Saturday Open Thread
Have you spent time in your local campaign office lately?
Comments (104) «
Mister Bush? Spandau Prison is calling...
Your room is ready.
The Bush Doctrine: Don't fight terrorism - create it.
The Rumsfeld Doctrine: Use just enough troops in war to lose.
Day 1,246 since Mission Accomplished
60% of Iraqis and Americans agree US troops should be withdrawn.
Bush - I will not withdraw from Iraq even if only Laura and Barney support me.
I cannot believe Bush's stupid statement yesterday. "The party of FDR... has become the party of "cut and run". What an A-hole. Democrats should call a major press conference and have Reid or Polosi respond with,
"The party of Lincoln ... has become the party of "grope and defile teenage boys".
so the republicans set it up to break the foley story and then leave town till the elections? this may turn out to not have been a great strategy.
We all know how GW stages events. The party of FDR...has become the party of "cut and run" was delivered in the very red state of Alabama.
I would respond with the party of Eisenhower has become the party of torture and destruction of Geneva Accords.
Where are the lawyers who went after the Catholic church? Republican leadership knew about Foley, but only advised Foley to be careful. How stupid are they? When a 16 year old boy says the comments were "sick" is that not a red light? The 16 year olds I know are smart enough to realize the difference between concern for safety after a hurricane and a sexual come on.
G'mornin Dems. What more sad, shameful events from the Republicans will we see today? They have shed all vestige of respectability and are dragging the USA into an abyss.
Go to phone banks, door to door - whatever we need to get more active
Marc Zogby on news this am - He was not that encouraging - says dems need to move out base and win independents
Iraq: Win or Leave; or Stay and Bleed.
It is self evident that the United States policy and strategy in Iraq and the Middle East has been failing for years.
I have heard it said that it is a complex situation, is it complex or is it being portrayed as complex so no sincere intelligent meaningful dialogue can be expressed on the national stage to discuss the options for a solution?
I have heard it said that no one has offered useful options, is it possible that the United States, considered a world leader and a world power, does not have the competence to successfully find a solution?
Are “We the people” resigned to “Waiting for Godot”?
Bush raises 2.5 million for Gov Bob Riley in Alabama.
When Bob Riley was US Rep, he had ties to Abramhoff adn Ralph Reed.
I am sooo behind the times on this - Atlanta Journal Constitution ran article regarding Cagle's charges against Reed supporting slave labor and foreced abortions in Mariana Islands. Contact was made with Bob Riley for his support against legislation protecting these workers.
Washington Post also ran article in May 2006.
US Interior Dept had found a year earlier that female Chinese garment workers were pressured to have abortions if they became pregnant and that women and children were being forced into prostitution on the island.In a statement 3/31/98
Clinton's Interior Sec Bruce Babbitt said "We have evidence that at least some of the Chinese workers, when they beomce pregnant, are given a three-way choice: go home to China, get a back-alley abortion on Saipan or get fired"
The reason given for voting against the bill, it would give foreign workers the right to work anywhere in the US.
Yeah, good Christian values. Don't give them a right to work, just keep them as sex slaves.
President Bush Job Approval
September 30, 2006
The President's job approval among American adults fell a point today to 39% making it the first drop below 40% since early August. Fifty-eight percent (58%) disapprove of the way the President is performing his job.
President Bush receives approval among 44% of Caucasians and 29% of Americans of other ethnicities. His lowest approval rating, however, is among African Americans at a mere 9%.
On a state-by-state basis, in 21 of 27 states surveyed by Rasmussen Reports recently the percentage of those who disapprove of the President’s job performance outweighs the percentage of those who approve. Bush fares exceptionally poorly in Oregon, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Washington(see State-by-State summary).
Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (whew!) was born in A.D. 12 in the town of Antium, the site of the current city Anzio, Italy. He spent his younger years in military camps with his parents. No one called him his birth name when he was a child. The soldiers at his father's camps, who spoiled him horribly, gave him a nickname that stuck for life. He always wore a tiny replica of a military uniform that was exact right down to the shoes. These shoes were hob-nailed sandals called Caliga. This is the basis of the name Caligula, which in Latin means "Little Boots".
http://www.utexas.edu/courses/figura/latin506/fall98/projects/f/982f2.html
PNACers & SCOOPers join Fascist forces:
'This article appears in the August 18, 2006 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.
NEO-CONS MOVE TO UNITED KINGDOM
The Henry Jackson Society:
Would-Be Fascist World Rule
by Scott Thompson and Michele Steinberg...":
It was a bad week for American Civil Rights.
Habeas Corpus has been taken away and George Bush has been given immunity for the Torture he claimed that did not happen.
What is even more alarming, several Republican Senators did not even KNOW what they were voting on. They were told how to vote - Nothing new.
Now Foxnews is SPEWING that this is a good thing and that anyone who is against it is a Terrorist Lover. What is next - Since I am a Liberal Democrat will I be forced to wear an "L" on my clothing.
I know that this sounds a little far fetched but this is how Hilter Started by taking away rights a little at a time. Then before you know it - it is all gone.
Posted by yankhadenuf on September 30, 2006 at 03:47 PM
I don't want to rain on anybody's parade, but I don't think there is enough salt in all the World's Oceans to make a grain large enough to take with anything that comes out of any outfit connected with Lyndon LaRouche
Palm Beach, FL (Rotters) - Florida Congressional Representative Mark Foley was arrested by federal authorities upon his return to his home district in Palm Beach Florida, late last night. He has been charged as a sexual predator for inappropriate e-mail messages sent to a 16-year-old male congressional page. Foley has reportedly been cooperating with authorities but has angrily denied the charges stating, "I did not have virtual sex with that young man."
Dailykos
It seems funning - The ones SPEWING Morality is the right path are the ones who are committing the most immoral acts.
Good afternoon, everyone.
gregg, let me try to get a handle on these latest poll numbers. So Cheney tells the energy trust to drop oil prices $1.50 a gallon in one month and Bush still loses three points in the polls?
Maybe the sheep don't like "stay the course" in the decapitated body-strewn streets of Baghdad, ordering our troops to torture prisoners, hanky panky with House pages, and outsourcing our jobs and ports/border security to foreigners who may have had ties to 9/11?
Who wouldn't want to "cut and run" from a polical party that advocates this kind of policy...especially with Cheney riding shotgun? This is the way the GOP thinks Americans want to treat our friends and neighbors?
I think the moderates and Independents have seen enough from the GOP. And the fiscal conservatives and strict Constitutional constructionists are debating whether to even show up at the polls.
Meanwhile, those within the evangelical movement and inside the Catholic Church are split over global warming, stem cell research, and persecuting illegal workers.
And then there is that all so high and mighty GOP "Permission to Torture Prisoners at Will" legislation...just like what happened to Jesus. Maybe Mel Gibson should re-release "The Passion" so we all can get a better look at what the GOP now advocates for anyone who disagrees with Bush.
Good job, Mr. President. You’ve even found a way to alienate the Moral Majority...and made both the Far Right and Far Left look at what the GOP has become with disgust.
If the GOP hadn’t completely broken the political system with voter suppression legislation like 21st century poll taxes, corrupt Supreme Court judges who don’t believe in counting all the votes, and hacked electronic voting machines built by their friends, I bet it wouldn’t even be close in November.
Posted by SandyH on September 30, 2006 at 04:00 PM
The GOP is hoping that there base is not paying attention and since the majority of them watch Foxnews they will never know.
A suicide bomber blew himself up in a busy pedestrian alley next to Afghanistan's Interior Ministry on Saturday, killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens, officials said. Full story:
Posted by DPD on September 30, 2006 at 04:04 PM
Well how about "D" for "dedicated to the right thing to do".
Well, THAT was a quick storm. Watch OUT, Kathy in Indiana, it's heading right atcha!! Lotsa lightning, and HIGH winds. I now have a neighbors patio table on my deck. Bright sun and not a cloud in the sky now. The street lights even went on, and I had to turn on some lamps. Now? Nada.
