Support grows for Minneapolis to rethink the way it draws election districts

Author: STEVE BRANDT; STAFF WRITER

Momentum is building at Minneapolis City Hall for devising a fairer process for drawing the ward and other election boundaries that govern for whom voters may vote.

The effort is being led by Cam Gordon, new chair of the City Council's Election Committee, supported by Elizabeth Glidden, that panel's chair for the last four years.

They've asked the Charter Commission to devise a fairer, more transparent process for drawing election lines that could be presented to voters as a charter amendment next fall. The commission agreed last week to establish a subgroup to work on a timeline for doing so. The next redistricting happens in 2012.

"I strongly believe this process could be improved," Gordon told the commission.

Some of the momentum for changing how political lines are drawn comes from a legal challenge by Green Party candidates and others to the boundaries drawn in 2002 by the city's last redistricting commission. That lawsuit alleged that the redistricting group lacked enough minority group or Green members to be representative, and that it treated minority voters unfairly.

A federal judge found the 2002 plan met legal standards. Nevertheless, Charter Commission member Andrea Rubenstein said, the lawsuit raised issues that deserve examination.

Gordon was a Green Party official and plaintiff in the legal challenge. Greens felt particularly aggrieved by the last redistricting because it put both of the party's council incumbents into wards where they were forced to run against DFL incumbents. Both lost.

The charter defines the makeup of the redistricting commission. One member is picked by the council's majority party , another by the rest of the council members, which currently would be Gordon, the council's only non-DFLer. The Charter Commission names two members from each political party that got 5 percent of the vote in the last statewide election -- DFL, Republican and Independence in the 2002 redistricting -- and two more from a minority party or unaffiliated candidates.

Despite the fact that Greens had elected two of 13 council members in 2002 and no party besides the DFL elected any others, Greens got only one redistricting seat to two each for Republican and Independence representatives.

Charter Commissioner Todd Ferrara, who served on the last redistricting panel, called the mapping process contentious and political.

Although some other cities allow their councils to draw political boundaries, there seems to be consensus at City Hall against that approach. St. Paul charges its charter commission with drawing city election lines. Charter commissions in both cities are appointed by the chief judges of their respective district courts.

Glidden said a better solution might not emerge for Minneapolis, but that the amount of criticism of the last process warrants a review. Mayoral policy director Peter Wagenius said that although the mayor plays no formal role in redistricting, "I think it's safe to say there's got to be a better way to go about it."

The drawing of political lines takes on more importance now because the school board will be partially elected from districts starting with this fall's elections. Its initial districts will follow the six Park Board districts, which also are up for revision next year after this year's federal census.

Copyright 2010 Star Tribune: Newspaper of the Twin Cities

Suit seeks to restore political donors' refunds

Gov. Tim Pawlenty used his "unallotment" authority to cut the refund program, which focused on small donations.

Star Tribune: Newspaper of the Twin Cities (Minneapolis, MN) - Saturday, July 25, 2009

Author: BOB VON STERNBERG ; STAFF WRITER

A Republican political activist filed suit Friday in an attempt to block Gov. Tim Pawlenty's "unallotment" of refunds for small donations to political campaigns.

Bob Carney Jr., of Minneapolis, filed the suit in Ramsey County District Court.

Pawlenty eliminated the refund program as part of his wide-ranging, unilateral spending cuts designed to close Minnesota's $2.7 billion budget gap.

The somewhat-obscure Political Contribution Refund program was expected to cost $10 million during the two-year budget cycle that began July 1.

Under the program, candidates who agree to abide by state campaign spending limits were allowed to seek contributions of up to $50 from individuals and $100 from married couples with the state reimbursing the full amount to the contributor.

Although some DFLers and nonpartisan groups have howled about Pawlenty's targeting of the refund program, none has filed suit to overturn it.

So it fell to Carney, who has filed to run for mayor of Minneapolis, to do so.

In his suit, Carney says he contributed $50 to the Fifth Congressional District Green Party on or after July 1, the day the budget unallotments kicked in.

His suit argues that the state revenue commissioner, acting on Pawlenty's behalf, violated state law by failing to give him his refund.

Pawlenty, he argues, has no statutory authority to eliminate the refund.

Carney also argues that his lawsuit should be considered a class action because of the potentially large number of political contributors who could be affected by the elimination of the refund.

Using the estimated $10 million in savings, his lawyers state that more than 100,000 Minnesotans could be affected.

Edition: METRO
Section: NEWS
Page: 2B
Index Terms: campaign ; finance ; lawsuit ; government
Record Number: 090725unallot0725
Copyright 2009 Star Tribune: Newspaper of the Twin Cities

Governor Pawlenty Eliminates PCR Program

One of my favorite Monty Python skits is the infamous encounter between King Arthur and the Black Knight. What makes the scene so funny is that after first losing one arm – and then a second – the Black Knight keeps on fighting as though nothing has changed. I was reminded of this scene yesterday after Governor Pawlenty disclosed he was eliminating the Political Contribution Refund program effective July 1, 2009.

On principle, the Independence Party of Minnesota has always agreed to fight its Republican and DFL opponents with one arm tied behind its back because of our refusal to accept and be influenced by special interest and lobbyist money. Now the Governor is slicing off our other arm by eliminating the PCR program which rebates political contributions dollar-for-dollar up to $50 for individuals ($100 per couple).

Like the noble Black Knight, the Independence Party will proceed on its noble quest. As the only political party truly dedicated to fiscal responsibility, I am of the opinion that during these difficult economics it is only fair that political parties and candidates share in the burden of balancing the state budget. As such, I have no qualms with Pawlenty’s decision.

What this means, however, is that all of us must rise to the occasion and embrace the IP’s other time-honored principle of personal responsibility. In other words, we must now fund the party and its candidates before the benefit of this program is eliminated.

The fact that the Republican governor and the DFL-controlled legislature couldn’t come up with a budget-balancing agreement this past session tells us that the common-sense wisdom of the Independence Party is needed in Minnesota now more than ever.

If you feel the same way and believe in the party and its bedrock principles, help the party by making a contribution today! Don’t delay! Go to www.independenceminnesota.org and click on the Contribute link at the top of the page. Or mail your contribution today to Independence Party of Minnesota - PO Box 40495 - St. Paul, MN 55114. You will receive your PCR application and rebate receipt in the mail as soon as we receive your contribution. Hurry - you have until June 30, 2009 before the PCR program is elimininated!

Jack Uldrich

Chair

P.S. If you prefer to fight with at least one hand, make your contribution today at www.independenceminnesota.org – while you can still qualify for the rebate!

Prepared and Paid for by the Independence Party of MN
Your contribution is not deductible for federal income tax purposes.

Sarah Palin joins CODEPINK!

April 1, 2009

Dear Green Party Member,

We never thought it would happen, but Sarah Palin has joined forces with CODEPINK! "My eyes have been opened, goshdarnit," she told us. "As a mother, it suddenly hit me that war is bad for children all around the world, you know what I mean? I want my son, Track, to come home from Iraq, and I don't want him to be sent to Afghanistan, either, doggonit." We asked if she would come to Washington, DC for our Mother's Day peace vigil and she winked and said "You betcha-I still have a pretty snazzy pink suit, thanks to the RNC!" She even cancelled a moose hunting trip just to join us!

APRIL FOOLS!

But we have invited comedy writer, actor and mother Tina Fey, who played Sarah Palin so brilliantly on Saturday Night Live, to stand with us in front of the White House on Mother's Day weekend, May 9 and 10. Won't you join us, too? Check out our rockin' Mother's Day page for more info!

Our 24 hour vigil will bring together women from around the world who live in war zones to share their stories, their courage and their visions for ending war. We will stand with them in solidarity to not only tell their important stories but to model what women-centered community looks and acts like. Please feel free to bring your partners, husbands, children, mothers-the whole family is welcome! Our weekend will include teach-ins, concerts, singing, dancing, poetry, and a pink pajama party for those who spend the night with us in Lafayette Park--click here to view the full schedule.

Thank you for being part of the quilt that is CODEPINK. Let's use this Mother's Day as a time to raise our voices together and say "Disarm! Disarm!" Maybe we'll even inspire the three generations of powerful women in the White House to come out and join us in our stand "to gather in the great and general interests of Peace." Just as Julia would have wanted-you betcha!

On the shoulders of our mothers and all those who came before us,
Audrey, Blaine, Dana, Deidra, Desiree, Farida, Gael, Gayle, Jean, Jodie, Liz, Lori, Medea, Nancy, Paris, and Rae

Republican running against Karen Clark in 61A

Kevin,

Thank you for contacting me. I believe that we as a society must break
free from our addiction to oil as soon as possible. But as you
inferred, I do not have much faith in government to accomplish this
objective. For example (in my opinion), the promotion of ethanol in
Minnesota through subsidies and mandates seems to be more of a favor to
the corn lobby than a viable energy solution. I am convinced that in
the long term, sustainable energy is inherently profitable. For this
reason I think the market will ultimately come up with a solution, but
only if it is left free from government intervention. The entrepreneur
who solves the energy problem will probably become the next billionaire.

Certainly, there are things that government can do to encourage this
process. We must end policies and subsidies that favor "Big Oil" in the
name of lower gas prices, and stop trying to preserve the existing
automobile industry. We must be more creative in designing cities and
communities that don't require everyone to have an automobile to get
around. We must end the moratorium on nuclear power in Minnesota. We
can also work to increase public awareness of the growing energy
problem, and to promote development of alternative energy sources, as
long as no specific strategy is mandated due to lobbyist pressure. And
as gas prices skyrocket while oil supplies run out, we must avoid the
temptation to put political (or other) pressure on other oil-producing
countries to favor the U.S. If we do these things, I believe that the
move to alternative energy sources will be a natural result of the laws
of supply and demand.

