Forever A Fangirl

Human pyramids? Hell, I did those as a cheerleader!

This bit would be hilarious even only with it's last frame.

Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau

Bono Tells Canada To Stop Being Stingy

St. Paul (Paul Hewson, a/k/a Bono) is at it again.
Who do you think is going to save the world first--him or Angelina Jolie?

Irish rockstar Bono addresses a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Friday, Nov. 25, 2005 prior to U2's sold-out show at the Corel Centre. While in Ottawa Bono met with political leaders and addressed world poverty.(AP Photo/Fred Chartrand, CP)

Bono Urges Canada to Increase Foreign Aid

By Associated Press

OTTAWA - Irish rocker Bono says Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin's inability to further increase foreign aid mystifies him, especially when he's facing an election in a country that clearly favors more foreign aid.

"I'm mystified, actually, by the man," the U2 lead singer said at a news conference Friday. "I like him very much, personally.

"I just think that it's a huge opportunity that he's missing out on. This is important to the Canadian people. I think the prime minister will find out if he walks away from the opportunity to (boost foreign aid) he will hear about it in the election. I am absolutely sure of that."

Bono said he was heartened by polls suggesting most Canadians support a boost to foreign aid. He wants Canada to increase foreign contributions to 0.7 percent of its gross domestic product.

That would more than triple the $2.5 billion Canada spends on foreign aid each year.

Speaking in support of the Make Poverty History project, Bono said Canada could easily increase Third World aid because it's the only major industrialized country in a surplus position.

Bono was in Ottawa for a U2 concert but spent the day meeting with politicians.

Stuff

We had a nice quiet T-Day with my only sib going to his in-laws for the meal--he comes here for Christmas. Spouse cooked & everything was nummy including the to-die-for 5 lb.(!) apple-caramel pie for desert.

I'm afraid my spouse went quite around the bend and got up at 4 a.m. on "Black Friday" (not fond of that moniker--I know why it's called that but it reminds me of the day long ago when the stock market crashed and people jumped out of tall buildings).
His destination was Circuit City (electronic store) and though I knew what he was headed in for--a half-price really nice 19" flat panelled monitor for our from almost-failing-grade-7-to-honour-roll in grade 8 son--I wan't completely aware that he intended to bestow the den with a home theatre system including a ginormous plasma teevee. His stories of the crazy behaviour of the crowd were, though. After four (!) hours he was able to make it home in order to collapse for the rest of the day.

Last night we went to our local IKEA as 1. my son thinks it's cool (I suspect spouse does, too) & 2. we now needed a stand that would hold the huge teevee. It really wasn't bad at all. Because it was no-cooking night here at home we ate there first then searched until we settled on a TV stand. We've had an IKEA here since 1998 (first one in Illinois). Yay. I've maybe gone there 5 times since it opened as I'm an on-line shopper but I do like the picture/frame and lamp depts. So we browsed a bit but all I got was (on the way out) a couple of small bunches of (fake) red poinsettias to go with the white ones I'd already found at the re-sale shop. Voila! I've started my Christmas decorating.

I need to tally-ho as the teevee is to be delivered and more importantly I've got to put up some auctions.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

Cheers!

--Cyn

Which Serenity Character Are You?

I'm either Simon Tam or The Operative? I demand a recount. This test is rigged. Simon Tam indeed. Pfft. You scored as Simon Tam. The Doctor.  You have a gift for healing that goes beyond education.  You took an oath to do no harm, even when your patients have tried to kill you. You are out of place where you are, being used to refined society. However, if you take that stick out of your arse you should be fine.  Simon Tam 94% The Operative 88% Capt. Mal Reynolds 75% River Tam 63% Shepherd Derrial Book 63% Zoe Alleyne Washburne 56% Inara Serra 50% Jayne Cobb 50% Hoban 'Wash' Washburne 38% Kaylee (Kaywinnet Lee) Frye 25% Which Serenity character are you? created with QuizFarm.com

Your Ultimate Sci-Fi Profile

You scored as SG-1 (from Stargate). You are versatile and diverse in your thinking.  You have an open mind to that which seems highly unlikely and accept it with a bit of humor.  Now if only aliens would stop trying to take over your body.

