More Fireworks In The Press Gaggle

Poor Puffy McMoonface got hammered again over the PR campaign that seems to be nothing but dodging the issue, and my favorite WH Correspondent David Gregory was once again in the middle. Via E&P. here are some excerpts from the transcript. Q Now wait a second! MR. MCCLELLAN: -- other people in this room have questions and we've got an event coming up. Q I understand that. But I'm not getting answers here, Scott. And I'm trying to be forthright with you. But don't tell me that you're giving us complete answers when you're not actually answering the question, because everybody knows what is an answer and what is not an answer. MR. MCCLELLAN: Well -- Q And the final -- MR. MCCLELLAN: -- David, now you want to make this about you, and it's not about you, it's about what happened. And that's what I'm trying to -- and I'm trying to provide answers to the questions. Q I'm sorry that you feel that way, but that's not what I'm trying to do. Then Gregory asked the question of the day which get's to the heart of this administration's attitude that they are all above the law. I have one final question, since that one wasn't answered. Is it appropriate for the vice president to have waited 14 hours after the incident before he spoke with local law enforcement officials? And do you think that an average citizen would have been accorded that same amount of time before having to answer questions about a shooting incident? Of course this was dodged once more with Scotty saying that it was decided by the local authorities. Well that's pretty interesting since it was reported by CBS yesterday that Texas authorities are complaining that the Secret Service barred them from speaking to Cheney after the incident.It looks as if Scotty and David Gregory don't intend get along, and that can only be a good thing. Someone must keep this WH mouthpiece who's job it is to spread propaganda and not be forthcoming. Read on.....

White House Thinks This Is A Laughing Matter?

In a callous and despicable disregard for the seriousness of the situation, Scott McLellan shows everyone how much of an imbecile he and King George truly are. Via WaPo After a not-entirely-successful effort on Monday to explain the vice president's hunting accident, press secretary Scott McClellan reloaded this morning and took aim at Dick Cheney himself. President Bush, he announced, would be on the South Lawn with the national champion University of Texas football team. "The orange they're wearing is not because they are concerned that the vice president will be there," he deadpanned. The reporters, so recently his tormenters, guffawed. "Although," he continued, pointing to his orange tie, "that's why I'm wearing it, so hopefully none of y'all will --", What a total pile of crap everyone associated with this administration is, and for the WH press corp to laugh and go along with this kind of idiocy is just as bad. I can't help but wonder how they will all handle it if this man has to undergo hear surgery or if God forbid succumbs to the injuries suffered by Cheney's irresponsiblity.

Shooting Victim Has Heart Attack

The 78-year-old lawyer who was shot by Vice President Dick Cheney in a hunting accident has some birdshot lodged in his heart and he had a "minor heart attack," a hospital official says. Via CNN CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (CNN) -- The fellow hunter who was shot and wounded by Vice President Dick Cheney has suffered a "minor heart attack" after a piece of birdshot migrated to his heart, a hospital spokesman said Tuesday. ****** "Some of the birdshot appears to have moved and lodged into part of his heart ... in what we would say is a minor heart attack," said Peter Banko, administrator at Christus Spohn Hospital Corpus Christi-Memorial. If nothing else brings out the seriousness of Cheney's actions this should. Time for the VP to have a news conference and face the press and the public, and quit hiding in his usual "undisclosed location".

Puffy McMoonface Goes Spinning, Spinning, Spinning.....

