tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80888932024-03-07T02:26:35.392-05:00The Barking DingoBarking Dingo is the political thought diary of of staunch, staunch moderate (ok, leaning a little to the left). I am a recovering McCain 2000 supporter who is now ashamed to have ever touted his virtuesDingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386587646469853172noreply@blogger.comBlogger1011125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088893.post-62977649058147925762008-10-31T14:11:00.002-04:002008-11-01T10:01:39.184-04:00Election Eve PoemT'was the night before election and all through the land everyone was wondering, was the election in hand? <br /><br />"Never!" yelled McCain on TV, "ditto" cried Palin, "there's simply no way our campaign is fail'n."<br /><br />I sat in my living room, remote by my side, the phone off the hook, I was trying to hide.<br /><br />When out though the window I heard such a chatter, I went to go see just what was the matter.<br /><br />I spied out the window and across the great lawn, a mob of angry folks surrounding Sarah and John.<br /><br />"They're Commies! They're terrorists! They'll tax you to death!" came from the crowd with each angry breath.<br /><br />"He's Muslim! He's foreign! He's elite even worse!" One yelled the N-word in one spiteful curse.<br /><br />"Down with Obama, down with Biden, off with their heads! ...The country can't handle them, they're better off dead!"<br /><br />I stood there in horror, how could this be, but standing there in the middle was Palin smiling with glee.<br /><br />"Liberals hate America and freedom and folks who love God," exclaimed the VP pick with a wink and a nod.<br /><br />I couldn't believe the mobs violent reaction and that Sarah's sharp words could have so much virulant attraction.<br /><br />All I could do is hang my head down in shame, that this once respectable party would play such a game.<br /><br />These unsavory tactics, they work I confess, but eight years of this crap is what got us in this mess.Dingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386587646469853172noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088893.post-50415198674018220472008-10-29T15:38:00.003-04:002008-10-29T15:59:34.341-04:00The Brown Shirts ReturnI know that the majority of Republicans are decent people, but for the love of god, what is happening to the party. It is being overrun by thugs.<br /><br />I have been to plenty of political rallies, both Democratic and Republican. At both I have seen emotions high,but violent intent seems to be the norm at GOP rallies these days.<br /><br />In 1995 I went to see Bob Dole speak at a rally. There were some Clinton supporters with signs across the street, but no one payed them attention. In fact, we had prior knowledge that there was one guy who planned on doing a "silent protest" of Dole's policy, so being the snarks we were, a friend and I printed up placards that stated we were protesting silent protests and followed him around... silently, of course.<br /><br />Now, you take you life in your own hands if you dare show an ounce of decent a Republican rallies. (<a href="http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/10/mccain-miami-rally-getting-ugly-down.html">McCain Miami Rally, Getting Ugly Down Here</a>)<br /><br />Other rallies, McCain supporters shout out death threats, racial epithets, and other slurs. At one rally, a African-American camera man was called a nigger and told to "sit down boy." <br /><br />And, it is not only the crowds that are getting belligerent. Elected GOP office holders are telling crowds that, unless you agree with them, you are not a "real American" and that you hate god.<br /><br />I won't even go as far as associating the skin heads what plotted to kill Obama with the GOP even though, I am fairly certain they were not voting Democratic this year.<br /><br />This whole thing is like some strange convergence of McCarthyism and Brown Shirt intimidation tactics. The GOP is in tatters now and I would be ashamed to be associated with a party that has sunk so low. There is nothing constructive coming out of the GOP these days, only destructive behavior to tear down everybody instead of building anyone up.<br /><br />If you are a Republican reading this, get a hold of your party. It is decending into chaos and your candidates are leading the charge.Dingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386587646469853172noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088893.post-47300337618323638452008-10-06T10:43:00.003-04:002008-10-06T11:21:15.849-04:00Stones and Glass HousesSarah Palin went into pit bull mode yesterday, attacking Obama for sitting on the same non-profit board as former Vietnam era radical, william Ayers. In addition to sitting on the same boards, Ayers also hosted a "get to know the candidate" coffee in his home in 1995, before Obama knew of Ayers past dealing. Obama has called Ayers actions "despicable" and has completely repudiated Ayers and his Vietnam era organization. For this, Palin is saying that Obama is "palling around with terrorist!" She further went on to say that "This is not a man who sees America as you and I do -- as the greatest force for good in the world." <br /><br />On the inverse, Sarah Palin's husband, Todd Palin, was a registered member of the Alaska Independence Party which advocates the overthrowing of the U.S. government in Alaska and its secession from the union. Todd was a registered member of the party from 1995 to 2000.<br /><br />Joe Vogler, the party's founder stated "The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government." He also said, "And I won't be buried under their damn flag. I'll be buried in Dawson. And when Alaska is an independent nation they can bring my bones home." <br /><br />Not only was Todd an active member of the party, Sarah Palin spoke at their party's convention in 2000 where she never once disagreed with their platform and actually told them to "keep up the good work."<br /><br />I guess Todd doesn't see the good old U.S. of A. the same way as the rest of us do "as the greatest force for good in the world" either... and for that matter, I guess, neither does Sarah Palin...<br /><br />So, while Obama had a passing acquittance with Bill Ayers a long time ago, Sarah Palin sleeps with a traitor to the United States every night.<br /><br />So, hey, if you are going to throw stones...<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081006/ap_on_el_pr/palin_s_words_analysis;_ylt=AqW7VVu47wkufcoLvJAxbd5snwcF">Analysis: Palin's words may backfire on McCain </a>Dingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386587646469853172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088893.post-26993217128319522332008-09-17T09:08:00.004-04:002008-09-17T10:12:05.698-04:00McCain will Continue Presidential SecrecyMcCain has always promised an open and transparent government if he is elected president. After almost 8 years of some of the most secretive government policies under the Bush administration, an open and honest government seems like only a fanciful dream to most of us. 8 years ago, I would have believed McCain was the type of man to tell the American people the truth.<br /><br />Unfortunately, the McCain of 2000 is not the McCain of 2008. We are already seeing signs that the McCain/Palin ticket would continue the secretive, dishonest and obstructionist policies favored by the Bush administration.<br /><br />Issue one - McCain has been called to the mat by nearly every organization and publication out there for being dishonest in his campaign. Even FackCheck.org had to publish a response to McCain's deceptive and misleading ads. Karl Rove, the king of deception has even called McCain's ads misleading and have gone "too far". Is it possible for anyone to sink below the level of the Bush administration? Apparently so.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/14/campaign.wrap/index.html">Rove: McCain went 'too far' in ads</a><br /><br />Issue two - Toopergate. Many partisans claim that this is a politically motivated investigation, but it must be reiterated that the investigation into Palin's abuse of power commenced long before she was chosen as McCain's running mate. Even if Palin is completely innocent of all charges, the attempt to subvert the investigation is clearly following the same path as the CIA/Plame leak investigation. McCain is already trying to control information available to the American people by taking control of the documentation. This is a state issue that should not be controlled by a national campaign. This only proves that McCain believes in Bush obstructionism. As the republicans always say, if you have nothing to hide than allow open access to prove your innocence.