Democracy for New Mexico

Bush to Visit NM to Raise Funds for Domenici

According to the Albuquerque Journal, The Commander George W. (The Decider) Bush will be taking precious time out of his delusional Iraq occupation disinformation campaign to attend a private, big dollar fundraiser for Sen. Pete Domenici in late August in Albuquerque:

... sources familiar with Domenici's quest for a seventh Senate term told the Journal this week that the campaign has already started making calls to solicit potential contributors regarding the late-August fundraiser and plans to mail out invitations soon.

I'm sure they'll keep the details secret so that New Mexico's citizens don't get anywhere near the increasingly unpopular president (or the increasingly muddled Domenici). As always, Bush's handlers are hell bent on making sure that inconvenient realities don't puncture the president's protective bubble of sunny, steely "resolve."

The visit by Bush is undoubtedly a payback for Pete's refusal to vote for anything meaningful to change course in Iraq, despite the Senator's recent posturing in the media about a change of heart on the occupation. Like Bush, Domenici is all hat, no cattle, on Iraq. Domenici's top priority these days, like that of most other powerful Repub Senators, is protecting the president and his cronies rather than doing what's right by our troops or our nation. Money talks. Domenici listens.

Bingaman Floor Speech on Levin-Reed Iraq War Amendment

Sen. Jeff Bingaman strongly backs the Levin-Reed amendment to the defense authorization bill that would have required President Bush to begin drawing down American forces within four months. “It is unfortunate this important amendment was defeated, despite the fact that a majority of senators support it,” Bingaman said after the vote. A release on his website reports:

Bingaman said the war in Iraq has distracted the United States from the fight against terrorism, from responding to the rise of China as a world power, from lessening our dependence on foreign energy, and from keeping our country economically competitive.

Check out:

• Text of Sen. Bingaman's Floor Speech
• Video (wmv) of Sen. Bingaman's Floor Speech

Excerpts:

I opposed the invasion in Iraq, believing it was necessary to give the United Nations weapons inspectors the time that they needed to determine whether Iraq did, in fact, possess nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. I believed that we needed to gather the facts and we needed to make an informed decision as to whether Iraq posed such a terrible and immediate threat to our country that regime change was warranted.

And as we now know, those WMDs were nowhere to be found.

Unfortunately, the WMDs were not the only thing that President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, and other members of the administration were wrong about when it came to beginning this war.

They were also wrong in thinking we could succeed in Iraq without substantial help from our allies.

They were wrong to reject warnings that the invasion would fracture Iraq’s delicate sectarian balance.

They were wrong to dismiss legitimate questions about how we would rebuild Iraq’s civil society.

And they were wrong to think that Iraq’s neighbors, Iran and Saudi Arabia in particular, would ignore their opportunity to fill a regional power vacuum after the collapse of Saddam’s regime.

Above all, they were wrong to promise the American people, as Secretary Rumsfeld’s assistant Ken Adelman did, that Iraq would be a “cakewalk.”

...  Going forward, we need to focus on two objectives.

First, we must send the Iraqi ruling elite a crisp and credible signal that our commitment to maintaining forces in that country is not unconditional. Only by making this point loud and clear do we create the possibility that the Shi’a-led government will take the painful steps necessary towards national reconciliation.

The U.S. has a moral responsibility to do what it can to create a degree of political stability in Iraq. But I repeat the key phrase in that sentence: “do what we can.” For we can do no more.

Our commitment to Iraq is not open-ended. We can’t impose a political settlement without the cooperation of the political elites in the country. The Iraqis themselves must want a solution.

Sen. Bingaman concluded his speech with a salute to the 38 New Mexicans who have so far given their lives in the Iraq War, including names and short bios.

