decider” would determine additional torture techniques not specifically excluded by law. ” Senators Warner, McCain and Graham said repeatedly that they wanted the administration to have to define these techniques, so that it would have to take responsibility for them, and any public heat. Otherwise, they believed, the president or C.I.A. would justify any techniques that caused public outrage by saying, in effect, “Congress said we could.””- The “COA” clause so common from our republican “leaders” these days. Yet, although the law states that Bush "shall issue" his interpretations in published executive orders, White House spokesman Tony Snow said yesterday that administration lawyers told him that such publication -- which McCain and others have highlighted as a major White House concession -- might not be necessary.

While actually engaging in a debate on how much torture is too much torture may be the most egregious assault on our values, it is far from the only attack on our system of constitutional protections. From The Washington Post , ” Draft legislation to create a new system of military courts for terrorism suspects would allow prosecutors to introduce at future trials confessions that were obtained through "cruel, unusual, or inhumane" interrogations by the CIA or the military before 2005, but not afterward.
The legislation would also allow defense attorneys to challenge the use of hearsay information obtained through coercive interrogations in distant countries only if they can prove it is unreliable, a daunting task if the information consists of written statements from people the lawyers have no right to confront in court.” “Critics said yesterday that the bill's language abuses both of these < The U.S. War Crimes Act, and the Geneva Conventions>, as well as the U.S. Constitution. For example, it would bar detainees from challenging the legality of their detention or treatment by the CIA or the U.S. military in any court. The administration has said this controversial "court-stripping" provision is needed so that dangerous detainees could be subjected to lengthy interrogations without hope of release before military trials and could not obstruct or delay trials.
But defense lawyers, a group of retired federal judges and the American Bar Association say the provision violates due-process guarantees and Supreme Court decisions.
"Eliminating habeas is tantamount to letting hundreds of Guantanamo prisoners rot in jail," said David H. Remes, a Covington & Burlington lawyer who has represented several Yemeni detainees. "If the government does not have a valid basis for holding someone in jail, that person should have some recourse."
The bill would also bar detainees from citing the Geneva Conventions -- which the United States ratified in 1949 -- "as a source of rights" in any U.S. court, including the military panels or "commissions" established by the new law.”

So here we have it; a bill before the congress that would allow The Decider and Dr. Evil to define what torture is legal and what is not; a bill that officially places the United States on the same level as any tyrannical regime in the world that places the “security of the state” over the dignity of the individual; a bill that compromises the very moral authority that we as a nation claim.

Do you know where your Member of Congress and your senators stand on this legislation? Please let them know how you feel.


Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue

IWR News

Iraq Body Count: 9/23/06
Americans Killed: 2698
Americans Wounded: 20,322
Iraqi Dead: Est.: 48,046
http://icasualties.org/oif/
.......................................................


Latest Confirmed Casualties:

*Pfc. Jeffrey P. Shaffer, 21, of Harrison, Ark., died of injuries sustained in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, on Sept.13.

*Sgt. James R. Worster, 24, of Broadview Heights, Ohio, died on Sept. 18 in Baghdad, Iraq.

*Spc. Russell M. Makowski, 23, of Union, Mo., died of injuries suffered in Taji, Iraq, on Sept. 14.

*Sgt. Christopher M. Zimmerman, 28, of Stephenville, Texas, died Sept. 20 in Al Anbar province, Iraq.

*Sgt. Aaron A. Smith, 31, of Killeen, Texas died in Baghdad, Iraq, on Sept. 14.

*Sgt. Jennifer M. Hartman, 21, of New Ringgold, Pa. died in Baghdad, Iraq, on Sept. 14.

*Cpl. Marcus A. Cain, 20, of Crowley, La. died in Baghdad, Iraq, on Sept. 14.

*Cpl. Yull Estrada Rodriguez, 21, of Alegre Lajas, Puerto Rico, died Sept. 20 in Al Anbar province, Iraq.

*Master Sgt. Robb G. Needham, 51, of Vancouver, Wash.(52nd Washingtonian), died in Baghdad, Iraq, on Sept.20.


Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue

IWR News

Iraq Body Count: 9/19/06
Americans Killed: 2686
Americans Wounded: 20,113
Iraqi Dead: Est.: 48,046
http://icasualties.org/oif/
.......................................................


Latest Confirmed Casualties:

*Sgt. David T. Weir, 23, of Cleveland, Tenn., died on Sept. 14 in Baghdad, Iraq.