I hope this answers your question. I have added positions on a few
other issues to my website.

Thanks again -

- S. Andrew Sheppard

[ Note from Kevin: Andrew lives carfree, as I do. But he does not believe we should end our fossil fuel addiction at all. If we are to have a green and sustainable future, we will need government intervention to make that happen, and can do so without destroying the economy. A carbon tax could be enacted, allowing lower income and corporate taxes by the same amount would make the tax increase neutral. A carbon tax would end our addiction, saving Minnesotans from future oil shocks, and steer the economy to a greener path. Sheppard does not have my support in November. ]

Offshore Drilling and American Political Party Stances

Since 1981, drilling in the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific off U.S. shorelines has been banned under a federal moratorium. Last week, in response to high gas prices and continued dependence on an oil-based economy, the Democrat-controlled House voted 236-189 to open these offshore areas to exploration and drilling. If passed into law, the House bill would allow oil drilling 50 miles from shore with a state's permission and 100 miles from shore without a state's permission. The bill would also remove restrictions on oil shale drilling in the western United States (which the National Wildlife Federation called a "double disaster" for our climate), eliminate some tax credits currently held by oil companies, and require that 15% of U.S. energy production be by renewable sources by 2020.
The Republican view: The McCain/Palin rallying cry has been "Drill, Baby, Drill!" House Republican leaders spent the summer holding weekly press conferences calling for resumed drilling. Sarah Palin, the Republican Vice-Presidential candidate, strongly supports oil exploration in her home state's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. John McCain - who asks crowds at his campaign rallies for their support for drilling for oil wherever they happen to be standing - states that he will "cooperate with the...Department of Defense in the decisions to develop these resources," illustrating his belief that U.S. energy policy and the invasion and occupation of oil-rich nations are clearly linked.	The Democratic view: The key word has been "compromise". House Speaker Nancy Pelosi traded support for a 27-year old moratorium on offshore drilling for slightly higher taxes on oil companies, who will likely immediately continue making record profits by passing increased costs onto customers. Instead of focusing on the need for new, truly clean energy sources, Barack Obama trumpets his willingness to work across the aisle on increasing vehicle fuel efficiency (instead of replacing polluting engines with replacement technologies) and further development of so-called "clean" coal. Obama's support for new coal development (and the mountaintop removal and strip mining we use to obtain it) is a step back to a 19th-century, not 21st-century, energy strategy.	The Green view: We oppose the toxic and environmentally-destructive national oil-based energy strategy. We agree with the experts who insist that new sources of domestic oil could not be discovered, processed, and refined within a decade. We urge immediate investment in strategies that can have both a short-term and sustainable impact on our national energy strategy, such as solar, wind, and other non-polluting alternative energy sources. As Green Party Presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney says, "Leave the Oil in the soil." We support leaving it in the soil, ocean floor, shale, and wherever else the oil parties imagine they might find it. Help the Green Party win investments in sustainable alternative energy sources by investing in the McKinney/Clemente campaign and the Green Party of the United States. Democrats have called for increasing investments in renewable energy sources by a paltry 15% over the next decade - we can make real changes if you pledge to increase your support of the Green Party and its candidates by 15% right now!

ST. PAUL GREENS DEMAND INVESTIGATION OF EFFORTS TO INTIMIDATE PROTESTERS AND SUPPRESS CIVIL LIBERTIES AT RNC

It is with deep sadness that St. Paul Greens have seen our city become an armed camp during the past week. The presence of the RNC gave St. Paul an opportunity to set a shining example of a community where diversity of opinion and freedom of expression are welcomed and where civil disobedience is handled firmly but with restraint. The result would have been trust and respect for law officers and a long step toward realizing our vision of St. Paul as one of the world's greenest cities.

Instead we have seen a virtual army of anonymous, heavily armored and armed
troopers take control of our streets. We have seen how helpless and
compliant our local authorities are in the face of such a quasi-military
occupation. And we have experienced a sense of violation as our homes and
meeting places have been invaded on the flimsiest of excuses, our roads and
bridges closed to traffic without warning, and our jails packed with people
who were rounded up brutally and indiscriminately. Some are angry young
protesters, some are journalists who were seeking to do their jobs, and some
are citizens who simply ventured to ask questions.

We were told it would not be this way. We feel misled and betrayed. We ask
that our city council and county commissioners authorize an independent
investigation along the lines suggested in Minneapolis by council members
Cam Gordon and Gary Schiff.

RNC AND OTHER RELATED EVENTS

Darfur: Where is our moral compass? Rally Sept. 3 from 5:30 to 7:00pm.
Interfaith service of prayer and hope, Camp Darfur, and calls for action by
local, state, and national elected officials to end the genocide.
Nonpartisan event. For more information, contact Lynne Holman 612-721-2772
or go online at www.mnchurches.org
Peace Island: A solutions driven national conference held at Concordia
University September 2 and 3 to share visions and ideas for the crisis
facing our world. Nationally known speakers on energy and the environment,
global peace and nonviolence and justice and human rights will inspire you.
Cost for the two day conference is $50. For more info go to
www.peaceisland.us You may make a reservation on line.
Liberty Parade on Nicollet Mall to Loring Park Aug 31, 1:00 pm - come early
and carry a puppet or just enjoy the fun! Sept 1- Peace March at the Capitol
- if you want to help carry puppets, meet at the park behind the capitol.
FUN. FFI: Mina Leierwood at 612-481-3186.
A Minnesota Peace Team is being formed and trained for service during the
RNC and other events. Learn about the techniques that can be used to
de-escalate violence whenever voices of different perspectives seek to be
heard at eight-hour participant training session on August 30. A two-hour
orientation will be conducted before each session. FFI:
minnesotapeaceteam@gmail.com or 612-483-6041.


To 9/1, peace walk from Chicago (Grant Park) to St Paul (Republican National
Convention). Details at http://www.vcnv.org or info@vcnv.org or
773-878-3815 or click on a date at http://www.wnpj.org/event/calendar

Wednesday, 8/27, noon to 3 pm, training on dealing with the police use of
"less-lethal" weapons, including pepper spray, tasers, and batons,
Convergence Center, 627 Smith Ave S, St Paul.
http://twincities.indymedia.org/event/

Wednesday, 8/27, 3 to 6 pm, Psychological First Aid training for activists,
Convergence Space, 627 Smith Ave S, St Paul.
http://northstarhealth.wordpress.com or northstarhealth@gmail.com

Wednesday, 8/27, 5 to 10 pm, sign painting workshop in preparation for the
RNC and the Liberty Parade, Bedlam Theater, 1501 S 6th St, West Bank, Mpls.

Wednesday, 8/27, 6 to 9 pm, Youth Against War and Racism makes puppets for
the protests against the RNC, Bedlam Theater, 1501 S 6th St, West Bank,
Mpls. http://www.yawr.org Puppet workshops are led by Chris Lutter of
Puppet Farm Arts, http://puppetfarm.org/lutter.html Please RSVP
tytymo@gmail so they know how many folks to plan for.

Wednesday, 8/27, 7 to 9 pm, free workshops with Code Pink for those
interested in a creative presence at the RNC, Heart of the Beast Studio,
Plaza Verde, 1516 E Lake St, Mpls. nancy@globalexchange.org

8/27 to 8/30, annual national Veterans for Peace convention "Peace, Liberty
and Justice for All," at the Mall of America Ramada (formerly the
Thunderbird), Bloomington, MN. $200 full program registration. Jim
Steinhagen at 612-722-1112.

8/28 and 8/29, 10 am to 2 pm, join Starhawk and the Upwelling Circle: Court
an Upwelling of Earth Wisdom at the RNC, Coldwater Spring, 1.5 miles south
of Minnehaha Falls, (from highway 55, turn east at 54th St, take immediate
right, continue south on frontage road to Magickal Activist Day Camp at
Sacred Coldwater Spring), Mpls. Wear comfortable outdoor clothes, sturdy
shoes, chair or blanket to sit on, bag lunch and fruit or treat to share.
Bring a water container for sacred spring water.
http://www.friendsofcoldwater.org

Thursday, 8/28, 5 to 7 pm, sign painting workshop in preparation for the RNC
and the Liberty Parade, Bedlam Theater, 1501 S 6th St, West Bank, Mpls.
Then all are invited to White Bear Lake for a pre-convention celebration,
drumming, boating and swimming, hosted by Mary Jane LaVigne (see following
announcement.) Mina at 612-481-3186.

Thursday, 8/28, 7 pm, Drum Boat Hope Float, hosted by Mary Jane LaVigne, 31
Birchwood Lane, St Paul. Bring boats, drums, costumes or swimsuits, food
and drink to share, out-of-town guests, to a party with Mary Jane LaVigne
and Allen Christian, Mina and Greg Leierwood, Barak Obama (via TV) and a
Floating Polar Bear on gorgeous White Bear Lake. Questions? Call Mina at
612-481-3186.

Thursday, 8/28, 6:30 to 8:15 pm, the Seattle Peace Chorus gives concert as
part of Peace Train tour, Presbyterian Church of the Apostles, 701 E 130th
St, Burnsville. 952-890-7877.
Freewill offering. Local musicians wanted to join the chorus.

