Sorry! Sorry!

"I know we've made tactical errors, thousands of them I'm sure,"

Condeleeza Rice speaking yesterday to an audience gathered by the British foreign policy think tank Chatham House.

Focus People, Focus!

Hotline gives us a peek at some early focus group work for Dem Candidates. Who does well (let's just say that we at GT12 are feeling continually vindicated)? Read the synopsis below from Political Wire:

Hotline On Call has observations from Frank Luntz focus groups in Iowa and New Hampshire on prospective 2008 Democratic presidential candidates. Key findings:

Support for Hillary Clinton "disappeared by the time the night was over, and she won virtually no new converts."

Sen. John Kerry "has a lot to live down."

John Edwards: "Of the nine candidates we tested, none began with positives and expectations as high... And none fell farther as fast."

Mark Warner starts "with a clean slate" and his stump speech "is about as good as it gets for Democratic primary voters."

Sen. Joe Biden's "stage presence drifts dramatically between all-star and below par."

Gov. Bill Richardson's story "is the complete package... He's an outsider with an insider's knowledge."

Sen. Russ Feingold "may well become the Howard Dean of 2008."

Sen. Evan Byah "is probably the single toughest Democrat to analyze."

Gov. Tom Vilsack "is too focused on religion and spirituality for New Hampshire Democrats, and his home state doesn't take him seriously."

Meanwhile, Chuck Todd updates his 2008 rankings and finds Mitt Romney and John Edwards "have some extra time on their hands lately, and it might be helping their potential presidential candidacies."

Just A Plain Old Liar

Yes, he knowing misled congress and the country. Yes, they covered it up. Yes a censure would be a smart idea.

From the (non-partisan) National Journal

Karl Rove, President Bush's chief political adviser, cautioned other White House aides in the summer of 2003 that Bush's 2004 re-election prospects would be severely damaged if it was publicly disclosed that he had been personally warned that a key rationale for going to war had been challenged within the administration. Rove expressed his concerns shortly after an informal review of classified government records by then-Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley determined that Bush had been specifically advised that claims he later made in his 2003 State of the Union address -- that Iraq was procuring high-strength aluminum tubes to build a nuclear weapon -- might not be true, according to government records and interviews.

Hadley was particularly concerned that the public might learn of a classified one-page summary of a National Intelligence Estimate, specifically written for Bush in October 2002. The summary said that although "most agencies judge" that the aluminum tubes were "related to a uranium enrichment effort," the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research and the Energy Department's intelligence branch "believe that the tubes more likely are intended for conventional weapons."

Three months after receiving that assessment, the president stated without qualification in his January 28, 2003, State of the Union address: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa. Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production."

The Whole Story Here.

We Are All (almost) Blue States Now

A Threat As Real As .... Well Maybe Iraq

Let's see, 85% of the country identifies itself as Christian, like 3% Atheist/Agnostic, Jews and Muslims probably account for 12% or so.....Yeah, Christianity's really in trouble here.

Of course, they could be talking about the assault on Jesus' Teachings that the christianist Right Wingers have waged for decades....but, I kid.

'War' on Christians Is Alleged

Conference Depicts a Culture Hostile to Evangelical Beliefs

By Alan CoopermanWashington Post Staff

The "War on Christmas" has morphed into a "War on Christians."Last December, some evangelical Christian groups declared that the religious celebration of Christmas -- and even the phrase "Merry Christmas" -- was under attack by the forces of secularism.This week, radio commentator Rick Scarborough convened a two-day conference in Washington on the "War on Christians and the Values Voters in 2006." The opening session was devoted to "reports from the frontlines" on "persecution" of Christians in the United States and Canada, including an artist whose paintings were barred from a municipal art show in Deltona, Fla., because they contained religious themes.

"It doesn't rise to the level of persecution that we would see in China or North Korea," said Tristan Emmanuel, a Canadian activist. "But let's not pretend that it's okay."

Read whole thing

What A Fool Believes

This is an oldie, but I think it's nice to revisit it once in a while.

Tip of the stetson to our friend Tom H in Austin Tx for sending it our way this time.

What To Believe in if You Want To Vote Republican

Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.

Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's daddymade war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him, and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.

Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is Communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.

The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest national priority is enforcing U.N. resolutions against Iraq.

A woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multi-national corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.

The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches, while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay.

If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.

A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our long-time allies, then demand their cooperation and money.

Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy, but providing health care to all Americans is socialism.

HMOs and insurance companies have the best interests of the public at heart.

Global warming and tobacco's link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.

A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense, but a president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.

Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.

The public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades, but George Bush's driving record is none of our business.

Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.

Supporting "Executive Privilege" for every Republican ever born, who will be born, or who might be born (in perpetuity).

What Bill Clinton did in the 1960s is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the '80s is irrelevant.

Support for hunters who shoot their friends and blame them for wearing orange vests similar to those worn by the quail

Safe In Maryland

Another Good Sign in the War Against Idiocy


Attempt to revive gay marriage ban fails in Senate
No further options seen this year for proposed constitutional amendment

By Tom Stuckey
The Associated Press

An attempt to revive a constitutional amendment that would prohibit same-sex marriage failed in the Maryland Senate today, apparently leaving no further options this year for opponents of gay marriage.

More Here

Going To Twelve Has Its Rewards

Keith Up. Paula Down. Bill down.








Q1 '06: MSNBC's Olbermann Beats CNN's Zahn & HLN's Grace In The Demo

In the first quarter of 2006, MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann beat CNN's Paula Zahn Now in the 25-54 demographic. "This marks MSNBC's first quarterly primetime victory over CNN in the demo in almost five years (2Q01 MSNBC Investigates beat CNN at 8 p.m. ET)," MSNBC's press release said today.Countdown averaged 164,000 total viewers in the quarter, up 41% from Q1 2005. Zahn averaged 158,000 demo viewers (down 33 percent), according to MSNBC. Bill O'Reilly averaged 450,000 in the demo (down 24 percent).Olbermann also beat Headline News star Nancy Grace in the demo. According to program ranker data, Grace averaged 154,000 demo viewers...

