rootz!

“Hello, I’m from the United States Congress, and I have subpoenas for a Mr. Karl Rove and a Mr. Vice President Richard Cheney.”

Sweet music to my ears. Please let it be so!

Oh Teddy, you sure do know how to make a girl’s Saturday evening. ;-)

Well, hi Christy, I guess it’s just you and me, beautiful!

Deficit? Way up, thanks. Cost of living? Up there, too. Interest rates? Oh yeah. Gas prices? Still high. Medication costs? Up.

Wage? Unchanged.

Teddy, check the end of the previous thread — you will be amused

The formula should be simple in Congressional races:

Bush = bad
GOP Congressional Candidate = Bush
GOP Congressional Candidate = bad.

“House and Senate go dem”. That would be GREAT! Odds on the senate are long- but not impossible- probably an even money bet on the house.

Dems look pretty good for the house right now- but we’ve still got almost five months left.

Goopers hope that Clusterfuck doesn’t step on his dick in public during that period- that the housing bubble waits until after the elections to burst, and that there are fewer casualties in Iraq.

Dems hope for more gooper candidates behind bars by November.

We’ll see- but if the goopers hold on- it won’t be because of Rove- he’s the one who got em into this mess in the first place- and he’s tryin to save the reputation of his Pygmalian.

“I created a president- and he turned out to be a Frankenstein monster”

Not exactly how Rover wants his story to end..

fitz!

Volunteer to work at your local polling place, you won’t be disappointed. Either as an official (always needed) or as a Democratic vote protector.

The Republicans are much better oiled on this, and its importance is underrated. A lot of vote suppression gets done in the polling place on election day — bullshit subterfuges to lengthen lines and such, simple things like that are killings us.
.

great post, Christy… but what kind of environment are we in when Bobby Kennedy Jr’s research and voting expose gets less press than baby Shiloh?

That piece in the post was a suck up to end all suck ups.

But people have to get out and do their part this fall. Not wait until fall. Now. Do your part. Now.

For a lot of people it still seems beyond belief that a Presidential election could actually be stolen. Or two. Or that it could happen again in the future.

Such belief changes are shocking, they don’t happen overnight.

It would help if the center-left reality-based blogs would stop shooing people away from this issue (not fdl of course).

By the way, I am new to posting here (though not new to reading the wonderful posts!). I am a ‘recovering” network television producer quite disillusioned with the lapdogs. Can anyone tell me the best way to participate in these posts and conversations? It seems there are many regulars here! Thanks to anyt reader/poster for any beginner tips…

Am I crazy?

I walk into my local Borders to buy a Father’s Day present and am assalted with a huge display of Ann Counter. I pick up a book and throw it on the floor. I scour for a manager and when I find one I ask her the following:

“Would Borders sell a book that advocates the killing of Jews?”

“No ma’m of course not.” Was the horrified reply.

“Would Borders sell a book advoating the killing of blacks?” I say in Florida housewife wisper.

The manager takes a step back from me. I beckon her to the front of the store. I pick of the shit-filled Goddess.

“This books advocates the killing of Liberals which are Americans. Why would Borders carry a book that advocates the killing of liberals?”

At this point I can tell this woman is terrified of me.

“I haven’t read the book.” is her lame-ass reply.

I have spent a great deal of my life in retail and I can say that if she didn’t know verbatim what was in the book at least she had to know the gist of it.

I gave her the hairy eyeball and took my daughter’s hand and left.

Fuck Borders and all the fucks who sell this harpy’s book.

As for the failing report card, I agree. Unfortunately America seems to be enathasized as to how bad it is. Hence the full display of Ann Couter. Maybe it is Florida where we are poised to elect a closeted homosexual as our new governer who has promised to curtail access to abortion on demand. Apparently Charlie Crist is happy to control my reproductive organs but doesn’t want anyone controlling his. Or even knowing what he truly does with them. The irony being that I DON’T CARE who Charlie Crist loves but apparently he does. Hello Mary Cheney.

I know there are spelling errors here but the great thing about FDL is I am amoung friends and can vent with misspellings and only the trolls will grade MY report card.

fightgirl: just read and lurk for a tad to get a feel for the place but hop in when you see a comment thread where you can contribute …

Hi fightgirl – no best way, just rant, joke, sob, impart your unique perspective, gab & have fun!

Gotta go play – lata y’all

egregious you are right. I think people in the US don’t think election fraud really happens on a large scale. They still think every vote counts and talk about pre-election polls as if they really matter when the results can vary with a little ruthless ingenuity. Those of us that grew up in the real democracy that was the US can’t believe that now we won’t even let the UN monitor our elections. And election nights seem surreal – exit polls (usually accurate to within .3%) vary from “actual results” by 10% or more (in favor of Bush, of course). Yet no one gets riled up about it… the lapdog press just does lots of apologetic whining about the inaccuracy of the exit polls…
The Republican machine wins again… first people stop believing the press, then they stop believing scientific polls which indicate how the vote really should have been counted and pretty soon, no criticism can stick.

Breaking up is hard to do, even for lobbyists:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..01625.html

Dear fightgirl:

You have found a cool place. FYI, EPU’d means that you were on a tail end of a thread and added something important to the conversation just as a new thread was begun. EPU stand for Evil Parallel Universe who is a frequent and fabulous contributor to this site. EPU always seems to come in with the best comment just as the thread changes and hence is EPU’d. I wondered for a long time and then I asked. I don’t want you to wander in the desert as I did for so long.

*ilson46201 and sharkbabe – thanks for the welcome… and thanks to everyone at FDL for adding so much thought and insight (on top of the normal blog rants:)

Thanks Christy, it is up to each one of us to be involved and to encourage our friends to do the same. We got local highschool kids to help with our GOTV efforts. They were thrilled to be working for change, even though many of them weren’t old enough to vote yet.

In addition to all of us busting our tails off for the midterms and 2008, the democrats have to do a better job articulating, through television advertising, what a disaster the administration and the rubber stamp congress has been for our dear country.

How does this happen? I know Moveon does fund raising for advertising but maybe through the roots project we could raise money and produce ads that are not mind numbing wonk.

Jerome and Markos talked about it towards the end of Crashing the Gate.

