Thursday, March 29, 2007

Thursday: Sampson Takes The Stand

Keep your ears pressed to the radio (or computer) today, folks, cause we'll be keeping our ears pressed to the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings, where Kyle Sampson will either throw Alberto Gonzales under the proverbial bus, or instantaneously forget everything he's done in his life before today. Actually, early indications are that he'll admit they did it, but say that "it" wasn't anything wrong. We'll break it all down with Atrios. And we'll welcome Dean Baker, author of The Conservative Nanny State, who will explain how conservatives use government to keep getting richer, while screwing everyone else.

Oh, also, Karl Rove dances and raps. This video is not suitable for small children.

302 comments:

1 – 200 of 302   Newer›   Newest»
air-ono said...

//Karl Rove dances and raps//

for a pig-boy, karl does a nice jig

War Dog said...

Senate Judiciary Committee...???

Yawn...

Fitzmas again...!!!

Iran should be the topic all day..

Anonymous said...

Here is an idea....

Sam pays for a good blog


that way AAR and the sam seder show isnt a joke

War Dog said...

Britain Seeks U.N. Condemnation of Iran

The Associated Press
Thursday, March 29, 2007; 8:20 AM



TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran may delay the release of the female British sailor if Britain takes the issue to the U.N. Security Council or freezes relations, the country's top negotiator Ali Larijani said Thursday. The Foreign Office in London, meanwhile, said Britain is seeking condemnation of Iran at the United Nations.

The seizure of 15 British sailors and marines, including Faye Turney, the only woman among them, took place during operations in Iraqi waters under a U.N. Security Council mandate, said the Foreign Office official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the subject.

"There are some plans to say something on behalf of the United Nations (about the seized troops) but they have not been finalized," said the official.

blah blah blah said...

Karl Rove dances and raps.

"A man's got to know his limitations." fits this to a t

toniD said...

Morning all

Imus just played that video of Karl Rove. David Gregory was in it and actually talking about it on Imus' show.

By the way, you can click on War Dog's name an collapse his posts

air-ono said...

//By the way, you can click on War Dog's name an collapse his posts//

LMAO!

(woo-hoo)

GOOD-BYE WAR-DOG!!

air-ono said...

wtf, toni

you gotta click everyone of his ghastly posts

PunditFight said...

Karl Rove is kida fly. It's reminiscent of when Stephen Colbert played clips of Rush popping and locking.

toniD said...

MC Rove? Please!!!

He's the supreme White Boy!

You know, white boys can't dance.

Let him have his fun now, he'll be rappin with the boys behind bars soon.

toniD said...

air-ono said...
wtf, toni

you gotta click everyone of his ghastly posts

March 29, 2007 5:46 AM

Didn't say it was easy, just said it could be done.

air-ono said...

TROLLS

~posted by lilith
.

Alice said...

VERY AWESOME #!!!!!!