McCain + Falwell

I would hope that this puts an end to progressives who think McCain is presidential material.

From The Nation:

Press release from Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, March 28, 2006:

American military hero and Arizona Sen. John McCain will deliver the Commencement message at Liberty University on May 13, at 9:30 a.m., in the Liberty University Vines Center.

While Sen. McCain and Liberty University Chancellor Jerry Falwell have had their share of political differences through the years, the two men share a common respect for each other and have become good friends in their efforts to preserve what they see as common values. This will mark his first ever appearance at LibertyUniversity.

More from the Lynchburg, Virginia News & Advance:

Falwell said McCain's appearance at LU's graduation is another sign that McCain is wooing evangelical Christians. "He is in the process of healing the breech with evangelical groups," Falwell said. Falwell said McCain has expressed a willingness to support a Federal Marriage Amendment, an issue dear to conservative Christians.

The Nation's cover story on McCain back in November showed him juggling images of Teddy Roosevelt and Falwell. The "agent of intolerance" has become his new best friend

Questions For Futurists And Designers

When do you think the 'Floppy Disc' will be phased out as the icon for 'Save'? I use floppies 2x a month when dealing w/ clients who have very old systems.

And what will the new icon look like?

People Who Go To Twelve

If Rock and Roll is ultimately youth music, the punk sub-genre is just about the youthiest. Simple, rageful and out of control. How do punks grow old and stay valid? Let me tell you.

This Week’s GT12 honoree has spent the last twenty-some years growing with punk, finding and mining the common-cause between alienated mohawked kids, washed out sharecroppers and Hammett-type grifters, goons and molls. The width of his world is tens of hundreds of times wider than even Joey Ramone’s or Joe Strummer’s. He has negotiated the self-destructive impulses that fuel and destroy so many artists, especially his peers. He has survived hubris. His wisdom rocks as hard as his rebellion. He has found the way to swing. He has written the greatest (maybe only) Punk Honky Tonk Song. He has duet-ed with Bruce and toured with a pedal steel player. His newest album is hands-down his best. He has made me consider getting a tattoo. His is the only band that I see every time they come to town. They have the best logo. He is one of the five coolest men alive. He is Mike Ness. After 20 years in Punk, He Goes To Twelve absolutely, Cats and Kittens, absolutely.

Greased, Not Straight, Shooter

Here's another thing I couldn't get to earlier in the week. John McCain clearly realizes that to win the Republican nod for pres, he'll have to take the same fecal bath that has made so many of them smell so sweet.

From Raw Story:

The Washington Post reported yesterday that McCain had hired Terry Nelson to be a senior advisor to his political committee, the Straight Talk America PAC.

Who is Terry Nelson? George W. Bush's national political director in 2004, for one. It's just the latest example of McCain's strategy of taking what he can of Bush's money infrastructure - as the Post reports, he's been busily recruiting Pioneers, Rangers and Super Rangers from '04. But there's one crucial, telling detail about Terry Nelson that the Post leaves out. And that's his role in the money laundering scheme for which Tom DeLay is being prosecuted down in Texas. Nelson was the deputy chief of staff of the Republican National Committee in 2002 when the alleged crime occurred. His role was crucial, although he hasn't been charged. He's named right there in the indictment.

Charity Begins At Home

Remember that they say our Pres is really' his Mother's son (and what has all this Iraq stuff really been if not some crazed Oedipal acting out). I have always disliked this woman and her steely nastiness. Remember how she, as First Lady, described Hilary?

"I can't really say the word, but it rhymes with witch"

Aah ya gotta love that great Christian Example of respect and dignity.

And of course, her kind and enlightened observation that Katrina evacuees were probably have the most luxurious times of their lives living in the Astrodome.

Well, clearly, she wants Katrina to be good for her family anyway

From The Houston Chronicle

Former first lady Barbara Bush donated an undisclosed amount of money to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund with specific instructions that the money be spent with an educational software company owned by her son Neil.

In this case, the definition of 'Charitable Intent' seems to be "I intend to look Charitable while not having to as such be charitable.

Evil hag.

Our God Is A Vengeful God...

I'm just going to post Andrew Sullivan's presentation of this study. I love much about Andrew and it is painful to watch him try to understand the inexplicable. But, when he is betrayed (which is almost always) he can do a nice job of cutting to the core of the betrayal. I have little none of his naivete' and so simply find myself saying: 'duh!'

From Andrew Sullivan

Americans And Torture
22 Mar 2006 03:34 pm
According to this Pew poll, Americans favor torturing detainees in some circumstances by a wide margin. There's a reason John Kerry didn't bring it up in the debates. And there's a reason Cheney and Rumsfeld know they can continue the practice: they have widespread public support. Most disturbing to me are the high numbers of self-decribed Christians favoring torture: only 26 percent of Catholics oppose it in all circumstances, while only 31 percent of white Protestants rule it out entirely. If you combine those Christians who think torture is either never or only rarely acceptable, you have 42 percent of Catholics and 49 percent of white Protestants. The comparable statistic of those who are decribed as "secular," which I presume means agnostic or atheist, is 57 percent opposition. In other words, if you are an American Christian, you are more likely to support torture than if you are an atheist or agnostic. Christians for torture: it's a new constituency. Another part of the Bush legacy.



I have always felt that the number Christians who understand Christ is even smaller than the number of Americans who understand the fourth amendment. Clearly, I am on to something.

The Surest Sign Yet That Someone Will Always Think That Iraq Was A Good Idea

Because There's Always Room For A Crusade.

