Sunday, March 30, 2008
Sign Against McCain, The Crook
0 commentsThere is a petition to the Federal Election Commission afoot to hold John McCain accountable to the very law he worked so diligently to pass. He made this law a career-defining endeavor, despite all of the heat he took for his efforts from the Republicans of the nut-based right. They, of course, took this simple anti-corruption law to be an infringement of their constitutionally protected free speech. Ignoring that obvious logical flight of fancy, in essence they say, "I have a constitutional right to pervert the system!"
The bevy of talking heads clogging up the news shows clearly and openly admit the system does not work in their favor, so they assert they are at full liberty to bastardize core American principles in order to continue their privilege. If you can't win it, buy it.
McCain thought their financial stranglehold on the electoral process was a bad thing, a very bad thing for the country—until, of course, he was in a position to benefit from all those illegal contributions. And—again, of course—he now stands charged with breaking the very law he helped to create and pass. Simply because he was the last of the seven woeful candidates for the GOP nomination left standing.
Ahhhh, I love the smell of corruption in the morning...
So, go to FireDogLake to sign the petition to the FEC to hold John McCain as accountable to American law as any other American citizen. You can add a comment as you sign, as well.
Here is the comment I added:The United States of America is a country of laws.
OR
The United States of America is not a country of laws.
The fork the country faces is that stark.
If McCain can ignore the law he staked his career on to pass, and if President Bush can ignore his constitutionally mandated duties with the other branches of our government with no hint of punishment, then every American is perfectly free to steal from the corner supermarket. No law would apply to any of us, either.
The FEC is being propelled down a path to that fork, which it cannot avoid.
The FEC can either support the American system of laws or it can support the U.S.'s return to the murderous, criminal Wild West of pioneer days.
It cannot do nothing.
There is no third choice.
So, go. Sign.
posted by Gotham 12:36 PM
There Are No Sidelines This Time Around
Christy from FireDogLake nails it:0 comments
Blue America: Things At Stake In The 2008 Election
It's time to get to work, folks.
posted by Gotham 11:46 AM
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Americans Don't Torture
From The Raw Story:0 comments
This story is disgusting.
Truly.
posted by Gotham 2:45 PM
Passport-gate Thoughts
Again, boys and girls, this is what you get with "outsourcing."0 comments
Gotham thinks one very important point is being missed in coverage of the State Dept./passport/Outside Contractor debacle.Instead of everyone looking from the top down, or the outside in (i.e., the Republican ties of Stanley Inc. CEO Philip O. Nolan), it's important to look from the site-specific inside out. It seems more of a small-fish-leads-to-larger-fish investigation.
In this case, a couple of things don't pass the smell test.
These Stanley Inc. "contract employees" handled a reasonably low-level, geeky clerical job, from all accounts we can find.
As with most office environments on this level, self-interest rules everything on every level. Everyone is marginal. If a stream of outside hires come passing through your office, and could inadvertently threaten your employment and livelihood by careless, dopey or criminal acts, any supervisor in that position would take extra pains to make clear to anyone walking through the door, "don't touch the red button!" or its equivalent. Some would do so "to do the right thing," but most would be looking to save their own hides.
These back-office jobs tend to have excessively high turnover rates. The prospect of having people pass through with either marginal intelligence or marginal scruples is extremely high. This also makes it easy for someone so inclined to "plant" someone for nefarious purposes. The supervisor there would be ever-vigilant for such a person, since the personal threat is so high.
In context, the January breach in the Office of Consular Affairs and subsequent cover-up is understandable. But we can assume that the supervisor on duty that day has made it their mission to assure that no one else EVER threatened their livelihood again! I've personally witnessed much lesser offenses become personal mania.
What does not pass ANY test of logic, or understanding of clerical office survival skills is that it would ever be allowed to happen a second time—within a month! Any supervisor at that point would be frantic. Their overall staff would find them absolutely unbearable to deal with. A THIRD time? From a different contracting company? Incomprehensible. Bordering on impossible.
Every bit of clerical office understanding points to this being either specifically tolerated behavior or planned action.
As people who have passed through such environments might attest, there just seems no chance here of casual happenstance.
posted by Gotham 12:58 PM
White House Meltdown
The Executive Branch continues its frantic efforts to avoid across-the-board jailings—or in some cases—trips to the gallows.0 comments
White House: We, uhhhh, tossed those hard drives
posted by Gotham 11:52 AM
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Hey, I'm Gonna Lose Anyway,
So Why Bother?
Now, it's Tom Reynolds from upstate who's "Retiring."0 comments
These guys aren't "Retiring," per se. Mostly, they're just "bailing." The landslide picture is on the proverbial wall. You can tell the difference easily 'cause Reynolds used the ol' "more time with his family" guise.Upstate G.O.P. Congressman Retiring
We'll miss Tom. He certainly was an effective pol.
He steadfastly defended Tom Foley (R-FL) when most Americans wanted to tar and feather him for fondling America's young, then watched as the Dems grabbed Foley's seat. Way to go, Tom!
Rep. Reynolds also was the one who named his protege, Christopher J. Ward, to be treasurer of the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee (RCCC). Oops... uh, that would be THAT Chris Ward, who is in hot water with what is left of "the Feds" for embezzling funds from the GOP 2008 War Chest.
Man, that concept is still too amazing. That someone can be too Republican even for the Republicans.
And Tom Reynolds brought him on board. A true team player, no?
Yep. Very effective.
posted by Gotham 8:13 PM
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
My Lord...
Higher fuel costs, my ass!0 comments
"Is this any way to run an airline?"
What a testament to greed, gross mismanagement and vicious open hostility towards their customers!
Higher fuel prompts Delta to cut 30,000 jobs
No, make that: Mekong Delta Airlines
posted by Gotham 11:18 PM
He Doesn't Need al Qaeda's Help...
John McCain can get buried in a political landslide all by his lonesome.0 comments
It looks like a really bad Republican year when the "tough guys" start begging the "bad guys" to lay low for a while. Pretty please.
posted by Gotham 2:07 AM
This Cinches It...
...Absolutely a GWD!0 comments
President Bush calls to congratulate David Paterson
Now, we start checking for fingerprints on the weapon.
posted by Gotham 1:54 AM
Too Republican Even for Republicans
Via Rawstory1 comments
More background on New York's Governing While Democrat scandal...
Increasingly, it's looking like Eliot Spitzer was brought down like a deer with a .22.
We're seeing a trickle—that the people of New York can only assume will become a flood—of articles where political insiders start the chatting wheel moving on just how, why—and by whom—Eliot Spitzer was brought low.
Which buttresses the call in Gotham Notes for the Governor to not resign, but to hang tough and return fire on those political dogs of war.