Anonymous said...
-conbo

~~~~~
Awesome diary at the Kos. Best one I ever read:

The Illusion is Shattered...the centre cannot hold....Impeach

It has always been an illusion.

The toughness, the gravitas, the competency, the possession of any measure of ability.

It has always been a sham, a PR creation, a puppet show....a joke.

Some of us saw it coming, some of us saw it quickly, some had rude awakenings, some are being fooled still.

But for the world, for those with eyes, the bloom is off the rose, and the rose colored glasses can no longer block the glare of a horrifying reality.

The world has been conned.

Deceived and hoodwinked by the marginally rational ravings of an antiquated and failed ideology and its dimwitted and addled practitioners. Installed by court fiat in a desperate attempt to fulfill a myth that has and never held true currency and has proven bankrupt and disastrous at every implementation attempted. Imperial conservatism has always failed, no matter how bright the bunting.

The Serious People in the world are waking up to what has no doubt been a long nagging nightmare. Something they feared all along but could not admit to in their waking hours. They knew it was possible but too much was at stake to acknowledge the awfulness of possibility involved. Denial was the watchword. Rationalization, self-interest and hubris the currency of commerce with an irrestible imposed power.

Now even the co-conspirators are turning.

The world is being held hostage by the unwonted aggression of an incompetent, delusional thug.

Denial is no longer available.

In effect and by affect the result is nothing less than a true insanity of ideology, a method of internal, delusional, misplaced self-confidence just credible enough to be applied to wreak havoc and chaos in ever widening ripples that have now consumed the entire planet in one of its pernicious forms or another.

And now the planet is swiftly and completely realizing that the madness is real and will continue and indeed, consume all if it is not stopped. They are stepping up to stop it. They are saying... no more madness.

A complicit Congress and a craven press conspired to keep the world in distraction and ignorance for much too long. But now, as the consequences are revealed in Iraq much too painfully and clearly, and the abuse of power and petty politicization are revealed through oversight (Bless you St. Waxman!) it comes apparent....the centre cannot hold.

There is no there there.

There never was.

The whole ball of wax is hollow and void.....indeed is revealed to be filled with a rotting stench now it has been punctured. The stench and smell increases and it grows more foul and toxic with every passing month of death in the desert, with every daily revelation of crime or treason or outrage now revealed by the investigators.

The centre cannot hold under the hot desert sun and the cold light of oversight. The die is cast, the bell is tolling and the moment of reckoning is near at hand.

But the madman will not stop of his own accord. Never. By his very definition, the madman cannot stop himself, lest his worldview, his persona, his illusion be shattered. He cannot stop himself from the destruction that his whirlwind reaps. He madness must be restrained by others, must be stopped by those sane ones left. You know it, I know it, the whole world knows it. Most importantly, the Saudis and the Jordanians and the UAE and the Iranians know it. He threatens and blusters and rattles at yet another "innocent" nation, another, weaker target for his compensatory aggression. And now his former allies find him no longer a useful bulldog, but realize finally that he threatens their children too. And that he will not stop, that he cannot stop, lest his enemy.....reality.....catch up.

And he is left naked.....and alone.....and desperate.

But the whole world cannot stay him from his course! THEY cannot stop him from firing the horrible apocalyptic weapons of his mad and apocalyptic vision.

He possesses the most terrible weapons ever created by mankind....he cannot be conquered from without. There is but one entity, one force, one method for his ending.

Impeachment.....by his own people. THE People.

Us.

While we still can.

We owe a debt to the world. We owe a debt of redemption to our national ideal.

You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.
Abraham Lincoln
They are no longer fooling most of the people. They are weak, but they are entrenched and will fight to the death....and take as many others down with them as they are able, regardless of the cost. While the damage they have done to the world, the damage they have done to our Constitution and government and way of life continues unabated. Their deeds, ideology, their methods and corruption, their politicization and memes of separation, of divide and conquer.....their Republicanism....MUST be repudiated by the strongest possible terms and methods possible. To stop the damage, to stop the polarization, to stop the zeitgeist of facisistic thought and the methodology of thuggish interrelation they have created and perpetrated upon the world. The entire fabric and substance of their nefarious ideology and creation must be Impeached (definition 4 &5)....before our country and our world can right the wrongs and come together to repair the grievous damage, to create a new united, cooperative model of existence for our world. A new model that is imminently necessary with the looming and undeniable challenges our planet faces.

He will not listen to Congress, he will not listen to his allies, he will not listen to reason.

586 more days of escalating madness lay before us in the hot desert sun.

How long before the intervention?

How much longer do we bide?

How much more atrocity and torture do we allow in our names?

How much more madness?

How many more dead?

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/3/28/212334/350

air-ono said...

//VERY AWESOME #!!!!!!//

and very long...

excessively long

(link it)

air-ono said...

TROLLS - PART-2

'If we offended anybody, then [you’re] unpatriotic.'

from: So who's behind the anti-David Iglesias radio ad now running in New Mexico?

~posted by cat chew
.

Alice said...

air-ono said...

March 29, 2007 6:03 AM

It was too good to be linked...sorry schmoop....

Alice said...

I see Fish was here....cool.
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
(Yes, that's the guy...)

air-ono said...

//sorry schmoop//

i just wanted some attention

: )

air-ono said...

it's a halliburton, blackwater, exxon, war

let them fund it

toniD said...

Saudi King Criticizes Arab Divisiveness

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia Mar 28, 2007 (AP)— The Saudi king chastised Arab leaders for infighting and said their divisions have fueled turmoil around the Mideast, prodding them to take united action at a summit Wednesday aimed at reviving a peace offer to Israel.

The gathering is to revive a 2002 initiative offering Israel peace with the Arab world if it withdraws from lands it seized in the 1967 Mideast war a proposal the United States and Europe hope can bolster efforts to resume the stalled peace process.

Arab leaders have refused calls for changes in the plan to win Israeli acceptance, but U.S. allies Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan want the summit participants to give them flexibility in promoting the offer to Israel and the West.

Saudi King Abdullah opened the summit with a strongly worded speech, painting a bleak picture of the crises and bloodshed in the region Lebanon, Iraq and Sudan and lecturing the leaders that it was time to act.

"The real blame should be directed at us, the leaders of the Arab nation," he said. "Our constant disagreements and rejection of unity have made the Arab nation lose confidence in our sincerity and lose hope."

He pointed to the bloodshed in Iraq, where he called the U.S. military presence an "illegitimate occupation" and warned that "abhorrent sectarianism threatens a civil war." He also called for the lifting of the "oppressive" international financial embargo on the Palestinians "as soon as possible so the peace process will get to move in an atmosphere without oppression."

LINK

Anonymous said...

I'd Just Like To Give A Big Shout Out To My Good Buddy!

Unknown said...

McCain is living in a dreamland
and apparently he can't hear what he says outside the dreamland

blah blah blah said...

instead of vetoing the appropriations bill with the deadline in it, does anyone have an opinion on whether president custer can write a signing statement and pick and choose what he wants in the bill? if he did, how would that get challenged?

Unknown said...

i would like the remove the following slogans from use:
'embolden our enemies' and 'support our troops'
they have lost all meaning from overuse

Unknown said...

Sam, give McCave a break. Maybe he was talking about Bagdad, Kentucky where you CAN walk safely through neighborhoods. . . er I mean THE neighborhood.

Bagdad, Kentucky is an unincorporated town located in northeastern Shelby County. It was founded at what is currently the intersection of KY 12 and KY 395. Most notably, it is the birthplace of Kentucky's only female governor, Martha Layne Collins.

Anonymous said...

What was that study Sam just referenced on Iraqi casualties? I'd like to have that ready for reference in arguments.

Alice said...

Those short, meaningless, slogans are what fascists use to whip up a loyal population...

Alice said...

I'm not listning, but it might have been Lancet?

Anonymous said...

How come the streaming of the show isn't working in the morning during Sams show? It always starts working as soon as it's over and Thom is on.

toniD said...

The Justice Department apologized for a Feb. 23 letter stating that Karl Rove did not play a role in the attorney purge. The Department “released new documents showing that [Gonzales’ ex-aide Kyle] Sampson was the primary author of the letter, which was approved by the White House counsel,” which itself raises new questions of “whether the Justice Department and the White House worked together to mislead Congress.”

LINK

air-ono said...

an anon wants to know: //What was that study Sam just referenced on Iraqi casualties?//

A Monstrous War Crime

~posted by ono, lover of anons

toniD said...

Show this to McCain!!

Insurgent attacks on Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone have increased recently, with attacks “on six of the past seven days, once with deadly consequences.” One State Department official also noted, “There are increasing attacks on the [U.S.] embassy.”

toniD said...

“Income inequality grew significantly in 2005, with the top 1 percent of Americans — those with incomes that year of more than $348,000 — receiving their largest share of national income since 1928. … The top 10 percent, roughly those earning more than $100,000, also reached a level of income share not seen since before the Depression.”

LINK

Anonymous said...

MC Rove? That is just wrong....and very, very sad to see these criminals mocking my culture. I can't wait til they go to prison so they can imitate singing the blues too.

Anonymous said...

Hey Sam.
I was wondering if maybe there is a variety show in federal prison. Maybe Rove was practicing for it. Rap is bad enough when the people doing it have talent but now we get to see what it looks like when the people doing it don't have a soul!