That famous ad that the repugs ran about terrorism ( I think) in Florida toward the end of the campaign wiith the wolf – why weren’t the democrats able to counter that ad with a similar ad that rendered that wolf impotent. I don’t know, maybe using similar visual imagery and have a net falling over the wolf or something like that. Is it that difficult? But we need to employ imagery innovatively and not be so damned afraid of every move the repugs make. We need a different brand of consulting and advertising if we want to be in the game. And agility when it comes to countering the stuff they throw out.

Huffington Post has posting a letter Mark Crispin Miller recently wrote to Salon opened my eyes this afternoon about the circle jerk of denial going on all around about the tenacity and rabidity about the “election theft” stories.

Worth reading/maybe talking about on FDL. Right now it’s at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..23187.html

OT a bit, but as for Ann Coulter and the like, why don’t we boycott some of her sponsors? Supposedly her column appears in about 100 newspapers across the nation. What if we get liberals to boycott one of the advertisers, or boycott one of the sponsors of the networks that continues to give her airtime? Is that possible?

fightgirl #14:

You just did! The more you post, the more comfortable you’ll be, and people with whom you resonate will pick up on that and pretty soon you’ll wonder why you waited.

There are excellent commenters here, and the posters are some of the best on the net. And they let me play here anyway, political naivete and all. This community is both thoughtful and supportive, so please share your ideas and opinions with us!

Well at least the BBC is watching the voter fraud here.

http://www.gregpalast.com/mass…..o-soldiers

Why isn’t there a RICO investigation of the RNC?

welcome, fightgirl. civility reigns here, usually. don’t hold back, this is a pretty indulgent crowd. witness most of my comments, living proof that one can get away with being off topic, obliquely stream-of-consciousness, irreverent or just plain silly.

Florida Mom:
Thanks for the EPU tip (where do I see that message if it comes up?)…

And I wish you could EPU Ann Coulter! I have a vivid image of you in Borders which just cracks me up. Its hard to have a battle of wits with an unarmed person:)

BTW, if you like to keep the heat up on the Coulter issue, I have started writing a few things on a blog that is not yet up to speed but is just for my own drafting until I figure out how this technology and community work in more detail.. But I did post my take on the press attention to Coulter v. Colbert… If only the press would mention Stephen Colbert as much as they do Ann Coulter, truth might actually have a fighting chance!

If you want to read it, go to http://www.fightwithtruth.blogspot.com. Let’s keep the pressure on anyone who gives that hate-monger any space or time.

Perhaps you should take your show on the road and do a Borders book tour… “have a chat” with all of their personnel…

Hiya, fightgirl!

Florida Mom,

Borders, eh? I might have to pay them a visit tomorrow and “accidentally” spill a cup of coffee on Ann’s likeness if they have one too.

Hey Cozumel…
I think we should franchise Florida Mom’s Borders attack… gives new meaning to the phrase “Keeping our Borders safe!”

You guys, people like bush and karl rove are watching us. When it comes to stolen elections, they know that we know, and therefore are less likely to do it in the future. Of course that doesn’t meant that they won’t do it in the future. I think we should all go out to vote anyway. And for any skeptics out there, how do you explain the fact that the Kerry/Edwards ticket failed to out-perform Al Gore in Senator Edwards’s home state of North Carolina? Does that make any damn since!?

Welcome fightgirl!

Florida Mom! Wow!

I going to Borders after work so I can do the same thing. Thanks for the inspiration!

Everyone to Borders!

pol @ #24

I had an intense call to corporate at Target about the book. At least I felt better and I had the woman on the phone near tears towards the end but the reality is that people are overwhelmed with how bad the discourse in this country is. I am sorry to write this but liberal is the new nigger. Especially here in the south where years of social reform has finally made it unacceptable to use the “N” word in any fashion. Thank God. But the fucks had to have something else to hate and its LIBERALS. It is perfectly okay to use liberal as an epithet for people who don’t suck W’s worm.

fightgirl,

“I think we should franchise Florida Mom’s Borders attack%u2026 gives new meaning to the phrase “Keeping our Borders safe!”

LOL My first thought was a little Hitler mustache with a marks-a-lot but I REALLY don’t want to go to jail ; ) Spilling a cup a coffee, I can get away with.

Frank Rich does his column tomorrow on the battle between the Democrats vs Karl Rove. He clearly states that Rove is correct that we have no message. In the comments, at the end of this piece at Raw Story, there is a comment that is so good, I am cut and pasting it here, for all to see. It’s a giant step in the right direction.
———————————————-

Had enough death?
Had enough debt?
Had enough war?
Had enough corruption?
Had enough Rove?
Had enough Bush/Cheney?
Had enough lies?
Had enough $3.00/gallon gas?
Had enough out of control health care costs?
Had enough GOP bullshit?
Above the Clouds | 06.17.06 – 5:06 pm | #
———————————————–

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2….._0617.html

I think I must go back to Borders with some literature in hand. When I wear a pretty skirt and bra and actually comb my hair I come off very credible. But I was caught off guard and my red-headed temper prevailed. Boycott folks. Money is the only thing these people understand. I give Borders and “F” for FUCKING IDIOTS. People before profits.

A man is arrested by the Secret Service for acting “strangely” around Deadeye.

Wouldn’t anyone act strangely around Dick? I mean, ducking, running for cover, shouting obscenities, ranting.

http://www.vaildaily.com/artic…..S/60616011

PS I was thinking that if I actually bought a copy of the book and took it apart page by page in the store what could they do to me? I paid for it. Its mine. I can do with it as I see fit. I was also thinking some F/X blood from the Halloween store down the street. Pour some fake blood over it. As long as I don’t make a mess who am I hurting?

Isn’t it sad how hate mongers like Ann Coulter can …

And yet Karl Rove claims yesterday in an that the

“Internet for the Left of the Democratic Party has served as a way to mobilize hate and anger”

It’s an example of Rovian doublespeak and we in the progressive blogosphere can’t let him get away with it any more. Because we all know the traditional media will be more than happy to play Rove’s quote over and over without any fact-checking.

So was the guy arrested for acting strangely? Is that now a crime in this country? If so- then there are a lot of goopers who should be headed to the slammer.

shooogarp@#37: punaise understands that the charge is lese majeste

A little less of His Majesty would go farther.

