Running from Bush won't help Santorum get re-elected : The Morning Call Online

I don't agree with this fellow's reasonsing, but I do agree that not much is going to help "Lil Ricky."

This is not 2004. 2004 seems like it was 100 years ago. A lot has happened since 2004.

It isn't helping that Santorum is out flapping his jaws about the on-going search for WMD (like there really is one) and trying to convince people that major WMD has been found.

Jeebus, Lil Ricky, I have stuff in my tool shed that is more dangerous than what they found in Iraq. Besides, that mustard gas is so old, Reagan probably gave it to Saddam,. Do you really want to go there?

Running from Bush won't help Santorum get re-elected : The Morning Call Online:

"Take his money, but don't take him on the campaign trail.

That's the standard wisdom that consultants are giving Republican candidates regarding the role of President Bush in the 2006 elections. While still a formidable fund raiser, the president is seen as a liability for GOP candidates such as Sen. Rick Santorum who are facing stiff challenges this fall. With a deeply unpopular war, soaring energy prices and expansive budget deficits, it appears reasonable that campaign gurus would advise their candidates to distance themselves from Bush. Sen. Santorum's efforts to demonstrate where he and the president are at odds on policy matters make it obvious that he is taking this advice to heart. But before he goes too far with the image of a divide between himself and the president, he would be wise to take a close look at how George W. Bush won re-election in 2004. It is in this strategy that Santorum will find his best chance at returning to Washington for a third term."

Lawmaker Wants Feds to Probe N.Y. Times

This is outrageous. New Yorkers would be well-advised to get rid of this lunatic at the first available opportunity.

Need I remind the Congressman that Chimpy announced that financial records of terrorists and those supporting them, were under scrutiny by allies in the "War on Turr." We already knew that. The "turrists" sure as hell knew it, as I imagine they keep up with this stuff much more than your average American.

What we did not know, is that the financial records and transactions of millions of Anericans were also being tracked.

The NYT id the right thing in informing the public of this. We have a right to know.

Chron.com Lawmaker Wants Feds to Probe N.Y. Times:

"WASHINGTON : The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee urged the Bush administration on Sunday to seek criminal charges against newspapers that reported on a secret financial-monitoring program used to trace terrorists.
Rep. Peter King cited The New York Times in particular for publishing a story last week that the Treasury Department was working with the CIA to examine messages within a massive international database of money-transfer records."

DHS: Bushite Networking joint for private contractors

There is a pattern I have notices with the Bushites: The creation of the Department of Homeland Security fits the pattern to a 'T.'

Remember how the Bushites resisted the creation of Homeland Security. Oh, no, they wanted no part of it.

Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, Chimpy changed his mind. Yes, there would be a Department of Homeland Security.

The Rethugs figured out how they could use this Department to steal more money from the treasury and give it to their friends in the blooming security industry.

This department has been a joke from day one. Unfortunately, it is a joke on all of us.

donkey o.d.: The Road From K Street to Yusufiya By FRANK RICH:

"AS the remains of two slaughtered American soldiers, Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker and Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, were discovered near Yusufiya, Iraq, on Tuesday, a former White House official named David Safavian was convicted in Washington on four charges of lying and obstruction of justice. The three men had something in common: all had enlisted in government service in a time of war. The similarities end there. The difference between Mr. Safavian's kind of public service and that of the soldiers says everything about the disconnect between the government that has sabotaged this war and the brave men and women who have volunteered in good faith to fight it.

Privates Tucker and Menchaca made the ultimate sacrifice. Their bodies were so mutilated that they could be identified only by DNA. Mr. Safavian, by contrast, can be readily identified by smell. His idea of wartime sacrifice overseas was to chew over government business with the Jack Abramoff gang while on a golfing junket in Scotland. But what's most indicative of Mr. Safavian's public service is not his felonies in the Abramoff-Tom DeLay axis of scandal, but his legal activities before his arrest. In his DNA you get a snapshot of the governmental philosophy that has guided the war effort both in Iraq and at home (that would be the Department of Homeland Security) and doomed it to failure. "

When out-of-touch politicians get desperate

There seems to be a tidal-wave crashing onto the inner beltway.

It appears to be washing over both pols and opinion writers. There is something in that big old wave that is damn toxic, so I can only conclude that it is fear.

What are these people afraid of? TThe citizens?

