Once upon a time we had a great wartime president who told Americans
they had nothing to fear but fear itself. Now we have George W. Bush,
who uses fear as a tool of executive power and as a political weapon
against his opponents.
Franklin
D. Roosevelt tried his best to allay his nation's fears in the midst of
an epic struggle against fascism. Bush, as he leads the country in a
war whose nature he is constantly redefining, keeps fear alive because
it has been so useful. His political grand wizard, Karl Rove, was
perfectly transparent the other day when he emerged from wherever he's
been hiding the past few months --
and gave the Republican National Committee its positioning statement
for the fall elections:Vote for us or die.
Indeed, there's nothing Hillary Clinton fears more than being mauled by a brigade of Republican hookers.
Of the advertisement (left) to be found on many a Right Wing website, Brad R. writes: "Indeed, there's nothing Hillary Clinton fears more than being mauled by a brigade of Republican hookers."
I
know I know, it's juvenile, but it's funny. I mean, how the Big Tent of
the Right covers the nuts who tried to prolong Terri Schiavo's
suffering, those who seek to change gays, the tax-cutting
fundamentalists, normal folk who pay little attention and like the
color red better than the color blue, the global war fanatics, AND the
beer-swilling tailgaters who create these ads, is beyond me.
I'm just shocked that any Repub would wear the hammer and sickel without
a big Ghostbusters NO symbol around it. I mean, they aren't known for
understanding subtlety - as evidenced by the rest of the shirt...
On usflag.org, I learned that the US Code, Title 36, Chapter 10 tells
us of the patriotic customs associated with Old Glory. Under the
section "Respect for the Flag", we learn that "The flag should never be
used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery." And yet this model is
wearing hot pants made from a flag. Go figure.
So I'm unpatriotic if I burn the flag but it's patriotic to leave skid marks on it. Cool.
Ummm,
good thing it's the liberals and not the cons who continue to pollute
our culture with sexually suggestive pictures, movies, music and
videos.
Are these the same folks who are always whining about Britney Spears and scanty attire?
Bet she won't look so great in that T-shirt when she's been barefoot
and pregnant for a few years in a row. Isn't that the IDEAL Repug woman
these days?!!! I guess she will obtain her birth control or abortion
one way or the other - even after the Repugs outlaw it ALL!!!!!
What happens when you put words in Jehovah's mouth? He takes away your right to build a Jesus playground. It's a bummer, Pat. We feel your pain. JERUSALEM - Israel won't do business with Pat
Robertson after the evangelical leader suggested Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon's massive stroke was divine punishment, a tourism official said
Wednesday, putting into doubt plans to develop a large Christian
tourism center in northern Israel.
Avi
Hartuv, spokesman for Israel's tourism minister, said officials are
furious with Robertson's suggestion that the stroke was retribution for
Sharon's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip last summer. "We can't accept
this kind of statement," Hartuv said.
Robertson
is leading a group of evangelicals who have pledged to raise $50
million to build the Christian Heritage Center in Israel's northern
Galilee region, where tradition says Jesus lived and taught.
Under a tentative agreement, Robertson's group
was to put up the funding, while Israel would provide land and
infrastructure. Israeli officials believe the project will generate
tens of millions of tourism dollars.
But the project now is in question in light of Robertson's comments, said Hartuv.
"We
will not do business with him, only with other evangelicals who don't
back these comments," Hartuv said. "We will do business with other
evangelical leaders, friends of Israel, but not with him."
A
day after Sharon's stroke on Jan. 4, Robertson suggested the prime
minister was being punished for "dividing God's land," a reference to
the August pullout from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements.
"God
considers this land to be his," Robertson said on his TV program "The
700 Club." "You read the Bible and he says 'This is my land,' and for
any prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and
give it away, God says, 'No, this is mine."'
Robertson's comments also drew condemnation from other Christian leaders and even U.S. President George W. Bush.
