Easter Lemming Liberal News

Monday, July 16, 2007

Sen. Vitter is a joke, make that lots of jokes

"The darling of the religious right, conservative Senator David Vitter of Louisiana, not only admitted to having sex with prostitutes, he would pay them $300 to make him wear diapers. And today that crazy astronaut called him 'my dream guy, he's got my vote!" --Jay Leno

"Vitter put out a statement saying he only started cheating on his wife after he started hanging out with the wrong crowd, you know, Giuliani, Newt Gingrich, the mayor of LA." --Jay Leno

"David Vitter has admitted he dates hookers in Washington, D.C., and also in Louisiana. He said in his defense he always selected the girl who made the lowest bid, so he's fiscally prudent." --David Letterman

"There's another one of those prostitution scandals down there in Washington, DC. Louisiana Senator David Vitter admitted that he's been visiting Washington area prostitutes. And I thought about this, 'Whoa, wait a minute, a politician, paying for a hooker? I didn't see that comin.'" --David Letterman

"But good for Vitter, he said that it did not cost the taxpayers a cent. He pays for the hookers with his bribe money." --David Letterman

"Well now more problems with this Vitter guy. You gotta go on his website, he's like Mr. Religious, Mr. Family Values. Well now a second madam has come forward and told the Associated Press that he was also a customer at her brothel. This guy was cheating on his hooker with another hooker." --Jay Leno

"And this madam says that Vitter was not only having sex with the prostitutes -- this is unbelievable -- he would also pay them to dress him up in a diaper. See, that's what you call a pampered politician. And she also said today in an interview that he sometimes paid $300 an hour just to have the hookers talk to him because his wife didn't listen to him. Well, I bet she's all ears now." --Jay Leno

"Republican Senator and family values conservative -- that's what he calls himself -- Senator David Vitter of Louisiana admitted he was a client of the so called DC Madam in Washington. See, this is so wrong. At least use a hooker from your own state. I mean they're gonna pump money into the economy, make it your own." --Jay Leno

"Family values conservative Republican Senator from Louisiana David Vitter admitted he has had sex with prostitutes. Apparently years ago this Senator Vitter guy had been seeing one of the DC Madam's escorts. You think the Senator's embarrassed? How about the hooker? Now the whole world knows she had sex with a politician, eww." --Jay Leno

"But he says he's not going to talk about it out of respect for his wife, that's what he said today. It's all these guys getting caught with hookers, they have this newfound respect for their wife. Ya know something, when his pants were down around his ankles leaving the motel, I don't see him going 'you know, I love my wife.' Well you know what makes it especially hypocritical: apparently Vitter has been a strong opponent of same-sex marriage, but today he explained that too. Apparently he's against having sex with the person you're married to." --Jay Leno

"They have prostitutes in Washington D.C., and it now turns out that senators and congressmen and important, powerful people are dating the prostitutes. ... And there's a senator from Louisiana, David Vitter, admitted he's been dating prostitutes. And he was very generous with one girl, he paid her with a new highway project in her home state. ... One thing I'll say for this guy from Louisiana, this David Vitter, at least he went to a professional and left the congressional pages alone." --David Letterman

"Right now, Washington, DC, is in the grips and throws of a big prostitution ring sex scandal. High-powered politicians going to visit prostitutes. The call girl agency had a slogan. The slogan was 'We take care of you below the beltway'" --David Letterman

"The Washington, D.C., madam has threatened to release more names of Washington politicians who were her customers. ... She says another member of the White House will be named very soon. This proves once again that members of the Bush administration don't know when it's time to pull out." --Jay Leno

"Politicians having sex with prostitutes? What's the matter? All of a sudden, congressional pages aren't good enough anymore?" --David Letterman

"There's a big scandal going on down in Washington, DC, with a prostitution ring. ... Politicians were actually paying for sex. One girl got paid with a military base in her home state." --David Letterman

"This ring of prostitutes apparently had a very elite group of clients. In fact, one girl was sent over to the Lincoln Memorial to give Abe a lap dance." --David Letterman

"It looks like a lot of politicians' careers will be ruined when this Washington madam releases the names on her client list. President Bush's Deputy Secretary of State Randall Tobias has already resigned because he was a customer. He claims he just got a massage, but no sex. I think that was called 'The Married Guy Special.'" --Jay Leno

"The DC madam says that when she's releasing these names, she's not doing it for political reasons. She says she does not have a political bone in her body. At least not today." --Jay Leno

"You all know who Nancy Pelosi is, right? She's the second most powerful woman in the country, right behind the D.C. madam." --Jay Leno

"Did you hear about the Washington, D.C., madam? She was running a call girl operation, and they think a lot of congressmen and senators and high ranking politicians were visiting the prostitutes. It's just crazy. One girl actually got paid with a new highway project." -- David Letterman

"The D.C. madam is going to list the names of famous Republicans who used her female escort service. That shows you the fundamental philosophical differences between the two parties. Bush Republicans believe in having the private sector provide sex for profit. Whereas, Clinton Democrats believe it should be a big give-away program." --Jay Leno

"Here's good news: the FBI has arrested the madam who was in charge of the ring of prostitutes. No word though on Osama." --David Letterman

"When the White House heard about this scandal, they were relieved. Finally, a Republican caught in a sex scandal with a woman." --Jay Leno

Texas Blogger Round-Up 2

Last week, member blogs in the Texas Progressive Alliance premiered a new feature, the Texas Blog Round Up, modeled after the 50 State Blog Round Up. We plan to bring this to our readers every Monday. So, without further ado, here is this week's installment, brought to you by Vince from Capitol Annex. I used an assist from fellow Houston blogger Perry Dorrell, aka PDiddie, at Brains and Eggs.

Lady Bird Was Ours

Among many Texas blogs authoring poignant posts about the passing of Lady Bird Johnson was Muse from Fort Bend-based Musings. In Lady Bird Was Ours, Muse offers personal reflections about the former First Lady and reminds us that, though Lady Bird now belongs to the ages, she still belongs to us.

Deja Vu All Over Again

Can you see any progress in Iraq? Chances are you can't, but Texas Senator John Cornyn can (evidently through rose-colored glasses). In Cornyn Sees Progress In Iraq, Texas Toad of Denton County-based North Texas Liberal explores how Rubberstamping Republican Cornyn's recent votes fail to support our troops.

Who Is For Whom?

Though we're months away from the Democratic primary, the race to determine which Democrat will take on Cornyn is already heating up on the blogs. In Watts v. Noriega In The Blogosphere, Hal at Fort Bend-based Half Empty explores the various blogs to determine which ones are supporting Rep. Rick Noriega's exploration and which are in support of attorney Mikal Watts. And he asks the important question: "where are all the pro-Watts bloggers?"

Need Birth Control? Better Have Cash.

Could Be True at SouthTexas Chisme explores difficulties Houston-area female college students (and others around the state) may be having when it comes to obtaining birth control from their college health services department, thanks to changes in Medicaid reimbursement policies in Stupid, Stupid, Stupid. College Health Centers To Charge More For Birth Control.

Craddick Stands By His Man

Austin-based McBlogger tells us that House Speaker Tom Craddick is standing by his man and keeping former state representative Terry Keel (R-Austin) on as House Parliamentarian... all the while trying to find a challenger for Travis County Constable Richard McCain, who defeated Keel's brother for that post in 2004. Check it out in Speaking of People We Don't Like.

Even Right Wingers Know When To Pull Out

Bay Area Houston explores the fact that, according to a recent poll, even the listeners of one of the most right-wing radio stations in Houston are in favor of pulling out from war-torn Iraq in Right-Wing Radio Listeners Want Out of Iraq.

What Can You Buy With $900 Million?

Though Harris County is proposing a $900 million bond package for various courthouse and jail projects, Charles Kuffner at Houston-based Off The Kuff has serious concerns about whether the bond package will do anything to alleviate a serious guard shortage at the county jail. Though it is now being discussed in the media, Charles says he's still not satisfied the issue is being addressed in County Bonds and Staffing Issues.

A Closer Look At Terry Keel

Matt Glazer of Burnt Orange Report takes a closer look at some ethical issues facing new House parliamentarian Terry Keel, such as potential conflicts of interest concerning Keel's future rulings as well as maintaining a private law practice while working for the state. Matt also closely examines the timing of Keel's Capitol ID card in Keel's Conflict Of Interest.

