status improved

i think i'm gonna go take a bike ride :)

We try harder.. ;)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

No happiness in my Pro Football world today.. :(

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

I have both my iMac and Powerbook up and running on the net thanks to a semi-patient Apple Person.

If I had this running on Election Night, then I could have monitored the live broadcast, and other news updates.

Better late than never ...

...are not mutually exclusive.

Let's both do our best, then, cent, to play to our humility and avoid making more snap judgements.

For the sake of removing all doubt, I will unashamedly announce that I DO believe Obama is a Liberal and stand by that, but his ultimate aim is to do away with the knee-jerk partisanship and labels to which everyone has grown accustomed. I base this on having read his books a few times over, knowing his community contributions here in Hyde Park and his voting records in Illinois and in the U.S. Senate and his stump speeches. I feel like I have a very well-rounded and thorough perspective on the man. The only other two people I have understood this closely have been Carter and Bill Clinton. Furthermore, I will also argue that it will take a Barack Obama to shape American before it will ever be ready to elect a Bernie Sanders, a Barbara Lee or a Dennis Kucinich, something neither Carter nor Clinton came even close to accomplishing.

There is plenty of minutia to discuss on the merits of Obama's stances on select issues relative to the political landscape of each, in their time, and to what degree they are right, center or left in the political spectrum. However, in terms of truly sheparding and advancing a Liberal agenda and moving the majority of the population enough to the Left to where it takes hold beyond his presidency, he's the only candidate I have ever seen who even comes close to making that possible. Sure there are more vocal and passionate Liberals, but how much of that is shaped by the fact that they've hit their glass ceiling? Is Kucinich electable beyond his Congressional seat? Is Lee? Is Sanders?

If you judge Obama from a few Centrist votes or Centrist rhetoric on things like Afghanistan or gay marriage, then you wilfully ignore a slew of other votes and the biography that shaped his ideology, pragmatism and intellect. There are many things I do not agree with him on in terms of his face value voting record and rhetorical stances, but more than a few times I have read between the lines of what he's said and seen the long play, especially in terms of his voting along constitutional lines and his understanding of challenges from within and without his party. FISA, for one.

dr, I'd also add that Obama's been walking a tightrope his entire life...I get a profound sense that not only is he up to the task, but that he's going to redefine the presidency as he presidential campaigning. Each step he takes, makes me more confident that he's looking at the longview versus wrangling with the passions of the hour.

and it's not even 1/20. Unless that chair he was in Saturday was the opposite of a View chair.

Boy did he look haggard anyhow.

I thought Alice Walker's thing was kind of fluffy, but now I am starting to agree.

I think his threshold for sleep deprivation has been way increased in the course of this campaign, but I hope he took a power nap right after he gave that address.

Submitted by grischa on Sun, 11/16/2008 - 6:23pm.
...now mustered in Washington...
-----
(Sort of a Capital condiment...)

ZEEK!

Submitted by Crank Bait on Sun, 11/16/2008 - 8:58pm.

-------

Submitted by grischa on Sun, 11/16/2008 - 6:23pm.
...now mustered in Washington...
-----
(Sort of a Capital condiment...)

____________

Col. Mustard mustered for capitol capital offense.

Hahahahahahahaha...

The very definition of a 3%er in denial.

It was smart for Obama to play the liberal card when he was coming up and his choices carried very little weight.

Everything he did was to charm the simple 3% voter.

Now he will be the most powerful person on earth.

His movement to the right comes with the realization that everything he does counts now.

No need for posturing and workin the crowd any longer.

What does he need from the 3% now? - Nothin!

Submitted by dr on Sun, 11/16/2008 - 9:06pm.
Col. Mustard mustered for capitol capital offense.
-----
I COULD claim that you missed the embedded pun.

...or I could admit that I blew it.

My intent was the Capital city, not the Capitol building...so maybe I didn't blow it after all?

dr,

I believe that I am deserving of a smidgen of credit for pulling "now mustered in Washington" out of a long and serious screed.

So there.

I try never to play to anything else 60th...Hence the fall back to a default position on Obama to one of "show me".

I am a Left Liberal, hell, truth be known, I am probably a Socialist in one version or another...That said, I have decided to indulge in NO illusions about Obama, one way or another, except on what is shown, not implied, not promised, not tongue in cheek code word encrypted...the same rhythm I give all politicians when I lose a handle of who I think they are. No more, no less. All I ask from anyone who would take up an opposing viewpoint in argument is they do the same. Or offer proof to the contrary.

I have read all of Obama's positions and policies on his website...granted, they offer the same "handjob" that anyone would expect from anyone running for public office, but the over all theme is he is playing to the middle. Using Corporatist solutions to solve Liberal problems, on almost every single issue.

Like you, I AM NOT A CENTRIST!!! My job is to do what I can to make Obama move left...in my opinion, so is yours. It is HIS job to take that energy and apply it. Fair enough?

If you need further convincing pick an issue, defend Obamas position on it, if you think you can, and I will GLADLY tell you where I disagree. That is as honest as I can get.....

For a guy who is wrong so much of the time, why are you always the last to know?

You have fired at everyone who has copied a certain style, much to their pleasure.

Where do you think I got concept of the 3%?

I ain't mine, but it sure is dead on!

More denial...

And how are you going to make Obama do anything with no leverage whatsoever?

Submitted by Crank Bait on Sun, 11/16/2008 - 9:25pm.

dr,

I believe that I am deserving of a smidgen of credit for pulling "now mustered in Washington" out of a long and serious screed.

So there.

_______________

Like the proverbial juicy buried lede inna otherwise innocuous news story, the deeply embedded punopportunity is a find akin to exhumin' the needle inna haystack.

Well done, sir.

Let that console you for having totally blown it.

Aw, little Guanophrenic WaDo, back smearing yer shit on the tiles....how impressive!

Seriously, aside from your wanking, where's your credibility?

Crank summed it up effortlessly in his last post on the last thread...

You're a Shameless Fool and I'll raise that and proclaim you a Colossal Quivering Pussy...

You vanished when Obama won the primary and you vanished when he won the Election, yet just before both of these devastating events, you were out in full Assclown Regalia.

Now here you are again proclaiming him to be Center-Right, as if more accomplished Loser Wingnuts with better makeup, and actual jobs weren't already yodeling that chorus, ad nauseum into the remorseless abyss of political irrelevance...

Sucks to be you! Rules to be me!

I can get used to Denial like this!

A Word, or two, of Advice though...Command the Debate, Doggie, don't Surrender it!

You can't just dog-paddle your way around the United States of Hussein.

Lawl!

Submitted by OBAMAS 97 PERCENT on Sun, 11/16/2008 - 9:31pm.
...I ain't mine, but it sure is dead on!
-----
Even during yet another hollow denial, a trademark War Dog typo shines through the horse shit.

Give it up. If you become any smaller, you'll need a quantum physician for your next physical.

Try speaking truth to power once in a while Dog...you will find that if you are right, enough people will agree with you and the "leverage" will appear....

Submitted by Crank Bait on Sun, 11/16/2008 - 9:46pm.

-------

Submitted by OBAMAS 97 PERCENT on Sun, 11/16/2008 - 9:31pm.
...I ain't mine, but it sure is dead on!
-----

... Give it up. If you become any smaller, you'll need a quantum physician for your next physical.

_____________________

I wouldn't wanna be the miserable didactic digit what hadda insert itself into that ethical black hole:

"Turn yer quark 'n cough, asshole."

if I called Seder Sambo?

Truth to power...!!!

======

How many divisions did the Pope have?

======

Power is power, and that's always holds true.

But Truth is what power says it is...

Obama's future is no longer tied to the 3%.

He needed the 3% back in the day.

Now his has the power.

A much more advantageous position.

Since when? Since I voted for Obama? Since I defend him?

Obama is 100% pro choice and pro stem-cell research. No waffling, but that's an easy one!

100% pro-labor, pro union. Specifics: Employee Free Choice Act

Pro public education.

Age appropriate sex education as early as kindergarten.

How is he Centrist on any of these issues outside of nitpicky red herring arguments like voting "present" in the IL or the US Senate?

hilarious, dr!

Bravado is power, ask Mussolini...brute force is power, just ask Hitler....

You will lose every single time Dog.

Truth is what the people say it is....whispers have bought down dynasties.....

My bad, second, 700 billion dollars.......

Pro public education. - No Child Left Behind ring a bell?

Sex Ed...lets stick to Monetary issues....Corporatism is money thing, not a social thing...apart from his slightly religious leanings, I have little problem with most Democrats, even Social Centrists on social issues...

You have your work cut out for you.

We are still fighting two wars.

The Stock Market is down 40%.

Unemployment is still climbing.

GM is goin down the crapper.

A half dozen cities are goin under.

I'm thinkin Obama will be fightin to keep his head above water.

Makin the 3% happy may have to wait.

A long, long time.

NEW YORK, N.Y. 10030

Hotline: 212 330-8029 Website: www.freemumia.com

14 November 2008

Mumia Abu-Jamal still faces a state-sponsored murder.

Last March, in a 2-1 decision, a panel of the federal Third Circuit Court of Appeals refused to grant him a new trial. The judges also upheld a lower court's decision overturning his death sentence, giving the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania the option of convening a new sentencing hearing or letting Mumia languish the rest of his life in prison.

Our side immediately appealed. We believe that Mumia is innocent and should never have been tried in the first place. Moreover, the so-called trial in 1982 has been condemned by Amnesty International and many others as a grotesque violation of basic human rights.

The state, however, maintained months of deathly silence. Until now, when it announced that it, too, will appeal. If the state is successful, Mumia will get a new execution date with not even a hearing.

The state desperately wants Mumia silenced forever. That this hasn't happened for the last 25 years is only because hundreds of thousands of people worldwide have supported him in the streets, on the picketline, and through scores of other means. Building this support, however, takes money, and that is the purpose of this message.

On 6 December Mumia's supporters are organizing an International Day of Solidarity with actions scheduled in cities around the world. Flyers, signs, banners and busses will be needed. We ask you please to contribute generously to make this day and future organizing efforts successful so that Mumia will finally walk out of jail free.

Tax-deductible checks may be made out to and sent by mail to the Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition (NYC)/IFCO at the address at the top of this page. Other contributions may be sent electronically by clicking on the How You Can Help and Donate buttons on the Coalition website, www.freemumia.com.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Peace,

Bill Bachmann

Treasurer
www.freemumia.com

"I'm Right, You're Wrong.

