[Halloween candy is nummy. Here's The Peanut checking out her vast candy haul from yesterday. In case you are wondering, she was Belle, and enjoyed trick or treating immensely.]
A few tricks and treats for today:
– I will be on Thom Hartmann’s Show today at 2:30 pm ET.
– Note to Rummy: No amount of pithy PR sloganeering and thumb on the pressitude can make a crappy policy smell like roses, nor can it make your myraid failures of leadership look stellar. It’s called accountability. Try it. (And I don’t even know what to say about a person who uses Donald Rumsfeld as his polestar of manliness. Yeesh.)
– Condi? Still sucking at her job. (And Digby pens a mash note to Karen Hughes. And I do mean mash…)
– As Mark Kleiman notes, the Republicans on the SJC are demanding that Democrats stop playing politics with the DOJ. No, I’m not kidding.
– Just when you thought things couldn’t get any weirder… (H/T to Noah at Wired.)
– I’ll take a stab at an answer for Duncan: remember the “malaise” of the Carter years? Sure, some of it was manufactured media hype, but there was a palpable sense that we were on a losing streak for a while there between gas rationing and Iranian hostages and so forth. The Bush Years make that look like a momentary blip, and people know it. We are going to be cleaning up after King George for several generations — because any and everything he has touched has gone badly in the end, either due to poor planning, no planning, utter lack of comprehension…or denial of the truth. And the worst part of it? We still have over a year to endure it. If that isn’t enough, Dick Cheney is still pulling strings. And the public knows that, too. People want to be able to make a difference, turn things around, get us back on the right track…you name the cliche. But how? Honestly, with this crowd in the White House…how? Now there is a question worth discussing for a while, eh?
– Plus, as Susie says, it’s going to be along, cold winter for folks in limited incomes. Brrrrrr, indeed.
– Ethics, schmethics. Blackwater gets a new boss. (H/T Steve-AR.)
– Oliver Willis notes that Gen. Petraeus and Ahmed Chalabi are pals. Excellent choice. Just excellent.
– Oh that Dick Cheney. What a laugh riot: (H/T Froomkin)
“Dick Cheney gets people talking, though,” Mr. Roth said. “People wonder if he’s going to shoot something. Or someone.”…
The ambulance that accompanied the vice president’s motorcade when he left the gun club for a nearby airport was carrying no passengers — an encouraging sign….
Nothing like a canned hunt with your game flushed out for you in a deliberately overstocked environment to make you feel like a real man. My dad, who has been a hunter his whole life, calls it cheating and pathetic. It isn’t the shot that is important, it’s the ability to track and find your own game, to ensure that you aren’t taking more than you need to feed your family, and that you are a steward of the land from whence it came. Three strikes on that one, Dick. (Although good job on the Halloween costume. And your little dogs, too… [H/T twolf1])
– Strike three, and TBogg says you are outta here.
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Good morning.
Just spoke to Jane. She’s being prepped for surgery and waiting for the anesthesiologist — and cracking jokes. Will let everyone know once she’s out of surgery. Luv ya, Jane!
Rats! I coulda had a zed, but I went and read TRex’s post about Phelps at Late, late night. Now to read this post.
OT – Look out, Christy:
African lion reported roaming in woods of West Virginia!
Good luck ,
((((((( Jane)))))))
Oh dear, I did not realize she was so close to the next round of surgery. She will definitely be in my prayers. (Gnomes have very special ways of praying, you know.)
That girl, Jane. No sense of propriety!
We sweat bullets over her and she’s playing Sheckie Green!
Good thoughts girl.
JF @ 4
It’s not safe anywhere. We have bigfoot here in PA. ;)
Christy Hardin Smith @ 2
Hugs to Jane – I have to have surgery later this month, so I’m sending good energy thoughts out there.
Glad Peanut had a goodtime with Hallowe’en. We live in the country, so we used to take our kids to the trick or treating at the local mall – safe and a lot of fun – the parents all got into it too. Lots of dress up fun.
Bruce Fein for Attorney General
I saw some Halloween Candy that looks like body parts. As an inside joke because of what some of my family do for a living I bought some. Guess what? They were made in China! So that makes the joke even more grotesque, given what we know about Chinese manufacturing standards.
The Peanut looks cute in her costume. We had lotsa trick’o’treaters last night. the weather was nice for it. The real little ones hadn’t quite figured out what it was all about.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 2
thanks christy. i wanted to ask, but didn’t know if a should.
hoping all good things.
{{{Jane}}}
I called DIFI office to tell her the four every-time voters in my house in CA want her to oppose Mukasey on torture. I told the nice woman who answered that there was a time when Dems stood up to a lawless WH and DOJ during watergate. They required E. Richardson as a condition of confirmation to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate lawlessness and illegalities in the WH and DOJ. They even set terms and negotiated with Richardson who it would be — Archie Cox from Harvard and once a federal circuit court judge. The rest is history.
I told the office staff at DIFI that I hoped the era when Dems had spine had not passed. I pray but wonder whether they still have that kind of resoluteness and reverence for the Constitution.
Going back to the Carter years. I had friends in that administration and what I learned from them was that despite all the talent he had to work with, he did not get them to work as a team. The other thing was that he often changed his mind after he and his counsellors had gone through a lengthy and difficult process of reaching a decision. This was very demoralizing, and robbed his administration of the energy it should have had. He was and is a fine man, but his Presidency was a missed opportunity.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 2
It’s been a bit since I’ve frequented the Lake. I never know how to ask these questions correctly so I’ll just be forward here and ask how is Jane really doing?
from WaPo:
Snowflakes falling
Good luck Jane. I should have posted this first.
Re Karen Hughes, CNN had a strange piece up yesterday where it had all these different people up saying what a great person Hughes was despite the fact that she had completely failed at her job. The consensus was that PR could not sell failed policies but it could apparently insulate the PR seller from any serious criticism.
As for descriptors for this era, I thought it was generally referred to as the “clusterf*ck of the Bush years” although the Mafia Presidency works for me too.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 2
She has the right attitude..she was excited about her surgery today..a sure sign that she will do well. (I should do those huggie things but that isn’t me)
lisadawn!
lisadawn at 17 — She’s doing really well. More tired than she wants to let on, but honestly the woman is superhuman. So far, so good, from everything that we know…which is a very good thing, indeed.
Looks as if Bush is determined not to nominate any candidate for AG who says waterboarding is torture–so either the senate confirms his choice, or he goes with his temporary appointment who waterboards someone every morning before breakfast.
Amazing what power the prez really has if he’s determined to be an asshole about it.
