Drinking Liberally®

Kudos to Bob Woodward for getting back to doing what he does best, revealing corrupt Presidents. Woodward is no partisan hack. His new book, State of Denial, is creating a firestorm because of the mere fact that he is a respected journalist and his inside knowledge of the current administration is taken very seriously. But of course, to us non-Kool-Aid drinkers, Woodward is not telling us anything we didn't already know. Read all about it in this Slate.com article:

Bush vs. Woodward
Only one reputation can survive.
By John Dickerson
Posted Friday, Sept. 29, 2006, at 6:39 PM ET

Bob Woodward's 2002 book Bush at War portrayed the president in such a heroic light that the Republican National Committee promoted it on their Web site. But Woodward's third Bush book, State of Denial, should probably be for sale on the DNC's Web site. Or perhaps Democrats will just hand it out at campaign rallies.

The book doesn't officially come out until Monday, but the storm that attends any Woodward publication is already upon us. An excerpt from Woodward's 60 Minutes interview has been released. The New York Times did a speed-read of a copy they were nimble enough to get early, and the Washington Post started its multiday coverage. (By the end of Friday, State of Denial was No. 1 on Amazon.)

The disclosures so far have been devastating. The book paints the administration as clueless, dishonest, and dysfunctional. The behind-the-scenes anecdotes are irresistible. Laura Bush telling her husband he should fire Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Vice President Cheney pushing aides to call the chief weapons inspector in the middle of the night with coordinates for a site in Syria that might have those elusive weapons. Secret White House visits by Henry Kissinger. Bush having to tell Rumsfeld to return Condoleezza Rice's calls. Memos describing Rumsfeld's "rubber glove syndrome"—he didn't want to leave fingerprints on decisions.

Read the rest of the article here: http://www.slate.com/id/2150601

Posted by Maria at 12:30 AM | Comments (5)

Update on the breaking XXX SEX scandal of GOP (soon to be former) Congressman Foley of Florida. What is it about Florida and Texas republican hypocrites, anyway? They've always had adulterers in the highest ranks of their party and looked the other way. This is another animal altogether. Consentual sex between a former President and an adult intern was an impeachable offense for the craven Repugs--and the so-called Liberal media jumped on it like junkyard dogs. Let's see how this one plays out in the gay bashing (pedophila has nothing to do with being gay, BTW) Red States. From Brian Ross at ABC news

They say he used the screen name Maf54 on these messages provided to ABC News.

Maf54: You in your boxers, too? Teen: Nope, just got home. I had a college interview that went late. Maf54: Well, strip down and get relaxed.

Another message:

Maf54: What ya wearing?
Teen: tshirt and shorts
Maf54: Love to slip them off of you.

And this one:

Maf54: Do I make you a little horny?
Teen: A little.
Maf54: Cool.

The language gets much more graphic, too graphic to be broadcast, and at one point the congressman appears to be describing Internet sex.

Stay tuned, Liberals. I get the feeling the GOP has completely lost its moorings.

Posted by vicki at 07:24 PM | Comments (1)

Jeepers H. Christmas! What is up with these "family values" freaks in the GOP? ABC News broke this story.

Saying he was "deeply sorry," Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL) resigned from Congress today, hours after ABC News questioned him about sexually explicit internet messages with current and former congressional pages under the age of 18.

A spokesman for Foley, the chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children, said the congressman submitted his resignation in a letter late this afternoon to Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert.

Hours earlier, ABC News had read excerpts of instant messages provided by former male pages who said the congressman, under the AOL Instant Messenger screen name Maf54, made repeated references to sexual organs and acts.

Posted by vicki at 06:19 PM

UnStinkingBelievable. These twisted Republicans keep approving one lawless piece of legislation after another to appease the Worst. Preznit. Ever. They think they can wrap everything in a false "war on terra" package and a quivering, cowardly public will buy it. That may play to their cowardly base, but this country is not the bunch of pussies these jerks in Congress think we are.

By LAURIE KELLMAN
http://apnews.myway.com//article/20060929/D8KE8V500.html

WASHINGTON (AP) - The House approved a bill Thursday that would grant legal
status to President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program with new
restrictions. Republicans called it a test before the election of whether
Democrats want to fight or coddle terrorists.

"The Democrats' irrational opposition to strong national security policies
that help keep our nation secure should be of great concern to the American
people," Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said in a statement after the
bill passed 232-191.

"To always have reasons why you just can't vote 'yes,' I think speaks
volumes when it comes to which party is better able and more willing to take
on the terrorists and defeat them," Boehner said.

Democrats shot back that the war on terrorism shouldn't be fought at the
expense of civil and human rights. The bill approved by the House, they
argued, gives the president too much power and leaves the law vulnerable to
being overturned by a court.

"It is ceding the president's argument that Congress doesn't matter in this
area," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.

Posted by vicki at 01:58 PM | Comments (2)

This is from the Metro Democratic Club.

Are you Fed Up? Sick and Tired?

Have you Had Enough?

Then you need to come to the Louisville Democrats "Had Enough?" Rally!

featuring

♦ John Yarmuth, Jerry Abramson, and all the Democratic candidates ♦

♦ Music by the Singing Dems and local musicians ♦

♦ Video clips to jeer and cheer ♦

and

♦ Other special guests you won't want to miss! ♦

This is the Last Big Rally Before the Election!

Make your plans now!

Wednesday, October 11th

UAW Hall -- 3000 Fern Valley Road

Socializing and refreshments begin at 5:45 PM

Rally begins at 6:30 PM

Cosponsored by the Metro Democractic Club and the Louisville / Jefferson County Democratic Party

Be there or be Republican!

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Have you had enough? Want to sing about it?

Then you need to join the Louisville Singing Dems!

We're looking for more singers for our big performance at the Had-Enough Rally

on Wednesday, October 11th.

Two practices: Saturday, October 7, at 9 AM and Tuesday, October 10, at 7 PM

If interested, email Bruce Maples at bmaples@insightbb.com

Posted by Maria at 01:27 PM

Russ Anderson, of The Nation writes a brilliant opinion piece that you're sure to appreciate. Click the link to read every precious word. No more defense on this issue!

Let no one deny we are patriots. We love our country, we hold dear the values upon which our nation was founded, and we are distressed at what our President, his Administration, and our Congress are doing to, and in the name of, our great nation.

Blind faith in bad leaders is not patriotism.

A patriot does not tell people who are intensely concerned about their country to just sit down and be quiet; to refrain from speaking out in the name of politeness or for the sake of being a good host; to show slavish, blind obedience and deference to a dishonest, war-mongering, human-rights-violating President.

That is not a patriot. Rather, that person is a sycophant. That person is a member of a frightening culture of obedience--a culture where falling in line with authority is more important than choosing what is right, even if it is not easy, safe, or popular. And, I suspect, that person is afraid--afraid we are right, afraid of the truth (even to the point of denying it), afraid he or she has put in with an oppressive, inhumane regime that does not respect the laws and traditions of our country, and that history will rank as the worst presidency our nation has ever had to endure.

Posted by vicki at 10:58 AM | Comments (1)

Wrong!

UPDATE: 34 shameful Dems joined 219 Repugs to vote this rot into law. Shame! It now goes to the Senate

At least for now, it seems like Mitch McConnell and Anne Northup won't get their illegal prisoner detentiion bill or Bu$h's illegal wire tap program passed before Congres takes yet another long break from its duties. How fitting. From Salon.com

The Washington Post reports that "a high-profile Republican effort to clarify the legality of President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program will almost certainly not pass before Congress recesses at week's end for the fall campaign, leaving the legislation in deep trouble, congressional leaders conceded yesterday." Similarly, the New York Times says that congressional leaders were "all but giving up hope of agreeing on a final bill to authorize the administration's eavesdropping program."

