Fitz? Fitz!

Please turn out the light at the end of the tunnel.

Murtha!

Yeah, Coyoteville, that oncoming train’s a real sonofagun, isn’t it?

EGREGIOUS!

That served a dual purpose. Shout-out *and* commentary.

(…in my best faux Don Meredith voice):

Turn out the lights,
The party’s over!
They say that all good things
Come to an end.

Turn out the lights,
The party’s o-verrrrrrrrr!
And tomorrow starts
That same old thing again.

Redd

you go girl!

Go figure. Another struggling Republican governor that Susan Page of USA Today didn’t mention in her piece claiming that “Dems were slipping in state races.”

How does that happen?

From Politcal Wire:

“Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri (R) continues to struggle in his bid for reelection against challenger Charles Fogarty (D). According to a new Rasmussen Reports poll, Fogarty currently holds a statistically insignificant lead over Carcieri, 41% to 40%. These numbers mirror May’s poll, which also showed Fogarty with a one-point lead.”

-GSD

That’s BushCo for ya:

In like a lion.

Out like a light.

This reminds me of: “Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.” (8/5/04)

‘Cause the Cheneybush administration never seems to tire of finding new ways to make things worse for our men and women in uniform.

I’m sure there will be a way this gets blamed on Clinton.

EPU’d And apparently stuck in a void, so I’ll re-post. Recieved in a E-mail;

Subject: Things you have to believe to be a Republican
today
Date: Fri, 2 Jun 2006 21:58:28 -0500

Things you have to believe to be a Republican today.

Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals
and Hillary Clinton.

Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy
when Bush’s daddy made war on him, a good guy when
Cheney did business with him, and a bad guy
when Bush needed a “we can’t find Bin Laden”
diversion.

Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is
Communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital
to a spirit of international harmony.

The United States should get out of the United
Nations, and our highest national priority is
enforcing U.N. resolutions against Iraq.

A woman can’t be trusted with decisions about her own
body, but multi-national corporations can make
decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.

The best way to improve military morale is to praise
the troops in speeches, while slashing veterans’
benefits and combat pay.

If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won’t
have sex.

A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our
long-time allies, then demand their cooperation and
money.

Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy,
but providing health care to all Americans is
socialism. HMOs and insurance companies have the best
interests of the public at heart.

Global warming and tobacco’s link to cancer are junk
science, but creationism should be taught in schools.

A president lying about an extramarital affair is a
impeachable offense, but a president lying to enlist
support for a war in which thousands die is solid
defense policy.

Government should limit itself to the powers named in
the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages
and censoring the Internet.

The public has a right to know about Hillary’s cattle
trades, but George Bush’s driving record is none of
our business.

Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime,
unless you’re a conservative radio host. Then it’s an
illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.

You support states’ rights, but Attorney General John
Ashcroft can tell states what local voter initiatives
they have the right to adopt.

What Bill Clinton did in the 1960s is of vital
national interest, but what Bush did in the ’80s is
irrelevant.

This WILL sound unpatriotic, but sometimes, it’s just embarassing to know I live here.

What kind of mismanagement reduces us to this?

It’s justhumiliating.

I bet the French military are laughing their asses off, at a well lit base. While eating their freedom fries

Anne 10-

Duncan Hunter took care of that yesterday, I understand.

Please toss a coupla bucks in Jennifer Brunner’s hat. She’s running for Sec. of Sate in Ohio against Kenneth What Voting Rights Act Blackwell.

Anne – they blamed it on clinton yesterday during the fake debate on CSPAN.

http://www.firedoglake.com/200…..ent-143603

OfT: “We Went to War on the Hint of an Accord”
by emptywheel
“I love eRiposte, because he makes me, by comparison, look like a disinterested dilettante with no grasp for details. I urge everyone with the slightest interest in how the Administration lied us into war to go check out his most recent post. Here’s some background.

eR has analyzed the Niger forgeries obsessively for years now. He has shown a number of things, notably that Italy’s intelligence service SISMI was involved in “fixing” the information that CIA was getting, so that the obvious errors in the Niger forgeries didn’t appear in the cables CIA received; he has provided strong evidence to suggest SISMI was doing this with feedback from CIA, so they could adjust to the reactions within CIA to make their “intelligence” more persuasive…..”

So…maybe the reason Bush isn’t hearing from the commanders and others in the military is that the phone’s have been disconnected.

Where is the shame for this dereliction?

“What kind of mismanagement reduces us to this?”

You put an incoherent, narcissistic diletante into the most powerful office in America as a prop to cover for the looting of the federal till. Bush has managed to fuck up every enterprise he ever touched. There’s no mystery here.

giant rubber stamp on CSPAN right now

And yet…and yet…there’s U.S. economic news SO GOOD it’s in the headlines at Yahoo – the Bush administration has found the perfect way to reduce the trade deficit!

Trade deficit posts surprising improvement

WASHINGTON – The deficit in the broadest measure of foreign trade, after setting an all-time high at the end of 2005, narrowed by an unexpectedly large amount in the first three months of this year.

