Dems!

Oooh, zero!

Oh my this cracks me up too! Go Ned!

As I said yesterday, soon Joe will be hiding the N’s and the L’s from his office keyboards!!

Go Nedster!

no walls were harmed in the making of this ad. the cars? well, you be the judge.

great ad.

Stupid car!

God what a hilarious ad . . .

Go Ned

That is just a brillant ad! It deserves a *lot* of air play.

Great ad! Visual humor is so often lacking. Takes me back to the Laugh In tv comedy and Arte Johnson falling over on his trike.

Geez, you’d think all I do is refresh FDL all day long waiting for a new post to snag the coveted zero spot.

Okay, so what if I do!?

*g*

Hi, I’m mc and I’m a FDLaholic.

Hi mc (applauds)

A great comment from Ned yesterday during a small press conference when Ned was asked by a reporter what he thought of Lieberman’s “bipartisanship”. Ned said “Senator Lieberman thinks anyone is bipartisan who agrees with him. If you don’t agree with him, you’re partisan.”

Ned is right - but let’s face it Lieberman misrepresents his record, it is up to Ned to inform the voters of the truth right to last moment! To know Lieberman is understand that he is totally devoid of character and any interest in the citizens interests. It’s Lieberman for Lieberman, not for Connecticut and not for the country. He’s got to be revealed for the duplicitous pol that he is, and voted out of office. Keep hitting him Ned, he deserves it.

Baby steps?

From what I’ve seen from a distance, Ned Lamont has run a great campaign. This ad is yet another example. You don’t get that without an intelligent, involved candidate. And while the Times Editorial Board may be direct in their support of Lamont, the political news staff hasn’t quite gotten the message. The only suprise was not reading Adam Nagourney’s name in the byline.

J-Lie’s touting his being the de facto chairman of the homeland security committee when he’s elected.

Which reminds me that he gave us Heckuva Job Brownie. One can logically conclude that putting him in charge means all of America’s Homeland Security will look like Iraq.

Ned needs something to blow up in the Liebercamp. I thought the FEC had only five days to respond to the complaint about the half mil slush fund. Isn’t that about now?

Great ad and I forgot to thank you, Christy, for that Votevets ad 2 threads back. Truly powerful.

cfeddy @ 15

Ned needs something to blow up in the Liebercamp. I thought the FEC had only five days to respond to the complaint about the half mil slush fund. Isn’t that about now?

And even as we “speak” today, J-Lie’s reportedly at an Upper East Side fundraiser. More slush fund for the general election?

cfeddy @
15

Ned needs something to blow up in the Liebercamp. I thought the FEC had only five days to respond to the complaint about the half mil slush fund. Isn’t that about now?

http://www.fec.gov/pages/brochures/complain.shtml

(snip)

II. Complaint: Early Stages
Receipt of Complaint
The Office of General Counsel (OGC) reviews each complaint to determine whether it satisfies the above criteria of a proper complaint. If the complaint does not meet the requirements, OGC notifies the complainant of the deficiencies within 5 days of receipt.

Once a complaint is deemed sufficient, OGC assigns it a MUR (Matter Under Review) number, acknowledges receipt of the complaint and informs the complainant that the Commission will notify him or her when the entire case is resolved. Until then, the Commission is required by law to keep its actions regarding the MUR confidential.

Notice to Respondent
Within 5 days after receiving a proper complaint, OGC sends each respondent a copy of the complaint and a description of the Commission’s compliance procedures. The respondent has 15 days to respond in writing, explaining why no action should be taken.

In the case of a complaint that does not satisfy the requirements (see above), the respondent nevertheless receives a copy of the complaint and a letter explaining that the matter will remain confidential for 15 days to give the complainant an opportunity to correct the complaint.

If the complainant corrects and refiles the complaint, the respondent is sent a copy of the corrected complaint and is given 15 days to submit a response to the Commission.

(snip)

To be honest I was expecting 5000 downloads of the Goper’s Lament Video by Friday, but with over 4200 downloads as of this morning, Rick and I could hit that mark by the end of the day. I honestly feel better about this than I did when I wrote “The Vermontster Mash” for the Dean Campaign in 2003.

What drew me to the Deaniacs was Dean’s belief that just one person can make a difference. Now a multitude of individuals across the country are engaged in taking back America, and I feel secure in the knowledge that no matter what happens next tuesday, they will remain engaged in the process.

No prisoners. No apologies.

Thanks, Stephen Parrish,so in other words, it’s good news if we don’t hear anything in 5 days, but it’s bad news since this won’t blow up until after the elections.

