Clinton's Anger Factor

Why Clinton Will Not Win The Nomination

I still haven't had a chance to watch the debates from last Saturday night, except for the few video clips being posted here and there. Most of them seem to focus on Clinton's "attack" on Obama. And again, while I haven't seen the full clip in context of the debate, it's interesting to note the varied comments on the blogs and different articles.

Armadillo Joe over at Expatriate Thoughts brought to my attention an article in the Guardian by Niall Stanage who opines that the anger shown by Clinton could be her undoing.

The former First Lady, never likely to be mistaken for a shrinking violet, mounted the most aggressive assault yet by one credible Democratic candidate on another...

...Obama won Iowa in large part because of an astonishing turnout - almost double the previous record number of caucus-goers showed up, and a disproportionate number of them were young people. If he can inspire anything like similar numbers to go to the polls in New Hampshire and in later primaries, the Democratic nomination is his for the taking.

So maybe it's no surprise that Clinton seeks to dampen hopes, deride vision and mock idealism. Who knows: the scorched earth approach might even work for her, enabling her to grind her way to the nomination.

But what a dismal victory it would be.

I find this analysis extremely interesting and telling, considering it's coming from an Irish journalist working in the US.

So here's my limited take on the situation after reading several comments on different blogs. Clinton supporters defend her by playing the gender card. "Clinton isn't half as angry as Edwards has been all year. We should have the same rules for both men and women candidates..." Or this quote: "Edward's ENTIRE campaign has been angry and it's not working. Hillary gets angry once and everyone jumps on her." But gender isn't the issue.

Clinton's anger and attacks are seemingly coming from a position of desperation. If she is trying to switch her message from the candidate of "experience" to the candidate of "change" (sorry, Hillary, too late on that one) because it's worked for Obama and Edwards in Iowa, then attacking voting records and "likeability", and insinuating skeletons in Obama's closet aren't the way to go.

At a more subtle level, Clinton and her aides have begun referring with mantra-like repetitiveness to the need for candidates to be properly "vetted". The term, used so frequently, seems calculated to suggest that there is some awful secret in Obama's past that would incinerate Democrats' hopes of taking back the White House if he were to become the party's nominee.

Clinton's anger is not the reason for the maelstrom she's in after Iowa with little chance of recovery due to the short time period between Iowa and New Hampshire. It's why she is angry that is the telling factor.

As another commenter describes it, "There's a difference between the bitter, mean-spirited personal anger of Hillary Clinton and John Edwards displaying contempt for the rigged political system, and that difference has absolutely nothing to do with gender. It has everything to do with Hillary (and her DLC surrogates) being a petty, nasty, triangulating neocon. "

I don't necessarily agree with the "neocon" portion of the comment. Here's another: "Edwards is personally angry that the richest nation on earth has millions of people living in poverty, and is destroying its middle class and potential for upward mobility. Hillary was angry that people weren't giving her experience the respect she thought it deserved. See how these two kinds of anger are not the same? One, I believe, is called "moral outrage" and the other one simply isn't."

I agree with that wholeheartedly as I do with Chris Rock:

"I think America's ready for a woman president . . . just not that woman. Being married to somebody doesn't make you good at their job. I've been with my wife 10 years now. If she got up here right now, y'all wouldn't laugh. At all. You get on a plane tomorrow, you want the pilot's wife flying you?"

It's simplistic, but you get the point. I'm sure the time Clinton served as First Lady was a learning experience. But did she have access to top secret documents? Was she privy to matters of national security? If Hillary wants to run on experience, fine. Your experience in the Senate will do quite nicely. But for all intents and purposes, Bill Clinton was President of the United States, not Hillary Clinton.

As far as "not that woman," I don't want Hillary as the nominee because, in my opinion, she is too much of a centrist. We need to reverse course and go in the exact opposite direction just to get back on track. A centrist view is only going to bring us to the center of "neocon" and "right-wing."

Another Clinton phrase that I find irritating is the "I've been through the wringer against the Republican smear machine and know how to handle it" line. That is just a sorry reason to vote for anyone. And how exactly did she handle the vast right-wing conspiracy (which I do believe existed and still exists)? If she handles it so well, why does Hillary Clinton invoke so much vitriol and disdain from not only Republicans, but some Democrats as well? She is a polarizing figure, much more than Obama or Edwards, and one that the right-wing base can use as a rallying cry. In my opinion, the only thing that's going to make the 2008 Presidential election a close one (besides voter disenfranchisement) is a Hillary Clinton candidacy that will help galvanize the currently beaten down Republican voters.

I'll take a look at the debates and perhaps update as I see fit. But for now, I see Clinton's ship sinking. Two days after Iowa, I thought if Obama wins New Hampshire, the momentum will kill Clinton's campaign.

And if you think about it, you have to admit that a strong one-two punch like Obama/Edwards (or vice versa) is something the Democratic Party has not seen in a very long time, if ever.

T Minus 379 Days

"The best way to defeat the totalitarian of hate is with an ideology of hope - an ideology of hate - excuse me - with an ideology of hope."

- Benning , GA, January 2007

George McGovern Calls For Impeachment

In Sunday's Washington Post, former US Representative, Senator, WWII veteran, and 1972 Democratic nominee for President George McGovern wrote an op-ed calling for the impeachment of Bush and Cheney.

Excerpts from:
Why I Believe George Must Go
Nixon Was Bad. These Guys Are Worse.

As we enter the eighth year of the Bush-Cheney administration, I have belatedly and painfully concluded that the only honorable course for me is to urge the impeachment of the president and the vice president.

...American democracy has been derailed throughout the Bush-Cheney regime. The dominant commitment of the administration has been a murderous, illegal, nonsensical war against Iraq. That irresponsible venture has killed almost 4,000 Americans, left many times that number mentally or physically crippled, claimed the lives of an estimated 600,000 Iraqis (according to a careful October 2006 study from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health) and laid waste their country. The financial cost to the United States is now $250 million a day and is expected to exceed a total of $1 trillion, most of which we have borrowed from the Chinese and others as our national debt has now climbed above $9 trillion -- by far the highest in our national history.

All of this has been done without the declaration of war from Congress that the Constitution clearly requires, in defiance of the U.N. Charter and in violation of international law...

...Any impeachment proceeding must include a careful and critical look at the collapse of presidential leadership in response to perhaps the worst natural disaster [New Orleans/Hurricane Katrina] in U.S. history.

...Impeachment is unlikely, of course. But we must still urge Congress to act. Impeachment, quite simply, is the procedure written into the Constitution to deal with presidents who violate the Constitution and the laws of the land. It is also a way to signal to the American people and the world that some of us feel strongly enough about the present drift of our country to support the impeachment of the false prophets who have led us astray. This, I believe, is the rightful course for an American patriot.

As former representative Elizabeth Holtzman, who played a key role in the Nixon impeachment proceedings, wrote two years ago, "it wasn't until the most recent revelations that President Bush directed the wiretapping of hundreds, possibly thousands, of Americans, in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) -- and argued that, as Commander in Chief, he had the right in the interests of national security to override our country's laws -- that I felt the same sinking feeling in my stomach as I did during Watergate. . . . A President, any President, who maintains that he is above the law -- and repeatedly violates the law -- thereby commits high crimes and misdemeanors."