I'm Smart, You're Dumb.

I'm Big, You're Little.

And there's nothing you can do about it!"

"Matilda" 1998

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117008/

Venus and Mars are alright tonight.

Isn't capital punishment a regional/cultural/historical thing? Look at capital punishment in Europe for example.

Interesting map.

Now that is yet to be seen.

So far Obama has cleared every hurdle.

It's all about war and taxes.

I like Obama's positions so far.

Now if Cent flips Barack as planned...

Well, Obama may turn into another Jimmy Carter.

But for now...

Barack is all about Bill Clinton!

Back from the football game, caught up reading the blog...

all I can think to do is curse Mhappenow and her ilk for praising dr's `patois' yesterday.

Today his posts are so thick with said patois as to make them, to me, unreadable. not that I can't make sense of the clever jumble of words he dumps on the doorstep...naw, that's not the problem, it's the forced folksiness...have we learned nothing from Sarah Palin?

*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

My gmail spam file is filled with NewsMax msgs calling the repubs to attention to do all they can to help Chambliss

An urgent message from our sponsor,
The National Republican Trust PAC

Saxby Chambliss Needs Your Help.
He Can Stop Obama.
Democrats Pour Millions into Georgia.
Dear Newsmax Reader:
Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss is in real trouble in his Georgia run-off.
Right now he is the one vote that stands between Barack Obama getting the 60 votes in the Senate he needs to end Republican filibusters.

They're sweating this out!

this is a good start...I mentioned the Employee Free Choice Act, but if you want to talk about the bailouts first, I don't mind. Hopefully we can talk about the other later.

Let's get beyond the titles, headlines and speculative statements like "Labor will be the first asked to "sacrifice" for Corporatism" and focus on Obamas actual union voting record, his stated position on the "bailout" of the "Big Three" and who's on his economic transition advisory team from where he'll choose his Labor Secretary, names like Gephardt and Bonoir...

First, don't gloss over that the UAW is completely for a federal bailout:

Gettelfinger: "it is essential that the federal government act to prevent further damage to a critical industry which supports billions of dollars worth of economic activity in cities and towns all across the country."

"Congress should also act immediately, to provide an additional $25 billion in loans so that auto companies can meet their health care obligations to more than 780,000 retirees and dependents."

Obama and the Democratic Congressional leadership wants the money to come out of the already sanctioned $700 billion, Bush and Republican leadership do not they don't want a bailout, at all. In an ultimate union-busting move, they want the automakers to be forced into a bankruptcy death spiral.

Also claiming this:

Alert: Hannity and Limbaugh to be kicked off the air.

Good! Hope it happens!

LOVE that song, Alice! :)

War Dog, how does a guy like you stay alive? I mean, it's not like you've correctly anticipated one goddam thing in the last 5 years. Not one. You gottem all wrong.

Just seems like you'd guess wrong when crossing the street or something and leave a big old stinky wardoggy stain ground into the pavement. Like, I think it'll take nine seconds before that dump truck gets here and I can cross the street in six. Wrong. Dead.

Or I think this fucking Draino would make a good fitness drink.

tonight...

there is a god!

Is that more conservative whining about the re-imposition of the Fairness Doctrine?

Submitted by Fernando on Sun, 11/16/2008 - 11:06pm.
Isn't capital punishment a regional/cultural/historical thing? Look at capital punishment in Europe for example.
...
That was very telling. Which 3 countries in Europe still have the Death Penalty? And did you see this:

"William Joyce was the last person to be put to death [in Great Britain] for high treason in the UK, on 3 January 1946..."

I believe Joyce was Lord Haw-Haw, a Brit of Irish descent who did hilarious propaganda broadcasts on radio for the Germans.

John McCain's Voicemail to Retirement Home Leaked to Press (Listen)

http://www.236.com/blog/w/michael_weingartner_and_lee_camp/john_mccains_...
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

Submitted by FIshgrease on Sun, 11/16/2008 - 11:16pm.
------
Haven't you heard?

Jim Talent won the Senate seat in Missouri. Claire McCaskill lost.

are you still mad at me?

Submitted by Chubby Bubba on Sun, 11/16/2008 - 11:09pm.

all I can think to do is curse Mhappenow and her ilk for praising dr's `patois' yesterday.

Today his posts are so thick with said patois as to make them, to me, unreadable. not that I can't make sense of the clever jumble of words he dumps on the doorstep...naw, that's not the problem, it's the forced folksiness...have we learned nothing from Sarah Palin?

_______

This, to me, Chubby, is goin' a long way round the bend just to make a Sarah Palin joke.

Which is yer right, a-course.

Joke woulda worked better if the patois were actually thicker 'stead a it's usual affected self 'n if mhappe had actually encouraged not gently criticized its use, but whatever.

You got it off, 'n I reckon that's the main thing.

Hahahahahahahahaha...

You gotta be kiddin...

Do you mean like The Surge?

Do you mean like winnin the Iraq War...

Do you mean like movin on to Afghanistan..??

Or do you mean when I laughed at calling the war in Iraq a Civil war...

Or when I laughed at Sistani kicking the US out of Iraq?

I think confuse me with your Pal Juan Cole!

Oh, buy the way, how's things with you?

Right wingers are claiming Democrats intend to knock Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity off the airwaves by reviving the Fairness Doctrine. Here's why that's hot air.

By Stephanie Mencimer

November 11, 2008

Will the Obama administration force Rush Limbaugh off the air? Some conservative activists are claiming such a tragedy is nearly at hand, and they've been trying to whip up a frenzy. Limbaugh and his brethren believe Democrats are plotting a revival of the Fairness Doctrine, a controversial policy once enforced by the Federal Communications Commission to ensure broadcasters presented balanced views in their coverage of controversial subjects. While perhaps well intended, the Truman-era rule ultimately encouraged broadcasters to avoid touchy topics altogether, rather than seek out contrasting viewpoints. Many broadcast journalists saw the rule as a major violation of their free-speech rights. The FCC voted to abolish it in 1987. Democrats attempted to revive the rule, but President George H.W. Bush threatened to veto the legislation (as Ronald Reagan had in 1987), and those efforts failed. Since then, the Fairness Doctrine has largely been relegated to textbooks on media law—that is, until it was resurrected as the latest conservative bugaboo.

For the past year or so, some conservatives have been trying to convince their followers that congressional Democrats are dead set on bringing back the regulation as a way of silencing Limbaugh and other right-wing talking heads by requiring broadcasters to provide equal time to liberal shows. Conservatives assume that broadcasters would balk at any requirement to air liberal (and probably less profitable) content and would instead simply boot Limbaugh and find other ways to fill the time.

It’s true that some Democrats long for a return to the Fairness Doctrine—and they have played a part in fueling the conservative hysteria. In 2005, Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) introduced legislation to bring back the doctrine. Conservatives dubbed the measure the "Hush Rush" bill. Then last year, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) said publicly that he thought the Fairness Doctrine should be revived, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), after noting that talk radio was overwhelmingly conservative, suggested that Congress hold hearings on the political imbalance. Such comments prompted the National Review to put a photo of Limbaugh gagged with duct tape on its cover. But Hinchey's bill went nowhere, Feinstein never held hearings, and the issue died down after President Bush in March threatened to veto any attempt to revive the Fairness Doctrine. But the election of Barack Obama has reignited conservative paranoia on the issue.

http://www.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2008/11/democrats-rushlim...

I'm rich. Obama's gonna raise my taxes.

And I'm busy.

Bye.

!

God Bless the Rich Men!

Ya gotta love em...

They are the heart and soul of the Capitalistic system...

Congratulations!

I didn't even open the email for fear they would send me more. NewsMax is using their emails for a repub. Pac. Shouldn't that be against the law for a news organization?

But you are probably right, it was due to the Fairness Doctorine.

Obama's position on the big three is everybody will need to sacrifice. That is from his and Reich's mouth and they both mention Labor specifically. What do you interpret that to mean?

Wage and benefit cuts are the primary reason the UAW is ambivalent about a bailout...they would sooner accept a work force reduction.

At any rate, the reality of a request for wage cuts from Obama is at least as real as the bailout itself is. Why do you think he was trying to buffalo Bush into it before he gets into office?....

Link your quotes dude...

http://www.truthout.org/111608A

(Al Jaffee reference)

I'm with Atrios, I think the Fairness Doctrine is irrelevant. We trounced Republicans without it and with the Internet taking over, traditional media doesn't have a prayer. I'm more concerned with Net Neutrality issues than the stinky old Fairness Doctrine.

Conservatives see the writing on the wall. I say let things stand, look at the gaping chasm between the Conservative Internet presence and the Liberal one. I look forward to wingnuts trying to close that gap! Shit, I'd even argue that there's more of a chance of Democrats giving a shit about the fairness doectrine than the Republicans becomeing Internet savvy!

Hell! Do you think War Dog would even be here if the Conservative blogoshpere was worth a shit? Lol! The peckerwood prefers to be the passive consumer. From Rush's butt to his ears! Heh!

>>are you still mad at me?

I am not mad at anyone, just bitterly and insanely jealous that everyone loves dr...as I sit like a wallflowerwearing last year's prom dress...forlorn and forgotten, in the crepe paper chain festooned gymnasium...the Junior high prom which is life.
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

9/11 Conspiracy Theories 'Ridiculous,' Al Qaeda Says

Video Report:

9/11 Conspiracy Theories 'Ridiculous,' Al Qaeda Says

At any rate, the reality of a request for wage [and BIG benefit] cuts from Obama is at least as real as the bailout itself is. Why do you think he was trying to buffalo Bush into it before he gets into office?....

>>You got it off, 'n I reckon that's the main thing.

need I say more?
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency:

Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency

Submitted by OBAMAS 97 PERCENT on Sun, 11/16/2008 - 9:31pm.
For a guy who is wrong so much of the time, why are you always the last to know?

You have fired at everyone who has copied a certain style, much to their pleasure.

Where do you think I got concept of the 3%?

I ain't mine, but it sure is dead on!
--------
Submitted by OBAMAS 97 PERCENT on Sun, 11/16/2008 - 11:31pm.
...Or do you mean when I laughed at calling the war in Iraq a Civil war...

...Or when I laughed at Sistani kicking the US out of Iraq?
----------------------------------
The lie continues, barely.