Rick Perry v. Community Colleges

Few of Rick Perry's recent vetoes have garnered more attention than the one of community college employee health insurance appropriations. Marc G. at Marc's Miscellany explores the issue further, and takes issue with Perry's accusation that community colleges have essentially falsified their appropriations requests in More On Perry's Battle With Community Colleges.

Perry's Defiant Response To Congress

WCNews at Eye On Williamson takes a closer look at a letter Texas Governor Rick Perry recently sent to Congressional leaders who criticized public-private partnerships to build transportation projects such as the Trans-Texas Corridor in Governor Perry Uses Fuzzy Math In Letter To Congress.

Sunday Funnies

For your weekly dose of some of the best political cartoons from around the state and nation, be sure to check out Perry Dorrell's Sunday Funnies (Late Edition) at Brains And Eggs.

TYC Still Plagued With Difficulties

Vince Leibowitz at Capitol Annex takes a look at the fact that the Texas Youth Commission remains plagued with difficulties concerning a recent incident in which violent juveniles were set for release with little or no review in Texas Youth Commission Can't Seem To Get Its Act Together.

'I Couldn't Make It' Is No Excuse

Matt Glazer at Stop Cornyn reveals the excuse the junior senator from Texas offered for missing the funeral of Lady Bird Johnson in Cornyn Refuses To Honor Lady Bird.

A Few Words For the Ladies

Texas KaosWomen's health services are under perennial assault here in Texas -- but it's not just Dan Patrick, Warren Chisum, and the odd mad bomber who want to control women's health choices. Texas Kaos' Moiv is keeping an eye on them, and in Operation Rescue's Back--Not a Secret Anymore she covers just how widespread is this open conspiracy against women -- involving politicians, fringe religious figures, and Ricky Skagg's "shofar."

If there are broken links or any problems viewing this drop me a note in the comments.

Another Climate Change Skeptic Argument Shot Down

New analysis counters claims that solar activity is linked to global warming.

Leonardo DiCaprio thinks it is our 11th Hour for humans living on the Earth.

Bill Moyers Puts Impeachment Back on the Table

Video.

Actually, it was one failing of Moyers' program that neither he nor his two guests mentioned that there actually are some such honorable members of the current congress. They did not mention that Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), has filed a bill of impeachment against Vice President Cheney, and that his bill currently has 14 co-sponsors, with more people signing on every week. They also failed to mention that Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) only days before the program, declared in no uncertain terms that Bush and Cheney should be impeached, saying that the country was "closer to dictatorship than it has ever been" because of the president's assertion of "unitary executive" powers to ignore laws passed by the Congress."

Despite this one shortcoming, Moyers' program is a public shaming of the tawdry and shameless corporate media, which has ignored the exploding impeachment movement blossoming across the nation, pretending that it doesn't even exist, or that it is the province of a few leftist wackos.

In fact, as Moyers noted, the most recent poll on the issue shows that half of Americans want both Bush and Cheney impeached and removed from office.

ADDED - In addition to the link in the comments provided by Robert Nagle you might want to check out what David Sirota says ("pressure Congress") as well as Steve Soto. Only the more conservative Big Tent Democrat says there are better things to do. Here is the transcript if you can't watch the video.

Popular Populism Unifying Democrats

Democratic politicians are embracing a new populism in economic policies and moving away from Clinton's centrism and pro-corporate agenda. Even Hillary Clinton has denounced Bush trade deals and policies and most of the field of Democrats is to her left.

Even as Mrs. Clinton has sought to associate herself with the economic growth of her husband’s administration, she, like other Democratic presidential candidates, has been expressing a sharp skepticism toward trade and globalization under President Bush. In recent weeks she has announced her opposition to the proposed South Korean Free Trade Agreement and denounced globalization that “is working only for a few of us.” She accepted the endorsement of former Representative Richard A. Gephardt, who spent much of his political career fighting what he asserted were unfair trade agreements.

And Mrs. Clinton has increasingly focused on “rising inequality and rising pessimism in our work force,” and suggested that another progressive era is — and ought to be — at hand.

Former Senator John Edwards, another Democratic candidate, staked out similar positions months ago and regularly notes that in the last 20 years, “about half of America’s economic growth has gone to the top 1 percent.” Mr. Edwards praises recent efforts to raise taxes on private equity and hedge funds. His campaign manager, former Representative David E. Bonior, notes that Mr. Edwards has been sounding these themes since his first presidential campaign in 2004.

“John Edwards was there at the beginning of this,” Mr. Bonior said.

While campaigning in Iowa last week, Senator Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois, suggested that even those who followed the standard advice for coping with a globalized economy — get more education for higher-skilled jobs — were losing out.

“People were told, you’ve got to be trained for high-tech jobs,” Mr. Obama said, “and then it turned out that some of those high-tech jobs were being outsourced. And people were told, now you need to train for service jobs. And then it turned out the call centers were moving overseas.”

It is not unusual for candidates seeking the Democratic presidential nomination to move left in the primary season; Mr. Clinton himself touched on some of these populist themes in his 1992 campaign. But all the major Democratic candidates for president are promising to use government to ease the insecurity of the middle class, on issues like education and health care.

Matthew Yglesias takes a few moments to write CATO that the center of American politics is not libertarianism as Brink Lindsey had tried to claim.

Condi Rice loses to Cheney - Iran attack plans proceeding

With a new anti-Iran propaganda campaign underway the UK Guardian reports Cheney has won his last battle - Bush is planning an attack on Iran for next year.

Almost half of the US's 277 warships are stationed close to Iran, including two aircraft carrier groups. The aircraft carrier USS Enterprise left Virginia last week for the Gulf. A Pentagon spokesman said it was to replace the USS Nimitz and there would be no overlap that would mean three carriers in Gulf at the same time.

No decision on military action is expected until next year. In the meantime, the state department will continue to pursue the diplomatic route.

Should Congress Arrest Harriet Miers?

Booman argues that the House should use its authority to find Harriet Miers in contempt and then arrest Miers and compel her to testify as the first step toward impeachment hearings for Bush, Cheney and Gonzales. Congress has that power although it has not used it in a long time - 1934 against the Postmaster General. There seems to be rising public sentiment in favor of impeachment - was commuting Libby the last straw?

I don't think Booman is right on this from a marketing standpoint - Gonzales should be the one to go this route with.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Ship of fools: a sea cruise with the conservative elite

Johann Hari set sail on the National Review's sea cruise and finds they really are a bunch of silly, racist, rich nincompoops. Digested here:

They rush through the Rush-list of liberals who hate America, who want her to fail, and I ask them – why are liberals like this? What's their motivation? They stutter to a halt and there is a long, puzzled silence. " It's a good question," one of them, Martha, says finally. I have asked them to peer into the minds of cartoons and they are suddenly, reluctantly confronted with the hollowness of their creation. "There have always been intellectuals who want to tell people how to live," Martha adds, to an almost visible sense of relief. That's it – the intellectuals! They are not like us. Dave changes the subject, to wash away this moment of cognitive dissonance. "The liberals don't believe in the constitution. They don't believe in what the founders wanted – a strong executive," he announces, to nods [EL - WTF?]. A Filipino waiter offers him a top-up of his wine, and he mock-whispers to me, "They all look the same! Can you tell them apart?"

There is something strange about this discussion, and it takes me a few moments to realise exactly what it is. All the tropes that conservatives usually deny in public – that Iraq is another Vietnam, that Bush is fighting a class war on behalf of the rich – are embraced on this shining ship in the middle of the ocean. Yes, they concede, we are fighting another Vietnam; and this time we won't let the weak-kneed liberals lose it. "It's customary to say we lost the Vietnam war, but who's 'we'?" the writer Dinesh D'Souza asks angrily. "The left won by demanding America's humiliation." On this ship, there are no Viet Cong, no three million dead. There is only liberal treachery. Yes, D'Souza says, in a swift shift to domestic politics, "of course" Republican politics is "about class. Republicans are the party of winners, Democrats are the party of losers."

Then, with a judder, the panel runs momentarily aground. Rich Lowry, the preppy, handsome 38-year-old editor of National Review, says, "The American public isn't concluding we're losing in Iraq for any irrational reason. They're looking at the cold, hard facts." The Vista Lounge is, as one, perplexed. Lowry continues, "I wish it was true that, because we're a superpower, we can't lose. But it's not."

No one argues with him. They just look away, in the same manner that people avoid glancing at a crazy person yelling at a bus stop. Then they return to hyperbole and accusations of treachery against people like their editor. The ageing historian Bernard Lewis – who was deputed to stiffen Dick Cheney's spine in the run-up to the war – declares, "The election in the US is being seen by [the bin Ladenists] as a victory on a par with the collapse of the Soviet Union. We should be prepared for whatever comes next." This is why the guests paid up to $6,000. This is what they came for. They give him a wheezing, stooping ovation and break for coffee.