Last night I was watching Lou Dobbs on CNN and I was outraged when I heard his report about a North American Union. I found the transript of last night's show for everyone to read. After you're done reading it I urge everyone to contact congress and complain about this serious issue.
And the Bush administration wants a North American union. The United States, Mexico and Canada, one entity. Is anyone in Washington looking after the U.S. national interest? We'll find out. And as members of Congress leave
Washington for their election campaigns, three of the country's very best political analysts join me to assess what in the world is going on in Congress, what's likely to happen at the polls. Stay with us.
Tonight, the leaders of Mexico, Canada and the United States have been working to create a so-called North American Union. And they've done so rather stealthily. They're trying to speed the flow of both cargo and people, they say, across this nation's northern and southern borders. Critics call the plan an outright attack on our sovereignty. Congress has been looking the other way. Christine Romans reports.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Plans for an integrated North American community by 2010, moving ahead swiftly and under the radar. Robert Pastor is an author of the Council on Foreign Relations document, seen as the project's road map.
ROBERT PASTOR, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: We need to deepen economic integration by moving towards a customs union, with a common external tariff. I think we need to enhance our security by beefing up both our borders and beefing up a continental boundary.
ROMANS: But critics fear an attack on American sovereignty, a super NAFTA with borders erased between three very different countries, with no public oversight. Texas Congressman Ron Paul is a rare voice of concern on Capitol Hill.
REP. RON PAUL (R), TEXAS: We're not supposed to give this to the executive branch, devising a quasi type of trees that the Congress seems not to have any control of. Then it turns out to be managed trade for big corporations and not benefit to our workers and to our people.
ROMANS: The House International Relations Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have not held hearings on this and a high level conference this month in Bamf (ph) was closed to the press. Critics raise concerns about secrecy, but the plan has a website, SPP.gov, highlighting myths and facts. Without explaining how, it says the Canadian, Mexican, U.S. partnership does not attempt to modify our sovereignty or currency, nor undermines the U.S. constitution, but would create jobs by reducing transaction costs and unnecessary burdens for U.S. companies.
Robert Pastor says a more open public discussion would quiet what he calls conspiracy theorists.
PAUL: A north American union is impossible. None of the three governments or countries are interested in unifying into one country.
ROMANS: He says the goal is more cooperation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: But that doesn't quiet the concerns about this cooperation or what it's going to look like. Just yesterday Congressman Virgil Goode of Virginia introduced a resolution opposing a NAFTA superhighway and various elements of a North American Union, as the critics call it. And Robert Pastor, Lou, he says you're one of those critics, you're part of a conspiracy theory that just is not founded.
DOBBS: That I'm a conspiracy theorist? Well, I -- that's very flattering on the part of Mr. Pastor.
What he is is an out of control elitist, who hasn't been elected or in any way nominated by this government to do a darn thing that he's doing. And the fact that this administration and some of this country's largest corporations are pushing ahead with this, with some of Canada's leading elites and Mexico's -- there's not a single thing in this that even remotely has legitimacy and the fact that this Congress, thank goodness that Virgil Goode stepped up here, the fact that this Congress is not demanding an investigation into this right now is sickening.
This is elitism run rampant and it's just -- to me, it's just inexplicable why it's being tolerated. Pastor, what's his qualification?
ROMANS: He's studied north America and its institutions for 30 years.
DOBBS: Ah, good. And this is his conclusion after all that study at the Council of Foreign Relations? Thank you very much, Christine Romans.
That brings us to the subject of our poll tonight and Mr. Pastor, listen up because what we're going to do here is we're going to talk to somebody besides the head of a U.S. multinational or one of your little Bush administration friends or any of those other elitists in Canada or Mexico. Here we go.
Let's see what people have to say about your little idea. Do you believe there should be a federal investigation of U.S. government efforts to support a north American union? Yes or no. Please cast your vote at LouDobbs.com. We'll have the results later here in the broadcast.
Why are people so easily fooled?
Schwarzenegger Surging Ahead as Vote Nears
In a nearly complete reversal, 56% of California voters now approve of Schwarzenegger's job performance and 41% disapprove. In October 2005, 37% approved and 59% disapproved.
"He seems to have become a little bit more the governor of the people, rather than the governor of the Republicans," poll respondent Jack Phillips, a Democrat who lives in the Sacramento suburb of Folsom, said in a follow-up interview.
"Maria must've got to him," added Phillips, 67, in a nod to the Kennedy family lineage of Maria Shriver, Schwarzenegger's wife. The retired railroad marketing man plans to vote for Schwarzenegger.
Overall, the poll affirmed the dominating force of Schwarzenegger's personality on California politics, showing his capacity — in a state that strongly favors Democrats — to break a national tide running against Republicans.
It also demonstrated his outsmarting of Angelides in seeking out the political center, where statewide elections are won in California. For months, Schwarzenegger has been piling up agreements with Democratic lawmakers that widen his electoral appeal, including laws to combat global warming, raise the minimum wage and cut prescription drug costs.
LA Times
Ashcroft Is Denied Immunity in Case
By Dan Eggen
The Human Toll
More than three years into the war in Iraq, the Coalition death toll has topped 2,900 and estimated civilian casualties stand at more than 44 ,000.
Posted by DemocratKickingAss on September 30, 2006 at 04:18 PM
A "North American Union" would be a sell out to the middle class of America. It would only help large companies by allowing cheep labor coming into the county from Mexico.
Here's a little smiley for Ranger995:
Republicans for Duckworth
i love the picture of the Satanic looking Roskam.
If a "North Amercian Uion" is such a good thing for America - Why is securite negotiations going on to develop it?
WTF?????????
Just to let you know what these people are REALLY thinking, and how far they plan to go, step by step.
SC Republican Councilman Calls for the Sterilization of Parents with Bad Kids
What we've got is a failure in society, whether it's in Mount Pleasant with yuppie parents or whether it's on the East Side with poor crackhead parents," Shirley said Friday. "We pick up stray animals and spay them. These mothers need to be spayed if they can't take care of theirs. … Once they have a child and it's running the streets, to let them continue to have children is totally unacceptable." Deadbeat dads might ought to be sterilized as well, he said.
Crooks and Liars
North America Union:
"President Bush is pursuing a globalist agenda to create a North American Union, effectively erasing our borders with both Mexico and Canada. This was the hidden agenda behind the Bush administration's true open borders policy."
"Secretly, the Bush administration is pursuing a policy to expand NAFTA politically, setting the stage for a North American Union designed to encompass the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. What the Bush administration truly wants is the free, unimpeded movement of people across open borders with Mexico and Canada."
article here
70 page pdf on agreement
I think we need to run attack ads
show Katrina(and loss of life) and Bush
SHOW Mark Foley and GEORGE BUSH Together and say "GWB SUPPORTS SEX OFFENDERS"
PLEASE FIGHT HARD WE NEED TO WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just got back from the Stender campaign. Get this one on Kean Junior:
Turns out that the latest individual to join "Democrats for Junior" is none other than the disgraced and convicted Former Hudson County Executive Robert Janiszewski (prisoner #25038-050). From the Star Ledger:
A researcher working for Republican Tom Kean Jr.'s campaign became pen pals with a jailed Democratic political boss in an effort to dig up damaging information on Kean's opponent, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez.
Former Hudson County Executive Robert Janiszewski, now serving time in a federal prison in Kentucky on corruption charges, offered political history and strategic advice to the Kean campaign in a chatty, friendly letter obtained by The Star-Ledger.
"Political intrigue is ... well ... intriguing," Janiszewski writes in the opening, summing up the unlikely alliance between himself and an agent for a Republican campaign. The letter, dated June 11, suggests an ongoing, secret correspondence.
...
Janiszewski, a sometime-ally, sometime-rival of Menendez's in Hudson County, offered a long list of local politicians who hold grudges against the senator and may be able to provide damaging information about him.
One of those people mentioned by Janiszewski -- Oscar Sandoval, a Union City psychiatrist and former FBI informant who helped land Janiszewski in prison -- rocked the U.S. Senate campaign this week by disclosing a secret recording he had made of Menendez's closest adviser.
