Drinking Liberally in New Milford: 2006-10-29

11/4/06

Comparing Bush and Joe Lieberman

Joe Lieberman = George W. Bush = Failure

Comparing Bush And Clinton

Hat tip to Saramerica:

A little humor to lighten things up around here.
Just make sure the kids aren't nearby when you listen... lol

Military Revolting Against Incompetence

Via The Ross Report:

An editorial scheduled to appear on Monday in Army Times, Air Force Times, Navy Times and Marine Corps Times, calls for the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

The papers are sold to American servicemen and women. They are published by the Military Times Media Group, which is a subsidiary of Gannett Co., Inc.

Time for Rumsfeld to go

"So long as our government requires the backing of an aroused and informed public opinion ... it is necessary to tell the hard bruising truth."

That statement was written by Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent Marguerite Higgins more than a half-century ago during the Korean War.

But until recently, the "hard bruising" truth about the Iraq war has been difficult to come by from leaders in Washington. One rosy reassurance after another has been handed down by President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld: "mission accomplished," the insurgency is "in its last throes," and "back off," we know what we're doing, are a few choice examples.

Military leaders generally toed the line, although a few retired generals eventually spoke out from the safety of the sidelines, inciting criticism equally from anti-war types, who thought they should have spoken out while still in uniform, and pro-war foes, who thought the generals should have kept their critiques behind closed doors.

Now, however, a new chorus of criticism is beginning to resonate. Active-duty military leaders are starting to voice misgivings about the war's planning, execution and dimming prospects for success.

Army Gen. John Abizaid, chief of U.S. Central Command, told a Senate Armed Services Committee in September: "I believe that the sectarian violence is probably as bad as I've seen it ... and that if not stopped, it is possible that Iraq could move towards civil war."

Last week, someone leaked to The New York Times a Central Command briefing slide showing an assessment that the civil conflict in Iraq now borders on "critical" and has been sliding toward "chaos" for most of the past year. The strategy in Iraq has been to train an Iraqi army and police force that could gradually take over for U.S. troops in providing for the security of their new government and their nation.

But despite the best efforts of American trainers, the problem of molding a viciously sectarian population into anything resembling a force for national unity has become a losing proposition.

For two years, American sergeants, captains and majors training the Iraqis have told their bosses that Iraqi troops have no sense of national identity, are only in it for the money, don't show up for duty and cannot sustain themselves.

Meanwhile, colonels and generals have asked their bosses for more troops. Service chiefs have asked for more money.

And all along, Rumsfeld has assured us that things are well in hand.

Now, the president says he'll stick with Rumsfeld for the balance of his term in the White House.

This is a mistake.

It is one thing for the majority of Americans to think Rumsfeld has failed. But when the nation's current military leaders start to break publicly with their defense secretary, then it is clear that he is losing control of the institution he ostensibly leads.

These officers have been loyal public promoters of a war policy many privately feared would fail. They have kept their counsel private, adhering to more than two centuries of American tradition of subordination of the military to civilian authority.

And although that tradition, and the officers' deep sense of honor, prevent them from saying this publicly, more and more of them believe it.

Rumsfeld has lost credibility with the uniformed leadership, with the troops, with Congress and with the public at large. His strategy has failed, and his ability to lead is compromised. And although the blame for our failures in Iraq rests with the secretary, it will be the troops who bear its brunt.

This is not about the midterm elections. Regardless of which party wins Nov. 7, the time has come, Mr. President, to face the hard bruising truth:

Donald Rumsfeld must go.

11/3/06

Your Friendly Lamont Weekend Planner

It is GOTV time! The final push to bring an end to unchecked power on Capitol Hill. A time to put an end to the rubberstamps and get them out of the hands of those Bush-bobble-head-yes-men.

It is time to CHANGE THE COURSE!

Since some candidates don't hire "volunteers" from out of state to work their GOTV effort, they rely on real Connecticut people like you to give your time and effort make this change real. I know what I will be doing this weekend.

Why don't YOU consider adding some of these events to your daily planner and make a real difference in fixing what is wrong in Washington.

A Badge of Honor For Every Honest CT Blogger!

All you have to do is get a few paragraphs into DANGERstein's twistwed tirade against the NY Times to notice the high praise he places upon all of us in the Connecticut's Left Blogtopia:

Instead, the Times’ ill-informed and tendentious endorsement of Ned Lamont reads as if the editors had outsourced the editorial writing to the same crew of blindingly angry bloggers who have teamed with the Lamont Campaign to twist Joe Lieberman’s record beyond all recognition.

If Joe Lieberman hadn't of done all that he has done to Connecticut, if he had done his job in the Senate, IF HE HAD DONE HIS JOB...

Well, maybe we wouldn't be stuck in Iraq. Maybe we would already have Healthcare. Maybe Senator Dodd's legislation to get more funding for troops armor would have passed. Maybe Unions wouldn't have consistantly lost ground to corporations. Maybe needed medication wouldn't be cheaper in Canada then it is here. Maybe we would still have the Constitution intact. Maybe the Democrats wouldn't have kicked his sorry butt to the curb.

And last but not least, Joe, maybe those of us who actually follow what you do, and understand the CORPORATE WHORE that you are, wouldn't be so blindingly angry about what you have done if you had been an honest politician and put Connecticut's interests ahead of corporations.

