Just because....

are you gonna be on tomorrow Sam?

http://www.236.com/about/about_us.php

http://www.americanresearchgroup.com/pres08/padem8-705.html

Now it may be that I chose my words badly. It wasn't the first time and it won't be the last. But when I hear my opponents, both of whom have spent decades in Washington, saying I'm out of touch, it's time to cut through their rhetoric and look at the reality.

After all, you've heard this kind of rhetoric before. Around election time, the candidates can't do enough for you. They'll promise you anything, give you a long list of proposals and even come around, with TV crews in tow, to throw back a shot and a beer.

But if those same candidates are taking millions of dollars in contributions from the PACs and lobbyists, ask yourself, who are they going to be toasting once the election is over?

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/04/obama_pokes_fun_...

I feel ill.

Did that one gal look like Monica L?

What self-respecting Afro-American would really back that guy?

The older gal must be the ring leader.

Isn't that funny they made him a ghost (no angel!) that turned into a star!!! LOL

What was he doing peeping into that gal's bedroom! For SHAME!!!

Thanks, Sam, but no thanks.

Hillary Clinton leads Barack Obama 48% to 44% among men (45% of likely Democratic primary voters). Among women, Clinton leads 64% to 31%.

Clinton leads 64% to 29% among white voters (82% of likely Democratic primary voters). Obama leads 79% to 18% among African American voters (14% of likely Democratic primary voters).

Clinton leads 52% to 43% among voters age 18 to 49 (50% of likely Democratic primary voters) and Clinton leads 62% to 31% among voters age 50 and older.

10% of all likely Democratic primary voters say they would never vote for Hillary Clinton in the primary and 24% of likely Democratic primary voters say they would never vote for Barack Obama in the primary.

23% of likely Democratic primary voters say that excessive exposure to Obama's advertising is causing them to support Clinton.

~ jc

This week, the House votes on a tax-filing simplification act, a bill to increase student access to federal loans (USSA evaluation here), whether to allow up to 24 developing countries to qualify for new debt relief under the Jubilee Act, and a beaches bill that was postponed from last week. The beach legislation enjoys wide support, but a series of GOP-proposed amendments--including possible attempts to expand offshore natural gas leasing and insert the text of the Senate-passed Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act legislation--is expected to provoke debate. The House also votes on the Contracting and Tax Accountability Act, which would deny certain government contracts to firms with seriously delinquent tax debts.

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet?bid=917

http://goleft.tv/view.asp?v=1247

was that proven scientifically

by a renowned scientist such as reverend hagee

he wasn't a marine

reverend wright was...

hahahahahahahaha!

Right wing video warns: Gays are plotting to invade City Hall

by Nick Langewis

The town of Eureka Springs is turning into the "San Francisco of Arkansas," warns the American Family Association, and it can happen in your town too.

The presentation in the AFA trailer below, "They're Coming to Your Town," tells the tale of an uncharacteristically diverse resort town's government infiltrated by "a handful of homosexual activists" and bent to their will through the enactment of the town's domestic partner registry on June 22, 2007

http://pageoneq.com/news/2008/afa041408.html

certain portions of america

yes yes yes

how many tours of duty did you complete, part of 97

was it close to zero

hahahaha

Former Ala. Governor Turns Tables on Justice Department
Siegelman Connects His Case to Accusations of Interference

The successful criminal prosecution of former Alabama governor Don Siegelman (D) has become tangled in political charges and countercharges that reflect contrasting views about the independence of the Justice Department.

In the two weeks since his release from prison pending an appeal, Siegelman has sharply increased the volume of his assertions that he was railroaded. He says that Karl Rove, who was a White House adviser, targeted him for prosecution to ensure he did not win reelection to the governor's office and displace a Republican there.

Siegelman is seizing on a theme that is newly popular with politically connected defendants: turning the tables on a Justice Department vulnerable to accusations of interference because of missteps last year under then-Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales.

An appeals court panel in Atlanta will decide whether Siegelman, the governor from 1999 to 2003, should win a new trial because of what he contends are faulty jury instructions underpinning his 2006 conviction on bribery, conspiracy, mail fraud and obstruction charges.