Podhoretz and Buckley now inhabit opposite poles of post-September 11 American conservatism, and they stare at wholly different Iraqs. Podhoretz is the Brooklyn-born, street-fighting kid who travelled through a long phase of left-liberalism to a pugilistic belief in America's power to redeem the world, one bomb at a time. Today, he is a bristling grey ball of aggression, here to declare that the Iraq war has been "an amazing success." He waves his fist and declaims: "There were WMD, and they were shipped to Syria ... This picture of a country in total chaos with no security is false. It has been a triumph. It couldn't have gone better." He wants more wars, and fast. He is "certain" Bush will bomb Iran, and " thank God" for that.

Still, he [William Buckley] ruminates over what his old friend Ronald Reagan would have made of Iraq. "I think the prudent Reagan would have figured here, and the prudent Reagan would have shunned a commitment of the kind that we are now engaged in... I think he would have attempted to find some sort of assurance that any exposure by the United States would be exposure to a challenge the dimensions of which we could predict." Lest liberals be too eager to adopt the Gipper as one of their own, Buckley agrees approvingly that Reagan's approach would have been to "find a local strongman" to rule Iraq.

A few floors away, Podhoretz tells me he is losing his voice, "which will make some people very happy". Then he croaks out the standard-issue Wolfowitz line about how, after September 11, the United States had to introduce democracy to the Middle East in order to change the political culture that produced the mass murderers. For somebody who declares democracy to be his goal, he is remarkably blasé about the fact that 80 per cent of Iraqis want US troops to leave their country, according to the latest polls. "I don't much care," he says, batting the question away. He goes on to insist that "nobody was tortured in Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo" and that Bush is "a hero". He is, like most people on this cruise, certain the administration will attack Iran.

Ward Connerly is the only black person in the National Review posse, a 67-year-old Louisiana-born businessman, best known for leading conservative campaigns against affirmative action for black people. Earlier, I heard him saying the Republican Party has been "too preoccupied with... not ticking off the blacks", and a cooing white couple wandered away smiling, "If he can say it, we can say it." What must it be like to be a black man shilling for a magazine that declared at the height of the civil rights movement that black people "tend to revert to savagery", and should be given the vote only "when they stop eating each other"?

I drag him into the bar, where he declines alcohol. He tells me plainly about his childhood – his mother died when he was four, and he was raised by his grandparents – but he never really becomes animated until I ask him if it is true he once said, "If the KKK supports equal rights, then God bless them." He leans forward, his palms open. There are, he says, " those who condemn the Klan based on their past without seeing the human side of it, because they don't want to be in the wrong, politically correct camp, you know... Members of the Ku Klux Klan are human beings, American citizens – they go to a place to eat, nobody asks them 'Are you a Klansmember?', before we serve you here. They go to buy groceries, nobody asks, 'Are you a Klansmember?' They go to vote for Governor, nobody asks 'Do you know that that person is a Klansmember?' Only in the context of race do they ask that. And I'm supposed to instantly say, 'Oh my God, they are Klansmen? Geez, I don't want their support.'"

This empathy for Klansmen first bubbled into the public domain this year when Connerly was leading an anti-affirmative action campaign in Michigan. The KKK came out in support of him – and he didn't decline it. I ask if he really thinks it is possible the KKK made this move because they have become converted to the cause of racial equality. "I think that the reasoning that a Klan member goes through is – blacks are getting benefits that I'm not getting. It's reverse discrimination. To me it's all discrimination. But the Klansmen is going through the reasoning that this is benefiting blacks, they are getting things that I don't get... A white man doesn't have a chance in this country."

He becomes incredibly impassioned imagining how they feel, ventriloquising them with a shaking fist – "The Mexicans are getting these benefits, the coloureds or niggers, whatever they are saying, are getting these benefits, and I as a white man am losing my country."

But when I ask him to empathise with the black victims of Hurricane Katrina, he offers none of this vim. No, all Katrina showed was "the dysfunctionality that is evident in many black neighbourhoods," he says flatly, and that has to be "tackled by black people, not the government. "

The nautical counter-revolution has docked in the perfectly-yellow sands of Puerto Vallarta in Mexico, and the Reviewers are clambering overboard into the Latino world they want to wall off behind a thousand-mile fence. They carry notebooks from the scribblings they made during the seminar teaching them "How To Shop in Mexico". Over breakfast, I forgot myself and said I was considering setting out to find a local street kid who would show me round the barrios – the real Mexico. They gaped. "Do you want to die?" one asked.

The Reviewers confine their Mexican jaunt to covered markets and walled-off private fortresses like the private Nikki Beach. Here, as ever, they want Mexico to be a dispenser of cheap consumer goods and lush sands – not a place populated by (uck) Mexicans. Dinesh D'Souza announced as we entered Mexican seas what he calls "D'Souza's law of immigration": " The quality of an immigrant is inversely proportional to the distance travelled to get to the United States."

In other words: Latinos suck.

The familiar routine of the dinners – first the getting-to-know-you chit-chat, then some light conversational fascism – is accelerating. Tonight there is explicit praise for a fascist dictator before the entree has arrived. I drop into the conversation the news that there are moves in Germany to have Donald Rumsfeld extradited to face torture charges.

A red-faced man who looks like an egg with a moustache glued on grumbles, " If the Germans think they can take responsibility for the world, I don't care about German courts. Bomb them." I begin to witter on about the Pinochet precedent, and Kate snaps, "Treating Don Rumsfeld like Pinochet is disgusting." Egg Man pounds his fist on the table: " Treating Pinochet like that is disgusting. Pinochet is a hero. He saved Chile."

"Exactly," adds Jim. "And he privatised social security."

The table nods solemnly and then they march into the conversation – the billion-strong swarm of swarthy Muslims who are poised to take over the world. Jim leans forward and says, "When I see these football supporters from England, I think – these guys aren't going to be told by PC elites to be nice to Muslims. You're going to get fascists rising up, aren't you? Why isn't that happening already?" Before I can answer, he is conquering the Middle East from his table, from behind a crème brûlée.

"The civilised countries should invade all the oil-owning places in the Middle East and run them properly. We won't take the money ourselves, but we'll manage it so the money isn't going to terrorists."

The idea that Europe is being "taken over" by Muslims is the unifying theme of this cruise. Some people go on singles cruises. Some go on ballroom dancing cruises. This is the "The Muslims Are Coming" cruise – drinks included. Because everyone thinks it. Everyone knows it. Everyone dreams it. And the man responsible is sitting only a few tables down: Mark Steyn.

Steyn's thesis in his new book, America Alone, is simple: The "European races" i.e., white people – "are too self-absorbed to breed," but the Muslims are multiplying quickly. The inevitable result will be " large-scale evacuation operations circa 2015" as Europe is ceded to al Qaeda and "Greater France remorselessly evolve[s] into Greater Bosnia."

He offers a light smearing of dubious demographic figures – he needs to turn 20 million European Muslims into more than 150 million in nine years, which is a lot of humping.

But facts, figures, and doubt are not on the itinerary of this cruise. With one or two exceptions, the passengers discuss "the Muslims" as a homogenous, sharia-seeking block – already with near-total control of Europe. Over the week, I am asked nine times – I counted – when I am fleeing Europe's encroaching Muslim population for the safety of the United States of America.

Another view, America's super-wealthy attempt to explain why they are so richly rewarded and deserve to be relatively untaxed: The Richest of the Rich, Proud of the New Gilded Age.

Armed Robber crashes party, gets wine, cheese and hugs

Amy D spotted this bizarre tale of a DC gunman who showed up at a late dinner party. He pointed a gun at a 14 year old girl and demanded money. They offered wine and he gave a favorable review to their Chateau Malescot St-Exupery - "Damn, that's good wine."

The girl's father, Michael Rabdau, 51, told the intruder to take the whole glass, and Rowan offered him the whole bottle.

The robber, with his hood down, took another sip and a bite of Camembert cheese. He put the gun in his sweatpants.

The story then turns even more bizarre.

"I think I may have come to the wrong house," he said before apologizing. "Can I get a hug?"

Rowan, who works at her children's school and lives in Falls Church, Va., stood up and wrapped her arms around the armed man. The four other guests followed.

"Can we have a group hug?" the man asked. The five adults complied.