The ministry's decision was first reported in Wednesday's edition of The Jerusalem Post.
Christian center planned near Galilee Robertson's
Christian Heritage Center was to be tucked away in 35 acres of rolling
Galilee hills, near key Christian sites such as Capernaum, the Mount of
the Beatitudes, where tradition says Jesus delivered the Sermon of the
Mount, and Tabgha -- on the shores of the Sea of Galilee -- where
Christians believe Jesus performed the miracle of the loaves and fish.
The
project underlines how ties have strengthened in recent years between
Israel and evangelical Christian groups that support the Jewish state.
Israel
was considering leasing the land to the Christians for free. Tourism
Minister Avraham Hirschson predicted it would annually draw up to 1
million pilgrims who would spend $1.5 billion in Israel and support
about 40,000 jobs.
Hirschson,
however, is one of Sharon's biggest supporters, and a member of the
centrist Kadima party recently founded by the prime minister.
Hartuv left the door open to continuing the project, but only with people who don't back Robertson's statements.
What a shock it must be to Robertson to be actually held accountable
for his bizarre statements. Maybe eventually the media here will get
around to acting as forthrightly around him as the Israelis have. The
idea of this Christian center in Galilee sounded like a mistake anyway
(speaking as a Catholic); there are enough tensions in that part of the
world without a bunch of right-wing evangelical Americans making it
worse. Pilgrims of all religions should be able to visit Galilee
without having to endure proselytizing and (no doubt), getting hit up
for "donations" from Robertson's cabal.
Hahahaha! Of course, I think everyone but Pat saw that coming. To bad, Pat, no Jesus World for you!
Comey truly is the kind of career public servant that we should be
proud of in this country. It's a shame so many of them have been
replaced by political cronies under Bush.
Noone knows if 2006 will be the year the power of the
despots in this country will be checked, but if it happens it will be
due to people like James Comey who after only three weeks on the job
as the number two man in the Justice Department went to John Ashcroft
in December of 2003 and told him he had to recuse himself from the CIA
leak investigation.
It was also James Comey who appointed his
good friend, the godfather to his son, Patrick Fitzgerald as Special
Counsel and gave him the power to do the job without interference.
According to the New York Times,
it now appears that when John Ashcroft was hospitalized for a gall
bladder operation in March of 2004, Andy Card and Abu Gonzales had to
go his hospital bed and ask for approval of key parts of the
warrantless wiretapping program because his acting deputy refused to
certify it.
Pete Williams was on MSNBC today spinning the yarn that James Comey's
objections to the NSA wiretapping scheme were only momentary and
technical, and that he eventually was part of the effort to get the NYT
to sit on the story.
I just wish people would preface any mention of Pete Williams' opinion
with a little caveat mentioning his ties to Cheney. How about: "Ex-Cheney Staffer Pete Wiliams" Let's not act like we don't know this. Geez...
"In
1986 he joined the Washington, DC staff of then Congressman Dick Cheney
as press secretary and a legislative assistant. In 1989, when Cheney
was named Assistant Secretary of Defense, Williams was appointed
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs." While this tale is I suppose possible it sounds quite unlikely, and its successful perpetuation depends on two things:
1) That Comey himself will not come out and challenge it. Probably true.
2)
That nobody in the blogosphere will ferret around in the news vaults
and set Comey's relationship to the Administration during his brief
stint at the DoJ in its proper context.
In this particular instance the context is set by Orin Kerr over at the Volokh Conspiracy, who unearths this superb bit from the Legal Times in October 2004:
There
are a number of candidates who could be tapped to replace John Ashcroft
as attorney general if President George W. Bush wins re-election. But
perhaps the most obvious choice, Deputy AG James Comey, almost
certainly will not be.
Since his confirmation as the No. 2
Justice Department official in December 2003, sources close to the
department say Comey has had a strained relationship with some of the
president's top advisers . . . .
