Chant for Today: Bush lied...People died...

In Season: sunscreen, sunglasses, Indian paintbrush

'I will shut down this thread if it gets out of control....." Daily Kos on his Nader Considers Another Run entry. Great comments on this post today. The snippy warning (I believe) was an attempt to keep the argument focused on Getting BushCo out of office and not so much attacking the Green Party and its swaying of votes. I'm happy to read so many free thinkers, who believe as I do; that they will vote for whomever is best for the job regardless of party affiliations. One great alternative, which is suggested several times in the comments, is that a potential Dem candidiate would also support the Green Party, like they have done in NY.

Thanks to Altercation for this link to the National Progressive Conference to TAKE BACK AMERICA, Here's the agenda........

AMERICA’S FUTURE
NATIONAL CONFERENCE TO TAKE BACK AMERICA
AGENDA

OMNI SHOREHAM HOTEL
2500 CALVERT STREET, NW
WASHINGTON, DC
202-234-0700
Wednesday, June 4
Noon Registration

12:00-2:00 pm Organization Meetings

2:00-3:30 pm Special Session: The New Politics of Engagement
Robert Borosage, co-director, Campaign for America’s Future
Stan Greenberg, Chairman and CEO, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research
Wes Boyd, co-founder, MoveOn.Org
Ellen Malcolm, President, Emily’s List

3:30-5:30 pm OPENING SESSION
Plenary: A Program for a New Majority
John Sweeney, President, AFL-CIO
The Hon. Robert B. Reich, Former US Secretary of Labor, Brandeis University
Jo’ie Taylor, President, United States Student Association
Rep. Jan Schakowsky, IL
Reg Weaver, President, NEA
Moderator: Chellie Pingree, President, Common Cause

5:30-6:00 pm Book Signings
The Hon. Robert B. Reich, "I’ll Be Short"
Robert Borosage and Roger Hickey, "The Next Agenda"

6:00-7:00 pm Reception (ticketed event)

7:00 pm Gala Dinner (ticketed event)

Bill Moyers
Journalist, Citizen and Educator
America's Future Lifetime Leadership Award

Regena Thomas
Organizer, Leader and Public Servant.
America's Future Progressive Champion Award

Maria Elena Durazo
VP, HERE International Union,
and National Chairperson, Immigrant Worker's Freedom Ride
Paul Wellstone Citizen Leadership Award

Presented by David Wellstone

Rep. Barney Frank
Master of Ceremonies

Thursday, June 5
7:30 am Registration

9:00-9:15 am Presidential Candidate: Howard Dean

9:20-10:45 am Plenary: Shrubbed: The Radical Project of George Bush
Ralph Neas, President, People for the American Way
Deb Callahan, President, League of Conservation Voters
Maude Hurd, President, ACORN
Wade Henderson, Executive Director, Leadership Conference On Civil Rights
Kim Gandy, President, National Organization for Women
Moderator: Jeff Faux, Distinguished Fellow, Economic Policy Institute

10:20-10:35 am Presidential Candidate: John Edwards

11:00-noon Plenary: An Economy that Works for Working People
Sen. Jon Corzine, NJ
James K. Galbraith, Professor, University of Texas
Barbara Ehrenreich, author, "Nickel and Dimed" and other works
Leo Gerard, President, United Steelworkers of America
Sen. David Paterson, Minority Leader, NY State Legislature
Moderator: Linda Chavez-Thompson, Executive Vice President, AFL-CIO

Noon-12:15 pm Presidential Candidate: Carol Moseley Braun

12:15-12:30 pm Book Signings
Barbara Ehrenreich, "Nickel and Dimed"
Ruy Teixeira, "The Emerging Democratic Majority"

12:30-1:30 pm Parallel Plenaries:

An Apollo Project for Energy Independence
Bracken Hendricks, Director, New Growth Initiative
Richard Trumka, Secretary-Treasurer, AFL-CIO
Carl Pope, President, The Sierra Club
William Spriggs, Director, National Urban League’s Institute for Opportunity and Equality
Michael Sullivan, President, Sheet Metal Workers
Moderator: Andrea Durbin*, Campaigns Director, Greenpeace

