I never thought I'd say a song about Dick Cheney would be sweet, but sing away like a coupla canaries, Mr. Brent and Mr. Libby.
...I said it before and I'll say it again, "the candidate who comes out for Universal Healthcare will win"
Jeff Cohen: Will Healthcare Timidity Trip Up Hillary Clinton?
Al Gore/Dennis Kucinich 2008
Posted by Sharon at February 4, 2007 06:38 AMoops, Mr. Wilkes and Scooter.
Posted by Sharon at February 4, 2007 06:39 AMExcuse me. I feel vomit rising in my throat.
Bush offers Democrats conciliatory words.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070203/ap_on_go_pr_wh/house_democrats
Posted by Judith at February 4, 2007 06:40 AMWhen is Cheney going to testify in the Libby trial? Or, will he?
Posted by Judith at February 4, 2007 06:47 AM(that's just an excerpt)
Posted by Sharon at February 4, 2007 06:54 AMJudith,
Speaker Pelosi was swooning over Bush Saturday.
She told him how "honored" she was to be graced by his presence.
Snookered by a sociopath.
Posted by Christopher at February 4, 2007 06:56 AMSnookered by a sociopath.
Princess Sparkle Pelosi is one of them. She drove the nail in the coffin of her complicity when she had the $1000.00 dollar a plate dinner for lobbyests right after "lobby reform" legislation. You'll notice the Congress doesn't tout that legislation as a 100 hour accomplishment because they don't want anyone focusing on it too heavily. There is not a single Conressman who is not in the pocket of business and special interest lobbys.
You want healthcare reform? You'll have to come up with a lobby that can out-fund the special interests. You'll have to buy it from your legislators. Voting for them is not nearly enough. Expecting them to do what's right is a fucking fools dream, so lower your expectations of these people. Borrowing from Ward Churchill, these people are all little Cunninghams, and you'll only get what you can pay for.
Posted by phidipides at February 4, 2007 07:58 AMChristopher, I would love to know what took place at the Democratic retreat, and what deals were made with "The Sociopath." Bush has called us everything in the book, including traitors, and these yahoos are yucking it up with the biggest traitor of them all. Bush pulls down his pants, and they all get in line to kiss it. My question still stands. Why should I vote in 2008?
Wake me up when the Democrats start acting like the Party in control.
Posted by Judith at February 4, 2007 07:59 AMPhidipides, you summed it up nicely.
Amazing how fast the Democrats in power forgive Bush. Just one big happy family. They are making a deal with the devil himself, and he is laughing behinds their backs at their stupidity and lack of courage. I expect, with this Congress, a smooth ride for Bush in his remaining two years, and THAT IS NOT WHAT WE VOTED FOR!
Posted by Judith at February 4, 2007 08:07 AMAnd the Taliban is planning its own surge.
Oh, don't get me wrong, phidipides, I'm no fucking fool. Nothing the yahoos in WA do surprises me. I was raised in the city of Detroit, and I've lived injustice and seen how stupid actions by politicians affect people's daily lives.
Posted by Sharon at February 4, 2007 08:13 AMI suppose I should write that "DC"
I don't mean to give the state of WA a bad name.
Posted by Sharon at February 4, 2007 08:16 AMOh, and I am sick and tired of hearing, for over three years now, how we are trying to get the Iraqis to "stand up." Fuck em. They will either "stand up" when we get the hell out, or they won't. That's entirely up to them. Meanwhile, not one domestic issue in over six years has been addressed, i.e., health care.
Why do I get the feeling that as long as we keep talking, and talking, and talking, and talking about Iraq, no one needs to make a decision. We have talked the subject of Iraq to death, and people continue to die. Make a decision, and then shut the f*ck up. (Yeah, I am not in a very good mood today).
Posted by Judith at February 4, 2007 08:22 AMMy question still stands. Why should I vote in 2008?
I hope there is a reason for you to vote in 2008, but the reality is that you'll likely have a choice between more of the same or more of the same.
The biggest dissapointment has been the blogosphere. I honestly had this idea that we would see weeks of commentary on lobby reform and blogs holding Dems feet to the fire for their cowardice and complicity. Instead, we got nothing for lobby reform, the blogs cheered, and then promptly moved on to other less important legislation.
