Ooof!

MSNBC.com: 140 dead since Thursday in Iraq

How can this be a bad thing?

DeLay investigation triggering 'ethics war'.

Because Democrats want to scrutinize Tom DeLay, and his ethical behavior, Republicans are going to retaliate by scrutinizing the ethics of Democrats.

Bring it on.

If there are unethical Dems, let them fall with Tom DeLay.

However, when all is said and done, it was the Republicans who have been resisting this investigation from the beginning.

MSM ignores real story? You don't say!

Rep. Conyers (D-Mi) finds the MSM singular focus on a runaway bride rather disconcerting when it was revealed that the UK and US conspired in secret to invade Iraq, months before hand.

Dear Mr. President:

We write because of troubling revelations in the Sunday London Times apparently confirming that the United States and Great Britain had secretly agreed to attack Iraq in the summer of 2002, well before the invasion and before you even sought Congressional authority to engage in military action. While various individuals have asserted this to be the case before, including Paul O'Neill, former U.S. Treasury Secretary, and Richard Clarke, a former National Security Council official, they have been previously dismissed by your Administration. However, when this story was divulged last weekend, Prime Minister Blair's representative claimed the document contained "nothing new." If the disclosure is accurate, it raises troubling new questions regarding the legal justifications for the war as well as the integrity of your own Administration.

The Sunday Times obtained a leaked document with the minutes of a secret meeting from highly placed sources inside the British Government. Among other things, the document revealed:

* Prime Minister Tony Blair chaired a July 2002 meeting, at which he discussed military options, having already committed himself to supporting President Bush's plans for invading Iraq.

* British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw acknowledged that the case for war was "thin" as "Saddam was not threatening his neighbours and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea, or Iran."

* A separate secret briefing for the meeting said that Britain and America had to "create" conditions to justify a war.

* A British official "reported on his recent talks in Washington. There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."

As a result of this recent disclosure, we would like to know the following:

1) Do you or anyone in your Administration dispute the accuracy of the leaked document?

2) Were arrangements being made, including the recruitment of allies, before you sought Congressional authorization go to war? Did you or anyone in your Administration obtain Britain's commitment to invade prior to this time?

3) Was there an effort to create an ultimatum about weapons inspectors in order to help with the justification for the war as the minutes indicate?

4) At what point in time did you and Prime Minister Blair first agree it was necessary to invade Iraq?

5) Was there a coordinated effort with the U.S. intelligence community and/or British officials to "fix" the intelligence and facts around the policy as the leaked document states?

We have of course known for some time that subsequent to the invasion there have been a variety of varying reasons proffered to justify the invasion, particularly since the time it became evident that weapons of mass destruction would not be found. This leaked document - essentially acknowledged by the Blair government - is the first confirmation that the rationales were shifting well before the invasion as well.

Given the importance of this matter, we would ask that you respond to this inquiry as promptly as possible. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Congressman John Conyers

Thanks to The Raw Story

Death of 1000 cuts, Democratic edition

Former US Congressman Nick Lampson is the Democratic challenger to Tom DeLay. Today he put the announcement that he is running for DeLay's seat on his website:

Dear Friends:

After much thought, prayer and counsel with my family, I have decided to run for the 22nd Congressional District of Texas.

My family has deep roots in Fort Bend County. My parents grew up there, were married there, and my siblings and I spent a great deal of time growing up on our grandparents' farms in Stafford. Much of my family is still there, and it is for them and all the people of District 22 that I am running for Congress.

In the coming days, I will begin sharing my ideas for a stronger, more prosperous America. In the meantime, thanks for visiting my Web site, and please check back for updates on our campaign for District 22.

Thank you for your friendship and support.

Sincerely,

Nick Lampson

Robertson, Judges, Terrorism

According to Pat Robertson, the federal judges sitting today, are worse than the 19 hijackers who flew planes into the WTC, and Pentagon.

He also advocates a religious test for all members of the federal judiciary.

Only Christians and Jews need apply.

Only Christians will pass.



Welcome to George Bush's America.

Death of 1000 cuts

McCloskey, GOP elders seeking Delay opponent.

Former U.S. Rep. Pete McCloskey, in Houston Sunday for a conference on Palestinian issues, said he and other Republican elders are looking for a candidate to oppose U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land.

"Tom DeLay is an embarrassment to the Republican Party," said McCloskey, who represented Northern California from 1967 to 1983.

He met Sunday with Michael Fjetland, who was defeated by DeLay in Republican primaries in 2000 and 2002 and as an independent in the 2004 general election.

McCloskey is one of nine former congressmen who have formed an informal group he called the "revolt of the elders," to oppose congressmen who they think are guilty of ethics violations

Hell, the Republican primary is shaping up to be just as bloody as the general election will be.

Lame Duck

Only Bush and the MSM thought it was a mandate.

Most people, and even many on the Right, recognized the results of the 2004 election for what it was. A closely divided contest. In order for Bush to get anything done in such a closely divided electorate, he would have to go big on his proposals. Social Security Privatization was one of those big proposals. The public (and now Congress) is not going for it. A majority of the public thinks that Bush lied to pump up support for invading Iraq. His popularity is sinking, some Republicans are publicly opposing Bolton, and SS Privatization. Right-wing publications are questioning some of his strategy. The facts (which have been staring all of us in the face for some time now), are that Bush's second term is a Lame Duck Presidency, even with the House and Senate on his side. Now that the MSM is starting to come that realization, hopefully we can start to get some honest reporting on his administration.

Lame Duck, repeat it often.

Winning the hearts and minds of ordinary Iraqis

Bob Herbert:

The officer's comment was a harbinger of the gratuitous violence that, according to Mr. Delgado, is routinely inflicted by American soldiers on ordinary Iraqis. He said: "Guys in my unit, particularly the younger guys, would drive by in their Humvee and shatter bottles over the heads of Iraqi civilians passing by. They'd keep a bunch of empty Coke bottles in the Humvee to break over people's heads."

He said he had confronted guys who were his friends about this practice. "I said to them: 'What the hell are you doing? Like, what does this accomplish?' And they responded just completely openly. They said: 'Look, I hate being in Iraq. I hate being stuck here. And I hate being surrounded by hajis.' "

"Haji" is the troops' term of choice for an Iraqi. It's used the way "gook" or "Charlie" was used in Vietnam.

Herbert goes on. It isn't pretty.

Boondocks

Click Here for full sized

Turn about is fairplay

Today on Press the Meat, Russert decided to actually press Republicans for real answers to his questions.

Refreshing change of pace from the past 5 years. Senator George Allen (R-Va) looked the inept fool his probably is, by Senator Dodd (D-Ct). Rather than try to stop the debate with some non-sequitor type question, or allowing some outrageous charge from Allen to go unchallenged, Russert challenged Allen on some of his points. At one point asking Allen "you vow to never block a Democratic judicial nominee, regardless of how extreme their views?" Of course, Allen meant that the filibuster should only be removed for Democrats.

The real point, which due to time constraints, or crosstalk was missed, was a comment by Allen that indicated, that the current batch of Republicans, really have no concept that they will again be out of power. Possibly sooner, rather than later.

CNN, Craptacular squared

Carol Lin is demanding (yes demanding), on CNN to the mayor of Duluth, Georgia, that the woman who left her fiance at the alter, that she be prosecuted for upsetting her, her fiance's, the minister, and friends.

How utterly pathetic CNN and Carol Lin are.

I wonder what else is a crime in Carol's and CNN's mind?

White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

I am watching the WHCAD, and Laura Bush just interrupted some lame story telling that Chimpy was doing.

She said that what she was about to say, he had no idea about. I don't know how true that was, but from the look on Chimpy's face, he was not enjoying it fully. I suspect that if he knew about it, he wasn't fully prepared.

She proceeded to roast him good. Got shots in a Cheney (Lynne, and Dick), and Rumsfeld. One of the hardest jabs at George, was that she knew how to pronounce Nuclear correctly. I noticed that when she sat down after her performance, it was a couple of seats down. I don't know where she started, but I am surprised that she is not sitting next to him, being his wife and all.

No officers, only enlisted

Pfc. Lynndie England is pleading guilty for what she did at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Yet not a single officer in her command has been.

Kind of like the Bush administration.

The leadership makes the subordinates take the blame for the leaders actions.

PFC. England is guilty. She is caught in pictures. However, the officers that command her are just as responsible for her actions.

Kinky Friedman for Governor

Friedman campaign for Texas Governor:

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- A former senator who engineered Jesse Ventura's surprise election as Minnesota governor is joining author Kinky Friedman's independent bid for governor of Texas.

Former Sen. Dean Barkley, who has recently been a consultant and lobbyist, will serve as campaign director and chief strategist, Friedman announced Friday.

Barkley founded Minnesota's Independence Party and in 1997 recruited Ventura, a former pro wrestler and actor, to run the following year. As governor, Ventura appointed Barkley to fill the vacancy left when Sen. Paul D. Wellstone died in a plane crash in 2002.

Friedman must collect 45,539 voter signatures after the spring 2006 primary to make the November ballot. Republican Gov. Rick Perry is seeking re-election next year, and GOP Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and former U.S. Rep. Chris Bell, a Democrat, are among his expected challengers.

Luis Saenz, director of Perry's campaign, said of Barkley: "I'm sure he will at least be able to help the Kinkster sell more books."

Barkley said the key to Friedman winning will be stirring voter interest, noting that in Texas' 2002 gubernatorial election, turnout was 29.3 percent.

"That leaves more than 70 percent of Texans who chose to stay home rather than vote," Barkley said.

Friedman - whose books include "Kill Two Birds and Get Stoned" and "Kinky Friedman's Guide to Texas Etiquette" - said his candidacy should be taken seriously.

"What better place for an independent to win than Texas?" he said. "And if it can be done, I think every career politician in the country is going to feel a little shiver up his spine."

I don't know what to think of Friedman. I get Texas Monthly and regularly read his column when it was published. I liked his articles, even if I didn't agree with what he wrote. However, I have not read his books.

I guess I will have to wait. I certainly do not want Governor Goodhair back, and can't imagine that Kay Bailey Hutichson will be significantly better.

Means testing, income levels, and Social Security

There have been many posts around the blog world (I hate the term blogosphere) about Bush's Social Security plan, based on last nights press conference.

One thing that people have latched onto is that in Bush's plan the "better off" people, who would see the first reduction in benefits, are those that earn $20,000 per year. With the median salary hovering around $40,000 or so, nationwide $20,000 is pretty low to be defined as "better off". Considering that most Republicans think $200,000 per year is middle class, I cannot imagine what they think of people who are earning $20,000 or less. Currently Social Security taxes are paid on the first $90,000 of income. Bush's proposals, as revealed so far, indicate that all working Americans pay into Social Security, and only those who make less than half of the median income are eligible for full benefits, and the remainder can expect a cut of over 50% in Social Security payouts.

It almost seems that Bush is pushing to make Social Security a welfare program, when it is currently no such thing.

The most obvious fix, is to eliminate the cap on earnings for Social Security taxes. That will extend the life of the trust fund (which Bush insists is nothing more than IOU's the Government will default on at any moment) for years to come.

Friday Dog Blogging

Tiberius crowned "Most Beautiful Bulldog"

As I have mentioned before, I would like a Bulldog, so this kind of caught my attention.

I mean seriously, who could resist this:

Beer blogging, get clever

Beer makes you clever: official | The Register:

We already know that beer doesn't actually make you fat but rather fights cancer while promoting world peace and understanding and a brighter future for all our children.

It's no surprise then that we can now confirm what the super-intelligent if somehat wobbly hacks at Vulture Central have known for years: alcohol makes you cleverer.

That's to say, a Swedish team has shown that mice fed with moderate amounts of alcohol grew new nerve cells in the brain. The full implications of the Karolinska Institute research - which appears in the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology - are unclear, but lead boffin Stefan Brene told the BBC: "We believe that the increased production of new nerve cells during moderate alcohol consumption can be important for the development of alcohol addiction and other long-term effects of alcohol on the brain."

He did, however, add that it's possible that "the extra cells might help with learning and memory" - although we reckon the word "moderate" is key here since no-one who has ever drunk 16 pints of ale has been able to recall a single detail of the session come the following morning.

A spokeswoman from Alcohol Concern concluded: "This type of study could prove useful in the long term to shed light on the relationship between alcohol intake and dependency. However, very little can be drawn from a single animal-based study at this stage. Much more research is needed to explore the relationship between drinking patterns and their effect on the human brain."

Agreed. It's Bank Holiday weekend and I'm off to do some field research. I feel cleverer already... ®

Repeat of 1994, just reversed?

Bloomberg is entertaining the idea of Democrats staging a coup in Congress, just like the Republicans of 1994 under Newt Gingrich.

The players are in place, and situation similar.

In 1994, Clinton's health care initiative has failed spectacularly in Congress, and under Gingrich, the "Contract with America" was put out. For 2006, we have a situation in which we have Bush's Social Security plan is foundering, and is looking likely to fail, and we have Harry Reid hammering Bush, and proposing an agenda focusing on Democratic values.

Reid is landing blows on Republicans, similar to the manner that Gingrich was able to land blows on Democrats.

Polling is indicating that the method Democrats have been using to slow and/or stop Bush's agenda, is not hurting Democrats, though it is not benefiting them as much. However, we have heard rumblings that the Democrats are, especially with the filibuster fight, going to force their agenda into the Senate calendar which can only be a good thing.

Now with the means testing plan that Bush has put forth, a large target has just been painted on those who will support Bush's plan. The question is, how long before Democrats begin their coordinated campaign to retake Congress? Just as important, how long before Joementum and the rest of the DLC is brought into line?

Misrepresenting Bush's SS plan

This has been mentioned on other blogs, but in the spirit of me too (and the fact that I am late getting to blogging this morning), I have to point out to the Associate Press reporters, that Bush is not increasing benefits for anyone.

The proposal is to cut benefits to people with an income over certain levels.

Ethics problems in Texas

Much like what is happening to Tom DeLay in Washington, another Tom, Tom Craddick has ethics problems of his own. In response, Texas Republicans beat back the ethics bill in the Texas house right now.

This bill is more aimed at cleaning up elections, however the Speaker of the House, Tom Craddick, has done a lot of questionable fund raising. Craddick's campaign reportedly received funds from corporations, which is expressly prohibited under Texas law.

The move to try and get this ethics bill out of committee, headed by a Craddick loyalist, was executed by a Republican:

Rep. Tommy Merritt of Longview, who had been the target of attack ads funded by undisclosed corporate donors during his unsuccessful Texas Senate campaign last year, asked for the vote on bringing the ethics bill to the floor. The maverick Republican warned colleagues that if the measure didn't become law, they were all vulnerable to scurrilous attacks from anonymous sources.

