America Stands With Nancy Pelosi

And it stands against the insane, radical right wing agenda of Bush, Cheney, Limbaugh, Coulter, Hannity, Malkin, Kristol, and all of the other conservative criminals who are killing this country with their lies, their malice, and their almost unbelievable incompetence. Aiding and abetting these criminals are many in the so-called "mainstream media" who have been stupidly and irresponsibly attacking Pelosi. Glenn Greenwald lays down a crushing smackdown of these idiots here.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. The "liberal media" phrase is a lie, a myth, utter BS. The so-called MSM are virulently anti-Democratic Party and they kowtow to every right wing fruitcake and nutjob in America. Russert, Matthews, and all of their enablers try to give the appearance of being "fair" but the only thing we Democrats, independents, progressives, liberals, and moderates ever get from them isn't an an even hand--it's the back of it.

He Still Refuses to Withdraw!

Click here for the full story!

The "Recovery": A Farce

And the right wingers are STILL lying through their teeth about the "great economy".

BTW, note the strong increase in corporate profits--the only "positive" sign.

A weak "recovery"+flat or dropping wages+record government debt+a collapsing housing market+foreign policy catastrophe=disaster for the Republicans in 2008.

An Interesting Quote by Rush Limbaugh

Limbaugh actually said this several years ago, but I thought it would be appropriate to post it today, the 39th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King:

"You know who deserves a posthumous Medal of Honor? James Earl Ray. We miss you, James. Godspeed."

Ray was the confessed murderer of Dr. King.

Great Moments in Conservative History: 1980

Ronald Reagan speaks at the Neshoba County, Mississippi fair as part of his 1980 campaign. His use of the phrase "I believe in states rights" sends a clear message to the huge white crowd gathered to see him. Neshoba County was where three young civil rights workers had been killed in 1964. There was in 1980 as yet no conviction for these crimes. An account of Reagan's visit and its connection to the "Southern Strategy" of the Republican Party can be found here.
(And yes, I voted for Reagan in 1980, but I'm not sure I would have in light of this.)

This has been another...GREAT MOMENT IN CONSERVATIVE HISTORY!

Great Moments in Conservative History: 1921

The Tulsa, Oklahoma race riot that may have killed more than 300 African-Americans. Read about it here.

This has been another...GREAT MOMENT IN CONSERVATIVE HISTORY!

Pathological Liars or Complete Idiots?

You decide.

Hatch and Limbaugh: made for each other.

The Real Power Watches From a Distance

And in a spectacular display, Cheney's mouth didn't move once while Bush was "speaking".

Are You Surprised? I Wish I Were

Transcripts from secret recordings of Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon during Nixon's presidency. (From Robert Dallek in this month's Vanity Fair):

Using language that has a painfully contemporary echo, Kissinger and Nixon very quickly came to private conclusions about Vietnam that they never revealed publicly and denied entertaining. "In Saigon the tendency is to fight the war to victory," Nixon told Kissinger, according to the transcript of a 1969 phone conversation. "But you and I know it won't happen—it is impossible." Even so, according to Haldeman's unpublished diaries, Nixon later urged that Democratic critics making this same point should be labeled "the party of surrender." When someone told Kissinger that Nixon could not be re-elected, because of Vietnam, he disputed it and added, according to a memo of a conversation, that "anytime we want to get out of Vietnam we can," and that "we will get out of Vietnam before the [1972] election." Nixon wanted to plan the removal of all U.S. troops by the end of 1971, but Kissinger cautioned that, if North Vietnam then de-stabilized Saigon during the following year, events could have an adverse effect on the president's campaign. According to Haldeman's diaries, Kissinger advocated a pullout in the fall of 1972, "so that if any bad results follow they will be too late to affect the election." He apparently had nothing to say about the American lives that would be lost by deliberately prolonging the war. Just before a peace treaty was signed, Kissinger in a phone conversation advised Nixon against stating that this was a "lasting peace or guaranteed peace because this thing is almost certain to blow up sooner or later."

I'm old enough to remember the way Vietnam fractured this nation. I'm also not shocked to see the ugly cynicism and calculation by Nixon and Kissinger. And I'm not surprised in the least to see the Republicans using the same filthy tactics against critics of a war that should never have been fought.

Remember this story if you're ever standing in front of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington.

Simply Beautiful

This is so freaking cool. (I would suggest going full screen on this, by the way.)

Conservative Heroes: Jesse Helms

Savor the profundity of these wonderful quotes!

"To rob the Negro of his reputation of thinking through a problem in his own fashion is about the same as trying to pretend that he doesn't have a natural instinct for rhythm and for singing and dancing."

"The Negro cannot count forever on the kind of restraint that's thus far left him free to clog the streets, disrupt traffic, and interfere with other men's rights." (Commenting on civil rights demonstrations.)

When a caller to CNN's Larry King Live show praised guest Jesse Helms for "everything you've done to help keep down the niggers," Helms' response was to salute the camera and say, "Well, thank you, I think." (Wilmington Star-News, 9/16/95)

There's more. Check 'em all out!

Jesse Helms...CONSERVATIVE HERO!

Great Moments in Conservative History: 1964

Angered by President Lyndon Johnson's embrace of civil rights for all Americans, conservative Strom Thurmond switches from Democrat to Republican and warmly supports Barry Goldwater for president. Goldwater had voted against the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Thurmond's switch is a harbinger of things to come, as the Republican party openly solicits support from southern white racist conservatives, the "Southern Strategy" that transforms the South into the Republican heartland.

This has been another...GREAT MOMENT IN CONSERVATIVE HISTORY!

Chickenhawk Slime O'Reilly Smears Genuine Patriot

Read the disgusting details here.

Great Moments in Conservative History: 1919

Conservatives in Omaha, Nebraska lynched, shot, and then burned a local African-American named Will Brown despite attempts by the mayor and police to guarantee due process. Conservatives lynched more than 2,500 blacks between the 1890s and 1920s.

This has been another...GREAT MOMENT IN CONSERVATIVE HISTORY!

Great Moments in Conservative History: 1963

Peaceful, non-violent civil rights marchers are blasted with fire hoses by conservatives in Birmingham, Alabama. Other demonstrators were attacked with dogs, and four little girls were killed in a church bombing in this same bastion of white conservatism.

This has been another...GREAT MOMENT IN CONSERVATIVE HISTORY!

Great Moments in Conservative History: 1924

Some 4 million conservatives were in the Klan at its height in the 1920s.

This has been another...GREAT MOMENT IN CONSERVATIVE HISTORY!

An AC/DC Song As You've Never Heard It

Right here.

Gawd, I love it.

Devastating New Commentary from Bill Maher

In which traitors are called out by name. See it here.

(Thanks to Al Rodgers)

A Study in Absurdity

The more lethal drugs are near the bottom of this chart. (Notice where alcohol ranks.) The least lethal, least dangerous one is at the top.

Guess which one is illegal.

And this makes sense to you?

