Dean is first!

I do not want Spitzer to resign.

I couldn't care less if he "had" ladies of the night.  BFD!  Private matter.

DOH! The Right To Privacy  I should o' had a V-8 !

4-6 years and $80,000 ?  BFD.

The People  to their government:  stay out of our bedrooms, bee-atch!

The Man Act (transporting ladies of the evening across state line)?  What?  Shut the fv@% up, bee-atch!

No way folks!  Eliot was taken down by our government for political vendetta.  If you can't grasp the comparison of this scandal to Republican dirty tricks modus operandi then you are willing to give up freedom for tyranny.

Welcome to the machine! 

Bush goes on his criminal way, and the Democrats are too paralyzed with fright and complicity to do anything about it.

9:23am

Good question  How many chances do we get?

The DLC and its Queen

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_rob_kall_080311_what_is_the_dlc_and_.htm

The DLC-- the Democratic Leadership Council-- is the right wing, the almost-republican, but worse-- wing of the Democratic party. They are corporatist, almost neocon (Al From, the DLC's founder, said, in 2003, announcing the 2003 DLC convention, which not one Democratic Presidential candidate showed up at, said, sounding very neocon, "A Democrat in that tradition who is not afraid to use American power in dangerous times,",) okay with war. These are the bluedogs dems, the Zell Millers, Joe Liebermans who routinely sell out and betray the Democratic leadership.

I'm left of the Democratic party's center, as are most progressives and liberals. DLC politicians are far to the right of the Democratic party's center and they're not happy about that. They want to move the Democratic party further and further to the right. They're willing to sell out women's rights, give up on gun control stay in Iraq as long as John McCain wants, and when it comes to corporations, they can't get too friendly too dependent.

It's really hard to tell what they like about the Democratic party. Maybe they get along with some of the union leaders who have drifted to the right, the kinds who back Republicans like Arlen Spector.

Be assured, the battle between Hillary and Obama is a battle between the DLC and the rest of the Democratic party. Don't get me wrong. Obama is no great progressive. IF he really is the most liberal voting senator, then that's a sad statement about the Democratic party in the senate. He's no Paul Wellstone, that's for sure.

9:26am

Staff/Danny, I disagree with the notion that Fallon was forced out.

He resigned his commission!  

The question is why?

Do not Senators ask during confirmation hearing w/not the nominee will implement an unlawful order of resign?

I do not recall precisely what Senators ask, or what recent nominees offer ask proof of independence... 

__________________

BTW

Spitzer did not IMHO just fall into the lap of the FBI or Federal Prosecutors.

Nope: I don't believe in fairy-tales.

Trippi pushing a Clinton-Obama or Obama-Clinton ticket.

With his track record of 0 and umpteen, I can't understand why antone listens to this jerk!

9:31 am

Spitzer will resign @11am ESDT

Excellent question/youtube video Monica.

implement an unlawful order of resign?

s/b

implement an unlawful order ^or^ resign?

offer ask proof of independence...

s/b

9:51 AM EST

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwBirf4BWew

"GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - The U.S. military said Tuesday that it will allow detainees to make regular phone calls to their families from Guantanamo Bay prison, where many have been confined in extreme isolation for as long as six years.

The new policy by the Defense Department, which previously said security concerns prevented such calls, is part of a strategy to ease conditions for frustrated prisoners at the U.S. Navy base in southeast Cuba."

I wonder when the children of the victims on 9-11 can expect their call from their loved ones.  Frustration is now something we worry about in our inmates??  We are turning into a nation of wimps.  I hope and pray that everyday is a "frustrating" day for Khalid Mohammed, and that his "frustration" is unrelenting until his death 50 years from now.   Maybe DFA could arrange to send him a nice cake to ease his burden.

10:07 AM EST

IMO if Bill Clinton had been man enough to resign back in 1998, we would have have Al Gore assume the office of President ...

... and 2000 could have been a (re)election year for Al, instead of what we got

...will allow detainees to make regular phone calls to their families from Guantanamo Bay prison...

