GEORGE BUSH IS CRIMINALLY INSANE!
HE NEEDS TO BE PHYSICALLY REMOVED FROM OFFICE AND CHENEY TOO! HOW MUCH MORE ARE WE GOING TO TOLERATE PEOPLE!!!???? THIS IS COMPLETE MADNESS!!!

I can hear the chants..."Hay Hay...Ho Ho...This Insane prez has got to go..." It should fill the streets from the Atlantic to the Pacific...

I can hear the chants..."Hay Hay...Ho Ho...This Insane prez has got to go..." It should fill the streets from the Atlantic to the Pacific...

The Decider is on vacation again. He has no intention of doing anything till at least President's Day. So we will all have to wait while Rove builds the suspense and Karen Hughes finds the perfect photo op and straw man catch phrase for the grand announcement.

I don’t think he has any idea of what to do. So he will just keep on doing the same but put more people’s life at risk.

Violence is a way of life in Iraq since Bush invaded and occupied. But I wouldn’t be afraid for his life. He’s never put himself at risk in any way for his country. He’s always far from the conflict in his bubble.

The basketball term is 4 corner stall.Meanwhile people die while he fights daddy`s decision.This is going to be a long 2 years with w vetoing almost everything the Democratic Party does.He will be agreeable in rhetoric,but will be a giant roadblock!

The Washington Post says: "The Bush administration is split over the idea of a surge in troops to Iraq, with White House officials aggressively promoting the concept over the unanimous disagreement of the Joint Chiefs of Staff"
Are the Joint Chiefs part of the administration? Are they leaders of a military responsive to civilian authority even when it switches leaders or parties? Both?

One of the big things that should be on the agenda when the Senate reconvenes in Washington is impeachment. Enough is too much!
One of the other big things is election and campaign reform. We need to bust up the K-street corruptors, and clean up the House and the Senate, and the White House.
Things have gone too far towards turning a former first world nation into a third world oligarchy!!!

GrassRoots: Per the Constitution of the United States, the Commander-in-Chief of the military is the President. He appoints a civilian Secretary of Defense, and civilian Secretaries of the Army, Navy, Air Force, who are over their respective branches of service. Our military is ultimately under civilian leadership, for better or worse. In this case is is for much much worse.

Could it be he's waiting for AIPAC to give him his marching orders? They already told him not to hold discussions with Iran and Syria, and that they didn't like the ISG report.

Any body know when we are sending Sandy Burgler into the National Archives to steel more documents?

We've been down this road before. During Vietnam it was argued that the "Domino Theory" would cause the whole area to collapse into Communism. Instead Vietnam is a relatively good friend to the U.S. and a trading partner that makes NIKE shoes, computer printers, food and other export products shipped into the U.S.

Shiites and Sunnis have had a 1,300 sectarian conflict. The U.S. cannot easily resolve this long held religious dispute. The people of Iraq, the MidEast and their Muslim religious leaders need to resolve these sectarian issues. More U.S. peacekeeping troops cannot not resolve this long simmering internal Muslim religious dispute. The ultimate solution must be their own.

PROGRESSIVE VALUES

Flag burner: *Yawn* zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

to "Flag Burning"

Yes, Sandy Burgner did something weird, but everybody is in the same sinking boat. I am so sure that Bush and Cheney has of equal dead bodies and stories, buried in their backyards too.

We all, each know, what types of skeletons are in our closet.

Karl Rove exposed the secret agent. I heard it was a crime. Why is he not in jail?

The difference in the domino theories in Viet Nam and Iraq is that in Viet Nam we were trying to keep the first domino from tipping over, in Iraq we gave it a big shove.
The only way we are going to get out of this mess with some credibility left is to impeach both Bush and Cheney, and then try them for the crimes that get uncovered.
K-Street is against impeachment because it will uncover a whole nest of cockroaches. Many of the old guard Republi-lite Democrats are against it because they have soiled fingers. We need to keep pushing the Democrat legislators to clean up the mess or it's just going to be more of the same in Washington.
More of the same, that is, until 2008 when we get to vote not just for the President, but the House and 1/3d of the Senate. If nothing happens in 2 years, things could just happen in 2008.

Similarity: Iraq is like Vietnam, in a sense that our enemies are the ones we are eating and breathing right nex to, in the office.

Difference: Like I said before, Bush has shaken a hornet's nest. They are coming out. We can run, but we cant hide. We have destabilized the country, we cant run away and leave the country, to be another Afghanistan.

We need to reduce our troop levels and let them kill each other and make peace with one another, when they are ready to hear from each other, and when they both sides are sick and tired of killing each other. Our goal now, is to stay active, and make sure that no extremists on both sides can prevail. Our goal is to suppress the extremists on both sides.

We cant afford the land to be a breeding ground for extremists. Sure, go ahead, let them kill each other if they dont know how to share power and wealth. We just need to make sure, we can identify the extremists on both sides and REIGN them in, by exterminating them.

Like I said before, we need a pest control army to suppress extremists. Where is the Orking Army?

The Ottoman Empire was a great Muslim Empire. The founders believed in tolerance and crushed all opposing muslim extremists, to maintain an Empire. Today, we just need to do the same. Extremism will not be tolerated.

It's too late to abandaon Iraq. We should reduce our presence there, but support a force to make sure, it's not a breeding ground for extremism.

Iraq is different from Vietnam, in a sense that, this is a religious war. If we allow the extremist to win, to obtain NUKE weapons, convert the moderates over to their teams, a NUKE missile will land in our backyard. Why wouldnt it? Jihad is real and Jihad is different from Communism.

First Step: Escalation
Second Step: Draft

THANK YOU for referring to this as what it is: an ESCALATION. I'm so sick of Bush's attempts to lie without lying through the abuse of language. Nothing about this could be considered a "surge". Once the troops are there, they will remain, and everyone (including Bush) knows it.

Let's keep the guy honest. Or perhaps I should say let's MAKE the guy honest.

Bush is still clueless as usual. Typical.

Going for Broke!

The definition of insanity is to keep repeating the same things yet expecting a different result. In describing Bush's new strategy or "surge of troops" in Iraq, we are getting a turbo-charged failed policy of the past yet only with more troops.

And who is driving our "new" strategy in Iraq? None other than the American Enterprise Institute, home to the neo-cons who brought us failed policy #1 in Iraq.

The "surge" or new plan being developed has been proposed by, in addition to others, retired Gen. Jack Keane and Frederick Kagan, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, to use the extra troops to secure mixed Shiite and Sunni neighborhoods where most of the sectarian violence is taking place.

In response, General Colin Powell has raised the correct questions: What will the mission be and what chance of success does it hold?

What makes Bush & Co. believe that the "bad guys" will evaporate by developing a surge that lasts 3 months, 5 months, or even a year? They will do what all insurgents do: melt into the surroundings and wait out their enemies for the right opportunity to strike.

One only has to recall the toppling of Saddham Hussein and his army to realize what the lessons are in fighting such a war. Where did all these troops go? Yes, into the neighborhoods looking just like everybody else.

Bush never liked time tables before, claiming that insurgents and "dead enders" will simply wait us out. This is definately the case for a well advertised temporary surge of troops who will only stay a specified period of time.

Bush's new strategy is contrary to all reason. He has turned his back on the carefully considered Iraqi Study Groups' recommendations. Yet in so doing he has provided the Democrats with a clear alternative. Rather than a surge, we must demand that the recommendations of this group be accepted. It must be emphasized the necessity of a bipartisan approach in Iraq. A war cannot be won at home when fewer than a third of the American people support such an effort. Meanwhile, Bush, advancing a new plan that has the support of only 12 percent of the American people, is doomed for failure.

Going for broke is not a strategy - it's a prayer. This president must not be allowed to break our military by using what may only be described as the equivalent of a hail mary pass. The difference between football and war, however, is a matter of life and death.

“Mission Accomplished! Cont.”

Parents are still frustrated in their attempt to potty train the hard headed boy!

...but the mischievous little boy is happily declaring, “Mission Accomplished!” as he pee on the radiator and takes a dump in this pants.

The "boy" has issues, unfortunately, he is taking them out on us, and more importantly our new generation of leaders, the kids in their late teens and twenties, whom he is using for cannon fodder.
Where is this "surge" supposed to be coming from, is he going to draft the spoiled rich kids like himself? Hell no!!! The Republicans and Big Business need a new generation of clueless "leaders" to further drive this country into third world dictatorship.
Is he going to push for legislation to allow him to draft veterans who are in their 30's, 40's and older? Sure why not? The Republicans have already shown their disrespect for the veterans who have served their country, with their deliberate underfunding of the Veterans' Administration, and their refusal to recognize the toll of PTSD on the new crop of disabled veterans. That's what's needed, he can get rid of the people who are challenging him because they've been there before. After all they didn't desert, like Bush did.
Or maybe they're going to drop the enlistment age, and try to bring in high school kids. They're already sending recruiters to grade schools.
This "Pax Bushiato" is pretty bloody, and whether anyone wants to admit it or not, many of the current victims are our kids.

