Democracy for New Mexico

I've Donated, Have You? $275,000 and Counting

From CBS News:

In the past 24 hours, MoveOn, perhaps the most powerful liberal advocacy group in the country, has raised $275,000 for the United Services Organizations (USO) for calling cards for U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. The USO may be most associated with Bob Hope-type visits to troops overseas, but the non-partisan organization is clearly comfortable partnering with MoveOn if the cause helps soldiers stationed overseas during the holidays.

MoveOn.org emailed its 3.3 million members this week asking them to donate $15 for the USO's Operation Phone Home program, and the membership rapidly responded with the donations. MoveOn conducted a similar operation a few years ago around Christmas time when its members donated 16 million frequent flier miles to the troops.

Eli Pariser, the executive director of MoveOn.org's Civic Action program, says the group sees no inconsistency between its anti-war political message and its Christmas generosity for the troops.

"A lot of our members are veterans or military families, so the war affects them personally," Pariser said in a phone interview with Politico. "We wanted to do something that was very direct in terms of helping those in harms way. It's very clear for our members that you can support the troops and be against the war."

Give your $15 (or more) here for MoveOn's USO phone card project.

Dems Capitulate: Bowing, Scraping, Caving

I was going to write a post about the DC Democrats surrendering to Bush AGAIN, but why bother when Salon blogger Glenn Greenwald has already expressed what I want to say:

Democrats show Beltway "strength," avoid being depicted as weak (updated below)

In the world of the Beltway pundit, Bush Dog Representative, and Democratic strategist, this is how Democrats prove how "strong" and tough they are and avoid being demonized as "weak" and "soft"; this is all just from today:

From The Hill:

From The Washington Post:

From CNN:

From The Hill:

And this passage from the CNN article -- in which Democrats try to explain that they didn't completely capitulate in every single way possible -- is one of the most pity-inducing of the year, and there is a very healthy competition for that distinction:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Democratic lawmakers and staffers privately say they're closing in on a broad budget deal that would give President Bush as much as $70 billion in new war funding. The deal would lack a key provision Democrats had attached to previous funding bills calling for most U.S. troops to come home from Iraq by the end of 2008, which would be a significant legislative victory for Bush.

Still, Democrats are trying to sell $70 billion in new war funding as a partial victory for them. They point out that while the final numbers are still in flux during intense private negotiations, Bush is likely to get far less money than he originally requested.

"What is for sure is he will not get all $200 billion," said one senior Democratic lawmaker. "Whatever number it is, it is much less than what the president asked for. For the first time in this war, he has received less than his request."

But senior administration officials privately say they expect to be able to get at least of the rest of the president's $200 billion request passed through Congress next year.

For Congressional Democrats, the "victory" they are touting is that they are only giving Bush $70 billion for the war now, and they won't give him the other $130 billion he is demanding until they return in a few weeks. They really showed him.

Read the rest of Greenwald's post.

I'd love to require all the cowardly Dems taking this path to irrelevance to walk precincts and talk to potential Dem voters from now until at least the New Year. It would be fascinating, to say the least, to witness how they'd go about convincing ordinary people that they're doing anything at all to express the will of the people and stand up to Bush's eternal war machine. Maybe they'd wake up and get the big picture if they had to face the insults and door slamming that occurs so often these days when activists try to make a case for the Dem cause and candidates. They'd find out fast, as so many of us have, that there's next to nothing to "sell" people when we're trying to get folks excited about the Party.

Bush and his cronies played this one out perfectly. A while back Bush came right out and said that he intended to "fix" things so that the next President, regardless of who they were, would be forced to deal with Iraq on his terms, not theirs. Clearly the aim has been to saddle the next administration and the American people with a situation in Iraq that would make a timely exit next to impossible. And if and when an exit ever comes, you can guess who'll be blamed for the "failure."

Of course this tactic has the added benefit of further bankrupting government, thus making it next to impossible to do anything to effectively address our problems related to domestic spending of any kind. This, in turn, pretty much guarantees that government at every level will increasingly turn to "privatization" to perform what governments can no longer afford to do on their own. This inevitably leads to higher, not lower, costs to the taxpayers, but it does provide opportunities for the quick, if illusory, fixes of which politicos are so fond.

