PALAST FOR CONYERS: THE OTHER ' MEMOS' FROM DOWNING STREET AND PENNSYLVANIA AVE

"Greg Palast, unable to attend hearings in Washington Thursday, has submitted the following testimony," here.

''Ask Your Senator to Speak Out''

Ted Kennedy is circulating this message to his fellow U.S. Senators: "The Downing Street Minutes and the conduct of the Bush Administration as they prepared for war in Iraq must be discussed at a national level and the American people should know about it! Please ask your Senator to speak out about the Downing Street Minutes." Thanks to Jason Call for sending this to me.

''Hearings and Rally in Washington June 16''

Everything you need to know in one place: AfterDowningStreet.org.

''Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee on The Downing Street Minutes'' (UPDATED)

"When: Wednesday, June 15th, 3:30 PM Pacific/6:30 PM EDT,

Where: Everywhere...

How to Participate? Two ways:
1. RSVP ASAP (rsvp@backbonecampaign.org) to guarantee a spot on the conference call.
2. You may also Log in to ask questions online while you listen at RadioLeft.com
(This chat room may also be used to que questions if necessary)
We have invited the Hon. Sheila Jackson Lee (D) Texas, 18th, a member of the House Judiciary Committee to join us to discuss the relevance and potential consequences of the recently discovered Downing Street Minutes. As concerned citizens around the country push for a Resolution of Inquiry, to force accountability on Bush administration fixing of intelligence to justify the Iraq invasion, the Backbone Campaign is proud to provide this opportunity to you. Join us to discuss this quickly evolving controversy with the Congresswoman and other experts such as Constitutional Lawyer John Bonifaz ( bio) the day before Thursday's WA D.C. hearings and demonstrations. After last Friday's Judiciary Committee Patriot Act hearing fiasco, which was prematurely brought to a close by House Judiciary Chair Congressman James Sensenbrenner turning off the mics, Congresswoman must will certainly be able to provide some insights on the looming battles ahead.

If you have have further questions please feel free to call Backbone Campaign Director Bill Moyer at 206-408-8058."-thanks to Roger Fulton for passing this on to me. UPDATE: Sharon Lynch tells me that a poster on Kos says the Conyers Hearing will be televised on C-SPAN3. See the announcement here on the C-SPAN site, under "This Week on C-SPAN" (Thurs., June 16, at 11:30am Seattle time).

Candidate's Forum 6/16

Mayoral candidate (there are only two!) Christal Wood ) reminds me: "Consider yourself invited to the 46th District Democrats Candidate's Forum, tomorrow (Thursday) at 7 p.m. at Olympic View Elementary (NE 95th St./8th Ave. N.E.). It promises to be fun and informative."

''1090AM's opportunities drift by, ratings drift down...''

blatherWatch says KPTK, the local Air America affiliate, is getting screwed by the lack of promotional push by its corporate parent and the absence of any locally-produced programming.

''Urge C-SPAN to Cover Downing Street Memo/Minutes hearing'' (UPDATED)

"The Downing Street Memo/Minutes hearing, led by Rep. John Conyers, is Thurs., June 16, at 1:30pm EST in the Wasserman Room at 430 S Capitol St. SE, Washington, D.C. The rally is at 5pm EST in Lafayette Park. Urge C-SPAN to cover these events: Main Number: (202) 737-3220; Viewer Services: (765) 464-3080 (for programming Qs); events@c-span.org---

"Sean McLaughlin, deputy chief of staff for Chairman James Sensenbrenner, recently wrote to a minority staffer on the House Judiciary Committee: “'I’m sitting here watching your "forum" on C-SPAN,' McLaughlin wrote. 'just to let you know, it was your last. Don’t bother asking [for a room] again',” reports The Hill."-from the post on Booman Tribune by Susan Hu.

