July 2006 Archives
(Cross posted at Daily Kos)
Very bad for everyone (except Hizbullah). And, worse yet, not the first time it has happened in Kana.
Now, as a rule, I don't believe in coincidences. So is there more to this than meets the eye?
UPDATE: Growing evidence that the Kana collapse and resulting deaths were staged.
Chris Matthews prides himself on his Philly roots and his hard-headed, common-sense outlook. He likes to think he connects with the cab-driver, the union carpenter, the parish priest, the single mom, and so forth. In other words, the constituency that once belonged to the Democrats. Jack Kennedy is his political father. And like Joe Lieberman, Matthews has been on a long, strange trip over the last decade or so.
As with Lieberman, I don't agree with Chris Matthews much any more. In the months leading up to the beginning of the Iraq war, he was very strongly anti-war, imploring Congressional Democrats to do the same. Essentially, he and Phil Donahue were of the same opinion: the coming was going to be a disaster. Of course, since then, Donahue is gone from MSNBC and Matthews has emerged as one of Bush's loudest cheerleaders. Maybe Matthews saw what happened to Donahue's show (highest rated on MSNBC at the time, BTW). Maybe he changed course to save his broadcast career. Maybe he wants people to forget that he used to work for Jimmy Carter and Tip O'Neill. Whatever. I don't care because he seems to have parked himself on George Bush's lap permanently.
Woof woof! Who's a good boy, Chris, there's a good boy!
But occasionally, very occasionally, he can still knock one out of the park.
Chris Matthews:
Two years ago, King Abdullah of Jordan warned me of what was coming in the Mideast. His prediction was dead on. He spoke of his fears and what the United States was doing in Iraq, toppling one government, electing another, was creating what he called a Shi'a crescent, from Tehran through Baghdad to Beirut that threatened to dominate the Arab world, challenging modern Sunni governments in Egypt and Saudi Arabia and others with an axis of Shi'a power based in Iran.Pretty strong stuff. Where was this Chris Matthews during the last two years?When I look at the map today, that Shi'a crescent the King foretold has come to light. It is hard for us westerners to understand the internal politics of another region when we can't predict whether the Democrats will take Congress from the Republicans three months from now. How could we see the Shi'a grabbing the high ground from the Sunni in the Mideast three years ago? That's what happened. We converted Iraq from a country which has fought revolutionary Iran for eight years to a bloody standstill to a Shi'a-dominated ally of Iran and created a boulevard of common religion and common regional politics.
But wait there's more:
Did you hear the new Iraqi leader take sides with Hezbollah in a struggle with Israel? This is the emerging threat, not just to the moderate Sunni countries including Egypt and Jordan, who formed and honored treaties to Israel and us.My point exactly.Our brave soldiers have fought, died and been dismembered in Iraq only to connect the disparate pieces of Shi'a radicalism into a Frankenstein's monster that has come to life right there on our TV screens and worse yet, in the vicarious Mideast where young Arabs found a hero named Hezbollah...
by Mark Adams
Via: Election Law Blog, this AP story: "Blackwell delegates state work as election approaches"
Blackwell has allowed assistant secretary of state Monty Lobb to sign all of the directives and advisories to county elections boards since March. Lobb also has broken six tie votes among county elections boards, The Columbus Dispatch reported for a story published Sunday.
Carlo LoParo, a spokesman for the Republican nominee for governor, said Blackwell decided to hand off those duties during the campaign under an Ohio law that states, "The general duties of the assistant secretary shall be such as the secretary of state assigns him."
Frankly, Kenny keeping his hands out of the cookie jar may be a good thing. The obvious conflict of interests involved with the State's highest election official also being a candidate for the State's highest office leaves us with either nobody in charge, or putting the inmates in charge of the asylum.
Christopher McNeil, an adjunct professor at Capital University Law School and an expert on administrative law, said the public has a right to expect that the elected secretary of state is making the important decisions unless the power has been given to someone else in writing.
"I don't believe our constitution or the statute anticipates allowing the secretary of state to dodge his responsibilities," he said.
State law requires the secretary of state to break tie votes from county elections boards.
The Secretary's defense that there were no complaints when other candidates ran for office while holding another just doesn't cut it. No Ohio Secretary of State has ever been under such suspicion for election tampering as Ken Blackwell.
If he wanted to claim clean hands, that his situation is no different than Sherrod Brown or Bob Taft when they ran for office while serving as Secretary of State, he should have spearheaded an exhaustive, high profile investigation into every single complaint that came out of the '04 election.
He had ample opportunity to clear his name and remove the taint left over from before. He could have fixed the problems and restored our faith in the system itself. Instead, he was instrumental in defeating the grassroots effort to reform Ohio's election laws.
The fact that he did nothing to restore integrity to the voting process, and that many of the complaints that arose in '04 pointed directly to his own policies, speaks volumes. He is the poster child for smarmy electioneering and deserves to wear that label.
There's nothing unfair about pointing out the obvious -- Ohio has been, and continues to be poorly served by Ken Blackwell.
This isn't about delegating his current duties to avoid the appearance of impropriety. This is about him never living up to his sworn duties in the first place.
(Updated 2 times below)
The cover story in Newsweek today is about Oliver Stone's movie, World Trade Center. I've always felt that Stone is one of the greatest living movie directors. Say what you will about his politics, but the man is a master filmmaker. So I have no doubt that WTC will be a master work -- and early reviews confirm that.
And/But it is being released on August 9, right during the run up to the November elections. Will the movie (which has no political axe to grind) escape being politicized?
"A lot of the conversation about 9/11 in the five years since it's happened has been motivated by a political agenda. From all sides," says [co-star] Maggie Gyllenhaal. "What that's done is make everyone really wary of talking about it and thinking about it. Which is why I think World Trade Center is so special. Somehow, in the midst of all this, Oliver has made a movie that doesn't seem to have an agenda, either political or personal. It really is about honoring people."Do you think it will or will not escape being co-opted by one side or the other?
UPDATE: Richard Schickel, Time Magazine:
There are reports that the political right, to whom Stone has long been an anathema, is trying to lay claim to the movie. But that is nonsense. What liberal would want to deny the compassion and courage of working- class heroes whom the left embraced, historically, long before the right? Very simply, World Trade Center is a powerful movie experience, a hymn in plainsong that glorifies that which is best in the American spirit.UPDATE II: The flame wars have begun.
Senator John McCain's young son, Jimmy, (18) has just joined the Marines.
So, where's Jenna, and "Not Jenna" for that matter? No doubt upholding the family tradition.
"If this war is so God damn important, why aren't the Bush twins over there in Iraq helping to fight it?"
Laurie Goodstein (via Kevin Drum):
"There is a lot of discontent brewing," said Brian D. McLaren, the founding pastor at Cedar Ridge Community Church in Gaithersburg, Md., and a leader in the evangelical movement known as the "emerging church," which is at the forefront of challenging the more politicized evangelical establishment.The Founding Fathers understood that government and religion were immeasurably stronger when they ran on parallel tracks. Today...not so much."More and more people are saying this has gone too far — the dominance of the evangelical identity by the religious right," Mr. McLaren said. "You cannot say the word 'Jesus' in 2006 without having an awful lot of baggage going along with it. You can't say the word 'Christian,' and you certainly can't say the word 'evangelical' without it now raising connotations and a certain cringe factor in people.
"Because people think, 'Oh no, what is going to come next is homosexual bashing, or pro-war rhetoric, or complaining about 'activist judges.' "
All you have to do is look around -- at Iraq, at Hamas, at Hezollah, at Iran, at al-Qaeda, to understand how bad things can become when you mix the two together.
David Lisbona, blogger in Haifa:
This is the graph (scanned from today's Maariv newspaper) of the number of Katyusha attacks on Israel each day by the Hezbollah. In spite of the Israeli bombardment of Hezbollah launchers and ammunition respositories, there's no apparent decrease.Facts are facts.
If you've ever been to a Jewish Community Center (on a Friday afternoon!), this story is doubly horrifying:
SEATTLE, Jul. 29, 2006 (AP Online delivered by Newstex) -- A man walked into a Jewish organization Friday afternoon and opened fire, killing one woman and injuring at least five others before he was arrested, officials said.I might have something to say about this later. Not right now.The gunman, who employees said claimed to be a Muslim angry at Israel, forced his way through the security door at the Jewish Federation after an employee had punched in her security code, said Marla Meislin-Dietrich, a co-worker who was not at the building at the time.
Staff members said they overheard him saying "'I am a Muslim American, angry at Israel,' before opening fire on everyone," Meislin-Dietrich said. "He was randomly shooting at everyone."
Sabrina Tavernise in the Times:
The refugees from southern Lebanon spilled out of packed cars into the dark street here Thursday evening, gulping bottles of water and squinting in the glare of the headlights to find family members and friends. Many had not eaten in days. Most had not had clean drinking water for some time. There were wounded swathed in makeshift dressings, and a baby just 16 days old.What's happening to Lebanon and Israel is horrible. Where is the US?But for some of the Christians who had made it out in this convoy, it was not just privations they wanted to talk about, but their ordeal at the hands of Hezbollah -- a contrast to the Shiites, who make up a vast majority of the population in southern Lebanon and broadly support the militia.
"Hezbollah came to Ain Ebel to shoot its rockets," said Fayad Hanna Amar, a young Christian man, referring to his village. "They are shooting from between our houses."
"Please,’" he added, "write that in your newspaper."
(HT to Allison Kaplan Sommer)
Many polls showing a generic preference for Democrats have appeared over the past several months, and many such polls have been dismissed by Republicans who say that national polling in a contest of 435 districts has little salience.This was a smart survey -- one of the very, very few national surveys that goes into individual Congressional districts to get its results.But the NPR poll is different because, unlike most measures of midterm attitudes, this survey was conducted only in the 50 most hotly contested congressional districts.
[...]
