Democracy for New Mexico

Flood Them With Calls on Net Neutrality!

The disastrous COPE bill, which would hand over our internet pipes and content control to the big telecoms, is set for a hearing on the Senate side, in the Commerce Committee, this week. Recall that it passed the House recently, with the support of too many Democrats, including our own Rep. Tom Udall. If we want to preserve the open source, equal-access-for-all internet that we've had from the beginning, we need to act NOW. Net neutrality is a must if the web is to continue to be equally open to all points of view, not just those offered first class treatment for big bucks paid.

Here's a video of a debate between industry lobbyist Mike McCurry and Paul Misener of Amazon about net neutrality. The website of the Save the Internet coalition has text excerpts.

Now's the time to call members of Senate Commerce committee to urge them to reject any bill that doesn't guarantee net neutrality:

You can contact the Senate Commerce Committee at the main switchboard toll free at 1-888-355-3588. Here are their individual phone numbers:

Chairman Ted Stevens (AK): (202) 224-3004
John McCain (AZ):  (202) 224-2235
Conrad Burns (MT):  202-224-2644
Trent Lott (MS): (202) 224-6253
Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX): 202-224-5922
Olympia J. Snowe (ME):  (202) 224-5344
Gordon H. Smith (OR):  202.224.3753
John Ensign (NV):  (202) 224-6244
George Allen (VA):  (202) 224-4024
John E. Sununu (NH):  (202) 224-2841
Jim DeMint (SC):  202-224-6121
David Vitter (LA):  (202) 224-4623

Co-Chairman Daniel K. Inouye (HI): 202-224-3934
John D. Rockefeller (WV):  (202) 224-6472
John F. Kerry (MA):  (202) 224-2742
Byron L. Dorgan (ND):  (202) 224-2551
Barbara Boxer (CA): (202) 224-3553
Bill Nelson (FL):  (202) 224-5274
Maria Cantwell (WA):  (202) 224-3441
Frank R. Lautenberg (NJ):  (202) 224-3224
E. Benjamin Nelson (NE):  (202) 224-6551
Mark Pryor (AR):  (202) 224-2353

And it's never too early to start contacting Sen. Jeff Bingaman about this issue, as the bill may well be on the Senate Floor sometime soon, maybe even this week. At the moment, he has taken no position on net neutrality. We need to change that. Click here.

is keeping track of who's currently supporting the bill in the Senate. Josh Marshall will be updating it often.

PS: I know that Rep. Udall's website says he supports net neutrality and he did vote for Rep. Markey's unsuccessful amendment to COPE that would have required it. However, he also voted for the very flawed COPE bill that lacks the necessary protections for neutrality, which to my mind isn't exactly standing strongly behind the concept. I also question his belief that the COPE bill will result in broadband access being rushed to rural and poor areas. There are no teeth to require compliance in that regard and, even if there were, we shouldn't trade equality on the internet for increased broadband. Moreover, telecoms have already received more than 200 billion dollars over 15 years to build out nationwide broadband. Why don't we have it?

Have At It

What are you thinking about? Angry about? Pleased about? Laughing about? Here's the place to talk about it. A Monday morning open thread. Click the comments link and keyboard away.

National Wilderness Historian Brings Message to Doña Ana County

Organ Mountains

From the NM Wilderness Alliance:
After three decades, the nation’s leading expert on the American wilderness movement, Doug Scott, is returning to southern New Mexico. Following a stint as a seasonal park ranger at Carlsbad Caverns National Park in the mid-1960s, Scott began a lifelong career working to protect some of the country’s last wild lands. Author of The Enduring Wilderness, which the late Christopher Reeve called, "A must for ordinary citizens who care about saving our wilderness heritage for future genertations," Scott has been involved in the passage of every major piece of wilderness legislation in the last 30 years.

“People in the Las Cruces area are doing all the right things to protect a piece of their treasured wild public land,” says Scott, noting bipartisan city and county resolutions that overwhelmingly support strong wilderness protection.

"I am looking forward to spending time with the broad-based coalition that is working together to protect the Organ Mountains, Broad Canyon, and other special places. It's a model of a community uniting to preserve all that is special on its nearby federal lands, and I hope to help in any way I can."

Doug Scott will be in Las Cruces June 21-24:

Thursday, June 22, 7:00 PM
Doug addresses Progressive Voters Alliance Meeting
Munson Senior Center,  975 S. Mesquite Las Cruces, NM

Friday, June 23, 6:30 PM
Campfire Conversation with Doug Scott
Scenic Happy Trails Inn (1857 Paisano Mesilla, NM 88005 505/635-9459)

Saturday, June 24, 2:00 PM
Honor our Heritage: Protect Wilderness in Dona Ana County
NMWA's Downtown Office (275 Downtown Mall, Las Cruces & Water) in the SWEC Center
Beat the Heat With Air Conditioning, Refreshments, and Prizes. Make history--and help protect our heritage.

