SCARY

This is why I don't listen to pundits any more.

But it's scary how many people are being paid for telling us they don't get it.

THE ASSUMPTION

From TPM:

"Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV) is set to head up the panel that controls the purse strings for the FBI -- which is investigating him for his earmarking habits. Does anybody see that as a problem?"

I do.

Pelosi skirted an Alcee Hastings debacle, but that's not enough. All appearances of conflict of interest or ethics problems must be avoided at all costs. Sorry, guys, but if you look like you play dirty the assumption is that you do.

JOY AND NIGHTMARES

From Daily Kos:

"What happened in Sarasota really does highlight the issue," said Howard Gantman, communications director for U.S. Sen. Diane Feinstein, a Democrat from California who is already vowing to hold hearings on the voting issues early in 2007.

"With Democrats winning control of the House and Senate this year, Feinstein is in line to become the chairwoman of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, which has jurisdiction over federal election regulations.

"Gantman said he is certain Sarasota officials will be called in to testify.

"Feinstein also intends to re-introduce legislation in the new year to require all voting systems to have verifiable paper trails, Gantman said.

"In the House, two members have called for new legislation mandating paper trails and a spokesman for incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the issue is high on her agenda for the new Congress. Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said what happened in Sarasota underscores why the need for paper trails will be a priority for the speaker-elect."

What a joy it is to contemplate a government that governs!

My nightmare is that someone assassinates Pelosi and Reid and none of what's planned ever happens.

TOM VILSACK?

There is something inherently fascistic about this logo. I find it terrifying.

CONGRESSIONAL PENSIONS

This one seems obvious.

COMPULSORY READING

This is simply the best piece on Bush and Cheney I have ever read.

IT'S OVER

Let's get this straight:

The Iraq Study Group will not recommend any worthwhile course of action, because there is none they can recommend. Not so long as George Bush is president.

It is not likely any involved faction - Sunni, Shia, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia - will take any action toward a quick resolution without pressure from an American administration. Since Bush is held in contempt, that pressure cannot come from him. (In fact, vis a vis the Saudis, the pressure seems to be going the other way.) It would be nice if an American with the sophistication and political intelligence of Sadr or Ahmadinijad were engaged, but no Republican with the qualifications has made an appearance.

What will happen during the next two years is that each regional player will continue to push its own interests until it is victorious or fails. If the mutual pushing results in even more violence, it will not be the first time. If the situation is not resolved by January, 2009, a new American president may have the credibility to be taken seriously by the players - depending on who it is. Short of that, America has no role to play in this debacle.

American involvement in Iraq is over. We're just sitting there with our thumbs up our asses, trying to figure out what to do, while the doing is being done by everyone else.

This is what happens when you turn your government over to 1) morons and 2) people with dangerous agendae who, at the same time, are not willing to spend the money to make those agendae work.

MAURICE GREENBERG

Really BIG bad Jew.

DEAL OR NO DEAL?

Troops are being shifted from Anbar Province to Baghdad.

Anyone want to bet a deal has been cut with the Saudis for the US to support the Sunnis against the Shia?

Sunnis are in Anbar. al Sadr is in Baghdad

IF YOU LIKE BUSH, YOU'RE NUTS. REALLY.

Read it.

A SWITCH

From Daily Kos:

"Using money, weapons or its oil power, Saudi Arabia will intervene to prevent Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias from massacring Iraqi Sunni Muslims once the United States begins pulling out of Iraq, a security adviser to the Saudi government said on Wednesday.

"Nawaf Obaid, writing in The Washington Post, said the Saudi leadership was preparing to revise its Iraq policy to deal with the aftermath of a possible U.S. pullout, and is considering options including flooding the oil market to crash prices and thus limit Iran's ability to finance Shi'ite militias in Iraq."

Now we know what Cheney was doing in Saudi Arabia.

But I wonder whether Cheney or the Saudis have considered the other possible consequences of flooding the oil market - like pissing off a whole lot of oil producing countries. Obviously the plan is to become more dependent - not less - on Middle Eastern oil.

As if this is going to change Ahmedinijad's mind.

But at least it's subtle. That's a switch.

SHELTER

From the Huffpo:

"Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich yesterday said the country will be forced to reexamine freedom of speech to meet the threat of terrorism.

"Gingrich, speaking at a Manchester awards banquet, said a "different set of rules" may be needed to reduce terrorists' ability to use the Internet and free speech to recruit and get out their message.+

What we need is a different set of rules which govern dangerous people: every time they open their mouth a siren sounds and we all take shelter under democracy.

FIX TEXAS?

Only Texans can fix Texas. What the rest of us can do is make sure that Texan ethics are confined within the state. That would mean no more Texans in the executive branch. Where's the problem with that? In modern times there have been three Texans in the White House - Johnson, Bush and Bush - and they've all been disasters of one kind or another.

It would be lovely if we could keep Texans out of Congress too - Frist, Delay, etc. But I suppose Texans have the right to pick whom they want to represent them. At least, with the Democrats in control, it won't be necessary to listen to them. Too much exposure to warped thinking curdles the mind.

ENCOURAGING

I actually never thought I'd see the day when someone is looking seriously into problems with electronic voting machines.

This is encouraging.

MICHAEL LEDEEN

I already pegged this guy as a bad Jew. Here's more proof.

WHO CARES?

Why does it matter whether or not you call what's happening in Iraq a civil war? Only because Bush won't admit he's destroyed Iraq's stability.

What good does it do to give Maliki a timetable on the assumption the Iraqi government will "get its act together"? None. This government can't get its act together. It has no power, and no authority, and no way of getting any.

Why not pull troops out now? Only because there is a possibility of a political solution involving Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia. Of course, we won't talk to the first two, so we won't be a part of any political solution. But these countries may arrange one themselves. The next few months bear watching for that reason alone.

EMANUEL GETS REAL

Good for him.

IT'S A START

Let's see more of this, huh?

CRAZY AS LOONS ... NO, BEDBUGS ... NO ... UH

Lunatics are lunatics, no matter what they fuss about.

MORE THAN ENOUGH

From Daily Kos:

"Not a single Lone Star lawmaker will hold a top-ranked job, a far cry from the days when Fort Worth's Jim Wright was speaker, or the more recent years when Republicans Dick Armey and Tom DeLay served back-to-back terms setting the agenda as majority leader.

"It's a low point," said former Dallas congressman John Bryant, a Democrat. "It's not like it was, there's no question about that."

"Without exception, Democrats blame the redistricting Mr. DeLay engineered. Three veterans who lost their seats would have chaired major committees in the Pelosi House [...]"

Thank God. We've had more than enough of Texans these days.

HOPE

Ehud Olmert says: "Thank God for the power and the determination and leadership manifested by President Bush. … I know that Iraq without Saddam Hussein is so much better for the security and safety of Israel.”

I hope, for Israel's sake, he's not as stupid as he sounds.

WHO?

Recent studies have shown that thousands die every year from infections contracted in hospitals.

This has been no secret for years. At least not to doctors, and not to malpractice lawyers. As a matter of fact, malpractice suits against hospitals for deaths due to infections contacted there have been impossible to pursue, because the contention has been that the infections are the inevitable result of concentration of sick people with different conditions in one place. I.e., death by infection is a known risk of hospitalization (not known to most patients, though) and since infections are common in hospitals everywhere the legal standard of care - the measurement of one hospital against what others are doing - required of hospitals is quite low.

But it has also been known that certain hospitals have much worse - and much more letahl - infection rates than others. And studies now are beginning to show that infections are spread not by patients, but by careless medical staff.

This is what I want to know: since this is anything but a new problem, why is it now getting public attention? Who decided it was time to address this issue?

MARSHALL WITTMAN

Bad Jew.

MICHAEL RICHARDS

This is all I'll say on this subject.

And I don't even have to say it!

IN-HOUSE THERAPY

In those moments when I actually realize that Bush 41 has stepped in, for the umpteenth time, to save his little boy, two things occur to me:

1) we're not supposed to be a monarchy, and

2) there are plenty of people from whom 43 could get better advice.

41 didn't get it his first time around. He never understood why he didn't get a second term, and he doesn't understand why his son is so despised. That's understandable, of course - how many people can look at themselves and see what's wrong? So let me clear it up for them - you people have no soul, you have no feeling for governance or for the people or for America, all you want to do is help your friends cash in.

The Bushes have done very well for themselves, but mostly (except for Jeb) in the "private" sector - that is, in the place where government and capital meet, but on the capital side. When you hang out only with your friends, no one gets to find out you're not a human being as one is generally understood. I think they would have done better if they hadn't been driven by ego to put themselves out there where they could be rejected.

After the 08 election, I recommend the Bushes hire an in-house therapist and keep at it as long as it takes to get a grip on themselves. Oh, and that includes Barbara, who really needs help.

BIZARRE

From MyDD:

"Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has drafted legislation that would grant soon-to-be-unemployed Republicans severance pay while they look for jobs after Democrats take over control of the chamber on Jan. 4, according to a senior Democratic aide.... one House Democrat said that Pelosi is leaning toward compensating outgoing aides to keep Republicans remaining on the Hill from thinking she's mean-spirited, or in the words of the famous Dr. Seuss Christmas story, has a heart "two sizes too small."

So if someone broke into her house and robbed her blind, would she replace his lost income while he served his term in jail?

YEP

From Think Progress:

"Election over, gas prices up again. One analyst says “the reversal in the 12-week pre-election slide shows that the market has ’soaked up’ a ‘mini-glut’ of crude oil from August, causing a ‘normalization’ of supply and demand.”"

Uh huh. Yep.

SILLY GIRL

Maureen Dowd is losing it.

