Bravo Governor Dean! Just having that twisted sister at the convention is an insult to the American people. Using homophobic slurs to attack John Edwards, a truly decent person, is way over the top. Now that Rudy and Mitt have kowtowed to the far right I am interested in hearing their reaction to their co-presenters remarks. Show me your friends and I will show you yourself.

Republicans are rotten through & through. How they can be so corrupt & immoral and still stay out of jail. Surely the American people want honest and moral people to represent them?

Nice. Not a single major news outlet has picked this up. They were the first ones to crucify Michael Richards, but they won't touch the conservatives when they gay bash.

Markos says Harry Reid picked Lieberman to do the Democratic address tomorrow. He finds it outrageous, and I agree. Lieberman split from the party, and we don't need for Harry Reid to take his side like this. He is being pampered.

Well, Dean certainly said as little as possible to make it CLEAR that being gay is just fine, that LGBT people are a valuable componont of society, and that the Dems in fact stand behind their LGBT brothers and sisters in a the just fight for full civil equality. nice going Howard. What a jerk.

Thank you, Dr. Dean. I hope to see more of this from the party.

Call me skeptical, but I can't find this press release anywhere but on this blog. Methinks Howard is too wimpy to send it out intot the wide world, for fear he'll be thought to like gay people. It's not on the press release page, it's not being reported by any major news outlets. I'm waiting for a REAL defense of LGBT people, Howard!

By saying these things the Repigs just advance our cause more! They show the rest of the world there true colors also.

Gov. Dean is right. The hate hags, Ann Coulter et al, vile comments like calling Democratic leaders "faggots" or calling for a Supreme Court Justice to be poisoned should not be rewarded by any media -- especially the national or MSM media -- with any recognition. The way to return political discourse back to issues is to deny those that engage in personal attacks and promote hate politics to justify their positions.

Hey IndependentMinded on March 2, 2007 at 09:47 PM,

When any of us on an anonymous blg have the megaphone that Coulter has, and use it at a major Dem or progressive function, then you can compare and contrast. Context is everything.

Bravo! I hope before it's over with she's banned from the GOP!

-Hardliner

Thor, your skepticism is unfounded.
Dean's statements can be read right in the belly of the beast:
Fox News

Hey, any time Coulter disses somebody, it's like a badge of honor. You know they are doing something right.
It's the people she LIKES you have to look out for. They'll cut your throat and say you did it.

orangutan you are a silly, silly.

glue ann coulter to rudy and mitt, that will help sink them. i want brownback or newt to be the repub candidate so the dems can win 48 states...i give the evil ones mississisppi and alabama...

That woman needs to have her tongue cut out. Maybe next time Bin Lauden strikes "at the heart and soul of America", he'll send his goon squad after her for some "extraordinary rendition" with the Taliban. They know how to treat these types of women....like they treat all women.

I think the most damage done will be to Romney because he called her a "moderate". If that's a "moderate" and he's supposed to be even further to the right, then that means he accepts this ideology and he's a bigot as well. I think we should go after Romney and make him tell us if he shares Ann Coulters opinions about Obama and Edwards as well. I know he's a Mormon and their book teaches Racism, but he claims he's not like that and the Religion has changed. After this, it appears that Mormons are still the same as they were when they first made up this religion of White Supremacist Pseudo Christianity.

;p

Reminder:

This is what Romney said.

“I am happy to hear that after you hear from me, you will hear from Ann Coulter. That is a good thing. Oh yeah!”

Still narry a peep from the Edwards campaign regarding Coulter. Oh yeah, except this pathetic [beg for cash https://johnedwards.com/action/contribute/coulter]. Nice job, John. A real leader would have stepped up immediately and stated how he stands by his gay & lesbian neighbors. But no, just a friggin cash call.

This sort of behavior is to be expected of people like Ann Coulter and shows the true colors of the Republican Party.

Ann Coulter is after all the same woman who stated she wouldn't mind going back to the time before the Emancipation Proclamation, and this is someone the Republicans PAID to speak at their function. Beautiful!! I hope the right wingers continue on this path to self destruction, no one reasonable can support that kind of logic.

In regards to comments posted by "IndependentMinded"

There are several key differences between comments made by bloggers and a person paid to speak at a key political function, don't try to fool yourself. Furthermore, "F*ggot is a derogatory term and should not be used in a public environment any more than other curse words. It sounds unintelligent and bigoted.

That actor from Grey's Anatomy came under all kinds of fire for using that "f" word - but here are the Republican Presidential hopefuls, and other Republican snobarchy laughing at her wanton use of such a nasty word.

What is unfortunate is that Ann Coulter is not a fringe element of the right wing, she has the view of a "moderate" as stated by Mitt Romney, who was more than thrilled to be in the same room as Coulter.

If Coulter has a problem with Edwards policy, she should attack his policy, not fabricate inflammatory statements about his sexuality, it really shows the immaturity of the Republican Party.

This outrage should be on the tongues of every non-bigoted American. Everyone who reads this comment should be commenting ot the news outlets about this. Enough complaints, and this evil woman won't be able to find a jobb on an AM station in middle america. This is not Free Speech, it is Hate Speech.

Ann Coulter has committed so many of these unethical and hate filled remarks that they have become her trademark. The listeners expect her to make an even more outrageous remark than her previous ones and in fact she knows that her audience, what is left of it, is awaiting her reactions. What is so serious in our country is that columnists of her ilk are unable to comport themselves with any kind of decorum on serious matters and believe that acting the part of a street slut makes them more acceptable to the public. It does but only to that section of the audience which is on the same moral level as she is.

Ann Coulter is a fine representative of conservative thinking. That is why they will continue to lose in 2008!

What's behind the conditions at Walter Reed? Privatization.
by smintheus
Fri Mar 02, 2007 at 08:58:05 PM PST

It's a story that shirah has been chronicling for years at Unbossed: the outrages against decency and common sense that have been committed by Bush & Co. in the name of privatization. Today comes word that the appalling conditions at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center are due in large part to the implementation of one such privatization scheme.

The damage to the Center's mission, and the harm this would visit on the badly wounded vets treated there, was predicted in advance; resisted by Democrats in Congress; and catalogued as it unfolded. But to no avail. The Army barged ahead with the privatization anyway, the mission be damned. Hell, the vets be damned!

This is the imperative to privatize. Since 2002, it has been steadily sapping the ability of the federal government to do its job. It's just another side to the elevation of ideology over responsibility, which has become the hallmark of the Bush administration.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/3/2/235256/3348

Things Get Even More Interesting in Fired U.S. Attorneys Case
by MissLaura
Fri Mar 02, 2007 at 10:56:32 PM PST

Let's review: The Justice Department - very unusually - fires seven U.S. attorneys. First they say it was because of poor performance. Indeed, Alberto Gonzales personally assures the Senate Judiciary Committee of that:

"I would never, ever make a change in a United States attorney for political reasons or if it would in any way jeopardize an ongoing serious investigation. I just would not do it."

Then actual performance evaluations surface, and it turns out they're very positive. So it's not too surprising when reports emerge that it was political. Now we get confirmation that not only was it political, the White House approved the decision.

The White House approved the firings of seven U.S. attorneys late last year after senior Justice Department officials identified the prosecutors they believed were not doing enough to carry out President Bush's policies on immigration, firearms and other issues, White House and Justice Department officials said yesterday.

Such an admission from this administration is unusual, and the admission that closes the Washington Post article is even more so:

Privately, White House officials acknowledged that the administration mishandled the firings by not explaining more clearly to lawmakers that a large group was being terminated at once -- which is unusual -- and that the reason was the policy performance review.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/3/3/11424/77159

well it's early saturday and i still haven't heard much about colt face on the msm. i hope they didn't "miss" the story.

I have signed up to hear from most of the Presidential candidates, but this pimping is as bad as what Annie does.

I say we fight. Help us raise $100,000 in "Coulter Cash" this week to show every would-be Republican mouthpiece that their bigoted attacks will not intimidate this campaign. I just threw in 100 bucks. Will you join me?

No, I won't join, David. But I understand you are trying to raise money to keep your job.

from yahoo news:

Opinion
At CPAC, Ann Coulter Calls John Edwards A "Faggot"

Fri Mar 2, 5:39 PM ET

The Nation -- Just returned from CPAC, where I caught Ann Coulter call
John Edwards a "faggot" (Crooks and Liars has video). The crowd roared their approval, of course. Then Coulter endorsed Mitt Romney. Another gem from Coultergeist: Discussing black Republicans, she declared, "Our blacks are better than their blacks."
ADVERTISEMENT
Real people. Real success stories. Yahoo! Personals. See Stephanie and Mike's story.

I mixed it up with Coulter during Q & A. If you didn't catch that on C-Span, video will be up in the coming days on the Nation website.

I also met concentration camp enthusiast Michelle Malkin at her book signing and asked her to autograph this photo. From the looks of what she wrote on her blog and the hysterical rant she launched into the lens of our video camera, Malkin was non-plussed about the encounter:

Interlude: Two punks from The Nation with a camera stopped by my book signing to ambush me about In Defense of Internment. Have they bothered to read the book? No. I look forward to their butchering of my comments and the predictable unhinged reaction.

Sorry, Michelle. We're going to go to the videotape soon and we'll see who is unhinged.

Angered by Democrats' drive for 'consensus' on Iraq, some Congressional progressives will push for withdrawal on floor
Submitted by davidswanson on Sat, 2007-03-03 04:10. Congress

By Michael Roston, www.RawStory.com

Consensus-seeking negotiations on a measure that would limit President Bush's troop escalation in Iraq have angered Congressional progressives. RAW STORY has learned that they are readying a response that will call for a more rapid withdrawal of US troops from America's four year-long war.

A Democratic aide close to the Congressional Progressive Caucus told RAW STORY that some Democrats will push for withdrawal when the next bill on Iraq War funding comes to the House floor.

"There is a plan for a whip operation, to get votes for an amendment that will say that any money spent will go toward a fully funded withdrawal," the aide explained. "We can't support the idea of having a $150 billion Supplemental [Defense Appropriations bill] that gives $100 billion for the escalation."

The Congressional Progressive Caucus is co-chaired by Reps. Lynn Woolsey and Barbara Lee, both California Democrats. It currently claims 71 Members of Congress in its ranks and has set its own policy on Iraq.

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/19174

****

Get behind the progressive Democrats and demand an end to this war.

from the l.a. times:

"...The day's most controversial speaker proved to be conservative pundit Ann Coulter, who at the end of her speech — which followed Romney's — used a slur to refer to Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards.

Coulter said she had intended to comment on the former senator from North Carolina, "but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word 'faggot,' so I … can't really talk about Edwards."

The Democratic National Committee chairman, Howard Dean, quickly issued a statement calling on the GOP presidential candidates at the conference to "denounce her hateful remarks."

A Giuliani spokeswoman said she had not heard the speech, and a Romney spokesman did not return calls late Friday."

well it's early saturday and i still haven't heard much about colt face on the msm. i hope they didn't "miss" the story.
****

gregg, they'll ignore it. Now, if it was Michael Moore saying that about one of the republican presidential candidates, the MSM would have gone ballistic. The media is still very much our enemy. Just look at all the right wingers that are making their way on cspan. WTF? Everytime I turn on cspan there is a new bunch of right wing nuts on. What gives? From the way the MSM acts, you would think conservatives won in 2006.

The terms of the supplemental bill on the Iraq War seemed to represent a victory for the Blue Dog Coalition, a caucus in Congress that emphasizes budgetary discipline and has sometimes been identified as "conservative Democrats." They proposed a measure early last month that also emphasized the idea of benchmarks that the Iraqi government must meet to continue to receive American support.
****

Oh great the damn Blue Dogs. So, the DLC wing of this party still rules ... Progressives won the election in 2006 not the damn DLC Dems.

Stick it in your ear Hoyer. I won't contribute a dime to the party as long you continue to ignore the voters in 2006. The iraq concensus you want to pass is total garbage. might as pass nothing than that.

A Giuliani spokeswoman said she had not heard the speech, and a Romney spokesman did not return calls late Friday.
****

Yeah right!

Congress Issues First Subpoena to a Hostile Witness
Submitted by davidswanson on Sat, 2007-03-03 00:59. Congress

Let the subpoenas and justice flow!
Congressman Conyers issued the first subpoenas, but to friendly witnesses. Now Congressman Waxman has issued the first subpoena to a hostile witness who does not wish to testify. It's a start! Here's where the next few dozen subpoenas should go:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/investigations

Waxman to Force Walter Reed Ex-Chief to Talk About Problems, Contract
By Justin Rood and Anna Schecter, ABC News

A powerful Democratic congressman is challenging the Pentagon, which is attempting to block the former chief of Walter Reed Army Medical Center from testifying before Congress next week.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Henry Waxman, D-Calif., wants to ask Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman about a contract to manage the medical center awarded to a company that had documented troubles fulfilling a government contract to deliver ice to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The Pentagon has refused to allow Weightman to testify. Waxman's staff has confirmed the congressman has issued his first subpoena as a committee chairman this session to legally compel Weightman's testimony.

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/19172

***

It's about time. The Dems better get this straight. Voters in 2006 were angry at the country's direction. If they simply maintain the status quo, as they appear to be doing on iraq, voters will be equally disgusted with them in 2008. Then, we may get a very low turnout election in 2008. That favors the republicans.

New Mexico Impeachment Update
Submitted by davidswanson on Sat, 2007-03-03 00:43. Impeachment

3-2-07: "If we can get all the Democrats to show up, I think it has a reasonable chance of passing," says New Mexico State Senate staffer of Senate Joint Resolution 5, "petitioning Congress to commence the investigation of and impeachment proceedings against President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard B. Cheney" (Impeachment Channel #28)

****

Impeach Da Chimp
Impeach Cheney
End the Iraq occupation

Tom Hayden: Ending the Iraq War
Submitted by davidswanson on Fri, 2007-03-02 18:09. Video and Audio

VIDEO.

http://www.veoh.com/videos/v273051XbqnAHKC

Harry Reid's tacit support for the Fox News-sponsored debate in Nevada seemed hard to beat.

But apparently this is his "f^^k Democrats" week, because the Senate had dibs on choosing the deliverer of the "Weekly Democratic Radio Address", and guess who got it?

Non-Democrat Joe Lieberman.

****

You got be freaking kidding me.

Let me make it plain. Reid is a bad majority leader. Replace him with Dick Durbin.

So far, Lieberman is using his clout mostly in ways that discomfit his fellow Democrats, while his relationship with Republicans has involved more collaboration than coercion. When Senate majority leader Harry Reid said Bush's State of the Union proposal for a bipartisan terrorism panel was redundant, Lieberman, who supported the idea, privately sent Reid a letter saying he was "upset." Within days, Reid backed down and negotiated the panel's makeup with the White House. And last month, after Lieberman told Reid he had stopped attending the weekly Democratic lunch because he didn't feel comfortable discussing Iraq there, Reid offered to hold those discussions at another time. Lieberman has started attending again.
****

Look, the hell with Lieberman. By the way, last week Levin called Lieberman a Democrat. Mr. Reid, Mr. Levin ... Lieberman is not a Democrat.

Okay, here's my challenge to Harry Reid and Howard Dean. You can Lieberman the microphone.

I want Bernie Sanders to get the microphone next week. He's way more of a Democrat than Lieberman will ever be. How about it?

a done writ a poem!

rudy and mitt

and ann the zit

bathing together

in a tub of shit

Governor Dean, excuse me, Free Speech is more important than your ego that says the Republican Party must denounce Coulter's remarks.

Who are you to demand another American be silenced? Her remarks are hateful, bigoted, and biased, but you are not a Judge of American values.

