Jane!

With much love…

No WAR, HealthCare, raise the Minum Wage is there a single Democratic postion on domestic matters that doesn’t piss off Grover but is Hughly popular with the American People. When is the Abramoff investigation going to hit Grover! Or is Gonzo still sitting on that!

Cute Lemming.

Jane – Hope you’re feeling well.

Hi Jane!

I was ready for some red meat. Thanks!

Tear em up, gal!

things come undone @ 3

When is the Abramoff investigation going to hit Grover! Or is Gonzo still sitting on that!

Not soon enough.

I detest the way Hillary Clinton operates.

From Arianna:

“Why did the rest of the media go along with the story the Hillary camp sold them about her first quarter fundraising — a story about as real as John McCain’s shopping stroll in Baghdad? First, you can subtract $10 million right away, because that’s the amount Hillary transferred over from her Senate campaign. That leaves $26 million, which includes money raised for the general campaign, which is not available for the primary.”

Speaking of McCain’s Sunday in the Park (apologies if this has already been posted in an earlier thread):

BAGHDAD, April 2 — A day after members of an American Congressional delegation led by Senator John McCain pointed to their brief visit to Baghdad’s central market as evidence that the new security plan for the city was working, the merchants there were incredulous about the Americans’ conclusions.

Representative Mike Pence, an Indiana Republican, said the Shorja market was “like a normal outdoor market in Indiana.”

“What are they talking about?” Ali Jassim Faiyad, the owner of an electrical appliances shop in the market, said Monday. “The security procedures were abnormal!”

The delegation arrived at the market, which is called Shorja, on Sunday with more than 100 soldiers in armored Humvees — the equivalent of an entire company — and attack helicopters circled overhead, a senior American military official in Baghdad said. The soldiers redirected traffic from the area and restricted access to the Americans, witnesses said, and sharpshooters were posted on the roofs. The congressmen wore bulletproof vests throughout their hourlong visit.

“They paralyzed the market when they came,” Mr. Faiyad said during an interview in his shop on Monday. “This was only for the media.”

(snip)

[Modnote: to close a blockquote please remember the “/” thanks]

They certainly don’t like to lose, and Sunday in the Park with McCain notwithstanding, they’d probably just rather paint the sky of bizarroworld another color and pretend the whole thing never happened.

Thats a keeper.
Paint the sky of bizzaroworld a different color.

The beautiness of it all.

Subpoena Grover Norquist’s e-mail.

Has anyone else gotten the feeling repugs are lurching from candidate to candidate frantically, as if they’re not just leaderless, they’re panicked. Poor babes, i suppose, heh. I can only feel sorry for em up to a point.
DANG! It’s their own doing, or rather, UN-doing!

The Democrats should stop the war by making bush PAY for the war somehow during his TERM. It could be called the Grover Norquist Debt IS a tax MORON! bill. I still can’t believe the Dems want to get stuck like President Carter was with a tottering economy, a huge debt and no choice but to raise taxes. Either they make bush pay for his own wars NOW or they can be forgotten one term presidents.

Adie @ 11

Has anyone else gotten the feeling repugs are lurching from candidate to candidate frantically, as if they’re not just leaderless, they’re panicked. Poor babes, i suppose, heh. I can only feel sorry for em up to a point.
DANG! It’s their own doing, or rather, UN-doing!

That’s been apparent for quite some time. It makes a good parlor sport for us outsiders.
From CNN–one of the two shooting victims is dead, but don’t know yet whether it’s the man or the woman.

I’m visualizing a tiny rowboat with Rovey and Norquist at the helm and all their tiny, mini-me minions disappearing down the bathtub drain.

Jane!!!!!

Norquist is a tool. Republicans don’t know how to govern effectively. Krugman is right. When is the last time they effectively argued on policy? Personally, I can’t remember. They build up strawman and knock them down. That isn’t a long term answer. The better answer is: Will the Democrats give them the push over the cliff that is needed, or will they(like the CBC did last week), offer to pull them back fro m the cliff. You damn well know that the Repugliscum wouldn’t waste a second pushing Dems over the creek, so why should be at this point offer them a helping hand? If the fundies want to invoke religion, I say we act like the Old Testament God. An eye for an eye. Make the SOB’s grovel like the pigs 95% of them are.

Subpoena Grover Norquist’s bathtub while you’re at it…

They should just impeach Bush/Cheney and be done with it.

I just hope that the cliff is really, really high. It makes for better splats!

JANE!

This bouquet’s for you!
Queen Flowers

LS @
14

I’m visualizing a tiny rowboat with Rovey and Norquist at the helm and all their tiny, mini-me minions disappearing down the bathtub drain.

I’m seeing the Ty D Bowl man… err… men…

Talk about how long it’s going to take to unwind the damage the Rs have done, here’s a rawstory headline:

842-ACRE PRIVATE SECURITY CAMP PLANNED IN
QUIET CALIFORNIA TOWN… DEVELOPING…

Sunday in the Park with McCain
Ha ha ha ha ha!

OT but always relevant to FDL.

Harold Ford of the DLC is over at TPM Cafe. He was supposed to write a post and then respond to comments. So far, there is just a post and a lot of great, tough comments from people who are very dissatisfied with the DLC itself and with Harold Ford’s decision to associate with the DLC and Fox News.

I particularly liked this comment:

http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/sp…..ent-228223

[snip]

So here’s a short list of questions. I think that they’re coherent, and the point behind them isn’t too mysterious.

Aside from the name, is there any thing democratic about the way this organization operates?
The organization has a President, Vice President, CEO (Chief executive officer? chief economic officer?) Chairman, and Vice Chairman. Plus a Chair of a State Legislative Advisory Board and a Chair of a local elected officials network. What are the duties and powers of these individuals? Is there a Board of Directors? a Board of Trustees? How many? How are they chosen?
How many members are there on the State Legislative Advisory Board? Are they Appointed or Elected? IF so, by whom?
How many members of the Local Elected Officials Network? (see 3, above).
What are the terms of office for the leadership of the DLC.? How is the leadership refreshed, renewed, and challenged? Do members have any say in this?
What could or should be done to make the workings of the DLC more transparent? Why aren’t they more transparent, for that matter?
The thesis I’m putting forward with these questions is this: The name, Democratic Leadership Council implies something other than self-anointment. I believe the name is misleading, unless the organization can be held accountable by democrats of all stripes, including my own. I have no objection to an advocacy group such as this, but I think it would be more honest in the absence of accountability to call it something like Some Men and Women who Believe a Bunch of Stuff and Work to Get Like-Minded People Elected to Office. The DLC sounds official. It sounds as if it believes in operating by democratic principles. But does it?

[snip]

LS @ 10

Subpoena Grover Norquist’s e-mail.

yes! subpoena Grover’s emails, ALL of them.

I’m positive the Dunce would approve–of the shopping I mean:

Filed at 1:57 p.m. ET

BAGHDAD (AP) — The Iraqi government announced plans Tuesday to shorten the curfew in the capital by two hours, saying security had improved enough to let residents stay on the streets until 10 p.m.

Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, the spokesman for the Baghdad security operation, said the curfew had been shortened ”because the security situation has improved and people needed more time to go shopping.”

(snip)

Yes, the GOP is heading over a cliff, but don’t forget that they have a well-oiled money machine at their disposal.

They will spare no expense come election time. And they will not be afraid to stoop very, very low in their attacks against their opposition.

This stroll in the market should be enough to finish McCain’s bid. If he ever made it past the Primary (or even in the Primary) they could just play this bit of obvious fraud over and over again. This is a Dukakis in the tank moment.

Biodun @ 25

I’m positive the Dunce would approve–of the shopping I mean:

Filed at 1:57 p.m. ET

BAGHDAD (AP) — The Iraqi government announced plans Tuesday to shorten the curfew in the capital by two hours, saying security had improved enough to let residents stay on the streets until 10 p.m.

Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, the spokesman for the Baghdad security operation, said the curfew had been shortened ”because the security situation has improved and people needed more time to go shopping.”

(snip)

Just what the insurgents were hanging out waiting for.

eCAHNomics @
21

Talk about how long it’s going to take to unwind the damage the Rs have done, here’s a rawstory headline:

842-ACRE PRIVATE SECURITY CAMP PLANNED IN
QUIET CALIFORNIA TOWN… DEVELOPING…

Maybe Lam got it going right before she left as a place to send all the lemmings…no, more likely where they’d like to send all of us.

The base may be following Bush, but all he seems to be doing is providing a beacon over the edge of a cliff.

At least the dim bulb is finally good at something!

Jane Hamsher @
6

things come undone @ 3

When is the Abramoff investigation going to hit Grover? [snip]

Not soon enough.

