Saying Goodbye To Jenny, Saying Hello To Dori & Dodger

It's the second anniversary of my kitty Jenny's passing, so I'm reprinting the piece-with some small changes now-I posted about 30 minutes after her last trip to the vet, it was truly the saddest day of my life and leaves everyone crying as well, as this was some of the best writing I've ever done.

But, there's also light, in the forms of my two little monsters, Dodger & Dori, and their stories are worth telling as well.

So thanks to all who indulge me and read this, as I can't talk or write about Jenny enough, she's as close to a soulmate as I've ever had.

Saying Goodbye To Jenny



My cat Jenny's struggle has come to a sad, but necessary end.

I just came back from the last visit to Jenny's vet she'll ever make, she's now at peace and her pain is gone.

She was seemingly healthy until a severe asthma attack two weeks ago, and even though she looked great when I picked her up after getting past the asthma attack, I started steeling myself for the moment that happened today.

I'm glad the last image I had of her wasn't when she was gasping for air at the emergency center.

She weighed in at about 5 lbs when examined by her regular vet 12 days ago, but from that point on, she just went downhill, even though I was feeding her solid foods and chicken broth 5-6 times a day, to where she weighed just over 3 lbs today.

She had a struggle trying to chew solid food, she started drooling and urinating, even though she wasn't aware of it, and, I found out today, her liver was starting to break down as well. In addition, she started losing her equilibrium, stumbling a little more each day, and even more wrenchingly, at times couldn't make the jump from the floor to the couch.

And it was like Jenny knew it was her time to go, as it took the vet three tries to find a vein for the injection, and she didn't complain or flinch once. Even the vet was crying as she administered the shot.

And showing just how weak she was, her heart stopped before the injection was over.

It was agonizing, but there was no way I was going to let her slip into that good night alone, for all the joy she brought me, the least I could do was be there for her death.

There's just no way to fully describe just how important she was to me, and how much I miss her already

When I had very bad days that left me frustrated or anxious, Jenny had the wonderful ability to take all that negative emotion and when petted, calm me down enormously with her complete calm nature.

I've lived a lonely life, that's just the way things worked out, so Jenny was the only one there for the few triumphs in my life, like when I went back to school in 1994, and started making the Dean's list. When I got kudos in a script-writing class, from a bunch of theater majors no less, it was Jenny who greeted me that afternoon I walked through the door.

It's those little things I really cherish now, like how I could hold the bratbeast upside down, and she'd just look around with a contented look on her face. I could also drape her over my shoulder and let go, and she wouldn't even dig in with her claws.

One of my favorite things was to hold her like she was Super Jenny, flying through the air like Superman, and for which she'd reward me with a very baleful look.

I knew she was special when I ended up getting her from the Humane Society.

I was going through a tough week emotionally, and decided, on the spur of the moment, that I was going to adopt a cat, and I did it then because I knew I'd talk myself out of it if I waited around.

And so I went, and immediately ruled out adopting any cat sharing it's cage with another cat, as I didn't want to break them up. When I checked out the cages with one cat only, other than a quick sniff of my finger, they'd turn away.

But the little black & white cat was different, she started rubbing around my finger and purring loud enough to hear.

And that was how I knew Jenny was the right cat, she was so incredibly sweet, which meant whoever had her for the first 2 1/2 years did an excellent job in raising her to be so mellow and happy.

I remember the way Jenny would be the scourge of the most evil thing she encountered, rubber bands.

I remember how incredibly fast she was, even towards the end of her life.

I remember watching Jenny's astonishing sense of balance when she walked on a box edge.

I remember how, when sitting at this computer, I'd feel a nudge on my chair, and it was Jenny rubbing here little head against it, wanting to sit in my lap.

I remember how, a few years after adopting Jenny, I thought she escaped from the apt I was at, in the middle of the night.

It tore me up, and trying to find her in a residential neighborhood in the middle on the night was a futile task.

I was sure she was gone.

I was in anguish wondering how I could have let such a thing happen, as I never let Jenny outside, way too paranoid for that.

And right when I was hurting and anguished, I heard a faint noise in the living room closet, and sure enough, when I opened the door, there was little Jenny, wondering just which idiot locked her accidentally in the closet-where she was quite comfortable actually.

The joy I felt then can't be described other than overwhelming and instant.

Jenny was the type of cat liked by people who don't otherwise like cats, as that's the case with some of my friends, and they weren't just bs-ing for my benefit, they genuinely liked the little beast.

And now she's gone, a living creature to being replaced by ashes, pictures and 16 years of memories so full of fondness and warm wishes, none of which would have happened without her, the one physical presence in my life for all its ups and downs.

