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...the power of cute.
World, meet PJ. PJ -- meet the world. Yes, this is my miniature dachshund, in her new favorite spot under the warm computer battery resting on the lap desk. Mmmmmmm....toasty! (Although the TRex kitty is a cutie, how can you not love a little doxie face like that?)
Because, frankly, I just could not force myself to put up yet another photograph of Joe Lieberman today. You choose, after reading this dreck:
Joe Lieberman is:
(a) a liar (given his guarantees to the people of Connecticut a few weeks back that he wanted the troops out of Iraq...mmmm-hmmm...);
(b) a jerk;
(c) a manipulative weasel who is willing to say or do anything to promote Joe Lieberman's interest in all things Joe Lieberman;
(d) all of the above.
I'll let TeddySanFran explain the rest. (And, perhaps, a review of Joe Lieberman's greatest hits might be in order, just for good measure.)
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to the television news coverage of the Saddam Hussein hanging that may or may not be happening today or tomorrow if Saddam is or is not in US custody and that may or may not be shown on US television live (or not).
Yep, it's a weird day of news, and so I leave you with this...is it or is it not a wise move to consider executing Saddam Hussein at the height of the Hajj, considering he's a Sunni and a lot of Muslims in Saudi Arabia (where Mecca happens to be) are also Sunnis...and do you think the Bush Administration has considered this at all? Discuss. And then go read Juan Cole. And then ask yourself this question: how messed up is George Bush's policy if it can make a tyrannical, maniacal loser like Saddam Hussein into someone who could potentially be considered a martyr by anyone?
And there there is...more PJ cuteness. Because, frankly, it's more fun than thinking about all the rest of the mess that is the news today.
I call this the "Please mom, no!!!" look, because I've got the clippers out for her nails and she's not at all pleased with me. Luckily for her, I'm a softie with a supply of treats on hand for just such an occasion.
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Twolf1 !
Busted!
Kucinich!
And, of course, they are weasel hunters!
Would ya lookit the toenails on that little critter!
Yikes!
PJ is gorgeous and a damn sight better looking than ol Droopy Joe Lieberhound.
CNN’s latest speculation - saddam back in US custody and Saddam’s lawyers have filed papers with US court to block execution.
they’re gonna hang Saddam early Sat morning (Iraq time) and hope the story peter’s out over the holiday…
The ultimate
dictatornews dump.Christy,
I hate to break the news to you but that is a picture of my beloved Isabella who is now sitting on my lap as we speak.
PJ may be worried about toenails, but mine are dreaming about food!
and yes, Redd, CUTE PUPPY!
Note that not only is Holy Joe hankering to send more of other people’s kids to Irakistan, he is lumping in Iran as well. Because if Saddam wasn’t behind 9/11, surely it must be Iran.
jayt @ 8
It’ll be ok - I’m sure there isn’t a Sunni in Iraq who will notice.
Redd: …is it or is it not a wise move to consider executing Saddam Hussein at the height of the Hajj, considering he’s a Sunni and a lot of Muslims in Saudi Arabia (where Mecca happens to be) are also Sunnis…and do you think the Bush Administration has considered this at all?
Yeah, right.
P.S. PJ is adorable! I’ve heard that dachshunds were bred as hunting dogs who could force animals out of their holes. I hope PJ is earning her keep going after groundhogs!
here’s a story called My Pet Goat 2: the Chimp and the Twister
Let this hanging in Iraq be a lesson for all leaders of all countries. For the next two years, and beyond (McCain or whoever) if I can help it, if I don’t like you, and you get out of line, and especially if you have something I want (black gold), you have the right to trial by kangaroos and a speedy execution. Remember this unduly elected tyrants, Florida, 2000 notwithstanding, if Uncle Sam (me) wants you, then by hook or by noose he (I) will get you. So beware. And I’ve got the firepower (nuclear) to back me up! Signed… George, Decider of all things, Bush.
Awwww PJ is precious! I lost our mini black and tan Lolita aka Li’l Bit in a divorce. She’s in good hands now but I miss her. (the dog) *s*
Yikes, those toenails really need clipping, too!
I lost my 16 year old pup the week before Christmas. Had her since she was a day old, nursed her through a bout of parvo at 9 months, then sat with her at the vet’s office as she floated off to doggy heaven. Wouldn’t hve had it any other way.
