Although we of The Scallion are still officially on hiatus, we could not resist throwing in our two cents … again!

Today’s feature: recent political letters that Scallion staff members have sent to their local “representatives” … and, yes, we use the term loosely.

Until we return, please remember to check out this short list of fine sources for news stories almost surely absent from the nation's mainstream commercial media:

http://www.democracynow.org/
http://www.alternet.org/
http://www.truthout.org/
http://www.jimhightower.com/ and the weblog http://hightower.fmp.com/weblog.php
http://www.prwatch.org/ and its archives http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/index.html
http://gregpalast.com/
http://www.commondreams.org/
http://airamericaradio.com/

There are so many others we just don't have room to list!

If you read no other news, be sure to scan the headlines at Democracy Now! It's the best way for Real Americans (affectionately known as Unamericans) to defend themselves against Bush's pathologically compulsive bait-and-switch, closed-door politics of extreme hubris that, unfortunately, continue to thrive in 2005.

As always, for news with a giggle, try this "official" website: http://www.whitehouse.org/

Happy reading; keep the faith; and keep fighting -- this is our country, and it is up to each of us to save it ... and to rescue the embattled majority of average working class folks from the tyranny of the privileged minority of super-rich elitists.

America desperately needs health care reform, but not the way the fascists are doing it.

The government MUST make the needs and the health of the American people its top priority -- not the greed and the bottom line of big insurance, big medicine, big pharm, big meat and dairy farming, and the other right-wing-friendly industries. The "food pyramid" was NEVER scientifically proven to improve Americans’ health; rather, it was a sales ploy to sell Americans more grain products. READ “The China Study” by T. Colin Campbell: this book understands that a raw, whole plant-based diet is best for human health, and it backs up that fact with a plethora of hard science. Our government is sworn to protect the nation against all threats internal and external, so it is the government’s responsibility to SPREAD THE WORD about the UNDERLYING CAUSES of heart disease, cancer, auto-immune disease, diabetes, and obesity: the standard American high-fat, low-fiber diet full of meat, dairy, and processed junk foods.

Taking this simple step would slash our now-skyrocketing health care costs.

It is time for the American people and their government to take their fascist industries in hand and hold them accountable for every time they bit the hand of the population that feeds them.

Editor's note: we think the reference to George W. Bush as "a common thug with uncommon power" is a nice, distinct touch.

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George W. Bush lied America into an illegal, immoral, imperial invasion of Iraq that serves only fascist purposes. He has caused the deaths of -- by the Pentagon's count -- over 9,000 American military service people and well over 100,000 Iraqi civilian deaths because of his greed and his power-hungry lies.

George W. Bush has blood on his hands -- more blood than Saddam Hussein or Osama bin Laden ever did combined ... not only because of his self-serving invasion but because of every one of his ill-conceived anti-American, anti-worker policies, laws, and tax-breaks for the wealthy and the greedy, bloated, corrupt corporations. George W. Bush is the terrorist here. George W. Bush is the one who clearly hates America. He has consistently and tirelessly worked to dismantle and destroy this nation and its democracy.

Americans know that George W. Bush has recklessly, wantonly thrown our military into harm's way without even the common decency to provide fair pay, proper equipment, or minimal veterans' benefits. The least he can do is *pretend* he gives a damn by listening to what Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a fallen soldier, has to ask and tell him.

Perhaps drug and alcohol addiction have addled George W. Bush's mind to the point that he no longer remembers his youth, but he did in fact suffer a close loss in his family when his younger sister, Robin, died. If he could step back into those feelings of loss and share this tragic, human experience with Ms. Sheehan, it would only do him good ... not just personally, but it would also benefit his image.

Come on, Mr. Bush -- prove to America and the world that you are not an inhuman, bloodthirsty ruffian and monster. Prove to us that you are more than a common thug with uncommon power. Show us that you have the modicum of a heart and an iota of common decency after all.

The right-wing extremists have bought their way into power and are now running America into the ground, carving this country up like a gigantic carcass and doling out huge chunks to their corporate special interest cronies. This junta has shown time and again that it is thoroughly devoid of scruples, ethics, and morals. The members have proven themselves willing to lie the nation into an illicit war, to commit treason when the truth doesn’t square with their agenda, and to hand over control of regulatory bodies to the very corporations that most need outside, objective regulation. Furthermore, they are quickly eroding the boundaries between church and state, eliminating civil rights and social justice, eschewing science in regulation and public education while substituting lies and voodoo in its place, and mortgaging the nation’s and the planet’s futures to pad their and their corporate cronies’ pockets today.