SG-1 (from Stargate)		100%
Serenity (from Firefly)		100%
Moya (from Farscape)		94%
Nebuchadnezzar (from The Matrix)		88%
Millennium Falcon (from Star Wars)		69%
Galactica (from Battlestar: Galactica)		63%
Bebop (from Cowboy Bebop)		50%
Enterprise D (from Star Trek)		13%

Your Ultimate Sci-Fi Profile: which sci-fi crew would you best fit in? (pics)
created with QuizFarm.com

It's a tie between SG-1 and Firefly.
I'd rather ride on Serenity.

Not A Happy Santa's Helper

My son showing off his best "Mom, you are embarassing me," face.

Warming up for caroling at the Palatine Towne Square Tree-Lighting ceremony.

Unexpected livestock sighting.

Caroling whilst awaiting the big arrival.

Santa coming back down to earth after "lighting" the tree via firetruck ladder.

Detail. Not a bad-looking Santa.

QUOTATION OF THE DAY

QUOTATION OF THE DAY         
      "Our military has done everything that has been asked of them. It is time to bring them home."
  JOHN P. MURTHA,   a Democratic representative from Pennsylvania.

Will someone please give this guy another medal for being brave enough to say this?

November 18, 2005

Fast Withdrawal of G.I.'s Is Urged by Key Democrat

 

By ERIC SCHMITT

   

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 - The partisan furor over the Iraq war ratcheted up sharply on Capitol Hill on Thursday, as an influential House Democrat on military matters called for the immediate withdrawal of American troops and Republicans escalated their attacks against the Bush administration's critics.

Representative John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania, a Vietnam combat veteran who voted for the Iraq war, said that after more than two years of combat, American forces had united a disparate array of insurgents in a seemingly endless cycle of violence that was impeding Iraq's progress toward stability and self-governance. He said the 153,000 American troops in Iraq should be pulled out within six months.

"Our military has done everything that has been asked of them. It is time to bring them home," Mr. Murtha said, at times choking back tears. Mr. Murtha's proposal, which goes well beyond the phased withdrawal of United States forces from Iraq that other moderate Democrats have proposed, stunned many Republicans who quickly held their own news conference to criticize the plan...

...

But the talk of Washington was Jack Murtha, 73, a blunt former Marine drill instructor who served a combat tour in Vietnam and retired as a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve after 37 years of service.

The ranking Democrat on the Defense Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, Mr. Murtha has earned bipartisan respect for his work on military issues over three decades in Congress. "When he talks, I listen," said Representative John M. McHugh, a New York Republican on the House Armed Services Committee.

In recent months, though, Mr. Murtha has voiced concerns raised by constituents and from his own conversations with troops and commanders about problems like shortages of body armor and other equipment. His district in southwestern Pennsylvania has lost 13 service members in Iraq. Aides said Mr. Murtha had mulled over his proposal for weeks and decided to announce it before lawmakers left this weekend for the Thanksgiving Day recess. He presented his proposal to a closed meeting of House Democrats, who gave him a standing ovation. Mr. Murtha then held a news conference, where, fighting back tears, he said it was Congress's moral duty to intervene on behalf of the troops.

"Our troops have become the primary target of the insurgency," said Mr. Murtha, who visited Iraq in late August. "We have become a catalyst for the violence."

If approved by the House and Senate, Mr. Murtha's resolution would force the president to withdraw United States troops "at the earliest practicable date," which he said could be six months. Under his plan, the Pentagon would retain a quick-reaction force in the region, as well as marines within a few sailing days.

