
Remember Joe Klein recently said:
Rove has shown a positive genius for organizing campaigns around poisonous trivia. He will question the patriotism of Democrats (and, once again, be aided by those on the noisome left who believe that the U.S. is a malignant, imperialistic force in the world). He will deploy an ugly, stone-throwing distortion of Christian "values," especially against those Democrats who choose not to discriminate against homosexuals. And if things get really desperate, he will play the race card, as Republicans have ever since they sided against the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
Let’s play connect-the-dots:
Republican Sen. Conrad Burns, whose recent comments have stirred controversy, says the United States is up against a faceless enemy of terrorists who "drive taxi cabs in the daytime and kill at night."
During a fundraiser Wednesday with first lady Laura Bush, the three-term Montana senator talked about terrorism, tax cuts and the money he has brought to his state. Burns is one of the more vulnerable Senate incumbents, facing a tough challenge from Democrat Jon Tester.
He has drawn criticism in recent weeks for calling his house painter a "nice little Guatemalan man" during a June speech. Burns, whosere-election campaign is pressing for tighter immigration controls, also suggested that the man might be an illegal immigrant. The campaign later said the worker is legal.
Allen was making a campaign stop and spotted a college student who was shadowing him – videotaping all his appearances – to gather possible ammunition for the campaign of his opponent, Democrat James Webb. The young man, S.R. Sidarth, is of Indian descent. Allen pointed him out for the all-white crowd, calling him "Macaca, or whatever his name is", and then said to Sidarth, "Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia". Sidarth happens to have be a Virginia native.
Allen and his aides scrambled to assure reporters that the senator had no idea that macaca is the genus to which macaques belong. Nor did the senator have a clue that in some European countries "makak" is a derogatory term for North African immigrants.
As we set to see the 3rd Laffey/Chafee debate tonight at 8:00pm on Channel 12, the National Republican Senatorial Campaign has unleashed a dirty, malicious and racist ad attacking Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey in an attempt to portray him as ‘soft’ on immigration and homeland security.Click here to see the ad.
The funny thing is that Lincoln Chafee supported every pro-immigrant bill in the Senate – from a legalization for farm workers to the legalization bill by McCain-Kennedy. Trying to position Steve Laffey to the left of Chafee is like trying to put Joe Lieberman to the left of Ted Kennedy. Ain’t gonna happen folks.
The Lieberman campaign is trying to frighten white voters in Connecticut — and Democrats in Washington — by reminding them over and over again that Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson support Lamont. This week, the senator’s aides told the New York Times that playing the two African-American preachers off against Lamont will enhance Lieberman’s appeal on an independent ballot line. "Primary night was the first time that many Connecticut voters saw Lamont on TV, and he’s surrounding himself with two of the more divisive and problematic figures in the Democratic Party," said Dan Gerstein, the Lieberman campaign’s communications director.
Any questions?
Update: As if on cue, Pat Buchanan:
What I would like is — I’d like the country I grew up in. It was a good country. I lived in Washington, D.C., 400,000 black folks, 400,000 white folks, in a country 89 or 90 percent white. I like that country.
Looks like the November GOP War on Brown People is already in full swing.



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you gotta be kiddin’
NED!
beaten to the fitz :)
NED!
again
Fear – it’s all they got left.
Thoughts on Bush’s address today before the American Legion National Convention. Part 1.
Of preliminaries and strawmen:
You see it’s all very simple. It’s black and white. Us against them. Of course, the world isn’t this simple and the Middle East is one of the most complicated regions on the planet. Simple minded solutions to complex problems are pretty much doomed to failure. This tells you a lot where we as a nation and Bush as a leader started going wrong, i.e. from the start.
The simple solution:
Outside of the initial invasion of Afghanistan, what successes there have been in the war on terrorism have been due to ordinary nuts and bolts police work. No one is saying that the military could not or should not be part of this struggle but militarizing our approach to terror is an unsubstantiated jump in logic. “Fighting them there so we don’t have to fight them here” is yet another strawman. In fact, fighting them there does not preclude that we will not be attacked again here. It also ignores the animosity engendered and recruitment potential of a “fighting them there” policy which makes our security situation worse not better.
The results:
Afghanistan:
This, of course, assumes that there was a lot of “progress” to roll back. In fact, the warlords who dominate and poison so much of Afghan life never went away. Nor are the Taliban some alien force operating outside of and unsupported by segments of the population. The Taliban are extremely repressive but then so is much of Afghan society. Unmentioned is the burgeoning production of opium. That’s progress of a different kind.
Lebanon:
Huh? Israel bombs Lebanon back to the Stone Age but it’s our enemies fault, and the international community led by us leaving Lebanon to bleed for a month was really a show of support. There is nothing I could or need to say about this.
Iran:
Some might find this pronouncement menacing. It is really an enunciation that Bush’s policy is that he has no policy. You could see this as a push for sanctions which are unlikely and an admission that currently there is no military option.
Black is the new black. And rolling out that product in August: they must be shitting themselves.
Under pressure, their true colors come out…
Bush’s address before the American Legion National Convention Part 2
Iraq:
OK, one, Saddam did not harbor terrorists. This has been debunked over and over again. Two, Saudis raised tons of money for the families of suicide bombers. Did we invade them? I didn’t think so. Saddam did invade his neighbors, first Iran then Kuwait. There was something called if I remember correctly the First Gulf War which dealt with the invasion of Kuwait. Now while Saddam did possess and use weapons of mass destruction principally against Iran and his own citizens, that First Gulf War that Nush seems to have forgotten about resulted in the elimination of his WMD and the programs which produced them. Does anyone besides me find it curious that Bush who thinks the UN is worthless should, nevertheless, cite UN resolutions as a casus belli for the invasion of Iraq. Or that he should blame Saddam for not “openly abandoning” WMD which did not exist? Or that he has never shown himself to be particularly eager to hold Israel accountable for its longstanding disregard of international law and UN resolutions in its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza? So having put forth a series of conditions that were either spurious or impossible, Bush invaded Iraq. Makes me feel better knowing someone like him is in charge, I can tell you.
The un-civil war:
So getting killed does not constitute involvement, good to know. I suppose the same could be said about Jews and the Holocaust. They weren’t involved in the Holocaust. They were just killed by it. Makes me feel better as it no doubt would make their relatives and survivors. Also a clarification is in need here: “a small number of Iraqis are engaged in sectarian violence,” these are also known as the guys with the guns.
Another simple solution:
A few minor quibbles. Maliki’s government is a joke. At best, it’s spoils divided among militias. At worse, you don’t want to know. We have been in Iraq 3 years 5 1/2 months. Just how much more refining do our tactics need to get? Just brain storming here but do you think there might be after this length of time, oh, say, a problem with our overall strategy, as in it’s not working or we don’t have one?
Another strawman:
I see. So now we are letting the terrorists define the parameters of the war on terror or perhaps I should say Bush’s take on what the terrorists are thinking is defining our response?
The president speaks in the present and future tense every time he says something that purports to be a refutation of critics’ claims.
“They say I have done things that are bad, to which I say that I am doing good things, and will do good things – so therefore I have done nothing bad and they are totally wrong.”
