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The e-mail chain between Elizabeth (Don't call me Liz!) Becton, a staffer for Rep. Jim McDermott, (D-Wash.), and a Democratic lobbyist who is a friend of a friend of mine has been forwarded around Washington all week because it perfectly encapsulates the frustration of lobbyists in both parties in dealing with some of the more arrogant Democrats on Capitol Hill. The e-mail exchange started with a seemingly innocuous request by the lobbyist to set up a meeting with her client, JPMorgan Chase, and McDermott (I've taken out the identifying names and phone numbers only): Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 5:05...

Our Congress with the help of Republicans is squeezing out private charity with paid "volunteers." They are paid - AmericaCorps - but called volunteers; it sound so good. What do they work on? What the politicians want; you have no say. And they tripled its funding. But what if there aren't enough volunteers for paid "volunteer" service. Force! It might be unconstitutional under the 13th Amendment's ban on involuntary servitude. But Jim McDermott (D, Washington) wants your children to serve his favorite causes. Robert Knight at Townhall ... Mandatory national service has reemerged in HR 1442, the "Congressional Commission on...

Though it represents itself to be a Muslim civil rights organization, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) devoted most of its resources earlier this month to mobilizing opposition to Israel's attempt to neutralize Hamas militarily. On Thursday, the Investigative Project on Terrorism reported that the FBI has cut off contact with CAIR due to unanswered questions about the organization's roots in a Hamas-support network. Earlier this month, the IPT showed how CAIR officials dutifully avoid mentioning Hamas by name when discussing the conflict. Yet no major media outlet or political figure is challenging CAIR's positions or tactics. That may be...

You may have heard about Argentina's plan to nationalize private retirement accounts. Some Democrats on Capitol Hill are inspired, and with their big election victory they may get the chance to test Peronist ideas in America. Meet Congressmen George Miller and Jim McDermott, who are eager to change the way Americans save for their golden years. They'll also be powerbrokers in the next Congress. Mr. Miller, who came in with the Class of 1974 from California, chairs the House Education and Labor Committee. Mr. McDermott, who has represented Seattle the past two decades, runs a House Ways and Means subcommittee...

RALEIGH — Democrats in the U.S. House have been conducting hearings on proposals to confiscate workers’ personal retirement accounts — including 401(k)s and IRAs — and convert them to accounts managed by the Social Security Administration. Triggered by the financial crisis the past two months, the hearings reportedly were meant to stem losses incurred by many workers and retirees whose 401(k) and IRA balances have been shrinking rapidly. The testimony of Teresa Ghilarducci, professor of economic policy analysis at the New School for Social Research in New York, in hearings Oct. 7 drew the most attention and criticism. Testifying for...

You have to give Rush Limbaugh a perverse kind of credit. At least when he is demonizing Barack Obama, fabricating Obama policies, blaming Obama for single-handedly causing the recession and the stock market crash, he doesn't pretend to be fair. Opening his first post-election rant against the president-elect, Limbaugh launched in with a certain relish. "The game," he told his radio listeners, "has begun," the LA Times reports. Sean Hannity, on the other hand, insisted on feigning a post-election detente, telling his Fox News television audience last week, "I want Barack Obama to succeed." Didn't he think anyone would notice...

Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., delivered these remarks on the House floor Tuesday: Mr. Speaker: For the last two years I have struggled with the issue of whether the House should consider impeachment of a sitting President. Next to declaring war, impeachment is the gravest matter the House of Representatives must consider. I fully understand the gut-wrenching consequences such a national debate could precipitate. Yet, there is one fact we cannot overlook or escape.

In 1998, Congressman Jim McDermott...obtained and distributed to the media an illegally-obtained tape of a private conversation of Representative John Boehner. After litigating the dispute for ten years, and losing each step of the way, McDermott is now being forced by a federal judge to pay Boehner some $1.6 million in damages and legal fees: Still, it's amazing that House Democrats have stood with McDermott in his attempts to prod the courts to authorize warrantless wiretaps by private citizens against other law-abiding private citizens, while they continue to refuse to authorize government wiretaps of terrorist communications. And unfortunately for McDermott,...