 

When asked about Mr. Cheney's remarks on Wednesday, Mr. Murtha replied sarcastically: "I like guys who've never been there that criticize us who've been there. I like that. I like guys who got five deferments and never been there and send people to war and then don't like to hear suggestions about what needs to be done."

In the Vietnam era, Mr. Cheney had five deferments and did not serve in the military.

David E. Sanger contributed reporting from Pusan, South Korea, for this article, and Sheryl Gay Stolberg from Washington.

If Canada Conquered The US

From FARK: If Canada took over the U.S....

Many more here

Because I know you care... a Raven update

This is yesterday which was day eleven, post-getting-hit-by-a-car for Raven, our Schipperke.

She has a guilty look here as she is barking--quite a bit-- as a number of service providers in front of our condo come and go.

Freaking Wintery Cold

It's freaking wintery cold here. Wind chill feels knife-like as we went straight from comfortable to just nasty.
My flu shot provider cancelled me (and the family--it was through Motorola) so going to my allergist for it--on my birthday, late this month. I'm totally being like an old lady trying to gradually acclimate myself to the cold so swimming got skipped in favour of watching a half-way descent ep. of Lost. I had to wash my "real" winter coat, too after fetching it from the under-the-stairs closet in the basement.

I'm in a rut...

I'm in a rut due I think to the shitty weather and lack of sex with another warm body, but those those around me seem okay and that's good.

The dog's wounds are scabbing over but she still has some healing to do. I've kept her from trying to jump up on things or use stairs. A family member wasn't so careful and she tried to jump up on my son's bed. She yelped so I guess thought better of it. I'd think still that dislocated hip isn't quite ready to be taking heights like that.

Spouse says after about a year of pretty bad pain most of the time, he's pain-free finally. It took Celebrex to do it. Physical therapy is starting next week, 2 times a week. Of course Raven hates being locked in a cage at night so she's made sure that pain free- does not equal grump-free when someone's sleep deprived.

Chris has a performance this Saturday eve with the lighting of the village Christmas tree. They will carol around the tree and I will be a chaperone. Yay! Santa hats for all!     We are then probably going to a fund raising-type deal at a nearby Italian restaurant.
Gotta keep an eye on the prize (Tuscany) and give it a really good go.

And finally, in my small family constellation, my eldest son Jim is getting a promotion of sorts as Manager with his immediate boss having now exited.
Pay raise, better hours--the little things to assure that he hangs around for awhile. He's now figured out the train route from his new digs in the city to work in the suburbs so he should be able to complete his move soon (his brother is chomping at the bit to get his room).

For my part when I'm not shilling for dollars (selling on-line) or volunteering, I'm continuing with the house fix up. The dog derailed things somewhat but that hasn't stopped me from getting matching lamps and some framed photographic artwork. (Of what else? An ocean scene.) Ooh, and some neat matching, lined organizer baskets. That's the big problem living in a small place--you have to be super organized. I need places to put stuff.

There have been scads of donations of late and with three visits a week I manage to catch the odd really good find (and I'm working like a crazy person. It's the holidays--even in a resale shop).
Today I was in town near the store so offered Jim a ride.
"Earl," our (vinyl) record collector, was in the warehouse when I went in back for the 20 minutes or so I had to kill. He's actually in a wood restoration business but is a vinyl fan so as they did with me, he has a set- up where if he cares for the record section, he's got dibs on whatever may pass through his hands (with a volunteer discount).
He and I are rather chummy as his record dept is in my book dept. so we've chatted a bit over the months. He asked me tonite if I caught sight of an amazing bed frame that had just come in and I hadn't but he showed me it and OMG, it's beautiful, carved with such care and skill. Just a great old piece in great shape. Since Earl is a professional he knew all about it and stated it was quite rare to come across. I took this as my cue to buy it. He's going to strip it down for me--for $40--and then I'll just give it a protective finish as he said the natural grain of the wood is lovely. It's only a twin so it'll be in the guest room once we get that going. So lots of irons in the fire, now that I know I'll be sticking around for a few more years (with any luck, lol) I want to makes things the way I've wanted them for some time.

