BloggerRadio.com

Olbermann said it all. Hooray for at least ONE Main Stream Media Journalist!

GOP Leader Calls for more Attacks on America!

Seriously. As incredible as that sounds, I wasn't going for sensationalism here; I didn't make this stuff up. This is how the brain of a Republican't works. Read it and the source links over on Raw Story:

Arkansas GOP head: We need more 'attacks on American soil' so people appreciate Bush

Josh Catone
Published: Sunday June 3, 2007

In his first interview as the chairman of the Arkansas Republican Party, Dennis Milligan told a reporter that America needs to be attacked by terrorists so that people will appreciate the work that President Bush has done to protect the country.

"At the end of the day, I believe fully the president is doing the right thing, and I think all we need is some attacks on American soil like we had on [Sept. 11, 2001]," Milligan said to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, "and the naysayers will come around very quickly to appreciate not only the commitment for President Bush, but the sacrifice that has been made by men and women to protect this country."

Milligan, who was elected as the new chair of the Arkansas Republican Party just two weeks ago, also told the newspaper that he is "150 percent" behind Bush in the war in Iraq. [SOURCE1] [SOURCE2] [SOURCE3]

The nation doesn't need anymore whack-jobs like that in leadership roles. The Bush years should cover us for time-served for a few life times now. I can't wait for this long, national nightmare to finally be over. Republican'ts should be darted, tagged, fitted with radio collars, made to register just like child molesters, and sentenced to home confinement for the safety of the nation as a whole. Sheezus.

No Checks, No Balances, No Balls.

Ok, so I copped the initial idea for that post title from a headline used by "The Nation" magazine/blog this past Friday. Of course, I embellished it just a tad. Ya know, sorta like No Runs, No Hits, No Errors.

"The Nation" had left off that crucially descriptive 3rd and final element, "No Balls". "No Balls" completes something-of a double entendre ... No Runs, No Hits, No Errors = the sport of baseball and the double part involves the male anatomy, gonads ... ya know, the body part lacking from Democratic members of Congress. Get it [I went to such lengths to explain, incase a Republican't might be reading]?

It's a wholly appropriate, one line description of the United States government and the Democratic Congress.

Anyway, here's the link to the article appearing in "The Nation": http://www.thenation.com/blogs/capitalgames?pid=199204

Spreading the FACTS: Democratic Leadership is No Leadership at All

I'm choosing to simply provide the full copy-and-paste text of the e-mail I received from SirotaBlog on yesterday's complete betrayal by Democratic leadership. No one tells the story as succinctly as Sirota gets it done. These facts need to be shared far and wide because main stream media will never do them [the facts] justice. So either visit the original here:

http://www.workingassetsblog.com/2007/05/thefinalinsultdemsbrag_to.html and share the truth as widely as you can, or read it right here and then do the same:

The Final Insult: Dems Brag to Press About Deceiving the Public on Iraq
By David Sirota
In case you believe the malarkey being spewed by the House Rules Committee about the rule vote yesterday not really being the key vote to give President Bush a blank check, take a look at the Washington Post and the Associated Press today. I reported this at the beginning of the day yesterday and was then publicly criticized by House Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY). Now, though, it seems at least some major news organizations have caught on that I was exactly right. In the process, they are reporting what will be recorded in history as the final insult of it all: Democrats running to reporters bragging about their own "brilliance" in deceiving the public.
Here's the Associated Press on how the vote to approve the parliamentary procedures - not the sham, predetermined vote on the GOP amendment - was the real vote to give Bush a blank check:

“In a highly unusual maneuver, House Democratic leaders crafted a procedure that allowed their rank and file to oppose money for the war, then step aside so Republicans could advance it.”

Here's the Washington Post:

"Yesterday's vote to fund the war through September was a historical rarity: the passage of a bill opposed by the speaker of the House and a majority of the speaker's party. Two years ago to the day, then-Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) violated the 'Hastert rule' -- that only bills supported by a majority of the majority can come up -- by bringing up legislation to allow federal funding for stem cell research. The majority of the Republican majority opposed the law. He voted against it, but he knew it would never become law over President Bush's signature...The North American Free Trade Agreement passed in 1993, over the objections of most Democrats, who were then in the majority. But NAFTA did have the support of then-Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.), as well as the Democratic president, Bill Clinton. In contrast, the Iraq funding bill was not only opposed by the majority of House Democrats, it was also ardently opposed by the speaker and even the lawmaker who drafted it, Appropriations Committee Chairman David R. Obey (D-Wis.). And it is destined to become law. 'To have the chairman and the speaker vote against a bill like this, I've never heard of it,' Hastert said."

And here's the worst part of it all - Democrats are now bragging about it. Not only have they sent out a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee fundraising email attempting to confuse voters by claiming with a straight face that they really stood up to President Bush. But most insulting of all, they are actually running to reporters to pat themselves on the back for engineering a procedural pirouette designed to confuse the public. Here's the Post again:

"But while protesters outside the Capitol condemned what they saw as a capitulation, Democrats inside were remarkably understanding of their speaker's contortions. Party leaders jury-rigged the votes yesterday to give all Democrats something to brag about...Democrats saw brilliance in the legerdemain. And with such contortions came more appreciation for the efforts Pelosi was making to fund the war in a fashion most palatable to angry Democrats. 'It was the responsible thing to do, and she's a responsible speaker,' said Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.)."

This is what we're dealing with folks. A party that runs to the press to brag about the brilliance of using their majority not to end the war, but to create a situation that makes it seem as if they oppose the war, while actually helping Republicans continue it.

Bottomline: Wussocrats

New Poll Shows Congress's Approval Rating Falls to Negative Numbers!

Ok, so it's a poll of 1, me.

Here's the deal; I'm fed up with the whole lot of 'em. They suck. They have betrayed the Nov. '06 vote. Now I'm betraying these assholes in kind. It is obviously a shadow government. It is broken. It has failed America. I support the establishment of a viable 3rd Party. BOTH Republicans and Democrats are a friggin' JOKE.

WHAT IF ... what if every Democrat and every Republican ... every voting-age American made it a point to stop by their local, county elections office and switch their voter registration to Independent? I mean really, think about it. Ok, so in some states that means you wouldn't get to vote in either party's primary. So what? The fuckers we are electing don't represent any of us anyway. It would be like holding a party and no one shows up. I think it would be amusing as hell.

Think about it people. Republicans aren't happy with any of their choices currently. Democrats have been repeatedly betrayed by the nut-less wonders that are leading that party. Voting in either of those two parties ain't doin' any of us any favors in recent years. Why not abandon our sinking ships rather than staying on deck to hear the same old tune from the same old bands, and just rearranging the deck chairs???

Hell, Nader might have screwed us by assisting Bush to get elected once, but that was then, this is now. NOW, we've already been through the Bush era, what do we have to lose? Having suffered through the BushCo years is sorta like that prison inmate that's already been sentenced to two life terms and a death penalty. We have nothing left to lose. I'm gonna do it. I'm finally gonna make the trip over to county elections and switch my registration to Independent. I can't stomach being categorized with the Dems or Republicans. I highly recommend EVERY voter do the same.

VOTE ALERT: Dick Cheney Dems Plan to Hide Votes On Iraq TODAY

Rangel, Pelosi, Baucus and other Democrats consort with the enemy; become the next Liebermans of the Party

... and the party just ended for the Democratic Party on THIS Blog. I am sick and tired of governance by a shadow government. Anyone else fed up with this shit yet? We won't know for certain if the results of Pelosi's back-door maneuvering is good, bad, or just plain ugly for the average American worker or not until the terms of their deal with Satan [reads: BushCo] are revealed to the light of day.

But what I DO know is that I am tired of their METHODS. I want Government BY and FOR the PEOPLE. And what I am seeing is not it. It's just more of the same old bullshit.

To learn what the hell I'm goin' on about ya gotta check in on David Sirota's Blog, here:  http://www.workingassetsblog.com/2007/05/timeline_the_secret_bushdemocr_1.html

and again here: http://www.workingassetsblog.com/2007/05/k_street_vs_middle_america_bat.html

Then read the COMMENTS below the post here on The Huffington Post here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-sirota/timeline-the-secret-bush_b_48200.html

In "ultra secret" negotiations with Bush, Charlie Rangel (D-NY), Max Baucus (D-MT) and Speaker of the House Nancy "I must be drunk with power" Pelosi MAY have royally hosed the average American worker. The other UNFAIR-Trade advocates who participated in this agreement will be named and listed here as the facts are revealed. There will be a whole new "Wall of Shame" posted if they got it wrong. But for now, let's go with a list of SUSPECTS as provided by MyDD [tip-of-the-hat]:

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) ......................................Phone:  (202) 225-4965
Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr.
U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab
Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus .........................Phone:  (202) 224-2651
House Ways & Means Chairman Charles B. Rangel .........Phone:   (202) 225-4365
House Ways & Means Ranking Member Jim McCrery
New Democrat Coalition Leadership:
Rep. Ellen Tauscher, Chair, New Democrat Coalition .....Phone:  (202) 225-1880
Rep. Adam Smith, Vice-Chair, New Democrat Coalition .....Phone: (202) 225-8901
Rep. Ron Kind, Vice-Chair, New Democrat Coaltion ........Phone: (202) 225-5506
Rep. Artur Davis, Vice-Chair, New Democrat Coalition ....Phone: (202) 225-2665
Rep. Joe Crowley, Vice-Chair and Whip, New Democrat C.Phone: (202) 225-3965

[SOURCE] 

Sure, details on this topic have been kept under such tight wraps that it's difficult to know the precise terms of this back-room deal. But, I don't give a damn. It is the FACT that it was handled in SECRET ... in the shadows ... it is that fact alone that causes me to take an immediate, albeit preliminary position of opposition. Opposition not only to the terms of the agreement, but to those who consorted with the Bush administration in making it by such secretive methods.

Here is a trailing "ADDENDUM" from the bottom of a SirotaBlog e-newsletter I received:

ADDENDUM: In the interest of full transparency, let's remember: It's not totally clear who has seen the actual legislative language of this deal as of now. What we do know is that while many "summaries" have been released, the actual language of the supposedly "reformed" Peru, Panama, South Korea and Colombia Free Trade Agreements have not been made public. We also know that the websites of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee only posted summaries of the deal 24 hours after the press conference, not the actual legislative language. Additionally, we know that the ongoing negotiations in pursuit of this deal were kept 100 percent concealed from rank and file members of Congress (including Congress's most veteran fair traders), reporters and the public, meaning the entire process has been shrouded in secrecy. Public Citizen's Todd Tucker has more on Public Citizen's blog about how the press summaries being released by congressional Democratic leaders and the Bush administration deliberately refuse to include the actual legislative language of the trade deals in question, and that these summaries could very easily be very different from the final language - as they were during NAFTA.

I don't care AS MUCH about whether or not the "actual legislative language" turns out to be good, bad, or ugly in this instance, as I do the ongoing secret methodology applied to the process. These clowns have forgotten who they work for and need a reminder. And, if the results are bad or ugly for American labor ... then the fun REALLY begins. As it stands, I'm calling, writing AND faxing my reminders, and I hope many others will as well.

Scorched-earth response? You bet, and it's overdue. This crop of assholes have betrayed my confidence with their secret-sauce crap. They have betrayed our Nov. '06 vote and the honeymoon just ended. My patience has run out, and I am abandoning their lame asses TODAY. Screw 'em and the donkey they rode in on. They could come out on Monday morning and report an agreement that organizes the whole planet under an AFL-CIO labor agreement and increases the minimum wage to an NBA salary level and it won't matter to me. Did I mention that I'm fed-up with the SECRET deals and the back room maneuvering? To hell with 'em all.

And of course, while Bloggers like MyDD and SirotaBlog, the main-streamed-media hacks don't published anything substantive until FRIDAY in the NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/business/11trade.html and REUTERS: http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSWBT00695620070511

How this has helped my own selection process for a presidential nominee:

I'm STILL pissed at Joe Biden's vote on the bankruptcy bill. I haven't forgotten his shit. If a miracle bagged the nomination for Biden, I'd vote for a write-in before I'd cast my vote for that whore.

And NOW, after this secret bullshit, it's gonna take a friggin' miracle for ANY candidate to win my support for '08. But if the primary in my state were held TONIGHT, my vote goes to JOHN EDWARDS. I damn sure ain't gonna vote for Mrs. Special-Interest-Money-Bags Clinton and the wife of Mr. NAFTA himself, and I damn-sure won't vote for a Republican, so YEE-HA EDWARDS or, some 3rd party candidate should Edwards step on his thing along the way. As for Barack ... Mr. Money Bags Obama has been too careful to avoid the UNFAIR Trade issues that are screwing the American labor force, and I don't care much for slippery fence sitters. EDWARDS took a position. Besides, Man-Coulter hates Edwards, that's endorsement enough for me! ;-) That's it, "BLOGGERRADIO ENDORSES JOHN EDWARDS for PREZ." Sure, Edwards WAS in the Senate for a short time, but I'm going to overlook that shortcoming and support his candidacy anyway! I supported Edwards EARLY in his first run, and now I'm back onboard again.

Here's my selection criteria now: support the candidate with the least exposure to the corruption-club known as Congress and who has the best chance of winning with the least amount of campaign Graf raised. Oh sure, Edwards has money ... but nothing like the piles of "I want a favor, when this is over" of Clinton. As for Obama ... I want more in a leader than simply the novelty of his name and skin color ... like I've said, it is clear where Edwards stands on the issues, it is not with Obama who seems nearly as evasive as his "gee, we might as well be running mates" politico-pal Clinton.

Scorched-earth response? You bet, and it's overdue. This crop of faker assholes have betrayed my confidence with their secret-sauce crap. They have betrayed our Nov. '06 vote and the honeymoon just ended. My patience has run out, and I am abandoning their lame asses TODAY. Screw 'em and the donkey they rode in on. They could come out on Monday morning and report an agreement that organizes the whole planet under an AFL-CIO labor agreement and increases the minimum wage to an NBA salary level and it won't matter to me. Did I mention that I'm fed-up with the SECRET deals and the back room maneuvering? Screw 'em.

American labor is already a wounded casualty of Bush's failed Iraq occupation.  By overlooking this issue, just because all the  news is focused upon that cluster, American labor becomes K.I.A. --DA

Digital Politics and Mr. Sirota goes to Portland; The Bus Project; Acme Food and Drink ... good folks, good causes, good food and drink. A shameless plug for one and all:

Here's the poop:

The event is on Tuesday May 15th at 7pm at Acme Food and Drink (SE 8th and Main, PDX) and will address how blogs and the Internet age are impacting and reshaping the face of politics.

The forum will be moderated by best-selling author and political strategist David Sirota

Panelists include:
Kari Chisholm of Blue Oregon
Amy J. Ruiz of the Portland Mercury
Anna Galland of MoveOn.org

The event is cosponsored by the Bus Project, the Portland Mercury, and Loaded Orygun.

If ya wanna know more, contact "Leah", with any questions at leah.barbaree@busproject.org and stay updated by visiting www.busproject.org/events/digitalpolitics.

Here's the deal; Sirota is the real-meal-deal. If you haven't read his stuff, you should. In fact, if you really wanna get insight into all the hub-bub, cut through the crap, and ya can't make it over to Acme on Tuesday, May 15th, at least do yourself the favor of subscribing to the guy's e-mail list, I did! It's good shit [and there is lots of it ... this guy is a prolific writer, and will provide you with tons of reliable, truthful, well researched ammo]!

I'm tellin' ya, this Tuesday May 15th thing is a real opportunity. Things are heating up nicely as we move deeper into the '08 election cycle, and some of the real geeks and freaks of the blogosphere, who helped to ignite and fan the flames, will be in attendance that night [way more interesting than a bloody book signing]. If you enjoy poking sticks at the animals as much as I do, these folks should make-your-day.

Fish Stinks On Mondays and the Smell of Bush is Always Strongest in Fridays' News Reporting.

Mondays are traditionally poor days to order seafood off your favorite restaurant's menu coz seafood wholesalers don't typically supply on weekends; so from big fish Friday until Monday rolls around, things could get a little ripe [Reference]. And judging by the smell of things, the Bush administration's serve-by date has come and gone.
 

But when is it best to order up the news? Well, if you want to learn about the latest fishy business from the Bush administration, and from the fear-mongering GOP, ya gotta troll a little deeper through Fridays' fishy news. It seems that the gubbermint, and main stream media like to sneak stuff out on Fridays' coz they figure that you and I are more focused on dining out and so the news of their latest skullduggery won't reach as far to sea. This past Friday we see where Bush is working hard to protect the only Americans he and the GOP give a rat's ass about ... rich corporate executives ... ya know the type ... like former Enron Chairman Ken Lay.

Bush Wants Phone Firms Immune to Privacy Suits

By Ellen Nakashima

Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 4, 2007; Page A14 

The Bush administration is urging Congress to pass a law that would halt dozens of lawsuits charging phone companies with invading ordinary citizens' privacy through a post-Sept. 11 warrantless surveillance program

[snip] ...

Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said to gain his support, the measure needs to state explicitly that a person who intentionally violates the law should not be granted immunity. "If somebody intentionally breaks the law . . . that's not something you should just ignore," he said. [SOURCE]

Well Senator Wyden, there is NO gaining THIS constituent's support for such a stinking law. We don't need no stinkin' bad-new law to protect crooks from prosecution over old violations of existing good laws. 

I suggest that we assume the Republican approach to a free market economy and apply it to our judicial system as well ... instead of attempting to regulate and legislate everything, let market forces play themselves out. Let things take their natural course, and be self regulating with the laws we already have on our books. I mean, more laws just means more government interference, now-don't-it?

It would seem that Bush & Company LOVES new regulation and government interference, just so long as it keeps them and theirs out of legal hot water. But, they hate it when it doesn't favor them. Sounds like a serious FLIP-FLOP in their position on Law & Order to me. Bush and the GOP complain about lawyers like John Edwards taking legal action against their corporate cronies when a swimming pool device sucks the entrails out of a little girl; but then they wanna pass a law to protect themselves when they get caught red-handed climbing directly up the collective private asses of ordinary U.S. Citizens. Make 'em walk the plank.  In fact, "Get a rope" and hang this bunch from the yard-arm. Which is pretty-much the message we tried to send to Congress in the last election cycle, but to-date has gone unheeded.

Senator Wyden, don't let this smelly legislative proposal get past ya, coz we don't want Bush and his corporate cronies getting their hooks any deeper into us. Catch it, and gut it, plain and simple ... and I don't mean "simple" as in George Bush, simpleton. I don't care as much about party affiliation as I do about fighting against these political fear tactics and corruption ... corporate and political. If constituent input continues to go unheeded, support will sink like that for Bush ... all the way down to Davey Jones' locker.

The Washington Post's Dana Milbank Tries Writing Comedy; Advice: Keep Your Day Job

I'm not even gonna bother with the link to this WaPo pile of crap coz it ain't worthy of any added exposure. If ya wanna see the whole thing, you can search it up, or you can write directly to "Dana" to ask for it using this link to his e-mail form at WaPo: http://projects.washingtonpost.com/staff/email/dana+milbank/

Here's the basics:

Kucinich's Battle Against Cheney Not So (Im)Peachy Keen

By Dana Milbank

Wednesday, April 25, 2007; 8:10 AM

Here Milbanks pokes fun at Kucinich's reference to the Declaration of Independence:

Kucinich did have one thing: a copy of the Declaration of Independence. And he was not afraid to read it. "We hold these truths to be self-evident," the aspiring impeachment manager read at the start of his news conference. He continued all the way through the bit about the right of the people to abolish the government.

Hey, funny stuff Dana, maybe you can get a spot on a late night show with Dennis Miller. Sheez.

Then there is his insightful reference to "USS Kucinich":

A reporter from the Cleveland Plain Dealer encouraged USS Kucinich to contact planet Earth. "But Nancy Pelosi says this is not going anywhere," she pointed out.

But wait, there's more:

Kucinich evidently realized there was no reason for him to get cold feet just because of Cheney's leg.

Now there's a gut buster.

More groaners followed:

Rep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), chairman of the House Democratic caucus, was equally dismissive -- "Dennis can do what he wants; I'm not going to support it" -- but used the occasion to try out some Cheney material: "This is the biggest setback for the vice president since oil went under 65 bucks a barrel."

Milbank, now desperate to salvage this piece of dung before deadline goes for the personal cheap shots about the dude's height and hair style next:

Kucinich, however, did not find humor in the matter. Standing perhaps 5 feet 6 inches tall in shoes, he wore a solemn face as he approached the microphones, which nearly reached his eye level. He beckoned to aides, who handed out thick binders detailing the case.

It's a friggin' wonder that Milbank's dressing down didn't include Kucinich's dimensions minus his shoes. But, he did include weighty items like the inclusion of weather and traffic report details from Capitol Hill, along with a fashion statement:

Kucinich read at length from his articles of impeachment, undeterred by rush-hour traffic noise on Independence Avenue ("I'll wait till the truck goes by here," he said at one point) and wind that ruffled his text and the few strands of his hair that were insufficiently weighted by Brylcreem.

I include a quote from Clarence Darrow in the sidebar here on BloggerRadio that goes like this:

"When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President; I'm beginning to believe it." --Clarence Darrow

Milbank's piece prompts me to take poetic license with the Darrow quote"

"When I was a boy I was told that any stupid hack could become a journalist for the Washington Post; Dana Milbank has proven that to be true." --DA

Apparently it has escaped WaPo and Milbank's attention that more than half of the American electorate will appreciate Dennis Kucinich's efforts despite the fact that they have a snowball's chance in hell of succeeding. Outside of the 495 Capitol Beltway ... out here where a majority of us voted last November to instruct our elected representatives to right this listing ship ... only "USS Kucinich" has the cannon and the balls to at least TRY to do our bidding. Some DUDE named "Dana" sure as hell wouldn't. 

My guess is that "Dana" is simply jealous that fellow WaPo columnist Michael Wilbon got a gig covering the NBA, so to keep up with the basketball Jones' Dana thought he'd try his hand at comedy writing. My review: He sucks at it.

So, if ya wanna actually get some meaningful headlines try TruthOut.org and skip ALL the mainstream media junk.

Office Of The Presidency Becomes Bad Gene Pool From All The Inbreeding; Directive To Congress

Or, "We Told You So" [over, and freaking over again]. Monotonously so. The GOP can buy and/or steal an election with skill, but once "installed" they cannot govern, lead, or manage successfully.

There is a shadow government running things in America today. The shadow government has made a mistake, and is now finally being exposed. Their mistake has a name: George Bush.

In only the latest round of obvious indicators of buffoonery and guilt, we have yet another privatization failure, this time at Walter Reed [previously FEMA-Katrina], "Scooter" Libby officially found guilty, Cheney implicated, Bush firing U.S. Attorneys (ala Nixon), and the FBI admittedly breaking the freaking law by violating terms of the ridiculously named USA Patriot Act; almost assuredly on orders from the White House, and most likely targeting political opponents!

I've repeatedly posted about Bush and his administration's ability to screw-up train wreck(s). I am only now amazed by the fact that there are not mass rallies, in the streets, demanding the impeachment of this jackass and all his cronies. I guess everyone is too busy simply trying to sleep through this nightmare of historical proportions.

When Watergate brought down Nixon, some of the complicit were allowed to go free; to spawn and go forward corrupting.

Congress needs to amend the Constitution. We need an amendment which disallows those who were remotely associated with, or are descendants of, or who are related, no-matter the distance, from those associated with Nixon's Watergate Administration, and now Bush's too [to safeguard future generations, and break the chain]. No-matter how remotely connected, they must be prevented from ascension to ANY office of public service within ANY level of government in these United States. Alternatively, we should do what was done with ALL of those who were even suspected of being remotely associated with the assassination of President Lincoln ... hang the fuckers, one and all.

For instance, such an amendment would have spared us Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld. The worst and most corrupt administration in the history of America.

And no matter how, and no-matter the potential consequence, the occupation of Iraq must be brought to a close under the same watch as it was falsely started, and NOT be passed along to the next President to clean-up the messes of the current, clustered Bush administration. Congress must force this spoiled little Brat to clean-up after himself for the first time in his warped existence.

Those first 100 Congressional hours have come and gone, and they were not enough. We need much more dramatic change. This Congress needs to apply it's full energies to unraveling just about everything since Reagan forward including the Free Trade crap of the Clinton administration!

Congress should also consider an amendment to disallow more than a single member of any single family, be they family by blood or simply by marriage, from running for the office of President. Let's throw in too that no one who has ever married their own cousin should be allowed to run for office . This would have prevented the current administration, and about half of the prominent candidates for the next presidency ... and spared Americans still more monotony. While we're at it, let's exclude Actors and Actresses too. They have an unfair advantage after all.  That would have saved us from the disasters of the corrupt and anti-labor Reagan Administration [Congress: reenact he Fairness Doctrine] and the forthcoming candidacy of pretender Fred Thompson. Who's next for the GOP, Roger Ailes perhaps?

And by the way, Schumer is correct, Gonzales should resign ... as of YESTERDAY.

In these ways, we could help to prevent the Office of the President from becoming a bad gene pool from all the inbreeding, and lessen the American publics' exposure to reruns, has-beens, and series cancellations!

Richard Ellmyer is truly a DICK

UPDATE: here is Dickie-the-spammer's contact info:

 Ellmyer, Richard  ellmyer@macsolve.com
      9124 N. McKenna Ave
      Portland, Oregon 97203
      1-503-289-7174

My first question was, "what the hell IS a Richard Ellmyer, anyway?". Recently, an associate of mine tells of receiving an entirely unsolicited E-Mail rant from someone signing their diatribe as: "Richard Ellmyer". Neither of us had ever heard of a "Richard Ellmyer" before seeing this unsolicited diatribe, received in E-Mail. The associate is still wondering where DICKIE stole the E-Mail address for abuse coz there was never any "subscribing" to any of Dickie's crap that we've since discovered on the 'net.

Even though we're both long time residents of the area and had never heard the name Richard Ellmyer before, as it turns out, the guy is rather infamous; especially within Portland City gubbermint.

A quick Google search reveals that DICKIE-Boy is a very opinionated fellow. He seems to be an expert [reads: blow-hard] on everything. While I can't personally take any issue with being opinionated, I'm careful to choose a more discreet forum for the expression of MY opinions. Like this Blog for instance, where anyone is FREE to stay and read, or just go-the-hell-away. By contrast DICKIE doesn't give the general public that same consideration. Nope, DICKIE-boy is a *special* breed all-to-himself. And apparently, all *about* himself as well.

DICKIE-boy apparently doesn't cotton-to the whole concept of his rights ending where our rights begin sorta thing. Nope, DICKIE-boy has decided to rely upon his own unique interpretation of loop-holes in the corporate-contrived  "Can-Spam" Act, net-etiquette, common-sense and even human-decency.

Several copies of his E-Mailed diatribe were printed off and shared simply because of how incredulously arrogant and self-absorbed that it reads. DICKIE-boy's writing does instill a certain, difficult-to-describe, even morbid, curiosity. Sorta like rubber-neckin' a car-wreck as ya drive past on the freeway, or watching NASCAR for the wrecks; or watching fights to see if a hockey-game might break out.

DICKIE-boy's real purpose is obscured by his chosen method of delivery, and lost entirely when he includes both his composed list of self-important credentials and a spammer-like disclaimer onto the end of his diatribe. Check this out, especially the second part:

"Richard Ellmyer
Community leader coordinating a local effort to bring the Oregon National Guard to the Sharff Army Reserve Center
Community activist leading the campaign to Stop The Portland Hope Meadows Corporation From Adding To The Overload Of Public Housing Clients In The Portsmouth Neighborhood And North Portland
3-6-9 Resolution author and project champion
Writer/Publisher - HAP Watcher commentary - Published on the Internet and distributed to 13,000 readers interested in public housing policy in Multnomah County.
http://www.goodgrowthnw.org
President, MacSolutions Inc. - A Macintosh computer consulting business providing web hosting for artists and very small businesses. Located in Portsmouth, the neighborhood with the second highest concentration of public housing clients, 18% and rising, within HAP's Multnomah county jurisdiction of 117 neighborhoods."

Wow, the dude has appointed himself our "community leader" ... sorta like George Bush appointing HIMSELF as everybody's president! DICK is no more MY community leader than George is MY president.

Then DICKIE goes on to promote his own self-interest by including his commercial advertisement for his small business, and in the process embarrassing MAC users everywhere. I'm pretty sure his business isn't the only thing small about DICKIE. The old adage is that there is no such thing as bad publicity, but if *I* were a MAC user, I'd certainly know where NOT to go for MAC-related assistance! DICKIE ... dude, get-a-real-job and stop annoying the general population of Portland with your  unsolicited E-Mails. Sheez, what a friggin' loser.

I'm also no lawyer but, I'd be willing to wager by including the description of his bidness into his diatribe, DICKIE MAY have pulled his favorite loop-hole tightly closed and qualified his E-Mail blast to Portland residents as both "UBE" and "UCE" [Unsolicited Bulk E-mail (UBE) and Unsolicited Commercial E-mail (UCE)].

But, this second part, the very last part of "DICKIE'S-DIATRIBE"[—Synonyms: tirade, harangue], a disclaimer-of-sorts, is where the real fun begins because it really serves as DICKIE'S own confession of wrong-doing:

"Note to readers: HAP Watchers is written, distributed and published with the intent of changing government policy on public housing. It follows the path laid out in the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America which guarantees both free speech and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances. HAP Watchers is political free speech with no commercial interest in product or service. Political free speech is at the heart of our democracy. Without it we have no democracy. Technology gatekeepers beware that you do not become censors and spies as your counterparts in China. Commentaries seeking a change in government practices, such as HAP Watchers, are specifically exempt from the federal regulatory legislation called the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003 also known as the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003.

It is counter productive to the goal of changing government actions to send HAP Watchers to those who are not interested. Any recipient of a HAP Watchers email, with the exception of public officials and their personal staffs, who does not want to receive HAP Watchers need only ask to be removed by replying to any HAP Watcher email and writing Remove or Unsubscribe in the subject or at the top of the reply body. Requests for removal must be made from or include the same email address to which HAP Watchers was sent in order to be found and deleted.

Occasionally new lists of names are acquired and added to the email database. This may cause some email addresses that have previously been removed to reappear. I apologize for any inconvenience. Please follow the removal procedure to be taken off the list."

My TRANSLATION of DICKIE'S-DIATRIBE-DISCLAIMER:

DICKIE is saying above that he can send us his unsolicited commercial E-Mails and diatribes at will. DICKIE tells us that we have no rights of our own to the private use of our own E-Mail inbox [paid-subscription aside] simply because DICKIE has decided for us what is important for us to read. Because DICKIE is somehow smarter than ALL the rest of us, and besides, he's the self-appointed "community leader", and there-by knows best for us all. AND, DICKIE goes on to tell us what *WE* "MUST" DO  to even attempt to be relieved of his junk E-Mails ... but then tells us there are no guarantees that those provisions might actually work to that end. But, if that disturbs you in the least, too-bad, so-sad.

Thus far I have only included the bottom/disclaimer crap from DICKIE'S-DIATRIBE. Perhaps the most offensive portion of DICKIE's unsolicited E-Mail is the part where he includes a list of personal details about individuals that DICKIE collected by subverting the processes of public information. I'm not going to further his cause by including that list here.

MY RESPONSE TO "DICKIE'S-DIATRIBE & UCE":

For starters read this and perhaps become a member of CAUSE.ORG who absolutely opposes the concept of 'un-subscribing" [to things you were never subscribed to in the first place] or "opting-out". And, counter to DICKIE'S droning-on about his First Amendment, consider this by clicking here: "Isn't stopping spam a violation of the First Amendment?"

Lemme mention that I am certainly not the first to highlight "DICKIE's DIATRIBES". Way back in July of this year, another Blogger posted this: "It is OKAY to spam if you Just add this like Richard Does"

I Cancelled My Oregonian Newspaper Home Delivery Subscription Today ... Think They'll Notice?

I voted early. I voted today. Nah, not on the official ballot; it hasn't arrived yet. 

My phone has been ringing with political party volunteers calling to ask what I'll donate these past few days.

Sometimes it's not what you are willing to GIVE, but what you're willing to give-up or do without [or get rid of].

Not earth shaking like the quake in Hawaii I know, especially because I was merely a Sunday-Only subscriber that accepted an incentive subscription deal in the first place.

But I did pre-pay for the year. So I'll have the satisfaction of their having to send me a refund for the unused part. I'll know that someone in that building will read the reason. The guy who took my call claimed he was noting it anyway. Primarily because he expressed his own ... shall we say, "surprise" at his employer's .... shall we say, poor judgment. 

But HEY ... The Oregonian has leaned right in something like 2-outta-3 of recent campaigns. I gave it a go for a few months. But, I only ever really perused the Ads and recycled it anyway.

As long as the Oregonian doesn't mistakenly blame the poor distributor. Coz, the distributor & carrier did a sterling job.

The Oregonian Newspaper along with all the out-of-state monies flowing to Saxton accomplished one thing with today's endorsement. It's helped me decide how to deal with all  of those campaign volunteer callers asking for contributions.

Dear executives at the Oregonian Newspaper here's to you for your dumb-ass political endorsement of deceptive dufus, Ronnie Saxton for Gubbernor:

Helen Thomas Has More Balls Than Tony Snow Blower

I think there is a good chance that Tony Snow-Blower is a woman in drag.

God knows he's a nutless wonder, at the very least.