(snip)

The biggest change in the first quarter came in a drop in the amount of money that America sends overseas in the form of foreign aid and payments that families provide to relatives in foreign countries.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200…..fi/economy

Kendrick Meek D-Fla using giant rubber stamp as a prop.

twolf1 — oh, awesome! It’s the 30 Something Dems on C-Span1! :)

EPU’d -
a straightforward idea on taking the framing out of their hands -

After reading through the comments, the link below seems even more appropos of the situation

STOP CALLING IT A WAR, IT’S AN OCCUPATION !!!

This 1 pager from thereisnospoon, boldly illustrates -

how to wrest the power of Rove’s Frame Game from the pukes

and solidify Dems position with voters

Despite the polls, including one Tweety was sqawking about yesterday that says Americans plan to vote vis a vis positions on ‘the war’,
there’s reason to think Rove’s shit might still prove helpful

everyone should read it, in fact, I’d love to see it diaried at Kos and picked up by marquee bloggers

http://www.boomantribune.com/s…..195357/822

and I can’t for the life of me get in to my booman acct – would do anything to have someone tell the poster to diary this at Kos ASAP!

debbie schultz was giving the rubber stampers hell a few mins ago. she asked why bother running for office if you are just gonna check your brain at the door when u get to work? Why bother?

This story is absolutely priceless. They can shovel billions into Halliburton and unprecedentededly profitable oil companies, they can give huge tax cute to the wealthiest citizens without batting an eye, but they can’t shake loose the spare change to keep the electricity on at our military bases. Nice.

Resolved: America great! Bin Laden evil! Go Bush!

Not even the inventor of “freedom fries” could stand to be present at the GOP-controlled Congress’ absurd “debate” over Iraq.

By Michael Scherer

June 16, 2006 | WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. Walter Jones, the North Carolina Republican who invented the phrase “freedom fries,” invited me into his Capitol Hill office Thursday morning, a cluttered space festooned from floor to ceiling with military memorabilia, Pentagon plaques and photographs of soldiers. Then he pulled out an e-mail he had recently received from an Army captain who served in Iraq.

The e-mail quoted another American soldier serving in Iraq, a voice that Jones wanted people to hear. “Tell all those assholes in D.C. to get us the f— out of here. This is bullshit,” Jones said, reading from the e-mail, but choosing not to pronounce the f-word in full. “Either that or tell them to tell Bush to send over the twins. They can bunk with me. That would be useful.”

Jones is not a natural dove. He sits on the Armed Services Committee and his district includes Camp Lejeune, the home base of nearly 47,000 sailors and Marines. But Jones is one of a handful of Republican congressmen to break ranks with President Bush and the GOP leadership over Iraq. In recent months, he has been campaigning for a “full and honest” debate on the Iraq war. And he has written several letters to GOP committee chairmen and Majority Leader John Boehner, requesting the chance for a public vote on a pullout date.

Of course, none of that has happened. In April, Boehner told his colleagues that he would schedule a floor debate on Iraq, apparently bowing to pressure from Democrats and Republicans such as Jones. But this week, when the debate finally kicked off, Boehner and the Republican leadership pulled a bait and switch. Instead of an Iraq debate, they scheduled a debate on a resolution “declaring that the United States will prevail in the Global War on Terror.” And then, in an election-year trick that is almost as old as the Congress itself, the GOP leadership barred any amendments on the resolution, effectively forcing Democrats to vote on whether or not they want Osama bin Laden to win.

Jones now says he feels duped by his own party’s leadership. “Maybe I should have been less trusting, but I felt it would be a debate that would allow us to talk about policy,” Jones told me. “I don’t see how we would have gotten hurt if we had allowed members of both parties to go down to the floor to offer an amendment.” To express his frustration, he appeared Wednesday at a press conference with Rep. Neil Abercrombie, a Democrat from Hawaii, who bound his own hands in yellow twine to dramatize the bonds under which members of Congress toil…

http://www.salon.com/news/feat…..index.html

Why are the Dem’s not raising holy hell on the fact that the Congressional pay increase just kicked in and the same pricks just let the minimum wage increase get shot down?

This was one of those things that Newt Gingrich would have held a parade to point out.

-GSD

Could it be that the Republicans have modeled their midterm prospects and imagined that a tsunami could be headed their way if the voters make a serious effort to, uhhh, vote? So suddenly they discover the value of pandering to the ridiculous wing of the party, which keeps its support and money coming in while making Congress look ridiculous.

If the Constitution divides power among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, it’s important for the devious idiots in the executive to bring the other two branches down to the same level. If you dread a voter upsurge, try to convince the voters that voting is futile. Bring in the clowns. Fly out for some golf. Make lots of money. Try to stay out of jail. Make sure that every argument the Democrats start becomes a mudfight.

Christy, Could you please check for my post in moderation or spam filter? Thanks.

TPM has a still from the Weicker Lamont bear cartoon — Josh’s comments below:

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.c…..008765.php

I’m not sure I even have the heart to ask my Lieberman pals what’s up with this. Lieberman’s trying to show CT Dems he’s not out of touch but he’s showing them he’s out of his mind.

They need electricity ?
*g*

If it’s heating up again in the House, could we convert some of the Gooper emissions into electricity for Fort Sam?