DESPERATE WHITE HOUSE PART III

"BAGHDAD (Reuters) - An Iraqi appeals court on Tuesday upheld Saddam Hussein's death sentence for crimes against humanity and said he should hang within 30 days"

Well, whatever the case, the White House only has two years. We need a new administration :)

We can't afford two years, we need to investigate and find out the truths that are being hidden behind stonewalling, spin and outright lies.
There have been enough leaks to let anyone who is paying attention know what's going on.
We need to find out the rest of the story.
We need to initiate impeachment proceedings to find out exactly what's going on and deal with it.
Impeach Bush now!

Investigation into the Bush affairs? It's going to be real ugly when the skeletons come out of the closets.

Well, it'll have to be called Desperate White House, Part IV, "The invisible skeletons, hidden shadows of closets".

Get out as fast as we can. Never should of been there. No US person is worth the whole lot. Any democrat who is for more troops must be voted out of the party.

Hey, in the retrospect of the Ford administration they kept talking about stagflation (business stagnation + inflation). If that was Stagflation, is what we have now Boomcession (Business Boom + recession/depression, depending on what segemnt of the economy you're in)????
Just something to think about.

The White House got caught with their pants down with Democratic rule now. There is no civil war in Iraq. It is all about oil and everyone wants it. Our fighting men and women are coming home in body bags for US control of oil. The two men in the White House are oil men and they are reaping huge profits from big oil contributions for their favoritism.

Yes, 'money is the root of all evil'.

$$$$$, $$$$$, $$$$.$$$$.

Funny, I saw on the History Channel and they made a documentary on the Mayan culture and how they created a sophisticated calendar that could foretell the future.

Supposedly, from 1993 to 2012, Mother Earth will be living its last days. In 2012, the sun will align with a galaxy and earth will do a full rotation on its axis and change course or whatever. On top of that, sounds like something horrible will happen, leading the way, for Apocalypto :)

It was very interesting.

Actually it's the love of money which is the root of all evil.
Money is a tool, and like all tools can be put to either good or bad purposes.
To fall in love with tools is a really sociopathic concept.
I respect tools, I try to get the best tools I can afford so I can do the best job I can with them. But to try to accumulate tools just for the sake of accumulating tools is weird.
I don't need a $20K Snap-on engine analyzer to work on my $7K pickup truck, which right now is getting me through the snow and cold weather better than a lot of newer fancier vehicles are doing for their owners. I don't need a bunch of expensive gadgets to make a meal, my 20something Kitchen-Aid, and cast iron cookware handles it beautifully. I don't need millions to get by on, I'm doing just fine on a lot less than $100K a year.
What do you do with all that extra money? Swim through your vaults like Scrooge McDuck? Stay up nights worrying about loosing it? I've never seen a Wells Fargo truck following a hearse to the graveyard.
He who dies with the most toys missed the point.

"The decider can't decide"! Well neither can the Democratic Party. And nothing will change in this country - the war will not end, the destruction of our environment will not end, the give away to corporate America, torture and spying - NOTHING will change until spineless Democrats stop acting like Republicans and summon up the courage to not only put IMPEACHMENT on the table but to make it happen. And Kucinich is absolutely right: the best way to support the troops is to END THE FUNDING for our immoral and unwinnable occupation of Iraq. When will Democrats learn that it's not about constantly seeking political advantage but about having the courage to do the right thing? Wake up Nancy!

Before anyone asks why I'm complaining about stagnating wages et at, if I'm not worried about money for myself, I'll clarify that.
It's because I see too many of my friends and neighbors busting their butts and loosing ground. Because my daughter who works for Health and Human Services sees too many families who bring out three and sometimes four paychecks from different jobs they are working and still can't afford heat, new tires for the car, medical bills for the kids, food at the end of the month, etc.
Because there are kids here who are sleeping in their overcoats, and who aren't getting the medical attention they need.
Because I know of college graduates who have had their jobs outsourced, and they're stuck with mortgages, and car payments they can't afford because they can't find jobs that they've been trained for and are good at, and we have to put up with crappy products from somewhere else that aren't as good, but don't really cost less.
Because the working poor and former middle class is growing while the percentage of the wealthy have more of the money while that percentage is growing smaller.
Because too many of our kids are going into the military in an attempt to get a decent job and job training, and are being disrespected and murdered by an uncaring administration who considers them only cannon fodder.
Because family farmers, who were once our nation's backbone, keep loosing ground to the big agribusinesses, who are forcing them to buy expensive fertilizer, pesticides and genetically manipulated seeds to produce more and more crops which are then purchased for less and less and are getting dumped on third world economies thanks to "free" trade destroying economies in those countries.
Greed needs to be reined in. A rising tide does not raise all boats, many boats are being deliberately sunk, by those in much bigger, much more seaworthy boats, for what?
Whatever happened to social responsibility, the Sermon on the Mount and all that?
Greed is not what The United States of America is about. It is destroying our country and people's lives.

This miltary action should of never happened in the first place and no amount of troops can create stability in Iraq short of a military dictatorship which is why we invaded in the first place, to free Iraq from Saddam Hussein, right?(Oh, I forgot, we were told it was the W.M.D.'s).
What strikes me as incredible is the fact that, although Saddam certainly was a monster to his people and surely responsible for the death of many of them, King George Bush's ordered military action killed far more innocent Iraqi people.
More importantly, the killing of our brave American soldiers grows with every day that we're still there.
We should just pull out before more Americans die for a country that, in few years(maybe sooner) will be right back where it was but with a new dictator in power. I'm sure there's at least a thousand or so would-be Saddams ready to pick up where he left off.
I believe that King George Bush, and his partners in this military action, are more afraid of losing face(by pulling our troops out) than of losing more American lives. And they're certainly not concerned with Iraqi lives for sure.
Impeachment at this point is the only answer.
This so called president is the farthest thing from a leader and needs to be sent back to his ranch to attend to feeding horses or something(I wouldn't trust him to that job either).
It's time to end this madness.

Live Free Or Die

My dear friends!!! "Deaniacforever" and "BetterDeadThanRed" are totally right about the whole thing. Just look."The decider can't decide"! Very funny. I got a question for you guys.Are any of you so dumb to believe that the democratic party will stop the war? And you know,it's not because someone's not going to let the dem party do it but because the dem party simply doesn't want to finish this mess. The democratic party doesn't really care about our great and victorious soldiers,neither does it care about the will of the people or thei prosperity( well, it does when it needs your votes),it simply has no interest in stoping the war in Iraq. To some point you all better figure it out! The democratic party is going to lead this war thing for their own political purposes untill 2008 and in no way, whatsoever are they planing on stoping this madness. Now we stiil have around two years to decide whether we want this so called "democratic" party or not. The future of our great nation is being decided. It's up to you guys.Good luck.

My dear friends!!! "Deaniacforever" and "BetterDeadThanRed" are totally right about the whole thing. Just look."The decider can't decide"! Very funny. I got a question for you guys.Are any of you so dumb to believe that the democratic party will stop the war? And you know,it's not because someone's not going to let the dem party do it but because the dem party simply doesn't want to finish this mess. The democratic party doesn't really care about our great and victorious soldiers,neither does it care about the will of the people or thei prosperity( well, it does when it needs your votes),it simply has no interest in stoping the war in Iraq. To some point you all better figure it out! The democratic party is going to lead this war thing for their own political purposes untill 2008 and in no way, whatsoever are they planing on stoping this madness. Now we stiil have around two years to decide whether we want this so called "democratic" party or not. The future of our great nation is being decided. It's up to you guys.Good luck.

My dear friends!!! "Deaniacforever" and "BetterDeadThanRed" are totally right about the whole thing. Just look."The decider can't decide"! Very funny. I got a question for you guys.Are any of you so dumb to believe that the democratic party will stop the war? And you know,it's not because someone's not going to let the dem party do it but because the dem party simply doesn't want to finish this mess. The democratic party doesn't really care about our great and victorious soldiers,neither does it care about the will of the people or thei prosperity( well, it does when it needs your votes),it simply has no interest in stoping the war in Iraq. To some point you all better figure it out! The democratic party is going to lead this war thing for their own political purposes untill 2008 and in no way, whatsoever are they planing on stoping this madness. Now we stiil have around two years to decide whether we want this so called "democratic" party or not. The future of our great nation is being decided. It's up to you guys.Good luck.

