.

..

Hi, Cozumel & Jane!

Well nobody told me we’re doing dots tonight! What’s the significance?

EPU’d. (Accidentally wiped out @ 122 in the previous thread. Not quite sure how that happened since the original post was already closed for editing, but anyway…)

From Dana Milbank’s Washington Sketch, “Free Fall For The Fall Guy”

Just after noon in the sixth-floor courtroom, when the jury forewoman read the first guilty verdict, Libby briefly closed his eyes. While she read the other counts — he was guilty on four of five — Libby looked at his lawyer Ted Wells, who rubbed his chin. Libby’s other lawyer, Bill Jeffress, exhaled deeply.

Libby’s wife, Harriet Grant, was not as composed. In the first row of spectators, she hunched over and shook. A young member of Libby’s defense team put his arm around her shoulders. After judge and jury left, Grant went over to hug her husband with a furious look on her face. Three reporters heard her say what sounded like, “We’re gonna [expletive] ‘em.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....01998.html

I know we’ve speculated some on how Harriet Grant must feel about all this — in particular how she feels about Scooter going down for Shooter.

Anyhow, the “We’re gonna fuck’em” quote, raises, I should think, some pretty interesting questions. Mostly, who’s “them”?

The jury? Makes no sense.

The prosecution? Maybe… but that doesn’t make a lot of sense either. What could Grant, or Team Libby, have on the prosecution that would “fuck’em”?

Which pretty much leaves Cheney and the Bush administration.

Libby certainly has enough info on the OVP and the White House to royally screw them over, probably enough to give whole new meaning to the term ‘droit de signeur’. Is it possible that the reason Cheney didn’t testify on Scooter’s behalf is because *Cheney* declined, and the defense didn’t want to push it?

That might piss off Harriet. Or Harriet might just be generally pissed that Scooter was left to be the admistration “Fall Guy”.

Obviously this is rank speculation — but it looks like Scooter might be seriously considering a turn-about on the Bush administration. Or at least that his wife might be pushing the idea.

Comments? Jane? Bueller? Anyone?

fitz plus one!

yes, good for John Edwards! If Al Gore doesn’t get in, Edwards has my vote.

Trex on KO! (I’m watching on Tivo, so I’m a few minutes behind…)

Ann in AZ @ 4

Well nobody told me we’re doing dots tonight! What’s the significance?

Some people put in a dot to grab first place, then go back to edit to put in a real comment. Very clever.

Ann in AZ @ 3

Hi, Cozumel & Jane!

Hiya

Reid is turning into a real jackass. I wonder if any of the other Democratic Senators are pulling him aside and asking what the hell he’s doing. They should be doing that.

Since there’s no more verdict watch, guess I’ll get busy calling and faxing.

Does anyone know what paper or TV show the third juror (Jeff Comer) spoke to? I would like to read or listen to what he said. Thanks.

Edwards to Skip Nevada Debate Hosted by Fox

Former Sen. John Edwards campaign announced that he will skip the Nevada Democratic Party’s planned August presidential debate, the latest fallout from the party’s decision to have the Fox Network host the event.

The move sparked an outcry, particularly among liberals and activist bloggers, who accused Fox of being too sympathetic to Republicans and demanded that the Democratic candidates boycott the forum.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....02137.html

Awesome!

LindaR @
7

yes, good for John Edwards! If Al Gore doesn’t get in, Edwards has my vote.

He needs Marcy’s book… questions in recent interview indicate he has no idea what this trial was and was not about

Beats me what Mrs. Scooter meant. Maybe she’s gonna have to make up for lost income?

I don’t know understand why any member of our party would do anything less than boycott Fox altogether.

I just checked their website. It seems they’re no longer covering the Libby verdict at all… I guess trying to spin four guilty verdicts into one not guilty verdict didn’t really work for them.. so now the trial just never happened :)

Oh.. this belongs on the last thread, but congrats and thank you to FDL’s trial coverage team!

If the Wilsons win the civil suit- will they get the royalties from Libby’s fucking bear novel?

Harry Reid’s son is the Nevada chair of Hillary’s campaign and an advisor on western issues.