What we have here, gentlemen, is a fascist regime that is frighteningly similar to Hitler’s Germany -- before Hitler got around to killing Jews, that is. Americans and Germans alike watched Hitler inundate the nation in a fervor of “patriotism,” pro-corporate and anti-citizen fascism, and religious and racial intolerance -- intolerance that soon proved deadly to Jews and other targets of the Third Reich. And we all know how Hitler’s Germany met its end, don’t we? Freedom-loving America itself helped bring about Hitler’s downfall. If you care to read your history books, you will see that NO fascist regime lasts very long -- certainly, none of them has lasted as long as our now-beleaguered democracy, which is now, I fear, on its last legs.

Why wait until the right-wing fascist extremists get around to exterminating masses of the population? Why wait until they wreak one more iota of death and destruction in their greed and imperialism? Why wait until they have established an American Taliban in their own image and likeness? Why not stop them in their tracks RIGHT NOW? In fact, gentlemen, this is precisely what you must do unless you want to be remembered as fascists no better than Hitler and Mussolini. STOP the corporations from devouring the working classes and purchasing politicians to serve big-money interests at the people’s expense. STOP the corporate corruption of industry and government. STOP the deadly imperialism that spawns terrorism and world-wide anti-Americanism. STOP the destruction of America as we once knew it, with firm boundaries between church and state, civil liberties for all, and economic opportunities for every individual willing to work hard. STOP George W. Bush from wreaking irreversible damage to this nation and its fondest beliefs and tenets: STOP him from adding right-wing extreme judges with political, ideological agendas to the Supreme Court.

Remember: you not only have the power, but you have the RESPONSIBILITY to ensure that the Supreme Court is staffed with judges who represent ALL of the American people -- not just one dangerous extreme or the other.

Friday, 29 July 2005


The Honorable Arlen Specter, Chairman
The Honorable Patrick Leahy, Ranking Minority Member
United States Senate
Committee on the Judiciary
224 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary:


I have several questions for Mr. Roberts.

1. Do you support Americans' right to privacy?

2. Do you support Americans' right to self-determination?

3. Do you support Americans' civil liberties?

4. Do you feel that fascism is unAmerican, or do you support corporate greed over the needs of the American people?

5. Do you support the institution of an American Taliban?

6. Do you believe that morality can be legislated (e.g., by forcing school prayer or denying access to birth control)?

7. Do you believe that all human persons were created equal, or do you believe that white males deserve more privileges than other humans?

8. Do you believe that “right” and “wrong” depend only on political and/or monetary ambitions?

9. If you plan to overturn Roe v Wade, what alternative do you plan to offer women to prevent them from having unwanted pregnancies, and what penalty will you impose on men for creating unwanted pregnancies?

10. If you plan to overturn Roe v Wade because you believe in the sanctity of life (rather than the oppression of women), will you also condemn Mr. Bush for starting an illegal invasion of Iraq--an invasion that was founded on lies and that has cost over 100,000 innocent lives? If you believe in the sanctity of life, will you condemn the corporations that kill millions of people worldwide through negligence, pollution, unfair trade practices, and crime?

11. Do you believe that it is morally acceptable for Americans to profit by exploiting non-Americans to the point of near slavery?

12. Do you believe in sovereignty: of the individual? Of a nation (America or otherwise)?

13. Do you support the Constitution, and will you uphold it and protest its abuse, even if said abusers are your political allies?

14. Do you believe that quality of life matters, or do you care only about quantity?

15. Do unborn babies matter more to you than the people who already live on this planet? If so, then do you care about babies who are born to parents who cannot provide a decent quality of life, or is the child simply an abstract concept to you?

16. Do you believe that each American child deserves an equal opportunity for success: a chance to create his or her own wealth and improve his or her economic condition?

17. Do you believe that loyalty to the tenant of the Oval Office can constitute treason--in your opinion, does loyalty to one’s political friends overrule true justice?

