Bush gets whopped upside head

Senate vote blocks effort to ban gay-marriage in constitution

Backers of a constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex marriages suffered a stinging defeat in the Senate today as opponents easily killed the initiative for the year in a procedural showdown

Kerry and Edwards, those champions of justice, showing great courage and resolve, abstained from voting.

However, the issue now moves to the individual states. Initiatives to outlaw same sex marriage are already on the ballot in several states, with others planned. So, while progressives just won a big victory, more battles are coming.

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How thoughtful of them

November elections won’t be delayed, official says

The Bushies sent up a trial balloon to test public response for “delaying” the election. It promptly got blown to pieces by politicians, activists, and commentators from every side of the political spectrum. Thus Bushies were forced to retreat ignominously from their little neo-fascist ploy. (And if “suspending” elections isn’t neo-fascist, then, tell me, what is?)

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Don’t let the Patriot Act win

More than a few people have told me they’re hesitant about going to demonstrations, and are nervous about expressing political opinions in email and phone calls. Why? Because they’re afraid they might be monitored or tracked.

However, as a national antiwar organizer replied when I mentioned this to him, then they’re letting the Patriot Act win. The point of the Patriot Act is to make people scared, to shut them up, to stifle dissent, so silence is precisely what they want.

Now, more than ever, this is the time to speak out, to get active, and to take risks. They win only if we are silent!

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Don’t believe the hype

The Iraq resistance is stiffening, not softening, as the Bush propaganda machine would have you believe. Witness this report from Ramadi, a regional capital in Iraq.

Ramadi. This may be the most dangerous city in Iraq.

Though battles in places such as Fallujah and Najaf have gotten far more attention, the Marine battalion in this provincial capital has encountered the most deadly combat fighting and logged the highest number of casualties of any U.S. battalion since the war in Iraq began.

In the past four months of fighting, the 2nd Battalion of the 4th Marine Regiment - nicknamed “The Magnificent Bastards” - has had 31 killed and 175 wounded, roughly 20% of its 1,000-man fighting strength.

In an interview a few weeks before his death, <Sgt. Kenneth> Conde described the rebels Marines fight in Ramadi. “They were young just like me. Fighting for something different, something I don’t understand, something they believe in,” he said. “And that’s the worst kind of enemy.”

In his mess hall remarks, <Maj. Gen. James Mattis> Mattis told Marines, “If we don’t hold the government center, if we don’t hold the provincial capital, the rest of the province goes to hell in a handbasket.”

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Cheney faces criminal indictments

From Capitol Hill Blue, not always the most reliable, but still…

Cheney faces criminal indictments for illegal activities while CEO of energy giant Halliburton and also illegally intervened to secure a $7 billion no-bid contract for his former employer after his election to office, an analysis by the White House counsel’s office concludes.

The Vice President is currently under investigation by French authorities for bribery, money laundering and misuse of corporate assets while at Halliburton and also faces a U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission probe of a $180 million “slush fund” that may have been used to pay bribes.

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