An audit would expose the situation for how it really is, not their faith based reality. Which has no relation to actual reality. More brain fart policies by the doofus in chief and his cadre of criminals. Nice work if you can get it.

It's possible congressional investigations would not make a good show politically; but the scope and cost of Republican (White House, House, Senate) malfeasance perpetrated during the past 5 years warrants some focused public reckoning. How about a different A word? Accountability.

David, keep it down, new thread please!

Let's hope noone takes your counsel! We, the opposition, want the Dems to remind us all of other (Clinton-era) `audits' behind Enron, Worldcom, etc...

Do Dems want to become known as the "Pro-audit Party"?

Happy's original: Had Enough? Elect PAP!

Mr. David Corn,

Clearly a non-approved (and dumb) use of the "A" word.

The idea of holding the government to account is a fantasy but when I hear stuff like "we can't account for billions" it makes my blood boil.

Maybe "had enough" is the best slogan so far.

Thanks for all of your work

Kirk

I think the Democratic candidates need to pink slip the consultants and find out what the constituents are saying by meeting with them. Do you know how easy it is to find a senator in MN? Not very. I have never met Mark Dayton (he writes back promptly when I email him) and have met Norm Coleman before he was elected. I don't think they feel that they are really going to be made accountable for their votes. I give Mark Dayton credit because I think he cares about his votes and he has high ethics but when he emails me back he's not looking into my eyes. He's not shaking my hand.

I have met my state senator, Satveer Chaudhury, many times. He is in touch with the people and he has done good things for the state of MN. He cares deeply about his state. When my husband was laid off as a programmer I saw Senator Chaudhury in a parade and I told him the computer programming profession was being decimated in our state. He gets downright angry when progress isn't being made for the average MN. He feels responsible to his constituents. That sense has been lost in Washington.

Those tax breaks written about in the last tread were for the people in Washington D.C. Not the working stiff but the lobbyists, and the lawyers and the rest. They all make the kind of money that fits nicely into the tax cut's best category. Congress is not worried about me in MN. They are worried about the people they meet every day.

"we can't account for billions"

hmmm, to paraphrase rumsfeld on 9/10/01; "we can't account for some $2.6 TRILLION"

effen a.

David,

My mantra has always been this: Taxes are a necessary evil. They are not fair. They will never be fair. Take the word "fair" out of the equation. Give me a number. I cough up the dough. I just don't want to be weighed down with the friggin paper work."

The only reason we citizens keep volumes of paper work is the hope that if we are audited we have records for our defense. But probably, its a losing concept, because by the time you pay for x,y, and z.. you lost thousands.

Cough up the dough. Just don't make me do the friggin paperwork. Bastards!

Could the Dems or Repugs get ahead in the polls by proposing such a scheme? Ask the dude that wore plaid shirts...what was his name? You know the 'flat tax' guy.

Later,
th

Investigator in charge of bribery probe says scandal is 'much bigger' than convicted congressman

Randy "Duke" Cunningham, the former California congressman who was convicted of bribery, has not been helping federal authorities as they continue to probe his "web of corruption," a top Pentagon investigator told a California newspaper Tuesday.

Perhaps more notable, however, is that the special agent in charge of the investigation told the paper, "'This is much bigger and wider than just Randy 'Duke' Cunningham. All that has just not come out yet, but it won't be much longer and then you will know just how widespread this is.'"
--------------------
The polls tell Congress whether or not people have been paying attention. It's one thing after another and the Republicans counter it with smear campaigns and talking points. Nobody believes it anymore. It's BS. Indictments and plea bargins and sentencing hearings tell the story.

Poll Gives Bush His Worst Marks Yet

Americans have a bleaker view of the country's direction than at any time in more than two decades, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. Sharp disapproval of President Bush's handling of gasoline prices has combined with intensified unhappiness about Iraq to create a grim political environment for the White House and Congressional Republicans.

Mr. Bush's approval ratings for his management of foreign policy, Iraq and the economy have fallen to the lowest levels of his presidency. He drew poor marks on the issues that have been at the top of the national agenda in recent months, in particular immigration and gasoline prices.

Just 13 percent approved of Mr. Bush's handling of rising gasoline prices. About a quarter said they approved of his handling of immigration, as Congressional Republicans try to come up with a compromise for handling the influx of illegal immigrants into the country.

The poll showed a further decline in support for the Iraq war, the issue that has most eaten into Mr. Bush's public support. The percentage of respondents who said going to war in Iraq was the correct decision slipped to a new low of 39 percent, down from 47 percent in January. Two-thirds said they had little or no confidence that Mr. Bush could successfully end the war.

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

Busheney does not care one bit about whether we "little people" agree with or support their failed policies.

capt

#6
James,
Rumsfeld always says things like that. He uses the word some, like it's a kind of a roundish figure. And the tone he uses he makes it sound like they're looking for every last penny and they're going to find it any day. They are going to find that $2.6 Trillion. Yessiree.

#7
Lamar Alexander?

Oh, I forgot one other thing. Accountability by audit... maybe worked to nail S. Agnew, but these days, accountability by audit? On what planet?
But the dems should keep the heat on, lets talk impeachment hearings. The "I" word. A little testamony under oath.

Later,
th

Associated Press (Sarah Skidmore), PORTLAND, Ore., 2006 May 9 --- Spring chinook salmon are finally moving up the Columbia River at Bonneville Dam, making their latest run on record.
The three-week delay is a mystery to wildlife managers. And lower-than-expected numbers in the run have some fishermen thinking the fishing season will not reopen.
...
Fish and wildlife officials said the count is unlikely to reach the preseason forecast of 88,000.
...
Fishing industry groups said while they've written off the season, they are still concerned about the early trends in low and late salmon runs. This is the second consecutive year the run has been late.

Recap of Last thread # 99
Posted by: LBH at May 10, 2006 12:42 PM

LBH first asked PanTy: "What do you stand for?"

PanTy replied: I believe that it is better to tell the truth than a lie. I believe it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe it is better to know than to be ignorant.

LBH's comeback: Pretty generic, my dog believes this also. Can't you give me something a little more in depth?
==============================================
I have to chime in on this one! My thoughts when I read PanTy's `generic' BS was this: Wow, PanTy's mind is pure as the newborn baby: one small, fat, zero; but hey, pure as the driven snow! LMAO!

Benson,

Any speculation that with rising ocean Temps, the Chinook are spending their oceanic lives in cooler, deeper waters and simply taking longer to reach the mouths of their spawing rivers?

ya! and my golly! (rumsfeld) goodness! gee willikers! ha ha
hmmm, what else did he say? oh ya: we can't always fund the war with the funds that we'd like. we have to fund it with the funds that we invent. wait, that wasn't it. oh ya!: we can't always take care of the disabled vets that we've got, rather, we won't take care of the disabled vets that we create. heckuva job rummy!

Mr Corn,

Thanks for posting what I've been trying to tell Pande and Robert for days now.

Pande, David stole your thunder big dog!!

I am curious as to the number of bodies recovered from the 9/11 crashes, aircraft passengers only. I cannot find any evidence discussed anywhere except for some remarkably intact ID's at the scene.

146
The point is, I did not "jump in" I just posted what I thought.

For YOU to SAY I was jumping in to DEFEND anybody is petty. Like anybody needs to be defended from you or that I only post to "jump in"?

Please feel free to lecture me any time you please.

Keep trying to justify, I am not convinced.

See, I post what I like and do not "jump in" anything and not in defense to others. I think it is easier for you to lump me in with others, it is insincere and a insult to my independent thinking mind.

So get over your-own-bad self. I am an army of one.

capt

LBH is jumping in: Capt quit your friggin whining! It's so petty!

Once again, David proves his wiseness in his advice to Democrats. When you put together Jefferson, Mulholland, McKinney, and God knows Kennedy (who was drinking, there are witnesses at the bar he was in), you realize Dems shouldn't talk all that loud about corruption, even if it is to a much lesser degree.

The A word must go. That's such a nonstarter. Anyone whose ever been audited, knows and cringes from the word.

Jeanne,

I like Mark Dayton too.

th

I 100% agree.

Micki,

From the last thread. I absolutely agree with you on the tax issue. The argument got so vehement, I was too tired to join in.

When you think of what a republican democracy should be like, you would like to think that it takes care of all of it's people, including those who can't help themselves.
Also, where do you think YOUR tax money goes. Do you want paved streets, trash pick-up, sewers, highways, parks, schools, police, street lights, shall I go on?

LBH,
You're getting annoying.

Re #15: Hajji, I haven't seen any such speculation other than the following from the quoted newspaper account: Salmon change their migration for a number of reasons, ranging from temperature to clarity of water, said Bill Tweit, of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The greatest concern is the low numbers: this for a fish which used to number in the multiple hundreds of thousands.

Threat Seen From Antibacterial Soap Chemicals

The compounds end up in sewage sludge that is spread on farm fields across the country.

Some experts worry that widespread use of such products may be helping turn some dangerous germs into "superbugs" resistant to antibiotics.

More here

Jeanne

I agree, it is annoying that I'm always right!

#23
Carey,
It is really hard to find soap that isn't that antibacterial crap. I avoid it though. I hate the stuff. And I manage to keep healthy despite not using it. Hmmmm.

Investigator in charge of bribery probe says scandal is 'much bigger' than convicted congressman
RAW STORY
Published: Wednesday May 10, 2006

Randy "Duke" Cunningham, the former California congressman who was convicted of bribery, has not been helping federal authorities as they continue to probe his "web of corruption," a top Pentagon investigator told a California newspaper Tuesday.

Perhaps more notable, however, is that the special agent in charge of the investigation told the paper, "'This is much bigger and wider than just Randy 'Duke' Cunningham. All that has just not come out yet, but it won't be much longer and then you will know just how widespread this is.'"

Re #23: Carey, I don't seem to be able to follow your link. Maybe repost a link to the entire article? Thanks.

Oh, you are not going to believe this. Someone dumped the details of Bush's travel plans in the trash. Rumsfeld's home address too.

National Security. It's in the trash

#25 Jeanne,

Same here.

#27 David,

I'll try but it will take me a minute.

DEN-
number of bodies recovered from the 9/11 crashes, aircraft passengers only.

wow, they claimed that fligh77 vaporized on impact and then said that they(army docs) identified the dna remains of every flight77 passenger except for a baby? when it was pointed out to them that the dna remains would've vaporized as well as the 757 they changed their story to flight77 cracked into the 1st floor of the pentagon and slid all the way inside and that's why there's no evidence of it remaining on the outside except for this weird piece of fuselage that seems to move from place to place depending on which photo you're looking at. (i'm paraphrasing of course)
i think at the flight93 crash site the county coroner had this to say: "This is the most eerie thing. I have not, to this day, seen a single drop of blood. Not a drop. I stopped being coroner after about 20 minutes, because there were no bodies there. There was just nothing visible. It was the strangest feeling."
hmmm. they DID find a nice red bandana that one of the highjackers wore. no doubt so that he wouldn't look suspicious!
pentagon link
flight93 link

trashed itinerary!

Here you go David. I hope it works this time.

Threat Seen From Antibacterial Soap Chemicals

Link

Talk about a house of cards falling....jeeze this is like a detonation.

After Series of Conflicting Statements, HUD Spokeswoman Goes on 'Scheduled Leave'

On April 28, Housing and Urban Development Alphonso Jackson told a real estate group that he had canceled a government contract because the contractor criticized President Bush. Since then his spokeswoman, Dustee Tucker, has given conflicting explanations of the event. Let's review -

May 3: Tucker tells the Dallas Business Journal that the contract Jackson was referring to in Dallas was an actual HUD "advertising contract with a minority publication."

Early yesterday: Tucker tells the Dallas Morning News that Alphonso Jackson was referring to a real contract that was canceled. She even provided additional details of Jackson's encounter with the contractor that Jackson did not mention during his April 28 speech: "when first asked about the episode Tuesday, Ms. Tucker spoke as if the contractor existed, saying he had approached Mr. Jackson 'trashing, in a very aggressive way' him and the president."

Later yesterday: Tucker tells the Dallas Business Journal that Alphonso Jackson made the whole thing up: "He was merely trying to explain to the audience how people in D.C., will say critical things about the secretary, will unfairly characterize the president and then turn around and ask you for money," Tucker said. "He did not actually meet with someone and turn down a contract. He's not part of the contracting process." She repeats this version to the Dallas Morning News: "'It's not a true story. It's a made-up story,' said Jackson spokeswoman Dustee Tucker, adding that he was only trying to make a point about how Washington works."

Today, ThinkProgress made several attempts to contact Dustee Tucker at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. We were routed to Jerry Brown in the Office of Press Relations. Mr. Brown couldn’¥ answer our questions about the inconsistencies in Ms. Tucker's statements. He also informed us that Ms. Tucker was now on "scheduled leave" and would not return until "next week."
-----------------
It is so hard to keep those damn lies straight.