Jane @ Top:

I frankly don’t know what’s wrong with Harry Reid these days. Yes he called on Bush not to pardon Libby, but as a member of the party leadership he ought to do no less. Meanwhile, h e allows the party’s biggest war pimp and GOP enabler, Joe Lieberman to refashion himself as hero of the Walter Reed debacle and friend to all the service people his delusional blindness has put there.

I don’t get it either. Reid was pretty good as Minority Leader. Maybe he needs to be in the opposition to function fully?

I suppose it’s possible that Reid feels the need to be more ‘diplomatic’, now that he’s in charge of the whole Senate, but he really doesn’t have enough, if any, of a majority to start taking the ‘impartial’ high road.

Reid needs to get some of that fighting spirit back.

LindaR @ 9

Ann in AZ @ 4

Well nobody told me we’re doing dots tonight! What’s the significance?

Some people put in a dot to grab first place, then go back to edit to put in a real comment. Very clever.

But sometimes (like now) the edit function is disabled. LOL

..

Fox is gooper teevee. Everyone knows it.

I did email Edwards to say how impressed I was by this decision. This is very telling to me. He damn near has my vote. The others will be sorry (just like thier vote for the war and the bankruptcy bill).

Harry Reid really, really doesn’t get. I was impressed (sorta) at YKos, but since then it’s been a long downhill slide for GiveEmALittleBitofHellHarry. Besides the Senate shutdown over the Phase II Intelligence Report, which accomplished nothing (where’s that report, Senator Rockefeller?) what has Reid done? He kowtows to Lieberman; he should have thrown him off his committees in August when RGJoe lost to NED.

Reid makes the House look responsive and my Congresswoman look great, but we need real Senate leadership and we need it NOW.

This dance with FOX is absurd — FOX will use the opportunity to bash our Democratic candidates just like the FOX “newsmen” did in 2004 in Baltimore. Fool me once…

Here’s another place to thank John Edwards for being the first to announce he’ll skip the Nevada FOX debate.

pie @
18

Harry Reid’s son is the Nevada chair of Hillary’s campaign and an advisor on western issues.

And Rupert Murdoch loves Hill.

This is totally icky.

OT — Holy crap. I just heard Pat Buchanan say BOTH conservatives and neo-conversatives are hypocritical to call for the pardon of Scooter Libby after the drive to impeach Clinton.

Did the earth crack open? Are the Four Horsemen riding among us? Jeepers.

Maybe I shouldn’t have had that second beer at my DFA Meetup…

Edwards has been my favorite so far, and this helps him more in my eyes. A spokesperson for him said, “There were a number of factors and Fox was one of those.”

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.....s-and-fox/

I”m ready to take my “Give Em Hell Harry” poster from last summer’s YKos to the March 19 candlelight vigil against the war and burn it in effigy or use it to light the candles in the crowd.

Blub @ 16

The idea (from their perspective) is to reach out to Republicans.

What they fail to realize is that 1)those people don’t vote in our primaries and 2)the devout FAUX watchers won’t be voting for a Democrat in the general any way.

This whole thing is a bunch of b.s.

RevDeb @ 27

I”m ready to take my “Give Em Hell Harry” poster from last summer’s YKos to the March 19 candlelight vigil against the war and burn it in effigy or use it to light the candles in the crowd.

Still have mine on the fridge; thinking fondly of Truman when I see it.

I don’t get it either. Reid was pretty good as Minority Leader. Maybe he needs to be in the opposition to function fully?

He wasn’t *that* good. He had some nice moments, but there was no opposition to the bankruptcy bill, no opposition to Roberts, no opposition to Alito, barely any opposition to the Torture Good, Habeas Bad Act.

I’ll be happy to express mail a copy of Marcy’s book to John Edwards with a hearty thanks for skipping the Nevada Fox disaster in the bargain. Hell, Edwards is a lawyer and I believe his lovely Elizabeth (?) is as well. Consider it done.

Like so many other firepup commenters I could get behind Edwards for President if President Gore doesn’t go for re-election - though I pray he will.

RevDeb @
27

I”m ready to take my “Give Em Hell Harry” poster from last summer’s YKos to the March 19 candlelight vigil against the war and burn it in effigy or use it to light the candles in the crowd.

