There is an article in the Boston Globe this morning that talks about how the Bush Administration is quietly trying to increase US arms sales to countries in the Persian Gulf region.

WASHINGTON -- The State Department and the Pentagon are quietly seeking congressional approval for significant new military sales to US allies in the Persian Gulf region. The move is part of a broader American strategy to contain Iranian influence by strengthening Iran's neighbors and signaling that the United States is still a strong military player in the Middle East, despite all the difficulties in Iraq.

But the arms sales, which would come on top of a recent upgrade of US Patriot antimissile interceptors in Qatar and Kuwait and the deployment of two aircraft carriers to the Gulf, could spark concerns that further military buildup in the volatile region would bring Washington closer to a confrontation with Iran.

The Wall Street Journal outdid itself today on it's Editorial page with two bone-headed pieces that slam the verdict in the Libby case yesterday and also slam Sen. Kerry for his justified questioning of Bush nominee Sam Fox at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing last Tuesday.

Once again, the WSJ proves itself to be little more than a parrot for the right wing talking points arguments of the Republican National Committee. There is little merit in both of their arguments and a lot of deep, deep hypocrisy.

Senator John Kerry is speaking today on the topic of Homeland and National Security, what the Bush Administration and their Republican enablers in Congress have failed to do and what Democrats WILL do to really begin to protect America. This speech is taking place at historic Faneuil Hall in Boston, Mass.

The Republicans have, once again, decided to go on the offensive and try and convince Americans that they are protecting the American Homeland by waging war in Iraq. They conceive of the effort to stop terrorism as an active military campaign that is waged, primarily, on foreign soil.

I have heard that after the Congressional Progressive Caucus hearing today on Iraq that a few of the attendees who gave testimony are going over to call on Sen. Frist. The curent business of the Senate is a bill that is 'emergency funding' the war to the tune of almost $70 billion dollars.

Cindy Sheehan was at the caucus hearing this morning and she is not planning on voluntarily leaving Frist's office until he addresses some concerns over this war.

The war needs to be discussed on the floor of the Senate. We need to be discussing why we are still there and why we are funding this.

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35 years ago, in the event that launched his public career, John Kerry gave his famous testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Comm. In that speech, the former Lt. Kerry talked about the impossibility of the war in Vietnam and how the country had to recognize this and take action. That famous speech also had a call for the nation to come together to take care of it's veterans' who had been so shamelessly warehoused into sub-standard facilities.

In an editorial in the Boston Globe this morning Kerry wrote, "I believe as strongly as I did 35 years ago that the most important way to support our troops is to tell the truth. Patriotism does not belong to those who defend a president's position -- it belongs to those who defend our country, in battle and in dissent. That is a lesson of Vietnam worth remembering today."

Sen. Kerry will be delivering a speech tomorrow at Faneuil Hall on the role of dissent in a time of war. This speech will not be televised on C-Span and there will be no live webcasts of this, that I know of, on Saturday. C-Span, reportedly, is taping this for a showing on Sunday evening, but nothing is going out live.

Three of us got press passes from the Senator's office and will be live-blogging this event on DKos starting at around 10:45 am  (EST.)

This date wil be the 35th anniversary of the day that John Kerry testified in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and said that famous line: "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake."

More after the jump --