Meanwhile the DC Dems keep bragging about their "new direction" and touting their extraordinary achievements since we helped them take back the Congress. Can you remember what they are? Well, they did manage to raise the minimum wage to a level it should have been a decade or so ago. They keep passing SCHIP legislation and resubmitting it to Bush for his veto, something they're unaccountably afraid to do with other bills like those on Pentagon and war funding, energy, FISA and torture. They keep investigating scandals and issuing subpoenas, but nothing tangible ever seems to result from these efforts. I guess they think the publicity is enough.

I'm very tired of all the sound and fury signifying nothing, aren't you? All form, no substance. All rhetoric, no action. All bluster, no follow through. Most of all, no courage of their convictions -- if they have any left after so many years of putting their reelection and fundraising goals before the needs of the nation.

Guest Blog: State of Fear Averts Eyes from Bush's Errors

This is a guest blog by Ashleigh Steele, who graduated from Albuquerque's Eldorado High School in 2005 and is currently a junior majoring in international studies at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. She writes a weekly op-ed for the Daily Nebraskan. This piece was originally published in that newspaper on December 7, 2007.

For the past several months, both the media and the government have inundated us with information about the developing nuclear weapons program in Iran.

According to the media and the Bush administration, Iran is on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon, and they pose a serious threat to the United States. But according to the National Intelligence Estimate released earlier this week, Iran halted its nuclear weapons development program in 2003. This report came as a surprise to most Americans who have been forced to listen to the rhetoric of the Bush administration in their media battle against Iran.

The National Intelligence Estimate stated that "in the fall of 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program" due to heightened international pressure. This is contrary to recent statements made by the Bush administration concerning the Iranian government.

The administration has repeatedly accused the government in Tehran of pursuing a weapons-grade uranium enrichment program. Even after the release of the National Intelligence Estimate, the Bush administration has maintained this stance against Iran.

On Tuesday President Bush said, "Iran was dangerous, Iran is dangerous and Iran will be dangerous if they have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."

Clearly the administration has learned nothing from the occupation of Iraq.

Before entering Iraq in March 2003, the Bush administration adamantly maintained that Saddam Hussein was desperate to obtain weapons of mass destruction. In spite of the fact that both the CIA and the United Nations' weapons inspectors could not find any evidence that there were weapons of mass destruction, the administration still sent forces into Iraq.

The parallels between the rhetoric leading up to the war in Iraq and the rhetoric the administration is using to describe Iran today are striking.

Before the war in Iraq, the administration maintained that we, as Americans, should be terrified of the prospect of Saddam Hussein obtaining weapons of mass destruction; today it seems as though the administration would like us to be just as afraid of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the prospect of Iran enriching weapons grade uranium. 

Bush wants nothing more than to keep us in a constant state of fear. This constant state of fear only serves to distract us from the economic slump, the sub-prime mortgage crisis, the illegal surveillance of the American people and the various other sins of the Bush administration.

The National Intelligence Estimate was released at a most inopportune time for the administration. In previous weeks, Bush has stated that a nuclear conflict with Iran could set off World War III; Cheney warned us that Iran is a terror-supporting state attempting to fulfill its grandest ambitions of acquiring nuclear weapons and taking control of the Middle East.

According to Flynt Leverett, a former senior director on Bush's National Security Council, the President and his staff were well aware of the conclusions of the NIE as early as August 2006. Yet the administration has maintained its adamant stance against the government in Tehran and continues to claim an attempt to enrich weapons-grade uranium.

This deception of the American people has to stop. The Bush administration has demonstrated its contempt for the truth throughout its time in office by lying to us about the reasons for invading the nation of Iraq and blocking a full investigation into the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks - this only continues with the claim that Iran is attempting to obtain weapons of mass destruction.

When will this deception end?

An April 2006 article in the New Yorker suggests that President Bush believes that Iran will be his saving grace. If he can force some type of regime change in Iran and prevent the development of nuclear weaponry, then his presidency will be vindicated. The majority of opinion polls put the President's approval rating somewhere between 30 and 35 percent.

Due to the war in Iraq, the growing deficit, the torture of prisoners of war, the disaster that was Hurricane Katrina, the controversy surrounding the dismissal of the U.S. attorneys and thousands of other mistakes, the presidency of George Walker Bush is now viewed by the majority of Americans as a failure.

