A note to our readers

Hey --

Another Sunday and we're done really early! In fact, we would have been done an hour and a half ago were it not for adding illustrations to pieces.

Before we get to what we have this edition, we need to note "The Democratic Race for the presidential nomination" which went up here on Monday but we put it under Sunday since we archive by the week. If you checked on Sunday but not again until today, check that out, it's a strong article.

Now let's note credit and thanks. First off, thank you to Dallas always for the link locating, the soundboarding and so much more. Along with Dallas, credit goes to:


The Third Estate Sunday Review's Dona, Jess, Ty, Ava and Jim,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
and Marcia SICKOFITRDLZ.

So what have we got?

Truest statement of the week -- all but Ava and C.I. picked this (they were doing their TV commentary).

Truest statement of the week II -- Ty, Dona and I (Jim) picked this after the edition was over. We agreed with C.I.'s comments last week about how Panhandle Media hasn't just hurt themselves with their Obama Love-In, they've also hurt the few remaining independent journalists that actually exist. Pilger told the truth and was targeted with rude and vile comments for it. (Many of which were deleted by New Statesman's moderator -- as he notes in a posted comment to Pilger's article.)


Editorial: To the convention! -- The race isn't over and you shouldn't let anyone lie to you or try to force you into believing otherwise. Nancy Pelosi and others trying to shut down this primary campaign better grasp that if they force Hillary out, nothing changes. That's because it's beyond Hillary at this point. It is now going to the rampant sexism in this campaign season, the Democrats (such as Jesse Jackson Jr.) who participated in it (and Barack as well) and how none of Democratic 'leaders' in office rushed to call it out. It is now very much a problem the DNC has created and they better not try to force Hillary out of a race she's winning. But if they do, that only raises the stake.

TV: Grime & Grit TV -- Ava and C.I. take on Grit TV with Laura Flanders. Here's the backstory here. Ava and C.I. had a lot to cover and were told "write long." When they're writing these, they don't type them up, they write it in longhand. This one was epic. And when they finished and rejoined us, Jess said immediately, "We'll split it in to two pieces." Which we did (and also because we had goofed off largely while Ava and C.I. were working and we needed an extra piece.) This will have you laughing hard at the truths told.

TV: Basic cable rejects -- This was the first part when it was one piece. Should we have published it first? Considering that the people dealt with in Grit TV make up the J.R. Ewings for our readers (people you love to hate), we felt that's the one that would get the most attention (we being me, Dona and Ty). This one looks at three programs briefly: Washington Week, Hardball and Democracy Now as well as an online video. So you get Ava and C.I. twice this edition.

War resistance ignored -- This could have been an editorial. If we had more time. We really didn't have time for it but C.I. said, "We have to have it." Dona and Jess thought something could be pulled together quickly and it almost was. The hold up? C.I. for a change. In the article, we give a date for Amy Goodman's last interview with a war resister whose case was unresolved. C.I. asked Dallas to double check and he did. C.I. thinks there was another interview "but maybe it was Flashpoints" with Kyle Snyder (and Gerry Condon participating as well). Dallas was in the archives of the Democracy Now! site and couldn't find it but he did note that with the site retooling awhile back, something might be missing or misifled. (C.I. says, "I'm probably remembering wrong.")

Roundtable -- The Barack news that we were e-mailed on threw us. We had more questions to get to from e-mails. We had more topics -- including Nader and the illegal war -- to address. I'll take the fall because although it went quickly, I sure do love to talk about myself, don't I? (Dona: You're just noticing that?) For Mike, ":D" If Barack hadn't come in, we would have moved on to questions for Ava, C.I., Wally and Rebecca. If you have questions to ask them: Don't e-mail. We've already got the questions we're going to use. And Ty, checking the e-mails, said a good one for Betty just came in from Lois. So don't e-mail with a question for Betty. If you do, you'll either be overlooked or someone who's already got a question on deck will be pushed aside. And then will come the e-mails of, "You ignored me!" Elaine said to note that she will answer no questions about her personal life. If one is asked and included in the roundtable, she's not answering. She's drawn a very thick wall (even more than C.I.) online and was probably smart to do that. If she and Mike weren't part of the writing editions, they probably wouldn't have publicly disclosed that because Elaine is intensely private. (Dona, reading over my shoulder, says "Disclosed that they were in a relationship!") Ty is off e-mails when this goes up. He should be off them now but he's trying to catch up. We are way behind in last week's e-mails, sorry. We're on the road and working on getting out the vote for Hillary. That's life.