By all accounts, enacting legislation to provide legal cover for the president's plainly illegal warrantless eavesdropping program was one of the highest priorities for the White House this year. Both the president and the vice president personally negotiated their preferred bill with Sen. Arlen Specter. And the decision by federal District Court Judge Anna Diggs Taylor earlier this year underscored the very serious legal jeopardy to which administration officials could be subjected as a result of their deliberate, and ongoing, violations of the criminal law.

At a time when substantive victories in Washington are rare, the failure of Congress to enact legislation authorizing warrantless eavesdropping -- thereby ensuring the continuation of the National Security Agency scandal, enabling various lawsuits challenging the legality of the president's actions to proceed, and virtually assuring full-scale investigations if Democrats take over one or both houses -- is significant.

Posted by vicki at 10:16 AM

Our DLers are talented, creative people. Our Opera Star and Jazz singer, Lucy just had a full house for her new CD debut. click here Now our buddy Mike Bailey has a great post up at The Daily Kos (founder, Markos, and author of "Crashing The Gates" visited Louisville DL this summer) Check it out here:

Funny man DLer Matt and his friend John have a must see/hear site that's full of great political humor and just plain high-larity. In the latest episode of The Matt and John Show, they interview DLer and former 3rd district Congressional candidate, Jimmy More. It's awesome. Click here and let the fun begin. Then bookmark it. DL is the gift that keeps on giving.

Posted by vicki at 09:17 PM

Where the hell are the leading Dems on this? They should be shouting from the rooftops every minute of the day in front of the cameras over this torture legislation. Since the press won't cover their Iraq hearings, they need to get out in front of this story some other way. much more here.

The Bush administration's deal with Senate Republicans over detainee treatment drew protests Monday from former diplomats, lawyers and a GOP committee chairman.

"They oppose a provision that would strip federal courts of jurisdiction over cases in which detainees have not been charged with war crimes. The effect, said those opposed, would be to deny terrorism suspects the ability to challenge their detainment, a right afforded defendants in military and criminal courts. . . .

"Thirty-three former diplomats, New York-area lawyers and even Kenneth Starr, the special prosecutor who investigated President Clinton, said in letters to lawmakers that the bill as written would undermine the United States' credibility as it wages war on terrorists." (AP)

Posted by vicki at 12:46 PM | Comments (2)

Good for Crooks and Liars! Last night on Countdown, (MSNBC, channel 45) Keith Olberman unloaded on the pro-Bu$h lunatics who want to trash the Constitution, write torture into law and spy on innocent citizens without legally required warrents. See the excellent video here Had enough?

Posted by vicki at 09:53 AM | Comments (1)

Former Presiden, Bill Clintont spoiled Chris Wallace's (of Fux Newz) attempt to Punk him. Crooks and Liars has the video here. Mike Wallace must be SO proud of his sleazy son.

Posted by vicki at 01:55 PM | Comments (5)

Hahahahahahahahaha. That girl cannot stop making an ass of herself. Here's the latest from Girl Gone Wild! Her dishonesty and deceptions continue on the front page of this Michagan student paper:Michigan Daily

Morgan Wilkins will not make out with you if you recruit 10 volunteers for Republican campaign efforts.

Wilkins - a field organizer dispatched to Michigan to rally college students - created a group on Facebook.com promising to make out with anyone who brought her 10 volunteers.

Wilkins, a student at the University of Louisville, said the group was a joke. [editorial comment: in fact, everything about her is a joke]

The College Republican National Committee wasn't amused. The organization fired her on Friday.

The creation of the Facebook group was the final straw for the CRNC. The national committee put Wilkins on probation on Sept. 12 when she told The Michigan Daily that she wanted to plan recruiting events where participants would shoot BB guns at cardboard cutouts of Democratic leaders like John Kerry and try to catch someone posing as an illegal immigrant.

The suggestions prompted an outcry from both Republicans and Democrats, including the University chapters of the College Republicans and College Democrats. Republican National Committee Chair Ken Mehlman and Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean also condemned Wilkins's ideas.

Wilkins's superiors banned her from working on the University campus when she held up a sign at a Sept. 17 rally on the Diag for Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) that said "Debbie kills babies" - a reference to Stabenow's support for abortion rights.

In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Wilkins said her experiences have strengthened her anti-abortion stance. She got pregnant at age 15. Wilkins said she could have ended the pregnancy for $500.

Posted by vicki at 11:28 AM | Comments (3)

I don't know whom I'm angrier with--the Courier-Journal or John Yarmuth. After Northup slimed Yarmuth in the press and in an ad blitz on Friday, Yarmuth's lack of responseis is bizarre. The press couldn't even track him down on Friday and he didn't return cell phone messages from reporters asking for a response. What the...

In today's paper under the headline, Northup's ads distort positions, Yarmuth says Yarmuth gives another tepid response. What I find even more outrageous though, is the fact that most of the article was all about Anne. It describes her campaign activities extensively, quotes her campaign manager and describes the content of fliers her campaign was handing out. It gets worse. To the side of the article it lists Northup's website and invites readers to watch her attack ads on the web. Yarmuth got nothing. No website is listed and no mention of his own ads whatsoever. This kind of blatant bias is inexcusable. See it for yourself hereand try to keep your head from exploding.

Posted by vicki at 01:32 PM | Comments (2)

It's no surprise that Anne Northup has turned on the sleaze in her campaign to smear John Yarmuth. After all, if you had a voting record as disasterous as hers would you want to talk about it? Of course not! She supported the Terri Shiavo intervention, privatizing Social Security, the draconian bankruptcy law and backed taxpayer givaways to Defense contractors, Big Oil and Big Pharma. Then there's the BIG ONE--the Iraq Invasion. Northup is attempting a laughable game of slamming John Yarmuth's "record." Here's a news flash for you, Anne! Writing a column where ideas are tossed around is not the same as voting in Congress, where real laws effect real people. Nobody ever died from a Yarmuth column. Being a rubber stamp for the many disasterous Bu$h decisions has left thousands dead, sick, injured and uninsured. From today's C-J

U.S. Rep. Anne Northup unleashed a multimedia barrage yesterday attacking Democratic opponent John Yarmuth for "goofy" ideas she says he's expressed, such as abolishing Social Security and legalizing marijuana.

But Yarmuth's campaign called Northup's charges "ludicrous," saying they were based on "innuendo, taking things out of context," some dredged from newspaper columns Yarmuth wrote years ago and that no longer reflect his views.

"He knows where he wants to take this country," Yarmuth's campaign manager, Jason Burke, said in a hastily called news conference yesterday. "There is a very clear choice between both of these candidates."

Northup's campaign unveiled a new television and radio ad, plus a new Web site devoted solely to positions Yarmuth expressed during the Democratic primary campaign and in columns for LEO, the weekly newspaper he founded.
. . .
In the Democratic primary campaign, Yarmuth suggested a doubling of the payroll tax for employers and employees to fund universal health care, eliminating private health insurance, although his full quote from a debate was that "it's estimated that by doubling the employee payroll tax, and the employer contribution, that we can make Medicare solvent into the foreseeable future." [my bold]

On taxing SUVs and pickup trucks, Burke said Yarmuth believes that increase in taxes would be used as a rebate or incentive for people buying fuel-efficient vehicles.
. . .
Northup's campaign cited a 2002 column in which Yarmuth said lowering the drinking age to 18 "is something we should consider, even though I realize there probably aren't five politicians in America with the courage to propose such a thing."

