Protest St. McCain Fundie-Raisers in Greenwich April 23

Via Connecticut Opposes the War (COW):

April 23, 4:00 PM

Protest the Ones Who are FOR the War!

Senator McCain

Plus Joe Lieberman & Chris Shays

Belle Haven Club, 100 Harbor Drive, Greenwich, CT - 4 PM

Stop McCain's Fundraiser in CT

No Money for War - No Money for War Makers!

Senator Lieberman & Congressman Shays
Out of Step and Out of Line!

Why do I call these guys "Fundies"? Because their religion is WAR. Check out this video ctblogger had up the other day and maybe you will start to get the point:



Thes idiots are war-junky fundies. No doubt about it.

bush, Dems, Iraq WMDs and The Vast Right Wing Conspiracists

(H/T Stephen D at The Booman Tribune)

Ok... So now all of the big Blogs and Bloggers on the faaarrr right wing whakosphere edge are saying it is a vast conspiracy by George Bush and the Democratic party to hide the "fact" that all of those WMDs were found in Iraq.

Glen Greenwald gets the scoop here:

Melanie Phillips is a British neoconservative who has devoted herself to warning England that Muslims are taking over and destroying its culture. Her book, oh-so-cleverly titled Londonistan, warns of "the collapse of traditional British identity and accommodation of a particularly virulent form of multiculturalism."

She has described James Baker and Jimmy Carter as "the kept creatures of the Arab world" who "are intent on smoothing the path to Israel's destruction." She thinks global warming is a "con-trick" because everything is "well within the normal cyclical fluctuations in temperature from century to century." And on and on and on. Needless to say, she is a deeply admired figure in the world of Fox News and right-wing blogs.

But all of that is rendered moderate, restrained, sober and even sane by a new article she wrote for the British magazine, The Spectator (headline: I Found Saddam's WMD Bunkers), which claims that: (a) WMDs really were found in Iraq after the invasion, (b) they were located in vast underground bunkers (c) which contained "nuclear, chemical and biological materials", but (d) the U.S., through negligence, failed to secure those sites and, as a result, (e) the WMDs were stolen by The Terrorists and/or Syrian agents, who now have them and are actively plotting (along with China, Russia and North Korea) to use them against the West, but --

(f) because the Bush administration is so embarrassed by their failure to prevent the theft of all these dastardly weapons, and because Democrats are embarrassed by this discovery because it proves that Saddam really did have WMDs all along, they have all jointly created a vast conspiracy where they conceal the discovery of WMDs in order to cover up for their negligence.

You can head over and see what this is all about, but the fact that so many faaarrr right wingnuts are biting on this absurd conspiracy is telling of just how out of the mainstream these dangerously deranged people are. Greenwald also points out the fact that all of the right wingnuts conveniently forget to mention that the Republic party is involved in Melanie Phillips motherload of a conspiracy theory, as well as some other sad facts about the right wingnuts.

Some of the wacky wankers pushing this story of a vast conspiracy theory:

Instapundit (i.e., Glenn Reynolds)
Powerline
Michelle Malkin
Pajamas Media
David Horowitz

I am wondering if these tweedledumbs and dees are expecting another two ton feather in their caps for the pajama wearing types' typical coverage of the ridiculous?

There is no vast conspiracy here, but this sure does expose the vast amount of empty space between the right wingnuts ears.

GOP Sen. Snowe has had enough of Iraq, And so has Vermont

At least the bush league version of it:

In another sign of Republican unease with the president's Iraq policies, a third GOP senator expressed support Thursday for pulling U.S. forces out of Iraq under certain conditions.

Sen. Olympia J. Snowe announced she would sponsor a bill to require American commanders to plan a withdrawal within 120 days of the bill's enactment, unless the Iraqi government meets a series of benchmarks.

"The Iraq government needs to understand that our commitment is not infinite," said Snowe, a moderate from Maine who frequently departs from the party GO Fline.