Thanks

Anonymous said...

M.C shameless?
R.U.N from the truth D.M.C.?
Vanilla Cellulite?
The Notorious Traitor?
How about Fatty-Fat and the co-conspirators?
lets help him come up with a rap name! I vote for come-here-bitch

Alice said...

95 per cent certainty that the war and its aftermath have resulted in the deaths of between 426,000 and 794,000 Iraqis

toniD said...

U.S. Attorneys rip Gonzales in private meeting. The New York Times reports on a meeting in Chicago hosted by Patrick Fitzgerald:

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales endured blunt criticism Tuesday from federal prosecutors who questioned the firings of eight United States attorneys, complained that the dismissals had undermined morale and expressed broader grievances about his leadership…

Several of the prosecutors said the dismissals caused them to wonder about their own standing and distracted their employees, according to one person familiar with the discussions. Others asked Mr. Gonzales about the removal of Daniel C. Bogden, the former United States attorney in Nevada, a respected career prosecutor whose ouster has never been fully explained by the Justice Department. …

Mr. Gonzales attended the Chicago meeting after abruptly cutting short a news conference in which he was asked about the dismissals and his own status. He reacted unemotionally to the criticism in the private session, responding that he had not previously heard of their specific complaints…

LINK

UPDATE: Josh Marshall has highlights from a GQ interview with purged New Mexico attorney David Iglesias, and Digby has details on a new attack ad on Iglesias airing on New Mexico radio.

Alice said...

Kathleen Neal Cleaver

. As the national communications secretary she became the first female member of the Party's decision-making body, the Central Committee. In that role, she served as the Party's spokesperson and press secretary, delivering speeches across the country. In 1968, she organized the national campaign to free the Party's jailed minister of defense, Huey Newton.

In that same year she ran unsuccessfully for the California state assembly on the ticket of the Peace and Freedom party.

Anonymous said...

"NEWS CONSUMER" said...

Woman Raped And Walked Naked Through Breukelen Complex

Alice said...

Iraqi Policemen Go on Killing Spree

Off-duty Shiite policemen enraged by massive bombings in the northern town of Tal Afar went on a revenge spree against Sunni residents there on Wednesday, killing at least 45 men execution-style, police and hospital officials said.

Ajata said...

March 29, 2007 -- Desperate GOP wives. Republican presidential candidate John McCain, like the man he is trying to replace, is "losing it," according to people who work with the Arizona senator. Like George W. Bush, not only is McCain in denial over the U.S. military disaster in Iraq but McCain's wife Cindy has reportedly increasingly been in the company of a close (and younger) male friend. Laura Bush has also been relying on the personal support of a close male friend, a wealthy Texas businessman, according to our well-placed Washington social sources.

LINK

nut-meg said...

If you guys want to watch the entire Rove Rap, I found it on YouTube.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=8HEjMhqC5sE

Click with caution.

Alice said...

From Kim Komando

http://www.allaboutolive.com.au

...a blog that is a little different.

Meet Olive Riley. At 107, she’s probably the oldest blogger. She lives in New South Wales, Australia. She also has vivid memories of her life.

With the help of a friend, she’s putting her memories in her blog for everyone to read. They’re fascinating. I don’t know what’s more impressive – her memories or the fact that she’s blogging!

Anonymous said...

"NEWS CONSUMER" said...

Hospitalized Prisoner Shot After Attacking NYPD Guard

Officer Is Shot in Leg on Brooklyn Street; One Suspect Is Held

Anonymous said...

Sam,

Dean just mispoke. The FED is NOT a
part of government. It is a CARTEL
of private banks! Please, have a look
to "the creature from jekyll island" by
Griffen, and explain to your listeners
how our money supply is growing out
of control!

Thanks Matt C

Ajata said...

There is NO doubt that FNMA and FHLMC (Freddie Mac)are already in trouble financially. They have had some major fraud and well from the inside, and they are huge issuers of CMos and MBSs and hold the vast majority of all the collateral for the other issuers.

Believe me, people in the securities business who actually know what they are doing (surprisingly few) are going "Shit! We're fucked!" Thanks Greenspan ... and Bernanke.

Ajata said...

But it's their own fault, frankly.

Anonymous said...

Also Sam, PLEASE checkout itulip.com,
and consider interviewing Eric Janzen.
Please understand the game of bailout,
how it causes massive inflation, and
how we will all pay for the comming bank
defaults, iraq war etc through a worthless
dollar. Please also check out congressman
Ron Paul (I know hes a repub,but here's
a great chance to be non-partisan). He's
been a real champion against this sort
of loose money, which hurts the poor and
middle class, and makes the rich richer.


Please Sam, your the only one covering this! Go a little deeper!

Thx, Matt C

Anonymous said...

"NEWS CONSUMER" said...

Witness Intimidation Is Charged in Sean Bell Case

Alice said...

Why The State Sucks: A Parable

Alice said...

Impeach Them - Bring Them Home

Submitted by cactuspat

...protest photographs along with "Bring Them Home" song...
Great song featuring Woodie Guthrie's "Bring Them Home". I recognize Steve Earle's voice but can't make out the female accompanists. Anybody recognize them?

Carolyn Spector Gillis said...

Dear Sam,

You immaturity and humor restore my soul.

God knows that we need a good laugh...

Alice said...

100 Fleeing Haitians Detained in Florida

In Florida, at least one hundred people landed on a beach north of Miami Wednesday after arriving on a sailboat fleeing Haiti. At least one person died before the boat reached ashore. Authorities are expected to deport the Haitians under long-standing US policy that bars them while accepting fleeing Cubans.

Anonymous said...

--------------


"Mortality after the 2003 invasion of Iraq: a cross-sectional cluster sample survey"

Link (PDF file):

http://www.thelancet.com/webfiles/images/journals/lancet/s0140673606694919.pdf

blah blah blah said...

Alice said...
Impeach Them - Bring Them Home

that's a powerful song. guthrie was a pretty powerful voice in past years.

found some links that might help with who the singers are, not sure:

Bring Them Home Now Concert

A Second Review Of The Concert

Sunshine Jim said...

Morning gang!

love ya all!

Anonymous said...

Again, am I the only one who is suspicious of the fight the WH is putting up over Gonzales....

To me it means one of the two things...

1. They know that "they did nothing wrong" and hope when the Dems make a big deal out of it, they can suddenly turn tables on them and make them look like "out of control prosecutors" (i.e. Ken Starr)

2. They HAVE done something wrong...but want this to play out for the next several MONTHS, into the fall.

Then Gonzales is impeached as Attorney General, that eats up a few more months. Gonzales probably left in office (given not likely to find 17 Repubs to vote for impeachment).

Then it's Christmas 2007/New Years 2008 and we're into the Primaries and....

no MORE investigations are politically possible....of ANYBODY!

toniD said...

Okay ladies, be prepared to be incensed:

Married women can’t be raped by their husbands. “By getting married, the woman has consented to sex, and I don’t think you can call it rape,” said right-wing activist Phyllis Schlafly yesterday at Bates College. She also noted that women have an “inherent physical inferiority” and should not be firefighters, soldiers, or construction workers: “Women in combat are a hazard to other people around them.”

LINK

Ajata said...

toniD said...

Okay ladies, be prepared to be incensed:

Married women can’t be raped by their husbands. “By getting married, the woman has consented to sex, and I don’t think you can call it rape,” said right-wing activist Phyllis Schlafly yesterday at Bates College.

****

Pfft.

I can't believe Phyllis is still alive?

She must be so old she farts dust...

Ajata said...

Naa Ganna Doet said...

Again, am I the only one who is suspicious of the fight the WH is putting up over Gonzales....

***

You give people such as Karl Rove too much credit.

Remember, people are never as clever as you give them credit for.

Period.

Anonymous said...

its true because i said so. i was born to be barefoot, stupid, and pregnant. as you can see, its worked out particulary well.

toniD said...

Video: Doan is ‘totally paranoid!’ Yesterday, ThinkProgress noted this catch from Nitpicker from the House hearing with Government Services Administration head Lurita Doan:

Listening into the live webcast of the GSA hearings just now, the camera was down, but the audio was still up and you could here GSA Administrator Lurita Doan griping about the investigation and telling one of her people to take her glass, cause she doesn’t want ‘them to have my fingerprints. They’ve got me totally paranoid!” Hilarious.

We tracked down the video. Doan tells an assistant, “Take my water, and my glasses. I don’t want to leave any fingerprints, they’ve got me totally paranoid.” Watch it:

LINK

Anonymous said...

Let me set ya straight on that farting dust myth there, Cathy.

The older you get the more humid and fragrant your farts become.

My wife is always commenting about how our house smells as if I had sprayed Vanilla Mist, after I burn a dookie.

toniD said...

After the way the stock market has been falling the past few days, does anyone find this reworking of the 4th qtr economic growth suspicious?

GDP revised up on inventories
Reuters - 2 hours, 1 minute ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Economic growth was moderately stronger in the fourth quarter than previously thought, primarily because businesses added more to inventories than was estimated a month ago, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday.

LINK

blah blah blah said...

toniD said...
After the way the stock market has been falling the past few days, does anyone find this reworking of the 4th qtr economic growth suspicious?

it wouldn't surprise me. personally i think its shameful the way bernake flip flopped over the economy in less than a week. just remember the big guys make a lot of money shorting stocks when the markets in a decline.

toniD said...

And frpm the Hague:

US economy should slow in 2007: IMF chief
AFP - 26 minutes ago
THE HAGUE (AFP) - US economic momentum is likely to decline this year to a pace slower than the 2.9 percent forecast in September by the International Monetary Fund, the head of the IMF said Thursday.

LINK

toniD said...

Liberal Una said...
On a different note, can anyone tell me who the name of the Cookie Monster woman (who was testifying this morning on Sam's show)? I missed a lot of the audio -- have to work, y'know -- and I'd like to google her. Thanks!

March 29, 2007 8:32 AM

-------------

Lurita Doan

LINK

blah blah blah said...

i'll bet petraeus doesn't even use a humvee. thats for the unwashed masses. there's a new one that has v shaped armor on the underside designed to deflect the force of an ied. they are in limited supply and, no surprise here, we're not doing anything to rush more to our troops.

