Scott Ford is the bassist for the Gutter Twins. Rachel Stolte plays keyboards in Great Northern. They performed a karaoke during a tour break. The song they picked was the Journey classic Don't Stop Believing. Drunk amateur singers would have made patrons run screaming for the doors. Ford and Stolte pull the song off with grace.
Solon Bixler (Great Northern) and Dave Rosser (Gutter Twins) crimes in for backup vocals.
“The laws that were created under FISA were sufficient to meet our country’s national security needs. What the Bush administration has done, again, is present Americans with a false choice between national security and civil liberties, while this bill increases neither. I oppose any broad retroactive immunity provided to companies who may have broken the law. The legal purpose of immunity is to use the protection granted by such immunity as an inducement to divulge information about what occurred. Immunity in this case would do the opposite: it would shut down any investigation into what actually occurred. “
Tough-talking rhetoric is fine. If words matched deeds then Joe Biden would be the Democratic nominee.
Given companies immunity from prosecution has already proven to be a stupid idea. KBR can not be prosecuted for crimes on Iraq soil. Jamie Leigh Jones was gang raped and can not take the perpetrators to criminal court. Many other women have been sexually abused in Iraq because Congress approved not allowing contractor to be prosecuted.
The State Department granted Blackwater security members immunity after the killing of Iraqi civilians. The FBI's investigation was destroyed. No Blackwater member would talk to federal investigators. They all cited their immunity deals.
Congress gave the Bush White House a blank check to allow their corporate allies to commit more crimes. Silly Blue Dog Democrats never learn. The question is has Joe Garcia learned that fundamental lesson?
''Obama's 16-point lead in South Florida could springboard him to make it a competitive race statewide,'' said pollster John Zogby. ``I really think Florida is in play.''
Two months ago, I didn't think Obama had a chance in Florida. The Panhandle bleeds red. Where Obama is going to have to concentrate is the I-4 corridor. Hillsborough and Polk counties are along the interstate. If Obama wins South Florida (which has many registered Democrats) and the I-4 corridor then he wins the election. The Panhandle is more sparsely populated than South Florida. That alone will not put McCain over the top.
Florida is a must-win for John McCain. The Obama campaign has hinted that winning Florida is not an absolute must. McCain will have a problem competing with Obama for television ad buys. The Obama can make McCain burn money that he could use elsewhere. McCain could still win Florida. But at a huge cost. McMaverick can not comete with the Obama fundraising machine.
You and I is one of my all-time favorite songs by a Tampa area band. I was shocked to accidently find a live version on Youtube. The band is the defunct Multi-Color House. The performance is from 1991 (dig the clothes.) The singer is Natty Moss-Bond. She has sang on more recording with local bands than she can remember.
This video is Geri X and Will Quinlan at theGlobe in St. Petersburg. Someone stole a video off the Creative Loafing site and posted it on Youtube.
Litbrit came out against Barack Obama's support of the FISA bill. I was never surprised. Obama never used his lofty status to defeat the Bush administration's effort to protect telecommunication companies and violate the Fourth amendment. I posted my thoughts at Litbrit's place.
What I missed about John Edwards candidacy is that he would immediately blast any FISA compromise bill. He wouldn't even wait for Chris Dodd. The lefty blogosphere were wondering if Obama and Hillary would follow Edwards. Obama and Hillary gave very tepid disapproval of FISA under Bush.
Obama and Hillary want to be President. Neither showed a desire to take away executive power over FISA, that they could use in their presidencies. Obama isn't going to risk angering many Democrats over FISA.
This issue would have been easy to bash McCain with. Obama can just keeping calling the current FISA system "big brother." If McCain attacked Obama on national security the Obama people just need to call him Bush 3.
There is no doubt in my mind that Obama will win the general election. Obama has the advantage in fundraising and the current polls. If this is how he acts when he has the political advantage then what political courage will he show with Bush-level approval ratings?
Poor Mike Erickson. It is so hard being a pro-life Republican running for Congress in Oregon. Especially, when his ex-girlfriend Tawnya tells the media that Erickson had nasty premarital sex and got her pregnant. Tawnya has medical record and two friends to back up her account.
Erickson issues a nondenial. He told The Oregonian he gave Tawnya 300 dollars and dropped her off in front of the medical facility. Erickson said he had no idea that Tawnya was pregnant or the clinic was an abortion facility. If Erickson is really that stupid then he has no business running for Congress.
Tawnya's friend Joy Johanson describes Erickson dumping Tawnya at the abortion clinic and leaving. Can't you feel the power of family values?
"He took her and dropped her off, so she started freaking out," Johanson said. "It enraged Kristi that he just ditched her like that."
I never believed that Republicans abstain from sex or not have abortions. What bothers me is their hypocrisy of pushing counter-productive sexually-related policies. Republicans are so enslaved to Christian conservatives, that they have no respect for. Tucker Carlson spelled out to Chris Matthews how much the GOP establishment hates the Christian Right.