I thought by now (6 years into the madness) I’d have gotten over my feelings of vertigo at what passes for news and wisdom in Washington, but I continue to feel dizzy every time I try to understand, I mean really understand, what the hell is happening out there.
Do words not mean anything anymore? How do any of these asshats live with themselves, spouting bullshit that changes from venue to venue, day to day?
I’m absolutely not watching any execution. I have a friend who fled Iraq with her family when she was three because someone knocked on their door in the middle of the night to warn them that Saddam’s people were coming for them. They escaped with their lives and not much else. She’s horrified they would even consider televising it.
I don’t know, maybe I’ll go back to sleep. It’s all very depressing.
I think Joe Leiberman should be the one who gets to pull the lever that opens the hatch on Saddams’ scaffold. I think Joe would like the honor. Put him front and center on the war on terror.
Riesz Fischer @ 14
I hate to do this - the article is just devestating, but if the suppositions are correct, this is all a lot more calculated than we imagined.
Riesz @ 14
I suspect that Shrub and Co. haven’t thought about that. The ones who have a clue about what’s going to happen aren’t going to be listened to, and the ones he listens to (Buster and Dick) don’t have a clue - I suspect they figure that all those people making the hajj won’t be getting any news because they’re staying in tents. I feel for the people in Iraq who will be on the receiving end of the storm coming.
Cuteness ahoy!
Thanks for the shout, Christy — I’ve learned my lesson about latenite DK diaryposts, especially when Orangerie front-pagers slobber all each other’s brilliance while ignoring those who broke the Lieber-not-news (bitter, party of one tsf?) But I thank all the home-blog recommenders who clicked through last nite and today!!
I think your Juan Cole link needs some help; was it this Alexandrova guest piece (terrifying) you meant?
… oh, and:
Troops
Home
NOW
PS: AnonLib has some thoughts on RGJoe at Glenn’s place as well….
[Mod Note; thanks for the heads up. The link has been updated.]
The impression is whatever is going to happen in the Middle East has already been decided.
Christy -
“Because, frankly, I just could not force myself to put up yet another photograph of Joe Lieberman today.”
Can he run for a seat in the Knesset? (snark)
You’re dachshund’s name isn’t Shatzie? I didn’t think that was possible. Is it legal?
It’s like finding an Irish Setter not named “Patty” or a whippet not named “Devo”!
I think Lieberman should be investigated for being an unregistered agent of a foreign country.
Old Coastie @20, I’m inclined to agree with PJ Evans@21– these guys couldn’t plan anything that elaborate. They could fuck up a wet dream.
TeddySanFran @
22
I’m with you, Teddy, I really hope this guy is wrong… but I’m really afraid he’s not…
I would like to state now that I think Saddam is going to escape when they transfer him to Iraqi custody.
Edwards on Hardball
TRex @ 29
Beat me to it, SentenceLad!
Sen Joe Lieberman (Israel/ID)
George Bush, I am calling you a criminal, a liar, a cheat and a thief. Sue me! And I know there are easy ways to find out who I am. Here’s a hint: I live in Oklahoma.
TRex @ 29
That sounds plausible to me, and I think it would be hilarious!
Christy,
Cute, cute, cute!
“Weasel” and “Lieberman” go together!
You mean to say that the weasel LIED to the Connecticut electorate about supporting an exit out of Iraq?? My, oh, my! HEYYYYYYY..here’s an idea for you Connectic(ans?): Why don’t you start a recall campaign against him? I assume that he won the election because he split the vote 3-ways? Correct me if I’m wrong…If so - a recall vote is a 2-way vote! Recall or no-recall…You just might have a chance to get that Republican masquerading as a Democrat out…Would he run again, do you think?
Just a thought.
Christy - your doxie is beautiful. I grew up with a bunch of them, and they are still my favorites. We have so many stairs for their tender backs so I got a doxie on tilts (a whippet) - same long elegant nose, sweet eyes, nice disposition. I swapped a blond coat for the regal black and tan. I can’t keep a kleenex box full however, he things he is bunny hunting, and pulls them all out and tears them up on the carpet to his great satisfaction!
George W. Bush has been responsible for more death and destruction in Iraq than several Saddams and Saddam lookalikes.
