More information about why Tony Snow is being forced to hit the road with his hat in his hand in order to keep from descending into penury (via Slate):
When Snow came to the White House after several years at the Fox News Channel, it was clear that he had relied entirely on others to save for his retirement. Snow conceded: “As a matter of fact, I was even too dopey to get in on a 401(k). So there is actually no Fox pension. The only media pension I have is through AFTRA [a union].” Even though his employer provided a 401(k) and would have matched contributions, and even though he was earning hundreds of thousands of dollars, Snow had not shown either the interest or financial capability to manage his own retirement benefits.
Now, see, this is the problem with today’s Republican Party. In the old days, you could at least count on Conservatives to be able to do simple math. They were dull, they were oppressively rich, white, and authoritarian, but they were (allegedly) the Party of Fiscal Responsibility.
Somewhere along the way that broke down. Was it during the “Greed is God” Reagan 80’s? These days, our side may be the Tax and Spend Liberals, but at least we aren’t the Rape and Pillage Republicans.
Does anyone in the Bush Administration plan anything more than fifteen, twenty minutes ahead, ever?
I remember way back when Jay Carney was trying to sell Bush to us as, “The CEO President”. Remember that old wheeze?
I wish that someone had thought to warn us that his business model was ENRON. Jeebus.
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first?
2?
yes!! will tell downstairs…
Damn, I blinked!
TRex? How are the NOLA kitties?
Does Snow have a family? Kids? How can someone not consider these things at least a little?
Top Ten?
Johnny Rotten!!!
OK. I will say this right now. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND PEOPLE WHO MAKE THIS MUCH MONEY WHO DON’T AT LEAST PUT SOME AWAY FOR RETIREMENT. I MEAN, WHAT. THE. FUCK?
There, I feel better.
neurophius @ 8
Rotten Johnny…
(Neil Young)
I would have been a zed if I hadn’t stopped to read the excellent post.
TRex.
Did you watch the Mark Fiore cartoon downstairs.
A frame with Mr. & Mrs. B with the huge, kittie eyes.
Steve-AR @ 5
So far, so good.
It was Poppy’s husband Chris’s birthday, today.
I have been saving for my retirement for all of my working life, with a lot of help from the IAFF. Never have I ever gone begging like Snowjob.
So, I don’t know how much Snow was making, but I figure I was making between 10-20% of that, and I have a savings account and a retirement account and half a plan for the future!
currently (temporarily) I’m saving more for my employees’ retirement than for our own…
Filth & Fury!
Thanks, TRex!
so trex, tony snow didn’t practice what he preached about personal responsibility – what will the fundies think of that?
Frankly he shouldn’t be allowed union money. Seeing as he helped to prop up an anti-union president.
Sorry Tony.
-GSD
Good point there GSD.
I’ve gotta get up in 5 hours to make breakfast for the kiddies … part of “back to school week” … although Tim Horton’s has fresh Bagels in the morning … hmmmm … *g*
G’nite y’all, hugs all around !
Suzanne @ 18
Oh, that’s just too rich. Just like Bush castigating the people who ‘bought houses they knew they couldn’t afford’.
The sheer, unmitigated gall of these people make me want to puke.
(((Petro))) good night!
I’ve always thought of the 80’s as the ‘me, me, me’ era. However, the republicans I know believe it was the fault of liberals.
Sid, vicious:
finally got around to reading it – talk about an up-is-down world…
Night Petro.
Alicia @ 22
Alicia, I left you a reply downstairs @ 439 … sweet dreams …
Petrocelli @ 21
Nite, Mi Amigo! It’s nice to have ya back Lakeside!!! *g*
The guy has a wife and three kids..colon disease for many years and no retirement? He is going to have to be on high pay wing-nut welfare..with metastatic disease..I would be surprised if he is alive a year from now.
Petrocelli @ 27
thx, petro! nighty night!
Steve-AR @ 29
Think he bought life insurance?
Right Wing Pushing Petraeus For President
from Think Progress by Amanda
petraeusbutton5.gif The GOP presidential field seemed complete last night when former senator Fred Thompson finally announced he was jumping into the race. But apparently the right-wing isn’t satisfied with its choices and is hoping that the race may have room for one more candidate — Gen. David Petraeus.
Today, the New York Sun has an editorial entitled “Petraeus for President?” In the piece, the editorial writers pen the speech they would like Petraeus to give on the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks:
I am prepared, even eager, to command our forces in this battle — but only on one condition: That you signal that you share my goal of victory. If you think I am mistaken and wish to continue your efforts to undermine me, then I cannot command. Absent that signal, I will resign, effective immediately, and take my case to the voters in a run for the presidency on a campaign to finish the work of winning the war and redeeming the sacrifice of so many Iraqis, allies, and our own GIs.
The Corner’s Kathryn Jean Lopez approvingly linked to the editorial this morning, titling her post “Dream Sequence.” Last spring, The Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol told the Harvard Republican Club that he and other “conservative insider[s]” believe “a ticket of Fred Thompson and David Petraeus might be able to avert electoral disaster for the GOP” in 2008.
It’s unlikely that Petraeus would be as warmly received by the American public, which wants withdrawal from Iraq. According to a Rasmussen poll of major political figures, Petraeus has an approval rating of only 24 percent — a number lower than even Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld.