BUT leaving no doubt that she won't get off the pot OR shit:

Snowe is not backing a Senate Democratic plan approved last month that would require the president to begin withdrawing troops within 120 days and would set a nonbinding goal of complete withdrawal by March.

Why don't you just continue to sit there and read a fucking magazine as more American soldiers and Iraqis die because you are too busy riding the political porcelin fence...

You know, Olympia... (Can I call you Olympia, or would you prefer "vile sack of republican of shit"?) There is another party that IS IN CHARGE now. Your pathetic attempts to pretend to lead prove that you really do need to take crap. You are full of it.

As for Vermont:

The Nation -- The Vermont Senate voted 16-9 Friday morning to urge the state's congressional delegation to introduce and support articles of impeachment against President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

Dozens of communities across the country -- including forty towns in Vermont -- have urged that Congress begin the process of impeaching and removing Bush and Cheney. But this is the first time that a state legislative chamber has done made the call.

The move, which is the latest win for Vermont's large and active impeachment movement, puts pressure on freshman Democratic Congressman Peter Welch.

Welch has met with impeachment backers, but has been cautious about challenging House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's declaration that impeachment is "off the table."

The overwhelming vote in the Senate will make it harder for Welch to dodge the issue, especially since the measure was introduced by the Democratic leader of the Senate, Peter Shumlin, along with state Senator Jeanette White.

My advice to you Welch: GO FOR IT!

Your constituents want it, and there are a lot of others across this nation that want Democracy and The Constitution restored in this country... We got yer back.

Media Matters Challenges Power Swine To Tell the Truth

In a quest for truth and honesty in Blogging Media Matters Eric Boehlert puts out a challenge to one of the many disreputable and oft'-times discredited right wing whackosphere Bloggers:

Here's a simple challenge for John Hinderaker, a writer for the popular conservative blog Power Line who recently revisited the 2004 Swift Boat Veterans for Truth campaign controversy. Upset by recent media references that suggested the Swift Boat attacks on Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) had been "discredited," Hinderaker claimed, "Most of what the Vets said in their ads has never been disputed, let alone discredited."

The challenge for Hinderaker is straightforward: Read the assembled facts below and explain how I'm wrong about the countless ways in which the Swift Boat ads were disputed and the accusers were discredited, or apologize for your fact-free claim and post a correction at Power Line.

I realize that highlighting the factual deficiencies of Power Line bloggers is hardly a novel pursuit. After all, Power Line played a starring role in advancing the Terri Schiavo talking points memo hoax during the spring of 2005. Power Line played a starring role in the rush to declare guilty an Associated Press photographer who was accused of working with insurgents in Iraq. Power Line played a starring role in advancing the phony accusation that the AP had invented an Iraqi police captain and used him as a source. And just this month, Power Line played a starring role in advancing the phony story that CNN reporter Michael Ware had heckled Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) during a recent Baghdad press conference.

Meaning, Power Line rarely lets the facts get in the way of its pro-GOP spin.

Don't hold your breath on a credible response from Assrocket. He and his fellow Power Swine propagandists are just a bunch of pigs in spaaaaace....

America Sends A Message to the LOCAL MINORITY OF BIGOTS

HatCity Blog has been providing its usual outstanding watchdog service of keeping an eye out for the truly pathetic comments that come out of the vocal minority of Danbury bigots:

The drumbeat grows...

If you missed Geraldo Rivera’s dust-up last week with Bill O’Reilly, you don’t know what you’re missing. Rivera, normally a fellow good soldier for Rupert Murdoch’s Fox propaganda machine, actually called out O’Reilly for trying to score cheap political points by linking the death of two Virginia teenagers to the debate about illegal immigration (the driver of the truck that plowed into the girls’ car was in the country illegally, and was allegedly drunk). The heated argument saw Geraldo (who once revealed American troop locations in Afghanistan), smack-down O’Reilly with a simple, “It has nothing to do with illegal aliens; it has to do with drunk driving.”

