Friday, July 20, 2007

Tom DeLay: The Sequel



On Thursday, while I was filming the latest episode of the Corn & Miniter Show , which should be posted sometime Friday on PajamasMedia.com, I spotted Tom DeLay strolling by. We interrupted the show to ask the former House majority leader (who is still facing criminal charges) a few questions. What are you up to these days? I inquired. Trying to be the "Democrats' worst nightmare," he answered with a grin. But, I replied, didn't you do that already? Why not set a new personal goal? DeLay noted he was endeavoring to build conservative groups to take on the Democrats. One source tells me he's trying to find conservative billionaires who could finance a George Soros-like operation of the right. As for who he likes in the Republican presidential contest, he says, no one yet--though DeLay did say he'd like to see Newt Gingrich run. Now what could be better for Democrats than to have Gingrich and DeLay back in the ring? Maybe Jack Abramoff could give them advice from jail.

NEXT BIG THING...OR GIMMICK? On Monday YouTube and CNN will sponsor a debate for the Democratic presidential wannabes. Anderson Cooper and other CNNers will choose questions from hundreds of video queries submitted to YouTube. Will this debate mark a turning point in how the Internet interacts with politics? Probably not. Andrew Polsky, a poli-sci prof at Hunter College, says, "The pseudo-populist trappings of the YouTube formula will not make this debate any different. The questions will be posed and the candidates will still answer with their planned responses, often not to the point of the question." He's probably right. If a YouTuber asks, "My insurance company won't pay for a bone marrow transplant that my six-year-old daughter needs within the next two months, so I want to know what can be done tomorrow so my child might live," each candidate will express concern and plug in his or her 60-second healthcare spiel. And with CNNers picking the question, this is not much of a break from earlier debates when moderators chose questions from the audience--after vetting the questions and questioners.

I'd like to see the candidates air-dropped into town hall meetings in various locations across the United States--including inner cities, border areas, and towns hit by factory shutdowns. Open Mike Night, in a way. Of course, they all would do fine. They're trained to do fine in such circumstances, and they would indeed resort to their planned responses. Ever try to get a politician off-message? I have. It's damn hard. They are genetically programmed to say what they want to say--regardless of the question. In other words, the format doesn't matter. Still, it would be more entertaining--and perhaps a tad more informative--to see them interact in an unscripted fashion with voters on matters of substance.

Which reminds me; I have a friend who used to live in New York City who tells me that one morning she spotted Rudy Giuliani campaigning for mayor at a subway stop. She was no fan of his, but she went over to shake his hand. He took one look at her, said sharply, "You're not going to vote for me," and dismissed her. (She was not wearing a "Screw the State" t-shirt or anything like that; she was off to work at an ad agency.) I'd like to see more of that Rudy during this campaign. Which reminds me: if you haven't seen the video of Rudy Giuliani making fun of a man with Parkinson's disease, click HERE.

SHOCKED. Toe-sucking political consultant and professional Hillary-basher Dick Morris has a new book out titled: Outrage: How Liberals, Congress, Unions, Drug Companies, Big Oil, Banks, Lobbyists, Corporations, the United Nations the World Bank, the INS, the TSA, and the Democratic Party Are Ripping Us Off....and What To Do About It. Whew, that's some list. Did you notice that Morris leaves something out of the equation? The Republicans. How have Big Pharma, Big Oil, Big Banks, assorted corporations and lobbyists been able to rip "us" off? With the help of GOPers on Capitol Hill and in the White House. Talk about selective outrage.

PHAT. Yesterday I heard a troubling fact: within eight years 86 percent of all black women will be obese....Meanwhile, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, the social conservative, creationism-favoring Republican presidential candidate who a few years ago dropped 110 pounds and has made obesity an issue in this campaign, held a "Meet Mike Huckabee" campaign event yesterday at the Pizza Ranch in Marshalltown, Iowa.

Posted by David Corn at July 20, 2007 11:07 AM

34 comments:

capt said...

Why Is the White House Pretending That Saudi Insurgents in Iraq Are Iranian?

