Morning Open Thread
Good morning.
Comments (112) «
I think that Bybee and Yoo need to take a 200 question exam on the Constitution and its Scales of Justice here and Internationally. I want to see if they fail the test for being qualified as Constitutional lawyers, seems they are more qualified as HooverNomic bankruptcy lawyers for bankrupting this countries Constitution Democracy values.
How Bybee and Yoo can be allowed in front of students to teach their legal blasphemy is beyond belief. It is like a Tory teaching the King's Royal power of 1776.
They need to be disbarred at the minimum from practicing and teaching Constitutional law. The Bar needs to use them as examples and issue a edict on the principles of Constitutional Law by Constitutional lawyer scholars. That is why our next Supreme Court Justice needs to be a "We the people" Constitutional lawyer and/or scholar that will impeach CorPolitical values.
Good morning fellow Democrats.
Cleveland's domestic partnership registration opens Thursday morning.
Officials are expecting a large number of people to be at City Hall on Lakeside Avenue when the doors open at 8 a.m.At that time, any unmarried couples who share a residence in the city will be able to register as domestic partners.
The city said the registration process is simple and expedient for interested couples.
To celebrate the recognition of the committed relationships of couples registering, there will be a gathering of Ohio’s public and interfaith leaders, families and supporters of the registry from noon to 2 p.m. on the front steps of City Hall.
In Free Speech Colin Powell is being attacked by Republican pit bull savage mongrels. In denying Free Speech to Liberals are they are being silenced by the Democratic Party of Conservative/Progressives, where their opinions are null and mute censorship. President Obama, who I admire, has censored the Constitutional Liberals that demand a tree branch Trilogy of power sharing Checks and Balances. He like so many has been trapped by the Executive Privilege that makes a President the CEO, not the servant of the "We the people" divine wishes. Look at how quick Lady Liberty has disappeared once he was elected, bulldozed over with the Shame Ole Same Thing Tory Fraternity image, were politicians own us, rather than "We the people" own them.
The White House has become an Incorporated Republic of Enron Creative Accounting, when "We the people" need this Constitutional Freedom and Democracy Concrete Accounting.
The Attorney General uses evasive actions of Constitutional Concrete Accounting of While House Executive privilege abuses and redefinitions of "At Will" legislating and Judg(e)ment is the Paramount destruction of the Trilogy of parity of three equal branches of government. Here a Attorney General, is acting like the Supreme Court Chief Justice of the land, deciding what and what not goes before our "We the people" Supreme Court Concrete Accounting of our elected officials. I think that President Obama might put the Attorney General in the Supreme Court, so he can lay claim to its Independent Heritage. In doing so, making the Supreme Court a slave of the White House. Mush like Congress is today, where it fails to do it legislative Homework of Concrete Accounting, but become an AIG board of cohesion.
I wonder if President Obama will put his slave in the Supreme Court, or a "We the people" Declaration of Independence God Bless Made in American Constitutional lawyer and/or Scholar savior of the Concrete Accounting of the scales of Justice balanced in the law of the land, and not the President or the White House.
In one of the greatest acts a President could do, he could ask "We the people" for the American citizen that will uphold the Constitutional Law of the land giving all views of equality to our History and Heritage.
If I had to preach for a 1776 Constitution today, it would lose the vote of Independence to the people, but given it to Great Britain they might be more supportive of separation of powers.
In this picture you have President Kennedy looking down at President Obama. It shows me how much Real Change, he has to do to reach President Kennedy's stature. If his administration is going to be the Shame Ole Same Thing, he will be a Clinton, Reagan, Bush (the first one), but much better than Mr. Nixon and Mr. Bush the second one.
I hope that all of you can sing from your heartbeats desires, and make your should proud as Americans.
In Freedom, it takes me 20 minute to close programs that take it away the Free Speech part of it.
As President, one thing I would do is, require all agencies including the NSA to hand over all files it has on file, or at least send it to a Constitutional lawyer, and see if the Constitution was violated. I would love to see the Rove file on President Obama. It might be better to have a lawyer look at it than see how low the Constitution has been redefined to with the Patriot Act of lost Civil Liberties. In fact Obama should include his family, to see if they were spied upon.
Good morning, all.
Poet,
I imagine President Obama is looking at that portrait and thinking of his friend Caroline Kennedy. It's hard not to make a personal connection when there is one. What can one see of him in her?
And how do you not think about how her life changed in an instant? I bet all the Presidents since Kennedy have had to confront this emotion when gazing at that young father. I actually hope President Obama doesn't have to look at this artwork everyday.
You really can't see the face of the man in the portrait. The full story of his life cannot be be told. With only a blank slate, we find it easy to read our own feelings into the subject. The artist obviously intended it to be that way. This is why art is so important to civilized societies...it helps create empathy.
And it's also the reason why corrupt societies burn books and ban music....and write legal briefs sanctioning torture.
8Rjsnijj on May 7, 2009 at 11:21 AM
As usual you have it backwards,the liberals are having it OUR WAY this time so there is little to speak of.With 60 votes in the senate for the Dems we will have our way!!!!
My own private opinion is for states to have Civil Union Licenses that marriage be a religious right ceremony. But that churches be free to marry who ever they want, gays ans/or straight.
I think the IRS should recognize civil unions, rather that marriage unions, as separation of church and state.
So that in order to get married one needs a Civil Union License the marriage certificate is given by the church having the ceremony.
I say that the Federal government should get out of the church business, and let abortion be decided by each state. Abortion has only been used to divide our nation, so that some can Incorporate America into their Right Wing ideology of which it has now become a pit bull mongrel savage attack of human and civil right religious values. I myself am Pro Choice, if I was a woman I would choose life, in a death sentence I would choose life, in human and civil rights I choose equality. In Pro Life so many are against abortion but for the death sentence that I am sorry is not Pro Life, neither is attacking someone on the ground of race, creed, religion, and/or sexuality.
In this Free Speech argument I probably made 90% of the people upset, but that is what Free Speech is about the diversity of opinion.
As a Catholic, I ask the Pope, please come down on water boarding and those Abu Gnraib pictures that the World needs to banish the thought of another Inquisition of the Dark Ages of Human and Civil Liberties of religious ethnic cleasing that as God's children we must not torture them. In fact the Pope with the all the religious leaders with him in the Vatican can show Gos;s love for his children. But then the Catholic Church looked away from the Holocaust, and today the Jews look away at Abu Ghraib, so that society perpetuates its History of Torture and Abuse Inquisitions Dark Ages.
I use so much Free Speech in America that I have no more friends, seems they want to blacklist me into conforming censorship as a crushed Lady Liberty. It seems that Micheal Savage and Russ Limbaugh are the voices of America's Free Speech today, they have immunity from the FCC and the Supreme Court.
I have to go Democrats, keep the dream going, even as mine is fading.
Rjsnijj on May 7, 2009 at 11:40 AM
Do we have to go thrugh this again,Blue dog Democrats are the MINORITY! got it dannyboy.
I think that churches should recognize Civil Unions. The second part thinking marriage is a religious ceremony recognize marriage of other faiths even if they are the same sex that one might prove difficult right now.
this is one of the reasons I do not like Centrists Democrats----they cannot be true to the party on the platform of which we are formed.