We spend as much of our military as the entire rest of the world combined. And yet we can’t:

Provide our troops with suitable body armor.
Provide our troops with survivable* vehicles.
Recuruit a sufficient number of troops to send guard and reserve untis home and allow sustainable rotation of RA and FMF units.
Provide adequate transportation for troops returning home on leave or families traveling to join them within CONUS.
Provide adequate treatement of PSTD within active-duty units.
Provide adequate treatment for Iraq war veterans, period.
Pay the electrical bill.

Here are the things we’re doing instead:

Star wars.
The F/A-22 and the JSF at the same time.
New-generation nukes.
HAL, Blackwater, etc. contracts for things the military used to do more cheaply and/or more effectively.

In the words of college football pundit Beano Cook:

“It’s unbelievable!”

* So now the jury-rigged up-armored Humvees are having a spate of rollover accidents because their suspensions weren’t designed to handle the extra weight. Can’t somebody in that vast Procurement Army of the Potomac (The Pentagon) get this issue f**king fixed? It’s only been three f**king years.

EPU’d from previous thread, and offtopic even there. But so help me, it’s not my fault the present administration can’t stick to one scandalous affront to our democracy at a time:

sunny@40 says

Progressive Democrats of America declares “no confidence” in the machine tally results of California’s 50th district June 6th special election.

http://pdamerica.org/articles/…..dcount.php

Go there and sign the petition to demand a manual hand recount. Poll workers were allowed to take home the Diebold machines The margin of victory was less than five percent, with many ballots yet to be counted. By interfering with the chain of custody, the machines are legally decertified, according to the National Association of State Election Directors.

Done, with the following comment attached:

This is a national issue, and a national disgrace. Other countries manage to conduct open, transparent elections, using paper, pencils, and public participation. But we, with our gadget obsession, are losing control of our electoral process to machines that are so easy to hack a monkey can be taught to do it (literally–google for the video if you don’t know about this already.)

The key point is, EVEN IF THE REPORTED RESULTS ARE 100% ACCURATE, the fact that they come out of such a questionable process renders them useless.

Look at it this way–suppose you were in the hospital and were going to need a blood on hand for for an operation the next day. As your doctor was asking for blood of your type to be sent from another hospital nearby, a nicely dressed stranger passing by in the hallway said “Oh don’t bother, I’ve got some here” and pulled a mason jar out of his backpack. As your doctor looked questioningly at the jar, the man said “Oh its fine, don’t worry. I sterilized the jar myself.”

Would you want your doctor to use the blood (which might, after all, be perfectly fine)? Or would you want blood you knew you could trust, even if you had to wait a bit?

And if you wouldn’t trust your body to blood with a questionable chain of custody, why should we trust our democracy to an equally questionable electoral system?

– Markus J. Q. Roberts

– MarkusQ

Bustednuckles (9:54):
A great e-mail! Glad you shared. I will forward it to many friends.

Smell that? I think that Red Meat is starting to turn…

Gee, yesterday some Democrats expressed outrage at the possibility the new Iraqi government would offer amnesty to insurgents who attacked our troops. The republicans quickly scuttled that debate and the MSM went along with it, labeling the WP story ‘inaccurate’.

Looks like the WP report wasn’t that ‘inaccurate’ after all.

“Maliki’s plan for unifying the country includes the release this month of 2,500 Iraqi prisoners not deemed to be security threats, a move that was “well received and showed some seriousness,” Zebari said. Preparations are under way to host an Arab League-sponsored reconciliation conference in the first week of August. The participants are still being determined, he said.

Zebari said there “hasn’t been any discussion” about offering amnesty to insurgents who may have attacked U.S. forces. Such a strategy, though, “will come up as the government moves ahead,” he said.

“The government is just beginning to act,” he said. “All Iraqis expect this government to make a break from the past.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/…..world_news

So, Bush has mangled things so badly in Iraq that we are left with offering amnesty to those people who killed and wounded our troops. Don’t expect the MSM to cover this however. It would interupt the ‘Bush on a roll’ stories.

Republicans hate Americans.

Look, they spent 50 years hating every social program that has helped to bring people from the bottom up. They bitch about waste, fraud and abuse in the “welfare state”. They bithc about how much money has been spent and hightlight every bad thing that heppens with the poor, that happens in the inner cities. They want to report all the “bad news” and give no credit to any of the positive results.

They behave the exact opposite when it comes to their pet cause.

They want no criticism of the Iraq war. They only want the rosy pictures. They will not even investigate waste, fraud and abuse in Iraq. Despite billions being dissappeared and shipped out by the chopper load, they want to hear none of the bad news.

What can you say about a group of people who hated any programs that helped people domestically but are willing to countenance all of the things they decried about domestic social programs for their big overseas boondoggle?

They love anything that keeps money out of Americas hands and in the hands of a few large comapnies that are beholden to them.

They hate Americans.

-GSD

“So, Bush has mangled things so badly in Iraq that we are left with offering amnesty to those people who killed and wounded our troops. Don’t expect the MSM to cover this however. It would interupt the ‘Bush on a roll’ stories.”

Not to mention ongoing Britney Spears coverage.

Christy, Sorry, ignore #29. I had to back out and reload the page to see it.

Chisty this joke 1st heard on Middle Fork of Davis Creek. You might remember the old Cox clothing stores. The joke was a man sent his wife to Cox to buy him a seersucker suit. She got confused and went to Sears and bought him a ****sucker suit. I think Frist and his pals all made the same mistake.

