Dear President-Elect Obama, Congratulations on being elected to the presidency of United States! I am so looking forward to an era of change. I am also looking forward to a return to the rule of law, and the restoration of our civil liberties, which have been seriously eroded over the past eight years. I think that in order to demonstrate a renewed commitment to constitutional democracy, we must hold accountable those in the Bush administration who worked so hard to destroy our liberty. We must show the world that, in America, no one, not even the president, is above the law. It is not enough to simply allow those who willfully and repeatedly violated nearly half of our Bill of Rights, assuming vast extra-legal powers based on an absurd interpretation of "inherent powers" in Article II of the Constitution, to ride off into the sunset. I hope that you will appoint a special prosecutor to look into the crimes of the outgoing administration, and follow the evidence wherever it leads. Respectfully,Willie T

Dear Family and Friends,

Now that Election Day is upon us at last, let's get away from the smears and the lies and focus at last on the issues. I'll concentrate on the economy, since that seems to be first and foremost in people's minds these days.

Taxes

While John McCain continues to insist that Barack Obama will raise taxes, every single thing I've read or heard from his campaign, including the plans laid out in his website, insist that 95% of all taxpayers, encompassing all of the middle class, will receive a tax cut. There are even online calculators out there to show how much you'll save, based on your income, marital status, and the number of children in your family, that show how much more most people will save under Obama's plan. Try this one: http://taxcut.barackobama.com

These cuts will be partially offset by transferring some of the burden onto the wealthiest Americans, who were basically the only ones that benefited from the Bush tax cuts, and partly with cuts in spending on budget items that are clearly wasteful. The upper crust folks will go back to paying what they did in the Clinton years, during the soaring economy of the 1990s. They were all doing extremely well back then, and I suspect that if they have to pay a little more out of their 7-, 8-, or 9-figure incomes to help keep the country running, that it will hardly be a drop in the bucket. Meanwhile the plebes, who are struggling to heat their homes, gas up their cars, and put food on the table, will get some badly needed relief. Oh, the well-heeled might decide to do without a new yacht next year, but I'll bet that they will still be living quite high off the hog.

You can talk all you want about tax-and-spend liberals, but the Bush administration has, for the last eight years, embraced a "borrow and spend" philosophy. You tell me which is worse? At least Bill Clinton balanced the budget and adopted a "pay as you go approach." We are fighting two ruinous wars with funds borrowed largely from China--our political, and potential military adversary. Like it or not, ladies and gentlemen, our $10 trillion or so of U.S. debt, will eventually have to be repaid. Or we can just keep sloughing it off onto the next generation, (and several more after that) until our currency is truly worthless, and our foreign policy is dictated entirely by the holders of that debt.

My good friend Paul, up in Bangor, made an interesting observation while driving around eastern Maine. He noticed a number of McCain/Palin signs that had sprouted up in neighborhoods full of McMansions, as well as in areas full of mobile homes, and wondered why so many poor and middle income people support a conservative agenda that has all but abandoned them. He concluded that the Republicans have co-opted the message of "God, guns, and gays" and have used it to brainwash these folks into voting against their own economic interests. They fall for it every time. The current collapse of our economic house of cards can be traced to the beginnings of the Reagan Revolution. Over the last 28 years, we have seen the results of unfettered, laissez-faire capitalism. The trickle-down theory is a sorry failure, whereby the people at the bottom never even got wet, and we witnessed an obscene transfer of wealth from a dwindling middle class to the wealthiest 1% of Americans, leaving a vast chasm between the poorest and richest people in America. This process was accelerated and exacerbated by the Bush tax cuts, under which middle-class taxpayers saved a paltry $300-600 of their hard-earned income. The uber-rich, on the other hand, saved hundreds of thousands, and even millions of dollars. And yet, we still saw an alarming number of our manufacturing jobs shipped overseas. So much for trickle-down economics.