Bush has no policy. He breaks things. Like the terrible toddler he is. He makes messes for others to clean up. He’s determined to
wreak as much havocinvade as many Middle Eastern countries as possible because he thinks only he is man enough to do it.He is perpetually arrested in the terrible twos.
Contrary to what he believes–as his actions demonstrate–he is not the divinely chosen son of God, he is the spoiled son of Babs.
astralplame @ 9
CAuse all the bad things wen down the memory hole
This Rocky Anderson thing needs coverage before it gets expunged.
astral 9 – even shorter chimpy = “gonna! gonna-gonna!”
Hugh – Your post is Mary-esque.
I’d only be repeating myself if I comment on Rover’s alleged genuis. So shorter me, via analogy – the magician’s trick loses all its power over the audience once they know how it’s done. Klein obviously is very slow.
Maybe Rove is somehow paid by the number of times his sycophants print or state the word genuis. Hey, you never know.
Jane,
I mean no criticism of you, but to your list I would add the abhorrent, year-long (and beyond) mistreatment of the people of color in Louisiana.
Bush’s address before the American Legion National Convention Part 3
And another strawman:
Shorter Bush: I don’t dispute your patriotism but if you disagree with me you are a craven idiot and endangering the country. Note how Bush enumerates our “enemies” but how they all morph into the single category of “terrorists” attacking us here at home. As I said above, fighting them there doesn’t mean they won’t attack here as well.
In conclusion and yes, another strawman:
So there it is, folks, you can either agree with Bush and whatever he’s saying or deliver you children into the hands of nuclear armed terrorists. Well, what’s it going to be? Those mushroom clouds are gathering.
My suggestion is none of the above.
kate o’beirne just made some snotty statement about democrats rising to the bait on dumsfeld’s comments… everyone just ignored her… very nice!
OT – Buchanan: ‘The Country I Grew Up In’ Was ‘89 or 90 Percent White. I Like That Country’
Talking point:
Bush never tires of asserting that his primary job is “to protect the American people” (implicitly by whatever means he deems necessary).
I must have missed something in Article II, Section I of the Constitution:
Mr. Bush, we hire many hundreds of thousands of capable people and train them to defend and protect us in circumstances where we cannot personally fend for oursleves. YOUR job is to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” not to piss on it at every turn when you’re not actively ignoring its inconvenient provisions.
_
Sophist @
12
I posted links to 3 vids of Rocky Anderson in the last thread EPU’d and awaiting moderation…won’t post links again here, cuz would trigger same problem — go to homepage
http://onegoodmove.org/1gm/
all embedded and require QT 7 (but smaller files)
1,257 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ JUST GOEZ ON AND ON AND…
Prairie Sunshine:
“…son of Babs.” I positively LOVE it! Now if this were just a scene from an Akroyd and Belushi movie, we could all laugh and have a beer (or whatever) and exclaim how clever the writers were. This last 6 years haven’t been a movie though…it’s the real thing.
KEEP THE FAITH AND GET OUR KIDS HOME FROM HELL NOW!!!
Still… “son of Babs”, I love it!
It’s now, what, 3 solid weeks since the Connecticut primary?
And Joe Lieberman’s website still says this:
#10: Please don’t insult my toddler–he could certainly run the country better than George W. Bush. But then so could a monkey.
Go Webb!
Hugh – I thought you post was genius. ;)
While I mostly agree with, “OK, one, Saddam did not harbor terrorists” there was the PKK.
Kind of like Bush harbors the KKK. And kinda like Bush has been harboring the PKK for the last three years. ;)
Prarie Sunshine – “Like the terrible toddler he is.”
That’s my diagnosis – caught in “I da baby” land and the military and intelligence and science and economic structures of this country are the kittens he unconcernedly jokes to death.
OldCoastie @ 13
or even
“gonna! heh heh heh, gonna-gonna!”
Alright – he’s not that funny. Let’s go with CHokes.
He will question the patriotism of Democrats (and, once again, be aided by those on the noisome left who believe that the U.S. is a malignant, imperialistic force in the world).
Can someone please explain to Klein that pretending our country is Candyland does not prove anyone’s patriotism? Sometimes the U.S. IS a malignant, imperialistic force in the world. Recognizing this is how we fix it, which is something in which an alleged “liberal” like Klein ought to be interested.
By the way, that picture of Rove is chilling. Reminds of Pacino in “The Devil’s Advocate”, especially with that sinister looking lady in the lower left corner.
astralplame @ 25
oh yeah, I definitely forgot the heh heh part…
Speaking about blacks that rove (he’s still in charge of the Katrina portfolio right?) doesn’t give a **** about;
http://operationeden.blogspot.com/
twolf1 @
18
Finland is probably still more than 90% white. Maybe Pat should move there….assuming they will take him. But why should I wish such a fate on the lovely people of Finland? Go, Sibelius!
Fear – it’s all they got left.
It’s all they ever had…
Hugh @ 5
Actually, I think there is a more nefarious purpose. Bush will push for sanctions (via Mustache Bolton), wait a few months and announce that sanctions aren’t/didn’t work.
It will then become necessary to invade Iran to prevent them from having the nukular weapon that they don’t have yet.
Iran is Farsi for Iraq which is Arabic for Vietnam…
BC
K. Harris, coming up on hardballs…
That
bitchrunning in Florida up next on Hardball![Moderator: tsk, tsk, tsk.]
OldCoastie @ 31
filing this under “mental images I did not really need”
hee hee!
*ilbo – you might want to edit your description for Ms. Harris… not cool…
OldCoastie @ 31
Eeeewwww. When I was in HS (and dinosaurs roamed the earth) I thought girls who used a palette knife (or worse, a mason’s trowel) to apply their make-up were … yuck.
KH reminded me of that revulsion, with the added feature that she’s incapable of speaking the truth to anyone.
BC
a week from today I will be oppo-photographing like Sidarth a fundraiser for a local GOP Congresscritter-aspirant. I hope my “Who you calling MACACA?” T-shirt arrives in time for me to wear it…
OldCoastie @ 34
Actually, my bitch resents the comparison. Diva (a Belgian Shepherd) is a hell of a lot smarter than K Harris…
BC
Bush:
Oh, my. Let’s see. The Nazis attack Great Britain. So Winston Churchill, itching for a chance to show who’s boss in the Falkland Islands, sends his valuable Army off to the South Atlantic to fight the few Argentinian troops there. The Argentinians and, for that matter, the Nazis send some guerillas down there to pin down the British Army, taking pot shots at them from high hillsides. They start blowing people up in the Falklands and bleeding the British Army dry there.
And this proves that the Falklands are the center of the war against Nazism, because the Nazis choose to pin the British Army down?
In this scenario, the British would have made a huge mistake and if the Nazis were to exploit that mistake it would make it not a mistake?
George Bush is a far deeper thinker than I am, obviously. I cannot follow his logic.
Kate seems to have overused the botox… amazing she can still blink her eyes!
test
Katherine Harris
Talking about one deluded woman!
The only way she wins is by totally rigging the voting machines.
