Morning Teddy.

dear Teddy!

I’m still trying to get woke up after the late late nite cartoon fest.
More coffee.

The truth is a bitch for Rudi.

Rudy has already gone back to pimping 9-11. The Bhutto murder might help him.

From Arianna:

“Witness the rapidly congealing conventional wisdom that Bhutto’s murder will help the campaigns of Rudy Giuliani — who has left no daylight between himself and Bush on Iraq and foreign policy — and Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate who took the longest to distance herself from Bush.”

These guys really tell it, don’t they?

(Busted, you are the Kartoon King! Your submissions had us rofl-ing last nite and into the wee hours. Let’s have another LL like that one soon….)

Morning, npb! It’s a sunny Sunday noon here, after several daze of rain, fog and cloudy cold. Nice to see Mr Sun back in the neighborhood! Is he in yours as well?

cheeseburgers!

disrespect !

Phone call to goullee ,,its your third wife doctor said the viagraaa(sp blocking the real spelling)is giveing you headaches . The drug knows your a big prick

Great video. Yo Democrats, see how it’s done? Just tell the truth boldly and stop wimpering whenever the Republicans bark.

Happily, we are enjoying sunshine & warmer temps too!

Thanks for another compelling post TSF!

Let’s have another LL like that one soon….)

Yes! I missed it last night, but laughed all morning. The Foghorn Leghorn stuff especially kept cracking me up….

Who is the most dangerous? Rudy, Huck or Mitt? I cannot decide.

I like it that Ghouliani is getting the sunshine treatment, all of ‘em,matter of fact.
Pile the skeletons right in front of em and watch ‘em dodge and weave.
When a candidate has no defense, like Rudy, it speaks volumes when regular people, like these guys, get in their grill and try to make them accountable and all they can do is run away in a huff,that tells me all I need to know . Rudy is a rotten son of a bitch.

kiddo, I think the conventional (Beltway) wisdom is way off, and that Iowans aren’t paying attention to it at all. Probably not in New Hampshire either. Watching C-SPAN just now, with a foreign policy speech by Bill Richardson to a small group in an Old Town Hall in Iowa, the biggest applause he got was about Iowans making their own choices, not the National Media. The National Media was in the room, and he pointed to them, and repeated the line, which Iowans were happy to cheer again.

Folks who take their votes seriously aren’t going to be swayed by the conventional wisdom about Rudi and Hillary. My $.02. ymmv.

Folks who take their votes seriously aren’t going to be swayed by the conventional wisdom about Rudi and Hillary. My $.02. ymmv.

And they love their firefighters.
My biggest disappointment in CT last year (besides the outcome of course) was the unswerving support RGJoe got from CT firefighters. That hurt.

At HuffPo, Marc Cooper quotes Clinton:

“When that person gets into the Oval Office,” she said, referring to the next president, “there will be a stack of problems already waiting: a war, another war to resolve, an economy that is faltering, housing values that have dropped 6% in some parts of the country…all of those millions, 47 million of them uninsured.”

No mention of the breakdown of the rule of law within the Executive Branch under the current administration as one of the problems (IMHO the number-one problem) facing that person who gets into the Oval Office. In fact, one of her advisors, Jamie Gorelick, is heading the effort for retroactive immunity for BushCo and the Telecoms for their violations of FISA and the Fourth Amendment.

George W. Clinton, indeed.

I noticed that McCain has lifted Richardson’s idea for single payer card for all US military veterans.

It’s funny seeing the GOP-ers coopting these ideas and not getting called flip-floppers.

Just like G.W. Shitheel claiming the mantle of global warming concern and not getting laughed out of the room.

Georgie “bristles” at the idea he’s not serious about global warming.

Eegads.

-G

w00t 4 Dodd!

Rudy is a thug, Romney is abusive to his own poor family dawg and Huckabee simply batshit bonkers IMHO. John Edwards will leave any one of them in the dust me thinks.

Edwards is starting to get some forward motion in Iowa.