Democratic Centrists Press Pelosi to Shelve Climate Bill
Many in the right wing of the Democratic Party are urging Nancy Pelosi to hold off on the climate change bill. (Photo: Getty images)
Democratic centrists are pressing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to set aside a flagging climate change bill to focus on what they think is a more achievable goal: overhauling the nation's healthcare system
7
SandyH on May 7, 2009 at 11:18 AM
I admire Caroline Kennedy, and her drive, I wish President Obama would put her in a position like the Czar of Educational reform to generate the energy in education needs to inspire our children's dreams with dynamic bright God Bless Made in America futures.
Caroline can you create the Camelot dream for US that again sings in the American Artmosphere of Red, White, and Blue dynamic Star Spangle Banner spectrums of writing one's Free spirited mind among the currents of Freedom and democracy to spread America's wings among its former glory of inspirational creative combustion of America's "We the people" artistry of strong will birthrights of History and Heritage of ancestral pride that we are no slave to a Politician, especially those Tory CorPoliticians.
Oh those Scarlet L-etter Judgement, can you feel the Conservative pain of its Labels?
Wow, somebody must have let the damnation loose, I am flowing with Terminated for Poetry Somewhere in America not on company time Free Verse, and the Uni-Verse of Free Speech writing statements.
Danny, tell me seriously. After looking back from your 24/7 on this blog, and having everything all erased like you were never here, does that rejection make you even more angry??? heeheehee.......
One trick pony, is Danny boy. He likes to pretend he is some kind of right wing Democrat, of which there is no such thing!!
Your wife would be SO proud of you, should you ever get the guts to tell her what you do, isn't that a fact????
Let's go thru this one more time, very slowly so that Danny boy, the Dufus , can maybe count on his fingers this time.
There are a total of 435 Representatives, of which 256 are Democrats. The Blue Dogs number approx. 51 members. that makes about 9% of all Reps are blue Dog Dems, or about 20% of Democrats are Blue Dogs. The rest are Liberal Democrats !!
The number of senators who consider themselves Centrists are very small. Of the 50 Democrats, maybe 8% HAVE to call themselves a centrist in order to keep their seat, like a Mary landrieu.
NOW YOU GOT IT, NUMB ONE????
SHEESH, IS THERE ANYTHING WORSE THAN A DUMB MAN, WHO DOESN'T KNOW IT????
bbl, Dems.
Erectile dysfunction ads too hot for TV?
http://amfix.blogs.cnn.com/2009/05/07/erectile-dysfunction-ads-too-hot-for-tv/
Enter H.R. 2175. That’s a bill that Rep. Moran (Democrat) introduced last month that would prohibit any ED ads from airing on broadcast radio and TV between 6AM and 10PM.
======================================
I tell you the insanity of this, maybe we need Taibana TV banning sensual gels and and batteries, because of the EverReady symbolism.
Rep Moran please switch to the Republican Party. it see you are a Conservative Regressive.
It seems that most Tory's suffer Erectile dysfunction, they need a little Viagra stimulation.
Do Tory CorPoliticans have to be our Taliban parents?
Representative Jim Moran (D-VA) maybe TV need separate beds again on TV, like with I Love Lucy Conservative times to show sex did not exist in the bedroom.
Ohs noes!!
Schmo the Plunger has announced to Time Magazine that he is leaving the Pug Party. He says he's fed up with them for all the spending they allowed and aren't stopping.
I guess his 15 minutes has finally ended.
The "big tent" filled with stupid white men and other assorted racists just got a little smaller.
There are a total of 435 Representatives, of which 256 are Democrats. The Blue Dogs number approx. 51 members. that makes about 9% of all Reps are blue Dog Dems, or about 20% of Democrats are Blue Dogs. The rest are Liberal Democrats !!
The number of senators who consider themselves Centrists are very small. Of the 50 Democrats, maybe 8% HAVE to call themselves a centrist in order to keep their seat, like a Mary landrieu.
NOW YOU GOT IT, NUMB ONE????
21
PamB on May 7, 2009 at 12:27 PM
SHEESH, IS THERE ANYTHING WORSE THAN A DUMB MAN, WHO DOESN'T KNOW IT????
bbl, Dems.
22
PamB on May 7, 2009 at 12:28 PM
Somewhat true but I would clarify with this to change "the rest are Liberal Democrats" with "the rest are Progressive Democrats with some Liberal Democrats."
More bad news for the Pugs.
Tom Ridge announced a few minutes ago that he WILL NOT run for the PA Senate seat.
Small tent, and getting smaller.
David, I WISH all the rest were Progressives. Progressive means to go forward, go ahead. Republicans are repressives. They would like to take the country back a hundred years.
Good afternoon fellow Americans. Good morning to the left coast.
Good afternoon, everyone.
Good advise for everyone....
Ben Sherwood
Author, Journalist, Founder and CEO of TheSurvivorsClub.org
Posted May 7, 2009
Lost & Found: How a Three-Year-Old Survived 52 Hours in the Woods (and How You Can Too)
Earlier this week, three-year-old Joshua Childers wandered away from his home in southeast Missouri wearing only a T-shirt, sneakers and a pull-up diaper. More than 52 agonizing hours later, the 35-pound toddler was found alive three miles from his home in the rugged terrain of the Mark Twain National Forest.
"I went on a hike," the boy said after the ordeal. Then he asked for a glass of milk.
Some are calling Joshua's survival a miracle. Without doubt, it's a story with a very happy ending. It's also a tale that reveals the fascinating science of "lost person behavior" -- who gets lost and who has the greatest chance of survival. And it presents an opportunity to revisit the most important survival rule if you get lost in the woods (or anywhere else for that matter)....
So what should you do if you get lost on a hike? Hill's number one survival tip is to stay where you are or find an open place nearby.
Of the eight hundred Nova Scotia lost person reports that he reviewed, only two intentionally stayed in one place in order for searchers to find them more easily. "We always find clues before we find the victim," he says. "What does that tell you?" Hill's point is that if the victims had stayed in one place, they would probably have been found sooner.
For more information about lost person behavior or surviving other kinds of life-changing challenges, please go to The Survivors Club Website.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ben-sherwood/lost-how-a-three-year-old_b_198883.html
I've hiked in this area. The problem might be in finding an open area. Luckily the weather has been mild the last week. I'm sure glad that little boy got tired of walking.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama proposed on Thursday nearly doubling funds to enforce U.S. tax laws next year, with an aim of more than quadrupling funding for tax compliance to $2.1 billion within five years.
The budget plan seeks $12.1 billion for the Internal Revenue Service, responsible for collecting and enforcing individual and corporate tax laws, for fiscal 2010, which begins October 1. That amounts to a roughly 5.2 percent increase over the IRS budget for 2009, which was $11.5 billion.
The budget proposal, which must be approved by Congress, includes a $890 million request to boost tax enforcement, including in the international arena, an increase of $400 million from 2009.
Underreporting of income by individuals and businesses led to a "tax gap" of $345 billion in 2001, the most recent year available, according to the government. Of that, corporate income tax and employment tax underreporting made up about $84 billion, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office...
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressReleasesMolt/idUSTRE5464DP20090507
It's about time, Mr. President. We're sick and tired of carrying the rich and infamous around on the backs of the average working man. Make these fat cats pony up.