Happy humpday to All!

--Cyn
_________

We are all made of stars...

Seeing Mountains in Starry Clouds of Creation

November 15, 2005 By DENNIS OVERBYE  

In 1995, astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope produced "The Pillars of Creation," an image of stars emerging from biblical-looking clouds of dust that has become an icon of the space age.

Now astronomers operating NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have made their own version. The new image, appropriately called "Mountains of Creation," shows star-forming pillars in a region known as W5 in the constellation Cassiopeia. These pillars, at heights up to 40 light-years, are 10 times as large as those in the famous Hubble image.

The astronomers, led by Lori E. Allen of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, say the towering mountains of the new image probably represent the densest, most fecund remnants of a larger, cloud. It is being eroded by radiation and winds of particles from a ferociously bright star just out of the top of the picture.

Nestled within the dusty pillars are hundreds of embryonic stars.  But Spitzer's detectors are designed to see infrared, or "heat," radiation right through the dust, allowing astronomers to study the cloaked stars, which Dr. Allen described as "offspring" of the big star.

"The Sun could have formed in such a cluster, since many stars form in clusters," Dr. Allen said in an e-mail message, explaining that pressure created by the star could compress gas in the cloud, bringing about the formation of new stars.

*wow* I just love this stuff.

I don't hate Mondays

Monday, Monday
It's quite cold...and today's steel-gray skies will be the backdrop of many days that we' ll meander through as we continue this journey from respectable weather (defined as weather one can drive with the top down in) to the rude reality of the testing-of-one's-mettle-type conditions prevailing  until well into spring.

I'm kind of ahead of myself today. My to-do list is complete and now I'm dog-sitting and waiting for Chris to come home.
I still do that--wait on Chris coming home from school whenever I can as he is at his most talkative/informative in the twenty minutes or so after he walks in the front door. Getting a drink and snack (breakfast (if at all) and lunch come very early on a weekday for him) and saying hello to the dog provides the perfect setting (doing something else simultaneously) for "opening up" to mom. By dinnertime, his brain has pretty much switched to other things so this "strike while the iron is hot" approach seems to work well.
I hope it continues as the fact that he's home around 2:30 gives me enough time to conduct my from home business--paid or not, then be ready to leave after the "debriefing" to do what I do at the charity store, post office, and so forth.

Today I'm rather chomping at the bit to get moving. There is very little going on.
I did my one "important" thing--calling the high school music depatment to clarify which chorus Chris should sign up for. He's certainly way past absolutely beginner but that's all they offer Freshmen as an elective. I was fortunate enough to get ahold of the choral director who was quite happy to answer my question, validating what seemed the only logical choice with the kids having to "pick three" electives (the third just in case). Just sign up for the wrong chorus and it 'll get adjusted later--the choral guy is getting on it now--as the kids were "supposed to have" the option already and "they've" done it wrong for the past 6-7 years and oh my, I must have opened a can of worms on that front--but the fellow who's name zipped by me, seemed glad to know of the ommission. So now, nine months prior to starting high school my son has given them his elective choices so they can, after testing him and the other kids, place him correctly in his core classes and fit in the electives around them. Whew.
The kids are to be tested on Dec 3 at 7:frelling 45 a.m. Saturday, December 3rd. They will be placed based partially on the results of the Explore test. (Then there's the oft-repeated reassurance,"...but if your child tests badly, but is an A student otherwise, we'll find another way of evaluating him." I always find this statement a bit condescending. Really now, in the vast majority of circumstances if you "test badly" you are not catered to--the law may say so but the reality is that kids with bad grades in class don't usually go to the head of the class. You've got to have the parents working double and triple overtime to manage a situation like that. And not to be cruel but if you "test badly" in grammar, middle, and high school and concessions are made for you all along the way, how are you going to learn to maybe not test badly as you move through life? How 'bout when you go to get a job?
This testing badly crap is just that IMO, except in rare circumstances.)

