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New Open Thread
And it continues unabated...
« After Coming Home from War...Robert Anthony feels many things, one of them being bitterness | Open Thread Main | Easter Open Thread »
And it continues unabated...
Regarding Woz's comment on the last thread...
Woz, they didn't catch Spitzer via illegal wiretaps. They caught him the way they catch all criminals...via his illegal and suspicious behavior.
I saw the headline this morning that he (and his wife?) had had affairs before. An affair is immoral but not illegal. What he was doing was illegal and so it wasn't anyone who 'took him down' except himself.
The guy broke the law. The same way that Vitter did. The same way that Craig did.
His credibility was shot at the wiff of the news; however, he should not have been playing with fire. He knew the risks. He probably enjoyed getting away with 'it' too.
If you read Palast's piece in the last thread, the catching of Spitzer coincides with his investigation of predatory lending. I'm sure the habits of the rich and powerful are known - it's just a matter of using it against them when they get out of hand. Think "The Godfather" and the horse's head.
By the way, Kayakbiker's 5th anniversary of the war photos (& those for other cities) made http://www.michaelmoore.com! That was Minneapolis. We had something here on Sat. but I forgot about it so feel guilty but there is a candlelight thing tomorrow night. Less people show up each year.
I read a survey yesterday where more people are preoccupied with the economy and less with the war. Aren't the two connected? Yet I suppose if one is losing a house it could be quite distracting from the external news. As the Palast article says, those taking on bad loans are blamed, which is blaming the victim. It was legal to solicit such business and promise 2nd loans later to those with adjustable rates.
Lovely to see someone's candidacy turning out to be just the toxic H bomb I knew it would be.
woz
Correction from the last thread...
Prostitution is LEGAL in a few places in America. I can name rural Nevada - that's all of the state except Clark County (Las Vegas) and Washoe County (Reno) - off of my head.
And in any case, what must be noticed is the Republican unity and willingness in taking down a successful Democratic governor, whether in NY, California, or elsewhere - and the Democratic ineptitude in taking down a rogue President.
Ally,
Are you saying we suck?
;-)
Sparrow can you drop me an email? I have a question for you. Thanks!
~V
And in any case, what must be noticed is the Republican unity and willingness in taking down a successful Democratic governor, whether in NY, California, or elsewhere - and the Democratic ineptitude in taking down a rogue President.
Right On Ally
just printed out Obama's speech at lunch - I can see that no matter what happens, it will be a great and remembered speech, like one of MLK's and I am much more interested in continuing civil rights and working for human rights and human decency / justice than anyone's political campaign (other than his)
if things don't work out, don't want McCain but want to see the movement of young people, minorities and "young at heart" united for change continue
I wan't a Dean supporter but the 50 state idea and the empowerment of the grassroots and small donor and engagement over the internet (now more connected with what's happening on the ground) and getting some of the power back to the people (vs superdelegates and power brokers) was a good one, ahead of its time.
It's still a race against time - the momentum cannot be squelched or stopped, only slowed and that will just cause more of a buildup of pressure.
If racial issues are ignored in this country, if more soldiers and civilians die for lies and we are distracted by our (related) bad economy, it will be like a simmering pot with the lid on too tight.
I've lived long enough to guarantee that.
Obama: "Race Is An Issue That I Believe This Nation Cannot Afford To Ignore..."
Obama Race Speech: Read The Full Text
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/18/obama-race-speech-read-t_n_92077.html
I thought Obama's speech and confrontation of people trying to pigeonhole him was excellent. I also thought he did a great job making sure people knew it was the media and the right-wing media trying to take him down.
On another side note though...I'm too deeply concerned about the credit crunch, the recession, the depression, the war, the spying. Just too much for me to just blame Hillary alone or Bush alone for our woes.
I am deeply concerned that our financial markets are crashing. The credit industry is crashing despite the deregulation they wanted and GOT and the fact that I truly don't believe we will have a red cent left by time November comes around.
I'm truly sickened that the rich are getting bailed out; meanwhile each bailout of the rich, devalues the savings of the poor and middleclass and also causes more inflation!
I read that the new NY governor is admitting he and his wife had affairs. That only reinforces my contention that enemies of politicians wait to blackmail them when crossed. Patterson even says he is revealing this so he can't be blackmailed.
The statistics on infidelity are high among all sorts of people and with power, there are even more options. Sometimes people look the other way. There is a great deal of hypocrisy.
Is it any wonder the FBI and CIA screen carefully? They don't want agents blackmailed. This isn't really done with our politicians, so they are ripe for blackmail. So we have had even Presidents with sex and drug addiction problems. They aren't screened - things may come up when they are running (again, mostly revealed by their opposition to undermine them.)
Personally, I don't even think we should have a president with an anger management problem and health issues who has been captured and tortured. & I certainly think we should stop having relatives of prior candidates - why isn't once enough? I thought "Dynasty" was a television show. Royalty inherited their positions. We are supposed elect and "new blood" makes political incest and corruption less likely. It's just common sense.
If your heart isn't already hurting enough...check out this article:
Scions of the Surge: Five years on, the war is transforming the American officer corps.
Just talking to people from NW Progressive Institute and someone who is friend of Conyers said he said Obama's speech was best thing since MLK's "I Have A Dream."
Anyone who thinks Bush won in 2004 needs to look at the end part of this story.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031808E.shtml
fake Homeland Security alert
voting machines in double lockdown
Bush given way more votes than he
actually got in key Ohio counties
How many dead because of this?
Barak Obama has a chance to be the Derek Jeter of Presidential politics; and we New Yorkers uniquely understand the impact that such a figure can have.
The politics of racial and ethnic division have no place in the 21st Century. That they continue to be raised by partisans on both sides of the political divide only serves to demonstrate how far this nation remains from living up to the ideals espoused in the Declaration of Independence.
