I guess we all have our priorities. Per Kevin Drum, these are Loretta Sanchez’s:
Sanchez, Orange County’s only Democratic member of Congress, voted in 2002 against giving President Bush authorization to invade Iraq. More recently she voted to begin pulling troops out within 90 days.
Tuesday night Sanchez said she could not support the protesters because the $145 billion in Iraq war funding was in the same bill that would provide money to build the C-17 aircraft in California.
“I never voted for this war,” she said. But “I’m not going to vote against $2.1 billion for C-17 production, which is in California. That is just not going to happen.”
We dirty fucking hippies always get dismissed or condescended to as paranoids when we suggest that the influence of the military industrial complex in these situations is just a wee bit extreme, then Mike Gravel shows up sweating and hollering about it like some guy pounding bourbon in the corner of a bar that everyone is trying to ignore and seals the deal. But as Big Tent Democrat says:
Rep. Sanchez, you just said you were going to vote for the war, so that a California company will get a defense contract. 395 Californians have died in Iraq. Loretta Sanchez can put a price on their lives – 2 billion dollars. Not to mention the damage to the interests of the nation.
Matt Stoller has a post on OpenLeft today which argues that Congress is effectively in the hands of a working Republican majority, thanks to the efforts of Blue Dogs (of which Loretta Sanchez is one). Matt suggests that they are “essentially threatening a revolt against Pelosi if she tries to impose real discipline.” Ergo we get FISA, we get the Millitary Commissions Act, we get mo’ war.
In the wake of primary threats (largely promoted in the netroots) Al Wynn and Ellen Tauscher had their come-to-Jesus moments and signed the pledge to vote for no more Iraq funding without provisions for the complete withdrawal of combat troops.
Maybe that’s just how it’s going to have to happen, one DINO at a time.
(h/t Steve-AR)
Related posts:
- Come Saturday Morning: The Blue Dogs That Won’t Hunt Together
- Ann Kirkpatrick Leaning “No” — Rahm Losing Blue Dogs On Supplemental?
- Supplemental: Why Must Progressive Members of Congress Grovel For the Blue Dogs?
- Attention Blue Dogs: It’s Not 1994
- GOP Will Target Blue Dogs Who Vote “Yes” on IMF, Senior Republican Campaign Official Confirms
Spotlight
Support this site!
Subscribe to the newsletter
Advertise on Firedoglake
Send
us your tips
Make us your homepage
About Firedoglake
Advanced search
Jane!
Red Cogs, Red Dogs, Red Cogs.
-GSD
yo
ding dong
GO BLUE DOGS!!!
Jane!!!
As if Nancy Pelosi is any better: RUN, CINDY, RUN!!!
I nominate DiFi for the next Blue Dog to return to the private sector. Any seconds?
PG @ 8
I’ll drink to that. Sick of her.
PG @ 8
I’ll second that motion.
Seems as if we just ELECTED DiFi.
Vote these sorry assed, sorry excuses for politicians, the hell outta office.
Voting for something you say you are against in order to make money for builders of C-17 aircraft, is more important than the constituents of hers that are at war and may have voted for her, and may die any minute???
That is so frigging outrageous!!!
Twain @ 9
Seconded. All in favor say aye.
Mutant Poodle @ 12
Aye.
LS @ 11
Except from her point of view. Orange County was built up from defense industries The military-industrial complex IS Orange County, and that is what Sanchez has to live with, unfortunately.
The ayes have it.
SeamusD @ 14
Screw her.
I’m sick of these Blue Hogs. Blue Hogs aren’t Democrats. When Bush says BOO!, Blue Hogs fill their diapers, roll over, and ask Bush what more they can do for him. After he kicks them in the head, they ask him to do it again. What gives with these goddamn Blue Hogs, anyway?
Watching Countdown on Bush’s press conference. His state of denial, on every issue, is just incredible.
There used to be a system in Congress that a small select committee of Legislators decided all state expenditures for the whole (I presume it also meant military). When that went out the window in the 1970s it gave rise to the huge increase in pork, lobbyists, and payback for political support. We need to return to that system or this will continue everywhere. By the way this was also an issue of Lieberman. There were some who gave him credit for military contracts.
T I L L M A N
LS @ 16
Motion carries. We have until 2012 to find someone to take her place, or maybe we can get her to run for Guv’nor in 2009…
…and by the way, Harold Ford is getting on my last nerve. I want my contribution back.
(I know, I know, but Gore was there….)