INTERESTING

From the HuffPo:

"Iran has invited the Iraqi and Syrian presidents to Tehran for a weekend summit with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to hash out ways to cooperate in curbing the runaway violence that has taken Iraq to the verge of civil war and threatens to spread through the region, four key lawmakers told The Associated Press on Monday. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has accepted the invitation and will fly to the Iranian capital Saturday, a close parliamentary associate said."

Now it gets interesting. Let's see whether they can render the US irrelevant. It is possible that they could completely ignore the US presence in the region and make policy without even considering it. Or they could decide on a course of dealing with the US.

I hope they talk to the press when they're done.

NO, JOHN - BUT GO AHEAD

Most Americans don't believe we should stay in Iraq. They certainly do not want more troops sent. Yet this is exactly what John McCain proposes, using the usual stale line that we have to fight them there or we will fight them over here.

Obviously, McCain is appealing to the Republican base. This is good news for Democrats, because as McCain sheds his image as a contrarian and a moderate, the likelihood is that fewer independents will swing his way. If the Democrats don't blow it, and find a good candidate (not Hillary), the Republicans may find themselves with no one but their base voting for them. It does fascinate me that after the lessons of 2006 - which should have been that to win one must reach out and be inclusive - McCain, who was positioned to do exactly that, is going the other way. Maybe it's habit by now - and it is possible that he could be playing it right. But I don't think so, and I'm glad to see it.

As to fight them there or we fight them here, this is the kind of thinking that paralyzes US foreign policy. Does McCain really think Iraqi insurgents are going to attack in the US? That Shiite militias are going to invade? This thinking is typical US egocentrism, positing that everything bad going on in the world has the US as its target.

Honest to God, the Arabs don't hate us that much. They will fight us - and they will attack here - as long as we are meddling in their affairs, particularly if we are doing so militarily. But they don't want to come here - they just want us to get out of there. They have plenty to do to develop their own power center. It will be years before any Muslim nation becomes a threat to the US' territorial integrity. We are busy fighting a battle that doesn't exist. If we want it to stop, all we have to do is leave them alone. Of course, that will mean we will have to do without their oil. But isn't it about time we learned how to do that anyway?

SOUNDS GOOD TO ME

From: Just One Minute:

Political savant John Kerry explains his contribution to the Democratic electoral victory last week:

Shortly before the Nov. 7 elections that brought Democrats back into power in the House and Senate, Kerry retreated from public view following his remark to a college audience that young people might get "stuck in Iraq" if they do not study hard and do their homework.

Kerry said Sunday he had made the decision to keep a low profile after the White House attacked the joke as insulting to U.S. troops and several Democrats called the comment a needless distraction before the pivotal congressional elections.

"Since we had very close races, I made the decision to make certain that I didn't distract. The results speak for themselves," he said.

There you have it - "Keep Kerry Hidden" was a proven winner in '06 and ought to be a key part of the Dem strategy in '08.

CHANGE OF MIND

From TIME Magazine:

"She followed up her victory with a self-defeating blunder. Now people are asking, Is Pelosi up to the job?"

What people?

I've changed my mind. We don't need the media any more. They're more trouble than they're worth.

WE'LL FIND OUT

From the HuffPo:

"Hundreds of Palestinians serving as human shields guarded the homes of two top militants Sunday, a new tactic that forced Israel to call off missile strikes on the buildings and re-evaluate a mainstay of its aerial campaign in Gaza.

"In recent months, the Israeli air force has repeatedly struck the homes of militants after warning residents by phone to clear out. Israeli security officials said they did not know how to respond to the human shield tactic, but pressed ahead with other airstrikes Sunday."

Now we're going to find out if Israel has any morality left.

WHACKED

From TalkLeft:

The Global Orgasm for Peace was conceived by Donna Sheehan, 76, and Paul Reffell, 55, whose immodest goal is for everyone in the world to have an orgasm Dec. 22 while focusing on world peace.

This is why people think liberals are whacked. Oops - no pun intended.

BODES ILL

I'm not happy with the Democrats. This sort of thing is why.

After years under the Republican thumb, is it possible that Democrats have not yet learned Lesson #1: fight your fights behind closed doors, then present a united front; and Lesson #2: with all the important things that have to be done, don't make issues out of things that don't need to be; and Lesson #3: don't be subtle; and Lesson #4: they didn't invent microphones for every Democrat to spout his or her own ideas without a reality check.

I don't like what I'm seeing, and I don't think it bodes well.

TOO LATE

From Majikthise:

"In his ongoing quest to break the government, George Bush tapped Dr. Eric Keroack to oversee Title X funding--the only federal program devoted entirely to family planning and reproductive health.

"Dr. Keroack told an abstinence leadership conference that sex causes brain damage. Seriously.

"According to Dr. K's CracKpot Theory, "positive social interaction" causes the brain to release oxytocin, which enables you to fall in love. But be careful--sex with too many people is literally mind-blowing because you use up all your oxytocin. Then you can never really love anyone."

Now they tell me ...

DON'T READ 'EM

From Wonkette:

"Nancy Pelosi was unanimously voted Speaker of the House (congrats, crazy hippie!), and Steny “Slightly Less Corrupt” Hoyer was elected Majority Leader, beating out John “Bribe Me Later” Murtha. The vote in the Majority Leader race: 149-86. The crazy race which made Trent Lott the House Whipper of Minorities was a helluva lot closer, but expect to see “Dems Divided: Speaker Pelosi’s Leadership Ability Questioned” pieces in your major papers by sundown."

Those pieces are already out there. E.g.:

NYT:
WASHINGTON, Nov. 16—House Democrats chose Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland as their majority leader today after a bruising fight that cast a cloud over the party’s post-election celebration.

The election of Mr. Hoyer over Representative John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania, by a vote of 149 to 86, was an embarrassing setback for Representative Nancy J. Pelosi of California, who will be speaker of the House in the new Congress and had backed Mr. Murtha.

Embarrassing? Why? She took a stand on principle and the party didn't agree. Does anyone really give a shit besides Hoyer and Murtha? I don't care, as long as the Democrats are in fact united behind their team, put aside their differences and get to work. The best proof that the press's "process" stories are crap will be a tough agenda and a hard push to get it through.

BODYGUARDS

Finally, I have a moment of intellectual clarity. Vis a vis what's going on in Iraq.

The Iraqis have moved past the immediate post-invasion era.

The Shia-Sunni fight is for control of the future of Iraq. As to that, we are completely irrelevant. Simply: in the way.

We enabled this situation. We can't stop it. They don't give a damn what we want.

Some of them like having us around because they hope we can prevent them getting killed while they kill whoever they want to kill. At best we're hired bodyguards. Except we're not getting paid. This is the Bush administration's only "philanthropic" giveaway.

Which suggests an idea. Actually, it's Bush's idea. Why don't we turn Iraq over to our Office of Faith-Based Initiatives and have the churches send their parishioners to bodyguard Iraq? Or the churches could fund a private army there - maybe it could be made up of illegal Mexican immigrants, thus solving two problems in one fell swoop. Or they could send Chuck Colson and his Death Row boys. Hell, the churches want to tell us what to do. Why don't we skip a step and have them do it themselves?

Sort of a non-state military entity. Sort of like al Qaeda.

Sort of a Crusade.

THE SOLUTION

Gen. John Abizaid said a significant troop withdrawal from Iraq over the next six months would lead to an increase in sectarian killings.

No shit, Sherlock. Here's another one:

No significant troop withdrawal from Iraq over the next six months would lead to an increase in sectarian killings.

Everything will lead to an increase in sectarian killings, as long as the sects involved want to wipe each other out.

Well .. there is one guy who's proven he can stop this sort of thing. But even he won't be effective hanging from the end of a rope.

You know, one thing keeps occurring to me: we once found Saddam useful when he was fighting the Iranians. Why can't we find him useful again? All it would take is for the Baker commission to conclude that the whole idea of taking him out was geopolitically crazy. Which I'm sure a lot of them already privately believe.

Bush can pardon him, and Cheney too, while he's at it.

There is one huge bit of irony here: Saddam has been condemned to death for killing a lot of his countrymen. If we applied the logic appropriately, we'd be hanging a million Iraqis. Oh, yeah, and we'd be hanging Bush.

SECURITY

The USDA has decided to remove the word “hunger” from its annual report assessing Americans’ access to food. Those among us who sometimes go without food, a group that has grown consistently over the last five years, will now suffer from “very low food security.”

Orwell? Never heard of him.

One thing we never need to worry about. With people like these making rules for us, we will never have to experience very low bullshit security.

QUIVERFUL?

The last guy I remember who pushed this sort of plan had a funny little moustache and killed a lot of Jews.

On the other hand, maybe it's the first line of defense against Muslims, who make babies on the assembly line and will soon take over the world.

So what if it's medieval? What's wrong with that?

BLATHER

It's been 14 years since James Carville did anything significant. Now he's just a media shill. I don't listen to O'Reilly, and I don't listen to Carville (or his wife). He's been coasting on his past rep long enough.

That anyone even needs to give a thought to Carville's attack on Howard Dean proves only one thing: blather trumps substance.

And we're sick to death of blather, are we not?

DON'T BLOW IT, HARRY

If there is any truth to this, Harry Reid should step down now.

THE JEW NOBEL PRIZE

An Iraqi researcher living in Europe said on Al-Jazeera TV that the Nobel Prize is racist, because it has been awarded to 167 Jews and only 4 Arabs, all of whom the Arabs consider traitors. He said the prize is a product of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

This is anything but atypical Arab "thinking". Not only does it explain why Arabs don't get the Nobel Prize; it also explains, in part, why there's no peace with Israel and why negotiations with Arabs are so difficult. If a party to negotiations can't tell real from fantasy, you just aren't going to get very far.