For those of you keeping score at home, "Democrats for Junior" now consist of astroturfers posing as Democrats, a racist and a federal prisoner. With friends that dirty, Junior can't claim that he's clean as a whistle.
****
Junior Kean is a GOOPER RAT. He plays on his daddy's "good name" but has nothing to offer but slime. In fact, his daddy has tarnished his own name by associated himself with the Path To 9/11 propaganda movie. There is little to admire with the Keans who are more and more just like the Bushs.
Next time a Right-Wingers perrots Bush and Cheney's talking points about Iraq and Iran, show them this.
Did the Saudis know about 9/11?
A new book claims that Saudi princes and a Pakistani official knew Osama bin Laden would strike America that day.
two Arab-American special forces personnel posed as Saudis and took over the questioning of Zubaydah at the secret location in Afghanistan. CIA officials observing from another room watched Zubaydah's reaction with amazement: He was visibly relieved to be in "Saudi" hands, and started talking. He named three Saudi princes, recited their private phone numbers, and told his interrogators to call one prince, saying, "He will tell you what to do." That man was King Fahd's nephew Prince Ahmed bin Salman, a London publishing magnate and horse racing aficionado whose thoroughbred War Emblem won the 2002 Kentucky Derby. Zubaydah made clear he was under the protection -- and direction -- of the princes. During the questioning, Zubaydah also fingered Pakistani air force chief Mushaf Ali Mir, suspected to have close ties with some of the most pro-Islamist elements within Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISI.
Zubaydah's "Saudi" interrogators later pressed him on his story, writes Posner, telling Zubaydah that Prince Ahmed had "credibly denied any knowledge of him" and that "he would be executed for disparaging the reputation of a member of the royal family." At that point Zubaydah unleashed a monologue "which one [U.S.] investigator refers to as the Rosetta stone of 9/11."
Zubaydah told his interrogators that he had attended a 1996 meeting in Pakistan where Mushaf Ali Mir struck a deal with Osama bin Laden that provided al-Qaida with protection, arms and supplies. The arrangement was blessed by the Saudis, Zubaydah said. He named a fourth Saudi prince, the kingdom's then intelligence chief, Prince Turki bin Faisal, as the nexus of the Saudi-Pakistani-al-Qaida axis. Zubaydah said Turki attended several meetings with bin Laden in Afghanistan and Pakistan in the 1990's, including one in Kandahar in 1998 at which Taliban members were present, where Turki pledged steady Saudi aid to al-Qaida as long as the terrorist group promised not to attack the kingdom.
Salon
Here, the story line veers from le Carré to "The Godfather." Shortly after the U.S. inquiry, on July 22, 2002, Prince Ahmed, age 43, died unexpectedly of a heart attack. On the way to Ahmed's funeral the next day, Prince Sultan al-Saud was killed in a single-car crash. A week later the third prince Zubaydah had fingered, Fahd al-Kabir , was found dead 55 miles east of Riyadh -- according to the Saudi royal court he'd "died of thirst" while traveling in the summer heat. Seven months later Pakistani air force chief Mir, his wife and 15 of his closest associates died in a plane crash near Islamabad. The plane had recently passed maintenance inspection, and the weather was clear. According to the Asia Times, "Reports at the time said that the pilot had been changed just minutes before takeoff."
Who do I vote for?
Everyone in the Republican party except Lincoln Chaffee votes for torture, Now democrats vote for torture. I hope Bernie Sanders doesn't believe in Torture. My own Democratic Senator, Sen. Salazar continues to vote infavor of torture. This man voted to make Alberto Gonzales Attorney General after he knew about the torture memos. What does this party stand for? How many times are you going to get beaten up? Get out there, be as dirty as Karl Rove, I don't give a fuck about morals or values. Cheat, Lie, Steal, just fuckin win! My life and my fellow soldiers lives depend on you people winning in November. You voted for this war, now you know you fucked up, so do everything possible to end it. Who's running this show, he needs to be fired, get someone else in there that will get the Dems noticed nationally.
boy i bet trent really can't understand why we had a civil war:
Trent Lott told reporters today that George Bush and GOP Senators barely mentioned Iraq when they met this morning and that they don’t obsess over the war.
When asked if the war was discussed, Lott told reporters that “You're the only ones who obsess on that. We don't and the real people out in the real world don't for the most part."
On the sectarian violence in Iraq, Lott said: “Why do they hate each other? Why do Sunnis kill Shiites? How do they tell the difference? They all look the same to me.”
California Voters BEWARE!
That Fiendishly Dishonest Schwarzenegger
Is Groping for Your Votes
Using Tactics of the Bush Regime!
He's sent his woman out to do his job in sneaky election time "non-political" ads and media exposure!!!
Maria Shriver should be ashamed to be exploited this way, AND she should be ashamed to exploit others the way she and Arnold are exploiting others! Shame!
ARNOLD -- Only GIRLIE-MEN exploit like you are exploiting!
Thanks for indulging me, but this is what is the source of my indignation:
All of the sudden gobs and GOBS of public service announcements (paid for by the taxpayers?) in the form of TV and radio ads are playing that feature none other than Ahnold's Kennedy Wife Maria Shriver. She talks about some kind of emergency preparedness thang and mentions contacting the "Governor's office". (Now, it's not the governor's office! Egad! Ahnold is just a servant of the people! He doesn't help us with this stuff out of noblesse oblige! We California taxpayers pay for the every emergency service program there is!) These ads by the governor's wife mentioning the governor are subtle propaganda timed to coincide with the election. It is unethical, DISGUSTING trickery to gain airtime just weeks before the election!!! It is UNACCEPTABLE!
And for a over a week, full page color print ads have been screaming the Gropinator's wife's picture in conjunction with the MINERVA Awards she hosted. EGAD! She timed the awards to coincide with the election so she and the Gropinator could exploit these women for electioneering purposes! It is disgusting, unethical, unacceptable!
Maria Shriver even exploited the Dalai Lama, luring him to participate in the awards for her photo ops! The Gropinator and Maria Shriver no no limits! Anything to get the Buddhist and Birkenstock Vote?! Totally reprehensible.
Political ambition expressed to the level of exploitation displayed by the Schwarzeneggers is a sign of twisted minds and hearts.
If nothing else, this is one more opportunity to show Schwarzenegger for the untrustworthy sort he is. He is secretive. Like Bush's pathological secrecy. And full of manipulative posing and scenario playing, pretending he and Bush don't agree; what nonsense. Schwarzenegger is a Bush Crime Family/Oil Cartel puppet.
From the very beginning Schwarzenegger has been a propagandist and misrepresenter, who pretended he ran independent of an existing power base.
Reasons to try harder for Angelides in California:
1. Schwarzenegger has hired a electioneering team made up of members of Bush's own campaign team! On the Gropinator's campaign team is ad man Alex Castellanos who masterminded the swiftboating of John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election. Indeed the Gropinator seems poised to do anything as he gropes for votes through trickery instead of integrity.
2. Schwarzenegger is a dirty player regarding campaign fundraising. He knows the law about disclosing campaign contributions but used trickery to bypass it! He donated to his own campaign before election day which in itself is okay; but then AFTER the election, lo and behold, his loan to himself was paid off/reimbursed by the BIG donors Schwarzenegger didn't want to tell the voters about prior to the election!
3. Schwarzenegger claimed from the beginning that he is just a private person and businessman who is the people's candidate. What tripe. A lie. He lied to everyone. Go back to number 2. above and read it again. Ahnold is a liar and has been lying from the start. He knew his personal loan to his campaign fund would be paid AFTER the election by his REAL backers and he deceived the voters by hiding that! Disgusting. Unethical. Unacceptable.
Amazing that the propagandist maneuvers of these past few months are working; alot Californians actually seem to believe Schwarzenegger's aquiescence to a few recent pieces of legislation MEAN something. Don't be a patsy or a sucker for the Schwarzenegger Role-Playing Scam. It's JUST AN ACT. Ahnold just goes from BEING a deadly Terminator whose policies will terminate your opportunity to afford healthcare to ACTING like a friendly Twin whose lending you a cheerful helping hand. What a Charlatan Ahnold is!