Maybe we can find their blood-lines. 

G@d willing, we can learn valuable information. 

... apparently Fox is highly misinformed. The U.S. military does not consult DFA for the treatment of persons in their custody. Heck they don't listen to their own current or former officers who have actual credentials in the field.

But i do have suggestion for you... call someone who cares about your mental problem.

Gov. Dean spoke for me when he told George Stephanopoulos that he believes Democratic primary voters will sort out the nomination process and reach a consensus on who should be the Parety's nominee.  I don't think it's necessary for him, Al Gore, or any other intermediary to intervene at this point so that the race ends prematurely, just to satisfy the media's appetite for conflict by creating a controversy when there is none.

However, exit poll results showing that Obama won 91%  of the black vote and Clinton won 72% of the white vote in Mississippi is really causing me concern.  I look at it in combination with the petite sample of voters here who claim or suggest that they would not vote for the candidate other than the one they support under any circumstances, giving McCain a bye or worse, a Democrat's vote, in November.

This type of conduct reflects very poorly on Democrats who like to proclaim their own liberalism and contend that a person's race, sex, and other unchosen qualities should not have an effect on how that person is perceived as a candidate for political office or for any other purpose.  Like Spitzer out looking for a good time, it casts a shadow of hypocrisy over the whole proceedings.  Regardless of the true motives of the candidates and their supporters, and I'm not being judgmental of either, the appearance is that when it comes to the virtues of the Democratic message of tolerance, it is more important to do as I say than as I do. 

paine, in context, a majority of New Yorkers -- including Democrats -- want Spitzer gone. 67% of our very blue state wants him outta here. In the purplish bit where I live, it's 75%.

He's been doing a very poor job as governor, we're happy to take our chances with Paterson, thx.

As they said on the news last night, Spitzer doesn't have a single friend in Albany (because all his life he's been a self-righteous ass with a God complex), and very few friends anywhere.

Let it be so. Goodbye to all that. Hopefully Silda shows him the door also.

Meantime, here's a page of interesting prmary stuff:

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2...

When you compare the Rasumssen poll with actual MS voting patterns, it's obvious the Limbaugh vote was out in force for Hillary.

-- volney

For the record, the detainees at Guano are INNOCENT.  They are the victims of suspicion and paranoid delusions.  Not even one has been convicted of a crime.  Never mind that in our messed up judicial system even a conviction after trial is not proof of guilt.  Presence in a prison no more makes one a criminal than being in a garage makes one a car.  (That analogy is not original and arrived in my brain with the word "christian" and 'church,' but still seems appropriate)

... yeah right Paine, these 'detainees' should have real current information we could use, after more than five years in our Siberia. You're not very smart there buddy.

I'd be surprised if more than 10 percent of those folk ever had any 'information', most were sold to our 'intellegence' units by thugs in their country. Our guys took them just to have the numbers to say the 'war on terror' was working.

... and if you believe this administration, well, you support death and war no matter who declares it.

Modo in today's NYT

The arithmetic of procuring a prostitute who is both experienced and inspirational is even more complicated than the arithmetic of procuring a president who is both experienced and inspirational.

9.

I agree, John -- no idea why anyone cares what Trippi thinks.

BTW, in case most of my last post appears as a blank to others, my point was the Limbaugh vote in MS is responsible for a lot of that skew in the white vote.

-- volney

10:40 AM EST

and another fellow New Yorker ...

what else can come from this so-called blue, liberal/progressive state ?:

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/03/12/ferraro_sticking_by_obama_remarks/5843/

... good plan Tom, let's blame the Democratic voters for the spat the campaigns have engaged in.

You suppose that white Democrats will vote for McCain because Obama is AA. Probably the only ones that will do that are the same ones who voted for George W. Bush, because they were told he is from God.

Stupid is a conditiuon that truly does cross party lines... take you for instance.

a majority of New Yorkers -- including Democrats -- want Spitzer gone. 67%

Polls are points in time

69 percent were for him, before they were against him (LOL)

I like Patterson

I *think* it highly probable that Spitzer was/is a target of political vendetta.

