Right wingers Cap’n Ed and Heading Right throw Abu under the bus. Rockefeller, Harman, Pelosi and Daschle have now said he lied openly to the Judiciary Committee, and no one other than an anonymous source (thanks, NYT) has come forward to back up his version of events. He makes John Mitchell look like Elliot Richardson. If you haven’t seen the YouTube above his arrogance is shocking. Time for him to go.
Now that Iran is threatening to pull out of the NPT, Cernig finds a peculiar justification for their nukes: “If Iran withdrew from the NPT, presumably that would satisfy neocons like former UN ambassador John Bolton. Old Walrus-face once told reporters that making a nuke was legitimate as long as you weren’t an NPT signatory - like Israel, for instance.” I’m sure intellectual consistency is one of Bolton’s signature qualities.
Is Arlen Specter looking at some bad ‘08 polling numbers? He’s making noise about Alito and Roberts, and also evidently threatening a trial in the Senate if Miers and Bolton defy contempt citations. Of course he’ll never do anything about it, but there should be some powerful campaign commercials in the can when Arlen tries to counter charges he blocked any oversight as Chairman of the Judiciary for 6 years. Either that or he just can’t stand the loss of that gavel. Whatever.
Geriatrics get cranky: Hillary Clinton’s life threatened on Bill O’Reilly’s hate site. As a longtime member of the DailyKos community, I can say that the self-policing technology in place there would never allow something like this to happen. I hope the appropriate law enforcement body is investigating, threatening the life of a Presidential candidate is not something to be taken lightly.
CNN had record ratings amongst 18-34 year olds for the YouTube debates. A very good sign.
Related posts:
- Second Iranian Nuclear Facility Discovered; Obama, Brown, Sarkozy Pledge Sanctions Unless IAEA is Allowed to Investigate
- How Can We Negotiate in Good Faith with the Iranians When We Play Dumb About Israel’s Nukes?
- LaRouchies, Assorted Right Wing Kooks and Obama with Hitler Moustache at David Wu Town Hall
- Iranian Dissident Akbar Ganji: Praise for Obama’s “No Meddling” Pledge, but President Should Address Human Rights Abuses
- HJC Schedules “Get Democrats to Cave on PATRIOT” Hearing
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zunoed?
(((((((((( JANE ! ))))))))))
alright!
Madness, madness, madness!!!
newspaperbrat @ 2
Seconded.
Great post!
Love those record ratings CNN reported of the You Tube debates you noted Jane. Stunning actually and fills this old brat with no small hope.
Have you heard any updates on the smoke at the capital?
Shorter Repub$ on the HJC:
Harriet and Josh are ‘the bravest, most honorable, most loyal’ people we know.
Would you trust any of these people about anything?
If I listen to that clip of Gonzo again I’m going to lose my lunch.
Jane Hamsher:
Here’s my response to your response from the last thread:
“Is that the idea I voiced? Are you sure you don’t want to reread what I wrote?
That’s a slander; worse, in fact, when our Homeland Security apparatus is Keeping Us Safe by Any Means Possible and possibly keeping a record of this exchange. So I respectfully ask that you retract the slimy accusation that I advocate “domestic armed resistance to the US government” here or abroad.
You can’t take criticism, and play dirty pool to boot. Do that with Republicans, not one of your readers.”
What would Arlen have us believe he’s going to do about Roberts and Alito? From the article:
Senator Specter said that he was moved to examine the new Justices’ records after a recent conversation he had with Justice Breyer. In that conversation, Breyer told Specter that there were eight closely divided cases last Term in which the new Justices voted to overturn or substantially limit existing precedent.
I think you’re double counting. If I understand the posts correctly, the post at Heading Right was written by Cap’n Ed.
Specter… Of course he’ll never do anything about it…
you got that right: Snarlin’ Arlen is all bark and no bite. when has he ever not assumed the supine tummy-rub position when push came to shove?
I’m glad CNN got good ratings on the YouTube Debate. The comments here while it was going on were also favorable. Then there seems to be the usual suspects who didn’t like it-pundits & reviewers.
I can see no other way of dealing with this smug little prick, Gonzales, than via a special prosecuter or perhaps a grand jury.
Flynt Leverett (ex CIA and middle east analyst who quit the Bush administration just before the illegal invasion) is the man to read about Iran.
http://www.cfr.org/publication/10326/
http://www.democracynow.org/ar…..02/1516227
http://www.democracynow.org/ar…..02/1516227
http://www.newamerica.net/pres…..of_america
Wonder if Flynt Leverett would come to Firedoglake to discuss Iran?
They say it’s your birthday!
Happy Birthday to you, Jane!
Happy Birthday, Jane!
(Subliminable: Orange=IMPEACH!)
Ahem. Anyone eating popcorn?
eCAHNomics @ 14
Some of the pundits kinda damned with faint praise with some condescending kudos at how the average ‘Murikan could ask a reasonably intelligent questions and not drool.
I can’t bring myself to watch that clip. Seeing it the first time around was enough to practically give me a stroke.
On the substance of Iran’s nukes, listen up here. Short version: they have no military nuke program. There are hot & cold running inspectors who report quarterly.
http://www.antiwar.com/blog/20…..prather-2/
Happy Birthday Jane! Hope you’ve had a fantastic day.
I don’t understand what the purpose of Arlen Specter is….but you have to think his balls are pretty sore from straddling that fence he’s on. Climb on down, Arlen.
eCAHNomics @ 22
As far as anyone knows.
But do want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud?
Sparkles the Iguana @ 24
Turtle on a fencepost syndrome there.
Agree! It is time for Abu to go. Impeach.
We must have a fully functioning law enforcement agency within the US government, that has the confidence of the people. That is not possible with Gonzo as Attorney General.
Though I have argued that the timing isn’t ripe and may never be for Cheney and Bush, I fully support impeachment for Gonzales.
