With much righteous ire, Unity08 coFounder Douglas L. Bailey unveiled the organization’s Clean Money Pledge on January 1, 2007:

I will only vote for a presidential candidate who has raised more than half of his/her funds through small contributions of $250 or less.

Today, Unity08 updated a list of names on its website of those who contributed more than $200 to it. The list now apparently reflects those who have given money to Unity08 in January and of February of 2007. Unity08 collected $47,000 in donations of $200 or more in January, which means that $64,900 in donations of $200 or more came to Unity08 in February 2007. That’s an impressive amount of money for an individual (at least for an individual like you and me), but for an organization that says it is going to run the world’s first secure online national presidential nomination in a little more than one year, it’s a pittance. To succeed at this rate, Unity08 will have to be taking out loans. Big, big loans. Unity08 is suing in federal court to keep from having to tell you who is behind those loans.

In January of 2007, $46,000 of the $47,000 in disclosed donations to Unity08 — 97.9% — came in what Unity08 itself would term “unclean” amounts of more than $250. Adding in donations in February of 2007, $109,500 of the $111,900 in disclosed donations to Unity08 were also from what the organization would call an “unclean” money source. That’s also a 97.9% unclean record. The following is the distribution of disclosed donation amounts:

20 donations of the maximum $5,000, totaling $100,000.
2 donations of $2,000, totaling $4,000.
2 donations of $1,000, totaling $2,000.
7 donations of $500, totaling $3,500.
4 donations of $250, totaling $1,000.
7 donations of $200, totaling $1,400.

That’s 42 disclosed donations for the media-happy organization in January and February. And you can see from this distribution that the “unclean” distributions really swamp the “clean.” Just one $5,000 donor outweighs all of the “clean” disclosed donations in impact. Guess from which ranks Unity08 chose its new Advisory Council?

Of course, since Unity08 did not disclose the total number and amount of donations under $200, I can’t state with certainty that Unity08 has failed to meet its Clean Money Pledge in the year so far. But I can say what Unity08 would have had to accomplish in order for it to meet its own ethical standard. In order for Unity08 to be Clean in January and February, it would have had to have collected $107,100 in donations of less than $200. This is unlikely given Unity08’s track record of success in attracting small-dollar donations: in the 4th quarter, Unity08 attracted only an average of $7,848 a month in small donations. But hey, it’s possible, if Unity08 garnered 538 donations of $199, or 1,071 donations of $100, or 2,142 donations of $50. How likely do you think that is?

I can’t tell you much of anything about the people who donated in January, because the full IRS disclosures for January aren’t filed yet, and on its website Unity08 has failed to disclose the information it is required to gather on address, employment and occupation. But I promise you that when the IRS report becomes available, I’ll look into it in detail.

They’re so, so, arty down in New York City, I’m told. A simple upstater like me couldn’t understand how soulful they feel, and how they’re willing to take art right to the edge. They’re dangerous. They’re radical. They’re innovative. A resident of a little village like mine could never hope to be so artistically courageous as the people of New York City, who do what they want to do and say what they want to say… unless it makes anyone else upset.

The Lab Gallery had scheduled, starting on Monday, to exhibit a sculpture of Jesus, crucified. It was, at its foundation a banal artistic idea, really - it’s been done. The only original part of the art was that the sculpture would be carved out of chocolate, and Jesus would be naked.

So, what did those super-hip, super-edgy New York City people do? They got outraged. They demanded that the Lab Gallery cancel the exhibition, because to show Jesus naked, sculpted in chocolate, would be blasphemous. In the heart of New York City, in 2007, Christian church leaders demanded that no art be displayed unless it conforms to the standards of their medieval religious laws.

Kiera McCaffrey of the ironically-named Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights was one of those demanding the censorship, saying, “They would never dare do something similar with a chocolate statue of the Prophet Mohammed naked with his genitals exposed during Ramadan!” It seems that McCaffrey is jealous of the way that radical Muslims have been able to get so many people to cower in the face of their religious intimidation of art and free speech. She wants Christianity to be given equal power to threaten and suppress freedom, apparently. That’s her version of “civil rights”. Religious rights, in this way of thinking, only exist when religious groups have the power to take away other people’s rights.

