Swopa! Good to see ya.

So true. Thanks Swopa

Here’s what’s funny. Andy Card and Townsend said there was a system in place that prevented the decisions on Homeland Defense and National Security from being “politicized”…so how can it be that Dick Cheney said that after 2004 Bush “wimped out” due to political considerations. If Bush could do this after the election, then what stopped it from happening before in order to GET RE-ELECTED.

So we have it straight out of Darth’s mouth that the process was politicized. ;-)

they commandeered an entirely new form of media to communicate and share information with each other.

And in the process turned the Rethug Party into a pack of urine soaked, confused, sputtering, drooling old white men.

Excellent post, Swopa and what JClausen said.

Some things never change. Those folks who fought against Franco during the Spanish Civil War were mocked, derided, and held as security risks for years after for having the audacity to be “PAFs” (aka Premature Anti-Fascists).

So now that Ambinder has figured out that he was lied to and had his chain jerked, I’m sure he will be doing an expose of how badly the Bush Administration screwed everything up.

No, I’m not holding my breath on this either.

These bought mass media figures are criminals and should be tried for their crimes against Democracy. If this was a rational country, all the editors and writers on the Washington Post, New York Times, ABC, ‘embedded’ reporters in the Iraq war, and certainly the entire White House Press Corps (minus Helen Thomas of course) would have already been tarred and feathered and run out of town by real patriots. Ditto the Democrats who wet their beds and did nothing but kiss up to the Bush/Cheney war criminals.

FL unemployment data for July released today. Unemployment rate 10.7%, highest since 1975 when it was 11.0%. Tampa/St Pete area unemployment rate is 11.3%. In 2008 more people, about 58,000, left FL in one year since the end of WWII.

I guess I am such a wimp because all of this, going on for years, say since Gore v. Bush, makes me quite sick, sad, appalled. How can so many folks be ignoring the whole thing..the narrative, the facts, the murders, the lies. Impeachment off the table, let’s move on…It is a very wide swath of stink….tho’ another of Abramoff’s kids has been indicted. Something nice but surely not the big fish.

Hey KKKarl and cabal – life can be a bitch when you don’t control reality heh

Whoa…you make sense. Therefore you’re outside the bounds of reasonable discourse. /s

Know how you feel RevBev, and you’re right, the beginning was the way W stole the 2000 election, the way the media didn’t cover the rethug bullshit that led to no recount, and now the way Bush/Cheney has eight years of trampling on the very constitution I swore to defend when I joined the U.S. Army so many years (decades) ago.

And then, after torture, warrentless wiretapping, arresting American citizens on American soil with no habeas corpus rights, contracting out assassination squads, two wars, and I hear a message of hope and my hope arises for the first time in years and I can’t wait to vote for Obama and every D on the ticket and then………

*crickets*

And I’ve got news to all you pups, because I first appeared here when I sensed things going badly for health care, and I was right (I seem to have a sense) and now I sense the public option is dead. It is as dead as George Washington. You can see it now, the way it’s being played in our media as the BIG CONTROVERSY so naturally everyone knows you must compromise from the BIG CONTROVERSY so co-ops (cop-outs) will be the “conmpromise” when the BIG CONTROVERSY should’ve been single payer and the compromise public option. It’s done pups. This ship has sailed.

And RevBev, I’ve never felt so depressed, so helpless, and so angry in my life.

God damn it.

How can so many folks be ignoring the whole thing..the narrative, the facts, the murders, the lies.

I often think of Washington as being like the Forbidden City. In the FC those not in/of the Imperial Court were there to fulfill the needs and wants of those who were. Dissent was not advantageous to one’s livelihood.

We’re in the fourth quarter – don’t head to the lockers yet.

We’ll see.

Never. Give. Up.

Oh, and he could reflect on the fact that having been so morally unconstrained while in power, this same wing of our politics is now reacting to being out of power by encouraging their more unstable followers to physically intimidate their opponents–to the point of bringing firearms to public policy discussions.

And they will use the press again to help them. They also love to use the “free speech” argument to protect them. And that really just pisses me off.

Today I posted a letter to the head of ABCs News division to point out that KSFO in San Francisco is part of their network and STILL uses reports from their ABC TV news network. The local hots, Lee Rodgers and Brian Sussman insult the ABC reporters by name and accuses them of lying and withholding information because they are leftist propogandist. But the part of the story that should be covered is that one host calls for the massacre of the entire Iraq people.