1) Robert Novak, who has often been in the middle of the dung heap in his career, is finding the Spitzer case doesn't pass the smell test. Novak even spots that the DINOs in Albany are as bad as the Republicans when it comes to being held accountable and being forced to do the People's Business, and could just pay a dear price for helping set up the popular-with-citizens Spitzer. They have no political cover in what should prove a Republican onslaught. Morons.GOP strategists at work
The disgraced Eliot Spitzer had hardly resigned as governor of New York when Republican strategists began calculating a return to power in Albany via New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Lt. Gov. David Paterson, Spitzer's successor as governor, is considered a weak prospect for the 2010 election and might not even be the Democratic nominee. Bloomberg, finishing two successful terms as mayor in 2009, might find life as a private citizen boring enough to try for governor.
Bloomberg, who changed his affiliation from Republican to independent, could obtain the Independence Party nomination for governor and then be endorsed by the GOP.
A footnote: Democratic state legislators watching television Monday cheered when they heard the disliked Spitzer admit his guilt. But that joy faded as the Democrats contemplated that Spitzer's fall could trigger a Republican comeback in 2010. Democrats contemplate a takeover of all branches of the state government to control decennial redistricting.
Predicting Spitzer's departure
Republican political operative Roger Stone, Eliot Spitzer's longtime antagonist, predicted his political demise more than three months in advance.
"Eliot Spitzer will not serve out his term as governor of the state of New York," Stone said Dec. 6 on Michael Smerconish's radio talk show. He gave no details.
Spitzer's entrapment by federal authorities investigating a prostitution ring raised speculation that Stone, with a 40-year record as a political hit man, somehow was behind it. In truth, Stone had nothing to do with the investigation and said he had not heard about it when he made a prediction based on his general view of Spitzer.
That's Stone's story. Gotham thinks it bears greater scrutiny. Plus, Bob, Bloomberg became an Independent because he was so angry at the Republicans. He's also toyed with rejoining the Dems at different times in the last couple of years. So, this part of the story is no lock.
2) Establishment lawyer Alan M. Dershowitz writing in The Wall Street Journal notes:In this case, they wiretapped 5,000 phone conversations, intercepted 6,000 emails, used surveillance and undercover tactics that are more appropriate for trapping terrorists than entrapping johns. [GN emphasis] Unlike terrorism and other predatory crimes, prostitution is legal in many parts of the world and in some parts of the U.S. Even in places like New York, where it is technically illegal, johns are rarely prosecuted. Prostitution rings operate openly, advertising "massage" and "escort" services in the back pages of glossy magazines, local newspapers and television sex channels.
If the federal government really wanted to shut down these operations, they could easily do it without a single wiretap or email intercept. All they would have to do is get an undercover agent to answer the ads, arrange for the "escort" to go from New York to New Jersey and be arrested. But many in law enforcement would much rather reserve these statutes for selective use against predetermined targets.
In this case, if the serendipitous bank audit really led federal agents to Mr. Spitzer, and Mr. Spitzer led them to the Emperor's Club, and federal prosecutors really wanted to get the Club, they could easily have sent an undercover cop to pose as a john, instead of tapping phones and reading emails—tactics designed to catch and embarrass Mr. Spitzer with his own recorded words, which could be, and were, leaked to the media. As this newspaper has reported: "It isn't clear why the FBI sought the wiretap warrant. Federal prostitution probes are exceedingly rare, lawyers say, except in cases involving organized-crime leaders or child abuse. Federal wiretaps are seldom used to make these cases . . ."
Lavrenti Beria, the head of Joseph Stalin's KGB, once quipped to his boss, "show me the man and I will find the crime." The Soviet Union was notorious for having accordion-like criminal laws that could be adjusted to fit almost any dissident target. The U.S. is a far cry from the Soviet Union, but our laws are dangerously overbroad.
Both Democrats and Republicans have targeted political adversaries over the years. The weapons of choice are almost always elastic criminal laws. And few laws are more elastic, and susceptible to abuse, than federal laws on money laundering and sex crimes.
H/T to Crooks and Liars
3) The slackers' favorite neo-con, Ben Stein, came out with this on Sunday:
It feels odd when Republicans have Gotham's back. But at this juncture, all political hit-job consideration is welcome, and theories entertained.
posted by Gotham 1:14 AM
Monday, March 17, 2008
Time to Lawyer Up!
But, short-term? Get y'er insurance right!0 comments
CIA Expands Legal Insurance Coverage for Agency Employees
This is, of course, assuming that the Bush/Cheney machine will deign it wise and proper to relinquish the reins of power come next January.Many in Gotham don't put a lot of faith in that constitutional wrinkle. Getting 19's butt out of that Big Chair may well be akin to getting your tongue unstuck from a frozen-solid light pole.
But, if they do sorta go along with the, you know, quaint idea of an orderly transfer of power, Washington, DC will become a free-fire zone of lawsuits, investigations and indictments. Not only for all the members of the administration and all those who worked for them, but all the apparatchiks in all the various agencies, as well as everyone who merely had surface job-mandated interaction with any of the Bushies.
But this shouldn't be an issue, since the Bush/Cheney gang most likely isn't going anywhere.
So, insurance may just be enough.
posted by Gotham 7:35 PM
Bush Celebrates St. Pat's...
0 comments
...Can a Potato Famine be far behind?
Check out the tie.
Dow Shrugs Off Early Slide After Fed Move
Think there's an ounce of talent in that room?
The kiddies have been allowed to eat all the candy and ice cream their hearts desired. Now, they're puking all over the carpet, and beginning to panic.
"Mom and Dad America are gonna be REALLY mad at us. What do we do?!?!?"
I KNOW! Tax cuts!!
posted by Gotham 1:10 PM
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Now, This Is Shocking...
Seems that this civilization thing is still gonna need some work.0 comments
Never thought that Europe would be struggling to deliver healthy water.
posted by Gotham 3:29 PM
Surrogate Court: Pastor Problems
OK, so everybody's got pastor problems. Let's move on.0 comments
Ummmmm, can we get a little separation of Church and State goin' here, boys and girls?
Obama Disavows Pastor's Remarks
Reporters and editors are REALLY bored with this campaign season, and they are very tired, like Mary Ann Akers at WaPo. They simply don't have the energy to actually cover substantive issues anymore. It's all they can do to take peripheral things like endorsements from people who don't count or matter, and puff them up into an "Oh! Some Important Story, Boy!"
Just think: we've only got another EIGHT MONTHS of this kind of crap to go through.
Do we really HAVE to watch the rest of Jonathan Alter's hair fall out on Countdown as he continues to blow smoke? I sat and listened to him pontificate about Rev. Jeremiah Wright and the candidacy of Barack Obama. Very nauseating.
OK, Gotham will explain it all for Jonathan and Mary Ann and the entire beleaguered press corps. It's very simple. Here's the skinny:
Obama:Has been endorsed by Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Older, VERY PISSED OFF black man, who comes from a generation where it makes perfect sense to be angry. His generation all have reasons aplenty to be very pissed; you'd most likely find many of his peers feel exactly the same way. Take Nina Simone's "Mississippi Goddam" and fast forward it forty years, and stick it on cable. Same buzz. Plus, Obama has been very close to Wright for over 17 years, has a close personal friendship with the pastor; Wright officiated at the Obamas' wedding. Distancing himself from Wright comes with a high personal cost and, we can only imagine, heartache.
