Friday Night Video

...or the future life Larry Craig has to look forward to now that he's leaving the senate.

Katrina Today

Todd Beeton over at My DD has a great post and a video by Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films. Watch this then go over to When The Saints.org and see if you can help. It's not too late. Do something before it is.

South Mississippi Keeps On Post Katrina

The Gulf Coast of Mississippi received the full force of Katrina's wrath 2 years ago today and a paucity of the federal recovery monies and support. We relocated to Southern Mississippi recently. We live within walking distance of FEMA trailers.

My mom just finished a visit here. I told her about all the troubles folks on the Gulf Coast are still embroiled in and all that hasn't been provided by the federal government. We went for a drive down highway 90. I pointed out all the still-present damage and all the empty slabs next to storm twisted remnants of buildings. She was shocked and said,"I didn't realize the devastation, the only reports you hear are about New Orleans..."

The Sun Herald has an article today on the two year anniversary of Katrina detailing among other things, how the the money spent so far could have purchased two houses for each family still displaced by the storm. Someone explain that to the politicians. I hope they have to explain it to God.

Read the Sun Herald article then click onto Jim Yancy's site Jackson County Community Services Coalition and please give whatever you can spare, even if it's just a prayer and a thank you to Jim for all his hard work. One current project is "100 Homes in 100 Days" see how you can help.

Also checkout SouthernStudies.org's Blueprint for Gulf Renewal

Some people are doing A-OK after Katrina. From reader Op99:Gulf Coast Cronyism or "Thanks Haley Barbour!!"...(Daddy, Uncle Haley, etc.)

Gooper Pooper

Yet another gooper gets caught in, dare I say it, ratfuckery, so to speak. Larry Craig (Idaho-R) tried to get his groove on with an undercover cop in an airport bathroom. WTF is wrong with conservative rethuglicans? Being Gay is fine but being hypocritical and making laws against Gays and basic civil rights is totally uncool. What a dick. And by the way, he has "Gay eyes". Don't ask.

Equally telling in the "GOP bathroom problem" is the inherent homophobia. Certainly expected on the right but sadly from the left as well, just more subtly. Already I'm pretty sick of 'gay jokes'. The Nation blogger Richard Kim pens that side of the story:

"...I wonder if the GOP's burgeoning "bathroom problem" isn't reflective of something larger than just a bunch of conservative dudes who couldn't come out of the closet. There's something palpably sad to me about what happened to Allen and Craig too, something oddly touching about their misplaced faith in the fading world of secret, anonymous gay sex. That world--once found in bathrooms, parks, piers and adult bookstores; the furtive refuges of adventuresome queers, married men, the curious--has been swept away by so many police raids, privatization schemes, quality of life campaigns and internet dating services. But mostly, it's fallen away as gays have become increasingly integrated into the mainstream, and also, paradoxically, more marked than ever."

Fat City

The news is out: my new 'home' state is the fattest in the country. Sigh. And adding insult to misery, in the state primary run-off election today, voting is expected to be very low.

It Ain't Over til the Fat Lawyer Sings

Beyond good riddance to bad garbage, my only commentary on the resignation of Abu Gonzalez is a reiteration of my, what has been called the highly improbable, poo-pooed notion, that Gonzo was gonna fold and blow the whistle on BushCo. I believe now that Gonzo has been throw to the wolves, and as pressure and more malfeasance in the Bush administration comes to light, Gonzo is gonna squeal like the stuck pig bastard he is.

My conjecture is based on what I perceive as Gonzo's internalized racism, his desperate desire to 'succeed,' and pursue the "American Dream" at any cost. His blind ambition has created a monster.

Alberto Gonzalez, the only child to go to college from a very possibly illegal immigrant Mexican family, hitched his wagon to Dubya in the early 90's. His star soared and he saw this gabacho as his way of setting himself apart from the pack.

