THIS IS NOT ->Delawareliberal
CHECK US OUT AT: http://delawareliberal.wordpress.com/Friday, March 31, 2006
St. Ferris - The Patron Saint of Easily Excited Republicans
Wow! You can just feel the Ferris-wheels-a-turning! It seems that the state's Republicans are just spazzing out with excitement over Ferris. And check out this picture the GOP is sending around...
...do you notice how an aura of holy purity envelopes him?
No wonder the Dt's of the world are seeing signs and miracles all about, "he's the most qualified person ever to run for AG."
Mike at Down With Absolutes was the first to call bullshit on all of this idolatry.
As for me, I like my anon commenter who said, "Vast experience successfully prosecuting psychopathic murderers, which as you know is our greatest crime problem here in Delaware. You can hardly leave the house without seeing them leering at you from behind their hockey masks.
Oh, also great success in prosecuting political corruption. Why, just look at how the Gordberry case - oh wait, that was a mistrial. Not the prosecution's fault, of course! OK then, just look at all the other political corruption and white-collar crime he's tried. Why there's... um, and... ahh, I'll get back to you on that.
...do you notice how an aura of holy purity envelopes him?
No wonder the Dt's of the world are seeing signs and miracles all about, "he's the most qualified person ever to run for AG."
Mike at Down With Absolutes was the first to call bullshit on all of this idolatry.
As for me, I like my anon commenter who said, "Vast experience successfully prosecuting psychopathic murderers, which as you know is our greatest crime problem here in Delaware. You can hardly leave the house without seeing them leering at you from behind their hockey masks.
Oh, also great success in prosecuting political corruption. Why, just look at how the Gordberry case - oh wait, that was a mistrial. Not the prosecution's fault, of course! OK then, just look at all the other political corruption and white-collar crime he's tried. Why there's... um, and... ahh, I'll get back to you on that.
(Fake Moderate) Michael Castle Talks a Big Game
Here we go again...
The Kaiser Family Foundation is reporting that "moderate" congressional Republicans are attempting to exert some influence over the out of control, rightwing fanatics that control Congress.
Daily Health Policy Report
House Republicans on Thursday began discussions about the fiscal year 2007 House budget resolution, with both moderates and conservatives "demanding concessions before they will agree" to vote in favor of the resolution next week, CQ Today reports (Dennis, CQ Today, 3/30). The House budget resolution, approved on Wednesday by the House Budget Committee, includes $6.8 billion in spending reductions for entitlement programs but excludes reductions for Medicare and Medicaid. In addition, the House budget resolution includes an $873 billion cap on discretionary spending requested by President Bush. Under the discretionary spending cap, spending for health and other nonsecurity programs would remain at about FY 2006 levels (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 3/30). Reps. Michael Castle (R-Del.) and Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.) and other moderate Republicans (sic) have called for an increase in the discretionary spending cap to ensure that health and other nonsecurity programs receive additional funds (CQ Today, 3/30).
House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said that he has discussed the issue with Johnson and that he believes he can address the concerns raised by moderates without an increase in the discretionary spending cap (Cohn, CongressDaily, 3/30). (snip) Boehner in a closed meeting with House Republicans on Wednesday "stressed the need for all GOP lawmakers to come together and support the budget once it's completed, even if they didn't get all the provisions they wanted" because the House budget resolution "will attract no Democratic votes and would need near-unanimous Republican support to pass,"
I think we all know what that last part means. When the votes are counted up, look for (Fake Moderate) Michael Castle to fall in line with the radical right-wingers. Take the poll.
The Kaiser Family Foundation is reporting that "moderate" congressional Republicans are attempting to exert some influence over the out of control, rightwing fanatics that control Congress.
Daily Health Policy Report
House Republicans on Thursday began discussions about the fiscal year 2007 House budget resolution, with both moderates and conservatives "demanding concessions before they will agree" to vote in favor of the resolution next week, CQ Today reports (Dennis, CQ Today, 3/30). The House budget resolution, approved on Wednesday by the House Budget Committee, includes $6.8 billion in spending reductions for entitlement programs but excludes reductions for Medicare and Medicaid. In addition, the House budget resolution includes an $873 billion cap on discretionary spending requested by President Bush. Under the discretionary spending cap, spending for health and other nonsecurity programs would remain at about FY 2006 levels (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 3/30). Reps. Michael Castle (R-Del.) and Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.) and other moderate Republicans (sic) have called for an increase in the discretionary spending cap to ensure that health and other nonsecurity programs receive additional funds (CQ Today, 3/30).
House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said that he has discussed the issue with Johnson and that he believes he can address the concerns raised by moderates without an increase in the discretionary spending cap (Cohn, CongressDaily, 3/30). (snip) Boehner in a closed meeting with House Republicans on Wednesday "stressed the need for all GOP lawmakers to come together and support the budget once it's completed, even if they didn't get all the provisions they wanted" because the House budget resolution "will attract no Democratic votes and would need near-unanimous Republican support to pass,"
I think we all know what that last part means. When the votes are counted up, look for (Fake Moderate) Michael Castle to fall in line with the radical right-wingers. Take the poll.
Viva The United States of North America !
Why not a European style economic/monetary union for North America?
As Bush meets with the leaders of Canada and Mexico I think that the possibility of a real free trade economic monetary union with our largest trading partners needs to be considered.
If we could harmonize our labor laws, as Europe has done, we would solve our immigration problems. This monetary union would also allow us to compete with China (for a while anyway).
North Americanists see that strength in unity is particularly important in today's multipolar world. They argue that a united and independent North America has become increasingly necessary, while a politically divided North America is disadvantageous in many areas, including economic, cultural, political, social, scientific, diplomatic and military.
(artist conception of what the "Flag of the North American Union" might look like - the word "Indiana" would be photoshopped out of course)
The North American Capital could be built in Oklahoma City. Over time we could bring in Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.
So, who is with me?
As Bush meets with the leaders of Canada and Mexico I think that the possibility of a real free trade economic monetary union with our largest trading partners needs to be considered.
If we could harmonize our labor laws, as Europe has done, we would solve our immigration problems. This monetary union would also allow us to compete with China (for a while anyway).
North Americanists see that strength in unity is particularly important in today's multipolar world. They argue that a united and independent North America has become increasingly necessary, while a politically divided North America is disadvantageous in many areas, including economic, cultural, political, social, scientific, diplomatic and military.
(artist conception of what the "Flag of the North American Union" might look like - the word "Indiana" would be photoshopped out of course)
The North American Capital could be built in Oklahoma City. Over time we could bring in Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.
So, who is with me?
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Around The Horn
It is too nice of a day to read everyone. Here is my readers digest version.
Walmart sucks! delawarewatch
Microsoft sucks! tommywonk
Lower the tolls for us hippies! mahaffie
Snarking on aged hippies! downwithabsolutes
Snarking on geeks! firstlate
Big government sucks! delathought
???????????? JTTR
Gays, not so bad. colossus
Walmart sucks! delawarewatch
Microsoft sucks! tommywonk
Lower the tolls for us hippies! mahaffie
Snarking on aged hippies! downwithabsolutes
Snarking on geeks! firstlate
Big government sucks! delathought
???????????? JTTR
Gays, not so bad. colossus
The military's view of Iraq, "Utter debacle"
Torquemadog has been documenting the increasing number of former military commanders who are joining the ranks of Bush critics. In this installment David Kronke, TV critic for the daily news, interviews Eric Haney, "a retired command sergeant major of the U.S. Army, (and)..a founding member of Delta Force,".
Haney has fighting words for Bush.
Q: What's your assessment of the war in Iraq?
A: Utter debacle. But it had to be from the very first. The reasons were wrong. The reasons of this administration for taking this nation to war were not what they stated. (Army Gen.) Tommy Franks was brow-beaten and ... pursued warfare that he knew strategically was wrong in the long term. That's why he retired immediately afterward. His own staff could tell him what was going to happen afterward.
Q: What is the cost to our country?
A: For the first thing, our credibility is utterly zero. So we destroyed whatever credibility we had. ... And I say "we," because the American public went along with this. They voted for a second Bush administration out of fear, so fear is what they're going to have from now on.
I expect that we'll hear more from these retired military officers who are providing an increasingly dismal assessment of the direction of the war in Iraq.
Haney has just published "Inside Delta Force."
Haney has fighting words for Bush.
Q: What's your assessment of the war in Iraq?
A: Utter debacle. But it had to be from the very first. The reasons were wrong. The reasons of this administration for taking this nation to war were not what they stated. (Army Gen.) Tommy Franks was brow-beaten and ... pursued warfare that he knew strategically was wrong in the long term. That's why he retired immediately afterward. His own staff could tell him what was going to happen afterward.
Q: What is the cost to our country?
A: For the first thing, our credibility is utterly zero. So we destroyed whatever credibility we had. ... And I say "we," because the American public went along with this. They voted for a second Bush administration out of fear, so fear is what they're going to have from now on.
I expect that we'll hear more from these retired military officers who are providing an increasingly dismal assessment of the direction of the war in Iraq.
Haney has just published "Inside Delta Force."
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Ya know what I like about being a Democrat...?
...we are tougher and smarter than Republicans.
...better looking as well. And now that I'm thinking about it, we also are more fun to be around.
We enjoy meeting new people and going to places like France and New York City so we have more interesting stories.
...better looking as well. And now that I'm thinking about it, we also are more fun to be around.
We enjoy meeting new people and going to places like France and New York City so we have more interesting stories.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Si, Se Puede!
This is some GOOOOD stuff.
A recent RNC memo details how Republicans think they can retain their majority status: by clinging to Bush and the "W" brand. The memo, written by pollster Jan van Lohuizen for RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, demonstrates the internal debate about whether to embrace Bush or avoid him.
"The President is seen universally as the face of the Republican Party. We are now brand W. Republicans. The following chart shows the extremely close correlation between the President's image and overall ratings of the party.
President Bush drives our image and will do so until we have real national front-runners for the '08 nomination. Attacking the President is counter productive for all Republicans, not just the candidates launching the attacks. If he drops, we all drop."
President Bush drives our image ... into the ground with his incompentence.
We are now brand W. Republicans... the (moronic) face of the Republican Party...
...If he drops, we all drop... SWEET !
Immigration and the end of the Republican majority
I'm so happy that immigration is going to be the wedge issue that splits up the republican party. Check out this craziness:
Now go to JTTR and read the craziness
I love this gem from NosyNeighbor, "They would have to just conduct raids on the areas where the illegals are known to live (I think we all could name a few places off the tops of our heads.)
Nudge, nudge... I think we all know where to round up the spics and wetbacks? Right?
Now go to JTTR and read the craziness
I love this gem from NosyNeighbor, "They would have to just conduct raids on the areas where the illegals are known to live (I think we all could name a few places off the tops of our heads.)
Nudge, nudge... I think we all know where to round up the spics and wetbacks? Right?
Bush Brownshirt Battles "BUSHIT"
Driver fights ticket for bumper sticker
By CHANDLER BROWN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It was 9:30 on a recent Friday night when Denise Grier saw blue lights in her rearview mirror.
She pulled over on Chamblee-Tucker Road, unaware of her infraction.
"The officer asked if I knew I had a lewd decal on my car and I thought, 'Oh gosh, what did my kids put on my car?' "
As it turns out, the decal was an anti-Bush bumper sticker Grier slapped on her 2001 Chrysler Sebring last summer. The bumper sticker — "I'm Tired Of All The BUSHIT".
The officer "said DeKalb had an ordinance about lewd decals and wrote me a ticket" for $100, said Grier, an oncology nurse at Emory University Hospital who lives in Athens.
Grier said she thanked the officer — and vowed to see him in court.
"This is all about free speech," Grier said in a telephone interview Monday. "The officer pulled me over because he didn't agree with my politics. That's what this is about, not whether I support Bush, not because of the war in Iraq, but about my right to free speech."
I don't have an anti-Bush bumper sticker on my car. Now I might have to add one.
