What kind of fuckery is this?

That was not an editorial comment, by the way. Just my favorite phrase in the world right now.

Gosh, where is everyone?

Well, IT’S ALL ABOUT ME so far on this thread!!

Whoo-hooo!!

Maybe we should give the Repubs a few more chances to vote with their Prez.

Scarecrow @
4

Maybe we should give the Repubs a few more chances to vote with their Prez.

I like the idea.

Trex, when you get fixated on something …

Reporting for duty!

Trex,

I notice with the thread all to yourself that you had a brillant conversation with yourself!

Collins’ website lists her immediate family as sibs & parents. Also she’s got that funny voice. Wassup?

I find it tres amusing how he’s screaming about not getting money for George and Dick’s Iraqi Adventure, when he is getting it. Just with strings attached.

Now, look, George, you can take the money…or you get zip. Nada. Oh man… That would be BOGUS.

But it’s your call, George. Want to really deprive the troops of funding? Veto it.

Pelosi and Reid have nothing but a win-win here, and he knows it. Bush is screwed, whatever he does.

EXCELLENT!

If there’s no veto, who will watch for signing statements?

TRex @
1

What kind of fuckery is this?

TRex @
2

That was not an editorial comment, by the way. Just my favorite phrase in the world right now.

Mine too, can’t get that song out of my head.

With their heads so far up Bush’s keister that he has to knock back the taste of Final Net and Brylcreem with a fifth of Old Granddad, er, ‘mouthwash’…The Scanners moment draws ever closer for the dead-endlicans.

Go Jane! Give ‘em Hell! (to not coin a phrase)…

I think I read somewhere (here?) that the plan is after the chimpy vetos the first funding bill, make it that much more stringent each time with more and more controls. Although it could also be the deal to just give 90 days worth of funding and force him to keep coming back and for ce the Republics to keep voting for the war. Either way works for me but whichever one gets the troops home soonest is the best, regardless.

Badwater @ 11

If there’s no veto, who will watch for signing statements?

Dunno. But I’m guessing that Congress can pull the purse strings after the 18 months, no matter what he says. He can’t make money appear that Congress doesn’t give him.

Now if he wants to dig into other funds related to his office…

Jane! Yer on fire!

Jane Hamsher @
5

Scarecrow @
4

Maybe we should give the Repubs a few more chances to vote with their Prez.

I like the idea.

COOL! Just COOL!

Oh Hey. I just “voted” in Lou Dobbs’ poll of today’s eve. results so far were 72% in FAVOR of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip – YEE HAW!

((((Jane))))

AZ Matt @ 8

Trex,

I notice with the thread all to yourself that you had a brillant conversation with yourself!

I was always told it’s alright to talk to yourself but not to answer.

Scarecrow @ 4

Maybe we should give the Repubs a few more chances to vote with their Prez.

I can, have, and will yammer at length about how the Democrats in Congress should frame their public arguments over this issue.

Privately, though, every conversation they have with their GOP colleagues should begin with the words, “So, I guess Dubya thinks there’s still too many of you Republicans in Congress.”

Are signing statements the final word? Can they be addressed by Congress? They get so little publicicty.

Scarecrow @ 4

Maybe we should give the Repubs a few more chances to vote with their Prez.

that is the plan….

That ad is awesome!!! We ARE all entitled to know how our representatives stand – and how they vote. We’re watching how they vote and will hold them accountable.

I’ve been impressed by the backbone that the Ds have developed after the election. They’ve figured out that the way to handle a bully is by hitting him back (metaphorically speaking).

I think if Ds play it right on the Iraq war supplemental, they’ll win. Of course, all the pundits are shocked & say how can they deny funds to CiC, but I think the voters are looking at it differently. Has anyone done a pole on this specific topic yet? Would probably be better to do so after the veto.

I find it very difficult to watch or listen to Susan Collins. Something about the Republican demeaner really bugs me.

Since the Brits let Bush down on Iran (sailors release), look out for something happening soon on Iran. The wheels of the Rove-Cheney-Bush axis for the destruction of humanity have got to be spinning.

CNN Lou Dobb’s call in poll on whether Nancy Pelosi’s meeting with Syrian president was appropriate?

Yes = 72%

Grandma for Pres.

So what if bush continues to veto every supplimental bill he doesn’t like. That’s one way to stop this horrible war. I am writing my Congressional folks and tell them to keep on sending him stuff he won’t like.

Am I mising something here?

As I read somewhere today, how DARE the Dems politicize the political process?
For shame!

Great ads and deserved targets.. hit ‘em early and often.

