Rapid Response Network Tuesday 02/27/07

[Ian David]

Rapid Response Network <[e-mail]>

show details
Feb 20 (2 days ago)
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ISSUE: Let 'em eat cake
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Letter From Washington: As U.S. rich-poor gap grows, so does public outcry
Albert R. Hunt, Bloomberg News
International Herald-Tribune
Published: February 18, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/34zrkx

Income gap is increasing danger to U.S. economy
by Bill Barnhart, Chicago Tribune
Published February 14, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/3cheh9


** ACTION **
Rapid Response volunteers are encouraged to contact your hometown
media to discuss Fed Chair Bernanke's comments on the growing gap
between CEOs and average joe workers. Is this good or bad for America?
How so?

Write your local papers, comment on local blogs, and/or call in to
local radio and TV programs.



----------------------------
ISSUE: Swiftboating 101
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The Murtha Smear Is On
by BarbinMD
Mon Feb 19, 2007
Daily Kos
http://tinyurl.com/3ddkda

Murtha: The Smear Continues Hotlist
by BarbinMD
Daily Kos
Tue Feb 20, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/3b6m6o


** THOUGHTS **
Just what is in Rep. Murtha's proposal that it is giving the
conservatives such heart attacks?

"The legislation I'm putting together, first of all, puts restrictions
on the President, on the administration, saying you can't send people
back into battle until they've had a year at home. Now they should
traditionally have two years at home...They must have the equipment
and the training and they must be certified by the Chiefs of the
various services before they can go back. ... they need to train on
that equipment and then take it with them...They're going to have to
certify to us that they are ready and they're going to have to stop
the extensions."

* You may note that none of the conservatives' talking points actually
mention just what is in Rep. Murtha's proposal.

As BarbinMD notes in her posts and as Rep. Murtha readily
acknowledges, the conservatives' fear (correctly) that Rep. Murtha's
proposal, if adopted, will handcuff the Commander-in-Chief by making
him do the common sense military tasks that have been neglected since
then-SecDef Rumsfeld "went to war with the Army he had."


** ACTIONS **
Consider contacting each of the publications and programs noted in
BarbinMD's posts to tell them just what is in Rep. Murtha's proposal
(since they seem to have overlooked it) and let them know your
thoughts on whether or not you agree with his proposals.

Also write your local papers, comment on local blogs, and/or call in
to local radio and TV programs.



----------------------------
ISSUE: 15 years too late
----------------------------

Anti-Clinton campaign loses some steam
By David D. Kirkpatrick
International Herald Tribune
Published: February 19, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/33mlnw


** THOUGHTS **
Was the media itself complicit in the "anti-Clinton campaign" of
Richard Scaife, David Keene, and others?


** ACTION **
Consider contributing your thoughts on the "vast right-wing
conspiracy" and the media's role in advancing the conservatives'
talking points (whether those talking points had basis in fact or
not).

Write your local papers, comment on local blogs, and/or call in to
local radio and TV programs.



----------------------------
ISSUE: Chastity Belts! Get Yer Chastity Belts Here!
----------------------------

Debate over HPV shot gets personal
Opponent of bill calls out sponsor to reveal details of private life
By DANA HEUPEL
STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER
Springfield, Illinois
Published Monday, February 19, 2007
http://www.sj-r.com/sections/news/stories/108208.asp


** BACKGROUND & THOUGHTS **
Merck, the maker of Gardasil (the HPV vaccine), is strongly pushing to
have Gardasil added to states' lists of mandatory vaccines.

The nation's religious conservatives are up in arms, believing that an
HPV vaccine would somehow promote promiscuity among 11 year old girls.

To be fair, Merck and other pharmaceuticals are donating heavily to
government lobbying efforts to promote their plan for making the
vaccine mandatory. Such is the free market in this country -- their
lobbying is perfectly legal and something conservatives typically
fight to protect as a "right".

In Illinois (and most, if not all, other states) parents can opt out
of mandatory vaccines on religious and other grounds.

(The next 4 links may not be suitable for viewing at work.)

Some statistics:
- a vast majority of Americans have pre-marital sex; 75% by age 20,
95% by age 44 -- http://tinyurl.com/3duv3o
- the average age of lost virginity worldwide is 17 -- http://tinyurl.com/2onrp3
- the average teenager's sexual experiences occur at home --
http://tinyurl.com/333grk

Info on the original blogposts which created the current uproar in
Illinois can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/2urqmt


** ACTION **
If this debate is also happening in your state, please consider
contributing some of the facts listed here to dispel myths that
conservatives are promoting. Let your community know your thoughts on
the HPV vaccine by writing to your local paper.



----------------------------
FYI
----------------------------

**
Obama's blackness subject of debate
By LESLIE FULBRIGHT
San Francisco Chronicle via Manchester Union Leader
http://tinyurl.com/2p9wlf
2/20/07

-- Gee, if ya have to bring it up and ask, he probably is "black"
enough given that you've noticed...


**
Soldiers Face Neglect, Frustration At Army's Top Medical Facility
By Dana Priest and Anne Hull
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, February 18, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/32sfbd

-- THIS is how our leaders "support the troops"?!?! Do you agree?





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(Full Disclosure: The writer of today's alert is volunteering for
various efforts aimed at electing Sen. Barack Obama to the
presidency.)