Christy, a comment on your answer to Atrios – Looking on the “bright” side of it: There will be no ifs and or buts about what needs to be fixed. Democracy works very slowly most of the time, but since the boy king broke everything, when the adults return they will know exactly what they need to do. At that time, there will be no need to collaborate with the enemy as Jane Harman appears to be doing, since we will control all three houses of government.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 23
Thanks for the answer. I’m not exactly the religious type but I will be thinking about her today.
Steve — This is her last surgery today, so we are all excited for her to get to the end of this particular road. She is such a kick-ass chick about this sort of thing, too. *g* (As if you’d expect anything less from Jane…)
lisadawn82 @ 17 –
howdy!
Christy Hardin Smith @ 2
who boy, thanx for the update
best to ya jane
Toby Wollin @ 9
Jane!!!!!!!!!
Not OT to the Photo-
Last ight a neighbor child introduced us to the most wonderful antonim of thrick or treat.
It’s called “ghosting” She dropped off a goody bag of treats (instead of asking for treats from us) with a sticker for the door that said “we have been ghosted” and lovely letter asking that we “pay if forward” to two other families nxst year.
When Littleprp got home from trick or treating and saw it, she immediatly took some of her trick or treat candy and made some “ghost bags” and went back out to give away treats.
I tought it was such a lovley idea,
I have to go ask my neoghber where it came from.
lisadawn82 @ 26
religion is not a prerequisite to a warm heart and a caring mind,
My thoughts are with Jane…
selise @ 28
Howdy right back at you.
“where it came from”
Same place we got daylight savings time the weekend AFTER Halloween from- the sugar industry.
Best wishes to Jane! Hang in there!
Hugh @ 20
Do you think CNN is gonna criticize Bush or his minions(besides Katrina)? They are the home of Lou Dobbs and Glenn Beck after all.
Good thought vibes to Jane!
It appears the Peanut is quite adorable. Have fun CHS!
Oh Condi, Condi, Condi. I’m not sure Stanford would want her back as Provost. Students are already up in arms.
My thoughts also go to Jane, thinking of her speedy recovery and continued good humor and humour.
Christy, that link about Bush’s private drone is really rather scary!! To launch a drone on a missile that cannot be distinguished from a nuke….OMG…these people are insane.
rwcole @ 34
I just thought the Secret santa quaity of “ghosting” was cute as opposed to the mock extortion of trick or treat.
It is also closer to the original Samhain tradition of leaving offerings of food for the souls who may come back into this world on the night when the veil between the worlds grows thin enough to tranvers
recoveringlurker at 38 — She is quite the cutie. I don’t normally use pix of her on the blog because, frankly, the world is full of creepy weirdos (some of whom I used to put in jail for a living). But this one didn’t show her face, and I thought you all would get a kick out of it.
Trick or treat for Rudy? Rut Roh!!
HuffPo
Biodun @ 39
There’s always Regent University or Liberty University.
Sending warm thoughts for easy healing Jane’s way.
((((((Jane!)))))
LS @ 41
Soon, there will be a small screen attached to the handlebars of his bike.
Hey gang:
You can always leave a message on Jane’s wall in Facebook…
Christy Hardin Smith @ 2
Oh no! Surgery for what?
No matter. My prayers are with her.
TPM
Ha ha, hours spent thinking up Halloween costumes for their pets…
Zero time spent planning on occupying Iraq & Afghanistan.
http://rising-hegemon.blogspot…..-else.html
Our Priceless Dear Leaders.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 27
I hope she finally kicks the C. Her kick ass posts always make my day.
Best wishes to Jane.
President Clusterfuck is unwilling to clean up his own house- and if congress decides to do it- it will be a VERY messy and expensive job- so they have the option of trying to force change or just waiting out the last year of Clusterfuckery.
Hmmmm….looks like people are catching on to the “faking” of the Bin Laden video(s)….after FEMA’s fake press conference, it seems more likely than not.
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/….._1101.html
Biodun @ 49
Biodun – (blushing from embarassment here)how does Facebook work? Do you have to be a member to post there?
Best to Jane
The peanut looks adorable
and did anyone else notice that Rummy was still cranking out the snowflakes long after his departure date? What’s up with that?
Re:Atrios’s question, “Why are people unhappy”:
The best comment pinned the problem on fear. Fear is the motivation for everything from buying pointless products to avoiding travel and electing dangerous would-be dictators.
rwcole @ 55
“The last year”?? That is the paranoid “itch” that won’t go away. They sure don’t act like “The last year”.
Read a story a couple of days ago about how the sugar industry got involved in deciding the exact dates of the extension of daylight savings time- insisting that Halloween remain on daylight savings time for (choke) safety reasons. They won of course. They have, of course, helped shape our policy toward Cuba lol these many years.
Powerful bunch sugar people!
Schumer, Barney Frank, Bernanke, Paulson, and Pelosi are still creating $trillions out of thin air to save big New York banks, financial houses, and hedge funds, while throwing mortgage holders under the bus.
This plan is hopeless. NY banks are broke.
Freeze mortgage paper, keep people in their homes, and start over.
((((((Jane)))))) go girl go!
We are SO proud of you and exponentially grateful!!!
p.s. peanut is WOW cute!
I know you’ll all rush to turn on your teevees in anticipation, but W is giving a speech on combatting global terrorism at the heritage Foundation beginning at 12:40 pm ET on C-Span3 according to their schedule. Ahem.
Get well Jane! Your a good force in this world and we need you!
The founding fathers failed to envision that a future president would adopt the behavior of a two year old with regard to his perogatives.
Now he’s claiming that he can’t work with congress so he’s just gonna pass his own laws through executive decree….He’s willing to create outrageous messes just to avoid being ignored- fuckin outrageous asshole.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 64
I am so there! lemme get my barf bag…
Wall Street takin a big dump on economic optimism- DOW down a couple of hundred points last I looked.
PLovering @ 62
Via Atrios:
ABCNews
Steve-AR @ 60
Rest assured, Permanent Vice President Cheney cares about you.
US casualties in Iraq down to their lowest level since March 06. Is this the result of Clusterfuck makin a separate peace with the sunnis? Or is the surge really workin? or is betrayus just holding back conflict until the cash is approved by congress?
At the end of the last thread there were a couple of comments about whether crude oil prices have broken the record set in 1980. You might want to read this:
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/i…..print.html
It basically points out that there are several contradictory ways of calculating inflation and that the “spot price” in 1980 doesn’t mean precisely what it means now. So bottomline: Comparing now to then is like comparing apples to oranges.
My take: Today’s crude oil prices are high and most of the recent run up (~$20/bbl) is pure speculation reflecting bid ups in commodities generally.
Best wishes for Jane.
rwcole -
Word is it’s because they’re bombing from the air (killing way more civilians in the process) more now instead of going out on foot and in humvees.
Toby Wollin @ 57
Yes you have to be a member. You can register for Facebook here.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 64
Uh oh. Time to run out & go to the library to get more books on tape.