The death of Saddam will bring nothing but more killing and horror.
Ice mass snaps free from Canada’s Arctic
“This is a dramatic and disturbing event. It shows that we are losing remarkable features of the Canadian North that have been in place for many thousands of years,” Vincent said. “We are crossing climate thresholds, and these may signal the onset of accelerated change ahead.”
PJ is awfully cute, but we’ve got bunnies, like my boy Leland, and they hold the patent on cute. *g*
Say it with me gang: “My contempt for Joe Lieberman knows no bounds.”
As per my comment in the last post, I still think it would be horrendous if we had Saddam killed during Hajj. Un-totally-forgiveable!
The death of Saddam will bring nothing but more killing and horror.
Hey - that wasn’t on this morning’s talking-point fax!!
Rice still struggling for success after two years as top US diplomat
WASHINGTON (AFP) Condoleezza Rice wraps up her first two years as secretary of state with few diplomatic successes to show for her efforts and fewer signs she plans to change course to improve the record.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20.....1229004110
Please don’t forget to register your disapproval of the Washington Post’s designation of Senator Lieberman as an Independent Democrat with Executive Editor Len Downie Jr.
NewYearsResolution: bypass the ombudsman, go right to the top!
Oklahoma kiddo @ 23
Hm. Well, what’s going to be started has probably already been decided. As for what’s going to happen, they probably think they know, and as usual, they’ll have forgotten to consider that other people may decide to do something different than they expect.
Edwards is giving a good accounting of himself on “Hardball”.
Oh my! What a handsome, intense little face. What’s not to love?
I would much prefer to look at this little hound that ole “Droopy” Joe!!
bg -
I don’t think there are many tears shed over the death of Saddam. By all accounts, he was really a Bad Guy. Now, the execution of ANY human being, no matter how heinous he/she is, is a cruel, barbaric act in itself, but that’s another discussion. The point is, let’s not feel TOO sorry for Saddam.
What gets me, though, is that Bushy-Baby and Gang will get away with multiple murders and countless mutilations committed in Iraq in the name of the American people. I am ashamed.
My email to Downie:
OldCoastie (20) — it’s worse. Much worse than most Americans have imagined.
Please also take Jerome a Paris’s diary entry, “we’re at war with Russia” as well as Larisa’s guest post and combine them. You will see that much of the posturing over Iran has little to do with Ahmadinejad’s titular figurehead position, and everything to do with a deepening energy war into which we are fully involved and engulfed.
A war in which there has already been a first nuclear strike, on UK soil. (Remember that Litvenenko’s poisoning by Po-210 may have been in relationship to intelligence gathering on oligarchs and “double-agent” oligarch/Putin admin officials working on development of energy resources in Russia.)
Iran’s nuclear development capacity may be due to Russia’s sale of nuclear reactors to Iran in 1995 (status of this transaction is unclear).
The sabre rattling over Iran is in no small part because of the amount of natural gas reserves it has, and the fact that those reserves could fuel countries neighboring Russia. In 2000, Iran’s natural gas reserves were the 2nd largest in the world (it is possible that Turkmenistan’s are as large, have seen figures to indicate this, and how convenient that Turkmenistan’s president died suddenly of heart failure last week…).
Russia’s government-owned entity GAZPROM has been shaking down all neighboring countries for higher natural gas prices; Jerome a Paris mentions Ukraine’s dispute, but he doesn’t mention the recent dispute with Turkey, or the more recent dispute with Georgia and now Belarus. Georgia and Turkey have hedged their supplies with purchases of natural gas from sources other than Russia…you can imagine where.
Volatility of oil prices boosts the profits corporations can make, whether Russian government-owned, oligarch-owned, or transnational-American owned. An unstable Saudi Arabia merely means that virtually all petroleum (and natural gas as an alternative fuel) will increase in price.
There is no downside for people like George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, or their affiliates like Prince Bandar. They will make money no matter the horror ahead; the only brake that may threaten the amount of profit they will make is the seating of a Democratic majority in Congress this next week, having already dispatched with intelligence sources that might have stopped them (a la Brewster & Jennings and any other peripheral, related intelligence assets).
Hence, Saddam must hang, right now, without regard to the Hajj or any other concern about appearances.
God help our souls.