Let US evaluate as Free human beings. You are like Hillary, demanding someone be silenced "At Will".

Let Americans not demand silence but debate the insanity of her statements. Sir, you are not America's Parent. I have respected you, but on this I cannot concur! Let her speak, she will create her own demise! Her hate will devour her, soon her friends will distance themselves from this tyrade. Finally, she will fade away lonely.

I could care less about Ann Coulter. What I care about is how stupid and weak the Democrats are on defunding Iraq, killing the Bush tax cuts, stopping trade deals that are giving away our middle class and our national security because we can't build shit for ourselves anymore. Then add in Reid, who gives Fox News the Nevada debate and Lieberman, the biggest whiny ass traitor up there, the Democratic radio address. Now add in DLC Hillary and Rupert Murdock in bed together raising money for her campaign. Gov. Dean, I am done with the Democratic Party. You said to take them back so we can take our country back - well it ain't going to happen. When Hillary gets crowned and they come take you away, I am cancelling my Democracy bond, too. "Same shit, different day" says it all about the state of the political process and governing in the United States. This is all one big farce, and I am done playing their game.

IN DEFENSE OF ANN COULTER, a CPAC Yippie....
She's possibly their best spokesperson...really keeps the party regulars in line with a proper Conservative view.
Why, look who's rising: Senator Schmiss & Angelina Giuliani ! Who could not vote for one of them. Can you imagine a CPAC Dream Ticket ?!?!!!
Holy Memes, Dean-man!! And they're BOTH former reformers before they were...what? (Not reformers!!?)
(Mitt, Mitt, Mitt, Mitt...) I'm so confused now....What can I say?
Dr. Dean, Governor! ...you really got it wrong this time, brother.
I mean, if you want to talk about civility and decency in discourse and character, you have to look very far and wide for someone who can oudo the hypocrisy, politicization of scientific truth and fact, reversal of regular accounting methods...and the lying, stealing, and killing for which CPAC proudly stands. I mean they're even disavowing Bu$h/Cheney&Co! Maybe Inhofe For President!

rjsnj: "What's behind the conditions at Walter Reed?"
For one, it's a part of a larger picture of the poisonous change in command climate that started in 2001 when Rumsfeld became Secretary of Defense. It is pervasive, and the overall treatment of ALL military personnel and their dependents should be looked at by Congress.
Another symptom of the general disrespect of our soldiers that surfaced recently was the mistreatment of PTSD soldiers at Fort Carson CO. The chickens are now coming home to roost. I have a feeling that more and more of this type of "incidents" will start surfacing.
The little speech that Bush made about Walter Reed and him saying that he was "disturbed" about it was only a CYA kind of thing, since he started it all by appointing Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense in the first place. Gates has inherited this command climate, whether he works to change it or not remains to be seen.
If Bush really cared, he would have gotten angry, not just disturbed, and he would have started doing something when the scandal about Fort Carson was reported by NPR. Bush is "disturbed" all right. Mentally, that is.
For two, When Bush Daddy was president, they decided to close Walter Reed, and sell it cheap so their buddies could make money off of it. Then their buddies could turn around and make mega bucks off of it, because it's inside the beltway and is sitting on some very pricey land.
Much of the deterioration of the installation started, because one of the arguments that Bush administration was making was that "it would cost to much to repair." This in spite of a new hotel for outpatients being built, that a previous administration had funded.
From the description of the building that I read from the BBC, I think it's the the old hotel, and that it was probably sitting there neglected until the flood of disabled veterans from this War of Lies forced them to re-open it. They apparently
never bothered to bring the building up to standard, they just started dumping disable soldiers into it.
Bush is the Commander in Chief, and the "decider" and firing the current commandant, who had only been there for 6 months was window dressing. Putting the previous commandant in charge, who had done nothing was a bonehead move. Although, he may have tried to fix things previously and told to shut up.
Dealing with an unresponsive higher headquarters to try to fix something, and then getting blamed for the problem is a Rumsfeldian military trademark. Just ask Col Karpinsky of Abu Graib fame.

Howard is correct here. And good manners go across the board as far as I'm concerned.
Democrats need to follow his lead and stop over reacting to what they know is coming and will get worse the closer we get to 2008. Don't debate it, simply decline to participate in vileness. (And when it comes to untruths, simply refer people to where they can find the truth. Enourage people to do their homework and not just believe what they hear.) I'd also like to suggest taking action by taking the lead and programming this site to treat as SPAM the most "vile rhetoric" we know needs to be out of bounds for civil discourse. And/or, be diligent about reporting it to the webmaster.

ann coulter is pathetic. i am really do feel sorry for the adam's apple that resides in the same region of her body from where those ignorant words begin to spew.

Howard is correct here. And good manners go across the board as far as I'm concerned.
Democrats need to follow his lead and stop over reacting to what they know is coming and will get worse the closer we get to 2008. Don't debate it, simply decline to participate in vileness. (And when it comes to untruths, simply refer people to where they can find the truth. Enourage people to do their homework and not just believe what they hear.) I'd also like to suggest taking action by taking the lead and programming this site to treat as SPAM the most "vile rhetoric" we know needs to be out of bounds for civil discourse. And/or, be diligent about reporting it to the webmaster.

Posted by Northshorewoman on March 3, 2007 at 11:02 AM
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I was with you until:

I'd also like to suggest taking action by taking the lead and programming this site to treat as SPAM the most "vile rhetoric" we know needs to be out of bounds for civil discourse. And/or, be diligent about reporting it to the webmaster.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
You say you want this site to be filtered like in Red China, where You as Judge, can determine who shall have a voice. Civil discourse is anyone using Free Speech unabated. When you have people diligent about reporting it to the webmaster, they need to go to college and hear the true open dialog of learning. While one prefers to be civil to others, you cannot demand it by threats and Judging others, it is wrong.

People have Judged me, a Liberal, Yankee, Catholic, obscene, because I opened up eyes to thoughts. Yet, if you read my words, I exist beyond four letter words that demean others or myself.

I say just let Ann Coulter keep making these kinds of bigotted slurs. Everytime she does, every moderate, well meaning conservative, the ones that we need to attract to our side, turns away in disgust. Let her continue to be a prominent conservative spokesperson. She'll be the perfect exemplar of the moral decline of the contemporary conservative movement. Her own star is waning anyways, hence the anger and bitterness.

And for the commenters here lamenting Gov. Dean's 'Stalinist' attitude in trying to silence Ms. Coulter; he did not say she should be 'silenced', he's simply asking for all well meaning Republicans (which I'm sure there are many) to denounce the remarks that she's made. Try reading the statement the next time.

Sure Ann Coulter can question Edwards' sexuality. It's a cheap shot that just shows how scared they are of his attractiveness and appeal. After all, he's gorgeous, articulate, effective, concerned for the needs of ordinary Americans, and has great plans for how to solve many of the country's pressing problems; all certainly effeminate characteristics-none of that manly macho militarily aggressive stuff. No wonder they're scared. But it's so shrill and desperate and obviously untrue, that one wonders whether Coulter hasn't outlived her usefulness. Or maybe the subsequent cheers and laughter was just the GOP being self-critical - remembering all their colleagues who've had to go into rehab for their sins!

Dear delesterpoet,
I Hear your point, but good manners does not preclude the Right to Free Speech, nor does a community that would come to agree that the use of the top slurs be banned translate into any non-Democratic philosophy. It just seems to me that a declaration against vileness throughout the Election Process would be the right thing for the party to do and much more exciting than merely denouncing the opposition for it. At any rate, too much time spent on Coulter already.

Tim Hardaway, the homophobic basketball player who was banned from the NBA All-Star game, should ask Ann Coulter out on a date.

They both have a lot in common.
****

mrA, I didn't think of that one. LOL

Joe Klein's 13 Signs of Left-Wing Extremism
by BooMan23
Sat Mar 03, 2007 at 11:17:55 AM PST

[From the Frog Pond]

Joe Klein helpfully defines the School of Higher Broderism's thinking on left-wing radicalism, and thereby defines the position of the Democratic Leadership Council.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/3/3/141121/5672

Joe Klein stinks.

BRAND HATE: Coulter, the Media and Right-Wing Rage
by Avenging Angel
Sat Mar 03, 2007 at 11:13:34 AM PST

That Ann Coulter would call Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards a "faggot" during a speech at one of conservatism's pre-eminent conclaves should come as no surprise. Mitt Romney's apparent refusal to disown Coulter's endorsement and the silence of the Republican cavalcade of candidates (John McCain, who didn't attend CPAC, notwithstanding) comes as no shock either.

And no one should be stunned by the almost complete lack of coverage of the Coulter slur from the mainstream media. After all, as I first suggested after Coulter slandered 9/11 widows last June, the media has already internalized this conservative brand of hate and takes it for granted. As I wrote then:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/3/3/14950/12262

Elizabeth Edwards responds
by pioneer111
Sat Mar 03, 2007 at 11:37:46 AM PST

I think Elizabeth Edwards is such a classy woman. John Edwards chose well when he asked her to marry him. Elizabeth responded to the Coulter remarks on the Edwards Blog with this entry. You can read the whole response at the link.
pioneer111's diary :: ::

Elizabeth begins her comments with

When Miss Coulter spoke about John at the conservative convention in Washington yesterday, she used a word that she intended as a nasty and derogatory suggestion. John and I have long ago shrugged off the vile words of this person.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/3/3/141811/7801

I carried this over from the other blog. Do consevatives really hate being called the party of Lincoln? Weird!

The Party of Anybody But Lincoln
by Devilstower
Sat Mar 03, 2007 at 09:25:14 AM PST

With the Conservative Political Action Committee gathering winding down this weekend, you might think that calling John Edwards a 'faggot' would be the signature event of the conference. But while that clip will probably result mostly in more undeserved attention for the right's favorite harridan, there's another message from this week's events that is interesting for what it has to say about how these people view themselves. And where better to go for that view than the Fox News of papers, the Washington Times. After noting the ability of Giuliani to obscure his feelings over all the things that conservatives have been decrying for the last decade (unlike Santa's pal, this Rudolph spreads fog), Rev. Moon's paper notes the one thing that really brought the crowd down.

In interviews afterward, some attendees said Mr. Giuliani lost momentum when he heaped lavish praise on Abraham Lincoln.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/3/3/141811/7801

Parties of God
The Bush Doctrine and the rise of Islamic democracy
Posted on Thursday, March 1, 2007. Two excerpts from this month's Harper's Magazine. Originally from March 2007. By Ken Silverstein.

http://www.harpers.org/PartiesOfGod.html

Good article on Islamic parties that are deeply rooted in their countries. We need to understand this better.

HUBERT HUMPHREY'S GHOST CALLED ME AND TOLD ME THIS IS NOW THE OPEN THREAD FOR THE WEEKEND OR UNTIL A NEW THREAD IS CREATED.

AND FDR CHANNELED PAUL SAGAN WHO WANTS ALL EASTERNERS TO KNOW......

In the United States, much of the eclipse takes place before moonrise. Even so, the eastern half of the country will enjoy a good view of totality. Observing tips: At the end of the day on Saturday, go outside and face east. As the sun sets behind your back, a red Moon will rise before your eyes--fantastic! Maximum eclipse is at 6:21 p.m. EST.

uhhhh that would be carl sagan....paul being a buster brown shoe salesman from kansas city...

2006 Congressional Vote Ratings Released

I'm going to spoil the big surprise up front: Barack Obama is more liberal than Dennis Kucinich.

2006 Congressional Vote Ratings Released

I'm going to spoil the big surprise up front: Barack Obama is more liberal than Dennis Kucinich.
****

fade, interesting but how is that measured?
Barack Obama only has a couple of years in the Senate compared to a considerably longer time in the House for Kucinich.

I really dislike these rating systems anyway.

What I want to know is positions on issues. On the two issues I am most concerned about, Iraq and health care, I want to know where all the candidates stand.

i see the vermin are out of their cages early this evening...perhaps the zoo ran out of kibble and decided to let them forage in the sewers?

Senator Barack Obama: 84.3
Representative Dennis Kucinich: 79.4
Senator Christopher J. Dodd: 79.2
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton: 78.8
Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr.: 76.8

****

Whoa! Something is definitely fishy here. Does this NYT political blog? honestly want to convince us that Kucinich is only slightly more liberal than Dodd and Clinton. Not plausible.

Here;s a simple test. If Clinton, Biden and Obama were in the House would they even be members of the Progressive Caucus? By the way, Kucinich founded the Progressive Caucus along with Bernie Sanders.

I sense some disembling going on here ...

Edwards Campaign: "Shame on Ann Coulter"
by NCDem Amy
Sat Mar 03, 2007 at 08:27:59 AM PST

Many of you have already seen the video of Ann Coulter at the CPAC Conference where in her attempt to trash Democratic Presidential Candidate John Edwards, she employed the most despicable form of hate language. What is even more disturbing is that her comment was received by applause.

This type of bigotry should be shunned and that is precisely what the Edwards campaign has done.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/3/3/10483/52870

Yes let;'s all understand Ann Coulter:

She's a bigot.

She's a hate monger.

She's paid big bucks to be a bigoted hate monger by the Reich Wing.

Got it?

Well, now they weigh in:

Romney and McCain campaigns attack Coulter for calling John Edwards a "faggot"
by John Aravosis (DC) · 3/03/2007 12:05:00 PM ET
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Note to corporate media: This is news, that's n-e-w-s.

The GOP presidential candidates have begun to weigh in over Ann Coulter's outrageously bigoted comments yesterday at the largest conservative conference of the year. Coulter was the putative keynote speaker of the entire event - her speech was the most widely anticipated of all, according to those who attended. Here's what McCain's camp (McCain didn't even attend the conference, yet they weighed in) and Romney's camp (he did attend) had to say, per the NYT blog, since the real media refuses to cover this story:
Democrats were not the only denouncing Ms. Coulter. “The comments were wildly inappropriate,” said Brian Jones, a spokesman for Senator John McCain, a Republican candidate for president who did not attend.

Kevin Madden, a spokesman for Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, said: “It was an offensive remark. Governor Romney believes all people should be treated with dignity and respect....

....attendees said that Ms. Coulter not only spoke warmly about Mr. Romney but all but endorsed him. No word yet on whether the Romney campaign was taking the endorsement or, acceding to Mr. Dean’s demands that he “denounce her hateful remarks.

http://americablog.blogspot.com/2007/03/romney-and-mccain-campaigns-attack.html

It would seem no one luvs Ann Coulter. But, she doesn;t care. Coulter, Limbaugh, Malkin are all part of the GOP hate machine. They have their purpose and they are making lots of bucks.

At GOP fundraiser, Bush politicizes support for troops on the very day his Secretary of the Army gets canned for the Walter Reed scandal
by Joe Sudbay (DC) · 3/03/2007 10:06:00 AM ET
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How can the Washington Post print this article and not note the hypocrisy? Bush was giving a political speech about supporting the troops while the Army is enmeshed in a major scandal for not taking care of wounded troops. Bush talks about support for the troops. But talk is very, very cheap from George Bush:
Speaking to a dinner crowd at the century-old Seelbach Hilton Louisville Hotel, Bush defended his decision to send more troops to Iraq. He also criticized those in Congress who oppose the plan, saying, "They have a solemn responsibility to support those who wear the uniform of the United States."
George Bush has had a solemn responsibility to support those who wear the uniform of the United States. He hasn't. And, he can't get away with it.