However, much like the Republicans in Washington, the Republicans in Texas blamed it all on Democrats.

Democrats in Austin, have been doing a slightly better job communicating the issue than their counterparts in Washington:

Rep. Jim Dunnam of Waco, chairman of the Democratic Caucus, said that he and others were only trying to support a popular bill and that he had tried to extend nothing but respect to Mr. Craddick.

"The highest priority of the session should be ethics," he said.

Supporter Fred Lewis, chairman of the watchdog group Campaigns for People, said after talking to aides, members, lobbyists and "seeing it myself," he believed Mr. Craddick used all the influence in his arsenal to stall the bill.

"Craddick's killing the bill," Mr. Lewis said. "He's trying to protect himself and his friends."

In Texas and throughout the country, Democrats need to be trying to tie Republicans down with the ethics changes. That Republicans are fighting against ethics regulations is something that Democrats everywhere can use.

Chimpy versus the Press

Well, I have had a few minutes to digest the fiasco that was the press conference.

Wow, that was stunningly bad. Bush was barely able to control his temper at one point. His answers to the non-questions were rambling, and on the issue of North Korea, and Social Security he stalled.

On the up side, we got some of his plans for Social Security.

Means testing.
Voluntary Personal Private Accounts (for which participation will be mandatory).
Reduced benefits.

We now know that Bush is unwilling to do much about high gasoline prices. He is pushing for more dependence on oil, both foreign and domestic.

He thinks the war in Iraq is going peachy.

Desluional. That best describes Bush.

Anti-Gay Foster Parents Amendment not Dead

Contrary to earlier reports, the Anti-Gay Foster Parents Amendment not Dead.

The ever so lovely speaker of the House, Tom Craddick, put the author of the amendment, Robert Talton (Repugnant-Pasadena) on the negotiating committee for this bill, despite the fact that Talton has no connection to the committee the original bill was crafted in.

Even if Talton doesn't get his way here, we can expect this bill to come up again, and again, and again, and again.

Thanks to Burnt Orange Report

1 down hundreds to go

Courtesy of FishBowlDC:

BREAKING: Judy Woodruff To Leave CNN

From perhaps CNN's most famous face this morning:

"To my colleagues and friends at CNN:

"I've decided to leave daily journalism after 30 years, 12 of them at this network. I've had challenging and exciting opportunities, been supported by an amazing and talented group of people, and made lifelong friends. I wish them the very best. I'm discussing several long-form projects in television. I'll also teach, do some writing and be an occasional consultant and contributor to CNN.

"To all of you at CNN who have been so wonderful to me, I can't begin to thank you adequately. But thank you. We will stay in touch and we'll always have memories of good journalism, good times and a few laughs together."

As an insider said in horror just now, referencing the end of the Brokaw/Rather/Jennings/Koppel/Woodruff era: "What's happening to this business?"

Maybe some of the other MSM Whores can follow her example.

Louder please

Hit 'em with the chair:

Washington, DC – Today, standing in the shadow of one of the nation’s great presidents, Democratic Senators stood united in protection of the Constitution and against the Republican abuse of power. Senators Reid, Durbin, Schumer, Clinton, Kennedy, and Boxer urged Republicans to end their partisan bickering over seven radical judges and get back to the people’s business.

“This is about priorities,” said Democratic Leader Harry Reid. “The Republican party’s priorities are way out of line. They are willing to fight for seven radical judges, but they can’t fight for a budget that meets the needs of our schools, our cops and our veterans. Republicans are abusing their power and leaving working Americans to fend for themselves. The American people have a very different set of priorities and so do Democrats.”

At the event, the Democrats outlined the priorities they will continue to fight for, even if the Republicans insist on breaking the rules to change the rules in the Senate.

“President Bush, Senator Frist, and Majority Leader DeLay are on a quest for absolute power in Washington, even if it means corrupting our government and the vision of our founding fathers,” said Harry Reid. “While Republicans corrupt our government, Democrats will fight to protect our constitutional checks and balances and basic fairness for the American people.”

Should Republicans insist on going forward with the “nuclear” option, the Democrats maintained they will focus the Senate on legislation that addresses the promise of America and concerns of working Americans, including:

1. Women’s Health Care (S. 844). “The Prevention First Act of 2005” will reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and abortions by increasing funding for family planning and ending health insurance discrimination against women.

2. Veterans’ Benefits (S. 845). “The Retired Pay Restoration Act of 2005” will assist disabled veterans who, under current law, must choose to either receive their retirement pay or disability compensation.

3. Fiscal Responsibility (S. 851). Democrats will move to restore fiscal discipline to government spending and extend the pay-as-you-go requirement.

4. Relief at the Pump (S. 847). Democrats plan to halt the diversion of oil from the markets to the strategic petroleum reserve. By releasing oil from the reserve through a swap program, the plan will bring down prices at the pump.

5. Education (S. 848). Democrats have a bill that will: strengthen head start and child care programs, improve elementary and secondary education, provide a roadmap for first generation and low-income college students, provide college tuition relief for students and their families, address the need for math, science and special education teachers, and make college affordable for all students.

6. Jobs (S. 846). Democrats will work in support of legislation that guarantees overtime pay for workers and sets a fair minimum wage.

7. Energy Markets (S. 870). Democrats work to prevent Enron-style market manipulation of electricity.

8. Corporate Taxation (S. 872). Democrats make sure companies pay their fair share of taxes to the U.S. government instead of keeping profits overseas.

9. Standing with our troops (S. 11). Democrats believe that putting America’s security first means standing up for our troops and their families

Where are Frist and DeLay now?

Spiro Nikolouzos redux:

A San Antonio hospital has decided to withdraw life support from the Friendswood invalid whose family successfully fought a Houston facility with the same plans last month.

Southeast Baptist Hospital notified the family of Spiro Nikolouzos last week that doctors plan to turn of his ventilator and stop feeding him intravenously May 3. The notification followed the hospital ethics committee's determination that continued care would be futile.

"Can you believe a hospital's trying to do this again?" Nikolouzos' wife, Jannette, said. "It's very aggravating — I never thought this would happen again."

In case you cannot remember who this person is:

Spiro Nikolouzos' case attracted significant attention in Houston in March, the same time the Terri Schiavo drama reached its climax. It shone a light on a seldom-used Texas law that allows hospitals to remove a patient from life support 10 days after notifying family of its intentions. The family has that time to find an alternative facility.

This was the person who had some miraculous intervention at the last minute (Bush, DeLay, or Rove, not sure who), in which this hospital in San Antonio volunteered to take him in.

My guess is the MSM will ignore Mr. Nikolouzos this time.

Thanks to Attaturk for the heads up

Texas gay foster parent ban stopped (for now)

The bill to ban foster parents who are gay or bi-sexual is off the table for now.

The Texas Senate voted not to include the amendment in their version of the Child Protective Services (CPS) bill that made it through the House.

Although the House member who proposed it, Rep. Robert Talton (R-Pasadena), says he will try again before this session is out.

The reason given for the Senate not to approve this amendment is that, because the sexual orientation of foster parents is not checked now, no one can gauge what the impact will be on the children who are in foster homes right now.

In a bit of sanity from Governor "Goodhair" Perry, he dismissed the ban as an issue that could get in the way of the CPS reform the bill is trying to tackle.

I have no doubt this amendment will come up again, but for now, it appears to be, for all intents and purposes, dead.

Go Al

From TAPPED, yesterday Al Gore delivered quite the speech to MoveOn PAC in Washington.

I guess, Al was on his game yesterday, as he had people enthralled for over an hour. The climax of the speech went as such:

It is no accident that this assault on the integrity of our constitutional design has been fueled by a small group claiming special knowledge of God's will in American politics. They even claim that those of us who disagree with their point of view are waging war against "people of faith."

How dare they?

Long before our founders met in Philadelphia, their forbears first came to these shores to escape oppression at the hands of despots in the old world who mixed religion with politics and claimed dominion over both their pocketbooks and their souls.

This aggressive new strain of right-wing religious zealotry is actually a throw-back to the intolerance that led to the creation of America in the first place.

James Madison warned us in Federalist #10 that sometimes, "A religious sect may degenerate into a political faction."

Unfortunately the virulent faction now committed to changing the basic nature of democracy now wields enough political power within the Republican party to have a major influence over who secures the Republican nomination for president in the 2008 election. It appears painfully obvious that some of those who have their eyes on that nomination are falling all over themselves to curry favor with this faction.

They are the ones demanding the destructive constitutional confrontation now pending in the Senate. They are the ones willfully forcing the Senate leadership to drive democracy to the precipice that now lies before us.

I remember a time not too long ago when Senate leaders in both parties saw it as part of their responsibility to protect the Senate against the destructive designs of demagogues who would subordinate the workings of our democracy to their narrow factional agendas.

Our founders understood that the way you protect and defend people of faith is by preventing any one sect from dominating. Most people of faith I know in both parties have been getting a belly-full of this extremist push to cloak their political agenda in religiosity and mix up their version of religion with their version of right-wing politics and force it on everyone else.

They should learn that religious faith is a precious freedom and not a tool to divide and conquer.

I think it is truly important to expose the fundamental flaw in the arguments of these zealots. The unifying theme now being pushed by this coalition is actually an American heresy-a highly developed political philosophy that is fundamentally at odds with the founding principles of the United States of America.

We began as a nation with a clear formulation of the basic relationship between God, our rights as individuals, the government we created to secure those rights, and the prerequisites for any power exercised by our government.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident," our founders declared. "That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights..."

But while our rights come from God, as our founders added, "governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just power from the consent of the governed."

So, unlike our inalienable rights, our laws are human creations that derive their moral authority from our consent to their enactment-informed consent given freely within our deliberative processes of self-government.

Any who seek to wield the powers of government without the consent of the people, act unjustly.

Too bad I live in Austin. I would like to have seen this.

Tick-tock, Tick-tock

The final roadblock to DeLay's exposure as the corrupt congressman is nearly complete.

Democrats wanted to investigate Majority Leader Tom DeLay and have the House ethics committee run as it had since 1997. They won on both counts.

The minority party forced Republicans on Wednesday to vote for reversal of new GOP rules for investigating House members and staff. Reversal was the Democrats' price for ending a deadlock on the evenly divided committee.

The Bugman himself was less than amused:

Early in the day, he was clearly annoyed as he emerged from a closed Republican meeting and found himself in a mob of reporters.

"You guys better get out of my way," he said. "Where's our security?"

On CNN this morning Bill Hemmer, of course, blamed the Democrats for stalling congressional work, as now all House members now have to review their travel records, to ensure they complied with the rules.

As if that is a bad thing.

Could Republicans be honest for once?

Democrats furious over GOP efforts to rewrite amendments.

It appears that Republicans are willing to lie to their mothers, as long as it gets them ahead.

Despicable.

Drip, Drip, Drip

Bloomberg starts in on Tom DeLay.

Ed Gillespie, the former RNC chair sees a conspiracy in everything:

``Republicans understand that if Democrats and some in the media hound Tom DeLay out of office somehow, that that's not the end of a process, that's the beginning of a process,'' former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie said.

``Democrats will say, `Great, now we've got Tom DeLay, now we're going to get the whole majority.' That's what this is about,'' Gillespie said.

But that is not all, we have the usual delusion by DeLay's staff:

DeLay spokesman Dan Allen said the criticism was politically inspired. ``House Republicans see these attacks for what they are, which is the fact that the Democrats have no agenda,'' Allen said.

You would figure that Republicans would recognize that they are only hurting themselves by dragging out DeLay's downfall. But they don't.

Strangeness coming out of the CBO

Max has a link to what he calls, and I happen to agree, the strangest CBO report:

Odd (warning PDF)

But what was he wearing under it?

Kilt-wearing student banned from prom:

An American teenager was banned from a high school prom parade after he turned up wearing a kilt.

Eric Schulzentenberg was stunned when school chiefs in Alexandria, Minnesota, ruled his Highland dress did not comply with their dress code.

The principal apparently stated in a local newspaper that he had never seen someone wearing a kilt before. In a state with a large Scottish population, no less.

Brian Wilton, director of operations for the Scottish Tartans Authority, said he was puzzled by the school's decision.

Mr Wilton said: "From what we've seen, poor young Eric Schulzetenburg was very respectably dressed in his Highland outfit and it seems particularly small-minded and inflexible of the school authorities to ban his appearance.

"Minnesota has a very strong Scottish community - part of America's 20 million Scots descendants - and it has its own two tartans and a plethora of Scottish associations and events.

"If school principal Tim Roggenbuck hasn't seen a kilt before - as he stated [in a local newspaper] - we're tempted to speculate on his planetary origins.

"However, after this little stushie [argument], we don't think he'll make the same mistake again!"

I suppose the principal thought he was wearing a dress or something.

I thought the earth was only 6,000 years old

BBC News:

A piece of jawbone that has lain in Torquay Museum, Devon, for nearly 80 years could be the oldest example of a modern human yet found in Europe.

The Kent's Cavern specimen was thought to be about 31,000 years old, but re-dating shows it is actually between 37,000 and 40,000 years old

Republicans losing control of Social Security debate

The Social Security debate is heating up. Democrats are successfully frustrating Republicans efforts to privatize.

"Those of you that are bad-mouthing every other suggestion out there, suggest your own plans," Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, the normally mild-mannered committee chairman erupted at one point during the hearing. "Doing nothing is not an option, because doing nothing is a cut in benefits," he added. "Grandpa Grassley gets Social Security, but my granddaughter, when she retires 56 years from now, if we do nothing, is going to get this cut that you're talking about."

Sorry, Senator Grassley, Republicans still have not come up with a plan of their own.

So, you first.

Republicans on the run

AMERICAblog has 3 posts about Republicans folding to Democrats.

1. Bolton: Senate scheduling additional interviews to further investigate.
   Preliminary verdict: Bolton going down
2. Social Security: Republicans are divided on Social Security, Democrats are united
   Preliminary verdict: Social Security privatization postponed until September
3. Ethics Committee: Republicans cave to Democrats demands to rescind ethics rules changes (blogged below).
   Preliminary verdict: DeLay in free fall, to hit the ground very hard

Republicans probably think that the timing is good, because they are about to recess for the summer break. However, this is the last major thing they are doing.

The only things left, are the wrangling over Bush refusing to include Iraq war spending in regular budget predictions, and Bush ignoring this countries crumbling infrastructure.

Not to belittle those two points, they don't really match up to the attention, and high profile those other three issue are.

Those three items have pushed the Pope, Terri Schiavo, and Wacko Jacko out of the headlines. The last thing people are going to remember about the first part of this legislative session, is Democrats successfully standing up to the majority party who thought they had a mandate.