Burke said Yarmuth enjoyed sharing a pint of beer in Ireland with his 18-year-old son and expressed it would be nice to do that in the United States, but that Yarmuth was not for lowering the drinking age.

Reporter Kay Stewart can be reached at (502) 582-4114.

Posted by vicki at 02:38 PM | Comments (2)

Our so-called "Liberal" media is still ducking its responsibility to report accurately on this story. Giving the WH take on the torture legislation and interviewing a mushy headed Dem is not balance. How 'bout this novel idea: Just report the facts! The partisan Supreme Court has twice told the WH and Congress that holding prisoners without charges is illegal. The Geneva Conventions do not permit torture. There IS no other side to this story.

The ACLU weighs in with this: The following may be attributed to Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office: Click to read more.

WASHINGTON - Following announcements that an agreement has been reached between the White House and Senators John Warner (R-VA), John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on military commissions, the American Civil Liberties Union today said the compromise agreement does not protect due process, fails to meet international treaty obligations and urged lawmakers to reject the deal.

"This is a compromise of America’s commitment to the rule of law. The proposal would make the core protections of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions irrelevant and unenforceable. It deliberately provides a ‘get out of jail free card’ to the administration’s top torture officials, and backdates that card nine years. These are tactics expected of repressive regimes, not the American government.

"Also under the proposal, the president would have the authority to declare what is - and what is not - a grave breach of the War Crimes Act, making the president his own judge and jury. This provision would give him unilateral authority to declare certain torture and abuse legal and sound. In a telling move, during a call with reporters today, National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley would not even answer a question about whether waterboarding would be permitted under the agreement.

Posted by vicki at 11:49 AM

Finally! A publication has had it with the pious "centrism" blowhards such as David Broder and GOP political operatives keep pushing the Dems toward. It's NOT centrist to sit back and watch your country implode. If politicians don't get it that we, as a country, should be mad as hell over the direction the GOP has taken us, then they deserve nothing but contempt and scorn. There is nothing "radical" or "extreme" in being alarmed that we've been lied into a war and and that the U.S. is openly advocating torture. It's already well known that we've tortured and even killed innocent captives. Bravo, American Prospect!

THE SILENT PARTY. You worthless passel of cowards. They're laughing at you. You know that, right?

The national Democratic Party is no longer worth the cement needed to sink it to the bottom of the sea. For an entire week, it allowed a debate on changing the soul of the country to be conducted intramurally between the Torture Porn and Useful Idiot wings of the Republican Party, the latter best exemplified by John McCain, who keeps fashioning his apparently fathomless ambition into a pair of clown shoes with which he can do the monkey dance across the national stage. They're laughing at him, too.

The New York Times has the right of it here, limning the pathetic gullibility at the heart of the "compromise." There is nothing in this bill that President Thumbscrews can't ignore. There is nothing in this bill that reins in his feckless and dangerous reinterpretation of the powers of his office. There is nothing in this bill that requires him to take it -- or its congressional authors -- seriously. Two weeks ago, John Yoo set down in The New York Times the precise philosophical basis on which the administration will sign this bill and then ignore it. The president will decide what a "lesser breach" of the Geneva Conventions is? How can anyone over the age of five give this president that power? And wait until you see the atrocity that I guarantee you is coming down the tracks concerning the fact that the president committed at least 40 impeachable offenses with regard to illegal wiretapping.

Posted by vicki at 11:25 AM | Comments (2)

The NYTimes correctly notes that the bill the so-called "rebel" GOP Senators have compromised on with the WH has loopholes galore that allow Bu$h to continue his lawlessness and ignore key portions of the Geneva Conventions. The Dems had better take a close look at this, because the wording is important. It used to be the case that we could count on the Supreme Court to act as a check on this kind of legal breach, but no longer. Read the full editorial here.

Here is a way to measure how seriously President Bush was willing to compromise on the military tribunals bill: Less than an hour after an agreement was announced yesterday with three leading Republican senators, the White House was already laying a path to wiggle out of its one real concession.

About the only thing that Senators John Warner, John McCain and Lindsey Graham had to show for their defiance was Mr. Bush’s agreement to drop his insistence on allowing prosecutors of suspected terrorists to introduce classified evidence kept secret from the defendant. The White House agreed to abide by the rules of courts-martial, which bar secret evidence.
. . .
. They will be contained in an executive order that is supposed to be made public, but Mr. Hadley reiterated that specific interrogation techniques will remain secret.

Even before the compromises began to emerge, the overall bill prepared by the three senators had fatal flaws. It allows the president to declare any foreigner, anywhere, an “illegal enemy combatant” using a dangerously broad definition, and detain him without any trial. It not only fails to deal with the fact that many of the Guantánamo detainees are not terrorists and will never be charged, but it also chokes off any judicial review.

The Democrats have largely stood silent and allowed the trio of Republicans to do the lifting. It’s time for them to either try to fix this bill or delay it until after the election.

Posted by vicki at 10:16 AM | Comments (1)

Hoo-boy! Attoney General "Abu" Gonzales can't keep all his lies, errrrr, "stories straight. Gel a load of his latest statements about the innocent Canadian citizen shipped off to Syria to be tortured. in this Read the rest here

Justice Dept. Amends Remark on Torture Case

WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 — In an embarrassing turnabout, the Department of Justice backed away Wednesday from a denial by Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales of responsibility for the treatment of a Canadian who was seized by American authorities in 2002. The man was deported to Syria, where he was imprisoned and beaten.

Atorney General Alberto R. Gonzales disputed Canadian findings that the United States was responsible for deporting an innocent man.

Asked at a news conference on Tuesday about a Canadian commission’s finding that the man, Maher Arar, was wrongly sent to Syria and tortured there, Mr. Gonzales replied, “Well, we were not responsible for his removal to Syria.” He added, “I’m not aware that he was tortured.”

The attorney general’s comments caused puzzlement because they followed front-page news articles of the findings of the Canadian commission. It reported that based on inaccurate information from Canada about Mr. Arar’s supposed terrorist ties, American officials ordered him taken to Syria, an action documented in public records.
. . .
For critics of the Bush administration at home and abroad, the Arar case has become an oft-cited example of both incompetence and brutality in the offensive against terrorism. It is often described as a rendition, the legal term for the seizure of a suspect overseas and delivery to imprisonment and interrogation in another country.
. . .
“The facts speak for themselves, you know,” Mr. Arar said. “The report clearly concluded that I was tortured. And for him to say that he does not know about the case or does not know I was tortured is really outrageous.”

Maria C. LaHood, Mr. Arar’s lawyer at the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York, called Mr. Gonzales’ comments “unbelievable.”

Posted by vicki at 07:41 AM | Comments (1)

Hey gang. You know how DLer Matt used to do stand-up comedy? Well now is your chance! Check his site out here:

The Matt and John Show!

Posted by vicki at 10:18 PM

Check this out! There should be a write-up in LEO out today as well. DL Field trip? Let me know if you want to see them with me.

Together again

The Terry Adams & Steve Ferguson Quartet will perform next Friday at the Clifton Center, 2127 Payne St. (8 p.m., $22).

