Regarding Spines

Digby's got a Hull-ab-lot to say about the FISA court and congress' unwillingness to find a spine. She says, "It's Not a Tough Call."

Thoughts from Ralph and Jim

Stolen from Mike-o at Dept Of Homeland Conspiracy: A snippet of Ralph Nader discussing impeachment, and the current congressional perspective on its initiation. Followed by Jim Hightower's article, "Is a Presidential Coup Under Way?"

Dead Dems Walking

Dave Lindorff at This Can't Be Happening! has a great few posts up exposing the democrats catatonic response to BushCo and his Thuglicans ability to continue to pass or block legislation at will and praising Chris Dodd for showing some backbone.

The Democratic Party in Congress, and indeed the leading candidates for the party's presidential nomination, are all dead men and women walking.

They look alive. They may even think they're alive. But their political futures are close to moribund.

President Bush is no chump. He has figured out how to emasculate the Democrats (those that aren't already eunuchs). Instead of making a decent estimate of the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and asking for it up front for the 2008 fiscal year, he is asking for it piecemeal, giving Democrats opportunity after opportunity to turn him down and end it all, knowing all the while that they'll cave and give him his war money.

This bullshit of not being able to pass bills without, what they call, the requisite 60 votes in the senate. Chris Dodd has proved it can be done, by one.

Twisted Twister

Just drove through a tornado...check in later...sheesh.

A tornado cell to be more exact. we were crossing a bridge no less, when a water spout appeared about a hundred yards away. We had to continue driving across the bridge through sideways rain going both directions. we are safe, sound and grateful. I don't recommend this experience.

Get Me My Gun

Clearly the American people don't give two shits about what goes on in their own country and with its leadership. The story of the waste and fraud occurring during the is illegal, immoral invasion and occupation of Iraq has been tantamount to the biggest boondoggle in American history, yet is barely glanced upon in the mainstream media, and virtually ignored by congress.

Did you know of the nearly 1/2 a trillion war dollars spent, 88 BILLION dollars of "contractor money" is under investigation for fraud? Did you realize the 630 private companies are under contract to the US government to deliver "services" to Iraq? Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater:The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, sat in on a DOD authorization hearing and listened to representative after representative ask scores of military and government officials,"How many contractors do we have? What are they doing? How much are they being paid? What nations are they drawn from? The answers were, 'I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know' ". Would you let ANYONE spend your money like this?

Bill Moyers does a great intense round-up of the national treasure wasted on this futile exercise called the Global War on Terror. Best of the Left compiles a podcast "best of" moments from around the blogosphere about the discussion. All the while the republicans can't fund health care for children which amounts to 40 days in Iraq spending.

Preaching to the choir I guess, but I wonder when people will be angry enough to act.

The Stark Truth

Pete Stark Rocks! Finally a democrat with the balls to call Bush a liar and a sociopath in the same statement. Admit it, you were glad he said what you've been feeling. I sure am. Send him an email showing your support.

Herding Cats

Watch this little funny, Cat Herders, and then tune into an interesting debate between TruthDig's Robert Scheer and Ralph Nader. I like Nader's position on most things but did feel he was a spoiler in the 2000 election. I also agree with most of Scheer's points of compromise, but find him to be a bit of a apologist for the shortcomings of democrats. The interesting thing about the debate is how clearly both speakers highlight the in-fighting the dems are constantly accused of.

This constant attempt to "herd cats" seems ultimately counter-productive, yet how can we find compromise without the rethugs using our differences to split us and ram through their agenda? The conclusion I have come to is we get too focused on 'being right' and we lose. An age-old spiritual technique I've know is to mentally and emotionally get to the point where polarization does not exist. One gets to this neutral be being willing to have what you want and not have what you want. Sounds harder than it is to achieve.

Listen to the debate and please check in with your opinion. I'm terribly interested to find a way through this morass of confusion into a more productive path to liberal values.

TruthDig Debate with Robert Scheer and Ralph Nader.

