tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80771542008-07-05T11:28:38.762-07:00Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comBlogger1028125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-1311766958961244182008-07-04T23:27:00.005-07:002008-07-05T11:28:32.842-07:00

Happy Fourth of July!WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House said Thursday that dangerous detainees at Guantanamo Bay could end up walking Main Street U.S.A. as a result of last month's Supreme Court ruling about detainees' legal rights. Federal appeals courts, however, have indicated they have no intention of letting that happen. The high court ruling, which gave all detainees the right to petition

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-13717561176455958012008-07-01T21:44:00.002-07:002008-07-01T22:28:18.459-07:00

Latest in the continuing stream of documentation that shows the outlandish charges we 'Dirty F'ing Hippies' of the left have been making for years were, in fact, simply the truth. The horrible, awful truth.WASHINGTON — The military trainers who came to Guantánamo Bay in December 2002 based an entire interrogation class on a chart showing the effects of “coercive management techniques” for

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-25355856849583631812008-06-30T21:07:00.008-07:002008-07-01T08:13:14.434-07:00

So there's a guy who's a West Point graduate, who went on to a distinguished career in the US Army, including service in Viet Nam, where he won the Silver Star for an engagement where, after he was shot four times by a Viet Cong with an AK-47, he led his troops in a counter-attack that defeated the enemy force. He went on to rise to the rank of general, and, after Senate confirmation, took the

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-44567736526429640532008-06-28T11:27:00.003-07:002008-06-28T12:05:00.517-07:00

If you are a person of about my age, you will probably find this video of Joe Cocker painfully laugh-out-loud funny. Otherwise, not so much. As the man said, if you remember the 60s, you weren't there.

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-75478938814574036992008-06-28T08:38:00.002-07:002008-06-28T10:08:58.865-07:00

To me, one of the most disturbing elements in the rise of the ideological movement calling itself 'conservative' has been their post-modernist attitude about objective reality. To be blunt, they lie. They make stuff up, they deny the facts, they say anything that they think supports their positions, and ignore everything that contradicts them. They don't care, because they don't respect

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-66599899448531204412008-06-26T19:01:00.002-07:002008-06-26T19:04:43.658-07:00

Dear Senators: Here's a handy tip: When Mitch McConnell says "House Democrats have finally done the right thing," that's a sign that they have, in fact, done a terrible thing. Remember this rule of thumb, and you won't go far wrong: If Mitch McConnell is for it, be against it. If he is outspokenly for it, be dead set against it. (The man is just that bad. I'm sorry, but he is.)

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-63862557432727354672008-06-24T18:31:00.003-07:002008-06-24T18:52:07.151-07:00

That sound you hear in the distance is my mind, boggling. From WSJ.comIt would be “healthy” if the Senate spends more time debating an overhaul of domestic-spying laws now moving through Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday. The House passed the legislation last week, despite misgivings and outright opposition from many Democrats. Pelosi voted for the bill, saying legislation was

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-49104385998742705802008-06-21T12:23:00.002-07:002008-06-21T12:47:20.332-07:00

One of the repeated experiences of the past 8 years has been the sense that many of the people in positions of power in this country seem to have grown up in some other country. It's like they slipped through some dimensional rift from an alternate universe, where there was a physically identical country that had none of the same founding or governing principles as this one. I had another moment

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-90332543309895994212008-06-20T08:07:00.001-07:002008-06-20T08:10:04.947-07:00

Speaking of increasing oil production ...Washington, D.C. - In an effort to compel oil and gas companies to produce on the 68 million acres of federal lands, both onshore and offshore, that are leased but sitting idle, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick J. Rahall (D-WV) today introduced legislation that gives Big Oil one option - either "use it or lose it." "Big Oil, as many

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-67116535695736719042008-06-19T07:59:00.002-07:002008-06-19T08:24:16.028-07:00

MIAMI - Responding to widespread public concern over the historical jump in the price of college tuition and textbooks, GOP presidential candidate John McCain today called for elimination of regulations restricting sexual intercourse in public parks. "The American people are hurting", said McCain, "and they want Washington to do something. I believe in decorum and privacy as much as anyone, but

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-14849010562959591502008-06-15T09:13:00.003-07:002008-06-15T09:59:27.451-07:00

Take the case of Mohammed Aktiar, brought to us by McClatchy:American troops had dragged him out of his Afghanistan home in 2003 and held him in Guantanamo for three years in the belief that he was an insurgent involved in rocket attacks on U.S. forces. The Islamic radicals in Guantanamo's Camp Four who hissed "infidel" and spat at Akhtiar, however, knew something his captors didn't: The U.S.

