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Friday, June 20th, 2008
| Time |
Event |
| 11:53a |
Bad actors
If 'Soviet' was a 'Workers State" why didn't workers defend it in
1990?
Whether we like it or not didn't the workers in 'Soviet' Union defend the country with the misleading name Soviet Union when the state was dismantled. Workers in Russia did not mobilize to defend the so- called workers state simply because they understood the state did not represent their interests.
So were counter-revolutionary scumbags, Lenin and Trotsky responsible for the defeat of the soviet
power and the proletarian internationalism? Yes, mainly, but they were not individual actors. They were just the first 'stalinists' who expressed the totalitarian interests of a red-fascist party-state dictatorship. | | 11:59a |
Doubling down
Kucinich vows more impeachment articles. (Think Progress)
In a new interview with the Washington Post, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) said that he will be giving the House Judiciary Committee 30 days to act on his 35 articles of impeachment against President Bush, otherwise he will go back to the House floor with double as many: “‘The minute the leadership said “this is dead on arrival” I said that I hope they believe in life after death; because I’m coming back with it,’ Kucinich vowed in an interview with the Sleuth this week. ‘It’s not gonna die. Because I’ll come back with more articles. Not 35, but perhaps 60 articles.’”
THIS is a representative who knows what’s important. Click through to watch the video of the interview.@
MAKETHEMACCOUNTABLE
Yr a pretty funny guy Dennis. We'll kill you last. | | 12:04p |
Haynes code
Sen. Reed castigates William Haynes: ‘You degraded the integrity of the U.S. military.’ (Think Progress)
Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee [Tuesday], former Pentagon counsel William Haynes tried to absolve himself of blame for detainee abuse in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay. “As the lawyer, I was not the decision maker. I was the adviser,” he said. With anger in his voice, Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) told Haynes that his advice had led American soldiers drastically astray: “You did a disservice to the soldiers of this nation. You empowered them to violate basic conditions which every soldier respects — the Uniformed Code of Military Justice, the Geneva Convention. … Don’t go around with this attitude of you’re protecting the integrity of the military. You degraded the integrity of the United States military.”
Click through to watch the video. @ makethemaccountable
General who probed Abu Ghraib says Bush officials committed war crimes
WASHINGTON — The Army general who led the investigation into prisoner abuse at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison accused the Bush administration Wednesday of committing “war crimes” and called for those responsible to be held to account.
Arnie was on the news last night approving a new BB link between California and Victoria. It seems he's off the lunar right reservation on stem-cell research. Also probably off-shore drilling. Couple of good wedge issues there. | | 12:10p |
You asked for it Filthy dog democrats listen up - its core-dump time for you swine '...Speak in the only language they understand: Money. http://www.actblue.com/page/fisa$80K raised in 24 hours. Current donation total $209,868. Just keep refreshing that page and watch it happen. And then help make it happen. This is part of something much bigger. Read on: http://thestrangebedfellows.com/Background: Glenn Greenwald is spearheading a left-right coalition to target and punish the beltway Dems who have rammed this through, starting with Steny Hoyer. http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/06/18/fisa_campaign/index.htmlThe Ron Paul fundraising folks are on board. The folks who raised $6 million for him in a single fundraising day. (Yes, there was advance work and prep. That's the point.) That means there's a moneybomb in the works. So, folks, time to put our money where our mouths are. Contribute what you can. And then call Hoyer's office and tell him you did, and why. Like it says on the ActBlue page: After Dick Gephart betrayed the majority of House Democrats and plotted with Bush, Cheney and some Blue Dogs to thwart the will of the majority and rubber stamp Bush’s decision to attack and occupy Iraq, he was forced out of his role as Democratic Leader. Steny Hoyer deserves the exact same fate...' http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/06/bipartisan_solution_on_surveil.phpScumbag Barry MIA '...Press Obama for a stance against immunity. I called the Obama campaign today and asked Obama to come out publicly against immunity. The person who I talked to said he’d had several calls on this and would pass it along. Call 866-675-2008 option 6 to speak to someone, although others say the line is busy. 866-675-2008 option 6 I sent a fax to his Senate office and got through an hour ago 10:30 pdst His office Fax: 202-228-4260 Free online faxing: http://faxzero.com/Posted by Bushie...' It's not too late to register your views - the bill isn't law yet: Steny Hoyer: Phone - (202) 225-4131 Fax - (202) 225-4300 Jay Rockefeller: (202) 224-6472 (202) 224-7665 Main Fax Posted by Dee Dee '...Contribute to the exploding campaign to target and punish the toads who rammed this thing through, starting with Steny Hoyer...' Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman John "Jay" Rockefeller (WV), Senate Intelligence Committee Vice-Chair Kit Bond (MO), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (MD), and House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (MO) No Speaker of the House, no Senate Majority Leader, no House Judiciary Committee chair, no Senate Judiciary Chair. 