(Link)

This is genocidal racism coming out of KSFO to the fourth largest market in America. And the management stands by and lets it happen. They can say it is about, “free speech” but it’s really about corporate standards that acknowledge that racism towards certain groups of people and religions is fine.

The right wing uses the left to protect them from any consequences, just like the irresponsible gun owners use the 2nd Amendment and the First to hide behind when they bring their guns to an event. The people who need to tell them to knock it off are other 2nd Amendment lovers.

It is really madness. I tried to help show the link between potential violence and talk radio hosts whipping up their followers. Nothing will change until some liberal is shot and the eye witness says, ‘He just heard on talk radio to step on the cockroaches and by that he meant liberals, so that is what he did.” Even then, the courts will rule that since it was on radio and the person didn’t say it to other person live it isn’t really the broadcaster’s fault. (BTW, this is the exact scenario I was given as the one to “prove” who is and isn’t responsible for inciting violence. (Of course that is just on the right. On the left you can’t wear scary t-shirts.)

What I also tried to show was the civil liability of the inciters which is actually more frightening for them. They can always say, “One crazy person is not our fault!” but when a mob they collected gets out of control? Well then they are financially liable.

Think my metaphor is too extreme? Here is Lee Rodgers saying that a protester should be stomped to death and his co-host “Officer Vic”, saying liberals are like cockroaches, cut their heads off.(audio link) And

Sounds like this should be a FCC complaint

Dr. Dean is our good guy. He was right and they laughed at him.
He also is still saying there will be a PO – hope he’s right.

Foothillsmike. The FCC doesn’t care. If it isn’t classed under indecency, obscenity or profanity then they don’t have anything to say.

That is why I went the route of alerting the advertisers. Sadly advertisers don’t consider genocidal racism toward Iraqis and Muslims a problem.

First they ignore you.
Then they laugh at you.
Then they fight you.
Then you win.

My radio station has been playing segments from NN on the evening news every night this week. Monday was Dean on the PO, tonight was Dean on being more of a moderate and the homophobic reaction to some LGBT legislation of his. Cool.

When has the Republic Party not been a pack of urine soaked, confused, sputtering, drooling old white men?

Some good news. Megahed was released about 20 minutes ago. Now if they’d only cut Sami al-Arian loose.

Lincoln’s time?

Ever since they sold their collective souls to Bush family, it’s difficult to even imagine Lincoln as a party member.

Hello, swopa! Feel better now, ya DFH? Yeah, me neither.

I’d like to feel optimism, but I can’t.

The only possible way out of this now (I’m telling you the message is now entrenched, the controversy is the public option, therefore co-ops will be sold as the compromise to the controversy) would be if the progressives could somehow, someway, make it look like the single payer one has a shot at passing, and that becomes the focus of attention (from which public option is a reasonable compromise).

In a constitutional republic, when one political group decides it will do anything to win, what is the appropriate response?

Just consider the big political events of this new century: the 2000 election, the run up to the war, the 2004 election and health care/insurance reform. In each instance thay have conducted themselves in a manner less ethical than one would expect from Tony Suprano.

Just how do Democrats deal with this; particularly, given the cowardice of the MSM and the cover delivered by Fox and the radio goons?

Rather quick shift of position on this.

It’s a good question. One never before considered, because the theory always was that such behavior would be punished at the polls.

Not so with the Republicans. They could kill babies live on TV and the core Republican voters would still support ‘em. This is why they know they CAN do these things. They don’t have the assumed built in incentive against it in a normal democracy.

This was still going on in 2006. The Viillagers’ still had control of the message, demanding that D had to remain centrist and not speak out about the war or they would never be elected.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAMsaDAEyQM

The person intimidating D candidates to keep their head down and not speak out about the status quo was Rahm, nothing has changed.

“Truth”

Truth doesn’t work.

45% of Americans polled (75% of Americans who get their news from Fox) believe the health care bill has death panels.

A majority believe it gives benefits to illegal aliens.

The truth doesn’t work with these people (the ones that vote Republican).

I’m sorry to say that I have to agree with Old Fat Guy that the PO is dead. You know why? Cable news is now all over the place with the new “trillions of dollars of deficit.”

That plus President Nelson is leading the charge that the HCR bill needs to be less than the $900 Billion.