Accountability and One-Party Rule

Over my lunch hour I undertook a little research project. As far as I can tell, over the past century there have been 8 periods when one-party held all three of Pres-Sen-Reps They are

1913-1915 D
1919-1933 R
1933-1947 D
1949-1953 D
1961-1969 D
1977-1981 D
1993-1995 D
2003- R

As a practical matter, I think this boils down to

1919-1933 R
1933-1953 D (with a one-term hiccup)
1961-1969 D
1977-1981 D
2001- R

Were any of those other congresses as abjectly bad as this one? (I wasn’t politically aware enough to distinguish between congress and president in the Carter years, so I don’t know what the buzz was at the time.) Most of them were under circumstances considerably more trying than those the current Administration actually faces.

I’m just thinking that the problems aren’t so much from one-party rule, as much as which party it is.

great ad

That is a great f*ing ad - the 30 second equivalent of a newspaper cartoon. Pithy, funny, unequivocal, in-your-face, unforgettable.

The ad has balls, and so does Lamont.

mc @
I wish there was an auto refresh! 9

Geez, you’d think all I do is refresh FDL all day long waiting for a new post to snag the coveted zero spot.

Okay, so what if I do!?

*g*

Hi, I’m mc and I’m a FDL

aholic.

Can anyone please explain to me how it is that Lieberman is still ahead by 12 points?????

CT is supposed to be a democrat state (are those persons being polled really that stupid?)

In any event, picking up 5 points in a couple of weeks is a good sign for Lamont.

He really has got to go balls out now!!!! Go Ned, F’ Lieberman!!!

OT From Froomkin today, Bush in his Sean Hannity interview explains how he makes decisions.

“First of all, in order to make good decisions, you have to understand the principles that you believe in. . . .

“Secondly, you’ve got to have good people around you that are capable of giving you good advice. In other words, you’ve been in the Oval Office. It can be slightly intimidating. And you want to make sure you have people come in there that say, ‘Look, here’s what I believe.’

“And, thirdly, then you have to be able to make a decision. And making a decision means you’re thoughtful, you listen, you think a lot about it. But when you decide, you decide.

“And, fourth, it means you’ve got to have a team that, when you make the decision, it is, ‘Yes sir, Mr. President,’ and they carry out the decision you make.”

Do you notice how facts play no part in Bush’s decision making process? It’s all about beliefs, his own and those around him. No wonder we are in the mess we’re in.

Cheney on Kerry’s latest:

“He was for the joke before he was against it.”
_

Laft my ass off. Then Ned comes on at the end…suddenly you realise it ain’t so funny.

Great ad. Spent more on wrecking cars than they did on the media buy, I’ll betcha. Sorta symbolic thataway.

Oilfieldguy @ 28

Laft my ass off. Then Ned comes on at the end…suddenly you realise it ain’t so funny.

Great ad. Spent more on wrecking cars than they did on the media buy, I’ll betcha. Sorta symbolic thataway.

I hope, through the power of special effects only one buick was harmed in the filming of this commercial.

“First of all, in order to make good decisions, you have to understand the principles that you believe in. . . .

That’s my fav. What a complete moron. Does this assclown unnerschand anything?
_

PS

Latest Quinnipiac has Loserman leading by 12 points 49-37 (allegedly)

This really sucks

This is pretty interesting:

John (not Juan) Cole runs a blog called Balloon-Juice that I haven’t seen before. He is an apostate Republican, driven from the lock-step of his Party by the GOP actions regarding Terry Schiavo and other things. He wrote today:

I spent my whole life in the GOP- starting in 1984 with county meetings, going to Teenage Republican camp (my friends called it Hitler Youth Camp, proving that Nazi/Republican quips are no new development) . . .

I still think of myself as a Republican- but I think the whole party has been hijacked by frauds and religionists and crooks and liars and corporate shills, and it frustrates me to no end to see my former friends enabling them, and I wonder ‘Why can’t they see what I see?” I don’t think I am crazy, I don’t think my beliefs have changed radically, and I don’t think I have been (as suggested by others) brainwashed by my commentariat.

I hate getting up in the morning, surfing the news, and finding more and more evidence that my party is nothing but a bunch of frauds.
. . .

Why do they keep attacking decent people like Jim Webb- to keep this corrupt lot of fools in office? Why can’t they just admit they were sold a bill of goods and start over? Why do they want to remain in power, but without any principles? Are tax cuts that important? What is gained by keeping troops in harms way with no clear plan for victory? With no desire to change course? With our guys dying every day in what looks to be for no real good reason? Why?

And then there are the 457 comments in response to this, including ones like this:

John,

I originally came across your site a few years ago, and I have to admit, I couldn’t stand you back then. For a while yours was one of the blogs I read when I wanted to be pissed of at a conservative.
. . .

But now I visit your site with nothing but admiration. Not because I agree with you on the issues – because I don’t often. But because agreeing with you isn’t what matters. What matters is that you, unlike most conservatives, have the intellectual honesty and personal integrity to criticize your own side, call a spade a spade, and admit that you’ve been wrong on certain issues. That takes serious balls, especially in a party that seems to hypocritically consider anything short of lock-step devotion to be chickenshit defeatism.