Though I am only slightly insulted to be equated with the likes of the lowly MSM, I am a blindingly angry Blogger. And it is a badge of honor that I will wear proudly knowing that I am not blind to your lies and distortions.

I am a blindingly angry Blogger, BUT I still have my integrity intact and because of that I am an honest and blindingly angry Blogger.

Something that no "LieberDem" could ever understand...

JOE "ROBO-DIALER" LIEBERMAN

I was just going out the door about an hour ago (had to pick up the kids at day care) and just as I was leaving the phone rang. I pick it up and LO AND BEHOLD it is one of those nuisance ROBO-calls... The only thing worse than a ROBO-call is a ROBO-call telling me I should support Joe Lieberman. And that is exactly what it was.

Now we all know Joe is a nuissance so maybe his using ROBO-calls is kind of appropriate. It also suits the "Connecticut For Lieberman" party since there really is only one member (Joe Lieberman) and you can't expect Joe to have time for all of those Lobbyist meetings - where he gets all of the money to support his campaign - while he is doing all of that dialing.

Now all Joe has to do is figure out how to get the ROBO-dialer to call in the votes for him on the Senate floor (Just set it on "Bush" for more war, death and destruction) and Joe can spend ALL of his time collecting money from the rich Republicans that support him.

Come to think of it...
Isn't Joe kindof a "Bush-Bot" set on more war, death and destruction already?

Maybe the ROBO-dialer is actually Joe?

Additional evidence of my theory: The ROBO-dialer wouldn't answer any questions about Street Money and illegal use of Petty Cash either.

Possiblity of Diebold Fraud in Memphis Just Multiplied by 12?

Diebold just isn't having a very good day today, is it?

TN-Sen: BREAKING - Diebold Fraud in Memphis!
Political insiders have expressed alarm after 12 voter smartcards have gone missing from one Shelby County, TN early vote location!
...
Someone possessing a smartcard could use 'off the shelf equipment' [equipment that reprograms the card] and alter it to be used multiple times, and cast multiple votes.

The Shelby County Board of Elections, looking to assauge local voters' fears, says:

"Don't worry, be happy! We're certain that none of the esteemed individuals with access to these cards could ever consider stealing votes... Not even the person that stole the cards." (Not a real quote... for those of you with no sense of humor!)

The main reason I am joking about this is because the original source of the story is Matt Drudge (the eggman) and his "Drudge Report" sometimes has "news"... But more often than not it is full of sensational tabloid junk, and GOP talking points that are either unsourced and unverifiable OR easily debunked by facts.

Picture George W. Bush with a "red and blue" police light on his head and you have an idea of what the Drudge Report is... lol

REPORT ON MARYLAND'S DIEBOLD VOTING SYSTEMS REVEALS SERIOUS SECURITY CONCERNS

I am thinking this can't be too good for democracy:

The BRAD BLOG : EXCLUSIVE: REPORT ON MARYLAND'S DIEBOLD VOTING SYSTEMS REVEALS SERIOUS SECURITY CONCERNS WERE WITHHELD FROM ELECTION BOARD, GOVERNOR, PUBLIC!

You might want to go read that story BEFORE YOU VOTE! At least then you will understand why it is important to demand a paper ballot.

What is so complicated about marking an X on an old fashioned paper ballot?

Paid Lieberman Activist Caught Ignoring Court Order

courant.com | Activist Denies Violating Ban On Ballot Work: "Prenzina Holloway was fined $10,000 in July 2005 and ordered not to distribute absentee ballot applications or to assist voters with the ballots for two years, after the State Elections Enforcement Commission found that she had forged a voter's signature in the 2004 election.

Holloway acknowledges working for Urban Voters and Associates, a company paid $17,550 by the Lieberman campaign since September to do 'field work.' But she said she isn't involved in the company's absentee ballot operations.

'That is just a no-no,' she said. 'And I know it is a no-no.'

But five people at a Vine Street housing complex for the elderly have told The Courant that Holloway and another person came to their doors to give them absentee ballot applications, and a security worker at another complex on Woodland Street said Holloway tried to get into the building to distribute applications there. Holloway was barred from the building after getting into a verbal altercation with the worker after he made supportive comments about Lieberman's main challenger, Ned Lamont.

Other sources at the building said she called back a week later to try to 'sweet talk' her way into the facility."

Joe Lieberman will do anything to win the election, regardless of the law, including hiring people that are barred from collecting absentee ballots and putting them out there to do just precisely that.

And Lieberman still hasn't answered where the money went in the $387,000 Petty Cash Scandal.

Florida Voting Machines Flipping Votes From Democrat to Republican

If you have electronic voting machines in your district check your votes carefully before you leave that voting booth:

CHECK YOUR VOTES VERY CAREFULLY!

Republicans hand the enemy plans for NUKES

From BooMan at the Booman Tribune:

"You see, Peter Hoekstra just couldn't believe Saddam Hussein has no WMD and thus posed no threat to the U.S. or his neighbors. So he threw a tantrum and insisted that our intelligence agencies put all the documents we seized in Iraq on the Internet where citizen wingnuts, fluent in Arabic, could discover evidence that our trained professional had missed. How did that work out?