Larry Johnson just blasted Rove and Republicans on CIA leak,war in Iraq.

“Karl is a shameless bastard. This could explain why his mother killed herself. Once she discovered what a despicable soul she had spawned she apparently saw no other way out. It would be one thing if his vile tactics were simply mere smears of politicians like Kerry and Murtha. They are big boys and should be able to defend themselves quite ably against this turd. But Rove, like Josef Goebbels, has used fear and smear as his primary tools to keep George Bush in power. And to what end?

“Now, if fat Karl had been at the head of the line to enlist in the Army and help lead the invasion, I wouldn’t be so cranky. But he didn’t, and Cheney didn’t, and Wolfowitz didn’t, and Rummy didn’t and the Bush daughters were busy getting drunk in DC bars. What is it about Republican chickenhawks who played every angle during the Vietnam War to avoid going to war but have no hesistation to start a war in Iraq and send other peoples children into the fray?’

http://noquarter.typepad.com/m…..g_our.html

When are you people going to understand the real threat posed by homosexual Mexican flag burners?

Woot! Good one TANK. Sounds like Larry knows Turdblossom all right.Shameless bastard.Should be front page headline.

After hearing Johnson (via c-span) on the Plame panel, I no longer have to imagine the anger behind his words. Blistering.

WooHoo Larry Johnson!!! That sooooo needed to be said!

Money quote from Nooner’s scribblings in yesterday’s WSJ:

Republicans have great difficulty grasping the president’s incompetence.

So there you are.

al-Scooter, That would be incopetence sqquared.

OT but here is a good ed. on the recent Supreme Court decision.
http://www.amhersttimes.com/in…..;Itemid=27
THE DON’T-BOTHER-TO-KNOCK RULE

al Scooter- Is that article available online? Do you have a link?

MarkusQ @ 33-

Thanks for picking that up. I’m not sure what other issue is more important right now than questionable elections. If we are going to allow repugnants to continue to hijack the system without hammering the issue unmercifully, why bother sending money or working for campaigns on behalf of progressives if they have no chance in hell right out of the box? The phone jamming convictions should prove to everyone once and for all that they are not only willing and capable of stealing elections, they are actually and actively engaged in it.(that is, if Mark Crispin Miller and John Conyers didn’t convince you first)

TANK at 41 — Ouch. I understand why Larry would be so angry, knowing Valerie and Joe as he does. But the comment about Rove’s mom’s suicide is way beyond where I am comfortable going — even for a malignant bastard like Rove, that’s a step too far for me. Love Larry, but there you are.

Wow…Larry’s site is freeped, like never before, imagine those FreepTARDS complaining about Larry mudslinging…go there for a laugh about their comments……Guess they don’t like it when they get a taste of their own medicine…LMAO

Busted #47:

I couldn’t agree more. But the Pegster’s on the other side, so there’s a discount factor she applies to her estimates.

I believe that she’s at least directionally accurate. Maybe she’ll come around a bit more over time.

Christy 51 -

I too winced at that “Coulterism.”

V G, Another front page headline;

STRIP SEARCH SAMMY STRIKES AGAIN!

You know what yall? I like Larrys stuff, and have yet to find the depth of my rage at the destruction of our Republic, but he stepped way out of line with that crack about Roves mother.

It is unnecessary, and dilutes his argument and moral authority. This is in no way a defense of Rove; rather, an admonishment for our team to continue to wear the white hat.

OT, but I cant use apostrophes, and its bugging me. Does anyone else have this problem?

Christy#51…I agree Christy, but I understand why he is at that point…….I think, and I am sure you know how FED UP most people are about Rover and what he has gotten away with since his days in Texas…I go back to the two Agriculture guys he got convicted of some bogus charge for political reasons and ruined their lives, one guys Mom died from a stroke because of the stress……..Rover is more out of control than ever

It’s pretty clear that we are going to be in Iraq through the balance of Clusterfuck’s term of office. As commander in chief- he has the power to keep the troops there and he will. Congress can cut off funding for the war- but that ain’t gonna happen- even if dems take over congress.

Clusterfuck will have a total of six years to win his stupid war- and he won’t. In the end, the issue will be decided by a future president.

If this thing’s still hot in 08- it will likely decide the election.

By 07- americans are going to be ready to leave- unless things change dramatically.

tommy yum — I’m not having an apostrophe problem. What browser are you using? Maybe its an interface issue…anyone else having an “apostrophe” problem? (And is that what the kids are calling it these days…wink…wink…)

Christy,

getting some proxy to bring up an opponent’s family member’s suicide is right up Karl’s alley –

unlike Karl, Larry doesn’t hide behind proxies so I suspect he’s in for it

STOP CALLING IT A WAR, IT’S AN OCCUPATION !!

‘ ” ‘ ” ‘ “

Iv ‘ve noticed the quotes don’t work when pulling from another source though.

About the resolution recently debated on in the House

How they voted:
Republicans Yeas 214 Nays 3 Present 2 Not Voting 12
Democrats Yeas 42 Nays 149 Present 3 Not Voting 7
Independent Nay 1

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2006/roll288.xml

What they voted on:
H. RES. 861:
Declaring that the United States will prevail in the Global War on Terror, the struggle to protect freedom from the terrorist adversary.