Reverend Wright is entitled to his opinion - as are we in dismissing it as wrong-headed, ill-tempered, and ultimately counter-productive. It's too bad that Obama didn't also address the scandalous, fear-mongering comments of Representative Leach of last week - or the moronic recent remarks of Senator McCain, suggesting that the terrorists would intervene to prevent his victory. Clearly, idiocy is no stranger to either side of the political divide. Sad to say, it's may well be the one thing we can be sure that both sides have in common. Perhaps it's time to aspire to something greater?
That speech today is what I have been waiting all my life to hear.
I knew he could do it.
When I get home I am going to donate what would have been my next vacation.
He wrote it himself.
The last President to do that was Nixon, way back in ...
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/18/17135/6770/569/465227
sparrow, I know that spitzer broke the law and of course he has to pay the price for that. I don't excuse his behaviour. I was simply answering nmp's question re the timing and I still believe the timing was perfect to allow other crimes that will impact on far more people, to continue.
Noam Chomsky is emeritus professor of linguistics and philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This is taken from Chomsky's Opinion piece in today's Age:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/voices-go-unheard-as-iraq-carnage-continues/2008/03/18/1205602383433.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
I am watching Obama's speech. My husband said that yesterday people were calling in to Air America with doubts and today they are all calling in crying. (For the record, I don't like to listen to Air America - I'm an NPR person. I don't like the ads and I don't like talk radio.)
I am getting ready to hit the "donate" button.
Matthew:
The other day, I did my years-old defense of the IWR vote (in defense of Clinton this time rather than Kerry) and you came back with a new twist -- that it wasn't the IWR vote but rather the position in the days leading up to the invasion that was critical. That was a new twist for me. In general, I don't post anymore, but I found this (as I posted then, I had to think on that):
JANUARY 2003: HILLARY SENDS LETTER TO POWELL, URGES HIM TO CONTINUE ROBUST INSPECTIONS: "If our words about supporting UN inspectors have any meaning and if we truly want the United Nations to be effective, we must act to support the UN arms inspectors and act to unite the UN Security Council behind the use of U2 aircraft in Iraq...Additionally if we are truly serious about supporting the UN inspections we should increase our intelligence support to the inspectors." [Letter to Colin Powell, 1/31/03]
MARCH 2003: HILLARY URGES 'PEACEFUL SOLUTION,' PUSHES BUSH TO 'ENLIST MORE SUPPORT' FROM ALLIES: "'It is preferable that we do this in a peaceful manner through coercive inspection'...[T]he senator said the Bush administration still had work to do at convincing the American public and the rest of the world that Hussein presented a real threat that might require military action. 'The administration should continue to try to enlist more support,' she added." [AP, 3/3/03]
http://www.americablog.com/2007/02/hillary-responds-to-wsj-iraq-smear.html
I found this through Media Matters.
In general, stay positive! Here's my latest email to my borther:
Barack’s great on this one (very Clintonesque – Bill I mean):
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23691239#23691239
I can sure hear an anthropologist mom here too! Poetry.
Hillary’s not bad on this either:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23691239#23693976
Prose – sounds like a lady whose brother played for Joe Paterno at Penn State.
Maybe the continuation of this campaign can raise things to a higher level with a little good faith on both sides. With a little imagination on each side, we can turn this around into a positive competition.
Chuck in Houston
Maybe the continuation of this campaign can raise things to a higher level with a little good faith on both sides. With a little imagination on each side, we can turn this around into a positive competition.
Chuck in Houston
I hope so!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poUoCggQZd0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvVyg77j0YY&feature=related
The biggest change that I've seen happen to American politics is that a candidate IS able to compete without corporate backing! If Obama wins his integrity is still intact as opposed to all other candidates. As president, Obama will be there because the majority of "We, the People" put him there. And that's where his presidency has already begun a change that NOONE believed possible.
People on this blog told me way back that you could not run a campaign in America without the backing of big money. What I'm seeing right now restores my faith in the majority of We the People of the World who want peace and for the rich to SHARE with the poor of the world.
I dare to hope.
Woz:
What makes you think the Obama campaign doesn't have corporate backing? I guess I had better step back. What is corporate backing? Is Obama against corporations?
Just curious.
Chuck in Houston
PS: I've worked for corporations for years. It's how I bought my house.
They call themselves the MEDIA/ You Decide. I call them the GOP Whoremongers.
FOX ATTACKS OBAMA
FOX Attacks Obama, part 2
By Eliot Spitzer
Spitzer On Bush's Role In The Subprime Crisis
The Bush Administration has ignored dishonest lending practices, then actively intervened to prevent the States from taking action. This letter to the editor was published in the Washington Post last month, just at the time Gov Spitzer was alleged to have engaged a call girl service.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_eliot_sp_080314_spitzer_on_bush_s_ro.htm
Woz:
If Obama is anti-corporations, then I need to take another think. I thought, watching that video, that maybe he was a mainstream candidate looking for pragmatic solutions. I need to think on that now.
Is he really against corporations? Is there any link to that?
Chuck in Houston
Woz:
Also, for what it is worth, I think Obama has been out-spending (and thus out-raising) Clinton 2 or 3 to 1. The actual amounts of dollars being spent on this campaign is actually obscene. I need to make another contribution....
Chuck in Houston
Chuck
Thanks for posting Marley "Positive Vibrations"
There is a new Gnarls Barkley on iTunes .. newer music but kind of a classic sound.
NMP:
Actually, my internal QA/QC meter was not thrilled with that particular version of "Positive Vibrations," but others were worse. It's a great song.
Chuck in Houston
Gnarls Barkley, out of Atlanta
NMP:
This one at least is straight from the studio so if you just shut your eyes to the silly graphics the music passes QA/QC, IMHO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdAWLILgG9w&feature=related
Chuck in Houston
NMP:
Was he singing "when the needle hits the vein, ain't nothing like the real thing?" Needles freak me out. I hate those blood samples I always have to give to get various insurances and visas. It's like having to partially disrobe to get on a plane. I hate that! Where are my documents? Right where they are supposed to be, thank you very much! Not my dad's America, that is for sure. Oh well, they've got my kelly about drilled-down and I'm about done with resisting.