UPDATE: The American Street says "As of now it looks like Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) will be allowed by the Republicans to hold his hearings into pre-war planning and propaganda in the Capitol instead of in a room in the DNC building. Let freedom reign, huh? Of course who knows what tricks Tex Sensenbrenner has up his sleeve. He may interrupt the proceedings to bang his shoe on a table or cut the mics. Starting at 2:30pm ET, C-Span will be covering the hearings, forum, whatever the Republicans are forcing them to be called. If you live in or near D.C., you can join in the post-hearing/forum/gathering march (it’s a march!!) from Lafayette Square Park to the White House to deliver Conyers’ letter to BushCo. The letter has over 540,000 signatures - a big, peaceful march to deliver it would be a beautiful thing."

''Democrats on the Way Back!"

"Guess who stopped by Democracy for America headquarters today for lunch?"

''Does Howard Dean Speak for You?'' (UPDATED)

Today is "Support Howard Dean Day"and here's where you can show your support, swing the bat and buy a tee-shirt! Ray Minchew at Democracy for Washington passes this along with his invitation to join DFW at this weekend's Seattle Pride Parade. Email Ray: ray@democracyforwashington.com. UPDATE: Oops!! Ray corrects me: the Seattle Pride Parade is NEXT weekend, all the better to make your plans!

''Dean defends blunt style, gets backing from activists''

"CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) -- Democratic National Committee head Howard Dean plans to spend his summer working with state party leaders to craft a message and broaden the party's focus to all 50 states. "We're going to have a 50-state campaign," said Dean. "We're done with an 18-state campaign. There is not one state or one part of a state we can't deliver our message in." Dean continues to defend his often-abrasive style and is working on rousing activists with a reprise of his fiery campaign speech.
"We need to stand up for what we believe in," said Dean. "We don't have to be a Republican to win." "I am glad he is standing up for the Democratic Party," said Davenport Democrat Bill Gluba, mulling another run for Congress. "We need to stay the course and I just gave him that message."
Former state legislator Art Ollie, of Clinton, said Dean stirs strong passions, and that's an asset in a party leader. "The head of the party has to be an energizer," said Ollie. "He has to be an outspoken person." In addition to broadening the party's campaign effort, Dean said it needs to sharpen its message. "We need to talk to folks differently," said Dean. "We talk about issues, but a list of issues is not a message." He said he would work with state party leaders during the summer to develop a concise message that Democrats could offer in each state.

While Dean's presidential aspirations faltered with a third-place showing in Iowa's leadoff caucuses, he continued to appeal to party regulars with a fiery campaign speech pledging a defense of Social Security, health insurance for all and an assault on the "culture of corruption" in the Republican-run Congress. "Social Security is a symbol of responsibility we have for each other," said Dean. "We are all in this together. Any attack on Social Security is an attack on the fabric of this country." -from the article in the Waterloo Cedar-Falls Courier (IA).

''Why Dean Is Right''

"As if the relentless assault from attack dog Republicans and wimpy establishment Democrats and media weren't enough, Democratic National Committee (DNC) fundraisers are now jumping on the anti-Dean bandwagon. In recent weeks, three top money barons for the DNC have resigned, The Hill reported recently. Why? Because the poor party bigwigs feel neglected. You see, Dean -- unlike his inside-the-Beltway predecessor Terry McAuliffe -- is actually trying to build an alternative to the corporate base of the GOP. Even Newsweek's Howard Fineman, long a reflection of conventional Washington wisdom, recognizes the importance of this shift. "Early in the last 'cycle,' in 2001, the Republican National Committee outraised the DNC by a 3-1 margin," Fineman writes. "So far this year, that ratio has been cut to 2-1."

More important," Fineman continues, "is the way it was raised. In the past the party relied on 'soft money' from millionaires. But such donations are now illegal. Officials estimate that $12 million of the $14 million the Dean regime has collected so far this year has come from those who gave less than $250. 'For people who really look hard at the numbers, he's wowing people,' says Elaine Kamarck, a respected DNC member."-from the op-ed by Ari Berman, in The Nation, via Yahoo.

''Consider immediate withdrawal of troops''

Here is an excerpt from the letter Chad Shue wrote to the Everett Herald: "As we observe the third Memorial Day since the Bush administration led this nation to invade Iraq on a series of mistruths and innuendoes, we are left to wonder how best to honor the sacrifice of the brave men and women who have given their lives in this effort.