Thankfully, Jenny fought hard enough two weeks back so I could prepare myself to say goodbye, thankfully my last image of her wasn't gasping for air.

I'm getting another cat or kitten at some point, I cannot picture my life without one, but this just hurts so much, as if there was any creature entitled to live forever, in perfect health, and surrounded by nothing but people who would worship and adore her, it was my Precious Little Horrid Bratbeast Jenny.

Goodbye Jenny, I'll never forget you or stop loving you, and even though my pain and anguish are going to be continue for some time, at least your pain is over, and your dignity intact.

I'm picking up Jenny's ashes on Tuesday, and to help deal with this grief, I'm planning on making a small donation every month, in Jenny's name, to some good cause, like the local Animal Rescue League-the only group that tries to place strays in good homes, or the Battered Womens Shelter, or Child Crisis Center.

I've found that when I'm down, trying to do good for others is one way to undercut that depression or grief.

I haven't been able to live up to that pledge as often as I'd like, but I do have two more monsters in my life now.

When Jenny died, I was still at the apts, with six months left on the lease, so the plan was to wait until I moved out before getting another kitty.

But, after one week of a silent, and SO empty, apartment, the grief over Jenny was driving me mad, I couldn't take the nonstop depression, so,one week later, I went to Pet Smart to see if there were any kitties for adoption from Animal Rescue League.

I've actually rescued a few ragamuffins thanks to ARL, they're the only group here in El Paso that works with strays, and I wanted to give a home to a kitten that needed one.

And it was there that I saw, and adopted, Dori, a smart kitty with a splash of white right between her eyes.







And another cute pic







How smart?

When I adopted her, the people from ARL told me that they'd lock up their critters for the night, and that when they'd get there in the morning, Dori would have unlocked her cage, and would be sitting on top of it, waiting to be fed when the ARL saints arrived in the morning.

She also has a laser-like focus, no short term memory only for Dori, as one night, she got hold of a tamale shuck. Even though I tossed it immediately, she'd keep running back to the spot it dropped on the floor. So I locked her in my bedroom for a "time out", hoping it would calm her a bit, but every time I let her out, she ran back to the same spot the shuck hit the ground, and this was in spite of about three "time outs", lasting about an hour altogether.

One thing I noticed right away, was that while Jenny was a VERY low-maintenance kitty (I never had to get after her for anything, she was a very calm, placid cat), Dori, being only about three months, was a very high-maintenance cat, something that could cause problems with the landlords and other tenants at my apts.

One perfect example, Dori likes to bounce off the walls. That's not just hyperbole or overheated rhetoric, she really does like to run, jump as high as she can, and bounce off the walls when she's really wound up.

It was never fun having to try and stop her when Dori was playing, but at the time, I couldn't let her bounce around, as the apts. walls were thin, and every time she'd bounce off the pantry door it made a hell of a racket.

Of course, Dori only bounced off the walls and doors starting at about 11:00 pm.

But we slowly got used to each other, and one memory really stands out about our early days together.

About a month after I lost Jenny, I started crying.

Dori came up and nudged me with her paw, cocking her head to the side at the same time, as if asking if she could help.

Which just made me cry even harder, resulting in one major hug for Dori.

But since she was such a little hellraiser as a kitten, I started having to sleep with my boots on, as Dori would attack my feet otherwise, and soon after I got her, her claws and bites went from being so cute and ticklish to really painful.

Dori's been a real wild-child since I got her, first openly-defiant critter I've ever been involved with. A high-maintenance cat in terms of having to watch her every move, because she's not just smart, she's scary smart, applying the knowledge she learns, usually just to exasperate me.

Dori also likes to burrow into empty boxes, with discarded twelve-packs being her favorite (pics on that later).

What I love most about Dori, though, is that after about a year, she started wanting to sit, lay & sleep in my lap on a constant basis.

Thankfully, I was able to move out of the apt, and was focusing on raising Dori in a new place, one where she could bounce off the walls & doors and not bother anyone.

About 5 months after moving into the new digs, fate threw another surprise my way.







One day in May last year, I went outside to put down my car's windows, so it wouldn't be scorching inside if I went anywhere, and the instant the screen door closed behind me, I saw a gray blur heading at me, and before I could react in any way, there was a kitten rubbing against my legs, purring loud enough to hear without stooping or bending.

He was only about three months old, and looked slightly scrawny, which meant he was a stray.

I fed the little guy some chicken in the fridge, at which point he plopped down on his side and purred even louder than before, and I figured he'd be moving on his merry way fairly soon after his meal.

But he didn't, he stuck around.

I started worrying about him, as I live right next to two busy streets, one of them a major artery for getting around.

What held me back from letting him in was that I didn't know if he had any illnesses that he could pass on to Dori.

