Drinking Liberally®

Hahahahahahaha. There is no shortage of ignorant KY hillbillys devoid of actual science expertise in our state. Get a load of this steaming load of tripe:

Phony Biblical "Science"

A museum that tells the Bible's version of Earth's history — that the planet was created in a single week just a few thousand years ago — attracted thousands to its opening as protesters rallied outside.

The dozens of demonstrators argued Monday that the Creation Museum's central tenets conflict with scientific evidence that the Earth is several billion years old. Overhead, an airplane pulled a banner with the message: "Thou Shalt Not Lie."

A literal monument to ignorant RUBES.

Posted by vicki at 10:25 PM | TrackBack (0)

Hahahahahahahahahaha. Another of Bu$h's useful idiots sees progress in Iraq. What a fool.

Posted by vicki at 12:20 PM | TrackBack (0)

Oh my freaking God! I heard from Carol herself about this extreme reaction to her holding up an "End The War" sign at the Abbey Road Fest yesterday. Virtually everyone who knows Carol would know on the face of it that the very thought that she would scream obscenities or attack a cop are ludicrous. She's a farking member of Louisville Peace Action Community, for crying out loud! Check this out and pray she get's justice.
Write a letter to the Editor of the CJ and set the record straight.

A woman protesting the war in Iraq was arrested Monday during the Abbey Road on the River festivities. Carol Rawert Trainer, 60, of Louisville, has been charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer. During the event, Trainer had been holding up a sign that said “End the War” as a protest against the Iraq war. At some point, Jefferson County Sheriff Sgt. Ted Mitchell, who was working off-duty as event security, approached Trainer after allegedly hearing her yelling at another member of the crowd, said Lt. Col. Carl Yates, a sheriff department spokesman. Sgt. Mitchell asked Trainer to follow him in an attempt to defuse the situation but did not intend to arrest her, Yates said. The arrest report said Trainer punched Mitchell in the chest and continued to resist as she was yelling and cursing. Carol Trainer could not be reached for comment, but her husband, Harold Trainer, witnessed the incident and denied that his wife acted inappropriately. He said she was simply exercising her right to free speech. Harold Trainer said his wife did struggle some but only after the sergeant and another officer who came to assist put their hands on her roughly. “They were very aggressive,” Harold Trainer said. “It was really scary.” Carol Trainer had been part of a handful of Vietnam veterans who had come to the event to show their support for ending the Iraq war. By the time she was arrested, the other protesters had dispersed, Harold Trainer said.

Stay tuned! This is total bullshit!

UPDATE: Click here

Posted by vicki at 09:46 PM | TrackBack (0)

Mary McHugh visited the grave of her fiancé, Sgt. James J. Regan, who was killed in Iraq in February. He is buried in the new Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery for those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

Makes you wanna holler. May the Prince of Peace be with all these lost souls.

Posted by vicki at 10:52 AM | TrackBack (0)

Absolutely nothing but GW Bu$h's stubborn ego. He and Big Dick are perfectly comfortable sending lambs off to slaughter in an utterly failed mission. Bring Them Home NOW!

Here is how the "troops" see their mission:

As Army officers on duty in the war on terror, you will now face enemies who oppose and despise everything you know to be right, every notion of upright conduct and character, and every belief you consider worth fighting for and living for. Capture one of these killers, and he'll be quick to demand the protections of the Geneva Convention and the Constitution of the United States. Yet when they wage attacks or take captives, their delicate sensibilities seem to fall away. These are men who glorify murder and suicide. Their cruelty is not rebuked by human suffering, only fed by it. They have given themselves to an ideology that rejects tolerance, denies freedom of conscience, and demands that women be pushed to the margins of society. The terrorists are defined entirely by their hatreds, and they hate nothing more than the country you have volunteered to defend.

The terrorists know what they want and they will stop at nothing to get it. By force and intimidation, they seek to impose a dictatorship of fear, under which every man, woman, and child lives in total obedience to their ideology. Their ultimate goal is to establish a totalitarian empire, a caliphate, with Baghdad as its capital. They view the world as a battlefield and they yearn to hit us again. And now they have chosen to make Iraq the central front in their war against civilization.

Read the entire article by clicking on this link

Posted by vicki at 10:36 AM | TrackBack (0)

Hoo, boy. I got this from the official www.whitehouse.gov website. Big Dick was addressing West Point Grads.

As Army officers on duty in the war on terror, you will now face enemies who oppose and despise everything you know to be right, every notion of upright conduct and character, and every belief you consider worth fighting for and living for. Capture one of these killers, and he'll be quick to demand the protections of the Geneva Convention and the Constitution of the United States. Yet when they wage attacks or take captives, their delicate sensibilities seem to fall away. These are men who glorify murder and suicide. Their cruelty is not rebuked by human suffering, only fed by it. They have given themselves to an ideology that rejects tolerance, denies freedom of conscience, and demands that women be pushed to the margins of society. The terrorists are defined entirely by their hatreds, and they hate nothing more than the country you have volunteered to defend.

The terrorists know what they want and they will stop at nothing to get it. By force and intimidation, they seek to impose a dictatorship of fear, under which every man, woman, and child lives in total obedience to their ideology. Their ultimate goal is to establish a totalitarian empire, a caliphate, [my bold] with Baghdad as its capital. They view the world as a battlefield and they yearn to hit us again. And now they have chosen to make Iraq the central front in their war against civilization.

Big Dick: More Orwellian than Orwell. You just cannot make this s**t UP!

Posted by vicki at 12:26 PM | TrackBack (0)

Here we go again. Every time a Loyal Bu$hie appears before Congress, another can of worms is opened. The entire WH is a cesspool of crooks, liars and thieves. Get a load of this Think Progress report

In her recent testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, former Justice Department official Monica Goodling tried to dismiss voter suppression allegations against Karl Rove-protege U.S. attorney Tim Griffin. As ThinkProgress noted, she called the voter suppression tactic — known as “caging” — just as “direct-mail term.” [. . .] Here’s how the [Rove aid, now US Attorney Griffin's]scheme worked: The RNC mailed these voters letters in envelopes marked, “Do not forward”, to be returned to the sender. These letters were mailed to servicemen and women, some stationed overseas, to their US home addresses. The letters then returned to the Bush-Cheney campaign as “undeliverable.”