The GOP is playing to its racist base because that’s all they have got. They know that moderates and independents are moving away from them, so their only viable strategy is to hope that they have enough wingnut voters to carry the elections.
Mary, EPU, thanks,
I was thinking of Ansar al-Islam and Zarqawi although it is true for the PKK as well. All of these operated in areas of Iraq covered by the US no-fly zone and were outside of Saddam’s reach.
Do you think they let Harris onto airplanes these days with all the gel she has in her boobs?
my bitch Devious uses no augmentation on her ten teats …
Kath Harris says she’s won twice when down by *thirty* points – “you can make polls say whatever you want…”
Well she does have some experience in elections turning out wrong….
Hugh @42 – I wasn’t serious about Sadaam “harboring” the PKK; anymore than I think Britain or Spain “harbored” the al-Qaeda related terrorists on their soil, or that we “harbor” the KKK here.
You can find terrorists anywhere you look. Bush’s more unique ability is to create them where they weren’t.
how do repug Floridians bridge the gap b/n the Cuban immigration policies (is it called something like “dry feet”?) and those polices affecting other Spanish speakin’ nations?
Mary – If I said that Hugh’s post was “Mary-esque,” and you said that Hugh’s post was “genuis,” aren’t you really saying that Mary is a genuis? ;-)
OldCoastie @ 47
Why would they want to do that?
tenor, 30:
Not an invasion (as in ground operations a la Iraq). What is in the works are “surgical strikes” and “commando attacks.” This is in a sense worse than an invasion because it has the deceptive allure of “quick and decisive” but we know that it is never that simple. Rummy may think it is, but Rummy is delusional. Iran has many ways to retaliate, including forcing oil to $200/bbl.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOL…..ersh.iran/
ooo – did Harris just call Noron a ‘liberal” because Noron mentioned KH’s connection to Duke Cunningham?
harris re; cunningham scandal – that’s old news, people of FL aren’t interested in that. we’ve moved on
With all due respect, I am not sure that Rove is truly *that* much of a political genius. Can he single-handedly implant the acceptance and the love of racism as the norm in the minds of all these politicians? No, I think this is more of an example of sheer ugly coincidence — the GOP knows that their strongest and staunchest base of supporters are all racists, so their representatives are, well, representative of that segment of the American population. To be fair, the right has made similar conspiracy charges against us (we’re all in cahoots and The Kos is our Great and Secret Leader, remember…toe the party line now, people, er I mean comrades) when it comes to connecting the hidden dots. Perhaps this is just Turd Blossom exploiting the Homo ignomunts in the Establishment through a cause they can all identify with.
One thing about Katherine Harris. She seems to be in the category of kooky that I associate with some few women who hit the second or third glass ceiling. They had the will, the luck, the connections, the instinct to break up into a male-dominated power structure – at some cost to their own ego and super-ego. After years of fighting and succeeding, they finally think “This is it, here I am, I made it – I am IN THE CLUB”. But then they hit a “bridge too far”, and the wheels start spinning, the engine overheats, and the kookiness really lets loose.
btw – the trick to keeping sane in that situation is to never let yourself believe you are in the club.
ConcernedCitizen @ 53
I think Rove really likes to stir up the shit – chaos and fighting means people aren’t paying attention to other stuff like wars and death and Halliburton…
OldCoastie @ 47
They don’t. Cubans are refugees from communism, that’s the entire story. Does it make sense? No. But it didn’t start with the present administration either, and is really as a good a question for dem’s as for repugs. You would think that fleeing from a Pinochet or Honduran death squads would count for something. It doesn’t.
Shorter Prof: In military tactics one does not determine whether something is, or is not, a diversionary tactic by observing that people are fighting.
That’s what diversionary tactics do: they trick you into fighting the wrong battle, so you don’t have the strength or wisdom to fight the right one.
The whole point of a diversion is to suck you into fighting in the wrong place. The fact that you and they end up fighting there does not make it any less a diversion.
If it’s the wrong place to fight, you have still been sucked into a diversion.
If we have a strategic goal (which I doubt), we should be pursuing it — not responding to a diversion (or picking the wrong tactic in the first place)
No surprise, as we approach Labor Day weekend and the traditional turning of attention (as much as actually happens) to the fall elections, Rover’s amping it up.
It’s gut-check time.
Let’s look at who Rove really is, the product of a dysfunctional home life who got really good at reading the immediate vibe and manipulating his way through it.
A product of the oil patch who latched onto a rich patron in the Walker-Bush clan and who’s been playing with house money ever since. He’s got nothing of his own to lose.
A direct-mail guy who knows how to craft and test messages, lots of ‘em, and how to slice and dice an audience and tell it exactly what it wants to hear to serve his purpose without those pesky morals or commitments to a higher purpose getting in the way.
Above all, he knows how to handle the Ivy League metrosexual scions of the Democrat Party: just keep raisin’ the ante until they fold. He pulled their beanie caps down over their heads, snapped their suspenders and took their lunch money. Heck, he even nutted a Bonesman, albeit in service of another Bonesman.
This isn’t the time to hold ‘em or to fold ‘em. This is the time to call his bluff. Reality’s caught up to him, and he hasn’t quite filled that inside straight he needed. Keep his hands away from the deck, don’t let him kick over the table, be a little quicker on the draw and we won’t need Fitz.
Waittaminnit– Joe Klein says that the left smells bad? Or does he just not know what ‘noisome’ means?
Pathetic.
oh yuck. hitchens on hardballz now. looks hung over — kind of slumping
Don’t know if I’ll have time to read all comments here, but had to rush to the bottom to give a big tip of the hat to Prairie Sunshine:
Contrary to what he believes–as his actions demonstrate–he is not the divinely chosen son of God, he is the spoiled son of Babs.
God bless you for giving me a new “swear word” –
Next time I call someone an s.o.b. I’ll tell them it means “son of a Babs” — much, much worse than the traditional acronym.
So is Bush against fascism or facts-ism?
So when she brings her dog to the State House what type of legislaion results? Sorry, I meant to say lonely wannabee control type of freak.
twolf1 @ 60
mumbling like he’s already been imbibing the hair of the dog.
orangejumpsuit @ 50
OJS,
They’re trotting Reza Pahlavi (son of the deposed Shah) just like they trotted out Chalabi before Iraq. He’s saying the same tired shit, too. “Iran needs to be a democracy,” with the subtext, “And I’m the guy to lead it.”
If regime change is the goal (and Bush’s rhetoric seems directed at regime change to me) attacks by Delta Force and the Ranger brigade aren’t going to do it.
And just exactly when has publicity made any of these idiots reconsider anything?
BC
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14602723/?GT1=8404
poll at msgop:
Do you agree with President Bush when he likens the struggle against Islamic fundamentalism with the fight against Nazis and communists? * 182143 responses
Yes. Bin Laden and others are the Hitlers and Stalins of our times.
43%
Maybe. But I’m going to need some more convincing one way or the other.
4.2%
No. This is just dishonest, warmongering designed to scare voters about national security in time for this fall’s elections.
52%
Christopher Twitchens
Hugh @ 16
I can’t remember who said it, but I recall reading a great statement two or three years ago that we would know the fight against terrorism was lost when every enemy was referred to as a terrorist.