Dirty-ticks is the Bush/Nixon M.O.. 

25. volney - I agree. I looked at the exit polling. High percentage of voters (white) for Hillary and Republican said they would NOT vote for her the the Fall. Huh? It stinks.

What is so sad about that is there are truly many Republicans who love Barack Obama (for all the right reasons). I caucused with them. Bubbling over with enthusiasm for Obama and genuine loathing for Bush and the Republican party.

wow my video just went way up thread.

how can an admiral resign in the middle of a war?? oh I forgot, W is still mulling around the white house, talking to pix.

Deaniac, why should anyone listen to any question YOU direct their way? 

Here's another reminder to tune into Keith tonight for a Special Comment.

If my hypothesis that racial/ethnic/gender based antagonism functions to forge a consensus of commonality in the affected group, then whatever percentage of the white population in Mississippi overcame their prejudice or shared antagonism to cast a vote for Obama has demonstrated that this particular social glue is losing strength.  And. for some people, they don't need a whole lot of evidence that there are other people out there who, like themselves, are sick and tired of having to be against someone to show that they belong with the rest.

There are any number of white sons and daughters of the south who have had to leave home and a geography they may well love because they just couldn't stand the stress of being expected to hate somebody who'd done them no wrong.

In any case, I expect the trend to swell into a wave.

And by the way, since black folk have been voting for white folk for a very long time, they've earned the luxury of voting for one of their own, even if he's not the most magnificent specimen that ever came down the pike.  I've long argued that black people are just as entitled as whites to elect mediocre representatives, ignoring the fact that it's impossible to know ahead of time how somebody will turn out.  Whoever helped elect Bush Two owes everybody a really gigantic slice of humble pie.

Paine, the guy admitted to it. He prosecuted the very same thing, putting folks behind bars. He was just taken down from the DLC site as one of their 'leaders'.

Bye bye hypocrite, it's that simple.

rdorgan, the video from tammy wynette is priceless

I remember hearing at the end of the crying game movie. what a hoot.

10:53 a.m.

Dave wrote "good plan Tom, let's blame the Democratic voters for the spat the campaigns have engaged in.  You suppose that white Democrats will vote for McCain because Obama is AA. Probably the only ones that will do that are the same ones who voted for George W. Bush, because they were told he is from God."

I suppose?  What do you suppose supporters here or elsewhere are saying when they resolve not to vote for the winner of the Democratic nomination if it's not the candidate they are promoting?  My precisely worded theory was that they would vote for no one or, in the worst case, for the moderate poseur representing the Republican Party.  Did you come up with a third possibility?

They are the victims of suspicion and paranoid delusions.

That is a stretch.  They may be victims of such and they may well be guilty as sin.

Here's one: George Bush deserves to do whatever he will!

No, not as far as Adm Fallon is concerned.

Thank g@d for courage in the face of X (feel free to name "X" for yourself). 

Deaniac in GA wrote,

... 

What? 

... those pesky facts, Paine. Not at all surprised you don't get it.

later

Love ya'll, mean it!!

Deaniac, why should anyone listen to any question YOU direct their way? 

Because they're funny?  

I know I'm not supposed to say this (Annilow will object), but having been married to a southerner for 44 years and having lived in the South for 35, I can attest that humor is regional and some people in northern climes just don't get it.  There are strange synapses that are formed there.  Maybe it's a function of words having different sounds. 

Actually, it has been a coon's age since I did more than scan what Deaniac writes (as I do now), because mostly he just attacks others.

Doh, right!  He attacks trolls!  I should o' had a V-8!

Droll... 

More stats on the Limbaugh Effect.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3...

Monica wrote "having lived in the South for 35, I can attest that humor is regional and some people in northern climes just don't get it."

So you're saying it's southern people who may think Dave is funny.