CARLSON: It goes deeper than that though. The deep truth is that the elites in the Republican Party have pure contempt for the evangelicals who put their party in power. Everybody in…
MATTHEWS: How do you know that? How do you know that?
CARLSON: Because I know them. Because I grew up with them. Because I live with them. They live on my street. Because I live in Washington, and I know that everybody in our world has contempt for the evangelicals. And the evangelicals know that, and they're beginning to learn that their own leaders sort of look askance at them and don't share their values.
MATTHEWS: So this gay marriage issue and other issues related to the gay lifestyle are simply tools to get elected?
CARLSON: That's exactly right. It's pandering to the base in the most cynical way, and the base is beginning to figure it out.
Joe Klein had a friend in the Republican Party feed him John McCain's top three picks for Vice-President. Klein didn't get a second source. Personally, I think this is bullshit. Who would have Tom Ridge has their number one choice. Jeb Bush comes in at number two and Mel Martinez is McCain's third choice.
Ridge makes the most sense. The former Homeland Security director is a former Governor of Pennsylvania. The state will be a major battleground for the general election. Obama has the advantage because of current Governor Ed Rendell's political network that helped Hillary win the state.
Jeb would kill McCain's chances of becoming president. 2008 is not the year for a Bush to run for the White House.
Mel Martinez was soundly rejected by conservatives on immigration. Right-wing activists disapproved of Martinez's appointment as RNC co-chair. Martinez has low approval ratings in Florida. The Latino vote is going Obama's way thanks to the GOP's demagoguing immigration.
Someone is feeding Klein shit. Joe Lieberman is the hot name for VP. Lieberman has been McCain's most high-profile surrogate. Joementum will expect something in return.
"I'd love to see a point where it is irrelevant, and could be repealed because abortion is no longer necessary. But certainly in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade, which would then force X number of women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations."
That is some straight talk. I doubt McCain has given abortion much thought. The Maverick bills himself as a national security expert and is under the impression that Shiite Iran is aiding the Sunni al-Qaeda. One can only imagine how clueless McCain is about issues he is not passionate about. McCain goes into a frenzy talking waging new wars in the Middle East. It is no accident McCain talks about a 100 year war in Iraq and sings about bombing Iran. McCain is downright sedate when discussing reproductive rights. Project Vote Smart shows McCain's anti-abortion stance.
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding abortion. (x marks are for positions McCain supports) a) Abortions should always be illegal. b) Abortions should always be legal. c) Abortions should be legal only within the first trimester of pregnancy. X d) Abortions should be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape. X e) Abortions should be legal when the life of the woman is endangered. X f) Prohibit the dilation and extraction procedure, also known as "partial-birth" abortion. X g) Prohibit public funding of abortions and of organizations that advocate or perform abortions. h) Other or expanded principles
Further proof that McCain has given no thought to what overturning Roe v. Wade would do to America. His plan to stop unsafe and illegal abortions is hope.
Q: But if Roe v. Wade was overturned during a McCain presidency, and individual states chose to ban abortion, would you be concerned that, as you said, X number of women in America would undergo illegal and dangerous operations?
McCain: No, I would hope that X women in America would bring those children into birth and into life in this world.
Hopeless is a better word to describe what a McCain presidency would do to women.
In 1982, Rupert Murdoch was attempting to acquire the Boston Herald American, and he had to negotiate with 11 different local unions. My Uncle Charlie was president of the Boston Mailers Union, Local 1, and the toughest negotiator. Wilfrid C. Rodgers wrote an article in the December 5th, 1982 Boston Globe about the negotiations, titled "The Man Who Made Murdoch Sweat".
Asked to describe Charles Dugan, president of the Boston Mailers Union, Local 1, a colleague says:
"Quiet, firm, unassuming but damned stubborn."
No doubt Rupert Murdoch and his corps of labor negotiators would agree with the last two words of the description. In fact, some might add harsher language to the "stubborn" part. Murdoch entered the negotiations with an Oxford education and some of the ablest labor negotiators in the nation. His aim? To save enough money in labor costs so he could buy the Herald American and make it a profitable enterprise.
Dugan, a Stoughton father of five, entered the bargaining with a Hyde Park High School education and a loyal and militant membership behind him. His goal? To save as many jobs as possible.
When it came down to the nitty gritty, this was the last sticky issue. As few as four jobs were at stake immediately, but there were quite a few more if Murdoch boosts the newspaper's circulation and adds new newspaper packaging equipment.
The "stubborness" of Dugan and his negotiating team forced Murdoch to postpone one deadline after another. In the end, 10 minutes before the last and supposedly final deadline of 5 p.m. Friday, it was Murdoch who backed off. Dugan got what he wanted. Of the 11 newspaper unions involved in the negotiations, it was the mailers who were the last to come to a settlement. It was also the mailers union that Murdoch chose to take on last, a factor he may now regret.
Most of the labor observers at the negotiations assumed the toughest foe for the Murdoch group would be the pressmen's union. Once that union agreed, they said, the mailers would fall into line.
Yet Murdoch had a warning from the pressmen.