Maybe you should just mail the poster to Harry, with a short message like:

“Here’s some advice, Harry. Take it.”

I also picked up an old copy of Time magazine yesterday and happened to read this viewpoint by Alexandra Pelosi, written just after the 2006 election. In it she wrote:

George W. Bush and Nancy Pelosi both know that if you want to breathe the rarefied air at the highest echelons of the U.S. government, you have to ignore the media buzzards. When I was watching Fox News recently, and she walked into the room, I had to explain that Sean Hannity was spending the month leading up to the election warning America that Speaker Pelosi would destroy this nation. She asked, “Which one is Hannity?”

So as all of us spectators sit home on our couches watching the bloviators pontificate about the state of American politics, rest assured that George Bush and Nancy Pelosi are so busy that they do not hear a word of it. And if they did, they couldn’t care less. They have a country to run.

FWIW, which either isn’t much or it explains a lot.

Sounds like the debate is being done by the state democratic party in Nevada- and they are scrambling to save it by having it broadcast by Air America as well as Fox. I’m not sure what Reid has to do with it.

Rayne @
25

OT — Holy crap. I just heard Pat Buchanan say BOTH conservatives and neo-conversatives are hypocritical to call for the pardon of Scooter Libby after the drive to impeach Clinton.

Did the earth crack open? Are the Four Horsemen riding among us? Jeepers.

Maybe I shouldn’t have had that second beer at my DFA Meetup…

Buchanan’s a complete bastard, but he’s not a knee-jerk Republican loyalist.

Hi there! I have been lurking, and many moons ago I have been a commenter here. Would have posted this at last thread- but seems like we have moved on to this one… and- sorry if it is old news here at FDL by now, and to boot, it is OT
(geesh! what a start on my part)

I was surprised to hear this on the old boob tube (though it was cable, not the Evening News of a major affiliate):

“The trial has been death by 1,000 cuts for Cheney,” said Scott Reed, a Republican strategist. “It’s hurt him inside the administration. It’s hurt him with the Congress, and it’s hurt his stature around the world because it has shown a lot of the inner workings of the White House. It peeled the bark right off the way they operate.”
really…google Scott Reed. This is pretty significant on the record comment to NYT.
“>New York Times

Wonder if this was one of Scooter’s good buddies begging him to throw Cheney under the bus [in previous news reports]?

Keep the pressure up! thanks to all here ~ still a great community, have LOVED it the last four years! :O)

It is probably time to start trying to find a replacement for Reid.Don’t know when his term is up but He should be put on notice that the netroots are gonna work hard on his defeat. And that should go as well for all other senators and congressmen who are up for reelection. Put up or shut up should be or message to all of em. Do the will of the American people or we will send your asses home. Lets get a list started now on who needs to go. 2008 is just around the corner.

If they want a taste of what Pox Noise would do in the debate, Digby has the sorry script here.

How stupid do they have to be to go along with this?

Edwards is rising in esteem in this house.

“The trial has been death by 1,000 cuts for Cheney,” said Scott Reed, a Republican strategist.

It’s not torture unless there’s organ failure.

Cozumel @
13

Edwards to Skip Nevada Debate Hosted by Fox

Former Sen. John Edwards campaign announced that he will skip the Nevada Democratic Party’s planned August presidential debate, the latest fallout from the party’s decision to have the Fox Network host the event.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....02137.html

A wise decision. Fox will just undercut all the nominees.

I’m glad Edwards took the lead on this. Here’s hoping the rest of the candidates follow his example.

Hi Uppity Gal.

kml @ 28

Blub @ 16

The idea (from their perspective) is to reach out to Republicans.

What they fail to realize is that 1)those people don’t vote in our primaries and 2)the devout FAUX watchers won’t be voting for a Democrat in the general any way.

This whole thing is a bunch of b.s.

The party of cognitive dissonance, those dead enders still clinging to the conservative agenda will NEVER accept anything the left has to say right or wrong. There is no reason IMO for the Democratic party to have a debate on Fox Noise. I for one will not be watching.

countryjoe @ 36

It is probably time to start trying to find a replacement for Reid.Don’t know when his term is up but He should be put on notice that the netroots are gonna work hard on his defeat. And that should go as well for all other senators and congressmen who are up for reelection. Put up or shut up should be or message to all of em. Do the will of the American people or we will send your asses home. Lets get a list started now on who needs to go. 2008 is just around the corner.