From yesterday’s chat:

New Hampshire: Hi Eugene, and thank you for your column today. The torture, the detainments, the renditions and the secrecy truly are Orwellian and are international disgraces that have been done in our name — I wonder how we ever will lift the shame from our nation. The refusal by the SCOTUS to hear the Guantanamo case for habeas corpus yesterday was another profound denial of justice.

I just watched the President’s press conference wherein he not only threatened to veto the supplemental and thereby defund his own troops, but also again raise the fear that “they will follow us here if we don’t fight them over there” and that they are determined to attack us! His constant assertion that those “over there” in that part of the world are uncivilized and evil and we are so democratic, civilized and moral is getting a bit old. Why do you think he continues with the same old shtick when it clearly isn’t working here or “over there”? (I guess he missed Zbigniew Brzezinski’s op-ed in The Post — too bad.)

washingtonpost.com: Terrorized by ‘War on Terror’ (Post, March 25)

Eugene Robinson: I think that’s what he believes, and I think he is not interested in facts that challenge his worldview. I think this president sees himself as a latter-day Churchill. Seriously.

bold mine.

heh.

back from recitals and practice in Anchorage. This place is HOT today. The Waxman thread is funnier than latenight! On that thread somebody was trying to remember which firedoggie came up with the line about hoping for some future investigation to find Jeff Gannon’s semen-soaked BLUE jock strap in the Lincoln Bedroom. IIRC, it was *ilson.

I’m at the point where a ten-day budget seems right. You want us to fund the war? OK, for 10 days IF…and make it conditional on quite a few things. Let’s cut that Friedman Unit down. We can post how much it costs to keep our soldiers there for ten days, write letters to the editors, and see what happens.

Badwater @
20

Are signing statements the final word? Can they be addressed by Congress? They get so little publicicty.

Not my area of the law, but so far as I know the signing statements have exactly zero legal effect. When a bill is passed by both houses and signed by the Prez it’s the law as written. I think the point of signing statements was to add some “legislative history” to “assist” courts in interpreting the law in case of ambiguity. If some one who knows more disagrees let me know.

TRex @ 1

What kind of fuckery is this?

More followers of fuckerism

petedownunder @ 31

Badwater @
20

Are signing statements the final word? Can they be addressed by Congress? They get so little publicicty.

Not my area of the law, but so far as I know the signing statements have exactly zero legal effect. When a bill is passed by both houses and signed by the Prez it’s the law as written. I think the point of signing statements was to add some “legislative history” to “assist” courts in interpreting the law in case of ambiguity. If some one who knows more disagrees let me know.

I think that Bush has vetoed so few bills because he takes the easy way out with signing statements.

INANL but how could signing statements have any meaning in the context of spending?

Another fox to guard athe chicken coop.
From the NYT’s:

Bush Defies Democrats With 3 Appointments

… ,Susan E. Dudley of Virginia to be administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the office of Management and Budget.

Ms. Dudley was first nominated last August for the management-and-budget post, but she came under heavy criticism from environmental and consumer groups, which said she was hostile to government regulation. Mr. Bush nominated her again on Jan. 9, but her chances for confirmation were dicey at best in the new Democratic-controlled Senate.

An economist, Ms. Dudley worked in the Environmental Protection Agency for two years during Ronald Reagan’s presidency. She has written extensively, and skeptically, about government regulation. In 2005, while she was at George Mason University in Northern Virginia, she wrote that government regulation was generally not warranted “in the absence of a significant market failure.”
…

LINK

Scarecrow @ 25

CNN Lou Dobb’s call in poll on whether Nancy Pelosi’s meeting with Syrian president was appropriate?

Yes = 72%

Grandma for Pres.

Pelosi 07

Bush just gave the majority back to Rethugs in the House and Senate. He recess appointed people he wanted instead of the icky ones that were elected last November.

Scarecrow @ 25

CNN Lou Dobb’s call in poll on whether Nancy Pelosi’s meeting with Syrian president was appropriate?
Yes = 72%
Grandma for Pres.

I want to know more about her trip. I was upset about her Knesset speech, but she’s used some of the issues she brought up in that speech – the dogtags of the Israeli soldiers captured last summer in territory disputed between Lebanon, Syria and Israel, for instance – in interesting ways over the course of Monday and Tuesday. Supposedly, she’s asked Assad for help in their release. I wouldn’t be surprised if this group of congressional leaders gets more done on this trip than Rice has accomplished in ALL of her ME trips put together. Of course, that’s not saying much.

As for Susan Collins, I was hoping she’d see the handwriting on the wall and switch to the Dems. She may not have much time left before it’s “no deal time.”

eCAHNomics @ 34

INANL but how could signing statements have any meaning in the context of spending?