By CHANDLER BROWN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It was 9:30 on a recent Friday night when Denise Grier saw blue lights in her rearview mirror.
She pulled over on Chamblee-Tucker Road, unaware of her infraction.
"The officer asked if I knew I had a lewd decal on my car and I thought, 'Oh gosh, what did my kids put on my car?' "
As it turns out, the decal was an anti-Bush bumper sticker Grier slapped on her 2001 Chrysler Sebring last summer. The bumper sticker — "I'm Tired Of All The BUSHIT".
The officer "said DeKalb had an ordinance about lewd decals and wrote me a ticket" for $100, said Grier, an oncology nurse at Emory University Hospital who lives in Athens.
Grier said she thanked the officer — and vowed to see him in court.
"This is all about free speech," Grier said in a telephone interview Monday. "The officer pulled me over because he didn't agree with my politics. That's what this is about, not whether I support Bush, not because of the war in Iraq, but about my right to free speech."
I don't have an anti-Bush bumper sticker on my car. Now I might have to add one.
Another Republican Criminal Dirty Trickster Indicted
Shaun Hansen type guys are the rule, not the exception, when it comes to the GOP's willingness to use unethical dirty tricks to subvert the democratic process.
Shaun Hansen, former co-owner of an Idaho-based telemarketing firm, has been indicted by a federal court in New Hampshire for allegedly directing telemarketers employed by Mylo Enterprises to make hundreds hang-up calls which jammed five phone lines at the New Hampshire Democratic Party on Election Day 2002.
The two-count indictment unsealed on March 27 charges Hansen with conspiracy to commit telephone harassment and aiding and abetting telephone harassment. He allegedly received $2,500 from others involved in the scheme.
Hansen is the fourth individual charged in this Department of Justice investigation of the jammed phone lines. If Hansen is convicted on all the charges, he faces up to seven years in prison.
The former director of the New Hampshire Republican State Committee Charles McGee and communications consultant Allen Raymond, each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit telephone harassment. McGee was sentenced to seven months in prison and Raymond was sentenced to three months.
James Tobin, former New England regional chairman of the Republican National Committee was convicted for aiding and abetting interstate telephone harassment, following a jury trial in December. Tobin has been scheduled for sentencing on May 17.
Shaun Hansen, former co-owner of an Idaho-based telemarketing firm, has been indicted by a federal court in New Hampshire for allegedly directing telemarketers employed by Mylo Enterprises to make hundreds hang-up calls which jammed five phone lines at the New Hampshire Democratic Party on Election Day 2002.
The two-count indictment unsealed on March 27 charges Hansen with conspiracy to commit telephone harassment and aiding and abetting telephone harassment. He allegedly received $2,500 from others involved in the scheme.
Hansen is the fourth individual charged in this Department of Justice investigation of the jammed phone lines. If Hansen is convicted on all the charges, he faces up to seven years in prison.
The former director of the New Hampshire Republican State Committee Charles McGee and communications consultant Allen Raymond, each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit telephone harassment. McGee was sentenced to seven months in prison and Raymond was sentenced to three months.
James Tobin, former New England regional chairman of the Republican National Committee was convicted for aiding and abetting interstate telephone harassment, following a jury trial in December. Tobin has been scheduled for sentencing on May 17.
Monday, March 27, 2006
Market Research
I'm kinda just trying out the poll function thingy - so go ahead and cheat by voting for yourself 20 times if you want.
Dear Senator Biden,
I am glad to know that this Tuesday The Senate Judiciary Committee will be holding hearings on President Bush’s illegal domestic spying operations, and that the committee will be holding hearings on Sen. Russ Feingold’s censure resolution on Friday.
As you prepare for the hearings I would like you to reflect on the possibility that this country has past through the period historians might one day call “The Period of the American Republic.”
With the DoJ's responses to the House Judiciary Committee's FISA questions, it is clear to many of us that we are now living under some new form of government. The Republic of Adams, Jefferson and Hamilton appears to be lost. While we may preserve the songs, displays, and the meaningless pantomimes of self-government - it is clear that we have dispensed with the idea of representative democracy.
As Glenn Greenwald recently put it,
“The DoJ’S response made clear to Congress that even if Congress passes some sort of newly amended FISA of the type which Sen. DeWine introduced, and even if the President "agrees" to it and signs it into law, the President still has the power to violate that law if he wants to. Put another way, the Administration is telling the Congress -- again -- that they can go and pass all the laws they want which purport to liberalize or restrict the President's powers, and it does not matter, because the President has and intends to preserve the power to do whatever he wants regardless of what those laws provide.”
I hope that you find that the Administration has seized the power of Congress to make the laws, and that they have seized the power of the judiciary to interpret the laws.
It is my fervent prayer that you will find that the Bush Administration has consolidated within themselves all of the powers of the government, and that this situation is exactly the opposite of everything our Government is intended to be.
If you do find this to be the case, I have faith that you will have the courage to take the appropriate steps to remedy the situation.
Sincerely,
Jason XXXXX
Xxxxxxxxx, Delaware
cc: Senators Specter, Hatch, Leahy, Grassley, Kennedy, Kyl, DeWine, Kohl, Sessions, Feinstein, Graham, Feingold, Cornyn, Schumer, Brownback, Durbin, Coburn
I faxed this to Biden and the rest of the committee this morning. I included my home address, so I'll publish any responses I get. Biden's fax number is in the comments section if anyone wants to drop him a line.
As you prepare for the hearings I would like you to reflect on the possibility that this country has past through the period historians might one day call “The Period of the American Republic.”
With the DoJ's responses to the House Judiciary Committee's FISA questions, it is clear to many of us that we are now living under some new form of government. The Republic of Adams, Jefferson and Hamilton appears to be lost. While we may preserve the songs, displays, and the meaningless pantomimes of self-government - it is clear that we have dispensed with the idea of representative democracy.
As Glenn Greenwald recently put it,
“The DoJ’S response made clear to Congress that even if Congress passes some sort of newly amended FISA of the type which Sen. DeWine introduced, and even if the President "agrees" to it and signs it into law, the President still has the power to violate that law if he wants to. Put another way, the Administration is telling the Congress -- again -- that they can go and pass all the laws they want which purport to liberalize or restrict the President's powers, and it does not matter, because the President has and intends to preserve the power to do whatever he wants regardless of what those laws provide.”
I hope that you find that the Administration has seized the power of Congress to make the laws, and that they have seized the power of the judiciary to interpret the laws.
It is my fervent prayer that you will find that the Bush Administration has consolidated within themselves all of the powers of the government, and that this situation is exactly the opposite of everything our Government is intended to be.
If you do find this to be the case, I have faith that you will have the courage to take the appropriate steps to remedy the situation.
Sincerely,
Jason XXXXX
Xxxxxxxxx, Delaware
cc: Senators Specter, Hatch, Leahy, Grassley, Kennedy, Kyl, DeWine, Kohl, Sessions, Feinstein, Graham, Feingold, Cornyn, Schumer, Brownback, Durbin, Coburn
I faxed this to Biden and the rest of the committee this morning. I included my home address, so I'll publish any responses I get. Biden's fax number is in the comments section if anyone wants to drop him a line.
Republican Reality vs Real Reality
On Wednesday, March 22nd in Wheeling West Virginia President George Bush was asked the following question:
Q: This is my husband, who has returned from a 13-month tour in Tikrit.
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, yes. Thank you. Welcome back. (Applause.)
Q His job while serving was as a broadcast journalist. And he has brought back several DVDs full of wonderful footage of reconstruction, of medical things going on. And I ask you this from the bottom of my heart, for a solution to this, because it seems that our major media networks don't want to portray the good. They just want to focus -- (applause) --They just want to focus on another car bomb, or they just want to focus on some more bloodshed...
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, March 22nd in Iraq:
On Wednesday, armed insurgents burst into the classroom of Khidhir al-Mihallawi, an English teacher at Sajariyah High School, accused him of being an agent for the CIA and Israeli intelligence and beheaded him in front of his students, according to students, fellow instructors and a physician at a local hospital.
One teacher, who spoke on the condition that he not be named because he feared retaliation from insurgents, said that most students ran from the classroom but that some stayed to watch. Many stopped coming to school after the incident, he said. Another teacher, who said he moved his mathematics class to his home to accommodate frightened students, said Mihallawi had earlier been threatened because he worked as a translator for U.S. forces in Ramadi, a hotbed of the Sunni Arab insurgency. - Via Eschton
Q: This is my husband, who has returned from a 13-month tour in Tikrit.
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, yes. Thank you. Welcome back. (Applause.)
Q His job while serving was as a broadcast journalist. And he has brought back several DVDs full of wonderful footage of reconstruction, of medical things going on. And I ask you this from the bottom of my heart, for a solution to this, because it seems that our major media networks don't want to portray the good. They just want to focus -- (applause) --They just want to focus on another car bomb, or they just want to focus on some more bloodshed...
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, March 22nd in Iraq:
On Wednesday, armed insurgents burst into the classroom of Khidhir al-Mihallawi, an English teacher at Sajariyah High School, accused him of being an agent for the CIA and Israeli intelligence and beheaded him in front of his students, according to students, fellow instructors and a physician at a local hospital.
One teacher, who spoke on the condition that he not be named because he feared retaliation from insurgents, said that most students ran from the classroom but that some stayed to watch. Many stopped coming to school after the incident, he said. Another teacher, who said he moved his mathematics class to his home to accommodate frightened students, said Mihallawi had earlier been threatened because he worked as a translator for U.S. forces in Ramadi, a hotbed of the Sunni Arab insurgency. - Via Eschton
Sunday, March 26, 2006
If TIME magazine says so, it must be true
As midterm campaigns gear up, Bush's party fears a backlash that could end its 12-year hold on the House
Republicans On The Run
By KAREN TUMULTY, MIKE ALLEN
Considering that Vice President Dick Cheney had come a long way to help Florida Congressman Ric Keller raise $250,000 last week, the reception he got in the Sunshine State could have been a bit warmer. After extolling Cheney as "one of the most effective Vice Presidents in the history of the U.S.," Keller launched into all the times he had recently opposed the Bush Administration, including the deal to allow a Dubai company to manage operations at several U.S. ports. And then Keller went right for the punch line: "'Don't be too hasty,'" he claimed the Vice President had pleaded with him. "'Let's go hunting. We'll talk about it.'"
Ha Ha!
If you are a republican reading this you can spare me the "Democrats don't have any ideas" nonsense. I'm a democrat and I have an idea - REPUBLICANS ARE UNFIT TO GOVERN.
Update:Here is another Democratic idea. The problem with Democratic ideas is that they (for the most part) don't include bombing the bejeesus out of random countries. That's why the Republicans don't recognize them as ideas.
Republicans On The Run
By KAREN TUMULTY, MIKE ALLEN
Considering that Vice President Dick Cheney had come a long way to help Florida Congressman Ric Keller raise $250,000 last week, the reception he got in the Sunshine State could have been a bit warmer. After extolling Cheney as "one of the most effective Vice Presidents in the history of the U.S.," Keller launched into all the times he had recently opposed the Bush Administration, including the deal to allow a Dubai company to manage operations at several U.S. ports. And then Keller went right for the punch line: "'Don't be too hasty,'" he claimed the Vice President had pleaded with him. "'Let's go hunting. We'll talk about it.'"
Ha Ha!
If you are a republican reading this you can spare me the "Democrats don't have any ideas" nonsense. I'm a democrat and I have an idea - REPUBLICANS ARE UNFIT TO GOVERN.
Update:Here is another Democratic idea. The problem with Democratic ideas is that they (for the most part) don't include bombing the bejeesus out of random countries. That's why the Republicans don't recognize them as ideas.
George Allen is Out to Lunch
In all of his campaigning for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination, it seems George Allen has forgotten that he has to run for reelection to the United States Senate this fall.