(Graphic from Sully)

The Right Wing Strategy for 2008: FNB

Click here to find out exactly what the term FNB refers to. Let's just say it's going to be the heart of the Republican strategy in 2008. It involves attacking the sexual orientation, ethnic background, and gender of the leading Democratic candidates. Expect Coulter and Fox "News" to trot it out often.

Interesting.

Piece of Human Garbage Limbaugh Attacks John and Elizabeth Edwards

It says something bad about the right wingers that so many of them listen to Rush Limbaugh and buy into his lying bullshit so fervently. What kind of cretin takes someone like this seriously? What kind of moral degenerate thinks Limbaugh is right about everything? But evidently a lot of these wretched people do. Now their hero continues to plunge new depths: he's ridiculing and questioning the sincerity and bravery of John and Elizabeth Edwards, who are dealing with a diagnosis that could be a death sentence for Elizabeth. MediaMatters has the story here.

Slime. Absolute slime. And think about all the other sick perverts who are part of the Noise Machine that is pouring out right wing filth 24/7--Beck, Hannity, O'Reilly, Coulter, Savage, Hume, Cavuto, Gibson, Kristol, Gigot, and all of their acolytes. Think of the way they have ruined and distorted political discourse in America.

And think of who the heroes of the Republican Right are. It tells you all you need to know about why the conservatives need to suffer such utter and total electoral defeat in 2008--and for decades beyond.

Christians for Cannabis

No joke. Check it out here.

A small voice of sanity.

It's Beginning to Look Grim for the Right Wingers

From the most recent Pew Poll (via Kevin Drum):




Heh heh heh.

DeLay Can't Even Tell the Truth About His Own Freaking Book

This is just weird. What a pathetic, lying little weasel this bastard is.

Tom DeLay: Ooohh, He's Wuff and He's Tuff!

Ah me. Who doesn't remember and cherish the halcyon days when Tom DeLay was riding high, running the Abramoff fueled K Street project, blocking the regulation of his little forced labor/forced abortions nightmare in the Marianas, (scroll down) and spitting out accusations of treason against anyone who dared to criticize Dear Leader? Now this self same Tom DeLay (also affectionately known in these parts as Cockroach Man) has a new book out. (Oh joy!) And he's being aggressive, by golly! Chris Kelly at Huff Po has a bead on it:

Actually, the full title of the DeLay book - which came out Wednesday -- is No Retreat, No Surrender: One American's Fight. Yes, it's a story so bellicose, even the subtitle is scrappy.

And he's earned the right to talk tough, too. Not just because of his own student deferments, but also by the student deferments of Rush Limbaugh (who wrote the forward) and the "other priorities" of Sean Hannity (who wrote the preface) and the book's co-author, Stephen Mansfield.

Four fightin' Americans. Zero seconds in uniform. $25.95 at bookstores everywhere.

No retreat. No surrender. No shame.

(Stephen Mansfield is a truly special case, by the way. His avoidance of military service - -not that there's anything wrong with that -- hasn't stopped him from writing The Faith of the American Soldier, or American Heroes: Stories of Faith, Courage and Sacrifice from the Front Lines or an open letter to Cindy Sheehan where he tells her she's threatening to "dishonor Casey's heroism.")

(How did he get to be on a first name basis with Casey Sheehan? He certainly didn't run into him in combat.)

(It's almost like he's an asswipe.)

HA HA HA! Great stuff! Why is it that all these draft dodging little right punks always talk so tough but never seem to do any of the bleeding and dying? It's almost as if they're trying to compensate for something.

Maybe gutless cowardice?

End the Horror of Female Genital Mutilation

This barbarism is still being inflicted on millions of young girls all over the world. I warn you, though: the information on this site is only for the strongest of you. It's pretty appalling.

When, when, when, will humans be fully civilized?

To HELL With the Damned Drug Warriors

This is just f---ing wrong.

My GOD do I hate these "anti-drug" bastards who are willing to let people die in agony just so they can have the satisfaction of forcing their "morality" on everybody else. They are the real criminals in this situation.

LEGALIZE MEDICAL MARIJUANA RIGHT NOW

The Truth About Opinion Concerning a Libby Pardon

Andrea Mitchell of NBC recently asserted that the majority of Americans think "Scooter" Libby deserves a pardon.

From CNN's poll on the matter:


28. As you may know, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Dick Cheney's former top aide, was recently found guilty of obstruction of justice and perjury in connection with the CIA leak investigation. Do you think George W. Bush should or should not give a presidential pardon to Libby?


Mar. 9-11
2007

Should pardon 18%
Should not pardon 69%
No opinion 13%

Andrea, honey, do you know what the hell you're talking about? Or are you too busy spouting White House propaganda to find out?

Fox "News": Right Wing Propaganda Cesspool

Larry Johnson has assembled this appalling and enraging set of screen captures from Fox "News" that will convince you (if you still needed convincing) that Fox is nothing more than a vomitorium of Right wing slander, lies, distortions, smears, and perverted "reporting" that echoes everything, and I mean everything, so many of us have come to hate about the "movement" conservatives who have done such horrendous damage to our country. It's all here, folks, especially the despicable cheerleading for torture that so many wingnuts love to hear.

Fox is a sickening nest of radical right sewer rats and liars--Hannity, O'Reilly, Barnes, Gibson, Hume, Cavuto, all of the scum that we have come to know and despise so well. We need someone richer than Rupert Murdoch to buy or squeeze Fox out of his control and clean out the whole rotten operation--and shut down the network that exists only for one reason: to push the rejected, minority agenda of the wingnuts.

Democrats, boycott Fox. When a Democrat becomes president on 20 January 2009, his or her first act should be to suspend Fox's White House press credentials. It makes no sense to legitimize this organization that has less shame than the old Pravda. To borrow from Cato the Elder, Delende Est Fox News--Fox News Must Be Destroyed.

UPDATE: Cenk Uygur weighs in here.

What I'm Looking at Tonight

This outstanding letter on Sullivan's website.

This thoughtful article from The New English Review.

All about Flaming Carrot.

The Edge.

The very cool Earth from Space.

I love the internet.

Union, YES!

Eric Alterman has done a tremendous job documenting the significance of union membership for the economic health of American workers and the political health of the Democratic Party. (Scroll up for whole post.) The radical Right that runs so much of America is doing its utmost to reduce the typical American worker to indebted peonage, and the weakening and eventual destruction of labor unions is a top rightwing goal. Well folks, the facts speak loudly and clearly. From the article:

Union workers' median weekly earnings: $781

Nonunion workers' median weekly earnings: $612

Union wage advantage: 28%

Union women's median weekly earnings: $723

Nonunion women's median weekly earnings: $541

Union wage advantage for women: 34%

Union workers with access to guaranteed (defined-benefit) pension: 73%

Nonunion workers with access to guaranteed (defined-benefit) pension: 16%

Union pension advantage: 356%

Union workers whose jobs provide access to health insurance: 92%

Nonunion workers whose jobs provide access to health insurance: 68%

Union health insurance advantage: 35%

Union workers without health insurance coverage: 2.5%

Nonunion workers without health insurance coverage: 15%

Union advantage: 500%

[Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics]

Union members stand with us for a reason: we Democrats, liberals, moderates, and progressives, stand with them. Surveys show that almost 50% of Americans would join a union if they were allowed to. The conservatives have had great success in killing off unions and crowding all but corporate interests from the national discussion. They've also had great success intimidating union organizers among workers.