Earlier this year, after the
disclosure of internal administration memos that seemed to condone the
torture of suspected terrorists overseas, Comey pushed aggressively
for the Justice Department's memos to be released to the media and for
controversial legal analyses regarding the use of torture to be
rewritten.
In a deeply partisan administration that places a
high premium on political loyalty, sources say Comey — a career
prosecutor and a former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New
York — is not viewed as a team player.
"[Comey] has shown insufficient political savvy," says the former official. "The perception is that he has erred too much on the side of neutrality and independence."
And:"The
appointment of Pat Fitzgerald is the kind of decision that the White
House isn't thrilled with," says one former DOJ official. "Comey knew
what he was doing when he appointed Pat."
Comey announced his resignation from the Justice Department in March
2005. And when BushCo. tried to appoint a Skull & Bones crony to
oversee Fitzgerald, Comey did an end run around them and appointed the extremely ethical David Margolis to the task as his parting shot out the door.
Thank you Fitz, Comey, Feingold, Murtha, Cantwell, and Reid for showing
that there are still people of courage and honor in American public
life.
Thanks to all the brave and tireless people who fought for
the underdog; from Bono and Bob Geldof working on debt relief for the
Third World, to the Red Cross for providing disaster relief from
Indonesia to New Orleans, to Noah's Wish and the Humane Society for
rescuing furry family members, and all the volunteers who put their
lives on hold to go help those in need.
Here's to 2006: May the Good Guys Win the Big Ones!
Coulter Wows 'Em At U Conn No, she wasn't explaining why she appears on The O'Reilly Factor so
much. Instead, she was mocking UConn students for making her job even
easier than it usually is.
STORRS, Conn. -- Conservative columnist Ann Coulter cut short a
speech at the University of Connecticut amid boos and jeers, and
decided to hold a question-and-answer session instead.
"I love to engage in repartee with people who are stupider than I am," Coulter told the crowd of 2,600 Wednesday.
Before
cutting off her speech after about 15 minutes, Coulter called Bill
Clinton an "executive buffoon" who won the presidency only because Ross
Perot took 19 percent of the vote.
Coulter's appearance
prompted protests from several student groups. About 100 people rallied
outside the auditorium where she spoke, saying she spread a message of
intolerance.
"We encourage diverse opinion at UConn, but this
is blatant hate speech," said Eric Knudsen, a 19-year-old sophomore
journalism and social welfare major who heads campus group Students
Against Hate.
It wasn't the first time Coulter has had
trouble at a university speech. In October 2004, two men ran onstage
and threw custard pies as she was giving a speech at the University of
Arizona.
The UConn Undergraduate Student Government paid the controversial
pundit $16,000 to speak -- and DC's own Clare Boothe Luce Policy
Institute kicked in untold thousands as well -- but Coulter lasted only
fifteen minutes before using chants of "You suck, you suck" as an
excuse to cut her speech short and go straight to the Q & A section
of the evening.
Sample Q & A:
One student asked what she would do if she had a child who came out as gay.
Coulter replied: "I'd say, `Did I ever tell you you're adopted?'"
After a half hour of that, Coulter went back to her hotel room,
counted her cash, and licked a Diet Newport for dinner. If she had
better legs, we'd swear she was the new Don Rickles.
TODAY: A tragic day in history, December 8, 1961 is the birth day of Ann Coulter.
"There's a lack of trust that the president has in Cheney and it's connected with Iraq," a source said.
what a coincidence... I don't trust the Bush regime with anything anymore, and thats connected with Iraq too.
Wasn't it Nixon who said of Barbara Bush, "She really knows how to hate"? Kind of makes a person wonder what she has in store for old Dick and
CO. We are so lucky to be living in such times you can't pay for
entertainment like this.
Barbara Bush is allegedly TICKED off at Dick Cheney, Karl
Rove, Andy Card, nearly all of them -- except Karen Hughes -- for how
her boy is faring in the hearts and minds of Americans.