Chuck, Retro-Liberal-Libetarian, in Houston, Texas, USA
Chuck
Obama will not take money from any lobby groups and will NOT OWE anyone anything if he makes the eventual transition to the whitehouse. Some corporations are ok - some even have a heart of sorts - but most do not.
The money raised by Obama comes from We the People. And yes, he has been outraising Hillary. That's how much voice has been returned to "We the People". Some donations were very small. One was $3. It takes a lot of people. He has already begun the change of direction for American politics. He's raised interest in people all over the world.
I for one am not interested in the kind of experience we've had for - however many years. Look at the quagmire experience has thrust us unwillingly into. I'm with the youth of America in their call for the experienced idiots to be replaced. In terms of experience, Chuck, Hillary is as experienced at living in the White House as Laura Bush. Neither should be president based on that experience.
We (in the world outside) don't want a repeat of anything America has given us for very many years. Obama offers better. He offers openness, integrity and unity. I wish him luck ending the corruption in Washington.
I hate needles. I had alot of blood draws when I was pregnant and I thought I'd finally got used to it, but no - a little time passes and the needles and the dental drill freak me out. I could never be a junkie, no matter how good the high, and I have no tattoos, though I sometimes like them. Couldn't decide what, might have regrets, and as I said, I hate needles.
Or maybe it was "Ain't noting like the real thing" and I just mis-heard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svAs-6MiqxE
Chuck in Houston
Woz:
OK, you are entitled to that belief. But I say corporations aren't people and we ought not anthropomorphize them. They do not have "hearts" and they do not have "brains". They are what they are, a form of social organization. You got them too in Australia. I know -- I am in contract disputes with some of them at the moment. Obama will owe plenty of people. I hope. Obama appeals to people with money to burn, and that is OK. As for youth being somehow special, I don't buy it. Why should I give up my years of hard-earned experience to some college kid that never even got a callous on his hand, much less ever got into a bad bar-room fight? Why should I? What does he know that I don't? If you think Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton are the same people, then we really have nothing more useful to discuss. So you all in the "outside" world that don't like us, why don't take over the situation and leave us Americans alone? Fix it yourselves then. See how far that gets you on the world stage. What ever happened to unity as a theme? I don't dislike Obama at all -- he is just like Hillary -- A PROUD AMERICAN DEMOCRAT. God Bless Them Both.
Chuck in Houston
Woz:
I can't believe you equate life experience with where a person lived. I must have misread your post. I am sorry if I misinterpreted things. I thought you were trying to say that there is no difference between Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton. I apologize for that.
Chuck in Houston
Chuck, I remember the emails that I received from Hillary, in response to the letters that I had sent her, and the petitions that I had signed. I remember them all too well. This wouldn't be the first time that Hillary has spoken out of both sides of her mouth. Hillary should release the text of those emails.
Speaking of the subject of the Iraq War, on this sad Fifth Anniversary, here's what Human Potential Left had to say on March 17, 2003:
A Cautionary Note
The 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush, will loose the dogs of war upon the world in a few days. The outcome of the immediate battle is not in doubt. Most Iraqi regulars will surrender rather than risk their lives to defend the brutal dictator of Iraq, and only the Republican Guard, Hussein's elite force, will offer much resistance to the invading U.S. and British forces. One suspects that within a few weeks organized resistance will cease, and the allies will take control of the country. The real battle of Gulf War II will only begin after the last shot is fired in the invasion, and the occupation begins.
In the aftermath of Gulf War I, the 41st President of the United States, George H. W. Bush, made a strategic decision to retain military bases in Saudi Arabia that had been installed as part of the campaign to remove Hussein, a former ally, from Kuwait. In doing so, the United States was thought to have been fortunate to obtain an important military foothold in the heart of the Arab world. Through the installation of these bases, the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia was made infinitely more secure from any challenge to its reign – especially from outside of the Arabian Peninsula, from ex-patriots breast-fed with the venomous milk of Wahhabi extremism, recently victorious in their holy war to drive the former Soviet Union out of Afghanistan. With the retention of these bases in Saudi Arabia, the United States found itself on the radar screen of another former ally, Osama Bin Laden – and, hence, well on the way to the events of 9/11.
The problem with military campaigns like Gulf War I, and Dubya's current campaign for regime change in Iraq, is that the aftermath can last a lot longer than the time it took to fight the original war - and we Americans have very short attention spans.
http://www.hpleft.com/031703E1.html
And here's a column that was published on February 19th, 2003.
No More "Saddam"
They say familiarity breeds contempt. Never has this been more true than in regard to America's favorite dictator, Saddam. We find him so completely a part of our psycho-spiritual world that we feel comfortable enough to consider ourselves to be on a first name basis with him. When government officials, be it the President, the Vice-President, Secretary of Defense, or leaders of the Senate, speak of him, they often refer to him simply as Saddam – even in official business at the United Nations. Saddam this, Saddam that. Even the talking heads on the network and cable nightly news programs repeat the practice. He is the only leader in the world who is routinely referred to on a first name basis, perhaps like the villain in a soap opera or on “reality TV”. We've seen him dressed in drag in Hollywood films and on the front page of the New York Post. We know all sorts of juicy details about his personal life, like his fondness for the music of Frank Sinatra. In our national obsession with him, both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were able to transform him into a geo-political version of the Washington Generals – the squad of hapless opponents that the Harlem Globetrotters routinely toyed with – when their time came to “wag the dog” and appear presidential.