So which is it? Are you copying a certain style or are you claiming to have laughed at exactly the same subject matter as War Dog did years ago and on this very blog, no less?

You are dumber than a sack of hammers, War Dog. Fork-in-the-toaster dumb. If I ever wanted to leak a secret, you would be the first guy I'd call.

She applied for a job from Obama's site and they sent her an online form to fill out.

I'll keep you posted on her progress.

GOP GATHERS TO SUMMON NEXT LEADER

Posted on Friday, November 14th, 2008
By Reginald Cunningham III

SMITHDALE, VA - Since their defeat on Election Day, Republicans have questioned what will be the new direction of their party.

The party has been divided since John McCain’s defeat, searching for a figurehead to lead the charge against the democratic majority in Washington.

Karl Rove held a conference in his mountaintop castle to summon the next great conservative leader.

Rove, who acted as President Bush’s top advisor for years, has been communing with the dead and making deals with dark forces in his search for ways to secure Republican power.

A breakthrough was made on Tuesday and the political commentator sent notes attached to the legs of ravens requesting the presence of top conservatives.

Under Wednesday’s full moon, heads of the Republican Party gathered in a dark ritual to summon their next leader.

A séance was held with Pro-Life leaders and Focus on the Family members seated around the bones of Joseph McCarthy. Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh used a Ouija board to contact the spirit of Ronald Reagan. Copies of the Drudge Report were smeared with chicken’s blood and read backwards. Newt Gingrich attended via telecom. A dozen Young Republican virgins were sacrificed so Ann Coulter could bathe in their blood. At the stroke of midnight, Dick Cheney shot a man in the face, culminating the séance and hopefully opening a portal to summon the next great conservative leader.

The ritual failed, however, due to John Ashcroft substituting ketchup when they had run out of chicken’s blood.

It is believed Republicans will repeat this and other rituals until they find their parties next leader.

Current President Bush spent Wednesday evening at home playing Xbox:

http://www.weeklyworldnews.com/election-08/gop-gathers-to-summon-next-le...

-

Submitted by Chubby Bubba on Sun, 11/16/2008 - 11:52pm.
...insanely jealous that everyone loves dr...as I sit like a wallflower wearing last year's prom dress...forlorn and forgotten...
------
You have a better fish story, though.

Japan announced they are officially in a recession. Will someone please tell Wall Street!

Dorgan: Lieberman's actions are unacceptable
John Aravosis (DC) · 11/16/2008 07:56:00 PM ET · Link
Make a comment · reddit · FARK · Digg It! · Stumble It!

Yes. Appearing at the other guy's convention and accusing your own guy of palling about with terrorists is beyond unacceptable. But will the Dems do anything about it, or show their usual lack of spine? More from Politico, here's Dorgan today:

As a chairman of one of our significant committees in the Senate, not just going off and supporting a presidential candidate of the other side but also criticizing the candidate on our side, and also involving himself in a couple of Senate races on the other side. The question is, Is that acceptable? The answer is no. The question, I think, mainly, is, What should happen as a result of it? And our caucus will decide that.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/1108/Dorgan_Lieberman_actions_una...

November 15, 2008, 6:08 pm
Brad Setser is scaring me
Brad’s blog is the go-to place for all balance-of-payments-related data analysis. Now he has a post up about US exports. Why is this important? Exports have been the one good thing about the US economic situation; in fact, the reason the economy didn’t fall off a cliff immediately when the housing bubble burst was that, for a while, export growth took up the slack.

But Brad says that the export boom is over — in fact, it now looks like an export slump. Like he says, ut-oh.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/15/brad-setser-is-scaring-me/

>>You have a better fish story, though.

Better? Doubtful.

my fish stories are more convenient, tho.

I didn't have to travel 3000 miles for them, they are right across the room.

*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

When Dan Rather filed suit against CBS 14 months ago — claiming, among other things, that his former employer had commissioned a politically biased investigation into his work on a “60 Minutes” segment about President Bush’s National Guard service — the network predicted the quick and favorable dismissal of the case, which it derided as “old news.”

So far, Mr. Rather has spent more than $2 million of his own money on the suit. And according to documents filed recently in court, he may be getting something for his money.

Using tools unavailable to him as a reporter — including the power of subpoena and the threat of punishment against witnesses who lie under oath — he has unearthed evidence that would seem to support his assertion that CBS intended its investigation, at least in part, to quell Republican criticism of the network.

Among the materials that money has shaken free for Mr. Rather are internal CBS memorandums turned over to his lawyers, showing that network executives used Republican operatives to vet the names of potential members of a panel that had been billed as independent and charged with investigating the “60 Minutes” segment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/17/business/media/17rather.html?_r=1&scp=...

Our wonderful "liberal" MSM!

I hope Rather wins this case for many reasons!

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -- Former President George H.W. Bush faced a few hecklers Sunday at the University of Kansas as he reminisced about his career and reflected on the economic and international issues dominating the end of his son's presidency.

The elder Bush said it's too early to know how history will judge his son's two terms. He defended his son's recent oversight of the current war in Iraq after discussing the decision in the first Gulf War not to attempt to topple Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

The former Republican president also dismissed the idea, advanced by many Democrats, that deregulation of the nation's financial markets led to the economic meltdown this fall. He argued for continued U.S. involvement with China, saying that nation does not want to dominate its neighbors.

The crowd of about 2,000 people was mostly friendly, but security officers escorted a half-dozen hecklers from the auditorium while Bush answered questions from Bill Lacy, director of the Dole Institute of Politics, and submitted by e-mail. The hecklers appeared to be critics of the current president, and none was arrested.

"These guys yelling at me, that doesn't bother me anymore," Bush said. "It goes with the territory, and you have to get used to it."

http://www.hdnews.net/wirestories/k1045-BC-KS-ElderBush-Kansas-1stLd-Wri...

Submitted by Chubby Bubba on Mon, 11/17/2008 - 12:26am.
-----
There is a rumor circulating that Rusty has opened a credit account with Bass Pro Shops.

First, you ask me for links to my quotes, and then provide nothing but more speculative crap?

Is this a prediction contest? If so, maybe you should be talking to WaDo.

Now, try copying and pasting a section of my quote into Google, it works too. Make sure to enclose it in quotes. That, my friend, is phrase searching. You'll get a link when I think you deserve one. Until then, you're going to have to do a little research yourself instead of getting pissy and lobbing smartass duds like requesting links from me after not bothering to cite anything and continuing to spout empty alarmist platitudes, yourself. Obama has requested wage cuts? Do you have any links?

The UAW is ambivalent about the bailout? Really, their website and press releases indicate the polar opposite. I just quoted you one.

Do you need that link? I'll give you a hint, U-A-W.

I suggest we step back and keep it civil, "dude", but I can play the smartass game too and I can do it all night. I prefer not to, though, so there you go.

SOUTHFIELD -- Former Michigan Gov. William Milliken made some surprising comments Sunday to Spotlight on the News on Detroit News reporting partner WXZY-TV (Channel 7).

Milliken, 86, was Michigan's longest serving governor. In an interview with Chuck Stokes, Milliken expressed support for President-elect Barack Obama, Gov. Jennifer Granholm and shared his views on the Michigan Supreme Court.

Voting for Obama: "My reaction was one of great excitement ... it is a remarkable thing that he has accomplished. It is remarkable because it is reverberating across the world. I voted for Sen. Obama for president and I have no regrets about having done that. He was far and away the best person to lead this country in a very critical and dangerous time." . . .

MIlliken is a moderate Republican

PHILADELPHIA - A grand jury is investigating whether Pennsylvania House Republican leaders illegally used a taxpayer-funded database as a campaign tool to better focus their messages to voters.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Sunday that the state attorney general's office is investigating the use of the database. It's part of the office's probe into whether legislative employees were improperly paid from state coffers for campaign work.

Former Republican leader John Perzel says no one in his office used the database.

Twelve House Democratic legislators and staffers were charged in July with conspiring to award taxpayer-funded bonuses to legislative staffers who did campaign work.

The grand jury probe has since widened to include the House Republican caucus. No Republican has been charged.

http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/state/pennsylvania/20081116_a...

Submitted by 60th Street on Mon, 11/17/2008 - 12:38am.
...I'll give you a hint, U-A-W...
--------
That's Utah pronounced with a harelip.

(What do I win?)

Can it be true that Obama favors the habeus corpus-removing Military Commissions and won't work to kill this fourth court system, a kangaroo court system which is clearly the tool of usurpers?

Chris Kraft on kgoradio said something like that. Egad.

Submitted by mhappenow on Sun, 11/16/2008 - 11:31pm.
knock Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity off the airwaves by reviving the Fairness Doctrine.

--------

What I don't get is why the so- called left press- is opposed to the Fairness Doctrine. Unfortunately, the majority of the American populace do not get their news from the Internetz. Encouraging stupidity is the main objective of the MSM. That's what concerns me! You have a 24 hour major news channel pandering to the Republican- and extreme right wing causes. You have thousands of right wing radio stations doing the same. CNN's chief political analysis, William Schneider, is from the American Enterprise Institute. Wolfe Blitzer, is from the conservative Jerusalem Post. And in case you haven't notice, the Republicans are still controlling the narrative. But you want the more of the same?

I heard Ed Schultz reject the need for the Fairness Doctrine. I see Atrios has come out against it. Isn't Hartmann against it? Are they afraid of losing their own little gig. Is that it? So it really isn't about a free press, after all? Oh snap!

Not only do I want the Fairness Doctrine back, I want fines and penalties for what that stinking cesspool called Mainstream Media has done. Their conglomerates should be dissolved- and their owners driven from broadcasting. In case you have forgotten they denied any strong opposing view to the Bush Administration, for years. The country has been destroyed by 2 stolen elections, and 2 illegal wars. It could not have happened, if we had a free press.

Don't fall for the Okey-doke. We must have media reform. And yes, I do sound like a broken record.

Fairness Doctrine, please!

Submitted by edna ellen poe on Mon, 11/17/2008 - 1:04am.

... What I don't get is why the so-called left press is opposed to the Fairness Doctrine. Unfortunately, the majority of the American populace do not get their news from the Internetz. Encouraging stupidity is the main objective of the MSM. That's what concerns me! You have a 24-hour major news channel pandering to the Republican- and extreme right-wing causes. You have thousands of right-wing radio stations doing the same. CNN's chief political analysis, William Schneider, is from the American Enterprise Institute. Wolfe Blitzer, is from the conservative Jerusalem Post. And in case you haven't noticed, the Republicans are still controlling the narrative. But you want the more of the same?