Looks like it hit last night:

(from the amazing ME Williams at Wampum)

…Even potentially more damaging, however, is Federici’s long-standing personal and professional relationship with Grover Norquist. Norquist was one of CREA’s initial founders back in 1997, and helped moved Federici to Washington. CREAs official office was for some time located within Norquist’s own ATF offices, and Federici used Norquist’s home address as her own in contributions reported to the FEC. It was Federici’s friendship with Norquist which got her hooked up with Abramoff in 2001. With all the indications that Norquist actively participated in Abramoff’s influence and access-peddling schemes, he has much to worry should Federici sing. Frankly, I’m surprised he’s not personally footing her attorney bills, forcing her instead to turn to the Public Defender’s Office.

(As an aside, with Federici now being named at a target by DoJ for tax purposes, co-Abramoff-money-launderer Amy Ridenour should be sweating bullets.)

It is a mistake to underestimate the importance of the DoJ’s investigation of Italia Federici. The question we should all be asking ourselves, will the caged bird sing?

(see comment 115 on last thread for more)

I realize it’s redundant to mention Grover Norquist and the word “punk” in the same sentence, but I’m going to do it anyway.

And,

(((JANE!!)))

McCain’s Park:

MacArthur’s Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don’t think that I can take it
‘Cause it took so long to bake it
And I’ll never have that recipe again
Oh, no!

Jane (my best to you and the pups BTW), I think the great irony is, the rethugs may get hoisted on their favorite petard–the economy.

Iraq, of course, will be huge. But the great economic trickle down has slowed to an occasional drip and the masses are thirsty as well as hungry.

Peg if lemming, skating on thin ice

Georgesimian @ 27

This stroll in the market should be enough to finish McCain’s bid. If he ever made it past the Primary (or even in the Primary) they could just play this bit of obvious fraud over and over again. This is a Dukakis in the tank moment.

I couldn’t agree more!! And I think a previous post on here actually had the Dukakis picture right next to the McCain/Baghdad photo-op pic. I’m thinking that was Jane’s post, but not sure.

To return to the core of the post–how bankrupt the Rs are on domestic policy. Their only answer is privatization. Personal accounts for medical, which will give high income taxpayers (the only ones who can afford them) another tax break, personal soc sec accounts, etc. These ideas have already been drowned in the bathtub. They have no thoughts about higher ed costs. NCLB at best has not done much to improve primary ed. Can anyone possibly imagine what their platforms could be on domestic policies? The only thing I’ve seen is constant harping on values with comical flip flopping or high serious obeisance to Dobbins. Voters have certainly had their fill. So I repeat. Whatever will they campaign on in domestic policy sphere?

McCain’s leisurely stroll in the Baghdad rug bazzare reminds of the Dukakis tank ride. And this guy McCain wants to be the leader of the world’s most powerful nation. Tee-hee.

What is it with shopping? When did going shopping become a sign of a working democracy and a patriotic duty?

Bush was lamenting today that Democrats wanted to raise taxes on the billionaire working man. Grover would be so proud.

Mandrake @ 35

Georgesimian @ 27

This stroll in the market should be enough to finish McCain’s bid. If he ever made it past the Primary (or even in the Primary) they could just play this bit of obvious fraud over and over again. This is a Dukakis in the tank moment.

I couldn’t agree more!! And I think a previous post on here actually had the Dukakis picture right next to the McCain/Baghdad photo-op pic. I’m thinking that was Jane’s post, but not sure.

Damn, beaten to the punch. I should have said a Biden moment. Or “Mission Accomplished” moment. The Biden one is still one of my favs. What the hell was he thinking?

Something meta:

Orcinus (David Neiwert & co.) does this well, and I wonder if FDL could too: could someone place a box on the front page and “bookmark” issue overviews (like post-Libby trial analysis) and general political/social commentary posts that would otherwise be lost in the shuffle? What prompted this was the “Pattern of Corruption” story that will very soon be whisked off the front page. I might have missed it if it were.

Ranger Jay @ 26

Yes, the GOP is heading over a cliff, but don’t forget that they have a well-oiled money machine at their disposal.

They will spare no expense come election time. And they will not be afraid to stoop very, very low in their attacks against their opposition.

Indeed. And Obama has the most to fear, because he is drawing from a group of people that are inspired by him and many of whom wouldn’t normally get involved with politics but have been drawn in by Obama’s charismatic personality and their belief that he is a special person. These are also the kind of people who could most quickly get turned off by “politics as usual”.

Karl Rove and others in the GOP can be expected to go really dirty against Obama, in an extreme way that they hope will turn off all of these inspired Obama supporters who are new to the political world. Republican operatives will try to replace people’s hope and belief in Obama with cynicism about the political process and all political candidates.

If Obama is smart, he’ll cut off this tactic by warning his supporters of the impending GOP smears against his character. Obama would be wise to tell his supporters that he is offering hope, and the Republicans will naturally turn to the politics of character assassination in order to wreck the positive movement that they are building together. This is how Obama could innoculate himself. I hope he does.

eCAHNomics @ 21

842-ACRE PRIVATE SECURITY CAMP PLANNED IN
QUIET CALIFORNIA TOWN… DEVELOPING…

I think that’s Blackwater’s new mercenary training facility, or “campus” as they innocuously call them…

Stephen Dulaney @ 38

What is it with shopping? When did going shopping become a sign of a working democracy and a patriotic duty?

Isn’t there a dystopia about that? Can’t remember which one.

Thus far Hillary seems quite comfortable with blowing up brown people. Be they Iraqis or Palestinians.

Divide and Conquer! Grover spends a lot of money pushing a conservative agenda which I do believe only gets more and more unpopular every year. For example Hilary’s healthcare plan it wasn’t so popular then and Grover was against it. Today every Dem Canidate supports Healthcare and the issue is hurting republicans. Raising the minium wage, the Iraq war all issues Grover has opposed us, all issues that hurt republicans more now after years of Grover throwing money at the problem to shore up political as opposed to grass roots support. Or the better question might be how much money does Grover have to throw at an issue over how many years for that issue to become a liabilty for the GOP and a game changer for us? I suspect as with the Iraq war the more passionate the American people feel about an issue the less time it takes. Anyway I hope Karl reads this and his head explodes! I hope the GOP realize the path Grover has led them to will lead them to defeat, either they turn on Grover or go extinct!

Conyers writes a letter to Monica Goodling:

http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=207

We have reviewed Ms. Goodling’s declaration and the letters you sent to us and Senator Leahy, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and we are concerned that several of the asserted grounds for refusing to testify do not satisfy the well-established bases for a proper invocation of the Fifth Amendment against self- incrimination. In addition, of course, the Fifth Amendment privilege, under long-standing Supreme Court precedents, does not provide a reason to fail to appear to testify; the privilege must be invoked by the witness on a question-by-question basis.

h/t atrios

I was amazed to learn on FDL that the lemming deal is a myth made up by Disney!

While many people believe that lemmings commit mass suicide when they migrate, this is not actually the case. Lemmings will often migrate in large groups and as a result some lemmings will occasionally be pushed off cliffs or drowned in bodies of water simply by the press of their compatriots. The myth of lemming mass suicide is long-standing and has been popularized by a number of factors. It is usually stated that the main source of the belief in the suicide myth was propagated by The Walt Disney Company documentary White Wilderness which includes footage of lemmings running head-long over a ledge. However, subsequent research has shown that the filmmakers contrived this scene.[3]

It’s disturbing to watch McCain lately. He is one spaced out looking guy. Something a lot more wrong going on there than just all the flip flopping.

xyz@42
Yes, and the mud will stick. Some talking head last night said to think about a campaign as a series of tests. Obama has already failed at least 2: his stand on Iran and his statement about supplemental after the veto. An item on democracynow.org this morning suggests he knows very little about his father’s continent as apparently he thinks it’s just fine for W to militarize the continent in offense against terrorists. He’s a very inexperienced and weak candidate who would crash on the shoals in a campaign like the Rs are likely to wage in 08. Charisma is not enuf.

…a legal noose around Grover? Sweet.

The looting of our public lands by Grover’s pals Big Energy and Mining has begun the investigation.

Hope the investigation strangles his organization, and the prison term drowns Grover’s freedom in a bathtub.

____________________________________

[waves at punaise]

things come undone @ 12

The Democrats should stop the war by making bush PAY for the war somehow during his TERM. It could be called the Grover Norquist Debt IS a tax MORON! bill. I still can’t believe the Dems want to get stuck like President Carter was with a tottering economy, a huge debt and no choice but to raise taxes. Either they make bush pay for his own wars NOW or they can be forgotten one term presidents.

You’re certainly right about this one. I worry that Dems will be inheriting an absolute catastrophe waiting to happen. Social Security could have been solved by now, healthcare could have been solved by now, the economy could have been healthy with much less debt including a much smaller if non-existent federal debt and a financially healthier working and middle class. Instead in 08 we could be stepping into an absolute minefield of potential disasters including a middle east that is now (thanks to Bushco) truly marginal in a way that leads to a major regional conflagration that this time WON’T be avoidable. .

The irony is sweet. Grover’s pal Bush has spent this country into the poor house via his deficit spending. And President Pork has an MBA?

