CNN utters the words, "Serial Liar", War Crimes...Friday Open Thread

If there's a video, I'll post it. But I just wanted to give a new thread for those on dial up.

In this 'credit crisis' (but don't worry there's "no recession") pawn stores are doing GREAT.

http://www.yahoo.com/s/891263

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7Hx01KUAr8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvQGTnXJH_E&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QV_HacITGA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEGmd-3Gg-s&feature=related

Good Vibrations....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC_UILNwWrc&feature=related

And this one is so interesting -- don't worry baby eveything will turn out OK (hope I have the right cut):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QCZ_bv9aLc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHjWDCX1Bdw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjsRj8MhaYg&feature=related

Obama Rocks

Obama plans election kick-off at GOP convention site

Senior political officials tell Politico's Mike Allen that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).is likely to hold a huge rally Tuesday night in the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, the site of the Republican National Convention from Sept. 1 to 4.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0508/Obama_plans_election_kickoff_at_GOP_convention_site.html

Just came back from an evening with Ann Wright and Raed Jarrar, both of whom had very wonderful speeches.

Raed mentioned that Iraq's violence is more political and less sectarian; to blame sectarian violence is like attributing the US Civil War to a conflict between Catholics and Protestants - in other words, nonsense. He further added that if Iraq really needed American help in keeping violence down, they would openly and plainly ask. As is, we are simply unwanted foreign occupiers.

Col. Wright mentioned several figures who resigned from the US, British, and Danish governments to protest the war. Her US example was Jesselyn Radack, whose name has been mentioned here several timees. And she will try entering Canada again this weekend, as she has been invited to speak in Vancouver on behalf of American servicemen in Canada who deserted to protest the war.

Again, it was a wonderful evening, and I played up DCP again to Col. Wright.

More details and photos here:
http://rachelkso.blogspot.com/2008/05/another-evening-with-col-ann-wright.html

Former Bush Donors Now Giving to Obama

link
Greg Gordon writes for McClatchy Newspapers: "Beverly Fanning is among the campaign donors who'll be joining President Bush at a gala at Washington's Ford's Theater Sunday night, but she says that won't dissuade her from her current passion: volunteering for Barack Obama's presidential campaign. She isn't the only convert. A McClatchy computer analysis, incomplete due to the difficulty matching data from various campaign finance reports, found that
hundreds of people who gave at least $200 to Bush's 2004 campaign have donated to Obama. Among them are Julie Nixon Eisenhower, the granddaughter of the late GOP president Dwight Eisenhower; Connie Ballmer, the wife of Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer; Ritchie Scaife, the estranged wife of conservative tycoon Richard Mellon Scaife and boxing promoter Don King."

This is the BEST clip from today so far.

Also...I just want to add that I know LOTS of people who didn't vote in Michigan because their vote wouldn't matter. And I know plenty who voted for the Republican ticket because QUOTE, "At least that way their vote WILL matter."

THere is plenty that I don't like about the MI primary situation. But we need to stop pretending that this is about voter disenfranchisement for Hillary supporters when it was voter disenfranchisment for every Michigan resident who was told that their vote wouldn't count.

McCain's YouTube Problem Just Became a Nightmare

Sparrow
& under Hillary's model, people like me who went to caucus - one of the most Democratic things I've ever experienced - wouldn't count either.

If it comes to pass that we have to follow that model, I'm not voting for top of the ticket - lst time in my voting life.

Well I'm going to download the new Al Green & get out my checkbook.
& I don't care what church any politician goes to.

I listened to some of the presentations and to the final discussion of the rules committees deliberations today. After hearing Harold Ickes threaten to continue the charade, and listening to his cheering section holler and make cat calls. One thought crept into my mind, "It is very hard to put the toothpaste back in the tube." After Ickes made that threat and egged on the Clinton supporters, I am even more convinced that Clinton is vying for the VP slot.

I watched a lot of it today, and I have to admit it just pissed me off even more.

Why...I LOVE that Hillary wants to count every vote. HOWEVER...it's too bad Hillary didn't feel that way in 2000 OR in 2004 or in 2006...it only seemed to matter to her that HER VOTERS in two states get to keep their votes even if the rest of the voters didn't get horse manure.

Watching Ickies today and Liz Smith made me only more angry at the Hillary camp. Before that, I felt 'nothing' but today, I feel contempt.

I would respect Hillary's team more had they shown the same dedication to counting votes before it was only Hillary's votes.

Clinton et al. are going to continue the argument that their concern is about disenfranchising voters. They will hint that the way to remedy that is by having Clinton on the ticket, and I won't be surprised if Obama accepts it. He all but said it when he talked about Doris Kerns Goodman's Lincoln biography when he was asked in Florida.

ooops....Doris Kerns Goodwin

BREAKING NEWS in Decision '08

Democrats reach compromise
on Florida, Michigan delegates

(AP) Democratic Party officials agreed Saturday to seat Michigan and Florida delegates with half-votes, maintaining Barack Obama's front-runner status as he moves closer to the nomination.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24905193/

Sparrow,

Welcome to the Contempt Club!

We're hoping to carry Angst Lite on tap by the end of the year.

Watch this DNC video which uses McClellan's book against McLiarCain (article here.)

BTW...can someone tell me why these ads are only on the internet and not on tv?

From Georgia10

I suspect that a lot of today's defiance on the Clinton camp's part is directly related to the fact that there are three more contests left, and promising to possibly appeal this decision is likely aimed at galvanizing her supporters in those states rather than taking the issue to the Credentials Committee. After all, since even the Senator's most ardent supporters voted for the compromise, that's a pretty big signal that this thing is over.