'Leadership' seems to be missing there. I see only second-rank (and second-rate?) congresscritters. I hope that the real leaders (I'm looking at YOU, HRC and BHO, as well as Feingold and Durbin) will do whatever it takes to shortcircuit this piece o'crap. Posted by PJEvans One point that we should not forget is that Hoyer, Rockefeller, Reyes, etc. did not have to do this. Hoyer negotiated with Kit Bond and the White House in secret (denying it until the very end) and announced it when it was a fait accomplait. So it is really not a case of the Democratic leaders being reamed from behind---they were active and willing participants who went the extra mile to do this. Even under DeLay/Hastert and the Republicans, this terrible bill could not pass. It wasn't until the Democrats took control before the bill could finally make it this far. As to Dodd filibustering this, I think that Reid would also go the extra mile to prevent him from succeeding. I'm so disgusted with the Democratic "leadership". I can only hope everyone else has a good memory and send these turncoats back where they came from , even if it takes until 2010, 2014, or even 2016. Posted by JosephP Rockefeller, Hoyer, and two Republicans. I'm not impressed. Write your congressfolk. Posted by SqueakyRat Looks like Democratic Party grassroots (netroots) has their work cut out for them over the next six to eight years funding primary challenges. I called my congressperson. He'll vote against it or I'll personally come up with the maximum I can donate for his Democratic challenger come the next primary season. It's time to dump the leadership of **both** parties. Posted by maynard '...Steney Hoyer is criminally negligent as far as I am concerned. You do not grant immunity until you know what the goods are. A mix of greed and cowardice, where one drives t'other. Obama's grass roots org is now impacting this broken federal system. Who will prevail? Chris Dodd, your country needs you now more than ever. Posted by Marioth Ya think it's just a co-inky-dink that Dodd's alleged special treatment scandal involving Countrywide appeared on the landscape just now? I think not. The Republicans are incredibly good at blackmail and intimidation. It's their forte. The Democrats are only good at laying back and enjoying it. Posted by oleeb Cowards! Poltroons! These lily-livered wimpocrats have outdone even themselves this time. What's the point of even acting as though they haven't given away the store? It would be better if they simply announced what they got in return for an agreement to completely capitulate to the Republicans? How dare they! Hoyer and Rockefeller have violated their oath to protect the Constitution and the laws of the land. Anyone who votes for this piece of shit does likewise. Posted by oleeb Sen Obama needs to confront this with the speed and diligence of his anti-rumor web site. Unless he steps up, nothing will change. Posted by Marioth Vote Green instead. Write your own name in on the ballot. Don't vote. But stop enabling. Posted by socraticgadfly The state did not "give" us the Bill of Rights parchment. It just recognizes some. Human and civil rights are INALIENABLE. No state can take any away anywhere without a fight to the death. Better to die on our feet than live on our knees. | | 1:33p |
Decapitation stratergery
Knock His Bloch Off
Facing a growing staff revolt, Bush's scandal-plagued head of the Office of Special Counsel (the one who tried to bamboozle investigators by taking his hard drive to Rent-A-Geek) plans a pricey staff retreat.
"We're trying to deal with this by decapitation," one official in the office told TPM. "The big question is: Why isn't the White House letting him go?"
--Josh Marshall - TALKING POINTS MEMO
FISA GLORY HOLE OPEN IN US SENATE TOILET - WHERES BARRY BIGMOUTH! | | 1:46p |
Leftists for patriachal repression Brumby running with red-dogs Nicaragua and Chile Article from New Matilda: The Cs Have It By Rachel Funari *Only one of the models put forward to decriminalise abortion in Victoria reflects current practice, argues Rachel Funari. So why isn't it being taken seriously?* I predict that abortion will one day be fully legal and accepted, just as slavery is now considered immoral and the eight-hour workday is standard practice. The abolition of slavery and institution of workers' rights were very hard won. So will be abortion rights. Victorians now have the opportunity to take us a step closer to this victory. In September 2007, the Victorian State Government finally moved to address the disconnect between abortion law and civil life after Labor MP Candy Broad brought a private member's bill before the State's Parliament. Rather than debating the abortion decriminalisation bill, Victorian Premier John Brumby's Cabinet provided terms of reference to the State's Law Reform Commission to provide options for decriminalisation. Broad withdrew her bill. The Commission tabled its final report on
abortion law on 29 May, a month after it was handed to the
Attorney-General.
The report puts forward three models, all of which decriminalise abortion by
taking legislation from the *Crimes Act 1958* and putting it into the *Health
Act 1958*.
Model A maintains the current illegality of any abortion that is not a
response to a doctor's determination of grave harm to a woman if she
continues her pregnancy.
Model B legalises all abortions performed before 24 weeks gestation and
determines legality after 24 weeks as in Model A.
Model C deems all abortions legal if consented to by the pregnant woman and
performed or supervised by a qualified practitioner.
Brumby quickly announced that he considers the coming caucus debate to be
between Models A and B, which places him in a disappointingly conservative
position in relation to women's reproductive rights - though perhaps not a
surprise given that Broad's bill had fully decriminalised abortion. It is
especially galling considering that Model A does not meet Brumby's own terms
of inquiry, which state that the purpose of abortion law reform is to
clarify and modernise the law in line with current clinical practice and
community standards that will neither restrict access to abortion nor
increase current abortion rates.
This suggests his favour for the more conservative models is political
rather than logical. The anti-choice lobby has taken the issue beyond
Victoria, calling for the Federal Government to continue bans on
international
aidto
organisations that give advice on abortion. A group of Coalition
Senators
has announced their intention to
challengeMedicare
funding for late-term abortions.
