Dianne Feinstein at Brave New Films

Reporter's Notebook: Ten Lessons from Torture Hearings

2008-10-20T14:43:18Z

http://newsproject.org

"Enhanced interrogation tactics," used at Gitmo have been the subject of hearings on Capitol Hill. The lawyers who approved the policies are under pressure to explain how such methods could be ordered by the US government.

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Patrick Leahy, Dianne Feinstein on CNN

2008-03-18T04:37:51Z

Wolf interviewed Dianne Feinstein (Hillary supporter) and Patrick Leahy (Obama supporter). I took my patented, award-winning, internationally acclaimed quick notes:

On McCain's visit to Iraq:

PL: He's entitled to go. Oil revenues in Iraq pay for the insurgency as we pay $4+ a gallon for gasoline. The war is not going well.

DF: He's entitled to go, although it would have been better without being accompanied by campaign members; we'll see if it's exploited for other reasons. [Laffy Note: It hasn't been already?] There is massive, massive oil fraud, oil revenues are missing. So, the surge won't matter, the insurgency will continue.

PL: We've written a blank check to pay for Iraq. Obama will be more inclined to get us out more quickly.

DF: Wrong. Obama wasn't in the Senate for the vote. Hillary rehabilitated New York after September 11th. Our vote to authorize the war was a huge mistake. We learned a lesson. [Laffy Note: Obama didn't have to learn that lesson]

PL: I voted no. I read the same intel, I read ALL the intel. Hillary DID work hard as Senator, so let her remain in that post, doing a great job. We knew it was a bad idea, didn't make that mistake. Clinton has never said it was a mistake.

As for the subject of experience: Two words: Cheney, Rumsfeld [my paraphrasing, not a quote]

Economy:

DF: Bush, for the first time in history, has funded a war on debt. Tax cuts shouldn't be renewed. Put budget back in balance, reduce the debt. The last 4 years of the Clinton presisdency: Surplus, and more projected.

PL: Dianne's right. He's tripled the national debt. Top-level tax cuts to run a company into bankruptcy? They don't deserve it. Helps Bush supporters but not the economy. We'd target cuts to the middle class, small business.

Earmark moratorium, McCain, DF and Leahy opposed that. Obama and Hillary didn't:

DF: I represent California, huge economy. Leahy and I are on the Appropriations Committee. I get 3,000 requests a year. Either Bush is the only one who does a budget without Congress, or Congress is involved in it.

PL: McCain.. I'd like to see straight talk from him on this. He's voted for the largest earmarks, billions going to contractors tied to BushCo. He voted against a balanced budget plan. Voted for the biggest deficit, biggest expansion of the national debt in history...so don't talk about the earmarks! Iraq: Siphon off all their oil revenues and send the bill to us? How about medical research here at home, Bush cuts money for police, but supports a corrupt police in Iraq.

EPA Admin: We'll Get to Supreme Court Order When We're Ready

2008-10-22T03:30:18Z

EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, March 4, 2008

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Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA): "I invited Col. Davis"

2008-10-21T15:30:33Z

December 11, 2007

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Bradley Whitford Smacks Down Telecom Immunity And Our "President"

2008-10-21T15:30:38Z

Whitford has put out some great videos with the help of our friends at The Courage Campaign.

This one exposes The Decider for the liar that he is (not that it is a difficult feat).

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Bradley Whitford and Courage Campaign: No telecom immunity!

2008-03-22T21:54:47Z

Rick Jacobs Tries To Remind Dianne Feinstein She's A Democrat

2008-10-21T15:31:34Z

This is local TV news in California. Rick, as you may know (for full disclosure) is associated with Brave New Films.

He does a great job, talking about progressive activism, The Courage Campaign and, of course, Mzz. Feinstein. Maybe now she won't support openly racist judges for lifetime appointments and AGs who think waterboarding might be required for serial spitting on the sidewalk.