Thursday, 8/28, 7:30 pm, free film "The Listening Project" about how people
around the world answer the question "What does the world think of America?"
Walker Art Center, 1750 Hennepin Ave, Mpls. http://walkerart.org

Friday, 8/29, 2 pm, health and safety training to become the best-dressed
activist in the street at the RNC (including what to wear, what to bring,
how to be safe on the streets), Bedlam Theater, 1501 S 6th St, Mpls. (West
Bank near the LRT station.) http://twincities.indymedia.org/event/

Friday, 8/29, 4:15 to 5:30 pm, vigil to end US military/political support of
the Israeli occupation of Palestine, corner Summit and Snelling, St Paul.

8/29 (5 to 7 pm) and 8/30 (9 am to 5 pm), Macalester-Plymouth United
Church, 1658 Lincoln Ave, St Paul, intensive weekend trainings to
participate as peace team members during the Republican National Convention.
$35. Send registrations to minnesotapeaceteam@gmail.com or Minnesota Peace
Team/Wojtan, 13341 Everest Ave, Apple Valley 55124. Questions?
612-483-6041

Friday, 8/29, 11 am to 12:30 pm, NLG sponsors legal observer/videographer
training for RNC, William Mitchel College of Law auditorium, 875 Summit Ave
(at Victoria), St Paul. RSVP genab@visi.com

Friday, 8/29, 12:30 to 2 pm, NLG sponsors legal observer finishing school
for RNC, William Mitchel College of Law auditorium, 875 Summit Ave (at
Victoria), St Paul. RSVP genab@visi.com

Friday, 8/29, 5 to 10 pm, sign painting workshop in preparation for the RNC
and the Liberty Parade, Bedlam Theater, 1501 S 6th St, West Bank, Mpls.

Friday, 8/29, 5 pm, Critical Mass bike ride, from the fountain on the
downtown side of Loring Park near Grant Street, Mpls. (Note: Both last year
in Minneapolis and 4 years ago in New York, the Critical Mass ride was the
scene of massive police sweeps and over-reaction. To avoid this, the editor
suggests you invite your favorite city council member, mayor, state or
federal legislator to go along for the ride. It might just save a few sore
heads and stinging eyes.)

Friday, 8/29, 7 pm (and every Friday until the RNC convention), meditation
and vigil for peace at the RNC at the State Capitol lawn, St Paul.
http://www.rippleeffect08.com or 612-227-1817.

Friday, 8/29, 7:30 pm, MN Vets for Peace sponsors former UN weapons
inspector Scott
Ritter talking about "The Iran Talks," at the Veterans for Peace Convention,
Ramada Mall of America, 2300 E American Blvd, Bloomington. 612-821-9141.

8/29 to 8/31, documentary "Crawford," examining what happens to the 705
Texas residents when W comes to town, Oak St Cinema, 309 Oak St SE, Mpls.
http://www.mnfilmarts.org

Saturday, 8/30, 11 am to 12:30 pm, NLG sponsors legal observer/videographer
training for RNC, William Mitchel College of Law auditorium, 875 Summit Ave
(at Victoria), St Paul. RSVP genab@visi.com

Saturday, 8/30, 1 to 3 pm, free workshops with Code Pink for those
interested in a creative presence at the RNC, Heart of the Beast Studio,
Plaza Verde, 1516 E Lake St, Mpls. nancy@globalexchange.org

Saturday, 8/30, 12:30 to 2 pm, NLG sponsors legal observer finishing school
for RNC, William Mitchel College of Law auditorium, 875 Summit Ave (at
Victoria), St Paul. RSVP genab@visi.com

Saturday, 8/30, 2 pm, St Paul welcomes the Peace Walkers from Chicago, St
Joseph's Church, 1890 Randolph (near St Kate's), St Paul.
nancy@globalexchange.org

Saturday, 8/30, 3 pm, former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter talks about
"The Iran Talks," William Mitchell College of Law, auditorim, 875 Summit
Ave, St Paul. 612-827-5364.

Saturday, 8/30, 6 pm, New Moon Ritual for an Upwelling of Earth Wisdom led
by Starhawk and the local Upwelling Circle, Mounds Park, ancient sacred
burial site above the Mississippi River, St Paul. Walk the labyrinth,
prepare the rite. Directions: follow Mounds boulevard exit off I-94 (east
of downtown St Paul), follow Mounds Blvd up the bluff, park along the road.

Saturday, 8/30, 6:30 to 8:30 pm, The UnConventional Gathering Place opening
reception, with RNC-related interactive performances by Politaoke, Nonsense
Company/Prince Myshkin and unveiling of gallery installations, Intermedia
Arts, 2822 Lyndale Ave S, Mpls. http://www.truebluemn.com/calendar.html
(Media installations remain until November 8.)

Saturday, 8/30, 10 to 11 pm, Chris Baker project Urban Echo at Intermedia
Arts, 2822 Lyndale Ave S, Mpls Part of Solutions Volume 3,
http://www.solutionstwincities.org or see
http://www.truebluemn.com/calendar.html


Saturday, August 30th Noon - 22nd Annual Tea Party & Hempfest Rally at the Capitol
Cass Gilbert Memorial Park
Sherburne & Cedar - Saint Paul, MN
More info at: http://abnormlmn.org/

Sunday, 8/31, 10 am to 2 pm, veterans Solemn Memorial March on the RNC, in
solidarity with detainees who have been tortured, Minnesota State Capitol,
75 Rev Martin Luther King Boulevard, St Paul. Orange jumpsuits available
for $10. tuvecino@redwing.net or 651-388-3898.

Sunday, 8/31, 11 am to 12:30 pm, NLG sponsors legal observer/videographer
training for RNC, William Mitchel College of Law auditorium, 875 Summit Ave
(at Victoria), St Paul. RSVP genab@visi.com

Sunday, 8/31, 12:30 to 2 pm, NLG sponsors legal observer finishing school
for RNC, William Mitchel College of Law auditorium, 875 Summit Ave (at
Victoria), St Paul. RSVP genab@visi.com

Sunday, 8/31, 12:30 to 4 pm, Darfur documentary "The Devil Came on
Horseback" and panel discussion, University of Minnesota, Tate Hall, room
150, 116 Church St SE, Mpls. http://www.micglobe.org/

Sunday, 8/31, 1 pm, Liberty Parade down Nicollet Mall to Loring Park, with
music, speakers, art displays and activities, all to answer the question
"What does liberty mean to you?" downtown Mpls. http://theunconvention.com
or http://www.libertyparade2008.com/lp/

Sunday, 8/31, 1 to 2:30, meeting of Youth Against War and Racism to plan the
student strike on September 4, YAWR office, 3024 Chicago Ave S, Mpls.
http://yawr.org/strike (Note: meeting may have changed to Bedlam Theater,
due to puppet making.)

Sunday, 8/31, 2 to 5 pm, Youth Against War and Racism makes puppets for the
protests against the RNC, Bedlam Theater, 1501 S 6th St, West Bank, Mpls.
http://www.yawr.org Puppet workshops are led by Chris Lutter of Puppet Farm
Arts, http://puppetfarm.org/lutter.html Please RSVP tytymo@gmail so they
know how many folks to plan for.

Sunday, 8/31, 2 pm, peace marshall and volunteer trainings for the March on
the RNC and to Stop the War on September 1, U of M, Hubert Humphrey
Building, room 30, 301 - 19th Ave S, Mpls. http://www.worldwidewamm.org or
info@marchonrnc.org or 612-379-3584.

Sunday, 8/31, 7 pm, former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter talks about
"Possibility of War with Iran," First Unitarian Society of Mpls, 900 Mount
Curve Ave, Mpls. Suggested $10 donation; no one turned away.
carydberg@comcast.net

Sunday, 8/31, 7 pm, Rabbi Michael Lerner speaks on the Global Marshall Plan
at Shir Tikvah Temple, 50th and Girard, Mpls. $10 (scholarships available).
RSVP at http://www.spiritualprogressives.org or
info@spiritualprogressives.org

Sunday, 8/31 (2 pm) to Monday, 9/1 (2 pm), Veterans for Peace 24-hour fast,
Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 840 E 6th St, St Paul. Wayne at 651-774-4008.

9/1 to 9/4, 1 to 9 pm, Translating Politics, a group exhibition featuring
painting, photography, sculpture, digital media and more, 1500 Jackson St
NE, Mpls. http://truebluemn.com/calendar.html

9/1 to 9/4, 8 am to 8 pm, the Twin Cities Community of Ignatian Associates,
working with other , is providing a "Peaceful Presence"--a sanctuary to
which people can come during the RNC, at the Central Presbyterian Church,
500 Cedar Ave, St Paul. Each day will open and close with public prayer led
by members of diverse denominations, with the remainder of the time spent in
quiet, allowing private prayer, contemplation or simply sitting.
http://www.ignatianassociates.org/events/peaceful-presence/

9/1 to 9/4, various times and places during the RNC, the Peace Is Green Bike
Brigades and the Pink Police on Rollerblades will following gas-guzzling
delegate busews and circle their hotels and parties with bikes and
rollerblades, pushing a green agenda and serenading delegates with peace
songs, etc. Bike people contact Desiree@codepinkalert.org and
rollerbladers contact Liz at caterliz@gmail.com

Monday, 9/1, 8 am, bus leaves from Peace Church in Duluth for big RNC march,
returns late the same evening. $35. Contact babylon2911@yahoo.com or
http://www.wnpj.org or 728-9395.

Monday, 9/1, 10:30 am, grandmothers march at the RNC, meet at the corner of
Sherburne and Rice Sts by the Women's Consortium Building, 2 blocks north of
University on Rice, St Paul. Wear all black, bring pots and pans to band
and an enlarged picture of a grandchild or child in a war-torn area.
grandmothers@gmail.com or 612-871-2229 or 612-227-3228.