Liar Ahnold Schwarzenegger's hoax on this California global warming bill is disgusting, too.
As legislation go, it could have been a better bill if Ahnold hadn't blocked tighter measures to curb pollution and energy waste and to stimulate energy alternatives.
But Ahnold Schwarzenegger -- with his every sinew rooted in the Bush energy/oil scam -- knew all along he had nothing to lose in the charade. Why?
Because Ahnold has been privy to the Bush Administration "strateegerie" that plans to NEGATE any global warming bill made into California law, just as the Bush Administration has done and continues to do against ANY higher standards created by state legislatures! The only import this measure has is PRE-ELECTION FOOLERY AGAINST ENVIROMENTALLY-CONSCIOUS CALIFORNIA VOTERS.
Bush has worked to negate state food safety laws, state pesticide regulation laws, state regulation of data mining and distribution, and genetic modification free zones! Now just add state global warming legislation to Bush's neutralization list. Ahnold knows this bill will be subject to "Total Recall", but probably not until AFTER Ahnold gets to "act" at being a protector of the environment for election purposes! Arnold knows Bush has no respect for states' rights whatsoever.
Ahnold doesn't care a bit how he dupes and EXPLOITS all the naive young voters who grew up with his movies and are likely to find him a constant in their lives. They don't fear him at all. But they SHOULD fear Ahnold's brand of electioneering. It's untrustworthy and conniving and crooked! DISGUSTING. UNETHICAL. UNACCEPTABLE.
Ahnold -- what a lousy actor. But still an adequate enough charlatan to fool California voters? Let's hope voters see through this pretender. Because Schwarzenegger is a Bush loyalist where it counts, and only fakes opposition only where opposition is meaningless.
Pray candidate Angelides terminates the Terminator in the upcoming election.
======
Hey I ageree with you iraq war veteran. We got to win. I am so sick of George Bush and Dick Cheney. I would never vote for them ever. We need to get tough we need to go on Tv and call them liars and show what they done. Who does there commercials? We should say everything abou them bad we can think of and I don't care if we got to lie or cheat, we got to win. Lets go!!!
Hey GOOPIES:
More On GOP House Leadership Scandal
by DemFromCT
Sat Sep 30, 2006 at 02:43:16 PM PDT
Mark Foley and the FL-16 seat are not the only story (hat tip srkp23).
National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Reynolds (N.Y.) issued a statement Saturday in which he said that he had informed Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) of allegations of improper contacts between then-Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) and at least one former male page, contradicting earlier statements from Hastert.
And as the NY Times, in cataloguing a really bad week for the GOP, notes
The highly publicized case of Mr. Foley, who served in the House leadership as a deputy whip, threatened to build into an institutional scandal as House leaders acknowledged that they had known about the messages for nearly a year, but had relied on Mr. Foley's word that nothing inappropriate had occurred.
It isn't threating to build in to an institutional scandal, it's already a scandal. The GOP House leadership knew about a pedophile for a year, including Hastert (soon to be the ex-Leader, and a dead man walking), and did nothing. This is not defensible, no matter how much spin the networks are willing to do for the GOP (see the GOP reaction to the Woodward book, which while ineffective, is extensive). Every parent in the country is going to react to this, at the least, as will the values voters (if they mean what they say about values - to be determined).
I can't wait to read the Note on Monday to hear about how the GOP will use this to their advantage and win the 24-hour news cycle.
****
Say it ain't so - a sex scandal in the GOOPIE party? Hmm, I thought that supposedly only happens to Dems ... well, there goes your party of family "values". Even better, the GOOPIES were covering up for the pedophile. This story just keeps getting better and better.
How Republicans talk out both sides of their...
Read Foley's Own Words on Child Sex Offenders to O'Reilly
"Our kids are precious. Their lives are vulnerable. The predators are winning as we speak because there is no mechanism on the books.....So we just pray as a result of your constant focus that we will get them to say I've done all I can."
Dailykos
"Our kids are precious. Their lives are vulnerable. The predators are winning
****
We seen the predators, we know who they are, they are the GOOPER party.
remember last week when the washington post was trying to sell the idea that bush was, underneath the tough veneer...devestated by the suffering families whose kids got killed in irag were going thru? that lasted about ten minutes, now he is back to calling anyone who disagrees with him on the war terrorists symps or whatever. this guy changes angles on his argument faster than nixon used to when he was trying to sell you a car.
Hey GOOPIES (you know ... the trolls that are lurking ... Frosty the Snowball, Frosty The Beanbag and other assorted GOOPER drones) how about this one?
Condi messed up real bad. She didn't want to know about Bin Laden. What she busy doing? Getting ready to make a speech about "Star Wars" (you know that Repukje boondangle that supposedly shoots down the "commie" missiles).
So, the Russian expert, Condi, was totally unprepared because she doesn't have a clue about the Middle East. Meanwhile, Bush blew off the real expert - Richard Clarke.
Bush is responsible for 9/11. He let it happen. It occurred on his watch. He should man up.
****
The book reports that then-CIA Director George J. Tenet and his counterterrorism chief, J. Cofer Black, grew so concerned in the summer of 2001 about a possible al-Qaeda attack that they drove straight to the White House to get high-level attention.
Tenet called Rice, then the national security adviser, from his car to ask to see her, in hopes that the surprise appearance would make an impression. But the meeting on July 10, 2001, left Tenet and Black frustrated and feeling brushed off, Woodward reported. Rice, they thought, did not seem to feel the same sense of urgency about the threat and was content to wait for an ongoing policy review.
The report of such a meeting takes on heightened importance after former president Bill Clinton said this week that the Bush team did not do enough to try to kill Osama bin Laden before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) said her husband would have paid more attention to warnings of a possible attack than Bush did. Rice fired back on behalf of the current president, saying the Bush administration "was at least as aggressive" in eight months as President Clinton had been in eight years.
The July 10 meeting of Rice, Tenet and Black went unmentioned in various investigations into the Sept. 11 attacks, and Woodward wrote that Black "felt there were things the commissions wanted to know about and things they didn't want to know about."
Jamie S. Gorelick, a member of the Sept. 11 commission, said she checked with commission staff members who told her investigators were never told about a July 10 meeting. "We didn't know about the meeting itself," she said. "I can assure you it would have been in our report if we had known to ask about it."
We could come up with ideas for comercials and post them here so they could get going with this stuff.
With the White House, Hewlett Packard, and others agencies or government filtering, mining, deleting, and prestexing email and phone calls records. Can we get Benjamin Franklin protections from new Post Office services of emails or phone lines that guarantees privacy, delivery and confidentiality without warrants. It also has certified mail that tells the receipt of a letter, so let Americans have the rights again Let the Free Press, politicians, and other protective agencies have uncensored, unfiltered, and the free flow from its American Citizens. Ask Congress to demand a private email system by the government free from Corporate domestic spying for itself or the White House. Right now I find people who say they email me and I never get Post Office reliability, and concrete accountability.
Foley's "instant message" communications with yet another underage boy, circa 2003, have now been posted by ABC. They are horrendous. I cannot believe that Denny Hastert knew about Foley using the Net to chat-up underage boys a year ago and DID NOTHING (you'll recall that the email conversations we posted earlier were around the time of Hurricane Katrina last year).
Tell me why Denny Hastert shouldn't be forced to immediately resign. They left your kids with this man AFTER they knew what he was doing. They let him stay in the GOP leadership. They let him remain the chair of the child sex offender caucus.
America Blog
ALEXANDRIA, La. --An aide to U.S. Rep. Rodney Alexander was fired for reportedly corresponding with convicted killer Scott Peterson while on the job, the congressman's office said Wednesday.
The Louisiana Republican fired Theresa Mares in mid-August, said spokesman Adam Terry. Mares had worked for Alexander since he first took office in 2003 and was a caseworker in the congressman's Alexandria office in central Louisiana.