The man walked away a few moments later with the crystal wine glass in hand.

Nothing was stolen except for the wine glass.

Saturday, July 14, 2007

WSJ Editorial Pages at it again

The attempt to find a Laffer curve in government taxation rates becomes a textbook example of how to lie with graphs. The quite good reporters at the Journal provide the readership to support these dottering old cranks who escape from the attic to post their scribbles.

James Fallows agrees

That was the most contemptible Bush press conference ever on Thursday. From the many lies he gave starting with the very first question from Helen Thomas, to his silly smirking - if I would have been in the room I would have thrown myself at him to kick his ass. By now I should be used to his lies but he just keeps getting worse.

I don't like having that reaction to our sociopathic glorious leader. I don't like having this lying smirking leader. We deserve better.

Respected military analyst Cordesman looked at the Iraq benchmarks and found no progress, contrary to what the White House said.

'Move on'? Not so fast Mr. President. An earlier Froomkin look I had blogged.

Is impeachment too good for Bush?

Cheney urged military action against China

This was Lynne Cheney. She was an early member of the "U.S. Commission on National Security in the 21st Century," aka the Hart-Rudman Commission, but quit when she couldn't get anyone to pay attention to her concerns.

NOLA Prostitute describes Vitter affair

More confusion, but two people claim to have seen photos of them together.

GOP stands by their man.

Calls for resignation: .... As Vitter wrote with regard to Clinton's immoral behavior, ". . . some meaningful action must be taken against the president. If none is, his leadership will only further drain any sense of values left to our political culture."

VITTER AND KATRINA: Vitter, a native of New Orleans, grossly misrepresented the seriousness of the flood disaster in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Vitter quote: “In the huge majority of areas, it [the water] is not rising at all. […] I don’t want to alarm everybody that, you know, New Orleans is filling up like a bowl. That’s just not happening.”

Our verdict, typical Big Easy politician, they all wear diapers or should and cheat on their wives.

Friday, July 13, 2007

Dan Froomkin - Who Believes What He Believes?

Increasingly, the real debate is not between hawks and doves, or even between Democrats and Republicans. It's shaping up to be between realists and the dwindling number of people who believe that success in the war in Iraq is still possible.

The Other War: Iraq Vets Talk About Blowing Away Civilians

Much of the resentment toward Iraqis described to The Nation by veterans was confirmed in a report released May 4 by the Pentagon. According to the survey, conducted by the Office of the Surgeon General of the US Army Medical Command, just 47 percent of soldiers and 38 percent of marines agreed that civilians should be treated with dignity and respect. Only 55 percent of soldiers and 40 percent of marines said they would report a unit member who had killed or injured "an innocent noncombatant."

Democracy Now also covered this.

SGT. JOHN BRUHNS: When you’re in Iraq, you do not know who the enemy is. They know who you are. If you’re on a patrol in a market and somebody opens fire on you and the US military, I mean, if we respond -- if we return fire in that direction with overwhelming firepower and, let's say, a thirteen-year-old girl gets killed, you’re just going to have to assume right then and there that her father and her brother and her uncles -- they're not going to say, you know, Saddam was a bad guy and thank the United States for coming in here and liberating us. They’re going to say, “If the United States never came here, my daughter would still be alive.” And that’s going to cause them to join the resistance. And when they do join the resistance, President Bush says, “They’re al-Qaeda. They’re al-Qaeda.” But they’re not. They’re just regular Iraqi people who feel occupied, and they’re reacting to an occupation....

STAFF SGT. TIMOTHY JOHN WESTPHAL: You know, I support the United States military. I’m a soldier. I always will be. I’m tremendously proud of the men I served with. However, yes, I do believe that we need to bring our troops home right now, because all we’re doing is making more terrorists and more people who hate America.

Much more at both links.

From The Nation Editorial:

One day in January 2005, an elderly couple was driving down a road in Mosul, Iraq, when without realizing it they passed through a makeshift US military checkpoint. The checkpoint, recalled a sergeant who came upon the scene, was "very poorly marked." Yet, he said, the soldiers "got spooked" and opened fire. The bodies of the couple sat in the car for three days, the sergeant said, "while we drove by them day after day."

That incident was no Haditha or Abu Ghraib. It was a fairly typical day for Iraqis under US occupation....

If the President and his aides lie about the war with no consequence, if troops are deployed again and again to prop up a deteriorating occupation, if the rules of engagement guarantee frequent brutalization of noncombatants, then it is no wonder some soldiers conclude that their conduct has few limits. And it should come as no surprise that an occupation of this sort continues to inflame anti-American sentiment throughout the Arab and Muslim worlds. The problem is not a few "bad apples" (Bush's phrase after Abu Ghraib) but the occupation itself. It needs to end.

Meanwhile our reality denying third columnists our celebrating that one soldier at the Haditha massacre might get off and calling for the censure of Rep. Murtha.

How I'll Remember Lady Bird

I really don't have much to say, she was the better half of LBJ. Lyndon transformed America but was a politician who you couldn't trust further than you could throw him.

I look at wildflowers on the side of Texas highways and always think of her.

O'Reilly turns on the war and Tony Snow

Fox News' Bill O'Reilly promised his audience "the truth about Iraq" on Thursday, saying that most Americans now feel the war has not been worth the costs, while "the president's argument for sustaining the war is largely theoretical."

O'Reilly turned on White House press secretary Tony Snow, saying, "You can't win ... unless the Iraqi people turn on all the terrorists. And they're not."

Once a DUMB@$$...always John McCain

Truth - Looking to explain his unraveling campaign McCain went on a tirade against his staff, including them forcing him to wear "gay sweaters." - The People's Republic of Seabrook.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

New Orleans madam: La. senator a client UPDATE

Update - Why do rumors continue to swirl around of Vitter and diapers? Oh, Oh. Also more mistresses and illegitimate children are about to pop out of the woodpile. Keep up here.

Louisiana's Republican Senator David Vitter, despite warnings from his wife that she would cut off a piece of his anatomy if he ever strayed, has been outed as a regular patron of a New Orleans brothel. This follows revelations he was a client of an accused DC madam. As a Republican he was staunch critic of President Clinton and thought he should resign over his affair with Monica Lewinsky. He has also spoken many times of the sanctity of marriage, although usually in support of not letting gays get it as he believes "there is no issue more important than preserving the holy sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman."

Mrs. Bush believed Vitter had "the values we need in the United States Senate." I suppose elect more hypocrites is the GOP rallying cry.

Christian Right Activists Disrupt Hindu Chaplain In The Senate

The three protesters, who all belong to the Christian Right anti-abortion group Operation Save America, and who apparently traveled to Washington all the way from North Carolina, interrupted by loudly asking for God's forgiveness for allowing the false prayer of a Hindu in the Senate chamber.

"Lord Jesus, forgive us father for allowing a prayer of the wicked, which is an abomination in your sight," the first protester began.

"This is an abomination," he continued. "We shall have no other gods before You."

The American Taliban, I'm surprised none of the GOP Senators joined in.

Rudy Giuliani Urban Legend

New York firefighters hate one candidate - Rudy.

More.

Timmy! the millionaire pundit called the mad New York City firefighter's union a left-wing fringe group.

Kevin McCullough comes out of the closet

"Of course, I know what teh preverts want because I R 1.

"But what do I know? I watch Fox News Channel."

;-#

Bing the Hypnotoad at Happy Jihad's House of Pancakes says he is only a masturbator.

The other day Kevin McCullough wondered whether the Jeopardy Champ is a Terrorist. He titled his post "Calling a Spade a Muslim."

There is a big future for him on Clown Radio and Fascist News,(added - like another GOP pundit who was outed on the callgirl client list.) He is already on the conservative's "most respected and responsible" news and analysis blog and fake astroturf center..

We are still marching off to War with Iran

Agonist also has more here and here. Keep up with the strike options in the media here, right now they are considering a third full carrier.

IraqSlogger: Report Card Day for Iraq

Bush gives Iraq an F+, others not so optimistic.

Here is a fact check of the Iraq benchmark report.

More on those vicious lesbian gangs scaring Fox News

Orcinus:

As those who've been following our coverage may remember, this story was cooked up by "Fox News Crime Analyst" Rod Wheeler, who got on Bill O'Reilly's show a couple weeks ago and raised the perfervid specter of 150 lesbian gangs roaming the Washington, D.C. area -- and God only knows how many in other cities -- packing pink pistols and raping girls in order to convert them to homosexuality. He further claimed that this was the beginning of a horrific national trend that O'Reilly's viewers needed to be aware of.