Carey,

Hospitals and other health care centers are now pushing for ETOH-based hand sanitizers rather than so much anti-bacterial soap. One of the reasons is ease of use and time...

Another is an attempt to limit the environment for hospital-acquired antibiotic resistant bacterium for which we provide some rather unique incubators. (patients with open wounds and diminished immunosytems)

Killing the good bacteria has become almost as bad as NOT killing the bad bacteria!

Re #31: Thanks for trying, Carey, but my %$^%^* web browser won't follow your link. It's ok, I get the gist of this worrisome story anyway.

#30
We have nothing to fear but fear itself. The Bush administration ain't afraid of no terrorists. "Read my trash."

#18 Den & #29 James

Jesus! I've read about this someplace else very recently. Just not this detailed.

Rep. Slaughter Calls On Jackson to Release All Documents on Shirlington Limo Contract

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson is already under fire for claiming he cancelled a government contract with a business because the CEO was critical of President Bush. But that’≥ not the only contract corruption scandal his department is wrapped up in.

Shirlington Limousine and Transportation Inc. is the firm that defense contractor Brent Wilkes used to "transport congressmen, CIA officials, and perhaps prostitutes to his Washington parties." Shirlington's president, Christopher Baker, has a "lengthy history of illegal activity," detailed in his 62-page rap-sheet, and his limo company "operates in what looks to be a deliberately murky way," with multiple, regularly-changing addresses, many of which were actually at residential buildings.

Despite all of this, Shirlington recently won a HUD contract worth $519,823. (Shirlington was also awarded a massive $21 million contract "to provide transportation, including limo service for senior officials" for the Homeland Security Department last fall.)
--------------
It's not a house of cards. It's more like a bowling alley. One official after another. They wobble and they fall. And then they roll.

New Health Scare of the Week

Killer Popcorn

The artificial butter flavor in microwave popcorn produces hazardous fumes, a new federal study has found.

The substance, called diacetyl, is used as a flavor additive in popcorn, chips, and some candy.

The study was done by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. The study found that factory workers regularly exposed to the substance have developed bronchiolitis obliterans, a disease that blocks lung passages with inflammation and scar tissue.

Only a lung transplant can cure the condition, which has afflicted about 200 workers in flavoring plants, killing at least three of them.

Another study is being launched to determine whether diacetyl can contaminate the lungs of consumers who breathe in fumes from steaming microwave popcorn bags.
------
Use the right kind of soap to wash your hands after eating this type of popcorn. Because if one thing doesn't get you, another will! ;-)

I fully agree. The truth of the matter is that every Democrat that will be voting in 2006 already knows what happens if the D's take control of the House or the Senate...so there is absolutely no reason to talk about it...unless you want to turn off Independent voters or disgruntled Republicans. I's and R's will view that kind of rhetoric as more of the same...which may mean they don't vote for the D's or they may simply not vote at all.

It is kind of like boxing...if you are sure you can kick the c#@p out of the opponent, you needn't talk about it...you simply go out and fight a good clean fight for 15 rounds.

more observations here:

www.thoughttheater.com

Practicing creating links: Here is one for DEN, James and Carey...

Pick a Pentagon Topic

#39
Daniel DiRito,
I loved the aids ads on that site. They were great.

From Save our Wild Salmon Website

Conditions in the Pacific Ocean appear to be fluctuating year-to-year, rather than slowly over decades as they have in the past, Williams said.

Salmon need wind and current to push cold, fertile water to the surface, which sparks plankton blooms that are the foundation of the oceanic food chain.

Williams said biologists found record-low plankton blooms off the Oregon Coast last summer, which are critical to the survival of salmon while they're in the ocean.

But when salmon returns are low, there's plenty of blame to go around.

Anglers blame sea lions that congregate near the fish ladders at Bonneville dam, while conservation organizations blame the Columbia/Snake dams, which they say kill outgoing juvenile salmon and slow the return of adults.

"How many more bad years are we going to have to suffer before the administration looks at the real cause of Snake River salmon decline, those four obsolete dams on the Snake River?" a news release from Save our Wild Salmon said.

NPR reports that among "precious" metals...COPPER has doubled in price from $4,000 to $8,000 per TON since last year.

What? Is it made out of oil, or something?

Costs more than a penny to make a penny...what's the point of pennies, anyway?

-T

Anybody interested in Feingold's National Press Club Audio here it is.

Hajji,
You need pennies for exact change when you have a 6 1/2 sales tax.

Hajji, pennies aint copper any more, copper plated zinc.

If you would stop and think about who is out there talking about impeacment and investagations, you would relize that its the repugs,sure Conners has been, but he has been the only one, and he has been fighting this beast since it became clear that they are not good for this country.

The replublicians are doiong what they do best. they are taking a issue away from the Dems by turning it into an evil thing, just like they turned the word liberal into a bad word.

the fact of the matter is that if the Dems gain control they are promising to do their Jobs. Preform Oversite. had the Reblublicians been doing "their jobs" and preformed oversite there would have already been investagations, I see no reason for the Dems to run for cover on this issue. Right now the people want oversite, and I don't think they want it for Revenge, they just want their USA back.

Right now the "Right" is not the Mainstream. We are, and we need to stand up and demand a Congress that will do it's Job. And the Dems should stand up and accept, and if that leads to investagations,indictments, impeacment then so be it. It's not a matter of whats good for the D's or the R's it is a matter of what is good for the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

There is no member of Congress named Mulholland. I think you mean Representative Alan Mollohan of West Virginia, the Democrat who used to be ranking minority member of the House Ethics Committee. http://www.house.gov/mollohan/

There is no member of Congress named Mulholland. I think you mean Representative Alan Mollohan of West Virginia, the Democrat who used to be ranking minority member of the House Ethics Committee. http://www.house.gov/mollohan/

Oy! AUDIT is a very negative word! It conjures up unpleasant images and thoughts: like fear, root canal, water torture, proctology.

You're spot on, David Corn, AUDIT is not a winner.

Someone pretending to be Clueless asks what I stand for.

Pandemoniac quotes H.L. Mencken:
I believe that it is better to tell the truth than a lie. I believe it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe it is better to know than to be ignorant. HLM.

"Pretty generic, my dog believes this also. Can't you give me something a little more in depth?"
Posted by: Clueless at May 10, 2006 12:42 PM

Wow. Get yer dog to explain it to you because you don't have an inkling what Mencken was saying. I believe it is better to tell the truth. You condone the Bush administration's lies, the Conservative congress avoidance of the truth and approve of the braindead liars at FauxNews filling the airwaves with untruth after untruth. I have posted link after link showing all of their economic talking points to be a lie, all of their legislative talking points to be a lie, all of their legal points to be a lie, and all of their revisionist bs to be a lie. You obviously believe it is better to lie than to tell the truth.

You prefer to be a slave to the corporatists in power. You prefer to blind yourself to the lawlessness and the fiscal irresponsibility of the Grand Ol' Spending Party. You prefer to allow Big Oil to write our Energy Policy, Big Pharma to write our Medicare policies, and Banks and Credit Card companies to write fiscal policies. They have you grabbing your ankles and asking for more.

You prefer to stay curled up in your fetal position, sucking your thumb, ignorant as the the day you graduated primary school (last year? the year before? Unless you were held back. What grade would a 12 year old be in?) After all of my links to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, you still don't know what the labor participation rate is, do you? You still don't have the faintest clue, not even in the ballpark? Ms. Saladin, James, Capt, Hajji, and the rest of the firebombers in this blog were right. You are hopelessly, willfully, permanently ignorant. And like your hapless progenitor, you are the ultimate proof that ignorance is bliss. Que lastima.

You may understand Mencken's truth, depending on how smart your dog is. You may believe Mencken's truths. But you don't stand for them. You stand for everything that is wrong with our country today.

And a day without Hapless is like a day away from the circus:
"I have to chime in on this one! My thoughts when I read PanTy's `generic' BS was this: Wow, PanTy's mind is pure as the newborn baby: one small, fat, zero; but hey, pure as the driven snow! LMAO!"
Posted by: Hapless cheers his son at May 10, 2006 04:32 PM

That's it? No facts? No links? No information? No logic? Not even the slightest hint, the faintest puff of ratiocination?

No wonder the approval ratings of the conservatives in Congress are in the 20's and low 30s. The right has become so intellectually bankrupt that they can't even prop up their own cardboard logic. Please don't tell me that after the treasure trove of links to the BLS, Census Bureau, the Fed, the GAO and rightwing thinktanks that I have provided you with, this whisper-thin jumble of words is your response. Oh well, at the very least we can say that you have come by your monikers honestly, Hapless and Clueless.

Conservatism is officially dead:
The Republicans' problem is not simply their inability to run their government and wage their war of choice, it is also their bankruptcy of ideas. On taxes, the Republican legislative leaders' top priorities are to make permanent the tax cut on investment income and to repeal the estate tax -- economics, as ever, for our wealthiest 1 percent. (This at a time when the entire theory of trickle-down has been negated by the propensity of U.S. corporations to use their shareholders' investments to expand abroad rather than at home.) On energy, the notions of tougher fuel economy standards and mandating a shift to renewable energy sources are so alien to the Republicans' DNA that they come forth with such proposals as Bill Frist's $100 rebate, the most short-lived legislative initiative in recent memory.

There's no concealing the Republican collapse.

We don't need an audit. We need an autopsy. Selah, baybee!

I believe I have recently read that, even so, it costs more to make a penny than $0.01. I suggest that all prices, including taxes, need to be stated just to the nearest dime, $0.10. Then do away with pennies and nickles.

Heard of inflation? Dollar depreciation? $3 gasoline?

Yeah, Bob Mulholland is the California Dem campaign strategist who referred to Arnold Schwarzenegger as "not a man" in an interview with KNTV-NBC11.

#40 -
pick a pentagon topic? ok i pick this one:

why were so many of the official photos released by the govt. manipulated, staged and faked?

911 photostudies.com

or how about this one: what the devil drilled a 12' diameter hole (a giant drill bit?) thru a good portion of the newly reinforced section of the pentagon while leaving the face of the building (where the plane hit? ha!) standing for a good 1/2 hour? hmmm -

pentagon strike flash video

actually, there's any number of questions regarding the pentagon and 911 that 911myths.com (with their lame straw man approach) fails to cover.

pentagonresearch.com
_____________

here's a better idea professor: go make a bicycle powered search engine out of coconuts!

oops.
911photostudies.com

There is great excitement about the Dems winning back the House. The Dems will lose seats in the House and in the Senate. Rigged electronic voting machines are one factor. There are three other factors that solidify a Naxi win in 2006. People love tax cuts and the Nazi American psyche is more in line with the Nazis. Plus, Christianity is dead in Nazi America and it has been replaced by bushianity. There will be much crying and weeping in patriotic American camps in the early hours of November 8, 2006. The Nazis will blow out patriotic Americans.

Right, it's Alan Mollohan, not Bob Mulholland. A factchecker let me down. I hate when that happens!

THE UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE YEAR

"LBH, You're getting annoying."
Posted by: Jeanne at May 10, 2006 04:50 PM

#47
Interesting post miker. You made good points.

THE OVERSTATMENT OF THE YEAR

. . . I'm always right!
Posted by: LBH at May 10, 2006 05:00 PM

Jeanne
Thanks.

Bush Nominee Rated 'Unqualified' by ABA

WASHINGTON - The American Bar Association rated one of President Bush's judicial nominees "not qualified" Wednesday, prompting a call from a liberal group for the president to withdraw the Mississippi lawyer's nomination.

A panel of the nation's largest lawyers group voted unanimously to give its lowest rating to Michael Wallace, Bush's nominee for the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Wallace, 54, had been special counsel to then-Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi during the impeachment trial of President Clinton in 1999. He also worked for Lott in the 1980s after serving as a law clerk to then-Associate Supreme Court Justice William H. Rehnquist.

.....An unanimous "not qualified" rating is rare from the ABA, which has graded judicial candidates since the 1950s on three factors: integrity, professional competence and judicial temperament.
------------------------
Again, excellent choice. If Bush keeps this up I'll have to stop hating him. Pandemoniac, you're right, he's a dream president for anyone running against a Republican.

David Corn, are the dems TRYING to lose?? Not that it matters one way or the other.
DB and Hajji, I am from Portland and the Salmon issue has been ongoing for some time. The Bonneville dam is a huge contributor to the deaths of the young and Gov. Kitzhaber wanted to breach a couple dams on the eastern end of the Columbia but was pretty much blown off by the ranching interests in eastern Oregon and Washington who depend on the dams for irrigation. The poor Salmon don't stand a chance against politics.
micki from the previous thread, I have assumed nothing. First you accuse me of anti-Jewish sentiments, a blatent lie, then you rant that I hate taxes without even trying to qualify the statement with any of the many reasons why I hate this tax system, reasons that I have been very upfront and detailed about for months, then you accuse me of being selfish while lumping me in with LBH. Assumption is not necessary, I am repeating the things you yourself have said. I am well aware of the many ways people can help others, which is my whole point. I don't need you or anyone else "assuming" I am some kind of charity nitwit. You have no idea who I have helped or how I do it, so how about getting off the high horse?