When Tom Ridge passes up an opportunity to take a prominent leadership role in a race with national implications, you know the moderates feel stymied by the position they occupy in the GOP...persona non grada
Ridge won't challenge Specter for Pa. Senate seat
By KIMBERLY HEFLING, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON – Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge says he's not going to challenge Sen. Arlen Specter next year.
Ridge is a moderate Republican who was the nation's first homeland security chief. He said in a statement Thursday that his party is facing challenges and he will work with the GOP, but he will not seek the nomination.
A Quinnipiac University poll this week showed Specter and Ridge running about even in a hypothetical general-election race. Party officials have said he was considering a run. Former Republican Rep. Pat Toomey has announced his candidacy for the Senate.
Specter recently split with the Republican Party after four decades to become a Democrat.
Earlier Thursday, Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak says he's considering running.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090507/ap_on_el_se/us_ridge_senate
Maybe Ridge doesn't want to go up against his old friend or maybe he just doesn't want to go up against a former Admiral? It's pretty clear Specter was afraid of Sesteck...and Limbaugh..not Toomey.
Where exactly can any moderate go in the GOP with Limbaugh calling all the shots? Bush set them up for failure and Limbaugh is holding them down defending it.
One thing's for certain, we are attracting and will be helping to field a large number of smart, capable candidates in all states in 2010. I look forward to reading about them here on the DNC Blog in the coming months.
The South, as well as every other region, will be looking to Democrats for the answers to problems the Republicans refuse to admit exist.
People want change not the status quo. They are tired of complaining to those who pretend to listen.
EPPELHEIM, Germany — With its tidy villages, orderly cities and atmospheric scenery, there are few outward signs that the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, home to historic Heidelberg and the famed Black Forest, is a victim of the current economic crisis.
But with the auto industry here hit especially hard — this is the home of Mercedes-Benz — things are tougher than they have been in decades. Unemployment is up 70 percent in the past year (albeit to a relatively low 5 percent total) and many employees have been forced to cut down their hours.
Misery below the surface, perhaps? Not at the bustling Fuerstenberger home just outside Heidelberg, where little has changed for the family's four children despite neither parent currently working...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30363790/
This is how you treat your citizens. Yet, we kowtow to 2% of the citiznery who whine about a 50% tax rate. It's time to recognize the fat cats for what they are, greedy and the minority.
I know that I have a well-documented history of speaking "poorly" of the The Republican National Party.
But after reading several articles, I believe that there is a strong group of Republicans (mostly moderates) who are genuinely attempting to change The Republican Party for positive reasons.
I believe Tom Ridge's announcement shows strength of character for because the moderates have to keep in check the extreme-right takeover of The Republican National Party.
However, this is a great opportunity for The Democratic National Party to not only increase their majorities in the House and Senate, but it is a great opportunity to prove once and for all the legitimacy of their agenda to the American people.
I believe Moderates and Independents support The Democratic National Party in strong numbers.
But a word of caution to The Democratic National Party, there is a lot of responsiblity that comes with the authority to lead.
But I am confident that the Obama Administration and the Democratic Party controlled Congress is fully aware of the responsiblity they have to the American people.
As far as The Republican National Party is concerned, they are going to have their hands full with the extreme-right takeover that has already taken place with the likes of rush limbaugh and his angry band of associates.
I believe that there are moderate and respectable Republicans who aren't going to switch parties, but rather stand and fight against rush limbaugh and his idiotic band of "weiner" lovers.
CactusisCactus on May 7, 2009 at 03:43 PM
Balderdash, Dan. If I was making a million a year and had to pay half in taxes, I think I could live quite well on $500K especially knowing that the other half-million was being spent by a competent administration, unlike the last (Bush 43), on things that benefit all Americans, such as infrastructure, and not just the upper class as y'all in the GOP advocate.
The political pendulum has swung back our way. We will fix the tax code, and everything else your Republicans have screwed up since President Reagan whether y'all like it or not.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration will not release Guantanamo detainees thought to be terrorists into the United States, Attorney General Eric Holder told Congress Thursday as he sought to reassure worried lawmakers.
"We don't have any plans to release terrorists," Holder testified at a Senate hearing on the administration's budget for the Justice Department.But he also said some of the detainees at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, facility will be let go as the administration believes some held there are not terrorists.
Holder faced repeated questions about his plans for closing Guantanamo. President Barack Obama has ordered the center shuttered by January 2010.
Republicans critical of Obama's plan claim Guantanamo detainees cannot legally be brought to the United States because federal law bars entry to anyone who has received terrorist training.
Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., pressed Holder to say whether he believed he had the authority to release someone with terrorist training into the United States. The attorney general did not directly answer Shelby's question, but said the government doesn't have any plans to release terrorists.
"With regard to those who you would describe as terrorists, we would not bring them into this country and release them, anyone we would consider to be a terrorist," Holder said.
He added the government has no plans to release anyone considered a terrorist in a foreign country, either...
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D981ILK81&show_article=1
But then again, how do you know who is a terrorist and who is innocent? Very few, if any, have had a fair trial thanks to the Republican ignorance of the Constitution.
Try the terrorists. Release the innocents with a check for their inconvenience. It really is that simple.
Good afternoon all (except right wing nutters). Looks like Joe Da Plumber had a falling out with the GOP? What's up with that.
JOE the Plumber Quits the GOP !!! Hotlist
by SmileySam [Subscribe]
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Thu May 07, 2009 at 10:07:14 AM PDT
Time Magazine has dropped this bomb on the GOP.
Well, more elections. Big Government is never popular in theory, but the disaster aid, school lunches and prescription drugs that make up Big Government have become wildly popular in practice, especially now that so many people are hurting. Samuel Wurzelbacher, better known as Joe the Plumber, tells TIME he's so outraged by GOP overspending, he's quitting the party — and he's the bull's-eye of its target audience. But he also said he wouldn't support any cuts in defense, Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid — which, along with debt payments, would put more than two-thirds of the budget off limits. It's no coincidence that many Republicans who voted against the stimulus have claimed credit for stimulus projects in their district — or that Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal stopped ridiculing volcano-monitoring programs after a volcano erupted in Alaska. "We can't be the antigovernment party," Snowe says. "That's not what people want."
* SmileySam's diary :: ::
*
I'm not sure what else to say. I'll add more as it comes available.
Republicans in the Wilderness: Is the Party Over?
Wonkette is having a real go at Joe over this.
You know your party has hit new lows of odiousness when even a rat-eyed tax-delinquent creep who makes propaganda videos for Pajamas Media wants nothing to do with you. So congratulations, Republicans, Joe the "Plumber" is dumping your ass.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/5/7/728835/-JOE-the-Plumber-Quits-the-GOP-!!!
As far as The Republican National Party is concerned, they are going to have their hands full with the extreme-right takeover that has already taken place with the likes of rush limbaugh and his angry band of associates.
I believe that there are moderate and respectable Republicans who aren't going to switch parties, but rather stand and fight against rush limbaugh and his idiotic band of "weiner" lovers.
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Benji on May 7, 2009 at 03:32 PM
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Good afternoon Benji. Did you catch the drug boss Limbaugh getting pissed at Colin Powell for speaking against him? The GOP are screwed. They gave in to right wing nutters and now they will have a hard time separating themselves from the lunatics.