30 December 2006
THOMAS DIPAOLA
E-mail 1234@votingtech.us
Or (www.votingtech.us)

Using cell phone to get out of Iraq

. Simple with a 911 for Iraqi and set by an Iraqi for a Iraqi emergency serves and a Iraqi police and U.S. army water and food serves U.S. security serve in phone book. They number come with in the phone number cannot be deleting it. We need to give the phone and service a way free in an Iraq.
I HOPE YOU SEE ABVANTAGE this is what the Iraqi are ask for security at there finger tips and emergency services
We must set up the entire cell tower in area first and setup 911 systems with local’s government. First we fine out ho supporter and ho not to this well help with in tell in side a Iraq.
We have to make shore we give them power supply for the cell phone battery may be solar a ray. It should be easy protect some cell phone towers in the desert
Moreover flood market with free cell phone and give free unlimited service to every a Iraqi. The cell phone shall be only good in Iraq. By Iraq government

We are having a hard time playing police officer in Iraq to Iraq’s and keeping the security for all the Iraq’s people. I believe need to look at this first as a war and as a security problem in one. It seam like ever time a newsperson talked to an Iraqi they went and need day-to-day security. I believe need to think out side of the box to get the best out come of a bad situation. By using our strengths at is electronics and instead communication with a direct phone line with first responders or family members for help with cell phone. This will help our troops get in a stand off position.

P.S.
We In the U.S. use communications to help fight terrorism and crime.

30 December 2006
THOMAS DIPAOLA
1234@votingtech.us

Using cell phone to get out of Iraq

. Simple with a 911 for Iraqi and set by an Iraqi for a Iraqi emergency serves and a Iraqi police and U.S. army water and food serves U.S. security serve in phone book. They number come with in the phone number cannot be deleting it. We need to give the phone and service a way free in an Iraq.
I HOPE YOU SEE ABVANTAGE this is what the Iraqi are ask for security at there finger tips and emergency services
We must set up the entire cell tower in area first and setup 911 systems with local’s government. First we fine out ho supporter and ho not to this well help with in tell in side a Iraq.
We have to make shore we give them power supply for the cell phone battery may be solar a ray. It should be easy protect some cell phone towers in the desert
Moreover flood market with free cell phone and give free unlimited service to every a Iraqi. The cell phone shall be only good in Iraq. By Iraq government

We are having a hard time playing police officer in Iraq to Iraq’s and keeping the security for all the Iraq’s people. I believe need to look at this first as a war and as a security problem in one. It seam like ever time a newsperson talked to an Iraqi they went and need day-to-day security. I believe need to think out side of the box to get the best out come of a bad situation. By using our strengths at is electronics and instead communication with a direct phone line with first responders or family members for help with cell phone. This will help our troops get in a stand off position.

P.S.
We In the U.S. use communications to help fight terrorism and crime.

Do any of us think the Democrats will stop the war?
A lot of us think they'd better, because 2008 isn't just a presidential election year, it also is an election year for the House of Representatives, one third of the Senate, and several governors.
So, yeah, the Democrats need to not only think about, but act on, a lot of issues.
Election and campaign reform.
Investigations into corruption in Washington, including impeaching Bush and Cheney.
Tax reform, to take the burden of paying for the rich oil man's war off the working poor and shrinking middle class.
Mending fences among the world community.
Global warming.
Repealing the Patriot Act and giving us back our Constitution.
Re-negotiating the very expensive "free" trade agreements which has destroyed our economy and flooded us with economic refugees from Mexico and Central America.
And a decent presidential candidate, not some re-tread Republi-lite good ol boy.
That would be a good start.

BUTTE! You are so right on! Nothing more to add. If had more people like you it whould help so much.

I have a question or two.

How can a party that insists on having wide open boarders provide real security for America?

I undestand Pelosi plans to kill funding for the fence. She is dead opposed to it. You can do all the "truth telling" you want, as long as you insist on wide open boarders to Mexico you can't provide real national security.

I see this "telling the truth" to the troops as a meaningless red hearing meant to smear republicans for something they didn't do. Meanwhile, the boarder issue is a very serious national security issue that the left insists on leaving wide open.

Al Qaeda wont be coming in for a job, trying to catch them at the work place instead of at the boarder is silly. And a couple of more boarder gaurds wont do it either. What good is work place boarder policing? None, which is why the left is "for" it.

SPEAK TRUTH TO US....ADMIT YOU ARE FOR WIDE OPEN BOARDERS...or close them down to Illegals. I'm all for LEGAL immigration and I'm totally opposed to ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION.

Punish "sancturary cities" with a loss of funding, build the fence on the boarder. THEN AND ONLY THEN look at amnisty. Don't try to slip amnisty through now then turn around and leave the boarders wide open.

BE HONEST WITH US. Speak truth to the voters and stop trying to deceive us on important national security issues. Speak truth to us about the boarder fense and about closing the boarders to illegals.

Has everyone forgotten that Senator Harry Reid said he'd be willing to support the president's desire to send more troops to Iraq?

And, by the way, can anyone explain to me why Rep. Reyes is qualified to be the Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, when he couldn't even identify the difference between Sunni and Shite, since it's only one of the most important issues we are facing today?

Hello!!! Is anyone in Washington awake???? Let's get with the program and show some leadership. When we voted on Nov. 7 to send Democratic majorities to Washington in 2007, we expected a change, not more stay the course.

Dont forget Harry Reid got his Abramoff money, that million dollars from the Lawyer in Vegas who used Reids name to get a zoning board to reverse itself and make them rich, and I've heard Reid has family cashing in working as lobbiests.

How does that party that hands us this as leadership declare it's the party to end corruption? What do you call that?

Happy New Years all.

Did anyone read this journal?

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/1/1/11229/63751

The New York Times reported today that it was American representatives who were most concerned about the appearance of fairness and adherence to Iraqi law, at one point refusing to hand Saddam over to Iraqi custody until the Iraqis could muster the required decree signed by President Jalal Talabani and his two vice presidents. As this was unlikely to happen--Talabani is a death penalty opponent--the Iraqis played what the NYTimes called their trump card: "they telephoned officials of the marjaiya, the supreme religious body in Iraqi Shiism, composed of ayatollahs in the holy city of Najaf. The ayatollahs approved." The end result? A sectarian spectacle. Saddam led to the gallows by thugs in leather jackets and ski masks. Taunting and jeering from his executioners despite pleas from the judge for decorum.

****

This is absolute disaster. Basically, Hussein was lynched by the Shia. This can only increase the violence in Iraq.

GOOD MORNING FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS. WELCOME TO OUR NEW THREAD.

here is a really nice photo from the "astronomy picture of the day" site to start off the new year:

witch's broom

Oh man what an ugly bunch of trolls posting up front on this blog. Looks like the Freepers unloaded on this blog.

Hey Freepers, we all understand that it's hard for the Democrats to end the war. The reason is simply that the Decider is the only person with that the power to deploy "your victorious troops". If you love the troops so much, and I know you don't, you would oppose a troop level increase because it will mean longer and more frequent tours of duty.

How does that party that hands us this as leadership declare it's the party to end corruption? What do you call that?
Posted by Invest on January 1, 2007 at 05:34 AM

You call that a "Good start". You are picking out ONE Democrat who supposedly fell victim to some Abramoff ploys. I would like to see you list and add up ALL of the Republicans who fell to the abuse of Power and lobbyists and have sheets a mile long of money they have taken for favors given. And if you check, you will see that the Dems have no mercy for William Jefferson, and if he is found guilty, then let him hang with the rest! May the Democrats take a lesson from what they have witnessed with this abuse and corruption, and stay on the straight and narrow !

GOOD MORNING FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS. WELCOME TO OUR NEW THREAD.
****

hi gregg, nice picture. It may me feel better to see beauty in the universe after reading the ugly news on Hussein's execution, the death of the 3000 troop, etc...

You call that a "Good start". You are picking out ONE Democrat who supposedly fell victim to some Abramoff ploys.
****

hi pamb,

I think "invest" is a typical Freeper. They accuse Reid of being on the take from Abramoff but have no proof. They equate Jefferson with Ney when Jefferson was a petty thief at best (I still would have preferred seeing him booted from office in 2006. Oh well ...).

Hey Gregg,

I have bought both of my granddaughters a STAR from Star registry. As soon as they get old enough, I want to invest in a good telescope and try and find the stars with the girls.

Very good journal on the latest character attack on John Kerry:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/12/31/144530/05

The lying and utter triviality of the right wing never ceases to amaze me. They actually were spinning a story that Kerry was not received well by the troops. Just the opposite is true.

Hey right wingers, get over Kerry's botched joke. His career at Comedy Central is definitely over but his political career is very much alive.

Time to Reflect as Iraq Toll Hits 3,000
By Allen G. Breed
The Associated Press

Sunday 31 December 2006

Arlington, Virginia - Perhaps no place illustrates the toll of the Iraq war more vividly than Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery. In this "garden of stone," in ruler-straight rows, rest one-tenth of the Iraq war's American dead, whose number has reached 3,000.

Privates lie beside officers. Soldiers beside Marines. Muslim troops beside Christians and those of other faiths.

Many were seasoned veterans, but most - 60 percent - never reached age 25. Like Marine Sgt. Adam L. Cann of Davie, Fla., killed when he tried to prevent a suicide bombing three weeks shy of his 24th birthday.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010107Z.shtml

The lying and utter triviality of the right wing never ceases to amaze me

rj,

if they did not have lies, spin, rhetoric, distortions, WHAT would they possibly have? NOTHING, NADA, ZERO.