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Impeach Da Chimp

Republican economics at work - foreclosures and loan defaults
by Chris in Paris · 3/03/2007 05:28:00 AM ET
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But that's OK, because heaven forbid anyone ever offers regulation because the finance industry that is taking the system to the verge of a crash might not like it. The MIA Republicans have made it their gospel to allow industry - any industry that's willing to fork over campaign cash - to self regulate, telling supporters that government regulation only complicates matters and that the government has made a mess of everything. Take one guess who will be first in line with their hands out, asking for money when the system they built comes crashing down?
While the housing market was soaring, lenders shrugged off borrowers' problems because the value of the property was rising. But now that the housing market is in a tailspin in some areas, as many as 2.2 million people could end up losing their homes, worth a total of $164 billion, according to CRL. Another report, by Lehman Brothers, concluded that as many as 30 percent of people who obtained subprime loans in 2006 may end up defaulting on them.

"Many families are going to lose their homes," says Deborah Goldstein, executive vice president of the CRL in Durham, N.C. "There's a need for federal regulators to address the kinds of abusive mortgage practices that we're seeing."

Last fall federal regulators started to step in, requiring lenders to disclose more clearly the benefits and risks of some subprime loans to borrowers. On Tuesday, Freddie Mac, a quasi-public backer of home loans, announced it would cease purchasing the riskiest subprime mortgages. This week, Fannie Mae, another quasi-public housing organization, said it is working on "rescue" products to try to help troubled borrowers.

Housing advocates believe the regulators are reacting too late. "They're good positive steps but it's not close to being enough – the genie's already out of the bottle," says Mr. Rheingold. "What we're seeing now with the incredibly high foreclosure rates ... is a product of the complete deregulation of the mortgage industry over the last 10 to 15 years."
Republican economics at work and another case study in how to give the shaft to consumers while coddling political donors.

UPI and FOX cover Coulter calling John Edwards a "faggot," but AP, Wash Post and NYT nowhere to be found
by John Aravosis (DC) · 3/03/2007 12:14:00 AM ET
Discuss this post here: Comments (196) · digg it · reddit · FARK · · Link

None of the "normal" media (meaning, non-FOX and non-UPI) is touching this story with a ten foot poll. Why is that? It's not like Ann Coulter isn't a big deal. Like it or not, she was on the cover of TIME just, what, a year or two ago? She's a bigot, a loud-mouth, and a jerk, but to write her off as irrelevant is simply a lie. Here is UPI's coverage.

Ann Coulter == Representative of the GOP

A February 14 United Nations report on the well-being of children in 21 wealthy countries ranks the United States last in health and safety. When it comes to health care for the entire population, a World Health Organization 2001 study of 191 countries ranks the United States 37th. The countries that lead the list-France, Spain, Italy-have single payer health care. How long can we hang on to the myth that corporations are more efficient when Medicare's overhead is less than 4 percent, while insurance companies keep 15 percent to 25 percent of healthcare dollars for overhead and profit?

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Last! That's a freakin disgrace. Impeach Da Chimp. It;s clear to me what's going on - the eopublicans have cannibalized our economy into a permanent war time economy for the military/industrial complex's gain.

A bigot is a prejudiced person who is intolerant of opinions, lifestyles, or identities differing from his or her own.

The origin of the word bigot in English dates back to at least 1598, via Middle French, and started with the sense of "religious hypocrite", especially a woman. Bigot is often used as a pejorative term against a person who is obstinately devoted to their prejudices even when these views are challenged or proven to be false.

Forms of bigotry may have a related ideology or world views.
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Got it?

Contractor Could Lose $400 million
By Jay Price
The News & Observer

Friday 02 March 2007

Military contracting giant KBR Inc. could be docked up to $400 million for improperly using private security companies in Iraq, the company disclosed this week.

The Army has already said it withheld about $20 million in payments to KBR's parent company, Halliburton, because the company's subcontractors used private security contractors, including North Carolina-based Blackwater USA. Army officials have said that private security companies were not allowed under Halliburton's main contract in Iraq and that the military was to provide security.

The Army began looking into the use of private security firms by KBR's subcontractors after a congressional investigation sparked by a series of stories in The News & Observer. KBR has won billions in contracts to provide troops in Iraq with basic needs.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/030307A.shtml

Doug Feith Versus the Blogosphere
By David Swanson
t r u t h o u t | Guest Contributor

Saturday 03 March 2007
Interview of Allison Hantschel taken from transcripts. Original transcription here.

AUDIO 30 Minutes: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/downloads/allison.mp3

David: This is David Swanson with Allison Hantschel, the blogger of the blog site, First Draft http://www.first-draft.com , and the author of the book "Special Plans, the blogs on Douglas Feith and the faulty intelligence that led us to war." Allison, it is good to talk to you. How are you doing?

Allison: I'm doing good; thank you so much for having me.

David: And how did you get involved in the topic of Douglas Feith and the intelligence that took us into this war?

Allison: Well, essentially what happened was almost two years ago now, I was working as a newspaper reporter, and I was in my spare time writing a blog at First Draft, and I had gotten an e-mail one day from the editor of the series of books of which "Special Plans" is a part, the "Informed Citizen" series, and the editor of this series had asked me are you interested in doing a book for us, and what might you be interested in writing about. At the time, some of the information about just how bad the prewar planning and intelligence had been was just starting to come out. I thought it was a really fascinating topic, that here is a person who had his hand in almost every major important mistake that took place before the war, and I really wanted to delve into that further, and as I explored more and more material from the bloggers mentioned in the book, I just found so many things that now I think people are only becoming aware of, that a lot of the people who write for these blogs have known all along.

David: So who is this guy briefly, Doug Feith? I mean, he looks like a nice enough guy on TV; you see him on there all the time. I saw him within the past couple of weeks chatting away with Charlie Rose, and he seemed like a very friendly guy with a lot of integrity who was trying to protect our political process from those who would harm it and so forth, and I did not hear any views to the contrary. Who is he?

Allison: He was during the second Bush administration. I should specify, he was the undersecretary of defense for policy, and in that position, he was in charge of setting up essentially his own intelligence office. Essentially, he was running an operation, and the reason that you see him on television, just to backtrack little bit ... is an inspector general's report from the Pentagon came out on February 11, 2007, that essentially stated that Feith was running a separate intelligence operation within the Pentagon to make the case that Iraq was collaborating with al-Qaeda.

[That IG report indicated] that Feith himself issued analyses of intelligence that were at odds with numerous intelligence agencies, and that he bypassed those agencies and other officials to present his own version of the facts to the executive branch, and that he dismissed, downplayed or ignored evidence contrary to the story that he wanted to tell. That story really is one that kind of has its roots in Feith's own sort of ideological upbringing, and he was mentored by Richard Perle, who is an adviser to the administration. He and Perle and most other prominent members of the administration were at one time either ideological allies or actually members of the Project for a New American Century: a think tank that formed in the late 1990s in response to President Clinton's foreign policy.

The Project for a New American Century consisted of a bunch of conservatives who were out of power, took a look at what Clinton was doing, and decided this is not the way to go. The policy that they pushed was one of remaking the Middle East in an American democratic model, whether those countries wanted it or not, because this would be vital to American national security. Out of that whole sort of ideological background, Feith came into the administration and after September 11th began making the case that Iraq and al-Qaeda were collaborators and that as such, Iraq presented a threat to the United States.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/030307D.shtml

New Orleans Asks Whopping $77 Billion in Claim to Corps
By Michelle Krupa and Susan Finch
The Times-Picayune

Friday 02 March 2007

Submitting a claim for a staggering $77 billion, the city of New Orleans joined tens of thousands of would-be plaintiffs who rushed to beat a Thursday deadline to alert the Army Corps of Engineers that they may sue for losses resulting from the levee breaches after Hurricane Katrina.

Also joining the queue were Entergy New Orleans, the city's bankrupt electrical utility, which is seeking $655 million, and the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board, which put in a claim of about $460 million, spokesmen for the agencies said.

While they are likely to be among the largest filed, the three claims became part of an avalanche of paperwork that poured into the corps' Leake Avenue headquarters as Thursday's 11:59 p.m. deadline approached, corps personnel said.

By the time of the morning commute, cars already had clogged the two-lane River Road and miles of connecting arteries. The miles-long traffic jam got so thick that the federal agency established satellite pick-up points on Carrollton Avenue and Magazine Street.

"We took people out of offices to help out: engineers, lawyers, secretaries, you name it," spokesman Chris Accardo said. "At one time, we might have had 50 people out there."

Hours before the cut-off time, enough bags and boxes of claim forms had arrived to fill an 8-by-10-foot room, corps spokeswoman Kathy Gibbs said.

The filing bonanza would have been unthinkable just a few weeks ago.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/030307Y.shtml

White House Backed US Attorney Firings, Officials Say
By John Solomon and Dan Eggen
The Washington Post

Saturday 03 March 2007

The White House approved the firings of seven U.S. attorneys late last year after senior Justice Department officials identified the prosecutors they believed were not doing enough to carry out President Bush's policies on immigration, firearms and other issues, White House and Justice Department officials said yesterday.

The list of prosecutors was assembled last fall, based largely on complaints from members of Congress, law enforcement officials and career Justice Department lawyers, administration officials said.

One of the complaints came from Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.), who specifically raised concerns with the Justice Department last fall about the performance of then-U.S. Attorney David C. Iglesias of New Mexico, according to administration officials and Domenici's office.

Iglesias has alleged that two unnamed New Mexico lawmakers pressured him in October to speed up the indictments of Democrats before the elections. Domenici has declined to comment on that allegation.

Since the mass firings were carried out three months ago, Justice Department officials have consistently portrayed them as personnel decisions based on the prosecutors' "performance-related" problems. But, yesterday, officials acknowledged that the ousters were based primarily on the administration's unhappiness with the prosecutors' policy decisions and revealed the White House's role in the matter.

"At the end of the day, this was a decision to pick the prosecutors we felt would most effectively carry out the department's policies and priorities in the last two years," said Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse.

Officials portrayed the firings as part of a routine process, saying the White House did not play any role in identifying which U.S. attorneys should be removed or encourage the dismissals. The administration previously said that the White House counsel recommended a GOP replacement for one U.S. attorney, in Arkansas, but did not say that the White House approved the seven other firings.

"If any agency wants to make a change regarding a presidential appointee, they run that change by the White House counsel's office," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino. "That is standard operating procedure, and that is what happened here. The White House did not object to the Justice Department decision."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/030307Z.shtml

You all heard about bush and rice. I heard that bush, cheney and coldsore are getting it on.
hannity and limpballs got there late but they piled on each other.

Ann Coulter == Representative of GOP

Coulter is a fine representative of GOP attitudes and philosophy.

A bigot is a prejudiced person who is intolerant of opinions, lifestyles, or identities differing from his or her own.

so rjsnj if we were nazis and we called each other bigots because were intolerant of jews it would be a nice thing. makes perfect sense...to nazis.

Democrats Send Out First Round of Subpoenas
By Susan Crabtree
The Hill

Thursday 01 March 2007

A House Judiciary subcommittee approved today the first in what is expected to be an avalanche of subpoenas to Bush administration officials. They will likely explore corruption and mismanagement allegations on everything from pre-war Iraq intelligence to the mishandling of the response to Hurricane Katrina.

The first round of subpoenas concern the recent controversial firings by the Bush administration of seven U.S. attorneys, some of whom were pursuing public corruption cases against Republican members of Congress.

The House Judiciary subcommittee on commercial and administrative law, chaired by Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), approved subpoenas requiring four former U.S. attorneys to appear at a subcommittee hearing next Tuesday. The former U.S. attorneys include Carol Lam of California, David Iglesias of New Mexico, H.E. Cummins III of Arkansas, and John McKay of Washington state. The subcommittee approved the subpoenas by voice vote; no Republican lawmakers were present.

Tuesday's hearing will consider a bill by Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) that would reverse a new Patriot Act provision allowing the attorney general to appoint federal prosecutors without Senate confirmation through the duration of the Bush administration.

CNN just reporting on the Conservative meeting just ending, that the votes amongst them for favorite Republican candidate was Romney. Guiliani second. McCain came in 5th I really don't know how they expect Romney to have electibility, when their Religious Base of Fundies HATE mormoms.

so rjsnj if we were nazis and we called each other bigots because were intolerant of jews it would be a nice thing. makes perfect sense...to nazis.
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gregg ... LOL.

Makes sense to Nazis, GOOPERS and Ann Coulter.

Climate Change Impact More Extensive Than Thought
By Volker Mrasek
Der Spiegel

Friday 02 March 2007

Global climate change is happening faster than previously believed and its impact is worse than expected, information from an as-yet unpublished draft of the long-awaited second part of a United Nations report obtained by SPIEGEL ONLINE reveals. No region of the planet will be spared and some will be hit especially hard.

Is the world's weather already out of control? Is the pollution of the past decades having an impact on the present? That's exactly what the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change fears: Human influences over the last 30 years "have had a recognizable effect on many physical and biological systems," write the authors of the as yet unreleased second part of the 2007 global climate change report.

According to information obtained by SPIEGEL ONLINE, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is convinced global warming is already making the world sweat. At least that's the gist of the "Summary for Policymakers" from the group made up of hundreds of scientists.

The second part of the report is to be presented in April in Brussels after final discussions with government representatives from around the globe. The meta-study is certain to have a major political impact on the ongoing debate about climate change.

Mounting Evidence: Climate Change is Happening Now

The main conclusion of the report is that climate change is already having a profound effect on all the continents and on many of the Earth's ecosystems. The draft presents a long list of evidence:
Glacial lakes are increasing in both size and number, potentially leading to deadly floods

Permafrost in mountainous regions and at high latitudes is warming increasing the danger of land slides.

As the temperature of rivers and lakes rises, their thermal stratification and water quality is changing.

River currents, affected by melting glaciers and ice, are speeding up during the spring.

Springtime is starting earlier, causing plants to bloom earlier and changing the migrations of birds.

Many plants and animals are expanding their habitats into mountainous regions and higher latitudes that are becoming milder.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/030307C.shtml

CNN just reporting on the Conservative meeting just ending, that the votes amongst them for favorite Republican candidate was Romney.
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Pam,

Romney is very beatable. Flip-Flop Mitt, Flip-Flop Mitt.

Giuliani is their best candidate but the religious righties won't have him.

So, McWindVane only came in 5th!

You all heard about bush and rice. I heard that bush, cheney and coldsore are getting it on.
hannity and limpballs got there late but they piled on each other.
****

John please not before dinner! LOL

Nickels Warns US Senate to Not Rein In Cities Fighting Global Warming
By Charles Pope
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Friday 02 March 2007

Washington - Mayor Greg Nickels told a Senate committee Thursday that state and local governments are leading the fight against global warming, and he warned Congress against reining in local efforts that are under way across the nation.

"We are not just signing a piece of paper," Nickels told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

"We are making tough choices. We are investing our taxpayers' money. We are transforming our cities into laboratories for climate protection. In short, we are making a difference, and laying the groundwork for strong federal policies and programs."

Nickels, who testified along with New Jersey Gov. John Corzine, the Democratic leaders of the California Legislature and other mayors, said the federal government can help by providing money for research and broad guidelines for curbing pollution that causes climate change.

But Nickels and other local officials warned Congress against passing legislation that would undercut aggressive programs in Seattle, New Jersey, California and other areas.

Nickels said Congress should pass a plan "that calls for a hard and declining cap on emissions and allows for carbon trading among entities."

He also said that cities and states should be eligible for federal grants that underwrite innovative programs and research.

"We need the federal government to take on a leadership role now so that we move beyond the grass-roots innovation that is blossoming in every state in the country," he said.

Nickels' appearance came as Congress, after years of largely ignoring the issue, has been moving aggressively to draft legislation to reduce pollution that is believed to cause global warming. Thursday's hearing was designed to examine state and local programs that would contribute to federal legislation.