NM “Iraq Summer” Campaign Blasts Domenici for Obstructing Responsible End to the War in Iraq

From Americans Against Escalation in Iraq:
“Iraq Summer” Campaign Turns Up Heat Nationally on Out of Touch Senate Republicans like Pete Domenici for Betraying Constituents, Country

Albuquerque, NM – Today, U.S. Senator Pete Domenici put party politics before the clear will of the people of New Mexico and the country by obstructing an up-or-down vote on the Levin-Reed amendment to the Defense Authorization bill that would bring a safe and responsible end to the Iraq war. More than seven in 10 Americans favor removing nearly all U.S. troops from Iraq by next April. [USA Today 7/10/07] 

“Senator Domenici’s vote today for endless war in Iraq is a bitter affront to the people of New Mexico who overwhelmingly support bringing our troops home out of the crosshairs of a bloody civil war,” said Greg Richardson, Field Director for the New Mexico chapter of the “Iraq Summer” campaign.  “Over the clear will of his constituents, Senator Domenici chose to enable this President to continue prosecuting his costly, irresponsible and failed Iraq policy -- and we’re not going to take it lying down.”

Last night Moveon members and Iraq Summer organizers held events outside the home state office of each and every Senate Republican to demand they stop blocking an end to the war in Iraq. In total Moveon members held 155 events across the country.

“On Wednesday night, citizens across the country came out in force and showed that they are not going to stand for this cowardly obstructionism and political gamesmanship from Senate Republicans,” continued Richardson. “The outpouring of public anger and frustration last night is a clear indication of how Senate Republicans are grossly out of touch with their constituents. This is no longer just an anti-Iraq war movement, this is a nation united in demanding an end to the war. It's time Senator Domenici and his fellow Republicans stopped obstructing, stopped playing these petty political games and started representing their constituents by voting to bring this war to a safe and responsible end.  That’s real support for our troops.”

“Senator Domenici’s vote this morning is further demonstration that he has lost touch with the people of New Mexico.  Through the ‘Iraq Summer’ campaign, Americans Against Escalation in Iraq will turn up the heat on Senator Domenici even further. We’ll be knocking on more doors, holding more rallies outside his office, continuing our Call Congress campaigns, and placing more and more signs on lawns across this state demanding an end to this reckless war.  If Sen. Domenici thought he could escape public retribution and accountability for his obstructionism – he’s painfully mistaken.”

“Iraq Summer” has dispatched nearly 100 organizers to 15 states and 40 congressional districts to turn up the heat this summer on Republican members of Congress who have opposed setting a timeline to bring a responsible end to the war in Iraq.  The intense10-week program is modeled on the “Freedom Summer” civil rights project.

(Updated) All Night Long: Confronting Repub Obstruction

UPDATE 10:40 AM: This morning, Repub Senators voted to stop a vote on the Levin-Reed troop withdrawal measure. Here's the roll call on cloture. It failed by a 52 Aye - 47 Nay margin because 60 votes were needed to break the Repub filibuster. An Aye vote for cloture supports allowing a vote on the amendment. Only 4 Repubs voted Aye: Collins (R-ME), Hagel (R-NE), Smith (R-OR) and Snowe (R-ME). All Dems voted Aye except for Reid, who ended up voting nay for parliamentary reasons to keep the process alive. Mr. Independent, Joe Lieberman, voted Nay. Harold Meyerson at the Washington Post has a scathing commentary on the all-talk-no-action Repubs, including Domenici.

As reported at Talking Points Memo, Reid has decided to hold back any further votes on the Defense Authorization bill or other amendments until Repubs permit a vote on the Levin-Reed amendment:

Ratcheting up the stakes in the wake of the GOP's successful blocking of a vote on Iraq withdrawal just moments ago, Harry Reid just announced on the Senate floor that he won't allow a vote on the entire Defense Authorization bill until the Senate GOP drops its filibustering of votes on Iraq.

The move is significant because it could hold up the funding of the Pentagon's fiscal 2008 priorities until the standoff is resolved.

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Last night's vigil in DC. AFP/Getty.