But since Dori's immunizations were still current-for Rabies and Feline Leukemia-I let the little guy in. And I mean little, he was only about three pounds, while Dori was in the 12-15 lb range, mainly muscle.

Right away, she hissed and growled at the intruder, even though she'd been playing with him in the spaces under the screen door-spaces because the rubber molding at the bottom has split off from the door.

I put Dori in the bedroom to cool off, while the gray usurper checked things out.

I figured I'd be able to place him with Animal Rescue League, an organization that takes in strays, gets them fixed and immunized, then places them for adoptions at a reasonable price.

I was able to place a kitten with ARL a few years before, and that's where I adopted Dori from, although they can't help if the cat's tests come back positive for something like Feline Leukemia.

Well, they couldn't take this guy at the time, they were swamped with stray dogs & cats, with no other group taking strays.

And Animal Control would keep him for three days, then euthanize him.

I just couldn't bear the thought of this little guy getting put to sleep before he'd had any kind of chance to live, so I decided I'd get him his shots and get him fixed-at low cost or free with help from other animal-rescue groups, figuring it would make him easier to place.

Eventually, Dori calmed down enough to let her out, and she and the kitten were wary of each other.

Until the little bastard started playing with Dori by stalking and attacking her whenever he had a chance. But within a few hours, Dori was starting to lighten up and play with the little guy, even though she'd still hiss at him at the same time.

As the week went by, I started getting the feeling that the little guy was going to be sticking around, so I knew he needed a name, something other than "little guy", "little bastard" or "hey you".

I was nervous about his tests, if any came back positive, ARL wouldn't take him, it's only critters with negative tests which get spayed/neutered, which is mandatory before ARL will take strays and place them for adoption.

So when I took him to get his tests & shots all the tests came back negative, and that's key with feline leukemia. If a cat doesn't have the disease, it can be prevented with an immunization, so I didn't have anything to worry about Dori getting any nasty bug or virus from the kitten.

Which brings us to the name.

Since he'd managed to stay away from all the traffic, larger cats, dogs, predators and sick humans who like to hurt cats, I thought the name "Dodger" was particularly appropriate.

Here, he's a very cute, non-fuzzy kitten.







Dodger's fur is really interesting, depending on how the light hits it, it's either black, grey, white-in places-or silver, as this pic shows.







Dodger's even more of a psycho kitty than Dori ever was, although, since there's only about a year's difference in their ages, and their similarity in size, they're a pretty good fit.

So now that she's about two years old, Dori's considered an adult cat, while Dodger, even though he's more insane than Dori was at the same age, keeps his claws in when he plays with me, something it took longer for Dori to control.

BUT

History has repeated itself in an amusing way with both Dori and Dodger. When I first got Dori, since she was so unpredictable, and had sharp claws & teeth, that I actually had to sleep with my boots on, because she'd attack my feet whenever she could.

I'll be damned if I didn't have to do the same thing again all over again with the grey usurper, sleep with my boots on because rowdy kitty Dodger likes to play.

But for all their exasperating stunts-like running around and playing-and sometimes fighting-when I'm about to go to bed, Dori & Dodger are a blast to watch and play with, they are the perfect tonic for when I get aggravated by the stupidity which politics draws out far too often, or when I get sad about my little ray of sunshine, Jenny.

Jenny's death is what directly led to Dori & Dodger being here now, so while I still grieve her passing, I also rejoice over the new lives in my life.











Dori, refined





Finally, my favorite, even though Psycho Monster Dodger is now larger than Pretty Monster Dori, such a sweet pic.







And for all the pics, go HERE

Senate Dems Ready Their "Heck Of A Job, Brownie" Moment

Seriiously, the Democrats insisting that Joe Lieberman can be trusted to do the right thing, in a spirit of putting country first over personal ego & ambition, is definitely comparable to Bush Jr mouthing the now obvious catchphrase for spectacular incompetence, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."

Just from a tactical perspective alone, the Senate Democrats would have to be completely insane, or astonishingly stupid, to let an obvious bitter backstabber & Bush Jr lackey like Joe Lieberman retain his Dept. of Homeland Security chairmanship upon starting a new Congress, especially when he'd be able to tie up an Obama Administration with numerous investigations, subpoenas and demanded documents.

No, you do NOT keep someone in a post where they can hurt you, especially when that same slug didn't do a damn thing to hold the current Administration accountable in any way, shape or form for its numerous shortcomings, lawbreaking, or staggering incompetence.

This idea of Lieberman retaining his Committee chairmanships is aggressively naive, as it requires a level of trust in Lieberman's basic decency that's been completely destroyed by Lieberman himself.