*Spc. Harley D. Andrews, 22, of Weimar, Calif., died on Sept. 11 in Ar Ramadi, Iraq.

*Spc. David J. Ramsey, 27, of Tacoma, Wash.(51st Washingtonian), was medically evacuated from Iraq on Aug. 24 and died on Sept. 7 in Spanaway, Wash.

*Lance Cpl. Ryan A. Miller, 19, of Pearland, Texas, died Sept. 14 in Al Anbar province, Iraq.

*2nd Lt. Emily J.T. Perez, 23, of Texas, died on Sept.12 of injuries sustained in Al Kifl, Iraq.

*Petty Officer 2nd Class David S. Roddy, 32, of Aberdeen, Md., died Sept. 16 in the Al Anbar province, Iraq.

*Sgt. Clint E.Williams, 24, of Kingston, Okla., died on Sept. 14 of injuries suffered in Baghdad, Iraq.

*Sgt. David J. Davis, 32, of Mount Airy, Md., died in Baghdad, Iraq, on Sept.17.

*Sgt. Adam L. Knox, 21, of Columbus, Ohio, died on Sept. 17 in Baghdad, Iraq.


Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue

IWR News

Iraq Body Count: 9/15/06
Americans Killed: 2679
Americans Wounded: 20,113
Iraqi Dead: Est.: 46,670
http://icasualties.org/oif/
.......................................................

Latest Confirmed Casualties:

*Sgt. Jason L. Merrill, 22, of Mesa, Ariz. died on Sep. 3 in Baghdad, Iraq.

*Pvt. Edwin A. Andino II, 23, of Culpeper, Va. died on Sep. 3 in Baghdad, Iraq.

*Sgt. David W. Gordon, 23, of Williamsfield, Ohio, died on Sept. 8, in Baghdad, Iraq.

*Sgt. Luis A. Montes, 22, of El Centro, Calif., died on Sept. 7 in Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas, of injuries suffered on Sept. 1 in Abu Ghraib, Iraq.

*Cpl. Johnathan L. Benson, 21, of North Branch, Minn., died Sept. 9 in Al Anbar province, Iraq.

*Sgt. John A. Carroll, 26, of Ponca City, Okla., died on Sept. 6 in Ar Ramadi, Iraq.

*Pfc. Anthony P. Seig, 19, of Sunman, Ind., died on Sept. 9, in Baghdad, Iraq.

*Spc. Alexander Jordan, 31, of Miami, Fla., died on Sept. 10 in Baghdad, Iraq.

*Capt. Matthew C. Mattingly, 30, of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, died on Sept. 13 in Mosul,
Iraq.


Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue

My Vote - DOA?

Thank you Jeff Switzer and the Everett Herald! Today you saved democracy.

Over the weekend, I sat down and voted my primary ballot. I was very careful to vote only in the "blue column" (wanted to make sure my vote for Hong Tran counted). Down the list I went: Hong Tran, Rick Larsen, Jean Berkey, Mike Sells, and then on the back for the non-partisan District Court Judge and Everett city charter initiatives. Short, sweet and Democratic. Now, because my wife and my son have not yet marked their ballots, I figure I will wait and mail them all together this week when they are done.

But wait!!!! This morning I am reading the Herald online before heading off to work and there it is: Voter error may kill 1 in 5 ballots . According to the article by Jeff Switzer, "Thousands of primary ballots will not be counted in partisan races because Snohomish County voters failed to follow directions." I figure there are some folks out there who still determined to vote back and forth between Democrats and Republicans just to be defiant - nothing for me to worry about. But then, further down "Yet their choices from that part of the ballot must be thrown out. That's because the voters didn't pick their party affiliation - a task of connecting the front and back of an arrow with a simple line." Connect WHICH arrow? I didn't remember seeing a single arrow at the top of the column confirming I was voting "Democrat". I looked!

"Partly, people aren't reading the directions, and, two, they don't want to pick a party," county elections manager Carolyn Diepenbrock said.

State law requires voters in the primary election to choose among Republican or Democratic or nonpartisan. On the problem ballots, voters clearly supported candidates of a single party. Failing to connect the arrow, though, requires those votes to be disqualified, Diepenbrock said.

No exceptions."

OK, now I'm worried. Time to open my sealed envelope . Sure enough, there is no special arrow at the top of the column designating party preference...... What's this? There, in the 1st column on the left as you look at the full ballot, there they sit - two lonesome little arrows, one blue - one red; one Democrat - one Republican. Yep, there they sit with no little line connecting the two halves of the little blue arrow that will validate my choices in this primary election.