The Religious Right

This is the group that put the Republican party over the top in the last two presidential elections. Without this ultra-conservative contingent, the party would have been sunk. The GOP has continually pushed its anti-choice, gay-bashing, gun-toting mantra, because it has nothing else to offer to the have-not masses in their ranks. They are all for Christian values when it comes to dictating a woman's right to choose, but their compassion and respect for life ends at the womb. They are blissfully unconcerned with the welfare of children born to impoverished families, whose parents may have to cobble together several two-bit, part-time jobs, (with no health insurance) just to keep a roof over their heads (if they are lucky enough to do so). As I recall from Christ's teachings, "That which you did for the least of my children, you did for me." Jesus commands us to "spread the wealth," but the Christian right seems to conveniently forget that when they attempt to hoard their wealth. I don't see them ripping up their Medicare cards or returning their Social Security checks for that matter, but that doesn't stop them from protesting with shouts of "Socialism!" whenever they are asked to pay their fair share.

Joe the Plumber

I don't know about you, but none of the plumbers I know earn $250K per year. McCain's attempts to hold Joe up as your average middle class businessman is a farce. Never mind that Joe is unlicensed and owes over $1,000 in back taxes. (He obviously has no intention of spreading the wealth.) John McCain declares that people like Joe should not be penalized for creating wealth. Well, friends, I posit that wealth is not so much created, but merely shifted from one group to another, and that the great fortunes that have been made for the privileged few in the last quarter century have been built off the backs of the poor suckers at the bottom of the economic pyramid, whose real wages have fallen every year for the last three decades. They are lucky to see 3-4% salary increases, if any, while all of their costs go up in double digits. Meanwhile corporate CEO salaries have gone from a mere 420 to more than 1600 times the average worker's salary since 1980. In the health-care industry it's even worse. Robert Perucci and Earl Wysong, in their book 'The New Class Society,' found that in the 1990s, some CEOs in the health care sector earned over 3400 times the annual starting wage for nurses! Far from spreading the wealth, what we have seen instead is an intensive concentration of the stuff in the hands of fewer people than at any time since the Gilded Age. And when that house of cards finally collapsed, of its own corrupted weight, the very people who caused the current economic crisis are bailed out with golden parachutes, instead of the ball and chain they truly deserve.

So, friends, I will not presume to tell you who you should vote for, and though I do not postulate that anyone should vote solely in their own personal interests, those interests surely matter in times like these, and if your vote is decided by pocket-book issues then I think it is important for you to understand why you choose to be on one side or the other, and to evaluate who it is that really represents you in this election. Whoever you're backing, please do get out and vote. May the best man win!

Best,
Willie T

Dear Friends & Family,

As the presidential election draws near, I am struck by the strongly
negative tone it has taken these last few weeks. It
seems that the politics of character assassination has been a
hallmark of this campaign. This has been true on both sides, though I
think that the McCain/Palin team has taken it to an extraordinary
level, perhaps out of desperation. I got into a political discussion
this past weekend. The person I was
talking with said to me, with a look of horror on his face, "You
know, he [Obama] is a Muslim! I immediately found myself refuting
the absurd inaccuracy of that rumor, which McCain supporters have
been doggedly pushing, despite the fact that Barack Obama is, by his
own declaration, and by all evidence of his very public life, a
Christian. What I should have added (and I kick myself for not
taking the opportunity) is, "but what if he was a Muslim?"

John McCain, at a recent rally, chided an overzealous supporter for
calling Sen. Obama an Arab. McCain took the microphone away from the
woman and said, "No ma'am, he's a good and decent family man. You
don't have to be afraid of him." I was shocked by both this woman's
ignorance, and at McCain's response, which was intended as an
attempt to tone down the negativity in his campaign rhetoric. I'll
give him the benefit of the doubt. It was good of him to defend
Obama's honor, but McCain did not address the more important
questions. That is, What's wrong with being an Arab, and what
difference should it make whether a presidential candidate is a
Muslim? Are we to infer that all Muslims are terrorists? What about
the 2.8 million Muslim-Americans across the nation? (statistics vary
from 2-7 million) This is America, where anyone can grow up to be
president. That is what we have been taught all our lives, at least.