Fewer than three in 10 of the voters in these competitive districts say they are likely to vote for the incumbent. Nearly half say they are likely to vote for "someone else." (Twelve of the 50 seats are open, meaning that there is no incumbent, so that question was asked only in the other 38, of which 30 are held by Republicans.) Nearly half, or 48 percent, say they are likely to vote for the Democrat, while 41 percent say they will probably vote for the Republican.
That preference was more than generic -- asked the same question with the names of the districts' candidates, those preferences varied by only 1 percent.
Of course, like any poll, it is a snapshot of where we are today. That said, if I were a Republican, I'd be kind of queasy right now.
Or entering the witness protection program:
Most notable among them perhaps is Rep. Tom Reynolds of New York, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee -- the man whose job it is to defend the House majority. Reynolds has also put up a campaign Web site that doesn't mention his party.
Mitch Prothero writes that Hezbollah doesn't trust its civilians and stays as far away from them as possible.
But I thought that Hezbollah had overwhelming support from the Lebanese people?
Insightful piece from Gareth Evans and Robert Malley in Slate:
A serious effort to safeguard Israel's security without jeopardizing regional or Lebanese stability is possible, but only if the United States is prepared to engage in vigorous, continuous, and comprehensive diplomacy.I think that's fair and realistic.Immediately after a cease-fire has been secured, the United States and its European and Arab partners should focus on ending the conditions that produced this deadly conflagration -- the real root causes. This would include intensifying the intra-Lebanese dialogue concerning Hezbollah, as well as the country's political system and national defense; addressing pending Israeli-Lebanese issues; engaging Syria and Iran in a broad discussion of regional matters; and reinvigorating the long-dormant Arab-Israeli peace process.
Howard Dean is getting a lot of flack from both the right-wing Bush loyalists as well as daily Kossacks for calling Iraq's al-Maliki an anti-Semite.
So...that must mean he's in the mainstream.
Whatever you call it, I strongly approve of his comment. And why not? Dean has been right on Iraq from the very beginning.
Who would you rather trust -- Bill Kristol and Fred Barnes and Stephen Hadley and Peter Beinart and Joe Lieberman and John McCain and Tom Friedman and Rich Lowry and Newt Gingrich?
Good luck with that.
Humanitarian aid in the U.S. has begun arriving in Lebanon. The U.S. Government sent 10,000 medical kits, 20,000 blankets, $30 million cash and today the people of New Orleans said: "They did what?"
---Jay Leno
(HT to Bill in Portland Maine)
by Mark Adams
Some things have been bugging me.
- Where's bin Laden?
- What's Turkey's problem with a Kurdish homeland?
- Why haven't Richard Perle and Doug Feith been used as scapegoats for the Iraq mess?
- How on Earth does Dennis Hastert remain Speaker of the House?
Then along comes a tale from former FBI interpreter, Sibel Edmonds, and her wrongful termination suit for blowing the whistle on what looks for all the world like a spy ring and corruption scandal that could expose our entire Middle East policy as a criminal enterprise.
"State Secrets" is the excuse that has slammed the door on her every attempt to get this matter fully investigated. The little she is permitted to say without violating the gag order promises more questions than answers, but it started with talk of a bag of cash delivered to Dennis Hastert and leads to speculation that our entire Middle East policy is not some Zionist conspiracy, but a con game by the Turkish Mafia played on US neo-cons.
Keep reading, this is the tip of the iceberg.As Mike Mejia advises: "Okay, take a deep breath and take a step back: it’s not a pretty picture. "
(Cross posted at Daily Kos)
(Updated twice below)
Remember that moment when the US had a shot at ending the war in Lebanon? Apparently Bush and Condi blew it:
[W]ith hundreds of Lebanese dead and Hezbollah holding out against the vaunted Israeli military for more than two weeks, the tide of public opinion across the Arab world is surging behind the organization, transforming the Shiite group's leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, into a folk hero and forcing a change in official statements.Timing is everything. Bush and Condi wasted a huge opportunity. It's going to be harder now for the US to broker some sort of satisfactory outcome. That's too bad because, if things keep going like this, it doesn't look like there are going to be any winners. Lose-lose all around.
P.S. I take that back: Nasrallah is the only winner. Stock in his tired brand of Nassarite pan-Arab nationalism is up -- for now.
UPDATE: Unlike 1982, today's Israeli public opinion is almost unanimous in its support for the war in Lebanon.
UPDATE II: My good-but-sweetly-simple-minded friend Rosemary thinks I mean that Arab opinion turned because of Bush/Condi. If she were to read closely she would understand that Bush/Condi blew it by missing a window of opportunity. To be blunt: they waited too long -- and now that Arab opinion has turned, their job is immeasurably more difficult, maybe impossible.
Joel Kom of The Ottawa Citizen writes:
The words of a Canadian United Nations observer written just days before he was killed in an Israeli bombing of a UN post in Lebanon are evidence Hezbollah was using the post as a "shield" to fire rockets into Israel, says a former UN commander in Bosnia.Those words, written in an e-mail dated just nine days ago, offer a possible explanation as to why the post -- which according to UN officials was clearly marked and known to Israeli forces -- was hit by Israel on Tuesday night, said retired Maj.-Gen. Lewis MacKenzie yesterday.
Born: Glasgow, Scotland waaaaaaaaaaaay back in 1957 (and yes, there were electric guitars back then).
Looks like: Gary Oldman, Danny Kaye, John Travolta, Richard Strauss, Edward Elgar, Billy Bob Thorton, Stephen Spielberg, Ehud Barak, and/or Nikolaus Harnoncourt. False positive: Ayn Rand.
Also born on this day:
1612 - Murad IV, sultan of Turkey (1623-40) / conquered Baghdad. What did he know that we don't?
1667 - Jean Bernoulli, mathematician / explained why the toilet water bobs up and down when the wind blows.
1880 - Joseph Tinker, baseball Hall of Famer, 1/3 of fame double play combo (can you name the other two?)
1906 - Leo Durocher, baseball manager (Brooklyn Dodgers, NY Giants) / Leo the Lip
1944 - Bobbie Gentry, singer / what did Billi-Jo throw off the bridge?
On this day in history:
1586 Sir Walter Raleigh brings first tobacco to England from Virginia / he was such a stupid get.
1866 Atlantic telegraph cable successfully laid (1,686 miles long.) / OK, there's a joke (maybe two) in here somewhere.
Many happy returns! Sneak an extra couple of spoonfuls of that trifle while no one is looking, my friend. Go on -- a couple of extra laps around the park and it'll be just fine.
(Cross posted at Daily Kos)
Howard Dean calls al-Maliki an "anti-Semite." The reaction from the Republicans is not surprising and frankly you can google it yourself. I won't provide links to their crap.
The reaction from Democrats?
Well, Reid, Schumer, Durbin and Pelosi got there first, condemning Maliki for not rejecting Hezballah and terrorism. Again, the reaction from the Republicans was predictable: they stood in opposition to the Democrats even though they had to become total hypocrites to do so. Sen. Cornyn, Speaker Hastert, Sen. Allen, Sen. Santorum -- they waved off the Bush Doctrine ("with us or with the terrorists") like it was a cloud of gnats. Feh -- whores.
More interesting was the reaction from Kossacks...
Well, if you're reading this, you already know that roughly 2/3 of Kossacks disapprove of Israel's actions in the war with Lebanon (polls here and here). Similarly, two-thirds disapprove of Reid/Durbin/Schumer/Pelosi speaking out against Maliki's comments (poll results here). God only knows what Dean's approval rating is after after calling al-Maliki an anti-Semite -- reading some of the comments, I would say a similar two-thirds majority disapprove. (see poll)
Now I know that Maliki doesn't have a lot of wiggle room. No, let me rephrase that: Maliki's #1 goal appears to be that he wants, someday, to die of natural causes. That is to say he is not interested in following the footsteps of Anwar Sadat (killed, more or less, for making peace) and/or Yitzchak Rabin (ditto).
But here's what REALLY chaps my ass: that we spent $450 billion of our money, sustained over 20 thousand casualties of our men and women (not to mention 100s of thousands of Iraqi civilians) we went through all of that ....
.... and we get a state hostile to our one ally in the region, and a theocracy/satellite of Iran to boot?
No, no -- that's not even the worst part. The worst part is that when Democrats point that out, when they stand in direct opposition to the rubber-stamp Republican Congress, they get slapped down by 2/3 of the Kossack readership.
This should be a no-brainer. Democrats CAN offer a clear choice and one that the majority of Americans already buy into. So...what gives?
Flame on.
by Mark Adams
You have to go clear back to the Carter Administration to understand the roots of the imminent decline and fall of Condoleeza Rice's foreign policy carreer.
No, there's no skeleton in the dormroom closet from when the young Ph.D. candidate interned at the Department she now directs at Foggy Bottom. But while she was still a Democrat, the Shah of Iran fell and our relationship with Iran (and the rest of the Middle East) went straight to hell. It has never recovered, and that's just how the neo-cons like it.
Now, to add insult to injury, not only has she been taking the advice of her Deputy, Nick Burns (the only competent foreign policy professional in Washington, a deal maker), Condi wants to try diplomacy with Iran?!?
The warmongers will not let this stand. The last thing they want is a detente with Iran. They've been were salivating after the remnants of the Persian Empire back when Condi was still hanging out at the Denver Bronco's locker room.
Rice not only has to manage the Iranian response to her initiative but has to manage Vice President Cheney's team -- including John Bolton -- who will try to undermine her at every step.
The President had to sign off on this initiative, but what is not clear is whether he is going to give his complete support to Rice or whether he is going to sit on a perch while his closest advisors slash each other over this.
Some pix I took with my Treo. Click below to watch show.
(Cross posted at Daily Kos)
With the exception of the Palestinians, the Arab world appears to be united in blaming Iran and Syria for the fighting in Lebanon. Until last week, Arab political analysts and government officials were reluctant to criticize Hizbullah in public. But now that Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and his top aides are in hiding, an anti-Hizbullah coalition is emerging not only in Lebanon, but in several other Arab countries as well.
