Now that the betrayal of the constitution and the rights of all Americans under the Fourth Amendment is nearly complete, we need to ask ourselves if there is anything that can be done to hold the Democratic Congress accountable and reverse this egregious violation of fundamental democratic principles. I think there is. We can, ourselves, take the FISA Repeal Pledge and ask our members of Congress to take a corresponding pledge. Details of the pledge on the other side.

Please recommend this diary so it stays alive if you think this effort is worth it.

During my working career (I'm retired now), I used two tools to keep myself organized and productive through even the most hectic days. Those tools were a day planner and a pocket notepad. The day planner recorded all appointments, meetings, trips, deadlines, etc., and the notepad was for a list of Things To Do - things I thought needed doing that day. I spent the first part of each day updating both, adding items that moved up in priority, scratching out the completed items, and moving items not completed the previous day to the new page. This worked very well for me and I taught it to the kids as they grew up.

Anyway, I thought I'd help out Obama and make up a "Things To Do" list for him so he could go to work on Day One. See what you think and feel free to add your own items or dispute items you don't like. My hope is that it stimulates thought on what actions people would actually expect from a Democratic administration and Congress.

I am assuming a filibuster-proof Senate, and that is probably a little overoptimistic, but I suspect a Senate result in the 57-43 or better range would cause the GOPers up in 2010 to become very accommodating without BushCo in the background threatening their political lives unless they support Bush's neocon insanities.

Some of you will recognize the title of this diary as the opening refrain from a sketch on the american classic TV show Hee-Haw. I thought it might be appropriate after the setbacks experienced by progressives recently. Soooo, to counterbalance the gloom and despair many here are feeling, and to celebrate TGIF, I thought it would be more than appropriate to start a GW Bush Joke Thread, which begins below the fold.

The Canadian election is beginning it's second season this week after having been correctly ignored by most sane people during the holiday season. This is an election only Stephen Harper of the CPC and Paul Martin of the Liberals wanted; Harper to prevent himself from being turfed as a loser by his own party and Martin in an opportunistic attempt to form a majority government that doesn't have to deal with NDP demands in a minority government. Election day is January 23rd.

More below the fold...

I don't really think this topic is of diary-level significance since it's pure speculation, but I don't see anyone else discussing this yet, and it's just too good a topic to ignore.

Is anyone else becoming more curious about Rove's four trips to the Grand Jury? What I'm wondering is; is Fitz gunning for  'unindicted co-conspirator' status for Bush? Today's reports indicating Bush knew about the whole thing from the beginning and was pissed at Rove for screwing it up moves this whole operation into the Oval Office, at Bush's feet. My GUESS is that Fitz was attempting to get Rove to flip on Bush - otherwise he could simply indict Rove on obstruction charges for lying to government agents and to the GJ. Fitz has also called many people close to Bush in the WH, including Andy Card and Abu Gonzales and Harriet Miers, all people who are in close contact with Bush every day and would be in a position to overhear and note statements by Bush.

Fitz is going for the big enchilada folks! Stock up on the popcorn and beer - it's party time!

I really can't imagine that anyone following the Roberts confirmation hearings for Chief Justice of the SCOTUS can be pleased with the performances of the Democratic Senators on the Judiciary Committee. They have engaged in speechmaking (Biden), pointless and inept questioning (DiFi), and just plain old rants (pick one). Not one of them has dented Roberts' carefully crafted demeanor or impressed the american public with the importance and seriousness of those hearings.

Below the fold are questions I would have asked. You be the judge (/snark)!

The SCOTUS is on the verge of being taken over by right-wing extremists who most probably will repeal much of the Bill Of Rights and destroy what is left of the Enlightenment as well as the scientific method. This must be stopped, not only for the sake of American citizens, but for the sake of all people on the planet. The US has, over the years, set the standard for human rights, compassion for the weak and sick, and has been a champion for equality in the law for ALL people. If Bush is allowed to pack the SCOTUS with right-wing troglodytes, this heritage will be lost and the world will become a more dangerous place for those not wealthy or powerful.

Below the fold is my idea for stopping this travesty.

There is little doubt, at least on this blog, that Iraq was a premeditated disaster engineered by a small cabal of neocon lunatics who believe not only that might makes right, but that the use of force to impose the will of the US on the world is a good and righteous thing. If justice is ever done, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Feith, Bolton, Gonzales, Gen. Sanchez, Gen. Miller, and Rice will all have a date with a war crimes tribunal.

But in the meantime, young men and women are dying in Iraq and there is no end in sight. The Republicans have accused Democrats of having no solutions to this problem other than to get rid of Bush. So below the fold I outline my own solution to the Iraq mess, and I invite others to criticize freely and to add your own ideas.

Yesterday was election day in British Columbia. Many of you will read in the papers that the Liberals won an unprecedented second term as the majority party while the NDP made a remarkable comeback from two seats after the 2001 election to 33 today. The real story, however, is that the BC Greens managed to draw enough left-of-center votes to deliver that majority to Gordon Campbell on a silver platter with a big wet kiss.

As I predicted in my previous diary, the progressive split between the Greens and the NDP was the direct cause of the Liberal victory. The Liberals managed to pull 46% of the popular vote while the NDP picked up 43% and the Greens siphoned off 9%. This was better than in 2001, when the Greens managed to convince over 20% of the electorate to waste their vote.

More screed below the fold...

Tomorrow is election day in British Columbia, Canada. In the grand scheme of things, a canadian provincial election may be small potatoes, but it's very important to those of us who are lucky enough to live here. For Kossacks, the strategy and tactics used by both sides may be instructive, especially in the case of the Liberals, who have run, once again, a campaign that appears to have been crafted by Karl Rove himself.

A description of the parties, the players, the issues, and the campaigns are below the fold. I will be doing some GOTV tomorrow, but will report on the final results later this week.

Before losing my medical after a mild stroke about 12 years ago, I flew regularly as a private pilot throughout the western US and Canada. I had a multi-engine instrument license, about 100 hours of aerobatic training, and time-in-type for many high-performance aircraft.

More below the fold for those interested.

I did a search on this topic and, surprisingly, found nothing, so I'd like to direct my fellow Kossacks to an outstanding documentary called The Corporation. I first saw this about a year ago, found it compelling, and will watch it again beginning tonight over the next two days. It is currently playing in theaters and on television all around the world. The schedule is here.

If you can't catch it right now or it isn't playing near you, the production group is releasing a DVD. This is a 'don't miss' for progressives concerned about the relationship between corporations, human beings, and the environment.

Please click the website link. More below...

Maybe it's just me getting my game on before our upcoming elections here in BC, but it seems to me that there is far too little coverage of corpoate crime here at dKos. For instance, here in today's NY Times, on the front page, is an article detailing how ENRON managed to shut down a power plant in California AT THE HEIGHT of the energy shortages there in 2001. This was a contributing cause to rolling blackouts the next day. Aren't we all glad it wasn't our children or parents who happened to be attached to life-sustaining medical equipment on that day(sarcasm). These evil corporations are not only looting the economy, they are, literally, willing to kill people to make a profit.

More below the fold...

This is a book whoring diary. The book in question is The Secret Voyage of Sir Francis Drake and was written by Sam Bawlf. I know Sam and had the opportunity to proofread the annotated version (for the historians) before it was published. The book has received good reviews from both historians and literary critics, and has been picked up by the History Channel as the subject of one of their productions, so I don't feel like I'm foisting off some otherwise unreadable crud.

I have always found history to be much more fascinating than most fiction, for the usual reason that nobody could make up that stuff. This book has it all; Queen Bess, Drake the pirate, a race for the Northwest Passage, the Spanish Inquisition, international politics, incredible sailing skills, and a solution to the 400 year old mystery of Drake's Voyage. It's worth the read, people, and I rarely say that.

The full review is here, with excerpts and comments below the fold.

Every once in a while some new, little-noticed technology arrives on the scence that has the potential to disrupt the status quo. The software dKos and other blogs use is an example (scoop). I noticed two items yesterday which may qualify.

The first is some new software that can make anyone a Rush Limbaugh on the cheap. The second is a new kind of solar cell with five times the conversion efficiency of current cells that can be, literally, painted on any surface.

More below the fold.

According to a Seattle Times article

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002136361_scotusgifts31.html

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is cashing in on his position. We're not talking trinkets here, either; tires, a Lincoln Douglass bible, personal checks, a jet trip to the Bohemian Club camp in beautiful northern CA, and a bust of Lincoln. But it's OK, though, because Berkeley law professor John Yoo, of 'torture memo' fame, sez it's OK.

More below the fold....

The election postmortems are in and the consensus is that while it was a close election, a major factor working against Democrats were the social issues - abortion, gay marriage, school prayer, evolution, and religious influence in government. The Republicans have been extremely successful in using bigotry, homophobia, and fear of the unknown to demonize the entire Democratic party on these issues. Democrats are no longer percieved as the party of economic AND social justice - they are the party of gays, abortionists, athiests, and government control of people's lives and wallets. The smear has been so successful that even the word 'liberal' has now become a slur, and people are voting against their own economic self-interest on the basis of these smears. So what can Dems do to defuse these issues?

Find out below the fold and take the poll.

Are you a Chevy man (or woman)? If not, maybe you'll change your mind after reading this:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3216-2004Dec15.html

It seems Chevy Chase made the mistake of speaking the truth to power.

Money quote below the fold.