Initially, Chimpy's c'mon-and-have-a-beer-with-me persona appealed to Fredo and his conservative Catholic values. His advances in career, all tied to monkey-boy, cemented his loyalty even as the moral ethical line moved. Alberto unconsciously tapped into his deep-seated inferiority complex and acted out all the evil impulses buried inside when egged on by the mean-spirited Bush. He was pulled deeper and deeper into the web of deceit, illicit behavior and depravity of BushWorld.

Now that he's been left outside in the cold, my guess is that he will bite the hand that fed him in an effort to redeem his own soul and possibly keep himself out of jail.

It's just a thought. I could be wrong. But what if I'm right? 'House of cards' will take on a new dimension.

Just for shits and giggles here is an eight minute montage Josh Marshall put together of the the lying liar's greatest hits, followed by a truly crestfallen Arlen Specter and the incredulity of Gonzo and Habeus Corpus.

Republican Ratfuckery

Palau over at Progressive Gold has posted a terrific piece on more GOP malfeasance:

A NY state Republican political thug ‘consultant’, Roger J. Stone Jr., is alleged to have been harassing the 83 year old father of the Democratic attorney general, Elliot Spitzer, with threatening late night phone calls - traceable directly back to aforesaid thug “consultant”.

The title of the article has also given me a terrific new tag for gooper wingnuttery:Modern Mobsterism, or Republican Ratfuckery or “Nice Family You Got there. Shame If Anything Happened to It…” Ratfuckery, indeed.

Are We There Yet?

More and more frequently these days, I hear talk and genuine fear regarding the possibility of Chimpy imposing martial law. It is expected he will suspend the '08 election, and essentially complete the power grab that has been politically engineered from day one of his illegal presidency. The martial law coup d'etat is presumably preceded by another 9/11 style terrorist attack somewhere in the U.S., wherein BushCo then acts out on NSPD-51.

While certainly a frighteningly fictional-sounding scenario, it is one I'm afraid is all too close to coming true..

There have been far and away too many specific acts of controversy. We have experienced an ever-increasing range of false flag fun-and-games to the dissolution of our fundamental civil rights; suspension of the 900 year old tenet of Habeas Corpus and illegal wiretapping; data-mining and the ever-present extreme secrecy regarding everything this administration has done since in office. The list of offenses is long and infamous.

I think we as Americans too often forget the recent lessons of history and precedent of this type of despotic behavior. In Southeast Asia, Pol Pot's wholesale slaughter of 2 million Cambodians; Hitler's extermination of 6 million Jews; and the most recent examples, the Genocides in at least eight other countries. We assume such things could never happen here.

I posit that assumption is extremely naive.

The most recent thing to cross my radar, albeit a bit dated, certainly fits tidily into the coup premise. Have you heard about the government operations conducted by the U.S. Marshall Service and 29 other government agencies called "Operation Falcon"? Not one exercise, but three which in toto "rounded up" 37,000 "suspects" and concluded with over 30,000 arrests of people whose disposition is unknown.

Things are starting to look more and more like science fiction, and the suspense dramas we read in novels. I wonder how much it will take for people to pay attention.

"Conquering The Drawbacks Of Democracy"

My friend Marc Lord at Adored by Hordes, has written a stunning piece directly addressing the wingnuttery of Philip Atkinson. Atkinson is the crazy responsible for the the article published and subsequently pulled, from the website Family Security Matters (see below post).

An example of Atkinson's 'work':"The wisest course would have been for President Bush to use his nuclear weapons to slaughter Iraqis until they complied with his demands, or until they were all dead.”

Marc has written a response to this madness, directly to Atkinson, and in the best snark possible:

No, Mr. Atkinson, the central problem with your proposal is not that it goes too far. Simply that it does not go far enough. I strongly suggest you lend your support to our Nuclear Die-Off Proposal (NDOP). Your talents of persuasion would be most welcomed, and I think you'll find an inviting and stimulating home for a classically minded intellect. Won't you join us?