Yet Siegelman has not petitioned the court to hear his allegations of political tampering, choosing instead to make them on television programs and in newspapers and magazines. He asserts that Rove, two Republican U.S. attorneys, the son of his successor as governor, career prosecutors and former leaders of the Justice Department's public integrity unit conspired to manufacture a case and thwart Siegelman's ambitions to return to the governor's mansion.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/12/AR200804...

i realise i'm being flippant

i should have asked...

how many pairs of fishnet stockings do you own

but i choked

i lost my nerve

i can't locate my fishnet stockings

can i borrow a pair of yours

Israel snubs Carter, declines security help

Adam Entous
Reuters US Online Report Top News

Apr 14, 2008 05:14 EST

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's secret service has declined to assist U.S. agents guarding former U.S. President Jimmy Carter during a visit in which Israeli leaders have shunned him, U.S. sources close to the matter said on Monday.

Carter angered the Israeli government with plans to meet Hamas's top leader, Khaled Meshaal, in Syria, and for describing Israeli policy in the occupied Palestinian territories as "a system of apartheid" in a 2006 book.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner, who brokered Israel's first peace treaty with an Arab neighbor, Egypt, signed in 1979, met Israel's largely ceremonial president, Shimon Peres, on Sunday but was shunned by the political leadership, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Israel has also rejected Carter's request to meet jailed Palestinian uprising leader Marwan Barghouthi, who is seen as a possible successor to President Mahmoud Abbas, a spokesman for Carter said.

http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Israel_snubs_Carter_declines_securi...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muQRIUVd6Aw

just watch!! and i thought i love attention...competition is hot!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXecTyoHlOI

professor reverend hagee's foreign policy

*

formulated scientifically

as dictated to him by god

35 Firms OK'd to Bid on Iraq Oil Deals

AMMAN — Thirty-five international oil companies have qualified to bid for future oil and gas contracts to develop one of the world's largest oil fields, an Iraqi oil ministry statement said Sunday.

"The total number of the companies and consortia that participated in the prequalification process was 120 from various nationalities," said the ministry's petroleum contracts and licensing office.

The office listed 35 companies that it said were qualified. They include, among others, BP PLC, Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Lukoil Holdings, China National Petroleum Corp., Edison International SpA and Eni SpA.

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/linkframe.php?linkid=56886
The contracts office, however, said it would continue updating the process of qualifying companies "especially those that didn't pass (the qualification process) by updating their information with the view to allowing as many as possible of the IOCs to participate in the next licensing round."

HA...perseverance is the mother of success! go A-O!

Submitted by Lucille on Mon, 04/14/2008 - 12:13pm.
Right wing video warns: Gays are plotting to invade City Hall

by Nick Langewis

The town of Eureka Springs is turning into the "San Francisco of Arkansas," warns the American Family Association, and it can happen in your town too.
------
I have a decades-long knowledge of and association with Eureka Springs dating back to a time when the town was deader than a doornail (fool that I am, I did not purchase property there when it was damned-near worthless).

Its recent history is no different than the recent histories of artist enclaves found across the nation: a cute town in horrible disrepair is slowly resurrected by iconoclasts.

Needless to say, an artist enclave includes diversity that extends beyond fundamentalist Christians. Eureka Springs is in the Bible Belt which afforded the fundamentalist Christians a leg-up on resurrecting a dead town in their midst...but they did not seize the opportunity.

Now that it is a remarkably successful area of commerce and activities, the fundamentalist Christians are crying "Foul!"

...and the diverse population of people who undertook financial risks by placing their bets and sweat equity on a deteriorated town tucked far away from major transportation arteries can reasonably say, "Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke."

http://www.eurekasprings.org/

http://www.eurekasprings.com/

The Two Most Out of Touch Human Beings In America
by: David Sirota
Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 11:54
I submit to you that the two most out of touch elitists in America are Chris Matthews and Hillary Clinton.