Now, President Bush is looking to put an end to America's compulsion with Saddam (and satisfy his own obvious and deeply personal obsession with him) through ending his regime – while offering no credible plan for how an Iraq without Saddam will be governed, especially without the cloak of legitimacy afforded by a United Nations effort, and downplaying the potential long-term costs to the nation of providing material for Bush's own Fall 2004 sweeps week programming. We hear no estimates from Bush or Cheney about the potential increase in terrorism, both here in the U.S. and around the world, as a result of canceling Saddam. Nor do we hear any credible estimates about the actual cost to the U.S. taxpayer of such an invasion (especially after Larry Lindsey's estimate of $200 billion resulted in him being voted off Bush's island). We hear no plans about how the U.S. will respond when other nations decide to preempt international programming not to their liking. No, mostly everything we hear is material that can be used as sound bites on conservative talk radio, and allow less skeptical Americans to feel warm and fuzzy about this dangerous military adventure.
So, from here on, let's do away with "Saddam". His last name is Hussein. You can call him the evil Hussein, or the dictator Hussein, or the murderer Hussein, or just Saddam Hussein. But, let's make our references to him reflect the reality of our relationship, and the reality of war. And let's see the Bush Administration be honest about the true cost of this action in American dollars, prestige and lives – both military and civilian, both in the context of the feel-good invasion episode, and the much sadder, potentially deadly, entire series run. And let's hope that future historians don't have to borrow Churchill's phrase to describe this proposed morality play programming - that is, "Triumph and Tragedy".
http://www.hpleft.com/021903E1.html
Here's another from March 1, 2003:
The Slippery Slope of Regime Change
Doubters of Paul Wolfowitz's brave new world preemption/regime change policy continue to rear their ugly heads, challenging the wisdom and design of the doctrine that President Bush has chosen to link his presidency with.
This time the doubters are not in “old Europe”, but right here in North America. First it was Vicente Fox, Mexico's President. Now it's Jean Chretien, the Prime Minister of Canada. Having first attempted to forge a compromise this week in regard to the amount of time the U.N. inspectors in Iraq would have to document Iraqi non-compliance, only to have it summarily rejected by the U.S., a clearly annoyed Chretien asked a question that most sane observers both inside and outside of the U.S. have to be asking at the moment: "If you start changing regimes, where do you stop, this is the problem. Who is next? Give me the list, the priorities." Chretien added, zeroing in on the little problem of an ever-shifting bull's-eye in regard to the U.S.' & Britain's diplomatic efforts, "I think that if I read 1441, it's talking about disarmament of the government of Saddam Hussein. That is the resolution that we are working on. If you read it, it is not talking about a regime change".
Putting aside the specific issue of Resolution 1441, we should all be as interested in receiving an answer to Chretien's first question as he is. Just what are the principles that will govern this new policy of regime change? Will they be completely subjective? That is, X is an evil dictator and I don't like his looks; or, will these principles have very specific tests – like the possession of WMDs, the absence of free elections, documentation of specific, long-term human rights abuses (and presentation of such before either the United Nations or the World Court), a history of threats and acts of aggression against neighbors, etc.? Clearly, these tests will have to be very carefully, and artfully, constructed, lest they immediately qualify current Security Council members as candidates for regime change, not to mention a whole host of nations not currently engaged in hostilities with either U.N. forces or the United States itself. As part of this process, will the United States suggest that all nations completely eliminate their storehouses of WMDs, including their nuclear arsenals? If so, will it also insist on its right to keep its own WMDs...just in case?
The Pax Americana vision of Paul Wolfowitz postulates that military supremacy is to henceforth be official United States policy - without quite specifying how this supremacy will be paid for in the coming era in which the Social Security/Medicare time bomb is slated to explode, and when nations such as China or Russia inevitably decide that they don't quite like the idea of being perpetually at the mercy of the good intentions of any given United States administration. One would think that the coupling of two in-your-face foreign policy doctrines like regime change and perpetual military superiority is likely to spur, rather than stem, an escalation of international tensions, and with them, both dramatically increased military spending and an even wider proliferation of WMDs. But, clearly, interpersonal and collective psychology – or even a vague notion of the tell-tale signs of obsession and trauma-induced insanity - isn't an area of expertise of the current Bush Administration.
http://www.hpleft.com/030103E1.html
This last one's dates from March 18th, the day before Bush changed the world in the wrong ways. It' too long to reprint here in its entirety, but it remains my favorite.
Donna Nobis Pacem - http://www.hpleft.com/031803.html
Obviously, the title above should read, "Dona Nobis Pacem".
And this was my attempt to inject a little humor at a very dark time. It takes the form of an open letter. I posted a version of this somewhere (I don't quite remember where), and someone else literally send to the White House. If Dubya has an enemies list, I must be on it!
Just Say No To Obsession
The Honorable George W Bush,
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Bush,
Mr. President, I sometimes think that one of the defining differences between the political parties is that folks on your side of the fence espouse a philosophy that often amounts to blaming the victim, while people on my side have this unfortunate tendency to enable dysfunctional behavior - making excuses for why Johnny has a drug problem or likes to beat up old ladies. However, we here at Human Potential Left prefer to emphasize the values of personal responsibility and ruthless compassion – believing that the only way to truly help a person is to insist that they face their issues and adopt more production behaviors. Which brings me to the issue of your recent behavior towards the President of Iraq.
Put in the most sensitive yet direct terms I can manage, Mr. President, it has become clear to an awful lot of people in our country, and around the world as well, that you are completely and utterly obsessed with Saddam Hussein. Yes, I know that man tried to kill your father, and he's a terrible human being and all that, and an even worse head of state. And, yes, in theory, we'd all be better if he were gone from the scene. But, as your father knew in 1991, decapitating heads of state, or destroying their regimes, is serious business - and thus goes smoother once the international community has arrived at an obvious consensus on the rightness of your cause. Even if you are the President of the sole remaining superpower, you just can't take out nations and leaders you don't like, or try to bully your allies into going along with your grand designs. I mean, you can try to do it, but it usually doesn't end up the way you hoped it would – unless someone actually likes being burned in effigy by angry protestors or compared to some of the worse thugs in human history, not to mention becoming personally responsible for spurring dramatic reshuffling of alliances, where long-time friends suddenly want nothing to do with you, and prefer to ally themselves with countries that execute more convicts than even the State of Texas. So, you really might want to take a look at your current behavior and do a sincere personal accounting as to whether your approach is getting you the results you are actually trying to achieve.