Contact Nathan Small at the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance
(nathansmall@nmwild.org, 505-463-2031) for more info. and to reserve your spot at both events.

To learn more about our efforts to protect wilderness in Doña Ana County , please visit www.DonaAnaWild.org

To make a contribution directly toward the Doña Ana Wild Campaign, go to: https://secure.ga1.org/05/donaanawild

Sunday Bird (and Egg) Blogging

Whitey after the ordeal.

We had to miss Friday's demonstration against the Bush-Heather money roundup  because we had to deal with an egg emergency. Turns out our albino female parakeet Whitey was bound up with an egg she couldn't get laid. This happens at times with birds, and it can be dangerous. Whitey was all swollen and listless Friday so we took her to the avian vet, who did her magic to diagnose the problem and make it easier for the egg to emerge. I won't go into the gritty details! Thankfully, not long after we got her home and "steamed" her in the bathroom with the shower running, out came the egg (below) -- an unusually large one for a parakeet.

The bad egg with pen to show scale.

The egg, like the rest of the series that's been laid by Whitey over the past few weeks, was infertile. We had long ago separated her from Queenie, the father of her one and only brood, three of which lived and became part of our avian family. Nonetheless, she kept laying eggs even though she now resides in an all-girl residence with our trio of green boy birds housed in another room.

Turns out some parakeets will start laying eggs when the hours of daylight increase. Whitey is one of them, so we were instructed to cover her abode earlier in the day. This way her hormones will get the message that Springtime is over and it's time stop laying eggs and get back to the serious business of parakeet playtime. Another day, another birdie drama and, fortunately, another happy ending. (Click on images for larger versions.)

Blues at the Saturday Music Hall

Blues master Buddy Guy doing 'First Time I Met the Blues' at Radio City Music Hall in 2003. Guy is another of my favorite guitarists. He can play any style and is an incredibly vibrant live performer. He was emulated by Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and many others. I used to see him perform live alot when I still lived in Chicago in the 1970s. At that time he was one of the kids among the blues legends who were still playing all over Chicagoland in funky clubs.

He had also been a session guy at the legendary Chess Studios at 2120 South Michigan Avenue, where British blues bands often stopped to record, in awe of the historic players on the Chess Records roster. In fact, during my high school years, I got to see both the Stones and Yardbirds record there. Quite a coup for a 16-year-old. 

After college, I was lucky enough to see Muddy Waters, Hound Dog Taylor, Howlin' Wolf, James Cotton, Junior Wells, Koko Taylor, Magic Sam, Magic Slim, Otis Rush, Son Seals, Willie Dixon, Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter, Otis Spann and many others play live at Chicago clubs, in various combinations. Buddy was often in the band and, of course, he also had his own band. Once I even got to see a very aged Big Mama Thornton doing the song she wrote, Hound Dog, which was made famous by Elvis Presley. She arrived with her things in a brown paper shopping bag and brought the house down.

The Chicago blues clubs were wild and wide open in that era. The very best ones were in old black neighborhoods, where blues fans of all dominations and colors were welcome. No frat boy blues crowds in those days -- this was the real thing. A special favorite was the Checkboard lounge (right), which was owned by Buddy Guy and Junior wells during the 70s. On Saturdays Chicago clubs can stay open until either 3 AM or 5 AM, and the late sets at these places were the cream of the crop -- magical, passionate, powerful and entirely uninhibited. It was common for musicians in town for concerts, especially Brits, to stop in afterwards and jam with the Chicago blues players. Quite a spectacle.

I had to miss Buddy when he recently played at the Lensic up in Santa Fe. The last time I saw him was a few years ago on a visit back to my old hometown. He owns his own club in Chicago called Buddy Guy's Legends. When we visited, Buddy did a few tasty songs and then hung out at the bar talking quietly with anyone who approached, including me. A legend indeed.

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

Photo Credit: REUTERS/Larry Downing

The Decider and The Rubberstamp: A Mutual Admiration Society. Bush fundraising for Heather Wilson today at the Hyatt Regency in Albuquerque. More photos at Yahoo News.

Photo credit AP.

Some of the protestors, including one of our own. Duke City Fix has some pictures from early in the Black Balloon Fiesta and CodePink action. Anyone else?

Bingaman Votes Against Amendment to Bring the Troops Home

As reported by The Nation: "On Thursday, the U.S. Senate decided not to call for the withdrawal of combat troops by year's end when it shelved a measure proposing that "only forces that are critical to completing the mission of standing up Iraqi security forces" remain in Iraq in 2007."