I could not easily find stats on how many American Muslims are
actually U.S. citizens, but one must assume that out of such a large
population that it must be a fairly huge number. The vast majority
of these are hard-working law-abiding people who, like most everyone
else, are busy pursuing the American Dream. Many of them are
enlisted men and women, fighting our wars, defending us against our
enemies. I cannot imagine how insulting and hurtful it must be to
them to be branded as terrorists! This kind of hatred and fear is
extremely dangerous. It is the kind of thinking that led our
government to incarcerate Japanese-American citizens in concentration
camps during WWI. (many Italian-American and German-Americans were
also held in detention facilities during that war) It is the kind of
thinking that led to the slaughter of six million Jews at the hands
of the Nazis. Is this where we are headed in America?

I was finally relieved to hear Colin Powell articulate these very
thoughts when he endorsed Barack Obama on Meet the Press. He also gave a very thoughtful and well-reasoned rationale for his endorsement. I am including a short video clip of that interview. You can watch it here:
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/powell-endorses-obama/?hp

I am also including a link to what may be the best editorial I've yet
read that debunks some of the myths that have been circulating about
this campaign, the distinctions between the two presidential
candidates, how the policies of the last eight years have brought us
to the dismal state of affairs that we now find ourselves in, and the
dangers that we face should those policies be extended another four
years. Thanks to my good friend Jan for sending this article from
the New Yorker.
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2008/10/13/081013taco_talk_editors

And, just for fun, here's a link to a very funny Doonesbury
comic strip that was in the Sunday Boston Globe recently, which really nails it! Thanks to Jacki for pointing it out to me. I should read the funny papers more often!
http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/dailydose/index.html?uc_full_date=20081012

Best,
Willie T

Willie T & Doctor X will perform live at the Squealing Pig at 335 Commercial St., in Provincetown, MA (Cape Cod) from on Saturday, October 4th. We'll be on all night (which we rarely do these days), from 10 PM to 1 AM, so we'll be digging deep into an extensive repertoire, pulling out some fun songs that we don't often get a chance to play. I hear that the food is good (great fish & chips, and lobster rolls, according to reviews), and an extensive beer menu! C'mon down if you can, or if you know anyone that's vacationing on the Cape this weekend (or lives there), tell them to stop by the Squealing Pig! Brought to you by Underground Control.

Don't forget, Willie T & Doctor X's CD "Hogs on Ice" is available at CD Baby: http://www.cdbaby.com/wtdrx, and digital downloads are available from Apple iTunes and many other distributors.

During the primaries, the debates were nothing more than a circus act, where the moderators hurled "gotcha" questions at the candidates, or quizzed them about trivial campaign gossip, attack ads, and everything except what really matters: the issues. There has been much ado lately, about how the media has failed everyone in this campaign season, the candidates themselves, and most importantly the public. Well, here's our chance to hold the media accountable, and through them, the presidential candidates. No doubt the network media are well aware that Free Press has launched a campaign to get of American citizens to rate the next round of debates online. Perhaps they will be mindful of that fact, and work harder to facilitate some meaningful dialogue on substantive issues, so that the public can get a sense of where the candidates stand on the things that the voters actually care about. Over 7,000 Americans, myself included, have signed up to do just that. You can too! Please go to the Rate the Debates page on the Free Press website to sign up, and to learn more about how you can make your voice heard!

Go to http://freepress.net/debates

Best regards,
Willie T

Dear Friends & Family,

Like many people, I believe that--distasteful as it is--the
government must do something about the financial crisis that rocked
Wall St. last week, and that the cost of doing nothing would be far
worse. But perhaps we should look at some of the fine print on the
three-page document that the president wants Congress to rubberstamp.
President Bush is trying to ram this thing through without giving the
legislative branch time to assess the consequences of handing over
sweeping powers to the executive branch to spend the better part of a
trillion dollars any way he wishes, without any oversight. There are
some suspicious looking provisions. In particular, read what it says
in the slim paragraph that comprises Section 8:

"Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and
committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court
of law or any administrative agency."