As author of the “surge,” Petraeus is intimately tied to the administration and its Iraq failures and has acted as Bush’s main PR flack to cover-up mistakes. Some highlights:
Petraeus “softened” the intelligence community’s judgments about Iraq violence. After reviewing an early draft of the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq, “Petraeus succeeded in having the security judgments softened” to reflect so-called improvements in recent months.
Petraeus claimed the United States has “become liberators again” in Iraq. In June, Petraeus argued there was a “golden hour” of “omnipotence” in the early stages of the war where the U.S. was “viewed as a liberator.” He then claimed that Iraqis perceive the United States to once again be “liberators,” this time freeing them from the bloody civil war instigated as a result of the U.S. occupation.
Petraeus claimed life in Iraq is showing “astonishing signs of normalcy.” In June, Petraeus stated that he sees “astonishing signs of normalcy” in Baghdad, despite a report that found violence had “increased in most provinces, particularly in the outlying areas of Baghdad province.”
Petraeus has never shied away from inserting himself into politics. Just prior to the 2004 presidential election, Petraeus wrote an op-ed defending Bush’s course in Iraq. Recently, he defended Bush’s good friend Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who is facing a tough re-election race because of his support for the Iraq war.
Steve-AR @ 29
This evening, KO showed vids of Snow from a year ago. He is a ghost now. Very sad.
Snow is an idiot, like Bush. Your company has a 401K, and you don’t even look into it?
The Repugs like it like this. You have to be an expert in everything to make it to the end of the game. They thought they could let their financial minions get their hands on everybody’s social security money and let them gamble with it.
I swear, ya gotta be on our toes every minute these days. Everything is a scam. Health care, retirement, yr phone service. Whew! I really feel for the average person who is just trying to live from day to day. The corporations have legions of attorneys working for them, and the average joe has to try to fight against that. Really, it’s anti-American.(PS I feel for myself, too!)
Bush: ‘No military guy is gonna tell a civilian how to react.’
from Think Progress by Matt
In April, President Bush defended his plan to veto a bill mandating a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq by arguing that he would not “substitute the judgment of politicians in Washington for the judgment of our commanders on the ground.” But in Robert Draper’s new Bush bio, Dead Certain, the President’s opinion on the wisdom of military commanders is quite different:
So did Bartlett, who shared with Bush the concern that dumping Rumsfeld now would make it appear that the administration was acquiescing to the Rummy-must-go sentiments expressed on April 12 by retired Major General John Batiste and on the following day by retired Major General Charles Swannack (“My reaction,” Bush would recall of the so-called General’s Revolt, “was, ‘No military guy is gonna tell a civilian how to react.’” White House aides who had hoped to see Rumsfeld fired had predicted glumly that the retired generals’ remarks would prompt exactly that response from the boss. As one of them would lament, “The moment someone would say ‘Fire Donald Rumsfeld,’ Donald Rumsfeld would get a new lease on life.”) [p. 398]
TexBetsy @ 32
*boggle*
Night Petro. Good to have you back.
Now wanting MORE! Teddy, come home!
TexBetsy @ 31
Heh, a boat-load of units from Colonial Penn…!!! ;-)
Folks, I’m sorry to say, I’m with Tony on this one too. I’m a graduate of Yale, an ex-hippie, and a writer — and I’m going to have to work until I die. I always lived for today and thought tomorrow would take care of itself. Well, guess what, it didn’t.
Bad on me. Still, I like what I do — and I occasionally play the lottery. There’s always hope.
TexBetsy @ 31
If he did, it might have exclusions for “pre-existing conditions”.
KO mentioned it tonight – said something along the lines of betrayUS was the one behind the push for betrayUS to be prez
good night friends, two days’ worth of driving up and down I-95 has done me in…
You mean prayer is not an investment in your future?
This is the dawning of the “he who dies with the most toys wins” generation by the way.
-GSD
Oh, GOD!!!
Hurl…
This is from that Jay Carney article:
Right, cos George W. Bush was a humble
billionaire’s soncowpoke fromthe gold-plated creches of Connecticuta little town in Texas whowas handed everything on a silver platter and repeatedly pissed it awayhad to scrap and fight for everything he ever got.Jesus Fucking Christ in a Gaultier corset!
I am sooooo glad I gave Jay Carney a piece of my mind in that forum at YKos. He looked like he was eating big chunks of broken glass the minute I got to the mic.
I think it was when I said, “My name is David Ferguson and I blog as TRex at Firedoglake” and the crowd went, “YEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHRRRGHHH!!1!11!”. Carney realized that no matter what he writes or where he goes to talk about it, nobody was ever going to give him a reception like that.
Sadly, no, Mr. Carney. Being a Bush administration stenographer is never going to produce writing that makes people’s hearts beat faster and inspires them on a soul-deep level.
I didn’t have to go to Yale to learn that, bitchez.
radlib1 @ 39
Oh hell, I’ve got retirement savings going on, and I expect to work till the day I die as well. I just foresee too many cockups — SS goes, the dollar plummets to 1/1000th of its value, cost of living skyrockets, etc. I’m just hoping that I can work at something that supplements, and is something I want to do…
TexBetsy @ 31
Interesting question but we may never know. I hope he lives long enough to rat out the Decider and Shooter.
LoudounLib @ 42
Nite, LL!!!