John McCain:Endorsed by two different bat-shit crazy religious nuts, John Hagee and Rob Parsley, who think that everyone else but them is going to hell in a speedboat; who are already on-record as wanting to impact U.S. foreign policy to assist their aims; who have already deeply insulted Catholics, Jews and Muslims—who, of course, are a whole lot of people; and are actively working to foster the coming of the Rapture and the torching of everyone else but their "faithful." We assume that next on the menu for these maniacs are the Unitarians, after which they'll go after the Methodists. After that, the Lutherans are toast.
Of course, McCain doesn't believe any of this crap, mind you, he was barely paying attention during the press conferences for these whacks. McCain just wants their congregations from the Ultra-Right. In a very callous and desperate manner, he's trying to prove his Wingnut bona fides.
McCain has decided that these numbers work for him—so, his soul and his worldly self-esteem be damned.
Hillary Clinton:Has Geraldine Ferraro. While not a pastor, exactly, the Surrogate From Hell IS holier-than-thou, so Gotham feels comfortable dumping her into the vat.
As you may have gathered, none of these folks have any impact on the ongoing Republcan wars our soldiers are dying in, or on healthcare, or on the coming Depression or on the general political life of America in 2008.
So, Jonathan et al, move on! Find a substantive issue, and report it. Or go home, and take a nap!
posted by Gotham 12:52 AM
Friday, March 14, 2008
This Glass House Moment...
...Was brought to you by your local Republican club.0 comments
Why yes, Virginia, under their Big Tent approach, there is diversity: There is the Pedophile Wing of the Republican Party; there's the Gay Wing; the Power-Hungry Madmen Wing: the World Conquest Caucus; and the Sexual Perversion Caucus, but by far the largest single segment of the modern Republican Party is the Greed Wing.
So, it comes as no great shock that they can't keep from stealing your money, because they can't stop themselves from stealing THEIR OWN!
I think it's in the DNA.
It seeps in from those red ties.
posted by Gotham 8:01 PM
Cojones for All My Friends!
0 comments
House Passes Surveillance Bill—Without telecom immunity!
"Yes, Virginia. There IS still an America. For now."
posted by Gotham 7:27 PM
McBush Follows the Herd
0 comments
John McBush: "Pssst. Pssst. Pal. I haven't read this. What's the Republican position on this bill?"
GOP: It's "Nay!"
JMcB: "Oh, OK. Uhhh, how did "those two" vote on it?"
GOP: They both voted "Aye! The bastards!"
Senate president: "Mr. McBush!"
McB: "Uh...uhhhhh, umm. 'Aye!'"
posted by Gotham 6:52 PM
No, Wolf, It's Not Just
The Economy, Stupid!
Sorry, Wolf. That's waaaay too easy for you and your colleagues to get away with.0 comments
While we're worrying about the heartbreak of making it from month to month, we're still responsible for hundreds of thousands of human beings who are worrying about making it from minute to minute.
Read/watch Arwa Damon's report for CNN. This is the world you and I have helped create:
'Signs of torture' you can't imagine"They took my husband away in front of me. I found his body in the morgue a few days later. He had multiple bullet wounds and his eyes had been gouged out," one woman tells me, forcefully twisting a tissue in her hands as if it somehow could ease her agony and erase the chilling memory.
She didn't want her story told, too afraid that she would meet the same fate as the man she loved.
Her husband's body bore the "signs of torture." How many times has that phrase been used? It's such a common phrase it's as if what really happened gets glossed over: skin scraped off their bodies, fingernails ripped out, horrifying screams of pain before death.
And from another woman, further on, this:The image of the man she loved, tall and proud, is of a doctor who moved his family back to Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein because he believed his country needed him. He was a father who doted on their 6-year-old autistic son.
Also etched into her memory is the image of his charred body, melted together with nine others, a twisted pile of black, scorched flesh.
Yet Nahla's voice is calm as she speaks, only breaking at the very end of our conversation, when the pain, buried so deep, rises to the surface. She couldn't suppress her gut-wrenching dry sobs.
I don't know how many times I have heard stories like hers after nearly five years of war here, and yet I still get chills. I can't stop being in awe—nor can I stop looking at these women in amazement. Life in Iraq has forced people to confront horror that would leave many of us paralyzed.
This is the legacy of George W. Bush.
May he spend eternity in a burning Hell.
May god have mercy on the rest of us who sat idly by, frustrated in our attempts to stop him.
posted by Gotham 5:04 PM
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
We Have Nothing to Fear...
...But Greed, itself.0 comments
Yippee! Yahoo!
Let's give the NSA even MORE help in spying on us.
posted by Gotham 12:21 PM
Spitzer & Siegelman:
GOP Bookends
Gotham is just now getting to the Gov. Elliot Spitzer matter because we've been too angry to write about it.0 comments
Let's get one thing clear at the outset.
All Elliot Spitzer stands accused of is a GWD.
Governing While Democrat
Crooks and Liars has a good recap of all this crap about Spitzer and Gov. Don Seigelman of Alabama.
Republicans have spent the last eight years firing Howitzer shells of corruption, greed, theft, child molestation and core anti-American behavior at the American people. The GOP has dropped the bombs of the wanton slaughter of our brave soldiers, the destruction of our once-proud military and the moral corruption of our national intelligence apparatus on the American people. They have hit us with every vile weapon at their disposal. Now, they have a guy they REALLY, REALLY HATE in Elliot Spitzer—they hate him with every dollar in their Swiss bank accounts—so, they jump on the chance to go after him when they find out he's carrying a cap gun.
It all stinks bad—like a psychotic guy on the subway.
Make no mistake: this bit of GOP Legal-eagle-ism is not intended to safeguard the public; this case is meant to destroy a career. Period.
This is a hit. A Republican political hit. Pure and simple. Designed to make a successful foe go away.
And at the outset, Gotham encourages Governor Spitzer NOT to resign.
-------------------------------------
We say directly to you, Governor, hang tough, let time be your ally. Geraldine Ferraro's racist remarks have already forced you off the front pages, where you were being used to keep Iraq, the coming Depression, Bush 19's push for unfettered power and the sorry state of John McCain's tattered campaign from being talked about. They can't pull Terror Alerts anymore without getting giggles, so they set out to ruin a real thorn in their side.
-------------------------------------
Elliot has made LOTS of enemies. But simply put, they are all enemies who needed to be made. For New York's sake. You and I are better off today because Elliot pissed on their shoes. Half of the Republican, east coast, corporate world has been nailed by Elliot and his team at one time or other, it seems. Most of these perps were charged with crimes akin to Grand Theft Wall Street. Or insurance coverage guidelines extortion. Or assault with a deadly banking product.