The man lied. He has become a joke on the rule of law in this country. IMHO, his removal from office takes precedence over everything else. Yes, it may take some time, and in the meantime, Bush may wise up and fire his a**. If he doesn’t, the whole can of his administration’s illegal worms could come spilling out.
I say haul his a** before committee as many times as it takes. The more times they do it, the more he reveals to the public that this administration is hiding something. They are sometimes slow to catch on you know.
And by the way, Jane hope the first lady of the lake is celebrating her birthday royally tonight. You are one class act!
critics of bush need first to stick a camera up their butt…
Colbert
but(t) that would be spying
without a warrant?
allan_in_upstate @ 25
Hey upstate, I live in da city & was here on 9/11, so don’t talk to me about mushroom clouds! Or, as our current mayor said about terrorism, in response to a Q: the probability of dying by terrorism is very low. Get a life.
allan_in_upstate @ 25
you dont go to war with the mushroom soup you want. You go to war with the mushroom soup you have.
There are nuclear weapons in the hands of at least one Middle Eastern government. But that’s okay. They may be sob’s but we think they’re our sob’s.
It’s Jane’s birthday?
Well, Happy Snappy!
wig shack @ 30
Would anyone care to join me in a bowl of mushroom soup?
Does my party have the stomach for impeachment of anyone?
eCAHNomics @ 33
Perhaps. If you add a little bit of Rice to it.
ROFL. I was writing about another great NYT anonymous source this morning:
You can tell that’s the kind of brave, inside-secrets truth-telling you can only get if you promise the source anonymity.
(P.S. Happy birthday, Jane! Hope the poodles got you something nice.)
The YouTube debates sound like a resounding success when it comes to integrating the “new media” into the process, but I think there are a few execution points that really weakened it.
1) What the hell, CNN, shrinkydink videos on your massive display was just stupid. Jon Stewart ripped this point apart (and took a shot at Comedy Central lawyers!) last night quite effectively.
2) Who chose the videos? I don’t want CNN pundits making the choice, they don’t represent America’s views. Did we really need the cute and the weird, like the snowman video and the gun freak? Way to go with gimmickry to trivialize important issues. Better to have the community choose the videos, or something.
3) CNN “canned” the whole thing, having at least one person reshoot their video. And the audience planting was unnecessary talk show theatrics.
eCAHNomics @ 33
Well, we could whip up some cream of mushroom, some barley mushroom, some chicken & mushroom…
Happy birthday, Jane!
That Specter article made my blood boil. Talk about closing the barn door after the horse is out.
Yeah he really voted against Alito.
What a piece of crap that guy is. Oh sure?
LOL
Terror Calson up now.
Boston1775 @ 41
I don’t know how anyone can watch F****r Knarlson.
The Iran nuke crazy conspiracy thing really gets under my skin. Let’s assume Iran is developing nuclear weapons. How many years until they have a viable warhead, 10 years? And then how about the missile technology to deliver it? Iran isn’t going to have an ICBM, so they can never threaten the US. They can threaten Turkey, Pakistan, India and maybe Israel. But oh gee, they’re all nuclear too.
The Iran bogeyman is neocon nonsense that should just be laughed at. North Korea has proven that even achieving a nuclear detonation is so difficult that it’s just not worthwhile if you have more important things to do.
tbsa @ 42
I watch him over here so you don’t…
Arlen Specter, that democrat from Pennsylvania?
Seriously, a thought or two on Iran and nukes.
You can go look up on the IAEA web site that Iran has currently of the order of tens of centrifuges and have succeeded in enriching up to about 5% uranium at the many kilograms level.
To get to the >90% enrichment you have to either run those tens of centrifuges for many years or rapidly scale up to thousands of centrifuges and lots of power now (when the Portsmouth enrichment facility of that scale in Ohio was running, it used the equivalent of the City of LA’s power, several GW of electricity).
So is it worrisome they want to drop from NPT? Sure.
Does it mean they pose an imminent threat? NOt yet.
I believe via intelligence we can tell if they have ramped up production.
Although this will be hyped up by Cheney and some Israeli hawks, I think we can follow that now seemingly sane Republican’s remark (Reagan) of `Trust but verify.’
Of course, that worked so well with Iraq….
Gee Jane, it is your birthday and you can say anything you want – and, I agree with most things you have to say – but:
It does seem a little harsh to call Barack the protege of the man whose name cannot be spelled without the word LIE. But I may be missing something – I’m not partial to Obama or Queen Hillary being more of an Edwards or (no hope) Kucinich fan. But the protege of JoMo, that’s like being the spawn of Dick Cheney.
I even like a lot about Ron Paul, but he’s too much of a Jesus Freak social conservative for my taste. At least he is truly conservative, unlike the current criminal administration.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 31
You thinking of Pakistan or is there another one? I just got back an email from author os a good artile on Pakistan, on whether their nukes are secure. He assures me they are, which is what I read elsewhere. However, that does beg the Q of whether they’re still selling the technology. Article:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/mar…..lis84.html
ooooh, a Lane Hudson link. Thanks, Jane.
I’m proud to be a partisan too. That was a wonderful article, Miss Birthday.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 35
Rice should be boiled in oil.
Boston1775 @ 44
…have to watch Dew Lobbs.
Boston1775 @ 44
;)
eCAHNomics @ 14
And Tweety took special time the day afterwards to interview — in person! — the YouTube Obama & Hillary Girls, in case we were thinking of taking YouTube seriously as a debate questioner instead of, ya know, him.
Barack: the man who trashed his own party on the Sunday talking head shows – when guys like Feingold and Kerry and Kennedy and Leahy were trying to muster a filibuster against Alito.
Yeah, Obama finally supported the filibuster. I’d put him somewhere in between a Specter and a Leiberman – a guy who plays both sides.
So far, all terror, all the time. This is over things that have been found on airplanes over the last year.