Poor McBush…a long way from those halcyon days of 2004 when both Democrats and Goopers wanted to stand as close to him as possible.

It serves him right for being nothing but a prop for Bush.

Gen. Wes Clark ‘08

DuaneBidoux @ 52

things come undone @ 12

The Democrats should stop the war by making bush PAY for the war somehow during his TERM. It could be called the Grover Norquist Debt IS a tax MORON! bill. I still can’t believe the Dems want to get stuck like President Carter was with a tottering economy, a huge debt and no choice but to raise taxes. Either they make bush pay for his own wars NOW or they can be forgotten one term presidents.

You’re certainly right about this one. I worry that Dems will be inheriting an absolute catastrophe waiting to happen. Social Security could have been solved by now, healthcare could have been solved by now, the economy could have been healthy with much less debt including a much smaller if non-existent federal debt and a financially healthier working and middle class. Instead in 08 we could be stepping into an absolute minefield of potential disasters including a middle east that is now (thanks to Bushco) truly marginal in a way that leads to a major regional conflagration that this time WON’T be avoidable. .

Might be a silver lining. Remember that Clinton cured the deficit by raising taxes on the rich. Well, the rich have gotten so much richer under W, leaving all the more tax cream for the Ds to skim.

ironranger @ 49

It’s disturbing to watch McCain lately. He is one spaced out looking guy. Something a lot more wrong going on there than just all the flip flopping.

I agree with you. I totally disagree with soo much that McCain stands for politically, but I ‘m concerned by what I see in his demeanor. He looks physically ill, and very much alone & dispirited. I wish, for HIS sake, he had not decided to run.
oops! do I qualify as a concern troll??!? oh well. so be it.

*xyz @ 47

Conyers writes a letter to Monica Goodling:

http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=207

We have reviewed Ms. Goodling’s declaration and the letters you sent to us and Senator Leahy, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and we are concerned that several of the asserted grounds for refusing to testify do not satisfy the well-established bases for a proper invocation of the Fifth Amendment against self- incrimination. In addition, of course, the Fifth Amendment privilege, under long-standing Supreme Court precedents, does not provide a reason to fail to appear to testify; the privilege must be invoked by the witness on a question-by-question basis.

h/t atrios

Looks like Monica will be taking a trip to perjury or contempt land. Will she take the 5th when she is asked to take the oath to tell the truth? Or will she try to substitute one of her own loyalty oaths in its place?

And why btw is she still employed at DOJ?

CNN center – one dead, one extremely critical!!

Will she take the 5th when she is asked to take the oath to tell the truth?

Thanks–I needed that.

Hugh @ 58

And why btw is she still employed at DOJ?

So they can recycle her into an administration twenty years from now, claiming she has actual job experience?

SURGE IS WORKING FOLKS!

Just heard on the news that Baghdad curfew has been extended 2 hours for shopping purposes!

Adie @
11

Has anyone else gotten the feeling repugs are lurching from candidate to candidate frantically, as if they’re not just leaderless, they’re panicked. Poor babes, i suppose, heh. I can only feel sorry for em up to a point.
DANG! It’s their own doing, or rather, UN-doing!

Yes, and I think that’s why Fred Thompson’s name is popping up now. LOL, I think he’s supposed to be a “fresh face”. By sure to check the “sell by” date on that container, folks!

Mandrake @ 62

SURGE IS WORKING FOLKS!

Just heard on the news that Baghdad curfew has been extended 2 hours for shopping purposes!

They can get to the market just in time to be blown up.

A turning point for me in my belated maturity about Republican politics was in the aftermath of the 2000 election. Given the win of the popular vote by Gore, those of us who voted for Gore hoped against hope that the appointed President would concede some ground to the other side. We thought he might at least genuflect in the direction of nonpartisan, we’re-all-in-this-together, spirit.

I wish I could remember who said it, one of the RNC officers I think. His response to the profound consternation of the 50% who voted for the other side was something like “We don’t care. We don’t care that you’re upset. We don’t care that you feel robbed. We won.”

Until then, I had assumed at least a shred of reasonableness and sense of common goals. I was wrong, and each passing day confirms my naivete.

They have ruled, not governed, exactly like that. They don’t give a shit about half the population, now a majority. They’re in power and they are going to do everything they can as fast as they can to enrich and entrench themselves.

The rest of us can go to hell.

Some good news:
Lawyers: jailed freelance journalist Wolf to be freed
From the Associated Press
11:30 AM PDT, April 3, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO — A freelance videographer who served the longest prison term for a journalist refusing to testify to a grand jury is expected to be freed from federal prison after reaching a deal with prosecutors, lawyers said tday.

Joshua Wolf, 24, could be freed as soon as today after posting online unaired videotape that he had refused to give federal authorities, said defense lawyer David Greene.

“Joshua Wolf has complied with the grand jury subpoena,” prosecutor Jeffrey Finigan said in court papers filed today.

Grandma Millie @ 55

Gen. Wes Clark ‘08

That’s been the bumper sticker on my car for more than a year.

Come on, Wes, jump in – the water’s gonna be fine!

I hope its a very high cliff with razor sharp rocks at the bottom.

*xyz @ 47

Conyers writes a letter to Monica Goodling:

http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=207

We have reviewed Ms. Goodling’s declaration and the letters you sent to us and Senator Leahy, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and we are concerned that several of the asserted grounds for refusing to testify do not satisfy the well-established bases for a proper invocation of the Fifth Amendment against self- incrimination. In addition, of course, the Fifth Amendment privilege, under long-standing Supreme Court precedents, does not provide a reason to fail to appear to testify; the privilege must be invoked by the witness on a question-by-question basis.

h/t atrios

I especially like this portion:

The alleged concern that she may be prosecuted for perjury by the Department of Justice for fully truthful testimony is not only an unjustified basis for invoking the privilege and without reasonable foundation in this case but also so far as we know an unwarranted aspersion against her employer.

Mary McCurnin @ 64

Mandrake @ 62

SURGE IS WORKING FOLKS!

Just heard on the news that Baghdad curfew has been extended 2 hours for shopping purposes!

They can get to the market just in time to be blown up.

Just don’t show up on the heels of a McCain market stroll!

“Joshua Wolf has complied with the grand jury subpoena,” prosecutor Jeffrey Finigan said in court papers filed today.

Does that mean he gave up his sources? All that time in jail for nought?

LBrowne @ 63

Yes, and I think that’s why Fred Thompson’s name is popping up now. LOL, I think he’s supposed to be a “fresh face”. By sure to check the “sell by” date on that container, folks!

Fred Thompson, the Law & Order candidate.

Welcome aboard reality, Jean2k. It doesn’t matter as much how we got here, but, what we do now! jmho

“The alleged concern that she may be prosecuted for perjury by the Department of Justice for fully truthful testimony is not only an unjustified basis for invoking the privilege and without reasonable foundation in this case but also so far as we know an unwarranted aspersion against her employer.”

Snarky, but good.

*xyz @ 42

Ranger Jay @ 26

Yes, the GOP is heading over a cliff, but don’t forget that they have a well-oiled money machine at their disposal.

They will spare no expense come election time. And they will not be afraid to stoop very, very low in their attacks against their opposition.

Indeed. And Obama has the most to fear, because he is drawing from a group of people that are inspired by him and many of whom wouldn’t normally get involved with politics but have been drawn in by Obama’s charismatic personality and their belief that he is a special person. These are also the kind of people who could most quickly get turned off by “politics as usual”.

Karl Rove and others in the GOP can be expected to go really dirty against Obama, in an extreme way that they hope will turn off all of these inspired Obama supporters who are new to the political world. Republican operatives will try to replace people’s hope and belief in Obama with cynicism about the political process and all political candidates.

If Obama is smart, he’ll cut off this tactic by warning his supporters of the impending GOP smears against his character. Obama would be wise to tell his supporters that he is offering hope, and the Republicans will naturally turn to the politics of character assassination in order to wreck the positive movement that they are building together. This is how Obama could innoculate himself. I hope he does.

What kind of innoculation was Obamas support of Lieberman over Lamont ?

Just asking.

eCAHNomics @ 71

Here’s a more local version:
Imprisoned freelance journalist to be released
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 3, 2007

(04-03) 11:29 PDT SAN FRANCISCO — Josh Wolf, a blogger and freelance journalist who has spent 7 1/2 months in federal prison for defying a grand jury subpoena related to his coverage of an anarchist protest, turned over video footage to prosecutors today and will be released shortly, lawyers said.

Under an agreement announced by Wolf’s attorneys, he will not have to testify to the grand jury or identify any of the protesters shown in his video, which has been posted on his Web site.

The deal was announced this morning after a second day of mediation Monday before a federal magistrate. Wolf, 24, was held in contempt of court by a federal judge last August and has been imprisoned longer than any other journalist in U.S. history for withholding information.

Debka (Likunic rag) is reporting Iraq insurgents say the downed a U.S. cargo plane with a missile.

