Progressive Democrat Issue 175

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July. Jacob saw his first real fireworks display and loved it at first. We were watching from the 12th floor of a building right on the waterfront, so it was spectacular. Unfortunately, he was coming down with a fever and by the end was pretty unhappy. He is fine again now.

There are some major things going on. The FISA vote was, of course, a disappointment. But an expected one. It is unclear to me how we can get our government more responsive to the PEOPLE. I know that surrendering is not the answer. But we have to push harder to elect good candidates and keep them in office when they follow through with their promises. That takes work on our part, but what else can we do. Why is FISA so important? Read this EXTREMELY important article on Salon.com about suing the Bush Adminsitration over illegal surveillance and you will get an inkling of how low we have gone. I meant to write more about it, but lack of time and sheer jaw dropping amazement at how Kafkaesqe/Soviet our system has become has kept me from putting down my thoughts. READ THIS ARTICLE!

On a far more positive note is a Daily Kos diary from a lifelong Republican who is fed up with the Republican Party and EAGER to support Obama, despite FISA. I really think this guy is not alone by any means and, as Chuck Schumer has said, this year will see a tectonic shift in American politics akin to the one led by FDR...or I sure hope Schumer is right! I have also outlined how Bush may be the death of the Republican Party, and why I don't see that as necessarily a good thing. Interestingly, the Republican who wrote the above Daily Kos diary thinks he remembers my diary...perhaps I played a small part in his decisions.

And there was Jesse Jackson's really abyssmally stupid comments, which remind me of why I have never been much of a fan of his. I write about my past brushes with this particular walking ego over at Culture Kitchen. Interestingly, Time magazine read my piece and emailed us about it...trying to get us to link to one of their articles.

Here is this week's newsletter:

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

GLOBAL WARMING: We are Down to One Year to Act

YOUR HEALTH: Keeping Antibiotics Working

GLOBAL WARMING: Nukes are not the Answer

NY STATE FOCUS

GEORGIA FOCUS

FLORIDA FOCUS

Flood Recovery in Iowa

IOWA FOCUS

Big State Level Push in Wisconsin

WISCONSIN FOCUS

VIRGINIA FOCUS

ALASKA FOCUS

OHIO FOCUS

PENNSYLVANIA FOCUS

NORTH CAROLINA FOCUS

CALIFORNIA FOCUS

OREGON FOCUS

MINNESOTA FOCUS

NEW JERSEY FOCUS

MICHIGAN FOCUS

WASHINGTON FOCUS

TEXAS FOCUS

ILLINOIS FOCUS

ARIZONA FOCUS