Somebody needs to stuff a sock in this clown's mouth. It's disgraceful enough that he would go on Fox *Newz,* but to lay claim that Fox "has done a very balanced job reporting the [political] news" is the stuff of a mad man. This is the same former head of the DNC who presided over a major Dem Congressional and Presidential losing streak. Hell has truly frozen over. See it for yourself on this TPM/YouTUbe video
Looks like that moron Ru$h and his sheep-like fans may have been a bit too clever for following orders to switch parties in order to help Clinton win primaries and "bloody up" Obama. Check this out
Could Rush Limbaugh be responsible for tipping the election outcome in a key Republican primary to fill the seat vacated by former Rep. Roger Wicker in Mississippi?
That’s what some Republican operatives in the state are suggesting.
As part of his self-described “Operation Chaos,” the conservative talk-show host urged his listeners to vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primary in order to draw out the presidential nomination process as long as possible.
But in Mississippi, those party-switchers may not have realized the implications of their decision: The Republicans who voted in last month’s Democratic primary now are not allowed to cast ballots in Tuesday’s hotly contested runoff between Glenn McCullough, the former chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority, and Greg Davis, mayor of one of the fastest-growing towns in the state’s 1st Congressional District.
President Bush delivered the first pitch tonight at the new Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. to a resounding chorus of boos. After being announced, Bush was showered by boos as he strode to the mound. Even after Bush delivered the pitch, the jeering did not let up until the President disappeared from the field. Watch it:
Crikey! Please make this stop! Idiots like McCain and his hug-mate, W keep talking about Victory! in Iraq. They are either delusional, deeply dishonest or both. Are they not aware of what little remains of a civil or functional society in Iraq for the last 5 years? This is a case where you just can't un-make the disaster they created. Not gonna happen. They're going to dump this hideous turkey into their successor's lap and walk away from it and blame the Dems for "failure" to fix the mess they created. God help him or her who has to clean up this disaster.
NAJAF, Iraq, March 29 (Reuters) - Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has told his followers not to lay down their arms, rejecting a demand by the Iraqi government which launched a crackdown against them this week, a top aide said on Saturday.
"Moqtada al-Sadr asks his followers not to deliver weapons to the government. Weapons should be turned over only to a government which can expel the occupiers," aide Hassan Zargani told Reuters by telephone.
A member of the Sadrist political committee in the holy Shi'ite city of Najaf, Haidar al-Jabari, confirmed the remarks.
Iraqi security forces launched an offensive against Mehdi Army fighters loyal to Sadr in the southern oil port of asra but have so far failed to dislodge the militants from their strongholds.
Fighting has since spread to other towns and cities in southern Iraq where the Medhi Army has a presence.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has given Shi'ite militants in Basra until April 8 to surrender their weapons. Mehdi Army fighters in the city have rejected the ultimatum.
Nothing to see here. Freedom Is On The March. Mission Accomplished. The Iraqi's Have Voted. It's Safe To Stroll Bagdhad. STHU, Bu$hCo!
(Reporting by Khaled Farhan; writing by Peter Graff; editing by Jon Boyle)
As my son can attest, having just gotten out of Nepal as the unrest there was rising up, Tibetan refugees are gentle, peace loving people-- just looking for autonomy from repressive China. Can't the UN and World at large get behind that concept for a change? My head hurts!
— About 20 Tibetan high school students scaled a brick wall surrounding the United Nations compound in Katmandu on Friday morning, carrying a small home-made sign that read "Free Tibet" and asking for the United Nations to help their cause, according to a United Nations spokesman.
Tibetan high school children scaled a brick wall surrounding the United Nations compound in Katmandu. They were served dumplings on the other side.
They were served a lunch of steamed dumplings, called momos, instead.
John Brittain, a spokesman for the United Nations, described the teenagers as polite intruders who sat on the grass inside the compound, were asked to write their grievances for United Nations officials and were treated to lunch. No one has been arrested, Mr. Brittain said, and agency officials would make sure they all were escorted home safely.
"They were very nice," Mr. Brittain said by telephone from Katmandu.
"They sat down on the grass and chatted and they were asked to put down their grievances."
The students were not available for comment. [EDITORIAL COMMENT: Duh! The authorities have them now.]
*
The Associated Press reported from Katmandu, the capital of Nepal, that police had arrested 60 demonstrators outside the compound.
Naturally, GW Bu$h plans to "honor" China with the presence of his company at the Olympics there this summer. What a spineless but typical move. But Bu$h's "love" of human rights is notorious.
Gov. Spiegelman Says His Imprisonment "Abuse Of Power"
The "corruption" charges that were trumped up against former Governor Spiegelman (D-Alabama) shouldn't have ever see seen the light of day. This was a political hit prosecuted by partisan hacks and heard by a corrupt judge. What Spiegelman was sent to prison for was giving a job to a man who gave his campaign big bucks. Wow, if that's the standard, we'd better throw the entire Bu$h administration in jail.
— Former Governor Don Siegelman of Alabama, released from prison today on bond in a bribery case, said he was as convinced as ever that politics played a leading role in his prosecution.
In a telephone interview shortly after he walked out of a federal prison in Oakdale, La., Mr. Siegelman said there had been “abuse of power” in his case, and repeatedly cited the influence of Karl Rove, the former White House political director.
“His fingerprints are smeared all over the case,” Mr. Siegelman said, a day after a federal appeals court ordered him released on bond and said there were legitimate questions about his case.
[. . .]