The countries he is talking about -- Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia -- could be the core of a negotiated settlement in the region.
If I were in charge of US foreign policy, or at least in charge of Democratic talking points, I'd be proposing that those three countries stand with the US, Israel and Lebanon on common ground that is summarized by these elements:
- Strengthen and support Lebanon's efforts to grow democracy.
In addition to helping Lebanon rebuild, help them isolate and disarm Hizbullah according to UN Resolution 1559.
- Affirm Israel's right to exist as well as the right to self-defense and self-determination.
In addition, acknowledge that Israel's war against Lebanon is not America's war. Nor is it the undercard to the main bout of America vs. Iran. It is not the beginning of World War III, so sit down and shut up New Gingrich.
- Slow down US arms sales to Israel.
In return for the coalition's support of Israel and its help in destroying Hizbullah, Israel agrees to stand down from her wholesale destruction of Lebanon.
- Open talks with Iran and Syria.
Iran: Hizbullah is no longer an effective proxy for your regional ambitions; deal with it. Syria: When Lebanon threw you out, they meant it.
- Use the example of Lebanon to resolve the situation between Fatah and Hamas.
The Palestinians must agree that any faction dedicated to the destruction of Israel has no place in the region. In return for signing a peace treaty (not a truce, not a cease-fire) with Israel, the nation of Palestine gets fast-tracked.Oh, and one more thing: since this will never happen as long as Condi Rice and George W. Bush are in control, the Democrats should make this part of their talking points going into the November elections.
Capt. Spaulding: "You've left out a Hungadunga! You've left out the main one, too. Thought you could slip one over on me, didn't you, eh? All right, leave it out and put in a windshield wiper instead. I tell you what you do, Jamison. I tell you what. Make it, uh, make it three windshield wipers and one Hungadunga. They won't all be there when the letter arrives, anyhow."
Miss Julie swears this is true:
Boy #1: Is this your card?
Boy #2: No.
Boy #1: Is this your card?
Boy #2: No.
Boy #1: Is this your card?
Boy #2: No.
Boy #1: Is this your card?
Boy #2: No.
Boy #1: Is this your card?
Boy #2: No.
Boy #1: Is this your card?
Boy #2: No.
Boy #1: Is this your card?
Boy #2: No.
Boy #1: Is this your card?
Boy #2: No.
Boy #1: Is this your card?
Boy #2: No.
Boy #1: Is this your card?
Boy #2: No.
Boy #1: Is this your card?
Boy #2: No.
Boy #1: Is this your card?
Boy #2: No.
Boy #1: Is this your card?
Boy #2: No.
Boy #1: Is this your card?
Boy #2: No.
Boy #1: Is this your card?
Boy #2: Yes! How did you do that?
In advance of the TV interview, ABC News has the Jake Tapper - Markos transcript, all 14 thousand words of it. I kid you not: it really is 14 thousand words.
Yes, children -- this was probably one of the earliest punk bands (along with Iggy and the Stooges) and they came out of Detroit in 1964 (as did Iggy). The band featured Wayne Kramer (guitar), Michael Davis (bass), Rob Tyner (vocals), Dennis Thompson (drums) and Fred "Sonic" Smith (guitar).
This music insists on being played LOUD. It is the musical equivalent of the sound the stamping presses made at the Ford Rouge Plant.
The performance is from the Grande Ballroom in 1968 January, 1969, and is definitely not Woodstock-friendly, even though it has edited out the coda wherein Rob Tyner exhorts the crowd to "Kick out the jams, motherf***ers!" We used to get a tremendous thrill out of that when we heard it on Detroit underground FM radio back in the day.
The wigglin guitars girl
The crash of the drums
Make you wanna keep-a-rockin'
Till the morning comes
Let me be who i am
And let me kick out the jam
Yes, kick out the jams
I done kicked em out !!!
Check out Think Progress' counter argument to the same old tired propaganda against raising the minimum wage regurgitated by Ohio's right wingers.
Since we can't count on Congress to raise the minimum wage, progressive Democrats in the State House have picked up the cause, and face the usual, "it'll cause unemployment" crap the wingers always say.
The facts tell a different story, past raises have been unemployment neutral and advance growth, payroll and tax revenue without costing jobs.
If the GOP weren't such effective liars, the world would be a much better place for everyone, not just those in the top ten percent.
OK, I made it up....and you can, too! Eat The Press.
UPDATE: Everything about this graphic is real -- including the numbers. I didn't photoshop it. I simply put in the search terms and out came the 3-D bar chart. And, yes, there really were 23 blog citations of the word "Tomahto." That's really the funniest part.
by Mark Adams
The memo said: "Democrats Determined To Take Congress."
As has been observed time and time again, their real enemy is liberalism. They will fight terrorists as convenient targets of opportunity."As for Bush himself, he is curtailing his traditional August working vacation at the ranch so that he can barnstorm before the midterm elections," writes Allen for Time.
"Their outlook thus far seems so ominous for the G.O.P. that one presidential adviser wants Bush to beef up his counsel's office for the tangle of investigations that a Democrat-controlled House might pursue," Allen continues.
by Mark Adams
Emptywheel's essay, Who's Driving this War? posits the neocons aggressively opportunistic attitude towards the violence in Lebanon is a do-or-die gamble of a discredited ideology:
The Neocon warmongering now comes not from a position of strength, a confidence that their influence in both the administration and the nation will remain strong. No. It's the desperate act of a compulsive gambler, who after losing big, puts all his remaining chips on the table.
Anyone who's played any serious poker, or if you're more than a casual fan of the endless games of Texas Hold'em on cable TV, has learned that aggressive play is a winning strategy. Indeed, it's the only strategy.
Bold moves can steal pots even when your cards are weak. The big bluff is not a desperate move, but the only logical move when you're short stacked.
I've seen many a player make this move and come out on top -- but only if their bluff isn't called. In the realm of international relations as conducted by the Bush administration however, when the neocons like Bill Kristol and just plain con artists like Newt Gingrich raise the stakes to World War III, liberals are in no position to call the bluff.
Fortunately, there are some sane conservatives whose permanent seats at this game were staked out decades ago. That's why it is so very important when traditional conservatives like George Will, and founding members of the neocon movement like Francis Fukuyama look the warmongers in the eye and call them on their nonsense.
(UPDATE: Here's a better link to the George Will smackdown of Bill Kristol)
Is this the best, or what?
Click image to view my video.
by Mark Adams
The hypocrisy and irrational policies of the Bush administration are manifold and have been exhaustively documented. Now, John Dean has offered both a scientific and historical analysis of the phenomenon explaining Bush's unprecedented excesses, the fierce loyalty of his supporters, the use and abuse of fear and political divisiveness, and the common denominator binding such divergent and often mutually exclusive interest groups that make up the modern "conservative" movement.
Glen Greenwald's excellent review of John Dean's, Conservatives Without Conscious, as well as a brief excerpt, is mandatory reading while you wait for your copy of the book to arrive.
The tactics and strategy of Bush conservatives is exposed as exploitation of fear and fealty to authority, absolving the individual from personal responsibility for otherwise unconscionable acts. The targeting of "enemies" opposed to the movement -- liberals, terrorists, liberals, communists, liberals, the media, liberals, the courts, and of course liberals -- perpetuates the rationale for the movement's followers that their cause furthers a "greater good" regardless of the methods used.
What brings religious fundamentalist into the same camp as tax reform crusaders, corporate raiders, xenophobic racists, neo-conservative empire builders, anti-government libretarians and fiscally responsible deficit hawks is not their common cause -- but their common enemies.
It is not a movement towards any goal except the perpetuation of their own power, their seat at the table. Promising protection from, if not defeat of their opposition, leaves their followers with the feeling that their cause is just and they will be protected from the enemy de jure. Any delay in satisfying their individual interests is justified for the sake of security, believing that their cause will be attended to as soon as the "enemy" is defeated.
Of course, defeat of an enemy would immediately lead to the disintegration of the coalition, since their competing interests would then have to be addressed. Announcing a "War on Terror" neatly sidesteps this problem. Perpetual war without any articulated enemy -- just a tactic and/or an emotion -- or identifiable conclusion is indeed a brilliant solution of a movement that is defined not by what is is for, but what it is against.
Such a negative dynamic is anathema to normal American politics, likened more to a South American dictatorship. Fear-mongering and war-mongering are indeed effective means of coalescing political power, but certainly not something that aspires to American ideals of freedom, privacy and individual dignity. Unfortunately, it has become the norm in 21st Century American political discourse.
Relentless attacks against political adversaries, especially apostate "traitors" to the movement, give rise to the popularity of the Coulters, Malkins, Limbaughs and Hannitys, whose entire schtick consists of constant attacks on everything and anything liberal. Disagreeing with them makes you either a liberal, terrorist sympathizer, or both.
Which is it?
Yesterday, the speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, said "We know there was a corrupt regime in Saddam, but a regime should be removed by surgery, not by butchering. The U.S. occupation is butcher's work under the slogan of democracy and human rights and justice."I can't believe these people have any credibility whatsoever.Today on Meet the Press, White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten said he has been in meetings with al-Mashhadani and the speaker has an "appreciation for the sacrifice so many Americans have made."
"Blame Democrats first" Democrat wonders why he's trailing in Democratic primary.
(Cross posted at Daily Kos)
- Israel has a right to self-defense and self-determination.
- Hezbollah's war is Lebanon's war. As such, UN Resolution 1559 must be completely implemented including the disarming of all militias, most notably Hezbollah.
- Egypt, Jordan, the Saudis (at least) should support the reconstruction of Lebanon. And support it in such a way as to make it impossible for Hezbollah to hijack the country into a impossible and bloody war again in the future.
- Israel's war is NOT America's war. It is NOT the undercard to America vs. Iran.
