Global

When the Multinational Monitor judges gather to pick the 10 worst corporations of the year, one of their instructions is: name no companies that appeared on the previous year's list (barring extraordinary circumstances).

For the 2004 list, that means no Bayer (even though in 2004 the company pushed for import of genetically modified rice into the European Union, polluted water in a South African town with the carcinogen hexavalent chromium, and was hit with evidence that its pain medication Aleve (naproxen) increases the risk of heart attack, among other egregious acts), no Boeing (despite new evidence that the tanker plane scandal costing U.S. taxpayers tens of billions of dollars is! even worse than it appeared), no Clear Channel (even though the radio behemoth in 2004 stooped to new lows with a "Breast Christmas Ever" contest that promised to pay for breast implants for a dozen contest "winners"),  and no  Halliburton (embroiled in a whole new set of contracting fraud and bribery charges in 2004).  But at least the no-repeat rule helps limit the field a bit.

And there remained plenty of worthy candidates.

"Agitation: discussion meant to arouse or increase dissatisfaction with things as they are and produce changes; work of an agitator." Webster's New World Dictionary

Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), an outgrowth of the Kucinich for President campaign, just concluded a large, successful national conference in Washington, D.C. Over 500 spirited, determined activists from all over the country came to the University of the District of Columbia for 48 hours of speeches, panels (too many!), workshops and informal person-to-person networking. The panels, the heart of the conference, were focused on issues like Iraq, Israel/Palestine, voting rights/electoral reform, defending social security, universal health care, progressive media, racism, veterans issues and progressive spirituality.

There were no panels or workshops having to do with endorsing candidates. There wasn't even organized public discussion about the internal struggle going on within the Democratic National Committee to determine who will replace Terry McAuliffe as DNC chair, although the vast majority of the Democrats present, I'm sure, are hoping Howard Dean wins that battle.

Friends,

Two issues cry out to me for emphasis in the court of public opinion.

First, the "bipartisan" nature of the Boards of Election (BOEs) is nominal at best. The SoS has the power to issue directives and votes the tie-breaker at the county level. It was Blackwell's directive that required voters must be in the right precinct for example. In any case where a BOE vote is split evenly on party lines Blackwell's vote breaks the tie. Finally all BOE members serve at the pleasure of the SoS. The sham of bipartisanship needs to be continually exposed.

Second, whether there were (let's call them) over-zealous actions by the contest attorneys that stretched the rules of civil procedure, the total absence of care for democratic processes is evident in the the Secretary's motion itself which acknowledges "long lines, shortages of machines, failing to receive notice of the proper voting precinct, or casting or provisional ballots" (pp. 6-7). The team of Blackwell, Petro and Moyers apparently care little for the protection of voters' rights.

--John

This is the news report you did NOT see last night on CNN, FOX, NBC, CBS, or hear on NPR or read in the NY Times, Washington Post, LA Times, Columbus Dispatch, The Raleigh News and Observer or the Asheville Citizen-Times.

On Wednesday, January 5th I made a last minute decision to ride with three friends, Michael, Patty, and Sonnie, from the Asheville NC area to Washington DC to participate in a protest march the following day at the Capitol to coincide with the certification of the Electoral College vote by a joint session of Congress.  I can't logically explain what compelled me in this direction except that there is a powerful inner force, similar in nature, I'm sure, to what made thousands drive to Devils Tower, Wyoming in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."  I had to go.

After disclosure of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's effort to set a new and spectacularly unaccountable version of the CIA in the Pentagon, the sprouting forest of secret intelligence operations set up in the wake of 9/11 is at last coming under some scrutiny. Here's a sinister one in the academic field that until this week escaped scrutiny.

Dr. David Price, of St. Martins College, in Olympia, Wash., is an anthropologist long interested in the intersections of his discipline with the world of intelligence and national security, both the CIA and the FBI. Now he's turned the spotlight on a new test program, operating without detection or protest, that is secretly placing CIA agents in American university classrooms. With time these students who cannot admit to their true intentions will inevitably pollute and discredit the universities in which they are now enrolled.

The Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) held a Summit in Washington, DC this past weekend at the kind invitation of Shelly Broderick, the Dean of the University of the District of Columbia Law School. The three day event was made possible by the organizational talents of Joe Libertelli and Tim Carpenter and many volunteers from the Carolinas to California. Washington was in a declared state of emergency for the frigidity, but inside the Conference, the warmth was overcoming as many diverse groups shared common vision, strategy and blue wrist bands. The PDA mission is ambitious; with faith in the unseen, they are building an umbrella coalition of many organizations with common purpose; Peace, Justice and Electoral Integrity and Reform. Whatever your first issue is foreign policy, environment, women’s rights, etc. your second issue, we are reminded, has to be Election Integrity and Reform. Without the later, it doesn’t matter how brilliant or right you are in the first; your strategy in those areas will be quickly deflated to hot air without the ability to guarantee that you can actually elect the people who will be instruments for needed change.

Past Election Patterns, Pre-Election, Tracking and Exit Poll Patterns, Bill Clinton, Vote Discrepancies, Undervotes, and A "Convenient" Power Failure in Little Rock, All Combine to Suggest Otherwise

This report will be based on several categories of data, both historical and statistical in nature, which strongly suggest that John Kerry was making a showing in the American south in the 2004 election.

1. Past election patterns: A common myth the media have often deliberately or otherwise purveyed, has been that there is a "monolithic" South, in which all Southern states fall into a set pattern, with similar percentages of victory for Republicans versus non-Southerner Democratics. This pattern can be seriously challenged when one examines individual vote tallies in individual southern states, on a year-by-year basis. The most telling examples will be found in those election years in which the Republican supposedly "swept" the entire South, or virtually the entire South.

Tens of thousands protest the Inauguration of George W. Bush

Thousands took to the streets of Washington, DC to protest the inauguration of George W. Bush. The International Action Center organized contingents from New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, Raleigh, and many other cities to participate in the demonstrations, hand out literature, and distribute placards.

As President Bush gave the second inaugural address of his career, you could see something besides mourning in the eyes of Democrats everywhere. Confusion is what it looked like, and rightly so. The question echoes from blue coast to bluer coast: What has reduced post-election Democrats to such ineffectual pussyfooters?

True, there have been muffled objections -- to the certification of Bush's reelection, and to the impending confirmations of cabinet hopefuls Alberto Gonzales and Condoleeza Rice. Sen. Barbara Boxer, along with a few Congressional Democrats, challenged the Ohio election results earlier this month. And during Gonzales' hearings, Sen. Patrick Leahy described administration policies as "tantamount to torture." Later, Sen. John Kerry and Boxer both voted against Rice's confirmation, while Sen. Joe Biden gave her an impressive dressing down.

But these Democrats weren't making history. They were making footnotes to it.

AUSTIN -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice helpfully explained it all for us. The problem is that we are living in an alternative reality. What we think we know is not true. We have always had enough troops in Iraq. There are 120,000 trained Iraqi soldiers ready to take over. The president has condemned torture, so what else is there to say? Why torture happened, whose fault it is and why it is still happening at Guantanamo is not a problem because the president has condemned it. Secretary Rice also condemns it, so why raise questions about the fact that she wrote a letter to get an anti-torture clause in the intelligence appropriation bill taken out?

What, do you want to insult her integrity?

Secretary Rice did say that mistakes were made, but she does not know who made them or who should be held accountable. And, of course, as we all learned during the last election, no matter what happens, it is never, ever President Bush's fault.