The cockroach cartoon (C&L link) from previous thread was disgusting. IIRC, Iranians held candlelight vigils for us americans after 911. Perhaps someone should find a picture of that & send to the paper to remind them.
TexBetsy @ 15
The Slate article said his salary was $168 K
Hey, in old age, it’s back to the communes of the 70’s! Gather together, those that have and those that haven’t and grow veggies! As Wavey Gravey said at Woodstock: “Feed each other!”
newspaperbrat @ 46
Tsk, Tsk, NPB, such venom…!!! 8-)
peanutbutter @ 36
WTF?
SeamusD @ 49
I earn half a teacher’s salary plus assorted other tutoring gigs & synagogue teaching.
newtonusr @ 33
I am very conflicted every time this situation arises. I spent my working career trying to save lives..but an enabler of mass murder..should I feel pity that he is going to have a miserable death..that is still unresolved in my mind. When I look at the pictures of dead and maimed Iraqi children, I have no sympathy for these war criminals.
TRex @ 44
TREX!!! Attack, Attack, Attaaaaaaaaaaaaackkkk!!!!
TRex @ 44
Right on, my brotha! The World O’ Delusion is in full force with these folks. They wouldn’t recognize a fact if it bumped into it in a men’s room…
Bush has no clue in the world what “a regular guy” is & has the gall to pretend he does.
itwasntme @ 34
Speaking of phone service? Why would anyone recommend an Apple Iphone? The only service Apple offers is AT&T, which is the company that agreed to spy on us. I haven’t been able to figure out why Apple would have agreed to this contract, or why people would buy it.
Perhaps shrub doesn’t offer a medical plan and he has to pay for his own care out of pocket … ;P
If boosh were a “regular guy,” he would have owned up to his awful mistakes and resigned long before now. “Regular guys” do the right thing.
newspaperbrat @ 52
This actually leads to an interesting question…if you could pick your fave Repub to run for President, who would it be? I like Tom DeLay, but there are lots of other great picks, too.
Loo Hoo. @ 58
I don’t think the AT&T monopoly will last. Also, there are already workarounds, both hardware and software, legally, that unlock the iPhone so it will take any SIM card. And the price has already dropped $200.
Loo Hoo. @ 58
A 17 yo kid figured out how to hack the I-Phone so that it will work with any phone service. May be that is why the price was lowered by $200 yesterday.
TRex @ 44
*chomp* mighty powerful jaws there, TRex…!!! *g*
Alicia @ 61
I’ll have to go with Lucifer Tancredo. He’d be lucky if actually got a single elector.. and he IS running
SeamusD – i saw today that apple was trying to hold off the thousands of pissed off iphone buyers by offering those who bought the iphone initially a 100 credit for not waiting a few months and saving 200 – don’t think that is gonna satisfy all those new iphone owner.
I can’t decide between Katherine Harris or that Schmidt woman for president.
OT: We finally have the answer to the perenniel question: “What did the president know and when did he know it?”
So, there it is, courtesy of Sidney Blumenthal at Salon: http://www.salon.com/opinion/b…..=whitelist
Is anyone surprised?
Now that’s just really, really stupid! So many people don’t have his advantages, and he just blows free money. There must be something wrong with him beside cancer.
Just dropping by before bed. ‘Night all.
Bill Bleeding Frist.
Oh, yeah. That would be a party.
Blub @ 65
Oh, c’mon, get real! The Shooter, Himself, hands down…!!! 8-)
TRex, you the tyrannosaurus to the max! Attack! Attack! Attack!
Even the cancer-stricken hypocite and liar, Tony Snow, must not escape from your rapacious grasp. No pity for the apologists of murder.
For truth, justice, and the American Way, it’s TRex to the rescue!
Blub @ 65
He’s good. How about Rick “Man-on-Dog” Santorum for a running mate?
Blub @ 65
He’s good. How about Rick “Man-on-Dog” Santorum for a running mate?
wigwam @ 68
just like boosh dismissed that aug ‘01 briefing on obl determined to strike in the us with that ok you’ve covered your ass and told me (paraphrased) dismissal of the cia briefer.
It is interesting all of the spin and counterspin coming out from the Whitehouse and beyond.
Poor Turdblossoms’ office chair hasn’t even been Febrezed yet and his carefully crafted message machine is already all busted up.
Poor Chimpy, doesn’t have his little Rove blanky to snuggle up with anymore.
-GSD
Line-ups of the century:
Tancredo-Poindexter
Hunter-Schmidt
DeLay-Harris
No, no. Ralph Reed.
Blub @ 65
Huckabee is the one that seems to worry the Dem pundits the most. He is the only one of the Thugs that isn’t insane, but jesus, a Baptist minister who thinks the earth is 6,000 years old as President? Well I guess “W” is worse.
for npb and any other members of our hopefully not doomed Run, Al, Run club:
link
Al Gore’s ‘Rope-a-Dope’ Political Strategy
Cheney-Poindexter? Ah no.. that’s too scary to contemplate. We’re well into Freddy Kruger territory
GSD @ 76
707!
wigwam @ 68
Ding! Medal of Freedom.
Blub @ 65
Senator Larry Craig is my fave nominee at da moment.
Did Brownback really say the earth is flat at the repub debate or was that a joke? It is just so hard to know anymore what’s real & what’s a bad dream.
