We're now less than three and a half weeks from the elections, and the forecasts keep rolling in. And despite every forecast I've seen becoming more and more optimistic for the Democrats, every liberal I've talked to about the election is cautious. Heck, even me. I tend to be recklessly optimistic about a lot of things, but I know that many people nationally think that elections are something to screw around with and that winning is far more important than process. That's something both parties have been guilty of, but the evidence is clear that in recent years, it's primarily the Republicans playing dirty tricks and breaking the law. That's a rant for another day.
Anyway, the point is that despite a mountain of evidence and dozens of polls, liberal and progressive voters are doing everything they can to not count their proverbial chickens.
One might ask what's going on in the Republican camps.
Well, we know that some of them are endorsing Democrats this year.
Some of them are preparing to go to prison. As an aside, here's an interesting tidbit about Ney - if he doesn't formally resign, but waits until November 9 to be kicked out of Congress (assuming, of course, that the GOP doesn't decide to renege), he'll make roughly $10,000 from his salary, paid of course by you and me.
And the top Republicans, what are they doing? "They aren't even planning for if they lose."
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Friday, October 13, 2006
Update on "Hanni-Date"
Speaking of Sean Hannity, remember his dating service? Ladies, here's the man of your dreams:
Well theres not much to say..... I'm 23 not married and have a little 1 year old girl named Keeva. I work a dead end job that I hate. My intrests are movies, animie and, video game ya five star loser. I also love ProWrestling I'm what called a BackYard Wrestler. yup thats about it....my real hair color is brown but I bleach it. um......... I have a tatoo of a star on my left sholder um...
OK,ladies, please, no pushing or shoving, take your turns, not everybody at once
Well theres not much to say..... I'm 23 not married and have a little 1 year old girl named Keeva. I work a dead end job that I hate. My intrests are movies, animie and, video game ya five star loser. I also love ProWrestling I'm what called a BackYard Wrestler. yup thats about it....my real hair color is brown but I bleach it. um......... I have a tatoo of a star on my left sholder um...
OK,ladies, please, no pushing or shoving, take your turns, not everybody at once
Response from GM to Sean Hannity complaint
I wrote to General Motors to tell them that I was offended that they would participate in a promotion
with Sean Hannity. Here is the form response:
I see their point. Where else but the Sean Hannity show could you reach those of a certain economic status
or educational level
or ideological orientation.
with Sean Hannity. Here is the form response:
Thank you for your feedback and comments.
GM is a prominent advertiser in America and to tell our story we advertise across a tremendously wide array of media trying to connect with all customers irrespective of ethnic, religious or political affiliations. The current promotion on Sean Hannity's program is not intended to create controversy or support for any political view. Rather, it is designed to generate interest in our world-class lineup of vehicles. Sean Hannity has not been hired as a spokesperson nor is he receiving compensation from GM.
I see their point. Where else but the Sean Hannity show could you reach those of a certain economic status
or educational level
or ideological orientation.
The Party of Values
The Grand Old Party.
Let's see what we've seen today from these great men, these staunch defenders of everything that's right with America, these mind-blowingly hypocitical bastards:
1) Ohio Representative Bob Ney. Current Representative Bob Ney. Who has pled guilty to taking bribes from White House friend and convicted criminal Jack Abramoff. Who's still in Congress, because he won't resign.
Now, to be fair, GOP leaders have said they intend to get rid of him as the "first order of business" in the next session. After the election.
Now, Ney's not totally ignorant of his need to resign. "Ney's lawyer, Mark Touhey, told the judge Ney would resign before sentencing on January 19. Under the Constitution, he'll be gone before then. His term expires when the new Congress is sworn in at noon on January 3."
And remember the Mel Gibson defense? The Mark Foley defense? "It weren't me, yer honorableness! It were the demon rum what made me do them awful things. I swears!"
"The treatment and counseling I have started have been very helpful, but I know that I am not done yet and that I have more work to do to deal with my alcohol dependency," he said in a written statement.
2) Connecticut Rep. Chris Shays. He's been saying stupid things lately, but he's hit a new height of ignorant and irresponsible with this one. During a debate on Wednesday, Shays said "Now I've seen what happened in Abu Ghraib, and Abu Ghraib was not torture. It was outrageous, outrageous involvement of National Guard troops from [Maryland] who were involved in a sex ring and they took pictures of soldiers who were naked." No, Chris, a sex ring is what Mark Foley was trying to turn the page dorm into. Abu Ghraib (photos here on Salon) is an example of humanity gone wrong.
I see the evil and greedy are busy today.