No way Difi would give up her sure seat to run for Gov. Definitely need a replacement.
Jake — I like that you are shaking things up here on FDL. What unit, where and when in Korea?
I just saw the President on KO defending Gonzales and the President is outraged that the Congress would see that Al Gonzales had done anything wrong?/?
Doesn’t know the exact moment when he found out how Pat Tillman really died… Really…:??
Islandliberal @ 18
Aloha, Islandliberal! Welcome to the Lake!
Required Reading: The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s Contracts Database.
I agree: we are a nation that makes and manufactures war and related products and services.
We could have been a nation of researchers, of educators, of healthcare providers, and of humanitarians.
Do, We the People, even have a say in this? Methinks those days are permanently gone.
neurophius @ 19
He’s still foundering within his Bubble!!!
BigMitch @ 21
Three shots, closely grouped, to the forehead. The American people don’t get it. Nor do they get that his diary was burned by fellow soldiers. This man was murdered, not by accident, but by design.
Bush flatly refuses to support a gasoline tax increase to rebuild infrastructure, in particular highway bridges. He says it’s just a matter of Congress getting its “priorities” straight.
Tell that to the families of the victims of the bridge collapse in Minnesota–or the next one.
Part of the problem with many representatives is that they have a really “small” view of their responsibilities. They are little local yokels that get all starstruck when they get to DC. They think bringing money to their district is their main job at all costs.
Unfortunately, they are not competent enough or worldly enough to vote reasonably on the bigger
issues. They should be relegated to small budgetary issues and not allowed to participate in voting on the important issues that face us.
Clearly, an awful lot of them are just…under-qualified for their job description.
Boston1775 @ 26
When you have as many “Oh Shit!” moments as this president, it is hard to keep track.
Islandliberal @ 18
They are afraid republicans will call them names.
This is an old theme of mine – people see Dems as weak not because of what they believe, but because they don’t stand up muscularly for what they believe. People disagree with the GOP but appreciate the perception (even when untrue) that they stick to their principles.
Of course, many Blue Dogs have one principal principle: stay in office. Everything else is secondary.
Jonathan @ 30
Exactly, and covered up from top to bottom!!!
Isn’t Rep Sanchez the head of one of the House JC committees who have held televised hearings? Hasn’t she the blond credited with some pretty stout and coherent questioning of DOJ critters?
Progressive Punch gives her an overall Progressive rating of 84.53, and a rank of 143 out of 433. There are about 90 reps with worse scores than hers.
You can argue, of course, that Progressive Punch doesn’t give proper weight to the more important issues, but then we’ll have to have an argument over which issues are most important. So, yeah, I don’t like her answer either, but let’s take a look at the whole package, and what the alternative might be.
Bob in HI
neurophius @ 31
This from the man who never changes his priorities in the face of overwhelming data that he oughta…
Tillman: 3 shots to the forehead
Tillman: 3 shots to the forehead
Tillman: 3 shots to the forehead
Thanks for the reminder to keep it out there.
bobschacht @ 35
That is Linda Sanchez.
Mutant Poodle @ 37
He certainly sticks to his guns…!!!
CTuttle @ 35
Imagine when georgie heard Tillman said Iraq War was so fucking illegal?
Mutant Poodle @ 36
The reporter should have followed up with a question about why BUSH’S priorities rank tax cuts for the rich–and blowing up bridges in Iraq–so much higher than repairing dangerous bridges in this country to save American lives.
neurophius @ 41
He is his mother’s son, it might soil their beautiful minds.
petwrecker @ 41
The guy who does the laundry in the White House may know when shrub heard that.
bobschacht @ 36
Linda
Loretta
petwrecker @ 41
Rummie’s, Meyer’s, Abizaid’s, etal… testimony sooo reminded me of the Tobacco CEOs’ fervent assertions that their product does not cause cancer!!!
Has anyone noticed the non-story of the 14 “high value” Gitmo detainees being declared “enemy combatants”? The media immediately said that this would allow them to be tried in military courts. But on June 4, 2007, a military court in Khadr/Hamdan dismissed charges against them because the MCA prescribes military tribunals for “alien unlawful enemy combatants,” not enemy combatants. The enemy combatant designation means nothing and could apply to a regular prisoner of war after all. So the CSRTs that make the determination are caught in a bizarre situation. They can only make a determination of enemy combatant or not, but this designation does not meet the standard of the MCA so no military commission can try them. Words like snafu and fubar were made to describe all this. Of course, the media continues to act like there is a story regardless of the fact that there isn’t.