Adding to Lieberman's incompetence during his tenure as DHS Chairman, his flat-out refusal to hold the Bush Jr Administration accountable for its clear, numerous and lethal shortcomings during and immediately after Katrina hit, the Gulf Coast & New Orleans drowned, and people died.

Lieberman goes from a position of absolute powerlessness, to one where he can stop any actual ambitious or bold policy proposal Obama may actually make as President, and he'll do this in a way that will, most likely, involve Lieberman's sudden desire to seriously investigate the Bush Jr Administration, at the same time saying Obama needs to hold off on any major changes from Bush Jr policies until those ideas and reforms have been studied, in-depth.

Those issues would include warrantless spying, torture as official US policy, indefinite detention, suspension of Habeas Corpus, war profiteering and adequately funding veterans issues.

And the investigations will grind along as slowly as Lieberman feels he can get away with, especially as, once the committee assignments are set for the next Congress, the Democrats won't be able-protestations from Sen. Bayh notwithstanding-to strip Lieberman of his DHS committee chairmanship with a vote from their members alone, the issue would have to be presented to the full Senate for a vote, and there's no reason to think the Republicans would do anything but filibuster such an attempt by the Democrats.

Because, the Republicans realize the only value they get from Lieberman is with his ability to hamstring a Democratic President, and with their numbers shrinking even further with the incoming Congress than they are currently, the Republicans certainly can't offer Lieberman anything other than petty revenge on his former party.

And of course, the Republicans would never think to let Joe know that, if he really does a good job tying up an Obama Administration, there's a VP or Presidential GOP nomination waiting, guaranteed, for 2012.

If Obama is serious about "change", then, logically, he shouldn't be backing a grudge-bearing Bush Jr loyalist-especially on the most defining issues, the worst of the current Administration's policies-like Lieberman, a backbiter who will, if he retains his Senate committee & subcommittee chairmanships, have the ability to enable legislative gridlock in the spirit of "bipartisanship".

Considering how Lieberman enthusiastically supported the Bush Jr Administration, and even more enthusiastically quashed any real investigations into the DHS during W's terms, especially relating to Katrina, it shouldn't surprise anyone if he's stalling such reforms from Obama purely because Lieberman's worried-hopefully for legal reasons-about his role in enabling obvious criminal behavior from the Bush Jr Administration.

That's a harsh spin, but Sen. Lieberman does not deserve any "benefit of the doubt" in terms of honorable actions, not when he says those he opposes from his former party are actual threats to the US, while at the same time not-so-holy-Joe pals around with the worst, most anti-Semitic religious bigots, like "Pastor" Hagee, who tries to revise the Holocaust as God's way of driving the Jews back to Israel.

One proposal put forward, supposedly as ways to keep Lieberman in check without stripping him of the DHS Committee he holds so dear, actually raises troubling problems of its own.

Evan Bayh, in calling for an apology from Lieberman, seems willing to accept a level of politicization that was so rightly decried when the Bush Jr Administration tried to pressure GOP US Attorneys to bring bogus charges against Democrats and voter-registration groups, a scandal that ultimately drove former Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez from that post in shame.

Bayh: Lieberman should apologize

Bayh said that Lieberman must first issue a “sincere apology” for campaign attacks warning of the perils of an Obama presidency and a large Democratic majority in Congress. He said Democrats should allow him to keep his chairmanship on the condition that he would not use his subpoena power and influence as chairman to undermine Obama’s presidency. Otherwise, Democrats would take away his gavel at any point next Congress, Bayh warned.

Bayh said Democrats should tell Lieberman sternly, “Look, we’re giving you a chance here, but if you don’t do the right things as chairman, and we see any continuation of this kind of behavior ...the game is up at that point.”

This is a precedent that's better not set, telling a Committee chairman what can and cannot be investigated as a price for holding that position is hardly a way to reign in an out-of-control President/Administration.

No doubt, a certain level of grandstanding is done when seeking/receiving political perks like Committee chairmanships and assignments, but using Bayh's example goes far beyond acceptable, as it wouldn't be applied to just Lieberman, but against other troublesome Senators as well when political expedience is the desired outcome.

As was pointed out above as well, another problem with Bayh's contention is that the Dems can easily strip Lieberman of his committee chairmanships, a possibility on Bizarroworld, but not Planet Earth.

There are simply no words which adequately describe what the Senate Democrats are on the verge of doing here, namely, rewarding, with enormous power to do great mischief to the President Elect who campaigned on "change", an established liar and Democrat-basher like Lieberman, and doing so at a time he's completely unable to stop his richly-deserved, and long overdue, political neutering.

It's true this is no longer a "center-right" country politically, but the Democrats sure seem anxious to govern like it is.

But something else.