I predict:

They’ll get it down to $5 or $600 Billion, for the sake of bi-partisanshit, and probably with the mandate intact. Obama will sign it, and declare victory.

As with the primaries and general election there’s a segment of the population that is inaccessible to normal polling methods, ie, land line phone – youth. They communicate via cell and web. They are the ones giving the small donations to ActBlue, they’re the ones calling, etc. It’s not all us old fucks makin’ all this noise. They’re the ones the Rethugs are really most afraid of. Unless the Dems make a total hash of everything those young Dem voters will vote for more progressive candidates in droves. For years.

Patience, grasshopper.

Forgot to add; the only hope is the Progressive Caucus holding out and not letting them pass a bill.

But you know damn well that Rahm and Stinky Hoyer will peel them off one at a time, frosh by frosh, by threats of the WH withholding support in 2010.

The thing is, the frosh should realize that running AGAINST Obama at that time might be the exact thing to do.

We’ll just have to see who can hold on through.

Patience, grasshopper.

Yeah, sorry man (and sorry to all). I’m an emotional wreck today.

My niece (my sister’s daughter) is 19, was diagnosed with cancer and diabetes, and got a trip this week to the beach for her “Make a Wish” and it all just hits home so Goddamned hard. I’m literraly in tears at the thought of what happens to her if she fails at school due to her struggles with the disease or when she finishes school and can no longer be on my sister’s plan. She is one of those “uninsurables” and what that will mean for her, her future, my sister’s future, etc. etc. etc.

And her mother emailed me telling me how happy she was and how beautiful the beach was and I’m a wreck today thinking about her and what’s happening to millions liker her.

I’ll try and work on the whole patience thing.

they commandeered an entirely new form of media to communicate and share information with each other.

and breathed the breath of life to a new fourth estate

So sorry. Sometimes life punches really hard. My best to all of you. Will be thinking of her.

My dear God, prayers and hugs to you all. That’s the urgency Obama used to talk about saying….if you could hear the stories I hear. Maybe there can be some good coveage in her future. I heard Dean just awhile ago saying polls for the PO are at 80%….We do not know the outcome, but I don’t think he would lie.

Take care of yourself as well. Our hearts are with your family….if you don’t mind saying…what beach did they visit? Fantastic..

Oh, man, I’m so sorry to hear that. Wow. We’re pulling for her, and you.

I just went to marc’s mia culpa and he still doesn’t get it, I had to register and post the following;

however this piece you just wrote demonstrates, you just don’t get it and I really think after reading this you never will…to wit;

their worldview was shaped by an all-consuming obsession about terrorism. The One Percent Doctrine.

you are still believing what has been demonstrated to be false, they had no obsession about terrorism they created obsession among the rest of us as their tool controlling us

THAT is the very point

IF they had an obsession concerning terrorism they would have NEVER attacked Iraq, they would have NEVER diverted the assets desperately needed in Afghanistan to attack Iraq which THEY KNEW AS A FACT was not involved, which THEY KNEW AS A FACT had NO weapons of mass destruction and which they knew as a fact posed NO threat

THEIR intelligence told them their claims were lies

GET IT?

the had NO “obsession” with terrorism accept for their obsession with power and how exploiting terrorism would facilitate their obsession

STOP giving them ANY “benefit of doubt”, there IS no doubt, they used terrorism as their tool to attack a country they’ve wanted to attack since they fantasized about it as members in a SICK and MANIACAL fraternity known as the PNAC.

now, if you are going to give us a mia culpa, be so kind as to STOP giving the previous (or present for that matter) administration ANY “benefit of doubt”, your JOB as a journalist IS to doubt

get it yet?blockquote>

You are a thousand per cent correct. Fear of terrorism was the tool Bush-Cheney used to manipulate voters and the Congress. They didn’t fear terrorism at all. It was simply the phony justification for everything they did, especially invading Iraq for its oil and stripping us of all our Constitutional rights.

Armbinder’s mea sorta culpa was entirely self serving. He seems most interested in covering his own arse rather than truly coming clean. So far, everything that has emerged about the Bush years has totally vindicated the loony liberals who were screaming about these outrages at the time. If we knew about them, how come Armbinder didn’t? He was either lazy or made a conscious decision to shelve any pretense of journalistic skepticism in order to be part of the jingoistic chorus.