Larry Craig for dogcatcher in 2008
ironranger @ 67
Ooooh, that would be historic! One woman would pilot a space shuttle and another woman would launch a Presidential campaign! And there’s always Phoenix Woman’s favorite, Michele Bachmann!
GSD @ 76
Gillespie was sent in as the Plutocrats hit-man to try and salvage this mess..it’s too late. They and we are fucked.
punaise @ 80
I’m a card-carrying member.
The Loser in Chief brings his Mr. Bean shtick Down Under:
Bush was about 15 minutes late starting his speech, as aides hustled audience members down from the balcony to fill the many empty seats below. He started his remarks with a gaffe. In Sydney to attend the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, a 21-nation group of Pacific Rim countries whose economies account for nearly half of all global trade, Bush first referred to the group as OPEC, the cartel of major oil producers. The audience remained quiet through his speech.
Scorned at home, loathed abroad.
-GSD
Barbara Boosh/Karl Rove ticket
Alicia@87:
I thought of Bachmann too. Those 3 are some creepy, scary females.
ironranger @ 85
I sh*t you not! I heard it with my own ears, didn’t want to, but…!!! ;-)
Suzanne @ 66
I saw that too. They are also dropping the 4 GB model so its only $299 until the sell out.
FEMA Considering Changes to Relocation Assistance Program
from Think New Orleans by Matt McBride
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r…..153155223/
In direct response to my concerns regarding the Feb. 1, 2006 start date on their new Relocation Assistance program, FEMA is strongly considering (NOTE: considering) revisions to the policy.
I’ve received two phone calls over the last day FROM members of the Individual and Household Program inside FEMA. Both have confirmed that the start date is very likely to be changed to an earlier date.
They also said they will be issuing new guidance to the public in a few days on this which will – in addition to changing the start date – also clarify the 50 mile rule. That rule was not mentioned in the original August 27, 2007 press release, but it is a part of the restrictions on the program. They did say that such a rule does not apply if a household is moving back across state lines.
For those of you who may have not received email from me on this topic yet, here are the key documents:
FEMA press release detailing the program (FEMA, August 27, 2007) FEMA grants help finance trip home (Times-Picayune article, August 28, 2007)
The following articles give a little more information about how the program came about: FEMA to pay return costs (Times-Picayune article, June 1, 2007) ONE-WAY DILEMMA (Times-Picayune article, January 7, 2007)
Suzanne @ 90
Blammo! Kill ‘em with kindness!
CTuttle @ 93
That is the title of one of Tom “Friedman Unit” Friedman’s books.
It is intended to mean that technology has made all areas of the world easily accessible.
Needless to say Sam Brownback’s head is flat.
-GSD
Alicia @ 61
With all due respect to the “be careful what you wish for” wisdom, Giuliani is the biggest nothing I can imagine, and the thought of him, Dame Judi, and Louis running just seems so ridiculous. Did everyone see the Glenn Greenwald film on Rudy that came out today?
Dead Wrong
from Dissident Voice by Cindy Sheehan
A new book called Dead Certain by Robert Draper of GQ magazine was just published. I haven’t read it yet and I don’t know when I will have the time or the intestinal fortitude to read an account of the presidential life of the person who was responsible for the death of my oldest child, Casey, but I have seen reports and read excerpts from it. I cannot profess complete knowledge about it, but of course, one of the excerpts particularly caught my eye and imagination. (more…)
Alicia @ 96
It’s working out quite well for them…snicker..
-GSD
CTuttle@92:
I was afraid of that! I knew that Faux was repeating the debate but just couldn’t do it. I’m surprised that clip isn’t on C&L. So if Huckabee thinks the earth is 6000 years old, can we assume he also thinks the world is flat?
I think I’m going to wait and ask for an iPhone for Christmas. I bet they have some really, really cool ones by then.
They need to make it so you can select your ring tones and wallpaper. Those things are incredibly important to me. I hate the way most cell phones sound. Mine just sounds like wind chimes. It’s an mp3 of the chimes at this one 1000 year old temple in Japan, blah, blah, blah.
The thing is, I keep getting psyched out by real wind chimes. I’ll be walking by someone’s porch and be, like, “Hello? Hello?”
Suzanne @ 75
I’m so sick of seeing/hearing this disaster blamed on bad intelligence, and having wingnuts take umbrage at any suggestion that Bush lied us into war.
Also, as I recall in two of the 2004 debates Bush said of Kerry: “He had access to the same intelligence that I did.”
What lying sacks of shit these people are!
Bush accepts invitation to Beijing Olympics
http://www.iht.com/articles/20…..7prexy.php
Human rights groups and a Republican member of Congress condemned President George W. Bush’s acceptance of the invitation to the 2008 games.
Alright, time to eat and watch an episode of “Angel”, then I’m off to bed.
TRex @ 101
entering the dinosaur’s chime era?
TRex, how often do you get a new phone?
g’nite TRex – sleep well
BigMitch @ 97
No, but I read the VF article about Judi and Louie. That’s hot!
Would that be Robert Greenwald?
TexBetsy @ 104
Imagine the security costs for that clusterfuck!
BigMitch @ 97
Hey Mitch! Where was it released? (Psst… 6 1/2 Games) *g*
punaise @ 86
I’ve long lost track, is he in or out?