When he announced acceptance of the Murdoch offer, Edward Mylett, president of the pressmen, said, "I hope Murdoch will make every effort to settle the unresolved issues with the mailers."
The message from Mylett was, "You haven't won the battle yet." Mylett looks on Dugan as a negotiator "who is steadfast, can hold a position." And that is when the battle over arithmetic began and the Hyde Park High School alumnus, who actually received his diploma while in the service, refused to back off.
Dugan had become active in the Mailer union when he returned from the service. He has also attended the George Meany Labor School in Washington, D.C. and the Harvard Trade Union Program.Dugan made sure before the negotiations that if the mailers failed to get a contract with Murdoch, Murdoch's Australian newspapers would hear about it the hard way.
While attending the Harvard program, Dugan became friendly with Autralian labor leaders. In a telephone conversation last week, they told Dugan they would be "delighted" to picket all of Murdoch's Australian newspapers with informational picket signs giving the mailers' side of the negotiations.
During the height of negotiations, Dugan made sure the Murdoch negotiators knew of the possible pickets.
During the negotiations in Boston, Murdoch asked to have only two men on each stacking line (an assembly line where papers are stacked by a machine operator, marked for destination, and tied into a package).Without it, his negotiators said their savings in the mailroom would be $100,000 short of what was needed. Since Murdoch had assigned a money-saving must to each craft of the newspaper, this was to be inviolate.
Dugan, with the assistance of Mylett and other union leaders, convinced the Murdoch negotiators and Murdoch himself that to insist on cutting the stacking line by one man (there are about seven stacking lines at the Herald American) would mean an impasse and the death of the paper.
Murdoch finally agreed. But when the proposition was explained to the union's Unity Council, some unions including the Typographical Union objected.They insisted they had "me too" clauses in their tentative agreements.To satisfy all, the Murdoch negotiators agreed to change the wage package from a 5 percent increase the first year and a cost of living increase in the second and third years to a straight 5 percent in each of the three years. All the unions bought it.
The newspaper was saved although there are still hard feelings between some of the unions and the mailers. Much of this is deep in history. The mailers union is proud of their name - Local 1. It was the first mailers union to affiliate with the Typographical union in 1892.
Yet the very nature of the mailers' work over the years, based originally more on muscle than the skill of a craft, has caused friction. To add to this friction is the fact that mailers traditionally have always been paid less per hour than the other craft unions.
It was an effort by the mailers in 1956 to decrease this differential that led to the citywide strike of seven newspapers that year. Yet while the nature of their work is changing because of automation - the unions' position on this is that it wants to share in the productivity of any new technology - the mailers union continues to be among the most militant of unions in the area.
Their solidarity and their support for Dugan was probably best displayed yesterday when a placard was posted in the mailroom at The Globe.In big black bold letters the sign said:
A great man, full of life till the end, still cracking jokes and singing songs on the day he died. Lots of great stories, like the time he and my dad stole a cement mixer when they were little kids and used it to sail down the Neponset River...he is missed.
Scott McClellan tells John Conyers that Lewis "Scooter" Libby has not proven himself worthy of a pardon. I have no doubt President Bush will pardon Libby. Cheney is close to LIbby and Bush doesn't want another White House official writing a tell all book.
The "John McCain: Apocalypse Now Redux" T-Shirt can be purchased at The Zencomix Online Market. Call before midnight tonite! While supplies last! This offer void where prohibited! Buy one now before they ARE prohibited! Act Now!
I'm not sure when Lee Nelson made this announce. For those that don't know, Nelson has dropped out of the race.
When Phyllis Busansky announced her candidacy at the end of January, the goals and objectives of the campaign, along with available resources, were abruptly altered. As most of you know, there was an immediate split amongst activists along three lines – those who support me, those who support Phyllis, and those who could not commit because of their direct affiliation with the DEC. We cannot remove Buddy unless we all work together and as I cannot give 100% of myself to this campaign must withdraw.
Busansky can raise more money than Nelson and has the backing of the Democratic establishment. Nelson made an assessment and realized he didn't have the resources to win the primary. My understand is Busansky is crshing Johnson in fundraising.
Nelson has endorsed Busansky and offered to help her campaign.
Barack Obama just released a video announced that will will forego $80 million of public campaign financing.
"It's not an easy decision. Especially, because I support a robust system of public financing of elections," said Obama. "But the public financing systems of elections, as it exists today is broken."
Public financing is used by presidential candidates with fundraising woes. The pretenders accept public financing. The players raise mountains of cash and go to the White House. I pointed out that Obama is beating John McCain over 2 to 1 in campaign contributions. Republicans will attack Obama for not accepting public financing. That is a bad move. McCain broke the rules by spending over the public financing cap.
Sen. John McCain has officially broken the limits imposed by the presidential public financing system, reports filed last night show.
McCain has now spent $58.4 million on his primary effort. Those who have committed to public financing can spend no more than $54 million on their primary bid.
So has McCain broken the law? The answer is far from simple.