Let's see what we've seen today from these great men, these staunch defenders of everything that's right with America, these mind-blowingly hypocitical bastards:
1) Ohio Representative Bob Ney. Current Representative Bob Ney. Who has pled guilty to taking bribes from White House friend and convicted criminal Jack Abramoff. Who's still in Congress, because he won't resign.
Now, to be fair, GOP leaders have said they intend to get rid of him as the "first order of business" in the next session. After the election.
Now, Ney's not totally ignorant of his need to resign. "Ney's lawyer, Mark Touhey, told the judge Ney would resign before sentencing on January 19. Under the Constitution, he'll be gone before then. His term expires when the new Congress is sworn in at noon on January 3."
And remember the Mel Gibson defense? The Mark Foley defense? "It weren't me, yer honorableness! It were the demon rum what made me do them awful things. I swears!"
"The treatment and counseling I have started have been very helpful, but I know that I am not done yet and that I have more work to do to deal with my alcohol dependency," he said in a written statement.
2) Connecticut Rep. Chris Shays. He's been saying stupid things lately, but he's hit a new height of ignorant and irresponsible with this one. During a debate on Wednesday, Shays said "Now I've seen what happened in Abu Ghraib, and Abu Ghraib was not torture. It was outrageous, outrageous involvement of National Guard troops from [Maryland] who were involved in a sex ring and they took pictures of soldiers who were naked." No, Chris, a sex ring is what Mark Foley was trying to turn the page dorm into. Abu Ghraib (photos here on Salon) is an example of humanity gone wrong.
I see the evil and greedy are busy today.
Subtle media bias?
I have often been amused by sentencing in the federal courts, where the terms are defined in months rather than years. Wow, I could have gotten 10 years, but I lucked out, only 120 months!
Team Member JTB posited this one. Here is the CNN story on slimy Bob Ney's guilty plea. Do you think the mixing of months and years soft-pedals what a huge break on sentencing Ney is getting? (knowing that the part of Retard America will be played by Billy Bob Thornton's Karl from Sling Blade, and they said there'd be no math.)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Rep. Bob Ney pleaded guilty Friday in the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling investigation, the first lawmaker to confess to crimes in a scandal that has stained the Republican-controlled Congress and the Bush administration. Standing before Judge Ellen S. Huvelle, Ney pleaded guilty to conspiracy and making false statements. He acknowledged taking money, gifts and favors in return for official actions on behalf of Abramoff and his clients.
The 52-year-old lawmaker faces a maximum of 10 years in prison. Huvelle said prosecutors had agreed to recommend a term of 27 months.
Hard work--makin' progress
Violence in Iraq forces the interior ministry to budget a loss of 25 police officers each day to death or permanent injury, a US security advisor said. "We budgeted for 10 Iraqi policemen killed every day and 15 wounded in action to the point where they had to be retired from action" in 2006, Gerald Burke, National Security Advisor to the Iraqi Ministry of Interior said (link).
Burke described the appalling conditions facing police whom he helped train, to a meeting of the Democratic Policy Committee, which includes Democratic legislators.He blamed much of the current bloodshed on the US government's "failure to recognize the importance of security in the immediate post-conflict environment, in particular our failure to support the rule of law."
An army veteran with more than 25 years' experience in law enforcement, Burke was one of six specialists sent to Iraq in May 2003 by the US Department of Justice to conduct an assessment of the Iraqi criminal justice system.
Burke described the appalling conditions facing police whom he helped train, to a meeting of the Democratic Policy Committee, which includes Democratic legislators.He blamed much of the current bloodshed on the US government's "failure to recognize the importance of security in the immediate post-conflict environment, in particular our failure to support the rule of law."
An army veteran with more than 25 years' experience in law enforcement, Burke was one of six specialists sent to Iraq in May 2003 by the US Department of Justice to conduct an assessment of the Iraqi criminal justice system.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Oh, you wacky Canucks
It's legal in Whistler, right? And Afghanistan, too, I'm guessing...
"Trucking got my chips cashed in..."
OTTAWA, Canada (Reuters) -- Canadian troops fighting Taliban militants in Afghanistan have stumbled across an unexpected and potent enemy -- almost impenetrable forests of marijuana plants 10 feet tall.
General Rick Hillier, chief of the Canadian defense staff, said Thursday that Taliban fighters were using the forests as cover. In response, the crew of at least one armored car had camouflaged their vehicle with marijuana.