NOTE: The chairs of the credentials committee are Alexis Herman and James Roosevelt -- yes, the chairs of today's RBC meeting. So I'm not sure where I'd put the chances of having a different outcome. Clinton's camp isn't likely to get a whole lot of procedural breaks in trying to reopen a case Herman and Roosevelt just presided over closing. [Kagro X]

May 31, 2008 12:52 PM
Not My President said:
Former Bush Donors Now Giving to Obama

Hot Diggity Dog!!! This is all so wonderful I can't believe it is actually happening.

My tin foil hat has an inkling that Lady Macbeth may try to take this before the credentials committee, and this may string out further than we wanted. It also tells me that Barack will win the nomination and the Presidency anyway, although they may try to keep up the skirmish until August in Denver.

Then again, maybe my wires are crossed on my hat. I hope so.

While most red blooded Americans who are not political junkies are out planting their gardens and flowers today, I just watched the afternoon away on MSNBC where they made a compromise and will seat delegates in Michigan and Florida but each delegate will get 1/2 a vote, maintaining Obama's lead. (Sorry Monkey I had scrolled through the thread and missed your announcement a couple posts up and just saw it so I'm posting this anyway.)

My flowers are in but I am starting my vegetable plants from seedlings this year. I'd better get at it while there is still sunshine. This is the second decent day weather wise we have had here this spring.

Is it safe to do the Happy Dance yet? Are we all going to get together (I can't get into the chat b.t.w. and need help) to toast when Obama announces?

(I can hardly contain my happiness.....I don't know about the rest of y'all, but I am JAZZED.)

sparrow said:
BTW...can someone tell me why these ads are only on the internet and not on tv?

________________________

Those ads will get news coverage and already have. It is a lot less expensive to let the news media run ads rather than paying for them. Another reason, I believe, is that younger people are not watching as much television as they are mostly using the net. It is possible, this campaign is geared towards younger voters. The graphic of McCain at the end is very reminiscent of the pictures of the robber barons.

Obama quits church after long controversy
Candidate seeks to distance himself from Wright

ABERDEEN, S.D. - Barack Obama said Saturday he has resigned his 20-year membership in the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago "with some sadness" in the aftermath of inflammatory remarks by his longtime pastor the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and more recent fiery remarks at the church by another minister.

"This is not a decision I come to lightly ... and it is one I make with some sadness," he said at a news conference after campaign officials released a letter of resignation sent to the church on Friday.

"I'm not denouncing the church and I'm not interested in people who want me to denounce the church," he said, adding that the new pastor at Trinity and "the church have been suffering from the attention my campaign has focused on them."

Obama said he and his wife have been discussing the issue since Wright's appearance at the National Press Club in Washington last month that reignited furor over remarks he had made in various sermons at the church.

"I suspect we'll find another church home for our family," Obama said.

"It's clear that now that I'm a candidate for president, every time something is said in the church by anyone associated with Trinity, inlcuding guest pastors, the remarks will imputed to me even if they totally conflict with my longheld views, statements and principles," he said.

Obama said he had "no idea" how the resignation would "impact my presidential campaign, but I know its the right thing to do for the church and our family."

"This was a pretty personal decision and I was not trying to make political theater out of it," he said.

more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24908975/

There are certainly some sore losers. Some will vote for McCain, go around like martyrs, spread rumors about gay stuff and race stuff, yet profess to be Democrats - and they are old enough to know better.

Off topic--and much happier subject--to me anyways...

I gave in to my deepest temptations...

Get your mind out of the gutter.

Anyways, for 8 years, I've really missed out on an awesome Civil War quilt; it was $2,500 at the time. Well, last week, I went to Ebay and found a beautiful Civil War quilt that I bid on. I won it. I paid A LOT less which is good for me--bad for investments though. (Thanks to the rotten economy and people selling off what they can.)

So here's my beauty if you want to check it out. I don't know how long the lady will keep the link online.

http://tinyurl.com/6l4hpr

Sparrow,

That quilt is gorgeous!! I'm glad you were able to get it, you don't buy yourself treats very often.

I've never seen one quite like it, and the detail looks like it took years to make. Some of the fabrics are beautiful too, velvets, silks, satans. Good for you!

That is a gorgeous quilt!

monkey said:
Obama quits church after long controversy
Candidate seeks to distance himself from Wright

It's too bad that it had to come to that, but churches have the right to preach what they want. I don't think it was the proper podium for the remarks that were made by the Catholic Priest, especially after the flap about Rev. Wright.

Actually, I chuckled a bit 'cause it was a white Catholic Priest who made the remarks. Kind of ironic.

Obama can take his family to another church that will support him in his endeavors. As cute as the priest's comments were (IMO) he certainly didn't do Obama any favors. They should have figured they'd have a plant or two in every church service to try to dig up more fodder. I'm glad he's quitting that church, that should make it a moot subject from now on. I think he liked the work the church did as far as the Social Gospel goes, and he probably forged some pretty good relationships with people who weren't over the top. You would think however, that the people in that church would understand all that is at stake in this election and be more selective in their speakers at this time. But, as my son says all the time s### happens.

I got an email from Hillary campaign asking for money and it opened directly to the comments page of her blog so I let them know that & that I'd read that the Rules Committee was actually more generous than it was required to be & of course they didn't publish my comment. & of course I didn't send them money. They are hoping for the worst type of Swiftboating and some will align themselves with Republicans now and actually participate with negative campaigning and perhaps vote for McCain. Now you see, that kind of Democrats we didn't need in the party anyway. There are probably an equal number of Republicans who are fed up with the Clintons and McCain both who would like to see a Change.

