Howard Dean is first

To my knowledge, only one Clinton has run and won...Bill.   How many Bush's have run and won?

The Bush/Clinton dynasty being served up to us is not palatable nor good for the country.  MO   Too much money, too much power, too much ambition and way too cozy with the Bushes. Hellary votes like a moderate repug at best.  That's my story and I'm stickin' with it.

* **********************

We should bring the refugees here and set them up with decent homes and schools.  That's what we should be doing.

Effing BH.   Putz will run  off to Paraguay to avoid The Hague.

Either this government --that of Bush and his co-conspirators --is legitimate or it is not! If it is not, then, by definition and law, nothing following from it is lawful. Unlawful regimes may get away with issuing decrees but without "legitimacy", decrees are unlawful. Dictatorships, therefore, find it necessary to enforce decrees with tanks and arms.

Bush's every signing statement is in itself unlawful and doubly so if his regime is illegitimate. I submit, moreover, that because Bush's regime is illegitimate i.e, unlawful, no law passed by this Congress is validated by Bush's signature, required by law to become law! That, of course, likewise includes his every signing statement, his every decree, his every order to the men and women who comprise the armed forces of this once great land. All are unlawful.

— from Truthdig (posted with permission)

What in the world was Sen. Hillary Clinton thinking when she attacked Sen. Barack Obama for ruling out the use of nuclear weapons in going after Osama bin Laden? And why aren't her supporters more concerned about yet another egregious example of Clinton's consistent backing for the mindless militarism that is dragging this nation to ruin? So what that she is pro-choice and a woman if the price of proving her capacity to be commander in chief is that we end up with an American version of Margaret Thatcher?

My reaction to the Daily Show, in which Jon Stewart interviews Cheny's Biolgrapher.

Can a comedian win the Nobel Prize for Journalism?

Can a comedian win the Nobel Prize for Journalism, especially since he's not even a flippin'

journalist?

Is Jon Stewart the only journalist left in what-used-to-be-America???????????? 

Tea Party at the BH.

By Bernard Weiner, The Crisis Papers

Satire is getting harder and harder to recognize. Just think how many times lately you've come across a news story and said to yourself: "That couldn't be true; it must be a joke." The real news too often is just as scarily ridiculous as the faux news Jon Stewart "reports" on The Daily Show.

With that in mind, and to demonstrate the point, I've put together a bunch of short news items. See if you can identify which ones are made up and which are real. (Answers below.)

1. Election officials from around the U.S., citing the money that could be saved and bowing to the desire of more and more states to be the first in the nation to get voters to the polls, have ruled that the first primary for 2112 will take place in all 50 states during the 2008 election.

"It was easy to see which way the 'we're-first' primary wind was blowing," said a statement from the Association of Secretaries of State, "so it seemed to make more sense to combine the two elections, and save the voters the torture of having to go through four years of non-stop campaigning by taking care of the situation now. Of course, we do realize that by taking this step, the campaign for 2116 most likely will begin in November 2008."

2. Florida State Representative Bob Allen (Republican), who is white, explained his arrest for solicitation for sex by saying he was so frightened by all the black males in and around the men's room in a Titusville park that he thought the best course of action for his continued survival was to offer the black guy whose stall he entered $20 for a blow-job.

3. By a vote of 400 to 35, Congress has created an independent, bipartisan Truth & Reconciliation Commission with regard to the Iraq War. According to the bill, Administration officials will be granted amnesty for their crimes as long as they provide a complete and honest recitation of their part in getting the United States into the war and their knowledge and role during the occupation. Those who choose not to appear, or who perjure themselves before the Commission, could be tried before criminal and international war crimes courts. Agreeing to co-chair the Commission are former South African leaders President Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu.

DO YOU FEEL A DRAFT?

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/9352 

Renee, I love Coldbear.   So cute.

Well, our dear Governor Dean had a few words to say about Romney in a phone interview in the Providence Journal.

http://www.projo.com/news/mcharlesbakst/BAKST_COLUMN_16_08-16-07_T16OJFT.3148a39.html

"..."Tearing into the former Massachusetts governor, Dean said, “Romney’s campaign basically is, ‘I want to be president because I want to be president.’ He appears to be willing to say and do anything. He was for gay rights before he was against them. He was for abortion rights before he was against them. He was for immigrant rights before he was against them. I have yet to find a moral core.”

More good stuff in the article.

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August 15, 2007 9:52 AM

Justin Rood Reports:

Could the U.S. Attorneys firing scandal be bigger than Americans know?

For months, the Bush administration has declined to directly answer a key question posed by Congress: were more top federal prosecutors targeted for dismissal beyond the nine that have been publicly identified?

In a new letter to senators who have been pushing for the answer, a Justice Department official said only that it was contained in information shared earlier by Justice staff in interviews with Senate aides.

