Sun 27 July, 2008
The growing Obama clout derives not from national polls, where his lead is modest. Nor is it a gift from the press, which still gives free passes to its old bus mate John McCain. It was laughable to watch journalists stamp their feet last week to try to push Mr. Obama into saying he was “wrong” about the surge. More than five years and 4,100 American fatalities later, they’re still not demanding that Mr. McCain admit he was wrong when he assured us that our adventure in Iraq would be fast, produce little American “bloodletting” and “be paid for by the Iraqis.”They sure aren't. Indeed, when they're not giving McCain donuts with sprinkles, they're busy covering for him when he says something stupid, which happens a lot. Rich helpfully points some of those out.
Once again the candidate was making factual errors about the only subject he cares about, imagining an Iraq-Pakistan border and garbling the chronology of the Anbar Awakening. Once again he displayed a tantrum-prone temperament ill-suited to a high-pressure 21st-century presidency. His grim-faced crusade to brand his opponent as a traitor who wants to “lose a war” isn’t even a competent impersonation of Joe McCarthy. Mr. McCain comes off instead like the ineffectual Mr. Wilson, the retired neighbor perpetually busting a gasket at the antics of pesky little Dennis the Menace.I especially liked the oil rig bit, being a Louisiana boy and all. I know McCain is from Arizona and all, but he has to have seen a hurricane on tv before at least, right? Someone on his staff maybe? Or were they hoping to get him out there on a rig, in the storm, looking like a Weather Channel reporter only to be told just how stupid of an idea that was? We will never know, sadly. We only know that he doesn't look good when compared to Barack Obama.
The week’s most revealing incident occurred on Wednesday when the new, supposedly improved McCain campaign management finalized its grand plan to counter Mr. Obama’s Berlin speech with a “Mission Accomplished”-like helicopter landing on an oil rig off Louisiana’s coast. The announcement was posted on politico.com even as any American with a television could see that Hurricane Dolly was imminent. Needless to say, this bit of theater was almost immediately “postponed” but not before raising the question of whether a McCain administration would be just as hapless in anticipating the next Katrina as the Bush-Brownie storm watch.
Sat 26 July, 2008
A group of seven Mississippi talk radio stations owned by Telesouth Communications has dropped Michael Savage’s nationally syndicated radio program over comments the host made last week suggesting that nearly every child with autism was “a brat” of inattentive parents. “Michael Savage’s comments about autistic children were beyond inexcusable and are unacceptable,” the station group said in a statement posted Tuesday on its Web site, supertalkms.com. The cancellation follows the decision on Monday by Aflac, the insurance company, to pull its advertising from the show. On his Web site, Michaelsavage.com, the host posted a letter on Monday in which he iterated the central point he said he had been trying to make on his July 16 program: that autism is too often misdiagnosed in the cases of children, or falsely diagnosed, at least partly as a means of wringing resources. “Let the truly autistic be treated,” he wrote. “Let the falsely diagnosed be free.” On July 16, Mr. Savage, above, referred to autism as “a fraud, a racket,” and asserted that what “99 percent” of children with autism most needed was a parent willing to tell them things like, “Don’t act like a moron.”
Six more major companies have yanked ads from Michael Savage's talk-radio show after he branded autistic children "brats."Even Annheuser Busch, which has given so much to Weiner's friend John McCain via the missus, is saying "Savage who?"
Home Depot, Sears and Budweiser all withdrew their support from the fiery hatemonger's program, along with Direct Buy, Cisco and Radio Shack, according to Autism United.
"We are going after each and every advertiser that hasn't dropped him yet," said Evelyn Ain, president of Autism United, who joined angry parents in a protest on Wall Street Friday.
"We are doing this in all states and really hoping that more people will immediately drop out supporting him. We are going after every angle."Get him, guys. If anyone deserves to lose his radio gig and wind up sleeping in his car, it's Savage. It's one thing to go after politicians, but autistic kids? Come on. I know conservatives hate the defenseless, but wingers also believe in free market consequences, so let's let Savage get to know the market first hand. And for anyone on the right who might be tempted to defend Savage, this is what he said:
“I’ll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it’s a brat who hasn’t been told to cut the act out. They don’t have a father around to tell them, ‘Don’t act like a moron. You’ll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Act like a man.”The OC Register's blog has Savage's feeble attempt to rehabilitate his comments, which he also try to do via the New York Times.
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Greetings good citizen,
The rumblings on the financial sites are ominous and ‘change’, when it comes, could occur very quickly indeed.
Left to your ‘imagination’ is what to do when the world as we have come to know it no longer functions the way it should. When the lights go out and the water stops running will you hunker down where you are or will you innocently wander into the crosshairs of the local survivalists?
Before you high tail it for the woods, there’s something you need to consider:
Massive Economic Disaster Seems Possible -- Will Survivalists Get the Last Laugh?
By Scott Thill, AlterNet. Posted July 26, 2008.With multiple crises on the horizon, survivalist views don't seem as marginal as they did before. read more »
Signaling a new aggressiveness, aides to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Saturday that he is going up immediately with an ad called "Troops" criticizing Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) for canceling plans to visit wounded troops at a U.S. military hospital in Germany.
The 30-second ad is to run during NBC's "Saturday Night Live" in Denver. Colorado is one of this election's most important swing states. On Sunday it will air in the Washington market and in Harrisburg, Pa., another key swing state.