I like that Catholic priest but he's a little radical for the mainstream public. I saw him before taking on a Fox reporter. He's a lefty and pretty antiwar. I would consider joining moreso than I'd be offended but I am probably not a good measure of Joe Sixpack (I certainly don't have sixpack abs any more!)

Just a QUICK drop in because we are in the middle of the MOVE. We've been discharging items and packing boxes for days and days.

Following the Scotty story and the Dem convention only in review. I am too disgusted to spend too much energy on either story because it seems like everything that has happened before, or keeps on happening, or will continue to happen...

I wish I felt more hopeful and I hate being so pessimistic. But these "scandals" happen so regularly, and the news cycle is so quick, and the attention spans so short, that it all goes by in a blur and nothing STICKS.

We need a little stickiness, and a lot more attention. Until then, it's back to folding and wrapping for me...

Glad to read Ally got to hear Raed and Col. Ann. Yes Raed is the same one who was almost kicked off Jet Blue for wearing the t-shirt that said "We will not be silent" in Arabic and English--that was the day after he spoke at the opening of FEAR UP.

As for the Dems, I suspect they did what they could to split the difference, but the whole thing makes me ill. HRC's campaign did not follow the rules or play fair, and they got away with more than they should have, IMO. It makes her look immature and petty and she cannot win anything that way.

I want more class in the party==and more partying in the class!

And not to be redundant (not me) I still am extremely jubulant about the fact that Scotty decided to write his book and release it this close to the general election.

He probably went into the job believing in the administration, then as time went on he wized up and got out. I don't know how we'll ever be able to thank him enough for writing it.

I was looking for the book yesterday, I wanted to read it over the weekend, and it is out of stock and back-ordered. Sometimes when books sell out that quick it can take up to a couple of months to do a reprint. I looked all over the internet and made calls, and they are just all gone except I found one store in the West that had a very few left. All the stores are taking reservation lists.

I would love to present that book to a couple of "pharisees" that said they took Pat Robertson's word over mine. Life is sweet sometimes.

This is what they (Peter Daou etc) didn't like me to post:

MSNBC's Chuck Todd:

Per multiple sources inside the closed Rules and Bylaws Committee lunch, Obama actually had the votes to get a 50-50 delegate split out of Michigan -- but by just a vote or two.

However, it was decided to go with the 69-59 split to win a larger majority. That measure passed 19-8.

-------

& now Obama needs 64 delegates instead of 41. I will be surprised if he cannot get at least 50 out of June 3rd.

Hillary needs 240. If she won everything June 3rd, she'd need 130. Florida and Michigan lost their delegates, yet she magically ended up with a bunch from both states and had to give him less. I'd say she got lucky.

On her site she claims to be ahead in the popular vote but this is fudged in many ways. & she can't technically count Puerto Rico because they can't vote in national elections.

& of course the delegates from caucus states like I live in wouldn't be counted at all as far as extrapolating to popular vote - yet we had huge turnouts. & in places like TX, the delegates were picked by a combination of primary and caucus.

In WA, she lost every district in the state for the caucuses and didn't do much better in the primary, which was a beauty contest because the caucuses were over.

Click on my name to see sore losers - be glad not to be one of them.

Karen,

You would have been pretty fed up had you watched the happenings regarding the delegates from Florida and Michigan today. Mostly because one of the Hillary supporters made a long speech sounding disgruntled and disgusted, but more like a kid who lost. Immature is right. That man cussed on tv three times plus tried to do political posturing to make people think the voters in those two states didn't get their constitutional rights respected. Then another nice gentleman came on and called his remarks for what they were ~ "political posturing". Plus Hillary's people in the audience were rude and disruptive.

I thought today what a junkie I am. My adrenaline really gets pumping when there is something that crucial going on.

Can you imagine being a moderator on a national candidate site tonight? THey're infested with threats and trolls and that's above and beyond what's getting banned. There are some evil sites out there that go beyond free speech.

NMP,
Yes, remember how much fun that was?

And here Richard and I sit, after a long day of hard work, eating ice cream and drinking peach-orange floats...

Reasons why Veterans, active duty personell, and anyone who cares about them should not vote for McCain:

*AWOL for May 22nd vote on GI Bill. Expressed opposition to bill saying "it was too generous to Veterans".

*Voted against Bill in September that would have mandated adequate rest for troops between combat deployments.

*Voted No on $1.5-billion increase for Veteran Medical services (money would have come from closing corporate tax loophole).

*Voted No on establishing a trust fund to bolster underfunded Veteran Hospitals.

*Voted No in May 2006 against $20-billion allotment for expanding Veteran Medical Facilities.

*Voted No in April 2006 to increase Veteran Outpatient care.

*Voted No in March 2004 another $1.8-billion reserve for Veteran Medical care (again funded by closing corporate tax loopholes).

Today, we move. See the front page of the DCP for updates. At least, we will attempt to amuse you on this sunny Sunday...

Morford
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2008/05/30/notes053008.DTL

Monkey
Thanks for that - I added it to a story about the Winter Soldier Town Hall yesterday & there is also a local Vietnam vet who does portraits of fallen soldiers for free - click on my name

I know how we can 'thank' scotty for writing this book.

Tell him it is ok, we are not going to hang him as a war criminal. Then we can insist he give all his profits to Iraq/Afghan war vets.

And maybe then, we could take turns kicking him in his teeth.

From the time he started writing, to his date of publication, I wonder, how many of our soldiers died in that time period...?