"Wholly unsatisfactory," declared Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a recipient of the letter, blasting the arguably cryptic response.

A Feinstein spokesman confirmed the senator did not believe those interviews had elicited any information useful to determining how many prosecutors had faced firing as part of the White House-coordinated purge.

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

Last year, the White House political office coordinated an effort with top Justice Department officials to force the departure of at least nine top federal prosecutors. Early claims by Gonzales and other Justice officials that the attorneys were underperforming were later contradicted by evidence obtained by Congress, including glowing performance reviews for those prosecutors.

Feinstein and others have pressed Gonzales for months to give hard numbers on the number of attorneys who have faced termination, with paltry results.

At a January hearing, Feinstein and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., repeatedly asked Gonzales how many prosecutors had been asked to resign in the past year. Gonzales said he did not know the answer.

no wireless at the Richardson venue which was unfortunate as the he had a good crowd and answered a lot of questions but stuck around

I vote him the "guy you would want to have a beer with" winner 

and his position is Out. Now.

not so sure about his incentives answer to economic development

very good answers on the Constituional challenges and wants to give The Hague jurisdiction that right there won him my have a beer with award 

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-lakoff/no-center-no-centrists_b_60419.html

There is no left to right linear spectrum in the American political life. There are two systems of values and modes of thought -- call them progressive and conservative (or nurturant and strict, as I have). There are total progressives, who use a progressive mode of thought on all issues. And total conservatives. And there are lots of folks who are what I've called "biconceptuals": progressive on certain issue areas and conservative on others. But they don't form a linear scale. They are all over the place: progressive on domestic policy, conservative on foreign policy; conservative on economic policy, progressive on foreign policy and social issues; conservative on religion, but progressive on social issues and foreign policy; and on and on. No linear scale. No single set of values defining a "center."

[...]

Barack Obama has it right...American ideas are fundamentally progressive ideas -- the ideas this country was founded on and that carry forth that spirit.

[...]

Progressive government has two aspects: protection and empowerment.

[...]

There is no single moral perspective, no single set of agreed upon issues.

[...]

It is important to stand up to the DLC, and to the idea that there is a unitary mainstream center, that they are it, and that progressives are extremists and deserve to be marginalized.

Did ya pour yerselves a beer then, Phil.  Keina sounds like a cold frothy stein was the rule.

and his position is Out. Now.

>

which does nothing, but my guess is that he was impressive. 

Renee, I love Coldbear.   So cute.

Thanks, floridagal. It was Demetrius' creation, but I helped "art direct". :) 

etc

The DLC has concentrated on policy wonkishness (see their 100 new policy ideas on their website) rather than values. Their concentration on laundry lists of policies rather than vision, values, and passion has not helped the Democrats electorally.

"If not Hill, then WHO?"

http://www.chimpsternation.com/forum?c=showthread&ThreadID=1190

link previously offered by Seashell. 

"If not Hill, then WHO?"

Duh, Gore.

For those who want a Gore/Edwards ticket, I'm not against Edwards. but he  has not had to answer the question, which part of the Patriot Act did you write?

Gore/Hart

Gore/Obama

You two should push that Colbert teddy bear to market and make a tidy sum for yourselves.

Howard Dean pledged to not run for President in '08 if he were elected to the chairmanship, and he kept his word.

He never said that he would'nt run for VP.

Gore/Hart

Gore/Dean

Gore/Obama

Wow, after all this time, I find an innovation ;)

It seems weird to me that Ford would be repug-lite after his Senate hopes were dashed by repug dirty tricks.

I hope Harold Ford finds some legs.  He didn't hold up to snuff against Markos.  Ford and his DLC need to retool.

He never said that he would'nt run for VP.

>

Which is the better position?  Could Dean get more done as VP?  

Inquiring minds want to know...or bandy about

Hey, Judy, I'm saving you some time tonight by posting Fiore.

http://www.markfiore.com/animation/familyman.html 

According to Olberman, some Repugs thinks that Clinton needs to be considered.

Does this prove that Clinton is Fsct-Repug-lite? I'm not stating, but asking a question.

Gore had it right.

It's the People (real, well-meaning, law-abiding human beings) VS. the Powerful, "people" who the bible describes, over and over and over again,  as Condemned by God.

People vs. the Powerful.

It's something to think about.

audrey,  here is the info on HR 333. (impeach Cheney)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_House_Resolution_333 

Clinton will be the most Pogressive POTUS IF the Congress becomes that.

and i gotta hit the sack. Nighty night

The first shall be last, and the last shall be first.