WASHINGTON - Federal prosecutors say Saddam Hussein's intelligence agency secretly financed a trip to Iraq for three U.S. lawmakers during the run-up to the U.S.-led invasion. An indictment in Detroit accuses Muthanna Al-Hanooti of arranging for three members of Congress to travel to Iraq in October 2002 at the behest of Saddam's regime. Prosecutors say Iraqi intelligence officials paid for the trip through an intermediary. In exchange, Al-Hanooti allegedly received 2 million barrels of Iraqi oil. The lawmakers are not mentioned but the dates correspond to a trip by Democratic Reps. Jim McDermott of Washington, David Bonior of Michigan and...

McDermott to Cheney: ‘Resign or face impeachment’ By Chris Good June 29, 2007 Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) told Vice President Dick Cheney to “resign or face impeachment” Thursday night as three more House Democrats lent their support to a plan to impeach the vice president. “The vice president holds himself above the law, and it is time for the Congress to enforce the law,” McDermott said in a floor speech. “For the good of the nation, the vice president could leave office immediately.” McDermott was one of three House Democrats to come out in favor of impeachment Thursday, along with...

Court rebuffs McDermott in phone case By MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press Writer 5 minutes ago Rep. Jim McDermott (news, bio, voting record) had no right to disclose the contents of an illegally taped telephone call involving House Republican leaders a decade ago, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. In a 5-4 opinion, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that McDermott, a Washington Democrat, should not have given reporters access to the taped telephone call. McDermott's offense was especially egregious since he was a senior member of the House ethics committee, the panel ruled. When...

The U. S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, ruling en banc, delivered another in a long series of verdicts that have found Representative Jim McDermott, serving his 9th term representing Washington's 9th district, violated the rights of Rep. John Boehner when McDermott leaked an illegally taped conversation. The Court also ruled that Mr. McDermott broke House Ethics rules.

WASHINGTON - As a senior member of the House ethics committee, Rep. Jim McDermott (news, bio, voting record) had an obligation not to disclose the contents of an illegally taped telephone call involving House Republican leaders, a lawyer for one of the House Republicans said Thursday. Just as a federal judge should not reveal confidential information about a case, McDermott should not have given reporters access to the taped telephone call, regardless of how it was obtained, said lawyer Michael Carvin. "He had a duty not to disclose, therefore he can't claim First Amendment rights" allowing him to make the...

House Democrats in the first weeks of the new Congress plan to establish a dedicated fund to promote renewable energy and conservation, using money from oil companies. That's only one legislative hit the oil industry is expected to take next year as a Congress run by Democrats is likely to show little sympathy to the cash-rich, high-profile business. Whether the issue is rolling tax breaks - some approved by Congress only 18 months ago - pushing for more use of ethanol and other biofuels instead of gasoline, or investigations into shortfalls in royalty payments to the government, oil industry lobbyists...

FBI agents yesterday raided the suburban Detroit headquarters of LIFE for Relief and Development (LRD), the largest Islamic charity in the country. I first wrote about the group for The Post in 2003. Back then, FBI Director Robert Mueller was set to give an award to Imad Hamad, who heads the Midwest chapter of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC). But, after my Post article pointed out that Hamad was a subject in over a dozen terrorism-related investigations, the FBI revoked the award. One of those investigations concerned Hamad's close ties to LRD. Both the FBI and the then-U.S. Customs...

September 18, 2006 BREAKING: Largest U.S. Islamic Charity Raided by FBI Printer Friendly By Debbie Schlussel I've been writing about LIFE for Relief and Development for years, and I think my columns (especially this one), have finally made a difference. Ditto for my complaints about LIFE to Assistant U.S. Attorney for counterterrorism, Ken Chadwell. Less than half an hour ago, the FBI began raiding LIFE and hauling out documents. Well, it's about time. LIFE--the largest Islamic charity still open for business in America--openly admitted on its 1995-'97 taxes to be a major funder of HAMAS. Headquartered in the Orthodox Jewish...

WASHINGTON IN BRIEF A federal appeals court agreed to hear new arguments in a case involving an illegally taped telephone call leaked to reporters by Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.). In an announcement last evening, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said all nine judges will hear McDermott's appeal of the case, which dates back nearly a decade. Arguments will be heard in September, the court said. A three-judge panel of the appeals court ruled in March that McDermott violated federal law by turning over the recording of a 1996 call involving then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.). That...