Energy crisis? Venezuela gas is cheaper than water
Wed May 10, 2006 6:02pm ET

By Brian Ellsworth

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Taxi driver Jaime Tinoco works the streets of Caracas in a 1976 Chevy Nova that guzzles 19 gallons (72 liters) of gas a day. But he doesn't worry about fuel efficiency -- filling his tank costs just $2.30.

While U.S. consumers struggle with soaring energy prices, Venezuela's gas is now the world's cheapest at 12 cents a gallon and Washington's regional foe, President Hugo Chavez, vows to maintain subsidies that keep fuel dirt-cheap.

"Those gringos have everything -- so why does their gas cost so much?" asked Tinoco between chuckles as he navigated a midday traffic jam. "Don't they have oil reserves?"

Chavez, a self-proclaimed socialist and critic of President Bush, has even begun subsidizing fuel for poor U.S. neighborhoods as U.S. consumers brace for average summer gas prices of $2.71 a gallon -- 34 cents higher than last summer.

In Venezuela, the world's No. 5 oil exporter, drivers fill their tanks for less than the price of a cheap breakfast, and love to point out that gasoline costs less than mineral water.

The nation's gasoline is now the world's cheapest, according to an International Monetary Fund report released in April that shows Venezuelan gas prices as about a third of those in oil-producing giant Saudi Arabia.
-----------
No wonder bush wants to wipe him off the map!

I know it's tempting, mis amigos--I had to suppress a snark this morning myself--but acknowledging the existence of the Bushevik cultists only encourages them. Their minds reside in the Corporate Elephascist McMedia Matrix, and I despair that they will ever take the red pill. For our peace of mind, I think it best to ignore them. Now I must go mine sodium chloride. Sayonara.

From the swamps of Arkansas, Kid Charlemagne

GOP House Speaker taps Cheney, Goss for Congressional Distinguished Service Awards
RAW STORY
Published: Tuesday May 9, 2006

On Wednesday afternoon in the U.S. Capitol, Distinguished Service Awards will be bestowed upon Vice President Dick Cheney and former CIA Director Porter Goss, two former House members selected by House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL), RAW STORY has found.

"The Congressional Distinguished Service Award was established to honor former Members of the House who have performed their duties on behalf of their constituents and the American people with such extraordinary distinction and selfless dedication as to merit special recognition," reads an invitation to the ceremony obtained by RAW STORY.
------------
Really, can it possibly get any f**king weirder than that?? Thank you, thank you, thank you mr. cheney for making sure our Airforce and NORAD were so confused on 9/11 they couldn't tell the difference between real hijacked aircraft and the drills! I'm sure the victims families would understand completely if you could just convince them it was all just some awful coincidence, like the hundred other coincidences that day.

Prosecutor: Mexico trying to dismantle Arizona smuggling law
Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas says the Mexican government has arranged for a lawyer to challenge his legal opinion that illegal immigrants suspected of using smugglers to cross into the state can be charged as conspirators.
The lawyer also argues that the state can't regulate immigration.
--------------
Might as well dismantle all immigration laws. If the power elite get their way all of Canada, Mexico and the US will be one big happy family by 2010. So long sovereign nations.

This is F**king laughable.

Security Issue Kills Domestic Spying Probe

The government has abruptly ended an inquiry into the warrantless eavesdropping program because the National Security Agency refused to grant Justice Department lawyers the necessary security clearance to probe the matter.

The Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility, or OPR, sent a fax to Rep. Maurice Hinchey (news, bio, voting record), D-N.Y., on Wednesday saying they were closing their inquiry because without clearance their lawyers cannot examine Justice lawyers' role in the program.

"We have been unable to make any meaningful progress in our investigation because OPR has been denied security clearances for access to information about the NSA program," OPR counsel H. Marshall Jarrett wrote to Hinchey. Hinchey's office shared the letter with The Associated Press.
------------------
And thus concludes another episode of "Alice in Wonderland".

Repeat after me.
Bush did not know Abramoff.

Bush nominated Abramoff associate same day Abramoff visited the White House in 2001

Convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff may have met with President George W. Bush the same day President Bush nominated one of Abramoff's former colleagues to be Assistant Secretary of Labor, RAW STORY has found.

President Bush announced his intent to nominate Patrick Pizzella, who worked with Abramoff at his former lawfirm Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds, the same day Abramoff made a visit to the White House, according to Secret Service records released today.

On Mar. 6, 2001, Abramoff entered at 4:23 p.m. and left at 4:49 p.m., according to Cox News Service, which obtained the records from the government watchdog Judicial Watch today (Article).

A White House press release shows that Bush nominated Patrick Pizzella the very same day.

DEMOCRATS SHOULD USE THE A-WORD

David I thought your A word was going to be ACCOUNTABILITY.

I really question your statement "revenge is unlikely to play well with swing voters." You indicate that holding the Bush administration and representatives ACCOUNTABLE for crimes committed through investigations is something the American people are not interested in. That this might be considered revenge. I think you could not be further from the truth. To think that holding those responsible for lying us into a war of choice, who gouge gas prices, create and dessiminate fabricated pre-war intelligence, wiretap Americans outside of the law, swap gifts from Abramoff and other lobbyist for votes....calling investigations "revenge" is way off of the mark. ACCOUNTABLITY is what the American people are hungry for.

You should get out more and talk with common folk. The media missed being on the streets prior to the invasion and they missed witnessing who was out on the streets against this war of choice. The majority of people marching were not left of center, many folks were right down the middle, teachers, teamsters, Doctors, Vets (lots of Vets), students, soccer moms. I even talked to quite a few Republicans who were deeply concerned way back in 2002.
I can assure you that the American people want to witness those responsible for crimes in D.C. held ACCOUNTABLE.

I spent endless hours and weeks before the 2004 election in VFW's, Moose lodges, and on the streets of inner city Columbus and Cincinnati Ohio. I talked with hundreds of people who were very pissed off about the criminal activity of the Republicans (and some Democrats). I can assure you these people want these criminals held ACCOUNTABLE.

Have you forgotten when Senator Harry Reid demanded a closed session in regard to Phase II of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.(Senator Pat Roberts has yet to deliver the truth about the false pre-war intelligence ,or held one person ACCOUNTABLE for the cherry picked intelligence) In fact, Republican Senator Pat Roberts has done everything he can to stall, put up roadblocks and interfere in the completion of this critical investigation. Do you when Americans (including swing voters)went crazy with delight when Senator Harry Reid took a stand on this investigation, we witnessed some backbone. This is not "revenge" this is called holding people ACCOUNTABLE.

The Democrats need to get out on the street (you too David) and find out first hand what people are thinking. I think they will find that it does not matter whether people are Democrats, Republicans, or Independents. Honest Americans want to see those responsible for these crimes held ACCOUNTABLE. This is the very least that our Representatives can do for those who have needlessly lost their lives in Iraq a "war of choice".

Christ AlMighty the American people witnessed the Republican controlled congress hold a President ACCOUNTABLE for lying about a blowjob under oath. Is this what the American people are to accept as the priorities of our elected Representatives? Are the American people to accept that our Representatives found it more important to investigate lying about an extra marital affair than investigating those individuals who led a nation to war based on lies, torture, operating outside of the Geneva convention, an energy policy set up in secret, lobbyist gone wild, gas gouging, tax cuts for the wealthy, torture, wiretapping etc etc. Do you actually think that swing voters would object to people being held ACCOUNTABLE for the massive amount of crimes that have taken place during this administrations hold on our country? If swing voters and others think it is more important to investigate a blow job than an intelligence snow job that has resulted in tens of thousands of dead Iraqi people and American soldiers, then our nation is done for. I believe that Americans (swing voters, Republicans, Democrats and Independents) are hungry , no we are starving to witness our representatives hold these criminals gone wild ACCOUNTABLE.

Nancy Pelosi hit the nail on the head on Tim Russerts this past Sunday when she said that when Democrats win the House and Senate they will go where the investigations and facts take them. No revenge, simply ACCOUNTABILITY.

Everyday most Americans are held ACCOUNTABLE for our work, raising children etc. Our children are held ACCOUNTABLE for their school work and whether they cheat in the process and hopefully for the way they treat others. Our jails are filled with people being held ACCOUNTABLE for crimes committed. Should we expect less from our leaders and Representatives? NO.

Coin Dealer Asks to Change Guilty Pleas

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) -- A major GOP fundraiser charged in a scandal over a state rare-coin investment asked to change his not guilty pleas Wednesday on separate federal charges that he illegally funneled donations to President Bush's re-election campaign.

Coin dealer Tom Noe's attorney and the U.S. attorney's office jointly filed a request Wednesday asking a federal judge to set a change of plea hearing as soon as possible. The filing did not indicate what the new plea will be.

Noe had denied illegally funneling $45,400 in contributions to President Bush's re-election bid. He is accused of skirting the $2,000 limit on individual contributions by giving money directly or indirectly to 24 friends and associates, who then made the campaign contributions in their own names.

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

More corruption, more crimes. SSDD

capt

DNA Tests Confirm Bear Was a Hybrid

IQALUIT, Nunavut (AP) -- Northern hunters, scientists and people with vivid imaginations have discussed the possibility for years.

But Roger Kuptana, an Inuvialuit guide from Sachs Harbour, North West Territories, was the first to suspect it had actually happened when he proposed that a strange-looking bear shot last month by an American sports hunter might be half polar bear, half grizzly.

Territorial officials seized the creature after noticing its white fur was scattered with brown patches and that it had the long claws and humped back of a grizzly. Now a DNA test has confirmed that it is indeed a hybrid - possibly the first documented in the wild.

"We've known it's possible, but actually most of us never thought it would happen," said Ian Stirling, a polar bear biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Service in Edmonton.

Polar bears and grizzlies have been successfully paired in zoos before - Stirling could not speculate why - and their offspring are fertile.

Breeding seasons for the two species overlap, though polar bear gets started slightly earlier.

*****end of clip*****

A very odd story.

capt

UH, Kathleen, pelosi is a huge grantee of AIPAC money, why would you ever trust her?

#20 Carey

DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS NEED TO ADDRESS THE CORRUPTION. Pardon me but somehow I find lying about pre-war intelligence that has resulted in tens of thousands of dead a might more critical than a representative who slugged a WH cop or a representative who was in an accident due to the consumption of drugs or alcohol.

These crimes just are not on the same scale and the effects are VERY different. The degree of severity of these crimes and who they effect is HUGE....

Kathleen
70
"the truth will be heard"
Thanks For a Great Post

Uh Saladin...I agree with Pelosi sometimes.. not all the time.... just as I agree with you "sometimes" and not all of the time.

Mom wants an Escalade
Most mothers drive an SUV and, if they could drive anything, it would be a nicer SUV.
May 10, 2006: 12:14 PM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Perhaps not surprisingly, a new survey reveals that most mothers drive SUVs. And if they could drive any vehicle at all? They'd want a nicer SUV.

In a survey conducted by NADAguides.com,... mothers and expectant mothers were asked what type of vehicle they currently drove, what vehicle they would most like to drive and what factors were most important to them in choosing a vehicle.

.......54 percent said they drove an SUV and 22 percent said they drove a four-door sedan. Only six percent of mothers said they drove a minivan.

But when asked what vehicle they would "dream" of driving if actual financial and family issues were not a factor, SUVs were still the top picks. Most mothers said they really wanted a Cadillac Escalade SUV. The second most popular choice was a Land Rover Range Rover SUV followed by a Porsche Carrera sports car.

........asked to name the three most important aspects of a vehicle. Among mothers and expectant mothers, 67 percent put safety as a top concern....

The survey was conducted in late April and early May. A total of 520 mothers and expectant mothers were surveyed.
============================================
Detroit has done an excellent job of satisfying the demand for SUVs' while providing high-paying jobs to a fortunate few hundred thousand blue-collar workers.

Now, with `high' gas prices, should we `punish' them and mandate a high fuel efficiency standard that may well drive GM & Ford out of business? Even if they try, they can't change their product mix very fast and must do so without losing more money. Reality: they simply don't presently have the operational expertise to manufacture, profitably, small, lighter weight vehicles.

Toyota's latest quarterly profit was up 57% and it has a market cap of ~$200 Billion. GM is worth ~$10 Billion (and would be negative if its UAW-related liabilities are put on its Blance Sheet).

Security Issue Kills Domestic Spying Probe By DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 41 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The government has abruptly ended an inquiry into the warrantless eavesdropping program because the National Security Agency refused to grant Justice Department lawyers the necessary security clearance to probe the matter.

The Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility, or OPR, sent a fax to Rep. Maurice Hinchey (news, bio, voting record), D-N.Y., on Wednesday saying they were closing their inquiry because without clearance their lawyers cannot examine Justice lawyers' role in the program.

"We have been unable to make any meaningful progress in our investigation because OPR has been denied security clearances for access to information about the NSA program," OPR counsel H. Marshall Jarrett wrote to Hinchey. Hinchey's office shared the letter with The Associated Press.

Jarrett wrote that beginning in January, his office has made a series of requests for the necessary clearances. Those requests were denied Tuesday.

"Without these clearances, we cannot investigate this matter and therefore have closed our investigation," wrote Jarrett.

Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said the terrorist surveillance program "has been subject to extensive oversight both in the executive branch and in Congress from the time of its inception."

Roehrkasse noted the OPR's mission is not to investigate possible wrongdoing in other agencies, but to determine if Justice Department lawyers violated any ethical rules. He declined to comment when asked if the end of the inquiry meant the agency believed its lawyers had handled the wiretapping matter ethically.

Hinchey is one of many House Democrats who have been highly critical of the domestic eavesdropping program first revealed in December. He said lawmakers would push to find out who at the NSA denied the Justice Department lawyers security clearance.

"This administration thinks they can just violate any law they want, and they've created a culture of fear to try to get away with that. It's up to us to stand up to them," said Hinchey.

In February, the OPR announced it would examine the conduct of its own agency's lawyers in the program, though they were not authorized to investigate NSA activities.

Bush's decision to authorize the largest U.S. spy agency to monitor people inside the United States, without warrants, generated a host of questions about the program's legal justification.

The administration has vehemently defended the eavesdropping, saying the NSA's activities were narrowly targeted to intercept international calls and e-mails of Americans and others inside the U.S. with suspected ties to the al-Qaida terror network.

Separately, the Justice Department sought last month to dismiss a federal lawsuit accusing the telephone company AT&T of colluding with the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program.

The lawsuit, brought by an Internet privacy group, does not name the government as a defendant, but the Department of Justice has sought to quash the lawsuit, saying it threatens to expose government and military secrets.

___

gasoline in venezuela = 12cents/gal

Cocaine the CIA and Corrupt GOP Politicians

May 10, 2006 -- WMR reported on April 21 on a major cocaine shipment, using a CIA proprietary aircraft, that landed in Mexico en route from Caracas, Venezuela with 5.5 tons of cocaine on board. The pilot was reported to have "escaped" from Mexican police. U.S. and foreign neo-con propaganda organs immediately tried to link the aircraft, a DC-9 that was sold to unknown persons in Venezuela by a Clearwater, Florida-based firm called Royal Sons, LLC, to Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez and Colombia's FARC guerrillas. The plane was painted in the colors and bore an insignia similar to those used by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The insignia identified the aircraft as "Sky Way Aircraft."

It has now been revealed by knowledgeable sources that Sky Way is affiliated with an off-shore company called DuPont Fund 57289, Inc., headed by a "Richard DuPont, Jr.," who likely does not exist. DuPont Fund is not affiliated with the DuPont business group or any subsidiaries of the multinational chemical firm. DuPont Fund is headquartered at Apartado 10455-1000 in San Jose, Costa Rica. This is the same address used by Red Sea Management, Ltd., an off-shore company and trust facilitator that is linked to another address -- 76 Dean Street in Belize City, Belize, which is apparently a post office box drop. Red Sea has a Cyprus-based subsidiary called Dark Sea Consultants that specializes in on-line gambling operations in the Middle East and East Asia. WMR sources report that this operation, involving cocaine smuggling and on-line gambling, is linked to the illegal operations of convicted GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff, members of Russian-Israeli-Ukrainian crime syndicates, and top Republican elected officials, including Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Texas Rep. Tom DeLay, and others who benefited from the infusion of drug and gambling proceeds into their political war chests, as well as the financing of pay-offs and bribes to election officials in Florida, Ohio, and other states to buy the 2004 election for George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

The editor reported on aspects of these operations following the 2004 election.

Election Fraud

Buying of election

Votergate

*****end of clip*****

Sounds like the old days are here again.

capt

The democrats should run on an anti war platform. Bush's low poll numbers are because Americans are unhappy with this war. We need to drive this home. The war and the largest deficit in our history should be the themes to bring voters back to us.

Russ Feingold would be a perfect candidate. A real opposition candidate to vote for.

51 Day after day Pande writes responses to LBH and Happy's right wing talking points and partisan screeds.

Today we find out neither bothers to read the posts or the links and that Happy's dog does but the bitch doesn't know how to work the hyperlinks.

Kathleen, I agree with you, accountability is important and yes, the voters will go for it. All Americans are sick of the corruption and crimes of this administration.

James, talking about LUCKY! Check out this guyz story.
=========================
Frank Probst : a Pentagon renovation worker and retired Army officer, he was inspecting newly installed telecommunications wiring inside the five-story, 6.5-million-square-foot building.The tall, soft-spoken Probst had a 10 a.m. meeting. About 9:25 a.m., he stopped by the renovation workers' trailer just south of the Pentagon heliport. Someone had a television turned on in the trailer's break room that showed smoke pouring out of the twin towers in New York. "The Pentagon would make a pretty good target," someone in the break room commented. The thought stuck with Probst as he picked up his notebook and walked to the North Parking Lot to attend his meeting. Probst took a sidewalk alongside Route 27, which runs near the Pentagon's western face. Traffic was at a standstill because of a road accident. Then, at about 9:35 a.m., he saw the airliner in the cloudless September sky.American Airlines Flight 77 approached from the west, coming in low over the nearby five-story Navy Annex on a hill overlooking the Pentagon. He has lights off, wheels up, nose down," Probst recalled. The plane seemed to be accelerating directly toward him. He froze. "I knew I was dead," he said later. "The only thing I thought was, 'Damn, my wife has to go to another funeral, and I'm not going to see my two boys again.'." He dove to his right. He recalls the engine passing on one side of him, about six feet away. The plane's right wing went through a generator trailer "like butter," Probst said. The starboard engine hit a low cement wall and blew apart. He still can't remember the sound of the explosion. Sometimes the memory starts to come back when he hears a particularly low-flying airliner heading into nearby Reagan National Airport, or when military jets fly over a burial at Arlington National Cemetery. Most of the time, though, his memory is silent."It was pretty horrible," he said of the noiseless images he carries inside him, of the jet vanishing in a cloud of smoke and dust, and bits of metal and concrete drifting down like confetti. On either side of him, three streetlights had been sheared in half by the airliner's wings at 12 to 15 feet above the ground. An engine had clipped the antenna off a Jeep Grand Cherokee stalled in traffic not far away.
http://web.archive.org/web/20041022115307/http://www.militarycity.com/sept11/fortress1.html

well shyt Sorry 'bout the wide address

Kathleen, agreeing with her and trusting her are two different things. I didn't ask why you agreed, just why you would trust that she is being honest. You can disagree with me all you want, that doesn't bother me, but one thing I can lay claim to is being trustworthy. I do the best that I can to stick by my word with integrity and honesty. And when I am wrong it is an honest mistake, not a scam or attempt to mislead. I doubt if the same can be said about Ms. pelosi.

Here's an electrician friend of the first Mr. Lucky. His quote explains why those spools weren't hit... nor his trailer either.
=========================
"Where the plane came in was really at the construction entrance," says Jack Singleton, president of Singleton Electric Co. Inc., Gaithersburg MD, the Wedge One electrical subcontractor. "The plane's left wing actually came in near the ground and the right wing was tilted up in the air. That right wing went directly over our trailer, so if that wing had not tilted up, it would have hit the trailer. My foreman, Mickey Bell, had just walked out of the trailer and was walking toward the construction entrance."

#72
Weird. I just came in from picking my daughter up and that story was playing on Minnesota Public Radio. We have Canadian radio on MPR. Very interesting story. So interesting that I stayed in the van until the story ended.

Wow, for a pilot that couldn't even fly a Cessna competently he did a fantastic job. Guess that last minute brush-up with the flight manuel left in the rental car did the trick! Gosh, I guess just about anyone could take a corespondence course on how to fly a jumbo jet and be ready for action in no time. United, here I come! Think the CIA would finance my lessons?

A neoconservative walked into a drugstore and asked the pharmacist for some bottom deodorant.

The pharmacist, a little bemused, explained to the woman that they don't sell anything called bottom deodorant.

Unfazed, the neocon assured him that she has been buying the stuff from his store on a regular basis.

"I'm sorry," said the pharmacist patiently. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"But I always get it here," insisted the neocon.

"Do you have the empty container?"

"Yes, I do; and I will go get it," she said.

She returned with the container and handed it to the pharmacist, who looked at it and explained, "This is just a normal stick of underarm deodorant."

The annoyed neocon snatches the container back and says, "You must be a liberal and have no grasp of reality or truth. It says right here on the container: 'To apply, push up bottom.'"

Wow, for a pilot that couldn't even fly a Cessna competently he did a fantastic job.

uh huh, he sho did! The proof's in the pudding, huh?

Security issue kills domestic spying inquiry
NSA won't grant Justice Department lawyers required security clearance

WASHINGTON - The government has abruptly ended an inquiry into the warrantless eavesdropping program because the National Security Agency refused to grant Justice Department lawyers the necessary security clearance to probe the matter.

The inquiry headed by the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility, or OPR, sent a fax to Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., on Wednesday saying they were closing their inquiry because without clearance their lawyers cannot examine Justice lawyers' role in the program.

Happy, Excuse me if I dont feel sorry for the auto companies. They've had years to get their act together..years they could have been investing in R&D. you say, "Reality: they simply don't presently have the operational expertise to manufacture, profitably, small, lighter weight vehicles." I say, "Screw em." Welcome to capitalism. If they can't produce, then some other company (probably Japanese) can. I hope gas prices continue to rise (even though I will have to pay for it since my vehicle is necessary for work) and Americans will either get disgusted beyond measure or they will fall in line and become complacent. I'm betting on the latter, considering how lazy Americans really are when they have to actually think for themselves.

Good link at #40 Dr. Benson. Clicking around in there, I found this link at Rense that shows part of the landing gear inside the C ring.

picture

#93
I hope they start demanding better transportations systems within the large cities. The traffic is ridiculous in the Twin Cities. It isn't half as bad as other cities. Imagine the amount of money saved if everyone used public transportation. Imagine the strides it would make in making our cities healthier places to breath.

Dr. B, if you still wanna practice, woodja link the science site? I took my Mom to see Flight 93 earlier and I haven't made it home yet.

good for you Alan, keep the propagande alive and well, bushco needs all the help they can get.

I just started reading this thread and was annoyed with Happy at #14. (Haven't read any further) People like him with his greedy, screw-everyone mentality.....that we should ALL want to screw our neighbor because that's the way it is.....makes me sick.

Pande spells out the truth and people like Happy still laugh. Screw everyone because that's how one gets ahead..that's the way life is. But the bottom line is that we're all in this life together. It behooves all of us to take care of each other. I don't care HOW it 'really' is, something has to change. Isn't it time?

Now I have to go to bed. I'll catch up tomorrow with any luck. xoxoxoxox

the ASCE tells us that a 757 hit the pentagon at the ground floor and "slid all the way inside".
indeed.
but photos show us that for some as yet unexplained reason there is no evidence of a 757 having hit the pentagon at the ground floor, and not only that, OTHER photos officially released by the govt. have been faked. (links @ 54 & 55).
and to top that off, professor yli-karjanmaa shows us how and in what manner the ASCE is incorrect.
and as if that were not insulting enough, a search of the bureau of transportation's no doubt meticulous flight records reveals that on 9/11/01 flight77 did not even leave the ground.
all of this would seem to contradict the eye-witness testimony of mr. lucky.

There actually is a very significant precedent for military men being in charge of the CIA.

Why is congress putting on this show?

I used to be a determined disbeliever, even debunker, of alternative 9/11 explanations.
Before we get too rough with Alan, let's consider something: I, for one, don't know what he does for a living. He may work in a position where it would hurt his career to be known for taking "crackpot conspiracy theories" seriously. That would give him a large emotional stake in disproving the unorthodox conspiracy theories regarding the 9/11 attacks. (I say "unorthodox" because the orthodox theory is also a conspiracy theory, just one that says "no one in our government or corporate elite was involved; it was all those horrible Islamic radicals.") I can get away with considering unorthodox theories seriously because my employers don't give a flying duck if I believe in superintelligent little green hamsters flying UFOs, as long as I do my assigned work completely and on time.

Also, I think conspiracy theories tend to make us leftish types uncomfortable because, historically in the USA, such theories are more often and strongly associated with the radical right. The radical right has feared fractional reserve banking long and deeply, for example, and some sites that contain alternative 9/11 explanations also contain that sort of thing, and other durable themes of the radical right. We might fear that we're drifting rightward if we find our thoughts running in such exotic channels.