Posted by vicki at 10:43 AM | Comments (1)

One of the Big Three networks is reporting on a new Documentery out this past weekend titled, "Jesus Camp." This camp aims to radicalize youths for Jesus. They speak in tounges and worship pictures of GW Bu$h. OY! The rise of fundamentalist religious zealots of every stripe should be a concern to us all.

They manipulate their members through fear, propaganda and political radicalism. Here's a snip, but you can check out the whole story here

Sept. 17, 2006 An in-your-face documentary out this weekend is raising eyebrows, raising hackles and raising questions about evangelizing to young people.

Speaking in tongues, weeping for salvation, praying for an end to abortion and worshipping a picture of President Bush these are some of the activities at Pastor Becky Fischer's Bible camp in North Dakota, "Kids on Fire," subject of the provocative new documentary, "Jesus Camp."

"I want to see them as radically laying down their lives for the gospel as they are in Palestine, Pakistan and all those different places," Fisher said. "Because, excuse me, we have the truth."

"A lot of people die for God," one camper said, "and they're not afraid."
"We're kinda being trained to be warriors," said another, "only in a funner way."

The film has caused a split among evangelicals. Some say it's designed to demonize. Others have embraced it, including Fischer, who's helping promote the film. "I never felt at any point that I was exploited," Fischer said. I think there is a push right now in a lot of evangelical churches to definitely keep the teenagers and keep the children in the faith," said Heidi Ewing, co-director of "Jesus Camp." "And this is one version of that attempt."

Posted by vicki at 11:01 AM | Comments (7)

Watch the video here

Posted by vicki at 09:35 AM | Comments (1)

Woo Hoo! Congrats, Lucy! Par-tey!

* Come join the celebration! and bring your friends!
* CD Release Party

7:30 p.m.

Posted by vicki at 04:52 PM

An excerpt of this ran in the Washington Post yesterday, but the Salon.com excerpt was longer and better. Here's a snip: http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2006/09/14/iraq/index.html

Emerald City exposed

Journalist Rajiv Chandrasekaran pulls back the curtain on the Green Zone in Baghdad to reveal the flops and failures of the Bush war team.

Hiring for the CPA staff was handled by the White House liaison at the Pentagon, James O'Beirne, the husband of right-wing pundit Kate O'Beirne. He requested résumés from Republican congressional offices, activist groups and think tanks. "They had to have the right political credentials," said Frederick Smith, the CPA's deputy director in Washington. Senior civil servants were systematically denied positions. Applicants were questioned on their ideological loyalty and their positions on issues like abortion. A youthful contingent whose résumés had been stored in the Heritage Foundation's computer files promptly found jobs and ran rampant in the Green Zone as the "Brat Pack."

Bremer declared a flat tax, a constant Republican dream that Congress could never pass at home. He promulgated the wholesale privatization of state-owned industries, which created instant mass unemployment, without acknowledging any consequences. Peter McPherson, a former Reagan administration official close to Dick Cheney, was flown in to run the Iraqi economy. He stated his belief that looting was accelerating the process of privatization -- "privatization that occurs sort of naturally."

The CPA's Carney wrote a memo to McPherson warning him that his decisions were being made "without adequate Iraqi participation," by a "small group" in the CPA, and incidentally violated the Geneva Convention against seizing "assets of the Iraqi people." Carney soon left the country, having served 90 days. Bremer, in any case, replaced McPherson with Thomas Foley, President Bush's former classmate at Harvard Business School, a big Republican Party donor and a banker. Upon his arrival Foley unveiled his plan for total privatization within 30 days, writes Chandrasekaran. "Tom," a contractor told him, "there are a couple of problems with that. The first is an international law that prevents the sale of assets by an occupation government." "I don't care about any of that stuff," Bush's pal replied. "Let's go have a drink." Soon Foley left, and another man with no previous experience in administering transitional economies replaced him. His name was Michael Fleischer, and he was the brother of Ari Fleischer, Bush's press secretary.

Posted by vicki at 02:54 PM | Comments (3)

I never thought Al Cross was a particularly talented writer, so maybe that is some of what's at play here, (though I doubt it) but just take a look at some of the shocking statements he made in his column on politics today. Click here if you want your head to explode In the first paragraph he seems to be accusing Dems of being "silly" for calling Bu$h out for politicizing 9/11 and then throws Iraq into the mix. Here are some of the most outrageous charges he levels at Dems.

"It was silly of Senate Democrats to complain last week that President Bush had politicized his 9/11 anniversary speech by defending his Iraq policy. Iraq is the country's chief concern, and will probably be the main factor in the fall elections, so Bush could not avoid talking about it. And he had the right to defend his policy, which, after all, "runs in a direct line from 9/11/01.

WTF?

"While voters oppose Bush's Iraq policy, they don't want to "cut and run," as some Democrats do. Even crusading billionaire George Soros, who spent $28 million trying to prevent Bush's re-election, told the University of Louisville Kentucky Author Forum that a summary American withdrawal would be a bad idea."

OMG! Hey Al! Name a single Dem who has said, "we want to cut and run from Iraq." Didn't think you could.

Democrats' inability to adopt a counter-slogan or coherent strategy might stem from the irrational hatred many of them have for Bush, and their considerable skepticism or outright opposition to many elements of the war on terror, such as the invasion of civil liberties for the sake of national security. But to be successful, a party must find ways to capture the broad middle of voters, not please its partisans.

Again, name one single Demacratic member of Congress who has ever expressed hatred of Bu$h. He can't. What they hate and despise is being lied into a war, kept in the dark about everything, not allowed any oversight of his many lawbreaking activities involving torture, secret prisons, wiretapping innocent U.S. citizens and trashing the environment. That's the short list. Irrational? Only if you are deep in a coma. He does make some valid points in his column, but I simply cannot take him seriously when he types such ridiculous dreck. And don't even get me started about his false "invasion of civil liberties for the sake of national security" nonsense. Only the most shallow, ill-informed hack could fail to see that it's the fact that Bu$h does this in secret, without Congressional oversight and outside established LAW.

His email address is al.cross@uky.edu

Posted by vicki at 06:49 PM | Comments (5)

Whew! As many of you DLers know, wingnut College Republican Morgan Wilkins weasled her way into at least one DL meeting without revealing her real motives. This Kos diary tells us some background:

On March 31 the Horne For Congress campaign held a 2-part fundraiser featuring Paul Hackett. In the spirit of camaraderie, we gave a pair of tickets to Jimmy Moore, the 3rd candidate. Unable to attend, and believing no harm would come of it, Jimmy gave his tickets to Morgan. At the private cocktail reception, Morgan presented herself as a reporter, but was never able to produce any credentials.

At the second event, our campaign manager told one of us to politely ask Morgan to leave, but she said 'it's a free country and a public event.' She refused to leave and started crying. Faced with the option of physically removing a crying teenager from the hall, or letting her stay, we let her stay. All in an all she spent about 5 hours on a Friday night hanging out with the campaign.

She also told our staff that she was trying to intern for Rep. Anne Northup (R). Her companion during the fundraiser was a Northup volunteer (Northup's campaign manager stated that she has had no involvement with their campaign).

After the fundraiser, Morgan was granted an interview with the local candidate but was more focused on asking Hackett about Rush Limbaugh. [/end snip]

On his program, "Countdown," Keith Olberman named her Worst Person In The World! See video Here

She then went national with her sleazy College Republican antics as reported by Faux News, strike that, Fox News

Republicans on Tuesday distanced themselves from campaign activities that encourage college students to"Catch an Illegal Immigrant"and shoot cardboard cutouts of leading Democrats with a BB gun or paintball gun.