Nearly half of all foreign militants targeting U.S. troops in Iraq have come from Saudi Arabia -- an inconvenient truth for the White House papered over with the lie that Iran is the chief instigator.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting nearly half of all foreign militants targeting U.S. troops in Iraq have come from Saudi Arabia – one of Washington's closest allies in the Middle East. U.S. officials have so far refused to publicly criticize Saudi Arabia's role in Iraq, focusing instead on Iran. Democracy Now! spoke with an L.A. Times correspondent in Iraq, Ned Parker, and Toby Jones, a former Persian Gulf analyst with the International Crisis Group and history professor at Rutgers University.


More HERE

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Why indeed.


capt

capt said...

I wonder if something might happen while Cheney is in charge.

capt said...

Bush's approval rating hits new low in state poll


Job approval at 19%; 17% back Iraq handling


President Bush's approval rating has sunk to a new low in a Wisconsin poll by the firm Strategic Vision, with only 19% of those surveyed approving of Bush's job performance.

In 15 previous surveys by the firm dating back to fall 2005, the president's approval rating has ranged from 38% to 24% (in May). Bush has been at or near personal lows this summer in many national polls.

In the Wisconsin poll of 800 likely voters taken July 13-15, some 19% approved and 73% disapproved of Bush's overall performance. Only 17% approved (and 77% disapproved) of Bush's handling of the Iraq war - the worst numbers on Iraq that Bush has received in this poll. The president got far higher marks for his handling of the war on terror, with 46% approving and 43% disapproving.



More HERE

capt said...

Bionic Dog Gets Carbon-Fiber Paw



The world's first bionic dog, a Belgian shepherd named Storm, now has a carbon-fiber prosthetic paw. The dog underwent an amputation earlier this year to remove a tumor; his new paw should have him up and around soon. Veterinarian surgeon Noel Fitzpatrick of Farnam, Surrey (U.K.) hopes that the technique will also be of possible benefit to humans:

"The technology is not just the first time that the implant type has been used outside the human finger," Fitzpatrick said. "Because it has been implanted into the radius of the forearm of the dog, it will act as a model for human amputees in the future and provides hope for people without feet or hands."


More HERE

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Does the new paw increase the dogs carbon paw-print?


capt

Gerald said...

Hitler's in bed with the Saudis and he's licking his filthy chops just wanting to attack Iran and declare martial law and cancelling the 2008 elections. He is a murdering war criminal, aka the war president.

Gerald said...

The Next Generation of GOP Hypocrites

Gerald said...

The chickenhawks talk the talk but you won't find their candy asses fighting. They are low-life turds.

In conversations with at least twenty College Republicans about the war in Iraq, I listened as they lip-synched discredited cant about "fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them over here." Many of the young GOP cadres I met described the so-called "war on terror" as nothing less than the cause of their time.

The turds call it the cause of their time but none of them will volunteer to fight or walk the walk. These are nothing more than chickenshit GOrPs, going around smelling womens' bicycle seats.

Gerald said...

Another one of Hitler's puppets

Gerald said...

American Democracy Ended September 30, 2006

Gerald said...

“Martial law” is a euphemism for military dictatorship. When foreign democracies are overthrown and a junta establishes martial law, Americans usually recognize that a fundamental change has occurred. Perhaps some conservatives believe that the only change when martial law is declared is that people are no longer read their Miranda rights when they are locked away. “Martial law” means obey soldiers’ commands or be shot. The abuses of military rule in southern states during Reconstruction were legendary, but they have been swept under the historical rug.

Gerald said...

WE ARE NOW A BANANA REPUBLIC UNDER THE CONTROL OF A DICTATOR!!!!!!!!!!

Gerald said...

THERE WILL BE NO PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN 2008!!!!!!!!!!!

Gerald said...

WE ARE AN ENSLAVED PEOPLE UNDER THE CONTROL OF A BRUTAL AND DERANGED DICTATOR!!!!!!!!!!

Gerald said...

The New Look of Nazi America

Gerald said...

Hitler is doing a masterful job of giving the impression that we are a free people with democratic rights. Don't be fooled!!! We are under the rule of Hitler and his Nazi cabal!!!!!!!!!!

capt said...