--the Christian Bible

...(Sorry, I couldn't resist!) You speak to biconceptuals the same way you speak to your base: you discuss progressive values, and if you are talking to folks with both progressive and conservative values, you mainly talk about the issues where they share progressive values. What that does is evoke and strengthen the progressive values already there in the minds of biconceptuals.

And of course, you don't negate or argue against the other on their framing turf -- remember Don't Think of an Elephant!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-lakoff/no-center-no-centrists_b_60419.html

OMG, I'm a religious extemist, on the long-silent, Leftist Christian wing of reality, who can be Dem and non-anti-Jew at the same, despite what the corporatist media spin (aka Falafel boy) would have you think.

same=at the same time

Bill of Writes, as per Olb

brilliant 

 As per olb countdown:

Dems will win the 18-34 Demographic in a real, live, undeniable, Constitution-respecting, America-loving LANDSLIDE!

Repugs hate technology, because it threatens their Bush-Prez-for-life, Unamerican, Fascist, (real n*zi) plans for Permant dominance,...........like some EVIL comicbook villian.

Virtuality reality as covered by Olb

We are not a computer simulation, but we may be in a metaphysical simulation.

We may be living in a real Holodeck, created by whomever our creator is.

g'nite good Patriots.

To my knowledge, only one Clinton has run and won...Bill.  

I was counting hillary';s Senate campaigns. I remember well Repos drooling at what they thought was the sure prospect of beating her. 

<>How many Bush's have run and won?

If you're talking for president, only Bushdaddy. 

The Bush/Clinton dynasty being served up to us is not palatable nor good for the country.  MO   Too much money, too much power, too much ambition and way too cozy with the Bushes. Hellary votes like a moderate repug at best.  That's my story and I'm stickin' with it.

I only took exception to the assertion that she's "fatally flawed" (in Republican terminology)  -- or "unelectable" (in Democratic terminology) --  both of which I hold to be not credible.

What in the world was Sen. Hillary Clinton thinking when she attacked Sen. Barack Obama for ruling out the use of nuclear weapons in going after Osama bin Laden?

Maybe she was thinking to goad Obama into stating he would attack Pakistan. If so, it worked, and now people are talking about what a NeoPutz he is. 

According to Olberman, some Repugs thinks that Clinton needs to be considered.

And rove says she's "fatally flawed." 

I think they're trying to psych Democrats by jerking the chain both ways. And when Democrats play the "electable" mind game with themselves, they're wide open to such trickery.

I hope Harold Ford finds some legs.  He didn't hold up to snuff against Markos.  Ford and his DLC need to retool.

Why would anyone not in the DLC want to revive it? They are an insidious poison within the Democratic Party. Wish nothing but failure upon them.

Good morning, good blog!

*************
V. busy yesterday. In skimming through the threads that I missed, I see that while sea posted Mark Fiore (thanks, sea), no one seems to have posted *my* man Dan.

If I just skimmed too fast and it was indeed done, please excuse my posting his most recent columns. Both deal with Rove. First, from Tuesday:

================
Post-Rovian Thinking
By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Tuesday, August 14, 2007; 2:10 PM

Karl Rove's surprise resignation yesterday as senior adviser to President Bush has prompted an extraordinary wave of analysis about Rove's tenure, Bush's presidency, presidential politics and what's ahead for the White House.

[...]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...

My advice is for Dem strategists NOT to take their eyes off Rove for even a minute. I hope that Howard has a whole DNC task force that concentrates on every move once he is no longer officially a member of putzCo.

Of course, I also hope that he spends goodly amounts of time before various Congressional investigative committees ... which could hamper his nasty style somewhat. Otherwise, he will be completely unfettered.

================
Rove's Dilemma
By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Wednesday, August 15, 2007; 12:40 PM

Karl Rove and President Bush have been essentially of one mind for as long as Bush has been on the national stage. So Rove's abrupt separation from the White House doesn't just leave Bush missing his ostensible "brain" -- it also puts Rove in unfamiliar territory: His goals aren't necessarily the same as his longtime client's.

Rove is widely expected to channel his prodigious energies into one last campaign -- this one to shape history. But he's going to have to decide what's more important: Bush's legacy or his own? They're not necessarily the same thing anymore.

Rove's tarnished reputation as a political genius would be considerably rehabilitated if the Republican Party, against all odds, managed to keep control of the White House in 2008. But if there's any chance of that happening, the GOP is going to have to run against Bush's legacy almost as aggressively as the Democrats are.

So if Rove as expected cleaves to his unfailing defense of everything Bush -- and if anybody in his party listens to him -- he may end up congealing the prevailing wisdom of the last several days: That he was, in the end, a colossal failure.

Bush as Albatross

At this point, it's practically a given that Republican candidates will have to distance themselves from Bush to have any chance of winning in 2008.