Why do I call it less important legislation? Because without true lobby reform and breaking the strangle hold of K Street on legislators it will be impossible to forward any other meaningful legislation. And the congressional investigations take on little meaning when the legislators are investigating those making campaign contributions.
So why should you vote in 2008? Unless some white horse candidate rides to the front I see no reason to vote for a Clinton, an Edwards, or an Obama. They are exactly more of the same. The only difference is they are compassionate conservatives rather than neo-con conservatives. There will be less anti-gay, anti-stem cell, anti-some popular thing sentiments, but otherwise they are the exact same creature when you strip away the minor differences. They would blow their grandfathers corpse on K Street if they could get a special interest contribution from it. And not only do the blogs currently go along with it, they enable it.
Things are just ducky with Hilary? Things are just ducky with Edwards? Things are just ducky with Obama? These are candidates with a real difference? Bullshit.
Posted by phidipides at February 4, 2007 08:28 AMOh, don't get me wrong, phidipides, I'm no fucking fool.
Never at anytime thought that.
BTW: How are the studies going?
Why do I get the feeling that as long as we keep talking, and talking, and talking, and talking about Iraq, no one needs to make a decision.
Exactly. And when Iraq is really screwed, when Iraq is especially screwed --helicopters going down, massive civilian deaths, increasing troop deaths, unable to supply troops with even basic combat equipment-- ramp-up the war sentiment against Iran.
Posted by phidipides at February 4, 2007 08:38 AMJudith, I know how you meant it, and agree, but let's make it clearer:
The Iraqis ARE 'standing up'. Ordinary Iraqi citizens, people like you and me, under incredible personal hardships, for over three years, have fought courageously against a brutal occupation by the best-equipped army in history, while simultaneously fighting opposing religious sects. Even existing in such a hellish environment requires great courage, and to take up arms and actively resist requires great personal strength. These are the people that the future Iraqi leadership will spring from, not the largely absentee pols now ensconced in the Green Zone with their US masters.
Thanks Phidipides. You just confirmed what I know to be the truth.
"Exactly. And when Iraq is really screwed, when Iraq is especially screwed --helicopters going down, massive civilian deaths, increasing troop deaths, unable to supply troops with even basic combat equipment-- ramp-up the war sentiment against Iran."
And all with the help of the Democratic Party in Washington, D.C. I am beginning to feel betrayed and not by the GOP.
On a lighter note, here's a joke, and it is an open thread. Forgive me, but it's a blond joke (and I am a blond, well, sort of).
A husband gives his wife a cell phone for her birthday. She is elated and happy that she now can make and receive calls anywhere.
The very next day she goes shopping and takes her new cell phone with her. Her phone rings and it is her husband. "How do you like having the new cell phone?" he asks. "Oh, honey I love the phone and what a great birthday present. But, tell me, how did you know I was at Walmart?"
Posted by Judith at February 4, 2007 09:15 AMAmazing how fast the Democrats in power forgive Bush.
Isn't though? What's a half a trillion dollars, 3,064 dead soldiers and 22,000 injured Americans between friends?
No wonder Madam Pelosi says, "impeachment is off the table." Bush is just her errant nephew.
Posted by Christopher at February 4, 2007 09:16 AMPhip,
You're really cruisin' today. Good stuff. It reminds me of why I voted for Nader. (Let the catcalls begin.)
Don, your right. There are Iraqis "standing up" and fighting. I seem to forget that there are those who are fighting for their Country, against all odds.
Posted by Judith at February 4, 2007 09:21 AMmake that phid. Sorry.
Posted by Don Bacon at February 4, 2007 09:23 AMHere's a grime statistic for you. Between 4.3 million and 6.5 million Americans are likely to know someone who has been killed or injured in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Christopher, the 'official number' is 23,114 wounded. I think that number has also been revised to a much higher number to around 40,000. It's difficult to get the truth these days.
Remember, “We don’t do body counts” and we probably don't do 'injured accounts' either.
Unlike historians working in the distant future for the W li-bary(located in the garden section of the Crawford,Texas Walmart), I will never forgive the chimp.
Bears win it 27-17. Bears get 3 turnovers.
Prince keeps his clothes on.
phidipides, I know you don't think I'm an FF.
I'm surprising myself how well I'm doing in school. I'm filling out grad school applications now so keep your fingers crossed for me.