New TV ad for John Edwards…it’s a good one:
http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/1/81135/2080
Here’s something to cheer Jane up:
Waxman is is pushing Feilding for 600 pages of Abramoff documents
Sadly, for too many people, they figure they just need to pick the right Republican (or Republican-lite) to fix everything.
Everybody knows what the problem is (more or less) but too many people think throwing gasoline on the fire will put it out.
Too bad they can’t put little warning labels on voting booths like the ones they put on everything else. (Caution: Flammable on a cigarette lighter).
Sure it seems obvious, but maybe it’s not so much for everyone.
JGabriel @ 73
took the words right off of my keyboard.
BTW, for those who don’t know this:
You can also leave Jane a private message on her Facebook–same link as my 49.
heard a depressing blurb on NPR this morning: post-Katrina PTSD rates continue to increase, bucking the normal downward trend.
realworld @ 78
Waxman rocks….I especially like it when he says this:
“Despite the refusal of key witnesses to provide testimony, the Committee has learned that
some senior White House offrcials had regular contact with IvIr. Abramoff. Former White House
political director Matt Schlapp cooperated with the Committee’s investigation and provided
voluntary testimony in a deposition. Mr. Schlapp estimated that he had “monthly” contact with
Jack Abramoff on subjects that often involved official govemment business.s He also told the
Committee that Mr. Abramoff and his associates “had many friends in the administration”; that
Mr. Abramoff was regarded as a “point of information” because of o’his knowledge and his
experience and his judgment on issues surrounding politics and policy and how the town works”;
and that Mr. Abramoffls lobbying team was “viewed by many as a very respected lobbying
team.”
OT: Over at Dkos a few days ago, drational pointed out that Pelosi, Harmon, and Rockefeller were fully briefed on (and thus “implicated” in) the illegal surveillance activities. Harmon has posted a reply at Dkos, and drational has now responded to that reply: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/10/31/153922/89
While not as much fun as the saga of Colonel Boylan, this exchange does make for some informative reading.
rwcole @ 71
38 American deaths in Iraq in October. The answer is the truce in Anbar, the success of ethnic cleansing in many areas (reducing conflicts), a de facto truce with the Mahdi Army, the choice and tempo of missions, and the greater reliance on airpower. All of these factors are I would like to point out independent of the “surge”.
rwcole @ 71
Probably reduced patrols and increased use of attack air to just blow the shit out of Iraq’s. The only “Good Iraqi is..blah..blah.”
There was a story on NPR a few days ago about a US special ops unit. They approached an Iraqi village at night, were fired on by village guards who thought they were Sunni Militia. Rather than trying to figure out what was going on, the unit called in two Apache gunships and an AC-130 and just blew the shit out of the village.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 2
Christy, I think I speak for all the Late Nite Pups when I say, “We Love You Jane !!! Tons of healing light is being sent your way !!!
Hugh
Sounds about right. To the extent it’s “mission choice” this may be temporary- unless we’re actually about to abandon active policing of intramural Iraqi violence.
Very best wishes to Jane…
-MS
Would love to know more about the “truce” in Anbar. Sunnis have won no political concessions from Clusterfuck’s democracy- why would they just roll over now? For what? We aren’t bein told the whole story I suspect.
The US has offered em something that the Iraqi govt. hasn’t delivered. OIL and a separate state?
LS @ 83
Be a lttle more circumspect on Waxman. Apparently he won’t let Sibel Edmonds testify before Congress. http://www.antiwar.com/blog/20…..-ryland-2/
Hugh @ 20
Personally, I’ve always been fond of Charles Pierce’s characterization of it as the “Avignon Presidency.” I also like his nickname for W — “C-plus Augustus.” /snark
OT…No shit!!
link
Just about everywhere that I have driven over the past few years, the are new fundie churches and “family life” centers. For the most part there is no way the surrounding community could possibly fund these projects. I have seen very little new construction of “mainstream” churches.
eCAHNomics @ 91
Oh, I agree entirely with you on that. What I’m pointing out is that he gets a lot of cooperating witnesses behind the scenes. Maybe he does have something cooking on Edmunds that we are unaware of, but I find it puzzling that he has refused to go there so far…I just don’t get it.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down around 200 points after the first hour of trading, a decline of 1.4 percent. Losses had been as steep as 250 points. The Nasdaq and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index suffered proportionate declines.
Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007 in New York. The Federal Reserve will announce later if it will cut interest rates, as many predict. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) (Mark Lennihan – AP)
• Market Indices • Most Actives
• Winners/Losers • Upgrades/Downgrades
• Currencies • Economic Calendar
• Earnings Calendar • Your Portfolio
• Commodities • Treasuries
Undercutting confidence: an overnight spike in the price of oil triggered by a report that U.S. petroleum reserves had fallen for the second week in a row. The price for light, sweet crude, topped $96 a barrel in overnight trading, as investors surveyed data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showing that U.S. oil supplies had fallen by 3.9 million barrels last week.
wapo
Michael in Park Slope @ 89
me too
Hugh @ 85
Good points. The insurgency hasn’t been defeated. The war has entered a new, more cautious phase.
Hugh – I’m going to be copying your list on regular sized copy paper, taping the bottom of one sheet to the top of the next, and presenting it at a local forum. Has anyone done that yet? I’m just wondering how long the result will be. I’m estimating that with 16-point type, it will be almost 20 feet long…
The Vic Kohring GOP big oil legislative corruption trial in Alaska went to jury yesterday afternoon. To catch up, you can click on my nom-de-blog at the top of this comment.
We [heart] Jane!
Take care of yourself and be well.
rwcole @ 61
They seemed so sweet, though.
My sister is just beginning the process with her first (post-biopsy) surgery next week after just learning that she has breast cancer. We won’t know really how bad until after the surgery. Jane is a major inspiration, so please tell her she has to get well soon!!
LS — As someone who has worked with investigators a bit, it may be that he lacks corroborating information for what Edmunds is saying. And you don’t go forward with public hearings on something that damning without being able to nail down some corroboration — at least not in my experience. So they may be trying to come up with that — or they may have tried and failed to turn up something credible and substantive. No idea, this is me guessing, but something like that would give me pause which is why I’m saying that may be what is the hold up.
Has anyone seen specifics from anyone other that Sibel Edmunds on any of this? Am trying to recall if I remember seeing some corroborative reporting on this…
rwcole @ 71
Uhhh, I pick #3. It’s the math, stupid!
eCAHNomics @ 91
I don’t know much about that situation but Waxman could be in a bind..IIRC, SCOTUS basically gave it’s approval to the gag-order by denying cert.
updated 5:53 a.m. PT, Thurs., Nov. 1, 2007
WASHINGTON – More than half of white evangelical Republicans would consider voting for a conservative third-party candidate should the 2008 presidential race have Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton against Republican Rudy Giuliani, a poll said.
