George Carlin: 1937-2008As a result, there is a major new campaign beginning today aimed at Hoyer and a handful of other key members of Congress who enable telecom immunity and warrantless eavesdropping.Ready. Set. Go get 'em!
In short, KBR can charge the U.S. government anything it wants under the implicit threat that the firm will halt logistical services to troops in Iraq. If the military doesn't pay up in full, KBR has warned, "it would reduce payments to subcontractors, which in turn would cut back on services."I say draft the board of directors at Halliburton -- extraordinarly render 'em, whatever -- put 'em in BDUs not as officers, stick 'em in the sandbox outside the Green Zone, and say to them, "I'm sorry! What?"
The Navy may claim that it already released McCain's record to the Associated Press on May 7, 2008 in response to the AP's Freedom of Information Act request. But the McCain file the Navy released contained 19 pages -- a two-page overview and 17 pages detailing Awards and Decorations. Each of these 17 pages is stamped with a number. These numbers range from 0069 to 0636. When arranged in ascending order, they precisely track the chronology of McCain's career. It seems reasonable to ask the Navy whether there are at least 636 pages in McCain's file, of which 617 weren't released to the Associated Press.Interesting read, illustrating a Navy pilot whose abilities and temperament can fairly be described as half-assed and was throughout his Naval career. All of which begs the question as to not how he got shot down over Vietnam but how could he not.
Some of the unreleased pages in McCain's Navy file may not reflect well upon his qualifications for the presidency. From day one in the Navy, McCain screwed-up again and again, only to be forgiven because his father and grandfather were four-star admirals. McCain's sense of entitlement to privileged treatment bears an eerie resemblance to George W. Bush's.
Despite graduating in the bottom 1 percent of his Annapolis class, McCain was offered the most sought-after Navy assignment -- to become an aircraft carrier pilot. According to military historian John Karaagac, "'the Airdales,' the air wing of the Navy, acted and still do, as if unrivaled atop the naval pyramid. They acted as if they owned, not only the Navy, but the entire swath of blue water on the earth's surface." The most accomplished midshipmen compete furiously for the few carrier pilot openings. After four abysmal academic years at Annapolis distinguished only by his misdeeds and malfeasance, no one with a record resembling McCain's would have been offered such a prized career path. The justification for this and subsequent plum assignments should be documented in McCain's naval file.
The Green win 97-91 after being down 24!Rather than defending Sen. McCain in the face of Democratic Party criticism, however, Coulter praises Bush as "a great President," then lashes out at both liberals and Sen. McCain as "lickspittles" not "worthy of kissing Bush's behind."Wow! Pickin' on us poor libs again t'boot...
In its third rebuke of the Bush administration's treatment of prisoners, the court ruled 5-4 that the government is violating the constitutional rights of prisoners being held indefinitely and without charges at the U.S. naval base in Cuba. The court's liberal justices were in the majority.Meanwhile, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Pestilence, War, Famine & Death, a.k.a., Alito, Roberts, Thomas & Scalia respectively) have repaired to their lairs and will later issue a joint statement regarding their oath to uphold the Constitution, and for what purpose it does not serve.
VA-11: Meanwhile, Blue Majority candidate Leslie Byrne lost her bid to recapture the seat she once held in her own primary last night. The nominee will be moderate Democrat Gerry Connolly, who heads into a general election against Republican Keith Fimian, a newcomer to politics but a fairly good fundraiser.
This race should be considered a tossup right now, but I like Connolly's chances quite well, particularly given the relative ease with which he dispatched Byrne in the primary.
The bodies of almost all jumpers are found quickly, Mr. Cuccia said. "I will be satisfied in a few days that if the body doesn't come up, he didn't jump," he said.-----------
----------"I don't care if it created more enemies."My God! I've been trying to curb the language here of late while maintaining my penchant for glib repartee, but this guy is purely and simply the foulest asshole in American history.