There has been quite a bit of talk inside the Beltway about George Allen's strong position in the race for the Republican nomination in two years as the conservative anti-McCain candidate (of course, one must remember that the Washington press corps does not understand that McCain, himself, is a fierce conservative). And Allen has been reading his press clippings, focusing not on his reelection bid in Virginia and instead on caucus voters in Iowa and primary voters in New Hampshire. Sheryl Gay Stolberg has the story for The New York Times.
George Allen makes little secret that he is bored with life in the Senate.
"I made more decisions in half a day as governor than you can make in a whole week in the Senate," Senator Allen said earlier this month as he dashed into a recent Republican fund-raiser in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Over eggs and hash browns with a Republican crowd in Davenport, he lamented about being in the Senate, "It's too slow for me."
Virginia voters will no doubt be interested to find out that Allen is apparently not interested in serving another term in the Senate.
- Jonathan Singer at Mydd
There has been quite a bit of talk inside the Beltway about George Allen's strong position in the race for the Republican nomination in two years as the conservative anti-McCain candidate (of course, one must remember that the Washington press corps does not understand that McCain, himself, is a fierce conservative). And Allen has been reading his press clippings, focusing not on his reelection bid in Virginia and instead on caucus voters in Iowa and primary voters in New Hampshire. Sheryl Gay Stolberg has the story for The New York Times.
George Allen makes little secret that he is bored with life in the Senate.
"I made more decisions in half a day as governor than you can make in a whole week in the Senate," Senator Allen said earlier this month as he dashed into a recent Republican fund-raiser in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Over eggs and hash browns with a Republican crowd in Davenport, he lamented about being in the Senate, "It's too slow for me."
Virginia voters will no doubt be interested to find out that Allen is apparently not interested in serving another term in the Senate.
- Jonathan Singer at Mydd
More Bush Military Failures
We may disagree about whether or not Bush and his creators and managers have pursued autocracy intentionally or by accident.
However, we can all agree that Bush has been a miserable failure when it comes to national defense. He is yet another example of his ineptitude. In June 2001, regarding Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin, President Bush said the following:
"I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. We had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul."
We now find out that our "trustworthy" friend Putin's government was collecting information on American military activities. This information was subsequently passed on to Saddam Hussein. I guess that is what passes for "supporting the troops" during a republican administration.
However, we can all agree that Bush has been a miserable failure when it comes to national defense. He is yet another example of his ineptitude. In June 2001, regarding Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin, President Bush said the following:
"I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. We had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul."
We now find out that our "trustworthy" friend Putin's government was collecting information on American military activities. This information was subsequently passed on to Saddam Hussein. I guess that is what passes for "supporting the troops" during a republican administration.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
While Joe Biden, Tom Carper and Michael Castle Slept
Today I don't think it is hyperbole to say that we have past through the period historians might one day call the period of the American Republic. With the DoJ's responses to the House Judiciary Committee's FISA questions, it is clear that we are now living under some new form of government. The Republic of Adams, Jefferson and Hamilton is lost and while we may keep the songs, displays, and the meaningless pantomimes of self government - it is clear that we have dispensed with the idea of representative democracy.
Glenn Greenwald spells it out.
The Republicans and Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee submitted detailed questions to the Bush Administration regarding the NSA program, and the DoJ's responses to both the Democrats' questions and its responses to the Republicans' are now available.
There are numerous noteworthy items, but the most significant, by far, is that the DoJ made clear to Congress that even if Congress passes some sort of newly amended FISA of the type which Sen. DeWine introduced, and even if the President "agrees" to it and signs it into law, the President still has the power to violate that law if he wants to. Put another way, the Administration is telling the Congress -- again -- that they can go and pass all the laws they want which purport to liberalize or restrict the President's powers, and it does not matter, because the President has and intends to preserve the power to do whatever he wants regardless of what those laws provide. (snip)
Put another way, the Administration has seized the power of Congress to make the laws, they have seized the power of the judiciary to interpret the laws, and they execute them as well. They have consolidated within themselves all of the powers of the government, particularly with regard to national security. This situation is, of course, exactly what Madison warned about in Federalist 47; it really is the very opposite of everything our Government is intended to be.
Read the whole thing.
Glenn Greenwald spells it out.
The Republicans and Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee submitted detailed questions to the Bush Administration regarding the NSA program, and the DoJ's responses to both the Democrats' questions and its responses to the Republicans' are now available.
There are numerous noteworthy items, but the most significant, by far, is that the DoJ made clear to Congress that even if Congress passes some sort of newly amended FISA of the type which Sen. DeWine introduced, and even if the President "agrees" to it and signs it into law, the President still has the power to violate that law if he wants to. Put another way, the Administration is telling the Congress -- again -- that they can go and pass all the laws they want which purport to liberalize or restrict the President's powers, and it does not matter, because the President has and intends to preserve the power to do whatever he wants regardless of what those laws provide. (snip)
Put another way, the Administration has seized the power of Congress to make the laws, they have seized the power of the judiciary to interpret the laws, and they execute them as well. They have consolidated within themselves all of the powers of the government, particularly with regard to national security. This situation is, of course, exactly what Madison warned about in Federalist 47; it really is the very opposite of everything our Government is intended to be.
Read the whole thing.
Avon's Stupid, Short-Sighted, Republican Executives Offshore Customer Service Ops
Layoffs include 50 in Newark as firm sends work overseas
By LULADEY B. TADESSE
The News Journal
Avon Products Inc. plans to lay off 600 customer service representatives nationwide, including 50 in Delaware, and send the work overseas, company officials said Thursday.
The cuts will mean 10 percent of Avon's work force of 500 at the wholesale distribution center in Newark will be laid off.
This story is a few days old now, but if I happen to run into an Avon exec in Brew Ha Ha I'm going to ask, "So who do expect to buy your products when the we get rid of the middle class once and for all?"
By LULADEY B. TADESSE
The News Journal
Avon Products Inc. plans to lay off 600 customer service representatives nationwide, including 50 in Delaware, and send the work overseas, company officials said Thursday.
The cuts will mean 10 percent of Avon's work force of 500 at the wholesale distribution center in Newark will be laid off.
This story is a few days old now, but if I happen to run into an Avon exec in Brew Ha Ha I'm going to ask, "So who do expect to buy your products when the we get rid of the middle class once and for all?"
Friday, March 24, 2006
Friday !
Here are the numbers courtesy of Bill in Portland Maine...
Days `til the 2006 elections: 228
Days `til the 2008 elections: 956
Days `til Mother's Day: 51
Percent of Americans who say they would not attend public events if bird flu reaches America: 71%
(Source: Harvard School of Public Health via The Week magazine)
Number of registered U.S. teams in the World Adult Kickball Association: 650
(Source: Harper's Index)
Days the federal terror alert system has been in place: 1,473
Days spent at terror alert level Green or Blue: 0
Days until Three Year Anniversary of Bush's "Mission Accomplished!" speech on the USS Lincoln: 39
Get your "Mission Accomplished Day!"(tm) day supplies from Walmart. Plenty of Toby Keith CD's still in stock.
Days `til the 2006 elections: 228
Days `til the 2008 elections: 956
Days `til Mother's Day: 51
Percent of Americans who say they would not attend public events if bird flu reaches America: 71%
(Source: Harvard School of Public Health via The Week magazine)
Number of registered U.S. teams in the World Adult Kickball Association: 650
(Source: Harper's Index)
Days the federal terror alert system has been in place: 1,473
Days spent at terror alert level Green or Blue: 0
Days until Three Year Anniversary of Bush's "Mission Accomplished!" speech on the USS Lincoln: 39
Get your "Mission Accomplished Day!"(tm) day supplies from Walmart. Plenty of Toby Keith CD's still in stock.
Wingnut Letter Writer Blames Clinton...
...and makes up some stuff for good measure.
From Today's News Journal:
I see and hear in the media that the Democrats are now criticizing the Bush administration for not sending sufficient numbers of troops to Iraq. Do they not recall that the Clinton administration reduced the level of our military by 40 percent across the board?
The Clinton administration also decimated the intelligence community by 50 percent. In a war on terrorism, intelligence is more vital than in conventional warfare.
We reap what you have sown, Democrats.
Hxxxx Hxxxxx, Wilmington (name withheld to protect the imbecilic)
Now I can understand being a freaked out wingnut right now. Bush has finally been fully exposed a corrupt liar. His Secretary of Defense is completely incompetent and every day this administration is allowed to stay in power is another day of happiness and contentment for our enemies. And yet, as bad as it may seem for Bush lovers right now, do they gain anything by flat out lying and making things up about Clinton? I tend to doubt it.
For the record here is some CNN from January 24, 2000
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A proposed hike in defense spending by President Bill Clinton is not presidential politics but rather the first step in fulfilling last year's pledge to add $112 billion to the defense budget over six years, Pentagon officials tell CNN.
When Clinton unveils the federal budget next month, Pentagon sources tell CNN, he will propose spending $291 billion on defense, a hike of more than $18 billion and nearly double last year's increase.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
If you really want to WIN in '08 don't nominate Feingold...
...is the kind of idiotic bullshit we'll need to endure from other Democrats in order to win in '08
Here is a typical Kos diary from a Warner supporter.
I'm a liberal and I think Russ Feingold is a great senator and a fine man. He's tough, smart, and the liberal wing of the Democratic Party is in love with him right now. But let me tell you one thing that Senator Finegold isn't: electable (as a president). And here's why:
1.) He's a SENATOR, if there's one thing that history has proven, as far a presidential elections go, it's that SENATORS might make very good presidents but it's almost impossible for them to win a presidential election, there's just too much to attack in a voting record.
2.) He's Jewish. How many Jewish Presidents and/or Vice Presidents have there been in the history of the United States? Oh yea, ZERO!
3.) He isn't married. Remember I'm talking about winning a presidential election here. Personally, I think it's disgraceful that the electorate is so superficial, but that's the way it is right now. Try not to let your ideology get in the way of winning. Remember, if you don't win elections you can't accomplish anything.
4.) He has already been defined by Republicans and some of his potential Democratic opponents (in the primary) as a Liberal from the North. Meaning, he could not carry one state in the south against a Republican in the general election.
I truly believe that in order for the Dems to win the '08 election they need to run a Governor (preferably) or a General, and being from the South is a major bonus. Personally, I think that Mark Warner is the ideal candidate. He could carry some states in the South, he has no voting record to distort, and he's a liberal who can pass as a centrist.
What a load of MALARKY !
"Electability" has nothing to do with winning elections. Just look at Bush if you have any doubts about that. Bush was the guy GORE WANTED TO RUN AGAINST. Bush was the retarded looking son of a failure of a President. He was known to have dodged the draft and was a known to have snorted coke.
The election is about marketing and making a case. You don't win by chasing a few southerners - you win by ATTRACTING voters in all 50 states with courage and vision.
Here is a typical Kos diary from a Warner supporter.
I'm a liberal and I think Russ Feingold is a great senator and a fine man. He's tough, smart, and the liberal wing of the Democratic Party is in love with him right now. But let me tell you one thing that Senator Finegold isn't: electable (as a president). And here's why:
1.) He's a SENATOR, if there's one thing that history has proven, as far a presidential elections go, it's that SENATORS might make very good presidents but it's almost impossible for them to win a presidential election, there's just too much to attack in a voting record.
2.) He's Jewish. How many Jewish Presidents and/or Vice Presidents have there been in the history of the United States? Oh yea, ZERO!
3.) He isn't married. Remember I'm talking about winning a presidential election here. Personally, I think it's disgraceful that the electorate is so superficial, but that's the way it is right now. Try not to let your ideology get in the way of winning. Remember, if you don't win elections you can't accomplish anything.
4.) He has already been defined by Republicans and some of his potential Democratic opponents (in the primary) as a Liberal from the North. Meaning, he could not carry one state in the south against a Republican in the general election.
I truly believe that in order for the Dems to win the '08 election they need to run a Governor (preferably) or a General, and being from the South is a major bonus. Personally, I think that Mark Warner is the ideal candidate. He could carry some states in the South, he has no voting record to distort, and he's a liberal who can pass as a centrist.