Despite the seemingly endless persistence of the abortion debate, Model C is
the only one that is modern in its recognition of women as fully autonomous
human beings capable of making ethical choices. It is also the only model
that reflects current clinical practice and respects the very individual
situations of women who make difficult choices about unwanted pregnancies -
pregnancies that may be problematic for all sorts of reasons from poverty to
abuse, from fetal abnormality to the lack of a loving relationship.
Model C addresses Victoria's current farcical situation, which pretends that
the approximately 19,000 Victorian women who receive abortions each year are
in grave danger and thereby obtaining legal abortions. It is the nature of
this farce that decriminalisation is meant to rectify. As the Commission's
report points out, no one has been charged with performing an unlawful
abortion in the State for 21 years. Why retain a law that is unenforced?
Model A's codification of the 1968 Menhennitt
rulesrely on
pre-modern principles of necessity and proportion - dubiously
interpretative concepts - to guide determination of whether a woman's
physical or mental health is in serious danger by continuing with a
pregnancy. The Commission itself concedes that Model A does not reflect
current clinical practice or community standards.
Nor does it reflect the tradition of Australian law, which the report
clarifies as based on the "common law principle that a fetus is not a
person, with legal rights, until born".
Model B is also based on opinions about the nature of the fetus rather than
the core right of a woman to autonomy. A line that cuts off a woman's right
to determine the medical procedures and relationships to which she consents
is clearly unreasonable. A woman does not lose her ethical decision-making
capacity at some medically determined point of pregnancy.
The report points out that the late-term dividing line is "a difficult
exercise in judgment" and the choice of 24 weeks is based in part on
(contested) clinical practice. However, current clinical practitioners are
against a two-tiered model of decriminalisation.
The majority of those who support decriminalisation, including professional
medical bodies such as the Paediatric State Committee of the Royal
Australasian College of Physicians, do not support viability or gestational
stage conditions as appropriate bases for abortion policy.
Model C is the only option that is clear, simple and modern and will remain
clear, simple and modern despite changes in medical practice. Its
implementation in ACT and Canada has not been accompanied by increased
abortion rates. It reflects some current practice and leaves any complexity
around abortion decisions to the women they affect - not to the law and not
to doctors.
It is also the only model that does not discriminate among women,
particularly against rural and low socio-economic women who face challenges
due to lack of doctors and facilities to provide abortion and fetal testing
services.
If either Model A or B is chosen to be implemented as legislation, we can
look forward to many more years of the fight for women's autonomy and
equality in reproductive choice rather than once and for all putting it to
an end by legal recognition of women's ethical capacities.
http://www.newmatilda.com/2008/06/18/cs-have-it
Other interesting articles:
Decriminalise abortion now!: http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/755/39006
Anti-abortion stance helps ALP:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23892650-5006785,00.html
*Pro-choice vote:*
http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2008/06/10/14849_news.html
I think if enough intelligent influential folks get together a new third force in anti-Nanny-state politics is possible. There is already an informal alliance battling encroaching state fascism. | | 2:01p |
Barry the Vichy bumboy Evidence is piling up like a blossoming turd that Barry is Vichy to the rotten core. He's still worth a bullet though. Just aim for the butt...where his brains are. http://firedoglake.com/2008/06/19/obama-supports-blue-dog-barrow-over-prog ressive-in-georgia-primary-why/
Strike one - Coffin-Joe
Strike two - Dog- Barrow
Strike three - FISA? Why wait? Assassinate. | | 2:41p |
Catholic birth control
As approved by the Department of Buttland Security
Commercial "Bliss" [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
About this time last week I noticed K-Y lubricant commercials with a bizarre regularity (worse than those Head On! Apply Directly to the Forehead! commercials used to be on cable-news stations) and at weirdly inappropriate hours on FNC on Comcast in D.C. Today I notice this chocolate commercial which could be a K-Y commercial.
06/19 10:21 AM - KY is explicitly referenced on the TSA website as an approved carry-on item.
* Baby formula, breast milk, and juice for infants and toddlers.
* All prescription and over-the-counter medications (liquids, gels, and aerosols) including KY jelly.
Catholic bliss | | 2:54p |
Kruddys bad week
Reminded me of a great old Polish movie, ' Man of marble'.
The model worker is helping pass bricks along a line.
Then suddenly the Stakhanovite cops a hot brick!
Classic attack on any speedo socialist hero arsehole.
The Krudd-9000 series is asking for some hot lead - I hope he flys CACI | | 3:59p |
Sleep deprivation
Forced feeding, water torture...but enough about my marriage...TAGUBA ON TORTURE....Anthony Taguba — not a Nation columnist, not a Code Pink activist, but the major general (now retired) who investigated the Abu Ghraib scandal four years ago — writes about the victims of our officially sanctioned torture policy:
In order for these individuals to suffer the wanton cruelty to which they were subjected, a government policy was promulgated to the field whereby the Geneva Conventions and the Uniform Code of Military Justice were disregarded. The UN Convention Against Torture was indiscriminately ignored.
....After years of disclosures by government investigations, media accounts, and reports from human rights organizations, there is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes. The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account. | | 5:11p |
Chaves a Go Go
A trio of law professors take to the pages of the LA Times today to argue in favor of a bill allowing the government to sue OPEC for antitrust violations:
The cartel's economic effect on the U.S. has been devastating, dating from the oil embargo in the 1970s, which led to the first U.S. fuel shortage since World War II, to today's unstoppable escalation of pump prices. Just in the last three years, crude prices rose from $54 to nearly $140 a barrel — which means U.S. spending on imported oil has gone from about $185 billion a year to an expected $440 billion this year.