The finding, in a survey by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center that was released Wednesday, was the latest reading of discontent among one of the Republicans’ cornerstone voting blocs. Giuliani, the leading Republican contender in most national polls, is a former New York mayor whose views on abortion, homosexuals and guns are considered too moderate by many conservatives.
rwcole @ 90
We are helping to arm them. Petraeus says it is so they can go after al Qaeda in Iraq who have been targeting tribal chiefs but the Sunnis also see it as building up their strength for the next phase of the civil war. So why pick fights with us and weaken themselves when it is with the Shia they will eventually have to fight. At the same time, Petraeus is overlooking Sunni tribal violence. He had been building up one of them who was then assassinated. He was done in not by al Qaeda in Iraq but by other tribla leaders. Go figure.
Shorter version: The Sunnis have finally come to realize that we will be gone in the not too distant future and that what they really need to do is prepare for their war with the Shia who will be there long after we aren’t.
CHS:
“Edmonds”
Re the “Malaise” of the Carter years:
The Wurlitzer got its start in the reporting of the Iranian hostage crisis, when sports broadcasting pioneer Roone Arledge of ABC, took over ABC News. It was Arledge who came up with the idea of leading each edition of the nightly news with noting each day as, Day Number X of “America Held Hostage.” Iran held less than 200 American diplomats and suddenly, according to ABC, Iran held the whole country hostage. Not only was this a palpably gross exaggeration, but also Arledge handed Iran a huge and unearned propaganda victory in the process.
Sure, Arledge “only” intended to transform news into entertainment to grab ratings; I don’t attribute to him a desire to help the Republicans. But he destroyed Carter and showed the wingnuts how to do it with distraction from the main issues of the day. (Not that I would for one second minimize the anguish of the hostages and their families.)
Arledge enabled the Wurlitzer and degraded the discourse of our democracy in one fell swoop. Was Carter the greatest President we’ve ever had? No way. But no President before him had ever been savaged over such comparitively small issues as Carter was. Intentionally or not, Arledge established the Clinton Rules.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 101
I think you are on the money. I’m not sure if I have seen any corroborative reporting on it either, but I do know that Leahy and someone else wrote a letter to Ashcroft about it initially…that may have been just to look into it or something like that. One more thought…there must have been something about her testimony that struck a nerve for her to be “gagged” in the first place.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 101
IIRC she is under a Federal Court gag-order..under the “States Secretes ACT(?)” and SCOTUS refused to here the case.
Hugh at 105 — Translation: We’re doing that delicate dance of keeping the Saudis happy, all the while tap dancing on the head of a democracy pin whilst we attempt ot foist blame on anyone but us. (And isn’t that how we helped them get stuck with Saddam Hussein way back in the day?)
Has anyone seen what Kos wrote today? McEntee actually called about Blue America by name in the WaPo. For those of you that don’t know, McEntee is the head of AFSCME(who also endorsed Clinton yesterday). The story is here:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyo…..11375/0820
I know it makes my blood boil.
Jane,
We love you dearly and wish you a speedy recovery. We have Christy and some good hitters to pinch hit while you rest up.
Come back to us stronger as you do every time. You are getting better all the time.
Ed*ard Teller @ 97
What an interesting way to present Bush’s failures. Let me know how long it turns out to be.
brendan – Thanks — I have a mental block with the “o” in her name for some reason. I knew an Edmunds, and I think I keep transposing the letters in the names as a result.
Now this is the real central front of the War on Terror, not Iraq:
And there are tons of nukes that have been successfully tested several times–waiting to cut loose. And Taliban and global Al-Qaeda have Pakistan (and the border with Afghanistan) as their base from which to hatch plans and to launch their attacks in far-flung places around the world.
kdh22 @ 102
Did the total warfare thing by locking up all Iraqis in little prison enclaves. (Falluja is down to half its pop & no vehicles allowed.)
Meanwhile, troops stay on protected bases & bombing is used to take out terrists.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 110
I for one am greatly relieved that Chalabi is Bush’s point man in Iraq /s
Petrocelli at 117 — Yes, reassuring, isn’t it? One failure after another…
I usually read most of the comments before I say anything…not today, I just have one thing to say, nothing else matters until this happens, even if it is not compete by the end of the term:
ITMFA, these son of a bitches cannot be permitted to escape scott free.
http://itmfa.com/
LS @ 108
From a distance the “Edmonds thing” kind of had an “Area 51″ smell about it. The fact that the Feds have fought like hell to keep the gag-order, make me wonder what they are trying to hide.
I have healing candle burning along with loving thoughts for Jane from the colorful Fall foliage in the Ozark Mountains and crystal clear waters of the Kings River this morning. Bless her heart.
Any theories as to the bone headed recommendation by Schumer for Mukasy? Did he think he would NOT shill for the admin? How could expect anything different? Bush packed the DOJ with his bots and sees them as running cover for his craziness.
Why would a dem get involved in this at all? Everything GWB turns to total shit.. why even go there?
Here is the Vanity Fair article on Edmonds:
http://www.informationclearing…..le9774.htm
Peanut pic— so very precious! Just want to hug that beautiful child! Do it for me?
Petrocelli @ 117
Given Iraq’s political climate and Ahmed Chalabi being well, Ahmed Chalabi with his well known talent for wheeling, dealing, and pissing people off, I am surprised he has managed to survive this long.
Best wishes for Jane’s health, and hoping things go well.
Mine was Belle too. Refused to carry her own candy.
Biodun @ 115
… it seems that Musharraf is about to declare Martial Law … Pakistan is a tinder box right now …
Here are the Leahy letters re: Edmunds
“Ms. Edmunds has made a number of serious allegations, some of which the FBI verified were not unfounded during an unclassified briefing for Judiciary Committee staff on June 17.”
http://www.citizen.org/documents/2-18-05letter.PDF
Jazgar at 127 — The Peanut tried to coax me into letting her sleep with her very full pumpkin last night. (For the record, I said no. *g*)
Who the hell is Belle?
Hugh @ 125
Hint: he has America’s bottomless pockets to buy out his adversaries, and Bush’s blessings to do so.
Speaking of Belle, my most recent book purchase was Beauty and the Beast: Diary of a Film by Jean Cocteau. It’s a way cool book about the making of a great movie.
It has lots of still photos — my favorites are Beauty with the magic glove (that transports her back and forth from the Beast’s castle to her father’s home) and the Beast looking at his smoking fingers after making a kill.
And of course this: pinning your hopes on the wrong man:
Musharraff has tried to crack down–and has failed. He has too many other things to worry about at the moment. Too many other elements in the country are after his ass. Plus: there’s a big battle going on right now between Musharraff and the Pakistan Supreme Court. How that ends up is anyone’s guess.