In June of 2006 he was convicted by a federal jury here of taking $500,000 from Richard M. Scrushy, the former chief executive of the HealthSouth corporation, in exchange for an appointment to the state hospital licensing board. The money was to retire a debt from Mr. Siegelman’s campaign for a state lottery to pay for schools, and the ex-governor’s lawyers have insisted that it was no more than a routine political contribution.
On the telephone outside the prison today, Mr. Siegelman said he had confidence that the federal appeals court, which will now consider his larger appeal, would agree with his view of the case — that he was convicted for a transaction that regularly takes place in American politics.
Otherwise, Mr. Siegelman said, “every governor and every president and every contributor might as well turn themselves in, because it’s going to be open season on them.”
You know how we keep saying that every time we think we've seen it all it just gets worse? Check out this article from the New York Times and prepare for a shock.
the American military has relied since early last year on a fledgling company led by a 22-year-old man whose vice president was a licensed masseur.
With the award last January of a federal contract worth as much as nearly $300 million, the company, AEY Inc., which operates out of an unmarked office in Miami Beach, became the main supplier of munitions to Afghanistan’s army and police forces.
Since then, the company has provided ammunition that is more than 40 years old and in decomposing packaging, according to an examination of the munitions by The New York Times and interviews with American and Afghan officials. Much of the ammunition comes from the aging stockpiles of the old Communist bloc, including stockpiles that the State Department and NATO have determined to be unreliable and obsolete, and have spent millions of dollars to have destroyed.
It gets much worse. Is it any wonder this country is bankrupt on a number of levels?
Free Songs Of Social Significance And (not free) Concert Soon
David Rovics is a good friend of my nephew, Jason, who many of you know from his DL Louisville days before he took a job with the Sierra Club in New Mexico. He highly recommends we take a field trip to hear David's powerful music when he preforms at the Brickhouse in Louisville
Friday, April 11th, 8 pm
BrickHouse
Louisville, KY
Contact Nancy
I'll also be doing a kids' show earlier in the evening and an appearance at a record store -- contact Nancy nancyjak@hotmail.com for details!
You might know Nancy J. from Louisville Peace and DL. Here's a bit of background from my nephew on the songwriter in his own words::
Those of you with little ones, he's also playing a
kids show earlier in the day...that might be the one
at Ear-x-tacy. While his adult shows are strongly
political, his kid shows are awesome, even for the
littlest of ones. For more info on that, go to his
website at http://www.davidrovics.com/kids/index.php
or contact Nancy Jakobiac at nancyjak@hotmail.com.
She's organizing the show. If you haven't heard
David's music, it's folk and bluegrass, strongly
political, and far-left. His children's music is
similar but instead of in-your-face politics, it's
about pirates, animals, adventures and your typical
kids stuff. You can download all of his music, which
is hundreds of songs, for free at
http://www.davidrovics.com. Amy Goodman of Democracy
Now says, "David Rovics is the musical version of
Democracy Now!"...Pete Seger says, "Listen to David
Rovics..."...and Andy Kershaw of BBC Radio says, "If
the great Phil Ochs were to come back from the dead
tonight, he'd probably be hailed as the new David
Rovics." If you're an activist, organizer or
trouble-maker, you'll definately want to be at this
show! I also ask you to forward this on to all you
know who may be interested. David does all of his
shows through a grassroots effort.
Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao has done horrible damage to workers' rights by gutting safety regulations, promoting a big business agenda, and undermining workers and their unions at every turn. But if she thinks no one is watching in her last months in office, she's wrong.
Yesterday we showed up at the Department of Labor with a special birthday message for Elaine Chao – actually, it was over 25,000 messages – demanding that she quit trampling workers' rights. But they wouldn't let us in.
*
We wanted Elaine's employees to be the ones to actually deliver your messages to Elaine. But when they tried to put our list of signatures – about the size of a phone book – through the X-ray machine at the Department entrance, they were stopped in their tracks. Why? Elaine's security staff said they read our website, and we posed a security threat.
Limbaugh's motives, however, have been perfectly clear from the start. "I'm asking people to cross over, and if they can stomach it and I know it's a difficult thing to do, vote for Clinton," Limbaugh said before the Ohio primary. The goal, he explained, was to ensure Barack Obama was "bloodied up politically" and to extend the Democratic primary "soap opera."
Since the Ohio investigation began, Limbaugh has revved up his special brand of self-promotional damage control. He ran several segments defending "Operation Chaos" with the disingenuous argument that politicians also ask for crossover voters. Of course, intent makes all the difference: Reagan Democrats actually supported Reagan. Limbaugh's campaign is under legal scrutiny because he asked people to crossover in bad faith -- to tamper with elections. 2008-03-25-Picture1.png But for $19.95, Limbaugh is still hawking shirts and caps emblazoned with "Operation Chaos," so listeners can join the program's "street team." Wear one of those shirts to the polls, though, and you just might provide enough evidence of the motive needed for prosecution. The shirts list "mission objectives" like "enjoy liberals tearing each other apart," "prolong" the Democratic primary, "drain the DNC of campaign cash," and "win in November."
Finally, Limbaugh is lashing out at anyone who notes that he urged thousands of listeners, whether maliciously or ignorantly, to break Ohio law. He recently complained that NBC's Norah O'Donnell and the New Republic's Michael Crowley dared to discuss the issue. Then he was outraged that Fox's Julie Banderas said election law violations must be "taken seriously" and "Republican shock jocks" were possibly "anti-American" for urging people to break the law.
Will he be held accountable? Nawwww. It's OK if you're a republican.
To which Big Dick says, "So." We know Bu$h and Ditch Mitch (not to mention 100 more years McCain) will not withdraw our military from Bu$h's disaster in the desert, Congress needs to cut off the spigot. Now.