Florida Mom,

“I was also thinking some F/X blood from the Halloween store down the street. Pour some fake blood over it.”

I was just thinking along the same lines, sort of. But instead, squeezing a fast food packet of ketchup on it when nobody’s looking. Hmmm…

By the way everybody, there is some good news. Dan Abrams is the new general manager of MSNBC and I think they plan on doing some shake-ups. Why is that good news you ask? Keith Olbermann is MSNBC’s highest rated show and he puts a somewhat left-wing spin on things. Its possible that any new shows they create in the future could follow Olbermann’s lead. They definitely aren’t going to annoint anymore right wing talking heads: Joe Scarborough and Tucker Carlson’s show do so/so in the ratings, but aren’t exactly winners. Olbermann has given them their first win against CNN in 5 years in the advertising demographic (25-54), from what I understand his ratings just keep going up.

*ilson46201 – 43

lese majeste? Whatcha writing in Freedom for?

#35

The answer in Florida is no. They haven’t had enought death. They haven’t had enough of the bullshit. I have been trying to wrap my mind around this. I think Florida is the promise land for many folks and when they get here they want to disconnect from all that is bad news. They blame our economic problems on all “the social welfare programs that the Democrats love”. And as for Florida Democrats I shall abide by my mother’s golden rule: If I can’t say anything nice…

Uh-oh, something strange happened with my comment. I was trying to link to Coulter’s incitment to murder John Murtha and Rove’s claim that the lefty blogosphere was full of “hate and anger”.

Rove quote here:
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2….._0616.html

Coulter identifies Murtha as muder target here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..23117.html

I’m afraid the traditional media will let Rove can get away lying about the progressive blogosphere… while at the same time broadcasting Coulter’s hate. Sigh.

I have always felt an affinity to Bastille Day (July 14th)

Cozumel

I love it. Make Micky D pay for my civil disobedience. I grew up in the shadow of the Berrigan Brothers in upstate New York. I can’t stop thinking about that image of them buring the draft cards and pouring blood on them. It is my ROOTS after all.

Florida Mom at 4:54 pm – Bravo on the Borders action. (Don’t know how the fake blood would go over with management, though.)

As for the word Liberal, I’ll never forget how the word really started to be abused by Reagan, Falwell, et al. Reagan wasn’t exactly venomous about it, but it dripped with scorn every time he rolled that big L off his tongue.

Good evening. Did someone mention…..Karl??? Karl the Coward? Is Karl the Coward a subject here??

Oh, there’s a few of us that have our own gameplan for ole Karl the Coward. Karl the Coward likes living in the slime? Well Karl the Coward, I can get right on down there with you. Only…I fight better than you.

I think the suggestions in the above article are good….they are the nuts and bolts things for people to do. Actions are always far better than perpetual analysis.

So, charge ahead everyone! Get moving. We all need to take the fight to Draft Dodging Karl the Coward Rove.

Ghostman

Borders wont get too upset at a damaged retail display sign but if ya fuck with blood on the carpets…watch out!

With regard to Rove’s projection predilection – I’m developing an ever-keener appreciation of the difficulties involved in keeping one’s head from exploding.

God save us *ilson, please don’t lapse into francophilia again. The babble around the General’s treatise just about made me spew my coffee.

Im starting to thing Karl is dishonest.

*ilson, please visit the Service Desk

Now is the time to start doing something.
Find how your local party is structured, mine is by district, county and state. I am an appointed Precinct Committee person (PC) and will be on the ballot in September to be an elected PC. When I am elected, I can vote in county and state meetings so I can have a say in the direction of the party.

Find a progressive group in your area.
Democracy for America (DFA) grew out of Dean for American where Jim Dean, Howard Deans brother is Chairman.
Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) grew out of Kucinich presidental campaign.
There is Drinking Liberally. Even in Red Arizona, we have all three groups.

Call your Election Board to become an Poll Worker. In our area they are in desparate need for Democratic workers.

Listen to Air America or other progressive Radio. Use their sponsors first so that it will keep it on the airwaves.

Florida Mom, way to stand your ground at Borders. Maybe some reality will sink on what Coulter actually says.

*ilson:

Am a mom before all else. I know how to party without ruining the carpet. :)!

katymine- sorry I can’t remember if you said you went to YKos or not (I didn’t)- if you did, did you meet Matt O?

on a positive note, my state (Calif.) finally got rid of the Diebold machines as of Jan. 1st.

Three exciting WaPoO chats scheduled for Monday June 19th. Shalaigh Murray, who covered Ned Lamont first for the Post, back in March, has a chat at 11 Eastern. Howie Kurtz, who needs no introduction here at the ‘lake, has a chat at noon eastern. Finally, there’s a chat at 1pm eastern about stay-at-home moms. Maybe Lyin’ Rizza will show up for that one!

Get your questions in early!

Murray:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..00990.html

Howie:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..00999.html

Moms:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..00904.html

Oh, yes, katymine was there!

Yes I met Teddy, MattO, op99, RevDeb,whole brain family and others that I cannot remember all the names.

Need sympathy…. AC out again and probably cannot get a repair person here until Monday or Tuesday… it was 108 today!

(sarcastically) oh…wow,wee. California got rid of Diebold machines, Now the republicans don’t have a chance at stealing california in 08. ;)

why the heck does it take a full week to get a diary on kos?

Florida Mom (and the rest of her posse)…
I like the idea of tearing the book up… or how about a good old fashioned book-burning outside?

Just don’t go too far – I can’t post bail for you from the Blue State of California!

katymine: it was only 105 in Baghdad today but they have only 2 hours of electricity for air-conditioning. Any militia problems in your neighborhood though?

jmorris724 are you new user on kos?
It used to be 24hrs waiting period.

katymine at 64 — so sorry to hear about your AC. Make sure you are drinking plenty of liquid and take yourself out to a nice bookstore with some cool air for a while. (Of course, you might want to avoid the Ann Coulter book display…apparently, it can be quite irritating. *g* And good on ya, FloridaMom — maybe it’s because Colter lives in FL, but still a big display of her books is rather offensive.)