2007 Weblog Award Nominations

OMG...thank you Jon Swift. I have been nominated for a 2007 Weblog Award in the category 'Best of the Rest of the Blogs (8751+)'. It's an honor just to be nominated. Are they called 'webbies' or 'bloggies'? I don't know but I am really honored to be noticed by the illustrious Mr. Swift. Thanks again Jon, and oh yeah, Vote for Deep Confusion, the rest of the country has...

Prayer for America

Kucinich style. I really love this guy. He says what I think and feel. This primary, I will be voting for Dennis Kucinich. I will not listen to the naysayers who say he is unelectable, too short, not rich enough. He is my candidate. I will not be party to the lesser-evil-vote. I will be voting for Dennis Kuchinich. He is electable if people vote their consciences instead for who the propaganda noise machine tells you to. Fuck that, I'm voting for Kucinich

Like I've Been Saying...

San Francisco, my hometown, was just names by a Conde Nast magazine reader's poll, Best Destination in the world. Just like I've been saying. Sheesh.

Why Go?
The view—those fabled hills guarantee stunning vistas from almost every vantage point
America's best food (locals claim), from burritos to haute-organic California cuisine
Neighborhoods that span the spectrum from funky (Upper Haight) to industrial chic (SoMa) to posh (Pacific Heights)

It's no surprise that San Francisco is a perennial favorite among travelers both foreign and domestic. Often described as almost European in ambience, the City by the Bay packs a panoply of vibes into its surprisingly small 50-odd square miles at the tip of its namesake peninsula. Golden Gate Park, a masterpiece of nineteenth-century urban planning, combines the natural beauty of its gardens with the culture of its museums. The city's Chinatown, the largest in the western United States, serves tastes of the East, and the ever-gentrifying Mission district has some of the nation's best taco shops. Haight-Ashbury clings to traces of its hippie past, while well-heeled hoods such as Pacific Heights claim some of the priciest real estate on the planet.

When are you going? Drop me a line, I'll go with.

Prince of Tides

And the tide is turning: Blackwater likely to be out of Iraq

Lotus for the World

Please take a look-see at our own Lotus on her new blog folo--Bee-u-tee-ful! She describes it as such:

THE NAME 'FOLO'

To name this news-following blog, I’ve borrowed a term (rhyming with hollow, not polo) which journos use for “a follow-up to or expansion of the original story.” I’m not doing reporters’ work here, so I hope they forgive me for bumming their wonderful word.

If any show up, it might also stand for “friends of lotus online.”

WTF Alert:Jeb in 2008?

James Carville, Clinton strategist in '92 predicts: Jeb Bush will be GOP nominee in 2008. Color me puke green.

'Pockets' Kuchinich

Dennis Kuchinich on the Colbert Report empties his pockets to our delight. A bit of light hearted politics for a change.

The New Gestapo

Cheney looking comfortable while visiting Auschwitz


PBS' Frontline broadcast last night, 'Cheney's Law', was utterly jaw dropping in its reporting of the "dark side" of the Cheney/Bush collaboration to undermine the U.S. Constitution and the freedom of not only Americans, but the entire world. I'm still in shock from the assault on my sensibilities and the horrific damage done to our system of government portrayed in this stunning documentary. If you have not seen it, do so now. If you are not frightened by the depth of secret police-like tactics and operations of Cheney's decisions since in power, you are asleep. The parallels between Hitler's SS and the Gestapo are uncanny and terrifying. Watch it.

A Duty to the Wounded

Why won't anyone call Bush on this shit? Bob Dole and Donna Shalala were part of a presidential commission on reforming the VA several months ago in the aftermath of the Walter Reed malfeasance scandal. Today they co-wrote a WaPo OpEd calling on Chimpy to put these recommendations into action. Meanwhile, the VA operations budget has just enough for current recipients and no money for our newest war-injured veterans. Yet another show of support for the troops from this criminal enterprise called BushCo

We have also testified before Congress and met individually with lawmakers. Overall, we are buoyed by the strong bipartisan support being given to the proposals.

Despite this support, however, it is clear that our recommendations are being swept up in a decades-long battle to reform the entire disability system for all service members. It is important to remember that our commission was tasked with improving care and benefits for those returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. While we hope that our recommendations will help many others, our mission was to make the system work better for this new generation of veterans.

DKOS has more on this story.

