:-)

Free Wal-mart Movie at tramlaw.info

This quote is choice, too:

On President Bush:

According to Abramoff, at one time, the president joked with Abramoff about his weight lifting past: “What are you benching, buff guy?”

Saladin..(previous post) I respectfully disagree, I think Aipac's power and influence can be forced to be more balanced and appropriate.

As I said in my response to Micki a group of folks from Athens met with representatives many times over a 5 year period. In those meetings which were about a variety of issues, these representatives shared (confidentially, they really have fear of being targeted by Aipac) that they would very much like to get Aipac's influence off of their backs.

I don't believe they were saying these things just for fun, or because they thought this is what we wanted to hear. We were not always meeting with them on middle east issues. I believe they were sincere. It was not that they thought that Israel should not have U.s. backing. It was clearly an issue of how much and how our complete and unquestioned support of Israel's policies effected U.s. standing in the middle east. Several of these represetatives brought up Israel's back door sales of military technology and weapons to China . This issue seemed to be of great concern.

I have read different figures on how much U.s. foreign aid goes to Israel. I recently read that it was 1/4th of the aid with Egypt coming in second.

David,
Tell us about your new book.

Signing off ...

Well, good to know you smile easily when Jack-Gating! I guess when you're smiling, the whole world (should) smile w/you. Well, at least, I'm smiling as I keystroke this.

BTW: WSJ's main Op-Ed today skewered Sen. Hagel and less so, Sen. Snowe, for hindering Bush from getting a better Surveilance bill. There goes Hagel's (faint) Presidential ambitions! As for Snowe, she needs to GO, and replaced by a moderate Dem in her blue state. GOP can afford this `loss'!

Another major issue David bypasses to, again, go Jack-Gating:

36 Law Schools lose in a unanimous (8-0) SC decision on military recruiters on campus. What does that tell us about Extremists on campus poisoning our kids? My older son applied to Berkely and fortunately, didn't get in! Truth be told, my pocketbook was more `fortunate' than my fear of political poisoning by UC-B BS!!

Happiness is a contagious sport!

Police State USA - Part One
Big Brother's Most Cool Tool

Kathleen, I challenge you and everyone else to read this and tell me what these reps are going to do about it. This is the state of our country, in all it's hideous glory, in a nutshell. Do you know how far it's already gone? UGH!

"We would sit and talk about the Bible." David, that must be the part where the Hebrews are constantly invading and wiping out their neighbors!

I ask this question sincerely..do people think the american press/media have seriously covered the claims that have ben repeated the last three years about Iran's "alleged' nuclear developments? I really believe that if reporters had focused on this issue more this very serious situation would not have escalated to this point so smoothly. All according to the neo-cons plan of engagement.

Israel will have to act on Iran if UN can't By Louis Charbonneau

BERLIN (Reuters) - If the U.N. Security Council is incapable of taking action to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, Israel will have no choice but to defend itself, Israel's defense minister said on Wednesday.

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz was asked whether Israel was ready to use military action if the Security Council proved unable to act against what Israel and the West believe is a covert Iranian nuclear weapons program.

"My answer to this question is that the state of Israel has the right give all the security that is needed to the people in Israel. We have to defend ourselves," Mofaz told Reuters after a meeting with his German counterpart Franz Josef Jung.

Iran denies wanting nuclear weapons and says it is only interested in the peaceful generation of electricity. It has also threatened to retaliate if Israel or the United States were to bomb any of its nuclear facilities.

In 1981, Israel bombed Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor to prevent Saddam Hussein from getting nuclear weapons. Saddam's covert atom bomb program continued until U.N. inspectors dismantled it after the 1991 Gulf War, but the Israeli strike set progress back many years.

"The Israeli approach is that the U.S. and the European countries should lead the issue of the Iranian nuclear program to the table of the U.N. Security Council, asking for sanctions. And I hope the sanctions will be effective," Mofaz said.

