Royally Kranked

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

2008-05-26T21:23:00.004-06:00

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

2008-05-20T00:34:00.002-06:00

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.
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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.
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“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.”
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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

2008-05-19T14:48:00.001-06:00

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

2008-05-13T00:17:00.000-06:00

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.

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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.

Slamming His Critics, Not Praising Obama

2008-05-03T00:42:00.002-06:00

To help put the following rant in context, there's this bit of drivel from Michael Gerson, one of Bush Jr's former speechwriters. Gerson has the unwarranted gall to tell the supporters of Rev. Wright just how their religious beliefs require them to act.

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The Perils Of Patronizing

After accusing Obama of "condescension", Gerson decides that the easiest way to escape his black hole of logic is to dig deeper, sinking his own easily-debunked BS further into the muck

Lower-income whites, he argued, "feel their dreams slipping away," and so they turn to resentment against busing and affirmative action, "anger over welfare" and "fears of crime." And Obama not only understands these angry and manipulated souls, he defends them. They should not, after all, be labeled as "misguided" or "racist."

This is the same argument, expressed more bluntly at a San Francisco fundraiser, that Obama made about bitter, small-town Americans who cling to guns and religion. He does not even admit the possibility that these folks might have actual convictions on issues such as affirmative action, welfare, crime, gun ownership or the meaning of the universe. The only thing more insulting than being attacked is being explained.

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Obama's response, I believe, provided a justification for Wright's media campaign to describe black liberation theology. Wright may be a camera-seeking egotist. He is certainly a showman, enjoying his moment. But his main argument seems to be: "No, Barack, I actually hold these theological convictions. You may need to attack me for political reasons. But don't you dare dismiss me as a batty uncle."McCain is now kissing up to the same morally & ethically bankrupt charlatans who slimed his own daughter in the South Carolina primary in 2000, but it's more important for Gerson to irrationally bash Obama.

Because who knows "black liberation theology" more intimately than a white former speech writer for President Bush Jr?

What's that Gerson, you say you need a bigger shovel?

It is a tribute to the power of the Christian message that there is such a thing as African American Christian theology at all. Christianity was the religion held by slave masters -- often distorted into an ideology of oppression. But African Americans found a model of liberation in the Exodus. They discovered that Jesus more closely resembled the beaten and lynched slave than their pious oppressors. And African Americans -- by their courageous assertion of God's universal love and man's universal dignity -- redeemed a nation they had entered in chains.

But for Gerson, THOSE African Americans were somehow unique in their perspective. Apparently, he believes the slaves couldn't possibly be angry about their brutal experiences at the hands of theological thugs. Even better, that "courageous assertions of God's universal love and man's universal dignity" somehow escaped our current President and his war-mongering, bloodthirsty, lunatic neocon backers when it came to dealing with Iraq, which, it's always worth pointing out, had nothing to do with the terrorist attacks which drew the initial US military response against Afghanistan.

It's doubtful Gerson lets Iraqi suffering be the benchmark which "redeemed a nation", be that nation Iraq or the US.

Then again, Gerson does typify an arrogance that's often on display with this Administration, namely the appalling mindset of "it's better to fight them (the terrorists) over there than over here." Just how infuriating must that Administration sentiment be which dictates Iraqi lives, limbs and minds as far more expendable than US lives, limbs & minds.

Why should the Iraqis be grateful to the US for dragging them, unasked, into the US conflict against Usama bin Laden, someone who NEVER set foot in Iraq?

But black liberation theology takes this argument a large step further -- or perhaps backward. The Rev. Wright's intellectual mentor, professor James Cone of Union Theological Seminary, retreats from the universality of Christianity. "Black theology," says Cone, "refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him." And again: "Black theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy." And again: "In the New Testament, Jesus is not for all, but for the oppressed, the poor and unwanted of society, and against oppressors."

This emphasis on the structural evil of white America has natural political consequences -- encouraging a belief that American politics is defined by its crimes, a tendency to accept anti-government conspiracy theories about AIDS and drugs, a disturbing openness to anti-American dictators such as Castro and Gaddafi. It explains Wright's description of the Sept. 11 attacks as a "wake-up call" to "white America."

Again, Gerson willfully ignores not only the US invasion and disastrous occupation of Iraq with those two paragraphs, he also ignores any role he played in Iraq's slow-dismemberment. Actions which make the spectacular arrogance of occupying Iraq all the more anger-inducing.

How does Gerson's faith/logic justify staying quiet about US sponsored dictatorships while insisting that strongmen such as Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro must be condemned at every possible opportunity and replaced at the first available opportunity?

Consistency is a quality absent from the Gersons of the world.

And the white Bush Jr speech writer STILL lectures other races about faiths he clearly knows nothing about.

But the deepest flaws in black liberation theology are theological, not political. Jesus did advocate a special concern for the rights and welfare of the poor and helpless. But he specifically rejected a faith defined by social and political struggle, much to the disappointment of his more zealous followers. The early church, in its wrenching decision to include gentiles as equals, explicitly rejected a community defined by ethnicity. No Christian theology that asserts "Jesus is not for all" can be biblical.

Gerson flamboyantly misses the central point about Christ, namely, Jesus never oppressed the poor, the sick, the powerless. Jesus DID get angry at the power structure, or perhaps Gerson never read Matthew 23, in which Christ excoriated the Pharisees and scribes in the temple itself, an example that still has relevance to today's US religious power structure. Accordingly, Jesus is more likely on the side of the slaves and the Iraqis than Gerson and ilk.

Gerson rages against those unwilling to sacrifice their blood, their honor, their treasure for his benefit, so he won't wet himself in terror on a constant basis.

