Silicon Valley for Howard Dean

Casualty Report: The Truth

"I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts." - Abraham Lincoln

The first weapon used in war is propaganda and the first casualty is the truth.

Bush signed Executive Order 13233 that allows history in the form of executive branch records to virtually be kept hidden from the public by his single-handed suppression of White House documents.

Presidential records are the property of the United States government. The management, custody of, and access to, such records are public rights.

Executive Order 13233 threatens to undermine one of the very foundations of our nation, free and open access to information, the cornerstone our democracy. Not only does it challenge and abrogate existing statutory authority, it has the potential to seriously restrict the unfettered flow of information upon which our nation depends but is now bound by a line around the Oval Office.

Bush has used Executive Order 13233 to hide records from Nixon, Reagan and first Bush presidencies. Bush has in cabinet or senior level positions people that held cabinet or senior level positions in the Nixon, Reagan and first Bush presidencies including the Vice President.

Bush supports Cheney's refusal to release information about industry representatives who met with Cheney's secretive energy task force that produced the energy plan reads like a "wish list" for big energy companies, heavily promoting initiatives that would benefit the coal, nuclear, and oil and gas industries.

Bush blocked release of President Reagan’s white house papers as well as those of his father.

Bush has blocked access to his military records which record Bush’s failure to report to duty and failure to report to a disciplinary unit for his failure to report to duty.

Howard Dean has asked the President to tell the truth about 16 issues and Bush has not answered any of them.

1. Mr. President, beyond the NSC and CIA officials who have been identified, we need to know who else at the White House was involved in the decision to include the discredited uranium evidence in your speech, and, if they knew it was false, why did they permit it to be included in the State of the Union speech

2. Mr. President, we need to know why anyone in your Administration would have contemplated using the evidence in the State of the Union after George Tenet personally intervened in October 2002, to have the same evidence removed from the President's October 7th speech. (The Washington Post, Walter Pincus and Mike Allen, 7/13/2003)

3. Mr. President, we need to know why you claimed this very week that the CIA objected to the Niger uranium sentence "subsequent" to the State of the Union address, contradicting everything else we have heard from your administration and the intelligence community on the matter. (The Washington Post, Priest, Dana and Dana Milbank, 7/15/2003)

4. Mr. President, we urgently need an explanation about the very serious charge that senior officials in your Administration may have retaliated against Ambassador Joseph Wilson by illegally disclosing that his wife is an undercover CIA officer. (The Nation, Corn, David, 7/16/2003)

5. Mr. President, we need to know why your Administration persisted in using the intercepted aluminum tubes to show that Iraq was pursuing a nuclear program and why your National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice, claimed categorically that the tubes were "only really suited for nuclear weapons programs," when in fact our own government experts flatly rejected such claims. (CNN, 9/08/2002, Knight Ridder News Service, 10/04/2002)

6. Mr. President, we need to know why Secretary Rumsfeld created a secret intelligence unit at the Pentagon that selectively identified questionable intelligence to support the case for war including the supposed link to al-Qaeda while ignoring, burying or rejecting any evidence to the contrary. (New Yorker, Seymour Hersh, 5/12/03)

7. Mr. President, we need to know what the basis was for Secretary Rumsfeld's assertion that the US had bulletproof evidence linking Al Qaeda to Iraq, despite the fact that U.S. intelligence analysts have consistently agreed that Saddam did not have a "meaningful connection" to Al Qaeda. (NY Times, Schmitt, Eric, 9/28/2002, NY Times, Krugman, Paul, 7/15/2003)

8. Mr. President, we need to know why Vice President Cheney claimed last September to have "irrefutable evidence" that Saddam Hussein had reconstituted his nuclear weapons program, an assertion he repeated in March, on the eve of war. (AP, 9/20/2002, NBC 3/16/2003)

9. Mr. President, we need to know why Secretary Powell claimed with confidence and virtual certainty in February before the UN Security Council that, "Iraq today has a stockpile of between 100 and 500 tons of chemical weapons agent. That is enough agent to fill 16,000 battlefield rockets." (UN Address, 2/05/2003)

10. Mr. President, we need to know why Secretary Rumsfeld claimed on March 30th in reference to weapons of mass destruction, "We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat." (The Guardian, Whitaker, Brian and Rory McCarthy, 5/30/2003)

11. Mr. President, we need an explanation of the unconfirmed report that your Administration is dishonoring the life of a soldier who died in Iraq as a result of hostile action by misclassifying his death as an accident. (Time, Gibbs, Nancy and Mark Thompson, 7/13/2003)

12. Mr. President, we need to know why your Administration has never told the truth about the costs and long-term commitment of the war, has consistently downplayed what those would be, and now continues to try keep the projected costs hidden from the American people.