(Same link as my 115.)
SanderO @ 122
Why indeed.
And Roll Call reports (sub. req.) that Schumer’s early support for Mukasey has damaged “somewhat” his status in the caucus:
One senior Senate Democratic aide said Schumer’s credibility with the Democratic Caucus had been damaged somewhat by the issue, because many saw his status as a member of Judiciary and the No. 3 Senate Democratic leader as giving them clearance to praise the nomination when it was first announced.
“That made a lot of Democrats think he must know what he’s talking about,” said the aide. “People followed his lead and now they’re having to dial it back.”
Schumer did not directly respond to a question about whether his early public support for Mukasey has put Senate Democrats as a whole in an awkward position, but said, “Everyone is looking at it and so am I.”
rw — She was a character in a Disney cartoon, which The Peanut happens to love. Here you go: Beauty and the Beast.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 118
In BushWorld, failure is defined as “unmitigated success” … unless there is a way to pin it on the Dems.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 43
I knew it was the Peanut before I read by the hair color. What beautiful, shining hair!
And best to our Jane.
Didn’t Schumer suggest this nominee to Clusterfuck in the first place?
Christy Hardin Smith @ 136
Thanks, I was scared to ask! I thought it was
It don’t take a genius, baby
There aint no big mystery
You can’t play it safe
And still go down in history
So saddle up the horses
‘Cos we’re headed for the hall of fame
I’ll be your belle star
You can be my Jesse James
I’ll be your belle star
You can be my Jesse James
rwcole @ 131
Damn..you beat me to it..that was my next comment.
LS @ 129
Ya gotta luv the double negative.
Listen to the antiwar.com link I put above. Goes into what Edmonds actually heard. Could be same as Vanity Fair article, which I haven’t read, but pretty srious stuff. Hastert, among others, goes straight to jail without passing go. I assume Waxman won’t touch it because Cohen’s in it up to his hair roots and probably some in-office Ds.
Steve-AR @ 69
A strong dollar trumps all other weapons in this country’s arsenal.
The dollar has declined over 34% since 2000.
That decline represents the waste, fraud, and abuse sucked out of our economy by Neocon perpa-traitors.
Redd
Oh- THAT Belle! Wasn’t that an OLD movie?
Christy,
She’s adorable.. but you know that already!
I saw a LinkTv show about women in Saudi Arabia. What a bizarre country. They have one women who was allowed to get a pilot’s license, but she can’t drive a car?
Where did these people get these bizarre notions about women as property? And that they have to conceal their entire bodies? It’s totally bizarre. If there ever was a society which is brainwashed, it’s the Saudis. They have segregated work camps for women only Bizarre.
The wealth of the Saudi Royals is beyond obscene. These people are truly contemptible and of course they import 6MM workers to do all the hard work (for slave wages).
Islam? What a poor excuse for misogyny.
President Bush is up to give his speech at the Heritage Foundation, with a fawning welcome from them. Is it me, or have they started putting larger shoulder pads in his suit to fill him out a little more?
Is Clusterfuck puttin shoulder pads in his crotch again?
Christy Hardin Smith @ 145
“I’m sprintin’ to the finish line” – we will hear that phrase often from here on out.
OT, Paul Tibbets, pilot of the Enola Gay has died.
wow, didn’t take him (chimpy) long to mention 9/11 – Guiliani could learn from him.
I hope Sibel Edmonds spills it all.
My first thought was that Waxman was still working on the case and didn’t want the complication of Edmonds talking until he had enough evidence. However, my ever plummeting opinion of our dem Congress persuades me otherwise now.
I think it’s time for regular people to decide if Sibel Edmonds has something important to say. Involving Congress in law enforcement hasn’t been very helpful lately.
eCAHNomics @ 142
Right. Hastert has somewhat suddenly decided to “retire” though… I have read a lot of what she has declared. It is fascinating stuff.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 145
Remember Mr Lupner on Saturday Night Live”? “He was born without spine”!
One thing we’ve learned about Clusterfuck- NOTHIN will keep him from givin stupid speeches- OVER and OVER and OVER- even when they’re killin him like his social security speeches did. He just can’t shut the fuck up.
He has a fear of being ignored- and impotent- and shunned- and embarassed.
raven @ 140
The Sun shines brighter when Raven sings ! *g*
Christy Hardin Smith @ 145
That’s him accruing gravitas.
Belle: a character in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.
dakine01 @ 148
Hmm, we just watched the last episode of “The War” last night. Anyone who wants to hand wring about dropping the bomb needs to watch that.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 2
Prayers…what a woman Jane!
LS @ 129
The letters in your link seem to refer only to problems Edmonds had with translators. The stuff on the antiwar link is far more serious & incendiary.
“Sprinting to the finish line”
Something you do when you are in a tight race.
Who’s Clusterfuck running against? What happens if he WALKS to the finish line? He finishes at the same time anyway.
Another Clusterfuck metaphore gone beserk!
The old Beauty and the Beast — La Belle et la Bête
Hugh @ 113
I just did some computation. I gave each page an inch margin – top and bottom, to make each sheet 9 inches long. In 16-point Helvetica with standard justified side margins, it is 166 pages long. Times 3/4 a foot equals 124 feet six inches long…
Christy Hardin Smith @ 136
For those of us without children of a certain age, the animated movies from Disney from the last 10-15 years are sort of a cultural Siberia. Of course I had the kid who wanted to be the clock from that film…
Gee, I can’t explain why, but the word “ignoramus” keeps coming to mind…
Petrocelli @ 154
Sounds a lot better when it’s Emmy Lou!
raven @ 157
There were two bombs.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 145
Why would they want to hear a speech that they themselves have written ?Never mind !Oops…I just saw CHS @ 136
eCAHNomics @ 160
Thanks for the link. I am aware of the Turkey allegations, the money laundering, arms dealing, bribery, etc., as well as Hastert accepting the $500,000 bribe.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 101
christy – sibel is saying that there haven’t been any non-public hearings either. no investigator’s interviews – nada. she also has stated, for several months that she has several additional inside whistleblowers willing to come forward if there are hearings.
many, many people have made statements in support of her – people like daniel ellsberg (pentagon papers) who has been supporting her for years. an internal investigation supported her. even many members of congress (including leahey) spoke out in support of her – until the bush administration declared “its all secret” – including previously statements made to congress.
this whole thing stinks of a coverup… and has been going on long enough now (*) that the onus is on congress to explain why it is appropriate that they continue to ignore her.
lukery, who’s been following this story closely, has an excellent series of diaries at dkos. and democracy now! has had a bit. but, if you want to be brought up to date, i suggest you start with the last couple of lukery’s diaries.
all the evidence i’ve seen suggests she is a very brave person, trying to do what’s right, and we should be supporting her trying to tell what she knows.