Bush is up after Obama/Clinton thing; it’s the connection between al Qaeda and Iraq.
Swopa @ 36
I’m surprised Rove was able to spit out that quote without laughing uncontrollably.
eCAHNomics @ 50
Chevron oil? I like fried Rice too.
carolyn urban @ 54
I have always found ’something’ to be not quite on the up-and-up with Obama. And, I think that last sentence of yours is spot on!
calscientist @ 45
And you haven’t even considered the molybdenum problem. Apparently (Scott Ritter is the source of this info) Iranian uranium (say that 6 times, fast) is heavily contaminated with it & it’s difficult to separate out. Ritter suggested next to impossible to get enuf out to make bomb grade, but others I’ve asked say it’s difficult but can be done.
I like to think of Obama as ‘Hillary lite’
punaise @ 13
Something is up with Snarlin’ Arlen … he’s been raising money like it’s going out of style .. and he doesn’t come up again til ‘10
Arlen Specter defined who he was quite early in his career when he switched parties.
Philadelphia was (and is) a Democratic town. Poor Arlen couldn’t bear being a little fish in a big pond, so he naturally became a Republican — he got a bigger microphone that way.
And let me repeat my warning from past experience — the man has a slimy (eewwww!!!) handshake. Avoid shaking Specter’s hand at all costs — unless you have a handkerchief and hand sanitizer at the ready.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 57
Cut it out, guys.
Where do you think you are, Turkmenistan?
puppethead @ 37
Stewart’s takedown on these issues was superb. Showing the progressively shrunk screens, all the way to an iPod, was really funny. And he was correct, having the minister stand up in the audience after being on the (all-too-tiny) YouTube screen would have been impressive in, oh, 1962.
I dare ya.
Lol
punaise @ 13
I think it is too early to conclude this. Not because I have any positive thoughts about Specter but because he will respond to ratings. At least unless he’s ready to retire. This is why I keep saying it is too early to count the votes on impeachment. It all depends on the level of outrage that develops in the country.
puppethead @ 43
And the idea that, having developed one, they’d give it to terrorists, is ludicrous. Why would they do that? Would we do that?
{{{{{{{JANE}}}}}}}
blow out the candles – its your birthday – here’s to many many more !!
carolyn urban @ 54
Two-faced IOW?
But hey, can’t they just go to Niger, ask Dick, he’ll tell you the truth. By the way OK Kid I thought you were referring to Israel as our sobs, but Pakistan is our sobs as well, we think. Why would Osama need anything more than to get rid of Busharef and then AQ (not the Khan, but the Base) can be the nuclear terra-guys!
realworld @ 66
past performance is not a guarantee of future results, but still…
Mabel’s Wig Shack @ 60
At least he is not Instant Rice. (though I am tempted to make a joke about “converted rice” but I won’t!).
Hate to spoil your birthday, but Arlen Specter is not up for re-election until 2010. By then Arlen will be 80. I expect Santorum to run for his seat if he can establish a legit residence here in Pa. Hopefully, we will retire him for good.
Specter’s threats are just some minor repositioning to seek approval of those who provide him power. Arlen is for Arlen and he will never change.
Just remember Specter put the Uncle Tom on the Supreme Court who provided the deciding vote in 2000.
Thanks for all you do, Jane. That last post was heart-wrenching, and a powerful call to action. I don’t often have a chance to post, but since it is your birthday, I thought I would make an extra effort to take a dip in the lake. I hope your day has been joyful and that you are surrounded by all the people in your life who matter most to you. God bless you and your work.
puppethead @ 37
I agree. The mere fact that CNN chose the videos ruined it for me.
God I wish Arlen would come over from the dark side. I keep thinking he’s growing a conscience – my belief is that sitting next to Pat Leahy all these years has been good for his soul. But so far, nada.
Loo Hoo. @ 11
Cause doing it after it’s too late is what being a good rethug is all about. Unreal how blind these pols are. We told them, over and over again not to trust anyone Bush nominated. And they voted the hacks in anyway. Go (Home) Arlen!
i knew obama wasn’t the man for the job at this time – needs to grow a bigger pair imho….
character first @ 73
I will never forget the shameful way in which Arlen treated Anita Hill during that hearing. Never. If anyone thinks that Arlen is really giving Fredo a hard time, it is worth remembering the way in which he grilled Hill. It was really disgusting.
realworld @ 66
Specter’s not up for reelection until ‘10. There’s no reason for him to cater to the polls this soon.
Arlen Spector: Mr. ‘Magic Bullet Theory’ has been at ‘it’ for a long time.
Obama may then in fact be a helium filled baloon that talks.
I think the founders are rolling over in their graves at the thought of possibly 28 years with just TWO families in the White House – good bye democracy – hello Vice Preznit for Life Cheney!
And I’ll never forget Arlen’s “Magic Bullet Theory” on the Warren Commission.
Arlen Specter’s most experienced at being duplicitous.
I’ve tried this before but listen you folks. All I know about Specter’s statements in Committee are what Marcy blogs. And they totally give the lie to all the other GOP arguments about Dems being partisan. Ignore for a moment what you think of him and instead try to work out how to use him as evidence for that.
Joe Klein’s conscience @ 61
can he use those funds to pay legal bills?
LS @ 19
I sure am.
Mabel’s Wig Shack –
You beat me to the punch! Good to know there are others who remember the origin of the Magic Bullet explanation.
What do Addington and Gonzalez have in common? Both attended service academies and didn’t finish. Addington didn’t complete his first year at USNA and Abu left the AFA after two years.
Maybe the “honor” component was too much for them? *g*
Addington
Gonzalez
ccmask @ 87
Think I’ll order Chinese tonight. With white Rice.
Mrs. K8 @ 88
In order to prevent myself from slipping into paranoia and dread/ instead seeking humour/ I’ll ask if you ever saw the Seinfield episode ‘reenacting’ the events in Dallas from the perspective of ’spit?’