Scotty-boy should join the Olympic ice-skating team if for no other reason than having the best spin move. Crooks And Liars has the video. Even more stunning however, is what went on BEFORE the cameras were rolling courtesy of The Chicago Tribune between Puffy McMoonface (White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan) and David Gregory, the chief White House correspondent for NBC News, Why was the White House relying on a Texas rancher to get the word of Cheney's hunting accident out over the weekend, asked Gregory, accusing McClellan of "ducking and weaving". "David, hold on… the cameras aren't on right now," McClellan replied. "You can do this later." "Don't accuse me of trying to pose to the cameras," the newsman said, his voice rising somewhat. "Don’t be a jerk to me personally when I’m asking you a serious question." "You don't have to yell," McClellan said. "I will yell," said Gregory, pointing a finger at McCellan at his dais. "If you want to use that podium to try to take shots at me personally, which I don’t appreciate, then I will raise my voice, because that’s wrong." "Calm down, Dave, calm down," said McClellan, remaining calm throughout the exchange. "I'll calm down when I feel like calming down," Greogry said. "You answer the question." "I have answered the question," said McClellan, who had maintained that the vice president's office was in charge of getting the information out and worked with the ranch owner to do that. "I'm sorry you're getting all riled up about." "I am riled up," Gregory said, "because you’re not answering the question," McClellan insisted he understood that reporters deserve an answer. "I think you have legitimate questions to ask," the press secretary said. "The vice president’s office was the one that took the lead to get this information out… I don’t know what else to tell you... That's my answer." The darndest things happen when the camera isn't on eh? Personally I give a tip of the hat to David Gregory for his persistence. He seems to be the only one (with the exception of Helen Thomas) that will speak his mind lately when Scotty tries to spin and evade. As for McMoonface, I have never seen anyone who is able to speak so long and yet say so little.

Cheney Off Limits For Texas Sheriff's Office

Well here is one of my questions answered that I posted earlier regarding Darth Vader's accidental shooting of a fellow hunter. Was an investigation even done? CBS News is reporting: CBS News White House correspondent Peter Maer reports Texas authorities are complaining that the Secret Service barred them from speaking to Cheney after the incident. Kenedy County Texas Sheriffs Lt. Juan Guzman said deputies first learned of the shooting when an ambulance was called. But the Secret Service told a different story, saying agents had informed the local sheriff of the shooting about an hour after it happened and that the vice president had been interviewed about the accident by local authorities on Sunday morning, CBS News White House correspondent Bill Plante reports Excuse me? He was interviewed on Sunday morning? Just what the hell makes Darth Cheney different than any other citizen? You mean to tell me that if you or I shot someone (accidentally or not) on a Saturday afternoon we wouldn't have to answer to authorities until Sunday morning? I think not. This is just so damn typical of the way this administration (and the Republican Party in general) handles any suspicions justified or not pointing their way. They seem to think they are above the law and better than every other citizen of the U.S. The President thinks no one should question his authorization for domestic spying. The Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist feels an FTC investigation is unwarranted in order to find if there was any inside information involved in the sale of his stock in his family-owned business shortly before it tanked. The Former House Leader Tom DeLay thinks it is all just a political witch hunt by a partisan prosecutor to investigate him about possible illegal campaign donations and/or money laundering. Now we have the Vice President involved in a shooting accident, and there is an overnight delay caused by the Secret Service before he can be questioned about it by local authorities. All this and they still expect the public to just trust their actions an never under any circumstances question why they are treated differently when even an appearance of impropriety occurs. Un-effing believable!!! ******UPDATE****** Cheney issued a statement - exclusively to CultureGhost.

Questions On Cheney Shooting

Since I am Canadian and not informed regarding the repurcusions of an accidental shooting of an individual be it a friend/hunting buddy or not, don't you thinkg the press should be asking: (1) How long did it take to transfer Mr. Whittington to the hospital where he was apparently injured enough to be placed in an Intensive Care Unit? (2) When was the shooting reported to the local police department? (3) Why the 18 hour delay before notifying or even confirming the shooting to the press and then only after an inquisitive reporter from the local paper in Corpus Christi, Texas, received a tip from the owner of the property where the shooting occured and called Vice President Cheney's office for confirmation? (4) If there was a investigation by law inforcement when will the resulting report be released? And last but not least: (5)Was an investigation even done? Knowing this administration's paranoid attachment to secrecy I wonder if the shooting would have been released at all. Add to that the ego driven attitude that George and Darth Vader Dick are above the law I suppose they will refuse comment because "there's an ongoing investigation". Surely they can't use the "national security" argument.

Now There's A Surprise - The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight.

