Evening Open Thread
This one should actually work... chat away...
Comments (87) «
Found the video of Governor Dean on Jay Leno. He was great. Fun to watch.
http://www.redlasso.com/ClipPlayer.aspx?id=54e10c10-3304-462a-9dc4-18ac5137c123
Also heard Dean was going door to door in NY. Good for him.
Remember when he said we had to go everywhere and tell people who we are? Well, it is working in places we least expected.
We're going to places like MS and Alaska, talk to them, tell them who we are.
The Colorado blog, Square State, had a long and interesting interview with Howard Dean the other day. It was moving to read that he was still worried about getting to American Samoa, that he needed to do so to fulfill his promise of going to every state and territory.
Interview with Dean about convention bloggers and DNC plans.
Maybe he should stay on as chair so he can finish what he started and has done so well.
let's give this one a test drive,
VROOOooommmmmmm!
Am I the only one getting logged in tonight? Anyway, I found a video of Dean in Rochester yesterday. He was really speaking out in that speech.
Michael, he looked like he was having fun and not letting the stress get to him too much. I would be pulling my hair over the primaries.
Is this real or Memorex? The other evening thread disappeared along with frosty and the rest of my posts.
I had written something about Chris Matthews and Rachel Maddox talking tonight on Olbermann about how the GOP pundits use buzz words that mean nothing but stiffle debate about the real facts.
It's nice to know Matthews has finally caught on...after eight years.
He and the rest of the MSM let Rove play them like a violin. I guess they all wanted the same special treatement that Jeff Gannon was getting.
No more embedded media. If they can't get the story without selling their souls to the devil, then maybe they don't belong in free press?
It's scarey to think that there is a whole generation of broadcast media divas now think that Katie Couric is an investigative reporter.
I'm going to step away for a while to see if this is going to vanish, too.
evening fine dems. have been too busy to do much more than the occasional glance at this site for a while (that and the fact that my frustration with the democratic primary has kept me away from the broken-record quality of the debate). anyway, i did have to wonder when i read this post from talkleft tonight- are these people living in the real world?
About Talk Left, they skew toward Hillary in every way. Hillary is not ahead in anything, much less 50,000 votes. That blog like No Quarter, which is Larry Johnson's blog..count FL and MI in fully. You just plain can not do that.
It is sad to see two blogs totally turn toward one candidate to the extent of using things that are not true. She is using "electoral votes" and "popular votes", and that is just so misleading. Our nominee is chosen by delegates.
I am concerned her "new math" will hurt the party.
Good Evening all fine democrats! Can anyone believe what the Huckster said to the NRA today? Even the NRA just sat and stared at him!
Barring major catastrophy there is no way that Sen. Obama will not be our candidate. I mean look at the way that dub, lamebrain mcsame and the huckster have all attacked him in the last 2 days! Even the TN republican party is going after him! He's going to the be candidate no matter what 'talk left' or any other web site indicates, unless something crazy happens.
Evening marymac,
hannity was foaming at the mouth today about Obama. I think he might have rabies. Hopefully he will have a brain anourism. He wouldn't be missed.
This is interesting. It was reported in Pravda.
The bush crime family is making a bundle on illegal arms sales.
"The purchase would merely have been the most spectacular example of how Iraq has become a magnet for arms traffickers and a place of vanishing weapons stockpiles and uncontrolled gun markets since the 2003 US invasion and the onset of civil war."
more.....
US illegally buys 100,000 Russian-made AK-47 to make another bloodbath in Iraq
That math at Talk Left someone posted...it is covered quite well at Booman Tribune today.
Interesting discussion there.
Reported by Pravda. It looks like bush is going to arm the entire middle east but not the "terrorists". What a putz. gates and rice are morons. Russia is arming hamas and hezbolah. cheney has succeeded in starting up the cold war again for personal gain.
"US emissaries have started their tour of the Middle East. The US administration aims to arm their allies in the region and boycott Hamas. Mahmoud Abbas, Pakistani President, left the country to make a visit to Russia – the country that apparently remains the only reliable mediator in the conflict. Abbas’s decision to visit Moscow became quite an unpleasant surprise for the USA.
USA’s global supremacy ambition stumbles upon Russia’s barrier
did you hear huckabees comments about OBAMA getting shot at the NRA meeting? real f#cking funny coming from a so called born again christian. another christian just like bush.
and we are all asking "how in the hell could these idiots get elected again?" because they cheat. that's why. I am so disgusted.
Russia forces the USA out from the traditional arms market. Russia has won a 4-billion-dollar contract with Saudi Arabia in a competition with the USA and France.
Russia has entered the market area which has traditionally been under the USA’s control. In this case it goes about Saudi Arabia.
The West considered it a newspaper hoax, because Saudi Arabia was totally dependant on arms supplies from the West – presumably from the USA
More...........
Russia forces USA out from its traditional arms markets
****************
Russia’s defense industry may celebrate another landmark achievement. Vladimir Putin is set to sign a $1billion deal with Indonesia to sell dozens of helicopters, tanks and submarines to the Asian nation. Russia and Indonesia strengthen their economic and defense ties to counterbalance USA’s growing influence in the world, specialists say.
More.................
Russia signs billion-dollar defense deal with Indonesia
HEIL BUSH!
Sadie,
I too am totally disgusted. One of the creeps in florida (feeney) who committed election fraud in 2000 to get the fuhrer appointed president was voted in as a congressperson.
How disgusting is that? People are so stupid.
This same creep came out against gay marriage in California. It's none of his business and he can go to hell. I am so sick of these bible thumpers.
I didn't hear what rove said today but I did hear about the fake huckabee. Since rove was probably behind the genius idea of bush spouting off in Isreal, it back fired on them, and they just couldn't stand it. Barack blew them away.
Did you see it when huckabee was running in the primaries and he was supposedly out hunting. There were dead ducks/birds/quail lined up in a row and he pointed at them and said into the camera, "This is what could happen to you if you don't vote for me" ha,ha. I sat straight up because I know when people say things like that and they are supposed to be joking, they are not joking.
Why do people have to be born again? Weren't they born right the first time?
I noticed in Isreal yesterday, several audience members didn't look too happy with Bush's ploy.
Saudi Arabia, Bush, and the Iraq War
Since a time shortly following our invasion of Iraq, U.S. forces began encountering foreign fighters from within Saudi Arabia. In fact, those Saudi fighters were encountered at far greater a rate than any other foriegn fighter inside Iraq.
This was a problem for us in Iraq. A far greater problem than we now face because with these fighters came the bulk of our enemies bomb making materials. And the roadside bombs made from these materials, remain the most deadly piece of armerment encountered by our troops in Iraq.
Now, we have found a way to improve relations with this group in Iraq. Today, we refer to them as Sunni, completely ignoring where they've come from. These are the Sunni fighters who recently agreed to refocus their attacks on Shia forces alone.
Iran, Bush, and the Iraq War
Before the Iraq war began, Iran expressed concerns. They cited the proximity of fighting in Afghanistan and a move into Iraq that would sandwich their nation between two U.S. led wars. Their concern was understandable after years of bad blood shared between our nations.
Still, foreign fighters from within Iran have trickled across the border when compared with those coming from Saudi Arabia. They have been far less damaging, in spite of the fact that our interactions have been deadly. Also, the roadside bombs they brought with them have created far fewer casualties than those brought in by Saudi fighters.
A few years ago, a bi-partisan group known as the Iraq Study Group met to consider these facts and others in deciding where we should go next in Iraq. Their recommendation was to engage Iraq's neighbors. George Bush ignored their recommendation.