Bush at the Cleveland Clinic on Healthcare

"You're on your own, suckers"

Daily Kos: Edwards Breaks Free

Edwards is the candidate who has most broken free of the moderate milquetoast Democratic political image and is running from the heart.

It will be difficult for John Edwards to win the nomination. No one should be deluded about that; I don't think anyone is. But Edwards supporters (I'll presume to speak for all of us) are more excited than ever. We like the positions he's taking, the rhetoric he's using, the way he's running. If he loses, it will be on his own terms. Last week, he hired the leaders of the "Wake Up, Wal-Mart"campaign. Next week he'll take a break from campaigning in early primary states to focus on poverty in the South and Midwest.

And if amid our excitement you discern confidence, that's because we know his message will resonate with voters as they compare the candidates. Also because we sense in Edwards a freedom that's rare for a top-tier presidential candidate. He's relatively free from the ties that normally bind candidates. Conventional wisdom, the approval of the Establishment, pressure from big donors: none of this is constraining him.

Tags: John Edwards, 2008

Another member of the GOP Arrested

Should that stand for Greedy Oil Perverts?

A member of the Florida House of Representatives arrested yesterday on charges of soliciting a male undercover police officer is the co-Chairman of the Florida campaign of presidential hopeful John McCain, PageOneQ has learned.

Bob Allen (R) was appointed Florida co-Chairman of the McCain campaign in March.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Lady Bird dead at 94

LBJ's much better half has passed. I don't have much to say but here is a recent photo.

Help Prevent the Spread of AIDS - have more sex partners

From the New York Times: ‘More Sex Is Safer Sex: The Unconventional Wisdom of Economics’.

There is a logical flaw in this argument. This proposes that an overall increase in sexual activity would crowd out the highly sexually active - instead of making it even more likely they will score.

Evolution in Action - Sex and the Single Guppy

Here is a nice little collection of pages about current evolution in action in the streams and pools of Trinidad.

Scientist John Endler studied the habitats of guppies to determine why guppy coloration varies in different locations. If bright colors made guppies more conspicuous to predators, why should males be colorful at all? He found that there are two forces for natural selection at work for the guppies.

This is from a long overdue series about evolution on PBS. Faq about evolution.

The Dream of the Flying Spaghetti Monster’s Wife

How to classify this?

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

'SiCKO' Truth Squad Sets CNN Straight

Sic'em boys.

skippy the bush kangaroo

Skippy is 35 in blog years today.

Monday, July 09, 2007

Elect Susie for President

My name is Susie Flynn. I am running for President of the United States of America to help the nine million children who have no health insurance.

Who’s sicker? The 9 million uninsured children?

Or the government that ignores them?

Texas Roundup 1

It's 4:15, do you know where your blogger was?

McBlogger sees "little Patty Rose" at one of his favorite Austin bars.

Taking Texas Back

Texas Kaos continues its podcast series, hosted by Refinish69.

This week features an interview with Mike Engelhart, who is running for 151st District Court Judge in Harris County.

Going Public

Capitol Annex takes a look at the implications the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of equity firm Kolberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), which is presently negotiating to purchase utility giant TXU.

Do you want Blackwater types patrolling our border?

STXC tells the story of DynCorp International, a Virginia-based military security firm, stating it could train and deploy 1,000 private agents to the U.S.-Mexico border within 13 months, offering a quick surge of law enforcement officers to a region struggling to clamp down on illegal immigration.

Don't Forget that Senate Race

Burnt Orange Report reminds us that Cornyn is awful and either Watts or Noriega are an improvement to Junior Cornyn.

Half Empty explores the idea of another draft movement.

Why not draft Mikal Watts For Chief Justice of Texas 3rd Court of Appeals?

Where's the money?

Remember all that money that was allocated by the Lege for border security? Border sheriffs want to know why their buddy Rick Perry isn't giving more of it to them. Off the Kuff takes a look.

The Reality-Based Community: Subpoena Libby

Place him in jail if he doesn't answer questions about who he was covering up for.

France is criticizing our arrogance again

Should 'U.S. Americans' Instead Call Themselves 'United Statesians?' - Le Monde.

“Américain” (in French the ethnonym is capitalized, the adjective is lower case) is a word with many meanings, depending on context: “américains” applies to all Américains (from the United States), yet all Américains (from North and South America) are not necessarily américains.

That's why “Américain,” which first appeared in French as early as the 16th century and is applicable to groups other than just the inhabitants of the United States (in contrast to Canadien, Mexicain, Argentin, etc.), has a certain unsatisfactory quality about it, and it would be preferable to find something more precise.

And what is this "English" for how we talk?

Susan Blumenthal, M.D.: U.S. Presidential Candidates' Prescriptions for a Healthier Future: A Side-By-Side Comparison

People have been wanting this. Edwards plan is by far the most comprehensive, Kucinach the most liberal. 4 pages for GOP plans which are weak and even reactionary. By contrast 12 pages for the major Dem candidates primarily due to Edward's.

Update - US Healthcare by the numbers.

Texas GOP very worried

Texas has been the heart of the Republican Party since Bush came into power. The insane Texas GOP party platforms have been the model for all other states. The GOP has gone radical right under the influence of people like James Leninger and been sucessful. But now the GOP is worried they have blown it and the Democrats are going to come back. A big reason is the Latino vote and the Mexican immigrant bashing the GOP voters love. Another reason is that extremism and hubris seem to be wearing out their welcome.

Royal Masset, a political consultant and longtime political director for the Republican Party of Texas--who played a key role in organizing the grassroots support that took the GOP from marginality to an overwhelming majority--has been predicting a reversal for years.

"There's a certain inevitability in demographics," he told me. "We knew that if we could win 40% of the Hispanic vote," as Mr. Bush did in 2004, "we'd control Texas until 2030." But in 2006, the number of Texas Hispanics who voted Republican fell to between 30% and 35% (depending on the poll).

This shift alone spells trouble for Republicans. Many conservatives may not want to hear it, but Mr. Masset puts the blame on talk radio and cable TV reaction to immigration reform. He says an uncompromising attitude toward comprehensive reform and appeals to fear sometimes carry a whiff of racism that alienates Hispanics. "Houston is no more than six years behind Dallas," he warns.

And if the demographic shift continues to gain momentum, there's a real possibility that Democrats could achieve a majority in the Texas House by 2010. In 2003, Tom DeLay helped redraw the state's congressional districts to give Republicans six new seats in Congress. In just a few years, Democrats could turn the tables. Mr. Masset sums it up this way: "This thing with the Latino vote is deadly serious."

Last month, an Austin-based polling and political consulting firm decided to quantify the GOP's standing in the state. "We were frustrated by people talking about how bad things are for Republicans in Texas," says Marc DelSignore, vice president of Baselice & Associates Inc. What his firm found dovetailed with the national polls and Mr. Masset's political forecast. Older and white voters who predominate in suburban and rural communities continue to have positive impressions about the Republican Party, but there's an image problem among the state's growing number of younger voters and Hispanic voters, who are more numerous in urban centers. "When we looked at the numbers," Mr. DelSignore says, "this grew into a compelling narrative."

And why not? A similar flip happened in California in the 1990s. What was once Reagan Country became a Democratic stronghold. GOP Gov. Pete Wilson's get-tough approach to immigration was an undeniable factor.

Royal Massett is one of the few GOP leaders with a lick of common sense. He pointed out that the voter fraud bills the GOP was pushing would prevent his mother from voting. (An amendment the GOP offered was to exempt those over 80 from having to provide the documents.) He has been saying that the extremism and hubris of the Texas GOP now will lead to a fall.

"That's almost is a religious part of the Republican canon that democrats are stealing these elections.

"It's a lie. It's not true. It does not exist."

"I must have gotten 200 calls from people who wanted a criminal investigation of so-and-so because they lost by 100 votes and were sure there was fraud."

"They could never prove anything."

Royal on the Texas House:

Almost all of the criticism directed at Craddick is valid. But the problem lies in the institution and not Craddick. Another Speaker in the Texas House, just as we will see with another Speaker in the Washington Congress, will inevitably adapt the behaviors of the ones they replaced.

In the Texas House the Speaker must somehow create an institution that studies over 5000 bills, gets rid of he 80% that are bad and improves the ones that are good. Without a strong and stubborn Speaker the 150 member legislature would resemble a gang of Mel Gibson nihilistic Road Warriors. For example it sounds great to say that the Speaker should allow all members a chance to be heard. But the reality is that there is not enough time in God's creation for all legislators to speak. A nice Speaker would be a disaster for Texas.