But we're about to change that. See if we don't.

The Double Standard: Giving the Psychotic Right a Free Pass

This piece by Digby says it all: the savages of the radical Right can say anything, can utter any smear, can advocate butchering their political opponents, can spread any lie, and they will still be treated respectfully by the mainstream media. This is the same MSM that will wildly exaggerate any misstep by a Democrat and scream and shout about how "unhinged" the political left is in America.

The depth of the Right's viciousness is almost beyond belief. Digby--and I--take them seriously. Some of his examples:

When Limbaugh said, "I tell people don't kill all the liberals. Leave enough so we can have two on every campus - living fossils - so we will never forget what these people stood for," we didn't doubt him anymore.

When Ann Coulter said "we need to execute people like John Walker in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed, too, otherwise, they will turn out to be outright traitors," to rapturous applause at the 2002 CPAC, we knew she wasn't just kidding.

**********

It continues today. Dinesh D'Souza just published a book saying that liberals are the cause of terrorism. Ramesh Ponneru calls us "The Party of Death." And when Michele Malkin then creates a career out of calling the left "unhinged" the Washington Post treats her like she's discovered the Holy Grail.

This is why it is so shocking to us when we see people like Howard Kurtz and various others call for the smelling salts when some members of the left have reacted in kind by saying hateful, violent things about Dick Cheney's assassination attempt. (These anonymous commenters, by the way, are not best selling authors making a personal televised appearance at a gathering that includes most of the Republican presidential candidates, members of congress and even the Vice President himself.)

I certainly agree that such appalling comments are not to be accepted. Indeed, I recall how my stomach turned when when I read what Coulter had to say at CPAC last year:

On Democrats: "Someday they will find a way to abort all future Boy Scouts." College professors: "sissified, pussified." Harvard: "the Soviet Union." John Kerry: the other "dominant woman in Democratic politics." Her post-9/11 motto: "Rag head talks tough, rag head faces consequences." For good measure, she threw in a joke about having Muslims burn down the Supreme Court -- with the liberal justices inside.

Then came questions. A young woman asked Coulter to describe the most difficult ethical decision she ever made. "There was one time I had a shot at Bill Clinton," Coulter said.

And yet, vile scum like Limbaugh, Coulter, O'Reilly, Hannity, Kristol, Savage, Beck, Cavuto, Gibson, D'Souza, Malkin, and all of their poisonous offspring continue to be feted by their friends in the so-called "mainstream media". Democrats in general and liberals specifically are ridiculed and attacked relentlessly while Right wingers advocate genocide and war. Al Gore, WHO HAS BEEN 100% RIGHT ON EVERY ISSUE IN PUBLIC LIFE, is called mentally unbalanced by sneering little bastards like Chris Matthews while Bill Kristol, WHO HAS BEEN 100% WRONG ON EVERY ISSUE IN PUBLIC LIFE is promoted and given increasingly broad platforms from which to brand anyone who disagrees with his lunatic neocon agenda a traitor.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Ann Coulter is wildly popular with the hardcore Right that runs the Republican Party. These people hate anyone who disagrees with them, and would sincerely like to see people like me either killed or intimidated into silence. They routinely speak out for mass murder, as when Coulter suggested carpet bombing Iran, and yet continue to get a free pass by our media "watchdogs". We need to call these "watchdogs" on this loud and clear.

There can be NO COMPROMISE with the radical Right. There can be NO DIALOGUE with them. They cannot be reasoned with, they cannot be talked to, they cannot change. These are the delusional 29% of the American people who actually think Bush is doing a good job as president. They cannot be engaged; they can only be utterly and totally opposed, crushed, and defeated. The murderous radical Right commentators are not at the fringe of the Republican party--they are the Republican Party. The sooner those of us in the sane, reality based part of America grasp this, the sooner these people will be politically destroyed for all time.

I Have a Book for Sale!

I've been a teacher for 33 years and in that time I like to think I've learned something about what it takes to be good at it. If you're so inclined, check out my book on the art of teaching at the high school level here. Preview it and see what you think. (I'll also keep a link on my blogroll.)

Thanks mucho!

The Shocking, Ranting Insanity of John Hagee

This item should frighten the hell out of you. John Hagee is a prominent member of the ultra right wing of the so-called Christian Right. He is best known as a "Christian Zionist" who sees Israel's establishment as the precursor to Armageddon. (For real. I wish I was joking.) He is now openly advocating a pre-emptive war against Iran. Talk to Action has the story:

In a recent Charisma Magazine issue John Hagee, in a piece entitled "The Coming Holy War", wrote : "Israel and America must confront Iran's nuclear ability and willingness to destroy Israel with nuclear weapons."

On July 19, 2006, at a CUFI sponsored Washington DC event called "A Night to Honor Israel", with GOP Party head Ken Mehlman and US GOP Senators Sam Brownback and Rick Santorum (President George W. Bush sent recorded greetings to the event) , Pastor John Hagee declared :

"The United States must join Israel in a pre-emptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God's plan for both Israel and the West... a biblically prophesied end-time confrontation with Iran, which will lead to the Rapture, Tribulation [...] and [the] Second Coming of Christ."

Hagee's beliefs are actually part of mainstream Christian Zionist thought, which tends to hold that, after Christians are "Raptured" bodily up to heaven, most Jews ( 2/3 to be precise ) will die in a subsequent terrible conflict centered around Israel.

Hagee is an influential and powerful member of the ruling circles of the Republican Party. He is a dangerous, completely delusional fanatic who is doing his utmost to push this country and, indeed, the entire world, into disaster. He is every bit as deranged as any Islamic jihadist. His thinking is respected in the Republican Party. If his views prevail, there will be very little left of the world. He, and the neoconservative lunatics in sympathy with him, must be stopped, if only for the sake of our unborn children and grandchildren--not to mention the ones who are already here.

The Indispensable Daily Howler

Is there a better political site on the Internet than Bob Somerby's Daily Howler? No one does a better job of ripping into the blatantly anti-Democratic lies and idiocy of the mass media better than Somerby. He has been particularly piercing and brilliant in exposing the vicious smears that ruined Al Gore's attempt to win the White House, and the lies that are still being spread about him. His wonderful, scathing contempt is a joy to behold. He is also a meticulous gatherer of evidence, and he has a long and unforgiving memory. Want to find out what's really happening in American politics and in the river of puke we laughingly call our national political "discourse"? Latch on to Somerby. You'll learn something new every time you do.

Right Wing Coke Whore Strikes Again

Unbelievable. Un-freaking believable.

If a Democrat had said something like that, it would be the lead story on the f---king national news.

Some "liberal" media.

International Crisis!

