Nov. 1, 2002 | In December 2000, we reported that Florida's use of a faulty and politically questionable list of felons and dead people "scrubbed" from voter rolls -- half of them African-Americans -- may have cost Al Gore the 537-vote margin of victory claimed by George W. Bush in Florida.
Fast-forward two years. There's another close race in Florida. This time, younger brother Jeb is fighting to fend off a challenge from Bill McBride for the governor's race. The Nov. 5 face-off could again come down to thousands, if not hundreds, of votes.
And even though the list has been widely condemned -- the company that created it admits probable errors -- the same voter scrub list, with more than 94,000 names on it, is still in operation in Florida. Moreover, DBT Online, which generated the disastrously flawed list, reports that if it followed strict criteria to eliminate those errors, roughly 3,000 names would remain -- and a whopping 91,000 people would have their voting rights restored.
Eventually the list will be fixed, state officials have promised, in accordance with a settlement with the NAACP in its civil rights suit against Florida following the 2000 election. But notuntil the beginning of next year -- and after Jeb Bush's reelection bid is long over.
Thursday, October 31, 2002
Jeb's Secret Weapon
Announcing Stand Down
A group blog dedicated to disseminating information about and critiques of Iraq invasion plans.
Sully's all upset because the evil Howell Raines has let his arch nemesis Richard Goldstein write for the New York Times. Over at the Dish, he says this of Harry Hay, considered the founder of the modern gay rights movement:
He was also a supporter of the sexual abuse of children, fervently supporting the vile organization, NAMBLA, and lobbying to make it a part of the gay rights movement.
while chiding the Times, and Goldstein, for not including such lurid details in their obit and column.
Selective outrage for Sully is nothing new, and nor is deception. While any support of NAMBLA makes one a bit queasy, it's a little disingenuous to say that he was a 'supporter of the sexual abuse of children.' His support for NAMBLA was more ACLU-style supporting their right to exist and make their thoughts on sexual consent heard than him being an explicit advocate of pederasty or pedophilia. One can look at this petition which is the centerpiece of his 'support for NAMBLA' and come to your own conclusions - this isn't really the focus of this post.
The real focus of this post is Sully's selective outrage about this topic. Consider this quote by Sullivan good friend and one-time substitute contributor to the Daily Dish, Camille Paglia:
These days, especially in America, boy-love is not only scandalous and criminal, but somehow in bad taste. On the evening news, one sees handcuffed teachers, priests and Boy Scout leaders hustled into police vans. Therapists call them maladjusted, emotionally immature. But beauty has its own laws, inconsistent with Christian morality. As a woman, I feel free to protest that men today are pilloried for something that was rational and honorable in Greece at the height of its civilization.
~ Camille Paglia, activist and author
in Sexual Personae (New York,Vintage Books1991
Or, this quote, from Salon:
As far as Ginsberg's pro-NAMBLA stand goes, this is one of the things I most admire him for. I have repeatedly protested the lynch-mob hysteria that dogs the issue of man-boy love. In "Sexual Personae," I argued that male pedophilia is intricately intertwined with the cardinal moments of Western civilization.
Can we call on Sully to now frame all discussion of Ms. Paglia as "Camille Paglia, supporter of the sexual abuse of children?"
There's also his recent canonization of recently slain Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn, who was also an advocate of the decriminalization of 'paedo sex,' which was enough to scare off that other member of the Fortuyn fan club Rod Dreher.
Think what you want about NAMBLA and "NAMBLA supporters." Just make sure to include them all.
He was also a supporter of the sexual abuse of children, fervently supporting the vile organization, NAMBLA, and lobbying to make it a part of the gay rights movement.
while chiding the Times, and Goldstein, for not including such lurid details in their obit and column.
Selective outrage for Sully is nothing new, and nor is deception. While any support of NAMBLA makes one a bit queasy, it's a little disingenuous to say that he was a 'supporter of the sexual abuse of children.' His support for NAMBLA was more ACLU-style supporting their right to exist and make their thoughts on sexual consent heard than him being an explicit advocate of pederasty or pedophilia. One can look at this petition which is the centerpiece of his 'support for NAMBLA' and come to your own conclusions - this isn't really the focus of this post.
The real focus of this post is Sully's selective outrage about this topic. Consider this quote by Sullivan good friend and one-time substitute contributor to the Daily Dish, Camille Paglia:
These days, especially in America, boy-love is not only scandalous and criminal, but somehow in bad taste. On the evening news, one sees handcuffed teachers, priests and Boy Scout leaders hustled into police vans. Therapists call them maladjusted, emotionally immature. But beauty has its own laws, inconsistent with Christian morality. As a woman, I feel free to protest that men today are pilloried for something that was rational and honorable in Greece at the height of its civilization.
~ Camille Paglia, activist and author
in Sexual Personae (New York,Vintage Books1991
Or, this quote, from Salon:
As far as Ginsberg's pro-NAMBLA stand goes, this is one of the things I most admire him for. I have repeatedly protested the lynch-mob hysteria that dogs the issue of man-boy love. In "Sexual Personae," I argued that male pedophilia is intricately intertwined with the cardinal moments of Western civilization.
Can we call on Sully to now frame all discussion of Ms. Paglia as "Camille Paglia, supporter of the sexual abuse of children?"
There's also his recent canonization of recently slain Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn, who was also an advocate of the decriminalization of 'paedo sex,' which was enough to scare off that other member of the Fortuyn fan club Rod Dreher.
Think what you want about NAMBLA and "NAMBLA supporters." Just make sure to include them all.
Wednesday, October 30, 2002
His name's Jam-Master, call him Jay
The crowd goes wild when he starts to play
Everything is correct, and A-OK
Jam-Master's on a move, but his sounds will stay
Jam Master Jay, rest in peace.
TBogg gets the quote of the day...
Oh well. Better ranting on Free Republic than perched on the roof, thinning out the neighborhood with a high powered rifle...
Oh well. Better ranting on Free Republic than perched on the roof, thinning out the neighborhood with a high powered rifle...
I do have to wonder if any of the people going after Ted Rall for his column about Paul Wellstone actually read past the title.
But, in any case, Rall did remind me of all of the conspiracy theories about Ron Brown's death that had slipped my mind.
But, in any case, Rall did remind me of all of the conspiracy theories about Ron Brown's death that had slipped my mind.
Proposal for Future Memorial Services for Dead Politicians
My good friend David Broder sent me an email today in which he lamented the partisan tone of Paul Wellstone's memorial. He feels that it was inappropriate that equal time was not given to the opposition party to air their views. When, for example, Paul's commitment to combatting domestic violence was praised, Trent Lott should have been given time to praise domestic violence. When his supporters and friends asked that Paul's death not be the end of his vision and his legacy, Tommy Thompson should have had time to air his thoughts on why Paul's vision deserved to die with him.
Broder's modest proposal, a good one as always, was for all future political funerals to be bi-partisan. If a politician from one side of the aisle dies, all formal ceremony should be put off until a politician from the other side does too. Then, there could be a joint memorial, with supporters and speakers apportioned according to the current representation in Congress. We would expect Ralph Nader to file a lawsuit objecting to third party exclusion from the memorial proceedings, but this shouldn't be a hindrance.
In death, as in life, bipartisanship is the highest ideal. We must have balance.
Broder's modest proposal, a good one as always, was for all future political funerals to be bi-partisan. If a politician from one side of the aisle dies, all formal ceremony should be put off until a politician from the other side does too. Then, there could be a joint memorial, with supporters and speakers apportioned according to the current representation in Congress. We would expect Ralph Nader to file a lawsuit objecting to third party exclusion from the memorial proceedings, but this shouldn't be a hindrance.
In death, as in life, bipartisanship is the highest ideal. We must have balance.
I don't even know what to make of this.
As far as the nation knows, President Bush does not keep a Richard Nixon-style "enemies list." If he did, though, Gabe Hudson might well be on it.
Hudson's new collection of short stories, "Dear Mr. President" (Knopf, $19), has made him a favorite of book critics, fellow writers and lots of readers. But the book, it seems, has had the opposite effect on the commander in chief.
If Hudson is telling the truth - and there's no reason to think he isn't - Bush recently sent the young author a two-paragraph note, complete with his own review of "Dear Mr. President."
"I was in shock. Very surprised," Hudson said Tuesday. "I didn't think it was real at first. I mean, who would? But once you hold the thing and read it, there's no doubt in your mind. I mean, nobody could fake the authority of that letter."
Bush's missive, however, was not fan mail.
"The letter began by thanking me for sending the book," Hudson said. "Also, I'm from Austin, Texas, and the president touched on the fact that I was a fellow Texan, congratulating me on my book. But he was setting me up for the one-two punch. Because he called the book unpatriotic and ridiculous and just plain bad writing. Beyond that, I've been instructed not to talk about the contents of the letter for the time being."
UPDATE: Buckminster Fush sent in a link to an excerpt from the book.
Not Just Abortion Shenanigans, Matt
One of the things most of my liberal pals seem to miss is that the various actions by the Bush administration to give various legal recognition to embryos and fetuses aren't just symbolic gestures to placate the anti-choicers. I haven't had enough coffee yet to inspire me to hunt down the details, and perhaps my lawyer friends can help me out, but from what I remember one of the reasons the Court has thus far declined to revisit the central ruling in Roe v. Wade is that there hasn't as of yet been the establishment of any legal status of the fetus - that is no establishment of their standing in law. So, the motivation for doing these types of things is to give legal recognition to the fetus.
So, I'm watching CNN and Jeff Greenfield, responding to polls saying that Mondale has 98% name recognition and is ahead of his opponent by 8 points says "well, you have to realize that it's been a long time since Mondale ran for Senate and you have a lot of new people who don't even know who he is."
New York Times Sunday:
Fewer people attended than organizers had said they hoped for, even though after days of cold, wet weather, the sun came out this morning. Participants said the shootings in and around the city in the last three weeks had kept people from planning to visit Washington.
New York Times today:
Emboldened by a weekend antiwar protest in Washington that organizers called the biggest since the days of the Vietnam War, groups opposed to military action in Iraq said they were preparing a wave of new demonstrations across the country in the next few weeks.
The demonstration on Saturday in Washington drew 100,000 by police estimates and 200,000 by organizers', forming a two-mile wall of marchers around the White House. The turnout startled even organizers, who had taken out permits for 20,000 marchers. They expected 30 buses, and were surprised by about 650, coming from as far as Nebraska and Florida.
Fewer people attended than organizers had said they hoped for, even though after days of cold, wet weather, the sun came out this morning. Participants said the shootings in and around the city in the last three weeks had kept people from planning to visit Washington.
New York Times today:
Emboldened by a weekend antiwar protest in Washington that organizers called the biggest since the days of the Vietnam War, groups opposed to military action in Iraq said they were preparing a wave of new demonstrations across the country in the next few weeks.
The demonstration on Saturday in Washington drew 100,000 by police estimates and 200,000 by organizers', forming a two-mile wall of marchers around the White House. The turnout startled even organizers, who had taken out permits for 20,000 marchers. They expected 30 buses, and were surprised by about 650, coming from as far as Nebraska and Florida.