So he's convinced that if he can save the United States from the threat of Iran that his legacy will be saved.

But the NIE tells us that Iran poses no threat. The earliest Iran could produce enough enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb is 2010, but they have stopped working toward the production of a nuclear weapon and are complying with the 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Clearly the Bush administration has motives other than protecting the interests of the American people. The United States should learn from its previous mistakes in Iraq; the American people should not allow themselves to once again get caught up in the rhetoric of the Bush administration and be driven into a senseless action against another nation in the Middle East.

This is a guest blog by Ashleigh Steele, a student at the University of Nebraska. You can reach her at ashleighsteele@dailynebraskan.com. Guest blogs provide readers with an opportunity to express their views on relevant issues and may or many not reflect our views. If you'd like to submit a piece for consideration as a guest blog, contact me by clicking on the Email Me link on the upper left-hand corner of the page.

Christmas in Fallujah

and Cass DillonAnd So This is Xmas, 2007War is Still Over If You Want It

Net proceeds generated from downloads of "Christmas in Fallujah" will be donated to Homes for Our Troops, a nonprofit that builds specially adapted homes for severely disabled veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Cell Theatre Hosts First Reading of 'The 99th Monkey'

The Cell Theatre presents a free reading of the new original play, “The 99th Monkey” by Paul Adamian on Wednesday, December 5, 2007, at 7:30 PM. The Cell Theatre is located at 700 First Street NW in Albuquerque. The 99th Monkey, a play in two acts, is set in the early months of 2003 prior to the Iraq War. MARK FARRELL, a high school history teacher, and veteran of the Gulf War/Desert Storm and the “Bulldozer Assault” of 1991, joins a global protest against America’s penchant for war; a routine rotation fast for peace that escalates into an ultimatum and a full blown starvation protest to stop the impending military action against Iraq.

Wrestling with his decision are his wife, ABBEY, a fellow peace-activist in her own right, his father, TOM, a regular army man, who never saw action in a twenty-plus-year career, and CHLOE, his 17 yr. old daughter, who idolizes her father, and whose voice renders the play to us. As Mark’s “sphere of influence” grows, it attracts visits from THE MAN and THE STRANGER, who round out the cast. Commencing with a curriculum proposal to help teenage mothers stay in school, weekend marches for peace, a few inspiring lectures, and a Teacher of the Year nomination, Mark’s decision soon unveils a troubled ex-soldier’s search for redemption and forgiveness.

Cheney Rakes in $110,000 for Heather Wilson's Senate Campaign

Dick Cheney appeared at an exclusive fundraiser for NM-01 Rep. Heather Wilson's U.S. Senate campaign at the private Capitol Club on Capitol Hill in Washington DC last night. Tickets were $1000 each. A photo with Dick cost $2,300. The night's haul was $110,000 for Wilson, and both retiring Sen. Pete Domenici and his Chief of Staff, Steve Bell, were in attendance. So far, the only other Repub in the primary race is Rep. Steve Pearce (NM-02). Cheney has reportedly agreed to appear at a fundraiser for Pearce's campaign in January.

The Wilson fundraiser, featuring one of the most unpopular and anti-Constitutional Vice Presidents in history, showed how closely Wilson is aligned with the Bush-Cheney neocon ideologues. She may promote herself as a "moderate," as she always has, but campaign cash is campaign cash. Money talks. The kinds of donors who are attracted to big ticket fundraisers in DC by the presence of Cheney generally don't make contributions out of the goodness of their hearts. They're part of the right-wing machine that's working day and night to keep us mired in Iraq while concocting a way to attack Iran.

In September, Wilson was ranked as one of the "22 Most Corrupt Members of Congress" by the non-partisan Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (along with Pearce). She's been a loyal rubber stamp of the failed Bush-Cheney policies regarding the Iraq occupation and has repeatedly voted in support of the Bush-Cheney agenda, which will place serious financial hardships on future generations. Iraq war spending coupled with fiscally irresponsible policies in other areas has resulted in the U.S. borrowing hundreds of billions of dollars from other nations -- and the largest budget deficits in our history.

Tragically, the Bush-Cheney war of choice has caused the deaths of more than 3,800 American troops and untold thousands of Iraq civilians. Latest estimates are that the U.S. will end up spending more than a half-trillion dollars to keep our soldiers locked in an endless civil war and cover the costs of the aftermath -- funds that could have been spent on our numerous neglected domestic priorities, from health care to education to infrastructure repair to renewable energy research.