Suckers.

Score one for Democrats

Because Republicans are recognizing a loss when they see it, reverse ethics rules.

Now that the House of Representatives have decided to rescind the automatic-dismissal rule, the one that would have protected DeLay the most. Democrats are pressing for the other rules changes to be rescinded as well.

A congressional aide said that changing the rules will mean "a couple of great days for Democrats" but that Republicans have calculated this will deny them long-term use of the ethics issue heading into next year's midterm elections.

Let the countdown begin.

The beginning of the end for Frist

Sam Rosenfeld at The American Prospect brings to our attention, that Frist has allowed his deadline to pass.

Early last week, everyone in the know seemed sure that the majority leader would pull the trigger in the last days before the Senate begins its weeklong recess on April 29. But by yesterday, April 25, Frist aides had put out word that nuclear action would not, in fact, occur this week, so lawmakers can focus their energies on the highway bill and on conference reports for the Iraq War supplemental and the budget.

For someone who thinks he is going to be elected President in 2008 based on his support by the Rapture Right, he certainly is not doing much for them, other than make promises he has, thus far, been unable to keep. Not only has he been unable to keep them, it is obvious that the Democrats in the Senate are able to out manuver Frist, and back him into a corner in which he is left with only two undesirable options.

From the Gay Marriage Amendment proposal that could not generate a majority in the Senate, to his backing off, yet again, judicial filibusters, Frist is being exposed as an inept party leader, and his naked pandering to the Rapture Right, is being laid bare for everyone to look at. Moderate Republicans, Democrats, and Independents are being turned off by Frist's pandering, and the Republicans are beginning to be seen as ineffectual.

The best thing for Democrats right now, is for Frist to keep on keeping on as majority leader in the Senate. As time goes on, I suspect his pandering to the Rapture Right will grow, and his ineffectiveness in the Senate will continue.

Keep up the good work Senator Frist.

650

Major terror attacks triple in '04 by U.S. count

The U.S. count of major world terrorist attacks more than tripled in 2004, a rise that may revive debate about whether the Bush administration is winning the war on terrorism, congressional aides said Tuesday.

The number of “significant” international terrorist attacks rose to about 650 last year from about 175 in 2003, according to congressional aides briefed Monday on the numbers by U.S. State Department and intelligence officials.

Now we know why the State Department wanted these numbers squashed.

Even if you exclude the numbers that count the conflict between India and Pakistan in Kashmir, you still are left with 350 major terrorist attacks around the world, which is still more than twice 2003 numbers.

Waxman’s letter said that of the approximately 650 significant attacks last year, about 300 involved violence in India and Pakistan, leaving some 350 attacks elsewhere in the world — double the total 2003 count.

So much for making the world a safer place, eh George?

Revolt of the Middle

Dionne:

If you were to prepare a list of the top 10 stories you will never, ever read in a newspaper, one of them would surely include a sentence beginning: "Thousands of angry, screaming moderates took to the streets yesterday demanding . . ."

You can finish that sentence however you would like. The accepted view in politics is that moderates don't get angry, don't scream and don't demonstrate. Politics these days is said to be dominated by ideological enthusiasts. Moderates are thought of as people who sit on the sidelines and decide which batch of true believers they can most easily live with.

Dionne has a pretty good point here. Bush's popularity numbers are dropping into the range of only his core support. The moderate voters are getting increasingly dissatisfied with the status quo. The Republicans in charge are beginning to be seen as being out of touch with what the public thinks is important. They don't see Democrats as being obstructionist in a bad way.

The problem is that Democrats need to work on their positives.

Now is the time to be getting people out in front of the public who don't spout off hard left ideological statement, but moderate their tone to appeal to these people.

What we don't need, is Lieberman out in front of the public with his DLC, pseudo-Republican views.

We need real Democrats speaking loud, and painting this batch of Republicans for the extremists they are in a manner that doesn't alienate weak Republicans, and motivates weak Democrats to the cause. Only then will Democrats be able to attract the fence sitters.

Frist backed into a corner

Frist is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Josh Marshall is speculating that this deal offer from Harry Reid is a bit of a ploy. Democrats seem to be offering to allow a couple or three of Bush's judicial nominees through, if Frist agrees let the most extreme of the nominees go down, and remove the nuclear option from the table. This puts the Democrats in a positive light. They are trying to move forward with judicial nominees, while getting the filibuster issue off the radar screen.

The problem, as Josh points out, is that Frist has to decide if he will listen to the majority of Americans who disapprove of Frist's pandering to the Rapture Right and compromise, or if he will not risk the wrath of Dobson, when he tells him no dice on some of Bush's nominees.

That would be a fireworks show worth watching.

However, with all of this, Karl Rove appears to be the one really calling the shots.
USAToday:

In an hour-long interview with USA TODAY and Gannett News Service reporters and editors, Rove, deputy White House chief of staff, dismissed suggestions from Democrats that they might drop threats to use filibusters to prevent votes on Bush's judicial nominees if the president would withdraw a few of the most controversial names.

Harry Reid should be releasing a statement shortly, but right now, it appears that Frist really is not in control of what happens.

Rove and Dobson appear to be driving the Good Ship GOP right now.

Birds of a feather

Bush hitches Tom DeLay to his Social Security Privatization Tour.

As public support for Bush's Privatization plan for Social Security falls to the floor, the latest plan to increase the public's support for the plan, Bush asks Tom DeLay to join him to push the plan.

President Bush is adding a helper to his Social Security road tour: House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who is facing allegations of ethical improprieties but is seen by the White House as crucial to pushing Bush's plans through Congress.

Obviously someone thinks that by linking Bush and DeLay closer, some of the stink will wash off of the Ethically Challenged Leader.

With it becoming clearer and clearer each day that the Ethically Challenged Tom DeLay is going to fall hard, I can't help but wonder, if he is trying to take Bush down with him?

I wonder what DeLay has on Bush?

Microsoft joins the Religious Right

AMERICAblog finds out that Microsoft has been paying Ralph Reed's political consulting firm, Century Strategies, $20,000 per month.

This revelation comes out, just as Microsoft decides that they have gone from being a supporter of gay rights, to being "neutral" on gay rights.

Gee. I wonder how much of Microsoft's new position has been determined by Reed?

I am a Liberal, and proud of it

Oliver Willis has been working on his Brand Democrat concept, which I really like. Going through his images, I came across this one, which symbolizes much of what I believe:



On second thought, that is what I stand for.

Give 'em hell Harry part deux

Harry Reid today:

On accusations that Democrats are blocking judicial nominees who are "people of faith":

"I resent anyone accusing 44 other [Senate] Democrats of being not religious people... We have prayed together - we heathen Democrats."

Go read the rest

Bush (lack of) Approval Rating

WaPo released this latest poll on Bush's approval rating.

Atrios puts Bush's hardcore, found in bed with a naked boy, supporters at 35%. I figured it was a bit lower, at around 30%, but nonetheless, this poll puts those supporters at 25%.

That is stunningly low.

His overall support is still at 47%, which seems high, but you have to figure in the sorry state of our media, fellating Bush 24x7, can only prop him up to less than 50% support, his real popularity level is probably hovering at the 35% range, or thereabouts.

Froomkin

Froomkin gets to the heart of the matter with regards to the lack of real questions asked by the White House press pool. Blogger Eric Brewer of BTC News got into the White House press briefing, and was called on by Scottie to ask a question:

"Back to the report on the botched WMD intelligence, have the massive intelligence failures documented in the report caused the President to rethink his policy of preventive war?"

It is not worth citing Scottie's response. Readers of Holden's Obsession with the Gaggle, at First Draft are quite familiar with the manner in which Scottie dances around actual questions.

Brewer then got in a followup, which solicited even more Scottie spinning.

The important point is that Froomkin calls Scottie, for what he is. A spinner. He doesn't actually answer the questions. He repeats a few catch phrases over and over again.

I wonder what would happen, if Scottie held a press briefing, and no one showed up?

Bush changes tune on DeLay

Last week, Bush, and the White House were giving qualified support for Tom DeLay. Today, the White House announced that Bush to Give DeLay AF1 Flight

Between this, and the pictures of Bush holding hands with Crown Prince Abdullah, should give Scottie McLellan some serious heartburn.

Richard Morrison out

For personal and financial reason Richard Morrison bows out of the race for DeLay's seat. That's a shame, he did pretty well against DeLay in 2004.

I don't know much about the other two Democrats who will be fighting it out in th primaries, Dcongressman Lampson, or Councilman Quan, but who ever prevails in the primary, will need lots of support against DeLay.

Give 'em hell Harry

Harry Reid today:

They’re great with names… On Social Security, they’ve been trying to call private accounts “personal accounts.” They can talk about the constitutional option all they want. It’s privatization, and it’s the nuclear option. They created those terms, and they’re going to wear them around their necks from now till Doomsday.

Via Atrios, and The Al Franken Show, because I am not connected.

The Modern Esquire and Arlen Specter

The Modern Esquire catches this Specter quote that the MSM is missing (or ignoring):

"I think the best policy is to have his nomination come to the full Senate, not decided by a committee because the Constitution says that advice and consent are the province of the Senate itself," said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., on CNN's "Late Edition."

It is now on the record that, despite Frist's assurance that his filibuster fight would not extend past judicial nominees, the filibuster fight is doing just that.

Bush's Base does not believe him

I wonder how much play this will be outside of the CNN Money website?
Rich less confident in economy.

This is Bush's base, and they are not too confident in Bush's economic plan.

But we are told, things are going well.

We are told, that we should hand Social Security over to private investment, when the economy is dragging investment values down.

Gannon/Guckert, lovin' in the White House

The Raw Story has the results of an FOIA request which show that Gannon/Guckert had an awful lot of contact with someone in the White House.

More than 200 visits, with 156 visits being White House briefings.

What were the rest? What about his visits to the White House when there was no White House briefing?
What about those visits in which he signed in, but not out, or out, but not in?

There is something that has been handed to the MSM, that needs to be investigated.

I'd bet the odds are 100 to 1 against the MSM investigating fully.

I bet nothing is going to come of this

Today Bush is meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah. Supposedly they are going to talk about what Saudi Arabia can do to lower oil prices. Except that yesterday, Dick Cheney met with Abdullah as well.

One can only conclude that Cheney told him what to say to give the appearence of caring, without actually committing to anything. It is ludicrous to believe that two people who stand the benefit the most from high oil prices are actually going to do much to pressure OPEC to lower prices. At their core, neither Bush nor Cheney really feel the pain that the average American feels, when they fuel their vehicle.

Add this indifference to Bush's unconcern for public transportation, you only have a recipe for continued high oil prices.

If there is any discussion of lowering prices, it will be to impact the 2006 election cycle. What that means, is we will see a temporary reduction in oil prices around September, or October of next year. Then around January 2007, prices will start to rise again. Just like the last election cycle.

As if we needed any more reason to oppose Bolton

New allegations hit Bush pick for U.N. ambassador:

Newsweek reported, in its May 2 edition, that British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw complained about Bolton to then-U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in November 2003. Citing a "former Bush administration official who was there," Newsweek said Straw told Powell that Bolton -- Powell's undersecretary for arms control and international security -- was making it impossible to reach an agreement on Iran's nuclear program.

According to the official, Newsweek reports, Powell then turned to an aide and said, "Get a different view on [the Iranian problem]. Bolton is being too tough."

Newsweek said British officials "at the highest level" persuaded the White House to keep Bolton off the negotiating team that ultimately convinced Libya to give up its nuclear program. Bolton was unwilling to support a compromise under which the United States would drop its goal of regime change in favor of "policy change" in exchange for Libya's disarmament, the magazine reported.

So, the question now becomes, will Bush wise up and have Bolton withdraw his name from consideration, or will he have to go down in the Senate?

Formula One: Final Results Edition - San Marino

Why CBS thinks they can adequately present a Formula One race, I will never know.

The person they have as the main commentator barely knows the drivers names, let alone the stories that have developed over the seasons. Derek Daly isn't bad, but he is no Peter Windsor, Bob Varsha, David Hobbs, or Steve Matchett. These four people keep up with Formula One. It is just unsatisfying to watch it on CBS, and there are four more races to go.

Pos:	Start Pos:	Driver:	Team:
1	2	Fernando Alonso	Renault
2	13	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
3	3	Jenson Button	BAR-Honda
4	7	Alexander Wurz	McLaren-Mercedes
5	6	Takuma Sato	BAR-Honda
6	11	Jacques Villeneuve	Sauber-Petronas
7	5	Jarno Trulli	Toyota
8	10	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota
9	8	Nick Heidfeld	Williams-BMW
10	4	Mark Webber	Williams-BMW
11	15	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Red Bull Racing
12	18	Felipe Massa	Sauber-Petronas
13	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing
14	16	Narain Karthikeyan	Jordan-Toyota
15	17	Tiago Monteiro	Jordan-Toyota
DNF	20	Christijan Albers	Minardi-Cosworth
DNF	9	Rubens Barichello	Ferrari
DNF	1	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren-Mercedes
DNF	19	Patrick Friesacher	Minardi-Cosworth
DNF	12	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan-Toyota

Now, this was an awesome race. Michael Schumacher came up from 13th position to challenge for the win, and Fernando Alonso held him off for nine laps. Excellent racing by Alonso. In the post race press conference, Alonso said his car was not performing well, so that just added to his win, that he was able to take an under-performing car, and win the race against the seven World Champion.

Great Racing.

Frist and Republican Party support

There have been a few articles, and more than a few blog posts around the internet today about Business support for Frist and his anti-Democrat jihad falling off.

The US Chamber of Commerce has asked Frist to withdraw from his Justice Sunday broadcast. A number of other business leaders reportedly have communicated that they are uncomfortable with Frists religious pandering, at the expense of civility. One thing the both Democrats and Republicans in the Senate have recognized throughout the years, is that civility is required to get anything done.

Gingrich paid a high price for his obstinance. It appears that Frist is willing to gamble with the Republican majority, in at least the Senate.

With the filibuster threat, and Democrats response that they will put a stop to Senate business if Republicans remove judicial filibusters, Frist and the Republican Party have decided that the country's business is to be trumped by the interests of 30% of voters.

In the short run, Frist's intractability will most likely lead to the nastiest campaigns in history next year, as the Rapture Right the Corporate Right, and moderate Republicans square off individually against each other, as well as an increasingly united Democratic Party. In the long run, if things continue to escalate along the same trajectory, it could result in either a Democratic majority for the forseeable future, or a stagnate, unresponsive, failing government. I hope for the former, but fear that the latter could be the more realistic result.

Looking into my crystal ball, I should think that the 2006 elections will be a blood bath.

2008 should be even worse.