McDermott Files Appeal in Taped Call Case By MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press Writer 8 minutes ago Rep. Jim McDermott (news, bio, voting record) on Wednesday asked a full nine-member appeals court to hear an appeal of a case involving an illegally taped telephone call that was leaked to reporters nearly a decade ago. A three-judge appeals court panel ruled last month that McDermott, D-Wash., violated federal law by giving the news media a tape recording of a 1996 call involving then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga. The 2-1 opinion, by judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of...

   Jabberwocky, The N.Y. Times And Broken Records April 6, 2006 The New York Times has supported electronic eavesdropping as a pillar of the First Amendment since 1996...and they continue to do so.  So...what’s their problem with the “warrantless spying on Americans” the National Security Agency (NSA) employs in the War on Terrorism? On December 21, 1996, a Florida couple, John and Alice Martin illegally intercepted and taped a cell phone conversation between then House Speaker Newt Gingrich and present House Majority Leader John Boehner.  The conversation concerned the political fallout from a House Ethics Committee investigation of Gingrich. It was...

Democrat Rep. Jim McDermott of Seattle, who leaked the contents of an illegally recorded cell phone conversation between former House speaker Newt Gingrich and Rep. John A. Boehner, is complaining about the NSA's warrantless surveillance progam. Audio clip here. Chutzpah.

Of our efforts to expose Air America's sleazy Enron-like corporate behavior, is it safe to assume conservatives are united in support? To a point, yes. There certainly are some, though, who'd rather not see this investigative effort become too successful. That's because the liberal radio network's programming has gone so far off the deep left end, it's now a GOP gold mine. By the same token, would Republicans want Rep. Jim McDermott of Seattle, or Sen. Ted Kennedy defeated? While having no impact on national political trends, the moonbat wing of the Democrat party provides a bounty of choice quotes...

Paris Hilton's parents; the Rev. Al Sharpton; the guy who gave us "Fear Factor;" and Rep. Jim McDermott. At first glance, they don't have a lot in common. But they are linked for eternity in a new book, "100 People Who Are Screwing Up America (and Al Franken Is # 37)." McDermott, as it happens, is No. 38. The Democratic congressman from Seattle apparently doesn't pose as big a threat to democracy as comedian-and-leftist radio talkster Franken. But McDermott presents more of a problem than, say, feminist Gloria Steinem, at No. 42, or Enron's disgraced chief executive, Kenneth Lay, who...

Military Recruiters Draw Fire at Schools Associated Press June 17, 2005 PHILADELPHIA - Nancy Carroll didn't know schools were giving military recruiters her family's contact information until a recruiter called her 17-year-old granddaughter. That didn't sit well with Carroll, who believes recruiters unfairly target minority students. So she joined activists across the country who are urging families to notify schools that they don't want their children's contact information given out. "People of color who go into the military are put on the front line," said the 67-year-old Carroll, who is black. A provision of President Bush's No Child Left Behind...

THE WASHINGTON TIMES When the partisan impasse over rules and procedures on the House ethics committee ends, the first member to face the panel won't be House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, but rather Democrat Jim McDermott of Washington. The Seattle-area congressman, one of the most vocal critics of Republicans, has been under investigation by the panel since last year over his role nearly nine years ago in the illegal taping and distribution of a phone conversation involving then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich. A federal court already has determined, for a civil lawsuit against Mr. McDermott, that the liberal lawmaker illegally distributed...

In late 1996, Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, engaged in a conference call with other Republican congressmen, including then-Speaker Newt Gingrich. Their conversation was illegally wiretapped by two Florida Democrats, Alice and John Martin, who, when caught, were tried and fined $500 apiece. Before they were caught and fined, these two wiretappers actually took their purloined tape recording to Washington, D.C., where they gave it to a then-member of the House Ethics Committee, Washington state's Democrat, James McDermott of Seattle. McDermott leaked this private conversation to the New York Times and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution – neither of which newspapers were ever...