<br /><br /><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080917/ap_on_go_pr_wh/palin_mccain_operatives;_ylt=ApYfNM.5putebynlsrqAmBhsnwcF">McCain campaign clamps down on questions in Alaska</a><br /><br /><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080917/ap_on_el_pr/palin_troopergate;_ylt=AvgppULCJIxhiRIXgiFYs79snwcF">Alaska AG: State employees won't honor subpoenas</a><br /><br /><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080916/ap_on_go_pr_wh/palin_troopergate;_ylt=AjKRFxcePfAzdtinYMIfAVoD5gcF">Palin unlikely to speak with investigator </a><br /><br />Issue three - Openness subversion. Palin has already proven herself to be following in the footsteps of Karl Rove and Dick Cheney by using non-official email accounts to conduct official state business. In an attempt to leave no official paper trail on Palin's connections with lobbyists and crony capitalism, Palin uses a Yahoo account to conduct state business behind closed doors. This is the same tactic Rove and Cheney used to conduct national business without leaving an electronic trail that could be subpoenaed by the American people.<br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/how-transparent.html">How Transparent Will Palin Be?</a><br /><br />Issue four - Open door policy. McCain once championed the media as his biggest base. now that they are actually holding him accountable for his actions, McCain has closed the door to public access for both himself and Palin. Bush held the same philosophy of avoiding having to answer to the American people. A president cannot deny access due solely to the fact that the press might ask a difficult or probing question.<br /><br /><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080916/ap_on_el_pr/private_palin;_ylt=AqyR8E3ikRnZs16tfWxFeTaM5QcF">McCain campaign keeps Palin under wraps</a> <br /><br /><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20080917/pl_politico/13527;_ylt=AqIQrFGgMwD.9XJlMiSaSeCM5QcF">Dems hit McCain on access</a> <br /><br />McCain has flipped from being a champion of open government to a champion of Bush secrecy and obstructionism. Eight years of this policy has lead to disastrous results. Another four years is not going to get any better.Dingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386587646469853172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088893.post-20437260730132127202008-09-15T23:15:00.004-04:002008-09-15T23:38:11.870-04:00John McCain Begins Push PollingNot only has the "honorable" John McCain been called a liar by about every fact checking organization out there...<br /><br />Not only has Karl Rove, the king of sleazy politics called John McCain a big fat liar... <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/14/campaign.wrap/index.html">Rove: McCain went 'too far' in ads</a><br /><br />Now McCain has started using the very lowest of the lowest tactics in U.S. politics...<br /><br />McCain has decided to use the very thing that he derided about the Bush campaign in 2000...<br /><br />John McCain is now push polling...<br /><br />Jewish voters are receiving phone calls from purported "pollsters", except, the pollsters don't want to ask them there opinion, they want to shape their opinion.<br /><br />The pollsters are asking<br /><br /><blockquote>"Would it change your mind about Obama if you knew that his church was anti-Israel? Would it change your mind if you knew that the leaders Hamas had endorsed Obama? Would it change your mind if you knew he had met with the leaders of Hamas?"</blockquote><br /><br />I would have never thought that John McCain would ever sink so low. I feel ashamed that I could have ever have considered voting for him. He really has become the evil love child of Tom Delay and Karl Rove.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0908/Jewish_voters_complain_of_antiObama_poll.html?showall">Jewish voters complain of anti-Obama poll</a>Dingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386587646469853172noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088893.post-10218422102638426332008-09-12T14:28:00.002-04:002008-09-12T14:53:06.131-04:00McCain the Big Fat LiarI used to have a lot of respect for McCain. He may have even gotten my vote in 2000 had he won the GOP primaries. After 8 years of being around Bush, I guess he has spent too much time within the Bush/Cheney lie machine because he has lost all of his moral and ethical standards since 2000.<br /><br />Today on "The View", McCain just told flat out lies about his running mate, Sara Palin. He claimed that she has not sought a single cent of earmarks for Alaska as governor even though he knows that she has requested over $200 million in earmarks this year alone.<br /><br />I guess he has spent so much time with his head up Bush's ass that he is willing to play the same dishonest games as his predecessor.<br /><br /><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080912/ap_on_el_pr/campaign_republicans;_ylt=Aktgj8mCWjtZat5Sxo5lqYSyFz4D">McCain talks up Palin as a reformer on 'The View' </a>Dingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386587646469853172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088893.post-46109193973156695732008-09-11T10:05:00.006-04:002008-09-11T21:32:16.608-04:00Palin Charged Rape Victims For Rape KitsOk, it is time to get back into the game. I was trying to devote my time to actually making a difference in my community instead of focusing on national politics, but the McCain/Palin campaign has started to so distort truth that I can no longer stand by and be a passive watcher.<br /><br />Palin is obviously not the person she like to project and she is no friend to women. I had heard rumors that Palin, as mayor, had charged rape victims for a rape kit to be collected, but I finally was able to confirm it.<br /><br />As an attorney, this is an absolute outrage to justice. To think that you would require a woman who has been raped to pay for the forensic evidence that would be needed to convict the rapist is obscene. If you are poor and can't afford to pay for a rape kit, the rapist will most likely walk away scott free, able to rape again and again.<br /><br />As the mayor, you are charged with protecting the citizens in you community, but Sara Palin could care less about the safety of women she was elected to protect. This rule was so outrageous, a state wide law had to be passed to ban her policies of charging rape victims seeking justice.<br /><br />What would have been next for Palin... making the surviving spouse who lost their entire family to a drunk drive pay for the breathalyzer to prove the driver was drunk?<br /><br />Palin is wrong for women and wrong for America.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.bostonherald.com/news/national/politics/2008/view.bg?articleid=1118416">Alaska pols: Wasilla charged victims for rape kits</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-09-10-rape-exams_N.htm">Palin's town used to bill victims for rape kits</a>Dingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386587646469853172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088893.post-35021483625121137282008-05-16T11:41:00.004-04:002008-05-16T12:52:24.099-04:00Is Obama an Appeaser?After Bushes speech yesterday, or which I watched most of, the word "appeasement" has been on the rally call of every wignut out there.<br /><br />This word... I don not think it means what they think it means.<br /><br />After watching one such blow hard yesterday call Obama an appeaser in almost every other sentence, the host asked the wingnut to define the word appeasement. Of course, he could not. So, here is a little help for you wingnuts out there.<br /><br />Appeasement has several definitions according to Webster's Dictionary:<br /><br /><strong>1) to bring a state of peace or quiet.</strong> <br /><br />Not a bad thing to have in the middle east in my opinion. Bush likes war and chaos. Me? I am for lower gas prices.<br /><br /><strong>2) to cause to subside </strong><br /><br />Subsidence of hostilities in the Middle east... oh the horror!<br /><br />And the third one, and the one that I think Bush and the wingnuts are referring to.<br /><br /><strong>3) pacify, conciliate; especially : to buy off (an aggressor) by concessions usually at the sacrifice of principles.</strong><br /><br />Ok, not as good as the first to. But lets look at this in context. bush and the wingnuts are comparing Obama to Nevil Chamberlain, former Prime Minister of England. In 1938 Chamberlain attempted to "appease" Hitler by giving a third of Czechoslovakia to Hitler hoping that Hitler would then cease his hostilities. Chamberlain was of course very very wrong.