All in all, pretty interesting stuff.

Hugh at 26:

I also remember during the runup to the Iraq war, every statement and/or pronouncement from the administration started out with “I/We believe Saddam Hussein has WMDs, nerve gas, nuclear capability, etc. etc.

I always thought that framing their war policy with the words “I /We believe” was, uh, problematic. To say the least.

Kos:

As Bowers notes, the Kerry thing has been a net positive for us. Gilliard has more. I wish we didn’t have so many Chicken Littles running around these parts, desperate for any excuse to wail about impending doom.

I’m waiting for Joe to join the Bushco pod people screeching at Kerry… As Iraq descends into chaos, GOP discovers new all-purpose talking point — blame John Kerry. Now, now matter how bad the news from Iraq, all they need to do to change the subject is, like the pod people in “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” point at John Kerry and start screeching. See short checklist of how it works. Personally, I think the GOP has run out of ways to defend their abysmal track record and has gone to the Kerry well once too often — too many Americans have made up their mind about Iraq. “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” That goes for Lieberman, too.

Mrs Hardin Smith, Just catching up on a.m. threads. Once again your work this morning deserves high praise! You are both an inspiring and amazing warrior for truth and peace. Thank you so much!
Now if could only figure out how to read your threads with a hanky, a sword, a cuppa coffee and a mouse!

An unequivocally great ad! Miles ahead of that rather schwach inverse Harry-and-Louise ad from the other day.

OT: Has anyone seen this?

CNN

U.S. sees evidence of plot to topple Lebanese government

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House expressed concern Wednesday over what it called mounting evidence that Syria and Iran are joining with Hezbollah in an attempt to topple the Lebanese government.

Press Secretary Tony Snow said any such attempt through tactics that include manufactured demonstrations and violence or physical threats to Lebanese leaders would be a clear violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and three United Nations Security Council resolutions.

[snip]

Good ad.

Just figured out what is so eerie about the Webb-Allen race here in Fairfax County (Northern VA, the DC suburbs). No Allen bumper stickers, and precious few yard signs. It’s just so quiet. I see some Webb bumper stickers and some Webb signs.

You’d think an endangered incumbent with all the money in the world could pay for find sufficient volunteers to put up yard signs…. It’s the quietest I’ve seen in a major election.

Prairie Sunshine @
14

J-Lie’s touting his being the de facto chairman of the homeland security committee when he’s elected.

Which reminds me that he gave us Heckuva Job Brownie. One can logically conclude that putting him in charge means all of America’s Homeland Security will look like Iraq.

Or like New Orleans.

Any info on the person who made this ad? Was it Hillsman?

Get them inked to a long term contract. More like this, please.

Some good ads from the nation DSCC and VoteVets, too. (Kos links)

Bush tells Rush he’s ‘deeply concerned’ about the US leaving the Middle East

RAW STORY
Published: Wednesday November 1, 2006

During an interview with conservative pundit Rush Limbaugh, US President George Bush expressed deep concerns about the possibility of the United States leaving the Middle East, raising fears that extremists could topple governments to “control oil resources.”

snip
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2....._1101.html

There it is.

Oil.

Surprised, anyone?

Well I agree the Lieberman’s of our political world have got to go but then how do you feel about Ford in Tennessee or any of the other so-called Democrats running? Once they are in office, we know how difficult it will be to get them out and how frustrating it will be when they side with Republicans on vote after vote..

Dr. Bong @ 38

OT: Has anyone seen this?

CNN

U.S. sees evidence of plot to topple Lebanese government

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House expressed concern Wednesday over what it called mounting evidence that Syria and Iran are joining with Hezbollah in an attempt to topple the Lebanese government.

Press Secretary Tony Snow said any such attempt through tactics that include manufactured demonstrations and violence or physical threats to Lebanese leaders would be a clear violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and three United Nations Security Council resolutions.

[snip]

Bustednuckles @ 42

Bush tells Rush he’s ‘deeply concerned’ about the US leaving the Middle East

RAW STORY
Published: Wednesday November 1, 2006

During an interview with conservative pundit Rush Limbaugh, US President George Bush expressed deep concerns about the possibility of the United States leaving the Middle East, raising fears that extremists could topple governments to “control oil resources.”

snip
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2....._1101.html

There it is.

Oil.

Surprised, anyone?

So here’s the ‘thug meme heading into the elections: We’ll lose access to oil if the Defeatocrats are elected! And it’s already started!

Edit function a bit hinkey, strike “nation” in my post above.

mc @ 9

Geez, you’d think all I do is refresh FDL all day long waiting for a new post to snag the coveted zero spot.

Okay, so what if I do!?

