Join me and stand with our veterans.
Some of our injured troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are facing a ridiculous and unnecessary obstacle. Because they have been discharged early, they are not receiving their full enlistment bonuses. Some are even be asked to return payments they have already received.
A new bill that would ensure this does not continue is gaining momentum in Congress, and lawmakers need to hear from civilians who support it. We can help our nations’ veterans on this critical issue. More information on the bill here: http://www.altmire.house.gov/list/press/pa04_altmire/VGBA.shtml
Please take a minute to send a message to your representatives, and tell them you support this bill. Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America has made it easy – just visit www.iava.org or the direct link is http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/436/t/1388/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=21867 or if you prefer www.congress.org
Thank you!

Something important that Xerox is doing
If you go to this web site, www.LetsSayThanks.com > you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq . You can’t pick out who gets it, but it will go to some member of the armed services.
How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!! This is a great site. Please send a card. It is FREE and it only takes a second.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these? Whether you are for or against the war, our guys and gals over there need to know we are behind them..

Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is a businessman, a former Republican governor of Massachusetts, a 2008 Republican Presidential candidate, and a dick. And he’s got a son named “Tagg”.
Hilarious. Everyone’s “hat-tipping” these days, and this hat-tip goes to City Weekly’s Salt Blog, who hat-tips someone else, which by that point it isn’t important anymore.  No, it actually comes from The Huffington Post whom I like, so I’ll tip a hat to them too.

Well, here I thought we were leading good lives, but Gen. JC Christian has pronounced (essentially) that we’re going to hell. And he should know; he is Jesus’ ass-kickin’ General in the battle of good vs. evil. To wit:

We have nearly 500 “apostates” on our e-mail list, so if we’re going to hell we’ll have to show hell a hell of a good time.

Rocky Andersons speech at the peace rally…..Carla

Address by Mayor Ross C. “Rocky” Anderson on October 27, 2007

Salt Lake City, Utah – Today, as we come together once again in this great city, we raise our voices in unison to say to President Bush, to Vice President Cheney, to other members of the Bush Administration (past and present), to a majority of Congress, including Utah’s entire congressional delegation, and to much of the mainstream media: “You have failed us miserably and we won’t take it any more.”
“While we had every reason to expect far more of you, you have been pompous, greedy, cruel, and incompetent as you have led this great nation to a moral, military, and national security abyss.”
“You have breached trust with the American people in the most egregious ways. You have utterly failed in the performance of your jobs. You have undermined our Constitution, permitted the violation of the most fundamental treaty obligations, and betrayed the rule of law.”
“You have engaged in, or permitted, heinous human rights abuses of the sort never before countenanced in our nation’s history as a matter of official policy. You have sent American men and women to kill and be killed on the basis of lies, on the basis of shifting justifications, without competent leadership, and without even a coherent plan for this monumental blunder.”
“We are here to tell you: We won’t take it any more!”

I am passing this to everyone in my address book and pleading with you to take a moment to read this, and follow up with action. Our soldiers and their families are depending on us to truly support them. Thank you for your concern and efforts on their behalf. It takes all of us to participate, don’t be the one who did nothing. We are all responsible to make this UNITED states truly stand for something each of us can be proud of. Carla
Dear Friends,

We are asking all concerned citizens to contact their Congressional representatives and Senators to ask them to support H. R. 3043l and to pledge to override a threatened presidential veto. In asking you to take this action, we do not intend in any way to let Congress off the hook for their continued funding of the Iraq war. The funding in this bill is a totally separate issue from war funding votes and our support for it demonstrates our commitment to our mission to “take care of them when they get home”.

While most veteran-related programs are funded through the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services also provide vital services to help our veterans, especially for the two-thirds of recently returning veterans who have not enrolled in the federal veterans’ health care program.

When Heather and I were at the Drinking Liberally National Convention in Des Moines, we introduced ourselves to other chapter leaders from across the country, and after they got a laugh out of the fact there was a DL chapter in Utah, they would almost invariably bring up our mayor, Rocky Anderson. Even a few non-DL people we met at the Harkin Steak Fry brought him up and told us how much they liked him.
We of course knew that Rocky had made national news a number of times: Debating Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Chris Matthews, et al. He’s been on Democracy Now! a number of times, and The Nation even postulated that he just may be a folk hero. (Speaking of The Nation, Rocky recommended Drinking Liberally as a good place for liberals passing through Salt Lake City for the book they’re compiling, “The Nation’s Guide to the Nation”). Even with all that we weren’t expecting the number of people who knew him by name and toasted him with us. So we sent him an e-mail to pass along the kudos, to which he replied, in part:

So December 7th is the day we’ve worked out for him to come share his comments about the spinelessness of national Democrats. Who knows, maybe he’ll even give us some insight into his plans once his mayoral term is done?

Where: The back room of the Piper Down, 1492 S. State Street

When: Friday, December 7th from 6:30 – 9:30

Who: As always, Drinking Liberally is open to everyone.

Add the event to your Facebook events.

Taped by Ellis Dean Hovey. Full text of Carla’s speech here: http://drinkingliberallyslc.org/2007/10/28/oct-27th-rally-speech/

The General (Jesus’ General, of course) was reported to be Dancing Liberally recently. I’m not sure if this is a new spin-off of Drinking Liberally under the Living Liberally umbrella, but I do know that a good Christian like the General must be careful when engaging in dance. Here in Utah I think dancing is right up there with drinking, sin-wise; at least it was during the “Dirty Dancing” days of the ’80’s, wasn’t it? Hope the General makes sure to have the air-space of a Bible and Book of Mormon between him and his sure-to-be female dance partner!

CHRISTMAS FOR OUR DEPLOYED SOLDIERS WITH SL MAYOR CORROON
We are proud to announce again this year that we are partnered with SL County Mayor Peter Corroon in an effort to provide tangible support for our soldiers for the upcoming Holiday Season. Recognizing the sacrifices of our own Utah service men and women, and the difficulty of accomplishing their given tasks, especially as the Holidays draw near, Mayor Corroon is calling upon all County Employees, and citizens alike to generously contribute. Beginning Monday, November 12th through Monday, December 3rd there will be donation containers in the Office of the Mayor (N2100) as well as in the Atrium of the North building, and the cafeteria in the South Building, at the County Government Center; 2001 South State Street, SLC, Utah. The buildings are accessible M-F, 8am-6pm. Please help us to fill Christmas stockings for these wonderfully brave patriots who have answered the call to duty. There are so many of our own Utah National Guard and Reserve soldiers serving in harms way, and as grateful citizens and neighbors, assuring them that they have not been forgotten is the least we can do. Each contribution, no matter the size makes an incredible difference in the life of a soldier. All we ask is that you do what you can…write a “Dear American Soldier” letter of support, donate items to fill the stockings, or contribute monetarily (see box on home page for info) to assist in the shipping of boxes to the Middle East. YOU have a wonderful opportunity to boost the morale and lift the spirits of a tired, homesick soldier this Christmas. Please, add a soldier to your Holiday shopping list. We thank you for your generous support. Check out our website @ www.sendyoursupport.org for other drop locations for your contributions.
May there truly be peace on earth in the coming year,
Carla J. Hitz
HELP FILL A STOCKING FOR OUR SOLDIERS.