HI you two. Just asking bec. of Katymine’s comment about running for office. I am biased of course, but a certain smart handsome young man might be the sort of person to recruit to run for political office.

Perhaps we can have a campaign to ask Starbucks , a partner of Border’s, to launch a new coffee– The Machiavellian Wingnut Espresso Latte, decorated with a dollop of whipped cream with streams of blood red icing on top.

The duo have become known, at least where I am, for hosting folk/alternative music. I wonder…
Ben and Jerry’s have been known to adopt progressive causes and still maintain a healthy corporate profile. Could happen; besides, which rethugs do you know who actually read good books?

Hi fightgirl!

Hey all you welcoming FDL folks… got to go to the gym before dinner and make sure I have legs that can kick Ann Coulter’s butt! Thanks for the discourse. And the civil disobedience ideas… more tomorrow…

jmorris

My sense is that they are overloaded. The place has become soooo popular and they have pushed the envelope technologically so that the folks running the thing struggle to make it happen. I been lurking there a long time (here quite a while, too) and it has gotten harder to make the visceral connection over there. Here, what can I say??? it’s easy!

See how easy that was, fightgirl. Easy as pie.

Oh, please, I don’t want to hear about liberals burning Ann Coulter’s book. Let’s leave the book-burnings to the other side, shall we? Perhaps set up a book-reading immediately outside the store, with all of Ann’s worst words highlighted and shouted at patrons? This is rather lame, too, now that I think about it, but please no book-burnings! Ann would love that too much.

Christy- I see you’re reading. Sentence in post that starts with “Having a President…” seems to be missing something. Like- when he strings two sentences together it’s clear he’s wearing the transponder… something like that?

Hi Angie -

I recall you commenting some time ago that your significant other didn’t quite “get” your political activisim. (I hope this is you)

Anyway, my s.o. told me last night in response to a great Bush joke that I stole from one the threads here that I should “get over it” in reference to Bush’s lawbreaking. I thought wtf?

If I can’t get through to my girlfriend how do the hell do we get through to the rest of the population? Any thoughts?

Actually it the bookstore story sounds like something I would do. I go through the book table at Costco turning over all the wingnut books with the cover down. Someone saw me doing one time and just laughted.

Going to a surprise birthday party for a friend tonight.

The pool is pee warm so not much help there. It is poor Miss Tuesday the beagle who looks at me lying on the tile floor with that look of ok you can stop torturing me now.

I’m seriously considering not sending Karl Rove the long apology letter I’ve composed because not only am I beginning to suspect that he may he be dishonest but possibly even unpatriotic as well.

I’m with Teddy at 75. If I might suggest something: pull out the worst quotes from the book. Write each of them down in a letter to the store manager – and send in a LTE to the newspaper. And let them know exactly what they are peddling.

It’s the corporate folks at Borders who do the orders for most of the stores for the big, national book sales. (Someone in the publishing/bookselling industry correct me if I’m wrong here.) My understanding is the display space is actually PURCHASED from the national chains — so the display is bought and paid for by wingnut welfare to ensure that it gets good display.

So, perhaps, we might ALL compile the worst of the Coulter-isms and let Borders know what they are promoting. Money or not for them for a display, it needs to become not worth it.

— Having a President whose expectations are so low that when he strings two coherent sentences together in a row he sounds like a regular Winston Churchill? Not exactly bragging material.

Christy – #82

That’s the idea. I’m going to run with that one. Although the thought of buy the book tomorrow on the Sunday seem downright sacreligious.

hey karl! you know the GOP would be a lot more popular if you had invested that $320B in Mexico to solve that immigration thingy first…

but let’s not talk about the money.

I like the book reading idea, TeddySanFran! An old fashioned soapbox reading would be oh so fine!

Maybe we could organize a meaningful boycott of right wing Walmart who carries her book for profit but eschews a lot of “questionable” literature.

VG at 76 — thanks, it was a typing blip. I thought I’d completed the sentence, but I never got it typed into the form. Ooops. Clearly, my brain is a little tired at this point in the day…

Just got another e-mail message from the gooper underground:

>>> Birds of a feather flock together. The Enron former employe es just
>>> knew
>>> that he would be found guilty!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Guess the rest of us knew it, too.
>>>
>>> How Enron Worked the President …
>>> (This is an interesting bit of information that you don’t
>>> hear much about.)
>>>
>>> A.. Enron’s chairman did meet with the president and the
>>> vice president in the Oval Office.
>>>
>>> B.. Enron gave $420,000 to the president’s party over three
>>> years.
>>>
>>> C.. It donated $100,000 to the president’s inauguration
>>> festivities.
>>>
>>> D.. The Enron chairman stayed at the White House 11 times.
>>>
>>> E.. The corporation had access to the administration at its
>>> highest level and even enlisted the Commerce and St ate Departments to
>>> grease deals for it.
>>>
>>> F.. The taxpayer-supported Export-Import Bank subsidized
>>> Enron for more than $600 million in just one transaction.
>>> Scandalous!!
>>>
>>> G.. BUT…the president under whom all this happened
>>> WASN’T George W. Bush.
>>>
>>> SURPRISE . It was Bill Clinton!
>>> Pass this on so the whole Country will know. The MediaWon’t!
>>>
>>> ARE WE READY FOR MRS. CLINTON?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>

All of these gooper e-mail messages have several things in common.

1) They are sent out wholesale by goopers to everyone in their address book.

2) The article attached is never signed or attributed to anyone.

3) There are never any links or footnotes to research the truth of the statements made.

4) They are always accompanied by a statement from many goopers such as “”Wow- you’ve really got to see this”.

This is the approved gooper method of communication. It’s how they come to share the same warped view of the world- and there is NO accountability.

shooogarp at 77 — I’ve found one key is finding the issue that someone cares about most — and then explaining why Bush has screwed it into the ground. Also, backing off from politics for a while and just occasionally peppering the conversation can be useful. The non-politically obsessed among us really don’t give a rats ass about the finer points. But the big picture stuff can often be very effective in conversation.

Anyone with a stronger stomach to read Coulters book and post a list of the most outragious segments that we can use. I will gladly go to my Costco’s and Border books if they are carrying her book.

Also we can start an email campaign to Border’s corporate. After the boycott on Sinclare broadcasting, it does work.