He'd have to be to take a gig lying his ass off for the worst lying sack of garbage in recorded history: G.W. Bush.

Washington Post Reports On Justice Department Corruption

Remember all the hub-bub in the news, back when Texas Democrats fled their state to avoid a vote on redistricting? Sometime in 2003 I think it was ...

Remember too, all the bullshit wrangling in on-line forums and Blogs, largely from misguided and misinformed right-wing-nuts who argued that those Texas Democrats were shirking their duty and running scared, etc, etc, etc.

I'm luvin' this: WE TOLD YOU[dumb-shits] SO.

Yep, turns out those Texas Dems had guts and acted in the best interest of Texas and America; while corrupt Republicans were trying to rig the game ILLEGALLY. Now TRUTH and Lady Justice are about to climb up those "evil doer's" rumps while wearing her golf-spikes.

In-effect, there are 5 Representatives in the U.S. House, from Texas, whose seats are really illegitimate. Fake Congress-persons, if you will. Illegal even. Gerrymandered into office.

Turns out that BushCo political appointees to the United States Justice Department ran rough-shod over career Justice Department lawyers and experts, and on top of that, issued some  gag order over them that was as unusual as the Texas gerrymandering they were assisting.

Hell, I don't think that even your Republican controlled Supreme Court is gonna be able to cover THESE crooks asses, ultimately. Damn man ... I'm beginning to think that perhaps there isn't a single honest Republican politician left anywhere in America! I KNOW there aren't any in the Bush Administration.

And oh yeah, while I'm at it ... all those Hispanics who thought that BushCo was your pal ... WE TOLD Y-O-U SO too. Sheez.

Read 'em and weep righties ... get your daily dose, right here:

Justice Staff Saw Texas Districting As Illegal
Voting Rights Finding On Map Pushed by DeLay Was Overruled

By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 2, 2005; Page A01

Justice Department lawyers concluded that the landmark Texas congressional redistricting plan spearheaded by Rep. Tom DeLay (R) violated the Voting Rights Act, according to a previously undisclosed memo obtained by The Washington Post. But senior officials overruled them and approved the plan.

The memo, unanimously endorsed by six lawyers and two analysts in the department's voting section, said the redistricting plan illegally diluted black and Hispanic voting power in two congressional districts. It also said the plan eliminated several other districts in which minorities had a substantial, though not necessarily decisive, influence in elections.

Stay The Course = Stay Forever

Finally, main-stream-media WaPo offers up a direct, 2-word counter to one of the BushCo and GOP 3-word dumb-downs!  "Stay The Course = Stay Forever"

I mean c'mon people, "stay the course" is older than dirt. None of you would accept such stale material from even a stand-up comic! Why buy into it from Court-Jesters Bush & Dumbsfeld?

Hey I like it ... B&D = Bush & Dumbsfeld ;-)

Anyway, in typical, I wanna please every potential voter I can pander-to style, Joe Biden, Democratic Senator from Delaware [capitol of the credit-card industry, and Biden handlers] had this to say about Bush's latest dog & pony show:

" ...  a positive step. The president did a better job laying out where we are and where we're trying to go in Iraq, but failed to tell us how or when we're going to get there. ..."

That was crap. Pure middle-of-the-road, non-committal pander.  That from the guy who said the following, about basically the identical strategist, during  Condoleezza Rice's confirmation hearings:

BIDEN: "For God's sake, don't listen to Rumsfeld. He doesn't know what in the hell he's talking about on this."

Now THAT was an honest assessment by Biden. But, I believe that may have been before he even informally declared himself a candidate for the presidency for '08. Since then he's had to choose his words with a tad more political correctness. That sort of middle-of-the-road pandering, and his bankruptcy vote are both kindda nauseating.

Look, we all understand that the G.O.P. is all about ONE thing: Corporate profits.

We also know that America has only ONE manufacturing sector left. We manufacture weapons and all things military.

So, it follows that a permanent military mess = good for the American economy.

That is true because, we've farmed out all of the rest of America's manufacturing overseas to slave-labor countries, at the direct expense of the American middle-class.

If you take military conflict away from the G.O.P. they will have ZERO economic policy left.

So of course, BushCo & the GOP are ALL about "stay the course". Gimmie a break. C'mon sheep-eople, figure it out! The G.O.P.'s only economic policy is to sacrifice American sons & daughters in wars for economy.

Never forget that both Cheney and Dumsfeld are from the Nixon administration. Not just from that era, but actually has-beens from the disgraced Nixon administration. And, George Bush's own grandfather was a director and shareholder of companies that profited from their involvement with the financial backers of Nazi Germany's military machine. George can't help himself, he's just a chip off the old block[head].

Anyway, here is an excerpt & link from the WaPo piece:

An Offering of Detail But No New Substance

By Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 1, 2005; Page A01

Thirty-two months after U.S. forces invaded Iraq, President Bush's advisers concluded that his message of "stay the course" has been translated by a weary American public as "stay forever." And so yesterday the president tried to reassure the nation that he has a comprehensive vision for beating the insurgency and eventually bringing U.S. troops home. [SOURCE]

Cry-baby . . .

I awoke today to Josh Marshall's new post on Ohio Rep. Jean Schmidt's latest attempt to cast off blame for her deplorable performance -- also reported  in DA's post here -- on the House floor the other day, and felt compelled add my views to those of others at the Dayton Daily News:

Dear Editor:

Jean Schmidt has repeatedly embarrassed the entire state of Ohio, first in her vitriolic remarks addressed to Congressman Murtha on the on the floor of the US House of Representatives: and then in her childish responses to the justifiable criticism she received from decent people of all political persuasions in the aftermath.

State Representative Danny Bubp, behind whose alleged words she hid to launch her vicious attack, has stated he said nothing about passing along a  such an ugly message about cut-and-run cowards to Rep. Murtha -- who, unlike reserve Col. Bubp, has had a long and distinguished service as a combat Marine.

And Rep. Schmidt, in her endless litany of complaints and excuses for her behavior, tries to make the same claim -- in spite of the fact that Rep. Murtha's military career has been trumpeted throughout the media ever since he proposed redeploying our soldiers in Iraq beyond the perimeter as soon as practically possible,

But that's not all. Jean Schmidt has repeated the self-contradictory claims that she did  not attack Rep. Murtha personally during her House remarks and that Danny. Bopb did ask her to direct a message to Murtha about the difference between cowards and Marines. And if lying were not enough (for clearly, in this matter either she or Mr. Bopb is not telling the truth), Congresswoman Schmidt, in true bully-caught-out fashion, now whines that she is the one under partisan attack!

Because of strong interest in the recent contest between Ms. Schmidt and Paul Hackett for the Ohio 02 House seat, many Ohioans have seen her in action; we've seen her scolding partisanship on public display before. While Americans across the country have expressed shock at the ugliness of her performance, we here in Ohio are all-to-familiar with Ms. Schmidt's reactionary screeds.

We've had more than our fill of them. The Republican Party at all levels -- national, state and local -- along with decent Americans of all persuasions need to hold Jean Schmidt accountable for her shameful behavior. The last thing citizens of  her district, our state, our country and the world need is another elected official whose idea of debating so serious an issue as the Iraq war  is to hurl accusations, then run and hide, like a playground brat.

Mean Jean indeed.

Bubp Never Said It, & Idiot Schmidt Uses Ignorance as Her Excuse.

Hey Ohio Republican voters, way-to-go. What's next from Ohio Republicans?

This from the Cincinnati Enquirer:

"Bubp, who told The Enquirer Monday he did not mention Murtha by name in his talk with Schmidt and would not call a fellow Marine a coward.

[Add LIAR to Schmidt's resume.]

“After I talked to Danny, I wrote down some notes and went to the floor to ask for time to speak,’’ said Schmidt, who said she did not run her remarks by staff or Republican legislative leaders before delivering them." 

She also claimed not to have known that Murtha was a Marine. Well let's see, Schmidtty works in the legislature ... they make laws, and the rule of law dictates that "Ignorance Of The Law Is No Excuse". And, there is no excuse for an idiot like Schmidt working in the nation's capitol. The witch should resign. Freakin' amazing. [SOURCE]

"Cut the pork, not the poor." OR "Bring Democracy to Congress"

An excellent Op-Ed piece in today's WaPo accurately characterizes how screwed-up WE HAVE ALLOWED the United States Congress to become. Below is an excerpt [emphasis added by yours truly ... or not], and link to the source, where I recommend reading the whole thing:

Bring Democracy to Congress

By E. J. Dionne Jr.

Tuesday, November 22, 2005; Page A29

Perhaps we should redeploy the democracy experts we have sent to the Middle East and ask them to work on our Congress. The past few days have confirmed that our national government is dysfunctional.

[see picture for example of "dysfunctional", or perhaps more accurately malfunctional. Sorta like: "a date which will live in infamy" (luv the pic, don't u?)]------------------>

It wasn't just the nasty Friday evening "debate" over Iraq policy in the House, set up by Republican leaders to score political points after Rep. John Murtha's call for immediate withdrawal received so much attention. And it wasn't just Rep. Jean Schmidt, an Ohio Republican, deciding to send a constituent's "message" to Murtha -- a Marine combat veteran with 37 years of active and reserve service -- to the effect that "cowards cut and run, Marines never do."

What happened hours earlier, at 1:45 a.m., symbolized all that is wrong with Washington. After immense pressure from Republican leaders, the House passed $50 billion in budget cuts -- including reductions in Medicaid, food stamps and child support enforcement -- on a 217 to 215 vote. Republicans who pride themselves on being moderate had their arms twisted into backing the bill, partly on the basis of promises that many of the cuts it contained wouldn't survive in House-Senate negotiations.

[snip]

Rep. Jim Ramstad, a Minnesota Republican who dissented from his party, made the case against the budget as well as anyone. "We should cut the pork," he told the Washington Times, "not the poor." 

The current leadership in Congress simply refuses to revisit any of the tax cuts it has passed since President Bush took office. On the contrary, the leaders plan to push through $70 billion in tax cuts after Thanksgiving, including dividend and capital gains reductions that go overwhelmingly to the wealthiest Americans.

[SOURCE]

As an aside, I tend to frequent & read the WaPo more than the NYT since the NYT recently made their Op-Ed columnist and other selected content pay-to-play.  Besides, I'm on the LEFT coast so one big-ass Eastcoast newspaper is sufficient. If the NYT's E-Mail updates [still free] include Pay-To-Play items I can't resist, I simply log-in to my local library's on-line site and click the "Research" tab and presto!

That takes me to a log-in [using my library card so that Gonzales & BushCo can keep track] to the "ProQuest" research site where I can read the full text of those pieces, for FREE. Ahhh, one of those nearly extinct instances of my tax dollars actually providing some "Return-On-Investment"!

I remain hopeful that the MBA rocket scientist who convinced the NYT to make their on-line content (any of it) a pay-to-play proposition will soon be looking for employment elsewhere. I'm confident that it's only a matter of time.

Bob Woodward and Insomnia

Hello all -- Can't sleep and this line from Wolf Blitzer's interview* with WaPo Executive Editor Leonard Downie about Bob Woodward's latest tale  is troubling me.

Downie  says Woodward came to him just as the Plame  grand jury was about to expire because, it seems, it dawned on him that he should tell his exec editor that he'd been a very early recipient of the Plame leak.

Then, Downie says this:

At that point, once Bob had told me about this, then a chain of events took place that led to his being asked by the special prosecutor to testify in a deposition, which Bob did on Monday.

The "chain of events" phrase is what I keep turning over inside my head. We're told the senior official went to Fitzgerald with the story of having told Woodward about Plame in June 2003, and that after receiving this tardy news Fitz deposed Woodward for over two hours.

Kind of a coincidental "chain of events" isn't it -- that both Woodward and some senior official stay mum for two years, then Bob feels rather suddenly compelled to clue Downie in? And then, voila! The senior official discovers a similarly compelling need to tell the same story to the special prosecutor. How many missing links in this "chain of events" must there be?

And now to bed . . .

*To find the line in Mr. Downie's comments on Wolf Blitzer's Situation Room, click the link, then do a find/search  for "chain of events" on the page.

Where's the Outrage?

CIA Article Sidebar: A Story of Deja Vu
Some Critics See a Plame Parallel

By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 14, 2005; Page C01

Dana Priest, and her newspaper, are being hit from both sides.

Some conservatives are furious over her Washington Post story this month disclosing that the CIA has been hiding and interrogating terror suspects at secret prisons in Eastern Europe. And some liberals are angry that The Post agreed to a request by senior U.S. officials not to name the countries involved.

But, this is the laughable part:

"Judy Miller went to jail," said author and radio host Bill Bennett, a fierce critic of the Post story. "This woman might have to go to jail too. . . . The hypocrisy here is for the media establishment to say some great wrong was done to Valerie Plame, but where is the outrage about Dana Priest?"

Hey Bill Bennett, ya really wanna know where the outrage is about the Dana Priest's story? I'll tell ya where it is ... we used up all our "outrage" waiting 2+ years for some answers on the Plame case, and we're still waiting for answers about the Downing Street Memo ... "MemoGate".

So, ask us again in a couple of years, or so. And what happens if it is discovered that the source of the leak is a prominent Republican Senator, or some-such, hmm? Will your righteous indignation be as loud and long?

TEA INTO THE HARBOR TIME

The Los Angeles Times audits the IRS and finds that the IRS is now the Bush Administration's equivalent of Hitler's Nazi SS.

And radio Talk Shows are all over this today too. I suspect it's another BushCo diversionary tactic, but this Blog will address it quickly before returning to the real focus: insane, sneaky, nasty Republican legislation, designed to further the cause of the robber-baron causes, while all the media focuses on indictments and investigations.

BushCo has sent his jack-boots to challenge freedom of religion in California, and to send a signal nationwide, that the only freedom of religion left in America applies to the fundamentalist, right-wing, bible thumping hypocrites who are the core supporters of the failed Bush Administration.

When the Federal government begins a coordinated attack on religious freedom, it's time to toss the tea folks. This is BULLSHIT, which should prompt all REAL American patriots to at least begin a telephone, fax and letter-writing campaign  [do all 3] of biblical proportions. Not just to your Senators and Representatives, but also to the lame-ass IRS, to ask 'em what the fuck they think they are doing.

If the information that the LA-Times is reporting is actually taking place between the IRS and what has been characterized / labeled as a so-called "liberal" church, then it begs the question, how about equal justice under the law? Equal justice applied would remove the tax exempt status of the entire bible-belt of the south, and then some! Until EQUAL justice can honestly be applied, NONE should be applied. For God's sake, how about Pat Robertson suggesting the assassination of another country's President!!! That whack-job uses television as his bully pulpit every day, to millions of sheep and lemmings worldwide! OK, so maybe rather than legitimate religion, Pat falls more accurately under the category of an escaped mental patient.

I DO favor the removal of tax exemption for churches and religions which directly interfere in the political process, I do. But NOT unless such interference can be proven beyond doubt, and administered equally to ALL religious organizations, nationwide. And, it's obvious that is not the case in the IRS's wielding of BushCo's corrupted powers.

Hey George, you want to repair your approval ratings in the polls, so that those Republicans you are leaving behind have a snowball's chance in hell come '06 & '08? Then here are a few suggestions: stop waging economic and social war on the American middle class; Stop having the FBI check to see what books we check out of the library; Stop being hell-bent to privatize the entire planet; Stop fouling the planet's environment for the ever-lovin' buck ...

AND, dissolve the IRS altogether. Close it. Disband it, Be done with it forever. The IRS is as failed an experiment as your Administration has become, Georgie. Sure, we need tax revenue, but only when its collection can be  administered in a manner which does not infringe upon the founding principals of this nation. ANY government institution which makes THAT mistake, should suffer an immediate demise, without further consideration. This kindda shit has gotta stop, NOW Georgie.

We have had enough. We are mad as hell, and we are NOT gonna take it anymore.

"In Germany they came first for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me." --Martin Niemöller

Well, I am speaking out. And, below is the LA-Times piece highlighting those I am speaking out on behalf of; read it and weep for America:

Antiwar Sermon Brings IRS Warning

All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena risks losing its tax-exempt status because of a former rector's remarks in 2004.

By Patricia Ward Biederman and Jason Felch, Times Staff Writers

The Internal Revenue Service has warned one of Southern California's largest and most liberal churches that it is at risk of losing its tax-exempt status because of an antiwar sermon two days before the 2004 presidential election.

Rector J. Edwin Bacon of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena told many congregants during morning services Sunday that a guest sermon by the church's former rector, the Rev. George F. Regas, on Oct. 31, 2004, had prompted a letter from the IRS. ... [Source]

Here is a link to a resource for IRS telephone numbers: HERE and for your Representatives and Senators, see the left sidebar, here at BloggerRadio.com.