An announcer says: "Barack Obama never held a single Senate hearing on Afghanistan. He hadn't been to Iraq in years. He voted against funding our troops. And now, he made time to go to the gym, but cancelled a visit with wounded troops. Seems the Pentagon wouldn't allow him to bring cameras. John McCain is always there for our troops. McCain. Country first."
Then McCain says: "I'm John McCain and I approve this message."
Two questions for the Obama team: were they deliberately set up by the Bush Pentagon? And how long till they produce a response ad? They'd better do the latter quickly, and not get caught up in the "it wasn't a mistake" meme. Worse, the Obama camp's explanation, that he didn't want to exploit the troops politically, is frankly not going to fly in the environment the McCainiacks are about to create for him. The McCain people are meaner, and more desperate, than they are. They've got to constantly keep that in mind. As Josh Marshall puts it:
McCain's new ad, which you can see here, is really beyond disgusting. At this point I think it's clear that honor really doesn't mean much to McCain. When things get tough, as it is in this election campaign, there's no limit to what he'll do.
That may be true, but based on the headlines it's creating, which at this point are subsuming the positive headlines from earlier in the week, the Germany troops visit story will be THE attack thread of the next few weeks of the campaign, and the media WILL play ball.
Meanwhile, it seems the McCain ad uses images of Obama WITH American troops to say he didn't visit American troops...
McCain's campaign didn't have footage of Obama's actual trip to the gym Wednesday in Germany, so for the portion of their new ad when they ding the Democrat for making time to work out they flash imagery of Obama shooting hoops.Obama fans are reacting angrily, but I don't think that most of them realize how effective this line of attack can be, particularly with older, more conservative Democrats in key swing states. This is going to be pounded day after day on talk radio from now to the convention, and probably beyond. Despite the outrage of using DOD footage in a campaign ad, and the plain falsehood of the attack, the ad represents the way John McCain plays ball, and the way he will continue to do so throughout this campaign. Fasten your seatbelts. It's not by accident that McCain acquired the following commentary, cribbed with great thanks from a an anonymous commenter on Politico:
The problem, as noted by many emailers, is that the shots are taken are from a gym on an American military post. That's right, McCain's camp went after Obama for ditching a trip to see wounded troops with images of Obama's visit to see American military personnel stationed in Kuwait last weekend.
Good thing for McCain, the picture is too blurry to make clear Obama is with soldiers at the time.
"His temper would place this country at risk in international affairs, and the world perhaps in danger. In my mind, that should disqualify him." - Former Senator Bob Smith, R-NH
"The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He is erratic." - Senator Thad Cochran, R-MS
"I decided I didn't want this guy anywhere near a trigger." - Senator Pete Domenici, R-NM
"There's nothing redeeming about John McCain...he's a hypocrite." - Former House GOP Whip Tom DeLay
"He is a vicious person. They so disliked him that they wouldn't support him." - Former Representative Charles LeBoutillier, R-NY
"What happens if he gets angry in crisis in the presidency? It's the president's job to negotiate and stay calm. I just don't see that he has that quality." - Former Arizona GOP Chairman John Hinz
"John McCain is Bob Dole minus the charm, conservatism, and youth. Unlike McCain, Dole didn't lie all the time while claiming to engage in 'straight talk.'" - Conservative blowhard Ann Coulter
"Hardheaded is one way to say it. Arrogant is another way to say it. Hubristic is another way to say it. Too proud for his own good is another way to say it. It's a quality about him that disturbs me." - Larry Wilkerson, former chief aide to Colin Powell
An "embarrassment to the party." - Arizona GOP State Senator Susan Johnson
"I don't like him at all." - Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-CO
"It just seems like everything we did, John was someplace else...In my mind, he is not a conservative." - Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-IL
"He is the anti-conservative. He instinctively sides against conservatives and relishes poking them in the eye." - Conservative blowhard David Limbaugh
"If either John McCain or Mike Huckabee gets the nomination, it's going to destroy the Republican Party, it's going to change it forever, be the end of it." - Conservative blowhard Rush Limbaugh
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Despite these efforts, Nadia never became a big reader. Instead, she became obsessed with Japanese anime cartoons on television and comics like “Sailor Moon.” Then, when she was in the sixth grade, the family bought its first computer. When a friend introduced Nadia to fanfiction.net, she turned off the television and started reading online.
Now she regularly reads stories that run as long as 45 Web pages. Many of them have elliptical plots and are sprinkled with spelling and grammatical errors. One of her recent favorites was “My absolutely, perfect normal life ... ARE YOU CRAZY? NOT!,” a story based on the anime series “Beyblade.”
In one scene the narrator, Aries, hitches a ride with some masked men and one of them pulls a knife on her. “Just then I notice (Like finally) something sharp right in front of me,” Aries writes. “I gladly took it just like that until something terrible happen ....”
Nadia said she preferred reading stories online because “you could add your own character and twist it the way you want it to be.”
“So like in the book somebody could die,” she continued, “but you could make it so that person doesn’t die or make it so like somebody else dies who you don’t like.”
Nadia also writes her own stories. She posted “Dieing Isn’t Always Bad,” about a girl who comes back to life as half cat, half human, on both fanfiction.net and quizilla.com.
Nadia said she wanted to major in English at college and someday hopes to be published. She does not see a problem with reading few books. “No one’s ever said you should read more books to get into college,” she said.
Aiiiiiye!!!!!