Woodhall Hollow @ 79
I’d forgotten that. Enough to turn your stomach.
eCAHNomics @ 90
Block cheese from Wisconsin goes well with that.
Pennsylvania, home of Santorum (well not really), Spectre and the Phillies – A state that specializes in losers………..
If terrorists figure out how to make bombs from clothes, we’re so screwed.
Bustednuckles @ 65
Or say it one times slow-I dare ya.
I was actually referring to ‘Iranium uranium,’ but perhaps it’s more of a chuckle to imagine W trying to say it.
Tuck-al Qaider up. Going on thirty minutes. I’m calling out Dan Abrams. This is shameful.
Jane (nyc) @ 89
They may not have the “smarts”, but they have loyalty and that is what Bush looks for. Loyalty trumps all.
theExile @ 94
you can add andy warhol to that list for my liking…
and Thugs, I almost forgot the Broad Street Bullies who almost put me off hockey until the New York Islanders and the Habs restored class to the game.
spurious @ 92
Enough to make the hairs on your Coke can stand on end.
eCAHNomics @ 90
Block cheese from Wisconsin goes well with that.eCAHNomics @ 101
I always wondered how the heck that got there.
eCAHNomics @ 101
it was an eek! Cola! outbreak.
eCAHN, you brought the whole hearing back.
LS @ 93
With a RaZr on top.
punaise @ 103
it was a colanocokeypee.
theExile @ 94
Not entirely, there’s Joe Sestak.
Boston1775 @ 104
I ‘pologize.
I know, I took it out of context. I have always had trouble with that word.
Trying to say it 6 times…. umm, no.
Bald men everywhere will be beating down the door of the man who can make hair grow on a coke can!
theExile @ 110
All they need to do is ask Clarence Thomas.
Mollybedamn?
Molibdium?
Shit I dunno.
Mabel’s Wig Shack –
No, I did not see that episode, but it sounds hilarious. I don’t care for Seinfeld, so unless somebody knows where that episode might be stored online, I’m unlikely to ever see it.
Did you, perchance, ever read Clark DeLeon’s columns in the Philly Inquirer? He was a master of snark long before snark was fashionable, and he wrote many hilarious columns, tracing the route of the magic bullet.
BTW — if anyone knows the current location/vocation of Clark DeLeon, I would surely love to know about it. Clark was the fellow who introduced me to Arlen the night of Clinton’s win over Poppy Bush in 1992. And Clark was a stalwart supporter of the strikers in the Philadelphia newspaper strike — often found hoisting a few with the other old timers (or old timers in spirit) at Dirty Frank’s bar, the hangout for local journalists.
I google DeLeon’s name every so often, looking for him to no avail. He and his long pony tail hightailed it for “other parts” and dropped from view. So sad. His voice would be very welcome now.
Sparkles the Iguana @ 95
One could argue that any outfit that Victoria T. wears qualifies as a WMD.
On the other hand, a quick image search on Google comes up with
this.
WTF?
eCAHNomics @ 111
Asking Clarence Thomas ANYTHING seems like the height of stupidity, oops, that is Clarence Thomas – I still thank Anita Hill for at least trying to stop the dumbest judge in history from earning (*cough*) a vacant seat for a vacant head on the SCOTUS!
realworld @ 66
Even if he runs again, he still has legacy to think about. I’m hoping for him to “repent” and do the right thing.
Be forewarned. ABC Evening News just showed Bush jogging with amputees. Everything’s just a photo op with this crowd.
Guess that’s supposed to make us believe the WH will truly support the recommensations of the just released report on Veterans’ care. As if.
heh.heh.
I told em to git after em pesky polyps,
but to stop before they got up to my
molybdenum.
heh.
TeddySanFran @ 67
Refreshing to hear many callers on C-Spans Washington Journal questioning the unsubstantiated claims being repeated about Iran. I heard one old lady calling from Illinois say “if I lived in Iran and the U.S. and the U.K. had overthrown a Dmocratically elected leader in the 1950’s and then I watched what the Bush administration has done in Iraq based on lies, I would want Nuclear weapons”
That one coming from a (she said she was 78) blew my mind.
Jane (nyc) @ 117
Did the amputees have to let the Pretender in Chief win?
True, he’s the silentist person on the court. Is that because he’s busy scratching his SCOTUS?
eCAHNomics @ 50
Sizzling Rice (mushroom) soup!
Diva.
theExile @ 94
Also home to Benjamin Franklin, American Bandstand, the first manifesto against slavery in the colonies (1683 – Germantown), Mario Lanza, Independence Hall — and home to my ancestors, who fought in the Revolution alongside Washington.
Did the amputees have to let the Pretender in Chief win?
Typical Dubya. He stopped while the camera had the best angle…and before he could lose.
Mrs.K8:
this is the episode mimicing Dallas on Seinfield.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkCQ8qR5-i0
eCAHNomics @ 121
-just rearranging them on the barstool-
Kathleen @ 119
My bold.
Jane (nyc) @ 117
That’s like Rudy visiting with “friendly” firehouses yesterday to beat back the FDNY. Good luck with that. But, we all saw on teevee Rudy running away from downtown that day and towards the cameras. That was a really bad choice of having the emergency headquarters in the WTC Complex. It’s like having a Camp David outside the green zone in Baghdad.
OOOOOH, thanks ever so much, Mabel’s Wig Shack! It was so kind of you to go to that trouble of finding it for me.
Off to go watch now….
I should say mimicing the ludicrousness of arlen’s ‘magic bullet’ theory without mentioning it.
Mrs. K8 @ 123
Why the downward trend, pollution? I used to work with a family of Pennsylvania Dutch who were wonderful people, but they had gotten out of loserville.
Diva @ 122
That’s what her husband, er, the president thinks of her.