For the record - which side has used the occasion of a man's death both to bash the other party and the way that man's sons chose to honor their father?
Some days I'm still shocked. After all these years. But, as the minute man reminds us, the GOP grief police are always with us.
MWO says:
Instapundit says:
Meanwhile a bunch of people who watched the ceremonies on CSPAN2 say the whole thing was rather unseemly, more like a fundraiser than a funeral. I didn't see it, but that would get Clinton, Lott and Mondale off the hook, I guess. It's perfectly seemly to laugh and gladhand at a fundraiser.
Actually, it's perfectly seemly to laugh and cheer at a memorial service. God, hasn't any republican been to a jubilant memorial service?
Some days I'm still shocked. After all these years. But, as the minute man reminds us, the GOP grief police are always with us.
MWO says:
So how did the Right react to the service?
Sadly, the soulless, seething Right did everything but physically crash it.
They filled the Internet with expressions of their excruciating pain over witnessing a celebration of one man's love, compassion, commitment, and, ultimately, sacrifice.
They put forth characteristically gauche, desperate cries for hate radio host Rush Limbaugh to commiserate with them in their contempt for all good things, calling on him to publicly dissect and trash the beautiful Wellstone tribute. They mocked the laughter shared among the Senator's admirers in hopes of making it a political issue. They did what the Right does - scrutinized, invaded, and attempted to defile a sacred realm.
What got them so enraged? For the soulless Right, politics is about power for its own sake. For the soulless Right, politics is about "getting theirs," wars, and angrily resisting those who would seek to promote American ideals like social justice.
So, naturally, they could not grasp a connection between the mourning of a beloved Senator and father by Paul Wellstone's friends and family, and their urgent, heartfelt pleadings for an election victory that would honor his life and legacy.
But trashing a memorial service of one of the most universally respected and revered public servants of our day?
It is because there are pitiful, spiritless people like them, whose blackened, hardened hearts know no limits of depravity, that the decent people of an entire nation cherish people like Senator Wellstone that much more, and will dedicate themselves to continuing his fight.
Instapundit says:
Meanwhile a bunch of people who watched the ceremonies on CSPAN2 say the whole thing was rather unseemly, more like a fundraiser than a funeral. I didn't see it, but that would get Clinton, Lott and Mondale off the hook, I guess. It's perfectly seemly to laugh and gladhand at a fundraiser.
Actually, it's perfectly seemly to laugh and cheer at a memorial service. God, hasn't any republican been to a jubilant memorial service?
Tuesday, October 29, 2002
TAPPED has a post about what they perceive as gay-baiting by Sanders against Graham.
[INSERT ELEPHANT IN LIVING ROOM PICTURE HERE]
[INSERT ELEPHANT IN LIVING ROOM PICTURE HERE]
What Hesiod says.
No one will celebrate the egg man's life.
UPDATE: just want do add -- anyone who doesn't get that the best memorial services, when possible, celebrate life and not death, is a truly pathetic soul.
No one will celebrate the egg man's life.
UPDATE: just want do add -- anyone who doesn't get that the best memorial services, when possible, celebrate life and not death, is a truly pathetic soul.
It's Okay If You're a Republican.
I'm not nearly as sanguine as Tom Spencer is about the political impact of the latest revelations about Mike Huckabee's involvement with the parole of convicted rapist Wayne Dumond, who later raped and killed another woman shortly after his release.
For those of us who weren't paying attention, Dumond was one of the Clinton Conspiracies. Short version is that Clinton interevened to put this poor innocent man away because of his distant relationship to the 'alleged' victim.
When the poor innocent man raped and murdered someone following his release, Huckabee attempted to distance himself from what had been his very public Clinton-hate motivated cause.
Waas writes:
Nice to see Waas is still working. Wondered where he'd been.
I bet Dunleavy wishes he didn't write this column. Or this one. Ah, I bet he doesn't give a shit actually. Lying piece of crap that he is.
UPDATE: To be fair to Half Moon Steve, I must point out that the liberal media loved Wayne Dumond too. Here's the Village Voice shedding tears for him.
For those of us who weren't paying attention, Dumond was one of the Clinton Conspiracies. Short version is that Clinton interevened to put this poor innocent man away because of his distant relationship to the 'alleged' victim.
When the poor innocent man raped and murdered someone following his release, Huckabee attempted to distance himself from what had been his very public Clinton-hate motivated cause.
Waas writes:
Huckabee has denied a role in Dumond's release, which has become an issue in his race for re-election against Democrat Jimmie Lou Fisher. Fisher says Huckabee's advocacy of Dumond's freedom, plus other acts of executive clemency, exhibit poor judgment. In response, Huckabee has shifted responsibility for Dumond's release to others, claiming former Gov. Jim Guy Tucker made Dumond eligible for parole and saying the Post Prison Transfer Board made the decision on its own to free Dumond.
But the Times' new reporting shows the extent to which Huckabee and a key aide were involved in the process to win Dumond's release. It was a process marked by deviation from accepted parole practice and direct personal lobbying by the governor, in an apparently illegal and unrecorded closed-door meeting with the parole board (the informal name by which the Post Prison Transfer Board is known).
After Huckabee told the board, in executive session, that he believed Dumond got a "raw deal," according to a board member who was there, and supported his release, board chairman Leroy Brownlee personally paved the way for Dumond's release, according to board records and former members. During that time - from December 1996 to January 1997 - Brownlee regularly consulted with Butch Reeves, the governor's prison liaison, on the status of his efforts, two state officials have told the Times.
[...]
"I don't believe that he had access to, or read, the law enforcement records or parole commission's files - even by then," the official said. "He already seemed to have made up his mind, and his knowledge of the case appeared to be limited to a large degree as to what people had told him, what Jay Cole had told him, and what he had read in the New York Post."
Jay Cole, like Huckabee, is a Baptist minister, pastor for the Mission Fellowship Bible Church in Fayetteville and a close friend of the governor and his wife. On the ultra-conservative radio program he hosts, Cole has championed the cause of Wayne Dumond for more than a decade.
Cole has repeatedly claimed that Dumond's various travails are the result of Ashley Stevens' distant relationship to Bill Clinton.
The governor was also apparently relying on information he got from Steve Dunleavy, first as a correspondent for the tabloid television show "A Current Affair" and later as a columnist for the New York Post.
Much of what Dunleavy has written about the Dumond saga has been either unverified or is demonstrably untrue. Dunleavy has all but accused Ashley Stevens of having fabricated her rape, derisively referring to her in one column as a "so-called victim," and brusquely asserting in another, "That rape never happened."
The columnist wrote that Dumond was a "Vietnam veteran with no record" when in fact he did have a criminal record. He claimed there existed DNA evidence by "one of the most respected DNA experts in the country" to exonerate Dumond, even though there was no such evidence. He wrote that Bill Clinton had personally intervened to keep Dumond in prison, even though Clinton had recused himself in 1990 from any involvement in the case because of his distant relationship with Stevens.
"The problem with the governor is that he listens to Jay Cole and reads Steve Dunleavy and believes them ... without doing other substantative work," the state official said
Nice to see Waas is still working. Wondered where he'd been.
I bet Dunleavy wishes he didn't write this column. Or this one. Ah, I bet he doesn't give a shit actually. Lying piece of crap that he is.
UPDATE: To be fair to Half Moon Steve, I must point out that the liberal media loved Wayne Dumond too. Here's the Village Voice shedding tears for him.
Max's take on Pootie-Poot gassing his own people.
Which I basically agree with. Even if one supports "stern measures" and recognizes the inherent dangers thereof, it's pretty clear this was a colossal screwup of result if not intent. Hey, maybe they did the best they could, maybe not. My guess is they didn't plan for 150 to die. I'm also a bit concerned with the summary execution of every single terrorist as well.
TBogg on Hitchens:
Outside of Richard Hatch from Survivor has there ever been so much written about someone who is such a flyspeck in the cultural landscape?
nope.
nope.
One thing that the Left (whatever that means) doesn't have is a group of non-partisan sounding front organizations for everything. Today, for example, Paula Zahn was talking to Frank Gaffney from the "Center for Security Policy." Sounds like a very serious scholarly place. Well, Frank Gaffney writes for fine scholarly organizations like NRO, America Spectator Online, World Net Daily, and Jewish World Review and the organization is affiliated with Townhall.com
Paula didn't tell us any of this.
UPDATE: Digby adds:
Paula really should have mentioned that the CSP's Web site proudly notes that no fewer than 22 of the center's advisory council members now occupy key national security positions in the Bush administration.
She also could have noted that the CSP is almost 100% funded by defense contractors and that it is the single biggest funder of the Iraqi National Congress.
She could also have asked Frank why his CSP, which ostensibly studies global security threats, only wrote 2 reports on the threat of islamic terrorism from 1998 to 2001, while churning out thousands of pages about Iraq and other rogue states.
But, no. Not even a mention of the fact that he is one of the key disseminators of neocon cant in the national security establishment. He's just a dispassionate scientific think tank scholor, analysing the data and giving us his unbiased opinion.
Check this out.
Paula didn't tell us any of this.
UPDATE: Digby adds:
Paula really should have mentioned that the CSP's Web site proudly notes that no fewer than 22 of the center's advisory council members now occupy key national security positions in the Bush administration.
She also could have noted that the CSP is almost 100% funded by defense contractors and that it is the single biggest funder of the Iraqi National Congress.
She could also have asked Frank why his CSP, which ostensibly studies global security threats, only wrote 2 reports on the threat of islamic terrorism from 1998 to 2001, while churning out thousands of pages about Iraq and other rogue states.
But, no. Not even a mention of the fact that he is one of the key disseminators of neocon cant in the national security establishment. He's just a dispassionate scientific think tank scholor, analysing the data and giving us his unbiased opinion.
Check this out.
Heard on NPR...
Apparently during the oral arguments over the legality of the detention of Hamdi, the American citizen who was captured in Afghanistan and who has been held without charges since, one of the judges asked where the limit was for declaring people "enemy combatants". He asked, for example, could someone [a citizen] stopped in an airport be declared an enemy combatant? The government's lawyer said yes.
UPDATE: NYT article on this is here, though I haven't yet read it.
UPDATE: NYT article on this is here, though I haven't yet read it.
Washington Post reports Gingrich lies.
Leading the GOP charge against likely Minnesota senatorial candidate Walter Mondale, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich accused the former vice president Sunday of supporting Social Security privatization and raising the retirement eligibility age, but it appears the allegations are false.
Miracles do happen.
Leading the GOP charge against likely Minnesota senatorial candidate Walter Mondale, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich accused the former vice president Sunday of supporting Social Security privatization and raising the retirement eligibility age, but it appears the allegations are false.
Miracles do happen.
Monday, October 28, 2002
Oh shit. Dick Morris just overstepped.
"Bush, on the one hand, is telling the American people that we have this super-crisis with Iraq," the top consultant explained. "And then he futzes with Paris and the United Nations, he campaigns in South Carolina eating rubber chicken, and he's not acting like a president whose country is under siege."