The lists of soldiers of “undeliverable” letters were transmitted from state headquarters, in this case Florida, to the RNC in Washington. The party could then challenge the voters’ registration and thereby prevent their absentee ballots being counted.

In 2004, African-American leaders denounced the caging scheme as “another ’shameful’ Republican effort to keep blacks from voting.”

So to respond to Goodling and Weisman: caging is a voter suppression tactic. Suppressing votes on the basis of race is not only illegal under the federal Voting Rights Act, but also unconstitutional.

Time to haul Rove, Griffin and their enablers before Congress. I'd like to see them "not remember" this.

Posted by vicki at 05:13 PM | TrackBack (0)

I went to the official House and Senate government websites to see how our local politicians voted on the ridiculously named "Emergency Supplemental" to fund Bu$h's Disaster In The Desert. No surprises there.

Republicans Bunning and McConnell voted to give Bu$h a blank check with no benchmarks or timetables for withdrawing our service members from Iraq. As did all other KY Republicans.

Democratic Rep. John Yarmuth voted against it
Democratic Rep. (pu-leeze!) Ben Chandler voted for it.

After 4 and 1/2 years of Bu$h's war, it's past time to stop this clowning "emergency" crap and just put war spending into the budget where it belongs. Chandler and all our Republican members of Congress should hang their heads in shame for ensuring that our "troops" will NOT have proper support, will NOT get decent time off between deployments to name a couple of disgraces. Our military WILL continure serving extended tours of duty AND face greater danger in Iraq and Afghanistan. Congratulations, loyal Bu$hies! You've utterly broken our military. And have a great Memorial Day weekend.

Posted by vicki at 11:57 AM | TrackBack (0)

What more proof do these clowning hacks in the WH and Congress need to get us the HELL out of Iraq?

The American people were squarely behind withdrawal timetables right up until the Democratic Congressional leadership caved and decided to send the President a no-timelines, non-binding benchmarks Iraq War funding bill, the new CBS/New York Times poll finds.

Do you think the United States should or should not set a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq sometime in 2008?

Should 63%
Should not 34%

The kicker: A surprising 42% of Republicans were for setting a timetable. Independents were for a timetable by a margin of 61%-34%.

Posted by vicki at 06:01 PM | TrackBack (0)

Abbey Road on the River schedule:
http://www.abbeyroadontheriver.com/schedule.html

Frankfort Avenue Trolley (FAT) Hop events for Friday May 25, 2007:
http://fatfridayhop.org/events/ecaluser.cgi

Posted by vicki at 02:55 PM | TrackBack (0)

Jeepers H. Christmas. Big Dick's at it again saber-rattling over Iran's nukes. War is always a first choice with that disturbed and disturbing man. From The Washington Note:

Multiple sources have reported that a senior aide on Vice President Cheney's national security team has been meeting with policy hands of the American Enterprise Institute, one other think tank, and more than one national security consulting house and explicitly stating that Vice President Cheney does not support President Bush's tack towards Condoleezza Rice's diplomatic efforts and fears that the President is taking diplomacy with Iran too seriously.

This White House official has stated to several Washington insiders that Cheney is planning to deploy an "end run strategy" around the President if he and his team lose the policy argument.

The thinking on Cheney's team is to collude with Israel, nudging Israel at some key moment in the ongoing standoff between Iran's nuclear activities and international frustration over this to mount a small-scale conventional strike against Natanz using cruise missiles (i.e., not ballistic missiles).

This strategy would sidestep controversies over bomber aircraft and overflight rights over other Middle East nations and could be expected to trigger a sufficient Iranian counter-strike against US forces in the Gulf -- which just became significantly larger -- as to compel Bush to forgo the diplomatic track that the administration realists are advocating and engage in another war. [my bold]

There are many other components of the complex game plan that this Cheney official has been kicking around Washington. The official has offered this commentary to senior staff at AEI and in lunch and dinner gatherings which were to be considered strictly off-the-record, but there can be little doubt that the official actually hopes that hawkish conservatives and neoconservatives share this information and then rally to this point of view. This official is beating the brush and doing what Joshua Muravchik has previously suggested -- which is to help establish the policy and political pathway to bombing Iran.

[. . .]On Tuesday evening, i spoke with a former top national intelligence official in this Bush administration who told me that what I was investigating and planned to report on regarding Cheney and the commentary of his aide was "potentially criminal insubordination" against the President.

We all know that lawfulness is not a top priority with the Bu$h team.

Posted by vicki at 02:08 PM | TrackBack (0)

The main reason the anti-war MAJORITY in this country wants the Dems to force Bu$h to wrap up our involvement in the Iraqi civil war is because it is never going to improve because Bu$h and his minions have broken it and doing the same thing over and over will just keep killing "the troops" and Iraqi civilians. Glenn Greenwald points out how worthless the so-called deadline for declaring success or failure in Iraq is. Bu$h will never shut down his disaster in the desert. Why doesn't Congress understand that and act accordingly?

And in September, when the great (though incomplete) progress is unveiled by General Petraeus, our pundit class will continue their canonization of The General, and thus, that there is Progress in Iraq will be the conventional wisdom which all serious and responsible people recognize ("Finally, after four years of frustration, General David Petraeus, in dramatic testimony before Congress, highlighted the great improvement the U.S. is seeing in its war against Al Qaeda in Iraq"). And a sufficient number of Democrats will either be persuaded by this ritual or will be sufficiently afraid of it to do anything other than let the entire spectacle continue.

The central unyielding truth in our political landscape is that -- no matter what -- the War in Iraq is not going to end before the end of the Bush presidency. That has been obvious for a very long time, and that is why it is so bizarre to watch the Beltway establishment continue to pretend that there is some Big Decision Day coming in September -- the day when Republicans take a stand and our political elite put their foot down.

Nothing has changed. Republicans and media-war-proponents are far too invested in the war to do anything other than claim it is finally going well. And there are more than enough Democrats who either (a) believe we should stay in Iraq indefinitely, (b) perceive political benefits from staying, and/or (c) fear forcing withdrawal.