This case has been made before (not by those in the Democratic leadership, unfortunately) but it's nice to hear it from someone who lived through and was very close to Watergate.

Of course McGovern was swiftboated in 1972 as well. The ghoul that never dies wrote during the 1972 campaign that an unnamed democratic senator told him, "The people don’t know McGovern is for amnesty, abortion, and legalization of pot," the Senator said. "Once middle America - Catholic middle America, in particular - finds this out, he’s dead."

McGovern never shook the label of candidate of "amnesty, abortion, and acid" and lost in a landslide. The intrepid reporter who wrote the story? Bob "Nosferatu" Novak.

T Minus 381/380 Days

"Not over my dead body will they raise your taxes."

- Ontario, CA, January 5, 2002

A Vote For McCain Is A Vote For Troops In Iraq For 100 Years

This was on C & L, but I had to comment on it.

What the hell is McCain thinking? He'd like to see us in Iraq for 100 years? And he hopes it's okay with us?! And there's Holy Joe LIEberman standing in the background. I'm glad we don't see their faces because I'd probably puke.

McCain: "Make it 100 [years]. That would be fine with me... As long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed. That’s fine with me, I hope that would be fine with you..."

Gee, John, what are the chances of Americans not being hamed, wounded or killed? Dipshit.

McCain sure does have his fingers on the pulse of the nation, doesn't he?

Music Break! Wynton Marsalis

Marsalis plays "Cherokee."

Will Bloomberg Run?

On New Year's Eve, Michael Bloomberg was asked by New Year's Rockin' Eve co-host Ryan Seacrest if he was planning on running for Prez. Bloomberg emphatically said he had no intention of doing so. But take a look at this video.

And this MSNBC news report on December 30th:

Buoyed by the still unsettled field, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is growing increasingly enchanted with the idea of launching an independent presidential bid, and his aides are aggressively laying the groundwork for him to run.

It surely seems like an awful lot of of work to be doing for someone who has no intention of running. What a wrench in the works it would be if he did.

Is Giuliani Done?

The 9/11 bloodsucker came in a dismal 6th place last night in the Iowa Caucuses. Let me repeat that: 6th place with a measly 4%. He's already using his fearmonger trump card with the latest ad campaign in Florida and New Hampshire.

He's not going anywhere soon enough, and I know it's still early (i.e. Howard Dean in Iowa 2004) but does he even have a shot anymore?

Steve Benen at C & L tries to cut through the candidates spin on the Iowa results and this one just cracked me up:

Rudy Giuliani — What Giuliani fans are saying: 9/11! 9/11! 9/11! What Giuliani critics are saying: “Frontrunners” don’t come in a humiliating sixth place, with one-third the support of a libertarian gadfly, in a state where he was once in the lead.
Who’s right? Take a wild guess.

I believe Benen is right. It's not like Mr. 9/11 came in 2nd place with 25% like Romney did. He didn't even make a showing. And Rudy fans will say he stopped campaigning in Iowa to concentrate on Florida and New Hampshire. That's all well and good if you look at it through Rudy-colored glasses.

Chances are that the constiuents in Iowa, when meeting Giuliani face to face, saw through his weak, one message platform and didn't like what they saw, heard or smelled. That's the one thing in these early states that doesn't happen anywhere else. It's not like you can sit in the same living room with these candidates three months before their respective conventions and try to make an informed decision by meeting them personally. Rudy is not a likable character and being in the same room with him reveals that.

Also, the fact remains that he had the lead in Iowa. The lead! Rudy was polling at 30% a few months ago. But then he actually went to Iowa. If you didn't click on the link above, take a look at this chart:


Put on your goggles and grab your skis, Rudy, because that purple line is you and it's going straight downhill! New Hampshire is in four days and there probably isn't enough bounce in the Giuliani campaign to make a decent showing even if Rudy had ten pounds of SuperBalls® surgically implanted in his ass.

I may be wrong, but it's my opinion.

Obama's Iowa Victory Speech

T Minus 382 Days

"I want to thank you for taking time out of your day to come and witness my hanging."

- Austin, TX, January 4, 2002, at the dedication of his gubernatorial portrait

Iowa Chooses Obama And Huckabee

The country, or at least Iowa, wants change. Barack Obama took the Iowa Caucuses handily with 38% of the vote.

Here's the breakdown:

Obama 38%
Edwards 30%
Clinton 29%
Richardson 2%
Biden 1%
Dodd 0%
Gravel 0%
Kucinich 0%

Soon after, Biden, Dodd and Gravel have all announced that they were dropping out of the race.

Obama: “They said this day would never come. They said our sights were set too high. They said this country was too divided, too disillusioned, to come together over a common purpose. You have done what the cynics said you couldn’t do. You have done what the state of New Hampshire can do in five days. You have done what America can do in this new year, 2008. We are one nation, we are one people, and the time for change has come.”

Edwards: “The one thing that’s clear with the results in Iowa tonight is the status quo lost and change won.”

Clinton: “We are going to have change, and that change is going to be a Democratic president in the White House in 2009.”

Clinton's quote was a response to the overwhelming numbers of registered Democratic voters that came out. MSNBC was just reporting 236,000+ voters (80% Dems) and counting turned out for the Democratic Caucus; over 100,000 more than in 2004 and more than twice the amount that came out to vote for Republicans.

On the Republican side, Huckabee easily kicked Romney in the magic underpants. Here's how it breaks down on the GOP side with 86% of the precincts reporting as of this writing:

Schmuckabee 34%
HAL-9000 26%
Frederick of Hollywood 13%
Maverick McStraight Talk 13%
Ron "Read My Lips, No Taxes Period" Paul 10%
Ghouliani 4%
Duncan "Why Am I Still Running?" Hunter 0%

Huckabee: "A new day is needed in American politics, just like a new day is needed in American government... It starts here, but it doesn't end here. It goes all the way through the other states and ends at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue."

I do kid, but it really is an historic moment when you stop and think that Democrats in Iowa, with a population that is 97% caucasian, voted for a man of color as their choice to lead the country. Talk about an about face for the staus quo!

Could this really be the start of something big? The turning of the page? Who knows what is going to happen in the weeks and months to come and how this will all play out?

As Arianna Huffington wrote: "...this moment may not last. But, for tonight, I am going to savor it -- and cross my fingers that it may stand as the day that fear as a winning political tactic died. Killed by an "unlikely" candidate -- as Obama called himself again and again -- who seized the moment, and reminded America of its youth and the optimism it longs to recapture. "

UPDATE: Gravel Still In The Race

Commenter Dan brought this to my attention:

MSNBC pundit Keith Olbermann has incorrectly declared that Sen. Gravel has dropped out of the race following the January third caucus in Iowa. This is not true, and Sen. Gravel is still an active member in this race. We are requesting that MSNBC and Keith Olbermann retract their statement, and issue an apology to the campaign for promoting blatantly false misinformation.

Again, Sen. Gravel has not dissolved his campaign, and has no intentions of doing so.