Jane (nyc) @ 89
That’s a fascinating parallel. Who doesn’t finish after being appointed an Academy cadet? How does one “drop out” of a military academy?
eCAHNomics @ 132
Laura, Harriet and Condi, how can the First Fool get all the hot babes? I must be doing something wrong or “deciderating” improperly.
fifteen minutes left of Terror Carlson: if we close Guantanamo, where will the terrorists go?
Anyone going to be in Chicago on Wednesday?
Boston1775 @ 135
Back into his tiny mind where they all belong.
Jogging with the amputees…
nobody cares more. nobody.
Boston1775 @ 135
Michelle Malkins summer place?
TeddySanFran @ 133
I thought the option at an academy (as was definitely the case for full ride NROTC in my day) was to pass or do six years as an enlisted dude.
MSNBC is playing all sides. This is propoganda and it’s unacceptable.
ccmask @ 128
hmmmm
Boston1775 @ 135
and then 136 has the answer as in:ccmask @ 136
Now it all makes sense……..
Funnydiva2002 @ 122
Dirty Rice & mushroom soup.
From Raw Story:LINK
White House assails lawmakers over contempt charges
Published: Wednesday July 25, 2007
The White House lashed out Wednesday at “pathetic” lawmakers on a key committee for approving rare contempt of Congress charges as a potentially serious constitutional showdown escalated.
“What you have right now is partisanship on Capitol Hill that quite often boils down to insults, insinuations, inquisitions and investigations,” spokesman Tony Snow said after the party-line vote.
“In our view, this is pathetic,” Snow said as the White House mounted a fierce counter-offensive in the wake of the House Judiciary Committee’s charges against top advisers to US President George W. Bush
…
theExile @ 131
Now let’s not be silly. There IS no “downward trend.” You seem to forget that Philadelphia was home both to those writing the anti-slave manifesto, AND to those who profited from the slave trade. At the same time as my ancestors fought alongside Washington there were Tories living in Pennsylvania as well. And at the same time as Mario Lanza’s gorgeous voice came to public attention and American Bandstand expressed the new rebellious youth culture, members of the Philadelphia Phillies were hurling racist epithets.
It’s the same way today. I don’t find my friends at the American Friends Service Committee (on Cherry St in Philly) to be “losers,” nor do I find the community organizers and political activists who gather together at the White Dog Cafe on Martin Luther King’s birthday and Bastille Day to celebrate and partake in more civil rights/civil disobedience training to be “losers.”
You may have a deep distaste for all things Pennsylvanian, that’s fine. But the same can be said of ANY region, there are “losers” and humanitarians to be found most anywhere.
theExile @ 140
The final commitment is after sophomore year for academies and ROTC both
Tony Snow can suck my ballsack. As if he’s ever been elected to anything! He doesn’t have the credibility Allah gave Baghdad Bob.
speaking of american bandstand i once read a book about the songwriting teams operating out of the ‘brill bldg’ in n.y. and read that dion demucci (sp?) knew 14 languages????????????
am i remembering that correctly???????
Oklahoma kiddo @ 15
Socks filled with bars of soap, perhaps. Arlen could pummel him with his tiny, ineffectual fists.
dakine01 @ 147
I was offered a full ride NROTC right out of high school, but had to agree to serve SIX years if I flunked or dropped out after one semester on their dime……this was in 1963 in San Diego.
Woodhall Hollow @ 144
Chickenhawk soup with Rice is nice.
Shorter Snow: How dare Congress try to demand accountability when there was no blow job involved.
Happy Birthday Jane! Now, off to the Drinking Liberally meeting. I’ll raise a glass to you.
Mrs. K8_146______ Well said!
Mabel’s Wig Shack @ 149
I don’t know about that. What I do remember is my mom waking me up from my nap when I was a toddler and putting me in front of the teevee — she put on American Bandstand and said, “Now look for your two sisters. They took the bus over there and will be on the show dancing today.” So it has a fond place in my heart, even though I wasn’t old enough to know all the details.
What you have right now is partisanship on Capitol Hill that quite often boils down to insults, insinuations, inquisitions and investigations,” spokesman Tony Snow said after the party-line vote.
odd how partisanship often boils down to investigations ain’t it tony ol’ boy?
eCAHNomics @ 132
Already a mushroom named for Bush. Unfortunately it’s both edible and delicious.
Blewit Soup
Oooh, oooh, give Tony Snow’s an I for alliteration. And add that to the P award from the HJC hearing today. Alliteration (which was a poetry device in the Middle Ages, IIRC) must be the new R meme.
theExile @ 151
I received an army ROTC scholarship in ‘70 with the same commitment. But it became fully vested if you will after the sophomore year, i.e., there was one last opportunity to go our separate ways.
don’t know about that. What I do remember is my mom waking me up from my nap when I was a toddler and putting me in front of the teevee — she put on American Bandstand and said, “Now look for your two sisters. They took the bus over there and will be on the show dancing today.” So it has a fond place in my heart, even though I wasn’t old enough to know all the details. – Mrs.K8
cool story. I think ben franklin would have liked american bandstand!
I know we often get exasperated by snarlin’ Arlen, but we have to keep this in perspective: He is, after all, a Republican! And he has the best (i.e., least worst) progressive score of any of the other Republicans in the Senate, according to Progressive Punch, with a score of 35.78. As bad as that score is, it is better not only than every other Republican Senator, but also better than every other Republican congressman– Only Connecticut’s Chris Shays comes close (31.64). So he’s the least worst Republican we’ve got.
Bob in HI
1. Happy Birthday, Ms. Hamsher.
2. On the Senate matter, I’d convene a hearing NEXT week. Bring in these witnesses who say the meeting never happened. Set up a big video screen. Replay the video of Towel Boy testifying about this “meeting”. Ask every witness, “is that true? Or is that a lie?” Be just that blunt. This is something every American can understand.
3. Others cite the Snow reaction. Read his words….he’s on his back heels, and talking stupid. This is what happens when we take the offensive. Pour it on.