Jane Hamsher accused McCain of breaking the law. McCain was rather disingenuous about the scandal. The truth is his lawyers screwed up by thinking that the Federal Election Commission would honor McCain's intent to withdrawal from public financing. McCain's lawyers sent a Feb. 6 letter announcing the Maverick's intent to withdraw from public financing. The FEC informed the campaign they lacked four member to make a final decision. McCain's status was in limbo and he made questionable moves, under the impression he was free of public financing. Obama is right. The public financing system is broken.
I have never been a fan of public financing the McCain-Feingold bill. Getting big money out of politics is a fantasy. The Obama campaign showed that small contributions can outset major special interests. What we have now is a campaign finance system that is so complicated that no one understands it.
Update:Ezra Klein thinks the Obama video was good PR. I still think Republicans will attack him for opting out of public financing. My impression is most voters won't care one way or another. That is the reason the McCain public financing story never caught on with the media.
Miami - The Florida Professional Firefighters, representing 22,500 firefighters and emergency medical services personnel across the state, has joined Florida Red and Blue's SayNo2 campaign in opposition to Amendment 2, the Florida Marriage Protection Amendment.
The consequences of Amendment 2 are clear: it would limit the rights of unmarried, committed adults involved in domestic partnerships, and eliminate their ability to share health care and pension benefits. Even unmarried senior citizens would be severely impacted. Further, Amendment 2 is an unnecessary intrusion into the private lives of Floridians, and allows government to make decisions that are best left to individuals and their families.
In opposing Amendment 2, Florida 's firefighters cited a recent Michigan Supreme Court ruling that a similar amendment does in fact prohibit public employers from extending benefits to domestic partners. Firefighters, like all public service employees, deserve the same benefits everyone receives and have earned the right to use those benefits as they choose.
"Our firefighters understand the link between Amendment 2 and losing benefits," said Derek Newton, SayNo2 Campaign Manager. "We're delighted to have the support of Florida 's best and bravest in opposing Amendment 2."
The Florida Professional Firefighters join more than 200 Florida leaders who oppose the amendment, including six members of Congress, Florida CFO Alex Sink, the League of Women Voters, the NAACP and the Florida Education Association.
Amendment 2 will be on the November ballot and requires 60% approval to pass. Florida Red and Blue is the statewide, bipartisan organization running the SayNo2 campaign.
For more information on Florida Red and Blue's SayNo2 campaign, please log on to www.SayNo2.com.
I originally did a cartoon like this back in January of 2003 for The Daily Iowan, with Bush holding a surf board and a Suicide King playing card. How many more cartoons can be recycled, substituting McCain for Bush?
The "John McCain: Iraqalypse Now" T-Shirt can be purchased at The Zencomix Online Market. Call before midnight tonite! While supplies last! This offer void where prohibited! Buy one now before they ARE prohibited! Act Now!
The House Judiciary subcommittee on Constitution and Civil Rights held a hearing on the Bush administration's use of torture. Douglas Feith promised the committee that he would testify. Feith backed it because he didn't want to sit next to Larry Wilkerson. I have heard current and former Bush appointees used varies reasons not to appear before Congressional committees. This is the dumbest fucking excuse yet. A child could come up with something more intelligent.
“Despite his prior commitment to testify, this morning Mr. Feith informed the Committee through his counsel that he would not appear today because he is not willing to appear alongside one of our other witnesses. Needless to say this is an extraordinary disappointment for this witness not to come here and to go back on his promise to the Committee to appear today. Individuals often must appear before congressional committees alongside witnesses that they disagree with, such concerns are no reason to decline to appear when you said you will. We will reschedule a hearing in which Mr. Feith will appear so we can elucidate his testimony on this issue.”
The Bushies know that torture is illegal and they will do anything to avoid testifying under oath.
Jon Stewart asks Lara Logan if she watches American news coverage of the Iraq and Afghanisthan wars.
"No," Logan said. "If I were to watch the news you hear in the United States, I would just blow my brains out because it would just drive me nuts."
Logan answers critics that make the silly accusation that her war coverage is hurting America.
Jon Stewart: Have we lost our humanity with the entire situation?
Lara Logan: Yeah, we have.
Logan: I was asked once, "Do you feel responsible for the American public having a bad view, a negative view about the war in Iraq." And I looked at the reporter and said, "Tell me the last time you saw the body of a dead American soldier? What does that look like?" Who in America knows what that looks like because I know what that looks like. And I feel responsible for the fact that no one else does. That's what I feel responsible for that nobody really understands.
Logan: And the soldiers feel forgotten. They do. No doubt. From Afghanisthan to Iraq they absolutely feel...
Logan's exasperation with her media colleagues is understandable. The interview Howard Kurtz did of Logan started with the question if she is helping terrorists spread their message. Kurtz then asked her why she isn't covering more positive stories. Logan told Kurtz that it is hard to be all sunshine when so many American and Iraqis are dying. Logan rightfully told Kurtz she "resented" people questioning her reporting.