Posted by vicki at 11:58 AM | TrackBack (0)

It looks like the Democrats have given the middle finger to voters on a number of fronts. First there's this:

Democrats Pull Troop Deadline From Iraq Bill That great sniveling dolt, Harry Reid called the complete cave-in a "compromise" and "great progress." The other issue Dems ran on and won was "draining the swamp" of corruption in Congress.

So try to wrap your head around Democrats Find Ethics Overhaul Elusive in House

You know what else these turncoats will find elusive in the next election? Campaing donations from private citizens and support from the voters who put them in office. We no longer have a Democracy in this country. Policy is for sale to the highest bidder, our votes are easily stollen and elected officials feel no obligation whatsoever to honor their campaign promises. I am just sick.

Posted by vicki at 09:31 AM | TrackBack (0)

Jeepers H. Christmas, these people scare me! Here is how the wingnuttery at Fawell's school react to a peaceful and lowkey protest

A group of students from Falwell's Liberty University staged a counterprotest. And Campbell County authorities arrested a Liberty University student for having several homemade bombs in his car.

The student, 19-year-old Mark D. Uhl of Amissville, Va., reportedly told authorities that he was making the bombs to stop protesters from disrupting the funeral service. The devices were made of a combination of gasoline and detergent, a law enforcement official told ABC News' Pierre Thomas. They were "slow burn," according to the official, and would not have been very destructive.

Bombs away!

Posted by vicki at 10:52 PM | TrackBack (0)

I am beside myself at the cowardly Democrats we thought we were electing to challenge Bu$h on his dirty little war and send out military home! Word is now out that the Dems will roll over like nice doggies and fully fund Bu$h's disaster in the dessert. My head is going to explode. Get a load of this:

In grudging concessions to President Bush, Democrats intend to draft an Iraq war-funding bill without a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops and shorn of billions of dollars in spending on domestic programs, officials said Monday.

The legislation would include the first federal minimum wage increase in more than a decade, a top priority for the Democrats who took control of Congress in January, the officials added.

While details remain subject to change, the measure is designed to close the books by Friday on a bruising veto fight between Bush and the Democratic-controlled Congress over the war. It would provide funds for military operations in Iraq through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.

Hurry off to your latest vacation, Congress. Don't worry your little heads over funding this death trap.

Posted by vicki at 05:04 PM | TrackBack (0)

Here's something that has been bugging me for 2 straight Sundays: The odious Senator McConnell first claimed on CNN's Late Edition on Sunday, May 13, that if the Iraqi government asked us to leave, "we will be happy to comply." He essentially said the same thing on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos this past Sunday. So here's my question: Why in the hell is McConnell expressing military decision making for the US on TV?

Bu$h is constantly whining about those horrid Dems for butting in on his role as Commander-in-Chief by insisting that progress be made by certain dates or we withdraw our troops. And we hear endlessly (and falsely) about how the Decider listens to commanders on the ground for setting military policy in Iraq. So what gives here? Is McConnell speaking for GW Bu$h or just spouting off? I also find it bizarre that in one breath McConnell claims that pulling out of Iraq would be a disaster (it's going so well now!) and that leaving would be a declaration of "defeat" In the next breath he claims we'll be "happy to comply" with a demand that we leave. As usual, Mitch wants it both ways. He wants to cover his ass on a withdrawal in time for the '08 elections and act like Mr. Surge cheerleader at the same time. I know McConnell thinks we're deeply stupid and easily manipulated, but he can't fool all the people all the time. DITCH MITCH!

Posted by vicki at 10:40 AM | TrackBack (0)

Here it is, peeps. Slick Brucie and Gov. Ernie the Putz make national news. It's as ugly as it is true:

Organized labor has pummeled Lunsford, forming a 527 specifically to oppose him. Cliff Schecter has more on Lunsford's corporate background on his blog:

This race involves a candidate in Bruce Lunsford, who not only belongs in the Republican primary, but he belongs in the Ken Lay wing of the Republican Party. Lunsford made his millions founding the healthcare company formerly known as Vencor. While he was the CEO, the federal government brought a fraud claim of $1.3 billion against it, alleging that Vencor overbilled Medicare.
The company eventually agreed to pay a $104.5 million settlement, and ended up in bankruptcy. However, Lunsford's attacks on Kentucky's working families may not have ended there. Lunsford split his Vencor company before it headed to bankruptcy and created a second company, Ventas. It may not be to anyone's surprise that the wife of Senator Mitch McConnell, current Secretary of Labor to George W. Bush, Elaine Chao, was named to the Board of Directors.

In 1997, Lunsford and his partners were sued for "insider trading, fraudulent omissions and stock prices punctured by bad news in the health care industry." (Lexington Herald Leader, 6/1/2001) The lawsuit was tossed by a Louisville judge but in 2001, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati reinstated the case after holding that the plaintiffs arguments "permit a strong inference that defendants engaged in securities fraud." (Courier-Journal, 6/7/2001)

Lunsford never learned to steer clear of his crowd of Republican friends, and ran for governor with a coterie of advisors that looked like a Jack Abramoff foursome returning from a Scottish golfing trip. One of his top advisors in 2003, Larry Townsend, followed Lunsford's lead in supporting George W. Bush, and even took it a step further by co-chairing "Democrats for Bush" with Zell Miller. [my bold]

There's speculation in Kentucky that Lunsford, who supported Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for re-election in 2002, made a deal to support (or at least not actively oppose) him again. McConnell is one of the Democrats top targets in '08. That's one of the reasons why Tuesday's race has ramifications beyond the Bluegrass state.

I'm so ashamed of the hicks and rubes in KY who even entertain the thought that these slobs are electable.

Posted by vicki at 11:11 PM | TrackBack (0)

The wingnuts are so stinking predictable I could write their scripts of outrage for them in advance. One of the hallmarks of today's conservative is an aversion to the truth and a willing embrace of propaganda from Fux Newz, the WH and fact free AM hate radio. Unreality rules the right wingosphere.

-- "Sicko," Michael Moore's ferocious and funny attack on the U.S. health care system, got a warm welcome at the Cannes Film festival Saturday. At home, it has started a firestorm.