Apparently it didn't work out so well...

Last March, the federal government set up a Web site to make public a vast archive of Iraqi documents captured during the war. The Bush administration did so under pressure from Congressional Republicans who said they hoped to “leverage the Internet” to find new evidence of the prewar dangers posed by Saddam Hussein.

But in recent weeks, the site has posted some documents that weapons experts say are a danger themselves: detailed accounts of Iraq’s secret nuclear research before the 1991 Persian Gulf war. The documents, the experts say, constitute a basic guide to building an atom bomb.

Last night, the government shut down the Web site after The New York Times asked about complaints from weapons experts and arms-control officials. A spokesman for the director of national intelligence said access to the site had been suspended “pending a review to ensure its content is appropriate for public viewing.”

Officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency, fearing that the information could help states like Iran develop nuclear arms, had privately protested last week to the American ambassador to the agency, according to European diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the issue’s sensitivity. One diplomat said the agency’s technical experts “were shocked” at the public disclosures."

Not only did Republicans put this dangerous information out there on the internet (already in Arabic to ensure the ease of use by middle-east terrorists) BUT they forced this to be put out there in their desperate attempts to link Saddam Hussein to Al Qaeda. A link that never existed:

The director of national intelligence, John D. Negroponte, had resisted setting up the Web site, which some intelligence officials felt implicitly raised questions about the competence and judgment of government analysts. But President Bush approved the site’s creation after Congressional Republicans proposed legislation to force the documents’ release.

And these are the idiot Republicans that claim to keep us safer?

The only way they could have endangered us more is if they had set up a fully stocked "NUKES R'US" store beside the nearest Iraqi internet cafe.

11/2/06

Keith Olbermann - Schooling Mr. Bush

No further comment neccessary...

(Hat Tip to Mom at MLN)

11/1/06

Facing the realities of Iraq

As you read the following excerpts from the WaPO just forget the dollar figure there. Ignore it. (Honestly, I mean that!)

The U.S. Air Force is asking the Pentagon's leadership for a staggering $50 billion in emergency funding for fiscal 2007 -- an amount equal to nearly half its annual budget, defense analyst Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute said on Tuesday.

...snip...

Another source familiar with the Air Force plans said the extra funds would help pay to transport growing numbers of U.S. soldiers being killed and wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It is not the the dollar figure, it is the thought that they have to ship back that many soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan that are dead and wounded. Think about that...

These are our children, America's future, being handed the misfortune of serving at the precise time that our government has completely failed them. This is the human cost that is a direct result of the GOP and Bush's failed policies. This will not stop until the Bush administration is forced to face up to the realities of what they have done.

Meandering thoughts BELOW:

Even The Military Question The GOP's Failed Tactics

As a recent New York Times article "portrays Iraq as edging toward chaos," members of the military are begining to question the refusal of the Bush administration to redeploy the soldiers from Iraq:

The Iraqi government's refusal to take certain measures to reduce sectarian tensions between Sunni Arabs and the nation's Shiite Muslim majority has led these officers to conclude that Iraqis will not make difficult decisions unless they are pushed.

Therefore, they say, the advantages of deadlines may outweigh the drawbacks.

"Deadlines could help ensure that the Iraqi leaders recognize the imperative of coming to grips with the tough decisions they've got to make for there to be progress in the political arena," said a senior Army officer who has served in Iraq.

...snip...

Former Pentagon official Kurt Campbell said more officers are calling for deadlines after concluding that the indefinite presence of U.S. forces enables the Shiite-run Iraqi government to avoid making compromises.

A WaPo article shows one of the many reasons the soldiers' frustrations are becoming evident:

"How can we expect ordinary Iraqis to trust the police when we don't even trust them not to kill our own men?" asked Capt. Alexander Shaw, head of the police transition team of the 372nd Military Police Battalion, a Washington-based unit charged with overseeing training of all Iraqi police in western Baghdad. "To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure we're ever going to have police here that are free of the militia influence."

The top U.S. military commander in Iraq, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., predicted last week that Iraqi security forces would be able to take control of the country in 12 to 18 months. But several days spent with American units training the Iraqi police illustrated why those soldiers on the ground believe it may take decades longer than Casey's assessment.

Seventy percent of the Iraqi police force has been infiltrated by militias,

The soldiers keep getting told that as the Iraqis stand up, the American military will stand down. But this is a failing policy. The soldiers on the ground know that it will be decades before Iraqis will be able to protect themselves. Something that Bush administration has shown no signs of understanding. As long as we are there the Iraqis have no incentive to stand up and, to make matters worse, we are further aggravating the situations between the different groups fighting for control within Iraq. And in doing that we are forcing our soldiers to work alongside many Iraqis that are part of the problem.

American soldiers said that although they gather evidence of police ties to the militias and present it to Iraqi officials, no one has ever been criminally charged or even lost their jobs.

The soldiers are doing the best they can in a worst case scenario, but the reality is that the Iraqi government is just as effective as the Bush administration has repeatedly shown itself to be when it is faced with complicated problems.

They do nothing.