It's a shame the neocon Bush Jr/McCain supporters engineer death, ruin, corruption and misery to keep their terror-fueled, overactive-bladders dry, especially when a simple box of diapers will keep the incontinent Bush Jr/McCain rat-bastard supporters just as dry.

Which brings us to the rant.

(NOTE: The Washington Post allows readers to comment on it's stories, and reading one Bush Jr lackey's fear-based, irrational slam without substance too many got me riled up against the McCain supporters posting fact-hating opinions. My response took the following form, which I didn't post there after all, instead expanding on it with Gerson's latest literary disgrace above.)

How could anyone think someone, like McCain, willing to trash his own daughter in this way-for pure political expediency-is fit in any way to be President?

Of the three candidates, Obama offends me the least, he's far too conciliatory to those who have driven our country into the ground since this President first slithered into the Oval Office-despite clearly losing the popular vote-via unelected, activist judges. The only reason I stick up for Obama at all is because of the totally off the wall hypocrisy shown by the criticism-ESPECIALLY the "elitist" charge-leveled by the McCain/Bush Jr supporters.

But while I may not vote for the Democratic candidate in November, there's absolutely NO way McCain is becoming President. This country despises Bush Jr, and all McCain can offer is more of the same, the same incompetence, corruption, ideology and unearned arrogance on display with Bush Jr and his political/media backers.

With a 71% disapproval rating for Bush Jr, it's obvious the term "bitter" is far closer to the mark than the term "beloved" as it relates to the voters mood.

Anyone supporting Bush Jr's regressive, oppressive, brutal, spiritually bankrupt, hypocritical, cowardly policies has lost the moral right to question anyone else's fitness or character to be President.

If the media insist on still giving air-time to Bush Jr/McCain backers, people who clearly have lost all ability to use logic or common sense, then make sure they have to share that time with critics who are as virulently anti Bush Jr/McCain as that crowd is virulently anti-US Constitution.

It's far past time those who have helped implement and carry out Bush Jr policies be exposed to harsh public ridicule and scorn on a constant basis, and finally shutting up for a change on their part does not even rise to the "least they can do" level to begin apologizing for the damage they've helped Bush Jr inflict on our country, our Constitution, our Military and our standing in the world.

The Bush Jr/McCain lackeys are the real radicals, the real extremists in our society, and they do NOT represent the political, social or religious mainstream in our society.

Case Closed.

The Reality Of "Mission Accomplished"

2008-05-01T17:30:00.001-06:00

It's worth noting that NONE of the backers of this disastrous Iraq invasion & occupation have been right about ANYTHING involving Iraq.

They said there were WsMD.

They said there were links between the Saddam Hussein Crime Family, Usama bin Laden and the Sept 11 attacks.

They said the insurgents were a bunch of "dead enders".

They said the US would be welcomed as "liberators", and that we wouldn't be seen, or thought of, as occupiers.

They said the financial hit to the US taxpayers wallets would be minimal, and that Iraqi oil sales would pick up most of the costs.

They labeled those of us against this decision from the start as "unpatriotic", "terrorist supporters", "traitors", "America haters", "Bush haters", "against the troops" and "Saddam sympathizers/lovers".

On every single major aspect of this fiasco, this Administration and it's political & media backers have been 100% wrong.

Not one overly-optimistic, aggressively-naive pre-invasion prediction of post-invasion Iraq by the occupation's supporters has come to pass. The elections which have taken place since "Mission Accomplished" have not brought about a western-style democracy that's at peace with it's neighbors and Israel. Women are now less "free"-thanks to the religious parties & individuals calling the shots in Iraq-than they were under the secular reign of the Hussein regime. Suicide & car bombers, unknown during the Hussein years, are now a daily occurrence. There has been sectarian cleansing of Sunni/Shia mixed-neighborhoods.

Not one major US-financed rebuilding project has come in on time and under budget, if it's been finished at all.

A humanitarian catastrophe of staggering proportions with over 4,000,000 refugees is one result of the Iraq invasion & occupation.

Basic services such as sanitation, power, fuel supplies, security, clean water, medical supplies & facilities and mixed religious neighborhoods are in shorter supply now than during Saddam Hussein's reign.

This Administration oversees torture of Iraqis in the same exact buildings Saddam Hussein used for the same exact reasons, while at the same time locking up tens of thousands of Iraqis without any legal charge pending.

The US military has been battled to quagmire-status by a multi-faceted insurgency, groups which possess no cannons, airplanes, tanks or other heavy weaponry. These same US troops face a nightmare, maddening bureaucracy intent on keeping as tight a financial leash on their medical and psychiatric claims, while also housing injured and traumatized troops in appalling, disgusting conditions and quarters.

Corruption is rampant among US contractors, who are also held immune from any clear wrongdoing & malfeasance they commit against the long-suffering Iraqis.

Iran, kept in check by the Hussein regime, is growing in stature & influence since his overthrow.

All this happened under the direct gaze and policies of this Administration.

I remember just how those of us against this idea from the start had to endure the gloating, unwarranted strutting and unearned arrogance of this Administration, it's bipartisan lackeys and media hacks five years ago.

Of course, compared to what the Iraqis have had to endure (a decades-long brutal dictatorship followed by unchecked carnage), most of us, both for and against this decision, can't claim any real hardship, certainly not the hardship that comes from worrying about family & friends deployed-often more than once-to Iraq.

And with this Administration, withdrawing US troops is seen as a sign of failure, which is why, whether the violence increases or decreases, our military will remain bogged down in Iraq. It's obvious this Administration's only concern now is to pass off it's spectacular incompetence to it's successor.