Current Mood: good

Yeah, it's Saturday--so what?

Saturday around here means doing stuff that has to be done--half of the weekly household shopping, CLEANING the house, driving kids to here or there (yes, I still drive the 22 y.o.--he's never getting his license back it seems). :sigh: He always asks nicely and more than generously compensates me--but still, it's the time factor involved in the shelepping. Tonight he catches the train to Western IL Univ in MaComb--near frelling IOWA--to see his gf who is residing as a student out there. Better than him staying here partying his ass off on Rush Street with his guy friends.
The youngest helps me with the household shopping, though he needs a ride to the library.
Both of us are taking turns with the dog--it's sooo much easier having a second person here, I could almost cry for joy. This past week taking care of a dog freshly hit by a car has been alternately boring and frightening.
Chris likens the wounds on the dogs unbandaged legs to (looking like) "Pizza Pockets--the part that oozes out." 

Raven after getting hit by a car

Poor little girl

Grrr...argh...

Someone who is quite under the weather, atm.

"I got more bombs than he got."

So we'll just continue bombing our way along the Euphrates River and whereever else we need to, to "win the war in Iraq" ?
Can we articulate an exit strategy soon, maybe?

November 6, 2005

Major Offensive Hits Insurgents on Iraqi Border

 

By KIRK SEMPLE and EDWARD WONG

   

HUSAYBA, Iraq, Nov. 5 - Thousands of American and Iraqi troops laid siege on Saturday to this town near the Syrian border in one of the largest military assaults since American-led forces stormed the guerrilla stronghold of Falluja last year, Marine Corps officials said.

The sweep, aimed at shutting down the flow of foreign fighters along the Euphrates River, began early Saturday as 2,500 American troops and 1,000 Iraqi Army soldiers, all led by the Marines, cordoned off roads around Husayba before rolling into town in armored vehicles and marching in on foot.

Insurgents armed with Kalashnikovs opened fire down alleyways and from windows. Fighter jets streaked overhead, dropping 500-pound bombs. Explosions resounded throughout the day as the invading troops advanced house by house, searching each one.

By nightfall, the American-led forces had taken only several blocks in the town's western half and still had more than a mile to go before reaching the eastern edge. At least two Americans were wounded in combat. Marines began making camp in seized houses, while sporadic gunfire and mortar explosions could be heard in the streets.

American commanders say Husayba has become a bastion for cells of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the group led by the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi that claims credit for many of the deadliest suicide bombings of the war.

Husayba is one of the first and most vital stops for foreign jihadists who enter Iraq through a series of desert towns along the Euphrates River corridor, the commanders say.

The marines responsible for securing that vast desert region in Anbar Province have conducted a dozen or so operations along the corridor since spring, with mixed success.

The Saturday offensive was the most ambitious of those, partly because the American military seems intent on minimizing any chance that insurgents disrupt the Dec. 15 parliamentary elections, the final stage in the process of establishing a full-term sovereign government.

"It's a cesspool; it's time for this area to get cleaned up," Col. Stephen W. Davis, of the Second Marine Division, said of Husayba. "Foreign fighters are the most virulent threat."

The operation is also a crucial test for the Iraqi security forces. This is the first time that multiple battalions of Iraqi Army soldiers have been deployed in combat, though they are still backed by the Americans, said Capt. Jeffrey Pool, a spokesman for the Second Marine Division.

In recent months, American officers have been saying it will be years before the Iraqi Army is able to operate on its own; in September, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the top American commander in Iraq, told the United States Senate that only one Iraqi battalion at that time was able to fight fully independent of American forces. President Bush has said a significant drawdown of the 160,000 American troops here will not take place until the Iraqis are capable of providing some security for their own country.

American commanders say foreign fighters make up a small part of the insurgency, but are instrumental in some of the most devastating attacks, particularly the ones involving deadly suicide car bombs that often kill dozens of Iraqis.

