This the same paper that's circulation and content consistantly continues to dwindle.

This the same paper that held back the NSA Warrentless wiretapping story until well after the Presidential Elections?

The NY Times did Tasini a favor by not endorcing him.

Alas, I read the whole thing over coffee this morning, and already blogged about it. We're six hours ahead of you here in Europe. (And light-years ahead of you Americans in many other respects--universal single-payer health care, a secular society, respect for human rights and the rule of law, not quite so corrupted by money in politics, not in the habit of invading other countries unprovoked...but that's another story.)

Tasini is an outstanding candidate, and whatever the outcome September 12 everyone involved in his campaign is to be congratulated. Hell, even the New York Times couldn't hide its admiration for Tasini's "spunk" or its contempt for Clinton's triangulating. Though somehow it portrayed her disgusting appeasement of Republican extremists as a virtue, not a flaw.

Anyway, keep up the pressure. One of these days the light will dawn.

HA! I like your nutshell. What about this morsel of meat: "Mr. Tasini...once successfully sued The Times on behalf of freelance writers..." Therefore, the Times endorses the incumbent.

from a paper that cheerleaded the war with
Judith Miller and is probably scared of her
anyway. My daughter and I are voting Tasini and I don't care who they endorse

There is an excellent, very well balanced FRONT PAGE article on the Senate primary contest in today's Syracuse Post-'Standard, by Frederic Pierce. Also, in the paper itself but not online, is a chart comparing their answers to questions on the issues of the Iraq war, preventing terrorist attacks on American soil, ensuring quality health care for all Americans, and encouraging job creation upstate. And additionally are short profiles of the two candidates.

This is a remarkable article in that it's the first of its kind I have seen; the Ithaca Journal won't report on Tasini unless he is in town. The Post-Dispatch took pains to present an even-handed picture of the race, even pairing up photos of equal size and making the profiles the same size.

Anyway, check it out at:

http://www.syracuse.com/poststandard/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1157273868244860.xml&coll=1

Tim Lillard

Once you accept that the Times was going to endorse Hillary, we came out about as well as could be expected. The key for me was that virtually the whole editorial was about our top issue -- the war. Anyone taking the editorial seriously should feel that, before deciding to vote for Hillary, they have to come to grips with, and be satisfied with, her position on the war. Then, the editorial went to articulate the many reasons why Hillary's position on the war is open to criticism. Readers who accept that criticism, but who don't accept the Times' rationalizations for Hillary's posture, have thus been taken a long way toward voting for Tasini.

This editorial is almost as lame as the Times' endorsement of Clinton for Senate in the November 2000 election, saying that despite her ethical lapses and other questionable characteristics, they thought she ought to be a Senator because, ummm....because. Even Alan Chartock, a political commentator irredeemably in the tank for the Clintons since the beginning of history, was embarrassed by the editorial; asked on WAMC's "Media Project" to explain how they could print something so inane, he said the Times just can't help themselves because having Clintons in office is "just part of the Times' weltanschauung." (You could look it up.) To give Chartock his due, that's about the best explanation anyone will be able to offer this time as well.

...and she's against the war too! And working to end it as soon as possible! Didn't you all know this?

Aug. 29: Six Activists Deliver Declaration to Senator Clinton in Albany

Albany, NY: On Monday, August 28, six peace activists, four from the Saratoga Peace Alliance and two from the Albany Peace Action group, met with Tracey Brooks, Sen. Hillary Clinton's Regional Director in Albany, NY. They presented the Declaration of Peace and asked for Sen. Clinton to endorse it to bring a swift end to the war in Iraq. Each activist spoke personally about their reasons for being against the war in Iraq and war in general.

Activists reported that Ms. Brooks portrayed Sen. Clinton as being deeply troubled and frustrated by the horrible direction the war has taken. Brooks repeatedly talked about the Levin Amendment and the speech Ms. Clinton made to the Senate on June 21, 2006 as proof that Clinton is against the war and working to end it as soon as possible. She gave activists a copy of the speech and asked them to study it, saying that Sen. Clinton is upset that everywhere she goes there are peace actions and demonstrations against her for supporting the war.

The delegation discussed Sen. Clinton's comments and the Levin Amendment and concluded that her plan does not support setting firm dates for withdrawing or redeploying our troops from Iraq, falling far short of the goals of the Declaration of Peace.

The Saratoga Peace Alliance's Declaration of Peace Committee will meet on Tuesday, Aug 29th at 7pm behind the Visitor's Center on Broadway, (Across from Congress Park) to plan a response, if Sen. Cinton refuses to sign the Declaration of Peace. The first part of the meeting will discuss general, legal actions and the second part will be for people interested in forming an affinity group to plan for nonviolent civil disobedience and direct action. Organizers will work to set up meetings with Representative Sweeny and Senator Schumer to present them with the Declaration of Peace.

Submitted by Jeffrey, Saratoga Peace Alliance

Working on the Tasini campaign has certainly been a wake up call. The convention happened before signatures were even gathered for those who were trying to appear on the ballot. The rules change for the cable station because they are in the incumbent's pocket. In county races, candidates who are Tasini supporters are told to take down their Tasini signs and replace them with Clinton signs or they will receive no party support. Our elections are a joke folks and we need some pretty fundamental changes. This Clinton cabal is a nightmare. The DNC is the lapdog to the DLC (Democratic Leadership Commission, or Democrat Like Clinton?)

If we weren't in such a critical fight with the Republican Neo-cons, the incumbent Democrats would be much more threatened. And well they should be.

It is remarkable that candidates like Jonathan Tasini still have enough belief to put themselves through this. One other thing that this experience has taught me is that Jonathan is the real article, and that gives me hope. Hope has been hard to come by lately, but he gives me hope.