Thank you Jeff Switzer. My vote has been saved. Now if the Elections Department will only forgive some Scotch Tape on that darned "Security Envelope". Oh Carolyn................


Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue

IWR News

Iraq Body Count: 9/08/06
Americans Killed: 2666
Americans Wounded: 19,945
Iraqi Dead: Est.: 46,307
http://icasualties.org/oif/
.......................................................


Latest Confirmed Casualties:

*Pfc. Hannah L. Gunterman, 20, of Redlands, Calif., died on Sept. 4 in Taji, Iraq.

*Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher G. Walsh, 30, of St. Louis, Mo. died Sept. 4 in Al Anbar province, Iraq.

*Sgt. Ralph N. Porras, 36, of Merrill, Mich. They died in Yusifiyah, Iraq, on Sept. 2.

*Pfc. Justin W. Dreese, 21, of Northumberland, Pa. died in Yusifiyah, Iraq, on Sept. 2.

*Staff Sgt. Angel D. Mercado-Velazquez, 24, died in Yusifiyah, Iraq, on Sept. 1.

*Sgt. 1st Class Richard J. Henkes II, 32, of Portland Ore., died on Sept. 3. in Mosul, Iraq.

*Sgt. Germaine L. Debro, 33, of Omaha, Neb., died on Sept. 4 in Balad, Iraq.

*Lt. Col. Marshall A. Gutierrez, 41, of New Mexico, died on Sep. 4 in Camp Virginia, Kuwait.

*Pfc. Jeremy R. Shank, 18, of Jackson, Mo., died on Sept. 6 in Balad, Iraq.

*Pfc. Vincent M. Frassetto, 21, of Toms River, N.J., died Sept. 7 in Al Anbar province, Iraq.

Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue

Safe at 2nd?

As mentioned before I want to revisit the recent Survey-USA poll on the 2nd CD "race" between Congressman Rick Larsen and "the guy who volunteered to lose to him this year" (aka, Doug Roulstone). In the snapshot taken by Survey-USA and King 5 TV over the last week of August, Larsen holds a comfortable 58% to 35% lead over Roulstone. Looking at the breakdown of the just under 600 registered voters surveyed gives us an even greater sense of the strong position Congressman Larsen finds himself in.

Out of 25 categories listed, Larsen outpolls Roulstone in all but five - three to be expected and two that leave me and Larsen's chief campaign advisor, Brooke Davis, scratching our heads. Larsen holds a 14 point edge -54% to 40%- amongst male voters while women prefer him 2 to 1 at 62% to 31%. He maintains that same 2 to 1 margin with every age group except the 18-34 year olds where the margin is only 4% (I can only assume that we will see the Congressman Larsen at as many local highschool and community college events as Brooke can arrange between now and November). Voters of every educational and income bracket seem to appreciate the job that Rick has been doing as he easily leads in each of those brackets.

The three areas where we would expect Roulstone to hold any advantage are amongst those who identify as republicans, hold a conservative ideology, and somehow still approve of the job that George Bush is doing mis-managing our country. However, even in those categories Larsen polls better with republicans than Roulstone does with Democrats with 21% of the republicans saying they will vote for Larsen while only 4% of democrats say they will arise from their meth induced stupor to cast a vote for Roulstone.

So the two categories that seem to be out of place? Within the racial mix of the 2nd CD, Blacks prefer Roulstone by 6 points - 53% to 47% and Hispanics give him and even higher approval at 49% to 38%. When I called Brooke Davis to ask if she had any insight to these numbers she told me that she was just as curious as I and would certainly be looking further into them. The one thing we both noticed pretty quickly was the sampling size of these categories. In this survey, Blacks make up only 1% of the total or roughly 5 voters while Hispanics accounted for 4% or some 23 voters surveyed. Regardless of the sample size, these voters are an essential part of the Democratic base and between now and November you can be sure that Brooke will be looking more closely into the concerns of these communities.

On the whole, I would say that Rick Larsen should be feeling pretty comfortable with his chances of returning to DC in 2007. At this point my only suggestion to Rick would be, if Doug Roulstone should happen to invite you to go on a hunting trip with his good friend, Dick Cheney, I would decline the invitation.

Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue

IWR News

Iraq Body Count: 9/06/06
Americans Killed: 2657
Americans Wounded: 19,773
Iraqi Dead: Est.: 46,307
http://icasualties.org/oif/
.......................................................


Latest Confirmed Casualties:

*Pfc. Nicholas A. Madaras, 19, of Wilton, Conn., died on Sept. 3, in Baqubah, Iraq.

*Staff Sgt. Michael L. Deason, 28, of Farmington, Mo., died on Aug 31, in Ad War, Iraq.

*Staff Sgt. Eugene H.E. Alex, 32, of Bay City, Mich., died on Sept. 2 in Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Landstuhl, Germany, of injuries suffered on Aug 30 in Baghdad, Iraq.

*Lance Cpl. Cliff K. Golla, 21, of Charlotte, N.C., died Sept. 1 in Al Anbar province, Iraq.

*Lance Cpl. Philip A. Johnson, 19, of Hartford, Conn., died Sept. 3 in Al Anbar province, Iraq.

*Lance Cpl. Shane P. Harris, 23, of Las Vegas, N.M., died Sep. 3 in Al Anbar province, Iraq.

*Pvt. Ryan E. Miller, 21, of Gahanna, Ohio, died Sept. 3 in Al Anbar province, Iraq.

*Cpl. Jared M. Shoemaker, 29, of Tulsa, Okla., died Sept. 4 in Al Anbar province, Iraq.

*Sgt. Matthew J. Vosbein, 30, of Metairie, La., died on Aug. 29, in Sadr Al Yusifiyah, Iraq.

*Cpl. Shannon L. Squires, 25, of Virginia Beach, Va., died in Brooke Army Medial Center, San Antonio, Texas on Aug. 28, of injuries sustained along Main Supply Route Tampa, Iraq on Apr. 21.


Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue

Primary Potpourri

Daniel Kirkdorffer over at On the Road to 2008 reports on the Survey USA poll highlighting 2nd CD Congressman Rick Larsen’s respectable 58%-35% lead over Dead-eye Dick’s good buddy Doug Roulstone; or, as I prefer to call him, “the guy that volunteered to lose to Rick this year.” (I intend to speak to this poll in more detail shortly)

Daniel goes on to speculate (and I agree) that the republicans will soon redirect most of their attention away from this “race” and focus even more of their attention on their highly vulnerable 8th and 5th CD incumbents, Dave Reichert and Cathy McMorris, respectively. 1st term congressman Reichert is being challenged by former Microsoft manager and "Netroots endorsed" powerhouse Darcy Burner while the other freshman (and current occupant of Tom Foley’s seat) Cathy McMorris is starting to feel the heat from the surging campaign of Peter Goldmark . By the way, if you were inclined to throw a few bucks toward Burner or Goldmark, you may do so by clicking on the “Act Blue” link on this Blog.

I would suggest however, especially to those of you in Washington State, if you were considering where you might send those pre-primary contributions, you might consider supporting or even boosting your support for two of Snohomish County's endorsed candidates who have strong primary opponents to overcome before they may start working toward their November challenges. Lillian Kaufer, candidate for State Senate in the 44th LD and Eric Teegarden, candidate for Snohomish County PUD Commissioner, both face tough primary opponents and are deserving of the support of their fellow Washington State Democrats. Even with ballots already having been mailed out (and many having been cast) there is still time to reach those remaining “undecideds” or simply the procrastinators amongst us. Your contribution could make all the difference.

Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue

IWR News

Iraq Body Count: 9/05/06
Americans Killed: 2653
Americans Wounded: 19,773
Iraqi Dead: Est.: 46,307
http://icasualties.org/oif/
.......................................................


Latest Confirmed Casualties:

*Sgt. Moises Jazmin, 25, of Providence, R.I. died in Taji, Iraq, on Aug 27.

*Spc. Qixing Lee, 20, of Minneapolis, Minn. died in Taji, Iraq, on Aug 27.

*Spc. Shaun A. Novak, 21, of Two Rivers, Wis. died in Taji, Iraq, on Aug 27.

*Spc. Tristan C. Smith, 23, of Bryn Athyn, Pa. died in Taji, Iraq, on Aug 27.

*Lance Cpl. Colin J. Wolfe, 18, of Manassas, Va., died Aug. 30 in Al Anbar province, Iraq.

*Sgt. Joshua R. Hanson, 27, of West St. Paul, Minn., died on Aug. 30, in Khaldea, Iraq.


Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue