Login HereHowie Klein has worked tirelessly on the Blue America project this year. He has interviewed countless candidates, hosted interviews of those with progressive values in his weekly Blue America column, produced radio and internet ads on their behalf and now working with Lars Sandvik he's branched out into the production of a cable ad for Tony Trupiano (seen in the YouTube above).
Howie was so excited when he called me on Thursday with the hope that we could really help Tony out with this ad. If you appreciate all the hard work Howie has done on behalf of progressive candidates (most of whom the DCCC did everything they could to run out of their respective races) please consider giving something to the Blue America PAC so we can have this one last push for Tony.
Howie has worked really, really hard creating something wonderful this election cycle, in open defiance of the Rahm and Chuck "don't mention the war" master strategy for November. This is his dream. If you've got a few pennies left yet to spare, it would be great show of appreciation for all of Howie's hard work if you could throw them toward the Blue America PAC.
Thanks to MyDD for their support, and also to John Kerry, who linked to our Blue America page (as well as Atrios and the Netroots Candidates pages) on his blog (hat tip Taylor Marsh).
Moderator Note: Everyone make sure that donations for this ad buy for Trupiano go to Blue America PAC not his individual candidate page
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Okay I’m putting up $100. Can I get five people to put in $20 to match me?
I’m in.
Howie!
Jane Hamsher @ 1
I hope you get 5 people, Jane. I’m sending in another $100 (sent $60 last night, too).
President ratchets up rhetoric against Dems as midterm elections near
Updated: 35 minutes ago
SELLERSBURG, Ind. - President Bush, campaigning aggressively ahead of the high-stakes Nov. 7 elections, said Saturday Democrats should not be trusted to control Congress because they have no idea how to win in Iraq.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15460292/
For you, Ms. H…of course!
ifthethunderdontgetya @
3
You’re the bomb.
RBG @
5
For Howie too!
Okay Jane, I’m in for $20.
Everyone make sure that donations for this ad buy for Trupiano go to Blue America PAC not his individual candidate page
scarecrow @
2
Thanks, scarecrow.
I was telling RGB last night the story of how I’ve known Howie since I was a teenager in SF and he was a dj on KSAN.
We didn’t see each other again till Johnny Wendell hooked us up last year. I found that Howie was full-time blogging every day starting at 5:30 am but he didn’t know how to make a link and hence nobody ever went to his site.
I finally convinced him that he needed to know how to make one and then told him he had to start posting over at DailyKos (which he’d never heard of). One of his first diaries came just after the DSCC ran Paul Hackett out of the race and Howie wrote this big diatribe and the next thing he knew he had 800 comments, it was at the top of the recommended diaries list and the whole thing had devolved into WWIII.
He called me up and said “what the hell is this?” And the rest is history.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 4
Republicans, not sure that irony is truly dead in the wake of Henry Kissinger’s Nobel Peace prize, continue to savage its corpse.
Drive by …
Woohoo!!!
Howie rawks!!!
I’m at Charlie Brown’s headquarters right now phone-banking (’bout 200 calls, so far) for Charlie and Rob Haswell, and earlier I was door to door canvassing (’bout 100 houses).
Keep up the fight!
Had enuf?
Got more phone calls to make
P.S. Ooooh, Jan Brown just walked in and grabbed a piece of blueberry pie
Jane Hamsher @
7
D’oh…how could I be so unthinking. Howie is da bomb.
Oklahoma kiddo @
4
That may be the first honest thing Bush has said in months. What he neglected to mention is that no one has any idea how to “win” in Iraq. That’s why they call it a quagmire. He also failed to note that it is the President who is mostly in charge of foreign policy, and that he has refused to listen to anyone outside his immediate circle of neocon whackos anyway.
Mr. Klein will have much to celebrate on Nov. 8. And so shall we.
Valley Girl @ 8
Thanks, VG. Yes, there can be no $$$ going back and forth from the campaign to the PAC, so the money neeeds to go to Blue America.
Jane Hamsher @ 9
That’s a great story. Howie has been awesome, and gave us all a chance to be involved more directly. Kinda like fdl. I could have told him you are a dangerous woman, but it’s too late. And punaise is still complaining about this woman who sat behind him who kept making running commentary last night in Berkeley.
I was telling RGB last night the story of how I’ve known Howie since I was a teenager in SF and he was a dj on KSAN.
When was this? I was at UC Berkeley beginning in 1964, and was there for FSM, Mario Savio, etc. Clark Kerr rubbing Ronald Reagan the wrong way, which got a 10% cut in UC funding the next year. It was the start of the “stupid years.”
Jane Hamsher @ 1
I love that ad! LOL Okay, here’s another $20
Scarecrow…are you saying what I think you’re saying? I didn’t pick up on the part of punaise’s complaint that we might know the woman behind him.
Jane Hamsher @
1
I’m in for twenty.
john in sacramento @
11
And twenty more to Charlie brown for extra blueberry pie!
I’ve been checking out the totals for the BA PAC- great response so far- looks like more people contributing than are owning up here! Remember, even $5 helps. Especially if 50 people (more) do that! And that’s not such a stretch, considering how supportive people have been for the $5 effort.
RBG @ 19
I’m just repeating what punaise said. The Lady remains anonymous . . .
Ah… Berkeley in the sixties. Fog in the morning. Music and speeches in the afternoon. The ghosts of the speakers of liberty linger on the steps of Sproul Hall.
I wonder if there is some psychological barrier generally to contributing the first time to Blue America… I kinda remember that. But it is actually quite easy! Give it a try for a fiver! And, make sure you put the credit card back in the wallet. I didn’t and showed up for grocery shopping (full cart) recently, with no debit/credit card!!! and, no cash, and no checks… ouch!
$25 towards your match, Jane, plus a tip for the ActBlue tireless ones.
GO TONY!
Any candidate who quotes Ghandi on his website is to be encouraged. More, please!
Great ad. Thanks, Howie, for all you’ve done for our country, our party, and our hope this year.
Jane..Howie tells the same story in his on-line video interview. I don’t know him, but the amount of work he does to change this despicable government is truly amazing.
BTW..What does Howie have planned for Joe on Monday?
Valley Girl @ 21
I was waiting to see how long it would take for the tubes to show my contribution…at 7:14 we were at 1,125 and $36,481.27.
Then I got distracted by this ludicrous “Jim Webb is a pornographer” poo flinging and posted at Not Larry Sabato.
Now (well at 7:29) it’s 1,132 and $37,187.42
Rock on, firepups!
TeddySanFran @ 25
Thanks! I hope the tip part goes without saying. I did that too. They are providing a great “free” service at ActBlue.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 23
Do you remember the preacher ??? who gave screaming sermons about our need for salvation just outside Sproul Hall? He had freckles and red hair, and when he got worked up about God, the Devil and evil, he looked like a ripe tomato about to burst. He was a landmark.
Howie,
There aren’t words to express how much I admire you and love you. If’n I had a hat on — it would be off, to you. (For you too, Miz Hamsher)
Pump Up The Volume for Tony’s ad!
An SF “Howie” story? Well, I once stumbled drunkenly out of THE STUD (when it was across the street from Hamburger Mary’s) and into an open doorway a few steps down. Inside was a band rehearsing some song I’d never heard before, but knew it would be a hit. The female was singing something about “I might like you better if we slept together…”
Never say never, indeed. Strange how our lives intermingle and cross at different times.
scarecrow @ 29
Holy sh*t. Yeah, I remember that guy. I worked for the Berkeley Free Clinc in late 1970, early 1971
ifthethunderdontgetya- I checked this out before when I was rounding up enthusiam for Robert Rodriguez- the donations seem to appear virtually immediately on the total. What I also find interesting is the total raised by Blue America for the candidates so far: $489,217.04 - vs. the total amount raised for those candidates at Act Blue: this shows up as $4,123,409.41, but it surely must be *$14,123,409.41*- just no space for the extra one mil! So, Blue America has raised nearly half a million dollars!!! so far!!!!!!
Jacqrat @ 30
I remember that song, from my punk rock daze.
P.S. My punk rock daze continues to this day.
In for $20, 2 for ActBlue. Did I match anyone?
scarecrow @
22
Well it goes without saying that punaise would know that a gentleman always respects a lady’s privacy.
Balrog @ 34
I haven’t been keeping track exactly, but I think you matched Jane- she wanted 5 for $20 to match her $100. TeddySF went wide and messed up with $25, but there’s still one slot open. Anyone????
scarecrow @
16
I swear it wasn’t me, I was over at the Pope’s and I was going to go but then Markos advised Howie that Tony Trupiano would be a great candidate for the Stamp Act campaign and I had to go home and do research for the ad.
Besides I don’t talk during these things, I now send email on my Crackberry.
I’m very touched by all the kind words. And more than anything else I’m very proud to be part of this awesome team. And I don’t only mean Jane and Christy and Pach and Jacquie and David and the others who work on this project. I mean all 5,732 people who have donated what they could for these efforts to save our country. I feel very humbled to be working with all of you. Thank you so much. And next Tuesday we’re gonna stomp these damned fascists into the ground like our grandparents did last time they reared their ugly heads in the 40s.
Cozumel @ 31
I think his name was Hubert. You’d have to walk by him to get to class from the South side, Telegraph Ave area, and he’d be yelling about sin and repentance; so you knew that if you did’t repent by the time to you got to your first class, you were probably doomed for all eternity. I’m convinced there’s some connection to why we have George Bush. It’s probably my fault!
scarecrow @ 29
I’ve got this guy, and some of the police actions in Berkeley on 8mm film. What times those were. I recall Berkeley at night too. Remember the driftwood sculptures down by the water?
Howie, how do you feel about having been part of raising nearly half a million bucks (so far) via Blue America? I think that what you have encouraged, seeded, put together, supported is an awesome effort. Funny, all you needed to do was discover the power of links to unleash the inner Howie!!!! xxxooo
scarecrow @ 39
He was the ‘yer gonna burn in a lake of fire’ guy. ; ) LOL
Jane Hamsher @ 37
Oh, Jane, that’s about the lamest story I’ve heard. You’re telling me you went all the way to Berkeley to hear Lakoff, et al, and kos sees you (he’s at the same meeting, right?) and says, “Jane, go home and do your homework.” And since you’re “the girl,” you do what he says???
There is obviously a lot more to this story, and now the cover story is out there. More will leak out. And has anyone noticed that punaise has disappeared?
Howie is my hero, and I'm joining in, too, because he took the time to teach me how to fundraise. He sent me CDs to encourage people. I cannot say enough good things about Howie. What a difference he and everyone else joining in has made. I am proud to be even a small part of the efforts.
Howie Klein @ 38
Thank you, Howie. CHS had a beach picture up today, as an example of an image that brings you serenity. I love the water, and especially the ocean. Yet I just moved to Ohio…oh well, global warming might bring the beach to me.
But what I was finally getting around to saying is this: Act Blue brings me serenity.
And I thank you, and Jane, and Christy, and all of Firedoglake for it.
scarecrow @
17
It was the late 70s. I was at the Bay Guardian writing about punk rock & there were a lot of Berkeley refugees there (Art Goldberg, Paul Krassner) as well as young reporter David Johnston. Crazy days — People’s temple, Dan White/Harvey Milk, Biafra for mayor. I wrote the cover story for the first free issue of the Guardian in 1979 on Biafra’s mayoral run & got really angry when Biafra called Diane Feinstin a “dangerous reptile” and Bruce Bruggman wouldn’t print it. David J. told me to cool off and pick my battles, that I’d get a chance to use it one day.
I’m still waiting for the perfect moment.
Bruce said he hated that story and was sorry he’d run it but now Biafra is a SF icon and when the Guardian had its 25th anniversary it was chosen as the best story of 1979.
You hang in there long enough, you get the last laugh.
Valley Girl @ 41
I’m a team player and this is the best team I’ve ever played on… ever!
Saturday night’s a busy time over at the Orangerie, but this may help our ad fundage for Tony a little bit. You who bow to Master Kos might give this diary a rec, to keep it afloat this evening and add to BlueAmerica’s ad buy:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/28/195541/99
Oklahoma Kiddo
Yes, they remained for decades. In the 60s, I remember barricades and bonfires on Telegraph Avenue, followed by the “Blue Meanies” and getting clubbed and tear gassed several times just coming back from the Library one at night.
Valley Girl @ 32
Here’s how I read those numbers…Act Blue has raised over $15 million for all candidates who use their service. Our own Blue America is just shy of raising $500k for all our candidates. The $4 million number you see is all dollars raised for our candidates by all ActBlue sources. Does that make sense?
Hey, someone just made a $10 donation to Blue America PAC, and I would like to celebrate that person. (I don’t have access to info, just tracking the totals.)
I would like to celebrate that person, because a $10 contribution is a great thing! Don’t be shy… $5 or $10… it’s not the amount of individual donations, it’s about the total number of people contributing. Thanks!!!!
Howie’s comment about the fascists isn’t hyperbole. Americans were always smug with the knowledge that “it couldn’t happen here”. Well it sure a shit has happened here. The Third Reich lasted 12 years; Nov is the 12th year of the Repub-Reich. May it end and the prosecutions can begin.
K, nuther sawbuck tonite!
Valley Girl @ 51
TeddySanFran @ 48
I’m so excited, Teddy, I was the first person to recommend your diary. That’s the first time I was ever first on a Kos diary recommendation, even though I get bombarded every single day by the blog squads of every candidate we’ve ever had on FDL– especially those relentless McNerney folks, bless their hearts.
* pop *
Valley Girl @
41
Is that all? Shit, my wife accused me of spending a half million on my own.
Hurts so good. Love you people!
RBG @ 50
Okay, RBG… I was not paying attention properly. You are correct. I think an extra column has been added on the BA page, which I didn’t notice. At one point, the total for funds raised by BlueAmerica for the candidates exceeded the total said to be raised totally by Act Blue… so at that point, the extra column had not been added. Sorry, I just spaced out, and was not paying attention- but you must be correct.
Hey Jane,
I’ll gladly toss in for another $20.
It sickens me to think of my state (michigan) as a rubber stamp for Shrub and Company.
Up your ass Karl Rove, from the oddballs and miscreants!
Jane at 46: Jello Biafra? That Biafra? From wikipedia:
Bruce said he hated that story and was sorry he’d run it but now Biafra is a SF icon and when the Guardian had its 25th anniversary it was chosen as the best story of 1979.
First fdl blog.
More fun in Gaza:
A not so dry-run practice for the U.S. invasion of Iraq?
The Israeli daily newspaper Maariv reported on Friday that precision-guided weapons would be used to penetrate deep underground in the hope of destroying the tunnel network that the Jewish state says riddles the area, which is 6.5 miles long and approximately 330 feet wide.
Iran?
Oklahoma kiddo @ 61
raven @ 62
Yes, should be Iran.
I guess I wouldn’t be surprised if these dopes forgot we invaded Iraq and did it again. . .
Oklahoma kiddo @ 63
scarecrow,
I was there for this party and was almost hit by a tear gas cannister, missed me by about a foot.
In February (1971), when American troops began an invasion of Laos to cut the Ho Chi Minh trial, WCC called a rally on Sproul Plaza and thousands showed up, the biggest gathering of the year. They marched to the Atomic Energy Commission building on Bancroft to protest the deployment of nuclear weapons in Thailand. After police provocation, skirmishes broke out and an AEC car was burned. ; )
http://people.thirteen.net/~ti.....p3?page=10
Is there anyone else who feels that attacks on Iran would only make the Democratic landslide more complete?
My sense is that the response from voters would be that they can’t vote these nuts out soon enough.
You read it here first.
OT - the Hartford Courant endorsed Lieberman
Howie is one of those people I’m so fond of I can’t even try to talk about it without sounding. . . mushy.
It’s not often I’m stuck without words.
Howie Klein @ 47
We should also recognize another key team member…Mr. Amato and his friends at Crooks and Liars.
dab from CT @ 67
That just makes me want to hurl. I was hoping for better. Screw them. And keep the faith.
“No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.” -
— Henry Mencken
Balrog @ 66
Balrog @ 66
Absolutely.
http://blogs.courant.com/colin.....log_p.html
This is so bizarre!!! How much of the petty cash did it take for the Lieberman Ad Buy?
~~~~Stop the Blog Presses
The Hartford Courant will endorse, tomorrow, Joe Lieberman, no surprise, and (get this!) John DeStefano over Gov. M. Jodi Rell.
The editorial gives her more props that she may actualyl deserve for cleaning up government, post-Rowland, but then says: “Her brand of small-steps stewardship is not what Connecticut needs to tackle some of its most acute problems over the next four years. It needs the boldness she promised when first appointed, but didn’t deliver. The state could use a visionary with big ideas, a dynamic leader not afraid to shake up the Land of Calcified Habits in order to effect real change. John DeStefano Jr. comes closer to filling that description.” ~~~
It seems that the view counters at YouTube are updated twice a day when you get over 100 views…
As of now, the new Goper’s Lament Video has been downloaded more than 322 times since it was posted yesterday at 4:00pm, but the counter is paused as of 4:20 this afternoon.
We should hit 500 downloads by midnight!
http://www.teocawki.blogspot.com
Cozumel — Interesting site. Thanks. We invaded Laos and students in Berkelely form mass demonstrations. One wonders what, if anything, would happen if we attack Iran? Unlike the poor Laotions, the Iranians can hit us back, hard. Where would it end? Maybe Hubert was right.
Iraqi leader playing on U.S. angst
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....mi_ea/iraq
How is Iran going to hit us back, by attacking American “interests” in the middle east?
scarecrow @ 75
http://ctbob.blogspot.com/2006.....-liar.html
~~~Joe Lieberman is a Liar
This past Thursday, I attended the Milford DTC meeting (my first) and afterwards I spoke to DTC member James Quish.[]
Jim said that Lieberman called a second time before the convention trying to get his support. Needless to say, Jim Quish is a thinking Democrat, and he voted for the man he thought would work to stop the insanity in our Federal Government. Ned Lamont.
“No Jim, I will not run as an independent. That was something a Lamont supporter goaded me into saying.”
Even BEFORE the Convention, everything was Ned Lamont’s fault.
Joe Lieberman is a Liar. How can anyone in Connecticut vote for this man?~~~
ok, here’s really bad news (to me)
http://www.informationclearing.....e15432.htm
read it and weep.
Valley Girl @ 70
They endorsed every other Dem running except Lamont. Even DiStephano
dab- keep the faith!
raven @ 77
At a minimum I would not want to be part of the American troops in pro-Iranian Shia areas of Iraq. Mr. Sadr has already warned us.
Donations, calls and campaigning do not matter. They already stole 2 presidential elections (wide scale fraud). You really think they cannot steal House elections (small scale fraud)? This is the same group that managed to legalize warrantless wiretaps, suspend habeas corpus, ban books like “America Deceived” from Amazon, detain demonstrators and start 2 illegal wars based on lies. The Republicans will probably lose a few seats to make it look good but maintain a majority. Then they’ll invade Iran on behalf of Israel.
Support indy media.
Final link (before Google Books bends to gov’t will and drops the title):
http://www.iuniverse.com/books.....95-38523-0
Egypt prepares for Israeli Gaza raid
Saturday 28 October 2006, 23:42 Makka Time, 20:42 GMT
http://english.aljazeera.net/N.....B71544.htm
Just wondered what you were thinking. I wouldn’t want to be an American trooper in Iraq whether we attack Iran or not.
scarecrow @ 82
dab from CT — it was expected; they endorsed Joe in the primary. I found it interesting that their column had to ignore/minimize Iraq and Joe’s role in it, and ignored his torture vote, his bankruptcy vote, his energy vote, and his flip-flop on Social Security. Ned’s ads will ensure those issues are heard, and the voters decide, not the head-in-sand editorial board of the Hartford Courant.
scarecrow @ 86
I looked for a link to the current editorial, but couldn’t find it. Linky?
scarecrow @ 86
Actually, one of the liebertrolls on Ned’s blog was jumping up and down for joy that all the Dems had gotten endorsements - including Joe.
I pointed out that that was GREAT news - the other Dems will push Ned over the finish line - and too bad that the candidate for the CT for Lieberman party would be sixth or seventh on the ballot.
Haven’t heard an answer yet.
Valley Girl: General website link for Hartford Courant:
http://www.courant.com/
See endorsements in upper right hand corner. It’s been there all day.
VG - I don’t have the link - perhaps scarecrow?
dab from CT @ 88
I didn’t see that post, but the same thing did occur to me!
Thanks scarecrow- I was looking elsewhere- as in editorials, and didn’t even notice the endorsement box.
Scarecrow, Cozumel at al - the nostalgia, the smell of tear gas in the morning. I was at UCB from 66-73, at People’s Park, I recall Hubert the red-haired preacher, when a four course meal at Chez Panisse was 6 bucks. We knew how to protest in those days. I don’t know what’s happened to our youth. They can’t be bothered even to set fire to a police car….
dab from CT @ 88
I think it’s also interesting that the reasons they gave for endorsing all Dems for the House — that we needed a change from Republican rule — apply equally to Ned — and those arguments may help Ned, despite the head-in-sand discussion of Joe. Ned’s ads are (honestly) linking Joe to everything the Courant says needs to be rejected in Congress. Cognitive dissonance.
And, BTW, I am not even going to provide a direct link to that endorsement, because it is totally totally wrong-headed and upside down.
scarecrow- didn’t see your comment before I posted. but you are so correct. Cognitive dissonance.
Quick UC story from the early 70’s. When Ronnie became gov he fired Chancellor Clark Kerr, of whom I was not a great fan at the time. Kerr redeemed himself in his departure speech when he said that he left the University the same way he came in, “fired with enthusiasm”.
petedownunder @ 93
I didn’t have anything to do with burning the AEC car. I was just the one that spotted it. It was parked at the wrong place at the wrong time. lol
Oh yea they can, just not for political purposes. Seen this
Madison police arrest 68 as Halloween celebration begins
Advertisement
By SCOTT BAUER
Associated Press Writer
October 28, 2006, 11:05 AM CDT
MADISON, Wis. — Sixty-eight people were arrested on the first night of this city’s notorious Halloween ce