Elliot has worn the White Hat while fighting the scummiest of White Collar Crime criminals.
When they talk about what a prick he had been during all his dealings as NYS AG, they clearly mean he wouldn't play ball with them, and deal away these "unfortunate" charges they were accused of. They did the crime; he made them or their companies either do the time or pay the (whopping) fine.
Spitzer stands accused now for the exact same reasons that the U.S. Attorneys were fired:
He insisted that the playing field of our legal system be kept level. For you. For me. For all the red-tie corporati.
Republicans simply cannot put up with that for very long. Action had to be taken.
For the fleshy white corporate types, they didn't pass all those funds along the pipeline just to have someone go all (small d) democratic on them.
You can be certain, that if Karl Rove and George W. Bush were getting nasty phone calls about U.S. Attorney David Iglesius not playing ball in New Mexico with Republicans there, you ABSOLUTELY know the phone lines from New York City to DC were en fuego over Spitzer!
Just the fact that the U.S. Attorney's office never works these kinds of cases, tells you that it stinks. Or the fact that they've used ancient, never-used and rarely enforced laws. Or that they set a U.S. Land Speed Record in turning this case around and bringing a (ready-to-go?) sketched-out indictment.
To the Democrats in Albany:
Back Spitzer in his fight against the Republican machine, or plan on getting regular jobs soon!
From what we've been led to believe over the years, yes, Elliot may well be a prick.
But know that he's OUR prick, and the people of New York State need him to continue being just as much a prick on our behalf as he has always been.
Or the perilous times we live in, and the slime from the Joe Bruno delegation chokes us all.
Remember, Elliot: Republicans did this to you!
Let 'em have it.
-------------------------------------
Update: OK, so Elliot resigned. The Republicans removed their "meddlesome priest."
God Save David Paterson. He's gonna need it. He was Gotham's state senator for a time, and has been on the scene for a very long time. But with all that, we still couldn't tell you much detail about the new governor. He's simply THAT low key. They call him a consensus builder, which is double-speak for "go along; get along."
I watched NYS Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R - Hell) give a press conference immediately following Spitzer's resignation. He was on the verge of creaming his proverbial jeans. It's rare to see such glee on the face of a practiced pol. When asked about the new governor, he had extraordinarily happy, encouraging things to say. He was highly complimentary of Paterson's time as Senate Minority Leader [a powerless, ignored office since New York State is run by three men: a consensus of Governor/Senate Majority Leader/Assembly Majority Leader (Sheldon Silver, (D - Manhattan). They work it out, and tell everyone else what's going to happen].
Translated?
Bruno to Paterson: "David, I own you!"
Bruno to New York State: "We shot the sheriff! We're back in business, boys!!"
Citizens of NYS can only hope that David Paterson has cojones that haven't appeared as of yet.
He (and NYS) is going to need them.
posted by Gotham 2:18 AM
Monday, March 10, 2008
Welcome to George's Wild West Show
The idea of the United States of America as a nation of citizens bound by the rule of laws is close to shattered forever.0 comments
George W. Bush (Bush 19%) and Dick Cheney have combined to oversee the complete dismantling of the American legal system.
America is now a "wide open town," in the parlance of past lawless towns and locales, and Mafia-run places. It's a return to the Wild West. We're probably not too far away from train robberies and bank robberies, and folks shooting each other down on the streets, just as in the 1880s.
If the President of the United States can be a crook, and get away with everything he chooses, why shouldn't the country's spy agencies, which have always run up hard against powerful congressional oversight, and had always been forced to curtail their zeal in doing whatever hair-brained scheme popped into their heads.
A few years ago, the Pentagon got caught hatching a system called Total Information Awareness (TIA), headed by Iran-Contra criminal Admiral John Poindexter. It was meant to find out and list everything about everybody in the United States who wasn't a member of the ruling elite. That, of course, means YOU. As you would imagine, when it was disclosed, Congress killed it. But just as in every horror movie you've ever seen, you sense there's plenty of running time left, so you know the evil will pull itself back together and live to destroy the good and the innocent another day, or in another movie.
And everyone, of course, is totally against this evil as a concept, unless THEY get to be the one who gets to use it. Then, it's Lord of the Ring time.
Well... guess what?
It's Alive!!!!!!!!
TIA has been re-mantled over at the NSA.
It's so bad now, that even the now-Rupert Murdoch-owned and ultra-conservative The Wall St. Journal is freaked out. One could safely assume that Murdoch would love to see a secret police force here in his adopted homeland, but the NSA's and FBI's activities are too much even for this right-wing crackpot.
Keep in mind, that it's the the Republicans who have done this to what's left of the Constitution.According to current and former intelligence officials, the spy agency now monitors huge volumes of records of domestic emails and Internet searches as well as bank transfers, credit-card transactions, travel and telephone records. The NSA receives this so-called "transactional" data from other agencies or private companies, and its sophisticated software programs analyze the various transactions for suspicious patterns. Then they spit out leads to be explored by counter-terrorism programs across the U.S. government, such as the NSA's own Terrorist Surveillance Program, formed to intercept phone calls and emails between the U.S. and overseas without a judge's approval when a link to al Qaeda is suspected.
The NSA's enterprise involves a cluster of powerful intelligence-gathering programs, all of which sparked civil-liberties complaints when they came to light. They include a Federal Bureau of Investigation program to track telecommunications data once known as Carnivore, now called the Digital Collection System, and a U.S. arrangement with the world's main international banking clearinghouse to track money movements.
The effort also ties into data from an ad-hoc collection of so-called "black programs" whose existence is undisclosed, the current and former officials say. Many of the programs in various agencies began years before the 9/11 attacks but have since been given greater reach. Among them, current and former intelligence officials say, is a longstanding Treasury Department program to collect individual financial data including wire transfers and credit-card transactions.
It isn't clear how many of the different kinds of data are combined and analyzed together in one database by the NSA. An intelligence official said the agency's work links to about a dozen anti-terror programs in all.
Officials repeatedly avow that all safeguards are being met. Then, information on how they ARE ACTUALLY dealing with what they consume appears. Guess what? It never matches what they've been feeding us along the way. Wow. What a shock.
It's more like this:Two former officials familiar with the data-sifting efforts said they work by starting with some sort of lead, like a phone number or Internet address. In partnership with the FBI, the systems then can track all domestic and foreign transactions of people associated with that item -- and then the people who associated with them, and so on, casting a gradually wider net. An intelligence official described more of a rapid-response effect: If a person suspected of terrorist connections is believed to be in a U.S. city—for instance, Detroit, a community with a high concentration of Muslim Americans—the government's spy systems may be directed to collect and analyze all electronic communications into and out of the city.
The haul can include records of phone calls, email headers and destinations, data on financial transactions and records of Internet browsing. The system also would collect information about other people, including those in the U.S., who communicated with people in Detroit.