*g*

Hi, I’m mc and I’m a FDLaholic.

You need to be me. I’m also a mc. Yesterday I had 3 zeroes. You just have to feel when there is a new post. Seeya at the next FDLanon meeting! Ok I’ll give you a clue. Sometimes when you go to refresh comments and it takes a smidgen longer, it’s because there is a new post going up.

My toobz are clogged!

paging Senator Stevens….

That is a great ad! I want to watch just for the entertainment value. And it has the added advantage of being a brilliant visual metaphor.

egregious @ 39

Good ad.

Just figured out what is so eerie about the Webb-Allen race here in Fairfax County (Northern VA, the DC suburbs). No Allen bumper stickers, and precious few yard signs. It’s just so quiet. I see some Webb bumper stickers and some Webb signs.

You’d think an endangered incumbent with all the money in the world could pay for find sufficient volunteers to put up yard signs…. It’s the quietest I’ve seen in a major election.

Kos:

VA-Sen: Another George Allen scandal. I can hardly keep up anymore.

(stock options)

Professor Foland, the answer may delight you. The Republican Congress of your hiccup, 1947–1949, was the infamous Do-Nothing(&#8482 Truman) Congress. There’s a Wikipedia article that describes it in the context of the Truman’s 1948 upset of the relatively liberal Republican Dewey:

The 80th Congress, led by Senator Robert A. Taft of Ohio, was much more conservative than Dewey, and was fixated on rolling back Roosevelt’s New Deal. However, under Dewey’s leadership, the Republicans had enacted a platform at the 1948 convention that called for expanding social security, more funding for public housing, civil rights legislation, and promotion of health and education by the federal government.

Truman exploited this rift in the party by calling a special session of Congress on “Turnip Day” (referring to an old piece of Missouri folklore about planting turnips in late July) and daring the Republican Congressional leadership to pass its own platform. The 80th Congress played right into Truman’s hands, delivering very little in the way of substantive legislation during this time. From then on, Truman dubbed them the “Do-Nothing Congress”. Truman simply ignored the fact that Dewey’s policies were considerably more liberal, and ran against the conservative tendencies of the 80th Congress. For his part, Dewey remained aloof, and followed the advice of his campaign staff that he

Bush tells Rush he’s ‘deeply concerned’ about the US leaving the Middle East

“…raising fears that extremists could topple governments to “control oil resources.”

Right. Like, what the fuck are they gonna do with it? Drink it? Yeah, that’ll help fund jihad.

Oil is a fungible commodity traded and transferred worldwide.

egregious @ 46

mc @ 9

Geez, you’d think all I do is refresh FDL all day long waiting for a new post to snag the coveted zero spot.

Okay, so what if I do!?

*g*

Hi, I’m mc and I’m a FDLaholic.

You need to be me. I’m also a mc. Yesterday I had 3 zeroes. You just have to feel when there is a new post. Seeya at the next FDLanon meeting! Ok I’ll give you a clue. Sometimes when you go to refresh comments and it takes a smidgen longer, it’s because there is a new post going up.

Shhh. Don’t tell anyone there’s a method to our madness.

Salon.com:

It’s Rove’s midterm to lose

His tactical successes have laid the groundwork for the GOP’s strategic failure and could cost his party control of Congress.

By Sidney Blumenthal

Among the Democrats joining the chorus critical of Kerry’s comment was potential 2008 presidential rival New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, who, while stopping short of demanding an apology, called Kerry’s comments “inappropriate.”

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,226584,00.html

Prof — Glenn Greenwald has a very good post up about how the rightwing pundits have tried to dismiss John Cole as someone who was never a real conservative in the first place. They’re all in denial that he might be an honest guy who became disillusioned by the Bush regime/agenda.

And it’s a fine post on why we should not be discouraged — the public is listening and they are rejecting Bush, his Party and his radical agenda.

Glen: The Baselessness of Defeatism

Apparently the toobz have eaten my Quicktime and I can’t play any youtube, etc. Unfortunate, sounds like Ned’s new ad is a killer!

Ms. Christy,

Louisville is tough to beat at home and most scouting reports have it pretty tight, wanna put a little green on the game with the winner donating to Act Blue?

;)

schedule for lamont bus tour announced!

saturday night finale in new haven.

egregious @ 39

Good ad.

Just figured out what is so eerie about the Webb-Allen race here in Fairfax County (Northern VA, the DC suburbs). No Allen bumper stickers, and precious few yard signs. It’s just so quiet. I see some Webb bumper stickers and some Webb signs.

You’d think an endangered incumbent with all the money in the world could pay for find sufficient volunteers to put up yard signs…. It’s the quietest I’ve seen in a major election.

Northern Virginia is Webb country, it’s the rest of the state he needs to be competitive in to take the whole thing. It’s looking pretty good (the Roanoke college poll was take over an entire week).