"Body of War is Tomas' coming home story as he evolves into a new person, coming to terms with his disability and finding his own unique and passionate voice against the war. The film is produced and directed by Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro, and features two original songs by Eddie Vedder. Body of War is a naked and honest portrayal of what it's like inside the body, heart and soul of this extraordinary and heroic young man. click here to see the video of this remarkable soldier " . Thanks to DLer Harold for passing this on.
How funny is it that a new restaurant opened in my 'hood this week is called, "Incredible Dave's!"? DLer Dave, forwarded this pic to me and it's just hysterical. Thanks, Dave!
Thanks to DLers Dave and Steffi (my girl!) for sending this in. It's nice to know somebody cares. No doubt, U.S. headlines (had they bothered to cover the protests) would have stated that "hundreds" of war protesters took to the streets. Oy.
Prominent supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama on Sunday both faulted Obama's campaign for allowing a retired general and backer of the Illinois senator to equate comments by Clinton's husband to McCarthyism.
"I don't believe President Clinton was implying that," said New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a former presidential candidate who endorsed Obama last week. "But the point here ... is that the campaign has gotten too negative — too many personal attacks, too much negativity that is not resounding with the public."
Asked whether Obama's campaign was being too negative in accusing former President Clinton of McCarthyism, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a Clinton supporter, said, "Of course ... the Obama campaign tries to have it both ways, he said.
I've already stated that Bill Clinton questioning whether Obama loves his country is gutter politics. What the general said was more of an in-artful way of challenging Wild Bill's attacks on Obama as un-American. Everyone in the Democratic party should reject (if that is the stronger term) and denounce that kind of intolerable hate speech. After all, isn't that line of attack more sensibly directed against the Bu$h administration?
MSNBC is reporting.that on the campaign trail today in Charlotte, North Carolina, the former president said a general election matchup between his wife, Sen. Clinton, and Sen. John McCain would be between "two people who love this country" without "all this other stuff that always seems to intrude itself on our politics." [my bold]
It's difficult to determine exactly what Clinton meant by this. Howard Wolfson, a spokesman for the Clinton campaign, said the former president was not implying that Obama didn't love America. As for "this other stuff," that Clinton referred to? He was talking about "the politics of personal destruction," said Wolfson. "He was lamenting that these kind of distractions 'always seems to intrude' on our politics."
Not everyone had the same interpretation. MSNBC, for example, was quick to suggest that the former president was implying there were doubts about Obama's patriotism, and that those doubts would play a role in the general election. Which seems, on its face, hardly a stretch.
It's not difficult at ALL to tell what Wild Bill meant. He is saying Barack Obama, a fellow Democrat, is un-American. Bill Clinton is dead to me. What a legacy killer he's become. The full quote and video of his statement is on the link above.
UPDATE: All three presidential candidates had their passport files spied on. Heckuvajob, Condi.
Every day the Bu$h administration continues down its destructive path of lawlessness is another bad day for our former system of *Justice* (it is supposed to be blind, remember) and further wrecks everything good our country was built on. The State Department has been riffling through Senator Barack Obama's passport files, illegally, for three months. It is obvious that the right wing wrecking ball machine feels very threatened by Obama's fresh, honest appeals for change from a massively corrupt system of government and Bu$hCo and company will stop at nothing to derail him. What was the State Dept. looking for--some deep dark visit to a Muslim country? Hahahahaha Idiots.What a load of SHIT!
*
Every Department of government under Bu$h has been thoroughly corrupted. The Justice Department is in shambles, the EPA is stacked with science hating hacks and Mrs. Ditch Mitch--Elaine Chao at Labor--, HATES workers! It's twisted beyond belief. Here's the first wave of evidence that Obama is a serious threat to the GOP In the 08 election.
Two contract employees of the State Department were fired and a third person was disciplined for inappropriately looking at Democratic Sen. Barack Obama's passport file.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the department itself detected the instances of "imprudent curiosity," which occurred separately on Jan. 9, Feb. 21 and March 14. He would not release the names of those who were fired and disciplined.
"We believe this was out of imprudent curiosity, so we are taking steps to reassure ourselves that that is, in fact, the case," McCormack said
Bill Burton, a spokesman for Obama's presidential campaign, called for a complete investigation.
"This is an outrageous breach of security and privacy, even from an administration that has shown little regard for either over the last eight years.
Our government's duty is to protect the private information of the American people, not use it for political purposes," Burton said.
"This is a serious matter that merits a complete investigation, and we demand to know who looked at Senator Obama's passport file, for what purpose, and why it took so long for them to reveal this security breach," he said.
Glenn Greenwald at Salon reports on the sleazy "reporting* by Brian Ross on Hillary Clinton's newly released First Lady appointment calendar. If you thought the press had moved on from the all Monica all the time (and repented their sins), think again. This will explode your head!
The worst, sleaziest press corps possible
*
It just isn't possible for this country to have a more depraved and wretched press corps. After spending months haranguing Hillary Clinton to release her schedule as First Lady -- based on high-minded demands that open government is important -- this is what ABC News "investigative reporter" Brian Ross did with the documents today (h/t Susie Madrak via email):
Hillary Was in White House on "Stained Blue Dress" Day
Schedules Reviewed by ABC Show Hillary May Have Been in the White House When the Fateful Act Was Committed
Hillary Clinton spent the night in the White House on the day her husband had oral sex with Monica Lewinsky, and may have actually been in the White House when it happened, according to records of her schedule released today by the National Archives. . .
The public schedule for Sen. Clinton on Feb. 28, 1997, the day on which Lewinsky's infamous blue dress would become stained by the president, shows the first lady spent the morning and the night in the White House. . . .
