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Easter Open Thread
Reading back, Matthew lost his job, Truth Shall Prevail fell and injured her arm. We wish them well, but more than that, I wish them healed.
Today is a day when we celebrate resurrection of hope and light, following a long dark winter of discontent. Easter actually arose out of a Roman celebration, Floralia.
The Floralia, also known as the Florifertum, was an ancient Roman festival dedicated to the goddess Flora. It was held on April 27 to May 3 and symbolized the renewal of the cycle of life, marked with dancing, drinking, and flowers. The Floralia was on the IV Kalends May. Dedicated to Flora, the goddess of flowers and vegetation, this day was considered by the prostitutes of Rome to be their own. While flowers decked the temples, Roman citizens wore colorful clothing instead of the usual white, and offerings were made of milk and honey to Flora.
One Easter, back around 1997, I woke up very early--around 4:30 am--feeling the losses I had experienced in the previous year. My then-boyfriend, now husband got up and made me a cup of hot milk with honey and cinnamon. It was the perfect antidote. We then got into the car and drove to the Tidal Basin, where the cherry trees were in full bloom, and watched the sunrise, while a choir sang in front of the Jefferson Memorial.
I think about that morning as an offering to the gods, and a gift from them as well. We don't have enough miracles these days, but I'll share a little moment from the past week that I did not write about in the thread header on the main page, but one which moved me similarly:
Now, what are your miraculous moments these days? What gives you hope? What is your offering to the coming spring?
woz said:
Karen, this is such a good piece that I don't know where to start. I've watched Adam Kokesh so many times that I feel like a groupie. He has such a no nonsense-goodness when he tells that we are good people who have been sent to do bad things. That our governments are doing it again - sending young people to decimate the lives of the local citizens.
What frightens me when I hear Obama and Clinton saying they will end the war is that they are consulting the wrong people. Clinton is just going to order the troops home on day 1. Obama is going to take a little time because he needs to find out from the Commanders on the ground how to do it. Aren't these the very commanders who are saying we're winning, or we've won? Like the CIC is saying?
Have any of the candidates heard from Adam Kokesh? He surely would be a great person to have on Obama's team. Or any of the vets trying to get medical care for PTSD? Please - candidates - take notice of the guys who've been sent to Iraq and returned missing a limb, a mind, a soul, a spirit. Those who've been sent and ordered to deny their own morality, are forever changed.
This is not a *war*. It is a brutal assault on the Iraqi people and every day it gets worse, not better. And with every assault in someone's home suburb, a little humanity leaves the young soldiers gunning children and families down where they live.
Everyone has the right to safety within their own homes. Except the Iraqis according to the Bush Regime.
I am reposting this from Silenced Majority Portal
Julie Nixon Eisenhower, daughter of President Richard Nixon gave $2,000 to Obama last month. Endorsement also from Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel under Reagan and the senior Bush, since Romney has bailed and McCain is deemed unacceptable - this has potential to bring in Reaganite Catholics into the big fold needed to defeat the venerable McCain. By the way, I was just reading on Talking Points Memo that Soros was approached by Governor Ed Rendell about financing a Michigan revote and he Soros didn't bite. It occurs to me that a mythical struggle is going on. It's the last of the Old Guard, the POW and war hero - the last bastion of the white male - a "maverick" yet mainstream. It's the feminist fighting the glass ceiling - the seasoned woman for all seasons - doesn't bake enough cookies yet didn't really face sniper fire - she represents the double bind for women. It's the "melting pot" - the new agent of change - coming from more than one race, more than one continent - not being able to pull from the past as much but with one hand in the future - representing those who are to come. Everything that is thrown at him actually ends up reinforcing the myth of what he represents, because the future is with the "melting pot" and change - it can happen now or it can happen later, but happen it will!
Speaking of philanthropists, I just received this at 6:52 PM Pacific Standard Time on Easter (see also Pittsburgh Post Gazette) and I got it from "family" (since I worked my butt off for Kerry in 2004). Slugbug
It's Pennsylvania's turn - vote for Obama - Barack Obama understands working families, offers realistic proposals to help them and has the vision to re-inspire America, says philanthropist TERESA HEINZ Teresa Heinz is the chairman of the Heinz Family Philanthropies Heinzfamily.org.
Election days are always special to me. I grew up in a land where there were no election days. The Mozambique of my childhood was governed by a right-wing dictatorship in far-away Portugal. My father, a wise and good man, was 71 years old when he voted for the first time. I never cast a ballot until I became a citizen of the United States. But when I did, it was for a young man who spent years teaching me about the needs of Pennsylvania's working families and the good our government can do for them -- my late husband, Sen. John Heinz. He helped me learn how precious a right suffrage is -- as a weapon against tyranny; as an instrument of hope, progress and change. That is why, this year, I will cast my vote in the April 22 Pennsylvania primary for Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.
Pennsylvania needs a president like Barack Obama, someone who understands the tough times Pennsylvanians are facing. Raised with much love but in challenging circumstances by a single mom and grandparents, he knows firsthand the stress and financial pressures families face. When he beat the odds and put himself through college, he could have made good money with a big-name law firm anywhere in the country, but he chose the gritty streets of Chicago's South Side where, as a community organizer, he worked helping families like his build better lives. Mr. Obama's work taught him what happens to families and communities when factories shut down and jobs go overseas. He knows firsthand the devastation and despair the global economy can bring -- and how important hope is in overcoming setbacks and getting lives and neighborhoods back on track.
But there's more to Mr. Obama than hope. There's a practical approach to economic recovery. It starts with a tax cut of up to $1,000 -- for middle-class families, not for millionaires. And Mr. Obama believes that there can be no "free" trade without fair trade. He's committed to fixing NAFTA, so that it works for American workers. For those whose jobs are threatened by foreign trade, Mr. Obama supports reforms to the Trade Adjustment Assistance program so that workers can be retrained before they lose their jobs. Mr. Obama's health-care plan will cover every child in America, and help families afford the same kind of insurance he and I both have, by giving them access to the same plan that covers Congress. He'll simplify paperwork and ensure no family can be turned down, regardless of pre-existing conditions. As I saw in Sen. Heinz, and as I see in my husband, Sen. John Kerry, a personal connection to working families drives Mr. Obama in his passion to get working Americans and seniors access to affordable insurance.
But Mr. Obama wants more; he wants the United States to win the race to the next economic era by increasing federal investment in research and development, in education and training and workforce development so we can pioneer the green technologies that will lessen our dependence on foreign oil, slow global warming and create not only high-tech, high-wage jobs but also all the good jobs that follow.