....Imagine suing OPEC members for the amount they overcharged for petroleum products the U.S. government purchased. Then triple that amount....Imagine criminal charges filed against key cartel individuals when they come to the U.S. I like it. | | 5:23p |
When revolutionary means reactionary
The Hawaiian monarchy - whoopty-doo. They'll probably call themselves ' The revolutionary people of Hawaii' or something. But its not just groups like this that devalue the once proud name of 'revolutionary' to a point thats now less than zero. Its rolled gold frauds like Fidel Castro who doesn't even control his own museum-island.
Oh yeah...Dr Mabuse returns the checks he gets for Guantanamo bay - BIG FUCKING DEAL! - any genuine revolutionary would have allowed , at the very least, a peaceful blockade. Castrato is a fake, a fraud and a phony. Anyone who takes him for some revolutionary needs their head read. | | 5:50p |
Barry the fag playing at gangsta
Barack Obama:
I refuse to be lectured on national security by people who are responsible for the most disastrous set of foreign policy decisions in the recent history of the United States. The other side likes to use 9/11 as a political bludgeon. Well, let’s talk about 9/11.
The people who were responsible for murdering 3,000 Americans on 9/11 have not been brought to justice. They are Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda and their sponsors – the Taliban. They were in Afghanistan. And yet George Bush and John McCain decided in 2002 that we should take our eye off of Afghanistan so that we could invade and occupy a country that had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11. The case for war in Iraq was so thin that George Bush and John McCain had to hype the threat of Saddam Hussein, and make false promises that we’d be greeted as liberators. They misled the American people, and took us into a misguided war.
Here are the results of their policy. Osama bin Laden and his top leadership – the people who murdered 3000 Americans – have a safe-haven in northwest Pakistan, where they operate with such freedom of action that they can still put out hate-filled audiotapes to the outside world. That’s the result of the Bush-McCain approach to the war on terrorism. END
If they really misled the American people, and took youse into a misguided war, Bazza then impeachment and trial for the Supreme Crime of waging aggressive war is a slam dunk. Even incompetence is no real defense as people go to jail for culpable negligence everyday.
Now as you appear to want to prop up low Bush dogs than do the right thing, Barry, why don't you just stop talking through yr lame ass fool?
No-ones listening | | 6:03p |
'You must FIGHT!'
The Magnificent seven - 'You must FIGHT!'
How to pitch one last battle over FISA
by Kagro X
Thu Jun 19, 2008 at 01:29:45 PM PDT
The House currently stands in recess, subject to the call of the chair. That means nothing's going on on the House floor right now, and that's the case because the Rules committee is meeting to work out the procedure under which the Iraq war supplemental will come to the floor later this afternoon.
It's already late afternoon on Thursday, with just one more week in session for the Congress before it breaks for its July 4th recess. Still pending are the supplemental and the FISA bill, two enormously important pieces of legislation that the Congress definitely wants to dispense with before it breaks.
That puts us in a similar position to last December, when Senator Chris Dodd's filibuster of the FISA bill backed the Senate up against the recess wall, and the bill was eventually pulled so that they could finish up other pressing business before their recess.
Under ordinary circumstances, the deals that have been cut on these two bills would pretty much make them a done deal, especially in the House where there's very little capacity to significantly delay a bill for which there is the support of a determined majority. In the Senate, of course, a 60-vote majority can overcome even the famed filibuster power.
But sometimes, all you really need is a delay, and that is something that an equally determined minority -- even a very small one -- can almost always provide, if they're willing to endure varying degrees of the scorn of their colleagues.
In the House, the ground rules of the debate will be set by the Rules committee, as usual. But within the usual procedure used by the chair to put the Rules committee dictates in place are often numerous opportunities to cause delay, none of which are enough by themselves to significantly slow down important legislation, but which together can buy an hour here, an hour there, and pretty soon, you're talking about real time.
For instance, the House is asked for unanimous consent for various procedural and ministerial functions dozens of times during any given day. Most of them are merely requests routinely granted out of courtesy to colleagues, such as unanimous consent requests to insert written material in the record. But others, though equally routine, are requests for things like dispensing with the reading of bills, which can sometimes take hours all by itself. That's a huge waste of time (even though most Members haven't read the bills), and it's routinely dispensed with... unless somebody's pissed off. And then they utter the magic words, "I object." And then we either sit through hours of bill reading, or have to call everyone out of their meetings and onto the floor for a vote authorizing the dispensation of the reading, or whatever it is that's been objected to.
With two highly controversial bills coming down the pike in two days in the House, and the Senate poised to take them up immediately after, the serial objections of Members who want to slow things down can really add a significant burden to the work of passing them. What's more, you don't even really have to object in the end (though you might force a vote if you do, and that's 15 minutes by itself right there). Instead, you can rise and "reserve the right to object," and sometimes go on at some length about why you're thinking of objecting, casting about for some sort of concession or accommodation from the other side before withdrawing or finally asserting your objection. And if you're not the only one with potential objections, well, this can go on for some time.