<br /><br />Now, lets look at Obama. There is a big difference in talking to our enemies and appeasing our enemies in the way that Chamberlain did. You don't have to appease our enemies just by talking to them. If Obama was suggesting that we give half of Israel to the Palestinians in order to stop the fighting, then Obama would be an appeaser. Negotiating with them to settle a dispute is not appeasement.<br /><br />Bush finally talked to North Korea... Is Bush an appeaser?<br /><br />If we talk to the government in Khartoum to stop the killing in Darfur, are we appeasers. <br /><br />When Israel sat down and talked with Egypt, their arch enemies at the time, and negotiated peace, was that appeasement?<br /><br />McCain himself in 2006 said that we had to deal with Hamas. Is he an appeaser? So did Colon Powell, Jim Baker, Bob Gates.<br /><br />Seriously people, if you never talk to your enemies, how are you ever going to find solutions other than war? The last thing we need is more of Bush/McCain cowboy diplomacy.<br /><br />And would someone... Anyone... name me one time that Obama said he would talk to Hamas without them first renouncing violence and recognizing Israel?Dingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386587646469853172noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088893.post-14907020954336814712008-04-24T12:41:00.002-04:002008-04-24T13:24:55.216-04:00Hotel Linda Vista, Costa Rica Travel ScamI recently enjoyed a nice two week vacation to Costa Rica. If you are at all thinking about traveling to Costa Rica, it is well worth the trip, but there is one thing you should be aware of before booking your hotel in La Fortuna.<br /><br />The Hotel Linda Vista in La Fortuna, Costa Rica. This hotel is located close to the Arenal volcano. Since this is one of the few hotels located on the side of the volcano where the lava flow can be seen at night, I decided this would be a great hotel to book at. I made on-line reservation and received a confirmation of our booking.<br /><br />First of all, the Hotel Linda Vista is nowhere near La Fortuna. It is in fact located in El Castillo which is about 55 minutes away from La Fortuna. You have to spend half an hour on a bone jarring dirt/rock road to reach the hotel. The buses only take you to La Fortuna, so you have to hire another bus or taxi to take you the rest of the way.<br /><br />Second, in reality, it looks nothing like the web-site pictures. It looks more like a cross between a Motel 8 and a tiki bar. <br /><br />Third, since you are in the middle of nowhere, you are stuck there unless you have a car. You have to eat at their overpriced restaurant because there is nothing else within miles.<br /><br />Fourth, The volcano has clouds around it most nights, so you can't see the lava flow anyway. Save you money and get a cheaper hotel in La Fortuna and take a night tour if there is a clear evening. It will be a hell of a lot cheaper.<br /><br />Fifth, when we showed up after a 14 hour day of traveling, they didn't have our reservations and were overbooked. I took out the on-line reservations that I had printed out just for such a situation, but since there is no internet access at the hotel, the desk clerk couldn't "verify" my reservations since the reservations are done with a third party. I asked her to call the booking agent to verify that we had reservations, but "only the manager knows who that is" and the manager was "away" for an indeterminate period of time.<br /><br />At this point, I figured that there was just some kind of screw up by the booking agent. I was disappointed that I couldn't stay at the hotel, but I was tired and just wanted a room somewhere. So, we asked her to find us a room somewhere else. Without even calling anyone, she said that everywhere is booked up and there is no vacancy anywhere <em>except</em> for one hotel that she knows has room. The only problem is that it was much more expensive.<br /><br />This is when I began to get suspicious about the situation. I insisted that she call some other hotels that were within our price range. She claimed to called two but lo and behold, there was no answer at either of the hotels. I know this is Costa Rica, but still at least one of the two hotels should have someone answering. <br /><br />At this point, I figured the best thing to do would be to go back to La Fortuna where there are a huge number of hotels and travel agents and just find something there, but since we are in the middle of nowhere, there is no public transportation, we are stuck there. It would be at least an hour and a half before we could get a taxi to come pick us us and than it is another 55 minutes back to town. I have been up since 4am and it is now 6pm.<br /><br />The desk clerk was willing to provide us transportation to the one hotel she said had vacancy, but only to that hotel. We had no other option but to take the much more expensive hotel. I knew we were getting scammed, but what else could we do at this point.<br /><br />In the back of my mind, I still hoped that the desk clerk was being truthful and that everything else was booked up, but that hope was completely dashed when I saw the very same desk clerk working at the more expensive hotel she had re-booked us at that very evening. <br /><br />The next day, we went back into La Fortuna and were easily able to find another much cheaper hotel, but not without being out a substantial chunk of change. I have no idea how much the kick back was for the Hotel Linda Vista, but at the price we paid at the other hotel, it much have been big.<br /><br />So, if you are looking to go to see Arenal volcano, there are much better options than the Hotel Linda Vista. It is over priced for what you get and they scam you if they can. If you really want to stay on the lava flow side of the volcano, book at the Volcano Observatory Lodge. The prices are less for most rooms and the view is better.Dingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386587646469853172noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088893.post-49362227607060000552007-12-11T17:00:00.000-05:002007-12-11T17:19:45.860-05:00Huckabee Offically a Whack JobWhile I would have never voted for Mike Huckabee in a general election pretty much regardless of who the Democratic nominee was, I had always thought that he was somewhat respectable. I don't agree with his politics 90% of the time, but you can disagree with someone while still having some respect for them.<br /><br />Well, that respect is completely gone now, and Mike Huckabee has officially moved into the Kool-aid drinking, wingnuttery end of the Republican party in my book.<br /><br />It turns out that back in 1992, well after we understood how HIV/AIDS was transmitted, Huckabee advocated rounding up all of the Americans living with HIV/AIDS and detaining them until they quietly died so they could not accidentally breath on us or something and infect the entire world.<br /><br />Not only that, but he also said that no federal funding should be spent on research on a vaccination or cure for the disease.<br /><br />at first I figured that he would come out saying something about how his ideas had changed and that Americans living with HIV/AIDS are not the dirty little homosexual or drug shooting beasts he had once thought they were, but Huckabee decided to stick by his 1992 comments.<br /><br />It is disgusting to think any leader of this country to think that way and advocate locking away hundreds of thousands of sick Americans just be cause he thinks he can catch it by touching a hand rail or using the same restroom.<br /><br />But, that is what you get from the party that has brought us 7 years of Bush.<br /><br /><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071211/ap_po/2008_race_rundown;_ylt=AoVKPb0dEYln7zIHTyLwLBayFz4D">Today on the presidential campaign trail</a>Dingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386587646469853172noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088893.post-74619488892736860632007-11-21T14:07:00.000-05:002007-11-21T14:18:46.494-05:00Scott McClellan Point Plame Finger at BushOk, so I haven't blogged in a while... a really long while, but there is nothing like deceit from the Bush administration to spur me back to action. <br /><br />Scott McClellan, former Bush press secretary is coming out with a new book in April. He has release some parts of it to give us a teaser. He takes the president and his staff to task for knowingly passing along untrue information to him in regards to the Plame national treason matter where the Bush administration released classified information in order to enact revenge against Joe Wilson.