American Hero: Rep. Robert Wexler calls for Impeachment hearings
copyright © 2008 Betsy L. Angert
In an region filled with inert sand, in the Southern most State of Florida, there is an oasis. This breath of fresh air moves through the trees in Palm Beach County and in the halls of Congress in Washington, District of Columbia. A man who envisions "a more perfect Union" emanates enthusiasm for the ethical principles that define the democracy he loves. He stands solid in his belief; a nation founded in freedom for all its people cannot let a corrupt authority take these liberties away. This spirited being has a name and a title, Congressman Robert Wexler.
On July 26, 2008, Representative Wexler once again expressed his worry for what has remained "off the table." When asked is impeachment too little, too late, he said, "The crimes of this Administration must be revealed and Bush and Cheney must be held accountable." The Congressman fears a commitment to the Constitution has waned amongst his fellow legislators, and perhaps within the citizenry. Hence, Robert Wexler submitted a call to action. He requests Americans consider the history of censure and what occurs when Executive power is abused.
Many of the people in Wexler's district exclaim with glee as they observe the vigor of this visionary, as do advocates of impeachment throughout the nation. However, an equal number within the electorate express dissent to the opinion, prosecution is essential. Some think we can wait, or as a nation, we have waited too long. Others say a trial will trivialize lawmakers. A petty and partisan focus is futile. Nonetheless, Robert Wexler is not dissuaded. For him, democracy cannot be forsaken.
The Congressman who identifies himself, as a Fire Breathing Liberal learned to survive and thrive in a Conservative State, as well as in the Halls of Congress.
Principles Robert Wexler adopted long ago have helped him to succeed. In his youth, the Congressman realized that many people may prefer to be passive, particularly where censure is considered.
Detractors of an impeachment inquiry by the House judiciary committee into whether President George W. Bush has committed impeachable offenses contend that no questions should be asked until conclusive incriminating evidence is either volunteered up by the suspects themselves or appears before them by spontaneous combustion. In other words, they say, no inquiry should commence until proof of the president's guilt has been unearthed-proof which would, of course, make the inquiry superfluous!
They may think it easier to speak of little of what concerns them. Congressman Wexler cannot sit quietly when he witnesses what he thinks is injustice. He understands and personifies the democratic adage, "every vote and every voice counts." Experience has taught Robert Wexler each person matters. He muses that any of us may not know what will move us; as he inscribed, "The reality is that sometimes issues find" us. Representative Wexler contends when a problem presents itself, people must address it.
Today, the unavoidable need to impeach the two criminals who currently occupy the White House consumes Representative Robert Wexler, and with good reason. Thirty-five Articles of Impeachment scream for consideration.
Wexler has heard the call. He has also listened to those who reject the notion. They say, "Impeachment proceedings would be a partisan effort." It is too late to censure George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. There is not enough evidence. To prove high crimes and misdemeanors. Hearings would be a distraction. Undeterred, Congressman Wexler reminds us.
This is not a partisan issue: Congress is a co-equal branch of government with the Executive, and it cannot allow this attack on our powers to go unanswered. To ignore these actions is tantamount to a willful concession of our rights as legislators. No Democrat, Republican, or Independent should allow Congress' powers to be so undermined.Nor should Congress allow the calendar to determine whether we should ignore abuses of office. No President should be given immunity and free-reign just because there are only a few months left in their term.
Impeachment Hearings can be held very quickly - in a manner of weeks.
Although today we don't have the votes to impeach today - neither did the Judiciary Committee investigating President Nixon until AFTER hearings were held and the truth was revealed. We must put a halt to this historic Administrative power grab.
Congress has not lived up to its promises, and we can no longer credibly claim that impeachment would upset our agenda. Our agenda has not withstood presidential vetoes or senatorial filibusters. If we do nothing, this session will be remembered for our conceding the rightful and constitutional powers of Congress, and little more.
The Congressman from South Florida offers a laudable verity. Robert Wexler, heeds the caution set forth by Conservative Constitutional Scholar Bruce Fein. If we do not impeach President George W. Bush and Dick Cheney then we will have allowed for an awful precedence, one that cannot easily be undone. If we as a nation continue to accept the practices of a President drunk with power, our republic will be perchance permanently crippled. Despite all the hype and hope that finally, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers has taken action, the truth is, an arraignment or even an adequate investigation remains stalled. Indeed . . .
"This is not an impeachment hearing," Conyers felt obliged to remind everybody."Maybe," proposed Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.), "what we're here for is something called impeachment lite. . . . We're sort of in that Never-Neverland of accusing the president of impeachable offenses but not taking actions to impeach him, which I guess impugns him but does not impeach him, but maybe it has the same effect in the court of public opinion."
There was more truth to that than Democratic leaders could admit in public. . .
"Let's restrain ourselves, please," Chairman Conyers counseled.
Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) also played to the gallery with his eye-for-an-eye logic: "If lying about consensual sexual activity fits the bill for impeachment, then certainly lying to the American people about the reason for invading Iraq . . . qualifies as an official -- excuse me -- as an impeachable offense." The crowd applauded on cue.
"I am inclined to remind everyone," Conyers intoned again, "please refrain from any actions of support or opposition."