Ding!

And to take it a step further, we don’t need any of those FAUX FREAKS at ANY of our debates…

HUME: General Clark, Governor Dean has said that you’re a good guy but he thinks you’re a Republican. Now, we’re told you did vote for several Republican presidents — President Nixon, President Reagan — said good things about the first President Bush and even about this President Bush.

You said, in an article published in The Times of London back in April as the war ended, quote, “Liberation is at hand. Liberation, the powerful balm that justifies painful sacrifice, erases lingering doubt and reinforces bold actions.”

As to the president, you wrote, quote, “President Bush and Tony Blair should be proud of their resolve in the face of so much doubt.”

Given those statements, given your votes, I think it is not unreasonable to ask you when you first noticed that you were a Democrat.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....ge=printer

Eli @ 34

Buchanan’s a complete bastard, but he’s not a knee-jerk Republican loyalist.

He’s been consistently against the Iraq occupation, if memory serves me correctly. It’s probably the only thing he has going for him.

Still makes me want to take a brick to my head though.

JGabriel @ 40

Cozumel @
13

Edwards to Skip Nevada Debate Hosted by Fox

Former Sen. John Edwards campaign announced that he will skip the Nevada Democratic Party’s planned August presidential debate, the latest fallout from the party’s decision to have the Fox Network host the event.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....02137.html

A wise decision. Fox will just undercut all the nominees.

I’m glad Edwards took the leads on this. Here’s hoping the rest of the candidates follow his example.

It’s going to be a moment of truth for them. If they still show up, then their intent is to stab Edwards in the back by taking the exposure that he forfeited.

I say “intent”, because there’s a good chance that exposure ends up being a net negative for them.

kml @ 45

Eli @ 34

Buchanan’s a complete bastard, but he’s not a knee-jerk Republican loyalist.

He’s been consistently against the Iraq occupation, if memory serves me correctly. It’s probably the only he has going for him.

Still makes me want to take a brick to my head though.

Don’t forget that he worked for the Trickster

I worry Reid has had another little stroke.

tbsa @ 41

The party of cognitive dissonance, those dead enders still clinging to the conservative agenda will NEVER accept anything the left has to say right or wrong. There is no reason IMO for the Democratic party to have a debate on Fox Noise. I for one will not be watching.

Agreed 100%.

I wouldn’t watch if money was offered.

kml @ 45

Eli @ 34

Buchanan’s a complete bastard, but he’s not a knee-jerk Republican loyalist.

He’s been consistently against the Iraq occupation, if memory serves me correctly. It’s probably the only he has going for him.

Still makes me want to take a brick to my head though.

It’s telling that even a complete bastard can be refreshing, so long as he’s not a brain-dead Bush cultist.

EPUed from last thread.

All Hail the Great Trex!!!

Fiyero @ 242 says:

March 7th, 2007 at 6:23 pm

AZ Matt, here’s the quote from Max Blumenthal tonight on KO:

“Several gay bloggers, for instance Trex at Firedoglake, have talked for years about the existence of sort of a gay Republican underground railroad, that’s funneled people like Jeff Gannon and Corporal Matt Sanchez from the fringes of the adult industry into the core of the conservative movement, and they’ve played an influential role in the backlash politics of the conservative movement and the Republican party. And that’s really what’s relevant here. It doesn’t matter inherently that he [Sanchez] was a gay porn star; what matters is that he’s a hypocrite who’s advancing the ideological homophobia of the right and helping them exploit this homophobia for political gain.”

Well said. And go TREX!!!

Maybe Fox will bring in an Edwards stand-in from the cast of its Half Hour News Hour…

Cozumel @
20

LindaR @ 9

Ann in AZ @ 4

Some people put in a dot to grab first place, then go back to edit to put in a real comment. Very clever.

But sometimes (like now) the edit function is disabled. LOL

..

To tell you the truth, the last time I saw that happen, the one that put in the dot got his/her 0 taken away. I didn’t and don’t know why or how. But congrats on the “zed” anyway.

