Wow, the place looks great!!!

*Sniff* I kinda missed it. Maybe I'll stick around and re-arrange the furniture a bit.


Does that lamp look okay over there? Different shade maybe?

Okay, for my 3 regular viewers...

I'm having so much fun blogging with Mr Schecter, that I just don't have time to come up with enough regular original content to keep doing this blog. Don't get me wrong, I'm keeping the pickles, but just taking a break until either I get into enough of a routine to do both or..... whatever.

You can find me at Cliff Schecter.

Gherkins of Info.....

I am a neglectful Pickle Woman. *sigh*


Crooks & Liars

The Progressive:

It is the soldiers, their families, and the people of Iraq that pay the human costs. The tab so far: more than 3,000 dead U.S. troops, tens of thousands of wounded, over half a million Iraqi casualties, roughly 250,000 American servicemen and women struggling with PTSD, and almost 60,000 military marriages that have been broken by this war.

Democrats Meet Testicles, Testicles Meet Democrats

Democrats pressured to drop Fox News despite compromise

By MOLLY BALL
REVIEW-JOURNAL
Not satisfied with the Nevada Democratic Party's attempts to placate them, online activists say they won't rest until the party's partnership with Fox News is severed.

"People like Harry Reid and Tom Collins probably are not in touch with rank and file Democrats, who have been pretty mad about the lack of spine in the party for about 20 years," he said. "The Democratic Party has been rolling over for Republicans for ages."

Oh, Man.... can we get this guy to "purify" the US from coast to coast?

Priests to Purify Site After Bush Visit
JUAN CARLOS LLORCA | AP | March 9, 2007 12:20 AM EST

GUATEMALA CITY — Mayan priests will purify a sacred archaeological site to eliminate "bad spirits" after President Bush visits next week, an official with close ties to the group said Thursday.

"That a person like (Bush), with the persecution of our migrant brothers in the United States, with the wars he has provoked, is going to walk in our sacred lands, is an offense for the Mayan people and their culture," Juan Tiney, the director of a Mayan nongovernmental organization with close ties to Mayan religious and political leaders, said Thursday.

Southern Baptist Mengeles?

Original Sin
Posted Mar 9th 2007 9:00AM by Richard Rothstein
Filed under: Gay Rights, Religion, Homophobia

One of the nation's leading Southern Baptists has called for a policy that would support medical treatment, if it were to become available, to change the sexual orientation of a fetus inside its mother's womb from homosexual to heterosexual.

This latest assault on our dignity and existence comes from no less a personage than Rev. R. Albert Mohler, the president of the prominent and influential Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is the flagship school of the Southern Baptist Convention and one of the largest seminaries in the world.

Could Edwards Become First Woman President?

Head meet desk.

Chreeestofer!!!

South Bend Area Barbies

Mattel recently announced the release of limited-edition Barbie Dolls for the South Bend area market:

"Clay Township Barbie"
This princess Barbie is sold only at UP Mall. She comes with an assortment of Kate Spade Handbags, a Lexus SUV, a long-haired foreign dog named Honey and a cookie-cutter house. Available with or without tummy tuck and face lift. Workaholic Ken sold only in conjunction with the augmented version.


"Mishawaka Barbie"
The modern day homemaker Barbie is available with Ford Wind star Minivan
and matching gym outfit. She gets lost easily and has no full-time occupation. Traffic jamming cell phone sold separately.

"River Park Barbie"
This recently paroled Barbie comes with a 9mm handgun, a Ray Lewis knife,a Chevy with dark tinted windows, and a Meth Lab Kit. This model is only available after dark and must be paid for in cash (preferably small, untraceable bills) ...unless you are a cop, then we don't know what you are talking about.

"Granger Barbie"
This yuppie Barbie comes with your choice of BMW convertible or Hummer H2.Included are her own Starbucks cup, credit card and country club membership. Also available for this set are Shallow Ken and Private School Skipper. You won't be able to afford any of them.

"Osceola Barbie"
This pale model comes dressed in her own Wrangler jeans two sizes too
small, a NASCAR t-shirt and tweety bird tattoo on her shoulder. She has a six-pack of Bud light and a Hank Williams Jr. CD set. She can spit over 5 feet and kick mullet-haired Ken's butt when she is drunk. Purchase her pickup truck separately and get a confederate flag bumper sticker absolutely free.

"Gilmer Park Barbie"
This tobacco-chewing, brassy-haired Barbie has a pair of her own high-heeled sandals with one broken heel from the time she chased beer-gutted Ken out of Osceola Barbie's house. Her ensemble includes low-rise acid-washed jeans, fake fingernails, and a see-through halter-top. Also available with a mobile home.

"Western Avenue Barbie Set"
This doll is made of actual tofu. She has long straight brown hair, arch-less feet, hairy armpits, no makeup and Birkenstocks with white socks. She prefers that you call her Willow . She does not want or need a Ken doll, but if you purchase two Point Breeze Barbies and the optional Subaru wagon, you get a rainbow flag bumper sticker for free.

"Southeast Side Barbie"
This Barbie now comes with a stroller and infant doll. Optional accessories include a GED and bus pass. Gangsta Ken and his 1979 Caddy were available, but are now very difficult to find since the addition of the infant.

"100 Center Barbie/Ken"
This versatile doll can be easily converted from Barbie to Ken by simply adding or subtracting the multiple snap-on parts.

Helen Thomas To The Back Of The Room.

I'm pissed... again.

There were rumblings about this last week, when Faux Freaks in the AM took a poll as to whether or not they should get a seat in the front for the gaggle and kick Helen out. I figured they were full of s**t.

Guess not.

Politico

Helen Thomas Moving Back After 46 Years Down Front

By: Mike Allen
February 20, 2007 04:47 PM EST

Every theater-style seat in the White House briefing room, now closed for renovation, had a brass plaque inscribed with the name of a news organization. Only one, in the middle of the front row, had a name: “HELEN THOMAS,” it said.
(snip)

The press corps is scheduled to move from temporary facilities back into the spiffed-up, rewired briefing room in May or June. Thomas, who has been questioning presidents and press secretaries for 46 years, plans to be there. But her front-row seat won’t be. Plans call for her to be moved to the second row to make room for a cable news channel – a sign of Washington’s changing pecking order, and of the new ways that Americans get their news.

THE NEW WAYS AMERICANS GET THEIR NEWS MIKE?

You mean giving credence to LIARS AND FABRICATORS, not tough minded JOURNALISTS who believe in the TRUTH? I'm having vapors, I'm so F**KING PISSED.

THIS IS THE WAY A JOURNALIST SPEAKS.