There is NO overstating the unfathomable damage this President, his Administration and political/media backers have inflicted upon the Iraqis and the US.

All the right groups & individuals have been weakened, while all the wrong groups, regimes and individuals have been strengthened.

That's the real outcome of "Mission Accomplished".

Dems, As Always, Ready To Cave Again

2007-10-08T21:43:00.000-06:00

Goddamn It, this is getting really old, frustrating and tiresome

I thought the Democratic leadership was going to hold W accountable for the misery and damage him and his vile supporters and political operatives

And yet, here we go again, Nancy Pelosi is going to hold W's feet to the righteous fire by trashing our Constitution

Does the House leadership ever actually intend to uphold and defend the US Constitution?

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Democratic Concessions Are Expected on Wiretapping

Two months after vowing to roll back broad new wiretapping powers won by the Bush administration, Congressional Democrats appear ready to make concessions that could extend some of the key powers granted to the National Security Agency.

Bush administration officials say they are confident they will win approval of the broadened wiretapping authority that they secured temporarily in August as Congress rushed toward recess, and some Democratic officials admit that they may not come up with the votes to rein in the administration.

Hey Nancy, here's an idea,

DON'T ALLOW THIS LEGISLATION TO THE FLOOR FOR A VOTE

Is there some logical reason that this massively despised President is still able to get whatever the Hell he wants from the opposition, which is allegedly in charge of the Congress now?

Well, actually, yes, that severe lack of a spine once again enters into the Democratic leadership's attempts to teach W a lesson

As the debate over the N.S.A.’s wiretapping powers begins anew this week, the emerging legislation reflects the political reality confronting the Democrats. While they are willing to oppose the White House on the conduct of the war in Iraq, they remain nervous that they will be labeled as soft on terrorism if they insist on strict curbs on intelligence gathering.

If these cowards getting ready to roll over for W yet again can't stand up to him in this case, why should anyone think they can EVER stand up, for us, our country and our Constitution?

The Dems were NOT elected to just do whatever the fuck W wants, but that's sure been their operating philosophy since taking control of Congress earlier this year

Lets review

There are more US troops in Iraq now than there were when the GOP ran everything

The Dems voted to give increased powers to warrantlessly spy on us to Alberto Gonzales-of ALL people-before leaving on their August break

And that power also accrues to that lying ratbastard DNI Mike McConnell

How are the Dems NOT insisting that McConnell be bounced out of his job for outright lying to them, repeatedly, since becoming DNI?

It's absolutely infuriating, and it makes NO political sense whatsoever, unless the aim is for the Democratic President to enjoy these powers as well

And funny, I thought the Dems were going to really raise Hell and force major changes in the FISA gutting, at least thats what they said when the caved in August, but here we go again with the absolutely worthless rhetoric that's now been completely debunked

As Congress takes up the new legislation, a senior Democratic aide said House leaders are working hard to make sure the administration does not succeed in pushing through a bill that would make permanent all the powers it secured in August for the N.S.A. "That’s what we’re trying to avoid," the aide said. "We have that concern too."

Perhaps Pelosi hasn't figured out that they don't have to "try to avoid" this crap, she doesn't have to let this bill to the floor for a vote in the first place, she has it in her power to let this legislation die without offering any replacements

"We are giving the N.S.A. what it legitimately needs for national security but with far more limitations and protections than are in the Protect America Act," said Brendan Daly, a spokesman for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California.

No Nancy, you're sticking up for W's right to use our Constitution as toilet paper, and you're offering to do the nasty work so he doesn't have to get his hands dirty in the process

The Dems are pushing the "we won't allow retroactive immunity for the telecoms" meme, but as the party has caved in for W since taking the Congress, why should anyone trust that claim in the least?

Perhaps a quick refresher is in order, as to why this Administration cannot be trusted to ever do the right thing

Concerns Raised on Wider Spying Under New Law

In particular, this

Broad new surveillance powers approved by Congress this month could allow the Bush administration to conduct spy operations that go well beyond wiretapping to include — without court approval — certain types of physical searches on American soil and the collection of Americans’ business records, Democratic Congressional officials and other experts said.

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These new powers include the collection of business records, physical searches and so-called "trap and trace" operations, analyzing specific calling patterns.

For instance, the legislation would allow the government, under certain circumstances, to demand the business records of an American in Chicago without a warrant if it asserts that the search concerns its surveillance of a person who is in Paris, experts said.

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Some civil rights advocates said they suspected that the administration made the language of the bill intentionally vague to allow it even broader discretion over wiretapping decisions. Whether intentional or not, the end result — according to top Democratic aides and other experts on national security law — is that the legislation may grant the government the right to collect a range of information on American citizens inside the United States without warrants, as long as the administration asserts that the spying concerns the monitoring of a person believed to be overseas.

In effect, they say, the legislation significantly relaxes the restrictions on how the government can conduct spying operations aimed at foreigners at the same time that it allows authorities to sweep up information about Americans.

Does anyone really expect this Administration to use these expanded powers to try and stop terrorists, or is it far more likely they'll use this law to warrantlessly spy on purely domestic communications and political critics?