I would expect a retraction if this is true and according to the Gravel website, it is. But the language is a little harsh, don't you think? "Promoting blatantly false MISinformation?" I'll let that one slide. It's not like Olbermann is the tool of the Republican devil, and with all due respect to Sen. Gravel, it's been over for him for a while now.

Noun-Verb-9/11 Giuliani Goes For It

Rudy Ghouliani goes for the fear jugular with his new ad, complete with videos of explosions, riots, Osama bin Laden and middle eastern music in the background. This asshole is shameless.

Is Frederick of Hollywood Packing It In?

Leave it to Saturday Night Live to capture Fred Thompson in all his lackluster glory. On October 6th, 2007, SNL's Darrell Hammond impersonated Thompson sending a message to the public assuring them that he badly wants to be President ("On a scale of 1 to 10... about a 6.") Who knew they would be so spot on?
It looks as if the Thompson Train might be going back to the yard if he finishes poorly in Iowa - as if that isn't a sure bet.

According to Crooks & Liars, "Without a solid third-place finish, there’s no point in going on,” a Thompson adviser said Wednesday. “It was an honorable race, and he turned out to be a good candidate. The moment had just passed.”

This coupled with the fact that he recently stated he wasn't all that interested in the Oval Office job makes it pretty likely that we won't have ol' Fred to kick around anymore.

I'm not particularly interested in running for president," the former senator told voters at a campaign event in Burlington, Iowa when challenged by a an audience member over his desire to be commander-in-chief.
...the former actor has criticized his rivals for launching their presidential bids months ahead of his [this past September], and continually touts the fact he hasn't harbored presidential ambitions his whole career.
"I am not consumed by personal ambition," Thompson also said Saturday. "I'm offering myself up."
"I'm only consumed by a few things and politics is not one of them."

If you're not into politics then what the fuck are you doing running for President of the United Fucking States, moron?!

The picture on the right will show you one of the few things I'm guessing Fred is "consumed with."

So much for the possibility of the hottest first lady EVER. It's time she left ol' Fred at the dog track.

UPDATE: Thompson says he's not going anywhere.

According to TPM, Thompson himself says it isn't happening. Here's what he had to say in an interview this morning with KCCI-TV in Des Moines: "That is absolutely made up out of whole cloth," said the former U.S. Senator from Tennessee.
Thompson said a rival campaign was likely the source of that rumor. "Can you imagine such a thing in politics?" he asked.

Well now that that's settled, who's taking bets on Fabulous Fred quitting after Iowa?

T Minus 383 Days

"We need to apply twenty-first century information technology to the healthcare field. We need to have our medical records on the I.T." - Collinsville, IL, January 2005

Mukasey Starts Criminal Investigation Into CIA Torture Tapes

NY TIMES: Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey said Wednesday that the Justice Department had elevated its inquiry into the destruction of Central Intelligence Agency interrogation videotapes to a formal criminal investigation headed by a career federal prosecutor.

...In an Op-Ed article in The New York Times on Wednesday, Thomas H. Kean and Lee H. Hamilton, the chairman and vice chairman of the Sept. 11 commission, said they believed that C.I.A. officials had deliberately withheld the tapes from the commission. They suggested that since the commission received its authority from both Congress and President Bush, any deliberate withholding of evidence might have violated federal law.

“Those who knew about those videotapes — and did not tell us about them — obstructed our investigation,” they wrote.

Well, I don't know what to make of this. Is it legit or is it another case of the fox guarding the hen house?

Schmuckabee Crosses Picket Line

What a man of the people. Mike Huckabee is going on Jay Leno's Tonight Show. You remember Leno... the guy who picketed with his writers for about a day and a half, then decided to start his show this year without them. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, is appearing on Late Night with David Letterman. Letterman worked out his own contract with the writers.

In the meantime, Schmuckabee said he was unaware that he would be crossing a picket line and believed that the program had reached a special agreement with the union.

...On Wednesday, he said he identified with the striking television workers as an author himself and believed they deserved a share of the proceeds from the sale of their work.

Mr. Huckabee’s lack of knowledge about the picket lines outside the Leno show are the latest in a string of missteps that have underscored the ad hoc nature of his campaign. Last week, he made a series of small misstatements about Pakistan that raised questions about his fluency with foreign affairs and raised eyebrows by suggesting that the situation in Pakistan could lead to special scrutiny of Pakistanis at the borders in the interest of national security.

And let's not forget the NIE report regarding Iran's lack of nuclear weapons of which Jeebus Schmuckabee© had no clue 24 hours after the fact. What an ass.

(I know it's past midnight, but) T minus 384 Days: "I believe we are called to do the hard work to make our communities and quality of life a better place." - Collinsville, IL, January 2005

Happy New Year

Well, 2008 is here. Only 359 shopping days until the next winter solstice and 385 days left until Raisinbrain peacefully leaves office. My father-in-law (thank Jeebus he's a Democrat) gave me a George Bush Out of Office Countdown Desk Calendar featuring a daily quote from Mensa Man as we watch with baited breath Curious George take the dead man walking trek out of the Oval Office.

That's right. George Dubya Bush has said at least 312 stupid things that have been used and quoted daily in this calendar (one quote for weekends). I'm sure that he's said 300+ stupid things yearly, but I guess this is a greatest hits compilation. So I thought as a daily post, I'd start each day by sharing the quotes. Enjoy... or be repulsed. Your choice depending on the day.

385 Days Left: " You can fool some of the people all of the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on." - 2001 Gridiron Dinner

Wishing a happy and healthy new year to all.

New Bhutto Assassination Video Contradicts Pakistan Version of Events

New video from Britian's Channel 4 analyzes the last moments before Bhutto's assassination and the subsquent suicide bomb detonating.

The idea that Pakistan is tyring to pass this off as an accident when Bhutto hit her head on the way back into the car is ridiculous. As far as the US government demanding a full investigation, what are they going to do? Put those that conspired to assassinate her in charge?

Here's the video. Channel 4 Bhutto footage.

Oscar Peterson Dead At 82

With all the ┼mas hullabaloo, I completely missed this. Peterson was a giant.

NY TIMES: Oscar Peterson, whose dazzling piano playing made him one of the most popular jazz artists in history, died on Sunday night at his home in Mississauga, Ontario, outside Toronto. He was 82 .

...Mr. Peterson was one of the greatest virtuosos in jazz, with a piano technique that was always meticulous and ornate and sometimes overwhelming. But rather than expand the boundaries of jazz, he used his gifts in the service of moderation and reliability, gratifying his devoted audiences whether he was playing in a trio or solo or accompanying some of the most famous names of jazz. His technical accomplishments were always evident, almost transparently so. Even at his peak, there was very little tension in his playing.

Proof That There Is No God

Bill Kristol Hired By New York Times

This is ludicrous. Bill Kristol, co-founder of Project for the New American Century and the warmonger who hasn't gotten one thing right when it comes to Iraq is being hired by the New York Fucking Times.

This is the same dipshit that came up with this gem:

"There's been a certain amount of pop sociology in America ... that the Shia can't get along with the Sunni and the Shia in Iraq just want to establish some kind of Islamic fundamentalist regime. There's almost no evidence of that at all. Iraq's always been very secular."

Iran was secular because of Saddam Hussein, you fuckwad. Remember him?

