"...We have people up there in Congress with the brain of a 2-year-old who don’t know what they are doing, they don’t experience it. I challenge the president or anyone who has us for 15 months to ride alongside me. I’ll do another 15 months if he comes out here and rides alomg with me every day. I’ll do 15 more months. They don’t even have to pay me extra." -- Spc. Gabriel Vassell, 2nd Platoon Apache Company

The Guardian's award-winning photographer and filmmaker Sean Smith spent two months embedded with US troops in Baghdad and Anbar province. His harrowing documentary exposes the exhaustion and disillusionment of the soldiers.

Click to view portions of Smith's documentary, "Inside the Surge"

Maybe! If the company you work for has taken out a secret insurance policy on your life.

Liz Pulliam Weston writes on MSN Money that many large corporations take out "Janitor Policies" on rank and file workers with the intent of reaping a tax-free windfall when they die.

And, there's an interesting local tie-in...

Most states also have advise and consent laws that technically require companies to get workers permission before buying life insurance on them. But attorney Myers said many businesses circumvent these laws by purchasing the insurance in one of the states that doesnt require notice or consent, including Delaware, Georgia, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Vermont.

You should also note that PA has no ceiling on health insurance premiums, either.

We've all heard a lot of talk about the "Red 'T'" in Pennsylvania over the years. Subtract the "Blue" areas, Philly and Pittsburgh, from PA and you're left with a vague "T" shape.

Well maybe that's not an accurate depiction after all.

The Center for American Progress and Free Press today released the first-of-its-kind statistical analysis of the political make-up of talk radio in the United States. It confirms that talk radio, one of the most widely used media formats in America, is dominated almost exclusively by conservatives.

Check out Philly talk radio:

Absolutely ZERO progressive or liberal voices being heard in the fifth largest market in the country. Hell, even Harrisburg gets United for Progress (thanks, Don). So the next time someone starts kvetching about the liberal media ,you can point to Philadelphia and say, "Not in my town!!"

Before you get all huffy about your liberal creds out Pittsburgh way, note that the same study reflects that KDKA (CBS owned) broadcasts 9 hours per day of conservative talk and 0 (yes, that's ZERO, not a letter "O") hours of progressive programming. And, WTZN (interestingly, also CBS owned) boasts 3 hours of conservative yammering and another zero hours of liberal chatter.

So, there you are. No "T", it's ALL red on the radio. I guess that's why they put those flashing RED lights on the transmitters.

John Nichols, author of THE GENIUS OF IMPEACHMENT: The Founders' Cure for Royalism, writes in The Nation:

The Nation - (click to read entire article) -- The campaign to impeach Alberto Gonzales -- organized by Democracy for America and filmmaker Robert "Outfoxed" Greenwald's Brave New Films crew under the slogan "President Bush won't fire Attorney General Alberto Gonzales... but YOU can!" -- is keeping the heat on the Bush administration's most scandal-plagued appointee. At a time when the drive-by media is playing the president's game by turning its attention away from the constant -- and increasingly dramatic -- revelations of high crimes and misdemeanors on the attorney general's part, this sort of citizen activism becomes all the more essential.

More than 77,000 Americans have signed onto the campaign's online petition, which declares: "We, The Undersigned, urge the House Judiciary Committee to begin the process of impeachment of U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, in accordance with Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution,

It depends on what you want to make out of it. In places as disparate as California and Iowa, DFA is strong and growing. Here's an article from John Deeth , a blogger in Iowa, about how DFA is changing the political landscape there:

DFA's Role in Democratic Party Evolving

An organization growing out of a defeated presidential campaign might have seemed likely for a quick fizzle. Yet in the three-plus years since Howard Dean’s presidential campaign, Democracy For America -- originally Dean For America -- has flourished. DFA played the lead role in organizing Saturday’s Progressive Iowa Network (PIN) conference in Iowa City.

