Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Bush Joking About WMDs in Iraq

While our men are being killed and horribly wounded. See it here.

Just a little reminder.

The Republican View of Our Troops

"Soldiers are just cowards with their backs against the wall. The lowest IQ men in our society, those incapable of normal careers enlist. Their choice in life; prison or the military. Some will have to die in the support of our cause."

Ann Coulter - Intervention Magazine, 11/06/03

Monday, October 30, 2006

Funniest. Ad. Ever.

This is almost too good. See it here.

Sunday, October 29, 2006

What the Hell?? Republicans Getting Contributions from Gay Porn King??

It's true. Josh Marshall has the story here. Heh heh heh.

The hypocrisy of the Republicans is staggering. On the one hand they bash gays and stir up vile hatred against them. On the other, they harbor all kinds of closeted gays--like RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman--who attack others of the same sexual orientation. In truth, I really don't give a rat's ass who the pornographers give money to. But the Republicans always make a big deal out of it, and I'm glad to help expose their moral and political fraud once again.

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Let's Make This Video Go Viral!

It's about one of my least favorite Senators--George Allen. See it here. AND THEN SPREAD IT AROUND!!

My God, the Republicans are running so very many loathsome candidates this year--Allen in Virginia, Santorum in Pennsylvania, Burns in Montana, Blackwell in Ohio, Peter Roskam here in Illinois, Pombo in California, and tons more. Flush 'em all out, folks--flush 'em all out!

Gee, I Wonder What Happened?



Hmmm. Interesting. Note how the growth of the national debt levels off in the 1990s and takes off to stratospheric levels from about 2001 onward.

I wonder what could account for that?

Friday, October 27, 2006

Michael J. Fox Slaps Down Lying Bastard Limbaugh

And maintains more dignity in doing so than I would. His powerful interview with Katie Couric is linked to an article here.
Fox shows bravery, good humor, and quiet passion in this interview. He has more integrity in his left index finger than Limbaugh has in his whole bloated, corrupt body.

"The Worst Congress Ever"

I can't add anything to that. Rolling Stone has a powerful argument ripping the lid off the almost unbelievable criminality, corruption, dishonesty, and incompetence of the Republican-run Congress under Bush. You can read it here.
Congress was corrupt in the era of the Robber Barons in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many members of Congress have lined their own pockets over the years. But the Republicans have taken corruption to such fantastic levels that it has become a patriotic duty to remove them from power. Happily, we will have that opportunity on 7 November.
(Thanks, Lance, for tipping me off about this via the related article about the ten worst members of Congress. Guess which party 9 of the 10 belong to?)

Thursday, October 26, 2006

From Think Progress Comments Today: Stories the "Liberal" Media Haven't Covered

Brace yourself:

1) Downing Street Memos
2) Media Ownership (deregulation)
3) Disappearance of Habeas Corpus
4) Fairness Doctrine no longer enforced
5) Freedom of Information Act ratcheted up
6) Bush family close relationship with Bin Ladins
7) Bush family close relationship with the recently departed (yeah right) Ken Lay (Enron)
8) The strategic importance of running that oil pipieline thru Afghanistan
9) Congress working to draft legislation to strangle internet (net neutrality)
10) Military Bases in Iraq
11) All the old Iran-Contra players currently working for Bushco
12) The scummy manner which the medicare prescription bill was passed that has allowed drug companies to make off like bandits
13) Journalists targeted in Iraq
14) The danger posed by a 6 trillion dollar national debt
15) The danger posed by unregulated hedge funds
16) Why labor gets almost no TV time and management dominates the airwaves
17) Oil executives secretly meeting to write our energy policy (fascism)
18) Bankers allowed to write bankruptcy bill (fascism)
19) Voting Integrity (a few stories hitting airwaves now weeks before election..too late)

20) Purging of voter rolls..see GregPalast.com for info that'll make u sick!
21) Depleted Uranium from the hundreds of thousands of shell casings in Iraq
22) Delay and Abramoff running sweat shops/prison camps in Marinas Islands and forcing young Chinese girls into prostitution then abortions
23) Fake, gay (not a fake gay but a fake reporter) reporter Jeff Gannon sleeping over at White House multiple times.
24) Sibel Edmonds being silenced and what she knows about 9/11, Denny Hastert and illegal arms sales.
25) Bill Frist sneaking legislation into a Defense bill to protect big Pharma from lawsuits.
26) Choicepoint collecting data on you perhaps even your DNA.

Yeah, those damned pro-Democratic "liberal media". [Via Alterman]

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

DESPICABLE: Vile Attacks on Tammy Duckworth

Read the story here of the gutter campaign being waged by the Republicans in IL-6's House race. Roskam is a lying prick. And you can quote me on that.

Pass It Along!!