Logan called it "an outrage" for critics question her coverage, when journalists can not travel without military or private security. It's clear that Logan is angry with Kurtz. Her voice and body language becomes increasingly agitated. The latter defended Laura Ingraham attacks on Iraq war correspondents by pointing out the conservative talk show host spent eight days in Iraq. Logan sarcasticly retorted, "For Eight days."
It is bizarre for a media critic wanting journalists like Logan to do Iraq fluff stories. Kurtz publicly criticized Logan for refusing to do a story about female sailors keeping virtual online pets. Kurtz complaint as a media critic is that Logan is not furthering the White House's fantasy-based narrative.
In case you haven't figured it out: Howard Kurtz is the unnamed journalist Logan spoke of to Jon Stewart. I have watched the Logan/Kurtz interview several times. Kurtz's passive-aggressive anger on Logan staggering. Logan looks like she wants to get on the next plane from Baghdad to personally smack the shit out of Kurtz. John McCain was publicly laughed at for stating the streets of Baghdad were safe for Americans to go on a stroll. Kurtz hammers Logan Fox News-style for not promoting such propaganda.
The most cowardly thing about Kurtz's attack is he hides behind so-called "critics" of Logan. It is Kurtz whom is obsessed about Logan's reporting. No one on in the Bush administration has publicly condemned Logan for not doing more virtual pet stories. At least Bill O'Reilly will personally lambast Bill Moyers. Kurtz cites unnamed conservatives against Logan to mask his personal contempt. Ingraham did not personally go after Logan. (I can't find an Ingraham quote before the Kurtz interview.) Howard Kurtz did and behind a woman to attack Logan. Kurtz hardly displayed the kind of moral courage that would actually go into a warzone to find those feel good stories.
"Republicans will make a fundamental if not fatal mistake if they seek to win the election by demonizing Barack Obama... When people are really hurting — and they are right now — they're not looking at a person's race."
I have often lamented that there is no difference between Republicans and Democrats in Tampa. Former Tampa Mayor Dick Greco exemplifies my point. Want corrupt Hubris? Greco defended Steve Labrake and his (then mistress) Lynne McCarter.
"These are two human beings," Greco said. "But for the grace of God, it could be one of you. How would you like it if it had been you?"
Labrake was the chief of the Community Development Agency. He and McCarter used their influence to build their dream house. They were convicted bribery, wire-fraud and conspiracy. Remember, "these are two human beings."
Want a pol that will put his personal self-interest over the party? Greco endorsed Jeb and George W. Bush. Rumor is Greco just threw a fundraiser for Gus Bilirakis. Now Tampa's real estate Mayor endorses John McCain.
"I am a registered Democrat, but when it comes to voting I consider the individual," said Greco in a statement. "I have listened to all of the debates, and with the challenges facing our country, I think it is important that we choose someone with the experience and integrity necessary to keep our country safe and fix our broken economy. Senator McCain's credibility, judgment and toughness is the change we need."
Greco was the Chairman of Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company. Executives Donald A. Regar and Allen Z. Wolfson were indicted on 15 counts. Regar and Wolfson used bank loan money in attempt to buy the bank's stock. The bank folded and has become part of Tampa folklore with rumors about shady dealing. Greco used the Ronald Reagan defense and claimed he had no idea what was going on.
Democrats complain rightfully complain about Joe Lieberman's disloyalty. Greco one-ups Lieberman with corruption. The fact that Greco is a Tampa Democratic institution is sad. The party establishment never stood up to Greco. Now Republicans control Hillsborough County and Greco is making money with his GOP connections.
The answer is Charlie Crist. Even though the Governor denies that his sudden about face on offshore drilling has anything to do with a desire to be John McCain's running mate.
McCain has been against offshore drilling in the past. The Maverick announced that he is in favor of lifting the federal ban of offshore drilling. All offshore drilling must be approved by Congress and the President; due to environmental concerns. In the past, McCain has been against drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and in the Everglades. Where McCain stands now is uncertain.
In 2005, Crist told the St. Petersburg Times, "I don't think it's good for Florida. I have enormous, enormous respect for the governor (Jeb Bush), as you know. But we just disagree on this issue."
Just last week, Crist made his disapproval of drilling off of Florida's coast know. Crist stressed alternative sources of fuel and drilling in the northern states. All this make Crist's recent statements of being open to studying the possibility of offshore drilling laughable. Audio link at The Buzz.
Q: Governor, are you open to drilling off of Florida's coast?
Crist: Well, it depends. It's something I least like to do. But I also understand the economics of what's happening in the country and it would all depend on the parameters. How far off the coast. How safe it would be. How protected our beaches would be. All of these things are very important to me. 'Cause I don't warm up to the idea very well.
Offshore drilling is a political loser in Florida. Even the pro-oil Jeb Bush pretended to protect Florida's beaches until near the end of his second term. Crist has projected himself as a environmentally friendly Republican. Crist's pandering undermines his past positions.