And, while I'm at it, perhaps you shouldn't go around talking in terms of who's with or against “us”, especially when so many people in this country are questioning whether they even want to be included as part of your “us”. George, I'm sure that you'd be fun to hang out with at a barbeque or a baseball game, but as Presidents go, your father's tenure is looking better and better all the time.
In truth, with all that's been happening as of late with that wacko in North Korea, a lot of us are really wondering why you haven't been paying more attention to him, and instead insist on focusing virtually all your energy on destroying a dictator whose territorial boundaries are already tightly controlled through heavily patrolled no-fly zones in the north and south of his country - and who just happens to have the world's 4th or 5th most powerful military in his back yard, the State of Israel. The geopolitical comparisons with the 1930's and Hitler are a little weak, don't you think? If either France or England had given Hitler this hard a time in the 1930's, they would have found the Fuhrer's body in a ditch well before September 1939. On the other hand, that lunatic in P'anmunjom has a couple of nuclear weapons in his six-shooter, and, under the wrong full moon, might just decide to vaporize Los Angeles, San Francisco or Seattle. So, it strikes me that it might be a good idea to cool it with Hussein, and instead get down to business with Kim Chong-il.
I know that you say that 9/11 changed everything. But, thanks to Bob Woodward, we now know that Wolfowitz (and is he a scary dude or what) and Rumsfeld urged you to use 9/11 as an excuse for offing Hussein the morning after the WTC attack, and well before any evidence had been assembled linking the attack to anyone - and hence that entire argument is as phony as a three dollar bill. You also claim to fear that Hussein might give his weapons of mass destruction to terrorists that hold him in the same low regard that you do, in spite of the fact that there is no evidence whatsoever that Hussein has ever given anybody anything – and I mean anything. How else do you think you amass the kind of fortune he has in those international banks (and, is it any wonder he named his elite forces the "Republican Guard")? But, I know, you can't afford to even allow the chance that he might, even if, by appearing so extraordinarily controlling, bellicose and inflexible on the world stage, your actions become responsible for toppling “friendly” Muslim governments, and inspire the future murder of Americans.
I could go on for another couple of pages, but I suspect that you're getting the gist of my argument. The bottom line, Mr. President, is that your obsession is ultimately a choice. It has nothing to do with Jesus, the Bible, fate, or any objective exploration of the facts. There are all kinds of talk- and drug-based therapies available to treat it. In the end, you just have to choose to turn away from those obsessive thoughts and begin working with a qualified mental health professional. Just say no to obsession. The world will be glad you did.
Sincerely yours,
http://www.hpleft.com/031403E1.html
Phew, Matthew. I've had the luxury of hours here whilst America sleeps to read all of this. We all remember our immediate reactions to 9/11. Even here in Australia. My youngest sister, here in Australia, phoned our older American sister in Oregon. She was sobbing. The Australian sister, that is.
All I could think was, who is going to pay the price for this tragedy and these deaths? I felt convinced it would not be the guilty, but the innocent, who would pay. But little did I know that thousands of young Americans would be sent to die for this perverse action. And that more than a million innocents including children and babies would be killed.
If only the people who wrote all of this so long ago, had the power to incarcerate this warlord President presiding over America before more carnage can take place.
Thankyou, Matthew.
Robert Wexler: 5 Years in Iraq
I can't tell you how unbecoming it is to witness this 231 year old experiment acting like a bunch of spoiled 10 year olds.
Huckabee defended Obama on TV!
HUCKABEE: [Obama] made the point, and I think it's a valid one, that you can't hold the candidate responsible for everything that people around him may say or do. You just can't. Whether it's me, whether it's Obama...anybody else. But he did distance himself from the very vitriolic statements.
Now, the second story. It's interesting to me that there are some people on the left who are having to be very uncomfortable with what Louis Wright said, when they all were all over a Jerry Falwell, or anyone on the right who said things that they found very awkward and uncomfortable years ago. Many times those were statements lifted out of the context of a larger sermon. Sermons, after all, are rarely written word for word by pastors like Reverend Wright, who are delivering them extemporaneously, and caught up in the emotion of the moment. There are things that sometimes get said, that if you put them on paper and looked at them in print, you'd say "Well, I didn't mean to say it quite like that."
JOE SCARBOROUGH: But, but, you never came close to saying five days after September 11th, that America deserved what it got. Or that the American government invented AIDs...
HUCKABEE: Not defending his statements.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Oh, I know you're not. I know you're not. I'm just wondering though, for a lot of people...Would you not guess that there are a lot of Independent voters in Arkansas that vote for Democrats sometimes, and vote for Republicans sometimes, that are sitting here wondering how Barack Obama's spiritual mentor would call the United States the USKKK?
HUCKABEE: I mean, those were outrageous statements, and nobody can defend the content of them.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: But what's the impact on voters in Arkansas? Swing voters.
HUCKABEE: I don't think we know. If this were October, I think it would have a dramatic impact. But it's not October. It's March. And I don't believe that by the time we get to October, this is gonna be the defining issue of the campaign, and the reason that people vote.
And one other thing I think we've gotta remember. As easy as it is for those of us who are white, to look back and say "That's a terrible statement!"...I grew up in a very segregated south. And I think that you have to cut some slack -- and I'm gonna be probably the only Conservative in America who's gonna say something like this, but I'm just tellin' you -- we've gotta cut some slack to people who grew up being called names, being told "you have to sit in the balcony when you go to the movie. You have to go to the back door to go into the restaurant. And you can't sit out there with everyone else. There's a separate waiting room in the doctor's office. Here's where you sit on the bus..." And you know what? Sometimes people do have a chip on their shoulder and resentment. And you have to just say, I probably would too. I probably would too. In fact, I may have had more of a chip on my shoulder had it been me.