Morris said that Bush needs to "set a deadline for the U.N., stop negotiating with France - stop looking like a p---y."
The Bush family is like Marty McFly in this area. "Don't call me chicken!" Or, don't call them pussies or wimps.
"Bush, on the one hand, is telling the American people that we have this super-crisis with Iraq," the top consultant explained. "And then he futzes with Paris and the United Nations, he campaigns in South Carolina eating rubber chicken, and he's not acting like a president whose country is under siege."
Morris said that Bush needs to "set a deadline for the U.N., stop negotiating with France - stop looking like a p---y."
The Bush family is like Marty McFly in this area. "Don't call me chicken!" Or, don't call them pussies or wimps.
I agree with Brad DeLong that TAPPED was being way to wimpy when they backed down from their attack on that lying idiot Ramesh Ponnuru over the fact that he claimed that Mondale was "a major advocate of President Bush's position on Social Security . . . " Even if we can forgive Ponnuru for the "honest mistake" part of his fraudulent claim due to his reliance on an AP report, his claim is about as true as someone claiming that I'm a 'big supporter of Bush's War on Terrorism' simply because I think terrorism is bad. TAPPED should stand by their original statement that Ponnuru "lied, pure and simple." The most generous interpretation is that Ponnuru made a very strong claim that he had no justification in making. I suppose this makes him not a liar per se, but simply someone who 'makes shit up.' I know this doesn't disqualify you from your key to the pundit green room, but it shouldn't stop others from pointing it out either.
Hannity the liar.
Scoobie talks to him.
SCOOBIE: Well, that’s practical politics. He really didn’t have a chance against Pataki. You have to put your resources towards viable candidates, such as getting rid of George, er, I’m sorry, Jeb Bush, who was responsible for purging tens of thousands of minority voters from the polls back in 2000 through this felony—
HANNITY: Can I ask you—what is it about all these liberals; they’re so filled with vitriol. They so filled with animosity. Sir, no such thing happened. It’s an absolute lie and it’s even a bigger disgrace that you repeat the lie.
SCOOBIE: BBC journalist Greg Palast—
HANNITY: BBC, now we’re quoting the Brits, okay.
SCOOBIE: He did a study and he found how Katherine Harris and Jeb Bush used the felony voter purge to get tens of thousands of eligible voters off the voter rolls and these people didn’t have access to any kind of ballot once they were at the polls—
[HANNITY DISCONNECTS SCOOBIE]
HANNITY: First of all, that’s untrue. It’s never been proven. It’s never even been alleged except by the real extreme left like yourself. But what is true and what was chronicled is the systematic disenfranchisement of brave men and women who were out there serving their country—and that’s what Al Gore did. We have to break...
SCOOBIE: Well, that’s practical politics. He really didn’t have a chance against Pataki. You have to put your resources towards viable candidates, such as getting rid of George, er, I’m sorry, Jeb Bush, who was responsible for purging tens of thousands of minority voters from the polls back in 2000 through this felony—
HANNITY: Can I ask you—what is it about all these liberals; they’re so filled with vitriol. They so filled with animosity. Sir, no such thing happened. It’s an absolute lie and it’s even a bigger disgrace that you repeat the lie.
SCOOBIE: BBC journalist Greg Palast—
HANNITY: BBC, now we’re quoting the Brits, okay.
SCOOBIE: He did a study and he found how Katherine Harris and Jeb Bush used the felony voter purge to get tens of thousands of eligible voters off the voter rolls and these people didn’t have access to any kind of ballot once they were at the polls—
[HANNITY DISCONNECTS SCOOBIE]
HANNITY: First of all, that’s untrue. It’s never been proven. It’s never even been alleged except by the real extreme left like yourself. But what is true and what was chronicled is the systematic disenfranchisement of brave men and women who were out there serving their country—and that’s what Al Gore did. We have to break...
Today I'm sorry that one of the really finest United States senators amongst the 100 is
not with us. He's on his way to mourn the loss of a fellow Senator, Paul Wellstone. We
all send our send our prayers and thoughts to his family. Pete Domenici is one of the
fine ones. He's a really, really great American. (Applause.) He's a solid, solid citizen.
And I hope, if all goes right, next Tuesday, all around the country we're going to start
calling him, Mr. Chairman again, because we're going to change the United States Senate.
(Applause.)
lordy.
GOP candidate makes up Bush immigration policy.
You know, he lies. And I thought Al Gore was the only one who did that.
Republican Tim Escobar has an uphill climb in his battle to represent California's 39th Congressional District. The seat was drawn up by the state's Democratic legislature to be a Democratic seat, and the Democratic nominee, lawyer Linda Sanchez, is forecast to have an easy victory.
But Escobar has taken a bold, new step in his campaign: He assigned President Bush a new immigration policy. In a Spanish-language television ad for Escobar, the announcer declares: "Tim Escobar supports the proposal from President Bush to grant legal status to 3.5 million immigrants." The screen flashes a message that reads: "Legalize Immigrants."
This comes as a surprise to the White House, which is open to a temporary worker program that includes a mechanism to allow some workers to earn legal status -- but nothing of the sort the ad claimed. "The president has said he does not support a broad amnesty program," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
The Republican Borg has latched on to Mondale's age as an issue.
St. Regan provides Mondale's response for him.
REPORTER: Mr. President, I want
to raise an issue that I think has
been lurking out there for two or
three weeks, and cast it specifically
in national security terms. You
already are the oldest President in
history, and some of your staff say
you were tired after your most
recent encounter with Mr. Mondale.
I recall, yes, that President
Kennedy, who had to go for days on
end with very little sleep during the
Cuba missile crisis. Is there any
doubt in your mind that you would
be able to function in such
circumstances?
REAGAN: Not at all, Mr.
Trewhitt and I want you
to know that also I will
not make age an issue of
this campaign. I am not going to
exploit for political purposes my
opponent's youth and inexperience.
St. Regan provides Mondale's response for him.
REPORTER: Mr. President, I want
to raise an issue that I think has
been lurking out there for two or
three weeks, and cast it specifically
in national security terms. You
already are the oldest President in
history, and some of your staff say
you were tired after your most
recent encounter with Mr. Mondale.
I recall, yes, that President
Kennedy, who had to go for days on
end with very little sleep during the
Cuba missile crisis. Is there any
doubt in your mind that you would
be able to function in such
circumstances?
REAGAN: Not at all, Mr.
Trewhitt and I want you
to know that also I will
not make age an issue of
this campaign. I am not going to
exploit for political purposes my
opponent's youth and inexperience.
Go Jesse.
Gov. Jesse Ventura said today he fears the results of the U.S. Senate election on Nov. 5 will be challenged in court and questioned the fairness of how absentee ballots already cast for the late U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone will be treated. Ventura said that is one reason he is reserving the right to make an interim appointment so that Minnesota will have two votes in a post-election U.S. Senate session and during any challenges to Minnesota’s chaotic Senate election.
"I fully somewhat expect there will be litigation," Ventura said in an interview after he met with staffers at the Department of Natural Resources this morning. "I can’t see a way around this. And I think it’s going to come in the form of how the election is held."
He added, "It’s very difficult to say that it’s a fair election when they’ve already said that anyone that voted absentee with the name 'Paul Wellstone' won’t be counted, and anyone who voted absentee with the name 'Norm Coleman' will be counted.
"That to me right there creates an unfair election."
Iraq is no longer Iraq
Sully and Hitch say that by calling Iraq "Iraq" instead of, um, I'm not sure what, peace protesters "are de facto parties to his [Saddam's] vile propaganda." Because, Iraq is not really Iraq you see. Or, at least, we won't really be at war with Iraq -- just Hussein.
Here he praises Safire for doing it.
SAFIRE GETS IT: "The world must not allow Iraq to gain the level of destructive power that appeasement and misplaced trust permitted North Korea to achieve." Amen. I'd forgotten the damning Jimmy Carter quote of the time, likening his "breakthrough" with the murderers in Pyongyang as a "miracle." Here's what I want to know: why hasn't anyone in the press asked Carter and Clinton what they now think of their legacy in North Korea? Why are these people never ever called to account?
So, if peace protesters equate Iraq with Saddam on signs they are de facto parties to his vile propaganda. If William Safire does it, he gets it.
Orwellian indeed Andy.
I wonder when he is going to berate the networks for their various programs including "Showdown Iraq," "Countdown Iraq," "Target Iraq," etc...
UPDATE: Almost forgot poor Hitch. Check out his recent column, lovingly titled "We Must Fight Iraq."
UPDATE 2: Andy X finds the evil anti-war left has been drafting our war resolution, too, which begins "To authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against Iraq."
Here he praises Safire for doing it.
SAFIRE GETS IT: "The world must not allow Iraq to gain the level of destructive power that appeasement and misplaced trust permitted North Korea to achieve." Amen. I'd forgotten the damning Jimmy Carter quote of the time, likening his "breakthrough" with the murderers in Pyongyang as a "miracle." Here's what I want to know: why hasn't anyone in the press asked Carter and Clinton what they now think of their legacy in North Korea? Why are these people never ever called to account?
So, if peace protesters equate Iraq with Saddam on signs they are de facto parties to his vile propaganda. If William Safire does it, he gets it.
Orwellian indeed Andy.
I wonder when he is going to berate the networks for their various programs including "Showdown Iraq," "Countdown Iraq," "Target Iraq," etc...
UPDATE: Almost forgot poor Hitch. Check out his recent column, lovingly titled "We Must Fight Iraq."
UPDATE 2: Andy X finds the evil anti-war left has been drafting our war resolution, too, which begins "To authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against Iraq."
From the Note
Echoing Kate O'Beirne on "Capital Gang," and many others, Fred Barnes writes on the op-ed page of the Wall Street Journal : "In a year of bitter Senate races, Mr. Wellstone had a cordial relationship with his GOP opponent, Norm Coleman. Mr. Coleman, after all, was a Democrat until 1998 and voted for Mr. Wellstone the three previous times he'd been on the ballot in Minnesota, including a losing race for state auditor. This year Mr. Coleman described Mr. Wellstone as a liberal far out of the mainstream."
The truth is, Coleman's campaign was based almost completely on destroying Wellstone.
Mort Kondracke and Barnes on "Fox and Friends" this morning sort of tittered their way through making the accusation that Democrats have somehow invented the notion that Coleman was running a negative campaign against Wellstone, and that Democrats were saying this to help Mondale.
You can argue that there is nothing wrong with negative campaigns; you can argue that Wellstone and his allies were running their own negative campaign against Coleman; and you can argue that Coleman (and the White House) didn't have 100-percent control over the allied groups' negative attacks on Wellstone.
But how all these conservative voices have come up with this talking point is completely beyond us. Unless some central Republican voice is spreading that message …
Well, duhh. On a related note, this has to win the Bad Timing of the Year Award.
A piece of literature attacking Sen. Paul Wellstone's support of the estate tax, featuring a large tombstone and the letters "R.I.P.," was mass-mailed last week by a lobby group for small businesses.
[..]