The vote on Lieberman will happen later this morning, and while Lieberman may be told he can keep his committee chairmanships, if those assignments aren't given out today, then it's still not a done deal for Lieberman to keep the DHS gavel.

And that's how this situation could get even worse for Lieberman, namely, the secret vote says Lieberman keeps his DHS chaimanship, but the ensuing anger and rage from the party base requires the Dems to strip him of his precious DHS oversight, and do so before the next Congress is sworn in.

However, if the Democrats are stupid enough to let an obvious ne'erdowell like Lieberman keep his chairmanships, especially the DHS committee, then the party deserves every single bit of woe & grief it will get from both Joe and the liberal base irate that, once again, they get pushed to the side while still being begged for votes and financial contributions.

Now, even though it has absolutely NO chance of actually happening, what I'd like to see would be President Obama pick Joe Lieberman to actually run the Dept. of Homeland Security, and then, after Lieberman's confirmed, the Dept of Homeland Security is abolished.

McCain's Worst Sin, Of Omission

"Sin Of Omission", as McCain stayed silent over the malice done his own child.

As someone with health problems severe enough to not allow myself to be a biological father, I don't understand how any parent can sit by and not only watch their children slimed, but actually make peace with those doing the attacks.

Which brings us to McCain's clear cowardice in refusing to stick up for his own adopted daughter, Bridget.

With a bonus sting in the tail at the end.

I used this argument on our local call-in shows, and posted variations of it at online forums, and NO ONE has even attempted to dispute it, or spin it in a positive way.

Two articles-included in full at my RK Articles Only blog, with the links there to the articles at their original sites-paint a very damning picture of just what McCain's priorities REALLY are, one written by Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager in both the 2000 GOP primaries and the current campaign.

First up, a bit of background about Bridget McCain

The anatomy of a smear campaign

It didn't take much research to turn up a seemingly innocuous fact about the McCains: John and his wife, Cindy, have an adopted daughter named Bridget. Cindy found Bridget at Mother Theresa's orphanage in Bangladesh, brought her to the United States for medical treatment, and the family ultimately adopted her. Bridget has dark skin.

Anonymous opponents used "push polling" to suggest that McCain's Bangladeshi born daughter was his own, illegitimate black child. In push polling, a voter gets a call, ostensibly from a polling company, asking which candidate the voter supports. In this case, if the "pollster" determined that the person was a McCain supporter, he made statements designed to create doubt about the senator.

Thus, the "pollsters" asked McCain supporters if they would be more or less likely to vote for McCain if they knew he had fathered an illegitimate child who was black. In the conservative, race-conscious South, that's not a minor charge. We had no idea who made the phone calls, who paid for them, or how many calls were made. Effective and anonymous: the perfect smear campaign.

Some aspects of this smear were hardly so subtle. Bob Jones University professor Richard Hand sent an e-mail to "fellow South Carolinians" stating that McCain had "chosen to sire children without marriage." It didn't take long for mainstream media to carry the charge. CNN interviewed Hand and put him on the spot: "Professor, you say that this man had children out of wedlock. He did not have children out of wedlock." Hand replied, "Wait a minute, that's a universal negative. Can you prove that there aren't any?"

Now this seems like a damned decent act on the McCain's part, adopting a child to provide a better life for her seems like a very "Christian" thing to do.

Yet Bridget McCain, a child who had done no wrong, was now being attacked by political operatives ruthless enough to drag their opponents children into the muck & mire.

And the "Christians" this attack was aimed at apparently had no problem with such strategy.

Confronting Ghosts of 2000 in South Carolina

People in some areas of South Carolina began to receive phone calls in which self-described pollsters would ask, "Would you be more likely or less likely to vote for John McCain for president if you knew he had fathered an illegitimate black child?"

It was a reference to Bridget, who was adopted as a baby from an orphanage in Bangladesh and is darker skinned than the rest of the McCain family. Richard Hand, a professor at Bob Jones University, sent an e-mail message to "fellow South Carolinians" telling recipients that Mr. McCain had "chosen to sire children without marriage."

Now, I'm guessing that most parents reactions to their children being mauled in such a manner would be to want their tormentors blood and scalps in return.

Unbelievably, the attacks on Bridget weren't what shook up McCain, no, that was reserved for the primary voters ire over this tactic.

Karl Rove, Mr. Bush’s political adviser, and the entire Bush team strongly denied involvement, though it was clear Mr. Bush was the beneficiary of the campaign. When the McCain camp did fight back, it chose Mr. Bush as the target — and a method that backfired.

After promising a positive campaign, Mr. McCain’s campaign put together two negative advertisements, including the one accusing Mr. Bush of twisting the truth "like Clinton." The advertisement offended many Republicans in the state, who considered a comparison to Mr. Clinton, then president and unpopular among Republicans here, beyond the pale.