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-30444678216893992512008-06-12T20:06:00.005-07:002008-06-12T20:25:53.809-07:00

"...we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to its true principles." - Thomas JeffersonToday, the mists began to part. It felt good to be again living in a country with a Constitution and the writ of habeas corpus. From the Boumediene opinion:Officials charged with daily operational responsibility

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-28649883530827219132008-06-05T17:53:00.002-07:002008-06-05T19:08:00.397-07:00

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, there were some of us running around ranting about what a big pack of lies the administration was telling and had told to get us into war in Iraq. After it became clear that the Saddam didn't really have WMD, and maybe we'd made a mistake, the Senate Intelligence Committee started an investigation into what happened. Senator Roberts, Republican chairman

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-35929053022150820232008-06-02T08:08:00.002-07:002008-06-02T08:14:06.416-07:00

It is not the team that has the most hits that wins the baseball game, it is the team that scores the most runs. People who want me to ignore the established rules of the game (because "popular vote" is now somehow more important) might want to avoid talking about Zimbabwe if their method of counting this "popular vote" involves just ignoring my vote and the votes of everyone else in caucus

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-61837150950203401992008-05-24T10:11:00.004-07:002008-05-24T10:23:47.618-07:00

I'd imagined firing off a real good rant about Senator Clinton's reference to Robert Kennedy yesterday, and her 'apology' that was issued after the subsequent reaction. But, if one wanted to see a real good rant, Keith Olbermann did that job. (apologies for the ads.) And if one wanted some well-thought analysis beyond the level of "I can't believe she really said that! What was she thinking!"

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-50123440787168949762008-05-11T09:07:00.006-07:002008-05-11T22:33:59.037-07:00

You are applying for the job of my president. I have a few questions. In 1987, you were involved in meeting with financial regulators investigating a savings-and-loan owned by real estate developer Charles Keating, a man who was also involved in real estate deals with your wife and father-in-law. A later Senate Ethics Committee investigation concluded you showed 'poor judgment' in this matter.

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-76898855984346813552008-05-11T08:39:00.005-07:002008-05-11T08:54:21.934-07:00

One of the classic uses of humor has been political commentary, to say out loud truths that are too rude or too risky for 'serious' conversation. Saturday Night Live's intro skit provides an excellent example. Ouch. (P.S. Sorry about the attached commercial. It's the trade-off for a high-quality clip that won't get pulled from YouTube by the NBC lawyers.)

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-74704993831932558242008-05-03T09:47:00.004-07:002008-05-04T08:55:58.488-07:00

Q: Why is a large, dull-witted, cuddly-looking black-and-white bamboo eater at the Boston Zoo like the current Clinton gas tax proposal? A: Because it's a stupid pander. The sight of the candidate so desperate for votes that she insults the intelligence of the voters so badly, and worse, continues to pound away at it, is painful to those of us who would like to maintain a positive opinion of

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-27378692894516856422008-04-26T13:05:00.002-07:002008-04-26T13:36:49.570-07:00

The high standards of the Bush administration can be seen in everything they do. From New Orleans:Gathering around a newly constructed portion of the 15-foot Harvey Canal flood wall, representatives with the Army Corps of Engineers staged a press event Friday on the West Bank to clarify their techniques for preventing floodwater from seeping through openings in the walls. After a recent media

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-77526521455416171012008-04-24T21:40:00.002-07:002008-04-24T21:48:59.286-07:00

In The Nation:Going negative doesn't begin to describe what has happened. Hillary is going over the edge. Even worse are the flacks she sends before the cameras on her behalf, like that Kiki person, who smirks and shakes her head at the camera every time she fields a question. Or the real carnivores, like Howard Wolfson, Lanny Davis and James Carville, whose sneering smugness prevents countless

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-33692594384899228622008-04-17T20:40:00.003-07:002008-04-17T21:29:39.116-07:00

Have people noticed that a prospective Democratic nominee was suggesting that we have a NATO-like commitment to respond with massive American military force to attacks in the Mideast. SENATOR CLINTON: Well, in fact, George, I think that we should be looking to create an umbrella of deterrence that goes much further than just Israel. Of course I would make it clear to the Iranians that an attack

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-38594552035588342082008-04-17T17:05:00.007-07:002008-04-17T22:12:12.600-07:00

Among the mindboggling array of things we didn't hear about during the debate while Charlie Gibson and former Clinton staffer (what was up with that?) George Stephanopolous grilled Obama was this:The United States Lacks Comprehensive Plan to Destroy the Terrorist Threat and Close the Safe Haven in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal AreasThat's not my opinion, that's the TITLE of a report to

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-20037628510044253472008-04-15T17:48:00.002-07:002008-04-15T18:47:19.784-07:00

You know what makes me bitter? When the Ivy League-graduate multimillionaire former First Lady prompts such Working Class Heroes as Bill Kristol George Will and, oh yeah, John McCain, to spend days blathering about Obama's "elitist" comment. Particularly when, all the while, the President of the United States has admitted to a criminal conspiracy and almost no one is talking about it. What?

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-62954373660230787612008-04-06T18:36:00.004-07:002008-04-06T21:43:03.629-07:00

From CBS:Clinton defended her vote on the war saying voters should compare both her and Obama's records. “I made a considered judgment, I didn’t make a speech, I made a decision and it was a decision based on my best assessment on what would be in the interest of our country at that very uncertain time.” Clinton said that historians will judge if her decision was the right one, but she reminded

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-49018693904948085472008-04-02T17:46:00.003-07:002008-04-02T17:55:45.327-07:00

The syntactical artist Donald Rumsfeld may be long gone from his role at the Pentagon, but his legacy is still with us in so many ways. The big ways, well, they are too infuriating to list, but thanks to the Washington Post we have a prime example of the little ways in which the song is over, but the Rumsfeld lingers on:Competition for power and resources in the oil-rich south has been ongoing

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.com