On the flip side, the mailing urges recipients to "Tell Paul Wellstone His Votes are Killing You." The copy also says, "Paul Wellstone's taxes can even reach you even in the grave
James Treffinger arrested
NEWARK, N.J. -- Essex County's top elected official, who dropped out of the U.S. Senate race this year amid a federal probe, was arrested Monday on corruption charges.
County Executive James Treffinger was taken into custody about 8:50 a.m. by FBI agents at his home in Verona. An afternoon court appearance is scheduled.
The charges include extortion, mail fraud, conspiracy and making false statements to the Federal Election Commission, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Perry A. Carbone. Extortion carries the heaviest penalty, up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The charges mostly deal with Treffinger abusing his office to raise campaign funds, including extorting $15,000 from a company involved in other corruption cases, United Gunite Construction Inc. of Irvington.
Treffinger is also accused of attempting to obstruct the federal investigation. A covert tape recording caught him saying that he was seeking a presidential appointment as
U.S. attorney for New Jersey so he could derail the probe, prosecutors said.
I wonder what would make him think that's how things work in this executive branch.
Iraq behind Anthrax!
Saddam hates Patrick Leahy!
Actually, that article is pretty funny if you read it after replacing the word silica with sand and the word bentonite with kitty litter .
Actually, that article is pretty funny if you read it after replacing the word silica with sand and the word bentonite with kitty litter .
Continuing the education scam...
Tbogg points me to this one.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A software company run by Neil Bush, a younger brother of Gov. Jeb Bush, hopes to sell a program to Florida schools that students would use to prepare for the test that is key to the governor's education policy
[...]
Ignite spokeswoman Louise Thacker denied the company had an unfair advantage because its founder and CEO, Neil Bush, is a brother of Florida's governor.
It's really time for someone to do a big expose on the interlocking links between education policy, politicians, education materials companies, and the media. It's one big cesspool.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A software company run by Neil Bush, a younger brother of Gov. Jeb Bush, hopes to sell a program to Florida schools that students would use to prepare for the test that is key to the governor's education policy
[...]
Ignite spokeswoman Louise Thacker denied the company had an unfair advantage because its founder and CEO, Neil Bush, is a brother of Florida's governor.
It's really time for someone to do a big expose on the interlocking links between education policy, politicians, education materials companies, and the media. It's one big cesspool.
Lovely.
The New York Times acknowledged Friday that one of its staff photographers violatedjournalism ethics and company policy when he had a child pose for a news photograph that was published last month in some of the paper's editions. The controversial picture shows a 6-year-old boy aiming a toy pistol alongside a sign reading "Arabian Foods" outside a store in Lackawanna, N.Y., a suburb of Buffalo. The photo accompanied a Sept. 20 article about a group of Arab-Americans who have been accused of operating a cell of the al-Qaida terrorist network.
That damn Howell Raines.
I don't claim to be an expert in hostage rescue operations, but I do agree with Hesiod that any rescue operation which directly killed 117 people doesn't seem like much of a "success."
It's 1997. Some white supremacist/Christian Identity movement terrorists take over a the Wintergarden Theater during a performance of Cats , and take 1200 people hostage. After 2 days Janet Reno authorizes a rescue mission which has the government pumping some unknown poison gas into the theater. All terrorists are killed, along with 150 of the hostages.
A success?
It's 1997. Some white supremacist/Christian Identity movement terrorists take over a the Wintergarden Theater during a performance of Cats , and take 1200 people hostage. After 2 days Janet Reno authorizes a rescue mission which has the government pumping some unknown poison gas into the theater. All terrorists are killed, along with 150 of the hostages.
A success?
Letter to the editor.
I know something about
defending a president who's
been caught lying. Let me tell
my friend Ari Fleischer that
he's only making things worse
for President Bush. After The
Post reported on Mr. Bush's
many fabrications regarding
Iraq and homeland security,
Mr. Fleischer sent a letter to
the editor in which he refers to
President Clinton's false denial
of an affair as a "crime that
shook the nation" [Oct. 24].
The lawyer in me is compelled to point out that President Clinton
has never been charged with nor convicted of a crime. The same
cannot be said of President George W. Bush who, of course, was
convicted of drunken driving many years ago. To his shame, in the
2000 campaign Mr. Bush falsely denied ever having been convicted
of a crime.
The political veteran in me knows that lying about a long-past
drunken driving conviction -- or an affair -- is understandable, if
not excusable. What is not excusable is misleading the country --
repeatedly, as The Post and others have noted -- about going to
war. There is something odd about a White House that thinks
misleading people about sex is a crime, but misleading us about
war is good public policy.
PAUL E. BEGALA
I know something about
defending a president who's
been caught lying. Let me tell
my friend Ari Fleischer that
he's only making things worse
for President Bush. After The
Post reported on Mr. Bush's
many fabrications regarding
Iraq and homeland security,
Mr. Fleischer sent a letter to
the editor in which he refers to
President Clinton's false denial
of an affair as a "crime that
shook the nation" [Oct. 24].
The lawyer in me is compelled to point out that President Clinton
has never been charged with nor convicted of a crime. The same
cannot be said of President George W. Bush who, of course, was
convicted of drunken driving many years ago. To his shame, in the
2000 campaign Mr. Bush falsely denied ever having been convicted
of a crime.
The political veteran in me knows that lying about a long-past
drunken driving conviction -- or an affair -- is understandable, if
not excusable. What is not excusable is misleading the country --
repeatedly, as The Post and others have noted -- about going to
war. There is something odd about a White House that thinks
misleading people about sex is a crime, but misleading us about
war is good public policy.
PAUL E. BEGALA
I have to admit I totally love this argument, being pushed around by the various bloggers and now William Safire. You see, we're planning to go to war with Iraq, hand their oil production over to American interests, nullify existing agreements the Hussein regime has with France and Russia. And, get this - they oppose the war because THEY'RE greedy.
The mind reels...
The mind reels...
Sunday, October 27, 2002
Ah, I miss the good 'ole days, when conspiracy theories were in the op-ed pages of the Wall Street Journal.
So quickly Vince Foster is forgotten.
UPDATE: Just wanted to expand on this point which probably wasn't clear.
Conspiracy theories are always directed against those in power (or those imagined to be in power occasionally). During the Clinton years, conspiracy theories ranging from Bill Clinton tied up LAX for two hours to get a hair cut to Hillary "The Lesbian" Clinton had her ex-lover Vince Foster killed to Bill Clinton ran a cocaine smuggling operation through Mena airport didn't just occupy the excitable partisans of the internet. In fact, they were a regular staple of mainstream media outlets - print, television, and radio. From the Wall Street Journal op-ed page to the New York Times front page to Inside Politics on CNN to, of course, the Rusty Limbaugh show, with an audience probably larger than the rest combined.
It wasn't just the media, either. I forget - how many separate congressional investigations of Vince Foster's death were there, complete with amateur ballistics tests by Congressman Dan dan the Watermelon Man?
So, when a few inhabitants of internet message boards get a bit suspicious about the death of a Democratic Senator, I don't want to hear generalizations about the paranoid left. I've been listening to the paranoid right and its conspiracy theories in mainstream media for years. Part of the reason those on the left are a bit paranoid now, aside from the fact The Other Side is in power now, is that the mainstream media has by and large failed to aggressively follow up on the many potential 'conspiracies' of this administration, as well as the very real conspiracies against the last one.
Besides, it was about one year ago that two prominent Democratic senators survived assasination attempts by someone who likely had access to the bioweapons program of our military. Still unsolved. Political assasinations - whether done by disgruntled 'lone gunmen' unconnected to the political power structure or done at the behest of those in power, directly or indirectly, are not of course impossible.
Am I saying I think Dick Cheney used his mind control powers to down Paul Wellstone's plane? Of course not. Probably the plane hit bad weather and crashed. Do I respect people who jump to conclude that the Bush administration is repsonsible for this? No. Do I condemn people who harbor a few cynical suspcions? Of course not. Nor should you.
If you've got a problem with this, take it up with Alamo Girl.
So quickly Vince Foster is forgotten.
UPDATE: Just wanted to expand on this point which probably wasn't clear.
Conspiracy theories are always directed against those in power (or those imagined to be in power occasionally). During the Clinton years, conspiracy theories ranging from Bill Clinton tied up LAX for two hours to get a hair cut to Hillary "The Lesbian" Clinton had her ex-lover Vince Foster killed to Bill Clinton ran a cocaine smuggling operation through Mena airport didn't just occupy the excitable partisans of the internet. In fact, they were a regular staple of mainstream media outlets - print, television, and radio. From the Wall Street Journal op-ed page to the New York Times front page to Inside Politics on CNN to, of course, the Rusty Limbaugh show, with an audience probably larger than the rest combined.
It wasn't just the media, either. I forget - how many separate congressional investigations of Vince Foster's death were there, complete with amateur ballistics tests by Congressman Dan dan the Watermelon Man?
So, when a few inhabitants of internet message boards get a bit suspicious about the death of a Democratic Senator, I don't want to hear generalizations about the paranoid left. I've been listening to the paranoid right and its conspiracy theories in mainstream media for years. Part of the reason those on the left are a bit paranoid now, aside from the fact The Other Side is in power now, is that the mainstream media has by and large failed to aggressively follow up on the many potential 'conspiracies' of this administration, as well as the very real conspiracies against the last one.
Besides, it was about one year ago that two prominent Democratic senators survived assasination attempts by someone who likely had access to the bioweapons program of our military. Still unsolved. Political assasinations - whether done by disgruntled 'lone gunmen' unconnected to the political power structure or done at the behest of those in power, directly or indirectly, are not of course impossible.
Am I saying I think Dick Cheney used his mind control powers to down Paul Wellstone's plane? Of course not. Probably the plane hit bad weather and crashed. Do I respect people who jump to conclude that the Bush administration is repsonsible for this? No. Do I condemn people who harbor a few cynical suspcions? Of course not. Nor should you.
If you've got a problem with this, take it up with Alamo Girl.
Am I the only one who sees a problem with this?
President Bush has authority as commander in chief to order the indefinite imprisonment of American-born terror suspects without second-guessing by federal judges, the Justice Department told a federal appeals court yesterday.
Justice Department lawyers set the stage for a landmark courtroom battle in Virginia on Monday, telling the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond that a federal judge in Norfolk did not have the authority to conduct an inquiry into the president's decision to imprison Yaser Esam Hamdi as an "enemy combatant" without charges, a lawyer or a trial.
President Cartman Gets Testy:
With other leaders not rushing to embrace his plans, he did not conceal his testiness today. The only time he spoke to reporters was during a photo session with Fox, and he glowered during Fox's windup and looked annoyed at the unruliness of the camera crews. The last straw was when a cell phone went off, which infuriates Bush, even when the violator is a member of his staff. In a breach of protocol, Bush cut off the translator before Fox's answers could be rendered in English, and the White House transcript ignored Fox's words, saying simply, "Answered in Spanish."
Did FBI Deliberately Slow Translation?
Their headline, not mine.
Just when information from terrorism suspects needed urgent translation right after the Sept. 11 attack, the FBI unit that did that work deliberately slowed down to create a backlog that might win the unit more money and staff.