I pointed out that there is a school of thought that questions are worth asking even if the president won’t answer them. “At least the public’ll know you’re doing your job,” she said. “Questions should be out there, because the American people have seen us become so compliant and complicit. You were there for the run-up to the war. Where were the questions? Who asked why, what, what do you mean? We drop bombs and we accuse the enemy of meddling? We attack a country that did nothing on us? We dropped bombs on innocent people and started this war. You were there. Nobody said why.” When she paused and I filled the silence with “fascinating,” she continued: “It isn’t fascinating. It’s rid– it’s, it’s sad.”

Good thing Helen has more grace than I, 'cause I'd be firebombing Faux headquarters as we speak.

Pickled Stuffed Meatloaf

Sandwich-cut pickles aren't just for layering between bread.
Here, they are used in meatloaf.
Tomato slices, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese provide color and flavor accents.

2 eggs
1/2 cup flavored dry breadcrumbs
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup minced onions
1 teaspoon each dried oregano and basil
1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper
2 pounds lean ground beef
4 slices mozzarella cheese
6 sliced-lengthwise-for-sandwiches dill pickles
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1 tomato, sliced



Preheat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat together eggs, breadcrumbs, milk, onions, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Add ground beef and combine. Place half of ground beef mixture into bottom of roasting pan and mild loaf approximately 3 inches wide and 7 inches long. Fold 2 slices cheese in half and lay lengthwise down center of loaf. Top with 3 pickles, mushrooms, tomato slices and remaining pickles. Fold remaining slices of cheese in half and place on top of pickles.

Mold remaining meat mixture on top, making sure all stuffing is covered on all sides, as well as top. Cover and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake 40 to 50 more minutes, or until meat is no longer pink on the inside.

Serves 4 to 6. Per serving: Calories 551; fat 39g; saturated fat 16g; cholesterol 203mg; carbohydrate 13g; sodium 1,538 mg; protein 36g.

Shining A Green Tinged Light On The News.....

Military Asks "24" Producers To Stop Promoting Torture

In fact, Finnegan and the others had come to voice their concern that the show’s central political premise—that the letter of American law must be sacrificed for the country’s security—was having a toxic effect. In their view, the show promoted unethical and illegal behavior and had adversely affected the training and performance of real American soldiers. “I’d like them to stop,” Finnegan said of the show’s producers. “They should do a show where torture backfires.”

Wonder why Net Neutrality is so important? The Agonist Spins a Tale.....

Questions That Should Be Asked

I wonder if the U.S. government has ever asked the Iraqi government the following question:

If the war started between U.S. and Iran, on which side the Iraqi government will be?

Who knew the Pope was a dinosaur. (Frank Gaffney Smackdown Deluxe)

I can't grab the video, so go to Crooks & Liars to see Colbert take Fauxs' Steve Douchey to town over trying to take away Helen Thomas' pressroom seat.

Major Kudos to my fellow Bloosier John Good on catching this..

KSFR says NO to unnamed source stories

After the recent widely-publicized stories in the main stream media about weapons from Iran allegedly killing Americans in Iraq, based completely on unnamed sources, at least one smaller news outlet has had enough of it.

Bill Dupuy, the news director of the public radio station KSFR in Santa Fe, New Mexico, has directed his staff to ignore national stories that quote unnamed sources. He also challenged other news outlets to take the same stance.

PUNKS. All 5 Reps that parroted the "Slow Bleed" meme on the floor yesterday, well, they are just fucking punks.

If only their rhetoric matched their voting record. In October 2003, as insurgent violence in Iraq was growing and military equipment shortages were becoming increasingly problematic, Rep. David Obey (D-WI) proposed an amendment shifting $3.6 billion to pay for better equipment and other quality-of-life measures for U.S. troops. Not one of the five voted for it.

That’s a real recipe for “slow bleed.”

Liebermans' Right Hand Guy Says Bloggers Are Teh MEAN!!!!

Liebermans' Right Hand Guy Says Bloggers Are Teh MEAN!!!!

And loud, and they curse and make fun of people!! Oy.

Dan Gerstein writing for an ever declining Politico

Nor did they ever stop to think how hollow and hypocritical it sounded for the same people who ravaged George Allen, for his “macaca” moment in last year’s Virginia Senate campaign to cry “free speech” when confronted with a far more nasty, vulgar, and hurtful display of prejudice from two of their own.

Instead, right until the bitter end, most liberal bloggers responded in their familiar mode – by lashing out at their critics and trying to marginalize them. This was, in their eyes, purely a manufactured controversy by the “right-wing smear machine” and a cynical attempt to silence and marginalize the Netroots.

First Danny hun, George Allen was a CANDIDATE. Melissa & Amanda were gonna write PR posts on a blog. Hmmmm, you see a difference here? I know I do!!!

Second, where's the outrage over the man behind the "Call Me" anti-Ford ads working for McCain? Or any one of the many other fringe employees for Republican candidates?

THAT'S the kind of stuff that leads us to theorize it's a RIGHT WING SMEAR MACHINE ATTEMPT TO SILENCE AND MARGINALIZE THE NETROOTS!!!

Because it is Dan, it really truly is.

And let me quote myself from the comment I left at Politico on your article.

And hey!!
Whatever happened to that lawsuit about the Lamont people "attacking" your website? If you're not smart enough to set up a decent website for a senatorial candidate, I'm not paying attention to the rest of the stuff you claim to be an expert on.

We Got Some Good Ones

It's Been A Long Week

I feel about MSNBC the way I do about an old boyfriend. I can't trust him, sometimes he's FANTASTIC, but man, when he sucks- HE REALLY SUCKS.

Tonite on MSNBC I heard lies & innuendos about the "Pelosi Plane" bullshit & the
"Obama Madrassa" bullshit. No facts- not a single one of the talking heads (which included 2 Chicago JOURNALISTS) had the facts. Say what you may about Tweety Bird Matthews, he actually asked for facts from Terry "Human Events" Jefferies & Ron "Hey, You Can't Pick Your Dad" Reagan. NEITHER ONE HAD THE FACTS.

I realize I'm old, and I realize that I'm just some strange lady in Indiana, but when I was on the High School newspaper back in the day, even I knew there are basics to a story.

WHO

WHAT

WHEN

WHERE

WHY

Not single one of these m'f**kers has ANY clue about this. It's all, "Can I get air time? Will it get print space?"

They're all just whores.

Hump Day Hilarity

Lies Coming Home To Roost

Think Progress

Bush’s ‘08 Budget Slashes Middle-Class Assistance
On Jan. 31, President Bush headed to Wall Street and acknowledged for the first time that income inequality exists in America: “The fact is that income inequality is real. It has been rising for more than 25 years.”

But apparently, he’s not quite ready to do anything about it. Bush’s 2008 budget cuts crucial aid for America’s middle class:

– “$77 billion in funding cuts for Medicare and Medicaid over the next five years, and $280 billion over the next 10.”

– $223 million in funding cuts (4 percent decrease from this year’s levels) to the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

– “$4.9 billion, or 8 percent, cut in education, training, employment and social services” grants.

– $100 million cut for Head Start, which provides child development services to economically disadvantaged children and families.

