I propose creating a sign-on letter for state legislators calling for Congress and the media to recognize the widespread and ongoing criminality of the Bush administration and to do their fucking duty and hold the criminals accountable.

Below the fold is the beginning of a draft sign-on letter.

This project is connected to initiating impeachment in state legislatures, a project diligently researched and advocated by Kagro X. A sign-on letter doesn't navigate the formal wickets envisioned by Jefferson's Manual of the House of Representatives, but it carries the implied threat that the signers can do it if forced.

Below the fold I've included video of the Iraq Veterans Against the War's (IVAW) Operation First Casualty IV in Chicago. Operation First Casualty was held one week ago in Chicago.

Operation First Casualty:

Who? Iraq Veterans Against the War. The patrol was conducted by IVAW members who had done patrols in Iraq.
What? OFC was designed to allow Americans to see the realities of what the U.S. military does to implement the occupation on a day-to-day basis.
Where? Downtown Chicago
When? One week ago today
Why? To build support for 1) bringing the troops home now, 2) getting proper benefits for veterans, and 3) paying the Iraqi people reparations for the damage caused by the war and occupation

BTW, the Marine Corps has decided to retaliate against members of IVAW who participate in Operation First Casualty (more on this below the fold).

Yesterday I spent most of the day doing stuff with Iraq Veterans Against the War.

We met at Union Station at 7 AM for the beginning of Operation First Casualty IV. Operation First Casualty I-III happened in DC, NYC and LA (Santa Monica). The name "Operation First Casualty" comes from the idea that truth in the first casualty of war.

Operation First Casualty shows how a squad on patrol deals with civilians in Iraq. There were a couple scenarios. In one a crowd has assembled and is demonstrating against the occupation. The squad has to disrupt the demonstration. They engage the demonstrators and try to identify the leaders of the demonstration. The leaders are then apprehended, zip cuffed and hooded. In the other scenario the squad is looking for specific Iraqis to apprehend, so a civilian might be pulled out of a crowd with doing anything to provoke the squad.

Mark Pera is challenging Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Western Springs) in the Dem primary for Illinois' Third CD.

I will interview Pera on WJJG (official website), 1530 AM, from 2:05-2:30 PM on "Viewpoints From the Other Side".

Pera is the president of the school board, Lyons Township High School (official website).

Recently Iraq Veterans Against the War conducted a demonstration in New York City. Operation FIRST CASUALTY was designed to show people on the street the realities of the U.S. military occupation of Iraq.

The NYC Independent Media Center has some good pictures. And below the fold I've included some YouTube video. Todd E. Dennis, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War from Mondovi, WI, put the video on his Facebook site and asked for people to share it.

If you are so inclined, you can contribute to IVAW.

Below the fold includes some upcoming IVAW events too.

One year ago today, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was given a chance to address Congress. How did he use this opportunity? He lied. He claimed Iran was "on the verge" of acquiring nuclear weapons.

Why would Olmert lie about the status of Iran's nuclear weapons program?

To me I heard a foreign politician try to replay the same fear-mongering scam that led to the United States invading Iraq.

A wise first-grade teacher once told me that when dealing with a child an adult should create two options that are acceptable. When dealing with the Iraq supplemental one option is going to be that President Bush will veto the bill.

The challenge for war opponents is to create a number of alternatives that are acceptable to us and perceived as reasonable by the public. I believe after Bush vetoes three different Iraq supplemental bill it will be difficult for him to blame Democrats politically for the money not being approved.

Below are conditions I would like to see attached to the next Iraq supplemental bill.

In James Comey's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee he said that Attorney General John Ashcroft was prepared to resign if President Bush authorized an illegal program against Justice Department recommendations. See Talking Points Memo for the video.

Ashcroft's courage and integrity contrasts with the "go along, get along" behavior by Secretary of State Colin Powell. Powell probably deluded himself into thinking he was retaining influence by staying in the Bush administration, but it seems unlikely he ultimately influenced policy.

According to NBC's Andrea Mitchell Gen. David Petraeus has been meeting with Republican members of Congress to get them to support Bush administration Iraq policy. Think Progress has discussion and video.

Petraeus meeting with Congressional Republicans separate from Democrats for the purpose of whipping votes for Bush policy is troublesome. Our military is supposed to remain apolitical.

How should Democrats respond to Petraeus becoming a Republican cheerleader?

Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution says, "[The President] shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment."

I propose amending the Constitution to ban pardons in which the President of the United States has a conflict of interest. The President should not be able to pardon his co-conspirators, like Caspar Weinberger (Bush 41 pardoned Weinberger for his role in Iran-Contra) or "Scooter" Libby, and s/he should not be able to pardon major campaign contributors or "friends of the party" like Marc Rich and George Steinbrenner (pardoned by Reagan for illegal campaign contributions to Nixon).

See the amendment after the jump.

This diary contains a recommendation for Congress to fix a loophole in military justice. The need for the fix is illustrated by a current news event and my own experience as a whistleblower in the Navy.

The military allows commanders to punish members (and officers) through Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (aka "Captain's Mast" on "non-judicial punishment" in the Navy and "office hours" in the Marine Corps).

Non-judicial punishment can be used to cover-up crimes where the chain of command bears some responsibility for the misconduct. There are two aspects of NJP that should be addressed.

Kagro X asked Do we have time for symbolism? on the issue of whether to send more troops to Iraq. The choice Kagro X identified is between the Biden sponsored resolution expressing the sense of Congress that surging is bad and the Kennedy/Markey legislation which says President Bush can't send more troops without first getting the approval of Congress.

I support the Kennedy/Markey approach.

I propose the Daily Kos community contact members of Congress and learn the position of each member of Congress. Josh Marshall sometimes coordinates this type or action at Talking Points Memo.

Does your Senators and U.S. Representative support?

a. If President Bush wants to escalate he should be supported.
b. Congress should pass a non-binding resolution opposing the escalation.
c. Congress should pass a law prohibiting the proposed escalation.
d. Refused to answer.

Rich Miller of The Capitol Fax Blog reports that Illinois' Senate Democrats now have a veto-proof majority.

Since control of state legislatures has various implications, especially around redistricting, it seems like there should be a diary for gathering the election results at the state level.

Did the election change party control of either house of the legislature in your state? Did Dems lose ground in any state?

[UPDATE: Archpundit reports this story is either debunked or has been derailed b/c of insufficient sourcing.] There have been rumors circulating about Rep. Jerry Weller (IL-11) being somehow implicated in the page scandal. See TheMadEph and Archpundit.

Wonkette has labeled Weller a "Pagefucker".

A journalist working on the case emailed me, "The details of the story are pretty friggen nasty too."

Wonkette also wrote:

Meanwhile, this could turn out the be the worst day of Hastert Chief of Staff Scott Palmer's life, as former House Clerk Jeff Trindahl's gonna nail [Weller] before the ethics committee today.

After reading the following sentence at Talking Points Memo, I had an insight about why a male homosexual Republican might be in favor of the Republicans attacking homosexuals.

The Justice Department is "looking into allegations" relating to a rafting trip that Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) took with two Congressional pages in 1996.--Paul Kiel

Would a straight Congressman get away with going on a camping trip with two female pages?

DemFromCT has posted to the front page the case for the Dems not having a national agenda for Congressional candidates. DemFromCT quotes Tom Shaller saying that a Dem agenda will provide something to distract from GOP failures.

I feel the Dems should have an agenda and the grassroots should push the party to articulate the agenda.

My logic rests on two points:

1. The powerful interest groups, like the Israel lobby, the medical-industrial complex, and others have extracted promises from the Dem leadership. The grassroots are chumps to support the party without extracting some commitments.
2. The Dems will really fuck-up governing if they merely try to govern without making mistakes and without pissing off interest groups.

Congressional Democrats should talk about the crisis from the perspective of U.S. interests. To perpetually discuss Israel attacking Palestinians and Lebanon from the perspective Israel--no Israeli attack can be discussed except in the context of being response to provocation--makes Democrats look like whores for the Israel lobby.

What are U.S. interests in the conflict? How should the United States advance these interests? Is there a Congressional Democrat with the courage to criticize Israel? Is it healthy (or viable) to have Congressional Democrats so extremely out-of-sync with the grassroots on a major issue?

I am the fill-in host for a radio program, "Viewpoints From the Other Side" today. It will air 2-3 PM (Central) on 1530 AM, Elmhurst, Illinois.

I'm looking for a guest who can field questions about the Robert Kennedy, Jr. article in Rolling Stone. If you're up on this stuff, call me, (773)43O-3538.