But if both sides are disconnected from reality, what you get is Cirque de Soleil. I've heard statements from Bush and the Israelis that are only marginally more rational than what this Iraqi says.

All parties must put people in power who are grounded in reality. The US is on the way to doing that. The Israelis are probably going to go the other way (Netanyahu is advocating an immediate attack on Iran.) If Israel does not present a rational face to Islam, there will be no incentive within Islam to put people in power who are not delusional.

Note: I did not say a weak face, I said a rational face. If you want proof that irrationality leads to weakness, not strength, just look at what that Iraqi idiot said. And then look where Bush has led us to.

The Iraqi also said: "Are we Arabs not included in the transfer of the scientific genetic code? We, the descendants of Al-Khawarizmi, Al-Jahez, Al-Razi, Avicenna, and Ibn Al-Haytham - are we all born idiots? Is there not a single scientist among us? Are we not included in the genetic code? Is intelligence not transferred down among us Arabs?"

Umm. Give me a year to think about that.

GOOD CHOICES

In July, New Orleans pulled out of the running for the 2008 Democratic convention - probably because the city believed they could not provide the required facilities.

Denver has been much talked about, and I have supported that - because Democrats did well in Colorado and need to continue their opening to the western states.

But having the convention in New Orleans would be so symbolic, and would help New Orleans rebuild, and Dems are still considering it.

Either choice is OK with me. Just not New York or Texas.

FIX IT

Well, the first non-Gitmo immigrant has been designated an enemy combatant by the Justice Department. According to Bush, he can now be held indefinitely without any access to the courts.

So now we have the catalyst for the fight over the Military Commissions act and the loss of habeas corpus.

Holding somone suspected of being an enemy combat? Sure. For long enough for a reasonable investigation to be done to determine whether the guy is a threat or not. And then there needs to be a procedure to convict the guy, and I see no reason why that can't be done in regular U.S. courts. Oh, of course they're going to claim there are national security reasons why certain details need to remain secret. But, frankly, by the time they try any of these guys, there won't be any evidence that everyone doesn't already know - as if the jihadists can't figure things out for themselves. But then again Bush has reclassified documents going back to the 60s, so I guess he's a strong believer in the value of stale evidence.

Remember, "suspected" is all this guy is, until it's proven otherwise. Bush seems to think "suspected" is equivalent to "guilty." As in: "I say he's guilty, and I'm the decider." As in: the President now holds executive, legislative and judicial power. As in: Dick Cheney is suspected of helping Enron to scalp American consumers. And, by Bush logic, is guilty thereof. I'd be glad to keep Cheney a prisoner in my basement indefinitely - if I had a basement. But I wouldn't promise to feed him or let him use a toilet.

Congress needs to fix this situation soon.

GOOD GRIEF!

From TalkLeft:

O.J. Simpson has written a book, scheduled to be published November 30, entitled "``If I Did It, Here's How It Happened.'' Fox said Tuesday it will air a two-part interview with O.J. Simpson at month's end in which he describes the 1994 murders of his ex-wife and her friend that he says he didn't commit. ....Fox said Simpson's book ``hypothetically describes'' how he would have committed the murders. The special will air at 9 p.m. November 27 and 29 on Fox.

The concept of this book is not only horrifying, but the reductio ad absurdam of the American celebrity culture. If it weren't for the recent election, I would say that not only has America abandoned its moral compass, but it has become a sick society slavering for wild side titillation, and delighted to reward villains financially for having the balls to do what others wish they had the balls for.

So how do you reconcile the election results with this? Let's begin with the publishers and the press, who will do or say anything for cash. Then extend it to anyone else who will do anything for cash. Then to those who would like to do anything for cash. Then to those who will pay cash for sick entertainment. Then to those who go to fake environments like Disney World and Vegas.

All of them, apparently, either vote Republican or limit their moral engagement to a few political issues. It makes me think evangelicals have a point - except I expect a lot of them will be buying this book.

Maybe Said Qutb was right. (I'm not going to help you with this. If you don't know who Qutb was, go find out - because his writing are the basis for the politicization of Islamism.)

ELEMENTARY

Maybe the best thing our newly elected Democrats can do is ...

Actually read bills before they vote on them.

WORSE THAN WALMART

Isn't it amazing that companies which put out a progressive front and cater to alleged liberal tastes operate behind the scenes in direct contravention to what their customers supposedly believe in?

Like Starbucks.

But, as I said, that's what money does to you.

God said if one good man could not be found in Sodom, He would destroy the town. There are plenty of good men these days, but I bet God doesn't appreciate someone masquerading as a good man whose employment policies are worse than WalMart.

LITTLE BOY KING

If we are entering an era where Bush 41 is going to be taken seriously, we'd all better keep a watch on the underwear drawer where we've hidden our principles from thieves.

Jeb is the only bright Bush, but Papa is the most insidious Republican because he looks so decent but he thinks like this , and he's connected to - or maybe runs - most American power centers.

I smell a Republican plan to make Papa the regent for the little boy king we somehow elected. And I smell media worship for this somehow consummate player.

It won't matter, though, if Democrats keep the initiative and keep the public happy with what they do.

HMM

Re the alleged linkage of red meat to breast cancer:

I can't dispute the finding - I don't have the facts - but I wonder if all the cave women who had nothing else to eat wound up running in the Susan Komen Race For the Cure.

Something is wrong with this science.

NEVER AGAIN

From Crooks and Liars:

"Former Clinton Cabinet member Robert Reich weighs in on what he thinks should be the priorities for the incoming Democratic majority.

"American Prospect:

"Some Democrats want to expose the malfeasance and nonfeasance of the Bush Administration — find out who really knew what and when with regard to weapons of mass destruction, Abu Graahb, Katrina, payoffs to Abramoff, and all the other rot. That's understandable, but it would be far better if Democrats used their new-found power to lay out a new agenda for America.

"There's no point digging up more dirt. Bush isn't running again. John McCain, the Republican's most likely choice to replace him, has distanced himself so far from the administration that no amount of dirt will soil him. Besides, the public and the media are already suffering from outrage fatigue. And the Democrats wouldn't be credible, anyway. It will be easy for Republicans to dismiss their efforts as more of the same old partisan bickering. The fact is, the public is sick of mud-slinging.

"Instead of dwelling on what's gone wrong, Democrats should focus on what to do right
..."

What, we can't walk and chew gum at the same time? We can't both investigate and push a new agenda?

Excuse me, we're not talking "mud-slinging" here. We're talking educating the public about the awful things that have been done - with the minimal hope they will never allow these things to happen again.

"Never Again," my Jewish friend Reich. That slogan should resonate, huh?

DEAD ON

This is dead on!

BOYCOTT

From TalkLeft:

"The irony is Tierney, the say nothing worth noticing columnist pens a farewell column urging the new Dem Congress to do nothing:

"I'm afraid the election results still haven't registered in Washington. Democrats and Republicans keep making noises about working together to accomplish great things. But that's not what Americans voted for. They voted for gridlock.

"They gave Congress a Seinfeld mandate to do nothing. The Democrats offered no bold new ideas, and they were rewarded with victory. Voters would like them to mop up the messes made by Republicans, but that's it. Find a way out of Iraq, and then avoid any more excellent adventures dreamed up by neoconservatives."

In my opinion, Tierney is 100% wrong. But neither his opinion nor mine is worth a damn.

People who get paid for yapping (and bloggers too) can't seem to restrain themselves from issuing opinions about what Democrats will or won't do, or what the American people want, a mere week after the election. Stuff like this - which is even less than rank speculation - does nothing but cloud the mind and divert it from what it needs to work on - that is, actually correcting six years of Republican destruction.

Since there is no way these people are going to shut up, I suggest that for your own sanity's sake you stop reading them. If you don't already know what you think, you never will.

FRIENDS LIKE THESE

From the HuffPo:

As Israeli bombs fell on Lebanon for a second week last July, the Rev. John Hagee of San Antonio arrived in Washington with 3,500 evangelicals for the first annual conference of his newly founded organization, Christians United For Israel.

At a dinner addressed by the Israeli ambassador, a handful of Republican senators and the chairman of the Republican Party, Mr. Hagee read greetings from President Bush and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel and dispatched the crowd with a message for their representatives in Congress. Tell them "to let Israel do their job" of destroying the Lebanese militia, Hezbollah, Mr. Hagee said.

Apparently Israel is proud of friends like these.

Since there seems to be little left of Jewishness in Israel - I don't mean the religion, I mean the better parts of its culture - why not convert it to an evangelical state? That's what it acts like, anyway.

GO AWAY

From the HuffPo:

Judith Miller, a former New York Times investigative reporter who went to jail to protect a confidential source, said the balance between national security and civil liberties has been tipped, allowing the Bush administration to become secretive about its decisions, intrusive into public lives and reluctant to share information the public has a right to know...

..."We are less free and less safe," she said, explaining that there is a "growing secrecy in the name of national security."

Boy, it's amazing the perceptive things you have to say when you want to preserve your relevance.

You're a little late on this one, Judy. Please go away.

ANOTHER PARALLEL

From WaPo:

Immigrants arrested in the United States may be held indefinitely on suspicion of terrorism and may not challenge their imprisonment in civilian courts, the Bush administration argued yesterday, opening a new legal front in the fight over the rights of detainees.

Why are Republicans so unwilling to let people they arrest defend themselves?

I think the reason is that they are completely convinced - due to their ideology - of their unchallengeable rectitude in a black and white world - and yet are concerned that the ideas of their Satanically inspired enemies might catch on. This is a direct parallel to Nazi thinking vis a vis the Jews: they believed Jews were an irretrievably inferior race, but at the same time they feared the Jews as a dangerous bacillus or parasite which could infect Aryans if not isolated. It's a subconscious reflection of their own weakness. And it's also a projection of their own sickness onto others.