Mofaz, who was born in Iran, added that Israel believed the 15-nation Security Council should grant the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N.'s Vienna-based nuclear watchdog, sweeping inspection powers so that it can smoke out any secret nuclear arms-related activities in Iran.

"We need to have very deep and large inspections within all the nuclear locations in Iran because Iran has two nuclear programs -- one is a covered one and the second is uncovered," he said.

The Iranian delegation to an IAEA board of governors meeting in Vienna issued a statement earlier warning that the United States could feel "harm and pain" if the Security Council took up the issue of Tehran's nuclear fuel research and vowed never to abandon its atomic program.

At a news conference with Mofaz, Jung told reporters Germany was already discussing with the five permanent Security Council members -- Russia, China, the United States, Britain and France -- what the council could do to prevent Tehran getting the bomb.

"Everything must be done to ensure that Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons," Jung said.

A senior diplomat from one of the "EU3" said earlier that the Security Council would probably begin discussing Iran next week and hoped to issue a "presidential statement" urging Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment program and cooperate with the IAEA.

Newt: I wish i could quit you Jack...

kathleen #127

from yesterday

What a bitch!!!

#7 Happy, Really is a lonely man. Happy prefers the company of people who think he's an idiot. What does that say about him?

Every time Happy, Really posts his mindless douche bag rants here, Happy, Really pats himself on the back for his oh-so-clever conversational writing style. "Well, good to know you smile easily when Jack-Gating! I guess when you're smiling, the whole world (should) smile w/you. Well, at least, I'm smiling as I keystroke this." Killer satire or mindless douche bag?

What cornbloggers know that Happy really has not figured out is that's its pointless to engage this lonely man in a discussion about policy or politics.

Let me be the first to say this directly, "Happy, Really" - I don't care for your posts or for your company. I don't care about your family, where your kids go to school or do not. I don't care about you opinions.

Happy, Really go be Really, Happy somewhere else.

O'Reilly

What makes you think anyone here gives a shit what you think either?

Anyone? I know you don't. I know Happy, Really doesn't. I know Hajji does, Kathleen does, Capt does, LBH doesn't, Baf doesn't and I'll leave TRH out of this.

Its snowing!!! Yahooooo, thank the gods. Getting my ski gear ready for tomorrow.
Capt, my Conus IR West Loop image shows a very promising outlook for moisture in your region. Keeping my fingers crossed. Drought sucks, yes?
In the meanwhile, here is a bumper sticker I read yesterday

"Republicans For Voldemort"

Later,
th

O'Reilly,

I care also.

Just popping in to say hello!

Thanks TRH. I appreciate it. . . and I thought you might. Nontheless, I intend to respect your request to be left out of the rock fights.

Frist Blocking vote on Port deal (link)

Rice says Iran ‘is the central bank for terrorism’
___________________
WASHINGTON - Iran is probably the No. 1 challenge to the United States, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday after Tehran vowed no compromise in a standoff with the West over its nuclear programs.

Rice, who wants the United Nations Security Council this month to start taking action against Iran that could lead to sanctions, also repeated concerns that Washington believes Tehran supports anti-Israel militants and meddles in neighboring Iraq.

“We may face no greater challenge from a single country than from Iran, whose policies are directed at developing a Middle East that would be 180 degrees different than the Middle East we would like to see developed,” Rice said at a Senate hearing.
_________________

I don't think I need to look too deep to find similar statemens where the "n" in "Iran" was a "q"...

Is there anybody out there, with half a brain (or more) who can't see through the bullshit? Anyone? Bueller?

-T

#19 Is there anybody out there, with half a brain (or more) who can't see through the bullshit? Anyone?

I agree Hajji. It's fear mongering and the drum beat of war by Cheney and Rice, once again.

They are on both in the "Nuclear Technology in Iran means Mushroom Clouds in the US" camp.

The president's spokesman contradicted Cheney on this issue. McClellan says the White House is pursuing a diplomatic resolution. Experts? indicate Cheney and Rice's harsh rhetoric is counterproductive to diplomatic solution.