McCaffrey and the outraged Christians can’t even get their own religion straight. Their own Holy Bible, in the book of Mark, chapter 15, verse 24, clearly proclaims that Jesus was stripped naked when he was crucified: “And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take.” From a biblical perspective, the naked statue of Jesus is religiously correct. Of course, this issue isn’t about the Bible. It isn’t about Jesus. It’s about power.

The saddest part of this story is the response to the ill-informed attempt at religious censorship. The owners of the hotel building in which the Lab Gallery is located agreed to the censorship. They arranged for the exhibition to be cancelled.

So much for edgy New York City art. It’s been erased by the Christian Taliban.

Well, I may not live in New York City, and I may not be much of an artist, but I’m feeling inspired to go and make myself a chocolate statue of a naked Jesus to display on the sidewalk of the Roger Smith Hotel on Easter Sunday.

A quick update:

In a previous post, I had indicated that 8 out of 10 members of the new Advisory Committee to Unity08 had given the maximum allowable contribution to Unity08 before being appointed. Unity08 has just updated its list of donors, adding the month of February, making it apparent that Mark Cuban also gave the maximum allowable amount money to Unity08 prior to being appointed.

That leaves just Sam Waterston as the only member of the Advisory Committee who hasn’t paid before playing.

Well, that’s as obnoxiously obsequious as I’ve seen it come so far: one placer of spam comments to this website has begun adding lines like this to the end: “please do not delete this message all proceeds will go to hungry children in Burma.” Reading that is a bit like watching an axe murderer take his victim off the neighbor’s nice bed of pansies before finishing the job.

While John McCain has been missing boatloads of Senate votes so he can tend to his presidential campaign, Democratic presidential contender Dennis Kucinich has not only been showing up, but has using his position in Congress to good effect. Last week, Kucinich headed up a hearing into predatory lending practices by corporate America. You can read the transcript of that hearing or watch a video of it here.

I just received the No Sweat shoes and jeans that I ordered a week ago. These are both union-made apparel made sweat-free (the shoes are Indonesian, the jeans are made in the USA), so I’m comforted by these products’ ethics. But it doesn’t make sense to buy ethical products that don’t work right or feel right on your bod, because then you’ll just have bought something useless.

This is the red “MoJo” Mother Jones brand No Sweat hightop sneaker on my foot, and it feels darned comfy. The top is canvas and flows around my foot; the bottom is not thick and doesn’t have shock absorbers or little flashing lights, but it will do just fine unless I need to climb a mountain or something like that here in Ohio. I like the shoes, just as I liked the original black low-top sneaks from these folks, so when I need another pair I’ll be ordering from No Sweat.

The jeans, on the other hand, are a disappointment. The top of the jeans just keeps going up and up; they don’t reach my belly button, but I do feel like Ed Grimley in them, which is not what I was going for. I don’t want to look like a codger until I’m a codger, so I’ll have to look elsewhere for ethically-made jeans. If you know of a different place offering ethically made jeans, I’d appreciate a tip.

It’s early in the presidential season, and it’s early in the new Democratic Congress. Nonetheless, we’re doing our best to sort out the reality from the hype in both political spheres. That’s why we’re creating a progressive system to rank United States Senators - based on their actions in the US Senate, not on their words. We look at votes and cosponsorships and see which senators do the right thing, and which senators do the right wing thing.

Which senators support progressive legislation, and which senators don’t? Significantly for 2008, how do the senators who are running for President measure up? Let’s look at the rankings and see.

As expected, the Republicans running for President from the Senate have performed miserably. Two of the three Senate Republicans running for President, Sam Brownback from Kansas and Arizona’s John McCain have so far earned a zero percent progressive rating. These partisan extremists haven’t supported a single progressive measure in the Senate yet this year. Prospective Republican candidate Chuck Hagel from Nebraska does a little bit better, but just a little bit. He has a nine percent progressive rating.

What about the Senate Democrats?

Barack Obama: 55 percent progressive
Christopher Dodd: 45 percent progressive
Hillary Clinton: 45 percent progressive
Joseph Biden: 27 percent progressive

Barack Obama comes out on top as the most progressive senator running for President in 2008, but at just a 55 percent progressive rating, that’s not a very inspiring win. Christopher Dodd and Hillary Clinton are even less inspiring, and Joe Biden’s performance in the Senate this year has been downright revolting.

Progressives, we deserve better from a Democratically-controlled Senate. We deserve better from Democratic presidential candidates. Let this serve as a wakeup call for 2008: On progressive issues, the Democratic candidates from the United States Senate are middling at best.