Guess I'll be cancelling my subscription to the Times.

Rudy Official: Rudy Will Chase Muslims Back To Their Caves

Yes, you read the title right.

John Deady, Co-Chair of Veterans for Rudy tells us why Ghouliani is the only capable person for the job of President: "...we need to keep the [Muslims'] feet to the fire and keep pressing these people ‘til we defeat them or chase them back to their caves, or in other words, get rid of them."

And don't miss taking a quick look at all the frightened citizens of New Hampshire supporting Rudy because they "don't want a Palestinian coming in and wipe out a pizza parlor."

Is this what America needs? Perpetual war with an undefinable enemy? Yet another reason why Iowa and New Hampshire being first on the block to shape the field of candidates for the rest of the country is not such a great idea.

Low Wall To Blame For SF Tiger Escape

Well this gives me pause. I'm sure zoos all over the country are now checking their walls to verify the standards.

SAN FRANCISCO — The director of the zoo where a teenager was killed by an escaped tiger acknowledged Thursday that the wall around the animal's pen was just 12 1/2 feet high _ well below the height recommended by the accrediting agency for the nation's zoos.
San Francisco Zoo Director Manuel A. Mollinedo also admitted that it is becoming increasingly clear the 350-pound Siberian tiger leaped or climbed out of its open-air enclosure, perhaps by grabbing onto a ledge.

"She had to have jumped," he said. "How she was able to jump that high is amazing to me." Mollinedo said investigators have ruled out the theory the tiger escaped through a door behind the exhibit.

According to the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, the walls around a tiger exhibit should be at least 16.4 feet high. But Mollinedo said the nearly 70-year-old wall was 12 feet, 5 inches, with what he described as a "moat" 33 feet across.

I'm Benedict. Fly Me.

Tired of that ol' "goin' to hell" feeling? Want to spend less time in purgatory? Well now you can with this great offer:

Pope Benedict XVI has authorised special indulgences to mark the 150th anniversary of the Virgin Mary's reputed appearance at Lourdes.
Pilgrims to the shrine in south-west France will receive "plenary indulgences" from the Pontiff, which the Church says reduce the time spent being "washed" of sin after death. The indulgences will be available from this weekend until Dec 8, 2008.

Yes, that's right. You too can stop worrying about the amount of time you'll spend in eternity paying for your residual sins with this special offer. And don't worry about the hassle of booking the trip. Just use the special code "Ratzi the Nazi" and you'll be whisked away on fabulous Mistral Airlines, specifically handling all the Pontiff's travel needs.

Also, don't forget that while traveling, rules are rules. According to BoingBoing, after the Vatican launched its chartered air service for pilgrims headed to Lourdes ...travelers on the way back had to dump their precious bottles of holy water. The headrests may be emblazoned with the Latin words for "I search for your face, oh Lord," but even those on a mission for God can't carry more than 100ml of liquid, holy or not, onto the plane.

Didn't some crazy guy nail something to the door of a church and start a new Christian sect because of the sale of indulgences? And some wonder why the Roman Catholic church is falling apart.

This Is Why I Worry

Times-Republican: Supporters of Barack Obama living on 25th Street reported a number of racial slurs and derogatory comments had been spray painted on their property. Further, the family’s Christmas presents were all stolen from a vehicle and a garage.

Chief Lon Walker confirms the police received the report Monday morning.

“We found vandalism to the house. When we got there, we found some racial things regarding presidential candidate Barack Obama,” he said.

So these racists decided to be thieves as well. Events like this is my prediction of what will happen all over the country if Obama wins the Democratic Party's nomination. There are so many (including myself) who say they will vote for Obama provided he's the candidate, but the underlying racial factor cannot be ignored. As enlightened as we all think we are or wish to be, there are still far too many people in this country that believe race or gender matters.

I wonder how many death threats Obama has already received that the public doesn't know about. Things like that are never reported. And I seriously fear for Obama's safety as his campaign continues.

Bhutto Assassinated

Associated Press: RAWALPINDI, Pakistan — Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a suicide attack that also killed at least 20 others at a campaign rally, aides said.

The death of the 54-year-old charismatic former prime minister threw the campaign for the Jan. 8 parliamentary elections into chaos and created fears of mass protests and violence across the nuclear-armed nation, an important U.S. ally in the war on terrorism.

The attacker struck just minutes after Bhutto addressed thousands of supporters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, 8 miles south of Islamabad. She was shot in the neck and chest by the attacker, who then blew himself up, said Rehman Malik, Bhutto's security adviser.

At least 20 others were killed in the attack.

New York Times: The assassination also adds to the enormous pressure on the Bush administration over Pakistan, which has sunk billions in aid into the country without accomplishing its main goals of finding Osama bin Laden or ending the activities of Islamic militants and Taliban in border areas with Afghanistan.

Christmas With Mike Gravel

This is just bizarrely funny.

BIll Kristol's Predictions for 2008

Kristol does his best Jeanne Dixon impersonation and predicts that Republicans will win the White House in 2008.

"...I think Republicans win in November, and if it's not Dick Cheney, McCain/Romney, McCain/Lieberman... there are some very good Republican tickets."

This guy has been full of shit for years now, and somehow he's still considered a "pundit" for Fox News, hopefully the only network that will carry him. I wonder if Kristol predicted Time Magazine was going to can him for his amazing lack of credibility?

Happy Holidays!

CIA Obstruction

The destruction of the CIA torture tapes just gets deeper and deeper.

NY TIMES: A review of classified documents by former members of the Sept. 11 commission shows that the panel made repeated and detailed requests to the Central Intelligence Agency in 2003 and 2004 for documents and other information about the interrogation of operatives of Al Qaeda, and were told by a top C.I.A. official that the agency had “produced or made available for review” everything that had been requested.

...In interviews this week, the two chairmen of the commission, Lee H. Hamilton and Thomas H. Kean, said their reading of the [seven-page memorandum prepared by Philip D. Zelikow, the panel’s former executive director] had convinced them that the agency had made a conscious decision to impede the Sept. 11 commission’s inquiry.

Gravel: Power To The People

There are no words... Just watch.

Master G is lookin' out for his peeps. Represen'n' the little guy. POWER TO THE PEOPLE! Keepin' it real y'all.

You gotta feel for M-to-the-I-to-the-K-to-the-E. The man has good intentions, so you gotta give him his props. That Alaska home boy is fightin' for what he thinks is right. So what if his dome's cracked? At this point, I'd vote for him over Giuliani any day of the week and twice on Sunday, know what I'm sayin'?

Peace out.

Heil Rudy!

Oh. My. God.

We were all thinking it, weren't we? But to have The American Conservative Magazine depict Giuliani in facist , Nazi-esque garb is really something to behold. Kinda completes the picture, doesn't it...

From the article: Declaring War Forever by Michael C. Desch

Giuliani has surrounded himself with advisors who think the Bush Doctrine didn’t go nearly far enough.

...I was curious about where he stood as a presidential candidate, so in April 2007, I joined nearly 3,000 other Texas A&M faculty and students to hear him speak.