Is there a troll who has come in here for instance, who did not completely take out of context a statement of Fact? Has anyone tuned into Limbaugh for 5 minutes and hear his totally Koolaid leaning spew? Read a headline from the Was. Times, or NY Post that was not Class B trash?

Those who call themselves Republican, because they mean they vote with their wallets, are simple minded, easily swayed, gullible moonbats!

pam, that is a great idea. i have found that we can see alot of stuff with binoculars. i don't know how much ambient light you have where you live but here it is not too bad as i am in a pretty rural area. when there is no moon and i use the binoculars to look at the milky way it is amazing how many more stars and stuff you see. what i would like is a telescope with a motor drive on it that moves the scope in synch with the movement of earth so you can stay on one object such as a particular star or this witch's broom thing when you are looking at it...

if they did not have lies, spin, rhetoric, distortions, WHAT would they possibly have? NOTHING, NADA, ZERO.
****

pam, how true and how very sad. It's a sign of times. People are more interested in banality than they are in issues that impact their own lives! I think the right wing have been successful in doling out the "soma" of our times (as in Aldous Huxley's book Brave New World) - it's called the mainstream media along with reality TV, game shows and assorted trash.

gregg,

Our lot itself has a lot of trees, but we also border a farmer's field, which is open and one can have a clear view of the skies. I will have to talk to you about what the best buy is in telescopes when I am ready to buy.

this is the site where you can name one after your grandkids. Not that expensive, either, if you frame your own.

ooops, here it is.

http://www.starregistry.com/

US Official Overseeing Oil Program Faces Inquiry
By Edmund L. Andrews
The New York Times

Saturday 30 December 2006

Washington - The Justice Department is investigating whether the director of a multibillion-dollar oil-trading program at the Interior Department has been paid as a consultant for oil companies hoping for contracts.

The director of the program and three subordinates, all based in Denver, have been transferred to different jobs and have been ordered to cease all contacts with the oil industry until the investigation is completed some time next spring, according to officials involved.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation had not been announced publicly, said investigators were worried that senior government officials had been steering huge oil-trading contracts to favored companies.

Any such favoritism would probably reduce the money that the federal government receives on nearly $4 billion worth of oil and gas, because it would reduce competition among companies that compete to sell the fuel on behalf of the government.

If the allegations prove correct, they would constitute a major new blot on the Interior Department's much-criticized effort to properly collect royalties on vast amounts of oil and gas produced on land or in coastal waters.

The Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, which oversees royalty collections, is now the target of multiple investigations by Congress and the Interior Department's inspector general.

Those investigations are focused on allegations that the agency ordered its own auditors to abandon claims of cheating by large oil companies; that the agency's arcane rules for calculating sales value and royalties make it easier for companies to understate their obligations; and that the agency's basic sources of data are riddled with inaccuracies and are unreliable.

Interior officials have promoted "royalties in kind" as a much simpler and more efficient way for the government to get its proper share, because it eliminates much of the arcane accounting and reduces the opportunities for sleight-of-hand bookkeeping.

About a quarter of all oil and gas produced in the United States comes from federal property, and the Interior Department collected about $10 billion in royalties last year on about $60 billion in oil and gas.

At issue is the "royalty in kind" program, a fast-growing program under which companies pay their royalties in the form oil or gas rather than in the traditional form of cash.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/123106E.shtml

****

This is one that the Dems should jump on. I don't trust the Bush Justice Department to do an honest investigation (unless they thought they could pin something on Democrats!).

End of Another Year ...
Baghdad Burning

That is Iraq right now. The Americans have done a fine job of working to break it apart. This last year has nearly everyone convinced that that was the plan right from the start. There were too many blunders for them to actually have been, simply, blunders. The 'mistakes' were too catastrophic. The people the Bush administration chose to support and promote were openly and publicly terrible- from the conman and embezzler Chalabi, to the terrorist Jaffari, to the militia man Maliki. The decisions, like disbanding the Iraqi army, abolishing the original constitution, and allowing militias to take over Iraqi security were too damaging to be anything but intentional.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/123106G.shtml

Let's Toast to Ten Good Things About 2006
By Medea Benjamin
t r u t h o u t | Guest Contributor

Friday 29 December 2006

As we close this year on the low of a devastating conflict in Iraq and a president contemplating sending yet more troops to fight and die in an unwinnable war, let us not forget that it was a year of many positive gains for the progressive movement.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122906N.shtml

****

I am glad that Medea can find ten things to cheer about in 2006. I would have been hard pressed. On this day of perennial optimism, I will hope that it's easy to find ten things to cheer about in 2007.

shower and breakfast time ! bbl in day.

a little telescope story from my demented childhood on long island.

my friend's dad got scientific american and in it you could order various things. we decided we would buy a kit to make a reflecting telescope. we were like 13. so we got this package and in it were two 8 or so inch in diameter and one inch thick glass discs and alot of different grit sand like substances. first you had to take a fifty gallon drum and fill the bottom third or so with concrete. then you bolted a board to the top and you put the gritiest grit on one glass disc and started slowly grinding the other one on it moving in a circular direction about 15 degrees or so at a time round and round. the idea was that in a VERY labor intensive process you would make a perfect concave lens, send it off to be mirrored and then build this complex housing out of plumbing pieces and attach a motor drive to it and so on...when done you would have a really powerful reflecting scope to study the stars with. we made the concrete drum and ground the glass discs for a few hours. when we realized how long this would take and that we also were well supplied with cherry bombs that summer we took a meeting and decided to instead try to launch the glass plates into the universe with the cherry bombs....

decided to instead try to launch the glass plates into the universe with the cherry bombs....
****

Hubbel 0.1? You were on to the right approach, just needed bigger glass plates and lots more cherry bombs.

Ike Was Right
By Robert Scheer
TruthDig.com

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122706F.shtml

****

Good article by Robert Sheer. In fact, I think that the defense industry and oil industry are intertwined. The large multinational corporations have interests in both sectors as the oil industry needs the military to defend it's interests overseas.

Former Bush Interior Secretary Takes Job as Attorney for Shell
By Todd Wilkinson
New West

Wednesday 27 December 2006

Gale Norton is back providing oversight of energy development issues on public lands in the American West, this time as a key legal advisor for a major global oil company.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122806T.shtml

****

Oh how special! The corrupt Gale Norton pops up at Shell Oil. What a shock. Not!

the interior department has been home in the republican years to an amazing and disgusting parade of vampires...from reagun right up to bush the lesser.

here is a nice photo from space weather to make the bad dreams of gale norton go away:

cottonwood

here is a nice photo from space weather to make the bad dreams of gale norton
****

Nice picture gregg - thx!

Gale Norton, yet another villian in the Bush crime family.

Bush Silences a Dangerous Witness
By Robert Parry
Consortium News

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/123106D.shtml

Robert Parry's perspective on the execution of Hussein.

my extremism gives me such a thrill but it just don't pay my bills...i need money, thats what i want!

Chief Justice Advocates Higher Pay for Judiciary

By LINDA GREENHOUSE
Published: January 1, 2007
WASHINGTON, Dec. 31 — Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. made judicial pay the sole topic of his second annual report, issued on Sunday, declaring that the failure by Congress to raise federal judges’ salaries in recent years has become a “constitutional crisis” that puts the future of the federal courts in jeopardy.

i say cut the pay, let the current crop of scalia's go pimp themselves somewhere else and give their jobs to some grizzled public advocacy attorneys

he failure by Congress to raise federal judges’ salaries in recent years has become a “constitutional crisis”
****

Oh good night! Mr. Roberts, how about the failure to uphold the bill of rights! How about refusing to address the constitutionality of Bush's signing statements? I could go on and on. But, it's the money that they want.

The motto of these righties is:

Friends, Countrymen Give Me Money Or Give Me a Tax Break (even better give me both).

Good afternoon

So this is the new make shift thread. Can always count my fellow regs to find a way to post. Thanks.

By statute, federal district judges receive the same salaries as members of Congress, now $165,200 a year. Judges on the federal appeals courts receive $175,100; associate justices of the Supreme Court, $203,000; and the chief justice $212,100. The linkage of district judges’ and Congressional salaries means that judges pay the price when members of Congress discern that it would be politically unpopular to raise their own pay.

****

This is the best part of Justice Roberts rant on pay. He actually has the nerve to complain that judges are falling behind on pay? How many people are paid > 150,000 per year? It's got to be the upper 10%.

So this is the new make shift thread. Can always count my fellow regs to find a way to post. Thanks.

****

Hi J,

That 670+ posts thread was becoming just a bit too much to handle.