LS, if you are Linda Sanchez, then you just blew my mind.
LS @ 39
Progressive Punch gives Linda Sanchez a score of 96.36, 8/433. So let’s leave out who’s been the one on TV aiming the hard questions at the DOJ critters. The other stuff I wrote about Loretta is definitely about Loretta, from Progressive Punch. She scores only a coupla points below my own congress rep., who sometimes seems like a Blue Dog. But there were only about 50 or so FISA blue dogs, and we’re talking about more than 90 who are less progressive than Loretta. That’s a lot of bluish dogs.
Bob in HI
sorry, Loretta
As long as there is a K-Street, not much is going to change. To say we in this house are angry with some in our party, doesn’t begin to cover it.
Richmond @ 24
Being a governor is a lot more difficult than being a Senator where you can show up unprepared for hearings and vote how your campaign contributors tell you.
what did pogo say oh those many years ago?
Sanchez?? does she have a valid green card. tell tancredo — Deport the slut!
Tee Hee- What does one feed a blue dog???????
Hugh @ 47
I’m a stupid lawyer. I’ve studied the Fourth Amendment. I simply don’t understand what you write (not that you write unclearly).
Boston1775 @ 47
ROLMAO
Jonathan @ 54
I’m not sure what it says about either of us, but I understood it perfectly.
CTuttle @ 46
same here.
btw I highly recommend re-viewing THE INSIDER, at so many levels, including what we now know about BushCo interfering with the tobacco settlements. — The Tobacco Lobby still rules. — But also now that the scales have fallen from my eyes in re the MSM, it was a whole new movie for me. I urge all pups to watch it anew.
don’t know if this is true… but when i was investigating what happened with fisa earlier this week, i was told there was a ton of pressure on pelosi from conservative freshmen.
make of it what you will…
Lorretta was the second baseman for the Boston Red Sox.
A brilliant alternative to the Military Industry would be space exploration, *not* colonisation, and of the sea. The return in dollars is huge, last I read $15 for every $1 invested. That is a low estimate. Then there are other tangible benefits (microchips, velcro, solar Panels, minituarization, weather satellites, etc) and many intangible. PLUS it is quite popular, not only with Americans, but with the world as a whole. And very few violent deaths.
ANOTHER benefit: the competitive instinct which comes out in times of war can be fulfilled by competing with other countries (EU, China, etc) over space.
My brother was a rabid foaming-at-the lips wingnut,and why? He worked for the War Machine. Then, he got a job with NASA, helping design rocket boosters (yes, he’s a rocket scientist). His views have moderated *amazingly*, tho he’s still quite conservative, fears gays and thinks minorities are the cause of all that is evil in the country. Still, there’s a glimmer of hope for him.
Happy Anniversary ! ! ! !
August 9, 1974
NIXON RESIGNS
Thirty years ago today, the second worst and most corrupt Republican president in United States history resigned in disgrace, following revelations that Richard Nixon had been operating a criminal political enterprise out of the White House.
Watch “All the President’s Men.”
Deja vu? Shudder. Comparing Bush to Nixon is like comparing Hitler to Stalin…not really much difference.
I believe, though, that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney have edged out the corrupt Nixon administration as the worst and most corrupt Republican administration in American history, especially with all the long-term damage these “culture of corruption” Republicans have done to our country.
Hopefully, sooner rather than later, we’ll see a banner headline like the “NIXON RESIGNS” one I saw on August 9, 1974 on the front page of “The Stars and Stripes” stating:
BUSH AND CHENEY RESIGN
…with the article beneath saying that the long American nightmare is over.
One can hope. One can pray to God. One can call their representative in Congress and demand that Bush and Cheney’s sorry asses are impeached, to stop the lying, to stop them doing anymore damage to our democracy.
Jonathan @ 54
The Military Commissions Act was written to address the problems that the Supreme Court found in the Hamdan case. The MCA set up military commissions to try those who were designated alien unlawful combatants. Combatant Status Review Tribunals were to make this determination but they goofed up. The CSRTs only decide if someone is an enemy combatant. The MCA requires that someone must be designated not just an enemy combatant (per the CSRTs) but an alien unlawful combatant.
There is currently no mechanism to make this determination. The CSRTs can’t do it. So there is no one properly designated or who can be properly designated for a military commission to try.
Is that any clearer?
Mine man Murray, about to give a briefing on CNN, now.
Elliott @ 57
Thanks Ell! I hadn’t seen it, but will track it down.