After saying some nice things about his host, President George H.W. Bush, Rudy launched into a stemwinder about the “war on Islamic fundamentalist terrorism” that basically repudiated everything the former president stood for in his foreign policy. Moreover, in the space of 40 minutes, Giuliani never once mentioned Osama bin Laden, the man who masterminded the attack on his city.

I was so appalled by the mayor’s simplistic message that terrorists were attacking us because they “oppose our freedom and ... want to impose their ideology on us” that I ignored protocol and challenged him during the Q&A. To the accompaniment of hisses from the rabidly pro-Rudy students, I reminded the mayor that Islamic fundamentalists in Saudi Arabia, Iran, and elsewhere in the Middle East have taken our side against al-Qaeda at various times. Like the students, Hizzonor was not amused, and I got five minutes of unvarnished Rudy chiding me for just not getting it.

...Those who thought George W. Bush was too timid in the conduct of his foreign policy will find a champion in Rudy.

It only gets better from there. What do you suppose the Ghouliani camp will say about this?

Romney Lies Get Worse

Not only did Mitt Romney's father never march with civil rights leader Martin Luther King, as has been debunked by the press, but a little further delving into Mitt's past shows even more.

It's hard to believe that Mitt is trying to talk the public into his "figurative" language...

If you look at the literature, if you look at the dictionary, the term 'saw' includes being aware of in the sense I've described," Romney told reporters in Iowa. "It's a figure of speech and very familiar, and it's very common. And I saw my dad march with Martin Luther King. I did not see it with my own eyes, but I saw him in the sense of being aware of his participation in that great effort."

...but now comes word of a 1978 Boston Herald interview.

Mitt Romney went a step further in a 1978 interview with the Boston Herald. Talking about the Mormon Church and racial discrimination, he said: "My father and I marched with Martin Luther King Jr. through the streets of Detroit."
Yesterday, Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom acknowledged that was not true. "Mitt Romney did not march with Martin Luther King," he said in an e-mail statement to the Globe.

Well, I suppose Mitt did "see" himself marching with his father and Martin Luther King. In the "figurative" sense. If you lie enough, you start believing what you say.

The Giuliani "Transparency"

It's been a little while since I've posted about Ghouliani. Having to write about the Giuliani scandal du jour can get a little tiresome. But here's a new one!

Under an unprecedented agreement that didn't become public until after he left office, Giuliani secreted out of City Hall the written, photographic and electronic record of his eight years in office _ more than 2,000 boxes.

...In a Republican presidential candidates' debate last week, Giuliani asserted: "My government in New York City was so transparent that they knew every single thing I did almost every time I did it. ... I can't think of a public figure that's had a more transparent life than I've had."

There are some however, including this native New Yorker that lived through the Giuliani Mayoral Administration that don't agree with the "transparency" that Giuliani claims. But don't just take my word for it.

"He ran a government as closed as he could make it," said attorney Floyd Abrams, a widely recognized First Amendment authority who faced off against city lawyers when Giuliani sought to shut the Brooklyn Museum of Art because the mayor considered a painting sacrilegious.

...Mayor Giuliani was in many respects a good mayor, but in regard to First Amendment-related matters, he is surely the worst in living memory," Abrams said in an interview.

...In a slap at Giuliani's City Hall, a judge in one such case wrote bluntly, "The law provides for maximum access, not maximum withholding."

Read the rest of the story.

Tancredo Quits.

Who?

Apparently a guy named Tom Tancredo was running for the Republican presidential nomination because he just announced that he is ending his bid two weeks shy of the Iowa caucuses.

Tancredo, who has consistently polled at the bottom of the nine-man Republican field, said he decided to drop out in part because of concern that his presence could split the vote for other candidates who have taken a hard line on immigration, helping those who would take a less restrictive approach.

Well, that's mighty white of you, Tom. Nothing like self-importance to finish off an illustrious campaign full of hate and racism.

Arnold Sues Federal Government

CNN: California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to sue the federal government over its decision not to allow a California plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, he announced Thursday.

Environmental Protection Agency chief Stephen Johnson announced the decision Wednesday, refusing the state's request for a waiver that would have allowed it to cut emissions faster than a new federal plan the president signed into law Wednesday.
"It's another example of the administration's failure to treat global warming with the seriousness that it actually demands," the governor said at a news conference Thursday. ..."Anything less than aggressive action on the greatest environmental threat of all time is inexcusable," he said.

How insane is it that a former bodybuliding Austrian immigrant turned action movie actor turned Republican Governor of California understands the importance of this issue, and the morons running this administration don't get it?

MItt Romney on Drugs and Racism

Chris Kelly over at Huffington Post skewers the Romney Unit on equal rights and drug prevention. I guess Mitt was putting out some "questionable" information on his record.

I find his writing laugh-out-loud funny and suggest you add him to your list of favorite bloggers at HuffPo.

Here's his take on Romney's equal rights stance.

Here's his take on Romney's "tough on drugs" stance.

UPDATE: Another laughable moron.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has said he watched his father, the late Michigan Gov. George Romney, in a 1960s civil rights march in Michigan with Martin Luther King Jr.
On Wednesday, Romney's campaign said his recollections of watching his father, an ardent civil rights supporter, march with King were meant to be figurative.
"He was speaking figuratively, not literally," Eric Fehrnstrom, spokesman for the Romney campaign, said of the candidate.

Democratic Pros and Cons of 2007

Washington Post: The first Democratic-led Congress in a dozen years limped out of Washington last night with a lengthy list of accomplishments, from the first increase in fuel-efficiency standards in a generation to the first minimum-wage hike in a decade.

But Democrats' failure to address the central issues that swept them to power left even the most partisan of them dissatisfied and Congress mired at a historic low in public esteem.

Read the whole story.

EPA Restricts States In Emissions Rules

NY TIMES: The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday denied California and 16 other states the right to set their own standards for carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles.

The E.P.A. administrator, Stephen L. Johnson, said the proposed California rules were pre-empted by federal authority and made moot by the energy bill signed into law by President Bush on Wednesday.

...The 17 states — including New York, New Jersey and Connecticut — had waited two years for the Bush administration to issue a ruling on an application to set stricter air quality standards than those adopted by the federal government. The decision, technically known as a Clean Air Act waiver, was the first time California was refused permission to impose its own pollution rules; the federal government had previously granted the state more than 50 waivers.

This is the bill that asked for CAFE standards of 35 miles per gallon... by the year 2020! So American auto makers have 13 loooooong years to adhere to standards that Europeans have already exceeded. And it wouldn't have passed at all if the $28 billion tax on oil companies to fund renewable energy insentives wasn't slashed. It's a goddamned joke.

How can the world take us seriously with "standards" like these?

The Bush administration keeps saying it wants the US to ween itself from oil dependency but does the exact opposite when called upon. The Democrats pushed a bill through that would get signed by President Dipshit even though it has no real teeth. 43 Democrats, 20 Republicans and 2 Independents voted for the bill.

Meanwhile, this is what's happening on the other side of the Atlantic:

European Union officials told leading automakers on Wednesday to make deep cuts in tailpipe emissions of the cars they produce or face fines that could reach billions of euros.

Companies including Volkswagen and Renault immediately promised a fight to weaken the proposed legislation, saying that compliance would be difficult and that it would hurt their competitiveness around the world.