ABC *News* needs to fire that hack. What a disgrace.
One Marine sergeant named Jason Lemieux, who served three tours in Iraq, said, "The rules of engagement were broadly defined and loosely enforced. ... Anyone who tells you differently is a liar or a fool. They were gradually reduced to a case of non-existence."
The chain of command, the testimony asserted, facilitated the degradation of standards for using deadly force. Most veterans testifying spoke of a willingness on the part of their company and battalion-level commanders to accept false explanations for civilian deaths; to not investigate U.S. culpability for wrongful death, and to knowingly miscast blame for U.S.-caused killings of civilians on insurgents.
Planting guns on killed civilians and calling them insurgents was "commonly encouraged [by commanders] but only behind closed doors," said Washborn. Lemieux said that in 2006, he saw his commander "shoot two old ladies walking [in Anbar Province] carrying vegetables." Initially the commander, whom Lemieux did not identify, ordered one of his men to shoot the women, but when the Marine refused, "the commander shot them himself." Later, the same Marine engaged in similar acts. "He was following the example [his] commander set."
Through tears, a Marine named James H. Gilligan recounted a story about an artillery barrage on an Afghan village in 2004. The barrage occurred because Gilligan relayed incorrect coordinates to his Tactical Operations Center after his platoon came under a brief and disorienting attack. He was pressured by his commanders after the fact to falsify a report saying the attack was legitimate. Weeks later, Gilligan’s unit experienced its first IED attack after visiting the devastated village. A unit leader, he said, spoke to a village leader about the attack and told him, "If the Taliban does it again, let us know."
This weekend’s Winter Soldier included two elements that its Vietnam-era predecessor lacked. The first was video footage. Jon Michael Turner of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines showed video of on e fellow Marine bragging, "I think I just killed half the population of northern Ramadi." Another one showed a laser-guided bomb decimating a building Turner identified as belonging to the Iraqi Ministry of Health. "It was still in use and there were people in it," he said. A third video showed the minaret of an Anbar Province mosque coming under sustained and deliberate gunfire for nearly a minute. Turner explained the Marines shot the minaret to "take out aggression after a guy in our weapons company got shot. ... For those who don’t know, it is illegal to shoot at a mosque unless [you are] taking fire. We did not take any fire."
War is hell and we have an utter moron (Bu$h) in charge who thinks of wars he never had the guts to fight and his current disasters in Iraq and Afghanistan is somehow "romantic." My contempt for Bu$h is limitless.
We all know how badly things have gone in this country by having a total MORON in the Oval Office. Well, McCain would be nothing more than a Bu$h third term. Mac is running on his war and foreign policy "experience" yet he makes incredibly stupid remarks such as it's safe to "stroll Baghdad" and that he wouldn't mind staying in Iraq "for 100 years." This latest blunder proves convincingly that he has no idea what he's talking about in terms of war or foreign policy. Naturally, you won't see endless loops of McCain making an ass of himself on the news, cable or radio. He always gets a pass.
He said several times that Iran, a predominately Shiite country, was supplying the mostly Sunni militant group, al-Qaeda. In fact, officials have said they believe Iran is helping Shiite extremists in Iraq.
Speaking to reporters in Amman, the Jordanian capital, McCain said he and two Senate colleagues traveling with him continue to be concerned about Iranian operatives "taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back."
Pressed to elaborate, McCain said it was "common knowledge and has been reported in the media that al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran, that's well known. And it's unfortunate." A few moments later, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, standing just behind McCain, stepped forward and whispered in the presidential candidate's ear. McCain then said: "I'm sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al-Qaeda."
The mistake threatened to undermine McCain's argument that his decades of foreign policy experience make him the natural choice to lead a country at war with terrorists. In recent days, McCain has repeatedly said his intimate knowledge of foreign policy make him the best equipped to answer a phone ringing in the White House late at night.
He made the same claim in a radio interview earlier in the week and got a pass on that, too.
Wednesday, March 19, 8:00am – 6:00pm
Jefferson County Courthouse Steps, 6th & Jefferson Sts.
There will be two programs with speakers & music, 11:30am and 4:30pm
This is part of a nation-wide commemoration of US & Iraqi lives lost since 2003.
We have boots to represent fallen US soldiers.
We need SHOES -- and lots of them – to represent Iraqi civilians killed.
The shoes will be given to charities at the end of the event.
Please drop off shoes -- of any kind -- at 1312 Willow Ave (on the porch).
For more information or to volunteer to help, please contact:
Johanna at 459-9389 or Jamie at 896-6503
The Bu$hie Award is back by popular demand! Thanks to DLer Bill M. for reminding me how fun it is to award the best person each week who embraces the arrogance, hubris, dishonesty and just plain wrongness of George W. Bu$h!
This weeks winner is neo-con artist and AEI *scholar* (hahahahaha!) Michael Rubin.
After almost five years of war and nearly 4,000 American lives lost, Gen. Petraeus's admission proves that the president's Iraq policy has failed," Pelosi said in a statement. "President Bush and other Republicans can no longer credibly claim that their status quo Iraq strategy is working.
"Americans demand a new direction in Iraq that includes responsible redeployment so we can strengthen our military's readiness and refocus on the real fight against terrorism," she said. "Democrats in Congress wholly reject a continuation of the President's 10-year, trillion dollar war in Iraq," Pelosi said.
* "I used to give Nancy Pelosi benefit of the doubt, but I don't think she'll be happy until we have a Rwanda-like genocide. Pelosi is perhaps the worst example of a liberal racist: She sees Iraqis as nothing more than a template upon which to fight a partisan battle. It really is disgraceful," he added.