Bush promises to make 2007 more deadlier than 2006 for American's and Iraqi's!
by jmsjoin
Mon Jan 01, 2007 at 08:26:29 AM PST
I went to bed last night thinking of my 2 sons who are in this so called war on terror. The one that is Stateside right now called me last night to wish me a Happy New Year. I haven't heard from my son in Afghanistan for a while so I hope for the best with him.
last night I kept trying to understand why Saddam was hung so quickly and on a Muslim Holy Day? Since Muslims around the world perceived the hanging as Bush driven you have to realize that this will serve to make 2007 a lot worse than 2006 and Not just in Iraq but around the world
Then I woke this morning to hear the 3,000th American had been killed in Iraq. Bush supposedly to make our soldiers feel good said the deaths and sacrifices of our troops will not be in vain.
Myself that makes me really nervous knowing to Bush that means he will continue to stay his course of new middle east and world order and I have to wonder what this idiot is going to do next?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/1/1/111543/7165

the Pentagon is requesting $100 billion for the war effort. Somewhat of a blank check there.

Congress needs to definitely do some serious discussion with that price tag.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/123006C.shtml

Congress needs to definitely do some serious discussion with that price tag.
****

Absolutely. The number keeps changing too. I heard anything from 97 to 127 billion. This is a ridiculous amount of money - especially when you consider it's "off budget" (supplemental) money.

The Democrats should tell the Pentagon that there will be no more supplementals after this one. For now on, they have to live within their yearly budget. It's called fiscal responsibility. No one is exempt.

CAIRO, Egypt

A top Saudi Arabian Sunni cleric on Friday declared Shiites around the world to be infidels who should be considered worse than Jews or Christians, the latest sign of increasing sectarianism in the Middle East.

Abdul Rahman al-Barak, one of the top several Wahhabi clerics in Saudi Arabia and considered close to the Kingdom's royal family, also urged Sunnis worldwide to oppose reconciliation with Shiites. The Wahhabi stream of Sunni Islam that is followed in Saudi Arabia is conservative and views Shiites as heretics.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/1/1/822/85246

Oh good night, this sounds like the tension between Shia and Sunni is about to get even worst.

It's called fiscal responsibility.

Posted by rjsnj on January 1, 2007 at 12:53 PM

I agree wholeheartedly. Other government such as local and state have to live within what is budgeted. So what exempts the Pentagon.

It's called fiscal responsibility.

Posted by rjsnj on January 1, 2007 at 12:53 PM

I agree wholeheartedly. Other government such as local and state have to live within what is budgeted. So what exempts the Pentagon?

Other government such as local and state have to live within what is budgeted.
****

J, that's for sure. We are going through absolute agony in New Jersey trying to live within a budget. These Republicans are irresponsible. Deficits do matter and they are spending way too much money on defense.

So Chief Justice Roberts seems to think that the pay of the federal judiciary is a crisis item.

Hmmm........ well that's why employment with a governmental body is called "public service". One has established a livelihood there to give of themselves along with their abilites and skills for the betterment of their fellow citizens and to serve them.

If Roberts wants to make a gajillion dollars then he needs to vacate his judicial seat and head for the private sector.

Screams at 3,000 dead
by stephen soldz
Mon Jan 01, 2007 at 10:06:41 AM PST

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/1/1/13641/35753

A New Year, and No Peace on Earth in Sight
by Jeff Huber
Mon Jan 01, 2007 at 09:51:58 AM PST
Don't bother hoping for "peace on earth" in the coming year. Wishes based on unachievable objectives don't come true. As one former president lies in state in America's capital and another is unceremoniously buried in his home town of Tikrit, a third president, still alive and in office, mulls over his next step in the war in Iraq.

Reports of the 3,000th U.S. service member killed in action is unlikely to influence young Mr. Bush's decision, but it should. After nearly four years of a war initiated on fuzzy pretexts and mismanaged on an epic scale, Bush and his supporters--who appear now to consist of his dog Barney and the few hard-liners left in Congress--can no longer credibly scapegoat Donald Rumsfeld or his yes-men generals or the legislature or even the media for Bush's abject failure as Commander in Chief of U.S. military forces, or for his disastrous foreign policy.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/1/1/125031/3735

What has the big business sector done for us? Outsourced jobs, so that a lot of kids would sign up for the military for some nebulous "opportunity? Destroyed the American Dream, and turned it into sawdust in regular people's mouths?
Are we supposed to turn our kids into some kind of "enforcers" ala the Sopranos for big business?. Is that why the education system is stressing teaching to a multi-guess test rather than real job skills? Or de-emphasizing civics, government, ethics and history in schools?
BTW the average age of the soldiers in Viet Nam was 18. Of course that was with the draft. But the way the Bushies are going it could happen again.
The bottom line is that we are loosing a lot of our best and brightest, who would have been future leaders.
If the current "leaders" of the Democrat party don't start standing up for the American people, maybe they need to be in the unemployment line.
2008 isn't just a presidential election year. There could be a lot of former senators. representatives, and governors in the unemployment line in 2008.
Oh, excuse me, they would be working for K-street trying to corrupt the new legislators and turning them into sell-outs.

Greetings New Year and Y'all,

The world needs more than symbols this 2007 year.

Peace on Earth
The surprising, serendipitous history of the peace symbol
*****
After the war, like many people, Holtom was horrified by the atom bomb, and he joined the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. An artist by trade, Holtom created a symbol for the CND to use for an upcoming protest. Basically, the design is intended to mimic the semaphore signals for the letters “N” and “D” (“N”uclear “D”isarmament), but when Holtom thought about it, the simple little symbol had deeper meanings, too--meanings that stretched across the span of years, connecting with other voices for peace.

As he wrote to Peace News, Holtom said: “I was in despair. Deep despair. I drew myself: the representative of an individual in despair, with hands palm outstretched outwards and downwards in the manner of Goya’s peasant before the firing squad. I formalised the drawing into a line and put a circle round it.”

Holtom finished the symbol on February 21, 1958, and immediately donated it to the public domain.
www.newsreview.com/sacramento/Content?oid=oid%3A252255

Hadn't seen this website before, looks quite encouraging for 2007:

About NewsTrust
In recent years, the consolidation of mainstream media, combined with the rise of opinion news and the explosion of new media outlets, have created a serious problem for democracy: many people feel they can no longer trust the news media to deliver the information they need as citizens.

To address this critical issue, NewsTrust is developing an online news rating service to help people identify quality journalism - or "news you can trust." Our members rate the news online, based on journalistic quality, not just popularity. Our beta website and news feed feature the best and the worst news of the day, picked from hundreds of alternative and mainstream news sources.

beta.newstrust.net/about/

rjsnj...and J good afternoon......the Wahhabi fundalmentalists of Islam are one of the most radical of the divisions of Islam...they have been at odds with the Shia for 1200 years or so. This situation of conflict between them is not new and our toops should never have been put in this position. It's too bad Bush did not have any understanding or respect for Islam before he got us stuck in this situation....

J...do you live in Fla now or did you grow up there?

If the current "leaders" of the Democrat party don't start standing up for the American people, maybe they need to be in the unemployment line.
****

Here we go again - it's Democratic Party NOT Democrat party. How about the leaders of the Republican Party ... in particular The Decider?

There are over 100 pregressive Democrats who have been consistently standing up for American workers. Can I count even 5 Republicans who do the same? Doubtful but please let me know if there are any pro-worker Republicans out there.

head for the private sector.

Posted by J on January 1, 2007 at 01:35 PM

J, so right. I still think it would set a good example and save taxpayers money if elected and appointed officials would live on a poverty income and use medicare/caid. We need some Gandhi types in office to shame the greedy hucksters.

There is so much corruption in government that impeccable examples of leadership are needed to restore public trust.

"news you can trust." ... certainly not Faux News who purposely put a "D" after Mark Foley's name three times (even after being told that Foley most certainly is not a Democrat).

It's too bad Bush did not have any understanding or respect for Islam before he got us stuck in this situation....

****

hi goodfoe, Bush has no respect for anyone except those with money and the ability to get him elected. The man is without a doubt the worst President in history. He is dismal at all aspects of the job - foreign policy, domestic policy, disaster relief. You name it, he failed at it.

Muslim haj pilgrims perform devil-stoning ritual

By Souhail Karam

MENA, Saudi Arabia, Dec 31 (Reuters) - More than 2.5 million Muslim haj pilgrims performed devil-stoning rites on Sunday, amid tight security to prevent overcrowding and protests following the execution of Saddam Hussein.

The 5-day haj, marred by deadly stampedes in recent years, was overshadowed by the hanging on Saturday of the former Iraqi leader, a hero to some Sunni Arabs because of his anti-U.S. stance, but hated by many Shi'ites.

"The number one Satan is America," said Iraqi pilgrim Suleiman Awadallah, who described himself as "a resistance fighter", after performing the stoning ritual.

"The prayers of all Muslims when they cast their stones at the devil must be directed at (U.S. President George) Bush and his devilish allies in America and the Arab world."
www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L31872565.htm

Small wonder we don't want to share our nukes. Good thing we have such level-headed grownups in control of our Armageddon trigger.

We need some Gandhi types in office to shame the greedy hucksters.