"Men in authority will always think that criticism of their policies is dangerous. They will always equate their policies with patriotism, and find criticism subversive." -- Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) Historian and author Source: Freedom and Order, 1966

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"The trade of governing has always been monopolized by the most ignorant and the most rascally individuals of mankind." -- Thomas Paine (1737-1809)

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"Those in power need checks and restraints lest they come to identify the common good for their own tastes and desires, and their continuation in office as essential to the preservation of the nation." -- Justice William O. Douglas (1898-1980), U. S. Supreme Court Justice Source: We, The Judges, 1956

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Thanks ICH Newsletter!

Gerald said...

The Final Nail Has Been Implanted in Our Coffins

Gerald said...

This Article Is a Nightmare

Gerald said...

Bush has done it again: issued an Executive Order that gives him unprecedented power.

On May 9, he designated himself, and not Congress or the Supreme Court, as the insurer of the Constitution in the event of a national emergency.

And on July 17, he issued another Executive Order giving the Secretary of the Treasury the authority to freeze the assets of any person opposing Bush’s Iraq policy who may have committed an act of violence, or even posed “a significant risk of committing” such an act, or “assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, logistical, or technical support” for others committing such acts.

These acts that are now verboten would have “the purpose or effect of: (A) threatening the peace or stability of Iraq or the Government of Iraq; or (B) undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq or to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people.”

Gerald said...

Hitler Now Has Unlimited Power

Gerald said...

Waxman added: "I suppose the next step would be just disbanding the Justice Department."

Waxman wake up! Nazi America has no Justice Department!

capt said...

Bob Geiger Saturday Cartoons

Gerald said...

Unlimited Powers

Dear Posters:

With a heavy heart I am writing you this letter. In the past few weeks I have come across articles that have verified my belief that we will not have a presidential election in 2008. Bush has consolidated, expanded, and solidified his powers and now he is a despotic dictator.

Both political parties are embedded with each other. Bush’s unlimited powers were made easier with the Nazi Party in control of Congress. In fact there are tucked into many laws the expansion of Bush’s rule over the American people.

The Democrats are either helpless or hopeless to do anything and so they have joined the opposition party in Bush’s take-over of our country. He can never be stopped.

The Supreme Court is in his hip pocket and I have felt since about the early 1970’s that the Court is meaningless and useless. We do not need the U. S. Supreme Court.

For about twenty years I have felt that Congress is of little or no use. In fact there is little difference between the two parties.

Presidents from FDR to the present despotic dictator are controlled by Nazi American corporations that reveal a psychopathology of contempt for American workers and their families. The presidents have sold out the American people for corporate profits.

The United States of Evil is a country divided. Her people have accepted bushianity as her religion. Bushianity is a religion that has been founded on eight pillars. These eight pillars are hatred, murders, torture, war crimes, corruption, decadence, greed, and lies.

Bush as a despotic dictator has taken our U. S. Constitution and he has used it for toilet paper after he takes a dump and wipes his behind with it. The Constitution is irrelevant today in our country because the U. S. Congress has given Bush unlimited powers.

Our people will experience more pain and suffering as each day passes. People deserve what they are getting because they have remained silent regarding Bush’s unlimited powers.

Earth must reinvent itself. Our planet can reinvent itself by first experiencing a nuclear holocaust. Hopefully, the people who survive will have learned from Nazi America’s mistakes and begin a new world where Shalom is the guiding principle.

Sincerely,
Gerald

Gerald said...

From Saturday Cartoons by Bob Geiger, Jim Morin (I believe is the cartoon) caught me in the act. My wife is talking to a friend and she is discussing my gut feeling. Check what I am doing! This a frequent experience for me.

Gerald said...

Micki, you may want to read this article.

"Hi, I'm George Bush....

Gerald said...

The below paragraph is a prelude to the article, "Hi, I'm George Bush...!

Shakesville checks in with a frightening post about further dictatorial behavior from the Bush administration that causes them to fear that "the odds of us still having a republic in anything but name only by January 2009 grows more remote every day." Please go to Shakesville and have a read.

Our days as a republic are over! We are, for now and forever, under the dictatorial rule of a despotic emperor.

Gerald said...

A must read prayer for July 21!!!!!

Praying Each Day

capt said...