And here we are.
al Scooter – Even if Rover was a genuis, which he is not (and I won’t repeat why – AND THE THREAD CHEERS), he can’t beat reality – no one can.
punaise @ 67
it would be even better if his middle initial were “D”
Prof @ 2:54 pm (#57) – If we’re going to talk about Nazi Germany and useless diversions in the same sentence, then their North African campaign might be a good example. We and the British, among others, faught very hard there, but from the German’s point of view it was a useless diversion of resources that kept Rommel’s armies away from the Russian front and western Europe. The reason they initially got involved was to assist their none-too-useful ally Mussolini in conquering the region.
twolf1
Oh yeah. Noron’s still on point too, so watch out. Just called Hitch “my dear” after he tried to correct her intro.
AND cut off discussion before he could even wipe the drool offn his mike. oh dear indeed….
[THANKS Olbermann…..]
Dan Whitworth @ 59
The same thought occured to me when I read where he said “noisome.” Joe can be noisome even when he is quiet.
isn’t it pitiful that in 1776 we kicked our King off the country but in 2006 Bush is pimping a Shah for Iran ?
OT – WaPo puts picture of john mark karr over caption about Ken Melhman
via HuffPo
*ibo:
you forgot “lonely wannabee creepy strange botoxed control type of freak ;-)
astralplame @ 54:
I disagree. Harris is clearly “woop woop” crazy, but it seems to me the result of an inappropriate sense of entitlement, resulting from a well-to-do family and helping to perpetrate the fraud that was the 2000 Florida “election.”
No doubt she feels an absolute right to win, or be coronated, and sees the electoral process as irritant and formality.
Hopefully, she’ll completely melt down soon and publicly spill the beans about how she “earned” the seat the electorate will deny her.
RevDeb @ 40
Shhhh…she might hear you!
If we don’t say it out loud, she might not remember what she did in 2000. *g*
Hugh @ 62
Yes.
Nothing speaks of democracy like the son of the former King. I’m sold.
Hugh –
You provide excellent analysis, and bless you for wading through all that crap I won’t even go near (btw — did you hear Olbermann say, in a toss-away line earlier in last night’s broadcast, that Bush would be speaking today “so don’t wear your good shoes”? Bwaahahahah!).
However, when I came upon this sentence –
So there it is, folks, you can either agree with Bush and whatever he’s saying or deliver you children into the hands of nuclear armed terrorists.
I realized that the “nuclear armed terrorists” are really the evil bastards in THIS administration, but upon re-reading your sentence, I realize THAT fits, too.
astralplame @ 54
precisely, couldn’t have said it better.
OT–LHP, thanks for your response on Moment of Zen.
Mad Dogs @ 78
I’m sure she remembers it vividly and tries to remind BushCo of it whenever possible.
Bargain Countertenor @ 79
Remember though, that Bush is against everything he’s for …
BC
Hugh –
Re your #61 –
It’s all a simple pronunciation error by the Deciderer in Chief. He doesn’t hate “fascists,” he hates “fat shits.”
Evil Parallel Universe @ 69
I think he’s been more lucky than good but rapidly running out of luck…
Evil Parallel Universe @ 69
In the long run, he’s all dead.
Meanwhile, we need to limit the damage he can enable and get some kind of start on saving the planet before 1/20/09.
OT – Connecticutblog reports Lieberman is now publicly calling for a series of debates with Lamont and the other candidates:
http://connecticutblog.blogspot.com/
Sen. Joe Lieberman called on the four other candidates in the hotly contested U.S. Senate race Thursday to meet next week and agree to a debate schedule.
Lieberman, who lost the Democratic primary to businessman Ned Lamont and is now running as an independent, sent letters to Lamont, Republican Alan Schlesinger, Green Party candidate Ralph Ferrucci and Concerned Citizens candidate Timothy Knibbs.
“Voters are eager to know what we will do to solve the problems affecting their daily lives,” Lieberman wrote in his letter. He also said the candidates have an opportunity to set “a high standard for a new politics of civil engagement.”
Bargain Countertenor @ 65
They can’t really think that the Iranians would accept the Shah’s son? Can they?
Prof @ 57
Exactly. Right now their diversionary tactic is using “fascism” to brand any form of disagreement with their f**ckups. If anything, their “fascist” ploy should be greeted with hoots of derision and laughter. It’s on the same level as Preznit’s fondness for farting in the Oval Office.
Me, I would challenge Bush to spell “fascist” at a press conference.
tommy yum @ 77
I don’t see the two theories as necessarily exclusive. To a certain extent, the congenital nuttiness, sense of entitlement, and privileged connections could all contribute to her getting as far as she has – only to contribute even more to her ultimate de-stabilization when the “prize” disintegrates in her hands.
*ilbo @
63
Or how I spent my trust fund in soooo many beautiful ways.
astralplame (#70) –
I think of him as Christopher D(elirium) Tremens.
*xyz @ 89
How do you spell D E S P E R A T E ?
1,267 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ JUST GOEZ ON AND ON AND…
FDLers:
Now that things have gotten outta Rove’s control, we are seein’ the heavy hitters in the fascist party (i.e. Burns and Allen – that has a nice ring to it doesn’t it?!) throwin off their robes and shining up their jackboots. The tsunami that is buildin up in Rove’s swimmin’ pool has forced the bunch of ‘em to push forward the schedule.
The play in Iraq is clearly gunna be “stay the course” thru ‘08 and then impeach the next administration with “who lost Iraq?”. The move on Iran was gunna happen in early ‘07 but now is gunna be played in late October. The judicial nominees and assault on Social Security that was gunna happen in the Spring of ‘07 is gunna be pushed in this rump session of congress in order to keep the Democrats occupied as long as possible on domestic issues in Washington and outta their districts and states.
For those who are sanguine about the comin’ elections and who believe that all the Democrats hafta do is lay low…well, go read German history 1930-33.
History has presented our leaders and would-be leaders with a challenge…a moment when their actions must be first in defense of principle and truth even if it is against their own short-term political interest. So far the elected leadership of the House and senate have failed the test, failed us and failed history. When this period is written in historical scripture, Mrs. Clinton will be a minor footnote.
We can take nothing for granted and we must be ready to drag our leaders behind us when the fascists call us into the street.
KEEP THE FAITH, COURAGE IS SOMETHING YOU FIND WHEN YOU NEED IT!!
Black is the New Gay.
What a relief. It’s not my fault anymore. Can’t wait to tell my therapist.
Evil Parallel Universe @ 80
Last I heard, Iran’s government was the most democratic of any regime in the entire Muslim world. As flawed and as anti-US as it may be.
I’ve got a better idea; let’s promote democracy here in the United States instead. We can start by impeaching Bush and arresting his administration.
Off Topic
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hope Springs a Turtle if you’re lurking …?
Mike Malloy on the Christine Craft show right now
http://www.1240talkcity.com/shows/christinecraft/
Click on the button in the top right corner that says “On Air”
Hugh @
5
interesting… where’s Condi been? haven’t seen much of her lately… you think she’s not participating in Rove’s current “us and them” efforts?
