Heroine and "Mom" of the Civil Rights Movement, Rosa Parks, has passed on; The official count of US soldiers KIA has reached 2000; and today marks the 3 year anniversary of the tragic plane crash that claimed the life of Minnisota progressive Paul Wellstone and members of his family and staff. All of them took a hard swallow and jumped into the foray of activism. Whether the soldier, willing to give life and liberty, believing foremost in the idealistic goal of protecting country and countrymen; the politician, willing to stretch the boundaries of "acceptable" political discourse; or the brave young civil rights activist, willing to risk at least ridicule and perhaps violence in order to take a stand for justice, each one is the American we should strive to be, as well.

As I watched this monday from the dry climate of Reno, Nevada, I was horrified as Katrina devastated the gulf coast and wrought unfathomable destruction on the shores of Louisianna, Mississippi, and Alabama. As much sorrow as I felt for these victims in the path of Katrina, the images I saw from New Orleans were heartening. Little water, though lots of wind, had invaded the city. And then the water began to rise, and as it did so, my horror at the unfolding situation increased exponentially. Now, almost 4 days later, we see images we should not see. Tens of thousands of people stranded, without food or water and getting little help from a government that essentially allowed this catastrophe to occur.

It's okay; you can say it: IMPEACHMENT. While most of us on the blue side of the aisle have no problem recognizing that the follies of BushCO have risen to the level of criminality and should thereby be subject to investigation, there are those among us afraid to put our money where are mouth is. They resist calling for impeachment or even investigations that would lead to the impeachment of BushCO. The two arguments they promote are these: 1) We don't want to look stupid, and 2) It'll never happen anyway. At this weekend's Democratic State Meeting, these arguments will doubtless be heard as the Party considers a resolution demanding that impeachment investigations begin.

We've had a hard enough time with mainstream media. Any issues of real significance take a seat behind celebrity footage at best, or at worst, take a seat on the spin city bus. But now the latest new wrinkle enters the picture, and the critical issue of journalists' ability to maintain the confidentiality of their sources serves to remind us of how fragile our right to a free press has become. On the left side of the aisle we've faced a cunundrum - the clearly political "outting" of Valerie Plame vs. the rights of an independent media. Have any doubts about how this will play out over time as policy? READ ON...