-G

He’s a bum. I can’t understand why he pinned so much on Florida when the GOP stripped it of half its delegates. It still has alot, but…… And he’s in the midst of blowing a double digit lead as people are embracing Huckster. He’s scared and it’s showing. PANIC!!!!!! I remember te old days … ok, the old, old days when people used lawn signs as a rule of thumb insta-poll. They don’t mean much anymore, but for whatever it’s worth (if anything) Ron Paul is pretty much the only one with any around here. Rudy’s in deep shit, in my view.

Edwards or Dodd pleases me. Any of the Republican candidates scare the hell outta me.

Folks who take their votes seriously aren’t going to be swayed by the conventional wisdom about Rudi and Hillary.

They are running for BigBrother and BigSister, respectively. They are treating the voters as a nation of bedwetters, crying to be protected from the Boogie Man. Whatever happened to proud, freedom-loving American Bravery of Ben Franklin: “Those who’d trade essential liberties for a bit of safety deserve neither freedom nor safety.” That’s the deal that Bush, Guilani, and Clinton pimp to the American people. God, they disgust me!

If I had to choose I’d say Rudy. But it’s a tough one.

Who’s to say they’re wrong to do so? Bush got elected twice after all. (And please, don’t tell me he was appointed. If so many people didn’t have shit for brains, Florida wouldn’t have mattered in 2000.)

I always say if Al Gore had been smart enough to appoint Bob Graham as veep, instead of penis watcher deluxe Joe Lieberman…Florida wouldn’t have been close.

-G

Who’s to say they’re wrong to do so? Bush got elected twice after all. (And please, don’t tell me he was appointed. If so many people didn’t have shit for brains, Florida wouldn’t have mattered in 2000.)

It is with huge regret that I agree with you. For Chimpy to be on the same field as serious candidates with qualifications and gravitas is despicable. But for him to even be considered by the electorate is mind-boggling.

On C-Span this morning, the commentator who looks as if he’s been shallacked and stuffed body language-wise made a reference to Biden’s comment that Rudy 911 uses a noun/verb (or realistically one of them) with the number 911 in every sentence.

It’s a little like the architects of the Titanic celebrating a big boat and a trip with high hopes.

John Harwood reminisced about the boost that DiFi got when she rushed outside San Fran City Hall to announce that White had killed Moscone riding on the adrenalin evoking, exciting moment.

In A Tale of Two Guillianis, January 2008 Vanity Fair

much of the real Rudy is revealed.

In
The Abominable No-Man and Mr. 9/11 Graydon Carter captures Rudy to a “T”:

“With regard to the president’s favorite pastime—namely, wondering what his place in history will be—historians should heed the counsel of fans of our national pastime, who are uniquely equipped to assess the commander in chief’s judgment and foresight. Back in the mid-90s, professional-baseball owners were deciding whether to enact a wild-card rule, which would allow a second-place team in each league the chance to get into the playoffs. When the 28 owners came to decide on the new rule, only one voted against it—only one—and that was our very own president, then the managing general partner of the Texas Rangers. Since then, nearly a third of World Series champions have been wild-card teams, and the rule change is credited with helping baseball regain its standing following the brutal seven-month players’ strike that began in 1994. “History will prove me right,” Bush bellowed at the time of the vote. “This is an exercise in folly.”

One of the people who think they can do a better job than the president—let me correct that: one of the people who think they can do a better job than the president, and are actively chasing the position—is New York’s own banty visionary Rudolph Giuliani, Mr. 9/11 himself. I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: one second before that first plane flew into the World Trade Center tower, Giuliani was one of the most disliked mayors in New York history. Grasping, petty, and vengeful, he was the sort of politician who runs for higher office not so much because he can then reward those who helped him along, but because he can then punish those who didn’t.

It could reasonably be said that Giuliani shone on 9/11 and during its aftermath. And he’s been shining that 9/11 badge ever since. Indeed, with the possible exception of Osama bin Laden, nobody has cashed in more on that fateful day. As Michael Shnayerson illustrates so clearly in “A Tale of Two Giulianis”—his unflinching look at the former mayor’s professional dealings, in the January issue—the post-9/11 Giuliani has gone into business with a number of companies of less than stellar reputation. This is all legal, if a bit tawdry, for a former mayor. But it’s not really what you go looking for in a future head of state”.