Here's Matthews in the New York Times profile about him:

"I don't think people look at me as the establishment, do you?" Matthews asked me. "Am I part of the winner's circle in American life? I don't think so."

The article, of course, notes that Matthews makes $5 million a year, lives in a posh Chevy Chase house with three Mercedes, and has been a Washington insider for almost his entire life. But no, he doesn't think he's inside the establishment or part of the winner's circle.

Similarly, Clinton continues to label Barack Obama "out of touch" for saying that when people get economically crapped on by politicians and corporations, they get angry. From the confines of her mansions in Georgetown and Chappaqua, surveying her $110 million fortune and her long career as a corporate lawyer and Wal-Mart board member, Clinton expresses a "let them eat cake" attitude, apparently believing regular folks are totally happy when politicians like her champion policies like NAFTA that crush them.

Chris Matthews and Hillary Clinton - the two most out of touch human beings in America.

thou shall heed my post

(wanker)

content is dear to my heart

but the execution tears at my retinas

it reminds me of the current blight of melbourne architecture

instead of blending in

the buildings scream out for attention

where form hyper-exceeds function

it's becoming a gaudy themepark

there's a blur occuring...

a blow-up castle materialises inside the library of congress

"please, remove it"

"fuck you, you elitist"

eya snort!

whassup in Roo land?

actually, its just the irony, that when given the opportunity, the fundamentalists were unable to "ressurect" the city of eureka springs.

Hillary Clinton chose the illegitimately-enthroned queen, author of a celebrated bloodbath, as her shining example of Biblical propriety. She might better have chosen Jesus standing silent before his accusers who mocked him as a failed and false ruler but whose overcoming of the principalities and powers have made him the venerated -- if rarely obeyed -- ruler of this world.

"fuck you, you elitist"

: )

Baby is still fighting for her little life, the Mother is out of the clinic as from Sunday.

Submitted by dan on Mon, 04/14/2008 - 12:52pm.
actually, its just the irony, that when given the opportunity, the fundamentalists were unable to "ressurect" the city of eureka springs.

elitist?

in yer ear buzzerbutt!

yer just jealous because i'm skilled and ethical!

i'm in the process of hiring 19 good lesbians

to hijack a big ol' lesbo jet plane

and slamming it into a deserted island in the pacific

living off the land

nothing but
coconuts
vaginas

: )

i'm going to sleep

to see how it ends

messed up - thom hartmann's show just broadcast a call into rachel maddow's 'ask dr. maddow' call line, over the broadcast feed.

flights of fancy girls,

paradaise sought in furry mounds...

you should sell tickets

so that's what that was.

good catch!

and the mail came. And i got the second request for me to be a juror. I have to show up May 6 at 9:45 am. Second year in a row!! Can't they get other people?

ono, let us know how your dream ends! Heh! God help your mother!!!

It Begins...

The Nova M Radio Network is thrilled to announce addition of The Randi Rhodes Show to our nationally syndicated talent offerings beginning TODAY!

Randi Rhodes is the #1 rated progressive talk radio host in the nation and she, like Mike Malloy, is now finally home.

A message of thanks from Randi is on her Daily Blog.

Today is also the first day of the brand new NovaMRadio.com. All your favorite features are still here plus several new ones and many more on the way.

Welcome to the dawning of a new era in Progressive Talk. Welcome to Nova M Radio!

http://www.novamradio.com/live/

i heard that too. i'm surprised the engineer didn't catch it quicker.

i'd be delighted to have you in any jury i faced.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/4/14/105354/908/952/495354

Annie Leibovitz observes Barack Obama speaking in Malvern, PA on April 9

Malvern, Pennsylvania, April 9, 2008 – We’ve noticed that famed photographer Annie Leibovitz has been accompanying Barack Obama on the presidential campaign trail and snapping photos, reportedly for a feature for Men's Vogue. On Wednesday, April 9, Leibovitz was in the press pit at both of Senator Obama’s stops in Pennsylvania, and we caught a few shots of her in Malvern.