What about a simple Ann-ti Coulter flyer for insertion into those piles at Borders? Maybe with 10 simple bullet points explaining why the potential purchaser may want to think twice before subsidizing dear Ann’s “work”?

(Whoops. Did I just say ‘insertion into Ann’s piles’?)

Debbie Howell shows — AGAIN — that she is either unwilling or unable to identify with the interests of readers when they collide with the rationalizations of editors and management. The topic is not dear to FDL hearts, particularly, but Debbie’s slant on ombudsing never disappoints….

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..01615.html

rwcole at 86 — it’s the weirdest thing, but I get those forwarded to me from relatives as well. (Who ought to know better…hello?!?) I’ve tried to track them back to a source, because you know there’s some wingnut e-mail factory out there somewhere, but I’ve never gotten it to any definitive spot. Anyone have any information on how this spew keeps issuing forth to the masses who never bother to follow-up and see if it’s actually true?

I’m very intrigued by Rove’s sudden interest in blogs. His attack is so patently false on first blush — “ours have always been BETTER than theirs and spread LOVE and HARMONY!!” that I think he’s just trying to poison the well and discredit anything that comes out of the left blogosphere –

– only that well has ALREADY been poisoned. He seems to just be parroting the so-called conventional wisdom on our side. The only thing new about the attack is that it’s coming from someone high up as Rove.

So what is it? He’s concerned about the netroots, he’s watching what happened with Tester, with Lamont, with Busby/Bilbray. He knows there’s something there.

It’s important to know how and why he’s turning a spotlight on blogs and remember how he always tries to neutralize a strength. But the apparent staleness of the approach could be a sign that he doesn’t have a handle on this one.

These people aren’t too good with insurgencies, y’know?

Redd–I play golf with several wingnuts- so I get quite a few of these things.

Whoever initiates them- knows that they will be spread throughout the country within a week. It’s the best game in town- and no one ever checks em.

Someone would be doing the country a great service if they would collect a dozen of em and do a thorough autopsy on em.

They are helping to turn the country red.

One of the guys who routinely forwards em to me is a retired english teacher- who ought to know better than to take shit at face value- but nope!

Well, Rover and the telcos managed to get the House to vote net neutrality out of existence; we’ll see if the Senate understands this home-grown insurgency…..

JWR,

Anyone who picks up Ann’s book to buy has already drank the kool-ade.

I’m going after the cut-out. I’m not encouraging anyone else to do this by the way.

rwcole, CHS- are there “viral” emails (don’t know what to call them) out there from the op? Honest, not cooked, that give good talking points?

Angie @84

…which reminds me, the annual “Bughouse Square” oratory is coming up in Chicago next month. It ought to be very good this year. Fitz lives in the neighborhood. I’ll scope out the crowd to see if he shows up in disguise.

Christy, OT, Whast up with the site? Only way I can get there for the last week, is anonymouse. When I go to the reg. favorite link, I get a green page from cPanel, saying there is no web page configured at this address. This happened a few weeks ago, with the difference being, I was routed to a page three weeks or so old.Whaaas up?

Valley–Could you rephrase that? Don’t understand “from the op”.

Another love letter from me to Debbie Howell:
—————————————
Do you EVER write a column in which you don’t criticize readers for not reading carefully and then, eventually, end up defending the managemenet’s point of view? For somebody with a run-of-the-play contract, you sure do suck up to editors and management an awful lot. Ever think of representing the READERS’ interest, or is that not ombudsing, in your view?

Sorry I haven’t written lately, I know you miss me, but I had to take a break. Reading Sunday’s column defending the choices the Post editors made, I remember why I needed the break!

I am looking forward to a new ombudsman every day. Could you quantify your contract sometime? There might be a move afoot in left blogistan to buy it out — but not for reasons you’d ever understand.
——————————–

========
Had Enough?
========

rwcole- I meant from the opposite point of view, the opposition (us). Does that clarify? I was thinking of that list that included the billion $$ debt racked up.

Well my wife is busy putting a business deal together- so I need to go cook us something to eat. Check back later.

We take off for a long driving vacation in the morning. See ya all later.

But rwc, who will keep us updated on the polls?

have a great trip….

Valley- The only messages I ever get are from the democratic party- or move on- etc. I’ve never seen any of these “pass em on” chain letters from dems.

It’s odd.

I had a neighbor who was retired military and he and his buddies used to spend hours on the internet sending stuff like that and pictures of naked women with HUGE Breasts.

It’s an underground movement I guess. It would be interesting to figure out who is doing it and how.

katymine

Sorry about the heat with no cooler. Back in my pre-ac days I remember trying to sleep with a wet towel on me and the fan going. I’d wake up a couple of times in the night to re-soak it. Those were the NYC apartment/oven days. Ouch.

Anyone listen to Ring of Fire on Air America today? Don’t know if it was talked about on earlier threads (no time to catch up, I just get behinder), but Joe Kennedy and his partner were talking about upcoming lawsuits in the next couple of weeks challenging Diebold on Ohio.

It seems that if the AG doesn’t want to pursue a suit, a citizen can. They were talking about having several whistle blowers inside Diebold who will be part of the suit. Because it is coming from a citizen rather than the AG, if they prove their case they get triple damages. The suit is for the original contracts the govt. gave to Diebold and the others, $350 mil. If they win, triple that.

That’s what I thought I heard. Anyone else? (It should be re-broadcast some time tomorrow, I think)

If George W. Bush was just a bit smarter he would have never been the Republican presidential nominee in the first place.

I actually had a thought that might be interesting re Coulter’s book displays and NOT deface anything so you could get arrested. Not worth getting arrested over HER. BUT how about some of those large sticky notes with quotes from her book written on them. Have a good supply and just stick them on her posters and randomly on her books?

What amazes me is that she can write! I didn’t think neanderthals could do that.

shooogarp– twas me and my plight then. Now things are much different; I started delurking here and writing to the wapoo and nyt and my local papers and getting stuff published. I stopped yelling at the TV and switching off people I did not want to listen to (except Rita Cosby and a few others.) My s.o. saw me calmer, with my anger focused and steady instead of all over the place. He actually commented that I was not talking with him enough about stuff and said he was a bit hurt by the lack of “meaningful world conversations” which I previously had to almost schedule depending on what I perceived his tolerance level to be. He saw my pleasure at being published in the papers and started contributing to and editing my pieces.