But in end, House rules make it nearly impossible to hold matters up for much more than a few hours or a day. Twice that, though, if you've got two bills facing the same threat.
And that brings us to the Senate, where the power of a very small minority to delay is considerably greater, though also limited. But if the supplemental were delayed for a day in the House, thus delaying the FISA bill for another day in the House, you'd find FISA not reaching the Senate until early next week -- unless the Senators gave up their weekend to get to it, which is a distinct possibility.
But if FISA and/or the supplemental didn't get to the Senate until next week, and one Senator attempted to "hold" the bill, the bill's supporters would make a motion to proceed, which can overcome the "hold" (which is itself just another form of objecting to unanimous consent). The motion to proceed, however, is itself subject to a filibuster. And if a Senator did in fact begin a filibuster of the motion to proceed, although a cloturemotion could shut him or her down, the Senate by rule must wait two days before voting on cloture, and even if cloture is invoked, it still allows for 30 additional hours of debate before calling things to an end. That's more than three days that it would take just to get to a vote on the motion to proceed.
And if that weren't enough, the underlying bill may be subject to a filibuster as well, though it's possible that the particular procedures used to move these bill could conceivably preclude it. But if not, you'd be looking at another three days. That puts them right up against their recess.
Now, if that were to happen with both the supplemental and FISA (and no, I haven't heard of any combination of Senators who were willing to do that to either one, let alone both), then you could find yourself approaching the end of next week with neither bill complete, and that recess looming. Could they just wait until after the recess and take it up then? Sure. So what's the value of that?
The only value there is that from early July through early August is the last five legislative weeks before the Congress breaks for the national party conventions. The last chance for the parties to frame their issues going into the big show. And the last chance for Barack Obama to be a Senator.
At this point, Barack Obama is the nominal leader of the Democratic Party. He's opposed to retroactive immunity for the telecoms, and everyone who was opposed to it before this so-called "deal" was struck is, you'll notice, still opposed to it, though some have opted to throw up their hands and pretend they're being forced to vote on it.
But a word from Barack Obama at this point would have the potential to change everything. A word from him saying that this "deal" stands in direct contradiction to the agenda he's bringing to the presidential race would weigh heavily on Majority Leader Harry Reid, who's really only getting heavy pressure from Intelligence committee chairman Jay Rockefeller on this, and thus is likely to be inclined (despite his own opposition to immunity) to grease that particular squeaky wheel. There could be a counterbalance from Judiciary chairman Pat Leahy, but so far, we haven't heard that squeak. He's issued a statement saying he opposes the "deal," but he's not pushing the way Rockefeller is pushing. And though Reid is the Majority Leader, that's as much a service position as it is a leadership position. His membership just isn't telling him no. The voices that are speaking with conviction are the voices saying yes.
Barack Obama, though, is the heavyweight in the arena right now, and his voice, properly applied, could be worth a dozen chairmen. But he's not using it, and in fact, there's no guarantee he ever will.
But get us into next week, pitch a fight in the Senate, back the Congress up against the recess wall, and call in the biggest gun we have, and we just might have that snowflake's chance in the hot place.
UPDATE: And here comes the rule for the supplemental, on the floor now.
* Permalink ::
* Discuss (245 comments) KOS
Digby and Jane might be prepared to assume the position and bend over and enjoy it but that doesn't mean we all have to. In fact we must not stop at FISA. The time is ripe for taking on Bushco over Plamegate. This cover-up is such a crime its got half the MSM sucked in. Getting rid of Bush will mean little if the Military-entertainment complex and the Vichy survive. There is a tide in the affairs of all that taken at the flood leads on to good fortune. On such a tide we are now afloat. Bring. It. On. | | 6:15p |
Rules! In a knife fight!
'...isn't there a point at which we have to say there is no fundamental difference between the parties on fundamental rights - neither party believes in them.
Both parties have agreed that habeas corpus, the Fourth Amendment, and the Geneva conventions can be suspended at the will of the president. Both parties therefore agree that the president can pick any of us off the street and spirit us off to wherever to be tortured forever, with no recourse ever. Both parties agree that the president can take our communications or search our homes without warrants.
With these most basic rights gone, what do we have left that's worth voting for? Perhaps we should all stay home or depart for greener pastures abroad. Since the Constitution no longer has meaning, perhaps we should leave it to those happy to see the Constitution relegated to the trash heap of history.
Posted by adoptedmainer
The democrats in the Senate are for the most part, especially the Blue Dogs, a bunch of gutless, worthless, scum.
Posted by rbe1
I agree that the Rockefellers and Hoyers must go, but how does this amount to shooting Obama? Obama could put a quick halt to all of this right now by publicly opposing this unconditional surrender of our rights and the primacy of the law, but he remains silent. He has been slow to speak out in the past on such matters, but then there were Edwards and Dodd and others openly pressuring him by taking the more liberal positions on issues. Now that the pressure is gone we hear nothing from Obama on this. Telling? Perhaps. We will soon know how much Obama cares about the Constitution and upholding the law.
Posted by oleeb
In all reality, Rockefeller and Hoyer are really part of this the military industrial complex gang, an organized criminal apparatus the destroys humanity and dissolves freedom in favor of corporate control.