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California Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres On Feinstein Censure Effort

2008-10-22T03:29:36Z

He defends her, but admits he has pressured her on the telecom immunity vote, and criticized her on some of her more appalling votes (see Judge Southwick).

So, this is what I meant when I said the censure motion worked. It got 35,000 petition signers involved in grassroots politics, fighting for progressive values in which they believe. And it has gotten Establishment Democrats engagesd, forcing them to address betrayals by our officeholders.

Kudos to Rick Jacobs and the Courage Campaign, and also the fine folks at Moveon.org for organizing this effort.

In the meantime, go to the Courage Campaign website to sign this letter to Torres. Let's keep the ball rolling on this.

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Censure Of Sen. Feinstein Fails - But The Effort Is A Success

2008-10-22T03:31:16Z

How do you know that? Well, you can tell when the forces of the Establishment that have so failed the Democratic party are lashing out. California Dem. Party staffer Bob Mulholland, for example, called bloggers and activists "worse than Bush."

And there you have it. The reason we fight this fight against those like Mulholland, who probably thinks Bush is a "swell guy."

And the success? Well, let's see how Princess Dianne behaves now. Funny how primaries in 2006 reminded Reps. Jane Harman and Al Wynn, both in Democratic districts, that they were...what do you call it again? Oh yeah, Democrats.

Oh, and 34,000 Democrats signed the petition calling for censure. That is grassroots organizing for you (hat tip to The Courage Campaign and Moveon.org). The days of answering only to the elite are over.

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Wow! Dianne Feinstein Faces Censure Vote This Weekend

2008-10-22T09:31:33Z

Good for the California Democratic Party:

One day after voting to elevate a divisive conservative judge to the federal appeals court in New Orleans, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein was the president's guest aboard Air Force One. She had been invited to survey the damage from the recent spate of Southern California wildfires.
The senator later remarked privately that she found her conversation with Bush aboard Air Force One "illuminating," a source close to Feinstein told the Huffington Post.
Two weeks later, Feinstein was one of two Democrats on the Senate judiciary committee to vote to send Michael Mukasey's nomination to be the new attorney general to the full Senate. Her support helped turn the tide in favor of a nomination that faced an uncertain future after Mukasey refused to say whether waterboarding was torture.
When the full Senate voted, Feinstein was one of only six Democrats to vote in favor of confirming Mukasey.
Now, a coalition of progressive Democrats upset with Feinstein's controversial votes will ask the California Democratic Party to censure her at its executive board meeting this weekend, the Huffington Post has learned.

She is the perfect example of someone who needs to be primaried, if she chooses to run again in 2012 (she'll be 80). California is one of the most progressive states in the country. I could live with her if she were from Utah. Not California.

Act like, you know, a Democrat Mrs. Feinstein, or how shall I put it? Okay, here goes: Take your ball and GO HOME.

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Monday, Monday

2008-01-12T20:33:03Z

USA Today: Huckabee Builds Evangelical Support
As the 2008 presidential race heads toward the first nominating contests, Mike Huckabee is getting more news coverage, moving up in polls, and even drawing some attacks from other Republicans.

Schumer, Feinstein Push Mukasey Over The Top After Democratic Sens. Charles Schumer and Dianne Feinstein on Friday announced they would support the embattled nomination of Michael Mukasey to be attorney general, Sen. Arlen Specter also threw his support to the nominee.

Pakistan's Martial Law A Blow To Bush The Wall Street Journal reports President Bush's "vaunted 'freedom agenda'...suffered one of its worst setbacks this weekend when Gen. Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency in Pakistan." Musharraf's crackdown "has dramatically underscored how much Mr. Bush's freedom march has slowed, and in a few cases gone into retreat."

Roll Call: Dodd's Moral Victories
Although Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) isn't getting any traction with voters in his long-shot bid for the White House, he does appear to be holding some sway in the Senate as he increasingly bests his 2008 rivals when it comes to taking hard stances on issues before the chamber.