RevDeb – desperate is right – that is the conclusion over at Connecticutblog as well
Dan Whitworth @
59
We definitely do not see you around here enough, Dan.
beth meacham @ 90
Who knows what they’re thinking? This the crew that makes up their own reality, y’know. These fools see themselves as history’s playwrights, so maybe they do believe that a majority of Iranians crave a Pahlavi restoration.
BC
Fear and hate bring out the Republican base to vote.
They milk Iran for the month of Sept.
And of course the big October surprise.
We should see a big vague threat, with just enough information to raise the threat level up to orange.
Just enough fear involved so they can play the role of protector.
orangejumpsuit @ 91
al-Scooter @ 58
new term for those Dem clothes horses: fascionistas
*xyz
You would think with an 18 year record in the Senate that voters should already know where Lieberman stands on the “problems affecting their daily lives.” And if they don’t, whose fault is that, Joe?
Re Allen: Nor did the senator have a clue that in some European countries “makak” is a derogatory term for North African immigrants.
This would be mildly credible except that Allen’s mother is from Tunisia. Allen knows EXACTLY what makaka means. Never say this in Paris if value your health.
Cujo359 @ 71
Yeah, I was trying to think of the right analogy. Despite having majored in history, and having seen both Casablanca and Patton, I never really did get what the point of the North Africa campaign was.
Now you’ve filled that lacuna in my knowledge.
There was no point.
So if Hitler got sucked into fighting his war partly in the wrong place, and we are working on analogies, does that make Bush . . . .?
I won’t say that.
They can’t really think that the Iranians would accept the Shah’s son? Can they?
Artie Shaw would have a better chance. And he’s dead. The world’s loss, he was a major talent of the Swing Era.
TANK @ 105
oh, TANK, I think the days of “vague threats” are over – everybody’s caught on to that trick – I suspect they will actually blow some shit up… they are too scared not to…
OldCoastie @ 17
if I may……..hurm
And speaking of being a Virginia native, Sidarth is. Allen grew up in California and became a fake good ol’ boy.
Disclosure: our family knows Sidarth. Extremely intelligent young man.
Hey Norske!
I’m so happy to see you here. You never fail to give me a shot in the arm of that wonderful anti-fascist passion you express so well.
As Woody Guthrie painted on his guitar, you too could put up a sign on your computer:
This machine kills fascists.
Bless you!
Old Sow @ 111
it was actually pretty funny – Kate made a bunch of wacky statements and the rest of the panel just kinda sat there, looked at each other and then changed the subject…
Maybe I’m putting words in Jane’s mouth but is the post implying that Rove tasked Allen to give the macaca statement — perhaps as a downpayment for future services? Or do you think a more general “don’t suppress your natural instincts” message might have gone out?
rcauthen @ 115
It might just be that a lot of these guys are rascist little shits. Listen to the Allen tape: he goes as far as he does because of the crowd’s encouragement. Fuck, I’m surprised he didn’t whip out a rope.
Big OT– My daughter and I did a tour of the National Cathedral in DC today. My faith has been partially restored.
First, I asked our tour guide if he was a member of the church. He said no, the Cathedral has no dedicated congregation, although it the seat of the bishop of the Episcopal Church in the US. He said, “I don’t know about your politics but this is a place where all faiths can come and be a part,” citing that even Irani President Mohammad Khatami will be speaking there soon. I got the distinct feeling the guy feels strongly that a separation of church and state is just fine.
After the tour, I went into the gift shop and the first thing to catch my eye was Jim Wallis’ book, God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It.!
Is the Noron moderating Hairball today?
I’ve heard rumors that she’s been filling in, and that — surprise of surprises — she’s been asking pointed questions of the thugs.
Is this true? I really don’t want to put on Hairball. It”s just my luck that whenever I turn it on, just then I hear something that makes my b.p. soar. Am trying to stay healthy and fit for the long marathon battles ahead.
beth meacham @ 90
Why yes, I do believe they are that stupid.
Mrs. K8 @ 113
And there is also Pete Seeger’s banjo — “This machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender.”
Which was inspired by Woody’s guitar …
BC
RevDeb – Agree. That is a sign of desperation.
Kurt – I’m not sure I consider Iran “democratic” in our sense of the word given the power of the Ayatollahs and the revolutionary guards, and being the most democratic (in any sense) in a sea of monarchies doesn’t say much. That being said, it is certainly more democratic than anything we would install over there.
It made me think of the scene in Syriana where the the Clooney character is brought in to speak to the Council for a Free Iran (or whatever it’s name was). All they wanted to hear was that Iran was ripe for American intervention, welcome “democratic” change, etc., etc.; Anything but the truth that maybe it isn’t such a good idea. Life imitating art imitating life.
It would be fun (in a depressing way) to have a “sticky” or recurring thread in which we engage in an October Surprise Pool. Whoever comes closest to describing the method and timing of the OS will win a prize, like a month’s supply of plastic sheeting and duct tape. Or canned food.
I’m sayin’ dirty bomb/biological attack, San Francisco, mid-October.
The National Review is on Allen… here’s hoping they don’t let up– seems a bountiful harvest is being reaped as we speak–
a pandering we go
a pandering we go,
high ho the racist boy’s
a pandering you know!
bwahahaha!
http://sixers.nationalreview.c…..zNkMTQ1NDE
tommy yum –
Did you see the recent front page post (yesterday afternoon I think) at Daily Kos showing a pic of Allen posing with the CCC leadership?
The post included an email from a CCC board member to archpundit (I think that’s the handle) — consisting of the most disgusting racist rant I’ve heard in a very long time — calling him a “n******-lover” and other such lovely sentiments.
This is the company Allen keeps. Says it all.
tommy yum @ 122
hmm… morbid, but interesting… I’m saying Navy ship, blown up in ME, blamed on Iran, followed by full out international incident in the last 3 days of October…
Pete Seeger, at his sentencing for contempt of Congress in 1961:
I just want to point out that the current Congress is at least as contemptible as the 1955 Congress.
Had enough?
BC
george felix allen jr. is either a moron or a racist and a liar. which describes his va supporters best?
(p.s thanks for floating the nation piece although it appears gfa jr dodged that bullet.)
(p.p.s. sidarth got 1550 sat’s and a 4.1 gpa at thomas jefferson hs in fairfax co., one of the best hs’s in the country. he got into larry sabato’s highly competitive political science class at uva with an three-word essay that read “I am Macaca.”)
Your daily gas and oil prices
Average price for regular gasoline 8/31/06 in 50 states and DC
$3.00 plus 10 states
$2.90 plus 8 states
$2.80 plus 8 states
$2.70 plus 13 states
$2.60 plus 11 states
$2.50 plus 1 state
Average national price: $2.808, down $.015
Highest recorded national average price: $3.057 9/5/2005
Highest average price: Hawaii $3.343
Lowest average price: Ohio $2.567
Nymex Crude Future $70.26, down $.19
Dated Brent Spot $69.64, up $.35
WTI Cushing Spot $70.26, up $.23
Gas prices continue to tumble. Oil prices drift. Yawn.