"Can any reasonable man be well disposed toward a government which makes war and carnage the only means of supporting itself?" -- Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804) Source: at the US Constitutional Convention

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"Perhaps the fact that we have seen millions voting themselves into complete dependence on a tyrant has made our generation understand that to choose one's government is not necessarily to secure freedom." -- Fredrich August von Hayek (1899-1992), Nobel Laureate of Economic Sciences 1974

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"Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the Government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding." -- Justice Louis D. Brandeis (1856-1941) US Supreme Court Justice 1928 Source: Justice Louis D. Brandeis, dissenting, Olmstead v. United States, 277 US 479 (1928)

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"We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.": Aesop - (c. 550 B.C.) legendary Greek fabulist

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Thanks ICH Newsletter!

capt said...

US forced to import bullets from Israel as troops use 250,000 for every rebel killed



US forces have fired so many bullets in Iraq and Afghanistan - an estimated 250,000 for every insurgent killed - that American ammunition-makers cannot keep up with demand. As a result the US is having to import supplies from Israel.

A government report says that US forces are now using 1.8 billion rounds of small-arms ammunition a year. The total has more than doubled in five years, largely as a result of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as changes in military doctrine.

"The Department of Defense's increased requirements for small- and medium-calibre ammunitions have largely been driven by increased weapons training requirements, dictated by the army's transformation to a more self-sustaining and lethal force - which was accelerated after the attacks of 11 September, 2001 - and by the deployment of forces to conduct recent US military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq," said the report by the General Accounting Office (GAO).

Estimating how many bullets US forces have expended for every insurgent killed is not a simple or precisely scientific matter. The former head of US forces in Iraq, General Tommy Franks, famously claimed that his forces "don't do body counts".

But senior officers have recently claimed "great successes" in Iraq, based on counting the bodies of insurgents killed. Maj-Gen Rick Lynch, the top US military spokesman in Iraq, said 1,534 insurgents had been seized or killed in a recent operation in the west of Baghdad. Other estimates from military officials suggest that at least 20,000 insurgents have been killed in President George Bush's "war on terror".

John Pike, director of the Washington military research group GlobalSecurity.org, said that, based on the GAO's figures, US forces had expended around six billion bullets between 2002 and 2005. "How many evil-doers have we sent to their maker using bullets rather than bombs? I don't know," he said.

"If they don't do body counts, how can I? But using these figures it works out at around 300,000 bullets per insurgent. Let's round that down to 250,000 so that we are underestimating."

Pointing out that officials say many of these bullets have been used for training purposes, he said: "What are you training for? To kill insurgents."

Kathy Kelly, a spokeswoman for the peace group Voices in the Wilderness, said Mr Bush believed security for the American people could come only from the use of force. Truer security would be achieved if the US developed fairer relations with other countries and was not involved in the occupation of Iraq. The President, said Ms Kelly, should learn from Israel's experience of "occupying the Palestinians" rather than buying its ammunition.

The GAO report notes that the three government-owned, contractor-operated plants that produce small- and medium-calibre ammunition were built in 1941.

Though millions of dollars have been spent on upgrading the facilities, they remain unable to meet current munitions needs in their current state. "The government-owned plant producing small-calibre ammunition cannot meet the increased requirements, even with modernisation efforts," said the report.

"Also, commercial producers within the national technology and industrial base have not had the capacity to meet these requirements. As a result, the Department of Defense had to rely at least in part on foreign commercial producers to meet its small-calibre ammunition needs."

A report in Manufacturing & Technology News said that the Pentagon eventually found two producers capable of meeting its requirements. One of these was the US firm Olin-Winchester.

The other was Israel Military Industries, an Israeli ammunition manufacturer linked to the Israeli government, which produces the bulk of weapons and ordnance for the Israeli Defence Force.

The Pentagon reportedly bought 313 million rounds of 5.56mm, 7.62mm and 50-calibre ammunition last year and paid $10m (about £5.5m) more than it would have cost for it to produce the ammunition at its own facilities.


More HERE

Gerald said...

capt, 250,000 bullets used to kill a single rebel seems like overkill. Are the American soldiers able to find the body of rebel with so many possible bullets in him. They must be picking up pieces of bones and flesh but they will never idenify the body.