The Bush administration has increasingly expressed frustration at what it calls the inability of the Syrian government to stem the flow of fighters from its territory, though the Syrians say the border is too long and porous to control. While marines have been carrying out their offensives along the Euphrates, elite commando units have been deployed to other areas near Syria.

Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, a spokesman for the American command, said at a recent news conference that "the majority" of foreign fighters in Iraq were coming across from Syria.

American operations in Anbar, he added, are intended to break up the transit routes for both jihadists and munitions, and to capture or kill the leaders of the various Qaeda cells.

"We're convinced that decimating their leadership has a significant effect on their operations," the general said.

Anbar Province, which is dominated by Sunni Arabs, has proved to be the most intractable swath of Iraq. Violence throughout the region and hatred of both the Americans and the Shiite-led Iraqi government dampened turnout there during a referendum last month on the nation's new constitution.

The American military said Saturday that a marine had been killed Friday after his vehicle hit a mine near the town of Habbaniya. Elsewhere in Iraq, near the town of Tallil, an American serviceman was killed and three were injured Saturday in a vehicle accident, the military said.

In Baghdad, a prominent Sunni Arab politician, Fakhri al-Qaisi, was seriously wounded when four gunmen opened fire on his car at 5 p.m., hitting him in the chest and a hand, said Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, one of Mr. Qaisi's political allies. Mr. Qaisi, a conservative dentist, had planned to run in the December elections as part of a hard-line Sunni Arab bloc.

In past interviews, he said he rarely slept at home because of a fear of assassination; he often spent the night in his car in various parts of Baghdad, he said.

"We were all shocked," said Mr. Mashhadani, speaking by telephone. "I feel this is just the beginning of assassination operations against the candidates."

In previous conversations, Mr. Qaisi did not say who might want to kill him, but he had harsh words for the Shiite religious parties that now control the transitional government. He was especially angry with the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, an Iranian-backed party led by Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim that is accused by many Sunni Arabs of supporting death squads. But Mr. Qaisi also has enemies among Sunni Arab leaders who, like Mr. Qaisi, claim to represent the disaffected people who form the backbone of the insurgency.

In virtually all the previous offensives along the Euphrates River corridor, marines found that the insurgents had largely moved away by the time the Americans invaded the towns.

The operations took several weeks to plan, and commanders suspect that the guerrillas somehow received leaked information, subverting any chance of surprise. Often, marines kicked down doors along dusty streets to find that homes had been abandoned.

But Marine Corps officers said Saturday that they were encountering resistance in Husayba. In the first hours after the operation began at 4 a.m., when infantry units pushed in from the west, there was little shooting. But by dawn, insurgents were firing Kalashnikov rifles and an occasional rocket-propelled grenade.

"We met more resistance than I expected," said Capt. Conlon Carabine of Indian Company of the Third Battalion, Sixth Marine Regiment. "I thought they were planning more on a defensive posture."

The Americans found it difficult to spot the guerrillas, though they would occasionally see a black-clad figure sprinting through a house or down a street. Some officers called in airstrikes. Others ordered Abrams tanks to blast away with their main cannons.

"I got bombs; he got bombs," Colonel Davis said. "I got more bombs than he got."

Even so, as they began the house-to-house searches, moving west to east like a croupier's rake, marines found empty rooms, with dishes washed and possessions carefully stored away, all awaiting the owners' return, as in other towns along the Euphrates that the Marines had invaded.

There had been an exodus of families during the past several weeks, officers said. It appeared that word of the offensive had leaked out in advance once again, or that insurgents had simply assumed that the Marines would strike Husayba because it had been the only major town along the Euphrates left untouched by the Americans in the recent offensives.

Our little dog got hit by a car.

Current mood:

distressed

Dumb Dog

Not the best day ever. Our little dog got hit by a car.

She was lucky--a hip knocked out of place and road rash...