My bullshit detector blew up when I read this

This is so blatantly untrue you have to wonder if the writer of this article snorted in disblief when he heard Jebbie say:

Whether it is the war in Iraq or the death penalty, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush says he is given "pause" when the policies he and his brother support run against the views of the Roman Catholic Church.

Because I certainly did.

Bolton and Cuba

Kevin Drum has some email info up about Bolton and his trying to get information to the effect that Cuba has an advanced Bio-weapons program.

It has to be clear to Bush, and others, that the Bolton political liability is not going to go away.

As quickly as Bernie Kerik's nomination was withdrawn, I can't really figure out what the hell Bush Rove is thinking. Maybe the embarrassment over Kerik was more than they are willing to accept twice.

Bush doesn't believe in Democracy

Because if he did, this wouldn't be happening.

The first chairman of a federal voting agency created after the 2000 election dispute is resigning, saying the government has not shown enough commitment to reform.

DeForest Soaries said in an interview Friday that his resignation would take effect next week.

Though Soaries, 53, said he wanted to spend more time with his family in New Jersey, he added that his decision was prompted in part by what he called a lack of support.

"All four of us had to work without staff, without offices, without resources. I don't think our sense of personal obligation has been matched by a corresponding sense of commitment to real reform from the federal government," he said.

Bill Frist not as popular as he thinks.

Bill Frist is being pressured by religious leaders to withdraw from "Justice Sunday".

The Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) stated:

It is important for people of faith to express convictions on public issues based on their faith. But at the same time to have an environment where public officials do not denigrate those with differing views on issues of the day as working against people of faith or being ungodly. We would like to urge Senator Frist to reconsider supporting such movements. We believe that this is a time when religious people need to come together and not to create a climate of divisiveness. And it is certainly not a time in which we turn political disagreements into religious conflicts.

And that is just one, of many, statement.

Reid responds to Cheney's threats

Because the Vice President really doesn't respect government, Dick Cheney, in an all too common refrain, threatened America Senate Democrats.

Harry Reid responds:

BUSH GOES BACK ON WORD AND ENCOURAGES IRRESPONSIBLE ABUSE OF POWER

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid released this statement in response to the vice president’s comments on the nuclear option earlier today.

“In the span of three minutes, the vice president managed to reinvent 200 years of Senate history and ignore the fact that Congress has already approved 205 of this administration’s nominees. Apparently, a 95 percent confirmation rate is not enough for this president. He wants it all, even if it means shattering the checks and balances in our government in order to put radical judges on the bench.

“Last week, I met with the president and was encouraged when he told me he would not become involved in Republican efforts to break the Senate rules. Now, it appears he was not being honest, and that the White House is encouraging this raw abuse of power.

“It is disturbing that Republicans have so little respect for the separation of powers established by our founding fathers. Based on his comments last week, I had hoped that the president was prepared to join Democrats in taking up the work of the American people, but it is clear this is no longer the case. If the White House and Congress insists on proceeding down this road, Democrats will do all we can to ensure that Congress pursues an agenda the American people can be proud of.”

Thanks to Raw Story.

Friday Sea Creature blogging

Despite having spent more than 10 years in the tech industry, it was a career I fell into, rather than through any desire on my part. What I really wanted to do was be a marine biologist (though political science holds a equally high spot in my desired career path). Though one day I will go back to school, and get a degree in marine biology (or political science).

So, in honor of my marine biologist desires we will do a bit of Friday Sea Creature blogging.

We will start with an obvious, and for many a very popular choice:



The loggerhead turtle.

Who could say they were surprised?

Grand Jury investigation into Wal-Mart:

Coughlin had been Wal-Mart's No. 2 executive until his retirement in January at age 55. He quit as a director on March 25 after the company looked into possible misuse of gift cards, invoices and expense reports involving as much as $500,000, Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart said in a regulatory filing.

Coughlin may have asked subordinates to create fake invoices to get the company to pay personal expenses, the Wall Street Journal reported April 8, citing documents that it reviewed. Coughlin may say money went toward anti-union activities, the Journal said.

Wal-Mart is unabashedly anti-Union. To find out that there are people in the company who resort to questionable and/or illegal tactics to prevent unions from forming at any of the company stores, is really not surprising.

That it is, for the most part, being ignored is what is surprising.

I suspect that much of the grand jury testimony is going to involve finger pointing. But what is most surprising is the number of mutual fund managers who haven't dumped any of their Wal-Mart holdings.

No, in retrospect, I am not surprised.

Spain sends a hearty "piss off" to religious leaders

In a rebuke to the Catholic Church, and a (probably not intentionally) a big "fuck you" to the Republicans in the US, Spain legalizes gay marriage.

Spain has become the third country in Europe to legalise gay marriage, with parliament also giving same-sex couples the right to adopt children.

The move by the Socialist government of this traditionally Roman Catholic country yesterday provoked the ire of the church, which has found itself increasingly at odds with the prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, since he took power a year ago.

A petition signed by half a million opponents of gay marriage had earlier been handed in to the parliament.

Mr Zapatero's Socialists won the support of several small parties as the bill was passed by 183 votes in favour, 136 against, with six abstentions in the 350-seat lower chamber.

"This is a historic day for everybody who believes in equality, justice and rights," said Beatriz Gimeno, president of the country's Federation of Lesbians, Gays and Transexuals.

Flashback

Something bizarre happened with the Guardian Unlimited RSS feed. This article about Elian Gonzales popped up from 5 years ago today.

From the tone of the article, I can conclude that the Guardian was on the side of Elian's family in Miami, and not his father.

Interesting flashback

Right's war on judiciary encroaching citizens right to privacy

Because Tom Delay's ideological bretheren were elected to the Texas Lege after the redistricting fiasco, they have begun to rear their ugly heads. Texas Representative Geanie Morrison (R-Victoria) today introduced a bill that would require the Texas Supreme Court to release information on judical bypasses for minors seeking an abortion.

Democrat Garnet Coleman called it for what it is:

But opponents say increasing the requirements could endanger a minor's right to seek a confidential abortion and worry it could target judges who allow a judicial bypass.

"They just want to know who the judges are so they can defeat them," said Rep. Garnet Coleman, a Houston Democrat on the Public Health Committee who heard one of the bills Thursday. "It's a scare tactic against judges; it's a scare tactic against physicians."

On the surface this looks like yet another front in the abortion war, but two additional things are at work.

The war against the judiciary that DeLay, Frist and others are waging, is now going local, and a new war against medical privacy.

"There is nobody to represent the parents in the judicial bypass except the judge," said Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life.

Idiot, that was the purpose of the judical bypass.

Editorial Inanity

Craphammer:

"The Supreme Court is the only institution that could have ended the Bush-Gore fiasco of 2000 with the immediacy, finality and, yes, legitimacy that it did. (True, liberals, who for half a century employed judicial fiat to enact their political agenda, have been whining for five years about this particular judicial exercise. But the critical point is that, whine or not, the ruling was accepted as law.)"

This editorial starts out with a tinge of sanity, and then begins its descent in to loonyville. This section is the beginning of it. Because judicial activism is only appropriate when the ruling is one that Republicans approve of.

From here Craphammer continues into David Brooks territory. Again, that Justice Blackmun rears his head.

Why does Craphammer get to write this utter crap?

President Kerry speaks

The Boston Herald listens. Kerry: Don't tell me what God wants:

"I am sick and tired of (them saying) they somehow have a better understanding of Christianity, of the Judeo-Christian ethic, of values," Kerry added. "We're talking about values? You show me where in the New Testament Jesus ever talked about the value of having taxes and taking money from poor people to give to the rich people in this country."

The Bay State senator added that the Christian values and Catholic church he grew up with "was a church of universality and understanding and true freedom of conscience" and that there was never this kind of "imposition of values" into politics.

Quoting the Biblical line that "faith without works is dead," Kerry cited budget cuts to schools, literacy programs and Medicaid as distorted values.

Some Democrats appear to have re-inserted their spine. Let's hope others follow their lead.

Frist, law breaker

In keeping with Senator Frist's respect for the law, his political action committee, Volunteer PAC, was fined $10,000 for violations of elections and reporting laws.

Frist's PAC did not report hundreds of thousands of dollars it disbursed to Republican campaigns.

I suppose the rule of law doesn't apply to Senator Frist.

Attacking Bush

Despite Bush's desire to kill off Amtrak, a several Senators, including Trent Lott attacked Bush for his plan.

A majority of senators on the Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Subcommittee were critical of Bush's plan and sympathetic to Amtrak, favoring giving the railroad money next year. No specific amount was mentioned.

"How did the administration come up with such a ridiculous proposal?" asked Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., subcommittee chairman. "I was extremely stunned and disappointed that such a proposal was made."

I guess there actually are a couple of lines Republicans won't cross for Bush.

Tom's Tainted Ten

The League of Conservation Voters: With Energy Bill Debate This Week, LCV Names Ten House Members to Tom DeLay’s ‘Tainted Team’.

The criteria for joining "Tom’s Tainted Team" are:

• Voted twice for the House Energy bill that includes the MTBE polluter bailout provision;


• Taken campaign cash from the oil and gas industry which has lobbied hard for passage of the Energy bill (including in many cases contributions from either Valero Energy, a big manufacturer of MTBE which is based in Texas, and/or Lyondell Chemical, one of the largest manufacturers, based in Rep. DeLay’s district);


• Received at least $10,000 in contributions from Mr. DeLay’s PAC, Americans for a Republican Majority (partially funded by MTBE interests), if not more from his personal campaign account;


• Have MTBE contamination in their districts and in some cases, pending lawsuits against oil, gas and MTBE producers filed in their states that would be nullified if the MTBE provision were enacted into law;


• And these 10 members also turned a blind eye to Rep. DeLay’s ethics issues by voting earlier this year to change House ethics rules to help shield him from investigations.

Tom's Tainted Ten. I kind of like that.

Readability Scoring, and Evil

Kevin at Political Animal turns me on to a readability test. I ran it for this site, here are the results:



You can read about this test here, but basically the results indicate that in order to comprehend what I write, you need at least a 10th grade education, and the writing is on a 6th to 7th grade level.

I guess that is OK. The Fleisch Reading Ease number is right in the middle of the recommended value for authors.

For something different, I went to the Gematriculator calculator to determine what level of evilness my blog contains. I ran the RSS feed through and this site was deemed:

Bobo get silly

Today David Brooks decides that the only way to save our governemnt is to overturn Roe v Wade.

His entire premise is that politics is too uncivil, and the threat that Frist and the Republicans are posing to the filibuster is due to one thing, and one thing only.

Justice Harry Blackmun.


When he wrote the majority decision in Roe v Wade, he doomed the Senate, and by extension the entire Legislature.

Everything the Republicans have done thus far, wouldn't have happened if Blackmun had just ruled the other way.

Condigate

As a follow up to this post from yesterday, Think Progress turns our attention to a press conference with Adam Ereli, State Department Spokesman:

QUESTION: Also, The Washington Post reported that Secretary Rice said she didn’t want any information coming out of the Department that could adversely affect the nomination. Is there any truth to that?

MR. ERELI: That is a very inaccurate report and obviously I think you will understand that I’m not going to get into what is said in private staff meetings…

QUESTION: But you’re also saying that she didn’t say that she didn’t want any information coming up that could adversely affect the nomination.

MR. ERELI: That is just not an accurate reflection of the meeting.

The rest is an excercise in dancing around the subject, on the part of Ereli.

He refuses to say whether or not Condi told the State Department to withold information or not.

What is that brown stuff on CNN's nose?

CNN today, decided that the Democrats are bad, bad, bad for holding up Bolton's confirmation for UN Ambassador.

When in doubt blame your English skills

Ahnold today had to backtrack from his comment Wednesday when he said the California/Mexico border should be closed to help with illegal immigration.

Oops, he said. He meant, the border should be secured.

After living in the United States for more than 20 years, he claimed that he needed to go back to school to learn English, as he didn't know the difference between closed and secured.

Yeah, right.

Being a journalist is hard work

Courtesy of Atrios we find this interview with John Cloud, who wrote the fluffer for Ann "the man" Coulter.

Johnny Boy is a bit offended that people are offended about his glorification of Annie.

He says that Eric Alterman is no better than Coulter, despite the former being an actual journalist, and Coulter, being, well, the bombthrower she is.

His rationale for this fluff piece, is actually that since Bush won with his "mandate" the political punditry for Republicans should be given fair coverage (as if you could call this fair).

That, and because they wrote an article about Michael Moore.

How sad for Time Magazine.

The fox is watching the hen house

AP is reporting that the House ethics committee wants to investigate the ethics charges against Tom DeLay.

The problem, of course, is that the House Republicans, earlier this year, changed the ethics rules to protect DeLay from actual punishment if he is found to be in violation of ethics rules.

So, while the fox is watching the henhouse, the guard dog is chained up in the corner of the field watching helplessly.

Today's Nationalist undertones

David Ignatius provides us this article about the rising tide of nationalism that is sweeping the nation, and the world.

The fears of globalism have caused a wave of national pride that is exceeding healthy patriotism. From Ann Coulter's, Michelle Malkin's, and others of the Freeper persuasion, diatribes against the "hate America firsters" are on the rise. In a few isolated cases (fortunately), this manifests itself in violence against those who would question our nations motiviations. With the Chinese vs Japan protests, rising French anti-EU sentiment, and Iranian nuclear nationalism, this is not limited to the United States.

Loving one's country is laudable, but it also has created rivers of blood over the centuries. Thus the dream after 1945 that the great powers, led by the United States, could create international institutions that would provide a new kind of global security. It would be a delightful irony if the Bush administration, seeing the worrisome rise of nationalism in other countries, helped lead the way back toward dynamic, reformed multilateral institutions. But I'm not holding my breath.

Neither am I.

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day

Courtesy of Think Progress, we are pointed to this Salon article about Tom DeLay, Tainted conservative.

“The time has come that the American people know exactly what their representatives are doing here in Washington. Are they feeding at the public trough, taking lobbyist-paid vacations, getting wined and dined by special-interest groups? Or are they working hard to represent their constituents? The people, the American people, have a right to know. I say the best disinfectant is full disclosure.”

– Rep. Tom DeLay, delivered on the House floor,
November 1995

It is a rare event that I agree with Tom DeLay.

Rice Obstructing Bolton Investigation?

Think Progress has a bit of a find:

On Monday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told her senior staff she was disappointed about the stream of allegations [about John Bolton] and said she did not want any information coming out of the department that could adversely affect the nomination, said officials speaking on the condition of anonymity.

It came from this WaPo article.

If the journalist felt it important enough to report, I wonder if it is as bad as it seems.

Tom DeLay goes off the deep end.