Deceptive Headlines From Los Angeles Times and Washington Post, or Bush Losing Both Home and Away Games

I think the headlines, below, from both The Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post miss the mark entirely.  So much so, that I think they could be construed as right-wing biased. Both of these prominent newspapers are often pointed to by righties as left-leaning, liberal propaganda machines. I don't have any issue with the reporting in the articles themselves, just with the headlines which SPIN their introduction by appealing to the Patriotism card, which the right relishes dealing from the bottom of the deck:

Los Angeles Times:

"U.S. a Target at Summit in Argentina" [BloggerRadio says: horse-pucky; the protests do not target the United States or its citizens (except perhaps those citizens that were dumb enough to be hoodwinked into voting for Bush ... and not even those!); the protests target G.W. Bush, his failed administration, his poor Int'l relations, and policies ... just more demonstratively than the 60+% of Americans that do the same!]

Thousands of protesters want Bush expelled. Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez leads the charge against a U.S. free-trade plan for the Americas.

By Patrick J. McDonnell and Edwin Chen, Times Staff Writers

MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina — A hemispheric summit to promote job creation and the spread of democracy throughout the Americas opened here Friday amid raucous anti-U.S. demonstrations and deep divisions among participating nations over the Bush administration's free-trade agenda.

Washington Post:

"Anti-U.S. Protests Flare at Summit" [BloggerRadio says: horse-pucky; the protests are not anti-American (except perhaps those Americans that were dumb enough to be hoodwinked into voting for Bush ... and not even those!); the protests target G.W. Bush, his failed administration, his poor Int'l relations, and policies ... just more demonstratively than the 60+% of Americans that do the same!]
As Bush Meets With Allies in Argentina, Rally Led by Chavez Turns Violent

By Monte Reel and Michael A. Fletcher
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, November 5, 2005; Page A01

Headlining that the Latin American protests are Anti-American, or target the United States, is to play the Patriotism card.

Latin America is not attacking America and Americans ... just the flawed economic and trade policies that BushCo and the American right-wing-nuts seek to force upon both Latin American countries, and our own small agricultural, manufacturing, and middle class sectors. Our government has telegraphed its desire to leverage the existing workforce poverty, and cheap natural resources, and to sustain both in Latin American nations. Who can blame them for opposing antiquated and wrong-headed policies?

The professional journalists of both of those newspapers are smart enough to know that Bush, and his core supporters are not big on reading. Few of them will read deeper than a scan of those headlines.

Next thing ya know, such incendiary headlines will prompt tomorrow's headlines:

• "Minutemen Surround All Latin American Embassies"
• "Arnold Proposes New Initiative To Rename All California Cities and Towns!"
• "Jimmy Smits Ordered to Forfeit Debate to Alan Alda!"
• "Stock Car Racing May Drop Taco Sponsors & Decals!"
• "Grocer May Stop Selling Lettuce!"
• "Curfew Set For Taco Stand Drive Throughs!"
• "Network Drops Lopez Show"
• "Arizona Institutes Cavity-Search Of All Registered Voters!"

Nuttin' wrong with a healthy dose of Patriotism, but it is not, by itself, a substitute for intelligent governance and leadership.

Sampling of more accurate headlines:

Violent protests greet Bush at free trade summit in Argentina
By BILL CORMIER - Associated Press Writer - 11/05/2005

BUSH`S ARGENTINE VISIT HAMMERED BY PROTESTS
Friday, November 04, 2005

Bush faces protests in South America and falling support at home
AM - Saturday, 5 November , 2005  08:00:00
Reporter: Mark Simkin

A Swing and a Miss by WaPo

WTF? This morning's Washington Post includes a piece authored by none other than criminally indicted asshole Hot-Tub-Tom DeLay.

I couldn't resist e-mailing the piece to the WaPo Ombudsman, [ombudsman@washpost.com] to ask what is up with that?

I mean c'mon, isn't it enough that this clown, DeLay, remains on-the-job in the people's house, the United States House of Representatives, after criminal indictment?

Gee, where is that infamous "LIBERAL media bias", after-all [in a figment of rightie imagination, that's where]?

Why did the Post provide article space to DeLay? Slow news day, maybe? Hey WaPo, Hey, Hot-Tub-Tom, nobody cares what corrupt politicians have to say. Get lost, jerk! Go back to Texas and stay there; the rest of this nation doesn't wanna hear any more of your crap! If we want your opinions, we'll give 'em to ya!

What a lying hypocrite DeLay is ... writing about America's most unpopular institution [IRS] as an easy-mark to SOUND like he gives a rat's-ass about American "families".

Listen-up DeLay, you TALK a good game, but whenever it gets down to the doin', you and BushCo, and the Republican-Rich ALWAYS seek to bend the American middle-class over. I hope your cell-mate bends you over.

DeLay, You and Yours have PROVEN, OVER, AND OVER AGAIN, that you favor the Paris Hiltons of our society.

Ya want tax reform asshole? Then PROVE it by rescinding the fat-cat tax cuts you gave to America's upper 1% as a FIRST step! Let's see ya stop the constant assault on the young, the poor, the middle-class, students, the elderly, and the entire middle-class before ya puke-up another shameless publicity-stunt like that piece of yellow-journalism in this morning's WaPo! What a crock of crap that was, the Post should be embarrassed, and ashamed of printing that junk.

... cutting federal spending on prescription drugs, agriculture supports and student loans, while clamping down on fraud in the Medicaid program. ... [where is the rich folks part of the burden, hmmm?] 

Guess what pinheads, we don't all drive turnip trucks out here. Your M.O. is obvious to us, dork. We see right through it. You've been indicted, and need some positive press, so you go on-the-attack, and pick the IRS as an easy target. Bullshit DeLay, we ain't buyin' it anymore. Your shit is old, and stale. We're on to you.

Better have a look at the latest poll numbers for BOTH BushCo & the Republican-Congress, idiot! You've had 5-years, and screwed-up everything, and done ZERO positive. All-ya-all suck. Now we're done with the lot of you.

SURE, ALL Americans want tax reform.

SURE, simplifying the tax-code SOUNDS great ... just as long as it isn't AGAIN designed to screw the majority of Americans, and favor your corporate cronies.

DeLay, YOU and the current stinking Republican leadership is at war with the American middle-class. That makes you an enemy to the American public. YOU, and YOURS cannot be trusted to reform our tax-laws in a way that won't further favor the filthy-rich, and corporate America while further screwing the majority of Americans.

G.O.P. = Get Old People.

Hell DeLay, you and your ATTORNEY [I thought Republicans hate attorneys, whattsup with that?] are currently attempting to MANIPULATE the Texas justice system by rigging the legal process that finally caught up with your lame ass and you want us to accept YOUR input on our tax-code??? Dumb-ass.

A Swing and A Miss on Tax Reform

By Tom DeLay

Friday, November 4, 2005; Page A23

Ya wanna "reform" something meaningful to the majority of Americans and America nimrod? Try HEALTHCARE. More Americans are without any, under BushCo, and the Republican majority in Congress.

Ya wanna "reform" sumptin'? Reform Pension related laws so that American workers that put in a lifetime of loyal service to some no-count corporate employer don't get screwed out of their pensions at retirement! Those corporations are SHIRKERS and so is this Republican Congress that permits the burden to fall right back onto the taxpayer, who has to pick-up that slack!

Ya wanna reform sumptin'? Reform the legislative process that allows you clowns to PORK-the-public. Like, when Alaska gets BILLIONS to build a bridge that benefits only 50 people, while you go on the attack to cut food stamp allowances.

Ya wanna reform sumptin'? Reform idiot legislation which BANS the federal government from negotiating with Pharmaceutical companies, on behalf of the American Taxpayer, to reduce prescription drug costs.

Hey moron, that is just a partial list that scratches the surface. But, it is a start to a PLAN to fix a few of the things you've screwed-up. Sooo, don't lemme hear anymore of your lying shit about Democrats never offering a plan or solutions. I'm a registered Democrat and I just gave ya a number of solutions that are part of a greater plan to help America. The most critical part of a plan to cure American ills, is to get rid of corrupt and incompetent politicians like you, fool.

The Fix Is Out!

WashingtonPost.com [free registration required] has a new political Blog called, "TheFix". Well, relatively new. New-to-me, anyway. It appears to have gone-up around 9/26 with real posting getting off the ground on, or about 10/3/05. It's even hosted by the same Blog hosting company as my own BloggerRadio.com, which is TypePad.

So far, it looks like an interesting clearinghouse for political news and analysis, from its author: Chris Cillizza.

One of its first posts, titled "2005-6 Governors Races" drew a couple of quick comments from Oregonians who noticed that Chris had [initially] left Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski off the post's list.

So obviously, Oregonians were quick to pick-up on this new WaPo Blog even though the print edition of the daily newspaper is a much less accessible publication to Oregonians than is the New York Times. The NYT is available to Oregon doorsteps as daily, and as early as Oregon's own daily "The Oregonian".

Harry Jaffe, "The Washingtonian" [a magazine, not to be confused with the newspaper] National Editor writes:

" ... Now the company’s dot-com enterprise—housed in a North Arlington high-rise—is making money “as we measure it internally,” says Caroline Little, publisher of Washingtonpost.com, while the downtown daily newspaper is barely breaking even.

Rather than being a techie sideshow that drains resources, Washingtonpost.com could become a profit center that helps support the newspaper’s 3,000 employees. The Post Company talks about doubling or tripling its online revenues. ..."

I don't know if timely distribution / delivery of the Washington Post print edition, as broadly as say the New York Times, is feasible or profitable, but it's apparent that its online edition has an attentive audience, even out here in tule-land. Personally, I believe the ONLINE version of WaPo trumps the ONLINE edition of the NYT [by a few, slight & largely personal-preference-criteria points].

Along with those mentioned above, I have recently added a link to "The Cook Political Report" [a good resource, but more of it is available by spendy subscription to their "independent, non-partisan newsletter"] somewhere down the left sidebar, here at BloggerRadio.com.

Smug Shot

This cartoon, from Corky at the Honolulu Star Bulletin, sums up the hysteria about DeLay's booking pretty well.

Believe it or not, there are some misguided [reads: warped], poor souls out there who will look upon that cartoon as an affirmation that hot-tub Tom's indictment is a miscarriage of justice. Ya gotta feel sorry for those whiny, lame asses.

I guess it will take a Federal indictment to make 'em see the light. And, who knows ... a federal indictment or two, may ultimately come from the Abramhoff probe.  So this whole Texas thing is just the tip of the iceberg, and DeLay's political career is lookin' a lot like the Titantic ... as low as whale shit. *If* a Federal indictment is forthcoming, the whiners in the DeLay camp should have a look at the Fed's kill-ratio.
Once the Feds move to indict someone their success rate is typically in excess of 95%.

Commenter's remarks to a post on a right-wing-nut Blog I recently saw, were a real chuckle ...

Of course, I saw plenty of continued whining that everything bad that has ever happened in the world is Bill Clinton's responsibility. No Right-Wing-Nut Whine would be complete without their continued denial of any / all responsibility for all the negative shit that BushCo has mismanaged these past 5 years [literally everything he touches]. Despite their having a complete majority in every branch of government! Nope, to them, it must all still be Willie's fault, somehow [albeit, some twisted logic, how]. I have to wonder if they will ever grow-up and take responsibility for all the train wrecks they've screwed-up on their watch? But, I doubt it coz they're all a bunch of girlie men, and masculine women.

They're STILL whining that even though Ronnie  Earle has indicted FAR more Democrats than Republicans that the DeLay indictment is somehow a partisan attack ... then boasting that DeLay's attorney is somehow smarter than the prosecution. The first thing DeLay's attorney did was lie to the court so that he had to quickly retract what he first told the court about MoveOn.org ... not so bright, not too smart.

Besides, did anyone else find it a tad hypocritical of 'em to be braggin' up lawyers? Like my lawyers bigger than your lawyer, and this coming from the tort-reform, attorney-haters of the right, lol!

Then there are actually commenters who bought DeLay's smilin' as a true expression of confidence. And who respond to  reports that:

"... the Harris County site was selected in part because his own offices are based in downtown Houston. But the surrender in Harris County allowed DeLay to avoid news media coverage. Journalists had been staking out the Fort Bend County sheriff’s office since Wednesday."

With this laughable tidbit:

' Translation: "Tom DeLay’s lawyer is smarter than us, and we’re pissed about that." '

What a crock. If the dude is so confident [rather than about to piss his pants] why not saunter into the booking facility with the MOST media staked out, and leverage 'em for the broadest coverage of his innocence proclamation? I think "The Hammer" is soon to GET hammered ... by Bubba, his cell-mate.

I guess it never occurs to the right-wing-nuts that when one holds a public office whose primary responsibility it is to create or pass LAWS, it's a bad thing to be indicted for violating the law. Sheez.

I am pleased that DeLay's camp will be occupied, for the foreseeable future, defending itself, so as to at least inhibit it's relentless attacks on the American working class majority.

Wal-Mart & Censorship

I received this as an E-Mail and wanna share:

Tomorrow, the Benton County Daily Record was supposed to print an open letter to Lee Scott, Wal-Mart’s CEO, from WakeUpWalMart.com. The letter asks Wal-Mart to work with our campaign to help address the economic and health care crisis facing its 1.3 million workers, all working families, our communities, and our country by agreeing to “six demands for change.”

Today, the Benton County Daily Record, in a stunning move, refused to print our letter, really YOUR letter, declaring it “defamatory.”

Last week, Lee Scott said, “When you do the right thing, good things accrue to you." We agree. Our letter, which was written in the spirit of the Hurricane Katrina aftermath, states, "Just imagine the good Wal-Mart can do if it works with us to become a better company by doing the right thing - everyday. We hope you will view our ‘six demands for change’ as a sincere effort to form a new partnership for change.”

Please help us change Wal-Mart today by signing our “six demands for change.” Your free speech still matters despite the Benton County Daily Records’ refusal to print our ad.

http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/feature/benton/

Our genuine hope with this open letter was to offer Lee Scott an olive branch, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, to build a new working relationship to improve the lives of millions of Americans everyday. Evidently, the Benton County Daily Record believes asking Wal-Mart to do the right thing every day is ‘defamatory.’

Please forward this link on to your friends and family, and ask them to add their name to our letter, asking Wal-Mart to agree to “six demands for change:”

http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/feature/benton/

Together we are going to change Wal-Mart and build a better America. Thank you.

Paul Blank
WakeUpWalMart.com

Here is the "OPEN LETTER" itself:

Escape from Tora Bora . . .

The levees that gave way in New Orleans seem to have released a flood of the truth . . .

For instance, Mary Anne Weaver's long report,  "Lost at Tora Bora",   in the NYTimes buries any claim Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Tommy Franks -- or any of their supporters -- try to make that their military responses to the events of 911 have been anything other than criminally deceitful and grossly incompetent -- first-born twin to le dauphin regime's response to the storm that laid waste to coastal Alabama, Mississippi and New Orleans.

Here are a few snippets, but read the whole thing. The descriptions of Osama bin Laden's cave network in the remote peaks of Afghanistan's White Mountains -- built with US aid during its proxy war there against the Soviets -- are utterly fascinating.  And the truth about BushCo's  failure to capture bin Laden there will make you sick . . .

Now, as the last major battle of the war in Afghanistan began, hidden from view inside the caves were an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 well-trained, well-armed men. A mile below, at the base of the caves, some three dozen U.S. Special Forces troops fanned out. They were the only ground forces that senior American military leaders had committed to the Tora Bora campaign.

[snip]

By now, the Taliban's stronghold in Kandahar had fallen or, more correctly, had been abandoned by the soldiers of the regime. The Taliban retreat from Kandahar was emblematic of the war. None of Afghanistan's cities had been won by force alone. Taliban fighters, after intense bombing, had simply made strategic withdrawals. A number of American officers were now convinced that this was about to happen at Tora Bora, too.

One of them was Brig. Gen. James N. Mattis, the commander of some 4,000 marines who had arrived in the Afghan theater by now. Mattis, along with another officer with whom I spoke, was convinced that with these numbers he could have surrounded and sealed off bin Laden's lair, as well as deployed troops to the most sensitive portions of the largely unpatrolled border with Pakistan. He argued strongly that he should be permitted to proceed to the Tora Bora caves. The general was turned down (emphasis added). An American intelligence official told me that the Bush administration later concluded that the refusal of Centcom to dispatch the marines - along with their failure to commit U.S. ground forces to Afghanistan generally - was the gravest error of the war.

[snip]

On or about Dec. 16, 2001, according to American intelligence estimates, bin Laden left Tora Bora for the last time, accompanied by bodyguards and aides. Other Qaeda leaders dispersed by different routes, but bin Laden and his men are believed to have journeyed on horseback directly south toward Pakistan, crossing through the same mountain passes and over the same little-known smugglers' trails through which the C.I.A.'s convoys passed during the jihad years. And all along the route, in the dozens of villages and towns on both sides of the frontier, the Pashtun tribes would have lighted campfires along the way to guide the horsemen as they slowly continued through the snow and on toward the old Pakistani military outpost of Parachinar.

