Ethics

Recently Lyndon's website has been getting a lot of junk requests. We have forms on our site where people can volunteer, ask for bumper stickers etc. But, recently I have been getting requests where people just put asdf into the tag line and link to a popup ad as their address. Obviously, this isnt a huge problem, but it has been annoying me. Does anyone know a quick and easy place to look up IP addresses. What these people failed to realize is that when they submit a false form I also am given their real IP address. I would just like to follow up with this and see who it is.

BTW- thi

In the spring of '96, before the Republican primaries began in earnest, Anne Richards (RIP) and others were aghast at Phil Gramm's ability to raise $20 million dollars. Projection for 2008...

You all know it, We’ve all heard it a thousand times. But yet it remains a important part of my creed!

“Greater love hath no man than he lay down his life for his Brother”

It has rung true in each war that has ever been fought upon the face of this planet! EXCEPT ONE!! Our current war in which we the progressive, moderate’s & conservative’s that swear allegiance to the or a form of Democratic Party are currently involved in.

I know exactly how close we all are here at Blue NC. I truly believe somewhere deep inside me that me ,Anglico, Lance, Robert & Momo probably comprendhend this they better than anyone else. But, I just want to take this a step father! Now, all of us here are very knowledgeable, some are grads, some under grads. SO at least that proves we are all smart.

ABC, whose parent company is Disney, plans to run a two-part "docudrama" about the events that led to the 9/11 attacks. The program claims to be culled from the 9/11 Commission Report though there's been an admission from ABC that facts have been dramatized and events compressed.

Advance copies of the program were sent to 900 people - right-wing bloggers, right-wing radio, and right-wing television folks for them to review. President Clinton, who is featured prominently and inaccurately in the film, was denied a copy. Scholastic, that educational supplies stalwart, planned to distribute study companions for "Path to 9/11" in our public schools.

The blogs have helped NC - I am hoping the favor will be returned, please pass this around the blogs and the net.

Does the TN Democratic Party ask for help and get ignored? Do they just not ask? Do they just want the rest of the Democrats in this country to ignore what seems to be the GOOD OLD BOY passage of politics - you know the keep your nose out of my back yard type of politics? Well I have some big news for the Democrats in TN, the 2006 elections aren't just about Tennessee! Democrats all over this country are working hard to put a democratic Senate and House in place. So, what is wrong in Tennessee, and especially in Harold Ford Jr's back yard - Memphis, Shelby County, West Tennessee?

As you may have heard, ABC is planning to run a piece of Karl Rove propaganda in prime time called "The Path to 9/11." It is part of the pre-election noise machine being orchestrated by the White House, designed to make Republicans look like they're actually sane human beings.

Truthout has the back story and diarist Yosef 52 has the call to action at Daily Kos.

The action is simple. Go here and let ABC know what you think of their role as collaborators in the imperial Bush presidency. And then contact your local ABC affiliate and let them know them know too. The specific request? Cancel the friggin' program nationally. And opt-out of the program locally.

Well. Tonight Democracy in North Carolina took a big hit. In a 4-1 decision the State Board of Elections decided that Art Pope was "within" the law.

I am not sure what went through the minds of the board members when they decided that "call out Richard Morgan" with "he voted with the Democrats and not Republicans" was not electioneering, but they have decided.

The one good man who voted against the dismissing of charges, Mr. Bob Cordle, said that Pope should have had to pay $18,000 in penalties. Lets stop and think. 300,000 mailers were sent out, but they should only have to pay 18,000 for the "cost of the ads".

As a back-sliding Baptist, I often find myself confronted by the passion of Theocrats who want to inject god into our state's public institutions. And not just on the fright wing fringe. There are plenty of people on all sides of the political spectrum who happily ground their political arguments in religious doctrine and dogma. This kind of thinking, for example, fully explains the NC legislature's recent decision to require the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools.

In recent months, I've been trying to frame a coherent response to the steady stream of claims that god is somehow on 'our' side because he (yes, he) had the ear of the founding fathers. Fortunately, that response has already been written by a person much more eloquent than I. His name is Paul Kurtz, and he has a thoughtful article on the website for Council for Secular Humanism. This is as complete a statement for keeping god out of government as I have ever seen. Consider this excerpt:

When I think about the many threats to the quality of our democracy, the growing influence of corporations in public policy always tops my list. Up until last fall, I naively assumed that influence was mostly contaminating national politics. But as my focus shifted to North Carolina and BlueNC, I have been stunned by the role corporate money plays in how our state government operates. On one hand, you have the Puppetmaster, illegally buying and selling elections with corporate money. And on the other hand, you have Chuck Taylor, running campaign commercials fully funded by the US Chamber of Commerce. And in between, you have a swirl of corporate contributions to politicians that is absolutely mind-boggling.

How did this happen? How did we allow our democracy to be hijacked by corporate interests? And what can we do about it?

Rob Christenson has a great piece in this morning's N&O. It's excellent, but a bit depressing. Don't take my word for it. Please go read it yourself.

Someone else might rip holes through it, but I thought he did a nice job of accurately assessing the legislature's attempts at reform. Among his points:

1. It's an election year and legislators had to look like they were addressing issues whether they wanted to or not.

2. There's a pay to play culture in Raleigh, but it was just as bad in the mid 90's when the Republicans were in power.

More below the fold...