Alternatively, we may simply fear that we are becoming mentally ill, because "only crazy people believe stuff like that". It does not help that many of the sites that contain these
unorthodox theories about 9/11 also contain stuff by people who, well, believe in UFOs, perhaps piloted by superintelligent little green hamsters. [did somebody say "Jeff Rense"?] ;)

Well, I must dash. The little green hamsters have scheduled me for a medical exam. I'm just glad they've finally invented medical tricorders. Those anal probes were a real drag.

From the swamps of Arkansas, Kid Charlemagne

It's time to start keeping tabs on the most criminal administration in the history of our republic. Our freedom may depend on it.
--anonymous

#32 & #37 Jeanne

Holy moly!

#40 David

You were successful in your link. Excellent!

#66 Saladin

Extremely funny. Could you believe that award ceremony happened? We are living in a most surreal world.

Micki & Saladin

Last night I was very tired, so I didn't read all the arguments. They were getting tense and it seems to be continuing. Saladin, all I'm saying is that flat taxes (and that was what you were arguing for, right? I'll have to go back and check) are blatantly unfair. In a just, democratic society the tax system must be progressive. Bushco has, of course, obliterated that.

all of this would seem to contradict the eye-witness testimony of mr. lucky

ahh, so your telling them people not to believe their lying eyes. Instead, go with this guy's interpretation of what he's seeing in the pictures.
They'll probably go for that, if he offers them more money than the conpiracy paid them. Maybe it wasn't money though, maybe there's alot more neocons than we think!

So what did he say actually hit the Pentagon? I only looked at a couple of his points. He didn't say at the bottom there, so if he said what made that damage, I missed it.

Relic of ancient asteroid found

A large fragment of an asteroid that punched 160km-wide (100 miles) hole in the Earth's surface has been found.

The beachball-sized fossil meteorite was dug out of the 145-million-year-old Morokweng crater in South Africa.

It is a unique discovery because large objects are widely believed to completely melt or vaporise as they collide with the planet.

Writing in the journal Nature, an international team says the find will further knowledge on asteroid impacts.

The Morokweng crater is one of the largest on Earth, and was formed at the boundary of the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

"This is remarkable because this is something that people didn't think could happen."

Too cool for school.

capt

I see where David is a featured speaker along with Helen Thomas and others, at an all day conference coming up June 2.
Props to ya, and give her our love.

Dr. Benson, the other day you posted that energy formula. E = (½)M x V x V. Last night I watched a documentary on Einstein and it verified for me why the two V's. Well duh, it's V-squared. I think I just found out why the fraction is in there. Is this the reason?

...(and don’t forget that a fractional power is a root; so 0.5 is the square-root operation).

Russia Aims to Counter U.S. With Bigger Arsenal

Putin speech compares America to a wolf that 'swallows without listening to anyone.'

MOSCOW President Vladimir V. Putin, in a blunt response to U.S. criticism of his domestic and foreign policies, declared Wednesday that Russia would boost its military strength to ensure its ability to resist foreign pressure.

In an annual address to parliament, Putin said new nuclear and high-precision weapons would enable the country to maintain a strategic balance with the United States, which he compared to a wolf the archvillain of Russian fairy tales doing as it pleases in the world.

"As they say, 'Comrade Wolf knows whom to swallow,' " Putin said. "He swallows without listening to anyone. Nor does he intend to listen to anyone, judging by all appearances."

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

It may not be a return to the cold war but

"Nor does he intend to listen to anyone"

Sounds like the end of diplomacy.

capt

Richard Cohen writes an idiotorial about the angry liberals.

William Rivers Pitt rubs Cohen's nose in his own mess. Those Journamalists need training just like Clueless.

A sad post by Billmon, wherein he shoots my home state in the ass:
"What is it about this family -- a rather middling lot of trust fund WASPs transplanted to the asshole of the universe (sometimes known as Texas) -- that leads them to believe they have a dynastic right to reign over the United States of America?"

Wolcott is Stirring the Crackpot. He must be talking about those folks who believe in UFOs, see Elvis in their Soap-on-a-rope, and those who ferociously cling to the palpable idiocy that the Bush economy is better than the Clinton economy.

Some observers have said that Mr. Bush resolved to never again be outdumbed. Perhaps the real lesson the President learned is that people want assurance that a politician does not feel compelled to take away liberty in exchange for the illusory safety of the all-powerful state run by elitist know-it-alls.
Posted by: Clueless at May 9, 2006 07:58 PM

I like it when you cut and paste stuff that makes my points for me. That part about the president never being outdumbed was classic ... not a chance of that happening. Thanks.

"Pande it is better to know than be ignorant about who creates jobs for people like you, so here's to your education"
Posted by: Clueless at May 10, 2006 12:32 PM

The discussion was about creating WEALTH, dumbass. The orangutans deserve another apology for ever being compared to you. Jeanne was right, you have the reading skillz of a mudsucker.

"Pande I thought you said groudkeepers jobs were unwanted jobs by Americans which is why illegal Mexicans come here to take them."

Ahh, there you go trying to think again. You're gonna hurt yourself, if you don't watch out. Find what I actually said, cut it, paste it and substantiate it or admit that you're lying. Again? Conservatives can't seem to go more than a few seconds without telling a lie.

"Why do you continue to make fun of Gas n Sip workers and now Groudkeepers (sic)?"

Lying again? I've never put down the american working class. You must be thinking about this moron:
"Business won't screw their workers if they have quality people."
Posted by: M.B. Sill at May 10, 2006 12:50 PM

Blaming the dishonesty and profiteering of the corporate class on the hard-working American ... Tsk. Tsk. Why do you hate Americans, Clueless?

"Since you've never had to hire or fire anyone I wouldn't expect you to know how the real world works."
Posted by: LBH at May 10, 2006 12:50 PM

All of my net-bombahs are hired by me and $10 an hour would be an insult to them. You hire at the Gas-n-sip? You can barely even spell the word. What a frightening proposition.

Again, you give me a simple answer to a complex question. What would you propose the rate be and for what income brackets?
Posted by: LBH at May 10, 2006 12:46 PM

What part of progressive do you not understand? Leave anyone below the U.S.'s median income level where they are. Bump the next quartile back up to where they were 7 years ago, and bump the top quartile a notch higher. It's not a complex issue just because you don't understand it.

Pande--the cultists really, really, believe that if they spin their hamster wheels just a LITTLE faster, they'll break out of mere middle-class semi-affluence into megawealth, while the truly rich laugh at them in their absence. A similar kind of minds keep the casinos rolling in . Meanwhile, the vast majority of Americans die in the same socioeconomic bracket into which they were born, any number of "facts" pulled from the rectum of the Corporate Elephascist McMedia Matrix notwithstanding. The myth of mass upward mobility is indispensable to maintaining plutocracy; when the majority of slaves realize they are not going to rise individually, no matter how cleverly and diligently they work, then they are likely to band together and take over the plantation. Selah.

Tu amigo, Chico Carlomagno

That was supposed to be "casinos rolling in mucho dinero". %#$*'n gremlins.

Being a native New Yawker who grew up on tales of Tammany Hall, it's just business as usual to me...IF you were to print a dictionary of New York words, politician would be a synonym of corruption

#109
Yeah David,
Tell Helen she's a fox. And tell her to keep asking the questions. You too David. Keep asking the questions that need to be asked. You guys are our voice you know.

Carey 106, actually I wasn't arguing FOR any kind of tax. The whole idea of taxing peoples incomes is ludicrous, because, as I have said before, it isn't going to pay for things like roads, social services, infrastructure, etc. It is a scam, a ruse designed to take the hard earned wealth away from the people and give it to the banks. Greenspan admitted that inflation, caused by the Fed. robs the people of wealth, that is why it continues to happen. Below is a link for anyone who wishes to educate themselves on this matter. It isn't a conspiracy theory or something I just pulled out of my hat. They are facts that are easily verifiable and well known to economists.

The taxes aren't so much the problem as the nefarious reasons behind them.

THE FEDERAL RESERVE BANK IS A PRIVATE COMPANY

Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution states that Congress shall have the power to coin (create) money and regulate the value thereof. Today however, the FED, which is a privately owned company, controls and profits by printing money through the Treasury, and regulating its value.

The FED banking system collects billions of dollars in interest annually and distributes the profits to its shareholders. The Congress illegally gave the FED the right to print money (through the Treasury) at no interest to the FED. The FED creates money from nothing, and loans it back to us through banks, and charges interest on our currency. The FED also buys Government debt with money printed on a printing press and charges U.S. taxpayers interest. Many Congressmen and Presidents say this is fraud

How did it happen? After previous attempts to push the Federal Reserve Act through Congress, a group of bankers funded and staffed Woodrow Wilson's campaign for President. He had committed to sign this act. In 1913, a Senator, Nelson Aldrich, maternal grandfather to the Rockefellers, pushed the Federal Reserve Act through Congress just before Christmas when much of Congress was on vacation. When elected, Wilson passed the FED. Later, Wilson remorsefully replied (referring to the FED), "I have unwittingly ruined my country"

Rep. Louis T. McFadden (R. Pa.) rose from office boy to become cashier and then President of the First National Bank in Canton Ohio. For 12 years he served as Chairman of the Committee on Banking and Currency, making him one of the foremost financial authorities in America. He fought continuously for fiscal integrity and a return to constitutional government (Reference 1). The following are portions of Rep. McFadden's speech, quoted from the Congressional Record, pages 12595-12603:

"THE FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, A GOVERNMENT BOARD, HAS CHEATED THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES OUT OF ENOUGH MONEY TO PAY THE NATIONAL DEBT.

The depredations and the iniquities of the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve banks acting together have cost this country ENOUGH MONEY TO PAY THE NATIONAL DEBT SEVERAL TIMES OVER."

The people who enacted the FED started the IRS, within months of the FED's inception. The FED buys U.S. debt with money they printed from nothing, then charges the U.S. taxpayers interest. The government had to create income tax to pay the interest expense to the FED's shareholders...

The IRS and Federal Reserve Swindlers
------------
As I have said many times, the economic situation today is not the result of incompetence but of outright theft. Every President in office, except for one, has allowed this theft to continue on a bigger and bigger scale until now, when we have reached a point where our debt to these thuggish banks can NEVER be repaid.

End Note

Lincoln printed debt and interest-free Greenbacks (cash) to finance an entire war. Lincoln proved it. John F. Kennedy - a President with vision! On June 4, 1964, President Kennedy issued Executive Order 11110. This Executive Order called for the issuance of new currency - the United States Note. At the time, $4,292,893 of this currency was put into circulation. This new currency was to be distributed through the U.S. Treasury and not the Federal Reserve System. Furthermore, it was to be issued debt and interest-free. Upon Kennedy's assassination, this currency was withdrawn from circulation, never to be issued again. The media remained silent on how Kennedy would have eliminated the debt and interest payments, and therefore eliminated the FED. U.S. history proves that issuing debt and interest-free currency allows our economy to prosper, as long as Congress controls the amount of money created.
---------
The people don't need the Fed. or the IRS, they need us, not for the good of the country, but to rob us blind and keep us in servitude forever.

#112
Pandemoniac,
An Open Letter to Richard Cohen
By William Rivers Pitt

The article you linked was great. One thing I have noticed in the few times I have been out in the 'crowds' and from what I have observed on the news is that the people are young and old and everything in between and very determined to be heard and to stop this madness.

In the Viet Nam era protests most of the protesters were young from what I remember.

The angry mobs are everyman. If I was Bush I would be very afraid. If I was Congress I would be very afraid.

To make it even more frightening that mob extends to the CIA and Pentagon. Many are resigning and they are not sitting quietly on the sidelines.

All very different from the '60's'.

China urged to quadruple gold reserves - paper

Some Chinese economists are urging Beijing to quadruple its gold reserves to 2,500 tonnes from the current 600 tonnes because the country foreign exchange reserves had become the world's largest, an official industry newspaper reported on Tuesday.
"China should raise its gold reserves so those reserves can account for 3 percent to 5 percent of the foreign exchange reserves, instead of current 1.3 percent," the China Gold quoted Liu Shanen, an expert at Beijing Gold Economy Development Research Centre, as telling a conference.
--------------
Now what do you think will happen? Gold will continue to rise, the dollar will continue to sink, the fed will just keep printing more while it becomes worth les and less. This circle will continue until we finally drown in our own debt. China sees what is happening in this country, but US citizens are so economically challenged that they won't notice until it's too late.

For those of you you can watch this do so.