Tora Bora was the one time after the 9/11 attacks when United States operatives were confident they knew precisely where Osama bin Laden was and could have captured or killed him. Some have argued that it was Washington's last chance; others say that although it will be considerably more difficult now, bin Laden is not beyond our reach. But the stakes are considerably higher than they were nearly four years ago, and terrain and political sensibilities are far more our natural enemies now.

[snip]

Had bin Laden been surrounded at Tora Bora, he would have been confined to an area of several dozen square miles; now he could well be in an area that snakes across some 40,000 square miles.

Toward the end of Weaver's well-sourced and compelling narrative comes this reminder:

Defending its decision not to commit forces to the Tora Bora campaign, members of the Bush administration  -  including the president, the vice president and Gen. Tommy Franks - have continued to insist, as recently as the last presidential campaign, that there was no definitive information that bin Laden was even in Tora Bora in December 2001. "We don't know to this day whether Mr. bin Laden was at Tora Bora," Franks wrote in an Oct. 19, 2004, Op-Ed article in The New York Times. Intelligence assessments on the Qaeda leader's location varied, Franks continued, and bin Laden was "never within our grasp." It was not until this spring that the Pentagon, after a Freedom of Information Act request, released a document to The Associated Press that says Pentagon investigators believed that bin Laden was at Tora Bora and that he escaped.

Oh, yeah? Weaver's account clearly states the  same evidence available to Franks and other BushCo fantasists and liars  -- that all sorts of folks knew bin Laden was holed up in his Tora Bora lair . . . As a nation we bought the lies, we let the election fraud slide. In Afghanistan, in Iraq, along the Gulf and in New Orleans, we're paying for our stubborn denial, our embrace of our own fearful stupidity . . .

PIVOT MAN . . .

Via Atrios . . This piece at Editor & Publisher revisits Colin Powell's pre-invasion UN address on Iraq's WMDs in advance of Dead Wrong: Inside an Intelligence Meltdown -- a tv special that sounds like an apologia for Powell to be aired Sunday on CNN -- and speaks a truth that must be said:

"It's fashionable to suggest that the White House was bent on war and nothing could have stopped them. But until the Powell speech, public opinion, editorial sentiment (as chronicled by E&P at the time) and street protests were all building against the war.
 
The Powell speech, and the media's swallowing of it, changed all that.

The article includes lots of examples of the press media's lock-step support for Powell's speech. Go read . . .

Rich Lowry & The National Review Join The 2005 Escape From Reality Tour!

Sheez, the neocon ATTACK dogs must have, like a baseball batting order. Today, Rich Lowry of the National Review stepped to the plate to take a few swings at Cindy Sheehan.

For those who don't recognize Bitch Lowry oops, I meant Rich Lowry, of course, Rich is the genius who suggests that the U.S. should bomb Mecca, which pretty much says it all, really. Rich also makes everyone's case for a woman's right to choose:

``...lots of sentiment for nuking Mecca... Mecca seems extreme, of course, but then again few people would die and it would send a signal.''  --Rich Lowry, Senior Editor, The National Review

Any 3rd grader should be able to foretell an advancing attack from the right by now. Hell, at this stage of the game, any 3rd grader should be able to recite the words that will be used in the attacks. The scripts [reads: LIES] have grown so old and stale.

More to the point, any 3rd grader should feel their intelligence insulted by the crap these neocons try to serve-up!

Today's [8/16/05] Oregonian newspaper's "Commentary" section, page B7, contains yet ANOTHER rant-from-the-right, regarding Cindy Sheehan [no online link, coz it still escapes me how to navigate the Oregonian's web-site to find the items I've read in the newsprint version ... beyond those on their front-pages and/or by their own star columnists, that is].

Gee folks, are any of ya out there getting the least bit sick & tired of the rights' personal attacking and discrediting that takes place each and every time that an average American citizen speaks to power in this country? Sure, we Bush-bash, but hey, Bush is fair game:

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
-- Republican President Theodore 'Teddy' Roosevelt

We all now know that groups like the Swift Boat Assholes for Lying were completely discredited maniacs; then there was the White House press corp, and its flaming gay GOP web-porn entrepreneur, "Guckert". Yesterday we had attack dog Kathleen Parker [operative word being "dog"] of the Orlando Sentinel [save your Dixie Cups The South Will Rise Again]! My post from yesterday also included the now famous [except to non-reading righties] Teddy Roosevelt quote.

And, while independent thinking lefties will find it redundant to use that same quote again today, I thought I'd try the righty tactic of simply saying the same thing over-and-over again.

Again today, the Oregonian piece appears to contain the identical wording except the title:

"Going over the top for Bush-haters" is the Oregonian title. And, the same piece appears as:

"Made for Air America" in the National Review's version.

I suppose that Rich Lowry's age [judging solely from the paper and the on-line head shot] should excuse some of the ignorance of his writing, but his youth does not excuse the outright SPIN [reads lying] he applied to his presentation.

Lowry wrote this as his defense of Bush versus Sheehan:

"The Iraq war was congressionally authorized by bipartisan majorities. If Bush killed her son, so did Kerry, who voted to authorize the war. If supporting the war is tantamount to murder, someone should arrest Joe Biden for vocally supporting our continued presence in Iraq."

Lowry either has fewer brain cells than God granted to a soap bubble, or he thinks that all his readers are dumber than stumps, but my guess is that Rich Lowry is just a damn liar.

1) Kerry did NOT vote to authorize the war. What Kerry voted for was to provide the nation's Commander in Chief with the authority to wage war, if no alternative could be found.

2) Lowry intentionally leaves out the major detail that Bush applied information that Bush knew to be false to SELL [reads: LIE] to Congress and the American people about the  false need to invade an all but defenseless nation. So Kerry and the rest of Congress were operating [reads: voting] based upon lies fed to them by BushCo.

3) I agree with Lowry when he says that Joe Biden should be arrested. I just think the arrest should come for a different reason altogether. Arrest Biden for voting in favor of the corporate bankruptcy reform bill [see Joey ... just like a tattoo ... it'll be with you forever]!

Lowry continues with this junk:

"In the end, it isn't that Bush is lucky in his opponents so much that his opposition is poisoned by its own noxious passions. It's not an accident that the anti-war movement throws up leaders like Michael Moore, the dishonest filmmaker, and Cindy Sheehan. They reflect its own inability to distinguish between legitimate criticisms of the war and unhinged but emotionally self-satisfying attacks that will turn off most Americans."

Wow. Can you say "little weasel"? Regardless of what anyone might think of Cindy Sheehan's political views ... only a low-life COWARD like Rich Lowry would call her dishonest and attack her for exercising her American right to free speech in criticizing a politician that more than half [reads a majority] of Americans now realize hoodwinked us [reads: traitor ... how ya like them apples Lowry? Want my address, so you can challenge my words, or do you just write attacks on grieving mothers of fallen American Heros? "BRING-IT-ON" righty, or do you just TYPE a good game?].

Not only do recent polls place Rich Lowry in denial, but so does the fact that more mothers of fallen American Heros have now decided to join Cindy Sheehan. On page B1 of the Oregonian's "Metro/Portland" section columnist Steve Duin writes:

"That's why she [Michelle DeFord] and Lynn Bradach will fly to Texas on Wednesday, drive to "Camp Casey" and join Cindy Sheehan's vigil outside the Crawford ranch of President George W. Bush"

Hey Richie, the so-called journalist, ya wanna tell two MORE mothers of fallen American Heros that, as Richie wrote:

"Nothing would help Sheehan's cause more than an extended bout of dignified silence, of which she seems incapable". [nothing would help the rest of US as much as if Lowry's mother had chosen to have an abortion]

So to read the junk Lowry wrote, the mother's of fallen American Heros [PLURAL NOW] who oppose the war, and support Cindy Sheehan, should have no voice. And, that some unspecified ...

"anti war movement throws up leaders like dishonest Michael Moore, the dishonest filmmaker, and Cindy Sheehan."
[notice the tired rightie tactic of drawing a parallel between two unrelated persons, places or things ... so long as one of them is unpopular with the right's core of mouth breathing supporters]

And, like any true WHINER, Lowry ends his childish rant with this jewel:

"At a difficult phase in Iraq, it is especially important that the nation have a responsible, constructive opposition. Cindy Sheehan demonstrates that the left is still incapable of providing one."

Thing is ... if ya read Lowry's whole load of crap, apparently the right is incapable of suggesting one! Nowhere in it does he offer up any alternative spokesperson; no suggestion as to which American citizen would meet with his right wing-nut-elitist standards, for the right to criticize Bush and the Iraq invasion, without he and his pack of right-wing-nut fascists attempting to discredit and attack that person for exercising their right to free speech.

Wanna know why Lowry only bitched and complained about Cindy Sheehan, and never offered any suggested solutions of his own? It's because his ENTIRE editorial is a LIE. He doesn't care about anything except the attempt to convince his readers that Bush is right, and Cindy Sheehan must be something less than the mother of a fallen American Hero.

I came across Rich Lowry's writing by accident, while thumbing through a local newspaper in Portland, Oregon. A newspaper that I've got on a free 4-week trial. That's MY excuse. What in God's name could be anyone else's excuse for reading Rich Lowry's garbage? Certainly, no one seeks his level of bullshit out intentionally.

In yet another fine example of right-wing-nut nonsense, Monday night a truck dragging chains and a pipe demolished some crosses and running over AMERICAN FLAGS displayed as part of Sheehan's encampment; the driver, Larry Northern, of Waco, Tex., was charged with criminal mischief.

And before that, of course, there was Texas crack-pot [other brother] Larry Mattlage firing off his shotgun in a stupid old man's attempt to scare off the protesters.

"Texas" ... where the nozzle is gonna be placed, in order to administer the nation an enema. I vote to give Texas back to Mexico.

Compare the actions of the Texas "Larrys" with the words of wisdom from yet another mother of a fallen American Hero, Lynn Bradach, of Oregon, who is on her way to Crawford to support Sheehan:

"We're in Bush country," Bradach said. "There will be a lot of detractors, people saying we aren't patriots. I'd like to know what they've given up.

"There is no way our children died in vain, not if we pay attention, not if we learn. I'm proud of my son. I love the Marines. And I'm very much against this war and always have been.

"I guess our children went and were sacrificed for us to take a look at what we let happen. We let this war happen. If nothing else, this is a huge lesson. Watch who you vote for. Watch what they're telling you. Don't be so afraid."

That mother has more American patriotism in her crap than both Tex-ass Larry's have ever had in their entire beings. Perhaps it's time that Larry's shots-fired in the air near "Camp Casey" serve the same purpose as those once fired upon Fort Sumter. "Bring it on".

Kathleen Parker & Orlando Sentinel = Wing-Nut Neocons

I'm not exactly sure what one newspaper [The Oregonian] uses as its criteria for selecting writing from another newspaper [Orlando Sentinel] for use as filler.

It also escapes me why the same filler [Parker's editorial can only be characterized as "filler"] appears in both the Oregonian, and in Ms. Parker's native Orlando Sentinel using exactly the same wording, but with a different title. I mean, if you're gonna use the same piece, why the two different titles?

Yet another curiosity is why some newspapers [The Oregonian] make it more difficult to reference on-line, ALL the articles included in their newsprint pages. I rarely experience that shortcoming when referring to articles from newspapers such as The New York Times, or The Washington Post. Doesn't it make sense for a smaller city daily to emulate such major league-rs, or perhaps they have no desire to strive for their own greatness?

Anyway, in this Sunday's Oregonian newspaper, on page F4 of the editorial page appears some words attributed to neocon Kathleen Parker, and the title is:

"Grieving mom demands the impossible"

I could not find an on-line link from the Oregonian's web-site, but sure enough, the same sick and twisted writing was readily available on the Orlando rag's site, with a different title:

"It must be August" [clever, huh?]

Ms Parker's writing makes it glaringly obvious that she would struggle to find her own butt-cheeks using a mirror and her own two hands. I speculate that is because her head is so far up her own neocon ass.

Ms Parker uses about three columns [in the Oregonian copy] of rambling, and meaningless text in a poorly veiled attempt to equate Cindy Sheehan, Joe Trippi, Bloggers everywhere, MoveOn.org, everyone at "Camp Casey", and the Democratic Party with  "insurgents planning their next Baghdad ambush". Parker even tries to subtly suggest that Cindy and her supports exercise of free speech is putting other sons and daughters at risk:

"...depending on other circumstances, can get other sons and daughters killed before Joe Trippi can say, "That's a wrap."

Besides ignoring the FACT that it is Bush who is responsible for so many of America's young people having been senselessly killed, the misguided Ms. Parker claims, in her editorial, to know [and understand coz she's a muther too] what the Sheehan's anti-war supporters REALLY want [as if they need her to speak for them, and analyze some hidden agenda] . Ms Parker goes on to predict that the Sheehan supporters will supply Al-Jazeera  headlines for the foreseeable future [we'll see].

Thing is, I did a search and found that even the Orlando Sentinel has written about Cindy Sheehan exercising her right to free speech. So has virtually every newspaper on the planet. But hey, heaven forbid that anyone should leak this revelation to Al-Jazeera! Nope, that would be downright un-American and all. I mean, c'mon, it's one thing to spend jillions of U.S. taxpayer dollars to nation-build [after Bush promised not too] but HEY, heaven forbid [ya know, the heaven that speaks directly to Bush, the anti-Christ] that the world should be allowed to discover things like free speech, while we are using bombs and bullets to spread Democracy!

In typical Nazi-Neocon style Ms. Parker resorts to name calling [so we're responding in kind], writing that Cindy Sheehan is no longer a grieving mother [as if muther Parker has a clue], but rather Cindy's: "a political pawn". That's right Ms. Parker, use that tried and true neocon tactic of labeling, and characterizing her opposition with the labels she'd like to see stick.

Not this time, Parker.

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
-- Republican President Theodore 'Teddy' Roosevelt

It is goose-stepping, hate-filled, diseased-brained neocons like Orlando Sentinel columnist Kathleen Parker who are anti-American, unpatriotic, and downright ignorant, in my humble opinion.

BloggerRadio supports the cause of Cindy Sheehan. Cindy Sheehan has more courage and American Patriotism in her excrement than Kathleen Parker has in her entire being.

The Parties Are Over; the Democratic & Republican Parties, That Is.

At least they are for me. I rather like this quote which best characterizes my own current sentiments, with regard to politics, and politicians:

"... equal opportunity, bipartisan accountability and retribution" --Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch

The U.S. Congress is in "RECESS". And frankly Scarlett, I'm not sure we give a damn if they ever return, for all the good they do. "Recess" ... like in elementary school, ya know? How appropriate.

On a state level, Oregon's legislature is now adjourned, and they managed to accomplish squat for the great unwashed masses. I was gonna type "constituents", but we all know that the constituents of local, state, and federal legislatures have become exclusively the special interest lobbyists of corporate America, rather than Joe and Jane Sixpack.

Perhaps organization is over rated. Sure, organized campaigns are required to accomplish much. But, then we're reminded, "not to put all our eggs into one basket". Ya know, a basket in this case being a political party.

For instance, Unions put all their eggs into the AFL-CIO for decades. When it repeatedly failed to effectively represent Labor, some long overdue revolt occurred.

There is a follow-on story in today's LA Times which updates us on the CAFTA-15 Democratic traitors-to-the-cause. It's titled:

"Friends, Foes Made Over Trade Deal"
By Warren Vieth, Times Staff Writer

More local to me, is the front page story in the Sunday Oregonian titled [emphasis added]:

"Secretive seven lawmakers shut most others out of key deals" [free registration required]
With billions of tax dollars at stake, more than 90 percent of Oregon residents lost their representation
Sunday, August 07, 2005
HARRY ESTEVE

"... "It is frustrating," Sen. Bill Morrisette, D-Springfield, said. "Decisions were being made that we weren't aware of."

Some nefarious Republican plot? No, Morrisette was complaining about leaders of his own party: Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, and Senate Majority Leader Kate Brown, D-Portland.

Courtney and Brown had near carte blanche to make secret agreements with House Speaker Karen Minnis, R-Wood Village, and House Majority Leader Wayne Scott, R-Canby. Those four along with Sen. Margaret Carter, D-Portland, Sen. Kurt Schrader, D-Canby, and Rep. Susan Morgan, R-Myrtle Creek, who were part of the negotiating team, became the filter for just about every major bill.

Some secrecy has always has been part of the political game in Salem. But it reached a new level this year, with 83 of 90 senators and representatives effectively shut out. Put another way: More than 90 percent of Oregon residents had no representation in the most important decisions this year."

See, even with a Senate majority, and the Governorship, Oregon Dems were ineffective.
Actually, the entire Oregon legislature was a joke. We got the usual eleventh-hour news nonsense about legislators working-through-the-night, going sleepless, yadda, yadda, yadda. If the assholes actually started real work before the last week of the session, and did it in the open, as supposedly required by the Oregon constitution, there would be no need for the last second, closed door maneuvers.