The Challenge of Affordable Health Care
Bob Kuttner, co-editor, The American Prospect
Deana Knutsen, Secretary-Treasurer, USAction
Ellen Golombek, Director, Americans for Health Care, SEIU
William McNary, President, USAction
Moderator: Sonny Hall, President, Transport Workers Union

1:45–2:45 pm Workshops
Media Training: Learning to Make Your Case on Radio and TV
Jennie Blackton

Internet Activism: A Dialogue with the Web Activists
Thomas Matzzie, Online Mobilization Manager, AFL-CIO
Joan Blades, co-founder, MoveOn.org
Zack Exley, National Organizing Director, MoveOn.org
Becky Bond, Producer, Working Assets Online
Stuart Trevelyan, Principal, Caro/Trevelyan Strategy Group
Adam Luna, Director of Field Strategy, Campaign for America’s Future
Duane Peterson, True Majority

Next Stage for the Peace Movement
John Cavanagh, co-founder, United for Peace and Justice, Director, IPS
Susan Shaer, Executive Director, WAND, co-chair, Win Without War
Gael Murphy, co-founder, Code Pink
Bob Musil, Executive Director, Physicians for Social Responsibility
Michael McPhearson, member, Veterans for Peace
John Steele, Mayor, Telluride, CO, Leader, Cities for Peace
Karen Dolan, coordinator, Cities for Peace
Tom Barry, co-director, Foreign Policy in Focus

Young voters, youth-driven politics: The next wave
Hans Riemer, Washington Director, Rock the Vote
KRS-One*, rap artist
Cornell Belcher, President, Brilliant Corners Research
Portia Pedro, Organizing Director, US Student Association
Billy Wimsatt, Hip Hop organizer, Active Element Foundation
Channing Hawkins, SEIU youth coordinator
Anna Greenberg, Vice President, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research
Ras Baraka*, Deputy Mayor, Newark, New Jersey
Sally Kohn*, Ford Foundation
Ivan Frishberg*, Director, Higher Education Project, US PIRG

New State and Local Opportunities in a Time of Fiscal Crisis
Peter Dreier, Urban & Environmental Policy Program, Occidental College
Bertha Lewis, Executive Director, NY ACORN
Joel Rogers, Director, Center on Wisconsin Strategy
Sheila Crowley, President, National Low Income Housing Coalition

Expanding Democracy
Miles Rapoport, President, Demos
Nick Nyhart, Executive Director, Public Campaign
Chellie Pingree, President, Common Cause
Edward A. Hailes, Jr., Senior Attorney, The Advancement Project
Robin Templeton, National Campaign Director, Voting Rights Restoration Campaign

New Campaign Finance Laws and Organizing
Gloria Totten, Executive Director, Progressive Majority
Larry Gold, General Counsel, AFL-CIO
Holly Schadler, attorney, Lichtman, Trister, Singer & Ross

2:45-3:00 pm Book Signings
Benjamin Barber, "Jihad vs. McWorld"
Peter Dreier, "Place Matters: Metropolitics for the Twenty-First Century"
Paul Begala, "It’s Still the Economy, Stupid!"

3:00-3:15 pm Presidential Candidate: John Kerry

3:15-4:45 pm Plenary: Security in a Changed World
Katrina vanden Heuvel, Editor, The Nation
Benjamin Barber, Principal, The Democracy Collaborative
Dr. Bernice Powell Jackson, UCC Justice and Witness Ministries
Tom Andrews, National Director, Win Without War

4:45-5:00 pm Presidential Candidate: Dennis Kucinich

5:00-5:15 pm Presidential Candidate: Richard Gephardt (video)

5:15-5:30 pm Book Signings
David Brock, "Blinded By the Right"
Arianna Huffington, "Pigs at the Trough"