Mr. Obama's background and passion make him the right choice for all of us worried about bringing a broader prosperity back to Western Pennsylvania; he will lead a surge of voters next November and then build coalitions across party lines to put people back to work. When I think of the problems facing working mothers waiting tables or stocking shelves in Pittsburgh, I think of how much we need a president who can unite us across race and region to fight for economic security for these women and their families.
I am also eager for a leader who will keep our homeland secure while upholding the high ideals on which this country was founded. After eight years of a president who twisted evidence and manipulated our fears to goad this nation into an unnecessary war, and a vice president who seems never to have read the Constitution; after seeing our moral authority blurred by torture, rendition and Abu Ghraib, I am excited about a candidate who knows that we can safeguard our security and still preserve our civil liberties.
In Sen. Barack Obama I see not just a president but a transformative leader, a candidate with a unique gift. He is a man who has drawn the disinterested and dispirited into his campaign, challenging them to become bigger than themselves.
Pennsylvania needs a president who knows that our hopes, not our fears, make America strong. And above all, we need a president who will give us our optimism back, who believes in us enough to ask us to do our part, to sacrifice and to dream together. Barack Obama will be that president. I believe he stands apart from others not just as a capable politician, but as an American of true vision. Thousands of Pennsylvanians, tired of the divisive politics, have already switched registration so they can vote for change and for hope -- for Barack Obama. At a moment when so much needs to be done, Mr. Obama's ability to bring us together, to inspire us and challenge us makes him uniquely qualified to hold the most powerful office in the world.
In the bicentennial year of 1976, Pennsylvania took a chance on a smart, hard-working and optimistic young congressman named John Heinz and made him their senator. They made a wise choice. He worked across the aisle to tackle the tough problems of the 1970s and 1980s -- saving Social Security, reforming nursing home care, demanding fair trade, offering new solutions to environmental problems. He proved that, when you love people and put their interest ahead of politics you can make a real difference. That is the spirit I see in Barack Obama and why I look forward to voting to make him our 44th president. The "audacity of hope" means a vote for change. Vote for Barack.
Iraq death toll now at 4,000.
Some Easter.
TSP:
Get well soon!
Fe:
Happy Easter:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEVNoYFpLps
Chuck in Houston
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYjBQKIOb-w&feature=related
4000
Barney Frank Introducing (cough cough) federal Marijuana Legislation
http://www.silencedmajority.blogs.com
Thanks Kayakbiker I needed that before bed (all I have is a Hard Creamer orange cream malt beverage) and I'm listening to Gnarls Barkley.
Happy Easter
Oh, Carol:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDUoOZwv5QU&feature=related
I can't keep up with Kayakbiker - I went over to read that and he has a sobering story about Iraq war coverage. This jumped out at me.
The news is only devoting one fourth the coverage to Iraq that it was back in 2003. And that is one reason that the public believes that the conditions are improving in Iraq.
THE NEWS IS ONLY DEVOTING ONE FOURTH THE COVERAGE TO IRAQ THAT IT WAS BACK IN 2003. AND THAT IS ONE REASON THE PUBLIC BELIEVES THAT THE CONDITIONS ARE IMPROVING IN IRAQ.
Denial. Desensitization to violence and death. Increased comfort level as long as it isn't on our soil.
Chucks
Thanks for the Bowie
talking heads life during wartime
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzORu1dqEE0
Satisfaction on Ed Sullivan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQckf9pbays
NMP:
I was trying to find a good version of "I Went Back to Ohio, but My City was Gone," but all I could find that was OK was this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9txBYBwLTew&feature=related
NMP:
Wow, re: I never thought of Obama as a Nixonian type... I'll have to think on that a bit. I just thought he was a young liberal type. Do you see him as an Eisenhower-Nixon type? I must have mis-read that post above. The first sentence actually made me dizzy.
No doubt I have my types all mixed up.
Chuck in Houston
As a result, I wanna be sedated:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMD7Ezp3gWc&feature=related
And when I get all bummed out like that, I just reflect on the fact that Elvis is Everywhere:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gopc3fgnXDw
Elvis is everywhere. Elvis is everything. Elvis is everybody. Elvis is still the king...
We were all young and naive once:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPjEFvr4-_A&feature=related
One of my favorite Elvis songs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZFcHF-wjBA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbOVtcSUVjI&feature=related
nmp - wow!
christy - and the president says, "It's worth it."
Someone lock him up please!
tsp - I hope your arm heals well and you aren't in plaster for too long. And of course I hope it doesn't hurt too much. I get my plaster cast off on the 3rd April and luckily I didn't need surgery.
"Nobody had expected luxury at Saddam Hussein’s old prison, but morale was low to begin with—the M.P.s just wanted to know when they were going home—and there was something about living in cells at Abu Ghraib that never felt right.
“We had some kind of incinerator at the end of our building,” Specialist Megan Ambuhl said. “It was this huge circular thing. We just didn’t know what was incinerated in there. It could have been people, for all we knew—bodies.” Sergeant Davis was not in doubt. “It had bones in it,” he said, and he called it the crematorium. “But hey, you’re at war,” he said. “Suck it up or drive on.”
Snipped
"And you could inflict pain. “You also had stress positions, and you escalated the stress positions,” Davis said. “Hand-cuffs behind their backs, high up, in very uncomfortable positions, or chained down. Then you had the submersion. You put the people in garbage cans, and you’d put ice in it, and water. Or stick them underneath the shower spigot naked. They’d be freezing.” It was a routine, he said: “Open a window while it was, like, forty degrees outside and watch them disappear into themselves . . . before they go into shock.”'
http://www.atlargely.com/2008/03/and-then-a-plan.html
This just in, please forward around:
March 23, 2008
Dear Karen,
I am writing to you again so quickly because there is an urgent need for action today.
The Pentagon has decided not to allow the outgoing Commander of the U.S. Central
Command, who was responsible for the overall military strategy and actions in the
Middle East, to testify before Congress. See article below for details.
This is a time of critical foreign policy decision making and the American public
needs to have testimony under oath from Admiral Fallon. News reports indicate
Admiral Fallon left due to disputes with the White House over whether a military
attack on Iran should be pursued.
The U.S. should not move toward a military attack on Iran without public discourse
on the subject. These should include congressional hearings where people like
Admiral Fallon testify under oath about whether opening a third front of combat
makes sense at a time when things are going so poorly in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
We request you do the following (doing all three will take less than one minute!):
1.