I get email from the campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
I got one last night from Hillary Clinton asking me for a donation and it opened onto the comments section of her blog and so I wrote a fairly positive post. I did correct them on one point - Obama gave a little more yesterday than he was required to. Of course it never got posted, nor have the 4-5 other posts (neutral) that I've put up before. The Obama blog is pretty open, like the Kerry blog was, with censoring only after a period of time of the most destructive of trolls. There is some HRC frustration allowed, but the tone isn't as negative as the HRC blog, which actually has praise for FOX, O'Reilly and hopes for scandals involving religion, sex, drugs etc. just as though they are Republicans. That and the threats to vote for McCain. The number of posters is much smaller than at the Obama site. Then there are the personal pro-Hillary sites, two of which are more negative than anything the Republicans have.

Anyway, here is someone else's experience:

I've been writing some posts about party unification over on the hillary blog ... not disrespectful, not condescending, and not even mentioning Barack Obama. NEVER POSTED. Then I went and read through over 300 posts on her blog ... Amazing ... here's what I found ...

1. Not one post that stated anything in opposition of HRC.
2. Not one post that spoke of party unity.
3. ONLY posts that spoke of the following:

a. The decision for Florida and Michigan was totally unfair.
b. The Democratic Party has abandoned Hillary.
c. Obama has stolen the election.
d. We need to take the fight to Denver.
e. Hillary needs to run as an Independant.
f. The Democratic Party and the Media was against HRC from the beginning.
g. If Hillary doesn't run as an independant, they will vote for McCain.

It's very millitant in nature and obviously, because there is not ONE post suggesting party unity ... nor ONE post suggesting Hillary as VP for Obama ticket, nor ONE post offering any debate, counter-argument, or intelligent conversation about ANY of the issues of the campaign, it is obvious to me that hillaryclinton.com is simply a highly moderated and screened "propaganda" site for HRC and her personal ambitions. Some of the bloggers are even calling themselves "Commrade" ... it's scary.

Visit Hillary's blog ... you will actually be frightened by the tone and the content! It reflects the power that HRC feels she has and how she will continue the propaganda campaign ... next up ... more people voted for her ... they will count Puerto Rico (people who can't even vote in the General Election) and they will "DISCOUNT" any of the caucus states. They will mis-interpret the votes in Michigan (seriously ... they will state that Barack Obama received ZERO votes in Michigan and they will speak of that fact as if it is a reality!)

It really makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Little scotty stood up at that podium, bathed daily in the worlds attention.

Yet. he never stood up there a single time and said 'They are lying to you'. Not a single time did 'the truth' matter to him when there was no profit in it.

I refuse to accept that maybe little scotty did not know he was lying. Honestly, it is laughable that somehow he got up there and managed to lie EVERY DAY... yet he did not know he was lying.

BTW, when will a bushevik write an insider account that could not also be subtitled 'Don't blame me it's all someone elses fault!'

As a friend said:

bush's press secretaries all chronic liars

McClellan's book exposes the lies he says he was told to say. In looking at the mouthpieces bush has had, up to Perino, all have been up to their necks in lies.

Fleisher, the fibber, McClellan the stammerer, now the blond truth svengali Perino takes up the post of the deseminator of laughable lies, and truth obfuscation.

These people have no morals or conscience.They speak for a boy in a bubble, who has lived this life of a bubble boy, always aided by his daddy to avoid the consequences of his actions.

bush was empowered by enablers, and people that would lie for him.

bush can not stand on his own for a minute, without his enablers, liars keeping his bubble inflated.

Let us not forget scotty was the front man and mouth piece for that whole Plame Affair.

Put simply. He is the one who committed High Treason most often in public.

High. Treason.

If I were him, me too, I would try to write a book blaming someone else, anyone else, as fast as I could.

true

I really do understand the strange sense of gratitude his book is being recieved with... But, BUT... BUT

This man is literally a traitor, involved in High Crimes, not the least of which involved High Treason. He did not just lie about Plame, he lied about FREAKING EVERYTHING.

If we did not already know scotty lied about Plame, would he of even bothered to confirm it? Funny how he only confirms what we already knew, yet reveals nothing else. He will admit to it, because we already know he lied.

Is the book helpful? Yes. But being grateful to him is like being grateful your abuser quit hitting you. "Yes you tortured me, but you stopped so that must mean you changed. Thank You!'

It is just kinda sick and feels very wrong. I remember scotty up there lying, lying, lying, and I can not imagine any scenario in which I would NOW be thanking him for anything.

If this is about redemption, forgiveness, again, he should seek out God Himself, because there is not even half of a single reason why any of us should forgive him.

Frank RIch - McCain's McClellan Nightmare
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/opinion/01richedit.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

Forgive McClellan? I'd rather out him.

The new Al Green is nice.

Today as a former South Dakotan I will make calls to South Dakota.

Nevada DNC super and member of the Rules Committee Yvonne Gates has announced her endorsement of Obama.

A topic in the Puerto Rico diary by Kos (in the comments) was a good role for Bill Clinton. There was nervousness about damage he could do now that control of the party is being wrested in a more progressive direction by Dean, Obama etc. Someone suggested a role at the UN and then someone made a brilliant suggestion - Ambassador to Tahiti! He could be the new Gaughin.

Projected Delegate split Clinton 31 - Obama 24
Puerto Rico

It looks to be like there is a coup in the Democratic party underway so of course the DLC faction is desperately fighting this. This year we may actually have the candidate to do it. Even the right has moved a little to the left.

You rock NMP!

Gaughin. HAHA! That is fitting.

I can not look at his Tahiti work without thinking why do all those women have a look on their faces saying "Yes I am this white mans sex slave."