- This is NOT World War III.
Yay! We're Done!
That means the oil can start flowing, we can put our reasources back in Afghanistan to halt the anarchy there, and since they think they know where bin Laden is, send the 10th Mountain Brigade to fetch him out of the hole he's dug since we won't bomb that close to the Chinese border.
What? We have some kind of moral obligation to clean up our mess, that we can't leave Iraq without a functioning security apparatus since we were the ones who destroyed it? Well somebody should have thought of that a long time ago dagnabit!
Waddayamean the everything from the horn of Africa to Mount Ararat has gone to hell in a handbasket and that there's even more trouble on the horizon because the Turks have just about had it with the uppity Kurds?
This whole Hyperpower thingy has really gotten to be a drag.
Before the US gets involved in anything else, we better finish what we started almost 5 years ago. War in Afghanistan doesn't pause while we're distracted elsewhere.
...with bandmates Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Mitch Mitchell. Check out the pre-performance interview of John by Mick Jagger. From Rock n Roll Circus, December 1968. (Who's sitting onstage with the black sweater over their head?)
Much has been of Johnny Depp's homage to Keith Richards. But they've got nothing on George Harrison...
This is what every Democrat should be saying every day until November:
"Never has so much military and economic and diplomatic power been used so ineffectively, and if after all of this time, and all of this sacrifice, and all of this support, there is still no end in sight, then I say the time has come for the American people to turn to new leadership not tied to the mistakes and policies of the past." Richard Nixon, 1968Tricky Dick knew a thing or two about winning elections during a war.
Analyzing who's lying, distorting and misleading the public in their political ads and public statements is what Fact Check does better than anyone. Their tear-down of the competing ads issued by Mike DeWine and Sherrod Brown in the Ohio Senate race this week is no exception.
Short version, both ads take liberties with the truth. Brown's ad, which came out in response to DeWine unleashing the Swiftboaters, spins DeWine's record on national security in in a less than favorable light but FactCheck notes that there is plenty of blame to go around -- so Mike should get a pass for just being another inept pol, just like Brown himself.
They also find Brown's ad completely accurate on DeWine's vote for normalization of trade relations with China which contributed to outsourcing Ohio jobs (along with 82 other Senators and Bill Clinton). No lies, no distortions, no fake smoke -- just a mirror that magnifies rather than illuminates.
DeWine misleads the public regarding Brown's voting record vis-a-vis the death penalty for terrorists -- which Brown supported in two separate votes, but voted against the Patriot Act and it's reauthorization which included death penalty provisions for terrorism. DeWine's amateurish photoshopping of the Twin Towers is duly noted.
We don't think the fake shot is a big deal, since it doesn't portray an event that didn't really happen. It seems to be an inexplicable act of incompetence on the part of the DeWine campaign. Having chosen to use images of the 9/11 attacks, which Democrats were sure to complain were unfair appeals to fear, why use a faked picture instead of the real thing?
The fact that DeWine has begun attacking his general election opponent this early in the season is a strong indication that he's concerned about saving his seat. Indeed, DeWine is on the Democratic Party's hit list as it aims to recapture the Senate.
I take heart in Brown swiftly countering the Swiftboat tactics DeWine has adopted. Starting ugly this early bodes nothing good for any hopes of a civil campaign season, but Brown looks to be up to the challenge and has the issues on his side.
I'm coming to believe that Israel's war is not our war -- nor should it be.
Now Shmuel Rosner has written a piece in Slate wherein he says pretty much the same thing: that the Israel-Lebanon war is a limited, local conflict and not the undercard for the main bout -- US vs. Iran.
What's more interesting in the war against Hezbollah -- and this is something experts will probably dwell on in the coming years -- is that it bears many of the characteristics of a new Cold War: two regional powers -- Israel and Iran -- conducting a war by proxy.Now, granted all of this could go in the trash if Israel launches a major ground offensive.
But I think he's got it right -- it's regional. And the US is (and remain) an observer, not the main player. In other words, this is Israel's fight, not our own. And we should stay out of it.
Jon Stewart was on fire last night:
- Brownback And His Amazing Talking Embryos
- Snowflake Children (How They Were Born And How They Got That Name)
- The Simple Reason Why Bush Vetoed The Bill (And Why You Might Disagree)
- Loophole In The Culture Of Life
- You Can't Destroy Life To Save Life (Except In Iraq)
- Undue Carnage vs. Due Carnage ("The Carnage They Had Coming")
(cross-posted at Daily Kos)
Some day soon I intend to write something about the idea that Israel's fight (is/is-not) our fight; or that Israel's fight (should/should-not) be our fight. In the meantime, I want to refer you to an article by Gershom Gorenburg who profiles Ehud Olmert. It is what used to be called a frank appraisal of the dilemma Olmert finds himself in. The money 'graf:
The abduction of soldiers from inside Israel and the missiles now hitting the country, however, show the risks of leaving [e.g., Lebanon, West Bank, Gaza] without a negotiated agreement to put someone clearly in charge beyond the border.So there's the formulation:Olmert's air offensive in Lebanon and Gaza appears designed to show that Israel can defend itself without sending troops back to occupy the land it has left. And by arresting Palestinian Authority officials in Gaza who belong to Hamas, Olmert also hopes to end Hamas control of the PA government so that withdrawal will seem safer.
But polls show plummeting support. Once-supportive pundits are criticizing the idea of "throwing the keys" over the border fence on the way out to whoever picks them up. Chaos in the West Bank, or a hostile regime there, risks missiles falling on Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
- former right-wing head of state attempts unilateral withdrawal.
- The ensuing vacuum increases the overall chaos.
- Polls plummet.
- Go back and try again.
And does it matter? Here, let me offer this frank appraisal of my own: is there any question but that Hamas and Hezbollah eventually want the elimination of the Jewish state, by any means necessary? How (and why) do you negotiate with people who want that outcome?
And what is the role (if any) of the US? And what are the implications of this approach on future Iraq policy?
Sorry for so many questions with no answers. Like I said, I'm still working this out in my head.
The wheels of justice, crushing the dreams of an imperial presidency. (By a Judge named Walker -- of the "W" Bush, Walkers, who stuck it to Assistant AG, Peter Keisler, the guy who's up to replace John Roberts on the DC Circuit.)
The Hamden decision is big. I mean it really is big. Peter Keisler argued and won the case in front of the court he's been nominated to sit on -- before he lost in front of the Supremes. The Hamden case shot down the whole idea that POTUS could disregard civil liberties, human decency, the rule of law and the Geneva Conventions. Despite the pleas of the bedwetters in wingnuttistan who somehow see the current threat from terrorists worse than the combination of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, or even the Evil Soviet Empire with it's thousands of nuclear tipped ICBMs, the laws that make this nation great were recognized as the ultimate security for this nation.
Much to Bob Novak's chagrin, the Wilsons filing a civil suit, opening up the Cheney/Libby/Rove troika to the civil rules of discovery is huge. (Could anything be better than Cheney under oath in a free-wheeling deposition -- as long as he's unarmed, that is?) And it all nicely sidesteps any ideas Commander Codpiece had of issuing a Christmas pardon.
Gitmo Gonzales putting the finger on Bush himself, personally, as the Decider who stopped the Justice Department from conducting an investigation of the NSA domestic spying program is enormous. It's smoking gun type of evidence in an obstruction of justice/conflict of interest investigation that Rep. Conyers is just hankering to begin against the Busheviks. (But I'm not sure it gets our boy Keisler off of possible obstruction charges for interfering with the New Jersey State Attorney's investigation into the NSA wiretapping scandal.)
But the icing on the cake, the gigantic decision that brings down two birds with one stone -- a monolithic corporation and our enabling CEO President -- is the Electronic Frontier Foundation case against AT&T for illegally spying on Americans surviving a motion to dismiss. This really is bigger than you can imagine.
Why, you ask? Read on, because ...
"It's a little-known fact that President Eisenhower installed an inter-connecting series of tubes in all US homes built before 1957. Go ahead at home, tear up your floorboards, you'll see what I'm talking about....I can wait here while you do it. So anyway, if the Net Neutrality Act fails, get ready for the excitement of the Information SuperTube. Hey! I just got a pneu-mail!"
P.S. "Cats dressed as nuns eating from dishes of gravy..." Hee.
The economy is humming along, is it? Baloney.
The facts are simple and straightforward:
- The Bush Economy has the worst rate of job creation in 40 years.
- Bush's new jobs pay $9,000 less per year.
- Working people haven't had a raise in 5 years.
I've adapted the "Had Enough?" video series to promote the candidacy of Patrick Murphy (PA-08). Patrick Murphy is an Iraq war vet who supports Murtha's withdrawal plan, and a dynamic, young speaker who has the potential for progressive greatness. Patrick Murphy is not only supported by the local netroots scene in Philly, he is a member of the local netroots scene in Philly.
President Bush is ordering Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to a volatile region the President perceives could be the most dangerous and unstable ground he has attempted to exert influence upon.
According to The Note, she will be accompanying the President to the NAACP conference -- a group he has famously snubbed throughout his term.
Not since he brought battery-powered klieg lights to illuminate downtown New Orleans has Commander Codpiece shown such moxie.
With his veto the president has now reaffirmed a policy that never made any sense, garnered no scientific support to speak of, was abandoned by both houses of Congress and the leaders of his own party and, most importantly, got no traction with those most in need of the benefits of the research -- patients and their families.This is yet another example of the dangerous drift our nation is taking away from science, away from the future and backwards toward superstition and ignorance. The worst part? The embryos Bush wants to "save" will be discarded regardless of his veto. They will never be used to help the most important people of all -- the ones who are actually living their lives, hoping for a cure to end their suffering. Today, Bush turned his back and walked away from those people and their families.The president has now told doctors, researchers and patients to drop dead. Science policy in the Bush administration is best made in the White House, not by scientists and not by Congress.
P.S. And he did it in virtual secrecy, barring the press from witnessing his shameful act.