Thus, the official word is that we, the American people and our supposed Representatives, must refrain, abstain, desist, and decline to vote or voice our objection to what has occurred in the Oval Office. Chairman Conyers claims that his colleagues and constituents must forfeit our Constitutional right to censure an Administration that commits countless high crimes and misdemeanors. Collectively, we need to be calm, while the crooks and liars at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue destroy our democracy. Perhaps, it is time to again consider why . . .
Wexler Wants Real Impeachment Hearing NowSubmitted by davidswanson on Sat, 2008-07-26 04:59.
Today, in the Judiciary Committee, we held a full day of hearings that focused entirely on the crimes of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, and featured testimony by Rep. Dennis Kucinich regarding his Articles of Impeachment against President Bush.
This is a great start - but I am far from satisfied. Following statements by Chairman John Conyers and the Ranking Republicans, I opened with a forceful call for genuine and immediate Impeachment Hearings for President Bush and Vice President Cheney.
The crimes of this Administration must be revealed and Bush and Cheney must be held accountable. Without Impeachment Hearings, we cannot break through the blatant and unprecedented efforts by President Bush to shut down legitimate oversight by this Congress.
As you know, President Bush has inappropriately and repeatedly invoked Executive Privilege to keep Karl Rove, Harriet Miers, Josh Bolten, and other White House officials from complying with legal, Congressional Subpoenas.
I believe the only appropriate remedy is to hold Impeachment Hearings.
While Inherent Contempt might dislodge some testimony or at least guarantee the appearance of witnesses, the larger concern is the President's outrageous abuse of Executive Privilege.
We have been down this road before: in 1973, Articles of Impeachment were introduced against President Nixon after he illegally tried to use Executive Privilege to bury evidence of his wrongdoings.
I fully recognize the significance of holding Impeachment Hearings, and I have not come to this position lightly - but when the President of the United States takes actions that amount to high crimes, we are left with no other option than to seek his impeachment and removal from office.
Our government was founded upon a delicate balance of powers - whereby one branch carefully checks the other branches to prevent a dangerous consolidation of power. President Bush's actions have totally destroyed this careful balance. Without these checks and balances, the President could run roughshod over any law and turn us into a nation...?...where wars can be waged based on lies?...and laws can be rewritten without the input of Congress or the American people.
Congress must end this disturbing pattern of behavior, and in these circumstances, the only option left is impeachment . . .
I am unbowed in my determination for Impeachment Hearings and I know you feel the same way.
Encourage your friends to stay updated and demonstrate their support by signing up at www.wexlerwantshearings.comCongressman Robert Wexler
Fire breathing or a breath of fresh air. Representative Wexler asks us to look at our history, and what might prove a perilous future. He asks Americans to consider the consequences if we do not censure an abusive Administration. Robert Wexler pleads, Americans take action. Support those few who wish to restore the Constitution and bring power back to the people. Perhaps, citizens might wish to peruse the thirty-five Articles of Impeachment, just as this Florida forward-thinker has. Robert Wexler requests that citizens, be they :
Democrats, Republicans or Independents, walk forth and breathe deeply. Let us remember why we love a democracy.
Investigation and Impeachment . . .
- Congressman Robert Wexler.
- Is Impeachment Too Little, Too Late? Less Than Six Months Before Bush Leaves Office, Partisan Debate Erupts. By Tom Giusto. ABC News. July 25, 2008
- Fire Breathing Liberal. By Robert Wexler
- Wexler Wants Real Impeachment Hearing Now, Submitted by davidswanson. AfterDowningStreet. Saturday, 2008-07-26 04:59
- Chapter 15; The Paper Chase: Making Your Vote Count, By Robert Wexler. OpEd News. June 22, 2008
- Zogby poll: Majority supports impeaching Bush for wiretapping. Zogny International.
- Conyers: "This Is Not An Impeachment Hearing," But Republicans Say Otherwise, By John Bresnahan. CBS News. July 25, 2008
- Kinda Sorta Impeaching the President, By Dana Milbank. Washington Post. Saturday, July 26, 2008; Page A03
- Articles of Impeachment. Presented by Congressman Dennis Kucinich. June 10, 2008
- Carts Before Horse, Impeachment Inquiry First, Ask Questions Later. By Bruce Fein. Slate. August 31, 2007
- Impeach Cheney, By Bruce Fein. Slate. June 27, 2007
First, the time of the show. Traditionally, Blast Off! Radio has aired live at 2:00 pm Eastern, with archived shows always available on the left sidebar here. However, I've noticed an increase in listenership and participation when I've occasionally run it at other times, for example, 4:00 pm or 7:00 pm. So, beginning this Monday, July 28, Blast Off! Radio moves to its new time, 4:00 pm Eastern time. I hope this will give more people a chance to listen in live and to participate by calling in, e-mailing, or chatting.
Second, as you may already know, the show will be extended to one hour beginning Monday. This is a move I've been considering for some time, and I've gotten a lot of positive feedback when I've brought it up for discussion. So, you asked for it, you got it: one hour of Blast Off! Radio every Monday starting July 28.
Finally, I'm hoping to be able to do more in the way of having guests and interviews and such. While I'll never achieve the success of the Quinnell/Morano "Big Show" or "The Mark Weaver Show," a couple of BO!R's sister shows on the Florida Progressive Radio network, in that regard, I'm going to start the show's second year with a bang: Monday's show will feature guests from the Code Pink organization, known for protesting raucously at (and being kicked out of) everything from congressional hearings to last week's Netroots Nation in Austin. Details are still being put together, but I can confirm that one guest will be my good friend, the inimitable NTodd of Dohiyi Mir and Pax Americana. Stay tuned for more information.