– “$2.4 billion cut in community and regional development grants — which often provide funding for low- and middle-income communities — to $16.5 billion from $18.9 billion.

– $400 million — 18 percent — cut in the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, “which provides $2.2 billion to help people pay heating bills this year.”

– $172 million — nearly 25 percent — cut in funding for housing for low-income seniors.

While Bush forgot about the middle class in the new budget, he made sure to look out for the wealthy. As the Tax Policy Center notes, “People with incomes of more than $1 million would get tax cuts averaging $162,000 a year (in 2012 dollars) in perpetuity.”

I'm coming Senator Lugar

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 110th Congress - 1st Session

as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate
Vote Summary

Question: On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Motion to Proceed to S. 470 )
Measure Title: A bill to express the sense of Congress on Iraq.
Vote Counts: YEAs 49
NAYs 47
Not Voting 4
Vote Summary By Senator Name By Vote Position By Home State

Alphabetical by Senator Name Akaka (D-HI), Yea
Alexander (R-TN), Nay
Allard (R-CO), Nay
Baucus (D-MT), Yea
Bayh (D-IN), Yea
Bennett (R-UT), Nay

Lott (R-MS), Nay
Lugar (R-IN), Nay

I've been lucky enough to have a good relationship with the people at Senator Lugars' Ft Wayne office, but it looks like I'm going to be spending some time on the telephone with them tomorrow..... and all the other offices.

What exactly is democratic about stifling debate? Did Senator Lugar not take an oath to protect the Constitution? IS THAT WHAT SENATOR LUGAR IS? Someone who cares more about political maneuvering than American citizens & Iraqi civilians DYING because of a case of "If We Lose I'll Be Neutered"itis?

It may be time to start seriously looking for a Democratic opponent for Senator Lugar in '08. He obviously is insulated from the will of his constituents.

NO MORE TROOPS!!!! NO MORE DEATH!!!!
"CAPTURE, BUILD AND HAND IT OVER!!!!!"

NOW.

senator_lugar@lugar.senate.gov


WASHINGTON, D.C.
(202) 224-4814

INDIANAPOLIS
(317) 226-5555

NORTHEAST
(260) 422-1505

NORTHWEST
ph: (219) 548-8035

SOUTHEAST
(812) 288-3377

SOUTHWEST
(812) 465-6313

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat.....

Don't let them get away with it...

TPM

TPM Reader SS on the senate squabble: "I think it's pretty simple. Everyone voting today to shut this down "voted to support President Bush's escalation in Iraq." That's the language I would bash them over the heads with for the 21 months between today and election day 2008. There's nothing untrue about that statement. It's a parliamentary tactic designed to support the President escalation in Iraq by silencing those who wish to criticize the President's decision."

Words To Live By......

This Almost Made Me Cry With It's Truth

By Dan Froomkin
froomkin@niemanwatchdog.org

Lessons we thought had been learned from Vietnam were forgotten in the rush to invade Iraq. And now, as we cover President Bush’s ratcheting up of the rhetoric against Iran, it’s looking like the lessons we should have learned from Iraq may not have been learned at all. So at the risk of stating the obvious, here are some thoughts about what those lessons were. (Feel free to add more in comments.)

You Can’t Be Too Skeptical of Authority

1. Don’t assume anything administration officials tell you is true. In fact, you are probably better off assuming anything they tell you is a lie.

2. Demand proof for their every assertion. Assume the proof is a lie. Demand that they prove that their proof is accurate.

3. Just because they say it, doesn’t mean it should be make the headlines. The absence of supporting evidence for their assertion -- or a preponderance of evidence that contradicts the assertion -- may be more newsworthy than the assertion itself.
Don’t print anonymous assertions. Demand that sources make themselves accountable for what they insist is true.

Provocation Alone Does Not Justify War

4. War is so serious that even proving the existence of a casus belli isn’t enough. Make officials prove to the public that going to war will make things better.

5. Demand to know what happens if the war (or tactical strike) doesn’t go as planned?
Demand to know what happens if it does? What happens after “victory”?

6. Ask them: Isn’t it possible this will make things worse, rather than better?

Be Particularly Skeptical of Secrecy

Don’t assume that these officials, with their access to secret intelligence, know more than you do.

Alternately, assume that they do indeed know more than you do – and are trying to keep intelligence that would undermine their arguments secret.

The entire article is MUST READ.
If only our press and media read it also...

This Weeks' "Oh MY".

Raw Story

Bush says he likes to keep people around with low expectations

John Byrne
Published: Saturday February 3, 2007


U.S. President George Bush told the NHL champion Carolina Hurricanes Friday he likes to be "around people that keep expectations low," according to a UPI report Friday.

"Bush congratulated the 2005-06 Stanley Cup winners at the White House, noting the team was ranked 28 out of 30 at the beginning of last season," UPI said.

"I like to be around people that keep expectations low," Bush said.

Good thing huh?

Pickle Festival Pickle Ice Cream

Top your pumpkin pie with a scoop of this unique ice cream. It’s one of the favorite ice creams served at the ice cream tent of the St. Joe Pickle Festival. All the ice cream is made by the Lion’s Club members.

Ingredients
1 4-ounce package vanilla ice cream mix (we used Junket)
2 cups half-and-half
3 tablespoons finely shredded Sechler’s Sweet Orange Strip or Sweet Lemon Strip Pickles or Sweet Gerkins, drained
1 tablespoon juice from the Sechler’s pickles
1 teaspoon lemon extract
Several drops green food coloring (if you like)

Directions
Stir together the ice cream mix according to package directions (it’s a dry mix), using half-and-half as the liquid. Stir until mix is dissolved. Stir in the shredded pickle, pickle juice and lemon extract. Add green food coloring, if you want green ice cream. Using a 1- to 2-quart ice cream freezer, prepare ice cream according to manufacturer’s directions. Makes about 1 quart pickle ice cream.

We used the dry junket mix for this version, but you can make your favorite ice cream. Just add the shredded pickles, pickle juice and lemon extract in the amount proportional to the amount of ice cream the recipe makes. For example, a 2-quart recipe would use double the amound of pickles, pickle juice and lemon extract.

Shining A Green Tinged Light On The News.....

Russia probes smelly orange snow



Russia has flown a team of chemical experts to a Siberian region to find out why smelly, coloured snow has been falling over several towns.
Oily yellow and orange snowflakes fell over an area of more than 1,500sq km (570sq miles) in the Omsk region on Wednesday, Russian officials said.

Chemical tests were under way to determine the cause, they said.

Residents have been advised not to use the snow for household tasks or let animals graze on it.

"So far we cannot explain the snow, which is oily to the touch and has a pronounced rotten smell," said Omsk environmental prosecutor Anton German, quoted by the Russian news agency Itar-Tass on Thursday.


The origin of the orange effect is still a mystery (pic: Russian TV)
"We are waiting for the results of a thorough test on samples."