Apparently, many weight-loss surgery patients adopt other addictive behavior, e.g., they'll start drinking like a fish. Psychologists even have a name for it: "addiction transfer," an outcome of substance-abuse treatment whereby patients swap one compulsive behavior for another.
On a personal note, I have to tell you that my son was in Washington yesterday shooting some film for a documentary he is making on the stem cell issue. Among other things, he interviewed Representatives Mike Castle and Diana DeGette. They co-wrote and sponsored HR 810, the bill that Bush is expected to veto today.
And, in one of the more surreal moments of the day, he literally bumped into these guys (left) as their press conference adjourned.
Ken Adelman, erstwhile Bush/Cheney loyalist:
What they are doing on North Korea or Iran is what [Sen. John F.] Kerry would do, what a normal middle-of-the-road president would do...This administration prided itself on molding history, not just reacting to events. Its a normal foreign policy right now. It's the triumph of Kerryism.Once, they used to say, "thank God Gore/Kerry is not in charge." Now, all is revealed: Kerry won the last election after all, so pass HIM the buck, quick!
Still crazy after all these years -- and can't accept responsibility for anything.
I'm working on it.
Watch this video in the meantime.
There. Doesn't everything look bigger already?
Otherwise known as a felony, an impeachable offense if ever there was one.
Obstruction of Justice is obviously such an offense.
Interference with a federal investigation is felonious behavior. No argument, no weaseling, no justification.
From Think Progress:
Earlier this year, the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), which is charged with investigating attorney misconduct, announced that it could not pursue an investigation into the role of Justice lawyers in crafting the NSA warrantless wiretapping program because it was denied security clearance.This is Exhibit One.Previously, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales would not explain why the security clearances had been denied, saying he did not want to ‘get into internal discussions.’ But in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee this morning,
Gonzales said President Bush personally blocked Justice Department lawyers from pursuing an investigation of the warrantless eavesdropping program.
Watch it.
SPECTER: Now when you had the first line of review, Mr. Attorney General, by OPR, why wasn’t OPR given clearance as so many other lawyers in the Department of Justice were given clearance?
GONZALES: Mr. Chairman, you and I had lunch several weeks ago, and we had a discussion about this. And during this lunch, I did inform you that the terrorist surveillance program is a highly-classified program. It’s a very important program for the national security of this country –
SPECTER: Highly-classified, very important, many other lawyers in the Justice Department had clearance. Why not OPR?
GONZALES: And the President of the United States ultimately makes decisions about who ultimately is given access –
SPECTER: Did the President make the decision not to clear OPR?
GONZALES: As with all decisions that are non-operational in terms of who has access to the program, the President of the United States makes the decision because this is such an important program –
SPECTER: I want to move on to another subject. The President makes the decision and that’s that."
Rosemary blows her whistle and demands that everyone come out of the pool!
"Who on the Right advocated the killing of journalists?"
Well, for starters, she ought to look around her own home -- she's living under the same roof with one of them. And she's got a book on her nightstand from another one.
But that isn't the only thing that's bugging me:
Is she suggesting that killing journalists is worth a comment or two but killing of your political enemies is not?
And lastly, why are these people so angry and vicious? Don't they know that their side controls everything that happens in this country? Talk about sore winners!
God help us all -- here and around the world -- if they lose the next election.
Especially grating is that since the last election season we have fresh memories of the Coultergeist's vile slap at the Jersey Girls who supposedly relished in the death of their husbands, or the dismissive and unsympathetic attacks against Michael Berg, the father of civilian Nicholas Berg who was beheaded in Iraq, egged on by the likes of Fox News' hatemonger-in-chief, Sean Hannity.
Now, Via KOS, our illustrious representative from Southwestern Ohio's 8th Congressional District, Minority Leader John Boehner, has tried to explain through the Cincinnati Enquirer just why IOKIYAR.
Clear as mud is more like it. The GOP line is saying that it's ok to remind us in stark imagery what the cost of the War on Terra is:Questioned by reporters on what the difference was, Boehner seemed tongue-tied. "These were American citizens killed by terrorists. That is a very different policy issue than American soldiers dying on the battlefield protecting the rights and freedoms of American people."
"How so?" a reporter asked.
"How so? You want me to describe the difference between men and women of the military out there defending the American people, and victims - victims - of terrorist activities?" Boehner asked.
"They were both killed by opponents, right? Terrorists or Islamic insurgents?" a reporter pressed.
An exasperated Boehner said: "The World Trade Center victims were victims of a terrorist act here on our shore and I think all Americans were appalled that this did in fact happen. But I think the differences, in terms of the images, are as clear as night and day."
- A: as long as we're only showing civilian casualties?
- B: as long as we're only showing civilian casualties killed here?
- C: as long as we're only showing bona fide American civilians killed here?
UPDATE: Somehow I missed, but should have guessed, that Mike DeWine has been hammering Sherrod Brown with similar 9//11 images, which the little whimp has already pulled (H/T=Tapped).
by Mark Adams
Please pay a visit to the new center for Ohio's progressive blogging community at:
AsOhioGoes
Our founder, HeightsMom Cindy Zawadski's mission statement says:
Go there now, explore, comment, post a diary, ponder the great meaning of your part in the great sceme of thing -- but have fun while you're at it, dammit!I am hoping to create a positive enviroment for people involved with Ohio politics to post, comment and exchange ideas about the direction of our state.
That's an order, click or feel my wrath. I warn you, I have about 200 really bad lawyer jokes I could start posting any minute now.
That is all.
(Cross posted at Daily Kos)
The Senate is debating a group of stem cell bills this week. In a nutshell those bills can be described like this:
- Real stem cell research ("Lift Bush's Restrictions And Get Down To Work")
- Fake stem cell research ("Lots of Loud Talking And Hand-Waving")
- Anti-stem cell research ("Prohibit Fetus Farming")
The other bills are primarily designed to provide political cover and lots of campaign fodder for Senators who might be worried about satisfying the constituents back home, most of whom favor a fully funded program of research. For example, most Senators will vote for #1 because people want it -- yet the Senate knows it will be vetoed by Bush. Most of those same Senators will also vote for #2 because they know it won't make a difference anyway if it passes. And, lastly, most Senators will vote for #3 because it prohibits something that wasn't ever going to have a snowball's chance in hell of happening in the first place.
Something familiar,
Something peculiar,
Something for everyone:
A comedy tonight!
Something appealing,
Something appalling,
Something for everyone:
A comedy tonight!
Nothing with gods, nothing with fate;
Weighty affairs will just have to wait!
Nothing that's formal,
Nothing that's normal,
No recitations to recite;
Open up the curtain:
Comedy Tonight!
Something erratic,
Something dramatic,
Something for everyone:
A comedy tonight!
Frenzy and frolic,
Strictly symbolic,
Something for everyone:
A comedy tonight!
A local journalist told me bitterly this week that Iraqis find it ironic that Saddam Hussein is on trial for killing 148 people 24 years ago, while militias loyal to political parties now in government kill that many people every few days. But it is not an irony that anyone here has time to laugh about. They are too busy packing their bags and wondering how they can get out alive.Kind of forgotten about it now, haven't we?
Where's the US?
(HT to John in DC)
Glenn Frankel goes "in search of the truth" about the Israel lobby's influence on Washington. Not sure he finds it, but he does capture a wide variety of viewpoints and achieves some level of balance on a hot topic.
(HT to Glenn Greenwald)
This is a new, "universal" version of the "Had Enough?" videos I did to promote various Congressional candidates.
This one is new and somewhat different. It's something I came up with after reading Kevin Phillips' excellent book, American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century.
I'm sure there are things that you'd change. So would I. But I'm throwing this out now, rather than wait until later when it might be more perfect.
Share it with your friends, etc. Click the "Share" button in YouTube.
From the Electronic Frontier Foundation:
The White House and Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) have reportedly come to a sham compromise that would sweep the illegal NSA warrantless wiretapping activity and any further government surveillance under the rug, shuffling legal challenges out of the traditional court system and into the shadowy FISA courts. Tell Congress to reject this proposal and let cases like EFF's have a fair hearing in court.Please take a moment right now and lend your support to this crucial effort. It's easy:
- Visit this site
- Add your name and address to the form.
- Click to submit the letter -- EFF will route it to your Congressmen, based on your address.
Please do it now -- it'll only take a moment of your time. Thanks.
Here's the text of the letter I sent:
When it becomes commonplace to hurl accusations of treason against domestic political opponents, or when calls for imprisonment and/or hanging of journalists and political leaders become the daily fare -- all of which is true for the pro-Bush blogosphere -- those are serious developments. And they merit discussion and examination by the media.This has been happening for quite some time -- read the Greenwald piece for details -- yet (because of it?) the traditional media has ignored this developing situation.
...[L]et us read about the extremist rhetoric, vicious character smears, and deliberate incitement to violence that has become the staple of the largest pro-Bush blogs --Malkin, Powerline, Instapundit and LGF -- along with the bloggers whom they tirelessly promote [Ed. Note: and the bloggers who tirelessly promote them back].Instead, all we hear about -- incessantly -- is Bush Derangement Syndrome.Hundreds of thousands of people each day, including pundits and television news producers, are reading this material. The journalistic value in examining it and reporting on it ought to be self-evident.
UPDATE: Nitpicker wants to know:
Why is the opposition of a candidate [Lieberman] considered an "Inquisition" from the left, but death threats from the right get ignored? Why is it worth covering an in-house Kos spat, but not the calls to violence by frequent guests on national news programs like Michelle Malkin and David Horowitz?
Because it means you're paying nearly $50 for a full tank of the stuff.
P.S. And I drive a midsize car, not an SUV.
Rasmussen says that Bush's uptick in their poll (into the low 40's) "is the result of his base coming home."