THE MORNING AFTER .. IN AMERICA
By mike ,u.s. air force veteran 17 minutes ago
senator obama will be holding a major speech on iraq at fort bragg. about 150 people hand picked military families will be attending this event at 1015.
now here is the gotcha, bush found out he was having this speech and now he is having one at the same time.
the networks will all be carrying bushs speech and not obamas.
they are soooooo afraid of obama. i hope everybody that reads this realizes what we are up agianst, and that we must fight back hard.
i already know gw and mcbush views on iraq and they suck!!!
nmp--where is that post from? "THE MORNING AFTER .. IN AMERICA"
Bush about to give "Happy Five Year Anniversary, Suckers!" speech.
Mission Accomplice
Deputy Sec of State Gordon England just introduced the SCOTUS, he miht as well have just dropped to his knees and pulled a Craig on him.
I thought I could watch this, but alas, I can't...
Many voting for Clinton to boost GOP
For a party that loves to hate the Clintons, Republican voters have cast an awful lot of ballots lately for Senator Hillary Clinton: About 100,000 GOP loyalists voted for her in Ohio, 119,000 in Texas, and about 38,000 in Mississippi, exit polls show.
A sudden change of heart? Hardly.
Since Senator John McCain effectively sewed up the GOP nomination last month, Republicans have begun participating in Democratic primaries specifically to vote for Clinton, a tactic that some voters and local Republican activists think will help their party in November. With every delegate important in the tight Democratic race, this trend could help shape the outcome if it continues in the remaining Democratic primaries open to all voters.
Spurred by conservative talk radio, GOP voters who say they would never back Clinton in a general election are voting for her now for strategic reasons: Some want to prolong her bitter nomination battle with Barack Obama, others believe she would be easier to beat than Obama in the fall
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/03/17/many_voting_for_clinton_to_boost_gop/
Wow, it must be so nice to be a clinton supporter. Surrounded by all your newfound republican friends....
How proud they must be.
How sad is it that a woman like clinton is reduced to nader like vote leaching and thanking karl rove?
How utterly tragic.
NMP your site is not linked
Rossi, hows your mom?
Now she is blatantly calling him 'unAmerican'.
'Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton bluntly challenged Barack Obama to agree to new primaries in Michigan and Florida on Wednesday and said it was "wrong, and frankly un-American" not to have the two delegations seated at the Democratic National Convention.
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Clinton_challenges_Obama_to_back_new_0319.html
Nice. That is real classy. I bet lush limpball wrote that one for her himself.
All we have to do is be ok with her letting them break the rules and she MIGHT JUST BE president someday, if she can also just highjack superdelegates to overturn the will of the lesser delegates he won fair and square. If we are not ok with it, we are probably all Muslims as far as she knows. Or just 'unAmerican'.
"Clinton trails Obama in convention delegates after primaries and caucuses in more than 40 states, and her chances of catching up are remote at best."
Yeah. Her calling people unAmerican does reek of desperation. Remote, that is a good word, huh? Not as many letters as 'not a chance in hell'.
I liked her better when I could ignore her. I really did like her. Every day that passes, I lose more respect for her. Hard to believe what she has become. A republican.
Surreal.
Rossi, hows your mom?
She is going to be in hospital for a few weeks Christy, going to take a while for her at 93 to get going again, she is going into rehab after Easter.
Darn haven't got time to scratch myself lately.
Tell her we said hello and send good vibes.
BTW, send me a good pic of the baby. I'll do you a portrait. (Fair warning though, I have never painted a baby before, so if I make her look like Yoda....I'm just sayin.)
iframe height="339" width="425" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/23699211#23699211" frameborder="0" scrolling="no">
Hmmm. Try this one, and wait for worst person #3:
AP president: US arrests journalist in Iraq to 'control' information
Associated Press president Tom Curley says his news organization does not buy the government's argument that one of its photographers arrested in Iraq was working on behalf of the enemy, and he alleged the US is rounding up journalists in an attempt to control information.
"To say the least, we see things very differently," Curley commented dryly, regarding photographer Bilal Hussein, who was arrested two years ago and remains in military custody.
Noting that at least a dozen other Iraqi photographers have been detained or arrested, Curley stated, "It's impossible not to conclude that the words and pictures these journalists produced were considered unhelpful to the war effort and that their arrests would have served a broader strategy of information control."
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/AP_President_chides_Bush_Admin_for_0319.html
BTW, send me a good pic of the baby. I'll do you a portrait.
I just put some lovely ones up in my retreat.
http://rossiannsretreat.blogspot.com/
What was that someone said about how wonderful it will be for hillary to hang in, because we could make it 'competative'...?
Interesting talking point. Right out of her HQ. Do they email them out or what...?
"It is in the interest of Mrs. Clinton’s campaign to portray the contest as being highly competitive. Her campaign is intent on combating Mr. Obama’s efforts to pick off superdelegates. And it is increasingly concerned that any sign that the window is closing could lead a Democrat like Al Gore or Speaker Nancy Pelosi to step in and urge Democrats to back Mr. Obama in the interest of unity."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/us/politics/20memo.html?_r=1&hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1205978784-DYODfocUf+PREVvCwoyFsg&oref=slogin
Snipped
'Mrs. Clinton’s advisers said they had spent recent days making the case to wavering superdelegates that Mr. Obama’s association with Mr. Wright would doom their party in the general election.
That argument could be Mrs. Clinton’s last hope for winning this contest.'
Yup. Cause if she is not elected president, we will all just be so doomed.
Or maybe it would just be her political future that is doomed.
Not sure about yall, but I am pretty sure the latter is closer to the truth.
If the Republicans are voting for Hilary right now in the Democratic contest, then that's because the general feeling in the Republican Party is that John McCain will definitely beat Hillary but they're not so sure about Obama.
Barack Obama speech sets the web alight
US Senator Barack Obama has achieved what few before him have, with his speech on race becoming a hotter topic on the internet than sex.