In any event, it's not clear we have an alternative, thank god. Our military is stuck in Iraq and we have insufficient intelligence to take-out Iran's potentially peaceful, nuclear technology by air strike.

Moreover, we have many credible defense experts who believe Iran's nuclear ambitions, whether strictly peaceful or even for weapons development.

India Civil Nuclear Cooperation: Responding to Critics
(link)

Do we have any experts out there who could read this mistatement and debunk it?

A Happy Day For Fundamentalism In America (link)

Muslim Fundamentalists attack our nation from the outside and Christian fundamentalists attack it from within. For over ten years, the violent attack of fundamentalism against the American way of life has been dramatic: the bombing of the Atlanta Olympics, the bombing of health clinics, the bombing of entertainment venues, the bombing of a federal office building, the bombing of two trade centers, the bombing of the Pentagon.

Fundamentalists have infiltrated the Supreme Court and control our White House and Congress and most of OPEC.

Everywhere fundamentalists infiltrate, the quality of life diminishes: Afghanistan, Iran, Indonesia, Israel, and the United States have all seen their economies and societal structures damaged by the closed-mindedness of fundamentalism.

This trend shows no sign of slowing down! Let's look at today's headlines:

South Dakota Bans Abortion

Congress Renews The Patriot Act

Tom DeLay Wins Renomination

Iran Threatens USA

Israel Will Act Against Iran If Others Don't

The last being the most frightening, because we have two fundamentalist theocracies threatening each other. And this list doesn't even include the terror of corporate fundamentalism so happily subscribed-to by bankrupt Americans who pretend they are Christian.

If you care about the world and your future, I recommend turning-off your iPod and taking some iAction and some iResponsibility and restoring progress to the American way of life.

The Death of the Intelligence Panel

The wrenching debate in the 1970's over the abuse of presidential power produced two groundbreaking reforms aimed at preventing a president from using war or broader claims of national security to trample Americans' rights.

One was the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which struck the proper balance between national security and bedrock civil liberties, and the other was the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, a symbol of bipartisan leadership. They endured for a quarter of a century ? until George W. Bush and Dick Cheney left FISA in tatters and the Senate Select Committee on its deathbed in just five years.

The Senate panel has become so paralyzingly partisan that it could not even manage to do its basic job this week and look into President Bush's warrantless spying on Americans' international e-mail and phone calls. Senator Pat Roberts, the chairman, said Tuesday that there would be no investigation. Instead, the committee's Republicans voted to create a subcommittee that is supposed to get reports from the White House on any future warrantless surveillance.

It's breathtakingly cynical. Faced with a president who is almost certainly breaking the law, the Senate sets up a panel to watch him do it and calls that control. This new Senate plan is being presented as a way to increase the supervision of intelligence gathering while giving the spies needed flexibility. But it does no such thing.

The Republicans' idea of supervision involves saying the White House should get a warrant for spying whenever possible. Currently a warrant is needed, period. And that's the right law. The White House has not offered a scrap of evidence that it interferes with antiterrorist operations. Mr. Bush simply decided the law did not apply to him.

It was no surprise that Mr. Roberts led this retreat. He's been blocking an investigation into the domestic spying operation for weeks, just as he has been stonewalling a promised investigation into how the White House hyped the intelligence on Iraq. But it was disappointing to see a principled Republican like Senator Olympia Snowe go along.

more (link)

Op-Ed Columnist: Both Sides of Inequality
By DAVID BROOKS

It's wrong to say good parents raise successful kids and bad parents raise unsuccessful ones. The story is more complicated than that.

A "MUST" READ FROM THE INCREASINGLY IRRELEVENT DAVID BROOKS.

O'Reilly

I love you to man, I can't wait until our next fishing trip so we can share the pup tent again.

To NotHajji - the transparent chickenshit - I love watching your pup tent every time you see me. Say ahh.