"The challenge is that marijuana plants absorb energy, heat very readily. It's very difficult to penetrate with thermal devices. ... And as a result you really have to be careful that the Taliban don't dodge in and out of those marijuana forests," he said in a speech in Ottawa, Canada.
"We tried burning them with white phosphorous -- it didn't work. We tried burning them with diesel -- it didn't work. The plants are so full of water right now ... that we simply couldn't burn them," he said.
Even successful incineration had its drawbacks.
"A couple of brown plants on the edges of some of those [forests] did catch on fire. But a section of soldiers that was downwind from that had some ill effects and decided that was probably not the right course of action," Hiller said dryly.
One soldier told him later: "Sir, three years ago before I joined the army, I never thought I'd say 'That damn marijuana'."
"Trucking got my chips cashed in..."
Even Wolf Blitzer had enough
Patrick McHenry, Republican Congresstool from North Carolina, went on Wolf Blitzer's show to spew talking points. Surprise, surprise, even Blitzer, master of the softball, called him on his crap:
MCHENRY: Well, look, all the fact points lead to one question: Did Rahm Emanuel or Nancy Pelosi have any involvement on the strategic or tactical level?.....
BLITZER: Do you have any evidence at all that Democrats or others might have been behind the timing of this scandal?
MCHENRY: Look, let's be honest...
BLITZER: Do you have any evidence to back that charge up?
MCHENRY: No, no, actually, if the Democrats had any issue with saying this, putting all the facts out on the table, they would say, certainly, I'll testify under oath that I had no involvement in it. They've said no.
BLITZER: Well, you don't have any evidence, though, right?
MCHENRY: Well, look at the fact points.
BLITZER: Yes or no, do you have any evidence, Congressman?
MCHENRY: Do you have any evidence that they weren't involved?
Amazing. It is pretty simple question, DO YOU HAVE ANY EVIDENCE? His response? Did so! Did not! Did so! Did not!
Wow.
MCHENRY: Well, look, all the fact points lead to one question: Did Rahm Emanuel or Nancy Pelosi have any involvement on the strategic or tactical level?.....
BLITZER: Do you have any evidence at all that Democrats or others might have been behind the timing of this scandal?
MCHENRY: Look, let's be honest...
BLITZER: Do you have any evidence to back that charge up?
MCHENRY: No, no, actually, if the Democrats had any issue with saying this, putting all the facts out on the table, they would say, certainly, I'll testify under oath that I had no involvement in it. They've said no.
BLITZER: Well, you don't have any evidence, though, right?
MCHENRY: Well, look at the fact points.
BLITZER: Yes or no, do you have any evidence, Congressman?
MCHENRY: Do you have any evidence that they weren't involved?
Amazing. It is pretty simple question, DO YOU HAVE ANY EVIDENCE? His response? Did so! Did not! Did so! Did not!
Wow.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
While on that science-y thing...
Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer said he needs support from a state Legislature that will help move Montana‘s agenda forward, ”not people who think the Earth is 4,000 years old.”
A wingnut state legislator named Roger Koopman called the statements "incredibly bigoted." A local paper reports that "Koopman said the governor `insulted many Christian people and other people of faith that arrived at that position other than the way I arrived at it.' Koopman said his belief in the Earth‘s age is not based on his faith, but on his scientific investigations."
Memo to Mr. Koopman--the governor is not a bigot. He may well be prejudiced, in the definitional sense that he has accurately "pre-judged" you and your ilk to be TOTAL F**KING MORONS. In John 3:16. Jesus did NOT say "that whoever believes in him and also acts like a total imbecile disregarding observational evidence in the physical world that would be persuasive even to single-celled organisms shall not perish but have eternal life. "
I'd write more, but I have to go and hide more of the fossil record as tests of faith.
A wingnut state legislator named Roger Koopman called the statements "incredibly bigoted." A local paper reports that "Koopman said the governor `insulted many Christian people and other people of faith that arrived at that position other than the way I arrived at it.' Koopman said his belief in the Earth‘s age is not based on his faith, but on his scientific investigations."
Memo to Mr. Koopman--the governor is not a bigot. He may well be prejudiced, in the definitional sense that he has accurately "pre-judged" you and your ilk to be TOTAL F**KING MORONS. In John 3:16. Jesus did NOT say "that whoever believes in him and also acts like a total imbecile disregarding observational evidence in the physical world that would be persuasive even to single-celled organisms shall not perish but have eternal life. "
I'd write more, but I have to go and hide more of the fossil record as tests of faith.