[...]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...

putzCO: no great believer in consistency (witness the prick video from 1994 that has recently resurfaced) should, among other things, be considering the precedential import and effect of a unilateral declaration that the military forces of one country are a terrorist organization.

After all, the one major powerful country whose military forces illegally invaded and are illegally occupying another country right now is NOT Iran. The other country whose forces continue to enter and kill civilians of another *state,* so far with impunity, is its client-state.

=====================
As U.S. Steps Up Pressure on Iran, Aftereffects Worry Allies
By Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 16, 2007; A09

America's allies are increasingly concerned about the Bush administration's plans to unilaterally escalate pressure on Iran, fearing that an evolving strategy may also set in motion a process that could lead to military action if Iran does not back down, according to diplomats and officials of foreign countries.

Although they share deep concern about Iran's alleged nuclear ambitions, European and Arab governments are particularly alarmed about new U.S. moves, including plans to cite Iran's entire Revolutionary Guard Corps as a "specially designated global terrorist." The move would block the elite unit's assets and pressure foreign companies doing business with its vast commercial network.

Allies are less concerned about that step than they are about the new momentum behind it, and the potential for spillover in a region reeling with multiple conflicts. "If the region is strewn with crises, then there's potential for real disaster. There's a fear that they will all merge into a super-emergency bigger than any one country can deal with," a leading Arab envoy said.

[...]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...

I cannot believe that there is not also some high-level involvement by putzCo in this unfolding scandal that the UK is currently investigating.

===================
Revealed: official passes that give BAE access to the top at the MoD
· 'Incestuous' relationship must end, says MP
· Lobbyist among 38 given free access to ministry
Rob Evans and David Leigh
Thursday August 16, 2007
Guardian

The Ministry of Defence has given security passes to 38 employees of the arms giant BAE, allowing them to go in and out of the ministry's headquarters as they please, it has been revealed.

The disclosure has triggered accusations that the relationship between the MoD and BAE is too close and allows the arms company to exert too much political influence over the government. The MoD is refusing to disclose the names of the BAE employees with the official passes, or why they were given them, saying the information would breach their privacy and security. However, it is known that one has been held by BAE's chief lobbyist, Julian Scopes. The pass gave him access to the top levels of the ministry, enabling him to lobby ministers and senior officials and promote BAE's commercial interests.

The MoD said yesterday that the issuing of passes to BAE and other arms companies was "normal practice ... providing that they hold the appropriate security clearances and have a genuine business need to regularly visit specific sites".

The disclosure was made in a letter from the defence minister Derek Twigg to Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat frontbench MP. Mr Lamb criticised the MoD for handing out passes to BAE staff, allowing them to wander freely around sensitive areas in the ministry. "This demonstrates that there is far too close a relationship between the Ministry of Defence and BAE. This incestuous and potentially corrupting relationship must be brought to an end. BAE's lobbying muscle helped to bring an end to a major corruption inquiry, which is totally unacceptable."

[...]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,33057...

Well, if putzCO are writing Petraeus's report, you can bet that their finding will be that the *surge* is working.

Not on THIS planet, I'm afraid.

==================
Iraq violence casts doubt on US 'surge'
James Sturcke
Wednesday August 15, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

The killing of more than 200 people in northern Iraq in the latest bombing atrocity has refocused attention on whether the American "surge" is working.

In January, the US president George Bush, announced that 21,500 more troops would be sent to Iraq to quell sectarian violence, a move regarded by many as a last throw of the dice.

The majority of the new force was to be stationed in Baghdad and embedded with Iraqi units, with some 4,000 marines sent to western Anbar province to fight Sunni insurgents.

The plan was the third attempt to stabilise the Baghdad area - the scene of 80% of sectarian violence in Iraq.

Mr Bush said the new strategy would work where other plans had failed because of the increased force levels. "This time, we will have the force levels we need to hold the areas that have been cleared," he said.

But sectarian violence has continued and many believe the surge has simply led to extremists targeting other areas. Among them is Professor Paul Rogers of the department of Peace Studies at Bradford University.

"If you look from a wide perspective, it is clear the US surge has been massive. It is probably the largest military operation we have seen," he told the BBC's Today programme. "There is a very strong push is Washington to say that the surge is working and things are getting better but objectively I'm afraid that does not appear to be the case and what has happened in the past 24 hours is very clear evidence of that."

[...]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,33057...

Invasion memories can last for a very long time.

I may have more Danish in my heritage than I know.

===================
Danes say sorry for Viking raids on Ireland
· We are not proud of the massacres, says minister
· Apology marks arrival of replica longboat in Dublin
Owen Bowcott, Ireland correspondent
Thursday August 16, 2007
Guardian

More than 1,200 years ago hordes of bloodthirsty Viking raiders descended on Ireland, pillaging monasteries and massacring the inhabitants. Yesterday, one of their more mild-mannered descendants stepped ashore to apologise.