Great new ad from the DNC, nailing the lying sons of bitches about "Stay the Course". Check it out here.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Arianna Delivers the Smackdown

Well said, I might add. See it here.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Is There ANY Lie This Son of a Bitch WON'T Tell??

Please, you have to check this out. It is so utterly brazen, so shameless, so despicable that I can hardly believe anyone would dare to say it.

Incredible. This guy is either a psychopath or the biggest f'in fool in American history. To paraphrase Mary McCarthy, "Everything Bush says is a lie, including and and the."

An Ad That Packs a Punch

This is a GREAT ad I saw on You Tube, courtesy of a DKos commenter. Take a look. I'd like to see it on national TV.

A Statement from Pat Tillman's Brother You Need to See

Pat Tillman, as you all know, was an NFL star who enlisted in the Army to serve our country. Tillman died, tragically, in a friendly fire accident in Afghanistan in early 2004. At first, the Radical Right tried to expolit his death, but then it came out that Tillman had been opposed to the Iraq war and was urging his friends to vote for John Kerry. It also came out that the government lied constantly to Tillman's parents, who protested this dishonesty publicly and were promptly insulted and smeared by Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity. Now Tillman's brother Kevin, also a veteran, has released a devastating statement that you owe it to yourself to read:
It is Pat Tillman's birthday November 6, and elections are the day after. It gets me thinking about a conversation I had with Pat before we joined the military. He spoke about the risks with signing the papers. How once we committed, we were at the mercy of the American leadership and the American people. How we could be thrown in a direction not of our volition. How fighting as a soldier would leave us without a voice.... until we get out.

Much has happened since we handed over our voice:

Somehow we were sent to invade a nation because it was a direct threat to the American people, or to the world, or harbored terrorists, or was involved in the September 11 attacks, or received weapons-grade uranium from Niger, or had mobile weapons labs, or WMD, or had a need to be liberated, or we needed to establish a democracy, or stop an insurgency, or stop a civil war we created that can't be called a civil war even though it is. Something like that.

Somehow our elected leaders were subverting international law and humanity by setting up secret prisons around the world, secretly kidnapping people, secretly holding them indefinitely, secretly not charging them with anything, secretly torturing them. Somehow that overt policy of torture became the fault of a few "bad apples" in the military.

Somehow back at home, support for the soldiers meant having a five-year-old kindergartener scribble a picture with crayons and send it overseas, or slapping stickers on cars, or lobbying Congress for an extra pad in a helmet. It's interesting that a soldier on his third or fourth tour should care about a drawing from a five-year-old; or a faded sticker on a car as his friends die around him; or an extra pad in a helmet, as if it will protect him when an IED throws his vehicle 50 feet into the air as his body comes apart and his skin melts to the seat.

Somehow the more soldiers who die, the more legitimate the illegal invasion becomes.

Somehow American leadership, whose only credit is lying to its people and illegally invading a nation, has been allowed to steal the courage, virtue and honor of its soldiers on the ground.

Somehow those afraid to fight an illegal invasion decades ago are allowed to send soldiers to die for an illegal invasion they started.

Somehow faking character, virtue and strength is tolerated.

Somehow profiting from tragedy and horror is tolerated.

Somehow the death of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people is tolerated.

Somehow subversion of the Bill of Rights and The Constitution is tolerated.

Somehow suspension of Habeas Corpus is supposed to keep this country safe.

Somehow torture is tolerated.

Somehow lying is tolerated.

Somehow reason is being discarded for faith, dogma, and nonsense.

Somehow American leadership managed to create a more dangerous world.

Somehow a narrative is more important than reality.

Somehow America has become a country that projects everything that it is not and condemns everything that it is.

Somehow the most reasonable, trusted and respected country in the world has become one of the most irrational, belligerent, feared, and distrusted countries in the world.

Somehow being politically informed, diligent, and skeptical has been replaced by apathy through active ignorance.

Somehow the same incompetent, narcissistic, virtueless, vacuous, malicious criminals are still in charge of this country.

Somehow this is tolerated.

Somehow nobody is accountable for this.

In a democracy, the policy of the leaders is the policy of the people. So don't be shocked when our grandkids bury much of this generation as traitors to the nation, to the world and to humanity. Most likely, they will come to know that "somehow" was nurtured by fear, insecurity and indifference, leaving the country vulnerable to unchecked, unchallenged parasites.

Luckily this country is still a democracy. People still have a voice. People still can take action. It can start after Pat's birthday.
God bless you, Kevin Tillman. Folks, I know I only have a handful of readers on this little blog but could you do me a favor? Please circulate Tillman's statement as widely as you can. Too much is at stake for you not to.