<br /><br /><blockquote>In an excerpt from his forthcoming book, McClellan recounts the 2003 news conference in which he told reporters that aides Karl Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby were "not involved" in the leak involving operative Valerie Plame.<br /><br />"There was one problem. It was not true," McClellan writes, according to a brief excerpt released Tuesday. "I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest-ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice president, the president's chief of staff and the president himself."</blockquote><br /><br />So, not only is the Bush administration a traitor to the national security of this country for nothing more than political vendetta, it also is an out right traitor to the trust of the American people. But that is just par for the course for America's worst president.<br /><br /><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071121/ap_on_go_pr_wh/cia_leak_mcclellan;_ylt=AnMPPcDs525I2ihlXnh.BECyFz4D">Full Story</a>Dingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386587646469853172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088893.post-65815454585589757112007-07-21T12:50:00.000-04:002007-07-21T18:21:58.209-04:00Doctors Attempt to Locate George Bush's HeadGeorge Bush will undergo a colonoscopy this Saturday at Camp David which will require him to <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/20/AR2007072001790.html?nav=rss_politics">relinquish control of the presidency to Vice President Dick Cheney.<br /> </a><br />Bush will be undergoing the procedure so doctors can attempt to extract President Bush's head from his ass. <br /><br />Dr. Mark Wittenberg, White House Physician, will be performing the procedure on the President. "It is a fairly complicated procedure," explained the Dr., "at this point we don't know how far up his ass his head actually is or if we will be able to remove it successfully." Doctors became concerned about the presidents head up his ass due to the length of time it has been inserted. While the president has been known to stick his head up his ass on many occasions, usually it was never for more than a week at a time. But this currently, Bush's head last went up his ass April 21st, 2005 and has not been seen since. <br /><br />"Sticking your head up your ass is a fairly common occurrence for politicians," further explained the Dr., "but it is only safe in moderation. You can't breath in there and you need to remove your head every once in a while to get a breath of fresh air. At this point, the presidents head has been up his ass so long that, at minimum, he has suffered severe brain damage. He might actually be dead at this point and we wouldn't even know it until we get the camera in there to see. At this point, our only hope is that his head is so far up his ass that he has actually made it up to the trachea and is able to get some air that way. While we have never seen someone with their head so far up their asses as to be able to do this, it would explain a lot about his policy decisions." <br /><br />Prior attempts to get Bush's head out have been unsuccessful. Laura Bush has attempted to cajole Georges head out numerous times and Dr.s have tried using lubrication and a crow bar, but Bush is either unwilling or unable to get his head out of his ass. Bush was responsive to outside stimuli as late as December of 2006. Doctors could hear President Bush giggle if they placed a stethoscope on his abdomen and than told him a fart joke. Unfortunately, the president has been unresponsive to even 3rd grade underwear jokes during his last two examinations.<br /><br />This story, unfortunately, is not limited to only the president explained Dr. Wittenberg. "We have seen an epidemic of people with their heads up there ass over the last 5 years." Recent estimates from the CDC place the number of Americans with the heads up there ass anywhere from 27-31% of the American population. While the numbers are high, this is down from approximately 51% of the population with their heads up their ass in November of 2004. "We are making progress," claimed the Dr., "but we still have a long way to go. While most of the American people have woken up to the dangers of leaving their heads up there ass, there is still a huge number of people that have been living with this condition for a very long time. We hope to be able to educate these remaining citizens so they too may once again live an ass free existence.<br /><br />"Cross your fingers and pray," asked Dr. Wittenberg of the American people in regards to the presidents procedure, "Neither the president or the American people can survive much longer with the presidents head up his ass."<br /><br /><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070720/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_colonoscopy;_ylt=AsyPdwsY5qYaraEFQyyC_seyFz4D">Bush to have colonoscopy at Camp David </a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/20/AR2007072001790.html?">Bush Will Temporarily Hand Reins To Cheney</a>Dingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386587646469853172noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088893.post-11302548060793697802007-07-17T12:57:00.001-04:002007-07-17T13:20:29.135-04:00Fred Thompson? Seriously?The republicans must really be in big problems if they see Fred Thompson as their savior in 2008. Thompson is long in the reputation as being lazy and an absolute minimalist, only doing things for recognition and not for purpose.<br /><br />While a Senator, his legislative history was as thin as Kate Moss after a bad bout with the stomach flu. A former aide is quoted as saying:<br /><br /><blockquote>"While the Senate is filled with ambitious men who aren't in a rush to get home at night, Senator Thompson kept a lean formal schedule, did the bare minimum to get by and then hightailed [it] to the Prime Rib or the Capital Grille." </blockquote><br /><br />Another lobbyist is quoted as saying <br /><br /><blockquote>"He was viewed as a lazy son of gun who would say at two in the afternoon, 'I'm done.' Can you name one major piece of legislation he authored? I can't."</blockquote><br /><br />But his pension for apathy stretches his entire adult life.<br /><br /><blockquote>His high school football coach in Lawrenceburg, Tenn., told the Nashville Tennessean, "He was smart, but he was lazy. He probably could have been a straight-A student if he'd applied himself."</blockquote><br /><br />Another former coach commented on his need for attention at the cost of his team:<br /><br /><blockquote>``He wasn't a real good football player because he liked to have fun and didn't take it that serious,'' said Garner Ezell, 74, a former assistant coach for the team. ``He was popular and he liked attention, and would do things to get it.''<br /><br />In one incident recalled by Ezell and others, Thompson appeared to be injured during a game. The coach ran out to see if he was all right and a smiling Thompson greeted him by asking, ``How's the crowd taking it?'' </blockquote> <br /><br />But, even if he is lazy and narcissistic, that doesn't even start to touch his other pension for corruption and the subsequent cover ups.<br /><br />Thompson was the lead in procuring a legal defense fund for Scooter Libby after Libbey lied to the grand jury and was prosecuted for perjury. So, we already know that Thompson shares the Bush doctrine of "its only a crime if I say it is a crime."<br /><br />Additionally, while Thompson has touted himself as a hard nose prosecutor during the Watergate scandal, it is now shown that he was a friend to the Nixon white house and even tipped the white house off that the infamous tapes were known about. So, the corrupt Nixon white house viewed him as an asset in the cover up even while calling him "dumb as hell" and viewing him as lackluster.<br /><br />The political ads will be fun to watch if he is to pull down the GOP nomination. Americans are tired of the corruption in Washington and Fred Thompson is tied directly to it. <br /><br />He is a fine nominee in my opinion since I want a democrat elected, but the fact that he is doing so well with republicans absolutely floors me. Do they really think that we want 4 more years of secret government, corruption and malfeasance... that is if he is actually motivated enough to do malfeasance. Otherwise, it looks like it would be 4 years of a lazy administration not fixing domestic affairs, not fixing foreign affairs, and 4 years of prime rib dinners.