Well, if that is the case, we might be seeing the resurgance of Democracy in America, because in a true Democracy, government officials should fear the people, not the other way around.




Sirotablog: When out-of-touch politicians get desperate:


A brief scan of the political news these days makes clear that politicians and pundits in Washington are getting very frightened about the grassroots activism boiling outside the Beltway - and now they are getting really desperate. David Broder and David Brooks now regularly use their columns to attack activists who have the nerve to get involved in their own democracy. And now, today, we see New York Sen. Chuck Schumer (D) is jumping into the fray as well.
Schumer, a consummate Washington insider, is now using his position as head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to try to crush his own party's activists in Connecticut. According to Time Magazine, Schumer has pressed Senate candidate Ned Lamont (D) to abandon his run against Sen. Joe Lieberman (D) - the Democratic incumbent who has repeatedly and destructively undermined the Democratic Party for years. Schumer has also said he would consider backing Lieberman's bid for re-election even if Lieberman leaves the Democratic Party.

None of this is surprising. Schumer's been a Washington politician for decades - and grassroots energy frightens people like him. But what is surprising is how Schumer has become so desperate, he is now flinging out wild stories to justify his actions. Time reports that 'Schumer has told colleagues he thinks that if Lieberman lost the primary, it would send a bad signal to moderate voters and might hurt the party's chances of winning Senate seats in places like Montana and Missouri in November.'"

The Devil is helping defeat Republicans in the Utah primaries.

Does anyone else get tired of living in a loony bin?

Independent Online Edition > Americas:

"A candidate seeking the Republican nomination for a Congressional seat in Utah has blamed the devil for problems with his campaign.

John Jacob, a businessman aiming to oust Republican incumbent Chris Cannon in a party primary this week, told The Salt Lake Tribune that since he had decided to try for Congress, the devil had disrupted his business deals, stopping him investing $1m in the race as he had hoped. 'There's another force that wants to keep us from going to Washington DC,' he said. 'It's the devil.'"

Did Cheney Know Of Casey's Redeployment Plan When He Said Democrats' Redeployment Plan Was "Worst Possible Thing?"

If one more draft dodger has one more thing to say about Americans not having the stomach for a fight, I think I am going to scream.

Having said that, did anyone bother to tell Dead-eye that those generals the preznit is always "listening to" plan on drawing down troops? Maybe as early as September?

Are these generals cutting and running?
Just wondering.....

JABBS: Did Cheney Know Of Casey's Redeployment Plan When He Said Democrats' Redeployment Plan Was "Worst Possible Thing?":

"Vice President Dick Cheney, in a Thursday interview, told CNN's John King that the Democrats' plans for troop redeployment were 'the worst possible thing we could do.'

'No matter how you carve it -- you can call it anything you want -- but basically, it is packing it in, going home, persuading and convincing and validating the theory that the Americans don't have the stomach for this fight,' Cheney said.

At about the same time, Senate Republicans -- following the administration's wishes -- led an effort to kill a proposal by Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Jack Reed (D-RI) that would have required a redeployment to begin by the end of the year but not set a timetable for a complete withdrawal. (Note: A second proposal calling for a near-complete withdrawal by next year, from Sens. John Kerry (D-MA) and Russ Feingold (D-WI) was overwhelmingly defeated.)

A clear statement by the Bush Administration, right?

But, as we now know, the top American commander in Iraq, Gen. George Casey, has also drafted a plan to reduce U.S. troops in Iraq, with the first cuts perhaps coming by September, and much deeper cuts coming in 2007."

Feingold Argues Emergence of Al Qaeda Leader Shows �Insanity� Of Misplaced Priorities

Full Transcript lnked below:
Think Progress � VIDEO: Feingold Argues Emergence of Al Qaeda Leader Shows �Insanity� Of Misplaced Priorities:

"This morning on NBC's Meet the Press, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) argued that the broader al Qaeda network is gaining strength as a result of the Iraq war.

Feingold cited Somalia, where an individual listed by the U.S. State Department as a suspected al Qaeda collaborator was yesterday named as the new leader of a militia that has seized control of Somalia's capital:

While we were asleep at the switch, while we were bogged down in Iraq, all focused on Iraq as the be all and end all of our American foreign policy, we are losing the battle to al Qaeda. 'We've spent $2 million in Somalia in the last year while we're spending $2 billion a week in Iraq. This is insanity if you think about what the priorities are of those who have attacked us and those who are likely to attack us in the future."