Bush didn’t court the bedwetter vote the first time — 9/11 was in the future. He might have gotten some help from that pitch in 2004, but Kerry seemed to get wrong-footed every step of the way. This time, I think/hope that pitch by Rudy and Hillary will backfire. (But I’ve been so wrong so often.)

SAo I can’t fault Cliton, Giuliani or anybody else, from a political point of view, for treating us like a nation of bedwetters, as ww says at 24. It’s correect i think. But to be expected. Media doesn’t exactly force them to elevate the discourse any.

Don’t worry, the media will re-discover its traditional role and vet, re-vet, expose, and flay the general election candidates in 2008. They don’t want to have a beer with this year’s guy (or gal). The media want to waterboard ‘em.

That’s why Edwards is a smart choice. Since George McGovern chose Tom Eagleton, there’s no more thorough vetting in America than being chosen to be a Democratic Presidential candidate’s running mate. Only Edwards has been through that process.

What does “ymmv” mean?

I don’t fault Kerry as much as many others. He made his mistakes but came very close and but for Ohio and all the fuckery there would have won. He still could have won, but on the whole he did Ok.

your
mileage
may
vary

I get it. ;0)

`Heh, got some kind of freak snowstorm just dumping outside. Just came out of nowhere.
Already going away. Gotta love the Pacific Northwest.
Don’t like the weather?
Wait ten minutes.

Media soaks the bed much better than any group, or certainly equal to most uninformed Americans. You get the Democracy you deserve, and Americans are gettin’ it in spades–it’s called “Unitary Exec City” and believe me, Gillespie is having a great time orchestrating it with Addington and Fielding.

He’d probably pay for his job.

Aw come on! your not in New England ya know!

I do love the Pacific Northwest and miss living there. Supposed to be around 15 degrees here in SW OK. tomorow night.

Wouldn’t trade it for a second.

Funny that the term gravitas has taken a 7 year hiatus.

It is soon to be revived though.

-G

The media wants to do that, but only to the Democrats. Republics, as always, will get a pass.

I’d really, really like to know all about Rudy’s business interests.

Everyone can relax. Ali Velshi on CNN has just declared that the US economy won’t go into recession.

Thank goodness.

-G

The fact that the scumbag makes money off of the deaths of three thousand of our brothers and sisters is beyond despicable.
Mendacious Douchebag.

H/T GSD.

The view here is that Mr. Rudy G is hiding “things”.

I’d really, really like to know all about Rudy’s business interests.

Don’t you recall Rudi telling Punkinhead Russert that those were all “transparent” and have been completely revealed and investigated by the media? That was, I believe, during Rudi’s cackling appearance on Press The Meat.

Dick Cheney’s overnight bag has been found.

-G

We all know how he likes to play hide the weenie at taxpayer expense, what else do I need to know?

Yes… I saw that. What a scream.

Heretofore known as Giulianis screaming skull set on MTP.

-G

Media soaks the bed much better than any group, or certainly equal to most uninformed Americans. You get the Democracy you deserve, and Americans are gettin’ it in spades–it’s called “Unitary Exec City” and believe me, Gillespie is having a great time orchestrating it with Addington and Fielding.

It is a truly unfortunate congruence that what keeps the teevees in American households tuned to the cablenews channels is exactly what keeps the GOP in office: that which scares us. Flames, blood, & scary brown people: these are the stuff of cable ratings and GOP re-elections.

That’s likely sufficient. ;0)

A psychic on CNN has just offered the most amazing prognostication I have ever heard.

“I still sense Paris Hilton has some troubled times ahead.”

-G

I hope these honest and forthright firefighters are making an impact for Chris Dodd with the people of Iowa. I really do.

They don’t call themselves “the most trusted name in news” for nothing, ya know….

A real palm to forehead moment there.

I gave up on New England also. I am Now on the peninsular in the bay area. “world’s best weather by government test” A sign that hangs over Broadway downtown. I live it, it is the best weather anywhere!

IMHO, boomers are more frightened of their retirements disappearing than of another terrorist attack. Perhaps, the White House will do something to fix that from one aspect or the other.