Since that time our problems with Iran have worsened. The Bush administration has escalated tensions with many threats, threats not made against Saudi Arabia in spite of their more deadly presence in Iraq. And, since that time, our military has encountered Iranians in Iraq more often, not less often.
The Bush administration advertizes its actions as helpful to our troops in Iraq, and yet more die because of their actions. The Bush administration advertizes its actions as productive in resolving our conflicts, and yet our conflicts escalate. The Bush administration makes many promises which don't come to fruition.
Lebanon, Bush, and the Iraq War
In Lebanon, Shia forces clash with Sunnis. Each receives support from without the country, the Shia through contacts with Shia communities elsewhere, including in Iran, and the Sunni from Sunni communities in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.
Now, we had many years of peace in Lebanon before the 2006 attacks launched by Israel. And, while those attacks were not directly responsible for the escalation of tensions between Sunni and Shia there, the Bush sponsored foreign policy there did.
In 2006, the Bush administration extended its policy to confront Shia forces into Lebanon. This it disguised as aide for the Lebanese government reeling from recent attacks from Israel. This is a conflict that would not have occurred had it not been for the division of Shia and Sunni inside Iraq.
It's simple really. The Bush administration took sides with the most powerful force fighting us inside Iraq. They've appeased those forces in Iraq and appear to have begun assisting them elsewhere.
These bible thumpers are worse then the taliban.
Posted by Johne on May 16, 2008 at 11:07 PM
You are correct about a great many; however, a bunch of them are starting to 'see the light' about the neo-cons and the republican party in general. A bunch turned out in force this past Tues. and voted Democratic for Travis Childers in Mississippi.
A lot of the devout Christians are now taking the time to educate themselves and are coming over to the Democratic Party realizing that we are the party that better represents who they are and the type of people that they can be proud of being. Kind, generous, intelligent, charitable, etc.
You still have some who can't or won't think for themselves and just follow the loudest mouth - like hannity or o'lielly. That's the 19% who still follow the dub.
did you hear huckabees comments about OBAMA getting shot at the NRA meeting?
Posted by Sadie on May 16, 2008 at 10:52 PM
Did you hear about the reaction of those who were in the audience. I heard that they just sat and sort of stared at him as if to say, "did you really just say that? how stupid are you?"
"The officials got an earful in return - about immigration and hiring rules and foreign policies that make life harder in immigrants' old countries. The intelligence agencies' own practices also came under criticism: extraordinary rendition, holding prisoners at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, harsh interrogation practices that some say amount to torture.
the fuhrer is a total failure again and again and again and we pay the price.
"President Bush failed to win the help he sought from Saudi Arabia to relieve skyrocketing American gas prices Friday, a setback for the former Texas oilman who took office predicting he would jawbone oil-producing nations to help the U.S."
More.....
Weren't they born right the first time?
Posted by newsjunkie on May 16, 2008 at 11:08 PM
___________________________________________-
thank you newsjunkie, as I scrolled down through the great posts and links that are always found on this site, I hit on this one.
I have always asked that question
Never heard anyone else ask it.
Frosty
go back to school and learn to count
No wonder you have such a convoluted idea of science. It requires and understanding of numbers, let alone math. ha ha ha ha
It is a typical rove/republican tactic, to state a fact, believing that no one else can SEE the facts, and everyone will just believe it because you said it. ha ha ha ha
And you couldnt even come up with a lie that has any meaning at all. {laughing histerically}
NOT THIS TIME
NOT EVER AGAIN
I am so happy as I say goodnight.
The reign is over.
The dictator has no clothes.
Goodnight frosty {still laughing}
psssst On the particular subject you brought up----all you have to do is count
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,
Hey Frosty, the 3000 posters are too busy to blog here because they are all out registering new democrats to vote.
Hi, again.
Marine,
You wonder how stupid Bush's foreign policy experts can get. Condi and Cheney obviously don't understand anything about the Middle East.
Here they have Bush in Israel toasting the 60th Aniversary and then they send him to Saudi Arabia to ask for a break on oil production. Don't they know that the Saudis still don't recognize Israel and the reason why they don't?
There is a clear disconnect between what the neocons want and what they can't have as long as they keep ignoring the true circumstances.
As long as the Palestinians are dennied statehood, the Syrians don't get back the Golan Heights, and we are in Iraq destablizing the rest of the region, (and our skyrocketing deficit continues to force down the value of the dollar) the Saudis have no incentive to increase production.
And since the old Saudi King died, the younger generation has shown no sign of wanting to extend any friendship with the Bush crime family. Actually, they seem to delight in embarrassing and demeaning them.
It so contradicts the GOP argument that we are the last remaining super power or McCain's wild threats to attack more countries in the region.
How bizzare is it that the neocons think they are in control of the Middle East? They control nothing.
The Saudis continue to fund terrorism in the same way as the Iranians...for the same reasons. It's all there to see if you want to face reality.
We have to get out of Iraq and start dealing with the root causes of this stalemate...it's gone on for 60 years now. We aren't gaining any ground; we've lost what little leverage we had...in just eight years.
It's getting late. Good night, all.
Dear Super Delegates,
Why do I lean towards supporting Hillary Clinton?
‘But aides to Mr. Edwards said...he was concerned about Mr. Obama’s experience and readiness for the job.’ the New York Times reports of Mr. Edwards prior opinion of Mr. Obama when reporting of his endorsement of the Senator.
What exactly, if anything, has changed John Edward’s opinion of Barrack Obama’s experience? Might John Edward’s wanting a cabinet position have somehow changed his opinion of Senator Obama’s experience? (Don’t get me wrong, I think John Edwards would make a wonderful Attorney General taking on the big corporations, I just hope he hasn’t ruined his chances if Hillary Clinton does somehow wind up topping the vote.)
How do Barrack Obama’s supporters ignore Hillary Clinton supporters on experience following George Bush’s inability to put together an experienced capable cabinet to help the president anyway? Blind political faith? What makes us think we know that Barrack Obama will not choose for his cabinet all his friends from Illinois as the most qualified in the country like George Bush did with some Texan’s?
I think Senator Obama is one of the smartest elected officials in the U.S. today, I think his take on issues will be watched from now on, win or lose. Although I ask, how exactly is Senator Obama going to ‘lead the Congress’ to go along with his ideas of change?
Our Congressional people, including Hillary Clinton, have their own ideas of change and their own experience with knowledge as to why some things in Washington are the way they are; the good, the bad and the ugliness of politics. However as President, you have to have some political savvy to get American and International parties to compromise. A president can’t just stand there like George Bush and tell Congress and the world to change and think it is just going to happen unless you want to be comparable to George Bush.
A president has to objectively lead ‘both’ parties to change if he wants a sustainable change in America; is Barrack Obama that President? Maybe he is, and maybe he is not? Maybe Barrack Obama’s keen eye for the issues will stand for leading the issues and the country objectively, I don‘t know?
I am keeping in mind that America has a new war with the personal, political and governmental politics on Martyrdom (anti-life politics) in the Middle East. Following the Bush Administration’s exploiting some of America’s internal politics, while at the same time not protecting America’s respected established international politics, we have a mess with the Iraq war.
Hillary Clinton has said that if Iran strikes Israel with a nuclear weapon America could obliterate Iran’s government (suggesting that in that situation, America would be ‘forced’ to forego our current concerns in Iraq for how Iran would handle a new government). While Barrack Obama has said that America will not be held hostage in Iraq. Hillary Clinton has said that she would be careful not to be used for anti-American propaganda by rogue leaders (where these leaders can’t show a television shot in their controlled media of them shaking the hand of the American President implying to their public that they are both respected and/or feared by America). While Barrack Obama is saying that America needs to talk diplomatically to rogue leaders (not just make military threats). While I respect Barrack Obama’s take on our new politics with the war against terrorism, it sounds to me like Hillary Clinton is still thinking those politics through more carefully as noted in her first debates.