Incredibly, a similar argument has erupted locally, in the comments section of the Danbury News-Times. Log on to read about how 30-year-old Laudermilson Teixeirawas was arrested for stabbing his 33-year-old roommate, and you can read some of the most hateful trash the internet has to offer this side of Ann Coulter’s blog. Neither Teixeirawas nor his victim were in this country legally, it appears, which in the minds of the anonymous xenophobes of Danbury, renders them inhuman, too. We won’t dignify to reprint the hate put forth by the likes of “JoeyJoeJoeJrShabadoo,” but it is interesting to see how the sewage that a guy like O’Reilly spouts filters down to the knuckledragger level.

It's also interesting how racist comments from the likes of bottomfeeders like JoeyJoe are even published in the first place...but this is expected from a newspaper that stubbornly refuses to report on local government news, palces knee-jerking headlines such as "IMMIGRANT SLAIN" (as if there the victim is not a normal human being), and willfully contributes to the "low-information voter" mentality (to the glee of the mayor and Republican-controlled Common Council).

Go take a read at the hated yourself...you gotta love Big T's audience. (note: Online Editor Elizabeth Putman has removed some of the more disgusting comments as of Thurs @ 9:00 AM).

Meanwhile in the rest of America? According to the USA Today:

While Congress and the White House remain divided over what to do with the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants living in the USA, a new poll shows the American public appears to have reached a consensus on the question.

A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken last weekend found that 78% of respondents feel people now in the country illegally should be given a chance at citizenship.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who is drafting legislation to grant illegal immigrants an opportunity to stay in the USA, said: "As with so many issues, the American people are ahead of Washington on immigration reform. They know that only a plan that offers a path to earned citizenship will fix our broken system."

So much for the local Danbury bigots screaming "DEPORT THEM ALL!" every chance they get. Thankfully for humanity's sake, they truely are in the minority.

One of these things is not like the others

When you look at this list of THE MOST CORRUPT POLITICIANS gathered by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) you might notice a theme:

The 20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress

Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN) Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO) Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL) Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL) Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA)

Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA) Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV) Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO) Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA) Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) Rep. John Sweeney (R-NY) Rep. Charles Taylor (R-NC) Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA)

Ok... One of these things is not like the 19 others.

It is Rick Renzi because the FBI has officially launched him into what I call the "Republican Scandal Club," a very large club indeed! In this day of modern conservatism it pretty much includes anyone in the GOP that has recently been found guilty of their favorite GOP crimes, and any of the others that have not been charged YET, but are neck deep in serious investigations.

Many of the names that are up there on that list, labeled by Crew as being so corrupt they are "Beyond DeLay" in their criminality, should finally get some kind of justice served since there is some (Dare I say it?) oversight in Washington now and , perhaps, because the GOP can not corrupt and politicize the officers of the FBI as easily as they have achived "GOP synthesis" in other government enitities. (See the DoJ, National parks, Homeland Security, etc.) Also, Doolittle jumped the credibility shark in the last week, setting up what could be an interesting California election fight, so it is really two of those things.

Anyways, according to a Roll Call report:

In a second blow to House Republicans this week, the FBI raided a business tied to the family of Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) Thursday afternoon as part of an ongoing investigation into the three-term lawmaker.

Details of the raid on Patriot Insurance Agency in Sonoita, Ariz., were not immediately available. Renzi’s most recent financial disclosure form lists the business as an asset belonging to his wife, Roberta, and valued at $1 million to $5 million.

Little is known about the inquiries into Renzi’s activities, but according to media reports the Justice Department has been running a two-track investigation into Renzi regarding a land deal, as well as a piece of legislation he helped steer that may have improperly benefited a major campaign contributor. It was not immediately clear which investigation the raid pertained to, and neither his attorney nor his spokesman could be immediately reached for comment.

As a result of the raid, Renzi is stepping down from his seat on the House Intelligence Committee, according to a statement from his office obtained Thursday evening by Roll Call.