From The Times Online

Vatican change of heart over 'barbaric' Crusades
Richard Owen in Rome

THE Vatican has begun moves to rehabilitate the Crusaders by sponsoring a conference at the weekend that portrays the Crusades as wars fought with the “noble aim” of regaining the Holy Land for Christianity

The Crusades are seen by many Muslims as acts of violence that have underpinned Western aggression towards the Arab world ever since. Followers of Osama bin Laden claim to be taking part in a latter-day “jihad against the Jews and Crusaders”.

AAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!

The George Bush Swim Suit: Using the Flag to hide one sorry white ass

Our New National Mascot

Oh Yeah, How'd I Forget This... Alarmist = Nostradamus

OK, so, the people Ben Franklin warned us about (the people who are willing to give up some freedom to gain some temporary security and therefore deserve neither) have been getting all angry about the 'alarmists' who are worried about the warrantlesss spying policy. 'I Got Nuthin' To Hide, So's I Ain't Worried'.

'Yet'... (as our [goes to] Twelve Step friends might say).

"And it's just phones....."

Not.

How about this from US News And World Report? (which also answers the NPR listener question 'whatever Happened to Chitra Ragavan?):

In the dark days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a small group of lawyers from the White House and the Justice Department began meeting to debate a number of novel legal strategies to help prevent another attack. Soon after, President Bush authorized the National Security Agency to begin conducting electronic eavesdropping on terrorism suspects in the United States, including American citizens, without court approval. Meeting in the FBI's state-of-the-art command center in the J. Edgar Hoover Building, the lawyers talked with senior FBI officials about using the same legal authority to conduct physical searches of homes and businesses of terrorism suspects--also without court approval, one current and one former government official tell U.S. News.

"There was a fair amount of discussion at Justice on the warrantless physical search issue," says a former senior FBI official. "Discussions about--if [the searches]happened--where would the information go, and would it taint cases."

FBI Director Robert Mueller was alarmed by the proposal, the two
officials said, and pushed back hard against it. ...

This IS why we fought a revolution. To Stop This.

The Terrorists Are Winning.

Must Read Here. Then write your Senator, and Arlen Specter while you're at it.

Tech Troubles, Both Home and Away

So, between difficulties w/updating thanks to 'Blogger' and my day as an Election Judge (my precinct did not have much trouble counting the votes thanks to a few non-computer-phobic judges) I have not covered:

1. Questions regarding whether Isaac Hayes actually quit South Park himself or whether others did it 'for' him. Apparently Isaac suffered a minor stroke in Jan and while not as incapacitated as our County Board President, still may not really be attending to his career as much as to his ability to speak. Check out tonight's SP for a New Chef

2. The growing power of my congressman (and Josh Lyman model) Rahm Emannuel who had a great day yesterday in IL.

3. Catholic Charities is Boston pulling out of the adoption business so they don't have to help Gay people adopt. We at GT12 thank Catholic Charities of Toledo daily for getting us out of Ireland.

4. New Hampshire Voting Down A Ban on Gay Marriage

5. And this Just In: From AMERICABlog this little tidbit about a skirmish in the culture wars between a 16 Y/O gay kid and George Allen (GT12's predicted GOP Pres Cand in '08...tho we are aware that there may be some 'problems' in his personal life....):

The
16 year old gay kid who took on GOP Senator George Allen
by John in DC - 3/21/2006 10:59:00 PM

16 year old gay high school kid takes on Virginia GOP bigot George Allen - what's not to love?I love the part where Allen talks about the poor little Christians who were arrested for praying. Obviously, Allen was reciting a talking point without knowing the real story he was referring to. Those little Christians in the story in question have a long history of acting up. I'd be curious if George Allen would be proud of those folks if he actually watched them protest in person. Or if he read a little of their own words:

"According to the Scriptures, it's the government's job to enforce
God's law and to uphold his law, and the Bible talks about how, I don't want to really get into this — it'll make me sound like I'm crazy — but it does talk about how [homosexuals] are to be put to death. The wages of sin is death. But I want to make [it] clear that I'm not advocating the [independent] killing of homosexuals. … I'm saying that the government's duty is to uphold God's law. … I know that's harsh, but we have all broken the law, God's law, and we need to be held accountable."

Anyway, read about the 16 year old gay kid who took Allen on. Must have been interesting for Allen, who has had an unusually high number of gay men working for him, one might add unusually attractive gay men, over the years.

Super Music Geek Super Site

For those of you who find Robert Johnson or Charley Patton too modern, the U of California, Santa Barbara has put its collection on cylinder recordings from the first two decades of last century on line (The 3rd largest in the country). You can stream or download.

Cylinder Digitization and Preservation Project Web site (cylinders.library.ucsb.edu),

Why should You Care? Read this article from the NY Times

Stop Hurting Tom Cruise!!!!!!

Or he'll come after YOUR fave show.

Egg Rolling Traitors

Either you're with the Christianists or you're helping the terrorists (From Left Coast Breakdown):

The War On Kiddies
So, some gay parents decided that they would attend the annual White House Easter Egg Hunt this year wearing matching t-shirts, so that folks could get the idea that homos have families too.


But, the Family Loving Christianists Cry Foul!

"For crying out loud, at the Easter egg roll? This is a family event", said exasperated executive director Andrea Lafferty (Traditional Values Coalition), who called it "very distasteful"; and inappropriate to politicize the occasion and to use children to do so.