Which is why Bush needs to be isolated, driven out of the news, marginalized and made silent for the next two years.

CIVIL RIGHTS DISNEYLAND

From NPR:

On the National Mall in Washington, D.C., thousands attend the groundbreaking for the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial. President Bush, Maya Angelou, and Oprah Winfrey were among those speaking at the ceremony. The memorial is scheduled to open in 2008.

Which of them were on the Mall in 1963 when King made his "I have a dream" speech?

This event was Civil Rights Disneyland, ersatz rectitude - a celebration of self, not King. Because if it were anything else, some of these people might actually be doing something for the race.

SANCTIONS?

If Lieberman goes Republican, would it be fair to impose sanctions on Connecticut? You know, like Cuba, Iran, North Korea and all the other places that have messed up our world?

IRRELEVANT

From the HuffPo:

A Republican-led legislative panel claims in a new report on illegal immigration that abortion is partly to blame because it is causing a shortage of American workers.

The report from the state House Special Committee on Immigration Reform also claims "liberal social welfare policies" have discouraged Americans from working and encouraged immigrants to cross the border illegally.

Is it my imagination or, since the election, have these morons finally become irrelevant? Is there anyone out there any more who wants to hear this stuff? Would we not all be more secure if maniacs like this were confined to an asylum full of people who think like them?

Completely ignoring them is necessary ... but I haven't quite yet gotten to the point where statements like these don't pull my chain. I'm working on it.

FOOLS

From the HuffPo:

President Bush, responding to concerns Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert brought to the White House, called on Monday for worldwide isolation of Iran until it "gives up its nuclear ambitions."

An alliance of fools. If there's anyone left listening to either of them, there won't be for long.

PERMANENT REST

From Think Progress:

Yesterday, in an interview with NPR, Richard Perle, a prominent neoconservative and leading proponent for the war in Iraq, insisted that Saddam Hussein had ties to al Qaeda. He stated that anyone who believes otherwise is “simply wrong” because he’s “seen the evidence.”

How much longer is the media going to bother with delusional, discredited, over-intellectualized fools like Perle?

Who gives a damn what he says anymore?

Let's put him to bed for a permanent rest.

HAMAS WANTS TO TALK?

Hamas has agreed to join an international peace conference with Irael, after the Arab League voted to end the financial blockade on the Palestinians.

That last detail makes Hamas' willingness to talk suspect - but there will be no excuse for the U.S. blowing this opportunity to begin serious negotiations for Middle East peace. If anyone cares any longer what the U.S. says or does - as now the Palestinians will get all their financing from Arab countries, and the U.S. makes itself powerless and contemptible once again.

The U.S. and Israel have insisted that Hamas must recognize Israel, renounce violence and abide by existing Israel-Palestinian agreements before they will sit down with Hamas. It is incredibly stupid to expect a party to negotiations to give up all its negotiable strengths before negotiations begin. Or - it means that the neocons in the U.S. and Israel do not want peace with Hamas, which is certainly plausible. Negotiated solutions are no part of the neocon universe.

But it is high time that neocon bullshit loses control of foreign policy, particularly now that they've begun to lose any play domestically. U.S. national interest demands talks with Hamas. So does Israel's, if they had the sense to see it. That is not to say that peace will be easy, or even likely, now. But these talks must begin, and must continue, whatever else is happening on the ground.

That means we need to put adults in charge of these conversations, people who actually understand how the world works, or to put it more basically, how human beings work. Condoleeza Rice should be barred from participating. An electrified fence should be set up around the talk site to keep John Bolton away. The Arab League acted in anger over the U.S. veto of a U.N. resolution condemning the Israeli offensive in Gaza. Bolton called the Arab League's action "biased against Israel and politically motivated." No shit, sherlock. And so what? Bolton's not politically motivated? (I love how these guys demonize things others do that they do themselves, without ever realizing that they have condemned themselves.) Hopefully when Bolton goes, that will be the end of the literally meaningless pronouncements coming out of State which sound like the kind of horseshit we used to hear out of the Kremlin.

We need to send an elder statesman - even, if necessary, one of Bush 41's evil henchmen - although if you ask me Bill Clinton ought to head these negotiations. And while he's at it, maybe he ought to head over to Lebanon - where Hezbollah is seeking a larger role in the Lebanese government - before the consummately incompetent Rice fucks that up, too. And Afghanistan, too, where insurgent attacks are now to 600 a month.

Doing nothing isn't working, Condi! Why don't you quit too?

PELOSI FOR MURTHA

Nancy Pelosi has come out for John Murtha over Steny Hoyer for Majority Leader. It's a brilliant move.

She's supporting Murtha to honor him for his courage in coming out against the war. It's a signal that politics as usual is not running the show now. Murtha has ethics problems, so there's a price to pay; but hers is a principled position, and I think that's what Americans want to see.

PELOSI IN '08?

Apparently there's a lot of chatter about Nancy Pelosi running for president in 2008.

I respect what Pelosi has done to turn the Congress around. Judging from what she's been saying since the election, I have a good deal of confidence in her. She has a very important job to do, and I think she's going to do it.

I assume there are two genres of chatterers: the press, which seems to believe that every opinion they offer is priceless, and the Beltway insiders, to whom the identity of the candidate in 2008 is of supreme importance.

I respect many of the press who developed investigative stories that were critical to the change in climate. As for the rest of them, I wish they would just shut up. Their opinions are worth no more than anyone else's, and in many cases less; and reporters who made no contribution to the rescue of American democracy are completely irrelevant now. I don't read them, and I won't, until much more important business is taken care of.

As for Beltway insiders, the fact that they're already stirring up trouble between Dean on the one hand and Emmanuel and Schumer on the other proves that their interest is not the party or the country but their own positions and egos. I want to hear about what they do, not what they say or think.

Both of these elements, by even bringing up the question of who the candidate will be less than a week after a critical election, are dealing with irrelevancies and creating distractions. I'm confident that Pelosi will ignore this shit and keep her eye on the obvious targets she has to meet. If that doesn't happen, we'll know who to blame.

CUT HIM OUT

If James Carville and Mary Matalin can actually live together, it suggests that their political convictions are not very deeply held. I could not stand being in the same bed with someone who says what Matalin says, even if I respected her intelligence and she was a great fuck.

The time to cut Carville out of Democratic strategy circles is long overdue.

YES!

Go for it, Henry. We can't wait!

And yes to this, too.

Yes!

ENOUGH ALREADY

Since I'm sounding off on foreign policy, here's another one:

The embargo on Cuba made some sense when there was a Soviet Union. But now it's just punishing a poor nation, not for anything it's done but for its attitude. And there are two bad reasons we're doing it: one, to humor the last of the anti-Communist wingnuts, and two, so the Republicans can keep the Cuban vote.

Enough already. It's pointless. More than that, it's self-defeating. If Cubans really want to go back to Cuba some day, why not let the country develop - if it can - into something someone would really want to go back to?

I realize this would create a little unwelcome competition for the Cubans who want to step in a take the country over when Castro goes. But why are the Cubans running our foreign policy? This has nothing to do with U.S. national interests. The embargo - which was just condemned once again by a vote in the U.N. of every country except three (one of which, obviously, was Israel) - should be dropped now, and replaced with nothing. Cuba is no threat to anyone.

STOP IT NOW

According to the New York Times, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offered to ease tensions by meeting the Palestinian president “anytime, anyplace.” In the meantime, Hamas declared an end to a two year "truce" after Israelis killed a family of thirteen in Gaza.

There can be no question that one key to resolving the situation in the Middle East is the creation of a Palestinian state. The right wing has, to an extent, been repudiated in the U.S. It's time for the same thing to happen in Israel.

87% of American Jews voted Democratic in the recent election - despite the fact that the Bush administration has been a hugely strong supporter of Israel (albeit for the wrong reasons) and that, because the party is not strongly ideologically driven, the Democrats are not as reliable an ally for Israel. This is a repudiation by Jews of the Jewish voices at AIPAC and the many Republican Jews - Wolfowitz, Pearle, Goldberg, etc. - who have been taking apart the world on Israel's behalf. For this vote, I am exceedingly grateful. I was beginning to wonder for a while.

It's time for pressure to be put on both the Israelis and Palestinians to put an end to their pigheadedness, for the world's sake. There is no longer time to "respect" their various positions - which is the reason Clinton failed. If ever there was a moment for the U.S. to assert its national interest - which coincides with the interests of the rest of the West - it's now. Israel and Palestine must move immediately toward peace, even if it has to be crammed down their throats. And Congress can do it, just by threatening to cut off aid. That threat, already made to the Palestinians, has worked. The Israelis need to be threatened in the same way.

It will take a while for the bloodshed to stop. We can help to do that by condemning actions taken by either side which prolong the mess. Imagine the reaction in the Arab world if the U.S. actually criticized Israel.

Go ahead, call me a bad Jew. I don't care.

YES, PLEASE

From Daily Kos:

But here's the key -- every bit of anti-minority party legislation the GOP implemented these last 12 years better be kept intact by the new Democratic leadership. Let them reap what they sowed. They deserve every humiliation they designed for those in the minority status.

And stripped of their perks, forced to fire large number of staff, shunted off to the dingiest offices on Capitol Hill, let's hope more Republicans decide that life on K Street is more enjoyable than life in the minority.

A LITTLE WAGER?

A federal judge ruled the Center for Reproductive Rights could “subpoena more than three years of Plan B-related communications between the White House’s domestic-policy office” and FDA officials. The documents could “determine whether the White House interfered with the FDA’s handling of a request by manufacturer Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. to allow sales without prescriptions.”