So, to sum up:
Monday, July 28
4:00 to 5:00 pm Eastern
Guests: representatives of Code Pink including NTodd
I'll pimp it in the customary way on Monday ... but put it on your calendar now!
(cross-posted at Florida Progressive Coalition blog)
Power Play discusses CFO Alex Sink demanding Financial Regulation Commissioner Don Saxon dismissal. Saxon's office poor background checks allowed 10,000 criminals to be licenced as mortage brokers.
The panels discusses Charlie Crist controversal trip to Europe. The trip cost taxpayers $250,000.00.
Crist also took a hit in the venerable St. Petersburg Times, where he was criticized in a political column for staying in $1,800-a-night suites while his constituents could, "barely afford gasoline at $4 a gallon to reach the Red Roof Inn."
Crist be styling.
15:10 Blast Off! Radio preview: new time, new format, and GUESTS!» Florida Progressive Coalition Blog And then there are some who maybe ought to stick to sports. Take, for instance, the latest from Buzz Bissinger, who craps all over baseball players on the NY Times Op-Ed page. His complaint? Baseball players make too much money, especially All-Stars, and that's obscene in a world where GM is going under. And he takes it all the way to eleven in places.
But the tick of obscene salaries just keeps on ticking in professional sports, the one sector of the economy I know of, except for maybe Internet pornography, that still dances merrily along in the bubble of its isolation from the real world. As we try to figure out not just what is fundamentally wrong with the American economy but with America itself, look no further than what is being shelled out to the men who play with bats and balls roughly eight months out of the year (after all, they need their rest after such taxing work).Set aside for a moment that internet porn hasn't been a moneymaker for over a year now (except that Bissinger has this habit of trashing the internet regardless of facts), Bissinger's point seems to be that inflated baseball player salaries (and later, football and basketball player salaries) are indicative of a sickness in the American economy.
Buzz, the problem isn't the players--it's the owners. Professional sports seems to be the one case I can think of where in a dispute between labor and management, the public comes down almost every time on the side of management, and I just don't get it. Actually, I do get it--look at the skin color of lots of those athletes who are pulling down major bucks. Toss in that they're in the spotlight while the owners look like pretty much any other old crusty white guy in a limo and that player salaries are the subject of headlines while the owners' net worth almost never gets mentioned, and it's easy to see why players get vilified.
But the owners are the best example of what's wrong in the US economy. They're a perfect example of the motto "Privatize the profits, socialize the costs." We see it right now in south Florida, where Jeffrey Loria is the latest owner to try to squeeze a stadium out of state and local government. He's gotten farther than anyone else has so far--right now only a lawsuit is impeding his progress--but how many locals do you think could even name Loria, much less pick him out of a crowd? He's about to get a $350 million dollar gift from the state, a gift that will put money in his pocket for years to come, and lots of people locally are happy to do it. Tax money--money that could be spent on education, on public transportation, on aid to the homeless or orphans or even on tax relief if you want to get Republican about it--is instead going to Jeffrey Loria. Hanley Ramirez, who (as Bissinger tells us) just signed a 6-year, $70 million contract, isn't the problem. Jeffrey Loria is the problem, because he's sucking from the public teat and giving next to nothing back, and best of all for him, he doesn't even take the heat for it because people like Bissinger have his back.
So when Bissinger closes his Op-Ed with this piece of wisdom:
So ask Alex [Rodriguez] for help, Mr. Parker. Ask him to pay for the cost of your cancer drug so you can live. Ask Manny [Ramirez] or any of the players at All-Star Game last week.I can only respond with--no, Buzz. They ought to ask Jeffrey Loria, or the Steinbrenners, or any of the other owners, because they're the ones making the real money, and they're the ones sucking away tax dollars that could be used to pay for Mr. Parker's cancer drugs. Go after the real bastards in this story, and not the easy targets.
And then hear the laughter.
If the 109th Congress will go down in history as boot-licking hand maidens to a criminal White House, the 110th will go down as the most cowardly, utterly useless opposition body in U.S. history -- the polar opposite of the body that faced down Richard Nixon, and the wimp-ridden antidote to the scheming, partisan body that tried to undo the election of William Clinton.
How useless is the current Congress? Let me count the ways...
They can't compel Karl Rove or Josh Bolten to testify before them, and their constant threats of "contempt!" fall by the wayside...
They can't out-maneuver Republicans, who stop bills cold on the House and Senate floor.
They capitulated in cowardly fashion on FISA, giving Bush everything he wanted on domestic surveillance and telecom immunity, junking the Fourth Amendment in the process (and they've got more coming, from the still-enforced PATRIOT Act to complete surveillance of the Internet.) ***NOTE: read this post on the Bushies' database of some 8 million Americans whom they could surveil and detain at will in the event of "an emergency" if you really want to feel sick to your stomach.***
They continue to give Bush everything his heart desires on Iraq, backing down time and again on the issue of a timetable for orderly withdrawal, and forking over all the cash Dubya's Pentagon can stuff into a sideways appropriation.
They cannot reign in a recalcitrant attorney general who is thumbing his nose at them as surely as his predecessor did.
They cannot pass meaningful legislation outside of a housing bill that even Bush wasn't dumb enough to veto in an election year.
And their only concern, from Pelosi on down, appears to be getting re-elected.