Ghostman
Mabel’s Wig Shack @ 149
Dick Clark’s NYC apt is down the hall from me. He owns one with a view.
insults, insinuations, inquisitions and investigations
Ol’ Tony is no Jesse Jackson.
Israel should sign the Nuclear non-proliferation treaty like Iran has
Middle east Nuclear Free Zone
Bob Schacht @ 162
Damn! Talk about damning someone with faint praise, “least worst Republican” is about as close as you can get.
eCAHN – westside?
Since you appreciated those comments from Tony Snow here are his last comments in the article:
Snow approvingly quoted a Democratic senator under similar circumstances calling contempt charges “a fruitless endeavor” because they were unlikely to be enforced, and said “this is not likely to go anywhere.”
“Nevertheless, that is a decision to be made by the Department of Justice,” Snow said. “We don’t choose the response. The Department of Justice will handle the referral.”
carolyn urban @ 76
Your comment about Arlen sooooo reminds me of my own North Carolina’s Jessie Helms. He only got religion about the fight on AIDS when he was about to retire, and promised to fight to rectify his past (mis)deeds in his last days in the Senate. He did absolutely nothing.
A day late and a dollar short.
Once a Repub, always a Repub. Getting a conscience once the opportunity to do anything substantive about it is well past, is nothing short of wishing you had a different legacy.
Sorry Arlen, both you and Jessie are stuck with it.
Arlen may have some time to rectify his legacy, but I am not holding my breath.
K8, I agree I was over the top, but I’m on the West Coast in another country now and I don’t see much of the beauty or good things from Pennsylvania, they are drowned out by the Tricky Rickys, Spectres, Broad Street Bullies and the Phillies. I actually liked the Phillies back when I used to care about baseball, Robin Roberts, Richie Allen come to mind.
Actually I don’t like much of what I see coming from the United States of Greed period, except for my own relatives (some of them, that aren’t died in the wool RePukes) and the folks here at FDL, especially Christy, Jane and Marcy when she’s honors us with her presence.
Sorry for impugning yer home, if more Americans today looked to Ben Franklin for inspiration, the world would be in a lot better shape, and not just the US.
Bob Schacht @ 162
Yes, well, say what you will about Mussolini….he wasn’t as bad as Hitler. Mussolini was the least worst Axis dictator there was!
Also, lye is not quite as poisonous as hydrochloric acid.
TeddySanFran @133
My ex is USNA grad so I have more than a little experience with this. Anyone can leave without penalty before the beginning of the third year. We taxpayers just give them two free years of college without any payback.
Both of these guys were admitted via ways that most Americans are unfamiliar with. (Where I grew up in poor, rural America, any academy slots are intensely competitive and extremely difficult to obtain).
Addington’s dad was West Point grad/Brig. Gen. in the Army. An academy appointment for one’s offspring is almost a hidden benefit of career service.
Gonzales came to AFA via the enlisted ranks. That’s become a viaduct for the academies to increase their minority ranks.
I don’t buy either guy’s reasons for leaving the academies.Guys/girls with high “smirk factors” & attitudes don’t do well in those environments. One’s class rank is based on more than just academics and follows one as part of the promotion process throughout a career.
Just thought it was intriguing that two guys who obviously were trained in the Geneva Convention and its possible implications for them have so thoroughly undercut it.
kathleen @ 166:
gulp. sputter. spew. what on earth for? *cough*
________________________________
eCAHNomics @ 164. how cool is that!
Bob Schacht @ 162
He’s also useful for our optics. Whenever Olbermann sez “the SJC, in a bipartisan vote today…” I always think: why — thank you Arlen!
Usually he goes the other way if needed on the floor, or for cloture, but he’s still useful for our propaganda.
Boston1775 @ 168
Sutton Place-view is of East River, including the famous “Pepsi” sign in Queens. With Citi, and other high rises starting to be built there, the view is getting more interesting. But I don’thave a view, except into Kissinger’s parking lot at River House.
ccmask @ 136
Yes. GrandmaJo and I are flying in Wednesday. I heard about the Wednesday night party, but haven’t checked with GrandmaJo. Why?
Happy Birthday Jane Hamsher.
-GSD
I used to live in Yorkville, on 86th street. Loved it there. Between 1st & 2nd.
dakine01 @ 160
They didn’t have a problem with the first two years tuition, room and board etc. That ain’t the way I remember, mine would have been Navy, I received better civilian scholarship offers, which was good as I became a thorn in the ass of the Selective Service, the FBI and Justice Dept. for many years soon after moving away from my war mongering Republican nest.
GrandmaJ @ 177
I’ll be there Wednesday…where is the party?
Williams and Gibson let the White House have the last word on the contempt charges: “Pathetic.” That adjective applies to reporting by Brian and Charlie as well.
wig shack @ 174
Judge Judy also lives in my bldg.
eCAHNomics @ 176
We’ve all kinda got a view into Kissinger’s parking lot.
theExile @ 171
Thank you for that acknowledgement. [I’m the first one in line to protest loudly about boorishness and greed in my felow Pennsylvanians, but I’ll be damned if I’ll let it be said that the fine democracy-lovers I know and love there who cherish the spirit of the original Revolution are “losers.”] It was good of you to post it!
BTW — my dad suffered for a long time when the team he loved in boyhood, the Philadelphia Athletics, left town and made way for the upstart “bums,” the Phillies. He eventually made peace with the change, after some good many years, and became a Phillies fan.
It probably didn’t hurt that people would stop my dad on the street to ask him if he was Richie Ashburn (he looked that much like him).
And once upon a time I tried on Harry Kallas’s Phillies World Series ring when I met Harry late one night during a thunderstorm at an almost-empty Main Line bar. I still get a kick when I hear Harry narrating a commercial or some such on teevee. Hearing his deep rich voice out in the wilds of Arizona makes me less homesick.
ccmask @ 179
I know it well.