What's up with this? You mean the drug boss is not all that popular ...
Rush Limbaugh Sinking Clear Channel Hotlist
by paradox [Subscribe]
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Thu May 07, 2009 at 06:09:16 AM PDT
[Cross-posted at The Left Coaster.]
The plaintive, hurt question of the late Molly Ivins, now who went ahead and ruined radio? has always stayed with me since her death, the wish for something good to listen to far surpassed by a yearning for a America with vivid sustaining music radio. There might be a chance to get it back before my view dims, but it was truly wrong to have Molly pass—who loved music radio—with only a bewildered question for an element of a country she deeply loved. Someone like Molly deserved far better than that from a country she served so profoundly all her life.
The obvious answer,1 as she and we all know, came via Think Progress and The Mahablog yesterday, our dear liberal friend Clear Channel Communications. Not only is this odious company the primal list-playing brain-dead factor in the corpse of American music radio, but they’ve also blessed the Republic with the contributions of Rush Limbaugh.
* paradox's diary :: ::
*
One could feel sorry for Clear Channel, in theory, for the massive hurt Rush Limbaugh has delivered to them recently. In purely objective terms this is very good news for liberals and Democrats,2 yes, and if there is a great deal of satisfaction from seeing the American music radio killer become deceased itself there is still no clear way to revive music radio, combined with a lingering sadness of what the Republic—and Molly—had to go through to get to this point.
Via the incomparable Eric Boehlert of Media Matters, heh, Clear Channel is broke and desperately trying to survive after just last summer paying out—for no clear reason other than likely juvenile infatuation and disgusting authoritarian veneration—a $100 million bonus to Rush Limbaugh. As this recession/depression continues to rip into the daily fabric of American life (sorry, Chrysler) it’s unclear whether Clear Channel will survive another year.
Sincere condolences to the Clear Channel employees who lost their jobs. It’s very good to see Rush blow up his company and his Party, yes, but never at the expense of other humans.
Which brings me to my last point, an overriding sadness at the vision of this noxious, hateful man who has caused so much damage and hurt to us all. Part of me should be cackling in glee at his inevitable and just fall, but, for reasons I can’t really fathom I just can’t muster it. Rush will likely never go away anyway, living on in some clanking sad form, but at least his Party and corporation will pay more than the Republic has, possibly with their very existence themselves.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/5/7/728744/-Rush-Limbaugh-Sinking-Clear-Channel
Limbaugh is a fat pig. He can definitely stand to lose 100 pounds and to shut his noxious yap.
Time examines the goposaurs, finds them near extinction Hotlist
by kos
Thu May 07, 2009 at 12:50:05 PM PDT
Goposaur Bug
Time headline: Republicans in the Wilderness: Is the Party Over? Answer: Yes.
The article is devastating, even if it occasionally tries to soften the blow.
Sure, it can be comical to watch Republican National Committee (RNC) gaffe machine Michael Steele riff on his hip-hop vision for the party or Texas Governor Rick Perry carry on about secession or Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann explain how F.D.R.'s "Hoot-Smalley" Act caused the Depression (the Smoot-Hawley Act, a Republican tariff bill, was enacted before F.D.R.'s presidency), but haplessness does not equal hopelessness. And yes, the Republican brand could benefit from spokesmen less familiar and less reviled than Karl Rove, Dick Cheney and Newt Gingrich, but the party does have some fresher faces stepping out of the wings.
Fresher faces? Like who? Beats me. The only Republican they mention that could be construed as a "fresher face" is Rep. Paul Ryan. And he doesn't exactly come off great.
Don't look like it's going to well for the GOP-PIES with their party of NO stuff:
FAVORABLE UNFAVORABLE NET CHANGE
PRESIDENT OBAMA 70 (68) 25 (26) +3
PELOSI: 38 (37) 45 (44) +0
REID: 35 (34) 49 (48) +0
McCONNELL: 21 (22) 60 (58) -3
BOEHNER: 16 (17) 62 (61) -2
CONGRESSIONAL DEMS: 44 (43) 49 (50) +2
CONGRESSIONAL GOPS: 14 (15) 71 (70) -2
DEMOCRATIC PARTY: 54 (53) 40 (41) +2
REPUBLICAN PARTY: 22 (23) 68 (67) -2
With some GOP saying not to bring Guantanamo prisoners here to the Unites States because of their terrorist activities, then say it is okay to bring Drug Kingpins here from South America, is this a double standard, for these drug kingpins are 10 times more harmful. Any state that accept these drug Kingpins can accept Guantanamo prisoners.
Rjsnijj on May 7, 2009 at 11:40 AM
Do we have to go thrugh this again,Blue dog Democrats are the MINORITY! got it dannyboy.
10
peaceman on May 7, 2009 at 11:47 AM
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Oh so Dufus Danny is attempting to use a play on my handle.
Hey Danny you are not fooling anyone. Anyone who reads this blog knows you are a Dufus.
No one loves Joe Da Plumber anymore. It's over for this clown. Maybe he should learn how to really be a plumber:
Elisabeth Hasselbeck Disowns "Ignoramus" Joe The Plumber Over "Queers" Comment (VIDEO)
Elisabeth Hasselbeck disowned "Joe The Plumber" Thursday morning on "The View."
Hasselbeck, who campaigned on the trail with Sarah Palin in October, took Joe the Plumber to task for his recent comments that "queers" aren't welcome around his children.
"I think this is an ignoramus statement," Hasselbeck said. "In that specified corner to which he had a life during this election, I was even a person who thought, you know what, power to Joe the Plumber at that point. Well, Joe the Plumber is not invited anywhere around me. "
Joy Behar promptly screamed, "Turning! Turning! Turning!" implying that Hasselbeck, a stalwart Republican, was turning into a Democrat.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/07/elisabeth-hasselbeck-diso_n_199152.html
So much for Moose Brains:
Palin Popularity Plunging in Polls
Sarah Palin is no longer the most popular governor in the country. That title now belongs to Connecticut Republican Governor M. Jodi Rell. Rell has a 70% approval rating (4.10.09). Connecticut has seven times the population of Alaska.
Sarah Palin is no longer the most popular politician in Alaska.
Senator Lisa Murkowski is. She is polling at a combined approval of 76.3%. Lisa Murkowski avoids drama. Alaskans, while not always agreeing with her, agree she is, unlike Sarah Palin, at work.
In March 2008, Sarah Palin's combined positives were 85%. Her combined negatives were 12%. In July of 2008, according to the same polls, if you walked into a bar with 100 people, 12 people didn't approve of the job Sarah Palin was doing. Good luck getting a drink.
Last September, Sarah went on tour...and stayed on tour-like an old Aqua Net 80's band that ought to stick to playing local bars and count their iTune downloads. Sarah Palin consistently ignored the needs of Alaskans. As a result of her job abandonment, her approval rating suffered. The new Hayes Research polls show the governor at 54% combined approval and 41.6% combined disapproval. 30% of her former fans now boo her. Love can be fickle.
Alaskans are starting to get it. Palin's job approval numbers have dropped consistently since she came back from the Hate Talk Express tour. Neglect doesn't play well here.