I heard Ed Schultz reject the need for the Fairness Doctrine. I see Atrios has come out against it. Isn't Hartmann against it? Are they afraid of losing their own little gig. Is that it? So it really isn't about a free press, after all? Oh snap! ...

______________

Fair (sorry, can't hep myself) enough.

You will get no quibble from me that the 'Murican bedrock is fillt w/thick lodestones of stupidity.

However.

I don't think the lefties you cite are in any way -- at all -- a-feared of losing their gig to the Fairness Doctrine. Their positions are inspired by just the opposite -- confidence, not insecurity. You can argue misplaced confidence based onna misplaced faith in the 'Murican peoples, but it's definitely based in confidence.

My take, fwiw, is I expect most lefties (like Atrios, as you cite) sees what's happent in overcoming the Bushies in spite of (not b/c of) the conservatives' institutional advantage in the media to (deliberately) lie to rubes (like War Dog!) 'n these lefties thinks, on balance, it's most politic (tho' not safest) to win yer battles on the ground (as has been happenin' of late), not in the courts or in Congress.

The root argument bein' one of, ironically, winnin' hearts 'n minds not legislatin' yer way to vic'tries.

More precarious?

Prolly.

Showin' more faith in the 'Murican peoples than they deserves?

Wouldn't be hard to make the case.

But the point, I think, would be that a win in the court a public opinion is more widely recognized 'n therefore ultimately more endurin'. Showing, ironical-like, a faith in people's better angels that one could easy argue is undeserved.

It's a position, (I think it must be conceded), that's a good deal easier to forward now in Nov. 2008 than it were way back in May of 2003.

I don't know, but (whispering) you might want to icksnay on the airlip hay.

"The term harelip is no longer used to describe the condition as it is considered offensive."

and for future reference:

"Hairlip" redirects here. For the South American fish, see Hairlip brotula."

You don't need a link to that do you? Because, I...you can just copy and pa...Oh nevermind...

I suppose one good thing did come out of today.

I waited for the bus after today's football game for about half an hour, just missed the bus I wanted by about 2 minutes. that's what street crazy-man #1 told me. he was wearing an orange flagger's vest that had a chest pocket which was jammed with pens and magic markers of all sorts. He engaged all who approached the bus stop's posted route schedules with traveler's advisories. In my case he told me I'd just missed my bus, the 132 and suggested I might try the 131 if I didn't mind a walk.

I found a quiet part of the bus stop just as street crazy-man #2 set up shop. He arrived loudly, cursing unknown antagonists and carrying a microwave oven over his shoulder by its cord. He was wore a jungle-camo army field jacket and a Santa Claus hat.

After ten or 15 minutes of crazy-man #2's angry, yet undirected, outbursts a younger fella wondered allowed if the man might have mental problems. I offered the opinion that he was challenged in this regard. The kid said he thought the guy would be alright.

I said, "We'll all be alright...eventually."

The kid's eyes lit up and he echoed, "eventually..." . A grin overtook his face. Again he said "eventually". it was like he understood the concept of `eventually' for the very first time?

anyway, the good thing: I was not the ranting crazy-man wearing fatigues and a santa hat carrying a microwave oven around by its cord.
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

First of all, "Links" was last, not first. Asking you to "cut the shit" and not conflate my position with headlnes was first. You were being a fucking dickhead, so I called you one. THEN I asked you to link your quotes, just to break your balls....I can go all night too. I prefer peace, but I will not be your bitch to maintain it.

The truth is I didn't give you any quotes for the same reason you didn't give me any links, too damned lazy. :)

Okay, now, SHOW ME THE AUTOMOTIVE BAILOUT....you can't?...it must be only speculation.....

Both Reich and Obama have been on TV more than once saying exactly what I stated. In fact they have stated the "sacrifice" position more clearly then they have stated any other with regard to any Automotive Industry bailout. Neither of us are fools, but interpret it as you will, or however is more convenient to your current argument. I will do the same with your "speculations".

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a9ZN4qvUsqgw&refer=h...

The UAW. You have a valid point, it appears they have several positions...Leadership is saying one thing and the rank and file are saying another. In the end, it will come to a vote.

The root argument bein' one of, ironically, winnin' hearts 'n minds not legislatin' yer way to vic'tries.

--------

True Dat dr.

You should have told him that doing that is not good for the cord...or his back...

...the oven wasn't full of toys, was it?

just askin'

Oh it's probably been posted before. However, if you haven't seen it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM&NR=1

- Elias Canetti

>>...the oven wasn't full of toys, was it?

I should have looked.
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

I was not the ranting crazy-man...

Submitted by 60th Street on Mon, 11/17/2008 - 1:40am.

...the oven wasn't full of toys, was it?

__________________

Just a lone copy of Sylvia Plath's book of regrets.

Fairness Doctrine, please!
Submitted by edna ellen poe on Mon, 11/17/2008 - 1:04am
*******

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Come to think of it, there was a 3rd crazy person. but she wasn't a street crazy...

She was well dressed and caught my bus. I noticed her after getting `route help' and before the entrance of the anti-claus. She had cornered some timid young man and was sternly lecturing him about something having to do with East Germany, 1952 and the CIA. I only heard bits and pieces. I regret not being close enough to have heard what she said next as she summed up with "And that's why I don't..."
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

..and so it goes...you started it, my friend, I pushed back...

Okay so there it is...we cancel each other out and neither of us is a bitch...thus endeth the childish pissing contest.

What Reich said on his blog, according to your Bloomberg source, anyway, does not automatically reflect Obama's position, if he even has one, yet, although you say he's said it. Reich is an advisor and one of many. Maybe Obama feels this way, maybe he doesn't. I haven't seen Obama say it on the teevee, so I'll hold my judgement until the deal is said and done. Regardless, this is without even discussing if wage and benefit cuts are unavoidable in situations like this, how the UAW feels about it...and how they would benefit the longview...on which Reich expands in the rest of that blog entry. But, to imply that Obama favors corporations to labor or capitulation to a pragmatic solution or a principled stance is definitely where you and I differ.

I don't mind that, though, and I doubt it will be the last time, either, as I believe tomorrow we are scheduled to discuss The Employee Free Choice Act.

Will the planet survive!? Tune in tomorrow as....

To finish this, I respectfully suggest that you read that entire entry on Reich's blog directly. The horses mouth, as they say, versus a secondary source, in order to get the full context. You might be surprised.

And if you have EVER read any of my posts and followed the links, you would know that I ALWAYS link thoroughly to E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G, to the sad and tedious point where I code it to open a fresh window versus hijacking and flooding your SSS bloggie window with my inane Centrist bloviating by just pasting in an address.

THAT is what a nice guy I am. :)

The Real Difference Between Bankruptcy and Bailout

"ZBig, Gates, Powell...all we need are Kissenger, McFarlane, and Carlucci.....

OMG we are in trouble....."

That got a smile and a chuckle out of me, cent. Thanks.

------

"PRINCESS BRIDE!

dada, you such a hollywood whore."

hee hee!

---

Besides that, I was going to post more about Ayers and weathermen as rightwing provocateurs, and talk about what isn't mentioned in those recent Jim Jones TV programs, but, eh.

...because that would have changed everything...

...and it would have been so cool if it was...

you must be on the lookout for these things...signs of the apocalypse...or just funny shit...I've been all over and crazy people in the USA are, well, uniquely Amurcan, to quote the Guanophrenic in Chief

Submitted by Chubby Bubba on Mon, 11/17/2008 - 2:06am.

Come to think of it, there was a 3rd crazy person. but she wasn't a street crazy...

She was well dressed and caught my bus. I noticed her after getting `route help' and before the entrance of the anti-claus. She had cornered some timid young man and was sternly lecturing him about something having to do with East Germany, 1952 and the CIA. I only heard bits and pieces. I regret not being close enough to have heard what she said next as she summed up with "And that's why I don't..."

____________

"... trust the Stasi to be properly informed."

Even given today's microwave technology...gas was the way to go for Sylvia...much more dignified

I loved The Bell Jar...

Submitted by 60th Street on Mon, 11/17/2008 - 2:31am.

I loved The Bell Jar...

_________

What's the differnce betwixt The Bell Jar 'n The Bell Curve?

A brain.

'N a heart.

'N a soul.

from speeches I watched recently from sheer memory. The article was just support. I didn't even know Reich had a blog.

My original statement on this little tangent we perused was "Labor will be the first asked to sacrifice for Corporatism"....You can bet your ass that upcoming vote we discussed will include a decision on whether on not to accept a wage and benefits cut, or lose their jobs. I am positive you do not disagree with me on that. In comparison, I wonder what the executives and stock holders will be asked to sacrifice...we will see. I hope you are right.

The EFCA is old news and a boring no brainer, and its not even his. Instead, lets dissect Obama's healthcare or energy plans. They are far more major and interesting, and prime examples of my point of his favoring corporatism to solve liberal problems.

Oh, and no, YOU started it. :)

Peace.

Dedicated to Kevin -

(Kevin also has read Alinsky and we discussed Alinsky on earlier threads on the blog.)

I thought that I would post some excerpts from an interview with the outspoken Saul Alinsky, the great community organizer.

They seem particularly relevant to some recent discussions and comments on the blog.

I think they are worth posting here.

------------

Excerpts from 1972 Interview With Saul Alinsky:

Q:

Spokesmen for the New Left contend that this process of accommodation renders piecemeal reforms meaningless, and that the overthrow and replacement of the system itself is the only means of ensuring meaningful social progress. How would you answer them?

ALINSKY:

That kind of rhetoric explains why there's nothing left of the New Left. It would be great if the whole system would just disappear overnight, but it won't, and the kids on the New Left sure as hell aren't going to overthrow it.

I can sympathize with the impatience and pessimism of a lot of kids, but they've got to remember that real revolution is a long, hard process.

Radicals in the United States don't have the strength to confront a local police force in armed struggle, much less the Army, Navy and Air Force; it's just idiocy for the Panthers to talk about all power growing from the barrel of a gun when the other side has all the guns.

----

America isn't Russia in 1917 or China in 1946, and any violent head-on collision with the power structure will only ensure the mass suicide of the left and the probable triumph of domestic fascism.