Terry said Alexander learned of Mares' letters to Peterson from a National Enquirer reporter. In August, the tabloid reported that Mares sent at least 18 letters to Peterson professing her love for the man convicted of killing his pregnant wife.
What is wrong with the Republican Congress? And their staffers? They are more twisted than we ever dreamed.
Boston Globe
2 things about Arnold California,one he was illegally put in office by the republicans and replaced a guy who just won a 2nd term and never finished it out,don't get me wrong Gray Davis may have been unpopular and didn't impress everyone but it was dead wrong for the repubs to do this stupid recall effort.
And number two Schwarzenegger has NO voting resume on his record as Governor,please don't give this guy a 2nd term and put Phil Angelides in office. I don't wanna see GOP corruption continue in california,nor Diebold.
Do the right thing California and give Angelides the governorship.
The speeches were great as the President's torture bill came up, so with a 48 to 51 vote, why no attempt to fillibuster? Had the Democrats stuck together this bill would never have passed!
Talk is cheap, action takes guts. There appears to be no real opposition to the Repressive (R) Republicans running our country. Time for a third party.
Gen. Odom Points to Impeachment
Raw Story is pointing to an amazing article by David Swanson at afterdowningstreet.org covering testimony by Lt. Gen. William E. Odom, US Army (Ret.) before the Sept. 26 Iraq Forum called by Rep. Lynn Woolsey. (Rep. Woolsey diaried his testimony here, but she only touched the surface of this bombshell). A full transcript of the testimony can be found here (pdf). Odom was Reagan's NSA head, among many other important posts. Hightlights are:
The invasion of Iraq probably saved al Qaeda from ceasing to exist. There is nothing we can do to stop Iran from getting nukes, but we should be talking to them, because our countries actually have many interests in common. The consequences of leaving Iraq will be severe, but the longer we wait, the worse they will get. In response to the question, "How do we get out?", he answered: "Well, the Constitution gives the House the right to impeach."
Dailykos
I cannot believe that Denny Hastert knew about Foley using the Net to chat-up underage boys a year ago and DID NOTHING (you'll recall that the email conversations we posted earlier were around the time of Hurricane Katrina last year).
***
I do! Dennis Hastert is a degenerate as well. He should resign.
Do the right thing California and give Angelides the governorship.
****
I agree! The Governator should go. He had some damn nerve vetoing the universal health care bill without even reading it. Typical braindead GOOPER.
"How do we get out?", he answered: "Well, the Constitution gives the House the right to impeach."
****
Rumors are flying the military is pissed at Bush. I don't need to speculate on where that could lead.
Top Lawyer: FBI Should Investigate Hastert in Sex Scandal
by takeback [Subscribe]
Sat Sep 30, 2006 at 09:24:26 AM PDT
I just got off the phone with an uncle who is the administrative partner of one of DC's biggest law firms. He wants to remain anonymous, but I can say that the firm is nearly 100 years old and has over 500 attorneys. (That limits his identity to a handful of people, all excellent lawyers.)
Like many terrific lawyers, my uncle is the opposite of litigious. He never litigates a case for which he can't find clear evidence to support his side, and he never litigates trivial cases.
That said, my uncle is adamant that there appears to be enough evidence of "civil or criminal negligence and possible cover-up" on the part of Congressmen Boehner and Hastert for the FBI and Justice Department to launch an immediate investigation into their involvement in the Congressman Foley sex scandal.
Nancy Pelosi, Harold Reid and all of us should be demanding such an investigation immediately, to everyone who will listen.
It's my uncle's strong opinion that we don't just have a political scandal on our hands. We may have a major crime involving the top leaders of the Republican party, and we need to handle it as such.
****
Investigate Degenerate Hastert now!
ap215, the reason Gray Davis may have been unpopular, was because he was blamed for an energy crisis that Bush and friends unleased on Califorian and Arnold was in on. Gray Davis won the majority of the vote right before that, so he wasn't THAT unpopular until he got smeared by the Republicans for something he did do. I'd like to see Phil Angelides bring some of this up in his campaign ads. If Phil Angelides is going down, at least he can help Democrats of the future by exposing these Republican crooks for what they are.
ap215, the reason Gray Davis may have been unpopular, was because he was blamed for an energy crisis that Bush and friends unleased on Califorian and Arnold was in on.
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]
Gray Davis was the fall guy. The real criminals were Bush, Cheney and Kenny Boy Lay.
nice teeth kick. this is how to deal with the rethugs:
Mahoney on Saturday criticized Republican leaders for not fully investigating Foley when e-mails to the 16-year-old page were brought to their attention about a year ago. Pages are high school students who attend classes under congressional supervision and work as messengers.
"It looks to me that it was more important to hold onto a seat and to hold onto power than to take care of our children," Mahoney said. "I think that's wrong. I think that's what's wrong with Washington."
Oops, that's "did not do".
On another note, I put a comment over at Dailykos about an hour and a half ago and already got fifteen "recomends".
Dailykos
Congress Approves Kerry Legislation Urging Summit of Iraq and Its Neighbors to End Civil War
by kerrygoddess [Subscribe]
Sat Sep 30, 2006 at 02:56:02 PM PDT
Cross posted from The Democratic Daily:
Early this morning, the U.S. Congress approved Senator John Kerry's legislation calling for a summit of Iraq and its neighbors to arrive at a political solution to the growing civil war in Iraq. The legislation is part of John Kerry's plan to force Iraqis to stand up for Iraq and bring American troops home, it was passed as part of the Defense Authorization bill. Given the news from Iraq today that Baghdad is under curfew over a suspected suicide bombing plot, it's clear the situation in Iraq is continuing to spiral downward. We simply can not continue to 'stay the course.'
Foley Hoisted by his Own Petard?
by CaptStumpy [Subscribe]
Sat Sep 30, 2006 at 02:50:17 PM PDT
It looks like Foley may have committed a crime after all under the very same law that he was a co-sponsor of.
The law Foley looks to have violated is the "Adam Walsh Child Protection Act of 2006" in which one provision increases the penalty for those who use the Internet to discuss or solicit sexual acts with "minors" (defined as an "individual who has not attained the age of 18 years").
CaptStumpy's diary :: ::
So apparently not only was the Republican leadership aware that Foley was engaging in sexually harassing underage Congressional pages and engaging in sexually explicit internet communications with minors but publicly made statements supporting this new law "Protecting our children from Internet predators" (Hastert) while simultaneously and knowingly supporting a sexual predator in their own midst.
hypocrisy is not a strong enough word to describe the disgusting actions of the Republican leadership. We need to know what they knew and when they knew it.
The shame campaign is just beginning.Feely is the tip of the iceberg.This is going get good.The whacko theocrats have no defense against their pedophile leaders making them too ashamed to vote.If this goes well we might actually be able to win on liberal values.Too bad it broke too late to keep so many dems from voting for the torture bill.Did pres. goober sign it yet? I hope he does 'cause it's his funeral when he does.
Boehner objects because he hasn’t seen the resolution. Hmmm. Might it be because your hands are a bit filthy regarding the Foley Sex scandal cover-up?
Video-WMP QT-later
The clerk reads the resolution calling for an ethics investigation into Foley - Republicans boo Nancy when she asks for a recorded vote. With a huge sex scandal brewing–they boo Nancy. I think they should take a long look in the mirror.
****
Boehner is as big a thug as Delay. He is every bit as crooked.
"Are you a Republican?"
If you enjoy shoplifting while working at the White House, you might be a Republican.
If you enjoy soliciting teenagers and children for sex over the internet, you might be a Republican.
If you enjoy sending other people's children to war while your kids go to college and hang out in bars, you might be a Republican.
If you start a war in Iraq while lying to the American people that Saddam was tied to Osama Bin Laden, you might be a Republican.
If you failed to complete your own National Guard service and your Vice President received five deferments to avoid service in Vietnam, but accuse political opponents who challenge your failed foreign policy inIraq of being cowards, you might be a Republican.
If you call dark skinned people Macacas and Niggers, you might be a Republican.