The signing statement could direct money in the bill to places not specified in the bill.

it is a devine expression

http://www.urbandictionary.com…..rm=Fuckery

EPU’ed

Urban Pirate @ 80
OT – Hugh, WTF is going on with gas prices? I filled up yesterday $3.60/gallon!!

A mild winter and good supply led to a decrease in both oil and gas prices. Then about a month or 6 weeks ago there was a big winter storm in the Midwest and Northeast with a couple weeks of exceptionally cold temperatures. This caused pressure on gasoline prices as the demand for heating oil increased. Crude oil prices also began to go up.

After this, inventories of gasoline never really recovered and the supply remained tight. In California, things were made worse by some refineries that went offline. Meanwhile, a kind of speculative fever took over with the seizure of the 15 British marines that pushed up crude oil prices to the $66-68 range. This had a direct impact on gas prices (which doesn’t always happen).

The Royal Marines will be released tomorrow so hopefully crude oil prices will ease. As for gasoline, supplies remain tight and with seasonal switching to other blends, price declines are unlikely to be large or lasting.

The Bill Murray movie Ground Hog Day keeps popping up in my mind. I would love it if after bush vetos this supplemental spending bill Harry & Nancy just keep sending the exact same bill back to him everyday.

I suspect the boy king will start foaming at the mouth eventually.

eCAHNomics @ 23

I’ve been impressed by the backbone that the Ds have developed after the election. They’ve figured out that the way to handle a bully is by hitting him back (metaphorically speaking).

I think if Ds play it right on the Iraq war supplemental, they’ll win. Of course, all the pundits are shocked & say how can they deny funds to CiC, but I think the voters are looking at it differently. Has anyone done a pole on this specific topic yet? Would probably be better to do so after the veto.

Prof. Lakoff on …

Strength

One of the values that Democrats seemed to drop into every sentence of the Convention was “strength.” How is that part of the progressive canon?

You have to fight strength with strength. That’s straight out of “Moral Politics”: the strict father has to be strong, but the nurturant parent must also be strong. However, I don’t think the Democrats did a good job of defining what the difference is in Kerry’s kind of strength, because they refused to use the word “weak” in reference to Bush. They wanted to have a completely positive campaign — which it isn’t anyway — but they didn’t want to say that Bush has made the country weaker. The issue of weakness awakens the stereotype of liberals, so instead they said, “Look, we just want America to be stronger.”

But “stronger” doesn’t necessarily imply weak. They could have talked more directly about all the ways Bush has weakened the country. When they have a case to be made on the basis of a pattern of behavior, they don’t tend to use a grammar that really nails the message, like “We’re weaker in education, and here’s why. We’re weaker in security, and here’s why.” You could write this argument in half a page. The Democrats aren’t there yet, by any means.

The “War” on Terror

.critisizing Bush for weakening us. By saying out loud, while waving the flag, that the Iraq war has made us more vulnerable to terrorists in many ways. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 or Al Qaeda. By moving troops from Afghanistan to Iraq, Bush (did) let Bin Laden escape, and he certainly allowed Al Qaeda and the Taliban to regroup. Moreover, the Iraq war has recruited more terrorists. The $200 billion we’ve spent (2004) there could have been used to enhance homeland security, which has mostly been ignored.. It could have been used to address the root causes of terrorism, which the Bush administration is ignoring.

[…]

You can take a patritotic stand and critisize Bush for being ineffectual. You have to be on the offensive. Why did we go into Iraq without a peace plan? Without properly equipping our troops? Without our allies?

BTW Luv the commercial

Ed*ard Teller @ 38

I wouldn’t be surprised if this group of congressional leaders gets more done on this trip than Rice has accomplished in ALL of her ME trips put together. Of course, that’s not saying much.

I gather you assume that buying shoes doesn’t count.

mooncalendargirl @ 40

it is a devine expression

More on Divine.

Here’s a good article by John Dean on signing statements and bush.

http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20060113.html

TRex @
1

What kind of fuckery is this?

Well, there’s infantile fuckery (Bush uses recess appointment to install Swift Boat jerk as Ambassador to Belgium); there’s imbecilic fuckery (Michael Ware heckled McCain!); there’s evil fuckery (Rove: McCain has illegitimate black baby): and there’s the ad above, which is just (as in justice) fuckery…

Anyone have other adverbs to throw out there?

Call me crazy, I’d rather have a representative of the government land in Syria then an invading army for no reason at all.

Hugh and Urban Pirate – for the first time in about 20 months, we’re paying less for gas in AK than in the lower 48 – $2.40 for regular, $2.48 for diesel at Fred Meyer today…that won’t last.