My best girlfriend from high school is meeting me in Chicago. She lives on East 90th.
Here’s more on Spector’s fulminations about Roberts and Alito:
.
Hey, Supreme Court justices can be impeached!
Bob in HI
Jane (nyc) @ 173
I attended a military HS for four years which is why the ROTC scholarship. But because we were designated an “honor military school”, we were authorized three direct appointments to each service academy. I accepted the USNA appt ‘cuz I knew I would flunk the physical. No way in hell I was going to military college after military HS.
ccmask @ 179
My first apartment was on 75th between 2nd & 3rd. Later I lived way upper westside.
Mrs. K8 @ 185
Kallas and the late John Facenda (NFL films)
“He makes John Mitchell look like Elliot Richardson.” :o) :o) :o)
“Splurffft-a-pppfffft”
My new keyboard, Jane, should be light blue.:o)
(”If God’s not a tarheel, then why is the sky Carolina Blue? :o) )
That’s a Grauman’s-Chinese-Theater line. :o)
ccmask: There was a thread on Kos mentioning the party. It named some restaurant and saying it cost $25 and needed reservations. I am not sure I can get there however GrandmaJo and I would be looking for something to do Wed p.m. :-) It sounded like many people will be there.
I will try to locate the thread — it was yesterday I think.
theExile @ 180
In ‘75 I wound up getting a discharge (honorable) for flunking out. They could have put me on active duty but the army was downsizing at the time. I wound up enlisting in AF a year and a half later.
LS @ 190
Great area. I lived in a rent-controlled bldg. which was nice. Someday I will move back, I swear.
Yes, Elliott!
Kallas and Facenda — two Philadelphians I love!
[They would hate boorishness on the part of their fellow citizens too.]
Alberto Gonzales, loyalty to a personal friend has been placed before duty to his country.
The history books will be very unkind to this small, corrupt, morally deficient, mendacious lackey.
-GSD
Kathleen @ 166
That would be a most excellent idea. The two places in the world most likely to see a nuclear holocaust are the Middle East, and India/Pakistan.
Bob in HI
Mabel’s Wig Shack @ 30
Bob Schacht @ 188
Hey, Supreme Court justices can be impeached!
say ciao, dear: The Soup Ream Court
Thanks GrandmaJ. And I’ll keep my eye open for you.
Impeachment, its not just for blowj*bs anymore.
Edited * and released by MOD.
OK, this is in EPU-land, but I’m late getting here. This is the first time I’ve seen video of yesterday’s hearing.
I listened to Watergate cover-to-cover on a radio in the lab, same for most of Iran/Contra, and I can say that this clip documents THE WORST BEHAVIOR that I have seen. It would have called down thunder from on high back then. This is that bad. It really is that bad.
Mrs. K8 @ 195
I can’t help but say Phila Del phia the way Facenda always did!
ccmask @ 195
You’ll have to wait for the next depression unless you’re very rich. Coop prices & rents are out of sight. I bought my coop in 1978, 20% off the bottom after the early 70s NYC bankruptcy & national recession.
GSD @ 197
AFAIK, Eliot Abrahms is still pulling down a government paycheck.
It’s amazing what a pardon will do.
GSD @ 197
Not if Neil Bush’s company is printing the books.
Helllooo Jane? Happy Birthday! Since the topic of age has been mentioned(sort of), I’d like to remind people that ageist comments are not something to be taken lightly and not appreciated in your posts. Why the disparaging terms (from this and another posting): “geriatrics get cranky,” “the wheel chair and respirator set,” handrails and rubberdaisy’s,” “merry band of geriatrics”?
I worked for 40 years along side many others to ensure that your generation of women would have rights and opportunities my generation and our mothers’ generations before us were denied. In those days men just couldn’t understand (alas, some still can’t) why it is an insult for a grown woman to be called a “girl” or “the little woman,” or “honey,” “doll,” or “sweetie”. Your readers wouldn’t tolerate sexist, racist, or homophobic references in your posts, and they should not tolerate ageist remarks from someone we admire so much. Language matters.
Funny WordPress behavior: I just edited a comment I put in, and now the Edit Commant and Quote This Comment tags have disappeared from all but the last 2 comments shown.
wingedslippers @ 206
Second that.
ccmask: It was yesterday in a front page thread by Georiga10. I will quote some from the first paragraph:
YearlyKos is just around the corner, and if you’re going to be in Chicago on August 1st, consider stopping by the People for the American Way’s YearlyKos Welcome Event. Organized by the Midwest Chapter of the PFAW, the event will be held next Wednesday, August 1st from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at the always awesome Funky Buddha Lounge. I’ll be there, as will several other familiar names and faces from DailyKos.
…
Now the Quote This Comment’s are back, but the Edit Comment’s are still gone. –editing– It’s alive! WordPress has restored Edit This Comment to *just* this comment. That’s too much. What does this code look like, anyway?
Gonzales has no support among the Republican intelligentsia either.
He better hang on to Chimpy because the AEI and their ilk haven’t taken a shine to this callow hack.
Also, I can’t imagine any law enforcement agency in America ever using such a fetid pile of damaged goods.
-GSD
behindthefall @ 210
Just like deja vu in The Matrix.
Have you looked at the speakers list for Yearly Kos. Wow
http://yearlykosconvention.org/speakers
Andrew Stern is coming, one of my heroes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Stern
What’s happened to us? Schumer just sounds a little testy and looks to each side. Can you just picture what Sam Erwin would have done??
Oh, please, send Sam back. We need him.
behindthefall @ 210
Sometimes clearing my cache and restarting my browser helps. Sometimes I think it’s just the wordpress blog software acting up.
GrandmaJ @ 208
Thanks for the head’s up!
Elliott –
Woo hoo, keep that Facenda spirit alive.