Dag Nab It Darth Vader Dick!! If you had gone into the service instead of getting all them there deferrrrrrment things you might have learned to shoot straight. Cheney accidentally shoots fellow hunter WASHINGTON (AP) -- Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and wounded a companion during a weekend quail hunting trip in Texas, spraying the fellow hunter in the face and chest with shotgun pellets. "The vice president didn't see him," she continued. "The covey flushed and the vice president picked out a bird and was following it and shot. And by God, Harry was in the line of fire and got peppered pretty good." Oh Darth you bumbling old fool, you shouldn't be allowed to even handle a gun if'n ya don't know a man from one of them there quail thingies. Hmm this would be almost funny if not for the fact of a question this raises. CNN is reporting Armstrong in an interview with The Associated Press said Whittington, 78, was mostly injured on his right side, with the pellets hitting his cheek, neck and chest during the incident which occurred late afternoon on Saturday. Hey! Did you catch that tiny little fact so casually included in the story? Lets take just one more small look at that phrase again shall we? - which occurred late afternoon on Saturday. Does anyone wonder why the press wasn't informed of this at the time? Or if they were told, why did they wait until Sunday to release the story? A lazy Sunday where most people are doing those normal family things like kicking back and watching some TV. You know the Olympics are on. Or perhaps they would rather be watching the news shows. OH!!! now there's one reason the press may have been kept in the dark about it. Think about that for a minute.....if it had been released say - Saturday when it happened, the talking heads may be going on about what a crappy shot Darth Vader is instead of all those Republican shills defending King George's domestic spying program. Whoops silly me I forgot it's called a "terrorism surveillance program". Or (get out the tinfoil hat and find those that like a good conspiracy) maybe you had to wait to release the info because you had to make sure your friend would make it alright and live to see another day. Oh well as those Republicans like to say about anything negative that involves one of their own, "move along, nothing to see here" unless of course they can say "well Clinton did it too". Just a word of advice to King George. You better not piss Darth off for any reason, and by all means, definitely DO NOT accept an invitation to go on a hunting trip with him.

Chairwoman of NSA Subcommittee Breaks Ranks

The very conservative New York Times reports that Representative Heather A. Wilson (R-NM) chairwom of the NSA subcommittee joined a growing number of Congressional and Senate Republicans who are speaking out against, or at the very least, seriously questioning King George's domestic eavesdropping program. When Representative Heather A. Wilson broke ranks with President Bush on Tuesday to declare her "serious concerns" about domestic eavesdropping, she gave voice to what some fellow Republicans were thinking, if not saying. ***** Ms. Wilson said she decided to speak out this week because she had become increasingly "frustrated that the administration was not giving us the information we needed to do our job." With Mr. Gonzales unable or unwilling to answer questions at the Senate hearing, she said, there was no way to determine whether the surveillance law needed to be updated. "I think the argument that somehow, in passing the use-of-force resolution, that that was authorizing the president and the administration free rein to do whatever they wanted to do, so long as they tied it to the war on terror, was a bit of a stretch," she said. "And I don't think that's what most members of Congress felt they were doing." Bush and his spin machine can change the name of the program to "Terrorist Surveillance" or any other frendly sounding name but what it still comes down to is he skirted the the FISA court and by doing so broke the law. A PR campaign to make this more palatable to the public (much like his "Blue Skies Initiative") will not change this fact. One thing you can always count on, is that when this dictatorial administration puts a friendly sounding name on any of its' proposed programs you can damn well expect it will be doing just the opposite of what the name leads you to believe. Congratulations those Republicans who see this for what it is, a growing power-grab from Congress and worse still yet another way to infringe on the privacy of Americans, and spit on the rights granted by the Constitution George himself describes as just a goddamned piece of paper!

More Questions About 911

Loose Change via Alex Jones and Google Video Click Above To View

Former Intel Officers On Bush's Thwarted Attack - "He's Full Of Shit".