18. Will you support separation of church and state? If so, will you remove “In God We Trust” from our money and the reference to “God” in the Pledge of Allegiance; will you disband faith-based initiatives, all of which are blatant violations of the Constitution of the United States of America?

I await Mr. Roberts’s answers to each of these questions. If he can answer them as a true American with true Christian morals, then I will be proud to have him serve our nation on its Supreme Court.

America's working classes contribute 90% of America's wealth. Sadly, America's most industrious citizens are left to reap 10% or less of the wealth they create. Why? Because of the extremely unAmerican new world order of fascism promoted by Republicans to serve the whims and desires -- not the survival needs -- of the rich and powerful at the expense of ensuring basic welfare and dignity for those who work long hours, often at multiple jobs, every day for a living.

One example of the growing fascist money lust is the Republican Congress's intention to abolish the estate tax. Just like all the other tax cuts for the wealthy, abolishing the estate tax removes the burden from those who can best afford it and saddles it squarely on the backs of those who can least afford it -- those who would be pushed over the edge and rendered unable to survive. But you rich white Republicans in Congress don't see those deaths, do you, so you just deny they ever happen, right? There is blood on your hands, people -- lots of it. American, Iraqi, Afghan, Chinese, Indonesian, African -- every nation around the world that has been victimized by American economic malpractice has given up its victims' blood. And you, our provincial, ivory-tower Senators, are up to your delicate white elbows in it. You are willing to risk the security and welfare not only of the nation but of the entire planet just so you and your corporate cronies can make a quick buck at someone else’s expense. Your wanton negligence and greed are too repulsive for words.

Congress should be ashamed of itself for even considering abolishing the estate tax. Just because you and your families have climbed the economic ladder does not give you the right to cut it off to keep the next hard-working person who needs a fair break from climbing up after you. It is time for all of Mr. Bush's tax cuts for the rich to be repealed, along with all the tax breaks and loopholes for the greedy corporations. Just remember: the rich and powerful, along with the greedy corporations, NEED America's working classes alive, well, and intact -- otherwise, who will buy all those wonderful overpriced goods and services produced by outsourced sweatshop labor?

Editor's note: this message was sent to NARAL rather than our government. Please refer to this web site's disclaimer before reading the letter below.

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American women's civil rights to birth control, abortion, sex education, and other facets of reproductive health are clearly under attack by the right wing.

Equally clearly, American women must take control of the situation -- no government, no doctor, and no pharmacist has the right to tell us what to do with our bodies or to stop us from making our own decisions based on our own circumstances.

It is time for American women to take decisive action:

1. We as women must abstain from sex with those who would deny us our rights. Just get a vibrator and let all the right-wing men hyped up on recreational Viagra masturbate.

2. We as women must never permit our reproductive fate to rest any hands but our own -- not even our own doctors must be allowed to control us. Each of us must take control of her own reproductive fate and of her own body. We must rediscover the old ways of treating ourselves with herbs and substances from nature, just as American women used to do before men took over midwifery under the auspices of paternalistic "medicine." We must regain our knowledge of our bodies and our selves from Native Americans, Asian Indians, Chinese, and other women who have not allowed men to strip them of their knowledge and power.

3. We must spread these messages across the nation to every woman, and we must continue to boycott every pharmacy, advertiser, and politician that stands in our way.

Please make this NARAL’s official policy and spread the word!

America was founded on many ideals, including

- the right to a swift, fair trial by one's peers
- the right to humane treatment -- the right not to be tortured or molested -- while in prison
- the presumption of innocence, placing the burden of proof on the prosecution rather than the accused.

Increasingly over the past 20 years, I have watched our democracy devolve into a fascist regime that preys upon the poor, the weak, and the working classes. That is bad -- and unAmerican -- enough. When we sink to the depths of the very governments we accuse -- Iraq, China, North Korea, Russia, and so forth -- by holding presumably innocent people captive indefinitely, without access to lawyers or trials, and by conducting torture ourselves or by exporting our prisoners to other nations to be tortured, there are no words to describe the disgust and the shame I feel to be an American.

This is not a free or just nation. In truth, it never was; however, with the Bush junta at the helm, it has debauched itself beyond all recognition. America is now a rogue state, the single greatest threat to peace, freedom, and even life itself on the planet. It is an abomination of every ideal ever held dear by any American.