Make no mistake, this Administration will claim that a person in the US isn't the chief target of the spying, which will then negate the need for a search warrant, while the Administration will sweep up as much information about the US target as possible

Let the Administration prove it's claims about how vital it is to gut the 4th Amendment, let it show, with independently-verified information, just how warrantlessly spying has disrupted real terrorist plots and imminent attacks, with real names, places and proof, none of this faith-based, "just take our word for it/just trust us" BS

Since W claims Iraq is the "Central Front" in the war against terrorists, then it shouldn't be hard to show how warrantless spying is making the US mission easier to accomplish in the Iraq Meatgrinder Fiasco

So, for every worthless slug in the Congress who votes to let W rape, subvert and undermine the same Constitution he's sworn to uphold and defend, I say put all your information, personal, financial and medical, online, for the whole world to see, and then just trust that it won't be misused in the least

Because while that's obvious hyperbole, that's also exactly what the W fucktards are insisting on here

And it doesn't matter if the Democratic leadership votes against this revision themselves, by allowing the bills to a floor vote, they know there are enough Bush dog Dems willing to help W screw this country yet again

Remind me again of just how much accountability the new Congress would subject this clearly out of control and incompetent Administration to legislatively, because from where I'm standing, I sure can't see any change on these big issues at all

cross-posted at Daily Kos

A Change In Structure

2007-08-23T12:35:00.000-06:00

As always, forgiveness for the tardy post, please

As of now, there's a sister site to this one

RK Articles Only

To quote from the initial, and perhaps only, post

Aside from this initial post, there will be no other commenting on the stories posted here, other than the Post Titles, although if, say a YouTube video makes perfect commentary, it may get posted as well

This site is to merely showcase the actual articles, in their entirety, that I comment on at the Royally Kranked blog

And while an article may be posted here, it may not be commented on at all, this is only a way to archive articles-linked to their published site-that will otherwise disappear behind pay-for-access firewalls after a certain amount of time

While I will link to the new blog for those who wish to read the whole articles, at the new site, the articles will be linked to their original source

This should cut down on the frustration of linking to an article that no longer shows up for free

Unearned Arrogance, Pure Corruption, Spectacular Incompetence

2007-07-04T02:48:00.000-06:00

All three descriptions are on full display with two full blown scandals, the purge and attempted coverup of the fired US Attorneys, and the "Commutation" AKA "Free Walk" W gave Scooter Libby for his role in outing Valerie Plame

Let's lead with the Spectacular Incompetence W showed in pardoning Libby, namely, he gets one free shot, but this article points something out that, if it plays out like I describe, Libby could still end up doing time

bypass registration with this Bug Me Not link

Bush Is Said to Have Held Long Debate on Decision

In issuing his commutation order on Monday, Mr. Bush left intact Mr. Libby’s conviction, a $250,000 fine and the two years of postprison supervised release that were ordered by Judge Reggie B. Walton of Federal District Court.

But the details of the president’s order raised procedural questions in court.

Here's the kicker, the last sentence especially

Judge Walton said Tuesday that the law did not allow for imposing a period of supervised release on an individual who had not first completed a jail sentence. He asked the lawyers for both sides to submit briefs next week on whether Mr. Libby should have to submit to supervision by the probation office.

I have no doubt that Libby will be submitting to a probation office, Walton and the judges who were lowering the legal boom on Libby don't seem particularly sympathetic to Libby's claims in the least, so since W didn't grant a full pardon-which causes as many problems as it solves-what are the odds that W would step in again, this time trying to claim that submitting to probation is somehow too harsh a punishment for his felony convictions?

The reason probation is important here, is that these judges would hopefully-if it's within their official capacity-assign the most hardass probation officer to Libby there is, the type who's just looking to boost a professional reputation by having Libby under their direct, merciless control

The type who'd be looking to bust Libby to prison at the first sign some required condition of his probation wasn't met, or was violated

W may have been able to flip off the US public regarding letting Libby walk from serving any prison time once, but to do so with Libby if he violates his parole would be too much for even the GOP to take a second time, what with the absolute anger & vitriol this commutation has aroused in the public, the voters & defendants who would never qualify for the same off-key caterwauling about the injustice of it all from the elitist Libby supporters

There's even anger on hard-right media sites, ire about the hypocrisy this commutation sends to all those who fulminated about Clinton's lying to a Grand Jury

W's "commutation" of Libby's prison time is a one-shot deal, so if Libby gets an ultra-hard assed probation officer who busts his ass to prison for a violation, don't look for another free pass from W, not enough political capital for a repeat performance of "free poor, picked-upon Lewis Libby"

I just want to smack the mealy mouths of those so disgustingly backing this traitor, and the traitors infesting 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Of course, the Dems DO have a huge weapon they can play, but that's only if they care more about doing what's right as opposed to quivering in fear from being yelled at by W, Cheney, Rove, or any of their lunatic neocon enablers and GOP Media Whores

Let's see the Dems call Libby to testify about Cheney's role in Plame's outing

I'd like to see W try to apply "executive privilege" in covering a convicted felon, but if he does, then it's time to zero-out ALL funding for the Executive Branch-Not the agencies, bureaus or departments, just those Presidential and Vice Presidential staff working out of the White House

And to cut off a major loophole, make sure that private donations can't be used to meet those payrolls, if paychecks are issued, let them come out of W's & Cheney's pockets and wallets

While the chief counterargument would be that banning such private donations might be a free-speech violation, since there's nothing in the Constitution addressing such an issue-that I'm aware of, apologies if wrong-and since Congress hasn't spelled out how to address such an issue, this current Supreme Court is of the opinion that for something to be valid, every single "i" must be dotted and "t" crossed

That's exactly why the Court ruled against low-paid health care workers recently, because Congress didn't address those concerns concretely, concerns which the court held allowed those workers to be treated as they were. If the Administration were to actually try and use such private donations, without that ability being spelled out anywhere, this Court would smack them down