IN my opinion. PLEASE don't insert rush into the conversation. He doesn't deserve any credit for inserting racism or sexism into the process. Clinton is doing that herself.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ixlLW6WOZj4UXLI_KCw74Z2OCPUw

20 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US Air Force said goodbye Tuesday to the first stealth fighter, the F-117A Nighthawk, which was developed in deep secrecy and unleashed for the first time during the 1989 invasion of Panama.

[...]

"The F-117 program created a revolution in military warfare by incorporating low-observable technology into an operational aircraft," she said.

Designed to penetrate heavily defended air space of Cold War adversaries, it was first used to spearhead an invasion of Panama in December 1989.

[...]

Only 59 of the aircraft were built, and seven have been lost.

The air force retired the first 10 aircraft in 2006, and has since retired another 27.

RIP

Considering that there haven't been any "engagements," seven planes shot down suggests that maybe they don't have to be seen to be hit. 

More on Spitzer - He used his personal funds for the trysts but he used the state's dime for flying, hotel, etc.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/12...

I guess he's in a good deal of trouble.

Silda, give him the boot.

Silda, give him the boot.

I think we should try to stay out of private matters.

Bye-bye F-117A.

Hello, F-22 Raptor[4][5] and F-35 Lightning II !!! 

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123089413

NOW THAT'S PROGRESS!  I AM SO RELIEVED.  DIDN'T WANT TO OPINE ON THE REFUELLING TANKER ISSUE ANYWAY.........

Air Force Uniform Board goes virtual

 Printable story

 E-mail story

I think 5th Avenue should design any new Air Force uniforms (hahaha)

5th Avenue deserve huge compensation to do R&D for these uniforms,

Which will induce (through ultra cool design) or little boys and girls to

serve this great nation.

Ooh-rah! 

NO COMMENT!

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., March 12, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- TASER International, Inc. (Nasdaq:TASR), a market leader in advanced electronic control devices, today announced the receipt of a purchase order for the United States military for 229 TASER(r) X26 Electronic Control Devices (ECDs) and related accessories for the U.S. Air Force.

"TASER International is proud of our longstanding relationship with the U.S. Department of Defense, and this order demonstrates a continued commitment by our services to protect U.S. military personnel with our proven TASER technology," said Tom Smith, Chairman and founder of TASER International. "These TASER devices will be deployed by the U.S. Air Force Security Forces as a new customer for TASER International."

Oh, I can't resist.  Who buys 229 of anything? 

"related accessories" FOR TASERS? 

I echo the sentiments in this letter to Geraldine Ferraro and Hillary Clinton.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3...

    Wells was also sentenced to five days in jail and fined 410.50 U.S. dollars as a result of her arrest last fall in eastern Idaho.

    Wells, 69, founder of the Idaho Film and Television Institute and organizer of the region's annual family movie festival, was stopped on Oct. 18, by Teton County sheriff's Deputy Joseph Gutierrez after he noticed her swerve and repeatedly speed up and slow down.

    She was driving home at the time after a surprise birthday party.

    When asked about the smell of marijuana in the car, Wells said she'd just given a ride to three hitchhikers and had dropped them off when they began smoking something. 

    Gutierrez found half-smoked joints and two small cases used to store marijuana inside her vehicle. Then she failed a sobriety test, he said.

    Wells pleaded guilty as part of a deal last month to one count of reckless driving.

    Wells' lawyer said that a friend of Wells testified that he'd left a small amount of marijuana in the vehicle after using it that day, and that Wells was unaware of it.

    Under a plea agreement, three misdemeanor counts were dropped.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Guys............Maryanne or Ginger?

Monica wrote "'related accessories' FOR TASERS? "

Probably those simulated leather carrying cases.

I am hoping we'll see Gerry Ferraro standing behind Eliot Spitzer and she will wave goodbye too. LOL

Did y'all know Spitzer was responsible for increasing the publishment for johns in NY from 3 mo. in prison to 1 year?

I think he needs to spend the year.

-- volney

Well done resignation Gov Spitzer.

I accept what you have said.

All the best in the future.

Done.