“Today, the FBI came to my family’s business to obtain documents related to their investigation,” Renzi said. “I view these actions as the first step in bringing out the truth. Until this matter is resolved, I will take a leave of absence from the House Intelligence Committee. I intend to fully cooperate with this investigation.”

Does The Hill still think that the Democratic party is on the defensive going into the next election cycle like they stated last month? If they do, they haven't been paying attention to the real world consequences that have yet to be doled out to the most corrupt group of politicians either political party has ever assembled in the history of the US:

The modern day GOP.
Corrupt as corrupt can be.

I hope CREW is successful in their effort to help in nailing all 20 of those politicians if they are as guilty as they appear to be and regardless of their party affiliation. But it is pretty clear which side of the aisle the bulk of the corruption has and is coming from.

Doolittle is on the run...

While Logan Murphy at Crooks and Liars wonders "when?" and "if?" Dollitle will go:

We reported on the FBI raid on the home of California Congressman John Doolittle last Friday and now, according to the AP, he has now decided to give up his seat on the House Appropriations Committee. Will he go the way of Bob Ney? Let's hope so. For more on Doolittle's follies, check out Nate's latest post.

I have a more important question: Is anyone lining up credible candidates to run in case of an early election date in California?

The Hill may have provided the answer in a story on March 7:

House Democrats, now on the defensive after having picked up 30 seats in November, have only a pair of high-profile candidates — both 2006 repeats — in top Republican-held districts: Charlie Brown has officially filed to run against Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) and Larry Kissell has said he will challenge Rep. Robin Hayes (R-N.C.).

Though, if they want to remain in reality, The Hill may just want to change their thinking about whom is on the defensive... "Good grief!"

Voting Rights Needs More Legs

Or so Cho at ePluribus Media thinks:

Today (4-19-07) George Gordon in his McClatchy article Campaign against alleged voter fraud fuels political tempest is covering some of the same territory folks at ePluribus Media hit in its (4-15-07) article The Voting Rights Act, Voter Disfranchisement and the Tail Wagging the Dog

Key paragraphs from Gordon.

Facing nationwide voter registration drives by Democratic-leaning groups, the administration alleged widespread election fraud and endorsed proposals for tougher state and federal voter identification laws. Presidential political adviser Karl Rove alluded to the strategy in April 2006 when he railed about voter fraud in a speech to the Republican National Lawyers Association.

...snip....

Civil rights advocates charge that the administration's policies were intended to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of poor and minority voters who tend to support Democrats, and by filing state and federal lawsuits, civil rights groups have won court rulings blocking some of its actions.

Let's see if we can get this story legs!

One set of electronic legs coming up...

Protest Bush in New London on May 23rd

Politics in the Zeros had the info up on this tonight:

A Proposal for Nation-Wide Protests
“Turn Up the Heat in 2007″

Here’s the first (of many to come)



Bush will be speaking at the graduation ceremony of the Coast Guard Academy on Wed. May 23rd. Join with students, soldiers and veterans, impeachment and anti-war activists to protest. Transportation is being organized regionally from Boston, Cape Cod, New Haven and New York City. ANSWERCT.org for more information.

And while we are discussing what some right wingers call "Impeachment Porn", CT Bob has a post up on Kucinich putting impeachment on cheney's table:

Even though he's a longshot candidate for president, Dennis Kucinich remains a dedicated congressman who works tirelessly to bring balance back to government. Kucinich has become the conscience of the Democratic party, and indeed, the House of Representatives.

Inside Bush's Brain...

Echo Echo Echo Echo Echo Echo...

Do you feel a draft in here?

From the Department of I Shit You Not and via The Marine Corps Times and the Army Times:

The Senate Armed Services Committee heard testimony Tuesday that increasing the size of the Army and Marine Corps may not resolve severe and growing personnel problems. There was even talk of returning to the draft to fill the ranks.[..]