Using a Canon 35mm digital camera, Leibovitz tends to stay in one spot while shooting Obama onstage, in contrast to most of the news photographers who move around a lot while the candidate is speaking. While we can’t be sure she’s traveling with Senator Obama, Leibovitz followed him and his entourage out of the building through a secured door, while the other members of the news media were shuffled out the front, along with the public.

Leibovitz shoots for Vanity Fair, Vogue and other major publications, and recently angered Queen Elizabeth II by asking her to remove her crown during a photo shoot. She previously photographed Obama for Men's Vogue in 2006.

McCain Takes Bold Stance On Torture: ‘We Cannot Ever Torture Any American’
Today, during the question-and-answer period of Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) address to the Associated Press, a journalist asked McCain about torturing terrorism detainees, saying “Don’t we stand for something better?” McCain seemed to get confused, talking instead about his opposition to the torture of Americans:

I’ve made it very clear, I’ve made it very clear in my statements and in my support of the Detainee Treatment Act, the Geneva Conventions, etc., that there may be some additional techniques to be used, but none of those would violate the Geneva Conventions, the Detainee Treatment Act…And we cannot ever, in my view, torture any American, that includes waterboarding.

Watch it:

Of course, the question had nothing to do with torturing Americans, something no American would support. The question was about how Americans should treat detainees in the war on terror — an issue McCain has hardly been “very clear” on.

As he did today, McCain has condemned waterboarding in the past. He has called it a “horrible torture technique” and a “terrible and odious practice” that “should never be condoned in the U.S.” Yet in February, McCain voted against a bill banning the CIA from using torture, specifically including waterboarding.

When the bill passed, McCain encouraged Bush to veto it — effectively supporting the CIA’s use of “stress positions, hypothermia, threats to the detainee and his family, severe sleep deprivation, and severe sensory deprivation.”

The only thing McCain has been “very clear” on is his completely uncontroversial — and completely irrelevant — opposition to the torturing of Americans. Like Bush, will McCain claim that “America does not torture” and yet condone torture behind closed doors?

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/14/mccain-opposes-torturing-americans/

I wonder what Anne Lennox thinks?

Tanks!! :)

From the other night, your discussion with Neffer about your Meds, I did that too. Got to do what you got to do. And then we pay the consequences, eh!

Part of the 97,
I know that USA today has reported this but look a little deeper and you will discover that this poll was taken by the "American Research Group" (ARG)

ARG has been remarkably unreliable in the past and I'm surprised that ANY media outlet reports on their results. An ARG poll just LAST WEEK found Clinton and Obama tied at 43% each.

If you're a Clinton supporter, I wouldn't get too encouraged by this result. Most of the more reliable polls show Clinton still holding a narrow lead of 6-12% points in Pennsylvania, Obama ahead by about 20% in North Carolina and Obama leads overall nationally by about 8 or 9 points.

no, it's a little complicated to explain and i don't have much time - let's say we had some sort of a coup two years ago just before berlusconi left power, he illegally and unconstitutionally unilaterally changed election law, so that it now disadvantages small parties (of which the left is one, unfortunately) the result this time is that the only two major parties were pdl (berlusconi) and pd (veltroni)if i were to compare to our situation here is like between a bush and a hillary (veltroni) veltroni likes to call himself center left and compares himself to obama but that's just a lie, he's really much more corporate and more of a hillary - anyway the big surprise victory this time is not so much berlusconi which was expected, but the "lega" which is a small party allied with berlusconi - small party no longer since it seems to show up quite large numbers this time around - this is the party that dresses up in medieval costumes, wants to break italy up into federations, to return to medieval times when the 19 regions shere 19 different countries (I'm exaggerating a little) - basically they don't want to pay taxes and are strongly anti-immigration, nationalists, a government off my back ronpaulish looudobbish extremism - now together with berlusconi they are likely to form a coalition that tilts strongly to the right - by the way did you know that mussolini's grandaughter is also part of this coalition with the pdl?

add to the mix the mafia ties of berlusconi and growing power of the mafia that has become interconnected with italian industry and international corporations and it's not pretty

Italy never got over its fascist leanings

the party i wanted to vote for (and couldn't because it wasn't even on the ballot for the US district) was a nader type party which got crushed

depressing results overall, looks like italy has ways to go before it wizens up politically

Well done Mr. Benjamin!