Some of the idiots in the right-wing-cheerleader-camp of the GOP are echoing a simplistic answer that is too little, too late, when they advocate that we should just send more troops to quell the CHAOS in Iraq but where are these soldiers going to come from anyways?

The Army has "close to zero combat-ready brigades in reserve"

The National Guard is "in an even more dire situation than the active Army."

63 percent of all Iraq and Afghanistan veterans believe the Army and Marine Corps are overextended.

The military is already stretched to near its breaking point and the Bush administration offers no real answers to this problem. Donald Rumsfeld has repeatedly stated his desire to reshape the military, but there are serious limitations to military preparedness that cannot be overcome without the needed manpower:

The U.S. military suffers from a glaring manpower deficiency. The ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have demonstrated that in operations such as counterinsurgency, counterterrorism, stabilization, and peacekeeping, even the United States' impressive technology cannot substitute for soldiers.

...snip...

The Bush administration, however, does not share this assessment, as evidenced by its handling of the invasion of Iraq. Before the war, Rumsfeld was dismissive, even contemptuous, of warnings from senior U.S. military officials, such as former Army Chief of Staff General Eric Shinseki, that securing Iraq would require a vast number of boots on the ground.

...snip...

Despite this obvious manpower shortage, the Bush administration remains committed to Rumsfeld's military-transformation agenda. Neither the president's budget for 2007 nor the Pentagon's 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review calls for expanding the number of U.S. troops.

In other words:

The Bush administration does nothing.

They "Stay the course!" that Rumsfeld's failing plan has laid out for them and try to ignore the real problems.

Unless McCain and the rest of the GOP that back his plan are advocating reinstating the draft when McCain calls for "another 20,000 troops in Iraq" then they really offer no real solution at all.

Beyond offering no solutions, it is becoming painfully obvious to anyone that pays attention that the Pentagon, rather than dealing with the problems, would rather just paint a beutiful picture of an Iraqi paradise for all of us in the USA. According to SusanG: "More bullshit to swallow from the Pentagon, and yes ... you, my fellow taxpayer, get to foot the bill for this faster-food meal, served up to spin the 24-hour news cycle:"

Pentagon memo reveals launch of new PR war
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon is buttressing its public relations staff and starting an operation akin to a political campaign war room as Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld faces intensifying criticism over the Iraq war.

In a memo obtained by the Associated Press, Dorrance Smith, assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, said new teams of people will "develop messages" for the 24-hour news cycle and "correct the record."

...Another branch would coordinate "surrogates." In political campaigns, surrogates are usually high-level politicians or key interest groups who speak or travel on behalf of a candidate or an issue.

The plan would focus more resources on so-called new media, such as the Internet and Weblogs. It would also include new workers to book civilian and military guests on television and radio shows.

"Correct the record"??? (The Pentagon released a statement from Donald Rumsfeld Today: "Pay no attention the incompetent man behind the curtain.")

If they only had a brain...

For the record... That is a propaganda campaign they are gearing up. Don't they know it is illegal for the American government to direct propaganda at American cictizens?

What is a few more million dollars of OUR TAX MONEY wasted on PROPAGANDA for the failed Bush admins' policies anyways? For the Bush administration throwing money at a problem is always better than actually doing something to fix it. Little wonder why honest fiscal conservatives hate the GOP now. This is all part of the Bush administrations plan to Stay the course... Remember this:

A 74-page Pentagon briefing book with talking points on Iraq may be illegal. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) sent a letter to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld complaining that his office had spent “taxpayer dollars to produce partisan
political documents,” possibly in violation of laws prohibiting the Executive Branch from using taxpayer dollars for lobbying and propaganda activities.

Just more of the same. No real answers. Beyond rinse and repeat:

They do nothing

The GOP wastes billions of of our tax dollars messing everything up in Iraq in every way possible and creating endless war profits for their cronies... And then they waste even more of our tax dollars trying to convince us it is good for us. And all the while we know the soldiers are returning home to the USA dead and wounded, regardless of the efforts to hide their arrivals from the news' cameras.

These disgusting propaganda games played by the Pentagon and the Bush administration in order to avoid actually doing something will never draw our attention away from the reality that we will do everything we can to stop this waste of our most precious resources... Our children.

How bad could it possibly be in Iraq?

Hat tip: Josh Marshall

Manhattan security company Kroll has withdrawn its bodyguard teams from Iraq and Afghanistan after it lost four workers in Iraq, its parent company said Wednesday.

Michael Cherkasky, president and chief executive of Kroll owner Marsh & McLennan Cos., told The Associated Press that the business in the two countries wasn't worth risking the lives of their employees.

Even the mercenary soldiers won't do this work anymore.

Just think about the fact that the US forces that are already stretched too thin will have to cover the security work this company was doing.

And what does the Pentagon have to say about it all at the moment? They are reporting on all of improvements in Iraq right now...

Really??? Sounds like BS to me.

I tried to warn you about the Pentagon approving the use of propaganda against "We the people"...

The Human Cost Of the Failures in Iraq

Just forget the dollar figure there. Ignore it. (Honestly, I mean that!)

The U.S. Air Force has requested a “staggering $50 billion in emergency funding
for fiscal 2007" -- an amount equal to nearly half its annual budget -- in part
to help cover costs for transporting the “growing numbers of U.S. soldiers being killed and wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

It is not the the dollar figure, it is the thought that they have to ship back that many soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan that are dead and wounded. Think about that...