There you go getting all science-y again
Question: Thank you, Mr. President. Back on Iraq. A group of American and Iraqi health officials today released a report saying that 655,000 Iraqis have died since the Iraq war. That figure is 20 times the figure that you cited in December, at 30,000. Do you care to amend or update your figure, and do you consider this a credible report?
The President: No, I don't consider it a credible report. Neither does General Casey and neither do Iraqi officials. I do know that a lot of innocent people have died, and that troubles me and it grieves me. And I applaud the Iraqis for their courage in the face of violence. I am amazed that this is a society which so wants to be free that they're willing to -- that there's a level of violence that they tolerate. And it's now time for the Iraqi government to work hard to bring security in neighborhoods so people can feel at peace. No question, it's violent, but this report is one -- they put it out before, it was pretty well -- the methodology was pretty well discredited. But I talk to people like General Casey and, of course, the Iraqi government put out a statement talking about the report.
Yeah, nobody trusts those peer-reviewed studies published in The Lancet, you can't trust those wackos. And who ever heard of Johns Hopkins and MIT anyway?
The President: No, I don't consider it a credible report. Neither does General Casey and neither do Iraqi officials. I do know that a lot of innocent people have died, and that troubles me and it grieves me. And I applaud the Iraqis for their courage in the face of violence. I am amazed that this is a society which so wants to be free that they're willing to -- that there's a level of violence that they tolerate. And it's now time for the Iraqi government to work hard to bring security in neighborhoods so people can feel at peace. No question, it's violent, but this report is one -- they put it out before, it was pretty well -- the methodology was pretty well discredited. But I talk to people like General Casey and, of course, the Iraqi government put out a statement talking about the report.
Yeah, nobody trusts those peer-reviewed studies published in The Lancet, you can't trust those wackos. And who ever heard of Johns Hopkins and MIT anyway?
Cognitive Dissonance..again
Cognitive Dissonance: A psychological phenomenon which refers to the discomfort felt at a discrepancy between what you already know or believe, and new information or interpretation....if someone is called upon to learn something which contradicts what they already think they know--particularly if they are committed to that prior knowledge--they are likely to resist the new learning. (link)
Preznit Stumbly: We're helping this young democracy succeed.
Preznit Stumbly: We're helping this young democracy succeed.
On a lighter note
I, like most folks, get lots of spam. Thankfully, much of it gets filtered out, so I don't have to deal with it, but every so often something sneaks through. Today was a truly special one:
From: Christian Music Updates
Re: Pat Boone has a message for you
Apparently, he's got a new book coming out, and if I bought it, I'd also get free Pat Boone CD's, and copies of Christianity Today, Today's Christian Woman, and Mature Lifestyles.
The whole thing is sponsored by "Working Families for WalMart."
I am almost certain they could not have missed their target audience by more. Osama bin Laden is more likely to order this than I am.
From: Christian Music Updates
Re: Pat Boone has a message for you
Apparently, he's got a new book coming out, and if I bought it, I'd also get free Pat Boone CD's, and copies of Christianity Today, Today's Christian Woman, and Mature Lifestyles.
The whole thing is sponsored by "Working Families for WalMart."
I am almost certain they could not have missed their target audience by more. Osama bin Laden is more likely to order this than I am.
The Right to Keep and Bear Stupidity Shall Not Be Infringed
School shootings prompt calls for gun control.
Calls for gun control prompt the uninformed to sputter "the Second Amendment!"
Sputterings of "the Second Amendment!" prompt me to remind those uninformed out there that the 2nd Amendment, under current settled law, protects no federal private right of ownership and has not been applied against the states via the 14th Amendment under "fundamental rights" analysis. See my earlier post here.
Calls for gun control prompt the uninformed to sputter "the Second Amendment!"
Sputterings of "the Second Amendment!" prompt me to remind those uninformed out there that the 2nd Amendment, under current settled law, protects no federal private right of ownership and has not been applied against the states via the 14th Amendment under "fundamental rights" analysis. See my earlier post here.
I just needed to see these words again
From Inherit the Wind:
Drummond: Can't you understand? That if you take a law like evolution and you make it a crime to teach it in the public schools, tomorrow you can make it a crime to teach it in the private schools? And tomorrow you may make it a crime to read about it. And soon you may ban books and newspapers. And then you may turn Catholic against Protestant, and Protestant against Protestant, and try to foist your own religion upon the mind of man. If you can do one, you can do the other. Because fanaticism and ignorance is forever busy, and needs feeding. And soon, your Honor, with banners flying and with drums beating we'll be marching backward, BACKWARD, through the glorious ages of that Sixteenth Century when bigots burned the man who dared bring enlightenment and intelligence to the human mind!
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