13. Mr. President, we need to know why you said on May 1, 2003 , that the war was over, when US troops have fought and one or two have died nearly every day since then and your generals have admitted that we are fighting a guerrilla war in Iraq. (Abizaid, Gen. John, 7/16/2003)

14. Mr. President, we need to know why your Administration had no plan to build the peace in post-war Iraq and seems to be resisting calls to include NATO, the United Nations and our allies in the stabilization and reconstruction effort.

15. Mr. President, we need to know what you were referring to in Poland on May 30, 2003, when you said, "For those who say we haven't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong. We found them." (The Washington Post, Mike Allen, 5/31/2003)

16. Mr. President, we need to know why you incorrectly claimed this very week that the war began because Iraq would not admit UN inspectors, when in fact Iraq had admitted the inspectors and you opposed extending their work. (The Washington Post, Priest, Dana and Dana Milbank, 7/15/2003)

Meetup at SJSU

What’s up!

I just wanted to make an announcement to let everyone know that the SJSU meetup will be held at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library (on the corner of 4th St. and San Fernando St. ) instead of the University Club. Meetup will be in the Lecture Room on the 2nd floor of the library.

This link provides address and directions:
http://www.sjlibrary.org/about/locations/king/index.htm

Parking is Free at the 4th St. Garage after 6 pm.

It’s Lost Jobs, Stupid

Four words that galvanized and focused the Clinton 1992 campaign; “It’s the economy, stupid.” This time it just might be about the devastating consequences of lost jobs.

This is about more than the 3 million jobs lost since Bush took office. It is also about another 3 million people that have dropped below the poverty line is the last two years. It is about the steady fall of median household income.

It is about people who have jobs but their hours have been reduced. It is about the millions who have become so discouraged they have dropped out of the labor market. It is about 4.5 million people who have had to accept part-time work because they can not find full-time work.

It is about truly desperate people who have been out of work for six months or more.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics unemployment rate of 6.1 percent just doesn’t cut it when comes to describing the plight of so many Americans.

American families work hard to pay their mortgage, save for college education for their children, while being confronted with sharply rising state and local taxes due to cuts in programs by the Bush administration, rising health care costs, and soaring tuition costs. To cope families are increasingly in debt and on the jagged edge financially.

Bush has squandered the strongest economy and largest budget surplus in history, the legacy of the sound fiscal policy of Bill Clinton. Workers 401(k) savings plans have lost trillions of dollars in value while Bush tax cuts provide a few hundred dollars for middle class taxpayers. Currently the economy is in a “jobless recovery” where the Gross Domestic Product, GDP, is starting to rise but without providing new jobs.

The Bush administration has produced the worst economic record since the Great Depression.

Howard Dean promises to return America to a sound fiscal policy, the starting condition for restoring the economy and creating jobs.

Howard Dean supports investment in small businesses. Small businesses create more jobs than large businesses do, and they don't move their jobs offshore e they're rooted in their community.

Howard Dean will seek investment in renewable energy because America ought to stop sending our energy money to the Middle East where it's used to fund terrorism.

Howard Dean’s foreign trade policy will not sacrifice the jobs of middle-class Americans in order to pad the bottom lines of multinational corporations. Trade has to be fair to workers, not just multinational corporations.

He says, "I want to include human rights with trade as Jimmy Carter included human rights with foreign policy." It is by raising wages and labor standards abroad that less developed nations will be strengthened by developing a middle class, just as the trade union movement helped America develop a middle class.

In Vermont, Howard Dean supported something called a living wage. That means not only do they hike the minimum wage above federal level, they subsidized child care for workers earning up to $39,000 a year. Everybody earning under $55,000 a year had health care for their kids under 18. Vermonters have an affordable housing program.

If you want to stop the erosion of the middle class in America, then we are going to have to do something to support the middle class while they are working, because President Bush certainly isn't doing that nor will he.

It is time for all of us to make a small investment to restore America to prosperity. Howard Dean says that two million $100 donations equal George Bush out of office. Please join me and make a donation.

Drive for Democracy

Reposted from National Blog

Drive for Democracy
Today, we're starting the Drive for Democracy.

We're going coast to coast, tacking across the country -- from San Francisco to Vegas by way of Sacramento, from Flagstaff to Crawford, TX by way of New Orleans, and from Dallas to Orlando by way of Des Moines -- to join you in the groundwork of the greatest grassroots campaign of the modern era.

We're hoping to meet with as many of you as possible, to write about you, to talk about the campaign goals of Iowa, NH, pledging to vote locally and raising $2 million dollars $100 dollars at a time and to learn about the hundreds of different organizations you all are building in the best tradition of democracy -- with local control, imagination, and determination.

The Drive begins today, October 27th, the day the first Federalist papers were distributed (and just one day before October 28th, when the Statue of Liberty was unveiled in the 1880's).