The information doesn't generally include the contents of conversations or emails. But it can give such transactional information as a cellphone's location, whom a person is calling, and what Web sites he or she is visiting. For an email, the data haul can include the identities of the sender and recipient and the subject line, but not the content of the message.
Remember in the recent past, when Republicans were all hot to trot over "Tort Reform"? That was their corporate way to keep you from using the courts to hold them to account for injurious actions their corporate leadership signed off on. The backbone of this country has been a court system where the smallest could demand redress of grievance on a level playing field with the greatest. So, the courts had to be killed or tamed.
Are you shocked then that this is where the nastiest fight of our country's survival is being waged today?The White House wants to give companies that assist government surveillance immunity from lawsuits alleging an invasion of privacy, but Democrats in Congress have been blocking it. The Terrorist Surveillance Program has spurred 38 lawsuits against companies. Current and former intelligence officials say telecom companies' concern comes chiefly because they are giving the government unlimited access to a copy of the flow of communications, through a network of switches at U.S. telecommunications hubs that duplicate all the data running through it. It isn't clear whether the government or telecom companies control the switches, but companies process some of the data for the NSA, the current and former officials say.
On Friday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee released a letter warning colleagues to look more deeply into how telecommunications data are being accessed, citing an allegation by the head of a New York-based computer security firm that a wireless carrier that hired him was giving unfettered access to data to an entity called "Quantico Circuit." Quantico is a Marine base that houses the FBI Academy; senior FBI official Anthony DiClemente said the bureau "does not have 'unfettered access' to any communication provider's network."
The political debate over the telecom information comes as intelligence agencies seek to change traditional definitions of how to balance privacy rights against investigative needs. Donald Kerr, the deputy director of national intelligence, told a conference of intelligence officials in October that the government needs new rules. Since many people routinely post details of their lives on social-networking sites such as MySpace, he said, their identity shouldn't need the same protection as in the past. Instead, only their "essential privacy," or "what they would wish to protect about their lives and affairs," should be veiled, he said, without providing examples.
As with every crime conspiracy everywhere, live or in fiction, it's when you see the co-conspirators falling out with each other that all hell is about to hit the fan.
God save our Nation.
posted by Gotham 5:26 PM
Calling Ted Bundy...
The Cuban Missile Crisis in reverse:0 comments
Bush 19 met earlier today with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to outline the details of swapping sites to house U.S. Patriot missiles in exchange for the U.S. beefing up the Polish military forces and equipment. From what Gotham can tell, this latter part held up the deal as the new Polish government held out for more in return. The Bushies can't even land a good deal in their Doomsday fantasies.
In Bush 19's "Bizarro World ["Us do opposite of all Earthly things! Us hate beauty! Us love ugliness! Is big crime to make anything perfect on Bizarro World" (from "The Halloween Pranks of the Bizarro Supermen," Adventure Comics #294)], cajoling/bribing the Poles to allow us to plant missile sites on Russia's doorstep is a swell idea! Shouldn't cause a problem at all...
This is not a new plan, the Bushies been working on it for quite a while now, as we see here.
And, yes, of course, I know that you are as shocked at this as Gotham is, but Vladimir Putin is rather miffed about the whole idea.
Now, we're all used to the array of comparisons that have been made between George W. Bush (and other members of his two administrations), and Adolf Hitler (and his stable of madmen), but who would ever think that Bush 19 would ever get himself compared to Nikita Khrushchev? And that 19 could turn Putin into John F. Kennedy?
Incredible.
Every time you think that you've seen everything this madman can come up with, he surprises you with something completely different.
Who in Congress will rid us of this madman and his cadre?
Nancy?
posted by Gotham 12:54 PM
Yet Again... And Still
The Republican War in Iraq claims 5 more U.S. troops.0 comments
posted by Gotham 12:04 PM
Oklahoma's Ugliest Human Being
(H/T to Crooks and Liars)0 comments
Wow! We have just found The Cracker at the very bottom of the Cracker Barrel!
OK State Representative Sally Kern, Republican, of the 84th OK District, the very face and voice of the modern Republican Party, was taped spewing one of the singular anti-American pieces of filth these shores have endured in hundreds of years.
Kern comes from the hatemonger/KKK Wing of the Republican Party. Being married to a Southern Bapist pastor doesn't help her world view any. She hates EVERYBODY!
Watch it. It's a must see/hear!
She nails everybody. She pisses in all directions. While this is first and foremost an anti-gay spewing, "Rep." Kern says that "all lifestyles are not created equal." She adds that "all religions are not created equal." She goes on to say that "Islam is a threat" that's equal to "terrorism."
Your Republican leadership at work.
The two scariest statements she made on this tape are:
One, she says right up front that she shouldn't be saying all this. "The very fact that I'm talking to you like this here today, puts me in jeopardy." So, she clearly knows that all this crap is wrong, but plows ahead for this audience and blabs it all out there.
Two, the worst thing she says is that she "taught school for twenty years." My God!!!!! This is child abuse in its rawest form! How many innocent minds has she twisted beyond repair? How many has she warped into hate-filled maniacs who would willingly deny core basic American rights to millions of people that her corrupt influence told them were wrong? For no reason; just because her students could not understand something different.
To make matters even worse, looking at her legislative Web site, she currently sits on THE EDUCATION COMMITTEE, the Human Services Committee, and CHAIRS the Social Services Committee! Basically, if you're different or in need in the state of Oklahoma, you're fucked! I mean, fucked royally!
If this is the prototype of womanhood in Oklahoma, what man WOULDN'T RATHER BE GAY?
How disgusting.
OK, here's ONE MORE person for John McBush to disavow...
For the sake of the children!
These McBush disavowals; they're piling up fast, don't you think?
Once again:
LEAVE NO REPUBLICAN STANDING!
posted by Gotham 1:22 AM
Sunday, March 09, 2008
More on Feith
Soon to appear at a Borders, Barnes & Noble or corruption investigation near you: Douglas Feith0 comments
I'd forgotten these two Feith stories:Feith's work at the Pentagon drew widespread criticism from both in and outside government. Gen. Tommy Franks, the commander of the Iraq invasion, once referred to him as the "stupidest guy on the face of the earth." When Feith was given his teaching post at Georgetown, several dozen faculty and administrators signed a letter of protest, some accusing him of condoning torture and being guilty of war crimes.
Now, those are resume toppers for ya!
Update:
Bad Gotham! Bad Gotham!
I had remembered the Franks quote, but hadn't remembered it correctly. I thereby shortchanged the eloquence of former Gen. Franks. Here is his exact quote:
Douglas Feith is "the fucking stupidest guy on the face of the earth."
Our apologies to the General.
posted by Gotham 11:45 PM
Oh, This Is Bad...
My, John Hagee has become his own little Easter Egg Hunt here. Brand new wonders pop up everwhere you turn!0 comments
John Hagee's McCain Endorsement Sparks Uproar
Read this again, and take note of all the Updates sprinkled all through this post since I linked to it last night.