AZ Matt @ 35

An economist, Ms. Dudley worked in the Environmental Protection Agency for two years during Ronald Reagan’s presidency. She has written extensively, and skeptically, about government regulation. In 2005, while she was at George Mason University in Northern Virginia, she wrote that government regulation was generally not warranted “in the absence of a significant market failure.”
…

Given the way markets function nowadays this seems like a cry for regulatory control.

dakine01 @
18

AZ Matt @ 8

Trex,

I notice with the thread all to yourself that you had a brillant conversation with yourself!

I was always told it’s alright to talk to yourself but not to answer.

Oh, I don’t know about that – I seem to get my BEST answers that way.

Go Nance – slap all their pee-pees!

Swopa @ 44

Ed*ard Teller @ 38

I wouldn’t be surprised if this group of congressional leaders gets more done on this trip than Rice has accomplished in ALL of her ME trips put together. Of course, that’s not saying much.

I gather you assume that buying shoes doesn’t count.

If Pelosi sees some shoes she likes, and gets some real diplomacy done over there, she can send me the bill.

I don’t think Susan Collins is running. She has previously said she would only serve two terms.

Our new teen political blog is online. Come look!

http://youthinkleft.com/

“The president hasn’t notified the Congress that American troops are operating inside Iran,” said Sam Gardiner, a retired US Army colonel who specializes in war-game scenarios. “So it’s a very serious question about the constitutional framework under which we are now conducting military operations in Iran.”

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/M…..5Ak02.html

Ed*ard Teller @ 49

Hugh and Urban Pirate – for the first time in about 20 months, we’re paying less for gas in AK than in the lower 48 – $2.40 for regular, $2.48 for diesel at Fred Meyer today…that won’t last.

I wish I could see prices that low! Let’s all thank Preznit Bush for letting us contribute to another year of record oil company profits.

flatford39 @
42

The Bill Murray movie Ground Hog Day keeps popping up in my mind. I would love it if after bush vetos this supplemental spending bill Harry & Nancy just keep sending the exact same bill back to him everyday.

I suspect the boy king will start foaming at the mouth eventually.

I heard that they are sending him bills with earlier dates each time. And more binding.

john in sacremento @ 43
I heard another good framing shift today; forget where. Instead of just talking about ending the Iraq war, he said that the Rs were weak on foreign policy, thus broading the war issue into something even more important. And that kind of statement will bite even more after Pelosi’s trip. I think the Rs aren’t doing themselves and service by keeping the spotlight on that (what’s W’s nickname for her, I wonder). It’s the first time in 6 years that the U.S. has seen any sign of statesmanship.

Lindy @ 36

Scarecrow @ 25

CNN Lou Dobb’s call in poll on whether Nancy Pelosi’s meeting with Syrian president was appropriate?

Yes = 72%

Grandma for Pres.

Pelosi 07

Put it on the table.

Susan Collins sounds like RoseanRoseannan Roseannana

I know he’s not up for reelection for a while and it wouldn’t be an effective use of their precious resources, but I would sooooo love to see them do one targetting Lieberman….his current and latest votes in support of continuing the War and adding troops perhaps superimposed with his contradictory preelection statements. It’s never too early to remind voters just what they voted for.

LJ/Aquaria @ 15

Badwater @ 11

If there’s no veto, who will watch for signing statements?

Dunno. But I’m guessing that Congress can pull the purse strings after the 18 months, no matter what he says. He can’t make money appear that Congress doesn’t give him.

Now if he wants to dig into other funds related to his office…

Now, didn’t someone say the proceeds from Iraqi oil were going to almost fully fund this war, Oh, I dreamt that, sorry.

katherine graham cracker @ 53

I don’t think Susan Collins is running. She has previously said she would only serve two terms.

She’s A Repug You Can’t Trust Her to Her Word

(snip)
But now, heading into a campaign for a third term, Collins says she has had a change of heart. On Oct. 13, 2006, the Sun Journal of Lewiston reported after Collins met with the newspaper’s editorial board that Collins confirmed she would seek re-election in 2008.

interesting observation from GW’s presser yesterday, from the NYT: The Moving Surge Timeline

Craig Crawford’s Trail Mix: Bush’s Surging Deadline

… , in a particularly clever twist, trying to postpone the deadline for measuring success of his troop surge in Iraq.

The president announced that only 40 percent of the new troops have reached Baghdad, revealing that the surge will not be complete until early June. But the administration has long suggested that this summer would be an acceptable time to evaluate the success or failure of the new war plan unveiled in December.

Even the president’s Republican supporters have pinpointed this summer as a soft deadline for measuring success. Surely the president does not mean to give the surge just a few weeks after completion to get the job done? blockquote>

flatford39 @ 42

The Bill Murray movie Ground Hog Day keeps popping up in my mind. I would love it if after bush vetos this supplemental spending bill Harry & Nancy just keep sending the exact same bill back to him everyday.