Only six Democratic Senators voted to support the amendment (against tabling it). New Mexico's Senator Bingaman wasn't one of them, despite his vote against the original Iraq War resolution. Apparently, only six Democratic Senators had the gumption to vote in accordance with the wishes of our own troops instead of the spin of Karl Rove:

The February Le Moyne College/Zogby International survey of U.S. troops serving in Iraq found that 72 percent of them thought the United States should end its operations in that country by the end of 2006.

Now granted, this was Sen. Kerry's amendment that was, instead, introduced by Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell. Kerry was reportedly displeased with McConnell for doing so, and Kerry claims he will reintroduce the amendment himself next week. We'll see if the votes change. Regardless, I can't say how strongly I believe that every Democrat must take every opportunity to call the Bush-Rummy-Cheney war team to task and push for an end to this in the most expedient way.

I am so tired of reporting the failures of so many Democrats to represent their constituents, but I believe I must, especially in the case of the Iraq War. With more than 2,500 of our troops killed in Iraq, with almost 20,000 of them wounded, often severely, with who knows how many Iraqi civilians maimed and blasted, with more than ten billion dollars pouring into the rabbit hole each month and going who knows where, you'd think most Democrats would do what they could to end this horror -- to stop the march into perrennial war and permanent Iraq bases. You'd be wrong, obviously.

Do these supposed Democratic representatives of the people have any shred of conscience, morality, compassion or courage to confront the realities of this nightmare and make a stand? Only six in the Senate did:

• Barbara Boxer of California
• Robert Byrd of West Virginia
• Russ Feingold of Wisconsin
• Tom Harkin of Iowa
• Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts
• John Kerry of Massachusetts

The rest were again cowed by Rove's framing, pushed into a corner and reduced to supporting a ruse Karl has used many times, to continuing advantage: if you don't support what I propose, you're -- pick one --  unpatriotic, left-wing, extremist, liberal, cowardly, anti-American, a queer lover, or a godless reprobate. Will these Dems ever learn? Rove sets them up like bowling pins and they stand there every time, waiting for the strike to come rumbling down the alley. Crash. It's real human beings who get hurt, who continue to die horrible deaths, or live without equal civil rights, or or get clobbered by corporatist bankruptcy laws, or whose children and grandchildren will be paying for the cowardice of what they do now. Or fail to do.

Sometimes, words can't express how beaten down we feel, out here waiting for our members of Congress to care about more than reelection or campaign contributions or appeasing the right-wing spinners and hate-mongers. We keep waiting for these Democrats to put the nation and the planet and the people first. On this vote, only six Senators did.

To gain the proper perspective on what those refusing to vote to end this horror are allowing to continue, read 'Iraq's War Porn' by David Swanson, who cofounded the AfterDowningStreet.org coalition. The war photos he mentions, particularly those called War Trophy Photos, are very hard to view, horrendously grotesque. But they may well be what more people need to see when they contemplate the continuation of business as usual in the bloody, awful Iraqi Civil War. Including the Dems who voted NOT to start bringing our troops home.

Better Results in the House
Dems did better in the House on Rove's Iraq War dare, with impassioned speechs by such brave souls as John Murtha:

Murtha, a Vietnam veteran, said it was "easy to stay in an air-conditioned office and say, 'I'm going to stay the course."' He added: "That's why I get so upset when they stand here sanctimoniously and say we're fighting this thing. It's the troops that are doing the fighting."

Nancy Pelosi gave an especially powerful speech on the resolution, saying it's time to face the facts and calling, again, for Rumsfeld's resignation. Excerpts:

The war in Iraq has been a mistake – a grotesque mistake. It must be our resolve to end the war as soon as possible and to resolve to not make similar mistakes in the future. We owe it to the American people and we owe it to the young men and women that we send in to fight the fight.

... As defense and intelligence expert Anthony Cordesman recently wrote: ‘The U.S. aid process has failed…it has wasted at least half of the some $22 billion in U.S. funds and much of the $34.6 billion in Iraq funds it attempted to use to secure and develop Iraq’s economy.’ This is outrageous. Where is the accountability? In fact, Mr. Cordesman concludes that the U.S.-managed Iraq reconstruction efforts have been as failed as our response to Hurricane Katrina.

In the face of all of the incompetence and cost of this war, the President urges us to stay the course. ‘Stay the course,’ Mr. President, is not a strategy, it’s a slogan. I will vote against this resolution because it is an affirmation of President Bush’s failed policy in Iraq. And in doing so, I am pleased to join Mr. Murtha and Mr. Skelton and I salute them for their patriotism and dedication to our country. They are second to none in this Congress in looking out for the troops and for being concerned and knowledgeable about troop readiness, about the strains on our military that this war is putting upon them, and deterring our ability to respond to other threats. I salute them for their leadership and their courage – because here we have the Republicans putting on the floor a vacuous resolution, a challenge that if you want to say you support the troops you have to vote for this – that day is over.