Saturday, October 21, 2006

On Having Realistic Expectations

The current wave of dissatisfaction sweeping through the U.S. electorate, coupled with very favorable generic poll numbers for the Democrats, has given many of us the sense that a Democratic landslide is coming. While I think we will definitely make gains, I would simply caution my friends to not anticipate too much. The United States may be thought of as an enormous ship that's been traveling at high speed. It will take us time, perhaps two or three elections, to stop its rendezvous with the iceberg Bush has us heading toward and turn it around.

We need to be realistic.

Generic poll results do not always mean success in particular races, as we all know here on DKos. Anger at the Republicans does not always affect the Republican candidate in a given state or district, who may be well known and liked by the electorate there. We have to further temper our expectations by remembering that the GOP has about a two year jump on us in terms of microtargeting voters. Although we have made great strides in this respect, we are still behind the curve. The Republicans still have the monetary advantage, although we have closed the gap mightily. The right still has its noise machine going full blast. And the expectation that the hardcore Republican voters will not show up in the same numbers as previous years is simply not plausible. In short, although I think we will win the election, it will not come up to the more optimistic expectations of some of us.

In the Senate, I sense that Chafee is through and that Whitehouse will win. I think Casey will prevail over Santorum. We then have to look at probabilities. Of the set comprised of Brown (OH), Ford (TN), McCaskill (MO), Webb (VA)and Tester (MT), I see no more than 1 or 2 victories in that group, with Brown having the best shot. In NJ Menendez will survive; in MD Cardin will survive. In CT, I am not optimistic about Lamont. In short, I don't see a Democratic Senate, although our numbers will be around 48 or 49. This, hopefully, should make it harder for Bush to ram atrocious Supreme Court nominees through the Senate.

In the House, as the Foley scandal fades, local issues will reassert themselves. A Democratic landslide in NY with Hillary and Spitzer winning by gigantic margins may pull in two or three new Democrats with them. We may win 1 new seat in IN, one in IL (although I don't see it), and a scattering of other races in AZ and CA, among others. I see a Democratic gain of 10-12 seats, leaving the House 220-215 Republican. This may give us a shot at making temporary alliances on key issues with the dwindling number of GOP moderates in the House. It will be harder for the radical right to push us around in the House. But we will not control the agenda.

We will, obviously, gain the governorship of NY. We will elect Deval Patrick in MA and Ted Strickland in OH. We will probably win new Governor's chairs in CO and MD as well. Angelides will lose, perhaps more narrowly than we now think, a golden lost opportunity. Our candidates for Governor will do well overall, and we will retain OR, and MI. We will make important progress in the state legislative and executive races such as those for Secretary of State.

Yes, we need to keep working and contributing. But let's be honest with ourselves. It took a while to bring the U.S. to the edge of the disaster in which it finds itself. It will take the elections of 2006, 2008, and 2010 to reverse this disaster. We will ultimately prevail because we are right, we care intensely, and the truth is with us. All of the crimes and mistakes of the Republicans will catch up with them. But not all at once.

The searing disappointment and depression we suffered after November 2004 has made me cautious, I suppose. I also know the right still controls the electoral machinery in many areas and can suppress our vote in many ways. Life has taught me not to get my hopes up too high. We will have success, and we will eventually save our country.

But it will take time.

Friday, October 20, 2006

Sorry I Haven't Posted Much This Week

I've been pretty fatigued. Politics is burning me out a little, right now. I'll try to get back on track.

Monday, October 16, 2006

Jerry Weller and the Butcher of Guatemala

There are some Republicans that are blatantly and arrogantly corrupt. Then there are those who are quietly corrupt, almost stealthily so. IL-11 Republican congressman Jerry Weller falls into the second category. But in his own way, he's as bad a Republican as any running anywhere in this country.

He was elected in the Republican sweep of 1994, promising to serve only 12 years maximum. (So much for that empty promise.) He has been a reliable vote for Bush, voting with the Republican line some 95% of the time. He's accepted money from Tom DeLay and is implicated in the Abramoff scandal. He's opposed to stem cell research and he's too gutless to talk extensively about Iraq. He's the utter captive of the lunatic religious right, and the summary of his record on key issues is appalling. From gay bashing homophobia to attacking teachers to advocating the privatization of Social Security, he's atrocious, as radical as almost any right wing member of Congress gets. He also has an utterly lousy record on helping disabled veterans, supporting them only 13% of the time on key votes. These things alone would merit his political destruction. But what really astonishes me is his connection to one of the most vicious mass murderers in the history of our hemisphere: his father in law, the notorious Guatemalan right wing criminal José Efraín Ríos Montt. Here's Rios-Montt's record:

1982 - On 23 March, after Romeo Lucas García has been deposed as president in a military coup, Ríos Montt is asked by the coup leaders to take control of the country. A three-member junta is formed, with Ríos Montt as its head, the constitution annulled, parliament dissolved, political parties suspended, and the election law cancelled.