Because Tom DeLay is an idiot, he continues to remain in the news embarrassing his party.

Today, he called Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy (a Republican appointee), outrageous, because he looks to international law, and the most egregious of sins, uses the Internet!

Shock! horror!

"Has the Internet become the devil's workshop?" said Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat. "Is it some infernal machine now that needs to be avoided by all right-thinking Americans? What is Mr. DeLay trying to say, as he is stretching to lash out at judges who happen to disagree with his political point of view."

Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, retorted: "Doesn't the other side have anything to talk about nowadays?"

Oh, we have plenty to talk about.

Jeffords out?

AP is reporting that Jim Jeffords of Vermont will not be seeking re-election in 2006.

I don't know what Vermont's prospects are for his replacement, but here is another opportunity to add a Democrat, versus an independent to the Senate.

According to "anonymous source" the 70 year old Senator wil be citing his health, and the health of his wife, as the reason he will be retiring.

"What I am trying to prevent is a learned behavior,"

Texas may ban Gays and Bi-Sexuals from being foster parents.

I can't say I am surprised this is happening, it is Texas after all. One of my neighbors fosters children. Foster parents are not supposed to have more than 5 children at a time. They currently have 7 children. There just aren't enough people who are willing to be foster parents. As Representative Mike Villarreal (D-San Antonio) asked:

"We are here to put children first, not ideology, How are we going to implement Representative Talton's inquisition?"

Under the rule, the Child Protective Services would perform an evaluation of potential foster parents to determine if they are gay or bi-sexual.

When asked why Representative Robert Tarlton (R-Pasadena) wants to reduce the number of qualified foster parents, he replied: "What I am trying to prevent is a learned behavior"

The Senate version does not have the prohibition against homosexuals being foster parents. We can only hope that sanity rules, and this provision is stripped in conference.

CNN oddity

This morning, watching the morning crapfest that is CNN American Morning, I had this strange feeling wash over me.

I was engrossed in the moment.

It wasn't a news story. It wasn't Jack reading viewer email.

It was a discussion about the new Pope.

For about 2 minutes, Bill Hemmer, Carol Costello, and Jack Cafferty were having a conversation. It was a conversation you would expect from real journalists. There were facts, interspersed with personal beliefs, and it was a civil discussion. I almost wish it would have gone on just a bit longer.

Unlike Crossfire and other shoutfests like that.

At some point, Bill Hemmer tried to bring the conversation back to the crappy show they do, but I suppose that the producer told him, in his ear, to let it go a bit longer.

After 2 minutes of this, Jack brought it back to the usual crapfest.

But, for 2 minutes, CNN was actually worth watching.

Odd.

Cliff May, idiot savant, or just idiot

Cliff May comes to the inescapable conclusion that liberals are happiest when liberals are in power.

Genius I tell you, genius



Thanks to Matt at Tapped

Bobo's World

Vandals Drain Lake at Salvation Army Camp

SCOTT DEPOT, W.Va. - Vandals drained a lake at a Salvation Army camp where hundreds of underprivileged children go canoeing and fishing every summer.

Camp Happy Valley's caretaker, David Stover, returned from vacation Saturday to find only about 2 feet of water in Lake Mary Beth, which normally is 12 to 14 feet deep.

"It was pretty sad," Stover said Tuesday, next to the muddy remains in the wooded mountains about 20 miles west of Charleston. "It's very uncalled for, very heartbreaking."

State police are investigating. Whoever drained the lake used a temporary pipeline recently installed over an earthen dam between the lake and a creek. The pipeline had been set up in case the lake needed to be drained and the dam fixed.

Stover said that the self-siphoning pipeline was used to pump an estimated 250,000 gallons of water into the creek over about 10 hours. The deluge led to the collapse of a nearby road that leads to a 45-foot climbing wall and a challenge course of cables and ropes for the youngsters.

Camp officials hope to get enough rain to fill the 25- by 60-yard lake by June 13, the start of camp. Otherwise, water could be brought in from another lake. About 900 youngsters are expected to attend the camp this summer.

Repairing the lake and the road is expected to cost at least $30,000, or about a tenth of the camp's annual budget. Stover was optimistic everything could be restored by the time camp starts.

"We'll fix it," he said. "We're not going to let some irresponsible vandals bring us down."

Lugar had the wind taken out of his sails

Senator Voinovich from Ohio, really took the wind out of Senator Lugar's sails today.

In the Senate Foreign Relations committee meeting to confirm John Bolton for UN ambassador, the entire first part of the meeting looked as if the committee was going to give a yes vote.

That is, until Senator Voinovich (R-OH) dropped this little bombshell:

"I've heard enough today that I don't feel comfortable about voting for Mr. Bolton," Ohio Sen. George Voinovich said

You could see the color in Lugar's face drain away (I watched part of it on C-Span). Recognizing what had just transpired (though totally unexpected) Senators Dodd, and Kerry pounced. Proceeding to press Lugar to either call for his vote now, which would have ended in a tie, necessitating a vote on what the tie would mean, or recess for a week or so, while the new charges against Bolton were investigated.

Lugar, flustered, lost control of the meeting, and seemed to not be aware of committee rules. Senator Biden jumped in, and keeping the pressure up on Lugar, pressed him to make a decision. Biden told him, that if there were a tie, then there would have to be another vote, however, if time were provided to adequately investigate these allegations, then people might feel better voting one way or the other. Lugar, having recognized his loss (probably trying to figure out how to explain things to Rove), decided that the recess motion might be the better option.

At that point, Senator Boxer piped up, and made it known that the State Department had been less than forthcoming on information requested for at least two weeks prior. There was no way anyone could make an informed decision without that information.

I think there are going to be some nasty phone calls from the White House tonight to Lugar's office.

I also suspect that Voinovich is in for a rough ride for a while.

Pass the popcorn.

GOP trying to deal with dissent

In a strangely fair and balanced (no really) article from AP, GOP Leaders are having a rough time coping with the sane part of their party.

From the already well known defections on the filibuster issue, and comments about Tom DeLay coming from Republicans, there is this little bit:

Only two Republicans defected in the latest vote. But according to officials who attended a closed-door meeting of the rank-and-file last week, there were murmurs of concern about the way the issue is being handled.

Rep. Dan Lungren of California, warned fellow Republicans of the risk of arrogance, Rep. Zach Wamp of Tennessee suggested pivoting to a new position, and Rep. Joel Hefley of Colorado, said bipartisanship was critical in ethics matters, according to these officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

That was not exactly the script according to DeLay — who constantly says all charges are trumped up by Democrats, allied groups and a liberal news media — or even House Speaker Dennis Hastert.

It seems that some in the media, are actually (for a change) looking beneath the rhetoric, and finding the substance.

More please.

Foxification of your cellphone

CNET News.com is reporting (probably not new news, but first I have seen it), that FNC is going to be providing their news content to Sprint Wireless customers for $10 per month to video capable phones.

No word on an equivalent from any "liberal" counterpart.

To be honest, I think that despite the content coming from FNC, the service will be relatively popular. With the rise in use of mobile phones with increased capabilities, people, and specifically business users, are looking for content that can be quickly delivered in a mobile format.

I am one of those individuals who has a "converged" device.



Kyocera 7135

I am quite happy with the capabilities of this phone, but with more higher speed network offerings coming down the pike, this phone will probably become under powered for the content that will be available.

There are a number of very interesting phones that are being developed, and with the release of the Treo 650, the usability factor is increasing exponentially.

Though I was really looking forward to the Motorola MPx being released, but alas it has been shelved.



The news delivery mechanism that Sprint is offering (eventhough it is FNC) is really a indication of what is to come.

European cellular providers are now offering location based 411 (or whatever the equivalent is) calls. As a part of your call to directory assistance, you give your location, and you are provided the number of the closest branch of whatever it is you are looking for. You then have the option of having the number automatically programmed into your phones directory, so you don't have to call again to get the number.

Additionally you can request the number to a pizza place in your vicinity, and the numbers for all of the pizza joints will be pushed down to your phone, so you can pick and choose which one to call, without having to know the name of the place up front. If the phone is web enabled, directions from your location to the pizza place will be available as well with the push of a button.

These services are supposed to be coming to urban areas in the United States, such as New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago in the near future, with wider rollout shortly thereafter.

Certainly there is plenty of opportunity for abuse of the system to occur, with spamming, etc. but the concept has broad support from people who like to keep up with the latest technology, and business travellers who want a lot of information available to them, with having to spend much time searching it out.

New Pope elected

I guess I am a bit late to the game.

Joseph Ratzinger, now known as Pope Benedict XVI.

I am not a Catholic so it doesn't ultimately affect me too much, except for the incessant news coverage.

Especially since the American Catholic church only goes piecemeal when it comes to adherence to Catholic doctrine.

From the department of No Shit Sherlock

Wall Street Journal tells us that some news reporters are whores.

As if that was a shocker.

In November, Child magazine's Technology Editor James Oppenheim appeared on a local television show in Austin, Texas, and reviewed educational gadgets and toys. He praised "My ABC's Picture Book," a personalized photo album from Eastman Kodak Co.

"Considering what you showed me, kids' games really don't have to be violent," said the anchor for KVUE, an ABC affiliate and the No. 1-rated television station in its market.

"If...you're not careful, they will be," Mr. Oppenheim replied. "That's why I've shown you some of the best."

There was one detail the audience didn't know: Kodak paid Mr. Oppenheim to mention the photo album, according to the company and Mr. Oppenheim. Neither Mr. Oppenheim nor KVUE disclosed the relationship to viewers. During the segment, Mr. Oppenheim praised products from other companies, including: Atari Inc., Microsoft Corp., Mattel Inc., Leapfrog Enterprises Inc. and RadioShack Corp. All paid for the privilege, Mr. Oppenheim says.

One month later, Mr. Oppenheim went on NBC's "Today" show, the U.S.'s biggest national morning news program, which is part of NBC's news division. "Kodak came out with a great idea," he said to host Ann Curry, before proceeding to talk about the same product he'd been paid to discuss on KVUE. Ms. Curry called it a "nice gift for a little child." Kodak says it didn't pay for the "Today" show mention. But neither Mr. Oppenheim nor NBC disclosed the prior arrangement to tout the product on local TV.

In the "Today" segment, Mr. Oppenheim talked about products made or sold by 15 companies. Nine were former clients and eight of those had paid him for product placement on local TV during the preceding year.

In light of the Armstrong Williams debacle, and who knows how many others, it certainly appears that the process of paying "journalists" for an appropriate story (or avoiding reporting a story?) is a bit more widespread than many would like to admit.

Sometimes you have what you don't think you have

Carl Pope of the Sierra Club's blog, Taking the Initiative, finds that they have something they didn't think they had.

The Sierra Club has been fighting with the administration to get the minutes from Dick Cheney's Energy Task Force meetings. The suits had been moving in the right direction until they reached the Supreme Court, where things have stalled.

While awaiting the appeals process to proceed, people at the Sierra Club, reviewed the papers they did have. Some of the information they have been suing to obtain, they already had:

[P]erhaps we should have paid more attention to the details of the documents the Administration did release, way back in May 2001. These aren't the minutes, and they don't enable us to know whose ideas these were -- but right there in black and white it turns out the Administration told us that their energy plan would result in more dependence on Middle Eastern oil and more oil imports overall. The report, while carefully declining to call for any meaningful measures to increase vehicle fuel efficiency, renewable energy production, or overall energy efficiency, does call for two steps: opening up the energy reserves of the Persian Gulf to US investment, and increasing our "trade alliances"in order to "work for more oil production in the Western Hemisphere, Africa, the Caspian and other areas with abundant oil reserves."

There are certainly details that are probably covered in the meeting minutes, that are not covered in the released documents, but the Administration's plan for "energy independence" actually increases our dependence on foreign sources of oil.

Duplicitous, these tricksey Republicans are.

12 Steps to running the country

The Smirking Chimp points us to this post from p m carpenter's commentary.

It is Karl Rove’s 12-Step Program to Dry-Drunk Power: A Primer:

The title of this piece is not a joke. The subject of this piece is not a joke, either. What I offer here is merely a reader’s digest of Bush’s Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential, by James Moore and Wayne Slater.

First things first, even if a trifle fussy: Rove didn’t make Bush “presidential” as the book’s title suggests -- he made him president. That’s all. The road to becoming presidential rather than president would have had to start somewhere deep inside Bush years and years ago, and that just never happened. Too many parties; too little curiosity; way, way too much egotistical indulgence in royal entitlement to ever permit the emotional and intellectual growth incumbent on anyone aspiring to be president in the sense of the word we all grew up with.

No, Bush was simply programmed, packaged and promoted as a leader, by none other, of course, than Karl Rove. Yet after all this time there still seems to be a mystery surrounding Rove, an enduring question mark of how he managed to do so much with so little. So for those who haven’t read the book and are curious, or, especially for those wanting to run for office or wanting to help an ideological compatriot run and would like a primer on how to succeed in politics, I give you this from Rove’s career, right from the book, point by point. No joke.

I’ve numbered the brief notes I took when reading it some time ago and have added when necessary a clarifying word or two, as memory served.

1. Use surrogates to attack your opponent. Never let your guy (or yourself, if you happen to be running) rip into the other guy. Find some lackey who’s more than willing to get vicious ugly for you. Your guy will look like a disinterested prince.


2. Leak harmful information. This is pretty much your basic opposition-research stuff. But leak it; don’t announce it. And certainly it helps to develop friendly relations with journalists of a whorish bent. Devastating information on your opponent isn’t worth much if you can’t get the word out.



3. Turn rumor into fact. Better yet, start a rumor about your opponent and use the media whores with whom you’ve developed a good relationship to hammer away at whatever you’ve invented. Before long everyone will at least assume that where there’s smoke there’s fire.



4. Use well-organized 3rd-party groups to make allegations. This is closely related to #3. In short, if you can find a Swift-Boat kind of outfit to go libelous on your behalf, do it. Also see #1 – surrogates and the disinterested prince.



5. Funnel money to a 3rd-party candidate similar in ideology to your opponent’s to dilute your opponent’s vote. Self-explanatory.



6. Use ties to law enforcement to launch bogus investigations against your opponent. You’ll need to be comfortably in bed with a high-powered D.A., though, so this tactic isn’t for the chronically un-empowered. You also can’t harbor any compunctions about bankrupting an innocent person through legal expenses or even sending him to jail and destroying his family. This is rather big-league stuff, and not for the squeamish.



7. Associate your guy’s political positions with God and flag. Be creative. If needed, rewatch Animal House for inspiration, the part in which Otter defends his incredibly guilty pals before a college court in a rip-roaring burst of offended patriotism. It can be done.



