Department of The Happy Dance

Once I saw a prizefighter boxing a yokel. The fighter was swift and amazingly scientific. His body was one violent flow of rapid rhythmic action. He hit the yokel a hundred times while the yokel held up his arms in stunned surprise. But suddenly the yokel, rolling about in the gale of boxing gloves, struck one blow and knocked science, speed and footwork as cold as a well-digger's posterior. The smart money hit the canvas. The long shot got the nod. The yokel had simply stepped inside of his opponent's sense of time.

Ralph Ellison

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This post is brought to you by the anxiety attack that the Super PTSD dog Sadie interrupted last night. Read below the fold...

... by suing BoA on foreclosure fraud. Haw. Kidding! Still, if Assange violated BoA's terms of service agreement, then why not NV and AZ? Classic journimalistic "Every day is a good day to suck up to the banksters!" framing follows:

Arizona accuses Bank of America of violating a 2009 consent judgment in which it committed to widespread home loan modifications. The bank failed to follow through, leaving borrowers in limbo, according to the suit.

The bank is also accused of violating the state's consumer fraud act.

Arizona is seeking $25,000 per violation of the consent decree, and up to $10,000 for consumer fraud breaches. Both states also ask that Bank of America pay restitution to customers.

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Today, the International Violence Against Women Act was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Sponsors included Congress members from both sides of the aisle. madamab has details over at her place (and more detail here). madamab also has a line on likely opposition in the full Senate. Read below the fold...

Wayne Gandy once said "It's all about the tutelage". I think he was right. Mike, so glad you found your stride! Read below the fold...

Julia Williams identifies herself as a "citizen-politician." A mom, a wife, a nurse, a universal health care advocate, a person of conscience. She is smart, courageous, warm, articulate, hard-working, witty, passionate, honest, responsible, committed, resourceful ...

She is my inspiration for effective and honorable political activism. She is a role model of a new, rare but precious breed of citizen-politicians that embraces humanism. Whose strength will advance a paradigm shift from the toxic, U.S. government's patriarchal priorities of competition, greed and power to humanism. Win/win scenarios reflecting partnership and cooperation for all participants. "A rising tide lifts all boats" humanism. Read below the fold...

My heart is thumping and I am typing this draftless for my blog!

Okay, have I got an issue for us that could begin to heal the progressive nation if it is fought for and fulfilled. The Dem reps jumped the shark in selling out. It will give them even a chance to unjump it. But it is a BIG .... HUGE DEMAND ... and if we do the drumbeat on this loud and relentlessly and passionately we can make a difference in this generation and to this world.

Let me back up and explain though my hands are shaking as I type. And bear with me burying the lead, but I am a feeler and intuitive and this is how I am processing this. Read below the fold...

"Retroactive immunity."

Which The Big O knows all about from his FISA vote in 2008. Except this time for the banksters, not the telcos. Why not? I mean, the only real reason to have laws is to collect the rent for rewriting them, right? Let's look forward and not back!

Still, here's what the Sheriff of Cook County thinks about the foreclosure crisis:

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Last night I attended a meeting of the Manhattan Greens. My heroes I have finally -- I-shouldahada-V8 years ago -- realized. People who have been Green for a good long time. People like all of us who endured the Bush regime. People not like some of us, who recognized Obama’s bullshit or even that of the other high profile Dems who made the media/corporate cut pre-2008-election from the get go.

People who put principles over political personality in America and stick to them. Who honor the law, true citizen consensus and democracy. People who have faith that justice and humanity will prevail despite the polls and the craven national media. People who kept their party from drifting farther and farther right. People who hold the line because they are committed and awake. Read below the fold...

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Absolutely beautiful. And, check out the plaintiff. Fantastic!

Via the AP:

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A federal judge in Southern California has declared the U.S. military's ban on openly gay service members unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips on Thursday granted a request for an injunction halting the government's "don't ask, don't tell" policy for gays in the military.

Phillips says the policy doesn't help military readiness and instead has a "direct and deleterious effect" on the armed services.

The lawsuit was the biggest legal test of the law in recent years and came amid promises by President Barack Obama that he will work to repeal the policy.

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