If you live in New York State, help me remind Bob Turner to whom he's accountable. From the Working Families Party's email:

*****
Yesterday, Republican Congressman Bob Turner announced his candidacy for US Senate, to run against Kirsten Gillibrand.

His claim to fame, before being elected to Congress? He put Rush Limbaugh on TV.

New Yorkers deserve to know whether Congressman Turner agrees with Limbaugh's extremist views -- and whether he will vote for them as Senator. So we're asking.

http://action.workingfamiliesparty.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=5663
*****

Two Jews, three opinions, right? Jews discuss, argue, debate, shout, lecture, and write about what they're thinking. Well, now I'm thinking that being extreme right-wing trumps being Jewish, because apparently only one American Jewish opinion is allowed. J Street's Jeremy Ben-Ami was going to speak at a Reform synagogue in Boston, but some right-wing Jews told the synagogue board to un-invite him, and they did. And that's not an isolated incident; it's part of a pattern.

I've represented Judaism to a potential convert, and if she were here now I'd be embarrassed. It's OK for Abraham to question G-d and for Jacob to wrestle with the Lord, but it's not OK to discuss whether expanding settlements makes Israel more or less secure? This from the geniuses who brought us an unending war of choice in Iraq. Why is anyone listening to these people, much less letting them stifle other opinions?

J Street has found an alternate location for tonight's discussion. They'd like to tell the crowd there how many American Jews and supporters signed an online petition against this kind of right-wing intimidation and suppression of alternate opinions. If you'd like to join me in signing, the petition is here.

Thanks, and for the people reading my LJ who have more connections than I do, there are resources at the petition site for spreading the word via Twitter and Facebook.

What's a self-contained project I could use to become familiar with CSS?

I'm afraid we're heading for an Internet where all free content is advertising. It'll resemble a forest made entirely of billboards: nothing that grows, nothing unplanned, nothing self-sown. I depend on the Internet to provide other people's ideas, to connect me to things I never knew existed; it's a form of the feed, that necessary spring of delight that makes it possible to get through the hard times. If it turns into a weedless manufactured environment, I'll stifle. I don't think I'm alone in this. If you haven't already, please support Net Neutrality.

Join @alfranken - add your name to save Net Neutrality from The Corporate Takeover of Media: http://bit.ly/dup7fp

Late but sincere thanks for the snowflake cookies (remember the snowflake cookies?) to dreamlittleyo, the Crack_Impala gang (no, thank you), and smallcaps. I have this tendency to spend long periods just sitting back and enjoying the wonderful stories and posts you provide, doing nothing whatsoever that requires more than one click. I'm always grateful, even when I'm too limp to comment.

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It's spring. The flowering trees will have started up while I've been sick. I'm still a little tired, but it's time to get out the door.

Something RPGlike reminded me of this:
The pump don't work
'Cause the vandals took the handles
My dad's favorite line, which says something about what it was like teaching at a small liberal-arts college in the '60s and '70s. (Putting "The Wall" on his answering machine message might be indicative as well.)

...time to bite the bullet once again and make phone calls for the Democratic candidate(s). It worked in 2006, right?

Actually, I'm wondering whether I might do more harm than good. I don't think yelling at my mom and running out of the restaurant earlier today -- twice in one meal! -- convinced her to vote for Obama, for example. What if I actually talk people out of it? But that's an excuse. I can't afford to give much more money than I already have, and they do give you talking points, and I didn't die of it last time, though I hated it like poison. And it made me feel better on Election Day, knowing I'd done my best. That feeling alone is worth it.

So I'm going to make some calls tomorrow afternoon, and again next weekend.

And speaking of my Mom: what do the people of Israel think?

Yeah, more politics. Politics, TV shows, and RPGs based on TV shows, that's all I talk about here. I'm like the hornet in the Frost poem, who's better company when I'm visiting other people's houses than when you visit me in mine. Set out some fiction and I'll buzz on by and check it out. I don't promise to be any more accurate than the hornet, though -- I might attack a blackberry and miss the genuine fly. If anyone reading this is wondering why I'm blithering on like this, another truism about my journal is also in operation: I only post when I'm home sick from work, and my thinking ability is usually affected.

However. If right-wing Jews want other Jews to vote against Obama, they can offer arguments along the lines of: we think Israel should be empowered to act aggressively, and Obama will push for diplomatic actions that we consider will make Israel less secure. Then liberal Jews can decide whether they agree. They don't have to lie. They don't have to do this sort of thing (from JStreet.org):

In just the past month, the RJC has:

Linked Obama's name and picture to Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, Ayatollah Khomeini, and Pat Buchanan among others.
Not so subtly threatened "tragic outcomes for the Jewish people" in a headline over a photo of Obama speaking in Berlin.
Called Obama advisors "anti-Israel" and "pro-Palestinian" for arguing for American diplomacy intended to achieve Middle East peace.

We can do better than this. If you're one of the Jewish people on my friendslist, and you agree, will you go and sign JStreet's petition?

http://jstreet.org/campaigns/stop-jewish-republican-obama-smear-campaign

I don't think "It's too much trouble" is a good reason not to impeach a president who has repeatedly violated the Constitution. I don't think "he'll be out of office soon" is a good enough reason to let him go unrebuked. And given how well taking impeachment "off the table" has worked -- the sheer spiteful contemptuous treatment of Congress by this administration, the complete lack of cooperation or "bipartisanship", and the disheartening spectacle of the Democrats in Congress backing down rather than force a veto, while the Republicans filibuster at the drop of a hat -- does anyone actually think it was a good idea?

So. I like Kucinich. I'll still be able to make phone calls for him this fall, which is more than I can say for the party in general. See, I told the (handful of, but still more than I'd ever done before) people I called that the Democrats would end the war in Iraq. Now what do I say? The New Yorker has George Packer in The Talk of the Town. But Kucinich is still what he said he was from the beginning: a progressive who wants to hold the president accountable.

He's got an online petition going here.