I am disappointed in today’s media that they have not pursued an agenda towards asking our Democratic Candidates more about these issues, Iraq not holding us hostage and Hillary Clinton’s careful take on the politics in the Middle East. Instead the media seems to be enthralled in covering the Democratic race as though it is just a race between a man and a woman as though both candidates are playing a football game for cheap public entertainment. Has George Bush’s aggressive competitive political leadership contributed to this American media style of reporting? Where if one ‘only’ looks at who is winning America‘s race, all American issues lose any needed attention?
Thank you
Good morning, all.
It is unfortunate that Bush has to go to Saudi Arabia to ask them to increase their output when the Democrat Congress is blocking efforts to pump our own oil.
I see the resident troll is spouting the same tired old GOP buzz words and flat out lies.
There is no way that we could get any more oil out of Alaska for years to come even if a law was passed today. And there isn't that much up there to pump nor will the oil companies build any more refineries to get it to us.
We have to deal with the here and now.
The Republicans have us dependent on foreign oil, drove up the deficit, made our currency weak, and won't admit that they made a mistake going into Iraq. It's all contributing to a failed GOP energy policy which doesn't stress fuel economy or expansion of alternative fuels.
There isn't any easy answers to our problems in the Middle East or back here at home... only easy, corrupt GOP politicians who want to keep the gravy train going for the multinational oil companies and their war profiteering buddies as long as they can.
The Arabs and the Communist Chinese have the McCains of your party right where they want...on their knees begging... with the Russians moving closer to dominating the world military with each day we languish in Iraq accomplishing absolutely nothing by staying there.
A third Bush term would push this great nation over the edge of the Republican's flat earth. I'm not going there and neither or the vast majority of American voters in November.
It's over, Frosty. Nobody wants Operation Chaos but you diehard conservative losers. Sane people try to improve their lot in life not make excuses for the incompetence of others.
Good morning fellow Democrats.
Obama \ Clinton 2008
China on alert for nuclear accidents after quakeBy ANITA CHANG
The Associated Press
Saturday, May 17, 2008; 5:31 AMBEIJING -- China's nuclear safety agency had ordered staffers to be prepared for an environmental emergency the day after a massive earthquake jolted a region that includes several key atomic sites.
France's nuclear watchdog has said some of China's nuclear facilities sustained minor damage in Monday's magnitude 7.9 earthquake, though no Chinese government Web sites viewed Saturday mentioned any damage.
China's Nuclear and Radiation Safety Center, part of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, activated emergency plans the day after the quake and told all emergency personnel to be on standby in case of nuclear accidents, the center said in an announcement on its Web site.
Officials were in close contact with safety stations throughout the region and were monitoring operational data from nuclear power plants, the undated announcement said. The safety of drinking water was a top priority.
"With the deepening of the relief work, the main task is to prevent secondary environmental disasters and guarantee the safety of the environment in disaster areas," the Ministry of Environmental Protection said in a separate statement Friday.
The French Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety said Chinese authorities "reacted well" to the quake and immediately shut down nuclear sites for inspection.
Thierry Charles, the group's director of plant safety, said China's nuclear safety agency, NNSA, had reported no leaks of radioactivity since the quake...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/17/AR2008051700390_pf.html
If the Chinese are admitting to "minor damage" at some of its nuclear reactors then that must mean they're darn near a China Syndrome event. If you think that is overstated, I refer you back to the SARS epidemic of a few years ago. It was the failure of the Chinese officials to admit to such an event that probably caused more people to become infected.
The devastation to China has been horrible enough already. Let's hope and pray the government of the People Republic of China do not compound the damage.
Posted by ElizabethJW on May 17, 2008 at 08:48 AM
Elizabeth,
I appreciate Senator Clinton's determination and knowledge. She's a fighter for many great causes. I acknowledge her many years of service as First Lady.
However, her political experience extends mainly to campaigning. She has held only one office and didn't pass any significant legislation. Several of her votes have been determental to our future national security and contributed to the weakening of our military.
Yes, the media has been unfair to her from the beginning because they are completely unprofessional and embedded in the Bush administration. The media bias against her and Obama has been staggering.
But she doesn't have the votes to win this nomination. She surrounded herself with people who ran a losing campaign strategy. You can't change the rules that were agreed upon at the beginning so you can win in the end.
She will make a wonderful majority leader in the Senate and a future Supreme Court justice. I thoroughly expect her to get her health care legislation passed in the next session...and I will be eternally grateful for it.
You should be proud of what she accomplished by overcoming great odds. She saw it out to the end and missed by just a little. She was a worthy opponent. Her candidacy will open many new doors for women and minorites in the future.
I applaud your efforts to help her and your loyalty to one you clearly see as a long-time friend and champion of causes that affect the welfare of families in this country.
After the votes are all counted in Puerto Rico and the party leaders decide May 31 how the Michigan and Florida delegates will be seated at the convention we must move on.
It's time to unite the party and start working to achieve a Super Majority.
(AFP) - Matthis Chiroux is the kind of young American US military recruiters love. "I was from a poor, white family from the south, and I did badly in school," the now 24-year-old told AFP."I was 'filet mignon' for recruiters. They started phoning me when I was in 10th grade," or around 16 years old, he added.
Chiroux joined the US army straight out of high school nearly six years ago, and worked his way up from private to sergeant.
He served in Afghanistan, Germany, Japan, and the Philippines and was due to be deployed next month in Iraq.
On Thursday, he refused to go, saying he considers Iraq an illegal war.
"I stand before you today with the strength and clarity and resolve to declare to the military, my government and the world that this soldier will not be deploying to Iraq," Chiroux said in the sun-filled rotunda of a congressional building in Washington.
"My decision is based on my desire to no longer continue violating my core values to support an illegal and unconstitutional occupation... I refuse to participate in the Iraq occupation," he said, as a dozen veterans of the five-year-old Iraq war looked on.
Minutes earlier, Chiroux had cried openly as he listened to former comrades-in-arms testify before members of Congress about the failings of the Iraq war.
The testimonies were the first before Congress by Iraq veterans who have turned against the five-year-old war...
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080516144757.0ds7otes&show_article=1
These people are a disgrace to the uniform they wear. I am bloody sick and tired of hearing these stories about fake soldiers who, at least in my opinion, sign up for all of the benefits of military service, what few there are, and yet think they can pick and choose their duty assignments. Soldiers do not choose where they fight. That is why we have a civilian leadership of the military.
In the interest of fairness, there are some who believe these people are patriots for standing up against the Bush Administration's arguably illegal war in Iraq. I can understand that sentiment. In retrospect, we should not have been there in the first place and we should leave ASAP. However, these people signed up for military service and took two oaths to protect, preserve, and defend the Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic and to follow the orders of their superiors. They have failed on all accounts and should be sent to Ft. Leavenworth, KS. Had there actually been a formal declaration of war, as we did in WW2, these people would be facing the death penalty.
This should be a warning to all future recruits. If you are not willing to follow the orders of your Commander in Chief and fight and die for your nation, regardless of who sits in the Oval Office, then join the Peace Corps, the Salvation Army, or some other noble American organization and stop looking for a meal ticket and a free college education from Uncle Sam.