I saw it, Mrs K8. Big shocker.
We can take some comfort that people like that will always be a vocal minority. The job is to reveal their representatives, who have wormed their way into power with subterfuge and mendacity.
HOw is everyone?
Wrt to my 123–
talk about the pot calling the kettle… erm,
no, how about white on …
ah, ferget it and
oh happy day!
How does the underside of the bus look, Senator Allen anyway?
(thanks Dru for the heads-up!)
BC –
Thanks for that bit of info in #120, I didn’t know that.
There was a truly terrific New Yorker article about Pete Seeger, with lots and lots of detail from his anti-fascist fights throughout the decades, and a wonderful story of his friendship with Paul Robeson. I think it was an issue last February. (Should you want to know specifically, I could go dig out the magazine later this evening. It was a great article.)
I really believe that the cultural thread of thirties progressivism is being now (and will continue to be in coming years) resurrected and harvested for the good bits useful for us in this insane world we live in.
chimpy forcing out a squeaker
I linked this post at Digg:
http://digg.com/political_opin…..e_Measures
If you want, go rate it up. Registration is free.
twolf1 @ 3:29 pm (#134) – Fartacus Bound.
tommy yum @
117
I would guess it’s more along the lines of “don’t hold back, boys” — then Allen and Burns just reverted to their natural selves. But there is no way anyone can argue that the NRSC ad in against Laffey is not completely deliberate, and Lieberman’s race baiting is absolutely the intentional reaction to what he was seeing in his polling.
pol @ 117
I have to say here, that I was SO offended that GWB used the National Cathedral to declare war after 9/11.
Hmmmmm odd, very odd. The CT Independent candidate John Mertens is missing from this list. How many Independents are running?
tommy yum @ 123
Good idea. Put me down for foiled dirty bomb plot in Virginia/DC area, with terror alert level jacked up from Bert to Elmo. And by December, the plot will turn out to be nothing some teenagers with a website for their metal band, Dirty Bomb. Who will not be charged with anything.
1,267 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND…
Prof, Cujo – I am fairly certain that the Italians went into Africa first on their Libya adventure, and Germany came in to save the Italians from defeat at the hands of the British. Hitler idolized Mussolini as the “father” of fascism and didn’t want him, or Germany by association, to be “humiliated,” and also considered Italy an important military ally at the time and didn’t want to lose the Italian troops.
It doesn’t make the diversion point invalid; but sometimes other’s actions force you into diversions.
*xyz @ 89
Sorry Joe “Gotta Go”, but there ain’t no mulligans.
You already spoke your piece, and those voters heard what you said and they’ve already spoken their piece!
And in case you don’t remember, it was Adios!
tommy yum @ 122
your abbreviation makes me nervous….LOL
It’s true. The GOP is doing all the things that any marketer would do when they think they have a product that nobody wants to buy, or – much, much worse – has already tried and decided that they hate.
But in the spirit of forgiveness and sportsmanship, let’s help them out by making a list of all the the things that the GOP-controlled govenment has accomplished in service of the average American since they took complete control in the 2002 midterm election:
1.
al-Scooter @ 58
that’s the most insightful description of who rove is and how he plays his game i’ve read yet. thank you.
Libya = Ethiopia. My bad.
cleter @ 140
actually it’s a Sesame Street spinoff S&M outfit: Bertie Dom
Mrs. K8 @ 132
I’d appreciate it, Mrs K8. Peet Seeger is one of my heroes, if 50-somethings are permitted heroes.
BC
In ‘04 it was gay marriage. They can’t use that because the failed attempt to write discrimination into the Constitution is still kinda fresh.
Now they can go back to the old standby, racial discrimination.
1,267 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND…
Bargain Countertenor:
Sorry about the botched quote…I wanted to add that the 1955 Congress was MORE contemptible because it was Democratic, but this congress is more dangerous ‘cuz the fascists control both houses, the executive and the judiciary.
KEEP THE FAITH, THOSE KIDS IN IRAQ NEED YOU NOW!!
Jane Hamsher @ 3:31pm (#137)
As you wrote in the article, it makes no sense to assume that Laffey will be less anti-immigrant than Chafee. My guess at the real strategy is that the NRSC is hoping that by proving that he’s more anti-immigrant than Chafee, Laffey will say such extreme things that no moderate Republican will support him.
Bargain Countertenor @ 149
check the archives at http://www.newyorker.com
two of the more divisive and problematic figures in the Democratic Party
No [Dangerstein], your boss is that person and if you want, I can give you a couple of other names.
jackass.
RevDeb @
40
Evil Parallel Universe @ 56
Hmm. Google Bebe Rebozo
One of the strategic goals of the African Campaign was control of the Suez Canal. Another although further afield was control of Middle Eastern oilfields or at least the ability to deny them to the Allies. While these made sense as goals, their pursuit as the time represented a miscalculation and overextension of German forces. If they had not been so kooky and hegemonic, they would not have undertaken it but then they would not have been Nazis.
Evil Parallel Universe s@ 3:32 pm (#142) – I couldn’t remember which country Mussolini was after, but that’s what I meant by it being his dreams of conquest that started it all. Germany went to their aid when the British put up a fight, and the rest was a useless diversion of German resources.
It also turned out to be a needed practice session for the U.S. Army, which, as events proved, didn’t quite have its act together. The analogy to Al Qaeda in Iraq is a pretty obvious one, I think.
tommy yum @ 123
Do you MIND? My daughter just moved there.
I thought of a contest too but decided they would take our ‘winner’ and blow it up for real, to teach us a lesson.
Just have her come home for a visit, egregious!
Do ya think Allen’s friends in the
KKKCCC already know his mother was Jewish and from Africa?tommy yum @ 158
and bring her new spouse with her !
egregious @ 159
and his Jewish Grandpa was a liquor importer?
BC –
Will do. Gotta do the swimming pool work-out, then the visit to the physical therapist, then dinner. Before bed, though, I will go dig up the pile of New Yorkers I’ve read cover to cover (much smaller than the ones piling up still waiting for the same treatment), just gotta remember where I stuffed ‘em.
Then I’ll keep my eyes peeled for you.
Of course you’re permitted heroes! Not just permitted — we need ‘em, even if they’re historical figures at this point.
Seeger is one of mine. And Woody Guthrie.
Eleanor Roosevelt, too!
egregious @ 160
I imagine they’re okay with his mother, having (probably) established her bona fides by teaching her son “macaca.”
They just had to wait to get it ready. For the past 6 years, they have been working hard to purge a lot of blacks from the voting rolls. Now it is done. Now, with the further race baiting of Hispanics, even better yet.
Time for Phase 2 of this project. It ain’t pretty either.
But make no mistake — it was planned.
One more strawman to knock down:
“In Iraq, we saw a dictator who harbored terrorists, fired at military planes,….”
Except those military planes were being flown over Iraq, monitoring the so-called “no fly zone.”
Wonder what Bush would do is Iraqi fighters were flown over Washington, or the Israelis would do if Syrian jets were flown over Israel.