I'm still a bit skeptical, tho - how did he manage to keep it a secret?

& I'm assuming, of course, that he did the 1st as well?

Some people are bitter:

April 14, 2008
POLL: The Daily Gallup

Gallup Poll

National through 4/13
Obama 50, Clinton 40
Obama 46, McCain 44... Clinton 46, McCain 45

Also
Just Half of Americans Complain Tax Bill Is Too High - Video
U.S. Satisfaction at 15%, Lowest Since 1992
Heightened Economic Gloom Persists

http://www.pollster.com:80/blogs/

State Department resisted bill lifting Mandela’s travel restrictions.Filed Under: International Relations
By Amanda at 12:34 pm State Department resisted bill lifting Mandela’s travel restrictions.
Last week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made headlines when she condemned the “embarrassing” U.S. travel restrictions on former South African President Nelson Mandela. “I really do hope we can remove these restrictions” on the African National Congress, said Rice. But as Vanity Fair reports, Rice’s State Department has repeatedly fought a bill that would remove the restrictions on Mandela:

To redress this injustice, Rep. Howard L. Berman (D—CA) introduced a bill last week that would lift all such travel restrictions on A.N.C. officials. […]

But a conversation VF Daily had with a Capitol Hill staffer familiar with the subject makes Rice’s statement seem either disingenuous or out of step with recent State Department policy. According to this source, the bill was drafted more than five years ago but was adamantly opposed by State and the Republican-controlled Congress. Lawyers at the State Department “fought it tooth and nail,” arguing that if the A.N.C. was removed from the list then other groups would want to be removed, too, the staffer said.

A State Department spokesman “said she was not aware of any past resistance to the bill and reinforced Rice’s recent statement.”

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/14/state-department-resisted-bill-lifti...

I used to live in Pittsburgh, and epic (author of the TDK post) is right. This actually is a pretty good endorsement. Roony is a highly respected figure in the whole Allegheny/Ohio Valley area.

Democratic Governor Ed Rendell's endorsement of Clinton may actually hurt her, because he's the one who's been pushing for turning Interstate 80 into a toll road and that's pissed A LOT of people off.

McCain: ‘more conservative than his image.’
Today, AP examines Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) record and concludes that he is more “conservative” — and less “independent” — than typically portrayed:

– Abortion. McCain promises to appoint judges who, in the mold of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, are likely to limit the reach of the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. McCain’s record is not spotless on abortion: He said once, in 1999, that Roe v. Wade should not be overturned. But that amounted to a blip in an otherwise unbroken record of opposing abortion rights for women. […]

– Gay rights. McCain opposes gay marriage. True, he does not support a federal ban on gay marriage on grounds the issue traditionally has been decided by states. But McCain worked to ban gay marriage in Arizona. He also supports the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, and he opposed legislation to protect gay people from job discrimination or hate crimes. […]

– Gun control. McCain voted against a ban on assault-style weapons and for shielding gun-makers and dealers from civil suits. He did vote in favor of requiring background checks at gun shows, but in general he sides with the National Rifle Association in favor of gun rights.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/14/mccain-more-conservative-than-his-im...

finger joints not so nice.

it all got a hit.

body slam!

woot!

Hopefully clicking on the podcast in Air America (I know its repugnant) it is free and it might be of some help

http://airamerica.com/ondemand

You did a great job explaining the politics of Italy. I was not aware that Mussolini's grand-daughter was involved in that party but it does not surprise me.

Thanks for the education!

Possible Fall Out
ARG has had a pretty unreliable record this primary season. But this is a pretty stark shift. ARG's Pennsylvania poll taken on April 5-6 had a Clinton-Obama tie at 45%. Today they have a new poll out, taken April 11-13, shows a 20 point spread. Clinton 57%, Obama 37%.