Last one. Not sure if Cassie posted it earlier:
There’s a video.
GSD @ 99
Ha! But really, all that sweetness and compassion might be too much -
America might go into insulin shock.
At the end of the last thread (way late again) I asked if anyone had suggestions what to see in western West Virginia & western Virginia when I travel through there this month.
I was thinking it would be a hoot to stop & see the Creationist Museum but I wouldn’t want to spend the $ to get in.
peanutbutter @ 111
of closet or senate? or bathroom?
Alicia @ 109
yeppers. View it here.
TexBetsy @ 115
I think that stall door is shut for good…!!!
TexBetsy @ 116
Heh, heh… I left that wide open, didn’t I?
TexBetsy @ 106
*grumble*
Here’s the deal.
The Beautiful Phone’s face-plate? It cracked AGAIN!! This time in a different place.
As gorgeous as it is, I don’t think this phone and I are going to work out in the long run.
Up 3 in the wild card race.
BigMitch @ 117
That vid is a thing of beauty, Mitch. Thanks.
TexBetsy @ 104
Oh this is too rich.. according to the article, the rethug member of congress calling for a human rights-based boycott of the Olympics is none other than Dana Rohrabacher (R-Klan), who, on various occasions has stopped just short of advocating ethnic cleansing of Latinos from my state… and who wants to turn my city (which his district does NOT border) into a free-fire zone for hunting undocumented workers. Yep. Rohrabacher of the Bigot Three (Tancredo and opportunist Hunter being the other two) is urging us to uphold human rights. Chinese human rights are deplorable, yes, but Rethug hypocrisy is just priceless…
peanutbutter @ 118
he’s no longer running for orifice
Suzanne @ 91
heh…
TRex @ 119
FUCK
*putting quarter into swear jar – taking it out again
FUCK
putting it back in again
punaise @ 124
So he skated near the rim but pulled out?
TexBetsy:
Cassie is one awesome, amazing girl. She has more common sense, intelligence & heart than the whole administration put together.
Thank goodness for young people like her but what a mess they will have to contend with. A mess that arrogant, delusional, careless greedy people created without a second thought.
Suzanne @ 125
Oh no! Now they know that you keep on using the same quarter over and over again!
Blub @ 123
Don’t bet the farm on the US going to Chinese olympics. BTW, I had lunch today with a friend whose wife didn’t go to the Moscow olympics even though she was the world record holder in her event at the time. Race-walking.
TRex @ 44
In the immortal words of Molly Ivins, “born on third base and thinks he hit a triple!” Hurl, indeed.
Awesome.
Romney plan would eliminate some taxes (AP)
from Yahoo! News
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070907/ap_on_el_pr/romney_taxes
Republican presidential hopeful, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, answers a question during the Republican presidential debate Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2007, at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, N.H. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)AP – Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is filling in the blanks in his proposal to eliminate taxes on interest and dividends for families earning less than $200,000 a year.
That’s what I said.
Fortunately, I had thought ahead and ordered another faceplate from Germany. It should be here some time in the next couple of weeks.
I can’t believe how much money I’ve spent on this phone.
You can find pictures from the 80’s of Dana Rorabacher dressed up like Afghani mujahedeen online.
You know back when the Islamic fundamentalists were considered noble men of faith and freedom fighters.
-GSD
Per this article by Kos:
Not back from recess for a week, and the democrats are eager to find something to capitulate on. Is there a prize or something at stake here?
Some Dana quotes (by no means the best or most extreme.. just the ones I could find quickly):
“I support this war on terror and the war on Islam.”
“I say, let the prisoners pick the fruits.”
last one of the night, and then it’s time for me to wind down.
http://english.aljazeera.net/N…..20DDD5.htm
Saudi Guantanamo prisoners released
from AL JAZEERA
The US says 16 detainees sent back home after reviewing their threat levels.
BigMitch @ 130
My reply had nothing to do with whether or not shrub should or shouldn’t go.. it was based solely on the utter absurdity of Rohrabacher (who advocates forced prison slave labor in camps in support of US industry among other things, and who has openly talked about the superiority of White civilization) being the spokesperson on Chinese (or any other) human rights.
ironranger @ 115
Skyline Drive is always beautiful, if that’s on your way. And if not, the Blue Ridge Parkway further south is also very pretty.
I didn’t get to stop there when I was down that way, but Virginia`s Explore Park near Roanoke looks pretty interesting, and there are some other interesting sites as well.
BigMitch @ 116
That is great, BigMitch. Thanks.
TRex @ 132
see, tex, i can use the same quarter if i’m just quoting him
Blub @ 136
If I’m not mistaken, the “work details” he envisioned were in chains. In the south. Some image.
What happened to us?
TexBetsy @ 137
Apparently they were the best of the worst.
-GSD
Thanks, Redshift.
ironranger @ 115
Western West Virginia is coal country..travel the back roads and it’s a real eye opener. Without knowing your route, it is hard to say, but the New River Gorge and bridge is worth a look..in Western Virginia, drive up the Blue Ridge Pky.
wigwam @ 134
The Abercrombie-Tanner bill was unveiled prior to the recess, I remember the pr for Abercrombie’s proposal here in his home state! Lead Balloon!!! Speaking of which…*plink*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQvxi9KZDqA
radlib1 @ 39
Yeah, but did you have a career that paid at least a million, probably several, including speaking fees, etc? Any sympathy for Tony has to be tempered by the fact that when he was working for Fox, he probably could have found as much money as I’m putting in my 401k under his couch cushions.