These are our children, America's future, being handed the misfortune of serving at the precise time that our government has completely failed them. This is the human cost that is a direct result of the GOP and Bush's failed policies.

Lieberman Using Street Money?

Connecticut Bob has a clip from an interview with Conservative Alan Schlesinger saying that he thinks that it has to be "STREET MONEY":

For those of you unfamiliar with the term...
It means money used to BUY votes.

And Schlesinger says "It makes no other sense."

So Joe... What are you really trying to hide by not disclosing who all of that $387,000 in "Petty Cash" went to? This scandal ain't going away just becsause you chose to hide your campaign finance ledgers from the public.

Even The Military Question The GOP's Failed Tactics

As a recent New York Times article "portrays Iraq as edging toward chaos," members of the military are begining to question Bush and the GOP's failed policies in Iraq:

"Growing numbers of American military officers have begun to privately question" the Bush administration's resistance to redeploying U.S. troops out of Iraq. "There is a new belief that the biggest problem that we face is that our forces are the sand in the gears creating problems," said one former Pentagon official. "We are making things worse by giving the Iraqis a false sense of security at the governing level."

--- Think Progress

A WaPo article shows one of the reasons the soldiers' frustrations are becoming evident:

"How can we expect ordinary Iraqis to trust the police when we don't even trust them not to kill our own men?" asked Capt. Alexander Shaw, head of the police transition team of the 372nd ...snip... "To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure we're ever going to have police here that are free of the militia influence."

The soldiers keep getting told that as the Iraqis stand up, the American military will stand down. But this is a failing policy. As long as we are there the Iraqis have no incentive to stand up and, to make matters worse, we are further aggravating the situations between the differnt groups fighting for control within Iraq.

Some of the idots in the right-wing-nut-cheerleader-camp are echoing a simplistic answer that is too little, too late, when they advocate that we should just send more troops to quell the CHAOS in Iraq because that cannot work.

Think Progress explains why:

Currently, the Army has "close to zero combat-ready brigades in reserve" and the National Guard is "in an even more dire situation than the active Army." (63 percent of all Iraq and Afghanistan veterans believe the Army and Marine Corps are overextended.) "The U.S. military suffers from a glaring manpower deficiency," Korb and Ogden argue in Foreign Affairs Magazine. "This massive troop commitment [in Iraq] has put a serious and unsustainable strain on the U.S. military." "The overstretched state of the U.S. military is creating broader strategic problems" because without reinstating the draft, the U.S. may not have enough troops to respond to crises around the world.

It cannot work without reinstating the draft, that is. So, unless McCain and the rest of the GOP are advocating reinstating the draft when he calls for "another 20,000 troops in Iraq" I think they are truely left with only one other course of action:

Redeployment.

Joe Lieberman = George W. Bush = Failure

If there was ever any doubt that a vote for Joe Lieberman is a vote for the for George Bush's failed policies in Iraq:

Bush, Military Comments Delight Lamont; Lieberman Guarded

It probably wasn't how Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman wanted to begin his one-week countdown to Election Day. But his main rival, Ned Lamont, embraced the news of the day.

Growing numbers of military officers were reported Tuesday as now considering the idea of a hard deadline for troop withdrawals in Iraq, giving credence to a cornerstone of Lamont's campaign.

And President Bush stuck his nose in the race, praising Lieberman on Fox News' "Hannity & Colmes" for sticking to his guns on the war, a talking point Lamont was happy to exploit.

"Clearly, President Bush and Dick Cheney are out there campaigning for Joe Lieberman," Lamont said Tuesday. "They think it's a vote they can count on in a pinch."

"One man who stood by his decision is Joe Lieberman," Bush told Sean Hannity. "He understands the consequences. And the Democrat Party ran him out of the party because he stood on principle."

This is no surprise. Lieberman is "Stay the course!" kind of guy through and through, that is, when he is not flip-flopping like his clone Bush. It is Lieberman's unquestioning support for Bush policies that resulted in him being run out of the Dem party. What good are principles when they are that wrong? What is a surprise is that anyone might believe that Bush and Cheney are capable of thinking?

I mean, Bush and his supporters still haven't figured out that Kerry called Bush stupid... Not the soldiers.

Kerry said, "Education, you know, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq." According to Kerry, he was referring to President Bush's poor preparation for the war, not the lack of education of members of the U.S. military.

And this is the best the GOP has as we are a week away from "National Kick The Republican Bums Out Day!" Attacking Senator Kerry has little to do with this national referendum on the GOP's failures in Iraq. Talk about grasping at a strawman...

The GOP campaign is running as smoothly as a Lada sputtering along on 2 cylinders in the wrong direction on a one way street this year...

10/31/06

Nancy Johnson & Jodi Rell: Dirty Little Secrets

Nancy Johnson has some dirty little secrets she doesn't want you to know about:

Nothing like screwing over the soldiers for a few extra bucks...

Jodi Rell has a dirty little secret that BOTH she and Nancy Johnson share:

Johnson spoke frequently Monday about her similarities with the popular Rell, and never uttered the word Republican.