I suspect the boy king will start foaming at the mouth eventually.

Ah, but IIRC, the point of the story was that with each new day, Murray became a better person, until he finally deserved (and got) what he wanted.

Here, Reid and Dems are getting better and better at responding to Bush’ repeated outrages.

Millineryman @ 63

katherine graham cracker @ 53

I don’t think Susan Collins is running. She has previously said she would only serve two terms.

She’s A Repug You Can’t Trust Her to Her Word

(snip)
But now, heading into a campaign for a third term, Collins says she has had a change of heart. On Oct. 13, 2006, the Sun Journal of Lewiston reported after Collins met with the newspaper’s editorial board that Collins confirmed she would seek re-election in 2008.

Yes, remember all the republican signers to the “Contract with America” who thought then that term limits were a good idea. Somehow, the idea of self imposed limits escapes them.

The Juvenile King.

-GSD

gotta head back out. one thing I learned today is that one Friedman Unit equals two-thirds of a McCaffrey Unit.

scarecrow,

I liked your post this morning, and I share your frustration. I have often heard retired generals, defense correspondents, and reporters in Baghdad lay out the mess that is Iraq in all its grim detail, and then in what seems a complete non sequitur say but Iraq is too important to leave. I think this is a case of generals who can do strategy but not policy and reporters who can report a story without understanding it.

Cassie @ 54

Our new teen political blog is online. Come look!

As a parent of two teenagers, I find it more than a little unsettling that you keep repeating this notice, sorry, but it seems inappropriate.

eyesonthestreet @ 62

Now, didn’t someone say the proceeds from Iraqi oil were going to almost fully fund this war, Oh, I dreamt that, sorry.

Now you’re getting it. Dick can stop shoving it in his pockets as soon as it comes off the boat. Can’t you just see Karen Huges hanging onto the latest trunkload, and saying, “Now, Dick–Don’t be selfish. We need this to get more money, OK?”

dakine01 @
18

AZ Matt @ 8

Trex,

I notice with the thread all to yourself that you had a brillant conversation with yourself!

I was always told it’s alright to talk to yourself but not to answer.

So long as you know you’re answering yourself, it’s still OK.

The voices wouldn’t let me say that.

Yep.

Badwater 66-
Yes, remember all the republican signers to the “Contract with America” who thought then that term limits were a good idea. Somehow, the idea of self imposed limits escapes them

There real good at limiting others thought. Voter suppressions, women health issues, gay marriage to name a few.

I was following a beat to shit toyota off the Kennedy Expressway here in Chicago yesterday. The driver was having trouble holding his lane and one door was bungeed shut.
I kept my distance but ended up behind him at a stoplight after exiting.He had a bumper sticker withe a flag which read “I Support our President
Bush”
Sums it up pretty well.
Goes with the faded flags left out rain and shine – no real respect for the flag, just neglect and attitude.

eyesonthestreet @ 70

Cassie @ 54

Our new teen political blog is online. Come look!

As a parent of two teenagers, I find it more than a little unsetteling that you keep repeating this notice, sorry, but it seems inappropriate.

What is inappropriate and why does you being a parent make you think it is inappropriate? People here were helping me think of a name.

Cassie @ 54

Our new teen political blog is online. Come look!

http://youthinkleft.com/

Very Nice Job Cassie! It looks very good>

Hugh — thanks; there were lots of comments critical of the General, and a link back to a very negative Sy Hersh article on the General’s role in the first Gulf War. Re the non sequitur, I don’t know whether it’s an inability to draw policy conclusions as it is a reluctance to draw a particularly painful conclusion for a military man — one who apparently is also on the Board of various military/industrual complex corporations. I didn’t know that one.

Listening to NewsHour. Petreaus is on the sell. Talking about each micro sign of improvement (e.g., 3 car bomb factories have been destroyed in past time unit). If he knows anything about insurgencies, and I’m not convinced he does given he was pursuaded to take the job, he would know that insurgencies always proceed in waves, with intensity going up & going down, depending on opposition. What has been unprecedented about this insurgency is that it’s gotten steadily worse despite best efforts of military.

The thing about insurgencies is that they persist, regardless of opposition. And the number of troops in Iraq is far below the minimum rule of thumb.

And even though

Cassie, as a human subject to five cats, I’m glad that you five teens are politically active and blogging – and I can’t think of a better place to share your reminders than here at the Lake.

Especially after we’ve invited you to do so – repeatedly invited you.

Keep up thre good work!

Badwater @ 66

Yes, remember all the republican signers to the “Contract with America” who thought then that term limits were a good idea. Somehow, the idea of self imposed limits escapes them.