What a load of MALARKY !
"Electability" has nothing to do with winning elections. Just look at Bush if you have any doubts about that. Bush was the guy GORE WANTED TO RUN AGAINST. Bush was the retarded looking son of a failure of a President. He was known to have dodged the draft and was a known to have snorted coke.
The election is about marketing and making a case. You don't win by chasing a few southerners - you win by ATTRACTING voters in all 50 states with courage and vision.
Who was "swift boating" Ting...Carper or Protack?
If Carper turns out to be behind this crap, I'd be shocked and saddened.
VETS' LETTER ON JAN TING GETS WINGED
By Celia Cohen
Grapevine Political Writer
A letter critical of Jan C. Ting, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, from a local military association was declared off-limits by its parent organization, but the sentiments in the letter have not gone away.
The letter from the Delaware chapter of the Air Force Association, a veterans' group, was sent late last month to Republican officials to warn them away from Ting because he had protested against the Vietnam War as a student more than 30 years ago, while the Democratic candidate will be U.S. Sen. Thomas R. Carper, who was a naval flight officer at that time.
The letter arrived just as the Republican State Committee, the party's governing body, was about to hold a senatorial straw poll on March 3. It did not appear to hurt Ting's standing within the leadership that encouraged him to run.
In a lopsided vote, Ting won 64-16 against Michael D. Protack, a pie-in-the-sky candidate with a habit of running for Republican nominations for high office, even though Protack was in the Marine Corps.
VETS' LETTER ON JAN TING GETS WINGED
By Celia Cohen
Grapevine Political Writer
A letter critical of Jan C. Ting, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, from a local military association was declared off-limits by its parent organization, but the sentiments in the letter have not gone away.
The letter from the Delaware chapter of the Air Force Association, a veterans' group, was sent late last month to Republican officials to warn them away from Ting because he had protested against the Vietnam War as a student more than 30 years ago, while the Democratic candidate will be U.S. Sen. Thomas R. Carper, who was a naval flight officer at that time.
The letter arrived just as the Republican State Committee, the party's governing body, was about to hold a senatorial straw poll on March 3. It did not appear to hurt Ting's standing within the leadership that encouraged him to run.
In a lopsided vote, Ting won 64-16 against Michael D. Protack, a pie-in-the-sky candidate with a habit of running for Republican nominations for high office, even though Protack was in the Marine Corps.
Hysterical Ken Mehlman email of the month
... not "funny" hysterical, "he has lost it" hysterical.
Dear Jason,
The word is out. Their position is clear. Last week, Sen. Russ Feingold floated a reckless plan to censure the President, and some Democrat leaders have ecstatically jumped on Feingold's bandwagon.
And, if they gain even more power in November, they won't stop there.
Partly closeted homosexual and RNC Chair, Ken Mehlman clearly has lost touch with reality to say, "Democrat leaders have ecstatically jumped on Feingold's bandwagon".
What a paradise we'd live in if Mehlman's vision was even remotely close to reality.
Dear Jason,
The word is out. Their position is clear. Last week, Sen. Russ Feingold floated a reckless plan to censure the President, and some Democrat leaders have ecstatically jumped on Feingold's bandwagon.
And, if they gain even more power in November, they won't stop there.
Partly closeted homosexual and RNC Chair, Ken Mehlman clearly has lost touch with reality to say, "Democrat leaders have ecstatically jumped on Feingold's bandwagon".
What a paradise we'd live in if Mehlman's vision was even remotely close to reality.
My Favorite Country Western Band
Go listen to this new tune from the band the loathsome Christopher Hitchens called "fucking fat slags." for saying:
"Just so you know, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas.
I made my bed and I sleep like a baby
With no regrets and I don't mind sayin'
It's a sad sad story when a mother will teach her
Daughter that she ought to hate a perfect stranger
And how in the world can the words that I said
Send somebody so over the edge
That they'd write me a letter
Sayin' that I better shut up and sing
Or my life will be over
I'm not ready to make nice
I'm not ready to back down
I'm still mad as hell and
I don't have time to go round and round and round
- The Dixie Chicks
"Just so you know, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas.
I made my bed and I sleep like a baby
With no regrets and I don't mind sayin'
It's a sad sad story when a mother will teach her
Daughter that she ought to hate a perfect stranger
And how in the world can the words that I said
Send somebody so over the edge
That they'd write me a letter
Sayin' that I better shut up and sing
Or my life will be over
I'm not ready to make nice
I'm not ready to back down
I'm still mad as hell and
I don't have time to go round and round and round
- The Dixie Chicks
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Bush simply won't stop lying about Iraq
Here is Josh Marshall on the recent press conference:
There's so much water under the bridge at this point. But the president just won't stop lying about the immediate exigencies of his decision to go to war. Here's how he described it this morning in an exchange with Helen Thomas ...
I also saw a threat in Iraq. I was hoping to solve this problem diplomatically. That's why I went to the Security Council; that's why it was important to pass 1441, which was unanimously passed. And the world said, disarm, disclose, or face serious consequences ... and therefore, we worked with the world, we worked to make sure that Saddam Hussein heard the message of the world. And when he chose to deny inspectors, when he chose not to disclose, then I had the difficult decision to make to remove him. And we did, and the world is safer for it.
Of course, that's not what happened. We were there. We remember. It wasn't a century ago. We got the resolution passed. Saddam called our bluff and allowed the inspectors in. President Bush pressed ahead with the invasion.
His lies are so blatant that I must constantly check myself so as not to assume that he is simply delusional or has blocked out whole chains of events from the past.
For those who are interested, here's the complete exchange ...
There's so much water under the bridge at this point. But the president just won't stop lying about the immediate exigencies of his decision to go to war. Here's how he described it this morning in an exchange with Helen Thomas ...
I also saw a threat in Iraq. I was hoping to solve this problem diplomatically. That's why I went to the Security Council; that's why it was important to pass 1441, which was unanimously passed. And the world said, disarm, disclose, or face serious consequences ... and therefore, we worked with the world, we worked to make sure that Saddam Hussein heard the message of the world. And when he chose to deny inspectors, when he chose not to disclose, then I had the difficult decision to make to remove him. And we did, and the world is safer for it.
Of course, that's not what happened. We were there. We remember. It wasn't a century ago. We got the resolution passed. Saddam called our bluff and allowed the inspectors in. President Bush pressed ahead with the invasion.
His lies are so blatant that I must constantly check myself so as not to assume that he is simply delusional or has blocked out whole chains of events from the past.
For those who are interested, here's the complete exchange ...
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Breaking: New Iraq War Strategy From Bush - Cut and Run
Bush: U.S. will succeed in Iraq or troops will leave
CNN- President Bush said today he would "pull our troops out" of Iraq if he didn't think the U.S. strategy would lead to success. His comments came as Bush launches a campaign apparently aimed at reversing opinion polls that suggest American support for the Iraq war is waning.
Don't get me wrong, I'm for it. But I don't trust Bush to do a better job cutting and running than he has done with any other part of this fiasco.
UPDATE: President Bush provides clarification.
U.S. troops to remain in Iraq through the end of his presidency.
REPORTER: Will there come a day, and I’m not asking you when — I’m not asking for a timetable — will there come a day when there will be no more American forces in Iraq?
BUSH: That, of course, is an objective, and that will be decided by future presidents and future governments of Iraq.
That way history does not record that he is the Preisdent that LOST the war in Iraq.
CNN- President Bush said today he would "pull our troops out" of Iraq if he didn't think the U.S. strategy would lead to success. His comments came as Bush launches a campaign apparently aimed at reversing opinion polls that suggest American support for the Iraq war is waning.
Don't get me wrong, I'm for it. But I don't trust Bush to do a better job cutting and running than he has done with any other part of this fiasco.
UPDATE: President Bush provides clarification.
U.S. troops to remain in Iraq through the end of his presidency.
REPORTER: Will there come a day, and I’m not asking you when — I’m not asking for a timetable — will there come a day when there will be no more American forces in Iraq?
BUSH: That, of course, is an objective, and that will be decided by future presidents and future governments of Iraq.
That way history does not record that he is the Preisdent that LOST the war in Iraq.
"W" for Wingnut
I have not been able to make time to see "V for Vendetta" yet. However, the Bush apologists and wingnut reviews continue to roll in. Here is an unintentionally ironic line from Hube's take on the film.
...and eventually we discover that it was the British government itself that was responsible for the killer viruses (bio attacks). The conspiracy was to use to terrorism as an "excuse" for the fascists to take power.
Boy. I'm sure glad that could never happen here. Not with the paragon of constitutional virture know as George Bush in charge anyway.
Russ "gets it"
Russ Feingold appeared on Charlie Rose and in this short excerpt replying to a question about the inside-the-beltway reaction to his censure motion, he shows that he (alone among congressional Democrats) gets it.
Shades of October 2002. These are the same pundits, consultants, and spin miesters who said you've gotta vote for the Iraq war or George Bush is going to hang you out to dry and he's gonna show that you don't care about the troops and you don't care about the fight against terrorism.
They pull it every time. And the Democratic insiders in Washington and the consultants fall for it every time. They don't realize that the thing that bugs people about the Democratic party right now is that we don't seem to stand strongly enough for what we believe in.
How can we be afraid at this point, of standing up to a president who has clearly mismanaged this Iraq war, who clearly made one of the largest blunders in American foreign policy history? How can it be that this party wants to stand back and allow this kind of thing to happen?
And then add to that the idea that the president has clearly broken the law --- and a number of Republican senators have effectively admitted that, by saying "you know, we need this program so let's make it legal," --- so they are admitting it's illegal.
The idea that Democrats don't think it's a winning thing to say that we will stand up for the rule of law and for checking abuse of power by the executive --- I just can't believe that Democrats don't think that isn't something, not only that we can win on, but it does, in fact, make the base of our party, which is so important, feel much better about the Democrats. The Republicans care deeply about making the base of their party feels energized. What about the people of our party who believe in the Democratic Party especially because they fight for the American values of standing up for our rights and civil liberties?
Monday, March 20, 2006
SD Gov Popularity Plummets Post Abortion Bill
South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds’ (R) job approval dropped to 58% from 72% last month, after he signed a bill outlawing most abortions in the state, according to this SurveyUSA poll.
Under the bill Doctors who perform abortions get up to 5 years in prison, while the women who have the abortions (who have to at least be considered accomplices) get off scot-free.
Happy IRAQ War Anniversary Day !
Here is a happy part of the Neo-Con legacy, the ratio of the US defense budget to that of the rest of the world is....
...wait for it....
1 to 1
That's right. We are spending as much of the rest of the whole world COMBINED!
I don't know about you, but I feel safer.
...wait for it....
1 to 1
That's right. We are spending as much of the rest of the whole world COMBINED!
I don't know about you, but I feel safer.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
New Poll Finds Delawareans Against Maintaining An American Nation
"I don't want to get bogged down in the country anymore," Wilmington, DE accountant Karie Ashworth said. "I'm not up in arms or anything, I'm just saying it'd be a lot easier for everyone if we just gave it up."
Of those who were against maintaining an American nation, 77 percent said they believe that having a country is "counter to the best interests of Americans." (snip)
"I'm for saluting flags and pledging allegiance to them, but nothing beyond that," Tampa, FL mechanic and former Marine Doug Pauls said. "I like singing the anthem before the game, but I can't keep up with the news every day. I have three kids."
Read the whole story.
Of those who were against maintaining an American nation, 77 percent said they believe that having a country is "counter to the best interests of Americans." (snip)
"I'm for saluting flags and pledging allegiance to them, but nothing beyond that," Tampa, FL mechanic and former Marine Doug Pauls said. "I like singing the anthem before the game, but I can't keep up with the news every day. I have three kids."
Read the whole story.
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Bush and the Straw Man
Bush has been in office for 6 year and the AP decided that it was high time to publish an article about how he uses bogus straw man arguments to promote his terrible policies.
