Spies R Us

As if our Constitutional rights haven't been pissed upon enough, here comes another doozy.

U.S. May Ease Police Spy Rules
More Federal Intelligence Changes Planned

The Justice Department has proposed a new domestic spying measure that would make it easier for state and local police to collect intelligence about Americans, share the sensitive data with federal agencies and retain it for at least 10 years.

... law enforcement agencies would be allowed to target groups as well as individuals, and to launch a criminal intelligence investigation based on the suspicion that a target is engaged in terrorism or providing material support to terrorists. They also could share results with a constellation of federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies, and others in many cases.

...Michael German, policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, said the proposed rule may be misunderstood as permitting police to collect intelligence even when no underlying crime is suspected, such as when a person gives money to a charity that independently gives money to a group later designated a terrorist organization.

Excuse me while I go vomit.

Doddering Old Fool Says What?

Speaking to reporters about the situation in Georgia, Sen. John McCain denounced the aggressive posture of Russia by claiming that: "in the 21st century nations don't invade other nations."

(H/T Sam Stein)

UPDATE (8/16/08):

T Minus 160 Days

"The trial lawyers are very politically powerful... but here in Texas, we took them on and got some good medical - medical malpractice."

- Waco, Texas, August 13, 2002

Everything Always Looks Right From My Viewpoint

John Edwards Affair Redux - IOKIYAR

Can you believe these hypocritical motherfuckers? Sean Hannity has to be the biggest Republican ass kisser of them all. You'd think these imbeciles would have a working brain cell in their combined heads to figure out that if your Republican nominee for president has admitted to cheating on his first wife, then you might want to rethink your criticism of the Democrat who ran and lost the nomination of the same offense. It's just another case of It's O.K. If You Are Republican.

Hannity: "I’m not getting this. Explain to me and I’m wondering if you can’t keep the promise to your family, can’t keep your promise to your wife, you’re having an affair, you’re lying about the affair repeatedly, why should the American people trust you when you say you’re not going to lie to them? Why should we trust you?"

Luckily, Alan Colmes gives the GOP talking heads a slap-in-the-face wake up call in reminding them that their Republican nominee is guilty of the same fucking thing!

Colmes: "And by the way, that’s a great question Sean asks and so Amanda, if that’s true and you can’t trust somebody who had an affair. How can we trust John McCain to be President of the United States—he cheated on by his own admission on his first wife, he didn’t keep his martial vows, he didn’t keep his pledge to his first family…"

How can Hannity defend this?! And yet he tries. This idiot thinks that if you've spent time in a POW camp and if it was such a long time ago, that it's okay. I didn't know there was a moral statute of limitations on infidelity.

Hannity: "Thirty years ago after five and a half years of being a POW! ...He was in a prisoner of war camp! [He cheated on his wife] after five and a half years in prisoner of war camp!"

Lord, what fools these Republicans be!


(The fun starts at about the 3 minute mark.)



On the bright side, the distraction of discussing a person who cheated on his spouse and ISN'T running for president is better than an hour long show calling the presumptive Democratic nominee a secret Manchurian candidate jihadist.

(H/T C&L)

Through The Looking Glass

Geroge W. Bush: ...Russia has invaded a sovereign neighboring state and threatens a democratic government elected by its people. Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century.

...Russia's government must respect Georgia's territorial integrity and sovereignty.

...Russia's actions this week have raised serious questions about its intentions in Georgia and the region. These actions have substantially damaged Russia's standing in the world...

I suppose he thinks that the rest of the world has never heard of a little sovereign country call Iraq.

T Minus 161 Days

"Let me put it to you bluntly. In a changing world, we want more people to have control over your own life."

- Annadale, Virginia, August 2004

Oh. My. God.

Someone explain to me why this race is as close as it is again .



What's going to happen once we get to the debates?

(H/T C&L)

Isaac Hayes Dies at 65

NY Times: Isaac Hayes, the singer and songwriter whose luxurious, strutting funk arrangements in songs like “Theme From ‘Shaft’ ” defined the glories and excesses of soul music in the early 1970s, died on Sunday in East Memphis, Tenn. He was 65.

