I recieved this email from the Darcy Burner campaign today:

John McCain is in Bellevue at a $33,100 per head Republican fundraiser. Why do these people donate such large sums of money to help elect Republicans? Because 100% of them are among the wealthiest 1% of the population – the one demographic category that has made out like bandits during the Bush Administration.

In the Chapel at the Divine Providence Hospital, San Salvador, March 24, 1980...

"This body broken and blood shed for human beings encourages us to give our body and blood up to suffering and pain, as Christ did – not for self, but to bring justice and peace to our people. Let us be intimately united in faith and hope at this moment."

That very moment's prayer of faith and hope was met with gunshots, shrieks, panic, and mayhem. A bullet pierced the heart of the future Saint, splattering his blood upon the altar of the defiled sanctuary. Monsignor Oscar Romero’s homily, and life, were, in an instant, ended by assassination.

On this Mothers Day, with Markos Moulitsas in El Salvador paying final respects to the matriarch of his family, and Democrats beginning the process of laying to rest the presidential campaign of the matriarch of their party, I think it is appropriate to remember Archbishop Oscar Romero’s quest for justice and message of hope.

Lance Cpl. Jordan C. Haerter, 19, of Sag Harbor, N.Y. and
Cpl. Jonathan T. Yale, 21, of Burkeville, Va. died April 22 from wounds suffered while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq.

Pfc. Shane D. Penley, 19, of Sauk Village, Ill., died April 6 at Patrol Base Copper, Iraq, from wounds suffered while on duty at a guard post.

Spc. Joshua A. Molina, 20, of Houston, Texas, died Mar. 27 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device.

Cpl. Steven I. Candelo, 20, of Houston, died March 26 in Baghdad, when his vehicle was struck by a rocket propelled grenade.

Cpl. William D. O’Brien, 19, of Rice, Texas, died March 15 in Baghdad, Iraq, from wounds suffered when he was attacked by small arms fire during combat operations.

Last Friday night my wife and kids were all occupied, and weren't going to miss me much, so I decided to walk the two Vegas sized blocks from my office to Safeco Field and take in a Mariners game.

I grabbed my camera with no particular agenda, but on the way there, it occured to me that as far as facility and setting goes, a Mariners game is as good as it gets.

See what I'm talking about?

I received this letter by email. The letter is a couple of weeks old, so, if this is old news to anyone, my apologies. I hadn't heard anything about this, so I thought others might want to know.

Jack Heyman

Wednesday, April 9, 2008
SF Chronicle Submissions
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Sunday Insight

While millions of people worldwide have marched against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and last week's New York Times/CBS News poll indicated that 81 percent believe the country is headed in the wrong direction - key concerns being the war and the economy - the war machine inexorably grinds on.  Amid this political atmosphere, dockworkers of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union have decided to stop work for eight hours in all U.S. West Coast ports on May 1, International Workers' Day, to call for an end to the war.

From the Dave Reichert Website, the entirety of his entry on the subject of Social Security:

Congressman Reichert has never voted to change or cut Social Security benefits. Congressman Reichert believes the Social Security problem should be addressed in a bi-partisan way and that we have to protect the system.

I believe we must ensure the solvency of Social Security into the future. However, I do not support any solution that includes the following:

Raising the retirement age
Cutting Social Security benefits
Increasing Social Security taxes
Privatizing Social Security

According to the Social Security Trustees, in 2017 Social Security will start paying out more than it takes in and will be sufficient to finance only 74 percent of scheduled annual benefits in 2040, when the combined OASDI trust fund is projected to be exhausted.

Before I came to Congress, I indicated I would consider all of the options to make sure that Social Security is solvent into the future. However, I was able to examine some of the options, and I’m wary of some and have rejected other outright.  

I will continue to investigate possible solutions for the challenges facing Social Security. It is an important benefit and must be protected.

A few weeks ago, “A Responsible Plan to End The War in Iraq”, initiated by Washington State Congressional candidate Darcy Burner and heavily influenced by former Commanding General in Iraq Paul Eaton, was unveiled at the Take Back America Conference in Washington D.C.

General Eaton had this to say in a taped interview:

“I’m proud of this document, I’m proud of the people who produced it, and I certainly expect a great outcome.”

My sentiments also, General Eaton, although I’m not optimistic there are any possible “great outcomes” in Iraq, just some that are not as bad as others.

Nevertheless, my first thought upon reading the plan was I am proud to be an 8th District Democrat with Darcy Burner as my candidate.

I’m content with, or at least resigned to, copping out on the abortion issue.

In politics and theology I consider myself a “Christian progressive”, rejecting the notion you have to earn your way to heaven, principally by being lucky enough to be born into, and/or industrious enough to discover and clever enough to recognize, the one true religion.

I think if we need to be “saved from our sins”, a concept my inadequate brain has never fully grasped, such redemption was Christ’s gift to all, and not reserved for an elite minority.

I’m anti-war unless the very sovereignty of our nation and/or a NATO ally is legitimately threatened; against capital punishment and torture; for habeas corpus; wishy-washy on immigration (we’re all God’s children, is it their fault they were born on the wrong side of a border?); in favor of gay marriage, or at least a functional equivalent; for healthcare and other social programs that aid the least advantaged in our society; anxious about the damage we do to our environment…you get the idea.

Logically, shouldn’t I be pro-life?

Intuitively, abortion seems wrong.

But...

Hillary Clinton may have been across the commander in chief threshold, but she isn’t any more.

A couple of months ago, as part of a small MoveOn contingent, I met with Congressman Dave Reichert, R-WA. The Iraq war wasn't on the agenda, but nevertheless reared it's ugly head.

Happy Easter!

Following is an excerpt from "Anna Karenina". Enjoy.

Once again we have ambiguous words misinterpreted by the mainstream media and its consuming public, leading to unfounded accusations of hypocrisy and lies.

I didn't watch the Thursday night debate, but I saw some highlights, including Hillary's standing ovation earning conclusion. Her resignation that she's going to be fine, no matter the outcome, and insistence the party will be unified, was magnanimous, and sincere.

Last night, live on Real Time with Bill Maher:

In part one I presented evidence that the bush Administration, for the value of one more phony reason to start a war, repeatedly denied Pentagon requests to attack the Zarqawi terrorist operation in Iraq prior to the invasion, a decision that cost the lives of Nick Berg and hundreds, perhaps thousands of others.

..remember Abu Musab al Zarqawi, a Jordanian terrorist, al Qaeda affiliate; ran a training camp in Afghanistan for al Qaeda, then migrated -- after we went into Afghanistan and shut him down there, he went to Baghdad, took up residence there before we ever launched into Iraq; organized the al Qaeda operations inside Iraq before we even arrived on the scene, and then, of course, led the charge for Iraq until we killed him last June.... This is al Qaeda operating in Iraq. And as I say, they were present before we invaded Iraq.
     
  - Dick Cheney, patting himself on the back in an interview with Rush Limbaugh 4/5/07

"I don't want to just end the war, I want to end the mind-set that got us into war in the first place."

     -Barack Obama

George Bush set a record for executions in Texas. More importantly, he supported and defended the practice.

Capital punishment is the result of the mind-set that it is okay for governments to kill, unnecessarily, without the presence of imminent threat, because of some theoretical benefit to society.

Utility, cost benefit analysis, efficacy: such are the arguments in favor of state sanctioned killing for cause.

It is a straight line from executing a criminal to torture and pre-emptive war. Once killing for cause is accepted as legitimate public policy, it invariably finds its way onto the table of options.