Jonathan Turley, a Constitutional law expert unloaded on Bush during his segment on "Countdown" tonight. He's been critical before, but watch this clip. Turley calls attention to the fact that Bush likes hiring officials who have either been convicted or pleaded guilty to crimes or others who should have been indicted. He also rakes Gen. Hayden over the coals.....
-------------
There's an update underneath that you should read. Crazy, crazy, carazy.

so your telling them people not to believe their lying eyes. Instead, go with this guy's interpretation of what he's seeing in the pictures.

hmmm, no. i'm telling people that mr. lucky's claim that he saw a 757 "bank to the left" and hit the ground floor of the pentagon cannot be correct. people can focus their own eyes (lying or not) on the photos and see that there's no wreckage of a 757 at the pentagon, and they can realize if they want that a 757 cannot travel at high speed close to the ground like that. in fact, it is nearly impossible for any large plane like that to be controlled properly at high speed any where near sea level (yet another reason to dismiss the claim that 767's hit the wtc's as well)
and they can take the word (or not) of a photo analyst who shows them that other photos released by the pentagon itself are obvious phonies. (link @ 55)
but, yes, i am telling people that they should take the word of prof. karjanmaa of finland (who does not have a political stake involved) when he shows (with diagrams and using pentagon photos) that the ASCE's pentagon building performance report cannot be correct. (link @ 100).

So what did he say actually hit the Pentagon? I only looked at a couple of his points. He didn't say at the bottom there,

actually prof. karjanmaa did not say what he thought might've hit the pentagon. he only said what did NOT hit the pentagon; flight77, an AA757.
but i see that your post @ 94 has a photo from rense.com of a landing gear, so i'll take this opportunity to show that others at rense have advanced a theory of an A3 SKYWARRIOR having been the aircraft in question. but this man at rense disputes that claim as well.

i think it was a giant 12' diameter drill bit myself. ha ha. it doesn't matter what did hit the pentagon, it only matters whether the official fairytale is true or not. i say not.

#106 Carey, I will not "argue" with Saladin on taxes. It would be a total waste of my time, IMO. When it comes to certain issues, to use Rudyard Kipling's famous refrain: "Never the twain shall meet..."

Saladin can make all the claims she wants to make, I cannot trust her 'judgment' when it comes to the common good.

In fact, I would trust Nancy Pelosi before I would trust her.

#106 When Alan posts about 9/11, it's propaganda?

When you post, it's what... enlightening?

Give me a break!

KC 102, My theory for the absolute denial of any theory besides the official one would mean that it is very possible that members of the dems home team would be highly likely to be either directly involved as well or helping cover it up. The partisan divide has been so deeply ingrained in American society that the possibility of people from an individuals chosen side could be even remotely involved in the kind of corruption the other side is so obviously up to their eyeballs in is unacceptable. So the best thing to do is latch on to a couple points that can be endlessly argued while totally ignoring the big picture, the things that can't be argued away. I've been reading the debate about what plane, if any, hit the pentagon. That is a bottomless pit because the govt. won't release the video evidence available to clear this up, and that doesn't seem to bother the bush story supporters at all. I think a more important question revolves around this:

Mineta testimony on Cheney stand down/shoot down censored

Bruce Lait, the closest person to Mineta's Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC) testimony was also edited out of the 9/11 Commission video archive.
When questioned about this, representatives at the National Archive stated that the video may have been lost because of a snafu. Following is a brief summary of the scrubbed video along with links to recently obtained C-SPAN video.

Mineta responds to an opening question by Commissioner Hamilton about the events in the PEOC and an alleged shoot down order. He describes a conversation between Cheney and a young man:

Mineta: during the time that the airplane was coming into the Pentagon, there was a young man who would come in and say to the Vice President, the plane is 50 miles out, the plane is 30 miles out, and when it got down to the plane is 10 miles out, the young man also said to the vice president do the orders still stand? And the Vice President turned and whipped his neck around and said, of course the orders still stand, have you heard anything to the contrary!??

And this is something I recently learned:

Mineta ultimately expressed the obvious, that the standing order was an open question only Cheney could answer. The fact that "The 9/11 Commission Final Report" discarded his testimony has never been explained. Secretary Mineta did not respond to an open letter addressed to him. It is not known whether the letter got past his spokesman Robert Johnson, who did not respond to multiple messages. It might be worth noting that Johnson was formerly the spokesman of Arizona Congressman Jon Kyl, who was meeting the morning of 9/11 with Porter Goss, Bob Graham and at the time Pakistan ISI Intelligence Chief Mahmood Ahmed. Ahmed was linked to the wiring of $100,000 to Mohammed Atta.

If Mineta's testimony is to be taken into account, and there is no apparent reason why it should not be, questions about the timing of events the morning of 9/11 come into focus. Most obvious is, if the standing order given by the Vice President prior to the aircraft hitting the Pentagon was not a shoot down order, then what was it? Perhaps it was the danger of this question, and the danger that Cheney would have had to commit perjury to uphold the timeline reported in the mainstream press, that caused the Vice President to testify to the Commission along with the President in closed session, with no transcript, no witnesses, and no public accountability.
-----------
It is a fact that a drill simulating the exact events happening on 9/11 was occurring at the same time as the real hijackings, but this is ignored by all official story supporters. Maybe they think it is just an unimportant coincidence, or a cover-up for incompetence. In any case it is not debatable so it is left out, like so many other things that happened that day.

#93 Posted by: citizen x at May 11, 2006 12:01 AM

Happy, Excuse me if I dont feel sorry for the auto companies....they could have been investing in R&D. ....I say, "Screw em." Welcome to capitalism.....I hope gas prices continue to rise...
=============================================
CX, a pattern has developed; we are more `on' than `off' the same page!

I don't actually feel sorry for the US auto companies either; my reasons are for the trend of always taking the easy route by buckling to the similarly short-sighted UAW. Like parents allowing whining kids to have that candy or whatever just to shut them up (I plead guilty, too). They also gave short shrift to promising initiatives such as Saturn!

As for capitalism, if you read most of my posts in these months, you know that Capitalism is my last name (Happy Capitalist, I shorten to just Happy). Given we share this belief, why should Congress mandate ANY fuel efficiency standards? Why not let the market decide? Perhaps Ford & GM should go out of business....

But you watch, 1) if and when UAW strikes at Delphi and/or GM, or 2) Ford/GM's sale shrink a bunch when gas prices do go up more, the Left will scream for subsidies to prop them up (a la Chrysler) and save American jobs....All the while, the progressive Left turns up their noses at American cars.

I personally think gas prices ought to go up more! And it's NOT becasue I'm heavily invested in Energy (and to rile some Cornnuts here, I've made a lifetimes' worth of energy costs in this sector in the past couple of years). I backed John Anderson back in 1980 specifically because he had the foresight & guts to call for a $0.50/gallon tax to reduce consumption!

My family can cut back gas useage by 1/4 to 1/3 if we had to and I'll bet most American families can, just as well. $3 gas is difficult on the working poor and something can be done to help them, but for 3/4 of the folks, it is too CHEAP and not affecting consumption behavior! For crying out loud, the April gasoline consumption was a miniscule 0.6% below 2005!

micki, your refusal to research the facts regarding the IRS and taxes is your own fault. I have provided a link which lists many references. I am not asking anyone to trust my judgement, but to examine the facts. Your doubt of my interest in the public good is just another snide insult that succeeds only in being mean and once again, inaccurate. As for my propaganda remark, no, my theories are not meant to be enlightening and they aren't set in stone, unlike Alan, I am trying to focus on finding answers, not dogmatically insisting that I am right and everyone else is wrong. In the interest of the public good I would like to see the govt. release all the evidence in it's possession for independent review. You would rather indulge in useless partisan rhetoric that does nothing to solve problems, but sure keeps the divide alive and well.

#122, I like it. Don't know where you find these links Jeanne, but keep em coming.

My spouse and I live in a small town in the Rockie Mountains. I do mundane research on air and ground surface quality before energy companies begin their extractions. Tax money is not available to me to do baseline data studies, but tax money does seem available to energy coroporations for all sorts of things, including to dispute, debunk any scientific data collected.

Strange country we live in.

Like I said before taxes are insane, unfair and a necessary evil. Just don't make me do the friggin paperwork.

Imagine if a large segment of citizens refused to keep files and records other than their W2's and 1099's. We'd end the careers of most CPA offices and file cabinet makers in the US. Tax behavior is a make work program that is an endless web of pilfering and duplicity. The only benefactors are the 1% at the top of the pyramid.

Alas, taxes are unavoidable. They are not fair. They will never be fair. Forget fair.
Just don't make me do the friggin paperwork.

OK Rant is over.

Later,
th

ps
"The monster is on the loose, but his head is in a noose."

Specter Demands Phone Companies Testify on Database

May 11 (Bloomberg) -- The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee demanded that executives from AT&T Inc., BellSouth Corp. and Verizon Communications Inc. testify before Congress about a report that the telephone companies gave the U.S. government phone records of millions of Americans.

``I am determined to get to the bottom of this,'' said Senator Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, who added that he would subpoena the companies if they decline to appear before the committee voluntarily.

USA Today, citing anonymous sources with direct knowledge of the arrangement, reported today that the companies turned the records over to the National Security Agency. The spy agency has compiled a massive database with the information, the newspaper reported.

President George W. Bush has nominated General Michael Hayden, the former NSA chief, to head the Central Intelligence Agency. Hayden is facing scrutiny from lawmakers for his role in creating another controversial surveillance program, involving wiretapping of domestic calls and e-mails without a court warrant. That effort, which the administration calls the Terrorist Surveillance Program, targets communications by members of al-Qaeda or other groups when one of the parties is overseas.

Spokesmen for the telephone companies declined to comment on the USA Today story.

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

I am not going to get too hopeful but . . .

If it is all for show, it will still be interesting.

capt

Kid Carlomagno,
Right on the freekin' spot. Of all their delusions, that one is the most precious. Listening to their innocent prating is like listening to a child's moon-eyed adulation of Santa Claus or that red critter on Sesame Street, Elmo.

Jeanne,
you remember the 60s, too? Funny how most of the Right's mistakes are reruns from the 60s and early 70s, eh? They never learn.

ah, propaganda is very enlightening! who presented the 911 scenario to the world? the govt./media. (media/govt.?)
i suspect that if there was no internet, terrorists would be blowing shit up all across america and the poor govt. would be forced to step in with no bid contracts and rebuild everything while putting the burden of ownership in the hands of a poor beleagured few. for example: the northeast's electrical grid. southern cal's electrical grid. the wtc. oh, wait....

82
Today we find out neither bothers to read the posts or the links...

Posted by: O'Reilly at May 10, 2006 11:12 PM
==============================================
Can't speak entirely for LBH but I believe we both read much of the posts. I do skip rantings predicting the end of (our) civilization, on Nazi American, 91.1% of the conspiracy stuff and most quotes! I do NOT, with extreme exceptions, check into links; maybe a dozen times in all and more than half is due to David's posts. I do not use this blog as a news `portal'!

I tend to read personally-composed on-subject comments and in my quick read, stuff like yours that I could respond to when in the mood.

Feel better?

th, the reason taxes are unavoidable is because too many people are ignorant of the system. They want to believe that this party or that party is going to fix everything and we can all live happily ever after. Taxes were created to pay the interest on fiat money printed by the banks which is used to finance the debt which gathers more interest which forces the printing of more money which incurs more interest and on and on. Kennedy tried to put a stop to this fraud and was murdered for it. micki thinks I just make this shit up so she won't even attempt to look into it. Being content to hand over your money to this mob as long as you aren't inconvenienced is the opinion of the majority. That is why we are trillions of dollars in debt and the debt continues to grow. This is why poor people remain poor and the middle class is sinking fast. But maybe pelosi and her dem buddies have a plan, we can trust them to be concerned for the public interest, right?

Progress Report

Stop The Fiscal Insanity

Yesterday in the House of Representatives, 229 Republicans joined 15 Democrats to pass another $70 billion in tax cuts, almost all of which would benefit the wealthy. The bill "extends the low 15% rates on capital gains and dividends for two years -- from the end of 2008 through 2010" and "gives about 15 million taxpayers relief for just 2006 from the dreaded Alternative Minimum Tax" (AMT). According to the Center of Budget and Policy Priorities, "The average tax cut for the 20 percent of households in the middle of the income spectrum would be just $20." Meanwhile, "For those with incomes above $1 million, the average tax cut would be $42,000." Overall, "the three-quarters of households with incomes below $75,000 would receive just 5 percent of the benefits" (no more than $110 each). Today, the package will move to the Senate. The Washington Post sums up the impact: "Budgetary dishonesty, distributional unfairness, fiscal irresponsibility -- by now the words are so familiar, it can be hard to appreciate how damaging this fiscal course will be." (Had enough? The Center for American Progress has a plan for a fair, responsible, simple tax system.)