As a control, the two national tracking polls seem to show no discernible shift. Rasmussen's held steady since the 11th, with a small and statistically insignificant increase for Obama. Gallup's has also been essentially static. But their number for today has yet to be released. But it's also true that coverage of this story in Pennsylvania has likely been as intense as anywhere in the country.

--Josh Marshall

Rasmussen: http://rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_...

Gallup: http://www.gallup.com/poll/106435/Gallup-Daily-Obama-Maintains-Solid-Dem...

HA...thank you!

Poll: Republicans Way Behind In Even Their Best Senate Pickup Opportunity
By Eric Kleefeld - April 14, 2008, 10:50AM
The GOP's single best pickup opportunity in the Senate right now is against Louisiana Dem Mary Landrieu -- but a new poll finds that she holds a solid lead over her Republican challenger, suggesting that this year's Senate map could be very rough indeed for the GOP.

The numbers from Rasmussen: Landrieu 55%, state Treasurer and ex-Dem John Kennedy (R) 39%. If Landrieu prevails this November, then the GOP is likely to be shut out on Senate pickups again, just as they were in 2006.

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/04/poll_republicans...

wasnt she involved in a Time magazine cover story sometime ago...Time all over the world had something about the war on its from page but USA time had her on? vaguely remember!

MCCAIN: 'HILLARY CAN STILL PULL IT OFF';
SENATOR PREFERS CLINTON CONTEST
Mon Apr 14 2008 10:46:19 ET

**Exclusive**

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain has confided to his inner circle that Hillary Clinton may yet be the Democratic nominee, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned, a development the senator from Arizona would personally welcome!

"Look, I know something about long odds, they had me written off last summer," McCain explained over the weekend, according to a top source.

McCain would prefer to go up against Clinton in the general election, insiders reveal.

He has instructed his campaign staff to "chill out" on countering Hillary Clinton's torrent of claims and promises as primary voting comes to an end over the next 6 weeks.

McCain made the tactical decision to downplay Clinton's tale of Bosnia sniper fire, leaving some McCain staffers frustrated and perplexed.

Instead, the critical focus has been on Barack Obama. McCain's official website features 14 press releases taking on Obama since the first of the year, only 3 for the former first lady.

Developing...

http://www.drudgereport.com/flash1jm.htm

aches gone for now?

oo wow birds of the feather flock together---

Violence Surges As U.S. Fights For Sadr City
Fighting between U.S. forces and Shiite militiamen left six dead in Baghdad last night, US soldiers were attacked by rocket propelled grenades, and a late-night roadside bomb attack on a U.S. vehicle set fire to a nearby market. Today, five people were killed by a car bomb.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080414/twl-iraq-unrest-baghdad-575b600.ht...

mr fuzz dog

http://www3.telus.net/Art-Adventures/CB/jaxxer02.JPG

Union audience boos as Clinton criticizes Obama
Muriel Kane

Union audience boos as Clinton criticizes ObamaMuriel Kane
Published: Monday April 14, 2008

|

Print This Email This

"I understand my opponent came this morning and spent a lot of his time attacking me," Hillary Clinton suggested to a union gathering of steelworkers in Pittsburgh on Monday.

As she went on to say, "Well, you know, I know that many of you, like me, were disappointed by recent remarks that he made," scattered boos and calls of "No" could clearly be heard from the audience.

"I think it's important that, you know, we give people the chance to really compare and contrast us," Clinton concluded.

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Audience_responds_as_Clinton_critical_of_0...

Raw Story refers to a CNN video but they forgot to embed it.

well the dick did call him a terrorist, whats new..not to worry though i dont think the old goat can even travel right about now, so they can shove it up their arses!!

After you're done writing off your last pointed tip bolo knife purchase (whoever said being a Laotian hitman would come back to bite you at tax time?) be sure to catch Michelle Obama's tax night (April 15) appearance on The Colbert Report -- part of "The Colbert Report: Doritos Spicy Sweet Pennsylvania Primary Coverage From Chili-Delphia - The City of Brotherly Crunch!"