We agree. As one blogger put it :

It is very distasteful to have these children at a “family event”. Because, as well all know, children from same-sex relationships aren’t really children at all. Sure, they look like children, act like children, but if left alone, will hump your leg like the untrained dog-like creatures they are. Like their mutated evil parents, only smaller

Trendy As Always

Religion's biggest enemies are the ones in power. Nothing can take the magic out of a faith like spiritual tyranny. This from In The Agora

Atheism is the fastest growing religious identity in America
By Joshua Claybourn

The San Antonio Express-News reports the following:

A study done by the Graduate Center of the City University of New York found that the percentage of the population that describes itself as "nonreligious" more than doubled from 1990 to 2001, from 14.3 million to 29.4 million people. The only other group to show growth was Muslims. . .

A study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that 16 percent of Americans (about 35 million) consider themselves "unaffiliated" -- a category that includes "unaffiliated believers," "secularists" and atheists/agnostics.

The latter terms -- atheists and agnostics -- are lumped together, says Green, because they share so many similarities. But there is a subtle difference: Atheists forthrightly affirm that there is no God; agnostics simply say as humans we can never know. Together, they constitute about 3 percent of the American population.

We Got The Blogs

Markos Miitsas Zuniga, founder leader etc of one of the best known ( shrillest) lefty blogs is Q&A'd in today's NY times Magazine. This quote was welcome here at GT12Central:

Whom would you like to see run in 2008?
I like Mark Warner. I like Russ Feingold. I don't hate Hillary, but I don't like anyone who is declared by fiat to be the front-runner

Cruise War!

Of course, the Christians have already taken care of The Book of Daniel and The Muslims don't like cartoons at all....

NEW YORK - "South Park" has declared war on Scientology. Matt Stone and Trey Parker, creators of the animated satire, are digging in against the celebrity-endorsed religion after a controversial episode mocking outspoken Scientologist Tom Cruise was yanked abruptly from the schedule Wednesday — with Internet rumors it was covert warfare by Cruise that led to its departure.

"So, Scientology, you may have won THIS battle, but the million-year war for earth has just begun!" the "South Park" creators said in a statement Friday in Daily Variety. "Temporarily anozinizing our episode will NOT stop us from keeping Thetans forever trapped in your pitiful man-bodies... You have obsructed us for now, but your feeble bid to save humanity will fail!"

People Who Go To Twelve

It was in a Keith Richards interview many years ago that I learned that ‘the English really dig country music’. We have learned over the years that they actually really loved a very old kind of country music and subsequently experience dismay and despair when confronted with what Nashville called C&W these days.

The Ramones may have given ‘birth’ to punk (or was it the Dolls?) but it was the Brits who embraced it and began the mythology.

And we all know that Willie Dixon’s recordings are not the reason that he is known to white American Rock Fans from the 60’s & 70”s. We Have Eric, Jimmy and Keith to thank for that.

But Eric, Jimmy and Keith can’t keep 4 bands going at one time; They certainly have shown no interest in social change; They have never been uber-producer’s for legions of label mates; They don’t write very many great lyrics (leaving that to others); Only one sings passably, one sings w/ Character and one sings not at all; And, art school backgrounds aside, have you ever seen any of them paint anything?

After a long two weeks of pondering, assessing and even resisting, we have succumbed to the obvious: IF you are a founding member of a seminal English Punk Band; IF you are the Godfather, emininence gris’, renaissance man of Alt Country’s Major American City’s Alt Country Movement; IF Robert Christgau gives you all A’s; IF you generate not one, not two, but THREE Albums devoted to ending the Death Penalty (take that Steve Earle); IF you are an MVP of all live performances of an NPR Radio Show devoted not to music but to telling stories; IF the drummer in two of your groups also helped give us Graham Parker’s Squeezing Out Sparks, IF you can capture despair and humor more assuredly than Bruce Springsteen and capture them in ground breaking Rock and Ground Breaking Country and, IF You Are The Only Person In The History Of Pop Music To Actually Generate Real Genuine Interesting Distinctive Valuable Paintings and Drawings (Take a hike Tony, Joni and, Oh Christ did you ever see any Dan Fogelberg Paintings….?), well, then you could only be Jon Langford, and You Most Definitely Go To Twelve.

Quote of The Year, No, Century (at least this one)

"Senator, when you took your oath of office, you placed your hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution. You didn't place your hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible."

Costitutional Law Professor and State Senate candidate Jamie Raskin, testifying Wednesday, March 1, 2006 before the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee in response to a question from Republican Senator Nancy Jacobs about whether marriage discrimination against gay people is required by "God's Law."

Hat tip to Americablog.

I Wonder If My Phone Is Tapped?

From Salon.com

Forget the leakers, let's crack down on the gays

Security clearances were very much in the news last year as Democrats tried, unsuccessfully, to get Karl Rove's revoked after it became clear that he had leaked Valerie Plame's identity to several reporters. But there was another security clearance story out there that didn't get so much attention: While the rest of us were worried about leaks from the White House, the White House was apparently worrying about the security risk posed by . . . homosexuals.

As the Associated Press reports, George W. Bush signed off in December on language changes in the rules for security clearances that sure seem aimed at making it easier for the government to deny clearances to gay men and lesbians. The old rules said that sexual orientation "may not be used as a basis for or a disqualifying factor in determining a person's eligibility for a security clearance." Under the new rules, a security clearance cannot be denied "solely" on the basis of sexual orientation.

A spokesman for the National Security Council tells the AP that the language change "was not intended to alter the way sexual orientation is treated." But if that's the case, why was the language changed? If the White House has an answer for that question, it's not in the AP report.

Gay advocacy groups apparently discovered the language change in a document distributed on Dec. 29, without any public fanfare, by National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley. So far as we know, Hadley isn't gay -- he's married with two kids -- but maybe he shouldn't have a security clearance anyway; it has been suggested that Hadley was the administration official who leaked Valerie Plame's identity to Bob Woodward and Robert Novak.

