I have just finished "The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation" by Drew Westen, and it a must read for any political junkies, theorists, strategists and passionate believers. What Westen has done is use his training as a psychologist, his years of experience with psychological studies and his great intellect to make crystal clear: emotion wins the day, not a list of carefully thought out position papers. The model of the dispassionate mind, which is one that many consultants believe in, is wrong. Dead wrong.

Now I admit to several prejudices. First, this is exactly what we have done with the films and shorts, which is get the emotion, get the heart, and then and only then, add the facts. Westen articulates this with study after study, story after story, ad after ad. It is a damning case of incompetence and cowardice leading to electoral defeat after electoral defeat.

My other prejudce is that I have met Westen, and he is smart, passionate and on a mission! Thanks to the efforts of Jamie McCurk, Victoria Hooper and Michael Vachon, word is being spread so it doesn't just remain a book. He had a terrific response at Take Back America, as well as enthusiastic support in Los Angeles. Get the book, read the book, and then raise hell when consultants or candidates don't go for the heart, reach for the emotion, and hit as hard as possible when attacked. Our kind of guy!

Also read Susan G's review of "The Political Brain" over at DailyKos for a more in depth look.

Teacher. Provider. Mentor. Protector. Moral Compass. Disciplinarian. Confidante. Friend.

These are just a few of the roles a father plays. This year instead of short-changing dad with another funky tie to crowd the closet, or cologne that he will never open, send him an e-card that will help sponsor an Iraqi child wounded by war. for surgery. You can honor the man who taught you how to throw a baseball or drove you to ballet lessons by providing security, health, and love to a child whose father was unable to protect his son due to war.

We knew people were furious about Gonzales, but the numbers signing the petition (almost 60,000) and watching the video (over 200,000) exceeded all our expectations. It even hit #1 on YouTube. Jim Gilliam, who is ALWAYS accurate on these things, thought we might have 10,000 people sign after the first couple of days!

So we fast-tracked part 2. The fight is on!

A big hearty cheer to all of you who made war profiteering a potent and important issue on the national stage. As a result, I was called to testify (along with Jeremy Scahill, author of the brilliant BLACKWATER book) to the House Appropriations Committee and explain the breadth and extent of the profiteering. And they listened, they asked questions, and they discussed how to fix this national tragedy. Imagine, the film all of you helped make and you distributed, was now the subject of serious legislative focus on how to fix the problem at hand.

However, despite the hundreds of thousands who have seen the film around the country, despite the letters, phone calls and pleas from Americans and soldiers of every political persuasion, somehow despite all this, Rep. Kingston was asleep at the wheel. And so he unleashed an old-fashioned, inept, partisan attack.

His intended knock out blow? That the film was an exercise in profiteering!! Ha. He was literally speechless when I explained that 3,000 of you contributed your hard-earned dollars to make the film. That 3,000 of you were figuratively with me in testifying. That 3,000 of you were the true patriots.

But we won't be silenced. Not for a minute.

We at Brave New Films want to continue to make short films, like FOX ATTACKS like Real McCain, like our drive to impeach a certain attorney general (which we will announce next week). And we need your help. We need you to become a subscriber and pledge $10/month until November 2008 so together we can keep telling the truth, spreading the word, and hitting hard.

Iraq for Sale proved that with a relatively small amount of money, we could bring a critical issue to the forefront of national attention. Now imagine the new videos and campaigns we could do. You have told us the issues you care about, and we want to hit hard, using short, timely campaigns to force these issues out. In a few short months the Brave New Films/Foundation short films have been seen 2 million times. Imagine how many more we can reach.

Subscribers will get special access to early cuts of the videos and behind the scenes information (sort of like DVD extras, but updated frequently).

Become a subscriber!

We are reaching new audiences, we are organizing activists, and we are doing it with campaigns built around these easily accessible short films. Let's work together to keep making them, distributing them, and spreading them around. Help us continue to do this.

The Gonzales hearings made plain for all to see that the highest law enforcement officer in the land is unwilling to tell the truth under oath. Think about that. He doesn't recall. He doesn't know. He evades, answering questions with questions, and yet, the President has not fired him. He continues to damage our country.

It's all there on TV for everyone to see, although few have the time or patience to watch. That's why we at Brave New Films have produced a 2 minute video (with an assist from George Bush) to boil the story down to its essence. Let's not be shy. Let's use the "i" word -- IMPEACHMENT. Say it, SHOUT it loud and clear. It has a good patriotic feel to it. And yes, the attorney general CAN be impeached. It is legal, it is proper, and it is time.

The Senate is expected to hold a "no confidence" vote on Gonzales sometime this week. We need to show them there is broad grassroots support to go further.

McJoan from DailyKOS notes the political importance: "Gonzales's refusal to resign and Bush's refusal to force it are part and parcel of the effort to protect Rove, Miers, and ultimately Bush. Which is precisely why Alberto Gonzales must be impeached."