WASHINGTON - "Some look at the challenges in Iraq and conclude that the war is lost and not worth another dime or another day," President Bush said recently. Another time he said, "Some say that if you're Muslim you can't be free."
"There are some really decent people," the president said earlier this year, "who believe that the federal government ought to be the decider of health care ... for all people." Of course, hardly anyone in mainstream political debate has made such assertions.
When the president starts a sentence with "some say" or offers up what "some in Washington" believe, as he is doing more often these days, a rhetorical retort almost assuredly follows. The device usually is code for Democrats or other White House opponents. In describing what they advocate, Bush often omits an important nuance or substitutes an extreme stance that bears little resemblance to their actual position.
He typically then says he "strongly disagrees" — conveniently knocking down a straw man of his own making.
Gee - freaking - wiz, thanks AP! You were all over that one.
Maybe if he is President for another six years you can publish an article about how he never served in the Texas Air National Gaurd.
WASHINGTON - "Some look at the challenges in Iraq and conclude that the war is lost and not worth another dime or another day," President Bush said recently. Another time he said, "Some say that if you're Muslim you can't be free."
"There are some really decent people," the president said earlier this year, "who believe that the federal government ought to be the decider of health care ... for all people." Of course, hardly anyone in mainstream political debate has made such assertions.
When the president starts a sentence with "some say" or offers up what "some in Washington" believe, as he is doing more often these days, a rhetorical retort almost assuredly follows. The device usually is code for Democrats or other White House opponents. In describing what they advocate, Bush often omits an important nuance or substitutes an extreme stance that bears little resemblance to their actual position.
He typically then says he "strongly disagrees" — conveniently knocking down a straw man of his own making.
Gee - freaking - wiz, thanks AP! You were all over that one.
Maybe if he is President for another six years you can publish an article about how he never served in the Texas Air National Gaurd.
Friday, March 17, 2006
Breaking: "Operation Swarmer" is a big PR stunt!
Gasp!
In other news, The NJ wants you to take this poll.
"Should you be able to claim a lottery prize if the ticket is lost or destroyed?" I say vote no!
In other news, The NJ wants you to take this poll.
"Should you be able to claim a lottery prize if the ticket is lost or destroyed?" I say vote no!
Republicans Block Funding For Port Security, Disaster Preparedness
Yesterday, the House of Representatives narrowly defeated an amendment proposed by Rep. Martin Sabo (D-MN) that would have provided $1.25 billion in desperately needed funding for port security and disaster preparedness. The Sabo amendment included:
– $300 million to enable U.S. customs agents to inspect high-risk containers at all 140 overseas ports that ship directly to the United States. Current funding only allows U.S. customs agents to operate at 43 of these ports.
– $400 million to place radiation monitors at all U.S. ports of entry. Currently, less than half of U.S. ports have radiation monitors.
– $300 million to provide backup emergency communications equipment for the Gulf Coast.
Meanwhile, the Bush budget – which most of the members who voted against this bill will likely support –contains an increase of $1.7 billion for missile defense, a program that doesn’t even work. - Via Think Progress
I'm still working on finding out how Castle voted on this.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Vendetta
I'm looking forward to "V for Vendetta", I liked The Matrix so I have high hopes.
However, unlike various rightwingers, I'll wait until I see it to provide my review.
I hate to Dem Bash but this is ridiculous!
Feingold Left Hanging in the Wind by Fellow Dems
On Monday Senator Russ Feingold introduced a Resolution to Censure President Bush for breaking the law by ordering warrant-less wiretaps on American citizens on American soil. According to this morning's WAPO the Democratic Caucus is leaving Russ out there spinning in the wind.
I am often accused of "my party, right or wrong" sentiment, and mostly I can live with that. But today I'm just livid. Why am I a Democrat? Because Democrats respect the law and value honesty. So how hard is it to stand up to a President who, by his own televised admission, has broken the law, and lies whenever his lips move?
Apparently too hard for the members of the Democratic Caucus. No wonder people keep asking what do the Democrats stand for? Harry Reid says he wants to wait on this. Were is the moral certainty? Feingold is right, Bush is wrong and that's not going to change with the passage of time. When even Sandra Day O'Conner warns that we are on a slippery slope to dictatorship do we have the time to wait?
Anybody else out there just furious or am I just being a wingnut?
On Monday Senator Russ Feingold introduced a Resolution to Censure President Bush for breaking the law by ordering warrant-less wiretaps on American citizens on American soil. According to this morning's WAPO the Democratic Caucus is leaving Russ out there spinning in the wind.
I am often accused of "my party, right or wrong" sentiment, and mostly I can live with that. But today I'm just livid. Why am I a Democrat? Because Democrats respect the law and value honesty. So how hard is it to stand up to a President who, by his own televised admission, has broken the law, and lies whenever his lips move?
Apparently too hard for the members of the Democratic Caucus. No wonder people keep asking what do the Democrats stand for? Harry Reid says he wants to wait on this. Were is the moral certainty? Feingold is right, Bush is wrong and that's not going to change with the passage of time. When even Sandra Day O'Conner warns that we are on a slippery slope to dictatorship do we have the time to wait?
Anybody else out there just furious or am I just being a wingnut?
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Freedom of Religion vs. Freedom from Religion
Atrios just posted what amounts to a "Secular Manifesto".
Secularism has essentially no representation in our media or politics. I'm sure there are secular politicians and media types, but few discuss it. No one gets on tv or writes newspaper columns or in any way participates in our contemporary mainstream political discourse and praises secularism or atheism or anything similar, and certainly not in a way which denigrates religious beliefs generally. Advocates for the separation of church and state are not advocating secularism, aside from government secularism, they're simply trying to defend freedom of religion.
Read the whole thing.
Secularism has essentially no representation in our media or politics. I'm sure there are secular politicians and media types, but few discuss it. No one gets on tv or writes newspaper columns or in any way participates in our contemporary mainstream political discourse and praises secularism or atheism or anything similar, and certainly not in a way which denigrates religious beliefs generally. Advocates for the separation of church and state are not advocating secularism, aside from government secularism, they're simply trying to defend freedom of religion.
Read the whole thing.
Breaking: Bush Admin Composed of a Bunch of Lying Criminals
CNN is reporting that White House chief of staff Andrew Card has resigned.
No doubt, this resignation is related to Rove's cooperation with the CIA Operative outing investigation.
No doubt, this resignation is related to Rove's cooperation with the CIA Operative outing investigation.
In Search of the "Liberal" Media Part IV
The Dubai ports deal demonstrates, once again, that the republican party controls the main stream media. While Chuck Schumer is given credit for having the media spotlight turned to Dubai, does that conform to reality? Let's see.
Schumer's early port press conferences were not unlike the countless other Q&A's Democrats have held over the last six years; press conferences that raised serious questions about the policies and competency of the Bush White House, and press conferences that for the most part were completely ignored by Beltway media elites. The only reason the port story broke big was because Republicans turned on the White House.Throughout the Bush presidency there's been a very simple formula for defining what's news -- if Republicans say it's news, than it is. - Huffington Post
From Harriet Miers nomination to the Dubai port deal and now Bush's crumbling job approval ratings The GOP PR machine decides when and how stories will be reported.
I'll give you a quick example. Has anyone heard the results of the Wall Street Journal poll which recently asked:
How do you grade Bush's leadership of the Iraq war so far this year?
Of course you haven't. If the poll was about Clinton's penis - we'd all know the results because Soledad O'Brien would devote 1/2 hour to it every morning - and ABC nightly News would lead the every broadcast with the results for a week. Anyway, here are the results.
A/B - 30%
C - 6%
D/F -64%
Schumer's early port press conferences were not unlike the countless other Q&A's Democrats have held over the last six years; press conferences that raised serious questions about the policies and competency of the Bush White House, and press conferences that for the most part were completely ignored by Beltway media elites. The only reason the port story broke big was because Republicans turned on the White House.Throughout the Bush presidency there's been a very simple formula for defining what's news -- if Republicans say it's news, than it is. - Huffington Post
From Harriet Miers nomination to the Dubai port deal and now Bush's crumbling job approval ratings The GOP PR machine decides when and how stories will be reported.
I'll give you a quick example. Has anyone heard the results of the Wall Street Journal poll which recently asked:
How do you grade Bush's leadership of the Iraq war so far this year?
Of course you haven't. If the poll was about Clinton's penis - we'd all know the results because Soledad O'Brien would devote 1/2 hour to it every morning - and ABC nightly News would lead the every broadcast with the results for a week. Anyway, here are the results.
A/B - 30%
C - 6%
D/F -64%
Monday, March 13, 2006
IN MEMORIAM
Tom's last journey
by Doug Pritchard - Via Sojouners
Our brother Tom has begun his final journey home.
He left Anaconda military base at Balat, Iraq, at dawn on Mar. 13 (9 p.m. EST, Mar. 12), and is expected to arrive at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware at 1 a.m. EST, Mar. 14.
Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) Toronto was originally informed by Canadian authorities at 1:30 p.m. EST Mar. 10, that a body had been found in Baghdad which was likely that of Tom Fox. An hour later, when the CPT Iraq team asked officials at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad if they could come to identify the body, they were told that it had already left on a military transport for Dover. Officials had repeatedly assured the team over the previous three months that CPT would be able to accompany our colleagues home "if at all possible." They now said that their only focus was getting the body back to the USA as soon as possible. At 8 p.m. EST, the U.S. State Department confirmed the identity as Tom Fox based on fingerprints.
The next day, Mar. 11, at 10 a.m. EST, CPT Iraq learned that Tom's body was still at the Anaconda base at Balat. The U.S. Embassy arranged for Beth Pyles, a member of the CPT Iraq team, to travel to Anaconda, and she was able to keep vigil with Tom for the next 36 hours until his departure. Meanwhile, CPT members Rich Meyer and Anne Montgomery travelled to Dover, and have been in the vicinity since 5 p.m. Mar. 11, keeping vigil and awaiting Tom's arrival.
Pyles was present on the tarmac at Anaconda as Tom's coffin was loaded onto the plane for Dover. She reported that his coffin was draped in a U.S. flag. This is unusual for a civilian, but Tom may not have been uncomfortable with this since he had always called his nation to live out the high ideals which it professed. Iraqi detainees who die in U.S custody are also transported to Dover for autopsies and forensics. On this plane, right beside Tom's coffin, was the coffin of an Iraqi detainee. So Tom accompanied an Iraqi detainee in death, just as he had done so often in life.
At Tom's departure, Pyles read out from the gospel of John, "The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it" (1:5). In honour of Tom's Iraqi companion, she spoke the words called out repeatedly from the mosques of Baghdad during the Shock and Awe bombing campaign in March 2003, "allah akhbar" (God is greater). She concluded the sending with words from the Jewish scriptures, "The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21).
Dawn broke. The contingent of Puerto Rican soldiers nearby saluted. The plane taxied away. Venus, the morning star, shone brightly overhead as the night faded away. Godspeed you, Tom, on your final journey home to your family and friends.
Doug Pritchard is a co-director of Christian Peacemaker Teams.
by Doug Pritchard - Via Sojouners
Our brother Tom has begun his final journey home.
He left Anaconda military base at Balat, Iraq, at dawn on Mar. 13 (9 p.m. EST, Mar. 12), and is expected to arrive at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware at 1 a.m. EST, Mar. 14.
Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) Toronto was originally informed by Canadian authorities at 1:30 p.m. EST Mar. 10, that a body had been found in Baghdad which was likely that of Tom Fox. An hour later, when the CPT Iraq team asked officials at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad if they could come to identify the body, they were told that it had already left on a military transport for Dover. Officials had repeatedly assured the team over the previous three months that CPT would be able to accompany our colleagues home "if at all possible." They now said that their only focus was getting the body back to the USA as soon as possible. At 8 p.m. EST, the U.S. State Department confirmed the identity as Tom Fox based on fingerprints.