Forward this email to people you know.
2.
Contact the Pentagon; tell them that they should let Admiral Fallon testify.
The American public needs to hear the views of the most senior military
official for the Middle East.
www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/vfp/content.jsp?content_KEY=3995
3.
Contact Congress and tell them to subpoena the testimony of Admiral Fallon.
They have the power to require Admiral Fallon to testify. This is a critical
juncture for U.S. foreign policy. The U.S. is already fighting a two-front war
- and failing on both fronts - and should not be adding a third front in Iran.
www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/vfp/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=23797
Thank you for your time. We appreciate you taking action on this important request.
Sincerely,
Kevin Zeese
Executive Director
VotersForPeace
Pentagon will not send Adm. Fallon to Congress on Iraq
REUTERS
Reuters North American News Service
Mar 21, 2008 12:06 EST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Adm. William Fallon, who is resigning after a magazine
reported he was challenging the White House over Iran, will not appear before
Congress to discuss the war in Iraq, the Pentagon said Friday.
Only Gen. David Petraeus, top U.S. officer in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan
Crocker will go to Capitol Hill in April to update lawmakers on the war, said
Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell.
"I know there have been requests in fact from members of Congress to have Admiral
Fallon testify with Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker and I can tell you Admiral
Fallon will not be testifying," Morrell said.
Fallon, commander of U.S. Central Command headquarters responsible for the Middle
East, said earlier this month that he would quit after Esquire magazine described
him as urging President Bush to avoid war with Iran.
Fallon cooperated with the author during the article's preparation but strongly
criticized the story after it appeared.
He will hand responsibility to his deputy by the end of March but will remain an
active-duty four-star officer.
Petraeus and Crocker are expected to testify to Congress in early April, offering
lawmakers their first update on the war since the two went to Capitol Hill in
September.
"The process that we used last time worked quite well and we're going to stick with
that again this time," Morrell said.
Morrell pinned the decision against Fallon's testimony to his resignation, saying
Fallon would no longer be acting Central Command commander.
Asked if the Pentagon was concerned that lawmakers would use Fallon's appearance to
ask questions about Iran, Morrell said, no. (Reporting by Kristin Roberts, Editing
by Jackie Frank)
Source: Reuters North American News Service
Skullphone logo slideshow
SkullPhone MySpace page
SkullPhone Flikr
SkullPhone GridSkiller
SkullPhone SuperTouch
Last Thursday, 18 year old graffiti artist Skullphone hacked into 10 of ClearChannel's digital billboards in Hollwood, Culver City, and elsewhere around LA, putting up his logo in between the more normal ads.
I was reading this article about clinton being undone by her do-over...
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/03/20/a_doover_undone_1.html?hpid=topnews
Anyways, this line just jumped out at me...
"Money has never been an obstacle in the political life of Corzine. The former Goldman Sachs chairman has spent more than $100 million from his personal fortune to win election to the Senate and then the governor's office."
That goes back to what I was saying about what that Mexican told me about how it works in Mexico, to be a cop, you have to pay a fortune. And you will make a fortune by being a cartel buttboy.
What the hell kind of person pays 100 MILLION DOLLARS, of their own money to become an 'official'..? But the better question is how can it possibly be WORTH IT....? You do not invest ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS of your own money, unless you are expecting to reap huge dividends. I doubt he paid that much money just for the pleasure of being called 'Sir'.
I am sick of all of them, dems, republicans, all of them. This whole freaking system is so damn corrupt as our people die for lack of medical care and are being put into the streets with 60,000 foreclosures a month. It is too damn much to spend on food stamps, but perfectly ok to buy position with.
4000 dead GIs and I bet none of them were ever offered one hundred million dollars of anyones money.
I am so mad lately, it is getting impossible to even control myself anymore.
It is hard to even concieve the betrayal of these times.
The Surge Is Working? You Decide!!!!!!! This Weeks Numbers Of Dead And Wounded.
Monday: 10 Iraqis Killed, 21 Wounded
Sunday: 4 US Soldiers, 91 Iraqis Killed; 152 Wounded
Saturday: 3 US Soldiers, 22 Iraqis Killed; 37 Iraqis Wounded
Friday: 1 US Soldier, 25 Iraqis Killed; 20 Iraqis Wounded
Thursday: 25 Iraqis Killed, 28 Wounded
Wednesday: 2 US Soldiers, 32 Iraqis Killed; 45 Iraqis Wounded
Tuesday: 38 Iraqis Killed, 77 Wounded
Monday: 2 US Soldiers, 63 Iraqis, 7 Iranians Killed; 111 Iraqis Wounded
http://antiwar.com/updates/
As a christian, it is kinda always there, in the back of your mind, you know, 'What shall I do if I wind up in hell?'
It is a thought that really used to scare me.
Now I think 'If I wind up in hell, I will be surrounded by politicians from my country. And it will be so fun to torture and torment them for eternities'.
I used to worry about going to hell. Now, I figure I will just make the best of it and make a deal with the devil.
I kinda actually long for a place where I can do to them what I please. I will personally escort them to hell, just to make sure they wind up where they belong.
God forgive me, but that is how I feel.
An aide to Senator Hillary Clinton acknowledged on Monday that the New York Senator "misspoke" about the immediate dangers she faced when, as first lady, she visited war torn Bosnia.
Howard Wolfson, Clinton's chief spokesperson, said on a conference call that "it is possible in the most recent instance with which she discussed this that she misspoke, with regards to the leaving of the plane." Later, he was more certain: "On one occasion, she misspoke."
But Wolfson insisted that the first lady's visit was indeed perilous, as supported by "contemporaneous accounts" in the press.
In recent weeks, Senator Clinton has sought to bolster her national security and foreign policy credentials by highlighting the role she played in Bosnia.
"We came in under sniper fire," she recently told the press. "There was no greeting ceremony. We ran with our heads down, and were basically told to run to our cars."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/24/clinton-camp-hillary-mis_n_93100.html
SHE MISSSSSSSSPOKE....? Yeah. Ok lady!
I mean, I do that all the time too! Birds chirping often sounds like SNIPER FIRE! Ofcourse it does. Don't we all stop running with our heads down long enough to get kisses and poems from 8 year olds? Ofcourse we do!
Hey hillary supporters.... I just want you to know hilllary is A LIAR.
Opps. I misssssspoke.
I mean she is a FREAKING LIAR. A ridiculous, obvious, pathetic, TOTAL, freaking, liar, who can not be trusted with even the most simple truths that are already on public record.
Bill is a much better liar than she is.