Term limits was always a Trojan horse to 1) break the Dem stranglehold on Congress (such was the case, once upon a time) and 2) make the government completely incompetent, by always having inexperienced people in office.

The data always reflected that what people meant by term limits was term limits for someone else’s rep (Ted Kennedy was a fave to remove for Texans), not for their own.

Here’s a AZ Matt @ 76

Cassie @ 54

Our new teen political blog is online. Come look!

http://youthinkleft.com/

Very Nice Job Cassie! It looks very good>

I wish my kids were this talented!

The NewsHour has a long interview with General Petraeus. I am not impressed. I still think that he doesn’t understand that A)even with the “surge” he doesn’t have the troops and B)he can’t use limited counterinsurgency tactics to address a civil war.

re Rs & term limits:
Didn’t the voters & their sins create term limits for several of them?

My two cents: it’s great to hear about Cassie’s blog, and what better place than FDL? I’m an over-50, and it does my heart good to see politically active teenagers. They’re our future, in fact.

Nicely done Cassie, and I see the linky to FDL!

Good job and the best of luck to all of you.

eCAHNomics @ 83

re Rs & term limits:
Didn’t the voters & their sins create term limits for several of them?

I always said to the term limits crowd that we have the power of term limits. It’s called a ballot box. Use it.

eCAHNomics @ 83

re Rs & term limits:
Didn’t the voters & their sins create term limits for several of them?

Yes, finally. Redistricting games makes that so difficult.

Hugh @ 82

The NewsHour has a long interview with General Petraeus. I am not impressed. I still think that he doesn’t understand that A)even with the “surge” he doesn’t have the troops and B)he can’t use limited counterinsurgency tactics to address a civil war.

See min @78. You were typing while I was posting. I’m much more negative than you. Petreaus is baffling with bulls**t, and Lehrer is being his usual dopey self.

What is inappropriate and why does you being a parent make you think it is inappropriate? People here were helping me think of a name.

Well, as a new member, I have no idea who you are or what you are doing. Maybe an explanation with your posting, such as “FDL or whomever has created…”

Maybe you did not realize that there are newer members on this site, and that the teen site is not known to them.

the suggestion by the members here that my comment was aimed at limiting in some way teen blooging where unnecessary. To tell you the truth, it’s a group loyalty reaction that reminds me of Bushco.

That echo you just heard was me echoing eCahnomics #78 in a burst of serendipity.

I liked the title graphic Cassie has for the YOUTHINKLEFT site, that was clever. I had to look at it for a minute to see it.

AZ Matt @ 76

Cassie @ 54

Our new teen political blog is online. Come look!

http://youthinkleft.com/

Very Nice Job Cassie! It looks very good>

Cassie,
Good luck with the new blog. I think that what you are doing is so important. I will be checking back often.

lolo

AZ Matt @ 64

interesting observation from GW’s presser yesterday, from the NYT: The Moving Surge Timeline

Craig Crawford’s Trail Mix: Bush’s Surging Deadline

… , in a particularly clever twist, trying to postpone the deadline for measuring success of his troop surge in Iraq.

The president announced that only 40 percent of the new troops have reached Baghdad, revealing that the surge will not be complete until early June. But the administration has long suggested that this summer would be an acceptable time to evaluate the success or failure of the new war plan unveiled in December.

Even the president’s Republican supporters have pinpointed this summer as a soft deadline for measuring success. Surely the president does not mean to give the surge just a few weeks after completion to get the job done? blockquote>

Hurry while supplies last!

Get your very own Friedman Unit Giftcard!

It’s the perfect gift for the holidays and those “hard to buy for” loved ones and war-mongerers who need another Friedman Unit

Badwater @
11

If there’s no veto, who will watch for signing statements?

Shrub started making recess appointments again today so who knows…. how about appointing a Lord High Chancellor for Congress?

Cassie @ 54

Our new teen political blog is online. Come look!

http://youthinkleft.com/

Good stuff Cassie, keep posting!.

I’ve linked to you.

eCAHNomics @ 88

See min @78. You were typing while I was posting. I’m much more negative than you. Petreaus is baffling with bulls**t, and Lehrer is being his usual dopey self.

I dunno. I’m pretty negative on Petraeus. Scarecrow just mentioned the military being in denial about defeat in Iraq. I would add what I refer to as a poisonous can-do attitude, a persistence to address the wrong problem with the wrong solution.

Loretta.

Loretta, mon cher.

Loretta.

Loretta, mon ami.

copithorne @ 97

Loretta.

Loretta, mon cher.

Loretta.

Loretta, mon ami.