Ríos Montt promises that the junta will "end corruption, guarantee respect for human rights and revitalise our institutions". Guatemalans and the international community initially welcome the coup, hoping it will herald a more humane and less corrupt regime.

However, the various guerrilla factions, united under the banner of Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG), denounce the Ríos Montt junta and step up the attacks.
In April the junta passes the 'National Plan for Security and Development', which identifies the main regions of conflict. A state of siege is declared as the junta and military high command prepare to expand the army's anti-guerrilla activities in the countryside.


On 20 April the junta and military high command officially launch operation 'Victoria 82' (Victory 82), a "scorched earth" military campaign designed to destroy the support base of the guerrillas. The campaign makes no distinction between guerrilla combatants and the mainly Mayan civilian population in the targeted areas, inducing widespread terror.

On 8 June Ríos Montt disbands the junta and assumes the presidency, ruling as a dictator. He also acts as minister of defence until 31 August. In October Ríos Montt orders the 'Archivos' intelligence unit to apprehend, hold, interrogate and dispose of suspected guerrillas as they see fit.

The 14 months of Ríos Montt's rule become the bloodiest in Guatemala's history since the invasion of the country by the Spanish some 400 years earlier. Mayans suspected of sympathising with the guerillas suffer mass killings and atrocities, including the rape of women and girls, and the widespread use of torture. Over 400 Mayan villages are razed. Crops and livestock are destroyed. The insurgency is contained but with a tragic human cost.

As the terror reigns, Ríos Montt broadcasts weekly sermons on morality. His regime and policies are supported by the US Government and US-based, right-wing religious groups. US President Ronald Reagan is reported as saying that Ríos Montt is "a man of great personal integrity" who is "getting a bum rap on human rights".

1983 - The state of siege in Guatemala is lifted, political activity is once again allowed and elections scheduled. The US reinstates military training assistance in January, authorising the sale of US$6 million of military hardware. However, on 8 August Ríos Montt is ousted in another military coup.

It is estimated that during the period of Ríos Montt's rule about 70,000 civilians have been killed or "disappeared". During the period 1981 to 1983 about 100,000 have been killed or "disappeared" and between 500,000 and 1.5 million displaced, fleeing to other regions within the country or seeking safety abroad.

"When I arrived in the government, we began a change in the state," Ríos Montt later says. "We realised that it shouldn't be the state of a single boss, the state of a regent, the state of a king, but a state that guarantees the rule of law, a state that serves."

Referring to the genocide that occurred during his rule, he says, "I can't deny anything, nor can I corroborate or prove anything. I'm at an impasse. ... If there is proof that shows that I am responsible, then I'm going to wind up a prisoner, because I do not want by any means to evade my responsibility."

1985 - The Guatemalan Government passes a new constitution. The document includes a provision forbidding former dictators and those who participated in coups from standing as presidential candidates.

1987- Guatemala begins to move towards peace when representatives of the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) and the government establish a dialogue during a meeting in Spain. The government also creates the National Reconciliation Commission. However, both sides continue to engage in armed actions.

1991 - Jorge Serrano Elías, a right-wing businessman and close ally to Ríos Montt is elected president in January. Ríos Montt had wanted to run for the post but is prevented by the constitutional ban preventing former dictators from standing as presidential candidates.
1992 - Guatemalan human rights activist Rigoberta Menchú Tum is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "in recognition of her work for social justice and ethno-cultural reconciliation based on respect for the rights of indigenous peoples".


Meanwhile, in October the government and representatives of Guatemala's large exiled population sign an agreement defining the conditions for their collective return from Mexico. The first group of refugees returns on 20 January the following year.

1994 - UN-moderated peace talks begin between the Guatemalan Government and the URNG. An early outcome is the signing of an accord to establish a Commission for Historical Clarification (CEH) in order "to clarify with objectivity, equity and impartiality, the human rights violations and acts of violence connected with the armed confrontation that caused suffering among the Guatemalan people".

In August a new parliament is elected in Guatemala. It is controlled by the right-wing Frente Republicano Guatemalteco (FRG - Guatemalan Republican Front), headed by Ríos Montt, and the centre-right National Advancement Party (PAN).

1995 - The URNG declares a cease-fire. In April the Guatemalan Government and the URNG sign the 'Accord on the Identity and Rights of Indigenous Peoples' acknowledging that the issue "of identity and rights of the indigenous peoples constitutes a point of fundamental and historic importance for the present and future of Guatemala."

The indigenous peoples "have been particularly subjected to levels of factual discrimination, exploitation and injustice because of their origin, culture and language ... and suffer unequal and unjust treatment," the accord says.

The accord commits the government to act to end civil rights abuses against the indigenous population by recognising ethnic discrimination as a crime, publicising the rights of the indigenous peoples through education, the media and other means, and opening the legal system to indigenous communities.