So you're not going to get instant nirvana -- or any nirvana, for that matter -- and you've got to ask yourself,

"Short of that, what the hell can I do?"

The only answer is to build up local power bases that can merge into a national power movement that will ultimately realize your goals.

That takes time and hard work and all the tedium connected with hard work, which turns off a lot of today's rhetorical radicals.

But it's the only alternative to the continuation of the present system. It's important to look at this issue in a historical perspective.

Every major revolutionary movement in history has gone through the same process of corruption, proceeding from virginal purity to seduction to decadence.

---

But recognizing this isn't cause for despair. All life is warfare, and it's the continuing fight against the status quo that revitalizes society, stimulates new values and gives man renewed hope of eventual progress.

The struggle itself is the victory.

History is like a relay race of revolutions; the torch of idealism is carried by one group of revolutionaries until it too becomes an establishment, and then the torch is snatched up and carried on the next leg of the race by a new generation of revolutionaries.

The cycle goes on and on, and along the way the values of humanism and social justice the rebels champion take shape and change and are slowly implanted in the minds of all men even as their advocates falter and succumb to the materialistic decadence of the prevailing status quo.

Winged Victory of Samothrace

p.s. I have hope of progress and I will continue to reach for the stars.

Submitted by cent on Mon, 11/17/2008 - 2:51am.

... from speeches I watched recently from sheer memory. The article was just support. I didn't even know Reich had a blog ...

_________

A propos of nuttin' (but just to proves that the laws a the universe is inherently unfair):

Robert Reich is both smart 'n a liberal.

Impelled by a childish desire to make fun of his name, may I hereby state that this vagary of fate is agonizingly unfair.

nite folks, I have to go preform my secondary function--space heater for felines.
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

Submitted by Chubby Bubba on Mon, 11/17/2008 - 3:08am.

nite folks, I have to go preform my secondary function--space heater for felines.

___________

Cat(s) onna Hot Tin Rufus.

G'night gang,

love y'all!

Voltaire was right: God is a prick....(Paraphrased, of course)

Nite all.

'sokay, Ralph Lauren's original last name was Lipshitz

Submitted by cent on Mon, 11/17/2008 - 3:43am.

___________________

Alla his buddies just callt him Dirty Sanchez.

not much, really
Submitted by dr on Mon, 11/17/2008 - 2:35am.

What's the differnce betwixt The Bell Jar 'n The Bell Curve?

A brain.

'N a heart.

'N a soul.

__________________

I liked your response (minus your subject heading).

Have you read both of them?

Submitted by Star Vox on Mon, 11/17/2008 - 3:55am.

I liked your response (minus your subject heading).

Have you read both of them?

________________

Reckon the header shoulda had quotes round it so's to suggest its saracasmagorical intent, I s'pose.

Am familiar w/but did not read The Bell Curve.

(There are limits to my masochism, madame.)

OBAMA SPEAKS

There's been a lot of speculation over the past few days about Barack Obama's position on issues like torture and Guantanamo, most of it based on nothing more than a couple of early appointments mixed with content-free rumors of other appointments. Tonight on 60 Minutes, though, we got more than speculation. We got the man himself making his position clear:

.................

Kroft: There are a number of different things that you could do early pertaining to executive orders. One of them is to shutdown Guantanamo Bay. Another is to change interrogation methods that are used by U.S. troops. Are those things that you plan to take early action on?

Mr. Obama: Yes. I have said repeatedly that I intend to close Guantanamo, and I will follow through on that. I have said repeatedly that America doesn't torture. And I'm gonna make sure that we don't torture. Those are part and parcel of an effort to regain America's moral stature in the world.

..............

-- K. Drum

______________________

Prolly not more'n the minimum daily requirements for many (myself included), but gotta admit I'm heartened he ain't doin' any (rhetorical, anyways) weaselin' on this'n.

Non-fucking-negotiable.

If mybell's gonna be rung, it'll be by Sylvi not up-Chuck Murray

Submitted by dr on Mon, 11/17/2008 - 4:07am.

Reckon the header shoulda had quotes round it so's to suggest its saracasmagorical intent, I s'pose.

Am familiar w/but did not read The Bell Curve.

______________________

This may shock you, but I even own The Bell Curve.

p.s. I had great pleasure writing about the book.

Assimilated Press:

Washington, DC - Former President Reagan offered his advice on the preparation needed for the Presidency today in a séance held at The Heritage Foundation by former Senator Rick Santorum.

Ronald Reagan, who died in 2004, was president from 1981-1989 and had a wealth of advice to offer President –elect Barack Obama, according to séance participants.

Obama, in his first news conference, took exception to consulting Reagan and made a point of saying he had consulted former presidents, stipulating “all of them that are living.”

When asked for a comment on Sen. Obama’s specific exclusion of dead presidents, Mr. Reagan replied, “Well, there you go again.”

posted by pinko

Link

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Submitted by Star Vox on Mon, 11/17/2008 - 4:51am.

This may shock you, but I even own The Bell Curve.

p.s. I had great pleasure writing about the book.

___________________

Well, all's I can sez is a body's gotta whistle whilst she repudiates.

That, 'n fuck-up-Chuck Murray's prolly still got his Dick all inna Hermstein after you wuz finished rakin' their sorry asses over the coals.

This looks like it'll end badly.

[sniff, sniff] "Whut's the smell?" Voxxy: "Charred hacktacular!"
Submitted by dr on Mon, 11/17/2008 - 5:02am.

_______________

“Charred hacktacular!”

I don’t recall using those exact words.

However, it was sorta like heaping coals of fire on Murray's head.

p.s. You humor me, breezy dr.

Polar Bared: "Was it as good for you as it were for me?"

If innerested, go here for a brief but innerestin' talk on how this come about: Animals at Play: a talk w/Stuart Brown

(Thought it were especially innerestin' that subsequent to this wondrous marvel, the speaker said he gots him letters 'n contacts from Fish&Wildlife types what said they is seen similar activity 'mongst grizzlies 'n wolves in the wild.)

All this Jonestown coverage -- now more questions

I ask these questions, because, once again, it seems these horrid events effect people's fear/disbelief the most and I sense most folks -- especially most young people who weren't alive when this happened -- will focus on this stuff as it was originally experienced -- in a state of SHOCK. Indeed, I suspect that is why it is getting such phenomenal coverage! It sure makes those who support and promote interracial harmony, programs for the poor, and social responsibility look unreliable and scary. Is that the subtext?

In all this coverage (seemingly endless) of the horrendous Jonestown events, are any of the shows indicating concern that there may have been a motive for Congressman Leo Ryan's murder/assassination beyond the Jonestown scenario?

Ryan was a leading critic of CIA covert operations, CIA shadow activities unreported to Legislators, and CIA et al mind-control experiments.

[excerpt]
As a congressman, his brassiness caused him to routinely do things which to others were unthinkable, such as "dropping in" at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, to interrogate the spymasters about what they hadn't been telling Congress.

"He was," according to a source formerly close to Ryan, and who once accompanied him on a trip to Langley, "a pain in their ass."

As a member of the House of Representatives' International Relations Committee and its foremost CIA critic, he was the House sponsor of the Hughes-Ryan Amendment, a 1974 law that required the CIA to notify eight separate committees of Congress-totaling some 200 legislators and staff-prior to conducting undercover operations.

Hughes-Ryan also banned CIA covert paramilitary operations which were not expressly approved by the president and Congress. The agency hated this, a former Ryan associate told Freedom. But the Hughes-Ryan Amendment, which seriously restricted CIA covert operations internationally, was only one index of Leo Ryan's impact.

In 1975, Ryan leaked word of the CIA's involvement in the Angolan civil war to CBS newsman Daniel Schorr, creating a wave of major embarrassment for the agency which reverberated for years.

In 1977 and 1978, Ryan pressured the agency to reveal the extent of its involvement in psychiatric "mind-control" experiments. Among the tests he pushed to expose were those performed in the early 1970s on inmates at a state hospital in Vacaville, California, which may have included among their subjects Donald DeFreeze, known as "Cinque," a central figure in the 1974 kidnapping of Patricia Hearst.
[end excerpt]

Above excerpts from
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/130669-Beware+The+Ides+of+April:+Cho+S...

As I scan over the articles in local papers (one with a horrific photo of the dead on the frontpage --something I bet was not done even when it was originally reported, as today the poor-taste and fear thresholds have now bulged into one another), I see segments that seem unclear. Here are some questions that I have (but as I said, since I didn't see the tv programs, don't know if anyone is addressing these already).

1. Did Guyana welcome the Jonestown program because of World Bank related financial pressure or extortion or similarly attachment to some kind of U.S. foreign aid (with possible CIA involvement)?

2. Since there was an airstrip nearby, who was flying in and out? Was there a conduit via that airstrip to Jonestown and any destabilizing programs against Guyana's pro-left government, perhaps via drug trafficking, gun-running, or other support of destabilizing military forces/operations?

3. Was Jonestown a CIA front? Was Jones working with the CIA to taint Dems and progressive programs?

4. Who supplied Jones with that much cyanide? Why was it on hand, part of a planned scenario? The manner in which Jones forced people to stay and live slave-like at Jonestown was clearly insustainable, so planning a quick end to it seems to have a sick logic. But who would have devised such a scenario? Jones alone? And BEFORE the murders, The food of the members was being drugged so as to quiet dissent about the terrible housing and food, and the unexpected removal of freedoms such as travel.

5. Survivors from Jonestown indicate that armed guards were present and many victims were forced to take the poison via syringe by mouth or injection. So, why do most reports continue to paint a picture of zombie-like Kool-Aid drinking followers?

6. What was the source of funds for Jones' projects over the years? How were plane flights to Guyana paid for? Did anyone ever follow the money?

7. When that many people die, why did so few escape charges for murder, or accomplice to murder? Authorities did not go to Jonestown for several days after Ryan was killed. Where is the proof that the "medical staff" who administered the cyanide did not leave and escape? Where is the proof that the armed guards who surrounded the victims during poisoning did not leave and escape? Who killed or suicided so many survivors after the events at Jonestown?

8. One article mentions Tim Carter:

[excerpt]
A top Jones aide gave Carter, his brother and another temple member pistols and luggage containing hundreds of thousands of dollars. They were instructed to take the money to the Soviet embassy in Georgetown [Guyana] along with letters authorizing transfer of millions from temple bank accounts to that government. It was to be Jones' last gesture for socialism.