Since these poll numbers were released, Sarah Palin has dug her naughty monkey heels in; she is selfishly refusing $28.6 million in State Energy Program stimulus funds. Alaska has the highest energy costs in the country. Newsflash: it gets cold here! The money would be used to winterize homes, which in turn, would reduce energy consumption and costs, while...ding ding ding...providing local jobs and STIMULATING a sluggish economy!!!
Palin said she doesn't want to be part of "growing the national debt." If she were truly concerned, she would accept the stimulus package in its entirety and then write the federal government a check. The $28.6 million she is rejecting will go to another state-probably California.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shannyn-moore/palin-popularity-plunging_b_198366.html
rjsnj on May 7, 2009 at 04:36 PM
RJ, I think George W. Bush has sank the GOP for decades to come. We'll have at least a decade to fix all the problems he created because the GOP is the party of George W. Bush.
40
CactusisCactus on May 7, 2009 at 04:49 PM
===================================================
Danny, face it - you're a worm. Hiding behind a keyboard posting your hate. Big deal! You are a total loser.
RJ, I think George W. Bush has sank the GOP for decades to come. We'll have at least a decade to fix all the problems he created because the GOP is the party of George W. Bush.
42
BobVADemocratHawk on May 7, 2009 at 05:03 PM
====================================================
Bob, you may be right. America is the loser. We really do need two functioning parties but right now the GOP are useless. They are slaves of the extreme right. The prove is that the RNC chairman can't even criticize a talk show host.
CactusisCactus on May 7, 2009 at 05:22 PM
=============================================
Poor Dufus Danny getting frustrated with the follow the leader games. So you really were stupid enough to believe Silly Sally when he said he can influence election results. Didn't work out too well for you did it in 2006 or 2008?
Lindsey Graham gets the Heismann from Tom Ridge Hotlist
by Jed Lewison
Thu May 07, 2009 at 01:32:04 PM PDT
Just how disappointed are Republicans at Tom Ridge’s decision to sidestep a bruising primary battle with extreme conservative Pat Toomey?
Maybe we should ask South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham, who spent the last week touting Ridge as the savior of the Republican Party.
Watch:
Basically, Lindsey Graham is saying is that without moderates like Tom Ridge, the GOP is just a southern regional party without prospects for winning a national majority. That's not exactly earth-shattering news, but it is nice to hear a Republican admit it.
Now the question is: when will Graham be forced to apologize to Pat Toomey?
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/5/7/728888/-Lindsey-Graham-gets-the-Heismann-from-Tom-Ridge
The President of the Senate met with the Democrat's 60th Senator
by Joe Sudbay (DC) on 5/07/2009 09:57:00 AM
V.P. Joe Biden had a meeting yesterday with the Democrat's newest Senator (to-be), Al Franken. Biden said:
While Senator Amy Klobuchar is one of the hardest working members of the United States Senate, Minnesotans deserve their full representation.
Once the Minnesota Supreme Court has issued its final ruling in this case, the President and I look forward to working with Mr. Franken on building an economy for the 21st century.
Yes, the Minnesota Supreme Court, not the U.S Supreme Court, should be the final arbiter (although the Republicans know Coleman has lost. If the guy had an ounce of class, he'd concede.)
Someone needs to get this photo to Arlen Specter to remind him whose side he is on now:
http://www.americablog.com/2009/05/president-of-senate-met-with-democrats.html
Big Al is coming to town!
The Rush purge of the GOP continues: Tells Colin Powell to get out
by Joe Sudbay (DC) on 5/07/2009 08:54:00 AM
I've said before that Rush Limbaugh is like a cross between North Korea's creepy and ruthless dictator, Kim Jong-il, and that big fat Wizard of Oz head. His authoritarian side is showing these days as he continues the purge of the GOP:
"What Colin Powell needs to do is close the loop and become a Democrat instead of claiming to be a Republican interested in reforming the Republican Party," Limbaugh said on his radio show Wednesday.
Limbaugh also took aim at Powell's decision to endorse President Obama over John McCain during the presidential election, repeating his earlier sentiment that Powell's move was "solely based on race."
"He's just mad at me because I'm the one person in the country who had the guts to explain his endorsement of Obama," Limbaugh said. "It was purely and solely based on race."
During a speech on Monday, Powell said the "the Republican Party is in deep trouble" and said the GOP would be better off without Limbaugh, according to a report by the National Journal.
"I think what Rush does as an entertainer diminishes the party and intrudes or inserts into our public life a kind of nastiness that we would be better to do without," Powell said.
=================================================
The fat slob rush has done wonders for Dems. Keep up the bad work drug boss limbaugh.
rjsnj on May 7, 2009 at 05:41 PM
GEN Powell ought to walk to up to Limbaugh and punch him square in the mouth. Limbaugh is one of the GOP, standard-issue, chicken hawk punks and would probably roll on the ground and cry like a little school girl.
CactusisCactus on May 7, 2009 at 05:35 PM
On average, 62.2% of the American electorate disagrees with you.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_obama_job_approval-1044.html
It sucks being in the minority, doesn't it Dan?
At some point, Rush is going to end up in a political party all by himself. He just keeps running people out. Suits me. The bigger an ass Rush continues to be, the large the Democratic Party becomes!
BobVADemocratHawk on May 7, 2009 at 04:24 PM
Bob,
How do you try "terrorists" when you don't have any evidence? The neocons went to the Middle East offering checks to anybody who would hand over their neighbors. They never checking into the claims before sending them to Gitmo. It was a failed program from the get-go.
If they have any evidence, bring it forward and try these people in a court. If not, let them go and put a tail on any of those you still suspect. Who are we fooling thinking evidence will surface after all these years?
Enough with this failed gulag approach to gaining intelligence. It doesn't work...no matter what Mary Cheney says. Only old fashioned covet operations which take time to develop leads give you anything of value.
Gimo stands as a monument to failure and those who thought they could create their own reality.
Good night fellow Americans. Keep the Faith and keep the faith. Yes we can, yes we will, and yes we did!
CactusisCactus on May 7, 2009 at 05:35 PM
You sound more desperate with every day our new President makes some small but slow and steady progress. He's not deliberately picking the pockets of the middle class to fill those of the filthy rich like your side did.
Count your blessings.
SandyH on May 7, 2009 at 06:23 PM
As usual, you and I are on the same page. Try them or release them. It really is that simple.
As usual, you and I are on the same page. Try them or release them. It really is that simple.
54BobVADemocratHawk on May 7, 2009 at 06:36 PM
I have said that all along, too, bob.
If they are guilty, throw away the key.
If they are not, send them back to their countries.
the reason Bush was not going to try them, was he KNEW there was no evidence and he would look like a fool.
Sandy and Bob, here is how to
a) pay off a municipal debt
b) provide employment with good paying UNION jobs
c) finally clear up Chimpy's mess
d) AND PISS OFF THE PUGS!!!
Montana Town Wants Its Empty Jail to Be the New Guantanamo Bay
The Jobs Stimulus WORKS!!!
Evening all good Dems,
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
The ahole savage is suing England because they refused him entry into the country.
GOOD! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
The REAL reason Chimpy would NEVER let those people see a Court of LAW is because Chimpy KNOWS that HE committed WAR CRIMES.
He has a "Legacy" to protect, and the "legacy" of him tied to a pole and letting the World Court decide "rope or bullets?" won't sell a lot of tickets to his LIE-Bary.