There you have it. Neo-cons: Wrong About Everything.
Republicans have had it wrong on economic matters, whether it is "supply side" (aka voodoo) economics, trickle down hooey, and deregulation nonsense for more than 30 years. Bu$h/Big Dick policies have utterly trashed our economy and allowed banks and corporations to run roughshod over this country leaving citizens vulnerable to bankruptcy, at risk from defective medical devices and meds and our food, air and toys poisoned. What a record! Americans have stood by while the government spied on us illegally, started a *war* under false pretenses and operates in total secrecy. There's more, but you get the point. However, nothing seems to get the public's attention like taking a hit in the wallet. Maybe, for a long overdue change, the public will finally "get it" that the GOP is all about making the wealthy more wealthy and letting the rest of us screwed. That's the hard reality and everything else the GOP claims they stand for (smaller government, personal responsibility, and moral *values*) is pure blather meant to fool the rubes. E.J. Dion explains how it works
-- Never do I want to hear again from my conservative friends about how brilliant capitalists are, how much they deserve their seven-figure salaries, and how government should keep its hands off the private economy
The Wall Street titans have turned into a bunch of welfare clients. They are desperate to be bailed out by government from their own incompetence, and from the deregulatory regime for which they lobbied so hard. They have lost "confidence" in each other, you see, because none of these oh-so-wise captains of the universe has any idea what kinds of devalued securities sit in one another's portfolios.
[. . . ]
But if this near meltdown of capitalism doesn't encourage a lot of people to question the principles they have carried in their heads for the last three decades or so, nothing will.
We had already learned the hard way -- in the crash of 1929 and the Depression that followed -- that capitalism is quite capable of running off the rails. Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal was a response to the failure of the geniuses of finance (and their defenders in the economics profession) to realize what was happening or to fix it in time.
As the economist John Kenneth Galbraith noted of the era leading up to the Depression, "The threat to men of great dignity, privilege and pretense is not from the radicals they revile; it is from accepting their own myth. Exposure to reality remains the nemesis of the great -- a little understood thing."
But in the enthusiasm for deregulation that took root in the late 1970s, flowered in the Reagan era and reached its apogee in the second Bush years, we forgot the lesson that government needs to keep a careful watch on what capitalists do. Of course, some deregulation can be salutary and the market system is, on balance, a wondrous instrument -- when it works. But the free market is just that: an instrument, not a principle.
So now the bailouts begin, and Wall Street usefully might feel a bit of gratitude, perhaps by being willing to have the wealthy foot some of the bill or to acknowledge that while its denizens were getting rich, a lot of Americans were losing jobs and health insurance. I'm waiting.
Nothing will change until we "throw the bums out" and quit falling for the same old snow job.
What if a huge anti-war protest happened and no media bothered to cover it? It happened in London and to some extent, in the US this weekend-- which marked the 5 year anniversary of the biggest US foreign policy disaster in modern history.
DLers Dave and Steffi (Steffi is in the first pic) sent in these photos from a massive protest they attended in London's Trafalgar Square on Saturday. The war in Iraq and the recent bombings of Afghan civilians had them up in arms. And rightly so.
Thousands of anti-war protesters have marched through London in a demonstration against the military air strikes on Afghanistan.
The CND-led march from Marble Arch to Trafalgar Square reflected growing concern in some quarters over the US-led bombardment, organisers said.
Police said about 20,000 people had taken part in Saturday's demonstration, which followed the sixth night of US air strikes.
DLers Dave and Steffi put the total much higher. It's become fashionable for our corporate media to tell us what our own lying eyes do not. You decide. I'll have video up soon.
OK, Dlers, Velocity is looking to interview our members in the 20-30 something range for an article they are writing. See the letter below for details and call or write Joanna today! Best of luck.
Hi there, Drinking Liberally organizers,
I'm a writer for Velocity, and I'm working on a story I'm hoping you can help me with. I'm looking for people who are enthusiastic supporters of either Democratic presidential candidate, who have clashed with people in their private lives who are supporters of the other candidate. That means Obama supporters who are married to Clinton fans, friends who just can't talk politics anymore despite being in the same party because the arguments get so heated, s*iblings, parents and their children, etc.-people for whom the ongoing split in the Democratic party has become a personal issue.
I am hoping you can help me find relevant people for interviews by forwarding this email around to your mailing lists and posting it on the DL forum.
*
I'm looking mostly for people in their 20s and 30s (that's Velocity's demo) but if one party to a conflict is above or below that age range that's OK, too. If anyone has a good story they wouldn't mind sharing, I'd love to hear from them! Folks can reach me at this email address or at the phone number below. Prompt responses will be very much appreciated!
*
Please let me know if you can help me get the word out and make contacts for the article--I would really appreciate your help!
Sincerely,
Joanna Richards
(502) 582-4114
jrichards@velocityweekly.com
Finally, the Dems decided they'd give up their caving to fearmongering and stand up to the rule of law. What took them so long?
The House just now approved a new FISA bill that denies retroactive immunity to lawbreaking telecoms and which refuses to grant most of the new powers for the President to spy on Americans without warrants. It passed comfortably, by a 213-197 margin.
*
Notably, many of the 21 "Blue Dogs" who previously signed a letter indicating their support for telecom immunity and the Rockefeller bill -- including several of the six whom the highly successful blog fund-raising campaign earlier this week targeted -- voted (and spoke) in support of the House bill (only 10 Democrats voted against the bill, including at least a couple of progressives who think the bill doesn't go far enough). Many of those Blue Dogs were persuaded to support the bill by the protections which the bill offers to telecoms (i.e., authorizing them to introduce even classified evidence in the lawsuits to prove they complied with the law, if they actually did).