"This absolutely could depress Republicans who are already depressed," said Chuck Muth, a Republican political consultant and blogger. "This could hurt McCain's ability to hold on to Nevada. It could also affect the chances of (Rep.) Jon Porter (R-Nev.) to get re-elected."Ayep! Every little bit helps.
Adam Cote in Maine's first district is basically a Republican in waiting, and he's using progressive infrastructure to try to get elected in an open seat that should go to a progressive. He's against opposes (sic) raising the minimum wage in Maine, and was endorsed by the hard-right business lobbying group BIPAC, which favors tax cuts for the wealthy, tort reform, subsidies for oil companies, and free trade. Cote is the only Democrat running for Congress endorsed by the group, and it is funded by, among other companies, Halliburton.I asked Cote if he was associated with the DLC, Hillary's Republican infiltrators. He chuckled and shook his head no. But after reading Open Left's assessment, I gotta think membership isn't a requisite for getting ahead with that lot. I'll need to find out more from Mr. Cote before I'd kick him to the curb -- his service duty affords him that much in my book.
Cote is also an Iraq veteran, and is backed by VoteVets. So here we have someone who is basically a Republican - opposing the minimum wage is pretty bad stuff - running in an open seat backed by Wall Street and defense contractor money. Conservatives like Cote should be understood as ideological warriors for the right-wing and the business community who are enwombing themselves in the Democratic Party because that is where power is going to flow.
This should be a seat going to a real Democrat. Cote isn't even that, he was apparently a registered Republican until 2006. I'm sure if he got into Congress, Cote would be a mediocre member of the Democratic caucus. He would vote for the GI Bill, and he would follow along and vote for timelines when it was safe to do so. He would be a Blue Dog, or a New Democrat.
In the meantime, if you're a Mainer, watch out for Adam Cote.
Unbelievable to think this crispy critter has any chance at the Oval Office...
And as the sign says: "It's up to you to get the word out. Send this to 10 people, and tell them to pass it on."
The Jamaican sprinter, who doesn't even consider the 100 meters his best race, set the world record Saturday night with a time of 9.72 seconds at the Reebok Grand Prix, .02 seconds faster than the old mark held by his countryman, Asafa Powell.
Get a load of this bushy-tail!
Or: Is what happens when you eat sour grapes.
h/t to Firedoglake...
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Update: Wow! Merlot doesn't pull any punches.
The intensity of the rivalry was encapsulated in the 1982 Eastern Conference Finals. The winners were to face the Lakers, and after it became clear the Celtics were going to lose to the Philadelphia 76ers, the Garden crowd erupted into chants of, "Beat L.A.!"I was in my sophomore year at UMass at the time, on my way to flunking out. I moved to Boston for the next five years, spending one year as sports coordinator for WMBR - Community Radio at MIT; obtained Garden press passes for the '83-84 season, including the playoffs, although not for The Finals as the demand from the national media was too great. But the Boston bar scene was teeming with crazies in any event fersherr. Good times indeed! So the upcoming series comes with it for me that little extra buzz.
"This past Sunday, Omar Vizquel set the record for most games played at shortstop, breaking the mark held by Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio [2,583 games]. One record of Aparicio's that Vizquel can't break is Aparicio remaining the only nonpitcher in the Hall of Fame to play all of his games at one position. Vizquel played one game at second base for Seattle in 1991 and one game in right for the Indians in 1999. At 39, Little Looie ended his career playing both ends of a Fenway doubleheader for the Red Sox on Sept. 28, 1973, going 2 for 6."
An instructor at the Colorado Film School in Denver scrutinized the video "very carefully" and determined it was authentic, Peckman said.Anybody wanna bet against this being just another Bushie endeavor, in this case to distract from the McClellan allegations?
Plastic takes thousands of years to decompose -- but 16-year-old science fair contestant Daniel Burd made it happen in just three months.Now if only we can figure a way for bacteria to consume all the Republicans, we may yet find our way back to Eden.