If you ignore intelligence community warnings that Bin Laden is determined to strike inside the United States, you might be a Republican.
If you follow policies that squander a budget surplus and create an $8.5 trillion dollar budget deficit, you might be a Republican.
If you expose the identity of an undercover CIA officer in charge of tracking down Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, you might be a Republican.
If you believe the President should be entitled to jail, without recourse to Habeus Corpus, anyone he decides is a threat, you might be a Republican.
Dailykos
When House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA.) called for an independent investigation into the matter, it was promptly headed off at the pass by a "memory challenged" Boehner, who moved to refer the matter to the House ethics committee. The motion was reported by the WaPo as passed "unanimously".
I hope you noticed the quotations, because when the vote on the motion to move the matter to the ethics committee was originally taken by an "aye" or "nay" oral vote, there was a great number of loud and vocal "NO!"s. Apparently it only passed "unanimously" after Pelosi called for a recorded vote, above the "boos" of some apparently very "unhappy" members of Congress.
So Hasert says, "None of us are happy about it."
I know, I saw the video. Question is, what are they unhappy about?
****
Start beating on the GOOPERS. Letters, letters, more letters. Why does the GOP house leader harbor a pedophile?
IL-14: Let's pull a "Double Foley."
by Battling Maxo [Subscribe]
Sat Sep 30, 2006 at 02:37:07 PM PDT
What's a "Double Foley"?
1) Hold Dennis Hastert accountable for his cover-up of Rep. Mark Foley's perverted sex-predator behavior.
2) Make Hastert share the same fate as Rep. Tom Foley, the Democratic Speaker defeated in his own reelection bid in 1994.
Here's how to do it:
Donate generously to the campaign of Fightin' Dem John Laesch.
Imagine if the netroots gave Laesch a Hackett-esque wad o' cash to pound Hastert for his decision to put protecting his Repub majority over protecting minors from sexual predators.
I hope someone will snap back at the liar-in-chief's "the party of FDR and Truman has become the party of cut and run" slander with something equally vicious, and also true.
"The party of Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower has become the party of torture and bribe." Or "torture and lie." Or "torture and chase after little boys."
Howard, please get your game face on . . .
GOP sources said Reynolds told Hastert earlier in 2006, shortly after the February GOP leadership elections. Hastert's response to Reynolds' warning remains unclear.
Hastert's staff insisted Friday night that he was not told of the Foley allegations and are scrambling to respond to Reynolds' statement.
Following is the text of that statement.
"Rodney Alexander brought to my attention the existence of e-mails between Mark Foley and a former page of Mr. [Rodney Alexander's [R-La.]. Despite the fact that I had not seen the e-mails in question, and Mr. Alexander told me that the parents didn't want the matter pursued, I told the Speaker of the conversation Mr. Alexander had with me.
"Mr. Alexander has also said he took the matter to the Clerk of the House. An investigation was then conducted by the Clerk and [Illinois GOP Rep.] John Shimkus on behalf of the House Page Board.
"Mark Foley betrayed the integrity of this institution as well as the trust of his colleagues and constituents. There is no excuse, and he needs to be held accountable."
****
As I see it, the following GOOPERS should immediately resign:
Foley (already did)
Alexander
Hastert
Reynolds
There needs to be a criminal investigation immediately - not just an ethics investigation.
Anyone who knew but covered it up is a co-conspirator.
Rep. Foley, miserable faggoty slug that he is, probably didn't break any laws if he did not consumate any relationships with underage teens. So far he appears to have confined his homo debauchery to his keyboard.
His name will stay on the ballot and the new guy the Repubs. choose will get all the votes cast for Foley.
Republican Underage Sex Scandal: Boehner Says Hastert Knew
by Hunter
Fri Sep 29, 2006 at 09:28:49 PM PDT
And the wheels are off the bus. Boehner says Hastert knew about the investigation, and told Boehner "we're taking care of it." From the Washington Post:
The resignation rocked the Capitol, and especially Foley's GOP colleagues, as lawmakers were rushing to adjourn for at least six weeks. House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) told The Washington Post last night that he had learned this spring of some "contact" between Foley and a 16-year-old page. Boehner said he told House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), and that Hastert assured him "we're taking care of it."
As I said in comments below, Hastert's toast. If he can survive this with his leadership position intact, it will only be because the GOP is so riddled with corruption that it has literally nobody else to fall back on.
You don't protect a sexual predator using the tools of your office. No, not even if you're a Republican.
Frosty the red-nosed bean bag now has to defend GOOPER pedophiles. I knew you were lurking Frosty. Where's the other trolly drones tonight?
Also, digging up defenses for pedophiles.
Republicans: Party of Pedophilia and Torture
by maxschell [Subscribe]
Sat Sep 30, 2006 at 04:29:08 PM PDT
The Republicans have seen fit to destroy our liberty and desecrate our Constitution.
They have sought to cover up and validate the Executive Branch's power grab, while at the same time covering up and legitimizing torture done in OUR name with OUR tax payer dollars.
Now, it turns out, in addition to covering up for Bush and his torture squad, they are covering up for the pedophiles in their midst.
It is time to link these issues. Republicans Torture. Republicans are Pedophiles. They must be stopped.
Breaking: Hastert's office releases statement on Speaker's office's "internal review" ...
INTERNAL REVIEW OF CONTACTS WITH THE OFFICE OF THE SPEAKER REGARDING THE CONGRESSMAN MARK FOLEY MATTER
Hastert Drives Effort To 'Keep Kids Safe In Cyberspace' Congressman leads community meeting addressing Internet safety
ST. CHARLES - Congressman J. Dennis Hastert brought national experts together with community leaders and parents on Tuesday for a 14th District Community Meeting to share information and insights on protecting children from Online predators.
Held at St. Charles North High School, "Keeping Kids Safe in Cyberspace," included representatives of local police agencies and a panel of national Internet and law enforcement experts highlighting efforts to make the Internet safer for children. A private question-and-answer session followed, where parents addressed specific concerns and situations with police and web providers.
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Tee, Hee, Hee ... Pedophile coconspirator Hastert should resign. He is lying sack of you know what.
Frosty the red-nosed bean bag now has to defend GOOPER pedophiles. I knew you were lurking Frosty. Where's the other trolly drones tonight?
Also, digging up defenses for pedophiles.
Posted by rjsnj on September 30, 2006 at 08:11 PM
I would like you to point out where I defended the old fag.
Trying to seduce a 16 year old doesn't make him a pedophile though. Pedophiles like children who are pre puberty, under 10 or 11 years old.
Foley fits the pattern of a horny old fairie.
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 30, 2006
Wetterling issues statement on failed House leadership
ANOKA, Minn. - Patty Wetterling, child safety advocate and 6th District congressional candidate, has issued a statement on the House leadership's failure to divulge information on Rep. Mark Foley's (R-FL) inappropriate conduct with a child:
"For 17 years I have fought to make our nation safer for children, and it hurts me to know that a child has been violated and terrorized at the hands of a US Congressman.
"I am disgusted that the House leadership knew of this situation for a year and failed to disclose the information. They sheltered a pedophile. This will not stand.
"I will outline the immediate action that must be taken in the coming days. The public can be certain that whether it be your house or the United States House, I will not rest until our children are safe.
"Let us not forget the families during this time. The fear of predators violating the sacred bond within our families is more than anyone should ever have to endure. I pray that their faith will sustain them during this difficult time."
Meet Patty:
Patty Wetterling has been fighting for safer American families since the abduction of her son Jacob sixteen years ago. Since then, Patty has become one of the nation's most respected and effective child advocates.
As a private citizen, she worked across party lines, passing more legislation than many members of Congress. Patty was instrumental in the passage of the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children Sex Offender Registration Act on both the state and federal level. Additionally, Patty helped initiate and pass Community Notification (Megan’s Law) and the launch of the Amber Alert system in Minnesota.