In September of 2002, Jim McDermott (D-WA), David Bonior (D-MI) and Mike Thompson (D-CA) traveled to Baghdad to meet with Saddam Hussein. Before they left for Baghdad, Jim McDermott made the following public statement: "the President of the United States will lie to the American people in order to get us into this war." After McDermott returned, he continued to make similar statements. While the 3 Democrats were in Baghdad, did they make representations to Saddam Hussein that their fellow Democrats and the Democrats' friends in the mainstream liberal media were willing to commit seditious acts to buttress Hussein's increasingly...

WASHINGTON - A group of congressional Democrats is asking President Bush (news - web sites) to dismiss a senior military intelligence officer who made church speeches that included inflammatory religious remarks while discussing the war on terrorism. In a letter to Bush released Thursday, Rep. Barney Frank (news, bio, voting record), D-Mass., and 10 others said action in the matter of Lt. Gen. William Boykin is long overdue, and he must be removed from his post as deputy undersecretary for defense. A Pentagon (news - web sites) investigation concluded that Boykin violated regulations by failing to make clear he was...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House ethics committee will investigate Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., to determine whether he violated standards of conduct when an illegally recorded telephone conversation was leaked to reporters during a committee investigation. Committee Chairman Joel Hefley, R-Colo., and ranking Democrat Alan Mollohan of West Virginia formed a four-member investigative subcommittee Tuesday to investigate the 1997 incident. McDermott was ranking Democrat on the ethics committee at the time, and the panel was investigating the conduct of then-Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga.The incident began when a Florida couple taped Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, who was using his cell phone...

The Democratic Socialists of America, Progressive Caucus members lists the following elected Representatives in the US House of Representatives as members: OFFICERS Dennis Kucinich (CO-CHAIR, OHIO-10) Barbara Lee (CO-CHAIR, CALIFORNIA-09) Lynn Woolsey (VICE-CHAIR, CALIFORNIA-06) Peter DeFazio (OFFICER, OREGON-04) Jesse Jackson, Jr (OFFICER, ILLINOIS-02) Major Owens (OFFICER, NEW YORK-11) Bernie Sanders (OFFICER, VERMONT) Hilda Solis (OFFICER, CALIFORNIA-31) MEMBERS Neil Abercrombie (HI-01), Tammy Baldwin (WI-02), Xavier Becerra (CA-30), David Bonior (MI-10), Corrine Brown (FL-03), Sherrod Brown (OH-13), Michael Capuano (MA-08), Julia Carson (IN-10), William Clay (MO-01), John Conyers (MI-14), Danny Davis (IL-07), Peter DeFazio (OR-04), Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Lane Evans (IL-17), Eni...

A mass grave being excavated in a north Iraqi village has yielded evidence that Iraqi forces executed women and children under Saddam Hussein. US-led investigators have located nine trenches in Hatra containing hundreds of bodies believed to be Kurds killed during the repression of the 1980s. The skeletons of unborn babies and toddlers clutching toys are being unearthed, the investigators said. They are seeking evidence to try Saddam Hussein for crimes against humanity. It is believed to be the first time investigators working for the Iraqi Special Tribunal (IST) have conducted a full scientific exhumation of a mass grave. "It...

BOSTON — A group of College Democrats was talking about Congressman Jim McDermott last night when the group's president-elect walked up. Grant Woodard, an earnest khakis-and-blazer-type from Grinnell College in Iowa, demurred when asked his opinion of the liberal Seattle Democrat, saying he didn't really know anything about him. "Sure you do," said Luther Lowe, Woodard's campaign manager. (Here, even collegiate politicians, it seems, have managers and speechwriters.) "He's the 'Fahrenheit 9/11' guy." Say no more. "Oh, he's the psychiatrist," Woodard said. "Just on what I saw of him in the movie, if that's what he's like all the time,...

In a speech to business leaders in India, Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., gave credence to a rumor that the U.S. has captured Osama bin Laden and for political reasons is waiting for the right moment to reveal it, according to the Indo-Asian News Service. "There are already rumours circulating that Osama bin Laden is being held somewhere already and it's only that they are trying to decide what day they should bring him out," McDermott told Confederation of Indian Industry representatives at a luncheon in New Delhi on Thursday. The remarks came as McDermott told his audience that the loss...