Posted by BobVADemHawk-Obama08 on May 17, 2008 at 10:09 AM
Bob,
I hardly doubt a civilization as old as the Chinese would intentionally cut corners on something so radioactive. They clearly respect science and are trying to become leaders in advancing it within their society and the world.
I pray that there has not been any nuclear accident to add to the grief already being felt by the Chinese people.
This is not a time to second guess the motivation of their leadership. They clearly got help into the region as fast as they could. Lessons were learned and policies changed because of the tragedies experienced during the avalaches this winter. They were prepared.
I must believe that a nation which is striving to travel to and explore Mars would not put themselves at risk at home.
How could they not have watched the irresponsibility of the Bush administration for the last eight years and not seen the dire consequences of ignoring the obvious?
SAN ANTONIO (AP) - When Texas child welfare authorities released statistics showing nearly 60 percent of the teen girls taken from a polygamist sect's ranch were pregnant or had children, they seemed to prove what was alleged all along: The sect commonly pushed girls into marriage and sex.But in the past week, the state has twice been forced to admit "girls" who gave birth while in state custody are actually adults. One was 22 and claims she showed state officials a Utah birth certificate shortly after she and more than 400 minors were seized from the west Texas ranch in an April raid.
The state has in custody two dozen other young mothers and others whose ages are in dispute. If most of them also turn out to be adults, it would be a severe blow to the state's claim of widespread sexual abuse...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24673094/
Leave it to the state of TX to persecute and prosecute anything and anyone who doesn't fall into their narrow version of how an American should live and worship. I remind everyone that this fiasco started with one phone call from an unidentified person claiming to be a sixteen year old female from the FLDS compound who may, in actuality, be a thirty something year female from CO according to the TX rangers.
The state of TX has, in effect, kicked the door in and seized the children of not only an alleged molester, which is appropriate as this is a heinous crime if proven, but also the neighbor's door. If TX is allowed to get away with this then a precedent is set where if your neighbor allegedly commits a crime involving children that your door can be kicked in and your children seized as well merely due to your proximity and\or similar religious or cultural beliefs. If that doesn't scare the hell of you, nothing will.
The First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment of the Constitution must apply to everyone or it means nothing. Just ask George Bush and the GOP who run TX. They're in the "it means nothing" camp.
Posted by SandyH on May 17, 2008 at 10:31 AM
Sandy, my dear, I sincerely hope you are correct and I am wrong. Time will tell.
"...irresponsibility of the Bush administration for the last eight years..."
morn' sandyh & demos.
just a quick thought... imagine a great world w/a great leader. not in iraqmire and we sending troops as goodwill guys and gals to help in emergencies like with the chinese earthquake calamity. shucks, the goodwill we could foster. everyone would admire the good ol' u-s of a.
instead we got a moron. hopefully in nov 2008 we can send the village idiot back to tx and his 3rd term mcsame to an ol' folks home, shucks, even at this honest taxpayin' persons expense.
enjoy the day demos. maybe there's light at the end of this dark tunnel?
Posted by BobVADemHawk-Obama08 on May 17, 2008 at 10:29 AM
Bob,
You certainly have some utopian views of the world and life as a whole.
Soldiers have never relished battle. They have always gone to war because they had no other choice. Whether volunteer or through conscription, citizen warriors are citizens first.
Officers are something else. They are different from the enlisted. The go into their profession with their eyes open and watching their backs. It's all about strategy and setting up lines of command, etc.
Your enlisted see their job as protecting their country and gaining skills and money for further education/veterans’ benefits in their civilian careers...at least that is what we have always told them in this country till the neocons turned it all upside down.
Why you would expect them not to question political policies which they see as detrimental to the country and the military institution they are serving in is completely unrealistic.
Gee whiz, is it any wonder the Republicans found it so easy to manipulate public opinion over this invasion and occupation so long? When voters start considering military and political policies as one, everyone loses.
Our founding fathers set up the military as a civilian enterprise for just that reason.
It would be hard to find a successful military leader who doesn't understand and respect this principle. It's the cornerstone of all modern republics.
Remember how Julius Caesar fused the two and where democracy ended up? Good soldiers within a democracy march to a different drummer than the one career politicians ask them to follow.
War is not supposed to be a continuing, everlasting state. Soldiers are fighting in the present to save the future not to preserve failed political policies of the past.
imho, you are asking them to go against their best interests and those of the nation and democracy they love.
They chose to serve in the miliary because that's where they thought they could make the most difference after 9/11. Don't question their motivation. That's so Rovarian and unfair.
Hyannis fire responded to the compound after a call was made around 8:30 a.m. It's unclear what Kennedy's medical condition is, but after he spent almost two hours in the emergency room a decision was made to transfer him to Mass General Hospital in Boston.
Kennedy, 76, was placed on a stretcher and wheeled out to the MedFlight helicopter around 10:15 a.m. where it took off from Barnstable Municipal Airport.
CNN and MSNBC reporting it was due to possible stroke-like symptoms.
Posted by BobVADemHawk-Obama08 on May 17, 2008 at 11:03 AM
Bob,
You can just call me Sweetie? Although after my last post, I suppose you'd rather do a Huckabee on me.
After re-reading what I wrote, I'm think I may have come down too hard on you. We all have a right to our opinions and should respect others who disagree with us.
Besides, we need to stop worrying about how we got where we're at and more to where we're going to in November.
later.
Soldiers have the right to refuse an illegal order. By refusing to go to Iraq, and then testifying before Congress, these soldiers have not chosed the easy way, which would have been to go on endless rotations until kicked to the curb because of disabilities, or sent home in a box.
They have the courage to stand up to this administration and its illegal war. They are not automatons, they are human beings with conviction.
The Uniform Code of Military Justice, which is the law book for the military, states that military personnel have the right, indeed an obligation, to disobey unlawful orders.
By refusing to serve in Iraq, these soldiers are bringing the discussion into the open where the matter can be resolved.
Remember, that the German soldiers in the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials were not allowed to use "I was just following orders" as an excuse for committing war crimes.
These soldiers are defending the Constitution which bush is shitting on.
According to Senator Bernie Sanders even if we had tapped the Alaskan oil and were pumping the shit out of it, we would only save about a penny a gallon.
Get real. We would also be committing a mortal sin drilling in Anwar.
More oil drilling? Certainly, we should continue to explore and make use of our precious resources, both foreign and domestic. However, I have come to the opinion that braking our addiction to carbon based fuels should start now. It will be painful just as with breaking any addiction.
Nevertheless, to place our future on such a short term fix as opening up fragile environments and continuing to harm already damaged ones for further exploration seems so shortsighted.
I ask myself frequently, "how much will gas cost when I finally decide to make lifestyle changes because I simply can't afford it"? "How much longer will I wait before I make personal behavior changes that will reduce my personal carbon foot print"? Hopefully, I have begun. Hopefully, enough others will also.
Dearest Democrats,
I sincerely hope we do not drill in Anwar for the following reasons:
1) Finally being able to get away from the oil based economy. Why give money away to people who do not have American interests in mind and have been terrorizing us!?!? …manipulating us into war?!?!
2) Not drilling in Anwar would allow us to focus on solar, wind, waves, tides, geothermal, etc… The de-evolving monkeys will have to figure a new method of having us pay for the object that shines in the sky and cause these effects that can produce energy.