Monday, 9/1, 11 am, starting from the MN Capital Building, big march on the
Republican National Convention "U.S. Out of Iraq Now!" St Paul.
http://www.marchonrnc.org or 612-379-3584 or 612-234-8774.

Tuesday, 9/2, MN Eyes Wide Open (the famous "boots" memorial) display will
be at the MN capitol Grounds during the 2nd day of the Republican National
Convention. The program from noon to 1 will include American Friends
Service Committee Chicago office director Michael McConnell and former State
Senator Becky Lourey. About 50 volunteers are needed. Volunteers needed at
6 am to set up, then at 1 pm to take down. If you can help, contact Gail
at GDaneker@aol.com or 651-647-5709.

9/2 and 9/3, 10 am to 10 pm, Peace Island: A Solutions-Driven Conference at
Concordia University, 275 Syndicate St N, St Paul. Registration $50 plus
$10 lunch per day. Topics include energy & the environment, global peace &
nonviolence, justice & human rights. Many amazing and famous speakers,
including Starhawk, Lisa Ledwidge, Antonia Juhasz, Leslie Cagan, Kathy
Kelly, Medea Benjamin, Mel Duncan, Coleen Rawley, Ray McGovern, Ann Wright,
and many more. http://www.PeaceIsland.us

Tuesday, 9/2, 12:30 pm, Rally for the Republic by Ron Paul supporters as a
counter-RNC convention, Target Center, downtown Mpls. Tickets $17.76 (I
wonder how they came up with that exact figure).
http://www.campaignforliberty.com

Tuesday, 9/2, 12:30 to 7 pm, Ripple Effect festival for sustainability,
justice and equality, with Michael Franti, Anti-Flag, Dead Prez, Wookie
Foot, Matisyahu, Medea Benjamin, Will Steger and others, Minnesota State
Capitol, 75 Rev ML King Boulevard, St Paul. http://www.rippleeffect08.com

Tuesday, 9/2, 4 pm, Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign sponsors
March for Our Lives, Mears Park, 221 E 5th St, St, St Paul. 612-821-2364 or
http://www.economichumanrights.org

Tuesday, 9/2, 8:30 pm, "Support Our Oil Companies Rally" at a party hosted
by Mississippi governor Haley "Offshore Drilling" Barbour, 510 - 1st Ave N,
Mpls. Support more oil wars, surging gas prices, obscene profits, drilling
and drilling and drilling. http://www.epicmpls.com or
peace@globalexchange.org or 612-332-3742.

Wednesday, 9/3, 8 am (yes, am), join the CEOs of Big Oil in thanking the
Texas Republican Delegates at their hotel, Crowne Plaza Hotel, 11 E Kellogg
Blvd, St Paul. As CEOs of ExxonMobil, Chevron, CopnocoPhillips, Shell and
Hess host a party, celebrate the oily loot with Republican Party clothes,
party hats, "Freedom Flags" (with oil company logos) and yellow "Support Our
Oil Companies" ribbons. Peace@globalexchange.org

Wednesday, 9/3, 5:30 to 7 pm, program "Darfur: Where is our Moral Compass?"
and Camp Darfur interactive exhibit, State Capitol Mall, 75 MLK Blvd, St
Paul. http://www.micglobe.org

Wednesday, 9/3, 7 pm, former UN weapons inspector Scott Ridder talks about
Iran, St Joan of Arc Church, Hospitality Hall, 4537 - 3rd Ave S, Mpls.
http://www.worldwidewamm.org

Thursday, 9/4, 9:30 am to 4 pm, Camp Darfur: interactive exhibit about
genocides, Gustavus Adolphus College, 300 W College Ave, St Peter.
http://www.micglobe.org

Thursday, 9/4, 10 am to 8 pm, "American Politica Sideshow: Weird and Wild,"
a day-long sideshow of speakers, discussions, performances and Art on
Wheels, at the Weisman Museum, 333 E River Rd, East Bank U of M campus,
Mpls. http://theunconvention.com/projects/events-at-the-weisman-art-museum/
or http://www.truebluemn.com/calendar.html

Thursday, 9/4, 1 to 8 pm, Peace Island Picnic, with a human peace sign (6 to
6:30), music (Tao Rodriguez-Seeger, Larry Long, David Rovics, Tuesday's
Robot and others), peace kite flying, MN TrueBlue Jumbotron programming, the
AFSC Costs of War display, a sing-a-long (6;30 to 7), and other UnConvention
events, Harriet Island, St Paul.
http://theunconvention.com/projects/peace-island-picnic

Thursday, 9/4, student strike against the Republican National Convention. 11
am, walkout of class, them bus/carpool/bike/walk to the capitol, finally
noon to 4 antiwar festival, rally and theater. (A permitted protest and
march.) Info at against.war@gmail.com or myspace.com/yawrMN or
651-210-5342.

Thursday, 9/4, 4 pm, stand up to John McCain on the day he is declared
official Republican cendidate for the presidency, rally "No Peace for the
War Makers" at the State Capital, then march to the Xcel Center, St Paul.
http://www.antiwarcommittee.org or 612-379-3899.

Green council member leads on protecting free speech

The Minneapolis City Council on July 19 unanimously approved six guiding principles to protect free speech and association during the 2008 Republican National Convention.

The principles were developed by the Free Speech Work Group, an initiative of City Council Member Cam Gordon ( Green Party - Ward 2 ) in anticipation of the convention. The group includes the Mayor, city council members, representatives from civil liberties organizations, and others.

"There were some concerns with the Republican National Convention coming that there would be threats to people’s right to assemble and to protest," says Gordon. "We established this working group ahead of time to try to influence the security plan that comes down from the national level."

The group’s vision is to ensure that security measures during the convention are "limited to those that are absolutely necessary to protect public safety" and that measures taken are consistent with the state and national constitutions.

Its six guiding principles include securing the right to constitutional association, speech and petition; taking care to differentiate lawful and protected organizing and speech from "terrorist" security concerns; and ensuring respectful treatment of persons exercising their constitutional rights.

The work in Minneapolis inspired the convention's host city of St. Paul, Gordon says. St. Paul established a similar working group shortly after the Minneapolis measure passed.

The Impeaching of President George W. Bush

Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich last night introduced 35 Articles of Impeachment against President George W. Bush in a dramatic presentation of the floor of the House of Representatives that last nearly five hours.

Minneapolis citizens calling for Bush arrest at GOP Convention

by Ed Felien, Polly Mann, Kate McDonald

An appeal to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman:

Arrest George W. Bush when he steps off the plane for the Republican Convention in September.

George W. Bush has committed horrible crimes against humanity. His war against a weak and defenseless country; his use of torture and kidnapping, his illegal incarcerations of foreign nationals and the shelling of Fallujah are crimes in violation of international law. As long as he is President he cannot be tried for these crimes in another country, but once he is a private citizen, then, like Kissinger, Pinochet and Donald Rumsfeld, he will be a hunted criminal with little refuge in any foreign country that believes in the rule of law. But those are matters for foreign countries and the international court.

He has violated and undermined the Constitution by illegally spying on citizens, by refusing to enforce laws passed by Congress, by invading a country without a Declaration of a State of War by Congress and by entering into agreements with foreign countries and not submitting those agreements to the United States Senate for their advice and consent. But these are matters for the U. S. Congress to enforce. Unfortunately, Congress is unwilling to hold the President accountable to the Constitution and has refused to begin impeachment proceedings against him.

But what concerns us as Minnesotans is whether George W. Bush's actions have caused serious and grievous harm to the citizens of our state and whether that harm was incidental to the legitimate performance of his official duties as President or whether his actions were motivated by private and personal gain. As the highest elected law enforcement official in Hennepin County, it is Mike Freeman's duty to enforce the laws of this state. If it can be shown that there is probable cause that George W. Bush caused harm to the people of Minnesota and that this harm was caused by his willful pursuit of personal gain, then it is the duty of Mike Freeman to arrest George W. Bush and hold him accountable to Minnesota law.

There are three areas in which the criminal acts of George W. Bush have violated Minnesota law.

First, his pursuit of a war against the government of Iraq was not done in legitimate defense of national interest but rather in pursuit of personal wealth. His administration lied about the threat of weapons of mass destruction, and they lied about a connection between Iraq and international terrorists. They knew Iraq did not pose a threat to the United States. The only reasonable explanation for George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq was that he stood to personally benefit from the war.

To fully understand the Bush family financial interests in war profiteering it is necessary to understand their history.

Great-grandfather Samuel Prescott Bush was president of Buckeye Steel Castings. He manufactured railroad couplings for railroads owned by the Morgans, Rockefellers and Harrimans. During World War I he was on the War Industries Board and chaired the section on forgings, guns, small arms and ammunition, and he got to work with people from Dupont, Remington, Winchester and Colt. Sam Bush founded and became the first president of the National Association of Manufacturers, an organization whose principal cause was defending industrial capitalism from the threat of unions. He became an indispensable part of the military-industrial complex, and he sent his son Prescott off to Yale where he could associate with the sons of his friends in the Skull and Bones fraternity.

Along with many of his college chums, Prescott joined Brown Brothers Harriman after college and started making serious money. The biggest buck to be made in the 1920's was in re-arming Germany. Harriman & Co. set up Union Banking Corp with Prescott as Manager to trade with Nazi financier Fritz Thyssen. They bought a steamship line to ship Remington arms to Germany through a dummy corporation in Holland.

