Taking a break from Blogging

Wish it were for some fun reason but it is not. Family emergency up north. I'm not sure how long I'll be gone or if I'll have time to post (or computer access?) while I'm gone.

Whatever you do... Make sure bush and his insane clown posse don't start another failure, err, war while I'm gone.

Our BOE is nothing compared to Roseland Town Council

News from an Indiana Town Council meeting:

Roseland council member David Snyder was taken to St. Joseph County jail and held overnight after an incident during a Roseland council meeting.

He was released after the prosecutor's office reviewed the police report and decided to drop the felony charge, clearing way for Dorothy Snyder to bail him out.

David Snyder was put in jail after David Snyder was ejected from a budget meeting Friday night, before being taken to the ground outside by a Roseland police officer.

The melee started because David Snyder protested after being given only one minute to speak by council member Charlie Shields. After a heated argument, laced with profanities, Shields kicked Snyder from the meeting.

Snyder slowly walked from the meeting, escorted by Officer Jack Tiller. When he got into the lobby, turned and said something to Tiller who appears to shove Snyder who falls hard into the glass door and outside.

NewsCenter16's camera then shows David Snyder on the ground outside the town hall with Officer Tiller on top of Snyder. There are calls for Snyder to stop resisting as the officer appears to pound Snyder's head.

The Republicans on the BOE may have acted childish on that recent vote... But Roseland's Town Council is just brutal.

Snipers, Bait and Dead Iraqis

This just one of the most disgusting ideas I have ever heard of:

"Baiting is putting an object out there that we know they will use, with the intention of destroying the enemy," Capt. Matthew P. Didier, the leader of an elite sniper scout platoon attached to the 1st Battalion of the 501st Infantry Regiment, said in a sworn statement. "Basically, we would put an item out there and watch it. If someone found the item, picked it up and attempted to leave with the item, we would engage the individual as I saw this as a sign they would use the item against U.S. Forces."

In documents obtained by The Washington Post from family members of the accused soldiers, Didier said members of the U.S. military's Asymmetric Warfare Group visited his unit in January and later passed along ammunition boxes filled with the "drop items" to be used "to disrupt the AIF [Anti-Iraq Forces] attempts at harming Coalition Forces and give us the upper hand in a fight."

Eugene Fidell, president of the National Institute of Military Justice, said such a baiting program should be examined "quite meticulously" because it raises troubling possibilities, such as what happens when civilians pick up the items.

"In a country that is awash in armaments and magazines and implements of war, if every time somebody picked up something that was potentially useful as a weapon, you might as well ask every Iraqi to walk around with a target on his back," Fidell said.

Ultimate Push Poll in New Hampshire

Sorry Kucinich and Gravel... No votes for you two in this Democratic candidate poll. I wonder why not?

My New Hampshire phone rings (caller ID 000-000-0000 WTF?)and I pick it up out of curiosity. "This is (talking like a magpie so I haven't got a clue what the name of the company is)Research. Would you like to be part of a poll for the Democratic presidential primary candidate?" I agree and the woman rapidly reads the list of candidates. "Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Dodd, Biden and Richardson." I say, "Kucinich." The woman on the phone says "Who?" I say, "Kucinich. Dennis Kucinich." I hear coaching in the background - apparently the call is being monitored. "I'm sorry, but Dennis Kucinich is not on our list. Is there anyone on the list I gave you who you would vote for?"

So there you have it. Kucinich is down in the polls because he isn't included in the polls . . . and you can forget about Gravel, too.

Just a little bit dishonest, dirty and underhanded. Ya think?
(h/t C&L)

You want to be the President, Hillary?

Russert: As you well know you voted to authorize this war, voted to fund this war at lest ten times. Are you now saying that you will not vote one more penny for the war in Iraq.

Clinton: And these extraordinary brave young men and women should begin to come home out of refereeing this sectarian civil war. I voted against funding last spring - I understand we are going to have vote shortly about funding and I will vote against it. Because I think it’s the only way that we can demonstrate clearly that we have to change direction…

All of these words are fine and dandy... You are supporting cutting off funding the Iraq. And you want to be the President of the USA? How about showing some leadership skills first, OK?

Get a filibuster proof group of Senators to refuse to allow voting on any more money going into the Iraq follies and even I, being an ardent anti-Hillary advocating Liberal, will consider supporting your candidacy.

Just a reminder of what a real leader needs to do in order to end the funding of this disaster:

As a form of obstructionism in a legislature or other decision making body, a filibuster is an attempt to extend debate upon a proposal in order to delay or completely prevent a vote on its passage. The term first came into use in the United States Senate, where Senate rules permit a senator, or a series of senators, to speak for as long as they wish and on any topic they choose, unless a supermajority group of 60% of senators brings debate to a close by invoking cloture.

