Rep. Dennis Kucinich: To the Publisher of the LA Times
Saturday, November 26th

Jeffrey M. Johnson
Publisher
Los Angeles Times
202 West First Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Dear Mr. Johnson:

We, as Members of Congress, object to the dismissal of Robert Scheer, a 32-year veteran of the LA Times with a long history of excellence in reporting and op-ed pieces. For example, over the last 10 years:

Scheer, in 1995, was a leading critic of the Gingrich plan to cut social spending to record low levels and he wrote adamantly about the need to save affirmative action. In 1996, Scheer criticized welfare reform for its effect on the poor as soon as the economy turns south.
Scheer wrote in 1999 in defense of Wen Ho Lee, the nuclear weapons scientist accused by many of selling nuclear secrets, despite the lack of evidence. In 2000, Scheer predicted the Bush/Cheney ticket's close ties to the oil industry would ensure consumers would "feel the sting from the exhorbitant price of gas." In 2001, Scheer identified the dangerous precedent of the Patriot Act. He forecast the attack on our basic liberties. In 2003, Scheer was already making a strong case for the U.S. getting out of Iraq.

Scheer's final column highlighted military intelligence documents that suggested Iraqi intelligence was manipulated, as opposed to simply bad intelligence. On Nov. 11th, the LA Times reported this dismissal along with other staff cuts. According to the article, a conservative contributing editor to the National Review has been hired to write for the op-ed pages. In effect the LA Times has hired a Bush Administration cheerleader to replace a leading critic of the Administration. Your readers, and the nation, deserve better. We hope that you will reconsider your dismissal of Robert Scheer.

Sincerely,
Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
Diane Watson (D-CA)
Barbara Lee (D-CA)
Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)
John Tierney (D-MA)
Neil Abercrombie (D-HI)
Lloyd Doggett (D-TX)
Richard Neal (D-MA)
Michael Honda (D-CA)
Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
Patrick Kennedy (D-RI)
Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA)
Bob Filner (D-CA)
Maurice Hinchey (D-NY)
Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)
Gwen Moore (D-WI)
John Lewis (D-GA)
George Miller (D-CA)
Bill Clay (D-MO)
Donald Payne (D-NJ)
Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
Hilda Solis (D-CA)
Sam Farr (D-CA)
Sherrod Brown (D-OH)

STATEMENT OF REP CYNTHIA McKINNEY [D-GA] ON THE WAR RESOLUTION OF REP JOHN MURTHA [D-PA]
From The Wilderness Website
November 18th
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/112105_world_stories.shtml#0

[Duchess Note - The below tidbit was shared with me by a good friend in Ottawa, Canada - thanks MF!]
CHIPS OFF THE GOP BLOC
We’re not saying that any of these folks are rapists or child molesters or future felons or even victims of far too much inbreeding. Not at all. We’re merely saying: here are the nation’s Top 10 Young Conservative Activists (http://www.kstreetproject.com/index.php?content=10ConsAct)

The Notables:
• Jason Mattera (#7) — spokesman for Young America’s Foundation. This buzz-cutted reactionary has no patience for war protesters. But when he was urged to enlist in a war he so heartily supports, the 22-year-old replied that he had more important things to do, like winning "the war of ideas" at home. Obviously, he’s bucking for a job as Vice President. Bonus: Mattera also put together a whites-only scholarship.

• Brad Shipp (#4) — the 33-year-old national field director for Students for Academic Freedom. (Aren’t you a little old to be calling yourself a student, Brad?) The SAF is run by conservative…wait for it…intellectual David Horowitz, a former Berkeley radical who must have dropped some really bad acid in 1985. That’s when he began ranting that the Left wanted nothing more than to wage an "unholy war to tear down democracy and replace it with their version — an Americanized version — of communism." Oh David. You had us at "unholy." We’ll love your Shipphead protégé if it means getting closer to you.

• Eric Hoplin (#1) and Paul Gourley (#3) — the deputy chairman of the Minnesota GOP and the chairman of the College Republican National Committee respectively. Let’s just put it this way: these two blossoming fascists run such dirty campaigns of personal advancement that even fellow Republicans think the only races they’re fit for are the "Minnesota used car dealers association presidency" and the race for "chairman of Cell Block D in federal prison."

With the GOP starring cast disintegrating beneath the weight of epic corruption it’s good to know such a fine group of debate-club presidents is waiting in the right-wings like practiced stand-ins. Because the show must go on.