The Danish culture minister, Brian Mikkelson, who was in Dublin to participate in celebrations marking the arrival of a replica Norse longboat, apologised for the invasion and destruction inflicted. "In Denmark we are certainly proud of this ship, but we are not proud of the damages to the people of Ireland that followed in the footsteps of the Vikings," Mr Mikkelson declared in his welcoming speech delivered on the dockside at the river Liffey. "But the warmth and friendliness with which you greet us today and the Viking ship show us that, luckily, it has all been forgiven."

The Havhingsten (Sea Stallion) sailed more than 1,000 miles across the North Sea this summer with a crew of 65 men and women in what was described as a "living archaeological experiment".

The reconstructed longboat was based on a ship found at the bottom of the Roskilde Fjord, south of Copenhagen. The original vessel was believed to have been built in Dublin - then a Viking city - in 1042 and to have sunk 30 years later.

The wreck was discovered in 1962 and tests on the timbers enabled archaeologists to trace the wood to trees from Glendalough, County Wicklow.

[...]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,33057...

Definitely a putz in the making, but then, what Rethug candidate is not?

==============
Palestinian state would endanger US, warns Giuliani
Fred Attewill and agencies
Wednesday August 15, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

A leading Republican presidential candidate, Rudy Giuliani, has declared he is against the creation of a Palestinian state at present because it would "support terrorism" and endanger US security.

He underscored his uncompromising approach to foreign policy by adding he would be prepared to destroy Iran's nuclear plants "should all else fail".

In an interview with Foreign Affairs magazine, Mr Giuliani said "too much emphasis" had been placed on promoting negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

The US president, George Bush, has said he supports a two-state solution and leaders of Israel and the Palestinians met last week to discuss "fundamental issues" ahead of the creation of a Palestinian state.

However, the former New York mayor said: "It is not in the interest of the United States, at a time when it is being threatened by Islamist terrorists, to assist the creation of another state that will support terrorism.

"Palestinian statehood will have to be earned through sustained good governance, a clear commitment to fighting terrorism, and a willingness to live in peace with Israel."

He added: "America's commitment to Israel's security is a permanent feature of our foreign policy."

[...]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,33057...

Renee & Demetrius: LOVE Stephen Colbear! ♥

Our *friend* and *ally* Pakistan ... who also has the nuclear bomb and whose scientist Khan ensured that other states would also have it, well outside of IAEA scrutiny.

Yet, putzCo keep threatening Iran.

It's OK to be a rogue statue if you are also *friendly* to the US, currently behaving as the most powerful rogue state on the planet.

=====================
US documents show Pakistan gave Taliban military aid
Julian Borger, diplomatic editor
Thursday August 16, 2007
Guardian

The Pakistani government gave substantial military support to the Taliban in the years leading up to the September 11 attacks, sending arms and soldiers to fight alongside the militant Afghan movement, according to newly released US official documents.

Islamabad has acknowledged diplomatic and economic links with the Taliban but has denied direct military support. The US intelligence and state department documents, released under the country's freedom of information act, show that Washington believed otherwise.

The suspicion has lingered that some elements of Pakistani intelligence are still protecting the Taliban and its al-Qaida allies in the autonomous tribal areas along the Afghan border. US officials have warned they might take direct military action without Islamabad's approval.

Among the documents acquired by the National Security Archive, an independent group pressing for government transparency, is a confidential memo sent in November 1996, from intelligence report from Islamabad to the Defence Intelligence Agency in Washington, describing how Pakistan's paramilitary Frontier Corps was operating across the border.

The Frontier Corps are recruited from the Pashtun population in the tribal areas, but commanded by officers from the regular Pakistani army.

"For Pakistan, a Taliban-based government in Kabul would be as good as it can get in Afghanistan," a state department briefing paper, dated January 1997, said, adding: "Many Pakistanis claim they detest the Taliban brand of Islam, noting that it might infect Pakistan, but this apparently is a problem for another day."

[...]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,33057...

Juan Cole's tour d'horizon on yesterday's bombings in Iraq. The more recent casualty figures that I have seen are now at 250.

======================
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Bombing of Yazidis;
Summit Fizzles

Local officials in the two villages of of Al-Khataniyah and Al-Adnaniyah in northern Iraq (not far from Mosul) maintained Wednesday morning that 4 car bombs had killed over 200 persons and wounded a similar number. Police were expecting the death toll to rise, since many bodies are in buildings collapsed by the conflagrations. The US military said there were 5 car bombs, and gave a much lower estimate of 60 killed. On this sort of thing, I'd trust the Iraqi figures; they know when their own friends and relatives are missing.

[...]
http://www.juancole.com/2007/08/bombing-...