Harriman & Co. bought Dresser Industries (manufacturers of oil pipeline equipment) in 1929 and Prescott became a Director, and he continued to run Dresser from the Board for the rest of his life. They, along with John Foster Dulles and others, bankrolled Hitler as a shrewd business strategy. Prescott became Managing Director of Union Bank in 1934 at the height of trade with Germany. In 1939 he took direct management of some of the slave labor camps in Poland to aid Nazi armament, according to Dutch intelligence sources.

In October of 1942, the U. S. government seized the assets of Union Bank and three other of Prescott's industries: the steamship line, the Seamless Steel Equipment Corporation (suppliers of steel, wire and explosives to the Nazis) and the Silesian-American Company (the coal mining company he managed along with John Foster Dulles on behalf of the Nazi Economic Minister). This didn't really close them down. Once the war started they simply changed sides and started supplying war material to the Allies.

During the War Bonesmen were active in forming the OSS and its later incarnation, the CIA. Prescott's relationship with Dulles would become very useful during the Eisenhower years, with John Foster as Secretary of State and his brother Allen Dulles as Director of the CIA. Prescott and Dresser Industries were kept well inside the loop. Hans Gisevius, the German intelligence agent who acted as the go-between with Allen Dulles in Switzerland and Admiral Canaris in the German High Command after the war, acted as go-between with Dulles, Dresser Industries and Prescott Bush.
George Herbert Walker Bush, Prescott's son, improved on the CIA connection to the point of becoming its Director in 1976.

After graduating from Yale, George H. W. Bush went to work at his father's firm, Dresser Industries. Eventually, with money from Brown Brothers and Harriman (his dad's parent company) he set up his own company, Zapata. It was really a CIA front. The Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961 was probably George's operation as much as it was Allen Dulles's. The CIA code name for it was Zapata. The boats left for the Bay of Pigs from an island that was leased to George H. W. Bush, and the boats were named Houston and Barbara.

He ran for Congress in Houston in 1964 by campaigning against the Civil Rights Act. He didn't get elected that year, but he did get elected the next time he tried. When he was Chair of the Republican Party in 1972 he set up ethnic heritage groups within the Party. These groups were havens for ex-Nazis.

While Vice President under Reagan, Bush was Chair of the Special Situations Group responsible for defeating the Sandanistas in Nicaragua. He and Ollie North set up, financed and armed the Contras through an elaborate and highly secretive scheme that saw private planes flying cash to Iran, buying Soviet-made guns, flying guns to the Contras at a private CIA airstrip in Costa Rica, trading guns for marijuana and cocaine, then flying the drugs to a private U. S. airbase in Homestead, Florida, where the drugs were traded for cash.

George Bush was Vice President under Reagan from 1980 to 1988. He was elected President in 1988 and served one term until 1992. Dick Cheney was his Secretary of Defense. When Bush lost, Cheney went from being Secretary of Defense to being CEO of Halliburton, probably the largest supplier of goods and services to the Defense Department. The revolving door connecting the military to the industrial complex seemed to be well greased. A few years later Cheney came back through the door to be Vice President for George Bush the younger.

Why did George W pick Cheney. Well, actually, Cheney picked himself. Bush asked him to make a list of candidates for Vice President. Cheney did, then he sold W on the idea that he was the best man for the job.

What makes Cheney so special, so indispensable?

While Cheney was CEO of Halliburton he built up the company by buying other companies. One of the companies he bought was Dresser Industries. Halliburton spent $8 billion buying Dresser. When they bought it, Halliburton's stock dropped by a third. Wall Street thought it was a bum deal. Why did Cheney pay so much? Was it a sweetheart deal because the owners of Dresser were his former and future bosses?

The popular image of Cheney is that he's the brains behind Bush, that Bush is some kind of simpleton and Cheney is an evil genius. The Dresser deal looks like Cheney is still the loyal employee. He's both the bag man and fall guy for the Bushs. He delivers the cash, and, when the Bushs get in trouble, he's willing to stand up and take the hit for it.
During the 2000 presidential election Cheney admitted Halliburton did business with Libya and Iran, but he denied they had done business with Iraq, "I had a firm policy that we wouldn't do anything in Iraq, even arrangements that were supposedly legal. We've not done any business in Iraq since U. N. sanctions were imposed on Iraq in 1990, and I had a standing policy that I wouldn't do that," he said on ABC-TV's This Week on July 30, 2000. But Dresser was selling equipment through French subsidiaries to Iraq from early in 1997 through 2000. Halliburton didn't buy Dresser until 1998, so, it was the Bush family's company that was trading with the enemy and Cheney just continued the practice. Purchasing the company also covered up the trail.

George W. Bush, in the best traditions of his family, waged war against the people of Iraq so that Halliburton could assign oil leases and control the oil and so that Halliburton would get multi-billion dollar no-bid contracts to supply the military. More than 4000 Americans have lost their lives in Iraq. Of that number 60, as of March 29, 2008, are from Minnesota, which is the justification of this appeal to County Attorney Mike Freeman to arrest George W. Bush.

Because he has committed troops of the Minnesota National Guard to tragic danger and fatalities in Iraq for the sole purpose of enriching his family's business, Halliburton, and, thereby, causing the death of Minnesota citizens, he is guilty of committing murder in the third degree: Section 609.195: MURDER IN THE THIRD DEGREE: whoever, without intent to effect the death of any person, causes the death of another by perpetrating an act eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved mind, without regard for human life, is guilty of murder in the third degree and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 25 years on each count.

Through the sale of oil drilling equipment Dresser Company and the Bush family have had long time relationships with the Saudi royal family. The bin Laden family have been the principal contracting firm for the Saudi royal family, so it was natural for Osama bin Laden's family to give George W. Bush $50,000 to get started in the oil exploration business in Texas. Bush returned the favor by grounding all aircraft after 9/11 except the plane that evacuated those members of the bin Laden family staying in the U. S. There was a touching video of Crown Prince Faisal visiting George W. Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. They were holding hands as they walked, evidence of a stronger relationship than the one Bush had with Tony Blair or Berlusconi.

As head of the Bush family, George W. Bush directs their investment in Halliburton. Halliburton directs the movement of oil out of Iraq, 25% of the world's supply. The Saudi family directs the movement of oil out of Saudi Arabia, 40% of the world's supply. It is reasonable to assume that when George W. Bush and Prince Faisal get together they talk about the supply and price of oil. After their last meeting in Saudi Arabia, supplies dropped and the price of oil rose dramatically. According to Minnesota State law that meeting looks suspiciously like a conspiracy to fix prices.

Because, through Halliburton's control of Iraqi oil, he has acted in collusion with Saudi Arabia and OPEC to fix the price and supply of oil to distributors in Hennepin County, he is guilty of price fixing: Section 325.53: PROHIBITED CONTRACTS, COMBINATIONS, AND CONSPIRACIES: Subdivision 1. Price fixing, production control, allocation of markets, collusive bidding, and concerted refusals to deal. Without limiting section 325D.51, the following shall be deemed to restrain trade or commerce unreasonably and are unlawful: (1) A contract, combination or conspiracy between two or more persons in competition: (a) for the purpose or with the effect of affecting, fixing, controlling or maintaining the market price, rate or fee of any commodity or service; (b) affecting, fixing, controlling, maintaining, limiting, or discontinuing the production, manufacture, mining, sale or supply of any commodity, or the sale or supply of any service, for the purpose or with the effect of affecting, fixing, controlling, or maintaining the market price, rate, or fee of the commodity or service.

Finally, George W. Bush should be arrested and prosecuted for his collusion with the opium warlords in Afghanistan to distribute heroin in Hennepin County. The United Nations and all objective reports verify that during the last year of the Taliban reign in Afghanistan, their government had reduced the Afghanistan contribution to the world supply of opium and heroin to zero, and everyone agrees that since the opium warlords have taken back control of the rural areas of Afghanistan opium production in Afghanistan now contributes 90% of the world supply. The U. S. Army and the CIA worked in support of the opium warlords by granting them control over most of the opium growing areas of Afghanistan, getting them a respected place in the central government. The CIA even insured that an opium warlord would be in charge of the Department of the Interior-the government agency responsible for drug enforcement. This is the pattern the OSS (the early version of the CIA) used to overthrow Musolini's government in Sicily. Through contacts with Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano, they got the Mafia in Sicily to cooperate with the Allies in the invasion of Sicily. The Mafia in America has always been a ready and willing patriot in any CIA off the shelf adventure. When Ollie North brought cocaine and marijuana in from Colombia, the Mafia was ready to pay cash for it and distribute it. Ollie North knew these contacts when he was working with the Hmong and Meo tribes in Laos during the Vietnam War. As part of the golden triangle these tribes produced large amounts of opium that CIA planes would then transport to Marseille, continuing the colonial tradition begun by French forces in Vietnam.

George H. W. Bush was a part of all this because he was Director of the CIA when the golden triangle was active, and he was Vice President during the Contra War and probably in charge of the operation to fund the Contras through the illegal importation of cocaine and marijuana.

Opium poppies have grown in Afghanistan since ancient times. The British began to control the exporting of the drug early in the nineteenth century. The Opium War in China in the middle of the nineteenth century was a result of the Chinese government trying to forbid the British importation of opium. The British won the war and the Chinese were forced to allow the British to sell opium. Early in the twentieth century Sicilians and Italians found the opium through contacts in Beirut and had it manufactured into heroin in laboratories in Marseilles. The heroin was then smuggled into Europe and the United States.