...For much of the 1960s and into the ’70s he was one of the principal songwriters and performers for Stax Records, the trailblazing Memphis R&B label, and in the 1990s he revived his career by providing the voice for the amorous and wise Chef on the cable television show “South Park.”

Randy Newman - A Few Words In Defense of Our Country

When I was a kid, Randy Newman made my life a living hell. You see, I'm not a tall person, but when I was a kid, I was pretty much always the shortest in my class. I was always the boy sitting on the floor indian style in all the class pictures.

Then Randy Newman came out with "Short People." Man, that was a killer. Everyone sang that song to me, like it was my anthem or something. No one ever got to the second verse, the part that said, "Short People are just the same/As you and I (A Fool Such As I)/All men are brothers/Until the day they die (It's A Wonderful World)."

I eventually got over it, but I do have traumatic memories every time I hear that song. And sometimes I think if I ever get to meet Newman, I'd punch him in the neck. Anyway, time went on and I began to like Newman's music, especially his movie scores. The Natural is one of my favorites.

Now I come across another Newman song written about a year ago, but I never heard it until today. One of the best things he's ever written.



(H/T FDL)


I’d like to say a few words
In defense of our country
Whose people aren’t bad nor are they mean
Now the leaders we have
While they’re the worst that we’ve had
Are hardly the worst this poor world has seen

Let’s turn history’s pages, shall we?

Take the Caesars for example
Why within the first few of them
They were sleeping with their sister
Stashing little boys in swimming pools
And burning down the City
And one of ‘em, one of 'em
Appointed his own horse Consul of the Empire
That’s like vice president or something

That’s not a very good example, is it?

But wait, here’s one, the Spanish Inquisition
They put people in a terrible position
I don’t even like to think about it

Well, sometimes I like to think about it

Just a few words in defense of our country
Whose time at the top
Could be coming to an end
Now we don’t want their love
And respect at this point is pretty much out of the question
But in times like these
We sure could use a friend

Hitler. Stalin.
Men who need no introduction

King Leopold of Belgium. That’s right.
Everyone thinks he’s so great
Well he owned The Congo
He tore it up too
He took the diamonds, he took the gold
He took the silver
Know what he left them with?

Malaria

A President once said,
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself"
Now it seems like we’re supposed to be afraid
It’s patriotic in fact and color coded
And what are we supposed to be afraid of?
Why, of being afraid
That’s what terror means, doesn’t it?
That’s what it used to mean

You know it pisses me off a little
That this Supreme Court is gonna outlive me
A couple of young Italian fellas and a brother on the Court now too
But I defy you, anywhere in the world
To find me two Italians as tightass as the two Italians we got

And as for the brother
Well, Pluto’s not a planet anymore either

The end of an empire is messy at best
And this empire is ending
Like all the rest
Like the Spanish Armada adrift on the sea
We’re adrift in the land of the brave
And the home of the free

Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye.

Bernie Mac Dies at 50

NY Times: A publicist says Emmy and Golden Globe nominated actor and comedian Bernie Mac has died at age 50.

Publicist Danica Smith says Bernie Mac died early Saturday at a hospital in the Chicago area of complications due to pneumonia.

The comedian suffered from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory lung disease that produces tiny lumps of cells in the body's organs, but he had said the condition went into remission in 2005. He recently had been hospitalized and treated for pneumonia.

Fiscal Conservatives

(H/T C&L)

Disappointment

I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed.

John Edwards: "In 2006, I made a serious error in judgment and conducted myself in a way that was disloyal to my family and to my core beliefs. I recognized my mistake and I told my wife that I had a liaison with another woman, and I asked for her forgiveness. Although I was honest in every painful detail with my family, I did not tell the public. When a supermarket tabloid told a version of the story, I used the fact that the story contained many falsities to deny it. But being 99%honest is no longer enough.