Is anyone else as outraged as me at how the media has light-footed around this verdict. A f**kin’ FELON in the west wing covering up for the V.P. and its a big godamn pardon watch like this guy is some kind of Easter bunny. If Conyers and Waxman, Reid, etc. don’t impeach this S.O.B Cheney after Fitzgerald has offered it up to them on a silver platter then the Democrats deserve too be called spineless. For Christ sake!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry to vent but I am sickened by our media.

Kudos to Jane, Marcy, Christy, etc. you ladies and guys were my Hunter Thompson’s, John Dean’s and Carl Bernstein in a time of utter media failure. You ladies are SAINTS. THANK YOU. Donation on the way.

And yes, kudos to John Edwards, leading by example.

Edwards was discussed heavily at my Meetup tonight; there is a line drawn for some of the members and that is on the issue of Katrina and the Gulf Coast recovery efforts. Haley Barbour and Trent Lott shouldn’t be able to sit on their rebuilt verandas sipping toddies while a single person is still displaced from their county or parish, and by this August, from their home. Of the candidates out there, neither Hillary nor Obama have done anything for the investigation into FEMA or promoting economic redevelopment of the region. This issue is proof; it’s evidence of commitment and leadership that the residents of the Gulf Coast can readily measure. And it’s going to cost them both support, particularly in the African-American community.

Which brings us to Harry Reid: as leader of the Dems, why is he not raining down a shit storm on Lieberman for not investigating FEMA, given the Chairmanship of the U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs that Lieberman has hijacked out of the Dem Party? We’re talking about more than a million people, taken for granted, tossed aside like chaff because Reid cannot enforce party discipline, let alone demand progressive values in action from anyone holding a committee chair?

If Edwards was smart, and I think he is, he would schedule an online live forum at the same time as the debate. It could stream over Quicktime and Real player. We could all live blog it and do a Q & A with him.

Blub @ 52

Maybe Fox will bring in an Edwards stand-in from the cast of its Half Hour News Hour…

Some fag, probably.

(That was gallows humor, in case it wasn’t clear…)

My wingnut coworker uses Fox as his home page.

Libby gets all that sympathy because he is a tiny, delicate little man.

Taylor Marsh had a piece on Reid’s lame performance on Charlie Rose.

http://www.taylormarsh.com/arc.....p?id=25239

I saw most of it too and it was nauseating to see him say that he disagreed with Bush’s Iraq escalation but that neither he nor the Democrats could do anything about it. Reid is not a leader or a fighter and we should expect little from him and Senate Democrats in general.

OldCoastie @ 58

Libby gets all that sympathy because he is a tiny, delicate little man.

He wouldn’t last 30 seconds with a *real* bear.

OldCoastie @ 57

Libby gets all that sympathy because he is a tiny, delicate little man.

So’s Harry.

ceo @
22

I did email Edwards to say how impressed I was by this decision. This is very telling to me. He damn near has my vote. The others will be sorry (just like thier vote for the war and the bankruptcy bill).

I heard the opinion that Obama is expected to pull out of that debate too. Nobody seems to know what Hill will do. It kinda reminds me of the old saying, “What if they gave a war and nobody came?” So, what if they give a debate and nobody comes? Should be interesting. You can’t very well lead if you lose your followers because of some questionable decisions.

I could become angry. But I think not. I could become impatient, and I am. I could fight on. And I will. We have become a nation of legal bribery (Halliburton), and a country of deals and paybacks (pardon). And most sadly of all, a nation bent on force, war and ethnocentrism. But Libby was convicted. No matter what, we’ll always have that. And this I believe is “worth all the tea in China”. I will never, ever give up.

i have said it many times previously, the senatorial demtillians preferred being in the minority..their aipac allegiances could be covered by the reptillian dominance.

i don’t think that the demtillian’s ever thought that the electorate would overwhelm the reptillian penchant for vote fraud. they thought that the reptillians had the vote controlled again and that the charade of senatorial demtillians being erstwhile opposition would persist.

what no one counted on was that country came out and voted against the war, the status quo, in such numbers that the fixes were obliterated.