The most lasting memorial we may offer those who have paid the highest price in service to their country is to say that we will hold those who called for that sacrifice accountable for the highest levels of honesty and integrity."

''A Dean Democrat -- Finally''

"There's a grassroots groundswell building over the Internet that started this past weekend. Certain diarists, blogs, and bloggers like Dana Blankenhorn in the blogosphere have finally decided to stand up and be counted. The catalytic issue?

Howard Dean.

I'm not going to reference all the press the DNC chair has been getting in the last few weeks -- just type in the man's name in any search engine to see what he's been saying lately -- nor can I possibly relate all the ways in which the right wing spin machine has taken those words out of context and spun them into untruths. Nor do I wish to document the shameful behavior of high-ranking Democrats who are so afraid of the right wing attack dogs that they'll cannibalize their own party rather than take a stand (for this one, search on "Joe Biden" OR "Bill Richardson" OR "John Edwards" + "Howard Dean"). What I am going to do is what I always do. I ask you to get informed on the issues, then decide what you think. If you like what Howard Dean is doing (as I do), please consider sign an online petition that tells the Democratic leadership in that Howard Dean does indeed speak for us -- and that we wish they would, too.

For too long, the Democratic party's communications has gone one way: From the top down. They tell the party membership what to think, the party membership sends them money. And don't them with what the party membership really thinks or feels. From what I've seen, Howard Dean is already changing that, and has the potential to change it even more. He's paying attention to what mainstream Democrats want to see, and is willing to call spades in order to show them that he's listening. The Republicans don't like it, nor do their "propaganda outlets" like FOX News. In fact, our notorious Veep, Dick Cheney, said in a taped interview to be aired today, that "I think Howard Dean's over the top. I've never been able to understand his appeal. Maybe his mother loved him, but I've never met anybody who does."

This, from the man who told Senator Patrick Leahy to "go f@ck yourself." I wonder which side of his mouth the VP was speaking out of, this time...?

In any event, Howard Dean is making a lot of waves right now, and giving the Democratic Party the shake-up it's so desperately needed if it's ever going to regain a reputation as the party of the people. Keep it up, Howard. You've got this dyed-in-the-wool undeclared voter ready to declare as a Democrat. Note to other, wimpier Democrats: As with most other Americans, where my loyalty goes, my pocketbook is sure to follow."-from
the post on the meta4life blog.

''Honor Our Dead--Demand the Truth''

John Conyers is holding a hearing and leading a march to the White House on Thursday. For more information go here. Raw Story has more details today.

''Extraordinarily rancid justice''

"As the Senate votes on Bush's long-filibustered nominees, the nuclear option compromise is looking more rancid than reasonable. The seven Democrats who helped broker the compromise pledged not to filibuster except in the most extraordinary circumstances. But given the track record of Priscilla Owens, Janice Rogers Brown, and William Pryor, I wonder how extreme a candidate has to be before these Democrats and their seven Republican colleagues would reject them. Would a prospective nominee have to be caught wearing white Klan robes to Sunday church? Having public sex with a live animal? Receiving videotaped bribes from Don Corleone? I suppose these actions might meet the "extraordinary circumstances" standard, but running roughshod over legal precedents to favor the wealthy and powerful clearly doesn't.

Because the participating Democrats agreed not to filibuster Owens, Brown, and Pryor, the public barely heard the stories of why their nominations crossed an unacceptable line. We heard mostly the inside baseball of legal abstractions. In return for establishing these judges as a new acceptable standard, the seven compromising Democrats kept the theoretical right to filibuster. But it's guaranteed only if they don't exercise it. They saved an abstract principle at the price of agreeing to cave in practically every imaginable circumstance."-from the post by Seattle writer Paul Loeb, on Working for Change. Paul showed up at Dean's fundraiser for the DNC in Seattle last week.