The traditional route for smugglers was over the mountains from Afghanistan, through Iran, Iraq, Jordan and to Beirut, Lebanon. The lack of cooperation recently of the Iranian government in this smuggling conspiracy has created problems for the smugglers and international problems for Iran. But, thanks to the active cooperation of the CIA and the U S government, opium does make its way through the Middle East, to Sicily and laboratories to be refined into heroin and, finally, to the U S and Hennepin County.

Section 609.228 of the Minnesota penal code, GREAT BODILY HARM CAUSED BY DISTRIBUTION OF DRUGS, says, "Whoever proximately causes great bodily harm by, directly or indirectly, unlawfully selling, giving away, bartering, delivering, exchanging, distributing, or administering a controlled substance classified in schedule I or II may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than ten years or to payment of a fine of not more than $20,000, or both.

Is it possible that George W. Bush, as President of the United States, has immunity from prosecution? Thomas Paine wrote in Common Sense 57 (Philadelphia, 1776), "In America THE LAW IS KING. For as in absolute governments the King is the law, so in free countries the law ought to be king; and there ought to be no other." The Supreme Court said in an 1882 decision, United States v. Lee, 106 U.S. 196, 220, 1 S.Ct. 240, 261, 27 L.Ed. 171, that:

No man in this country is so high that he is above the law.
No officer of the law may set that law at defiance with impunity.
All the officers of the government, from the highest to the lowest, are creatures of
the law, and are bound to obey.

It is the only supreme power in our system of government, and every
man who by accepting office participates in its functions is only the more
strongly bound to submit to that supremacy, and to observe the limitations
which it imposes upon the exercise of the authority which it gives.

We respectfully request that the Hennepin County Attorney enforce the laws of the State of Minnesota and arrest George W. Bush when he steps off the plane in Hennepin County in September when he comes here to attend the Republican National Convention.

source: http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_ed_felie_080419_minneapolis_citizens.htm

Non-Alcoholic Surprise for Republicans?

The Editorial Staff may not realize this, but the venue they are touting is...alcohol-free. Unless they have inside information that this will change before the convention. They do advertise in the StarTrib on a daily basis, therefore communication between them is ongoing. A recent beverage change to Pepsi came suddenly, so this rumor may be true.

----------------

Editorial: Last call for alcohol! Prior Lake for GOP?

"This is not Las Vegas. This is the city of St. Paul.''

City Council Member Lee Helgen is absolutely right: No one has ever confused St. Paul with Vegas. No one sober, anyway, which is the crux of the raging debate over extending bar hours in St. Paul and Minneapolis during the Republican Convention in September.

Eleven days, from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. A mere 22 hours of added bar time designed to show the world that this is a big-time metropolis that can throw a memorable nominating bash. Seems reasonable enough. But a few killjoys are worried about police costs and neighborhood disruption. Imagine the mayhem 3,000 tipsy Republicans could cause in Highland Park at 4 a.m.

All of this bar talk got us wondering about Denver, where the Democrats will hold their superdelegate festival. The mile high bar time is 2 a.m., and we're told there's been no discussion of extending the fun in Colorado.

Frankly, that's surprising. There's a far greater chance the Democrats will find something to squabble about -- maybe even the selection of a nominee -- past the 10 p.m. news. It's much more likely they'll actually need extra bar hours. Is this more conservative approach to bar time an attempt to appeal to family-values voters? Or are there plans for late-night keggers at the hotels?

Back in St. Paul, the liquor marketplace is preparing to serve the GOP in the style to which it has become accustomed, with or without later bar times. Our favorite innovation comes from the historic St. Paul Hotel, which is stocking $525-a-shot scotch for the convention. Take that, Vegas.

To clarify, it'll actually cost $525 for a pony shot, which is 1 ounce. The typical shot of Jack Daniels you might sell a Democrat, with the requisite beer chaser, is 1.5 ounces. But when you're talking 55-year-old single-malt scotch from the Scottish Highlands, only a rube would expect more than an ounce for five bills.

This is all going to be so much fun, why not keep the bars open 24/7 and serve breakfast? Or move the GOP convention to Prior Lake and the spacious Mystic Lake hotel and casino. Comedian Larry the Cable Guy, who's known for the line "Git'r done,'' is already booked for August, but he'd probably sign on for another run during the convention. Not sure how he votes, but he sure seems like a red state guy.

You want Vegas, Republicans, head to Prior Lake. It's a lot more fun than St. Paul or Minneapolis, and with enough notice they'll probably upgrade the scotch. You'll never want to go home.

© 2008 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.

Transportation bill got my vote because ...

By NEIL PETERSON

I supported the transportation bill for several reasons:

• I supported the bill not because I believe in more taxation but because I believe in less.

A gas tax is a user fee, plain and simple, and for 20 years it has not been increased. This additional user fee will cost each of us less than a cup of coffee each month.

But the user fee for gas is just one part of the bill. In the bill is municipal state aid, with $11 million for Bloomington, $4.8 million for Edina and $150 million for Hennepin County. This money will be available for street repair and improvements over the next 10 years.

If these dollars do not come to our county and cities through this allocation, residents in my district will eventually pay for the improvements through increased real-estate taxes. That is the bottom line. The cities and the county will have no other choice but to go to their primary source of funding, our real estate taxes, to get transportation needs met. With this bill, I voted to avoid higher property taxes.

• I supported the bill because we have a slowing economy in our state.

People have suggested that an economic downturn is not the time for a bill like this. I believe it is the time. This bill will support thousands of jobs -- jobs with salary dollars that will stay in Minnesota.

What is the remedy for a slowing economy? Jobs. We need these dollars in Minnesota. Our way of life here and our future depend on a strong economic base. We bemoan the loss of 900 jobs at Macy's downtown, but we are losing many times that number in our construction industry alone. Think of the positive effect of thousands of Minnesota jobs in the next decade. With this bill, I voted for a stronger economy.

• I supported the bill because of the recently released legislative auditor's report.

Legislative Auditor James Nobel used the words "downright grim" when looking at the current status of roads and bridges. In his testimony, he gave me no reason to question the talented men and women who are engineers and planners in the Department of Transportation (MnDOT).

He did give me the reason MnDOT is in such a mess. Follow the money. We are asking MnDOT to do more and more with less and less. It is a shell game with horrific outcomes. Maintenance deferred, construction postponed -- it is all part of the MnDOT mantra.

A MnDOT employee I know well said that it is hard when you can't be proud of the place you work. Without funding. MnDOT's hands are tied. With this bill, I voted as a legislator to accept my part of the transportation problems in this state.

• I supported the bill because as a solo business owner, I know the reality of inflation.

Over the last three years, we have lost two opportunities to adequately fund road maintenance and construction. This is the third time that a transportation bill has been passed and vetoed. Over this same period, according to the auditor's report, the cost of construction has gone up almost 40 percent. It will continue to escalate, and a transportation bill will keep coming back, each time with a higher price tag, not to do more, but to do less. The reality is the old adage "pay now or pay more later." With this bill, I voted against inflationary increases for transportation.

• • •

I supported the bill even though I wasn't crazy about the quarter-cent sales tax for transit. I believe in public transit, and I know it is necessary with more than a million more people coming into the Twin Cities in the next decade. Except for the occasional trip on light rail, I don't use public transit on a daily basis, so I don't think about it as much. However, as a user of the freeways, roads and bridges, I need transit to exist and expand if I want to continue to drive without additional gridlock and wasted time. We need public transit to exist for persons who are aging and no longer drive. We need mass transit for cleaner air. With this bill, I supported transportation and the environment of our future.

I supported the bill and was encouraged to do so by the endorsement of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, the Minnesota League of Cities, the Environmental Partnership and the president of the University of Minnesota, plus countless other organizations and, believe it or not, constituents.

I supported the transportation bill in spite of the pain that it personally causes me. It pains me to be at odds with the governor, a man I personally like. It pains me to hit a bump in my relationships with some caucus members. But it pains me even more to consider the consequences of doing nothing again this year.

With this bill I voted to represent what I believe to be in the best interest of my cities, my constituents and, ultimately, my conscience.

Neil Peterson, R-Bloomington, represents District 41B in the Minnesota House.

Source: http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentary/16001922.html

More like drug dealers than arms sellers

Those behind America's most successful and deadly export prefer the shadows to the sun.

Frida Berrigan

Published: May 25, 2007

They don't call us the sole superpower for nothing. Paul Wolfowitz might be looking for a new job right now, but the term he used to describe the pervasiveness of U.S. power back when he was a mere deputy secretary of defense -- hyperpower -- still fits the bill. Consider some of the areas in which the United States is still No. 1:

First in weapons sales: Since 2001, U.S. global military sales have totaled $10 billion to $13 billion. In fiscal 2006, the Pentagon broke its own recent record, inking arms-sales agreements worth $21 billion.

First in sales of surface-to-air missiles: From 2001 to 2005, the United States delivered 2,099 air-to-air missiles such as the Sparrow to nations in the developing world.

First in sales of military ships: In that same period, the United States sent 10 "major surface combatants," including aircraft carriers and destroyers, to developing nations. Collectively, the four major European weapons producers shipped 13.

First in military training: A thoughtful empire knows it's not enough to send weapons; you have to teach people how to use them. The Pentagon plans to train militaries of 138 nations in 2008 at a cost of nearly $90 million.

Rest assured, governments around the world, often at one another's throat, will want U.S. weapons long after their people have turned up their noses at a range of once-dominant American consumer goods. The "trade" publication Defense News recently reported that Turkey and the United States signed a $1.78 billion deal for Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter planes. Israel flies them; so do the United Arab Emirates, Poland, Venezuela and Portugal, among others.