"We're both street ladies," Johnson said of herself and Rell. "Street ladies aren't governed by parties. I never ran a problem by a political party to find a solution."

Yep! They are both Republicans... Funny but "Street Ladies" wasn't the term I was thinking of considering they are selling themselves to lobbyists everywhere. The only problem here is that these two "ladies" get the lobbyists' money, the corporations get the lucrative government contracts, and we get screwed out of our tax dollars...

Also another dirty little secret: Johnson and Rell never really have offered any good solutions... They, and their GOP, only create more problems.

The Definition of Insanity: "Supporting Lieberman"

Ned Lamont drives the point home in a new add:

Vote for Ned Lamont!

Bush and Lieberman: Flip-Flopping Clones

"Stay the course!"
That is all you will get from both Bush and Lieberman.

Despite President Bush's recent denials that "We've never been stay the course" and the NY Times' FALSE assertions to counter Ned Lamont's caqmpaign charges that Joe Lieberman has been a consistent cheerleader for Bush's failed "Stay the course!" policy, the fact remains that this is a bold face lie that exposes BOTH Bush and Lieberman's penchant for polticizing this war by telling people whatever they have to in order to cover their political asses and get more votes. It also doesn't say much about the researchers and writers at the "Post Judy Miller" NY Times.

In Bush's and Lieberman's own words:

BUSH: We will stay the course. [8/30/06]

LIEBERMAN: We have to stay the course in Iraq now and continue to build a stable, modernizing, democratizing country there. [01/04/04]

BUSH: We will stay the course, we will complete the job in Iraq. [8/4/05]

LIEBERMAN: We can do better. I will do better. I will make it international. I will stay the course, and I'll create a stable, democratizing, modernizing Iraq, which would be a tremendous step forward in the Middle East and the Islamic world and in our war against terrorism. [01/11/2004]

BUSH: We will stay the course until the job is done, Steve. And the temptation is to try to get the President or somebody to put a timetable on the definition of getting the job done. We’re just going to stay the course. [12/15/03

LIEBERMAN: Well, let's put it this way. What I'm most happy about is that he said that he will stay the course in Iraq until we finish the job, and the Iraqis are in control of their own destiny. [07/28/04]

BUSH: And my message today to those in Iraq is: We’ll stay the course. [4/13/04]

LIEBERMAN: We want to not only stay the course: we want to achieve victory. [04/26/04]

BUSH: And that’s why we’re going to stay the course in Iraq. And that’s why when we say something in Iraq, we’re going to do it. [4/16/04]

LIEBERMAN: "I thought the president gave the strongest case that I can remember him giving about why we went in and why we have to stay the course," Lieberman said, adding, "We've got to adopt a strategy of success. A defeat will create chaos in Iraq, chaos in the Middle East, and will embolden the terrorists in a way that will endanger our future and our children's future." [04/15/04]

Here is over 30 examples of Bush saying we must "Stay the course!" in some form or another. Media Matters has the goods on more of Lieberman's "Bush enabling" statements that mirror Bush administration talking points as perfectly as if they had come straight out of Karl Rove's mouth, even emulating the GOP talking point that defeat will create chaos "and will embolden the terrorists" that we have heard so often from every mouthpiece for the Bush administration.

If defeat will create chaos then we must be losing pretty badly since those terrorists are getting pretty emboldened according to defeatist Republican Senator Lindsey Graham:

"We're on the verge of chaos, and the current plan is not working," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in an Associated Press interview. U.S. and Iraqi officials should be held accountable for the lack of progress, said Graham, a Republican who is a frequent critic of the administration's policies.

Asked who in particular should be held accountable Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, perhaps, or the generals leading the war Graham said: "All of them. It's their job to come up with a game plan" to end the violence

Bush and Liberman clearly say stay the course over and over. Because you never know who you might embolden in defeat. Now BOTH Bush and Lieberman are trying to hide from their mutual love of staying the course. It's almost like they are freaking flip-flopping clones.

This is why Ned Lamont is correct in attacking Lieberman's support of the failed Bush policy of staying the course. And Lieberman hates that.

And Senator Graham is right in laying alot of blame on Donald Rumsfeld. Here is what Rumsfeld has to say about Bush cutting and running from his "Stay the course!" policy:

Rumsfeld called media reports about Bush’s reversal “nonsense,” and said “of course” Bush is “not backing away from staying the course.”
---CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

The ever-incompetent Rumsfeld says that "Stay the course!" is still the Bush plan, regardless of the Bush "cut and run" posturing.

Lieberman and Bush are both in some hot water over their attempts to hide from their "Stay the course!" whitewash. If you vote for Joe Lieberman you are clearly voting for more of the same CHAOS. And all of the Bush backpeddling and NY Times' lies can't hide Lieberman from his own public record of support for the failed "Stay the course" Bush policy.

Vote For the Democratic candidate Ned Lamont, because he will work to "CHANGE THE COURSE!" of Lieberman's and the Bush administration's failed policies.

What Does Ned Lamont Have To Say?

Ned Lamont's latest campaign add:

Vote For Ned Lamont

Pentagon Propaganda Penned Just For YOU!