You have to ask yourself why would the administration want to include such language? Imagine the possibilities. This puts a lot of cash in the administration's hands that is off-budget, and which can be spent any way the government wants, without having to account for it in any way whatsoever! If you find this a bit reckless, as I do, please visit the website below to sign the petition from the American Freedom Campaign.

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2165/t/1027/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=25969

Best,
Willie T
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2008 17:03:57 -0400 (EDT)
From: American Freedom Campaign
Reply-To: info@americanfreedomcampaign.org
Subject: $700 billion without oversight?! -- Take Action!


If we have learned one thing over the past seven years, it is this:
Do not EVER trust the Bush administration when the question of
executive power is at issue! From the Patriot Act to the authority
to use force in Iraq to the need to pass a new FISA law, the Bush
administration is always saying some kind of crisis necessitates
urgent action, which inevitably leads to the administration being
given -- and abusing -- unprecedented power.

This week, the Bush administration is at it again. With the specter
of a complete Wall Street collapse hanging over our heads, Treasury
Secretary Henry Paulson is seeking 700 billion taxpayer dollars to
bail out the financial industry. While the American Freedom
Campaign is not taking a position on the financial details contained
in the Bush administration legislative proposal,

we are outraged by one specific section related to executive branch
accountability.

Section 8 of the legislation provides, "Decisions by the Secretary
pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and
committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court
of law or any administrative agency."

Yes, the Bush administration is asking Congress to give the
Secretary of the Treasury the authority to spend $700 billion as he
wishes, without any real oversight or accountability. With respect
to Congress, the proposed legislation requires the Secretary to
merely submit reports about his activities starting three months
after the first purchase of mortgage-related assets and
semi-annually thereafter. That's like giving a gambling addict your
life savings and asking him to send you a postcard from Las Vegas
every once in a while.

If you believe, as we do, that it is time for Congress to actually
serve its constitutional function and guide and oversee the
activities of the executive branch*, please visit the website below
to send an email to your members of Congress.

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2165/t/1027/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=25969

After you send your email to Congress, please be sure to forward
this email along to friends and family or use the Tell-A-Friend
option on our site. It is critical that members of Congress hear
from their constituents before they adopt any legislation related to
this crisis.

Thanks for taking action.

Best,
Steve

Steve Fox
Campaign Director
American Freedom Campaign Action Fund

* None other than former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich made
a similar statement regarding the responsibilities of Congress
earlier today. This is what he posted on the Web site of the American Enterprise Institute:

"Congress has an obligation to protect the taxpayer.

"Congress has an obligation to limit the executive branch to the rule of law.

"Congress has an obligation to perform oversight.

"Congress was designed by the Founding Fathers to move slowly,
precisely to avoid the sudden panic of a one-week solution that
becomes a 20-year mess."

We couldn't agree more.

To sign the petition, please click or paste into your browser:

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2165/t/1027/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=25969

For the month of September, 2008, Willie T & Doctor X will donate half of the artist's share of proceeds from CD sales (that's 100% of the artist's profits) to the American Red Cross to help with New Orleans and other Gulf coast communities' hurricane relief. CDs may be purchased at our shows*, or online from CD Baby at http://cdbaby.com/wtdrx.

*Note: Our next gig is on Thursday, Sept. 11th at the Cantab Lounge, in Cambridge, MA (see upcoming shows for further details)

Dear Friends and Family,

I was horrified when I learned of this report from FreePress.net yesterday. I strongly urge you all to sign this petition and demand an end to the intimidation of journalists, call on the mayor of St. Paul to release Amy Goodman and her colleagues, who have committed no crime, and drop all charges immediately. This is a violation of everyone's first amendment rights--the public's, because we are denied access to news that government officials don't want us to see or hear, and the journalists' for being physically abused and arrested simply for doing their jobs.

First, here's some information gathered from another source, forwarded to me by my friend, Irene. Then, please scroll down, and click or paste the link to the petition. (Thanks, Irene and Janet!)

"St. Paul is a free country!" cried a resident of Iglehart Avenue, a neighborhood street in St. Paul, Minn., as she watched her next-door neighbor's house being overtaken by police officers on Saturday afternoon. Just one in a series of house raids over a 24-hour period the weekend before the Republican National Convention, St. Paul police surrounded the private home with weapons drawn, detaining people in the backyard, while journalists, activists and neighbors -- including several children -- looked on.

Their crime? None whatsoever. No one was trespassing or engaging in acts of civil disobedience. Instead, members of I-Witness Video, a New York-based media watchdog group that records police activity in order to protect civil liberties, were holding an organizing meeting at 949 Iglehart, the home of St. Paul resident Mike Whalen, when armed police officers arrived in the early afternoon and ordered their surrender.

Among them was Eileen Clancy, founder of I-Witness Video, as well as a producer with Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman and her staff had just arrived at Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport when they received word that producer Elizabeth Press was in the house and being threatened with arrest.

An urgent alert had been sent by Clancy:

"This is Eileen Clancy. ... The house where I-Witness Video is staying in St. Paul has been surrounded by police. We have locked all the doors. We have been told that if we leave we will be detained. One of our people who was caught outside is being detained in handcuffs in front of the house. The police say that they are waiting to get a search warrant. More than a dozen police are wielding firearms …"

... We are asking the public to contact the office of St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman at 651-266-8510 to stop this house arrest, this gross intimidation by police officers, and the detention of media activists and reporters.

From Free Press:
Police in St. Paul arrested several journalists yesterday, including Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman.

Stand Up for Independent Journalism

Yesterday, police in St. Paul arrested several journalists, including Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman and an AP photographer as they were covering protests of the Republican National Convention.

Amy Goodman and others were released last night, but the story is not over.

We need you to cosign our public letter demanding that press intimidation cease immediately, and that all charges be dropped. It will be delivered immediately to St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, the RNC Host Committee and the local prosecuting attorneys. We need 10,000 signatures in the next 24 hours, so please take action now:

Sign the Letter: Drop All Charges Against Journalists

In addition to these arrests, police with firearms drawn raided a meeting of the video journalists' group I-Witness and arrested independent media, bloggers and videomakers. We're also receiving late-breaking reports of other arrests.

By signing this letter, you're sending a powerful message: Officials must rein in aggressive and violent tactics by local law enforcement, stop the targeting of journalists and immediately drop all charges against them.

Reporting by independent journalists is vital to a functioning democracy. Americans must have access to diverse sources of information to hold their leaders accountable. Journalists must be free to do their jobs without intimidation.

Please Take Action by Signing this Letter

Don't wait. We need a free press now more than ever. Tell your friends and take action now!

Thank you,

Josh Silver
Executive Director
Free Press
www.freepress.net

1. Watch the video of Goodman's arrest.

2. See other journalists being arrested as reported by UpTake.

3. News of the AP arrest.

4. Learn more about the arrest of an ABC News producer during the Democratic Convention in Denver.

5. Watch the video of the police raid of I-Witness journalists (Caution: strong language).

Take action on this important campaign at:
https://secure.freepress.net/site/Advocacy?id=281

Tell your friends about this campaign at: http://free.convio.net/site/Ecard?ecard_id=1361

Note: Free Press is a national nonpartisan organization working to reform the media. Free Press does not endorse or oppose any candidate for public office.

Dear Friends,

Historical Note: On this date in 1974, Pres. Richard Nixon announced his decision to resign rather than face impeachment for his role in the cover up of the Watergate break-in. I remember reading back then that a visiting dignitary from the Soviet Union, when interviewed by a reporter who was interested in the Kremlin's take on the situation declared, "This just proves that government cannot operate with a free press." I was never more proud to be an American than I was on that day.