(*) with edmunds begging waxman to allow her to speak before his committee…. and now, because she can’t get anything from congress, she’s saying that she’s willing to go public with her story (and risk arrest and prison) if any major news media outlet is willing to commit to showing her interview unedited.
OT..paradox’s opinion on the “debate” yoweeee
As if it wasn’t in the toilet before, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have taken the Democratic brand into the utter depths of the septic tank, the candidates for president, incredibly, act as if Democrats don’t have a screaming identity problem as spineless wussies. Coupled with the incompetence of their clueless campaigns, these attacks on the female candidate (fair or not, irrational or not, sorry life worked out this way) instantly calls forth a sympathetic response for Clinton and a sneering disgust for these weenies who can only beat up a woman when they fail.
Even I will vote for Hillary Clinton if this keeps up much longer, men who abuse women because they can’t get their own lives together give me nothing but the utmost loathing and disgust, especially when they use Republican talking points to do it. The Clinton campaign was and is positive Hillary’s gender will help her more than hurt, and they were right.
rwcole @ 153
In all fairness to King George, his modus operandi have kept Reid/Pelosi in check.
brendan @ 166
Sure were, and after the first one they refused to surrender.
brendan @ 166
The Enola Gay dropped the first one on Hiroshima
Steve-AR @171:
Your comment is reverse-sexist rubbish.
Yes, the manuscript for Hugh’s Bush Scandals List is developing nicely for that book that will come out before Elections ‘08…*g*
Ed*ard Teller @ 97
please take a picture! if hugh doesn’t mind, it would be fun to post it with his list!
For the defense, energy and other industries the Bush touch has been the touch of gold.
For the Iraqi people the Bush touch has been the touch of death and destruction.
For Americans the Bush touch has been a big boot in the ass.
dakine01, raven:
I’m a lot less glib about such things than I was even a couple years ago.
chimpy now pimping for mooookasey…
selise @ 171
Thanks for that summary. Lukery is the one who is interviewed on my antiwar link, so that could be a good place to start for someone who’s not familiar. And the first part of the interview is all about why we should believe her, CHS.
Enola Gay dropped Little Boy on Hiroshima in 1945…
brendan @ 167
The Enola Gay is now on display at the Air and Space Museum Annex out where LL lives. It is pretty amazing to see. IIRC the B-29 project cost more than the A-Bomb project. “Bockscar” is on display in Ohio..I think.
JF @ 4
Hey, we had one in Ohio too…
http://www.jesseshunting.com/f…..opic=74811
Steve-AR @ 171
I must have been watching a different debate because I saw Edwards calling her on her doublespeak
and Hillary doing exactly that WRT Spitzer, while the audience chuckled … if one of the Dem nominees
run that clip over and over, the way TDS showed it, her campaign will be severely compromised.
Halloween question – for those of us who aren’t around kids much: who is this “Belle” Peanut was dresses as for Halloween? (Answer may be somewhere up on the thread, but I’m at work now under the boss’ gaze). Thanks!
Toby Wollin @ 9
Good luck to you Toby and thoughts of Jane. Break a leg!
And Charles Sweeney dropped Fat Man on Nagasaki…
Biodun @ 183
“Little Boy” was the “sure to go off” bomb, they didn’t want a “dud” for the first drop.
Correction: it’s sexist, not “reverse sexist.”
Christy Hardin Smith @ 165
Was that directed at me?
Ed*ard Teller @ 162
Thanks for letting me know. I think it will make a great visual.
selise @ 178
Was I WRONG, selise! It is 124 feet, six inches long. I’m going to need a bigger printer, and a couple of cartridges.
Steve-AR @ 183
Tibbets was one of the Grand Marshal’s of the dedication of the Pacific Wing of the D-Day Museum in New Orleans. I took my pop there the year before he died and the welcome the WWII vets received was amazing. Of course that was 3 months after 9/11 and the country was pulling together. For the record both my dad and father in law, WWII Navy Vets and republicans, were against going into Iraq without a declaration of war.
brendan @ 175
Take a peek at HuffPo, there were a few of these yesterday and some more today.
yellowsnapdragon — No, I’m watching the Bush speech on teevee. It was directed at his speechwriters.
Biodun @ 183
My great uncle was on one of those planes,I can’t remember exactly which. I want to say the Nagasaki
killer.
How many languages does Karen Hughes speak? Must habe been pretty important in that line of work.
Margot @ 184
West Virginia already has a lioness roaming its woods.
Oaktown Girl:
See CHS @ 136 for Belle…
Steve-AR @ 184
Here’s a website about a B-29 named “Doc” that was lost in the CA desert for a few decades and is now being restored in Wichita, KS: http://www.b-29doc.com/
Bush going on about his supplemental and how long Congress has had it. Well, why didn’t he include it in the Appropriations Bill like he was supposed to do. Talk about cynical ploys.
LS @ 129
“foreign attempt to penetrate or infiltrate FBI operations”
Biodun @ 189
And to complete the history lesson, the plane was “Bockscar”. IIRC Bock was sick on the day of the mission and Sweeney flew the plane.
ccmask @ 198
English and pidgin English.
Ed*ard Teller @ 194
Sounds like you should finf a printer that con print it on a roll of paper rather than on sheets.
ccmask @ 199
Just Spanish. She was born in Panama.
Oaktown Girl @ 186
Belle is the main character in Beauty & The Beast, which was made into a Disney Movie.
Christy, my girls watched that movie so many times, I knew the entire script verbatim, songs and all … *g*
Christy Hardin Smith @ 197
fffffwwweeew. Wouldn’t want to provoke the ire of the hostess :)
Watching the shrub…he’s really getting off on the Heritage Foundation’s applause: he sounds quite pedantic and monarchical.
Oaktown Girl @ 187
Belle from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, I think…
Chimpy throwing around veto threats again, i guess he needs to stay relevant.
“…less time responding to the threats of moveon.org bloggers and code pink protesters” – gets him the biggest applauds and cheers of the day
Steve-AR @ 93
I had a Mormon mom and three boys in bright yellow shirts stop by on Monday and drop off a pail of cleaning goods for clean up from the wildfires. This bucket contained high quality goggles, two pair of rubbermaid gloves, cleansers, breathing masks, high quality scrub brushes, etc. It had to have been worth $100. They also offered clean up services for nothing. I just thought it was bizarre. And it made me wonder whether it had anything to do with Romney’s bid. Did the Mormans do anything like this for Katrina victims?
Good grief. Junior’s shoulders remind me of that Carol Burnett/Scarlett curtain rod episode.
brendan @ 206
Is that the same as ‘W’ English?