Ajata said...

Sam & Atrios:

The reason McCain and others say these things is because they have gotten used to the Press letting their lies go.

It's very unusual that CNN actually got him on his lies.

Ajata said...

I think this is a sign that the "news" people are not behind McCain anymore.

Sunshine Jim said...

Opus Meets Katie Couric...

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/comics/opus.html

Anonymous said...

Regarding Gen. David Petraeus' Humvee:

Senator John McCain said Petraeus uses an "unarmed Humvee." That means no machine gun.

McCain didn't say "unarmored Humvee."

Anyway, Petraeus' vehicle is surrounded by armed vehicles, on the road and in the air.

-Eric Jaffa

blah blah blah said...

its off topic but did anyone see where circuit city is going to fire 3000+ employees, about 8% of their workforce, and replace them with lower paid workers? supposedly, the individuals being targeted are being given the option of their old job back at a reduced pay grade.

makes me want to boycott circuit city.

Anonymous said...

122 BILLION for the war in IRAQ!!!!!!!!! What a gutsy move on the part of the Democrates.

122 BILLION for war and not one penny for a REAL investigation of this administrations CRIMINAL involvement in the 911 mass murders,

WAKE UP YOU DISTRACTED FOOLS.

scott

toniD said...

Ex-aide: Gonzales had role in firings By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer
7 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales wrongly stated he was not involved in discussions about the firings of federal prosecutors, his former chief of staff told the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday.

"I don't think the attorney general's statement that he was not involved in any discussions of U.S. attorney removals was accurate," testified Kyle Sampson, who quit this month as Gonzales' top aide. "I remember discussing with him this process of asking certain U.S. attorneys to resign."

Sampson said Gonzales attended a crucial meeting on the firings Nov. 27, 10 days before they were carried out.

Under questioning by Sen. Charles Schumer (news, bio, voting record), D-N.Y., Sampson said Gonzales also was wrong when he said other senior Justice Department aides gave Congress inaccurate information because they hadn't been fully briefed about the firings.

"I shared information with anyone who wanted it," Sampson said. Asked by Schumer if Gonzales' statement was false, Sampson replied, "I don't think it's accurate if the statement implies that I intended to mislead the Congress."

LINK

Anonymous said...

----------------
blah blah blah said...
instead of vetoing the appropriations bill with the deadline in it, does anyone have an opinion on whether president custer can write a signing statement and pick and choose what he wants in the bill? if he did, how would that get challenged?

March 29, 2007 6:47 AM
_____________________

Bush is planning to veto the bill. (The Cheerleader-in-Chief held a pep rally with Congressional Republicans at the White House).

-----------------

I recommend the following:

"The Problem with Presidential Signing Statements: Their Use and Misuse by the Bush Administration" by John W. Dean

Excerpt:

"Given the incredible number of constitutional challenges Bush is issuing to new laws, without vetoing them, his use of signing statements is going to sooner or later put him in an untenable position. And there is a strong argument that it has already put him in a position contrary to Supreme Court precedent, and the Constitution, vis-à-vis the veto power.

Bush is using signing statements like line item vetoes. Yet the Supreme Court has held the line item vetoes are unconstitutional."

----------------

"Indeed, the Administration may be eating its words - with Congress holding the plate out, and forcing the unconstitutional verbiage back down. That, in the end, is the only kind of torture Americans ought to countenance."

Link:

http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20060113.html

toniD said...

Blah 3, did you hear anything about the United Airlines unions being incensed about the CEO of United getting a Golden Umbrella type deal of several million dollars when they all had to take a cut in pay.

I saw a crawl on a local news channel and have not been able to find anything about it.

Alice said...

blah blah blah said...

March 29, 2007 8:10 AM

Cool, thanks for the links...

Alice said...

Peaches!

http://www.threeimaginarygirls.com/files/BringEm06MarPeaches.jpg

:)

Alice said...

To date, the efforts of Conscious Alliance have resulted in the redistribution of over 300 tons of food. For more information on the work of Conscious Alliance and how to donate online, go to

http://www.consciousalliance.org/

toniD said...

TPM Muckraker has a live blog of the testimony of Kyle Sampson.

LINK

Alice said...

Book Review The Zapatista Reader Edited by Tom Hayden

The Zapatista Reader is one of the most amazing collection of essays, interviews, stories and insights by some of the greatest writers of our time: Jose Saramago, Paco Taibo II, Octavio Paz, Naomi Klein, Elena Ponitowska, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Carlos Monsavais, Manuel Vazquez Montalban, John Berger, Andrew Kopkind, Eduardo Galenao, Alma Guillermoprieto, Pascal Beltran Del Rio, Saul Kandau, Jorge Mancillas, John Ross, Regis Debray, Jose de la Colina, Mike Gonzalez, and many more.

There is a brief historical timeline and an introduction by Tom Hayden, who also serves as editor of the collection.

Ajata said...

So... for now McCain is done. What can we do to bury Giuliani?

War Dog said...

The Trigger..

We are one shot away from war with Iran..

The stage has been set..

If Iran submits we start over..

If Iran reacts with it military..

The Trigger will have been pulled..

The ball is in Iran's court..

War Dog said...

This is all straight out of the War Dog Plan for defeat of the Axis of Evil..

Step by step we are working our way to peace and democracy in the Mideast..!!!

blah blah blah said...

tonidD, check out the following:

UAL Union Coalition Demands Shared Rewards

Ajata said...

Let's start a rumor ...

Could 'Fritz' be channeling 'War Dog'?

Clearly, War Dog is satire. But is it up to Fritz standards? I wouldn't want to insult Fritz.

Talk amongst yourselves...

toniD said...

blah blah blah said...
tonidD, check out the following:

UAL Union Coalition Demands Shared Rewards

March 29, 2007 9:19 AM

Thanks Blah 3.

I have several friends that work at United and I told them about this. They had not heard it. Kept pretty quiet in Chi town, the HQ of United.

travismcgee01 said...

Thanks Ono for the link to the Guardian article on Iraqi casualties. I'm no longer anonymous now so you all know ALL about me. ;-)

~Travis

blah blah blah said...

toniD said:


I have several friends that work at United and I told them about this. They had not heard it. Kept pretty quiet in Chi town, the HQ of United.

nothing burns me more than ceo's getting rewarded for screwing over loyal employees.

Ajata said...

122 BILLION for the war in IRAQ!!!!!!!!! What a gutsy move on the part of the Democrates.

122 BILLION for war and not one penny for a REAL investigation of this administrations CRIMINAL involvement in the 911 mass murders,

WAKE UP YOU DISTRACTED FOOLS.

scott

********

Hey Scott.

We know.

blah blah blah said...

CNN Breaking News:

-- The U.S. Senate today passed a war spending bill that would require U.S. combat troops to leave Iraq by the end of March 2008, ignoring a veto threat from President Bush.

toniD said...

Firedoglake is live blogging Sampson testimony also. I think it's a little better, more info.

TPM Muckraker just reporting the high points.

Alice said...

Elvis Costello, Pump It Up

Alice said...

Levinas, Perverter

toniD said...

I got this in my email with no link:

"We who protest the war are not politicians. We are citizens.
Whatever politicians may do, let them first feel the full force of
citizens who speak for what is right, not for what is winnable, in a
shamefully timorous Congress."

Are We Politicians or Citizens?
By Howard Zinn
May 2007 Issue

As I write this, Congress is debating timetables for withdrawal from
Iraq. In response to the Bush Administration' s "surge" of troops, and
the Republicans' refusal to limit our occupation, the Democrats are
behaving with their customary timidity, proposing withdrawal, but
only after a year, or eighteen months. And it seems they expect the
anti-war movement to support them.

That was suggested in a recent message from MoveOn, which polled its
members on the Democrat proposal, saying that progressives in
Congress, "like many of us, don't think the bill goes far enough, but
see it as the first concrete step to ending the war."

Ironically, and shockingly, the same bill appropriates $124 billion
in more funds to carry the war. It's as if, before the Civil War,
abolitionists agreed to postpone the emancipation of the slaves for a
year, or two years, or five years, and coupled this with an
appropriation of funds to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act.

When a social movement adopts the compromises of legislators, it has
forgotten its role, which is to push and challenge the politicians,
not to fall in meekly behind them.

We who protest the war are not politicians. We are citizens. Whatever
politicians may do, let them first feel the full force of citizens
who speak for what is right, not for what is winnable, in a
shamefully timorous Congress.We who protest the war are not
politicians. We are citizens. Whatever politicians may do, let them
first feel the full force of citizens who speak for what is right,
not for what is winnable, in a shamefully timorous Congress.

cont'd next post

toniD said...

Howard Zinn, cont'd:

Timetables for withdrawal are not only morally reprehensible in the
case of a brutal occupation (would you give a thug who invaded your
house, smashed everything in sight, and terrorized your children a
timetable for withdrawal?) but logically nonsensical. If our troops
are preventing civil war, helping people, controlling violence, then
why withdraw at all? If they are in fact doing the opposite—provoking
civil war, hurting people, perpetuating violence—they should withdraw
as quickly as ships and planes can carry them home.

It is four years since the United States invaded Iraq with a
ferocious bombardment, with "shock and awe." That is enough time to
decide if the presence of our troops is making the lives of the
Iraqis better or worse. The evidence is overwhelming. Since the
invasion, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died, and, according
to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, about two million Iraqis
have left the country, and an almost equal number are internal
refugees, forced out of their homes, seeking shelter elsewhere in the
country.

Yes, Saddam Hussein was a brutal tyrant. But his capture and death
have not made the lives of Iraqis better, as the U.S. occupation has
created chaos: no clean water, rising rates of hunger, 50 percent
unemployment, shortages of food, electricity, and fuel, a rise in
child malnutrition and infant deaths. Has the U.S. presence
diminished violence? On the contrary, by January 2007 the number of