Read Adored by Hordes and if so inclined, send your own response to this nutbag.

Family Security Matters: Make Bush President for Life

This story has since been removed from the Family Security Matters website. I want to know what wingnit Laura Ingram (she's on the board) has to say...The Newsvine posts the story.

If President Bush copied Julius Caesar by ordering his army to empty Iraq of Arabs and repopulate the country with Americans, he would achieve immediate results: popularity with his military; enrichment of America by converting an Arabian Iraq into an American Iraq (therefore turning it from a liability to an asset); and boost American prestiege while terrifying American enemies.

Purple Heart--"out of stock" UPDATE

Passed on from Pandabonium who does an excellent job on the topic of peak oil at Floating Down Denial, is the story of a Korean War Veteran who after 55 years finally gets his Purple Heart Medal approved only to find out that they are "out of stock". Read the story here.

UPDATE:At least someone in BushCo can be shamed into action. After opting to buy his awarded Purple Heart, John Cornyn (R-TX)endeavored to find a medal for Veteran Nyles Reed of Texas.

Better late than never, dipshit.

3701

The number of dead American soldiers today and it's not even noon. Now, 3702.

Wednesday Night Videos

Inspired by an interview heard today on Fresh Air, here is Madonna and Gypsy sensation Eugene Hutz from Gogol Bordello collaborating in Romane, on "La Isla Bonita" at Live earth last month:
And in tribute to the anniversary of Elvis' death and the surrounding hoopla, I can't help but post his bouncing baby girl's "Lights Out" She insisted today that the lights be kept on at Graceland so that, "it would look like somebody was home...:

Fat Ass Issues Fatwah--Baptist-style

Dr. Wiley S. Drake, pastor of some cracker-ass Southern Baptist church, endorsed Mike Huckabee in a press release on church letterhead. For tax-exempt entities, that is a no-no. The Carpetbagger and Jesus General have the scoop.

Psychologists to King George's CIA: We Condemn Your Torture

Salon reports:

The American Psychological Association, the world's largest professional organization of psychologists, is poised to issue a formal condemnation of a raft of notorious interrogation tactics employed by U.S. authorities against detainees during the so-called war on terror, from simulated drowning to sensory deprivation. The move is expected during the APA's annual convention in San Francisco this weekend.

Read the rest.

Silver Lining

The new restrictions on obtaining a U.S. Passport have netted a few slacker-dad-fish.

Muggled

A little four minute something from Go Left TV featuring Jason Alexander and Company. A short film parody of "Harry Potter" called "The Plot to Bury Congress". It's funny and oh so right on the money. Give it a look.

"If the muggles are upset, tell them we're fighting them over there so...we can do whatever the hell we want over here."

"The strategy of being obstructionist can work or fail...so, far it's working for us. The Democrats are taking the blame for not getting anything done."

-Trent Lott in Roll Call, April 7, 2007

For more info go to: The Campaign for America's Future. Go check out where your Senator stands in regards to being "obstructionist".

Idaho's Not Just for Potatoes

Wordsmith at Les Enrages has a great post up about the continued push for theocracy from the retarded-rightwing of the Reich. Rep Bill Sali ID-R, thinks were in trouble 'cause we gots ourselves a Muslim in congress, among other things... Read Wordy's wonderful piece.

GENERAL STRIKE IN USA on Sept. 11, 2007

“No School, No Work, No Shopping, Hit the Streets”

I'm in. How about you?

Welcome to the Matrix

PsyOps, you know, the psychological warfare the military uses to mess with the head; has it been unleashed on the American public? Sure would explain the narcoleptic quality to the American response in losing our constitutionally guaranteed freedoms and the rampant criminal activities of BushCo.

Heard today on the Thom Hartman Program, Heather Wokusch, author of The Progressives Handbook. She writes up Welcome to the Jungle an expose on the PSYOP program which very well may be being used on the American public. Watch the video read her article, then WRITE CONGRESS.