Tommy Yum -
put me down for thinking there will be an assassination attempt against prominent republican – mid-size non-coastal city (SLC, Minneapolis, etc). Someone close to target takes bullet, shades of Reagan.
NOTE TO NSA – I AM NOT ADVOCATING THIS AND HAVE NO DESIRE OR MOTIVATION TO ACTUALLY SEE THIS HAPPEN.
Actually, some sort of bogus pin-it-on-the-Iranians Tonkin Gulf-style shenanigans seems like a more likely October surprise than some sort of domestic event. Didn’t somebody already suggest that? Who was that?
That’s really the scenario that scares me. See, if the Iranians are helping the insurgents, or whatever, then attacking Iran could be pre-authorized by the existing force resolution on Iraq. No new debate or pesky congressional authorization required!
astralplame @ 166
but will the gunman be ‘crazed and lone’ or will he be carrying a copy of the Quran in his pocket?
“oh, TANK, I think the days of “vague threats” are over – everybody’s caught on to that trick – I suspect they will actually blow some shit up… they are too scared not to… “
I highly recommend Terry Gilliam’s movie “Brazil”; terrifying prescience.
Pathos on Parade.
The hood has finally been ripped off of the old Confederacy and they are marching lemminglike into the gaping maw of history being led by the pied piper of modern assassin politics, Karl Rove.
They are going for broke because they know deep down that it is curtains for them if the curtains are pulled aside and the American people and the world see just how vile, corrupt, vindictive and self-centeredly arrogant the leading elite of the Bush/Coulter Republican Party has been.
They all have their part to play, Coulter, Buchanan, Jack Kemp, Gingrich. All doing their best at total war and utter destruction.
The jig is up though and Rove won’t get to take his final victory lap around the cesspool that is the modern politics of his creation.
They are running from the past, present and future but they can’t run fast enough.
-GSD
*ilson46201 @ 168
someone posted this story in a previous thread:
UK drama paints fictional assassination of Bush
*ilson46201 @ 169
Carrying a Quran. And..and…a cell phone. With suspicious numbers stored on it. Fortunately, the plan will be foiled, because of NSA listening on those number. Yay NSA!
at the rate we’ve been heading down the toilet, no new debate or pesky auth will ever be required unless we win in November without Lieberman et al.
Go Ned! Go Webb! Go Tester! Forward America– no tripping over your fear– FORWARD out of the darkness.
(ps cleter, I think you’re right if there will be one.) ;>(
BQ @
20
Why are these links expunged?
cleter @ 172
Suckass!
per the October Surprise…. I’m thinking another Osama appearance won’t be enough this time…
and by the way, Where IS Osama? didn’t we catch him yet?
*ilson46201 @ 169
The crazed terrorist will have Howard Dean, Michael Moore and Hillary Clinton on speed dial.
-GSD
If they had not been so kooky and hegemonic, they would not have undertaken it but then they would not have been Nazis.
In an elliptical way, this is the point that a number of us have been making – or at least trying to make – in this thread.
Every strategic strength has its corresponding weakness. Rove’s overplayed his hand so badly that he’s staring an endgame in the face and he knows it. All he had to do after 9/11 was be a bigger man (via his boss) and a little more patient and he’d be well on the way to the one-party state he’s so long desired.
The Democrat Party (as opposed to the real Democrats here and elsewhere) were just begging to be co-opted for a sliver of that patriotic pie, but he was too arrogant to allow them any. They’d still let him get away with it, but the bloggers and activists of the Democratic Party won’t let them.
Too bad for you, Joey. Your retreat’s been cut off, and there’s no long-term future staying the course. Soon you’ll be taking fire from both sides. Time to leave the field, sir.
GSD 178:
-GSD
hahaha! that’s it!
Mrs. K8 @ 162
Thanks in advance!
I don’t know what melancholia has been possessing me lately, but I’m well aware of a need for heroes. The nice thing about being an adult with some life experience is that discovering that heroes are human beings isn’t disillusioning any more.
And I like your list — some historians think that Eleanor is the reason that Franklin was a progressive.
I’ll toss another of mine out for your consideration — Theodore Roosevelt.
BC — signing off and headed off to prep for tomorrow’s waterboarding of graduate students.
I guessed a domestic event targeting Republicans because
1) as long as they keep power, they are happy to go after Iran no matter what
2) the problem is that they are losing control of the messaging – people aren’t believing that all who oppose them are terrorists
3) the danger is that they will lose control domestically, which requires a massive Republican motivation in the voters
so – show violent threat to prominent Republican, one with broad appeal and likely to run in ‘08 (Giuliani?), which implants in people’s minds that the “bad guys” most fear and hate the Republicans. Then people who don’t like Republicans are bad guys and should be voted against.
non-coastal city for the heartland appeal, just has to NOT be Chicago, Dallas, OK City.
The gunman has Quran and a deep back-story with lots of neighbors who thought he was awfully quiet, and that he was interested in supporting Democratic candidates.
So I am preceded by the Brits? Huh. Just tried to decide what plot I would put in a novel about this, if I were going to write one.
Cleter – I don’t know if I ever posted it – but I was thinkin Tonkin Gulf. I saw something on another blog – maybe escheton – stating that the real worry is that the Iranian’s don’t realize just how crazy TEAM LOSER is, and will give TEAM LOSER what they want.
GSD @ 171
When the vote was coming up on the flag-burning amendment, I called my Republican Senator’s office. The staffer said of course the Senator was for protecting the flag. I asked if it would still be ok to burn Confederate flags, or would the Senator support an amendment protecting the Confederate flag.
Uncomfortable silence, followed by some stammering.
Nicely detailed, but when, astralplame?
By the way it was just so sweet to see Danny Boy Senor get indignant(after making up ad hominem attacks on “those on the left”) when Paul Hackett lit into him. Poor Dan practically had to pull an Ann C-hole-ter out of his ass and call for help from John Kasich.
Fuck Dan Senor and his wannabe Marine haircut.
-GSD
cleter @ 140
Nah it’s gotta tie in with Iran so they can get their PNAC WWIII on.
And the location should be different, we’ve already had two false flag thingies if you count anthrax. We are already PLENTY terrified. Would be beneficial to scare people somewhere else, preferably in a state with a close election.
*Plot will turn out to be nothing…oh you already read about the British plane fizzle?
*ilson46201 @ 176
sporting a tight tshirt with arabic writing on it, diesel jeans size 4, blahniks size 6 1/2 and drinking evian (baaaaad French!) while wearing a gel bra, size 36 D. Oh no, it’s a female!
Extra points if they can use it to justify NSA warrantless spying.
angie @ 188
…who turns out to be a deranged Katherine Harris…
it occurs to me, whatever the October surprise is, the repugs will try to make sure they are right (for once)… listen carefully to what they are saying – they will tell us soon enough…
Tommy Yum -
I forgot the WHEN! OK. Ideally, there would be a prop event. A crappy and unsurprising October Surprise that is just getting eviscerated in the news-cycle round about the fourth week of October. Everybody starts switching to talking about Halloween and saying “OK – now that’s over with, no big deal” Then in the evening on Nov. 3 or 4 (Fri or Sat) – it happens. Outside some fundraiser or benefit event. This gives a couple of days for media blackout and better control of news, so that a fully scripted narrative can be presented to breathless audience on Monday.
new thread
al-Scooter @ 145
In the interest of fairness, what about the Do Not Call list? Or was that earlier?