My favorite part of all this—
This story has created an unusual death match between Godzilla and Monster X, starring John Hagee and Bill Donohue.
It's hilarious to see that pseudo-Catholic hatemonger/talking head, Bill Donohue, and his one-man Catholic League interviewed on this, like anybody gives a crap what he thinks (especially Catholics), and to see this windbag forced to come out on the side of the angels.
Ahhh, John Hagee—A gift who just keeps giving.
So, once again, we see John McCain saying anything he has to to survive.
I do love the Internets!
posted by Gotham 8:05 PM
The Neo-Cons Win!
The Neo-Cons Win!
Oh Puh-leeze!0 comments
Neo-con crackpot Douglas Feith, the thankfully former Defense Undersecretary for Policy begins what is certain to be the coming onslaught of "My Side"-type books from loyal neo-con Bushies, which will all endeavor to keep them out of prison and perhaps off the gallows, with breathless chapter headings such as: "How I Saved You from Saddam Hussein and French Fries."
This new screed is entitled War and Decision, two things about which Feith would appear to know precious little. It comes via HarperCollins (FOX), which most recently hit the literary dimestores with Jenna B's attempt to explain why she was too busy puking from curbs after a night of partying to ever consider enlisting in the military, or doing anything else positive for her country.
Feith, of course, is co-founder (w/Paul Wolfowitz) of the extra intelligence-gathering wing within the Defense Dept., the clandestine Office of Special Plans (OSP). While the name itself is very Gestapo- and Monty Python-esque, its dealings were even more so. These are the people who filtered the intel from the world's intelligence community, and stove-piped exactly what they wanted the facts to be, directly to Bush 19 and Cheney, without any outside interference—say, from the State Dept. or the Joint Chiefs of Staff, let alone the CIA or FBI.
These are also the people who brought you Ahmed Chalabi, the lying charlatan who wanted Iraq for his own and told Feith and Wolfowitz everything their hearts dreamed of, and Curveball, the poor rummy who Feith et al portrayed as the font of all great, true information on the evils of Saddam Hussein.
This is a 900-page attempt by Feith to blame everybody else but himself for the colossal, fatal fuck-ups of these colossally fucked up think tank wonks.
In essence, these are the Beavis and Buttheads who were able to get their hands on the levers of the most powerful country in the history of the world, and used it to send almost 4,000 good and strong American fighting men and women to their doom in Iraq. Not to mention hundreds of thousands of peace-loving Iraqis.
Ex-Defense Official Assails Colleagues Over Run-Up to War
Of course, as it has been from the beginning, the greatest blame sits with Bush and Cheney, who gave these guys free rein and sanctioned their murderous schemes.
So, they'll all burn in eternal damnation together—this coming flood of blame shifting notwithstanding.
posted by Gotham 7:20 PM
Fix It for the Children...
H/T to AMERICAblog—0 comments
Remember, Republicans did this to you.
"Pass the corn flakes, Mom?"
"Over my dead body! Go get a second job!"
"But, Mom! I'm NINE!"
posted by Gotham 5:59 PM
The Manchurian Candidate?
From John Aravosis at AMERICAblog:0 comments
Wow.
This is extraordinarily damaging stuff, as it goes right to the heart of the myth of John McCain: Hero.
POWs, families, former members of Congress and Senate & House committee staff criticize McCain for stymieing POW/MIA investigation.
What struck me immediately about these clips was it showed both Republicans and Democrats, stalwarts like Smith and crackpots like Dorgan, all who were thwarted on the MIA issue by McCain.
And when wingnut radio guys like Harry Thomas start calling McCain a traitor and a warmonger, the circle starts to close, and left and right start saying basically the same thing. That's scary.
Here's the Thomas clip. Try to hold your lunch down as you wade through the wingnut tripe, but it's worth it to hear some of the claims.
This may partially explain the bizarre relationship of McCain and Bush 19: two privileged sons who know where bodies are buried, leading them to share a sharp affinity for—and clear need for—extreme secrecy on the part of the apparatus of the U.S. government.
However...
It's just waaaaaay too impossible today to lead a hidden life in a Time of YouTube. If the crap you don't want known is out there—anywhere—there will be someone, somewhere, who has a copy and can put it up for grabs. It's herding cats.
Over time, this may lead to greater transparency and all public candidates will adapt to it. But for this generation, they're having a very hard time letting go of the concept that they can cover stuff up fairly easily if they're powerful enough.
They're getting the bends from all this "progress" stuff.
But the rest of us? We're doing just fine.
We need this tool. Otherwise, they'll just continue lying to us with a straight face.
posted by Gotham 5:44 PM
The Wall Falls
The morons in the GOP simply cannot have it both ways. Nor will they continue to.0 comments
If they insist on having surrogate "nobodys" like Iowa Rep. Steve King tarring Barack Obama in smear campaigns with bogus connections to al Qaeda in order to demonize him and frighten people away from him, then they open themselves up to closer scrutiny of the very real and the more probable similarities between the GOP of Bush/Cheney/Rove/Perle/Wolfowitz and the Third Reich of 1930's Germany.
Lawmaker: Terrorists to cheer Obama win
This duality of "I-can-throw-dung-in-your-face-anytime-I-want-without-reprisal-but-you-can't-say-anything-about-my-real-trashing-of -the-U.S.-Constitution" must naturally stop.
These are bully tactics, pure and simple.
An easy way to have Karl Rove or others not be referred to in terms of Nazi principles is for them to simply avoid actions and statements that reek of fascistic principles.
Even they should get that one.
posted by Gotham 5:56 AM
Sunday Thought
It's early on a Sunday morning.0 comments
Has anyone seen John Hagee kick a priest yet this morning?
posted by Gotham 4:40 AM
McCain's War
Again, thanks to Atrios for this one.0 comments
This is really scary. Bone-chillingly scary.
New McCain campaign video
Ummm, I'm afraid that someone is just going to have to come out and say it.
John McCain does not appear to be all that well balanced for a job as stressful as President of the United States.
There appears to be a war going on in McCain's head that none of the rest of us can see or hear, or get to participate in or have any say in. This campaign ad seems to state that there is a PermaWar, or a Thousand Years War going on inside John McCain's mind. One that has nothing to do with the actual perilous conflicts Bush 19 has shoved this country into.
The oft-told stories of glorious courage aside, could it possibly be that a piece of that Hanoi cell is forever stuck in McCain's mind? Or that an important part of McCain was left behind there?
I have no idea about any of that, but it's important to begin asking these questions if the man wants to be the head of state of a country that's in danger of collapse from within after seven years of Republican rule.
This ad makes McCain look positively unhinged.
posted by Gotham 4:27 AM
Where In the World Is: IL-14?
Hat tip to Atrios:0 comments
Image of IL-14
posted by Gotham 4:04 AM
Land Shark!