Yesterday we skeptically posted that in a speech to the National Guard Association in Washington, the Boy King took credit for the thwarting of a planned attack using a hijacked plane to bring down the 73-story structure in Los Angeles now known as US Bank Tower. Today however, Capitol Hill Blue gives us remarks from sources who are current and retired intelligence pros from the CIA, FBI and military who contacted Capitol Hill Blue with angry comments disputing the President's remarks here are a few snippets: "The President has cheapened the entire intelligence community by dragging us into his fantasy world," says a longtime field operative of the Central Intelligence Agency. "He is basing this absurd claim on the same discredited informant who told us Al Qaeda would attack selected financial institutions in New York and Washington." ***** "He's full of shit," said one sharply-worded email. Although none were willing to allow use of their names, saying doing so would place them in legal jeopardy, we were able to confirm that at least four of the 23 who contacted us currently work, or had worked, within the U.S. intelligence community. ***** Intelligence pros say much of the information used by Bush in an attempt to justify his increased spying on Americans by the National Security Agency, trampling of civil rights under the USA Patriot Act, and massive buildup of the Department of Homeland Security, now the nation's largest federal bureaucracy, was "worthless intel that was discarded long ago." It's absolutely amazing to me how people act like sheeple and hang on every word this lying imbecile says following blindly and believing that this dim-wit will keep them safe thanks to a compliant media controlled press who within minutes of the speech were showing footage of the same building being destroyed in the movie Independence Day with a breathless talking head ooing and awing. To be honest, some of these reporters did mention that the video was from the movie Independence Day - although only as an afterthought -after the vision of the building exploding in flames was firmly implanted in the brains of all too ill-informed viewers who have the IQ of a gnat, believing everything the Boy King, Fox News, and Oxycontin Rush have to say. Read on......

Bush Plays The Terror Card Yet Again

When in the world are people going to start seeing this man for the lying imbecile that he is? In a speech given today to the National Guard Association in Washington, he conveniently revealed that all this NSA spying is really a good thing - in fact it even managed to thwart a supposed attack on the tallest building on the West Coast. The Washington Post reports that in the speech Bush said Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist network planned to follow up its Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and the Pentagon by sending young men from Southeast Asia to hijack a plane using shoe bombs to break into the cockpit. He said the plot called for the hijackers to then fly the plane into the tallest building on the West Coast, a 73-story structure in Los Angeles now known as US Bank Tower. This attack was supposedly thwarted in early 2002 when a "key al Qaeda operative" was arrested by a Southeast Asian nation. Come on people get real. Do you think for one minute that if this were true they would have waited until now to announce it? Hell they would have rammed this down the throat of every anti-war activist BEFORE they invaded Iraq in March of '03. This was talked about now only because (1) he needs to justify his illegal spying, and (2) set the stage for more fear in the lead-up to the bombing of Iran. Go ahead and accuse me of wearing my tin-foil hat if you will, but I also believe that all this unrest over the release of cartoon images of the Prophet Muhammad is a neocon operation designed to cause unrest in the EU in order to bring them around to supporting the coming war on Iran. Don't forget the original cartoon was published back in September of '05. You mean to tell me that the Muslim community just all of a sudden decided to start protesting almost half a year later? And don't your find it just a little strange that there was such an ample supply of the Danish flag available for them to burn in front of a compliant media to film? And where are the most damaging protests? Well just by coincidence of course it was the embassies in Syria and Iran that were trashed and burned. Then there is also the NO small matter of the inauguration of the Iranian Oil Exchange in March where they will introduce the Iranian sale of it's oil in euro currency denomination. Hmmm isn't this what Saddam did? Sell oil for euros in an attempt to undermine the US-centric world banking system? In my opinion you can look forward to more and more fear talk from the neocons in King George's court, to justify an attack on Iran sometime in March. Then you can expect a terror alert or two thrown in for good measure. After all there IS an election coming, and Rove has already stated the are going to run on the terrorism issue.

Libby Implicates Cheney And "Other White House Superiors"

The latest word regarding the I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby investigation comes to us from Murray Waas, of the National Journal. Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, testified to a federal grand jury that he had been "authorized" by Cheney and other White House "superiors" in the summer of 2003 to disclose classified information to journalists to defend the Bush administration's use of prewar intelligence in making the case to go to war with Iraq, according to attorneys familiar with the matter, and to court records. Apparently this comes direct from papers filed by Patrick Fitzgerald with the Federal Court, but then Beyond what was stated in the court paper, say people with firsthand knowledge of the matter, Libby also indicated what he will offer as a broad defense during his upcoming criminal trial: that Vice President Cheney and other senior Bush administration officials had earlier encouraged and authorized him to share classified information with journalists to build public support for going to war. Later, after the war began in 2003, Cheney authorized Libby to release additional classified information, including details of the NIE, to defend the administration's use of prewar intelligence in making the case for war. Rock On Fitz!!! I just love the vision of these treasonous bastards doing time in a Federal Prison. Just one suggestion Fitz....make them pay out of their own pockets for the accomodations and their needs while there. Read more......