"United Arab Emirates-owned DP World says it will transfer its operations of American ports to a U.S. "entity." The announcement comes after congressional leaders reportedly told President Bush that the firm's takeover deal was essentially dead on Capitol Hill."
+++++++++

Oh, right. What are they going to do? Transfer the ports operations to Halliburton? Such a deal.

Report posits that Chris Matthews has accepted hefty speaking fees from conservative groups

A new report advanced to RAW STORY Thursday suggests that Chris Matthews, the star of the MSNBC's daily talk show Hardball, has accepted hefty speaking fees from an array of conservative trade associations.

Matthews has given speeches to at least ten major conservative trade associations since 2001. The report's author, Dave Johnson, who blogs at Seeing The Forest and is also a fellow at the progressive Commonweal Institute, could find no records indicating that Matthews has spoken before any Democratic-leaning organizations. The report is not a product of the Commonweal Institute.

"Why is Matthews speaking at so many events with Republican-associated trade organizations?" Johnson asks. "What is NBC policy on speaking engagements and why does NBC keep it hidden? Are these trade associations paying Matthews to purchase influence?"

more (link)

*letter today from the DCCC

On Tuesday Texas held its primaries for the 2006 elections, and with that kicked off what's likely to be one of the most tenaciously fought midterm election seasons in history.

"DeLay fights for his political life" - so read the headline for a Texas paper as all eyes turned toward Tom DeLay's primary battle. Now he's made it through, but not without being plenty bruised and bloodied in the process - in fact, 38% of Republicans voted against him. Everybody in his district and across the country knows that even his Republican support is waning, and now he has to go mano a mano with Democrat Nick Lampson, the strongest Democrat he's faced in decades.

And so the drama's begun. Over the coming months, state after state will hold their primaries, and the dogs will be unleashed. Democrats across the country will face attacks from Karl Rove and the gang; scandal-plagued Republicans will be outraged at accusations of unethical behavior as they keep one eye on any number of prosecutors on their tails; rank and file Republicans will grandstand, pretending to revolt against President Bush in hopes of convincing their voters that they aren't the obedient rubber stamps they've seemed to be for the past five years. It won't be pretty, and we won't let them get away with it.

So let's chat. I've enjoyed these online chats more every time, and I hope I'm getting better at answering all your questions and concerns.

What: Online Chat with DCCC Executive Director John Lapp
Where: www.dccc.org/blog_chat
When: Friday, March 10th - 10:00 AM

You can start submitting your questions at that url now, or drop by and ask while the chat's going on. One of the reasons I enjoy these so much is that everybody who comes is so engaged and wise to the political game that we can really get into it.

Looking forward to it,

Sincerely,

John Lapp
Executive Director, DCCC

Dubai firm to 'transfer' US ports

"...News of the transfer of the six ports to a US entity was broken to the Senate by Senator John Warner, who read out a press release from DPW outlining its plans.

"Because of the strong relationship between the United Arab Emirates and the United States and to preserve that relationship, DP World has decided to transfer fully the US operation of P&O Operations North America to a United States entity," the statement said.

Details of how the transfer would be carried out were unclear...."
+++++++++
Unclear? Perhaps they mean, secret?

#19 You are not alone.

I think it's nice that some Democrats have finally come out and admitted that supporting the invasion of Iraq was a mistake, even though we all know that was obvious a good long time before the invasion actually took place.
But how can you account for some Democrats already falling in line for what looks to be a planned repeat performance in Iran?

#29 thx Alan.

I'm concerned for a couple of our "Children of the Corn". Capt hasn't posted for awhile now, and Gerald...it's been days. I hope you guys are OK.

Good News: America backs off having ports managed by UAE company.

Bad News: UAE agrees to sell its American port management portfolio to Halliburtion.

Some of the cornbloggers are ahead of Glenn Greenwald on this on...