That’s what a former translator who worked at the FBI tells Ed Bradley on 60mMinutes this Sunday, Oct. 27, at 7 PM,mET/PT.
Sibel Edmonds, hired as a translator of Turkish and other Middle Eastern languages after Sept. 11, has filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the FBI, which she claims fired her for bringing the corruption to light. “Let the documents pile up so we can show it and say that we need more translators and expand the department,” Edmonds says one of her supervisors urged.
When Edmonds wasn’t slowing down enough, that supervisor forced her bydeleting her work, she says. “The next day I would come to work and the translation would be gone,” she tells Bradley. Edmonds says when she confronted the supervisor, “He said, ‘Consider it a lesson and don’t talk about it to anybody else and don’t mention it.’”
It was frustrating for Edmonds, she says, because the agents who needed the translations were working hard. “The first two months after the September 11 event…[The agents] were working around the clock…I would receive calls from these people saying, ‘Would you please prioritize this and translate it?” she says.
Edmonds was fired after bringing these and other charges to the attention of FBI supervisors and a top official in the bureau. She then went to Sen.Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee that oversees the FBI.
“She’s credible and the reason I feel she’s very credible is because people within the FBI have corroborated a lot of her story," says Grassley. She’s told her whole story in a private session of Grassley’s committee and the senator believes it’s time to change things.
Saturday, October 26, 2002
I've come around my friends. My good friend the Rottweiler, who I linked below, has made me see the error of my ways. It's a simple choice, really. If I continue along the path that I'm on I will wake up one morning to find that after being incinerated in a nuclear bomb blast dropped by one of Hussein's drone planes I will be condemned to a life in hell for my liberal views. It isn't yet clear which is hotter - the heat from a nuclear blast or from the fires of hell - but I don't want to be the one to find the answer that burning (ha ha!) question.
So, onward to Iraq I say. The sooner the better.
This decision did raise another question - how best can I serve my country in this righteous endeavour? Don't worry - I haven't wasted much time on it. The answer is clear. I could enlist and fight for my country, but the truth is my skills are needed at home. My readers need me.
I will continue to blog, as blog I must. My blogs will speak truth to power - to the 5th columnists and the liberal media. My blogs will inspire others - perhaps not to serve, but they will at least help to drum up the righteous fury necessary to win this holy war. As my new ideological soulmate James Lileks said in a recent column, 'This war is not for the faint at heart.' Never fear, fearless readers - my heart will never be faint, and my blogs will ensure that you too will never have the treasonous thoughts that your faint hearts, led astray by liberal propaganda, might inspire.
So stay with me as I blog for God and Country, for our fallen soldiers, for the soon to be liberated Iraqi children and yes, my readers, their soon to be liberated puppies. The ones that survive our righteous fury, at least.
Blog on. Let's roll.
So, onward to Iraq I say. The sooner the better.
This decision did raise another question - how best can I serve my country in this righteous endeavour? Don't worry - I haven't wasted much time on it. The answer is clear. I could enlist and fight for my country, but the truth is my skills are needed at home. My readers need me.
I will continue to blog, as blog I must. My blogs will speak truth to power - to the 5th columnists and the liberal media. My blogs will inspire others - perhaps not to serve, but they will at least help to drum up the righteous fury necessary to win this holy war. As my new ideological soulmate James Lileks said in a recent column, 'This war is not for the faint at heart.' Never fear, fearless readers - my heart will never be faint, and my blogs will ensure that you too will never have the treasonous thoughts that your faint hearts, led astray by liberal propaganda, might inspire.
So stay with me as I blog for God and Country, for our fallen soldiers, for the soon to be liberated Iraqi children and yes, my readers, their soon to be liberated puppies. The ones that survive our righteous fury, at least.
Blog on. Let's roll.
MSNBC cancels Silwa and Kuby
Actually, who cares about that. What is really exciting, kids, is the fact that their partial replacement, Chris Janson, will soon be filling that timeslot with a program lovingly entitled "Countdown: Iraq." I guess I hadn't realized that MSNBC already had a primetime show entitled "Countdown: Iraq."
At least CNN has the good taste to call their hour of warmongering "Showdown Iraq," a title which lacks the air of inevitability that MSNBC's does.
At least CNN has the good taste to call their hour of warmongering "Showdown Iraq," a title which lacks the air of inevitability that MSNBC's does.
Jeralyn from Talk Left shares her personal thoughts on Wellstone's death.
While the Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler offers its thoughts. Warning- includes words like 'idiotarian.'
While the Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler offers its thoughts. Warning- includes words like 'idiotarian.'
Bruce Garrett, who needs permanent links to his posts, has this to say (scroll down):
There's more. And you should read it. And, as soon as a billionaire leader of the fringe left runs an influential newspaper in the nation's capital, let me know.
Smarter Andrew Sullivan reports today that Andrew has joined the ranks of regular columnists at the Washington Times.
To repeat...
If you tell a lie to make a person better, then that is not a sin.
-Sun Myung Moon
Andrew Sullivan has joined the ranks of regular columnists at the Washington Times.
The separation between religion and politics is what Satan likes most.
-Sun Myung Moon
Andrew Sullivan has joined the ranks of regular columnists at the Washington Times.
Father thinks about the three races, yellow, black, and white. Orientals can contribute in the spiritual aspect, white people can contribute in the analytical, scientific area, while black people can contribute in the physical area--physical educational development of physical fitness, the area of health....The talented area of black people is in this physical aspect.
-Sun Myung Moon
Andrew Sullivan has joined the ranks of regular columnists at the Washington Times.
Out of all the Saints sent by God, I think I am the most successful one already as it now stands.
-Sun Myung Moon
Andrew Sullivan has joined the ranks of regular columnists at the Washington Times.
By killing one man, Jesus, the Jewish people had to suffer for 2000 years. Countless numbers of people have been slaughtered. During the Second World War, 6 million people were slaughtered to cleanse all the sins of the Jewish people from the time of Jesus.
-Sun Myung Moon
There's more. And you should read it. And, as soon as a billionaire leader of the fringe left runs an influential newspaper in the nation's capital, let me know.
It isn't about the oil...
But, you know, there is oil there after all.
On a related note, read this article about the NeoCons' wet dream successor to Hussein.
Though Iraq's future is hazy, energy companies have begun to weigh the roles they might play in the revival of the country's huge but dilapidated oil industry. According to a report by Deutsche Bank, oil field services companies like Schlumberger Ltd. and the Halliburton Corporation could be the early winners, but the prospects for oil companies themselves are less clear.
"We expect to see oil service contracts to rehabilitate old fields, but anticipate long-drawn-out negotiations on new fields," the report says.
Industry experts and the State Department have said that oil revenues will probably finance the rebuilding of Iraq, which has reserves second only to Saudi Arabia's. That would make repair of the industry a priority either for a new regime or for Saddam Hussein's government, if it satisfies United Nations weapons inspectors and the sanctions on Iraq end.
On a related note, read this article about the NeoCons' wet dream successor to Hussein.
But the untold riches that lie beneath the soil of Iraq are a powerful lure for multinational oil companies. "I would say that especially the U.S. oil companies ... look forward to the idea that Iraq will be open for business," says an executive from one of the world's largest oil companies, adding that the companies are trying hard not to be noticed.
"We don't have a stake in Iraq now," says another oil industry executive. "One of the frustrations that U.S. oil companies have is that the Russians, the French and the Chinese already have existing relations with Iraq. And the question is: How much of that will be sanctified by the people who succeed Saddam?"
The INC and its backers make no bones about the fact that the American forces gathering to attack Iraq will be liberating Iraq's oil. Unable to restrain himself, Chalabi blurted to The Washington Post that the INC intends to reward its American friends. "American companies will have a big shot at Iraqi oil," he proclaimed.
Meanwhile, economists allied with the INC -- including strategists at the Heritage Foundation, the AEI and JINSA -- are abuzz with plans to "denationalize" the Iraqi oil industry and then distribute it to Western, mostly American, companies. In late September, in "The Future of a Post-Saddam Iraq: A Blueprint for American Involvement," the Heritage Foundation's Ariel Cohen put forward a nearly complete scheme for the privatization of Iraq's oil, creating three separate companies for southern Iraq, the region around Baghdad and the Kirkuk fields in northern Iraq, with additional companies to operate pipelines and refineries and to develop Iraq's natural gas. In an interview, Cohen warned that France, Russia and China might find that their existing oil contracts with Iraq won't be honored by the INC. "It will be up to the next government of Iraq to examine the legal validity of the deals signed by the Saddam regime," says Cohen. "From a realpolitik point of view, these governments should try to get in early with the Iraqi National Congress and abandon Saddam. The window of opportunity is closing."
Bush family has always been all class.
In his first trip to the White House, he buttonholed President George Bush for a harangue on the inadvisability of war, and Bush reportedly said afterward, "Who is this chickenshit?"
In his first trip to the White House, he buttonholed President George Bush for a harangue on the inadvisability of war, and Bush reportedly said afterward, "Who is this chickenshit?"
David E. sells all that needs to be said about Sully and racism here:
"Indeed."
But, just in case you want more - Rittenhouse Review has it!
"There's the old-fashioned n-word bigotry, the kind that still sadly exists in many places, the kind that hovers in far milder forms in the psyches of many of us. Yes, you too, dear Salon reader. And then there's the second kind of smear, the notion that someone who has a different politics than many others of his or her race is somehow a traitor, a self-hater, an Uncle Tom."
There is, of course, a third -- the kind that puts Charles Murray on the cover of "The New Republic."
"Indeed."
But, just in case you want more - Rittenhouse Review has it!
Joe Conason also written a nice tribute to Wellstone. (Some things shouldn't be premium, Salon. Jeebus.)
And, the Hamster is recommending we all show our respect to Wellstone by buying his book. It's currently up to 56 on Amazon's sales rank. He also has a full set of links to stories about Wellstone.
And, the Hamster is recommending we all show our respect to Wellstone by buying his book. It's currently up to 56 on Amazon's sales rank. He also has a full set of links to stories about Wellstone.
Friday, October 25, 2002
Senator Wellstone, his wife, and his daughter were killed in a plane crash today in Minnesota.
Nothing I can say, really.
Josh Marshall has some words that are worth reading.
Nothing I can say, really.
Josh Marshall has some words that are worth reading.
What Oliver says.
A profiler was just on CNN saying basically, "look! we got it right! Disaffected ex-military guy, bit of a loser, pissed off."
A profiler was just on CNN saying basically, "look! we got it right! Disaffected ex-military guy, bit of a loser, pissed off."
This is pathetic.
CNN has become a joke.
CNN even asked CBS late last week if it would supply real actors — the ones who appear on the CBS prime-time series "Crime Scene Investigation" — to comment on the
case. CBS declined.
CNN even asked CBS late last week if it would supply real actors — the ones who appear on the CBS prime-time series "Crime Scene Investigation" — to comment on the
case. CBS declined.
That Liberal Media.
Throughout the day, it was clear that Mr. Bush's standard campaign speech had been fine-tuned, apparently to tone down criticism that he has occasionally stretched his facts in his enthusiasm to press his case.