Still, with Howard Dean now the head of the Democratic Party, could that DFA activism be channeled into the formal Democratic Party structure? Or has it been?

I discussed the role of DFA within, and without, the official Democratic Party structure with several activists at Saturday’s PIN meeting.

The roots of the DFA phenomenon date back to mid-2003. Supporters of Dean, then an asterisk in the polls, used the then-popular online tool Meetup to find other local Dean supporters and arrange simultaneous meetings across the country. Rapidly, the first Wednesday of the month became Dean Meetup Night as Dean moved from nowhere to front-runner. The specific tools changed, as Meetup changed from a free service to a site requiring payment and then quickly fell from favor. But by that time DFA had established both its own online tools and itself as an organization.

There are some technical and legal differences between DFA and a political party, say Dennis and Robin Roseman. They’re co-chairs of Johnson County DFA and also active in the local Democratic Party. “DFA nationally can do some things that the Dems can't do. For example, DFA can appeal to no-party voters and other-party voters on behalf of candidates or issues without recruiting for the Dems. Johnson County DFA has lobbied Sen. Grassley and ex-congressman Leach by visiting their offices. Elected Republicans would be unlikely to schedule visits from the Democratic Party.”

Dennis Kucinich chose DemocracyFest in Manchester, NH to announce his withdrawal of support for the Holt election reform bill. Congressman Kucinich made the announcement via telephone link to the annual gathering of supporters of Governor Howard Dean.

Watch for more photos, video and reports on the very exciting weekeknd, attended by yours truly and several other Deaniacs from Pennsylvania. That will have to wait until I get caught up on my sleep, however!

Click the "read more" link to read the official press release.

Wow! That's all I can say in reaction to perusing Unknown News a website that is a catalog of lies, half-truths, and misstatements attributable to the Bush administration, its staff, and supporters over the years. My hat's off to these diligent folks.

One of the most interesting entries is not particularly related to BushCo, but drew my attention. Much has been made of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez's refusal to renew the broadcast license of the oldest television broadcaster in that nation, RCTV. The international human rights community is up in arms over this supposed affront to free speech.

The background revealed in a LATimes story is that RCTV participated in a violent coup to overthrow Chavez in 2002. What's amazing is that he let them broadcast for five years after their seditious actions. Can you imagine any US network being allowed to continue broadcasting after financing and supporting via their airwaves a military overthrow of the US government?

Wow!

I wrote to Ed Rendell a few weeks ago to remind him of his ill-considered support of Samuel Alito's nomination to the US Supreme Court and the cost that appointment would have for "regular" people and particularly women. Last time the issue was women's health and their right to control the kinds of medical treatments they can receive. Well, Judge Sam is at it again. This time he's imposing his right-wing, theology-based politics to women's rights in the workplace:

Snipped from today's Progress Report :

Following up to my earlier post, Why Are We Democrats? , Here's a piece about Governor Dean speaking in Birmingham, Alabama, about where he wants to take the Democratic Party:

Hat tip to Bev Hahn, Blue Bell, PA

Breakfast with Howard Dean

by: mooncat

Sat May 26, 2007 at 21:37:54 PM CDT

Last Thursday I had breakfast with DNC Chairman Howard Dean. Actually, I don’t think Gov. Dean ate a bite, but the other 160 of us enjoyed pastries, juice and coffee or tea. We also enjoyed hearing the Chairman’s take on the state of the Democratic Party and the direction he thinks it is moving.

...

Gov. Dean started off by saying that we are “going to turn Alabama around,” mentioning the Senate seat now held by Jeff Sessions and some favorable polling Turnham had showed him. He talked about the importance and growth of the Democratic grassroots (the proceeds from this event are going to the DNC's State Partnership Program).

...

Dean said the Democratic “message is breaking thru to people, even in Alabama, where 53% of people now disapprove” of the president’s management of the war. “The people of Alabama are ready for a change and the Democratic party is ready to lead that change.”

...