This commutation shows that treachery against our Constitution and our intelligence analysts/covert operatives has a thriving community at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and that actually protecting the US public against another terrorist attack on US soil does not factor one bit into the President's or Vice President's decision making, not in the least

But hey, who knows, maybe "commuting" Traitor Libby's sentence will get that US attorney's firing fiasco to go away, or the situation in Iraq to suddenly become much more positive, or get the public to rally around warrantless spying on domestic communications

Let's see if W "has the stomach" to hold a press conference to address why he let Libby off the hook for helping to destroy a career and a vital network of overseas informants and double agents designed to prevent WsMD from falling into the wrong hands

Once again, when W needs to show REAL spine, he instead crumbles completely and decides that "personal accountability" has NO place in his Administration

But Libby better keep his act VERY clean, as getting busted for violating probation wouldn't result in the same Presidential Free Walk this time like it did after the three judge panel ruled there was no reason for Libby to be free during his appeal

Oh, but there's more in terms of spectacular incompetence with both this case and the fired US Attorneys purge and attempted cover-up, and ironically, they both involve the very same issue, namely, this President & Alberto Gonzalez and the effect their clear incompetence and arrogant selfishness is having on the Dept of Justice, namely, making the job of US Attorneys and Federal Prosecutors that much harder to accomplish successfully now

Turns out that Defense Attorneys are gearing up to use both the US Attorneys purge and W's commutation of Libby for their clients at every possible opportunity now

US Attorneys Fallout Seeps Into the Courts

For months, the Justice Department and Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales have taken political heat for the purge of eight U.S. attorneys last year.

Now the fallout is starting to hit the department in courtrooms around the country.

Defense lawyers in a growing number of cases are raising questions about the motives of government lawyers who have brought charges against their clients. In court papers, they are citing the furor over the U.S. attorney dismissals as evidence that their cases may have been infected by politics.

Justice officials say those concerns are unfounded and constitute desperate measures by desperate defendants. But the affair has given defendants and their lawyers some new energy, which is complicating life for the prosecutors.

This is what happens when bumbling cretins like Gonzales are allowed to continue on in an office he's clearly inadequate to command and administer competently & logically. That Gonzales' ever-shifting story changes with every document and e-mail release is a Godsend to lawyers who have clients with ever-shifting stories as well

This is what happens when W's stubborn incompetence kicks in as well, his ego is stroked at the clear expense of everyone else, in this case the DoJ employees who were doing their jobs the right way, as opposed to those pursuing a purely political Justice Department, especially in the areas of protecting minority & voters rights, concerns the GOP and this Administration obviously aren't worried about enforcing if that willful indifference/deliberate neglect means fewer anti-GOP voters casting their ballots

Missouri lawyers have invoked the controversy in challenging last year's indictment of a company owned by a prominent Democrat, on suspicion of violating federal wage and hour laws. The indictment, which came two months after the owner announced that she was running for political office, was obtained by a Republican U.S. attorney who also has been criticized because he charged workers for a left-leaning political group on the eve of the 2006 midterm election.

The lawyer for an alleged child pornographer recently defended his client at a federal trial in Minnesota in part by questioning the motives of the Republican U.S. attorney, who has come under scrutiny in the congressional investigation into the prosecutor purge.

Lawyers for a former county official in Delaware who has been accused of corruption asked a judge in early May to allow them to subpoena the Justice Department and White House for documents to see whether political motives factored into charges being brought against the official. They cited the brewing controversy inside the Beltway.

"Those revelations dramatically reinforce the reasons to believe that considerations beyond mere law enforcement are behind this prosecution," the lawyers wrote.

The defendant, a once up-and-coming Democrat, was being prosecuted by the U.S. attorney in Wilmington, a Republican appointee.

In an inch-thick response, the U.S. attorney said nothing could be further from the truth, and said the attacks were "sullying the reputations of every prosecutor and law enforcement officer involved in this case," including more than a dozen career prosecutors and agents.

What's "sullying the reputations of every prosecutor and law enforcement officer" is the reality that this Administration and Karl Rove were trying to rig the legal system to give their political ambitions as much help as possible, and even worse, W & Gonzales KNOW their actions are negatively effecting the DoJ staff and demoralizing them more by the day

Democrats say there is evidence that the dismissals were part of a Bush administration effort to affect investigations in public corruption and voting cases that would assist Republicans. The probe has also shown that politics may have played a role in the hiring of some career Justice employees, in possible violation of federal law.

The controversy has drained morale from U.S. attorney offices around the country. And now, legal experts and former Justice Department officials say, it is casting a shadow over the integrity of the department and its corps of career prosecutors in court.

There has long been a presumption that, because they represented the Justice Department, prosecutors had no political agenda and their word could be trusted. But some legal experts say the controversy threatens to undermine their credibility.

"It provides defendants an opportunity to make an argument that would not have been made two years ago," said Daniel French, a former U.S. attorney in Albany, N.Y. "It has a tremendously corrosive effect."

No doubt, having your superiors make your jobs harder to carry out while giving your courtroom opponents even more legal ammunition at the same time is definitely "tremendously corrosive"

And the lawyers for the DoJ just saw their tough job get even harder to carry out with W's commutation

Bush Rationale on Libby Stirs Legal Debate

In commuting I. Lewis Libby Jr.’s 30-month prison sentence on Monday, President Bush drew on the same array of arguments about the federal sentencing system often made by defense lawyers — and routinely and strenuously opposed by his own Justice Department.

Excellent leadership skills on display by W all the way around, Defense Attorneys everywhere are making sure you get a Christmas Card this year, but your DoJ employees, not so much

Critics of the system have a long list of complaints. Sentences, they say, are too harsh. Judges are allowed to take account of facts not proven to the jury. The defendant’s positive contributions are ignored, as is the collateral damage that imprisonment causes the families involved.