No matter how strong of an immunity one thinks one has constructed against being shocked and disgusted by the acts of national Democrats, it always turns out that it's never actually strong enough. On Tuesday, after the Intelligence Committee vote not to investigate the President's illegal eavesdropping on Americans, Sen. Rockefeller angrily said that the Committee was "under the control" of the White House.

More (link)

A look at the Oscars: An editorial from the Khaleej Times

"...Even though the Oscar nomination itself is a rare honour for the Palestinians and Arabs, it's a pity it didn't win. It's possible that the conspiracy theories about the Jewish lobby working hard to prevent the Oscar honour for the film are exaggerated but you never know. There was another Middle East connection to the Oscars this year. Syriana that takes a cynical look at the oil-and-conflict politics of the region brought laurels for George Clooney...."
++++++
No comment

Four of them found bin Laden, and our best opportunity since 9/11 to kill him.

"They were able to visually spot his camp at Milawa... And from that... mountaintop, they are able to call in air strikes for 56 hours. There were hundreds of them there... We are able to hear bin Laden. After we took a radio off of a dead fighter, we could hear him. We were very close."

That's when Berntsen called for a Blue 82, a 15,000-pound bomb, the largest explosive in our inventory shy of a nuclear weapon. It has to be dropped off the back of a C-130 because it's too heavy to be suspended from an aircraft.

Berntsen's team was on the ground for 11 days of shelling, with the CIA running the show. Then Delta Force took over for the last five days. He says that, at Tora Bora, his request for Army Rangers was denied.

"We we wrote a message back to Washington, it goes back to CIA headquarters, that said, 'We need 600 to 800 Rangers. We need a battalion. We need to employ them in the following way: We need to put them between where bin Laden is at this moment and the border of Pakistan. We don't want him to escape.' "

But on Dec. 15 or 16, he did escape, Berntsen says, into Pakistan.

About this account, Gen. Tommy Franks has said: "Within 72 hours of the time we were receiving reporting on where Osama bin Laden was in Tora Bora, I received similar reporting every place from Baluchistan to a lake up to the northwest of Kandahar.

"The fact... is that, at the end of the day, it would be the Afghans who would make the choice, who would make the decision about where they go in their country. And so we don't know. I don't know whether Osama bin Laden was in Tora Bora at that time."

Responds Berntsen: "Well, he disputes the fact that bin Laden was there. No one is disputing the fact that I wrote the message... And one day it will be declassified. And the sooner they declassify it, the better."

Souce (link)

Michael Smerconish, the author of this take, isn't exactly some big flaming ultralib. At some point, even the apologists for Bush are going to have to turn themselves around in order to get on the right side of history.

#33 Alan, I've noticed, too, especially about Gerald; capt (I think) was here yesterday some, but not much. I hope they are okay, too!

Maybe they are just sitting it out until the silliness subsides.

I hope the guys are ok too. I'm not going to assume the worst. If they are doing other things, things other than cornblogging, its probably for the best. I find I spend too much time reading and posting.(Dont say it!) I know, you think I spend too much time cornblogginh to. Be that as it may, read on..

G.O.P. PLAN WOULD ALLOW SPYING WITHOUT WARRANTS.
Yeah, we already have that, some even think it's bad.

The reason can be found in Justice Dept. Report Cites F.B.I. Violations:

The Federal Bureau of Investigation found apparent violations of its own wiretapping and other intelligence-gathering procedures more than 100 times in the last two years, and problems appear to have grown more frequent in some crucial respects, a Justice Department report released Wednesday said.

While some of these instances were considered technical glitches, the report, from the department's inspector general, characterized others as "significant," including wiretaps that were much broader in scope than approved by a court and others that were allowed to continue for weeks or sometimes months longer than was authorized.
When Congress or the White House says "trust us," the appropriate answer is "no."

more (link)

Maybe they are just sitting it out until the silliness subsides.