Gore ex-campaign chief wishes on her star. 'Wait till Oscar night,' Donna Brazile says of a possible 2008 run.

By Daryl Nerl Of The Morning Call
Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama are the hot early front-runners, while 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry has already bowed out.

But could former Vice President Al Gore be waiting to make a dramatic entrance into the 2008 presidential race, especially if he wins an Oscar next month?

His former campaign manager, Donna Brazile, strongly implied that possibility while speaking at Moravian College in Bethlehem Tuesday night.

''Wait till Oscar night,'' Brazile told an audience of about 100 people at Haupert Student Union. ''I tell people: 'I'm dating. I haven't fallen in love yet.' On Oscar night, if Al Gore has slimmed down 25 or 30 pounds, Lord knows.''
(snip)
Before making her Oscar night comment, she said she was ''so proud'' of Gore's work to bring attention to global warming.

''I believe [Gore] is ready for this moment,'' Brazile said in an interview after her speech. ''He is a good leader. I think he can be one of the few leaders who can bring this country together.''

She acknowledged it will be a tough decision for Gore, noting Kerry's announcement last week to bow out of the race. Gore believes he is now doing his life's work, Brazile said. However, she conceded that Gore might be able to do more about global climate change from inside the Oval Office. He has already made an impact by forcing President Bush to talk about the issue, she said.

NYT: Pentagon altered casualty figures on website

RAW STORY
Published: Friday February 2, 2007

The New York Times reported today that the Pentagon has altered how nonfatal casualties are tallied on its website, thus resulting in lower casualty totals.

According to Dr. Michael Kilpatrick, deputy director of force health protection and readiness at the Defense Department, "the previous method of tallying casualties was misleading and might have made injuries and combat wounds seem worse and more numerous than they really were," the Times reports.

"....The best plan is to have this plan succeed."

<---------Paddy

'Cause I Got Nothing Today

Must be the weather, I've been dizzy on and off.... so here are some funnies for my fan..... singular... and yeah, I'm talking about you Fernando....

An Unique Voice Gone..... Molly Ivins, God Rest.

Selected Molly Ivins Quotations

• The first rule of holes: when you're in one, stop digging.

• What you need is sustained outrage...there's far too much unthinking respect given to authority.

• The thing about democracy, beloveds, is that it is not neat, orderly, or quiet. It requires a certain relish for confusion.

• Satire is traditionally the weapon of the powerless against the powerful.

• I believe that ignorance is the root of all evil. And that no one knows the truth.

• You can't ignore politics, no matter how much you'd like to.

• It is possible to read the history of this country as one long struggle to extend the liberties established in our Constitution to everyone in America.

• I am not anti-gun. I'm pro-knife. Consider the merits of the knife. In the first place, you have to catch up with someone in order to stab him. A general substitution of knives for guns would promote physical fitness. We'd turn into a whole nation of great runners. Plus, knives don't ricochet. And people are seldom killed while cleaning their knives.

• What stuns me most about contemporary politics is not even that the system has been so badly corrupted by money. It is that so few people get the connection between their lives and what the bozos do in Washington and our state capitols.

And my favorite.....

• It's like, duh. Just when you thought there wasn't a dime's worth of difference between the two parties, the Republicans go and prove you're wrong.

They Speak For Themselves

better than any of us could....

Answer: Gingrich, Starr and Limbaugh*.

Question??

Which 'evil men' was she talking about?

BY LYNN SWEET Sun-Times Columnist
DAVENPORT, Iowa -- What was she thinking? "You guys keep telling me, 'lighten up, be funny,'" said Hillary Rodham Clinton.
"You know, I get a little funny, and now I am being psychoanalyzed!"

Of course she is.

I'm thinking that it's you Ms Sweet and your grade school fart joke cronies that need to get psychoanalyed.

Hillary Clintons' husband Bill? He had an affair. He lied about it.
He embarassed her and her family in a way most people will never understand. BUT IT WAS A BLOODY AFFAIR!!!

Not....

Systematic hounding, vilifing, heckling, debasing, slandering and threatening....

Not to mention calling her daughter a "dog". Claiming she is a lesbian.
Accusing her of adultery, legal finnagling, and F'NG MURDER!

(Did you know if you google Lies About Hillary Clinton, you get pages and pages of.... LIES ABOUT HILLARY CLINTON.)

I'm not on the Hillary bandwagon, I don't know who I like yet. But this bullshit has got to stop. Literally, if you try and google something to defend Hillary, all that comes up are right wing smears that go the opposite way. Google "Slurs against Hillary Clinton", and you get accusations of Hillary Clinton making slurs.

She's married to him, she stayed with him. Get the f**k over it. It's not my damn business, and even if she were a girlfriend, I'd stay the hell out of it.

The "Evil Men" that she has learned from the past twenty odd years are the Pundits & Politicians that smile while lunging for her back. Or sometimes don't smile. Sounds like she might have a chance dealing with a straight up threat like Osama.


* Hannity, Savage, Gallagher, Snow, Beck ad nauseum........

Must See New Site "The Real McCain"

Wonderful new site started by Robert Greenwald & Cliff Schecter.
Check out the "Double Talk Express"!!!!

South Bend Tribune LTE Writer Makes Funny On Mitch

I can't find it on the website (I always have problems with their site- it sucks),
but take my word for it, this was in todays' paper.

A Comparison

Having "My Man Mitch" as your governor is like having a really bad boyfriend:
First, he sells off all of your stuff without asking,
then he starts nagging you all the time to lose weight.

Jeff Reed
South Bend

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

This Day in History

1802: John Beckley becomes the first Librarian of Congress, appointed by President Thomas Jefferson. He reportedly was paid two dollars per day.

1891: Liliuokalani became Queen of Hawaii following the death of her brother King Kalakaua. She was the last monarch in Hawaiian history.

1936: Baseball greats Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Walter Johnson, and Christy Mathewson are the first players inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The hall opens its doors to the public in 1939.

1958: Actors Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward marry.

1990: Exxon Valdez oil tanker captain Joseph Hazelwood goes on trial for his involvement in the worst oil spill in the history of the United States.

1995: The San Francisco 49ers make NFL history by winning their fifth Super Bowl.

Aquarius is symbolized by the water bearer. Aquarians are curious and independent. They are more concerned with intellectual pursuits than with physical matters. Intuitive, Aquarians can easily grasp abstract concepts.

Born on This Day

W. C. Fields, actor (1880)

Thomas Paine, political philosopher (1737)

William McKinley, 25th president of the United States (1843)

Oprah Winfrey, talk-show host (1954)

Leiberman Has To GO!!!

Faux News Sunday

WALLACE: As soon as he did, Senate Leader Reid and Speaker Pelosi said nope, there's a bipartisan structure, it's called the committee system.