What It Takes To Get Back In The Game

For the last few days, I've been quite busy and nothing has really grabbed me away from the grind. Then, I ran across my old friend Molly. Why Oh Why can't the Dems engage in a little 'We Are Strong, So Don't Fuck With Us' behavior. They are wimps, no wonder why no one wants them to run the country:

Mah fellow progressives, now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of the party. I don’t know about you, but I have had it with the D.C. Democrats, had it with the DLC Democrats, had it with every calculating, equivocating, triangulating, straddling, hair-splitting son of a bitch up there, and that includes Hillary Rodham Clinton.

I will not be supporting Senator Clinton because: a) she has no clear stand on the war and b) Terri Schiavo and flag-burning are not issues where you reach out to the other side and try to split the difference. You want to talk about lowering abortion rates through cooperation on sex education and contraception, fine, but don’t jack with stuff that is pure rightwing firewater.

I can’t see a damn soul in D.C. except Russ Feingold who is even worth considering for President. The rest of them seem to me so poisonously in hock to this system of legalized bribery they can’t even see straight.

Read It All

Preview Of NYT Mag Article On Mark Warner

Five years ago, I watched voters at the annual fiddlers' festival in Galax, Va., clap Warner on the back and dance along to his campaign song, an impossibly catchy bluegrass tune, while his Republican opponent, the state's former attorney general, milled about uncomfortably. Even after the terrorist attacks that September, which froze the campaign and rallied the country around the president and the Republican Party, Warner won by five points, scoring more support in rural Virginia than any Democrat in recent memory.

Considering that he has served only four years in government, Warner has plenty to brag about. Relentlessly wooing his Republican Legislature at a time when the two parties in Washington were growing ever more belligerent toward each other, Warner managed to erase a potentially catastrophic $6 billion budget shortfall by working out a bipartisan deal to raise some taxes (on sales and cigarettes) and lower others (on income and food). He passed the plan, in part, by selling it in frequent meetings with voters across the state, earning him a reputation as a nonpartisan deal maker who was willing to deliver unpopular news.

Warner's constant theme, which a lot of Washington politicians talk about but few seem to actually understand, was the need to modernize for a global economy. The days when you could walk down the street and get a job at the mill were over, Warner would say, and new jobs — the state gained more than 150,000 of them on his watch — would require new skills and infrastructure. So Warner, working with Nascar, pushed through an accelerated program that enabled 35,000 more Virginians to get high-school equivalency degrees, and he introduced a program to deliver broadband capacity to 20 Southern counties. "In the 1800's, if the railroad didn't come through your small town, the town shriveled up and went away," he told me once, explaining his rural program. "And if the broadband Internet doesn't come through your town in the next few years, the same thing will happen."

One Reason Why Illinois Is The Greatest State

For a Republican To Stand A Chance of Winning The Governor's Office, She Must Be Pro-Gay.

I assert that Republican Judy Baar Topinka is this state's most popular politician and, speaking as a Democrat who won't vote for her, most likely our next Governor. Our previous governor, also a Republican (always described as 'conservative'), won the Gay Vote over the Democratic candidate, banned executions and actually was pretty great on most social issues. Being a Republican, he is of course on trial right now for a breathtaking array of corruption charges. But he was THE BEST DAMN LIBERAL GOVERNOR THAT I'VE EVER LIVED UNDER.

Anyway, Judy's got the Christianists all aflutter and you should read about it here. "Judy Baar Topinka: Pro-Homosexual Activist."

History Lesson

Vice President Henry Wallace wrote a 1944 NY Times piece answering the following questions: What is a fascist? How many fascists have we? How dangerous are they?'

Wallace's answer to those questions was published in the Times on April 9, 1944, at the height of the war against the Axis powers of Germany and Japan. See how much you think his statements apply to our society today: 'The really dangerous American fascist,' Wallace wrote, '. . . is the man who wants to do in the United States in an American way what Hitler did in Germany in a Prussian way. The American fascist would prefer not to use violence. His method is to poison the channels of public information. With a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or more power.'

"In his strongest indictment of the tide of fascism he saw rising in America, Wallace added, 'They claim to be super-patriots, but they would destroy every liberty guaranteed by the Constitution. They demand free enterprise, but are the spokesmen for monopoly and vested interest. Their final objective toward which all their deceit is directed is to capture political power so that, using the power of the state and the power of the market simultaneously, they may keep the common man in eternal subjection.' "

I Think The Time Has Come

Impeach The Motherfucker Already

Culture Of Death

Cancer or Teenage Sex: What is more evil? If you're thinking Cancer, you are not thinking like the Christians in charge of our government.

From the New Yorker:

"Religious conservatives are unapologetic; not only do they believe that mass use of an HPV vaccine or the availability of emergency contraception will encourage adolescents to engage in unacceptable sexual behavior; some have even stated that they would feel similarly about an H.I.V. vaccine, if one became available. 'We would have to look at that closely,' Reginald Finger, an evangelical Christian and a former medical adviser to the conservative political organization Focus on the Family, said. 'With any vaccine for H.I.V., disinhibition' - a medical term for the absence of fear - 'would certainly be a factor, and it is something we will have to pay attention to with a great deal of care.' Finger sits on the Centers for Disease Control's Immunization Committee, which makes those recommendations."

Q and A w/the author, Michael Specter, here.

Department of Groundswell News

From Political Wire:

Warner's Ways
Save some time this weekend to read the Sunday New York Times Magazine cover story on former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner (D) who is quickly becoming the favorite alternative to Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) in the 2008 Democratic presidential race. The piece spends a lot of time on Warner's appeal to rural voters and his focus on technology and the global economy, but in this partisan and increasingly divisive era what caught my eye was this:

"As governor, he was known for inviting his opponents over to the mansion for drinks and then inviting them back again, until he’d earned their trust. The less inclined you are to like Warner, the more inclined he is to court you, which probably explains his counterintuitive bond with Virginia’s rural, less-educated voters."