How unpopular, well, from earlier in the article.....

Several top campaign aides cited a single moment that marked a turning point in the South Carolina campaign, and in Mr. McCain himself. In an effort to fight back, the McCain campaign had gone negative, broadcasting a television advertisement that accused Mr. Bush of twisting the truth "like Clinton," a reference to President Bill Clinton.

At a town-hall-style meeting in Spartanburg after the advertisement ran, a woman stood up, her voice shaking. She recalled how her 13-year-old son had received a phone call from a push pollster calling Mr. McCain a liar and a cheat.

"‘A man got on the phone and talked about how dishonest you were,’" Mr. Weaver recalled her saying. "‘My son had admired you, and now he doesn’t know what to believe.’"

**************

Nancy Snow, a volunteer on the McCain campaign, was at that meeting, too, and remembered seeing the life drain from Mr. McCain’s face.

Ms. Snow said of Mr. McCain’s expression: "He looked like he felt terrible, and terrible for that boy, because he knew he had so many young people supporting him before that. It was kind of like the air had gone out of the room."

McCain was more upset about getting hammered for an ad tying Bush Jr to Clinton, than he was about vicious, scathing attacks on his own daughter.

This incident alone shows that McCain does NOT have the integrity, honor or character to be President, not when he's so willing to let bygones be bygones and make peace with the same elements who libeled and slandered his daughter Bridget. A same failing with Dick Cheney's refusal to blast the homophobic knuckle-dragging US Taliban when they ripped into Mary Cheney's pregnancy.

How can any right-thinking parent not want to avenge the wrong done to their children, how can any "moral" or "ethical" parent cozy up to those who malign their children?

And how does being able to do just those things indicate a positive capacity to be President?

I'm not an Obama supporter, but I have no doubt he'd at least verbally shred anyone who did to his daughters what was done to Bridget McCain, a child wronged so horribly that her father should be ashamed, every waking moment, of his inaction in protecting his daughter.

Read the whole Times article, for even more irony regarding how McCain subsumed protecting his daughter for the greater glory of bringing about a McCain Presidency with the help of the same parasites who attacked Bridget McCain.

Oh, and that sting at the end of the tail, well, that involves the same Rick Davis who wrote the Globe link for this post.

Turns out that, like McCain's aide Randy Scheunemann, Rick Davis also lobbied heavily.

But for Russia, NOT Georgia.

And McCain, well, he met with at least one superduper wealthy Russian industrialist at Davis' behest, which would seem to undercut all that tough, anti-Russia rhetoric McCain's punked himself out with since Russia invaded Georgia.

Aide Helped Controversial Russian Meet McCain

As I stated at the start, I've used this argument against McCain on our local call-in shows here in El Paso, and on public forums around the net, and not one person has tried to spin McCain's making peace with the same operatives who attacked his daughter as any sort of a positive.

It's an argument that needs to be raised, and since the Obama camp won't do it, then it falls to his supporters, and those of us who despise the GOP, to do it. A very hard-hitting ad, with a tagline of "If he won't protect his own daughter, how can you trust Senator McCain to protect you?" is one possibility.

One Year Later, The Anguish Fades, The Pain Doesn't

It's been one year since the most painful, dreadful event I've ever gone through, having to put my sweet cat Jenny to sleep.

Everything I wrote back on that terrible day still bears out with the littlebeast, Jenny was genuinely the sweetest, happiest cat I've ever been lucky enough to be around.

Not a day goes by that I don't miss her terribly, repeatedly.

If the term "soulmate" can be applied to our pets as well as our better-halves, then Jenny truly was my soulmate, she had the ability, through just letting me pet her, to calm me down on rough days and stressful events.

Thankfully, I can remember Jenny with tears of laughter now, not only pain and grief.

GOP Woes Vol. 1-GOP Lobbyist Smacks Lott For Not Wasting Money On GOP

Because, according to one Republican insider, Lott's financial gift to the U of M wasn't a smart use of funds the GOP desperately needs.

Some blame Lott for tough GOP defeat in Mississippi

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Lott created the House opening by opting to leave Congress late last year before tougher lobbying restrictions went into effect. After his departure, Rep. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) was appointed to serve out Lott’s unexpired term, which created the need for the special election to fill Wicker’s seat.