The government will also sign the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples being developed by the UN and implement constitutional reforms to establish indigenous cultural and linguistic rights. Communities will be given the right to "change the name of places where they live, when it be so decided by the majority of its members".

However, the accord will not take effect until a final peace pact is signed. The accord also fails to meet Indian and URNG demands for ancestral territory, local political autonomy and measures to alleviate the extreme poverty of Indian groups.

On 23 June the government and the URNG chart the road to lasting peace when they sign the 'Accord of Oslo'. The accord outlines measures for widespread social reforms, including the drafting and approval of a national reconciliation law, and activates the Commission for Historical Clarification (CEH).

The commission has the backing of the UN as well as governments from around the world and international non-government organisations. It will spend four years interviewing survivors and identifying and examining gravesites. It will receive thousands of testimonies, speak to former heads of state and the high command of both the army and the guerrillas, and read thousands of pages of documents submitted by non-government organisations. It hopes that by establishing the truth of the violence committed during the civil war it will aid the process of reconciliation.
Meanwhile, Ríos Montt again tries to run for the national presidency but is again prevented by the law forbidding former dictators and those who participated in coups from standing as candidates.


1996 - Peace comes at last on 29 December when the URNG and government sign the 'Accord for Firm and Lasting Peace', ending the 34-year civil war, the longest in Latin America's modern history. The Civilian Civil Self-defence Patrols are disbanded. The National Police is disbanded in 1997.

1998 - Bishop Juan Gerardi Conedera presents the Roman Catholic Church's Recovery of Historical Memory ('Never Again') Report detailing the Guatemalan Army's involvement in the atrocities of the civil war. The report attributes about 90% of human rights violations committed during the conflict to the state forces. Two days later, on 26 April, the bishop is beaten to death.
In 2001 three army officers and a Roman Catholic priest are brought to trial for the murder. Despite intimidation of prosecutors, witnesses and judges involved in the case the three are convicted. The officers are sentenced to 30 years jail each. The priest receives a 20-year sentence. The identities of those responsible for issuing the order to kill the bishop are never revealed.


Ríos Montt is meanwhile reelected for a third term as head of the FRG on 19 June 1998.
On 29 December, the president of Guatemala asks for forgiveness for the human rights violations committed by the military and its operatives during the civil war. The call follows a more limited appeal for forgiveness made by the URNG on 19 February.


Also during the year, US President Bill Clinton publicly apologises for his country's support of Guatemala's past regimes.

1999 - In May the Commission for Historical Clarification (CEH) hands down its report. Titled 'Memory of Silence', the report finds that the army and the Civilian Civil Self-defence Patrols were responsible for 93% of the human rights abuses documented by the CEH, including 92% of the arbitrary executions and 91% of "forced disappearances". Eighty-five percent of all abuses are attributable to the army, and 18% to the patrols.

The guerrilla groups are held responsible for 3% of the human rights abuses, including 5% of the arbitrary executions and 2% of forced disappearances.

Of all the violations documented by the CEH, 91% were committed during the years 1978 to 1984.

"The majority of human rights violations occurred with the knowledge or by order of the highest authorities of the state," the report states.

"In consequence, the CEH concludes that agents of the state of Guatemala, within the framework of counterinsurgency operations carried out between 1981 and 1983, committed acts of genocide against groups of Mayan people which lived in the four regions analysed."

The report documents 42,275 victims of human rights violations and acts of violence connected with the civil war, including 23,671 victims of arbitrary execution and 6,159 victims of forced disappearance. Eighty-three percent of the identified victims are Mayan, and 17% are Ladino (people of European decent). According to the CEH, these figures "are only a sample of the human rights violations and acts of violence connected with the armed confrontation".

Weller married in November 2004, after winning his sixth term. You can check out the biography of his wife here. An excerpt:

In 2003, Zury Ríos Montt was accused of being one of the organizers of Guatemala's jueves negro ("Black Thursday"). [12] In mid-2003, the FRG was again trying to get General Ríos Montt on to the presidential ticket, arguing that applying the constitutional ban preventing former coup leaders from seeking the presidency should not apply to him in accordance with the principle of nonretroactive application of the law: his 1982 coup d'état preceded the enactment of the 1985 Constitution. After a series of court decisions ruling alternately that he could or could not run, culminating with a 21 July 2003 ruling by the Supreme Court suspending his candidacy, on Thursday, 24 July 2003 FRG officials and supporters led a mass demonstration in Guatemala City to protest his disqualification. The demonstration degenerated into a bloody riot that left one man dead (journalist Héctor Fernando Ramírez); it was, however, perceived as having been successful in getting General Ríos Montt's name on the presidential ballot when, a week later, the Constitutional Court overturned the Supreme Court's ban.

