Below the fold is an email I sent to my grad school classmates. For a bit more context, I'm studying Chinese Medicine in San Francisco at a school with a diverse but small, very progressive student body.

What follows may be redundant to most Kossacks. It probably isn't as insightful or policy-oriented as many here are accustomed to. I don't mean to add more noise to the candidate diaries. I just want to step back and look at the big picture a little bit.

Yep, it's another candidate diary...

I started to become politically aware in 1979 and 1980 with the Iran hostage crisis and the energy crisis of the late 70's. As an adolescent at that time, I started off enamored with Reagan's militarism with his star wars toys and the Cold War. I probably would have voted for Reagan twice had I been old enough. A substitute teacher in high school turned me around to look at his economic and racial divisiveness. I have actively devoured news since the presidency of Bush Senior, with Bill Clinton being the first President for whom I cast my vote. From the Reagan presidency through the current administration of Bush the Lessor, I feel like I have been witness to a growing politics of polarization, division, isolation and divide and conquer. In the early primaries this year, I feel like that narrative can and is changing.

This Sunday in Berkeley.
Register and see additional details at http://www.beachimpeach.org/.

Special Guests include Cindy Sheehan, Cynthia McKinney, Michelle Shocked, Sadza, plus a local Berkeley politician or two.

11:00-12:30 at the Berkeley Marina
100 Spinnaker Way
Berkeley, CA 94710

Tomorrow is another marks another day of ENOUGH! rallies for impeachment and ending the war in Iraq. I know diaries on the subject have been light, and we don't garner nearly as much attention as when Wes Clark Jr. writes about the protests he helped inspire. But we're still out here each weekend calling for accountability from the administration. Can you join a protest in your area, or start a new one? Below the fold, I've got two tables showing ENOUGH! protests around the country, one for tomorrow, September 30th, and one for the following week, October 7th.

In addition to promoting the ENOUGH! protests, there are a few loose ends from some of my past diaries that I'd like to bring up and a random thought or two.

Socrates was a famous Greek teacher who went around giving people advice. They killed him. Socrates died from an overdose of wedlock.

After his death, his career suffered a dramatic decline.
From a 6th grader's research project...

The above quote isn't in reference to anything - it's from a Joke-of-the-Day email I subscribe to, and I felt like sharing.

Below the fold, another in my Impeachment Watch roundup series, this time covering the Sept. 15th protests, impeachment, Blackwater, MoveOn, and more. The Jena 6, Habeas Corpus, and the Webb troop rotation bill will have to wait. Prior to the roundup, I do have a brief commentary - well perhaps it's more a bit of a rant.

This diary is going out with minimal commentary.

Official photos from the Beach Impeach website by John Montgomery www.montgomeryphotographic.com to get it started:

Below the fold, see what my perspective looked like from the ground, along with one photo from Sunday's ENOUGH! protest in San Francisco, and a couple of diversions I ran into after each of these protests.

I read in another diary recently where the diary author said we can call for impeachment and defunding the war in Iraq until we're blue in the face, but it ain't gonna happen...

Well, I guess you can call me Papa Smurf. I'll be calling for accountability until this administration is out of office and our troops are on their way home, and even after that to try and keep our representatives in Washington more honest.

This Saturday, D.C. has the March on Washington. While I can't be there, in San Francisco, Brad Newsham is again working hard to put together Beach Impeach III.

If you're in or around San Francisco this Saturday, please join us.

Event Details:
Saturday, September 15th
Crissy Field
1:00-2:30

Disclosure: I am not associated with organizing this event, just another participant (who missed the first two events, so I'm excited about being able to join this one).

In San Francisco this Saturday, September 15th, to complement the march on Washington. If you're in or around San Francisco, please join us.

Event Details:
Saturday, September 15th
Crissy Field
1:00-2:30

Beach Impeach III official website.

Disclosure: I am not associated with organizing this event, just another participant.

Continuing the countdown to accountability: As of Friday, September 7th, 500 days remain of the Bush/Cheney administration (hat tip to The Bush Countdown Blog). As of Sunday,1 year, 4 months, and 11 days in which to initiate genuine accountability.

Congress resumed on Tuesday, and Magical September has officially begun. In my last roundup, I had far more links than I could put into one diary (still have). Iraq was the main subject I left out. This diary makes up for that lack.

Previous Impeachment Roundups:

• Impeachment Watch: Countdown to Accountability September 2nd
• An Impeachment Roundup for Nancy Pelosi: Updated August 13th
• Impeachment Roundup - Power in Numbers August 11th
• Kossacks who have had ENOUGH: a Roundup w/Poll July 27th

As of Sunday, September 2nd, 505 days remain of the Bush/Cheney administration (hat tip to The Bush Countdown Blog). 1 year, 4 months, and 18 days in which to initiate genuine accountability.