3) Did you know that a 2,000 watt solar panel in most of America can power an electric car that carries up to 6 people without any energy input from the outside? The average America drive their car less than 30 miles per day and most of the time is spend at speeds less than 40 mph!?!?. An electric car made in USA that can carry 6 passengers can transport those people at those speeds; with 90% of the destinations within reach of a simple 3’x6’ solar panel with a 4 hour charge!!! 90%-95% of the time our cars are sitting in the sun!!! …and guess what, the sun is able to get you from point “A” to point “B”, 90% of the time without paying the oil companies.
Gee, why is it these repugnant x-tian reich do not want you to know this technology exists today?!?!
Posted by SandyH on May 17, 2008 at 12:15 PM
No offense taken, Sandy. We're still going to pull the same voting booth levers on 4NOV08.
I would be 100% on your side of this issue if we still had the draft. But this is an all volunteer military. They should've known what they signed up for. After all, it really is in the fine print.
But onward and forward to 4NOV08 where we will elect Senator Barack Hussein Obama (D-IL) as the forty-fourth President of the United States.
Dearest Democrats,
If you really want to effect change in the automotive company, buy it and put your own people on the board of directors!!
Example:
Ford Motor corporation is cheap today!! The entire Ford Motor Corporation is only worth $16.22 billion dollars. Less than 1/3 the asset reserve of Microsoft Corportation.
To all those environmentalist who want electic solar powered cars, buy 10%-20% of Ford Motor Corporation and install your own board of directors to tell these engineers to design solar electric cars!!! It would require a football stadium group of people with $30,000 dollars each to take control of Ford!! Ford the 3rd largest automaker can be transformed if you truely believe in the environmental movement; buy 10%-20% of the stake in FORD, install people with your vision of the new automobile, and watch your fortune grow!!
Stop complaining about big auto companies; get together and buy the company and put the people you know who have a vision of future cars and transportation on the board of directors!!
Truely change the world and stop talking about it; put your money where your mouth is!!
Do it!!
Dearest Techie Democrats,
Microsoft offered more than $30 billion for Yahoo. Imagine that, Ford motor corporation is only worth 1/2 the value of Yahoo. If Microsoft is truly revolutionary, it would buy FORD and change the direction of USA auto companies!!
That's revolution thinking!!
Buying Yahoo is just trying to play catch up with Google!!
Stop playing catch up and change the world for the better will you!!??!!
...and for all those environmentalist, your nothing but a damned cheap-skate with no vision if you don't buy FORD on the cheap and change the direction of the auto companies.
Stop complaining and do something!!
Put your money where your mouth is!?!?!
You have a vision, execute the vision!!
Otherwise, shut-up and continue to let the oil companies invest in all the automotive companies and let them continue to build big oil using vehicles!!
FrostyMilkweed,
...you ignorant tumbleweed; CSX corporation's diesel electric vehicles can power one ton of cargo 420 miles on one gallon of diesel fuel.
Most large exavation equipment used in mining are diesel electric because mechnical transmission would fail. Those largest equipments are diesel with electic hydralic drives.
They are all ready electric you monkey without a brain!!
Have a nice weekend fellow Democrats. Keep the Faith and keep the faith. The populist revolution has begun!
Obama \ Clinton 2008
May 18, 2008
Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA), Harold Ford, Jr., Mike Huckabee, Mike Murphy, Bob Shrum on Meet the Press (NBC).
Coming Up on This Week with George Stephanopoulos (ABC) Sen. Joe Biden on Partisan Politics Overseas & Rep. John Boehner on the GOP's Future.
UP NEXT ON FACE THE NATION:
Guests:
Gov. Charlie Crist
(R) Florida
Ed Rollins
Republican Strategist
Former Gov. Mario Cuomo
(D) New York
Former Gov. Roy Romer
(D) Colorado
Fox News Sunday
Our guests this week:
Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., Republican whip and McCain surrogate
Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., Obama surrogate
Karl Rove, former White House senior adviser and FOX News contributor
Good afternoon, all.
Posted by FrostyMilkweed on May 17, 2008 at 12:34 PM
First off, I was saying anything to you ten years ago. I don't know why I'm addressing you now except I don't like the way your post is making it appear like I'm answering myself in bold print.
I'm not so far gone that I talk to myself although Bush/McCain does give one pause. But I'm pretty sure McCain does.
Secondly, the world revolved without burning oil for millions of years. Life went on.
I personally would like to unlock the potential of the atom in a safe way or use physics in some other way to generate power. Pollution is killing life on this planet.
But then you and Spunky are a daily reminder that some can exist in a brain-dead state and still keep on ticking.
Does Rove wind up you up every morning before he puts on his tap dancing shoes to visit a public restroom with Jeff Gannon?
I wouldn´t donate an acorn to the DNC.
Posted by Dr_Elroy_McBurd on May 17, 2008 at 04:51 PM
That's 'cause you're STU-PID.
Rep. Davis: Bush Is 'Absolutely Radioactive'Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) thinks that President Bush is "absolutely radioactive" and that any Republicans close to the him will suffer electoral consequences.
Davis, who made waves for a shockingly bleak memo about the electoral outlook for the GOP this fall, tells Bloomberg TV in an interview that will air tonight that GOP members have "got to get some separation from the president."
So it is important to keep an umbilical cord between Bush and McCain with Obama hammering both of them as Republican twins.
Hybrid: Don't mind the willfully ignorant, arguing with them is the equivalent of trying to knock down a reinforced concrete wall by banging it with your head.
Diesel-electric locomotives are far more efficient than diesel powered highway trucks.
GE has come out with a new line of locomotives called the Evolution Series, which is 40% more efficient than older locomotives, and promise to haul more freight tonnage per mile than the locomotives currently on the road. Several railroads have already put in orders for the new engines.
I had to go to a meeting in central Montana this past week. There are several hundred freight cars, mostly TTX container cars parked on the railroad tracks between Great Falls and Lewistown. The BNSF is using the tracks for storage.
My big question is, although I can understand the lumber cars parked between here and Missoula because of the decreased demand for lumber, why are all these container cars parked? I have not heard of any great cutbacks in imports from overseas.
With the higher fuel costs and greater efficiency of locomotives currently in use over highway trucks, it makes little sense to continue to run trucks over the highway and let the rail cars sit.
Well, lookey here...
Sources: U.S. cuts off Iraqi politician ChalabiOnce a neocon favorite, he had 'unauthorized' contacts with Iran
By Kianne Sadeq and Aram Roston
NBC News
May 14, 2008Sources in Baghdad tell NBC News that as of this week American military and civilian officials have cut off all contact with controversial Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi, the former favorite of Washington's once powerful neoconservatives.
The reason, the sources say, is "unauthorized" contacts with Iran's government, an allegation Chalabi denies. Iran has been accused of arming and training rebel Shiite forces in Iraq.
Chalabi had been making a remarkable comeback in Iraq, but that may now be in question, American officials tell NBC News on condition of anonymity.
Story continues below ↓advertisementChalabi had gained notoriety after his group provided false information to journalists and intelligence organizations about Saddam Hussein before the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
A former banker who was convicted of embezzlement in absentia in Jordan in 1992, Chalabi nevertheless was a key organizer of the Iraqi opposition and received substantial funding from the U.S. government in the 1990s and up till 2003, after the invasion. He had remarkable influence in Washington until several years ago.
After the U.S. invasion and the toppling of Saddam Hussein, Chalabi drifted in and out of favor with U.S. officials in Baghdad. In the 2005 Iraqi elections, he lost decisively, scoring less than 1 percent of the vote.
Since the invasion, reports of Chalabi's ties to Iran and his contacts with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards have at times been sore spots. The FBI once sought to interview him, sources say, about allegations that secret U.S. codes had been passed to Iran...