The next day, Mar. 11, at 10 a.m. EST, CPT Iraq learned that Tom's body was still at the Anaconda base at Balat. The U.S. Embassy arranged for Beth Pyles, a member of the CPT Iraq team, to travel to Anaconda, and she was able to keep vigil with Tom for the next 36 hours until his departure. Meanwhile, CPT members Rich Meyer and Anne Montgomery travelled to Dover, and have been in the vicinity since 5 p.m. Mar. 11, keeping vigil and awaiting Tom's arrival.
Pyles was present on the tarmac at Anaconda as Tom's coffin was loaded onto the plane for Dover. She reported that his coffin was draped in a U.S. flag. This is unusual for a civilian, but Tom may not have been uncomfortable with this since he had always called his nation to live out the high ideals which it professed. Iraqi detainees who die in U.S custody are also transported to Dover for autopsies and forensics. On this plane, right beside Tom's coffin, was the coffin of an Iraqi detainee. So Tom accompanied an Iraqi detainee in death, just as he had done so often in life.
At Tom's departure, Pyles read out from the gospel of John, "The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it" (1:5). In honour of Tom's Iraqi companion, she spoke the words called out repeatedly from the mosques of Baghdad during the Shock and Awe bombing campaign in March 2003, "allah akhbar" (God is greater). She concluded the sending with words from the Jewish scriptures, "The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21).
Dawn broke. The contingent of Puerto Rican soldiers nearby saluted. The plane taxied away. Venus, the morning star, shone brightly overhead as the night faded away. Godspeed you, Tom, on your final journey home to your family and friends.
Doug Pritchard is a co-director of Christian Peacemaker Teams.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Breaking: McCain to Win GOP Nomination
I'm watching McCain's SRLC speech on CSPAN right now, and while I once thought that the GOP would implode rather than nominate McCain, I think it is obvious that he is going to win the nomination in a walk.
Here it is:
1) He cut a deal with Rove back in 2000 - so he is the heir to the Rove machine.
2) He's got a plan - keep the Bush lies alive. Be like Bush and don't allow reality to drive events.
3) He's got tons of money, and
4) He's got a message that Republicans are sure to warm up to. The message is: "The Democrats are the real enemy."
I thought hard core wing nuts would never consider McCain, but he used most of his speech to bash Congressional Dems. If he keeps that up the brainless zombies will be easy to win back.
He cracked the code so he is the guy. McCain is going to try win the nomination by holding the fantasy world that Bush built together and by being the new cheerleader for the Neo Con fantasy of American power and our inability to be anything other than good.
Sorry Condi, Fristy and Romney. It is over.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Slobodan Milosevic Dies of Natural Causes at 64...
...can 67 year old geriatric Michael Castle be far behind?
Okay. I'm not saying the old guy has one foot in the grave, but - 67 is old and although he is working to cover this fact up, Castle will be 67 next November. A great many people have died of natural causes at (and before) the age of 67. Here are just a few.
Notorious Nazi Dr. Josef Mengele died, at age 67, of natural causes.
Former minor-league hockey player Blake Ball died of natural causes at age 67.
One of Iqaluit's most-loved Inuit leaders, Ben Ell, died at the age of 67, of natural causes.
Minor-league mobster Pasquale (Fat Patty) Catalano pleaded guilty to loan sharking and was sentenced to a year in prison. A week after his arrest, Catalano died of natural causes at age 67. (To be fair, Catalano led an extremely un-healthy life style.)
Her Imperial Highness the Princess Soraya of Iran, died of natural causes at age 67 and is buried in Munich, Germany.
Egyptologist and mummy curse scoffer, Howard Carter (who had the most to do with disturbing The Pharaoh's eternal rest) died in 1939, aged 66 of natural causes.
So where is Castle on the age question? We already know that his voting record shows a disturbing lack of coherence, the kind of incoherence one might associate with the onset of age related mental dementia.
To dig deeper I went to the "biography" page of his official web site, where Castle ducks the age issue by NOT mentioning his birthdate!
What is he hiding with this kind of obtusification: Mike Castle was born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware where he currently lives with his wife Jane. He is a graduate of Tower Hill School, Hamilton College and Georgetown University Law School. What kind of official bio contains no dates whatsoever? The subtext of the whole thing is "trust me, I'm not that old."
Not only does he duck the birthdate issue, but no where on his web site does he come out and say - I AM NOT MENTALLY INCOMPETENT. I think all 67 year olds should have to wear a medic alert bracelet that says that. (Provided that ARE mentally competent.)
Why would someone hide his birthdate and fail to deny that he is "not out of it" if he was not entering his dotage?
Here is the bottom line: Castle needs to come clean on the age issue.
UPDATE: I did some more internet sleuthing and was able to determine that Castle was born July, 2nd 1939. Mike - The truth is out there.
Okay. I'm not saying the old guy has one foot in the grave, but - 67 is old and although he is working to cover this fact up, Castle will be 67 next November. A great many people have died of natural causes at (and before) the age of 67. Here are just a few.
Notorious Nazi Dr. Josef Mengele died, at age 67, of natural causes.
Former minor-league hockey player Blake Ball died of natural causes at age 67.
One of Iqaluit's most-loved Inuit leaders, Ben Ell, died at the age of 67, of natural causes.
Minor-league mobster Pasquale (Fat Patty) Catalano pleaded guilty to loan sharking and was sentenced to a year in prison. A week after his arrest, Catalano died of natural causes at age 67. (To be fair, Catalano led an extremely un-healthy life style.)
Her Imperial Highness the Princess Soraya of Iran, died of natural causes at age 67 and is buried in Munich, Germany.
Egyptologist and mummy curse scoffer, Howard Carter (who had the most to do with disturbing The Pharaoh's eternal rest) died in 1939, aged 66 of natural causes.
So where is Castle on the age question? We already know that his voting record shows a disturbing lack of coherence, the kind of incoherence one might associate with the onset of age related mental dementia.
To dig deeper I went to the "biography" page of his official web site, where Castle ducks the age issue by NOT mentioning his birthdate!
What is he hiding with this kind of obtusification: Mike Castle was born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware where he currently lives with his wife Jane. He is a graduate of Tower Hill School, Hamilton College and Georgetown University Law School. What kind of official bio contains no dates whatsoever? The subtext of the whole thing is "trust me, I'm not that old."
Not only does he duck the birthdate issue, but no where on his web site does he come out and say - I AM NOT MENTALLY INCOMPETENT. I think all 67 year olds should have to wear a medic alert bracelet that says that. (Provided that ARE mentally competent.)
Why would someone hide his birthdate and fail to deny that he is "not out of it" if he was not entering his dotage?
Here is the bottom line: Castle needs to come clean on the age issue.
UPDATE: I did some more internet sleuthing and was able to determine that Castle was born July, 2nd 1939. Mike - The truth is out there.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Probability
As much as I’d like elections to be about issues and ideas, I realize that elections are basically numbers games. Knowing that, there are only really two likely outcomes for the Spivack vs. Castle race. Here are the possible outcomes listed in order of likelihood.
1) A sleepy electorate allows Fake Moderate Michael Castle to ride his name recognition and his $1million dollars to (what for Castle is) a photo finish. Castle 53% Spivack 47%
I give this outcome about a 60% probability.
2) Dennis Spivack fires up the Democratic base and Delaware’s sane Republicans decide to stay home in droves in order to protest the Castle’s complicity in the absurd and destructive Bush presidency, while Delaware’s insane republicans decide to stay home in droves in order to protest the Castle’s complicity in killing snow-flake babies. Spivack 51% Castle 49%
I give this outcome about a 35% probability.
So, there is about a 95% chance that one of the two outcomes mentioned above are going to happen. However, that means there is a 5% chance of some other outcome. See the comments section for my take on the other possible outcomes - and feel free to add your own.
Fake Moderate Michael Castle Begins Campaign for Re-Election...
...with the stink of Tom Delay hanging on him like the booze fumes from a weeklong Dewey Beach bender, Castle introduces lobbying, ethics reform bill.Delawareliberal welcomes Castle's acknowledgment that Republicans are too unethical to govern
By JENNIFER BROOKS
News Journal Washington Bureau 03/10/2006
WASHINGTON -- If Congress cannot police itself, Rep. Mike Castle says, there should be an outside agency appointed to investigate ethical misdeeds on Capitol Hill.
Castle joins a growing chorus of lawmakers calling for an overhaul of Congress's ethics code and lobbying rules in the wake of recent scandals.
On Thursday, the Delaware Republican introduced a lobbying reform bill he hopes will make it easier to track what lobbyists are doing and to hold them -- and members of Congress -- accountable for their actions.
Hey - What ever happened to not doing illegal crap because it is wrong?
What ever happened to not trading votes for money and trips because it is wrong?
I thought the Republicans were supposed to be the party of "personal responsibility". Now they need a "NANNY 911" to smack them down when they grab too much out of the lobbyists candy bowl.
Here is the money quote waaaaaaaaay down on the bottom of the NJ article "The problem, Castle said, as that the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct was not carrying out it duty to be Congress' ethical watchdog."
What Congressman "Pocket Change" Castle fails to mention is that Tom Delay and the Republican majority basically blew up the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct so that IT COULD NOT carry out it duty to be Congress' ethical watchdog.
This whole pandering proposal is like someone going around a WAWA store breaking and disconnecting all of the security cameras in order to let his friends run amok, then saying, "We need some security cameras in here."
Pitifull.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Giving Up The Moral High Ground
One of the many things we have lost under Bush is "the moral high ground" in international relations.
Our actions in Iraq have undone 200 years of bipartisan brand building. BushCo's foolish calculation that we don't need to be "honorable" provided we are "powerful" has cheapened the "American brand" in the eyes of the world and will be paying for it for generations.
China Lashes Back at U.S. Criticism
BEIJING Mar 9, 2006 (AP)Â China on Thursday lashed out against U.S. criticism of its human rights record, saying racial discrimination and crime were still rife in the United States and prisoners were being abused at U.S.-run detention centers abroad.
Our actions in Iraq have undone 200 years of bipartisan brand building. BushCo's foolish calculation that we don't need to be "honorable" provided we are "powerful" has cheapened the "American brand" in the eyes of the world and will be paying for it for generations.
China Lashes Back at U.S. Criticism
BEIJING Mar 9, 2006 (AP)Â China on Thursday lashed out against U.S. criticism of its human rights record, saying racial discrimination and crime were still rife in the United States and prisoners were being abused at U.S.-run detention centers abroad.
MSM Runs "Diebold Electronic Voting Has Serious Security Vulnerabilities'' Story: Nation Yawns
...but here is the significance.
When voters have no faith in the voting process, the people who are installed in public offices will not have the faith of the electorate. So, this is not just about the past Presidential elections. This story is about all future elections for every office in the country.
If Diebold is NOT a partisan outfit dedicated to electing Republicans to office, as many claim, they should have a keen interest in fixing the security vulnerabilities in their machines. If they ARE a partisan outfit dedicated to electing Republicans to office they would be interested in suing whistle blowers.
Miami Herald - Election official hammered for telling the truth
BY FRED GRIMM
Ion Sancho may be a hero in California, where grateful election officials have verified the ''serious security vulnerabilities'' in Diebold voting machines that the Leon County election supervisor uncovered last year.
Sancho is regarded a little differently in Florida.
Florida's secretary of state's office disparaged Sancho's finding, demonstrating considerably more interest in propping up vendors than protecting elections.
California, alarmed by Sancho's report, dispatched its independent, expert-laden Voting Systems Technology Assessment Advisory Board to conduct its own investigation.
Florida, meanwhile, threatened to sue Sancho.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Calling Rick Santorum
Obsessed tourist 'marries' dolphin
Tel Aviv (dpa) - British tourist Sharon Tendler has finally made her dream match - by "marrying" a dolphin she has been visiting for 15 years in the Israeli resort of Eilat, the mass-circulation Yediot Ahronot daily reported today.