October Surprise=Operation Northwoods
Not literally … but you know
egregious @ 187
Kansas City, Missouri. The McCaskill/Talent race is tightening.
Rove’s nightmare scenario: that Americans conclude that the war in Iraq is making terrorism worse and America less safe. A new poll linked at HuffPo suggests this:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..28474.html
the reason I don’t think there will be a domestic attack is because “we are fighting them over there so we don’t have to fight ‘em over here”… if there is something on the shores of the U.S. – then they will robbed of that “nope! no terrorist attacks here” meme…
and this all assumes that the October Surprise is just a GOTV issue, rather than a “Declare Martial Law and Suspend Voting” issue.
OldCoastie @ 197
that is why I guessed assassin – can’t blame crappy port security and intelligence for that.
astralplame @ 199
Wait, gotta adjust my tinfoil banana hammock, what are we talking about?
Dan Bartlett is on Hardball. He also says “nuc-u-lar” like his boss. I wonder if that’s a requirement for keeping his job…
All these Bush characters keep telling us “what the American people need to understand”… I am so irked at this kind of ridiculous condescension. A majority of Americans DO understand!
168, cleter: me. Been suggesting it for some months, but not necessarily linked to calendar October.
Ghostman
Twisted Martini @ 200
just saying. Worst case scenario is that the adminstration will go to such lengths in order to motivate people to vote their folks into office. Worster case scenario is that they are going to seize power by declaring martial law after disrupting the country with some bogus attack. I am hoping for neither, plus some non-diebold-stolen electoral action.
Bartlett is a slice of chickenshit.
-GSD
I hope these feta cheesbags have nightmares the rest of their lives.
P.S.
Norah O’Donnell is serving up some hardballs. She has stunned me these past few days.
Mrs. K8 @ 61
And yet, exactly the same acronym ;-)
I was just kidding. Given what we have seen these morally bankrupt individuals do over the last 6 years, no conspiracy is too out there.
In the interest of fairness, what about the Do Not Call list? Or was that earlier?
Dates from late June, 2003. So that’s one. (Good catch, ma’am!)
astralplame @ 199
No that’s for ‘08 when they are truly cornered. End game.
if I were Angela Merkel, I’d put a few extra fire-extinguishers in the Reichstag in October…
Bartlett is a slice of chickenshit.
There are some who say he’s a chicken salad waiting to happen.
What the hell does Jack Reed, that Democrat know about the military!
Let’s see:
After graduating from LaSalle Academy in Providence, he attended the United States Military Academy at West Point where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1971. Following his graduation from West Point and receiving an active duty commission in the United States Army, Reed attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University where he received a Masters of Public Policy. Reed, an Army Ranger and a paratrooper, served in the 82nd Airborne Division as an Infantry Platoon leader, a Company Commander and a Battalion Staff Officer. He returned to West Point in 1978 as an Associate Professor in the Department of Social Sciences.
Go Jack.
-GSD
All these doomsday and Manchurian Candidate scenarios are off the track.
The surpise will be troop withdrawals from Iraq to commence beginning in October.
Think Reagan and the Iran hostages. Did you forget where the name “October suprise” came from?
Joe Lieberman is the Anti Democrat.
George Bush is Anti Think.
*ilson46201 @ 211
You must have been listening to the Young Turks, they just talked about the Reichstag fire.
Jane Hamsher @ 137
I think Jane’s just about nailed it. The behind-the-scenes message was probably more subtle than “Don’t hold back, boys,” but Burns and Allen (ahem) couldn’t quite master the subtle part.
1,267 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND…
al-Scooter @179:
You are right as rain…glad yer on our side. But this thing ain’t in the bag, even if we avoid an October Surprise and overcome the saboteurs like Rahm E and Chuck Schumer, we will still hafta win the fight for control of the Democratic Party in January, ‘07.
I am hopin’ that Feingold, Kerry, Kennedy and Clinton (with Hillary gettin’ the Senate leadership in return for givin’ up a lost cause)have plans for a shadow leadership to move on Lighthorse Harry right away in January. Al Gore is jest sittin’ there ready ta lead a united party and if we actually get to impeachment…well Al Gore would look mighty good as Vic-President ascending’ to the big house after Nancy P appoints ‘im and then abdicates.
KEEP THE FAITH AND DON’T LET ‘EM OUTTA THEIR CAGES!!
orangejumpsuit – you make a good point about troop withdrawals, but I can’t quite agree with it. Initiating troop withdrawal could so easily be termed a surrender to the Democrats, if not the Terrorists. This administration may well feel obliged to go for the pure injection rather than the contact high.
NorskeFlamethrower @
218
Even though I bagged on Gore and Kerry upthread, both of then have wised up and toughened up since their last respective encounters with Rove. I’d love for Gore to make a run in ‘08!
astralplame @ 219
It’s a question of framing. Bush will declare that Iraqi democracy is in place, and he can cook up whatever proof he wants. He has lied before, why stop now? At that point the Dems can only agree because that is what they have been calling for anyway. And, if they brought the troops home, would you disagree with that?
You see, they hold the trump cards, we got deuces high. Right now his poll numbers reflect dissatisfaction with the war. This will be his way to defuse that. For Bush, the withdrawal scenario comes as close to win/win as he can right now. People are sick of the war and he knows it.
But be assured, we will still have a military presence there. A phased withdrawal will be his way to have his cake and eat it too.
That is why the election is so important. The Dems need a way to seize control so they can influence the future of a historic catastrophe and guide it towards a humanitarian conclusion if that is at all possible.
Bush’s aim is to leave the next president holding the bag.
One addition to your list: The Wall Street Urinal had an editorial attacking John Conyers today.
tommy yum @
123
Um, Tommy. I think maybe I’m the one who should win the duct tape.
egregious @ 210
The disturbing element of this is that Homeland Insecurity Creation’s ICE Immigration plan to build $385,000,000 worth of Halliburton prisons for illegal immigrants or “other programs”–WHAT OTHER PROGRAMS is called:
Endgame
egregious @
225
Makes you wonder if there are any Beckett fans in the shop somewhere.
If so, maybe whoever-it-is can talk Camus with the Shrub.
Here’s a totally documented free website by Dylan Avery and Todd Beemis-
http://www.loosechange911.com
Unlike Chalabi, young Pahlavi is an emblem (not the leader) of a substantial, well-heeled, Iranian exile community. Not surprising that the neocon idiots who thought Iraqis would welcome Chalabi would also think the Iranians would welcome him.
Also, the Iranian exile community, having prospered under one of the most ruthless dictators ever (the Shah) has no use whatever for “democracy.”
I wouldn’t shit you, Karl. You’re my favorite turd.
astralplame @ 35
I was watching Alex Jones’Symposium of 9-11 lies.Dylan Avery and Jason Burmis gave this
website out:
http://www.loosechange911.com
Enjoy! Well documented and researched.