25 Killed in Two Weeks; More Significant Number than 4,000
Brandon Friedman, VetVoice
American forces have just experienced the most violent two-week period in Iraq since September 2007. Unfortunately, I'm afraid this fact will be lost in the media coverage over the number 4,000 during the next several days. Of the two significant numbers this week--4,000 killed during war and 25 in the last two weeks--the latter figure is far more significant with regard to the curren situation on the ground. We hear talk of attacks against Americans "ebbing," ceasefires holding, and of the situation in Iraq being "not that fragile," but this is all a bunch of happy-talk nonsense. Between March 10 and March 23, 25 American soldiers were killed in Iraq. The last two-week period in which U.S. forces sustained similar losses was between September 14 and September 27, when 26 were killed--a period that capped off the bloodiest summer of the war....
http://www.uruknet.de/?p=m42365&hd=&size=1&l=e
Welcome To Georgies Liberation of Iraq.
God Forgive Us!!!!!!!
Clips of Liberation
Layla Anwar, An Arab Woman Blues
March 24, 2008
This is your fucking Freedom and your fucking Liberation. You think am vulgar ? Good.
But --nothing matches your vulgarity, hypocrisy, racism, hatred and sheer evilness... Watch this and see what a despicable, depraved, repugnant lot you are.
To hell with you America -- to the farthest pits of Hell.
http://www.uruknet.de/?p=m42344&hd=&size=1&l=e
Journalists, McCain and the false Iran/al-Qaida link
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/index.html
Email that link to every mccrazy lover you know.
Rope? Check. Smile? Check.
I was just thinking of that Arab woman this morning and the last discussion we had about her being 'bitter'.
If I ever came face to face with that lady, I was thinking I would just hug myself to her and beg her to forgive Us.
Even if she spat on me and clawed at me, I would BEG HER.
IF YOU ARE NOT OUTRAGED YOU ARE NOT PAYING ATTENTION!
Truer words were never spoken.
IF YOU ARE NOT OUTRAGED YOU ARE NOT PAYING ATTENTION!
Bitter she is Christy, and she has every right to be bitter, but she is very educated on all that is going on in Iraq, she knows all the parties and individuals, all the insideous deals, all the collaborations.
I read her to try to understand it all from a very educated Iraqi Womans I think, point of view, a woman with Sunni and Shia Roots.
Matthew Carnicelli said: There are two distinct Democratic Parties- snipped- The army of light assembles - "
I keep thinking about that post, and now I realize why.
The true split among dems right now, is that those who were consistantly RIGHT about Iraq, are no longer willing to tolerate those who were consistantly WRONG about it, even within our own party.
Those who were right are finally fighting back. Truly, an army of light is forming against the blackness the others have plunged us into.
The ones so scared of it, are those who are and were wrong about EVERYTHING. The rest of us are too pissed off anymore to care how they feel about being amputated.
Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Thank you for the get well wishes.
I had to ride home twice before getting my arm set and the surgery done. Why? You guessed it!
They wanted to be sure Workman's Comp was going to pay the bill, and wouldn't do surgery until they had a claim nbr. It was fun carrying my broken wrist and arm bones saying "Ow. Ow wow ow ow OW" for two extra 150 mile trips,over 48 hours, to finally get my claim number so I could check into day surgery and WALK into the OR. Three and a half hours later I woke up and walked to the car. I have had more human interaction during a job interview. They did write yes all over the broken arm and managed to operate on the correct side, though, so who needs bedside manner?
The upside? Off work for a while whence I will have time to feed the political junkie inside.
Great, good, um pain pills.
So yeah I know our insurance and medical systems
suck, the economy is going south once again only this time for real, and McCrazy actually has the nerve to stand up there and tell people with a straight face that he knows how to fix Iraq, and that if we don't get them over there, they will get us over here. (Again ~ that is SOOOOOooooooo 2004.)
I get to watch the world tap dancing very closely to the edge while feeling euphoric - and it's legal. Yeah, there IS a silver lining. To every single thing.
I am embarrassed for the Clintons. Hoist by their own petard. They were set up by their own (and by that I mean The Establishment, I do NOT mean the Democratic Party) and seems they were the most gullible for they actually BELIEVED the hype. Now they seem to be having a headspinning experience wherein they can't believe an Establishment they were willing to use has used THEM.
Do I think Obama has the wisdom to lead this country? And, I even donated before my infamous Swan Dive.
========
Clinton
Senator Clinton, who has served only one full term - 6yrs. - and another year campaigning, has managed to author and pass into law - 20 - twenty pieces of legislation in her first six years.
These bills can be found on the website of the Library of Congress thomas.loc.gov , but to save you trouble, I'll post them here for you.
1. Establish the Kate Mullany National Historic Site.
2. Support the goals and ideals of Better Hearing and Speech Month.
3. Recognize the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
4. Name courthouse after Thurgood Marshall.
5. Name courthouse after James L. Watson.
6. Name post office after Jonn A. O'Shea.
7. Designate Aug. 7, 2003, as National Purple Heart Recognition Day.
8. Support the goals and ideals of National Purple Heart Recognition Day.
9. Honor the life and legacy of Alexander Hamilton on the bicentennial of his death.
10. Congratulate the Syracuse Univ. Orange Men's Lacrosse Team on winning the championship.
11. Congratulate the Le Moyne College Dolphins Men's Lacrosse Team on winning the championship.
12. Establish the 225th Anniversary of the American Revolution Commemorative Program.
13. Name post office after Sergeant Riayan A. Tejeda.
14. Honor Shirley Chisholm for her service to the nation and express condolences on her death.
15. Honor John J. Downing, Brian Fahey, and Harry Ford, firefighters who lost their lives on duty. Only five of Clinton's bills are, more substantive.
16. Extend period of unemployment assistance to victims of 9/11.
17. Pay for city projects in response to 9/11
18. Assist landmine victims in other countries.
19. Assist family caregivers in accessing affordable respite care.
20. Designate part of the National Forest System in Puerto Rico as protected in the wilderness preservation system.
There you have it, the fact's straight from the Senate Record.
=============
Obama
During the first - 8 - eight years of his elected service he sponsored over 820 bills. He introduced
233 regarding healthcare reform, 125 on poverty and public assistance, 112 crime fighting bills, 97 economic bills, 60 human rights and anti-discrimination bills, 21 ethics reform bills, 15 gun control, 6 veterans affairs and many others.