8. Always position your opponent as an agent of the status quo, your guy as the candidate for change. Self-explanatory.



9. Build your messages on what the public already believes in. Closely related to #7. Don’t ever try to introduce the electorate to something unfamiliar or convince it of something new. Another angle is to play on preexisting prejudices. If the public hates freckled people, your guy hates freckled people. Always has.



10. “Explaining is losing.” This is the only direct quote I’ve lifted from the book, because it is key, absolutely critical. If your guy has to explain anything – his policies, his past, anything – then your guy is playing a losing game. Voters in general don’t want to be burdened with policy details and candidates certainly don’t want to get mired in personal explanations. Just forget explaining anything -- anything at all -- and move on. It’ll work. You’ll be amazed.



11. Use push polling. Again, this is high-powered stuff for the monied pros. Don’t call registered voters and ask if they like so-and-so’s position on something. Call and ask if they like the satanic plan your Illuminati opponent wants to shove through Congress should he get there with all his corrupt campaign cash. You get the poll results you want, and better yet, you leave the right impression of your opponent in the minds of the questioned.



12. Pick off special-interest support for your opponent. In other words, be a hypocritical flip-flopper like all get out (and don’t bother explaining it). Bush’s decision before the 2004 campaign on erecting steel tariffs is an excellent example.

So there’s your primer, in no targeted order of importance. The other side already knows all this stuff and uses it. Now get out there and do the same. This is America.

indeed.

A Cunning Return

Courtesy of Attaturk.

Blackadder is back for another series.

From the sounds of it, they will be continuing the WWI theme from Blackadder Goes Forth.

Rowan Atkinson will be Captain Edmund Blackadder.

Of course, it will take a few years before BBC America broadcasts the shows, so I will have to assume that they are just a funny.

Crybaby

Michelle Malkin: Waaaaahhh

I don't know who is the bigger crybaby.

Ann "the man" Coulter, or her wanna-be Michelle "internment for the brownskinned" Malkin over the picture of Coulter on the cover of Time Magazine.

It isn't enough that Time dedicated an entire article fawning over Coulter. The picture highlights her enormous feet, long legs, and probably makes her adams apple more pronounced.

Of course, it didn't occur to her to ask that that picture not be taken.

Crybabies, all of them.

DeLay: It's their fault

Tom Delay refuses to take responsibility for his actions.

The man has non-existent ethics, and he blames Democrats for his problems.

DeLay's overseas travel, his ties to Washington lobbyists and his hard-edged political style that prompted three admonitions from the House ethics committee last year have received intense media scrutiny. One question raised has been whether DeLay's travel was paid for by nonprofit groups or by lobbyists and private interests working through those groups.

In a message e-mailed to supporters in his suburban Houston district that was provided to The Washington Post yesterday, DeLay blamed the reports on Democrats, liberal groups and the "legion of Democrat-friendly press" who were trying to undermine Republican control of Congress. "It is abundantly clear that their fundamental strategy revolves around attacking me and working to tear down Republican leadership," he said.

DeLay said in the message, titled "What the Press Isn't Telling You" and covering about six single-spaced pages, that his overseas trips were "proper" and "properly vetted and undertaken" and that if there were any question about the source of funding for that travel, no member of Congress "should be responsible for deceptive behavior by outside organizations."

I am curious if DeLay made some comments to Karl Rove that has him in a bit of a panic.

Yesterday Rove, on CNN, pledged the undying support of the White House to DeLay.

It could also be Trent Lott who has Rove back tracking from Bush's statement placing limits on the type of friendship he an DeLay enjoy.

As a final shot at Democrats, Rove becomes as witless as DeLay and blames Democrats for DeLay being unethical.

The pigs line up at the trough

The House Republicans decided it is payback time for big oil. House Energy Bill Increases Tax Breaks.

Even George W Bush wonders about the tax cuts:

Dana M. Perino, a White House spokeswoman, would not comment on the House measure but referred to comments made by President Bush last week. "I will tell you with $55 oil we don't need incentives to oil and gas companies to explore," Bush said in a speech to newspaper editors in Washington. "There are plenty of incentives. What we need is to put a strategy in place that will help this country over time become less dependent."

Of course you would be a silly person if you expected hybrid cars or other alternative energy programs to get equal billing here.

Of course, if the bill passes the House and Senate, despite Bush's reservations (I'm still kind of wigged out that there is a tax cut Bush does not support 110%), I am sure he will sign it. After all, the deficit is not high enough as it is.

Bush, with no ideas of his own

Bush urges lawmakers to offer ideas.

After all, he has none of his own.

Despite calls for the White House to give up the goods on the details for Bush's plan. Despite Bush flip-flopping on his stance for private accounts. Despite Bush's statements that he has no plan, Bush continues the bamboozelapalooza tour. Today in South Carolina.

South Carolina is the 22nd state that the president has visited to sell the idea of Social Security reform. He said he is optimistic about the chances for meaningful change to the system.

"I am confident that members of Congress will come together to reach a permanent solution," Bush said.

Get your own ideas bub.

And the most important part of the article?

Afterward, Bush stopped at Rockaway Athletic Club in Columbia to chat with area residents and eat a $5.10 cheeseburger.

Maybe a career change is in order?

Let's be honest here. A pharmacist that does not want to carry drugs that can be legally dispensed via a prescription, need to get out of the business.

Pharmacies Balk on After-Sex Pill and Widen Fight in Many States

There are areas in this country, where there may only be one pharmacy every 50 or 100 miles. To tell a pharmacist, that they don't have to carry certain drugs, because it offends their morals, is ridiculous on its face. What other reason is there to go through pharmacy school, and take the necessary examinations to get licensed in your state, if you are going to limit what medications your customers can have?

I suppose if you are trying to force women who have unprotected sex to get pregnant, then that could be one way of going about it, as long as you keep other pharmacies from operating in your area.

I suppose you could also deny AIDS or HIV+ patients the medication they need.

Maybe you think cancer is some sort of punishment from God. Deny people the medications they need.

Ultimately, I think those pharmacists need to seriously rethink their career choice.

Republicans like indentured servitude

The Smirking Chimp gives us this article from Ed Naja about the Republicans Bankruptcy Bill.

Ed details how the Republicans in Congress have, in the words of Nancy Pelosi:

"bind hardworking Americans to credit card companies as modern indentured servants."

Well, according to Denny Hastert:

"Those who abuse the system make getting credit more expensive for everyone. Bankruptcy is for those who need help, not those who want to shift costs to other hardworking Americans."

The person who has a catastrophic injury, and rakes up hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of medical bills, and can not work because of their injury, are abusing the system.

The individual laid off from their job, and has tried to pay their bills, yet has not been able to find a job, is abusing the system.

The veteran, who fought in Iraq, and was injured in Iraq, and can no longer work, is abusing the system.

Ladies and Gentlemen. These are Republican party core values.

If you are not wealthy you are abusing the system.
If you have a medical problem, you are abusing the system.
If you lose your job, you are abusing the system.
If you have fought in Georgie's war of choice, you are abusing the system.

The GOP's Favorite Democrat

Not Zell Miller, Joementum, or John Breaux but Ben Nelson of Nebraska.

Nelson is showing his true colors, by asking Frist how high he should jump, while he is already in the air.

Nelson complains, that Senate Democrats are putting him in a tough spot, because he is from a red state.

Well, boo hoo.

I don't think that Nelson was elected as a Republican.

GOP's record first quarter, we've got work to do

The GOP hauled in a cool $32 million this quarter.

Although the DNC has not published its numbers, the GOP numbers are pretty impressive.

715,000 individual contributors with 68,200 new donors.
March totals were $10.7 million.

The RNC is not planning on sitting on those funds. They are going to start voter registration drives, and other get the party in front of the voters activities that traditionally Democrats have been good at.

The problem is that the DNC has not had equal footing dollar-wise.

I know that a lot of people have problems with the DNC, and admittedly I do to. However, it appears that Howard Dean is starting to (albeit a little late) put his stamp on the DNC. That should be a good thing, if he carries through with it.

One thing the DNC does need, however is money.

Consider throwing a few pennies their way

What kind of English do you speak?

Via Matt Yglesias:

Your Linguistic Profile:

50% General American English

35% Dixie

15% Yankee

0% Midwestern

0% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Seeing as I have lived in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and Texas it kind of makes sense. As the majority of my life has been lived below the Mason-Dixon line, I can understand why Dixie is favored over Yankee.

Though it would be more appropriate if Texan would be represented, as we speak a slightly different form of American English here.

Mr. President, are your pants on fire?

Holden at First-Draft, shows us Yet Another Bush Lie:

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I am. I expect my Cabinet Secretaries to make sure that that practice doesn't go forward. There needs to be independence. And Mr. Armstrong Williams admitted he made a mistake. And we didn't know about this in the White House, and there needs to be a nice, independent relationship between the White House and the press, the administration and the press. So, no, we shouldn't be going for it.

From USA Today:

[Department of Education inspector general John] Higgins concluded that top Education Department officials, including then-Secretary Rod Paige, were guilty of “bad management” and “poor judgment” but did not violate contract law.

Higgins also found that David Dunn, a special assistant to President Bush, participated in at least four conversations about the Williams contract with Education Department officials last summer.

So, we know that Bush says the White House did not know that Armstrong Williams was being paid, yet an assistant to the President, who works in the White House, sat in on conversations with the then-Education Secretary Rod Paige about his issue.

Addtionally, it appears that the current Education Secretary, Margaret Spellings, also sat in on some of those meetings.

There are lots of pants burning right now.

3 years, eh?

As the main inspiration for me doing this blog, I really need to offer Atrios my congrats. on his 3 Year Anniversary

His was the second blog I came across two years ago, or so, and I was pretty much hooked. I have read, and do read a lot of different blogs now, but Eschaton is the one I always go back to.

Here's to the past 3, and hopefully another 3.



Cheers mate!

Yowza

Chicago Tribune extracts its pound of flesh from Tom DeLay:

The problem for Republicans is that DeLay's troubles only seem to mount, and the notion that he's the victim of a Democratic Party/liberal media witch hunt just doesn't hold water. DeLay was admonished by the House Ethics Committee three times last year. That would be the Republican-controlled House Ethics Committee.

For the good of his party, DeLay needs to answer the questions that dog him about campaign contributions and lobbyist-paid trips and nepotism hires--and step aside as majority leader.

But Republican leaders have to go beyond that. They can't continue to aid the efforts by DeLay to dodge responsibility. The worst example is this: After the Ethics Committee rebuked DeLay for the third time, the GOP leadership neutered the Ethics Committee. The Republican chairman of the committee, Rep. Joel Hefley, was removed from his post over his objections, and the committee rules were changed so either party could block an investigation of a House member.

Republicans can argue that the committee chairmanship was due to rotate. But the rules change to block investigations was an incredibly blind and arrogant tactic. Don't blame DeLay for that one. Blame House Speaker Dennis Hastert for letting it happen.

It is nice to see that these newspapers are starting to wake up to the judicial threats that DeLay, Cornyn, and the far-Right Republicans has been making, but, why now?

Excluding a few instances, where were these newspapers when the comments were made? This issue has been ignored until this weekend, when bloggers have writing about it for a week or more.

Was it the tepid support from the White House that papers like the Washington Post, and New York Times have been waiting for? Was the Chicago Tribune waiting for the green light from WaPo, and NYT?

Democrats taking back the House

Ruy Teixeira has an article at Donkey Rising, from Alan Abramowitz, highlighting 7 incumbent GOP representatives who could be vulnerable next year.

David Drier (CA 6), Marilyn Musgrave (CO 4), Katherine Harris (FL 13), Henry Hyde (IL 6), Chris Chocola (IN 2), Robin Hayes (NC 8) and Jim Gerlach (PA 8).

Part of the problem is that through redistricting, there are fewer competitive seats in the House than there historically have been. But, assuming competent, well financed, and effective campaigns by Democratic challengers, could unseat these seven, and possibly a few more.

These seven are in a variety of states, and fit right in with Howard Dean's desire to run a real 50 state program, in which Democratic efforts to retake Congress and the White House cannot focus on just a few states, but must focus on the entire country.

While it is true that certain areas are unlikely to swing Democrat in 2006, however, inroads can be made, and with an effective and persistent effort, by 2008, things can change for the better.

Part of this effort must be to unseat enough Republicans in 2006, hopefully enough to swing the House back to Democrats, as well as getting some of the Senate back as well. With a strong showing in 2006, 2008 will be easier for consolidating and extending Democrats position in Congress, and possibly a return to the White House.

DeLay calls the kettle black

At the NRA meeting in Houston over the weekend, Tom DeLay condemned the rhetoric he uses.

"It is unfortunate in our electoral system, exacerbated by our adversarial media culture, that political discourse has to get so overheated that it's not just arguments, but motives are questioned," Mr. DeLay told the National Rifle Association.

and then followed up his attack on himself with this gem:

The majority leader, who has been dogged by ethics questions, opened a spirited address to the NRA annual convention by saying "when a man is in trouble or in a good fight, you want all your friends around you – preferably armed."

Ted Nugent, in DeLay's spirit of reconciliation and moderation exhorted NRA members:

"Let's next year sit here and say, 'Holy smokes, the NRA has 40 million members now,' " he said, adding that NRA members should only associate with other members. "No one is allowed at our barbecues unless they are an NRA member. Do that in your life."

Just lie back and enjoy it.

In a tip of the hat to former Texas Governor Clayton Williams, Bobo tells us to Just lie back and enjoy it.

Fortunately he is not talking about rape, but he is talking about this new fundamentalism that the far right is forcing down our throat.

Desparate Housewives is one of the most popular shows on television, but we are opposed to the sex on display.

We have newspaper columns about how to give a better blow job, but we don't like to give them.

We have teenage oral and anal sex on the rise, but teenagers don't want to have sex (actually Bobo says that those statistics are not on the rise).

50 Cent sings about sex, but we don't engage in that sex.

If you don't like the religious fundamentalism that is taking over this country, just lie back and enjoy it.

Democratic Governors show how bipartisanship works

The Governor of West Virginia today, demonstrated howDemocratic Governors are the best.

CHARLESTON, West Virginia (AP) -- The quality of Americans' lives is improving in states with Democratic governors, and congressional leaders should follow that example to cut through partisan gridlock, West Virginia's governor said Saturday.

"When America is facing challenges like the deployment of our family members overseas; record, mounting gas prices; and skyrocketing health care costs, it is not a time for rhetoric or fighting. It is a time for leadership and action," Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin said in his party's weekly radio address.

I think it really is a case of when Republicans aren't in charge, they are willing to be conciliatory. However, once they get in charge, like in Texas, or at the national level, they are more than happy to tell their friends to fuck off.