Democratic Party of New Mexico Chairman Brian S. Colón weighs in:

Dick Cheney's values are far removed from the values of New Mexicans. He has been the source of much of the deception and disinformation perpetuated by the Bush Administration. Dick Cheney has said that 'deficits don't matter,' he has predicted that our forces would be 'greeted as liberators' in Iraq, and has falsely stated that Saddam Hussein 'had an established relationship with al Qaeda.'  Dick Cheney clearly represents the opposite of what New Mexicans want from Washington.

By standing side-by-side with Cheney last night for money, the voters of New Mexico were reminded that Heather Wilson has been more loyal to the Bush-Cheney Administration than to the priorities of the families of New Mexico. New Mexicans deserve better representation in Washington.

This is another reason why next year New Mexicans will elect a U.S. Senator who is a Democrat -- because they crave leadership that will stand up for the values of the working families of New Mexico, instead of the ideology of a failed Administration.

Ortiz y Pino Guest Blog on Blackwater: The Visigoths

This is a guest blog by NM State Senator Gerald Ortiz y Pino (right), a Democrat who represents Senate District 12 in Albuquerque. This piece was originally published in Santa Fe Sun News:

When the full accounting of the worst excesses of the Bush (Junior version) administration is at last tallied by historians, I will not be surprised to find heading the pathetic inventory the inglorious adventures of that uniquely American institution, the Blackwater Company. In a way that is exquisitely appropriate, Blackwater may well become recognized as the perfect example of the Bush-Cheney administration in microcosm, W's ideal and exemplary "MINI-ME"; a band of clumsy mercenaries wreaking havoc everywhere they tread (even while making quite a bundle of money in the process).

They are our Visigoths, the armored warriors who've swept in mindlessly and knocked down the last props holding up the American Empire, the very Empire our hapless President was apparently attempting to deputize them to protect. If it were a soccer match, Blackwater would have just managed to score an "own goal"... one for the other side. Recognize, too, that Blackwater is not an aberration, an unfortunate mistake, one noteworthy precisely because it is so different from all else that is going on. Oh no! These guys are no glitch; they are actually the vision! They are what Cheney and Wolfowitz and Rumsfeld and the rest of that "New American Generation" crew had in mind when they talked about market forces and the "opportunity for regime change" and when they driveled-on about spreading American entrepreneurial capitalism across the globe. They saw the future and the future was ... Blackwater: another in the endless stream of governmental functions to be privatized; the endless chain of thefts from the public treasury for private gain; you know, the hallmark of all that Bush stands for! It's been so simple, really, to reverse the pumps.

It used to be Washington's task to bring money into the Government. No more. By the time they finally stagger away from their time at the trough, Dubya and his guys will have pretty well emptied out the Federal Government's cash reservoirs and filled their own and their buddies' up to the brim. What with Halliburton sopping up billions through creative bookkeeping of its non-activity in Iraq and dozens of corporations evading all tax liability by the simple expedient of listing their headquarters address off-shore in some businessman's tropic paradise; with Defense contractors, oil companies, major pharmaceuticals and money lenders all gorged just about to capacity from sucking up Federal largesse, it now turns out that (surprise!) there isn't much left in the accounts to actually run governmental services with. So there are plenty of villains to point at these days, no end to the larcenies being committed at public expense. Yet even among the ranks of all the many rogues with the foresight to cozy up to Republican elected officials and the willingness to exchange ethics for no-bid contracts, Blackwater stands out.

They all stink, of course; they all invite outrage, and they all should be made to pay the money back. But there is a clinging to this particular Virginia-based enterprise, this armed-muscle-for-hire company, an especially repugnant aroma that does set it apart even among the other opportunists and jackals that avidly fatten themselves at the expense of the miserable. You see, these guys are not just hired guns, mercenaries willing to serve whoever signs their pay vouchers. They fancy themselves as being our privatized Armed Forces: the ultimate in out-sourcing of essential governmental functions. And unfortunately, the President seems to agree with them.