Kudos to SirotaBlog yet again. This time for keeping this issue in the forefront, alive and prominent in the blogosphere, despite Congressional criticism, and the dog-daze of summer, with another post [emphasis added]:

"Local forces demand Pelosi hold CAFTA sellouts accountable"

"... Along with this letter, this coalition has vowed to send letters to the roughly 75,000 union members in Meeks' and Towns' districts informing citizens about exactly how their congressional representatives are voting against their constituents' economic interests.

Just step back for a moment and really consider how big a deal this is: powerful local forces are asking the House Democratic leader to take away power from their local lawmakers, because their local lawmakers aren't representing them. And they are following up that call with action of their own. ..."

It's not about Democrats versus Republicans anymore. It's about them versus us. It's about the haves versus the have nots. It's the Corporate executives versus Joe & Jane Sixpack. Which are you?

KNOW what's good for you and yours. Don't just accept the spin. Vote that way from now on. Vote for what's good for YOU, not for what's good for big business, or big government. Tell your elected officials to do the same, or to get out of the way. If they betray your confidence, once in office, no money, no support, no vote. No mo'. Make your voices be heard the way the folks at the Working Families Party and Change To Win have begun to do. Send your political dollars and support to groups like theirs. Groups who speak for the rest of us. Because Republicans stopped listening, long ago, and Democrats have now too.

WHO IN THE WORLD IS JUDITH FUCKING MILLER?Partie deux

Karl Marx famously claimed that Hegel said, "History repeats itself; first as tragedy, then as farce. But as emptywheel's deconstructions of Judy-the-Embed's shananigans over at  The Next Hurrah go to show, sometimes farce just can't wait . . .

"Getting Nothing For Something, Freeloading's Evil Twin"

I recently received a postcard promoting 4 free weeks of the local, daily newspaper. Even the reply card was postage paid.

Who could refuse. I mean, I know that by accepting the offer, it places me on their boiler room's call list ... I know it because I once worked in it [the Oregonian's TeleSales boiler room ... nasty gig].

As the 4-weeks of freebies reaches about the halfway mark the phone will begin to ring. The call will come from some sad sack who can't find a real job in the Bush false-economy. So, if I were to field the call live, I'd at least want to be sympathetic.

He/she will be calling to persuade me to opt for a paid subscription. If I tell 'em I read all my news on-line, they'll remind me that the hard-copy is more portable, and I can take it to the throne with me. And heaven forbid, if I were to run short of supplies while in that library, newsprint is truly a versatile commodity. Trust me, they have handled EVERY objection.

Thing is, I won't be able to [reads: won't HAVE to] field the call LIVE coz the number I used on that postage-paid reply mail is strictly a voice-mail number that delivers any message into my e-mail in-box [ahhh, no ringing phone & alas, no huckster to thrust and parry with through an inexhaustible arsenal of sales objections and their scripted replies].

Hell, it wasn't even a telephone number in this state's area-code! And heck, anyone can gain a free, permanent[semi] telephone number, as long as they don't care what area code it gets assigned [it COSTS sumptin' to pick the area code, of course]. But hey, in this day and age of cell-phones, and folks who take their cell phone numbers with them when they move, and all that free long-distance, what's in an area code anyway?

After reading my August 1 copy of Sports Illustrated, and the "Steve Rushin" column titled: "Endangered Freebies" (page 19) I feel like 4 weeks of home delivery of the local rag is a real coup! Like a very small lottery win even, lol! ;-)

Steve writes that,

"Wanting something for nothing is deeply ingrained in the human race. It's why an athlete making eight figures is excited to receive unlimited sneakers, a dealer's car and $100 a day in meal money. Amid the buckets of bubble gum and cases of candy bars on display in most clubhouses, the average major leaguer really is a kid in a candy store."

Or, just like Tom DeLay in Congress!

But, who am I to be critical? After-all, I'm getting 4 free weeks of the Oregonian newspaper for nuttin'.

Steve goes on to lament the loss of other freebies as well:

"Thousands of NFL season-ticket holders are also required to purchase a personal seat license to maintain the right to sit in the seat for which they hold a season ticket. Sitting has become so expensive an activity that we're not merely paying through the nose, but through another orifice as well.

And if you pay cash for the tickets, you will likely have already paid to withdraw your own money from an ATM - or to speak to a teller in person. This is called getting nothing for something, freeloading's evil twin."

Which to me, sounds just like the United States gubbermint ... gettin' nuttin' fur sumptin'. Nah, it's not the same. We citizens actually do get sumptin' for sumptin' ... we get screwed, just no kiss.

Even sports columnist Steve Rushin expresses his doubts in his closing line:

"... It is, after all, a free country. Or used to be."

Used to be Steve, ... it used to be.
--DA

"Will Labor Be a Glutton for Punishment, or Finally Punish the Gluttons?"

Below is the entire text of a David Sirota post which I received via David's E-mail newsletter, Friday morning. I asked the author/publisher for permission [which was granted] to use the entire text here, on BloggerRadio. I don't feel that any excerpting and linking that I could do would do the piece justice. David's position on this matter, and the logic he applies to making his case, coincides precisely with my own, and so it would be redundant to phrase any other introduction for it. But, I do highly recommend / urge others to read it through, either below, or from it's source, provided by the linked title. My own posted comments follow it all.

Will Labor Be a Glutton for Punishment, or Finally Punish the Gluttons?

The Kansas City Star has a fascinating article (attached) exploring why Kansas Democratic Rep. Dennis Moore sold out his party and America's middle class by being one of the 15 Democrats who cast the deciding vote for the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Basically, the article heroizes Moore for resisting the request by unions (who represent millions of hard-working Americans) to not sell out America. Worse, Moore and these other sellout turncoats are trying to portray themselves as principled profiles in courage, as if they took a gutsy stand against the big guys. What they conveniently omit in that dishonest narrative is that the turncoats actually sided with the big guys - Corporate America - the guys that grossly outspent labor by pouring millions of dollars into buying votes and passing a bill designed to let Big Business ship off American jobs.

Perhaps more interesting about this article than the stuff about Moore, though, are the questions raised for the labor movement. We get a pretty good idea about why unions have lost so much political power. It is not only because corporations have used increasingly brazen union-busting tactics to drive down union membership, it is also because in the past labor has generously backed lawmakers who consistently stab them in the back. I want to be very clear: I'm not faulting labor for doing this in the past - they held out faith, like many of us, that these turncoats would eventually come around. But now it is clear that is never going to happen, and it's time for a wholesale change in strategy.

Just look at Moore. Here is a guy who, as the Star notes, "has supported every free-trade agreement since he has been in Congress" - even as America's trade deficit hits record levels and our well-paying jobs are shipped overseas. Yet, in 2004 alone, labor gave Moore almost a quarter million dollars. Unions likely gave him that money because he represents a swing district, and the conventional wisdom in Washington, D.C.'s Democratic circles is that Members of Congress who represent swing districts have to consistently kick working people in the face to get elected.

But as shown repeatedly, that premise is totally unsupported by any fact whatsoever. Voting against selling out American jobs (CAFTA), against letting credit card companies rip off consumers (Bankruptcy Bill), and against stripping people of their legal rights (Class Action "Reform" Bill) does not cost anyone any votes in their districts, period. In fact, voting FOR these things has a better chance of LOSING a candidate votes, while voting AGAINST these things and embracing commonsense populism has proven to GET candidates votes from all parties in all sorts of swing districts. And when politicians try to claim the contrary, they know very well they are lying through their teeth.

Thus, the question for the labor movement right now is simple: will unions give people like Moore, who voted FOR all those things, another quarter million dollars this next election cycle, or will they finally cut people like him off? In other words, will labor be a glutton for punishment from these sellouts, or will labor punish these corporate cash gluttons?

I certainly want to see the Democrats retake the majority - but more importantly, I want to see Congress start standing up for America's middle class, regardless of which party is in control. Undoubtedly, that is labor's goal, too - and there are a lot better ways to spend a quarter million dollars than to give it to someone who consistently sells workers down the river. I can think of one right off the top of my head: give it to people like Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), or Pennsylvania Auditor Bob Casey, Jr., all of whom are considering bids for the U.S. Senate in 2006 and have taken strongly pro-worker positions. Or, if you don't like those candidates, give it to someone else who has been a true people's champion - say, for instance, a Democrat who took a stand and courageously voted against CAFTA. But stop giving it to people who consistently stab workers in the back.

This strategy will make an immediate impact on the political system, and it is a strategy the entire labor movement can agree on, as it has absolutely nothing to do with the recent internal differences between different groups of unions. The fact is, there is nothing controversial about making sure workers' hard-earned money that unions rightly use for politics goes only to the lawmakers who consistently stand up for workers, and gets withheld from those who sell workers out on the most important issues.

Just like Republicans who prioritize Big Business over small business shouldn't see small businesses as their personal ATM machines, Democrats who harm American workers should not consider labor their personal ATM machines just because they have a "D" behind their name. Labor should be targeting its money specifically and exclusively to solidly pro-worker candidates as much as humanly possible.

To be sure, if labor plays this kind of hardball, some Democrats will whine and cry. But you better believe the Democratic Party as a whole will be far more unified in representing the concerns of ordinary working people than it is now. And in the long run, that will mean better policies for workers a much more politically effective/successful Democratic Party than continuing to permit consequence-free capitulation to corporate interests.

Sources:
The 15 Democrats who sold out their party on CAFTA:
http://www.workingforchange.com/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=5BD55935-AE6E-2BD2-F6863BBA6949E5DF
Corporate America's union-busting tactics on the rise:
http://www.laborresearch.org/union_busting_watch.php
U.S. trade deficit hits record levels:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46042-2005Apr12.html
Selling out to the corporate agenda loses elections:
http://www.mydd.com/story/2005/7/28/183018/505
Three pro-worker top-tier candidates for the U.S. Senate in 2006:
http://www.davidsirota.com/2005/07/challenging-corporate-ownership-of-us.html
How commonsense populism wins elections for Democrats in "red" America:
http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=8917

**************************************************************

In the E-Mail newsletter from David Sirota, the whole Kansas City Star piece is include.  But, because I did not ask them (KCS) for permission to use the whole thing, I'm providing just the link:

Moore Bucks Labor on CAFTA

By Matt Stearns, Kansas City Star

My own response, to the Kansas City Star piece, will be to send both Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City a fax/letter to take exception to their comments, from the KCS report, which said:

“That was a dumb letter,” said Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, who led the opposition to CAFTA on the floor. “That was a dumb thing. People have principles. … You can’t try to intimidate them.”

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City voted against the pact and said he and Moore had long conversations about Moore’s situation. The letter may well have backfired on labor, Cleaver said.

“They unintentionally put him in a position where if he voted against it, he would have been seen in his district as having cowed down to the labor unions,”

Now THOSE [from Rangel & Cleaver] were some DUMB-ASS comments.

Consider that the Labor Union Letter was a DIRECT, in-your-face, HONEST challenge to the Representatives, while the dark-side Republican effort was a more back-room, in the shadows, sneaky-pete, under-the-radar of the American public, effort.

Holding the vote open for an extra hour, bend the rules, twist arms, bring the entire White House staff to the Capitol and make backroom deals, intimidate, threaten.

Apparently, THAT is the style of doing business that all of Congress has become more comfortable with! So much so, that they now view an open, directly worded letter, as some sort of evil tactic!

THERE, Jane and Joe Sixpack, is the problem with Congress, in a nutshell. THERE is all the confirmation anyone should need that Congress has eroded to a pack of corporate whores.

Where is Rangel and Cleaver's righteous indignation over those tactics, by comparison, hmm? Only a Republican majority should be allowed to flex its political muscles? Gimme a break! How about remembering which squad you play for Rangel?

"People have principles" ... apparently not people in Congress, they don't! "… You can’t try to intimidate them.”, wanna fucking bet? Republicans use intimidation to keep their own from breaking ranks every damn day. THERE my namby-pamby, girlie-man-Democrats is why you are LOSERS! Coz, you are too damn dumb to catch a fucking clue as to how the game is played. So, it's obvious that the current crop of Congressional Democrats will continue to play the game of politics with one hand tied behind their fat backs, and remain a minority until hell freezes over, OR until Labor, and Joe and Jane Sixpack bitch-slap them around a bit, as a wake-the-fuck-up call!

If Dems in Congress can abandon their constituents, by repeatedly breaking ranks, to vote with the dark-side, I suggest constituents do the same damn thing to their elected dumb-asses! At least until Democratic leadership learns the lesson ... apparently they have to learn it the hard way too. Coz they DON'T-GET-IT currently! Maybe the ones we sent to Congress simply have bricks-for-brains!

The job approval rating for Congress is no mystery. It's THIS kindda shit, the after-the vote Charlie Rangel kind of excuses-laden-rhetoric, that has those polls in the tank. That, and things like the PORKED Energy bill that does jack-shit for consumer prices-at-the-pump. So, the question remains Congress: What the fuck have you done for ME lately, hmm? I believe that you are about to discover what we are gonna do for you!

Moore's expressed concern [in the KCS report] over enforcement of Labor standards and working conditions in our Central American trading partners nations' ... as if that should be his only questionable issue related to CAFTA, is a boatload of crap. And, so are the assurances he says that he received from those trading partners. CAFTA is only an extension of NAFTA. NAFTA has failed to keep it's promises to A-M-E-R-I-C-A-N Labor, and CAFTA will do the same ... FAIL. And, we'll be here to say "We Told You So" ... and we WILL express our dis-satisfaction at the ballot box ... and we TRULY will not be intimidated by the rhetoric of Congressional WHORES, of EITHER Party.

THIS is the kindda goings-on that creates, and propagates APATHY among voters. APATHY is a form of voting too. If Labor wants to see it's effort to renew itself flounder and fail, due to APATHY, all they need do, is FAIL to follow-through with their threat to drop support for traitors-to-the-cause. THIS is your shot Labor. It's now, or never. Walk the talk, or shut the fuck up, and die your slow death. On the other hand, if you'd rather inject new energy into your renewal, cut the traitors loose, make a stand ... just like a Labor strike. Organize to send the message that is long overdue.

There are positive OPTIONS for spending "political collateral". There ARE candidates and districts which deserve support. To that end, BloggerRadio has begun a link [right sidebar under "ActBlue"], where a list of those that BloggerRadio considers worthy will grow.

To close, lemme suggest that David Sirota is a young man to watch. I don't know what his aspirations are, but if he ran for office tomorrow, he could have my vote. Currently, he is a prolific and impassioned writer, and so his newsletter provides rapid fire updates of news and views that get it well-said for the great unwashed masses.

--DA
BloggerRadio.com

China "Is Wal-Mart With An Army"

Caught that descriptive line in a 3-page/screen New York Times article this morning, and just wanna share:

Who's Afraid of China Inc.?
"China's offer to acquire Unocal has touched off intense debates on trade, globalization and military might." [and Communism, human rights, free speech, opportunity versus threat, etc.]

Economics 101, on China, comes in a good read from: "BottleOfBlog" too.

Quick Throat

China Tells Congress To Sit Down And Shut-up

Did ya catch this WaPo report on Tuesday, July 5th? Yeah, check it out; on Monday, July 4th the Chinese remind the United States Congress that the Chinese bought-up all our independence, in order to finance BushCo's MASSIVE debit. And that we should all develop a taste for rice, tea and Pandas.

China Tells Congress To [Stuff It] Back Off Businesses
Oil Firm's Takeover Offer Heightens Tension

By Peter S. Goodman
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, July 5, 2005; Page A01

"We demand that the U.S. Congress correct its mistaken ways of politicizing economic and trade issues and stop interfering in the normal commercial exchanges between enterprises of the two countries," the Foreign Ministry said in a written statement. "CNOOC's bid to take over the U.S. Unocal company is a normal commercial activity between enterprises and should not fall victim to political interference. The development of economic and trade cooperation between China and the United States conforms to the interests of both sides."

I wonder if any of those SUV drivers with the yellow "support our troops" decals on the back read that report.

Real damn independent and patriotic to have our COMMUNIST creditors able to get away with bitch-slapping our own Congress, now ain't it? Thank BushCo.

Yep, the U.S. buys all Chinese products (better check to see where those yellow decals were printed) and the Chinese loan us the money to keep buying. Meanwhile, Bush sends our young to fight and die to protect the oil reserves to keep Chinese manufacturing well oiled. Next, the Chinese buy up American oil assets so they can control that too. The U.S. whines a bit, and the Chinese basically tell us to shut-up.

Hey right-wing-nut, so-called patriots ... how do you like them apples? Where's all your rhetoric now, huh?

Hey wing-nuts ... we gave ya a SURPLUS, that you subsequently wasted, and now your nutless-wonder leadership has mortgaged our country to COMMIES, and decimated the American middle class, way ta fuckin' go Idaho!