Although General Ríos Montt ultimately lost the November 2003 election, he enjoyed his daughter's full support. Zury Ríos accompanied her father on his campaign trail, generally introducing him, in highly favorable terms, before he addressed his rallies. She was quoted in the press as saying, "my father is my inspiration."

What makes all of this even more outrageous is that Weller is vice chair of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. As such, he is in a position to reward Guatemala's ruling classes:

In January 2005 Weller became vice chairman of the western hemisphere subcommittee, by far the most important committee in Congress writing legislation on Latin America and the war on drugs and overseeing U.S. policy on those issues. "The western hemisphere subcommittee has been one of the only ones overseeing U.S. drug policy, and it has been the main one making U.S. drug policy," says Adam Isacson of the watchdog group Center for International Policy. "It has huge influence." The 16-member committee also focuses on trade and democracy in the region. Weller often talks about these issues as they relate to Caribbean and Latin American countries--but not Guatemala, even though it has 12.7 million people, a third of the population of Central America. He voted for CAFTA, the free-trade agreement that includes Guatemala, but he doesn't talk about specific trade possibilities with that country. He also doesn't talk about democracy in Guatemala, which is fragile at best, and he doesn't talk about money laundering or drug trafficking there, even though up to 70 percent of the drugs that enter the U.S. come through Guatemala. [Emphasis added] All of which raises questions about whether he's doing everything he can to address the concerns of his constituents. He's painted himself into a corner, and he seems to be making no effort to get out.

Sickening. Absolutely sickening. Weller is one of the worst Republicans in the country, so naturally he has the enthusiastic support of every corporate interest to which he has sold out. (Tragically, he has some minor support from some misguided unions as well.) He has a formidable financial advantage over his opponent, John Pavich and an overwhelming advantage in cash on hand. (Note that 61% of Weller's of money comes from PACs, as opposed to 14% for Pavich.) And some of Weller's money has an interesting source. From the DCCC stakeholder:

U.S. Rep. Jerry Weller accepted a campaign contribution from the owner of a phone-sex operation, his election opponent's campaign reported Thursday. A Weller spokesman acknowledged the donation, but downplayed its significance.

With just more than two months until the Nov. 7 general election, the 11th Congressional District race is heating up between six-term incumbent Weller, a Morris Republican, and former CIA intelligence officer John Pavich, a Beecher Democrat.

Pavich's office issued a press release stating Weller accepted contributions from Jeffrey Prosser, a "phone sex operator" in April 2005. The statement alleges Prosser paid Weller because Weller went to Belize and attempted to reverse the seizure of a Belizean telephone company Prosser owned. Weller's office says the trip was related to his work and was not personal.

"It now appears that Mr. Weller will accept cash from anyone and will pay it back tenfold," said Pavich's campaign manager, Matt Pavich. "I guess that if the voters of the 11th (District) want representation from this congressman, they better pay up first."

Folks, John Pavich needs your help!! Check out his campaign web page here. And make a contribution, if you can, to John's campaign by going here. My district, where 3 out 5 people disapprove of Bush, shouldn't be represented by someone as low and disreputable as Jerry Weller. We need your help. I know many people are asking for your support. But anything you could do would be appreciated.

Do it for our country. Do it for our future.

And do it for the 70,000 people killed by Jerry's father in law, the Butcher of Guatemala

Sunday, October 15, 2006

This Guy Makes Me PROUD to Be a Democrat

Watch this statement by Jon Tester, Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate from Montana. He's running against perhaps the most corrupt Republican in the country, Conrad Burns (and that's saying something, folks). Jon makes a brilliant case for electing Democrats this year. Do your best to support Democrats wherever you are by hitting the links I have in my October 10 post.
Way to go, Jon!
TESTER FOR THE U.S. SENATE

Saturday, October 14, 2006

What the Republicans Have Done to Our Moral Standing

And I'm not talking about hitting on congressional pages.

I'm talking about this.

I have to warn you that many of the images you'll see in the link above are shocking.
But not as shocking as the moral degenerates who run our country and then wrap themselves in the cloak of sickening religious hypocrisy.
Rise up, stand up, protest this obscenity. Let the sick bastards who are temporarily in charge know that we will never approve of these methods.
NEVER.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

I Want Some F---ing Answers!!