*crosses fingers*

Sen. Rockefeller's full statement may not be as harsh and accusatory as some would like it to be, but it does not seem concilatory, but very measured. Maybe he should have screamed and shouted for better effect?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Wendy Morigi
March 8, 2006 (202) 224-6101

Statement from Senator Rockefeller on the Creation of a Senate Intelligence subcommittee to provide Oversight of NSA program

"At the end of the day, our goal should be to have the most effective and legally sound counterterrorism programs possible.

"A thorough review by the full committee would have given the American people much more confidence in achieving that goal, and I will continue to fight for the full committee to have access to this program.

"In the meantime, the creation of a subcommittee to conduct greater oversight is a step in the right direction.

"I have appointed Senators Levin and Feinstein to serve with me on the panel. As the most senior Democratic members of the Committee, I am confident that they will bring enormous expertise in intelligence matters, as well as a commitment to thoroughly understanding the program and its implications.

"Senator Levin brings a depth of experience on national defense programs through the Armed Services and Intelligence Committees. As a member of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Feinstein brings a critical understanding of judicial review and constitutional protections.
"Now, the big test will be whether the seven member subcommittee will receive sufficient information to fully scrutinize the operations of the program and answer the critical legal and constitutional questions before them.

"In addition to White House led briefings, I strongly believe that the subcommittee immediately should have access to the answers of the 450 questions that I submitted to the NSA last week.

"This information will help to guide all members of the subcommittee about the extent of the program and the critical issues at stake. I also hope the subcommittee members can spend sufficient time at the NSA reviewing the operation of the program and getting their own questions answered.

"I continue to believe that legislating without knowing all the facts could do more harm than good. I’m hopeful that all members of this new panel will share the same goal of informing legislative debate before taking steps to strengthen the program for the future.”

Unpleasant Reality
washingtonpost: white house briefing: by dan froomkin

Why does President Bush think he can get away with ruling more and more like an absolutist? Maybe because that's what the American people really want.

The most brash and yet plausible rationale I have heard so far from within the White House for Bush's unprecedented assertion of executive power comes toward the end of a Washington Post opinion column this morning by Jim Hoagland .

Hoagland, who specializes in foreign affairs, writes today about how Bush and Russian President Vladmir Putin have something common: They have both pushed their efforts to concentrate power to the point where even some of their most loyal allies are concerned.

more (link)

#41 I'm a fan of Rockefeller and I think Glenn Greenwald is whipping the best horse in the race.

Nonetheless, when he chides Democratic Senators who apologies for hurting their Republican counterparts feelings by claiming the Republicans like Roberts R-Kansas, Snowe R-Maine, and Hagel R-Nebraska, under the thumb of the White House and have chosen to ignore their constitutional duty to provide oversight on important 4th amendment issues, such as warrantless wiretapping of US citizens,...

I concur.

CLINTON BACK ON CONGRESS' MIND

A Republican congresswoman from Florida says that she will not vote to honor Bill Clinton's birthplace in Hope, Ark., because the former president "has some explaining to do" about his role in the Dubai ports deal. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite says that the deal itself is bad enough, but she is "even more outraged when I hear that (Clinton) may have consulted with the Crown Sheik of Dubai on this deal."

more (link)

What will it take to change the "blame the Democrats" climate in this country? Will it take?

no WMDs in Iraq?

not being greeted as liberators?

no Iraq oil-money to pay the $300 billion dollar tab?

the largest deficit in the history of the country?

an abominable Medicare drug program for seniors?

a White House senior staffer revealing the name of a CIA NOC?

a inept federal response to our country?s largest natural disaster Katrina?

a president who didn't know terrorists might fly planes into buildings or that a category 5 hurricane could top and breech levies?

What will it take to change the "blame the Democrats" knee jerk reaction in this country?

micki and factchecker, I posted last week that this whole Dubai port deal was a sham, I predicted that bushco simply picked someone so unacceptable that in the end anyone else would be better, even halliburton. Those assholes are SO transparent!

I'm with Jeannie on # 11. Not only is Kathleen a "bitch", but I would add a snotty, presumptious biotch. There is an old saying that goes something like "don't poop where you eat".