The following is Part I of Sean Penn’s piece, Mountain of Snakes (Read Part II here) by Sean Penn | Huffington Post The disadvantages of being a writer, who is often written about, are numerous. I begin with an enthusiastic call to my 81-year old mother, hoping to share my enthusiasm from an assignment abroad. “Hey ma…” [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Mountain of Snakes", url: "http://blog.pdamerica.org/?p=2280" });

Shahid Buttar | Huffington Post In the wake of Barack Obama’s election to the presidency, many progressives have bemoaned the seeming betrayal of his electoral mandate by the political moderation apparent in the President-Elect’s early appointments. These concerns stem from fundamental misimpressions about his capacity: Obama will indeed introduce change to Washington, but his election [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Defending Liberty: How to Shift the Center", url: "http://blog.pdamerica.org/?p=2279" });

by David Swanson PDA National Board, AfterDowningStreet.org | Huffington Post The debate among progressive activists and commentators in recent weeks has tended to range from the leave-Obama-alone-and-he’ll-fix- everything position to the stage-a-protest- at-Obama’s-house-for-the-next-month position, including numerous stances in between those extremes. What all these positions share is acceptance of the incredible shift of power from Congress [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "As Congress Lay Dying", url: "http://blog.pdamerica.org/?p=2278" });

For U.S. unions, the election of Barack Obama is a matter of win some, lose some. by Kim Chipman | Bloomberg.com On the campaign trail, the Democrat pledged to be an advocate for labor. He is delivering by promising a huge infrastructure-spending program to create or preserve 2.5 million jobs and a labor secretary who will give [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Unions Find Obama Agenda Means Jobs Gain, Trade Loss For U.S.", url: "http://blog.pdamerica.org/?p=2277" });

Giving Thanks to America’s Good Food Movement from PDA Board Member Jim Hightower The thing that I’m most thankful for on Turkey Day is not the abundance of food at my family’s table, but the rebels who produced it. No, not Butterball. And not Wal-Mart, General Foods or any of the other corporate powers that loom large over [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Hightower Lowdown Thanksgiving Version", url: "http://blog.pdamerica.org/?p=2276" });

from All Unions Committee For Single Payer Health Care–HR 676 Self-described as “one of the Democratic Party’s leading political strategists,” Celinda Lake has claimed that single-payer reform lacks meaningful popular support. Lake’s research, done for the Herndon Alliance, has consistently supported reform based upon private health insurance. She and the Herndon Alliance are largely responsible for [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Why Does Celinda Lake Oppose Single Payer?", url: "http://blog.pdamerica.org/?p=2275" });

It’s official: for the last year, the United States economy has been in recession. by MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM and DAVID JOLLY | The New York Times The evidence of a downturn has been widespread for months: slower production, stagnant wages and hundreds of thousands of lost jobs. But the nonpartisan National Bureau of Economic Research, charged [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "NY Times: Recession Started One Year Ago", url: "http://blog.pdamerica.org/?p=2274" });

Over the Thanksgiving holiday Tim Carpenter was a guest on Midweek Politics Radio with David Pakman. Listen Here! SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Tim Carpenter on Midweek Politics Radio!", url: "http://blog.pdamerica.org/?p=2273" });

by Mike Hersh, PDA Impeachment team In an editorial entitled, Mr. Bush and the Pardon Power, the New York Times raised serious concerns about Bush’s expected use of pardons to block investigations: “With the Bush administration drawing to a close, it is presidential pardon season. Presidents have become increasingly shameless about issuing pardons to insulate political [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "PDA Impeachment and Accountability Update", url: "http://blog.pdamerica.org/?p=2272" });

by Candace Rondeaux | Washington Post Foreign Service KABUL, Nov. 26 — Afghan President Hamid Karzai has sharply criticized the United States and NATO, demanding a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign forces. Karzai’s comments came late Tuesday in a speech to a U.N. Security Council delegation visiting Kabul, the capital, this week. He accused the [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Afghan Leader Demands Plan For Foreign Forces’ Departure", url: "http://blog.pdamerica.org/?p=2271" });