Numerous whereas, link for full text below. The meat of the resolution is in the resolved part.

Resolved, That the House of Representatives–
(1) honors all those Americans who have taken an active part in the Global War on Terror, whether as first responders protecting the homeland, as servicemembers overseas, as diplomats and intelligence officers, or in other roles;
(2) honors the sacrifices of the United States Armed Forces and of partners in the Coalition, and of the Iraqis and Afghans who fight alongside them, especially those who have fallen or been wounded in the struggle, and honors as well the sacrifices of their families and of others who risk their lives to help defend freedom;
(3) declares that it is not in the national security interest of the United States to set an arbitrary date for the withdrawal or redeployment of United States Armed Forces from Iraq;
(4) declares that the United States is committed to the completion of the mission to create a sovereign, free, secure, and united Iraq;
(5) congratulates Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki and the Iraqi people on the courage they have shown by participating, in increasing millions, in the elections of 2005 and on the formation of the first government under Iraq’s new constitution;
(6) calls upon the nations of the world to promote global peace and security by standing with the United States and other Coalition partners to support the efforts of the Iraqi and Afghan people to live in freedom; and
(7) declares that the United States will prevail in the Global War on Terror, the noble struggle to protect freedom from the terrorist adversary.

Insert tears of pride and rueful grin of appeciation for our noble lawmakers here (if so inclined).

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/…..H.RES.861:

I s s s s seem t t t t to h have a st st st stuttering problem t t t today

Franco at 57 — I know. I’m not saying I don’t understand the reasons behind the anger, I’m just saying that for my comfort level, that’s the step too far. I’ve just seen the back end of too many kids who have had to live through a parental/caregiver suicide up close and personal in juvenile delinquency cases to be comfortable with that, that’s all. Rove is a skeezeball of the highest order — and deserves to be exposed for every smarmy trick he’s ever pulled — but the mom comment is just that step too far for me, and I needed to say it out loud for everyone. (Sometimes, you just need to do it, and this was one of those times for me. And I really love Larry, and I know his heart is in this all the way for the Wilsons. But you have to be honest about the things that make you uncomfortable on all sides of things.)

Christy,

I’m using Firefox, and oddly enough the problem just went away.

Wait, let me check. Y’all.

Awesome!

So who are the dems who voted yes on the sham resolution, why did they do so, and what are the consequences going to be? Their consituents who look at blogs like this need to give them an earful.

Christy as always you write so beautifully, and I agree with you.
Thanks for the response.

My response to the suicide remark was exactly Christy’s: Ouch. However evil one believes Rove to be, and however he managed to get that way, blaming a person for a parent’s suicide is over the line.

He might think it, he might believe it, but to “say it out loud” probably just hurts Larry and garners sympathy for Rove – which is the last thing Rove is entitled to.

Maybe someone who knows him could suggest an edit and/or an “anger drove me to cross a line I shouldn’t” apology, although it may be too late for that.

The Republicans are fighting for their collective political lives, right now. It isn’t actually about doing something, like managing a defecit or fighting a winnable war. It’s about generating the image that these thngs are being mannfully handled. The image that they are In Control.

These guys want to stay in power. They took the political debate in this direction in the first place because it worked in getting them elected. Talk tough. Talk simple. Generate the appropriate sound bite for the appropriate group of people. Wind it up and wait at the polls.

Problem is, of course, that hysterical rhetoric has generated a FUBAR environment. Symbolic laws that have done little to manage the real crises. The War in Irag. The Balooning Defecit. The Overcrowding of Jails. Inflation. Sustainable Energy. None of these guys in power right now are any good at making a tough choice or spinning a complex solution into a digestable sound-bite (Clinton, how I miss you.) They are EXCELLENT at being hysterical.

The guys in power now, the Frists and Santorums, the Fighting Keyboardists, are not the fighters who got the Republican party where it is. They are the cheerleaders and hand-wringers who are the by-product of that fight. They are the true legacy of that fight.

You want them to actually fix something?

Hey, great nickname for the GOP
The Deadbeat Daddy Party

Somewhat OT but I could use some input. Tomorrow Rep. Freylinghuysen (R-rich people) is having a town meeting for a WHOLE HOUR. We are planning to go, but after he finishes telling us what a wonderful job he has done, there will probably be about 45 minutes for questions. My wife wants to ask how he can justify not supporting net neutrality. I am thinking about the inability to pay the military base bills (he’s on the HASC). Thanks for any ideas.

tokorode at 71 — Oh, I am SO going to use that. Thanks!

TRex at 4, I am deeply honored to be both a shout-out and commentary.

I chose the name to be a subliminal message: it’s gone too far.

r-dub #49:

Actually, that quote was from Joe Scott’s bog (linked below). He put that sentence of his in italics for emphasis, and I mistook it for Nonnan’s words. She’s quoted extensively.

Apologies, my bad.

http://tinyurl.com/h3me9

calscientist #67

The first link in my #63 will take you to the roll call vote list. Democrats are in italics. It is a little cumbersome to pull them out individually and what state they are from is not given with the vote. You can, nevertheless, identify easily how your specific congressperson voted.

We need a new poetry/song contest. The Cheney stuff was great.

Suggested theme of neglecting our troops plus war profiteering/Halliburton.