States and cities, said the committee's chairwoman, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., "are leading the way for the rest of the nation. They understand what is at stake for our future, and they are sending us a signal that we should heed."

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/030207EA.shtml

Union-Busting as Homeland Security
By Dick Meister
TomPaine.com

Thursday 01 March 2007

President Bush and his Republican allies in Congress agree that airport screeners play a vital role in the war against terror, yet continue to deny them the basic right of unionization by asserting that it would "threaten national security."

The actual motive is as obvious as the often-demonstrated anti-unionism of Bush and friends. House members recognized that in January when they voted 299-128 for a bill that would repeal a provision of the five-year-old Aviation Transportation and Security Act that gives the president authority to bar screeners from exercising the collective bargaining rights granted other federal employees.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/030207LA.shtml

Guess this is serving as the open thread...

I'm glad that folks are upset with Coulter. The word "faggot" is a slur, whether a person is or is not gay.

However, being assumed or alluded to as simply gay is not negative.

I wonder if the Democratic Party is more upset at the use of the slur "faggot" because it is derogatory and unacceptable or because their good looking Wonder Boy was painted as gay.

The party (i.e. Edward's fundraising email and the Dean post above) can't even bring itself to say the words gay, lesbian, or even homosexual (we won't even get into the transgender/transsexual issue) in its public statements.

Being gay isn't a bad thing and this party needs to get over that fear, but using derogatory language towards anyone is bad and should be condemned.

So, when I posted at the beginning of this thread "good for Dean," I was simply pleased to see anything related to anything gay mentioned front and center here.

What would really be nice is for the DNC to condemn the hate crimes that are occuring with more frequency. It's not uncommon for us to hear the slur "faggot" as we are being beaten. There's a connection between that kind of talk and acting violently against minorities. This should have been mentioned.

Religious Base of Fundies HATE mormoms

I get the feeling they are getting desperate enough to simply take whoever hates the most. Hate bring in cash and that's all that matters to them.

Oakland i was reading your post about the party,dean and that you left. I personally hope you'll reconsider and come back and renew your democracy bond because this isn't dean's fault we're in this mess,this is the DLC and the blue dogs who are responsible.

And you also said same crap different day and not playing games,well i'm not playing games either,why isn't no one anywhere taking a stand against the DLC and the blug dogs they should be called out and be removed from the party.

If this party needs any changes then we must elected progressives and be part of the movement so we don't have to deal with the DLC'ers or blue dogs etc.

So let's be the voice,be the community and be the change and turn the party back to our roots,back to our base and back to the left let's stand up and rise up. The challenge is out there for everyone.

And you also said same crap different day and not playing games,well i'm not playing games either,why isn't no one anywhere taking a stand against the DLC and the blug dogs they should be called out and be removed from the party.
If this party needs any changes then we must elected progressives and be part of the movement so we don't have to deal with the DLC'ers or blue dogs etc.

So let's be the voice,be the community and be the change and turn the party back to our roots,back to our base and back to the left let's stand up and rise up. The challenge is out there for everyone.Posted by ap215 on March 3, 2007 at 06:19 PM

ap

Somebody IS doing something about it. The supporters of Ned Lamont are all Progressives, and a new website will be officially open for business on Mon or tuesday. Take a look. Plus I will be posting it more than once in the days to come:

http://www.electrealdemocrats.com/

Another Look at Disapproval of Coulter:

Coulter tells conservatives, 'I was going to have a few comments about John Edwards but you have to go into rehab if you use the word faggot' Adam Dupont

At Americablog, John Aravosis posted a press release issued by HRC, the largest gay civil rights organization in the United States, which calls on Vice President Cheney and 2008 Republican presidential candidates to "condemn" Coulter's remarks.

"To interject this word into American political discourse is a vile and disgusting way to sink the debate to a new, all-time low,” Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese said in the statement. “Make no doubt about it, these remarks go directly against what our Founding Fathers intended and have no place on the schoolyard, much less our country’s political arena."

“It is clear that some in the Republican Party plan to run in 2008 the same way they did in 2004, by using discrimination to divide the country and rally their base,” said Solmonese. “But, 2008 is not 2004, and this time the politics of fear and smear will not work. The American people are tired of those who would rather divide than unite.”

Salmonese added, "We demand that every single Presidential candidate in attendance at this conference, along with Vice President Cheney stand up and publicly condemn this type of gutter-style politics."

Malkin disapproves, New York Times 'blogs it'
Editor and Publisher has a rundown of disapproving comments by conservative bloggers, including conservative columnist and blogger Michelle Malkin, and reports on media coverage of Coulter's use of the "other f-word."

Editor and Publisher report: "Ed Morrissey on his Captain's Quarters blog wrote: 'Yeah, that's just what CPAC needs -- an association with homophobia. Nice work, Ann.' Michelle Malkin expressed disapproval, and at her Hot Air site regular contributor 'Bryan' wrote: 'I’m no fan of John Edwards, but that’s just a stupid joke. It’s over the line. The laughter it generated across the room was more than a little annoying. Last year it was 'raghead.' This year it’s calling John Edwards a 'faggot.' Two years in a row, Coulter has finished up an otherwise sharp CPAC routine with an obnoxious slur that liberals will fling at conservatives for years to come. Thanks, Ann.'"

"Ann Coulter can be an entertaining and incisive wit," Morrissey added at Captain's Quarters. "Unfortunately, she can also be a loose cannon, and CPAC might want to consider that the next time around."

At her blog, Malkin wrote, "Ann Coulter just finished her riff on Al Gore, tossed out some cute jokes ('You can understand why Hollywood is concerned about global warming. You know what heat does to plastic.'), and ended with a cheap one-liner about John Edwards being a 'faggot.' (Paraphrasing) She said she would refrain from commenting on Edwards because 'if you say faggot, you have to go to rehab.' A smattering of laughter. Not from this corner. Crickets chirping."

Editor and Publisher also notes that the Associated Press, the New York Times and the Washington Post all ignored Coulter's "anti-gay slur" in their news reports, but that the Post's Dana Milbank did refer to it.

"The Post's Dana Milbank, in a column for the Saturday paper, observed: 'Ann Coulter used an anti-gay slur to describe John Edwards (the line drew applause) and asked: 'Did Al Gore actually swallow Michael Moore?' When a questioner asked Coulter why she praises marriage but broke off so many engagements, she responded by calling the questioner ugly,'" Editor and Publisher reports.

While Malkin heard only "a smattering of laughter," Milbanks reported that "the line drew applause" and, according to the liberal blog Think Progress, "Audience members said 'ohhh' and then cheered."

Milbank added that "Romney had, at least, won over Coulter. 'I think he's probably our best candidate,' she said. She'd prefer Duncan Hunter, she said, but 'I'm being realistic.' And, besides, "I love Mormons," Coulter said. 'In 1992, Bill Clinton came in third in Utah.'"

"The New York Times' Adam Nagourney failed to mention the crack about Edwards, in observing tonight: 'The conference drew thousands of attendees, many of whom waited in a long line out the door for a late-afternoon appearance by Ann Coulter, the conservative author and commentator,'" Editor and Publisher reported.

On Saturday, Nagourney blogged about Coulter at The Caucus.

"Democrats were not the only denouncing Ms. Coulter," Nagourney blogged. "'The comments were wildly inappropriate,'" said Brian Jones, a spokesman for Senator John McCain, a Republican candidate for president who did not attend."

Nagourney added, "Kevin Madden, a spokesman for Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, said: 'It was an offensive remark. Governor Romney believes all people should be treated with dignity and respect.'"

Pam when i need a friend i can rely on,i can depend on you. This is an excellent blog thank you,you're a true patriot.

Good evening! Are you using this as the open thread?

Anyway, pertaining to the actual discourse of this thread, Annie Coulter, she obviously had no time to prepare a statement about John Edwards. Therefore, instead of appearing dumber than she does, she quipped a one-liner about him and moved on to the questions.

Hey, it always worked for Reagan, although I don't think Reagan denigrated anybody in the way that Annie did, not openly anyway.

However, and here's the rub, if Democrats are so offended about Annie calling a hetero "a faggot", then what was the offense? In Annie's own minuscule wisdom she is helping to divide the Democratic party by placing the assumption that Democrats are offended by the GLBT community. Think of how the spin begins on just about any topic!

Words is words as any journalist knows. Annie used the slang "faggot" as a synonym for a homosexual man. If Democrats get that upset about this characterization, or mischaracterization, then maybe it is Democrats that are homophobic.

BTW, I do not believe Annie Coulter is a journalist. In my mind she fits closer to my definition of a urinalist. She runs around starting fires, such as this one, that Democrats waste all of their time trying to put out, and ultimately get distracted from their foremost objectives.

IMHO!!

Don't spin it too much for Annie. That is what makes her who she is.

why thank you, ap. That is why I like to come here. I have learned a lot here myself. I also do a bunch of other blogging too, and pick up things like this one. Electing REAL Democrats is a real Goal. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to give it a Preview.

If this party needs any changes then we must elected progressives and be part of the movement so we don't have to deal with the DLC'ers or blue dogs etc. Posted by ap215 on March 3, 2007 at 06:19 PM

We have guys like Rhamn Emanuel and Chuck Schumer working to make sure that only DLC'ers or blue dogs get to run, and barring that, they use their control of Democratic campaign money to fund DLC'ers or blue dogs and starve any liberals running. After last Nov's election Rhamn delcared "Liberals will NOT be allowed to set the agenda!" He'll take their votes, but he won't let them have jack squat. Rhamn also say last week that Dems are going to "give" Bush "whatever he asks for for Iraq." So screw the votes who don't like the war (70%).

I find it amazing that anyone would take anything that Ann Coulture says seriously. She is obviously a hate-filled woman. So, we should not expect an apology from her. And, even if she did give one, it would probably not be sincere.

Why Obama should wait and do more research before going on record for things like Iran statements.

The Good News: There's Time

If anything leaps out of all this, it is that there is time to address, in a sensible way, whatever concerns may be driving Iran to seek nuclear weapons—Cheney's two-year old claim of a "fairly robust new nuclear program" in Iran, his blustering, and his itchy trigger finger notwithstanding.

A year and a half after the 2005 estimate that concluded Iran was five to ten years away from building a nuclear weapon, NPR's Robert Siegel did the math and decided to follow up with Negroponte. Drawing from Negroponte's own words the year before (NIEs are formal documents signed by the director of national intelligence), Siegel asked him whether he still thought Iran could have a nuclear weapon "sometime between four and ten years from now." "Five to ten years from now," Negroponte answered, barely suppressing a smirk betraying his own disdain for the five-years-away-every-year intelligence record on Iran.

Negroponte then gingerly raised the possibility—avoided like the plague by neo-conservatives in good standing—that diplomacy might help. A diplomat by profession, with the benighted idea view that talking with adversaries can be helpful, he may have thought he would be forgiven for breaking ranks and raising the possibility of talks. (He was not forgiven. Rather, he found himself demoted and sent back to the State Department a few months later.) Here is Negroponte’s radical idea:
"I think that the pace of Iran's program gives us time, and international diplomacy can work."Asked by Siegel to explain why the Israelis have suggested a much shorter timeline for Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon, Negroponte stated the obvious—this time with undiplomatic bluntness: "I think that sometimes what the Israelis will do [is] give you the worst-case assessment."

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17232.htm

got a decent view of the eclipse from a hill up here in the hudson valley...anyone else?

evening gregg, Damn, but I am surrounded by trees. I would have to drive somewhere.

I get the feeling they are getting desperate enough to simply take whoever hates the most. Hate bring in cash and that's all that matters to them.
****

I git an idea. Run Coulter for Prez ... wee.

If this party needs any changes then we must elected progressives and be part of the movement so we don't have to deal with the DLC'ers or blue dogs etc.
****

ap215, I agree with you. There is only one way to change it and that;s to work from the inside. Let;s continue to call out the Blue Doggies and DLC-ers.

in fact at this very moment pam and other easterners there is a great view of the end stage of the eclipse. the moon is reddish and looks like a giant version of mars!

Take a look. Plus I will be posting it more than once in the days to come:
****

Hmmm, took a look. I have my reservations about Steve Rothman but why Rush Holt? I don't think he is either a Blue Dog or DLC-er? He is fairly popular as well with progressives on many issues. I don;t you'll get traction going against him. Rothman ... maybe.

I can see a red glow through the trees, gregg.

It is amazing.

Frank Rick article in tomorrow's NY Times:

While "McCain, who, unlike Clinton, fervently supports the war and the surge, is morbidly aware of his predicament," Rich writes that "Clinton doesn't seem to know it."

"Clinton's words about the war still don't parse," Rich writes.

Rich continues, "The issue is not that Clinton voted for the war authorization in 2002 or that she refuses to call it a mistake in 2007. Those are footnotes. The larger issue is judgment, then and now. Take her most persistent current formulation on Iraq: "Obviously, if we knew then what we know now, there wouldn't have been a vote and I certainly wouldn't have voted that way." It's fair to ask: Knew what then? Not everyone was so easily misled by the White House's manipulated intelligence and propaganda campaign. Some of her fellow leaders in Washington -- not just Obama out in Illinois, not just Al Gore out of power -- knew plenty in the fall of 2002. Why didn't she?"

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Rich_Clinton_McCain_should_have_strongly_0303.html

So, is a member of the New Democratic Coalition a DLC-er? I don't think so. By the way, the NDC is a bit different from the Blue Dogs. The viting stats show that NDC is way more in line with the overall Democratic concensus than Blue Dogs.

HMMM, I'll have to look into this. NDC is listed under the DLC web site! I don't recall Holt joining it.

I am not in Holt's district. I think I would have been ticked if he joined it.

Good evening! Are you using this as the open thread?

Anyway, pertaining to the actual discourse of this thread, Annie Coulter, she obviously had no time to prepare a statement about John Edwards. Therefore, instead of appearing dumber than she does, she quipped a one-liner about him and moved on to the questions.

Hey, it always worked for Reagan, although I don't think Reagan denigrated anybody in the way that Annie did, not openly anyway.

However, and here's the rub, if Democrats are so offended about Annie calling a hetero "a faggot", then what was the offense? In Annie's own minuscule wisdom she is helping to divide the Democratic party by placing the assumption that Democrats are offended by the GLBT community. Think of how the spin begins on just about any topic!

Words is words as any journalist knows. Annie used the slang "faggot" as a synonym for a homosexual man. If Democrats get that upset about this characterization, or mischaracterization, then maybe it is Democrats that are homophobic.

BTW, I do not believe Annie Coulter is a journalist. In my mind she fits closer to my definition of a urinalist. She runs around starting fires, such as this one, that Democrats waste all of their time trying to put out, and ultimately get distracted from their foremost objectives.

IMHO!!

Don't spin it too much for Annie. That is what makes her who she is.

Domingo on March 3, 2007 at 06:47 PM,

I have been very much opposed to this military excursion in both Afghanistan and Iraq. I said six years ago, when the United States enjoyed almost complete global backing for bringing the perpetrators our 9/11/2001 tragedy to justice, that a military exercise was no solution. I remember all to well the Soviet experience in Afghanistan just 15 years prior.

However, now I am still opposed to having any of our troops anywhere in that region of the world. With that being said upfront, we must understand the dilemma that our Democratic legislators are in. I say bring the troops home immediately!! NOW!! But when we push for that, and the situation blows up in our face, and you know it will. Who will the electorate blame for the failure? Not Mr. Bush, Uh-Uh, the Democrats in the legislature get the blame, and take the fall in the 2008 elections. This is the Republican scheme for the next election cycle, yes it's already begun, and guess what, it began on 08 November 2006.

Mr. Bush, nor his administration, give a damn about the troops and the condition of the VA should be proof enough of that.