I’d like to know Edwards’ views on NAFTA, CAFTA and the DLC. I’d also like to know what he has to say about that Senator from NY and her support for the Iraq war particularly.
Saw this via Huffpo from TPM Muckraker on CNN :
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002250.php
I’m sure many of us have experienced similar successes that haven’t occurred yet in our personal lives so I expect we can all identify and sympathize. LOL If we lived in a world where there was poetic justice, people who say things like Townsend would be immediately hit with a cream pie.
Those cute weenie’s…:-)…I know one who’s
name is “snickers” and she is an absoulute little
cutey pie…
Learned of Gee Why Joe’s piece in Pravda Wabpo
this AM early on…Dubya and KR are getting some
payback soon enough for helping Joe Lie “win”
HIS CT Senate seat for another six years.
Lets see…Dubya’s got two more years…Joe
Lie’s got six again…
Joe’s a real standup guy for the Bush WH and
I hope the DC DEMS are pleased with their
Faustian bargain. Joes going to poke’em good
over and over now…Joe wants more Iraq War
escalation…Joe wants Americans in Tehran…
that ought to fit in real well with 2007 DEMS
legislative front on Iraq War pull-back…
AIPAC it getting their moneys worth too…
…sometimes it is just not possible to express
the level of contempt felt.
Redshift @ 45
Aren’t these the clowns who create their own reality, though?
new term I’ve seen bandied about the neononoshpere
“billary clinton”
I have to admit, that’s not too bad for a neo con…just wanted everyone to be ready if this one takes off
Oklahoma kiddo @ 51
I thought Edwards was a member of the DLC.
Rayne @ 50 - do the Dems have a clue to the interconnectedness of all this?
it is just so staggering in its scope…
Thanks to everyone for the lovely comments about the pooch. We’re a bit prejudiced in our house, but she is a cutie, nonetheless. *g*
And yes, my contempt for Joe Lieberman has not diminished one whit.
I think I’ve changed my mind. After reading Riverbend and Larisa Alexandrovna, I want a strategy for getting to impeachment as quickly as possible. These fanatics are going to put the whole world to the torch to try to recreate the fear that kept them in power.
We finally saw V for Vendetta last night.
“I want this country to realize that we stand on the edge of oblivion. I want everyone to remember why they need us!”
*shudder*
TradMed’s not featuring this photo very much today, are they?
Redshift - 2 years to election is just too long now, isn’t it? I’m afraid 2 weeks will be too long..
Redshift — I think we follow John Dean’s advice, clean out the folks just below the VP and POTUS, with the intent to go after VP immediately after.
But we must have solid investigative work to do it, or we’ll have backlash to deal with from the right.
After reading Larisa’s comments, it’s hard not to argue that we must find a way to stop this war machine and quickly.
Omiros @ 48
He was THEIR bad guy– the Iraqis’, not ours. We armed him to the teeth and beyond and lookie here– the CM and the chickenhawks are licking their bloodthirsty chops! This is a sham and a travesty– it’s still unclear if we have transferred him to Iraqi custody. I have no dog in this fight except to say I am ashamed and horrified– this is unconscionable.
Boosh is ours, and he sits and sleeps comfortably in TX. We must hold him to account and you know, clean up our own mess and the mess left behind by so many of our corporate- owned Presidents and Congresses.
The little doggie is a cutie, Christy!
(Oh, and now there are 27 pages of mostly vitriol being hurled and Liarman in the wapoo.)
TeddySanFran @
60
no, not so much…
Matthews seems to have a little bit o’ pissed in him lately… apparently had enough of mr. boosh…
jayt @ 3
What’s this I read about Kucinich being anti-choice?
All I need to do to claim my rightful place in the List of Greatest Writers Evah is to get my Great American Novel published.*
*This depends upon the abilities of my ghost writer, with whom I find myself displeased.
PS: The banana creme pie is good today.
Omiros at 48
I cry not for the criminal murderer Saddam.
However, it is also true that whatever we will learn from some scumbag journalist like Woody at some future time about whatever is stated as to the real reason we went to Iraq (to this point a matter of much debate), we went on a lie, the deaths were unnecessary, George W. Bush is responsible for more death and destruction than Saddam and will not likely ever have to answer for it (as you also point out).