Speaking of pronunciation — the columnist I mentioned above, Clark DeLeon, wrote famously photocopied-and mailed-to-friends columns about the “Fillufya” accent (whereby he always skewered Frank Rizzo’s memory, a nice two-fer). He wrote about the cops poundin’ the “payment” in front of the “liberry” in protest of the “Fillufya mare’s office.” And how they were hungover from the “Iggle’s” game the day before. That and his riff on why Fillufyan’s go “downa shore” instead of “to the beach” were a hoot and a half.
Clark once wrote a column in support of the “save the mince” campaign (you know, the “mince” killed to make mince pie) — and there were gullible readers who believed him! He printed their letters of course.
Sigh. I’m really homesick.
Will shut up about it now, though. I promise!
Thanks ccmask, I will ‘look’ for you too.
As for myself, look for 2 grandma types (me and GrandmaJo) wandering around looking sooooo excited.
ccmask @ 195
I lived up by Riverside Church & Grant’s tomb area in a rent-controlled building. We were paying $180 per month, until about 1995, then we moved out to the countreeee.
behindthefall @ 202
It is a sign of how sickeningly decadent the Bush cultists have become. Gonzales is worse than Baghdad Bob in his last throes, if you will.
It is stunning that any person could watch Gonzales and not see the behavior of every penny ante, garden variety drug addict, cheat or thief on ‘Cops’. The chief law enforcment officer of the nation behaving as snide and as smug as John Gotti.
-GSD
Listening to Dole & Shalala on revamping the VA (NewsHour), there are some pretty dunny lines by Dole. E.G.: I didn’t think the president had anything to do today. How long were we in his office?
Jane, Happy Birthday.
Thank you for the post about the partisans. It was beautifully written. I had a friend whose father-in-law was a partisan. They captured a tank, but obviously getting fuel was a problem. So they built a still, and made kerosine from trees. The hitched the tank to a team of horses, and would pull it to the edge of the forrest, make sortis, and then return to hitch up again. What courage!
If I may share with you my perception of this. When I was young (born in 1951) the dominant image of Jews was the mountains of corpses found when the concentration camps were liberated. The image was of Jews being led like sheep to slaughter. In eastern Europe, where most of the partisan activity occurred, the Soviets had an interest in supressing tales of resistance and heroism.
There is such a thing as a self-hating Jew, and I believe much of it comes from the image of powerlessness that I described. (Of course, the term is over used if it is applied to any Jew who criticizes Israel.) Stories like the one you told, are the antidote.
Thank you again.
Someone should have said that to him at the hearing.
if it’s the new york times then cheney is the “anonymous source” or it “eminates” from cheney
Even if he runs again, he still has legacy to think about. I’m hoping for him to “repent” and do the right thing.
You know, he did seem genuinely pissed yesterday. If he would, just once, vote the right way, he could then begin his redemption!
ccmask, I’m going in on Wednesday. Can I buy you a drink? (out of SF, Teddy!)
Hmm.
I think the wordpress software is indeed getting a bit whacked. The “refresh comments” button went bye-bye on my screen. Have to refresh via F5.
Eureka Springs @ 216
I’ll try that with the browser, but it does seem that something is approaching a function from two sides and loses state. (Whatever that means … I’m no computer science guy; just trying to find words for what sometimes happens in my programs.)
Ghostman @ 163
I love it!
FYI, new thread
Mrs. K8 @ 227
That is when you have to rush upstairs to get a “zed”.
well, we know it was time for him to go along time ago and yet the pissident can’t afford to let him go, if he goes, whoever replaces him will have to earn confirmation and anyone (except liar man) who earns conirmation will know what is and what is not illegal
the president can never let abu torture go until he has a replacement acknowledge to him that he will be protected
which leads me to another epiphame;
if congress goes on recess abu gets “resigned” and is his successor is recess apointed
look for yu to replace him or some equally depraved neo con
LS @ 231
Aha! Thanks for sharing that piece of esoteric wisdom. A good tip for future attempts at being quick on the draw.
Loo Hoo. @ 226
Sure…my whistle is already dry.
GSD @ 197
Bet every patriotic Latino is pissed as hell too.
That is the problem with lying. Once you start, it steamrolls. I have no sympathy for that little little man.
brendan @ 10
If you can honor and idolize people (Jewish Partisans) using armed resistance to the slaughter of millions of people during Hitlers madness people why would that desperate method (moral and necessary) not apply to any group of people trying to halt violent murderers?
ccmask @ 217
Hope to be there
“ABC Evening News just showed Bush jogging with amputees. Everything’s just a photo op with this crowd.”
Did an amputee trip W?
“. . . insults, insinuations, inquisitions and investigations” . . .
Just what American’s LOVE!
Happy Birthday Jane.
Gonzales “We were there on behalf of the President”
Boston1775 @ 55
I think what is slowly becoming obvious to everyone is that the tenuous connection between Saddam and Al Qaeda or Zarqawi and Al Qaeda is still that today and that Bush has to name the AQ sympathizers in Iraq as “Al Qaeda in Iraq” to enforce the alleged connection — else we have absolutely no reason, not even a fictional reason, for being in Iraq.
There are AQ sympathizers in probably every Middle Eastern country as well as England and some other small EU countries. Does that mean we have to attack them all?
theExile @ 120
Did Bush trip them or shove them into falling, so he could win?
Oh well, we’ve see his schtick for a while now and it isn’t getting any better. Time for a new POTUS.
I wonder who the Repubs would feel comfortable putting in as Veep (to be promoted to POTUS after GWB is removed.
They oughta think creatively and go for the first black woman named ‘Cookies’ or something else ludicrous to make us forget Dubya.
“Rockefeller, Harman, Pelosi and Daschle have now said he [Gonzales] lied openly to the Judiciary Committee.”
Daschle? Daschle! When did he become relevant?
Bob Schacht @ 198
That’s mighty rich coming from the only country in history to have unleashed nuclear holocaust on human beings.