He was active and involved during the 2004 primary and became even more disillusioned than I knew, cause he swallowed it and hid it so well. He took it out by yelling out, as usual, to every SUV we passed, “is it good on the gas?”, with our windows rolled up so only we could hear the rage about this beautiful blue ball being destroyed. He says to me a lot now: You said this would happen if Bush was elected and then again when we went to war.

Now he believes that he, too, can make a difference. We donate money to candidates we believe in, we are members of environmental groups, we speak out quietly and without rancor to those we meet. We try to make people understand that the only fear we have is the fear of what we have become and are becoming if we don’t get real!

RevDeb, those sound like the same kind of suits Matt O talked about with regard to Custer-Battles. It’s an old Civil-War-era statute that allows employees to somehow sue their employer, but you need standing as a former or current employee. The Federal government can join the case (they didn’t wrt Custer-Battles, big surprise!) but the payout goes to the individuals who brought the suit, treble the value of the contract.

IANAL (again with my favorite acronym) and I’m sure others can explain this better. Bradblog might have info about how this is going to work wrt Diebold.

rwcole- actually, time might be better spent trying to figure out how to do it ourselves- if it could be done in a way that would be helpful to the cause. Trying to figure where this originates on the other side seems kinda like playing whack a mole.

p.s. or maybe I misread your intent- as a way to pick a few marketing tips albeit for a different product altogether…

Frank Rich is a must read this week: Here’s some:

“What’s most impressive about Mr. Rove, however, is not his ruthlessness, it’s his unshakable faith in the power of a story. The story he’s stuck with, Iraq, is a loser, but he knows it won’t lose at the polls if there’s no story to counter it. And so he tells it over and over, confident that the Democrats won’t tell their own. And they don’t %u2014 whether about Iraq or much else. The question for the Democrats is less whether they tilt left, right or center, than whether they can find a stirring narrative that defines their views, not just the Republicans’.”

I’m sorry I don’t have time to read all the comments, so if someone else has brought this up, forgive me.

Isn’t it illegal for Karl Rove to “concentrate on the elections” while being paid on the taxpayer dollar? It’s my understanding that such political activities by staff on the public payroll are forbidden by law. Can Christy or someone else clear this up?

Teddy SF,
how ya doin’ on a sat. night?

Yes, what they were talking about in hushed tones is what will presumably be revealed in the next few weeks. They couldn’t write about it in the RS article, because once the info is in public domain, they can’t sue. The plan is to hit Diebold where it REALLY hurts, the bottom line. That’s all they know about.

Now the next question (which was not asked or answered while I was listening, I had to pop into the grocery store) is how will W and Darth Cheney manage to make the Diebold info. classified or under the invisible cloak.

I hate to get my hopes up, but I’m glad folks continue to work hard on this.

notjonathan 113

What law?

Laws? Those are for suckers.

The republicrooks are above the law, that’s what they would tell you.

RevDeb, I am on a chain of email from DFA about voting irregularities in the Busby CA-50 race. More info on Bradblog.

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=2971

See how poll workers taking the voting machines home for overnights days before the election rendered them uncertifed and illegal for use by both State and Federal standards, leaving the announced results wholly unverifiable at this time.

Anyone want to listen to Greg Palast interview you can go to this link -
http://www.aaphx.com/stream.php

I think the best way to make an evil harpy disappear is to ignore her. Don’t make a fuss, don’t be outraged. Be quietly amused that there’s even room for lunatics in our society. She’s the village idiot writ large. If you have to say her name, let it be a punch line.

As for ideas vs. policies: For so long the democrats have been accused of not having either, and after six years of being shut out of the process, you can see why voters think it’s true.

The GOP is paying a predictable price, and making predictable mistakes, They can’t be a big tent, covering every non-Democrat. Libertarians and theocrats don’t mix well. So they’re forced into hypocrisy, forced to develop policies without any coherent ideas.

We Democrats should use that explicitly as a wedge. They oppose immigration, saying it drives down wages. Yet they oppose raising the minimum wage, and want to bust all unions. They want to eliminate abortion, while relaxing clean water standards and thus causing miscarriages. Bush claims the deficit will be cut in half in ten years, but that assumes the capital gains reduction is allowed to expire, which he opposes.

We can call them on all this. We should call them on this. But we don’t. We have ideas, and we have policies, and they make sense. They’re not inconsistent. They’re not designed to pander to this group or that.

We’re liberals. We recognize that government has a legitimate function. Well, three legitimate functions, maybe. Let’s enumerate them, explain them, and show how our proposed policies are consistent with them.

Let’s not be afraid to say to the Norquist crowd, “If you don’t think you get more from this nation than you give, feel free to emigrate.” Maybe we can even offer to buy them one-way tickets, if they can find a better deal anyplace on this planet.

shadowhawk: please do not malign Neanderthals (or Cro-Magnons) by associating their good name with Ann Coulter !

katymine,

Yes, I’ve gotten those too. Does CA have an atty gen that’s worth anything?

mike johnson: please do not malign village idiots by associating their good name with Ann Coulter !

katymine — sympathies sent your way!!! 108 is brain-damage range!!! Yikes! [Is THAT what happened to John McCain???]
****************
I am feeling really sorry for everyone scheduled to work next week in Borders. It ain’t gonna be easy if The Ann-ti Christ’s ads are front and center.
****************
As far as the November election buzz is concerned, you know, we all have to approach this as creatively as we can and use our own personal touches. For me, variety is going to keep the predictable boredom factor out of it.

Among my friends, I know who are the progressives, who are the moderates, and most importantly, who are the conservatives that are soo ssooo fed up [and embarassed] with the state of the current admin and congress.

So far, the moderates and conservatives get my complete sympathy over the trauma of seeing their bubbles bursting before their eyes. They also get some articles to read after I ask if they would like me to send them some interesting facts relating to whatever it is we are talking about. Yeah, it is a softer approach, but I am not about to screw up a conversion. If my ego is checked at the door, then who cares, I don’t need to “be right” and win the argument at that moment, as long as someone is amenable to checking out new information they could not have gotten from their current political contacts!