I spent 15 minutes on the phone with Warner earlier this week and what's striking is how genuinely likable he is. He comes across as a real person because he actually listens and engages you in a real conversation. Very few politicians have this quality. Though he's very wealthy, grew up in Connecticut and went to Harvard Law School, it will be difficult for Republicans to paint Warner as a cultural elitist because he connects with the average person.

The other thing that struck me was how important the new book by Steve Jarding and Dave "Mudcat" Saunders may be in understanding Warner's political strategy and philosophy. It's out later this month and should be on your reading list.

Speaking Of Threats....

Who said the following?

You know, one-sided, to some extent liberal propaganda. Because you know there Communists – I’m sorry…there were Communists in the government…I could go through the whole list – Elizabeth Bentley, Harry Dexter White,and of course Alger Hiss – there’s a whole gaggle of them.

1. Richard Nixon, 1957

2. George Wallace, 1968

3. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, 1999

4. Chris Matthews, 2006

And They Think Gay People Are A Threat?

Things we're learning this week:

1. The founder of Domino's Pizza wants to start a Catholic Town

2. Missouri wants to make Christianity it's official religion

3. South Dakota has decided that women who become pregnant through rape or incest still have to carry the child to term, I guess because,God gives us challenges to make us better.

4. the Department of Homeland Security, which adeptly removed a major Democratic American city from our country is going to be setting up a special Center For Faith Based Initiatve.

Signed 3/7/06
Section 1. Establishment of a Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at the Department of Homeland Security.
(a) The Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) shall establish within the Department of Homeland Security (Department) a Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (Center).
(b) The Center shall be supervised by a Director appointed by Secretary. The Secretary shall consult with the Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (WHOFBCI Director) prior to making such appointment.
(c) The Department shall provide the Center with appropriate staff, administrative support, and other resources to meet its responsibilities under this order.
(d) The Center shall begin operations no later than 45 days from the date of this order.Sec. 2. Purpose of Center. The purpose of the Center shall be to coordinate agency efforts to eliminate regulatory, contracting, and other programmatic obstacles to the participation of faith-based and other community organizations in the provision of social and community services.

5. We reflect on the still raging struggle for inclusion of religious based beliefs in science class.

6. We see that teachers who push their students to critically examine the way our Pres and his folk propagandize are suspended.

7. That ridiculous twit Bill Donahue is running around demanding that a "Work Of Fiction" disclaimer be placed at the beginning of the movie version of "The DaVinci Code" (do people not know it's fiction? Maybe bill's circle is a little dense).

8. North Carolina is celebrating Confederate Flag Day, because, well, I guess they're proud of a heritage based entirely on an economy driven by slave labor.

Now....please tell me, how are the people running our country different from the Islamist's who we are "liberating"?

Changing My Mind About Chris Matthews

I'm beginning to think that maybe he's working for the anti-Hilary Dems. If he keeps this up maybe Hil's destruction of the Party will be prevented earlier.

He also creams his jeans over his interviewee's (The breathtakingly corrupt David Boehner, from OH where the State's Republicans could probably teach Duke Cunnigham a thing or two) uh, Greatness. Chris Matthews: Democratic Counter-Spy or the new Bill O'Reilly?

MATTHEWS: Is she a socialist?

BOEHNER: Uh, no. I’ve worked with her on a number of issues —

MATTHEWS: Well, on the issue of health care, is she a socialist?
BOEHNER: She would be to the left of most people I know.

MATTHEWS: But not a socialist?

BOEHNER: I wouldn’t go that far.

MATTHEWS: You wouldn’t go that far? What stops you?

BOEHNER: I don’t like labeling of people.

MATTHEWS: You call her a liberal. You called it Hillarycare.

BOEHNER: I don’t want to call her a socialist.

MATTHEWS: Could she carry Ohio in the general?

BOEHNER: I don’t think so.

MATTHEWS: Who could beat her?

BOEHNER: Anybody.

MATTHEWS: Anybody. Strong words. We’ll be right back with House Majority Leader John Boehner. You can see this man’s greatness.

Speaking of the Midwest...

I was pointed toward this post from the improbably (unusually? incomprehensibly?) named blog Kung Fu Monkey. It is a great rant and a better explication of why I, for example, am a better representative of "the heartland" than the farmers shopping at Walmart.

The last graph sums it nicely like this:

I am just, I guess, well and truly tired of being told what "Middle America" wants, when Middle America is my age and lives in a goddam city, just like I have for my entire life.

But my fave might be:

Hell, I grew up in Massachusetts, and we didn't go around nodding and saying"This is the very birthplace of America both geographically andideologically, those idiots in Kansas have no idea what being a real American is, like we Commonwealth bastards." One would be considered insane. Whatever connection people in rural America have to the "idea" of America is the exact same as mine -- the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. They are public documents, accessible by all (well, for now), and last time I checked the versions printed in textbooks in Kansas didn't have special magical ink and secret clauses not included in the versions handed out in the Northeast urban great city of Philadelphia where, if we remember, the damn things were actually written.

Glad that I Live In A Safe State..

Surprisingly enough, Ohio's history has been one of early adoption of most liberalizing legal reforms (including legalization of homosexuality)

US Senate Candidate Wants Death Penalty for Homosexuals

TOLEDO -- Merrill Keiser, Jr., is a trucker by trade, and he's hoping his next journey takes him all the way to Washington. His goal is a seat in the US Senate, but first he has to make it through the primary that will determine which Ohio Democrat will be the November ballot.

The Fremont man is causing some controversy with one of his beliefs. He tells News 11 homosexuality should be a felony, punishable by death. "Just like we have laws against murder, we have laws against stealing, we have laws against taking drugs -- we should have laws against immoral conduct," Keiser says.