Hillary is all about Hillary. Keep yawping, woman. No suprise to me that there is no daylight between her and this WH– there never has been wrt foreign policy and some other things important to me.

on the other hand, Bob Barr had a very interesting chat at the wapoo today calling for change this coming Tuesday among other things :)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....00881.html

GOP’s Arza resigns House seat over message with slur, obscenities

By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ
Associated Press
Posted November 1 2006, 2:25 PM EST

HIALEAH — State Rep. Ralph Arza resigned Wednesday from the Legislature, bowing to pressure to quit after leaving messages filled with obscenities and a racial slur on a colleague’s voice mail.

snip

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/ne.....-headlines

John who?
We really, really need our own version of the Mighty Wurlitzer.

OT but sorry, pups. This is the only my time my job in the BushCo economy allows me. For this election I finally have the high-speed tubes thing at home so what’s the best way to monitor things next Tuesday night? A TV MSM network? A tube-site? Looking for real-time, as much as possible. Thanks. Going back to lurkin’ now.

And for added emphasis of this theme, Bush today stated that we were making “progress” in Iraq and that he will be keeping Rumsfeld on through the end of his term. Sounds like “Stay the Course” to me. This will dovetail nicely with the new DSCC ad.

Dr. Bong @ 38

OT: Has anyone seen this?

CNN

U.S. sees evidence of plot to topple Lebanese government

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House expressed concern Wednesday over what it called mounting evidence that Syria and Iran are joining with Hezbollah in an attempt to topple the Lebanese government.

Press Secretary Tony Snow said any such attempt through tactics that include manufactured demonstrations and violence or physical threats to Lebanese leaders would be a clear violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and three United Nations Security Council resolutions.

[snip]

Look at that shiny thing over there. Hezbollah want to be a larger part of the Lebanese goverment and they are pressuring others to allow that. But the WH needs to rev up the perceived threat to Israel/US interest of more “terrorists” gaining control of Lebanon. The reality is that the Israeli incursion and bombing, with US approval, did more to undermine the elected Lebonese government than anything Hezbollay could have dreamed of.

I see this as more distraction from the Bush regime’s failed and very bloody ME policies.

Note the mindset: the WH regards “demonstrations” as unlawful threats to government.

Oilfieldguy @
28

Laft my ass off. Then Ned comes on at the end…suddenly you realise it ain’t so funny.

Great ad. Spent more on wrecking cars than they did on the media buy, I’ll betcha. Sorta symbolic thataway.

One car crash, different camera angles, CG background. Great graphics. Excellent storyboarding. Very well done.

Bustedknuckles at 42;

And note that Bush once again reaffirms/legitimizes Rush Limbaugh by appearing for an interview on his show. This is all to counter M J. Fox and let the faithful know that Rush is okay.

mc @ 52

egregious @ 46

mc @ 9

You need to be me. I’m also a mc. Yesterday I had 3 zeroes. You just have to feel when there is a new post. Seeya at the next FDLanon meeting! Ok I’ll give you a clue. Sometimes when you go to refresh comments and it takes a smidgen longer, it’s because there is a new post going up.

Shhh. Don’t tell anyone there’s a method to our madness.

To wit: I just got the zero on the next post. Now I’m off for my daily forest sanity walk.

jeffreyw @ 41

Any info on the person who made this ad? Was it Hillsman?

Get them inked to a long term contract. More like this, please.

Some good ads from the nation DSCC and VoteVets, too. (Kos links)

You’d think the DCCC ad might at least hint, at the end of the ad, that voting for Democrats on Tuesday would be helpful. !!!

selise @ 57

schedule for lamont bus tour announced!

saturday night finale in new haven.

any interest in an fdl/bloggers meetup on saturday night in new haven for the grand finale (including Squirrel Nut Zippers performance) of the bus tour?

trex and tommy yum will already be there!

Mark @ 43

Well I agree the Lieberman’s of our political world have got to go but then how do you feel about Ford in Tennessee or any of the other so-called Democrats running? Once they are in office, we know how difficult it will be to get them out and how frustrating it will be when they side with Republicans on vote after vote..

I was thinking that too Mark. It’s the DLC and good ol’ boy influence. IMO ya get the dems in first and clean up the DLC mess later. Anyone else feel this way?

Okay, so everybody is a smartypants with their “single car from grassy knoll” theory on the making of the ad.

So, next question–how much did they have to pay Lieberman to be in a Ned ad? Is he that much of a whore? That cash strapped? Does he need more “street money” for his petty cash fund?

I demand that Bush and ALL other Goopers distance themselves from Rush’s smear of Parkinson’s disease victims.

Sonoma Rus @ 69

Mark @ 43

Well I agree the Lieberman’s of our political world have got to go but then how do you feel about Ford in Tennessee or any of the other so-called Democrats running? Once they are in office, we know how difficult it will be to get them out and how frustrating it will be when they side with Republicans on vote after vote..