The Senate "debate" against the Repub filibuster to stop an up or down vote on the Levin-Reed amendment went all night long and continues this morning. At one point last night, Democrats from both the Senate and House joined citizens, including many Iraq vets, holding a candlelight vigil outside the Capitol. There were 57 House members and 25 Senators at the vigil. Here's a of excerpts from their speeches. Dems are calling on Repub Senators who are criticizing Bush and the occupation, like Sen. Domenici, to vote for change instead of merely paying lip service in order to garner political cover.

Click to read Nancy Pelosi's speech at the vigil. Excerpt:

We are gathered here tonight in a ‘Candlelight Call to Action.’ As we stand here with our call to action, on the Senate floor the Republicans are impeding the opportunity for the voices of the American people to be heard by denying a vote against the President’s policy in Iraq. That is why we are here – to send a message to the American people that the reason it is impossible to put the legislation on the President’s desk over and over again is because over and over again the Republicans in the United States Senate say ‘No’ to the American people. They will not allow a vote on bringing the troops home.

Sen. Dick Durbin, among others, is urging citizens to call the offices of a list of Senators who voice serious concerns about Bush's Iraq occupation but who won't allow a vote on the Levin-Reed amendment. Not surprisingly, Sen. Pete Domenici is on the list.

Domenici voted this morning to stop a vote on the Levin-Reed amendment. Please call and urge him to stop filibustering the Levin-Reed amendment:
Washington DC Office: (202) 224-6621
Website email form

Huffington Post is hosting a live web chat about the Iraq occupation today at Noon Mountain Time with MoveOn's Tom Matzzi, who's currently on loan to Americans Against Escalation in Iraq, a coalition working to responsibly end the war that includes, MoveOn, the Service Employees International Union, VoteVets.org, Americans United, USAction, Win Without War, National Security Network, Center for American Progress Action Fund, Working Assets, TrueMajority and others. The group has a budget of $12 million through September and is operating in 27 states, including New Mexico, on a project called Iraq Summer. You can submit questions now at livechat@huffingtonpost.com.

Here in Albuquerque, Iraq Summer helped organize an activist gathering yesterday at San Mateo and Montgomery to rally citizens to urge Domenici to vote to start bringing our troops home from Iraq. Also, Stop the War Machine organized an evening demonstration at Sen. Domenici's downtown Albuquerque office to urge him to replace his rhetoric with real action to end the occupation.

Reid: All-Night Debate If Repubs Block Vote on War Amendment

At last. Some spunk on the part of Senate Dems. And a real filibuster! If Repub Senators follow through on their threat to block an up or down vote on the Reed-Levin troop redeployment amendment to the Defense Authorization Act, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said he will use a parliamentary maneuver to devote up to 30 hours to a full debate on the issues to call attention to the Repub obstructionism:

[Reid] just announced on the Senate floor that he's invoking cloture on the Reed-Levin troop redeployment bill and, if the Republicans filibuster it tomorrow, he's going to force the Senate into an all-night session -- with cots brought in and everything -- to make them stand up in public for their beliefs.  Unless they agree to a simple-majority vote on Reed-Levin, the Senate stays in ongoing session ... Senate Democrats are prepared to speak all night and to force Republicans to stay in the chamber by invoking ongoing quorum calls.

I like it! Who knows what it will actually mean in terms of getting our troops out of Iraq, but at least it appears that Reid et al., have finally gotten it on some level that they need to make some noise to show how strongly they feel about ending this thing:

"Now, Republicans are using a filibuster to block us from even voting on an amendment that could bring the war to a responsible end," said Reid. "They are protecting the President rather than protecting our troops. They are denying us an up or down - yes or no - vote on the most important issue our country faces."

The Reed-Levin amendment to the Department of Defense (DoD) Authorization Bill requires George W. Bush to "commence the reduction of the number of United States forces in Iraq not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act" and mandates a withdrawal of most combat forces by April 30, 2008.

... The legislation, S.AMDT.2087, has bipartisan support and is cosponsored by Gordon Smith (R-OR), Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME).

It's a start. Keeping the pressure on our Dem Senators about the occupation appears to be bearing some fruit, despite last week's capitulation on Lieberman's awful Iran amendment. You know what to do.