I'm shakin'--and I'm shaken!

It's a Small Freakin' World

This borders on the mind blowing. I don't want to spoil it for you. Just hit the link and you'll see.

Just for the Record

I don't give a DAMN, I mean a rat's ass, I mean a flying you-know-what about Britney Spears and her g-d damned hair or lack of it. Nor do I give a shit about the body of the late, pathetic Anna Nicole Smith. Do you hear me, cable news? Do you hear me tabloid press? I don't give a DAMN. War is raging in Iraq, war threatens with Iran, the Saudis are buying weapons to kill our men and women, and hours of coverage is being given to this sickening celebrity bullshit? What the hell is the problem with the people in our "news" business?!?

And people wonder why I get all my news from the Internet.

Science Sunday!

An oldie but a goodie here on how to answer creationist idiocy.

Startling new evidence that there was once liquid water on Mars.

Ha! I knew it!

Enter the world of Ray Kurzweil.

Science's encouraging counteroffensive against the irrational conservatives.

Enjoy. I think I'll take a siesta.

Who is ACTUALLY Killing Our People in Iraq? The SAUDIS

Cenk Uygur explains in this video.

But then again, we can't wage war on them, can we? The Bush family has too many ties with the Saudi royal family.

Democrats, Don't Knuckle Under to Bush! America Hates Him!

Right Wing Radicals Demand Death Penalty for Anyone Criticizing Dear Leader

Glenn Greenwald nails it beautifully here. Key quotes:

Frank Gaffney, one of the country's most influential and well-connected neoconservatives, has a column in today's Washington Times in which he argues that the debate taking place in Congress over the war in Iraq constitutes treason. Gaffney specifically argues that the condemnations of Douglas Feith from Sen. Levin "really should be a hanging offense."

*****

Not only is none of this new for neoconservatives and the hardest-core Bush supporters, it is not isolated either. Countless other examples of similarly radical and freedom-hating incidents have passed more or less unnoticed.

After Howard Dean, in November, 2005, pointed out the obvious -- that the U.S. would not be able to "win" in Iraq (a fact which William Buckley, among others, repeated a few months later) -- Ronald Reagan's son and frequent Fox News guest host Michael Reagan said this: "Howard Dean should be arrested and hung for treason or put in a hole until the end of the Iraq war!"

Ben Shapiro, writing on Townhall, urged that Dean, Al Gore and John Kerry -- just as a start -- be criminally prosecuted for sedition. And none of this should be the slightest bit surprising since the "Father of Neoconservatism," Irving Kristol, has long expressed disdain for America's most basic freedoms, as illustrated by this belief: "I don't think the advocacy of homosexuality really falls under the First Amendment any more than the advocacy or publication of pornography does."

This is what modern conservatism has become--ranting, hate-filled, authoritarian, vicious beyond belief, and scathingly contemptuous of the sacred liberties upon which this country was founded. I've said it recently and I'll say it again, in a typeface big enough for anyone to understand:

THE NEOCONSERVATIVES REPRESENT AS DEADLY A THREAT TO AMERICA AS THE RADICAL ISLAMISTS. BOTH OF THEM HATE FREEDOM AS PASSIONATELY AS THE OTHER. BOTH REPRESENT A MORTAL DANGER TO AMERICA'S SURVIVAL AS A NATION.

Have I made myself clear?

(You really owe it to yourself to read the whole Greenwald column, by the way.)

Nailing McCain's Double Talk BS

See it here.

And to think I used to admire this phony.

Where in the Hell Did $12 Billion of YOUR Money GO??

Jack Cafferty wants to know.

Stop the Impending Iran War

It all has a sickeningly familiar feeling to it, doesn't it? The hyped up stories of enemies threatening Americans, the blustering words from the Administration, the Greek chorus of neocons such as Bill Kristol baying for blood, the Republicans challenging the loyalty of all who have doubts. But this time the target isn't Iraq. It's Iran, an attack on which is a much more serious proposition. I don't know how many times I've emphasized it on my tiny little capillary of a blog but an attack on Iran would be a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions. It would unleash hellishly complicated and unpredictable consequences, especially if carried out with low yield nuclear weapons. The Bush thugs are ramping up the verbal attacks on and accusations against Iran even as I write this. The Los Angeles Times has acted responsibly in debunking many of these trumped up charges. Relevant quote from a recent article:

For all [its] aggressive rhetoric, however, the Bush administration has provided scant evidence to support these claims [of Iranian complicity in attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq]. Nor have reporters traveling with U.S. troops seen extensive signs of Iranian involvement. During a recent sweep through a stronghold of Sunni insurgents here, a single Iranian machine gun turned up among dozens of arms caches U.S. troops uncovered. British officials have similarly accused Iran of meddling in Iraqi affairs, but say they have not found Iranian-made weapons in areas they patrol.

The lack of publicly disclosed evidence has led to questions about whether the administration is overstating its case. Some suggest Bush and his aides are pointing to Iran to deflect blame for U.S. setbacks in Iraq. Others suggest they are laying the foundation for a military strike against Iran.

Terrifying stories continue to circulate of Bush and Cheney's determination to strike Iran in the spring, despite their repeated denials. (Who in their right mind believes these lying bastards any more?) If Bush strikes Iran without congressional authorization, there is only one alternative: the Democratic House must initiate impeachment proceedings against both Bush and Cheney. Although getting convictions in the Senate would be hard, at least such proceedings would force the Administration into the white hot glare of public scrutiny, especially the mole-like Cheney, who has become dangerously unbalanced and arrogant in his conduct. Actions must have consequences; if Bush acts unconstitutionally to launch war without congressional approval, he must be removed from office--or at least be exposed as the corrupt little dictator he is.

Why I Hate Dick Cheney's Guts

And I don't mean that figuratively. I hate him in the basic sense of that word. Here's one of the many reasons why.






Thank you, buhdydharma on Daily Kos.

Thoughts on NewsMax and Dick Morris

Right wing smear sheet NewsMax recently ran an article reveling in the fact that former White House aide and general walking hemorrhoid Dick Morris is planning a major anti-Hillary "documentary" to help Swift Boat her candidacy. I received news of this via e-mail. I replied as follows:

1. It's NewsMax, your #1 Scaife funded "news" source on the paranoid-delusional right. If these idiots told me my own name, I'd still look at my license to double check. About 90% of NewsMax is straightup lying bullshit. The other 10% is simply insane.

2. Dick Morris has a pathological hatred for Hillary. Guess he needs to spend more time sucking the toes of hookers to assuage his anger. Then again, with him in a cathouse room, it would be hard to tell which person was the bigger whore.

3. A whopping 29% of a recent national sample wants to see a Republican elected in 2008. Oh my. That's not very many, is it?

4. Really, when you think about it, what shit can the rightwingers throw at Hillary that they haven't already? Calling her "Hitlery"? (Go ahead and Google the term.) Accusing her of having Vince Foster killed? The Whitewater "Scandal"? Being an international drug kingpin via the Mena, Arkansas airport? They've thrown everything at her. There's nothing left. I think a lot of rightwingers really hate her because they're scared of her--she beats the hell out of Republicans on election day, she knows how to fight dirty, and she's got a whole shitload of money. She can win--and they know it. And they've got nothing left to stop her with!