So another bad actor from the Neocon Academy Awards horror movie division slinks away with millions (perhaps billions) of American taxpayer dollars and plots to do it again when McCain is elected?
He's probably been funded by the Iranians for the very begining. Wasn't there speculation that he got Cheney all lickered up and passed along our troop movements before the invassion? That didn't warrant a stay at the Gitmo Hilton?
He'll be haunting this country forever if McCain gets elected...well, at least for another 100 years. 2013 or 2113 or the same in that befuddled old fool's mind, give or take a few re-deployments?
and you call yourself intelligent with an I.Q. of 13?
Posted by Dr_Elroy_McBurd on May 17, 2008 at 05:09 PM
Double digits beats single digits, McTurd. You would know that if you weren't so very STU-PID.
Evening Dems,
Sandy! Don't try and argue with the ignorant !
What these assanine trolls do not understand is, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA OIL COMPANIES EXPORT MOST OF THEIR OIL!
SHOULD WE DRILL IN ANWR OR OFFSHORE, THAT TOO WILL GO OVERSEAS SO THEY CAN SQUEEZE EVERY LAST DOLLAR OUT OF IT ! In the meantime, what little is left here, and what we do import to be refined is costing us an arm and leg, so that the oil companies can keep suckling at the Corporate Welfare tit that Bush has set up for them! $81 BILLION dollars just by Exxon last year! Let's let them drill for more and make it $181 BILLION next year !
These guys are the Uninformed, the gullible, the easily swayed minds who would line up behind Bush and drink the koolaid even knowing it was laced with arsenic! Pathetic human beings!
Have a good evening, Dems. Heading out to dinner and a Comedy show. Should be fun!
blog ya tomorrow........
Posted by Dr_Elroy_McBurd on May 17, 2008 at 05:40 PM
Did you write this yourself or lift it from some Far Right "intellectual” blog?
Only a Republican could equate the deaths of millions of Chinese with Rocky the Squirrel. Does that mean the deaths of millions in the Middle East can be now be directly equated to Cheney shooting a squirrelly GOP lawyer in the face?
Give us the link, Elroy.
Posted by Dr_Elroy_McBurd on May 17, 2008 at 05:45 PM
Have you ever thought of donating your mind to science? You really should. It's obviously not doing you much good where it is. Who knows, with your brain to run tests on, maybe they could find a cure for stupidity. Alas, not soon enough to help you... but think about the others (Frosty, Harpo, ...)
Pam,
Elroy is the clever one. He can fit all the GOP copy points in one post.
Let's see...
In his latest attempt to spank Chicago he has thrown out:
liberal
Chi-town, south Chicago (Obama country)
black face
abortion (screwed up by suggesting one)
Opps, and you also missed mentioning global warming.
Do you work off a check list or just wing it? Either way we are impressed with your skill.
So with that being said, you can now take it elsewhere and dazzle the sheep over at Free Republic.
I'm off for the evening. Have a nice weekend, everyone.
There are levels of stupidity. Most stupid people are able to recognize that they are stupid. For example, they would be able to look at their posts and compare them to others on this blog and recognize that they are stupid by comparison. However, some people are SO STUPID, that they cannot recognize their own stupidity. I suspect McTurd is the latter.
So strange with Carter doing so much more for Middle East peace than Bush (Carter got the Nobel Prize), he attacks him for being so divisive to his Intelligence Agenda. Then you hear Bush giving up on the Middle East Peace initiatives and handing it over to Israel's Ehud Olmert. Bush derails Secretary of State Rice as a pawn that is expendable in his quest for some kind of legacy. The truth is that nobody wants to deal with Bush for he is a lame duck, and as a Republican Congressman said, "Radioactive." I did not say it, another Republican said it.
It seems President Bush went in to destroy all gains Carter did in the Middle East, so in his Mission Accomplished statement Bush can claim something worthwhile, but years of Bush Blunders of quagmires has cost him creditability in his "Truth" being "Lies."
The Bush “Radioactive Republican Twins,” one trying to inherit Mission Accomplished in 100 year surges with “Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran” themes. I agree Republicans are radioactive to America and like what Republicans wanted to do to New Orleans and bulldoze it; “We the people” need to bulldoze them out of Washington in Declarations of Independence voting out the Republican Radioactivity.
Obama stand by Carter and his attempt at dialog with making a Middle East Peace initiatives. Also keep pressure up by joining Bush and McCain as Mission Accomplished quagmire surges. Look into your files and see them repeating the same thing, then used them side by side.
Obama is a great Democratic candidate, who will unite the Party in all its divisions.
Since cheneyburton has stolen Billions from the American taxpayers. I think they owe it to us to build a manufacturing center here in the U.S. These cheap bastards are just after cheap labor and should be prosecuted for not returning our money to the U.S.
SEND BUSH AND CHENEY TO THE HAGUE TO BE TRIED AND HANGED FOR WAR CRIMES, CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY AND CRIMES AGAINST PEACE.
Ex-Malaysian leader calls for ban on Halliburton
AP - Sat, 17 May 2008 08:05:48 -0400 (EDT)
Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Saturday slammed the government's move to allow U.S. oilfield services provider Halliburton Co. to begin operating in Malaysia, saying the country doesn't need "blood money."
"It is appalling that we have allowed this war-profiteering company to invest in Malaysia," he said in a statement, referring to Halliburton's contracts in Iraq for the U.S. government. "Are we so void of our humanity that we have to allow these war criminals to come in and thrive in our economy?"
Mahathir, who remains a respected figure in the Islamic world after his retirement in 2003 after 22 years in power, urged the government to ban Halliburton from using their "ill-gotten profits to operate in any way" in Malaysia.
Halliburton recently launched a 200 million ringgit ($62.5 million) manufacturing center in the Iskandar Malaysia economic hub in southern Johor state.
Mahathir, a vocal critic of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, accused Halliburton, once led by Vice President Dick Cheney, of raking in billions of dollars in profits from the Iraq war.
Halliburton's stock price surged from $10 before the war to around $46 now after the company won a series of contracts in Iraq amounting to nearly $20 billion, he said.
"Do we really need the blood money of a neo-conservative entity that has played a role in the murder of innocent Iraqis to fund our development?" he said.
He described Cheney and President Bush as "war criminals" who should be put on trial for the Iraq war. Mahathir now heads the Perdana Global Peace Organization, a private group.
Iskandar Malaysia chief Ikmal Hijaz Hashim has defended Halliburton's investment, saying it will create jobs and benefit the country. The Iskandar hub is among five massive development programs nationwide by the government to woo investment and spur growth in rural areas.
Hello Democrats,
Have you heard about the left winged, “ANGRYRENTER.COM” website that is suppose to promote renter outrage against the government bailout of defaulting home owners? The website is supposes to represent grass-root movement of renters demanding compensation because home owners are getting subsities but the renters are not getting relief from the increase in rent!!
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha…; it’s truly a left wing grass-root movement funded by Former Republican House Majority Leader, Dick Armey and fellow republican Steve Forbes. FreedomWorks and it’s affiliated foundations took in $10.5 million in revenue in 2006. FreedomWorks President is Matthew Kibbe, a former top aide to republican lawmaker. How can Kibble be an Angry Renter when he owns a $1.17 million dollar home on Capital Hill in Washington DC. How can Steve Forbes pose as an angry renter when he owns a 7,966 square foot home on 9.5 acres in Bedminster NJ with a tax assessment of $2.78 million. Steve Forbes also owns 111.8 acres of land next door. The 111.8 acres is registered as farm land with an assessed value of $45,500. Is Steve like the Bush'S, JUST another ten gallon hat with nothing to fill the middle, a farmer without animals or crops; nothing but a tax haven and tax shelter and non-farmer farmer of the republican kind?