Sen. Dick Durban explains the Dems' move.

What's Goin' On While Congress and The Commander Do the Politico Shuffle

We'll never see this on anything to do with the American mainstream media. Good thing, since so many of our dishonorable, dishonest, cold-blooded politicos think it's just fine to wait until September to get out of Iraq, or maybe next year, or perhaps 2009, or even decades down the road. Or is it widening and eternal war that's on our horizon? We wouldn't want the media to show the American people what's really happening on the ground in Iraq. They'd be even madder than they are today. Not that it matters much to those in power and those who allow them to stay in power.

What we've got is one political party full of pseudo-power and oil addicts and another political party too full of enablers and go-alongs. I mean, they don't even make adjustments in response to poll results anymore, except maybe in terms of their half-hearted rhetoric. Most of our political "leaders" and "representatives" seem to be residing in a bubble, apart from the passions of the people and the suffering they are prolonging. Lip service is the order of the day.

But then, you all know that. What needs to be found is some way to stop them on their unrelenting descent into unconstitutional and unconscionable madness in almost every area of endeavor, from foreign policy to health care to the environement to the economy and beyond. So much is broken, but widespread denial brings only paralysis and business as usual attitudes. Out here, we're sensing and often experiencing real emergencies and a profound sense of foreboding. But inside the privileged status quo it's still the same as it ever was -- sloganeering and posturing seems enough. When will the bubble break? And what will happen then? So much depends on us, yet many of us have rarely felt so helpless. And time is running out. What can we do?

Wilson Votes Against Changing Course in Iraq

As usual, Repub Rep. Heather Wilson is trying to have it both ways. She's continuing to blindly support the Bush Iraq agenda while pretending to want what's right for the American people, our troops and her constituents in NM-01. Her task  -- like that of so many Republicans who keep putting politics before common sense -- is getting harder and harder given the escalating carnage and chaos in Iraq.

Today Wilson voted against the Responsible Redeployment from Iraq Act (HR 2956), sponsored by Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo. The bill would require troops to begin withdrawing from Iraq within 120 days of enactment of the legislation. All troops would have to be redeployed from Iraq by April 1, 2008, with minor exceptions. The bill passed 223-201 -- by the largest margin yet for a so-called redeployment bill.

Although Wilson has been critical of Bush's "surge" strategy, she's apparently willing to allow the failed policy to remain in place and our escalating casualties to continue unabated in Iraq in order to stay loyal to Bush. Back in January, she had this to say about the president's strategy, as quoted by  CNN:

“I am not a supporter of a surge to do for the Iraqis what the Iraqis will not do for themselves…. I also have not seen a clarity of mission. And I think that’s the greatest weakness that we have right now."

Well, there's still no clarity of mission and things are not improving in Iraq either militarily or politically:

Iraqi progress on political and military goals sought by Congress has been mixed during the past several months, with slow advances toward some of the targets and paralysis or even reverses in other areas, the White House said today in a much-anticipated assessment.

... The administration's assessment comes the day after U.S. intelligence experts offered an overwhelmingly negative view of military and political conditions in Iraq, saying that Iraqi forces will remain incapable of taking charge of security for years to come and that deepening sectarian political divides remain the largest impediment to progress.

Moreover, the lastest assessment describes "a 'complex and extremely challenging' security environment, an 'uneven' economic situation and little sign of progress toward political benchmarks."

Why won't Wilson vote in alignment with her negative views on Bush's Iraq plan and the realities of what's happening on the ground in Iraq? Pure politics. Despite trying to paint herself as a "moderate" and offering periodic criticisms about the war, she has never voted for any Iraq measure offered by Democrats and remains a rubberstamp for the Bush administration. I wonder when her conscience will bother her enough to prompt her to break with the president and truly support our troops.

By the way, Repub Rep. Steve Pearce (NM-02) voted against redeployment. Dem Rep. Tom Udall (NM-03) voted for it.