Protect Your Internet Access From Being Hijacked

If you think it was an an overreach by the government when they subpoened Google's database demanding not only search history, but also a random sample of one million Web addresses, known as URLs. That is nothing compared to what may be in store for web users in the future from Internet Providers. Media Channel.org tells us The nation's largest telephone and cable companies have a vision for the Internet's future. Verizon, AT&T (formerly SBC), Comcast, and Bell South want to create a privately run and branded "pay-as-you-go" Internet, making everything we do online a "billable," revenue-generating service. Our every cyberspace move will be tracked and stored so we can be better marketed to (a data collection system that might even rival the NSA's!). Those with the deepest pockets--think corporate special interest groups and major advertisers--will get preferred treatment. Their content will show up (and be processed) the fastest on our computer and television screens. Content seen as undesirable, such as peer-to-peer communications, may be relegated to a slow lane or simply shut out, say "white papers" and other documents given to the cable and phone industry. If past practices from the corporate ass-kissers in Congress, Republican and Democratic tells us anything, the phone and cable lobbies will literally write their own legislation then in the dark of night, these corporatists in Congress will attach it to some other bill up for passage and before you can reboot your PC the internet will be hijacked and you of course will pay for it. Here is more detail on the plan as reported by mediachannel.org Both the Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are considering proposals that will have a far-reaching impact on the Internet's future. They want the federal government to permit them to operate Internet and other digital communications services as "private" networks--without policy safeguards or governmental oversight. ***** Under the plans they are considering, all of us--from large to small content providers to individual users--will have to pay more when surfing online, streaming videos, or perhaps even sending and receiving email. Companies are mulling the imposition of new subscription plans that will limit our online experience. There will be "gold," bronze," and "silver" forms of Internet access that tightly define what they call our "level of service" (limiting how much downloading we can do, etc.) Wonderful isn't it? The Government that is supposed to be by, of, and for the people will screw the little guy once more while these companies laugh themselves silly all the way to the bank knowing they have yet again put one over on the unsuspecting public. I would urge you to read "Hijacking the Internet" If after reading just how you're going to be forced to "bend over" once again by corporate interests and supported by an all too willing Congress, take the time to go to Free Press.net, and join tens of thousands of Media for Democracy and Free Press activists who are standing up to protect our Net freedoms. Tell the CEO's to stop treating our Internet as their fiefdom, by filling out the form provided, and contacting the CEO's of these companies and also your member of Congress.

Is This How The Bush Defense Department Supports The Troops?

This is outrageous to say the least. From The Charleston Gazette we learn that "Support Our Troops" means just three words for a bumper sticker as far as the Bush Administration is concerned. The last time 1st Lt. William “Eddie” Rebrook IV saw his body armor, he was lying on a stretcher in Iraq, his arm shattered and covered in blood. A field medic tied a tourniquet around Rebrook’s right arm to stanch the bleeding from shrapnel wounds. Soldiers yanked off his blood-soaked body armor. He never saw it again. But last week, Rebrook was forced to pay $700 for that body armor, blown up by a roadside bomb more than a year ago. So much for compassionate conservatism. This is the thanks a true military veteran gets from a Commander-in-Chief who couldn't even manage to show up for his National Guard service for a year or more and had his daddy's money to cover-up the evidence of his "AWOL" status. This is what he gets from a Vice President who received five student and marriage deferments of military service during the Vietnam War. He was leaving the Army for good because of his injuries. He turned in his gear at his base in Fort Hood, Texas. He was informed there was no record that the body armor had been stripped from him in battle. He was told to pay nearly $700 or face not being discharged for weeks, perhaps months. I suppose they probably think he was one of the fortunate one's since many of the men and women serving their country either don't have any body armor or what they do have is more than below standard for protection. Here is yet another link regarding the inadequate protection of the body armor. Strange though that live links appear to be scrubbed and only available in the Google cache. The treatment of Lt. Rebrook is disgraceful, but then again how can we expect anything different from an administration that had no exit strategy whatsoever when they embarked upon an illegal invasion and occupation of a country that was no immediate threat, instead of staying on track and going after Bin Laden who was supposedly the planner of the attack of 9-11. More on the story of Lt. Rebrook is available here. Read it and weep, not only for this and other service men and women but also for the U.S. that is being slowly but surely changed into an empire for George to play king. After you read and think about the story of Lt. Rebrook, take a look at just who among the leaders of such a beloved country served in the military to preserve the rights and privledges the Boy King is so anxious to discard like so much trash.