And, so far, Congress has just sit back and watched it all happen ... which sends a clear message to everyone around the world that the rich and powerful in our government are perfectly satisfied to strip others of their civil and human rights at will -- at the whim of a would-be dictator.

You people should be ashamed of yourselves. Heaven knows I'm ashamed for you. There is nothing you can possibly do to atone for the crimes you have committed and the deaths you have caused by your greed and your negligence. All I can do is hope that reading these words of truth will wake you up -- snap you back into reality so that you can stop the evil cancer from spreading even farther and taking more innocent victims with it.

If George W. Bush continues to insist on abdicating responsibility, then it is up to Congress to be the check-and-balance it was conceived to be. Insist on upholding the Geneva conventions, even if it means extending the benefit of the doubt to prisoners. Insist that detainees receive swift fair trials and access to attorneys. Insist that prisoners are treated humanely and that they are not "rendered" out of the country to be mistreated and/or killed. Stop the torture NOW.

John Roberts has already proven himself opposed to the values of equality, fairness, and environmental stewardship that America holds dear as a nation.

Working for mining companies, Roberts opposed clean air rules and worked to help coal companies strip-mine mountaintops. He worked with Ken Starr to keep Congress from defending the Voting Rights Act; he also overruled democracy by paving the way for Jeb Bush to allow his brother to be named President in 2000 when recounts, if completed, could have named Gore. He wrote that Roe v. Wade should be "overruled"; as a lawyer, he argued (and won) the case that stopped some doctors from even discussing abortion. He has also written "friend of the court" briefs opposing affirmative action.

Get the picture? If not, let me be more concise: Roberts is a right-wing ideologue who clearly prefers pandering to corporate greed at the expense of the environment we all must live in. He opposes protecting the rights of Americans to equal treatment and self-determination. And, since he supports limiting the casting and counting of votes, it stand to reason that he opposes the democratic process itself -- clearly, he does not believe that the American people can be trusted to select the leaders ultimately sworn to represent them.

That's why I'm writing you to ask that you oppose Judge John Roberts' nomination. We can't afford to have a right-wing ideologue on our nation's highest court.

The purpose of government is to protect the nation from all threats, internal or external. Sadly, the Bush administration has forgotten this purpose, along with the vows its members took before assuming office. Instead of a democracy that represents all Americans, we have a fascist junta -- a regime has eagerly been selling out the nation to the highest bidder since its benighted inception. The fascist Bush junta’s key domestic wet dream is to eliminate private debt and transform it into a crushing public burden that destroys the welfare and livelihood of America’s working classes. For a few thousand dollars of campaign contributions to a Republican, any willing corporation can be assured of millions, if not billions, of dollars returned on its investment in the form of repealed taxes, regulations, fees, and legal obligations to the American public. Yet this is the very public for which the government ostensibly stands.

Carving America up and doling it out to the corporations is unAmerican. Devouring the poor so that the rich can amass even more ill-gotten wealth is unAmerican. Trashing the environment for all future generations just so that greedy energy corporations can further pad their wallets in the extremely short term is unAmerican. Yet this is exactly what the Bush junta and its supporters do every day in office -- what used to be disdained as fascism is now standard operating procedure, and the maimings, chronic illnesses, and deaths of countless Americans is dismissed as the cost of doing business.

It is high time that the fascist Republicans realized that people -- including themselves and their own friends, families, and loved ones -- matter more than the dollar, Almighty as it is. Health is truly wealth, and it is high time that the Republicans stopped sacrificing our health for their own illicit, myopic wealth.

Karl Rove must be punished for his crimes, but he’s not the only evildoer here. George W. Bush and the rest of his benighted, evil junta richly deserve to be humiliated and punished for the totality of their many crimes against the people of America and the world. George W. Bush and his junta treat justice like a commodity to be bought and sold among those of wealth and influence, not a right of all people every where. If you are rich, then, under Bush's justice, you get to do whatever you want all the time, regardless of whether your actions hurt or kill other people. If you are poor, then, under Bush's justice, you may be injured or killed at will by the wealthy and thrown into jail and/or executed -- you may even be disappeared to Guantanamo Bay or “rendered” to a foreign prison where you will be tortured … with no recourse to the system of law. Why? Because the Bush junta believes it is above the law. Laws are only for the poor and powerless, not for Bush and his corporate cronies.