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19675541/">Thompson and Watergate</a><br /><br /><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20070628/pl_bloomberg/a7y1wghyx5ni_1">Thompson's Backers Check His `Fire in the Belly' for 2008 Race</a> <br /><br /><a href="http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070628/REPOSITORY/706280360">Thompson paints down-home image</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1624881,00.html">A New Role for Fred Thompson</a>Dingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386587646469853172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088893.post-30903835862765001952007-07-13T14:50:00.000-04:002007-07-13T15:27:08.562-04:00Iran to Require Payment in Other CurrenciesOk, I have taken some time off from blogging to take care of other things, but things are starting to heat up again so, I thought I would chime in again.<br /><br />We know things in the economy are slowly sliding down hill. People are watching the hosing bubble burst and think that this is pretty bad.<br /><br />Well, that ain't the half of it. Today, the "fit hit the shan." Things are about to get down right ugly for us here in the good ol' U.S. of A. Today, Iran announced that it would require Japan to pay for its oil imports in Yen instead of U.S. dollars. <br /><br />This might not sound so disturbing to the average person. But it should scare the snot right out of you. The dollar has already slid tremendously in the past year. Now, it is going to crash. The one thing that holds up the dollars value is the fact that all oil is bought and sold in U.S. dollars. This means that all the countries around the world must hold quite a bit of U.S. currency in order to buy oil. Russia is also thinking about converting to the Euro since it has better buying power.<br /><br />Our economy is going to take huge hit with this. As more and more countries switch away, things will get worse and worse and we will see the same type of stagflation that we saw in the late 70's.<br /><br />Why is Iran hitting Japan? Because it is one of the biggest U.S. allies that does not have sway on the UN security council.<br /><br /><strong><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&refer=worldwide&sid=aLaColVYu5LA">Iran Asks Japan to Pay Yen for Oil, Start Immediately (Update3)</a></strong><br /><br />By Megumi Yamanaka<br /><br /><em>July 13 (Bloomberg) -- Iran asked Japanese refiners to switch to the yen to pay for all crude oil purchases, after Iran's central bank said it is reducing holdings of the U.S. dollar. <br /><br />Iran wants yen-based transactions ``for any/all of your forthcoming Iranian crude oil liftings,'' according to a letter sent to Japanese refiners that was signed by Ali A. Arshi, general manager of crude oil marketing and exports in Tehran at the National Iranian Oil Co. The request is for all shipments ``effective immediately,'' according to the letter, dated July 10 and obtained by Bloomberg News. <br /><br />The yen rose on speculation for an increase in demand for the currency, the result of Japan's annual 1.24 trillion yen ($10.1 billion) of oil imports from Iran. Central bankers in Venezuela, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates have said they will invest less of their reserves in dollar assets because of the weakening currency. <br /><br />``What else can Japan do but to accept the request, once the oil producer sent its wish?'' said Hirofumi Kawachi, an analyst at Mizuho Investors Securities Co. in Tokyo. ``The tensions between the U.S. and Iran are escalating, and it's Iran's measure to hedge risk.'' <br /><br />A spokesman for Iran's oil ministry in Tehran said he could neither confirm nor deny that the letter had been sent. Most Japanese oil refiners have until now used U.S. dollars to pay Iran for oil, said the spokesman, who declined to be identified by name because of government policy. <br /><br />Yen Advances <br /><br />The yen advanced to 122.07 per dollar at 2:30 p.m. in New York, from 122.42 late yesterday. <br /><br />Iran is cutting its U.S. dollar reserves to less than 20 percent of total foreign currency holdings, and will buy more euros and yen as tensions with the U.S. increase, Central Bank Governor Ebrahim Sheibany said on March 27. </em><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&refer=worldwide&sid=aLaColVYu5LA">Full story</a>Dingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386587646469853172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088893.post-70114599745180200152007-03-26T16:00:00.000-04:002007-03-26T16:42:15.127-04:00As the Wheels Fall Off...Not only is the bus the Bush is driving heading straight over a cliff, but it somehow has its wheels falling off at the same time. The question is, do all the wheels come off and the Bush administration become irrelevant prior to it going over the cliff, or is there enough momentum to carry the bus over the cliff regardless.<br /><br />The U.S. prosecutor scandal continues to unravel in front of our eyes and the web of lies grows by the truck load.<br /><br />Ironically, one of the aides to Alberto Gonzalez will invoke her civil liberties (the 5th amendment) and choose not to answer questions in front of congress on the grounds that she might incriminate herself, while at the same time, advancing the Bush administrations claim that no other person may seek the benefit of the constitution when it comes to trials, right to privacy, etc, etc, etc... Why not classify her as an enemy combatant. That way the same "interrogation" rules can be used on her to get the answers as they use in Gitmo. I suspect that this aide will crack once the first drop of water from her water boarding session hits her forehead. It amazes me that the people who do there best to discard the constitution are the first to invoke its protections once the heat is on them instead of the Quaker prayer groups that they are eavesdropping on.<br /><br /><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070326/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/fired_prosecutors;_ylt=AuUL28onFUQS_27U5al.nnCyFz4D">Gonzales aide to invoke Fifth Amendment</a> <br /><br />At the same time, Gonzalez was caught in more lies over the weekend as the justice department released more documents to the congress. It turns out that despite claiming that he never read anything or attended any meetings in regards to the firing of the 8 U.S. prosecutors, Gonzalez did in fact attend meeting ans read memos on the Rove/Meires scheme to install more lap dogs in the Justice department. If there is one person in the entire Bush administration that needs (and I emphasize needs) to be on the up and up, it is the Attorney General. We expect the president to play partisan games. We expect the congress to play partisan games. But the entire judicial system, from the judges to the prosecutors must be of the highest level of non-partisanship in order for this entire thing we call democracy to work.<br /><br />The administration flaunting of the legal system, as well as democracy itself has even got a Republican Senator talking about the possibility of impeachment. Chuck Hagel came right out and said that this administration views its self as a monarchy.<br /><br /><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070326/ap_on_go_co/us_iraq;_ylt=AqjdCOVaEOGdji5jTzTOsZqyFz4D">Senator: Some see impeachment as option </a><br /><br />This administration began its self destructive path a long time ago. The only question is will it destroy itself before it also destroys us.Dingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386587646469853172noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088893.post-11043982638951881462007-03-21T10:56:00.000-04:002007-03-21T11:13:21.702-04:00Let the Battle StartThe House just issued subpoenas for white house officials in the U.S. prosecutor flap that has been going on over the past two weeks. This will likely make its way to the courts if the white house officials do not respond to the subpoenas.<br /><br />Bush has already stated that he will not allow his personnel to testify under oath and in public, stating that it would set a precedent if he allowed his officials to testify under oath. Of course, this is a bunch of crap. Clinton had 31 of his staff testify on capital hill under oath.<br /><br />Bush is additionally making the claim that executive privilege allows him to assert the right not to allow white house officials to testify. This is related to an executive privilege claim that the president should be able to get advice from his staff in a confidential manner. This claim is also short sighted since none of the information being sought was between the president and his staff, but between staff members.