We Democrats do a lot of bitching and moaning about the viciousness of Republican election tactics. We talk about the destruction of Democratic registrations, unfair polling place challenges by Republican thugs, vote total hacking, the whole nine yards. But we're less than four weeks away now, and I want to know: WHAT THE HELL ARE WE DOING ABOUT ALL THIS?? The RNC announced this week that they're fielding a HUGE number pf GOTV experts and other election "specialists". What's our response?
I need some f---ing answers!!
Specifically:

1. What action has been taken in Ohio to prevent that thieving bastard Blackwell from stealing provisional votes? What has been done about the number of voting machines in black and Latino areas? Are we going to have 8 hour lines in our precincts, as we did in 2004?
2. What about St. Louis, Detroit, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and any other heavily Democratic city where Republican vote suppression tactics may be working in full force? How aggressive are we going to be in challenging these little Republican pricks who are trying to scare off or delay our voters? How many G-d damned lawyers are we going to have IN THE FIELD, not sitting behind some fucking desk on Election Day?
3. Are we having success in beating back these new Poll Tax/ID requirements in various states?
4. What about Republican hacking? We've got some of the best computer science people in the world in this party. What can we do to prevent these bastards from reversing vote totals? We KNOW it's happening. What the fuck do we do about it?
5. Are we ready to physically resist Republican thugs who are trying to keep us away from voting? Are we ready to make them back down if we have to?
6. How much money are the Democrats spending on the ground game? Are we at least in the same ballpark as the Rethugs?7. Are we ready to make legal challenges when we suspect Republican election theft/fraud/suppression/intimidation? I want ATTACK DOGS on our side, the kind of people who don't give a rat's ass about media schmucks demanding that the Democrat who's been robbed "concede gracefully". TO HELL WITH THAT.

I'm tired of just reading complaints. I know people are taking action, and I God bless you for it. But I want more! I've had enough stolen from me in my life, including President Gore, the rightful winner of the 2000 election. No more of this bullshit. I don't want any more whining about these Republican crooks.

I WANT TO KNOW HOW TO STOP THEM!

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Watch It--the Republicans Have the Knives Out

And they're planning to stick them squarely in our backs.

A previously unknown group led by a Republican political consultant in Houston is financing television advertisements against nine Democratic House candidates from North Carolina to Arizona.

The group, Americans for Honesty on Issues, is spending more than $1 million on the advertisements, which accuse Democratic candidates of carpetbagging, coddling illegal immigrants, being soft on crime and advocating cutting off money for troops in Iraq.
**********
The leader of Americans for Honesty on Issues is Sue Walden, a close ally of Tom DeLay, the former House majority leader who left Congress amid questions on ethics and fund-raising. Ms. Walden has also raised money for President Bush and served as an adviser to Kenneth L. Lay, the former chief executive of Enron who died in July.

She referred a call seeking comment to Glenn M. Willard, a lawyer with Patton Boggs in Washington, who drew up the papers establishing the organization. Mr. Willard confirmed that Ms. Walden was the nominal head of the committee, but he declined to identify the group’s donors or say how much it planned to spend.

The group’s Web site does not give an address or phone number, nor does it list any of the officers or sponsors. It says only, “Americans for Honesty on Issues is organized to engage in political issue communications in compliance with federal and state laws.”

**********

Among the most active Republican 527 groups is the Economic Freedom Fund, which was formed this year and received a $5 million contribution from Bob J. Perry, a major Bush donor and an underwriter of the Swift boat veterans group in 2004. The fund is running advertisements on behalf of Republican candidates in Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Oregon and West Virginia.
It's all there, folks--the same lying Right wing Republican bastards from two years ago, especially Swiftboat Scumbag Perry; the same lying bullshit wedge issues; the same stealth backers. These assholes are in it to win, people.
Are you?
NOW are you going to--
contribute money;
volunteer for campaigning;
drag your Democratic friends to the polls;
fight Republican attempts to intimidate minority voters on 7 November?
It's now or never.

Monday, October 09, 2006

Look at This Video and Tell Me the Right Wingers Aren't Election Thieves

What in the hell is going on here??

In addition, wait until you get to the end of the tape for an absolutely explosive espionage revelation.

Please, my little coterie of readers, circulate this video as widely as you can.

Sunday, October 08, 2006

What We Really Should Be Paying Attention To

Yes, it's been highly revealing and instructive to see the depths of Republican perversion, moral bankruptcy, corruption, and hypocrisy in regard to the Foley matter. But let's not forget the larger issue this year: Republican lies about Iraq, Republican ineptitude in handling Iraq, and the terrible losses that have been incurred because of these lies and incompetence. A brief summary:

--More than 2,700 American dead
--Approximately 21,000 American wounded
--Between 43,000 and 48,000 Iraqi dead

Not to mention the increasing brutality and savagery of the civil war that has engulfed Iraq because of the shocking, criminal bungling of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and the various Neocon fanatics who have brought us to this catastrophic juncture.