The Obama Administration transition team is asking YOU for YOUR ideas and input. They write: “Our policy teams will be sharing new developments with you, the American people, and asking for feedback. It’s up to you to respond. Watch the latest video, and join the discussion below.” Please post your ideas here on the PDA [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Obama Team asks, “What worries you most about the healthcare system in our country?”", url: "http://blog.pdamerica.org/?p=2270" });

Rising Unemployment Threatens Health Care of Even Those Who Keep Their Jobs by Dan Childs | ABC News Medical Unit Last year at this time, health coverage may well have been among the last things on Terri Rushing’s mind. Her husband, David, was 55 years old and working for Champion Homes in McKenzie, Tenn. It was a job [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "ABC News: America’s Looming Health Care Disaster", url: "http://blog.pdamerica.org/?p=2269" });

by MARTIN KADY II | Politico Forget the Republican filibuster and the race to 60. The real fight in the next Congress is Democrats vs. themselves. With nearly complete control of Washington for the first time in three decades, Democrats are entering a treacherous power zone in which many of their priorities could easily be undone by [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Dems vs. Dems in new Congress", url: "http://blog.pdamerica.org/?p=2268" });

by: Rick Kepler | t r u t h o u t Perspective I am an American worker, and you are damn right I want the wealth to be shared and spread. I am talking about the wealth my hard work helped to create, but was taken from me by George Bush’s base, the very [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "The American Worker", url: "http://blog.pdamerica.org/?p=2267" });

by Donna Edwards Dear Friends, Happy Thanksgiving! As we gather together on this special day let us remember that there is much we have to be thankful for such as our families, friends, and the freedoms that we all enjoy. I am especially grateful and honored for the opportunity to represent Maryland’s 4th Congressional District [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Happy Thanksgiving from Donna Edwards", url: "http://blog.pdamerica.org/?p=2266" });

Harper’s Magazine & The Center on Law and Security at New York University invite you to: After Torture: A Harper’s Magazine Forum on justice in the post-Bush era Thursday, December 4, 2008: 6:00 p.m.–7:30 p.m. Lipton Hall New York University 108 West 3rd Street New York, NY 10012 (view map) Upon publication of contributing editor Scott Horton’s report, “Justice After [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "After Torture: A Forum on justice in the post-Bush era (December 4)", url: "http://blog.pdamerica.org/?p=2265" });

New Report: RECESSION COULD CAUSE LARGE INCREASES IN POVERTY AND PUSH MILLIONS INTO DEEP POVERTY Stimulus Package Should Include Policies to Ameliorate Harshest Effects of Downturn From the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and Coalition on Human Needs Sharon Parrott of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is the author of a new report estimating [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "RECESSION COULD PUSH MILLIONS INTO DEEP POVERTY", url: "http://blog.pdamerica.org/?p=2264" });

by Anthony D. Romero | Executive Director ACLU This Thanksgiving we are reflecting on what family means to us. For those of us at the ACLU and many people across the country, that will bring to mind what happened to families in California as a result of Prop 8. So — in what is becoming an [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "When Uncle Harry brings up Prop 8 . . .", url: "http://blog.pdamerica.org/?p=2263" });

by Nicholas Graham | Huffington Post Barack Obama’s selection of Tom Daschle as Health and Human Services Secretary, as well as “health reform czar,” signals that the incoming president is serious about passing comprehensive healthcare reform. Over at the think tank Cato, Michael Cannon warns that blocking any such legislation is vital for the GOP’s [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Reports: Passing Universal Healthcare Could Kill The GOP", url: "http://blog.pdamerica.org/?p=2262" });

By Jayne Lyn Stahl Some in the Arab world are reportedly fearful of having Hillary Clinton as our next Secretary of State. There is concern that the New York senator is hawkish, and that her pro-Israeli posturing underlies a deeper bias which will, in the end, prevail. As has been suggested, Senator Clinton, at one time, fully [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Fearful of Hillary Clinton?", url: "http://blog.pdamerica.org/?p=2261" });