[. . .]

"I decided to make a different film this time," Moore said. "I wanted a different tone and I wanted to say things in a different way.

"I got tired of all the yelling and screaming and not getting anywhere."

The film's emotional climax is a brilliant -- and, some will say, brilliantly manipulative -- sequence in which Moore and the New York rescue workers visit a Cuban hospital.

"The Cuba stuff is incendiary," said Boston Globe critic Peter Brunette, who predicted a savage response from some quarters in the United States.

Moore says the criticism of the Cuba trip is misplaced. He said he intended to take the workers to Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. naval base on the island where terror suspects are held -- and, the film claims, receive top-notch medical care.

"The point was not to go to Cuba but to go to America, to go to American soil ... being in Cuba was just an accident in a sense," he said.

Moore said he hoped audiences would focus on the film's message, not the controversy. He said it is both "a call to action" and a plea for a better, friendlier society.

"The bigger issue in the film is, who are we as a people?" Moore said.

"We" as a people are OK. It's the Loyal Bu$hies who have shamed us as a Nation.

Update: Salon has more on Moore here.

Posted by vicki at 04:41 PM | TrackBack (0)

This is yet another tip of the iceburg. By my count, 3 other Inspecters General are under investigation for abusing the whistleblowers in their departments. Sooner or later McClatchy news reporters or a blog will put the pieces together that this, too, is common in the Bu$h WH. For now, we have the miserable WaPo

The Commerce Department's inspector general, who is supposed to look into complaints of wrongdoing by government officials, committed "egregious violations" of the federal law that protects whistle-blowers by retaliating against two subordinates, a government investigation has concluded.

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel found that Inspector General Johnnie E. Frazier wrongly demoted the two employees during an investigation of his spending, according to a copy of the report obtained by The Washington Post. It concluded that Frazier's actions violated the Whistleblower Protection Act.

The report recommended that President Bush discipline Frazier and suggested that dismissal may be appropriate.

"Because Mr. Frazier as an IG is charged with ensuring compliance with laws and regulations governing the executive branch, his flouting of such standards in taking this retaliatory action is particularly egregious, as should be his punishment," the report said.

Yep. Bu$h will be all over that. My head hurts.

Posted by vicki at 07:11 PM | TrackBack (0)

Can you imagine how much better life would be if the Supreme Court had not selected W as president?

Read the NYT review of The Assault On Reason Here

Posted by vicki at 12:15 PM | TrackBack (0)

With the latest revelations about Bu$h's illegal, warrantless wiretapping of US citizens and the latest round of serial lying before Congress, Abu Gonzales can no longer even pretend to be competent to run the Dept. of Justice. He is a sad and pathetic little man. Congress is calling for his head and even some of the most *loyal Bu$hies* are having a tough time defending him. This article by Glenn Greenwald, of Salon has a lot to say about this matter.

James Comey's testimony amounts to a statement that -- even according to the administration's own loyal DOJ officials -- the President ordered still-unknown spying on Americans, and engaged in that spying for a full two-and-a-half-years, that was so blatantly and shockingly illegal that they were all ready to resign over it. And the President's Attorney General then lied to ensure that this episode remain concealed. Mere one-day calls for a Congressional investigation are woefully inadequate here.

There is clear and definitive evidence of deliberate lawbreaking. In addition to Congressional investigations, there is simply no excuse for anything other than the immediate commencement of a criminal investigation by a Special Prosecutor. And the administration ought to be pressured every day to account for what it did here. This is not a one-day or one-week fleeting scandal. These revelations amount to the most transparent and deliberate crimes -- felonies -- by our top government officials, not with regard to private and personal matters but with regard to how our government spies on us.

The GOP hypocrites that could never get enough investigations of President Clinton spent the last 6 years looking away while Bu$h and his minions destroyed the integrity of our system of justice. They are complicit.

Posted by vicki at 02:35 PM | TrackBack (0)

Whew! Anti-gay crusader, Frank Simon scares decent folks all over KY. Dear Leader Ron forwarded me this information. Check out the sample ballot of Simon and FHF endorsed candidates and let your conscience be your guide in voting.

Sample ballot of Simon endorsed candidates

The Freedom's Heritage Forum PAC has a mission statement:

Freedom's Heritage Forum is a Political Action Committee founded for the purpose of supporting conservative Christian candidates for local, state and national office.
The sample ballots provided reflect the forum's best assessment of the candidates running for each office. Determinations were made from questionaries or personal interviews or a combination of both of these.
Candidates are considered for their involvement the Christian conservative movement and their standing in the community. Generally, a supported candidate is pro-life, favors lower taxes, and opposes special rights based upon sexual behavior. [my bold]
Please print the sample ballots for your information and make copies for distribution to other voters.

What is up with these people and SEX?

Posted by vicki at 08:33 PM | TrackBack (0)

Woo Hoo! I despise junkmail and the waste of resources that goes along with it. Good for Todd! However, the Post Office and the all important *Big Business* are the main concern of our legislators, not mother earth or We The People. So don't hold your breath waiting for them to do the right thing. We need to lobby harder than the junk pedlers. The This was on the Courier-Journal front page

Catalogs. Credit-card offers. Coupon packets. Candidate fliers.

No matter the shape, size or message, they arrive incessantly, adding up by pounds and tons.

The U.S. Postal Service and marketers, who pay billions of dollars to get the messages to you, call it advertising mail. Most recipients call it junk mail -- and it's growing every year.

"This is a symbol of unnecessary waste," said Todd Eklof, pastor of Clifton Unitarian Church, who recently carted 50 pounds of the stuff -- a year's worth -- to a Louisville postal branch as a protest. "Nobody likes junk mail. In many ways, it seems to be an invasion of our privacy."

The Center for the New American Dream, a Maryland-based group that is leading the charge against the mailings, says 100 million trees are cut down each year to make the paper for junk mail -- and much of that ends up in landfills.

Eklof wants to see Kentucky become part of a national push to reduce unwanted mass mailings by passing legislation that creates junk-mail registries similar to "no call" lists.