Gerald said...

capt, thank you for sharing that article! I have heard that our soldiers shoot at everything and anything. I wonder how many Iraqi women and children have been terminated in this wrong and immoral war.

I also wonder if our security moms and soccer moms are glorified through this war. They voted heavily for Bush!!!!!

capt said...

Executive Order: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq



The White House Office of the Press Secretary recently released a new executive order that, according to Truthout Editor Marc Ash, "seeks to circumvent both judicial and Congressional oversight, render[ing] unto the executive branch, and ultimately Mr. Bush, absolute power of law."


More HERE

capt said...

The rest is marketing



One of the more memorable and revealing statements explaining the nature of the Bush administration build-up to the invasion of Iraq was offered in September 2002 by then White House chief of staff Andrew Card. "From a marketing point of view," he said, "you don't introduce new products in August." Five years later, a period longer than the Civil War and World War II, the administration is preparing to present its case for continuing the surge in Iraq. But rather than waiting for September, when General David Petraeus is scheduled to deliver his report, the administration has moved up the marketing to July.

The familiar props are rolled out, like the well-worn and peeling painted backdrop for a production of a travelling Victorian theatrical troupe, and members of the audience are expected to watch with rapt fascination, as though they had never seen this show before. The negative response to the preview does not alter the same old script.

The usual atmospherics are pumped up - sudden panic and fear, an elusive and ubiquitous enemy that assumes many guises and shapes, cherry-picked information to provide a patina of verisimilitude to the danger, followed by a march of authority figures to rescue us. Michael Chertoff, the secretary of homeland security, held a press conference on July 11 to announce that he had a "gut feeling" that the terrorist threat was dire. General Peter Pace, the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on his final tour of Iraq Tuesday, proclaimed a "sea change". Meanwhile, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice frantically telephoned moderate Republican senators, urging them not to defect from support of the president's position.

Even Rosencrantz-and-Guildenstern supporting players wander through, like Frances Townsend, President Bush's homeland security advisor, who, Tuesday, entered right into the White House press room to declaim about the terrorist threat, only to confirm the administration's failure to destroy al-Qaida and expose her own bafflement: "You're assuming it's a zero-sum game, which is what I don't understand."



More HERE

capt said...

When executive privilege becomes executive disdain



The Bush administration, which has been pushing presidential power to new extremes, is reportedly developing an even more dangerous new theory of executive privilege. It says that if Congress holds White House officials in contempt for withholding important evidence in the U.S. attorney scandal, the Justice Department simply will not pursue the charges. This stance tears at the fabric of the Constitution and upends the rule of law.

Congress has a constitutional right to investigate the purge of nine U.S. attorneys last year. And there is no doubt that the investigation has unearthed improprieties: Several administration officials have already admitted illegal or improper actions involving the politicization of the country's chief law enforcement agency.

But the administration has been extraordinarily defiant toward Congress' legitimate requests for information. The low point came recently when Harriet Miers, the former White House counsel, refused even to show up in response to a congressional subpoena.

The next question is how Congress will enforce its right to obtain information, and it is on that point that the administration is said to have made its latest disturbing claim. If Congress holds White House officials in contempt, the next step should be that the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia brings the matter to a grand jury. But according to a Washington Post report, the administration is saying that its claim of executive privilege means that the U.S. attorney would be ordered not to go forward with the case.

There is no legal basis for this obstructionism. The Supreme Court has made clear that executive privilege is not what the president claims it to be. It must be evaluated case by case by a court, balancing the need for the information against the president's interest in keeping his decision-making process private.

The White House's extreme position could lead to a constitutional crisis. If the executive branch refused to follow the law, Congress could use its own inherent contempt powers, in which it would level the charges itself and hold a trial. The much more reasonable route for everyone would be to proceed through the courts.

This showdown between a Democratic Congress and a Republican president may look partisan, but it should not. In a year and a half, there could be a Democratic president, and such extreme claims of executive power would be just as disturbing if that chief executive made them.

Congress should use all of the tools at its disposal to pursue its investigations.

It is not only a matter of getting to the bottom of some possibly serious government misconduct. It is about preserving the checks and balances that are a vital part of American democracy.



More HERE