"If the United States is going to have a significant component of its ground forces in Iraq over the next five, 10, 15 or 30 years, then the responsible course is for the president and those supporting this open-ended and escalated presence in Iraq to call for reinstating the draft."[..]
(H/T C&L)

Don't worry about it! I am sure there will be plenty of time for the milions of young Americans to get their last wills and testaments in order. If they haven't done it in time, JAG will surely help them out before they deploy. (I know the drill...)

[update] Raw Story has Rep. John Murtha on the draft:

Rep. John Murtha, a veteran of the U.S. Marines who served in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, said that President George W. Bush cannot continue to carry out his current war plans in Iraq without starting a draft.

"The president asks the impossible and the burden continues to fall on the very few. The pressure must be taken off the current force and their families who have already sacrificed so much," said Murtha today to the Defense Appropriations subcommittee, which he chairs. "If the President insists on continuing the current operational tempo and policy, then he should call for a military draft. That is the responsible thing to do.”

Murtha's full statement, which was sent to RAW STORY, is provided below.

I am begining to think there may be a "Surge" in anti-war sentiment soon... Or, perhaps, a "Surge" in College applications if the draft laws aren't changed to share the burden a little more equally.

Doolittle Officially Joins the Republican Scandal Club

The Hill has the "Randy Cunningham/Jack Abrahmoff/Brent Wilkes/Average Republican Politician" scandal coming back around and biting Rep. Doolittle in the ass:

The FBI searched the Virginia home of Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) last Friday in its investigation into the ties of the congressman and his wife, Julie, to disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to law enforcement and other Congressional and K Street sources. […]

Doolittle has been under fire for paying his wife’s company, Sierra Dominion, a 15 percent commission on all contributions that the company raised for Doolittle’s campaign committee and leadership PAC. Her only other clients were Abramoff’s former firm, Greenberg Traurig; Abramoff’s former restaurant Signatures; and the Korea-U.S. Exchange Council, which Ed Buckham, a former chief of staff to ex-Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), created.

The Justice Department previously subpoenaed Julie Doolittle’s files.

Doolittle also received contributions from indicted defense contractor Brent Wilkes and his associates, and investigators are probing whether those contributions are linked to any official action Doolittle took to help Wilkes’s company obtain millions of dollars in government earmarks.

The National Republican Party has not commented on whether or not they will provide the traditional doughnut for Doolitle to sit on while he nurses his bitten corrupt ass.

Meanwhile, White House officials have been spotted sporting "up-armored Humvee kits" modified into diaperized ass-protectors in the hopes that they will not get bitten (with the added bonus of protecting their clothes when they repeatedly soil themselves) by further investigations, which might explain the continued shortage of propper protective gear for the front-line troops in the GWOT.

Needless to say... "Get yer popcorn while it's still hot!"

My Left Nutmeg Investigates...

Interesting:

MLN Investigates: Who is "Bridgeport GOTV Blue LLC"?

Very interesting:

MLN Investigates: The Lieberman-Shays Alliance in Numbers

Great work from the MLN frontpagers. Please feel free to keep on investigating. Enquiring minds want to know... At the very least, the Democratic party of Connecticut should know this.

There is "Spin", and then there is "Spin"

I have been waiting to write something on the Virginia Tech tragedy. And the very reason I have been waiting is the fact that I am truly disturbed with how fast too many of the politicals on both sides have jumped in to the fray with their "talking points" for pet issues.

At the center of that nightmare lies a dark, bottomless pool. As with the Columbines of this country, people will stare into the pool seeking answers. Some will see reflections and try to generalize from them about the nature of the shooter and the victims, but the reflections they see will only be their own. Interest groups will look into the pool and see their causes, filling the talk shows with spokespersons who will say that if we had only done “x” the event would have never happened. Others will take a longer view trying to peer into the depths of the pool seeking confirmation of trends historical, social and psychological. They too will see only their own reflections.