We should be backing the Democrats in backing the troops. Ensuring that they have adequate equipment for their safety, enough rest between tours in Iraq/Afghanistan, adequate health care, adequate services for their loved ones left at home, etc. If Mr. Bush cannot provide for the troops that are providing for our security, then he has a major problem with his Iraq strategy.

glad you caught a glimpse of it pam.

How in the hell did my 6:44 post get posted again when I was preparing on my 7:14 post??? Wow, that is scary, I've never seen that before.
Forgive me of my repost, for I do not know how it happened. To paraphrase a great humanitarian!!

:)

bbl

For the past two decades, the Republican Party has been able to count on loyalty from evangelical Protestants, including in the 2004 reelection of President Bush. But election results in 2006 suggest that Democrats may be making inroads among evangelicals.

http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=ask_this.view&askthisid=00263

Fulfilling the American Dream
By Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton
In 2005, Sen. Clinton took charge of the American Dream Initiative, a collaboration to strengthen the middle class. A year later, she unveiled the product of that effort at the DLC's National Conversation.

http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=106&subid=122&contentid=254078

So, there you go. Hillary's ideas really fo come from the DLC. Yuck.

Obama definitely rejected the DLC. Right?

But election results in 2006 suggest that Democrats may be making inroads among evangelicals.
****

Evangelical is a broad category. We should make strides amongst more liberal evangelicals. The group that is what we call the religious right are really X-tian fundamentalists.

Gregg,

You are the man!! I had forgotten all about the eclipse until your post reminded me. We have a great view right out our kitchen and living room window. I told my son, so he's checking it out, and got some picts. Don't know how the picts will turn out as I don't have that elaborate of a camera. It's digital, but cheap. Anyways, I'm hoping to enlarge a couple, we'll see. Thanks again!!:)

in fact at this very moment pam and other easterners there is a great view of the end stage of the eclipse. the moon is reddish and looks like a giant version of mars!
****

Caught a bit of it here ... unfortunately, it's a bit cloudy tonight.

Thanks for reminding me, gregg. I had a note, but it is upstairs, and I had forgotten.

Backlash Grows Against Free Trade
By Mark Trumbull
The Christian Science Monitor

Friday 16 February 2007
A record US trade deficit is rekindling the globalization debate.

Worries about the dark side of free trade are surfacing in the United States in ways that could affect the course of globalization worldwide.

Don't expect an outright retreat from global commerce just yet, but it is becoming more likely that the US will act to temper and manage its impact. The reason: Free-trade brush fires have recently erupted on economic and political fronts:
This week, the Commerce Department said America's trade deficit rose to $764 billion in 2006, as imports outstripped exports by a record amount for a fifth straight year.

Democrats are in control of Congress, with new lawmakers in their ranks who are especially eager to do something about what they see as unfair trade practices by China. Bipartisan bills introduced this week could result in retaliatory tariffs or revocation of China's trade status with the US.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021707D.shtml

****

I heard this before and it didn;t go anywhere. I'll believe it when I see it done.

I am puzzled by this. Bryon Dorgan is listed as a DLC-er. But, the DLC believes in free trade and Vryon Dorgan doesn't. Sp, what gives? Does the DLC list people capriciously or do they really help get them elected? Is it a matter of simply contributing money to a candidate?

I am puzzled by this. Bryon Dorgan is listed as a DLC-er. But, the DLC believes in free trade and Vryon Dorgan doesn't. Sp, what gives? Does the DLC list people capriciously or do they really help get them elected? Is it a matter of simply contributing money to a candidate?
****

Retype:

I am puzzled by the DLC listing Bryon Dorgan as a member. How does someone become a DLC member? Is it all a matter of campaign contributions?

Dorgan is against free trade and the DLC is for it. So how did he ever get their support?

Progressives See Bad Policy in Growing Trade Gap
By Michelle Chen
The NewStandard

Friday 16 February 2007
In the debate over what the trade deficit really means, progressives are challenging popular assumptions that the trade gap simply shows free markets at work, pointing to pro-corporate policies aimed at exploiting cheap labor.

The US trade deficit has ballooned once again to record levels. While some see the trade gap as a natural economic phenomenon, public interest groups and progressive economists say it represents an unsustainable trade agenda that harms workers across the globe.

The Department of Commerce reported this week that in 2006, the US trade deficit - the gap between what the country imported and what it exported - reached about $764 billion. That was $47 billion more than the previous year's deficit.

Labor groups and human rights advocates say the deficit is just one symptom of unfair "free trade" policies, which give US-based companies economic incentives and political clout to find ever-cheaper ways of producing goods overseas. The current trade deficit, they argue, reflects an economy in which inexpensive imports flow into the country replacing US-made products; the workers who used to make them are effectively displaced in favor of cheaper labor abroad.

"The trade policy has been designed to facilitate the movement of production offshore," said Larry Weiss, executive director of the labor and human rights coalition Citizens Trade Campaign. The underlying aim, he continued, is "to provide large US corporations with ... semi-slave labor."

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/021607LB.shtml

rjsnj on March 3, 2007 at 07:42 PM,

China's "most favored trading status" should have been revoked at minimum ten years ago. This status is reserved to help countries build their economies while adopting more "democratic" values for their people.

Remember Tiananmen Square in 1989? Pappy Bush was afraid to rescind their trading status then because he felt doing so would effect their move towards more democratic policies. Now look at the "paper tiger", in which we must deal with regarding trade and over all world stability. I'm thinking that analogy does not fit well for them.

I extend my compliments to SecDef Gates in his handling of the Walter Reed affair. While we all realize this was a hideous oversight on the part of the Army, namely the CO of Walter Reed, Sec. Gates has given the appearance of holding people accountable which is long overdue in the Bush administration. I sincerely hope this is not window dressing and the injured troops get the proper medical care they so deserve.

Posted by PamB on March 3, 2007 at 07:22 PM

Much to the chagrin, sometimes, of my fellow Democrats, I have been harping on this subject for over three years now. If we can split the Evangelical vote, we'll maintain control of the Congress and the White House for decades to come. There is a lot of common ground such as the minimum wage, the environment, and foreign aid that we can agree on.

rj,

I am confused with the so called Centrist Democrats myself.

There is supposedly New Democrat Coalition

http://www.house.gov/tauscher/ndc/

and DLC
(which is also called New Dems on line)

http://www.ndol.org/

Conservative Democrats called Blue Dog Dems:

http://www.house.gov/ross/BlueDogs/bluedogs.shtml

Blue Dogs are descendants of a 1950s defunct Southern Democratic group once known as the 'Boll Weevils', who played a critical role, in the early 1980s, by supporting President Ronald Reagan's tax cut plan. Well anyway, Boll Weevil is out and Blue Dog is in. Today, the Senate has its very own version of the Blue Dogs, a.k.a. the New Democrat Coalition, which took shape in 1999

http://www.yellowdogdemocrat.com/history.htm

and then there are the Yellow dog Dems

A Yellow Dog Democrat is a staunch loyalist to the Democratic Party. These days, the term is widely recognized as an expression of regard and, as such, it is only used in a manner of praise. Yellow Dog Democrats embody loyalty. This is a trait that should never ever be taken for granted by any Party nor by any individual for that matter. The Democrat Party recognizes this, thus correctly acknowledges the Yellow Dog Democrat as some of their "Best Friends".

http://www.yellowdogdemocrat.com/history.htm

then we have several other Dem groups such as:

New Democrat Network:http://www.ndn.org/

Progressive Democrats of America

http://www.pdamerica.org/

Twenty First Century Democrats:

http://www.21stcenturydems.org/

the emerging Democratic Majority:
http://www.emergingdemocraticmajorityweblog.com/donkeyrising/

and various others like Music row Democrats, Democratic Jewish council, etal.

Much to the chagrin, sometimes, of my fellow Democrats, I have been harping on this subject for over three years now. If we can split the Evangelical vote, we'll maintain control of the Congress and the White House for decades to come. There is a lot of common ground such as the minimum wage, the environment, and foreign aid that we can agree on.
Posted by BobVADemHawk on March 3, 2007 at 08:05 PM

I don't think anyone ever argued with you, did they Bob, that we would take all the Evangelicals that see the light and understand there is more to government leadership than banning gay marriage and stripping women of Roe v Wade. that the Bible says a lot more about helping the poor, the elderly, children, the disabled, than it does about the other areas.

I Welcome them myself.

loggin out a little while.

COULTER FOR PRES

She got big laughs at the conservative's conference for her bigoted "faggot" slur, so anything she says must be a big hit with her fellow bigot idiots. The right wing is losing it, they know nobody in their right mind would want the mantle of darling of the right. Could be that Coulter will get their support for '08, and if not, let's draft her for the Republicans. Start printing those banners and bumper stickers, "Coulter for republican presidential candidate, she speaks our mind!"

ANN COULTER IS GETTING HER AYEZ KICKED RIGHT NOW ON HUFFINGTON POST. LOOK AT THE PICTURE!

Huffington Post

and various others like Music row Democrats, Democratic Jewish council, etal.
****

pam, it is confusing. All in all, progressives seem to like Rush Holt which is why I was surprised that he is listed on the DLC web site (under New Democrats).

I think we need something like a progressive scorecard based on voting records. Though I would want to see exactly how it is scored before I decide to after someone in a primary.

China's "most favored trading status" should have been revoked at minimum ten years ago. This status is reserved to help countries build their economies while adopting more "democratic" values for their people.
****

David, correct! Bernie Sanders has argued this very point for the past several years as has Dennis Kucinich. I believe we get a chance to revoke every year, so let's do it already!

ANN COULTER IS GETTING HER AYEZ KICKED RIGHT NOW ON HUFFINGTON POST. LOOK AT THE PICTURE!
****

Tee, Hee, Hee.

Ann Coulter is a fine representative of Republican thinking.

I say bring the troops home immediately!! NOW!! But when we push for that, and the situation blows up in our face, and you know it will. Posted by davidual

Say wait a minute Bub. I don't what the deal is with you taking the Republican position on everything I post, but it's getting tiring. There's a big difference between demanding "Bring the troops home NOW!" and "Giving Bush whatever he asks for". Don't go changing my words around on me. I don't appreciate it.

Yes indeed, Coulter is a fine representative of Republican thinking. Let her rant away.

Republicans don't believe in any government ... except when it makes them money. Freepers ... boring.

Evangelical’s Focus on Climate Draws Fire of Christian Right
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By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: March 3, 2007

Leaders of several conservative Christian groups have sent a letter urging the National Association of Evangelicals to force its policy director in Washington to stop speaking out on global warming.

The conservative leaders say they are not convinced that global warming is human-induced or that human intervention can prevent it. And they accuse the director, the Rev. Richard Cizik, the association’s vice president for government affairs, of diverting the evangelical movement from what they deem more important issues, like abortion and homosexuality.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/03/us/03evangelical.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

There is a big difference between evangelicals and fundamentalists.

Independent reporting drew Army coverup, secrecy, delays
SHOWCASE | March 02, 2007

Officials in the U.S. military, from the Pentagon on down, tried to thwart reporters for the L.A. Times who uncovered deaths and possible torture of detainees in Afghanistan.

This article will appear in the Spring 2007 issue of Nieman Reports, a quarterly magazine about journalism published by the Nieman Foundation, as part of a collection of articles written by U.S., British, Pakistani and Afghan journalists about their experiences in reporting from Afghanistan. The magazine will be published in late March.

By Craig Pyes
cpyes@cironline.org

http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Showcase.view&showcaseid=60

However, and here's the rub, if Democrats are so offended about Annie calling a hetero "a faggot", then what was the offense? In Annie's own minuscule wisdom she is helping to divide the Democratic party by placing the assumption that Democrats are offended by the GLBT community. Posted by davidual

This is more Bull$#it. The Republicans want to convince all hetero voters that the Dem party is intent on forcing them to turn gay against their will to keep them from voting for them. We're not going to agree with Republican lies about our party.

But on the other hand, the Republic party is the party of perverts so Coulter offending those perverts does not take votes away from the GOP.

Rhamn also say last week that Dems are going to "give" Bush "whatever he asks for for Iraq." So screw the votes who don't like the war (70%).

Posted by Domingo on March 3, 2007 at 06:47 PM,
Domingo,

I'm sorry that you think I'm taking the republican side, or taking your posts out of context, because really I'm doing neither.

I am totally against giving Bush anything he asks for as I think you are as well. I was writing specifically on the political reality of the dilemma in which democrats in the legislature find themselves.

Furthermore, I think Rahm Emmanuel(sp?) could have found a better way to indicate his logic and reasoning with "giving Bush whatever he asks for for Iraq."

"Bring the troops home. NOW!", my words, and "Giving Bush whatever he asks for", Rahm Emmanuals words. At least that is the way I read your post, and yes, it is a big difference, but I no where suggested that you agreed with Emmanual. Again, I was writing about the present dilemma in which democratic legislators find themselves, and apologize if you took my post the wrong way.

bring the troops home immediately!! NOW!! But when we push for that, and the situation blows up in our face,

OK, look, next time don't say "We". Saying "we" includes me in there, and I'm not "pushing" for anything of the kind.

CPAC: Romney Wants Extremist Love (9 comments )

Updated below

I've been highly critical of Romney's campaign for the last four months. I find it tremendously hard to believe that a candidate who was fundraising and voting for Democrats fifteen years ago and arguing that he was to the left of Ted Kennedy would ever be able to secure support from the activist Republican base.

His history and image makes him a ripe target for opposition research and there are just too many videos on YouTube of Romney contradicting himself to believe that people will buy him as a conservative. Frankly, I've been ready to call Romney's candidacy dead for quite some time (the Fox News poll showing him at 3% nationally definitely furthered my thinking on that point).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matt-browner-hamlin/cpac-romney-wants-extrem_b_42516.html

Flip floppy Mitt.

That so?

TPM Reader FF just flagged this article in today's Oregonian. According to the article, Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) was at a Republican conference defending his changed position on Iraq and specifically his opposition to the 'surge'. And in the course of defending himself he said that even Gen. Patraeus says the plan has only a one in four chance of success.
"If you're really going to do a surge, you don't do it with 20,000, you do it with 250,000," he said, noting that Baghdad is a city of nearly 7 million people. But he said the United States cannot afford such a response; instead it has to come from the Iraqi Army.

Smith said he recently spoke with Gen. David Petraeus, the new top military commander in Iraq, who told him the troop surge has only a one in four chance of succeeding.

Anyone follow up with Smith or Petraeus about this?
-- Josh Marshall

(March 03, 2007 -- 06:21 PM EST // link)

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney spends casual moments with Ann Coulter backstage at the CPAC conference moments before Coulter goes on stage to call John Edwards a 'faggot' ...

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/02/coulter-edwards/

New Mexico Republican bigwig on Rep. Heather Wilson (R), the member of Congress at the center of the canned US attorneys scandal. From the Albuquerque Tribune ...
"If I was Heather Wilson, I'd be thinking about taking a long trip to Baghdad, where the conditions are a little more subdued," said former Gov. Dave Cargo.

Cargo, a Republican, was only half-joking.

Claims that Wilson and Domenici pressured Iglesias to bring indictments in a politically charged corruption investigation of local Democrats ahead of last year's election - when Wilson was locked in a battle for her political life - are "terribly serious," Cargo said.

"This has the potential to really cripple the (state) Republican Party," he said. "And the way Heather and Pete are handling it, by essentially taking the Fifth (Amendment), isn't helping them."

Locked in a battle for her political life is right. But I'm not sure how many people outside of New Mexico get that yet.