O’Reilly was an appalling choice, not because of his political views, but because he simply gets the facts wrong, abuses his guests and the powerless in general, is delusional, and, well, you might want to Google: Narcissistic Personality Disorder.Imagining here Nolan & Keith Olbermann are seated at center table and seen whispering & tittering to each other while Bill O'Reilly, only ten feet away and clearly steaming by it, tries to maintain his composure during his speech.
Former major league pitcher Geremi Gonzalez, who pitched for the Boston Red Sox in 2005, was killed yesterday by a lightning strike at a beach in his native Venezuela. He was 33.Considering the omniscient they who say don't hide under a tree during an electrical storm, this is pretty, uhm, striking.
Having saddled the military with a botched, unwinnable war, having squandered soldiers’ lives and failed them in so many ways, the commander in chief now resists giving the troops a chance at better futures out of uniform.That they're reacting like this to the New York Times is delightful. And how 'bout the Times stepping away from their years-old sycophancy with regard to the Iraq occupation, eh?
“The U.S. military must remain apolitical at all times and in all ways,” wrote the chairman, Adm. Mike Mullen, the nation’s highest-ranking officer. “It is and must always be a neutral instrument of the state, no matter which party holds sway.”
The Field can now confirm, based on multiple sources, something that both campaigns publicly deny: that Senator Clinton has directly told Senator Obama that she wants to be his vice presidential nominee, and that Senator Obama politely but straightforwardly and irrevocably said “no.” Obama is going to pick his own running mate based on his own criteria and vetting process.----------
"[T]here's a risk that if she isn't invited on the ticket, Hillary's political and financial supporters may not feel compelled to be as integrated and involved in the Obama campaign in order to provide the maximum support that he'll need to prevail in November."
"One more point," continued Behar, pulling out a prepared statement. "It's very interesting and ironic that George Bush, Senior's -- er, George Bush, this one -- his grandfather -- this one -- the late -- I don't like to speak ill of the dead, but in this case it's fun -- he was a United States senator, Prescott Bush. Okay -- he was a director and shareholder of companies that profited from their involvement with the financial backers of Nazi Germany."You go, grrl!
"My friends, we are sooo screwed!"At one point, someone in the crowd shouted an expression of love at Obama. He broke his speech for a moment: "I love you too," he said.
"If you vote for me on Tuesday," he said, "We won't just win Oregon. We'll win this nomination, we'll win this general election. And you and I together, we'll change this country, we'll change the world."
Seventy-five thousand people seemed to like the sound of that.
Hillary Turns Fire On MediaWait! This is this the same Hillary who cozies up to the likes of Rupert Murdoch and Richard Mellon Scaife, right?
Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign is increasingly aiming its punches not at her front-running opponent Barack Obama, but at the media.
Was it the right decision to back Obama? Hard to say for certain, but on balance my guess is still yes. I miss the days when we could play all three top candidates off each other. Unfortunately, that ship sailed the day Edwards failed to win Iowa, and the campaign lurched to the right as a result.Basically it's Obama exhibiting his need not to appear beholden to the progressive base (a.k.a., the Democratic wing) of the Democratic party, seeing as how the corporate media will use it in any event as a hook upon which to hang their corporate hats. Hey, more power to 'im. We beat Hillary the Bush/McSame symp, and that'll keep me sated well into the fall -- knock wood!
Huckabee's announced support of McCain is unequivocal, and he is regarded in the McCain camp as a friend and ally. But credible activists are spreading the word that Huckabee secretly allies himself with the bitter-end opposition. That hardly seems possible considering his public backing, but critics of Huckabee's 10 years as governor of Arkansas say he is all too capable of playing a double game.Of course I'm rooting for the li'l Christianists on this front thinking they're just so far out there that they'll succeed only at a further hollowing out of the Republican party, i.e., what's left of 'em come 2012.