But European officials insisted that the legislation was necessary if the region was to continue leading global efforts to reduce greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide.

At least they get it. The only way car makers are going to start listening is when the consumer starts buying products that serve their own best interests. There will always be a place for sports cars and a necessity for SUVs, but until a majority of the car buying public starts purchasing more fuel efficient vehicles, it'll all fall on deaf ears.

What will you be driving when gas prices are $6 or $7 or more per gallon? That might not be too far off.

Wexler Wants Hearings

Congressman Robert Wexler, D-Fl , has started a petition calling for Congress to hold impeachment hearings against Vice President Dick Cheney. Initially, Wexler was shooting for 50,000 signatures. It is now over 100,000 in 5 days; now Wexler is shooting for a quarter of a million signatures.

Quoting Wexler:

The charges are too serious to ignore. There is credible evidence that the Vice President abused the power of his office, and not only brought us into an unneccesary war but violated the civil liberties and privacy of American citizens. It is the constitutional duty of Congress to hold impeachment hearings.

Now in speaking to friends, I heard one give me the Rodney King-can't-we-all-get-along excuse. "That's all we need," he said, "more polarization." My friend is a Republican, not a neo-con. (Yes I do have a few Republican friends... keep it under your hat.)

But I say to my friend and everyone else: I remember Republicans marching lockstep in the Capitol Building chanting "Rule of law! Rule of law!" when the prospect of impeaching Clinton was an appetizing thing for them.

Yes, Clinton committed perjury. He didn't lie about illegal wars. He didn't lie about gaming the Justice Department for political gain. He didn't lie about torture. He lied about an extramarital affair. And for this, there was a two year investigation and millions of dollars spent, looking for some dirt to impeach Bill Clinton. Are you telling me that Dick Cheney doesn't warrant at least half that scrutiny?

Unlike the show trial put on by Republicans against President Clinton, a proper impeachment hearing would involve a fair and objective presentation of the facts without hyperbole or political gamesmanship.

We all thought it would be different after the November 2006 elections. Things would start to happen. Good, solid bills would be passed. The Iraq occupation would at least start being drawn to a close.

...After the Democratic Party regained control of Congress, many – myself included – thought that it might be possible to meet President Bush half-way on the large issues facing our nation. Unfortunately, Bush has been nothing more than an ideological obstacle. He has vetoed stem cell research. He has vetoed efforts to bring our troops home from Iraq. He vetoed children's health care. So, the idea that we are somehow inhibiting Congress from passing our agenda by holding impeachment hearings – unfortunately – is a false argument.

...A Congress willing to stand up to the abuses of the Bush Administration through impeachment hearings will demonstrate a strength of will that will more likely convince Bush to accommodate on issues such as Iraq, health care, and energy and environmental issues...

And there is the crux of the problem. The Budget bill that just passed would have been vetoed by Bush, had Congress not eliminated $22 billion in spending that it wanted. Bush would have shut down the government if he didn't get his way. And yet, in the Energy bill that just passed, the oil companies get $13.5 BILLION in subsidies. THIS IS OUR MONEY. This is another bill that would have been vetoed had Congress eliminated oil subsidies. So Bush can't spend another nickel for children's health care, for the elderly, for education, for middle class Americans, but can give $13.5 billion of our tax money to the oil companies in the middle of record profits. That is appalling.

Democrats lose every time because Republicans in the Senate threaten to filibuster and DO filibuster every single bill brought to the floor. And Bush threatens to veto any bill that doesn't give him everything he wants. Sort of like the spoiled, tantrum throwing Trelaine in that old Star Trek episode. (I keep waiting for the part where Pappy and Babs Bush finally take him back to discipline him after seeing how he's ruined the world they gave him to play with, all the while Dubya crying, "I don't wanna!... I don't wanna... I don't wanna...")

If Democrats show they have a spine and begin impeachment hearings, maybe the White House would start singing a different tune. So take a minute or two and sign the petition. It can't hurt.

CIA Will Release Destroyed Video Documents

In a dramatic turn of events, the CIA is cooperating with Congress and handing over the documents created describing the interrogation in the destroyed videotapes.

WASHINGTON — The CIA said Wednesday it would begin handing over documents to Congress about the destruction of videotapings showing the harsh interrogation of two terror suspects after the House Intelligence Committee threatened to subpoena two agency officials.

Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, said Wednesday he had prepared subpoenas for former and current CIA officials and attorneys if they won't appear before the committee voluntarily. The panel rejected a Bush administration request that it defer to an executive branch preliminary inquiry and has launched its own investigation into the videotape destruction.

Read more.

Note To Rudy: I Want My Fruitcake!

Not to be outdone by Mike Huckabee and his spine chilling Christmas/Jeebus commercial, Giuliani does one of his own.

It's horrible. Not only does Rudy misread my Christmas list (I have no "sthrict contherative judgeth" on it), but he comes off like an idiot trying to parody Huckabee's message without enough parody.

Even Joe Scarborough flips out! And this guy wants to be President of the United States. He couldn't even be my latex salesman.

Fire In Cheney's Office

NY TIMES: Thick black smoke billowed from a fire Wednesday in Vice President Dick Cheney's suite of offices in the historic Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House.

Cheney's office was damaged by smoke and water from fire hoses, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said. The vice president was not in the building at the time; he was in the West Wing of the White House with President Bush.

...Investigators were working to determine the cause of the blaze... The smoke appeared to come from an electrical closet on the building's second floor.

My theory is that the fire was started by the intense heat caused by the friction of industrial paper shedders that have been working 24/7 for months, if not years now.

Dennis Kucinich's Brother Found Dead

Please keep Dennis Kucinich in your thoughts today.

The youngest brother of Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich was found dead at his home Wednesday.
Perry Kucinich, 52, was found face down by another brother, Larry, at about 9 a.m., said Powell Caesar, a spokesman for the Cuyahoga County Coroner's office.
There were no signs of foul play, Caesar said.

What Democracy Is About

The Rude Pundit has another great post after listening to Dubya speak to the Fredericksberg Rotary Club in Stafford, VA on Monday.

Rude Pundit (graphic language): ...George W. Bush wouldn't know democracy if it bit him on his nutsack and jumped around while screaming, "I'm Democracy, motherfucker." The notion that democracy is "all about" tolerating words of dissent is patronizing and degrading, and it's like having a suggestion box in the coffee room of the local Wal-Mart: hey, drop a note in, Consuela, and maybe the assistant managers will look into giving you more regular bathroom breaks. But the second Consuela tries to unionize, you shut that down. The illusion of participation is more important than actually having a say. And that ain't democracy.

Time Magazine's Person of the Year 2007

Vladimir Putin!



I'm speechless.

A TSAR IS BORN: TIME's Person of the Year is not and never has been an honor. It is not an endorsement. It is not a popularity contest. At its best, it is a clear-eyed recognition of the world as it is and of the most powerful individuals and forces shaping that world—for better or for worse. It is ultimately about leadership—bold, earth-changing leadership. Putin is not a boy scout. He is not a democrat in any way that the West would define it. He is not a paragon of free speech. He stands, above all, for stability—stability before freedom, stability before choice, stability in a country that has hardly seen it for a hundred years. Whether he becomes more like the man for whom his grandfather prepared blinis [Stalin] —who himself was twice TIME's Person of the Year—or like Peter the Great, the historical figure he most admires; whether he proves to be a reformer or an autocrat who takes Russia back to an era of repression [like Dubya?] —this we will know only over the next decade. At significant cost to the principles and ideas that free nations prize, he has performed an extraordinary feat of leadership in imposing stability on a nation that has rarely known it and brought Russia back to the table of world power. For that reason, Vladimir Putin is TIME's 2007 Person of the Year.