I tailor my communications to appeal to their sensibilities. It’s important not to alienate anyone in the moderate or embarassed conservative camp. Oh, I don’t have any staunch Bush supporters as friends. I DO have my standards!!

For progressives, I supply them with reading material that they may not have and have turned some on to liberal blog sites…..

Recently, I bought a case of Glenn Greenwald’s “How Would A Patriot Act…” and am passing them out among the progressives who are most likely to read it and then either use the information in their own conversations, or pass the books along to other progressives.

People, and I do not mean this condescendingly, this is an education blitz. Most of whom we know are reasonable. It is not too much to ask them to apply the same standard of ethics and behaviors to what is going on in our country and in the world as they would their own households.

I am not clarvoyant to know whether we are at a turning point in America or not. All I know is that my conscience is dictating that everything I believe about what our society should stand for, and about what our government should be doing, is at a highly threatened level. If I do nothing, it is the same as assisting in taking my, no OUR, nation down this road.

Am I ranting?? I’m sorry. This is just so important to me. I’ll shut up.

For now. :)

coulter depends on publicity to make her dough and she thrives on negative publicity … slap a few 9/11 widows and ann gets 4 more interviews, stirs the pot, is considered outrageous but being outrageous never hurt sales to her core audience and meanwhile gives her larger bandwidth in the culture …

so she’s one who I chose to ignore – prefer not to feed the beast on that one

rw at 93 — I know the Snopes.com folks debunk a lot of that crap, but not nearly all of it because there is so much of it.

new thread — old tricks (literally!)

RevDeb- sounds *very* interesting. I’m not sure I am following the part about “in the public domain”.– are you meaning that there is information from past or resent employees about Diebold’s nefarious activities that, had they been published in RS, would have made a suit impossible?

Idea for mAnn Coulter…

Back when all this terrah stuff started, I was first outa the chute with an idea (that I never followed up on commercially, ‘cuz it was really just a goof. Others did sell stuff along these lines.). Below are panels I made up that I printed out on legal length paper, cut to size and wrapped ‘em around rolls of toilet paper.

Put ‘em in the guest bathroom for laughs.

http://www.bgladd.com/Osama-soft.jpg

http://www.bgladd.com/Saddam-a-soft.jpg

OK, what’s a viable equivalent “Coulter Crap Wipes” name? Hmmmm…Let’s get Ann-al here, something for your Ann-us…

Work with me here, firepups.

Angie – #108

Thanks for your story. It helps. This community keeps me sane and grounded. Thanks.

Grouchy Cowboy at 98 — being the non-tech person that I am, I’m not sure what it could be other than an issue with left-over crap in your browser cache that might be routing you back to our old hostgator site. Try clearing your browser cache and see if that helps. If it doesn’t, let me know and I’ll see if our tech folks can troubleshoot for you.

Ooops – my bad – I pulled a Geico! I feel good about myself, tho. I’m a small online bookseller and turned down several good condition books of hers to sell. Just couldn’t stomach having them in my inhouse inventory. She makes my skin crawl!

I use Firefox and have no problems. Also you can configure it so that it clears cookies and cashe when you close the window.

VG 125
That’s what I thought I heard. Anyone else?

Grouchy Cowboy #98–I had the same message form CPanel. Finally, I discovered it was our server. Here is what the helpdesk said (they corrected the problem):

It appears that firedoglake.com switched service providers, and therefore IP addresses. One of our servers was inaccurately providing the old address. Your report pointed out the problem, which we have now fixed. So, thank you for that.

If for some reason you still get the old address, then your machine
has cached the old address. You can either reboot or open
Terminal.app and enter the following command: sudo lookupd -flushcache

HTH!

suin: I agree with you on Coulter. She should be ignored. Hopefully the Jersey girls will take care of her…

rwcole @ 94

if you go to snopes.com and search enron they debunk that email.

Every state has its own election laws, but I imagine they have many similarities. My state is divided up into townships (rural) and precincts (urban). Each precinct is entitled to elect one precinct committeeman and one precinct committeewoman. Any registered Democrat can sign up to run for a precinct committee position.

The people elected to these positions (on the primary ballot) make up the county Democratic central committee. They vote to elect a county Democratic chairman or chairwoman, and other officers–vice chair, secretary and treasurer. These people manage the local Democratic party organization.

The precinct committee people (central committee members) also elect representatives to the congressional district Democratic committee, which in turn elects district officers. The district committee focuses on the congressional race for that district.

The district chairman or chairwoman serves on the Democratic state committee. The district representatives also elect additional members to the state committee. The state committee members elect a Democratic state chairman or chairwoman, who runs the Democratic party organization for the entire state.

My reason for giving you all this information, which may vary from the election laws in your state, is that at Yearly Kos I resolved to go home and DO SOMETHING about the political situation that exists in our country today.

In the past, I have held positions as precinct committeeman (by the way, where I live there is seldom any competition for these positions), member of the county Democratic executive committee, member of the district Democratic committee, and alternate member of the Democratic State Committee.

These positions collectively form the backbone of the Democratic party organization in the state, and are involved in recruiting candidates, raising money, and other important tasks. A few years ago, after extensive involvement in the party structure, I became burned out and did not run for reelection to any of these positions. My experience at Yearly Kos motivated me to get back into the game.

I came home with my mind made up to get back into the process by running for precinct committeeman. That Monday afternoon, I called the county election commission to inquire about the filing deadline, only to learn that it had been noon that day. I also learned, however, that the position was currently empty and no one had filed to fill it in the August primary.

I called the Democratic county chairman, and he agreed to appoint me to fill the vacancy. In the course of all this, my wife decided to join me, and the county chairman agreed to appoint her as precinct committewoman.

I realize this is just a small step, but it represents a recommitment on my part to be involved in the political process. It will, no doubt, expose me to candidates whom I will want to work for, as well as opportunities to be involved in voter registration and get out the vote drives.