The criminal acts of GWB have unraveled with certain horror. Our nation, and thereby our citizens, who have been seen to have elected him (even though we did not–Gerry not the last unelected President), it is our country, the crimes in our name.
All the killing, to come and all that has come before (delivered to Iraq by our governmant since mid-March 2003) is horrible, and the use of Saddam to continue the horror is horrible. More and more. Horrible.
Omiros @ 48
Who’s feeling sorry for Saddam? I’m feeling sorry for the way it’s being railroaded through, just like his trial, for the political benefit of the Bushies and their puppets, at the expense of any remaining fig leaf of the rule of law in Iraq. I’m feeling sorry for the victims of the riots it’s likely to set off in various parts of the Muslim world by doing it during the Hajj, and for what that will be used to justify. And that’s just the beginning; there are no end of reasons to be appalled by this, and none of them have anything to do with sympathy for Saddam.
Redshift @ 59
That movie was/is so prescient for our times. I fear sometimes we’ve only seen part of what these bastards are capable of.
Iraq — Current local time: 1:30 AM on Saturday, December 30
According to http://www.google.com
Current local time
Now, the execution of ANY human being, no matter how heinous he/she is, is a cruel, barbaric act in itself, but that’s another discussion. The point is, let’s not feel TOO sorry for Saddam.
Bullshit. Why do we accept that exporting democracy, and the American Way of Life (Offical Reason #28) includes exporting the death penalty?
Aren’t we supposed to be the civilized ones?
Pissed off at someone? Hang ‘em.
I can’t think of anything more reprehensible, and reeking of americanism, than the idea that Saddam should, damn near without thought, be executed.
At this point, the U.S. is one of the most barbaric countries in the world. But let’s don’t feel TOO bad for (fill in the blank - but in pencil, ’cause it’s gonna have to be erassed for the next one) - nope, can’t buy it. Take a hike - I’m sure you’ll come back with someone else we need to, sigh, execute.
You really think this will have no repercussions?
Redshift @ 59
Redshift, happy new year.
The message in V was aimed right at us. I felt like I’d had a ton of bricks dropped on me after I first saw it. WAKE UP!!! it screamed. Am I the only one who heard it?
OldCoastie (57) — do Dems know about the interrelationship of all that I mentioned, or that Larisa pointed out?
I pray to God they do, but I really don’t think so. I would bet that only a handful of Congress critters really grok this stuff.
Per Larisa’s analogy, it’s like chess, requires thinking ahead many steps into the future. But where Larisa’s analogy stops short is that this is the three-dimensional, 8-level variant we are now “playing”. There are the corporations in one dimension, governments and politicos at another, and people and cultures at a third, not to mention the environment at yet another.
And the people we have allowed to take charge of the most powerful pieces on the board are not the kind of people who play by rules.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 43
What a dumb headline, Rice has been very successful in the Bush Administration, going from National Security Adviser to Secretary of State despite having bungled counterterrorism in the runup to 911. Nor would I describe her last 2 years as much of a struggle. It’s been more of a coast. She is the poster child for all those who aspire to fail upwards.
Indeed you have to ask yourself how anyone with any intelligence could survive, let alone really succeed, in the hyper- anti- intellectual environment of the Bush Administration. Then, of course, you realize that none have.
all together now (all together now):
my contempt for Joe Lieberman will never subside
Redshift @
59
I just read both articles and shudder too. But John Edwards makes me feel better. What if a candidate speaks from the heart? What if they gather the best and brightest to run our country.
He didnt give pat answers either.
Matthews, “my fear is that we will attack Iran and there will never be a vote on it”…
Matthews is groking the problem just fine.
JoyB @ 66
From http://kucinich.us/issues
Ten Key Issues
1. Universal Health Care
2. International Cooperation: US out of Iraq, UN in
3. Jobs and Withdrawal from NAFTA and WTO
4. Repeal of the “Patriot Act”
5. Guaranteed Quality Education, Pre-K Through College
6. Full Social Security Benefits at Age 65
7. Right-to-Choose, Privacy, and Civil Rights
8. Balance Between Workers and Corporations
9. Environmental Renewal and Clean Energy
10. Restored Rural Communities and Family Farms
Bob Shrum is nuts.