Roll Call: Polls Favor Democrats
One year before Election Day 2008, Democrats appear poised to make significant gains in the Senate, according to new polls conducted exclusively for Roll Call.

Democrats To Give Bush "Blank Check" For War Roll Call reports that despite their "rhetoric about not wanting to hand President Bush another 'blank check' for the Iraq War, Democrats appear poised to give him exactly that -- enough cash to keep the war going full steam for as long as six months, no strings attached."

Finally, some funnies-

Jay Leno: "Hey, don't forget, you turn your clock back an hour this weekend. You get an extra hour of sleep. Kind of like watching a Fred Thompson speech."

Jay Leno: "Karen Hughes, a former advisor to President Bush, is leaving the State Department after working the last two years trying to improve the rest of the world's opinion of America. Well, congratulations on a job well done."

Jay Leno: "Time to bring out that 'mission accomplished' sign again."

Jay Leno: "Today, President Bush said the Iraqis are taking back Iraq. Then Dick Cheney said, 'But not the oil, right?'"

Meet Dianne Lieberman

2008-02-20T20:57:47Z

We'll need to win even more senate seats to compensate for this:

Norman Ornstein, a congressional scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, predicted short-term headaches for Schumer but long-term issues with the anti-war liberals for Feinstein, because it's her second major break from Democrats [voting to confirm Michael Mukasey] in the past three months. "The next Joe Lieberman for them is going to be Feinstein"

Two for two:

In early August Feinstein played the role of "Lone Democratic Ranger" when she supported U.S. Judge Leslie Southwick's confirmation to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New Orleans. She rejected allegations that he was racially insensitive in previous judicial rulings involving a racial slur, giving Southwick a 10-9 vote out of Judiciary.
"I don't believe he's a racist...I believe he's a good person," she told the committee.

And waterboarding's not torture.

For that vote, she was hailed by conservative activists who called it an "act of decency," while liberal activists said Southwick amounted to a "slap in the face" to minority voters.

For that vote, and for the Mukasey one, she lost my vote.

Who knows...Maybe Dianne Lieberman will run as an Independent Democrat next time.

Sunday Yapping

2008-01-12T20:32:52Z

MTP: Fred Thompson (R-TN); Tom Brokaw (author, "Boom! Voices of the Sixties: Personal Reflections on the '60s and Today")
FTN: Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE); Mark Penn (Clinton strategist)
This Week: John Edwards (D-NC); roundtable of E.J. Dionne, Michael Gerson, Ron Brownstein and George Will; Ashley Judd (YouthAIDS Global Ambassador)
FNS: George H.W. Bush
Late Edition: ex-British PM Tony Blair; Sen. John McCain (R-AZ); Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT); Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA); Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)

Via Newsie8200 of course

Why Tuesday? Part 11: Sen. Feinstein (D) & Rep. Harman (D)

2008-10-18T09:30:49Z

At a rally for California Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides on the final day before the 2006 midterm elections, Jacob Soboroff catches up with U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA 36th) to ask them about Tuesday voting in America.

For more videos, AND to participate, visit: www.getoutthewhy.com

Produced and shot by Barnett Zitro

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What is WHY TUESDAY?

2008-10-15T21:30:15Z

Why Tuesday? is a nonpartisan effort to increase voter participation by encouraging a national debate about election reform. This fall, Why Tuesday? is going to relaunch with a brand new interactive website and documentary video series about our broken voting system. We want to hear from you. Have you had an adventure or misadventure at the polls? Wondered why politics happens the way it does? Let us know about your personal experience with American democracy. Invite us to your town. We want to tell your story.

Most importantly, sign up to stay informed. When even the politicians that live and die for Election Day don't know why we vote the day we do, we just might need to remind them.

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TPMtv: May 16, 2007

2008-10-16T09:31:48Z

In a TPMtv Sunday Show Roundup, we survey the Alberto-Gonzales-confidence landscape on the Sunday morning talk shows. And what we find isn't too pretty.

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