To remain on top in the competitive jet field, Lockheed Martin, for example, does far more than just sell airplanes. TAI -- Turkey's aerospace corporation -- will receive a boost with this sale because Lockheed Martin is handing over responsibility for portions of production, assembly and testing to Turkish workers.

The Turkish air force already has 215 F-16 fighter planes and plans to buy 100 of Lockheed Martin's new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter as well, in a deal estimated at $10.7 billion over the next 15 years. That's $10.7 billion on fighter planes for a country that ranks 94th on the United Nations' human-development index, below Lebanon, Colombia and Grenada and far below all the European nations that Ankara is courting as it seeks to join the European Union. Now that's a real American sales job for you!

Here's the strange thing, though: This gold-medal manufacturing-and-sales job on weapons simply never gets the attention it deserves. As a result, most Americans have no idea how proud they should be of our weapons manufacturers and the Pentagon -- essentially our global sales force. They make sure our weapons travel the planet and regularly demonstrate their value in small wars from Latin America to Central Asia.

There's tons of data on the weapons trade, but who knows any of it? I help produce one of a dozen or so sober annual (or semiannual) reports quantifying the business of war-making, so I know that these reports get desultory, obligatory media attention.

Even when there is coverage, the inside-the-fold, fact-heavy, wonky news stories on the arms trade, however useful, can't possibly convey the feel of a business that has always preferred the shadows to the sun. The connection between the factory that makes a weapons system and the community where that weapon "does its duty" is invariably missing in action, as are the relationships among firms making the weapons and the generals (on-duty and retired) and politicians making the deals, or raking in their own cuts of the profits for themselves and/or their constituencies. In other words, our most successful, most deadly export remains our most invisible one.

Maybe we should stop talking about weapons sales as a trade and the export of precision-guided missiles as if they were widgets. Maybe we need to start thinking about them in another language -- the language of drugs.

After all, what does a drug dealer do? He encourages an appetite or an addiction and then feeds it.

Arms dealers do the same thing. They suggest to foreign officials that their military just might need a slight upgrade. After all, they'll point out, haven't you noticed that your neighbor just upgraded in jets, submarines and tanks? And didn't you guys fight a war a few years back? Doesn't that make you feel insecure? For just a few billion bucks, we'll get you suited up with the latest model military, even better than what we sold them -- or you -- the last time around.

Why do officials in Turkey, which already has 215 fighter planes, need 100 extras in an even higher-tech version? They don't, but Lockheed Martin, working with the Pentagon, made them think they did.

We don't need stronger arms-control laws, we need a global sobriety coach and some kind of 12-step program for the dealer-nation as well.

Frida Berrigan, a senior research associate at the World Policy Institute's Arms Trade Resource Center, adapted this article for the Los Angeles Times from a version at tomdispatch.com.

Warmed Over

The U.S. Senate's leading abuser of science has struck again. Not content with calling the notion of human-caused global warming "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people" (as he did in a July 2003 Senate floor speech), last week James Inhofe returned with an "update" on climate-change science. In his latest speech, timed to coincide with the final steps toward implementation of the Kyoto Protocol (which the United States won't be joining), Inhofe asserted that "put simply, man-induced global warming is an article of religious faith." Clearly, he hasn't changed his tune.

What separates Inhofe’s fixation from similar conservative crusades is just how brazenly it ignores what scientists know with confidence about global warming. The United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the National Academy of Sciences, the American Geophysical Union, and the American Meteorological Society all broadly agree on this basic point: Temperatures are rising, at least in part as a result of human greenhouse-gas emissions. According to the World Meteorological Organization, 2004 was the fourth-hottest year since 1861, while the past 10 years (excepting 1996) were "among the warmest 10 years on record."

That's not all. Drawing on highly sophisticated computer models, climate scientists can project -- not predict -- how much temperatures may rise by, say, 2100 if we carry on with business as usual. Although scenarios vary, some get pretty severe. So do the projected impacts of climate change: rising sea levels, species extinctions, glacial melting, and so forth.
One might argue, perhaps, that humanity should simply adapt to climatic changes rather than restricting fossil-fuel use. But that's not Inhofe's approach. No matter how strong the evidence of ongoing climate change gets, he simply rejects it. But backed into a corner, Inhofe's arguments have necessarily grown more and more desperate.

For example, in his latest speech, Inhofe continued his curious crusade against a single University of Virginia climate expert, Michael Mann. Mann initially became a target for global warming "skeptics" in 2001 after the IPCC prominently cited his work to show that recent temperatures represent an anomaly in the context of the past 1,000 years. The IPCC reproduced a graph published by Mann and his colleagues that's often referred to as a "hockey stick" because of its shape: After a long, relatively straight line, temperatures spike up in the 20th century.

Ever since then, global warming deniers (and especially Inhofe) have been trying to break the "hockey stick," but their attacks on Mann represent a grand diversion. Although in his latest speech Inhofe refers only to "the hockey stick graph, constructed by Dr. Michael Mann and colleagues," multiple other scientists have produced similar analyses. And even if all of these were to be overturned, that would hardly upend the conclusion that humans are currently heating the planet -- a robust scientific finding based on several different lines of evidence. Rather, shattering the "hockey stick" would merely leave us uncertain as to whether the current temperature spike has any precedent over the past millennium.

In fact, Inhofe's latest foray against Mann throws into question the competence of the senator's scientific-research apparatus. Inhofe charged that recent critics, arguing in the scientific literature, have called Mann's hockey-stick work "just bad science." But the critics in question weren't attacking the "hockey stick" at all. Rather, they were challenging an entirely different paper by Mann and a colleague, and the disagreement concerns the period between 1971 and 1998 -- not the past 1,000 years. It looks as though Inhofe went rifling through the scientific literature to find someone criticizing Michael Mann without even bothering to understand the context of that criticism.

Yet Inhofe's latest speech stoops even lower than this. The senator also implied, on the slender basis of a Washington Post cartoon (which he misinterprets), that some "alarmists" think climate change triggered the recent Asian tsunami. "Are we to believe now that global warming is causing earthquakes?" Inhofe asked rhetorically.

Answer: No, we aren't to believe that. No one believes that.

In criticizing environmental "alarmists" for something that none of them have said, Inhofe has created as big a straw man as we've seen in politics lately. Yet when it comes to climate change, Inhofe doesn't seem to care whether he has a sound argument to make, so long as he has something contrary to say that takes at least some effort to deconstruct.

Let's take one more glance at the way Inhofe abuses climate science. In his latest speech, Inhofe took aim at a recently released report from the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, produced by some 300 scientists working under the auspices of the Arctic Council (an intergovernmental group that includes the United States). The report shows that human-caused climate change has already had a pronounced effect in the Arctic region, where average temperatures have shot up "at almost twice the rate as the rest of the world in the past few decades." The result? Ongoing impacts such as melting glaciers and sea ice.

These conclusions come from a body of scientific experts who have studied the problem for four years. What does James Inhofe do when faced with such a major, peer-reviewed scientific consensus document? The same thing he always does: He draws on a tiny number of skeptic scientists, here pointing out that Arctic temperatures in the 1930s and 1940s rival those today, to challenge the consensus. But while 1930s and 1940s Arctic temperatures were probably caused by natural variation, today's temperature spike seems to have a human fingerprint. That's the whole point.

Throughout his speech, moreover, Inhofe made constant reference to a work of fiction: Michael Crichton's new novel, State of Fear. Calling Crichton a "scientist" -- actually, he's an M.D. -- Inhofe credited the author with telling "the real story about global warming" to the public. In fact, Crichton's new book misrepresents climate science nearly as badly as Inhofe does. Inhofe further suggested that Crichton's depictions of environmentalists -- as fear-mongers who hype the possibility of disasters to bring in donations -- show "art imitating life." Actually, Crichton's notion of a global eco-terrorist conspiracy, aided and abetted by leading environmental organizations, seems more than a tad conspiratorial.

Nevertheless, we haven't heard the last from Senator Crank. Speaking of the remaining cadre of climate-science "skeptics," Inhofe pledged in his latest speech: "I will do my part to make sure that they are heard." In other words, he will continue to challenge each new major piece of scientific evidence on climate, raising dubious criticisms rather than trying in earnest to understand the best science. And this is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works talking.


Chris Mooney is a Prospect senior correspondent. His book on the politicization of science will be published later this year by Basic Books. His daily blog and other writings can be found at www.chriscmooney.com.

By Chris Mooney
Reprinted with permission from The American Prospect, 5 Broad Street, Boston, MA 02109. All rights reserved.

source: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/01/11/opinion/main666190.shtml

Senate Rejects Global Warming Bill

Measure To Curb Carbon Dioxide Emissions Is Defeated

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30, 2003

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(AP)

Related

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Global Warming

The greenhouse effect, a look at the Kyoto Protocol and a history of the Earth's climate.

Interactive

The 108th Congress

Meet the leaders and follow the action in the House and Senate.

(CBS/AP) The U.S. Senate rejected a plan Thursday to curb carbon dioxide emissions from industrial smokestacks as a source of global warming. It was the chamber's first vote in more than six years on the controversial issue of climate change.

The 55-43 vote against the measure co-sponsored by Sens. John McCain, a Republican, and Joe Lieberman, a Democrat, capped a two-day debate that the two senators described as the opening shot in what they acknowledged will be a lengthy effort to get Congress to address global warming.