This is an idea whose time has come

Posted by vicki at 08:12 AM | TrackBack (0)

Here we go again. Bu$h ought to be ashamed to nominate an industry insider who is hostile to consumer protection, but he's not. When in hell will conservatives in Congress stand up for their constituents and against Bu$h nominees who wish them harm?

Government ethics experts said people occasionally received a severance payment when they left the private sector for a government job, but it could be problematic when the person was going to a post whose mission was to regulate the former employer. [. . .] Mr. Baroody’s nomination will be before the Senate Commerce Committee next week. He is opposed not only by consumer groups but also by trial lawyers, firefighters and pediatricians. They have highlighted what they say are repeated actions taken by Mr. Baroody and the association on behalf of companies that have made consumer products less safe.

Mr. Baroody “not only represented the interests of the nation’s manufacturing firms — often in direct opposition to the interest of consumers — but led efforts to weaken the C.P.S.C. and opposed numerous initiatives to protect children and the public from unsafe products,” said Dr. Jay E. Berkelhamer, the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, in a letter opposing the nomination.

It is a no-brainer that this guy is a walking conflict of interest. Congress needs to send him packing.

Posted by vicki at 07:54 AM | TrackBack (0)

Good for Rupert Murdock for going green. That is exciting, but really, can't he get those gasbags on his network to stop using misinformation about global warming?

In an apparent effort to offset the hot air spewed by those on Fox News Channel when it comes to global warming, News Corp. chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch announced that he plans “to cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from his media empire” -- which includes Fox News Channel -- “to zero by 2010.” In addition to energy efficiency measures and the purchase of renewable energy to achieve that goal, he reportedly intends to use carbon credits. In response to his efforts to cut News Corp.’s carbon emissions, Media Matters for America released the following statement noting Murdoch’s hypocrisy on the subject:

“We applaud Rupert Murdoch’s decision to be more energy conscious. Now, if he could only get his employees at Fox News to stop misleading the American people on global warming, he’d really be making some progress,” said Karl Frisch, spokesman for Media Matters. “There is an overwhelming consensus in the scientific community on global warming, yet hosts and commentators on Murdoch’s Fox News routinely misrepresent the facts on this important issue, leaving too many Americans in the dark and misinformed. The hypocrisy is especially evident when it comes to carbon offsets.”

What is it with conservatives' love of propaganda? They fill their heads up daily with BS from Limbaugh, Fux Newz and hate radio. I guess they can't handle the truth.

Posted by vicki at 07:29 AM | TrackBack (0)

My head hurts. This administration's trashing of the courts and stacking Loyal Bu$hies on the bench throughout the court system guaranties bad law and bad outcomes. Read the whole Times article here for a big chill.

The military system of determining whether detainees are properly held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, includes an unusual practice: If Pentagon officials disagree with the result of a hearing, they order a second one, or even a third, until they approve of the finding.

After 5 Years, Padilla Goes on Trial in Terror Case (May 15, 2007) These “do-overs,” as some critics call them, are among the most controversial parts of the military’s system of determining whether detainees are enemy combatants, and the fairness of the repeat hearings is at the center of a pivotal federal appeals court case.

Is it just me, or does this remind you of Big Dick Cheney leaning on the CIA to come up with the intel he wanted on Iraq and Saddam until they finally "got it right? We've all seen this movie before.

Posted by vicki at 12:51 PM | TrackBack (0)

Need a good cocktail mixology book? DL to the rescue!

This professional gift book features 300 drinks,
submitted by DL members around the country,
produced by our friends at DL Des Moines,
and now available to you for only $15.

Cheers!

Posted by vicki at 12:41 PM | TrackBack (0)

This funny item from The Opinion Mill was forwarded by Dear Leader Justin. Cheers!

Why Liberals Are Better Drinkers Than Conservatives

They pour drinks for themselves and their companions, instead of waiting for something good to trickle down.

If they drink too much and wake up the next day with a hangover, they take it as a consequence, not punishment from God.

Posted by vicki at 12:32 PM | TrackBack (0)

I've been a bit busy and missed MD posting. Here is an excerpt from a great link to an article DLer John M sent me for Mother's Day. How appropriate and how true. Click the link for the rest.

Hey, George! While Laura and Mama Bush are opening their Mother’s Day cards, just take a minute to think about the mothers you’ve sent to fight your freaking wars. And take a nanosecond to think about the mothers of all the troops you’ve used as fodder for your dreams of empire. Yeah, like you give a tinker’s damn….

I doubt that you’re even capable of imagining the kind of Mother’s Day they’re having, George. Life in your sociopathic bubble doesn’t allow for any reality or empathy, so let me clue you in.

Here are some of the numbers, George, if you can handle the math:

· Right now there are 24, 475 women deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and close to FORTY PERCENT of these women are mothers. To make it easier for you, - that comes to more than NINE THOUSAND women celebrating a dangerous and miserable Mother’s Day in your illegal and immoral debacle.

· For the record, as of April of this year, 85 women have lost their lives in your bloody quest for empire. It figures that some of them were, or might one day have become mothers. Surely most of them had mothers. Thanks to you, they won’t be celebrating any Mother’s Days ever again. Doesn’t that make you proud?

· And, again for the record, 474 women have been wounded in Iraq as of April, 2007. You don’t dare show us the severity of their wounds, but we can guess that many of these women have been left with massive wounds and missing limbs and emotional scars that they will last for many Mother’s Days to come. Doesn’t that bother you, even a little?

Bu$h is fond of telling reporters he sleeps just fine and that the good Lord guides his *decisions* And his mom, Babs thinks things were working out "quite well" for the Katrina folks in the SuperDome in NOLA. What a family!

Posted by vicki at 09:31 PM | TrackBack (0)

It just never ends. Virtually every department the WH runs is one big, fat PR scheme meant to inhance GOP power and influence at every turn. Read the whole sleazy tale here

The Pentagon is looking into complaints that Defense Department officials charged with building public support for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan might have engaged in improper fund-raising and unauthorized spending, officials said Friday.

The inspector general is examining whether officials who run “America Supports You,” a three-year-old Pentagon program lauded by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, helped arrange a fund-raiser for a private foundation set up last December by former Bush administration appointees. The foundation raises money to help troops and their families.