Aaron at 41 — If you’ll look on the right-hand side of the blog page, you’ll see that we have a topical index. The “Pattern of Corruption” article can be found cross-indexed among the UN Attorney tag, the Legal tag, the Justice Department tag and several others. Hope that helps a bit…

An excellent piece, Jane, but keep in mind the gooper “base” is a two-pring thing:

You have the uber-wealthy who, of course don’t care about anyone else.

Then you have these people, who are just too fucking stupid to know any better. Never doubt the ability of the Stupid to be duped by anyone who professes to “kick ass” on them “gawd-dayam ayrabs,” no matter if the same “ass-kickers” are duping the Stupid into abject poverty, and death.

They are the voting bloc that scares me because critical thinking is just beyond their grasp. They listen to El Porko Grande on the radio and believe every word like this the gospel.

The Stupid faction is why we can never EVER let our guard down, or support centrist candidates. Because the Stupid will sell themselves down the river every timein order to “kick ass.” They can’t be educated because they believe in the baybay Jaysus and George W does too, and by gawd, that’s good enough for them. That and “kicking ass.”

Finally, there are a lot of people on the cusp of Stupid, who can be swayed by a good public speaker. The semi-Stupid may be worth working on, but the Stupid are beyond help, beyond redemption.l

So we have to not just battle the rich, we have to battle the Stupid.

Something to keep in mind.

Chit-chatted with my wingnut friend this morning. Easy way to get him talking is to start off with skirts and move on from there. He’s half sane, so I thought I might see whether he was ready to rinse the kool-aid out of his mouth, but I was wrong. He is a tried-and-true wingnut. For a long time I thought it was an act, but he was spouting John Yoo to me about the Presidential prerogative, and when I asked him whether he thought it might apply to Hillary, he just said, no Dem is ever going to come in, so it doesn’t matter. Now, this is a guy with a Ph.D. if you can imagine (though he thinks that James Lott, or whatever his current pseudonym may be, has a brain).

Anyway, he’s one of those true believers. Looks alot like Novakula and from the same ethnic background. Same reactionary ways, and also same follow-the-leader response. These guys have too much invested. They will stay with Bush down to the last capsule.

I think we may be getting close to the people who held that very private energy meeting back before 9/11.
So many people have been implicated in strangely connected scandals and the light is starting to shine on the not noticed before ‘little cogs’ in the wheels of this spiders-web of deceits and back-room deals.
I keep thinking about the saying ‘All roads lead to Rome’
I know this comment is a little dis-jointed, but I do think we are getting close.

FROM THE LETTER RE: GOODLING:

“We note that Mr. Kyle Sampson, the Attorney General’s former chief of staff who worked closely with Ms. Goodling on these matters, advised the Senate recently under oath that he knew of no valid basis for her assertion. If there is no valid basis, we will want to afford her an opportunity (as several other Department employees have agreed to take) to answer in a straight-forward fashion in a private, confidential setting all questions relating to her knowledge about the firings of the U.S. Attorneys, the role in these terminations of the White House with which she served as liaison and the Department’s explanation about these matters to the Congress.”

Translation: Let us know whether she is planning to flip Karl, and we’ll see what we can do.

Thanks P J Evans. It sounds like a compromise, but still Wolf had to give up his tapes.

The trouble with all of them going over the edge like lemmings is that the already threw over education, income security, environmental protection, voting rights, Medicare, peace, the National Guard, the Armed Forces, an impartial judiciary.

How is all that stuff going to get back up the cliff?

It seems to me that making sure the Rethugs don’t get to do it again is only half the problem solved.

And with nothing left to lose, they will take everything else with them.

I refer you to Dr Strangelove.

LBrowne @ 63

Adie @
11

Has anyone else gotten the feeling repugs are lurching from candidate to candidate frantically, as if they’re not just leaderless, they’re panicked. Poor babes, i suppose, heh. I can only feel sorry for em up to a point.
DANG! It’s their own doing, or rather, UN-doing!

Yes, and I think that’s why Fred Thompson’s name is popping up now. LOL, I think he’s supposed to be a “fresh face”. By sure to check the “sell by” date on that container, folks!

LOL!!! Yeah, more than a whiff of political mold, AND the fact that they’re seriously considering a guy who “played one on tv,” as a grade B actor (I’m feeling generous), BETTER than he did in real life. Ya gotta luv it?!

OGAWD Why am I laughing!?! Lookie whut we got now……… Can we feel rest-assured that it’s such a short time tw’/long overlap tw’ jr’s reign & prezcampaign that the idgits amung th’ smarterlemmings will remember whut they wrought in 00 & 04? Yuh THINK???

i think i’m gonna be sick…. scuse….

But today’s Republicans can’t respond in any meaningful way to rising inequality, because their activists won’t let them.

I have to say that I disagree with Krugman on that one. The Republicans with their union breaking ways, their mania to reduce taxes on the rich, corporations, and capital gains, and finally monetary policies that view wage increases as inherently inflationary created the inequality. It’s not like they want to address it. They just don’t want anyone to blame them for it.

Alison 84

Yup. Source of many sleepless nights for me, contemplating same. I suspect that’s why so many folk congregate here. As some have said, jr. breaks it. We fix it….somehow…..
We just must.

This is a good place to meet up with others who care, and who simply won’t give up.

Regarding “stripping hippies’ rights,” maybe it’s time to start telling the RWingers that it’s time they “got over” the ’60’s. After all, they’re in the past.

I swear they’re still trying to get back at that Time.

Still, their hatred of regulation, oversight and government in general . . .

Or anything even slightly to the left of . . . well, not even of center, just of the RNC party line.

And it’s so creepy–they live their lives by this, while giving the underlying issues no more thought than if they were picking a cheering section for the Michigan-Ohio game.

AP – President Bush on Tuesday called Democrats in Congress irresponsible for approving war bills that order U.S. troops to leave Iraq by certain dates. He said such efforts will backfire, keeping some troops in battle even longer.

Playing politics with peoples deaths. This prez hasn’t a decent bone in his body.

CNN showing footage from a videophone of the shooting in their lobby. Jeebus–whoever hung around filming a shooting certaing deserves a Darwin Award.

Thanks CHS at 78. I actually did discover the list and perused a few categories. It does help a bit more than a bit!

Hugh @ 86

I have problems with the GOP view of economics: profits are money in the economy, prices and taxes are money in the economy, executive salaries and bonuses are money in the economy, tax breaks for businesses and sports centers are money in the economy, but somehow paying a living wage to non-executives takes money out of the economy permanently.
I guess they figure that all of us don’t eat, pay for housing and transportation, or wear clothes; we just walk out the door at 5 and disappear in a puff of paycheck smoke, and appear at 8 the next morning the same way.

Georgesimian @
17

They should just impeach Bush/Cheney and be done with it.

YES– but unfortunately, that won’t be enough. Did you see Naomi Klein on Democracy Now! last night?

Her new book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism is a blockbuster.

This shows yet another way in which Cheney’s business megalomania is not only changing the pieces on the chessboard, but is changing the board itself. Most of us have some vague idea about how Halliburton, KBR, Blackwater, et al. are making money like bandits off the war, but it really is much worse than that, if Klein is right. Removing Bush & Cheney by impeachment will help, but it will take much more to reverse what is happening in Global market management. Cheney-style globalization is changing the way the world works, so that War is profitable, but Peace is not. They are ginning the game to make peace impossible and war (of some kind, any kind) inevitable, if I heard right.

Bob in HI

eCAHNomics @
91

CNN showing footage from a videophone of the shooting in their lobby. Jeebus–whoever hung around filming a shooting certaing deserves a Darwin Award.

Don’t you have to die to get one of those?

Oklahoma kiddo- It must be hard for him to juggle all these recent pressers and the DT’s at the same time. At least he is good at something.

TPM Muckraker has an apparently new letter from Leahy to Gonzalez. It is dated March 30, but this is the first time I’ve seen it. Here it is:

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002944.php

I’m starting to realize that this administration just lies to fulfill the fantasies of its base. I mean, it doesn’t lie strategically or even tactically, which we’ve long known that it does. It just plains lies all the time, in all respects, about everything.. whatever the base wants to hear, even if it isn’t important. The WH today gave a statement about why pump prices for petrol are up. Those of us in the business world know the most recent price increases have been due, in large measure, to a (technically based) crisis in refining and transport capacity, both in select US regions and globally. This is not a mystery.. every oil industry and commodity trading rag’s been on top of these technical problems overshadowing the crude and petrol markets for months now. Iran/Gulf straits tension is a factor but not by far the biggest one.

So what does shrub’s admin say (and remember, he’s an oil exec)? He blames it on Dem-supported TAXES (or the threat thereof), on Dem demands for biofuel requirements and global warming initiatives AND, of course, on Dem-created “tensions” over support for the war in Iraq.

Now, he didn’t have to lie here. There’s no real reason for it.. it’s such a minor thing. But he did, and he does. It’s pathological.

It’s Blackwater!! This is INSANE!!