E. Ghad. His pre-Tahitian work was much more mature and inspired.

If the clintons stll had their reputation in tact, they could form a whole different political party and break the two party system. We will need another one anyway since the republicans have selfmutilated themselves into extinction.

111 Nations, But Not US, Adopt Cluster Bomb Treaty
http://www.truthout.org/article/111-nations-but-not-us-adopt-cluster-bomb-treaty
Shawn Pogatchnik, for The Associated Press, reports from Dublin, Ireland: "Chief negotiators of a landmark treaty banning cluster bombs predicted Friday that the United States will never again use the weapons, a critical component of American air and artillery power. The treaty formally adopted Friday by 111 nations, including many of America's major NATO partners, would outlaw all current designs of cluster munitions and require destruction of stockpiles within eight years. It also opens the possibility that European allies could order US bases located in their countries to remove cluster bombs from their stocks."

Christy
My friend Dominique and I went to the Gaughin Retrospective in Paris two years ago. She went to high school in Tahiti because her father was an engineer for le Bank Mondial (World Bank) and they moved all over. We saw the painting she had a print of in her bedroom when she lived in Tahiti and we saw the little hut where Gaughin used to take his fourteen year old love slaves.

That's why I laughed when I saw - Bill Clinton, Ambassador to Tahiti (don't take the wife and daughter) - heaven on earth. Please I don't need visuals of him in swimwear though.

Ick. Ick. ick.

Christy,

Why are people so gratified to hear about Scotty's book?

For me it's a number of reasons.

1. The media is talking about the PROPAGANDA campaign from the W.H. and DC.

2. The media used the words, "Is Bush a serial liar?"

3. The media mentioned, "Will you testify against Bush if they charge him with war crimes?"

4. The media talks about the hit-job they did against Clark and others who got attacked by the 'poisonous DC atmosphere.'

5. The media says, "We were sold lies..." and they talk about everything WE'VE been saying.

6. The media by the very nature of Scotty's book is now PROVEN to NOT BE THE LIBERAL MEDIA that everyone likes to claim. SO...in effect, I'm able to point that out WITH DOCUMENTED PROOF from a former "insider" who was obviously well connected...There is no liberal media.

NOW, when I say it, I'm not the outcast. Instead, I'm more likely to be believed. (Though unfortunately people don't like to look stupid or be told "I told you so...", they still need to hear the truth of all those lies."

Karen

Good luck with the move! And thanks for the clarification on Raed - too bad I wasn't able to chat with him!

Someone left a note on my blog saying that a plane with Sheehan, Benjamin, and Wright together is a "convention of idiots." I promptly deleted that comment.

I am sure Benjamin and Sheehan (who did fly together to Seoul in '06 to protest the Korean fascists' FTA and a new US megabase there) did NOT fly the fascists' official airline - Korean Air.

scottys book did start a war among journalists, but, the proof of the liberal media myth was proven 100 times over before scotty ever told the truth.

But, I do not think this war was because of what scotty said so much of whom he was 'The WH Press Secretary'. The press did not need scotty to write a book to jump on it, it was there all the time. But I think it becomes trickier when you say 'The press secretary said...'

See, when the media says 'They lied to us!' What they quite literally mean is SCOTTY MCCLELLEN lied to us. But yet now, after years and years of stonewall and lies, a little truth spills out and he is all the sudden some kind of hero.

And again, this is the thing that bothers me most about this book, other than his inability to take personal blame for his role.

What bothers me most is he almost exclusively 'confesses' to a lie simply EVERYONE already knew was a lie. Yes it is nice to know georgie actually admitted it, but when did a criminal ever have to admit to it before anyone would dare punish them for it?

scotty ONLY admits to the lies he was already caught in. What about torture? War profiteering? What about jeff gannon..? What about the literally hundreds of other lies he told on a regular basis, what about the truth of those things? He did not bother to address any of those things.

He says the case for war was all lies yet convienantly forgets to mention it was HIM that lied the most often, and in public. He admits to singular lies in a sea of his own lies.

'What happened' only applies to what he wanted to talk about. The rest is still some big great undiscovered secret scotty will only talk about once we catch him lying about it, and only after he decides to wait to admit it when he can gain maximum profit.

Hearing the truth of these lies is what makes people look stupid and it DOES INDEED deserve a good 'I told you so!'. That is exactly why they avoided the truth for so long, because no one wants to look stupid.

But so what? Over a million people are dead. Do any of us really care anymore about the vanity of stupid people?

scotty is one of the most skilled and dangerous liars this nation has ever seen. To hold him up as a hero now is really really... dangerous.

Christy,

The reason I care has nothing to do with me personally. It has to do with people like my brother who didn't know! It has to do with the young people dabbling at the idea of becoming "Republican." It also has to do with the people who are dabbling with the idea of going into journalism.

No--he is not a hero. I agree with you on that.

But on the other hand, he forces the issue into the public and makes people who would have only sneered at us look back and think twice.

I think his book does not in any way excuse him, and I don't feel he's getting a 'free ride' by the press. But, when people who thought, "You just hate Bush" hear someone talking about propaganda, it does make a difference.

I welcome that difference.

I don't forgive Scotty. If I opt to buy the book, I will only donate it to a school or a library so that those who aren't as knowledgeable as I am can learn from it.

My brother is just like that too, but I no longer tolerate his ignorance at all. He does not know, because he did not want to know.

He said things like that to me too 'You just hate bush'. And he threw fits when I told him the only reason he said it in the first place was to avoid discussing what bush has actually done to be hated for.

I love my brother. But my brother is an ignorant a**hole, who has simply been wrong about EVERYTHING, and somewhere along the way I quit caring to try to pussyfoot around that fact simply because I might hurt his feelings.