insurgent attacks has increased dramatically to 180 a day.

The response of the Bush Administration to four years of failure is
to send more troops. To add more troops matches the definition of
fanaticism: If you find you're going in the wrong direction, redouble
your speed. It reminds me of the physician in Europe in the early
nineteenth century who decided that bloodletting would cure
pneumonia. When that didn't work, he concluded that not enough blood
had been let.

The Congressional Democrats' proposal is to give more funds to the
war, and to set a timetable that will let the bloodletting go on for
another year or more. It is necessary, they say, to compromise, and
some anti-war people have been willing to go along. However, it is
one thing to compromise when you are immediately given part of what
you are demanding, if that can then be a springboard for getting more
in the future. That is the situation described in the recent movie
The Wind That Shakes The Barley, in which the Irish rebels against
British rule are given a compromise solution—to have part of Ireland
free, as the Irish Free State. In the movie, Irish brother fights
against brother over whether to accept this compromise. But at least
the acceptance of that compromise, however short of justice, created
the Irish Free State. The withdrawal timetable proposed by the
Democrats gets nothing tangible, only a promise, and leaves the
fulfillment of that promise in the hands of the Bush Administration.

Alice said...

It's from the Progressive..

toniD said...

Shell, the Zinn article was from the Progressive? Crystobal sent it to me.

Ajata said...

I agree with Chomsky.

Perhaps after Bush vetoes the proposal, we can reintroduce the bill from Barbara Lee.

Don't let up on the Democrats. Call them and tell them they didn't go far enough.

Go back to the table and get it right. There is no excuse for "Be Patient."

We were too patient.

Ajata said...

Whoops. I meant I agree with Zinn [not Chomsky]

toniD said...

Britain takes case against Iran to U.N. By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer
1 minute ago



Britain took its case to free its 15 sailors and marines held by Iran to the United Nations on Thursday, asking the Security Council to support a statement that would "deplore" Tehran's action and demand their immediate release.

But Security Council diplomats said the brief press statement circulated by Britain's U.N. Mission is likely to face problems from Russia and others because it says the Britons were "operating in Iraqi waters" — a point that Iran contests.

Iranian state television on Thursday also broadcast a few seconds of footage it says was of the operation that seized the 15 British soldiers in Iranian territorial waters.

In the clip, ab out five seconds long, gunshots were heard and a helicopter is shown hovering above inflatable boats in choppy seas. Then, the British seamen and marines appear seated in an Iranian guard boat, presumably after their capture.

The British move came as Iran rolled back on its promise to release the sole female British sailor among the captives, who were seized last week. The Iranian military chief, Gen. Ali Reza Afshar, said that because of the "wrong behavior" of the British government, "the release of a female British soldier has been suspended," the semiofficial Iranian news agency Mehr reported.

Iran's top negotiator, Ali Larijani, also hinted that the British crew members may be put on trial.

The British statement was to be discussed later Thursday at a closed-door meeting of the Security Council.

The text circulated to the 14 other council members said: "Members of the Security Council deplore the continuing detention by the government of Iran of 15 (United Kingdom) naval personnel."

It added that the British crew was "operating in Iraqi waters as part of the Multinational Force-Iraq under a mandate from the Security Council under resolution 1723 and at the request of the government of Iraq" and it called for their "immediate release."

A press statement is the weakest action the Security Council can take, but the statement must be approved by all council members. Diplomats said Britain was also weighing a stronger presidential statement, which unlike a press statement, is read at a formal Security Council meeting and becomes part of its official record.

LINK

Ajata said...

March 29, 2007 -- Just a few days after it was discovered that the Total Information Awareness surveillance system is alive and well under a Singapore identity comes word from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the following number of hacking victims we reported in December as being in the "millions" now has been reported by TJX Corporation to the SEC as 45.7 million credit and debit card customers:

[snip]

The theft of personal data is rivaled by the September 2006 reported theft of US Census data, which possibly affected "hundreds of millions" of Americans.

http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/

toniD said...

I agree with Howard Zinn also. I have signed circulating petitions and have emailed Durbin and Obama.

Unfortunately my Rep is Roskam and he won't budge. He's as far right as they go. But I will email him any way. Just to show my disapproval of his stance!

He's the one that won against Tammy Duckworth!

Anonymous said...

Herro Joe!

Whatta ya know?

What are a happening

in Toke-a-o?

Ajata said...

How many calls do you get a day by your credit card companies asking you to purchase credit card protection?

It's a huge waste of money and doesn't actually protect you in most situations. Not to mention if that you shouldn't be giving your information to anyone who calls you.

It makes me wonder sometimes though ... Are they 'hacking' their own customer's data? Well actually they don't have to 'hack' it... they just sell it to people.

Ajata said...

Unfortunately my Rep is Roskam and he won't budge. He's as far right as they go. But I will email him any way. Just to show my disapproval of his stance!

He's the one that won against Tammy Duckworth!

****

Blech. You're right to still email him though.

blah blah blah said...

Catharine said...

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the following number of hacking victims we reported in December as being in the "millions" now has been reported by TJX Corporation to the SEC as 45.7 million credit and debit card customers:

not sure i understand the post. it was my impression that t j maxx had failed to secure its corporate systems and someone(s) hacked their way in and stole a large amount of credit card data. why its news today is that they were obligated to follow up and report the incident to the sec.

how does this tie into the tia, or is it being suggested that the government is behind the hacking?

Ajata said...

how does this tie into the tia, or is it being suggested that the government is behind the hacking?

March 29, 2007 10:19 AM

Yes, the gov't has been outsourcing it. Or at least that's the implication.

toniD said...

Heh!

Bush Administration fines Bush Administration
by Chris in Paris · 3/29/2007 09:08:00 AM ET

What a dysfunctional team. Do they ever get anything right?

The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday fined the federal Energy Department $1.1 million over violations of an agreement to clean up the Hanford nuclear reservation, the nation's most polluted nuclear site.

The fine involved operations at a landfill that is the primary repository for contaminated soils, debris and other hazardous and radioactive waste from cleanup operations across the site.

LINK

toniD said...

Connecting Truth Tellers from Vietnam and Iraq
by Joe Sudbay (DC) · 3/29/2007 08:12:00 AM ET

At least one legacy of Vietnam lives on.

This year, The Ridenhour Truth-Telling Prize links the Vietman whistle blower for whom the award is named to an Iraq whistleblower. Ron Ridenhour exposed the My Lai massacre in 1969. Donald Vance told the truth about how U.S. detention practices in Iraq because he learned them first-hand:
Donald Vance, a 29-year-old Navy veteran, had been a long-time supporter of the war in Iraq. But that changed last April when, serving as a security contractor in Baghdad, he was detained by U.S. forces and held without charges for more than three months at Camp Cropper, one of Iraq’s most notorious military prison camps. There, Vance and a colleague, Nathan Ertel, were denied counsel and communication with the outside world. They were held in isolation in extremely cold cells without adequate clothing or blankets. Vance was also subjected to sleep deprivation, interrogation for hours and often denied food and water for long periods. The U.S. military eventually released both Vance and Ertel without explanation, admitting that they had done nothing wrong.

Vance secretly kept notes on his time at Camp Cropper and smuggled them out in a Bible. He took his story public in December, offering a detailed and verifiable account of his experiences to the New York Times. His report has provided a rare and credible inside account of the Pentagon’s detention operations — and is one of only a few stories to emerge since the abuse scandals at Abu Ghraib.
I remember reading that article about Vance in the NY Times. We wrote about it here. It was brutal. Vance receives his award on April 4th at the National Press Club. (While Vance is in DC, he should tell his story on Capitol Hill.)

LINK

Ajata said...

Kim Gamel of AP reports that Shiite militants and some Shiite policemen went on a rampage in the northern Turkmen city of Tal Afar on Wednesday, killing 70 Sunnis indiscriminately, injuring another 30, and kidnapping 40 others. The Shiites were taking revenge for a Sunni truck bombing of Shiites on Tuesday that killed 80 persons and wounded 185. According to what I was told by a knowledgeable US resident of the city a couple of years ago, Tal Afar is 80 percent Turkmen, and the Sunnis are a slight majority there. Gamel says that the Shiites are the majority.


LINK

toniD said...

Bernanke: what's a few hundred billion or even a trillion between friends?
by Chris in Paris · 3/29/2007 03:21:00 AM ET

LINK

What's not to love about a tanking war that is soaking up hundreds of billions of dollars all during a time of massive tax cuts? Add to that increasing oil costs (again) plus the crashing real estate market that has over $600 billion in subprime loans not to mention a growing list of existing homes sitting on the market? Don't worry about it...just join together and sing kumbaya. I'm sure it will all work out somehow.

Ajata said...

Guerrillas have been firing rockets at will into the Green Zone, the supposedly safe district of downtown Baghdad where the US embassy and Iraqi government offices are located. Reuters reports that on Wednesday they killed a US soldier in the Green Zone that way, and wounded another. On Tuesday they had killed a US contractor in the zone. Also on Tuesday, guerrillas had killed a US Marine in al-Anbar province. Folks, when guerrillas can kill a US soldier inside the Green Zone, Baghdad is just not safe.

Guerrillas in Fallujah attacked Iraqi and American troops with a chlorine gas truck, wounding 7 US GIs and 8 Iraqi troops. There were scattered bombings and killings in the rest of the country.

Ajata said...