Courtesy of SusanG at dKos:

Pentagon memo reveals launch of new PR war

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon is buttressing its public relations staff and starting an operation akin to a political campaign war room as Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld faces intensifying criticism over the Iraq war.

In a memo obtained by the Associated Press, Dorrance Smith, assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, said new teams of people will "develop messages" for the 24-hour news cycle and "correct the record."

...Another branch would coordinate "surrogates." In political campaigns, surrogates are usually high-level politicians or key interest groups who speak or travel on behalf of a candidate or an issue.

The plan would focus more resources on so-called new media, such as the Internet and Weblogs. It would also include new workers to book civilian and military guests on television and radio shows.

"Correct the record"??? (The Pentagon released a statement from Donald Rumsfeld Today: "Pay no attention the incompetent man behind the curtain.")

If they only had a brain...

For the record... That is a propaganda campaign they are gearing up. Don't they know it is illegal for the American government to direct propaganda at American cictizens?

The likes of Red State, Little Green Footballs and Powerline might be happy to carry water for the Neocons (As long as they don't have to carry it in Iraq! They are only cheerleaders afterall), BUT the rest of the Blogosphere is a little more sophisticated than that low-brow bunch...

What is a few more million dollars of OUR TAX MONEY wasted on PR for the failed Bush admins' policies anyways? Little wonder why honest fiscal conservatives hate the GOP now.

This is all part of the Bush administrations plan to Stay the course... Remember this:

A 74-page Pentagon briefing book with talking points on Iraq may be illegal. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) sent a letter to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld complaining that his office had spent “taxpayer dollars to produce partisan political documents,” possibly in violation of laws prohibiting the Executive Branch from using taxpayer dollars for lobbying and propaganda activities.

Just more of the same...

The GOP wastes trillions of of our tax dollars messing everything up in Iraq in every way possible and creating endless war profits for their cronies... And then they waste even more of our tax dollars trying to convince us it is good for us.

"As a bonus ridiculous point, the AP story cited above was covered by the BBC and contained this amazing observation from Rumsfeld:

Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said media manipulation by enemies of the US is the only thing keeping him awake at night.

Seriously? More than 2,800 American troops dead, tens (or hundreds) of thousands Iraqis dead, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis displaced as refugees, tens of thousands of wounded American soldiers (many with serious brain injuries), a raging civil war ... and what keeps our secretary of defense awake is the use of media by our enemies?"

--- SusanG

Someone please do American soldiers a favor and fire Rumsfeld... And impeach those idiots in the White House as well.

10/30/06

The Courant's Premature Ejaculatory Ignorance

Bob Adams over at Connecticut Bob has a nice "screenshot" pic up from the Doh! biased Hartford Courant's Website supposedly testing their announcement of "Joe Liberman's win" in the Connecticut Senate race.

"TEST BULLETIN -- The following is a TEST. Joe Lieberman, CTL, elected U.S. Senate, Connecticut."

Take note of the tha name of the party they say backs Lieberman:

"CTL"

For the record: The name of the party that backs Lieberman is "CFL". (Connecticut For Lieberman)

Not only Does the Courant exhibit bad judgement in their choice of backing Lieberman, they exhibit extreme ignorance in their premature ejaculations as they gush over Lieberman. Someone please pass the Courant staff a tissue to clean the mess off of their faces...

10/29/06

Lieberman Campaign Finance Lies

Scarce at My Left Nutmeg took a hard look at the $$$ numbers in this campaign:

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

LIEBERMAN, JOSEPH I
Total Receipts: $15,599,455
Individual Contributions: $13,445,844
Non-Party (e.g. PACs) or Other Committees: $2,063,734
Contributions from Party Committees: $3,000
Candidate Contribution: $0
Candidate Loans: $0[Through: 10/18/2006]

LAMONT, EDWARD M
Total Receipts: $9,045,679
Individual Contributions: $2,754,554
Non-Party (e.g. PACs) or Other Committees: $37,595
Contributions from Party Committees: $650
Candidate Contribution: $6,252,878
Candidate Loans: $0[Through: 09/30/2006]

SCHLESINGER, ALANTotal Receipts: $194,959
Individual Contributions: $88,259
Non-Party (e.g. PACs) or Other Committees: $5,200
Contributions from Party Committees $1,500
Candidate Contribution: $0
Candidate Loans: $100,000[Through: 09/30/2006]

(source: Federal Election Commission, http://www.fec.gov/ )

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

For those of you that say that Lieberman is just trying to level the playing field, the numbers expose that lie. Also, you have to consider the source of Lieberman's caqmpaign funding. Nevermind the fact that Lieberman is using his money illegally in this campaign.

If you really want to vote for a continued conservative agenda I suggest you look at the more honest conservative candidate Alan Schlesinger. But if you truely want to change the course and fix what is wrong in Washington there is only one real choice:

Vote For Ned Lamont

As a side note: ctblogger over at ConnecticutBlog has a great summary of the $387,000 Petty Cash Scandal that the Lieberman campaign is trying to run and hide from...

Lieberman, Johnson, Shays , Simmons: "We are against you!"

"Are you with us or against us?"

Last night on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, columnist Mark Shields dropped this little bombshell:

MARK SHIELDS: The highest ranking or certainly one of the highest ranking men in the United States military today has recommended that we remove all troops from Baghdad

...snip...