McCain's flip flop is simple. Obama is beating him in fundraising. Energy companies contributed $52,903,640 during the 2004 election cycle. This is McCain's top contributors. Obama and Hillary Clinton raised more money than McCain in 18 of the top 20 industries. Obama's dominance over McCain will increase now that Hillary fundraisers are supported the future Democratic nominee.
McCain only ranks first for fundraising in five of the top fifty industries. I have never seen a Republican nominee do such a poor job fundraising. The finance numbers from previous presidential elections does not bode well for McCain. George W. Bush raised more money than his opponents and twice won the Oval Office. So, don't be surprised if McCain's message his increasingly tilted towards the energy industry.
Update:Jim Johnson writes that McCain might have blown Florida. I don't disagree. I don't think the McCain campaign has a choice. Obama is outraising the Straight Talker over 2 to 1. The Obama campaign will blitz McCain with television ads and has better grassroots organization. McCain has to pander to the energy industry.
Drilling for oil off of Florida's shores and won't solve America's energy problems. It's a bad policy decision. McCain has backtracked from previous stance on the Christian Right, the Bush tax cuts, and campaign finance reform. McCain's sudden love of offshore drilling doesn't shock me. McCain reminds me of the Republican version of John Kerry. Vietnam hero that must play both sides of an issue. Bloggers are already pointing out McCain's past statements. The Obama people should run with it.
Jon Stewart mocked the mainstream media running on smears created on the internet. If it's on the internet it must be true. I know that since I read it on the internet. I learned that a person can lose weight by polling a few bloggers. It's true.
One can lose weight by polling the opinions of fellow bloggers. If enough people believe one has gained or lost weight, then, one's weight is physically altered. The Bandwagon Diet is widely believed to be more cost effective than the Atkins Diet and a monthly regime costs no more than a £24.99 DD from NTL.
Sleater-Kinney's One Beat was one of the bravest political statements from American artists, this past decade. The Bush administration still held high approval rating. The White House demonized critics and scared Democrats. A lesbian punk rock band unleashed songs that questioned the President's policies and polarizing tactics. The song Combat Rock captured country's mood.
Our country's marching to the beat now And we must learn to step in time Where is the questioning where is the protest song? Since when is skepticism un-American? Dissent's not treason but they talk like it's the same Those who disagree are afraid to show their face
These women do not have the Pearl Jam's or U2's resources. They took a great deal of grieve about their political views. Bashing Bush was not safe in 2002.
A few hours from now I will step on stage in Detroit, Michigan to announce my support for Senator Barack Obama. From now through Election Day, I intend to do whatever I can to make sure he is elected President of the United States.
Over the next four years, we are going to face many difficult challenges -- including bringing our troops home from Iraq, fixing our economy, and solving the climate crisis. Barack Obama is clearly the candidate best able to solve these problems and bring change to America.
I've never asked members of AlGore.com to contribute to a political campaign before, but this moment and this election are too important to let pass without taking action.
That's why I am asking you to join me today in showing your support for Barack Obama by making a contribution to his campaign today:
Over the past 18 months, Barack Obama has united a movement. He knows change does not come from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue or Capitol Hill. It begins when people stand up and take action.
With the help of millions of supporters like you, Barack Obama will bring the change we so desperately need in order to solve our country's most pressing problems.
If you've already contributed to Barack Obama's campaign, I ask that you consider making another contribution. If you haven't, please join the movement right now:
On the issues that matter most, Barack Obama is clearly the right choice to lead our nation.
We have a lot of work to do in the next few months to elect Barack Obama president and it begins by making a contribution to his campaign today.
James Carville told CNN that Obama should put Gore on the ticket.
“I think if I was Senator Obama I would say the biggest economic problem we face is the biggest national security problem and the biggest environmental problem,” Carville told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on the Situation Room. “And if I were him, I would ask Al Gore to serve as his vice president, his energy czar, in his administration to reduce our consumption and reliance on foreign energy sources.
“That would send a signal to the world, to American people, to Congress, to everybody, that America's getting serious about this horrendous problem that we face.”
It's an interesting idea. It would help Democratic turnout. Many people are still sore about the 2000 election controversy. Clintonites would be less sore about Hillary's defeat with Gore on the ticket. Gore can reassure voters uncertain about Obama's experience.
The flip side is Gore is a horrible campaigner (Earth tones) and has a political tin ear. Although, Gore's instincts have been tempered by his presidential defeat.
I was a big supporter of John Edwards. I'm glad he is open to being Vice-President.
Edwards told ABC News: "I'd take anything he asks me to think about seriously, but obviously this is something that I've done and it's not a job I'm seeking."
The comments of the anti-poverty crusader appeared to leave open some wiggle room, after he had told Spanish newspaper Vanguardia earlier this month that "the vice presidency is not a position that I desire."
Translation: Edwards would take the job. VP candidates don't come out and say they should be on the ticket. Hillary Clinton did that and her chances of becoming Vice-President are zero.
Charlie Crist bombed with the conservative establishment in Orange County, California. Florida's absentee Governor spoke at the Flag Day Dinner. The OC Republican establishment was at the event.