I’m working on one to the tune of Where Have All the Flowers Gone, except money instead of flowers.

Ooh, forgot. Lunch today with a conversative Republican friend. She thinks gay-bashing has lost its political power, and that the whole flag-burning thingie is just PATHETIC.

Note to Repubs: your stupid tricks don’t work anymore even with your own base.

tanbark #52 from the previous thread….

If you are still out there, I wanted to let you know that you are on fire!

wow.

Maybe we can get the troops some cool seersucker uniforms and new night vision goggles for those dog days and nights of summer with no electricity or a/c at Fort Sam Houston…

and then some of the same for the soldiers and civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan suffering in the blistering heat and shattered infrastructure.

Waste, fraud, abuse and lies. Thanks so much, dubya et al.

Christy –

Word Press converts simple quotes marks and apostrophes and two hyphens into smart quotes — then, when someone copies and pastes the Word Press smart quotes into the comment window, Word Press rejects them and publishes bad code stuff.

For example, you wrote: tokorode at 71 –

The direct copy paste comes out as: tokorode at 71 %u2014

I’m sure there is some way to shut off the smart quote thingy in Word Press — the problem came up for me at Democrats.com some years ago, and Bob Fertik told me how to shut off the smart quotes in MS Works, which ended the problem.

Sunny @50 says:

If we are going to allow repugnants to continue to hijack the system without hammering the issue unmercifully, why bother sending money or working for campaigns on behalf of progressives if they have no chance in hell right out of the box?

You just gave me a great (and therefore totally impractical) idea. What we need is a four party system. Let me explain.

I’m a registered Republican, and have been all my life. I hate what has been done to my party (and, subsequently, my country) by these bastards. If we could force them out into their own party (the Repugnants), and you guys could force the Lieberman’s and the McCurry’s out into their own party (the Shillocrats?), we could have a four way race, wipe the floor with them, and then get back to having a rational civic debate about how best to manage our country, without all this lying, spying, torturing, nonsense.

*Sigh* I can dream, can’t I?

–MarkusQ

Yesterday, Ann Coulter said essentially that Jack Murtha ought to be assasinated:

http://tinyurl.com/e8xvc

Today, Larry Johnson speaks for me.

Bustednuckles #11

Great and sadly funny list.

Funny thing, I remember when we sneering at the Russians as their bases were unable to keep the lights on. Grover Norquist: Soviet Mole activated at last…

Hey have y’all seen this the loser Rover is attacking us……too funny

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/37681/

Pardon me while I go off topic for a short rant. I live in New Orleans, and we’ve been raped and pillaged and plundered, but enough is enough. The cable being laid by Bell South to help restore service is being looted for the copper. We got criminal element from all over the country now, many under the pretense of looking for work. They go through empty neighborhoods like a plague of locusts and through populated ones where opportunity presents. Normally, I’d say if you happen to be living in one of those sparsely populated areas, it behooves you to stay frosty. NOW, I’ll say if you live anywhere in this town, you need to be vigilant.

It’s enough, I tell you!

MarkuQ-

I love it!

Christy, they’re all gathered around the bathtub, holding the drowning ceremony. They can’t see what’s behind them or ahead of them-they just can’t see anything anymore. Are we taking bets on whether this will become a National Story?

I’m still working on how to counter the most common argument I get from people who don’t bother to read newspapers – “Oh, you’re too in-the-weeds. It’s really not as bad as you say. See? Look around. Everything is the same here as it ever was.”

They’re right, for now. But 6 months from now, when more electric bills come due and uh oh, now it’s a VA Hospital that has to close its doors, what will they say then? The ripple effect from the base bankruptcies is gonna hurt. All those people in the surrounding communities, all the base suppliers…tsk, it’s a crying shame what they’ve done to our song, ma.

Bush’s top domestic policy advisor speaks.

(Snip)

WATTENBERG: So you would feel comfortable putting a doctor in jail for performing a procedure that a woman wants? And not just on-demand, but it could be rape, incest, life of the mother.

ZINSMEISTER: Sure.

-GSD

Franco @ 57,

the Agriculture guy’s mom didn’t just die of a stroke, she died while her child was in prison, consigned there by Rove

STOP CALLING IT A WAR, IT’S AN OCCUPATION !!!

EPU’d so I gotta repost my shout out to tanbark #52 from previous thread.

Word..

MarkusQ at 10:59 am –

I’m a registered Republican, and have been all my life. I hate what has been done to my party (and, subsequently, my country) by these bastards.

My parents were life long Republicans, and I was too — until I turned 18 and the Tet Offensive changed everything. I subscribed to National Review in high school, but the siren song of William F Buckley lost it’s grip on me as reality began to intrude.

The Republican Party has a long tradition of Moderation and Liberalism, but all of that has been driven out by the radical right wingers that have taken over. They call themselves Conservatives, but that is a LIE — every thing they do betrays conservative principles, and brings shame to our country and disgrace on the Republican Party.

They are not conservative, they are gangsters that crawled out of the same cesspool that produced Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler.

sunny– signed the petition and thanks again! Kennedy’s powerful article went *poof* and I still don’t get why more people don’t care. Is it not cool to care about this? The system is broken and you’re right, it makes no difference how hard we fight for what we believe in if the vote is not pristine. We really should have international monitoring… and much more. The election is coming up soon- argh!