****

tom, wouldn't that be a nice change of pace. I am outraged at Roberts statement that his pay check is a constitional crisis when there are real crisis that the Supremes have yet to address.

By all means if Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, Alito or any other judge for that matter feels they can't serve the public while making 175,000 per year with the best possible benefits, please do resign now!

TomN at 2:13...If that was a requirement, most of the "public servants" in Washington would leave...

Happy 2007, ALL!!

rj, the Deciderator didn't even know that there were different factions in Islam.

Galbraith reports that the three of them spent some time explaining to Bush that there are two different sects in Islam--to which the President allegedly responded, “I thought the Iraqis were Muslims!”

We are being "led" by a MORON!!

Small wonder we don't want to share our nukes. Good thing we have such level-headed grownups in control of our Armageddon trigger.
****

I think Bush had Hussein executed on Haj as the typical "in your face" Bush tactic. The man is a classic schoolyard bully. The reason he wants to increase troop levels may be as much a reaction to the 2006 election as anything else. It's an "in your face" response to the public that rejected him.

You name it, he failed at it.

Posted by rjsnj on January 1, 2007 at 02:22 PM

Hi rjs, is the possibility too remote or stupid to discuss of Jr being picked to fail at this job also. Why else would he get such major support from war and energy industries?

And then after failure what, oil and war train toward the end of resources and many species?

“I thought the Iraqis were Muslims!”
****

Hi dpd, the man is a moronic schoolyard bully. He needs some adults to get him back in line. His daddy tried with the ISG but even that didn't help.

Why else would he get such major support from war and energy industries?
****

hmmm maybe ... from the defense industry's perspective failing at war is actually good because it prolongs the war. I think he got support because he can be easily manipulated.

Galbraith reports that the three of them spent some time explaining to Bush that there are two different sects in Islam--to which the President allegedly responded, “I thought the Iraqis were Muslims!”
****

dpd, that's a very good article by Peter Galbraith. The moronic bullies in the Bush admin. ignored the history of Iraq. Removing the tyrant that held it together, created a situation very much like that in Yugoslavia when Tito died.

Joe Biden may turn out to be right after all. Iraq may very be better off as three semi- independent states with a loose confederation.

The Right Gives Away Its Guidebook - Will We Listen?
by davidsirota
Mon Jan 01, 2007 at 11:43:26 AM PST

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/1/1/14402/98399

David Sirota reviews books he read over the holiday. Personally, I look forward to next book from David Sirota.

I got THIS from a link @ FDL.

Good afternoon

Just looking at George and Laura paying respects to former President Gerald Ford. Oh now the damn media is stating that Bush looks so "touched".

Touched? Yeah, in the head! And I also noticed that Laura had to take HIS arm so as to be escorted. The man wouldn't even hold his wife's hand. I mean at least act like I'm a bag of chips and all that in public!

Bill will hold Hillary's hand in a heartbeat. They know each other and their relationship and everybody goes home happy in the evening.

J...do you live in Fla now or did you grow up there?

Posted by goodfoe on January 1, 2007 at 02:08 PM

goodfoe, I reside in Florida now (last 30 years). Lived up and down the Eastern United States, grew up in military life (USN). (NY,PA,MD,VA,SC,FL)

Touched? Yeah, in the head!
****
He's the Decider. He hears the voices ... He talks to Barney the Dog about Iraq.

He decided Rummy will stay but only until he decided that Rummy must go.

We are not winning in Iraq but we aren't losing either.

Yep, a total mad man.

Happy New Year Patrick! and all non-partybuilder bloggers here!

Peace and Possibilities in 07!

My dear friends!!! Are you all kidding me? "The decider can't decide". Very funny. I got a question for you guys. Are any of you so dumb to believe that the democratic party will stop the war? And you know, it's not because someone's no going to let the dem party do it but because the dem party simply doesn't want to finish this mess. The democratic party doesn't really care about our great and victorious soldiers, neither does it care about about the will of the people or their prosperity(well, it does when it comes to elections), it simply has no interest in stoping the war in Iraq. As long as the dem party can "play" on that point they are not going to do anything about Iraq. The democratic party is going to lead this war thing for their own political purposes untill 2008, and in no way, whatsoever are they planning on stoping this madness. So we still have around two years to decide whether or not we want this so called "democratic party". The future of our nation is being decided. It's up to you guys. Good luck.

My dear friends!!! Are you all kidding me? "The decider can't decide". Very funny. I got a question for you guys. Are any of you so dumb to believe that the democratic party will stop the war? And you know, it's not because someone's no going to let the dem party do it but because the dem party simply doesn't want to finish this mess. The democratic party doesn't really care about our great and victorious soldiers, neither does it care about about the will of the people or their prosperity(well, it does when it comes to elections), it simply has no interest in stoping the war in Iraq. As long as the dem party can "play" on that point they are not going to do anything about Iraq. The democratic party is going to lead this war thing for their own political purposes untill 2008, and in no way, whatsoever are they planning on stoping this madness. So we still have around two years to decide whether or not we want this so called "democratic party". The future of our nation is being decided. It's up to you guys. Good luck.

blech! That kind of "give-up" negative BS is why I moved to the other place!

Anyway,
Stay well/happy/hopeful!!

This DEM VET is a PROUD LOUD member of the "squeaky wheel" that won't stop passing the truth around until it's known by ALL! Even the lost and disgruntled!

Ohhh, such a pity. The poor, poor Republican politicians are not going to be able to enjoy those Lobbyist paid January trips anymore!!

GOP Ethics Scandals Making Congressional "January Junket To Warmer Climates" Impossible

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/01/01/gop-ethics-scandals-makin_n_37558.html

My dear friends!!! Are you all kidding me? "The decider can't decide". Very funny.
****

Hey superdawg, you posted this garbage already yesterday. Clearly, you are a Freeper and are trolling this blog. No one on this blog is compelled to respond to you. If you hate the Democratic party, simply move on and post on your Freeper blog.

blech! That kind of "give-up" negative BS is why I moved to the other place!
****

dawnie, superdawg is a Freeper interloper. He/she definitely does not represent the typical view on this blog. We all know that The Decider is the one calling the shots in Iraq.

We also know that the Republicans intend to oppose everything that Democrats want to do the next two years. I read the report that Republicans want to take Pelosi's head off at every opportunity. Their pundits and moonbats have already started the hate the Democrats campaign even before we taken control of the House/Senate.

I think it will become apparent to the Democrats quickly that there is no spirit of bipartisianship with the Republicans. It's the same old confrontational Rovian politics as usual.

It will become apparent that we might as well stick to our guns and work on the platform we campaigned on in 2006 even though the obstructionist Republicans will do everything they can to block progress.

Ohhh, such a pity. The poor, poor Republican politicians are not going to be able to enjoy those Lobbyist paid January trips anymore!!
****

pam, boo hoo hoo for the poor Puggies. They'll just have to invest in some mittens.

THIS IS KINDA SCARY

A flying saucerlike object hovered low over O'Hare International Airport for several minutes before bolting through thick clouds with such intense energy that it left an eerie hole in overcast skies, said some United Airlines employees who observed the phenomenon.

(snip)

"To fly 7 million light years to O'Hare and then have to turn around and go home because your gate was occupied is simply unacceptable," said O'Hare controller and union official Craig Burzych.

Hi, {{DAWN}}, Happy New Year!!

"To fly 7 million light years to O'Hare and then have to turn around and go home because your gate was occupied is simply unacceptable," said O'Hare controller and union official Craig Burzych.
****

There is only one explanation. They tuned into a speech by The Decider and concluded that there is no intelligent life on this planet.

HAHAHAHA!!!!

Richard Clarke's Security Threats for 2007
by Avenging Angel
Mon Jan 01, 2007 at 12:48:33 PM PST
[EXCERPTED FROM "Richard Clarke's Security Challenges for 2007."]

In the Washington Post this New Year's Day, former counter-terrorism czar Richard Clarke has a compelling op-ed piece ("While You Were At War...") on the dangerous and rising opportunity costs of the Bush administration's Iraq fixation.

In a nutshell, Clarke argues that while President Bush and the U.S. national security apparatus have been focused like a laser beam on "grave and deteriorating" war in Iraq, other mounting security challenges have fallen off the radar. While the emphasis may differ, Clarke's warning is strikingly similar to my own expressed in June of 2004.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/1/1/153914/9061

There was a similar article in truthout.org about Clarke.

Pelosi Statement on the Deaths of 3,000 American Soldiers
by Janet G
Mon Jan 01, 2007 at 12:42:32 PM PST
Washington D.C. Speaker-designate Statement on the 3,000 deaths

Janet G's diary :: ::
The deaths of 3,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq is a sad reminder of the consequences of the Administration failed policy. With December being the deadlest month of the year for our troops in Iraq, it has never been more clear that the situation there continues to erode.

As we begin the new year, we urgently need an effective strategy that will bring peace to the region and allow the responsible redeployment of U.S. forces.