JIM LEHRER: So who did he make this recommendation to?

MARK SHIELDS: He made it to the civilian leadership of the United States.

Of course there is no doubt that the Bush administration will follow the soldiers suggestion since Bush claims that he always takes their advice... So that there is no question concerning the Bush's intentions for winning the hearts and minds of Iraqis the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes headed off to the Middle East, to deliver "news" of the newest Bush plan:

Substantially expand…[the] “Micro scholarship” program…targeted at youth in key disadvantaged areas in Iraq, such as Sadr City or Anbar Governorate.”

Create a fund to support media projects by Iraqis, such as documentaries, short films, animation, audio-visual productions and other material that would show Iraq’s reality to pan-Arab and pan-Islamic audiences.

Revive book publishing in Iraq to fill the intellectual vacuum…and support…Iraq’s hard-pressed intellectuals.

Hey wait a second? That sounds suspiciously more like "RE-EDUCATION" AND PROPAGANDA PROGRAMS, like the previous propaganda programs run by the Lincoln Group in Iraq, than it does like pulling out of Baghdad.

“Donald Rumsfeld is backing off his claim last week that the Pentagon had stopped paying to plant stories in the Iraqi news media,” the AP reports.

On Sunday’s ABC This Week, Stephen Hadley acknowledged that President Bush has not yet ordered the shut-down of the Pentagon’s propaganda campaign in Iraq.

The UK Independent presents examples of the Lincoln Group’s propaganda work in Iraq, which one military specialist described as “comical.” One exaggerated headline: ‘IRAQI ARMY DEFEATS TERRORISM.’

We all know how successful those PROPAGANDA PROGRAMS were. Just look at where we are now, eh?

In a freaking vicious cycle of "Stay the course!", even while this BOZO administration and their supporters like Lieberman, Johnson, Shays, and Simmons, are denying that fact. And all because of the Bush administrations refusal to do what everyone in America knows they should do.

Listen to the military that is telling you that we need to get out of this mess. Listen to the American people, that obviously know better than you OR any of your supposed "Foreign Policy Experts". Propaganda will not win anything in Iraq.

"Change the Course!"

Those of you that support the failed Bush administration's policies - Lieberman, Simmons, Shays and Johnson - are going to get a rude awakening on November 7th.

Because "We, the outraged people", are changing the course whether you like it or not! For all of you propaganda spouting turds on the failed GOP side, I have only one question for you:

"Are you with us or against us?"

Joe Rakes in the Doh!

$639,892 on Monday October 23

One day of "Pay To Play" with Joe costs you, the citizens of Connecticut, $639,892 worth of votes against your interests. $639,892 worth of influence to get votes that are only going to be in the interests of the BIG MONEY lobbyists, PACs and corporations that are bankrolling his campaign...

If you aren't outraged,
then you haven't been paying attention!

Ned Lamonts position on influence peddling?

He doesn't take money from Lobbyists or PACs. They can't buy him off and make him vote against our interests.

Ned believes that government must respect its citizens and tell them the truth. He will challenge the culture of “Inside the Beltway” corruption and demand that qualified people are appointed to critical government and public service positions.

The war, and Bush and Lieberman priorities, are cutting funds from programs that invest in our future. Student loans, Social Security, health care that everyone can afford – these are the issues that Ned will fight for, bringing a businessman’s ability to reach consensus without sacrificing the bottom line.

Ned will be a fresh voice in the Senate, working to build coalitions and accomplish change, and speaking out against the destructive Bush administration policies that directly threaten our moral and economic future, our civil liberties, and our nation’s security.

And now we get to the $387,000 question:

What does Lieberman do with all of his cash?

ILLEGAL THINGS, OF COURSE!

Lieberman’s FEC filings list over $387,000 in unexplained expenditures – listed only as “petty cash” – during just 12 days near the August 8th primary. These suspect, and unaccounted for payments, represent one out of every twelve dollars spent during the entire reporting period.

“These questions are critical for the people of Connecticut to know and that is why these laws exist and why we’re taking legal action,” Swan continued. “Only an 18 year career politician could dump almost $400,000 in cash into an election and try to call it petty cash.”

Under FEC regulation 11 CFR 102.11 a log must be kept of all petty cash expenditures. On Sunday, Lieberman Campaign Spokesperson Tammy Sun said she would attempt to locate the log by Monday. [New Haven Register, 10/22/06]

In sharp contrast to Lieberman’s massive, lobbyist funded slush fund, the Lamont Campaign only used $500 of petty cash. Lieberman has raised and spent millions over his career form lobbyists attempting to influence his votes. Lamont does not accept lobbyist, corporate or labor PAC money and has already vowed to disclose all meetings with lobbyists on his Senate web site.

Nuff said...

Got a few minutes of downtime in your busy day? Do yourselves and Connecticut a favor. Spend a few minutes telling people you know why you support Ned Lamont.

Here's what you can do:

Use our "family, friends and neighbor" tool to send a physical postcard to your personal networks (link)
Invite your personal networks, via email, you use the "family, friends and neighbor" tool (link)
Invite your friends, via email, to check out NedLamont.com (link)
Write a letter to the editor (link)

11/4/06

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11/2/06

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