Case in point: Karl Rove has endangered America. He has committed the felony of high treason by exposing the identity of a CIA operative, and he has recklessly and wantonly risked her life and the lives of those with whom she worked making America safer from WMD. Karl Rove has made America less safe, and the White House has proven time and again that it approves of Mr. Rove’s reprehensible actions.

It is time to hold Bush, Rove, and the rest of the junta accountable for their misdeeds. Nothing less than our democracy is at stake here! It is time for the American media of all stripes to wake up and realize that the fate of this and other nations is in their hands. It is time for the American media to speak the truth to power, to hold power accountable, and to do their fundamental job of being the watchdog for the American public.

All people deserve justice. It is not a commodity to be bought and sold among the rich. Yet that is how George W. Bush and his junta treat it. If you are rich, then, under Bush's justice, you get to do whatever you want all the time, regardless of whether your actions hurt or kill other people. If you are poor, then, under Bush's justice, you may be injured or killed at will by the wealthy and thrown into jail and/or executed -- you may even be disappeared to Guantanamo Bay, where you will be tortured and will be permitted no recourse to the system of law. Why? Because the Bush junta believes it is above the law. Laws are only for the poor and powerless, not for Bush and his corporate cronies.

Given that this indeed is how America stands today, it is easy to imagine what sort of nominee George Bush will offer for the Supreme Court: one that will serve the fondest wishes of the Bush junta, and the devil take the hindmost. But that is not one of the principles on which America was founded: no, our once great land was founded on the principle of liberty and justice for all.

Please do your part to ensure the Supreme Court lives up to that principle: refuse to approve any candidate who is not willing to defend the Constitution and the rights of ALL Americans.

America's economic and military imperialism will come back to bite us sooner or later.

Instead of using our resources and our people's generosity to make the world a better place foe everyone -- a pursuit that benefits us more than imperialism -- for decades, our government has instead chosen to pander to the corporations that now own and operate this nation and many others by enslaving working classes at home and abroad.

This must stop.

NAFTA, CAFTA, and other such "free trade" agreements are neither free nor fair for the countries America imposes them on. Like our predatory global lending practices that suck money from health, education, and other worthy social programs, these agreements enrich a handful of the already-rich at the increasing expense of the middle classes and poor, thus causing poverty, unemployment, and underemployment to skyrocket.

When is America finally going to realize that it is not the only nation on the planet and that the inhabitants of other nations are worthy, intelligent human beings entitled to respect, not exploitation?

Editor's note: more recent information suggests that Judith Miller herself may have instigated the leak of Valerie Plame's role as an undercover CIA operative to Robert Novak. In that case, she has committed treason and deserves to be thrown under the jail for the rest of her natural life.

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Judith Miller deserves to get her butt kicked, but only for her dastardly role in selling George W. Bush's lies to incite invading Iraq to the American people -- not for having been a witness to White House leaks of Valerie Plame's identity as a CIA operative.

The "journalist" who deserves to be thrown behind bars -- or preferably executed for his crime of high treason -- is Robert Novak, who deliberately leaked to an unsuspecting public the information that was criminally given to him.

In the case of Valerie Plame, journalists should not be shielded when they are complicit in high crimes, like treasonously exposing the identity of a CIA operative. They should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and so should their sources. But whistleblowers and serious investigative journalists protect our democracy at its most vulnerable. These brave Americans are NOT committing or condoning crimes; rather, they put their lives and reputations on the line as they expose and prevent crimes against the people. Whistleblowers and serious investigative journalists therefore deserve, and indeed merit, full protection under state and federal law from prosecution, persecution, and/or backlash of any nature.

At best, therefore, I support legislation that protects only those journalists who defend our democracy, not those who defend criminals, spies, and enemies of the state; journalists who are guilty of committing and condoning crimes deserve to be hung out to dry. But I realize that it's not a perfect world. Therefore, the least you can and should do is to support S. 340 and H.R. 581.

Senator Durbin:

Historically, you have been such a powerful force for good -- for speaking truth to illegitimate power -- that it pains me beyond words to express my disappointment in you for caving in to Republican pressure to apologize regarding your only-too-accurate assessment of American torture of Middle-Eastern detainees.