For those at the center of it all, the parents, relatives and friends of the victims and the shooter, those who witnessed it and lived, and those who somehow made a decision to not go to those places at that time the pool will seem more like a maelstrom in which they are caught and cannot get out. Spinning helplessly they will try to maintain some sort of equilibrium, some rationality to keep from drowning in it all. For some this may mean just focusing on the immediate, the details of that which has to be done and it is only days, weeks, even months after that a delayed reaction will overcome them.

People need to show and have a little respect for the dead and grieving.

There is much to be discussed concerning these issues, but for the moment think about these words from LiberalAmerican's thought provoking piece:

Instead we need to turn away from the pool and remember that at least for a brief tick in time all of us will be as one. For now is not a time for politics or debates or even business as usual. Instead families and communities need to realize how fleeting order and life can be and hug one another because that is all they can do. This time as with all those other times we will pledge to love one another a little more and show it. We will swear not to hate and to watch out for those stray souls who slip between the cracks only to emerge from those dark places with guns in their hands. Perhaps this time we can make that oneness last longer.

Perhaps we can remember that kind words can conquer hate and vitriol. Perhaps we can remember to succor the meek, the powerless, the people who have been dealt a bum hand through no fault of their own. Perhaps we can remember that in situations like the Virginia Tech shootings that we are in fact all equal, that it could have been any one of us who died or knew someone who died and yes who knew the shooter, for death recognizes no classes, no races, no languages or cultures as superior. Most of all we can try to nurture that feeling that all of us struggle to feel right now, that feeling of empathy with other human beings we did not know before and whose friends and family we somehow each wish we could help.

To everything
There is a season...

These issues have a time and a place. Now is not the time so, for now, this Blog will not be the place.

Olberman On the 50 Yardline

From Salon via C&L:

Keith Olbermann will add a fifth voice to the studio on NBC's Sunday-night football highlights show in the fall, the network said Monday.

Bob Costas anchors the show, with Cris Collingsworth and now Olbermann as co-hosts. With Jerome Bettis and Tiki Barber as analysts, the former NFL players will outnumber Costas and Olbermann by 3-to-2.

Olbermann, who first became known as a host on ESPN's "Sportscenter," has shuffled between news and sports during his career. His "Countdown" show on MSNBC has been hot lately, with Olbermann drawing attention for commentaries taking on the Bush administration.

He talks sports regularly each weekday afternoon on former ESPN partner Dan Patrick's radio show.

I hope he does well with this move back into TV sports. Definately a notch above, and a little more politically centered, than the previous political pundit that rushed off of the telecast in an Imus moment.

The sad part about this is, in light of OxyRush's bigoted statements and his subsequent debachle, look for the far right wingnuts to scrutinize Keith's words syllable by syllable in an effort to discredit him and get him tossed from the show as retribution for the failure of one of their favorite bigots.

"They" Want to Rebuild the Internet

Whenever I read paragraphs like these, yanked from the Hartford Courant, I take note:

One challenge in any reconstruction, though, would be balancing the interests of various constituencies. The first time around, researchers were able to toil away in their labs quietly. Industry is playing a bigger role this time, and law enforcement is bound to make its needs for wiretapping known.

There's no evidence they are meddling yet, but once any research looks promising, "a number of people [will] want to be in the drawing room," said Jonathan Zittrain, a law professor affiliated with Oxford and Harvard universities. "They'll be wearing coats and ties and spilling out of the venue."

Do they want to rebuild the Internet for everyones' benefit or will this be the first steps towards a conservative's corporatist wet dream and extremely policed Internet?




The big telcoms have already shown a willingness to try and take control of the internet AND will sell out your right to privacy at the drop of an FBI letter.

Yeah... Ya gotta sleep with one effin' eye open at all times in this modern America. Freedom ain't Free, it'll cost ya a lot of sleep.

There comes a time...

...When others need to stop handing him ladders and take away his shovel.

The hole just keeps getting deeper...

At this point they seem to be keeping it civil enough not to "downrate dissent" but the dis-invitations to participate at dkos, YET AGAIN, are already rearing their ugly heads in the comment threads... Kos has repeatedly set the tone on that.

"That's all."