OfT: I am very tired of TradMed’s disrespectful treatment of the Apollo theatre lying-in-state of James Brown. The blonde anchorbottesses seem particularly amused that the Rev. Al Sharpton spoke. They giggle when they say that people waited in line for hours to view Mr. Brown’s body one last time.
Is there something about “Say it loud — I’m black and I’m proud!” that TradMed would rather make into a minstrel show?
OldCoastie @ 80
But well-paid.
OldCoastie @ 78
my certainty is that we will attack Iran and there will never be a vote on it.
OldCoastie — yup, Matthew’s has caught on.
But who else has?
If a firestorm of violence kicks up in the wake of Saddam’s execution, will the American public rollover like it did in 2001 after 9/11? Will the swing voters flip back the other way and force the new Democratic majority to fund yet another war?
There are a couple more pieces that may yet cause trouble — like Israel’s backtracking on its agreement to stop further settlements in Gaza. Was the timing deliberate, to incite more violence and increase volatility? What of the reports that Abbas received arms with Israel and U.S. approval, which Abbas denies; is this also another fanning of flames?
OldCoastie @ 80
Can’t we get Old Lord McCain to hire him, in some bold bipartisan reacharound? That single move would doom the Strayed Talk Express, surely.
punaise @ 76
but it always has room to grow, especially after his moronic op-ed in the WaPo.
Steve Clemons, via the Washington Monthly:
snowbird42 @ 77
That reminds me of my nickname for the Bush Administration that never caught on:
“The Worst and the Dimmest.”
Redshift @ 59
well, cheney could play right into our hands but the democrats have to play the hand the way it needs to be played.
In court, if you’re good, you never ask a question you don’t know the answer or are ready for all directions whichever way the witness goes
the democrats have to subpoena the vice president immediately, they have to request information they are entitled to “in the interest of national security”
that’s exactly how the subpeona and the discussion has to be framed…”in the interest of national security”
the subpoena has to be regarding information we know cheney is rue to release.
he refuses the subpoena, claims executive privilege
we don’t even let it go before the supreme court.
we say;
“we need this information if we are to protect our national interest, if you don’t provide it you will be in conflict with the process and you will be removed from office whence you will no longer suffer the challenge you face giving us the information we REQUIRE from you”
obviously they are not going to plagiarize my work, but they have my permission to peruse this course of action, they even have my permission to use what I post verbatim without giving any credit to yours truly
Redshift @ 88
hello!
Hugh @ 86
HoJo seems to be going out of his way to nurture its growth
TeddySanFran @ 81
Taking time out from our murder of Saddam and the carefully orchestrated grief over Ford. How dare this uppity godfather of soul suck out alla the oxygen from the living rooms of red-blooded ‘murkins?
(America really , really needs a complete top- down makeover!)
punaise @ 76
my contempt for Joe Lieberman will never subside
There is a place reserved for Joe Lieberman.
Under an outhouse, with PNAC and its other aiders and abetters.
Hugh @ 75
Are we perhaps speaking of the ‘The Principle of Peter’ here?
I predict lots of fireworks to bring in the New Year…in Baghdad.
I have a really bad feeling about all this.
Like we will look on today as relatively world peace.
I have a real bad feeling.
who is the dim bulb on hardball from the Chicago Sun Times?
Hey guys,
I had a pretty productive day today. Did some actual work requiring thought, which is more than most people in the administration :)
Needed my cattle prodGot up and went for a walk in the forest. Really tired but grateful for being able to make that walk.Christy, that dog is a cutie!! We need some happy things to look at and think of while the world is going crazy.
[humming “Investigations” to the tune of “Anticipation”]
What is scary about the prononcements of Lieberman, McCain, Bush and so many others concerning Iraq is that they show a profound ignorance about Iraq and the region generally. This should be intolerable coming from those whose jobs it is to know these things (and I’m talking about the most basic of the basics) but they have had 4 years to learn them and they still haven’t. I don’t know if it is that they can’t think or that they refuse to.
Stringing up Saddam might perhaps be a win-win for George.
egregious @ 97
Poochacutey, front pager at FDL
Time for me to retreat to my happy place.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 100
certainly explains why he won’t be in D.C. on Saturday night for Ford’s funeral… kill his buzz
punaise @ 101
Yea, ruff life.