The Insider
Jonathan @ 30
That’s another thing a Congressional committee, chaired by somebody really nasty, needs to publicize and dig into.
Boy oh boy is the plate getting full for work after recess is over.
Debunking of Murray on Countdown!!!
From the Anchorage Daily News
Oracle, from your lips to…
the front page above the fold!!
Yes, it’s time to challenge the Blue Dogs. As the FISA bill made clear to me, they’re more than a thorn in Pelosi’s side. And, this time, when it counted in a major way, she either didn’t know how to play them, or simply couldn’t play them. It really doesn’t matter which…neither scenario is acceptable.
Jane, thanks also for your earlier post on the physician’s prescribing database. As a former advertising executive, I’ve worked in Big Pharma, and that dbase always stuck in my craw (among other things). Lots of publicity about advertising to the consumer, but not so much about how the pharmas knew exactly who the script-happy doctors were.
Jeesh, how I love it when you talk dirty.
BTW, O/T, on the subject of “hippies” — see my latest blog post. Great, great reflection by the former roadie for the Sons of Champlin.
I was there for the “Summer of Love.” It was wonderful.
petwrecker @ 41
Somewhere there is probably a recording of Dubya saying something like, f*ck Tillman, we’re takin’ him out. He said it about Saddam, so it would be typical.
Imagine when georgie heard Tillman said Iraq War was so fucking illegal?
Jane,
Does “Night of the Living Dead” ring a bell?
Oh great, they’re interviewing Orrin Hatch at the mine…that figures.
selise @ 58
My take is it seems like the pressure should have been going the other way. And if Pelosi was pressured why didn’t she just say so rather than engage in what was not only a deceitful but cowardly exercise. Of course, none of this gets to the orchestration between Reid and Pelosi to get this bill passed. What do freshmen Representatives have to do with Harry Reid anyway?
Shouldn’t Pelosi and Reid be able to take some pressure? They’re certainly getting some from us. So it isn’t like they avoided it. And what was it that Harry Truman said? If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.
Finally, this seems like another trial balloon to deflect criticism away from where it belongs, squarely with Pelosi and Reid.
LS @ 72
Oh great, they’re interviewing Orrin Hatch at the mine…that figures.
“It’s Bill Clinton’s fault.”
Linda & Loretta Sanchez are sisters BTW. Good friends of mine have campaigned for Linda & know her well- don’t really pay much attention to Loretta out in the O.C. or what she’s up to (until today, that is). I do know Loretta started out as a Repub then switched.
The way Linda handles WH watercarrying blowhards on the HJC like Cannon, Lungren & Issa is always a treat. She caught my eye after Katrina by standing up for the Davis/Bacon act when Bush tried to yank it…
LS @ 72
Reiterating Murray’s seismic story!
jayt @ 74
“It’s Bill Clinton’s fault.”
Ha! The truth comes out at last!
Marie Roget @ 76
I’m a Linda SANCHEZ! fan myself.
Possible new wars in Pakistan and Iran, and now this:
As home prices across the United States have stagnated or fallen and consumers have tapped out the equity in their homes, banks have gotten more cautious about lending and have tightened their standards for new mortgages and home-equity loans. As a result, more Americans are shifting debt onto credit cards. This week, the Federal Reserve said non-real estate consumer-credit usage rose at about twice the rate than economists had predicted for June. And revolving credit usage (which includes credit-card debt) was up by 8.7 percent at an annual rate for the month. That boost helped bring total consumer credit, both revolving and not revolving (like auto loans), to a record $2.459 trillion.
The New Great Military Genius General Petraeus will win the War!. General Petraeus is commanding The Surge, which is failing. We have been fooled again by those clever chicken hawks in the White House. They found a general who would conceal their impeachable crimes. Petraeus should be removed immediately because he is unfit to command.
During most of 2004 and 2005 Petraeus was in command of training the Iraqis. Hundreds of thousands of weapons were sent to Iraq for Iraqis training under Petraeus. Many of these weapons are missing, or in the hands of “insurgents”. Petraeus failed his mission then. Or perhaps that was his mission, to supply weapons for a civil war to the “enemy”.
One of the contractors is Victor Bout, former KGB colonel, currently, a “Merchant of Death”. For years, Bout supplied weapons to the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Haliburton assisted Bout in sending weapons to Iraq. This was violating a Presidental Order. Either Petraeus, as Commander, allowed this illegal business, to go on, or he participated in it. It is amazing Petraeus is part of this secret arming of The Insurgency. But these weapon transfers (treasonous ?) could only be directed from the top of our government-Darth Cheney.