William Weld has been a big, bundling fundraiser for the Mitt Romney for President campaign in the lead-up to the 2008 elections.

William Weld has endorsed Mitt Romney for President in 2008.

William Weld is co-chair of Mitt Romney’s campaign for President in the state of New York.

Unity08 leadership has taken a stand against fundraisers who bundle like William Weld has.

William Weld donated the maximum possible amount to Unity08 in 2006.

William Weld has just been named to the Unity08 Advisory Committee.

Unity08 just moved up a favorable report on Mitt Romney’s campaign to the top of its “On Our Radar” list of stories on its front page.

Zero.

Here’s a list of the people named to the new Unity08 Advisory Council:

Peter Ackerman, investment firm corporate executive
Jacqueline Adams: public relations corporate executive
Mark Cuban, communications and sports corporate executive
Susan Cullman, PAC executive
John Dwyer, lawyer for corporate law powerhouse Arent Fox
Angus King, co-Founder of Unity08
Dale Mathias, investment firm corporate executive
George Vradenburg, communications corporate executive
Sam Waterston, actor and Unity08 spokesman
William Weld, Republican ex-governor and cochair for Mitt Romney’s campaign in New York State

Here is a list of the above people who gave the maximum allowable donation to Unity08 before being appointed to the Advisory Council:

Peter Ackerman
Jacqueline Adams
Mark Cuban
Susan Cullman
John Dwyer
Angus King
George Vradenburg
William Weld

====

Socialite and corporate executive Dale Mathias didn’t give a donation to Unity08. Her husband, Edward Mathias, gave the maximum donation instead of Dale Mathias.

That’s 9 out of 10 members of the Unity08 Advisory Council who gave (or whose spouse gave) the maximum financial donation to Unity08 before being named to the new, prominent Advisory Committee. Every single person besides the mysteriously motivated Sam Waterston gave a donation before being appointed.

Is this a coincidence?

For a while now, Jim has been doing some serious muckraking on the elitist reality behind the grassroots hype of Unity08. Unity08 claims to be an upstart organization, but it actually is organized and funded by the same kind of Washington D.C. insiders that have dominated the Democratic and Republican parties for as long as anyone can remember.

As a counterpoint to the Unity08 sham grassroots, I thought I would offer up a picture of what a real political upstart looks like. It isn’t Unity08, but it’s close. It’s Unity2008.

Unity2008 is the web site of the Balanced Party. The Balanced Party, just like Unity08, isn’t really much of a political party. It’s really little more than an entity created by a man named Orion Karl Daley to promote his presidential campaign for 2008. Just like Unity08, the Balanced Party claims to be above the divisions between liberal and conservative. Just like Unity08, the Balanced Party really does have an agenda. However, the Balanced Party does better than Unity08, in that it acknowledges its agenda openly.

More importantly, the Balanced Party’s Unity 2008 web site isn’t some big slick operation made with the help of PR professionals. It’s a basic site with a basic design. Unity 2008 shows what real upstart grassroots creations look like.

William Todd writes in with the following remarks:

I assume this is the right address to send a retort. I am beyond speechless. What I can not understand is why you liberals keep thinking the middle of the road is the right. Trust me, I know. I am not some dim witted, high school drop out, I am approximately 6 months from my Ph.D. in hard agricultural science. I am educated!
Why do you keep thinking GW Bush is on the right? He is NOT! At best, he is middle of the road. Trust me, if I had the chance, I would have really shown the world what we could do.
Since 1960, really since 1900, liberal philosophy has destroyed this country. You folks appear to want to go to the grave defending your right to exercise the 1st ammendment, but refuse to let me exercise the 2nd ammendment. Noboday even remembers that the words “and bear” are in the ammendment.
ALL law in reference to hand held firearms are unconstitutional. PERIOD. State, local, and federal. When I buy a firearm, I am treated like a criminal because of your laws. But, the real criminals go free and prey on me. Then, you and your uppidy buddies live in posh, well protected subdivisions with guards and impune me for not giving protection of myself and my property to others. If we don’t give in, we wind up live the Branch Dividians or slaughtered on Ruby Ridge.
The liberals elect over and over cowardly politicians who Stalin, Lenin, and Trotsky would be proud of, and others like Ted Kennedy that we all know should have been in prison for man slaughter and are proud of it. Do you have no morals? Do you have ethics?
I fully expect a Civil War in the United States in my lifetime. It unfortunately will be a fight of the Judao-Christians against all others. I have already volunteered.
Do not think your communist oppressive laws can stop it. It will not. Any defence or offense mechanism you can take from me, I can make. I have educated myself enough to be sure of that.