5. By the way, I'm supporting General Clark. But seeing Hillary as president would be so very VERY satisfying on some levels.

--It would finally push Bill O'Reilly over the edge on which he has been so dangerously teetering. They'd have to take him out in a straight jacket.

--Sean Hannity would chew off his own hands, thus destroying his sex life.

--Rush Limbaugh would be back on the Hillbilly Heroin.

--and best of all, Ann Coulter would finally overdose. Nobody would be able to tell the difference.

See yez later.

Must See: The Power of Nightmares

Yes, I'm disappointed that my beloved Bears lost the Superbowl, but there are much more important things to think about. One of them is the 2004 documentary from the BBC called The Power of Nightmares. It is the story of the rise of two dangerously misguided movements: radical, violent Islamism in the Middle East and the neoconservatives in the United States. These two movements have both used irrational fears and mythology to gain power and influence. The series is so filled with shocking revelations that I think you'll be as floored as I was. No short summary on my part can do justice to this three hour epic, now available on Google Video.

Part One is here.

Part Two is here.

Part Three is here.

If you want a solid explanation of how we got into the current mess, and the true nature of the enemies we face, watch all three parts. And by the way, the Islamists and the neocons share one common feature: they both hate and fear human freedom and regard the whole liberal tradition as a threat. In a perverse sort of way, they were made for each other.

And both of them have to be defeated, for the sake of our survival.

I Love K. O.

Keith does it again right here. The smackdown of Limbaugh in here, btw, is priceless.

(Hat tip: Al Rodgers)

In Memory of Molly Ivins

Molly Ivins was one of the great voices of humane progressivism. She died yesterday at the age of 62. (See HuffPo's article here.) She was always insightful, always funny, always right on the money, and always terrific in her writing. She mocked George Bush and his friends more effectively than almost anyone I can think of. What a contrast she was to the wretched, vicious harpy who calls herself Ann Coulter. It is inconceivable to imagine Molly having joked about wishing her opponents dead or spitting out accusations of treason against those who disagreed with her. That wasn't her style at all. She was an intellectual and spiritual universe away from someone like Coulter, and she had more class in her little finger than Coulter has in her entire anorexic body. She was the best, and we'll miss her.

And courtesy of The Chicago Tribune, here's her last column. Excerpt:

This Iraq war is being prosecuted in our names, with our money, with our blood, against our will. Polls consistently show that less than 30 percent of the people want to maintain current troop levels. It is obscene and wrong for the president to go against the people in this fashion, and it's doubly wrong for him to send 20,0000 more soldiers into this hellhole, as he reportedly will announce next week.

What happened to the nation that never tortured? The nation that wasn't supposed to start wars of choice? The nation that respected human rights and life? A nation that from the beginning was against tyranny? Where have we gone? How did we let these people take us there? How did we let them fool us?

It's a monstrous idea to put people in prison and keep them there. This administration has done away with rights first enshrined in the Magna Carta nearly 800 years ago, and we've let them do it.

God bless you, Molly. You genuinely spoke truth to power.

How to Fight Back Against Anti-Clinton BS from the Net

Awhile back I received a forward from some ultra right wing source. It was an amazingly dishonest compendium of every conceivable lie and false accusation ever made against the Clintons as people and the Clinton presidency itself, including the absurd falsehood that Clinton "cut the military in half" during his administration. The particulars of this typical Republican fraud are unimportant. But I liked the answer I sent back, most of which I'd like to reproduce here. In my humble opinion, THIS is how you nail the anti-Clinton bullshit that circulates around the Internet:

Not sure why conservatives keep circulating this drivel. But I'd just like to point out--

1. That it wasn't Clinton's family that made money by collaborating with the Nazis before and during World War II--it was Bush's.

2. It wasn't Clinton that arranged to sell the Iranians weapons in return for not releasing the embassy hostages, and it wasn't Clinton that armed Saddam to the teeth--it was Reagan and Bush

3. It wasn't Clinton who utterly failed at every business venture he ever tried and got bailed out by his family--it was Bush.

4. It wasn't Clinton who was a drunk for most of his adult life and was stuffing cocaine up his nose while John McCain was being tortured in Vietnam--it was Bush.

5. It wasn't Clinton that insisted on exposing all of his sexual sins in detail in public--it was right wing fanatics that insisted on that. Embarrassing TV? Blame it on the Republican sex perverts who aired it.

6. It wasn't Clinton that cut funding for anti-terrorist operations prior to 9/11, ignored warnings about Bin Laden, and had a report labeled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in the U.S." dumped in his lap and ignored it, going on vacation for 5 weeks--it was Bush. (Bush to person giving the Bin Laden report: "OK, you've covered your ass.")

7. Every time Clinton tried to strike at terrorists in the 90s, right wing idiots would scream "Wag the Dog", saying he was just trying to deflect criticism from himself.

8. But you know, the Republicans are right--the record economic growth (which happened AFTER Clinton raised taxes in '93, despite right wing predictions that it would cause recession), the eight years of peace and prosperity, the huge reduction in the national debt, the balanced budgets, the big surplus, the secure Social Security system, the high international prestige enjoyed by the United States--wow, those were terrible days. It's so much better now that we're embroiled in a useless war that's slaughtered 2700 of our best young people and wounded 15,000 others, that the U.S. is despised worldwide, that we've added $3 TRILLION in debt in five years, and the country is now more torn apart than it's been since Vietnam. Thank God the long Clinton nightmare is over!

9. By the way, which administration had more indictments, Clinton or Reagan? If you guessed Clinton, you're wrong. Which president left office with a higher approval rating, Clinton or Reagan? If you said Reagan, you're wrong.

10. And lest we forget, 80% of the Marine casualties in Iraq could have been avoided by adequate body armor. Oh well. I guess Bush and Rumsfeld were too busy to see to it. (That accusation, by the way, was made by the late David Hackworth's site--where the posters are ALL military men. It was supported by abundant evidence.)

Conservatives and libertarians, it's not us Democrats that are trying to turn this country into a theocracy, it's the Republicans. We're not the ones trying to outlaw birth control, imprison homosexuals, ban "non procreative sex", and censor books, it's the Republicans.We're not the ones who screamed about the rights of a braindead woman, Terri Schiavo, the Republicans did. We're not the ones who've utterly fucked up Iraq. We're not the ones pressing for a catastrophic new war in Iran. We're not the ones bankrupting the United States. We didn't fuck up the Katrina relief effort. We're not the ones giving no-bid contracts to Republican fatcats (Halliburton stock is up 235% since 2001 by the way). We're not the ones who are trying to CUT the Veterans Administration. We're not the ones that have this country in a deathspin--it's the Republicans. And the worst ones--Santorum, Brownback, DeLay, Dobson, Falwell, Robertson and company--are the most conservative ones.