much to their chagrin, the senatorial demtillians are like those palmetto bugs that covered the kitchen floor of a friend’s manhattan apt. walk in at night, turn on the light, and watch them scurry. the demtillians are now out in the light, and they cannot do what you want them to do…

they are beholden to “special” interests. holy joe is the marshal for those interests. he is the man from mossad. he may even be its bagman in the senate. and i can assure you that the israeli intell services have extorted, photographed most of the congress: they have them by the short hairs.

and that is why the iraq war will not be ending. why it will be the salient from which our israeli-demanded invasions of iran, syria, lebanon will be launched and managed.

harry reid’s senate is allied with this PNAC objective.

doubt me? watch it unfold before your very eyes.

ccmask @ 57

My wingnut coworker uses Fox as his home page.

Shit, I spent last week in Lynchburg, Va and Fox was on EVERYWHERE! Coffee shops, bars, every restaurant. . .

punaise @
2

..

Trouble connecting the dots, again?

RevDeb @ 54

If Edwards was smart, and I think he is, he would schedule an online live forum at the same time as the debate. It could stream over Quicktime and Real player. We could all live blog it and do a Q & A with him.

Brilliant idea, as ever. I’ll quote you in my cover note to Edwards along with Marcy’s book.

Oklahoma kiddo @ 62

I could become angry. But I think not. I could become impatient, and I am. I could fight on. And I will. We have become a nation of legal bribery (Halliburton), and a country of deals and paybacks (pardon). And most sadly of all, a nation bent on force, war and ethnocentrism. But Libby was convicted. No matter what, we’ll always have that. And this I believe is “worth all the tea in China”. I will never, ever give up.

What up homes?

RevDeb @ 56

If Edwards was smart, and I think he is, he would schedule an online live forum at the same time as the debate. It could stream over Quicktime and Real player. We could all live blog it and do a Q & A with him.

Ding!

Gilliard is out of surgery. I hope he heals well and quickly. He is missed.

Hugh @ 59

Taylor Marsh had a piece on Reid’s lame performance on Charlie Rose.

http://www.taylormarsh.com/arc.....p?id=25239

I saw most of it too and it was nauseating to see him say that he disagreed with Bush’s Iraq escalation but that neither he nor the Democrats could do anything about it. Reid is not a leader or a fighter and we should expect little from him and Senate Democrats in general.

The American people are sick of the illegal war in Iraq, the democrats were elected to put a stop to it, if they don’t get off their spineless asses and get something done I fear what will happen in ‘08.

Here by the way is the last list for the evening of Bush era scandals:

1. Walter Reed
2. Fired US attorneys
3. Scooter Libby/Plamegate
4. Iraq: lack of preparation for occupation, looting, including the National Museum, too few troops, lack of training, lack of equipment, lack of securing loose Iraqi munitions, disbanding the Iraqi army, banning the Baathists, the CPA, Paul Bremer, losing tons of money literally, lack of international inclusion in reconstruction and security, weak Constitution, formation of sectarian parties, weak government
5. Afghanistan and the resurgent Taliban and opium production
6. Iran and saber rattling
7. North Korea, ditching the 1994 agreement because of dubious uranium program, the plutonium program which led to a fizzled first nuclear test, and something like a return to the 1994 agreement
8. Osama bin Laden, where are you? Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and terrorism
9. Civilian contractors
10. The Military Commissions Act: torture, indefinite detention, the end of habeas corpus, and kangaroo courts
11. Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, the destruction of New Orleans, and the aftermath
12. NSA wiretapping
13. SWIFT surveillance of financial transactions
14. Black prisons and extraordinary rendition
15. Homeland Security: white elephant (organization), black hole (money)
16. K Street Lobbyists, Jack Abramoff
17. Kyle “Dusty” Foggo and the CIA follies
18. Duke Cunningham
19. Tom Delay
20. Mark Foley
21. Cheney and Energy Policy
22. Tax cuts for the wealthiest
23. Global warming: refusal to join Kyoto, denial of manmade origin, continued reliance on fossil and carbon based fuels, little movement on CAFE standards and conservation, political interference in scientific reports (Good guys: Hansen, Peltz; bad guys: Cooney, Deutsch), listening to Michael Crichton
24. Terri Schiavo
25. Big budget deficits and vastly increased national debt
26. The stacking of the federal judiciary
27. Medicare
28. Medicare Part D
29. Healthcare (in general)
30. Cooked intelligence and the Office of Strategic Plans/ Doug Feith
31. 2000 Presidential election
32. 2004 Presidential election
33. Attempts to torpedo the 911 Commission
34. Failure to implement 911 recommendations
35. Marginalization of the UN; John Bolton
36. Preventive war doctrine
37. Loss of US reputation internationally
38. No serious attempt to achieve peace between Israelis and Palestinians
39. Underfunding of basic research
40. Alberto Gonzales
41. FDA: RU 486; drug testing
42. EPA: mercury levels for coal plants
43. Porter Goss and the gutting of the CIA
44. Militarization of intelligence
45. Rampant cronyism
46. Signing statements
47. Unilateral Executive doctrine
48. Overuse and abuse of the National Guard and Reserves
49. Increasing unpreparedness of US ground forces (Army and Marines)
50. US balance of trade deficit
51. 2005 Grassley Bankruptcy bill
52. Mexican cross border trucking and safety concerns
53. Karl Rove’s security clearance and no firing of Libby co-conspirators
54. Detention of families for immigration violations
55. Dubai Ports deal
56. The Patriot Act; the Patriot Act extension
57. Attempts to privatize Social Security
58. The War on Science
59. David Safavian, former head of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy
60. Presidential adviser Claude Allen stealing from Target
61. Bush casually admits about lying about decision to fire Rumsfeld
62. Armstrong Williams and paid propagandists
63. Decimation of the Labor Department
64. Net neutrality and media policies