Translation: his base loves it that we're mortified at the thought of 2+ more years of this:
They like to call it "Bush Derangement Syndrome," (a term coined by the self-important and ghastly pundit-psychiatrist Charles Krauthammer). But honestly, what does it say about "his base" that they look at Bush and feel pride?
P.S. Speaking of polls, Fox News has Bush's approval rating dropping 5 points (into the mid 30's again) over the last two weeks.
"It is important to remember that the president got his bounce after the killing of al-Zarqawi in Iraq," comments Opinion Dynamics Chairman John Gorman. "While administration officials were careful not to overplay the significance of this, it naturally created hope that things would get better. Several weeks of bloody footage from Iraq have pretty much dashed those hopes."Except for the base -- who loves it that we're depressed about another 2+ years with this guy at the wheel.
Stay the course!
(Cross posted at DailyKos)
My family on both sides came from Armenia and three generations of us settled in Lebanon; I was born in Beirut during that time.
I've also lived and worked there as an adult. I've spent time in the coastal cities of Lebanon as well as the mountains and valleys near the Syrian border. So it's fair to say that I have some interest in what's happening over there.
Not only that -- I have lived half my life as a Jew and I am what you would call a Zionist. You got a problem with that? Too bad.
As an Armenian and a Jew, I have a perspective that is, shall we say, sensitive to the possibilities of genocide and Holocaust. And my children, even more so.
But wait -- there's more:
I am also an anti-war Democrat -- in fact, I would rather vote for a yellow dog than vote for a Republican.
Got it? Good, because you're probably not going to like what I say next:
Israel's fight is one for independence and freedom; it is also a fight for survival. Their fight against Hezbollah and Hamas is not the same as our occupation of Iraq. Theirs is a war of necessity -- one of survival. As for the US, I have no idea what our "adventure" in Iraq is about anymore, but I do know this: Israel's fight is far different than our occupation of Iraq.So wrap your mind around that: I'm a yellow-dog, anti-war Democrat and a Zionist. There aren't many of us out there.
But that doesn't matter -- like Gandhi said, "Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is still the truth."
David Horovitz, Jerusalem Post:
There are those who have branded this latest conflict a continuation of Israel's War of Independence, and there is no little truth in the assertion. On both of the fronts on which Israel has been drawn into heavy fighting, its enemies can make no legitimate claim to be pursuing a territorial dispute: as of last summer, Israel relinquished its hold on the Gaza Strip; in Lebanon, it pulled back to the UN-certified international border six years ago. Except that, in both cases, the Jewish state's assailants are indeed pursuing a territorial ambition - to unseat Israel from its own sovereign lands.Tom Friedman, NY TImes:
This is not a conflict about Palestinian or Lebanese prisoners in Israel. This is a power struggle within Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq over who will call the shots in their newly elected "democratic'' governments and whether they will be real democracies.Democracy isn't about having an occasional election. Democracy is about the people granting certain powers to their government in order to protect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
There is a strong feeling among the Israeli people: they would prefer a two-state solution. Unfortunately, they know that the actions of neighboring "democracies" makes that impossible. And so the Israelis have got themselves a government that is acting accordingly.
That said, what do you suppose will happen the next time the Lebanese, Iraqis, Palestinians (and Iranians) have themselves an "election?"
(Full disclosure: three generations of my family settled in Lebanon; I was born in Beirut during that time. I've also lived and worked there. I've spent time in the coastal cities and also in the mountains and valleys near the Syrian border. So it's fair to say that I have some interest in what's happening now.)
Summary of reaction from Lebanese bloggers:
- Lebanon Profile at the Lebanese Political Journal:
Hezbollah was surprised by Israel's response...Even more surprising for Hezbollah was the Sunni response...According to three Sunni shop owners in Beirut from Saida, they and their families are more upset with Hezbollah than they are with Israel.
- Zadigvoltaire at Beirut Notes:
Hezbollah has metamorphosed from a resistance force to Israel to a resistance force to Lebanon's development and progress.
- Jamal at Jamal's Propaganda Site:
Olmert can choose to annihilate Hezbollah completely. That would involve a major regional war that I don't think Israel is ready for or that the world community would allow.
- V at Vox's Den:
Hezbollahis are hiding in caves, behind and under the civilians they claim to protect, and this is why the Israelis are bombing ordinary people, bridges and airport runways instead of these monkeys.
- Mustapha at The Beirut Spring:
The blockade has one clear purpose: To make life miserable for the Lebanese in order to exert pressure on Hezbollah. … Will the plan work? No it won't. Israel constantly underestimates the bonds common misery can create.
- Yasmine at Lebanese Bloggers:
I am not a pawn on the board of an imaginary game, and neither are the rest of the Lebanese, Palestinian and Israeli civilians whose lives are being toyed with.
My post yesterday concerning the hypocrisy and inconsistency of those right-wing bloggers ... doesn't seem to have been very well-received by the Right Blogosphere.I enjoy being with people who disagree with me. I enjoy debating the issues. But when the other side can only respond with name-calling, it eventually bores the crap out me. And that's when I switch the channel.In less than 24 hours, they swarmed together to spit out the most petulant wave of childish insults and substance-free foot-stomping that I have seen in quite some time -- a frenzied wave of ad hominems and bitter personal insults...
IJS.
Colbert does Lieberman...
...and Stewart does Novak, Cheney, and Rove.
All Hail King Itchy-mois!
Heh.
(Warning: Language isn't exactly office-safe).
P.S. There are an AMAZING number of Orson Welles mashups over there.
Larry Johnson and Joe Wilson give their Response to Robert Novak Column.
TPM Muckraker catch on to Novakula's bamboozlement with Hannity and Colmes. I missed it because I was still picking up pieces of my exploded head from the previous segment.
And, in an effort to provide ponies to every single good little boy and girl who couldn't afford to place their names in Santa's copy of Who's Who, Joe and Valerie Wilson are going to sue Cheney, Libby and Rove!!
Over? This thing just got interesting -- just when I figured out how to block myself from ever accidentally clicking on Faux News again.
Christy has the press release. Game ON!
Congressional Quarterly identifies 10 Republican-held seats in play in just two states: New York and Pennsylvania. Throw in the three at-risk GOP incumbents in Connecticut plus vulnerable Republican congressmen in New Jersey and New Hampshire -- and, in theory, the Democrats could assemble a House majority based just on turnovers in the Northeast.The thing most people don't realize is, absent Tom DeLay's mid-decade re-districting in Texas, the House Republicans would have lost seats in the last election. So the fact that the Dems, theoretically, don't need to expect too much from areas outside the northeast -- well, that's fair play.
Alan Colmes is a neutered dufass.
I just saw that demented dickhead Sean Hannity, and convicted felon Ollie North condemn the democrats for using flag draped coffins in a campaign ad.
Colmes just looked on, mouth breathing as usual, without even thinking to bring up the fact that the Bush/Cheney campaign used the dead bodies of 9/11 victims in an ad that was denounced in the same language Lt.Col. Shredmaster used: "unconscionable."
Dufass Colmes reads the seqway to their interview with Novakula from the teleprompter. Useless (and so was Bob's interview).
Bush can stand on a mass grave in the middle of Manhattan and shout from a megaphone "Bring it on" as he ushers in the modern crusade (Phase III has now started, Afghanistan and Iraq being the first two innings) and is hailed as some kind of hero who bravely protected the Presidential ass while cowering in Idaho while our buildings fell.
Democrats can't show us the pictures Bush never wanted us to see, pictures of our brothers and sisters coming home from Bush's misadventure, in a box? This is something we can put an end to, and will if we see the consequences and make sacrifices -- and North says we owe everyone an apology?
OK, Dear World. We're really, really sorry we give douchebags the right to vote, the right to buy our media, the right to run for elected office. But that's what democracy is all about -- putting up with idiots, liars and hypocrites, cuz lynching them is wrong.
Despite it's misleading subtitle, there were no history lessons to be found in The Note: History's Lessons, Part VII. Nor is there anything particularly "Note"worthy, unless of course you count there announcement that Don Rumsfeld is making an un-announced trip to Baghdad.
Digby provides us with a timely history lesson in the form of his exclusive sneak preview of Rick Perlstein's forthcoming book, Nixonland. This episode covers Tricky Dick's welcoming of the uproar surrounding the court martial of Lt. Calley for the Mai Lai massacre as a opportunity for distraction from his dismal approval ratings (hovering around 40 at the time.) Any similarity to the current West Wing resident is apropos, including the refusal to follow White House Counsel John Dean's legal wisdom.
Speaking of John Dean (I sense a theme this week), quite by accident of clicking on my site meter, I found Liberas' excellent examination of the complete lack of historical knowledge possessed by Lindsay Graham and the rest of the Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee who grilled Dean about Watergate and showed just how little they know about what brought the last imperial president to disgrace.
For whomever wants to debunk the revisionist history surrounding who outed who to whom, when whoever wanted to open up Who's Who would discover the secret identities of not only Valerie Plame, but also Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, and Peter Parker; read Emptywheel's outstanding point-by-point analysis who said what to whom and whose story doesn't add up.
Saddly, the fact that The Coultergeist's column is being dropped by some newspapers doesn't necessarily mean she's history -- but since Mom told me that there are no ponies in Santa's Who's Who (I guess that's what he calls his list of naughty and nice kids), I'm holding out for a new puppy at the very least.
The President, with the sweep of a pen, has gotten rid of the Legislature's requirement for oversight of Coast Guard contractors.
Just another one of hundreds of similar "signing statements," wherein the President chooses which laws he will follow...and which he will ignore.
I produced this 30-second Internet video to promote Paul Hodes for Congress (NH-02). Paul is one of the DailyKos "Netroots Endorsed" candidates. Visit his website and find out more.
Who died and left the grown-ups in charge?
Halliburton's contract cancelled and opened up to a real bidding process? (Still no word on what they did with all the money that came up missing -- and they get to bid too.)
Bush promoting actual diplomacy with North Korea? (Which he sucks at, but at least he's giving it the old college try.)