CTuttle @ 76
debunked on Hardball.
Hugh @ 77
Of course, beginning about a year and a half from now, everything that goes wrong will be Hillary Clinton’s fault.
Sounds like Hayley Barbour sent a C-17 somewhere to pick up a truck, which was being driven to the site. I believe the truck is the truck that has highly sensitive listening equipment on it to listen for sounds down the drilled hole.
Why didn’t the Democrats link the resignation/firing of AG Gonzales with the passage of the FISA re-authorization At least the Dems would have gotten something. And better to have stood some ground and made Bush back down. Back Bush into a corner instead of capitulating with out any thing in return. That whole scenario makes me sick.
Frank33,
This was one of the most recent entries in my Bush scandals list.
BigMitch @ 81
I’m sure Hatch will receive a healthy pac donation from Murray for his efforts, speaking fees if you will!!!
O/T there is a hilarious commercial on Hardball for bran flakes.
10 days to a better you. Eat bran flakes once a day, and feel great.
As the hard-hat construction worker is delivering this line, there are a serious of visuals behind him, I-beam coming though a hole in a wall, 30 gallon drums falling off a truck, dumptruck unloading a load of bricks.
Cracks me up.
In flare of the 80’s, “Focking Orange County Republican!”
Anybody know what channel the debate is on?
Also, LS, what’s this?
ROLMAO
Hugh @ 73
i trying to make sense of it all… and i can’t. at least not in a way that makes the congressional leadership look good.
if pelosi was getting pressured, and she wanted to push back – well, wouldn’t she have reached out to allies that care about the issue? i mean, the ACLU was excluded… not just netroots people.
We’ve got wall to wall politicians in Utah speakin it up for what a great coal company it is who has perhaps killed “brave, brave, minors”
I smell fuckery afoot- these fuckers are covering something up.
Loo Hoo. @ 89
Rolled over and laughed my a** off.
Debate is on LOGO network at 9 Eastern.
Elliott @ 78
Big cred for me- Linda’s still a card carrying member of IBEW Local 441 where she was a compliance officer.
rwcole @ 91
Guessing we got some illegal immigrants somewhere.
Over at Sadly no, they were talking about the former head of the Michigan Federation of Young Republicans, Michael Flory, a 32-year-old attorney from Jackson, Mich., who pleaded guilty to sexual battery on the day he was to stand trial for rape.
In the comments, some poster asked “why do they all have this exact facial hair?” (see pic of Flory at link)
Then, commenter Dr.BDH said, “The goatee is sort of like the mullet, which is touted as “Business in the front, party in the back.” The goatee is more acceptable for business than the Grizzly Adams look, but to the wingnut brain it also whispers, “Rebel.” Perhaps it should henceforth be known as the Wingnut Face Mullet”.
I thought this was pretty funny.
Alice B @ 85
Yes! Would have been great.
rwcole @ 91
attempt at miner redemption
Alice B @ 84
Ultimately, this had very little to do about FISA, the NSA, national security, or the Constitution. It was about their vacation. So they did get something in return. They got to go on vacation instead of spending an extra week in Washington defending us and our rights.
See y’all later.
rwcole @ 92
I truly hope that was “brave miners”.
Coverup? That they’re illegals. That the mining practices were, um, extremely risky. That the owner is a well connected Republican, so needs protection. I’ve probably missed a few ;-).
Making Bush have to get rid of Gonzales in order to have his FISA bill would almost have made the bill palatable. Bush would have been hard pressed to be so wedded to Fredo so much as to allow the bill not to pass.
Hugh @ 61
Here’s what I don’t get. The Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures. All of the Fourth Amendment protections apply to the U.S. government and to the states via the 14th amendment. Court decisions, as far as I know, say that the Fourth Amendment applies to any action of the U.S. (or of a state) government. I just don’t understand the MCA from a constitutional standpoint. But then, I’m a tax lawyer. Any constitutional lawyers here?
Hugh @ 86
Damn! I was hoping to add a new entry to your list.
Military-Industrial Complex Speech, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961
Alice B @ 93
LOGO???
LOGO is the Gay channel or network or whatever.
GordonM @ 101
Sure sounds like political cover. I hadn’t even thought about illegals working there…D’oh…
Now Murray has Orrin Hatch, Hayley Barbour helping him. I’m thinking that right now, they have actually reached the area with the drill, but they haven’t detected any sound, and they are waiting for the sensitive listening equipment on the truck.