Tel Aviv (dpa) - British tourist Sharon Tendler has finally made her dream match - by "marrying" a dolphin she has been visiting for 15 years in the Israeli resort of Eilat, the mass-circulation Yediot Ahronot daily reported today.
Today's Miracle
This deserves a separate post. Celia Cohen, the head groupie and cheerleader for Delaware's "Incumbent Party", wrote an article about Spivack's announcement that does not trash him.
THE MOST THANKLESS JOB IN STATE POLITICS
By Celia Cohen
Grapevine Political Writer
Dennis Spivack, who has been sound enough for the past 30 years to practice law, nevertheless took on the most thankless job in Delaware politics Tuesday by declaring his candidacy as the Democrat running against U.S. Rep. Michael N. Castle, the seven-term Republican secure in statewide offices since 1980.
Spivack entered the race for the state's lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives by battling for credibility, insisting he could give Castle a run for his money, which happens to be a well-stocked campaign treasury of $1.2 million.
It got Spivack points for guts, at least.
Rhett D. Ruggerio, the Democratic national committeeman, was moved to quote Amway founder Richard M. DeVos, who said, "It is impossible to win the race unless you venture to run, impossible to win the victory unless you dare to battle."
Lisa B. Goodman, a fellow lawyer, regarded Spivack from the never-say-never school of politics. "I am ever hopeful. You never know -- maybe the electorate will wake up and realize how bad a job the Republican Party is doing," she said.
Spivack himself seemed unafraid of the odds against Castle -- "He has never confronted anybody like me" -- and perhaps could believe in a political miracle because he has seen a medical one.
THE MOST THANKLESS JOB IN STATE POLITICS
By Celia Cohen
Grapevine Political Writer
Dennis Spivack, who has been sound enough for the past 30 years to practice law, nevertheless took on the most thankless job in Delaware politics Tuesday by declaring his candidacy as the Democrat running against U.S. Rep. Michael N. Castle, the seven-term Republican secure in statewide offices since 1980.
Spivack entered the race for the state's lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives by battling for credibility, insisting he could give Castle a run for his money, which happens to be a well-stocked campaign treasury of $1.2 million.
It got Spivack points for guts, at least.
Rhett D. Ruggerio, the Democratic national committeeman, was moved to quote Amway founder Richard M. DeVos, who said, "It is impossible to win the race unless you venture to run, impossible to win the victory unless you dare to battle."
Lisa B. Goodman, a fellow lawyer, regarded Spivack from the never-say-never school of politics. "I am ever hopeful. You never know -- maybe the electorate will wake up and realize how bad a job the Republican Party is doing," she said.
Spivack himself seemed unafraid of the odds against Castle -- "He has never confronted anybody like me" -- and perhaps could believe in a political miracle because he has seen a medical one.
Spivack Announcement Coverage Outstanding
Joe Rogalsky at The Delaware State New picked up this money quote: “We cannot progress with real reform if we’re represented by someone who has lost touch with us, ...by someone who believes Washington is doing a good job,” (emphasis added.)
Rogalsky also quoted Abby Betts, "“Delaware is a Democratic stronghold, yet year after year we vote to re-elect a Republican who cunningly claims to represent us as a moderate in Washington,”
Hell yes!
I heard WDEL this morning on the way to work and they went with the "Michael Castle is a rubber stamp for the policies of Bush, Delay, Cheney." This is not a word for word quote, but I think Carl Kanefsky picked a great sentence. I'll update today when I get the exact wording which was great.
Patrick Jackson at the News Journal used bullet points to highlight some of Spivack's main points of differentiation.
Among those differences are Castle's support of Bush Programs to:
- Cut Taxes for wealthy citizens
- Cut Benefits for the poor and elderly under Bush's Deficit Reduction Act.
- The "unintelligible" Medicare prescription drug program.
As an "on-line" journalist myself, I would add that in Middletown, Spivack seems just as feisty and scrappy as I remembered him, but more focused and determined. Castle is in trouble.
Update Sussex Coverage:Hilary Corrigan of Coast Press Reporter
Saying that U.S. Rep. Mike Castle has not lived up to his reputation as a moderate Republican, (snip) (Spivack) called the Delaware representative a presidential ally who rubber-stamps right-wing initiatives, including recent tax breaks for the rich and cuts in social programs.
Corrigan also hits something that I think is important, the fact that republican governance is immoral.
…the fact that thousands of Delaware residents have no health insurance is immoral, Spivack said before the event.
However, Corrigan also notes that Spivack is not only fighting the republican party, but he is also fighting what I have described as “the incumbent party”.
Not all democrats support him. When told of Spivack's campaign kick-off, state Sen. George Bunting, D-Bethany Beach, noted Castle's connections to the beach region.
"Rep. Castle's got a long history," Bunting said, pointing to support for area beach replenishment projects. "And he'll get my vote."
Rogalsky also quoted Abby Betts, "“Delaware is a Democratic stronghold, yet year after year we vote to re-elect a Republican who cunningly claims to represent us as a moderate in Washington,”
Hell yes!
I heard WDEL this morning on the way to work and they went with the "Michael Castle is a rubber stamp for the policies of Bush, Delay, Cheney." This is not a word for word quote, but I think Carl Kanefsky picked a great sentence. I'll update today when I get the exact wording which was great.
Patrick Jackson at the News Journal used bullet points to highlight some of Spivack's main points of differentiation.
Among those differences are Castle's support of Bush Programs to:
- Cut Taxes for wealthy citizens
- Cut Benefits for the poor and elderly under Bush's Deficit Reduction Act.
- The "unintelligible" Medicare prescription drug program.
As an "on-line" journalist myself, I would add that in Middletown, Spivack seems just as feisty and scrappy as I remembered him, but more focused and determined. Castle is in trouble.
Update Sussex Coverage:Hilary Corrigan of Coast Press Reporter
Saying that U.S. Rep. Mike Castle has not lived up to his reputation as a moderate Republican, (snip) (Spivack) called the Delaware representative a presidential ally who rubber-stamps right-wing initiatives, including recent tax breaks for the rich and cuts in social programs.
Corrigan also hits something that I think is important, the fact that republican governance is immoral.
…the fact that thousands of Delaware residents have no health insurance is immoral, Spivack said before the event.
However, Corrigan also notes that Spivack is not only fighting the republican party, but he is also fighting what I have described as “the incumbent party”.
Not all democrats support him. When told of Spivack's campaign kick-off, state Sen. George Bunting, D-Bethany Beach, noted Castle's connections to the beach region.
"Rep. Castle's got a long history," Bunting said, pointing to support for area beach replenishment projects. "And he'll get my vote."
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
ABC News Poll: Clinton vs. McCain
Summary:
Everyone likes John McCain a little. Some people REALLY don't like Hillary Clinton, and some people REALLY like her.
These views present challenges for both candidates. Clinton has 16 points more favorability within her own party than McCain has within his; that makes a primary campaign look easier for her. But McCain has more cross-party appeal, he edges out Clinton in favorable ratings among independents by six points and his "strongly" unfavorable ratings among independents are a third of Clinton's. All those would help in a general election campaign  if he got there.
With her high unfavorability, I know many Dems who fear a Clinton run. I'm not a huge Hillary fan right now, but I'm warming up to her. She sure can raise money, and her constituents lover her. Plus, anyone who bugs the bejeesus out of so many republicans must be doing something right.
Everyone likes John McCain a little. Some people REALLY don't like Hillary Clinton, and some people REALLY like her.
These views present challenges for both candidates. Clinton has 16 points more favorability within her own party than McCain has within his; that makes a primary campaign look easier for her. But McCain has more cross-party appeal, he edges out Clinton in favorable ratings among independents by six points and his "strongly" unfavorable ratings among independents are a third of Clinton's. All those would help in a general election campaign  if he got there.
With her high unfavorability, I know many Dems who fear a Clinton run. I'm not a huge Hillary fan right now, but I'm warming up to her. She sure can raise money, and her constituents lover her. Plus, anyone who bugs the bejeesus out of so many republicans must be doing something right.
For the "Lazy Republicans/Your Tax Money at Work" file
Negroponte Makes the Most of His Post as Minister Without Portfolio
By Jeff Stein, CQ Staff
On many a workday lunchtime, the nominal boss of U.S. intelligence, John D. Negroponte, can be found at a private club in downtown Washington, getting a massage, taking a swim, and having lunch, followed by a good cigar and a perusal of the daily papers in the club’s library.
“He spends three hours there [every] Monday through Friday,” gripes a senior counterterrorism official, noting that the former ambassador has a security detail sitting outside all that time in chase cars. Others say they’ve seen the Director of National Intelligence at the University Club, a 100-year-old mansion-like redoubt of dark oak panels and high ceilings a few blocks from the White House, only “several” times a week. - Via Kos
Note: I know, I know. Clinton was getting BJ's from interns when he was in charge.
By Jeff Stein, CQ Staff
On many a workday lunchtime, the nominal boss of U.S. intelligence, John D. Negroponte, can be found at a private club in downtown Washington, getting a massage, taking a swim, and having lunch, followed by a good cigar and a perusal of the daily papers in the club’s library.
“He spends three hours there [every] Monday through Friday,” gripes a senior counterterrorism official, noting that the former ambassador has a security detail sitting outside all that time in chase cars. Others say they’ve seen the Director of National Intelligence at the University Club, a 100-year-old mansion-like redoubt of dark oak panels and high ceilings a few blocks from the White House, only “several” times a week. - Via Kos
Note: I know, I know. Clinton was getting BJ's from interns when he was in charge.
3 UD football players arrested in robbery
Police recover drugs, weapons at players' Newark apartments; fourth suspect also a student
Just a week before spring practice, three University of Delaware football players were arrested in the robbery of a walk-on player of cocaine, marijuana and steroids.
One question, doesn't Delaware have some sort of "boosters" club that is supposed to provide money for drugs? I know that is how they ran things in North Carolina.
Determined to Kick Ass
I'm going to the 4:00 p.m. announcement today in Middletown. I've read some of his campaign materials, and this morning I heard a blurb about the announcement on WDEL. Overall I'm glad to report that (so far) Dennis Spivack not turned into the typically Delawarean "plain vanilla" candidate we are all so familiar with. I'm revisiting my remarks from the December PDD meeting in order to compare them to what I hear this afternoon.
DECEMBER 3rd, 2005
BREAKING: DENNIS SPIVACK WILL BEAT MICHAEL CASTLE!
I went to the PDD meeting last night thinking that Castle (a cog in a corrupt republican political machine) is beatable. I left knowing that Dennis Spivack is the man who is going to beat him.
Two minutes into his introduction I knew that Dennis Spivack had the guts, the brains, and the heart to take the fight to Castle. Here are some of the other things I learned:
- Dennis Spivack has a compelling personal story and is running for Congress for all the right reasons,
- Dennis Spivack has a significant amount of "earnest" money to get his campaign going, but he is realistic about how much money it is going to take to unseat an incumbent, and
-Dennis Spivack will expose Castle for what he is, not a moderate, but a conservative who believes in nothing other than getting reelected.
One thing I like about this race is that it will not only shakes up the Republican's - but it will help shake up the Democrats as well. I think Delaware's incumbents (from both parties) need a wake up call. Spivack is about to provide it.
Monday, March 06, 2006
The Media Lost The War In Iraq
Here it comes. You can feel it rolling up on us like an August thunderstorm. Get ready for it....
The war that never should have happened is lost, so let the excuse making begin and let the scapegoat be driven into the wilderness.
Bush understands the big picture, Dr. Rice was right when she said that they have declared war on us, but we hadn't declared war on them. We must win this fight at all costs, I'm a Viet Nam veteran and just look what the aftermath of that war has meant to that country, millions of people died when the communists came to power, the people live under a communist dictatorship. We didn't lose the war, the politicians and the media lost the war, and now, as Reagan used to say, "Here they go again". It's not midnight in America, it's midnight in the rest of the world, and the only light of freedom is America.