''Finally, More Democrats Taking a Stand on Iraq''

"A few weeks ago, I wrote about the most important vote on the Iraq War that Americans hadn't heard about (thanks to the media, the GOP and certain factions of the Democratic Party). It was a vote in the House on a simple non-binding resolution that would ask the President to submit at least some details of an eventual exit strategy from Iraq. The resolution, supported by a gutsy group of Democrats and a few Republicans, tried to honor the War Powers Act of 1973 (specifically, section 4b). Unfortunately, it was voted down by both Republicans and Democrats.

Now, though, with a new poll showing almost 60 percent of Americans favor a withdrawal, more Democrats are springing into action. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), for instance, courageously announced that he will be introducing a Senate resolution that is almost the exact same resolution that was voted down in the House. Meanwhile, House Democrats - ALL of them - will have another shot at actually standing up for something now that Republican Rep. Walter Jones (NC) has said he will be re-introducing a similar resolution."-David Sirota, on The Huffington Post. The post doesn't quite live up to its headline.

''Mara Liasson gives 'em hell for Howard''

If, like me, you thought Mara wasn't capable of this---check it out: "Mara Liasson, the lone progressive on the "All-star" panel on Special Report 6/13/05, was in rare form as she defended Howard Dean against conservatives Fred Barnes, Bill Sammon, and Brit Hume."-from the post on News Hounds, where their motto is "We watch FOX so you don't have to."

''Democrats, don't put muzzle on Dean''

"Instead of muzzling Howard Dean, Democrats should give him a bullhorn. Rather than urging him to retreat from his attack on Republicans, party leaders ought to send him off to a political war college - preferably the one the late GOP strategist Lee Atwater attended. As chairman of the Democratic Party, which is teetering between political renewal and functional extinction, Dean should be making war, not peace. But that's exactly what his critics within the party seemed to be suggesting last week when they admonished him for his tough talk about Republicans. Americans, for the most part, love politicians who fight for what they believe - and they abhor political wimps. Dean is a fighter, albeit one who needs to learn that in an ideological spat, a well-placed jab often can do more damage than a barrage of roundhouse punches. But he can't learn that lesson if Democrats won't let him take the fight to the GOP."-from the op-ed by DeWayne Wickham, and this is the surprising part, who writes weekly for USA TODAY.

''Why are the Democrats such weenies?''

Jon Carrol, a columnist who writes for the San Francisco Chronicle, poses this rhetorical question and then comments, "Howard Dean makes the unremarkable statement that the GOP is the party of white Christians, and other Democrats run and flee and say, "Oh no, oh no!" And a Republican yahoo accuses Dean of "political hate speech." Neither "white" nor "Christian" is an epithet. A glance at the videotape from last year's Republican convention indicates that both characterizations are entirely fair.

And yet some Democrats think Dean is being too confrontational. We should be nice to the lying liars or people will think we're, gasp, partisan. "Partisan" is a good thing; it's what the Founding Fathers had in mind. The problem comes when one party stays very partisan and the other party starts modifying and mollifying and trying to find some mythical friendly center. I loved Mister Rogers, but I never thought he'd make a good chairman of the Democratic Party. Be not afraid, Democrats. This is not an occasion in which the meek will inherit the earth. Speak for the people, because the people need you to end the madness."

''Dean's Secret Fans''

"...there's little talk of ousting Dean, whose support is stronger than ever among the Democrats who were largely responsible for putting him there in February. That includes state party chairmen from conservative parts of the country. "He's doing an excellent job," says Wayne Dowdy, party chairman in Mississippi, where, he says, a Dean appearance in April drew 1,200 people ("We've never had half that number before at a state party event") and raised more than $100,000. State Democratic parties have complained for years about being ignored by the national operation in Washington. Since taking office, Dean has traveled to some two dozen states and has sent state groups nearly $1 million. In places like North Dakota, chairman David Strauss will be able to use a promised $84,000 to pay six months of salaries for an executive director and three other jobs. Still, Dean's manner has alienated some of the party's biggest donors, who grumble they can't even get their phone calls returned by the national party headquarters. Dean aides say he is doing fine for a year in which there's no presidential race, raising roughly $1 million a week so far. But that's less than half what the Republicans say they are bringing in this year."-from the story in TIME magazine. I post this so you will know what people in various waiting rooms across America are reading about Howard Dean this week.