Impeach Alberto Gonzales
By Big Tent Democrat, Section Other Politics
Posted on Sat Mar 03, 2007 at 04:26:05 PM EST
Tags: (all tags)

Why? How about this?
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has indicated he is too busy to answer letters from Democratic congressional leaders about his firing seven U.S. attorneys involved in probes of public corruption, though a lower-level Justice Department official rejected their proposals.

Contempt of Congress. Issue a formal subpoena to make it official.

This is more Bull$#it. The Republicans want to convince all hetero voters that the Dem party is intent on forcing them to turn gay against their will to keep them from voting for them. We're not going to agree with Republican lies about our party.

Posted by Domingo on March 3, 2007 at 08:46 PM,

WTF!! Do you really believe that a majority of Americans would believe that?

Okay, whatever, I'll sign out so you can $#it down my throat a little more. Enjoy! Thank you, Domingo!! You know, I used to really like your posts, but why you came back in here jumping on me for something I did not do, and then...nevermind...the hell with it...don't even know why I came back to post here. Since the election everybody here seems to think the democratic congress can snap their fingers and the whole campaign agenda will be realized. Thanks again, Domingo, you made me realize that, even though I hold Democratic values dear to my heart, that I do not belong here. Enjoy the trolls, okay!!

The She-Pundit with long blond hair is back in the news. Think Progress reports she called John Edwards "a faggot" at a conservative gathering. Crooks and Liars has the video. Think Progress also notes that Ms. C. has used sexual slurs in the past:

Previously, Coulter has put “even money” on Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) “coming out of the closet,” said Bill Clinton shows “some level of latent homosexuality,” and called Vice President Al Gore a “total fag.”

Human Rights Campaign issued this statement:

“To interject this word into American political discourse is a vile and disgusting way to sink the debate to a new, all-time low,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “Make no doubt about it, these remarks go directly against what our Founding Fathers intended and have no place on the schoolyard, much less our country’s political arena.”

OK, look, next time don't say "We". Saying "we" includes me in there, and I'm not "pushing" for anything of the kind.

Posted by Domingo on March 3, 2007 at 09:09 PM,

I was referring to DEMOCRATS. But you're right I'm a member of the Working Families Party, so I do not belong here. Bye!!

Energy Blast On Capitol Hill

The Apollo Alliance Summit took its campaign for energy independence and good jobs to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, meeting with members of Congress and their staffs and pressing for increased government support of renewable energy.

On the Hill, the Apollo agenda got an embrace from presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton during a lunch-time meeting. It is a "tremendous asset" to bring together "those who care about the environment and those who care about the economy," Clinton told the group.

Clinton promoted her legislation to create a Strategic Energy Fund that would invest in clean technology and boost financial incentives, paid with the record profits of Big Oil: "We have to tell the oil companies to pay or play ... either invest more [on your own,] or pay into a strategic energy fund." She also talked of job-creation efforts in upstate New York involving biofuels, clean coal and green buildings.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/02/27/energy_blast_on_capitol_hill.php

Contempt of Congress, Anyone?
by mcjoan
Sat Mar 03, 2007 at 02:28:38 PM PST

Alberto Gonzales just has too much on his plate to bother with responding to a Democratic Congress, according to Novak:

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has indicated he is too busy to answer letters from Democratic congressional leaders about his firing seven U.S. attorneys involved in probes of public corruption, though a lower-level Justice Department official rejected their proposals.

Rep. Rahm Emanuel, House Democratic Caucus chairman, had written Gonzales two letters suggesting that he name Carol Lam, fired as U.S. attorney in San Diego, as an outside counsel to continue her pursuit of the Duke Cunningham case. Asked by Melissa Charbonneau of the Christian Broadcasting Network about this column’s report that Gonzales did not respond, Gonzales said: "I think that the American people lose if I spend all my time worrying about congressional requests for information, if I spend all my time responding to subpoenas."

That's a novel approach to government. Personally, I think the American people lose if they have an Attorney General who believes himself to be above the law. That's just the kind of attitude than can get an Attorney General impeached.

Bill Would Reform Treatment of Wounded Vets
By Rick Maze
The Army Times

Thursday 01 March 2007

In the wake of the continuing scandal over the housing and medical evaluation process for wounded service members at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, House and Senate Democrats have unveiled a sweeping bill promising comprehensive reforms of how combat veterans and their families are treated.

Called the Dignity for Wounded Warriors Act, the bill would mandate housing standards for the wounded, overhaul disability review boards, require one caseworker for every 20 recovering service members, extend job protections for service members to include family members who are at their side during recovery, demand that an ombudsmen be available around the clock by phone and in any hospital with more than 100 patients, and create a new independent oversight board to monitor how recovering service members are treated.

Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, a Democratic presidential candidate and a Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee member who is the chief sponsor of the bill, said it is designed to "not only fix problems at Walter Reed but improve conditions at other hospitals."

"We think this is a comprehensive bill," he said.

"This is not window dressing," said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., one of the co-sponsors. "This is not a new coat of paint."

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/030207HA.shtml

Most Support Guaranteed US Healthcare
A majority of Americans say the federal government should guarantee health insurance to every American, according to the latest NYT/CBS News poll, and are willing to make tradeoffs – including paying higher annual taxes and forgoing future cuts – to see it happen. Only 24% said they were satisfied with President Bush’s handling of the issue, and 62% said the Democrats were more likely to improve the health care system.
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88% of National Guard Units Rated ‘Not Ready’
Heavy deployments of the National Guard and reserves for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have deepened shortages, forced the cobbling together of units and hurt recruiting, according to a congressional report delivered Thursday, resulting in 88% of all units inside the U.S. rating as “not ready”. State Guard officials say they are unprepared to respond to a large-scale terrorist attack or natural disaster, and the current troop increase in Iraq is expected to require the call-up of as many as four National Guard combat brigades.

Army Fires Walter Reed Commander; Replacement Also Accused of Neglect
Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, the commander of Walter Reed Army Medical Center, was fired yesterday after the Army said it had lost trust and confidence in his leadership in the wake of a scandal over the treatment of wounded troops. Praise for the move was muted, however: Weightman’s temporary replacement, Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley – who has previously run Walter Reed – has also been accused by veterans’ families and advocates of ignoring the same squalid living conditions and bureaucratic problems faced by recovering soldiers.

White House, GOP Threaten to Veto 9/11 Bill Over Workers’ Rights
As the Senate began debating legislation yesterday geared towards implementing many of the stalled recommendations of the 9/11 commission, President Bush warned that he would rather veto the bill than allow union protection to be extended to 45,000 airport workers, as called for by one provision. One day earlier, 36 Senate Republicans promised Bush that they would provide the needed votes to uphold his threatened veto

Fired US Attorney Says Lawmakers Pressured Him to Probe Democrats
David C. Iglesias, the departing U.S. attorney in New Mexico, yesterday added to widespread speculation that his dismissal was politically motivated, saying that two members of Congress attempted to pressure him to speed up a probe of Democrats just before the November elections. Iglesias also responded to claims by the Justice Department his firing was due to performance and attendance issues, countering with his positive job reviews and data showing increasing numbers of prosecutions. He also noted that he is required to serve 40 days a year in the Navy Reserve.

Conservative Group Fined Over Attacks on Kerry
The FEC announced yesterday that its six commissioners had unanimously approved a $750,00 penalty – the third-largest in the commission’s history – against Progress for America Voter Fund, a conservative group that spent millions of dollars in ads against Senator John Kerry in 2004, for the group’s failure to register as a political committee and file disclosure statements.

Hi, everyone.

sandy, don't point those hormones at me i got enough of em around the house here :)...what kinda chow are you going out for??

Posted by gregg on March 3, 2007 at 08:28 PM

gregg,

Sorry I left and didn't get back at you. My husband handed me my coat and said either I got off the damned computer or I had to cook dinner. I got my coat and sombrero pronto.

We went to our favorite Mexican joint...the perfect place for a cold, windy night. They had a band and the fireplace going. A pitcher of margaritas warmed up our insides.

rjsnj,

Looks like you are holding down the fort. Give me a few minutes to look over what's on your mind tonight.

meanwhile down at the halls of justice:

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March 4, 2007
A New Mystery to Prosecutors: Their Lost Jobs
By DAVID JOHNSTON, ERIC LIPTON and WILLIAM YARDLEY

This article is by David Johnston, Eric Lipton and William Yardley.

WASHINGTON, March 3 — After Daniel G. Bogden got the call in December telling him that he was being dismissed as the United States attorney in Nevada, he pressed for an explanation.

Mr. Bogden, who was named the top federal prosecutor in Nevada in 2001 after 11 years of working his way up at the Justice Department, asked an official at the agency’s headquarters if the firing was related to his performance or to that of his office. “That didn’t enter into the equation,” he said he was told.

After several more calls, Mr. Bogden reached a senior official who offered an answer. “There is a window of opportunity to put candidates into an office like mine,” Mr. Bogden said, recalling the conversation. “They were attempting to open a slot and bring someone else in.”

The ouster of Mr. Bogden and seven other United States attorneys has set off a furor in Washington that took the Bush administration by surprise.

Summoning five of the dismissed prosecutors for hearings on Tuesday, the newly empowered Congressional Democrats have charged that the mass firing is a political purge, intended to squelch corruption investigations or install less independent-minded successors.

Interviews with several of the prosecutors, Justice Department officials, lawmakers and others provide new details and a fuller picture of the events behind the dismissals. Like Mr. Bogden, some prosecutors believe they were forced out for replacements who could gild résumés; several heard that favored candidates had been identified.

Other prosecutors may have been vulnerable because they had had run-ins with the Justice Department, not over corruption cases against Republicans, but on less visible issues.

Paul Charlton in Arizona, for example, annoyed Federal Bureau of Investigation officials by pushing for confessions to be tape-recorded, while John McKay in Seattle had championed a computerized law enforcement information-sharing system that Justice Department officials did not want. Carol C. Lam of San Diego, who successfully prosecuted former Representative Randy Cunningham, had drawn complaints that she was not sufficiently aggressive on immigration cases.

Justice Department officials deny that the dismissals were politically motivated or that the action resulted from White House pressure.

Brian Roehrkasse, an agency spokesman, said, “These decisions were based on the individual concerns about each U.S. attorney’s overall performance. This included performance concerns about ineffectively prosecuting departmental priority areas, failure to follow departmental guidelines, or just overall concerns about an ability to lead and effectively manage a U.S. attorney’s office.”

United States attorneys have four-year terms but can be removed at any time, and for almost any reason.

But across the country, legal and public officials have expressed dismay over the firings. In Western Michigan, for example, lawyers and a federal judge came to the defense of Margaret M. Chiara, the United States attorney there, saying she was well regarded.

“It just doesn’t look right,” said James S. Brady, who was United States attorney in Western Michigan during the Carter administration. “It compromises the credibility that justice is being dealt with fairly and impartially. There is a fear that politics have entered in life and death situations.”

Discussions began in October at the Justice Department about removing prosecutors who were considered flawed or deficient in carrying out administration policy by law enforcement officials, lawmakers and others, several officials said. The White House eventually approved the list and helped notify Republican lawmakers before the Dec. 7 dismissals, officials said.

While Justice Department officials expected that top assistant prosecutors in each office would probably fill the jobs initially, the officials said they had not chosen permanent successors. However, officials knew that if the replacements were to have a substantial tenure before Mr. Bush left office, they needed to be named quickly.

The list of prosecutors who were targets was approved by Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and the deputy attorney general, Paul J. McNulty, the day-to-day manager of the Justice Department since he was appointed in the fall of 2005.

Under Mr. Gonzales, Mr. McNulty has become a powerful deputy with a wide-ranging portfolio. He was a United States attorney in Virginia, but he worked in Congress for more than a decade and was once legal counsel to the House majority leader. He is regarded in legal circles as more attuned to policy and politics than his predecessor, James B. Comey, a former career prosecutor in New York.

That leadership change may explain the removal of prosecutors who had mostly been in place since the start of the Bush administration.

“I and my colleagues are the same people in December of 2006 that we were in 2001,” said one former prosecutor who would speak only on the condition of anonymity. “The only thing that has changed is the administration of the Department of Justice. We were making the same arguments and the same points before.”

Justice Department officials, who would speak about the department’s decision making only anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss personnel matters publicly, now acknowledge that the dismissals were mishandled. They failed to anticipate how much attention the highly unusual group firing would draw, and the agency’s contradictory accounts about whether the dismissals were performance-related helped spur suspicions.

In one case, they said that they were unaware of concerns by United States Attorney David C. Iglesias of New Mexico, which he has expressed publicly in recent days, about being pressured by two Republican lawmakers to rush indictments before last November’s elections in a contract kickback investigation involving a former state Democratic official. New Mexico has three Republicans in Congress; Representative Steve Pearce has said he did not call Mr. Iglesias, while aides to Senator Pete V. Domenici and Representative Heather A. Wilson have said they would not comment.

The Justice Department still appears to have an uphill battle in convincing lawmakers that its actions were justified. Several Congressional officials who have been briefed on the decision making said they were not persuaded that the firings were a well intended if botched effort to oust a few problem prosecutors among the country’s 93 United States attorneys.

Some said they suspected that the administration hoped to install its favorites in the jobs, as they did when J. Timothy Griffin, a prosecutor who had worked for Karl Rove, the White House political adviser, was chosen as the temporary replacement for H. E. Cummins III of Arkansas. Mr. Cummins was told last summer to step down after Harriet E. Miers, the former White House counsel, met with Mr. Gonzales’s staff on Mr. Griffin’s behalf.

Even Republicans who are generally supportive of the administration expressed skepticism about the Justice Department’s explanations.

Former Senator Slade Gorton of Washington said, “The administration has a perfect right to ask people to leave and appoint other ones just because they want turnover.”

But he said he was unhappy that Mr. McKay, the Seattle prosecutor, was dismissed. He was very effective, Mr. Gorton said, and it was a mistake for the Justice Department to characterize the firing as performance related.

Mr. McKay, who is among the ousted prosecutors who have been summoned to testify before Congress, has said little about his dismissal. In interviews this week, officials in Seattle said he was a strong advocate for the expansion of law enforcement powers under the USA Patriot Act and a determined prosecutor who reorganized the office and allowed senior assistants to focus on complex cases.

“Institutions need to go through a period of renewal to be energized,” said Norm Maleng, the King County prosecuting attorney. “That’s what John did. He took it to a higher level.”

Jeffrey C. Sullivan, who served as chief of criminal investigations under Mr. McKay and hopes to succeed him, said he was asked by the Justice Department to describe how the office had enacted “the attorney general’s priorities.” He said he responded that Mr. McKay created drug and gang task forces and pursued antiterrorism initiatives.

Mr. McKay had led efforts to start a computer system allowing law enforcement officials in the Seattle region to collect and analyze crime data. The program helped make him popular in local law enforcement circles, but his associates believed that Justice Department and F.B.I. officials in Washington objected, believing that such efforts should be undertaken on the national level.

Many Republicans and law enforcement officials in Washington say they are puzzled about the dismissal of Mr. McKay, whose brother is a former United States attorney in Seattle who was the state vice chairman of Mr. Bush’s 2004 campaign.

Chris Vance, a former chairman of the state Republican Party, said some conservative activists were upset when Mr. McKay did not pursue a voter fraud investigation after a close election for governor was won by a Democrat in 2004, but that none of them had influence with the White House. Mr. Vance said in consulting with national party leaders at the time, Mr. McKay was not mentioned.

“They never said to me, ‘Why isn’t John McKay doing something?’ ” he said. “That never came up.”

Justice Department officials said they regarded Mr. Bogden as competent but insufficiently aggressive, although they acknowledge that his removal was a tough call.

