Live from D.C., it's Blast Off!

this post is sticky until Saturday morning -- please scroll down for new material

Well, I'm heading for Washington, D.C., and the March on Washington.

I'll have all the equipment available for liveblogging the events ... at least until my battery runs out. I plan to post, with pictures, as frequently as possible -- not continuously, as though it were a hearing or something, but very regularly. Gotta balance your desire for information with my need for electricity, y'know ...

Please bookmark Blast Off! now and check in here throughout Friday night and, especially, Saturday. Then, if you have questions or observations, use the comment threads and I'll respond to the extent possible.

Fly the friendly skies

Hi from Tampa.

Yeah, I know, it's silly to drive from America's Glans™ all the way here to TPA. But I have my reasons.

I guess I'm really doing this. Hopefully it'll burnish my Dirty Fucking Hippie creds just a little.

I've talked to racy mind and she's on her flight now. I'll be boarding mine momentarily ... and then it's off to D.C. to send a message. And drink some beer. Yeah, mostly beer.

But, there'll be a message, too.

More later ... from the Nation's Capital.

Don't expect me to cheer for Ralph Nader

I received the following e-mail this morning about the rally on Saturday in D.C., where I'll be joining thousands of my closest DFH friends:

Three days until the Sept. 15 March to Stop the War! ~ Partial list of speakers ~ Sign up to volunteer ~ On Saturday, September 15, tens of thousands of people will gather at 12:00 noon on the north side of the White House, in and around Lafayette Park. Following the rally at the White House, participants will march to the Capitol Building. When the march arrives at Congress, thousands of people will participate in a Die-In/Funeral to dramatically represent the thousands of U.S. and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives lost in Iraq. Those not in the Die-In can participate in a legally permitted rally. Speakers at the White House rally will include: Ralph Nader Malik Rahim, Founder, Common Ground Collective, New Orleans Cindy Sheehan, Co-Founder, Gold Star Families for Peace Ramsey Clark, former U.S. attorney general Adam Kokesh, Iraq Veterans Against the War Tina Richards, CEO, Grassroots America Mahdi Bray, Executive Director, Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation Mounzer Sleiman, Vice-Chair, National Council of Arab Americans Etan Thomas, Washington Wizards Basketball Player & many other veterans, family members, anti-war, student and community leaders!

Hang on a second ... did you say Ralph Nader?? The man whose colossal ego and unwillingness to accept logic and reality in large part (though, admittedly, not singlehandedly) led to the mess we're in to begin with?

I find this appalling ... doesn't anyone pay attention to history? Sure, he may be a fine advocate for peace, but mostly he's a fine advocate for himself. And those of us who are coming to Washington to demand change have to put up with this asshat?

Spare me the starry-eyed rhetoric. I know Ralph thought he was doing the right thing. But he knew that his candidacy in 2000 would pull votes from Al Gore, and no matter how you want to argue the point, the final Florida tally (Katherine Harris-approved, I know, but it's in the books) says that Nader drew almost 100,000 votes, which in a margin of 537 for Drunky McStagger literally made all the difference.

Forgive me if I don't applaud Nader on Saturday. I don't know if I'll boo or turn my back or what, but I'll make my feelings known. Your mileage may vary, but I'm going to express myself. Deal with it.

UPDATE (11:23 am 9/12/07): Commenter TA chimes in:

Sinfonian said, "Hang on a second ... did you say Ralph Nader?? The man whose colossal ego and unwillingness to accept logic and reality in large part (though, admittedly, not singlehandedly) led to the mess we're in to begin with?"

You are not being fair to Nader or his supporters. The 2000 election went to Bush in large part because 50,460,110 people (47.87%) voted for him. And the 2000 election went to Bush in large part because Al Gore didn't even win his home state of Tennessee. And the 2000 election went to Bush because Gore's selection for VP was a lame duck. And the 2000 election went to Bush because Gore conceded too easily.

It's easy to tag Nader as the scapegoat of the 2000 election, but it's certainly not fair or logical. The majority of the blame for the mess we're in should be placed on BUSH.

As for Nader, I'll probably vote for him or some other third party candidate if Clinton gets the nomination.

And I respond:

You are not being fair to Nader or his supporters.

On the contrary -- I think I am being more than fair. I said "I know Ralph thought he was doing the right thing" and "The man whose colossal ego and unwillingness to accept logic and reality in large part (though, admittedly, not singlehandedly) led to the mess we're in to begin with?" That's fair to say, IMO.

The 2000 election went to Bush in large part because 50,460,110 people (47.87%) voted for him.

True, but more people voted for Gore. And more people in Florida would have voted for Gore than for Bush had Nader not been in an unwinnable race. If you would like to argue that issue, feel free, but it's a non-starter.

And the 2000 election went to Bush in large part because Al Gore didn't even win his home state of Tennessee.

I agree, that was pathetic.

And the 2000 election went to Bush because Gore's selection for VP was a lame duck.