Worst of all, they refuse to hold accountable, through the only means the Constitution allows: impeachment; a president that many of them -- or really any of them who have an iota of understanding of the Constitution -- know committed clearly impeachable offenses (many of these guys are lawyers.) Instead, the Democratic-controlled 110th Congress, like their GOP-led predecessors, are spending their time "saving the president's chestnuts" and scheming among themselves to hold sham "impeachment-like" hearings that are unworthy of press coverage (which is why they aren't getting any,) while promising the White House that nothing will come of them. Even Dennis Kucinich, the author of the "hearings," capitulated, allowing the House leadership to let him make a fool of himself and his colleagues, while wasting the valuable time of dozens of earnest witnesses (not to mention bloggers, who thankfully have lots of time on their hands...)
What then, is the purpose of our current Congress? A useless bunch, almost all of them, particularly in the House, where most of the rotten, Bush-petting legislation and cowardice orginates, but also in the Senate, where Harry Reid and company continue to quizzle and cower under the outright treachery of one Joseph Lieberman.
With all of the lack of spine, one wonders whether the administration's domestic wiretapping extended into the Congressional office building. That might at least explain why they continue to do the bidding of a lame duck president and his criminal gang. Next, I expect them to approve offshore oil drilling and pass a law declaring torture to be the law of the land. What more damage can they do to the constitution and the Republic at this point, having declared, in essence, that there are no impeachable offenses -- that a president can break the law with impunity, and that he and his cabinet; hell, his FORMER cabinet members -- can feel free to ignore Congress altogether, with Congress's blessing. They have squandered their constitutional prerogatives, made a mockery of their own authority, and allowed that man, that idiot in the White House, to humiliate them and blacken our country's honor, not to mention killing more than 4,000 of our bravest citizens in furtherance of a fundamentally un-American neoconservative cause.
Now the Debbie Wasserman Schultz's of the world might explain that I simply don't understand how politics works -- the Congress has to "get the people's business done," and the people want lower gas bills, not impeachment. Well when members of Congress take the oath of office, they, like the president, swear to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. The pork for their districts comes later. And because the Constitution is so fundamental to our freedoms, to our ability to live free in a country that still belongs to us, and not the president, impeachment of a criminal administration IS the people's business. Getting re-elected, well, that's YOUR business, Debbie. Besides, what exactly has Congress gotten done "for us" in the last two years? Hm? Not much.
As People for the American Way wrote after the House began pushing to give Bush more surveillance powers:
Checks and balances are endangered when Congress refuses to perform its oversight role and hold members of the executive branch accountable for their actions. The Intelligence Committee decision is just the latest in a series of caves to the White House by this Republican-led Congress. Congress caved when it reauthorized the PATRIOT Act, which includes provisions that deprive Americans of civil liberties. Congress has failed to fulfill its oversight responsibility for a wide variety of executive agencies, including the Mine Safety and Health Administration, which has reportedly reduced some fines for safety violations and failed to collect others at all.2 Congress has refused to investigate the Bush administration’s attempt to hide the true estimated cost of its Medicare prescription drug benefit, the White House’s disclosure of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame’s identity, and corporate special interests’ and oil lobbyists’ involvement in Vice President Cheney’s energy policy task force.At this stage, I'm not even sure why they're there. We should throw off this false patina of multi-cameral government and simply install our president as king. He already has his puppet parliament.
It’s no wonder that, according to the Washington Post, “Government scholars and watchdog groups say the decline of congressional oversight in recent years has thrown off kilter the system of checks and balances the Founding Fathers created to keep no one branch of government from becoming too powerful.”iii
If I had my way, our pathetic Congress would be turned out on their asses this fall, starting with Nancy, Harry and the hugely disappointing John Conyers, and with the exception of a small handful, including Jim Webb (because of his advocacy for our veterans), Russ Feingold, Dick Durbin, Henry Waxman and Robert Wexler. The rest of them can go to blazes. (Chuck Hagel is retiring, Barack Obama is running for president.)
Unfortunately, most of these clods' seats are perfectly safe.
And that might be the biggest shame of all.
I'll close with part of the testimony from Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, one of the other "good guys," at the faux-impeachment hearings yesterday:
"What this Congress does, or chooses not to do in furthering the investigation of the serious allegations against this administration - and if just cause is found, to hold them accountable - will impact the conduct of future presidents, perhaps for generations."And we continue to sit by, waiting for a Congress with the courage to act."Mr. Chairman," Baldwin continued, "there are those who would say that holding this hearing - examining whether or not the president and vice president broke the law - is frivolous. I not only reject this, I believe there is no task more important for this Congress than to seriously consider whether our nation's leaders have violated their oath of office. The American public expects no less. It is, after all, their Constitution. No president or congress has the authority to override that document, whereby 'We the People' conferred upon the branches of government limited and defined power, and provided for meaningful checks and balances."
There can be no question at this late date in the Bush presidency that the issue of whether the American system will be characterized by "meaningful checks and balances" is at stake - and that goes to the heart of the matter of why Friday's hearing ought not be the end of a process but a beginning.
Even after George Bush and Dick Cheney have left the White House, the definition of the presidency that they have crafted will remain.