If I sound angry to you, I am. This kind of anti-Clinton dogshit has been fouling the internet for years. And why is it that 30% of the actual citizens wanted Clinton impeached and it was done, to the detriment of America, while close to 50% want Bush impeached if it can be shown that he lied about Iraq--which he did--and nothing happens? Strange, isn't it. Read the survey results--when asked who was or is the better president, Bush or Clinton, ordinary Americans say Clinton by a margin of better than 2-1.

The Republican politicians and media propagandists are killing America. They're killing my country. They lie relentlessly, 24/7, through their network of hate radio, Fox "News", the Washington Times, the Wall Street Journal, and all of the other media outlets they control in the "liberal" (ha!) media. They are pushing this country into a possible world war and stealing with an impunity that defies belief. They are ignoring the greatest environmental crisis in human history as well for the sake of the Republican oil executives who pour money into right wing campaigns. I'm going to fight back because I love this country and I hate seeing what's happening to it. I'm not going to let the lunatic right destroy America without one hell of a fight.

Yes, Bush may have the blood of thousands of our soldiers on his hands, but Clinton was far worse.

After all, he lied about getting a blowjob.

Joe Miller

The Cornered Animal Heading Into Nixon Territory

The "Decider" can't be happy about this. A new Newsweek poll has him at 30% approval. (CBS has him at a wretched 28%.) And this must be particularly galling:

The president’s approval ratings are at their lowest point in the poll’s history—30 percent—and more than half the country (58 percent) say they wish the Bush presidency were simply over, a sentiment that is almost unanimous among Democrats (86 percent), and is shared by a clear majority (59 percent) of independents and even one in five (21 percent) Republicans. Half (49 percent) of all registered voters would rather see a Democrat elected president in 2008, compared to just 28 percent who’d prefer the GOP to remain in the White House.

Oooh, that's GOTTA hurt when nearly 3 out of every 5 of your fellow citizens want you out NOW. And that generic Democratic advantage in 2008 can't be good news for the party of war, hate, bigotry, corruption, and lies. (Splitting the undecideds would give the Democrats a 61-39 advantage in the generic presidential race--Johnson over Goldwater territory.)

The barking right wing fanatics from National Review, FrontPage, and all the other wingnut idiot publications can't deny it--Bush is rapidly heading into Nixon approval ratings. Of course, Bush will react like any other cornered animal. He is more dangerous than ever in such a situation, and will therefore lash out in desperation. Watch out Iran--Bush is willing to kill hundreds of thousands of your citizens to save his miserable pride. And more death and dismemberment await our brave soldiers because of Bush's need to feel like a real by-God hero.

Stop the son of a bitch. Stop him now. The cornered animal has to be neutralized before he takes any more victims with him. The American people want him out. Let's at least stop him before he kills more.

Watch and Learn

It really is simple.

(Hat tip: Sully)

No, We Won't Be Quiet--We're Going to Shout EVEN LOUDER

If there is a more despicable neocon fanatic than Bill Kristol, I have yet to come across him. He was one of the principal advocates of our Iraq catastrophe. He has recently come out in support of attacking Syria. He is fervently demanding massive air attacks on Iran. He is, in short, a borderline lunatic who seems determined to drag this country into a third world war. Now he is demanding that the opponents of Bush's obscene "surge" (aka, escalation of the war) sit down and shut up:

[Kristol]: It’s so irresponsible that they [war opponents] can’t be quiet for six or nine months and say the president has made a decision, we’re not going to change that decision, we’re not going to cut off funds and insist on the troops coming back, so let’s give it a chance to work. You really wonder, do they want it to work or not? I really wonder that. I hate to say this about the Democrats. They’re people I know personally and I respect some of them. Do they want it to succeed or not?

Yes, the "Decider" has made his decision, so let's all just be quiet and let him piss away the lives of a few thousand more of our best and bravest young people. Well, to hell with that. Kristol has been proven wrong or just plain dishonest on every single point related to the war. He has gotten everything wrong. He has lied through his teeth about everything. Now we, the ones who have come to realize that the war was a tragic, unnecessary blunder are supposed to keep silent while madmen oversee the butchering of our soldiers and marines? NO. We will turn the volume up higher. We will be more adamant in our insistence that our forces be withdrawn from Iraq as early as is practicable and in a way consistent with the safety of our men and women. We will unconditionally oppose a widening of the war to include attacks on Syria and Iran. We will, in short, stand for sanity and the best interests of America. We will stop the Bill Kristols of the world from plunging our nation into further tragedy.

Isn't it something how generous chickenhawks like Kristol are when it comes to the lives of other people's children?

Six Years of National Tragedy: A Wiki

In the spirit of Wikipedia, I thought it would be fun and useful for us to do a Wiki-like diary. It's six years today since Bush and his mafia took over our country. What better occasion than this for us to list the ways in which these people have damaged our country? I'll start the ball rolling! (And remember to add links!)

Today, 20 January 2007, marks the sixth anniversary of George W. Bush's inauguration as president. Following the stolen 2000 election, the first true coup d'etat in American history, the Republicans completed the seizure of all three branches of the federal government, the first time since 1929 that all of them were under the control of conservatives. (The mind reels.) What followed was an unmitigated disaster, a nightmare of incompetence, lies, malice, criminality, corruption, and hypocrisy. There has not been one good thing about Bush's presidency, and I mean nothing. Anything positive has been purely accidental, minor, and peripheral to the main goals of the Bush administration. The list of Bush lies, foul-ups, diasters, and criminality is as follows:

--Anti-terrorism was downgraded in importance in the early months of the Bush Administration, as John Ashcroft was more interested in fighting drugs than fighting Al Qaeda.

--The Hart-Rudman commission's recommendations were ignored or downplayed.

--A direct warning of Bin Laden's intentions was tossed into Bush's lap on 6 August 2001. Bush promptly went on vacation for five weeks.

--On the terrible day of 11 September 2001, Bush sat stunned and useless when he heard the news of the strike about which he had been clearly warned.

--After 9/11, Bush squandered the good will of the entire world and decided to use the attacks for partisan political advantage.

Now, it's your turn. Go for it!

Not If People Like Me Can Help It

There is a growing consensus among historians that George W. Bush will someday be seen as one of the worst presidents in U.S. history, if not the very worst. I personally think he's neck and neck with James Buchanan, who let the U.S. slide toward civil war between 1857 and 1861. Bush has been so horrible a national "leader" that it would seem as if nothing could save his legacy. But the various right wing deep pockets that are financing the "Bush library" (a contradiction in terms if ever I've heard one) are apparently intending to use it a means of spreading pro-Bush propaganda to try to salvage W's wretchedly bad reputation:

Shortly after Thanksgiving, the New York Daily News reported: "Eager to begin refurbishing his tattered legacy, the President hopes to raise $500 million to build his library and a think tank at Southern Methodist University in Dallas."

The half-billion target is double what Bush raised for his 2004 reelection and dwarfs the funding of other presidential libraries. But Bush partisans are determined to have a massive pile of endowment cash to spread the gospel of a presidency that for now gets poor marks from many scholars and a majority of Americans.