Note this isn't an accurate description of criticism of Bush despite being dressed up that way - it's a defense of the criticism that he's a deliberate liar.
McBride has great campaign ad
Bill McBride, the Democratic nominee for governor, has bagged the biggest endorsement of his campaign: Republican Gov. Jeb Bush.
"He really is one of the great Floridians of our time," Bush says of McBride -- the same opponent the governor has been attacking as a "reckless corporate lawyer" in ads for months.
Bush's high praise, videotaped for an awards ceremony at McBride's former law firm in 1999, begins airing today statewide. The McBride campaign has made Bush's remarks the centerpiece of a new TV ad challenging the governor for running attack ads against McBride.
"Does Jeb Bush believe his own negative ads? " the McBride spot asks. "You be the judge."
[...]
"I know Bill from his leadership at Holland & Knight," Bush said in the interview taped for the awards ceremony. "Back when I was in the real world, we used the services of his law firm, and met him then. And almost in every civic endeavor with a statewide focus you'll see Bill McBride involved."
This year, Bush and the Republican Party of Florida have been selling a different image of McBride, accusing him of "reckless management" at Holland & Knight. The GOP this week also launched a ground-attack, mailers dispatched to targeted voters statewide slamming "Corporate lawyer Bill McBride: We can't trust him."
Kaus attacks Sullivan!
and I'm on...Andy's side?
Actually, Kaus attacks him for hypocrisy that he hasn't yet proven while I'd just attack him for being a total moron. Sullivan says:
As Kaus points out, the police may have been looking for white people based on eyewitness reports. Or, despite the press reports, they may not have been looking for white people at all. They repeatedly refused to give out an offical description or composite sketch, so who really knows?
But, more to the point -- there's a big difference between using criminal profilers to attempt to track down a specific criminal and pre-emptive racial profiling which gives greater scrutiny to people of a particular race in order to stop unspecified crimes from happening in the first place.
Maybe Sullivan does take such a position, but it's certainly not in the mainstream of PC liberals like myself.
So, Kaus gets half a point for noticing that Sullivan says something stupid, but that's just shooting fish in a barrel. Minus a point for trying to drum up attention by accusing Sullivan of hypocrisy without really making the case. I have no doubt that Sullivan is a hypocrite on this, as he is on just about every other issue, but Mickey gets, like, PAID, for this stuff.
Sullivan 0, Kaus: -.5
(brought to my attention by Charles Murtaugh).
Updates: Public Nuisance has more on Sullivan's nonsense du jour.
and Neal Pollack reminds us that he'd predicted the precise details of the sniper outcome a week ago.
Actually, Kaus attacks him for hypocrisy that he hasn't yet proven while I'd just attack him for being a total moron. Sullivan says:
There's a word for this: racial profiling. It's wrong in itself but it's simply astounding that this racist action by the police also resulted in the deaths of several more people. Why isn't this a scandal? The only reason the cops - not "everyone," in the weasel words of the "high-ranking police source" - were looking for a white guy was allegedly because only white guys are serial killers or snipers. First off, this is no excuse for racism. ...
In my view, any kind of racial profiling is always wrong. And if the cops had not been making reverse racist assumptions in this case, there's a chance a few more people would be alive today.
As Kaus points out, the police may have been looking for white people based on eyewitness reports. Or, despite the press reports, they may not have been looking for white people at all. They repeatedly refused to give out an offical description or composite sketch, so who really knows?
But, more to the point -- there's a big difference between using criminal profilers to attempt to track down a specific criminal and pre-emptive racial profiling which gives greater scrutiny to people of a particular race in order to stop unspecified crimes from happening in the first place.
Maybe Sullivan does take such a position, but it's certainly not in the mainstream of PC liberals like myself.
So, Kaus gets half a point for noticing that Sullivan says something stupid, but that's just shooting fish in a barrel. Minus a point for trying to drum up attention by accusing Sullivan of hypocrisy without really making the case. I have no doubt that Sullivan is a hypocrite on this, as he is on just about every other issue, but Mickey gets, like, PAID, for this stuff.
Sullivan 0, Kaus: -.5
(brought to my attention by Charles Murtaugh).
Updates: Public Nuisance has more on Sullivan's nonsense du jour.
and Neal Pollack reminds us that he'd predicted the precise details of the sniper outcome a week ago.
Thursday, October 24, 2002
As Smarter Andrew Sullivan notes, Andy is comparing himself to Orwell as he often does.
It inspired me to dig up this piece that MWO wrote way back when:
Andrew Sullivan says on his site today how much he adores Hitch. Andrew also says he loathes David Irving. Andrew says David Irving is a "looney rightist" with a mind warped into bile. But Hitchens says David Irving is a great historian. David Irving says Hitch is his friend. Andrew nominates the "repulsive" David as the English Gore Vidal. Gore Vidal nominated Hitch in Hitch's new book as the English Gore Vidal. John Banville said Hitch shouldn't be Vidal and nominated him to be Orwell. But Andrew nominated himself to be Orwell. Hitchens loves Freepers and hates Clinton. Freepers hate Clinton and love Hitchens, Andrew, and Timothy McVeigh. Gore Vidal loves Timothy McVeigh.
It inspired me to dig up this piece that MWO wrote way back when:
Andrew Sullivan says on his site today how much he adores Hitch. Andrew also says he loathes David Irving. Andrew says David Irving is a "looney rightist" with a mind warped into bile. But Hitchens says David Irving is a great historian. David Irving says Hitch is his friend. Andrew nominates the "repulsive" David as the English Gore Vidal. Gore Vidal nominated Hitch in Hitch's new book as the English Gore Vidal. John Banville said Hitch shouldn't be Vidal and nominated him to be Orwell. But Andrew nominated himself to be Orwell. Hitchens loves Freepers and hates Clinton. Freepers hate Clinton and love Hitchens, Andrew, and Timothy McVeigh. Gore Vidal loves Timothy McVeigh.
This is rather odd.
(from MWO, which has a picture if you scroll down.)
MWO,
Watching Crossfire tonight my husband pointed out words scrolling down , north to south, on the TV screen that seemed to be in the subliminal category: Republic Democratic Bleeding Heart. Over and over. There were, in addition, words going east to west, but on our small
screen we could not make them out.
What do you make of this?
Robin Loucks
Indeed, "Democrat Bleeding Heart" scrolled in the background for approximately 25 minutes on Thursday's CNN Crossfire broadcast. It could mean a Media Graphicist-Whore has infiltrated the network.
(from MWO, which has a picture if you scroll down.)
Wife of Fla. Bomb Plotter Arrested
The article goes on to describe her husband as being Jewish, although previous news reports had stated he was a convert to Christianity.
Kristi Goldstein, 28, shared Dr. Robert Goldstein's fascination with building bombs and knew about his plans to blow up an Islamic education and cultural center in St. Petersburg, federal prosecutors said. She has denied knowledge of the plot.
Kristi Goldstein was charged with illegal possession of destructive devices a day after another alleged accomplice, Dr. Michael Hardee, agreed to plead guilty to federal charges and cooperate with prosecutors.
Kristi Goldstein was released on $100,000 bond.
Court documents released Thursday allege she stood by as her husband filled their house with weapons and explosives and talked for at least four months about bombing Muslims.
The article goes on to describe her husband as being Jewish, although previous news reports had stated he was a convert to Christianity.
Charles Murtaugh has an interesting post up in response to a TNR review of a book about 18th century American sexual morality.
Nostalgia for the straight and narrow morality of ages past is literally always misplaced. Whether one is looking back to the 1950s, 1850s, or beyond, one is shocked to find out that people were still having sex before and after marriage and occasionally even enjoying it. I'm too lazy to find the statistics right now, but I seem to remember the illegitimate birth rates in 19th century Italy were shocking compared to today's lowly numbers.
Sears Roebuck sold vibrators through its catalogs as late as 1918.
Even our modern religious conservatives weren't always prudes. Tim LaHaye, of more recent 'Left Behind' fame, began his celebrity status with a sex manual for good married christians in 1976. It offered more than just the missionary position.
Even homosexuality isn't a recent invention. Hard to believe, I know.
I could go on. But, the false nostalgia of cultural conservatives for a time that never was would be kinda cute if they weren't so set on sending us all back to that imagined time.
Jody has related thoughts.
Nostalgia for the straight and narrow morality of ages past is literally always misplaced. Whether one is looking back to the 1950s, 1850s, or beyond, one is shocked to find out that people were still having sex before and after marriage and occasionally even enjoying it. I'm too lazy to find the statistics right now, but I seem to remember the illegitimate birth rates in 19th century Italy were shocking compared to today's lowly numbers.
Sears Roebuck sold vibrators through its catalogs as late as 1918.
Even our modern religious conservatives weren't always prudes. Tim LaHaye, of more recent 'Left Behind' fame, began his celebrity status with a sex manual for good married christians in 1976. It offered more than just the missionary position.
Even homosexuality isn't a recent invention. Hard to believe, I know.
I could go on. But, the false nostalgia of cultural conservatives for a time that never was would be kinda cute if they weren't so set on sending us all back to that imagined time.
Jody has related thoughts.
Digby says (to Moe in comments):
There is simply no comparison between the machinations of the Mighty Wurlitzer and the "left" which you characterize as behaving thus:
"large swathes of your faction have spent the last two years accusing the Bush Administration of every sin and depravity known to man (except, I believe, the carnal knowledge of sheep)... "
Surely you realize that bloggers and message board posters are hardly the equivalent of the congressional committee hearings, Independent Counsel investigations, NY Times front page stories or the 24/7 cable news and talk radio Clinton character assassination that characterized the 90's. There was David Bossie's "Citizens'United" that spoon fed bogus Whitewater information to the mainstream press, RNC manufactured phony outrage, congressional investigator leaks of lies and innuendo, Scaife financed smears, coordination of Paula Jones lawyers and Ken Starr with attendant grand jury leaks and an entire network of paid operatives devoted to making the drumbeat of Clinton harrassment loud and constant. And this was conceived and/or carried out by mainstream Republicans in the congress and the RNC with the willing help of a lazy compliant DC press corp. The fringe groups like Fallwell were only a small cog in the machine.
The only thing that got us through that period was the belief that by changing the rules to a looser tabloid standard that one day the press would be honor bound to give the same kind of coverage to the other side. What we didn't realize was that the media are so lacking in professional ability much less integrity that they feel absolutely no obligation to maintain any kind of consistency or fairness but even if they did, they no longer have the skills to critically evaluate politicians and uncover illegal or unethical behavior unless the opposition provides it to them in easy to digest, delicious little servings.
Now we know. Fool us once shame on...won't get fooled again.
As Instapundit would say, 'indeed.'