Well, William, if you have already volunteered in a fight of the Judeo-Christians against all others, then I know where your own morals lie, and they aren’t aligned with the Constitution, which stands against the establishment of religion and religious tests for political inclusion. So I’m sorry to hear you’ve decided to ally yourself with the enemies of America.

It’s kind of funny to read that I live in a posh subdivision with guards. I don’t, and neither do any of my “buddies,” and neither does anybody else who writes for Irregular Times. Maybe I just can’t see the guards. Maybe they run and hide every time I step out my front door. Yeah, that’s it. I share your disdain for people who hide behind gates and won’t look at the problems beyond them — I met a professor once who talked about the negative consequences of social division by race and class, but lived in a gated community, the hypocrite.

On the second amendment, you ought to ask before you assume. I support the Second Amendment.

William, good for you on your education. But when you go up for your dissertation defense, please try to address the actual people who are in front of you — not your stereotypic preconceptions of who you think they must be. Trust me on this — you really don’t want to risk looking stupid in front of someone who stands between you and a college degree.

You’ll have to pardon me now, William. I’m off to read more Stalinist tracts. All praise Mother Russia! Hee, hee.

Like pus from a septic wound, Republican-sponsored plagiarism continues to ooze out of the pages of the nation’s newspapers. The following text, written by a Republican Party operative, continues to appear as a letter to the editor in multiple papers with false claims of authorship by people with local names and addresses:

President Bush has a clear plan for victory in Iraq that begins with training Iraqi forces so they can defend their country and fight the terrorists. We are making tremendous progress towards this objective. Withdrawing from Iraq, as Democrats in Washington propose, would send a dangerous signal to our enemies that we cut and run when the going gets tough. President Bush is offering a clear strategy to win, not a political quick fix.

Here are some more recent appearances of Republican letter fraud:

The Desert Dispatch, February 25 2007, authorship falsely claimed by Catherine Saravia of Phelan.

The Daily Star, March 5 2007, authorship falsely claimed by Robert C. Tamburello of Burlington Flats, New York.

Illinois Times, March 8 2007, authorship falsely claimed by Donald E. Hadden of Decatur, Illinois.

The Tablet of the Brooklyn Diocese, March 10 2007, authorship falsely claimed by John M. Rondello of Brooklyn.

Rochester’s City Newspaper, March 13 2007, with authorship falsely claimed by David C. Smith of Brockport, New York.

Urban Tulsa Weekly, March 14 2007, authorship falsely claimed by Josh McFarland of an undisclosed residence.

The Des Moines Register, March 15 2007, with authorship falsely claimed by Darwin Nordquist of West Des Moines.

The Jackson Citizen Patriot, March 16 2007, with authorship falsely claimed by Harry Feltenbarger of Rives Junction, Michigan.

The Hudson Star-Observer, March 16, 2007, with authorship falsely claimed by Leanne Rice of Baldwin, Wisconsin.

La Jolla Village News, March 23 2007, with authorship falsely claimed by Stephen Drake of San Diego.

The Butler Eagle, March 23 2007, with authorship falsely claimed by Robert A. Jones of Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania.

The Myrtle Beach Sun Times, March 25 2007, authorship falsely claimed by Patty Krafft of Surfside Beach.

As you can see, the impact of Republican Party plagiarism is not limited in scope or impact. Thanks to the Republican plagiarism program, pro-Bush, anti-dissent messages are being placed in news outlets across the country and made to appear as if they represent the opinion of us little people. Like Unity08’s dying attempt by P.R. professionals to shove people into a third party conveniently without a platform, like the Tobacco Industry’s manufacture of a false national smokers’ movement, like OnPoint Advocacy’s use of a “grassroots marketplace” to find, fund and dump useful dupes for the Business roundtable, the Republican Party has endorsed the use of citizens as pawns in pursuit of political power. The only way to get this sort of mass market manipulation to stop is to name it, out loud and in public. For the sake of your own independent and legitimate power as a citizen, please spread the word if you can.

One person can make a difference. Read about the work of Ida Tarbell here.