Why does Ann C. get away with making death threats against judges and now a Congressman? Why is this not being investigated?

Just made a contribution to the Ohio Democratic running for Secretary of State (to replace the odious Blackwell):

Jennifer Brunner

Who do you want counting votes in Ohio in ‘08?

cbl#90, thanks, you are right I forgot about that detail….That was so sad especially in the documentary , when he was crying while recalling what happened to his Mom.

Tim, I hear ya. Word, indeed.

Franco # 86.

That is why I could care if Rove’s feelings were hurt. Sorry about Godwin’s Law, but he is a modern day Josef Goebbels who revels in the polarizing and destructive nature of his brand of win at all costs politics. The country is being ruined and he is the chief architect.

-GSD

cbl, several threads ago I saw you are a Land Parker. Me, South Land Park. Sutterville, Sam Brannan. You?

Christy, as per usual, I totally agree with your long term view at 10:32.

To Congress:
“STOP CALLING IT A WAR, IT’S AN OCCUPATION !!”

Better,
To Congress and the Traditional Media
STOP CALLING IT A WAR, IT’S AN OCCUPATION !!

angie, thanks. I hope everyone here will do the same.

Glenn Greenwald is the best in the blogosphere when it comes to explaining why the current Criminal Enterprise that is the repugnant party is NOT conservative. I have never been conservative, thanks to a very liberal Maw Maw and Meathead! but I live in Alabama and have always been surrounded by conservatives, some of whom I personally love. These people are in great distress, wanting to defend the party and it’s actions, but finding it increasingly impossible to do so. Some are outright disgusted, and it has nothing to do with gay marriage, flag burning, or immigration, all of which they support the party on. It has to do with the fact that the policies are so obviously geared toward enriching the rich and siding with big companies over people. THIS is what we should hammer, and leave the rest by the wayside for the time being. It’ll work, I tell ya.

GSD#97…that is why at our next meeting her in Ft Lauderdale of our progressives who work to get out the vote, we are going to work out some strategies involving the use of Rover in our rebuttals and our framing of what the ReTHUGS are doing to this country….
Rove is a traitor to the United States, He OUTED a CIA agent, he is still working in the peoples house. President Bush says he trusts Karl Rove and is a vital part of his team..IS THIS THE TEAM WE WANT RUNNING OUR COUNTRY….A TEAM HEADED BY A TRAITOR!

There’s a photo up at Huff Po of the sear sucker senators (WTF is wrong with those people) and Santorum’s wearing a dark tie of some color or another but not THIS TIE IS PINK.

Makes me want to barf all over them.

Get the f to work bozos.

Larry Johnson is a ruthless bastard.

If there are going to be ruthless bastards, I’m grateful that he’s one whom I can trust.

I’m all too familiar with suicides among my friends and family. Not jillions, but you know, one or two is quite sufficient. So, Larry’s remarks froze me to my core.

BUT, recall the lowdown on RFK – “he’s a ruthless bastard”- then recall what he was up against (if you’re old enough). Actually, JFK was a mean SOB too. The diff between RFK, JFK, Larry, etc. and Rover and his ilk is the direction in which they lean: towards or away from the light.

There are times when the ends justifies the means, when only fire can fight fire. We are, sadly, reaching that rubicon.

And Christy, I agree with your take on rover’s mother.

Let the poor woman rest in peace.

The Republican Law of Untouchability.

It means they can do whatever, whenever however and when they are called on it they have a million excuses. The favorite of which is ‘They do it do!’

-GSD

Wow. The full-on flame war over at No Quarter is sufficient reason for Larry to have avoided the Coulterism. That one comment is getting all the attention, instead of the truly noteworthy point that Rove, a pantswetting draft dodger, is slandering decorated veterans.

I have read Johnson’s post at his site, and the ‘charming’ ripostes flung back like simian feces on double banana rations day at the zoo.

While I understand and applaud the reticence of some to engage in gutter tactics or respond in kind to same, I will state for the record that such tactics have and will continue to be used against the truth, and against those of any ideology who attempt to hold high the standard of honesty, expressly for the purposes of silencing them through intimidation and emotional upheaval, as long as there are gains to be made without a cost attached…And that one method of affixing a price tag to such behavior (Of course, by no means the only method) is to staple it to the offending hand by responding in kind.

“Rules – in a knife fight? No rules!”

One of my friends says that “GOP” stands for “Grand Old Parsers”. They gave Clinton heck for the ‘meaning of is’ but when it’s their own words, they bitch at the people who say ‘that isn’t what you said then!’

Christy, I totally agree with you that Larry goes too far when linking Rove’s mother’s suicide with him.

One more point about his anger: it isn’t just about Plame and Wilson. The administration is dismantling the CIA.

Larry Johnson went over the top with his comment about Karl Rove’s mother — but the problem is that it steps on his message, and hurts him as a spokesman.

Karl Rove is a vile excuse for a human being — words cannot express the shame he brings to our country.

Tommyyum,

See how the Republicans work. Ann Coulters attack on widows was heralded as a “question that needs asking” despite the “inartful” wording.

Larry Johnsons’ comment is “outrageous” and his “larger point” should not be addressed because his attack has mooted he “large point”.