There's a video of speech on Rep. Pelosi's website right now.

I'm very pleased that NM Rep. Tom Udall voted AGAINST the Republican's Rovian Iraq War resolution in the House. If only Sen. Bingaman had done the same on the Senate side.

ABQ Civic Plaza Today: Heather = Bush

(Click on image for larger version.)

It's bad enough that Republican Rep. Heather Wilson votes with Bush almost all the time, rubberstamping many of the worst of his initiatives, like the Iraq War, neverending tax cuts for our wealthiest citizens and subsidies to oil companies that are making windfall profits. Now she's been named to the League of Conservation Voters' Dirty Dozen According to LCV:

Rep. Wilson treats oil companies like royalty. Representative Wilson recently voted against an amendment to limit royalty relief — code for “taxpayer rip-off” for companies wanting to drill off our shores. In 2005, the world’s biggest oil companies recorded more than $111 billion in combined profits – they don’t need another government handout to help them destroy our environment.

If you wonder why, consider that Wilson has collected $396,370 from oil and gas contributions over the course of her career. During that time, she's voted according to LCV's environmental recommendations only 16% percent of the time. Read the Dirty Dozen report for more on why Wilson is ranked as one of the top twelve anti-environmental members of Congress in the nation. She's right up there with the likes of Sen. Rick Santorum (PA), Rep. Katherine Harris (FL) and Rep. Bob Ney (OH). Dirty indeed.

But now we have an alternative to Heather -- visit the Patricia Madrid for Congress website and learn how you can help AG Madrid beat Wilson this Fall and get rid of Heather's dirty dealing once and for all. While President Bush and Heather Wilson enjoy $1,000-a-plate lunches, why don't you take $10 and contribute it to Madrid's campaign?  See you on the Civic Plaza starting at 2:00 PM this afternoon!

Petition Signatures Being Gathered for Recall of Sally Mayer

Four faces of Sally. All photos courtesy M. G. Bralley

There's an effort underway to gather signatures for a petition to require a referendum on recalling Sally Mayer. Mayer is the Republican City Councilor from Albuquerque's who's been such a pal to faux-Democratic Mayor Marty Chavez. You may remember that Chavez supported Mayer in her Fall reelection bid against Democrat Marianne Dickinson and two others.

Sally has also been joined at the hip to Chavez in his neverending struggle to grant corporate developers unfettered freedom, and award contracts to any and all comers who "contribute" large dollar amounts to his campaign fund. She worked with Chavez's cronies in helping to kill the referendum to raise Albuquerque's minimum wage last Fall as well. She also voted against the Council's more recent and successful measure to raise the minimum wage.

Recall that both Marty Chavez and Sally Mayer are charter members of our Ethics Hall of Shame, along with City Councilors Ken Sanchez and Craig Loy, for successfully killing Councilor Brad Winter's ethics and campaign finance reform package.

The recall petition effort is being led by attorney Penni Adrian and has until July 14 to gather the required 3,055 signatures from registered voters in District 7. If the effort is successful, the city must hold an election within 90 days. A website will be up soon at www.recallsallymayer.org and other measures are being taken to support the effort.

Volunteers will be walking the District 7 precincts during the next three weekends to gather signatures. If you're interested in helping, email penni@adrian-law.

As to the long, strange saga of Mayer's misbehavior, rudeness, ignorance of the law and shenanigans while serving on Albuquerque's City Council, there's a detailed story accompanied by illuminating photographs by local blogger M.G. Bralley on What's Wrong With This Picture. Bralley thinks Sally is Albuquerque's second worst City Councilor in history, outdone only by Tina Cummins, who's a fellow realtor. Coming in third is Cummins' brother, Tim. Quite a trio.

CodePink Photo-Op with Bush Friday

We're hoping for a big turnout for Friday's demonstration on Albuquerque's Civic Plaza in response to the Bush big-dollar fundraiser for our pseudo-moderate Congresswoman, Heather Wilson. Joining the action is CodePink, who'll provide an opportunity to have your photo taken with Cardboard Bush for a mere red cent. Quite a bargain!

If you're one of the Republican insiders invited to the fundraiser, you'll be forced to pay $5,000 for the privilege, albeit with the fleshy version of The Decider. I'll take the cardboard model myself. Cardboard doesn't lie incessantly or coin moronic nicknames. Also be on the lookout for 200 large black helium balloons provided by the powerfully creative PAC 505. They'll be tethered around town at homes, offices, cars and other locations. Black. Mourning Black. As in Black Cloud hanging over Bush's visit with his rubberstamp, Heather Wilson.

Click on image for larger version.