So here is your ammunition for impeachment -- a video, a petition, a whole campaign to get the House Judiciary Committee to launch this action, NOW. We and our friends and partners at Democracy for America want and need your help. Don't just be angry, don't just be annoyed, don't yell at the ones you love. IMPEACH GONZALES.

Let's get to work! Watch the video and send it to everyone you know. Democracy is a beautiful thing.

With deep thanks and appreciation from all of us at BNF to all of the over seven hundred people who have generously subscribed to Brave New Films, allowing us to keep fighting.

Your support and passion motivates us each day. Please remember that each subscription counts. By sharing the link with all of your friends and family you will play an immeasurable role in helping us to reach our phase one goal of 2,000 subscribers.

I am going to be speaking in NY at www.eyebeam.org ”>Champion of Cyberspace from the Eyebeam Foundation, where Larry Lessig is receving an award.

Larry is the brilliant and heroic lawyer who has helped guide us through all of the films. He has kept us out of prison, and out of court, while simultaneously allowing us to broadcast our message. He is amazing, and really, OUTFOXED, www.walmartmovie.com ”>WALMART and iraqforsale.org ”>IRAQ FOR SALE would not exist without him. So I am thrilled to be able to introduce and acknowledge him publicly as a champion of cyberspace.

Thursday night I had the great pleasure of introducing Larry Lessig who was getting an award from Eyebeam. Larry is the lawyer who LITERALLY has made it possible for us do OUTFOXED, WALMART and IRAQ FOR SALE. His advice, guidance, and support has been tremendous. He also happens to be one of the smartest and nicest guys, so to be able to thank him publicly was a joy.

I also learned about Eyebeam, which is an amazing sounding think tank/experimental home for artists, engineers and hackers! They pioneer open source creativity and Larry and Arianna were getting awards. Sadly, Arianna could not attend cause of continuing problems with her eye from her fall a while back. (She is fine, working like crazy, but couldn't fly)

Friday was PERSONAL DEMOCRACY FORUM, which our friends Micah Sifry and Andrew Rasiej founded. It is quite an amazing gathering of high-tech geeks, brains and political activists. I came, I saw, I listened, and I learned VOLUMES. Now this from someone who barely knew what a computer was until Jim Gilliam started educating me. But the level of brilliant innovative ideas, and the possibilities are quite something. The future is exploding faster then we can even think and adjust and change.

Larry Lessig did a presentation in the morning: a clear, articulate, and concise presentation of the need for open ideas, and free exchange of information and possibilities. He is not anti-copyright, he is just anti-suppressing ideas by large corporations for their gain. But he says it so wisely and eloquently.

And among many other speakers, Seth Godin, whose marketing books have been a great help to our thinking, gave a funny, witty and absolutely dead-on analysis of misuse of the email/internet.

That's the major question for me. I often spend more time deciding what books to pack than the actual trip itself. Most infamously for a ten-minute subway trip in NYC, I spent twenty minutes on which book to take.

Tomorrow morning I testify in front of the "Murtha" committee. We worked on the short clips they will show, and Lissette, the amazing editor at Brave New Films (she started as a trainee from Inner City Filmmakers), was able to cut IRAQ FOR SALE down to 4 minutes. No small feat.

So do I re-read Jeremy Scahill's brilliant BLACKWATER? Doesn't seem necessary as Jeremy will also be testifying! Or maybe I should re-read T. Christian Miller's BLOOD MONEY, or Robert Pelton's first-rate LICENSE TO KILL, the inside story of how it all works.

On the other hand, I have started HOUSE OF WAR by James Carroll, which I am dying to dig into. SAFE FOR DEMOCRACY: The Secret Wars of the CIA by John Prados seems really interesting and covers new ground. Or should I go with DREAM: Re-Imagining Progressive Politics in an Age of Fantasy by Stephen Duncombe, which I have started and am loving.

Well, at the top of the heap is Tom Hayden's upcoming book, ENDING THE WAR IN IRAQ. That's the one for sure I will start with. Tom is doing absolutely brilliant conceptual and strategic work here, and maybe I don't have to bring any clothes so I can fill the suitcase with the other books...I mean the House members won't mind me in jeans and a tee-shirt, right?

Thanks for the thoughts and suggestions...should be an interesting morning. Meeting Jeremy Scahill for breakfast to share war stories. Also Naomi Klein is in DC, talking about her new book. I look forward to that one! NO LOGO is one of the best reads ever.

At dinner last night arranged by Tom Andrews, the Win Without War hero, who as a former congressmen knows the ins and outs of how things work in DC. Tom was one of the first to take a strong, principled and unbending stance on resisting the war. We worked together on trying to stop the war way back when, and he and Win Without War continue to do critical work.

Gloria Totten, the inspiration and force behind Progressive Majority, was at dinner and it was terrific to brainstorm, share ideas, battles and a little bit of good old fashioned kvetching. Even with some victories and more to come, it is always good to be reminded of the difficulties and resistance ahead.

Several representatives stopped by, and it was very very encouraging to hear their level of concern and committment and fight. These are real champions.