Read More, if you dare

Ripe for The Picking?

Apparently, not all evangelicals are created equal. And the Dems only need the Christian ones.

From the Washington Monthly:

When Would Jesus Bolt?

...a substantial minority of evangelical voters—41 percent, according to a 2004 survey by political scientist John Green at the University of Akron—are more moderate on a host of issues ranging from the environment to public education to support for government spending on anti-poverty programs.

Broadly speaking, these are the suburban, two-working-parents, kids-in-public-school, recycle-the-newspapers evangelicals. They may be pro-life, but it's in a Catholic, “seamless garment of life” kind of way. These moderates have largely remained in the Republican coalition because of its faith-friendly image. A targeted effort by the Democratic Party to appeal to them could produce victories in the short term: To win the 2004 presidential election, John Kerry needed just 59,300 additional votes in Ohio—that's four percent of the total evangelical vote in the state, or approximately 10 percent of Ohio's moderate evangelical voters. And if the Democratic Party changed its reputation on religion, the result could alter the electoral map in a more significant and permanent way.


....The newly converted are the most zealous, sharing the good news with gusto to any and all comers. Every few days, Randy Brinson calls me with another revelation. Republicans? “The power structure in the Republican Party is too entrenched with big business. It's not with evangelicals—they're a means to an end.” The Christian Right? “They just want to keep the culture war going because it raises a lot of money for them.” Abramoff? “Evangelicals were being used as pawns to promote a big money agenda.” His fellow evangelicals? “Can't they see that Republicans are just pandering to them??” He once was blind, but now he sees.

Obligatory Oscar Post

Looking around, I see that all blogs must comment on the Oscars.

So:

1. Not Unlike Most Years, I have seen none of the nominated movies. Not even Brokeback (although I have read the short story).

2. I love Jon Stewart, but I was underwhelmed by him. His style and his early nerves could not fill up a room as big as the Kodak theater (we'll call that the John Edwards deficet)

3. A number of friends have been insisting for some time that I see Crash

4. I am a super huge Phillip Seymour Hofmann fan and so am happy for him.

5. And Reese too.

Captain, Are there Any Icebergs Around Here?

FOX Ratings In Free Fall - O'Reilly Leads The Way Down

by KingOneEyeWed Mar 01, 2006 at 09:17:23 AM PDT

As we all know, the media is rampant with sycophantic, corporate shills and can't be trusted to deliver a pizza. But an interesting trend is developing that ought to shake their confidence in the suck-up school of journalism.The just released February ratings (pdf) for cable news networks tell a tale that is decidedly downbeat for Fox News, the leader in propaganda programming. In a comparison with February 2005, the numbers for every network are up except for Fox.

*This may come as some surprise to Bill O'Reilly who, in a moment of empathy for his competition at MSNBC, started a petition to replace Keith Olbermann with former MSNBC host, Phil Donahue. O'Reilly felt sorry for what he said was the net's poor performance. Never mind that Olbermann's show drew more viewers than MSNBC's conservative hosted shows. And I certainly doubt that Bill was just being indignant because Keith was being mean to him on a nightly basis. Now Bill has to swallow the difficult truth that Keith's viewership is growing while his own is shrinking. In the key demographic group of viewers aged 25-54, the Total Day ratings for MSNBC rose 47% while Fox declined -13%.

Fox's Prime Time erosion was even greater at -21%. In fact, in every hour in the daypart, from 3:00pm till midnight, Fox numbers were lower. This is a distinction that only Fox, of the five nets surveyed, was able to achieve.

The largest decline was suffered by Greta Van Susteran's On The Record (-22%), followed closely by O'Reilly (-21%). Hannity & What's His Name took the Bronze (-17%). Of the MSNBC programs opposite those losers, Olbermann's Countdown was the biggest gainer (55%), which I'm sure doesn't bother O'Reilly at all.

The growing feud between Bill and Keith is something unique in commercial television. It has taken on a personal tone that I can't recall witnessing before. There is, however, a difference in style. While Olbermann is merciless in his mockery, he sticks to commenting on the substance of O'Reilly's program and the stupid or demonstrably false things that O'Reilly says. Billy, on the other hand, seems to respond only by pointing out that more people watch his show than Olbermann's. You know, the 2 million flies defense. But if O'Reilly isn't careful, he may soon not have even that to crow about.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/3/1/111723/4980

2008

Trust Me, the #1's will never get their party's nomination. My money's on the #2's.

From Political Wire:

Todd's White House Rankings

Noting there are just 978 days to go, Chuck Todd picks the top five front runners in the 2008 presidential race for each party. "These rankings are based on a number of factors, including: organization, money, buzz and polling. The candidates in our two top spots may not surprise you, but they are the candidates who are doing well in all four categories."

Republicans:
1. Sen. John McCain
2. Sen. George Allen
3. Gov. Mitt Romney
4. Gov. Mike Huckabee
5. Newt Gingrich

Democrats:
1. Sen. Hillary Clinton
2. Mark Warner
3. John Edwards
4. Sen. Evan Bayh
5. Gov. Bill Richardson

Heckuva Job, Brownie

No, really, I mean it. I'm as cynical as the next guy and I know that the guy's got a career to salvage but he did a quite nice job on Bill Maher last night.

Harry Anderson was great too!

Staying On Twelve

... and getting Bill O'Reilly to call the cops on ya.

Keith Olberman, savior of the rational segment of our Republic, has got Bill O'Reilly more frothed than even Al Franken could. Bill shows a real affinity for Nixonian (or is it Bush-Cheyneyian?) coping skills on this video at Crooks and Liars. In the name of all that is holy and sacred in America, watch this clip and watch Keith every night. And get all your friends to watch also.

For the record, KO has been getting some of the largest ratings of any of his MSNBC Colleagues. This is another sign that, perhaps, the worm is turning in the country.