On Monday, Mr. Bush made use of every element of that critique in a detailed statement setting out his reasons for commuting Mr. Libby’s sentence — handing an unexpected gift to defense lawyers around the country, who scrambled to make use of the president’s arguments in their own cases.

Given the administration’s tough stand on sentencing, the president’s arguments left experts in sentencing law scratching their heads.

“The Bush administration, in some sense following the leads of three previous administrations, has repeatedly supported a federal sentencing system that is distinctly disrespectful of the very arguments that Bush has put forward in cutting Libby a break,” said Douglas A. Berman, a law professor at Ohio State University who writes the blog Sentencing Law and Policy.

Yep, the Administration wants even tougher mandatory minimum sentences inflicted on everyone going through the legal system, everyone except those protected by this corrupt and out of control President and lunatic Vice President, although the chances the Dems are going to give W these tougher (for everyone else) laws he so feverishly desires

And that's besides indefinite detention, warrantless spying on purely domestic communications, suspension of Habeas Corpus and torture of uncharged detainees

The hypocrisy in commuting Libby's sentence is breathtaking, vile and appalling

“By saying that the sentence was excessive, I wonder if he understood the ramifications of saying that,” said Ellen S. Podgor, who teaches criminal law at Stetson University in St. Petersburg, Fla. “This is opening up a can of worms about federal sentencing.”

The Libby clemency will be the basis for many legal arguments, said Susan James, an Alabama lawyer representing Don E. Siegelman, the state’s former governor, who is appealing a sentence he received last week of 88 months for obstruction of justice and other offenses.

“It’s far more important than if he’d just pardoned Libby,” Ms. James said, as forgiving a given offense as an act of executive grace would have had only political repercussions. “What you’re going to see is people like me quoting President Bush in every pleading that comes across every federal judge’s desk.”

Indeed, Mr. Bush’s decision may have given birth to a new sort of legal document.

“I anticipate that we’re going to get a new motion called ‘the Libby motion,’ ” Professor Podgor said. “It will basically say, ‘My client should have got what Libby got, and here’s why.’”

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

Mr. Bush repeated yesterday that he had found Mr. Libby’s punishment to be too severe. But experts in federal sentencing law said a sentence of 30 months for lying and obstruction was consistent with the tough sentences routinely meted out by the federal system.

“On what legal basis could he have reached that result?” asked Frank O. Bowman III, an authority on federal sentencing who teaches law at the University of Missouri-Columbia, said of the commutation. “There is no legal basis.”

Nor is there a reason to think that the Justice Department has changed its position about the sentencing system generally. Indeed, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales said last month that the department would push for legislation making federal sentences tougher and less flexible.

Similarly, in a case decided two weeks ago by the United States Supreme Court and widely discussed by legal specialists in light of the Libby case, the Justice Department persuaded the court to affirm the 33-month sentence of a defendant whose case closely resembled that against Mr. Libby. The defendant, Victor A. Rita, was, like Mr. Libby, convicted of perjury, making false statements to federal agents and obstruction of justice.Mr. Rita has performed extensive government service, just as Mr. Libby has. Mr. Rita served in the armed forces for more than 25 years, receiving 35 commendations, awards and medals. Like Mr. Libby, Mr. Rita had no criminal history for purposes of the federal sentencing guidelines.

The judges who sentenced the two men increased their sentences by taking account of the crimes about which they lied. Mr. Rita’s perjury concerned what the court called “a possible violation of a machine-gun registration law”; Mr. Libby’s of a possible violation of a federal law making it a crime to disclose the identities of undercover intelligence agents in some circumstances.

When Mr. Rita argued that his 33-month sentence had failed to consider his history and circumstances adequately, the Justice Department strenuously disagreed.

Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., Democrat of Delaware, posted a copy of the government’s brief in the Rita case on his blog yesterday and asked, “Why is the president flip-flopping on these criminal justice decisions?”

The Justice Department also took a hard line last year in the case of Jamie Olis, a midlevel executive at the energy company Dynegy convicted of accounting fraud. The department argued that Mr. Olis deserved 292 months, or more than 24 years. He was sentenced to six years.

Sentencing experts said Mr. Libby’s sentence was both tough and in line with general trends.

“It was a pretty harsh sentence,” Professor Berman said, “because I tend to view any term of imprisonment for nonviolent first offenses as harsh. But it certainly wasn’t out of the normal array of cases I see every day.”

That Paris Hilton and Martha Stewart served prison time, while Libby whimpered and begged for mercy is a harsh reality that should be rubbed in the noses of Libby and all his supporters at every possible opportunity, and if public mockery could get Libby to somehow lose his cool, thereby violating the terms of his probation, thereby leading to a nice stay behind bars at a regular prison, then everyone should taunt and hound Libby and his backers at every possible opportunity

Short term gain for Libby and Gonzales means long-term loss for the DoJ and, hopefully, Libby if he violates probation

Ahhhh, for the good old days of 2002, when bloodsucking lobbyists like Jack Abramoff could get uncooperative US Attorneys removed, have his successor named, AND get an ongoing criminal investigation dismissed all on the same day

That this Administration was able to keep the above incident fairly quiet way back in 2002, the inability to follow the same perverted playbook regarding the purged US Attorneys, in which the Administration now finds a political fiasco completely of its own making, shows that blinding Presidential incompetence has spread throughout his Administration, most notably with Karl Rove, Alberto Gonzales and badly misreading the voters moods leading up to Election Day 2006

It just shows that of the qualities on constant display with this Administration, corruption, ideology, unearned arrogance, the DEFINING characteristic is incompetence, and while there are no good choices for this Administration, it's the incompetence that brought about all the Administration's completely self-inflicted political woes

Bravo W, well played and "Mission Accomplished" Indeed!