Things in Peru do not look good. The latest news reports are that a major tsunami is expected.

The *rapture* folks must literally be giddy with happiness. I guess that they see no contradictions in their wacko beliefs and the misery of millions of their fellow human beings on earth.

What about the *love?* As in "... the greatest of these is charity ... ."
=============
Major earthquake hits Peru
AP
Published: 16 August 2007

A powerful 7.9-magnitude earthquake shook Peru's coast, toppling buildings, setting off landslides and killing at least 15 people when a church collapsed in a southern city.

Authorities issued a tsunami warning for Latin America's Pacific coast but later cancelled it when the wave measured only 20 to 30 centimetres.

President Alan Garcia said the earthquake apparently had not caused a catastrophe.

"Thank you, God Almighty, these terrible quakes did not cause a high death toll like in other years," he said in a nationally televised address. He did not give a death toll.

Firefighters said lamp posts collapsed and windows shattered in Lima. Hundreds of workers were evacuated from office buildings after the quake struck and remained outside, fearing more aftershocks.

"This is the strongest earthquake I've ever felt," said Maria Pilar Mena, 47, a sandwich vendor in Lima. "When the quake struck, I thought it would never end."

Health Minister Carlos Vallejos said there were 15 confirmed deaths in southern Peru from the quake, but Civil Defence put the death toll at 22, without giving a location.

[...]
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/amer...

Ah, putzCO, your legacy will indeed endure ... unfortunately.

Include Rice among those to be impeached, but let's get the three BIG ones out of the way first: putz, prick and AGAG.

This is the last. Have good ones ... in spite of all the putzes and pricks in the world!

=======================
Lebanese militants vow to take battle outside camp
By Robert Fisk in Beirut
Published: 14 August 2007

It was a familiar routine. Just as the Lebanese army boasted of another "victory" amid the wreckage of the Nahr el-Bared Palestinian camp - its al-Qa'ida-style rebels still holding out against the state authority - one of the Islamists' spokesmen announced in an audiotape that some of the gunmen had escaped and were planning a "black day" for the government.

This is grim news indeed for a country facing a presidential election crisis and whose administration is being militarily supported by the United States as part of its "war on terror".

The tape emerged only hours after the US said it had placed Fatah al-Islam on its now 43-strong list of "terrorist" organisations which would have their funds frozen in the US and would not be permitted to enter America. Fighting to the death amid the ruins of the camp, it is highly doubtful that the gunmen there have bank accounts on Wall Street or that any have applied for visas to the US. But that's the way the "war on terror" works. Each side ratchets up the odds and kills more human beings.

A symbol of just how serious the situation has become in Lebanon lies in the statistics. Of the 200 or so people who have died since the camp battle broke out in May, 136 were Lebanese soldiers. That's only 32 short of the entire British Army death toll in Iraq since the 2003 invasion.

The siege has now put one of Lebanon's major power stations out of action after the insurgents fired rockets at it. The result is widespread power cuts.

[...]
http://news.independent.co.uk/fisk/artic...

11.

Good morning, everybody.

Well, "progressive" "conservative" are artsy fartsy words.  Let's just say that some people like change and others want things to stay the same.  Since change is the natural condition, the people who want to stop it, have to be repressive and restrictive.  Moreover, since they're going against nature, they're going to be frustrated in their efforts.  When they put their efforts into keeping others from going with the flow, they're a downright nuissance. 

The Kucinich camp is sending out emails warning that the designation of Iran's Revolutionary Guard is a prelude to launching an attack.  But, he doesn't bother explaining how that would work.  Instead, he launches into an assessment of the probable effect on the thinking in Iran.

See, that's another example of the problem I have with Kucinich.  He's always all over the place.  

Why not just focus on what Bush Two is up to and how the agenda can be reversed?  Why not explain that by designating another country's military force as a non-state organization, Bush Two can argue that an assault is not an act of war and not in need of a new declaration of authority from the Congress--it can be just another piece of the general war against terrorists.

This stuff isn't coming out of Bush Two.  There's some secret underground government being conducted, probably under the direction of Bush One.  Bush Two is just the mouth-piece.

One of the most serious problems with our press is that it only covers what people tell of their own accord.  Even when question are asked, the fact that they go unanswered is hardly ever reported or followed up. 

48.

Iran is a target because it is resisting participating in the nuclear fuels cartel.  Instead of buying processed fuel from the U.S. subsidiary in Russia, it's wanting to process its own.

Pakistan and India have reached agreements to become U.S. and Russia's clients.  It's a shake-down operation.  The coercive business techniques or organized crime have become government policy.   

or s/b of

New post on Hannah

Think of that!!!  1945 posts.  That's a lot of verbiage.  LOL 

the entire town of Mashpee, MA on Cape Cod (Indian and non-Indian alike) is in mourning:

http://wbztv.com/local/local_story_227193131.html

Staff Sgt. Alicia Birchett is the second woman from Massachusetts to be killed while serving in Iraq.