The inquiry is also looking into whether money used for “America Supports You” and other public outreach programs has been shifted improperly from Pentagon accounts intended for other purposes.

We've never seen anything like this rogue government and I hope we never do again.

Posted by vicki at 11:55 AM | TrackBack (0)

It's a very dangerous thing to politicize our court system, yet that is exactly what the Bu$h administration has done to a frightening degree. How can anyone expect blind justice when your main qualification to serve on the bench is to be a "loyal Bushie?" From today's Times

— Two years ago, Robin C. Ashton, a seasoned criminal prosecutor at the Department of Justice, learned from her boss that a promised promotion was no longer hers. “You have a Monica problem,” Ms. Ashton was told, according to several Justice Department officials. Referring to Monica M. Goodling, a 31-year-old, relatively inexperienced lawyer who had only recently arrived in the office, the boss added, “She believes you’re a Democrat and doesn’t feel you can be trusted.” [. . .] Ms. Goodling would soon be quizzing applicants for civil service jobs at Justice Department headquarters with questions that several United States attorneys said were inappropriate, like who was their favorite president and Supreme Court justice. One department official said an applicant was even asked, “Have you ever cheated on your wife?”

Ms. Goodling also moved to block the hiring of prosecutors with résumés that suggested they might be Democrats, even though they were seeking posts that were supposed to be nonpartisan, two department officials said.

And she helped maintain lists of all the United States attorneys that graded their loyalty to the Bush administration, including work on past political campaigns, and noted if they were members of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group.

By the time Ms. Goodling resigned in April — after her role in the firing of the prosecutors became public and she had been promoted to the role of White House liaison — she and other senior department officials had revamped personnel practices affecting employees from the top of the agency to the bottom.

Ms. Goodling is an inexperienced, 31 year old graduate of Pat Robertson's Regent University School of Law. 'Nuff said.

Posted by vicki at 11:06 AM | TrackBack (0)

Wow. The press goes wild for weeks over John Edwards' farking haircut yet passes on this stunninly callous act by Rudy GOULIANI. What a horse's ass! From, ironicly, the Horses Mouth blog

After agreeing to host Rudy's rally, Deb and Jerry Von Sprecken then set about doing a bunch of work to organize the event. They underwent a security check and called a bunch of local friends and acquaintances -- and even the local sheriff and fire department -- and proudly put the pieces in place for their rally.

But then...

On Tuesday Deb received a call from Giuliani’s Des Moines office and was asked to call New York.

“They wanted to know our assets,” she revealed, and added that she and Jerry have a modest 80 acre farm and raise cattle.

Later she received a call from Tony Delgado at the Des Monies location.

“Tony said, ‘I’m sorry, you aren’t worth a million dollars and he is campaigning on the Death Tax right now.’ then he said they weren’t going to be able to come,” Deb continued.

The Death Tax is a federal version of the Iowa Inheritance Tax.

The VonSpreckens then called Delgado back and told him how upset they were that the event had been cancelled, how much work they had done and that they had been expecting 75-100 people at their farm.

“I invited him into my home,” Deb said of Giuliani, fighting back tears.

And it doesn't even end there, by the way. Turns out the campaign called them back after all that, according to the paper, and offered them a consolation prize: The opportunity to get their picture taken with Rudy. The couple dismissed this as an effort to "cover their butts" -- presumably meaning that the campaign was hoping they wouldn't go to the media, or something.

Where is our so-called Liberal media now?

Posted by vicki at 11:02 AM | TrackBack (0)

Hoo, boy! This is from the May 9 issue of Editor And Publisher with speciial comment in bold by our DL friend, SkepticalCynic.

Once they got there, [Iraq] they experienced some of the danger first hand. A bomb went off in the Green Zone, rattling windows in the building where Cheney and the reporters were visiting. "Reporters were hustled down two flights of stairs to a basement shelter, where they remained for about five minutes before returning to work," The New York Times related.

After the explosion, Cheney said that "everybody recognizes there still are some security problems, security threats, no question about it."

To which the Skeptical Cynic retorts, “Well, no $hit Sherlock!”

This comment is like being up to your neck in rank swirling flood water in New Orleans’ Ward 9, “I believe the spring freshets have arrived.”

The AP later reported: "A sharp increase in mortar attacks on the Green Zone-- the one-time oasis of security in Iraq's turbulent capital-- has prompted the U.S. Embassy to issue a strict new order telling all employees to wear flak vests and helmets while in unprotected buildings or whenever they are outside.

"The order, obtained by The Associated Press, has created a siege mentality among U.S. staff inside the Green Zone following a recent suicide attack on parliament. It has also led to new fears about long-term safety in the place where the U.S. government is building a massive and expensive new embassy."

Yochi J. Dreazen of the Wall Street Journal posted the following on the paper's online Washington Wire this afternoon.
*
Vice President Dick Cheney’s surprise trip to Baghdad today was meant to deliver a tough message to the Iraqi government – put off your vacation plans and get back to work.

In light of Bush’s response (yeah sure!) to the August 6 2001, memo hand delivered to him "while on vacation” AND AFTER WHICH HE REMAINED ON VACATION, AND THE CHIMPSTER REMAINING ON VACATION AND TAKING NO ACTION WHILE HUNDREDS DROWND IN NEW ORLEANS the Dickster’s “tough message” the Iraqi government “put off your vacation plans and get back to work” rings like 50 pounds fresh manure hitting the marble floor in the White House Rotunda. The sociopathy of Bush, Cheney and a significant number of other members of the Executive Branch make Charlie Manson and his gang of misanthropes look like bleeding heart do-gooders.

U.S. officials have been livid since discovering that Iraq’s fledgling parliament – hardly a hive of activity in the first place – was planning to take a two-month summer recess, postponing work on a bill spelling out how oil money would be shared among Iraq’s ethnic and sectarian groups or a law authorizing new regional elections.

Hahahahahahahaha.