We'll have the video available the next morning, so if you miss it, be sure to check back here.

http://blog.indecision2008.com/2008/04/14/michelle-obama-to-appear-on-th...

is helping with swelling and pain. Thanks for asking.

The photo opts that bowlergate preempted:

www.zimbio.com/pictures/kILmUg4k278/Barack+Obama+Takes+Campaign+Bus+Tour... - 17k - Cached - Similar pages

Iran - the new motivation for US war in Iraq

The US rationale for war in Iraq has morphed from ousting strongman Saddam Hussein, to countering Al-Qaeda militants to its latest incarnation -- facing down what officials in President George W. Bush's administration call the Iranian "threat".

"Iraq is the convergence point for two of the greatest threats to America in this new century: Al-Qaeda and Iran," Bush said last week, renewing accusations that the Islamic republic is backing Iraqi militias hostile to US forces and covertly seeking nuclear weapons.

"If we succeed in Iraq after all that Al-Qaeda and Iran have invested there, it would be a historic blow to the global terrorist movement and a severe setback for Iran," he said.

With Saddam dead and Al-Qaeda weakened -- according to Bush -- Iranian-financed extremists, which top US commander in Iraq David Petraeus has called "special groups," have emerged as a key reason for maintaining US troop levels in Iraq.

"Unchecked, the 'special groups' pose the greatest long-term threat to the viability of a democratic Iraq," Petraeus said last week as he told US lawmakers of military strategy in Iraq for the coming months.

However, exactly what steps the United States may take to counter this "threat" remain unclear, and depend largely on Bush's decisions in his remaining nine months in the White House.

Bush told ABC News that he had no intention of attacking Iran, but vowed to protect US interests and refused to rule out the use of force altogether.

Read more here:

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Iran_the_new_motivation_for_US_war__0414200...

but we're bitter about obama saying we're bitter

such morons

Listen to this morning’s “Meet the Press” if you want an example. Tim Russert, one of the smartest guys on television, interviewed four political consultants – Carville and Matalin, Bob Schrum, and Michael Murphy. Political consultants are paid huge sums to help politicians spin words and avoid real talk. They’re part of the problem. And what do Russert and these four consultants talk about? The potential damage to Barack Obama from saying that lots of people in Pennsylvania are bitter that the economy has left them behind; about HRC’s spin on Obama’s words (he’s an “elitist,” she said); and John McCain’s similarly puerile attack.

Does Russert really believe he’s doing the nation a service for this parade of spin doctors talking about potential spins and the spin-offs from the words Obama used to state what everyone knows is true? Or is Russert merely in the business of selling TV airtime for a network that doesn’t give a hoot about its supposed commitment to the public interest but wants to up its ratings by pandering to the nation’s ongoing desire for gladiator entertainment instead of real talk about real problems.

http://robertreich.blogspot.com/2008/04/obama-bitterness-meet-press-and-...

oh good if it helps than....some of this shit does not help at all---

This is the first concrete sign, I've seen, of a voter backlash against Hillary. Well, perhaps not a backlash as much as a realization that it's over for Hillary, she lost the race two months ago. Not only do voters want to back a winner, they really don't want to back someone who has already lost - at some point, no matter how ardent a supporter, when you realize that your candidate doesn't have a chance, you hang it up and go home. This is the first sign that Hillary's strongest supporters, white women, are going home.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/33411.html

well thats coz like i told you yesterday was his birthday and he is aries----yay!!

Closing Arguments Begin in Trial of Detectives

By John Eligon

Lawyers for two of three detectives charged in the 2006 police shooting that killed Sean Bell gave impassioned closing arguments this morning before a judge in State Supreme Court in Queens, arguing that after six weeks of testimony, the prosecutors had failed to prove their case that the detectives had acted improperly in opening a fusillade of 50 shots.

The detectives waived their right to a jury trial. Justice Arthur J. Cooperman, who is presiding over the case, is expected to render a verdict next week. Prosecutors from the Queens district attorney’s office were expected to begin delivering their closing statements later this afternoon or Tuesday.