What Rockerfeller and Hoyer did was too destroy the Dem Party - how do you put it back together - you can't, UNLESS you split it, take the voters with you. We are absolutely at a crossroads here. We cannot continue like this, we just can't.
REID SPOKESMAN STATEMENT ON FISA DEAL
Washington, DC—Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, made the following statement today regarding a new version of a foreign intelligence surveillance law:
“Senator Reid believes this version is better than the bill the Senate passed in February and much better than the Protect America Act signed by the President last summer, but he remains opposed to retroactive immunity and is reviewing the bill in its entirety.”
This is the Executive Branch dictating to the Legislative Branch. Legislators should stand up for themselves.
Bush is requiring retroactive immunity because otherwise there's an avenue for investigating his illegal wiretapping program.
This could be bigger than Watergate except the Democratic leaders seem to really NOT want to confront Bush.
But it's not Presidential Candidate Obama's problem. It is Senator Obama's problem.
Posted by Angry McAngus
Folks, if you think the Democrats in question are caving you are seriously missing what is really going on here.
Here's a simple question. What would motivate Sten Hoyer and David Rockefeller, et. al., to agressively push for this bill under a Democratically led congress with total control of what comes to the floor, and functional pre-existing FISA bill and what looks like a coming Democratic landslide in less than 6 months?
These people are dirty and that is what will come out should the lawsuits against the telecoms go forward. How dirty? I measure that by the level of effort they are putting forth to make this thing go away.
I am begging whoever is running this Actblue/Strangebedfellows thing to make this a primary and permanent project.
It is really amazing that these Blue Dogs don't recognize that what we did to the Republicans we will also do to them.
So let's do it. Outenzie!
Posted by publius ignoramus
Pelosi can just not allow the bill to ever come to the floor.
Pelosi and Hoyer want this crap bill to pass, period.
I hope this site soon formally calls for the replacement of Pelosi, Hoyer, and Reid.
Maybe our "star" Obama isn't ours...
... but he's already been "brought" by some other powers... No one on this site could really bring up a single issue where he as a Senator stood up and demonstrated any leadership. Not even trying to filibuster the Alito nomination. Now, the Constitution and 800 years of western legal precedence of individual rights and liberties hands by a single precarious vote on the SC...
Obama may be the "pretty face" that allows the perpetrators of war crimes and the looting of our treasury to get away with it all. He's Wall Street "B team" choice since the A team screwed up so badly...
If this is the knife fight, where's the gun?
Time to put money where the mouth is, O. | | 6:21p |
Great to finally have a gay candidate 'Some gay men see things as they are and ask why. I see things that never were and ask why not Larry?' My money's on Obama fighting back with slapsies. Maybe afterwards, he and Nancy 'Fists of Fury' Pelosi can go grab a pedicure and a refreshing Zima together. Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room! http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/6/19/15338/6112/466/538538Save this thread to disk people for we are surely takin' names. I didn't vote for HRC But her campaign is a model for what I want progressives to do to the FISA bill: - Never, ever concede anything - Use every single available procedural tactic, even questionable ones, to defeat or slow the bill. Make bill proponents pay dearly for every step forward they take on the bill. - Question the motives of those who oppose you and make their lives miserable until they concede - Hold hostage the priorities of proponents of the bill: if they want a school or highway named, object, complain, hold it up - Never admit it's over, ever, keep fighting until you're absolutely overrruled in a floor fight (-5.50,-6.67): Left Libertarian Come on Barack Do the right thing. We got your back. (I just found out Barack and Michelle saw Do The Right Thing on their first date.) Too bad it wasn't Fight Club. We have to win, because we can't afford to lose. Kagro, it is time for the DKos FP to formally call for the replacement of Reid, Hoyer, and Pelosi. Every journey begins with a first step. Use your power. Reid, Hoyer, and Pelosi are about to allow Bush to write law from his desk by just issuing a letter, as regards domestic spying. What is that, the power of imperial decree? WTF, Reid, Hoyer, and Pelosi love to placate the Blue Dog wing; hey, what about placating OUR wing? | | 6:44p |
NOT THIS TIME! Here is Russ Feingolds position today The proposed FISA deal is not a compromise; it is a capitulation. The House and Senate should not be taking up this bill, which effectively guarantees immunity for telecom companies alleged to have participated in the President’s illegal program, and which fails to protect the privacy of law-abiding Americans at home. Allowing courts to review the question of immunity is meaningless when the same legislation essentially requires the court to grant immunity. And under this bill, the government can still sweep up and keep the international communications of innocent Americans in the U.S. with no connection to suspected terrorists, with very few safeguards to protect against abuse of this power. Instead of cutting bad deals on both FISA and funding for the war in Iraq, Democrats should be standing up to the flawed and dangerous policies of this administration." This diary about Wexlers position was posted earlier. http://www.dailykos.com/..."Any dictator would admire the uniformity and obedience of the U.S. media." Noam Chomsky Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed assassins can change the world. Indeed it is often the only thing that ever has. Leahy's really been asleep at the wheel, I think. I appreciate his opposition, and I appreciate the seeming futility of it all, but where's his gumption as chairman of the Judiciary committee? The key issue in this "deal" was purely a judiciary question, yet there wasn't a single member of the judiciary committees of either house in on the negotiations. Chairman Leahy just let Jello Jay Rockefeller crap all over his jurisdiction, and all he has to offer is a written statement and a no vote? Sick of Stern Words® Some senator needs to run a REAL filibuster. The Stern Words® do not cut it when our constitution is about to be eviscerated. "It's better to have a bleeding heart than none at all." --- Robert Elisberg Do the right thing Obama. The American people will support you but only if you do the right thing. Take a stand on FISA and withdraw your radio as in support of Barrow. Do the right thing Barrack, justify our faith in you. ' NOT THIS TIME!' remember? | | 6:56p |
Step off Barry
Either step up - or step off. Stop wasting our time here
Call Obama's office: (202) 224-2854, Fax (202) 228-4260.