<br /><br />Why is he so afraid of having this all out in the open? There are no national security issues involved. <br /><br />Probably, just like every thing else in this administration, pure and unadulterated unethical behavior is involved in the whole affair. The white house claimed that the dismissals of the prosecutors was due to performance, but that has proven to be false. Five of the prosecutors that were fired were involved with corruption investigations. When one of the prosecutors opened up a new investigation into corruption charges against a Republican, an e-mail was sent the very next day to Gonzalez's chief of staff saying that there was a "problem" with that prosecutor.<br /><br />Win or lose in the court, Bush loses in the long run. People are tired of this administrations secretive policies that hide everything from the American people. This only adds one more log to the fire of disbelief of president Bush.<br /><br /><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070321/ap_on_go_pr_wh/fired_prosecutors;_ylt=AovCVr6qczlxxY56CgY2ic6yFz4D">House panel OKs Rove, Miers subpoenas</a> <br />By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer <br /><br /><em>WASHINGTON - A House panel on Wednesday approved subpoenas for President Bush's political adviser, Karl Rove and other top White House aides, setting up a constitutional showdown over the firings of eight federal prosecutors. <br /><br />By voice vote, but with some "no" votes heard, the House Judiciary subcommittee on commercial and administrative law decided to compel the president's top aides to testify publicly and under oath about their roles in the firings.<br /><br />The White House has refused to budge in the controversy, standing by embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and insisting that the firings were appropriate. White House spokesman Tony Snow said that in offering aides to talk to the committees privately, Bush had sought to avoid the "media spectacle" that would result from public hearings with Rove and others at the witness table.<br /><br />"The question they've got to ask themselves is, are you more interested in a political spectacle than getting the truth?" Snow said of the overture Tuesday by the White House via its top lawyer, Fred Fielding.<br /><br />"There must be accountability," countered subcommittee Chairwoman Linda Sanchez (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif.</em><br /><br />(<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070321/ap_on_go_pr_wh/fired_prosecutors;_ylt=AovCVr6qczlxxY56CgY2ic6yFz4D">Full Story</a>)Dingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386587646469853172noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088893.post-59321831912280156112007-03-06T12:14:00.000-05:002007-03-06T12:17:26.549-05:00Libby Found GuiltyI haven't had much time for bloggin lately, but this deserves a mention.<br /><br />Libby has just been found guilty on 4 out of the 5 indictments in the CIA/Valerie Plame leak case. He was acquitted on one count of lying to the FBI.<br /><br />My prediction, Libby will stay out of jail while this is appealed. Another 6 months to a year later, his conviction will be upheld, just in time for Bush to pardon him after the '08 election.Dingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386587646469853172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088893.post-46144806333295816492007-02-26T11:28:00.000-05:002007-02-26T12:00:04.390-05:00No Shock At AllOver the weekend, Al Sharpton found out that his ancestors were slaves owned by the ancestors of Strom Thurman. It is no shock that Turman's ancestors owned slaves. Like it or not, that is part of our past. I guess the connection between Sharpton and Thurman is somewhat ironical. But as they say, there is only 6 degrees of separation between us all. <br /><br />But what really got me was the response from one of Thurman's relatives. While most of Thurman's kids flat out deny that there is any connection (after all, smoe of his kids still deny that Essie Mae Washington-Williams, Strom's biracial love child, is related even after DNA proof), a neice of Thurman had this to say. <br /><br /><blockquote>"I doubt you can find many native South Carolinians today whose family, if you traced them back far enough, didn't own slaves," Senter, of Columbia, South Carolina, told the Daily News.</blockquote><br /><br />While she is right about the first part of her statement, the second part shows how much bigotry remains in the hearts of many. <br /><br /><blockquote>She added: "And it is wonderful that (Sharpton) was able to become what he is in spite of what his forefather was."</blockquote><br /><br />It is wonderful that Sharpton became something <strong>in spite </strong>of his forefathers? Are you kidding me? She is saying this like being a slave is some kind of genetic affliction. If you can't see the bigotry in her statement, then you are part of the problem, not the solution.<br /><br />"You know, it is really amazing that Sharpton can read and write and all... his great grand father was a slave, you know."<br /><br />Might just as well say, "it is amazing what he has become since his parents were midget albino left handed cephalopods."<br /><br />One of my relatives tried to contact the descendants of a former slave owner who was the father of my great-grandmother (a slave). They refused to acknowledge that one of there own could ever have stooped as low as to have ever copulated with a black woman. <br /><br />I think one of the problems we face in moving forward is accepting the past. There is a good number of us who are of African decent that have achieved despite or affliction of being related to people dumb enough to have been born into slavery or enslaved outright. I have a feeling that there are even greater things to come.Dingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386587646469853172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088893.post-78775018970852943252007-02-09T13:00:00.000-05:002007-01-25T14:00:53.647-05:00Pre-War Intelligence Manipulated?Never? I am so surprised! I would never have thunk it possible!<br /><br />Yeah, that is about as surprising as finding out that Strom Thurman liked the dark meat.<br /><br />In a report just out by the Defense Department's inspector general, it basically says that the link between Iraq and al-Qaida was fabricated in order to fit the presidents desire to invade Iraq. Go figure...<br /><br /><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070209/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/iraq_pentagon_intelligence">By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer </a><br /> <br /><em>WASHINGTON - A "very damning" report by the Defense Department's inspector general depicts a Pentagon that purposely manipulated intelligence in an effort to linkSaddam Hussein to al-Qaida in the runup to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, says the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. <br /><br />"That was the argument that was used to make the sale to the American people about the need to go to war," said Sen. Carl Levin (news, bio, voting record), D-Mich. He said the Pentagon's work, "which was wrong, which was distorted, which was inappropriate ... is something which is highly disturbing."<br /><br />The investigation by acting inspector general Thomas F. Gimble found that prewar intelligence work at the Pentagon, including a contention that the CIA had underplayed the likelihood of an al-Qaida connection, was inappropriate but not illegal. The report was to be presented to Levin's panel at a hearing Friday.<br /><br />The report found that former Pentagon policy chief Douglas J. Feith had not engaged in illegal activities through the creation of special offices to review intelligence. Some Democrats also have contended that Feith misled Congress about the basis of the administration's assertions on the threat posed by Iraq, but the Pentagon investigation did not support that. Two people familiar with the findings discussed the main points and some details Thursday on condition they not be identified.</em><br /><br />(<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070209/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/iraq_pentagon_intelligence">Full Story</a>)Dingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386587646469853172noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088893.post-55384432256715710042007-01-16T16:05:00.000-05:002007-01-16T16:19:39.553-05:00No Lawyer for You!I have a few words to say about the remarks from Charles "Cully" Stimson, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs, who tried to bully lawyers into not providing legal assistance to Gitmo detainees. In an interview, Cully stated that CEOs should pull their work from law firms who provide <em>pro bono </em>assistance to detainees.