I hope for the best.
Any reporter who wants a scoop should spend a year lookin at the relationship between the Coal Mining industry and the Gooper party—better have a strong stomach.
Here’s the debate:
logoonline.com
Alice B @ 107
Hmmm… never heard of it!
Orin Hatch out to cover for the mine owner- and probably himself- let’s take a look for what Orin has done to lead the way in buttering the coal industry’s bread.
I heard that there was no earthquake in Utah, and they quit rescue operations for a while because of seismic activity was BS. Operator just wanted a break so he wouldn’t have to pay overtime. One can never be too cynical with these types.
Well (hiding as much of myself as I can, there are aspects to this you may not have seen, not as if it not the loss of lethal weapons. there is something more, but hey if you want to chase something they want you to chase fine have fun.
rwcole @ 110
I had occasion last week to drive through the Coal Region of Pennsylvania. It never fails to infuriate me. Between clear cutting and strip mining, the place is in a perennial depression. In some places ONE HUNDRED YEARS have passed and the landscape is still scarred.
St. Clair is a slag heap, Centralia’s still burning. Coal is not the answer..
and yet today Big Coal is leveling West Virginia.
We really are smarter than this.
Loo Hoo. @ 111
Mahalo! Streaming it, Obama’s answering now!!!
Alice B @ 113
There definitely was seismic activity. It is clearly evident on the quake maps. At the time of the collapse, it was 3.9. There has also been additional activity or aftershocks. There were something like 19 events on the map of Utah, I think around that time. I believe it is entirely possible that it was caused by an earthquake. The spin back and forth has to do with who is responsible.
Jonathan @ 103
Well, IANAL. I was just describing how things are currently set up and not working. On the Constitutional issues, if I remember correctly, the Supreme Court first denied cert in Boumediene and al Odah but then said they wanted to take another look at them. As I understand it, the question is: Does the Detainee Treatment Act provide an adequate substitute for habeas corpus? How this is decided will have an impact I think on the MCA as well since it could result in challenges to it.
Obama wants civil unions legal with all of the benefits of marriage, and for churches to decide whether to call it marriage. Sensible first step, I suppose.
Meanwhile, this interview by TV Guide of Shepard Smith at Fair and Balanced News:
Shepard Smith: . . . The goal is to always be able to communicate in a new and better way. There are certain kinds of stories that have never really worked well with television, stories that are just so visually deficient. We’re going to try to use this new environment that we have — new graphics and technology — to tell stories that don’t always have pictures with them. This is going to be a lot more than a new set. We’re learning a lot about ourselves from the Internet. You’ll see some of the communicators people know online on this program from time to time. We want people who have a fresh way of telling things. (my bold)
Mahalo, CTuttle!
argosfalcon @ 115
can you give us a little more to work with here, argosfalcon, my mind is a little pokey some times. :)
weapons testing? uranium? I’m really off course, aren’t I?
selise @ 58
Did anyone try and go see Pelosi today in CT?
Obama’s a hopemonger! Why is Obama the only one on, I wonder.
Loo Hoo. @ 90
Debate here. Click on Watch Now Live.
Looks like its a series of interviews, not a debate. Obama now.
Wow, F*cker’s wife Margaret, is on the panel at LOGO, did he condone it?
Hugh @ 119
Habeas Corpus is part of the Constitution (prior to the first 10 amendments). It is not part of the Fourth Amendment. I”m not disagreeing with you. Just trying to understand.
Jane’s upstairs
Margaret isnt related to Tucker in any way.
New Jane upstairs.
CTuttle @ 127
Margaret is not Tucker’s wife but she used to date Fred Thompson.
smapdi @ 130
They’re married!!!
Elliott @ 116
And on going coal fires is news? I have gone through a variety of descriptor’s yet found a soft way of saying what I feel. Hey ( dam shunt your mouth) you are not I hold my opinion as I do not know you but in the years I stood alone well I would guess some of you have, stop it ,you got money you get the view,
CTuttle @ 133
Oh, wait isn’t she married to Carville?
Ctuttle, are you channeling dead crazy people?
Tucker’s wife: Susan Andrews (1991 – present) 4 children
Jonathan @ 128
Yes, I know but if habeas corpus is reinstituted then due process and equal protection challenges can be made under the XIV Amendment.