I’m assuming Loretta is female: ma chere with accent grave and mon amie.

Just watched Suzanne Malveaux on CNN (I think that’s who it was) absolutely give the Syrian spokesman the business. Talked over him, time and time again. What a bulldog she was going after whether Pelosi’s trip was doing any good.
Where has Suzanne been for the last six long years? Why only go after someone who spoke to a Democrat?

you want to see something close to mutiny against a sitting president of the United States of America?

this is the friggin marines, so concerned over the damage this moron in office has done to our national defense, he comse close to mutiny

Marine chief: Iraq war has diverted training. The AP reports:

The strains of fighting in Iraq have forced the Marine Corps to forego training in jungle warfare and other skills that are the traditional backbone of the Corps, the Marines’ top general said Wednesday.

“We’re not training for the other kinds” of combat that could arise at short notice, Gen. James T. Conway, commandant of the Marine Corps, told a group of Marines at the U.S. naval headquarters for the Persian Gulf.

“We are the nation’s shock troops,” he said, stressing that Marines have to be prepared to make amphibious landings and conduct operations that require training they are not getting now because Marine infantry and air units returning from Iraq have time only to get ready for their next tour of duty there.

“We’ve simply got to get back some of those skills,” like firing artillery, he said.

from here

Can’t listen to the commercial, so will take your word that it’s good.

Susan Collins is a third-rate political functionary (think Gonzales Goes Down East) who is nothing without her party. Her strength, such as it still is, is in very strongly pre-Bush Republican Maine — rural, poor, isolated, but increasingly aware of how it’s been sold down the river. And, yes, she did promise only two terms, but promises aren’t meant to apply to Republicans.

People keep saying that she (and Olympia) might/could/should/maybe will switch parties. I suspect that will happen about the time the sun begins to rise in the west. There are far more promising candidates for switches and/or votes to support reality.

Hugh @ 96

eCAHNomics @ 88

See mine @78. You were typing while I was posting. I’m much more negative than you. Petreaus is baffling with bulls**t, and Lehrer is being his usual dopey self.

I dunno. I’m pretty negative on Petraeus. Scarecrow just mentioned the military being in denial about defeat in Iraq. I would add what I refer to as a poisonous can-do attitude, a persistence to address the wrong problem with the wrong solution.

I have a sample of 1 army major efriend who works in the Pentagon. He sez the army HATES the Iraq war and can’t wait to get out. I think the denial comes above his pay grade and it’s not denial but mostly self interest.

Before getting to the self-interest, the military is genuinely inculcated with the idea of civilian leadership, so the urge to do what their told, all the way up the chain, is very strong. Even so, W had to fire several generals before he could find one to do his bidding.

As for self-interest, the more toys they destroy in Iraq, the better their pay will be when they retire & go to work for the toys manufactuers.

The combination of a warmongering president and financial incentives is irresitible to most generals. So I don’t think it’s denial at all.

We are being attacked, circle the wagons……………….

new thread — gotta move fast with that Hamsher woman.

Cassie –

YOUTHinkleft looks good. I’ll leave the commenting there to you youths, but I predict there will be a lot of lurking elders (elder lurkers?) watching to see what you all are thinking and saying — and doing!

[But since I’m here right now and not there . . . Re your top story right now: like Daniel, I am curious as to why Rudy’s MySpace site is set to “private,” too. Could it be that he doesn’t want any lurkers to drop by without being able to get their email addresses?]

And who was Sen. Collins’ BFF when she was chair and he the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs?…you’d think they were kissin’ cousins with all their schmoozin’ in public.

Just a small example that even went beyond the issues they dealt with on the committee: “Sens. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) on Tuesday after meeting with Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel Alito said he did not appear to be keen on overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court case that effectively outlawed state abortion bans…”.

eCAHNomics #102,

There are certainly different factions within the military. Some are gungho no matter what. Some go along so as not to jeopardize their careers. Others are offended by the lack of professionalism in how things have been done. A few realize that it is pure and simply the wrong war for us to be fighting.

As for the generals, what we are seeing is a conflict between their conservative political principles on the one hand and the gut wrenching feeling they have when they see what Bush has done to “their” military.

Loretta !!!!!

Collins is going to get her due here in Maine. She’s gonna have to run against her record, and it ain’t pretty.

1,476 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND..

Citizens Hamsher, TRex and the Firepup Patriots:

Now we are lookin’ at a new Democratic Party with a leadership on fuckin’ STERIODS, brothers and sisters…take no God damned prisoners Mother Nancy.