5:30-8:00 pm Reception and Barbecue on the Lawn


8:15-10:00 pm Evening of Rapping About Politics
Emcee: Arianna Huffington, columnist
Bill Maher*, comedian, television host
Aaron Freeman, comedian
Matt Cooper, comedian, journalist
KRS-ONE*, rap artist

With Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream and Newman’s Organic Cookies

Friday, June 6
8:00 am Registration

9:00-9:20 am Plenary: Stand Up, Fight Back: Wellstone's Charge to Progressives
Heather Booth, Organizer

9:20-9:35 am Presidential Candidate: Al Sharpton

9:45-10:45 am Parallel Plenaries:

Civil Rights for the People Who Gave Us the Weekend: Winning the
Right to Choose a Union
Barbara Ehrenreich, author, "Nickel and Dimed" and other works
Member, Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees International Union (HERE)
Bill Fletcher, President, TransAfrica
Christopher Donovan, State Representative, Connecticut
Moderator: Andy Levin, Director, AFL-CIO Voice@Work Campaign

Corporate Accountability
Bill Lerach, Milberg, Weiss, Bershad, Hynes & Lerach
Arianna Huffington, columnist
Moderator: Ron Blackwell, Director, Corporate Affairs, AFL-CIO

Reversing the Right's Hold on the Media
Eric Alterman, author "What Liberal Media?"
John Moyers, TomPaine.com
Anita Drobny, AnShell Media
Farai Chideya, Popandpolitics.com
Jeff Chester, Center for Digital Democracy
Dan Carol, Carol/Trevelyan Strategy Group
Moderator: Jay Harris, Publisher, Mother Jones

Media Training: Learning to Make Your Case on Radio and TV
Jennie Blackton

11:00-Noon Parallel Plenaries:

Beating Conservatives on the Ground
Rep. Raul Grijalva, AZ
JoDee Winterhof, Partnership for America’s Families
Karen Ackerman*, Political Director, AFL-CIO
Jeff Blodgett, Executive Director, Wellstone Action
Moderator: Gloria Totten, Executive Director, Progressive Majority

The Fight for Judges
Nan Aron, President, Alliance for Justice
Elliot Mincberg, Vice President, General Counsel, People for the American Way
Marisa Demeo, Regional Counsel, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Hillary Shelton, Director, Washington Bureau, NAACP
Jamie Raskin, Professor of Law, Washington College of Law, American Univ.
Moderator: Helen Gonzales, Manager, Work and Family Investment Initiative, USAction

State Agenda in Response to Tax Cuts
Bernie Horn, Senior Director, Center for Policy Alternatives
Ana Sol Gutierrez*, Delegate, Maryland General Assembly (MD-18)
Brook Ballentine, Kansas City Coordinator, Missouri Progressive Vote Coalition
Chuck Collins, Program Director, United for a Fair Economy
Hetty Rosenstein, President, CWA Local 1037, New Jersey

Winning Health Care for All: Avoiding Déjá Vu
Richard Kirsch, Executive Director, Citizen Action New York
Becky Ogle, Disability Rights Activist
Moderator: Anthony Wright, Health Access

Ballot Initiatives that Work
Will Robinson, Partner, MacWilliams, Robinson & Partners
David Cantor, Vice President, Lake Snell Perry and Associates
Jen Kern, Director, Living Wage Center, ACORN
Sultan Shakir, Communities and Labor United for Baltimore
Moderator: Kristina Wilfore, Executive Director, Ballot Initiatives Strategy Center

Noon-12:15 pm Book Signings
Eric Alterman, "What Liberal Media?"
Farai Chideya, "The Color of Our Future"

12:30-1:30 pm Closing Lunch
Gerald McEntee, President, AFSCME
Rev. Jesse Jackson, President, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition

2:00 pm Millionaire March to Vice President Cheney’s House
Leave No Millionaire Behind!
Entertainment will be provided by rapper KRS-One...Here's an interview with him from The Onion.

Wow...wish I was going.