Sarah Fenske of the Phoenix New Times does some amazing ol' fashioned reporting here.0 comments
Rep. Rick Renzi's endeavors in the "DustWater" scam clearly place him in The Thief Wing of the GOP:
Embattled Congressman Rick Renzi's biggest victims may be the right-to-life groups he claimed to represent in Washington
Gotham just loves the fact that he scammed the right-wing Right-To-Life sacred cow, as well as the Boys and Girls Clubs!!
Don't answer your door if Renzi knocks on it!
Knock, knock, knock. "Yes?" "CandyGram!!!"
This is also another reason to hate insurance types.
posted by Gotham 3:12 AM
The Bush Boom
Bush 19 desperately wants a legacy. Well, along with those hundreds of thousands dead, here's another major section of his legacy:0 comments
ABC News Video
This is where 19 came in, remember? The first thing he did when inaugurated was to turn a quickly cooling economy after the Dot-Com bust and watch it as it got worse until we all went splat on impact. Then, there was a recovery neither you nor I got to see any of; the the rape and pillage of Ft. Knox, now this.
Truly a steward of His Time.
Look at this video closely. Never, ever trust a man in a red power tie.
You've been warned.
posted by Gotham 12:29 AM
WaPo Takes On The Onion
This is either very sad or very funny. But either way, it's very dopey. Low-rent fairy tale from The Washington Post.0 comments
McCain Sits in Campaign's Catbird Seat
Oh yeah, this is gonna be bad.
Landslide.
But this is my favorite part of the story—a rare Rick Santorum sighting:As recently as January, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum predicted that the GOP was "headed for a brokered convention. I don't think we're going to get a nominee."
I don't know why WaPo would want to insult Santorum by calling him a state legislator like that. He wasn't a PA senator, but a former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania. One can assume that Rick's paid staff has called WaPo with the scathing response.
But Rick was in there hoping for a brokered convention. And he, apparently, was working hard for it. In very public places. Loudly.
LEAVE NO REPUBLICAN STANDING.
posted by Gotham 12:15 AM
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Just Go Read It...
Kagro X of Daily Kos has it just about nailed.0 comments
Something to remember when hearing the inevitable "Oooooohs" and "Ahhhhhhhs" from CNN, MSNBC and FOX about (genuflect) "Karl Rove" getting involved with his "genius" and his "savvy":
Fear only works if people are not paying really close attention.
People can't be afraid if they're too busy being pissed. And people are really pissed.
Period.
The only way this isn't a landslide is if the GOP steals the election outright.
Which they are thoroughly capable of doing.
But, even up, they couldn't win a game of Scrabble at this point.
posted by Gotham 11:38 PM
Landslide...
Mehlman, Rove boost McCain campaign0 comments
All The President's Men. The guys who helped turn "43" into "19(%)." And live soldiers into dead ones. And your dollars into dust.
Yeah, all the guys who maintain that subpoenas simply don't apply to them.
Lord, John McBush is in just a world of trouble.
posted by Gotham 11:24 PM
Shock Wave In the Heartland;
Dems Win Reagan's Hometown
We'll say once again, this is NOT a race for the presidency in 2008. This is a race against time for the very survival of our beloved republic.2 comments
For some reason or other, Americans just do not think about taking to the streets in record numbers of millions, shouting to take back their country. But the GOP has repeatedly mistaken this silence as approval, rather than the silent rage it is.
Make no mistake, the record numbers at each and every Democratic primary and caucus shows how deeply pissed the American soul is. If you REALLY need convincing of that, I offer Exhibit #IL-14:
Democrat Wins Former House Speaker Denny Hastert's Seat
...which Cong. district just happens to contain the birthplace of Ronald Reagan. As close to a holy Mecca as the GOP has.
What a shocking event. Even the Republicans have had enough! Even THEY want their country back again.
The NRCC poured over $1 million here to hold onto this seat -- nearly a third of its cash on hand.
John McCain actually took time from his presidential campaign to come to Illinois and hold a fundraiser for Oberweis and formally endorse him.
This was an important race. Despite the inevitable spin from the GOP tonight, the fact is that Bill Foster ran in a deeply red district, against an opponent and a Republican machine that blanketed the airwaves with attack after attack. Republicans fought tooth and nail to keep this district, and they lost.
Again, we're looking at a landslide of historic proportions. The Dems have ideas, scores of good candidates, the seeds of a plan for renewal and, mostly, an enraged electorate.
All the Republican Party has is slush funds, voter disenfranchisement and Diebold machines.
So, this should still be a close race.
posted by Gotham 10:59 PM
Not What You Want to See
How long do you think it will take Bush 19% to figure that "this is a really cool idea"?0 comments
Prime Minister Dissolves Serbia’s Government"The government, which does not have united policies, cannot function," Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said as he announced the fall of his Cabinet. "That's the end of the government."
How long until Bush 19 lays this one at Nancy Pelosi's feet?
posted by Gotham 6:27 PM
Bush Americanus
Do not play this man cheaply. Ever. Or you lose.0 comments
Shrub continues to rend the moral fiber of The United States of America, because it fits with his world view. Period.
Bush Vetoes Anti-Torture Bill
Ever since his first run in 2000, he has done exactly what he has said he was going to do. In keeping with his being a spoiled rich-boy, black sheep, his arrogance has always been his strongest and most reliable trait.
If you ever get the chance to catch a showing of his 2000 GOP convention acceptance speech, do so. It's truly chilling to see.
Everything he's done to this country—and to you—in the past seven years, he outlined clearly in that speech. He said he was going to do it, then he did it. Voila! There have been no surprises. His approach has always been: "I'm gonna do what I'm gonna do. Try to stop me, hotshot." We didn't believe him; we thought he was a dope/loser. So, in turn, we lose. Badly.
We laughed at his being a goofball at our peril. He had us exactly where he wanted us. He has spent his entire two terms hiding in plain sight. So much so, a Dem majority is fully at a loss to how to go about stopping him. He adheres to no law; he has no scruples and no ethics. He is—in totality—amoral.
When you complain, he just chooses to not hear you. You will never influence him by your words. If he doesn't like it, he simply won't hear it. If he hears something he doesn't like, he simply declares a Terror Alert to scare you into shutting up.
Nothing personal; just business. That's just the way it is.
So when he said the following, how utterly foolish were we to laugh ourselves senseless?"If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier; just so long as I'm the dictator." —Washington D.C. December 18, 2000
This should, of course, be taken literally.
He was chuckling when he said it. But he was the only one who wasn't laughing.
As with everything else he's done, he depends on our incredulity.
posted by Gotham 3:07 PM
Friday, March 07, 2008
We're Screwed
Economically, the U.S. is really screwed.0 comments
Remember, Republicans did this to you.Even at its best, the Bush economy left most voters unimpressed: only once, in January 2007, did a slight majority of those questioned by the USA Today/Gallup poll describe the economy as “excellent” or “good,” rather than “only fair” or “poor.” A year later, only 19 percent of voters had a good word for the economy.
