Chlorophyll

I'm going to be critical of Obama where criticism is due. I'm not a Republican,I'm not a Democrat, I am a progressive independent.

From the Huffington Post: Obama refuses to sign a land mine treaty already signed by 150 other countries, continuing Bush's policy.

Hope: People around the world will continue to get the opportunity to Hope that they don't step on a land mine.
Change: Land mines Change people with all limbs intact into people who have less.

. . . which means the gloves I've had on for nearly a year regarding Barack Obama have got to come off. Obama is not a progressive, he's not a leftist, especially not a socialist. At best he is a centrist. At worst, he seems to be willing to sell out progressives that voted for him on almost every single issue.

Every critical thing I posted about Obama's appointments before he took office got me unhappy comments. My friend Rex said, "Right now Obama's just gathering the ingredients, we don't know what he's going to cook yet." (I still reserved the right to be worried that some of the ingredients included lard, high fructose corn syrup, and propylene glycol). Others thought I should at least give him a chance. Fair enough, I gave him a chance.

Obama had a tough road ahead when he took office -- Bush left him a horrible mess. But because Bush screwed up SO BADLY, he had an opportunity to take the country in the opposite direction to undo some of the damage. He missed the opportunity, worried too much about being "bi-partisan" and getting along with the extreme right, and they still loathe him. He should have taken the country in the right direction (by which I mean turning it to the left) -- because even his attempts to appease the right still have them convinced that he's an ultra-leftist socialist (we can only wish that were true!).

The other day I heard a speech where Obama confronted his critics --told them that he and Pelosi were busy making things better and that his detractors would be better off if we picked up brooms and got to work. Unfortunately, not having much power, I can't get us out of Iraq or Afghanistan, can't get us to repeal the bad Bush laws, etc. and he can. The best thing that progressives can do is to be critical and pressure Obama in anyway possible to get him to turn around. You can bet those on the right didn't let up and "give him a chance" - they got to work pressuring him right away and it's been working marvelously well for them.

So, if you value peace, a country that doesn't detain people illegally, doesn't spy on it's own citizens, doesn't sell out to the highest corporate bidder -- put the pressure on Obama now. I will.

Our Minneapolis based friend “LA” brings us this interesting little coinkidink: Republican US Senator Coleman (aka Shoebox Head) gave this speech BEFORE the [bridge] collapse.       A little odd.  The conspiracy theorists are going to have a field day.   Hmmmmm…..

Rolling Stone brings us an interesting article criticizing ethanol and the political machinery that has brought about massive subsidies to agribusiness giants.  Author Jeff Goodell writes: The great danger of confronting peak oil and global warming isn’t that we will sit on our collective asses and do nothing while civilization collapses, but that we will plunge [...]

Today is the day to contact US Rep Thomas Petri to just let him know that you are a fan of renewable energies, and would encourage him to support The Udall-Platts 20% renewable energy by 2020 standard (HR 969). Thomas can be reached at: Congressman Petri’s DC office #202.225.2476 Wisconsin Toll Free #800.242.4883 According to our good friend Lauren: It [...]

Well Gordon Unleashed seems to think he is strongly considering it. Gordon also provides a link to a documentary bio about Ed Thompson called “A Remarkable Man“, (not to be confused with the Ralph Nader bio “An Unreasonable Man”). For those who don’t know who Ed Thompson is, he is the popular brother of Wisconsin ex-Gov Tommy [...]

This was forwarded to me, but originated from Bruce Speight of WISPIRG: Since 2001, Congress has been unable to pass a chemical plant safety and security bill despite repeated attempts.  With security experts listing chemical plants as a vulnerable and deadly part of our nation’s infrastructure, the implications of this delay are ominous.  Even worse, the Bush [...]

The 2007 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest award for the worst opening line to an imaginary novel goes to Madison, WI resident Jim Gleeson, who managed to spew forth the following: “Gerald began - but was interrupted by a piercing whistle which cost him ten percent of his hearing permanently, as it did everyone else in a ten-mile [...]