Good Riddance To Bad Rubbish

Bill and H.W. On The Road? Not A Chance

Yesterday, I had a bit of a heartstopping moment when Bill Clinton had this to say if Hillary became the next White House resident in 2009:

Well, the first thing she intends to do, because you can do this without passing a bill, the first thing she intends to do is to send me and former President Bush and a number of other people around the world to tell them that America is open for business and cooperation again.

... and I thought, "WHAT THE FUCK?!" The last thing I want as an American citizen is having ANY Bush galavanting around the world in the name of American foreign policy.

Well it didn't take long for Pappy Bush to answer Bill's claim:

Former President Bush wholeheartedly supports the President of the United States, including his foreign policy. He has never discussed an "around-the-world mission" with either former President Bill Clinton or Senator Clinton, nor does he think such a mission is warranted since he is proud of the role America continues to play around the world as the beacon of hope for freedom and democracy.
...President Bush is excited about several of the excellent Republican candidates running for President, and looks forward to supporting their candidacy once the Republican nominee is determined.

Well I can now breathe again. So Pappy is proud of his son's record including foreign policy? Jesus H. Christmas! At least it's a relief to know he's not interested in promoting Hillary and America after Chimpy gets booted out on his ear. He'll support any Republican candidate. The Jesus freak, the cross dressing fascist, the guy wearing the magic underwear, hell, even the bored actor for all Pappy cares, as long as he's a Republican!

Get these lying, criminally insane bastards as far away from Washington as humanly possible. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Charles Grodin Challenges Hannity & Colmes

Charles Grodin was plugging his new book on Hannity & Colmes and having the chance, challenged Sean Hannity to name mistakes he's made, called him a fascist, accused him of "bomb throwing" for the right wing and wondered why they were covering an election way before its time, when they should be talking about topics like port security, airline cargo screening and the felony murder roll.

Grodin took over the show and kept it in his teeth like a pit bull with a bone. Hannity didn't know how to react. Should he be his rabid, right-wing frenzied self or was this a joke?

Sean Hannity: How can you sing "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and not be a left-winger?

Charles Grodin: I'll tell you, that's an insightful comment if I ever heard one.

I don't know why his first show was canceled, but maybe MSNBC should think about giving Grodin a new one based on this interview alone.

Dodd Delays Telcom Amnesty FISA Bill

Finally, a politician with the balls to do what's right and follow through on what he promised.

From ChrisDodd.com: Majority Leader Harry Reid has just pulled the FISA bill from consideration in this session. It will be brought up at some point next month.
Without Senator Dodd's leadership today, it is safe to assume that retroactive immunity would have passed.
This is a great victory for the American people. His outspoken opposition to retroactive immunity and the Intelligence Committee's FISA bill made it impossible to move forward now. From a process standpoint, that took the persistent shadow of a Dodd filibuster on this legislative process, a "hold" against any legislation that included retroactive immunity, and today, a refusal to grant unanimous consent to rules of debate that would have made it harder to strip retroactive immunity from the Intel Committee's bill through the Dodd-Feingold Amendment. He brought along some of the Senate's most passionate voices -- Senator's Feingold, Kennedy, Boxer, Wyden, Brown and Bill Nelson joined him to stand up to the President today.

Clinton, Obama and Biden, all of whom said they supported Chris Dodd and his filibuster, did not take the time to return to DC from the campaign trail in Iowa to help Dodd in his fight against giving retroactive immunity to telecom companies that aided and abetted in the illegal wiretapping of American citizens by the Bush administration.

Here's Dodd's FISA speech on the Senate floor today.

Senator Kennedy: "Voting for amnesty would be a vote for silence, secrecy, and illegality... The President has said that American lives will be sacrificed if Congress does not change FISA, but he has also said that he will VETO any FISA bill that does not grant retroactive immunity. No immunity? No FISA bill.

So if we take the President at his word he is willing to let Americans die to protect the phone companies!"

Who's Been Visiting Georgie?

Huffington Post: White House visitor logs are public documents, a federal judge ruled Monday, rejecting a legal strategy that the Bush administration had hoped would get around public records laws.

The ruling is a blow to the Bush administration, which is fighting the release of records showing visits by lobbyist Jack Abramoff and prominent religious conservatives.

The records are created by the Secret Service, which is subject to the Freedom of Information Act. But the Bush administration has ordered the data turned over to the White House, where they are treated as presidential records outside the scope of the public records law.

U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth said logs from the White House and Vice President Dick Cheney's residence are subject to public records request.

Dan Fogelberg Dead At 56

CNN: Dan Fogelberg, the singer and songwriter whose hits "Leader of the Band" and "Same Old Lang Syne" helped define the soft-rock era, died Sunday at his home in Maine after battling prostate cancer. He was 56.

...Later in his career, he would write material that focused on the state of the environment, an issue close to his heart. Fogelberg's last album was 2003's "Full Circle," his first album of original material in a decade. A year later he would receive his cancer diagnosis, forcing him to forgo a planned fall tour.

Same Old Lang Syne is one of my favorites.

RIP, Dan.

Who's Got The Goods On Harry Reid?

Reid Blows It Again - Chris Dodd Tries To Save It

This is amazing. For all the hot air that Harry Reid has expelled in ensuring that amnesty to the telecom companies that helped the Dark Empire spy on us illegally will not be tolerated, he has chosen to bring to the floor, a version of the FISA bill that does just that.

Gleen Greenwald writes about it on his Salon.com blog:

The summarized version is that there were two competing bills which Reid could have brought to the floor -- the Senate Intelligence Committee version engineered by Jay Rockefeller and Dick Cheney which gives the administration most of what it wants, and the Senate Judiciary Committee, which does not contain telecom amnesty and contains far more extensive oversight protections. Reid could have brought the bill to the floor using whatever process he wanted, and he has decided -- contrary to weeks of assurances -- that the SIC bill will serve as the "base" bill, meaning that improving it (by removing amnesty and increasing oversight) will require 60 votes, rendering such efforts virtually impossible. In doing so, Reid is brazenly ignoring the demands of 14 Senators -- including all of the Democratic presidential candidates -- to have the Judiciary Committee bill be the base bill.

Worse still, Reid is completely disregarding the "hold" placed by Chris Dodd on any amnesty bill -- simply refusing to honor it, even as he respectfully honors literally scores of "holds" from GOP Senators such as Tom Coburn. And while Dodd is interrupting his campaigning to fly to Washington to lead the filibuster he vowed, Reid has ensured with scheduling manuevers that the filibuster will take place only over the weekend -- when all of the members are away raising money anyway and journalists aren't paying attention -- with the intent to try to force cloture once everyone returns on Monday.