Thus, when thugs in the employ of Blackwater commit murder, assault, mayhem and similarly impolite other forms of behavior during their stay in Iraq, as described so numbingly by Reporter Jeremy Scahill in his just-published book on the company called, simply, Blackwater, it is not the corporate investors in the company who will feel the heat of Iraqi outrage, it is the American people who will be blamed.

This is what the Romans learned the hard way over sixteen hundred years ago.

Those darned mercenaries are more trouble than they are worth. Not only can they prove difficult to control, but you have to bear the weight of all the errors they make. They are not independent of those who hire them. The illusion is that it is easier to pay big bucks for contractors to do the dirty work than to recruit, train and supervise your own troops. That is the illusion to which the current occupant of the White House has fallen prey. That is why we now have more private contract manpower in Iraq than we have troops (200,000 versus 170,000), even if we don't keep close tabs on their deaths -- must be a clause in their employment contract or something, a kind of "you don't have to mark my passing" authorization. But it is starting to look like even the Iraqi government (whose puppet strings we routinely jerk just to remind them who's boss) has finally tired of the arrogance and blood-letting of the contractors. The general populace did so long ago, of course. But then the general populace tired of all of us long ago, so it's no use asking them.

The government, though, now wants Blackwater gone; removed; their contract ended. They will soon be forced out of Iraq, I assume. But that will end neither the Bush entanglement with mercenaries in Iraq nor the profitability of Blackwater. Some other company of soldiers of fortune will fill their shoes, with little or no change in how badly we are served by using unaccountable and uncontrollable troops like that. Blackwater itself will scoop up some other juicy contract for work somewhere else in the world: Afghanistan, Mississippi (yes, they were there during Katrina), Darfur -- wherever there's a buck to be made and a code of ethics to be ignored. Blackwater is the Bush doctrine: private gain squeezed from public coffers. Now it is up to us, the American people, to decide if we are going to tolerate what it represents. Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and Blackwater are three very smelly pieces of inheritance to pass on to our children.

They don't deserve it. We must turn away the Visigoths.

This is a guest blog by Democratic NM State Senator Gerald Ortiz y Pino. Guest blogs provide readers with an opportunity to express their views on relevant issues and may or many not reflect our views. If you'd like to submit a piece for consideration as a guest blog, contact me by clicking on the Email Me link on the upper left-hand corner of the page.

DFA Presidential Pulse Poll: Bill Richardson

Democracy for America is running a Presidential Pulse Poll and each of the Dem candidates has been invited to submit a message explaining why they should get our vote. Gov. Bill Richardson is the latest to distribute a message:

I know you've already received a couple of emails from other candidates, asking for your vote in the Presidential Pulse Poll.  They have given you what you usually get from candidates: long lists of strong policy statements and broad political philosophies.

You've seen my DFA videos on energy and Iraq, and you can visit my website for my plans on health care, education, and other important issues. But today I want to talk to you about the issue that matters most in this race:

Ending the war in Iraq.

You know where I stand: end this war now and get all our troops out as quickly as possible. If you're with me and want this war over now and all the troops out, please cast your vote for me, Bill Richardson, in the DFA Presidential Pulse Poll:

https://DemocracyforAmerica.com/VoteRichardson

Ending the war was the defining issue in 2003, when Governor Dean called for an end to the war - before President Bush spent four more years wasting billions of dollars, and hundreds more brave American troops died.

Iraq was the issue that really mattered in 2006, when we elected a Democratic majority to Congress to end the war (though they have yet to get that done). Iraq will be the issue this spring when we select a nominee, and it will be the issue that can win us back the White House in 2008.

Ending the war is the issue that distinguishes me from the other candidates in this race.

It seems simple - yet I am the only leading candidate who is unequivocally calling for the removal of all troops now. No half-measures. No rhetorical games about "combat troops" versus "non-combat troops." No residual troops. No one left behind.

https://DemocracyforAmerica.com/VoteRichardson

From the other leading candidates we're hearing poll-tested pieties about ending the war. But when you ask them what they'll actually do, none of them will commit to getting all of our troops out of Iraq now. They won't even commit to getting all the troops out by 2013. I've committed to ending the war my first day in office, and getting all the troops out in 2009. You can hold me to it.

If we don't elect a candidate who will get all of our troops out now, the war in Iraq may still be the defining issue in the 2012 campaign.

Your vote in the Pulse Poll does more than just determine an endorsement; it sends a message about what you demand from your candidates.