As impressive as the House vote itself was, more impressive still was the floor debate which preceded it. I can't recall ever watching a debate on the floor of either House of Congress that I found even remotely impressive -- until today. One Democrat after the next -- of all stripes -- delivered impassioned, defiant speeches in defense of the rule of law, oversight on presidential eavesdropping, and safeguards on government spying. They swatted away the GOP's fear-mongering claims with the dismissive contempt such tactics deserve, rejecting the principle that has predominated political debate in this country since 9/11: that the threat of the Terrorists means we must live under the rule of an omnipotent President and a dismantled constitutional framework.
After President Bush “intervened at the 11th hour” to weaken the Environmental Protection Agency’s new smog standards, “Solicitor General Paul D. Clement warned administration officials late Tuesday night that the rules contradicted the EPA’s past submissions to the Supreme Court…As a consequence, administration lawyers hustled to craft new legal justifications for the weakened standard.”
Two and a half years after Hurricane Katrina, “tens of thousands of miserable homeowners are still waiting for their government rebuilding checks, and many complain they can’t even get their calls returned.” However, ICF International — the company contracted to distribute the checks — “is doing quite well for itself” by posting “strong profits,” going public, and landing “additional multimillion-dollar government contracts.”
Does the GOP ever tire of using the Senate floor for ass clowning? The answer is NO. We're actually paying this jerk a huge salary and enormous benefits for this kind of "work."
Call it the showdown at the budget corral.
*
Trying to embarrass Senator Barack Obama, Senator Wayne Allard, Republican of Colorado, offered an amendment Thursday that purported to total up the costs of Mr. Obama’s favored initiatives to the tune of $1.4 trillion, which would then be added to the $3 trillion budget.
The message, of course, was that Mr. Obama, a Democratic presidential candidate from Illinois, is a big taxer and spender.
Senator Kent Conrad, Democrat of North Dakota, the chairman of the Budget Committee and an Obama supporter, ridiculed the proposal as “make-believe,” noting that Mr. Obama is not president nor has he submitted a budget.
Senators, including Mr. Allard, quickly lined up to vote against the plan. As the time allowed for the vote neared an end, Mr. Obama and his entourage, including Senators Richard J. Durbin of Illinois and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, both Democrats, strode purposefully into the chamber. It was a swinging-saloon-door moment.
Mr. Obama marched to the well of the Senate and gave a hard glare to the Republican side.
“Hey, Allard,” Mr. Obama was heard to shout at a volume unusual for the Senate. “You working this hard?” he asked, sarcastically dismissing the amendment as a ploy.
Somewhat sheepishly, Mr. Allard gave his colleague the thumbs-up Senate sign for an affirmative vote and urged him to back the amendment. Mr. Obama declined, voting no, as did the other Democratic presidential candidate on hand, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, and everyone else present. He and his colleagues then strode off.
Voters need to retire Allard. They deserve better than having a clowing hack like him wasting time in Congress.
"The Louisville Metro Democratic Democratic Club sponsored the first Democratic primary senatorial debate and invited all the candidates from the Louisville area to participate. Mike Cassaro and Gregg Fischer participated. Bruce Lunsford couldn't make it to the event. Mark Hebert moderated the debate. The video, in its entirety, is below and is about 1 hr long. You can watch the video below or go here and watch segments of the video.
Bu$h would have been quite at home in Soviet Russia. The full report WILL come out despite all his obstructionist clowning. From TPM
The other night McClatchy broke the news that a huge Pentagon study of Iraqi archives had concluded that there was no Saddam-al Qaeda link. That's been followed by reports in other media on the contours of the report, which was supposed to be released today followed by a Pentagon briefing.
*
But not any more. ABC News reports:
*
The Bush Administration apparently does not want a U.S. military study that found no direct connection between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda to get any attention. This morning, the Pentagon cancelled plans to send out a press release announcing the report's release and will no longer make the report available online.
The report was to be posted on the Joint Forces Command website this afternoon, followed by a background briefing with the authors. No more. The report will be made available only to those who ask for it, and it will be sent via U.S. mail from Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Virginia.
It won't be emailed to reporters and it won't be posted online. …
Bu$h and Big Dick made fools of everyone who bought the Saddam/WMD lie in the first place We all know it's not true now and they can't put that Genie back in the bottle no matter what. They just keep up their shameful trickery and the public ain't buying it.
The General who was the only man standing in the way of an Iran bombing campaign by Bu$h and the neo-cons has abruptly resigned.
Secretary Robert Gates has announced that Centcom commander Adm. William Fallon has submitted his resignation. Fallon was subject of a recent Esquire article, which stated that the admiral could be “relieved of his command before his time is up next spring,” in favor of a commander more amenable to war with Iran.
According to Gates, Fallon resigned because the fall-out from the article. Gates said Fallon told him: “The current embarrassing situation, public perception of differences between my views and administration policy, and the distraction this causes from the mission make this the right thing to do.” Gates said he approved Fallon’s request to retire with “reluctance and regret.” Watch it:
Last week, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino downplayed Fallon’s possible retirement, decrying “rumor mills that don’t turn out to be true.”
Fallon opposed the “surge” in Iraq and has consistently battled the Bush administration to avoid a confrontation with Iran, calling officials’ warmongering rhetoric “not helpful.” He rejected the praise in the Esquire piece, calling it “poison pen stuff.”