What the hell's wrong with Nancy Pelosi? -- Alternative title, "Is anything right with Nancy Pelosi?" She's a mess and becoming more and more of one with each passing day.

Reality on the Democratic Primary -- Short pieces! This is our only one. We should have had more.

Highlights -- Mike, Elaine, Cedric, Kat, Wally, Betty, Rebecca, Marcia and Ruth wrote this and picked all highlights except where noted.

Agustana's Sweet and Low -- Ty can't remember who but someone e-mailed this morning to ask, "How does anyone not know what's in their stock portfolio?" C.I. has a big one. So does Ava. They are on the road non-stop. They haven't even been home in three or four weeks. They both have standing things (orders?). If something drops by ___ points, call them to talk about selling/unloading it. If it drops by ___ points, sell it right away. With it being stock in a music label (true of all stocks C.I. has in music labels), and with the music industry doing so poorly and with C.I. not following the stocks at all while on the road, it could have been sold off. Hence "I think . . ." or however C.I. worded it. Also, we asked for this, not C.I. This was the last thing worked on before those in Puerto Rico were either grabbing a quick nap or (Ava, C.I., Jess, Mike and Betty) heading out the door to begin working on getting out the vote right away. C.I. did the video at our request, put it in. We don't know how. The video was a huge hit with the community including us. We wanted it up here and C.I. grunted but got on the laptop.

So that's what we've got. We wanted to do something utilizing a recent Glen Ford column, something on Ralph Nader, something on Katrina's nonsense (we'll pick that up next week, or plan to right now) but time ran out. It is what it is, as Kat says.

And Ty just thought of something else, we didn't note a HUBdate anywhere. So here's Howard Wolfson's "HUBdate: Getting Out the Vote in Puerto Rico" (HillaryClinton.com):

Getting Out the Vote in Puerto Rico: Today's New York Daily News reports that "Hillary Clinton returned to sun-swept Puerto Rico late Friday....'Make sure your voice is heard and your votes count,' Clinton told about 2,000 enthusiastic supporters...I am no stranger or newcomer to the concerns of Puerto Rico.'...A Univision-El Vocero poll this week showed Clinton with a considerable lead over Obama in the fight for the island's 55 pledged delegates." Read more.
Today On The Trail: Hillary hosts a "Solutions for Puerto Rico's Families" event in Caguas, Puerto Rico, where she also launches her campaign caravan through the following other cities: Cataño, Bayamon, Guaynabo, Trujillo Alto, Carolina, Rio Piedras, and San Juan.Automatic Delegate Watch: Louisiana automatic delegate Buddy Leach announced his support for Hillary Clinton today. Leach is a former Congressman and former member of the Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee.Florida and Michigan Matter: The DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee meets today regarding the allocation of the pledged delegates from Florida and Michigan. "Millions of voters in Florida and Michigan have waited patiently for more than four months to know whether their votes will count and whether they will play a meaningful role in determining who will be the Democratic nominee," [general counsel, Lyn] Utrecht writes. "It is time to resolve this pivotal matter." Read more.
In Case You Missed It: South Dakota's Argus Leader endorsed Hillary yesterday, calling her the "Top Candidate for Dems...Clinton is the strongest Democratic candidate for South Dakota. Her mastery of complex policy detail is broad and deep, and her experience as a senator and former first lady matches that…Her resilience and determination never should be questioned. She has met or overcome every challenge or roadblock in her way, and there have been many." Read more.
On Tap: Tomorrow, Sunday, June 1, Hillary will host an election night celebration in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

We're pulling for Hillary, we're working to get the vote out. But we aren't part of the Hillary campaign. A question came in on that and Dona noted that it had been addressed before while Ava said, "If I were being paid for this, do you really think I'd be running myself ragged?" No, Ava only does that for things she believes in and she doesn't take money for anything she believes in. No one participating in this edition is working for the Hillary campaign. Although we all think Wally is the campaign's unofficial goodluck charm and that's why we insisted he go to Puerto Rico Friday. Every state he's gone to in order to get the vote out for Hillary, she's won. Everyone he's not stepped foot in, she's lost. Damn you, Wally, why didn't you go to Guam! (We're joking.)

We'll see you next week and hopefully be able to write about how the DNC did not try to subvert the democratic process and shut the race down.


-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.