Doris "Granny D" Haddock Hospitalized...

Doris "Granny D" Haddock, 95, is in a Lebanon, New Hampshire hospital. She has just undergone surgery to remove a tumor in her throat. The surgery is expected to debilitate her normal voice. Granny D says that despite the surgery she will find ways to continue to communicate her political message of reform and democracy. "Sometimes you speak loudest just by
standing there," remembering her several arrests in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda for standing up for the Bill of Rights and democratic reforms.

Send cards for the next few days to:

Doris Haddock,
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
1 Medical Center
Drive, Lebanon NH 03756

In the stretch... Howard Dean closing on Victory

"With Howard Dean as its next chair of the DNC, the party will have someone who not only understands change, but knows how to make it happen," says Donnie Fowler in withdrawing from the race.

That only leaves former Rep. Tim Roemer of Indiana, a centrist who has stated his personal opposition to a Woman's Right to Choose a safe and legal abortion.

"He gave the Democratic Party its swagger back," said Kathy Sullivan, chairwoman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, reminiscing about Dean's willingness to challenge President Bush. "He reminded them that they should not act like a beaten dog."

Nancy Pelosi, minority leader in the House, said, "I would think Gov. Dean would take his lead from us." She seemed to have forgotten that was what others had done in the past and that doing so led to total failure.

Let there be light...

Q: How many Bush Administration officials does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A: None. There is nothing wrong with the light bulb; its conditions are improving every day. Any reports of its lack of incandescence are a delusional spin from the liberal media. That light bulb has served honorably, and anything you say undermines the lighting effect. Why do you hate freedom?

Pulling the wool over your eyes...

Last night Bush stated, "we have... raised homeownership to the highest level in history," but, homeownership has gone up every year since they started measuring the statistic.

There are 300 million fewer jobs in America since Bush took office... despite the fact that last night he bragged, "in the last year alone, the United States has added 2.3 million new jobs."

"Cut the deficit in half by 2009..." except the budgets never contain any mention of funds for Iraq or Afghanistan.

And of course, 25% of the speech was devoted to trying to sell the concept of a Social Security Crisis. Visit ThinkProgress.org for a complete de-bunking of the entire speech in a blog that ran live while it was being deliverd last night. My favorite quote from the TP bloggers, "Conservatives have lost control of the Republican party. It’s being run by incompetent, corrupt children of privlege."

Yeeaarrgghh! Dean for DNC Chair

It looks like the Seabiscuit candidate is breaking into the lead as we round the final stretch to the Feb. 12 finish line. Yesterday, 53 new voting members of the DNC, including six entire state delegations, 12 state chairs, 12 vice-chairs - including Linda Honold, Chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, Tim Sullivan 1st Vice Chair and Stan Gruszynski, Wisconsin DNC Committeeman all endorsed Governor Dean for Chair of the DNC.

Can Volvo Democrats expand their base to include the Big Three automakers?
"We believe that Howard Dean will be a dynamic, innovative and effective leader for the DNC," says United Auto Workers (UAW) President Ron Gettelfinger on behalf of the 18-member UAW board in announcing a unanimous vote to endorse Dean. "Gov. Dean has proven his ability to bring new people into the Democratic Party and energize grassroots political activists in all parts of America."

Speaking to a DNC forum in New York over the past weekend, Dean is getting blasted by conservatives for raging, "I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for, but I admire their discipline and their organization."

Many of us can hardly wait the ten remaining days until the DNC vote confirms the possibility that we might once again have a Party with a mission. End this war... and dump anyone in 2006 who thinks we have an Empire to build.

Last night when Bush said in his speech that Social Security would be bankrupt by 2042, Democrats finally stood up and shouted just like in the House of Commons - "No, no, no." When he said he would listen to anyone who has a good idea to offer, a half-dozen Democrats stood and shouted, "Yeah!"

Today as many as 40 Senate Democrats may vote against confirming Alberto Gonzales. Last week, the greatest opposition to a nominee for secretary of state in 180 years was recorded when 12 Democrats voted against Condoleezza Rice.

I too hate Republicans and everything they stand for, especially when they count the loss of human life as collateral damage.

Picking Up Where the Rainbow Left Off

by Nick Jahr in The Nation
January 30, 2005
"Despite a snowfall that paralyzed the city, it would prove to be the largest gathering Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) had organized to date. From staunch Upper West Side Kerry supporters to veterans of the Dean and Kucinich campaigns to committed Greens to members of Code Pink and Rainbow/PUSH, the summit drew participants from across the progressive spectrum, all of them engaged by PDA's objective: organizing the grassroots to retake the Democratic Party, state by state." More...

Fowler 1, Dean 0

The former Vermont governor's candidacy to lead the DNC hits a snag
By VIVECA A. NOVAK/WASHINGTON
Sunday, Jan. 30, 2005
"A dent was knocked into the aura of inevitability surrounding Howard Dean's run to be the next Democratic Party chair Sunday afternoon when the executive committee of state party chairs voted to endorse Donnie Fowler rather than Dean." More...