"On January 20, 2009, the next president and vice president of the United States will stand before the American people and take an oath of office, swearing to 'preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.' This commitment and obligation is so fundamental to our democracy that our nation's founders prescribed that oath in our Constitution. They also provided for the removal of the president and vice president for, among other things, 'high crimes and misdemeanors,'" Baldwin explained to the committee. "Presidents and vice presidents do not take that oath in a vacuum. They are informed by the actions or inactions of past presidents and congresses, who establish precedents for the future."
It is in the power of the Congress to begin setting the precedent to which Baldwin addressed herself. That power was defined by the framers of the Constitution, as were the practices and procedures to be used in executing it.
... (The) American people have been forced to sit by while credible allegations of abuse of power mount:
UPDATE: Check out Congress' latest capitulation, to big oil.
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Our digest and commentary on today's Florida political news and punditry follows.
Slave holders (not uppity descendants) looking for compensation
These pigs want a government handout? "Tomato growers and packers nationwide would be compensated for their losses due to the recent salmonella outbreak according to a bill introduced Thursday." "State to consider compensation for tomato industry".
Let's start with the facts: "Slavery exists in the tomato fields of Florida". You read that right,
Slavery exists in the tomato fields of Florida, a U.S. Senate committee was told today.And isn't this a nice touch,
"Today's form of slavery does not bear the overt nature of pre-Civil War society, but it is none the less heinous and reprehensible," Collier County Sheriff's Detective Charlie Frost told Democratic members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee.
No Republicans attending the hearing."Sheriff: There is slavery in Florida tomato fields". One reporter describes a recent scene in DC:
Reggie Brown was upset. As executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, he was before a U.S. Senate committee in April to dispute charges of slavery and human trafficking leveled at tomato growers by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, what Brown called “a purported labor organization.”"Florida’s Modern-Day Slavery".
There’s nothing “purported” about the South Florida-based organization (ciw-online.org) other than the status of its mostly Latino, Haitian, and Mayan Indian membership of migrants. Their employers often don’t consider them quite human. More like purported human beings
Here's an idea, why not require that the growers, as a condition of receiving the government handout, agree to comply with the thirteenth amendment?
Union "harms schoolchildren"
"Volusia School Superintendent Margaret Smith sued teachers union president Andrew Spar on Friday,"
charging his accusations that top school officials are misleading the public about the budget are false and defamatory.Did she just say that "Mr. Spar harms schoolchildren"? That sounds slanderous to me?
"I will not stand by and allow union representatives [read thugs] to maliciously damage my reputation and credibility in the community," Smith said at a Friday afternoon news conference. "Nor will I stand by while Mr. Spar harms the schoolchildren of Volusia County."
Anyway, "the lawsuit came one day after Spar called his own press conference to reiterate complaints he's leveled for months that top school system officials are using inaccurate figures to justify more than $40 million worth of budget cuts, including the layoffs of 220 teachers in June."
Smith is seeking more than $15,000 damages and a jury trial. She filed the suit personally, not as superintendent, and is paying for it herself. Ted Doran, who also is the School Board attorney, is representing her."DBNJ: Schools chief sues teachers union leader over comments".
Another fine Jebacy
And this isn't coming from the United Faculty of Florida or some other commie group:
Florida is losing some of its best professors in an unprecedented ''brain drain'' to schools elsewhere, the head of the state's public university system said Friday."State schools suffering `brain drain'".
And the state has the worst student-to-faculty ratio in the country, 31-1, state university system Chancellor Mark B. Rosenberg said.
It would require a $500 per semester tuition increase just to get to the national average of 25-1, Rosenberg told the board of directors of the Beacon Council, Miami-Dade's business recruitment agency. The tuition increase would pay for the $240 million cost of hiring 2,000 new professors.
Can't we pretend it is "health insurance"?
"A new report casts doubt on how much progress will be made by offering a “bare-bones” health care policy to the nearly 4 million Floridians who have no health insurance." "Skepticism raised over Florida health care plan".
Yippee - ki - yay , Motherf****er!
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel editorial board: "Congress has approved a national program to allow retired law enforcement officers to complete a shooting course for a concealed weapons permit that is recognized nationwide. Doubly unfortunate, Florida has signed on by offering a course for ex-officers to take and receive the permit. In part, the program's goal is to give retired cops a countrywide permit so they can act if they see a crime occurring. This is a flawed assumption." "Do we really want 80-year-old cowboys carrying guns?".
OK in our fields, but not in our jails
The Palm Beach Post editorial Board: "U.S. immigration officials have deported nearly 2,000 more illegal immigrants from Florida this year than during the same six-month period in 2007, a 50 percent increase that is on pace to far surpass anything seen in the last decade." "Cooperation working on state's illegal inmates".
'Ya reckon?
"A nonprofit advocacy group said Friday the state has greatly overstated the savings from Florida's Medicaid reform experiment, now in its second year in Broward County and the Jacksonville area." "Group disputes savings in Medicaid experiment".
Corporate America stuck with the "heavy lifting"
The Orlando Sentinel editorial board is tired of corporate America having to pick up the tab in these "private-public partnerships":
The regional effort is supposed to be a private-public partnership; yet it looks as if businesses are doing all the heavy lifting."City, counties can't leave businesses on hook to fund homeless cause".
Here's an idea, why don't we just get some slaves to do some of the "heavy lifting"? After all, "Sheriff: There is slavery in Florida tomato fields".
Another idea, let's stop with the "public-private partnership" BS (which are just access devices anyway (business to obtains access to decisionmakers, and politicians obtain access to campaign contributors). Just raise taxes and let the government do its job.