See “Mortgage Bailout Angers “tentants” – AngryRenter.com by Michael M. Phillips, The Wall Street Journal.
Dearest Democrats,
If Steve Forbes is pawning the type of dishonest garbage on AngryRenter.com;...don't it make you wonder what kind of garbage he is pawning inside Forbes Magazine??
I can't believe the gall of Cnn and the repukes. What does the GOP have to do to save their brand? Hugh, first they would actually have to care about the middle class and that ain't going to happen without wiping out every member of the NRC, every repuke congress person, every staffer and the whole administrative branch. So good luck with that Brand problem.
The more you use Free Speech on Washington politicians, the more you get Microsoft filtered, as being a Chinese citizen in American, when you are inside America being a constitutional patriot with Red Chinese Bush rights.
Obama you have done good lately coming down a notch and kicking some Bush McCain Republicans. It seems that some Democrats want to give them immunity from Concrete Homework Accounting inside the Truth. They must bare the “Lies” of Bush’s faulty Intelligence in Mission Accomplished Bush Blunders in a legacy of how much they bankrupted America.
If America started to shun Chevron, Shell, and BP stations that are company owned, then maybe they would get the idea that they have a PR problem. If people marched like they did for Vietnam with banners against Cheney secret oil dealings, it might make them more accountable to the people. Cheney gas, it is Halliburton Enron inflation, in Bush pocket book recessions in Bush’s failed promises to the American people feeling Chevron tears like Katrina tears.
Why has a President done everything possible to bankrupt America, especially the Middle Class, and its children of lost American dreams of futures? Had Congress done their duty with honor they would have done their Homework for “We the people” of “Made in America” of “God Bless America,” “In God We Trust” in “Congress We Lost.” So sad, so sad that even today they fail US in their negativity of dividing US into the 1930’s of a 1910’s Standard Oil Monopoly Republic.
I was Terminated for Poetry, had I been Black, Female, and Baptist in Alabama, I would have had an ACLU case. But being a Liberal, Constitutionalist, Poet, Catholic, Yankee, Democrat, and White patriot, I was in the majority minority; here it is okay to be “Terminated for Poetry.” That Free Verse Free Speech had no rights inside one’s own home that a corporation can banned a poet 24/7 from writing on any piece of paper or posting on the Internet, with a Bush Patriot Act “At Will” right that says Americans must be muted on Mission Accomplished censorship.
It was like, if I was smoking marijuana, which I was not. I was smoking words getting high off writing verse in my Vietnam rants, which are therapy of release in a Bush World. Today Bush, silences the Free Speech truth of our troops Iraq problems, like body bags problems they are pushed under rugs, where Free Speech is banned 24/7 with veterans committing suicide, because they do not have a way to get things out within themselves. We need an Iraq Free Speech site, where the depression of Iraq inside is released into words upon paper Free Speech therapy. Having served in the Vietnam Theater, unlike Bush, I thought America would never take away the right to write one’s own mind in Free Verse rants.
Honestly, do you think a corporation in America, even if foreign run, can ban the American home 24/7 “At Will” for a lifetime in writing any Poetry? When in just writing prose at the end, they said it was Poetry? This is Poetry that is Poetry. Well you know what, there is Poetry in “God Bless America” songs and “Made in America” bibles. That in fact their automobiles have Poetry adds, and musical verse. That I was banned from attending Creative Writing classes that might had Literature of Shakespeare verse, and even Ben Franklin poems.
Congress please have Corporations list all things that are banned by them in written paperwork, especially in Home Sweet Home Freedom and Democracy. So was Poetry banned worldwide by this company or by discriminating to one person their Free Speech verse. Give the Constitution back to employees in due process to challenge “At Will” edicts of frivolous censorship.
Congress it is not about money, it is about being an American! All I want is a verbal apology and a promise to me and/or Congress that the Liberal Arts of American Artmosphere will never be a Dead Poet’s Society by a Bush Patriot Act Corporate “At Will” Executive Privilege autocrat edict.
Support Free Speech Home Sweet Homes.
dlesterpoet, in plain english, are you saying you were spied on and fired at work for opposite political views that the corp. you worked for? Or are you saying the corp. you worked for spied on you at home? Just wondering from a more heavily weighted left brain thinker.
Kennedy hospitalized after seizure; not a stroke
By GLEN JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 21 minutes ago
BOSTON - Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the lone surviving son in a famed political family, suffered a seizure at his Cape Cod home on Saturday morning but was recovering well enough by afternoon to watch a Red Sox game from his hospital room.
The 76-year-old Kennedy did not suffer a stroke, as was first feared, and doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital said he is not in any immediate danger.
"He's resting comfortably, and watching the Red Sox game with his family," said Dr. Larry Ronan, his primary care physician. "Over the next couple of days, Senator Kennedy will undergo further evaluation to determine the cause of the seizure, and a course of treatment will be determined at that time."
On Saturday morning, Kennedy felt ill at his home and went to Cape Cod Hospital. After a discussion with his doctors in Boston, the senator was flown by helicopter to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was soon joined by his wife Victoria, three of his children and his niece, Caroline Kennedy.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he spoke to Kennedy's wife in the afternoon and was told "his condition is not life-threatening, but serious."
"But the one thing I can say, if there ever was a fighter, anyone who stood for what we as Americans, we as Democrats, stand for, it's Ted Kennedy," Reid said addressing the Nevada Democratic Convention in Reno.
In October, Kennedy had surgery to repair a nearly complete blockage in a major neck artery. The discovery was made during a routine examination of a decades-old back injury.
The hourlong procedure on his left carotid artery — a main supplier of blood to the face and brain — was performed at Massachusetts General. This type of operation is performed on more than 180,000 people a year to prevent a stroke.
The doctor who operated on Kennedy said at the time that surgery is reserved for those with more than 70 percent blockage, and Kennedy had "a very high-grade blockage."
Distinguishing between a seizure and a transient ischemic attack, TIA, often called a mini-stroke, can sometimes be difficult.
Seizures are little electrical storms in the brain. They tend to be brief; an occasional one can happen to anyone even without a prior history of seizures, especially if there has been some prior brain trauma.
A stroke is either ischemic — a clog in a blood vessel — or hemorrhagic, bleeding in the brain. Hemorrhagic ones are very rare. Kennedy had the carotid artery surgery to try to prevent the ischemic type. A stroke kills brain tissue; how much depends on how big it is and how long it lasts. Some people show no lasting effects; others can be partly paralyzed on one side or somewhere in-between.
"Sen. Kennedy was at high risk because he had surgery for an artery in his neck," said Dr. Wendy Wright, The Emory Clinic, Assistant Professor, Departments of Neurology and Nuerosurgery,
But she said there are a lot of things that can cause seizures, such as an infection or medication.
"Certain medications are known to cause seizures. A stroke can cause a seizure, a brain tumor or a head injury, or something in the brain itself," Wright said. "Common symptoms that we know about are falling on the ground, shaking and having confusion."
Kennedy, the second-longest serving member of the Senate and a dominant figure in national Democratic Party politics, was elected in 1962, filling out the term won by his brother, John F. Kennedy.
Kennedy eldest brother, Joseph, was killed in a World War II airplane crash. President John Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 and his brother Robert was assassinated in 1968.
Kennedy is active for his age, maintaining an aggressive schedule on Capitol Hill and across Massachusetts.
He has been vocal in both his opposition to the Iraq war and support for Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama, who is trying to become the first senator elected to the White House since John F. Kennedy.