Well, I sort of agree; we didn't know then what we know now about Lieberman, unfortunately.

And the 2000 election went to Bush because Gore conceded too easily.

Wrong. It went to Bush because Katherine Harris was a Bush campaign chair, and because five SCOTUS Justices (notably O'Connor) ignored the facts and the law.

You just keep deceiving yourself if you want, and I said from the start that reasonable minds may differ, but in my opinion, Ralph Nader has no business being at this rally Saturday, nor anywhere near politics, for that matter.

Naderites certainly are persistent, aren't they?

UPDATE (4:35 pm 9/12/07): The debate continues below in Comments (or, as we like to call them here, "Blasts").

Running scared

The Bush crime syndicate is scared.

Scared of dissent. Scared of protests. Scared of free speech. And scared of September 15.

I received an e-mail this morning (not on the web, apparently, so no link available as yet) from the folks at ImpeachBush.org, who are co-organizers of the September 15 March on Washington. The e-mail describes the shocking and wholly unwarranted response of the Bush crime syndicate, represented by the National Park Police, to a small and peaceful press conference yesterday to publicize the September 15 activities:

While the momentum for the Sept. 15 Peace/Impeachment demonstration grows, the Bush Administration is going to extraordinary lengths to suppress the mobilizing for this mass demonstration.

Less than 18 hours ago, National Park Service Police turned a September 15 Press Conference, held in front of the White House, into a chaotic scene. On the pretext that there was no permit for a three foot long folding table that the media placed their microphones on, the police intervened in the middle of the press conference to announce that it was an unpermitted activity. Three people were arrested and are still being held in jail. They include Adam Kokesh, an Iraq war veteran; Tina Richards of Grassroots America; and Ian Thompson an ANSWER Coalition organizer.

The Parks Police even rode a horse directly into the crowd of reporters and shocked onlookers. The National Parks Police is an agency in the Interior Department whose Secretary is a member of George W. Bush's cabinet. In recent weeks September 15 organizers have been fined more than $30,000 for putting up posters promoting the September 15 March on Washington.

We encourage ImpeachBush.org members to circulate this email and the important story from the AFP wire story that documents this outrageous assault against Free Speech rights by the Bush Administration. At the end of this email we are also enclosing a link to a video on YouTube that shows some part of the suppression of the September 15 press conference yesterday.

Bush and company want to prevent people from coming out for a mass action led by Iraq war veterans and their families that will expose his war propaganda as a lie. The Administration wants to suppress the growing movement for impeachment. This is a showdown of great magnitude.

Please make every effort to come to Washington DC on September 15. We will not be intimidated. Join the tens of thousands who are coming to Washington, DC on September 15. Buses, car caravans and vans are coming from more than 100 cities.

If you cannot personally come you can help by making a generous donation. The buses, literature, posters, stage, sound and other expenses are immense. Many have already contributed. Please do your part and make a contribution today by clicking this link.

If you have made a donation today please consider doing so again today by clicking this link.

Here is the outrageous and astonishing eight-minute-long video referenced in the e-mail:


Finally, the e-mail linked to an Agence France-Presse report of the arrests.

Do we live in America anymore? This is not an America that I recognize ... and it just makes me more motivated and more determined to make my own voice heard when I go to D.C. next weekend. I hope you'll join me.

September 15: it's official

Well, I'm ready to go. Flight is booked, hotel is booked, car is booked.*

September 15, I'll be in Washington, D.C., along with thousands of others who are disgusted with the Bush crime syndicate as well as with the failure of certain Democratic leaders in Congress (I don't want to name names, but the initials of two of them are Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid) to uphold their oaths to protect and defend the Constitution. We're marching to remind Nancy and Harry and the rest of the gang that they can fulfill their constitutional obligations only by demanding an end to the war in Iraq and impeaching the criminals who are responsible.

I have many friends and family members who would tell me that it's a waste of time, that my going to D.C. will have no impact whatsoever on what Nancy and Harry choose to do, let alone on history. But, I got to thinking, what if all of us felt that way? What if we all just let things happen to us, rather than taking the initiative and creating a movement ourselves? Sure, if I don't go, it's no big deal. But then if another person doesn't go, and another and another, well, you see where I'm going with this.

If I'm going to advocate peace and regime change and rant about the criminal behavior of Republicans, then I'd better be willing to put my money -- and time -- where my mouth is.

What about you? Can you afford to spend a few dollars and a couple of days to come to D.C. and make a difference?

Can you afford not to?

(Cross-posted at Pax Americana)

UPDATE (5:50 pm 8/24/07): I am strongly considering getting an aircard and mobile broadband service, which means I'd be able to liveblog basically the entire day: march, rally, after-party ... stay tuned here for updates. And if any reader has mobile broadband, recommendations and advice would be welcome!

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* Yes, I know I don't need a car in D.C. ... at least not normally. But my departure time that Sunday is not Metro-friendly ...