There is no contention over the sad fact that our own countrymen and women are torturing detainees and prisoners. This has been widely reported and acknowledged not only by the corporate American media by even by the current White House regime that seeks to legitimize such barbarous, savage, uncivilized, un-American behavior -- behavior that goes against every value Americans (except for the fascists, imperialists, and neo-cons) hold dear. This begs the question: which behavior *should* be condemned and apologized for -- conducting the torture or the timely criticism of that torture?

Why do the Democrats and progressives in this United States Congress crumble every time a sanctimonious, duplicitous Republican such as Mr. Frist or Mr. Santorum rail against the truth? Where is the Democratic party’s -- or even your own personal -- backbone? Why is Tom DeLay still in office? Why has the Democratic minority not held Mr. Rumsfeld accountable and forced him to resign? Why hasn’t Mr. Bush been impeached -- or prosecuted for election fraud and war crimes? Why hasn’t the White House official who outted Valerie Plame been brought to justice yet?

Meanwhile, as Republicans get away with rape, murder, and pillage on a global scale, weak politicians like you spend your time meekly apologizing for speaking the truth by calling the torture of captives un-American. Instead of apologizing for being right, you should be fighting tooth and nail against the evil that has taken over our democracy. No wonder Democrats can’t get themselves elected!

What you have done by apologizing -- by playing into Karl Rove’s game of attacking the critics rather than the crime -- is to legitimize the torture by devaluing yourself as its critic. Your constituents, your nation, and, indeed, the hapless, innocent victims themselves demand and deserve better of you.

Please stick to your guns next time -- don't sacrifice your principles to the Republicans as you defend our country from all threats external or internal.

CPB's mission is to be the firewall between the government and public broadcasting. Inserting partisan bias -- and removing funding -- is NOT the way to preserve this firewall!

Yet inserting right-wing bias (and removing CPB’s funding) seems to be exactly what Kenneth Tomlinson seems hell-bent on doing. Why? Maybe because his delicate ears can't handle the ugly but undeniable truth that right-wing policies -- like globalization, empire, endless war, and ecological devastation -- DO HURT AMERICAN FAMILIES EVERY DAY. So, rather than making life better for all Americans by working to change harmful policies, it seems like Mr. Tomlinson would rather shoot the messenger and replace it with one that tells LIES THAT SERVE RIGHT-WING EXTREME PARTY LINES. He has proven his intentions by, among other things, secretly using OUR TAX MONEY to fund a right-wing "researcher" to describe Republican Senators who disagree with Bush as "liberal."

In short, Kenneth Tomlinson must be STOPPED.

It's true that public broadcasting isn't perfect. God knows that PBS and NPR failed to host the national debate on WHETHER we should invade Iraq; instead, they satisfied themselves with debating WHEN we would. It's true that Jim McNeil failed to tell his viewers that his guest from a right-wing think tank was indeed that -- funded exclusively by the right wing.

But God also knows that PBS is the best we've got -- the only alternative Americans have to commercial-laden media that serve only the corporate-run state.

The truth of the matter is that Americans need MORE voices on public broadcasting. If right-wing-friendly Wall Street programs can be funded by CPB, then why can't "Democracy Now!" -- which offers true investigative journalism -- also be funded? Where (aside from the ever-charming Tavis Smiley) are the Black voices? The Latinos? Native Americans? White and minority women? What about youth voices and voices of those Americans who have perfectly valid opinions and views but no million dollars laying around to buy air time to voice them?

It’s time for American public media to represent ALL Americans, not just the right-wing extremists … and certainly not Kenneth Tomlinson. Please do the right thing by the American public: appoint a Chair and a President for CPB who will serve the interests of the American public, not just the nation’s tiniest, wealthiest minority. Those folks have Faux News; save CPB and PBS for the rest of us. We need it!

Everything about American health care is broken from the training doctors receive to the appalling profits made by the insurance industry at the expense of the insured to the heinous amounts of overpriced prescription drugs Americans take every year.

Several things about American health care must change for the system to become viable:

1. Doctors must be trained to treat underlying causes of disease rather than simply to push pills to mask one set of symptoms with another.

2. The health insurance industry must be investigated for corruption and overhauled to put patients' needs ahead of bottom line profit.