"As chairman of America's two major political parties, we have a responsibility to elevate the political discourse in America" Stay tuned, peeps! It's bound to get curiouser and curiouser.

Posted by vicki at 11:17 AM | Comments (18)

Great Rally last night at Slugger Field. I ran into some DLer's and some future DLer'... Sen. Obama gave a great speech and got everybody fired up to go out and hit the streets for ALL the local Democratic Candidates.. The highlight of his speech was when he refered to Kentucky's Glorious Senior Senator as "Bitch McConnell...

I will try to upload more pics and video clips of his speech...

Posted by Mojo at 09:48 PM | Comments (2)

Once again, the snow-job-in-chief is pushing Congress to retroactively absolve him of breaking the Geniva Conventions against torture and stashing suspects in secret CIA prisons. Secret prisons which didn't exist until they did exist last week. Here's a small excerpt from the NYTimes editorial today. It's very long but dead on in its criticism of Congress and Bu$h. click here to read it all

Yesterday, the president himself went to Capitol Hill to lobby for his bill, which would give Congressional approval to the same sort of ad hoc military commissions that Mr. Bush created on his own authority after 9/11 and that the Supreme Court has already ruled unconstitutional. It would permit the use of coerced evidence, secret hearings and other horrific violations of American justice.

Legal experts within the military have been deeply opposed to the president’s plan from the beginning, and have formed one of the most influential bulwarks against the administration’s attempt to rewrite the rules to make its recent behavior retroactively legal. This week, the White House sank so low as to strong-arm the chief prosecutors for the four armed services into writing a letter to the House that seemed to endorse the president’s position on two key issues. Congressional officials say those officers later told lawmakers that they did not want to sign the letter, which contradicts everything the prosecutors, dozens of their colleagues, former top commanders of the military and a series of federal judges have said in public.

The idea that the nation’s chief executive is pressing so hard to undermine basic standards of justice is shocking. And any argument that these extreme methods would be used only against the most dangerous of international terrorists has been destroyed by the handling of hundreds of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, many of whom appear to have been scooped up in Afghanistan years ago with little attempt to verify any connection to terrorism, and now are in danger of lingering behind bars forever without a day in court.

To lend his lobbying an utterly false sense of urgency, President Bush announced last week that he had taken 14 dangerous terrorists from the secret Central Intelligence Agency prisons where he had been holding them for years and sent them to Guantánamo to stand trial. But none of the prisoners is going anywhere, and the current high-pressure timetable is related only to the election calendar.

Posted by vicki at 12:03 PM | Comments (2)

The winner goes to.....

From the "Unity Is So Yesterday" Department, here's Republican House Majority Leader John Boehner one day after George W. Bush called for Americans to come together in the war on terrorism: "I listen to my Democratic friends and I wonder if they're more interested in protecting the terrorists than protecting the American people."

From Tim Greive at Salon.com

Posted by vicki at 04:27 PM | Comments (1)

These money grubbers are so addicted to lobbiests and special interest money that they simply cannot give it up. Congress is on the take and we taxpayers are footing the bill for the earmarks they pack into spending bills that benefit the special interest groups who fill up their campaign coffers. This is beyond the pale. And BTW, our Rep., Anne Northup, (R-Louisville) sits on this committee. Read more

Despite Pledges, Congress Clings to Pet Projects

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: September 14, 2006

WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 — Nine months after Congressional leaders vowed to respond to several bribery scandals with comprehensive reforms, their pledges have come to next to nothing.

On Wednesday, leaders of the House prepared to take up a rule requiring individual lawmakers to sign their names to some of the pet projects they tuck into major tax and spending bills. As an internal House rule, the requirement would be in effect only until the end of the session, just a few weeks away.

While reform advocates denounced the proposal as nearly toothless, its bite was still too sharp for many in Congress. By Wednesday night the resolution appeared to be bogged down in a three-way squabble among Republicans, Democrats and the powerful members of the House Appropriations Committee.

“It has been a very pathetic showing,” said Mary Boyle, a spokeswoman for the reform group Common Cause. Even with one congressman in jail, a well-known lobbyist on the way and several other members and staff members still under investigation, she said: “The response to this has been nothing. It has been silence.”
[. . .]
House Democrats, meanwhile, submitted a proposed amendment to the Republican resolution that was so comprehensive it would upend much of the way Washington does business — and thus was all but certain to fail.

The Democratic proposal would block members of Congress from sponsoring earmarks that would benefit any former staff members or family members. Many Congressional staff members and lawmakers’ relatives eventually work as lobbyists, and the proposal would limit their ability to make money for seeking earmarks for their clients.
[. . .]
But Fred Wertheimer, president of the reform advocacy group Democracy 21, called the dispute over the scaled-back earmark rule “absurd.”

“They have had months to reach an agreement even among House Republicans about what this fig leaf should look like,” he said, “and they still haven’t been able to do it.”

Posted by vicki at 09:30 AM

Bless her! She made TX appealing. The Chimp? Record of disaster. Rest in Peace, Ann! Heartfelt pity to your family and fans.

See her famous Democratic Convention speech here:

Poor George!

Posted by vicki at 11:23 PM | Comments (2)

This is as callous as it is dishonest. Why won't the damn liberal media report on all the GOOD things happening in Iraq?

Military officials lie to keep Iraq body count low
By Mark Brunswick and Zaineb Obeid
McClatchy Newspapers

U.S. officials, seeking a way to measure the results of a program aimed at decreasing violence in Baghdad, aren't counting scores of dead killed in car bombings and mortar attacks as victims of the country's sectarian violence.

In a distinction previously undisclosed, U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Barry Johnson said Friday that the United States is including in its tabulations of sectarian violence only deaths of individuals killed in drive-by shootings or by torture and execution.
That has allowed U.S. officials to boast that the number of deaths from sectarian violence in Baghdad declined by more than 52 percent in August over July.

But it eliminates from tabulation huge numbers of people whose deaths are certainly part of the ongoing conflict between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. Not included, for example, are scores of people who died in a highly coordinated bombing that leveled an entire apartment building in eastern Baghdad, a stronghold of rebel Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Johnson declined to provide an actual number for the U.S. tally of August deaths or for July, when the Baghdad city morgue counted a record 1,855 violent deaths.

Violent deaths for August, a morgue official told McClatchy Newspapers on Friday, totaled 1,526, a 17.7 percent decline from July and about the same as died violently in June.

The dispute is an important one. With Baghdad violence reaching record levels in July, U.S. commanders warned that the country was tipping toward civil war. Keep Reading

Posted by vicki at 06:31 PM | Comments (2)

It's well worth your time to breeze past an ad to read this excerpt of Sid Bluenthal's new book at Salon.com Click link Snip:

How bad is he?

Bush ran as a moderate, tacked right and governed ineffectually -- before 9/11. Since then he's become the most radical American president in history -- and arguably the worst.

Soon to be a Reading Liberally favorite.

Posted by vicki at 08:50 PM | Comments (1)

Oy! The entire weekend leading up to the sad anniversary of 9/11/01 was a Bu$hCo propaganda orgy lead by a major network, ABC/Disney. If ever anyone questioned that the MSM was complicit in the propagandization of the "War on Terror," the case has now been settled. ABC is now the official Faux Newz arm of the "big 3" networks. Slander, character assassination and false statements are the "new normal" on network TV.