The Washington Times www.washingtontimes.com Animosity that runs endlesslyBy Mona CharenPublished July 3, 2004 Theaters are filling up with fans of Michael Moore -- a propagandist who makes Oliver Stone look like Alistair Cooke. Mr. Moore is, of course, free to say the war on terror is a clever cover story for George W. Bush's attempt to line his own pockets. Or to suggest that as nasty as Osama bin Laden is, he is nowhere near as bad as our president.     But the reception this preposterous pastiche of lies, warmed-over conspiracy theories and free-floating venom has received from the Democratic...

Rep. Jim McDermott, D-WA, explained yesterday that he had omitted the words "under God" while leading House colleagues in the Pledge of Allegiance because he had learned the Pledge before 1954 when the phrase was inserted by an act of Congress. Later, a spokesman confirmed that Mr. McDermott also often forgets about the 1964 Civil Rights Act, because when he was in grade school it was still legal to discriminate on the basis of race. "The Congressman also needs repeated reminders that Alaska and Hawaii are states, since they weren't when he was a child," the unnamed source said. "Which...

<p>Rep. Jim McDermott, Washington Democrat, yesterday did not say the words "under God" as he led the House in its daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.</p> <p>Rep. Pete Sessions, Texas Republican, accused Mr. McDermott of "embarrassing the House" and proving that "he and those like him stand more for the liberal left than they do for our friends and neighbors."</p>

"I've been surprised [Bush] waited, but then I thought, well, politically, it probably doesn't make much sense to find [Saddam Hussein] just yet." Those were the words of Washington State Congressman Jim McDermott during a recent interview with KIRO radio in Seattle. He implied President Bush would have preferred to have waited until closer to the election to capture Saddam Hussein in an effort to “score more political points with voters.” He continued by saying, "There's too much by happenstance for it to be just a coincidental thing." Thus is the mentality of the liberal left in the United States...

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., who earned headlines across the globe last year for criticizing President Bush while in Baghdad, is enmeshed in a new controversy over remarks he made about the capture of Saddam Hussein. In an interview Monday with a Seattle radio station, McDermott said the U.S. military could have found the former Iraqi dictator "a long time ago if they wanted."

WASHINGTON — On Seattle radio yesterday, Rep. Jim McDermott questioned the timing of Saddam Hussein's capture, saying, "I'm sure they could have found him a long time ago if they wanted to." His comments came during an interview on "The Dave Ross Show" on KIRO-FM. "I've been surprised they waited, but then I thought, well, politically, it probably doesn't make much sense to find him just yet," he said. "There's too much by happenstance for it to be just a coincidental thing that it happened on this particular day," he continued. Later yesterday, the Seattle Democrat said he did not...

NewsFlash Home | More Washington News Washington News Rep. McDermott in hot water for Saddam quip By MATTHEW DALY The Associated Press 12/15/2003, 7:41 p.m. ET WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., who earned headlines across the globe last year for criticizing President Bush while in Baghdad, is enmeshed in a new controversy over remarks he made about the capture of Saddam Hussein. In an interview Monday with a Seattle radio station, McDermott said the U.S. military could have found the former Iraqi dictator "a long time ago if they wanted." Asked if he thought the weekend capture was...

Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., who famously traveled to Baghdad last fall and pronounced President Bush a liar, accepted a cash payment less than a month later from an Iraqi-American businessman with ties to Saddam Hussein. McDermott collected the payment from Shakir al-Khafaji, the same Detroit-based Baghdad apologist who paid former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter $400,000 two years ago to make a pro-Saddam documentary about Iraq. Appearing live from Baghdad on the Sept. 29 broadcast of ABC's "This Week," McDermott proclaimed, "The president of the United States will lie to the American people in order to get us into...

One of the most interesting post-war stories for liberal journalists — who love to deplore how Big Money distorts politics — ought to be the way the deposed Iraqi regime bought influence with politicians and journalists. Last week, the London Daily Telegraph began reporting that George Galloway, a Laborite member of Parliament and an anti-war voice featured by several American media outlets, received hundreds of thousands of pounds in the past few years from Saddam’s coffers.     In the May 5 Weekly Standard, Stephen F. Hayes summarized the story and added that American politicians also received cash: Rep. Jim McDermott, so...