Saudi King Abdullah said on Wednesday at the opening of the Arab League meetings, "“In beloved Iraq, blood is shed among our brothers while there is an illegitimate foreign occupation and a hateful sectarianism that is threatening to develop into a civil war . . .”

King Abdullah followed up on these harsh criticisms of the US by cancelling his planned appearance at a White House dinner in April. The Saudi royal family is fit to be tied that Bush gave Iraq away to fundamentalist Shiite parties that have close ties to Iran.

blah blah blah said...

the worst part toniD is that i am convinced that the bushwa want to destroy the middle class leaving only the uber rich as haves and the rest of us as have nots. the way this is going they might just get their way.

and yet most of my idiotic neighbors voted for these fuckers twice. it was the christian thing to do, don't you know. happy easter...

Ajata said...

Although the Saudi statement is remarkable for its brutal frankness and coldness toward the United States, its real significance is its slam of the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Abdullah has not only said that the US presence is an illegal occupation, he has said that the al-Maliki government is nothing more than Shiite sectarian hegemony. The Saudis are known for their behind the scenes diplomacy and their public discretion. King Abdullah is hopping mad, to talk this way. It augurs ill for US-Saudi relations. Abdullah is also angry that Bush is letting the Palestine issue fester and that he pushed for open Palestinian elections but then cut off the Hamas government once it was elected. Abdullah thinks Bush is pursuing irrational policies, the effect of which is to destabilize the Middle East. He is so angry that he sounds a bit like Iraqi Sunni fundamentalist leader Harith al-Dhari, who is connected in some shadowy way with the Sunni guerrillas fighting the US. (See the interview, below).

LINK

toniD said...

Sen. Feinstein's questions to Sampson....

SEN. FEINSTEIN QUESTIONS: Would like to go back to Sen. Specter's questions on notice on search warrant. You say that it was Lam's immigration record. Feinstein entering a letter into the record — field agency from customs and field agency. Letter of commendation to Lam from them. "Your office has a 100% record with us." (CHS notes: ooops, pesky field guys.)

Feinstein then gets into Foggo, Wilkes, Cunningham, Lewis and others. And the subpoenas thereon. Sampson says he doesn't recall ever seeing a subpoena notice for the search warrant on Foggo and Wilkes. Feinstein asks with some skepticism if Sampson's "right now" replace Lam e-mail referred to "immigration policy questions." Sampson walks through immigration criticisms, largely from House GOP, about the lax border enforcement questions. Blaming Lam's firing on House GOP.

Feinstein gets into the FBI field office problem with Lam being asked to resign causing problems for ongoing cases. Sampson says that he didn't seeit that way.

Were you aware that Cummins was investigating Missouri GOP governor Blunt? Sampson "doesn't recall being aware of that."

Were you aware that NV USA Bogden opened an investigation of GOP governor of NV? Sampson says he does not recall being aware of that.

Were you aware that McKay declined to prosecute a case in Seattle? Sampson doesn't recall being aware of that.

Were you aware of a case being opened against Renzi? Aware through news accounta that there was some preliminary investigation.

Were you aware that Iglesias declined to prosecute case/investigation of state Democrats? Sampson not aware that calls had been made to him, and not aware of particular concerns.

http://firedoglake.com/

Anonymous said...

As I hear more and more people, who are supposedly trying to be impartial, saying Democrat instead of Democratic, I realize how excruciatingly easy it is to convince people in this country of anything. They just started using this word without any prompting, whatsoever, just parroting what they hear.

toniD said...

Catharine, I am convinced that when we pull out, the other Arab nations will step in to Iraq and I can see them deviding the country.

I think the Kurds are going to be the losers here. I can see the Saudis taking over their oil rich land because I think Iran will go after the southern oil fields.

That's why I said yesterday, we need to get the hell out of there and start imediately on alternate fuel. This would bring manufacturing back to the US.

We also should charge China an import fee if they are not going to have the standards of employment that we have here.

Sunshine Jim said...

"The probability of unfavorable consequences cannot be zero in any action of common life, but the probability increases by a very high power as a series of actions is lengthened.

The effect of moral considerations, in conduct, may be stated to be a mathematically verifiable reduction in the number of unfavorable possible chance happenings.

Of course, whether this process is called the intelligent use of probability, or piety, makes no difference in the facts.

It is the method by which unfavorable chance happenings are made least probable.

Arbitrary actions such as we call criminal, cannot ever be justified by mathematics. For example . . ."

Probability and Human Conduct—Fitzgerald

blah blah blah said...

thats one nasty piece of video editing, but it must be true, i saw it on the internet.

Ajata said...

That's why I said yesterday, we need to get the hell out of there and start imediately on alternate fuel. This would bring manufacturing back to the US.

We also should charge China an import fee if they are not going to have the standards of employment that we have here.

March 29, 2007 10:51 AM

******

Yup. Good suggestions. The only thing is I am not sure that manufacturing should necessarily be completely brought back to the US. I think we should be a global economy [in a perfect world], because our economic interdependency is what makes us ultimately behave better and make compromises. If those economies that take the outsourced labor from us start to prosper [that's a big 'if' dependent on a lot of other conditions], then they start to have the power to keep the US in check as well.

I do agree that something like an import tax on products made in countries that have bad human rights, and labor law records is appropriate and somewhat effective.

toniD said...

SEN. CARDIN QUESTIONS: Were USAs put on list based on concerns from local political establishment? Rep. Issa and others were very critical, and the DoJ knew that. AG received 3 calls complainin about Mr. Iglesias, and McNulty received at least one call from him. Who would be responsible for weighing the local political issues? Sampson dodges answering this directly, says that we were aware of these. No one specifically involved in this.

Is there a document available that reflects these different views? Sampson says there wasn't one document — information gathered from various sources, doesn't remember if it contained local political information. Sampson says that one of the things they did was to go back and look at USAs whose 4 year terms had expired — relatively close cases. Compiled the lsit over the course of 2 years. Sampson says that he doesn't control the documents — Sampson says that they were his own lists that he made, and then threw away as he made a new list — but he doesn't work at the DoJ any longer, so he doesn't control the documents. (CHS says: how convenient that it "wasn't scientific and it wasn't documented" — I'm sure the people who got fired are feeling really comforted about the process now.)

From firedoglake

toniD said...

Billions Spent Attacking Unions Could Be Better Spent on Decent Wages

Alice said...

Yes, Toni..The Progressive I think is where it originated...it's also on zmag now..

toniD said...

Feinstein Questions Samspon on Lam Firing
By Paul Kiel - March 29, 2007, 1:04 PM
Two big things came out of Sen. Dianne Feinstein's (D-CA) questioning of Kyle Sampson.

The first was a glowing letter about Lam that Feinstein presented from the Director of Field Operations for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency. Lam was supposedly fired, remember, because she performed poorly on immigration prosecutions. You can read the letter here.

The second was the revelation that after the FBI bureau chief in San Diego complained to the press about Lam's firing, Samspon called FBI headquarters to complain.

Video

Alice said...

From what I've been reading, hierarchies superceded rich & poor...When I get time, I'm going to type out the whole Conclusion from Dancing in the Streets....

Alice said...

The Spring of Social Centres

...
Are we content on where we are? Is it enough? Ideology is dead, and with it the dogma of both the left and traditional anarchists. If we are to re-imagine and give meaning to revolutionary praxis in the 21st Century we would need reconnect with not just ourselves and others like us who oppose capitalism but also the multitude of people who are not satisfied with a private existence. Only through this process are we truly going to get to a level where we are asking the right questions, let alone providing the right answers.

http://www.occupiedlondon.org/images/small/7.jpg

toniD said...

I still think we need a good amount of manufacturing here. Globalization is a balance against War. It also makes all nations interdependent. What is needed is for some third world countries to be brought into the fold.

I do know that if our economy collapses, the whole world will suffer, so we are somewhat interdependent now.

Alice said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Alice said...

Libertarian Municipalism: The New Municipal Agenda Nov 17, 2003 by Murray Bookchin

This article consists of excerpts from From Urbanization to Cities (1987; London: Cassell, 1995), with revisions.

Any agenda that tries to restore and amplify the classical meaning of politics and citizenship must clearly indicate what they are not, if only because of the confusion that surrounds the two words... Politics is not statecraft, and citizens are not "constituents" or "taxpayers." Statecraft consists of operations that engage the state: the exercise of its monopoly of violence, its control of the entire regulative apparatus of society in the form of legal and ordinance-making bodies, and its governance of society by means of professional legislators, armies, police forces, and bureaucracies. Statecraft takes on a political patina when so-called "political parties" attempt, in various power plays, to occupy the offices that make state policy and execute it. This kind of "politics" has an almost tedious typicality. A "political party" is normally a structured hierarchy, fleshed out by a membership that functions in a top-down manner. It is a miniature state, and in some countries, such as the former Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, a party actually constituted the state itself.

The Soviet and Nazi examples of the party qua state were the logical extension of the party into the state. Indeed, every party has its roots in the state, not in the citizenry. The conventional party is hitched to the state like a garment to a mannikin. However varied the garment and its design may be, it is not part of the body politic; it merely drapes it.
...

toniD said...

Leahy just annouced a recess and it looks like the recess is until after the Easter break.

So there will be more of Sampson testimony after Easter.