OOOOOOOH, NO MORE TALK ABOUT TORTURE!
The Swine Flu is no longer the "shiny object".
HERE is the REAL NEWS!!!!!!!
Drew Peterson won't make it to his new reality show (running the Moonlight Bunny Ranch, if you can believe it) because he was........
JUST ARRESTED FOR THE MURDER OF HIS THIRD WIFE!!!!
LIVE HELICOPTER CAMERAS FOLLOWING THE COP CAR TO THE POLICE STATION!!!!!
(Who cares? Really, it's just a local story and he has the same PR firm as Blago; so take it with a very large grain of salt.)
Number 4 is still missing, in case the torture story knocked him off your tube for a while. Then that rotten Swine Flu took all his face time from Obsess Hollywood, and you know how the MSM is.
So, I guess TORTURE is off the Tee & Vee for the next few weeks.
And let the wingnut howling begin...
Obama’s budget eliminates funding for abstinence education programs.
...in 3, 2, 1, ...
The GeeOhhPee is extinct just like the dinosaurs they emulate. The GeeOhhPee will not be back for at least 100 years. The GeeOhhPee is dead, bury it.
The Battle for Healthcare Begins
Myths will need to be debunked, front groups exposed, and money trails followed.
"If there is no public insurance option…then this is not reform at all."
That's what Governor Howard Dean said last night in a conference call with thousands of activists -- and he's absolutely right.
DPD,
The evangelical wingnuts will be deeply pissed. Meanwhile palin's daughter is going around the country pushing abstinence. I understand that is one of the reasons the fake-christians in Congress are holding up President Obama's pick for the Department of Health and whatever.
These people just never grow up do they?
Barbi,
I am more certain than ever that what we need and should demand is single payer health care. We should not support anything less. Health care is a human right.
I am also pushing free college at public institutions for anyone who wants to go. It's a disgrace that our young people who choose to go to college start their careers in debt. The only ones who benefit from this crap are the bankers.
I also think we should demand subsidized child care.
Whaddya Know, Bush's Old Drug Czar Is Still a Major BS Artist
To summarize: in under five minutes Walters manages to falsely claim that:
Today's marijuana is far stronger -- and thus more dangerous -- than ever before...
More people seek drug treatment for pot than all other drugs combined...
Nobody is actually in jail for marijuana-related offenses. Ah yes, the "unicorn" theory.
Consuming cannabis leads to violent behavior and other criminal acts. Apparently, when pot doesn't make you "docile and unresponsive, to the point of helplessness," it makes you unpredictably violent. Or not...
When I was a young man, I was graduated from UC Berkeley and THERE WAS NO TUITION. Then along came raygun who was heard to say when he was elected governator "why should I pay for anyone else's education". raygun was truly a cheap prick.
We are now facing the same mentality when it comes to health care. "Why should I pay for someone else's health care". Cheap bastards.
Good evening, Johne. And all good Dems!
I agree with you on all counts. I don't understand why politicians, who are getting great health care off the backs of the taxpayers, want to deny coverage to the rest of the country's citizens.
The systems are too rigged, and those who help to rig the systems for their own profit should be thrown out of office... whether political or not.
cheep!cheep!cheep!cheep!cheep!cheep!cheep!cheep!
Give them some more bird seed then throw them out the window.
Do You Know Why Mother's Day Was Started?
Mother's Day isn't about Hallmark and Teleflora -- it's a call for women to gather for peace.
Women know that war is SO over. We know it in our hearts, in our guts, in our wombs. We know that the madness in Iraq and Afghanistan has to end, that we cannot keep sending our children to kill the children of mothers across the globe. [...]
It is nearly 140 years since Julia Ward Howe wrote her Mother’s Day Proclamation, a pacifist reaction to the carnage of the American Civil War and the Franco–Prussian War. It flowed from her feminist belief that women had a responsibility to shape their societies at the political level. [...]
However you spend your Mother’s Day, remember those women who have relentlessly stood for our rights in the past and know that we can bring peace.
Torture Led to Murder; It's a Fact.
For many years now, BuzzFlash has been recording and documenting the acts of homicide and war crimes that have resulted from the Cheney/Bush/Rumsfeld policies on torture and killing of sometimes randomly singled out Arabs. Face it, the trio of war criminals had a policy that if innocent Arabs got caught up in the web of torture and war, that was their problem. So what would be a crime of murder if committed in the United States was an "act of protecting America against terrorism" in Iraq, Afghanistan and the CIA "black holes."
Even if many of the tortured and dead were just so more wrongfully abducted and arrested "collateral damage."
A study by the Human Rights First Organization has what we believe is an undercount of those individuals who died as a result of homicide while in U.S. custody (the study did not include the CIA "black hole" detainees who were tortured, because there has never been any accounting for the victims -- and one study ascertained 32 of the CIA "rendition suspects" are still unaccounted for.)
Annotated Bush Statement to the UN
International Day in Support of Victims of Torture
"… The nonnegotiable demands of human dignity must be protected without reference to race, gender, creed, or nationality. Freedom from torture is an inalienable human right, and we are committed to building a world where human rights are respected and protected by the rule of law.
"To help fulfill this commitment, the United States has joined 135 other nations in ratifying the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. America stands against and will not tolerate torture. We will investigate and prosecute all acts of torture and undertake to prevent other cruel and unusual punishment in all territory under our jurisdiction. American personnel are required to comply with all U.S. laws, including the United States Constitution, Federal statutes, including statutes prohibiting torture, and our treaty obligations with respect to the treatment of all detainees.
"The United States also remains steadfastly committed to upholding the Geneva Conventions, which have been the bedrock of protection in armed conflict for more than 50 years. These conventions provide important protections designed to reduce human suffering in armed conflict. We expect other nations to treat our service members and civilians in accordance with the Geneva Conventions. [...]
"Despite international efforts to protect human rights around the world, repressive regimes continue to victimize people through torture. [...] But we will not compromise the rule of law or the values and principles that make us strong. Torture is wrong no matter where it occurs, and the United States will continue to lead the fight to eliminate it everywhere."
20 Years After Iran-Contra, Cheney Defends Torture's "Little Guys"
Announcing his Christmas 1992 pardons of Caspar Weinberger and five other Iran-Contra figures, President George H.W. Bush introduced a time-honored Republican scandal evasion by decrying "the criminalization of policy differences." Now, 22 years after his own role in a Congressional minority report which blasted the allegations of Reagan administration abuses of power as "hysterical," Dick Cheney is back to defend the "little guys" now at the center of the Bush 43 administration's regime of detainee torture.
In an interview with 9/11-Iraq fabulist and chief Cheney hagiographer Stephen Hayes, the Vice President explained why he was not following George W. Bush's guidance that President Obama "deserves my silence." Just like Oliver North and Cap Weinberger all those years ago, the "little guys" who architected and carried out waterboarding and other potential war crimes, Cheney insisted, deserve his protection...