Talk about cognitive dissonance! Parallel conversations about Belle and the Bomb! `
Who are these yahoos cheering Bush? I keep waiting for them to start chanting Sieg Heil and breaking into the Horst Wessel.
Apologies to Godwin’s law.
I remember my baby girl watched all of those types so many times, not only did she know all the words, songs etc, she knew all of them from the commercials too!
Tibbets had the plane named after his mother, Enola Gay Tibbets…
Hugh @ 202
He blamed the Dems for causing the delay of victory in Iraq and no one in the MSM called him on it.
eCAHNomics @ 207
I suppose mine would, if I want to stand there and keep the feed from getting kinky.
Petrocelli @ 196
????????..I guess I need to be more careful with how the “quote thingee” comes out. That wasn’t my quote.
Loo Hoo at 212 — Yes, it’s generally something that kids who are doing missionary work chip in to do, as I understand it. We have some LDS folks in the family, and they do a lot of community outreach work with soup kitchens and such as well.
Petrocelli @ 219
They’re paid not to.
raven @ 216
Not that dissonant…Eros and Thanatos…Life/Love and Death.
Badwater @ 215
She finishes his sentences, so yes.
brendan @ 175
it is the new memo
Bustednuckles @ 218
This was my daughter’s first movie in a theater. She began weeping loudly when the Beast changed into a man. She liked the Beast.
Life/Love/Beauty and Death…
eCAHNomics @ 182
in one of lukery’s recent diaries (the latest one?) he provides a transcript of that interview.
p.s. glad to know i’m not the only one who listens to scott’s podcasts at antiwar.com!
Hugh @ 216
Right wing think tank Heritage Foundation. Many of the admin and their ludicrous plans were hatched there.
Loo Hoo @ 213
The few times that I have had a visit for LDS missionaries..I got a free Book of Mormon. The mission work is very coordinated, I doubt if that happened as a random event.
Does any Democrat seriously think that they can work in any way, shape, or form with Bush. He is a broken record repeating the same old lame discredited talking points that he has been using for the last 4 years.
tw3k @ 227
Great link. Absolutely repellent (and witless). As I corrected myself above, it’s sexist, not “reverse”.
Loo Hoo @ 212
The Mormons do tremendous charity work all around the world. They are adept at this but keep it out of the media,
not wanting to blow their own horn.
When that massive tsunami hit Sri Lanka and Indonesia, they were one of the first groups
to send in food and medical supplies … by the planeloads !
Bush: In 50 years I believe there will be another US president giving a speech at the Heritage Foundation saying God Bless that generation that started that first chapter in the 21st century.
He is so deluded. It really is sad…
The State Department story is amazing. The only thing that could top it is if Condi & Co order some of these folks to go to Iraq without volunteering, and they refuse.
If there was an official press release about the meeting, it would say “we had a frank exchange of views,” but that’s diplo-speak for “we butted heads together.” When the career folks at State start talking like this to their bosses, and passing recordings of the meeting to reporters, they are serious. They understand how negotiations work, and the career folks just laid down a big marker.
Think about Comey telling Gonzales “no” in Ashcroft’s hospital room, and it would be close to what’s going on here. They haven’t been ordered to go yet, but they’ve put the pressure on Condi not to issue those orders at all.
Hugh @ 223
LOL !!!
Thanks Hugh !
I swear I just saw Bush’s lips quivering while he described how his actions now will be viewed 40 years from now…
Clueless.
anne @ 235
Not to mention scary and creepy.
Biodun @ 225
The Yin and Yang of FDL: Beauty and the Beast: Peanut in costume and Chimpy McFlightsuit making speeches.
Toby Wollin @ 241
yea yea like cuff and link!
Steve-AR @ 221
Read RJ Eskow
Peterr @237:
The Post story reminds me of how they’re already trying to purge the foreign service:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..cs/fedpage
Biodun @ 225
Are you making fun outa me? :)
Petrocelli @ 235
I have a big problem with religious proselytizers who bribe people with charity work. Many think the good they do outweighs the bad, but I’m not so sure that interfering with the status quo religious beliefs of a foreign country is anything but a disaster in the long run. Just one person’s opinion.
Yo raven @ 245:
No dude. Don’t tase me, Bro!
Peterr @ 237
Imagine there’ll be a lot of people retiring & quiting at State. Neocons are dancing on State’s grave. All part of the plan.
Peterr @ 237
.
Juan Cole is urging people to act on behalf of the State Department employees:
more at time stamp 11/01/2007 01:01:00 AM >>
The malaise was very very real. The rich had stopped getting richer and everyone else was standing in place as the wage price spiral went ever upward. The ‘loss’ of Vietnam then the oil shortage, then the rise of the Japanese autos and consumer electronics and the fall of those in America, all sorts of things said that Americas post war era of unquestioned dominance was over.
Then came the Reagan era and a solution was found, at least as far as making the rich rich again. BORROW. And it was good.
http://www.generationaldynamic…..ross1b.gif
Biodun @ 247
I know you will NEVER believe this but I was one key stroke away from posting that to you!
IRT the Malaise: Bill Maher had some thoughts in last weeks ‘New Rules”
For the rest:
http://www.hbo.com/billmaher/new_rules/
I knew there’d be something good to come out of Guardian’s American online edition. I just didn’t expect it to come so soon:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/scie…..1/research
Petrocelli @ 244
He may be right but my antenna go up when a male talks about “setting the feminist cause back by decades”…it kinda like a Euro-American saying an African American set back the cause…maybe be true but I also look for a hiden agenda.
solai @ 252
Hey, I tape late night (after 10pm) ball games and watch them in the morning all the time!
Adam Zagorin talking about Seligman prosecution on wnyc.org.
raven:
LOL! I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to post that on FDL.
Kennedy turns against Mukasey
eCAHNomics @ 247
True but it’s still a better use for the money rather than building huge Fundie churches.
eCAHNomics @ 252
damn, i wonder what would happen to Addington.
Time to close the US Embassy in Baghdad? Fat chance! It’s the biggest embassy in the world!
Steve-AR @ 259
Not so sure about that either. Keynes recommended digging holes & filling them up if that’s what it takes to keep the economy going. I view megachurches in the same light.
Mukasey is probably toast. As I said before: Then what?
Biodun @ 257
I had my finger on the trigger and then I thought about how, if I had been that cop, I would have whipped his ass with more than a atser when he said that! But that’s just me. BTW, that punk issued a big apology today.
raven @ 264
then i am very glad you are not a cop. i’ve seen the damage they can do when they get pissed.
Biodun @ 264
Recess appointment.
Biodun @ 263
Jeb? He’s not busy these days.