NY TImes Obama's record in the Illinois Senate http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/07/29/us/politics/20070730_OBAMA_GRAPHIC.html
His first year in the U.S. Senate, he authored 152 bills and co- sponsored another 427. These included:
1. The Coburn-Obama Government Transparency Act of 2006 - became law,
2. The Lugar-Obama Nuclear Non-proliferation and Conventional Weapons Threat Reduction Act, - became law,
3. The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act, passed the Senate,
4. The 2007 Government Ethics Bill, - became law,
5. The Protection Against Excessive Executive Compensation Bill, In committee, and many more.
In all, since entering the U.S. Senate, Senator Obama has written 890 bills and co-sponsored another 1096.
An impressive record, for someone who supposedly has no record according to some who would prefer that this comparison not be made public.
About the Arab woman being bitter .. anyone who has had a personal family member killed needlessly will probably be called bitter by someone. I can not imagine.
Read this - it's heavy.
posted by Juan Cole @ 3/24/2008 06:49:00 AM 4 comments
Unger: The Iraq War was a Conspiracy
Craig Unger's email, part of an interchange on a private discussion group, is reprinted here with permission:
[A critic, let us call him X, objected] to Jim Lobe's suggestion that Iraqi WMDs and ties to Al Qaeda had nothing to do with starting the Iraq War. But Lobe is right. X is off base when he says nothing "suggests anything other than they believed Saddam Hussein possessed WMDs."
As my recent book, The Fall of the House of Bush--which owes a debt to Lobe's fine reporting on the neocons) shows in great detail, Cheney and the neocons effectively created an alternative national security apparatus to circumvent, sabotage and subvert the $40 billion a year that the nation spends on intelligence and to disseminate false intelligence about Saddam that would create a basis for war.
To be specific, let's take the Niger documents that falsely asserted that Saddam had agreed to buy 500 tons of yellowcake from the Republic of Niger. Many unanswered questions remain about the origin of the documents. But no one contests that they were forgeries that were based on documents stolen from the Niger Embassy in Rome over New Year's Eve in 2000.
I traveled to Rome to investigate the fabrication and dissemination of the documents, and, as I report in my book, I found that both the documents themselves and the information in them were distributed by right wing elements of Italian intelligence and the neocons in a deliberate manner to make it appear as if there were multiple independent sources corroborating one another, when in fact the only source were the original phony documents.
When the White House wanted to use the documents to build the case for war in an October 2002 speech Bush gave in Cincinnati, the CIA intervened twice to say the information was not reliable.
As I also show in my book, these documents and/or the information in them were discredited by Western authorities(including the CIA and the State Department) on at least fourteen such occasions before Bush's 2003 State of the Union Address
But none of that stopped Bush from citing this information--or, rather, disinformation-- as a casus belli in his famous sixteen words in his 2003 SOTU Address. [ Col. Larry Wilkerson, chief of staff to Colin Powell, told me, if he took something out of Colin Powell's UN speech 47 times, the neocons would put in 48.]
X seems to suggest that all this could have been the result of mere ineptitude. However, I cite, on the record, no fewer than nine former officials in the military and intelligence worlds who characterize the Niger document episode as black propaganda or part of a disinformation campaign that was intentionally done to mislead the American people into supporting a war.
Likewise, one has only to talk to Tyler Drumheller, the former head of European operations for the CIA, who has recounted at great length how he vetted "Curveball," the prized Iraqi exile who spun phony yarns about mobile weapons vans, and told his superiors again and again and again that Curveball could not be trusted. Yet George Tenet, under pressure from the White House and the neocons, ignored him. As a result, Colin Powell told the world about the phony mobile weapons vans.
One could go on at great length with many other examples(as I do in my book). But the point is, the neocons had deliberately gamed the system. As their policy papers show, they knew they wanted to start the war long before the administration took office and in order to do so they knew they had to control intelligence. That's why Wolfowitz, Perle, and Eliot Abrams began making semi-secret trips to Austin as early as 1998 to convince Bush that an invasion was necessary. That's why, in December 2000, they tried to put Wolfowitz in as head of the CIA. And that's why, when that didn't work, they moved him to the Pentagon where he oversaw the creation of the Office of Special Plans which was in charge of putting out phony intelligence.
Likewise, Cheney put John Bolton in at State to keep an eye on Colin Powell and to make sure that State Department analysts at INR( who had repeatedly discovered the errors in the phony neocon intelligence) were kept out of all the key meetings. As a result, Colin Powell made his presentation to the UN based on intel that came from the neocons in Cheney's office and the Pentagon--not the professionals at Langley and at [the State Department's intelligence analysis branch,] INR.
In other words, we went to war not because of intelligence failures, as X seems to think, but because of intelligence successes--successful black propaganda operations, successful disinformation operations--that were deliberately designed to mislead the American people.
As to why, again, I believe that Jim Lobe is on the right track. One has only to read the various neocon policy papers dating back to the 1992 Defense Planning Guidance papers(aka the Wolfowitz Doctrine), A Clean Break in 1996, David Wurmser's Tyranny's Ally in 1997, the PNAC papers of 1998, and scores of other articles to see that the neocons had been hoping to start the war for roughly a decade before it actually began. According to these papers, the chief reasons for this grand new strategy of overhauling the Middle East were regional security(ie, Israel) and to protect America's strategic resources(ie, oil.)
Craig Unger
Vanity Fair Magazine
Did you catch this part? You sensed it but interesting to see it in print.
But the point is, the neocons had deliberately gamed the system. As their policy papers show, they knew they wanted to start the war long before the administration took office and in order to do so they knew they had to control intelligence. That's why Wolfowitz, Perle, and Eliot Abrams began making semi-secret trips to Austin as early as 1998 to convince Bush that an invasion was necessary. That's why, in December 2000, they tried to put Wolfowitz in as head of the CIA. And that's why, when that didn't work, they moved him to the Pentagon where he oversaw the creation of the Office of Special Plans which was in charge of putting out phony intelligence.
Likewise, Cheney put John Bolton in at State to keep an eye on Colin Powell and to make sure that State Department analysts at INR( who had repeatedly discovered the errors in the phony neocon intelligence) were kept out of all the key meetings.
TSP, I am very glad they managed to actually get the right arm. With the horror stories around today we all know you are lucky you did not loose a good kidney or get your foot amputated instead.
Good to see you back darlin, even if under the influence!
When my man had that freak pool incident, his head literally had a hole in it, right in the middle of his forehead. It was actually an amazing injury. The bone was completely gone inward, but the skin not only was intact, it never even bruised. His entire forehead was literally shattered into a thousand tiny shards. A miracle injury. The doc told me 'Skull fracture is an understatement.'
