the laws and ethical and moral constraints that apply to the rest of us don't really apply to them, they're they're special people entitled to special privileges, and how dare us hoi polloi try to deny this to them. I, for one, do not subscribe to this belief.

"In a mature society, 'civil servant' is semantically equal to 'civil master.'" -Heinlein

It may be a mistake to think that politicians act on the basis of beliefs and principles. It seems a more appropriate way of looking at them would be as afflicted with a form of psychosis. Once a persona (a typo, maybe a Freudian slip) says "Vote for me!" a transformation takes place. The persona of savior, knight on a white horse, man (or woman) among men is born, never to slow down until physical death, or election defeat, a form of death.

Working in concert with the persona of the politician is what I call the J. Edgar Hoover effect. Hoover had files on everyone in Washington, and beyond. He used his files to blackmail, especially Congresspersons, but also private citizens like Martin Luther King. Once this practice started it is extremely unlikely that it stopped with the death of Hoover. If anything, it has become more sophisticated and widespread.

We live in unenlightened times. Witness the smearing of Barack Obama. What is his crime? He wants to establish a higher level of human interaction, domestically and internationally. The audacity!!! The nerve!!! We can't have this!!! We need to keep acting like animals, at each others' throats, shouting, snarling, grunting, shooting, and stabbing!!! We must have a slob for president!!! God of vengeance, save us from this peacemaker!!!

This needs to be top-down.

Dean should make it clear the Dem's must stand up against the telcos and get the support of MoveOn.org to back him up. Do it behind the scenes - I don't care - just do it.

"You support the telcos, you won't get support for re-election." The DNC and MoveOn will find other faces to back. Uproot and throw out the infested wood.

I don't care what happened with Lieberman (who won even without DNC support), once the Dems gain more of a majority in the House and Senate he'll be a non-issue.

Put a fire to the weasels and burn the telcos by proxy and the next time they may all think twice before offering up US citizens on a platter to the next fascist regime.

I understand the negative connotation of "conspiracy theory", tinfoil hats and all. Simply because something is "obvious" doesn't negate the possibility for a conspiracy theory. If "backroom conniving" isn't secret, what is? Just because someone gets caught doing something secret doesn't mean there wasn't "a plan or agreement between two or more people to commit an illegal or subversive action." That's all a conspiracy is. Can't we just "call a spade a spade"?

And what about the CIA's Black Budget ($1+ Trillion dollars) and how that may influence our elected official's votes. Oh, no doubt that's just a crazy conspiracy theory. Even though it's obvious to some.

Follow the money.

Oh, it'll be a well-covered trail.

Might be concessions to be named later.

Might be CYA that is perceived to keep someone(s) in office (thus ensuring millions after leaving public life).

Could be campaign donations to come.

Follow the money.

We locally are fighting Dow Chemical and the Bushist EPA and our own Hillary Clinton (Moderate Democrat Jennifer Granholm) in their efforts to keep us living in the toxic pollution of from Dow Chemical's headquarters in Midland Michigan.

How bad has it gotten?

This bad: Bush just canned the director of EPA Region V. His own appointee.

Dow pulled his strings and will now be off the hook for another five years.

Push-back from the left against traitors in the Democratic party?

This is hard to recognize. Why shouldn't the party be run by a tiny minority of Blue Dogs?

$50 to the ad campaign. This has got to be the most effective use of political donation money -- aimed directly at the most vulnerable traitors to American ideals. Thanks for taking the lead on this, Glenn -- it's easy to imagine that the travesty of amnesty would have already passed were it not for your intelligent and tireless efforts to shine light on the cockroaches. Now let's see how they like a bit o' Raid!!!

...I think [Carney]'s perhaps turnable, which is why I recommend the carrot, as well as the stick.
[...] these guys will take money from anyone. -- karrsic

Yes. Which brings up an important point: can ActBlue take the funds it is currently gathering for this ad campaign and make them into a supportive ad series endorsing him if he becomes active in the fight against telecom immunity?
My guess is no, given that they didn't stipulate that they might do so in their original call for donations; there are surely contributors to that kitty who don't want to support Carney in any way for any reason. Those contributors would feel baited-and-switched unless the possibility of switching from a "Stick" to a "Carrot" had been laid out in advance.

But what about for the future? The next Blue Dog to be targeted this way should face a double down -- either we run an ad series against you or you get favorable ads, running over a period of time leading up to the election, if you support our cause. Consistently.

Double your impact without doubling your money. I know, ad campaigns aren't created for free and this would double the cost of creating one -- but the real money is in the purchase of airtime. If ActBlue were make this their "standard" practice -- "carrot or stick, make your pick" -- any politician who is targeted would learn what to expect. If this tactic were applied consistently, it would strengthen every campaign that ActBlue undertakes.

You are not making any difference with me. The only guy I like in the whole gummint is Bernie Sanders. Maybe Barney Frank. The point is that there are more than just each of our individual pet issues to consider and Lieberman actually gets a very "liberal rating" while Feingold is considered rather conservative. Or are you agreeing with Shooter that prowar and antiwar or pro-Israel vs. pro-Palestinian is the metric by which you delineate liberals and a conservatives?

Aych,

A present for you if you stop posting Sci-Fi wingnuts. Admittedly Heinlein isn't as crazy as some of the live ones.

Well, it looks like Dafydd ab Hugh and Orson Scott Card have competition for the title of Most Obnoxious Right-Wing Sci-Fi Melvin...

Among the group’s approximately 24 members is Larry Niven, the bestselling and award-winning author of such books as “Ringworld”. Niven said a good way to help hospitals stem financial losses is to spread rumors in Spanish within the Latino community that emergency rooms are killing patients in order to harvest their organs for transplants.

http://www.sadlyno.com/archives/9360.html

Very funny but really sick.

Your present, from 2004:

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/041003/3/3nio6.html

Sunday October 3, 9:23 AM

Israel to soothe trauma with marijuana

By Corinne Heller

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli soldiers traumatised by battle with the Palestinians have a new, unconventional weapon to exorcise their nightmares -- marijuana.

Under an experimental programme, Delta-9 tetrohydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient found in the cannabis plant, will be administered to 15 soldiers over the next several months in an effort to fight post-traumatic stress disorder.

Raphael Mechoulam of Jerusalem's Hebrew University, the chief researcher behind a project he described as a world-first, said the chemical could trick the brain into suppressing unwanted memories.

For soldiers haunted by flashbacks of traumatic battle experiences, he said, the drug, administered in liquid form, could be the answer to hundreds of sleepless nights.

"It helps them sleep better, for one thing. These people often wake up from nightmares, and experience sweating or hallucinations," Mechoulam told Reuters.

The army said civilian and military committees had approved the experiment...

http://newsmine.org/archive/war-on-terror/israel/israel-to-soothe-soldiers-with-marijuana.txt