What I could never understand is the nearly across the board fawning over Reid for the past few years. I’ve been wondering what the hell I’m missing, what does everyone else is see in this guy. Jesus, we have a Republican as our Democratic leader. HE’S A FRICKIN REPUBLICAN.

Anti-abortion, anti-gay, pro-gun, pro-Shievo Bill, pro-Bankruptcy Bill, and originally pro-war with more big business ties than you can shake a stick at.

hey, OKK!~

Digby also has transcripts of Fox panelists’ one-sided comments the last time Fox hosted a Demo debate. digby link

Think Progress on pardon:

Newsweek reports that Scooter Libby “does not qualify to even be considered for a presidential pardon under Justice Department guidelines,” which in part “require a petitioner to wait a period of at least five years after conviction or release from confinement (whichever is later) before filing a pardon application.” President Bush can easily waive the rules, but up until now he “seems to have followed those guidelines religiously.”

emphasis mine.

I don’t know why you guys are complaining? The distinction between Dems and Reps is gone. Over. There is one big political party that has many levels of incompetence and corruption. There’s three flavors of politicians: incompetent, incompetent and corrupt, and competently corrupt.

Hugh,
Have mercy on us, we’re on the same side! That list is the thing of which nightmares are made.

this is what I dont get - why would the dems even give this forum to FAUX news? FAUX news has a strong bias against democratic views so why allow them to hold this debate - the dems will never be given a fair shake at that ” news outlet”! kudos to edwards for refusing to be a part of this fiasco in the making. hey reid stop kissing up to wingnuts!

aki @ 71

What I could never understand is the nearly across the board fawning over Reid for the past few years. I’ve been wondering what the hell I’m missing, what does everyone else is see in this guy. Jesus, we have a Republican as our Democratic leader. HE’S A FRICKIN REPUBLICAN.

Anti-abortion, anti-gay, pro-gun, pro-Shievo Bill, pro-Bankruptcy Bill, and originally pro-war with more big business ties than you can shake a stick at.

He says or does something sharp just often enough that people assume that he’s employing some kind of ingenious rope-a-dope tactic of just *pretending* to not fight back.

Eli @
30

I don’t get it either. Reid was pretty good as Minority Leader. Maybe he needs to be in the opposition to function fully?

He wasn’t *that* good. He had some nice moments, but there was no opposition to the bankruptcy bill, no opposition to Roberts, no opposition to Alito, barely any opposition to the Torture Good, Habeas Bad Act.