Mr. Bogden, whose last day was Wednesday, remains bitter about his dismissal. A Justice Department official said Mr. Bogden’s conversation with the agency official who told him he was being moved out to make way for someone new was an effort to express sympathy for his situation, not an indication that his successor had already been chosen.

“You would think that you would be evaluated on your record, what your office has been able to achieve and what you have been able to accomplish as a United States attorney,” Mr. Bogden said. “You hear something like that, there is a sense of disbelief.”

David Johnston and Eric Lipton reported from Washington, and William Yardley from Seattle.

this should provide lots of laughs as the months roll by. will the republicans run a new york quasi liberal for president? boy the religious nuts must be losing their minds watching this train wreck coming down the tracks right at them...

Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 4, 2007; Page A01

The 2008 presidential campaign is just weeks old, but already an article of faith within the Republican Party -- the belief that no politician who favors abortion rights and gay rights can win the GOP nomination -- is being challenged by the candidacy of former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.

rjsnj,

Looks like "support the troops" is going to haunt the GOP. This Walter Reed scandal is just the latest in a series of hypocritical Republican behavior to be exposed to voters. It's like a slow drip, drip, drip that started out as a leak and has now become a constant stream.

Ann Coulter's latest remark was almost like an exclamation point punctuating a growing credibility problem for the GOP.

Once the milk sours nobody wants to keep it in their refrigerator.

great lunar eclipse here in the northeast tonight. a real treat.

LONDON, England (AP) -- A dark red shadow crept across the moon Saturday during the first total lunar eclipse in nearly three years, thrilling stargazers and astronomers around the world.

Partly visible on every continent, residents of Europe, Africa and the Middle East had the best view of the phenomenon, weather permitting.

About a dozen people gathered at the Croydon Observatory in southeast London to watch the start of the eclipse.

"It's starting to go!" said Alex Gikas, 8, a Cub Scout who was studying for his astronomy badge. "I've never seen anything like it before. I'm really excited."

By the time greatest eclipse, shortly after 5:44 p.m. ET, the light of the full moon was replaced by near-total obscurity.

"It was really very dark," said Paul Harper, Chairman of the Croydon Astronomical Society, who estimated that moon had lost over four-fifths of its luminosity. "It was quite a nice one."

Lunar eclipses occur when Earth passes between the sun and the moon, an uncommon event because the moon spends most of its time either above or below the plane of Earth's orbit.

Sunlight still reaches the moon during total eclipses, but it is refracted through Earth's atmosphere, bathing the moon in an eerie reddish light.

Mike Ealay, a 60-year-old architect, said the deep red color of the moon made it look like a close-up version of Mars.

"I think it's quite exciting. It's like having the red planet on your doorstep," he said.

Despite cloudy conditions over much of Europe, a variety of Webcasts carried the event live, and astronomers urged the public not to miss out on the spectacle.

"It's not an event that has any scientific value, but it's something everybody can enjoy," said Robert Massey, of Britain's Royal Astronomical Society.

The moon's red blush faded as it began moving out of Earth's shadow just after 8 p.m. ET. The eclipse ended a little more than hour later.

Residents of east Asia saw the eclipse cut short by moonset, while those in the eastern parts of North and South America had the moon already partially or totally eclipsed by the time it rose over the horizon in the evening.

While eastern Australia, Alaska and New Zealand missed Saturday's show, they will have front-row seats to the next total lunar eclipse, on August 28.

sandy what kind of chow did you go out for?

I wanted to reply to Ann "NUT -CASE" Coulter remarks about John Edwards.I have only one thing to say "I would call you a lesbian but that would be an insult to all lesbians" . My Democratic copatriots I think we should find Ann"NUT-CASE"Coulter publisher and picket that person's house ,that person's place of employment , and even the restaurants and other establishments this person frequents until this person fires Ann"NUT-CASE" Coulter and puts her on some kind of Blacklist so that she never is taken seriously by anyone ever again. Oh, and futhermore where is Hillary and Barack on this issue I have not heard from them yet hmmmmm. FIRE LISA MOODY.IMPEACH RELL!

this is a really good piece on the honorable mr. gates written by special prosecutor walsh. my guess is gates is being a tough guy because he wants to make a name for himself while at the same time not really being associated with the clowns in the white house. i mean where was the rummy team on the walter reed/veterans abuse case for six years??

Lies, Cover Ups and Slanted Intelligence
Robert Gates and Iran/Contra

By LAWRENCE E. WALSH

The day after Clair George's arraignment, we turned to Robert Gates. The Senate intelligence committee's hearings on his appointment to head the CIA were scheduled to begin within a few days. Craig Gillen and I met the committee's chairman, David Boren, and ranking minority member, Frank Murkowski, and staff counsel in Boren's office. Reiterating what I had already told Boren, we said that two questions had not been answered satisfactorily: Had Gates falsely denied knowledge of Oliver North's Contra-support activities? Had Gates falsely postdated his first knowledge of North's diversion of arms sale proceeds to the Contras?

We then described what our investigation had turned up about Gates. Alan Fiers had told us that he had kept Gates generally informed of his Contra-support activities, through written reports and regular face-to-face presentations, although his oral reports had been guarded because Gates had not always had a note-taker present. The CIA now claimed it could not find the notes of these meetings.

We said that Richard Kerr, the CIA's deputy director for intelligence, had informed Gates in August 1986 of Charles Allen's belief that North had diverted funds from the Iranian arms sales for the benefit of the Contras; Allen himself had told Gates the same thing in early October. Allen had told us that Gates, who had appeared irritated, had told Allen to write a memorandum for CIA director William Casey and had said that he did not want to hear about North. To us and to the congressional committees, Gates had denied having any recollection of either conversation. Whenever questioned, Gates had always claimed that he had first learned of Allen's concern about the diversion on the day after Eugene Hasenfus was shot down. Gates said that he and Allen had then reported this to Casey, who told them that he had just received much the same information from another source.

That day, according to North and Gates, Casey had invited North to lunch in his office, which was next to Gates's office. Gates had joined them, and according to North, had heard Casey tell North to clean up the Ilopango operation. North claimed that he had then begun to destroy records. Gates claimed not to remember the discussion of North's Nicaraguan activities. Although he had heard North mention Swiss accounts, Gates said, he had not understood the reference. He claimed to have been in and out of the room. All he remembered, he said, was that North had told him that the CIA was completely clean regarding the Contra-support operation.

We suggested to the senators that they specifically request the notes of Fiers's reports to Gates. We told them that we did not think we had enough corroborating information to indict Robert Gates, but that his answers to these questions had been unconvincing. We did not believe that he could have forgotten a warning of North's diversion of the arms sale proceeds to the Contras. The mingling of two covert activities that were of intense personal interest to the president was not something the second-highest officer in the CIA would forget. Moreover, Gates had received the same reliable contemporaneous intelligence reports about North's activities that Charles Allen had. The information suggesting that North had overcharged the Iranians would surely have caught the attention of anyone as astute as Gates.

gates in two acts

Posted by gregg on March 3, 2007 at 11:14 PM

gregg,

So the White House was shocked? I was wondering what it would take to make them realize that they aren't the only ones who can sit in the front of the bus.

Life just got a lot more complicated for the man who would be king.

the plot thickens at walter reed. seems abusive care of wounded veterans heavily amplified by privatization crooks. the republican piglets leave no stone unturned in their efforts to fill their fat little bellies:

from du, the source they link to has been decomished somehow:

Walter Reed was privatized by Halliburton subsidiary
The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has subpoenaed Maj. Gen. George Weightman, who was fired as head of Walter Reed Army Medical Center, after Army officials refused to allow him to testify before the committee Monday.

Committee Chairman Henry Waxman and subcommittee Chairman John Tierney asked Weightman to testify about an internal memo that showed privatization of services at Walter Reed could put "patient care services... at risk of mission failure." ...

The memorandum "describes how the Army's decision to privatize support services at Walter Reed Army Medical Center was causing an exodus of 'highly skilled and experienced personnel,'" the committee's letter states. "According to multiple sources, the decision to privatize support services at Walter Reed led to a precipitous drop in support personnel at Walter Reed."

The letter said Walter Reed also awarded a five-year, $120-million contract to IAP Worldwide Services, which is run by Al Neffgen, a former senior Halliburton official.

They also found that more than 300 federal employees providing facilities management services at Walter Reed had drooped to fewer than 60 by Feb. 3, 2007, the day before IAP took over facilities management. IAP replaced the remaining 60 employees with only 50 private workers.

so this must be the creature that was around when pat robertson's great grandfather was farming trilobites:

Museum IDs New Species of Dinosaur

- - - - - - - - - - - -

March 03,2007 | CLEVELAND -- A new dinosaur species was a plant-eater with yard-long horns over its eyebrows, suggesting an evolutionary middle step between older dinosaurs with even larger horns and the small-horned creatures that followed, experts said.

The dinosaur's horns, thick as a human arm, are like those of triceratops -- which came 10 million years later. However, this animal belonged to a subfamily that usually had bony nubbins a few inches long above their eyes.

Michael Ryan, curator of vertebrate paleontology for the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, published the discovery in this month's Journal of Paleontology. He dug up the fossil six years ago in southern Alberta, Canada, while a graduate student for the University of Calgary.

"Unquestionably, it's an important find," said Peter Dodson, a University of Pennsylvania paleontologist. "It was sort of the grandfather or great-uncle of the really diverse horned dinosaurs that came after it."

Ryan named the new dinosaur Albertaceratops nesmoi, after the region and Cecil Nesmo, a rancher near Manyberries, Alberta, who has helped fossil hunters.

The creature was about 20 feet long and lived 78 million years ago.

The oldest known horned dinosaur in North America is called Zuniceratops. It lived 12 million years before Ryan's find, and also had large horns.

That makes the newly found creature an intermediate between older forms with large horns and later small-horned relatives, said State of Utah paleontologist Jim Kirkland, who with Douglas Wolfe identified Zuniceratops in New Mexico in 1998. He predicted then that something like Ryan's find would turn up.

"Lo and behold, evolutionary theory actually works," he said.

On the Net:

Cleveland Museum: http://www.cmnh.org/

Posted by gregg on March 3, 2007 at 11:23 PM

Mexican. See my remarks above at 10:18 PM. So the eclipse was pretty? I live too far west and the sky was cloudy.

ah sandy good mexican food and drinks. excellent. i did get a great view of the later part of the eclipse. this stuff always makes me happy for some reason. as do turtles...any time i see a turtle in the natural world i feel good...anyhow here is a good shot of the eclipse from someone in germany who posted it at spaceweather.com. i'm off to bed so i'll see you all in the morning:

moon pretending to be the red planet mars

Gates is running for president?

It does not suprise me what Ann Coulter said but what did suprise me though is that none of the Republican presidental canidates denounced what she said. It just shows you how right-wingers really think

the following article demonstrates that currently this country has no leadership capable of coming up with a plan for how anything meaningful can be done to slow down climate change for the next 5 YEARS!
therefore i think we can state with certainty that there is reason for the current squatters in the white house to be evicted immediately and replaced with people who can. it is time to either recall or impeach or just plain drag off to the stockade the whole gaggle of cretins. clearly this is not an easy problem to bring creativity and progress to but from cheney's energy task force on it has been evident that having these shitheads working on it is counter productive. finally they admit there is a problem but....they don't have a plan for addressing it AT ALL!!

U.S. report sees steady rate of emissions
Fri Mar 2, 2007 11:51PM EST
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Bush administration estimates in a report being completed for the United Nations that U.S. emissions of gases that contribute to global warming will grow in the next decade at a rate nearly equal to that of the past 10 years, The New York Times reported in Saturday editions.

According to the United States Climate Action Report, a copy of which was obtained by the newspaper, the administration's climate policy will result in emissions growing 11 percent in 2012 from 2002, compared with an 11.6 rate in the past decade, the Times said, citing the Environmental Protection Agency.

The report, which is more than a year late, also describes growing risks to water supplies, coasts and ecosystems around the country from anticipated temperature and precipitation changes driven by the buildup of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the Times said.

cnn has a nice story about our friend ann. and it has this delightful photo of her doing her best meth head, baby eater schtick:

Coulter drops f-bomb onto political battlefield
POSTED: 4:24 a.m. EST, March 4, 2007

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Prominent politicians from both parties and a gay-rights group on Saturday condemned right-wing commentator Ann Coulter for her reference Friday to Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards as a "faggot."

ann makes the conservative convention all about herself, love it!

ok, I am not even going to acknowledge the name of the skanky ho. ignore her and she will go away. and I do my fair share of name calling amd yelling on this blog and others. but I am just a poor angry confused citizen trying to be heard. if I was a PAID journalist speaking to a large group of liberals, I could manage to compose myself much better than she did. and Howard was right to ask for an apology. and as for Howard Dean not doing enough for gay people ARE YOU FREAKIN CRAZY!!??? He was the first to legalize gay unions in Vermont. he put his ass on the line in 2004 to help gay people. we cannot start the conversation with gay marraige. how about some basic hate crime laws? how about stopping discrimination in the workplace? the right is making gay marraige the topic of conversation. most Dems have said they are ok with civil unions but not marraige. not at this point anyway. I am sympathetic to the way gay people are demonized. I hate it. look at some of the stuff on my website. Jerry Falwell is an ignorant hateful pig. but there is also a war going on and hundreds of people are dying every day. we all have issues that are important to us but getting out of Iraq should be at the top of everyone's list.

Looks like "support the troops" is going to haunt the GOP. This Walter Reed scandal is just the latest in a series of hypocritical Republican behavior to be exposed to voters. It's like a slow drip, drip, drip that started out as a leak and has now become a constant stream.
****

Hi Sandy,

Got tired of holding down the fort ...

The GOP doesn't support the troops. They never have. They use the troops to advance the interest of the corporations.

Morning, Dems. I'm hoping I have the right thread. Al's Sunday morning lineup from kos:

This Week: Chuck Schumer vs Trent Lott on Cheney’s saber rattling, the quagmires, the ‘08 campaign, and how Bush’s VA craps on returning veterans.
Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson explains how Bush's recent visit to the NYSE jinxed the market and triggered this week’s crash.

CNN: Presidential candidates Chris Dodd vs Imperial Wizard Tom Tancredo
Baghdad Amb Zal Khalilzad and the latest US commander in Iraq, Gen Odierno.

60 Minutes: A feature on the canine activism of "The Simpsons" co-creator, Sam Simon.
The financial solvency of Medicare.

Jihadists use of the internet.

MTP: Jack Murtha vs Lindsey Graham.
Then, John Harwood and Eugene Robinson report on Obama’s surge and McCain’s free fall.

Face the Nation: Carl Levin vs Lieberman

Fox: Charlie Rangel.
Lastly, Diane Fi and Pete Hoekstra

Morning, Dems. I'm hoping I have the right thread. Al's Sunday morning lineup from kos:
****

Mornin Cyn_NY. This is about as good as it gets for a weekend open thread. The Froday thread got way too long.

Let's see ... will I watch any of that? MTP for awhile ... I can't stomach Lindsay Graham though.

I think the Dems sold Murtha out. At least, that's how it appears thus far. The good news is that the progressive caucus isn't going to take it without a fight.

Did you all notice this blog entry on KOS:

Contempt of Congress, Anyone?
by mcjoan
Sat Mar 03, 2007 at 02:28:38 PM PST

Alberto Gonzales just has too much on his plate to bother with responding to a Democratic Congress, according to Novak:

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has indicated he is too busy to answer letters from Democratic congressional leaders about his firing seven U.S. attorneys involved in probes of public corruption, though a lower-level Justice Department official rejected their proposals.