Grey Lady wakes up

Maybe the New York Times, and the Washington post have switched from decaf to regular coffee. Editorial: Bill Frist's Religious War:

Right-wing Christian groups and the Republican politicians they bankroll have done much since the last election to impose their particular religious views on all Americans. But nothing comes close to the shameful declaration of religious war by Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader, over the selection of judges for federal courts.

Senator Frist is to appear on a telecast sponsored by the Family Research Council, which styles itself a religious organization but is really just another Washington lobbying concern. The message is that the Democrats who oppose a tiny handful of President Bush's judicial nominations are conducting an assault "against people of faith." By that, Senator Frist and his allies do not mean people of all faiths, only those of their faith.

It is one thing when private groups foment this kind of intolerance. It is another thing entirely when it's done by the highest-ranking member of the United States Senate, who swore on the Bible to uphold a Constitution that forbids the imposition of religious views on Americans. Unfortunately, Senator Frist and his allies are willing to break down the rules to push through their agenda - in this case, by creating what the senator knows is a false connection between religion and the debate about judges.

Senator Frist and his backers want to take away the sole tool Democrats have for resisting the appointment of unqualified judges: the filibuster. This is not about a majority or even a significant number of Bush nominees; it's about a handful with fringe views or shaky qualifications. But Senator Frist is determined to get judges on the federal bench who are loyal to the Republican fringe and, he hopes, would accept a theocratic test on decisions.

Senator Frist has an even bigger game in mind than the current nominees: the next appointments to the Supreme Court, which the Republican conservatives view as their best chance to outlaw abortion and impose their moral code on the country.

We fully understand that a powerful branch of the Republican Party believes that the last election was won on "moral values." Even if that were true, that's a far cry from voting for one religion to dominate the entire country. President Bush owes it to Americans to stand up and say so.

So, the question now is, have the NYTimes, and WaPo switched from decaf permanently, or was this a one time deal?

Finally the Washington Post wakes up

Today's editorial in the Washington Post finally says, what many people should have been saying loudly, and publicly before today.

Frist's televised rant against the filibuster is, in part to paint Democrats as anti-Religious.

SENATE MAJORITY Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) plans to participate next weekend in a telecast sponsored by a conservative interest group that seeks to end the use of filibusters for judicial nominations. The Family Research Council bills what it terms "Justice Sunday" as "a live simulcast to engage values voters in the all-important issue of reining in our out-of-control courts." The group claims that President Bush's judicial nominees "are being blocked because they are people of faith and moral conviction" and says, "We must stop this unprecedented filibuster of people of faith."

Mr. Frist is not responsible for the rhetoric of others. But it will be a distressing new low in the debased debate over judges if the Senate leader appears at an event predicated on slander, unless he makes clear that he does not condone such slander. Whatever one says about the aggressive Democratic use of the filibuster -- which we do not support -- it simply is not motivated by anti-religious sentiment. There are people of faith and goodwill on both sides of the issue. If he attends, Mr. Frist should make clear that he knows as much.

That DeLay shouldn't be threatening judges:

Clarity from the majority leader is particularly important now, because the past few weeks have seen an aggressiveness in conservative attacks on the judiciary that cumulatively takes one's breath away. First it was House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) swearing revenge on the judges responsible for the Terri Schiavo case. Mr. DeLay apologized last week for saying "something in an inartful way." But the problem with Mr. DeLay's remarks was not the manner of his speech but its substance. In ostensibly apologizing, he did not back off his insistence that Congress should restrain the courts, perhaps by restricting their jurisdiction, and he did not forswear impeachment as a remedy for judicial decisions with which he disagrees.

Cornyn shouldn't be excusing violence against judges:

Then there's Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), who posited "some connection" between recent violence against judges and "the perception in some quarters" that "judges are making political decisions." Mr. Cornyn later insisted that he was not condoning violence against the judiciary and conceded that he knew of no "evidence whatsoever linking recent acts of courthouse violence to the various controversial rulings."

Rep. Todd Tiahrt shouldn't be lecturing judges on what their job is:

One GOP representative even inserted his disagreement with federal court decisions into the appropriations process. In subcommittee hearings on the budget for the courts last week, Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) lectured a judge and two Supreme Court justices on his disagreement with recent court decisions -- implying some link to the budgetary matters under discussion. "You know, we don't ask much from the courts. We just pay the bills," he told Julia Smith Gibbons, a federal appeals court judge. "The one time that we did ask something from the courts, a simple judicial review of the facts of a case, we were ignored. . . ."

And in summation, Republicans have crossed the line:

Criticism of court decisions is a welcome, indeed essential, part of American legal culture. But there exist red lines beyond which legislators cannot go without threatening judicial independence. One of those, traditionally, was the norm of treating judicial nominees with respect and not extorting ideological concessions from them; both parties and their affiliated interest groups have participated eagerly in tearing down this protection. Some Republicans are beginning to gnaw at other key pillars on which an independent judiciary stands, such as the ability of judges to render difficult decisions without facing personal retribution, budgetary retaliation or diminution of the jurisdiction of the courts to hear important questions. Responsible politicians should stand against this trend.

In essence, the Washington Post, finally wakes up to what the bloggers on the Left have been railing about for the past couple of weeks.

Despite the fact that the WaPo's editorial position is that they do not support the use of the filibuster by Democrats (I guess it is ok when used by Republicans), finally they stand up and make it known that Frist, Delay, Cornyn, et al, are actually trying to do real damage to the independent judiciary.

To which I ask, what took you so long?

Religion, filibusters, and partial truth.

CNN tries to relay information about Frist's anti-Democratic religious campaign by ignoring the religious aspect of his campaign.

The article even goes so far as to mention that he will be saying how the filibuster is being used against people of faith, but neglects to mention the fact that he will be doing this inside of a church, during a program that will be broadcast across a satellite network used by churches.

The face of evil:

When the news is bad, stop reporting it

Because the Bush Administration is inept at dealing with the terrorist threat, the State Department decided to eliminateits annual report on international terrorism.

Terrorist attacks had reached an all time high in 2004, and most likely 2005 was shaping up to be even worse. Because the Bush administration wants us to think they have things under control, when it is obvious they don't, they eliminate one report that would expose just how inept their handling of international terrorism has been.

Obfuscation, yet another option in the Bush toolbox.

Frist's intolerance

Today the Boston Globe takes a pot shot at Bill Frist.

The complaints are ones we know about. Support for Tom DeLay, Taking to the airwaves next week to link Democrats to anti-Religious forces. It is clear that the agenda of the Republicans in Congress is finally starting to sink in with certain segments of the MSM.

What has taken them so long, and when will the rest of the MSM wake up to it?

Firefox, new version 1.0.3

If you haven't already heard, there is a rather serious security issue with Firefox. It has been fixed in the latest version which is now available.

1.0.3

John Cornyn replies

A number of Texas residents and bloggers received via email a reply from John Cornyn addressing his remarks in the Senate about excusing violence against judges. In case anyone was wondering here is the text of his reply:

Dear Mr. XXXX:

Thank you for contacting me about the federal judiciary. I appreciate having the benefit of your comments on this important matter.

As a former Texas Supreme Court Justice and Texas Attorney General, I believe Americans are best served by a federal judiciary that functions at full capacity and upholds the highest standard. Federal judges are appointed for life; thus it is imperative that nominees demonstrate a record of wise judgment and proven legal ability. Additionally, jurists must not legislate from the bench nor color their rulings with personal ideology. I believe that such requirements will ensure the preservation of our Constitution and safeguard the principles that we hold dear.

As you know, I delivered a speech from the Senate floor on Monday, April 4, 2005, reiterating my position. A full transcript of those remarks, which shed light on several decisions of the United States Supreme Court, is available on my official website: http://www.cornyn.senate.gov/releases.cfm.

As a former judge, a number of my close personal friends still serve on the bench today, and I am outraged by recent acts of courthouse violence. I certainly hope that no one will misconstrue my remarks of April 4 to mean anything to the contrary. Considered in context, I don’t think a reasonable listener or reader could.

There is no possible justification for courthouse violence. Indeed, I met with a federal judge in Texas just this past week to ensure that we are doing everything we can to protect our judges and courthouse personnel against further acts of violence. I personally know judges and their families who have been victims of violence and have grieved with those families.

But I want to make one thing clear: I'm not aware of any evidence whatsoever linking recent acts of courthouse violence to the various controversial rulings that have captured the nation’s attention in recent years.

My point was, and is, simply this: We should all be concerned that the judiciary is losing the respect that it needs to serve the American people well. We should all want judges to interpret the law fairly—not impose their own personal views on the nation. We should all want to fix our broken judicial confirmation process. And we should all be disturbed by overheated rhetoric about the judiciary, from both sides of the aisle. I regret that my remarks have been taken out of context to create a wrong impression about my position, and that they have possibly been construed to contribute to the problem rather than to a solution.

Our judiciary must not be politicized. Rhetoric about the judiciary and about judicial nominees must be toned down. And our broken judicial confirmation process must be fixed, once and for all.

I appreciate having the opportunity to represent the interests of Texans in the United States Senate. Thank you for taking the time to contact me.


Sincerely,

JOHN CORNYN





517 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Tel: (202) 224-2934
Fax: (202) 228-2856
http://www.cornyn.senate.gov

Bush Lied? You don't say!

The Left Coaster points out yet another Bush lie.

This time on the Armstrong Williams brouhaha.

Documents that show Bush close friend, and Education Secretary, Margaret Spellings knew that Armstrong Williams was getting paid.

Based on their relationship, extending back to Bush's governorship, it is unlikely that this was kept from him.

Seeing as the investigation in to the Armstrong Williams is being stonewalled, I wonder if there are some more facts that will be coming out soon, that will make this seem kind of small fish.

Dennis Hastert supports corruption

Hastert defends DeLay

With everything stacking up against DeLay, the Speaker of the House says he supports DeLay.

It will be nice to hear him trying to extricate himself from this mess.

Unsurprisingly, AFL-CIO is opposed to Senate asbestos bill

With the Asbestos Trust Fund bill wending its way through Congress, the AFL-CIO weighs in against the bill.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The AFL-CIO labor group said on Friday that a U.S. Senate plan to create a $140 billion asbestos compensation fund has "a number of serious deficiencies that must be corrected" despite improvements over previous drafts.

The deficiencies included eliminating compensation for many lung cancer victims without letting them document asbestos exposure through CT scans, AFL-CIO president John Sweeney said in a statement.

Still, the draft has improvements like increases in awards for some categories of asbestos disease, and the umbrella labor organization continued to support the establishment of a fund to pay asbestos claims, he said.

"We will continue to work with senators to attempt to resolve these important issues," Sweeney said.

This bill is part of a package of protecting companies like Halliburton who have an enormous liability due to asbestos litigation, much of which is in the cours right now.

On the surface, it has the goal of ensuring that everyone entitled to compensation from these companies due to illness, injury or death caused by asbestos, when you start to lift the covers a bit, you begin to see it for what it is.

There will be people who are sick, or had loved ones die from exposure, who will not be able to collect, for one obscure reason or another. Awards will be lower (and probably not adequate enough) to properly compensate the families of the individuals affected.

Insurance companies are opposed to this bill, because they feel that companies with smaller liabilities are being forced to pony up larger amounts of cash than they might otherwise have to.

Additionally, the fund will have to be voluntary, and whether or not these companies are released from future liability will have to be worked out.

All of these issues are contributing to opposition to this bill. I want this bill to fail to protect the people who were exposed, and are either going through treatment for mesothelioma, or have died from it, from the companies who were responsible for the exposure.

These companies are ultimately going to have to pay up. All this trust fund will accomplish will be to ensure that the compensation is not adequate.

Harry Reid Speaks out

From Atrios:

I am disappointed that in an attempt to hide what the debate is really about, Senator Frist would exploit religion like this. Religion to me is a very personal thing. I have been a religious man all my adult life. My wife and I have lived our lives and raised our children according to the morals and values taught by the faith to which we prescribe. No one has the right to judge mine or anyone else’s personal commitment to faith and religion.

God isn’t partisan.

As His children, he does ask us to do our very best and treat each other with kindness. Republicans have crossed a line today. America is better than this and Republicans need to remember that. This is a democracy, not a theocracy. We are people of faith, and in many ways are doing God’s work. But we represent all Americans, regardless of religion. Our founding fathers had the superior vision to separate Church and State in our democracy. It is a fundamental principle that has allowed our great, diverse nation to grow and flourish peacefully. Blurring the line between Church and State erodes our Constitution, and our democracy. It is a blatant abuse of power. Participating in something designed to incite divisiveness and encourage contention is unacceptable. I would hope that Sen. Frist will rise above something so beyond the pale.

ADL speaks out about Frist

Statement:

NEW YORK, April 15 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Deeply troubled by reports that Senator Bill Frist will appear in a telecast organized by conservative Christian groups that portrays the filibustering of judicial nominees as "against people of faith," the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today urged Dr. Frist to reconsider his participation in the telecast, stating that: "Whatever one's views may be on this or any other issue, playing the 'religious' card is as unacceptable as playing the race card."

In a strongly worded letter to the Senate majority leader, Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National director, said he was "deeply troubled" by Dr. Frist's decision to appear in the "Justice Sunday" telecast on April 24. The program's message, "...is deeply flawed and a dangerous affront to fundamental principles of American democracy," Foxman said.

"The heated debate regarding the status of the filibuster in the United States Senate is a quintessentially political contest, not a religious struggle," Foxman said. "Nor should it be portrayed as such. Whatever one's views may be on this or any other issue, playing the 'religious' card is as unacceptable as playing the race card."

Organized by the Family Research Council, the "Justice Sunday" telecast will be aired on Christian television and radio networks and stations and will be broadcast over the Internet.

Offshoring the federal government

Corporate America has embraced offshoring ostensibly to save a few bucks. Now, it appears that US Government agencies are doing the same, starting with Voice of America.

The Voice of America, working with ever-tightening budgets, is planning a little outsourcing itself -- to Communist China -- to save some taxpayer dollars.

I wonder what other federal agencies will relocate to China?

Finger pointing begins

Due to the example that President Bush set, by blaming everyone but himself for mistakes about the Iraq war, Education Secretary Margret Spellings follows suit.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senior Education Department officials showed poor judgment in hiring conservative commentator Armstrong Williams to promote agency programs, a department investigation found Friday.

I cannot say I am surprised to see the blame being placed elsewhere. After all, as the head of the agency, Ms. Spellings is actually not obligated to accept responsibility for the activities that occur in her agency. Just like Dear Leader not having to accept responsibility for anything that happens in his government.

Step One of saving face

Because Bush is incapabable of admitting any mistakes, the White House decided to pull a fast one on the ever vigilant MSM: White House talks flexibility on accounts.