3. Big pharm must be kicked out of bed with the government. Instead of spending taxpayer dollars to develop more and more overpriced drugs, our money must be spent training doctors and the public to understand the causes of diseases and how to prevent them.

These are not simple fixes, but they are necessary -- and enacting them will greatly improve the quality and length of life for all Americans. Even you.

Americans pay into Social Security at a rate of 6.2% OR a $5,580 cap, whichever is LESS.

This means that highly paid professionals (e.g., IT professionals) making over $90k/year pay a SMALLER percentage of their salaries per year than police officers, teachers, waiters/waitresses, cab drivers, and other equally hard-working Americans.

It also means that CEOs who make $1M per year (and we all know that most CEOs make HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS per year) ONLY PAY 0.56% of their salaries -- in other words, HALF OF ONE PERCENT compared to the 6.2% that most other Americans pay.

Applying the 6.2% tax rate to ALL Americans -- including, if not especially, those who have higher incomes and thus arguably can AFFORD it -- will pour hundreds of billions of dollars into Social Security EVERY YEAR.

Sounds like a great way to PUT OFF the CURRENTLY NON-EXISTENT SOCIAL SECURITY CRISIS to me.

Gambling Social Security on Wall Street -- which will only benefit stock brokers -- will do NOTHING TO PUT MONEY INTO THE SYSTEM. EVEN GEORGE W. BUSH ADMITS THAT!

It's time for Congress to represent ALL Americans -- don't privatize Social Security, and insist that ALL Americans pay their fair shares into it. KEEP SOCIAL SECURITY SECURE.

It was "a modern-day kidnapping in the service of a U.S.-backed coup d'etat" that removed Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide from power. Make no mistake: Aristide did not "step down" or "resign."

Aristide was more than willing to have early elections -- but that wasn't good enough for the convicted murderers and thugs who wanted to take over Haiti. It also wasn't good enough for France, Canada, or the U.S. -- who, coincidentally, is supplying the illegitimate Haitian "government" with arms and weapons, despite embargoes.

Why weren’t early elections good enough for the U.S.? Because -- clearly -- Aristide would have won those elections, just as he’s won the past two elections. Why? Aristide is a popular president who stands by the poor, working majority in Haiti rather than the middle class and rich minorities.

Clearly, a Haitian democracy that stands up for the poor violates every cherished principle of American fascism -- and it’s a damned inconvenience for American sweatshops that use Haitian labor. Especially when a brave and bold leader like Aristide steps up and demands that the minimum wage be raised from a pitiful 25 cents/hour to a paltry 50 cents/hour.

So, of course, the American government can’t have that -- can’t let those uppity Blacks in Haiti charge American corporations a few more pennies per hour for labor. So, of course, Aristide had to be taken out. And, of course, the only way to do it was to destroy Haiti’s hard-earned democracy -- and to hand the country over to the murderers, rapists, thieves, and thugs who currently have Haiti running like a well-oiled anarchy. All just so that American fat cats could stay just as fat today as they were yesterday. If that’s not worth killing off a few uppity Blacks in Haiti, what is, right?

America’s foreign “policy” -- including invading Iraq, which was clearly not a threat to American security until we invaded and set up a breeding ground for terrorists, and its treatment of Haiti and of Aristide -- makes me ashamed to be an American.

Not only is it time for the U.S. to step in and free Yvon Neptune, who is the rightful Prime Minister of Haiti, but it is also long overdue for the U.S. to, as Aristide says, “correct its mistake” and restore him to power.

It is time for this country to put aside its wet dreams of fascism and empire and join the civilized world.

Dear Representative:

First, let me thank you for everything you do to keep what's left of our democracy intact.

The article at this link offers a suggestion to continue along that vein: http://slate.msn.com/id/2117916/

The suggestion is to keep PBS public by weaning it off government funds. Right now, as the article says, this is the only way to block the Republican filibuster of our media. In other words, divesting government funds from PBS eliminates the government's ability to dictate PBS's message to the people. Imagine the result: one last bastion of truly independent American media -- where Buster the cartoon bunny will be free to visit a lesbian couple in Vermont, and broadcasters will be free to tell the truth because they will not be beholden to a fascist Uncle Sam or any of its mega-corporations.

Maybe the killing PBS as we know it really is the only way to save it.