There is simply no comparison between the machinations of the Mighty Wurlitzer and the "left" which you characterize as behaving thus:
"large swathes of your faction have spent the last two years accusing the Bush Administration of every sin and depravity known to man (except, I believe, the carnal knowledge of sheep)... "
Surely you realize that bloggers and message board posters are hardly the equivalent of the congressional committee hearings, Independent Counsel investigations, NY Times front page stories or the 24/7 cable news and talk radio Clinton character assassination that characterized the 90's. There was David Bossie's "Citizens'United" that spoon fed bogus Whitewater information to the mainstream press, RNC manufactured phony outrage, congressional investigator leaks of lies and innuendo, Scaife financed smears, coordination of Paula Jones lawyers and Ken Starr with attendant grand jury leaks and an entire network of paid operatives devoted to making the drumbeat of Clinton harrassment loud and constant. And this was conceived and/or carried out by mainstream Republicans in the congress and the RNC with the willing help of a lazy compliant DC press corp. The fringe groups like Fallwell were only a small cog in the machine.
The only thing that got us through that period was the belief that by changing the rules to a looser tabloid standard that one day the press would be honor bound to give the same kind of coverage to the other side. What we didn't realize was that the media are so lacking in professional ability much less integrity that they feel absolutely no obligation to maintain any kind of consistency or fairness but even if they did, they no longer have the skills to critically evaluate politicians and uncover illegal or unethical behavior unless the opposition provides it to them in easy to digest, delicious little servings.
Now we know. Fool us once shame on...won't get fooled again.
As Instapundit would say, 'indeed.'
I actually give the Bush folks credit for honesty in this hilariously stupid Flash ad.
It says:
"No changes in benefits for those at our near retirement."
Which is more honest than most advocates of privatization choice whatever they're calling it this week.
(via Hesiod)
It says:
"No changes in benefits for those at our near retirement."
Which is more honest than most advocates of
(via Hesiod)
Even Ken Starr doesn't defend Bush v. Gore...
That leaves only Richard Posner I think. I *love* whenever I get to hear his hilarious attempts to defend that steaming pile of poop.
Richard Posner and the entire punditocracy, I should have said.
Richard Posner and the entire punditocracy, I should have said.
One of Andrew Sullivan's favorite little tricks is to publish emails from anonymous "economists" which always sound something like this:
I used to really admire Paul Krugman but he's really gone downhill since he joined the New York Times. He just isn't as rigorous in his thinking as he used to be, and he's starting to embarass his colleagues.
He's done it again today and Brad DeLong has a few things to say about it.
I used to really admire Paul Krugman but he's really gone downhill since he joined the New York Times. He just isn't as rigorous in his thinking as he used to be, and he's starting to embarass his colleagues.
He's done it again today and Brad DeLong has a few things to say about it.
The Mighty Wurlitzer Wheezes Along
The Washington Post does it again
Last week, The Washington Post reported a series of comments made by [Bishop Victor] Curry just prior to Bill McBride appearing on his morning radio program.
According to The Post story:
Curry charged on the air that the Bush family and the bin Laden family are business "partners" seeking to profit from war. "These people are on a neo-Nazi, right-wing mission the American people," he continued, adding that the Bush administration is a "godless, wicked regime."
The Post story has haunted McBride ever since, and became a point of rancor during Tuesday night's gubernatorial debate.
So what really happened?
Curry's station, WMBM-AM (1490), provided me a recording of his show. While the quotes attributed to Curry are largely, although not entirely, correct, what's missing is the context.
...Curry charged that President Bush is moving toward a war with Iraq to divert attention from the souring economy. One of the other guests questioned the cozy history between the bin Laden and Bush families.
"They're partners in the Carlyle Group," Curry noted. "The bin Laden family and the Bush family, they were in a group called the Carlyle Group that manufactures defense weapons. They work together."
Curry even made reference to several newspaper stories.
And ultimately, he's more right than wrong.
...
The "neo-Nazi" comment came several minutes later. Earlier, Curry and the group had been talking about the erosion of civil rights under the Homeland Security measures proposed by the White House. A caller said he didn't trust Bush, and Curry's exact statement was:
"This regime does not care about the American public. That's what I've been saying, that the Bush administration, all the way down to Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell and Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld and John Ashcroft, these people are on a mission. They are on a neo-Nazi, right-wing mission. They do not mean this country good. And I keep telling you all somebody is going to wake up. Black people are going to wake up. White people are going to wake up. Hispanics are going to wake up. America is going to wake up and they are going to rebel against this ungodly, wicked regime."
Soon thereafter, McBride entered the studio and the conversation turned rather banal.
...
There is no doubt, Curry's statements are strong. And I don't agree with everything Curry said. But I don't think they are anti-Semitic, as some people charged. And I don't believe -- when taken in context -- they were particularly outrageous either.
The Post story makes them seem worse than they are. And Jeb Bush has been able to make political hay out of it, demonizing Curry in the process.
Jesus, compared to what comes out of RushLiddySavage on a daily basis this is baby stuff. And, Timmy-Boy dutifully badgered McBride about this.
Adam Felber reminds us that in light of recent developments, New Yorkers should beware of Steve Dunleavy's ass.
Don't let him continue Jebbing up Florida..
My Polish correspondent has just informed me that that the word 'jeb' in Polish is the imperative singular form of the verb 'to fuck.'
Must be worth a few giggles if you're Polish and travelling through Florida seeing JEB! JEB! JEB! everywhere..
Must be worth a few giggles if you're Polish and travelling through Florida seeing JEB! JEB! JEB! everywhere..
TAPPED also has a post about the campaign of voter intimidation the Reublicans, along with the Ashcroft Justice department, are embarking on. It is clear to me that these repeated examples of Republicans squealing about 'massive vote fraud' episodes which after investigation turn out to be essentially nothing are just the way to cover up the more egregious acts of genuine election fraud that are currently in the works. The electronic voting systems that have been pushed as the solution are easily rigged in a variety of ways, including simply resetting them and not bothering to tally their votes. There is no paper trail and no way to audit the results or 'recount.' Election fraud is nothing new, so we shouldn't be surprised that it happens, but we should be outraged that right now it can happen at historically unseen levels and there is very little that can be done about it.
I'm not sure where TAPPED got their number of 8,000. The true number of "felons" who Katherine Harris ordered to be scrubbed from the voter lists was 57,700. Some of these 'felons', like Thomas Alvin Cooper, were scheduled to be convicted of their crimes at a future date. The majority* of them were either not felons, or had been convicted for their crimes in other states and were therefore not legally ineligible to vote in Florida.
The media gave them a pass on this the first time. It was reported by Greg Palast in the BBC and in the London Observer in November, 2000, but as far as I know was not reported in any mainstream U.S. media outlet until February, 2001 or later, and was buried by CBS specifically. And, now, with the Republicans screaming 'Democrat voter fraud' over nothing across the 50 states the stage is set for another massive criminal disenfrachisement enterprise that our media will ignore again while focusing ridiculous non-stories about things like voter rolls with dead people (After people die, their first act is not to call the local election board).
You know, I've never read the Instapundit-approved book "More Guns, Less Crime," but I can say that the author's analysis of voter discrimination in Florida is the most transparently deliberately fraudulent piece of 'research' I have read in my life. So, I'll just conclude that I don't have to.
UPDATE: still trying to find basis for use of the word 'majority' above, so you may replace with 'at minimum 8,000' which is the number of false matches on names but does not include people scrubbed for felonies committed in other states.
Tapped points us to this story on how the Bush clan has turned the entire government into its campaign operation.
Another one for the "if this were Clinton" files.
Another one for the "if this were Clinton" files.
Lucianne (Kaus approved!) posters weigh in on the latest news:
Reply 4 - Posted by: de danann, 10/24/2002 6:13:01 AM
backlash?? how about Democratic Senatorial heads on pikes lining the Beltway-- starting w/ mr 'dasch the homeland security bill to bits'
---------------------
Reply 21 - Posted by: acidkibitzer, 10/24/2002 7:21:41 AM
AP Update:
Steven Spielberg will direct the move about the two suspects to be tentatively entitled: "Ducks in a Moose-Noose", starring Denzell Washington as the
sniper and Alec Baldwin as his stepson. Janet Reno will appear in a cameo role as Johnny Cochran, their attorney.
---------------------
Reply 49 - Posted by: MMC, 10/24/2002 8:25:57 AM
Military tribunal would work for me. These two acted as terrorists! Hanging is another solution.
----------------------
Reply 50 - Posted by: sagman, 10/24/2002 8:26:34 AM
I can hear Johnnie Cochran already: ''If the sniper's black, cut him some slack.''
----------------------
Reply 52 - Posted by: kedd, 10/24/2002 8:30:56 AM
This has to be a nightmare for the PC crowd. They are black, they are Muslim and they might be gay. Ed Asner call your office.
----------------------
Reply 56 - Posted by: formerfeminazi, 10/24/2002 8:33:36 AM
I want apologies today from every liberal black activist for profiling this as a white guy/NRA gunnut.
----------------------
Reply 63 - Posted by: Mr. Know-It-All, 10/24/2002 8:41:56 AM
Give them a fair trial with an impartial jury, and then HANG 'EM!!
----------------------
Reply 69 - Posted by: gafling, 10/24/2002 8:47:45 AM
You folks demanding the quick death of the two alledged perps are letting them off far too easy.
After conviction, they should each be castrated including penis removal, sentenced to life in prison with a a large, HIV & STD infected cell-mate, denied
medical treatment, and their final paunful, agonizing days documented on tape. This tape will be distributed around the muslim community both here
and abroad.
The final scene on the tape should show excerpts from the Hiroshima aftermath and should then ask which way they want to go.
Remember, (and I quote) "...the only difference between a moderate muslim and a radical muslim is the length of his beard."
Drudge has a big headline 'Not the same Gun.'
There's definitely something that doesn't add up in this. Obviously that feeling partially arises from the fact that the cops aren't sharing all the info. However, the backstory of these two guys combined with how they were found/arrested just doesn't fit with what seems to be the tone of communications between the sniper and the police.
But, anyway, we will see...
Ooops - Drudge just took that headline down and replaced it with this story which says a gun wasn't found in the car.
I'm starting to think these two guys could have been set up. But, hey, we're in the realm of pure speculation at this point.
But, in any case let me round up a few of the more sensible posts on this:
From Max:
ISLAM! ISLAM! ISLAM! Just thought I would get into the act too. Note to the clueless: just because I change my name to Joe Islam doesn't mean I'm part of a worldwide terrorist conspiracy. Further note: "leaderless resistance" refers to decentralized operatives who have first been organized to perform certain tasks after dispersal. It does not refer to any dude who takes it into his deranged head to emulate something he saw on television. Question: is there any event you would not exploit for the sake of harping on your theme of a worldwide war on Islam?
from Unqualified Offerings:
The ironic thing about the case is that, to whatever extent Islam-inspired anti-Americanism turns out to have fueled Muhammad's spree, it still doesn't seem like settling early on the "terrorist theory" would have helped catch him. Everyone wanted the police out there looking for foreign sleeper agents with "olive skin" and "broken english." But Muhammad is as American as I am. Call him, with reservations, "the black Tim McVeigh."
and Sterling:
If you're going to use the term Islamofascist, wouldn't it be best if you use it on someone who actually fits the term Fascist? That he favors the destruction of the democracy [this one] and prefers a nation with a centralized dictatorial control or a Islamic religious revolution? Or am I forever banned from the blarghers club?