There’s “living for today” and there’s “blowing more money than most of us can dream of having.”
goodnight friends
Everyone must be going to see if the Daily show is a repeat.Blub @ 138
Stop the presses! Rethuglicans are hypocrites! But seriously folks, Rohrbacher may be a prime example of absurdity, but he is only one of many such examples. I predict you’ll be hearing from lots of them on the subject of the olympics. My response was not intended to be a comment on whether or not we should go, either.
pain free sleep wishes, tex
nite betsy
Liela Tov, TexB
Layla tov Mitch
Night gang.
-GSD
Blub @ 59
Nope, at least as long as he’s been Press Secretary, he’s had a good government employees’ healthcare plan. (You know, the kind that Bush has done his best to eliminate by trading govt employees for contractors at great expense.)
g’nite gsd
Nite, Tex and GSD!!!
If a guy pulling down a six-figure salary cannot save enough for his retirement, how the hell is somebody who makes significantly less supposed to?
Niters Betsy & GSD – sleep well.
Tokyokie @ 158
Don’t embrace a rethug lifestyle. It takes money to exploit the masses, oppress your opponents and crush the constitution underfoot :)
Night, all – I’m checking out too.
ironranger @ 115
If you are going to that part of Virginia, a good anthro-socialogical reference book would be “Deer Hunting with Jesus”..When I checked into a motel in that part of Virginia, the clerk asked for my phone number.it starts with 666..he nearly had a stroke..enough said.
Tokyokie @ 158
This story is all wrong. This chump stepped up for Chimpy and that’s hazardous duty pay. This is bullshit, IMO.
Tokyokie @ 158
Is it possible that FOX does not give employees medical insurance and Snow came to the WH broke? Fox has said for many years that Americans need to buck up.
We have an emergency situation in beautiful Monterey County – the Rethugs bureaucrats are determined to dust the Mty Peninsula coastal communities by very low flying planes with toxins they claim is necessary to kill brown moths allegedly from China.
For the whole sorry update check out this link:
http://www.montereyherald.com/…..ck_check=1
Tokyokie @ 158
Ain’t that the truth…!!!
This
has been my earworm for the last week. I heard a this song 2 years ago on the Live Action Saiyuuki ending and fell in love. The band just came out with a new album and that’s been on repeat since last week. Go figure, a pair of canuck brothers move and settle in japan and start a band. Feelgood pop, the kind you don’t see much anymore here. XD
newspaperbrat @ 164
fingers and toes crossed that santa cruz does not doing the pheromone dusting. i was working patrol when the med-fly copters were flying over spraying everything.
Loo Hoo. @ 164
FOX is an entertainment complex. I’ll bet the pay is spectacular. Benefits, too.
As macabre as it is to say, if Snow has money issues, they are for his family, once he is gone. And that may not be too long.
aliasofwestgate @ 167
Kewl Tune, Alias!!!
Dear Mr Snow,
Welcome to the middle class… enjoy social insecurity
Well, I shall bid another fond adieu to the Lake! Aloha Oe!!!
g’nite ct – sleep well
aliasofwestgate @ 167
Bizarre! Totally different, but here’s what I left for Wangdang just before she konked out.
Hope you guys enjoy it!
Sorry to have linked that other Esther Phillips if you are new to her. Here’s her best.
Suzanne @ 168
Suzanne @ 168
What galls me especially are the local and state officials caving in and not standing up to the Feds whom they claim the decision buck stopped at their door. The City of Monterey threatend to sue and get a restraining order and then caved today. The planes start dumping this stuff on Sunday morning. The oddest thing is the invasion of this pesty moth began weeks ago and in my little village of Carmel peaked weeks ago.
Rumors abound that Dirty Harry and his fellow owners of Pebble Beach had the spraying postponed so it wouldn’t interfere with a golf tournament held last weekend.
Ahnold couldn’t stop if he wanted to for the feds are the untouchables, even for the Terminator.
I did not read through all the previous comments, so I may be reiterating what has already been said.
I found it astounding for a man in Snow’s position to announce publicly that he is in bad financial straits. We all know he is serously ill. I have to think the cost of his treatment, despite whatever health plan he’s on, is putting a big dent in his family’s finances. His public statements are practically a public service announcement for funded health care. Ironic, yes. But I think if it were not for his illness, he would still be toughing out on his government salary, fighting the good fight for his masters and figuring on a payout after the administration is gone. What about his public announcement that he took out a loan when he took the job and now it’s run out? Does that sound like toatl bullhsit or what? The Rebups have ordained the idea of debt piled on debt. This guy can’t refinance?
Is it ultimately the only way a dying true believer is letting the truth out, convoluted as it is, hat their way did not turn out to be the best way?
Loo Hoo. @ 174
Oh, that is lovely Loo Hoo. :D Incredible voicing and production. Gotta love it. I grew up north of Motown, so i’ve so much respect for that whole era of voices. I grew up listening to that entire genre.
Loo Hoo. @ 175
That is very nice, Loo Hoo. The first was not her best, but the intro was “interesting”…
time for me to head off – dishes and floors are calling my name… then off to bed – g’nite all
Esther is an acquired taste for sure. Listening several times while cleaning the house is the ticket!
