Thanks for posting—I’m pretty proud of our robust blogosphere here in Hampton Roads for their excellent reporting!

I’m sorry we weren’t able to hear from Ted, because it looks like there could be an interesting story with regards to that hat… oh well!  I’m glad everyone had such a good time - it’s great getting a turn at being the majority party!!

Thanks for visiting my original home state, Senator. I’m from Norfolk, daughter of a Navy vet.  So pleased that Virginia helped us turn the Senate blue.

For those following the case of Agustin Aguayo, the first case heard to determine conscientious objector status since the Vietnam War:

Just in about the Aguayo case:

Dear Karen,

Today the judges at the Court of Appeals issued no decision.  According to Attorney Peter Goldberger, this is usual. It happens only one out of a hundred times that the judges in appeals issue a decision immediately from the bench (though of course we hoped for that!) We now must wait for their written decision, which might be issued in ten days, but also might first be issued in six months.

My impression was that the judges did not favor one side more than the other and that they are genuinely still undecided.  There was a lot of discussion regarding what the remedy should be, if the court finds in favor of Augie regarding the failure of the Army to provide reasons for denying his conscientious objection application.  The judges questioned whether the remedy would necessarily be to give Augie an immediate discharge, or whether his case should then be “remanded” to the Army for further review.  Attorney Peter Goldberger was able to cite significant precedents in favor of requiring the Army to discharge Augie, if he prevails in his appeal; altogether, Peter did an excellent job!

In any case, since there is so far no decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals, Augie will now need to go through all the military legal procedures brought by the Army against him. First there will be an Article 32 hearing in Germany in early December.  Following this hearing, the Army will decide upon the formal charges to be brought. Augie has been told that the charges likely to be brought (desertion to avoid hazardous duty and missing movement) could carry a total maximum jail sentence of up to seven years.

It is possible that in conjunction with the Article 32 hearing, a pre-trial settlement can be agreed upon which sets forth the worst punishment Augie could receive at the court martial, in any event less than the seven years. Then, at the court martial (also in Germany, likely in January), Augie and his attorney could try to “beat the settlement,” i.e. obtain an even lesser punishment following examination of the evidence.  But obtaining a settlement would likely depend on pleading guilty, and Augie and his attorney need to consult and decide whether this would be a good idea.  Augie could also request that the court martial be a jury trial.

Eric Seitz, who also represents Lieutenant Watada, has agreed to represent Agustin in Germany during the legal proceedings with the Army and will likely travel twice to Germany from Hawaii.

As I am sure you can imagine, all of this legal work and the related press work is and has been extremely costly. There will be new significant costs as well, because Augie’s family would like to be with him at the court martial in Germany.

Please, whoever can, make a tax-deductible donation to support Agustin Aguayo in his determination not to be forced to participate in war.  Please go to http://www.aguayodefense.org and contribute whatever you can to help this very courageous soldier.  It is only because Agustin and other equally brave souls have spoken out that the American people have come to understand that the occupation of Iraq must be ended.

Peace and solidarity,
Elsa

Just a note to friends who were worried about that explosion north of Boston today.

I am originally from Danvers, Mass and still have family in that town. One of my brothers is a police officer there and he is on the site of the massive chemical explosion right now. (He has the camera and is charged with photographing all the damage.) He wasn’t on duty last night, but was called in this morning to help manage the scene and to take those pics for the crime scene people and such.

Thank goodness, no one was seriously hurt in this. (Lots of injuries from flying glass and such.) It looks like the explosion took out about 100 homes and all those small businesses down in the DanversPort area though, so it will be a tough recovery. 

My brother and his family live very close to there and their house shook so bad, they thought it might collapse in spots. But, everyone is okay. My Mom, in her condo about 2 miles from the scene, slept through the whole thing. (LOL! It woke up people in NH and my Mom was right there and slept through it.)

Just an update for friends who have heard me speak about Danvers to let people know how it’s going.  (And yes, it’s pronounced Dan-viz.)

Nice to see the pics and read the coverage of Sen. Kerry’s visit to Chesapeake on Monday. My nephew teaches 12th-grade political science in Chesapeake, so I’ll be sure to regale him with all the details over Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.

But speaking of thanks, by the way… there’s another local story from another smaller-market newspaper I’d like to bring to your attention here, too.

(I hope I’m not stealing a march on the people behind the scenes here by posting the article and link here, but I suspect that it’s not the kind of thing that Mr. Kerry would be tooting his own horn about anyway. He does this sort of thing all the time, from what I hear, but he doesn’t go around issuing press releases about it or anything.)

From today’s edition of the Des Moines Register:

...  “Kerry is a good man,” said Feller, 79, a veteran who isn’t shy about saying the Massachusetts senator is his favorite politician. “Nobody else in politics has come forward to help us out, and believe me, we need help.”

Feller is a member of the Beaverdale Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9127 in Des Moines. It’s based in a building that sustained serious fire damage last month, and the members are worried about the fact that insurance won’t cover the amount of the loss. It’s an important place to the men and women of the post, and they asked Iowa’s veterans to do what they could to get the place up and running again.

Then came Monday’s mail with a nice letter and a $5,000 check signed by Kerry.

It wasn’t a personal check, Feller said. It was drawn from the account of “Keeping America’s Promise,” Kerry’s political action committee, which is the repository of donations from around the country sent to support Kerry and used by him to fund campaigns and for political outreach—such as the donation to the Des Moines VFW post.

The letter, signed by Kerry and addressed to post members, said: “It filled me with sadness to hear of your loss due to the fire on Oct. 28, 2006. And I am honored as a fellow veteran to contribute to the reconstruction to your post. America must support those veterans who showed courage and gave up so much for their country. And that’s why it’s so important to me that you have your VFW post back as soon as possible. Enclosed you will find a contribution to your fund. Keeping America’s Promise would like to continue to be of help to you in the weeks and months ahead ... Thank you again for your passion and your courage.”

Feller said he did not solicit the contribution and doesn’t know how the senator learned of the fire. He just knows post members were thrilled to receive the contribution.

[snip]

The post has received about $14,000 in contributions, including Kerry’s, and another $26,000 or $27,000 is still needed to complete cleanup and repairs.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if other politicians did the same thing he did?” Feller asked.

Analysts might see Kerry’s donation as a sign that he’s still thinking of running for president. It certainly makes it easy for his critics to question his motives. Then again, maybe he did it because it’s the right thing to do.

Whatever the reason, the members of a troubled VFW post in Des Moines appreciate the gesture.

Needless to say, I’m sure that Mr. Kerry sending a contribution to help those veterans rebuild their burned-out VFW post didn’t have anything to do with him playing to the cameras or looking for bonus points on the campaign trail. I’ve no doubt that he did it precisely because it was the right thing to do. It’s always the little things that make the most difference to people’s lives, and he knows that.

And while I’m sure that he won’t make a fuss about it, and you won’t be getting any emails from his office asking you to contribute the cause, I’m perfectly willing to second Mr. Kerry’s motion by adding one more paragraph from that Register article here as well:

People who want to help the veterans restore their building can send contributions to:

Disaster Fund
VFW Post 9127
4029 Urbandale Ave.
Des Moines, IA 50310

This Thanksgiving I’m thankful for John Kerry and all the Democrats.