Any bets what they find?

HONOR

Jews voted for Democrats in their highest numbers in 14 years, an exit poll showed. Democrats garnered 87 percent of Jewish votes, the CNN exit poll by Edison Media Research said, while Republicans earned 10 percent.

That was opposed to 55 percent of all respondents who voted Democrat and 44 who voted Republican. About 200 of the 10,207 respondents were Jewish.

Jews led all religions in voting for Democrats.

That's what I want to see. We have regained our honor.

TWO THINGS

Two things I missed in the last post:

Democrats should hold hearings on jihadism in the same way they do on Iraq and Afghanistan, listening to experts on the region and the religion and formulating a plan to deal with it long term.

And - maybe Nancy Pelosi will have more success luring the few Republican moderates left into a long-term alliance with the Democrats than other speakers have had. Not to be simple-minded, but Pelosi ought to be able to level with Snowe, at least.

WHAT PELOSI SHOULD DO

Okay. Nancy Pelosi has a lot of work to do.

The Bush team is already making noise about bipartisan cooperation - but only on their issues, of course. Why the Democrats owe Bush any consideration at all, after the way the Republicans have run Congress, escapes me. But to a certain extent, it might be good for the country. Here's the way I think Pelosi needs to handle it:

Democrats should prepare bills reversing the damage Bush has done legislatively and by executive order, including at the FCC, FEC, EPA, etc. and introduce them as soon as Pelosi takes over. Every nefarious little plant or scheme should be reversed. If the Dems don't take the Senate, most of them won't be enacted, but they will set the agenda for 2008. Over the next few days, as they occur to me, I will list the ones I remember.

Laws against the kind of attempted voter misdirection the Republicans used in this campaign should be passed, with criminal penalties of at least 30 years in prison and $1,000,000 fines per robocall, etc. This kind of tactic, the purpose being to undermine America's democratic process, is tantamount to treason, and should be treated as such.

As for Iraq, Pelosi should schedule two sets of hearings: the first to find out how we got into this mess (the same should be done re energy and environmental issues), and the second to figure out how we're going to get out. (And that latter should be done re Afghanistan, too.) These second hearings should include every military, diplomatic, social science, economic person who could be considered as purveying good ideas. A consensus should be reached, and then enacted. (My personal view is that the biggest Bush failing in Iraq - aside from going there in the first place - is his complete failure to accomplish, or even try to accomplish, any reconstruction. That is the only way we might quiet things down in Iraq.)

These bills should come down like a blizzard, and I wouldn't mind seeing the Democrats use some of the restrictive tactics Republicans used vis a vis the House rules to get them passed quickly. Again, if the Senate affirms them, wonderful. If not, Democrats have done what they promised to do, and it's up to the American people to remove further obstacles to the return of responsible government.

UPDATE: From Think Progress, step one:

"Democratic victories yesterday in the House and Senate appear likely to boost efforts to strengthen U.S. global warming policy,” E&E writes. In the House, Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) “is poised to direct climate and air pollution policy as chairman of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee.” He is expected to hold a series of hearings on global warming specifically, as well as direct oversight of U.S. EPA’s most controversial air emission regulations.

And from the HuffPo:

Speaker-designate Pelosi's first hundred hours platform is a thrilling start. But the larger issue is how to knit together the older more liberal Democrats with the gang of more conservative freshmen. Yes, the answer does come from racing to the center, as CNN's pundits repeated all last night. But the center must be defined by the victors. Old and new Democrats cannot allow themselves to be wedged apart by wedge issues, though if I were Republican strategist I would spend my every waking hour scheming to do just that. The netroots progressives, Howard Dean and the DLC centrists all have so much more in common than not. We need to do what we are not been very good good at at all: coming together. Liberal is not a dirty word and neither is conservative. We need to move beyond labels and focus on values. I think we'd all be surprised by how the values from the left to the right are virtually indistinguishable.

For example, everyone except the Bush Corporation is in favor of aggressively going after the war profiteers. Let's turn Henry Waxman loose and throw those evil vampires under the jail.

EXPLAIN, PLEASE

This Haggard gay sex thing is so instructive, to me.

I am sure Haggard absolutely believed his preaching that homosexuality is sin. I will also bet that it never occurred to Haggard that he was practicing what he had condemned others for.

I will bet he felt no guilt (before he was caught), because there was a complete disconnect between his conduct and his beliefs. Not a contradiction, a disconnect. I can't understand that disconnect, but I think I need to, because it seems to me to be a dominant factor in these times. Because it leaves people free to do anything without any moral consequence, while at the same time demonizing the "morality" of others. Because it isn't just neocons or Republicans or fundamentalists; very many Americans live this way.

If anyone out there has any insight on this, please leave comments and help me understand. Because faced with a conundrum like this, I begin to lose faith that humans can live a moral life without God, and I start to become grateful for religions that control humans. Or at least a religion that doesn't preach what I already hate.

DEPRAVITY 7

In early 2004, as House Appropriations Committee investigators prepared to launch a sensitive audit of highly classified Capitol Hill security upgrades, Hastert's chief counsel made a surprise visit to the first meeting of the auditors. His message was clear, according to participants: The speaker's office was not happy about the probe and would keep investigators on a tight leash. In September 2005, despite growing evidence of sweetheart deals, kickbacks, wasteful contracts and shoddy work, the probe was suddenly shut down.

New Mexico Dems are charging that the state GOP has been calling Democrats and giving incorrect poll location info.

Early this morning, Keystone Politics editors received and released a poll by McCulloch Research and Polling showing that Rick Santorum was within 4 points of retaining his Senate seat. Further research into McCulloch Research and Polling shows that Rod McCulloch, principal at the firm, has been indicted in voter fraud and forgery in Illinois.

Important stuff on electronic voting ....

Outright lying ...


Tim Daly from Clarendon got a call saying that if he votes Tuesday, he will be arrested. The transcript from his voicemail reads: "This message is for Timothy Daly. This is the Virginia Elections Commission. We've determined you are registered in New York to vote. Therefore, you will not be allowed to cast your vote on Tuesday. If you do show up, you will be charged criminally." Daly has been registered to vote in Virginia since 1998, and he has voted for the last several cycles with no problem. He has filed a criminal complaint with the Commonwealth's attorney in Arlington.

Norman Cox has been registered to vote in the same location in Arlington since 1972. Someone from a 406 number (in Montana) called to tell him that his polling place has changed. [Note: The Webb Campaign is NOT making any such phone calls.] Cox said he believed that he was being mislead and the caller hung up. b. Peter Baumann in Cape Charles, VA (North Hampton) got a similar call from a "Webb volunteer" saying his polling location had changed. He said: No, I'm a poll worker and I know where I vote. The girl--who was calling from California--hung up. The Secretary of the State Board of Elections Jean Jensen has logged dozens of similar calls, finding heavy trends in Accomack County (middle peninsula) and Essex County (outer peninsula) [as reported by the counties' registrars].

Fliers in Buckingham County Say "SKIP THIS ELECTION" (paid for by the RNC) have caused many in the African American community to call the Board of Elections to see if the election is still on. The full tag line says: "SKIP THIS ELECTION... (and then in smaller print): Don't Let the Tax and Spend Liberals Win."

Britain's leading scientists have challenged the US oil company ExxonMobil to stop funding groups that attempt to undermine the scientific consensus on climate change.

Housing and Urban Development (HUD) spokeswoman Dustee Tucker repeatedly misled the press about HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson’s April 28 speech in Dallas, where he admitted canceling a government contract with a business because the CEO was critical of President Bush.

The top US general defended the leadership of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, saying it is inspired by God. "He leads in a way that the good Lord tells him is best for our country," said Marine General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Over the past few days we've been telling you about a widely distributed private slate mailer labeled "Voter Information Guide for Democrats," boasting of "evaluations and recommendations" by the Democratic Party and others. The fine print notes that the slate mailer was prepared by Voter Information Guide, "not an official political party organization." The oil companies put up $300,000 for this deceptive mailer. Today, the Oakland Tribune reported that, "U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein wants a Southern California company to stop distributing a slate mailer that uses her image but encourages votes which contradict her stances. Neither Feinstein, D-Calif., nor her campaign approved the "Voter Information Guide for Democrats" showing up in mailboxes across California."

DEPRAVITY 6

New web clips:

The new chief of the FBI's Criminal Division, which is swamped with public corruption cases, says the bureau is ramping up its ability to catch crooked politicians and might run an undercover sting on Congress. Assistant FBI Director James Burrus called the bureau's public corruption program "a sleeping giant that we've awoken," and predicted the nation will see continued emphasis in that area "for many, many, many years to come." So much evidence of wrongdoing is surfacing in the nation's capital that Burrus recently committed to adding a fourth 15- to 20-member public corruption squad to the FBI's Washington field office.

The grandfather of neoconservatism, Irving Kristol, long ago explained the "justification" for lying in an interview with Reason's Ronald Bailey (h/t Mona): There are different kinds of truths for different kinds of people . . . There are truths appropriate for children; truths that are appropriate for students; truths that are appropriate for educated adults; and truths that are appropriate for highly educated adults, and the notion that there should be one set of truths available to everyone is a modern democratic fallacy. It doesn't work.

Sources in Bergen County are reporting that an autodial robocall is being made that starts out sounding like a positive Bob Menendez message. If you hang up, it repeatedly calls you back. If you listen all the way to the end, it finishes by saying that Menendez is an embezzler and under criminal investigation.