He never thought jack about hurting my feelings every time he was losing an argument on merit and insulted me simply to derail the conversation and his long delayed introduction to critical logic.

I love my brother, but my brother has done all he could to remain as viciously ignorant as he can all to avoid that moment when he has to take personal responsibility for his own stupidity.

They have gone to extraordinary lengths to avoid that moment, there is no reason to believe scotty mcclellen will be the keystone for them, like he was for the press. They rejected every other truth, why not his too?

If it works, and your brother responds to the book, let me know and I will try it on my brother. But knowing my brother, he will not even read it, because then he may have to consider he is stupid. If he knows that is what is in that book, he won't even open it.

Yeah a friend of mine who moved to CA who went to see Michael Moore with me etc etc etc has a son-in-law who, when we talk about "peak oil" and the environment, taunts us that he is buying a Hummer. He takes pleasure in being not only a conservative but the worst type of Free Republic type. It's got to be rebellion against his dad. They have four other kids who are cool.

I am following Puerto Rico as best I can, because it is interesting. Why do they have more delegates than half of our states but they are a territory? Why are they still a territory? Why don't we make them a state or cut them loose from our Colonial Empire?

Why do they have constant allegations of voter fraud? Why are prisoners voting 2:1 for Clinton over Obama? Is she going to pardon them? Why do they do something called "list emptying" -- when electoral representatives from one side are not present. This practice consists in taking the whole list of voters who did NOT come in but were registered there, and signing them up as if they voted.

Why has Obama cancelled his trip there tomorrow? If I wasn't following this I could ignore it.

My husband read that reporters asked some dude in a baseball cap (in Great Falls, Montana) what he thought of Obama and he said "not much" - pressed further he said, "he's hiding something." It turned out to be that he thought Obama might be the "antiChrist" and his buddies nodded their heads.

Christy,
I have lived in the upper midwest and there is some hardcore ignorance there. I have promised myself to make calls to South Dakota, where I used to live, and I am kind of putting it off til "after church" but I had better get on it.

Other people thought Obama quit his church so he could more freely be a Muslim. Jeez. Where do we start?!!

I don't remember what tv is like after all these years but apparently they let Pat Buchanan who hates immigrants come on and make projections about the "Hispanic vote" - also they let the "Latino vote" be all lumped together as though Puerto Ricans and Mexicans are culturally all one pot, they count Puerto Ricans in the popular vote even though they can't vote in our general election yet they also go on about all the states Obama can't win. It's nuts.

I am bracing myself for Clintons to try some tricks.
I am bracing myself for a McCain problem if Clinton people vote for him or if people like myself leave the top blank if she somehow is on the ballot. I would now need some convincing why not to do that.

Oh yeah - Roe v Wade, health care etc. - but I want the party to have the equivalent of a high colonic.

People who are watching television and typing into their computers at the same time are reporting that MSM talking heads project Hillary has won Puerto Rico but the turnout wasn't as high as she wanted in terms of adding those people who can't vote here anyway into the popular vote.

Exit polls from PR: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/epolls/index.html#PRDEM

Interesting reading between the lines:
20% of voters in PR said that Race was most important, and they went 70% for Clinton
41% of voters in PR said that Gender was most important, and they went 74% for Clinton
16% or voters "somewhat approve of the Iraq war," and they went 88% for Clinton (no data on the 5% that "strongly approved")

My read: People with Republican/Conservative leanings turned out in large numbers in PR, in comparison to more Democratic/Liberal voters. (I'm not calling them D's or R's since it's more PPD, and PNP, which I don't know enough about to make direct comparisons to D's & R's)

from WA for OBAMA

Hillary Clinton to Be Offered Dignified Exit
http://www.truthout.org/article/hillary-clinton-be-offered-dignified-exit
In The Telegraph UK, Tim Shipman reports: "Hillary Clinton will be offered a dignified exit from the presidential race and the prospect of a place in Barack Obama's cabinet under plans for a 'negotiated surrender' of her White House ambitions being drawn up by Senator Obama's aides."

aargh .. give them Scotty or something

Christy,

I'm sorry your brother is like that to you. My brother is a converted Democrat now. And he's much more willing to hear what I have to say now that he understands what has happened between 2004-2008. However, he voted Dem in 2006, but was unwilling to allow Pelosi to allow impeachment. Nonetheless, I've gotten him to understand corruption, healthcare, labor unions, etc...

And my other brother is not a Bush supporter but is probably more like a Bob Barr kind of Republican.

The Clinton campaign is getting ready to argue that they have won the popular vote. Their characteristic disregard for the truth remains breathtaking, truly breathtaking.

There's no kind way to put this. No person who lies this easily, this often, and with such a straight face, has any business replacing George W. Bush in the White House. Been there, done that, got the tee shirt...

While I understand and respect the anger and frustration toward Scott McClellan, maybe I am being too much of a Pollyanna, but I myself want to give him the benefit of the doubt until or unless some hard evidence comes out that he was covertly or overtly complicit in the level of wrong doing that his superiors were.

I saw him on Meet the Press today, and he said HE WAS LIED TO HIMSELF by Rove and some others as to their involvement in the Plame affair, among many other things, and that it wasn't until after he resigned and started to read, reflect, and research to prepare for writing his book that the full impact became apparent to him. He was increasingly uncomfortable until his resignation, but perhaps he had to put the pieces of the puzzle together the same way many of us have had to do over the years to understand the severe impact the spin and propaganda instigated and enabled the current administration. You know politics has alot of spin and maybe he thought it was just all part of the political game until he realized the full impact of what it enabled after researching and reflecting. Perhaps he then felt compelled to tell the truth about the spin and how he himself had been lied to by Rove and others, and to admit that he had been a part of that, but was not as culpable as his superiors.