This diary has been particularly difficult to write. I hope you'll bear with me as I try to do a few things. I'll start with a brief commentary on leadership, with photo support, before moving on to a discussion of impeachment arguments and counter-arguments. I will then turn to an overdue impeachment roundup including Daily Kos diaries as well as media outside of dKos. After the roundup, I'll include some action links.

Previous Impeachment Roundups:

1. Kossacks who have had ENOUGH: a Roundup w/Poll
2. Impeachment Roundup - Power in Numbers
3. An Impeachment Roundup for Nancy Pelosi: Updated

See also:
Today's Enough Protest week eight by Wino
Enough!: Orlando 8/26/07 by riles

This past Sunday, while I was standing up to say ENOUGH!, I had a very interesting conversation with a Vietnam veteran. Two points in particular struck me from this conversation.

1. What are you doing to protect yourself? and

2. It's important to acknowledge by word and deed that people with skin color or beliefs different than your own are still people."

I also took part in the National "Take a Stand" with San Francisco's Vigil to End the War on Tuesday.

I've included details of both Sunday's and Tuesday's events below, so this is really two diaries for the price of one.

Sunday was another day of saying ENOUGH! for me. Last week, someone decided their need of my cheaper digital camera was greater than my own. This week I took my Nikon with me, and kept it on my person. I'm glad I did - it was another beautiful day.

This diary is not at all political, aside from the fact that it was inspired by protesting. Being alone for the protest on Sunday, I didn't get any protest photos. Instead, I got some pictures of San Francisco, displaying the city, the weather, and some of the people. In going over the pictures, I decided to share them alone, without political commentary.

On August 14th, I met with Speaker Pelosi's Deputy District Director here in San Francisco. I detailed that meeting here (light-hearted, fashion version), here (lengthy, detailed version), and here (somewhat less-lengthy, abridged version).

As fortune would have it, I have time off from school in the last two weeks of September. I'm going to try to schedule a trip to D.C. in that time in order to participate in the Iraq Moratorium in D.C. on the 21st. I am also going to take the opportunity to try to schedule a follow-up appointment with Pelosi's office.

Below the fold, please help me to edit and refine my meeting request. See the final draft here.

My first diary on DailyKos Violence in Darfur Spreads, was based on a Nicholas Kristof op-ed in the New York Times. At the end of his column on Monday, Mr. Kristof announced that it was his last column until early next year, as he is taking leave to work on a book on raising the status of women in the developing world. What I want to do with this diary is briefly go over some of his current op-ed, and also touch on some of his past contributions. And perhaps show I can address more than just impeachment.

It's another long one, so here are some links to specific sections.
Darfur
Rape & Courage in Pakistan
Sex Trafficking
Healthcare in the Developing World
One More on Pakistan
Relations with Iran
An Intelligence Mess
Miscellaneous on Iraq, Islam, Diplomacy, more...

I'm a grad student studying Chinese Medicine. In a little less than a month, I'm taking a critical test that will determine whether I move forward into the last year of my program or if I will have to leave the program with the option of re-applying in one year.


When President Bush commuted Scooter Libby's sentence in July, I became an activist for impeachment, a clear distraction at this point in my journey to becoming an acupuncturist. It is a distraction with a very real possibility of forcing me to abandon this path of my journey.

The response to Thursday's dairy, My Meeting w/Nancy Pelosi's Deputy District Director, was great. I'd like to thank all of those who recommended and commented on that diary.

In reply to my Open Thread comment 30 seconds on the rec list, lisastar asked if I could do a condensed version, pulling the essential points from that diary. As a Cliff's Notes version of Thursday's diary, I think I've been able to cut it to about half the length while retaining the essential action points and adding a detail and a couple of links.

In this revised diary, I am leaving out the bulk of the reference links in favor of keeping it as brief and to the point as possible. For the longer, more detailed narrative, more context and resource links, please see Thursday’s diary.

After my meeting Tuesday with Melanie, Speaker Pelosi's Deputy District Director, I am actually encouraged about the prospects for impeachment, while also coming away with a renewed sense of how large the task before us is.

It's a wee bit long, so I've attempted to add a navigation index here, with links throughout the text to bring you back up here if you wish. Hope it works.

The Narrative
Getting There
Meeting Recap
100
Summary and Analysis
To Do
Organizing Resources
What's at Stake

Tonight, it's about not looking like a moonbat, and fun pictures of animals. Tomorrow, I'll dish on the details of the meeting.

Here's me in I'm a Very Serious Person mode:

Join me on the catwalk below the fold. Disclaimer: I apologize, as the photo quality is not the best. Working with a tripod and timer, the camera did not have an adequate pre-focus to get crisp shots.