U.S. General in Iraq Outlines Troop Cuts - New York Times

We'll believe it when we see it...note that American officials emphasized that withdrawals woulde depend on "continued progress."

But, did someone forget to tell Rover about this?

U.S. General in Iraq Outlines Troop Cuts - New York Times:

"WASHINGTON, June 24 : The top American commander in Iraq has drafted a plan that projects sharp reductions in the United States military presence there by the end of 2007, with the first cuts coming this September, American officials say."

Wary of U.S., Syria and Iran Strengthen Ties - New York Times

This also involves Egypt, as they have a common protection treaty with Syria, unless something has changed in the last 2 years, which I doubt.

Does Kurdistan hate us yet? If so, we are now surrounded.

Junior could not have done a better job for Al Qaeda if he had sat down and coordinated the whole thing with Osama.

Wary of U.S., Syria and Iran Strengthen Ties - New York Times:

"SAYEDA ZEINAB, Syria, June 24 : For a long time, the top-selling poster in Hassan al-Sheikh's gift shop here showed President Bashar al-Assad of Syria seated beside the leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon. A few weeks ago a slightly different poster overtook it, this one with the Syrian president, the Hezbollah leader and Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

A poster in Syria, with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, left, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria and Hassan Nasrallah of Hezbollah. Mr. Sheikh's shop is on a bustling street in Sayeda Zeinab beside the entrance to a Shiite shrine that shares a name with the town, and both have been packed with Iranian pilgrims, many more than in years past.

Those changes illustrate what may well be a worrying phenomenon for Washington as it seeks to contain Iran and isolate Syria: the two governments, and their people, are tightening relations on several fronts as power in the region shifts away from the once dominant Sunni to Shiites, led by Iran."

White House confused about Zarqawi's successor.

Take a look at the guy they thought was Al Qaeda's new leader in Iraq (link below). This fellow looks like he just ate a bale of Qat.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems that the announcement of a successor for Zarqawi, from the U.S. military, came awfully quick. Are we now choosing the leaders of Al Qaeda as well as the leaders of the official government of Iraq?

Just wondering.

CNN.com - A question of identity - Jun 23, 2006:

"The case of Abu Ayyub al-Masri is a good place to start. No sooner had Abu Musab al-Zarqawi been killed than the U.S. military was saying that al-Masri was his replacement as the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq.

Given that the military said it had recovered a 'treasure trove' of documents in sweeps after al-Zarqawi's death, it seemed a reasonable statement.

But then the confusion began. The statement from al Qaeda in Iraq announcing al-Zarqawi's death was signed by a different person, who mentioned yet another name as the insurgents' new leader.

Although al-Masri was supposedly an Egyptian, we couldn't find any former Egyptian jihadi who could identify him.
And then a statement appeared signed by 'Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajer,' saying he was al-Zarqawi's successor and pledging to drive the Americans from Iraq.

One expert told me that Abu Ayyub al-Masri was al-Muhajer and that his real name was Yousef al-Durairi, an Egyptian who headed to Afghanistan and jihad in 1980. Another expert appeared on the Arabic-language channel Al Arabia to say that al-Muhajer was an alias for someone who might be Libyan."

Poppy Fields Forever; Taliban on the March

This war would be over now, bin Laden and al Zawarhi would be caught or dead, if Bush had not let his ADHD get the best of him and ambled off to Iraq.

Poor Karzai. I bet he wishes he had never gotten involved in with the quagmire boys in Washington.

The Observer World Fear battles hope on the road to Kandahar:

"British commanders believe they can win the fight to bring democracy and peace to Afghanistan. But the Taliban are on the march again and the drug barons' poppy fields are blooming. In this remarkable dispatch an acclaimed writer travels across the badlands of a country at the crossroads "
(Read On ^)

Bush's Immigration Plan Stalled as House G.O.P. Grew More Anxious - New York Times

It won't matter. If the so-called leftist wins the presidency in Mexico, Bush will probably just invade the place.

Bush's Immigration Plan Stalled as House G.O.P. Grew More Anxious - New York Times:

"WASHINGTON, June 24 : For the White House, the Congressional picnic last week seemed like the perfect setting to mend strained relations with Republican allies on Capitol Hill: President Bush and his advisers eating taquitos and Mexican confetti rice on the lawn of the White House with Republican Congressional leaders.