This is the “Republican Law of Untouchability” in action.

-GSD

I’m also not comfortable with Larry’s comment about Rove’s mother. Yes, I understand the outrage, and there are many many things for which Rove needs to pay. But we do not win by crawling down into their cesspool – we win by fighting with the truth.

MarkusQ, the petition site for the CA-50 recount has a box you can check to automatically send your comments as a letter to the editor of your nearest newspaper. I got a confirmation call this morning from the paper, so it looks like they’ll be publishing it.

sunny – couldn’t agree more about election security. I don’t have a lot of moolah to give to races, but one I will continue to support is Debra Bowen’s for SoS in Cali, and I just gave a little to Jennifer Brunner as well. I think electing honest, reform-minded SsoS in as many states as possible is one of the most strategically important things we can do.

It’s a number.

0

The number of the offspring of Bush 41 who have fought for their country.

It’s a number.

0

The number of days that Karl Rove has spent in military service.

It’s a number.

0

The number of days that Dick “other priorities” Cheney has spent in military service.

It’s a number.

0

The number of days that Paul Wolfowitz has spent in military service.

etc, etc, ,etc…

It’s a number.

2,500

The number of patriotic Americans who have paid the ultimate price to keep these clean-hands cowards in power.

I agree, GSD. Coulter employed the oldest of old-school GOP tactics: projection.

Just because a bunch of wingers tut-tutted Coulter’s wording but applauded her sentiment doesn’t mean we have to do the same thing. The Right is incapable of articluating their position on anything: one, because they’re too ready to sacrifice their “values” on the altar of political expediency; and two, because their true agenda must be cloaked in hijacked language, obsfucation and double-speak, lest they reveal themselves as the reactionary, racist, xenophobic minorty they truly are.

We don’t have to semiotically duck and dodge. We don’t have to attack the messenger.
We don’t have to engage in the politics of personal destruction.

Having said that, Rove is a fat-ass.

There. I feel better now.

I’m leaning toward DarkBlack’s POV on this one. I would NOT rather lie bleeding on the sidewalk than kill someone who’s trying to kill me, as the Catholic church used to teach. I’ve reached the end of my personal rope. It’s not polite, it’s not moral but dammit it’s politics and we can’t play if we’re all worried we might hurt someone who’s trying to kill us. Dead.

I’m with you mommybrain. Fight fire with fire. You don’t get anywhere by playing nice. The GOP are using a scorced earth political policy, so how can we fight if we are running around trying to put out their fires? I say we get some flamethrowers and go start some fires in their neighborhoods.

The solution to the past due electric bills at Fort Sam Houston and Fort Hood is not all that difficult. There are at least three approaches to resolving the past due bills: (1) The power companies can cut-off service, immediately, just as they would if the military installations were, instead, 80 year old widows or single moms with sick kids. (2) Using his powers as Commander In Chief in time of war, Bush could seize the power companies (the Steel Seizure cases be damned!) and compel them to continue to provide electric power to the bases. (3) As to Fort Sam Houston, and maybe as to Fort Hood (I’m not as familiar with Fort Hood’s surroundings), Bush, again using his powers as unitary President and Commander in Chief in time of war, can simply start billeting troops, officers and military offices in the thousands of homes that surround Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio (The Third Amendment requires Congressional support for this, but that should be no problem with the Rubber Stamp Congress), and the people who own and/or live in those homes can pay the electric bills. All it takes is a little creative thinking……

mommybrain,

I completely understand why Christy felt she had to distance herself and FDL from LJ’s post. But in my own, personal view, he’s taking a lot of bullets right now for the team.

He’s essentially provided the cover needed to counter the Coulter meta-narrative (She’s just a comedienne, but her larger point has merit.) by using the same tactic against one of theirs. If it’s followed up by some appropriate meta-narrative from our side (Larry’s a ruthless bastard ex-CIA conservative, but his larger point has merit. to the general public and How do like us now? to Rove & Co.) the debate can be brought back to a winnable battlefield for us.

shooogarp says ,
I say we get some flamethrowers and go start some fires in their neighborhoods.

Speaking of which, We have our very own Norske FlameThrower.(TM)

Good cop – Bad cop is sound game theory and fits under Diversity -of-tactics doctrine. We are a united front …a DIVERSE united front whose actions , while they may seem superficially in contradiction ie. a ‘ violent’ minority as part of a Pacific majority, these actions have deeper synergies. These ergonomic deep synergies are what DoT doctrine is all about and what makes it unbeatable. A little slow and cumbersome sometimes but in the long run an irresistable force.
Good cop – Bad cop or Diversity-of-tactics for want of a better term works. DoT is good and express’s the highest realization of the evolutionary spirit. Anyone capture a Goop and want tips on slow torture hit me up on e-mail. pro2@optusnet.com.etc
‘ We have a right to destroy those who would destroy us ‘

I’m a navy vet who is appalled at the situation we are in. Read this piece from yesterday’s Washington Post Magazine: Fatal Inaction

The world’s most powerful military failed to provide the armor that would have saved scores of American lives. One father would like to know why

It will make your blood boil.

Brian Hart will be online at the washingtonpost.com discussion site at 12 noon today for a live chat.

-Pixel