Kennedy made several campaign appearances for the Illinois senator in February, and most recently another in April.
Always concerned about maintaining his health, Kennedy regularly consults with a battery of Massachusetts General doctors.
Still, he maintains homes in both Boston and Washington and attends not only official events, but numerous others recognizing his family's political history.
Just last week, he and Caroline Kennedy awarded the annual "Profiles in Courage" award commemorating President Kennedy. And Friday, he attended a ribbon cutting at the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park.
He was preparing to host the annual Best Buddies Challenge event on Saturday afternoon, a fundraiser for the Best Buddies organization founded by Anthony Kennedy Shriver that helps people with intellectual disabilities. The event attracted celebrities, including New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and Olympian Carl Lewis.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, Kennedy's niece, said they appreciated all the messages of care they had received for the senator.
"It's always a comfort to the family to know that Sen. Kennedy is in the prayers of millions," their statement said.
Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, who went to the hospital, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Obama said were offering their prayers for his quick recovery.
Obama, beginning a tour of hospitals in Eugene, Ore., told reporters that he had been in touch with the senator's family. He said, "We are going to be rooting for him. I insist on being optimistic about how it's going to turn out."
A man walking by Massachusetts General was startled by the news when he asked about the reason for the large media presence. "Ted? Is he all right? Jeez, I'm taken aback. I just saw him on television yesterday," said Jerry Leonard, 76.
"He's a Kennedy. His name is synonymous with this area," the retired bartender said. "I'm a Bostonian, too, and he's done a lot for us around here and for the senior citizens in particular."
___
Associated Press writers Lauran Neergaard in Washington, Matt Pitta in Hyannisport, Mass., and David Espo in Boston contributed to this report.
then macain cam along and sent the homless guy to jail for serving his country
This thread is not working.
Since cheneyburton has stolen Billions from the American taxpayers. I think they owe it to us to build a manufacturing center here in the U.S. These cheap bastards are just after cheap labor and should be prosecuted for not returning our money to the U.S.
SEND BUSH AND CHENEY TO THE HAGUE TO BE TRIED AND HANGED FOR WAR CRIMES, CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY AND CRIMES AGAINST PEACE.
Ex-Malaysian leader calls for ban on Halliburton
AP - Sat, 17 May 2008 08:05:48 -0400 (EDT)
Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Saturday slammed the government's move to allow U.S. oilfield services provider Halliburton Co. to begin operating in Malaysia, saying the country doesn't need "blood money."
"It is appalling that we have allowed this war-profiteering company to invest in Malaysia," he said in a statement, referring to Halliburton's contracts in Iraq for the U.S. government. "Are we so void of our humanity that we have to allow these war criminals to come in and thrive in our economy?"
Mahathir, who remains a respected figure in the Islamic world after his retirement in 2003 after 22 years in power, urged the government to ban Halliburton from using their "ill-gotten profits to operate in any way" in Malaysia.
Halliburton recently launched a 200 million ringgit ($62.5 million) manufacturing center in the Iskandar Malaysia economic hub in southern Johor state.
Mahathir, a vocal critic of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, accused Halliburton, once led by Vice President Dick Cheney, of raking in billions of dollars in profits from the Iraq war.
Halliburton's stock price surged from $10 before the war to around $46 now after the company won a series of contracts in Iraq amounting to nearly $20 billion, he said.
"Do we really need the blood money of a neo-conservative entity that has played a role in the murder of innocent Iraqis to fund our development?" he said.
He described Cheney and President Bush as "war criminals" who should be put on trial for the Iraq war. Mahathir now heads the Perdana Global Peace Organization, a private group.
Iskandar Malaysia chief Ikmal Hijaz Hashim has defended Halliburton's investment, saying it will create jobs and benefit the country. The Iskandar hub is among five massive development programs nationwide by the government to woo investment and spur growth in rural areas.
When is Presidunce Asshole coming back from his mideast vacation and bitch fest?
I'll bet the first words out of his mouth will be the Democrats won't let us drill in Anwar. That is why we have a problem. Then he will say we need alternate fuels but doesn't have a clue as to what the hell he is talking about. This is an empty gesture because he doesn't give a shit about America or Americans.
He will then threaten to veto the new GI Bill, the Farm Bill and whatever else this hardworking Congress has passed.
The Democrats need to tell bush to go fuck himself and get the fuck out of OUR country. He is not welcome here. The freak mclame, bush's twin needs to be told the same thing.
I am sick of these neocon criminals running my country into the ground while building manufacturing centers everywhere else in the world. I am not going to take it anymore.
Does anyone else feel this way?
NATIONALIZE OUR NATIONAL RESOURCES NOW!
THEY BELONG TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AND NOT SOME RICH DUDE IN THE CAYMAN ISLANDS OR DUBAI.
DECLARE BUSH AND CHENEY ILLEGAL ALIENS AND LOCK THEM UP IN GUANTANAMO.
THAT SHOULD BE NATURAL RESOURCES LIKE COAL, OIL, WATER AND MINERALS. CLOSE THE COMMODITY MARKETS.
Posted by Dr_Elroy_McBurd on May 18, 2008 at 03:37 AM
The fact is I was banned 24/7 from writing any Poetry at all. Whether it be singing verse, Biblical verse, or anything prosy within my own home that this would be grounds for Termination. So do you have a Lie Detector, or are you a Bush "Liar?" The "Truth" is the Savior of all men and women.
dlesterpoet, in plain english, are you saying you were spied on and fired at work for opposite political views that the corp. you worked for? Or are you saying the corp. you worked for spied on you at home? Just wondering from a more heavily weighted left brain thinker.
Posted by newsjunkie on May 18, 2008 at 01:42 AM
I do not know if they spied on me, but they warned me if they found any of my Poetry on the Internet that it might be grounds for Termination "At Will", for they banned me from also posting any form of Poetry. And especially that I date my Poetry that the date on it can be used against the date they banned Poetry for me 24/7 for a lifetime of employment. For awhile they banned me from having Poetry in my own vehicle at work, for it might also be used against me. So I parked in a state right away until they threatened to tow me, but relented that it was okay to have Poetry in my vehicle on the company parking lot but not visible.
All I want is for them to Terminate me for another reason, and say it was not right that they invaded my American home, and will try not to ban Liberal Arts in their employee homes in the future. The divorce settled, it is not about money, it is about the Vietnam therapy of ranting Free Speech in Mission Accomplished atrocities of human pride.
You have to ask them, who put the screws on them to silence an American like a Church's Anti-War Free Speech.
So easy, it is "Terminated for Performance Issues" , "Terminated for Non-Compliance", "Terminated for being a Liberal", but not in the slap in the face smile in the way they said "Terminated for Poetry" of this greatest love of writing my mind's wind in mental releases of Vietnam Rants that I earned the right as a Veteran to have. That like Vietnam or Iraq War coffins that I can be hidden and silenced "At Will" by burying my mind on a blank piece of paper as a headstone grave.
I would ask Congress to give Americans Free Speech zones within their own patriot homes, but Congress is Corporately owned by a Patriot Act that denies US Civil Liberties of Free Speech dwellings of Constitutional due process.
You see why like Vietnam that I must evict the cancer of "Terminated for Poetry" with a handshake saying I was just "Terminated" and not "Obscene."
How many are Liberals?
How many have Liberal views?
How many Liberals died, so that Blacks could vote and have decent schools?
How many want to go into the 1950’s of racial relations?
How many are strictly politically Bush Conservative?
Good you are Between Black and White lines of Poetry.
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