New debate ... a speech on race relations in the US by presidential candidate Barack Obama has earned global praise and sparked mass activity on non-political websites. Find out why.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23408086-2,00.html
Barack Obama speech sets the web alight
Views: 1,616,104
US Senator Barack Obama has achieved what few before him have, with his speech on race becoming a hotter topic on the internet than sex.
New debate ... a speech on race relations in the US by presidential candidate Barack Obama has earned global praise and sparked mass activity on non-political websites. Find out why.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23408086-2,00.html
God! I just had to turn off The News Hour. Judy Woodrow has about 15 MPs talking about Iraq. Most are totally in favour of it except for 1 or 2. A soldier was one person - with none of the winter soldiers to tell their bloody stories - who said that Americans are absolutely LOVED by the Iraqi people. We need to stay until we've finished the job is the self-righteousness of the program. The kids programs on our ABC have more intelligence than this awful lot. That was the most unbalanced segment I've seen on that program.
And they'll be voting for McCain in November no doubt. Cringe!
Actor Paul Scofield has died. Most people will remember him best as Thomas More in "A Man for All Seasons", but I'll always think of him as Mark Van Doren, in "Quiz Show". And wasn't Dick Goodwin right about television getting us all in the end...
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Obit-Scofield.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Speaking of corruption, check out the new entry, "Money Makes the World Go Round" on the home page. What Bush and Cheney have done, in subverting the Constitution, goes far beyond what I would call corruption.
But every day, almost all of our members of Congress are subject to the corruption of private campaign contributions. Read about how much money Clinton, Obama, and McCain have taken from current Fed favorite JP Morgan, with its $2/share buyout of the busted Bear Stearns investment bank.
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain said Thursday the current problems in Iraq stem from a mishandling of the war after its initial success.
McCain spoke after his meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, which coincided with the fifth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
"The problem with Iraq, in my view, is that it was mishandled after the initial success," said McCain, who visited Iraq earlier this week.
McCain said the troop "surge" was working, and he said it is important to see the U.S. strategy in Iraq "through to success" because the work there is not over.
"Having just come from Iraq, I can tell you unequivocally that the situation has improved dramatically over the last year. Iraqi people are going about their normal lives," McCain said. "But the fact is, al Qaeda is on the run. They are not defeated."
more on...
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/20/mccain.visit/index.html
We don't even have to 'take mccrazy down'.
Just give him some rope and a smile.
Lieberman forced to correct McCain…again.
For the second time during their taxpayer-funded overseas trip, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) was forced to correct Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) after he made an incorrect statement. Speaking in Israel yesterday, McCain referred to the Jewish holiday Purim as “their version of Halloween.” After McCain spoke, Lieberman stepped in and gingerly took blame for McCain’s mistake, saying that he had given McCain the false impression of the holiday’s meaning. NBC’s Mark Murray writes:
'McCain’s mistake wasn’t a big deal. But what is interesting…is Lieberman’s role during this trip. In two days, Lieberman has intervened twice in front of the press — once helping McCain with a correction on Sunnis/Shiites and once putting the blame on himself regarding the description of Purim.'
Purim actually “commemorates a time when the Jewish people living in Persia were saved from extermination.”
Think progress
Modern day Louisiana
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Supreme Court threw out a Louisiana man's murder conviction and death sentence on Wednesday, citing the prosecutor's exclusion of blacks from the jury.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/03/19/scotus.death/
Kinda the same as retro Louisiana.
Christy
That's the reason why death penalty must be very carefully applied - if at all.
Of course, my colleagues in the reactionary construction business argue otherwise. Despite all stats to the contrary, they still believe that death penalty is the greatest deterrent to violent crime.
Ahhh....my in laws sent me an "Obama Tidal Wave" email. Mine was empty. (Thank God.)
But out of curiosity, I googled the title and discovered that Snopes has it. Check it out!
NEWS AMERICAS
Al-Hajj's Guantanamo cartoon banned
The US army has banned the publication of four cartoons drawn by Sami al-Hajj, the Al Jazeera cameraman held in the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, according to his lawyer.
The pieces, called Sketches of My Nightmare, include a drawing depicting al-Hajj, who has been on hunger strike for eight months, as a skeleton being force fed by US guards.
The drawings were submitted to the military censor but they would not permit their release.
However, detailed descriptions of the sketches were allowed through the censorship process and Lewis Peake, a political cartoonist, was able to recreate one entitled Scream for Freedom.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/DDAA8ED2-368A-4029-9408-7DC97847233F.htm
New Bush Administration scandal. Several contract employees of the State Department illegally accessed Barak Obama's passport records. Two of the three employees have been fired, and the third has been disciplined.
Since I live in a heavily Orthodox Jewish neighborhood, I can tell you that tomorrow people will be dressed up as if it were Halloween. The holiday itself has something to do with Esther, and how through her intervention, the Jewish people found deliverance - but an outsider would just see people dressed up in funny constumes.
Matthew
Hence McStupid likening the Jewish festival to Halloween. In Israel. America's already got His Stupidness (thanks monkey). Imagine following him with McStupid. Wouldn't say much for the voters, would it?
sparrow
Hopefully that tidal wave will create another tidal wave of people who have not yet jumped on the Obama For President cause. I know I'd be inclined to quickly round up a few. We've got those idiots here too.
Bill Clinton And Jeremiah Wright Photo Uncovered
Politico is reporting on a recently uncovered photo of Bill Clinton and Rev. Jeremiah Wright:
The recent coverage of Rev. Jeremiah Wright has often cast him as a marginal, almost fringe figure, but Trinity Church is a major Chicago institution, and Wright has long been a prominent pastor on the American scene.
And an anonymous blog set up to defend his church offers some compelling photographic evidence of this: A photograph of Wright and President Clinton, which it says was taken on September 11, 1998 -- the date of a White House gathering for religious leaders.