They don’t call themselves “the most trusted name in news” for nothing, ya know….

Well, that’s not saying much. Look at the rest of them.

eg, ya got me there!

Yes. ;0)

Fat chance, unless some one like Edwards gets in and the Dems sweep a lot more Rethugs out of office ( We can only hope!)

You must live in RC. Me, too. And I love the weather. It’s nice to have it guaranteed by your city, isn’t it?

Who of the Repubs do I fear the most…. hmmmm

Mitt - “There’s a Constitution?”
Rudy - “Don’t need no stinking Constitution”
Huck - “What… what … did something happen?”
Thompson - zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Paul - “I’ll interpret the Constitution back to the 1890’s”

Unfortunately, scandals impact.

Maybe the GOP can make a frankenstein monster out of the remains of the GOP field after they finish taking machetes to each other.

St. Ronnie of the 11th commandment is rolling over in his grave.

-G

McCain and Romney are neck and neck in NH.

-G

In the morning after the Iowa caucus, at breakfast, before looking at the news, I will be somewhat excited.

And I’m giving you the way to know about many of them straight up Kiddo:

Vanity Fair Jan. ‘08 “A Tale of Two Guillianis

Editor’s Letter
The Abominable No-Man and Mr. 9/11
by Graydon Carter January 2008

Absolutely! And yeah is nice we get that service from the city. To me it is one of the best places to live in the Bay Area! Not to big and the ocean is just over the coastal hills as a great get away from the stress of city life. I live behind the bowling alley and close to everything around here!

Thank you. I will take a look. ;0)

Ugly OT-
CBS football between-game show - all 5 commentators wearing large American flag lapel pins…

Paul has a lot of decent traits and honesty the rest of the reactionary assholes they have could never understand.

If the Democrats can’t beat these mutts next November, they have fully failed. Their Congress have been unparalleled incompetent chickenshit putzes. I wish I could get in touch with how I really feel.

Old Lord McCain is the anointed one by the DeeCee Establishment, I believe. Listen to Broderella rhapsodize about “being ready for the Presidency” today:

But I have found myself thinking about something I was told many years ago by Bill Bradley, the former senator from New Jersey, before he ran for the Democratic presidential nomination against Al Gore in 2000. Bradley was explaining one day in his office why he had taken himself out of consideration as a running mate for Michael Dukakis in 1988. You shouldn’t run for vice president, he said, unless you thought you were ready to be president, and he didn’t consider himself ready.

Why not? He said he thought a president of the United States needed to know several other major countries “from the inside,” not just at a briefing-book level but from firsthand observation, so you understand the pressures on their leaders when you sit down to negotiate with them. Bradley had begun such studies in the Soviet Union, Japan, Germany and Mexico, he said, but had more to do in all four places, and China beckoned.

Then, he said, a president should know the leadership elites in this country — not just in politics but in business, the professions, academia, labor — well enough that he would know where to go to staff his administration. And, he said, you needed to know the policy community well enough to be able to navigate for useful advice.

I’m a big fan of Bill Bradley’s, but I’m not picking a President who can please Broder. Clearly, that President is Clinton or McCain, based on Bradley’s description. And from his panty-drawer sniffing, I presume it’s not Hillary.

At least it’s very clear that Barack, JRE, and Hucklebee are unacceptable to Teh Dean, don’t you agree?

One of the few countries where you can make six figures and have a great health plan and enough money to make real estate investments for a little Sunday B.S.–they feel greatful.

LOL, Pete.

If anyone seeks an outline of the path to the Democratic nomination, I recommend the AP’s article yesterday by Beth Fouhy and Nedra Pickler in the WaPo, which begins:

DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa could make or break a Democratic candidate on Thursday. The question is, who?

While the state has long played a key role in choosing the Democratic presidential nominee, it has unparalleled influence this year, even after several larger states moved up their contests to try and muscle in. Those efforts have done little more than compress the calendar into a five-week sprint that ends with the multistate primary Feb. 5 _ strengthening Iowa’s position as the leadoff caucus state rather than diminishing it.

Even New Hampshire, which holds the first primary of the season, has seen its once-mighty position diminished somewhat by Iowa’s outsized role this time.

Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards are locked in a tight three-way contest in Iowa just days before voters attend their precinct caucuses on Thursday. And while all three have strong organizations in other early states, the best laid plans in those places could come apart depending on what happens in Iowa.

9/11 is always OnT when talking about Rudi, right?
Have some poetry…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fhWX2F6G7Y

McCain and Romney are neck and neck in NH.

HEADLINE: McCain and Romney necking in NH.

The WTC radios issue won’t stick, guys. Rudy was not a micro-manager - he left equipment decisions to the people who actually run the Fire Department. It could be argued that Fire Commissioner Bill Feehan shouldn’t have been allowed to stay in the job into his 70’s. But competent or not, Feehan was legendary, and popular. He’s the guy who was running the Fire Department on September 11th.

Ah yes, the buck stops every but the top with the GOP.

Sort of like the way Rummy was the depository of the Iraq angst.

-G

Funny how projection can fuck a guy.
The image is out there,it ain’t going away.

OT, Teddy, nice avatar. Not exactly my idea of a Teddy Bear, though.

Preparedness for terrorism is the issue the firefighters are talking about: non-interoperable radios, personally designating the WTC as the NYC CTU center, and not holding any drills at all despite being elected in the wake of the first WTC bombing. If your platform is terror preparedness, getting everything wrong about terror preparedness up until 9/11 — well, it sucks to be Rudi.

Making obscene amounts of money off of terror preparedness from shady clients you won’t reveal — well, it still sucks to be Rudi.

Firefighters are heroes and truth-tellers. No one cares who the fire chief was; Rudi sez he saved NYC. The firefighters say he caused all the problems.

Who you gonna believe?

Rudy was not a micro-manager…

To say the least, unless it comes to feathering his own nest.
And he claimed to have a very hands-on approach to disaster planning, so… which is it?

more here

I took the photo (please don’t tell anyone my avatar is a lady-bear! Although, having just finished reading The Golden Compass, my understanding of avatars and respect for bears is at an all-time high….)

well, if you guys call that “weather”

hrmmmp

how could it be the “Best” weather

I never see it on the Weather Channel

I’m thinking your definition of “Best” weather is a little different than mine

I like it when the wind is whipping around 100 miles per hour, and shit is blowing all over the place … in Florida

cept for snow and floods, California doesn’t have much “Interesting” weather, much less the “Best” weather

I woulda stayed on topic, but come on, “Rudi is a PUTZ” ??? that’s news ???

I woulda stayed on topic, but come on, “Rudi is a PUTZ” ??? that’s news ???

It’s news worth repeating, yes.

Hey, don’t discount lady-bears, they are are most ferocious! Sprout came within spittin’ distance of one a couple of years ago, in the front yard of our old house (it’s one reason we moved, he wouldn’t go outside anymore). If I had known at the moment that she had 2 cubs stashed in the deodar cedar out back, I would have had a full-on heart attack instead of a just a panic attack. :) It wasn’t a grizzly, “only” a black bear.

Have been watching Obama live (CSPAN) in Iowa for the last hour or so - am surprised at how inarticulate he has been throughout the appearance and especially the question and answer wrap up.

Just to be clear I did not mean my former comment to be a negative dig at the candidate - honestly. He is likely exhausted & needs some sleep.

The firefighters aren’t squawking about the radios - that’s a made-up issue. They’re mad because Rudy took them off the pile after the gold was found. It’s a legitimate gripe, because it implies that dead firemen are just garbage.

It’s true that firefighters are astonishingly brave, but they are also full of their own legend. Bill Feehan was simply not up to the job of running a terror-response agency in the 21st Century. Rudy is careful not to engage the substance of the issue, because the firefighters themselves won’t stand public scrutiny. FDNY is an all-male group of white guys who commute into the city from the suburbs. The radio issue is their own damn fault, and they know it. If they want to slug it out politically with Giuliani, they are going to lose.

If anybody wins the first couple of Repub primaries then Rudy is completely burnt toast (if he isn’t already).

The only way Rudy gets another chance is if all the others crash & burn. That also the only reason McCain is getting another look.