Today's agenda was completely planned by the deeply democratic LAforDean. Starting with an Airstream decorating party this afternoon, we'll be driving around to talk to the striking grocery store workers around LA. (The Union endorsements are invigorating here as elsewhere, and LA4Dean has been supporting and meeting with local strikers since the strikes began.)

Tonight, if you're in the area, join us at the Cat & Fiddle for the kick off party with lots of LAforDean stories. Tomorrow we're off to Santa Barbara first thing for some midday farmer's market flyering, and then will be crossing paths with Governor Dean at the San Francisco rally on Wednesday.

Finally, you can't be in LA without thinking constantly about the fires and the people affected by them. The air is white with ash, and the smoke leaves a strong stench. We keep hearing about more people getting evacuated, and our hearts go out to all the people who are getting moved, are hurt, and live in the nearby areas.

P.S. -- Thanks for the all the great name suggestions for the cross-country trip. The runner up was Karl in NC with:

"The Dean For America Airstream into the Mainstream Taking Our Country Back Unplugged Road Trip Tour Thingy."

Happy Birthday Karl, it was close, but we had to pass it up.

Posted by Zephyr Teachout at 05:10 PM

Fear, Lies & Intimidation

The Bush administration systematically plays on our fears, persistently lies, and retaliates against critics with intimidation.

Since the 9/11 terrorist attack, hawks in the Bush administration have cynically used our fears to advance their agenda. The agenda was not well known but was not a secret either.

The removal of Sadam Husain was documented on the Project for a New American Century’s (PNAC) web site since the late 1990s. PNAC’s goal is American world domination militarily, economically, politically, and culturally. The arrogance of such a creed is widely resented and feared by many, particularly in the Muslim world.

The Patriot Act, the war with Iraq, and even the loss of civil service protection for Homeland Security worker are the results of using this fear.

Lying by the Bush administration is so pervasive that an internet news letter is devoted to bring the latest on a daily basis, The Daily Mis-Lead, a project of MoveOn.org. Lies are used to cover hidden agenda, poor performance and incompetence. People have lost their lives (Iraq War), lost their jobs (tax cuts), lost our civil liberties (Patriot Act) to list a few area that these lies are affecting Americans.

When someone stands up to a Bush administration lie or criticizes is some other way, The Bush administration retaliates with intimidation. The Plume affair, the outing of an undercover CIA agent by the Bush administration is an example of how arrogant, bold and dangerous these people are. The use of intimidation has quieted criticism of the Bush administration in Congress and in the press.

Howard Dean stands up to the intimidation, and tells the truth.
Howard Dean says he will not send our military personnel in harms way with out telling the American people the truth as to why it is necessary.
Howard Dean says he will repeal the unconstitutional provisions of the Patriot Act.
Howard Dean says he will engage the community of nations in finding solutions to world problems.
Howard Dean says he will restore fiscal responsibility to the government and let the economy build jobs.

When I listen to Howard Dean, my fears for my country, my family and myself vanish.

Writing letters to Iowa and NH

Reposted from the national site

How to Write Letters to Iowa and New Hampshire

At the July and August Meetups, Dean supporters across the country sent handwritten letters to voters in Iowa and New Hampshire. Those letters made a huge difference and catapulted Howard Dean into the lead in both states.

Now, no matter where you live, you can write a letter today that will make a direct impact on a voter in one of these two early contests. And you can do it at home, whenever you choose, and you can start right now:

http://letters.deanforamerica.com

So far, 3425 letters have been written.

As many of you know, we're putting the finishing touches on the Letters tool. It went semi-public on Saturday, and your feedback and suggestions have been helpful. We'll be talking about this tool more and more as we approach the "official" launch, but you can start writing letters today. If you experience problems, send an e-mail to Clay Johnson, one of our programmers, at clay@deanforamerica.com.

Dean leading in NH Poll

Reposted from national site
Poll: 'Dean Opening a Large Lead' in N.H.
From the Franklin Pierce College poll released today:

"Governor Dean is opening up a significant lead over Senator Kerry and the pack lagging behind them," said Rich Killion, Fitzwater Center Director. "The first candidate to creep into the 30% range in the Franklin Pierce poll, Dean is enjoying clear leads over Kerry among every critical voter category: Democrats, Independents, men and women and with voters of each of the states' two congressional districts."
The numbers (with results from July, the most recent Franklin Pierce poll, in parentheses):

Dean 33 (22)
Kerry 19 (21)
Clark 7 (2)
Gephardt 4 (6)
Edwards 4 (2)
Lieberman 3 (6)
Undecided 27 (37)
They also asked about attitudes towards the candidates and found:

Even though Howard Dean has been the frontrunner since our July survey, he continues to define himself on his terms and leaves this period -- for the first time -- with not only the highest net favorability rating (+63%)," said Killion, "but also the smallest growth in unfavorable ratings of any candidate in this survey (increase of 3% unfavorable rating)."
Posted by Joe Rospars at 02:35 PM

Students for Dean at SJSU

What first attracted me to the Dean campaign is a paragraph in the Governor’s letter to moveon voters during the moveon.com virtual primaries, in which he said:

"On my first day in office, I will tear up the Bush doctrine of preemptive war. I will end this President's policy of domestic division. I will repeal those parts of the Patriot Act that betray the Bill of Rights. And I will roll back this President's tax cuts, because we will never achieve social justice in this country unless we balance the budget."