Even better, eliminate expensive police and fire defined benefit contribution retirement plans, that'll give us extra cash.
After all, its Broward
"In the Broward Sheriff's race, Scott Israel is still the Democratic fundraising leader but lags far behind the incumbent sheriff. Tight fundraising battles by two state House candidates, including one who could become the state's first openly gay legislator, have set the stage for a close primary. " "Broward candidates build on war chests".
"'The question is whether Florida will grow up.'"
Kenric Ward: "By the time you read this, Florida Hometown Democracy may have gathered enough petitions to make the ballot."
In the face of a hostile Legislature, well-heeled corporate opposition, erratic counting procedures by supervisors of elections, questionable emergency rules from the secretary of state and inexplicably blasé (or non-existent) news coverage, FHD marches on."Michael Grunwald, writing recently in Time magazine, quoted a Miami real-estate sharpie who runs an outfit appropriately named Condo Vultures."
“Eventually, Florida is going to grow again,” predicted Peter Zalewski.According to Ward,
To which Grunwald muses: “The question is whether Florida will grow up.”
The Sunshine State’s relentless boom-and-bust economy has been fueled by real-estate speculation, starting when land was sold by the gallon (a subject with which Grunwald, author of “The Swamp,” is intimately familiar).
Now that there are 18 million-plus Floridians — most of them living south of Orlando — it’s increasingly obvious that a construction industry on steroids is as unhealthy and unsustainable as a mountaintop coal mine. Relying on residential development for continued prosperity is like building a house of cards in a hurricane.
Few politicians will admit this. Their go-along-to-get-along attitude enables the scrape-and-sell game to continue. They depend on it for their financial support.
Florida Hometown Democracy is the “growing up” Grunwald speaks of. It’s the realization that pliable politicians — incumbent or newcomer — cannot be the ultimate answer. It should be painfully apparent by now that our elected officials are neither endowed with special insights nor unique intelligence."Voters can bring politicians to heel".
The voice of the people, ratifying or rejecting via referendum, is the purest form of local governance. Hometown Democracy is the check and balance that’s been missing. That’s why fed-up Floridians keep signing. They’re tired of being treated like children
The jack-boot thugs federal government to the rescue ...
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel editorial board: "Whether legislation before Congress can rescue the nation's — and South Florida's — housing market isn't clear. But it's certainly worth a try. Lawmakers finally moved this complex bill forward this week. The House approved a package to stem foreclosures with federal guarantees for refinanced mortgages, tax cuts for first-time buyers and lifelines for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae." "South Florida housing market needs a boost; hopefully congressional legislation can provide it".
Hey Charlie, don’t let the door hit you on the way out
Newspaper company employee, Adam C. Smith, who is traveling with the employees of even bigger companies these days, shares his thoughts about the VP thing:
"McCain needs to pick someone who is vibrant and brings a lot of energy to the ticket,'' said Florida GOP chairman Jim Greer, who naturally thinks Gov. Charlie Crist would be ideal. "And I think it would be in his best interest to pick soon, rather than wait. He needs to generate some significant media attention.""'The threshold for Obama's V.P. choice is simply do no harm. McCain on the other hand will be looking to send several signals with his choice,' said Republican consultant Todd Harris.
"He may decide that he needs someone that will energize the conservative base. He will most certainly want to choose someone who would be viewed as a leader in the next generation of Republicans, and he'll probably want someone who stands a good chance of bringing some political real estate with him.""Who will be wingman for Obama, McCain?".
Wet and wild
"Wet July gives Lake Okeechobee a much-needed boost".
Holly Benson on the job
"As of Friday, the agency had sent out about $48 million in emergency payments to 5,600 people who hadn't been reimbursed in about a month." "State 'Progressing' On Medicaid Glitch".
Unused
"Most of $5M fund for needy troops unused in Fla.".
Shouldn't someone report this to ... the ... SOE?
"For at least the third time this campaign cycle, Elections Supervisor Buddy Johnson will need to return a campaign contribution because the donor appears to have exceeded legal limits." "Campaign Contribution Exceeds Limits Again".
Florida, "The Al-Qaida of real estate"
"Perhaps the best way to understand how it could be possible for more than 10,000 people with criminal records to win state approval to work in the mortgage business is to think of Florida as historically sort of the Al-Qaida of real estate."
After all, ever since Ponce de Leon conned a bunch of unsuspecting Conquistadors that they could stay young forever simply by drinking the 16th-century version of Zephyrhills water, one cheesy huckster after another has used the allure of Florida to separate countless rubes from their money."Well, You Can't Deny They Love Their Work".
And since the state has become one giant strip mall from Pensacola to Key West, interrupted by real estate developments with cozy names like Pit Viper Palms, or Tea Pot Dome Estates, or You're Toast Terrace, somehow it only seems fitting the paperwork to get started on the fiduciary pillaging would be handled by experts in their field - thieves, goons and thugs.
Do they get an offset for contributions to the RPOF?
"Florida's chief financial officer says a Tampa-based company needs to repay the state at least $46.5 million." "Tampa firm owes $46.5 million to state, Sink says".
From Limbaugh to you via the liberal media
This from the liberals at the St. Pete Times: "Edwards scandal: Silence, please".
More government regulation
"State regulators are worried that a new self-insurance fund lacks enough members to spread its risk and say it hasn't submitted all the paperwork needed