Hey, Dems, You ARE The Majority Party, Act Like It

2007-06-21T14:52:00.000-06:00

I swear to God, what's the point of being the majority party in the Senate when all you do is roll for the parasites known as the GOP?

I like Harry Reid, especially after pulling the "Rule 21" stunt on the Senate GOP in November 2005, and for all the reasons listed at the link, but at times he sure makes it hard to do so

Rolling over for a clearly out of control President's repulsive desperation to fund a completely unnecessary invasion and military occupation of a country that was never a threat, to the US, and only on HIS terms, ended up costing the Dems dearly, from the liberals and majority of the US public

And now, Reid has let the GOP steal a victory on behalf of the poor, picked-upon Oil Corps, and steal is exactly what happened here, as the GOP achieved their Premiere Whoredom status by getting a cost-free victory on an issue the GOP would have been whimpering for mercy on within days of implementing their threat

Because the Dems in the Senate didn't have enough votes to overcome a threatened GOP filibuster, it caved to demands that the in-progress energy bill not tighten the leash on the Oil industry's biggest players

And the GOP did it by threatening to filibuster

Not ACTUALLY filibuster, just threaten to do so

And so, Reid yanked the Oil Industry Accountability passages from the bill

Big Oil Companies Spared Tax Hikes

Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked a $32 billion package of tax breaks for renewable energy that would have been financed mostly by new taxes on major oil companies.

Democrats came three votes short of overcoming a threatened GOP filibuster that was keeping the measure from being attached to a broader energy bill. Republican senators argued that the nearly $29 billion in additional taxes on major oil companies would have led to reduced production and higher gasoline prices.

Because of Republican opposition, Democrats needed 60 votes to allow the package to come up for a vote, but fell short, 57-36. With a number of senators not voting, Democrats could resurrect the measure later, though there was no immediate indication of that.

The tax proposal had some bipartisan support, but also attracted sharp criticism from many Republican senators who lined up against it.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he intends to proceed with consideration of the energy legislation with or without the tax measures. ``There are still good things in the bill,'' he told reporters before the floor vote.

By three votes, with another 7 votes not recorded

So why is this infuriating?

The massive tax measure marked a sharp turn from longtime congressional support of the oil industry to promoting alternative energy development and moving toward energy sources that would help deal with the growing concerns over global warming.

Alas, not apparently enough of "sharp turn from longtime congressional support of the oil industry" for any permanent change that affects the oil industry, which means, other than some slight worry on the industry's part, the GOP still hasn't paid a heavy enough political price for allowing the rape of the taxpayers under it's non-watchful eyes on the taxpayers wallets by it's biggest campaign contributing cronies and corporations

But Republicans complained that it was too harsh on the oil industry and could lead to oil companies reducing investments in new oil refineries and production. They also said that it could lead to higher prices for consumers.

``When you put a tax on a business it gets passed on to consumers,'' argued Sen. John Kyl, R-Ariz. ``Instead of reducing gasoline prices, this bill is going to add to the cost of gasoline.''

Kyl had earlier sought to sidetrack the tax measure, but that effort failed.

Yeah, can't have any penalties for shafting the consumers by causing the price of everything else to increase as well, God Forbid the GOP EVER worries about non-campaign contributors or small businesses, and that effort didn't fail, in the end, since Reid yanked it from consideration, it was obscenely successful

The bill's supporters dismissed suggestions that the new taxes on an industry that has had record profits in recent years would cause either less oil production or lead to higher prices at the pump.

Oil companies earned $111 billion in profits last year and at that rate stand to earn $1 trillion over the 10 years covered by the tax package, said Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., rejecting suggestions that ``this is an undue burden'' on oil companies.

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., whose Finance Committee crafted the tax package, said the incentives for renewable and alternative fuels ``will help wean ourselves away from OPEC ... from these very high gas prices.''

Then there's this little gem, and here's something to ponder-why anyone would actually reward screwing the consumers, as in not hold those doing the screwing accountable

Senate nears vote on energy bill; oil companies spared

By a 61-32 vote, the Senate moved to shut down debate on a substitute amendment to a broad energy bill that would ramp up the nation’s reliance on biofuels, prohibit price-gouging and require federal buildings to be more efficient.

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

Democrats are also relenting on their push to require utilities to generate electricity from a set amount of renewable fuels after a rebellion from Southern senators.

Bingaman said he would drop that effort since backers do not have the 60 votes to avert any procedural roadblocks.

Yeah, argue in favor of Price Gouging, that would be SUCH a winning campaign strategy, in fact it's so brilliant one wonders why ALL campaigns don't do just that on a constant basis

I'd love to know just why those "Southern Senators" close their eyes to the reality that it's easier to find another source of fuel while the oil's still flowing as opposed to how much of a bitch that search will be when the oil's all dried up, but as I've learned the hard way from living here in Texas, "Stupid" plays very well with southern states, and not too damn many of these GOP Southern Senators can be considered among the brighter bulbs in the Senate Chandelier

There's another reason this capitulation is such an insult, because a filibuster isn't something the GOP could take advantage of for very long if the Dems had held firm

Picture the sheer gold mine of footage AKA Political Manna From Heaven involving any of these GOP fucktards running for re-election, filibustering against reigning in a rapacious, predatory industry as pursued by it's CEO's and their boards of directors