Republicans were irked that Lott would retire early just to serve his own financial interests.
***************
Lott also bucked his own Mississippi congressional colleagues by supporting Greg Davis, the Southaven mayor and former state legislator who lost to Democrat Travis Childers. The rest of the delegation backed former Tupelo mayor and former Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Chairman Glenn McCullough Jr.
***************
“Certainly a lot of Republicans are in a bad mood because we’re in the minority and we’ve had this self-inflicted problem in a very important race,” remarked one GOP campaign strategist who works in the Deep South. “Lott chose a candidate with limited general election appeal and I think a lot of people question that.”
***************

And here's where this post's title is borne out

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One GOP lobbyist on K Street also cited Lott’s $200,000 gift to his alma mater, the University of Mississippi, as contributing to the perception that he’s not doing everything he can to help House Republican reelection efforts. That money, the source said, would have been better spent on contributions to GOP campaigns across the country.
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Now why would Lott want to waste all that money on the clearly-doomed GOP, the same party that rebuked him by removing him from his Senate Majority Leader perch for his remarks at Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday?

Besides, it's not as if Lott's the ONLY skinflint in the GOP's Senate wing.

Stingy senators stiff GOP

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Republican senators with millions of dollars in their campaign accounts have given little or nothing to the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), despite its desperate pleas for cash funds.

Fewer than 10 Senate Republicans met goals they received for an NRSC fundraiser with President Bush in McLean, Va., Tuesday evening. GOP senators were asked to contribute $100,000 from their campaign accounts or recruit four major donors for the event.
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Republican Sens. Arlen Specter (Pa.), Jim Bunning (Ky.), Richard Lugar (Ind.), Pete Domenici (N.M.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Olympia Snowe (Maine), Tom Coburn (Okla.), and Larry Craig (Idaho) have given nothing to the NRSC, according to campaign finance data collected by the Federal Election Commission and CQ Money Line, a website that tracks fundraising.
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And according to John Ensign, the GOP Senator tasked with helping the Republicans win Senate races, the miserly Senators are NOT responding to his financial entreaties.

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“We’ve tried fear, we’ve tried positive reward, positive reinforcement, we’ve tried being a little harder on them, we use different things at different times – begging, we beg a lot,” he said.
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And here's what Ensign's begging has gotten the Senate Republicans from Richard Shelby

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Sen. Richard Shelby (Ala.), who occupies a lucrative fundraising position as ranking Republican on the Banking Committee, has nearly $13 million in his reelection fund. Yet he has given only $15,000 from his leadership PAC to the NRSC.
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At least Shelby's consistent, he favors Govt. on the cheap even with his own party, a group facing a VERY harsh electoral climate.

And it's not like Lott's the ONLY former Republican insider turned lobbyist throwing a wrench in the GOP's legislative efforts.

GOP lobbyists open fire on one of their own

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A gaggle of right-leaning healthcare lobbyists have lashed out at one of their own, blaming a Republican former House Ways and Means Committee aide for assisting Democrats in an attempt to gut an insurance concept conservatives view as the future of healthcare.

Opponents of the Democratic bill have accused the former staffer and current lobbyist, John McManus, of selling out Republican principles by helping the other party weaken a signature conservative policy victory, the creation of tax-free health savings accounts (HSAs), in order to help his client leverage one of its patented products.
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These Republican lawmakers are backed up by a plethora of special interests, from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to the banking industry to the health insurance industry. Letters decrying the bill and carrying the signatures of at least 40 companies and trade associations landed on Ways and Means Committee members’ desks last week.
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The groups backing the HSA's do NOT put the consumers & patients interests first, so we'll see how well enabling an all-too-often ruthless corporate agenda will play with the voters on Election Day.

There are so many woes hitting the Republicans right now it's absolutely unreal, and these problems are not only always self-inflicted, they're going to tear the GOP apart even worse than the voters will in November.

Such a pity.

(First in a series detailing GOP misfortunes and in-fighting leading up to the November elections.)

Neocons Sense Their Political Downfall

The coming political massacre of the Neocons, and those still, irrationally, sticking with President Bush Jr is showing itself by how so many of the PNAC ilk are now trying to cover up their support, and roles, in enabling the most disastrous President and Administration in US History. In the past, this kind of historical scrubbing and revisionism couldn't be countered effectively, if at all.

Thanks to the internet, that's all changed.

And Exhibit 1 in this respect is Neocon Central, AKA The Project For A New American Century, the group that, more than any other fringe, far-right supporters of Bush Jr, successfully argued for the disastrous invasion & occupation of Iraq.

So, let's take a look at the PNAC site

OOPS!

Looks like there's a problem here, as the only text on the screen is

This Account Has Been Suspended
Please contact the billing/support department as soon as possible.

Looks like the neocons haven't paid their online bills, whether by design-because they know how unpopular they're about to get with the November elections, and the PNAC is trying to cover it's easy-to-follow tracks-or they feel the financial costs of web access are too expensive, or no longer necessary, in pushing their message.