Paul P. Martin, the lawyer for Detective Marc Oliver, who is charged with reckless endangerment, the least serious of the charges against the officers, gave an animated and emotional remarks for about an hour.

“I really started to question this system — the justice system, which I’ve depended on, relied on,” Mr. Martin said, describing his dismay at the prosecution’s case. “I’ve questioned how the prosecution could come before you and say that Detective Marc Cooper was guilty of anything.”

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/14/closing-arguments-begin-in-...

White House: Bush Concerned About Food Shortages

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush is very concerned about global food shortages and has asked senior aides to look into how the United States can help alleviate the problem, the White House said on Monday.

Top finance and development officials from around the world called on Sunday for urgent action to stem rising food prices, warning that social unrest would spread unless the cost of basic staples was contained.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Bush discussed the issue at length with Cabinet members on Monday and "is very concerned and believes that (developed) nations have a responsibility to help those that are in need."

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/washington/politics-usa-food.html

The Mask Slips

By WILLIAM KRISTOL
Published: April 14, 2008

Or, more succinctly, and in the original German in which Marx somehow always sounds better: “Die Religion ... ist das Opium des Volkes.”

Now, this is a point of view with a long intellectual pedigree prior to Marx, and many vocal adherents continuing into the 21st century. I don’t believe the claim is true, but it’s certainly worth considering, in college classrooms and beyond.

But it’s one thing for a German thinker to assert that “religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature.” It’s another thing for an American presidential candidate to claim that we “cling to ... religion” out of economic frustration.

And it’s a particularly odd claim for Barack Obama to make. After all, in his speech at the 2004 Democratic convention, he emphasized with pride that blue-state Americans, too, “worship an awesome God.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/14/opinion/14kristol.html?hp

Stanisic is suffering from depression and kidney stones and is too ill to attend his trial.

Last week, judges at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in The Hague ordered a video link to be set up so that Stanisic could follow the trial from the court's detention unit.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C15D41B4-C1D0-4493-B7D1-B99B8C7BF...

Mohamed Holam Weld Haj, head of the society of solidarity of the Palestinian people, said: "These relations are totally rejected and denounced by all Mauritanian parties and people.

"The political leadership has been positive towards this rejection. The attack has been used to turn the Israelis into a victim."

Mahmoud Abbas, the the Palestinian president, who visited Mauritania in March, called on Arab states not to have full ties with Israel before an Israeli withdrawal from all occupied territories at an Arab League summit in Damascus last month.

But he stopped short of endorsing the severing of ties.

"Mauritania's decision to undertake diplomatic relations with Israel is a sovereign matter," he said.

"It is not for us to dictate its position on that subject," he said following a meeting with the president.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/DD8F87EE-C8A6-414B-938E-EE0076EAA...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6a84KgJtt8

Another day. Another petition.

Bush Scolds Congress on Colombia Trade

By DEB RIECHMANN – 4 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush said Monday that the Colombian free trade deal is "dead" unless House Speaker Nancy Pelosi schedules a vote.

After a meeting with his Cabinet, Bush said it's not in America's interest to "stiff an ally" like Colombia.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j057jBReERcsF-FcZRSWe0h1gaXQD901MPUG0

also can't get a stream to work from anywhere, so I'm still listening to The Belz.

He's no Sam, but I don't mind it. I am very happy if I heard right that at least it is going to be him subbing all week (for when I'm at work) and they've scrapped e.g, the Fran Drescher idea. Or was that just a joke someone here made up to scare people?

Richard Belzer is being suprisingly professorial, in a good way, including with the callers. I mean, I know he's never loud but he's being so...considerate.

I agree the Jon Stewart cold open was a little Hollyweird name-dropping.

Still be happy to get Randi stream as soon as I can, if I can.

Are you here in Cville area, where the local affiliate often runs three things simultaneously, or did this actually happen on the internet stream? (Semi-rhetorical. I understand if you choose to stay "undisclosed.") I heard the same fuck up on WVAX.

Hey...Laughton Smalls!!! Oh, Richard Belzer in Daisy Dukes...scary.

Cya, Belz!