A reporter noted to Gates there was a “line in that Esquire story that said basically if Fallon gets fired, it means we’re going to war with Iran. Can you just address that?” Gates responded, “Well that’s just ridiculous.”
Thanks to DLer Anne, for this inspirational top 10 list of reasons to send the Bu$h Team packing. Such damage!
NEW BUMPER STICKERS
1. Bush: End of an Error
2. That's OK, I wasn't using my civil liberties anyway
3. Let's fix democracy in this country first
4. If you want a nation ruled by religion, move to Iran
5. Bush. Like a Rock. Only Dumber.
6. If you can read this, you're not our President
7. Of course it hurts: you're getting screwed by an elephant
8. Hey, Bush Supporters: Embarrassed yet?
9. George Bush: Creating the terrorists our kids will have to fight
10. Impeachment: It's not just for blowjobs anymore
Crikey. The Republican dream of tossing out regulation of our food, drugs, water, worker safety, etc. has come into full bloom. Their much heralded montra that "business will regulate itself because it's good for business" has been proven false. It was ridiculous on its face to begin with. Business will cut corners and do what is best for the bottom line every time. The consumer is something to be milked for every penny and their welfare is not a priority. The latest threat to your health is in the water
Trace amounts of pharmaceutical drugs are lurking in Louisville's drinking water, including one used to treat people with bipolar disorder and alcohol withdrawal, and another prescribed to combat seizures. Swimming with them in the city's water supply is a favorite pick-me-up: caffeine.
The findings are part of a nationwide investigation into pharmaceutical drugs in drinking water conducted by The Associated Press.
In the course of a five-month inquiry, the AP discovered that drugs have been detected in the drinking-water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas serving at least 41 million people -- from Southern California to Northern New Jersey, from Detroit to Louisville.
The findings came as no surprise to Judy Petersen, executive director of the Kentucky Waterways Alliance, a group that lobbies for cleaner rivers and lakes.
"There is a drug cocktail, if you will, in our nation's waters," Petersen said, adding that there's little known about how those drugs might be affecting people or the environment. "We're kind of flying in the dark."
Louisville Water Co. officials acknowledged an increased concern of the potential health effects of trace amounts of drugs in drinking water, even as they noted there are no national standards for pharmaceutical chemicals in the water supply.
It's only been in recent years that technology has even allowed detection of the chemicals, said Barbara Crow, a water company spokeswoman.
But they and other companies say the amounts are so small that they don't pose a health risk. But others worry that the long-term effects of even those small amounts aren't certain.
Unsafe food, toys, meds and water. Heckuvajob, Bu$h and the GOP. That's quite an impressive record.
Aesop wrote, "After all is said and done, more will be said than done." Of course, this was simply the precursor of that line in McBeth which stated something about "a tale...full of sound and fury, signifying nothing". Who knows? What we do know is that the week "came in like a lamb and went out like a lion". Bombshells fired from the Governor's Office exploded on the front pages of newspapers around the state . This happened at exactly the same time as a new expanded gaming proposal surfaces to compete for the magic 60 votes needed to cross the finish line first and win the all expense paid trip to the Senate. And when the Governor and the Dems had a "come to Jesus meeting" in caucus, some wondered if we would end up holding hands, singing "Kum by yah, my Lord, Kum ba yah." You'll have to tune in next week to learn the answer .....and you can quote me on that! Reginald
You can contact your Rep. (and fellow DLer) here: reginald.meeks@lrc.ky.gov or here--
"If you would like to share your comments or concerns with me, call me on the toll-free Legislative Message Line at 800-372-7181. Reginald"
Bu$h Continues Descent Into The Dark Side. Nation Yawns
Is Harper's Magazinethe only publication on earth to notice that Alabama has an entirely corrupt government, press and judicial system put in place by KKKarl Rove? And why are the politicians running for presidential office ignoring the epic, systematic power grab of the "Imperial Presidency" that the Bu$h/Cheney/Rove's machine has put in place? According to Bu$h, Torture is on the table. Spying on US citizens is A-OK. The Constitution means what the Prez intends it to mean. Period. Congress exists to carry out his will. Citizens need to shut up and let him "lead" us over a cliff. My head hurts.
This weekend, the darkness continues to descend in Washington, the powers of the state continue to grow and the mechanisms of accountability rot away unused. Americans are focused on the selection of a new president. Many of them share the naïve assumption that on January 20, 2009, when a new leader takes the oath of office from the south steps of the Capitol Building, the Founders’ constitutional order will once more be set aright and the extra-constitutional excesses of the Bush years will be but a bad memory. But whoever is installed as the new guardian of presidential power will not likely part with many of the rights that Bush claimed and was allowed to use, unchallenged.
And this weekend, we should regard the three remaining candidates from a more skeptical predicate. This weekend, the curtain of tyranny descends further in Washington. The Bush regime, bolstered by a surging 17% public acceptance in one poll, moves more closely towards a façade of legality for its national surveillance state. It acknowledges its abuse of other legislation and will suffer no consequences for that abuse, and in a symbolic coup de grâce, Bush will veto the latest Congressional prohibition on torture–for indeed, torture is the very talisman of his unchecked rule and his arrogant indifference to the rule of law. And in the midst of this, where, this weekend, are the three presidential finalists? They busy themselves with the accumulation of delegates for their march on the White House. They will mutter fine sounding words on the campaign trail—sentences will glimmer with “freedom” and “liberty”—but they will offer no action that shows those words have content.
I thought we had LEARNED something after 8 hellish Bu$h/Big Dick years. Snap out of it, voters! Demand to know what each candidate considers the bounds of presidential power. Think about how a power-mad moron has treated his imagined powers and shudder. That has not worked out too well for us, has it?