And after they determined he would not die, they sent him home for a week and a half, because they schedualed 'too many surgeries that week'. Yup, they sent him home with a golf ball sized hole in the middle of his head.
We started calling him 'Divit'. Wow, just remembering it still freaks me out. I have seen lots of people with holes in their head, I had never seen one who survived one like that.
I have also never seen an entire medical staff so unconcerned about major head trauma. For a week and a half I just sat there staring at that divit thinking 'OMFG!'
No more birthday parties for him.
Speaking of resurrection, it appears that there was a miscommunications of Bushian proportions between the agency who pays me and the investment bank that I work at - and I, in fact, was not let go this weekend. In fact, the bank began calling this morning wondering just where I was...
So, at least I still have a job, for now. Thanks to everyone who offered their moral support in my temporary hour of need.
Hillary now taking a hit on her veracity vis-a-vis Bosnia.
The longer this campaign goes on, the more I think that I'm watching Nixon in drag.
The Clinton crapstorm and the divisiveness that her very existence in the campaign has illicited was so utterly predictable, I can hardly believe anyone is shocked.
It's taken over the national discussion (in a bad way) at a time when we as a nation can't afford to be dealing with such foolishness! Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory!
Nothing good was gonna come from her running, nothing... and by golly, that's just what we're witnessing. I'm disgusted in places I didn't know I could disgust in/from.
Don't Mean To Disgust Much
Great news that you're back at work, Matthew.
Matthew Carnicelli
Phew... Glad to know you're still employed for now.
I have to say though, I absolutely hate working through employment agencies.
Hang in there!
Well put Matthew and monkey. Now we have to scream loudly and keep the crap out and the useful in. So much time has been wasted on the Clintons in the past and lately. Let's get on with putting a decent president in the Whitehouse.
monkey, I'm trying so hard not to visualise your disgust.
Tonight on FRONTLINE will be Bush's War - tonight and tomorrow night. Highly recommended.
Dear All:
I think there is far too much negativity on here against Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton. Is what "unity" looks like? Lockstep? Where have I heard that before? You all might just want to think for a moment on that. You are not helping to build any sort of consensus. I don't even think you are interested in any sort of consensus (or however it is you spell that) -- looks like "my way or the highway" to me. Sound familiar? I know I've said I shouldn't ever post here again, and I was right. But I am just a weak, vacillating person in this regard: having posted here so many years, intertia has its way. The illusion of community is hard to give up.
Chuck in Houston
Hey Monkey:
I guess I'm a crap-storm, but this goes out to you anyway, on a purely musical level:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LNt5J0Cesc
Chuck
PS: Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory....
Crap-storm here continuing on a purely musical vein (I love Earl Scruggs):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSnaDIXcsZ8&NR=1
Chuck in Houston
PS: See you all in that sweet by-and-by....
Funny, I would say all that too if I could not justify the lies she told either.
Not that I would bother to defend an obvious liar anyway.
Loyalty is a virtue, it was never suppossed to be a habit.
People need to rise above stereotypes and at the same time recognize beauty, and also recognized that beauty is expressed in specific cultural contexts. If you can't do that then you are the crap-storm.
Christy:
Do you mean the bit about Rezko? We've all got our liars to support in this life.
Chuck
Virtue should be a habit
Cbristy:
Honestly, we are all liars in this life one way or another. And that goes for Obama and Clinton too. And anybody that isn't to some degree a liar isn't the kind of person that anyone in their right minds would want to be around. Simone de Beauvouir (sp?) said it best when she said that all autobiographies are works of fiction.
Chuck in Houston
Rezko? HAHAHA real funny. Keep trying.
" You are not helping to build any sort of consensus. "
Now why don't you tell us how you are the only one capable of consensus, just like you are the only one here capable of loyalty.
Or maybe you could just get drunk again and make utterly bizzare and incoherent accusations in the name of hillary. Or maybe more talking points right out of her HQ.
Good effing luck with that.
Oh, 1 more thing, there is a 'consensus' building, and that is everyone except hillary and republicans think hillary should go home to NY.
But, I doubt that is the consensus you wanted.
No chuck, we are NOT ALL LIARS in this life.
I am an honest person, and I know many others, just as honest.
Just because you obviously must be surrounded by liars to the point it is ok to be a liar, does not make it so for everyone.
Christy:
Yeah, right. Very nicely said. You have just illustrated exactly what I have been trying to say. You are rude and accusatory. And aggressive. Consensus, in case you don't understand rudimentary English, is a two-way street. I don't think what you are doing is helping any common causes we might have.
Chuck in Houston
Yeah yeah yeah.
I saw your rude commentary to Woz the other day. I really LOVED the part where you told her that yall had NOTHING MORE TO DISCUSS because she was not saying what you wanted to hear.
I am RUDE AND AGGRESSIVE! HAHA!
And you are shallow and condescending to the point of being infantile.
Why don't you just threaten to never post here again? Boy that should just scare us all into shutting up!
HAHAHA!
OK, so be it. Have it your way. You are right, of course.
Christy,
Made me laugh when you said I was back "under the influence".
Chuck, I am weak too. Very funny that I was able to post and show you my operation when the little white pills (legal, I'm telling you)
were making the bluebirds of happiness swim all over my id.
Chuck, the concept of community is enticing.
I'm sorry I am not willing to hold Hillary up as an example of all I want in a candidate, and although I had my doubts about her before this race, she confirmed every nagging doubt I had before and then some during the frenzied and desperate faux paus that have occurred regularly during this campaign. Can't feel one bit guilty about expressing sheer horror and disgust as the desire for power trumps every single other human dictate.
Everyone here is fond of you, Chuck. Besides which, I'd still vote Hillary over McCrazy any day if I had to.
Hillary and Bill earned every bit of disrespect they are witnessing. Thank God we may be spared the snake oil show that would have been
our future.
I just cannot believe how much respect I had for each of them before this campaign, and now I feel they wrote their own obituary.
Christy,
Sorree to hear about your man being sent home with a hole in his head.
I told the doctor I was not going home, and asked him if they were waiting to operate until they had assurance they would get paid. I have to admit I got him laughing as he admitted that was exactly what they were waiting for. I went home. (Oh, he smiled when he told me I could rent a hotel room in town that night if I wanted.")
Hey TSP way to go, good to see you up and around. Take care Roo Down Under.
Hey Woz you going to be in Brisbane, when you come to Queensland.