Petraeus Advisor Rejects Domenici-Backed Iraq Plan

Think Progress reports:

Stephen Biddle, a senior defense policy analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations, cautions against adopting “a politically moderate ‘Plan B’ that would split the difference between surge and withdrawal.” Biddle, an adviser to Gen. Petraeus who has cautioned that escalation is “likelier to fail than succeed,” says the Iraq debate should put aside “popular centrist options” embodied in the Iraq Study Group recommendations.

Biddle writes that the ISG’s call to “shift the mission” of U.S. troops while maintaining an occupation of Iraq would cause even greater problems. “Without a major U.S. combat effort to keep the violence down, the American training effort would face challenges even bigger than those our troops are confronting today. ... It is unrealistic to expect that we can pull back to some safe yet productive mission of training but not fighting — this would be neither safe nor productive.” he writes. ... middle-ground options leave us with the worst of both worlds: continuing casualties but even less chance of stability in exchange.

Repub Senate leaders still insist they will filibuster even the flawed and toothless Iraq Study Group legislation sponsored by Salazar-Alexander that's backed by Sen. Pete Domenici, along with anything meaningful that the Dems propose. Their strategy is to delay passage of anything that addresses the realities of the quagmire occupation until that magic day in September when Gen. Patraeus is supposed to deliver his report on the success of the "surge." Southern New Mexico's Repub Rep. Steve Pearce has rejected Domenici's stance and is sticking with Bush 100%, as usual.

Democrats are expected to rally around a Levin-Reed sponsored amendment to the massive defense spending bill that sets a withdrawal date to begin 120 days after passage and end by April 30, 2008. Sen. Jeff Bingaman supports the bill, saying that "Salazar's plan lacks specific requirements for troop withdrawal."

Meanwhile, Congressional Quarterly that House Dems will proceed with a bill that will set withdrawal timelines in the hopes of encouraging Senators to pass similar legislation:

The House bill (HR 2956), sponsored by Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., would require troops to begin withdrawing from Iraq within 120 days of enactment of the legislation. All troops would have to be redeployed from Iraq by April 1, 2008, with minor exceptions.

It's expected that Dem Rep. Tom Udal of Northern New Mexico will support Skelton's bill.

Yesterday, Bush said he would veto any defense spending bill that contained requirements for a withdrawal by “an arbitrary date.” I guess his arbitrary war full of arbitrary deaths doesn't bother him any. Close-minded zealots are like that.

Right On, Right On, Right On

Michael Moore riffing on the sins of Sanjay Gupta, CNN and the MSM. Gogogogogogogogo. Admit it -- you, yourself, have often yelled at the TV set with similar passion when Wolfie or another of the mocking bobbleheads is twisting reality to suit the overlords, haven't you? Gupta's review of Sicko that precipitated Moore's rant.

On the ever widening impeachment front, there's this. I hope they don't shoot it out of the sky. Nothing is impossible these days in the Bush-Cheney Land of a Thousand Nightmares.

New Mexicans to Deliver Letter to Domenici and Wilson Urging They Take a Real Stand on Endless War in Iraq

From Americans Against Escalation in Iraq:
Constituent letter also requests town hall meeting as part of “Iraq Summer” Campaign

Constituents will hand deliver a letter to Senator Pete Domenici and Congresswoman Heather Wilson urging them to take a stand on President Bush’s reckless Iraq war policy. The letter also requests that they attend a town hall meeting on August 28th to explain their stance on Bush’s endless war.

WHO:    Sen. Pete Domenici, Rep. Heather Wilson
WHAT:  “Take a Stand” letter delivery
WHEN:   Wednesday, July 11, 2007
TIME:   11:00 AM (Wilson), 11:30 AM (Domenici)
WHERE:  Congresswoman Heather Wilson’s district office: 20 First Plaza NW, Suite  603,  Albuquerque, NM 87102; Senator Pete Domenici’s office: 201 3rd Street, Suite 710, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102

If you can make it, come on down and join us and make your voices heard! Visit our website: .