<br /><br />While the Pentagon has officially condemned Cully for his comments, the repugnant comment and blatant attempt to subvert the American judicial system shows the contempt this administration has for the Constitution and the Bill or Rights.<br /><br />No matter how despicable a person is, no matter how disgusting society deems them to be, every person deserves the access to legal representation. <br /><br />Karen Mathis, the President of the American Bar Association also issued this statement <br /><br /><blockquote>Lawyers represent people in criminal cases to fulfill a core American value: the treatment of all people equally before the law. To impugn those who are doing this critical work -- and doing it on a volunteer basis -- is deeply offensive to members of the legal profession, and we hope to all Americans. The American Bar Association supports lawyers who give of their time and expertise defending those involved in legal actions. In fact it is one of the basic tenets of the Association's Second Season of Service, that lawyers should perform pro bono and volunteer work.</blockquote><br /><br />It is this lack of respect for our laws that has brought us illegal wire tapping, data mining, secret detention centers, torture, etc.<br /><br />Here is a novel idea. If they are guilty of a crime - TRY THEM!<br /><br />I am sure some of the people we have at Gitmo are terrorist - NOW, PROVE IT!<br /><br />Show everyone in the world that the people we have locked away are locked away for a reason and not just because some nameless person says so. Or are they afraid that they can't actually prove a damn thing. If we cannot be a nation of laws, how can we expect anyone else to be.Dingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386587646469853172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088893.post-46440483333242413212007-01-11T12:27:00.000-05:002007-01-11T12:58:43.434-05:00Idiot In Chiefdetails about this are sketchy at this time, but it appears that the U.S. military has raided the Iranian consulate in Iraq, seized documents and computers, and arrested six Iranian diplomats.<br /><br />With all the really, really stupid crap this president has pulled off over the years, I didn't think anything he did could surprise me any more... but, leave it to Dubya to pull a Gomer Pile and do something even dumber than before.<br /><br />At this point, we have no idea how many international laws the Bush Administration has just violated. At the very least, we are in violation of Article 22 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. If we have violated more, I don't know right now. But, Article 22 expressly states that the embassy or consulates may not be entered under any circumstance without the express permission of the diplomatic mission. Additionally, no papers, materials or communications can be seized at any time.<br /><br />We all know about diplomatic immunity. The amount of immunity that is granted to a person is dependant on his/her rank. An ambassador is untouchable. A custodian head is arrestable. A consulate staff employee is only arrestable for a felony and pursuant to a warrant. I am assuming that if we stormed the consulate, we are probably not paying to much attention to the diplomatic immunity of the people either.<br /><br />So, basically, we have just done what Iran did to us 25 years ago. Not only have we given up the high hand in that relationship, we just opened up every U.S. embassy and consulate in the world to being stormed and having our diplomats arrested. But, we all know that Bush can't think past lunch time, so the fact that he is endangering our own citizens probably never even crossed his mind.<br /><br />Like I said, details are sketchy. I will be looking to see if there was a good explanation to this.<br /><br />U<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=email_en&refer=us&sid=a90DLQrWr.YY">.S. Forces Raid Iranian Consulate in Iraq, Detain 5 (Update2)</a> <br />By Marc Wolfensberger and Robin Stringer<br /><br /><em>Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. forces in Iraq raided Iran's consulate in the northern city of Arbil and detained five staff members, a state-run Iranian news service said. <br /><br />The U.S. soldiers disarmed guards and broke open the consulate's gate before seizing documents and computers during the operation, which took place today at about 5 a.m. local time, the Islamic Republic News Agency said. There was no immediate information on whether any of those detained are diplomats. <br /><br />The raid follows a warning yesterday to Iran and Syria from President George W. Bush in his address to the American people on a new strategy for Iraq. Bush accused Iran and Syria of aiding the movement of ``terrorists and insurgents'' in and out of Iraq and said the U.S. will ``seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies.'' <br /><br />Coalition forces arrested six people during ``routine security operations'' in the Arbil area, the U.S. military said in an e-mailed statement. The military didn't confirm that the consulate was raided and didn't say whether any of those detained were Iranians. <br /><br />The operation was ``part of an ongoing effort by coalition forces targeting individuals involved in activities aimed at the killing of Iraqi citizens and coalition forces,'' the military said. </em><br /><br />(<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=email_en&refer=us&sid=a90DLQrWr.YY">Full Story</a>)Dingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386587646469853172noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088893.post-28389833834213524672007-01-10T11:49:00.000-05:002007-01-10T14:53:09.543-05:00Hostile Enemy - FOX NewsWell, I am back from vacation. I will put up a report on it later. It was nice not having any contact with American politics for a little over two weeks. But, I am back and nothing has changed.<br /><br />Fox "Faux" News has always been nothing more that a shill for the Republican party, but this goes way over the edge and shows outright how inept they are in understanding anything about the constitution. <br /><br />This morning, FOX anchor, Gretchen "Constitution? What's that" Carlson blatantly accused Ted Kennedy an enemy of the state, and compared him to Iraqi insurgents because Senator Kennedy proposes not paying for additional troops to be sent to Iraq. <br /><br /><blockquote>GRETCHEN CARLSON: You talk about the hostile enemy, obviously being Iraq, but hostile enemies right here on the home front. Yesterday Senator Ted Kennedy, proposing that any kind of a troop surge should mean there should be congressional approval of that. A lot of democrats not coming to his side on this. But obviously this is not going to be an easy sell on Capitol Hill, even if it’s not an easy sell to the American Public. </blockquote><br />Well, duh Gretchen! Of course it should be approved by the congress. <strong>That is their job!</strong><br /><br />Gretchen wouldn't know the constitution if she were wiping her mouth with it.<br /><br />Lets review<br /><br /><blockquote><strong>Article I, Sec 8</strong><br />The Congress shall have Power...<br /><br />To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;<br /><br />To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;<br /><br />To provide and maintain a Navy;<br /><br />To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;<br /><br />To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;<br /><br />To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;</blockquote><br /><br />So, Gretchen is calling Senator Kennedy a traitor for doing <strong>his constitutional duty</strong>. The Congress is required to declair war. Congress is required to pay for it. So, yes, it has to be approved by the Congress, at least acording to the <strong>constitution</strong>. It is too bad that none of the Republicans thought well enough to read over the constitution and seeing what is in their job description over the past 4 years.<br /><br />H/T <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2007/01/10/kennedy-fox-hostile-enemy/">Think progress</a> - see the Faux News vidio clip thereDingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386587646469853172noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088893.post-70742924316628355732006-12-21T13:50:00.000-05:002006-12-21T09:57:42.809-05:00Jackass Awards Part Deux - Virgil GoodeI haven't been blogging much recently. I have been overwhelmed with work and I will be leaving soon for a long vacation.