Night, Suz!
Loo Hoo. @ 181
Jpop and rock in any form is an aquired taste too. But its worth it for infectious stuff like that, and some incredible stuff in the less poppy genre they have. Gods, i love music. It’s the one thing keeping my sane in this crazy time.
Night Suz!
Puh..leeeeze… the only thing more “distasteful” than being broke is being sick.
My guess: Tony’s not doing so well physically. So he claims to be broke so that he can skirt questions about his health.
newtonusr @ 110
After reading about all the equipment/personnel it took to get him down under (and then the comics bust security *g*), that was exactly my reaction.
Wrt to snow’s situation -
Sometimes what goes ’round really does come ’round.
Waccamaw @ 185
Well.. shrub routinely takes 400-3000 hangers-on everywhere he goes.. versus 1/5th to 1/10th that many for Clinton. This being said, I’m sure he’ll find Beijing perfectly safe: by the time he gets there, his hosts will have killed anyone who could conceivably be a threat (and probably all of their relatives, for good measure). Human rights advocate Dana Rohrabacher would be pleased.
If some insurance co was dumb (or wingnutty) enough to write a ife insurance policy for Jerry Falwell last year, they’ll write one for Tony Snow.
Falwell had several policies, and now Liberty U is debt free. Ain’t that special?
Blub (if you’re still about) -
Looks like everybody else headed off to nod land.
I can envision this China trip turning into a real brouhaha as time draws nearer…….just another way to alienate the few people left in the world who *don’t* hate the us of a. Rohrabacher makes my skin crawl.
TheOtherWA @ 187
Didn’t hear about that one. Un-freaking-believable!
Oh, yeah. Falwell’s insurance.
Like I said, wingnut welfare.
Loo Hoo. @ 164
I’m wondering if he paid out-of-pocket for tests and maybe even surgeries if there was a contract negotiation in progress. I just can’t figure it out.
TheOtherWA @ 190
In the end, his son says, an insurance company came looking for him.
Too bad some enterprising reporter didn’t delve deeper into this pile of sh!t.
As of Thursday, “No Future” for seven more soldiers/Marines.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl…..82,00.html
I would guess Faux provides health insurance for their employees, especially the on air people. Remember, before Snow went to the WH, he had an additional checkup to make sure he was cancer free before he took the job. That’s what they claimed anyway.
Maybe the deductible and copays of the federal employee health insurance plan were too much to handle for a guy with a wife and three (?) kids. Living in DC is quite expensive. $168,000 is a hell of a lot of money to me, but in Snow’s circumstances, it might not last very long.
I hope he sees the value to everyone in a single payer system.
TheOtherWA @ 194
Don’t hold your breath while hoping, darlin’; somebody would have to announce your demise before the next post goes up.
Waccamaw @ 195
Even Lee Atwater saw the light before he died. Here’s hoping Snow sees it before it’s his time. And I never said I was holding my breath, btw. I’m not suicidal. ;)
And now, goodnight. *poof*
Why must Democrats always capitulate? Why can’t they stand up to the Republicans, like Ron Paul does?
For TRex… Mean Little Kitty
Good morning, pups. Today it’s Bobo and Mr. Krugman in the NYT. Bobo has noticed that the American health and pension systems are coming apart at the seams, and he thinks someone from the Heritage Foundation has the solution. Mr. Krugman points out that Gen. Petraeus has a history of making overoptimistic assessments of progress in Iraq that just happen to be convenient for his political masters.
http://mgpaquin.wordpress.com/
Coffee and tea are ready, and I’ve got waffles this morning if anyone wants one. Have a great Friday.
Good Morning from GA. The discussion on Snow and health insurance is interesting. If he doesn’t return to FOX TV he’ll be added on to a Conservative Think Tank or Corporate Board to qualify for Health Insurance. One of the perks for connections.
Marion in Savannah @ 200
Hi Marion
It’s also worth it to read
America’s Guardian Myths by SUSAN FALUDI in the NYT this am.
Herbert’s ‘analysis’ is so full of fundamental errors it is small wonder that his conclusions miss the mark by a solar system.
The first assumption is that Americans require diverse alternatives. Most Americans have one clear alternative today, whether that be the package their employer offers or public aid.
The problem is not a lack of choice. The problem is that the choices are crap and nothing.
Then there is this precondition about “contributing to society”. This is a slippery slope which the author should be advised to avoid, if only for his own sake.
Then there is the Republican’s favorite incentive: tax credits. Problem is that health care services, if you really need them, cost a heck of a lot than the entire tax burden of a 200% poverty-level family.
In other words “Thanks for nothing”
In short, this is the kind of economic analysis you get from people whod failed Accounting 101.
If you cannot accurately describe the problem, you will never find the problem.
Just what I wanted to see on the front page of this morning’s paper — that a Federal judge said the Georgia voter ID law can stand:
http://savannahnow.com/node/356612
GRRRRRR…
raven -
Spot on, this…… from the NYT article you ref’d:
“Like the cultural imagineers before them, our post-9/11 press, entertainers and political spin doctors set to work to prop up our sense of virile indomitability — “the return of the manly man” and a reconstituted “John Wayne masculinity” were on every media lip, as the triumphs of torture-prone Jack Bauer heroes were on every TV. The 2004 presidential campaign was given a Western stage set — with the candidates proving their ability to assume the mantle of Crockett in Chief by bragging about their gun collections, hacking at brush and tree stumps and shooting at wild animals. (John Kerry spent so much time in hunting camouflage that he was dubbed “John the Deerslayer.”)”