More updates. Sterling says:
Is this turning into a Richmond?
Montgomery, Alabama police just concluded a press conference where they shot down speculation about a robbery, or a theft of credit cards down there. The speculation had been that our ransomer wanted to transfer $10 million to a credit card. They didn't even want to talk about if there was a letter with Malvo's prints, which would seem to be a smoking gun on this. Things are getting odd here.
And also, from comments:
[T]he "duck in a noose" bit is a reference to an old Cherokee story, where a rabbit believes he has caught a duck in a noose for dinner, but the duck escapes and the rabbit starves.
There's definitely something that doesn't add up in this. Obviously that feeling partially arises from the fact that the cops aren't sharing all the info. However, the backstory of these two guys combined with how they were found/arrested just doesn't fit with what seems to be the tone of communications between the sniper and the police.
But, anyway, we will see...
Ooops - Drudge just took that headline down and replaced it with this story which says a gun wasn't found in the car.
I'm starting to think these two guys could have been set up. But, hey, we're in the realm of pure speculation at this point.
But, in any case let me round up a few of the more sensible posts on this:
From Max:
ISLAM! ISLAM! ISLAM! Just thought I would get into the act too. Note to the clueless: just because I change my name to Joe Islam doesn't mean I'm part of a worldwide terrorist conspiracy. Further note: "leaderless resistance" refers to decentralized operatives who have first been organized to perform certain tasks after dispersal. It does not refer to any dude who takes it into his deranged head to emulate something he saw on television. Question: is there any event you would not exploit for the sake of harping on your theme of a worldwide war on Islam?
from Unqualified Offerings:
The ironic thing about the case is that, to whatever extent Islam-inspired anti-Americanism turns out to have fueled Muhammad's spree, it still doesn't seem like settling early on the "terrorist theory" would have helped catch him. Everyone wanted the police out there looking for foreign sleeper agents with "olive skin" and "broken english." But Muhammad is as American as I am. Call him, with reservations, "the black Tim McVeigh."
and Sterling:
If you're going to use the term Islamofascist, wouldn't it be best if you use it on someone who actually fits the term Fascist? That he favors the destruction of the democracy [this one] and prefers a nation with a centralized dictatorial control or a Islamic religious revolution? Or am I forever banned from the blarghers club?
More updates. Sterling says:
Is this turning into a Richmond?
Montgomery, Alabama police just concluded a press conference where they shot down speculation about a robbery, or a theft of credit cards down there. The speculation had been that our ransomer wanted to transfer $10 million to a credit card. They didn't even want to talk about if there was a letter with Malvo's prints, which would seem to be a smoking gun on this. Things are getting odd here.
And also, from comments:
[T]he "duck in a noose" bit is a reference to an old Cherokee story, where a rabbit believes he has caught a duck in a noose for dinner, but the duck escapes and the rabbit starves.
Doesn't this Fox Headline scare anyone?
Crackdown on Turncoats
Bill aims to revoke citizenship for betraying the homeland
From their front page.
Here's the story.
Leaving aside the merits of the idea itself, what is up with all of this 'homeland' talk? My god...
Bill aims to revoke citizenship for betraying the homeland
From their front page.
Here's the story.
Leaving aside the merits of the idea itself, what is up with all of this 'homeland' talk? My god...
All sounds weird, but I don't think this sniper story is over yet.
Anyway, Unqualified Offerings has the most comprehensive and level-headed agendaless analysis out there.
Anyway, Unqualified Offerings has the most comprehensive and level-headed agendaless analysis out there.
Wednesday, October 23, 2002
Hard to decipher all of this, but apparently the police are searching for one John Allen Williams, a.k.a. Mohammad Williams, and one John Lee Malvo in connection with the D.C. sniper incidents.
Reports coming in through various sources that Malvo is young (high school?) and Williams is ex-military.
Malvo is a citizen of Jamaica. Stepson of Williams (?)
Williams is a gulf war vet.
Chief Moose says Williams may not be the sniper, but may know him.
Reports coming in through various sources that Malvo is young (high school?) and Williams is ex-military.
Malvo is a citizen of Jamaica. Stepson of Williams (?)
Williams is a gulf war vet.
Chief Moose says Williams may not be the sniper, but may know him.
There are no shortage of warbloggers who should be ready to step up and claim their prize in Tbogg's challenge.
What Chechens have to do with Saddam Hussein I'll never know...
Buncha other good stuff from Tbogg, as usual, so stick around once you click.
What Chechens have to do with Saddam Hussein I'll never know...
Buncha other good stuff from Tbogg, as usual, so stick around once you click.
Rehnquist Continues to Inspire
I wonder if he's giving workshops on this.
In a press release, Michael Cook, executive directorbfor the Democratic Party of Arkansas, criticized Sen. Tim Hutchinson and the Republican Party forbintimidating and harassing African-American votersbin Jefferson County and for giving the poll watchers notarized credentials he said were apparently forged.
"Their papers did not seem to be in order," Ashcraft said.
"Tim Hutchinson and the Republican Party have claimed that they want to reach out to African-American voters, but when election time comes they have nothing to offer but intimidation and harassment," Cook said. "We ask Tim Hutchinson and his party to stop disenfranchising African-American voters and obstructing the democratic process."
During Monday's voting, poll watchers were seen asking voters to either produce identification or risk having their ballots challenged.
"A voter does not have to show an ID as long as it's noted on the ballot," Secretary of State Sharon Priest said. "They (poll watchers) can challenge a ballot, but they cannot ask for an ID or even talk to the voters."
Several voters received pointed requests from poll watcher Allison Johnson to produce identification, and refused - a right, Priest said, that is protected by law.
Voter Bonita McCray also refused the ID request, saying "When she insisted, I put my ID back in my purse. They had no right to do this."
Officials in the clerk's office said several would-be voters became so frustrated and offended by the process that they left without casting a vote. Deputy Clerk Charlotte Munson reported a poll watcher had actually walked behind her counter to photograph voter information on her computer screen.
The watcher, she said, also asked for identification from, and then photographed, a first-time voter who was visibly shaken by the action.
"This woman (a poll watcher) was looking over my shoulder, and this is my business, not hers," the agitated voter said later.
Poll watcher Chris Carnahan admitted a colleague had been using photography to document aspects of the voting process, but said he did advise the person to put away the camera.
"We're here to ensure a clean and fair election," he said.
Johnson also accused a deputy clerk of not requesting IDs from prospective voters and said workers had no challenge ballots prepared.
"They refused to accept challenge ballots," Johnson said.
Ashcraft said this was not true. He was unable to say exactly how many ballots were challenged, but said there had been "several."
Ashcraft said he was disappointed in the Republican "Gestapo" tactics.
"They're trying to intimidate and prevent voters from participating in the Democratic process," Ashcraft said. "The registered voters feel insecure and the photos are inexcusable. They (Republicans) know they can't win, so they're trying to steal this election. This is politics at its worst. They're breaking the law and it's disgusting."
Hey, Charles Pierce subs for Bruce Springsteen's stalker over at Altercation.
It will be a chuckle, though, to watch them demand that the International Criminal Court put Hussein on trial. It will also occasion a spate of punditry not dissimilar to that which erupted after the Reagan Inaugural in 1980 — when the Safirettes all determined that the Iranians released the American hostages because they were terrified of what Reagan might do. What he did, of course, was bribe the daylights out of them with their own money
Poll Katz has lots of great presidential poll information. But, I think this one in particular should be put on the desk of every journalist discussing Bush's historically high poll numbers.
His approval ratings are still decent - one cannot deny that - but they aren't exactly off the chart.
His approval ratings are still decent - one cannot deny that - but they aren't exactly off the chart.
William Burton has a lot of posts up about North Korea. Not sure I agree with everything he says, but the basic point that letting junior get his hands on some nukes is Seriously Seriously Bad because he is the nutcase, or 'irrational actor' that people keep calling Hussein, is right on.
The rather unlikely event of Hussein getting nukes frankly doesn't scare me all that much - not much more than Pakistan and India having nukes does.* Junior having nukes scares the hell out of me.
*Note I'm not comparing the leadership and/or people of any of these countries directly. Just thinking about the likelihood that said countries actually start using their nukes.
The rather unlikely event of Hussein getting nukes frankly doesn't scare me all that much - not much more than Pakistan and India having nukes does.* Junior having nukes scares the hell out of me.
*Note I'm not comparing the leadership and/or people of any of these countries directly. Just thinking about the likelihood that said countries actually start using their nukes.
Talk Left tells us that 7 Guantanamo prisoners are being released:
The seven are Pakistanis whom the Government has identified as neither being terrorists nor able to provide any intelligence information. They are the first prisoners the U.S. has agreed to release since January when it opened the prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The seven are Pakistanis whom the Government has identified as neither being terrorists nor able to provide any intelligence information. They are the first prisoners the U.S. has agreed to release since January when it opened the prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Anil Dash has a long post detailing his recent saga with MSNBC and Little Green Footballs.
UPDATE: to be clear, he had absolutely nothing to do with MSNBC.
UPDATE: to be clear, he had absolutely nothing to do with MSNBC.
Tuesday, October 22, 2002
Rackjite sez:
The Bush Administration's stance on Iraq is reminiscent of Adolf Hitler using foreign policy to hide his domestic woes." German Justice Minister Herta Daeubler-Gmelin.
"Right out of Nazi Germany." Republican Senator Phil Gramm on Democrats who suggested a capital gains tax on Americans who renounce their citizenship to avoid paying income taxes.
"I am sure voters will get their fill of statistics claiming that the Bush tax cut hands out 40 percent of its benefits to the top 1 percent of taxpayers. This is not merely misleading, it is outright false. Some folks must be under the impression that as long as something is repeated often enough, it will become true. That was how Adolf Hitler got to the top." Republican Senator Charles Grassley.
Gramm and Grassley both admit to their words as they are in the congressional record. The German Justice Minister adamantly denies what she said, it was not recorded and only one reporter from one newspaper heard it.
Nonetheless, we heard the quote by Herta Daeubler-Gmelin across the entire media for over a week. It "poisoned" our foreign policy, it turned George Bush's head purple, Rumesfeld broke his wrist, Prime Minister Schroeder was forced to have her fired, and just today Henry Kissinger referred to her dastardly statement in a column syndicated around the world.
What was the outcome of two Republican Senators doing the very same thing though directed at Democrats rather than Republicans? Was the Senate poisoned? Were the Senators forced to apologize to the world? Were their resignations on Bush's desk the next morning? Were they even sorry? Did the media plaster it across the world for a week? Of course not, only a very few who read a Paul Krugman column a few weeks ago even noticed.
The reason these same sentiments are treated so differently by the media is really quite simple. President Bush, in political trouble at home, has changed hundreds of years of American foreign policy to initiate preemptive wars against other nations. In such a time the last
thing our intelligent American public needs to hear is some bimbo in Germany telling us the truth. While on the other hand, Democrats speaking the truth about George W. Bush's regressive tax policies or advocating capital gain taxes on American traitors, requires all real Americans to call them Nazis. Liberal Bias Media MY ASS.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)