This collapse in economic confidence has occurred even though the full economic effects of the implosion of the housing market and the freezing of the credit markets have yet to be felt. As more things fall apart, perceptions will only get worse.
And it will only get worse.
Landslide, anyone?
posted by Gotham 7:50 PM
Just In Time for St. Patrick's Day
And Easter Sunday
Way to go, John!0 comments
Piss off all the Catholics, just in time for them to all get drunk on St. Pat's and think about what a fine boy-o you're turning out to be in your campaign. Didn't "McCain" used to be Irish? Man, and Karl Rove worked so hard to rein in all that Catholic vote over the years. Poof. All Gone!
Then, all come together later that week for Easter Mass, and hear about how all men are brothers through God's love:
John Hagee calls Catholicism the Great Whore, and is pushing for the Rapture: when Israel blows up, and the Jews are burned alive, God will return; this is John McCain's New BFF
Ah, the lilt; the music from sweet Irish lips:
"Hey John, Erin Go Fuck Yourself!"
posted by Gotham 7:37 PM
Life Really IS That Simple
Lord...0 comments
McCain to seek support from top conservatives
OK.
It's time for Gotham to stick its size-12s into the fracas, and get us all focused again!LEAVE NO REPUBLICAN STANDING!
THAT is our goal. Our only goal. It's what is necessary in order to salvage what is left of our beloved republic.
This is looking to be a landslide of truly colossal proportions! The clown field running in the GOP primaries were—all 24-hr., FOX/MSNBC/CNN Cable News Channel palaver and "balance" aside—vying for a whopping 19% to 30% of the U.S. population.
The Democrats fielded an array of experienced, smart, savvy candidates, all of whom could lead this wounded country out of its horror and back into the sunlight. These candidates were jockeying for the favor of a full 70% to 89% of Americans.
Let's not lose sight of that.
There must be NO Republican president. No Republican Senator, no Representative, no Governor, no Legislator, no Council member, no Alderman, no Sheriff, no Judge, no member of a school board.
It's critical to this country that no one from the GOP gets elected Dog Catcher.
These are all the people who have aided and colluded in the wholesale destruction of the very foundations of the United States of America.
All of it for personal greed and aggrandizement.
It's going to take a decade, at least, to ferret out every last unqualified fratboy, neo-con GOP apparatchik that has been planted 10 and 12 levels down into every agency and office of our national, regional and local governments. Karl Rove was planning on One Party Rule, and he was referring to the Rove/Dick Cheney model of One Party Rule. Theirs.
Once the governmental apparatus is cleansed, and the true conservatives have retaken control of The Republican Party, then we can return to working on a bipartisan basis again.
Until that day, this election is akin to the battles on Iwo Jima, where a desperate foe was entrenched and would not come out, and continued to snipe from their caves. So, we just had to go in and burn 'em out.
I'm afraid that's our political landscape today, as well.
So, ENOUGH! Other than to some giant egos, and some pretty squirrelly campaign staff members, high and low, it doesn't really matter who leads this effort: Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.
We know that John McBush will go to any length to grab the Oval Office that he thinks he is owed. But he not only holds the seeds of his own destruction, he holds the watering can and the fertilizer for it as well.
We need to stay on message and allow our friends on the lunatic fringe to merely self-immolate.
They're so good at it.
So, please everyone. Stay focused!
Again, our mantra:LEAVE NO REPUBLICAN STANDING!
posted by Gotham 7:25 PM
Bumiller Loses Her Spot
on the Planted Story List
Here we go...0 comments
Oh, yeah. This is gonna be some big fun, boy.
Yeah, yeah, Gotham knows, the media LOOOOOOOOOVES John McCain. But, ummmm, are we sure it's not that Ike & Tina Turner-kind of love thing?
Gonna be interesting to see how the press plays this one, as McBush rips Elizabeth Bumiller of The New York Times a new one during a flight on Fake Talk One. When do we see the stories that different members of the press corps just tripped and fell, to explain the black eyes? Do stories pop up that defend McBush, because he's really a "good man," and didn't mean to hurt the Associated Press?
Watch the video. Up until now, no one has lain a finger on McBush. And this is a powder puff attempt at "journalism" from Bumiller. But, McBush snaps out anyway. Buckle yourself in when the questions get merely pointed.
For all our Rambo-loving friends out there, this isn't a cool, "kick ass" kind of temper. Nope. McBush is your unhinged, nasty Uncle Morty who all the kids run away from whenever the family convenes.
When Hillary Clinton said McBush had crossed a "threshold," who knew it was one of civility and sanity? THIS?! THIS is the man she feels good about taking a 3am phone call from Vladimir Putin, that Putin's thinking about nuking the U.S. for fun, and just what does Johnny say about THEM apples?
Up to this point, you could make a pretty safe bet that Bumiller would be on-board with any piece of blind-source Dem-bashing innuendo the White House, GOP or McBush campaign would want to drop in her in-box.
Might she (and/or others) be slower to do so now, what with singed tushie and all?
We're all now on Official Elizabeth Bumiller Watch!
posted by Gotham 6:37 PM
Nancy to Hil, Barack: Cork It! I'm Sleeping!
Pelosi asks Clinton, Obama to quit bickering0 comments
Cheeeesh!
It's gotten so that she can't even hear herself caving in to Bush 19% these days with all this racket!
posted by Gotham 5:54 PM
Thought For The Day
Dick Cheney's considerable "Mr. French" girth notwithstanding, Wyoming STILL has over 65,000 LESS citizens in the entire state than live within the Beltway confines of the District of Columbia.0 comments
Washington, DC — 588,292
Wyoming — 522,830
Go figure.
So, Dick represents...Who?
posted by Gotham 12:25 PM
Today, The Toilets;
Tomorrow, The Military
With Larry Craig (R-ID), a member of the Gay Wing of the Republican Party, sitting on the Senate Veterans' Affairs committee, does that mean the the GOP is rethinking its entire policy on gays in the military?0 comments
U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs: Committee Members
posted by Gotham 11:28 AM
U.S. Senate Less Intelligent
According to the Senate Intelligence Committee roster, there are three fewer members than last year.0 comments
Are we three Senators safer?
Or is the Intel they get just not good enough to keep a full 18 elected folk and their staffs busy?
posted by Gotham 11:18 AM
Joe Gives Gotham A Heart Attack...
...There for a minute.0 comments
I saw this and saw, "LIEBERMAN SAYS INDEPENDENT REPORT ON DINOs CONFIRMS EARLIER FINDINGS"
I thought Republican Joe Lieberman was confronted by an independent report that factually exposed his right-wing leanings.
Alas, 'twas not to be. He was merely chiding DHS head Michael Chertoff for not being as right-wing as he.
Alas...Labels: Homeland Security, Joe Lieberman
posted by Gotham 11:10 AM