Hoo, boy! This tells you a lot about the mood of voters, that they are willing to elect a Dem in a hardcore Republican district. Let's hope it's the begining of a pattern.
— Stunning many who considered the district west of Chicago reliably Republican territory, Bill Foster, a physicist and Democrat, won a special election on Saturday to fill the Congressional seat that J. Dennis Hastert, the former speaker of the House, held for two decades.
Mr. Foster’s success deeply disappointed Republicans, in part for its broader implications: the victory in this early race may buoy Democrats as they look ahead to a string of Republican retirements this fall.
Despicable, soul and earth rending Big Coal has been killing our State's health and natural beauty (and its miners) for as long as I can remember. The time is truly ripe to run out of office every last bastard in KY who would trade lives and nature for a corrupt, filthy industry--namely--Big Coal. See the Bluegrassroots article here
has a must-read up today on the sickening intimidation tactics of Whymore Coal Company in Leslie County. Wymore is threatening and bullying Raleigh and Mary Jane Adams, KFTC members who are fighting back.
The couple did originally have a contract with the company, but the company broke it. As a result, the couple has repeated told them they were not allowed on their property. Earlier this week, the company has made numerous attempts to come on their land anyway. They have already disturbed about two acres of the property. Yesterday, Raleigh had to take things into his own hands and block the company’s bulldozer from continuing to disturb their land.
“Yesterday morning, my neighbor informed us that the coal company was coming on our land. They bulldozed one of our “no trespassing” signs. After I went up there, they worked on the other side of the branch for a while. While I was waiting it out, I heard over the CB that they wanted to knock a tree over on me. Later, one of the bulldozer operators came within 5 feet of me on my four-wheeler, saying that he needed to build a road. I think he was just trying to intimidate me,” Raleigh shared.
The state police came in and told the coal company that it would be considered murder if they ran over Raleigh.
That's just the tip of the iceburg in bullshit that the Adams' have had to put up with
Stop it, already! Does this not make your head explode?????
Bu$h and McCain appear to be allergic to reality. On one hand McCain is so delusional that he's running on the Iraq war issue, and on the other you have Bu$h touting McCain for his ludicrous support of his disaster in the desert. Salon captures the absurdity here:
In a press conference in the White House Rose Garden Wednesday, President George W. Bush was supposed to pass the baton, after a fashion, to presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain. But instead Bush looked very much like a man not quite ready to give up that baton and its attendant spotlight; on more than one occasion, he interrupted McCain, who could only stand and look awkward.
But Bush did manage to deliver his endorsement to McCain. "It's been my honor to welcome my friend John McCain as the nominee of the Republican Party," Bush said. "John showed incredible courage and strength of character and perseverance in order to get to this moment. And that's exactly what we need in a president: Somebody who can handle the tough decisions, somebody who won't flinch in the face of danger... [H[e's going to be the president who will bring determination to defeat an enemy and a heart big enough to love those who hurt."
Craptacular! I can't wait to see how well this kind of buffoonery plays out in a national election.
Woo Hoo! DL Louisville is mentioned in this column here Here's a snip:
On Feb. 23, Armisen who is of Asian and South American descent, debuted his subtle, serious Obama in the show-opening presidential debate skit. The Obama look was achieved mostly through an intensified browline and prominent ears.
We asked political and pop-culture experts to critique Armisen and Poehler's overall impressions.
"What was so interesting about Armisen's Obama was how understated it was. He takes these minimalist Zen-like qualities of Barack Obama and pauses with them," said Robert Thompson, founding director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University in New York. "The funniest bit, I think, was him just holding his head cocked. Some of those things really sort of nail down a person."
Anticipation had been high. The only current male African-American cast member is Kenan Thompson, who is so non-Obama in his rotundity that he starred as "Fat Albert" in the 2004 movie. If only that trouper Tim Meadows had hung on a few more years.
"SNL" even solicited Obama impressions from all over the world before unleashing Armisen. Armisen "had Obama's inflections just right and was trying to do that expansive arm-waving thing. … I thought the whole skit was really funny," said Vicki Sansbury, Louisville's leader of Drinking Liberally, an organization that gets together regularly for brews and to discuss political views. "Hillary couldn't get any attention, everyone was swooning over Obama." [my bold]
Indeed, Poehler's Clinton was chastised for interrupting the song stylings of "Obama Girl," and Armisen's Obama got the star treatment, fielding such queries as "Are you comfortable, Senator Obama? Is there anything we can get for you?"
Bronwyn Williams, an associate professor of English at the University of Louisville who specializes in pop culture, was not so enamored with Armisen's Obama debut.
"They didn't really give him much to do or say, which sort of led me to believe he hadn't really gotten the voice down yet," he said. "Amy Poehler's Clinton is very good. She gets that sort of mask of a smile, while underneath she seems to be seething, really well."
Faux Hillarys have been an "SNL" fixture since the Clinton administration, a proud legacy created by such amazing comedians as Jan Hooks and Ana Gasteyer. Sansbury wasn't quite sold on Poehler because she "didn't do that thing where Hillary will bulge her eyes out when she's trying to make a point. If she gets that down, she'll have nailed it." [my bold]
The spot-on mannerisms of fake politicians can make for pretty powerful comedy. But do they have any influence on the actual elections?
"Parody and exaggeration can really be an invitation to insights that would not have been clear before; like the rhetorical strategies of these people," Thompson said. "It really helps you to be a more skeptical viewer. These impersonators expose the highly structured architecture behind the images of these candidates."
This past Saturday, the faux candidates parodied the Cleveland debate.