<br /><br />But <a href="http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/docs/goode-letter/">this</a> caught my eye. It is a letter from one of our U.S. Congressmen writing to a constituent regarding the use of a Koran to swear in the freshman Representative, Keith Ellison, who is a Muslim.<br /><br />Virgil Goode, Jr. responds to his constituent to express how much disdain he has for anyone not Christian.<br /><br /><blockquote>Thank you for your recent communication. When I raise my hand to take the oath of Searing In Day, I will have the Bible in my other hand. I do not subscribe to using the Koran in any way. The Muslim Representative from Minnesota was elected by the voters of that district and if American citizens don't wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran. We need to stop illegal immigration totally and reduce legal immigration and end the diversity visas policy pushed hard by President Clinton and allowing many persons from the Middle Ease to come to this county. I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America and to prevent our resources from being swamped...</blockquote><br /><br />So, apparently, Rep. Goode is not a big supporter of the First Amendment... It is ok for Goode to hold the bible while being sworn in, but god forbid that someone of another religion gets elected by democratic vote and wants to use the holy book of his own religion.<br /><br />Additionally, I am completely confused about how Rep. Goode equates illegal immigration with the election of a Muslim form Minnesota. Keith Ellison, the recently elected Muslim, was born in Detroit to a Roman Catholic family. Rep. Ellison converted to Islam in college, like many other Americans have over the years. But, I guess you can't apply logic to Rep. Goode's letter since it is devoid of logic completely. <br /><br />It is so sad that we have a single elected official in the U.S. government that is so narrow minded and so bigoted that he cannot accept his fellow congressman as a legitimate American. The troubling thing here is not a Muslim using the Koran to be sworn into office, but that Rep. Goode is being sworn in at all.<br /><br />Dee the actual letter <a href="http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/docs/goode-letter/">here</a><br /><br />H/T <a href="http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/">Talking Points Memo</a><br /><br /><strong>Update:</strong> Virgil Goode has decided to stand behind his bigorty and will not appologise for his letter.<br /><br /><blockquote>Linwood Duncan, Goode's press secretary, said that Goode sent the letter to hundreds of constituents who contacted their office after Ellison disclosed his plans. At about the same time, a member of a local Sierra Club contacted Goode about a different issue, and the letter was accidentally sent to him in response. The Sierra Club member made the letter public.<br /><br />"The congressman is not apologizing," Duncan said. "He stands by the letter." - Star Tribune</blockquote><br /><br />I guess it makes it ok that he accidently sent the letter to the wrong people. You can be a bigot, but only if you are a bigot to other bigots.Dingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386587646469853172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088893.post-69887017447795398932006-12-15T11:38:00.000-05:002006-12-15T12:15:25.024-05:00Jackass AwardsSometimes there are people who deserve a special mention for being outright jackasses. So, today, today, I am listing some from the past week who have gone above and beyond the call of Jackassdom to reach new levels of jackassedness.<br /><br /><strong>#3 - Tom DeLay</strong><br /><br />Tom Delay this week blamed the whole fiasco in Iraq on liberals and democrats. He claimed that if it were not for them whining and complaining about how bad things are in Iraq, things wouldn't be bad in Iraq. I guess Republicans who had complete control of the government had nothing to do with the failures we have suffered in Iraq. Sectarian violence? Democrats... No military plan to win the war? Liberals... The erosion of moral superiority in the world's eyes? Liberal media... Donald Rumsfeld's job performance? Ted Kennedy all by himself.<br /><br /><strong>#2 - Freepers</strong><br /><br />The brain trust that is also known as the <em>Free Republic </em>had much to say about the recent tragedy of Tim Johnson's stroke. They spent the first two responses in the thread commenting on how repugnant it is for democrats to talk about the balance of power in the U.S. Senate if Johnson was not to fully recover or die... and then spent the next 78 responses talking about the balance of power in the Senate if Johnson was not to fully recover or die.<br /><br />Notably, the Freepers also commented on how Johnson's stroke was the will of God to put control of the Senate back in Republican hands.<br /><br /><blockquote>The real news of the day is that God may have placed the Senate back in our hands! </blockquote><br /><br /><blockquote>If the Senator recovers we can have joy for him and his family, we are <strong>abased</strong>. If he does not, we can have joy for our nation, we <strong>abound</strong> [emphasis is their own]</blockquote><br />Then the freepers went on to make fun of the Senator if he were to be severely disabled.<br /><br /><blockquote>One blink means 'tax'. Two blinks means 'spend'. Three blinks means 'surrender'</blockquote><br />It warms the heart to know that the good people at the <em>Free Republic </em>are looking out for our best interests.<br /><br /><strong># 1 - Soledad O'Brien</strong><br /><br />Today, the waste of space that is Soledad O'Brien, interviewed the three wives of the men trapped on Mt. Hood. As the three women held each others hands, on the verge of tears, Soledad reiterated the horrible conditions on the mountain and asked the dumbest question ever:<br /><br />"Are you still hopeful? The weather conditions as you've seen are so dreadful; the rescuers can't make it up the mountain; It is almost white out conditions; it's weather wise terrible, terrible conditions. Are you still hopeful you are going to get any good news out of this"<br /><br />Thank you Soledad for telling these women that they have basically no cause for hope that they may ever see their loved ones again. What are they supposed to say? 'No, we have no hope. Our husbands are as good as dead'? Why don't you go eat one of their kids also, Soledad... lets see if you can do anything to make them feel even worse.Dingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386587646469853172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088893.post-65570519665866654182006-12-13T11:03:00.000-05:002006-12-13T11:57:48.720-05:00Why Do Today What You Can Put Off Until TomorrowYesterday, President Bush stated that he will put off announcing his plans for changes in his Iraq policy until after the new year. As of right now, we have gone into a "new way forward."<br /><br />And by a new way forward, he means a new way forward... to a new slogan.<br /><br />Seriously, if they had put as much time into actually planning and executing the war as they put into coming up with new catchy slogans, we might have been able to win this thing.<br /><br />First it was "Mission Accomplished" - Well, turns out that the mission wasn't accomplished, so they had to scrap that.<br /><br />Then they moved to "The Next Phase" - Unfortunately, the next phase was a phase into insurgency.<br /><br />After that, we had "Stay the Course" - Again, that course was right over a cliff<br /><br />Then came "Adapt and Change" - This, of course, referred to the Bush administrations slogans and not actually policy. The policy remained stay the course. The only thing adapted or changed was Bush's catch phrase.<br /><br />Now, it is "A New Way Forward" - Again, this appears only to be a way forward to a new slogan. He just needed enough time for his PR team to come up with a new slogan... Because, you know... a good slogan solves everything.<br /><br />I am thinking the next one will be "What? Like You've Got a Better Idea" - But then again, I think Mrs. Harding's 3rd grade class could actually come up with a better idea, so that might not be a good one.<br /><br />"It's A Hard Job Being the President" has already been used, so that is right out the window.<br /><br />With any luck, then next slogan will be "Whatever Dude! I Quit!"Dingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386587646469853172noreply@blogger.com3