He wasn’t as good a minority leader as the current minority has now. They seem to be quite a bit more adept at blocking any legislation they’re against than we were when we were the minority.

Hugh, please add #65:

Presidential Daily Brief 8/01: Bin Laden determined to attack in US

RevDeb @ 75

Think Progress on pardon:

Newsweek reports that Scooter Libby “does not qualify to even be considered for a presidential pardon under Justice Department guidelines,” which in part “require a petitioner to wait a period of at least five years after conviction or release from confinement (whichever is later) before filing a pardon application.” President Bush can easily waive the rules, but up until now he “seems to have followed those guidelines religiously.”

emphasis mine.

Nothing a little presidential signing statement or executive order can’t fix.

Joe just said we owe the “To Catch a Predator Staff” a debt of ingratitude!

David Gergen should be made to read Hugh’s list as penance, aloud, on AC360

Regarding the five-year pardon clock, W can check with his lower father on that: Weinberger et al.

rwcole @
17

If the Wilsons win the civil suit- will they get the royalties from Libby’s fucking bear novel?

I think he should change the title to that- “Libby’s Fucking Bear Novel.”

Sell more copies???

aki@74 - u nailed it - re reid!

I am disappointed in Mr. Reid.

Did Ellen Tauscher quit the Blue Dogs?

juslin @ 89

aki@74 - u nailed it - re reid!

Thanks. I have to tell you, I’ve felt totally alone on this subject. I’ve even caught a good amount of flack and worse on a few boards for even suggesting that Reid wasn’t a good Democrat.

Why doesn’t Harry have the Democratic candidates save their breath and just donate their money directly to the Republican party? Because that essentially is all a debate aired on Fox will accomplish. And in my book Edwards just won this debate by refusing to participate in it. Good on him!

Does anyone know if Howard Dean has weighed in on the Nevada Democrats and FOX disasterous idea?

TeddySanFran @ 87

Did Ellen Tauscher quit the Blue Dogs?

Maybe she’s on her way to becoming a repug.

‘night knuckleheads

TeddySanFran @ 83

Hugh, please add #65:

Presidential Daily Brief 8/01: Bin Laden determined to attack in US

yep, that’s the one!

Oh and you could always add his talking with his mouth full of roll to Yo, Blair! and the Merkle massage.

And his refusal to call for a cease fire in Lebanon.

Letting the Saudis outta here and also the Spies for Israel go on home after 9/11.

Oh and becoming BFF with Musharref and his Taliban and letting India have those nifty nukes.

Oh and though Divine Strake has been cancelled, we are moving right along with our new age nukes. (so much for the NPT)

Kyoto Protocol– nixed

Cluster bomb treaty– nixed

Constitution– nearly nixed

aki @ 89

juslin @ 89

aki@74 - u nailed it - re reid!

Thanks. I have to tell you, I’ve felt totally alone on this subject. I’ve even caught a good amount of flack and worse on a few boards for even suggesting that Reid wasn’t a good Democrat.

I get kinda sick of reading stuff like “Reid knows what he’s doing - you’ll see.”

After he flatly stated that the habeas bill had no chance, and it then proceeded to sail through, that should have been the point at which he lost all remaining credibility as a leader.

Reid was a boxer who learned to fight by the Marquis of Queensberry rules. The better rule for his current situation is:

Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight.

infoshaman @ 96

Reid was a boxer who learned to fight by the Marquis of Queensberry rules. The better rule for his current situation is:

Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight.

Don’t bring your fists to a knife fight.

*Or* a gunfight.

I hate to admit this (no I don’t) but Fox News is some of the funniest s**t on television.

That’s why I watch. Ir’s not just for 29 percenters !

raven @
66

ccmask @ 57

My wingnut coworker uses Fox as his home page.

Shit, I spent last week in Lynchburg, Va and Fox was on EVERYWHERE! Coffee shops, bars, every restaurant. . .

It’s Lynchburg, Jake.

I’d like him to act like a good and angry Democrat

well aki i’m definitely on your side here - i’ve always felt that reid is weak and ineffectual. no leadership ability IMHO a repug in dem clothing…………….. as far as i know howard dean hasnt issued a statement yet……………..

Don’t forget — Harry Reid is a forced birth advocate.