But moments before Mr. Bush was to welcome his guests, Speaker J. Dennis Hastert told the president that House Republicans were effectively sidelining, and in the view of some Congressional aides probably killing, what had become Mr. Bush's signature domestic initiative of the year: an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws.

That disappointing news for Mr. Bush signaled the apparent collapse of a carefully orchestrated White House strategy to push a compromise immigration bill through Congress this summer, and in the process invigorate Mr. Bush's second term with a badly needed domestic victory.

The decision by the House leadership to defy the president after he had put so much prestige on the line, including a rare prime-time Oval Office speech for a domestic initiative, amounted to a clear rebuke of the president on an issue that he has long held dear."

Evangelical apocalyptic schlockfest 'snoops' on gamers

These people are NUTZ, but they are making tons of money off their religious insanity.

Snake oil salesmen always have. Nothing new here, just more high tech.

Evangelical apocalyptic schlockfest 'snoops' on gamers The Register:

"Watchers of right-wing Christian groups in the States say a new apocalyptic videogame released by cultish Revelations-based fiction series Left Behind is riddled with spyware.
Developers have incorporated software from an Israeli firm called Double Fusion. It incorporates video advertising and product placement into the game, and reportedly records players' behaviour, location, and other data to be uploaded to Left Behind's Bible-powered marketing machine.

Aimed at 13 to 34-year-old males, Left Behind: Eternal Forces casts the player as a director of God's Earthly militia, left behind in the Rapture to roam the streets of New York, battling Satan's minions and shooting unbelievers.

With plans to distribute 1 million copies in evangelical 'megachurches' nationwide pre-Christmas, Eternal Forces has attracted criticism from religious and secular commentators for its pushing of a violent brand of Christian supremacy. Christian anti-videogame violence campaigner Jack Thompson said: 'It's absurd. You can be the Christians blowing away the infidels, and if that doesn't hit your hot button, you can be the Antichrist blowing away the Christians.'

In an interview on the series' website Greg Bauman of Left Behind Games explains: 'Left Behind: Eternal Forces will help readers get a sense of the conflict and chaos of the time period portrayed in Left Behind and live out how they would defend themselves and their faith from the Antichrist and his Global Peace Keeping Forces.' The United Nations, already organ of satanic machinations for many on the Christian far-right, features strongly in the game. Goat-footed demons reportedly emerge from UN peacekeeping humvees.

Analysis: CIA program expands Bush's power

This is too much power for anyone to have in a Democracy (if we actually had one, anymore), let alone the Chimp and the Dick.

Analysis: CIA program expands Bush's power - Yahoo! News:

"WASHINGTON - A secret CIA-Treasury program to track financial records of millions of Americans is the latest installment in an expansion of executive authority in the name of fighting terrorism. The administration doesn't apologize for President Bush's aggressive take on presidential powers. Vice President Dick Cheney even boasts about it. "

Newspapers Reject Government Request to Kill Story

Give credit where credit is due. This took guts.

Newspapers Reject Government Request to Kill Story:

"NEW YORK The New York Times and Los Angeles Times on Friday published a major story on government surveillance of private banking records over the objections of the Bush administration.

The same team that produced the Pulitzer-winning National Security Agency (NSA) 'domestic spying' program, James Risen and Eric Lichtblau, put together the New York Times' piece. In the middle of the article, they reveal that the White House had asked the paper not to run it. This had happened with the NSA story as well, and the Times put off running the pair's key findings for a year.

'We know the terrorists pay attention to our strategy to fight them, and now have another piece of the puzzle of how we are fighting them,' Dana Perino, a White House spokesman said late Thursday. 'We also know they adapt their methods, which increases the challenge to our intelligence and law enforcement officials.'

Perino added: 'The president is concerned that once again The New York Times has chosen to expose a classified program that is working to protect our citizens.'"

Voting Rights Act Nailed To Burning Cross Greg Palast

Reading Palast always makes me drag out the tin foil hat, because I know he is right, and that kinds puts me on the thin edge of insanity, but here goes anyway. No one ever reads this blog but the NSA anyway. They should be used to my weird rantings by now.

Anyway, what if the Republicans don't have to blatantly discriminate anymore. What if they could challenge blacks, whites, Latinos, Asians, what have you, evenly across the board?

With all of the data they have collected on Americans in the last 5 years, I would be willing to bet that they could put together a list of white folks, from red states and blue states, who seem to be a bit too blue to vote.