The shocking fact that Iraq had zero to do with the terrorist attacks of 9/11 escapes a large portion of our population. Just how stupid are we? Despite a week where Bu$h, Cheney, Rice and company were forced to admit that Saddam had nothing to do with al Qaeda's attacks on the U.S. and its allies, they kept the fiction alive. Just try to wrap your head around these conflicting statements

Senate Intelligence Committee report, September 2006: "Postwar information indicates that Saddam Hussein attempted, unsuccessfully, to locate and capture al-Zarqawi and that the regime did not have a relationship with, harbor or turn a blind eye toward Zarqawi."

Condoleezza Rice interview, Sept. 10, 2006: "The director of central intelligence, George Tenet, gave that very testimony, that, in fact, there were ties going on between al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein's regime going back for a decade. Indeed, the 9/11 Commission talked about contacts between the two. We know that Zarqawi was running a poisons network in Iraq. We know that Zarqawi ordered the killing of an American diplomat in Jordan from Iraq. There were ties between Iraq and al-Qaida."

I could go on but I won't. Bu$hco thinks we're stupid, and they just might be right. Had enough?

Posted by vicki at 10:07 AM | Comments (2)

Today's best moment was Olbermann's piece just before the evil one took control of the air waves... How long KO stays on MSNBC will depend on US sending lots of supportive email and watching him regularly..

SpecialComment-Bush-911.wmv

Keith Olbermann blasts President Bush in his latest "Special Comment" section on Countdown tonight. He leaves no stone unturned…

Full Transcript:
And lastly tonight a Special Comment on why we are here. Half a lifetime ago, I worked in this now-empty space.
And for 40 days after the attacks, I worked here again, trying to make sense of what happened, and was yet to happen, as a reporter.
And all the time, I knew that the very air I breathed contained the remains of thousands of people, including four of my friends, two in the planes and — as I discovered from those "missing posters" seared still into my soul — two more in the Towers.
And I knew too, that this was the pyre for hundreds of New York policemen and firemen, of whom my family can claim half a dozen or more, as our ancestors.
I belabor this to emphasize that, for me… this was, and is, and always shall be, personal.
And anyone who claims that I and others like me are "soft", or have "forgotten" the lessons of what happened here — is at best a grasping, opportunistic, dilettante — and at worst, an idiot — whether he is a commentator, or a Vice President, or a President.
However. Of all the things those of us who were here five years ago could have forecast — of all the nightmares that unfolded before our eyes, and the others that unfolded only in our minds… none of us could have predicted… this.
Five years later this space… is still empty.
Five years later there is no Memorial to the dead.
Five years later there is no building rising to show with proud defiance that we would not have our America wrung from us, by cowards and criminals.
Five years later this country’s wound is still open.
Five years… later this country’s mass grave is still unmarked.
Five years later… this is still… just a background for a photo-op.
It is beyond shameful.

Read the rest of it here

Posted by Mojo at 11:17 PM | Comments (1)

Remember when Bu$h said bin Laden was "wanted, dead or alive?" That, like most everything that comes out of his mouth, was a lie. When bin Laden was surounded in the mountains of Tora Bora he was allowed to escape because the Northern Allience in Afghanistan was put in charge and our special ops forces were sent to Iraq. In the lead up to the invasion of Iraq, Bu$h told us he didn't really think much about bin Laden anymore. Yesterday, in the Washington Post we learned just how true that was.

The clandestine U.S. commandos whose job is to capture or kill Osama bin Laden have not received a credible lead in more than two years. Nothing from the vast U.S. intelligence world -- no tips from informants, no snippets from electronic intercepts, no points on any satellite image -- has led them anywhere near the al-Qaida leader, according to U.S. and Pakistani officials. 'The handful of assets we have have given us nothing close to real-time intelligence' that could have led to his capture, said one counterterrorism official, who said the trail, despite the most extensive manhunt in U.S. history, has gone 'stone cold.'"
[. . .]
Although the hunt for bin Laden has depended to a large extent on technology, until recently unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were in short supply, especially when the war in Iraq became a priority in 2003.

In July 2003, Vines said that U.S. forces under his command thought they were close to striking bin Laden, but had only one drone to send over three possible routes he might take. "A UAV was positioned on the route that was most likely, but he didn't go that way," Vines said. "We believed that we were within a half-hour of possibly getting him, but nothing materialized."

Posted by vicki at 09:31 PM | Comments (2)

For 5 years I have just wanted this day to be over. Watching TV is unbearable. But the anniversary needs to be acknowleged and this Times editorial gets it just right For 5 years Bu$h and the excessively partisan Republican controled Congress have waved the bloody shirt of the 9/11 tragedy as a political tactic against their Democrat opponents. It is to their everlasting shame that under complete Republican domminance they have thrown this country and all it stood for over a cliff. This cannot be allowed to stand. Read it and weep.

What we do revisit, over and over again, is the period that followed, when sorrow was merged with a sense of community and purpose. How, having lost so much on the day itself, did we also manage to lose that as well?

The time when we felt drawn together, changed by the shock of what had occurred, lasted long beyond the funerals, ceremonies and promises never to forget. It was a time when the nation was waiting to find out what it was supposed to do, to be called to the task that would give special lasting meaning to the tragedy that it had endured.

But the call never came. Without ever having asked to be exempt from the demands of this new post-9/11 war, we were cut out. Everything would be paid for with the blood of other people’s children, and with money earned by the next generation. Our role appeared to be confined to waiting in longer lines at the airport. President Bush, searching the other day for an example of post-9/11 sacrifice, pointed out that everybody pays taxes.

That pinched view of our responsibility as citizens got us tax cuts we didn’t need and an invasion that never would have occurred if every voter’s sons and daughters were eligible for the draft. With no call to work together on some effort greater than ourselves, we were free to relapse into a self- centeredness that became a second national tragedy. We have spent the last few years fighting each other with more avidity than we fight the enemy.

When we measure the possibilities created by 9/11 against what we have actually accomplished, it is clear that we have found one way after another to compound the tragedy. Homeland security is half-finished, the development at ground zero barely begun. The war against terror we meant to fight in Afghanistan is at best stuck in neutral, with the Taliban resurgent and the best economic news involving a bumper crop of opium. Iraq, which had nothing to do with 9/11 when it was invaded, is now a breeding ground for a new generation of terrorists.

Posted by vicki at 11:35 AM | Comments (1)

Thanks to Lucy and JB.

Here's the caption that came with the photo:

This photo was taken by a soldier in Afghanistan of a helo rescue mission. The pilot is a MF Guard guy who flies EMS choppers in civilian life. Now how many people on the planet you reckon could set the ass end of a chopper down on the roof top of a shack on a steep mountain cliff and hold it there while soldiers load wounded men in the rear??? If this does not impress you .. nothing ever will. Gives me the chills and a serious case of the vertigo ... I can't even imagine having the nerve ... much less the talent and ability ... God Bless our military!!!!! JB

Posted by vicki at 10:31 AM | Comments (2)

I gave up after about 10 minutes of this hot, steaming load of tripe. DLer, John, pointed out huge flaws in the opening minutes of this crapfest. I came to it later and it's so badly done that is makes you wonder what all the hype was about. I dare any brain ALIVE human to last 5 minutes into this piece of junk.

Have your say in the comments. I'll stand by for the next hour to approve them on the spot.

Peace!