Yesterday I received the message below from the American Freedom Campaign, regarding the investigation into the White House's politically motivated firings of nine U.S. attorneys.  In February, the House of Representatives voted 222-30 to cite Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten for contempt of congress for refusing to appear before the House Judiciary Committee, which is looking into the firings. The House went to court in March for an order to force Miers and Bolten to appear before the Committee after the Justice Department refused to prosecute them for contempt. In June, a federal judge denied White House claims of executive privilege and said that Miers and Bolten must obey congressional subpoenas and appear before the committee. They still refuse to do so, in flagrant violation of the law. Please sign the American Freedom Campaign's petition at http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2165/t/1027/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=25316

and send a powerful message that the president, and those working for him, are not above the law. If we don't stand up to this blatant abuse of power, future administrations will likewise act with the same impunity, thumbing their noses at the law and trampling all over our Constitution. Is this the future you want for America? Are we willing to sit back and watch our democracy crumble before our eyes? I certainly hope not!

For more background information on the issue, I refer you to several articles, two from major national newspapers:
Bolten, Miers Ask Judge to Delay Order [Washington Post]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/07/AR2008080703005.html?hpid=moreheadlines

U.S. Attorney Scandal Probe Enters White House Circle [Huffington Post]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/07/white-house-nightmare-sce_n_117548.html?view=print

Judge challenges Bush's immunity claim [Boston Globe]
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2008/06/24/judge_challenges_bushs_immunity_claim/

The American Freedom Campaign article follows below.

All the best,
Willie T
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In 50 days, congressional oversight may be dead. The Constitution that has served our nation so well since 1789 may be hopelessly and forever diminished. Our federal government and, in turn, our nation may never be the same.

Those are the stakes.

In order for our government to function, we must have checks and balances. In order to prevent a president from assuming king-like powers and to ensure that all presidents are held accountable for their actions, Congress must have effective congressional oversight ability. And, of course, our presidents must respect that power.

George W. Bush does not.

It is time to put an end to this defiling of our Constitution. The U.S. House of Representatives has set September 26 as a target date for adjournment. By that time, Karl Rove, Harriet Miers, and Josh Bolten must comply with the congressional subpoenas they have been issued - and which a federal judge has ordered them to follow.

If they do not, then George W. Bush must be impeached and removed from office.

If he is not removed from office, Congress will have established a standard under which a president may deny Congress's investigative power without penalty. That simply cannot happen.

So today we are launching our "Testify or Impeach" campaign. We are hoping that tens of thousands of Americans will join our call. We will also be asking other organizations to work with us in order to make this campaign as strong as possible.

But, first, we need you to send a "Testify or Impeach" message to the White House so they start to understand that Americans actually care about our Constitution. Please take a moment to send a message by clicking on the following link:

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2165/t/1027/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=25316

After you have sent your message, please forward this E-mail to your friends and family or use the "Tell-A-Friend" function on our Web site, which automatically appears after your message is sent.

I appreciate you joining this campaign and will be sure to keep you updated about the progress of this effort over the coming weeks.

Best,
Steve

Steve Fox
Campaign Director
American Freedom Campaign Action Fund
--

Hi Folks,

This article on AlterNet came to me by way of FreePress. net. I think it clearly illustrates the attempt by the corporations to "dumb down" the public, through their increasing consolidation of the media and their attempt to act as "gatekeepers" to the Internet. What used to be real news reporting has become nothing more than "infotainment" interspersed with more and more advertising (sometimes even the difference between the two is hard to discern). As Bill Moyers once said, "News is what people want to keep hidden. Everything else is just publicity." The more I watch television news, the more convinced I am that he was right. Sadly, the nation's great newspapers, the last bastion of real journalism, are being gobbled up by the same handful of corporations that are busy devouring the rest of the media, cutting news bureaus left and right. Newspapers are in danger of becoming little more than print versions of network and cable television news programs. Continuing down this path will lead our democracy to its grave. Please visit the website below to read this insightful article by Chris Hedges, of Truthdig:

http://www. alternet. org/module/printversion/92284

Also, please visit http://www. freepress. net to see what you can do to help reform the media--before it's too late.

Best,
Willie T