Recognizing that even Republicans are balking at Bush's private account plan, the Associate Press plays the patsy in the latest Administration flip-flop.

KIRTLAND, Ohio (AP) -- The White House signaled Friday it may compromise on how private retirement accounts would be created as part of a Social Security overhaul. President Bush kept pushing for major changes.

"We're not going to get into ruling anything in or out," presidential spokesman Scott McClellan said as Bush traveled here for a Social Security speech.

And because the White House cannot be honest, they had to blame Democrats, rather than their own party, who have indicated that they are not blindly following Dear Leader.

McClellan portrayed the private accounts as an idea the president has floated, and he contrasted that with many Democrats' opposition.

"Unfortunately, we have too many Democratic leaders who are simply saying what they're against and ruling things out," he said.

As the White House continues to change its position on Social Security privatization, and the MSM continues to misrepresent the changes, expect more smoke and mirrors.

The White House has thus far refused to put out any written details as to exactly what Bush's private accounts would have amounted to, but we can tell from this article, that they have recognized that round one is lost, and are altering their message to reflect that.

And the MSM is helping them cover up the change.

Yet another congressman against DeLay

As the Good Ship GOP continues along, another Congressional Republican has pulled out his fork in anticipation of Goose a la DeLay:

Washington - Rep. Tom Tancredo says it is "probably not the worst idea" for embattled House Majority Leader Tom DeLay to step down while he deals with ethics allegations.

Stepping into a swirling Washington controversy, the Littleton Republican said he doesn't think the current accusations of impropriety against DeLay amount to much. But Tancredo said that from a political perspective, DeLay has handled the ethics issue "stupidly."

"I don't think we should try to oust him," he said in an interview Thursday at the Capitol. "Right now, I would not encourage him to leave. If he chose to resign as majority leader until these matters are resolved, that's probably not the worst idea."

There are still some DeLay holdouts, but it is clear that DeLay is done (for the time being, seeing as Trent Lott, and Newt Gingrich are making a comeback), however, the longer this goes on, the stronger the urge to boot him out will grow.

Pull up a chair, it is almost dinner time.

As if we need more proof CNN sucks

Atrios points us to this NPR segment on CNN and their role in providing the government propaganda and the Senate's attempt to stop it

A spokesperson for CNN recently adopted a technique more fitting for some of the dodgy companies it covers -- dissembling in the hope that unwelcome questions would melt away.

This winter, there was a flood of stories about the widespread use of "video news releases" -- sent out by government agencies -- that were designed to mimic actual news stories. They were broadcast on many local TV news programs.

When asked about the practice, the nation's media critic in chief – that would be one George W. Bush – defended it, saying that the stations ran the pieces voluntarily. But local news directors said they thought they were real. Why? Because they came from a division of CNN.

More than 800 American stations pay that division -- which is called CNN Newsource -- to send them stories from CNN and its affiliates. But that's not all CNN Newsource does. Many public relations firms also pay it to distribute "video news releases" from their clients -- including the U.S. government. (Several competitors have similar deals.)

So CNN Newsource had more than one kind of client here. When preparing a story on the subject last month for NPR, I asked CNN, How big a side business is this? A CNN spokesman said there was no way to know how many video news releases were distributed by CNN in the typical week or month or year. It was impossible to tell, he said.

The "video news releases" weren't a major source of revenue for CNN, he explained, in genial tones meant to inspire confidence. They only generated modest fees. Naturally, the size of those fees couldn't be divulged. He also said CNN put tough safeguards in place when the issue first surfaced last year. Each public relations firm now had to sign a contract for every "video news release" saying each spot would make clear who paid for it.

Here's a pretty precise paraphrase of the conversation that ensued:

NPR: So, these guys at the PR firms actually have to sign a contract for every video news release you distribute through CNN Newsource?

CNN Guy: Yes.

NPR: And they pay you some nominal fee for each. It's not done through petty cash -- you guys send them bills, right?

CNN Guy: Sure.

NPR: So why can't you march down to accounting or your legal department and have someone pull those bills and contracts? Just count how many invoices and contracts there are. Wouldn't that instantly tell you precisely how many video news releases CNN Newsource had distributed?

CNN Guy:

NPR: Hello? Hello? You there?

There was a looooooong pause. I invited him – then and several times subsequently – to reconcile his responses. No further explanation followed.

Just how lame does CNN have to get before they recognize just how bad it is?

Tax exempt church engages in political activism

In a follow on to the Frist/FRC national simulcast against Democrats, Doug over at The American Street wants to know why these organizations are able to maintain their tax-exempt status.

This has gone beyond simple preaching against certain values that Democrats are perceived to be for or against, to outright political activism against Democrats.

Senator Frist, and FRC are using Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky in Frist's campaign against Democrats. The skyangel2 satellite network that is being used by the FRC to broadcast this campaign against Democrats is jeapordizing the tax-exempt classification of the churches who subscribe.

Doug has two questions for Senator Frist:

Senator Frist, as a strict-constructionist, do you believe in the separation of church and state, and will you do everything in your power to maintain this important distinction? Or will you use innocent, God-fearing churches to maliciously advance your political agenda while compromising their nonprofit status?

Frist claims Democrats filibustering Christians

The New York Times report that The Family Research Council is going nuclear on Democrats.

On 24 April there will be a telecast called Justice Sunday: Stop the Filibuster Against People of Faith, which is being characterized as a "filibuster against faith" by Democrats.

Senator Bill Frist is going to be a part of this slavo against Democrats.

From the FRC website:

The Senate Majority Leader, Bill Frist of Tennessee, is committed to returning Constitutional order to the Senate by requiring an up-or-down vote on these nominees. To do this, he urgently needs the help of every "values voter." Without doubt, this will be the most important vote cast in the United States Senate in this term. If this effort fails, the best we can hope for are likely to be mediocre judges who meet the approval of Ted Kennedy, Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

It seems to me that Frist really wants an all out political war to occur over the filibuster. By linking Democrats opposition to Republicans killing off the filibuster, to an attack on faith, Frist apparently wants the religious fight to escalate as well.

This needs to be disseminated widely, as widely as possible.

Tillman probe

Army Completes New Probe of Tillman Death.

At the request of various people, the US Army did an investigation to determine whether or not they held back information about the death of Pat Tillman.

However, the Army is going to hold back on reporting the findings. In fact, they are just not going to release them.

Does anyone see the irony here?

Tom Friedman, where have you been?

In a bizzare editorial, Tom Friedman wants to know why Christian Fundamentalism is on the rise, science spending is down, broadband deployment is down, and basically the United States is falling behind the rest of the world in most areas.

Tom, where the fuck have you been for the past 6 years?

It's noon at the OK Corral

Frist begins to reach for his gun.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is all but certain to press for a rule change that would ban filibusters of judicial nominations in the next few weeks, despite misgivings by some of his fellow Republicans and a possible Democratic backlash that could paralyze the chamber, close associates said yesterday.

Frist supposedly is setting himself up for a run at the White House in 2008. This move would probably ensure he will not succeed.

Between fantasy and reality, lies stupidity

IN an otherwise rational article about Congress taking up the issue of Pharmacists who refuse to dispense medications due to moral qualms, we are given this gem from Karen Brauer, president of Pharmacists for Life:

Brauer told Reuters she believes doctors will eventually begin ordering women to abort disabled children, or refuse to treat them after birth.

"They'll force women to kill their children ... It will be like China. It's the next logical step," she told Reuters.

Yeah, that is exactly what will happen.

As a saving grace to this article, we have this:

"Nobody has a right to come between any person and their doctor," Sen. Frank Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat and co-sponsor, said Thursday. "Today they might not fill prescriptions for birth control pills. Tomorrow it could be painkillers for a cancer patient. Next year it could be medicine that prolongs the life of a person with AIDS or some other terminal disease."

I've said it before, and I will say it again. If you are a Pharmacist, and have moral issues with dispensing prescribed emergency contraception, resign. You do not belong in the pharmacy.

Because Republicans are afraid

Because Tom DeLay has Republican House members wrapped around his little pinky, House Republicans accept sodomizing from Tom DeLay.

It is quite clear, despite certain Republicans desire to separate themselves from the ethically challenged Tom DeLay, in general, the rest of the Republican party has decided that being ethical is optional.

George W. Bush flip flopped and decided that the ethically challenged Representative was the type of person he wants in congress.

As more evidence of Delay's lack of ethics, and honesty is exposed, we find that the far-right wing of the Republican embraces this new found sense of dirty-dealing that has been the hallmark of Tom Delay's congressional career. It is truly a shame, that the party that promised to "restore the integrity" of Congress and the White House, lacks said integrity in so many ways.

No more gov't propaganda as news?

Say it isn't so!

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate passed a measure Thursday that would stop government agencies from using taxpayer funds to disguise video press releases as real news, putting the brakes on a product Democrats call propaganda.

Senate voted 98 to 0 to attach the measure to an emergency spending bill for Iraq and Afghanistan military operations.

Normally I am opposed to this type of method of getting bills passed. However, with Bush's lap dogs so prevalent in the House this may be the only way of getting this measure passed.

Naturally, Bush is opposed:

President Bush cautioned that some responsibility for full disclosure rests with news outlets.

"It's deceptive to the American people if it's not disclosed," Bush told the American Society of Newspaper Editors on Thursday. "But it's incumbent upon people who use them to say, 'This news clip was produced by the federal government.'"

After all, when people know it is propaganda, they don't get suckered as easily.

Amtrak derailed?

Bush sent his plan to eliminate Amtrak to congress today.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration on Thursday sent Congress its plan to turn Amtrak into a private operator, with a federal-state partnership supporting a railroad that would focus on running trains and would not maintain tracks or stations.

The plan is to offload management of the rails and stations from Amtrak, and give it to the states to manage. The states are given the option of maintaining the rails and stations, or privatizing said maintanence. Or even opting out of Amtrak service altogether and going with a private operator.

The plan also calls for the federal government to pay for half of the cost of whatever the states plan requires.

Sen. Jon Corzine, who has urged the administration to fully fund Amtrak, said the measure is just the administration's way of dismantling Amtrak.

"This latest gimmick by the president - to claim fiscal discipline by lowering numbers and shifting the cost burdens to states and communities - is ill-fated, ill-conceived and just plain wrong," said Corzine, D-N.J.

Ultimately this is just part of Bush's plan to eliminate Amtrak, and ultimately passenger rail service altogether.

After all, when he was running for Governor of Texas, he had no idea that there was even Amtrak service available in Texas, and questioned why anyone would want to ride on a train when air travel is available.

Lone Democrat stands up to Bush EPA nominee

The other Senator from Delaware, Thomas Carper, blocked Bush's EPA nominee, Stephen Johnson.

It seems that Carper, and a couple of other Senators (Jeffords and Chafee) have been trying to get information from the EPA regarding studies done modeling the effects of Bush's Clear Skies plan, and plans put forth by Jeffords, and Carper with Chafee.

The EPA has been less than forthcoming with the information, and so to prod the Bush administration and the EPA to cough up the requested info, Carper put a hold on the vote.

This was not done to block Johnson's confirmation, but to spur the EPA to give it up.

Carper said he believes Johnson, a career EPA employee for about 25 years and the first person with a science background to be nominated to lead the agency, would make a good administrator if the White House doesn't interfere with him politically. (emphasis mine)

There is the big question. Is Johnson going to toe the line? Which line is it that he is going to toe?

This should get the information that the Bush administration does not want us to know about regarding their Clear Skies plan, and how it stacks up to alternative plans, already being evaluated.

I suspect that the skies won't look so clear when the data is presented.

Finally some sense

Ariz. Gov. Nixes Contraception Refusals

PHOENIX (AP) -- Gov. Janet Napolitano vetoed a bill Wednesday that would have allowed pharmacists to refuse to provide abortion-related medications if doing so conflicts with their moral or religious beliefs.

Napolitano, who supports abortion rights, said in her veto letter to lawmakers that pharmacies and other health care providers "have no right to interfere with the lawful personal medical decisions made by patients and their doctors."

The bill would have permitted pharmacies and hospitals to refuse to dispense drugs "prescribed to accomplish an abortion and emergency contraception based on a moral or religious objection." Emergency contraception, or the morning-after pill, reduces a woman's chance of becoming pregnant within 72 hours of intercourse by preventing ovulation or fertilization and interfering with implantation of a fertilized egg into the uterus.

Finally, someone steps up and addresses the elephant in the room.

On the other hand, the issue in Illinois is still in doubt.

Also Wednesday, two Illinois pharmacists sued Gov. Rod Blagojevich for ordering them to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception even if it violates their religious beliefs.

The debate there, is whether or not Pharmacists are covered by the Health Care Right of Conscience Act, which allows medial professionals to not perform a medical procedure they are morally opposed to.

If a Pharmacist is morally opposed to dispensing some drugs, then they need to rethink their choice of profession.

DeLay: I'm sorry you feel that way

Tom DeLay today apologized, not for what he said, but how he said it.

Since it appears that the Good Ship GOP is extending the plank for Tom to walk off, he is trying to sound contrite.

However, it is at best a disingenous plea for contrition.

It sounds like Tom's goose is cooked. However, at this point we don't know how much longer until the timer pops.

The forks are out, we are just waiting for the time to stick them in.

Wal-Mart Leaves Bitter Chill

Wal-Mart Leaves Bitter Chill (washingtonpost.com)

It is hardly surprising that Wal-Mart is anti-Union. However, the lengths that Wal-Mart will go, to prevent unionization is disgraceful.

From closing the store in Jonquiere, Quebec when it voted to unionize, to closing the meat department in a store in Texas when it voted to unionize, Wal-Mart is making it clear that it does not really value its workers.

Wal-Mart already destroys local small businesses when it moves into a new town. It is willing to put a store on a Hawaiian burial ground, and build right next to Aztec pyramids. Wal-Mart's "concern" for workers, and the towns its stores are in, are really nothing more than a illusion. A front to distract people from their overriding goal of money, money, and more money.

What ever happened to the company that Sam Walton built? Not that the company was a good corporate citizen under his leadership, but as compared to the way the company operates today, it was far and away a better company.

At least, under Sam Walton's leadership, Wal-Mart would purchase goods made in the United States. Today it wont even do that if it can help it.

Rick Santorum hearts Wal-Mart

Attytood: Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Wal-Mart)

This explains Santorum's minimum wage increase proposal from early March.

Wally World supported it because of the minimum wage regulation changes, and the overtime changes that were a part of the bill.

Fortunately that bill died, but since Wally World gives Santorum use of their corporate jet, and plenty of money to his campaign and Santorum's PAC: America's Foundation

Reason #253 to defeat Santorum in the next election cycle.