Looking back on then-Representative Dick Cheney's hand in the 1987 Congressional Iran-Contra Committee minority report, one could be excused for performing a mental copy and paste. Substitute Bush for Reagan and torture for Iran-Contra, and you'd thnk you were reading an excerpt of Cheney's upcoming book:
"The bottom line, however, is that the mistakes of the Iran-contra affair were just that - mistakes in judgment, and nothing more. There was no constitutional crisis, no systematic disrespect for ''the rule of law,'' no grand conspiracy, and no Administration-wide dishonesty or coverup. In fact, the evidence will not support any of the more hysterical conclusions the committees' report tries to reach."Then as now, Cheney and his allies insisted Democrats were "criminalizing politics." Rep. Cheney even anticipated Michael Mukasey's claim that "the Bybee memo, to paraphrase a French diplomat, was worse than a sin, it was a mistake." Which makes the use of the same language by Attorney General Eric Holder ("we don't want to criminalize policy differences that might exist") and President Obama ("whatever legal rationales were used, it was a mistake") all the more disconcerting.
Karl Marx famously said that historical events occur twice, first as tragedy and the second time as farce. Of course, Karl Marx never met Dick Cheney.
Is It Criminal Yet? Human Rights Report: U.S. Interrogators Killed 98
Do you think it might be okay if we sort of looked into this? I mean, I wouldn't want to hurt anyone's feelings or keep the country from "moving forward", but isn't murder still a crime?
Or should we sweep this under the rug, too?
Graham Falsely Claims All Gitmo Detainees Are ‘Enemy Combatants,’ Says They Can Be Held ‘Forever’
Graham is simply wrong in claiming that all Gitmo detainees are “enemy combatants.” Last October, the Bush administration’s Justice Department declared that all 17 Chinese Muslim (Uighurs) prisoners at Guantanamo were no longer to be designated as such. One week later, a federal judge ordered that they be released “because the government provided no proof that they were enemy combatants or security risks.” Yet they still remain there today. In fact, as far back as 2003, the Pentagon concluded that they could be released.
Graham can justify his belief that terror detainees are outside the purview of civilian courts and thus can be held “forever” because he views combating terrorism as “a war,” one that can presumably carry on indefinitely because the concept of “terrorism” will never simply end. But the American criminal justice system is equipped to hold full legal trials while protecting classified evidence and state secrets. Indeed, as Attorney General Eric Holder noted, terror suspects deserve “due process rights that I think are consistent with who we are as Americans.”
Iraq: Firm once known as Blackwater exits Baghdad
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090507/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq
-----------------------------------------
This is just for show, they are just leaving Baghdad and still in Iraq.
Republican Says Reagan Era Is Over
How long will it take for Rep. Patrick McHenry to tell us what he really meant?
Representative Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, a conservative who keeps a bust of Reagan on his desk, surprised me by declaring that the Reagan era is over. Marginal tax rates are the lowest they've been in generations, and all we can talk about is tax cuts, he said. The people's desires have changed, but we're still stuck in our old issue set.The Rush Limbaugh faction of the party should be calling for his head and demanding an apology in five, four, three ...
Indeed, the Senate is a place that resists change and all too often kills needed reform. This time around, we can't let that happen....
Barb,
The Senate Old Boys Club has stood on tradition to the point of bankrupting our financial system. Now they are going to do the same thing with our our health care delivery system. By not modernizing this aspect of our economy, they will in effect destroy our ability to compete in the world on an equal footing with other nations.
Too many of these Senators have been insulated from the effects of what their personal fraternal rules have done to the working of the nation. A lot of them are so locked into an incumbent advantage that they feel entitled to being a Senator.
Look closely at Specter. He thinks he's been in office so long that he deserves this seat and shouldn't have to face a challenge from anyone. I cannot believe the Founders expected anyone to be in office for decades...that would have been royalty to them.
And that's what these old geezers are acting like...royalty. This insanity has to end. Many of the member of the Senate are certifiably brain dead. They don't even know who they are or what's happening in the country outside their little country club. It's like they come to work each day and nothing has changed (for them at least) since they entered that chamber...decades ago.
Reconciliation is now our only chance of getting the constructive change that the majority voted for last November. The Senate Old Boys Club is acting like professional baseball players who take drugs and won't admit it.
They are so confused and have such a sense of their own importance that they are driving the government right over the cliff where Bush built a launching pad.
51 votes out of 100 is a majority by any rational argument. It don't care about tradition. I care that the country surviving so it can celebrate its traditions...all of our traditions not just those who enjoy them in the Senate.
Sandy,
Your words are a powerful call for term limits. Senators and possibly Congresspersons should be limited to one term.
There should be no lobbyists allowed.
All elections should be on paper ballots.
Election fraud should be punished by life in prison.
Xe (Blackwater) based in North Carolina and Triple Canopy based in Virginia that is taking over are based in deep Conservative states, do these states regulate security firms and make sure they abide by State, Federal, and International Law. Are these corporations licensed in these states? Are they like Air America, but based on U.S. soil? Can worldwide mercenaries corporation be based in the U.S.? Does Congress in its Legislative duty of separation of powers oversee these operations? If states and civilians cannot have their own militias, how can corporations build them?
Barbi on May 7, 2009 at 09:05 PM
Barbi,
This guy has faced reality. The GOP is still talking about taxes when there are no profits to report, not earnings to speak of, and no jobs being created.
The Republicans continue to live in a different day and time...that never really existed. Reagan pointed to the glory days of the 1950. But he got it all wrong. Eisenhower was a progressive and had one of the highest tax rates...especially for the rich.
For the past 40 years the GOP has continued to tell the same lie; and sure enough, because their strategy was to appeal to peoples' prejudices and greed, it worked.
But that was then. This is now. We're bankrupt. We can't gamble with the future. We have to start building assets here at home. We have to fix what ails this country. And the majority of Americans understand this now...because most of them are facing the same fate.
When you're down you don't pull back. You work hard, invest wisely, and keep your eye towards achieving a common goal with others. You don't continue acting selfish insisting that everyone else sacrifice so some can continue to swander their mostly ill gotten gains.
good evening, everyone. baby babble from miss lily (on my lap)
johne. i'm not opposed to term limits, but i want a congressman in for longer than 2 years. i wish their terms were for 6, like u s senators.
Evening Essie,
That makes sense. Two years is too short and six would be more appropriate. The seats could be staggered so that they aren't all vacated at the same time. This would add some continuity to Congress.
The last time someone tried to impose term limits, the Supreme Court shot it down I believe. Maybe now is the time.
--->SandyH on May 7, 2009 at 09:05 PM
It isn’t that they can’t see the solution. It is that they can’t see the problem.
~G. K. Chesterton
--->SandyH on May 7, 2009 at 09:21 PM
When solving problems, dig at the roots instead of just hacking at the leaves.
~Anthony J. D'Angelo
--->Esmeralda on May 7, 2009 at 09:38 PM
{{Smooches}} for Miss Lily, from a "secret pal"!
National Council for a New America Can't Catch a Break
After attacks by Rush Limbaugh and Tony Perkins, the National Council for a New America gets hit again for not focusing on the so-called value voters agenda:
"It is a sad day when our party comes to the point where we think it is necessary to form a `listening group’ to find out what Americans think we should be fighting for," Huckabee said. "Our problem is not lack of `experts,’ but too many of them and not enough attention to the hard working people in our communities that aren’t connected to the Beltway, but to the heartland."In a fresh round of GOP infighting over the soul of the battered party, Mike Huckabee just took a shot at a host of potential primary rivals, disparaging Eric Cantor’s new group to revive the GOP, the National Council for a New America, and the high-profile Republicans that make up the group’s "panel of experts." [...]