Then, again seeking to, uh, connect, with the O.C. Republican establishment, he managed to invoke one of the most reviled names in Orange County: "Your governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is doing a great job! … I love him!"
Thud. The groans in the room were audible … audible!!! Obviously, Crist's advance team had failed to tell him that conservatives see Arnold as a vapid, poll-driven sellout who faked 'em out good.
Why the hell is Crist even at a California county Republican dinner? Florida needs a Governor that will fix the state's budget, growth, property tax and education problems. Crist is more concerned about stumping for John McCain and getting face-time on national television.
It is obvious that Crist wants out of the Governor's mansion. Fixing Florida's problems would require tax increases and legislative battles. Neither option Crist has shown the courage. My guess is Crist would settle for a cabinet post. The poll driven Governor doesn't want to be placed in a situation that might
Bill Frist grinded the Senate to a halt because of his presidential ambitions. Voters should ask Crist to vow not to be John McCain's running-mate. That is the only way to make Crist govern. Floridians are catching on to Crist being MIA. Naples resident Rick Thomas wrote to the editors of the The Naple News:
Also interesting is Crist had the law changed recently to allow a Florida elected official to run for national office and keep his current state job — at the same time.
If Crist ends up being asked to run with McCain for vice president, it would only be fair that Crist step aside as governor and campaign for that spot and not hold the state of Florida hostage.
Things are going to be tough enough in Florida in 2008 without an absentee governor seeking higher office.
Planned Parenthood asked citizens where does John McCain stand on women's health issues. People were shocked to find out the Straight Talker is against such things as insurance companies covering birth control pills. Exactly how does that make McCain a maverick from other Republicans? Someone should ask McCain fan Chris Matthews.
There's some crazy flooding going in my neck of the woods.
Today started out promising, lots of sunshine, a dry forecast for the next week with a small chance for showers. Then the clouds rolled in late in the afternoon. The tornado sirens went off, the hail started falling...
Dripping across the desert sands, dry as a bone....invent something or I'll kick your ass!
The skies busted open with rain and wind. Things got spooky as the sun in the west poked through the passing storm clouds while it still poured overhead. That's a rainbow in my backyard.
Chertoff, inc. is rumored to be milling around, taking photo ops with sandbagging crews. Fuckers.
Yeah, it's Friday The 13th...we are a couple of miles from the flood zone,so I don't expect to evacuate, but water and electricity will probably go out at some point.
What makes this hysterical is the book is an autobiography. The title came from O'Reilly's childhood teacher.
In 1957, in the heart of the Eisenhower years, in the third grade classroom of Sister Mary Lurana in Saint Brigid's parochial school in Westbury, Long Island, was a mouthy, obstreperous kid by the name of William O'Reilly. Quite a handful he was, and so one day Sister Mary bent over him in exasperation in response to some piece of mischief and told him to his face, "William, you are a bold fresh piece of humanity."
On June 12, 1967, the Supreme Court ruled that Virginia's law forbiding white and black couples from marrying was unconstitutional. The decision became known as Loving v. Virginia. The Supreme Court found that the state of Virgina violated the Fourteenth Amendment rights of Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter Loving.
Because we reject the notion that the mere "equal application" of a statute containing racial classifications is enough to remove the classifications from the Fourteenth Amendment's proscription of all invidious racial discriminations, we do not accept the State's contention that these statutes should be upheld if there is any possible basis for concluding that they serve a rational purpose. The mere fact of equal application does not mean that our analysis of these statutes should follow the approach we have taken in cases involving no racial discrimination where the Equal Protection Clause has been arrayed against a statute discriminating between the kinds of advertising which may be displayed on trucks in New York City, Railway Express Agency, Inc. v. New York, 336 U.S. 106 (1949), or an exemption in Ohio's ad valorem tax for merchandise owned by a nonresident in a storage warehouse, Allied Stores of Ohio, [388 U.S. 1, 9] Inc. v. Bowers, 358 U.S. 522 (1959). In these cases, involving distinctions not drawn according to race, the Court has merely asked whether there is any rational foundation for the discriminations, and has deferred to the wisdom of the state legislatures. In the case at bar, however, we deal with statutes containing racial classifications, and the fact of equal application does not immunize the statute from the very heavy burden of justification which the Fourteenth Amendment has traditionally required of state statutes drawn according to race.
Loving Day celebrates the court's landmark civil rights decision. 16 states, including Florida, had their laws against interracial marriages struck down. Conservatives are still bothered by interracial marriages. Why they must be communists. That is what Lisa Schiffren puked out on The Corner.
But maybe it's not so simple. Obama and I are roughly the same age. I grew up in liberal circles in New York City — a place to which people who wished to rebel against their upbringings had gravitated for generations. And yet, all of my mixed race, black/white classmates throughout my youth, some of whom I am still in contact with, were the product of very culturally specific unions. They were always the offspring of a white mother, (in my circles, she was usually Jewish, but elsewhere not necessarily) and usually a highly educated black father. And how had these two come together at a time when it was neither natural nor easy for such relationships to flourish? Always through politics. No, not the young Republicans. Usually the Communist Youth League. Or maybe a different arm of the CPUSA. But, for a white woman to marry a black man in 1958, or 60, there was almost inevitably a connection to explicit Communist politics. (During the Clinton Administration we were all introduced to then U. of Pennsylvania Professor Lani Guinier — also a half black/half Jewish, red diaper baby.)