So What Happens Now?

Bush's handling of Iraq drew the support of just 35%, while 64 percent said
they disapprove.

Of the 1,020 adults surveyed, 59% said President Bush can no
longer manage the government effectively....

While newspaper editorials remain virtually silent on the subject, the American public seems to have made up its mind. A new Gallup/CNN/USA Today poll out tonight shows that 2 out of 3 adult Americans now want U.S. troops to start to come home from Iraq. And 55% call the decision to attack Iraq in 2003 a "mistake.

Full Article Here

We're along way (in political terms) from Katrina and all the other disasters of '05 and Pres. W has continued to sink back to the 30's, each regression going just a little further toward Nixonian alienation. It's a long time until 1/21/09...

Probably Tired Of Getting Hit On The Head by Rich Guys

.. to say nothing of having their sons and daughters killed in an insane war or drowning in deficet-caused debt.

From Political Wire:


Cracks in the Two AmericasBy analyzing recent polling data, a new memo fram Stan Greenberg and Matt Hogan shows how Republican loyalists and swing voters "are moving toward Democrats, creating a political map that defies the red-blue delineation.

"Their analysis "underscores changes so big that the political map has been altered. Democrats have a new audience amongst the many disillusioned Republican loyalist groups, which the Republicans will battle hard now to win back. That will be made more difficult by the struggles they have in the swing electorate where both the best-educated and older blue collar voters are moving fairly dramatically toward the Democrats."

I Was Wrong

Stephen wanted you to know. Please note.

Our Most Foolish War Ever!!

Not Iraq. Not Vietnam. Not Even Grenada.

Perhaps now that Cronkite and Bill Buckley agree on this we can go about the business of convincing the people. It does take time to get comfortable with the ramifications of clear-headedly examining our never-ending-War-On-Drugs.

Telling the Truth About the War on Drugs

Today, our nation is fighting two wars: one abroad and one at home. While the war in Iraq is in the headlines, the other war is still being fought on our own streets. Its casualties are the wasted lives of our own citizens.

I am speaking of the war on drugs.

Read and Tell Your Friends. LBJ knew he was finished when he knew that he'd lost Cronkite. Will the well-intentioned supporters of the never-effective-and-often-harmful DARE be that insightful?

.... And I cannot help but wonder how many more lives, and how much more money, will be wasted before another Robert McNamara admits what is plain for all to see: the war on drugs is a failure.

How We Got This Way

It makes me crazy we know so little about what it is our young men and women are theorectically fighting for in Iraq and Afghanistan. I'm not talking about the failure of our country to wake up and smell the petroleum brew that has kick started our shameful leaders crusade. No I'm talking about how no one actually knows what 'freedoms' we have, no matter how much W sez that the terrorists hate them.

In all seriousness, is this what happens when we worry more about feelings and motivations than about facts? If so, can we go back to the three 'R's' ?

From my own toddlin' town's Chicago Tribune:

Study: Few Americans Know 1st Amendment

Only one in four Americans can name more than one of the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment (freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly and petition for redress of grievances.) But more than half can name at least two members of the cartoon family, according to a survey.

The study by the new McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum found that 22 percent of Americans could name all five Simpson family members, compared with just one in 1,000 people who could name all five First Amendment freedoms.

Joe Madeira, director of exhibitions at the museum, said he was surprised by the results.
"Part of the survey really shows there are misconceptions, and part of our mission is to clear up these misconceptions," said Madeira, whose museum will be dedicated to helping visitors understand the First Amendment when it opens in April. "It means we have our job cut out for us."

The survey found more people could name the three "American Idol" judges than identify three First Amendment rights. They were also more likely to remember popular advertising slogans.

Read The Rest (Please!) Here. And then write your school board.

Finally!

Democratic Catholics have apparently decided to stop ceding the definition of good citizenship to the James Dobsons of the world (subtley pointing out that Christian values tend to be about charity and not tax cuts and war mongering). I'm telling 'ya, nothing that I have heard from the right wing sounds much like what I was taught in 12 years of Catholic education.

We are committed to making real the basic principles that are at the heart of Catholic social teaching: helping the poor and disadvantaged, protecting the most vulnerable among us, and ensuring that all Americans of every faith are given meaningful opportunities to share in the blessings of this great country.

...As legislators, we are charged with preserving the Constitution, which guarantees religious freedom for all Americans. In doing so, we guarantee our right to live our own lives as Catholics, but also foster an America with a rich diversity of faiths. We believe the separation of church and state allows for our faith to inform our public duties.

For the complete statement, click here

Poll: Bush Ratings At All-Time Low

I know that this is 'old news' now, but I've been busy and I just want to post it anyway. The depth of Our Pres' unpopularity is growing every month.

(CBS) The latest CBS News poll finds President Bush's approval rating has fallen to an all-time low of 34 percent, while pessimism about the Iraq war has risen to a new high. Americans are also overwhelmingly opposed to the Bush-backed deal giving a Dubai-owned company operational control over six major U.S. ports. Seven in 10 Americans, including 58 percent of Republicans, say they're opposed to the agreement.

...In a separate poll, two out of three Americans said they do not think President Bush has responded adequately to the needs of Katrina victims. Only 32 percent approve of the way President Bush is responding to those needs, a drop of 12 points from last September’s poll, taken just two weeks after the storm made landfall.

.....Mr. Bush's overall job rating has fallen to 34 percent, down from 42 percent last month. Fifty-nine percent disapprove of the job the president is doing.

For the first time in this poll, most Americans say the president does not care much about people like themselves.

Fifty-one percent now think he doesn't care, compared to 47 percent last fall. Just 30 percent approve of how Mr. Bush is handling the Iraq war, another all-time low.

Open Up a Nice Beer and Read More Here