Biodun @ 261
I read recently that State Department officials were forced to go to Vietnam. The difference is I think that those who would be sent to Iraq would be sent out into the hinterlands as part of development teams where they would be at considerable physical risk even if they are accompanied by US troops. I don’t know what exactly the duties were in Vietnam but I doubt it included sending many of them into the countryside. If anyone knows more about that, it would be interesting to know.
Fresh thread from Tula and Steve Perez.
Tula’s upstairs…
raven:
MSM has Andrew staging the whole thing, wanting to arrested, tased, and all that. He was supposedly bragging to his dad (on the cellphone) in the squad car on the way to jail.
eCAHNomics @ 253
Boy, does that take me back. My philosphy teacher in college told me about the giving the elephant LSD. He was a friend of the guy who did it.
selise @ 265
That was a metaphor for mashing the send button!
rwcole @ 131
The first brown eyed female lead character in a Disney animated feature: Beauty and the Beast.
Bookaholic, too. I actually like this Disney show…
Prediction:
State Department mutiny and Crocker will ultimately resign, Condi will be blamed and Cheney will have successfully thrown her under the bus, just in time to bomb Iran.
The State Department’s “action” is in response to Crocker’s strong demand that he needs tons more people in Baghdad.
twolf1 @ 8
Or a bear with a bad case of mange!
peanutbutter @ 274
… you’re forgetting Bambi … *g*
How can Hughes leave now? I thought if anyone was going to quit the Bush administration they had to do it before Sept 1, or plan to stay until the bitter end.
Sorry for the inconvenience, gang, on the labor post. There was a problem that needed to be ironed out, and Tula is working on it. In the meantime, I put up something fresh for everyone here.
Petrocelli @ 277
… oops, sorry … did not see ‘female’ in your comment … I don’t see sex, I know that I am male because
I did minimum work and got maximum praise for bringing kids into the world … *g*
TheOtherWA @ 278
Bolton was making that statement and “rule” for White House staff. Hughes has been at State since she returned to DeeCee.
Ready to puke up and purge all that candy??
The CBC has looked into the business of weapons sales as of 2006:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/arming-the-world
/list-suppliers.html
One interesting point: 2 of Canada’s biggest customers? The United States and Saudi Arabia.
LS @ 77
I think its great he’s got a new add out in Iowa. For what its worth, I mailed copies of John Edwards’ speach given in New Hampshire the other night to twelve different family members and 5 different friends in Iowa asking them to listen to what he has to say, not what the media is telling them (or not telling them). I’m trying to get their attention and let them know that it does matter. They don’t follow this stuff as much as I do. BTW, I loved his speach.
angry_cyclone @ 283
I loved his line, “This is going to be an election, it is not going to be an auction !”
Christy sez,
I’m sure you know the answer, Christy– but its been left out of your list of things “gone badly in the end”– the factor of high crimes and misdemeanors. The answer is called impeachment.
Can Nancy Pelosi be charged with obstruction of justice? (No, I’m not entirely serious. Not entirely.)
Bob in HI
bobschacht @ 285
Hi Bob, I think Mr. Fein made the point some time ago that she is not upholding her oath to the Constitution.
raven @ 273
i got the trigger metaphor… my comment was in reference to this:
but would be happy to know i misunderstood.
Sissy @ 92
Could you explain the reference to Avignon.
Since I can’t get the idea to square with the following:
The Avignon papacies lasted from 1309 to 1377 and there were seven of them in exile, all French. The Pont d’avignon is where one dances.
What am I missing?
BlueStateRedHead @ 288
The papacy was kidnapped by the French. Here, the presidency has been kidnapped by the Republicans.
Hugh @ 268
Saigon was hardly a combat zone for most of the war. DoS can’t go outside the Green Zone without Blackwater or their equivalent. Totally different situation, can’t really be compared.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 27
She’s a dynamo & so are you, AWA the other bloggers here @ FDL. So late to this thread since buried in work. May I say, according to my daughter & future son-in-law, our yard haunt rocked last night in Santa Monica.
Re: canned hunts: I’m w/yr. Dad, CHS. That’s not sport or hunting for food, that’s killing for the thrill derived. BTW, the pheasants released in canned hunts are raised in pens & expect humans to feed them. So they go toward humans, looking to be fed by them. KABOOM. Some sport, eh?
CHS at 130
I’m surprised that you didn’t fall for that not-at-all transparent ploy!
Warm and positive thought for Jane.
Well, the first month of my blog hasn’t been a raging success, but I’m happy with my content offering. Where else will you find heated political discussion, strong opionions, some good debate, coverage of sports issues and some good musical commentary(along with my chearful disposition and tidings of good karma)?…..to the topic…what is up with the US economy?
Very week dollar, record high oil prices, a rapidly declining housing market, gold at an all time high(that should be an indicator of what the rich are doing for you estute friends and neighbors out there) and yet the stock market is hanging in there?????? Makes no sense to me….maybe it’s the globalization of our economy….which I am on record as being a staunch opponent off. Reason to disagree with the brainwashing we get from media and politicians on a daily basis???…….. WE DON’T HAVE THE CONTROL WE USED TO HAVE WITH OUR FISCAL AND MONETARY POLICIES…..like it or not we’re in bed with a country that damn near relies on slave labor in China, the gangster mafioso style former remnants of the old USSR, Europe and India.
Don’t forget friends, China is buying lots and lots of our bonds and for those who have done some analysis, if and when they decide to sell(basically a tool for them to declar war on us financially)the price of bonds will plummet and the interest owed by our govt on the secondary market will not be a pretty sight. I also can’t help but mention here that miss Hillary pantsuit exposed herself as the double talking, flip flop and flailer that she is. She’s on record as supporting Spitzer’s plan to grant illegals licenses……now Spitzer, there’s a sellout for you…tough on corporate crime to get elected(I loved him then)and then sells out his state with this gargage illegal license plan. over 70% of New Yorkers oppose this plan but he wants to ram it thru anyway…by some sort of executive order I guess. Question Elliot…..why not submit legislation for your dumb idea and let the people speak and see this dumb proposal get shot down?…..Shallow politics.
PLovering @ 62
Brokers churned properties and pocketed bigger profits.
Mortgage lenders offered paper people couldn’t afford and they made big profits. Then they sold that paper to other people in bundles, so nobody could see the garbage inside.
Everybody was happy to get the ‘valuable’ paper on the cheap.
But, now the musical chairs is coming to an end and some people are going to be left holding the bag full of hot air.
Who’s to blame? All the greedy SOBs who didn’t mind putting ordinary people out of their homes to make a few more bucks.
If only we could separate their craziness from the ordinary lives most people want to live.
Awww. Your kid is adorable.
And re: Darth Cheney – isn’t it funny how much of the fabled GOP machismo turns out to be ginned-up image-building overcompensation when you take a closer look at it? It’s almost enough to make a fellow wonder.