Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee voted to hold Karl Rove in contempt of Congress, moving us one step closer to the truth, one step closer to restoring justice, and one step closer to preserving our democracy. It’s a huge step forward, and I’m so thankful that the committee voted for contempt. But now is not the time to celebrate — now is the time to take action!!!

COULD IT BE TRUE? That a House panel voted today (7/30/08) to cite Karl Rove, formerly President Bush’s top aide, for contempt of Congress as its Senate counterpart explored punishment for alleged misdeeds by other administration officials. Of course, Rove denied any involvement with Justice decisions, and the White House has said Congress has no authority to compel testimony from current and former advisers. WHAT DID YOU EXPECT?

You might have heard by now that Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in Senate history, was indicted by the Justice Department for allegedly failing to disclose gifts and services he received from VECO Corp., an Alaska oil services company. The arogance of Stevens and other career politicians emboldens them to believe that they operate above and beyond the laws enacted for the masses. An embarrassing example of this is that prior to the investigation, Alaskan legislators wore baseball caps with the initials “CBC,” which stood for “Corrupt Bastards Club.”

On Monday, the Justice Department confirmed, that under the reign of error of former Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, the Justice Department became a refuge for partisans and cronies, hired by scoundrels, and overseen by leaders who purposely turned a blind eye to the illegal machinations of their subordinates. In other words…….The Bush Administration! Today’s report by the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), establishes for all time that former Justice officials Monica Goodling and Kyle Sampson, and others, violated federal law and Department policy when they “improperly considered political or ideological affiliations in screening candidates for certain career positions” at Justice. Over and over again, these lawyers and public servants put their ideological goals over the work of the nation.

Today, the Judiciary Committee, held a full day of hearings that focused entirely on the crimes of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, and featured testimony by Reps. Dennis Kucinich, Robert Wexler and others regarding his Articles of Impeachment against President Bush. Here is a letter I received today from my Congressman, the honorable Robert Wexler.

Four Iowans including retired Methodist minister and Peace and Justice Advocate, Rev. Chet Guinn, 80, were arrested yesterday while attempting to make a Citizens’ Arrest of Karl Rove in Des Moines. All four were cited for trespassing and released.

Being a bright is easy. The requisite characteristic is “a worldview that is free of supernatural and mystical elements.” What is more difficult is understanding that there are many different types of brights. A common misconception is that brights are atheists. This misconception was illustrated in Science & Theology News which describes the neologism “bright” as an alternative term for “atheist.”

Cass Sunstein, an adviser to Barack Obama from the University of Chicago Law School, said that as president, Obama won’t prosecute crimes that Bush and his confederates committed while in office. Sunstein dismissed these crimes, comparing them to the “crimes” that Bill Clinton was impeached over. Well, there you have it. War crimes and mass murder are no different from oral sex. How did we get here? How has our system, values and willingness to overlook and accept blatant criminal activities by our elected officials gotten to this point? It almost like the comic book “Bizarro World” where everything is backwards…..black is white and white is black.

John McCain put on quite a performance this week as he desperately tried to explain “the surge” and has come off like a bumbling, self-obsessed drowning man. Factually, he has made so many mistakes that, as far as I’m concerned, it should disqualify him from being our next president. Watch the videos and YOU BE THE JUDGE….

Barack Obama, the presumed Democratic nominee plans to arrive in the German capital this morning in the build-up to what is probably the most anticipated American campaign speech ever held on foreign soil,. One of Berlin’s main city magazines even offered its readership cut-out American flags to wave at Barack Obama’s planned address. Many of us baby boomers remember those words shouted by John Kennedy when he spoke in Germany in the midst of the Cold War; “Ich bin ein Berliner…..I am a Berliner.” In 1963, Berlin was looking to Kennedy to show that Berlin would not be allowed to fall to communism.