Stephen Colbert started a Pennsylvania Straw Poll fundraiser, Democralypse Now, the goal of which was to raise $66,001 dollars in donations to PA classrooms, on behalf of each candidate in the democratic primary race.  The candidate with the most donations in their name "wins" the straw poll, but more importantly, the children get money for books, AV equipment, and other educational tools.

Now, you may ask why these kids need a fundraiser to get educational supplies.  That is the wrong question.  The right one is: which candidate is winning the straw poll?

TravelerBill and I have written several diaries about Stephen Colbert's Pennsylvania Straw Poll fundraiser, Democralypse Now. It allows people to donate money to PA school classrooms in the name of Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.  The candidate with the most donations in their name "wins" the straw poll.  The goal was $66,001 per candidate.

And now, two weeks later, Obama supporters have surpassed that to raise more than $100,000 for Pennsylvania schoolkids.

I have spent the last three weeks in a state of almost constant anxiety, about the ugliness of this primary season.  A long time ago, when this primary season started, I vowed that no matter what happened, that I would vote for anyone who was the eventual Democratic nominee.  As the weeks have dragged on, I have been more and more scared that when the primary was over, all the bad blood between the candidates would spill over into the general election, and cause us to lose to McSame in November.

Please, please, please, I thought, just make this stop.

Well, no more.  Now, I love this primary, and I think it's the best thing to happen to the Democratic party in my (short) political memory.  Why?  For one simple (ok, not so simple) reason: this primary has turned f**king Pennsylvania blue.

(Fourth in a continuing series started by TravelerBill  on Stephen Colbert's Pennsylvania Straw Poll, Democralypse Now.)

Stephen Colbert is conducting a Pennsylvania Primary Straw poll, in which candidate's supporters make a tax deductible donation to a PA school.  The candidate with the most money raised will be declared the winner.

The original goal of $66,000 was blown through by Obama supporters in less than one week.   A new goal has now been set at $100,001.

DK user TravelerBill has written two great diaries about Stephen Colbert's Pennsylvania Straw Poll, Democralypse Now.

For those of you who didn't see it:

To clarify for those who were unaware of this, on Wednesday Stephen Colbert, in conjunction with cause, announced he is conducting a Pennsylvania Primary Straw poll.  You support your candidate by making a tax deductible donation to a school project in Pennsylvania.  The candidate who raised the most (in comparison to Colbert's $66K in his failed SC Primary bid) shall be declared the winner

(Promoted by Susan.)

The Poltico is reporting that the House will not vote on an electronic surveillance bill this week, and that telcom amnesty is a major sticking point:

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer said Wednesday the House will not take up an electronic surveillance measure this week, further delaying any decisions on the controversial measure.

Hoyer said in his weekly press conference that he hoped to wrap up work on an update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act; "towards the end of this week or the beginning of next week."

However, the majority leader acknowledged that there were "still disagreements" within the Democratic caucus over the issue of granting immunity to telecom companies who aided the government in the wiretapping program.

Does this mean we still have a chance to stop this?

If there is still dissension in the ranks, then that means we can still sway the House to do the right thing.

Here is what gives me hope:

Although Democratic leaders insist they are working feverishly to iron out their differences, one House member—speaking on the condition of anonymity—suggested it could be a long time, if ever, before the bill was brought for a vote.

"A lot of people think the politics of doing nothing on this issue are very good for both sides of the political spectrum," they said.

All we need in order to win on FISA is for the House to do nothing.  No vote means "compromises," no immunity, no unfettered governmental spying on its citizens.  

I think this is our chance.  

1. Call your reps, and call Hoyer, Pelosi, and Reyes.

2. Sign the ACLU petition.

3. Support the good guys.  Reward the freshmen House Dems who are doing the right thing: ActBlue FightFISA, or Russ Feingold's Progressive Patriots Fund

UPDATE:  Congressional contact page

This diary is not about the primaries.  This diary is about fear.  Irrational, self-defeating, useless fear.  Also known as terror.  

Our country was attacked in 2001, and has been in the grip of terror from that day forward.  Every day since then, our country has been terrorised, and our collective fear has constantly manipulated by cynical politicians.  Because of terror, our country and Constitution are being damaged ever single day.  Democrats are planning on "compromising" the justice system, and giving amnesty to companies that spied on us illegally.  They are substituting their own judgment for democracy and the rule of law.

Please. Let's put aside for one moment all the tension surrounding the Democratic primaries, and focus our energies on freedom:

This week, the ACLU is launching Calling for Freedom, the boldest, most ambitious telephone advocacy program in our history. Working hand-in-hand with other organizations, we’re flooding the House of Representatives with thousands upon thousands of phone calls, urging key members to stand firm against Bush fear-mongering on FISA.

Please call your representative right now.

The Huffington Post (go read the whole thing) is reporting that some House Democrats are ready to capitulate again on Iraq and give Bush what he wants.  More money:

Some House Democratic leaders are considering plans to quietly fund the Iraq war while trying to minimize the political fall-out.

One of the latest proposals under discussion involves putting $30 billion in a nearly-completed omnibus spending bill that would be earmarked for the war in Afghanistan, but could freely be used for operations in Iraq.

Got that?  They are going to allow Bush to take money from Afghanistan, and pour it down the drain in Iraq.  And they're hoping that we won't notice.

Could the Senate Democrats actually be Republicans?

Senate Democrats appear ready to omit Iraq withdrawal timelines from a supplemental spending bill in hopes of clearing in December funds for the troops — but House leaders have no intentions of following suit.