Earl J. Foster Jr. California
By refusing to praise Bush and by failing to report that we won every battle (for a battle is won when it is reported to have been won) we have lost the war within the war. We have lost the war FOR the war. And you can't win a war if you lose the war FOR the war.
The war that never should have happened is lost, so let the excuse making begin and let the scapegoat be driven into the wilderness.
Bush understands the big picture, Dr. Rice was right when she said that they have declared war on us, but we hadn't declared war on them. We must win this fight at all costs, I'm a Viet Nam veteran and just look what the aftermath of that war has meant to that country, millions of people died when the communists came to power, the people live under a communist dictatorship. We didn't lose the war, the politicians and the media lost the war, and now, as Reagan used to say, "Here they go again". It's not midnight in America, it's midnight in the rest of the world, and the only light of freedom is America.
Earl J. Foster Jr. California
By refusing to praise Bush and by failing to report that we won every battle (for a battle is won when it is reported to have been won) we have lost the war within the war. We have lost the war FOR the war. And you can't win a war if you lose the war FOR the war.
John Edwards Embarrassed Himself on Meet the Press
I've been a John Edwards fan in the past. I might even be one in the future. However, right now I have a big problem with Edwards. If he wanted to, he could be a strong voice of opposition to BushCo. The problem is, he wants to keep it on the down low until Iowa. Here is matt Stoller on the topic: Now I like John Edwards. He's a smart, thoughtful, nice guy. But he's also extremely cautious and in the firm grip of Beltway-itis. His appearance on Meet the Press, where he refused to bring up Bush's lies on Katrina, is a case in point. John Edwards is going to run for President, and if he does not start to make a case for why he is a different type of candidate, he will not even make a dent in the field. He will be the Bob Graham of 2004. His instincts are cautious, excessively so.
John Edwards has greatness in him, the possiblity of becoming a transformative American figure. But it's just potential right now, completely unrealized, and I see no indication that he is serious about realizing it.
Via Mydd.com by Matt Stoller, Sun Mar 05, 2006 at 08:22:43 PM EST
Interesting WSJ graphic
One President was impeached against the will of the American people. The other has (so far) avoided impeachment despite the fact that most Americans favor impeachment.
As the sane republicans continue to wake up, I should think we'll see more "impeachment" stories over the next few months.
Right now, I'm on the fence about impeachment. Clearly Bush is a criminal. So I'm in favor of impeachment in order to defend the principle that no person is above the law, however I'm against impeachment for political strategy reasons.
Impeachment gives the wingnuts something to rally around, and the next democratic congress is going to have a hard enough time fixing everything that Bush has broken without adding impeachment to the mix.
As the sane republicans continue to wake up, I should think we'll see more "impeachment" stories over the next few months.
Right now, I'm on the fence about impeachment. Clearly Bush is a criminal. So I'm in favor of impeachment in order to defend the principle that no person is above the law, however I'm against impeachment for political strategy reasons.
Impeachment gives the wingnuts something to rally around, and the next democratic congress is going to have a hard enough time fixing everything that Bush has broken without adding impeachment to the mix.
Fake Moderate Michael Castle (Hearts) Tom Delay
The Democratic Campaign Committee (DCCC) has posted some facts about how tied up our favorite Fake Moderate is with Tom DeLay...
Michael Castle voted with Tom DeLay 82% of the time.
Michael Castle voted to weaken the ethics rules in a move that many say served only to protect Tom DeLay.
When Republicans realized it was "impossible to win the communications battle" over the gutted ethics rules, Castle flip-flopped and voted to put the old rules back into place.
When Democrats offered a solution to clean up the House by strengthening ethics rules, Michael Castle voted twice to make sure it never even came to an up or down vote.
While many Delawareans have become accustomed to being represented by a fake moderate who is deeply involved with Tom Delay, it is nice to know that Dennis Spivack and the DCCC plan to bring the truth about Castle into the light.
Ting "flip-flops" on the war
No, not that war...the Vietnam War.
I thought being "against' the Vietnam war was pretty safe. I mean, who even knew that the Vietnam war was back open for debate? Well, it seems that 'Nam is still open to debate if you are running to be Tom Carper's Republican opponent next fall.
So get out your draft card and your matches, and let's take over the "admin" building because it seems that the orthodox Republican position is to be "FOR" the Vietnam war.
NEWARK, Del.(AP)- Shrugging off attacks on his college protests against the Vietnam War, U.S. Senate hopeful Jan Ting won the confidence of Delaware Republican leaders on Friday night.
Ting, a Temple University law professor who worked in the Reagan and first Bush administrations, easily won an informal straw poll among members of the state Republican Committee and state elected officials at the Christiana Hilton. Ting picked up 64 votes, while airline pilot Mike Protack garnered only 16 votes.
Ting told party leaders that he came to regret his anti-war activities as he met Vietnamese refugees and members of his family who escaped Communist China.
For the record, Delawareliberal is STILL against the Vietnam war.
Peace!
I thought being "against' the Vietnam war was pretty safe. I mean, who even knew that the Vietnam war was back open for debate? Well, it seems that 'Nam is still open to debate if you are running to be Tom Carper's Republican opponent next fall.
So get out your draft card and your matches, and let's take over the "admin" building because it seems that the orthodox Republican position is to be "FOR" the Vietnam war.
NEWARK, Del.(AP)- Shrugging off attacks on his college protests against the Vietnam War, U.S. Senate hopeful Jan Ting won the confidence of Delaware Republican leaders on Friday night.
Ting, a Temple University law professor who worked in the Reagan and first Bush administrations, easily won an informal straw poll among members of the state Republican Committee and state elected officials at the Christiana Hilton. Ting picked up 64 votes, while airline pilot Mike Protack garnered only 16 votes.
Ting told party leaders that he came to regret his anti-war activities as he met Vietnamese refugees and members of his family who escaped Communist China.
For the record, Delawareliberal is STILL against the Vietnam war.
Peace!
Friday, March 03, 2006
Bush's Katrina Crisis Management
It is on! Spivack to Announce March 7th!
Dennis Spivack is running to unseat Fake Moderate Michael Castle.
According to WBOC "Spivack said he decided to run for Congress primarily because of his desire to improve access to health care, influence U.S. policy related to ending the war in Iraq and bringing our troops safely home and stop the "out-of-control growth of America's federal deficit.
Spivack, a Wilmington attorney who has been involved in Delaware Democratic politics since 1960, will kick off his campaign in a traditional three-county tour on March 7 "
His campaign material headline reads,
"Reality * Responsibility * Reform".
I like it. During the campaign Spivack will provide voters with a welcome break from:
1) Castle's devotion to out of touch RNC fantasy world thinking,
2) Castle's "Who Me?" - approach to fiscal accountability, and
3) Castle's empty headed, "stay the course" approach to the war.
Having spent a lot of time posting about why every Democrat should vote AGAINST Michael Castle, I now look forward to learning more about the Democrat and posting about why every person in the state should vote FOR Dennis Spivack.
To be sure, Spivack is in for a tough, uphill fight. But for people who care about the direction of the country, this is going to be a fight worth joining.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
George Bush is the Anti-Churchill
Winston Churchill's great strength was his icy realism when surveying events and situations. George Bush keeps a bust of Churchill in the oval office. I wonder why. George Bush is as different from Churchill as a man could be.
George Bush thinks icy realism is too gloomy. He puts his faith, not in facts and figures, but in empty slogans and believes that sunny optimism has a power to overcome incompetence. Bush has shown time and again that he thinks "words speak louder than actions". As if repeating the words, "freedom is on the march" held some kind of magical power. I think he sincerely believes that if all American could agree to chant "freedom is on the march", and wish for freedom to be "on the march" fervently enough - then, Freedom WOULD be on the march.
Many conservatives have indulged Bush in this nonsense, even encouraged it. Even today it is easy to find conservatives at places like JTTR who think that the problem is not that Iraq is a mess - the problem is that the media is REPORTING that Iraq is a mess. This has been called "the tinkerbell" approach to war fighting. Clap harder if you want the fairy to live. Clap harder if you think "freedom is on the march".
At last, the tide has turned and now it is okay to be critical of this President. William F. Buckley was the first out of the gate, then Delathought.
Now we have George Will.
WASHINGTON -- When late in the spring of 1940 people of southeastern England flocked across the Channel in their pleasure craft and fishing boats to evacuate soldiers trapped on Dunkirk beaches, euphoria swept Britain. So Prime Minister Winston Churchill sternly told the nation: "We must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory. Wars are not won by evacuations.''
Alito Sent Focus On The Family Founder Thank-You Note
This does not bode well for our new Supreme Court. It seems Justice Samuel Alito feels beholden to radical right-wing cleric James Dobson among others for his elevation to the court.
DENVER -- Focus on the Family founder James Dobson said new Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito sent him a thank-you letter for support during his Senate confirmation hearings.
Dobson said Wednesday in his radio broadcast that Alito's letter thanked him and his listeners. Dobson opposes abortion and had urged his listeners to support the nominations of Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts. On Wednesday, Dobson said that support had "affected history" by helping put both men on the court in time to hear a pending case on partial-birth abortion.
Focus on the Family is a conservative Christian ministry based in Colorado Springs. It says its broadcasts and publications reach more than 200 million people worldwide.
DENVER -- Focus on the Family founder James Dobson said new Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito sent him a thank-you letter for support during his Senate confirmation hearings.
Dobson said Wednesday in his radio broadcast that Alito's letter thanked him and his listeners. Dobson opposes abortion and had urged his listeners to support the nominations of Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts. On Wednesday, Dobson said that support had "affected history" by helping put both men on the court in time to hear a pending case on partial-birth abortion.
Focus on the Family is a conservative Christian ministry based in Colorado Springs. It says its broadcasts and publications reach more than 200 million people worldwide.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
An Army Interrogator Speaks Out
"Following orders that I believed were legal, I used military working dogs during interrogations. I terrified my interrogation subjects, but I never got intelligence (mostly because 90 percent of them were probably innocent, but that's another story). Perhaps, I have thought for a long time, I also deserve to be prosecuted. But if that is the case, culpability goes much farther up the chain of command than the Army and the Bush administration have so far been willing to admit....
In training, we learned that all P.O.W.'s are protected against actual and implied threats. You can never put a "knife on the table" to get someone to talk. That was clear. But our Iraqi prisoners weren't clearly classified as P.O.W.'s, so I never knew what laws applied. Instead, a confusing set of verbal and written orders had supplanted the Geneva Conventions."
- Anthony Lagouranis, who served as an Army interrogator from January 2004 to January 2005.
In training, we learned that all P.O.W.'s are protected against actual and implied threats. You can never put a "knife on the table" to get someone to talk. That was clear. But our Iraqi prisoners weren't clearly classified as P.O.W.'s, so I never knew what laws applied. Instead, a confusing set of verbal and written orders had supplanted the Geneva Conventions."
- Anthony Lagouranis, who served as an Army interrogator from January 2004 to January 2005.
The Bush Base of the Republican Party
While it is clear to seven in ten people that Bush is a terrible train wreck of a President, he still has some supporters. Who are these 30% of the population? What can they be thinking?
Today's letter to the News Journal gives us some insight into the mind of the Bush base.
It's Clinton's fault that Osama bin Laden is alive
President Bill Clinton allowed Osama bin Laden to live to see 9/11 come to fruition. The blame lays at his feet, not the current president.
Would you rather have a deficit or be under the rule of people like bin Laden and Saddam Hussein? I know what my answer is.
P%^&%* &*%$%, Newark
The name has been omitted to protect the clueless.
Today's letter to the News Journal gives us some insight into the mind of the Bush base.
It's Clinton's fault that Osama bin Laden is alive
President Bill Clinton allowed Osama bin Laden to live to see 9/11 come to fruition. The blame lays at his feet, not the current president.
Would you rather have a deficit or be under the rule of people like bin Laden and Saddam Hussein? I know what my answer is.
P%^&%* &*%$%, Newark
The name has been omitted to protect the clueless.
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