I don’t think Sanchez should be the target of anyone’s ire. She did what she had to do because her constituents needed that bill. She’s used sound judgement in the past, can win elections, and certainly doesn’t need to be hammered just because reactionaries get their panties in a bunch.
The problem is a lot more complex and will take a lot more time to solve than just one election cycle, and that’s the dependence of many communities on defense spending.
Before you all nail the last spike into Rep. Sanchez’s cross, keep in mind that the C-17 aircraft is also used and needed in many peace time activities as well as all things having to do with military conflicts. The C-17 is basicaly the pack horse of the military or a flying frieght car if you will. We all remember the December 26, 2004 Tsunami and Earthquake that hit Indonesia and how we as a nation wanted to do everything we could to help the people affected by this terrible disaster. C-130 and C-17 aircraft flew 1300 relief missions from December through February carrying 24 million pounds of supplies including fresh water, meals ready to eat, tarps/tents, and medical supplies to the victims. This is just one of many examples why this type of aircraft is essential to the whole damn world when a large humanitarian effort is required. Let alone when there are things in our own country like a catostrophic forest fire, hurricanes, tornados, or anything of this nature that requires large amounts of relief supplies be sent to a region quickly. This aircraft is also capable of carrying emergency vehicles of all types like ambulances and fire trucks. The C-17 aircraft is capable of reaching remote areas as it has short take off and landing capabilities and refueling by air to reach very remote areas as well as being able to drop its cargo from the air without the necessity of actually landing. Maybe Rep. Sanchez had the wisdom to understand fully what a great and valuable tool the C-17 aircraft is in the humanitarian effort around the world. She is smart and savy enough to know how important winning hearts and minds is to winning the war on terrorism by having the ability to bring relief supplies to every part of the world with that plane being built in her district and providing jobs for he constituents at the same time. Rep. Sanchez deserves an apology from us progressives I think.
LS @ 73
I put my TiVo on fast forward when Hatch was on. No sense listening to him blather.
wangdangdoodle @ 64
I worked at Brown-Williamson at the time..(the tobacco company featured in the movie. Jeffrey Wiegand is a hero in my book.. He had the courage to stand up to some VERY powerful people.
There are lots of stories that any of us could share about the culture and environment inside that company…
Great movie, must see…
No, no, Matt — haven’t you heard? The Speaker is Bush’s lapdog, who didn’t go to YearlyKOS because Bush ordered her not to (according to Glenn Greenwald).
“Greenwald: Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid were scheduled to appear [at Yearly KOS], but they were ordered by George Bush to stay in Washington, and so they were unable to make it.” (DN! transcript)
See, Matt? The problem isn’t the Blue Dogs, who after Bush’s veto of the supplemental withdrew their yea votes, or who after helping crash the Speaker’s interim FISA bill. The problem is that the Speaker has not exerted sufficient discipline:
“AMY GOODMAN: Now, Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, called this “violence against the Constitution,” yet…How does it get passed without the Democratic leadership in some way conceding?
MARJORIE COHN: Well, there were several Democrats — sixteen Democrats in the Senate, forty-one Democrats in the House — this could not have been passed without the Democrats.”
See? If five-sixths of the caucus in the House votes with the Republicans, that’s the fault of the Democrat caucus as a whole, and of the Speaker in particular. She’s COMPLICIT!
And anyhow, impeachment is off the table, because she sits in Bush’s lap and eats from his spoon. Not because there aren’t sixty-seven free votes in the Senate to convict. No, Matt — it’s Pelosi, she’s the problem.
• Targeting her, and not the Blue Dogs or Bluish Senate Dogs who vote with Bush’s agenda going back to the beginning, long before Rep. Pelosi was even the minority leader. It’s real important to shove it in her face, because we don’t need to work with no stinking traitor lapdog.
How come Matt Stoler is deluded about this ‘Blue Dog Excuse’ that the leadership is using to avoid confronting Bush? And why should anyone expect anything less than a wall-to-wall monolith from the party in power? Didn’t we elect them to stop the war?
Of course, the people in the Congress — STILL IN THE CONGRESS — who STARTED the war, no, we can’t target them for protest. AFter all, THEY DON’T EXIST.
• Maybe Ving Rhames can lend us some of his 220 pound mastiffs so we can hound the Dem leadership until they agree to attend YearlyKOS via time machine. Don’t let them pretend that they can’t move backward in time — Amy Goodman says they are lying.
Oops, made a math error: “See? If five-sixths of the caucus in the House votes with the Republicans,”
I meant ‘iIf one-sixth of the caucus votes with the R in the House.’