Again, I confess my guilt: I got suckered by Colin Powell in February 2003. His UN presentation moved me to think, reluctantly, that this venture was actually a good idea. I despised Bush and his people, but I thought, "Well, these people are bastards, but no one would dare lie about something this crucial and this important." I was a fool. I can assure you I will never trust these smirking fools about anything ever again.
Now, the fanatics are demanding war against Syria. They want a massive strike against Iran. They are pulling out all the same BS lies and propaganda they used to push the Iraq catastrophe. And to all of it I say, "NO SALE." The Republicans have brought America to the brink of disaster. They must be removed from power for the sake of our nation's survival.
IRAQ IS THE NUMBER ONE ISSUE IN THIS ELECTION. We must never forget this. We must remind ourselves of it. And we must nail the Republicans with it. Corruption, yes, is bad. Republican depravity is indeed a national issue.
But tragically unnecessary blood and suffering trump everything.

Saturday, October 07, 2006

Santorum Caught in Outright Lie

This video on You Tube is from a Pennsylvania TV station's investigation of a Santorum ad. It's devastating. The ad is exposed as simply and utterly false, a straight out pack of lies. Watch the report and then shake your head again at the notion of Little Ricky being the guardian of the public morality.
(Hat tip:Sully)
And again...
CASEY FOR THE U.S. SENATE

They're Wounded--That's When They're Most Dangerous

Bush is at 33% approval in the new Newsweek poll.

In that same poll, the Democrats lead on ALL issues, including maintaining moral values and fighting terrorism.

The Foley scandal is biting hard and biting deep.

The vast majority of Americans now believe that Bush lied to them about the rationale for the war. Most Americans also see Iraq as a civil war.

Bush's latest fearmongering tour fell utterly flat.

More Republican ties to Abramoff are being exposed.

A member of Rove's inner circle was just forced to resign on corruption charges.

And now, frightened Republicans are talking about the possibility of losing as many as 50 House seats four weeks from Tuesday. The Senate is up for grabs, too.

So the right wingers are cornered. They're bleeding.

And just like a trapped rat, this is the time they attack most viciously.

The last four weeks will get ugly, as the frantic Republicans increase the volume of their screeching lies. They will throw even more mud. They will use even more incredible smears. Fox News will come up with even more idiotic, dishonest nonsense. They will not go quietly.

And will a desperate, deeply corrupt White House try to start a foreign crisis to rescue the Republicans from a potentially crushing defeat? Could war with Iran be close?

Stay tuned.

Friday, October 06, 2006

The Bush Crime Family Strikes Again

Back in the 1980s Neil Bush, the Boy King's brother, was up to his neck in the Savings and Loan scandal, as part of the Silverado S & L collapse. A few years ago he was ensnared in a nasty divorce following his free-wheeling hooker romp through Thailand's classiest whorehouses and callgirl services. (You can read about him here.) He's been involved in one freaking scam after another and is deeply involved with Republican financial angel and all-round evil lunatic Sun Myung Moon. He got in on the Katrina action courtesy of his mommy Barbara, she of the Poisoned Womb. Yeah, this guy has shown again and again that he's a lying con-artist and a thief.
So now he's cashing in on his brother's No Child Left Behind program.
Son of a bitch. Literally.
By the way, the Silverado collapse cost the taxpayers $1.3 BILLION.
Gee, I wonder what would have happened if his name had been Clinton instead of Bush?

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Wow!!

I urge you to go to the Countdown site here. Click any of the video links and then look for Keith Olbermann's special comment "On Lying". Watch it.

And then prepare to be blown away.

The Boy Emperor is Sinking Again

Oops! Look out below, Dubya!! Latest poll results:


TIME: Approve 36%, Disapprove 57%
AP: Approve 38%, Disapprove 59%

PEW: Approve 37%, Disapprove 53%
NBC/WSJ: Approve 39%, Disapprove 56%
CNN: Approve 39%, Disapprove 59%

Gee whiz, looks like America STILL despises him.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Well, Thank God for That!

A small victory. The Onion has the story.

(Thanks, Pablo!)

Monday, October 02, 2006

WTF?? Republican Bill Frist Wants the Taliban BACK IN POWER in Afghanistan!

This is almost beyond belief. Right wing Republican Senator Bill Frist is now saying that the Taliban--yes, that Taliban--should be brought back into Afghanistan's government.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Monday that the Afghan guerrilla war can never be won militarily and called for efforts to bring the Taliban and their supporters into the Afghan government.
The Tennessee Republican said he had learned from briefings that Taliban fighters were too numerous and had too much popular support to be defeated by military means."You need to bring them into a more transparent type of government," Frist said during a brief visit to a U.S. and Romanian military base in the southern Taliban stronghold of Qalat. "And if that's accomplished we'll be successful."
Frist said asking the Taliban to join the government was a decision to be made by Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
So let's see if I have this straight? We've got 145,000 troops in Iraq fighting a war we didn't need to fight and we've got 22,000 in Afghanistan fighting a war directly related to punishing those responsible for 9/11--and the Republican Senate leader wants to throw in the damn towel in Afghanistan?? What the hell is going on here??
The Republicans: Working overtime to get things ass backwards. (No pun intended, Congressman Foley!)