I was thinking that too Mark. It’s the DLC and good ol’ boy influence. IMO ya get the dems in first and clean up the DLC mess later. Anyone else feel this way?

For the time being, the choice in a state like Tennessee is between a Ford that votes with the Dem caucus and a not-Ford that votes with the Republican caucus. For someone like me, it’s a no-brainer.

Eureka Springs, AR @ 36

Mrs Hardin Smith, Just catching up on a.m. threads. Once again your work this morning deserves high praise! You are both an inspiring and amazing warrior for truth and peace. Thank you so much!
Now if could only figure out how to read your threads with a hanky, a sword, a cuppa coffee and a mouse!

These are issued to every fdl commenter after 6 months.

retirin’ in five @ 61

OT but sorry, pups. This is the only my time my job in the BushCo economy allows me. For this election I finally have the high-speed tubes thing at home so what’s the best way to monitor things next Tuesday night? A TV MSM network? A tube-site? Looking for real-time, as much as possible. Thanks. Going back to lurkin’ now.

Well, stay tuned to fdl of course! TV to CNN/Christy, plus msnbc, backup web info at MyDD.

And you’re not a lurker anymore. I’ve seen you post at least twice. You’re ONE OF US now. Hope to hear from you often.

retirin’ at 61 — If you get bored, I’ll be participating in CNN’s coverage on election night along with several other bloggers…

Thanks Egre and Christy at 74-75. Since Fitz kicked off this is my favorite tube-type place. Election night can’t get here too soon.

retirin at 76 — you are more than welcome. Of course, you know we’ll be blogging our butts off on election night, too — so hang out here with some popcorn. *G*

Christy Hardin Smith @ 77

retirin at 76 — you are more than welcome. Of course, you know we’ll be blogging our butts off on election night, too — so hang out here with some popcorn. *G*

Christy, as long as we’re talkin’, in order to post here you ask three question: Name, Email, and Website, into which I put “huh?” I’m not adapt enough with this whole tubes thing to understand what you’re asking in that box. What is my “website?” (For not knowing “I blame myself” as those SNL guys might have said decades ago when we had just impeached Nixon’s sorry-ass thereby throwing Rumsfeld and Cheney out of work.)

retirin’ at 78 — the website box is simply there in case you have a website of your own to which you wish to link — as in, if you had your own blog or something or if there is a particular one that you like — but it’s not a required field. Hope that helps a bit!

scory @ 13

Baby steps?

From what I’ve seen from a distance, Ned Lamont has run a great campaign. This ad is yet another example. You don’t get that without an intelligent, involved candidate. And while the Times Editorial Board may be direct in their support of Lamont, the political news staff hasn’t quite gotten the message. The only suprise was not reading Adam Nagourney’s name in the byline.

I’m a huge Lamont supporter but wouldn’t say he’s run a great campaign (and by “him” I’m not referring to Ned but those in charge of the campaign). They’ve gotten their sea legs back the past month or so - but were rather wobbly in September.

It will be interesting to do a post mortem after the campaign is over.

Thanks, Christy at 79. Signing out for the day.

Egregious: “Provided they make well-informed donation in lieu of comment, they also serve who only sit and lurk.”

From the article:

_He added: “In hindsight, when Joe Lieberman was outspending me big-time on TV, defining me, I should have probably put up pieces that said: ‘Ned Lamont is not a career politician; he’s a guy who started up a business. Maybe that’s just the type of experience you want in Washington, D.C. He’s not beholden to either party — he’s an outsider.’ I think I should have gotten that message out sooner.”_

This is what I was talking about above. I don’t fault Ned with this. I fault those managing his campaign, who should have known better. I think they really thought that “people power” alone was going to push them to victory - which is nuts. I’m glad they are fast learners.

Personally, I thought it was a great article about Ned - I don’t see why people are looking at this as a negative.

I grew up in Greenwich and compared to most, Ned comes across as a moderate, down-to-earth guy who has grown up in a family that stresses social responsibility and giving back to the community.

Very Kennedy-esque actually (without all the Kennedy baggage.)

Interesting that Ned has given a number of fundraisers for Bill Clinton in the past, isn’t it?

GREAT AD. Don’t know how big a buy he has but I think it could turn some votes.

Quoting #72 For the time being, the choice in a state like Tennessee is between a Ford that votes with the Dem caucus and a not-Ford that votes with the Republican caucus. For someone like me, it’s a no-brainer.