If you don't have the skills to lead a minority of the Senate to do the right thing here, why in the hell would anyone in their right mind give you the keys to the White House?

The same thing goes for all of the other all-talk and walkless candidates in the Senate. If none of you have the leadership skills to walk over Reid and lead a simple minority of 41 Senators to filibuster more Iraq funding for bush's failed policies, than none of you have the leadership skills to be the President.

You want the support of the Dem voters? The overwhelming number of Americans that are against the Iraq follies? The no-party-affiliation indies, like myself, that make up the fastest growing voter block in the nation?

Prove it now.

But... Don't even bother to come back as "THE" Dem candidate asking for my support if this is still an election issue later on. Because most of us know that you can end it NOW with a simple filibuster. That is how to yield the power of the purse.

New Milford Republican Children

This last couple of weeks a huge pile of steaming Republican childishness has played out and many in the town have been talking about it:

The five Republican members who walked out of a Board of Education meeting last week say they are disturbed that the action has been misconstrued and politicized when it was a legitimate protest of what they considered to be an improper, imprudent and even disrespectful action.

Like walking out on a vote is not improper, imprudent and even disrespectful action, never mind that it is as childish as taking their ball and going home in the middle of a game because they are losing.

Flying in the face of their own reasoning, they can't seem to even decide whether they walked out because of too much debate, or not enough:

"We simply, quietly, left the meeting at the end when there was nothing further to discuss. We had already discussed it three times, and our input was ignored. There was no reason to stay," said member Julie Turk of the minority Republicans' decision to leave before a second vote on hiring a director of human resources to replace the former director of operations.

snip

But some of the board's GOP members -- the school board has seven Republicans and five Democrats -- were disturbed that so little time had been given to such a key position, which will command a salary in the $90,000 to $100,000 range.

Make up your minds little GOP children... Did you decide to walk out on your job because:

1. Republicans think there is nothing left to discuss.
2. Republicans think there needs to be more time to discuss this.
3. Republicans think there needs to be more time to discuss that there is nothing left to discuss.

And never mind all of the other reasons that they threw at the fan. Several more inconsistencies fly back in their face in that one article. The supposed and incoherent apologies lead one to realize your mea maxima culpas. Simply being wrong, both in thoughts and actions. Get a load of another childish GOP response:

"They changed the rules so they could put something through that had already failed," McLachlan claimed.

What rules did the Board change? Something was brought up in a vote that was a 5-5 tie without all of the board members present in August. A sub-committee, including republicans, originally recommended returning to the issue. Does McLachlan have a problem with putting a vote to the full board just because of the inevitable 7-5 result?

What rules were changed? Don't just pull out "The republican victim card" and leave it out there without any backup. And just because someone too childish or incompetent to do their job and vote on this issue calls it bullying does not make it so, regardless of how the village idiot celebrates the idea:

"Kudos to Joe Failla, Julie Turk, Robin Ruggiero, Bill McLachlan and Joey Vita for having the gumption to stand up for what they believe in, against the odds and the "bullying" as one Member calls it."

Whom, exactly, is guilty of bullying? As a commenter over at your own Blog (Jay Lewin - Juice Box Republicans) notes:

"Interesting that the Operations sub committee "unanimously" OK'd bringing the issue back to the board. That sub committee includes Mr. Failla & Mrs. Turk. Why did they OK this on 9/4, and then reverse course to fight it on 9/11? Hmmmmmmm..."

Kudos for what. Jay? For recommending returning to this issue and then walking out on the vote when it does come up? (The GOP must be guilty of bullying themselves , either that or bullshitting themselves, 'cause we aren't buying it.) And for ignoring the reality of what most of the town's people recognized this childish tactic to be? Is there any doubt why one of New Milford's Board of Education members jumped the Republican ship of fools?

For the coming election, Traisci-Marandola said, she was rejected by the party's leaders for a re-election bid because she did what she promised, although it meant spending money.

Even with that rejection, Traisci-Marandola said she intended to retain her party affiliation.

Yet what she called this past "week of nonsense" has changed her mind. She said she intends to become a Democrat and support that party's slate for the November election.

snip

Traisci-Marandola said she was "appalled" that five of her fellow Republicans -- including appointed member Joseph Failla, endorsed for a four-year seat, and William McLachlan, endorsed for a Town Council seat -- orchestrated a walkout at last Tuesday's school board meeting.

This walk out was a pitiful example of Republican kids behaving badly and the nonsensical apologies and their apologists passing out the Koolaide are as sad as the the original actions. They are just playing little childish games and, in a typically GOP fashion, wasting the tax payers time occupying a job they are unwilling or unable to do in a manner respectful of Democracy.