toniD said...

If you have a chance, read this. It's funny but makes you think...


When Liberals Rule The World
Stats say the GOP is dying. But red-staters are breeding like drunken ferrets. Who wins?

By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist

toniD said...

Iran Reneges On Promise To Release Female Soldier
AP | EDITH M. LEDERER | March 29, 2007 09:01 AM

UNITED NATIONS -- Britain took its case to free its 15 sailors and marines held by Iran to the United Nations on Thursday, asking the Security Council to support a statement that would "deplore" Tehran's action and demand their immediate release.

But Security Council diplomats said the brief press statement circulated by Britain's U.N. Mission is likely to face problems from Russia and others because it says the Britons were "operating in Iraqi waters" _ a point that Iran contests.

LINK

toniD said...

GOP freezes Attorneygate hearing in the middle of Republican's statement Michael Roston
Published: Thursday March 29, 2007

Print This Email This



The second half of the hearing on the firing of 8 US Attorneys with D. Kyle Sampson, former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, screeched to a sudden halt today when Republican senators objected that the hearing violated Senate rules.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, announced that the hearing would need to be frozen while Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) was reading a statement.

"Does that apply to Republicans?" Grassley asked.

"It's the Republicans who want it to stop," Leahy answered.

A live broadcast on MSNBC explained that Senate rules state that hearings can only occur for a certain number of hours before they must be concluded so that Members will pay attention to activities on the Senate floor.

LINK

War Dog said...

Blair says he will not dance with Iran..

The dance is over..

You can negotiate with terrorists..

===================================

Blair: Britain Won't Negotiate With Iran

Mar 29 01:44 PM US/Eastern

LONDON (AP) - Prime Minister Tony Blair said Thursday that Britain would not negotiate over British sailors and marines held hostage by Iran. In an interview with ITV News, Blair again called for the unconditional return of the 15 Royal Navy personnel who were seized by Iranian authorities last week.
Britain's Sky News meanwhile said Iran had released another letter by captured sailor Faye Turney, this time calling for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq

"The important thing for us is to get them back safe and sound, but we can't enter into some basis of bargaining," Blair said. "What you have to do when you are engaged with people like the Iranian regime, you have to keep explaining to them, very patiently, what it is necessary to do and at the same time make them fully aware there are further measures that will be taken if they're not prepared to be reasonable.

"What you can't do is end up negotiating over hostages; end up saying there's some quid pro quo or tit for tat; that's not acceptable," he said.

Anonymous said...

Alzheimer's vaccine works on mice: Japan scientist
March 28, 2007 11:49:28 PM PST

Japanese scientists have developed an oral vaccine for Alzheimer's disease that has proven effective and safe in mice, the director of a research institute behind the project said on Thursday.


http://health.yahoo.com/news/173545

____________

YESSSSS!

Ajata said...

toniD said...

If you have a chance, read this. It's funny but makes you think...


When Liberals Rule The World
Stats say the GOP is dying. But red-staters are breeding like drunken ferrets. Who wins?
By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist

March 29, 2007 11:25 AM

*******

It was food for thought.

How about, we liberals, who generally don't believe in proselytizing, and do believe in laissez faire, as in let people do their own thing, can ... well ... change slightly... and be more open to having conversations with "conservatives" and their kids. Not in a 'shove it down your throat' kind of way, but in a 'make you think' kinda way.

Just keep our ears out for those moments, not seek them out.

It was scary when we woke up and realized what so many people were actually thinking ... how far this country had gotten off the track. Something had to be done immediately. But maybe, now that things are slowly beginning to change, though the crisis is not over, we can approach these people differently.

Maybe.

toniD said...

‘The myth of voter fraud.’ Michael Waldman and Justin Levitt of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law take on the Bush administration’s prosecutor purge excuses: “[T]he notion of widespread voter fraud, as these prosecutors found out, is itself a fraud. Firing a prosecutor for failing to find wide voter fraud is like firing a park ranger for failing to find Sasquatch. Where fraud exists, of course, it should be prosecuted and punished. … Yet evidence of actual fraud by individual voters is painfully skimpy.”

LINK

Anonymous said...

God bless Japan. We are too stupid for such things. Our scientists are keeping tabs on American Idol.

Anonymous said...

U.S. drugmaker Wyeth and its Irish partner Elan Corp have an Alzheimer's vaccine called ACC-001 in early stage human trials.

_____

^ I was just kidding anyway

Go Irish. :)

Anonymous said...

Purported letter from sailor asks for Iraq withdrawal


The Iranian embassy in London has released a second letter it says is from British captive Faye Turney in which she calls on Britain to start withdrawing troops from Iraq. "Isn't it time for us to start withdrawing our forces from Iraq and let them determine their own future?" said the letter, addressed to the British parliament.

_________


Alright. It's frightening now. This is resembling a hostage situation. The U.S. is yelling, "GIVE ME A REASON, MAN! GIVE ME A REASON!" Iran is providing it.

Ajata said...

Now when I hear about this type of hostage situation, my gut reaction is: I smell a rat.

I smell someone in either the US govt or British govt set this hostage situation up.

Sorry. Can't help it. I don't believe it.

Just like the liquid explosives on the plane thing. And we all now know that liquid explosives are highhly volatile and it was therefore highly unlikely that it ever happened.

Maybe it's real, but then why the hell can't Blair get out of Iraq? He said he was going to do it anyway. I don't buy it.

People tell you who they are. Bush and Blair are liars; and wimps; and mass murderers.

Anonymous said...

Catharine said...

March 29, 2007 11:49 AM

It's quite possible. Seder and Hartmann have referenced the Maine's sinking, which was McKinley's wrongful excuse for war.

toniD said...

NBC contradicts Bush's dire troop withdrawal scenario David Edwards
Published: Thursday March 29, 2007

"What would happen in Iraq if U.S. troops just got up and left?" asked Matt Lauer in an NBC Today Show report on President Bush's stated intent to veto a bill sent to him by Congress that would impose a timeline for U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq.

President Bush has warned that a pullout would lead to "diaster," causing an escalation of the civil war and sparking a broader regional war and an emboldening of Al Qaeda. But NBC's report questions those claims.

"The region has become more dangerous because we've been there; the longer we stay the more dangerous it will become," said former National Security Agency direction Lt. Gen. William Odom on the prospect of a heightened civil war.

"I think when you really scrub it, the prospects for outside intervention and a regional war are actually pretty slim," said William Reidel, who worked in both the Clinton and Bush National Security Council.

As for the prospect of an "emboldened" Al Qaeda, Odom suggested that terrorists now in Iraq are less concerned with transnational terrorist activities than with their domestic conflict. "They're homegrown Iraqi terrorists who are much more concerned with winning the civil war in Iraq," said Odom. Added Reidel, "Once you take away the American occupation, Al Qaeda's gonna find that it has an awful lot of enemies in Iraq, people whom it has walked over in the last few years and who are gonna want revenge."

Video at link

Ajata said...

Wow.

When The Today Show [you know... propaganda for dumb people] contradicts Bush and shows top military brass telling the truth about getting out of Iraq... you know the tides are turning.

Not that I'm expecting them to suddenly stop propagandizing in other ways, but .. it's a big deal.

toniD said...

Work calls. My 3 days off after 6 days on has come to an end.

Later

War Dog said...

This is what they call the Brink..

Toe to toe right up on the line..

Iran is digging a hole..

One step away from War anything could happen..

Iran wants their nukes..

The UN wants more heat on Iran..

This is just beginning of The Trigger Phase with Iran..

It will be the first of many conflicts leading to the Battle Of Iran..

toniD said...

Update from Raw Story:

But the cause of the delay was not clear. A spokeswoman for Senator Arlen Specter, Ranking Republican on the Committee, said the hearing would resume.

"It seems that there was confusion as to why and if there was a hold as it came from the cloakrooms," wrote Courtney Boone, Specter's spokeswoman to RAW STORY. "It will be resuming shortly."

A live broadcast on MSNBC explained that Senate rules state that hearings can only occur for a certain number of hours before they must be concluded so that Members will pay attention to activities on the Senate floor.

"Whatever objection there was on the Republican side has been withdrawn," Senator Leahy then explained around 2:37 PM. "I've been here 33 years and I've never seen it happen before," he added, referring to the rules objection.

He added that the hearings cannot be stopped, and he'd hold them on nights and weekends if he needed to.

DEVELOPING ...

toniD said...

Just collapsed your post WD.

Bye!

Anonymous said...

BUSINESS AS USUAL

toniD said...

Something to read while I am gone:

Sampson: I suggested firing leak investigator Fitzgerald

Chicago Crime Commission head blasts Fitzgerald ranking

Ranking Republican criticized White House at hearing

Ajata said...

Later, Toni.

Sunshine Jim said...

"Synergy in medicine is a process by which, when one substance with one effect is given in combination with another substance with another effect, ....

the two together have the consequences of a third substance intensified to fourth or fifth or tenth power.

Sunshine Jim said...

toniD said...

Just collapsed your post WD.

Bye!

March 29, 2007 12:05 PM""

(ROFL)

Sunshine Jim said...

T

is our

eccentric, smart,

witty and glamorous

ex 40's semiretired pinup girl!

Sunshine Jim said...

Impeach Bush Yourself!

http://impeachforpeace.org/ImpeachNowQuestoins.html#cheney

my newest hobby...

Sunshine Jim said...

Life and imagination.

http://www.ganeshart.com/Sudjai/images/(109)%20Life%20and%20Imagination%201.jpg

War Dog said...

Impeachment..

Surrender in Iraq..

Such Crazy Talk..

Remember the big deal about Fitzmas..

Remember the big deal about the last election..

All Crazy Talk..

Not Hillary or the DNC..

Not the Blue Dog Democrats...

No sir...

No Crazy talk at all..

It is good see this blog help me to get Hillary nominated..

If we work together there is no way Iran will escape our clutches..!!