Posted by vicki at 08:59 PM | Comments (6)

How did I miss this!!??? Thanks for the tip, Steph.

OPED / Andrew Horne

Tough is not enough

By Andrew Horne
Special to The Courier-Journal

All conscientious Americans who have worked diligently to make our world safer are right to take exception to President Bush's recent shot at Democrats and their national security record. As a just retired Marine Reserve lieutenant colonel and a veteran of Operation Desert Storm and the war in Iraq, I am disappointed at the vitriolic partisan debate.

Regardless where someone stands on Iraq -- leave now, set a date certain, develop a clear plan or stay to the end -- no one can be pleased with the current situation.

The President's recent pronouncement that the troops will stay throughout his term and the rhetoric over the last few weeks only emphasize the scope of his delusion. We cannot just stay the course; we need a different plan.

What the President fails to grasp is that ensuring our safety and security is as much about our moral influence and commitment to principles as it is about the number of our infantry battalions, tanks and combat aircraft. In these perilous times we must be tough, but we must also be smart and just. Unfortunately, while Bush has shown he can swagger with the best movie cowboy, he does not seem to use his intellect or his conscience. [my bold. Rock on, Andrew!]

All objective experts know that it will require the support of moderate Muslims to win the so-called "war on terror" and the war in Iraq. However, we seem to have gone out of our way to alienate the very people we need as well as many of our own citizens. If we are to reverse this disaster we must show the world that the Constitution and our principles mean something. We must regain the moral high ground.

Continue reading here:

Fantastic opinion piece!

Posted by vicki at 09:08 PM | Comments (2)

Lap Dogs of the Press

Helen Thomas

This article is adapted from Helen Thomas's forthcoming book, Watchdogs of Democracy? The Waning Washington Press Corps and How It Has Failed the Public. Copyright © 2006 by Helen Thomas. Printed by permission of Scribner, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. Read the rest in The Nation

Of all the unhappy trends I have witnessed--conservative swings on television networks, dwindling newspaper circulation, the jailing of reporters and "spin"--nothing is more troubling to me than the obsequious press during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. They lapped up everything the Pentagon and White House could dish out--no questions asked.

Reporters and editors like to think of themselves as watchdogs for the public good. But in recent years both individual reporters and their ever-growing corporate ownership have defaulted on that role. Ted Stannard, an academic and former UPI correspondent, put it this way: "When watchdogs, bird dogs, and bull dogs morph into lap dogs, lazy dogs, or yellow dogs, the nation is in trouble."

Posted by vicki at 12:14 PM | Comments (3)

Hahahahahaha. Marilyn, the Charleston DL City Leader sent me this. I just had to share. Click here for more hilarity!

CHARLESTON DEMOCRATS KICK-START POLITICAL SEASON WITH 'BUSH IS BAD', A MUSICAL COMEDY

CHARLESTON, SC – Got the political blues?

The Charleston County Democratic Party has the cure: a one-night performance of "Bush is Bad," a critically acclaimed (some say belly-busting) Off-Broadway musical spoof on Tuesday evening, Oct. 3, at the Charleston Music Hall, 37 John Street in Downtown Charleston. The event, the show's red state premiere, is expected to be a sellout.

Charleston Democrats will bring the cast and crew directly from New York City to stage what Fred Backus, a critic for The New York Theatre Experience, calls a production that, "I'm happy to say delivers the goods."

Created as "the musical cure for the blue state blues," its cast includes the Broadway and off-Broadway performers Jill Abramovitz, Neal Mayer and Michael McCoy, and at the piano Joshua Rosenblum, who developed the concept, music and lyrics. Mr. Rosenblum, known to audiences here as The Post and Courier's Spoleto Festival overview critic, said that at certain performances Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice substitutes for him at the keyboard – but he did not divulge who would play in Charleston.

Showtime is 7 p.m., following a sponsors reception at the Music Hall at 5:30. Advance general admission tickets are $35 and can be ordered on line at www.charlestondems.com; by telephone at the party's office, 843-577-6000; and by mail until Sept. 27 from the Charleston County Democratic Party, PO Box 1656, Charleston, SC 29402. Checks or money orders should be made payable to the Charleston County Democratic Party

Posted by vicki at 02:21 PM | Comments (2)

Finally! Here is the correct, up-to-date information about Senator Obama's visit to Louisville to help local Dems raise money.

Obama to speak at fundraiser for Jefferson Democrats
Thursday's gathering to be at Slugger Field

I'm going to invite Yarmuth and Obama to DL after their fundraiser. I doubt they'll come, but I'm going to ask anyway!

By Kay Stewart
kstewart@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

After struggling to pick a location, the Jefferson County Democratic Party plans to hold a public rally at Slugger Field on Thursday night, featuring a national party icon, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Chicago.

Tim Longmeyer, chairman of the county party, said Obama, 45, the only African-American member of the Senate, is the most sought after Democratic speaker in the country and "brings an empowering message … about a party that cares about people and issues that matter most."

The Democrats' rally at Slugger Field, scheduled for 6 p.m., will include remarks by Abramson and 3rd District congressional candidate John Yarmuth. Democratic Metro Council and state legislative candidates also will appear on stage.

Longmeyer said a reception area for donors who contribute $1,000 to the local party will be available. He said other fund-raising events involving Obama's visit have not been released.

Posted by vicki at 01:28 PM

America, as envisioned by Bu$hCo, is unrecognizable to civilized people the world over. Maybe someone should ask our Christian-in-chief, "WWJD?" Below are two depressing headlines in the Times this morning.

The Overview
Lawyers and G.O.P. Chiefs Resist Proposal on Tribunal

By KATE ZERNIKE
Published: September 8, 2006

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 — The Bush administration’s proposal to bring leading terrorism suspects before military tribunals met stiff resistance Thursday from key Republicans and top military lawyers who said some provisions would not withstand legal scrutiny or do enough to repair the nation’s tarnished reputation internationally.

Bu$h's Kangeroo Courts in jepordy Military officials ask, sensibly, whether U.S. soldiers taken into custody would appreciate being held to these low standards. [ My snark]

Interrogation Methods Rejected by Military Win Bush’s Support

by ADAM LIPTAK
Published: September 8, 2006

Many of the harsh interrogation techniques repudiated by the Pentagon on Wednesday would be made lawful by legislation put forward the same day by the Bush administration. And the courts would be forbidden from intervening.

The proposal is in the last 10 pages of an 86-page bill devoted mostly to military commissions, and it is a tangled mix of cross-references and pregnant omissions.

Read the entire NYTimes article here

Posted by vicki at 10:04 AM

Lacy, from the New Albany DL has invited Louisville to join them for this Screening Liberally event:

The movie will be followed by dinner, drinks and discussion at nearby Bearno's UofL. The Liberal Lounge from LouisvilleMojo.com, the Louisville chapter of DL, and some members of Democracy For America may also be joining us.

Drop a comment if you want to go or shoot me an email at louisville@drinkingliberally.org

Posted by vicki at 11:29 AM

I never had any confidence in the 9/11 commission in the first place, seeing how it was headed by partisan hacks loyal to Bu$h and the GOP. But Thomas Kean has been actively aiding ABC's upcoming 9/11 miniseries that slimes the Clinton administration for failing to capture bin Laden. Amazing, isn't it? Bu$h, just 6 months in office, decided to take a month off in Aug., 2001, despite two months of unpresidented, credible terrorist "chatter" that had the CIA running around with its "hair on fire" and the August 6 PDB entitled, "bin Laden determined to strike inside the U.S." Who let bin Laden escape in Tora Bora? Oh yeah, that was the farkin' Bu$h misadministration! Buried deep in the NYTimes today, we learn that the hacktacular Kean was a "senior consultant to the miniseries."