LIEBERMAN: Yes. Well, I was really disappointed with the reaction of Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid to the president's offer or invitation to have essentially a bipartisan war council, and it's a war on terror council.

(snip)

WALLACE: Joe Lieberman grew up in John Bailey's Connecticut, Democratic vice presidential nominee. You're saying you might vote Republican in 2008.

LIEBERMAN: I am

Stunningly Simple Move From Senator Tester

Just an incredibly smart and d'oh-why-didn't-they-think of it move....
CNN

Tester aims for Senate transparency online



WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Whether it's a visit to the gym, a meeting with the founder of the Montana Meth Project, or an interview with Wolf Blitzer, staff for freshman Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, post his entire schedule online each workday -- a Senate first.

A spokesman says Tester pledged to do this early in his 2006 campaign out of a "desire for transparency." The Senator's schedule reflects meetings with visiting Montanans, committee colleagues, as well as the occasional lobbyist. The information "gives people an opportunity to see with whom [Tester] is meeting, and if they represent the opposite point of view, they can also request a meeting," said the spokesman.

The Sunlight Foundation -- a group working for greater government transparency -- has been pushing for more online disclosures of this kind.

You can see it here.

I wonder how many of our elected officials will be following suit?

****crickets*****

All Day Saturday Removing 62 (!!) Viruses From My Computer

Yep, 62. I use SpyBot for malware, and a friends' reco got Avast. Things seem to be working much better so far, but it freaks me out!! Where are these things coming from??(not to protest, but I really don't go to any sites that would download this stuff, or open iffy attachments)
After 8 hours yesterday tweaking the computer, I'm pretty sick of it.

"Path To 9/11" Redux. Bigger, Better W/Hannity On Top.

I must stress the fact that there has not been ANYONE more committed to exposing the hypocrisy of ABC News or Disney Entertainment than John at AmericaBlog. He is a whiz at co-ordinating boycotts, and he once again has ABC/Disney in his sites.

The rumblings from the ABC/Disney vs Spocko had lessened to a dull roar, when this was revealed....

Media Bistro

Hannity's America To Air Unseen Footage From ABC's "The Path To 9/11"

"Fox News Channel is touting the fact that it has obtained controversial unseen footage from ABC's miniseries 'The Path to 9/11' and is planning to air the video during 'Hannity's America' on Sunday night," according to The Hollywood Reporter.

"Fox News obtained the outtakes by taping a public talk that Cyrus Nowrasteh, writer and producer of 'The Path to 9/11,' gave to a World Affairs Council chapter last Friday at Cal State Channel Islands. Nowrasteh discussed making the docudrama and played several minutes edited out of the movie," the Los Angeles Times adds.

What scene you ask?



Think Progress

Richard Clarke Blasts Key Scene In ABC’s 9/11 Docudrama

The first night of Path to 9/11 has a dramatic scene where former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger refuses to give the order to the CIA to take out bin Laden — even though CIA agents, along with the Northern Alliance, have his house surrounded.
(snip)
In short, this scene — which makes the incendiary claim that the Clinton administration passed on a surefire chance to kill or catch bin Laden — never happened. It was completely made up by Nowrasteh (writer-ed).

So, Sean Hannity on his pathetic little show, is going to show clips of this Nowrasteh guys' lecture, that includes the debunked false scenes from the POS "Path To 9/11". Pretty sad, and in itself wrong.

BUT IT GETS WRONGER

In brief, the premise behind behind the dust up between ABC and a little know blogger named Spocko....

Media Matters

In 2006, a blogger named Spocko began spotlighting inflammatory rhetoric common to several talk radio hosts on KSFO, an ABC Radio-owned station in San Francisco. Spocko compiled a litany of examples on both his weblog, Spocko's Brain, and in numerous letters to corporations advertising on KSFO.
(snip)
...on December 21, ABC Inc., a subsidiary of the Disney-ABC Television Group, apparently issued a cease-and-desist letter targeting Spocko and his blog for copyright violation. Specifically, ABC alleged that by posting brief audio clips of various talk radio hosts on KSFO, the site was "in clear violation" of the station's copyright. The letter demanded that the owner of the site "remove the content immediately." Soon after, according to Spocko, his Internet service provider shut down his blog.

So, ABC/Disney must be UP IN ARMS over this UNAUTHORIZED usage of their film clips!!! Right?

LA Times (registration required)

"I can't imagine what the news is here," he said.

An early version of the miniseries that ABC distributed to television critics is readily available on YouTube.com and other websites.

Fox News does not have ABC's permission to broadcast the unaired footage, but an attorney for the network said officials there believed that the newsworthiness of the material put it under the fair-use exception to the copyright statute.

So, what would the final judgement be?

So Disney/ABC don't care about the truth, though we already knew that. And why pray tell have Disney/ABC and YouTube refused to take down the video of the show that is STILL on YouTube to this day? It's a clear copyright violation, and we know how overzealous YouTube is about its purported copyright violations. And Disney is NOTORIOUS for asserting its copyright rights, yet in this case, Disney doesn't care. And for some reason, YouTube isn't so zealous about enforcing its own policy about illegally broadcasting video when the target is a Democrat.

Isn't that interesting.

The more I pay attention to this stuff, the more it looks like a co-ordinated attack. Everyone is giving everyone else a reach around, so everyone is "happy".

One last tidbit

AmericaBlog

President Clinton contacting head of Disney over rekindled "Path to 9/11" controversy
by John in DC - 1/26/2007 03:05:00 PM

President Clinton's office has just informed me that they're "taking it all the way to the top at Disney to find out why they're not enforcing copyright" in this matter.

Ted Kennedy Goes Off About R's Against The Minimum Wage

TOOOOOO GOOD!!....

"Do you have such disdain for hard-working Americans that you want to pile all your amendments on this? Why don’t you just hold your amendments until other pieces of legislation? Why this volume of amendments on just the issue to try and raise the minimum wage? What is it about it that drives you Republicans crazy? What is it? Something. Something! What is the price that the workers have to pay to get an increase? What is it about working men and women that you find so offensive?"

Oh my

And apologies to AmericaBlog for skirting the edges of "Fair Use", but this is tooo good....

Markos reports the following, then read on because I have more and it's good:
In an interview, Pelosi also said she was puzzled by what she considered the president's minimalist explanation for his confidence in the new surge of 21,500 U.S. troops that he has presented as the crux of a new "way forward" for U.S. forces in Iraq.

"He's tried this two times — it's failed twice," the California Democrat said. "I asked him at the White House, 'Mr. President, why do you think this time it's going to work?' And he said, 'Because I told them it had to.' "

Asked if the president had elaborated, she added that he simply said, " 'I told them that they had to.' That was the end of it. That's the way it is."

Oh, it's better than that. When I was on the Hill on Tuesday, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) told us (on the record) the rest of the story. Apparently, Pelosi's final come-back to the president was the following:

PELOSI: He's tried this two times — it's failed twice. I asked him at the White House, 'Mr. President, why do you think this time it's going to work?'