PAYING FOR TAX CUTS WITH MORE TAX CUTS: Last year, "Congress agreed that this tax cut would be no more than $70 billion over 10 years." The tax cuts in the bill, however, exceeded that amount. So Congress resorted to a gimmick involving, ironically, more tax cuts. The bill allows "upper-income taxpayers to convert their ordinary individual retirement accounts into what are called Roth IRAs, in which savings are taxed at the time of deposit but can then grow tax-free." In the short run -- as wealthy taxpayers switch their accounts -- the move would generate $6.4 billion, allowing the total cost of the bill to squeeze under the limit. But in the long run it would only add to the deficit. Leonard Burman of the Tax Policy Center estimates that "for each $1 the government will collect in the short run, it will lose $1.60 or more." Overall, the treasury "would lose $37 billion in revenue from the Roth IRA provision from 2013 to 2049." Clearly, this bill treats fiscal responsibility as a nuisance, not a principle.

More HERE

Pande

Dude, it's not my fault Mr Corn stole your thunder. You could at least try to keep your temper under control. I love it though when you blow a friggin gasket.

Progress Report

CORRUPTION -- ABRAMOFF VISITED WHITE HOUSE TO SECURE FAVORS FROM BUSH ADMINISTRATION:

Yesterday the Secret Service released White House visitor logs showing that disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff made two visits to the White House, on March 6, 2001 and on January 20, 2004. Judicial Watch, the public interest group that filled out the Freedom of Information Act request for the documents, noted that the logs "appear to be incomplete" and that "there are additional details about Jack Abramoff's visits to the White House that have not been disclosed." The Bush administration has publicly acknowledged Abramoff's visits to the White House complex on three other occasions, not included in the Secret Service logs -- in 2001 and 2002 for Chanukah receptions and on May 9, 2001, when Abramoff and several of clients met with the President. The documents released yesterday did not reveal the place, participants, or purpose of the meetings, but the Washington Post reports that at the March 2001 meeting, "Abramoff asked to have two people placed at the Interior Department, but that Rove declined to get involved and referred him to the White House personnel operation." Also on that same day, President Bush announced his intent to name Abramoff-associate Patrick Pizzella to be Assistant Secretary of Labor for Administration and Management. Pizzella was on Abramoff's team at the lobbying firm Preston Gates. In January 2004, Abramoff went to the White House to meet with "an Office of Management and Budget official who had been blocking his efforts to secure use of the Old Post Office Building for a development project."

*****end of clip*****

Money buying influence in the WH? I am shocked, just shocked! What will we tell the children?

capt

"Pande it is better to know than be ignorant about who creates jobs for people like you, so here's to your education"
Posted by: Clueless at May 10, 2006 12:32 PM

The discussion was about creating WEALTH, dumbass. The orangutans deserve another apology for ever being compared to you. Jeanne was right, you have the reading skillz of a mudsucker.

Posted by Clueless Pande

Pande, the people (like myself-not you) who create jobs are the ones who create wealth. Again, I wouldn't expect an hourly 8-5 dude like yourself to know how the real world works, so lighten up man!

The biggest con: Democrats & Republicans work together to destroy America, part 3 of 3
Tibor S. Friedman
Online Journal Contributing Writer

The Globalists and International bankers (NWO) as you can see have used and depleted Americas resources and after using this great country to undermine and destroy other nations in the world for their own control and benefit, they are now intent on destroying what remains of America as they turn us into another Third World country.

Returning to our original question -- why are our leaders turning America into a pariah in the world? Americans are increasingly concluding that neither party represents them and that they are both corrupt and, taking the country in the wrong direction. In fact this is what the NWO desires, as they offer the solution of a One World Government (the UN) as a means to address these problems. This shift is visible as the CFR, Hoover and Brookings Institute, and others, are used as official sources to confirm that the NWO is now an open conspiracy and that the old way of governance is not suitable anymore.
------------
Many people complain of the lack of solutions to the many pressing problems we are facing. But how can solutions be found if the problems are not being accurately exposed? There are many distractions and scandals and lots of kabuki theater, but the foundation destroying issues are kept in the deepest, darkest dungeon, out of the light of day where they can be examined and dealt with. And America seems content with that. Yet I am accussed of lacking interest in the public good. How ironic that trying to get to the truth pisses so many people off.

Lying again? I've never put down the american working class. You must be thinking about this moron:
"Business won't screw their workers if they have quality people."
Posted by: M.B. Sill at May 10, 2006 12:50 PM

USAA must be screwed by having pande ass workers like you that waste their companies time in Cornnut Land. I bet you threw out the old affirmative action lawsuit to get your job on top of it.

Again, it's hard to find quality people.

Skeleton in the Bush family cupboard

One of America's great historical controversies intensifed yesterday with the publication of fresh evidence that members of an elite secret society may have dug up the remains of the Indian leader Geronimo and displayed his skull in their headquarters.

Rumours that half a dozen members of the Skull & Bones society at Yale University - including President George W Bush's grandfather, Prescott Bush - dug up the grave of the legendary Apache leader during the First World War have exercised historians for years.

"Bonesmen", as senior members of the society are known, and the Bush family have long refused to comment on the claims.

The society, founded in 1832 and famous for its strange rituals centred on symbols of death, has over the years been accused of obtaining the skulls of a range of famous figures, including the former president Martin Van Buren and Che Guevara.

Its members include President Bush and his defeated rival in the last presidential election, Senator John Kerry.

Now contemporary evidence has been unearthed backing the theory that a group of young Bonesmen, based at an artillery school at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, desecrated Geronimo's grave.

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

I take exception to all grave desecration. What kind of sick people do such things?

To think such a club exists at all is crazy.

capt

Backdown on yuan irks legislators

Legislators 'tired of happy face'

US Senators Charles Schumer and Lindsey Graham, who have proposed an eponymous bill that would slap 27.5% tariffs on all Chinese exports to the US in the event China failed to revalue its currency, were among the first to critique the administration's decision.

Schumer, a Democrat, said the Treasury Department "always seem[s] to come right up to the line, but then refuse[s] to cross it ... If the administration is unable or unwilling to take action on their own, then our bill is the only option to get China to treat us fairly.'' Graham, a Republican, said: "I am tired of talking, I am tired of visiting, I am tired of 'happy face','' adding: "If the yuan doesn't appreciate in a significant [manner] between now and September, we will have a vote.''

The Schumer-Graham legislation has been depicted as a "nuclear weapon" approach that would create strong collateral damage with respect to US-China trade and bilateral relations generally. Senators Charles Grassley and Max Baucus have advocated a bill generally viewed as more moderate, which would require the Treasury Department to determine when currencies are "misaligned" with the US dollar and then mandate a variety of graded responses, such as cutting off US loan guarantees to Chinese firms.

But Baucus also criticized Treasury's latest step, saying, "It's time to change the way we do business on currency, not only with China but with any other country whose misaligned currency hurts the US economy."

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

Interesting bipartisan sub-plot.

capt

Saladin,
Peace and tidiings on this gorgeous spring day. Saw a Western redstart yesterday near Blue Mesa. VERY RARE!

I agree that tax money is a fiat. But I have learned to pick my battles. Taking on taxes is lethal, as you pointed out -"Kennedy tried and was murdered for it."

I don't know a solution. But the paperwork monster is an insane tentacle of the insane monster. I refuse to engage in. Nor do I take sides in the dispute micki and you are having.

Tax sucks. But in my opinion (and that is all it is) engaging in the ridiculous papertrail sucks even more.

Namaste,
th

"Since you've never had to hire or fire anyone I wouldn't expect you to know how the real world works."
Posted by: LBH at May 10, 2006 12:50 PM

All of my net-bombahs are hired by me and $10 an hour would be an insult to them. You hire at the Gas-n-sip? You can barely even spell the word. What a frightening proposition.

Posted by Pande

Like I said before, I hire people that want to move up from the gas n sip and groundkeepers jobs. These people need an opportunity not a handout.

How many people do you hire that are from these positions? Do you pay them out of your pocket or does the big corporation you work for pay them? When you interview them what qualifications must they have? Certifications, college degree, years in business or would you hire a gas n sip worker that wants a better life for his or her family?

I also said that I start them at $10 an hour. My top employee whose been with me just 5 yrs started at $10 an hour and last year cleared $98,000. I start them with a hourly wage and if they succeed they move to commissions only. Yes, commissions only, that's a scary word for a salary guy like you, who would have to prove himself everyday. That's more than a programmer makes and she didn't even have to go to college to learn how to spell to do it.

How does it feel to make less than a gas n sip worker?

Bush caves in to Chinese mercantilism

The US Treasury Department on Wednesday released its long-awaited report on the international economic and exchange rate practices of major US trading partners.

Regarding China, it concluded that "far too little progress has been made in introducing exchange flexibility"; however, "the Treasury Department is unable to determine, from the evidence at hand, that China's foreign-exchange system was operated during the last half of 2005 for the purpose [ie, with the intent] of preventing adjustments in China's balance of payments or gaining China an unfair competitive advantage in trade".

It would seem that Treasury Secretary John Snow would like China to volunteer that it is manipulating the global commercial system before it can be cited for doing so (see Snow's statement here).

In 2005, China's central bank purchased US$206 billion in foreign currencies and securities - that came to about 9% of China's gross domestic product (GDP). Those purchases put into the hands of foreign consumers yuan equal to about one-third of China's exports. In essence, China's currency-market intervention created a 33% off-budget subsidy on Chinese exports. If that is not an unfair competitive advantage in trade, one must wonder what would qualify as such in the minds of US Treasury officials.

While the administration of President George W Bush did express disappointment with the slow progress of Chinese currency-market reforms, the most commendable aspect of this report is how eloquently Snow made the case for Beijing.

As per usual, the administration warned against perils of protectionist responses toward China. Perhaps President Bush and Secretary Snow could be as vigilant regarding Chinese mercantilism.

*****end of clip*****

"Perils of protectionism" is the canned response to anything short of capitalism gone wrong.

capt

#141
The native Americans I know are very careful with the bones of their ancestors. When repatriation occurs the Native Americans gather and there are ceremonies. They burn sage around the remains. How anyone can be a member of Skull and Crossbones is beyond me.

Again, you give me a simple answer to a complex question. What would you propose the rate be and for what income brackets?
Posted by: LBH at May 10, 2006 12:46 PM

What part of progressive do you not understand? Leave anyone below the U.S.'s median income level where they are. Bump the next quartile back up to where they were 7 years ago, and bump the top quartile a notch higher. It's not a complex issue just because you don't understand it.
Posted by Pande

Reality:

April Tax Revenue 2nd-Highest in History
May 10 2:23 PM US/Eastern

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON

A flood of income tax payments pushed up government receipts to the second-highest level in history in April, giving the country a sizable surplus for the month.

In its monthly accounting of the government's books, the Treasury Department said Wednesday that revenue for the month totaled $315.1 billion as Americans filed their tax returns by the April deadline. The gusher of tax revenue pushed total receipts up by 13.4 percent from April 2005.

It marked the largest one-month receipt total since the government collected $332 billion in revenue in April 2001, reflecting a boom in capital gains from stock investors lucky enough to cash out their investments before the bursting of the stock market bubble in early 2000.

Keep preaching higher taxes and the Clinton years and we'll keep showing you how the economy it really works.

My my, I suddenly feel very strange...I dropped my pen, bent down to pick it up, and when I sat back up, I bumped my head rather hard on the edge of the desk. I actually seem to have blacked out for a few moments. I think I'm OK now, but I must say, everything seems so different all of the sudden. My God, I think I've had an epiphany! How could I have posted such rude, insulting drivel these long weeks past?! What in the world was I thinking? Have I no shame?! You are all, with the possible exceptions of Hoppy and Factchucker, clearly good, kind, caring and well informed people who deserve better than that! Well, rest assured, things are going to be different going forward! For now, please accept my humble apologies for the nonsense I have relentlessly spewed these last few weeks, and rest assured I have seen the error of my ways! Right now, I must leave for a while, as I have an irresistable urge to go directly to Harry Reid's office to volunteer my services! Ta Ta!

60
THE OVERSTATMENT OF THE YEAR

. . . I'm always right!
Posted by: LBH at May 10, 2006 05:00 PM

Posted by O Reilly

My, my, someones jealous again!!

Big Guns

The wild success of a massive Smith & Wesson revolver

Magnum 500Name recognition certainly counts for something in a competitive marketplace, but it can't make up for incompetent leadership. That's a business-school truism that Smith & Wesson learned the hard way in 1998, when the 154-year-old gun-maker was supplanted by the less-celebrated Sturm, Ruger and Co. Inc. as America's No. 1 handgun manufacturer. While Smith & Wesson's British owner, Tomkins plc., was making numerous strategic missteps—sticking with steel, for example, rather than switching to lightweight polymers—Ruger sold boatloads of its .22-caliber revolvers to protective homeowners and security guards.

After several years as the industry's runner-up, however, a re-energized Smith & Wesson—now under savvier ownership—has finally recaptured the handgun crown. In 2004, the most recent year for which complete production figures are available, Smith & Wesson churned out 235,516 handguns; Sturm, Ruger manufactured only 189,312. How did the originator of the famous .44 Magnum revolver earn back this coveted firearms title?