CBS

Aug 16, 2007 6:25 am US/Eastern

(WBZ) BOSTON A 29-year-old Army sergeant from Mashpee was killed in Iraq last week, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Wednesday.

Staff Sgt. Alicia A. Birchett died Aug. 9 in Baghdad after being injured in a non-combat related accident that happened the day before, officials said.

Details surrounding the incident were not released, but officials said the incident was being investigated.

Birchett's obituary on the John Lawrence Funeral Home's Web site says she was killed in a truck accident in Baghdad.

The wife and mother of three was a 1995 graduate of Falmouth High School before enlisting in the Army in 1996. She was also a member of the Wampanoag indian tribe.

...

A funeral is scheduled for Saturday at the Old Indian Cemetery.

...

Tom Bearse
Wed, 08/15/07
9:32 am

+++

Tom -

Thanks for defending me and, by extension, Andy Mack and free speech.

bye

This stuff isn't coming out of Bush Two.  There's some secret underground government being conducted, probably under the direction of Bush One.  Bush Two is just the mouth-piece.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whatever happened to Hillary's effort to de-authorize the war as the correct Constitutional remedy?

The Kucinich camp is sending out emails warning that the designation of Iran's Revolutionary Guard is a prelude to launching an attack

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

probably true

    The issue has received much public attention in the country since the DOH rejected last month two shipments of U.S.-exported pork which was found to contain ractopamine residue

61.

Because I'm in a persnickety mood---

that Kucinich people have sent out an email is true

that a Bush Two proposal has a particular purpose is speculation; future events cannot be either true or false and intentions can never be proved.

it's really a waste of time to speculate on veracity.   

Clearly designating a part of a foreign military as a terrorist organization is a pretext for planned action, otherwise why take the step. It gives legal cover of sorts to pre-emptive action and Congress isn't in the loop.

There isn't any clairvoyance needed to assume actions taken repeatedly will continue.

54.

Monica Smith
Thu, 08/16/07
5:31 am

Iran is a target because it is resisting participating in the nuclear fuels cartel. Instead of buying processed fuel from the U.S. subsidiary in Russia, it's wanting to process its own.

Pakistan and India have reached agreements to become U.S. and Russia's clients. It's a shake-down operation. The coercive business techniques or organized crime have become government policy.
-----------

There is some weakness in that assessment, Monica, otherwise Russia also would push Iran in that direction.
I don't see it's happening so far, quite opposite, isn't it?

The Kucinich camp is sending out emails warning that the designation of Iran's Revolutionary Guard is a prelude to launching an attack.

He's absolutely right of course, and any challenge to that position simply reflects Democrats' preparations to give in to Bush once more.

Will they ever learn?

60.

Phil Specht
Thu, 08/16/07
7:40 am


Why not explain that...
------

Whatever explanation of this regime's actions it'll dig the hole it is in only deeper. The problem is, falling into this hole regime is pulling American people along.

What'd happen sooner reaching the bottom or "changing the Constitution"?

66.

Huron John
Thu, 08/16/07
8:48 am

Will they ever learn?
--------

Still any doubts on that?
They never did for the last 40 years at least. Why should we hope?

Bush's Prelude to War With Iran: Tie Tehran to 9/11 by Declaring It a Terrorist State. Will the Democrats Run and Cower as We Hear the Same Old Song of Destruction Played Yet Again?

16.

Progressive Avenger
Thu, 08/16/07



"If not Hill, then WHO?"

http://www.chimpsternation.com/forum?c=s...

link previously offered by Seashell.

"If not Hill, then WHO?"

Duh, Gore.

For those who want a Gore/Edwards ticket, I'm not against Edwards. but he has not had to answer the question, which part of the Patriot Act did you write?

Gore/Hart

Gore/Obama


-------->>>PA, true, but Obama still hasn't explained how he campaigned for the US Senate against the Patriot Act and our trampled civil rights, along with the Iraq War, being his 2 main campaign themes, but then got in to the US Senate and then voted YES on Patriot Act 2. Not to mention the 2 years he was in the Senate, he didn't write, CoSponsor or vote to end the war-until 2 years later when he announced his candidacy for Pres.

http://www.attytood.com/2007/08/a_prelude_to_war_whats_really.html

The White House hawks in Dick Cheney's office and elsewhere who want to stage an attack on Iran are clearly winning the internal power stuggle. And an often overlooked sub-plot on the long road toward war with Tehran is this: How could Bush stage an attack on Iran without the authorization of a skeptical, Democratic Congress?