****

An increase in troop levels is decidedly irresponsible. Ignoring all of the recommendations of the ISG is equally irresponsible. This is all on the Republicans heads. Too many Republicans still blindly back The Decider. As long as they block genuine progress on peace, the public will hold them responsible. My message to the Puggies in Congress is to work with the Democrats on a serious re-deployment plan or be prepared to lose wven more seats in 2008.

TO RJSNJ,

I hate the democratic party? Hahahaha,hehehehe. Forgive me for having a laugh at your expense.

I am sorry, but judjing by your comments, grammar, spelling, illogical and nonsensical gibberish, you are not qualified to make this assertion! In fact, if you are more than 18 years old, it disturbs me greatly that you are legally allowed to vote for public office! Hopefully the rest of the nation isn't going to be so dimwitted and ignorant to vote in people like Hillary Clinton or Joe Liberman...
Which will be your only other choice by the way.

Oh, by the way, I'm truly sorry and I sincerely apologize for using the terms "dimwit" and "ignorant". I especialy apologize and feel terrible for my comments if you are under 18 years of age. If that's the case you should have told me that in the first place and perhaps I whould've been kinder. Have a great day..

I hate the democratic party? Hahahaha,hehehehe. Forgive me for having a laugh at your expense.
****

superdawg, you are a troll and are attempting to pick a fight with me. I couldn't care less about your assorted raving about the Democratic party.

Joe Liberman...

****

Hey superdawg, you couldn't spell Joe Lieberman's name correctly. But after all what do you expect from a troll ...

By the way, who cares about Joe Lieberman! He isn't a Democrat anymore. To show how ignorant you are, I worked to get Ned Lamont elected in the Democratic party primary. Pity that he didn't win in the general election because of Lieberman's lies. You should learn something about the people on this blog before you go posting vitrolic attacks on them.

But who cares, you are just trolling which is why you posted identical blog entries two days in a row.

And have a nice day as well!

rj

Just another wingnut with a little cutesy name that depicts (he thinks) his superiority!

ignore! you don't want to lose your ice cream do you? :)

3,000 Dead: So Who's Counting?
By Cindy Sheehan
t r u t h o u t | Guest Contributor

Monday 01 January 2007

Gerald Ford, an incompetent, never-elected past president, is being memorialized today by one of his good buddies and close confidantes, Dastardly Dick. The execution of Saddam Hussein is being celebrated by a bloodthirsty media and another never-elected, execution-happy, incompetent president. Dozens, if not hundreds, more innocent Iraqis were killed today, and more than likely, the 3,000th soldier crossed the threshold from life into the next world.

We have seen this movie and heard this song before. As Yogi Berra once said: "It's déja vu all over again!" In September 2004, our nation crossed the blood-soaked 1,000-troop line during a heated campaign between someone who actually went to war who was branded a coward, and someone who went AWOL from the military at the same time and was glorified as a tough leader.

In October 2005, our inept leaders' policies killed the 2,000th soldier. While I and two dozen others were getting arrested during a "die-in" in front of the White House, MoveOn.org was organizing the second candlelight vigil in little over a year at another 1,000-troop mark.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010107A.shtml

Happy New Year message from Howard Dean and a new open thread

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

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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

SUPERDAWG is one of my favorite restaurants! It still has car hops, too!

ignore! you don't want to lose your ice cream do you? :)
****

pam, you're right of course. It's the same wingnut brigade that was in here last night. After awhile, their tactics become tiresome.

Ignore mode on.

Happy New Year message from Howard Dean and a new open thread
****

Okay!

Reid is hardly "one democrat". Reid is the head of the democratic party Senate. Reid is the man that told us about this "Republican culture of corruption" that he would end.

1) Fact: Reid took over one million from his lawyer buddy who used Reids name to get a zoning board to reverse itself and make him and reid rich. This is fact.

2)Reid took more Abramoff $$ than any other dem in the senate and more than many republicans and then REFUSED to return it.

3) Reid has immediate family members that are lobbiests.

Get it? That's, I believe, how DEMOCRATS DEFINE CORRUPTION...and that's who you have chose for a LEADER in the senate.

Very sad. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Harry Reid....with all the money falling out of his pockets and his families pockets preaching to us about how he will end the corruption that is filling up his pockets.

And then the DNC tells us they will make us safer by "speaking the truth to the troops". Well, would someone please tell the troops about Harry Reid and all this money he's taking...please speak the truth now!

Please don't crucify me for talking about Reid and his open corruption. I'm only "speaking truth to power". I'm hopeful that now that they know Harry Reid is corrupt, dems will be outraged and demand he step aside as leader of the Senate.

Aren't dems opposed to corruption? Then they should force Reid to stand down!

GERALD FORD TOUTED AS A "GOOD REPUBLICAN".

As a result of the REPUBLICAN "Culture of Corruption", the only "GOOD Republican", Gerald Ford, is a "DEAD Republican".

With regard to Gerald Ford, it is not good politics for the REPUBLICAN PARTY to bury their only "GOOD Republican".

Will Gerald Ford eventually get planted??? This is the question. How long will the REPUBLICANS hang on to Gerald Ford before he IS planted????

It has now been a full week since Gerald Ford died, and a dead Gerald Ford is a safe REPUBLICAN to REFRAME the REPUBLICAN PARTY around because he IS dead, and a DEAD Republican is a SAFE Republican; for this reason, however, one must wonder whether or not the REPUBLICAN PARTY will allow Gerald Ford to EVER be buried and be allowed to rest in peace.

Hey, if someone's interested, you can visithttp://larouchepac.com. Nice resourse for any thinking democrat.

DEMOCRACY

I have thought long and hard about the Constitution of the United States and after much careful thought, I have concluded that the U.S. Constitution is, was and continues to be a cruel scam by the American aristocracy to grant unsecured and unenforceable rights to the general population that appear to be democracy, and to grant secured and enforceable rights to the American aristocracy or commercial interests and the interests of capital; unsecured and unenforceable rights of democracy, and secured and enforceable rights for commercial interests and the interests of capital–-the interests of the American aristocracy; this cruel scam has continued from 1776 to 2006, a period of 230 years, and it is time for a change.

It is time for a Constitutional Amendment to secure enforceable rights to democracy for “WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES” that are equivalent to the rights of commercial interests and the interests of capital that are already secured by the Constitution of the United States for the American aristocracy.

It is time for democracy that is secured and enforced by the Constitution of the United States for “WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES”; we have had 230 years of false democracy where only commercial interests and the interests of capital are secured and enforced by the U. S. Constitution and 230 years is more than enough. Enough is Enough–it is time for a change to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness with freedom and justice for all that is secured and enforced by the Constitution of the United States in the same manner as commercial interests and the interests of capital for the American aristocracy.

superdawg:

I identify strongly with the Anti-Federalists and The Anti-Federalists Papers. The U. S. Constitution is representative of commercial interests and the interests of capital as represented by the Federalists. The Anti-Federalists were representative of the interests of democracy and the Anti-Federalists' interests of democracy did not find their way into the U. S. Constitution. It is time to revive the debate in the United States between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists that was going on at the time of the U. S. Constitutional Convention with regard to a balance of power between the interests of democracy and capital and commercial interests, so that the U. S. Constitution can be amended to represent both the interests of democracy as well as commercial interests and the interests of capital.

For further information please refer to:

The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates, The Clashes and the Compromises That Gave Birth to Our Form of Government, Edited and with an Introduction by Ralph Ketcham, Published by New American Library, a Division of Penguin Putnam, Inc., 375 Hudson St., New York, New York 10014, USA

Also visit the following website in reference to the Anti-Federalists:
http://www.mises.org/story/2335

Thomas G. Miller

The new Congress needs to fulfill its checks and balances role immediately--oversight, hearings, the purse strings! Stop rubber stamping this President's failed policies in Iraq! Bush--with his surge in troops announcement is not concerned about the deaths of innocent American troops; he's only concerned with his so-called legacy. He's already failed us all. Let's not continue to allow him to continue his war games and/or play toy soldier with American lives. If the new Congress supports this new surge of troops, it will me they haven't "wised up." Listen to the American public, please. What was the recent election all about?

See through this, and do the right thing!

Roland Madore
Fort Collins, CO 80525

REMEMBER!!!!

Dwight D. Eisenhower:

A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction...

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every statehouse, every office of the federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals so that security and liberty may prosper together.

THINK ABOUT IT!!!!!
THINK ABOUT THE MIC (military-industrial complex)
AND THEN YOU WILL KNOW, WHY BUSH IS ON WAR!

Got a point there, Brain. Especially since our VP is part of the Military Industrial Complex.
I've seen the good 'ol boy political system support these contractors as they eroded our maintenance and supply systems in the phony name of saving money by not having soldiers take care of soldiers. If we had the equivalent of the Battle of the Bulge today we'd have no mechanics, supply personnel, cooks and bakers picking up their weapons and coming to the aid of the infantry.
Instead, we have soldiers being taken away from their jobs to protect contractors, who are doing a crappy job of caring for equipment and delivering supplies at exhorbitant costs, thanks to the no-bid contracting that the Bushies do on a regular basis.
Part of the impeachment proceedings needs to be investigating those contracts, and finding out how much of the overwhelming national debt went into those contractors pockets.