Patty has used her expertise in the issues of child exploitation and abduction to educate and raise awareness among law enforcement officials, parents, and community leaders. Patty has given presentations to FBI Agents at the FBI Academy in Quantico and police officers around the country on preventing and responding to child abduction and abuse cases.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patty is in a tough one here in the MN CD 6 and I am proud that she has responded, the MSM didn't think she would.
"Are you a Republican?"
If you enjoy shoplifting while working at the White House, you might be a Republican.
****
domingo, read that one - it was awesome. The GOOPERS are simply repulsive.
Bush below 40% approval on Rasmussen
by accumbens [Subscribe]
Sat Sep 30, 2006 at 03:28:25 PM PDT
The Rasmussen poll for today has Bush at 39% approval rating. Given that Rasmussen tends to run high relative to other polls suggests this could be the canary in the administrations mine choking. Also, as their poll is a three day rolling average, it should get worse in the next day or two.
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Tee, Hee, Hee ... President Dumbya ratings are falling again. Hardly a surprise given the crappy economy, the mess in Iraq, making torture legal and the facts coming out that he did nothing to stop 9/11. Dumbya stinks as does his GOOPER rubber stamps (that would be all of the GOOPERS by the way!).
Poor ole Frosty, in a position where he has to dissemble on the pedophile and those who covered up for him. Hastert, Alexander and Reynolds should resign as well. They knew what was going on and did nothing about it.
Foleygate: What they could have done and should now do
by bob5540 [Subscribe]
Sat Sep 30, 2006 at 05:23:49 PM PDT
Here's what the House leadership could have done then and should do now.
bob5540's diary :: ::
They should have pursued it in spite of the [alleged] requests by the parents to let it go. No institution having custody and responsibility for minors should have let this go without some better idea of their culpability. Nor would any such institution have done so if they had proper legal advice.
They should have interviewed the page, instead of relying on second-hand descriptions and hallway chats.
They should have interviewed a number of other pages and asked if any had received unwanted attention or or seemingly inappropriate communications. Apparently the IMs turned up because other pages saw the ABC News report about the emails. Had anyone asked these pages, they might have come forward sooner.
They should not have ignored what was apparently common knowledge: Foley was gay. That would put a somewhat different light on the emails.
But most of all, they should have then -- and should now -- put the investigation in the hands of independent professionals, probably the FBI or the police.
****
Yep, an ethics investigation just won't cut it. This is a crime and those who covered it up are guilty as well.
Patty is in a tough one here in the MN CD 6 and I am proud that she has responded, the MSM didn't think she would.
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She knows a pedophile when she sees. Pity that Repug trolls have to defend pedophiles.
Posted by RobertFrosty on September 30, 2006 at 08:19 PM
Trying to seduce a 16 year old doesn't make him a pedophile though. Pedophiles like children who are pre puberty, under 10 or 11 years old.
Foley fits the pattern of a horny old fairie.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hmmmmm......a Repuglican fairy? Oh, no it can't be....say it ain't so George....say it ain't so!
;)
Posted by rjsnj on September 30, 2006 at 08:29 PM
Thanks rjsnj....yes she does, her passion does not stop here though, she really wants to change the path this country has taken under the Bush regime.
Hmmmmm......a Repuglican fairy? Oh, no it can't be....say it ain't so George....say it ain't so!
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Yeah, what would Dobson say? What would Falwell say? What would Robertson? Hellfire and damnation to those Pugs.
Please ... frosty is just dissembling. The Pugs figure they will throw Foley to the wolves to cover up the fact that they covered up!
Hastert, Alexander and Reynolds must go too!
I think we should have comeercials agianst pedophiles. And we could show George Bush uses coke too. People would pay attention that.
You tend to make too much out of these scandals. Remember Fizmas and how disapointed you all were? This problem is over, it was dealt with. The fairie quit and went home. Hastert et al will not suffer from it.
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Poor Frosty forced to dissemble on pedophiles. What a shame!
Posted by rjsnj on September 30, 2006 at 08:33 PM
A cover up is a cover up. This should have been stopped with Foley thrown out as soon as it was known. But the 'pugs' will try to explain it away, pass laws to make it legal then the sleepy american populace will say, 'well it isn't affecting me so why pay attention.'
I am so sick of the hipocracy and the lies, and the hate, and the fear. I am just sick of it all! Even out children are being sacrificed by and for the Repuglicans keeping power. How low can they go?????????????????? To Hell I hope!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ok, I had to get it out, I am so pissed!
morons who don't know what is going on do.
****
Frosty - do you resemble that remark?
If the Page were your son, would you be satisfied?
by Dave from Oregon [Subscribe]
Sat Sep 30, 2006 at 04:55:53 PM PDT
This is the question to lead all LTE's, interviews, etc. Dem: I would ask my collegue from accross the aisle a few questions. First, if this had been your son, would you have been satisfied with the actions of congressman Reynolds? Second, if this had been your son, would you understand how Speaker Hastert failed to remember being notified? Third, if this were your son, would you be satisfied with this going to the republican campaign committee rather than the FBI or the DC Police? addition: "Congressman Hastert|Boehner|Reynolds, had this been your son, would you have remembered to do anything about it?"
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Of course not, all of the Repuke pedophiles and the ones that covered should be prosecuted.
Hastert - the ad.
by otto vb vs [Subscribe]
Sat Sep 30, 2006 at 04:53:45 PM PDT
Republican representative Mark Foley has been forced to resign for sending grossly obscene emails to at least two 16 year old boys working on Capitol Hill.
The main stream media have only published the tip of the iceberg.
Dennis Hastert and the Republican house leadership were officially notified of this at least a year ago.
otto vb vs's diary :: ::
What did they do?
Nothing.
They didn't notify law enforcement.
They didn't remove a paedophile from the chairmanship of a committee to which they had appointed him that dealt with juveniles.
Dennis Hastert who was busy rubber stamping the incompetent decisions of George Bush covered up the activities of a sexual predator for at least a year, not to mention covering up numerous other financial scandals involving Republican congressmen and Jack Abramoff.
Isn't is time Dennis Hastert came clean about covering up the activities of paedophile and corrupt Republican congressmen.
PredatorGate Cover-Up: Reynolds Confirms Hastert Involved, Kildee Confirms No Investigation Happened
by Hunter
Sat Sep 30, 2006 at 05:16:19 PM PDT
Roll Call:
At least four Republican House Members, one senior GOP aide and a former top officer of the House were aware of the allegations about Foley that prompted the initial reporting regarding his e-mail contacts with a 16-year-old House page. They include: Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Reynolds (N.Y.) and Reps. Rodney Alexander (R-La.) and John Shimkus (R-Ill.), as well as a senior aide to Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and former Clerk of the House Jeff Trandahl.
Hastert has been denying he knew about the allegations -- Boehner even got the WaPo to pull the quote he gave them yesterday, which is a story in itself -- but after the latest statement by NRCC Chairman Tom Reynolds also stating that Hastert was informed, Hastert issued a statement neither disputing nor denying Reynolds' statement:
Congressman Tom Reynolds in a statement issued today indicates that many months later, in the spring of 2006, he was approached by Congressman Alexander who mentioned the Foley issue from the previous fall. During a meeting with the Speaker he says he noted the issue which had been raised by Alexander and told the Speaker that an investigation was conducted by the Clerk of the House and Shimkus. While the Speaker does not explicitly recall this conversation, he has no reason to dispute Congressman Reynold's recollection that he reported to him on the problem and its resolution.
That's what's known as a walkback.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/9/30/201619/004
****
Hunter rocks - it just keeps getting worst and worst and worst for the GOOPERS (and their trolls of course).
The Commerce Department reported Friday that consumer spending, after adjusting for inflation, dropped by 0.1 per cent last month, the first decline since a 0.3 per cent fall in September 2005, a month when business activity was disrupted by Hurricane Katrina.
Incomes, reflecting lacklustre gains in employment, rose by just 0.3 per cent in August, the weakest performance in nine months. Core inflation, which excludes energy and food, was up a worrisome 2.5 per cent, compared with a year ago, the biggest year-over-year increase in more than a decade.