Today, the White House has solved that pesky problem in one fell swoop. By explicitly linking the Iranian elite guard into the post 9/11 "global war on terror" in Iraq and Afghanistan, Bush's lawyers would certainly now argue that any military strike on Iran is now covered by the October 2002 authorization to use military force in Iraq, as part of their overly sweeping response to the 2001 attacks.

This has clearly been the thinking for some time, particularly with talk -- unfulfilled, of course -- by some Democrats on Capitol Hill of either revoking the 2002 authorization or placing explicit curbs on attacking Iran.

In fact, concern that Bush would seek to tie a new war in Iran to the 2002 authorization is exactly what was on the mind of Va. Sen. Jim Webb when he sought legislation in March to bar any funding for a strike on the Tehran regime:

Why the Neocons Won't Miss Karl Rove
By HARVEY WASSERMAN

Karl Rove scoots off the sunken White House ship with his plans for future neo-con dominance safe and secure---in the hands of Democrats unwilling or incapable of challenging his dirtiest deeds.

Elected to end a lunatic war, the Democratic Congress has prolonged it, earning approval ratings even lower than those of George W. Bush, whom Rove designated as a "war president" long before the attack on Iraq.


The Democrats have also signed off on the GOP's all-out assault on the Constitution, meekly certifying a "unitary executive" with totalitarian demands for a blanket suspension of civil liberties, arbitrary detention, official torture and more.
Once again voters will approach a presidential election asking themselves---why vote for Democrats who won't challenge the most catastrophic GOP outrages?

That question must now be asked again about the illegal destruction of 1.5 million ballots from Ohio's stolen 2004 election. The mass shredding includes a wide range of official documents critical to conducting a valid recount in the state that gave Bush/Rove a second term in the White House.
Breaking a total mainstream media blackout, the Cincinnati Enquirer has finally printed a front-page story on the felonious disposal of these federally-protected records by 56 of Ohio's 88 counties.

http://www.counterpunch.org/wasserman081...

former

We are past bottom in loss of our system of Government.

That was Richarsdson's best answer last night. No one got it on video.

these candidates that take a lot of questions from the audience have a very real feel for what are on the minds of average voters.

Dodd gets it. and Edwards somewhat, Kucinich and Gravel totally, that the actions of this unitary executive, combinig signing statements with illegal programs, while cowering Congress gives cover has altered our democracy.

Your balance of that is the opposite, I'd settle for just getting back to historical norms.

I'm not sure the other three candidates don't secretly covet the powers Bush has assembled and want them in their own White House. As a professor of Constitutional Law, Obama is most disappointing in that regard. and yet has the most promise ...

Edwards comes the closest to sharing Dean's outlook on that balance.

new thread

ok, so we’re still blaming the Iraqis for this mess???
US senator to tell Iraq's leaders to 'count us out of your civil war'
The Associated Press

08/15/07 "AP" -- -- LANSING, Michigan: The chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services committee said he was leaving Wednesday for Iraq to tell its leaders that they must accept responsibility for their country.

"Folks, if you want a civil war in this country, that's your choice. Count us out of your civil war. We've been here four-and-a-half years," Democratic Senator Carl Levin of Michigan told reporters Wednesday during a stop at Michigan's statehouse.

Levin's comments came as the death toll rose to 250 following a spate of four suicide truck bombings in northwestern Iraq Tuesday, underscoring the difficulties in curtailing the steady stream of shooting and bombings that have become the soundtrack to Iraq's reconstruction efforts.

With Americans increasingly frustrated about the mounting U.S. deaths there, the U.S. Congress is awaiting a pivotal assessment due in September by Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Gen. David Petraeus amid a fierce debate over whether to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.

Levin, who last visited Iraq in October, said American voters in the November congressional election "spoke forcefully" about wanting to change course in the war and gave Democrats power in Congress to accomplish this.[uh, yeah, so what happened, especially to YOU, Levin?]

Levin said political reconciliation among Iraq's warring factions was critical to ending the war in Iraq.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info...

I was glad I got to see Richardson in person. I can see why he is rising in the polls. He is a natural. The closest personality to the way Bill Clinton would work a room. an Edwards/Richardson ticket would be powerful stuff

If Republicans have Huckabee in the VP slot, Richardson would be a good antidote.

65.

Russia is playing good cop.  Restraining the U.S. from being too hard on Iran.   The thing about energy resources is that the longer their use is delayed, the more valuable they become.  I think Russia is putting other pressures on Iran with the natural gas supply.  Being totally modern, they've divided the responsibilities.  Russia uses the bully pulpit and America wields the big stick.  Or at least waves it around.

American military assets are being used to "level" the industrial/commercial playing field--i.e. take the competition out of the game, sort of like a bad case of dysentry.