Their bill would have required industrial plants — but not motor vehicles — to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to 2000 levels by 2010. The Bush administration said the bill would seriously harm the U.S. economy.

"Let's get real here: this is a very minimal proposal that should be a first step," McCain told the Senate, showing pictures of Arctic Sea ice loss and melting at Glacier National Park. "But we have to start somewhere. We will be back, because these pictures will continue to get worse and won't improve until we begin to address this issue."

A senator who is a former astronaut recalled Thursday the "blue-and-white awe" of earth's atmosphere, a view that "made me want to be a better steward of this planet." Sen. Bill Nelson called for an end to "putting our heads in the sand" with current U.S. climate policy.

"The earth from space looks so beautiful, and yet so fragile," said Nelson, a Florida Democrat who flew on space shuttle Columbia in 1986. "When we face a major change in climate," he said, "it is going to have devastating effects on the ecological balance of the earth."

However, Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, said there was no need to introduce a "massive new regulatory process" for industrial carbon dioxide.

"It is not a pollutant," he said. "It does not represent a direct threat to public health."

Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and the bill's biggest opponent, said, "Like Kyoto, this is an extreme approach." Inhofe has called global warming a hoax perpetrated by environmentalists on the American public.

Proponents say addressing global warming will in the long run help the economy, but the White House said it strongly opposed the bill because it would require "deep and immediate cuts in fossil fuel use" to meet an "arbitrary" goal, and drive up household energy bills and gas pump prices.

"These increases in energy prices would effectively operate as a tax on American consumers and would have a severe negative impact on job creation," the White House said in a statement.

Sen. Kit Bond told senators the bill would cripple the U.S. economy. "Now is not the time to place more burden on our families and our communities," he said.

McCain, who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, forced the debate and vote to the Senate floor by promising he wouldn't block a major energy bill that has been stalled in Congress.

The administration's stance on global warming has irked critics.

In August, the Environmental Protection Agency said it lacked authority to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from motor vehicles. In June, CBS News reported that an EPA report on climate change was gutted to eliminate strong language that "climate change has global consequences for human health and the environment" and was "likely mostly due to human activities."

©MMIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

source: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/30/politics/main580915.shtml

Wither Congress, Wither America?

Crushing Congressional Dissent: The Fall of Hilliard, Barr and McKinney

by Wayne Madsen

[Reprinted With Permission]
08/22/02

Historians will one day write that the 107th Congress was the last to stand up to the constitutional encroachment by the military and monarchist policies of the Bush II administration. Just as with the Roman Senate, the Congress of the United States is becoming an elite club of pathetic assenters and global elitists. Once the domain of great orators and dissenters like Cato and Cicero, the Roman Senate was eventually subsumed by the Roman Army when the Emperor took on dictatorial powers. The Roman Senate could say nothing as the Roman

dictatorship annexed Macedonia, Spain, Greece, the Middle East, and North Africa. By the time Emperors Tiberius and Septimius Severus took power, the Senate, which had grown to an elite club of 600, was a rubber stamp body that had no choice but to go along with the military's continued usurpation of power.

The United States Congress stands on the same precipice as its Roman ancestor. If Bush pulls another electoral coup in 2004 and we see the presidential election thrown into the House of Representatives, the future for the country appears very dim.

The August 20 defeat of two Georgia Representatives, one Democrat, the other Republican, is a bellwether event that bodes ill for this November's elections. Rep. Cynthia McKinney was successfully challenged by a Republican-turned-Democrat for her Fourth District seat. Before a cleverly contrived political operation was launched under the aegis of Georgia's other quasi-Republican, Senator Zell Miller, no one outside of Georgia had ever heard of former state judge Denise Majette, a self-described supporter of fringe lunatic GOP presidential candidate Alan Keyes in 2000. Majette will join in Congress fellow Ivy Leaguer Artur Davis, who beat Alabama Democratic Representative Earl Hilliard in that state's primary because of the latter's outspoken support for a more even-handed Middle East policy. Hilliard and McKinney join a long list of politicians who were defeated after advocating an independent U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East: Senators Charles Percy, James Abourezk, James Abdnor, and J. William Fulbright, and Representatives Paul Findley and Paul McCloskey. The careers of Adlai Stevenson and William Scranton were similarly ended after they supported a Middle East policy less tied to the interests of Israel. Only Michigan's veteran Representative John Dingell was able to stave off a recent assault from the powerful

American Israel Political Action Committee (AIPAC) in a match off with fellow Representative Lynn Rivers in a redrawn congressional district.

However, Dingell's National Rifle Association ally, Georgia Representative Bob Barr, was not as fortunate. Barr was also a target of Miller's political operation. An opponent of the more draconian elements in Bush's and John Ashcroft's USA-PATRIOT Act and Homeland Security Department bill, Barr was a target of opportunity for the extreme right that favors turning the United States into a version of East Germany or North Korea. Moreover, Barr's chairmanship of the House Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law gave him real gavel power to block Bush and Ashcroft on critical civil liberties and privacy infringements, a power Barr has not hesitated to wield. And after supporting Steve Forbes in the 2000 GOP primary, Barr did not fit into Bush's binary and simplistic world: "If you're not with me, you're against me." Therefore, Miller, who, according to a former aide, is targeting fellow Senator Max Cleland and Georgia Governor Roy Barnes for defeat by conservative Republicans, figured out that if Barr supporters in Gwinnett County, which straddles McKinney's Fourth District and Barr's Seventh District, could be coaxed into crossing over party lines and voting for Majette, it would kill two birds with one stone. Barr would lose votes to his opponent John Linder and McKinney would get trounced by Majette in a low turnout (25 per cent) election with a high GOP crossover vote. The gambit paid off. McKinney and Barr were both defeated handily, McKinney with the help of 25,000 crossover votes. Of course, the fact that people not authorized to vote in the Fourth District may have voted anyway would fall into the category of election fraud. But after the Florida debacle, the Ashcroft Justice Department sees such electoral machinations as a way to remain in power a la any totalitarian regime parading around before the world as a democracy.

That McKinney and Barr were on the same neo-conservative hit list was exemplified on August 21 by a second-tier conservative radio talk show host in Washington, DC. Speaking on WTNT-AM, Oral Roberts University graduate, Pat Buchanan political adviser, and Tom DeLay- style Republican talk show host Michael Graham said it was great news that two "kooks" had been beaten in Georgia. He then stated he was talking about "Cynthia McKinney and her photo negative twin, Bob Barr." The statement was clearly racist in nature and a not-so-veiled reference, through a warped attempt at humor, to Barr's long rumored African-American heritage. But for the extreme right that dominates the GOP, such incendiary ethnophobic comments are the rule and not the exception.

McKinney had incurred the wrath of the White House by her question about what George W. Bush knew in advance about the September 11 terrorist attacks. But that was only the tip of the iceberg for the Republicans and their major campaign contributors. While it true that McKinney has championed the cause of Palestinian statehood and self- determination, thus inviting the enmity of major Jewish organizations in the United States, it was her long-time opposition to the trade of

blood diamonds and other strategic minerals in Africa that earned her a major challenge from multinational corporations, including Barrick Gold, on whose board President Bush's father serves as an international adviser. Among its other misdeeds, Barrick has been accused of helping to cover up the 1996 burying alive by one of its subsidiaries of over 50 Tanzanian gold miners in Bulyanhulu, in the northwest part of the country. Of course, when it comes to the lives and welfare of non-white people, the Bushes have never really held any soft spot, whether they are blacks in Africa or America's inner cities, Afghan or Iraqi children, or even a troubled half-Hispanic daughter/niece/granddaughter in Florida.

McKinney long advocated a halt in the pilferage of blood diamonds out of African war zones. She cited, on numerous occasions, the result of such commerce: the hacked off limbs, hands, and ears of small children in Sierra Leone; the permanent crippling from land mines of children in Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and over 2.5 million deaths from civil wars in the DRC, Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi. The diamond profiteers from this mayhem and death are largely the Hasidic diamond dealers of Antwerp, Amsterdam, New York, and Tel Aviv. These dealers and their lobbyists often circled in and out of House hearing rooms and McKinney's office when issues relating to stemming the flow of ill-gotten African diamonds came up for discussion. These diamond merchants also have a powerful ally in long- time Democratic Party fundraiser and diamond cartel magnate Maurice Tempelsman.

The 108th Congress, lacking the consciousness of Cynthia McKinney and the skepticism of Bob Barr, will be a far more dangerous place. I have had the pleasure of working and knowing both of them over the years - fighting battles, in the case of McKinney, against U.S. human rights offenses in Africa and elsewhere and in the case of Barr, against rampant U.S. government surveillance of the private lives and activities of American citizens. The next Congress will be full of complacent African-American parlor servants like Majette and Davis, dangerous extreme rightists like former cockroach exterminator DeLay and former sportscaster J. D. Hayworth of Arizona, pitiful morons like Florida's former Secretary of State and chief election rigger Katherine Harris, Republican moles and sleepers like Zell Miller and Joe Lieberman, and Democratic spineless amoebas like Richard Gephardt and Tom Daschle. They will stand ready to back Bush's military campaigns into Iraq, Iran, Venezuela, Colombia, or wherever Bush's economic interests are at stake. The country stands on the brink of disaster. But we cannot count on the future Congress to save us. Lacking a spine or any guts, it will surely help to bury us.

Wayne Madsen is a Washington-based investigative journalist. He testified before Cynthia McKinney's hearing on the genocide in the DRC in May 2001 and has worked with Bob Barr on privacy legislation in the past. He wrote the introduction to Forbidden Truth. Madsen can be reached at: WMadsen777@aol.com

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