But the trio ditched most of the cash during the arduous hike to Port Kaituma, and they were detained by police.
[end excerpt]

Oh, really? It's just too bizarre. Did he and his cohorts make it up? Now we get to incorporate "commie-hate" into the tale, too? Or, if true, what became of the funds in Jones' back accounts? And where did he get all those millions? Was any of that money embezzled from the people of San Francisco (via the public housing commission post Jones held) or not? Was it recovered?

9. Why are we getting days and days of this rehash about Jonestown? Does anybody else consider this overdone??? Isn't it weird to hear this called "the 30th Anniversary"? ANNIVERSARY? Really? An annual observance? How is this meaningful and useful?

10. Is this rehash an effort to demean charismatic leaders and their "followers"? Or more specificly, a broad brush with which to paint all those charismatic leaders with non-conservative agendas?

11. For years Rev. Jim Jones' abuse of his followers was blatant. Why did he feel free to be so blatant? Was it possible that he might have worked for those he felt would protect him? Many children were murdered at Jonestown, but it is not clear if all the children were accounted for. This is important, because Jones had been allowed to take with him children who were wards of the state and he received public monies like a "foster parent". Were all those 'foster children' accounted for, or is it possible Jones might have been a conduit for child abduction similar to the suspicions surrounding Boy's Town (Nebraska) later?

12. Why was the poisoning session recorded? To establish he was there?

13. Hundreds of bodies were never identified. Who identified Jim Jones' body?; was it ever identified beyond question? Is there any chance he escaped? (Excuse me, but I'm someone who thinks there's a chance Ken Lay is sipping Mint Juleps somewhere in the Maldives.)

14. The San Francisco Chronicle acknowledges the significant impact of the Jonestown mass murders, followed just nine days later by the assassinations of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk by disgruntled political opponent Dan White, as traumatic to the City.

[excerpt]
For some, the assassination and the Jonestown deaths underscored a perception that the city -- long an enclave of protest -- was a metropolis on the brink, beset with violence and disorder.

"These two events built on a reputation of San Francisco as a bastion of far left politics combined with a certain amount of kookiness," said Chester Hartman, an expeet on San Francisco urban renewal....
[end excerpt]

So, who usually wants the left and its inclusive political goals like interracial harmony and political representation for all to look like the goals of maniacs? (For me, I can't help thinking of the Project Paperclip folks and all their totalitarian world order visions and all that has come form their twisted projects....)

In addition, the Chronicle article points out that Moscone's successor Diane Feinstein's conservative approach (called "centrist" nowadays), opened the way for easy skyrise development. (In contrast, Moscone had "slow growth" European-style historic preservation kinds of visions for San Francisco's future.) The post Feinstein San Francisco became a less egalitarian place where working families no longer were assured affordable housing. So, in the real world, there appear to have been painful results for the regular folks of San Francisco as a result of these awful events. Not to mention a loss of San Francisco's impact in leading as a progressive city nationally.

»

Dragging this in since I did want to post it on an active thread

Submitted by nora on Mon, 11/17/2008 - 5:49am.

__________________

[Never mind.]

Night, owls.

http://www.spinwhip.com/obama

and choosing whats going to work for our future, keeping Bob Gates for "continuity" during the transition doesn't make any sense to me. Who was Obama listening to when he made that decision?

bloggers

I am concerned about this...it seems most or several of them are Clintonistas. Rahm Emmanuel also raises suspicions.

You won, now what?
John Aravosis (DC) · 11/17/2008 12:30:00 AM ET · Link
Make a comment · reddit · FARK · Digg It! · Stumble It!

From Taegan Goddard:
Congratulations! The polls are closed, the votes were tallied and you came out on top! With the hard weeks of campaigning barely over, you must remember that the election was not the finish line, it's the starting gun. The tough job of governing lies ahead.

Former House Speaker Tip O'Neill may have said it best: "It's easier to run for office than to run the office."

The reality for today's newly elected officials and their staffs is little different than the fiction portrayed in the 1972 film, The Candidate. Robert Redford starred as an idealist running for U.S. Senate. He never worried much about his campaign promises, because he never thought he would actually win. So when he did, the candidate turned to his manager and asked the question the campaign left him completely unprepared to answer: "What do we do now?"

Like Redford's character, the winners of yesterday's election must now put their campaign promises into action. It's not easy because winning a campaign is very different than running a government. The elected and appointed officials swept into our governments after the elections may find it hard to get the simplest things accomplished. A different approach is needed.

"We campaign in poetry, but when we're elected, we're forced to govern in prose," former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo once said.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/politicalinsider/2008/11/you-won-now-what.ht...

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) — The hotly-contested — and yet to be decided — Minnesota Senate race may be headed for a recount, but Democrat Al Franken is already headed for Washington.

Franken will head to Washington, D.C. Wednesday to hold meetings with Senate leadership. That's the same day the state-mandated recount — which will determine whether Franken or incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman will emerge victorious — is set to begin.

Franken spokeswoman Colleen Murray said the former comedian-turned-Senate candidate will meet with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and others in lieu of attending the Senate's freshman orientation since, Murray said, Franken thinks that would be "presumptuous."

Murray said Franken plans to brief aides on the current status of the recount and will discuss "the next Congress and the new session, so that should he win this election when it's all said and done, he'll be ready to hit the ground running on Day One."

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/11/16/franken-heads-to-dc-to-e...

Pamper yourself today. You deserve it.

xoxox & love & anarchy

CNN: GOP senator: Republicans would 'love to have' Lieberman
Two members of the Senate’s Democratic caucus have called for Joe Lieberman to lose his committee chairmanship. On Sunday, North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan didn’t go that far — but did say the Connecticut senator’s actions during the campaign were “not acceptable,” as Republican Sen. Jon Kyl said the GOP would “welcome [Lieberman] with open arms.”

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/11/16/gop-senator-republicans-...

Submitted by gbasin on Mon, 11/17/2008 - 9:56am.
...keeping Bob Gates for "continuity" during the transition doesn't make any sense to me...
-----
Perhaps I am the unwitting victim of comparative analysis?

When I compare the former Secretary of Defense, Donald "The Ideologue" Rumsfeld, with the current Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, the results look like the difference between Vlad the Impaler and Mother Teresa.

Hope you have the best day ever!

Secret Service investigates GA high schoolers after threats against Obama

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Georgia, a group of high-schoolers gets a visit from the Secret Service after posting "inappropriate" comments about President-elect Barack Obama on the Web.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20081117/ts_csm/aaryan;_ylt=AsDj_lqR9ESUa6b5...

Husband's foreign deals may pose issue for Clinton

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Former President Bill Clinton's globe-trotting business deals and fundraising for his foundation sometimes put his activities abroad at odds with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and could cause complications if President-elect Barack Obama picks her to be secretary of state.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081115/ap_on_el_pr/clintons_overseas_ventur...

Looks like we have the place to ourselves.

Missouri still undecided
in presidential election

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nearly two weeks after Election Day, Americans know who their next president will be. But voters in Missouri still aren’t quite sure which candidate their state preferred.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15649.html

Maybe people are sleeping in today. I woke up later than usual.

Today is the big meeting between Obama and McCain. We'll hear about that all day.

More layoffs from financials. JP Morgan now. And Citibank makes the big announcement of how many layoffs worldwide.

And the Pirates scored a big one:

Pirates hijack Saudi 'super tanker'

CNN) -- Pirates have hijacked a Saudi-owned oil tanker with 25 crew aboard off the coast of Kenya the U.S. Navy and the British Foreign Office confirmed on Monday..

Pirates have caused havoc in the perillous waters of the Gulf of Aden this year.

The Sirius Star -- a crude "super tanker" flagged in Liberia and owned by the Saudi Arabian-based Saudi Aramco company -- was attacked on Saturday more than 450 nautical miles southeast of Mombasa, Kenya, the statement said. The crew include British, Croatian, Polish, Filippino and Saudi nationals.

The UK Foreign Office confirmed two Britons were aboard and said it was seeking more information about the incident.

A multinational naval force including vessels from the U.S., the UK and Russia has been patrolling the Indian Ocean waters seas near the Gulf of Aden, which connects the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, following a sharp increase in pirate attacks in the region.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/11/17/kenya.tanker.pirates/index.ht...

sending love and good spirits your way! Hope u have the day off! :)

Alice!!!

Here's the link to the video segments:

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/60minutes/main3415.shtml

for your many contributions to this place.

I don't know why, yet, but I've heard more news stories about them since Bush took office.

I'm sure he's somehow responsible for the resurgence of pirates.

very popular guy - built more prisons in nys than any other governor.

Are you a pretend 3%er?

The pretend 3%er isn't much of a 3%er.

The pretend 3%er will take anything he can get.

The pretend 3%er will support the new Clinton Ver 2.0 Admin.

The pretend 3%er is really a 97%er now!

=========

This is real movement!

One by one, that's the plan to use Obama to bring the 3% back in out of the cold.

A great many uncommitted 3%ers will be willing to accept their Government and President even though the policies remain consistent with what we have done for the last 20 years.

Who knows, some day we may even get them to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and enjoy Christmas once again!

have a happy peaceful day!

Overtone 3 (5-0.0.0.3)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

red cosmic skywalker
~ kin 13 ~

ENDURE in order to EXPLORE,
TRANSCENDING WAKEFULNESS
seal the OUPUT of SPACE
with the COSMIC tone of PRESENCE.
guided by the power of NAVIGATION.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
◄ 12.19.15.15.5 ≈ can chicchan ►

Pirates!
Submitted by 60th Street on Mon, 11/17/2008 - 11:09am.
I don't know why, yet, but I've heard more news stories about them since Bush took office.

I'm sure he's somehow responsible for the resurgence of pirates.
------
AaarNC.

Obama Warned of 'Huge' Terror Plot

Friday, November 14, 2008 11:56 PM

Article Font Size

British security officials say intelligence experts are seriously concerned that al-Qaida will try to pull off a "spectacular" terrorist attack during the transition period from a Bush administration to an Obama administration.

In fact, British Home Office Security Minister Sir Alan West raised the specter of a “huge threat” and noted that “There is another great plot building up again and we are monitoring this," according to the London Times.

Bush administration officials also point out that terrorists have often struck during a time of official change:

The first World Trade Center attack came just weeks after President Bill Clinton's inauguration in 1993.

9/11 occurred less than a year after President George W. Bush took office in 2001.