BUSH: Because I told them it had to.

PELOSI: Why didn't you tell them that the other two times?

Gherkins of Info.....

(OH MY!!!!)

I'm still recovering from the BRUTAL thrashing the Pres gave us last night!!!

(wha? He wha? OH, That was JIM WEBB who thrashed? Nevermind.)

A couple of things really stood out to me today, starting with Churck Hagel...
Think Progress

Hagel Chides Colleagues On Iraq Vote: ‘If You Wanted A Safe Job, Go Sell Shoes’

This morning in his opening statements before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) said, “The American people are far ahead of us” on what to do next in Iraq. “They’re not conflicted with the nuances of life. They understand what’s going on.” According to a recent Gallup Poll, 56 percent of Americans want a withdrawal from Iraq within a year.

Hagel chided his fellow colleagues for being too concerned about the politics of their Iraq positioning. “If you wanted a safe job, go sell shoes,” he said. Hagel concluded that all 100 Senators have a responsibility to take a position on escalation. “We owe it to those men and women that we continue to send in that grinder.”

Or how about a Hagel BOMBSHELL he dropped in GQ Magazine

In an interview in GQ Magazine, Hagel reveals that the Bush administration tried to get Congress to approve military action anywhere in the Middle East — not just in Iraq — in the fall of 2002. At the time, Hagel says, the Bush administration presented Congress with a resolution that would have authorized the use of force anywhere in the region:

HAGEL: [F]inally, begrudgingly, [the White House] sent over a resolution for Congress to approve. Well, it was astounding. It said they could go anywhere in the region.

GQ: It wasn’t specific to Iraq?

HAGEL: Oh no. It said the whole region! They could go into Greece or anywhere. Is central Asia in the region? I suppose! Sure as hell it was clear they meant the whole Middle East. It was anything. It was literally anything. No boundaries. No restrictions.

GQ: They expected Congress to let them start a war anywhere in the Middle East?

HAGEL: Yes. Yes. Wide open. We had to rewrite it. Joe Biden, Dick Lugar, and I stripped the language that the White House had set up and put our language in it.

THIS really pissed me off today....

Company's anti-war e-mail sparks outrage

Response led to threats against the Muslim-owned business

Updated: 12:38 p.m. ET Jan 24, 2007
MILWAUKEE - An American soldier in Iraq who e-mailed a U.S. company to ask for a shipment of floor mats got a brusque reply: "We would NEVER ship to Iraq. If you were sensible, you and your troops would pull out of Iraq."

The response quickly circulated on the Internet and led to threats against the Muslim-owned business, including demands for a boycott.

Bargain Suppliers, an online retailer, shut down its Web site Monday and fired the unidentified employee who sent the e-mail, television station WTMJ reported.

You know for a DAMN fact that those Righty Boogers, erm Bloggers don't give a shit about anything but the fact that some MUSLIMS ARE AGAINST THE WAR!!! THE HORROR!!

And, as it usually goes with the mouth-breathers, there are death threats.
Way to win that community over to our side....

State of the Union Address..... The Prequel

Tucker Carlsons' Dad #1 In Libby Defense Fund*Ask MSNBC Why He's Commenting?!?!

I've stewed over this for quite a while. I had heard on and off the Tucker Carlsons' dad Richard Carlson was bff with Scooter Libby, and headed his legal defense fund. SO WHY IS TUCKER COMMENTING ON THE LIBBY CASE WITHOUT AT LEAST A NOTATION TO THAT EFFECT???

CBS News

Libby Gets A Little Help From His Friends
More Than $3M Donated To Legal Fund For Indicted Former Cheney Aide

I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby won't lack powerful friends or financial resources when he goes on trial on Tuesday. A private fund set up to pay the legal bills of the former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney has collected more than $3 million since Libby's indictment 14 months ago.

(snip)
One of those friends is Dick Carlson, a former ambassador and Republican stalwart who has headed the Voice of America and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. (Carlson’s son is Tucker Carlson, the conservative TV pundit.)

Like many of Libby’s well-heeled friends, Carlson wasted no time in coming to his aid. On the day the indictment was announced in October 2005, Carlson said: “I sent a check by courier to Scooter’s house in McLean with the assumption that he’d need it.”

That check was the impetus for what quickly morphed into The Scooter Libby Legal Defense Trust. A source close to the trust said more than $3 million has been collected to pay Libby's legal bills. The public face of the defense fund is a cadre of Republican heavyweights that include Mary Matalin, Steve Forbes and Jack Kemp.

Back in March, it looks like Arianna took Tucker to the woodshed and dirtied the knees of his jumper. Musta pissed him off....

A nasty little propagandist

I didn't mention my father's support for Scooter Libby because it was irrelevant. Completely and utterly. Libby was my father's personal lawyer long before he joined the Bush administration. They're friends, and that has nothing at all to do with me. I've met Scooter Libby precisely once.

Tucker goes on to characterize Ariannas' column as ....." attempted character assassination by a nasty little propagandist. "

Ariannas' WONDERFULLY SOURCED COHERANT COLUMN HERE....

The Full Disclosure Tucker Carlson Isn't Making

I don't see how this could be anything but revelant. What, MSNBC doesn't have enough commenters that Tucker couldn't just bow out on this one?
Not enough semi-dirty stories for Tucker to cover?

It's called "Conflict Of Interest". He's on right now, making excuses for Libby.

dabrams@msnbc.com

Tucker just called it an "Abuse of Power".

New House speaker shows she's boss

AP

By ERICA WERNER Associated Press Writer © 2007 The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Sworn in just over two weeks ago as the first female
speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi wasted no time showing who's boss.

The California Democrat rammed six major bills through the House at
breakneck speed, stomped out smoking privileges near the House floor, partially
sidelined a powerful Democratic committee chairman and decided she liked
traditionally Republican office space so much she claimed it for herself.

By Democrats' timekeeping, she did it all in far under the 100
legislative hours she had allotted."We did what we promised the American
people we would," Pelosi declared on Friday, pledging it was "just the
beginning."

Pelosi's initial agenda, completed Thursday, included measures with
wide popular support: increasing the minimum wage, broadening stem cell
research, allowing government bargaining on Medicare drug prices, cutting
student loan costs, putting in place terrorism-fighting recommendations from the
Sept. 11 commission and rolling back energy company tax breaks.
Each bill passed with bipartisan majorities and Pelosi triumphantly gaveled down the
votes, at one point banging the gavel so enthusiastically that it left a small
dent in the podium.
(snip)
....In the view of many Democrats, Pelosi's opening performance bodes well. She seemed to recover from postelection stumbles such as backing the losing candidate in the contest for House majority leader.