The next partial-year war funding bill, although by no means finalized, would still include the Democrats’ call for a change of mission in Iraq, but without controversial withdrawal dates — a move that is intended to draw enough Republican votes to advance legislation in the Senate.

OK impeachment fanatics American citizens.  Are you ready for some accountability, Constitution-style?

As you may remember, Rep. Kucinich introduced a bill that called for the impeachment of VP Dick Cheney.  The bill was opposed by House Speaker Pelosi, and many House Republicans supported the bill to embarrass the Speaker.  Ultimately, the bill ended up in the House Judiciary Committee, where its fate can be decided by that committee's Chairman, John Conyers.

Officially, the House leadership has taken impeachment "off the table."  But is it?

Thanks to the Bush Administration's insistence on the American right to torture "terrorists," our President has essentially guaranteed that our own soldiers will be tortured in captivity:.

The FISA bill is scheduled for markup in the Senate Judiciary Committee tomorrow (via FDL):

I meant to include this — please call the SJC members today.  Tomorrow they begin the FISA bill mark-up, and a number of folks are leaning away from telecom immunity.  Let’s make certain they keep going in that direction, shall we?

Today we have to make sure that the markup removes amnesty for criminal telecommunications companies, which was put in thanks to Senate Intelligence Committee chairman John. D. Rockefeller.

How long have we been waiting for the Democrats in Congress to listen to the will of the American people?  "Wait until we have a legislative majority," we were told.  Now it's, "wait until we control the exectutive branch, and have a supermajority in both legislative branches."    

Congressional Democrats have no excuse for failing to lead on protecting the Constitution, protecting the DOJ from criminals, and protecting our military from dangerous politicalization.

I'm going on strike.  No money to the DSCC, or the DCCC, until the Democratic leadership supports the core values of the Democratic party, and democracy.

Hoo boy.  I was going to write an angry diary.  I worked hard last year to elect Democrats, any Democrats, because I believed that the Republican party would never protect the Constitution, and democracy, from corruption and disgusting political power-mongering.  I believed that the Democrats were the only hope.

Let's just say that the Dems in the House and Senate have not given me much about which to be hopeful.  What I have realised, though, is that Progressive Democrats, not just any Democrats, are what this country needs.  Progressives, or Better Democrats, do not help Republicans legislate away the inherent rights of American citizens out of fear of terrorists, fires, or terrorists-who-breathe-fire-and-shoot-laser-beams-out-of-their-eyes.  Better Democrats don't spy on American citizens, don't codify their religious beliefs into law, and save the world from global climate change.  

Better Democrats are awesome. Do you know any?

Short diary.  Dodd, after vowing to place a hold on any FISA bill that contains immunity for telecommunications companies that allowed the government to spy on Americans, is now promising to filibuster if Reid brings it to a vote.

Via TPM

Amping up his efforts to block the Senate FISA bill containing retroactive immunity for the telecom companies, Senator Chris Dodd's campaign says that he will filibuster the measure if the Dem Senate leadership tries to circumvent the hold he plans to put on the bill.

The Dodd campaign will reveal his plans to filibuster the measure in an email being sent out to supporters by the campaign's Web guru, Tim Tagaris. Election Central obtained an advance copy of the email.

I try to call at least one member of Congress every week, usually to complain about something.  I generally write less often, but this coming week, I am going to write some letters.  For every letter or postcard that I write, I try to have a hook.  This time, the hook will be values.  

Although the religious right co-opted the phrase "values voter", they don't own it.  I want to let several (hundred) legislators know that I have been evaluating the values upheld (or not) by their voting record.  This is what I'm sending to all the Republicans and bad Democrats in the House and Senate (whew, that's a lot of postage!):

Dear (legislator),

Your recent votes in the (Senate/House) have been deeply troubling, and suggest that you have lost the moral compass that must have guided you in the past.   You campaigned on honesty, decency, and genuine patriotism, but I am sorry to say that your votes suggest that your values have changed.

Today was supposed to be that day when a new, "fixed" FISA bill was to be announced.  According to Matt Stoller at OpenLeft, it was going to be bad:

I just got word from the ACLU that a new and bad FISA bill is about to be unveiled tomorrow at 1:30pm by Steny Hoyer in a press-only briefing.  Telecom immunity is not in the bill, but the Senate is pressing hard for that to be included.

The dynamic in the House is really odd.  Hoyer and Emanuel seem to be pushing for a FISA capitulation to 'protect the freshmen', even though the freshmen understand their constituents don't want a FISA capitulation.  No one will go on the record on any of this, and Emanuel and Hoyer aren't voting for the capitulation, only orchestrating its passage.

No one knew the details of the bill, including the ACLU, which itself was a bad sign.  But now it looks like the bill may have been scuttled by progressives in the House.

Not too long ago, I wrote about a writing campaign I'm starting, as part of a larger plan to develop a more direct flow of information from voters to Congressmen:

Step one: directly inform the legislators that we are paying attention to their votes.
Step two: develop a concise, progressive platform.
Step three: lobby Congress and push them towards our agenda.

This writing campaign is part of the first step.  Like many of you, I am angry with Congress for a variety of reasons, including the Patriot Act, the MCA, and the FISA "fix."  I am angry with the Democratic leadership for capitulating to Bush on that last one, and allowing an unconstitutional bill to be brought to the floor for a vote.  But most of my disgust is reserved for the legislators that voted for the bill, which includes all (but 6) Republicans, Lieberman, and 16 Democrats.  Their votes demonstrate to me that they do not care about the Constitution.