Today, I'd like you to send a message about ending this war when you cast your vote.

https://DemocracyforAmerica.com/VoteRichardson

Ending the war means a full and complete withdrawal. That's what America needs... and it's what I'll do.

Before I was Governor of New Mexico, I was a member of Congress, Secretary of Energy, and Ambassador to the United Nations. I've successfully negotiated with the worst "bad guys" from around the world -- including Saddam Hussein.  I know the region, and I know real diplomacy isn't possible until we get all of our troops out. As long as our troops are in Iraq, the Iraqis will not make the tough political compromises and the insurgents will continue to use our presence for recruitment. As long as our troops are in Iraq, they will continue to die in someone else's civil war.

I'm talking about Iraq and ending this war everywhere I visit - with DFA support and volunteers behind me, think of how far we can go. Vote now.

https://DemocracyforAmerica.com/VoteRichardson

We need to end this war now. That means getting all of our troops out. I'm the candidate committed to getting it done, and the only candidate with the experience to do it right.

Thank you for your vote in the Presidential Pulse Poll, and your continued hard work helping to elect Democrats.

Sincerely,
Governor Bill Richardson

Note from DFA: All Candidates have been asked to submit a "Vote for Me" message for DFA members. This message is not an endorsement by DFA. We provide this direct contact from the campaign as a service for our members when choosing whom to support in the final DFA Presidential Pulse Poll.

If you've already voted in the Pulse Poll, you can vote again and it will replace your previous vote.

Friday: Juan Cole at College of Santa Fe

Juan Cole writes one of the most influential and visited blogs on Iraq and the Middle East, in addition to his many other distinguished activities. His most recent book Napoleon's Egypt: Invading the Middle East has just been published. He'll be speaking in Santa Fe this Friday:

College of Santa Fe
Friday, October 26, 7:00 PM - Forum
Juan Cole: Steps Toward Peace in Iraq
Click for Campus Map and Directions

This lecture by Mid-East scholar Juan Cole will explore processes for establishing a peaceful Iraq -- although Cole doesn't mince words in his recent Nation article: "There is no plan that can guarantee peace in the region." He argues that a U.S. withdrawal could lead in the right direction if a highly calculated series of conditions are met and Sunnis can be brought back to the negotiating table. Such conditions include American diplomacy toward Iran and Syria; Saudi leadership on behalf of Sunni Iraqis; a newly elected Sunni Arab political class; a six-plus-two meeting in which Mid-East foreign ministers assume crucial leadership roles; and the presence of a UN Peacekeeping force.

Cole's writings have been published in the Washington Post, The Guardian, and Salon.com. As a commentator, he can often be heard on such news shows as "Democracy Now!" Al Jazeera, "Lehrer News Hour," and "CNN Headline News." He is a professor of Modern Middle East History at the University of Michigan, and author of the popular weblog "Informed Comment."

Discussing the theoretical implications of war-time torture tactics or negotiating peace among Los Angeles gang members can be an engrossing way to spend the evening -- but theoretical debate turns experiential when the discussion includes participants in the events being explored.

In CSF's 2007-08 Beyond-the-Lecture Series, "Bridging the Cultural Divide," each event features the first-hand perspectives of people who bore witness or actively work to find solutions to epic problems. The series includes presentations by Samuel Toe, the Hearings Officer of the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission; Tony Lagouranis, former Abu Ghraib Army interrogator; Alfredo Corchado, the Mexican Bureau Chief of the Dallas Morning News; and Santa Fe Mayor David Coss, as well as scholars, documentarians and others who will share their experiences with major world issues.

All lectures are free and open to the public. For more information, call (505) 473-6282. Co-sponsored by the Santa Fe Reporter and the United World College-USA/Bartos Institute. (From the CSF website.)

More info:

• Cole's blog Informed Comment
• Juan Cole articles in The Nation
• Cole's latest article on Salon

New Gore Videos: Is He Running?

Yesterday, Al Gore added three short, campaign style videos to Current.com, the online website of the cable TV channel he helped found. As far as I can tell, he's never done this before. What does it signal? Watch them and then you tell me:

• He's for universal, single-payer health care: Health Care Is a Right
• He thinks we need more protection against government surveillance: Americans Deserve More Protection
• He wants to bring the troops home as quickly as possible: Get the Troops Home