The Northern Californian ACLU has filed a lawsuit (www.aclunc.org/cases/index.shtml) against GOP Secretary of State Bruce McPherson and Choicepoint for purging 145,000 African-American and Latino "felons" in California to prevent them from voting in the November election.

More and more reports coming in of irate voters calling various House Democratic campaigns complaining about the repeat-call-back robocalls. In other words, these are the harassing calls paid for by the NRCC made to appear that they're from the Democratic campaign. And a lot of angry voters are getting fooled by the scam, it seems. We'll have to see how it plays out.

(d) NATIONAL GUARD DUTIES- An officer who is not relieved from duty in the National Guard while serving on active duty pursuant to subsection (a)(2) may perform any duty authorized to be performed by the laws of his State or Territory, Puerto Rico, or the District of Columbia, as the case may be, to be performed by the National Guard without regard to the limitations imposed by section 1385 of title 18.' Title 18 § 1385. Use of Army and Air Force as posse comitatus: Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or the Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

American commanders in Iraq have privately told the President that additional troops will be needed in Iraq to maintain the current policy. Plans are secretly underway for a surprise new call up of National Guard and Reserves to be announced sometime after the election. The Washington Post has now reported that planning that is now classified, being kept secret from voters and military families until the election is over, could well include what the Post calls a policy change forcing a new wave of involuntary call ups.

Republican Gus Bilirakis is running for his dad’s old 9th District seat in Florida, which has been safely Republican for a quarter century. But Democrat Phyllis Busansky is … well, she’s not the Republican, so the race is competitive. Too bad she’s such a whore! Today’s comedy mailer shows the 69-year-old Jewish grandmother next to a naked gal, because she wants Christians to be forced to go around naked in public. Turns out Busansky was on a county commission in 1991 and was one of two members who didn’t vote for a legal ban on thong bikinis — including on people’s private property.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has proposed a system which will in essence make it mandatory for you to have permission before leaving or entering the country, effectively putting everyone on a no-fly list unless the government says otherwise. Interestingly, the proposal does not seem to cover personal travel, only that on some sort of carrier like an airline or cruise vessel.

Facing the possibility of large-scale losses in the House, conservative pundits have launched into pre-election damage control, using breathtaking leaps of logic to downplay any potential Democratic gains. Ann Coulter now claims that anything less of 60 or 70 seats in the house is a loss for the Democratic Party.

A couple of days ago, we linked to a report out of Houston that the GOP was placing signs near early voting polling stations in Tom Delay's former district that read "Encourage Terrorists. Vote Democrat."

DEPRAVITY 5

Today on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace repeatedly pushed the incorrect right-wing talking point that the Missouri ballot initiative on stem cells would allow human cloning.

Two senior aides to National Republican Campaign Committee Chairman Tom Reynolds participated in "damage control" conference calls concerning correspondence between Congressman Mark Foley and a former congressional page -- two days before the scandal became public, and earlier than previously reported.

A recent set of polls conducted in Britain, Canada, Mexico and Israel found a majority believe the US has made the world less safe. In the British survey, George W. Bush was seen as a greater threat to world peace than either Kim Jong-il or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Despite running an attack ad accusing a Democratic senatorial candidate of accepting money from "porn movie producers," the Republican National Committee itself has accepted several donations over the past few years from the president of a large pornographic movie distribution company.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a likely 2008 presidential aspirant, is starring in two new television spots for Proposition 107, a proposed state constitutional amendment that would ensure that same-sex marriages or civil unions are never legal in Arizona and ban governments, such as cities or towns or universities, from providing benefits to unmarried domestic partners.

Gov. Robert Ehrlich returned more than $540,000 in political contributions to the Republican Party after state elections officials discovered that a federal account was used to funnel funds to his re-election campaign. A letter from the State Board of Elections, obtained by The Sun newspaper, said use of the federal account to pay for the governor's re-election effort allowed Ehrlich to receive large sums of in-kind contributions from the state party by bypassing the $4,000 donation cap set by state law.

The only secret the Glenda Dawson campaign is keeping is that she’s dead. Dawson, a Republican state representative in Texas, died in September. Aware of how little a state legislator actually does, the campaign has continued as planned. New mailers went out this week showing a living Dawson with Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. And if we’re understanding this article, Dawson is making campaign phone calls from beyond the grave. Which is awesome. The guy behind Dawson’s ghostly run is State Rep. Dennis Bonnen: “We don’t suggest that there’s a great thing she’s going to accomplish for the voters in the future.” Polls show Dawson in the lead.

Ahhh, John Sweeney. The police need his say-so to release the official report of the domestic abuse call that's derailed his campaign. And he says he wants to give it. But somehow, he just can't bring himself to do it.

DEPRAVITY 4

Remember, these are just the little stories, recent ones. I wish I had been keeping these notes longer than I have.

In the face of vast poverty and exploitation, the Chinese government is about to enact a labor law that would strengthen the role of unions and protections for workers. But American corporations, eager to maintain their fiefdoms in the middle kingdom, have lobbied fiercely against the proposed legislation. A group called the American Chamber of Commerce has led the charge against the humanitarian reforms, representing companies that include: Dell, Ford, General Electric, Microsoft and Nike.

Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) has earmarked $8 million over the last four years “for a project ostensibly designed to make Montana a center for space-related research and industry.” The results? The program “appears to have produced few tangible results while spawning several state and federal investigations. It has also earned lobbyists and companies connected to Burns hundreds of thousands of dollars in contracts and lobbying fees as well as more than $80,000 in campaign contributions for Burns and Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT).”

Five conservative nonprofit organizations, including one run by prominent Republican Grover Norquist, "perpetrated a fraud" on taxpayers by selling their clout to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Senate investigators said in a report issued today. The report includes previously unreleased e-mails between the now-disgraced lobbyist and officers of the nonprofit groups, showing that Abramoff routed money from his clients to the groups. In exchange the groups, among other things, produced ostensibly independent newspaper op-ed columns or press releases that favored the clients' positions.

The new nominee to head EPA Region 10 is a former executive of Dow Chemical with longstanding ties to the pesticide lobby. The nominee, Elin Miller, "worked as an executive at Dow Chemical from 1996 to 2004, overseeing public affairs and the global pest-management and Asia Pacific operations, according to an EPA news release.

The Justice Department has OK'd, with a simple press release, a massive merger between Bellsouth and AT&T with no conditions and without a consent decree or judicial review, effectively reconstituting much of the old AT&T monopoly. The new AT&T will control nearly half of the landlines in the country, and the CEO of AT&T is already on record essentially saying he's going to get rid of net neutrality.

Lt. Commander Charles Swift is a JAG lawyer who recently won a Supreme Court decision that upheld the values of the American justice system and reaffirmed that we are a nation of laws. So, of course, he was fired. In the case of the Navy, they call it "passed over for promotion." It's an "up or out" system. So, when he was denied promotion that meant Lt. Commander Swift's career in the US military was over. He has to pack his bags. After he is "retired" in March or April, he can no longer serve in the United States Navy.

Rep. Kingston-GA and Rep. McHenry-NC, try to turn the Foley scandal into a Democratic conspiracy. These two weasels–and I use that word lovingly, try to absolve Dennis Hastert's involvement in covering up Foley's sexual proclivities and demand Nancy Pelosi be put under oath.

James Dobson - As it turns out, Mr. Foley has had illicit sex with no one that we know of, and the whole thing turned out to be what some people are now saying was a — sort of a joke by the boy and some of the other pages … By midafternoon yesterday, a rumor emerged that in fact Mark Foley had been pranked by the House pages. It is the first plausible thing I've heard in seven days..

The watchdog group that first provided the FBI with suspicious e-mails from then-Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) said yesterday that FBI and Justice Department officials are attempting to cover up their inaction in the case by making false claims about the group.

Using language that suggests they are fed up with the Bush administration, federal judges across the West have issued a flurry of rulings in recent weeks, chastising the government for repeated and sometimes willful failure to enforce laws protecting fish, forests, and wildlife.

President Bush, again defying Congress, says he has the power to edit the Homeland Security Department’s reports about whether it obeys privacy rules while handling background checks, ID cards and watchlists.

Ohio Supreme Court justices routinely sat on cases after receiving campaign contributions from the parties involved or from groups that filed supporting briefs.

This is what happened when "Gordon R. England, the acting deputy secretary of defense, and Philip D. Zelikow, the counselor of the State Department, urged the administration to seek Congressional approval for its detention policies." [The recommendation] so angered Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld that his aides gathered up copies of the document and had at least some of them shredded.

With little public attention or even notice, the House of Representatives has passed a bill that undermines enforcement of the First Amendment's separation of church and state. The Public Expression of Religion Act - H.R. 2679 - provides that attorneys who successfully challenge government actions as violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment shall not be entitled to recover attorneys fees. The bill has only one purpose: to prevent suits challenging unconstitutional government actions advancing religion.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who is defending President Bush's anti-terrorism tactics in multiple court battles, said Friday that federal judges should not substitute their personal views for the president's judgments in wartime.

For the first time in three and a half years, with more than $30 billion already spent, the chief watchdog body of the Republican-controlled House held a hearing yesterday on the reconstruction of Iraq. What the Committee on Government Reform found wasn't pretty. In fact, it was downright disgusting. Stuart Bowen, the Special Inspector General for the Reconstruction of Iraq, released two audits: one showed that Pasadena-based Parsons had built a police academy so badly that raw sewage coursed down the walls. The second showed that Iraq had lost $16 billion in oil sales because of America's problems in rebuilding the oil infrastructure. I already told you what happened to Bowen.