Royal had predicted in 2003 a Democratic controlled Dallas county by 2008, they came in two years early. He didn't have Harris County turning until 2017.

Open Left - a new powerful progressive blog

The Nation has more.

The New York Times calls for immediate Iraq withdrawal - Update

This war and Bush are toast.

Of course, TNYT continues to have the worst reporter based in Iraq even as his stories are indirectly criticized at the Times now.

Now for other national and Texas news.

Conyers: Bush more cooperative as impeachment sentiment grows.

Colin Powell now says he tried to talk Bush out of invading and occupying Iraq.

Will Houston kill its $200 million plus titty bar industry?

Ex-CIA to David Brooks: "Forgive my grumpiness, but I actually worked at the CIA and trained with Valerie in the Career Trainee class that entered on duty in September of 1985. Every single member of our class was undercover. Every one!" And David Corn fact checks David Brooks article and finds it a comedy of errors.

Conservative newspapers turning against war - calls to bring the troops home, Iraq isn't worth it.

Know your right wing media blowhards - a tool for college students.

Will MSM pick up the vote-caging story?

O'Reilly and the vast pistol-packin' lesbian mama conspiracy.

A "national underground network" of pink pistol-packing lesbians is terrorizing America. "All across the country," they are raping young girls, attacking heterosexual males at random, and forcibly indoctrinating children as young as 10 into the homosexual lifestyle, according to a shocking June 21 segment on the popular Fox News Channel program, "The O'Reilly Factor."

Orcinus is also worried about Iraq being the new training ground for terrorists - American neo-Nazis.

Look - whales.

What I want in a President - three big boobs on display. The Moderate Voice doesn't think this should be commented on.

GOP/Large Multinationals Lobbyist plays Pasadena Citizen reporter. Front page article calling on Con. Green to support lower gas mileage standards. The Citizen is better on local stories like the 4th of July Fest which had many stories.

Afghan's new old Opium war.

Iraq won't meet Bush's goals from a few months ago, goalposts to be replaced.

Conservatives desert sinking ship - Bryon York on the lamest duck. FoxNews-AP on Cheney fatigue among conservatives to go with the Bush fatigue.

Who gets the pardons? Rich and powerful friends of the rich and powerful, not the deserving.

Froomkin: White House pulls the Clinton did it flimflam.

Bush and Cheney
Puddin' and pie
Scooter is free
and I know why
The nitty gritty
he might tell
if he were in
a prison cell.
- - quapaw12000

Rick Noreiga's run for Senate gets the front page. Meanwhile, is the other Democratic candidate code-talking to fundamentalists? Is Watts millions paving the way in the Valley to lock up the Senate nomination?

Cindy Sheehan who left the peace movement and the Democratic Party is considering running for Congress against Pelosi. Impeach or else.

"America's mayor" forgets Vietnam, the dumbass. Melvin Laird remembers the timeline for withdrawal, forgets other things.

C&L: U.S. Coal Co. Linked To Columbian Union Leader Assasinations

Our own Ron Paul has more cash on hand than McCain.

Berkley Breathed: GOP Dream Candidate.

UPDATE - Radley Balko at Reason: "I, for one, welcome our new vicious lesbian overlords."

Problems with Vote-by-Mail

There is a great deal of interest in VBM as it keeps individual ballots and leads to more verifiable recounts. One problem is that old-fashioned voter fraud and manipulation is made easier by this method. Another is that citizens in poorer communities and those who have moved recently are less likely to get the ballots. The authors clearly imply there is a Republican bias in VBM.

To the extent that VBM increases turnout in Oregon it does so by retaining voters who are occasional rather than habitual voters. Further, these voters are demographically similar to habitual voters. In other words, VBM does nothing to expand the electorate in ways that make it more representative of the voting age population. In fact, as MIT political scientist Adam Berinsky writes: “VBM in Oregon accentuated the stratification of the electorate. Specifically, VBM mobilized those already predisposed to vote—those individuals who are long-term residents and who are registered partisans—to turn out at higher rates than before.”

I am aware that VBM here in Texas has more problems with fraud and illegal influence than at the polling place. On close elections those mail-in ballots are heavily scrutinized. Some are rejected if in the opinion of the ballot counters the signatures don't match. Some should be rejected for that reason but not all people have only one way of signing their name. Some should be rejected because the candidate or a representative provides the ballot and is there monitoring and guiding the voter as it is filled out and then mails it for them.

All voting systems are not perfect, one way to have more fair elections is to have better non-partisan people running the elections. As it is, the dominant political party in a county makes sure they put the most partisan establishment politician in the office that runs the elections.

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Hillary Has Got This Girl “Hott”

From Buzzfeed.

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Burn rates biting GOP Candidates

In unfamiliar territory of tighter than expected donors and more expensive campaigns, Republican presidential candidates are facing money problems - they are going through money as fast or faster than it comes in. By contrast, the Democratic candidates are surprisingly flush as the GOP loses its money advantage. Even the second-tier Democratic candidates are out raising and sitting on more cash on hand than the top ranked Republicans

What a bozo

Internet clown Michelle Malkin calls Live Earth Concerts, Green Circus. A commenter shows she has no problem being Bill O'Reilly's latest shower fantasy star too.

Fred Thompson: Another Lying Republican

Denied he ever lobbied for loosening abortion restrictions, not counting on proof showing up.

“We must ride the lightning”: Robert Heinlein and American spaceflight

Today is 100th anniversary of the birth of RAH!

Is Iraq's U.S. Backed Oil Law "Robbery?"

Six Nobel Peace Prize Laureates have released a statement in opposition to the legislation. The laureates include Betty Williams, Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Rigoberta Menchu, Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi and Wangari Maathai. The statement read, in part, "The Iraq Oil Law could benefit foreign oil companies at the expense of the Iraqi people, deny the Iraqi people economic security, create greater instability, and move the country further away from peace."

Last month, the Iraqi oil workers union went on a strike to protest the law. Two leading union members recently traveled to the United States to meet with members of Congress and attend last week's U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta.

So was it all about the oil? All the evidence seems to say yes, the U.S. wanted to secure the Iraqi oil for U.S. and U.K. companies. While some in the industry expressed concern the occupation would drive down the price of oil, the long term neo-con strategists saw control of energy as domination of the future.

Public Swings Toward Impeachment -Update

The American Research Group's latest poll shows a plurality of voters favor impeaching Bush. A majority of voters want to impeach VP Cheney. What are DC Democrats afraid of?

Question:
Do you favor or oppose the US House of Representatives beginning impeachment proceedings against President George W. Bush?

7/5/07 Favor Oppose Undecided

All Adults 45% 46% 9%
Voters 46% 44% 10%

Democrats (38%) 69% 22% 9%
Republicans (29%) 13% 86% 1%
Independents (33%) 50% 30% 20%

3/15/06 42% 49% 9%

Question:
Do you favor or oppose the US House of Representatives beginning impeachment proceedings against Vice President Dick Cheney?

7/5/07 Favor Oppose Undecided

All Adults 54% 40% 6%
Voters 50% 44% 6%

Democrats (38%) 76% 24% -
Republicans (29%) 17% 83% -
Independents (33%) 51% 29% 20%

Based on 1,100 completed telephone interviews among a random sample of adults nationwide July 3-5, 2007. The theoretical margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points, 95% of the time. Of the total sample, 933 interviews were completed among registered voters.

Update: Impeach Cheney - with video.

Friday, July 06, 2007

Edward's Campaign Positioning For Primaries

MyDD notes that Edward's is becoming the candidate for labor and party activists while Obama is attracting the newcomers and Clinton the establishment. When it becomes clear that Al Gore will not enter the race Edwards may pick up his supporters.

Another official doesn't understand America

For supporting some religions over others The People's Republic of Seabrook makes Chuck Colson another DUMB@$$ AWARD wiener.

Jack's "help we are being oppressed" graph is also amusing.

Sicko Changes Minds Deep in the Heart of Texas - Update

This is so good I am posting it all. Democrats should be using the cinemas to conduct membership drives, register voters and have papers available contrasting presidential candidates health care proposals. Hillary's is supported by some of the medical establishment (HMOs), other candidate's proposals aren't.

Sicko Spurs Audiences Into Action

by Josh Tyler / Cinema Blend

Long time readers of this site no doubt know that I live in Texas. As everyone knows there's no more conservative state in the Union than here.