I was and am ashamed of my conduct and choices, and I had hoped that it would never become public. With my family, I took responsibility for my actions in 2006 and today I take full responsibility publicly. But that misconduct took place for a short period in 2006. It ended then. I am and have been willing to take any test necessary to establish the fact that I am not the father of any baby, and I am truly hopeful that a test will be done so this fact can be definitively established. I only know that the apparent father has said publicly that he is the father of the baby. I also have not been engaged in any activity of any description that requested, agreed to or supported payments of any kind to the woman or to the apparent father of the baby.

It is inadequate to say to the people who believed in me that I am sorry, as it is inadequate to say to the people who love me that I am sorry. In the course of several campaigns, I started to believe that I was special and became increasingly egocentric and narcissistic. If you want to beat me up - feel free. You cannot beat me up more than I have already beaten up myself. I have been stripped bare and will now work with everything I have to help my family and others who need my help.

I have given a complete interview on this matter and having done so, will have nothing more to say."

I caught David Shuster and Mike Barnicle on Hardball basically saying that it's guys like Edwards that make people distrust politicians. Guys like Edwards? I can think of more than a few politicians worthy of distrust but it has nothing to do with extramarital affairs. They were outraged over the perceived betrayal, not of Elizabeth Edwards, but of all the young volunteers that worked for him and the donors to his campaign. I was one of his donors and that thought didn't cross my mind in the slightest. Barnicle went so far as to call Edwards a "complete fraud."

Does Edwards' affair make his stance on poverty any less important? Does it make his discussions on homeless veterans lies? I'm not taking any particular stance on this subject in defense or condemnation of John Edwards. Everyone makes mistakes and far be it from me to cast judgement of another person's personal matters.

Was it a dumb mistake for a possible presidential candidate? Obviously, but I'm not going to waste energy being outraged over what could have happened had he won the nomination. He didn't, so it's a moot point. There are too many other things to get my hackles up that are more pressing at this time.

I do feel a sense of melancholy for John and Elizabeth Edwards and their family, and hope that they can work through this difficult personal matter, and judging by Mrs. Edwards' statement, I think they're on their way.

Maverick Or True Conservative?

You can't have it both ways, Johnny. Either you're a "Maverick" (it is to laugh) or you're a "true conservative." Which is it?

Here's McCain's new attack ad on Obama, cleverly using comments made by Democrats praising the Maverick. Unfortunately for McCain, all but one of the comments were made at least two or more years ago.



Of course, we all knew the Hillary comment made during the primaries would be used as an attack against Obama the second it came out of her mouth.

Here's the DNC's response just hours after the McCain ad surfaced.



Well I suppose McMaverick is going to go with all that is mavericky because it looks like the McCain campaign is pulling all his "true conservative" spots from his website.

Crooks & Liars: Just one day after the McCain campaign proclaimed its man the “Original Maverick,” Barack Obama blasted that assertion both on the stump and in a new ad of his own. “You can’t be a maverick when politically it’s working for you,” Obama said, “and not a maverick when it doesn’t work for you.” Which may explain why the McCain campaign has apparently tried to purge any traces of its “True Conservative” ad, a February 2008 spot designed to win over hard right GOP primary voters.

As it turns out, McCain’s latest ads (”Broken” and “Praising McCain”) tout the Arizona Senator as the populist “Original Maverick.” But that resurrection of McCain’s tattered maverick image is contradicted by the “True Conservative” TV spot he used during the Republican primaries. In February, McCain to be sure wasn’t the maverick battling special interests in his own party...

...McCain’s claim to be a “true conservative” didn’t just disappear once he sewed up the Republican nomination. For the most part, so did the ad itself.

Here is the "True Conservative" ad -



So which is it? John McCain: Original Maverick? Or John McCain: True Conservative?

How about - John McCain: Just Another Republican Liar.

Hamdan Guilty Of Driving

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba, - A jury of U.S.military officers sentenced Osama bin Laden's driver to 5 1/2 years in prison on Thursday for providing material support for terrorism, concluding the first U.S. war crimes tribunal since World War Two.