Let's Add Bribery And Obstruction Of Justice To Roves' Charges

When Patrick Fitzgerald finally lowers the boom on leaker supreme and traitor Karl Rove perhaps he should include bribery in the charges. According to the Washington Times magazine Insight On The News, Karl has been not only twisting the arms of Republican members on the Judiciary Committee (and members of Congress), but also threatening to block any financial support in their re-election campaigns should they happen to come to the conclusion that King George has broken the law. The White House has been twisting arms to ensure that no Republican member votes against President Bush in the Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigation of the administration's unauthorized wiretapping. Congressional sources said Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove has threatened to blacklist any Republican who votes against the president. The sources said the blacklist would mean a halt in any White House political or financial support of senators running for re-election in November If this isn't an outright bribe then I sure don't know what is. The sources said the administration has been alarmed over the damage that could result from the Senate hearings, which began on Monday, Feb. 6. They said the defection of even a handful of Republican committee members could result in a determination that the president violated the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Such a determination could lead to impeachment proceedings. Over the last few weeks, Mr. Rove has been calling in virtually every Republican on the Senate committee as well as the leadership in Congress. The sources said Mr. Rove's message has been that a vote against Mr. Bush would destroy GOP prospects in congressional elections. In case you aren't aware, the Washington Times is definitely no friend to Liberals and our progressive causes or the Democratic Party. For them to come out and print this story, I would say it has to be taken very seriously. It's quite obvious that King George and his cohorts and particularly AG Gonzalez know damn well they were breaking the law otherwise why the high pressure tactics and outright bribery. The only questions that remain now are (a) what do they have to hide with regards to who they were really spying on, and (b) will the Republican members of the Judiciary Commmittee and the entire Congress have the balls to finally stand up to this bunch of fascists who think nothing of pissing on the Constitution of the United States. If the Judiciary Committee finds that indeed King George was acting outside the law then they must by law swear out articles of impeachment. Surely this is a bit more important than the last time articles of impeachment were submitted for a vote. After all Bill Clinton's little escapade with Monica sure as hell didn't impinge on the rights or personal lives of U.S. Citzens.

GO STEELERS!!!!!