The new report underscored how much the economy is slowing this year as consumers have been battered by record-high gasoline prices and a cooling housing market. Falling home prices are making Americans more cautious about spending money because they feel less wealthy.
The overall economy grew at an annual rate of just 2.6 per cent in the April-June quarter, the government reported Thursday, and the new report on consumer spending indicates that growth will likely slow even more in the current quarter.
http://www.570news.com/news/business/article.jsp?content=b092957A
"Iraq remains a failed state," and the Great Iraq War Cover-Up
by georgia10
Sat Sep 30, 2006 at 08:52:00 AM PDT
Explosive revelation after explosive revelation in Bob Woodward's article today (emphasis added throughout):
First, the utter lack of a military plan for victory:
Returning from a visit to Iraq, Robert D. Blackwill, the NSC's top official for Iraq, was deeply disturbed by what he considered the inadequate number of troops on the ground there. He told Rice and Stephen J. Hadley, her deputy, that the NSC needed to do a military review.
"If we have a military strategy, I can't identify it," Hadley said. "I don't know what's worse -- that they have one and won't tell us or that they don't have one."
Second, the characterization of Iraq in secret documents as a "failed state":
On Feb. 10, 2005, two weeks after Rice became secretary of state, Zelikow presented her with a 15-page, single-spaced secret memo. "At this point Iraq remains a failed state shadowed by constant violence and undergoing revolutionary political change," Zelikow wrote.
Third, via Henry Kissinger's relationship with the Bush administration, we are quite literally applying Vietnam strategies in Iraq:
"The president can't be talking about troop reductions as a centerpiece," Kissinger said. "You may want to reduce troops," but troop reduction should not be the objective. "This is not where you put the emphasis."
To emphasize his point, he gave Gerson a copy of a memo he had written to President Richard M. Nixon, dated Sept. 10, 1969.
"Withdrawal of U.S. troops will become like salted peanuts to the American public; the more U.S. troops come home, the more will be demanded," he wrote.
Fourth, President Bush lied, time and time again, when he said that troop reductions would be determined by the commanders on the ground:
[General Abizaid, the Centcom commander] held to the position that the war was now about the Iraqis. They had to win it now. The U.S. military had done all it could. It was critical, he argued, that they lower the American troop presence. It was still the face of an occupation, with American forces patrolling, kicking down doors and looking at the Iraqi women, which infuriated the Iraqi men.
"We've got to get the [expletive] out," he said.
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GOP are revealed to be pedophiles, more Bush lies on Iraq come out and even more evidence that Bush did nothing about 9/11. What a week!
The new report underscored how much the economy is slowing this year as consumers have been battered by record-high gasoline prices and a cooling housing market. Falling home prices are making Americans more cautious about spending money because they feel less wealthy.
The overall economy grew at an annual rate of just 2.6 per cent in the April-June quarter, the government reported Thursday, and the new report on consumer spending indicates that growth will likely slow even more in the current quarter.
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The second Bush recession is imminent. This one will be real hard to climb out of the hole. We never did climb out of the hole from a jobs creation standpoint. People simply dropped out of the job market or fell off the radar doing trivial jobs in an underground economy. Bush has the worst job creation record in history and the worst wage growth in history.
Evening, rjs, & Dems.
Just came to log off. Busy, busy day.
Blog ya all tomorrow.
September 18, 2006
U.S. current account: Costs of foreign borrowing pile up
by Robert E. Scott with research assistance from Katharine Richards
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) announced today that the current account deficit (the broadest measure of the U.S. balance of trade in goods, services, and payments to the rest of the world) widened to $874 billion, at an annual rate, in the second quarter of 2006, an increase of $21 billion (1.5%) from the previous quarter. In a bellwether of things to come, the United States recorded its largest net deficit on foreign assets in history: income payments on the rapidly growing stock of foreign-owned assets in the United States exceeded U.S. income on foreign assets by $10 billion, at an annual rate.
U.S. deficits in all the major components of current account worsened in the second quarter, including a $2.7 billion increase in the deficit on goods and services trade, a $1.6 billion increase in the deficit on income, and a $0.9 billion increase in the deficit on transfer payments (all at quarterly rates). As a share of GDP, the second quarter current account deficit ($218.4 billion) was unchanged (6.6%).
Additionally, this was the third straight quarter that the balance on income on foreign assets has been negative. This deficit reached $2.5 billion in the second quarter, or -0.1% of GDP.1 Before 2005, this balance had not been negative for 45 years.
Rapidly growing payments on foreign holdings of U.S. Treasury securities are the most important cause of the deficit on investment income, as shown in the figure below. Foreign holdings of treasury securities reached $2.0 trillion in the second quarter.2 Payments on this debt reached $36.3 billion (1.1% of GDP at an annual rate), an increase of $9.9 billion in the past year alone. The payments are growing both because the stock of Treasuries held by foreigners is growing rapidly, and because of rising interest rates.
http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/indicators_intlpict_20060918
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Due to reckless GOOPER spending on the war (over 500 billion now), corporate welfare and tax breaks for billionaires, we are in danger of default! In fact, the IMF already offered to bail us out.
The slower job growth regime marches onward
by Jared Bernstein with research assistance from Yulia Fungard
Employment continued to grow at a moderate pace last month, as payrolls expanded by 128,000 overall, and 111,000 in the private sector, according to today's report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Average hours worked per week also fell slightly, while the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged, down a statistically insignificant one-tenth of a point to 4.7%.
Over the past five months, job market activity has slowed in tandem with the rest of economy, as higher interest rates, energy costs, and now the slumping housing market have dampened hiring. The monthly growth in payrolls since April has averaged 119,000, well off the pace of the 206,000 of the prior five months.
Excluding government employment from the analysis provides a clearer look at labor demand generated by the private sector. As shown in the chart below, which compares the last five months to the prior five, monthly job growth has slowed by about half.
As for another sign of weakening demand, average hours worked fell back slightly last month, both for weekly hours and for total hours worked by the private, non-supervisory workforce. The average workweek fell by one-tenth of an hour, as most industries cut back on weekly hours. Professional services, an important bellwether of service-sector strength, cut the workweek by 0.3 tenths of an hour.
Total hours worked, a measure of aggregate demand, fell by 0.2%, the largest decline in a year. Slower job growth and flat weekly hours in recent months is showing up clearly in this series: on a quarterly basis, total hours worked are up at an annual rate of 1.2%, the slowest growth rate in over a year (excluding the months affected by Hurricane Katrina).
The recent indicators of sharp weakening in the residential housing market make it a sector worth extra scrutiny. After falling by 17,000 over the prior three months, jobs in this area (residential building, contractors, real estate, and mortgage brokers) rose by 10,000 last month, including 4,000 added jobs in home building. Still, over the year thus far, these industries have contributed 5% of private sector job growth, compared to 17% in 2005.
Factory payrolls slid by 11,000 last month, following a 23,000 job loss in July. Though the manufacturing sector has had a few positive months lately, the level of manufacturing employment—14.2 million—is 2.7 million below its level at the peak on the last business cycle in March 2001.
The long employment slide in this key sector is also evident in the hourly wage trends of blue-collar workers. Despite the fact that manufacturing productivity has soared since 2000, up 29%, wage growth has slowed sharply. The chart below shows annual nominal wage changes for production workers in manufacturing since 2000. Over the past year, wages for these workers are up 1%, far behind inflation, and the slowest annual growth rate since the 1940s.
http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/webfeatures_econindicators_jobspict_20060901
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Yeah, that's one helluva of an accomplishment Brownie (oh I mean Bushie ... is there any difference?).
"Have you spent time in your local campaign office lately? "
Yes, 2 hours in our Coordinated Campaign HQ in Seattle. Check ut our site, Washington Democrats. I wear my Darcy Burner button everywhere and gave that office a couple of phoning hours one day. Her new ad is super - very tough and she speaks it all, no voice over, which is important for women candidates, in my opinion. I called Maria's office about the torture bill to thank her for voting against it and against all its amendments. I promised to go to the HQ and work next day for Maria, and I did.
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