Sunshine Jim said...

http://www.indybay.org/

excellent news site for Frisco.

Sunshine Jim said...

Petitions, memorials, and private bills
[110th Congress House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 108-241]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
Petitions, memorials, and other papers addressed to the House may be presented by the Speaker as well as by a Member (IV, 3312). Petitions from the country at large are presented by the Speaker in the manner prescribed by the rule (III, 2030; IV, 3318; VII, 1025).


A Member may present a petition from the people of a State other than his own (IV, 3315, 3316). The House itself may refer one portion of a petition to one committee and another portion to another committee (IV, 3359, 3360), but ordinarily the reference of a petition does not come before the House itself. A committee may receive a petition only through the House (IV, 4557).

Alice said...

http://www.ganeshart.com/Sudjai/images/(109)%20Life%20and%20Imagination%201.jpg

March 29, 2007 12:47 PM

Purdy...

Alice said...

Hannity has LIEberman & McCain on now...

Alice said...

McCain will be on his ask the candidate series in on hour..

Lieberman just called Hannity "a great guy"... sounds like Hannity sent mrs lieberman flowers for something to do with her wrist...

Anonymous said...

Pelosi Refusing to Support British on Iran?

It's hard to believe, but that's what we're hearing from Capitol Hill. A resolution has been proposed in the House of Representatives that condemns Iran for the seizure of British sailors and marines, expresses support for our British allies. It's hard to see anything controversial in that. But apparently, the resolution has languished all week while Pelosi refuses to allow it to come to the floor.

Earlier today, Congressman Eric Cantor wrote the following letter to Pelosi:

Dear Madam Speaker:

Fifteen kidnapped British marines and sailors recently became the latest victims of a systematic Iranian campaign of terror and international defiance. The illegal seizure of the British forces is a signal that Iran views us as powerless to prevent it from realizing its aggressive ambitions.

For the sake of our standing in the world, our allies and most importantly the 15 British personnel and their families, I urge you to bring H. Res. 267 to the floor today before we adjourn. The resolution calls for the immediate and unconditional release of the British marines and sailors. It would also call on the U.N. Security Council to not only condemn the seizure, but to explore harsher sanctions to counter the growing Iranian threat.

A Republican Congressional staffer writes:

It is simply staggering to me that Pelosi refuses to stand beside America's closest ally. I literally would not have thought this possible, until I saw it this week.

Staggering, indeed. We'll see what happens this afternoon.

Posted by John

Alice said...

They're calling the 'hostage' thing, 'acts of war'...

Ok..enough... I'm going to beat the crap out of someone if I listen to this longer...*click*...

Alice said...

Catharine, I agree...it smells..& it smells Bad....

Anonymous said...

Bloomberg Details City’s Antipoverty Experiment

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/nyregion/29cnd-poverty.html?ex=1332820800&en=4be0ab23dc014d4b&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Anonymous said...

Ethiopia Pounds Mogadishu, Scores Killed
by IOL (reposted)

MOGADISHU — An Ethiopian offensive on alleged militants strongholds in Mogadishu on Thursday, March 29, claimed the lives of many civilians while seven Ethiopian soldiers were killed and two of their bodies dragged through the streets.

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/03/29/18385414.php

Anonymous said...

So very very wrong

http://www.youtube.com/p.swf?video_id=uLQRv0RjBBM&eurl=&iurl=http%3A//sjl-static3.sjl.youtube.com/vi/uLQRv0RjBBM/2.jpg&t=OEgsToPDskI5tsT80YNJC6ObsEc7Zb8U

Anonymous said...

"NEWS CONSUMER" said...

Severed Leg Washes Ashore in New York

Anonymous said...

No Heather Mills jokes!

Please!

toniD said...

Hi NC!

A few minutes b4 I go...

Ex-aide: Gonzales, Miers 'decision makers' on firings

toniD said...

Waxman Reveals New Evidence Showing White House Use Of Partisan E-mail Accounts
U.S. News reported recently that several White House aides “said that they stopped using the White House system except for purely professional correspondence. … ‘We knew E-mails could be subpoenaed,’” said one aide.

In a new letter to White House counsel Fred Fielding, House Government and Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman reveals new e-mail communications that provide further evidence that White House employees were trying to circumvent the archives system:

New Abramoff E-Mails. Susan Ralston, who was Karl Rove’s executive assistant, invited two lobbyists working for Jack Abramoff to use her RNC e-mail account to avoid “security issues” with the White House e-mail system, writing: “I now have an RNC blackbeny which you can use to e-mail me at any time. No security issues like my WH email.” Ms. Ralston similarly wrote Mr. Abramoff: “I know [sic] have an RNC laptop at the office for political use. I can access my AOL email when necessary so if you need to send me something that I need to read, you can send to my AOL email and then call or page me to check it.”

New Scott Jennings E-Mails. Scott Jennings, the deputy director of political affairs in the White House, and his assistant used “gwb43.com” e-mail accounts to communicate with the General Services Administration about a partisan briefing that Mr. Jennings gave to political appointees at GSA on January 26, 2007. When Mr. Jennings’s assistant emailed the PowerPoint presentation to GSA, she wrote: “It is a close hold and we’re not supposed to be emailing it around.”

New Job Appointment E-Mails. Mr. Jennings also appears to have used his “gwb43.com” account to recruit applicants for official government positions through the “Kentucky Republican Voice,” an internet site that describes itself as “the best source for Kentucky Republican grassroots information.” One posting from May 2005 advertised 17 vacancies on assorted presidential boards and commissions. A second posting from
May 2006 sought applicants for various boards within the Small Business Administration. In each case, these postings encouraged applicants to contact Mr. Jennings at his “gwb43.com” address.

More here

toniD said...

Okay, gotta go!

Later

War Dog said...

Can you hear the War Drums..???

It doesn't take much of a Trigger to start the Drum Beat..

Think for a moment where we would be had the British called for help and fought back..

As it is, all we have is show..

That is, unless Iran feels it is now ready for war...

The clock in running on Iran..

Time is on our side...

Unknown said...

Speaking of drums...

Terry Bozzio and Chad Wackerman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYBhDPt0Zew&NR

Alice said...

Peaceful Warrior

You can print free movie tickets from this link for the opening of this movie this weekend..It's based on Dan Millman's Way of the Peaceful Warrior....

Unknown said...

"Dan Millman's Way of the Peaceful Warrior"

++++

I remember that one. Good book. Kind of like Castaneda for kids.

Anonymous said...

I'd Just Like To Shout Out To My Good Buddy Dada...

Way Up There In Noo Yawk, Noo Yawk!

Unknown said...

Visit the Angry Arab Homepage.

Go for his opinions on the "Saudi summit," and you'll find yourself reading all the way to the bottom of the page. Compelling stuff. And he's funny, too.

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Dada, I also wanted to tell you while I'm here....I took a look at some of your art a few weeks ago.

I liked what I saw. Quite good.

I think you need to work on your focus.

Something is wrong with your Ajna.

Look to tuning up your Pineal Gland.

There is promise for success in your work.

Unknown said...

Heya Wolfman. I got a laugh from your japanese rocomoto post. It's passable. But if you do it another ten times, it'll kill it.
If you're going to go with the one liners, at least keep them original.

Anonymous said...

The phrase, "Kilroy was here," uttered once, meant nothing.

Said one hundred million times, it became etched in history.

Anonymous said...

http://www.angelfire.com/crazy/spaceman/inaugural.html

Anonymous said...

Can anyone answer this question for me...did the Dem's actually put agricultural concerns in the Iraq spending bill, or is this a lie?

-conbo

Unknown said...

"There is promise for success in your work."

You haven't seen the new stuff I've been working on. It's different. I think you'll find I was prescient of your constructive criticism.

I was just reading some of your stuff today, Austin. What a coincidence.

Alice said...

I heard that too,conbo..here it is...

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c110:2:./temp/~c110lTMSxs::

Gee..it's almost like they knew what would happen...

Alice said...

http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4116

Michael Shank: As one of the handful of Democrats that voted “No” on the Iraq supplemental bill, can you share the motivation for your decision?

Rep. Dennis Kucinich: It’s very simple: the bill kept the war going. I want to see this war end. I have created, with the help of people who have worked on security and peacekeeping missions for years, a plan to end the war. It’s embodied in H.R. 1234. It would end the U.S. occupation, close the bases, bring the troops home, establish a parallel process creating a peacekeeping and security force, reach out to the nations of the region and the international community for help – something we won’t get as long as we continue to occupy Iraq. That plan is much more expansive and in the course of this interview I’d be happy to go over it with you but in short, I oppose the resolution because it kept funding the war. And I say we need to end the war now. Not a year from now, not two years from now, not five or ten years from now, but now.

Anonymous said...

thanks Shell

and Dada that austin person is a troll, probably wado.

bbl

-conbo

Anonymous said...

Good work Dada!!!!!

There are NO coincidences.

You can ignore Connie's call that I am a troll.

We just communicated.

Anonymous said...

I take that back.

In some ways, I am a troll!

I just don't live under a stone bridge.

Anonymous said...

Conbo, if you follow up on the assignment I just sent you, telepathically, it will work out for you.

Googling my name was a good start.

Unknown said...

"Said one hundred million times, it became etched in history."

The quantity isn't the reason for the fame of a phrase. That's just advertising.
Without that certain something, a repeated phrase 'ad infinitum' quickly becomes 'ad nauseum.'

Anonymous said...

So then...

is the magick in the Kilroy, the was....or the here?

Unknown said...

"There are NO coincidences."

+++++++

Don't be silly, Austin.
It's all a big synchronistic coincidence.

Anonymous said...

It's all a big synchronistic coincidence.

Don't be so "sure" of that
thought and your art will
improve.

Must go.

Unknown said...

"is the magick in the Kilroy, the was....or the here?"

It's neither here nor there.

How can I... hmm

It's like Yog Sothoth. He and his kind live not in the spaces we know, but between them.

«Oldest ‹Older   1 – 200 of 302   Newer› Newest»