Now maybe the stone-throwers can let him move on without hounding him 'til death comes.  Bastards for what the do/wish they'd stop.

Guys............Maryanne or Ginger?

Maryanne: I always liked  Maryanne for being so...natural, and found Ginger alot ...plastic. 

I missed today's post from Mike Workman publishing the lead in popular votes among Democratic candidates.  Maybe he's biding his time until he receives an update from the Clinton campaign on April 23rd.

WELL, THIS MAKES SENSE--CAN'T GET THE MARKET TO FUND IT, FOIST IT OFF ON THE GOV'MINT

I'm going to awqard Adm. Fallon a HOWARDLY.

a man of principle

I know we can find one honest person at the DNC, but where else can we go to find a few more to make up a committee to check out the
other patrons of the Emperor's Club.

Who are numbers 1 thru 8 and 9 plus? Who are the Repug Johns? If the one Dem needs to resign the others should be forced to do so.

We're learning slowly why the Dems are not speaking up about Impeachment, or much of anything. Some are similarly guilty, and the rest are protecing them in order to protect
their own jobs.

Is it a Rove plot to pick off a few Dems, so we can't call them corrupt?

Not totally unrelated...getting rid of Adm. Fallon so there'll be nobody to contradict Petraeus when he makes his pre-election surge report?

61,

thanks phil, but without fallon. we have war with iran.

New thread.

12:15 PM EST

http://www.zap2it.com/movies/news/zap-nortonobamadocumentary,0,540951.story?track=rss

March 12, 2008

Edward Norton and his Class 5 Films

...

According to Variety, Class 5 is hoping to line up distribution for the untitled documentary for a 2009 release.

...

Phil....

He deserves a Howardly if he quit on his own. Do you suppose he could have been tapped for VP?

12:32 PM EST

fyi - new Front thread

OH, NOW THAT'S GOOD NEWS.  BOMBS DESTROY A FACILITY BUT MANUALS SURVIVE!

Tue, 11 Mar '08

Three buildings that had served as an al Qaeda detention and torture facility were destroyed yesterday by a US military bomber. A B-1B Lancer used six 500-pound, global positioning system-guided bombs to level the compound located in Zambraniyah, a village south of Baghdad, according to officials.

"The precise targeting, synchronized employment and focused effects that eliminated these facilities demonstrate the outstanding capability our integrated ground and air team brings to this fight every day," said US Air Force Col. Robert Gass, commander of 379th Expeditionary Operations Group.

The targeted compound consisted of three main buildings along with several smaller shelters. It was apparent that terrorists had used the facility as a place to hold and torture captives, officials noted, citing a post-attack discovery of handcuffs attached to walls -- several of which were blood-splattered -- and bare wires plugged into nearby electrical outlets.

The villagers began standing up to al Qaeda terrorists a little more than a month ago, officials said.

The joint operation featured US and Iraqi ground forces, as well as American military air assets, officials said. A concerned local citizens group also helped provide security during the operation.

US soldiers found several interrogation manuals in the compound after the air strike.

Staff/Danny, I disagree with the notion that Fallon was forced out. He resigned his commission!  The question is why? Do not Senators ask during confirmation hearing w/not the nominee will implement an unlawful order of resign?"

He resigned because the effort he was in charge of suddenly became more important at the same time as it became a bigger problem. The administration is preparing to pivot back to Afghanistan, if not wholly then at least in part. They want to undercut Obama who's been saying for YEARS now (as, btw, did Gov. Dean) that we need to get back to the business of capturing or killing what has been called "Al Qaida Prime" i.e. the strategic leadership of the organization.

It has been on Fallon's watch there that a resurgent Taliban has re-taken some areas within Afghanistan, and that re-supply shipments from Afghanistan into both northwestern (Al Qaida including Bin Laden) and southwestern (Taliban) Pakistan have increased dramatically. Now Bush needs to show he's paying attention so a dedicated career officer who was short-sheeted on supplies of all types gets to resign in a disgrace that had nothing to do with his efforts and everything to do with the political priorities of the President.