Freedom Of The Press Pressed Against The Ropes

Newspaper Withholding Two Articles After Jailing

By ROBERT D. McFADDEN
Published: July 9, 2005
New York Times

... The Plain Dealer, founded in 1842, is a distinguished name in American journalism and was listed last year as the nation's 21st largest daily.

... "As I write this, two stories of profound importance languish in our hands," Mr. Clifton wrote. "The public would be well-served to know them, but both are based on documents leaked to us by people who would face deep trouble for having leaked them. Publishing the stories would almost certainly lead to a leak investigation and the ultimate choice: talk or go to jail. Because talking isn't an option and jail is too high a price to pay, these two stories will go untold for now. How many more are out there?"

Cause for alarm? You bet your ass it is ...  freedom of the press is crucial to the preservation of democracy and the American way.

In a Sunday Op-Ed piece NYT columnist Frank Rich reminds us that We're Not In Kansas Anymore Toto:

Op-Ed Columnist
We're Not in Watergate Anymore

By FRANK RICH
Published: July 10, 2005

This IS worse than Watergate. Way worse.

Picture worth a thousand words . . .

Happy Declaration of the Principle of Equality Day. And a great big Thank You to AP photographer Gerald Herbert and the the person who cropped his photo so perfectly at the NYTimes online. You folks made my day . . .

Not Above the Law . . .

In light of the Supreme Court's decision not to hear the appeal of contempt charges against reporters Judith Miller of the New York Times and Matthew Cooper of Time, Inc., Cooper's editor-in-chief has announced the publication will turn over Cooper's subpoenaed notes to the court investigating the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame.

I agree with the Supreme Court's decision and with the district court that issued the contempt citations against Miller and Cooper. For me, the matter seems quite clear: the traditional right of journalists to protect the identities of their sources -- codified in many state, but not federal laws -- is fundamental to the ability of a free press to investigate and expose illegal activities that threaten the public interest. Thus, whisleblowers who expose wrong-doing inside government must be protected; and sources who provided verifiable information about criminal activities in other areas should be protected, too.

But as it has in so many areas, the present government has learned to manipulate and subvert the very safeguards that are meant protect and promote our open society.

In the Plame matter, the source or sources Cooper and Miller claim to be protecting used the journalistic privilege as an instrument to commit a federal crime, exposing the identity of a covert intelligence agent. And this was done in order to blackmail by inference others who might share information with the press about deceipt and corruption inside our government.

Some argue that forcing reporters to name sources or face jail time will have a chilling effect on whistleblowers, who will be less likely to speak with reporters for fear of repercussions should their identities be revealed.

I feel the decision is likely to have a different, more salutary effect. Reporters will indeed be more cautious about serving as mere conduits for leaks, that may-or-may-not be true or self-serving, from anonymous sources. If that happens, genuine whistleblowers can expect their information to be investigated and verified before it hits print. And in instances where evidence of wrong-doing can be firmly established, whistleblowers will gain credibility, sympathy and support from an appreciative public.

Now, Judith Fucking Miller may have a website -- ghost-written; is there anything about this woman that isn't a fraud? But her lackey can post stories about her noble stand 'til the cows come home. In her case, the arguments don't apply. Personally, I don't even consider her a journalist; she's a propagandist agent for particular interests in- and outside the current government. And now, caught out in her lies, she hiding like a coward behind a singular tenent of the profession she's done so much to undermine.

I recognize there are risks involved in Time, Inc.'s decision, but I think it's holding to an even higher principle in turning over Cooper's records, not just trying to keep its reporter out of the hooseqow. Here's part of what Time says in its statement:

Although we shall comply with the order to turn over the subpoenaed records, we shall continue to support the protection of confidential sources . . . The same constitution that protects the freedom of the press requires obedience to final decisions of the courts and respect for their rulings and judgments. That Time Inc. strongly disagrees with the courts provides no immunity.

Time Magazine Editor-in-Chief Norman Pearlstine expanded on the statement this way:

As much as I'm a staunch defender of editorial independence, I don't believe there's anything in the Constitution that says journalists are above the law . . .The alternative to complying would be a kind of anarchy.

. . .those of us in the news business are constantly pointing fingers at others who act like they're above the law. We can't now assert that we are.

Time, Inc. and Pearlstine have got it right. Like Patrick Fitgerald, special prosecutor for the Plame investigation, points out:

We shouldn't enable people to think court orders are optional . . . When President Nixon got the order to turn over the [White House] tapes, he didn't say, 'Let me think about my alternatives.'. . . This case is not about a whistle-blower . . . It's about potential retaliation against a whistle-blower.

It may well be that this is what the Plame investigation continues to be about, but over at DKos, Economanic speculates that it has become about much more. It's well worth the read . . .

Denver Three get some attention . . .

Back in the spring, three John Kerry supporters wanted to attend one of Bush's SS-privatization infomercial events in Denver. They had tickets and everything, but they also had a "No More Blood for Oil" bumper sticker on their car. Lo and behold, shortly after they'd entered the building where Bush was scheduled to appear, they were pulled aside and told they had to wait to speak to a secret service agent.

So they did. A short time later a guy wearing an ear piece showed up and the three were forced to leave.

For months now The Denver Three --  Leslie Weise, Karen Bauer and Alex Young -- have been trying to get to the bottom of what happened to them that day. So far the Secret Service has told them it was a Bush volunteer,  not an agent, who evicted them from the Denver stop on what Josh Marshall refers to as Bush's Bamboozlepalooza road show.

Fortunately for the rest of us, that answer wasn't enough for Wiese, Bauer and Young; they refused to let go of the matter and asked more questions instead. Like, if not an SS agent, under who's authority was the guy acting then? And if he wasn't acting under some sort of legal authority in kicking them out of a tax-payer financed event, why isn't he being prosecuted? Why won't anyone even tell them his name?

Last week The Denver Three took their questions to members of Colorado's Congressional delegation in DC, generating some national press in the process. Better yet, three of their state's congressfolk sent a letter to the head of the Secret Service reiterating demands for an investigation into just what went on . . . As of this morning Elizabeth Bumiller reports, deep down in her White House Letter account, that the Secret Service won't comment on the letter because the incident relates to "an open criminal investigation".

Of course there's no indication of how broad this investigation may be (after all, what happened to Weise, Bauer and Young isn't an isolated incident) -- or how vigorously it's being pursued. Still, these three intrepid individuals are keeping the story of extra-legal Bushcops running roughshod at government-funded events from being swept under the rug. Good on them . . .

Ohio's Gov Lawyers Up . . .

Yep. Governor Bob Taft has hired one of the state's highest-profile criminal-defense attorneys to represent him in the wake of exploding scandals triggered by the discovery of huge "losses" to Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation investment funds.

According to Taft, he discovered "on his own initiative" that he failed to disclose certain  "golf outings in which I participated" on the annual financial disclosure forms required by the Ohio Ethics Commission.

So far nobody's saying anything officially about who else might have been tooling the links with Taft on those unreported occasions, but according to one unidentified source mentioned in stories in the  Toledo Blade and Columbus Dispatch, Noe dropped Taft's name as a golfing buddy back in 2002. Yep, that Tom Noe, the guy at the heart of "Coingate" the first investment scandal to erupt from the BWC.

Granted, there's a lot of innuendo in that, there's no proof that Taft and Noe played golf -- or that, if they did, those particular "golf outings" are the one's the governor failed to report. But the Blade's been doing the deep digging on these scandals from the start, andI don't suppose they'd blow it now by publishing rumors unlikely to be backed up. Besides, as the paper points out, Taft has fired aides for failing to report "golf-outings" on their own disclosure statements. So it seems particularly suspicious that the governor would commit the same sort of "errors and ommissions" -- unless, like State Senator Theresa Fedor says, he's "covering his tracks."  God, I hope she's right and that's it's way, way too late for that . . .

According to the Dispatch article, Taft's part of a stampede of Ohio officials trying to "update" financial disclosure statements. In Taft's case, what we seem to know so far is that, while Noe was a major contributor to his campaign coffers, the governors' original ethics filings don't list any "golf outings" or other gifts from the world's now-most-famous coin dealer.

But, uh-oh. Noe's attorney, "Noe attorney William C. Wilkinson said he thinks he is aware of every instance in which Noe entertained public officials but that Noe will discuss those details only with government investigators."

I wonder if Noe's memory and the gov's -- and a whole lot of other folks' -- are going to match up?

The Blade Feels Out DC Vibes on "Coingate"

Today's "Coingate" story in the Toledo Blade takes a look at how the story is resonating with with the political types in DC.

Not surprisingly, Republicans see Noe's disappearing coins trick and investigations into whether he laundered worker's comp bureau funds he managed in to their party coffers as merely a specific, isolated incident of corruption, nothing more. Says RNC spokesman Aaron McLear (and who the fuck is he, anyway? I guess the Big Cheeses at the RNC would rather not talk to the Blade):

What we are doing is investigating these allegations, adopting safeguards to make sure they don't happen again, and moving on with the business of the country. . . If the other side wants to politicize it, that's fine.

"Cuz, y'know, there's nothing about investigations into embezzlement and campaign money laundering by a Pioneer-status donor and regional director for Bush/Cheney04's Ohio campaign -- a former Lucas County Republican Party Chair and BOE member who's wife filled the same roles during the county's mismanaged 2004 election -- that has any political overtones!

RNC types may be betting that voters have blinders on and plugs firmly stuck in their ears, but Ohio Democrats are beginning to link "Coingate" and still unresolved issues about last year's election here.

Rep. Sherrod Brown, a former state representative and Ohio secretary of state who knows a lot about how things work, says that if the money Bush/Cheney took from Noe is tainted it raises new questions about those election results. Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, who represents Toledo,  who sees links, too, plans to join other Ohio Dems in pushing for fuller investigations of the situation with party chair Howard Dean.

And what's the Ohio Kerry campaign's response to the news? According to the Blade:

Jim Ruvolo, the chairman of Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's Ohio campaign, said allegations that have been raised during the last two months are not enough to change the results of the election. Yet, he said, it is important to get to the bottom of what took place last year.

"I am sure you cannot change the election," Mr. Ruvolo said. "But uncovering it and then working to make sure we have vigorous prosecution so people know there are penalties for this ... we owe it to the voters."

Now, I know this same-ol'-same-ol' posture drives people nuts, but I look at it differently. In Florida in 2000 the Republicans manufactured a "grassroots" opposition to the recount. Here in Ohio we built the real thing and it would have been much, much easier for Republicans to accuse us of being partisan hacks if Kerry and Edwards hadn't quickly stepped aside.

As I see it, it's imperative that exposing Republican corruption in Ohio in all its gory glory comes from the grassroots and spreads to ordinary, not-necessarily partisan or even politically involved folks.

As the movement spreads and grows -- which it is doing -- Republicans will get no traction trying to portray it as Kerry supporters grasping at staws. When they do that, as they inevitably do, it reinforces the skepticism spreading about Republicans here.

So I think the Kerry/Edwards campaign is doing precisely the right thing by staying way in the wings . . .

(Tweaked 6/12/05, 10:pm EST: Typo in the very first word of the very first line. Jeez.)

DAMN IT!

I just spent the better part of the morning writing a post on the latest Toledo Blade news and then lost it. So here's the short version, just click the links:

• Governor Taft and other prominent Republicans, including some hoping to take over his job, knew back in September 2004 -- before the big November elections -- about serious problems with Bureau of Worker's Compensation investment funds. (Be sure to check out Taft's early quotes in the sidebar; they're particularly rich!)

• What's the deal with these hedge funds that helped Ohio's BWC lose over  $200 million  in a matter of  months, anyway?

• Blackwell nemesis State Senator Theresa Fedor (D-Toledo) thinks BWC investment managers were funneling state funds to Republicans.

Man, if the Blade keeps this stuff up, I'd consider moving there to help start a Toledo renaissance.

Oh. My. God.

The Toledo Blade is reporting that there's another $215 million missing from an Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation high-risk investment fund separate from the "rare-coins' fund managed by big-time Republican contributor Tom Noe. It seems that $225 million of  $355 million invested with a Pittsburgh capital management firm was diverted to a hedge fund that subsequently registered $215 million in losses. The BWC has known about the losses for over a year and its guy at the center of the deal with MDL Capital Management of Pittsburgh was forced to resign from the bureau nine months ago. But according to the Blade, Governer Bob "See-no-evil-hear-no-evil Taft only learned about the fiasco today! I doubt anyone's wondering why Taft is rated the worst governor in entire United States.

I'm going to try to find out more about this MDL firm out of Pittsburgh, but I bet the folks at Democratic Underground are already on the case.

In the meantime, here are a couple of tidbits on the dramatis personae in Ohio's exploding "Coingate":

Greg White, Northern Ohio District US  Attorney:  I actually went to school at a local community college at the same time as this guy, though I doubt that we shared a class or knew one another. In this article in the Cleveland Scene he refers to his brief sojourn at Lorain County Community College in 1967 his "unfocused semester". Hmmm, sounds a lot like mine. The difference is Greg joined the Marines (my guess is he flunked out and enlisted rather than be drafted, which is what a lot of guys I knew back then did), went to Vietnam, then came back and got serious enough to graduate from Kent State and then Cleveland State law school. The first I remember hearing of him was when he became the Lorain County prosecutor, where I used to live. I don't really remember much other than hearing and reading his name now and then, and that he had a reputation for being pretty tough, but then most prosecutors are belt-notchin'-types.

According to The Scene, White, a Republican, has been known to go after his own but more often Dems, and has had his name bandied about for state office now and then.

Skeptic that I am, I'll try and reserve judgment, but I also plan to call White's office and let them know I want this scandal investigated thoroughly where-ever it leads and chips fall where they may. Here's the number if you want to Greg and his crew of investigators and prosecutors know they're in the crosshairs on this:

United State Attorney Gregory A. Whte

801 West Superior Avenue, Suite 400
Cleveland, Ohio 44113-1852
Phone:  216-622-3600  Fax: 216-522-3370

Another player in the coin and related scandals I know nothing about is retired US Chief Bankruptcy Judge William Bodah, who the Blade reports has been named to oversee the liquidation of the BWC's coin fund. I think he's a Democrat, though, because his name comes up in testimony about a meeting of Youngstown Democrats in testimony from former Ohio Congressman and currently incarcerated felon Jim Traficant's trial* (follow link and do a find on Bodah to read his name mentioned in Youngstown Commissioner David Ludt's testimony on page 5).

* Though I made periodic efforts to follow the Traficant saga, I haven't a clue to what it was actually about. Traficant appeared pro se in his defense and most reporting I read portrayed him as a showman and his trial as a circus. It's hard to get by a guy with a head of hair like Jim's to consider any more serious stuff.

Coingate & Campaign CorruptionHOT! HOT! HOT!

Ooh, ooh, ooh. The Toledo Blade says two witnesses were given immunity in exchange for their testimony before a federal grand jury investigating whether Tom "Coingate" Noe made illegal contributions to the Bush/Cheney'04 election campaign. The two men granted immunity are business associates of Tom Noe's brother-in-law Joe Restivo (Bernadette Noe's brother). Curiously, Joe Restivo is a former finance director of the Blade's parent company. I wonder what  that's  all about . . .

And there's more. Bernadette Noe, Tom's wife and Joe Restivo's sister -- a part-time attorney who served as a Lucas County BOE member and chair of the county's Republican Party during last year's presidential election -- seems to have gotten some cushy debt-collections contracts from Ohio Attorney General Joe Petro's office.

AG Joe Petro is one of three state Repubican officials vying for the Republican nomination in next year's governor's race. The other's are Ohio Auditor Betty Montgomery of the priceless "I hope my record will reflect after all of these years, that I am guilty of doing nothing" quote ; and infamous Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, who told the entire Lucas County Board of Elections to "quit or be fired" back in April in a belated response to the significant voting irregularities that tainted the the 2004 elections.

Well, maybe it was a belated response. Or maybe Blackwell was just trying to get a jump on the scandals unraveling these days . . . If that's the case, I'm comforted that a true hero and Blackwell nemesis, State Senator Theresa Fedor, is on the case.

Fedor dogged Blackwell every step of the way as he tried to force counties to install Diebold machines before last year's election and failing that, used all sorts of shinanigans to skew the vote toward Bush.

In spring 2004, when I read that my county's BOE was about to vote on Diebold machines, it took just three phone calls to get help to persuade the board to delay its decision. The first call I made was to Ben Konop, who was running for Congress against Michael Oxley in the 4th district. When I explained that I needed help with a BOE meeting coming up in a matter of days, an aide connected me to Ben right away. Ben explained that Senator Fedor was the go-to gal on all things Diebold and gave me the number to her office where a Greg Lestini filled me in on lots of stuff and said he'd have Susan Truitt of CASE-Ohio contact me.