Spouse was bringing packages inside, which entails going through three doors, and Raven followed him at some point.
He and Chris went back outside to finish after a break to eat and a man came up to them asking about our dog--who they hadn't realized was missing.
The man's daughter was driving when Raven darted into the street out of nowhere--little 12 lb black dog in the dark.
They bundled her up and took her to the animal hospital--word is that the daughter was quite hysterical.
Spouse and my son got to see her for a little bit and she perked up her ears so with any luck they'll have her hip back in place and she'll come home ASAP.

To Surprise Or Not

Because my spouse thinks I don't like surprises, I now know that he bought tickets to the Broadway musical "Wicked" for my birthday at the end of this month. He's so funny. The day before he asked what live show I'd like to see downtown and I hadn't looked at the theatre section closely for a while as we had no plans to go--so the first thing that popped into my head was "Wicked" (based on the Wicked Witch of the West's story before she became really wicked).
My complete answer was that I'd have to look at the theatre section of the newspaper to really give him an answer but he took what I said initially and ran with it. He even got a ticket for our son as this show is age-appropriate and due to school budget cuts parents are urged to take their children on "field trips." This will count as our "performing arts" field trip.

Happy hump day to all and to all a good tomorrow!

--Cyn

Balance in all branches of federal government

A note I got from the Dems. today...

Dear Cynthia,

Late this afternoon my friend Senator Harry Reid forced the Senate into an extraordinary closed session to discuss the manipulation of intelligence on Iraq and subsequent cover-up that led to the indictments last week.

It was the first indictment of a sitting White House official in well over a hundred years. Why? It's not because other administrations haven't gotten into trouble -- they have. The difference is that most administrations have a Congress willing to live up to its Constitutional responsibility. But this Republican-led Congress has blocked an investigation for over a year.

Today Harry Reid said that enough is enough -- and that from here on Democrats should use every tool at our disposal to demand answers and accountability.

Do you agree? If you do, you can send a message that you're with Harry Reid and the rest of the Democrats who are tired of business as usual. Make a special donation and send a note of thanks to Harry Reid asking him to keep up the fight:

http://www.democrats.org/fightback

It's important that Democratic lawmakers know where you stand, but they can't do the job on their own.

Harry Reid is ready to lead a Senate that will hold this administration accountable for its corruption, incompetence and ideology-driven agenda. And on a Tuesday twelve months from now America can elect a new Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate that will investigate the White House cover-up.

But are you ready to lead? If we're really going to build the Democratic Party in every state, every county, and every precinct, it's up to you to take responsibility for getting you and your neighbors organized.

On November 15th, Democrats across the country will gather for national Organizing Kickoff meetings. If you agree to host one in your neighborhood, you'll be able to download all the materials you need to run a successful meeting and jump start Democratic organizing in your community. I'll also be joining all of the meetings -- over 400 have been scheduled so far -- for a nationwide conference call.

For the next twelve months Harry Reid will be taking the lead on the Senate floor -- and for the next twelve months you need to take the lead in your community. Sign up to host a meeting on November 15th that will kick off twelve months of unprecedented, intense organizing in all 50 states:

http://www.democrats.org/events/create

Whether it's the string of arrests and indictments of corrupt Republican leaders or their pandering to extremist ideologues, America cannot afford to be in this situation. We need fundamental change in Washington to hold this administration accountable and begin doing the work to solve real problems.

It's our responsibility to create that change by electing Democrats.

If we're going to do that, we can't afford to wait around until a few months before the election. We have spent the last several months investing staff, dollars and volunteer hours in an effort to build a permanent party infrastructure in all 50-states -- but starting on November 15th it will be up to you to plug in and get organized.

Enough is enough and we're ready to lead.

Thank you.

Governor Howard Dean, M.D.

---

---

Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee, www.democrats.org. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

Contributions or gifts to the Democratic National Committee are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.

DNC, 430 S. Capitol St. SE, Washington DC 20003