Yes, I understand the argument. We vote for the lesser of two evils so we can get a Democratic majority made up of Blue dogs, make-believe Dems etc. Let’s just call them what they are– Republicans that happen to be running as Dems.
Then what have we accomplished? Maybe we get to set the agenda, have hearings etc. and more importantly (and I say this with my fingers crossed that it doesn’t happen under Bush) we are in position to force a moderate on the Supreme Court (forget about a liberal for balance). I would add that some legislation might have a more citizen-friendly tint to it. It would be naive to exaggerate the extent.
But as I look at the House races and the Dems running for the Senate, all I can think about is the 97% return rate that will give us a very conservative Congress for years to come.
Does anyone wonder why the majority of voters stay home? If we are going to have a two-party system, we have to offer choice. Then we have to convince, through the power of our ideas, the majority of Americans that we are right.
We have “Democrats” running on anti-choice, anti-estate tax, and school prayer platforms. Doesn’t that kind of make you stop to think?

OT. But Critical. Ed Schulz pointed out this afternoon the Bush plan to bring troops to polling places around the country this Tuesday-. And, I just received the following email:

The latest shocking news about the state of our country.

If you have the inclination take a look at what follows. I’d be interested in your reaction(s).

*Bush Moves Toward Martial Law** Frank Morales ::/ The incoming address of this article is : // towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/911/
/ *

October 26, 2006

In a stealth maneuver, President Bush has signed into law a provision which, according to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), will actually eencourage the President to declare federal martial law (1). It does so by revising the Insurrection Act, a set of laws that limits the President’s ability to deploy troops within the United States.* The Insurrection Act (10 U.S.C.331 -335) has historically, along with the Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C.1385), helped to enforce strict prohibitions on military involvement in domestic law enforcement. With one cloaked swipe of his pen, Bush is seeking to undo those prohibitions.

Public Law 109-364, or the “John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007″ (H.R.5122) (2), which was signed by the commander in chief on October 17th, 2006, in a private Oval Office ceremony_, allows the President to declare a “public emergency” and station troops anywhere in America and take control of state-based National Guard units without the consent of the governor or local authorities, in order to “suppress public disorder.”

President Bush seized this unprecedented power on the very same day that he signed the equally odious Military Commissions Act of 2006. In a sense, the two laws complement one another. One allows for torture and detention abroad, while the other seeks to enforce acquiescence at home, preparing to order the military onto the streets of America. Remember, the term for putting an area under military law enforcement control is precise; the term is “martial law.”

Section 1076 of the massive Authorization Act, which grants the Pentagon another $500-plus-billion for its ill-advised adventures, is entitled, “Use of the Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies.” Section 333, “Major public emergencies; interference with State and Federal law”
states that “the President may employ the armed forces, including the National Guard in Federal service, to restore public order and enforce the laws of the United States when, aas a result of a natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency, terrorist attack or incident, or other condition in any State or possession of the United States, the President determines that domestic violence has occurred to such an extent that the constituted authorities of the State or possession are incapable of (”refuse” or “fail” in) maintaining public order, “in order to suppress, in any State, any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy.”

For the current President, “enforcement of the laws to restore public order” means to commandeer guardsmen from any state, over the objections of local governmental, military and local police entities; ship them off to another state; conscript them in a law enforcement mode; and set them loose against “disorderly” citizenry - protesters, in other words.

The law also facilitates militarized police round-ups and detention of protesters, “illegal aliens,” “potential terrorists” and other undesirables for detention in facilities already contracted for and under construction by Halliburton. That’s right. Under the cover of a trumped-up “immigration emergency” and the frenzied militarization of the southern border, detention camps are being constructed right under our noses, camps designed for anyone who resists the foreign and domestic agenda of the Bush administration.

An article on “recent contract awards” in a recent issue of the insider “Journal of Counterterrorism & Homeland Security International” reported that “global engineering and technical services powerhouse KBR [Kellog, Brown & Root] announced in January 2006 that its Government and Infrastructure division was awarded an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract to support U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities in the event of an emergency.” “With a maximum total value of $385 million over a five year term,” the report notes, “the contract is to be executed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers … for establishing temporary detention and processing capabilities to augment existing ICE Detention and Removal Operations
(DRO) - in the event of an emergency influx of immigrants into the U.S., or to support the rapid development of new programs.” The report points out that “KBR is the engineering and construction subsidiary of Halliburton.” (3) So, in addition to authorizing another $532.8 billion for the Pentagon, including a $70-billion “supplemental provision” which covers the cost of the ongoing military maneuvers in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other places, the new law, signed by the president in a private White House ceremony, further collapses the historic divide between the police and the military: a tell-tale sign of a rapidly consolidating police state in America, all accomplished amidst ongoing U.S. imperial pretensions of global domination, sold to a gullible public as a “global war on terrorism.”

The defacto repeal of the Posse Comitatus Act is an ominous assault on American democratic tradition and jurisprudence. The 1878 Act, which reads, “Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uuses any part of the Army or Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both,” is the only U.S. criminal statute that outlaws military operations directed against the American people under the cover of ‘law enforcement.’ As such, it has been the best protection we’ve had against the power-hungry intentions of an unscrupulous executive intent on using force to enforce its will.