Actually Utah and a couple others are worse.

And I don't just live in Texas; I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. Dallas isn't some pocket of hippy-dippy behavior. This isn't Austin. Dallas is the sort of place where guys in cowboy hats still drive around in giant SUV's with "W" stickers on the back windshield, global warming and Iraq be damned. It's probably the only spot left in America where you stand a good chance of getting the crap kicked out of you for badmouthing the president. So when I went to see Sicko for a second time this afternoon, I wasn't sure what to expect from the audience.

I wasn't watching it downtown, where the city's few elitist liberals congregate and drink expensive lattes. I went to a random mall in the mid-cities, where folks were likely to be just folks. As I sat down, right behind me entered an obligatory, cowboy hat wearing redneck in his 50s. He announced his presence by shouting across the theater in a thick Texas drawl to his already seated wife "you owe me fer seein this!"

Sicko started; the stereotypical Texas guy sat down behind me and never stopped talking. He talked through the entire movie... and I listened. The first ten to twenty minutes of the film he spent bad mouthing Moore to his wife and snorting in disgust whenever MM went into one of his trademark monologues.

But as the movie wore on his protestations became quieter, less enthusiastic. Somewhere along the way, maybe at the half way point, right before my ears, Sicko changed this man's mind. By the forty-five minute mark, he, along with the rest of the audience were breaking into spontaneous applause.

He stopped pooh-poohing the movie and started shouting out "Hell yeah!" at the screen. It was as if the whole world had been flipped upside down.

This is Texas, where people support the president and voting Democratic is something only done by the terrorists. Michael Moore should be public enemy number one.

By the time the movie was over, public enemy number one had become George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and John F. Kennedy all rolled together.

More like our screwed-up health care system.

When the credits rolled the audience filed out and into the bathrooms. At the urinals, my redneck friend couldn't stop talking about the film, and I kept listening. He struck up a conversation with random black man in his 40s standing next to him, and soon everyone was peeing and talking about just how fucked everything is. I kept my distance, as we all finished and exited at the same time.

Outside the restroom doors... the theater was in chaos. The entire Sicko audience had somehow formed an impromptu town hall meeting in front of the ladies room. I've never seen anything like it. This is Texas goddammit, not France or some liberal college campus. But here these people were, complete strangers from every walk of life talking excitedly about the movie. It was as if they simply couldn't go home without doing something drastic about what they'd just seen. My redneck compadre and his new friend found their wives at the center of the group, while I lingered in the background waiting for my spouse.

The talk gradually centered around a core of 10 or 12 strangers in a cluster while the rest of us stood around them listening intently to this thing that seemed to be happening out of nowhere. The black gentleman engaged by my redneck in the restroom shouted for everyone's attention. The conversation stopped instantly as all eyes in this group of 30 or 40 people were now on him.

"If we just see this and do nothing about it," he said, "then what's the point? Something has to change."

There was silence, then the redneck's wife started calling for email addresses. Suddenly everyone was scribbling down everyone else's email, promising to get together and do something... though no one seemed to know quite what.

It was as if I'd just stepped into the world's most bizarre protest rally, except instead of hippies the group was comprised of men and women of every age, skin color, income, and walk of life coming together on something that had shaken them deeply, and to the core.

In all my thirty years on this earth, I have never ever seen any movie have this kind of unifying effect on people. It was like I as standing there, at the birth of a new political movement. Even after 9/11, there was never a reaction like this, at least not in Texas. If Sicko truly has this sort of power, then Michael Moore has done something beyond amazing. If it can change people, affect people like this in the conservative hotbed of Texas, then Sicko isn't just a great movie, seeing it may be one of the most important things you do all year.

Blue Cross/ Blue Shield executive is very worried.

Lots of comments at Think Progress.

Don't see Sicko.

Not all in Dallas support Sicko.

Candidates vow to change health care but NYT provides no details.

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

"The Reign of Witches Is Coming to an End"

Scott Horton at Harper's Magazine draws the parallel between Adams and Bush, the Federalists and the GOP. Adams and the Federalists greatly expanded the power of government, which they narrowly controlled, and eroded civil liberties. They over-reached and soon the Federalists as a party were no more. One of the parallels is the hysteria and fear-mongering promoted by the party and their right wing media machine.

Scott Horton also calls attention to Keith Olbermann's "A Bill of Indictment" and its parallel to our Declaration of Independence. Scott's article on Bush's War Against the Rule of Law is available to subscribers.

We the People, that is what this nation really stand for and that is what the Greedy Oil Party are really opposed to. They say they want to safeguard the vote - by denying it to the old, the poor and the handicapped. They say that lying to a Grand Jury is the worst type of crime, but now it is one not worthy of a jail sentence if it is committed by a loyal friend. They say they want to reduce taxes, and do cut taxes for the rich but raise them for the poor and middle-class. They say they want less government, and then greatly expand governmental powers and budget. They claim to be the morality party, and become the party of choice for child predators. They claim to be the patriot party, yet celebrate treason. If you have supported Bush and the Republican Party and their talk radio supporters you should be ashamed on this day of all days.

More on getting to the bottom of the Plame outing. Libby commutation outrage is widespread.

In a SurveyUSA poll taken immediately after the commutation was announced, 60 percent of those surveyed said they disagreed with the decision, including 35 percent of conservatives. And, in an earlier Time magazine/SRBI poll, 72 percent said they would disapprove of a pardon. So unless "the left" has recently had an incredible growth spurt, a lot of people on the so-called "right" are feeling outraged too.

Commentary on Olberman's call for the resignation of Bush and Cheney. I accuse.

Kevin Baker: Stabbed in the Back - the history and future of a right-wing myth.

How to celebrate the 4th - C-SPAN2 is scheduled to carry the conservative Media Research Center's March 29 2007 DisHonors Awards: Roasting the Most Outrageously Biased Liberal Reporters of 2006 -- the showcase of the MRC's 20th Anniversary Gala -- which was followed by Rush Limbaugh accepting the MRC's first annual William F. Buckley Award for Media Excellence.

Yeah, that draft-dodging, illegal drug addict, fact-challenged radio clown who patronizes underage foreign prostitutes with the help of huge bottles of Viagra was honored by the crowd without honor. Did you note the William F. Buckley Award? A man known for fighting desegration and civil rights in the South as uppity negros have no place in civilized society. "The central question... is whether the White community in the South is entitled to take such measures as are necessary to prevail, politically and culturally, in areas in which it does not predominate numerically? The sobering answer is Yes.... National Review believes that the South's premises are correct..."

I Stand For Liberty.

Ian Welsh at The Agonist:

On July 4th, on your birthday, this is my wish for America and for Americans - that you remember that the right thing to do morally is almost always the right thing to do pragmatically. There is no choice between "freedom and safety"; there is no choice between prosperity and massive inequality; there is no choice between generosity and fiscal prudence and there is no such thing as "managed free speech".

Be the America the world loved. Be the America you can be proudest of - the one that does not torture, that treats all men as equal and with unalienable rights. Be the America that rebuilt Europe and that lends a helping hand to countries like Afghanistan. Be the America that would never invade a country that had not attacked you first. Be the America that is about lifting all boats and not just a few.

Be that America, and we will all be Americans.

Do you have what it takes to become a U.S. citizen today? Questions from the citizenship test.

Legacy - Al Gore and the Media Alpha Girls

Paul Begala: George W. Bush is One Tough Hombre

Tough enough to execute Karla Fay Tucker -- and then laugh about it. Tough enough to sign a death warrant for a man whose lawyer slept through the trial -- and then snicker when asked about it in a debate. Even tough enough to execute a great-grandmother who murdered her husband -- after he abused her. A friend of mine at the time asked Bush to commute her sentence, telling him, "Betty Lou ain't a threat to no one she ain't married to." No dice.

Mr. Bush is tough enough to invade a country that was no risk to America, causing tens of thousands of civilian deaths and shedding precious American blood in the process. Tough enough to sanction torture. Tough enough to order an American citizen arrested and held without trial.

But if you're rich and right-wing and Republican, George is a real softie. As George W. Bush demonstrated in giving Scooter Libby a Get Out of Jail Free Card, he is only compassionate to conservatives.

Vanity Fair: David Halberstam on George W. Bush's wishful thinking

David Halberstam last story was on George W. Bush's wishful thinking and his and his supporter's bad grasp of history.