The Real Iraq

As seen through the eyes and experiences of 12 Army Captains who served in Iraq. WaPo posts an OpEd in the vein of the seven enlisted members of the 82nd Airborne's, The War As We Saw It.

As Army captains who served in Baghdad and beyond, we've seen the corruption and the sectarian division. We understand what it's like to be stretched too thin. And we know when it's time to get out.

America, it has been five years. It's time to make a choice.

Read the rest...

The Good Americans

Frank Rich swats another one out of the park with his essay 'The Good Germans'. How much longer will it take Americans to figure out how dangerously close we find our selves to being 'Good Americans'?

By any legal standards except those rubber-stamped by Alberto Gonzales, we are practicing torture, and we have known we are doing so ever since photographic proof emerged from Abu Ghraib more than three years ago. As Andrew Sullivan, once a Bush cheerleader, observed last weekend in The Sunday Times of London, America’s “enhanced interrogation” techniques have a grotesque provenance: “Verschärfte Vernehmung, enhanced or intensified interrogation, was the exact term innovated by the Gestapo to describe what became known as the ‘third degree.’ It left no marks. It included hypothermia, stress positions and long-time sleep deprivation.”

Still, the drill remains the same. The administration gives its alibi (Abu Ghraib was just a few bad apples). A few members of Congress squawk. The debate is labeled “politics.” We turn the page.

Read the rest... [links within quote are mine...]

Lawyer Up Gonzo

NewsHoggers has the scoop. From the Newsweek article they quote:

The top concern for Gonzales, and now Terwilliger, is the expanding investigation by Glenn Fine, the Justice Department’s fiercely independent inspector general, according to three legal sources familiar with the matter who declined to speak publicly about ongoing investigations. Originally, Fine's internal Justice probe—conducted in conjunction with lawyers from the department’s Office of Professional Responsibility—focused on the mass dismissal of U.S. attorneys late last year. The investigation has since broadened to include, among other matters, charges that Gonzales lied to Congress about the Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance program and the circumstances surrounding his late-night March 10, 2004, visit to the hospital room of then attorney general John Ashcroft. At the same time, Congress is continuing to pursue more documents on harsh CIA interrogation techniques approved by Gonzales.

We can only pray something comes to fruition in the hunt for Fredo's October surprise.

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

I had a chat with Jim Yancy today. We talked about politics, Katrina recovery, the Bush administration, how the USAF has changed and a general shooting of the shit. I left him today feeling a bit more hopeful about the state-of-the-nation in spite of the impending doom that has been lurking.

I've been really busy with work and have had less time to post the last couple of months but a lot of why has been due to feeling so down about the way things are going in the world. Today, just music and a bit of recharging for my spirit, and maybe yours as well. I give you Daft Punk's Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger as interpreted by the clever "Daft Hands"

And Kanye West's hip hop version:

Who Killled Ciara Durkin?

Now it would appear the good ole' US of A is fragging women soldiers, although this isn't the first by a longshot. From Crooks and Liars comes another shocking story of another dead woman soldier which the US Army appears recalcitrant to investigate.

Spec. Ciara Durkin said to her family three weeks ago:Ask many questions if I die; ‘I made some enemies,’ Sound familiar?

Face the Music Rush

Vote Vets answer Rush "never worn the uniform" LImbaugh's "phony soldiers" comment.

Honor The Fallen REDUX

We found out this past week we lost a friend in Iraq. Someone my husband served with until this past July at BAMC. Dr. Roselle Hoffmaster, Captain, US Army, Godspeed and Rest in Peace. Roselle was the 90th military female to die. DailyKOS has a nice write-up about Roselle. Also there is a guestbook for her friends and family at Legacy.com.

UPDATE: The Patriots over at Comments From Left Field have added Roselle to their tribute for Fisher House. I posted on this here.
If you want to really support the troops, real people not just faceless numbers, give what you can to support Fisher House, the organization that houses military family members while their loved one is treated in a military hospital. It's gotten a bit viral and they have raised over $5,000 and are trying to raise five more over the next 5 days. Read all about it and give what you can, it may make the difference between someone making it to recovery or someone dying alone. I guarantee it will do more than that ribbon magnet made in China.