The legacy-polishing centerpiece is an institute, which several Bush insiders called the Institute for Democracy. Patterned after Stanford University's Hoover Institution, Bush's institute will hire conservative scholars and "give them money to write papers and books favorable to the President's policies," one Bush insider said. [Emphasis added.]

This does not apparently jibe with academic notions of what academia should be about among some academicians at Southern Methodist University. "[C]reating an academic center with a specific goal of boosting the Bush image and agenda strikes many professors as antithetical to a university's academic values," reported Inside Higher Ed last month. SMU's theology department has drafted a letter -- supported by dozens of faculty members -- expressing concern about "two distinct, irreconcilable visions" for the Bush presidential center: a "neutral space" library and a "partisan place" conservative think tank.

Yes, Bush's toads are going to try to spread outright damned lies in support of the worst American president in more than 140 years. We can presume they'll ignore Bush's disgraceful personal history and rotten private conduct. They'll ignore Bush's dropping the ball on the pre-9/11 intelligence and his scared rabbit behavior on that terrible day itself. They'll ignore the lies and cherry-picked intelligence that got us into the Iraq disaster. They'll ignore the monstrous deficits, the swollen debt, the condemnation of the rest of the world, the environmental irresponsibility, the right-wing corruption that saturated Congress and the presidency both, and all the other hallmarks of Bush's incredible malice and incompetence. They will try to substitute mythology for fact and hero worship for cold, hard truth.

But you know something? There are lots of people who hate Bush and his administration as fiercely as I do (and some even more, if you can believe it). We are people who love this country and despise Bush and his minions for doing such terrible harm to it. We read history and we know American politics well. And we will wage the academic war against the right wing lies that will try to make Bush seem like the Second Coming. We will fight these lies relentlessly, tirelessly, and incessantly. We will be heard, and we will prevail. Why?

Because we stand on the side of reality. And one way or another, reality has a nasty habit of always winning in the end.

Sliding Toward Insanity

I am more convinced than ever that the Bush Administration is trying to provoke a war with Iran (and perhaps Syria). Such a war, coming as it would in the midst of the Iraq catastrophe, would be a disaster of historic magnitude. Bush is not being advised by rational voices of any kind. All such people have been purged. He is, instead, surrounded by neocon fanatics baying for blood. Glenn Greenwald has taken note of a particularly perverse one, neocon Arthur Herman, who is demanding a massive series of military operations to destroy Iran's bridges, ports, and other facilities and seize its energy resources. Glenn's opinion of this is worth reporting:

The very idea that we are going to launch a unilateral bombing campaign against Iran, shatter its infrastructure, and then seize its oil assets is pure insanity of the highest order. There is no other way to describe that. And that would be true at any time, let alone when we are bogged down in the greatest strategic disaster in our nation's history, where our already horrendous position could be worsened immeasurably by Iran.

One feels absurd even dignifying Herman's "analysis" with a substantive response. It really is the stuff of the babbling prophet standing on a cardboard box in the 1980s version of Times Square.

But with the fate of our Iraq occupation sealed through the end of the Bush presidency, the most pressing question is whether the Leader will use the last two years of his presidency to provoke some sort of military confrontation with Iran, and people like Herman are not standing on boxes in Times Square where they belong, but instead are writing in Commentary, which continues to exert real influence among the radicals who have driven our country into the state it is currently in...

Read the whole post. And then resolve to take action.

Is Bush the New Lincoln?

Only in the sense that both are technically brain dead.

See this clip for more info.

Bush's Response to the Wishes of the American People

They're Comin' Up Democratic!

Good news indeed from the new Pew Research Study: (pdf)

Gen Next: More Democratic, More Liberal

Trends in party identification suggest that this generation of young people is more Democratic than the generation that came before it. In the 2004 presidential election, where they turned out in near record numbers, young voters chose John Kerry over George Bush by a decisive margin. Majorities of the older age groups backed Bush. And in the 2006 mid-term elections for Congress, young people voted overwhelmingly for Democrats over Republicans, by 58%-37% among all 18-24 year-olds, according to national exit polls. These voting patterns reflect a broader Democratic leaning among Gen Nexters. In 2006, 48% of young people identified themselves as Democrats or leaned toward the Democratic Party, while only 35% identified themselves as Republicans – the lowest number recorded by Pew in its nearly 20-year trend. This makes them the least Republican generation. [Emphasis added]

Outstanding! People tend to stay close to their original voting orientation (although obviously not always). I differ with the whole concept of "generation" but it's good to see so many younger voters choosing to side with the one major party that is actually trying to save this country. This bodes very well for a Democratic future. I guess after seeing a total screwup Republican in charge, it's only natural for young people to reject him--and his miserable, lying, corrupt friends and allies.

(Hat tip: Sully)

Eric Alterman Rips the "Surge"

Check him out here. I like this statement:

Bush is like a man who is dealt two kings in blackjack (after 9-11) when the dealer is showing a three, doubles down instead of playing his winner hand, gets two twos, and continues to double down over and over and over until he loses his family's life savings and insurance policy. Kristol, Krauthammer, and Kaplan, et al, are like the Vegas floozies with fake boobs telling him what a big man he is the whole time, stroking his thighs while picking his pockets ... (Oh, and John "Maverick" McCain is the long-suffering wife ...)

Heh heh heh.

Sigh. A Man Can Dream, Can't He?

WE'RE SAYING NO

We, as in the vast majority of the American people, 89% of whom oppose the so-called "surge" (i.e., escalation) in Iraq. We've had enough. We've had all the Bush-Cheney-McCain-Neocon lies and distortions we can take.

Former General Wesley Clark has come out foursquare against the whole disastrous notion:

Wesley Clark, the former Nato commander who led the 1999 war in Kosovo, is urging President George Bush not to send more troops to Iraq, saying the "surge" in forces being considered by the White House would be too little, too late and could only deepen the hole that the United States and its allies have dug themselves.

Writing exclusively in The Independent on Sunday, General Clark said the time for a military solution was long past, that US troops lack the skills and the political legitimacy to pacify the conflict-ridden regions, and that the only way forward was a political initiative encompassing the entire region.

"We've never had enough troops in Iraq," writes General Clark, who was the Supreme Allied Commander of Nato forces from 1997-2000. "In Kosovo, we had 40,000 troops for a population of two million. For Iraq, that ratio would call for at least 500,000 troops so adding 20,000 now is too little, too late."

"What the surge would do is put more American troops in harm's way, further undercut US forces' morale, and risk further alienation of elements of the Iraqi populace," he added.

General Clark's words come just days before a speech by Mr Bush, scheduled for Wednesday, in which he is expected to outline a new strategy. The word "surge" suggests a short, sharp injection of overwhelming military force, but even proponents of an increased troop presence say the forces would need to stay at least into 2008.