DO WE WANT DEMOCRACY? - by Walter Williams.

What's so good about democracy -- generally understood as having trust in the general will of a democratic people, as expressed by a vote of the majority, to make all important decisions? If a majority of our 535 congressmen votes for one measure or another, is that all right with you?

You say: "What's the story, Williams? Is there a better method of making important decisions?" I say yes, but let's first decide whether we'd really like democracy rule as a criterion for making important decisions.

Suppose you're making the important decision to marry. Would you like the decision about whom you marry to be made through a democratic procedure where what the majority of Americans think determines whom you marry? How about using the democratic process to decide what we have for Thanksgiving dinner? Majority rule determines whether everyone has turkey, or ham, or duck, or capon. Once the vote is taken and, say, turkey wins, everyone is obliged to serve turkey.

You say, "C'mon Williams, when people say they're for democracy, they don't mean private decisions!" You're probably right. Indeed, if democratic procedures were applied to those private areas of our lives, we'd see it as nothing less than tyranny. That's one important problem with democracy: It creates an aura of moral legitimacy for acts that would otherwise be considered tyranny.

That's precisely why our Founders thought a Bill of Rights was a crucial protection. Thomas Jefferson said, "The majority, oppressing an individual, is guilty of a crime, abuses its strength, and by acting on the law of the strongest breaks up the foundations of society." So we should ask what life decisions should and should not be made through the political process.

Should a democratic process determine how much I put aside out of my weekly earnings for food? What about housing? What about for my daughter's education? You say, "Williams, that's your business and none other." Then I ask why it isn't also my business how much of my weekly earnings is set aside for retirement. In our country, how much is set aside for retirement is, as Jefferson might put it, criminally determined by Congress through Social Security laws.

Democracy was viewed with disgust by most of the nation's founders. Alexander Hamilton said: "We are now forming a Republican form of government. Real liberty is not found in the extremes of democracy, but in moderate governments. If we incline too much to democracy, we shall soon shoot into a monarchy, or some other form of dictatorship."

In Federalist Paper 10, arguing for a constitutional republic, James Madison said, "... democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths."

John Adams said: "Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide."

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall said, "Between a balanced republic and a democracy, the difference is like that between order and chaos."

The observation about democracy that I like best was that of H.L. Mencken: "Democracy is a form of worship. It is the worship of jackals by jackasses."

When the Founders thought of democracy, they saw democracy in the political sphere -- a sphere strictly limited by the Constitution's well-defined and enumerated powers given the federal government. Substituting democratic decision-making for what should be private decision-making is nothing less than tyranny dressed up.

De-mystifying Democracy
by Carter Laren

The United States should not be fighting for a democratic Afghanistan or Iraq. In fact, it should not be fighting for democracy at all--not in Afghanistan, not in China, and not even in America. Democracy and dictatorship are not rivals; they are brothers.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban dictatorship made whimsical declarations about what was legal and what was not, all without regard for the individual rights of Afghanis. Women were forbidden from driving, attending school, and even showing their faces in public. Men were prohibited from shaving facial hair, and both sexes were forbidden to participate in most sports, watch television, or listen to music. These were obvious violations of a person's individual rights, and now that the Taliban has been removed from power, Afghanistan's liberators are offering democracy as the cure.

"We are committed to the democratic process in Afghanistan," appointed Afghan leader Hamid Karzai said recently.

Apparently, the word "democracy" has become sacred among those who don't understand what it means, which, it seems, is just about everyone. Even before the September 11th attack, President Bush called for a "Century of Democracy" when he proclaimed "Captive Nations Week." Uttering the word "democracy" today grants one a free ticket to the moral high ground, and neatly bypasses the need to defend one's actions or ideas.

What makes a dictatorship immoral is its failure to recognize and protect the rights of individuals, and on this issue a democracy is no different. While "dictatorship" means rule by a single individual, "democracy" simply means rule by the majority; it does absolutely nothing to guarantee the individual rights of citizens. In a democracy, 60 percent of the population can vote to enslave the other 40 percent. But a person whose rights are violated by vote is no better off than one whose rights are violated by a tyrant; both are slaves.

Unfortunately, many Americans do not understand that morality is not a subjective function of numbers; something is not right simply because a bunch of people want it to be. It makes no difference whether 60 people enslave 40, or 1 billion people enslave a single individual; the principle is the same, and history is replete with examples of enslaved minorities.

When most Americans advocate "democracy," they typically cite the United States as a prime example. What makes the United States different (and better) than a dictatorship, however, is not that it is a democracy (it is actually a representative, constitutional, republic).

The success of the United States is due to the fact that its founders recognized the importance and fragility of individual rights. They knew that individual rights--represented most fundamentally by the right to life--would be in jeopardy if they were not somehow protected from the predatory voting habits of a voracious majority. To that end, the founders of the United States attempted to ensure these rights by forming a *constitutional* republic, which limits the power of the federal government and, as a result, "the majority." The United States is decidedly *not* a democracy. To the extent that they have not been ignored by the judicial system, these constitutional limitations are the reason that American citizens enjoy a greater amount of freedom than do citizens of China or Afghanistan.

Democracy and dictatorship are just two flavors of the same poison. The proper solution to the problems of war-torn Afghanistan (and war-torn America) is not simply "democracy." Replacing one dictator with 1 million ultimately does nothing to help an enslaved population. What is needed is the recognition of individual rights.

What is needed is the foundation of a constitutionally limited government that prevents anyone--even a majority--from violating those rights. What is needed is the freedom to live without fear of oppression by monarchs or mobs. What is needed, economically, is capitalism supported by a constitutional republic.

ARE WE A REPUBLIC OR A DEMOCRACY?
by Walter Williams

We often hear the claim that our nation is a democracy. That wasn't the vision of the founders. They saw democracy as another form of tyranny. If we've become a democracy, I guarantee you that the founders would be deeply disappointed by our betrayal of their vision. The founders intended, and laid out the ground rules, for our nation to be a republic.

The word democracy appears nowhere in the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution -- two most fundamental documents of our nation. Instead of a democracy, the Constitution's Article IV, Section 4, guarantees "to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government."

Moreover, let's ask ourselves: Does our pledge of allegiance to the flag say to "the democracy for which it stands," or does it say to "the republic for which it stands"? Or do we sing "The Battle Hymn of the Democracy" or "The Battle Hymn of the Republic"?

So what's the difference between republican and democratic forms of government? John Adams captured the essence of the difference when he said, "You have rights antecedent to all earthly governments; rights that cannot be repealed or restrained by human laws; rights derived from the Great Legislator of the Universe." Nothing in our Constitution suggests that government is a grantor of rights. Instead, government is a protector of rights.

In recognition that it's Congress that poses the greatest threat to our liberties, the framers used negative phrases against Congress throughout the Constitution such as: shall not abridge, infringe, deny, disparage, and shall not be violated, nor be denied. In a republican form of government, there is rule of law. All citizens, including government officials, are accountable to the same laws. Government power is limited and decentralized through a system of checks and balances. Government intervenes in civil society to protect its citizens against force and fraud but does not intervene in the cases of peaceable, voluntary exchange.

Contrast the framers' vision of a republic with that of a democracy. In a democracy, the majority rules either directly or through its elected representatives. As in a monarchy, the law is whatever the government determines it to be. Laws do not represent reason. They represent power. The restraint is upon the individual instead of government. Unlike that envisioned under a republican form of government, rights are seen as privileges and permissions that are granted by government and can be rescinded by government.

How about a few quotations demonstrating the disdain our founders held for democracy? James Madison, Federalist Paper No. 10: In a pure democracy, "there is nothing to check the inducement to sacrifice the weaker party or the obnoxious individual." At the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Edmund Randolph said, " ... that in tracing these evils to their origin every man had found it in the turbulence and follies of democracy."

John Adams said, "Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There was never a democracy yet that did not commit suicide." Chief Justice John Marshall observed, "Between a balanced republic and a democracy, the difference is like that between order and chaos." In a word or two, the founders knew that a democracy would lead to the same kind of tyranny the colonies suffered under King George III.

The framers gave us a Constitution that is replete with undemocratic mechanisms. One that has come in for recent criticism and calls for its elimination is the Electoral College. In their wisdom, the framers gave us the Electoral College so that in presidential elections large, heavily populated states couldn't democratically run roughshod over small, sparsely populated states.

Here's my question. Do Americans share the republican values laid out by our founders, and is it simply a matter of our being unschooled about the differences between a republic and a democracy? Or is it a matter of preference and we now want the kind of tyranny feared by the founders where Congress can do anything it can muster a majority vote to do? I fear it's the latter.