By tapping into the company's reputation as the king of supersized handguns. Smith & Wesson's production increase is largely attributable to growth in a single, previously marginal category: big-bore revolvers. (The term typically refers to those with calibers in excess of .44.) The company's production in this segment nearly tripled from 2003 to 2004, while Sturm, Ruger's actually fell by a few hundred units.

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

OMG - This thing is a monster! Anybody ever shoot or even hold one of these?

capt

Arrgh captain the pirates capture their booty however and whenever they can. We have had our country hijacked by PIRATES flying the Jolly Roger! Arrrrr, the Divine Strake is walking the "Holy Plank" given to destroy some infamous booty that would sink their ship and send them to Davey Jones locker if anyone found out! Shiver me timbers!

51 Day after day Pande writes responses to LBH and Happy's right wing talking points and partisan screeds.

Today we find out neither bothers to read the posts or the links and that Happy's dog does but the bitch doesn't know how to work the hyperlinks.

Posted by O Reilly

O Reilly, I have no need to read Pandes links as I have already proven in the past that the moron doesn't even read his own links.

Besides, it's not healthy reading those progressive web links. Doom and gloom, it's no wonder you Cornnuts are so damn paranoid and depressed all the time.

My, my, someones jealous again!!
Posted by: LBH at May 11, 2006 12:26 PM

How so? It's counterintuitive anybody would be jealous of a delusional self-proclaimed genius but since you brought it up: What is it you have that I would be jealous of?

. . .I have no need to read. . .
Posted by: LBH at May 11, 2006 12:26 PM

LBH and W: two of a kind.

Speaks for itself, doesn't it?

stick em up! ha ha

Pandemoniac quotes H.L. Mencken:
I believe that it is better to tell the truth than a lie. I believe it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe it is better to know than to be ignorant. HLM.

"Pretty generic, my dog believes this also. Can't you give me something a little more in depth?"
Posted by: Clueless at May 10, 2006 12:42 PM

Wow. Get yer dog to explain it to you because you don't have an inkling what Mencken was saying. I believe it is better to tell the truth. You condone the Bush administration's lies, the Conservative congress avoidance of the truth and approve of the braindead liars at FauxNews filling the airwaves with untruth after untruth. I have posted link after link showing all of their economic talking points to be a lie, all of their legislative talking points to be a lie, all of their legal points to be a lie, and all of their revisionist bs to be a lie. You obviously believe it is better to lie than to tell the truth.

You prefer to be a slave to the corporatists in power. You prefer to blind yourself to the lawlessness and the fiscal irresponsibility of the Grand Ol' Spending Party. You prefer to allow Big Oil to write our Energy Policy, Big Pharma to write our Medicare policies, and Banks and Credit Card companies to write fiscal policies. They have you grabbing your ankles and asking for more.

You prefer to stay curled up in your fetal position, sucking your thumb, ignorant as the the day you graduated primary school (last year? the year before? Unless you were held back. What grade would a 12 year old be in?) After all of my links to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, you still don't know what the labor participation rate is, do you? You still don't have the faintest clue, not even in the ballpark? Ms. Saladin, James, Capt, Hajji, and the rest of the firebombers in this blog were right. You are hopelessly, willfully, permanently ignorant. And like your hapless progenitor, you are the ultimate proof that ignorance is bliss. Que lastima.

You may understand Mencken's truth, depending on how smart your dog is. You may believe Mencken's truths. But you don't stand for them. You stand for everything that is wrong with our country today.

Posted by Pande the whiner

You may understand Mencken's truth, depending on how smart your dog is.

My dog is pretty damn smart because he can smell a sissy ass, Mencken a mile away.

By the way he is playing the violin right now as I'm reading this to him. He say's what a friggin whiner!!!!!

"The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth. The trite subjects of human efforts, possessions, outward success, luxury have always seemed to me contemptible."

~ Albert Einstein

. . .I have no need to read. . .
Posted by: LBH at May 11, 2006 12:26 PM

LBH and W: two of a kind.

Speaks for itself, doesn't it?
Posted by O Reilly

Wow, I'm impressed, did you think up that one on your own or did your love child Pande help you out? So creative!!

"From now on, ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put."

~ Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)

My dog is pretty damn smart . . . He's reading this to me.
Posted by: LBH at May 11, 2006 12:40 PM

Is it true your dog has an IQ of 567? That's 81 in human IQ. Your's is 80, right?

153
My, my, someones jealous again!!
Posted by: LBH at May 11, 2006 12:26 PM

How so? It's counterintuitive anybody would be jealous of a delusional self-proclaimed genius but since you brought it up: What is it you have that I would be jealous of?
Posted by O Reilly

Happiness, wealth, a real family instead of cornnut land, a huge tax cut, conservative supreme court judges, Bush elected twice over the best the Dems had to offer, stock market windfall, successful business, a dog that's smarter than Pande. Wow, I had no idea how good I've got it until I spelled it out for you O Reilly, thanks that was fun!!

160
My dog is pretty damn smart . . . He's reading this to me.
Posted by: LBH at May 11, 2006 12:40 PM

Is it true your dog has an IQ of 567? That's 81 in human IQ. Your's is 80, right?
Posted by O Reilly

There you go with the jealousy thing again.

148 O Reilly

I thought Mr Corn warned you about posting as someone else. Just like a progressive to break the rules to try and win an argument.

"Success isn't permanent, and failure isn't fatal."

~ Mike Ditka (1939 - )

"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored."

~ Aldous Huxley (1894 - 1963), "Proper Studies", 1927

Success isn't permanent, and failure isn't fatal."

~ Mike Ditka (1939 - )

See what you've started O Relly? Someone else is jealous now also!!

By the way Capt, I did fail before I succeeded. It's all about taking risk. Something a guy like Pande isn't familiar with.

Look familiar?

How so? It's counterintuitive anybody would be jealous of a delusional self-proclaimed genius but since you brought it up:
Posted by O Reilly

O Reilly, I think you're the one who hasn't read Pandes posts and links because you have me confused with him!

Challenging the Conventional Wisdom

"The giant corporation had become an increasingly obtrusive feature of the business landscape. Its importance was assumed everywhere except in the economics textbooks. And even the more casual scholars had difficulty in disguising from themselves the fact that markets for steel, automobiles, rubber products, chemicals, aluminum…•lectrical gear and appliances, farm machinery, most processed foods, soap, tobacco, intoxicants and other basic products were not shared by many producers, each without power over its prices, but by a handful of producers with a great deal of such power …†Between the competition of the many and the monopoly of the single firm there was now inserted the oligopoly of the few. And, although at first reluctantly, oligopoly came to be recognized as a normal form of market organization."

Today, the oil companies’†obscene profits in the face of rising pump prices suggests how little has changed.

"It should be noted that exponents of the neoclassical system, while they have long deplored the monopolistic and hence pathological tendencies of oligopoly in principle, have never done much about them in practice. There was cancer, but one did not operate." ("Economics and the Public Purpose", 1973)

"The rise of the great corporation" extended far beyond the question of price fixing and demand-side management through advertising, to an extensive "influence [over] the attitudes of the community and the actions of the state …†They are not confined by the market. They transcend the market, use the market as an instrument and are the chariot to which society, if not chained, is at least attached." (Ibid.)

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

The piece makes some good points and is interesting. The clip is not nearly as good as the whole piece.

capt

flying robot attack!

(pugilistic robot attack)

Happy, I dont care what side of the political spectrum you're from (I'm a true Independent) if an idea or a policy has wings, I say let it fly. So it's good to see we can reach some middle of the road agreements. Unfortunately neither of us has the political capital to push good ideas forward. I differ from the progressives when it comes to subsidizing the auto industry. I would rather a temporary vacuum be created by those industries having to shut their doors, then allow them to wean from the government teat. If they couldn't see the environment, or the American public's anger coming at them, well that's their own fault. Now I'll bounce another idea off the readers. What about PSAs that promnote products and services that help with energy conservation. For instance, after-market modifications to a vehicle that increases fuel efficiency, like the tornado air management system (device that goes after your air filter. forces air into the engine providing more oxygen to the fuel. Ive heard great things about this and will be ordering one this weekend. I'll keep ya posted.) Or seasonal PSAs that remind Americans to change the air filter in their home air conditioner, or encourages buying programmable thermostats, that kind of thing.

I, for one, hope and pray to God that dems keep talking up investigations and eventual impeachment. In fact, please make it the centerpiece of the congressional campaigns.

BTW, I'm a Republican. David is giving sage advice, but I hope you do not listen.

One day democrats will realize that the 40% of the elctorate on either side(the bases) do not win elections - the 20% in the middle do. Impeachment may fire up 40%, but it mostly turns off the middle 20%. They may hold their noses while voting Republican, but those votes count just as much.

You can say that you're on principle, and fighting the good fight. Keep fighting, while we Republicans continue to hold power for the next generation.

Sheesh, every time I think the Republicans have screwed things up enough for the democrats to take power, the left does something kooky and hands power right back to the right.

163 Not me. Sorry to disappoint.

Happiness, wealth, a real family instead of cornnut land, a huge tax cut, conservative supreme court judges, Bush elected twice over the best the Dems had to offer, stock market windfall, successful business, a dog that's smarter than. . .
Posted by: LBH at May 11, 2006 12:50 PM

I'm happy for you. Spend some time enjoying the 'real family', the 'wealth', your 'happiness', that 'huge tax cut', your 'investment gains' and your best friend, the dog that reads all the big words for you.

When your done, come on back and join in a civil discussion.

I did not read all the comments, too depressing. Too many folks are still expecting the democrats to be democrats, ain't gonna happen. They are the most gutless lot I have ever seen, the main thing that drew me to Howard Dean was his courage to speak up and take a stand. I ask again, where the hell are the real democrats?

Come on, David. What's next? Do we have to listen to you shilling for Tony Snow? Oh yeah, you already did that. The same Tony Snow who claimed that Wilson said Valerie Plame "wasn't covert for six years" before her identity was betrayed by Robert Novak. The same Tony Snow who slandered and misquoted John Kerry by claiming Kerry had "called terrorists a nuisance." The same Tony Snow who backed the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth by falsely claiming "There has been no documentary contradiction of the Swift Boat stuff." Simply disgusting.

You know as well as I do that Newt Gingrich in 1993 purposefully touted investigations into scandals like the check-kiting scandal even though he knew it would ensnare republicans, too, because he knew that more democrats than republicans would fall to investigations and the American people would hold the party in power primarily responsible. He was right.

The majority of Americans think this president "deliberately mislead" America into war and support an investigation: http://www.democrats.com/bush-lied-polls

I don't recall a republican congress hounding a popular president for seven years with investigations ever costing them the House. But more important than any arcane political calculus about its popularity, promising to investigate the president's most egregious transgressions is what the democrats should do because it's the right thing to do.

Homeland Security requires SO MANY now to be cleared, that there is a backlog that could shut the FBI down. The do not have the agents to do this many background checks,..........so they are doing what they can on a proirity basis.

Who sets the priority............anyones guess.

In 1968 the average security check for a TS clearance was about three months.

My husband is in construction, and has worked several homeland security projects, and has yet to get his clearance. It's been years. I once held a TS clearance, so I can't say what I know.

I signed things that frightened the hell out of me to acquire this clearance. I worked two years at an intelligence agency that frightened me.

Compared to now, it was a benign time.

Bottom line, we do NOT HAVE THE INFRASTRUCTURE TO PROTECT OURSELVES in a timely manner. Congress passing imigration law is laughable. We do not inforce existing law.

I think FDR was right, even if bluffing, we have little to fear beyond what our government is currently trying to scare us about. The Fox Bird Flu scare special is a case in point.

The only hope the Bush administration has is............another terrorist attack. Gee I wonder where in the South Shrub will be reading another upside down book, looking......well ....unsurprised.

And how many medals will be awarded to the next rats deserting this seriously sinking ship of state.

It's a crappy time to be AMERICAN.

We seem to court duplicity, we have gotten comfortable with the lack of accountability.

This is a deeply frightening trend.

Homeland Security is the biggest oxymoron oF all time.

We Owe, We Owe, its off to WAR we go, we fight and make Haliburton rich, we go , we go , we go WE GO.

Enough is enough is enough is enough.Does'nt anyone have anything better to do.These idiots will be standing trial in the Hague in the near future. All the great ideas and oppurtunities to get moving back in the right direction will be wasting our taxpaying dollars down the drain
with endless litigation watching the Democrats
get vengeance for Bill Clintons' escapades
Finally trying to grow some teeth instead of implementing and investing in real change for all and real security for a change.
The sad part is is even with most polls
hovering in the 31% range,with 2 to 5% margin of error.They are still in the dogfight because
all of their 31% or above will participate.