...and spent a few months hanging around with friends in Iowa City, back when I was a kid. Thus, the recent flooding has been heavy on my mind...

It is extremely popular gambit at this blog to cite the fact that the purpose is to elect Dems, period, or go away.

But if you say that to enough voters, some of them will-- and when enough of them do, you lose elections.

Can Nader carry the burden of those sins forever-- the Dems' own version of the Clenis?

Or will progressive Dems actually use some of their growing cultural strength to, you know, change the culture?

Follow me under the fold, if you dare, for some anecdote along these lines.

For those of you who might dismiss the news that Cindy Sheehan may run against Nancy Pelosi in CA-08 as pipe-dreaming or whatever, please allow me to persuade you to change your mind about that.

Sheehan would be a formidable threat to Madam Speaker in this District.

Make the leap (cognitively as well as with your mouse) to consider the evidence.

Hi there! Having seen SiCKO early Friday afternoon, I was of course as moved and outraged as any true American should be by it.

And so when I found the following, I was plunged into confusion.

HMOs as people-based medicine? Shocking! Incredible!

What happened?

Follow me under the fold to consider the evidence.

Well, it happens to the best of us, so why not the humble 6-digit-UIDers like me. I go away for not two weeks, and... bye bye TU.

So sad. Too bad.

It got me to thinking, I've seen other mojo-fest diaries, and that means that chances are, I'm not alone in my predicament. It also means, ask, and ye might be given...

So follow me under the fold, and give, and receive!

Everyone's familiar with the Yellow Ribbon symbol. It has become a ubiquitous symbol of "supporting the troops," and by extension, supporting the war to which they've been condemned, and thence, supporting the infernal Administration that sent them there.

In a worthy attempt to do something about that situation ASAP, John Edwards has recently launched a campaign to "reclaim patriotism" by supporting the troops and calling for an end to the war. That's well and good, and I can support that. In fact, I just got the latest email update from the campaign. One of its latest graphics is a bumper sticker-type design, with the slogan on it... and a yellow ribbon.

(Note, the above link doesn't show that particular graphic, yet, you will note the abundance of lovely, lively yellow all over that site. As in-- that's right-- yellow ribbons.)

Ahh yes, the ubiquitous Yellow Ribbon. Follow me under the fold to consider it.

As some of you might know, I recently joined the ACLU, and have been delighted ever since, both with what they've mailed me, and to give them even more money.

Today, they invited me to join their "Safe and Free Campaign to Restore the Constitution." It seems right on the money to me-- and, I think savvy Dem candidates can interact with it to promote the issues of Republican power abuse, to win campaigns, and to repeal so much of the damaging legislation of Bu$hco and their rubber-stamp Congresses.

Follow me below the fold to consider the pitch, and maybe to do your bit.

A "tip jar" is merely a comment that you make in your own diary, right after you post it, with the title "Tip Jar" (or some creative version thereof).

Kossters prefer that you make one, as mentioned in the FAQ.

Follow me below the fold for some reasons why!

I know, I know; this likely isn't the place for such a diary, and I will be glad to delete it upon your insistent objections below. However, I need some research help, and Google isn't cutting it.

I'm hoping this will be an easy question for someone, who can pass along a reference or two (preferably web-based), and then I can delete this and we can all get on with our lives.

Please pardon our below-the-fold dust!

I just finally saw Guerilla News Network's American Blackout last night, and wow, what a knock-out!

I am ashamed to say I didn't know nearly as much as there was to know about the progressive-Dem Representative Cynthia McKinney(GA-04), (and hell yes! she represented!), and just how and why they made an... example out of her.

...and the Rethugs have the audacity to say they're worried about inadequate voter fraud prosecutions? Well, they really ought to be!

Follow me under the fold for more encouragement to SEE THIS FILM!

I have been inspired to participate at DKos for the first time in some time, by Troutfishing's extremely important diary on stopping a U.S. military attack on Iran before it starts! It offers lots of information on several Congressional resolutions designed to pre-empt "the Decider's" next war of choice, a war whose wheels are apparenlty already well in motion, a war whose consequences will be undoubtedly disastrous.

Please go read that diary here, and then make the leap for my example-by-deed of a minimal, but so very important, kind of action that may be taken alone and immediately.

Let us raise our voices now, before there are even more dead to mourn!

I've diaried on the topic a coupla times (here and here), and I've participated in other discussions. I've answered skeptics about evidence (here, for example), and I've asked a few questions myself. Questions I never seem to get answers to.

So please, and with much and pre-emptive respect, follow me under the fold, for my challenge to the anti-impeachment crowd.

I keep referring back to this in various threads, without citation, and it's useful and bothering me enough, I thought to:

a) look it up, and

b) blow a diary on it.

It also ties in nicely with my previous diary!

Without further ado...

Madam Speaker Nancy Pelosi has a lot to think about right now, and a huge task ahead of her: how to reverse course, so that we can undo the damage of several years' worth of Rethug misrule, and start to heal this nation and this world, bringing us back together as a country, and bringing our country back into polite international society, despite the many and varied sins of neoconservatism. Will they ever trust us again?

San Francisco voters, who are only some of Madam Speaker Pelosi's constituency, have a simple yet effective answer, which is to say, a brilliant idea on this very question, as they so often do.

IMPEACH!

With thanks to the Guardian (UK) for the tip...

We know the Rethugs have gone so far to the right, that they are hemorrhaging support from within their party to us. This is an important part of why we'll retake Congress next week.

But just how bad is the damage? The Guardian (UK)'s Kevin Anderson offers empirical evidence.

Follow me under the fold for some details...

This one's for Keith Olbermann, an inspiration to us all-- a real "profile in courage," a consummate teller of truth, and quite the showman.

It's also dedicated to each and every Kossak, out there telling the American people the truth.

What follows are some thoughts on the entertainment value of telling the plain old truth, from one of my all-time favorite truth-tellers, Woody Guthrie.

He left us here to sing these songs, after all...

It was a beautiful day, and I had just read through all of the voter guides...

My World War II veteran grandfather died late last week, compelling me and my brother to fly across the country for his funeral.

However, what my brother and I experienced on our cross-country return flight was, in a word, shocking.

Please follow me under the fold, and consider the state of Fortress America, in mid-October, 2006.