Schiffren states she is not a racist. She just wants conservative bloggers such as Michelle Malkin and Glenn Reynolds to do some digging. If Schiffren was a real journalist she would do the research herself. Instead, she sends out a battle cry to conservative bloggers to swiftboat Obama, without any facts. TNR founder William F. Buckley wrote in support of segregation. If TNR doesn't want to be called racists then they should stop writing racist pieces.
Ever wonder what would happen if the characters from The Golden Girls were in Sex in the City? Me neither. But the sick minds at Adult Swim answer the question.
I'm closing in on 4 years of blogging here at Zencomix. I've never had advertisements. I've crossposted at several places, and I've allowed people to post my cartoons on their sites, even if they don't ask first or throw a quarter into my guitar case. It's OK...but I need to make some money, so....
Yesterday, I officially opened up the Zencomix Market for t-shirts,hats,mugs, and comic books! I'll be adding more designs in the weeks ahead, but for now there are only 3 designs up. The comic book is close to completion, but not quite there yet.Check the Zencomix Online Store link button in the sidebar for new products.
Meanwhile, the 2007 Zappadan Festival Sidebar Link Button Image is looking sharp on that coffee mug!
Question of the Day: Is Tiger Woods the Greatest Athlete Ever
Charles McGrath and Michael Sokolove debate if golf Tiger Woods is the greatest athlete ever. Tiger is impressive. My vote is for either Wayne Gretzky or Babe Ruth. Both athletes changed the way their sports were played and dominated statistically. They transcended their sports. Ruth made baseball the national past-time. People may not follow hockey, but they know who Wayne Gretzky is. Muhammad Ali has these qualities. Sadly, Ali lost the three best years of his career fighting the Vietnam draft.
Woods accomplishments will only become more staggering. He is easier to admire than like. It's hard to root for someone so devoid of charisma and lacking opponents with the same intensity. Does Phil Mickelson or Sergio Garcia scare anyone? Jack Nicklaus had Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson.
Historians will have fun collecting all the false statements made by Dick Cheney. The Vice-President's latest missive is that China is drilling off the coast of Florida.
Even Vice President Dick Cheney got into the mix Wednesday, telling an enthusiastic audience at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that as ``George Will pointed out in his column the other day, oil is being drilled right now 60 miles off the coast of Florida. We're not doing it. The Chinese are in cooperation with the Cuban government.
''Even the communists have figured out that a good answer to high prices is more supply,'' he added. ``Yet Congress has said no to drilling in [the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge], no to drilling off the East Coast, no to drilling off the West Coast, no to drilling off Florida.''
China has no permits to drill off the coast of Cuba or Florida. The only drilling rights China has in on the Western part of inland Cuba. Mel Martinez debunked the Chinese drilling story on the Senate floor.
“There is no drilling taking place offshore in Cuba by the Chinese or, according to my sources, by any other country,” Marinez said Wednesday in a speech on the Senate floor.
“Reports to the contrary are simply false. They are akin to urban legends,” Martinez said.
“Any talk of using some fabricated Cuba-China connection as an argument to change U.S. policy has no merit,” Martinez said.
Mel, you served in the Bush administration. Fabricated connections between countries is Cheney's forte.
It is rare when the mainstream media gets things right. CBS News anchor Katie Couric took the media to task for sexist remarks against Hillary Clinton. Couric pointed out Tucker Carlson's sexist statement.
On the July 16 edition of MSNBC's Tucker, discussing presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), producer Willie Geist described a Clinton doll being advertised at the website HillaryNutcracker.com that features "serrated stainless steel thighs that, well, crack nuts," according to Geist. He introduced the story by saying, "I think the metaphor in this next story, Tucker, is pretty clear. So I will just report the straight facts." He later asked, "What do you think they're saying about Hillary?" Host Tucker Carlson replied, "I have often said, when she comes on television, I involuntarily cross my legs."
The nation has a federal deficit and two wars. The best Tucker and MSNBC could do was talk about an obscure web site. No wonder cable news ratings are tanking.
Couric: Like her or not, one of the great lessons of that campaign is the continued and accepted role of sexism in American life. Particularly, in the media... mainstream pundits saying they instinctively cross their legs at the mention of her name.
I instinctively rub my temple every time I watch Tucker. I instinctively that a migrane headache is coming.
The latest NBC/Wallstreet Journal poll is good news for the Barack Obama campaign. The new Gallup poll shows Obama making inroads with white voters. I said in my previous post that white voters are McCain's closest thing to a base. The less-than-Straight-Talker is losing them. Where Obama is weakest with white voters is white married men.