It's not politically acceptable to mention the autrocities committed toward Jews, Catholics, Christians and other segments of society during WWII, but I myself can't help but feel that perhaps some of what has happened during this administrations' leadership has bordered on being as cruel and horrendous as the crimes committed in the Forties and during WWII by the notorious leader of a European country. (The ripples of this administrations' misdeeds will impact millions of people for a very long time.)

*******

To view the video:

http://www.crooksandliars.com/Media/Download/29732/1/nbc_mtp_mcclellan_fire_rove_080601b.wmv

For re-air times and transcript and to watch the entire program online:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3898804/

Well I'm with Markos Moulitzos on this one:

By the way, in the real popular vote, including Florida which the DNC now accepts, and excluding Michigan, which the DNC now rejects, and including the caucus states (which Clinton and her camp want to disenfranchise), the numbers currently are Obama +183,067.

That includes the 76 percent of Puerto Rico that has reported.

So even with this bullshit measure, Obama still leads. And it is bullshit, remember that states were tasked with choosing their own electors. They chose by either:

Open Caucuses (Democrats, Republicans and Independents allowed)
Modified Caucuses (Democrats and Independents)
Closed Caucuses (Democrats only)
Open Primaries (Democrats, Republicans, and Independents allowed)
Modified Primaries (Democrats and Independents)
Closed Primaries (Democrats only)
Mixture of open caucuses and open primaries (i.e. Texas)
Mail-in ballot primary
Weekend primary
Weekday primary
The states are not on equal footing, hence any effort to tally the the popular vote is not an apple-to-apple comparison.

Of course, we know that, the super delegates know that, the media knows that, and even the Clinton campaign secretly knows that. And it is that incessant bullshit that has made this primary, which has otherwise been a boon for our party, so infuriating.

Update: Incidentally, Obama's crowd in South Dakota didn't boo when Obama congratulated her for winning Puerto Rico. Clinton's crowd, on the other hand, are bitter and angry and boo'd Obama when Clinton gave him a gracious shout-out.

Obama supporters were boo'ing Clinton earlier in the campaign, but I think everyone knows that she's history. So Obama's people have moved on, while Clinton's are still in the grieving process.

Here is the Republican Bush donor who is pretending to be a Democrat now and is cooperated with by some Clinton supporters who hope to bring Obama down. I only heard of this jerk yesterday. I am not publicizing him - he is going to get this on FOX anyway.
http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/06/01/breaking-news-on-whitey-tape-from-fox-news-a-tv-network-has-the-tape/
Figure out how to take him down or make him irrelevant. I hate tv and I hate people like this. They ruin our country.

Hang in there Richard and Karen. Hope someone brings you dinner or you get pizza tonight. Moving day is the WORST, but tomorrow will be alot better. Thank goodness we don't all have to move often. (At least not yet.)

And the story about the kids is hillarious. Since my kids aren't nearby, I told a kid when I moved last summer that I would pay ten dollars an hour to each kid if he could find a couple of kids to help him help me. He showed up at my house with TEN kids. Seriously. (I made sure they each worked though, and the move went VERY FAST.)

Especially enjoyed the part of your story when you told the kids that the job would only take twelve to fifteen hours. I hope that was right about the time you told them you guys were supporting abstinence only.

Keep us posted.

Nasty. FOX news hates all Dems and will also report on Vanity Fair allegations about Bill's antics on the campaign trail. But some Republican smearmongers/Swiftboaters are loving grouping up with disgruntled, bitter HRC supporters.

Someone just sent me it- it's called "The Comback Id" LOL
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/07/clinton200807

Yes We Can!!!!!

I love that picture.

Some things are adding up. Ickes, the guy who wants to take Hillary's case all the way to the convention, ran against Howard Dean for DNC chairman.

I support the coup. Drive out the old guard by Tuesday!!!

Superdelegates please step up!!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/02/usa.humanrights
US May Have Prison SHips

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com:80/talk/2008/06/lipstick-on-a-pig.php

Not My President said: A topic in the Puerto Rico diary by Kos (in the comments) was a good role for Bill Clinton. There was nervousness about damage he could do now that control of the party is being wrested in a more progressive direction by Dean, Obama etc. Someone suggested a role at the UN and then someone made a brilliant suggestion - Ambassador to Tahiti! He could be the new Gaughin.

Oh how perfect!! Couldn't it be somewhere less enticing though - Mongolia maybe.

The Coalition Shrinks: Australia Ends Iraq Combat Operations

SYDNEY, Australia — Australia, a staunch U.S. ally and one of the first countries to commit troops to the war in Iraq five years ago, ended combat operations there Sunday.

Soldiers lowered the Australian flag that had flown over Camp Terendak in the southern Iraqi city of Talil. The combat troops were expected to return to Australia over the next few weeks, with the first of them arriving home Sunday.

The move fulfills a campaign promise by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who was swept into office in November largely on the promise that he would bring home the country's 550 combat troops by the middle of 2008. Rudd has said the Iraq deployment made Australia more of a target for terrorism.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/01/australias-iraq-combat-op_n_104521.html

TSP I'm afraid Scotty leaves me cold. His smug smirking face is no less deceitful now than it was back when he was parroting the words he was given to parrot. His book is self-serving and sickening (the little snippets I've forced myself to read). However, if it opens the eyes of a single moron who still believes the lies, then I'm glad for it. I don't believe that he should be permitted to earn a single $ for revealing the lies he told the world.