Sandy Berger, Madeleine Albright and the Clinton Foundation have all requested a copy of the movie and have been turned down. All have expressed profound objections to their reported portrayals in the movie. There is no longer even a shadow of a doubt that the MSM will go to extreme lengths to slime the Clinton administration and bolster the image of the Worst. President. Ever! Media Matters has the story inside the story

here The Times article is buried here My head hurts.

Posted by vicki at 09:54 AM | Comments (4)

What is UP with our rightwing Corporate Media? Remember when a network was going to show a movie that was not sufficiently reverential to St. Ronnie? That network pulled it after howls from the wingnuts. Now, ABC is planning to air a mini-series that (please sit down. NOW) blames Bill Clinton for not captureing bin Laden when the government had him cornered. It's a lie, of course, but that didn't keep it out of the movie. Here's the Time's reporting on the matter:

— Days before its scheduled debut, the first major television miniseries about the Sept. 11 attacks was being criticized on Tuesday as biased and inaccurate by bloggers, terrorism experts and a member of the Sept. 11 commission, whose report makes up much of the film’s source material.

The six-hour miniseries, “The Path to 9/11,” is to be shown on ABC on Sunday and Monday. The network has been advertising the program as a “historic broadcast” that uses the commission’s report on the 2001 attacks as its “primary foundation.” [. . . ]

In a posting on ThinkProgress.org, and in a phone interview, Mr. [Richard A] Clarke said no military personnel or C.I.A. agents were ever in position to capture Mr. bin Laden in Afghanistan, nor did the leader of the Northern Alliance get that near to his camp.

“It didn’t happen,” Mr. Clarke said. “There were no troops in Afghanistan about to snatch bin Laden. There were no C.I.A. personnel about to snatch bin Laden. It’s utterly invented.” [. . . ]

“I pointed out the fact that the scene involving Afghanistan and the attempt to get bin Laden is a composite,” Mr. Kean said, adding that the miniseries format required some conflation of events. [. . . ]

But Richard Ben-Veniste, a member of the Sept. 11 commission, said genre confusion would not be a problem for commission members, several of whom saw part of the miniseries last week.

“As we were watching, we were trying to think how they could have misinterpreted the 9/11 commission’s finding the way that they had,” Mr. Ben-Veniste said. “They gave the impression that Clinton had not given the green light to an operation that had been cleared by the C.I.A. to kill bin Laden,” when, in fact, the Sept. 11 commission concluded that Mr. Clinton had. [/end snips]

Send ABC a message here: at this link

Posted by vicki at 06:18 PM | Comments (1)

Click Here To View

Maria, Me and Hellen
Jon

Posted by vicki at 11:12 AM

Dear Leader and Ms. Thomas discussing World Peace

See entry below for more on the ACLU Dinner

Posted by vicki at 09:11 AM

These are the top headlines in the New York Times this morning. They all point to a complete failure of the Bu$h admin and the Republican Congress to complete a single successful goal in securing our boarders, succeed in Afghanistan or respond to sick and dying (or already dead) 9/11 survivors from toxic materials at ground zero. Pro life my ass! People keep on dying from this cabal's utter incompetence and disregard for human life.

G.O.P. Sets Aside Work on Immigration
click

Officials Slow to Hear Claims of 9/11 Illnesses
click

Afghan Symbol for Change Becomes a Symbol of Failure
click

Had enough?

Posted by vicki at 09:52 AM | Comments (2)

No matter how much lipstick Bu$hCo puts on this pig, it's still ugly. Unless you're part of Bu$h's most coveted base, the "Have Mores," you damned well know that you're working harder for less and less. The right wing fundies have been very excersized over phony "values" issues in the last few elections, but when hit in the wallet hard enough, they'll flip on the Republicans in a heartbeat. It's still the economy, stupid. Thanks to Hank for this.

From a Boston Globe opinion piece by Robert Kuttner Click the link to read the rest.

The Census Bureau reported that median incomes for working-age families were
down again, for the fifth straight year. Real median income for households
under age 65 is down by 5.4 percent since 2000, even though the economy has
grown every year. All of that gain has gone to upper-bracket people and
corporate profits.

The Pew Research Center released an extensive survey on public attitudes
about the economy. Pew reported, ``The public thinks that workers were
better off a generation ago on every key dimension of worker life -- be it
wages, benefits, retirement plans, on-the-job stress, the loyalty they are
shown by employers." And, statistically, the public is right.

The Globe recently reported that chief executives of nonprofit hospitals now
routinely make more than $1 million. University presidents are not far
behind.

The Economic Policy Institute (on whose board I serve) has released its
annual, encyclopedic report, ``The State of Working America." Among its
findings: The economy's productivity increased by a remarkable 33.5 percent
between 1995 and 2005, but real wages have declined since 2000.
Employer-provided health coverage declined from 69 percent in 1979 to 56
percent in 2004. The top 1 percent's share of interest, dividends, and
capital gains has risen from 37.8 percent in 1979 to 57.5 percent in 2003.

Politically, it's evident what is occurring. Those in a position to capture
astronomical incomes are awarding themselves an ever-larger share of the
national economic pie. Meanwhile, ordinary incomes, job security, health
security, and retirement security are eroding.

The political mystery is why everyone else is not kicking up a fuss.

Posted by vicki at 07:03 PM

This is an email I got from DL friend John. This is not endorsed by anyone, but John wants to stir us to positive action. Thanks for allowing me to pass this along, John.

My Drinking Liberally Pals…Laugh, yes, but Fear FEAR
To
Dear DL Friends and Strangers:

I completely enjoy all the fun, the mutual complaining to someone we trust, the stories, the genuine
exchanges of information, the sense of being in a Minority-In-The-Know-Against-a-Bizarre-Political-Machine. I enjoy the newsletter for many reasons. But I have a concern, and I want to share it. Oh, maybe it's just John-Too-Serious-Again, but I care enough about this issue to bring it to you for your thoughtful consideration.

There is a very, very distinct possibility that, despite all we know, all of our instincts, all of our
genuine patriotism--the Republicans may, or WILL, win again and again and again.

It's called FEAR. Fear is one of the most effective political weapons in the history of the world. Go all
the way through U.S. history and read the "reasons" for every unimaginable and inhumane policy, domestic or foreign. Fear was there.

Continue reading in the Louisville DL Forum

Posted by vicki at 11:52 AM

It was an incredible night! I'll have much more later when I download our pictures. Let's just say she wowed the audience and got at least 2 standing ovations. Enjoy the C-J article here

Columnist Helen Thomas assails Bush and the media

'Where is the outrage?' she asks
Veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas can't remember a time when the U.S. government was more "off-key." "Who are we and what have we become?" Thomas asked last night in Louisville. "… It's boggling what this administration gets away with."

Posted by vicki at 01:54 PM | Comments (1)

Kieth Olberman handed out the gold, bronze and silver medal to the biggest crackpot jackasses of the day on "Countdown" last night. Senator Burns can't seem to keep his foot out of his mouth these days. Check out the video. I swiped it from WWW.crooksandliars.com

Click for Video What a debaased old coot!

Posted by vicki at 01:09 PM | Comments (1)