Posted by vicki at 03:57 PM | TrackBack (0)

Well, that was fast. As soon as Congress started inferring that if real progress is not made in Iraq by September the troops should start pulling out., Bu$h throws a banana peel out for them to slip on. Also, in today's Times, Bu$h was said to have told the Maliki government that there is no way there will be any troop withdrawal before his term ends. This is from The WaPo

The Pentagon announced yesterday that 35,000 soldiers in 10 Army combat brigades will begin deploying to Iraq in August as replacements, making it possible to sustain the increase of U.S. troops there until at least the end of this year. U.S. commanders in Iraq are increasingly convinced that heightened troop levels, announced by President Bush in January, will need to last into the spring of 2008. The military has said it would assess in September how well its counterinsurgency strategy, intended to pacify Baghdad and other parts of Iraq, is working.

"The surge needs to go through the beginning of next year for sure," said Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the day-to-day commander for U.S. military operations in Iraq. The new requirement of up to 15-month tours for active-duty soldiers will allow the troop increase to last until spring, said Odierno, who favors keeping experienced forces in place for now.

The War Without End (at least until Bu$h leaves office) should end the political carreers of each and every member of Congress who allows this to happen.

Posted by vicki at 02:43 PM | TrackBack (0)

Incurious George and his WH flack will belatedly tour the devastated town of Greensburg, Kansas on Wednesday. The smear machine was out in force after the Kansas Governor, a Dem no less, pointed out the obvious: The war in Iraq has depleted their Guard uinits and equiptment. Katrina, anyone?

In a spat reminiscent of White House finger-pointing at Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco after the federal government's botched response to Hurricane Katrina, Snow rapped Sebelius for not following procedure to find gaps and then asking the federal government to fill them. "If you don't request it, you're not going to get it," he said. The enormous twister -- the most powerful to hit the United States in eight years -- ripped through Greensburg, Kansas, on Friday, razing nearly all of the farming town with winds estimated at 205 mph. President Bush will travel to the area on Wednesday. Sebelius plans at that time to raise her contention that disaster preparedness and response are hampered because so many state National Guard units have been sent to the Middle East. "I don't think there is any question if you are missing trucks, Humvees and helicopters that the response is going to be slower," she said Monday. "The real victims here will be the residents of Greensburg, because the recovery will be at a slower pace." Sebelius said about half the state's National Guard trucks are in Iraq, equipment that would be helpful in removing debris, and that the state is also missing a number of well-trained personnel.

"The issue for the National Guard is the same wherever you go in the country. Stuff that we would have borrowed is gone," she said.

Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, the state's adjutant general, said the Kansas National Guard was equipped at only about 40 percent of its required levels, down from the 60 percent that it had at the start of the war.

Even as Snow insisted he wasn't trying to get into a political tussle with the Democratic governor, he aggressively defended the administration's performance.

"As far as we know, the only thing the governor has requested are FM radios," Snow said. "There have been no requests to the National Guard for heavy equipment."

Liar. CNN gave a lot of weight to WH spokespeople for this story Fool me once...We won't be fooled again! Idiots.

Posted by vicki at 10:18 PM | TrackBack (0)

Crikey! First the vegetables were killing and sickening people. Then pets were dying because of tainted food. Now it's beef, poultry, pork and fish. And let's not forget that China has been killing folks with tainted meds. WTF will it take to get our sorry (and totally without oversight for the last 6 years) FDA to effectively regulate food and meds coming into this country? How many more people and animanls will die before they snap out of it? So much for global trade Crooks and Liars has more here

David Goldstein has been watching closely the tainted gluten/melamine story, and he has even more disturbing news: During an ongoing media teleconference call, USDA/FDA officials have revealed that melamine-tainted "protein concentrate," imported from China, contaminated fish meal manufactured in Canada. The tainted fish meal was then distributed to an unknown number of fish farms in the US and Canada. Other revelations:

50,000 swine have been quarantined in Illinois due to suspect feed.
The tainted "wheat gluten" and "rice protein concentrate" at the center of the pet food recall, was actually misrepresented as such. Further tests have determined that it is wheat flour, adulterated with melamine.

I'm getting sick.

Posted by vicki at 09:20 PM | TrackBack (0)

I guess Johnathan Miller and Irv Maze will not be joining DL this Thursday after all. They have dropped out of the race for Governor. The C-J has this to say about it and I agree with the sentiment.

But Mr. Miller's advocates, many of them young and zealous, will be bitterly disappointed to see his principled and thoughtful campaign end. They can take comfort in the sure knowledge that he is going to be a factor in Kentucky's civic life for many years to come, and that he has set a fine example. Presumably Mr. Beshear, if he is elected to lead Kentucky, will put Mr. Miller's skill and experience to work, for state government or the state Democratic Party, or both. Beshear-Miller is a natural alliance. Both men are ambitious for Kentucky, and both are willing to take risks on behalf of progress. Steve Beshear has proved his commitment in a career as state legislator, attorney general and lieutenant governor, and as an important member of the state's legal community. As the Democratic candidate with momentum, he likely will be the object of attack ads, if not now then in a runoff, if there is one. His shield will be the truth, but the support of a high-minded young leader such as Mr. Miller also will help deflect the inevitable mud-slinging. Mr. Beshear has an obligation to the Miller crowd -- and to those who still think they see in Dr. Steve Henry a public-spirited young physician and conservationist, despite all the shabby ethical trappings he has put on over the years. They're believers. They want to think good government really is possible. Mr. Beshear must convince them he thinks so too.

It shouldn't be too difficult, because he does.

Read the whole opinion piece here

Posted by vicki at 01:00 PM | TrackBack (0)

Crikey! The Bridge To Nowhere looks quaint next to this latest scandal. If you thought Texas was the most corrupt State in the Union, think again. Check this out from TPM Muckraker The mother site, www.talkingpointsmemo.com has been the leader in uncovering intense corruption in the Justice Department. Only late today has CNN bothered to weigh in on this matter. The rest of the media will only awake to this scandal when all efforts to protect the WH have failed. Anyway, the Muckraker has some fine scandal to report of its own

I tell you, corruption doesn't get any uglier than Alaskan corruption. The investigation surrounding VECO, an Alaskan oil company, has finally borne fruit. Two Republican members of the state legislature were indicted today, one of them the former speaker of the house. There's still no word on the fate of former state Sen. Ben Stevens, son of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), who is also under investigation. Oh, and it's ugly. Pete Kott and Bruce Weyhrauch are on the hook for trading votes for cash and sweet jobs, plain and simple. From The Anchorage Daily News: The indictment says Kott asked executives of the unnamed company for money and a job after he left the Legislature. Weyhrauch, an attorney, asked for a job and legal work, the indictment says. On about Sept. 26, 2005, the indictment says, Kott called an unnamed company vice president and said, “I need a job.” The vice president replied, “You’ve got a job; get us a pipeline,” the indictment says.... In a meeting on April 18, 2006, Kott told the company executives, “You’ll get your pipeline, the governor gets his bill, and I’ll get my job in Barbados.”... Kott met with the company executives in their hotel suite on May 7, the indictment says, and told them he had tried to defeat an amendment to the oil tax the company didn’t like. “I had to cheat, steal, beg, borrow and lie,” Kott said, according to the indictment. The company’s chief executive responded, “I own your ass,” the indictment says.