British officials thwarted nightclub and airport plots soon after Gordon Brown became prime minister in June 2007.

Earlier this week, CIA Director Michael Hayden said that al-Qaida remains the single greatest threat to the United States.

According to the Times, al-Qaida has been experimenting with biological weapons, such as anthrax.

And Vice President-elect Joe Biden warned during the last month of the presidential election: "Watch, we’re going to have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle [of Obama].”

Burlington, Vt., is healthiest city, CDC says
By MIKE STOBBE

What's the healthiest city in America? It appears to be Burlington, Vt.

Vermont's largest city is tops among U.S. metropolitan areas by having the largest proportion of people — 92 percent — who say they are in good or great health.

It's also among the best in exercise and among the lowest in obesity, diabetes and other measures of ill health, according to a recent report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This New England city of 40,000, on the shores of Lake Champlain, is in some ways similar to the unhealthiest city — Huntington, W.Va. Both are out-of-the-way college towns with populations that are overwhelmingly white people of English, German or Irish ancestry.

But there the similarities end:

_Burlington is younger, with an average age of 37, compared to 40 in Huntington, according to the Census Bureau.

_Burlington is better off financially, with 8 percent living at the federal poverty level, compared to 19 percent in Huntington.

_It's much more educated, with nearly 40 percent of area residents having at least a college bachelor's degree. Only 15 percent in the Huntington area do.

The cultures are significantly different, too. Bicycling, hiking, skiing and other exercises are common in Burlington. Neighborhood groups commonly focus on improving parks, working in community gardens and repairing and improving sidewalks.

"There's this norm of a lot of activity," said Chris Finley, Vermont's deputy health commissioner, who works in Burlington.

And though college staples like pizza are common, healthier foods are also popular. Grass-fed beef is offered in finer restaurants, vegan options are plentiful, and the lone downtown supermarket is run by a co-op successful in selling bulk rice and other healthy choices to low-income residents.

Burlington is helped by the presence of IBM and other employers offering more generous health benefits and corporate wellness programs than companies in Huntington, some experts suggested.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jw_UD3EP3urjhUXF56NyPY...

***

Happy Healthy Wealthy Educated Community-Minded...and LIBERAL...go figure.

Have you been watching the Axis of Evil as they melt away?

North Korea is no longer threatening the world.

Iraq has become a partner in fighting terror.

Libya has become a great friend.

Syria was bombed out of the Nuclear Club.

Obama plans to squelch Afghanistan.

====

That leaves Iran on the table.

Nothing will be finish until Obama finishes Iran!

take me to your socialism

God Bless Capitalism and benefits that flow from it's greatness!

He is a member of the Vermont Progressive Party - and so is almost half the City Council. :)

Thinking of you A.

Happy Birthday.

(not the phony republican family values)

Gay rights
IBM provides employees' same-sex partners with benefits and provides an anti-discrimination clause. The Human Rights Campaign has consistently rated IBM 100% on its index of gay-friendliness since 2003 (in 2002, the year it began compiling its report on major companies, IBM scored 86%).[35]

In 2007, IBM UK was ranked #1 in the Stonewall UK annual workplace equality index.[36]

IBM has won over forty gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender awards globally.[37]

As part of IBM's diversity program, there is a GLBT Diversity Network Group, as well as a GLBT employee group (called EAGLE - Employee Alliance for Gay and Lesbian Empowerment) with over 1000 registered members worldwide.

the difference between Vlad the Impaler and Mother Teresa.
Submitted by OBAMAS 97 PERCENT on Mon, 11/17/2008 - 11:12am.
...A great many uncommitted 3%ers will be willing to accept their Government and President even though the policies remain consistent with what we have done for the last 20 years...
-----
1.) My opinion of Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense versus Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense began to take shape before Obama looked to be more than a longshot for the nomination and while you were repeatedly posting a photograph of Hillary Clinton with the tag line "Salute your next Commander-in-Chief."

2.) There is very little resemblance between the Bush administration's policies, words and actions prior to Rumsfeld being fired and today. Someone (my guess is Laura) convinced George W. Bush that Dick Cheney was destroying Dubya's presidency due to Dubya's passive acceptance of Cheney's policies and advice. Rumsfeld's firing marked the end of Cheney as Deputy President.

One example among many: The Hearts And Minds policy that I touted and you derided is now the de facto guideline for U.S. foreign relations and the U.S. military.

3.) When a sack of hammers offers an opinion, I expect for it to be limited to a box of nails. So far, my expectations have been on the money.

so I'm watching it now.

I am more and more impressed with Michelle Obama every day. She seems to be a great Mom and I think she will make a great first lady. She's grounded and keeps Barak grounded which is good.

I didn't know that the apartment in DC that Obama rented was a very humble abode. He said it was like a college dorm.
Michelle would not stay there. She said it was just a step up from the apartment he lived in when they first started dating. And the Secret Service finally convinced him to move after it caught fire.

Michelle said when they were first dating, Barak had a car where the floor had rusted out on the passenger side, her side, and she could watch the road go by.

I dated a guy that had a car like that!

Poor ol' Don was fired because he could not win the war.

Simple enough.

Nice invasion, weak occupation.

McCain's Surge won the war.

All of our experiences will make us all the stronger in
Afghanistan and Iran!

NEW YORK (AFP) – Citigroup said Monday it would cut 20 percent of its global workforce, or some 50,000 jobs, as the US banking giant struggles with the global financial crisis and four consecutive quarterly losses.

The ailing bank was among the nine big US banks that agreed last month to give the US government equity stakes in exchange for a combined 125 billion dollars under a financial sector rescue plan.

The company, in a document for a presentation to employees by chief executive Vikram Pandit, said in a bullet point that the "headcount expected to be down 20 percent in the near-term from peak levels."

At that peak, in the 2007 fourth quarter, Citigroup had a global workforce of 375,000 employees. By the end of September the workforce had been trimmed to 352,000; the additional job cuts announced would pare it to approximately 300,000.

Citigroup, whose shares have been battered amid the credit crisis, said it was "getting fit -- fast!" and would reduce its expenses by 20 percent in the short term from peak levels. The cost-cutting measures would bring spending to approximately 50-52 billion dollars in 2009.

The further belt-tightening was signaled Friday when the bank announced it would make additional job cuts and that Pandit and other key executives had bought 1.3 million shares to show confidence in the company.

On Friday, Citi shares rose 0.74 percent to 9.52 dollars but ended the week some 24 percent lower. The shares have shed 70 percent since the start of the year, with the bank hit by hefty writeoffs linked to the US real estate crisis.

The ailing banking giant, which has undergone several restructurings since last year to weather the crisis, has penciled in 2.1 billion dollars in charges this year for the planned elimination of 22,000 jobs, of which some 13,000 have been completed.

Last month, Citi reported a third-quarter loss of 2.8 billion dollars, its fourth straight quarter in the red.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081117/bs_afp/financeeconomyusbankingcompa...

I am sorry if some of my friends efforts turned you and your pals against Hillary.

But don't you think Obama will better serve the country?

Perhaps not as well as McCain would have, but sill...

We really don't need Bill mucking around the White House once again, do we?

You know as Sec of State Hillary will go to work and leave Bill at home.

Won't that be better for everyone involved?

Oh, and welcome to the 97%!

Blankfein, Deputies Forgo Bonuses as Goldman `Can't Ignore' Economic Woes Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the firm that set a record for Wall Street pay last year, became the first U.S. bank to scrap 2008 bonuses for senior officers in the face of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a9oh26RDtT5Y&refer=n...

I was a guy with a car like that!!!

A 71 Nova, green. With a rusted out floor board, and beer cans and baling wire holding the exhaust system together....

What a beast.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again..

Schizophrenia's a Bitch!

Guanophrenia...well, it appears to be a Pussy

As President Bush gets closer to leaving the White House, expectations are mounting that he will follow his predecessors in issuing a slew of last-minute pardons on his way back to Texas.

Former Cheney chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, perhaps the best-known federal convict of the last eight years, may have filed a request for a pardon from President Bush, CNN's Sonny Hostin reported Monday. Libby was convicted of lying in the CIA leak case, but Bush commuted his sentence last year.

A Justice Department spokesman told Newsweek that Libby has not personally requested a pardon. But investigative reporters Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball note that "speculation is rampant that Libby's allies will press Bush for one."

Libby was found to have obstructed justice and lied to investigators probing the leak of former CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity in 2003. Convicted in June of last year, Libby served no time for his crimes, as Bush stepped in to commute the prison sentence before he was forced to go to jail.

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/CNN_Scooter_Libby_may_have_requested_1117....

Boy the Republicans are lost...even the lapdogs are out in the cold, now. I'm half expecting we're going to have to actually pry America's tax dollars from Bushie hands come January and we'll have guys like Inhofe carrying a pitchfork alongside us...

With a legacy of uber-greedy imbecils like Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Paulson, who heeds a 60 vote majority?

"Jim Inhofe said Saturday that Congress was not told the truth about the bailout of the nation's financial system and should take back what is left of the $700 billion "blank check'' it gave the Bush administration.

'It could be to his friends. It could be to anybody else. We don't know. There is no way of knowing.'"

via Atrios

Obama Team Vetting Bill Clinton, Ahead Of Possible Hillary Appointment
The New York Times reports that the Obama team is carefully vetting not just Hillary Clinton, but also Bill Clinton, in order to determine whether his dealings with foreign businesses and governments could create an unavoidable conflict of interest: "Among the known Clinton Foundation donors are the Saudi royal family, the king of Morocco, a foundation linked to the United Arab Emirates, the governments of Kuwait and Qatar, and a tycoon who was the son-in-law of Ukraine's ousted authoritarian president."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/17/us/politics/17memo.html?partner=rss&em...

Everybody wanna getta piece of Obama

http://www.236.com/news/2008/11/16/everybody_wanna_getta_piece_of_10262....

Since the very moment Barack Obama was declared the winner of the election, the president elect's phone has been ringing non-stop with advice, suggestions and requests from leaders around the world. The Russians, the Europeans, even the Taliban wants to weigh in and start hounding the president-to-be. Though aides insist that Obama is strictly in "listening mode" until Inauguration Day, efforts from abroad to sway Obama's foreign policy are especially strong due to the historic nature of the election.

But hey, Obama's a modern president in modern times. Why stick to the phone when you can gather all the world's leaders together in a chat room. Yeah, we can't imagine anything going wrong with that...