She also is getting a honeymoon from the public. Pelosi is held in higher regard than the president or her colleagues in the Congress. An AP-AOL News poll taken Jan. 16-18 put her approval rating at 51 percent — much higher than that of Congress (34 percent) or Bush (36 percent).
Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., a close ally, called Pelosis performance "spectacular."
"What the Democrats in the caucus are telling me is that this is the best three weeks of their life," he crowed.

Compare and Contrast.

CNN Dumbasses On November 16th

Situation Room onscreen text: Is Pelosi "Damaged Goods?"
On the November 16 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, host Wolf Blitzer asked "how badly is [Rep.] Nancy Pelosi [D-CA] damaged politically?" while the question "Damaged Goods?" was displayed on screen. Blitzer was referring to an "intraparty battle" among House Democrats, in which Pelosi backed Rep. John P. Murtha (D-PA) to be House majority leader but Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) was ultimately elected.

National Sanctity of Human Life Day, January 21st

A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America

Our Nation was founded on the belief that every human being has rights, dignity, and value. On National Sanctity of Human Life Day, we underscore our commitment to building a culture of life where all individuals are welcomed in life and protected in law.
(snip)

When we seek to advance science and improve our lives, we must always preserve human dignity and remember that human life is a gift from our Creator. We must not sanction the creation of life only to destroy it. America must pursue the tremendous possibilities of medicine and research and at the same time remain an ethical and compassionate society.

National Sanctity of Human Life Day is an opportunity to strengthen our resolve in creating a society where every life has meaning and our most vulnerable members are protected and defended including unborn children, the sick and dying, and persons with disabilities and birth defects. This is an ideal that appeals to the noblest and most generous instincts within us, and this is the America we will achieve by working together.

No Words Can Explain How Lost We Are

Manual to allow executions based on hearsay
Pentagon plan for detainee trials could spark fresh bipartisan debate

• Pentagon drafts detainee trial manual
Jan. 18: The Pentagon has completed a manual for upcoming detainee trials that would allow suspected terrorists to be imprisoned or executed using hearsay evidence.

Updated: 2:52 p.m. ET Jan 18, 2007
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon has drafted a manual for upcoming detainee trials that would allow suspected terrorists to be convicted on hearsay evidence and coerced testimony and imprisoned or put to death.

According to a copy of the manual obtained by The Associated Press, a terror suspect's defense lawyer cannot reveal classified evidence in the person's defense until the government has a chance to review it.

The manual, sent to Capitol Hill on Thursday and scheduled to be released later by the Pentagon, is intended to track a law passed last fall by Congress restoring President Bush's plans to have special military commissions try terror-war prisoners. Those commissions had been struck down earlier in the year by the Supreme Court.

The Pentagon manual could spark a fresh confrontation between the Bush administration and Congress — now led by Democrats — over the treatment of the nation’s terrorism suspects.

Last September, Congress — then led by Republicans — sent Bush a bill granting wide latitude in interrogating and detaining captured enemy combatants. The legislation also prohibited some of the worst abuses of detainees like mutilation and rape, but granted the president leeway to decide which other interrogation techniques are permissible.

Anyone out there remember any of this being part of the civics & history classes that you took? Did YOU learn in school that the US was just another rogue nation that cut swathes thru it enemies with no regard to basic human decency? That tortured, maimed and KILLED in the name of "National Security"?

I must have been in the parking lot lighting up that day.

A Toss Off That Means Something....

South Bend Tribune...Wrong, Wrong, WRONG!!!! (Part Deux)

Yesterday I had a total hissy fit!! Over and over in the South Bend Tribune print and online editions you see junk like this.....

State of the State: Daniels makes appeal to Demos

Hmmm, seems to be something wrong with that sentence.....

So, I checked dictionary.com and came up with this:

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) -
dem·o /ˈdɛmoʊ/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[dem-oh] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –noun, plural dem·os. Informal.
1. demonstration (defs. 4,6).
2. demonstrator (def. 5).
3. a phonograph record or tape recording of a new song or of one performed by an unknown singer or singing group, distributed to disc jockeys, recording companies, etc., to demonstrate the merits of the song or performer.

and this......

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) -
Dem /dɛm/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[dem] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation–noun Informal.
1. a member of the Democratic party.
2. the Dems, the Democratic party.

Well, I have to admit that I went a little crazy. I emailed a friend of mine who is a reporter in DC to have him check his AP Stylebook (reporters bible for guidelines in things like this) and after a bit, he let me know that Demo is an archaic diminutive for Democrat that has not been used in many years, and that DEM is the one cited in the AP Stylebook. (there is an AP Stylebook online, but it is paid subscription)

I would like to credit Fred Dodd at the South Bend Tribune for looking into this (after an admittedly semi-pissed off voice mail from me) and calling a meeting with his copy editors. They discussed it, and agreed that DEMO is not the correct diminutive to use, and from now on their policy will be to use DEM.

Now, you might be wondering why I got all hopped up about this, and I will tell you.
For YEARS, the strategists on the right have been using words to try and pigeonhole Democrats, Progressives & Liberals. They say "Democrat Party" when it should be "Democratic Party". (One reason given for this is to emphasize democRAT) They say "Looney Left, Looney Liberals" and all that other garbage. In my humble opinion and many others I have asked, DEMO sounds really close to DUMBO or DUMMO.
I am very impressed that Mr Dodd and his editors took the time to correct something that they could have very easily ignored. (well, not really, but they didn't know what a pain in the ass I could be)

Looking forward to the first Tribune headline using the correct term, DEM!!!!


Cross Posted at Left In Aboite

Of Wedgies and Tinfoil, One Womans' View

This afternoon when the "Breaking News" was all about how Abu Gonzales sent a letter saying that all of a sudden FISA "Was Our Friend", I knew something was up.
I ain't Glenn Greenwald, so go read him here.
I do have too much time on my hands.

Do you guys remember what was all the rage Monday & Tuesday? Well I do.




From Keiths' show last nite....

The two night special season opener of "24".

GREENWALD: Well, we know how susceptible people are to fear, some of it with good reason. The tragedy, as we know, has been how this administration has played on people‘s fears, and how Fox News and Fox in general has used it over and over and over again.

As you say, people can tell the difference. This is fiction. What we‘re dealing with in the world at times is fact. You know, of course, the question is, can this administration tell the difference, given that every day we get a different reason about who we should be afraid of, why we should be afraid, and why we went to war.

OLBERMANN: And the old line, of course, seems to apply here, about people insisting TV does not impact the public‘s perceptions, and then you point out, Well, gee whiz, all those advertisers must have wasted every dollar they ever spent on television.

And what's going to happen tomorrow? Abu gets grilled by the Senate Select Committee On Intelligence.

Stop and think a minute. Those people who aren't total phreaks like us, they just pick up bits and pieces of the news as they go along with life.

THEY WEDGED THIS PERFECTLY.
Yesterday the innoculated the masses.... "Oh, Jack tortures!!! Jack taps phones!! No time to get stinking warrants!!!"

Today, an announcement that isn't an announcement came out.