The Long Defeat
When you step back and think about it, she is amazing. She possesses the audacity of hopelessness.
By DAVID BROOKS
Published: March 25, 2008
Hillary Clinton may not realize it yet, but she’s just endured one of the worst weeks of her campaign.
First, Barack Obama weathered the Rev. Jeremiah Wright affair without serious damage to his nomination prospects. Obama still holds a tiny lead among Democrats nationally in the Gallup tracking poll, just as he did before this whole affair blew up.
Second, Obama’s lawyers successfully prevented re-votes in Florida and Michigan. That means it would be virtually impossible for Clinton to take a lead in either elected delegates or total primary votes.
Third, as Noam Scheiber of The New Republic has reported, most superdelegates have accepted Nancy Pelosi’s judgment that the winner of the elected delegates should get the nomination. Instead of lining up behind Clinton, they’re drifting away. Her lead among them has shrunk by about 60 in the past month, according to Avi Zenilman of Politico.com.
In short, Hillary Clinton’s presidential prospects continue to dim. The door is closing. Night is coming. The end, however, is not near.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/25/opinion/25brooks.html?_r=1&pagewanted=printp&oref=slogin
roo - I'm flying from Launceston to Rocky in June. I'll be on the ground for an hour or so in Bris. And I'm not sure about when I get back to Brisbane. It depends on whether I'm going outback for the school holidays or afterwards. I may not know until the day and time comes.
Brooks has hit the nail on the head. Hillary has a snowball chance of getting the nomination – yet this obvious fact has had ZERO impact on her profoundly narcissistic decision to continue the scorched earth campaign against Obama. It's all about her and Bill - and not about us.
"I have to admit I got him laughing as he admitted that was exactly what they were waiting for. I went home. (Oh, he smiled when he told me I could rent a hotel room in town that night if I wanted.")"
Ofcourse he smiled. He wasn't the one with the broken arm.
Wow, that is just totally sadistic. And if you could not have paid...?
I grew up totally believing I would be a doctor one day, hard to believe how low my opinion of them has become.
Going back to last night, that is a perfect example of what it means to be a hillary supporter at this time.
When she obviously lies, it is ok, just as long as you are willing to say WE ARE ALL LIARS.
Just like her winning could be soo true, if only we allow her to break the rules and overturn our own election results.
It boggles the mind at how low they can go. What kind of freaking 'loyalty' is that where you are willing to even call yourself and everyone else in the room a liar, just to dismiss her lies?
I know they do not understand how profoundly insulting they have become to our collective intelligence. But they don't have any excuse not too.
'We are all liars in this life'.
How freaking sick is that? I would say VERY.
Speaking of liars, look at the irony rolling off the page on this one.
The War Endures, but Where’s the Media?
Five years later, the United States remains at war in Iraq, but there are days when it would be hard to tell from a quick look at television news, newspapers and the Internet.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/24/business/media/24press.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Indeed NEW YORK TIMES... WHERE is the media at?
Maybe they are with the Iraqi WMD. They just haven't told us yet.
"The drop in coverage parallels — and may be explained by — a decline in public interest."
Or maybe, the drop in coverage produced the decline in public interest instead...? Hmmm.
Love the part where he laments on how the poor poor NEW YORK TIMES has to spend 3 whole million dollars a year, just to not report from Iraq.
Poor NYTs. How could we possibly ask them to DO MORE...?
Question: do you believe that the war in Iraq has been the single most important factor in the phenominal rise in oil and gasoline prices?
Is that a trick question?
Is geoege w bush an answer option? he is the single factor.
monkey, Christy
The war single-handedly contributed to rising petroleum prices. And W holds responsibility.
Oil and construction are the only two sectors that have benefited handsomely (or at all) under W.
Hillary is toast.
Hillary spokesman now says "on one occasion she misspoke" about Bosnia - no, she said it four times over as many months
http://www.americablog.com/
You know I really think at some point, hillary had thanked enough republicans, praised enough republicans while attacking a fellow dem, used republican tactics all the way up too race baiting and voter fraud, that somewhere along the line she just assumed she would be given the same 'instant credit' that republicans get in the media, and that any outright lie or waffling she was caught in would just be considered 'A blip' that no one would report.
She should have known better.
... and would you further say that the problem of soaring food prices globally and the devastating effects it has had (especially on the poor) is a result of the aforementioned off-the-chart fuel prices?
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hY6QytGQclZ5k8yFlaDr0VZin6IwD8VJULF00
Saudis Prepare for Nuclear Fallout from Iran | The Smirking ChimpSaudis Prepare for Nuclear Fallout from Iran ... This "story" is just a press release concocted by Cheney for the Saudis to read out loud. ...
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/13650
Daily Kos: Saudi Paper: Prepare for radioactive fallout. Now.the Saudi government is now preparing plans to deal with "any sudden nuclear and radioactive hazards" that may arise from an attack on Iran's nuclear ...
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/25/22549/8916/451/483635
New warnings about entitlements shortfall
Medicare unable to pay full benefits by 2019, Social Security by 2041
WASHINGTON (AP) - Trustees for the government's two biggest benefit programs warned Tuesday that Social Security and Medicare are facing "enormous challenges," with the threat to Medicare's solvency far more severe.
The trustees, issuing a once-a-year analysis of the government's two biggest benefit programs, said the resources in the Social Security trust fund will be depleted by 2041. The reserves in the Medicare trust fund that pays hospital benefits were projected to be wiped out by 2019.
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23796483/
Christy
I've had enough of Democrats eating their own - Zell Miller, Joe Lieberman, and Hillary.
That's why I've been independent as opposed to a Dem for the past few years.
And when the Dems prove themselves to be ideologically bankrupt as well, I will cease supporting them. It's already happened here in California, where they've proven to be no more than a special-interest band of anti-business, anti-motorist northern extremists.
There is only one thing that will get this much bad news off the presses.
I don't know why, but almost by the hour I am getting more and more nervous.
I have the most gut wrenching feeling Iran is in terrible danger. I can't throw off this wierd shaky feeling all of the sudden.
Maybe I am just crazy. I hope I am crazy. For the first time I think ever I can't hold my paintbrush steady.
I am still a democrat though Ally, and you love me.
So, don't give up on us yet girlfriend!
On the Hillary vs. Obama issues:
Each of us rises and falls on our word, on our actions, and on our attitudes. and that goes for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama too. I hate what the media does to normal human foibles, but part of why we are all here is to figure out to sift through the spin and find accurate analysis of exactly who someone is and what s/he brings to the table.