Tell him that you know for a fact that enough Hillary supporters will vote for McCain to deny Obama the election, on the idea that if he doesn't have the spine to come out and speak/act now to stop telco immunity, he doesn't have the guts to stop the Iraq War. (Add that if he has the power to move the DNC to Chicago, he has the power to kill telco immunity.)
This should get his office staff's attention.
I called his campaign. The box was full.
I sent him an e-mail and told him I would hold him accountable. I don't have to donate, and I don't have to vote. I called Pelosi and complained to high heaven. Told her I would take it out on every Dem within my reach. I don't think any of it will do a lick of good. As I've being saying, hope and two bucks will get buy you a cup of coffee. The proof is in the pudding. Step by step, we'll see who Barack Obama is.
Republicans don't have 60 votes, and it doesn't seem to bother them one bit.
Barack Obama has cut a radio spot for conservative Dem Rep. John Barrow of Georgia, who favors staying in Iraq and favors immunity for the telecom companies, and he's taking a beating from liberal bloggers over it.
Barrow is loathed by the Netroots, and not without cause: During his 2006 reelection campaign he ran an ad saying that "we can't cut and run" from Iraq. And he was one of the House Dems who sent a letter to Nancy Pelosi demanding that they be permitted to vote for the recent Senate bill giving amnesty to the telecoms.
Obama's helping Barrow, one of the fuckwit blue dogs hankering for this piece of shit legislation. How likely is it that he steps up against it expending that ever so precious 'political capital'?
Color me jaded. If he steps up, great. But I'm not holding my breath.
You can lead a Marxist professor to facts--but you can't make them think.
Obama's Senate Offices in Illinois (0+ / 0-)
District Office- Moline:
1911 52nd Avenue
Moline, IL 61265
Phone: 309-736-1217
Fax: 309-736-1233
District Office- Springfield:
607 East Adams Street
Springfield, IL 62701
Phone: 217-492-5089
Fax: 217-492-5099
District Office- Chicago:
John C. Kluczynski Federal Office Building, Suite 3900
230 South Dearborn
Chicago, IL 60604
Phone: 312-886-3506
Fax: 312-886-3514
District Office- Marion:
701 North Court Street
Marion, IL 62959
Phone: 618-997-2402
Fax: 618-997-2850
BARACK - TIme to Step Up! (7+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
expatjourno, Phil S 33, karac, cybersaur, lilsky, paintitblue, IngeniousGirl
And show us what kind of Leader you will be!
Show us! Do the right thing! Protect our privacy! Defend our Constitution!
Make us proud you're our man!
Reality has a well-known liberal bias - Stephen Colbert | | 7:10p |
North to Alaska This is a horrendous bill. It destroys our Fourth Amendment Constitutional protections. Who can give us the delay- Wexler, Kucinich, someone else? And for those opposed to this type of crap, Glenn Greenwald and Firedoglake are running a fundraiser to go after those who are most responsible for it (Hoyer, Barrow, and to my utter disappointment, Chris Carney) http://www.actblue.com/...And they've partnered up with some prominent Ron Paul supporters (including the guy who engineered the $6 million in a day money bomb) here: http://thestrangebedfellows.com/Barrow particularly boils my blood. I always thought his district was conservative, but its not---its freaking D+2. And he has the lowest progressive punch score among Democrats! There's no reason for his district to be represented by someone who is so freaking terrible. Dear Senator Obama, If the proposed "bipartisan" "compromise" FISA legislation unveiled by the House of Representatives and scheduled for a vote in the House on Friday is passed the terrorists will truly have won. The fourth amendment of our Constitution will have been eliminated and corporate wrong doers in the telecom industry will be given retroactive amnesty. The signers of our Declaration of Independence would be spinning in their graves if they were aware how our "leaders" have perverted the heart of our country - our system of justice - using the evil politics of greed and fear to effectively destroy our tripartite form of government. Please do everything in your power to stop this legislation from being passed if it does reach the Senate. Please show me that you are worthy of becoming our next President. Please show me that you are able to obey the oath of office that you will take by having the will and ability to protect and defend our Constitution. Thank you, "They're trying to fool you. They're trying to scare you. And they're not telling you the truth." Obama '08 | | 7:51p |
ALP arrogance - ignorance
While these 2 may be close calls - blue wedges and desalination - the alternative Liberal Party regime is not inspiring confidence in democracy here in Wisteria by pursuing dissidents for their costs of legal opposition.
Imho the case for bay dredging was not made - certainly not to the EPA - and neither was the case for desalination as proposed. Where alternative deep-water docks like Portland even considered?
And what about conservation measures, dew harvesting, condensation green-houses and other alternatives in relation to the deforestation/water crisis?