God's Soldiers

Last week a disturbing new video surfaced featuring high-ranking Air Force and Army officers in uniform and on active duty, evangelizing for Jesus. This behavior is expressly prohibited by military ethics regulations and the UCMJ.

One officer, Maj.Gen. Jack Catton, USAF, is heard on the video stating his 'priorities' as, "...God, then my family, and then country." I guess I'd better hope that his god is my god and should wish I was a member of his family because his oath to defend the U.S. Constitution and the Air Force Core Values consisting of "Integrity First, Service Before Self, Excellence in All We Do" doesn't seem to matter much.

Specifically, "Service Before Self" is defined as, "The giving of self to provide for the welfare of others. Air Force people focus service in defense of the nation." Participating, producing, and appearing in uniform while in the Pentagon espousing hard-core Christian ideology hardly seems to fit that definition.

This new revelation angers and frightens me. These regulations are in place for good reason. The Founders specifically codified separation of church and state in the 1st Amendment. The military is an arm of the government. Should those who have the power to wage war and kill have control of nuclear weapons in what could easily be characterized as a war on Islam?

The hypocrisy and theocratic ideology is implicit as demonstrated by the treatment of anti-war protesters by the military. Jason Leopold at TruthOut writes: "Over the past few years, the military has set its sights on prosecuting Iraq war veterans who have completed active duty, soured on the war and participated in antiwar protests while wearing their uniforms. Recently, the US Marine Corps prosecuted Cpl. Adam Kokesh and Marine Sgt. Liam Madden, both of whom were photographed marching in an antiwar protest while wearing their uniforms in what the Marine Corps says was a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Military prosecutors vigorously sought to have both men dishonorably discharged. However, it appears unlikely the military will apply the same standard to the Air Force and Army officers who the inspector general said violated the same code of conduct Kokesh and Madden were found to have broken, according to the disciplinary recommendations of the report."

Leopold posts the video and his well-researched article.

Dropping Out-Turning Off

I have commented to anyone who would listen that there is a concerted effort among conservatives ala Ronald Reagan, to dumb down the American public. Yesterday it was reported, the US quietly pulled out of an international math and science test which compares participants in other countries and lists the result. US scores have been dropping the last several years, and last year found the only students performing more poorly, in Cypress and South Africa. Nice to know the right-wing's plans are proceeding unopposed..

An Unconscionable Act of Cowardice

I speak of the democratic leadership, 41 house members and 16 senators giving carte blanche to the criminal enterprise in the white house, in its ability to wiretap without a warrant, ANYBODY, American, foreign or domestic. They gave the chimp-in-charge the ability to undermine the 4th amendment to the constitution, to whit:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

This 'new' law is unconstitutional, but it will survive in spite of that fact. It will unless we DEMAND that our representatives rescind this new law. They will not unless we hound them. If we choose to rely on the "sunsetting" of this law in six months, recall the "Patriot Act" which has the sunset provision built in. Not only did the patriot act survive, but had more restrictions of our freedoms built into the new version.

This craven act has gives the only oversight of wiretaps to the corrupt liar, Alberto Gonzales. How can the dems do this? They clearly care more for how they appear than what we think. The shock is still palpable.

That fact that the MSM barely reported this to the American people is no shock but how many more of of constitutionally protected freedoms will we let fall by the wayside until we say "NO MORE"? Call or write your rep or senator, especially if they are on the rollcall of traitors. Tell them you will not support them in the future. Tell them you will encourage all those in your sphere of influence to do the same. Tell them it is UNAMERICAN to undermine our basic rights. If you have outrage fatigue, buck up and do your duty to the nation by voicing your opinion.

It's no accident the MSM concentrates on the yo-yoing of the stock market, the bubble burst of the housing market, back to school sale and the mine tragedy in Utah; they want you distracted and exhausted, then you can't fight back. This can't wait. Do it now. Vigilance to the Constitution is more important now than since its very inception. Your nation is counting on you.