That's how to spin the issue, yet another example of "corporate accountability" that the GOP refuses to participate in, and then show how it's hitting the taxpayers wallets and bank accounts. More money for an already financially over-saturated industry can't be that smart a strategy to campaign for by way of filibuster

If the GOP really wants to be so stupid as to filibuster AGAINST Price-Gouging restrictions, or higher taxes on an already under-regulated industry-while not doing a damn thing to stop increasing taxes on all others to benefit those at the very top of the economic ladder-then by God, let the GOP be as stupid as it is arrogant

But because the Dems yanked these items from consideration and debate, the GOP rolls up yet another cost-free political victory at the expense of the clear majority of taxpayers, and it's a victory that could/should have, instead, cost it dearly come the November 2008 eletions

What is the point of being the majority party if the only legislative action of any import is always held hostage by the minority party's mere threats of a filibuster, how does it hurt the Dems to let the GOP impale itself with even more self-inflicted political woes?

Make no mistake, the bumper-sticker politics would have played for the Dems this time, as it would have been the GOP in the position of arguing the value of nuance and understanding of complicated factors

And the only message this GOP attempted filibuster would have sent is that the Great Unwashed Electorate, The Angry Mob With Pitchforks & Torches are all too dumb, too blithering and simple to understand the supposedly "logical" intricacies inherent in the oil market

It's as if the GOP was on a high ledge, threatening to jump if it's stupidity wasn't rewarded, saying to the Dems "You'd better stop me from being so fucking stupid", and the Dems, incredibly, do just that

For God's Sakes, Dems, if the GOP wants to hang itself with its own rope, don't save the party from itself, instead, make sure the rope will hold

Father's Day

2007-06-17T09:34:00.000-06:00

Because I got my sense of humor from my Dad, I'm posting nothing today but laughariffic stuff, vids and articles, so Dad, Happy Father's Day, I can't say it any plainer than I am SO proud to be your kid

On some of these clips, if you want the full monitor size visual, click the text link, then click the small button on the bottom right side of the video player

Say Hello To Sofa King

The Greatest Salesman Ever-Except For Bibles-Edwin Childress

The All Drug Olympics

Father Of The Year, Len Datillo

Learn All About The Art Of Cork Soaking

The Pipe Gag

And to wrap it up, one of the absolute greatest gags ever, a few minor glitches with the video, sure wish I knew Italian

The Screaming, Motorcycle Riding Skeleton

Sometimes, Youtube Is The Perfect Reply To News

2007-06-04T08:14:00.000-06:00

And in this case, it's almost too perfect a reply

4 Charged in False Brain Surgery Claims

Four people billed a health insurance company for 20 brain operations that were never performed on them, sometimes for the same person on multiple occasions, authorities said.

One 36-year-old man from New York City claimed nine brain surgeries for himself, along with his wife and two sons, receiving reimbursements from New York-based Group Health Incorporated totaling $142,268, federal investigators said Friday.

GHI paid out more than $300,000 in reimbursements to all four defendants, based on the claims.

Besides the 36-year-old man, an indictment filed in federal court alleges that a 39-year-old man from Mount Vernon, a 42-year-old woman and a 37-year-old man, both from New York City, defrauded the insurance company.

Three were in custody and are likely to be arraigned next week. The 36-year-old man remained at large.

The indictment alleges that the Mount Vernon man, an employee at a medical billing company, altered claims to the insurance company by swapping the names of people who actually underwent brain surgery with two others charged in the scheme.

The fraudulent claims were then sent along with altered postoperative reports to the insurance carrier for reimbursement, the indictment alleges.

Ilene Margolin, a spokeswoman for GHI, told The New York Times that her company's own internal investigators first noticed the defendants' unusual claims before turning over its findings to the government.

Trying to claim insurance payments for nine brain surgeries, and not expecting the penny-pinchers to notice shows, indeed, the lack of brain power inherent in those taking part in, and running, this insurance scam/swindle

I think this sketch says it all, and it's subtitled as well, so it's twice as smart to watch and learn from

To see the sketch in full monitor size, Click Here, then hit the button on the bottom right side of the video player

R.I.P. Steve Gilliard, 1966-2007

2007-06-02T17:16:00.000-06:00

This really, really sucks

One of the real good guys of the bloggers, stuck up for the most politically powerless groups unapologetically, we need far more of Gilliard's spirit right about now

At least he got to witness the beginning of the Administration's and GOP's downfall, along with the inevitable collapse of the media whores still parroting blind support for all things W related

Gilliard also had to know that there's nothing to Administration or GOP can do to stop their strengthening implosion from coming to pass

I know political bullies and their enablers getting their justifiable comeuppance always gives my spirits a boost

For Steve Gilliard

Tears Aren't Enough To Get Through The Pain

2007-05-31T15:11:00.000-06:00

Tears and sobs alone don't get one through excruciating emotional & mental pain, sometimes, one must laugh and dance to mock the pain of loss

Really sucks the clip ends before it should, but not too much is missing

And another example of how the Dance is done, line-style

Better Some Jenny Pics Than None

2007-05-30T18:27:00.000-06:00

So, out of a whole roll of pics I focused mainly on Jenny, only four pictures came back developed, and only one of those came out halfway decently

Still, at least some of those pics came out, showing Jenny in happier times

I miss Jenny now more than when I wrote about her on Saturday

And this was the little beast herself, Jenny

I'm so thankful I was blessed with you as long as I was, you were truly the best of companions, always happy and purring, wonderful qualities when I had bad days

But it's also time to save another life, like Jenny's was saved so long ago, that's the best way I can think of to honor her memory

And sooner, rather than later