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/….._0403.html

twolf1 @ 94

eCAHNomics @
91

CNN showing footage from a videophone of the shooting in their lobby. Jeebus–whoever hung around filming a shooting certainly deserves a Darwin Award.

Don’t you have to die to get one of those?

Turns out many people are really stupid about such stuff. In my experience you can get out of a burning building. I was lunching on 40th floor, smelled smoke, saw smoke in foyer of club, went back to table & the 4 of us walked down the steps while maitre d’ was looking in closets, etc. Rest of diners stayed. Now it turned out to be a waste basket fire 4 floors down, but what sentient being would take the chance? Answer: all but a a couple hundred of the thousands on nearby floors. No fire alarm either!

twolf1 @ 95

eCAHNomics @
91

CNN showing footage from a videophone of the shooting in their lobby. Jeebus–whoever hung around filming a shooting certaing deserves a Darwin Award.

Don’t you have to die to get one of those?

You just need to be rendered incapable of reproducing. Getting yourself castrated would do it.

lets see here – right wing extremist wingnuts drag their party over the cliff because their presidential candidates have to cater to them…

why? becuase if they think the candidate is not kranky enough on their particular issue, they stay home and read the bible and do not support ‘the lesser of two evils’.

on the other hand, Dem candidates like Clinton, Obama, Edwards, can vouch to trash the Nuremburg conventions , and claim the Supreme War Crime of agressive war is ‘on the table’ and not have to worry about losing the support of anyone who claims to be for Peace.

Sorry, that calculation is now broken, and if they have to lose more elections before they internalize it, tough.

Pelosi caved and stripped the provision requiring Bush to seek approval from Congress before launching another war – if he does, she and the Washington Dems bear great culpability.

great post at Counterpunch from Dave Lindorf:

The Democrats need to know that they can no longer act in such an irresponsible, cynical manner. They need to know that they can no longer take my vote for granted, counting on me to stick with the party because the Republicans are so much worse.

If Democrats will not impeach this president, if they in fact actively undermine attempts to express the popular will of the party’s grassroots membership, I quit.

I’m giving my party notice. Effective immediately, I’m going to my local voter registrar’s office and changing my registration to Green Party, and I won’t be back to vote for Democrats until they take a stand of principle and begin impeachment hearings to remove President George W. Bush from Office. I will be sending word of my resignation to the Democratic National Committee, and to Speaker Pelosi.

I urge every Democrat who cares about the future of the country and the survival of the Constitution to join me. It doesn’t matter whether you join the Greens, the Socialists, the Populists, or just go unaffiliated. What matters is that you quit the Democratic Party.

Molly, NYC @ 89

And it’s so creepy–they live their lives by this, while giving the underlying issues no more thought than if they were picking a cheering section for the Michigan-Ohio game.

Uhm, could you leave the Wolverines and Buckeyes out of this one — my bet is you’d find most of these folks attending Southeast Conference games…

OT – House Democrats ask U.S. Justice Department aide who refuses to testify to submit to an interview

Democrats in the House of Representatives on Tuesday asked a top Justice Department aide to come for a private interview in the next week on the firing of U.S. prosecutors. They said she cannot simply refuse to testify on the matter.

Monica Goodling, who has said she would assert her U.S. constitutional right against self-incrimination to avoid appearing at Senate hearings, must tell Congress which specific questions she is refusing to answer, Democrats said in a letter to her lawyer…

iTunes has NBC News “Time Capsules” avaiable for $1.99. Check out “Vietnam 1968: Turning Point”. LBJ, Westemorland and MacNamara. The song was the same.

lectric lady @ 101

You just need to be rendered incapable of reproducing. Getting yourself castrated would do it.

Oh ok. I stand corrected.

Brisingamen @ 103

Molly, NYC @ 89

And it’s so creepy–they live their lives by this, while giving the underlying issues no more thought than if they were picking a cheering section for the Michigan-Ohio game.

Uhm, could you leave the Wolverines and Buckeyes out of this one — my bet is you’d find most of these folks attending Southeast Conference games…

Easy with that.

“The Republican Party’s adherence to an outdated ideology leaves it with big problems. It can’t offer domestic policies that respond to the public’s real needs.”

When in the last 50 years has the Republican Party actually responded to the public’s real needs? The issues it uses for campaigns are chosen because they divide the public. They are chosen as smoke screens in order to hide the real Republican agenda: making themselves wealthy at the expense of everyone else.

raven @ 105

iTunes has NBC News “Time Capsules” avaiable for $1.99. Check out “Vietnam 1968: Turning Point”. LBJ, Westemorland and MacNamara. The song was the same.

So was the number of military age Bushes serving in the military – zero.

Biodun @
8

Speaking of McCain’s Sunday in the Park (apologies if this has already been posted in an earlier thread):

BAGHDAD, April 2 — A day after members of an American Congressional delegation led by Senator John McCain pointed to their brief visit to Baghdad’s central market as evidence that the new security plan for the city was working, the merchants there were incredulous about the Americans’ conclusions.

Representative Mike Pence, an Indiana Republican, said the Shorja market was “like a normal outdoor market in Indiana.”

“What are they talking about?” Ali Jassim Faiyad, the owner of an electrical appliances shop in the market, said Monday. “The security procedures were abnormal!”

The delegation arrived at the market, which is called Shorja, on Sunday with more than 100 soldiers in armored Humvees — the equivalent of an entire company — and attack helicopters circled overhead, a senior American military official in Baghdad said. The soldiers redirected traffic from the area and restricted access to the Americans, witnesses said, and sharpshooters were posted on the roofs. The congressmen wore bulletproof vests throughout their hourlong visit.

“They paralyzed the market when they came,” Mr. Faiyad said during an interview in his shop on Monday. “This was only for the media.”

What’s even worse is that at least 21 of the market workers in that market — probably some of the ones who met McCain and Graham — were kidnapped and shot dead within hours of the little shopping spree.

Hope Graham likes his rugs. The man who sold them to him may have just given his life for them.

LS @ 99

It’s Blackwater!! This is INSANE!!

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/….._0403.html

One of the usual suspects:

The inquiry has also discovered that California congressman Duncan Hunter — ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee — is a client of the firm, Blackwater USA, a massive US security contractor in Iraq, and minutes of a planning meeting raise questions about whether Hunter was involved in lobbying for the project.

Why would Duncan Hunter be a client of Blackwater?

Stephen Dulaney @
38

What is it with shopping? When did going shopping become a sign of a working democracy and a patriotic duty?

It’s become the Republican answer to everything. Don’t worry! Go shopping!

I even heard Matthew Fox use the phrase as the prime alternative to thinking constructively about the fix we’re in.

Don’t worry! Go shopping! The Republican mantra for the new millenium. Reminds me of Bread and Circuses, except that shopping (along with TV entertainment) now takes the place of circuses.

Bob in HI

Eureka Springs @ 111

Why would Duncan Hunter be a client of Blackwater?

Maybe he wants to go rug shopping.

GPB @ 79

I rather doubt that a viable electoral strategy in US electoral politics can dismiss those who believe in Jesus Christ. Lots of very devout people are also very progressive, so I wouldn’t choose to join or support such strategy.

The contempt and hostility with which you dismiss all who believe in Jesus is most unbecoming. For that reason alone, I also disagree with your comment.

Finally, media literacy – the ability to look behind the pervasive commercial media and dissect their funding, motives, and biases – that is a learned skill.

The Rethugs have defunded public education and forced almost every household to send two people to work in order to meet basic needs.

As I read comments dripping with contempt for those deceived by Limbaugh and Pox News, I think of my relatives in rural Ohio whose lives never afforded them the great luxury of extensive education and free time to pick up Noam Chomsky.

I don’t think the strategy of blaming the vast majority of those persuaded by the Rethugs forty years of media propaganda is an effective way to win allies for progressive majorities.

I also find the attacks on the targets of the Pox propaganda to show tremendous class bias.

I’d rather leave that with the Republicans. They seem to have a lock on it – around their necks.

LS @ 99

It’s Blackwater!! This is INSANE!!

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/….._0403.html

hmm, now we have our very own “terrorist” training camps on the East Coast and soon one on the West Coast.

(who knows how many more that we don’t know about and where?)

Duncan Hunter is in the thick of it– makes sense.

“don’t give my tax dollars to brown people”

snark tag
I thought Krugman was a little harsh. The Bush Administration gives a lot of tax dollars to brown people in the form of bullets and other munitions, which kill them. Also Krugman forgot about all the tax dollars spent to incarcerate them over here in non-secret prisons and in foreign secret prisons.
/snark tag

Follow Rove’s E-Mails. Hell all the Bush administration bizarro world e-mails.

On Matthews Sunday program he devoted some time to how many folks have jumped off the Republicans bus.