We were all (most of us) John Kerry supporters back in the day, and we saw with our own eyes what the media did to him. We also saw what he did to himself, and what he did for all of us. And we saw what was done in his name by others who claimed to support him. Much of it was ugly, and it was preventable, and it made most of us really deeply upset.
We have wiser eyes with which to see now and we have years of experience of sifting through spin and crap and checking in with each other about what might be true and what might be dung.
So let us please stick with what we can see, hear, taste, touch, read about and track back to facts and behaviors when judging who should lead us.
For myself, I wish Obama had spoken out earlier about what his minister said that was worth considering and what he said that was hateful. I wish Hillary Clinton did not exaggerate her roles and did not attack Obama for what she herself shares. I wish her staff were not so twistedly Machiavellian at times. I wish he would plant his feet more firmly on the ground when he talks.
But all of that, ALL of it, is DATA. We each need to consider it all and make our own decisions about who to support. Name-calling to others who have chosen to believe different facts is hardly useful to anyone trying to decide who to support.
So cut it out.
I was on a Kos thread yesterday about Teresa Heinz Kerry, and someone came in who was a Hillary supporter and he made disparaging remarks about Teresa. To what end? Did he think that would persuade folks to support HRC? By running someone down, does that elevate the opposing candidate? I think not.
In fact, back in the day, when someone came onto the Kerry blog talking trash, we all donated more money to Kerry. Every dollar helped...
Let us please stick with reporting the facts and the lies about the facts, and let each other make up our own minds about who to support. There is no loyalty oath here, except, I hope, to finding out what is true.
Found: 3 More Bodies of Kidnapped American Contractors
ANNA SCHECTER, LUIS MARTINEZ and JASON RYAN
The remains of three American contractors kidnapped in southern Iraq have been recovered, according to U.S. officials, confirming ransom negotiation experts' predictions that the contractors were executed. "Their chances of survival were slim to none because we were not hearing from the kidnappers," said Jack Cloonan, a former FBI agent, who now heads a crisis management firm that has handled ransom negotiations in Iraq...
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4520349&page=1
Wonder what the count is on US contractors killed.
March 24, 2008: 2 US Contractors, 17 Iraqis Killed; 26 Iraqis Wounded
http://antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=12574
U.S. ship shoots at small boat in Suez Canal
Egyptian officials say 1 killed; U.S. says no reports of casualties
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23789862/
Christy, I won't give up on you (or anyone else here at DCP).
Regardless of whether we're Democrats or independents (or former/current Republicans), and no matter who we support, we are rational, level-headed people in search of the truth. And that's what's important - and why even as I let go of Daily Kos and Democratic Underground, I am still here.
Q: Do you still think the Democratic race can be resolved before the convention?
Reid: Easy.
Q: How is that?
Reid: It will be done.
Q: It just will?
Reid: Yep.
Q: Magically?
Reid: No, it will be done. I had a conversation with Governor Dean (Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean) today. Things are being done.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/25/reid-things-are-being-d_n_93369.html
By the way, that pudgy little cleric Sadr is a Shiite...right?
Kinda hard to deny the term 'Civil War' now.
Why don't we just crown the little b*stard King Of Iraq and freaking be done with it already?
OMG! So scary.
Seriously, just read it.
Bats Perish, and No One Knows Why
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/25/science/25bats.html?_r=1&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin
Not. Good. Very. Not. Good.
Now that Hillary has gone after Obama on Wright (as if her and her husband's association with Dick Morris, AKA The Prince of Darkness, wasn't far worse), perhaps we should all pay a little more attention to her religious associations. This comes from The Nation and Mother Jones.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080331/ehrenreich
Hillary today:
"We don't have a choice when it comes to our families; we have a choice when it comes to our pastors"
So, Hillary, are you saying that you had no choice when it came to Bill?
I've now learned that a member of Hillary's finance committee and a longtime ally of the Clintons has made some very explicit statements about Barack Obama's ties to his controversial minister, Jeremiah Wright, saying that it's "legitimate" to raise questions about those ties, comparing Wright to David Duke, and claiming that Obama has "used race where it suited him."
http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/03/hillary_finance_committee_memb.php
David Duke.
He did say 'David Duke' right? Cause It is still kinda hard to believe I read that.
A voice of reason.
Avoiding the terror trap
Bruce Grant
March 26, 2008
THE Rudd Government has an opportunity to put Australia on the right track in countering terrorism. The "global war on terror" has proved, as predicted, to be mistaken. What is needed is not a war but a broadly based form of containment, primarily civil, not military.
I wouldn't expect the Prime Minister to confront President George Bush in Washington this week with any startling (for the President) new concept of counter-terrorism. He will have more immediate issues to resolve, including pressure on Australia to join a new Asian security arrangement, the detail of which is not yet public. The flaw in our strategy on terrorism needs to be understood and corrected by ourselves. The Americans will make the discovery in their own way.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/bruce-grant/2008/03/25/1206207099537.html
Headlined on 3/25/08:
1974: Hillary lost Judiciary Committee job after trying to block Nixon impeachment.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_jerry_ze_080325_1974_3a_hillary_lost_j.htm
bloody hell roo. I'll bet that article doesn't see page 1 to 20 of the most popular newspapers in the US. Not until the campaign proper begins anyway. And that's only if Hillary is the candidate.
Pa. Dems set enrollment record
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080325/ap_on_el_pr/pennsylvania_voter_registration;_ylt=Aoay2Nbh4K9LoRbRsKVjl_Os0NUE
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/25/slinging-it-back-and-forth/#comment-800465
McCain calls for more collaboration with allies
Presumptive GOP candidate says U.S. must listen to democratic nations
LOS ANGELES (AP) - John McCain is renewing his call for the United States to work more collegially with democratic nations and live up to its duties as a world leader.
"Our great power does not mean we can do whatever we want whenever we want, nor should we assume we have all the wisdom and knowledge necessary to succeed," the Republican said in prepared remarks a few days after returning from the Middle East and Europe. "We need to listen to the views and respect the collective will of our democratic allies."
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23805319/
Ummm, just a reminder to all you Republicans out there who endlessly ridiculed the following...
"First, we must restore a foreign policy that is true to our ideals. We will defend our national security and maintain a military that is the strongest armed force on earth. But, if I am President, I will never forget that even a nation as powerful as the United States needs to make some friends in this world."
- John Kerry
Presidential Announcement Speech
September 02, 2003
Patriot's Point, SC
http://www.4president.org/speeches/johnkerry2004announcement.htm
Is this thing on?