The upshot of all this was that within 24 hours Susan Truitt had arranged for a CASE-Ohio volunteer to come speak at the BOE meeting. Blackwell had an aide on hand to speak to the board members, too, but thanks to the speedy help we got from Konop, Fedor and voting-rights activists, we ordinary citizens convinced the board to delay.

All that's a bit of an aside to explain how I got involved with vote-fraud issues here in Ohio. The point is that Theresa Fedor has been active and on top of corruption issues surrounding the election all along. And she's on top of the latest corruption scandals now. In fact, she's calling for more investigations into Noe's handling of the Bureau of Workers Comp "rare-coin" fund, particularly into loans made from the fund to help a controversial Toledo real-estate developer accused of preditory lending practices by folks in the inner city areas where he buys and sells homes.

Theresa Fedor looks like the former teacher she is, and like the best of them, she's smart and tough. In the election's aftermath I got to see her speak at a rally where she made her loathing of Ken Blackwell -- who's resignation she'd called for months previously -- crystal clear. I seriously doubt that she's been surprised by the scandals unfolding in her district. More likely, she knows just what she's doing and has been preparing for this for some time. So, while Blackwell may think he's back-pedaled to safety when it comes to the Noe's, with Fedor on his tail he best think again . . .

(Tweaked 6/04/04 5:02 pm EST: Typos 'n such)

Curious-er and curious-er . . .

This is provocative . . . From Steve Clemons at The Washington Note, my (and most folks) all-things-Bolton blog of choice, comes news that the Toledo Blade is calling on Bolton to withdraw his nomination in an editorial today. While the editorial lays out the political terrain in the struggle over Bolton's appointment rather judiciously, the closing argument, especially the last line, is striking:

Since Mr. Bush would clearly be reluctant to withdraw the nomination, thus acknowledging his own lapse of judgment in choosing an unsuitable candidate for this critical post, it is instead now up to John Bolton himself to withdraw from the field, putting an end to the snarl in the Senate and permitting the President to offer a more appropriate candidate.

This should occur now, rather than letting the Senate come back to find this mess still on its doorstep.

Now, I don't know about anyone else, but to me the adamancy of that final line sounds like a warning. I find it interesting that the Toledo Blade, in the midst of superb "Coingate" investigative reporting -- that has exposed millions of dollars missing from "rare coins" investments managed by Bush/Cheney04 regional campaign director Tom Noe -- is issuing it.

You know what else is interesting? When Ohio Senator George Voinovich gave his speech opposing Bolton on the Senate Floor the other day, he said this:

There are several interesting theories on how Mr. Bolton got the nomination. I am not going to go into them in the Senate. If anyone would like to talk to me about that, I am happy to discuss it with them; otherwise, I urge you to get in touch with senior members of the Foreign Relations Committee and ask them.

Before that Voinovich had expressed concerns about Bolton's appropriateness to become UN ambassador, but not about how he came to be nominated in the first place. Why would that be important? And what would Voinovich know about it that he thinks other senators should know?

Could it be that Bolton's nomination is somehow tied to Ohio Repubican politics? Perhaps something unsavory in Ohio Republican circles, like missing money, maybe money laundering, maybe Tom Noe? And if so/how so? Does the Blade know?

Curiously, in its editorial, the Blade portrays Voinovich as having said in his emotional Floor speech that "the Senate the Ohio lawmaker based his categorical opposition to Mr. Bolton on a pledge his children and grandchildren had obtained from him when he decided to run for his current Senate term."

Now, what does that mean? What could Senator Voinovich have promised his family that would lead him to fight Bolton tooth and nail?

I don't have the answers to any of these questions. But I've been faxing Senator Voinovich regularly to encourage him to do right by his grandchildren -- and grandchildren now and to come all over the world -- by standing up to this administration and the path that it's on.

If you're reading this, please call or fax Senator Voinovich and let him know you understand that he is showing the kind of courage democracy, if we are to preserve it, demands. You might want to contact Ohio Senator Mike DeWine -- taking heat from the reactionary right for signing the Senate Compromise on filibustering judicial appointments -- and let him know you support him, too.

Here's the contact info. Regardless of what these senators have stood for or done in the past, right now they are doing what we want them to do:

George Voinovich (R-OH)

Phone:(202) 224-3353
Fax: (202) 228-1382
TDD: (202) 224-6997
Email Contact Page

Mike DeWine (R-OH)

Phone:  (202) 224-231
Fax: (202) 224-6519
TDD:(202) 224-9921
Email Contact Page

Now, after you've contacted Voinovich and DeWine, go read the latest at the Toledo Blade, which in my estimation is the real paper of record of these days . . .

Ohio GOP leaders to return Ney contributions

Ex-Taft aide got $39,000 from Noe to buy house. And for a terrific sneak preview on this tale of pay-to-play woe, go read this post over at DKos by Philip Curtis of ePluribus Media . It's amazingly precient . . .

Finally, don't miss the Noe donations to Bush Grand jury parade. Or just go to this page for links to all the latest "Coingate" coverage in the Blade. Experience what it's like to read a real newspaper again!

And while you're reading all this stuff, consider how many people in- and outside of government, publicly and behind the scenes, are fighting for the ideals on which this country was founded right now. Some of them may even be folks you feel disappointed in or discouraged about. Keep in mind that real heroes are willing to sacrifice everything, even the public's regard, to fight for what's right. Think about this, please.

(Tweaked 6/02/05, 12:22 pm EST: Screwed up link to ePluribus Media, which, since it's showing us the future of news/the future of public discourse/the future of democracy right now, is much-regretted mistake. Accept my apologies ePM gals and guys.)

More Coingate . . .

I'm posting on the fly, but again today the Toledo Blade is all over this story:

Go here for news about a unique Fed-State agreement to partner in investigating all the goings on . . . Here for a timeline report on the search of Tom Noe's coin shop, including a pre-search investigation that uncovered a coin purchased for over a grand in state money and later sold for a penny! . . . Here and here for DNC Chair Howard Dean and Toledo councilman Frank Szollosi telling Republicans from the ersatz prez down to give back campaign funds contributed by Noe.

Then there's this piece about how some of the coins in the workers comp fund inventory suspiciously resemble those stolen in a heist almost 30 years ago. And this about how the Noe's are trying to sell their waterfront home in the Florida Keys, which seems to be part of some legal hustle, since Bernadette Noe just signed papers to establish herself as permanent resident there.

But I saved the best to the last. Go here to read about the Grand Jury convened to look into whether Noe volated federal laws in contributing to the Bush/Cheney campaign.

Boy, is the Blade ever showin' the big boys how it's done . . . Lucky Toledo! A real newspaper, a Great Lake, and the world-famous Mud Hens, too.
 

The Rule of Brutes . . .

With the Toledo Blade getting so much recognition around the blogs because of its investigative reporting on the rare-coin fund scandal here in Ohio, it's worth pointing out again that the Blade won a Pulitizer Prize just a year ago for it's investigative series on atrocities committed by the US elite Tiger Force unit during the Vietnam War.

Today This is Rumour Control carries interviews with an original Tiger Force whistleblower and a medic who witnessed many of the events reported by the Toledo Blade, and still-unreported executions as well.

These interviews contain horrors that the men telling them live with each day of their lives. I think we owe it to them, to the victims, and to soldiers and victims everywhere, to read their words. And to remember what happened, not just for a Memorial Day weekend or so, but always.

And to take serious note of these words, too:

From TIRC's interview with whisleblower Dennis Stout, who spent years fighting to expose the truth about the war crimes he witnessed:

This Is Rumor Control: Why wasn’t anyone charged? :

Dennis Stout: I don’t know.  The investigation, I’m told when right up to Donald Rumsfeld’s desk.  When Ford came in Rumsfeld became Defense Secretary and in the same month he became Secretary, the investigation was killed.

And from the interview with Rion Causey, who was a 19-year-old medic when he was assigned to the Tiger Force unit and witnessed their crimes:

This Is Rumor Control: Is it any surprise to you that it may have been Donald Rumsfeld who killed the original investigation and here were go again with Abu Ghraib and the others.

Rion Causey: No.  He is just a nasty man. I despise him. I absolutely do. It wouldn’t surprise me at all that he was the one who killed it. What with Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo and shipping people off to be tortured – it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if he was the one who killed the Tiger Force investigation.

As I wrote at my old blog (here and here), I heard James Olson, a retired CIA counterintelligence director, speak just months after we invaded Afghanistan -- both in a seminar class I was taking and to a public audience later the same day.

In my earlier posts I wrote about how Olson manipulated that public audience, blaming "squeamish" Americans for hamstringing the CIA, thus preventing agents from stopping the September 11 attacks. I wrote about how, by the end of his talk, he'd bamboozled the audience into believing torture was an effective and necessary weapon for fighting the "war on terror". And I wrote about how Olson's visit coincided with the period of time when Albert Gonzales and others produced the White House memos that rationalized the torture we've since learned about at Bagram, Abu Ghraib, Guatanamo and other un-named prisons in US gulag -- and in various countries where we "render" suspects for interrogation.

Much of what we've learned about US prison atrocities comported with Olson persuaded his audience to endorse that day. By the end of his speech most of his listeners indicated approval for torture-- by an actual show of hands -- as long as it did not take place on US soil.

My point in repeating all this, yet again, is that it was clear to me from the day I heard him speak that our government embraced torture as matter of policy, and that James Olson sent out to test-market that policy after the fact.

I attended Olson's public address with a friend. We left the auditorium knowing we were surrounded by "good Germans" (though I've sometimes wondered since whether the audience was seeded with shills as part of the show). And that the leaders of our government were war criminals.

But I've only recently begun to undertand that Donald Rumsfeld has been a war criminal for a very long time.

(Tweaked 5/28/05, 3:07 pm EST: DA caught a dropped word in the very last line -- Thanks.)

Buried facts . . .

Today's Washington Post carries an article by Walter Pincus reviewing the much-under reported sequence of evidence that George Bush and his senior officials deliberately lied us into the mess in Iraq. The story appears deep inside Section A instead of on the front page. Here's an excerpt:

On the day before the president's speech, the Berlin station chief warned about using Curveball's information on the mobile biological units in Bush's speech. The station chief warned that the German intelligence service considered Curveball "problematical" and said its officers had been unable to confirm his assertions. The station chief recommended that CIA headquarters give "serious consideration" before using that unverified information, according to the commission report.

The next day, Bush told the world: "We know that Iraq, in the late 1990s, had several mobile weapons labs . . . designed to produce germ warfare agents and can be moved from place to a place to evade inspectors." He attributed that information to "three Iraqi defectors."

A week later, Powell said in an address to the United Nations that the information on mobile labs came from four defectors, and he described one as "an eyewitness . . . who supervised one of these facilities" and was at the site when an accident killed 12 technicians.

Here's another, about how those claims that Saddam planned to attack the US mainland with poison-laden drones came to be:

The basis for that analysis was a single report that an Iraqi general in late 2000 or early 2001 indicated interest in buying autopilots and gyroscopes for Hussein's UAV program. The manufacturer automatically included topographic mapping software of the United States in the package.

When the list was submitted in early 2002, the manufacturer's distributor determined that the U.S. mapping software would not be included in the autopilot package, and told the procurement agent in March 2002 . . .

When a foreign intelligence service questioned the procurement agent, he originally said he had never intended to purchase the U.S. mapping software, but he refused to submit to a thorough examination, according to the president's commission. "By fall 2002, the CIA was still uncertain whether the procurement agent was lying," the commission said.Nonetheless, a National Intelligence Estimate in October 2002 said the attempted procurement "strongly suggested" Iraq was interested in targeting UAVs on the United States.Senior members of Congress were told in September 2002 that this was the "smoking gun" in a special briefing by Vice President Cheney and then-CIA Director George J. Tenet

Yep, the same administration raising cane that Newsweek based it's brief mention of Quran abuse on a single source (an inaccurate claim, as Frank Rich points out), exploded a single, misleading bit of intelligence into a "smoking gun" imperative for invading Iraq.

And here's me giving WaPoVolk a barely civil piece of my mind:

Dear Washington Post Publishers and Editors:

In an article that appears in the Sunday, May 22, 2005, edition of your newspaper, reporter Walter Pincus writes that:

"The question of prewar intelligence has been thrust back into the public eye with the disclosure of a secret British memo showing that, eight months before the March 2003 start of the war, a senior British intelligence official reported to Prime Minister Tony Blair that U.S. intelligence was being shaped to support a policy of invading Iraq."

Since your paper chose to print Mr. Pincus's article on page A26, and an earlier Pincus article on the Blair Minute was buried on page A18, "thrust" hardly seems the correct adjective to indicate how evidence that the Bush administration deliberately misled the public is being handled by the Post and other mainstream media outlets.

There is much discussion these days of the declining quality of press and broadcast news reporting, and of the concommitant decline in public interest and trust in traditional sources of news coverage.

"Some people say" that the internet is to blame, contributing to declining newspaper circulation and lower viewership of network and cable news.

I say nonsense. If newspapers such as the Washington Post were consistently meeting their obligations to investigate, verify, and report news of concern to the public -- without depending on official endorsement to define what those concerns are or should be -- readers would be flocking to subscribe to either their print or online publications. You may disagree, but your own assessments seem not to be working, so why don't you try mine.

In other words, actually "thrust" the evidence of administration deception into the public eye by publishing articles like Mr. Pincus's on the front page where they belong.

Actually assert your right and obligation to investigate the claims of the government and report the facts to your readers instead of feeding us government press releases and context provided by official propagandists speaking on background.

And do not, as in the recent Newsweek incident, allow your paper to be  used as a scapegoat for this administration's incompetence and dishonesty.

Look, unless their aim is to create mayhem in the interest of consolidating power to totalitarian ends, these folks don't know what they're doing. They have lied and connived our nation and the world into economic, social and politcal disaster.

They must be stopped and the obligation of your newspaper -- protected as it is by the premier amendment to the Constitution that gave birth to our Noble Experiment in self-government -- is to give the people from which authority derives the information we need to stop it.

Get busy.

CS XXXX
Ohio

In U.S. Report, Brutal Details of 2 Afghan Inmates' Deaths

Somewhere in the intestinal sewage of US torture practices and institutional coverups, some one person must have agonized over the true meaning of patriotism, and decided to act . . .

From the front-page story in today's New York Times:

The story of Mr. Dilawar's brutal death at the Bagram Collection Point - and that of another detainee, Habibullah, who died there six days earlier in December 2002 - emerge from a nearly 2,000-page confidential file of the Army's criminal investigation into the case, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times.
. . .

The Times obtained a copy of the file from a person involved in the investigation who was critical of the methods used at Bagram and the military's response to the deaths.

Somewhere in the bowels of the New York Times lingered a visceral memory of what a great newspaper is supposed to be . . .

And so today, with narrative skill, Tim Golden tells the story of two how two prisoners were tortured to death at the US detention center in Bagram, Afghanistan; the story the military does not want us to know but that, to truly know what's been done in our name, we must read.

It begins this way:

Even as the young Afghan man was dying before them, his American jailers continued to torment him.

The prisoner, a slight, 22-year-old taxi driver known only as Dilawar, was hauled from his cell at the detention center in Bagram, Afghanistan, at around 2 a.m. to answer questions about a rocket attack on an American base. When he arrived in the interrogation room, an interpreter who was present said, his legs were bouncing uncontrollably in the plastic chair and his hands were numb. He had been chained by the wrists to the top of his cell for much of the previous four days.

China reduces surplus population by five.

"China's Use of Child Labor Emerges From the Shadows
The deaths of five girls draw attention to the practice, common in struggling rural areas."

By Ching-Ching Ni, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer. ------->

---

Hey cracker-ass, right-wing fundamentalist Bible thumping Jesus-freak fans of Wal-Mart ... how'd you like your underage kid working 12 hours per day in a sweat shop, then go to sleep in a freezing cold bed only to get hypothermia, and her employer bury her, still alive, in a cardboard box? Does that work for ya tough-guy, go-to-church on Sunday, so-called NASCAR Daddies?

I know there is an element of America that doesn't give a rat's ass coz we're talkin' Chinese here, and those probably think of them as sub-human coz they don't see 'em in they're fundamentalist churches on Sundays.

But, for the majority of HUMAN Americans, this LA-Times report probably strikes a cord at some level. Especially, among those with their own children.

Well, all-ya-all just keep voting with your dollars to support both the giant corporations, and the political parties who support economic policies that make these human rights abuses possible, and I'm sure you'll be reserving your place in heaven ... dumb-shits.

Man, ya gotta love those cheap-ass Wal-Mart prices dontcha!

LESS IS MORE.

NY Times Picks Up Sirotablog Scoop on Medicare

Just a quick heads-up that one of the links added to BloggerRadio.com today, "Sirotablog"'s David Sirota (photo) scooped the Main Stream Media and has now provided the facts to the New York Times, whose Sunday edition will publish this report.

This Sirota dude has done some good, check this one out too:

WaPo