I just cannot understand Matthews fascination to Bills private life. He just cannot let Bill change, and is always stirring the shit on Clinton. Matthews drives me crazy when he mentions how Hillary is not ‘warm and fuzzy”. Christ all mighty Chris could you please spend more time on substantive issues when it comes to the Clintons like health care reform and Bills commitment to the Aids issue. Your superficial agenda when it comes to the Clintons is oh so apparent!

Go Jane! What is the status of Phase II of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence?

Lot’s of jet action in the sky out here in Colorado. Have family near Wright Patterson Air Force base in Dayton Ohio , they are reporting increased jet activity in the skies around that neck of the woods. Is Iran next?

eCAHNomics @
111

Duncan Hunter is in the thick of it– makes sense.

Duncan likes anything that can hold or mount a gun. It’s what he’s all about. Even on immigration issues, his main thing was building the physical wall and the technology that would go onto it… and all the juicy contracts he could give to his buddies. Tancredo’s all about the racism and frothing at the mouth. Duncan just wants to make a quick buck out of it and have some cool toys to play with.

Primordial Ooze @
43

eCAHNomics @ 21

842-ACRE PRIVATE SECURITY CAMP PLANNED IN
QUIET CALIFORNIA TOWN… DEVELOPING…

I think that’s Blackwater’s new mercenary training facility, or “campus” as they innocuously call them…

They need a place for Bush’s new Praetorian Guard (aka Blackwater) to hang out until he needs them. Like, to stage a putsch or something. Bush already has authority to declare martial law, you know.

Bob in HI

Blub @ 119

eCAHNomics @
111

Duncan Hunter is in the thick of it– makes sense.

Duncan likes anything that can hold or mount a gun. It’s what he’s all about. Even on immigration issues, his main thing was building the physical wall and the technology that would go onto it… and all the juicy contracts he could give to his buddies. Tancredo’s all about the racism and frothing at the mouth. Duncan just wants to make a quick buck out of it and have some cool toys to play with.

Gee, he must be an SEC fan!

everhopeful @
67
Grandma Millie @ 55

Gen. Wes Clark ‘08

That’s been the bumper sticker on my car for more than a year.

Sure hope he’s just waiting for the smoke to clear.. Every good Dem. should read his Bio. Would seem that a Clark/Edwards might take same of the south. But, above all we need Clark’s dedication and brains. Tired of all this self-serving crap.

Eureka Springs @ 112

Why would Duncan Hunter be a client of Blackwater?

The only other statement in the article that relates is:

At a Feb. 8, 2007 planning meeting, Vice President for Blackwater West Brian Bonfiglio said Hunter was one of the firm’s clients.

“We talk with Duncan about many things,” Bonfiglio said (emphasis in original).

More research todo.

kathleen@118, Bush was supposed to be “warm and fuzzy”. That quality in a President hasn’t worked out so well for us.

Badwater @ 124

kathleen@118, Bush was supposed to be “warm and fuzzy”. That quality in a President hasn’t worked out so well for us.

Yeah, but the fuzzy part is his thinking.

Bob Schacht @ 120

Primordial Ooze @
43
—–
eCAHNomics @ 21
——
842-ACRE PRIVATE SECURITY CAMP PLANNED IN
QUIET CALIFORNIA TOWN… DEVELOPING…
——

I think that’s Blackwater’s new mercenary training facility, or “campus” as they innocuously call them…
——

They need a place for Bush’s new Praetorian Guard (aka Blackwater) to hang out until he needs them. Like, to stage a putsch or something. Bush already has authority to declare martial law, you know.

Bob in HI

You’d think that perhaps one of the many closed military bases out there rather than a pristine fucking wildlife area would be a more sensible place for a facility such as this, no?

I went to Blackwater’s site. They are also a member of IPOA (see link) – one of the executive members is a graduate of Evergreen.

http://ipoaonline.org/php/inde…..;Itemid=72

Blackwater and IOPA have their own internal e-mail systems.

OT Item #1

Iranian diplomat Kidnapped in Baghdad freed
MehrNews.com, Iran – 7 hours ago
… second secretary at the Iranian embassy in Baghdad, Jalal Sharafi, who was kidnapped in Baghdad on February 4 was freed and returned to Iran on Tuesday.

OT Item #2
US asks Iran for help in finding missing American agent.

the good news:
our rumored Good Friday vaporization of Iran may have been averted.

the bad news:
our Boy King can’t even not-blink when his escapades go awry. American superpower status takes another one up the wazoo.

note to self:
B*slap the next Bushie that mentions Carter’s handling of Iran hostages.

LS @ 127

I went to Blackwater’s site. They are also a member of IPOA (see link) – one of the executive members is a graduate of Evergreen.

http://ipoaonline.org/php/inde…..;Itemid=72

I think this might turn into a major stink and put Blackwater back in the headlines. Environmentalists from all over the West should be congregating to fight it. It sounds like a majorly beautiful & pristine area. And yes to whoever above mentioned about closed U.S. bases as an alternative. Not enough payola?

Good news:

If PissBlackwater is the best the wingers can do for a parmilitary force, we’re in good shape.

They confuse corruption with strategy. Raw details egregious violations of California state enviro/ land use /open meetings law.

And we California enviros know those weapons and our political terrain. PissWater has a lame duck Gooper paddling towards indictment and a bunch of tin pot county crooks who regularly lose before California state regulators and courts.

PissWater has also just made the “mercenary” story show up for the insular LA media. For LA media, looking 400 miles to Humboldt County was near impossible – too far off the radar.

San Diego County and the Cleveland Natl Forest are in LA’s back yard. Even the LA Times will get on the “America’s private army” story. As long as the San Diego land use battles continue.

Pacific Lumber has been fighting land use battles for “mere” logging (no explosives) for over a decade in California venues – and they’re still losing.

All bluster, no long-term planning – Gooperdom.

Blackwater describes itself as “professional military”. Isn’t that against the law? That is the SS or Gestapo.

After the end of World War Ii in Japan, the United States embarked on a vast “purge” of imperial leadership; not only in government, but also in the corporations and bureaucracies. I don’t mean “purge” like Stalin’s Purge–nobody was taken out and shot, but hundreds of American soldiers pored over endless statements, followed endless relationships, endless leads and information, and attempted to root out the neo-fascists and the imperialists from positions of power.
(The direction of the investigations all changed as the US turned its cannons away from fascism and towards communism, but that’s how it started anyway.)

Which is a long-winded way of saying that I think we’re going to need something similar to happen here. Every institution, every bureaucracy, every agency, they have all been stacked with cronies and fellow ideologues of Bushco, and they must be identified and relieved of their positions of responsibility. We can’t afford another “heckuvajob Brownie” fiasco, and that’s exactly where we’re headed if we don’t realise that these rotten appointees are below-the-deck damage to our ship of state, and remove them forthwith.

For instance, who will examine the records of the non-fired US Attorneys to determine if they’re playing thug politics or not? If theyre not, why weren’t they fired?

kirk murphy @ 131

Good news:

If PissBlackwater is the best the wingers can do for a parmilitary force, we’re in good shape.

They confuse corruption with strategy. Raw details egregious violations of California state enviro/ land use /open meetings law.

And we California enviros know those weapons and our political terrain. PissWater has a lame duck Gooper paddling towards indictment and a bunch of tin pot county crooks who regularly lose before California state regulators and courts.

PissWater has also just made the “mercenary” story show up for the insular LA media. For LA media, looking 400 miles to Humboldt County was near impossible – too far off the radar.

San Diego County and the Cleveland Natl Forest are in LA’s back yard. Even the LA Times will get on the “America’s private army” story. As long as the San Diego land use battles continue.

Pacific Lumber has been fighting land use battles for “mere” logging (no explosives) for over a decade in California venues – and they’re still losing.

All bluster, no long-term planning – Gooperdom.

Yep–just what I was thinking would happen.

This is the first sentence on their website:

“Blackwater USA is the most comprehensive professional military, law enforcement, security, peacekeeping, and stability operations company in the world.”

Gunga Djinn @ 128

OT Item #1

Iranian diplomat Kidnapped in Baghdad freed
MehrNews.com, Iran – 7 hours ago
… second secretary at the Iranian embassy in Baghdad, Jalal Sharafi, who was kidnapped in Baghdad on February 4 was freed and returned to Iran on Tuesday.

OT Item #2
US asks Iran for help in finding missing American agent.

the good news:
our rumored Good Friday vaporization of Iran may have been averted.

the bad news:
our Boy King can’t even not-blink when his escapades go awry. American superpower status takes another one up the wazoo.

note to self:
B*slap the next Bushie that mentions Carter’s handling of Iran hostages.

Um, yeah.

Has anyone read Scahill’s book on Blackwater? I heard him on C-SPAN over the weekend & he certainly sounds informed.

eCAHNomics @ 130

And yes to whoever above mentioned about closed U.S. bases as an alternative. Not enough payola?

Well, if you reckon they’re taking the place of the military on the ground “over there”, it would make sense to use the existing facilities that are freed up “over here” by the privatization of the military.