Even Republicans Are Disgusted With Their Party

Thanks to Republican blogger Jaun Cole we can read from his blog Balloon Juice his disgust. It is almost palpable, and a must read. Here is an excerpt: The House GOP has officially become the Alfred E. Neuman party: “What, Me Worry?”: Just two weeks after House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) pledged to pass far-reaching changes to the rules of lobbying on Capitol Hill, House Republican members pushed back hard against those proposals yesterday, charging that their leaders are overreacting to a growing corruption scandal. In a tense, 3 1/2 hour closed-door session, many Republicans challenged virtually every element of the leadership’s proposal, from a blanket ban on privately funded travel to stricter limits on gifts to an end to gym privileges for lawmakers-turned-lobbyists. Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.), a veteran conservative who is seeking a top leadership post, scoffed that Congress knows how to do just two things well—nothing and overreact, according to witnesses. GOP leaders did withstand a motion to force every leader but Hastert to stand for reelection today. Yet the motion was backed by 85 of the roughly 200 Republicans at the meeting, after leaders predicted that it would attract little support. This shows all too clearly exactly how the inside the beltway groupthink is to pretend it isn't there. John Cole goes on to explain this all to well... [T]hese clowns clearly have no intention to clean up their own house. I guess they are leaving that to the voters......I simply can not figure out why they do not realize how hopelessly corrupt they look to the rest of us. The only thing I can come up with is this- everyone of you has run into someone who chain smokes. When that person walks into a room, even if they are not smoking at the time, they carry with them a noxious cloud of smoke and residue from smoking. A room can stink for a good long while after they have left. But here is the thing- they have no idea how much they stink. I can vouch for that, because although I noticed it before when I was a smoker, I really only picked up on it when I quit smoking. And that is how it has to be in DC- they simply do not recognize how much they stink, how much the odor of corruption is following them. Otherwise, when asked to vote for a ban on all privately funded travel, they would vote for it, rather than pretending the cloud of stink that is following them everywhere is some sort of air freshener. That is an EXCELLENT analogy. And since they can't clean things up themselves I guess the voters will have to take matters into their own hands, and simply throw the bums out, and return the Republican Party to its' roots and true core beliefs. Remember a lobbyist is not corrupt until he/she meets a member of congress who allows it to happen by being corrupt themselves in their never ending pursuit of big money and more power. This old saying still applies and always will "absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Is Roberts Trying To Influence Or Scuttle Judiciary Hearings?

Senator Pat Roberts the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee seems to be attempting to influence if not outright put a stop to Arlen Specter's (R-PA) Judiciary Committee hearings investigating domestic spying by the NSA. In a letter sent to Specter and the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT), ABC News reports Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts said Friday the Bush administration's domestic spying is within the president's inherent power under the Constitution, and he rejected criticism that Congress was kept in the dark about it. The program is "legal, necessary and reasonable," the Kansas Republican wrote in a 19-page letter, taking a particularly expansive view of the president's authority for the warrantless surveillance. "Congress, by statute, cannot extinguish a core constitutional authority of the president," Roberts wrote. As we all know, Roberts is to the right of Attilla the Hun and has always been a Bush water carrier. Roberts, IMO should stick to his own committee and the Gestapo like tactics he uses there and butt out of the Judiciary hearings and its' agenda. Not only should they summon National Intelligence Director John Negroponte, but also (as the Democratic members are requesting), Attorney General Gonzales and Gen. Michael Hayden, the principal deputy director of national intelligence along with former Attorney General John Ashcroft and ex-Deputy Attorney General Jim Comey who is on record as objecting to parts of the spying program. This is critical to the rights of privacy for all Americans and it would seem to me that even Republicans, if they are true patriots as they claim to be, would support the Judiciary hearings.

A Tribute To Annie

Have you ever wondered how TRUE Christians feel about Annie "get your gun" Coulter? Well wonder no more. Thanks to Brad Friedman the webmaster extraordinaire of The Brad Blog, he offers up a compelling video created by Daniel Borchers, the founder of Citizens for Conservative Principles which describes being Christian Conservative as one who "maintains a commitment to the core character traits of honor and integrity, honesty and virtue". Mr. Borchers also founded the website CoulterWatch. Reading through both websites, he strikes me as a Christian who knows what TRUE Christianity is all about. Of course as you all know, Annie is quick to condemn and suggest ways to bring about the demise of all Liberals and anyone else who doesn't agree with her warped way of thinking. And when called out on it, she gives off that wretched cackle of hers' and says "it was a joke". Well as Brad says in his post In fact, Coulter's "jokes" about who should be killed and how, when taken in total as compiled in the following video presentation, paints a rather disturbing picture of the iconic darling of the "Conservative" movement and her rabid obsession with death and destruction. I would invite you all to take swing on over to The Brad Blog and view this video. Oh, and also a quick reminder that Brad can be heard live every Saturday night 7pm - 11pm ET (4pm - 8pm PT) on The Brad Show via Raw Radio. Give it a listen.