I don't think that the Republicans have said that they won't challege a voter, did they? Maybe they are going to be even more sohphiticated than last time. Perhaps there will be no difference in challenges for racial reasons, just political issues. They are gonna challenge Blues.

But maybe the Republican feel secure enough to allow the Voing Rights Act to become history, a Palast believes they will.

My personal opinion is that that is stupid in the extreme, on their part, if that is their plan.

Hell, this may well be what really reunites that old 60s crowds and clans.

Nostalgia.

Voting Rights Act Nailed To Burning Cross Greg Palast:

"New York] Don't kid yourself. The Republican Party's decision yesterday to 'delay' the renewal of the Voting Rights Act has not a darn thing to do with objections of the Republican's White Sheets Caucus.

Complaints by a couple of Good Ol' Boys to legislation has never stopped the GOP leadership from rolling over dissenters.

This is a strategic stall. meant to de-criminalize the Republican Party's new game of challenging voters of color by the hundreds of thousands.

In the 2004 Presidential race, the GOP ran a massive multi-state, multi-million-dollar operation to challenge the legitimacy of Black, Hispanic and Native-American voters. The methods used broke the law, the Voting Rights Act. And while the Bush Administration's Civil Rights Division grinned and looked the other way, civil rights lawyers are circling, preparing to sue to stop the violations of the Act before the 2008 race.

Therefore, Republicans have promised to no longer break the law, not by going legit, but by eliminating the law."

High Court Saves Some Best Cases for Last

Oh, hell....here it comes....the Unitary Executive on Steroids (presidentiaal war powers.). The Supremes may be about to make everything Bush has done with his spying and data-mining legal.


My Way News - High Court Saves Some Best Cases for Last:

"As usual, justices have left some of the most significant cases to the very end. There are 10 rulings left, on issues from a president's wartime powers, capital punishment, Texas' political boundaries and the insanity defense."

Largest processor of credit cards turned over info. to Feds

...right after 9/11.

Sure didn't take long for all of this spying stuff to get going, eh?

Washington and the West � 2006 � June � 21:

"Colorado's First Data Corp., the world's largest processor of credit-card transactions and wire transfers, gave the FBI and CIA unfettered access to data on millions of customers shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a new book alleges.
First Data's computer systems served as the 'FBI's own in-house search engine,' and the CIA was allowed to monitor money-wire transactions in real time, according to 'The One Percent Doctrine' by Pulitzer Prize winner Ron Suskind. "

Feds' sting videotaped oaths to terrorists

...in their bathrobes?

I'm scared now. Bwahahahahaha.

MiamiHerald.com 06/24/2006 Feds' sting videotaped oaths to terrorists:

"They thought they were joining al Qaeda, but they were not. They were led by a ''Moses-like figure'' who carried a cane through Liberty City and wore a cape or sometimes a bathrobe. They allegedly sought to sow death and terror, and they ended up in leg irons.

The seven men arrested in an alleged terrorist plot believed they were conspiring with al Qaeda ''to levy war against the United States'' in attacks that would ''be just as good or greater than 9/11,'' according to a federal indictment unsealed Friday.

The campaign was to begin with the bombing of the 110-story Sears Tower in Chicago, according to the indictment, though an FBI sting foiled the plot long before it reached that point"

FBI: Data brokers probably act illegally - Yahoo! News

....and is anything going to be done about it?

Why of course not. What on earth would make anyone think that accountability matters.

FBI: Data brokers probably act illegally - Yahoo! News:

"WASHINGTON - Despite the use of private data brokers by federal and local law enforcement agencies, the FBI said Thursday that practices by such companies to gather Americans' private telephone records without warrants or subpoenas are almost certainly illegal.

A senior FBI lawyer, Elaine N. Lammert, told lawmakers the bureau was still surveying agents around the U.S. but so far has found no 'systemic' use of data brokers by the FBI seeking telephone records or other information without warrants or subpoenas.

Lammert, the bureau's deputy general counsel for its investigative law branch, told a congressional panel: 'There are compelling reasons for the government to believe that these operations violate federal law.'

Lawmakers agreed. Police use of such data brokers 'might compromise sensitive law enforcement information, compromise operational security or maybe just violate the Constitution,' said Rep. Joe Barton (news, bio, voting record), R-Texas, head of the House Energy and Commerce Committee." (Read On ^)