Barack Obama's confidential passport file secretly looked at
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23736659#23736659
Verdict: Former U.S. Attorney Speaks Out On Passportgate II The State Department is saying that Secretary of State, Condi Rice, is saying that she only learned of the breaches yesterday and as diGenova states, it is inexcusable that she wouldn’t know about something this important and that it shows an incredible lack of leadership and gross negligence. DiGenova also says that even if the IG does do a formal investigation, the employees who were fired cannot be called to testify.
http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/link.php?id=54960
Webb: McCain Refuses to Co-Sponser GI Bill for Post 9/11 Vets McCain prides himself on being “a tireless advocate of our military.” Yet this is hardly the first time that Webb has taken McCain to task when it comes to veterans’ advocacy. In September, McCain refused to support Webb’s bill to ensure service members get adequate time at home between deployments. McCain castigated the effort, declaring he “hoped” Congress would reject the bill because it “would create chaos.”
http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/link.php?id=54957
Yeah, roo. And two have been fired and the other one reprimanded. McCain's people are feigning good behaviour over it.
McCain refusing to take care of vets - bastard.
Well, you can't blame Obama for inviting Wright to Bill Clinton's White House, especially when Clinton was looking to wrap himself in the Bible. I guess Wright was on their radar screen long before the name Barak Obama was even heard outside of Illinois politics.
The Clintons share an insatiable appetite for power. There’s apparently little they’ll not do to regain it. They’re insatiable, truly insatiable.
kangaroo
I'll be in your state in June and July, city for a couple of hours and then a couple of days maybe twice. Not certain. I have a huge family even though 2 died last year. I'm flying from here to Rocky and then overland from house to house till Melbourne - apart from a 2 weeks stretch out at Lightning Ridge (NW NSW). Then home here for a holiday.
I'll wave as I pass by Brisbane.
roo, I'm glad you found that photo of White's presence with Clinton as a guest of the President. I hope this gets around to all and sundry who've written him off.
Although I guess that would leave them with no one but McCain.
... and to triangulate the Clinton/Bush/Obama passport story JUUUUUST a little bit further...
The news was reminiscent of a breach of Bill Clinton's passport information during the 1992 presidential campaign. The FBI launched an investigation after the State Department reported that someone had ripped out pages from his passport file from the late 1960s and '70s.
The department concluded that a search of Clinton's passport records was an attempt to influence the presidential election, reportedly by trying to show that Clinton tried to seek citizenship in another country to avoid the draft. Clinton was running against President George H.W. Bush.
Then-State Department Inspector General Sherman Funk found no evidence the White House ordered department staffers to dig for political dirt in Clinton's passport files. However, Funk said the White House probably knew it was happening.
more...
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/20/obama.passport/index.html
Freaky Friday
RICHARDSON ENDORSES OBAMA
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23740104
How about Obama-Richardson 2008?
How about changing the law so foreigners can emigrate and run & then we could have Obama-Lama.
Hey I do agree about Obama-Richardson!
Hey I like Obama-Richardson too!
Great idea!
I do not care for Richardson. (Sorry.)
NMP
Or on the flip side, Schwarzenegger-Moon for President. The Republicans would LOVE that, especially since they could get all the immigrant AND nativist votes.
Will Rush Limbaugh Be Indicted for Voter Fraud?
By Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet. Posted March 21, 2008.
As Ohio election officials investigate illegal crossover voting in the 2008 primary, questions arise on Limbaugh's role.
As the board of election in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, where Cleveland is located, launches an investigation into illegal crossover voting in the state's 2008 presidential primary, a big open question remains unanswered: Will county officials go after the ringleaders of apparently illegal electioneering where thousands of Republican voters swore -- under penalty of law -- allegiance to the Democratic Party in order to vote for Hillary Clinton?
In case you missed it, Rush Limbaugh, the nation's top-rated talk radio host, was urging Republicans in Texas and Ohio to skip their party's primary on March 4 and instead cast a vote for Hillary Clinton in order to prolong the fight between her and Barack Obama. And that Tuesday, as media in both states reported, thousands of Republicans did just what Limbaugh and others had suggested -- they changed parties to vote for Clinton.
"I want Hillary to stay in this, Laura," Limbaugh told Laura Ingraham on Feb. 29, near the start of his Hillary crusade. "This is too good a soap opera. We need Barack Obama bloodied up politically, and it's obvious that the Republicans are not going to do it and don't have the stomach for it, as you probably know."
And on Wednesday, the day after the Ohio primary, Fox News asked Clinton if she owed Limbaugh a thank you. "Be careful what you wish for, Rush," she replied. Later that day, Limbaugh played the Fox tape on his show and said, "How do you interpret this, folks? She could have said thank you. She could have said thank you! In fact, I was expecting in her victory speech last night to be thanked.
"I helped give Mrs. Clinton the biggest and happiest moment and night of the campaign season so far, maybe her life, and she tells me, "Be careful what you wish for, Rush"? Why, that sounds like a threat, does it not? I've got a Democrat presidential candidate threatening your host. Why, I am stunned! After all I did ..."
While this all makes for great talk radio and sounds like fun, there is one catch: What Limbaugh encouraged Republican voters to do in Ohio was a fifth-degree felony in that state, punishable with a $2,500 fine and six to 12 months in jail. That is because in order to change party affiliation in Ohio, voters have to fill out a form swearing allegiance to that party's principles "under penalty of election falsification."
On Thursday, March 20, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that the "Cuyahoga County Board of Election has launched an investigation that could lead to criminal charges against voters who maliciously switched parties for the March 4 presidential primary." According to the report, "One voter scribbled the following addendum to his pledge as a new Democrat: "For one day only."
"Such an admission amounts to voter fraud," the report continued,
http://www.alternet.org/democracy/80392/
You know, if that many republicans did participate in lush limpballs 'Operation Chaos', and committed VOTER FRAUD to vote for hillary...
The only thing I can think is, 'Damn. That means if you take out the ILLEGALS who were not suppossed to be voting in our primaries and caucuses,... then Obama must have actually won by a HUGE margin.'
It br