Detainees from the War on Terror getting humane treatment guaranteed by the Geneva Convention? (Sort of.)
Wow, the Bushites must be terrified of losing one of the houses of Congress. They'll do anything to stay in power -- even the right thing on occasion.
Did you know that the White House employs someone in a position called the White House Director of Lessons Learned? Yeah. And it also has people in following positions: one Director of Fact Checking and two Ethics Advisors. US taxpayers pay these people nearly $370 thousand per year to do hold these job titles. Bwhahaha!
And (like Rahm Emmanuel said): "They must be the only people in Washington who get more vacation time than the President. Maybe the White House could consolidate these positions into a Director of Irony."
Ezra Klein explains that the problem isn't angry lawyers -- the problem is sloppy doctors. And now Sens. Clinton and Obama have offered a solution.
First, some facts:
(Click below the fold to read the Keith Olbermann interview of John Dean.)
Amazon:
...Dean takes a sincere, well-considered look at how conservative politics in the U.S. is veering dangerously close to authoritarianism, offering a penetrating and highly disturbing portrait of many of the major players in Republican politics and power.
Unclaimed Territory - by Glenn Greenwald: Prominent right-wing blogger today calls for the murder of Supreme Court Justices - the Right fails to condemn it
Go ahead, click it. It's a good read even if it didn't out the blogfather of the lynch mob mentality embraced by right-wing blogistan.
Nor did they condemn another prominent right-wing blogger, Dean Esmay, when he presciently called for the hanging of NYT reporters way back in December, long before the johnny-came-lately noose advocates like Misha did so.Misha is of course the clever owner of Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler who did a riff on that Oh, so funny T-shirt calling for the hanging of journalist by quipping:
Try doing anything to those mutilating darlings of the Supremes in order to extract life-saving intel from them, and then wait for the Supreme Whores to decide that you were “humiliating” them in doing so.Last I heard, threatening or advocating the murder of a federal official like a Supreme Court Justice was the crime -- not the issuing of a judicial opinion, or writing an article, that you don't agree with.
Five ropes, five robes, five trees.
Some assembly required.
I guess it's okay as long as it doesn't hurt Bush's poll numbers.
Terrorists hit Bombay, hundreds are killed and injured -- yet all the right-wing apologists are thinking is, "Will this hurt George W. Bush?"
Priceless.
He had a pretty brief career although his legacy was substantial. No one really knew the nature of his mental illness (I've heard schizophrenia and even Asberger's). His mates loved him and took care of him for the rest of his life, faithfully sending the royalty checks.
And maybe he found some peace at the end, maybe not.
[In later years,] he reverted to his real name, Roger Barrett, and spent much of the rest of his life living quietly in his hometown of Cambridge, England. Moving into his mother's suburban house, he passed the time painting and tending the garden...He was a familiar figure to neighbors, often seen cycling or walking to the corner store...
Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way
Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
And you are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun
The deficit will for budget year ending Sept. 30 will register $296 billion, under a new White House estimate released Tuesday.
That works out to $1,000 for every man, woman and child in the USA. This year.
So...all you adults -- pay up right now and include the money your kids owe. Or, if you prefer, you can just have your kids pay the whole thing.
It's the American way!
P.S. You also have the option of selling that debt to unspecified Chinese bankers.
P.P.S. What's that you say? You want another tax cut? Bwahahahahaha! You're kidding right? Well, all right then. Why don't we just cut taxes to zero and borrow the entire cost of running the government from those Chinese bankers?
UPDATE: Here's the top five largest budget deficits in American history:
- 2004 (George W. Bush) $413 billion
- 2003 (George W. Bush) $378 billion
- 2005 (George W. Bush) $318 billion
- 2006 (George W. Bush) $296 billion (projected)
- 1992 (George H. W. Bush) $290 billion
Go ahead -- make my day. Tell me that $1.4 trillion in accumlated deficits is better than it looks. You know what I'm talking about: Republican knuckleheads who point out that "the economy is humming along." Hell, you'd hum along too if you had a credit card with no spending limit and no due date for paying it back. Woo hoo! We're humming along, baby!
Please take a moment today and contact your Senators about HR 810, the single most important piece of stem cell legislation before Congress.
From StemPAC:
This is the one that would rescind President Bush's draconian restrictions on stem cell research. This is the one that has (miraculously) already passed the House. If it is passed in the Senate, it either will become law -- or force President Bush to issue his first veto.The Senate is slated to vote on this bill this week -- perhaps even as early as tomorrow. So you must take action on this today.
Here's a StemPAC video about the bill (The transcript of the video is below, as well as links to call your Senator to urge their support...)
Please continue below...
...is a winner:
I guess I never gave it much thought, but there are plenty of gay people who still happily support Bush and the Republicans. Mary Cheney is just the most prominent, but she isn't the only one.
Here's a "a right- of-center, gun-owning, gay Texan" who has no real qualms about supporting Bush and the Republicans -- and why not? Check out how he frames the argument:
[U]nder the Republicans, I live and prosper, blog on the Internet and carry a .45 caliber Glock. Under the Islamofacists, whose aims the Democrats seem unwilling to frustrate, I'd get the scythe. "Kill them before they kill us" is the Republican posture. As a gay man, I'm straight up with that.Gosh -- when you put it that way, who wouldn't agree with you?
P.S. IIRC, back in the 50's they used say, "Better dead than Red." It's weird how we've come full circle.
[Ohio Gov.] Taft announced this week that state revenues were higher than expected and spending was lower than expected. The state ended fiscal 2006 on June 30 with a $900 million surplus, allowing Taft to order an 8.4 percent reduction in tax withholding, effective Oct. 1.Politicians LOOOOOOVE to hand out money during an election year. And even though Taft is not on the ballot, the Republican party must be pleased that he is boosting the image of the GOP as tax-cutters.
The Democrats response?
(Cross-posted at Daily Kos)
If you've been paying attention, you know that Karl Rove recently gave a speech wherein he referred to stem-cell research as "embryo farming." I'm sure he chose that term after carefully determining that Republicans gave more money when that headline slapped them in the face upon opening the latest Republican fund-raising letter.
I think it would be a mistake for Democrats to respond to that kind of crap, but more on that in a moment.
The $100 million blockbuster benchmark came about during the 1980s. For a film to gross $100 million in 1980, it had to sell 37 million tickets at the average price of $2.69. At today's average price of $6.41, selling 37 million tickets amounts to $238 million.Well, there's also the fact that movies have become more expensive to produce -- now, you have to sell 3 million tickets just to recoup the cost of Adam Sandler's salary.Given that, BoxOfficeMojo. com's Brandon Gray said $200 million is a more accurate threshold for blockbuster status. And by that measure, 2006 is shaping up to be the worst year for blockbusters in a half-decade.
But it all pales against the bottom line: Only about 15% of the studio's revenues come from domestic box-office receipts. The rest come from foreign receipts, DVDs, merchandising, and (someday soon) Internet downloads. Fact is, today's theater-release is just a gigantic ad for all the rest of it. Eventually, "blockbusters" will play on opening night and for a few days after. Then they'll be gone, replaced by the next movie in the queue. All in all, it's not a great time to be a theater owner. Many movie theaters have fallen on hard times, or have gone belly-up, or have sold out to the large national chains.
Right-wingers desperate to intimidate the press have accused the New York Times of treason for publishing details of a terror investigation -- ignoring the fact that everything significant about that operation has been known for years.They'll do anything to change the subject away from a discussion of Bush's disastrous war in Iraq.
UPDATE: John Amato and Glenn Greenwald want to know why all the Bush loyalists are celebrating the unauthorized leak to the Daily News of the FBI's arrests of alleged terrorists who were talking in Internet chat rooms about blowing up the Holland Tunnel.
No, he didn't do it in one single trade. This is more impressive:
As reported in earlier editions, Kyle, who for now calls Montreal home, began by swapping a red paperclip for a fish pen; the pen for a door- knob; the doorknob for a camping stove, and so on, and most recently has been offering a speaking role in an upcoming movie, "Donna On Demand".(HT to Cory)
ABC is talking about employing a technology that would prevent DVR owners from doing what they presumably bought the device for: skipping commercials.
Can you imagine anyone buying a DVR that didn't have a fast-forward button? This is a great example of a lose-lose proposition. When will they ever learn?
(HT to Xeni)
Because it's not about the war. Or moderation. Or ideology at all. It's about partisanship.The lines are brightly drawn, but in unexpected places. You can support the President's war, but you can't protect him from criticism. You can vote with Republicans, but you can't undermine Democrats. You can be a hawk, but you can't deride doves.
The politics here are tribal, and Lieberman's developed too severe a crush on the neighboring chieftain to participate. I've tried to explain why that may be -- he gropes towards praise and recognition, and receives both more readily from the right -- but pop psychology isn't quite the point. And nor is ideology. Or the war.
For all the mockery Bush received, his assertion that "you're either with us or against us" was more widely applicable than he realized. Lieberman's actions convinced liberals that he didn't merely disagree with them, or fear the political ramifications of their positions, but that he was actively against them. And while they can withstand an impressive amount of disagreement, they won't stand for dislike.
This article caused a minor sensation when I brought it home for Miss Julie to read.
If you're married, read it. Then (most definitely) show it to your spouse.
If you're not married, well...run like the wind!
[crickets]
Just kidding.
Governor Brian Schweitzer of Montana writes a short piece on clean coal technologies.
I produced this 30-sec. Internet video to promote Linda Stender's campaign in the New Jersey 7th.
I've watched a lot of television cartoon shows in my time. No, I didn't watch Scooby-Doo, but I did watch Augie Doggie (and Doggy Daddy). And these days, I'm watching Sponge Bob as well as Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.
But nothing ever topped Ren & Stimpy. Eye-popping, gross, super-fast-paced, and subversive -- just what you want in a cartoon for kids AND adults. John Kricfalusi's cat and chihuahua were pure, twisted genius.