It's like criminals not being allowed to profit from their experience. Or even the innocent - Mamdouh Habib - if he writes a book about his torture at the hands of Americans or in Egypt where he was sent for torture, the proceeds will be picked up by the Australian government and put into the public coffers.

In this regard I like Christy's plan to have all proceeds of McLellan's confessions go into caring for vets.

William E. Odom, 75; Military Adviser to 2 Administrations

By Matt Schudel
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, June 1, 2008; C08

William E. Odom, 75, a retired Army lieutenant general who was a senior military and intelligence official in the Carter and Reagan administrations and who, in recent years, became a forceful critic of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, died May 30 at his vacation home in Lincoln, Vt. An autopsy will be performed, but his wife said he had an apparent heart attack.

Gen. Odom was a career Army officer who was also a serious scholar of international relations and a leading authority on the Soviet Union. He was the military assistant to Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Jimmy Carter's national security adviser and director of the National Security Agency during President Ronald Reagan's second term.

He had a reputation as a military hard-liner who opposed any compromise with the Soviet Union, which made his vocal opposition to the current involvement in Iraq all the more cogent and surprising.

"Among senior military people, he was probably the first to consider the war in Iraq a misbegotten adventure," Brzezinski said yesterday. "He believed that we're just stoking hostility to the United States in that region and developing an opposition that cannot be defeated by military means. He was very outspoken."

Well before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, Gen. Odom warned that military action in Iraq would be foolhardy and futile. He outlined his positions in The Washington Post's Outlook section Feb. 11, 2007, in the essay "Victory Is Not an Option."

"The president's policy is based on illusions, not realities," he wrote. "There never has been any right way to invade and transform Iraq."

Gen. Odom became a fixture on news programs and never altered his critical stance toward the Bush administration's policies in Iraq and Iran. On Tuesday, he and Brzezinski wrote an op-ed article for The Post in which they stated that the White House's "heavy-handed" approach toward Iran would backfire and "almost certainly result in an Iran with nuclear weapons."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/31/AR2008053102193_pf.html

Mia Farrow's Nephew Dies in Iraq --

Uncle Blames 'War Criminal' Bush During his three 15-month tours in Iraq, exposure to roadside bombs and other job-related injuries caused Jason to be hospitalized several times for concussion and internal bleeding and other injuries. Recently, his condition was such that DOD flew him from Iraq to Dover Air Force Base for surgery. He was released from the hospital into the loving arms of the government who sent him directly back into Iraq.

Mia Farrow's Nephew Dies in Iraq --

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/link.php?id=60720

VIDEO: George W. Guilty of Murder?
The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder

by Vincent Bugliosi

Global Research, May 30, 2008
Expanded Books

Bring about Justice

George W Bush has gotten away with murder, thousands of murders, and we the American people cannot let him do this.

Legal architecture for the case against Bush and to prosecute him...

About the video:
A prominent lawyer lays out a compelling case in THE PROSECUTION OF GEORGE W. BUSH FOR MURDER. Staggering evidence is collected against the president in a startling new book.

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/linkframe.php?linkid=60698

Karen, Richard,

All the best for you move, safe journey, still can't get onto the homepage, I keep trying but still have not had any success.

William Odom's Last OpEd:
A Sensible Path on Iran In a 27 May WaPo opinion piece, William Odom and Zbigniew Brzezinski wrote,
"imagine if China, a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a country that has deliberately not engaged in a nuclear arms race with Russia or the United States, threatened to change the American regime if it did not begin a steady destruction of its nuclear arsenal. American reaction would be explosive opposition to such a demand."

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/linkframe.php?linkid=60722

Your Mind is Controlled

Rest in peace, General Odom.

She won't go easy

Hillary will likely fight to the bitter end -- but she should be grateful the media gave her a free pass.

By Camille Paglia

May. 14, 2008 | "She Came to Stay." That was the American title of Simone de Beauvoir's first book, a 1943 roman à clef about a manipulative and self-absorbed young woman who saps the energy and willpower of her admirers and plunges them into the existential abyss.

Bulletin to all nations: help! Tornadoes, typhoons and earthquakes batter the globe, while the U.S. is teetering into recession and paralyzed by a stupid war it can neither win nor quit. But somehow we are locked at the hip to Hillary Clinton, who won't stop her manic tarantella until her party whirls into ruins, like the run-amuck carousel in Alfred Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train."

Tony Auth, the Philadelphia Inquirer's ultraliberal cartoonist, had it right last week [click here to view]: a bemused President Barack Obama sits at his desk under a 2009 calendar while Hillary, as a bug-eyed Energizer bunny relentlessly beating its 2008 drum, spins round and round the Oval Office rug. It's what Hillary's campaigning has come to: a monotonous exercise in showboating solipsism, like Shirley MacLaine as the geriatric mother in "Postcards from the Edge," hijacking her daughter's party and kicking up her heels to sing "I'm Still Here!"

http://www.salon.com/opinion/paglia/2008/05/14/tarantella/print.html

TSP said:
While I understand and respect the anger and frustration toward Scott McClellan, maybe I am being too much of a Pollyanna, but I myself want to give him the benefit of the doubt until or unless some hard evidence comes out that he was covertly or overtly complicit in the level of wrong doing that his superiors were.

I saw him on Meet the Press today, and he said HE WAS LIED TO HIMSELF by Rove and some others

..........

No I don't think you are being a 'Pollyanna', but what I do not understand is giving scotty mcclellen 'the benefit of the doubt'.

Ofcourse he said he was lied too as well. That is the only single excuse he can give without taking responsibility for the lies that came out of his own mouth.

Don't you remember scotty sitting up there, saying things we all kne