Not happy John
You live like Mussolini - you fucking die like Mussolini you fucking dog | | 8:02p |
The world according to Feith
Look upon my works ye mighty and Garp
'State and CIA officials were too cowardly to raise any objections to the war during White House meetings' according to uberneocon and stupidist fucking guy on the planet, Feith.
Thats as maybe shithead. It remains incumbent on the commander in chief to run some rudimentary due diligence. The fact yr lord and Chimperor did not do this ...and in fact ran like a fevered rat in the opposite direction of complete imbecility is damning in itself. Plenty of people are in jail for far less than this.
I believe Defense Secretary Gates describes this sort of thing as 'criminal negligence'.
That is if the Doofus was really acting on ( allegedly bad) advice and not just acting in the very worst of bad faith. The worst example of its type since the illegal aggressive invasion of SE Asia.
If there is the slightest shred of evidence pointing to any third alternative to these two gross grotesque and clearly criminal examples listed then we have yet to hear it.
Since ' The buck stops here' any claims of ' bad advice' have fallen on deaf ears. It takes a stupendously tin-eared dickhead like you, Feith to assert anything otherwise. At this stage you may really want to assert yr fifth amendment rights under the tattered and burning constitution. Far dumber Goombahs than you have done this on far better advice than you ever proffered anybody you terminal dipshit. On second thoughts why not just stick a gun up yr arse and blow yr brains out?
If this was the Russian revolution you'd have Cheney/Rumster as Lenin, Wolfowitz/ Feith as Trotsky and rotten creeps like Feith, Yoo, Rice and etc as various Dzerzhinsky's. Permanent ideological revolution - Permrev. With Ahmed Chalabi as the neocon Che Guevara. | | 8:30p |
Kill all the Marxists
Walter ( Lippgloss) , don't you find it difficult to type sentences like this:
"The growing self-reliance among the people of China in the aftermath of the
recent earthquake are signs of strengthening in the country's population as
a whole.... China is shaking the world yet again."
... while holding the Little Red Book in one hand?
Every so often I read a heartening dispatch from China about strikers who
lock up in their office managers who they're rebelling against. Sometimes
they even beat or kill these managers.
Here's hoping the aggrieved parents get to do the same to many more of the
corrupt construction officials and those who took their bribes and covered
up for them.
Andy P.
MARXMAIL
On the other hand the thoughts of Chairman Boyle have been known to cure Herpes, Skin and Lung cancer, Karposis Sarcoma, AIDS and common dementia...all this is proved by comrade Ema Corro. | | 9:14p |
Ultraviolent bruises According to Tony Martin ( One) he could tell who his wife had been dancing with. That 'Singin' in the rain' guy left her covered in bruises...while Fred Astaire was always the perfect gentleman. Of course there are other possibilities as any kinky pervert knows http://www.cherrytorn.com/blog.php | | 9:24p |
Strike at will
Arson attacks by left-wing anarchists in Greece continued Friday, with overnight attacks on three branches of a Greek fast food chain, two branches of a Korean car company, a sport shop and two banks in the capital and the northern port of Thessaloniki. | | 9:33p |
Brutally slain The Cuban Libertarian Movement (MLC) interviewed via internet a punk musical group active in Havana for over 10 years who are today a significant reference in a counter cultural scene that merits recognition and solidarity. Without a doubt, Porno Para Ricardo www.pornopararicardo.com has become a legend of countercultural resistance in Cuba and a milestone inside the Latin American punk scene; likewise we’ve been able to confirm the growing interest in the international anarchist milieu regarding the activities and the anti-establishment attitude of the band’s members who self-describe openly against authority of whatever color. However, we think it’s not enough to advertise the existence against all odds of a growing and every day more important countercultural scene in Cuba where punk stands as the tip of the spear against all authority. It is precisely in this scene where PPR stands out with their independent and do-it-yourself music, full of irreverent lyrics which have resulted in harsh persecution by the bourgeois dictatorship of the Castro brothers. MORE ON http://www.anarchistnews.org/?q=node/4193MUGABE STYLE REPRESSION! GUANTANAMO STYLE HARSH PERSECUTION! | | 10:16p |
Terminal diverticulosus
Python emerges - Champion of the environment John McCain has issued a challenge to America. Let's build 45 nuclear power plants by the year 2030! It might not be "Ask not what your country can do for you..." but he's trying.
Barack Obama announced he doesn't want $84 million in public money. This means that even if you already gave the limit to Obama, you get to give even more! He's looking into offering a direct deposit system to take it straight out of your paycheck.
So Obama was all "lay off my wife," and McCain was all, "you lay off my wife." Then Cindy walked in and was like, "Michelle bites it" and everyone was like "daaamn!" It was intense.
How the hell does a 1.8 metre python end up emerging from a toilet in a 10th floor apartment anyway?
That's the question being asked by residents of an upmarket block in Darwin's Mindil Beach, where the unwanted guest was discovered on Sunday.
Slimy and smelly, the black-headed anarchist python found in a toilet bowl had a body as wide as a person's wrist, said "shocked" Northern Territory reptile wrangler Ema Corro.
"It's one thing in the territory to have a green left weakly frog up the toilet ... but not a six-foot python," she told the NT News.
"It would certainly scare you if it came up from the depths of yr toilet." |
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