*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

we were going to see, win or lose?

Just wondering.......

Lieberman Needs A Good Old Democratic Spanking
Raucous with Jim Shea

How should the Democrats punish Say-It-Ain't-So Joe Lieberman for palling around with Republicans?

Some want to kick him out of the Democratic caucus.

Some want to take away his chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

And some, led by Chris Dodd, want everyone to close their eyes, click their heels together, and wish it all away.

Perfect, Sen. Homeland being championed by Sen. Home Loan.

The problem, of course, is that what happened, happened.

Say-It-Ain't-So toured the country this summer and fall with his buddy John McCain, cheap-shotting Barack Obama at every opportunity.

Is Obama a Muslim?

Say-It-Ain't-So didn't think so but he wasn't 100 percent sure.

Is Obama a Marxist?

Say-It-Ain't-So thought that was a "good question."

And then there was the little matter of the speech Say-It-Ain't-So gave at the Republican National Convention in which he said:

"When others wanted to retreat in defeat from the field of battle, which would have been a disaster for the U.S.A., when colleagues like Barack Obama were voting to cut off funding for our troops on the battlefield ..."

Low blow, Say-It-Ain't-So, low blow.

Those who want to give Say-It-Ain't-So a pass point out that he caucused with the Democrats the past two years, thereby keeping them in the majority in the Senate.

This is true. And in exchange he was awarded the chairmanship of a powerful committee.

What you have to ask yourself is this: If the Republicans, and not the Democrats, had been in the position to offer Say-It-Ain't-So the chairmanship of a powerful committee, which side of the aisle do you think he would have been sitting on?

Another defense Sen. Home Loan and the boys are spouting is that Say-It-Ain't-So votes with the Democrats 90 percent of the time.

OK. But on the other hand, wasn't Say-It-Ain't-So just a hair's breadth away from being McCain's running mate, a guy who voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time?

'Splain that one, Lucy.

And what about Say-It-Ain't-So's thinly veiled threat to go over to the Republican side if he loses his chairmanship?

Is somebody missing a loyalty gene?

Unless the Democrats want to be played for saps yet again by Lieberman, they need to remove him from the Homeland Security committee.

If they want to give him another chairmanship, I don't know, Chairman of the Senate Conscience Committee, fine.

More here:

http://www.courant.com/topic/hc-raucous1116.artnov16-column,0,2980409.co...

THE LIE:

"Salute your next Commander-in-Chief."
Submitted by OBAMAS 97 PERCENT on Mon, 11/17/2008 - 12:28pm.
I am sorry if some of my friends efforts turned you and your pals against Hillary.

THE DAMNING EVIDENCE:

Submitted by OBAMAS 97 PERCENT on Sun, 11/16/2008 - 11:31pm.
Or do you mean when I laughed at calling the war in Iraq a Civil war...

Or when I laughed at Sistani kicking the US out of Iraq?

"Newt's sounded a little bitchy yesterday on the subject of Sarah Palin:

Too late, Newt. She is your de facto leader. The GOP has no one else. Not even Newt.

Har! The GOP "Dear Leader" default switch is stuck on "babbling pariah".

I never dreamed watching Republicans navigate the backwaters of America would be so much fun.

Newt: Palin is not the leader of the GOP

Michael Moore should provide Congress a special screening of Roger & Me this week.

Thanks for the update, Crank. :P

Happy B'day!

i'm glad you're here!

to you, and your Oversoul.

Obama Actively Courted Federal Employees Before Election
The Washington Post reports that Barack Obama wrote a series of letters to federal employees in the run-up to the election, at the urging of American Federation of Government Employees John Gage. In the letters, Obama pledged to reverse many Bush Administration policies and to pursue better workforce relations, including better funding for programs and pay for workers.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/16/AR200811...

GOPers Differ Over Whether Party's Prospects Are Bad Or Abysmal
The Politico reports that there is a division of opinion in the Republican Party over whether the GOP's recent defeat was an isolated event or rather the start of more serious long-term problems. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and current RNC chairman Mike Duncan argue that things could be a lot worse and that the party is in decent shape overall, while other prominent Republicans like Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman see serious demographic problems that could render the GOP non-competitive.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15676.html

Norquist Vows That Calls For Modernization Will Be "Cheerfully Ignored"
Top right-wing activist Grover Norquist is dead-set against calls for the Republican Party to change its message or modernize on issues like global warming. "They will be cheerfully ignored," Norquist told the New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/17/us/politics/17conservatives.html?partn...

He could be emporer of his own little world and leave the rest of us alone!!

Back In The Senate, Kennedy Calls For Quick Action On Health Care
Back at work in the Senate for the first time since July, Sen. Ted Kennedy said Obama would act fast on the issue of health care reform. Asked if he would like to see Obama sign a bill in his first year, Kennedy answered: "Well, yes. He's stated that."

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/11/teddy_health_car...

http://samsedershow.com/node/4090

Toyota, BMW, Hyundai Workers' Senators Oppose Rescue (Update2)

By Alison Fitzgerald and Jonathan D. Salant

Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Senators from southern states with factories owned by Asian and European car manufacturers oppose a bailout of U.S. automakers, saying the industry can thrive without General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC.

Republican Senators Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions of Alabama, and James DeMint of South Carolina, are among lawmakers trying to derail Democratic plans, supported by President-elect Barack Obama, to provide at least $25 billion in loans to the three U.S. companies.

``We have a very large and vibrant automobile sector in Alabama,'' Sessions told Bloomberg Television on Nov. 11. ``I don't feel like this is the end of the world.''

Alabama has two assembly plants owned by Stuttgart, Germany-based Daimler AG, one operated by Tokyo-based Honda Motor Co. and one by Seoul-based Hyundai Motor Co. Munich-based Bayerische Motoren Werke AG employs about 4,500 people at a Spartanburg, South Carolina, assembly plant.

The proposal to loan automakers $25 billion from October's $700 billion financial rescue package will be debated during a post-election lame-duck session of Congress this week.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd plans to hold a hearing tomorrow on the legislation, which he supports. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, who is drafting the legislation with Michigan Senator Carl Levin, plans a hearing the following day. GM Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner and Ford CEO Alan Mulally are scheduled to testify before the committees.

`Tough Sell'

The bill will likely be a tough sell with many Republicans who, in principle, oppose government intervention in the private sector.

``Companies fail every day and others take their place,'' Shelby said on CBS's ``Face the Nation'' yesterday.

Bush said he opposes using money from the $700 billion fund designed to ease a global credit crisis. Instead he called on Congress Nov. 14 to use money from a previously approved proposal for auto-industry loans originally intended to aid development of more fuel-efficient vehicles.

``Taxpayers should not have to subsidize private companies that are unwilling to show they can be viable,'' White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said today in an e-mailed statement. ``It is clear that U.S. automakers must restructure in order to be viable.''

More here:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=washingtonstory&sid=ajGjPDQvlSKc

Have a fun day!

A Supermarket in California

What thoughts I have of you tonight, Walt Whitman, for
I walked down the sidestreets under the trees with a headache
self-conscious looking at the full moon.
In my hungry fatigue, and shopping for images, I went
into the neon fruit supermarket, dreaming of your enumerations!
What peaches and what penumbras! Whole families
shopping at night! Aisles full of husbands! Wives in the
avocados, babies in the tomatoes!--and you, Garcia Lorca, what
were you doing down by the watermelons?

I saw you, Walt Whitman, childless, lonely old grubber,
poking among the meats in the refrigerator and eyeing the grocery
boys.
I heard you asking questions of each: Who killed the
pork chops? What price bananas? Are you my Angel?
I wandered in and out of the brilliant stacks of cans
following you, and followed in my imagination by the store
detective.
We strode down the open corridors together in our
solitary fancy tasting artichokes, possessing every frozen
delicacy, and never passing the cashier.

Where are we going, Walt Whitman? The doors close in
an hour. Which way does your beard point tonight?
(I touch your book and dream of our odyssey in the
supermarket and feel absurd.)
Will we walk all night through solitary streets? The
trees add shade to shade, lights out in the houses, we'll both be
lonely.

Will we stroll dreaming of the lost America of love
past blue automobiles in driveways, home to our silent cottage?
Ah, dear father, graybeard, lonely old courage-teacher,
what America did you have when Charon quit poling his ferry and
you got out on a smoking bank and stood watching the boat
disappear on the black waters of Lethe?

AG Berkley 1955

___

.♡. - .☮.

Dear Blog,

I REALLY appreciate your kindness, and lovely posts. Thank you all very much for making my day so much fun.

With LOVE,
-Alice

Submitted by Crank Bait on Mon, 11/17/2008 - 10:43am.

When I compare the former Secretary of Defense, Donald "The Ideologue" Rumsfeld, with the current Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, the results look like the difference between Vlad the Impaler and Mother Teresa.

Robert M. Gates was the Central Intelligence Agency's deputy director for intelligence (DDI) from 1982 to 1986. He was confirmed as the CIA's deputy director of central intelligence (DDCI) in April of 1986 and became acting director of central intelligence in December of that same year. Owing to his senior status in the CIA, Gates was close to many figures who played significant roles in the Iran/contra affair and was in a position to have known of their activities.
Gates was an early subject of Independent Counsel's investigation, but the investigation of Gates intensified in the spring of 1991 as part of a larger inquiry into the Iran/contra activities of CIA officials. This investigation received an additional impetus in May 1991, when President George H.W. Bush nominated Gates to be Director of Central Intelligence (DCI). The chairman and vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) requested, in a letter to the Independent Counsel on May 15, 1991, any information that would “significantly bear on the fitness” of Gates for the CIA post.

Gates consistently testified that he first heard on October 1, 1986, from Charles E. Allen, the national intelligence officer who was closest to the Iran initiative, that proceeds from the Iran arms sales may have been diverted to support the Contras. Other evidence proves, however, that Gates received a report on the diversion during the summer of 1986 from DDI Richard Kerr.[14] The issue was whether the Independent Counsel could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Gates was deliberately not telling the truth when he later claimed not to have remembered any reference to the diversion before meeting with Allen in October.
http://www.mlive.com/us-politics/index.ssf/2008/11/antiwar
_camp_urges_obama_to_du.html

If he was taking orders from Bush Sr. then, who is he taking orders from now?

it's a secret vote.

If you could vote in secret, wouldn't you kick Lieberman to the curb?

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