Now if they could just manage to pay them the same as a soldier, maybe we’d see some of that vaunted “private sector efficiency” we hear so much about, but only seem to work for production of cheap plastic crap…

What is not so well-known is that in Washington after Falluja, Blackwater executives kicked into high gear, capitalizing on the company’s newfound recognition. The day after the ambush, it hired the Alexander Strategy Group, a K Street lobbying firm run by former senior staffers of then-majority leader Tom DeLay before the firm’s meltdown in the wake of the Jack Abramoff scandal. A week to the day after the ambush, Erik Prince was sitting down with at least four senior members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, including its chair, John Warner. Senator Rick Santorum arranged the meeting, which included Warner and two other key Republican senators—Appropriations Committee chair Ted Stevens of Alaska and George Allen of Virginia. This meeting followed an earlier series of face-to-faces Prince had had with powerful House Republicans who oversaw military contracts. Among them: DeLay; Porter Goss, chair of the House Intelligence Committee (and future CIA director); Duncan Hunter, chair of the House Armed Services Committee; and Representative Bill Young, chair of the House Appropriations Committee. What was discussed at these meetings remains a secret. But Blackwater was clearly positioning itself to make the most of its new fame. Indeed, two months later, Blackwater was handed one of the government’s most valuable international security contracts, worth more than $300 million.

(bold mine)

http://www.gnn.tv/articles/2977/Blackwater_Rising

eCAHNomics @
137

Has anyone read Scahill’s book on Blackwater? I heard him on C-SPAN over the weekend & he certainly sounds informed.

Haven’t read his book, but he is frequently interviewed on Democracy Now. He’s quite amazing.

raven @ 48

I was amazed to learn on FDL that the lemming deal is a myth made up by Disney!

Yeah, I remember when I learned that a number of years ago, after seeing the Disney nature films (including the lemming one) in elementary school. Among my group of friends, it’s now commonly referred to as the “Disney lemming snuff film.”

Now if they could just manage to pay them the same as a soldier, maybe we’d see some of that vaunted “private sector efficiency” we hear so much about, but only seem to work for production of cheap plastic crap…

They just get them killed in service, meaning they don’t have to pay benefits.

*xyz @ 97

TPM Muckraker has an apparently new letter from Leahy to Gonzalez. It is dated March 30, but this is the first time I’ve seen it. Here it is:

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002944.php

Great find xyz. Leahy is starting to open the topic of a special counsel. The plot thickens.

OT: I spoke to a former army ranger today who is being involuntarily reactivated. He’s already done tours in Bosnia and Iraq, and he implied that the hostage situation in Iran was what caused his specialty to be recalled.

This is not someone I know well, so I’m not sure how much to take at face value. Still, I’m greatly alarmed that wheels seem to be turning to start inserting our troops into Iran with or without a declaration of war from Congress.

Anyone here know the limits of presidential power to authorize specific military missions absent an actual declaration of war from Congress? (Not that the the current occupant in chief tends to abide by that sort of thing.)

LS @ 134

This is the first sentence on their website:

“Blackwater USA is the most comprehensive professional military, law enforcement, security, peacekeeping, and stability operations company in the world.”

Blackwater just bought a facility in Berriman Township, Jo Daviess County, Illinois. They came to the county board meeting and described themselves as “training local law enforcement”. Questioning local board members got me nowhere in discovering more about them and if they were trying to get contracts with our local government.

kirk murphy @
115

GPB @ 79

I rather doubt that a viable electoral strategy in US electoral politics can dismiss those who believe in Jesus Christ. Lots of very devout people are also very progressive, so I wouldn’t choose to join or support such strategy.

The contempt and hostility with which you dismiss all who believe in Jesus is most unbecoming. For that reason alone, I also disagree with your comment.

I’m not dismissing ALL people who believe in Jesus. I’m dismissing those for whom the belief in Jesus is enough to get them to vote for a given candidate. Did you read anything at the site whose URL I posted? Those people are idiots. They believe in going to church and kicking ass.

I have a high school education. I’m nobody’s Einstein, but *I* figured out that repuke media thing all by myself, without the need for some pain-in-the-ass know-it-all to tell me how to think. The people I referred to DON’T WANT TO THINK FOR THEMSELVES!

But if you disregard the Stupid (and boy howdy are those people ever fucking stupid) and don’t prepare to counter their numbers (thankfully, many of them wouldn’t know how or where to register to vote), you llive with the consequences.

Read the stuff at the link I put forth. Your head will explode.

kirk murphy @ 114

GPB @ 79

I rather doubt that a viable electoral strategy in US electoral politics can dismiss those who believe in Jesus Christ. Lots of very devout people are also very progressive, so I wouldn’t choose to join or support such strategy.

I’d rather leave that with the Republicans. They seem to have a lock on it – around their necks.

Good point — I know many liberals who ARE devout Christians, and they look on their fundamentalist conservative Christian bretheren with puzzlement.

My read on many of the conservative Christians is that they’re scared and they tend to see only what they want to see. I’m not sure how they manage to live this way. The few I’ve met and talked to have very closed minds.

One lady I know reads “only her magazines” (that would be Family Circle, Woman’s Day, Goodhousekeeping, and Ladies Home Journal). Her radio is tuned to a Clear Channel station, and her only other news source is her small town’s newspaper. She thinks Bush is wonderful…

How do you reach these folks? I’m sure she’d be horrified if she really understood what has happened.

Last weekend I heard one right wing fellow on a radio talk show — he said he’d voted for Reagan, but that he was sorry he’d voted for Bush. Seems the final straw was the Walter Reed story! So some of them are waking up — will it be enough?

I posted this 3 threads back (West Wing), late, at the bottom where nobody will read it so I’ll try again as I think this election the wingers are so futzed they haven’t a prayer. It is time to vote for real progress. So here is what I wrote:

Why have so many of you decided that your choice must be their choice? It is not writ in stone somewhere that hillary/obama/edwards is all we got.
Dennis Kucinich is a little guy w/ very big ideas.
If you want a hero from a teevee show then, by all means, stick to the script. Follow kos or the pundits outline and ignore all the issues you thought important. That way money will, again, be all that matters.
Health care? h/o/e all have plans that equal welfare for the insurance industry and no cap on the costs. By the time any of their plans get through congress they will be laden w/ caveats and pork but the dems will say they have had a great success because nobody is happy. Lipstick on a pig.
And then there is Kucinich. Single payer. Medicare for all. Cut 30% of present costs by eliminating the for profit insurers. Simple. Already proven in Canada. Private medicine but public insurance. This is a position the everybody understands. It is a position that everybody can debate. It is a position that should be a line in the sand for all progressives.
Iraq? h/o/e all want us out.. someday, sort of… as long as we leave enough troops to be a forward base for an attack on the real boogyman, Iran.
And then there is Kucinich. He says we get out now. If Iraq wants help patrolling their streets we will pay Egyptians, Jordanians or the Lebanese to do it. We will continue paying for reconstruction but we wont take their oil. Simple. Case closed. We will quit trying to rule the world.
The national security state? h/o/e says “it’s a dangerous world. Sure, the patriot act needs some tweaking, but we have to give big brother the tools to protect us.”
And then there is Kucinich. Repeal the patriot act. Period. It’s like he and Ron Paul are the only ones running that remember that the foundation of this country is not great leaders, it’s a great Constitution.
On the one hand progressives decry all the attention to Hillery’s hubby, Edward’s hair or Obama’s pecs but discount Kucinich because he is short. It is this kind of thinking that gets progressives labeled ’sissies’, afraid of what others might think.
I watched West Wing for a while but came to the conclusion that it was about a lot of guys who gabbed all day about how hard it was to be a liberal and then got all self congratulatory about accomplishing next to nothing. If you want a teevee president the vote for h/o/e.
If you want a human president, vote for Kucinich.

david baerwald @ 133

Which is a long-winded way of saying that I think we’re going to need something similar to happen here. Every institution, every bureaucracy, every agency, they have all been stacked with cronies and fellow ideologues of Bushco, and they must be identified and relieved of their positions of responsibility. We can’t afford another “heckuvajob Brownie” fiasco, and that’s exactly where we’re headed if we don’t realise that these rotten appointees are below-the-deck damage to our ship of state, and remove them forthwith.

Indeed, we need a de-Bushification Commission.

Hey pups –

In all seriousness, Pisswater’s given us an opportunity to skyrocket their opportunity costs on this.

In these local land use battles, the local groups do all the work and are always short of resources. Even the local Sierra Club chapters usually don’t get central monetary support in real time on these local battles. And the local groups can feel very isolated.

We at the Lake have the resources to help the locals fight Blackwater. We may not have the bucks to hire counsel (or maybe we have a lurking land use litigator), but we have research, analytical, design, media and networking capacities I’ve never seen in any enviro group.

Here are the local groups in the Raw article. Lets’ help them give Pisswater two black eyes.

[snip]
Duncan McFetridge, of Save Our Forests and Ranchlands, has raised additional concerns about the loss of potentially crucial wilderness areas, noting that national forest lands have shrunk from two million to 650,000 acres.