In the early eighties the Dems had a majority in the House, but because conservative Dems almost always voted with Republicans, Reagan actually had a working majority.
Pelosi is desperately trying to avoid that, but in so doing, it often winds up practically the same as if it were the case.
Paul: the President has the constitutional authority to hold Congress in session. Pelosi and Reid could have flipped him a bird, but only if they could be sure enough of thier members wouldn’t show up to make a quorum.
I may be the only person to say it in this forum but I will take the heat. We may be in the wrong war, but we need the right equipment. I work building defense hardware. Our troops deserve the best equipment, bullet-proof vests, ammunition, etc. Before you condemn a program make sure you are condeming something useless like missle defense. Some of these new aircraft will replace 40 to 50 year old designs like the C-130. These aircraft have a great history and have served well from before Vietnam to today. But they are old designs and need to be upgraded to meet future needs and take advantage of new technologies for efficiancy. Just my 2C.
They’re building the C-17 at Boeing in Long Beach. It’s the only thing keeping that plant alive, and there’s enough jobs on the line that people really want the contract to keep going.]
You have to live around here to understand that most of the aerospace industry has moved to other states – like Texas and Alabama. SoCal got hit hard by Bush41’s cutbacks and his recession, so preventing more of the same is high on the list of a lot of politicians. (I know people who got laid off from aerospace in 1991/1992 and have had a hard time getting a decent-paying job ever since; the jobs left permanently. No one wants middle-aged programmers.)
Check out Digby’s post on this. She doesn’t blame Sanchez for her vote on this bill. In fact, Sanchez has voted against the war, even if for the defense spending. Yes, that’s crazy… but it’s the way the system is set up, and Digby does a good job of deconstructing it.
Hugh @ 74
And from what we’ve read here and at Blue America, we can assume that the pressuring freshmen were Emanuel’s picks, right? Now, that’s the place to start pressuring right back. Perhaps Emanuel can drop them a hint, now that he’s witnessed the effectiveness of Netroots’ candidates over his own.
If that’s what’s diriving the destruction of the Constitution, then it is time for the people of the “Blue Dog” districts, to get in there and explain thing to the “Blue Dogs.” And to be prepared to follow through with no money and no vote. That’s hard ball.
P J Evans @ 146
I just moved from California. If that’s the kind of politics that go on in San Diego, then we should learnan to play hard ball the other way. If Boeing wont’ build it in Long Beach, then they should lose the money for the contract! Dont’ tell me it’ll never happen. Elected officials what to get re-elected
cynic @ 149
A little research will introduce you to “B-1 Bomber Bob Dornan” — the rightwing warmonger scumbag who Sanchez defeated. TWELVE YEARS he held that district, with famous utterances such as:
Without a sense of CONTEXT, would be purifiers of the political system simply ANNOUNCE that the Blue Dogs will be removed. Snap your fingers, and they just cease to exist! It’s beautiful.
And don’t forget to kick the Speaker for talking to them when they show up as elected officials.
~~~ModNote: Edited for content to clear filters.~~~
Hey, Loretta, keep that C-17 flying (if it also has peacetime uses). Just don’t ever, ever stop a “peace bill” from passing Congress. I want you to look out for your constituents — but not at the detriment of the entire United States. If you vote for the C-17 to keep jobs in your district, I can understand. But, if you vote for the C-17 and it hurts the cause of peace in America and the world, then, unfortunately, you are no better (or not much better) than George W. Bush or Dick Cheney. And, as you well know, that’s the bottom of the ethical food chain. Please don’t go there.
LS @ 118
There are low magnitude earthquakes in these areas all the time. A 3.9 is extremely weak. Remeber that the Richter Scale is a logrthymic one. A 4.0 is 10 times stronger than a 3.9…and a 4.1 ten times stronger than the 4.0.
That means you have to go a long ways for an earthquake to occur that will actually shake something off a your dinner table. Much less cause a house to collapse.
If these mines are collapsing in NORMATIVE earthquakes of this size then standards to protect workers in them aren’t worth shite!
Putting aside the moral issue of funding the C-17 plant, why does Sanchez say that the *only* choice we have is whether to put those C-17 employees out of work or not? That is the choice Bush forced on the Dems, and it’s the Dems’ fault for not coming up with a bill that funded what *they* wanted but not the war. Essentially Sanchez is saying she is incompetent on this issue. Well, at least that answers the question of whether the Dems are spineless or brainless. Very sad.