Unhealthy Surge

Nominating myself for 'understatement of the year' with that one...Patrick Colburn of The Independent gives us a special report on the "results" after six months of surging.

The war in Iraq passed a significant but little remarked anniversary this summer. The conflict that President George Bush announced was in effect over on 1 May 2003 has now gone on longer than the First World War.
[ ]
Like that great conflict almost a century ago, the Iraqi war has been marked by repeated claims that progress is being made and that a final breakthrough is in the offing.The surge is now joining a host of discredited formulae for success and fake turning-points that the US (with the UK tripping along behind) has promoted in Iraq over the past 52 months.
[ ]
Six months after the surge was actually launched, in mid- February, it has failed as dismally as so many First World War offensives. The US Defense Department says that, this June, the average number of attacks on US and Iraqi forces, civilian forces and infrastructure peaked at 177.8 per day, higher than in any month since the end of May 2003.

read the rest

Revisting Segregation

FORWARD OPERATING BASE WARHORSE, Iraq — The sign taped to the men's latrine is just five lines:"US MILITARY CONTRACTORS CIVILIANS ONLY!!!!!"It needed only one: "NO IRAQIS."

Remind you of anything?

The "Lost" Weapons of Iraq -- Will they be' found' in the hands of insurgents?

WaPo is reporting: Weapons Given by U.S. To Iraq Are Missing

The Pentagon has lost track of about 190,000 AK-47 assault rifles and pistols given to Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005, report shows. The United States has spent $19.2 billion trying to develop Iraqi security forces since 2003, the GAO said, including at least $2.8 billion to buy and deliver equipment. But the GAO said weapons distribution was haphazard and rushed and failed to follow established procedures, particularly from 2004 to 2005, when security training was led by Gen. David H. Petraeus, who now commands all U.S. forces in Iraq.

Of course we know Betray-us is now LEADING the US troops as CenCom commander. Petraeus wrote the book , literally, on how to defend against an insurgency and has thrown out that manual in favor of whatever little Georgie says.

This comes on the heels of the 13 billion dollar Saudi Arabian weapons deal and the folding of the chickenshit congress giving the president broader powers to wiretap the American public without a warrant. Did I mention Gonzo has the last word about whether the tap is legal or not? The hits just keep on coming.

YKOS Live

As most people who are not dependent upon the MSM know, Yearly KOS is happening in Chicago this weekend. YKOS has provided a free live stream and I encourage everyone to tune in at some point this weekend to find strategies, ideas, hope and information about wht YOU can do to help end the criminal BushCo and root out the evil in DC. Currently (10 AM Central) Jon Soltz of Vote Vets is speaking on the policy changes needed to end the Iraq occupation. Please tune in.

Heck of a Job Bushie

And that other rethuglican hack, Tim Pawlenty. Pawlenty, following the lead of Dubya's response to Katrina, vetoed a transportation infrastructure bill which would have provided funds to fix sagging infrastructure like the I-35W bridge.

The emperor-chimp, was AWOL during an emergency yesterday when this tragedy occurred. He made his statement regarding the Minneapolis bridge moments ago. He spoke about the tragedy for about a minute without mentioning the victims. He used his next few minutes to BLAME Democrats for not prioritizing certain bills in congress and talk about his tax cuts.

I really do hate these people.

Join Veterans in Writing President to Come Clean on Tillman

Please sign this petition.

For the good of our military, our troops, the Tillmans, and our nation, I respectfully call on you to comply with all past and future requests of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on the matter of the death of Corporal Tillman.

I don't believe the evil bastards in office will care, but to document our dismay at what appears to be not only the assassination of Pat Tillman, but the cover-up and refusal by ANYONE to take ANY responsibility for war crimes. Listening to the hearing conducted by Henry Waxman today, it felt like old footage of Nuremberg. Please sign.