And through a spokesman, Cantor folded:
"Eric reached out to Governor Huckabee, appreciates his efforts as a leader in our nation and he looks forward to remaining in close communication with all leaders," Dayspring told me, adding that social issues would be a focus of Cantor’s group: "All issues, all topics, and all ideas will be included in the dialogue that the National Council for a New America will have."In just a week, the NCNA has gone from:
... to the same old thing. Goposaurs rule. Their world anyway.A formal acknowledgement by top congressional and national leaders that the GOP needs to change its pitch and its ideas.
---
The problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them.
~Albert Einstein
Johne on May 7, 2009 at 09:11 PM
Johne,
Sorry I was so slow in getting back to you. We had diner late tonight.
I'm not for term limits. Voters usually get it right sooner or later. What I'm for is using common sense. Campaign financing reform would go a long way to stopping the unfair advantage that some of these incumbent Senators have in winning elections.
Money is usually at the heart of any abuse.
We have people in the Senate allowing special interests to control the agenda by appealing to their pride and apparently a sense of ownership. Holding onto power has become more important to these individuals (and the interests that support them) than the welfare of the country.
These Senators should feel an obligation to promoting the welfare of all our people not just the traditions they continue to stubbornly exploit. A confused older politician can easily confuses their longevity with statesmanship when they are in reality just being corrupted.
You see it all the time in families. One person starts taking advantage of an aging relative. They flatter and conjole their way into getting control. Then they start taking advantage of their position to make decisions for that person which only benefit themselves, the manipulator.
This is what the lobbyists have been doing. It's dead wrong and it must be stopped. This is not a family problem. We are talking about the well being and future of a country in crisis.
Our Democratic leadership must insist that Gentlemen's Rules take second priority when the stakes are so high. A rational person should understand this and go with a simple majority to pass the generational changes this country needs to move forward again.
The Senate no longer has the luxury of allowing individual members to impede the will of the majority. It's time it took its responsibility seriously again. The Senate is a legislative body charged with enacting law not impeding it with silly tricks of the trade.
The silly season is over. We must act to save ourselves. We have no other choice. Rep. Patrick McHenry sees the handwriting on the wall. How can these stubborn Republican Senators not?
Barbi on May 7, 2009 at 10:03 PM
Barbi,
But they will tell you that Einstein was a scientist and there is no room for his nonsense when all the answers can be found in one simple ideology...which never works when its allowed to be tested.
The GOP is entirely faith-based now. They can't allow anyone to doubt any of their political tenets. This, even though the Savior that they profess to be their guide told us we must seek a better way when we are lost?
The Republican Party knows nothing about Christianity, the Constitution, or capitalism. They are about as lost as you can get. I few lucky ones will join us or the Libertarians. The rest are doomed.
I really don't want anyone to go down the path Limbaugh has laid out. Bigotry, greed, and fear leads to nowhere.
Essie,
I've always liked that name Lily. So she's blowing bubbles and likes being with her grandmother?
It's those simple things that mean so much. You hardly remember them later. But they were the memories that shaped your future happiness.
My husband wonders if I'm ever going to get off this danged computer. So I will surprise him.
Good night, everyone.
SandyH on May 7, 2009 at 11:11 PM
This is NOT a theocracy, no matter what they say. The Republicans need to come out of their fog, and stop trying to inflict any "religious" type of government on this country. "Separation of Church and State": it's in our Constitution!
When fog prevents a small-boat sailor from seeing the buoy marking the course he wants, he turns his boat rapidly in small circles, knowing that the waves he makes will rock the buoy in the vicinity. Then he stops, listens and repeats the procedure until he hears the buoy clang. By making waves, he finds where his course lies. Often the price of finding these guides is a willingness to take a few risks, to "make a few waves." A boat that stays in the harbor never encounters dangers -- but it also never gets anywhere.
~Richard Armstrong
Good night.
Johne,
That's how we can get the ball rolling: set about to making lots of waves! Remind them that this is a country of We, the People, and that all politicians have the obligation to work for the people they were elected to represent!
A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for.
~William Shedd
106The_Evil_Dr*Burd on May 8, 2009 at 03:04 AM
Why don't you join the military and put Iran in its place?
You like to talk tough, can you back it up?
Or are you a coward like harpo?
106The_Evil_Dr*Burd on May 8, 2009 at 03:04 AM
Nevermind.
Everyone already knows you are a coward.
The extreme-right hates our men and women in the Armed Forces.
Just look at the way the extreme-right treats John McCain and Colin Powell, two distinguished military veterans.
Why does the extreme-right hate the men and woman in uniform?
Why is the extreme-right so disrespectful to two honorable veterans who served their countries with honor and valor?
116The_Evil_Dr*Burd on May 8, 2009 at 03:34 AM
heh heh heh
evil burd wishes he was Patton.
evil burd is a wanna-be tough guy who never had the balls to join the military.
evil burd sure has tough talking fingers.
I like how the trolls never talk about global warming anymore now that...
sarah palin admits global warming exists.
So I guess evil burd and sally will be spending the night together.
evil burd and sally love "weiner" (if you know what I mean)
heh heh heh
look commandant cheney is advising repelicans to stick to the agenda that has cost them the house, senate and white house...bravo cheney!! glad to see you have found your voice just in time to help dig your own grave....hahahahahha
(CNN) — Former Vice President Dick Cheney is weighing into the heated internal debate over the future of the Republican Party, declaring it would be a mistake for the GOP to "moderate."
"This is about fundamental beliefs and values and ideas … what the role of government should be in our society, and our commitment to the Constitution and constitutional principles," Cheney said in an interview with North Dakota radio host Scott Hennen Thursday, according to a transcript.
"You know, when you add all those things up, the idea that we ought to moderate basically means we ought to fundamentally change our philosophy," Cheney also said. "I for one am not prepared to do that, and I think most of us aren’t. Most Republicans have a pretty good idea of values, and aren’t eager to have someone come along and say, 'Well, the only way you can win is if you start to act more like a Democrat.'"...
yes, yes keep harping on smaller government, unprovoked invasions of foreign countries, destroying unions, taking away women's control over their own bodies, etc. , etc. this is truly the path to the great repelican revival....oh yeah and more of pence on evolution....hahahahahahaah
I would feel like an idiot if I did that everyday.
127Sally-* on May 8, 2009 at 04:24 AM
BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA.......GASP..............
YOU ARE AN IDIOT, OLD FOOL
Worst part is the knucklehead enjoys it. He squirts maple syrup down there and smiles from ear to ear.
131Harpo-TheWatchman on May 8, 2009 at 08:34 AM
ALWAYS A CLASSY GUY, HUH THOMASS?????????
YOUR MOM AND WIFE AND KIDS WOULD BE SO AMUSED......
124Sally-* on May 8, 2009 at 03:48 AM
Yep and it was the neocons that said that terrorists would destroy this country and turns out it will be them that want to destroy it.What happened to all the yellow bumper magnets"god bless America" ?Talk about unpatriotic!
It looks like evil burd and sally spent the night with each other.
How precious.
evil burd, sally and love "weiner". (if you know what I mean)
heh heh heh
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