DEPRAVITY 3

There is a law on the ballot in four states that says if I want to open a hog farm or a chemical plant next door to your house and you don't want me to do that, then YOU have to PAY ME not to -- you have to pay me ALL THE MONEY I MIGHT HAVE MADE. Along with EVERYTHING else going on in this election, the far right has managed to get stealth "takings" initiatives on the ballot in four states. In California it is Proposition 90. In Washington it is Initiative 933. In Idaho it is Proposition 2. In Arizona it is Proposition 207.

The Bush administration has shut down access to the EPA’s principle library for researching the effects and properties of chemicals. “EPA’s hasty, buzz saw slashing at its library network is now interfering with its mission of harnessing the best available science to protect human health and the environment,” said Jeff Ruch, director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. The Bush administration has already shuttered EPA’s Washington headquarters’ library and regional posts in Chicago, Dallas, and Kansas City.

A senior Bush political appointee at the Interior Department has rejected staff scientists' recommendations to protect imperiled animals and plants under the Endangered Species Act at least six times in the past three years, documents show.

Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave tries to have Terri Schiavo's husband thrown out of the audience at a debate.

President Bush recess appoints a new pro-industry chief to the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Powerful House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-CA), who is currently under federal investigation for corruption charges, has “fired 60 investigators who had worked for his committee rooting out fraud, waste and abuse, effective immediately.” According to Congressional Quarterly, “The investigators were contract workers, brought on to handle the extraordinary level of fraud investigations facing the panel.”

An Illinois immigrant rights group is suing the Arizona Attorney General, accusing him of illegally seizing millions of dollars in money transfers sent to Arizona and Mexico by thousands of people in 26 states. The group charges that Arizona, in using blanket warrants to seize large sums of money it suspects of being laundered by Mexican smugglers, is also snagging money sent legally by family member for medications, car repairs, rent payments and other needs back home. The suit alleges that the immigrants are being treated like criminals and their money is being illegally intercepted.

Rep J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) expressed support for notorious anti-Semite Henry Ford's "americanization" program, and refused to apologize after protests from the Jewish community in his district.

Republican Congresswoman Heather Wilson had a little problem back in 1995, when she was (of course) Secretary of the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department. The problem was that this department had a file on her husband, an Albuquerque attorney, because he had been accused of (but never charged with) “inappropriate contact with a minor.” In other words, a 16-year-old boy reported that Heather Wilson’s husband tried to fuck him. So Heather Wilson made the file disappear.

There are some questions that Rep. Sue Kelly (R-NY) really doesn't want to answer. So much so that she ran away -- literally ran away -- from a local news crew.

State investigators have linked a Republican campaign to letters sent to thousands of Orange County Hispanics warning them they could go to jail or be deported if they vote next month, a spokesman for the attorney general said.

Bush’s new space policy, the first major overhaul in 10 years, reserves the right to prevent access to space to anyone “hostile to U.S. interests.”

Rev. DeForest Soaries, former head of the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission, blasted the White House and Congress for its lack of dedication to stamping out electronic voting fraud potential, branding their efforts “a charade” and “a travesty.”

Former Representative Randy Cunningham pressured and intimidated staff members of the House Intelligence Committee to help steer more than $70 million in classified federal business to favored military contractors, according to a Congressional investigation made public Tuesday. The investigation found that Mr. Cunningham, a California Republican, who is serving an eight-year prison sentence for bribery, repeatedly abused his position on the committee to authorize money for military projects, often over the objections of staff members who criticized some of the spending as wasteful.

Lester Crawford, who abruptly left his position as the head of President Bush's Food and Drug Administration last year, is set to plead guilty to charges that he lied about stocks he owned thaht came under the regulatory eye of the FDA.

For five years, Allen Stayman wondered who ordered his removal from a State Department job negotiating agreements with tiny Pacific island nations -- even when his own bosses wanted him to stay. Now he knows. Newly disclosed e-mails suggest that the ax fell after intervention by one of the highest officials at the White House: Ken Mehlman, on behalf of one of the most influential lobbyists in town, Jack Abramoff. The e-mails show that Abramoff, whose client list included the Northern Mariana Islands, had long opposed Stayman's work advocating labor changes in that U.S. commonwealth, and considered what his lobbying team called the "Stayman project" a high priority.

DEPRAVITY 2

These little-reported events and incidents, plus those I have already reported on this blog, indicate the depravity of the Republican Party and its complete contempt for truth, morality and democracy:

U.S. government asks court to forbid Guantanamo Bay inmates to complain about being tortured on the grounds that interrogation techniques are state secrets.

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 (Introduced in Senate)allows domestic use of U S troops in violation of the posse comitatus doctrine.

Investigations led by a Republican lawyer named Stuart W. Bowen Jr. in Iraq have sent American occupation officials to jail on bribery and conspiracy charges, exposed disastrously poor construction work by well-connected companies like Halliburton and Parsons, and discovered that the military did not properly track hundreds of thousands of weapons it shipped to Iraqi security forces. Tucked away in a huge military authorization bill that President Bush signed two weeks ago is the elimination of his office. The official excuse from Duncan Hunter (R–Running For President), who inserted the provision, is that he wanted to return to a "non-wartime footing" for all this inspection stuff.

In addition to securing covert earmarks for an associate, Rep. Jim Gibbons took a cruise that was paid for by that same associate/campaign donor.

The Interior Department's Inspector General Earl Devaney accused top officials in his agency of fostering a culture of "managerial irresponsibility" that tolerated conflicts of interest. "Short of crime, anything goes at the Department of the Interior" Devaney exclaimed.

Sgt. Santos Cardona, 32, a military policeman from Fullerton, Calif., served in 2003 and 2004 at Abu Ghraib as a military dog handler. After pictures of Cardona using the animal to threaten Iraqis were made public, he was convicted in May of dereliction of duty and aggravated assault, the equivalent of a felony in the U.S. civilian justice system. The prosecution demanded prison time, but a military judge instead imposed a fine and reduction in rank. Though Cardona was not put behind bars, he was also required to serve 90 days of hard labor at Ft. Bragg, N.C. He has now been sent back to Iraq to train Iraqi police.

90 major corporations demanded that their ads be pulled from radio stations that run Air America programming, demonstrating the fundamental challenge facing everyone working to promote critical journalism and a vibrant free press.

Americans for Honesty on Issues (AFHOI), a 527 organization totally funded by Texan Bob Perry, have failed to report contributions and expenditures with the IRS as mandated by federal law. Perry previously gave $95,000 to former Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s Americans for a Republican Majority (ARMPAC) and he contributed $200,000 to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

From the Christine Jennings campaign, Florida 13th District: Voters have reported receiving nasty and misleading automated phone calls, sometimes as many as 10 a night. Many of these "robo-calls" impersonate Christine's voice and create the impression that she is the person speaking. The calls are so long (they sometimes last several minutes) that few people listen to them all the way to the end, where they would hear that the calls are paid for by Vern Buchanan for Congress or the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). The purpose of these calls is to anger voters and suppress voter turn-out.

At least two dozen federal judges appointed by President Bush since 2001 made political contributions to key Republicans or to the president himself while under consideration for their judgeships.

Twelve people have been charged with tricking voters in Orange County, Calif., into registering as Republicans, prosecutors said Monday. County Democratic Party officials said they have filed more than 500 verified complaints of fraud in the drive.

DEPRAVITY 1

These little-reported events and incidents, plus those I have already reported on this blog, indicate the depravity of the Republican Party and its complete contempt for truth, morality and democracy:

The Kansas Attorney General obtains private medical records of patients of abortion clinics - he says he wants to review them for evidence of rape and illegal abortions - and turns them over to Bill O'Reilly, who attacks a doctor for "executing babies".

Instead of endorsing Tammy Duckworth, who lost two legs in Irag, the VFW endorses her opponent, who never served. When asked why they did that, the VFW responds that "some guy" told them to do it, so they did.

In 1999, the U.S. government conducted a series of secret war games that anticipated an invasion of Iraq would require 400,000 troops, and even then chaos might ensue. The Desert Crossing war game suggestsd we would have ended up with a failed state even with 400,000 troops on the ground. "A change in regimes does not guarantee stability," the 1999 seminar briefings said. "A number of factors including aggressive neighbors, fragmentation along religious and/or ethnic lines, and chaos created by rival forces bidding for power could adversely affect regional stability."
The administration hid and ignored these war games and proceeded anyway.

Representative John Doolittle (R-CA) and his daughter took a $29,400 vacation paid for by non-profit groups fronting for the lobbying firm Alexander Strategy. Doolittle, who serves on the House Appropriations Committee, sponsored $37 million in spending-bill earmarks that went to a firm controlled by a key Alexander Strategy client.

In Pennsylvania, the Republican committees are flooding Democratic households, particularly those with regular voters, with telephone robocalls which begin: "I'm calling with important information about {name of Democratic candidate}." Identical calls are placed repeatedly to the same household, often at inconvenient or even disruptive hours (late at night). The calls violate election law by failing to identify up front who sponsored them. Many people think the calls are in support of the named candidate, but in fact the message is deceptive and false. Thus, if the caller hangs up right away in frustration, s/he is likely to think the Dem is to blame; this is the goal, to make people mad and reluctant to vote for the candidate.

U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris, who has made past comments that raised questions about her religious sensitivity, prayed in a telephone prayer service recently that God would "bring the hearts and minds of our Jewish brothers and sisters into alignment."

An ABC News undercover investigation showed Army recruiters telling students that the war in Iraq was over, in an effort to get them to enlist.

Kent Hovind, founder of Creation Science Evangelism and Dinosaur Adventure Land in Pensacola, was found guilty of 58 counts of tax evasion, including failure to pay $845,000 in employee-related taxes. He faces a maximum of 288 years in prison. His wife was also found guilty.

Despite European objections, the Bush administration gets treaty partners to approve U.S. use of methyl bromide, a potent ozone-destroying pesticide banned internationally two years ago.