I got an e-mail taday from the DCCC announcing’ that they were “amazed” that Speaker Pelosi’s strategy of a matchin’ challenge grant for targeting vulnerable fascist Republicans in the house over all 50 states was a record. breakin’ success. Of course the bastards are amazed, they tried ta cut Howard Dean off at the knees and called ‘im “crazy” when he first suggested it and now that the weenie munchin’ beltway corporatist Dems see the handwritin’ on the outhouse wall they are “amazed, I tell ya…simply amazed, I say.”

Now with the targeted ads comin’ up across the country on issue by issue and vote by vote and with a coordinated House and Senate Democratic leadership schedulin’ each vote and controlling’ the news cycle with each investigation, we are puttin’ the lie to those who have been worried about a Quisling Democratic leadership. (I admit I have been one of ‘em.)

With that in mind, I would like to remind folks that Speaker Pelosi first met with the Israelis and talked with Omert before goin’ ta talk with the Syrians. I think that there has been some speculation that Omert sent a message to Assad thru Pelosi that a coordinated attack on Syria and Iran between the US and Israel was NOT in the offing. Let’s talk about this, if true, and what it means in terms of the dynamic of one of our “allies” (Israel) sendin’ diplomatic messages to Arab leaders thu an anti-war Democratic leader who jest happens ta be a couple of impeachments or resignations away from the White House.

KEEP THE FAITH AND YOUR EYES AND EARS OPEN, BROTHERS AND SISTERS…AND OF COURSE PASS ME THE FUCKIN’ AMMUNITION, THIS IS GETTIN’ INTERESTIN’!!

inmymind’seye @
108

Loretta !!!!!

Collins is going to get her due here in Maine. She’s gonna have to run against her record, and it ain’t pretty.

We might still need flip her if the giant abscess in CT continues to grow

Scarecrow @ 25

CNN Lou Dobb’s call in poll on whether Nancy Pelosi’s meeting with Syrian president was appropriate?

Yes = 72%

Grandma for Pres.

Pelosi for President, in 2007!!11!

P.S. This made me laugh.

ifthethunderdontgetya @ 111

Scarecrow @ 25

CNN Lou Dobb’s call in poll on whether Nancy Pelosi’s meeting with Syrian president was appropriate?

Yes = 72%

Grandma for Pres.

Pelosi for President, in 2007!!11!

P.S. This made me laugh.

If she is pres in 2007, she will have to run again in 2008. She can’t get 4.5 ot 5 yrs. Just to the end of Bush’s term. But still …. it would be WAY cool!

Oh, and lest we forget, the very first bill Susan Collins introduced as a US Senator was legislation directly benefitting her family.

Was estate tax reform needed to change the rules for passing the family business to the next generation? Undoubtedly. But your very first piece of legislation?

Cassie, is she is president in 2007, it will mean we have impeached Bush and Cheney.

And that would not only be very cool, it’s what we should do.

Cassie and all who have written in his support of the youth site. I did check it out, and have a lot of concern about:

1. How is FDL associated with this site?
2. what controls are on the site to assure it is “youth” only?
3. Is it “youth” only, or is this a site where adults and “youth” co-mingle? How is it known the age of the poster?
4. Why are posters using their full names?

Just thought I would ask.

Cassie I now realize you are probably a “youth?”

My kids use facebook and myspace, which i have no problem with since they invite in who they talk to.

There does not seem to be such a screening process on your site.

If there are bloggers here whose imput you would like, and know of your site already, why not just ask them for their imput, rather than posting the link to your site each time?

I also don’t know if the name of the site is effective, the first of your two bloggers(he gives his full name which i will not repeat here) links to his own blog, that states in bold letters “I’m a Republican” so i don’t thinkk he understood what “left” means.

maybe you shouldn’t have a name that is not so limiting, as is any number of blogs out there.

I still think having a link here on FDL to this youth site is mistake. Surely you have facebook and myspace in which to get word out more selectivly?

Ed*ard Teller @
38

Scarecrow @ 25
As for Susan Collins, I was hoping she’d see the handwriting on the wall and switch to the Dems. She may not have much time left before it’s “no deal time.”

I don’t think she’d switch parties. I think she’s an old-fashioned NorthEastern Republican ideologically and professionally. It’s a shame really. She and Snowe are of the same stripe and have probably represented their state as well as any Republican could. But, they’ve dealt America a very bad blow by supporting Bush. Maine needs better representation on THAT issue.

Hi Cassie

Your site is just fine; I enjoyed your work and bookmarked it. Relay my compliments to your co-creators.

karen

Oh, yeah, baby! I watched all three ads and can say — COJONES! This is the kind of ad we should run from now until the end of this catastrof*ck (i.e., Nov. 2008)!!!

Loretta.

Sw33t J33bus we need to encourage politically active teens, not discourage them.

Thank you Cassie! Don’t let the downers get you down.