I recommend that all of you who are able to do so find out how the system works in your state, and join your local Democratic party at the grassroots level. It’s a start. Collectively, we can influence how the process works at the same time we are helping to elect Democratic candidates to office. That’s how the conservative Republicans did it, beginning in 1964. Look at how well they succeeded.

hey, i knows it’s rude for people to pimp their blogs, but i can’t help myself:

click here

PLEASE do not destroy, burn, or deface books. Let’s not go down that path.

There are many ways to oppose the sale of Coulter books without feeding into the hands of our enemies. Pointing out her advocacy of killing a Supreme Court Justice is pretty high on the list.

I’m always on the look-out for anything “sneaky” being done by the Bushites.

So, why the July 1st space shuttle launch date?

“Griffin said Saturday’s decision followed two days of “intensive and spirited exchange” during a Flight Readiness Review for NASA’s STS-121 shuttle flight aboard the Discovery orbiter.” (from MSNBC)

I just thought this was curious.

Is this an indication that NASA has been so politicized that it is willing to risk our space shuttle astronauts’ lives just so Bush (and Rove) can have a photo op on July 4th?

Apparently, there has been some “heated” disagreement at NASA over the timing of the next space shuttle launch. Certain NASA experts have spoken, but the Bush cronies running NASA have overruled them and have decided on a July 1st launch date. Sound familiar?

And I still contend that Bush (and Rove) are almost 100 percent responsible for the recent sharp rise in gasoline prices.

Hey, Bush had to somehow come up with 250 million barrels of crude oil earlier this year to fulfill his order to max out the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Oil doesn’t grow on trees. It had to come from somewhere. Which would have meant less crude oil for refining purposes. Thus driving up prices at the pump.

The clues are there for anyone to see.

1) Bush, in a speech talking about what he planned to do to address high gasoline prices, mentions that he’s suspending his ?classified? crude oil program that has been depositing oil into the SPR…while saying that the amounts being deposited daily were real, real small. Hell, why even mention it, then, if the amount is so small it apparently wouldn’t have had any impact on gasoline prices? Oh, wait, what if it wasn’t a small amount, but was over 1 million barrels of crude oil being deposited daily?

2) In 2002, Bush ordered the maxing out of the SPR in the lead up to his starting war in Iraq. Earlier this year, Bush ordered the maxing out of the SPR, to it’s higher 1 billion barrel capacity,…as a prelude to starting war with Iran, maybe?

3) If you go to the Department of Energy’s SPR website, you will find no mention of exactly how much crude Bush was depositing into the SPR on a daily basis. Classified? A “national security” issue? Or a CYA issue, because the Bush administration is trying to hide their culpability behind the recent gasoline price surge?

Hey, it’s an election year. The Bushites don’t want anything being revealed that would further expose their outright corruption to public scrutiny. They can’t possibly “fix” all the electronic voting machines for the upcoming November elections. So “damage control” is Rove’s top priority. As well as setting up “positive” photo opportunities like that which I believe is behind the ?premature? July 1st space shuttle launch date.

Rove is like a drug addict. He’s hooked. And he can’t stop. Which makes him a fitting companion for George W. Bush, doesn’t it?

The reason the republicans are in the “majority” in the first place is because of fixed elections. The military industrial complex (raytheon, GE, etc.) have the tech experts to put in the fix with these machines. I mean are You really going to leave Billions in Contracts up to “the will of the people”? Hell No! So they make sure Their guys Always win, then they install bush and the rest of his criminal traitors and…Wa La! Gazillions in no bid and “insider” contracts. The reason You don’t see the dems talking much on TV is because the Tech people (like GE) own the Media (most major networks) and they don’t want to rock the “cash cow” boat. The have a Vested Interest in “staying the course”. All this didn’t start over night, they have had a long time to get their tech games in order. But you know what? The people Now know about all the bullshit..rove is a liar, traitor and so are the rest. It doesn’t matter what he says..it isn’t gonna fly anymore, he is done, so is bush. Bottom line..The People will have to take back their country, and If the Fixed voting crap isn’t dealt with, and they try fix the November elections..it could be street time for the populous.

I love you NUTroots.

You have nothing to say but angry Ann Coulter attacks,about book BURNING (Like NAZIS), Defacing a private companies’ book display (Like VANDALS), attacking store clerks for what you know they have little to do with (Like uncaring idiotic mean-spirited LOONS), questioning why a Borders would stock the number one selling book in the country (Like ignorant PARTISANS), and believing EVERYTHING you disagree with that is GOOD for the USA is a plot and a conspiracy (Like insane Anti-American LIBERALS).

You people have to start looking in the mirror to see why you are out of power and disliked by so many.

Stop blaming your problems on Rove and BIG OIL and MSM plots. You are your own worse enemy and help your own defeat time after time.

I love watching it, but there are a few of you who actually care about this country, and the rest of you are pulling them down into the quicksand with you.

You are making sure the Democrat party is a minority party for a generation.

CEPAN

They’re gonna STEAL_THIS_ELECTION people…it may be fun to talk about giving ‘em an “F” but they’re laughing all the way to the secret ‘voter fraud’ meeting they’re probably holding at some ‘undisclosed’ location. Sent a letter off to Eleanor Clift this morning to respond to her _moronic_ column asking if the Dems have a ’strategy’ to deal with Rove’s tactic of rousing the uber-nationalists with this “Iraq” resolution to (ahem) “support the troops” and keep them in Iraq indefinitely. Of course, whether or not the Dems have a “strategy” to deal with this, is completely irrelevant. This uber-nationalism strategy is just a shiny bauble, a strawman, a bait ‘n switch to keep all of us occupied so we don’t notice that Karl Rove and the GOP are going to steal our ballots and stuff them in their pockets–ONCE AGAIN–all the while saying, “gee, I can’t answer that question about those wierd exit polls. They’ve never been very accurate anyway, ya know…” (wink, wink). Tell people like Clift that they’re perpetuating Rove’s strategy by ignoring the massive voter fraud clearly evident in Ohio, in Florida, and other states.

Oh, please, I don’t want to hear about liberals burning Ann Coulter’s book. Let’s leave the book-burnings to the other side, shall we? Perhaps set up a book-reading immediately outside the store, with all of Ann’s worst words highlighted and shouted at patrons? This is rather lame, too, now that I think about it, but please no book-burnings! Ann would love that too much.

With everybody in black cocktail dresses and platinum blonde wigs…