The PNAC, and others of that ilk, know the less voter attention paid to them and their agendas, the better. Besides, the politicians who share the same views know about these extremist & radical groups, even though most of those politicians constituents probably don't. As long as influential people only-to the extent that's possible-who share the same views, know about & interact with PNAC's members, the more satisfied those neocons are.

But, thanks to something called "research by internet", the neocons PNAC site can still be seen in all its disreputable glory.

Not all the pages listed in the first link come up when clicked, but enough do to make searching around worthwhile

Search Results, 2002-2006

And doing just a little digging around from one page that's works, here's a real gem, one where it takes all sorts of meandering rhetoric to make up for not using the obvious term.

Where's The Word "Draft"?

Take note of everyone who signed the statement, if any of them are given media time for their views, the signers must explain if they're calling for the draft to replenish our over-stretched, under-armored and under-rested troops.

And if not the draft, just how do the more shifty signers envision rebuilding our military?

The PNAC idiots have a double whammy to deal with. They believed that military power alone was sufficient to prop up the US Empire, that those whose lands were occupied by the US military didn't matter, and couldn't do anything to stop the US War Machine.

But insurgents, with no tanks, planes or cannons in their arsenal, have been able to keep our forces bogged down in an untenable situation, a multi-sided conflict between the various factions in Iraq.

The same country which successfully fought the Axis powers in WWII, can't repeat that success in Iraq, a country with a broken military and lack of support to Saddam Hussein, two factors that should have made the Bush Jr policies easier to implement.

As shown by Bush Jr's abysmal leadership, the neocons and their policies are self-defeating in the extreme, which, in turn, has lead to the obvious loss of power, prestige and influence of the US towards those it says it opposes.

Al-Qaeda, Usama bin Laden, Iran and OPEC all have far less reason to fear or respect the US now than before the disastrous Iraq invasion & occupation.

That's the second irony for the neocons. Not only have their policies hastened the downfall of the US Empire they wanted to preserve for themselves, they've also made it far harder for future Administrations to use the military to pursue causes dear to the neocons radical agendas.

The neocons have shown a clear inability to govern sensibly, efficiently or competently. It will take them years to regain any public trust they may have had before the Iraq invasion & occupation.

Whiney, Overly-Hysterical, Thin-Skinned Are The GOP's GOOD Qualities

And if it wasn't the GOP making claims of "stolen" House votes, I'd be crying oceans of bitter tears for the party's travails. This is the reply I left in the article's "comments" section.


Bypass registration with this Bug Me Not link

Special House Committee to Begin Hearing on 'Stolen' Vote in 2007

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"Tomorrow's hearing will begin to pull back the curtain on one of the most shameful chapters of this Congress: a stolen vote on the floor of the United States House of Representatives," House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said yesterday.
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Oh, Boehner's NOT talking about the GOP organized & engineered vote on Medicare Part D, the one the Republicans held open for over three hours until they got a vote switched after heavy pressure and outright threats?

If nothing else, as shown by it's fanatical, irrational loyalty to Bush Jr, the GOP has completely destroyed it's most cherished myths, including:

Being strong on fiscal discipline.

Being strong on defense.

Being "supporters" of the US Military.

Being strong on "personal accountability"-unless you're Lewis Libby, then you walk free for helping out a CIA covert agent whose focus was on Iran.

Favors "limited government", except for backing warrantless spying & datamining of US citizens while trying to keep the Executive Branch from well-deserved public hostility at the same time. And voting for federal intervention in the Terri Schiavo case kind of undercuts the "favors limited government" BS as well.

All the Republicans favorite talking points above no longer apply to the federal level GOP, their unreturned loyalty to Bush Jr has completely, permanently and utterly destroyed those now-debunked descriptions.

I'm not a fan of the Democrats-I'm an unaffiliated voter-but the GOP needs to have their noses rubbed in their own arrogant, corrupt, self-defeating messes they've inflicted on the US taxpayers, the next President and the rest of the world, to clean up.

If the GOP had stood up to Bush Jr, or stood for strong Congressional oversight of the Bush Jr Administration, then the party's requests wouldn't be so blatantly self-serving and hypocritical.

Since the Republicans know they're going to get destroyed at the voting booths this November, expect to hear "Strong Congressional Oversight Of The Executive Branch" become a GOP talking point.

Of course, those pushing that Republican meme can't be bothered with strong Congressional oversight of the Bush Jr Administration, but why would the GOP think logical consistency was a quality it's members embody?

When the GOP pushes for full, in-depth investigations into the 2000 & 2004 Presidential elections, only then should the party's claims over this particular House vote be investigated & supported.

The GOP has no moral or logical right to ever bad-mouth anybody else ever again, not after the anti-US, anti-Constitutional, extreme religious-driven agendas the Republicans pushed when they held all the power levers on Capitol Hill.