UW Oshkosh Professor Bill McConkey has filed a lawsuit challenging last November’s Constitutional ban on same sex marriage. From the Capital Times: A self-identified “Christian, straight, married” father of nine and grandfather of seven said today he is filing what is likely to be the first lawsuit challenging Wisconsin’s recently passed constitutional ban on gay marriage. Bill [...]

California Secretary of State commissioned University of California scientists to test the security on that state’s touch screen voting machines and what they found gives cause to worry: Their mission was to try to compromise the integrity of the voting systems provided by Diebold Elections Systems, Hart Intercivic and Sequoia Voting Systems. They not only succeeded [...]

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (7/29/07): For some time, increasing numbers of Americans have expressed outrage at the misconduct of the president and his administration, and now the public’s long-simmering anger has reached the boiling point. Everywhere I go in Wisconsin and elsewhere, as people decry the war in Iraq and this administration’s blatant disregard for the [...]

I came upon an intersting poll this morning. Clinton 44%, Giuliani 50% Clinton 47%, Thompson 45% Obama 52%, Giuliani 43% Obama 56%, Thompson 36% This basically confirms my impression of how the general election race would go.  Although Clinton has made some progress on the national stage and amongst moderates as of late, I think her inherent negatives (and no [...]

I thought I would test the “Select Smart 2008 Presidential Candidate” tool, and these were my results: Your Results: 1.  Theoretical Ideal Candidate   (100%) 2.  Dennis Kucinich   (90%)  Click here for info   3.  Alan Augustson   (89%)  Click here for info   4.  Barack Obama   (81%)  Click here for info   5.  Joseph Biden   (73%)  Click here for info   6.  Mike Gravel   (71%)  Click here for info   7.  Christopher Dodd   (70%)  Click here for info   8.  Hillary Clinton   (70%)  Click here for [...]

This weekend (June 15 - June 17, 2007) in Custer, WI (just outside of Stevens Point) will be the 17th Annual Midwest Renewable Energy and Sustainable Living Fair, by the MREA. If there is a solution to Wisconsin’s future energy needs it will be found here. The MREA is a great time - there are [...]

This is without a doubt going to be the party of the Summer. On July 7, 2007 (7/7/07) in conjunction with “Live Earth“, the Anathoth Community Farm 10 miles out of Luck, WI will be throwing a huge music bash to both celebrate their 20th year anniversary as a world class eco-village and sustainable farming community [...]

From Pam’s House Blend: “A bid by Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle (D) to provide domestic partner health benefits to state workers has been thwarted in the legislature. The House budget committee voted along party lines to reject the measure. Democrats were in favor of the plan but they failed to get the one Republican vote they needed [...]

If you know me, you know I love maps, politics, and games. So a game about drawing political maps just grabs my attention! The University of Southern California is poised to release an online game next week called “Draw the Lines! The redistricting game“. From the Chronicle of Higher Ed: …It allows people to compete in various [...]

The UW Digital Collections has now added to their already incredible collection of digitized Wisconsin Historical records the complete collection of Wisconsin Blue Books, in digitized, searchable format. The Wisconsin Blue Books are great sources of information about Wisconsin Government, particularly tracking down election statistics from pre-2000 which tend to not be posted online in other [...]

Joe Wineke, Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, quit his job as a lobbyist for AT&T: Facing a potential challenge from some members of his own party, state Democratic Party Chairman Joe Wineke has stepped down as a lobbyist for AT&T. “I decided it was becoming too much of a distraction,” Wineke said in an interview [...]

I confess I only watched the first hour, but wow. What a bunch of freaks. We can be confident that if this nation elects another Republican President in 08 we will be getting a war with Iran, a continuation of the occupation of Iraq, a crackdown on illigal immagrants and a further erosion of gay rights [...]