AARP CEO Bill Novelli has sent a letter to several Congressional districts across the country that have been targeted by political interest groups mischaracterizing AARP's Voters' Guides and the positions of candidates on Social Security.

Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA) shown on camera grabbing incriminating documents from a local TV investigative reporter and refusing to return them.

Two weeks before crucial midterm elections that could tip the balance of power in Congress, Condoleeza Rice has been on a media blitz that appears aimed mainly at conservative media outlets, particularly radio talk shows. Secretary of state is traditionally a nonpartisan position, and Rice's media itinerary differs sharply from the practice of her predecessors during election campaigns, according to State Department records.

IMPEACHMENT? NO

On Meet The Press this morning, Russert asked Rahm Emanuel whether the Democrats intended to push to impeach George Bush. His answer was no, it's off the table. There is a much better answer which the Dems haven't learned to give:

How odd is it that Republicans, who wasted tons of taxpayer's time and money trying to impeach Bill Clinton for a sexual mistake, are now trying to scare the American people by saying Democrats intend to impeach Bush? Now, George Bush has been guilty of many impeachable offenses, and we intend to investigate every one of them - but we're not going to impeach him, that would be a waste of time. What we are going to do is make certain that he is stopped, to the extent Congress can stop him, from committing further impeachable offenses.

Personally, I would add the following: do you really think we'd impeach Bush when that would make Cheney president?

KOOL-AID

Is this going to make the MSM?

Or this?

Why don't we all just drink the Kool-Aid now?

BAD MOVES

Okay, this is simpleminded, but ...

After total immersion in the blogs in these pre-election weeks, it seems clear to me that, except for stories broken by major newspapers or networks (and I do not minimize these), news breaks on the web hours, if not days, before it is reported in the MSM. When I pick up the Palm Beach Post, I find I already know everything it is telling me.

This is not to denigrate the MSM - or at least the good parts of it. Their investigative journalism is still superior to anything the internet generates. The internet is gaining in this area, but MSM are likely to remain superior because it is only in the MSM that reporters can make a living.

It's the conclusion this leads me to that's disturbing: when networks and newspapers try to cut losses, they often cut reporters. By doing that, they are cutting their own throats (as news organizations, anyway), because in five years dissemination of news through the MSM will be seriously challenged, and their only necessary news function will be investigative reporting. In other words, what will keep them important is their creation, not dissemination, of the news.

On the other hand, if a new source of funding develops which pays reporters to report outside of the MSM, the MSM will be doomed to an audience of computer illiterates - who will all be 50+.

IS THERE A BOOK?

Here's my question:

Do they understand instinctively how to propagandize by twisting, lying and redirecting? Does the spin that will work always just occur to them?

Or is there a book somewhere they're following? If there is, I want a copy. It's vry effective stuff.

NEVER STOP

They just never stop lying ...

KILLING THE TRUTH

After watching HBO's horrifying documentary, "Hacking the Vote," some observations:

1. Would any other American network have aired this program? Certainly not. Not even PBS. (PBS, since much of its government funding was cut off by Republicans, has become heavily dependent on corporate contributors - not foundations, as used to be the case, but corporations, many of them defense contractors. On recent podcasts from NPR I have found ads for, for example, Boeing and the National Mining Association - not your typical impartial organizations, and not to be trusted with the truth.)

Let me take it one step further. The test of whether a network retains any integrity whatsoever will be the extent to which it airs the issues raised by the documentary - after drowning us in bullshit about what John Kerry said. I wouldn't bet on much.

It also seems likely that the information contained in the HBO documentary has not exactly been a secret from other news organizations. So why have we seen so little of it before?

How HBO retains its integrity is hard to comprehend, but God bless them for it. Otherwise, our media is corrupt and corrupted - meaning our democracy is, too.

2. One of the first orders of business of any Democrat-controlled house of Congress (if we're lucky enough to be allowed one) should be the establishment of a commission - made up of Democratic, Republican and independents including computer experts in a configuration which does not allow any one group to dominate - to devise a voting system which is secure, trustworthy and public. All deliberations, etc. of this body should also be public. Once the system is designed, it should be manufactured by a branch of the Federal government over which the commission has complete oversight, and offered to every county. Those counties which do not adopt it should be considered as politically suspect. It wouldn't hurt to pass laws respecting the Federal voting process which ban any person who has a significant identification with a political party from holding any state or county position in which the power resides to affect election results.

Once they've finished that, they should award the Congressional Medal of Honor to all the citizens who have taken it upon themselves, at not insignificant cost in time and money, to expose the frauds and lies that have, once again, been foisted on us. If not for them, we'd have no chance to save the American system.

3. Finally, the documentary contained one more reason why we do not want to see John Kerry run for any elected office again. I wish Kerry well, and hope he goes on to lead a happy life and leave us alone - because if he doesn't, we're going to have to think about whether he was a Manchurian candidate in 2004 and whether he has been programmed to disrupt the 2006 election.

Near the end of the documentsry, one of the women who proved Diebold machines could be programmed to steal votes was crying. She was mourning the loss of her innocence, and mourning the upcoming death of the America she loved. It will take a lot to convince us that the situation is retrievable - because to me this documentary proves that evolution is wrong; we are devolving from civilized humans to a violent species of apes, in which cunning is the key to success and morality just a word to be used to kill the truth.

BORING

If there aren't new restaurant reviews in your local newspaper's weekly food section, you live in a hopelessly boring place.

BASICS

Here are a few simple economic truths I didn't get a degree for. I just used my head:

1. An economy based on a bubble like the housing boom is not a strong economy. If economic strengths are not diversified, a nation is not strong.

2. Big corporate mergers - like CVS and Caremark - do not, as CVS officials said, create "expanded choice" for consumers. Less competition, less choice. How simple is that?

3. When the stock market goes up while economic and political conditions get worse, one could reasonably conclude that whatever is going on on Wall Street has more in common with Vegas (or Versailles - I mean the French one) than the rest of America.

4. The only people who are guaranteed to get rich in a bad economy are the financial pros who sell you advice, good or bad.

IS THE FIX IN?

More on electronic voting....

And more ...

HANG 'EM

In Florida and Texas, some early voters have reported that when they cast their votes for Democrats and reviewed the final list of their votes, these votes had been recorded for Republicans.

Let's see. Two Bush states. No paper trail. Votes shifted to Republicans. Coincidence? If you believe that, then you believe that Charlize Theron is a man.

Wanna bet that the machines are programmed to do this, either on a random or percentage basis, on the assumption voters won't carefully check their final listing before hittng the button to vote?

The elections in these states are already invalidated. How come the press - the defenders of our freedoms - aren't screaming about this?

Whoever arranged this finagle should be tried for treason. Because that's what it is, the undermining of the core of the democratic process. I'd go back to hanging as the fit punishment. And I'd make it public.

NOT OUT YET

Mark Foley's 30 day rehab program has ended, but he's not coming out. He says he's still in the healing process, but everybody knew they were going to keep him in there until after the election.

Same as the Democrats are going to do with Kerry.

STFU

If it's true Democratic pols are searching the blogs for tips on how to correct the Kerry fuckup, here's the best one I can offer: let each local candidate figure out his or her own response.

I said long ago that national Democrats, with their "sincerity" problems (and I include Obama) need to shut up and let the locals handle their own campaigns. It seemed like they were doing that, until Obama went on his book tour and Kerry went on his campaign 2008 escapade.

The locals know best how to deal with this in their own markets.

Everybody else, for chrissakes, STFU!

FUTURE NOT BRIGHT

Here's something disgusting for ya. 60% of American kids 18-25 think the country is on the wrong track, yet less than 1/3 of the demographic plans to vote.

Do we teach kids anything except that they need a Lexus?

FAIR GAME

One last thing about Kerry - I hope.

Democrats have been attacking Republicans (or laughing at them) - sometimes fairly, sometimes not - over things they've said. Macaca? The Google? Allen using the N-word (in all fairness, find me someone his age who has never let the word nigger escape his or her lips.) There is a lot of vicious attacking going on from the liberal blogger side - outing gays, etc., things they could never justify if they weren't facing an enemy who had patented that approach.

I don't argue with anything Democrats say. Republicans have earned all the viciousness they get.

But don't complain if Republicans attack Kerry for what he said. Unlike some of the things each side has been using against the other, Kerry's comment was political, and it's fair game.

KERRY'S PROBLEM

Here's John Kerry's problem:

George Allen's verbal slip may cost him his seat. Because Kerry was the most recent Democratic standard-bearer - previously certified as the voice of the party - his slip may cost Democrats the House.

Don't tell me that Allen meant what he said, and Kerry didn't. That's completely irrelevant. What matters is what was said and what's made of it.

Now - because this happened so close to the election, and because the Republicans (with nothing else to talk about) are going to hammer this straight through to November 7 - pre-election polling will likely not show the full extent, if any, of the damage Kerry has done.

That means - if the Democrats don't take the House, Kerry will take the hit for it, whether he deserves it or not. So much for Kerry in 2008.

And I don't have a problem with that. Kerry does not belong in the politics of the YouTube era.

ANOTHER WORLD

I have been so focused, one by one, on issues, that when I step back and look at the big picture, I'm shocked by what I see.

In their six years in power, the Bush administration has not reduced (never mind eliminated) any problem - foreign, domestic, environmental, political, economic - America faces. I don't think that can be said of any prior administration in my lifetime.

They have made many of the problems worse - actively or through neglect. They have spent all their efforts enabling the neocons, the Christian right, the wealthy and the big corporations.

So - if you are any of those, you should be voting for Republicans. If you are not, and you vote Republican, you're living in another world.