Cindy In Her Own Words

Via DKos Cindy Sheehan tells her story. I invite you to go to DKos and read the entire post by Cindy, but here is a very heart-wrenching excerpt: I had just sat down and I was warm from climbing 3 flights of stairs back up from the bathroom so I unzipped my jacket. I turned to the right to take my left arm out, when the same officer saw my shirt and yelled; "Protester." He then ran over to me, hauled me out of my seat and roughly (with my hands behind my back) shoved me up the stairs. I said something like "I'm going, do you have to be so rough?" By the way, his name is Mike Weight. The officer ran with me to the elevators yelling at everyone to move out of the way. When we got to the elevators, he cuffed me and took me outside to await a squad car. On the way out, someone behind me said, "That's Cindy Sheehan." At which point the officer who arrested me said: "Take these steps slowly." I said, "You didn't care about being careful when you were dragging me up the other steps." He said, "That's because you were protesting." Wow, I get hauled out of the People's House because I was, "Protesting." I was never told that I couldn't wear that shirt into the Congress. I was never asked to take it off or zip my jacket back up. If I had been asked to do any of those things...I would have, and written about the suppression of my freedom of speech later. I was immediately, and roughly (I have the bruises and muscle spasms to prove it) hauled off and arrested for "unlawful conduct." After I had my personal items inventoried and my fingers printed, a nice Sgt. came in and looked at my shirt and said, "2245, huh? I just got back from there." I told him that my son died there. That's when the enormity of my loss hit me. I have lost my son. I have lost my First Amendment rights. I have lost the country that I love. Where did America go? I started crying in pain. What did Casey die for? What did the 2244 other brave young Americans die for? What are tens of thousands of them over there in harm's way for still? For this? I can't even wear a shrit that has the number of troops on it that George Bush and his arrogant and ignorant policies are responsible for killing. Read on......

Unequal Treatment Under The Law - Bush Brand

As we posted here before the dimwit's SOTU address had even started, Cindy Sheehan was forcibly removed, officially arrested, then detained for hours for "causing a disruption". And just what was that oh so terrible disruption? She was wearing a T-shirt that read "2,245 Dead — How Many More??". She had uttered not a word out loud let alone disrupted the proceedings by being loud or obnoxios. I would like you, my friends, to imagine this please. A lady not being loud or disruptive, not creating a scene of any kind, is forcibly removed from her seat in the peoples' house handcuffed and forced out and into a cop car, taken to police headquarters and held for hours. Now let's just see how UNequal treatment under the law takes place in the current nitwits' brand of treatment under the law. Courtesy of BradBlog, we now come to find out that Cindy was not the only indivual removed from the Capitol last night. It seems that another woman was nicely and quietly asked to leave for wearing a T-shirt. The difference? This woman's shirt read "Support the Troops Defending Our Freedom." But here is one other thing that shows the unequal justice practied at events with the nitwit from the Oval Office in attendance. Cindy was forcibly removed. Cindy was handcuffed. Cindy was hauled off to jail. Cindy was detained in a cell for hours. Now on to the treatment of the the second woman and why she was treated differently. Her shirt didn't remind us and George the dimwit what the death toll of the troops is. She wasn't forcibly removed from her seat. She was't handcuffed. She wasn't placed under arrest. She wasn't held in a jail cell for hours. Now my friends, I hope you're sitting down. The biggest reason she was treated differently was she is the wife of Republican Congressman Bill Young who represents the 10th Congressional District of Florida and is serving his 16th term in the United States House of Representatives. Here is an excerpt of the post over at BradBlog Rep. Young reportedly decried, "Shame, shame," on the U.S. House Floor today for the treatment of his wife. His wife, who was not arrested as far as we know. While neither woman should have been arrested -- or even removed from the gallery (in our opinion) -- they were not treated equally. Whatever the "rules" are about such things in the U.S. Congress, they did not receive "equal treatment under the law". (A law, we might add, which would seem to be unconstitutional, according to this 1971 Supreme Court decision which ruled that wearing a "Fuck the Draft" T-shirt into a courthouse was Constitutionally protected free speech). I would urge you to read the entire post, it is very very enlightening. Also, I should state now (just heard on the Randi Rhodes Air America show) that the charges have been dropped against Cindy Sheehan. Hmmmmmmm I wonder if it was because the guys upstairs in the Prosecutors Office realized the unequality that went on during this event and figured that was the best way to calm down the uproar.