...This isn't a case where they are trying to oppose Bush's demands on telecom amnesty and warrantless surveillance powers but are sadly thwarted by a lack of votes. Rather, Harry Reid is doing everything he can to thwart those who are attempting to impede Bush's demands and thus doing everything he can to ensure that the White House is liberated from the prospect of accountability for past lawbreaking and vested with vast, new eavesdropping powers with as little oversight as possible...

...even [Senate Minority Leader Mitch] McConnell might lack the audacity to simply run roughshod over Dodd's hold, as Reid is apparently doing -- while treating Tom Coburn's holds as sacred.

What the hell is going on? Why is Reid pulling out every trick in the book to try and prevent his own party member from filibustering what he considers a flawed bill and not honoring Dodd's hold?

Who's got the goods on Harry Reid?

Crooks & Liars reports that Senators Feingold and Kennedy will help Dodd filibuster by asking questions to let Dodd rest.

UPDATE (12/17):

Reid's office was reportedly inundated with phone calls and messages from citizens who did not want Congress to allow immunity to telecoms, before their actions have even been detailed in a court of law. The heat seemed to have stirred Reid, who later in the day indicated that he would actually bring both versions of the FISA bill up for a vote.

...But both bills coming up appears to presage a showdown: a promised Democratic filibuster to keep the telcom immunity provision out, versus an apparent Republican filibuster to keep it in.

Would a sixty-vote Senate be able to pass either bill?

LIEberman Endorses McCain

Can the remaining few that still insist on calling Holy Joe LIEberman and "Independent Democrat" (Fox News) please stop now?

Sen. Joseph Lieberman (Conn.), who was on the national Democratic ticket in 2000, will cross the aisle to endorse Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) tomorrow, Republican sources said.
...Lieberman is an independent who caucuses with Democrats.

It's also time for Democratic leaders in Congress to oust Holy Joe "Bomb Iran" LIEberman out of the Democratic Caucus, knowing full well he brings nothing to the table.

Will Durst - Does Anybody Have WMD?

...Iraq—no weapons of mass destruction. Iran—no nuclear weapons program. Throw in the fact that since our Mideast misadventure began, we’ve misplaced 190,000 of our own rifles and weapons somewhere, who knows where, in Iraq, and I’m thinking maybe we should outsource our weapons location intelligence gathering because it doesn’t seem to be what you’d call our specialty.

Article here.

Bush Vetoes SCHIP Again

Mr. Compassionate Conservative once again vetoed a bill that would make possible the inclusion of 5 million children to obtain health insurance.

Bush issued his veto on Wednesday, saying "our nation's goal should be to move children who have no health insurance to private coverage - not to move children who already have private health insurance to government coverage."

This statement of course has no basis in fact. The State Children's Health Insurance Plan is available to those who make too high an annual income to receive Medicaid but not enough income to afford to pay for a private insurance policy. SCHIP is not free. It is a discounted plan, with participants paying low cost premiums. But President Bush would have you believe that it is a substitute for private insurance and that the Congress is trying to expand a program to those who already have private coverage as a step toward that evil concept we call socialism. Of course, Bush and the rest of the elected members of government already receive government funded health care. If it's so bad for the rest of us, why doesn't he switch to private insurance? He can certainly afford it.

Mr. No Child Left Behind would also try to make you think that the $35 billion that Congress allocated over five years is fiscally irresponsible and that his economic conservatism was a main reason for rejecting the bill. This is a strange reason when you consider that $7 billion pays for approximately 2-3 weeks for the occupation in Iraq.

The fact is that at the current funding levels, some participants currently covered by SCHIP would have to be dropped.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said the House will take up the extension question Thursday in a bill that also will make adjustments to Medicare.

"We'll obviously need to put additional money" into the children's health insurance program, Hoyer said, because several states say they will have to remove recipients from their rolls if the current funding level continues into next year.

As far as raising taxes is concerned, "What a sad day that the president would say that rather than insuring [millions of] children, 'I don't want to raise the cigarette tax,' " said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

In 2006, an estimated 20.8% (45.3 million) of U.S. adults were current cigarette smokers; of these, 80.1% (36.3 million) smoked every day according to the Center for Disease Control. I, for one, would not be affected by this tobacco tax increase, and neither would 80% of the US population. If a 61 cent per pack tax deters people from smoking and become healthier in the process, so be it.

Why do cigarette smokers feel discrimiated against for a tobacco tax? Do drinkers feel discrimination on an alcohol tax? Or drivers on a gas tax? If you don't drink or don't drive, there is an automatic savings. Should I feel angry that the non-drinker doesn't pay tax on my glass of wine or bottle of beer? Is Bush is worried about the smoker that is against a tobacco tax , or is it the tobacco lobby?

One more question: if Bush was so proud of this veto, why did he sign it in private?

...such votes are uncomfortable for GOP lawmakers. It is a popular program with the public, making some Republicans wary of sticking with Bush on such an issue with the 2008 elections looming. Of the 43 million people nationwide who lack health insurance, more than 6 million are under 18 years old. That's more than 9 percent of all children.

Bush said the bill "moves our country's health care system in the wrong direction." If we aren't currently moving in the wrong direction, what the hell does Mensa Man have in store for us?

Bolton's At It Again - What Global Warming?

Crooks and Liars: When asked about mandatory limits on climate change, Bolton had this to say [on Fox News]:

Well, it’s not unusual for Vice President Gore to be wrong, either, as he is in this case. Of the G8 industrialized democracies, four — the United States, Japan, Canada, and Russia –share our view…If you look at the developing countries, Brazil, India, and China all oppose these targets as well. So, the notion that this is the fault of the U.S. is wrong.

If anybody’s isolated here, I think it’s the Europeans and Al Gore…

Isolation? How about the US being the only country out of 184 that haven't signed the Kyoto treaty? At least the White House is starting to back down lest everyone in the world regards us as lunatics. Too little, too late for this administration.

Following gruelling all-night talks, the conference of 190 nations finally launched a process to negotiate a new treaty for when the UN Kyoto Protocol's commitments expire in 2012.

...The United States, the only major industrialised nation to reject the Kyoto treaty, reached a compromise with the European Union to avoid mentioning any figures as a target for slashing greenhouse gas emissions.

[The senior US negotiator, Paula] Dobriansky was loudly booed by other delegations, and a US environmental activist representing Papua New Guinea said to rousing cheers: "If you're not willing to lead, please get out of the way."

...After repeated verbal lashings, Dobriansky again took the microphone and said that Washington would "go forward and join consensus," to the cheers of the conference.

Unbelievable. Is that what it takes? Being heckled? I suppose tar and feathering was next.

Robert Scheer - Waterboarding Our Democracy

Robert Scheer writes a great article questioning the destruction of the CIA tapes.

When the CIA destroyed those prisoner interrogation videotapes, was it also destroying the truth about 9/11? After all, according to the 9/11 Commission Report, the basic narrative of what happened on that day—and the definition of the enemy in this war on terror that George W. Bush launched in response to the tragedy—comes from the CIA’s account of what those prisoners told their torturers. The commission was never allowed to interview the prisoners, or speak with those who did, and was instead forced to rely on what the CIA was willing to relay.

Read the rest here.