Rep. Rahm Emanuel, House Democratic Caucus chairman, had written Gonzales two letters suggesting that he name Carol Lam, fired as U.S. attorney in San Diego, as an outside counsel to continue her pursuit of the Duke Cunningham case. Asked by Melissa Charbonneau of the Christian Broadcasting Network about this column’s report that Gonzales did not respond, Gonzales said: "I think that the American people lose if I spend all my time worrying about congressional requests for information, if I spend all my time responding to subpoenas."

That's a novel approach to government. Personally, I think the American people lose if they have an Attorney General who believes himself to be above the law. That's just the kind of attitude than can get an Attorney General impeached.

the following article demonstrates that currently this country has no leadership capable of coming up with a plan for how anything meaningful can be done to slow down climate change for the next 5 YEARS!
****

gregg, I think the real action is taking place in the states and cities across the country. We have logjam in Washington, DC because of the corporate lobbyists.

Morning, rj. Thanks for validating the thread. And, I agree with you about Murtha. Politics has morphed into polls, images and media distortion. When will politicians listen to the voters??

esmeralda,

I find it interesting that you feel compelled to defend Kenneth Blackwell but anyway.

I suppose you also disagree with Conyer's report that the 2004 elections, particularly in Ohio, were fishy to say the leas?

Do you think it;s okay to purposely provide far less voting machines than an area needs?

Do you think these hackable paperless ballot machines are really okay?

Say what you will about Bev Harris and blackbox voting organization but I think Americans have their heads in the sand on voting. The way tryanny operates is to rig elections. So far, I don't think that a large fraud has been committed but how hard is it to steal 100,000 votes in a state such as Ohio. That was the margin of victory for Bush.

Taken over by the states? They are already run by the states. At best we have these loose standards from the Feds that don't help very much ... ie HAVA.

I am glad that some politicians take voting seriously. Holt is still moving aheaf on his legislation. I see no reason why we can't have strong and enforceable standards on voting.

Posted by rjsnj on March 3, 2007 at 10:59 AM

I'm not defending blackwell, I do know he nor any of his staff had hands on any machines. He used a very borderline ethically campaign strategy to sway voters on the same sex marriage proposal. No, homosexuals are not wedge issues, but homosexuallity was used in 11 states to stir those who have no acceptance within them.

I don't agree with blackwells politics, I don't believe in his using faith intitatives to further his cause (lining his already hefty portfolio), nor can I stand to listen to him drone on when speaking. He was a worthless Sec. of State, and did not provide a speck of leadership in elections.

As far as Conyer's report, I agree with most. Please, don't ask me to report on which I do/don't.

Working in elections for 15 years, I know how and why machines are distributed. When we used punch cards, we usually went by the last comparable election turnout. The costs associated with printing the ballots were high, and they aren't printed in house...usually sent away, far across the state. We disliked having to send out a large amount of votomatics with the little old ladies who would work at the polls. I could go on & on & on...now OH has been directed to have 1 machine for every 150 registered voters in that precinct. With voters moving and not changing their address, it causes provisional balloting that takes a while to complete the necessary paperwork, thus, longer lines. And with the new voter i.d. provision, even more time. VOTER EDUCATION would be a wonderful thing!

Paperless ballots? Not here in OH. We have VVPAT. voter verifiable paper audit trail.

I dislike the touch screens and would love to go optical scan, vote by mail.

States give guidance, it's each county that does it's elections. I'm talking a take over by the feds completely. Don't you just love how they handle everything else in our lives.

I would love some workable standards as well.

;)

Good morning to everyone. I've really gone over my alloted time. We're off to the capitol to partake of a late morning/afternoon of visiting the Central Ohio Home & Garden Show

Enjoy your Slacker Sunday, everyone.

good morning folks. went back to sleep after my 6am rants.
rjsnj, i agree that the creative work on pollution is all happening at the state level and overseas but we need the federal gument to get on the ball and real fast. i am hoping pelosi and friends will do so. as for lobbyists they will pimp for clean air if that is where the money is.

morning cyn, hope you and family are doing as well as you can.

esmeralda, has the car port or extension or whatever it is job started?

sadie, welcome aboard.

States give guidance, it's each county that does it's elections. I'm talking a take over by the feds completely. Don't you just love how they handle everything else in our lives.
****

esmeralda,

Clearly, you know alot about the subject matter. I defer to your knowledge on the Ohio voting process.

Am I nervous that the Feds would take over the voting process?

Yes and No. On one level centralizing the process could make it that much more subject to calculated fraud. On the other hand, centralizing the process may make it simpler to verify that standards really are being followed.

For now, I prefer tougher voting standards and tougher voting enforcement. I would keep the implementation of the process at the county level.

must hit the gym. will watch bobble heads from tread mill.

I haven't had a chance to read all of the postings, so I hope this is not too much of a repeat of what has already been said.

What is happening to our great nation when someone like Ann Coulter who obviously shows no core values in the way she speaks and conducts herself in public is even listened to? It's sad to see someone like her is making a living out of making shoddy statements while some of us are working in the trenches and struggling to make a living through honest work.

morning all.

unfortunetly kansas teacher, Hate sells, that is why we have radios blaring it all day long, too.

That is ALL that Republicans have. try and get the public to hate, and they will reject Democrats.

HOT off the press: Republicans were so enthusiastic in their support of Ann Coulter's remarks at their conference, they've decided to forego the primarys and nominate her for republican party president in '08. VP running mate David Duke said, "Our campaign slogan is: We need a maggot in the White House, not a faggot." Campaign manager Jerry Falwell says they will conduct an anti-abortion, anti-tax, anti-civil rights, anti-judiciary, anti-environment, anti-immigration, anti-middle class campaign that will stand for nothing and appeal to his Christian constituency.

((((( CSpan To Cover Barack Obama in Selma Today At 12:30 EST. )))))

((((( CSpan To Cover Barack Obama in Selma Today At 12:30 EST. )))))

((((( CSpan To Cover Barack Obama in Selma Today At 12:30 EST. )))))

((((( CSpan To Cover Barack Obama in Selma Today At 12:30 EST. )))))

((((( CSpan To Cover Barack Obama in Selma Today At 12:30 EST. )))))

((((( CSpan To Cover Barack Obama in Selma Today At 12:30 EST. )))))

Well I trued watching Timmah Russert. As soon as that jerk Lindsey Graham came on, I couldn't stand it and immediately shut it off.

Here we are four years into this Iraq debacle and we still are getting meaningless rhethoric from the Republican party.

Okay, Lindsey if I was in the Senate/House and you challenged me to cut off the funding that's exactly what I would do. I would also pass a resolution to redeploy all troops out of Iraq now!

So, what will the Dems do? It appears to me that they will do absolutely nothing. Is there any point in watching this crap anymore?

What is happening to our great nation when someone like Ann Coulter who obviously shows no core values in the way she speaks and conducts herself in public is even listened to?
****

Coulter == GOP values!

That is ALL that Republicans have. try and get the public to hate, and they will reject Democrats.
****

Pam, all the Republicans can do is get on TV and argue for another surge. What is this surge number 20 or is it 21? These damn fool Republicans think they are fooling us with this bluster that the Democrats should bring a bill to the floor to defund Iraq. Okay, let's do it! They think that will back us into a corner. Not me, that is exactly what I want.

Fund a redeployment and health care benefits for vets. That's it. Enough of Americans dying for Halliburton and Exxon-Mobil. Enough of Americans and Iraqis dying to make Dick Cheney rich. Enough of this nonsense.

(There is a Sunday Open Thread).

rj, The wimpy Dems are so afraid the Repugs will paint them as anti-troops, they back off defunding. Instead of coming out with a Press conference, laying out the facts and telling the American public (who voted to get us the hell out of there), that the Republicans have made it impossible to stop this without cutting off the money and so they will cut off the money.

this is a good article:

Antiwar Caucus Wants to Be Heard Now

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/030407Z.shtml

Fairly typical....Don't discuss the facts of whether Edwards is gay or not....attack the discussion with words like hate-filled....
I think it is important to know whether the candidate for leader of the free world has a sexual orientation that doesn't reflect my own.

Let’s see, the democratic party has Edwards (sexual orientation out with the judges “Bring him home early, guys”), the meanest and most distrusted woman on the planet (sexual orientation also questionable), a Muslim who cannot be expected to value Christianity, and the quality of the candidates goes down from there.

Here’s hoping God is looking over us this next election; we’re going to have the greatest attack on “Family Values” ever.

Fairly typical....Don't discuss the facts of whether Edwards is gay or not....attack the discussion with words like hate-filled....
I think it is important to know whether the candidate for leader of the free world has a sexual orientation that doesn't reflect my own.

Let’s see, the democratic party has Edwards (sexual orientation out with the judges “Bring him home early, guys”), the meanest and most distrusted woman on the planet (sexual orientation also questionable), a Muslim who cannot be expected to value Christianity, and the quality of the candidates goes down from there.

Here’s hoping God is looking over us this next election; we’re going to have the greatest attack on “Family Values” ever.

Yet another indication that the far-right has taken the soul of the GOP. It's unfortunate that the party of Lincoln and progressives like Teddy Roosevelt has devolved into a party that draws its strength on hate, fear and loathing.

The far-right cannot understand that the issue here is not a person's sexual orientation, but rather one of slander, lies and maliciously impugning the character of people....a tact that they have become experts in over the last couple of decades. To deflect the shamelessness of their behavior, they try to turn the issue back to supposed sexual orientation, with the self-righteous rigidity of their morality.

Ironically, Christians are named after the the Son of God, Christ, who practiced love and forgiveness. Christ's legacy of love and forgiveness is the embodiment of the New Testament, meant to convey God's new covenant with man. Christ would teach love, compassion and forgiveness to homosexuals, not hate and condemnation. Indeed, the far-right Christians espouse more of the Old Testament, which conveys the emotions of a more judgmental and vengeful God. In an even more ironic twist, the teachings in the Old Testament mirror the teachings of Judism, which many in the far-right Christian community view with suspicion at best, and at worst condemn.

This dual irony illustrates that the far-right is less about bringing Christ-like values than it is about gaining and maintaining power. However, the veneer of morality is starting to wear off of the far-right, and middle America is beginning to see the beast for what it is. It is incumbent on the Dems to continue to expose this facade and restore balance to politics and public policy. The far-right will respond with increasing vile and vituperations, because this exposure will erode their basis of power. However, reasonable people must hold firm and repudiate the far-right to bring back common sense to America and to build a renaissance of American leadership and credibility in the world.

BillyCornCob -

You sure do a lot of questioning of sexual orientation.

I'm guessing this comes from a lifetime of cruising.

Or perhaps you're arguing for same-sex marriage. Just think - if we could get it approved in your state you could spend less time worrying about everyone else's sexual orientation and work out your own ambiguities.

The only people that are offended by Ann Coulters remarks are faggots and politically correct thinking people, radical Democrats in both cases. The Republicans will lose no ground by Coulter's remarks and they probably will pick up some votes from the middle.

Posted by PerryWhite on March 3, 2007 at 08:30 PM

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

Although I do not agree with your premise, I agree with your conclusion. In my experience, Democrats underestimate the amount of people who think like Coulter thinks to thier own peril.

PerryWhite -

I'm trying to imagine an undecided "resident" of the political "middle" trying to decide how to vote.

"Let's see. Do I vote for a George Bush supporter or a liberal Democrat? Gee. I just can't make up my mind. They're so similar."

"Oh wait...now that I've listened to this nauseating, transgender stick figure spew homophobic puke like a crazed crack pipe street whore, I think I'll vote for John McCain. And I'll but her book, too"

Yup. You're right. Ann Coulter is the Democratic Party's worst nightmare.

Please send her some money. no...lots of money. Tell her to keep it up.

Thanks, on behalf of all of us.

I'm so sorry.

I'd like to apologize to decent transgenders everywhere for my mistype in the previous post. I did not mean to characterize Ann Coulter as a transgender.

I meant trans-species. Surely there is some monitor lizard mixed in there.

Your guess as to what the other species is.

esmeralda, has the car port or extension or whatever it is job started?

Posted by gregg on March 4, 2007 at 08:46 AM

If you're reading through the jungle.

Breezeway

All snowmen tucked away til next December. Furnishings put in basement. Brick planter that had 6 wheelbarrows of dirt inside got shoveled out & hauled around the fence for good fill. Smashed the brick planter down & used for fill as well. Took up in/out door carpeting. Tore all redwood siding down from walls, leaving insulated sheeting.

What's next?

New doors & windows, cut out kitchen wall - make bar, drywall, run duct work from basement furnace to breezeway.

That will be plenty for now.

Have a great night.

Anne Coulter needs to get laid. What a dumb biznatch. It used to bother me when stupid people like that came out and said such things. Now I just think, they are just bored, hateful people. They're really fricken pathetic.

Cheers

How can the Democratic National Committee find out if the GOP previews people’s speeches before their appearance at these national televised meetings of theirs? Could the GOP have previewed, endorsed and promoted this language of Ms. Coulter’s?

Whether or not the GOP knew the hate word was coming, just inviting Democratic-basher Ann Coulter to speak at any public meeting has the same effect of the GOP spinning the gender rights of people who happen to be gay to drowned out the equal and Civil Rights of every American.

While all the Democratic Presidential Candidates have many positive attributes to offer the public, it is notable that John Edwards is the candidate remembered the most for speaking up for workers rights and the working poor. So I think their was no coincidence that this attack of Ann Coulter's on John Edwards was meant to attack the National Democratic Party itslef for speaking up for U.S. Citizens rights, alone!

Ann Coulter sheepishly follows the GOP’s Republican agenda in putting down Democratic leaders for simply speaking up for any American Citizen’s rights, of which the Republican appointed find threatening.

Ann Coulters suggestion that any leader goes too far in speaking up for peoples rights when it comes to hate words is a reflection of the Republican elects ignorance and their even dumber attempts to use ignorance and people like Ann Coulter as a weapon.

Bush’s ignorance is nothing for the Republican elect and the GOP appointed to hide behind and neither is Ann Coulter’s ignorance.

Coutler's remark should be shouted from the rooftops and headlined in EVERY DNC missive. What her comment revealed is how dim and cramped the republican party tent really is. The vast majority of right wing conservatives - especially the less educated types who live and die by Limbaugh's and Hannity's endless bloviating - tend to be closet homophobes and racists - outwardly proclaiming their belief in civil/personal rights but first to pass on a tasteless joke about people unlike themselves. Just listen to the people who call into these shows. When the screeners screw-up (which happens more times than not) you will often hear their ignorance and stupidity slip into the conversation. Immediately the host changes the subject or hurridly goes to commercial. This is not the image the republican party wants broadcast. Coulter is a hero to all the narrow minded, bigoted crazies with talk show call-in numbers on their speed dials. She gives voice to the harsh beliefs that fuel the right wing. Dismissing and/or ignoring her comments - much like the swift boat attacks - is a huge mistake. What she says, and what the people who call into these radio shows say, would be best used to hold up to republicans and say "So this is what you really think." The high road doesn't work - start fighting fire with fire!

Very little I can say that hasn't already been said, BUT...

As a gay guy who listens to what's said in the media, I gotta admit: this one shocked me. It can't still be possible to drop that bomb and get away with it, can it?

OK, sure as of this moment 3 sponsors have pulled advertisements from Coulter's website. But I want to know how the crowd of onlookers who were original witnesses to Coulter's... speech have so far escaped scruitiny. I heard laughter and I heard applause. Yes, there was some pause and some disapproval, no doubt.

But my original point remains: In 2007, this kind of hateful talk cannot be ignored and the audiences whose ambiquous approval are as much to blame as the hateful woman who really should become as much of a pariah as OJ Simpson, after this.

Coulters blatant comment was carefully cached and obviously planned. Her voice spewed hate and has no place in American politics.