And tweety carries on the spin daily….’xcept he ’specially loves the term “JUICE”….gak!
When one of these bin laden tapes shows up, don’ya just love the way the media initially moans and b!tches about whether he s/b given any air time…………and then proceed to talk about it 24/7?
Good morning everybody!
Good Morning, Firepups!
It’s overcast, cool, and humid this morning in central Jersey. [waves hello to Marion in Savannah]
Have only been lurking here at the ‘Lake. Busy time at work–several proposals and lots and lots of reports. Also busy with family responsibilities–Mr. NJP’s parents have serious health issues. His mom went into the hospital in April and has been bouncing back and forth between hospital and rehabilitation centers. She had colon surgery in late May and has had a very hard recuperation. She went back to the hospital on August 10, with a high fever and some kind of infection, and while the worst is over, she’s still not ready to go back to a rehab center yet.
Without wanting to contribute to the Dems are spineless wimps meme, let me just say how disappointed I am by what I hear about the coming “Surge is a success” juggernaut, rolling over the Congressional Dems. It is so surprising that the Administration and their creatures in Congress would have a p.r. strategy [they certainly don’t have a military strategy]? Even I could predict that. Why do Reid and Pelosi and their caucuses seem so thunderstruck by this? It certainly makes you want to smack them upside the head, and tell them to stop cowering and stand up and fight for what the vast majority of the country wants.
Iced coffee’s in the fridge. Corn muffins are in the basket on the counter. Help yourselves.
IIRC this was true for Harriet Miers also..the only asset that she had was a house her mother left her, no savings, and no retirement. so much for the “ownership society.”
Bet tho, that Miers would have reliably voted for the plutocrats from the SCOTUS bench….even tho she had no chance of being one.
Hey! Give credit where it’s due.
Ken Lay, the Houdini of sleight-of-hand accounting performed the Impossible for his last act.
“You can’t take it with you” is axiomatic to dying.
Kennie Boy’s estate, due to his conviction, owed $45 million right up to the moment he took his last living breath.
But because his appeals had not been granted their day in court his estate’s debt to all those Kenny had defrauded was expunged.
The estate keeps the $45 million.
Give credit where credit is due.
(cognitorex blogspot)
njprogressive @ 208
To riff off njp -
betrayUS arrives in D. C. on Tuesday to “prepare” for his presentation next Monday. Guess that should give the thug coalition plenty of time to polish the p.r. campaign to a bright sheen. :-(
And I’ll take one of those corn muffins off your hands, thank you very kindly. Hope your mum-in-law improves shortly……whenever I hear the words “fever” and “infection” in conjunction with “hospital”, the thought of having to go to one scares me spitless.
Not long ago there was the rumor that NYTimes would be dropping their pay select restriction. Was there any truth to that?
This will get epu’d but here goes anyway -
It would *appear* that Rep. jerry weller (R. Ill) might be having a wee tad of trouble wrt certain beach-view land deals in Nicaragua: (nice long article)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/…..3079.story
ironranger @ 212
From NY Post:
raven:
NYTimes can stop charging online access any time now that they made the decision. Wish they would stop dragging their feet already. I love Krugman.
njprogressive @ 208
well, if the Ds are so willing to let themselves be manipulated by the threat of Rs calling them weak, why not use the similar threat (of their base calling them spineless wimps) to try to get them to do the right thing?… or at least balance out the threat from the Rs?
p.s. good luck with all your work and family cares….
ironranger @ 215
If you can get someone with a edu mail address it’s free now.
raven@217:
edu address, good to know. Thanks.
G’Morning!
raven @ 202
second that. very interesting ideas… raven, you should email this to glenn greenwald, he might be interested as he is writing a book (in addition to his many columns) on the faux “manly man” that Rs dream of.
ironranger @ 218
See they hyperlink on this page
http://www.nytimes.com/product…..rview.html
selise @ 220
Her book “Stiffed” is one of my favorites.
neurophius @ 60
ditto!
Alicia @ 87
How about the Harris-Schmidt ticket — because you can never have too much runny makeup and crying and screaming hissy fits!
Or, for the dark crowd, there’s the Cheney-Negroponte ticket, because you’re afraid…very afraid.
Suzanne @ 108
Does a TRex dream of crushing Repubs in his teeth, only to be distracted by Japanese wind chimes? Heh
peanutbutter @ 112
He’s probably an independent because when he came out he went back in, though Repubs want him out. He’s fighting to stay in, since he never actually said he was out. Repubs tried to put his daughter in, but she’s probably out by now. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Woot!
TRex, what is this obsession with kicking Tony Snow when he is down? Cancer-ridden, out of a job, desperately seeking a last-minute solution to his retirement needs. I hate the guy’s politics and the manner in which he represented an evil administration, but why do you have to be so personal in your attacks? I’ve said it before, it is time for the world of leftist bloggers to mature and foresake the ad hominem attacks which lower them to the level of the cretins who comment in the right-wing blogs. Take the high road for God’s sake!