The judge gave Salim Hamdan credit for 61 months, so he could be out in five months. The U.S. government has, however, argued it can detain Hamdan and other "enemy combatants" indefinitely as long as the war on terrorism continues.

Huh?! It's taken seven years, SEVEN YEARS! for the Administration to bring it's first case of a "terrorist" detainee, denied habeas corpus, tried in a Military tribunal, all at the behest of the Bush administration - he's given 5½ years in prison, 5 of which have already been served, and now our government is saying they can hold him "as long as the war on terror continues" anyway? Does anyone else see something wrong with this? What a sham!

The following is a statement by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on the Military Commission ’s guilty verdict in the Salim Hamdan case.

“I commend the military officers who presided over this trial and served on the hearing panel under difficult and unprecedented circumstances. They and all our Armed Forces continue to serve this country with valor in the fight against terrorism. That the Hamdan trial — the first military commission trial with a guilty verdict since 9/11 — took several years of legal challenges to secure a conviction for material support for terrorism underscores the dangerous flaws in the Administration’s legal framework. It’s time to better protect the American people and our values by bringing swift and sure justice to terrorists through our courts and our Uniform Code of Military Justice. And while it is important to convict anyone who provides material support for terrorism, it is long past time to capture or kill Usama bin Laden and the terrorists who murdered nearly 3000 Americans.”


The following is a statement by Republican presidential candidate John McCain on the Military Commission’s verdict:

“I welcome today’s guilty verdict in the first trial held under the Military Commissions Act (MCA). This process of bringing terrorists to justice has been too long delayed, but I’m encouraged that it is finally moving forward. I supported that legislation, which was a good-faith effort by Congress to meet the Supreme Court’s direction to establish a process to bring terrorist detainees to trial. Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a trusted confidante of Usama Bin Laden, was provided a full hearing of the charges against him and was represented by counsel who vigorously defended him. The jury found that the prosecution lawyers had proven, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Hamdan had aided terrorists by supplying weapons to Al Qaeda and Taliban forces in Afghanistan. This process demonstrated that military commissions can effectively bring very dangerous terrorists to justice. The fact that the jury did not find Hamdan guilty of all of the charges brought against him demonstrates that the jury weighed the evidence carefully. Unlike Senator Obama who voted against the MCA and favors giving Al Qaeda terrorists direct access to U.S. civilian courts to contest their detention, I recognize that we cannot treat dangerous terrorists captured on the battlefield as we would common criminals.”

Who's next? You? Me?

T Minus 166 Days

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."

- Washington DC, August 2004

Must Reads

Robert L. Borosage: The Audacity of Contempt

Sam Stein: Has McCain Walked Into An Energy Trap?

Doctor Biobrain: McCain In Flames

Christy Hardin Smith: McCain Deploys Shiny Object Ad To Distract From Own Ethical Lapses

GOP Talks Oil Prices Down

...or at least that's what they think they're doing. Apparently, no one in the Republican Party has heard of supply and demand, therefore they think that they're scaring oil prices down by their photo-op speeches to an empty House chamber. No, really.

Heading into a third day of speeches in the near-empty chamber, Republicans acknowledged that the average price of gas and oil has declined in recent weeks. But they claimed credit for part of that reduction.

“I think the market is responding to the fact that we are here talking,” said Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) at a joint press conference with other GOP lawmakers. “I think the market realizes this kind of pressure from Congress may, in fact, lead to a change in policy.”

The Republican members did not answer questions about whether they would take the blame if gas prices go up again.

So in essence, if the Republican nutjobs in the House of Representatives continued to lower oil prices just due to the fact of threatening to drill more offshore, then perhaps they can speak long enough to cause oil prices to tank, therefore eliminating the need for more offshore drilling and effectively kill John McCain's central platform of his energy policy. Keep talking, assholes.

(H/T C&L)

Speaking of assholes and energy policy, here's McThuselah himself at the Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Words cannot do justice. Just watch.

Paris Hilton's Response Ad

I must admit, this is pretty funny. Had trouble with the video player but you can watch it at FunnyOrDie.com via the link provided.

Colbert's Word: We The People

Awesome!