1. Baghdad Jim went to Baghdad and called our president a liar. 2. Baghdad Jim gave aid and comfort to the enemy 3. By his actions, he contributed to these executions of our solders Defense? Stupidity? Ignorant? Playing politics of war? Does anyone want to get together with me so we can have a die in at his office here in Seattle? Does the freepers want to do the same in Washington DC?

<p>Washington -- As war apparently draws nearer, anti-war members of Congress led by Rep. Barbara Lee of Oakland outlined their last-ditch bid on Wednesday to reopen debate on whether the United States should attack Iraq.</p> <p>Lee's vehicle, the latest in a host of anti-war resolutions that the leadership of both houses has refused to take up, is the introduction of a nonbinding resolution that would put the House on record as opposing so-called wars of pre-emption.</p>

<p>BOSTON (AP) President Bush does not have the authority to launch a military invasion of Iraq without a congressional declaration of war, according to a lawsuit expected to be filed in federal court in Boston on Thursday.</p> <p>Six members of Congress, three U.S. servicemen and the parents of other U.S. military personnel said on Wednesday they would file the lawsuit that claims any U.S. invasion of Iraq without congressional authority would be unconstitutional.</p>

OSAMA BIN MURRAY & BAGDHAD JIM Just days before Christmas, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., wondered aloud in a Vancouver, Wash., high school why the world loved bin Laden but hated America, and what we could do about it. Sen. Murray was widely ridiculed, but her question was heartfelt and deserves a thoughtful response. Mr. bin Laden has made his demands against America on behalf of the Muslim world quite clear. First and foremost, we must convert to Islam. As a powerful and respected U.S. senator, Ms. Murray could exercise real leadership here, inspiring her followers to do likewise. First, Sen....

Bush signs bill reaffirming reference to God in pledge Thursday, November 14, 2002 ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON -- President Bush signed into law yesterday a bill reaffirming -- with a slap at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals -- references to God in the Pledge of Allegiance and national motto.Bush signed the legislation without comment. It reinforces support for the words "under God" in the pledge, and for "In God we trust" as the national motto. The measure was approved unanimously in the Senate and drew just five no votes in the House. Congress rushed to act after the federal...

IN THE NEWS: U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott is wheeled into the Susan Sarandon wing of Seattle's renowned Greenfields Sanitorium For Demented Lefties after he told puzzled supporters that George W. Bush's is threatening military action in Iraq as part of a plot to crown himself emperor of America. Coming on the heels of McDermott's controversial trip to Iraq last week, during which he insisted that Bush would lie to the American public and that Saddam Hussein's version of events should be valued over that of the American president , McDermott was forcibly hospitalized by a coalition of family members...

U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott broadened his attack on George W. Bush's war plans yesterday, saying the president is threatening military action in Iraq as part of a plot to crown himself emperor of America. Criticized for saying on a trip to Iraq early last week that Bush would mislead the American public, McDermott, a Seattle Democrat, was back in his district yesterday telling cheering supporters that Bush is planning a war to distract voters' attention from domestic problems. He said Bush is trying to "submarine" efforts to restart weapons inspections in Iraq to give him a pretext for starting...

NEW YORK, Oct 7 (AFP) - Tens of thousands of people, led by some top Hollywood stars, demonstrated on the streets of the United States' largest cities to protest President George W. Bush's US plans to invade Iraq. In New York on Sunday, at least 15,000 people gathered in Central Park to denounce Washington's stance towards Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, including Oscar-winning movie star Susan Sarandon and her actor husband Tim Robbins. Sarandon, star of hit films such as "Thelma and Louise" slammed the Bush administration's alleged bellicose policy as "madness ... a war that would kill hundreds of...

I went to the Jim McDermott Town Hall Meeting in Seattle today. A handful of FReepers were there with some excellent signs ("Go back to Bagdhad"). Unfortunately the vast majority of those attending (at least 250) in the packed room were gung-ho supporters of McDermott. Jihad Jim literally spent the entire 1 1/2 hours of his meeting bashing the USA. He said that the war on Iraq was merely a ploy by President Bush to distract the American people from the economy. He spoke of dying children in Iraq and polluted water and blamed the US. In fact he blamed...