Following the recent murder of Dr. Tiller, one of only three remaining physicians in this country who performed late-term abortions, PBS ran a NOW program about late term abortion, with correspondent Maria Hinojosa as the interviewer.  Anti-abortionists (mislabeled "pro-life", which many of them are not) are up in arms about the show, on which the other two physicians described how their lives and those of their families have been impacted for years by ongoing efforts to intimidate them and shut down access to abortion.  One of the doctors referred to the tactics of the anti-abortionists as "domestic terrorism".

According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, which tracks statistics on abortion:

Nearly half of pregnancies among American women are unintended, and four in 10 of these are terminated by abortion.[1] Twenty-two percent of all pregnancies (excluding miscarriages) end in abortion.[2]

The economic crisis rolls on, but people are coping by turning to public libraries, parks, and some of the more umble pleasures of everyday life.  Read Jay Walljasper's short piece about the resources we have, but often do not appreciate:

Let me offer some good news about the state of your wealth. Sure, the 401(k) tanked, the house lost a big chunk of value, and things are looking shaky at work. Indeed, the Federal Reserve recently reported that Americans all together lost $5.1 trillion during the last three months of 2008 alone.

But what you possess individually accounts for only part of your true net worth. Each of us also owns a stake in some extremely valuable assets: clean air, fresh water, national forests, the Internet, public universities, blood banks, rich cultural traditions and more.

All these things are part of what is now being called "the commons," and they are more important than ever.

With rising unemployment and comsumer timidity, everyone seems to agree the economy could use a swift kick to get it going again.  I like this idea: 100% write-offs for all capital goods purchased in 2009 by small businesses, and comparable benefits for owners of rental and commercial property.  That means immediate tax credits, not protracted depreciation schedules.

What is obvious is that we need an immediate and powerful jolt to the economy. We need action that will restore consumer and business confidence, put people to work, and lift the feeling of gloom that's hanging over the country.  We need a true small business stimulus.[...]

We need a 100% write-off that will create immediate economic demand, generating manufacturing and construction jobs across the country.  And with more jobs will come stronger consumer confidence, with greater ability and willingness to spend.

The latest revelation about voting machines is that, since the outset, infamous Diebold (which now calls itself Premier Election Systems) has had a profound defect in the GEMS software it uses in both direct-recording electronic (DRE, touch-screen) voting machines and in optical scan machines.  This defect makes it possible for election officials or others to alter the audit log, which is the purported backup that is supposed to guarantee that, in case of possible vote fraud, one could go back to see whether any votes might have been lost by mistake or through tampering.  

According to a leading election organization, Verified Voting, Premier Election Systems equipment is used in over 1400 voting districts, representing over 43,000,000 voters.

Now that Thomas Friedman is saying:

Let’s today step out of the normal boundaries of analysis of our economic crisis and ask a radical question: What if the crisis of 2008 represents something much more fundamental than a deep recession? What if it’s telling us that the whole growth model we created over the last 50 years is simply unsustainable economically and ecologically and that 2008 was when we hit the wall — when Mother Nature and the market both said: “No more.” [...]
We can’t do this anymore.

...maybe the country will wake up.  The global economy is on a collision course with the reality that we live on a finite planet.

Economist Herman Daly has long been one of my heroes, as he has been talking about the need for a steady-state economy (neither growing nor shrinking) for decades.  Here is what Daly said recently, in April, 2008:

Former Bush political advisor Karl Rove is seeking President Obama's support for his claim of executive privilege to avoid testifying to Congress.

I consider it a grave mistake to support any aspect of executive privilege for members of the Bush administration, or to try to come to any compromise regarding congressional testimony.  The Bush Administration went far beyond any previous administration in claiming executive privilege, hiding what they were doing when in office and concealing the records of previous administrations.  This sort of secrecy is profoundly undemocratic. 

Debate is beginning to heat up in the blogosphere about the need for, and nature of, a progressive movement in this Age of Obama.  See recent posts by John Judis, Glen Greenwald, David Sirota, and Chris Bowers, plus the comments

What a thrill, to watch the Obama inauguration today.  His speech was sober and inclusive, emphasizing our responsibility as citizens to help solve the major problems our country faces.I could see on his face the mixture of emotions--awe at the responsibility and earnest intention to do his best, but with occasional flashes of delight. 

Wade Hudson, co-founder of the Progressive Resource Catalog, and others in the Strategy Workshop are studying ways to help progressive activists become more effective.

I'm struck by how clearly the stimulus projects Mary Ratcliff recommends reflect the modern progressive thinking as identified in Kyle Gillette's report on progressive values.