I know, this is a tough decision.  

And a lot of my Equal-supporting friends here,  Equalizer, nutragurl and 2sweet4U, are going to be very disappointed with my decision.

But I just had to face reality.  As much as I love the "little blue packet"... the writing is on the wall.

Now, the story goes on to detail the abuses Sharen and Michael Gravelle are alleged to have done to their foster children.  But there is very little else detailed about this family.  But one minor detail did slip through, or was perhaps included by a savy reporter...

But in the area of public health, and HIV, the administration is more than divorced from reality - it appears as if Bush and Company have been granted an annulment.  

This was all too apparent at the recent 27th Quarterly Meeting of the President's Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. Among the 'money' quotes:  Gay and Lesbian rights lead to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and The Bible and Leviticus are the basis for sound Public Health policy.

More insanity follows ....

The 73-year-old Tutu is an Anglican archbishop who fought the racist, semi-fascist apartheid-based regime in South Africa through the 1970s, 1980s and up to the mid 1990s, when the country finally became a Democracy in a fairly bloodless revolution.

Tutu says Bush is not religious, and that, in fact, the US is growing to look like the semi-fascist state he spent most of his adult life opposing.

More below:

Medical professionals & teachers loved these things - they were so educational! The problem was, they didn't prevent kids from smoking.

The response was predictable - MORE detailed and information-packed pictures and diagrams.

You will perhaps recall the creepy "cutaway" drawing of a human body, in full color, showing how smoking damaged lungs, heart, brain and vascular system.

But even these efforts failed to motivate most youth to avoid smoking.

Finally, by the early 1990s, the field of "Social Marketing" began to mature, and medical professionals slowly realized that educating people with the facts was NOT enough- that crafting the message was more important than the message itself, at least in the eyes and ears of the people you were trying to reach.

It's a trick that Democrats and Progressives could stand to learn as well, because it is a potentially powerful tool to defeat the Karl Rove "Echo Chamber" and its grip on America.

In this process I have sometimes  been highly critical of those advocating centrism, and the DLC position.  This has occasionally led me to be abrasive as the rhetoric heated up - for this I feel I should apologize. [Though, to be fair to myself, I can safely say I am not alone here!]

As the debate and discussion has continued, I am now considering a revision of my position ... and, within a carefully thought-out context, I am at the point where I feel I can say "Centrism is GOOD for the Democratic Party."

Have I lost my mind?  More below the fold...

The debate is familiar - terms like `framing' and `populism' get thrown about a lot.  Ideas like `centrism' and `appealing to the base' are also frequently touted.

I'd like to add another concept, one that won't make a lot of people happy:

"class warfare."

Original Story Here

Well, the 2004 election isn't even officially over yet, but I'm ready to call the 2008 election:

More below the fold.

What we can all agree on - and what the RWCM is already reporting on fairly well - is that the GOP in various states is mounting a campaign to prevent full-count and re-count efforts.

A la Florida 2000, the repugs will be trying to push the "sore loser" meme.  But, this is actually a moment of great vulnerability for the repugs - and a moment of opportunity for the Dems and progressives, if we can just seize it effectively.

The question we must ask in unison, that we must have our leaders in the Democratic party ask, that our media advocates like MoveOn must push, and that we must have the MSM echo, is this:

"Why do the Republicans consistantly oppose a fair counting of the votes cast by American citizens?" Simple - they don't trust the system they themselves ran in their own districts.

"European and U.S. observers called the polls fraudulent --";

..incidents of violence and intimidation;

"The abuse of state resources in favor of the ..(incumbent) continued, as well as an overwhelming media bias in his favor."

And supporters take to the streets, while the oposition candidate refuses to concede until all votes are counted, fairly..

All this in the cradle of Democracy - Ukraine.

So what to do about this?  How can the gay community help advance the fight against the right, when some of our own are willing minions of the evil empire?

I have some ideas...

Much has been written about the Democrats passive response to the right-wing take-over of the US media, and the absolute failure of those of us on the progressive side to mount any response. This November 2 seems to have finally brought home to the DNC what many people have been saying for years: With the Rush/Faux domination of the corporate media, and with the right-wing domination of the public airways in general, the "Democratic" brand name has been eroded of value over the last 20+ years, especially in rural America.  

The ultimate goal is for progressives to take back some of this media, so that our message can get out, and to give us a tool to counter right-wing propaganda.  This is gonna take a lot of time, so why don't we start small:

Let's take back Labor Day, 2005.  We can start by work-shopping the initiative here at dKos:

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