Dean’s words were very inspiring, and I registered to vote as a Democrat the following day, just so I could vote for him in the California primaries. Movon provided a link to deanforamerica.com, where I found and listened to his empowering candidacy-declaration speech, which made me feel strong enough to take on an army of Rumsfelds, Ashcrofts, and Bushes. I didn’t know if the Democratic Party was a true representative of my political and social views, but I knew Dean was. In fact, I believe he is the only candidate that can heel this nation’s internal problems and repair its international image.

My newfound inspiration led me to start a “Students for Dean” club at SJSU. No other presidential candidate has a supporting student organization on our campus. We tried to engage the College Democrats' club, and though most of its members promised to support us, so far their promise has been “all hat and no cattle.” I know a couple of their prominent members have very hectic school schedules, which is probably why the College Democrats are not active.

Nevertheless, we were able to start from scratch and build ourselves as a bona fide club. Our email list has 35 people on it, but only eight of us usually table on regular basis. We table at least twice a week in front of the Student Union, which is the busiest spot on campus. We’ve been registering students to vote, signing up folks for the Dean campaign, and of course spreading the word about the good “Gov.” So far, we have received a very positive response from students and faculty members, and we’ve made some friends in high places :)

I have been wearing my Dean t-shirts to school everyday since last Monday; I think that’s one of the best advertisements I can give the Gov on our campus. Other club members have started to do the same, and tomorrow, some club members and I are going to wear our Dean gear when we donate blood at the Red Cross “blood drive” on campus (2nd floor in the Student Union).

Just last week our club status was “finalized”, and we became eligible to receive funds from the Student Government for some club activities. We have not applied for any funds yet, but we are going to try to plan an event around the Gov’s 55th birthday celebration in November. We’ll keep you all posted.

We are going to hold our second Meetup on Wednesday, November 5th at the University Club (408 S. 8th St. at San Salvador in San Jose, CA). So come and say hi.

Also, check out our modest website:
http://www.geocities.com/sjsu4dean

Until next time

Marian Hofer
Students For Dean @ SJSU

Wouldn’t it be Loverly

Wouldn’t it be loverly if all the candidates would follow Howard Dean’s example of campaigning by standing up for what they believe, saying what they mean, and holding up their agenda.

Let’s see how this would work for George Bush:

I will let the economy go to hell so my fat cat friends can have huge tax cuts.

I will trample civil rights so my right wing extremist friends will be appeased.

I will squander America’s international good will so I can pursue the hidden agenda of the neo-conservatives.

I will focus on an extract and burn energy policy to profit my big energy company buddies.

I will let the environment go to hell so big business doesn’t have to clean up their pollution.

I will generate record deficits so that Social Security and Medicare can be repealed by bankruptcy.

I will cut funding to Head Start and promote school vouchers to abolish public funded education.

I will ignore the fatigue and morale problems in the military so I don’t have to deal with them.

Well, you can see how this differs from Howard Dean’s campaign.

Of course Bush won’t campaign that way. He uses empty sound bytes to hide what he really does. We heard a lot of these in the last campaign.

The greatest campaign grassroots phenomenon in American history is not fooled. We have set records for Democratic candidate fundraising by contributing almost $15 million to Howard Dean’s campaign in the third quarter of 2003. We are meeting monthly all over America in unheard of numbers to plan and work for the election Howard Dean.

This is our power. We are the power and we are growing in power thanks to our continuing outreach and fundraising. By getting more family, friends, co-workers, and strangers to join the campaign and by continuing our amazing fundraising by thousands upon thousands of small donors, we will have the power to send George Bush back to his ranch were he can clear brush full time.

SILICON VALLEY’S ROAD TO THE WHITE HOUSE

Monday night I attended our monthly Silicon Valley Organization meeting. Its amazing how many people are coming and volunteering. Sometimes during the discussions I wonder how many of these meetings are going on all over our country. I wonder who is attending them and what their reasons are for joining.

I read something recently that resonated with me and my feelings about this time in our history. Life will always disrupt our peace, compelling us to react to that disruption. It is life’s way of forcing us to grow.

It is encouraging for me is to hear from people who have been involved in the political process for years. They all say they have never seen numbers like ours, and especially this early in the process.

No matter what happens and no matter what transpires in the next year, we have already made history.