Virtually everyone is deserting Bush on this issue. Virtually everyone is rejecting his pathetic, borderline insane "leadership". Even Utah--yes, Utah, the most Republican state in the nation--no longer has a majority in favor of Bush's handling of the war. The American people have REJECTED the right wing Republicans and their catastrophic foreign policy. They--WE--are saying no. And by God, we better be listened to. There will be consequences if we're not.

And the Monkey King won't like them.

Haw! Bush's Approval Rating Sinks to 30 in CBS Poll

And that's big compared to his approval rating on Iraq.

Miserable failure indeed.

By the way, check out the figure for those optimistic about the new Democratic Congress: 68%.

He Has All the Instincts of a Dictator

Bush is now claiming the right to open your mail in "emergency" circumstances. This claim is in a signing statement the flatly contradicts the bill Bush just signed. He has done similar things 750 times.

The Feds already reserve the right to read your e-mails.

Habeas corpus rights have been effectively suspended.

Bush already supports warrantless wiretaps.

The government already spies on antiwar groups.

How the hell long are we going to put up with the right wing Republicans who run the Executive Branch using our Bill of Rights as a door mat?

"Bipartisanship"? Hell No! The People Are in Favor of the DEMOCRATIC Agenda

Read 'em and weep, right wing toads.

Where I Stand

For anyone new to this blog, or just for my old friends who would be interested in seeing my views summarized, I offer the following list, without too many details:

SOCIAL ISSUES

ABORTION. I am negative on this option. It is only remotely justifiable in the first trimester. Unborn humans become legal persons, in my view, with the onset of brainwave activity. I favor wide open access to birth control for all people and generous adoption policies.

BIRTH CONTROL: A fundamental human right, and that includes for unmarried people as well. Any pharmacist who doesn't want to dispense birth control needs to find a new profession.

GUN CONTROL: I'm against it, generally. No, people shouldn't be allowed to own surface to air missiles or things like that, but within very wide limits I think people should be able to own whatever weapons they choose, with background checks prohibiting ownership to the mentally ill and known felons.

GAY MARRIAGE: I am for it. Period.

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: A well meaning policy that has not done what its supporters had hoped. It should be used to give the talented poor a leg up, not just members of certain categories.

DRUGS: Marijuana should be legalized and taxed. The prohibition on other drugs is one I am more leery of removing, but I'm willing to listen to arguments either way.

SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE. I am strongly for it. No using the public schools as religious forums during class time. No officially sponsored prayer. (Before or after school religious study groups, prayer sessions, etc., are fine with me.) No teaching creationism in any form. No officially sponsored Ten Commandments postings. America is a republic, not a theocracy, and it must be kept that way.

SEXUAL CONDUCT: As long as everybody involved is an adult and everybody involved says yes, the state has no interest in private sexual conduct. (This includes prostitution, which should be state regulated as a health issue, and adult pornography.) Child pornography and sex crimes against children should be punished relentlessly.

DEATH PENALTY: Under very carefully delineated conditions, I think it should be permitted.

ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL ISSUES

FREE ENTERPRISE: I'm all for it. This means no more corporate welfare, no more subsidies for Big Oil, no more using the tax code and earmarks to dispense favors to business. Everyone stands or falls on their own.

TRADE: Fair trade, not unlimited free trade.

UNIONS: They need to be strengthened and the limits the radical Right has imposed on them need to be removed.

NATIONAL HEALTH CARE: I am for it.

WELFARE AND POVERTY: Everyone should have to do something--work, school, community service, job training, etc.--to receive benefits. The Earned Income Credit needs to be expanded. A real push to abolish poverty by 2020.

ENERGY: A major, Manhattan Project style push for energy independence, with an emphasis on hybrid cars and renewable energy.

GLOBAL WARMING: Vigorous action to reduce greenhouse gases is needed NOW.

SPENDING AND TAXES: Restore tax levels on the richest Americans to what they were in 2000. Keep the Estate Tax. Eliminate tax loopholes and tax havens for the wealthy. Cut government spending generally. Work to reduce the national debt. Cut the deficit.

CIVIL LIBERTIES: No violations of the Bill of Rights in the name of fighting terror. No warrantless wiretaps. No dictatorial authority to the president.

EDUCATION: Strong emphasis on improving PUBLIC SCHOOLS. No to vouchers. No to rampant standardized test mania. No to the so-called "No Child Left Behind" law.

ENVIRONMENT: Preservation and conservation in the great tradition of Theodore Roosevelt. Enforcement of all environmental laws.

FOREIGN POLICY AND DEFENSE

IRAQ: Remove all American forces by January 2008. No more escalation of the war.

TERRORISM: All out push to restore order in Afghanistan. All out push to destroy Al Qaeda and other extremist outfits threatening us. Emphasize police and intelligence work in combating terrorism. No use of torture in combating terrorism.

AREAS OF CONCERN: Pakistan, North Korea, Russia, Iran, the Israeli-Palestinian problem. Diplomacy must be emphasized. Talk to our enemies. No attack on Iran or North Korea unless in retaliation for Iranian or North Korean attack on U.S. or U.S. forces. Restore America's image throughout the world.

So there, in a nutshell, is what I think. Generally pro-life, pro gun, negative on affirmative action, pro death penalty. Am I a conservative? Generally for having the government butt out of private conduct. Am I libertarian? Pro economic justice, pro union, pro national health care. Am I a liberal? I like to think I don't fall conveniently into any category. I just calls 'em as I sees 'em.

Just in Case You Missed It

Keith Olbermann was once again on fire last night, swinging the big hammer against the insanity of Bush's proposed new escalation of the war. Crooks and Liars has it here.

Say NO to the So-Called "Surge"

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."--attributed to Albert Einstein

So the Chickenhawk in Chief seems to be determined to escalate the war in Iraq. Yes, that's right, escalate. The term "surge" is an obnoxious euphemism adopted by our PR obsessed right wing government to conceal the painfully obvious: Bush has no intention of drawing down U.S. involvement in Iraq, despite overwhelming opposition to his new plans. (Steve Benen in today's Washington Monthly has an excellent summary of the breadth of this opposition.) Bush and the Neocon fanatics that run U.S. foreign policy have learned nothing. They have rejected the findings of the Iraq Study Group. They are indifferent to the horrible suffering their incompetence has caused. They are convinced that the answer to failure is...more of the same. They will continue to oversee the disaster in Iraq. Some on the Neocon Right are also urging a massive new expansion--attacks on Iran and if "necessary", Syria. They will resist political pressures from the public, the military, and the Democratic Congress. They are, in short, determined to lead us into catastrophe.

Bush is an arrogant, emotionally crippled sociopath who is utterly incapable of admitting error. It is up to us to take the reins of government out of his hands. The Democrats, with the help of sane and moderate Republicans, must block Bush in both the House and Senate. He must NOT get his way this time. The so-called "surge" is simply a reflection of Bush's brain dead lack of imagination and courage. Bush has failed. He must now be stopped--or, if necessary, removed from office altogether. He will not change--and to think he will is, indeed, insanity.

Yes! The Onion Focuses on My Favorite Subject!

Can ya guess what it is? Well can ya?