“Meadowlands are the biological heart of our forest,” he said at a recent meeting. “We cannot lose our meadows without losing our forest.”

Bonfiglio responded to criticisms on environmental grounds with the observation that no studies have been approved by San Diego County.

“There are people concerned about habitat and open space, but they are doing it based on no science, no information,” he said.

McFetridge successfully blocked a proposed RV park in neighboring Descanso after citing a study by the University of California, Davis, tracking mountain lion movement. The Potrero valley proposed for Blackwater’s project is also frequented by deer and mountain lion, he said.

“This is a contest,” McFetridge remarked. “Blackwater USA is very good at what they do — and Save Our Forests and Ranchlands is very good at what we do. This battle will be won or lost on land use issues.”

Citizen activism

To win approval of the project, Blackwater must obtain a change in zoning on the property, which is currently zoned agricultural. McFetridge believes the project can be defeated on land use issues and cites data from radio-tracking of cougars that highlights the sensitive nature of meadowlands on the property.

Other groups have also joined the battle to block Blackwater’s camp.

“I will work hard to block this deal,” said Raymond Lutz, head of Citizens Oversight Panels, a grassroots organization. “Blackwater is well known as one of the most egregious violators of human rights in the Iraq War … We don’t need a `black-ops’ training camp in San Diego.”

Bob Davis, a member of the San Diego Peace & Justice Coalition, fears that civil disobedience may be needed to halt the project, stating “We may have to put our bodies on the line.”

Citizens are organizing opposition and public protests for the Apr. 5 meeting at the Department of Planning and Land Use.

“You can bet that Blackwater is lobbying the DPLU and its staff,” Sierra Club land use committee chair Jeanette Hartman said. “Your only hope is to lobby back. Fight everything. If you don’t, they’ll just roll right over you here.”

eCAHNomics @ 130

Beautiful, probably. Pristine, no. It’s not very far from Tecate and the border. Ranching area, mostly, and fairly rugged.

Jeepers…now the scientists are being gagged. The noose just keeps on tightening:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyo…..32447/7483

Jean2k @ 65

They have ruled, not governed, exactly like that. They don’t give a shit about half the population, now a majority. They’re in power and they are going to do everything they can as fast as they can to enrich and entrench themselves.

The rest of us can go to hell.

Actually, I doubt they even give a shit about half the population. Even the Bushbots have been shafted by the tax breaks, except for the ultra-wealthy. We’re all stuck with the same going-to-hell environment. None of us are trusted. I wouldn’t be surprised if ol’ Georgie is even spying on Shooter.

LS @ 150

Jeepers…now the scientists are being gagged. The noose just keeps on tightening:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyo…..32447/7483

I know that they are doing it. But isn’t that our information, bought and paid for?

KM 148,

Yes!

Gunga Djinn @ 129

note to self:
B*slap the next Bushie that mentions Carter’s handling of Iran hostages.

Hell, the next one that even calls them “hostages.” Military personnel taken captive in a border dispute with a country their government has been trading threats with are prisoners, not “hostages.”

Especially big “boo” to frickin’ CBS radio news, which opened their story about the demonstration outside the British embassy with foreboding comparisons about the American embassy in ‘79.

new thread

Mary McCurnin @ 152

LS @ 150
Jeepers…now the scientists are being gagged. The noose just keeps on tightening:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyo…..32447/7483
—

I know that they are doing it. But isn’t that our information, bought and paid for?

It seems more and more that it depends on the definition of “ours”. Their definition is clearly not within the same reality.

Redshift @ 154

Military personnel taken captive in a border dispute with a country their government has been trading threats with are prisoners, not “hostages.”

..and civilians taken captive in such a dispute are “enemy combatants”, not “hostages”.

LS @ 150

Jeepers…now the scientists are being gagged. The noose just keeps on tightening:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyo…..32447/7483

They’ve been gagging them for a while, but they’re doing it more openly now. Note to Bushies: if you only want people who spout “administration policy,” hire some more spokesweasels and don’t waste our tax dollars on scientists’ pay grade and research.

CNN shooting–woman is dead, man in extremely critical condition. Speculation: she is pregnant; domestic dispute.

Phoenix Women @136

Um, yeah.

Is that an “Um, yeah, whatever.” or an “Um, yeah, I hear ya.”, PW?

:)

Jean2k @ 65

A turning point for me in my belated maturity about Republican politics was in the aftermath of the 2000 election. Given the win of the popular vote by Gore, those of us who voted for Gore hoped against hope that the appointed President would concede some ground to the other side. We thought he might at least genuflect in the direction of nonpartisan, we’re-all-in-this-together, spirit.

I wish I could remember who said it, one of the RNC officers I think. His response to the profound consternation of the 50% who voted for the other side was something like “We don’t care. We don’t care that you’re upset. We don’t care that you feel robbed. We won.”

Until then, I had assumed at least a shred of reasonableness and sense of common goals. I was wrong, and each passing day confirms my naivete.

They have ruled, not governed, exactly like that. They don’t give a shit about half the population, now a majority. They’re in power and they are going to do everything they can as fast as they can to enrich and entrench themselves.

The rest of us can go to hell.

Pretty much.

kirk murphy @
115

GPB @ 79

I rather doubt that a viable electoral strategy in US electoral politics can dismiss those who believe in Jesus Christ. Lots of very devout people are also very progressive, so I wouldn’t choose to join or support such strategy.

The contempt and hostility with which you dismiss all who believe in Jesus is most unbecoming. For that reason alone, I also disagree with your comment.

Finally, media literacy – the ability to look behind the pervasive commercial media and dissect their funding, motives, and biases – that is a learned skill.

The Rethugs have defunded public education and forced almost every household to send two people to work in order to meet basic needs.

As I read comments dripping with contempt for those deceived by Limbaugh and Pox News, I think of my relatives in rural Ohio whose lives never afforded them the great luxury of extensive education and free time to pick up Noam Chomsky.

I don’t think the strategy of blaming the vast majority of those persuaded by the Rethugs forty years of media propaganda is an effective way to win allies for progressive majorities.

I also find the attacks on the targets of the Pox propaganda to show tremendous class bias.

I’d rather leave that with the Republicans. They seem to have a lock on it – around their necks.

I’d like to add my AMEN :-) to that.
I’m a Christian who believes in the Gospel of Social Justice– and there are lots of us. Hate speech is bad– no matter who it is directed at. Recognize who your friends are– there are lots of Christian progressives.

Bob in HI

Here is a link to the latest thread, fyi.

I’d like to add my AMEN :-) to that.
I’m a Christian who believes in the Gospel of Social Justice– and there are lots of us. Hate speech is bad– no matter who it is directed at. Recognize who your friends are– there are lots of Christian progressives.

Bob in HI

Thanks Bob -

and I’m glad we have the opportunity to share a thread while the East Coast is with us!

LS @ 99

It’s Blackwater!! This is INSANE!!

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/….._0403.html

That is crazy. Why do we allow a private military in America?

Brisingamen @
147

Good point — I know many liberals who ARE devout Christians, and they look on their fundamentalist conservative Christian bretheren with puzzlement.

My read on many of the conservative Christians is that they’re scared and they tend to see only what they want to see. I’m not sure how they manage to live this way. The few I’ve met and talked to have very closed minds.

One lady I know reads “only her magazines” (that would be Family Circle, Woman’s Day, Goodhousekeeping, and Ladies Home Journal). Her radio is tuned to a Clear Channel station, and her only other news source is her small town’s newspaper. She thinks Bush is wonderful…

How do you reach these folks? I’m sure she’d be horrified if she really understood what has happened.

Last weekend I heard one right wing fellow on a radio talk show — he said he’d voted for Reagan, but that he was sorry he’d voted for Bush. Seems the final straw was the Walter Reed story! So some of them are waking up — will it be enough?

One man among many. We CANNOT reach the vast majority of them and just in case anyone who’s slow on the uptake hasn’t gotten it yet, I am not anti-christian

I AM anti-stupid. The people at the link I posted are stupid. THEY (not ALL Christians) believe that since Clusterfuck believes in the baybay jaysus, he MUST be ok.

That’s STUPID.

GOP = Got.Ours.Piss off.

“It can’t offer domestic policies that respond to the public’s real needs. So how can it win elections?”

The same way the cult of republicanism has been winning elections for a generation – lie about what its policies are and what their policies do. And with their firm control of Big Media, their message of lies, deception, and smears of progressives continues unabated in dominating national discourse (that it took 6 years for 65% of Americans to understand what bush was, had been doing, and is capable of was no victory, but rather a totally horrifying defeat of the truth, reality, and the functioning of the 4th estate).

Unless democrats break-up Big Media, or until unrestrained free exchange of ideas on the internet completely supplants Big Media, the cult of republicanism will continue to control the debates – the debate topics, the context, and the message.

No real comment to offer. I hope that you are feeling better. Best wishes.