My head really, really hurts.

Posted by vicki at 10:00 PM | TrackBack (0)

On Friday, the AP ran a story that was highly critical of Keith Olberman's participation in the GOP debate coverage on MSNBC. They were untroubled by Chris Matthews or Tucker Carlson. The AP compared Olberman to Bill O'Reilly. Just shoot me. Glenn Greenwald posts his take in this Salon piece

National journalists are as integrated into the Beltway elite culture as much as the political figures they are supposed to investigate and scrutinize. They love the Beltway system because it is that system that lavishes them with rewards and status, and their job is to defend it, a job they perform eagerly and with glee. What distinguishes Keith Olbermann is not that he expresses partisan views; he does that far less than all sorts of other "journalists" and anchors.

What Olbermann does is subjects the statements and behavior of our most powerful government officials to critical scrutiny. That used to be the defining attribute of a "journalist." Now, it is disqualifying behavior.

That is exactly right. Holding elected officials accountable and questioning their talking points is considered "partisian."

Posted by vicki at 11:43 AM | TrackBack (0)

The always fabulous Glen Greenwald reports on a frightening Wall Street Journal Op/Ed. Here's a snip:

"Law does not apply" -- that is Mansfield's belief, and the belief of the Bush movement. I didn't think it was possible, but Mansfield, with today's article in The Wall St. Journal, actually goes even further in advocating pure lawlessness and tyranny than he did in that remarkable Weekly Standard screed. He begins by describing "the debate between the strong executive and its adversary, the rule of law." He then says: "In some circumstances I could see myself defending the rule of law," but "the rule of law has two defects, each of which suggests the need for one-man rule."

The rule of law has two defects, each of which suggests the need for one-man rule. That is what is on the Op-Ed page of The Wall St. Journal this morning. The article is then filled with one paragraph after the next paying homage to the need for a Great Leader who stomps on the rule of law when he chooses -- literally:

The entire Wall Street Journal piece is here

Posted by vicki at 12:17 PM | TrackBack (0)

Here is how the HuffPo is highlighting the event. I'm watching in now on TiVO, so I'll defer to her. My impression so far? Lame as hell. All the candidates seem insincere and pandering. Check it out Chris Matthews has a scary love thing going with these candidates. He is a terrible moderator. And get over Ray-Gun, already.

McCain: I Think The War Is "On The Right Track"…Giuliani: A Nuclear Iran "Is The Worst Nightmare Of The Cold War, Isn't It?"… Romney: Bin Laden Is Going To Pay And "He Will Die"…McCain: I'll Follow Bin Laden "To The Gates Of Hell"...Brownback: Banning Roe v. Wade Would Be A "Glorious Day"…Romney: Fitzgerald Was "Outrageous" For Going After Scooter Libby…Video: Three Candidates Raise Hands To Show They Don’t Believe In Evolution… Candidates Mention Reagan Sixteen Times, Bush 4…Giuliani Slips 13 Points Before Debate...Reaction: Candidates Gave Endorsement To Bush’s Iraq Strategy…Mickey Kaus: GOP Field Seemed Weaker After The Debate

Dang. The testosterone and macho overload was unbearable. Whew. Hasn't Bu$h taught them anything? This is very much an authoratarian, get Government all over your personal life group of candidates.

Posted by vicki at 11:41 PM | TrackBack (0)

You can catch it tonight at 7:00 PM on MSNBC (local channel 45)

Posted by vicki at 06:00 PM | TrackBack (0)

Thanks to BC for the link. I thought you might be interested in this e-activism campaign to
honor those killed in combat.

If you go to the URL below you can get more information and sign
a petition that asks Congress to amend the US Flag code to have
flags lowered for a day each time an American service member
dies at war.
Sign the petition here

Thanks! It's the very least we can do.

Posted by vicki at 02:36 PM | TrackBack (0)

So, Congress gave Bu$h MORE than he asked for to fund his disaster in the desert of Iraq in a bill that demands accountability. No can do, says Bu$h. He wants to "work with Congress" only to the point where they agree with his doomsday policy 100%. Good luck on that one, chump (chimp?)

What a putz

President Bush vetoed a $124 billion war spending bill on Tuesday, setting up a second round in his long battle with Congressional Democrats who are determined to use the financing measure to force the White House to shift course in Iraq.

Even the odious McConnell smells defeat for the GOP in following this path to hell in the '08 election cycle.

Posted by vicki at 11:47 AM | TrackBack (0)

Another *proud* moment from the Nixon administration. To this day you will find folks saying the students "had it coming" for their rowdy protest. My head hurts. From CNN.com

, Ohio (AP) -- A static-filled recording of the 1970 Kent State University shooting that killed four students raises questions not only about whether someone called on National Guardsmen to fire, but also who might have given the order.

The tape was released Tuesday by Alan Canfora, 58, one of nine students wounded in the 1970 shootings.

He played two versions of the tape -- the original and an amplified version -- in which he says a Guard officer issues the command, "Right here! Get Set! Point! Fire!" (Watch scenes from the shooting and hear the tape Video)

Background noise on the recording made it difficult to understand as it was played for students and reporters in a campus theater Tuesday. The word "point" is clear, followed by the sound of shots being fired. There is no indication on the tape of who said the word.

Did I mention that my head hurts?

Posted by vicki at 09:59 AM | TrackBack (0)