The matriarch of the Bush clan is colder than North Pole ice right
now to those around her son who she thinks have undermined him. I'll
tell who my sources are if Patrick Fitzgerald gives a call and makes me
-- but the sources are very close to Poppa Bush (41), who has been
traveling a bit with some of his old entourage, including Brent
Scowcroft and others of the first Bush regime.
The
role of Vice President Dick Cheney as the administration's point man in
security policy appears over, according to administration sources.
Over
the last two months Mr. Cheney has been granted decreasing access to
the Oval Office, the sources said on the condition of anonymity. The
two men still meet, but the close staff work between the president and
vice president has ended.
"Cheney's
influence has waned not only because of bad chemistry, but because the
White House no longer formulates policy," another source said.
"There's
nothing to input into. Cheney is smart and knowledgeable, but he as
well as Bush are ducking all the time to avoid the bullets.
Cheney may be tougher to dump than Don Regan, but then again,
Barbara Bush is one of those wonders of nature (we hear) who knows no
limits and can easily surge beyond category 5 hurricane winds.
Should be interesting to watch the role of the First Mother in the
coming couple of months. Watch for a lot to change right after the
State of the Union address.
Cheney and Chimpy's mom in a cage match -- until only one of them walks out. Any bets on who would win?
Supreme Court Nominee Described As Very Loyal To The President
Harriet
Miers, at the time staff secretary, is seen on Aug. 6, 2001, briefing
President Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. Someone at MSNBC
is a wee bit subversive. Accompanying this AP article about Miers was this picture and caption:
Among a host of qualities that White House
counsel Harriet Ellan Miers shares with new Supreme Court Chief Justice
John Roberts is the apparent lack of any personal legal agenda. Known
for an exacting, no-nonsense style, Miers — like Roberts — tends to
avoid the limelight.
Once
described by White House chief of staff Andrew Card as “one of the
favorite people in the White House,” Miers has been there for President
Bush at every turn for more than a decade.
She
was Bush’s personal lawyer in Texas, took on the thankless job of
cleaning up the Texas Lottery when he was governor, and followed him to
Washington to serve as staff secretary, the person who controls every
piece of paper that crosses the president’s desk.
In 2004, Bush appointed her White House counsel, calling her “a
talented lawyer whose great integrity, legal scholarship and grace have
long marked her as one of America’s finest lawyers.” He articulated his
high regard for her more memorably during a 1996 awards ceremony when
he called her “a pit bull in size 6 shoes.”
Gee, August 6, 2001. I wonder what could be on the cover sheet of that
memo Bush is pretending to read. Maybe it was, oh, I don't know... BIN LADEN DETERMINED TO STRIKE IN US
2001. Staff Secretary.
2005. Justice, United States Supreme Court.
Never let it be said that the GOP is not in favor of affirmative action. Priceless.
Of the advertisement (left) to be found on many a Right Wing website, 
JERUSALEM - Israel won't do business with Pat
Robertson after the evangelical leader suggested Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon's massive stroke was divine punishment, a tourism official said
Wednesday, 
Noone knows if 2006 will be the year the power of the
despots in this country will be checked, but if it happens it will be
due to people like James Comey who after only 
Among a host of qualities that White House
counsel Harriet Ellan Miers shares with new Supreme Court Chief Justice
John Roberts is the apparent lack of any personal legal agenda. Known
for an exacting, no-nonsense style, Miers — like Roberts — tends to
avoid the limelight.
Ummm, good thing it's the liberals and not the cons who continue to pollute our culture with sexually suggestive pictures, movies, music and videos.
Are these the same folks who are always whining about Britney Spears and scanty attire?
Bet she won't look so great in that T-shirt when she's been barefoot and pregnant for a few years in a row. Isn't that the IDEAL Repug woman these days?!!! I guess she will obtain her birth control or abortion one way or the other - even after the Repugs outlaw it ALL!!!!!