Open Threadisms....
* I like the Bears plus the 7 or 6.5!
* Hillary sounds like a Republican!
* Did you folks read the 2nd half of the global warming report that said there's nothing we can do to stop it? Humans aren't the cause of global warming, but we do seem to be accelerating it a bit because people like Al Gore have pushed us to burning fossil fuels instead of building more nuclear power plants.
The 600-plus coal-fired plants emit nearly 2 billion tons of CO2 annually -- the equivalent of the exhaust from about 300 million automobiles. In addition, the Clean Air Council reports that coal plants are responsible for 64 percent of sulfur dioxide emissions, 26 percent of nitrous oxides and 33 percent of mercury emissions. These pollutants are eroding the health of our environment, producing acid rain, smog, respiratory illness and mercury contamination.
Meanwhile, the 103 nuclear plants operating in the United States effectively avoid the release of 700 million tons of CO2 emissions annually -- the equivalent of the exhaust from more than 100 million automobiles. Imagine if the ratio of coal to nuclear were reversed so that only 20 percent of our electricity was generated from coal and 60 percent from nuclear. This would go a long way toward cleaning the air and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Every responsible environmentalist should support a move in that direction.
Patrick Moore, a founder of Greenpeace, in a column "Going Nuclear."
According to energy expert Charles Maxwell, there are 80 years worth of uranium in the ground so that nuclear energy could be a stop-gap for the next 50 years until we come up with something else.
Posted by muckdog at February 4, 2007 11:07 AMVery interesting. I wondered what was going on with Wilkes. So the short story is not just that he was laundering money through controlled ownership of several bogus Defense firms. And the serious speculation is that they were CIA front companies.
WOW!
I just learned that Carol Lamb, U.S. Attorney San Diego, in charge of prosecuting the CUNNINGHAM case, is one of the ones who has been fired.
What An OUTRAGE!
Posted by A new fan at February 4, 2007 11:42 AMAnother prominent San Diego defense firm is Titan. They have just been bought by L-3 Communications, which is deep into intelligence. On their description of the government services they offer:
To complement its aviation and maritime intelligence capabilities domestically and abroad, L-3 is the largest provider of commercial linguist services to the U.S. Government, providing translation, interpretation and linguist/analyst support to deployed and home-station military organizations.
I wonder if their person was the one who translated the forged Niger documents?
Posted by A new fan at February 4, 2007 11:58 AMIs it time to start a national discussion on country club prisons for the privileged? Let a prison sentence be a REAL threat to these corrupt politicians, for a change.
Posted by Julie at February 4, 2007 12:24 PMWonder if this includes Junior?
"Even though I'm a tranquil guy now at this stage of my life, I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the name of our sources. They are, in my view, the most insidious of traitors."
-- George Herbert Walker Bush
They are, in my view, the most insidious of traitors.
Gee, then Poppy must be really ticked off with HIS selection for his Kid's Veep, Dick Cheney.
Posted by Christopher at February 4, 2007 02:47 PMYou're really cruisin' today.
Well, I'm just a little peeved that we will never get lobby reform, and because of that fact we will never get true reform of anything else. Never. These conress-weasels are not responsive to the needs of the population, and haven't been for many many years.
According to energy expert Charles Maxwell, there are 80 years worth of uranium in the ground so that nuclear energy could be a stop-gap for the next 50 years until we come up with something else. i>
Excellent idea. Lets base all of our energy plans an non-renewables so that 50 years from now we'll look at the same renewables we have access to today. Why is it you people can't support anything that doesn't have some massive corporate structure behind it and that leaves ungodly levels of contamination in the environment? Your motto of "Looking forward by stumbling backwards" is strange.
Posted by phidipides at February 4, 2007 05:02 PMPhid, what's your idea? Charles Maxwell says we need to build nuclear power plants.
Posted by muckdog at February 4, 2007 09:45 PMWhere is the "Used Car Johnny" Edwards thread today? Big news. He's promising to raise taxes if elected. He's shouting it from the mountain tops. I mean, we haven't seen this kind of dedication to a tax hike since Mondale or Dukakis.
Posted by muckdog at February 4, 2007 10:26 PMWhat does Muck know? He is a stupidhead for picking the bears.
Posted by TIKI AL at February 4, 2007 11:26 PM