The book that brought me to history some 53 years ago, when I was a junior in college, was Cecil Woodham-Smith's wondrous The Reason Why, the story of why the Light Brigade marched into the Valley of Death, to be senselessly slaughtered, in the Crimean War. It is a tale of such folly and incompetence in leadership (then, in the British military, a man could buy the command of a regiment) that it is not just the story of a battle but an indictment of the entire British Empire. It is a story from the past we read again and again, that the most dangerous time for any nation may be that moment in its history when things are going unusually well, because its leaders become carried away with hubris and a sense of entitlement cloaked as rectitude. The arrogance of power, Senator William Fulbright called it during the Vietnam years.

I have my own sense that this is what went wrong in the current administration, not just in the immediate miscalculation of Iraq but in the larger sense of misreading the historical moment we now live in. It is that the president and the men around him—most particularly the vice president—simply misunderstood what the collapse of the Soviet empire meant for America in national-security terms. Rumsfeld and Cheney are genuine triumphalists. Steeped in the culture of the Cold War and the benefits it always presented to their side in domestic political terms, they genuinely believed that we were infinitely more powerful as a nation throughout the world once the Soviet empire collapsed. Which we both were and very much were not. Certainly, the great obsessive struggle with the threat of a comparable superpower was removed, but that threat had probably been in decline in real terms for well more than 30 years, after the high-water mark of the Cuban missile crisis, in 1962. During the 80s, as advanced computer technology became increasingly important in defense apparatuses, and as the failures in the Russian economy had greater impact on that country's military capacity, the gap between us and the Soviets dramatically and continuously widened. The Soviets had become, at the end, as West German chancellor Helmut Schmidt liked to say, Upper Volta with missiles.

At the time of the collapse of Communism, I thought there was far too much talk in America about how we had won the Cold War, rather than about how the Soviet Union, whose economy never worked, simply had imploded. I was never that comfortable with the idea that we as a nation had won, or that it was a personal victory for Ronald Reagan. To the degree that there was credit to be handed out, I thought it should go to those people in the satellite nations who had never lost faith in the cause of freedom and had endured year after year in difficult times under the Soviet thumb. If any Americans deserved credit, I thought it should be Truman and his advisers—Marshall, Kennan, Dean Acheson, and Chip Bohlen—all of them harshly attacked at one time or another by the Republican right for being soft on Communism.

American dream burning less bright

Men in their 30s earn about $5,000 less in real terms than their fathers' generation did, according to a new study. - CSM

Cato-» Commute These Sentences, Mr. President

Families Against Mandatory Minimums has highlighted a number of good cases here:

Mandy Martinson — 15 years for helping her boyfriend count his drug-dealing money.

DeJarion Echols — 20 years for selling a small amount of crack and owning a gun, causing Reagan-appointed federal judge Walter S. Smith, Jr. to say, “This is one of those situations where I’d like to see a congressman sitting before me.”

Weldon Angelos — 55 years for minor marijuana and gun charges, causing the George W. Bush-appointed judge Paul Cassell, previously best known for pressing the courts to overturn the Miranda decision, to call the mandatory sentence in this case “unjust, cruel, and even irrational.”

Anthea Harris — 15 years when members of her husband’s drug ring received sentence reductions to testify against her, although she had not been directly involved in the business.

Monica Clyburn - A mother of four from Florida, Monica accompanied her boyfriend to a pawnshop to sell his .22-caliber pistol. She provided her ID because her boyfriend didn't bring his own, and the couple got $30 for the gun. But Monica had a previous criminal record for minor drug charges, and when federal authorities ran a routine check of the pawnshop's records, they produced a "hit" -- a felon in possession of a firearm. That's automatically 15 years in federal prison, which is exactly what Clyburn got. "I never even held the gun," she noted in an interview from prison.

A compassionate conservative should also use the pardon power to head off the DEA’s war against doctors who help patients alleviate pain. He could start by pardoning Dr. Ronald McIver, sentenced to 30 years for prescribing Oxycontin and other drugs to patients in severe pain. Or Dr. William Hurwitz of Virginia, sentenced to 25 years but then granted a retrial, convicted again, and awaiting sentencing, which could still be 10 years.

This is only a test

The EU supports sex in European films - video

Dana Milbank - All mimsy were the borogoves

The White House is through the looking glass and down the rabbit hole in trying to make sense on pardons and the Libby and Plame case.

John Fabian Witt - A Declaration The President Ignores

From our founding the United States has lead the way in promoting civilized laws of war, that war itself must follow rules against uncivilized behavior. The Declaration of Independence is a list of crimes by the king. Our present unpatriotic and uncivilized commander in chief has been dismantling the laws.

Digby - Impeachment? My answer....

Would a failed impeachment attempt help or hurt in restoring democracy and the rule of law to America?

I am not so deluded to think that the partisan Senate would actually remove Bush and Cheney from office. Would the failure to do so be seen as a vindication by those on the right? Would the failure to even bring the matter up be seen as a bigger failure by the left?

Yes to both questions.

How much time will be wasted in investigating charges, or creating articles of impeachment that could never get a two thirds majority in the Senate?

Considering how little power Democrats now have and the slim chances of getting progressive legislation through a divided Senate and over a Presidential veto, I don't think it would be a waste of time.

I am of the opinion that if can be assured of a simple majority of the Senate it would be worth impeaching Bush and Cheney. Are we there yet?

Can we get some simple to understand and easy to illustrate violations worthy of impeachment to the House and Senate floors for debate?

Probably - go for it.

Christians’ Addiction to Porn Blamed on Technology

A majority of Christian church going men, and a strong minority of women, say they are addicted to porn. Church leaders are blaming an "over abundance" of porn in the marketplace and the helplessness of people to resist its allure. Frank J Ranelli:

The Christian-right’s affinity for porn – and the need to scorn it – is simply a Full-Monte display of heresy and sacrilege. Thus, this proves once again that the most egregious offenders of the Christian faith, who cannot control their own excesses and indulgences, must forever assign blame and find fault with everyone else but themselves. This time, it’s technology taking the rap.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Is Google turning evil?

They now have different policies for large corporations - encouraged to do adword attack ads on critics, and for individuals - 'policy does not permit the advertisement of websites that contain 'language that advocates against an individual, group, or organization'.'

BTW - I saw Live Free or Die Hard - excellent. Great choice of actors in many roles. Also excellent was Ratatouille, again with excellent and unexpected choices in voice actors.

OhMyNews "Every Citizen is a Reporter"

Daily Kos points us to the very important role OhMynews has played in South Korea. Unlike the primarily partisan commentary of American blogs, it is a reporting online news site run by private citizens that has been very influential in elections. American bloggers have been influential but only rarely do they consider their highest priority original news stories.

Monday, July 02, 2007

James Capozzola, 1962-2007

We lose another great one.

King of Iraq's Mercenaries

Vanity Fair has a profile of the second largest army in Iraq's UK based leader.

Locked Up for Reciting the First Amendment

Life in the so-called liberal Bloomberg's New York. More here on Rev. Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping's free speech arrest.

Grade A Hypocrisy From Ron Paul

Ron sets himself some earmarks for his district before he makes a show of voting against bills with his earmarks that are sure to pass.

I spotted some more Libertarians with government or government subcontractor jobs at ApolloCon. That seems to be a case of "I don't want to pay for government jobs , except my own."

Lots of political news around on the left column links, McCain imploding is one. Record fundraiser for Obama. Terror alerts are causing UK residents to take precautions, and causing something approaching glee in our conservative figures here in this country.

For the other presidential Democrats besides the top 2, remember Kerry was fourth in the national polls until Iowa and New Hampshire wins shot him to 49%. Forgot the national polls and concentrate on the first weeks of the real primary campaign.

Is it too early or is Kucinich less organized this year?

Amnesty for Libby but not for those seeking work cheers conservatives. A little outing of covert agents preventing Iran from getting the bomb is A-OK, at least for long-time conservatives.

We have Texas Dem candidates against state senator Furniture Jackson and U.S. Senator Cowardly Cornyn. Need someone to go after Talton's seat.

Harpers: Undoing Bush: how to repair eight years of sabotage, bungling, and neglect

Sunday, July 01, 2007

Analysis: 'Sicko' numbers mostly(?) accurate

Wanting to criticize Michael Moore's new movie the most CNN can find is that the facts in the movie "need context."

Roberts & Alito and The Rule of Law

No one will call it what it is - Roberts and Alito lied and lied and lied, repeatedly, during their confirmation hearings. This is not new. I noticed this practice of GOP judges lying to get on the bench starting with Clarence Thomas.