Unfortunately, this past week, the president dealt posse comitatus, along with American democracy, a near fatal blow. Consequently, it will take an aroused citizenry to undo the damage wrought by this horrendous act, part and parcel, as we have seen, of a long train of abuses and outrages perpetrated by this authoritarian administration.

Despite the unprecedented change created by this act, there has been no outcry in the American media, and little reaction from our elected officials in Congress. On September 19th, a lone Senator Patrick Leahy
(D-Vermont) noted that 2007’s Defense Authorization Act contained a “widely opposed provision to allow the President more control over the National Guard [adopting] changes to the Insurrection Act, which will make it easier for this or any future President to use the military to restore domestic order WITHOUT the consent of the nation’s governors.”

Senator Leahy went on to stress that, “we certainly do not need to make it easier for Presidents to declare martial law. Invoking the Insurrection Act and using the military for law enforcement activities goes against some of the central tenets of our democracy. One can easily envision governors and mayors in charge of an emergency having to constantly look over their shoulders while someone who has never visited their communities gives the orders.”

A few weeks later, on the 29th of September, Leahy entered into the Congressional Record that he had “grave reservations about certain provisions of the fiscal Year 2007 Defense Authorization Bill Conference Report,” the language of which, he said, “subverts solid, longstanding posse comitatus statutes that limit the military’s involvement in law enforcement, thereby making it easier for the President to declare martial law.” This had been “slipped in,” Leahy said, “as a rider with little study,” while “other congressional committees with jurisdiction over these matters had no chance to comment, let alone hold hearings on, these proposals.”

In an understatement, the Senator from Vermont noted that “the implications of changing the (Posse Comitatus) Act are enormous”. “There is good reason,” he said, “for the constructive friction iin existing law when it comes to martial law declarations. Using the military for law enforcement goes against one of the founding tenets of our democracy. We fail our Constitution, neglecting the rights of the States, when we make it easier for the President to declare martial law and trample on local and state sovereignty.”

Senator Leahy’s final ruminations: “Since hearing word a couple of weeks ago that this outcome was likely, I have wondered how Congress could have gotten to this point. It seems the changes to
the Insurrection Act have survived the Conference because the Pentagon and the White House want it.”

The historic and ominous re-writing of the Insurrection Act, accomplished in the dead of night, which gives Bush the legal authority to declare martial law, is now an accomplished fact.

The Pentagon, as one might expect, plays an even more direct role in martial law operations. Title XIV of the new law, entitled, “Homeland Defense Technology Transfer Legislative Provisions,” authorizes “the Secretary of Defense to create a Homeland Defense Technology Transfer Consortium to improve the effectiveness of the Department of Defense
(DOD) processes for identifying and deploying relevant DOD technology to federal, State, and local first responders.”

In other words, the law facilitates the “transfer” of the newest in so-called “crowd control” technology and other weaponry designed to suppress dissent from the Pentagon to local militarized police units.
The new law builds on and further codifies earlier “technology transfer”

agreements, specifically the 1995 DOD-Justice Department memorandum of agreement achieved back during the Clinton-Reno regime.(4)

With the president’s polls at an historic low, growing resistance tto the war Iraq, and the Democrats likely to take back the Congress in mid-term elections, the Bush administration is on the ropes. And so it is particularly worrying that President Bush has seen fit, at this juncture to, in effect, declare himself dictator.

*Source:*

(1) http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200609/091906a.html and http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200609/092906b.html See also, Congressional Research Service Report for Congress, “The Use of Federal Troops for Disaster Assistance: Legal Issues,” by Jennifer K. Elsea, Legislative Attorney, August 14, 2006

(2) http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill h109-5122

(3) Journal of Counterterrorism & Homeland Security International, “Recent Contract Awards”, Summer 2006, Vol.12, No.2, pg.8; See also, Peter Dale Scott, “Homeland Security Contracts for Vast New Detention Camps,” New American Media, January 31, 2006.

(4) “Technology Transfer from defense: Concealed Weapons Detection”, National Institute of Justice Journal, No 229, August, 1995, pp.42-43.

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I did hear that Bush just wrote another SS (signing statement) re: FEMA Head Job Requirements (minimum 5 years’ Disaster Response experience).

Bush says noooo. Does he want Joe?

Christy, I tried my way to convince all my relatives who are republicans to vote for democrats this time. I’m a republican but I’m fed up of all the mess Pres. Bush is facing. You’re right this is the time for a change. I wish that the democrats will be the majority after this election so that there’s a check and balance. I’m still a republican but I have the right to vote for democrat if my conscience dictates that it’s for the good of our country and not for individual interest like Joe Lieberman.