Here's the intro with that unforgettable music.
It is huge (104 acres -- almost as large as the Vatican), expensive ($592 million) and is surrounded by fifteen-foot-thick walls.
It is the American Embassy being built in Baghdad.
We can all rest easy:
Do you think Gore is right on global warming?Somebody call Gore -- he can stand down now.
I think we have a problem on global warming. I think there is a debate about whether it's caused by mankind or whether it's caused naturally, but it's a worthy debate. It's a debate, actually, that I'm in the process of solving by advancing new technologies, burning coal cleanly in electric plants, or promoting hydrogen-powered automobiles, or advancing ethanol as an alternative to gasoline.
I can't believe that some people still think it's worth the bandwidth arguing about evolution vs. intelligent design.
Whatever.
For me, that whole mortifyingly stupid "debate" is rendered completely irrelevant by the simple but direct observations of Eric Cornell:
Science isn't about knowing the mind of God; it's about understanding nature and the reasons for things. The thrill is that our ignorance exceeds our knowledge; the exciting part is what we don't understand yet.Intelligent design is just one symptom of a culture that increasingly rejects science in favor of faith -- and in that way there is less and less of a distinction between us and the fundamentalist movement we say we're fighting in the war on terror.If you want to recruit the future generation of scientists, you don't draw a box around all our scientific understanding to date and say, "Everything outside this box we can explain only by invoking God's will."
...For science, intelligent design is a dead-end idea.
If our nation is to compete effectively with the likes of China and India in the 21st century, we would do well to get focused right now -- study science in science class and leave intelligent design for the comparative religions classroom.
For God's sake (yes, you heard me) don't mix the two together in the classroom.
P.S. Read more about Eric Cornell and the work he's done. It's interesting stuff.
I produced this 30-sec. Internet video to promote Jerry McNerney's campaign in the California 11th. He is challenging Richard Pombo. He's leading Pombo in the polls (46 to 42 percent, according to Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research) but he'll need your support to send Pombo and his Big Oil buddies packing.
I did this video on my own because I wanted to illustrate a simple formula that I've been preaching about for weeks:
- Bush = Bad
- Republican Incumbent = Bush
Therefore...
- Republican Incumbent = Bad.
- Had Enough?
- Vote for Change, Vote Democratic, Vote for McNerney
All I ask? Just let me know if you use it.
P.S. I did one of these for Nancy Skinner's campaign (MI-09) last week...
Click the image to find out more.
Ken Lay is dead of a heart attack at 64.
Condolences to the family.
P.S. Send Cheney to the funeral!
Report: CIA unit that hunted bin Laden closed
I don't believe that for a minute.
I think this is disinformation designed to fool that wascally wabbit into thinking we've given up. Just wait -- he'll pop his head out of the hole and -- BAM! -- wabbit fwicassee.
George W. Bush -- as crafty and devious a genius as we've ever seen.
This is an example of why "majority rule" is such a bad idea -- so bad, in fact, that the Founders wrote the Bill of Rights to protect the people against it:
A large Delaware school district promoted Christianity so aggressively that a Jewish family felt it necessary to move to Wilmington, two hours away, because they feared retaliation for filing a lawsuit. The religion (if any) of a second family in the lawsuit is not known, because they're suing as Jane and John Doe; they also fear retaliation. Both families are asking relief from "state-sponsored religion."This is one of those must-read stories.
Wikipedia:
The original lyric for this perennial George M. Cohan favorite came, as Cohan later explained, from an encounter he had with a Civil War veteran who fought at Gettysburg. The two men found themselves next to each other and Cohan noticed the vet held a carefully folded but ragged old flag. The man reportedly then turned to Cohan and said, "She's a grand old rag." Cohan thought it was a great line and originally named his tune "You're a Grand Old Rag." So many groups and individuals objected to calling the flag a "rag," however, that he "gave 'em what they wanted" and switched words, renaming the song "You're a Grand Old Flag."Click the link below and you can hear one of the earliest recorded versions of this song as performed by Billy Murray and recorded February 6, 1906.
UPDATE (and HT to Cory): ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive director Stephen Worth sez,
[Billy] Murray actually did do cartoon voices. He was the original voice of Bimbo in the Max Fleischer Talkartoons, and his voice is featured in quite a few Bouncing Ball cartoons. We have one of them posted on the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Project Blog. Mariutch (1930).
Karl Rove wants us to know that he loves Teddy Roosevelt. He even tells us the lessons that we should learn from the 26th President.
Yeah, whatever.
Bruce Reed ain't buyin it:
Rove tries hard to portray TR with the official White House talking points about Bush: character, leadership, animated by big ideas, "makes ardent friends and bitter enemies."And Roosevelt didn't trash the Constitution in his drive to seize absolute power.But as even Rove must realize, that moose won't hunt. Roosevelt is consequential for all the reasons Bush is not: Unlike the current president, TR stood up for the common man, took on established interests, and showed a boundless energy for solving the nation's problems.
And Teddy Roosevelt could actually, you know, ride a horse. I mean think about it: Did you EVER see Bush, the famous Texas cowboy, on a horse? Ever?
Here are the ten "most read posts" at EPU during the month of June, 2006:
- Intelligent Design: "The sky is blue because God wants it that way." (11/05)
- Dad Gave Me The Keys (Mark Adams) (04/06)
- Top Ten Chuck Norris Facts (12/05)
- What does leadership mean? (03/04)
- Movie trailer mash-ups (02/06)
- The problem with humanitarians (06/06)
- Scary pictures of Gore and Bush: Which one is worse? (05/04)
- How (and why) does anyone defend Ann Coulter? (06/06)
- For Mark Adams: Why Jeffrey Goldberg makes sense to me (06/06)
- War is over if you want it (06/06)
Read the Declaration of Independence today, aloud. It is, after all, a declaration, right?
You might be surprised at how inspirational it is when you hear the spoken words.
Part-time serial plagiarist and constant shrieking she-bitch, the God-forsaken Ann Coulter really has it coming.
No, not harassment, stalkers or threats like those advocated by her wingnut comrades; but since her book sales are bolstered by below-cost discounting and her web-site is suffering a downward trend in hits despite her all-out promotional campaign, I thought I'd help ease her slowly to the perdition of irrelevancy.
You can too, it's easy! I tried it and found it very rewarding, non-fattening, probably legal and no where near as malicious as the things she promotes.
Next time you're in a book store, or some supermarket with a couple of racks of the latest bestsellers, and you see her anorexic mug sneering at you -- turn her book around.
I got carried away to be sure, but it was truly fun turn her upside-down, backwards and then put a copy of Al Franken's The Truth (with jokes) in front of each of her stacks.
Alas they didn't have MarKOS's Crashing The Gates, or Glenn Greenwald's What Would A Patriot Do where I was shopping, but the bookstore chains that carry those have Ann in her own display set-up which would make it much harder to play the prank. However, in a supermarket she could be sitting there getting dusty for months before some stock-boy sets her straight.
In fact, if we keep it up, those stock-boys could be getting a minimum wage raise before Coulter's books get sold off those shelves.
You don't have to wait 'til later to take names when you're kicking ass. We can do both simultaneously.
In calling on the President to be even more aggressive against our enemies, but scrupulously upholding the fundamental tenants of our society, Andrew Sullivan wrote:
So let us fight by using our strengths - an executive whose errors are subject to checks from both judiciary and legislature and a free, robust press. That's a democracy's advantage in wartime over dictatorships - an openness to internal criticism and thereby correction. The results of one man deciding everything are already evident in the shambles of the Iraq invasion. We are better than that - and it befuddles me to see how little faith some 'conservatives' now have in the procedures of constitutional democracy.
Bush took an oath to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution -- not the American people or the country itself. There's a reason for that, an oath to protect an abstract concept instead of tangible citizens and land.
Lord knows that this administration has time and time again gone overboard protecting the prerogatives of abstract conceptual entities like corporations.
The Hamden case reinforces the rationale of swearing an oath to a document. As long as the President holds sacred the integrity of the Constitution, the rest of us -- We the People, and the other Constitutional institutions we've created will take care of ourselves. And if POTUS doesn't take care of the constitution, we'll take care of him too, Constitutionally.
Glenn Greenwald informs us that Michelle Malkin has incited her hoards to unleash a Fatwa to "hunt" down the children of NY Times reporters, photographers, editors and publisher. Really!
Let's start with the following New York Times reporters and editors: Arthur "Pinch" Sulzberger Jr. , Bill Keller, Eric Lichtblau, and James Risen. Do you have an idea where they live?
Go hunt them down and do America a favor. Get their photo, street address, where their kids go to school, anything you can dig up, and send it to the link above. This is your chance to be famous - grab for the golden ring.
Ahh that funny guy Denny K.
Location:Illinois, United StatesGod help us. All those years of government experience and he doesn't have the first clue how this country is supposed to work.
Worked in government for 25 years, elected to a number of public and party offices, currently teaching Political Science at the college level. Every member of my family came to this country legally.
The General caught on to the change in the language from "hunt" to "find" (or was it "track?" ) but really, what's the difference to this unhinged type of maniac?
I want to point to the honorable way Joe Fish of Democratic Veteran handled this when he was sucked into the pissing match with these ridiculous skunks who would post such garbage:
(But wait! Really I do have a point)
I produced this 30-sec. Internet video for Nancy Skinner's campaign in the Michigan 9th. She is challenging Joe Knollenberg. The MI-9 has been steadily trending Democratic, Kerry got 49% of the vote, Senator Levin carried the district in 2002 and Governor Granholm also got 50% of the vote.
I did this video on my own because I wanted to illustrate a simple formula that I've been preaching about for weeks:
- Bush = Bad
- Republican Incumbent = Bush
Therefore...
- Republican Incumbent = Bad.
- Had Enough?
- Vote for Change, Vote Democratic, Vote for Skinner
All I ask? Just let me know if you use it.
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