If the Pres and his cronies didn't have a problem with abiding by the FISA court, WHAT THE FU*K was that hongo deal last year about?

But now they have plausible deniability. "Oooooh, see we're being GOOD."

Tomorrow they refuse to talk about anything and cloak themselves behind the horrors of the upcoming nuclear war & the fact that they are already "following the law" even if there is no proof.

And then top it off with....

The Doomsday Clock

Wrong, Wrong, WRONG!!!!

State of the State: Daniels makes appeal to Demos

INDIANAPOLIS -- Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels urged a newly divided General Assembly to cooperate in moving Indiana forward, while also using his State of the State speech Tuesday night to tout initiatives that include full-day kindergarten, outsourcing the Hoosier Lottery and raising cigarette taxes to fund health programs.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source
dem·o /ˈdɛmoʊ/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[dem-oh] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –noun, plural dem·os. Informal.
1. demonstration (defs. 4,6).
2. demonstrator (def. 5).
3. a phonograph record or tape recording of a new song or of one performed by an unknown singer or singing group, distributed to disc jockeys, recording companies, etc., to demonstrate the merits of the song or performer.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source
Dem /dɛm/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[dem] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation–noun Informal.
1. a member of the Democratic party.
2. the Dems, the Democratic party.


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

[Origin: 1830–40, Americanism; shortening of Democrat]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Hmm, How Do You Send A Video To Congress?

LonelyDem07....

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait....

Bill Moyers Is BACK!!!!!

Bill Moyers to Return to PBS With Weekly Show -- Starting with Look at Press and Iraq
Published: January 13, 2007 11:45 PM ET

NEW YORK Bill Moyers is returning to PBS in April with a weekly public affairs series, ''Bill Moyers Journal,'' that resurrects the name of his first public television series for a new century.

Moyers, 72, did two specials for PBS last year, and both the work and response ''whetted my appetite for more.''

''People keep writing or stopping me on the street to suggest stories that are not being reported and voices that are not being heard,'' said the former press secretary for President Lyndon Johnson. ''A lot of Americans long for more than conventional wisdom, celebrity pundits, predictable opinions and safe analysis of the obvious.''

The first episode on April 25 discusses the role of the press before the invasion of Iraq.

Bwahahaha.... Looks Like Crime Doesn't Pay!!

Here

Convicted lawmakers may lose pensions
By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer
Fri Jan 12, 3:49 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, behind bars for bribery, can at least be consoled by the federal pension he'll continue to collect. Current or future lawmakers convicted of crimes may not be so lucky.

The Senate on Friday voted 87-0 to strip away the pensions of members of Congress convicted of white-collar crimes such as bribery, perjury and fraud. That could result in benefit losses of more than $100,000 a year.

Did Tweety Put The Smackdown On "Democrat" Party?

It was brief, but it looks like Chris Matthews may have put the hammer down on the "Democrat" meme.

At the end of the show, Ron Christie was talking and he said
"..... the Democrat .... (pause, nod and finger wag at Chris) The DEMOCRATIC party......"

Thank you Jesus.

Many interesting reasons as to Democrat vs. Democratic here...

Why Shorten Democratic?

"Democrat Party" was a 2004 election linguistics trick cooked up by the Republican Party which was supposedly focus-grouped to sound more negative. If you go back through President Bush's speeches on the campaign trail and his surrogates, you will find "Democrat Party" used when trying to slur the party.

This goes back long before 2004, especially in Republican convention speeches. This discusssion has a variety of theories going back to the 60s. One point made is the "democrat party" sounds like "bureaucrat party", so a negative association is created. It's interesting because "Democratic Senator" or "Democrats endorse XYZ" really don't have that same negative ring.

So You Don't Have To....

I read the scum...

(You have to wade thru alot of "end of world" shit to get to some of these.....)
World Net Daily

Kupelian reveals 'pro-choice' movement's 'skeletons in the closet' in live teleseminar
Posted: January 13, 2007
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

With the anniversary of the Supreme Court's infamous Roe v. Wade decision just around the corner, WND Managing Editor David Kupelian will speak with hundreds of telephone callers Tuesday night in a special, live teleseminar titled "Abortion Marketing Exposed!"

Kupelian is the author of the controversial best seller, "The Marketing of Evil: How Radicals, Elitists, and Pseudo-Experts Sell Us Corruption Disguised as Freedom." Many who have read chapter nine – titled "Blood Confessions: How lying marketers sold America on unrestricted abortion" – say it has profoundly changed the way they see the issue.
(snip)

"On the call," says Kupelian, "I will be exposing how radicals and deceitful marketers sold America on legalized abortion, and how millions of us continue to be manipulated and deceived by them every day. But by unmasking these marketers of evil – and by examining the powerful techniques and strategies they use to fool us – we'll also discover how you and I can turn the tide and finally end the tragedy and injustice of abortion."

NewsMax

The Looming Democratic Party Civil War
Dick Morris and Eileen McGann
Friday, Jan. 12, 2007

Iraq is not the only place that is threatening to dissolve into the anarchy and bloodletting of a civil war.

It's about to happen to the Democratic Party.

Reacting to Bush's planned "surge" in troop strength, the Democratic leaders in Congress, savoring their victory, are contemplating taking only symbolic steps to protest Bush's war policies, a timidity that will highly displease their leftist boosters.

The liberal activists who funded and impelled the Democratic victory in 2006 did not focus on winning a congressional majority so that it would take merely symbolic action. Symbolic action would have been appropriate for a minority party, but the backers of a party in the majority expect something more.

So the Democrats are about to form their customary firing squad — a circular one — and begin again the battles that ripped their party apart in the late 1960s. The battle lines are the same: The new left vs. the party establishment. Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid are about to squander their credibility with their supporters on the left by failing to cut back, or cut off entirely, funding for the war.

LOL, the Dick Morris one is barely 6 paragraphs.... and he NEEDED a Co-Author? Ha.

Drudge Report

Laura Bush takes literacy campaign to Paris

Jan 15 4:13 PM US/Eastern

US First Lady Laura Bush kicked off a three-day visit to Paris with a UNESCO round table discussion on promoting global literacy.
Bush, a former teacher and high-profile campaigner for literacy worldwide, is an honorary ambassador for the UN agency's decade of literacy.

"Ending illiteracy is a challenge for every country," she told the participants, who included envoys from Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Madagascar and Egypt as well as Koichiro Matsuura, director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
(snip)
Laura Bush's visit was to continue Monday with a tour of Paris's new Quai Branly museum of tribal arts, as well as the newly-refurbished Musee de L'Orangerie, which hosts some of Claude Monet's best-known water lily murals.

Imagined conversation 'tween GeeDubya & Pickles.....

"George, I landed in Paris!! It's just lovely!! I saw Monets' "Water Lilies"!!'
"Honey, be careful!! You might fall in the pond and kitch a cold!"