seajane

McCain is Lost Again

2008-07-21T08:21:00.000-07:00

McCain keeps telling us how many times he's been to Iraq and Afghanistan and Obama is too inexperienced and unknowledgable to be President. The trouble is McCain didn't learn anything when he made all these trips in the past. ABC's The Note reports it:

Asked by ABC's Diane Sawyer Monday morning whether the "the situation in Afghanistan in precarious and urgent," McCain responded:

"I think it's serious. . . . It's a serious situation, but there's a lot of things we need to do. We have a lot of work to do and I'm afraid it's a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq/Pakistan border," said McCain, R-Ariz., said on "Good Morning America."

Exactly where is that border?

AL GORE!!!

2008-07-19T08:47:00.000-07:00

He just came out on stage at the Netroots Conference! I immediately teared up. I wanted to be there but decided on other travel plans this summer. He is so wonderful. I want his vision to prevail. I was so happy to see Pelosi supporting his iniative.

McCain Should Be Censured for This

2008-07-18T14:31:00.000-07:00

Ben Smith over at Politico writes:

Obama, you may have noticed, doesn't have a public schedule today. The press generally respects campaigns' and officials' security concerns, when voiced.

So . . . John McCain -- of all people -- just said, at a fundraiser, that Obama would be in Iraq with other senators this weekend. . .

His comment was reported by Reuters.

NOTE: Nobody's suggesting here that McCain was deliberately trying to do harm . . ."

Well, I AM! He's either TRYING to get Obama killed OR he's too senile to remember what treason is. Either way -- this guy should be censured by the Senate. How would he have liked trying to go shopping in the markets of Bassra if someone over here had given the terrorists several days notice?

Flying in America

2008-07-18T12:41:00.000-07:00

Digby is so smart!

Travelling by airplane in the US is nothing more than mass training of Americans to the requirements of the coming police state. The whole point is to make you learn to acquiesce without question, en masse, to completely absurd directives by dull functionaries wearing uniforms.

I'm planning a vacation in August and I'm already driving myself nuts dreading the flight.

MSM Falls Down on Job Again -- There Were Oil Spills During Katrina

2008-07-16T11:25:00.000-07:00

Republithugs keep saying that no oil was spilled during Katrina and Rita to justify expanding off shore drilling and the MSM lets them get away with it. I remember WAY back 3 years ago -- why do so many media talking heads and Republithugs suffer from amnesia?

Ask the folks in Mereaux, Port Sulphur, or Cox Bay if there was an oil spill -- oh, yeah. You can't because those folks can't go home because of the fouling of their homes, businesses, water, and soil with the spills.

The U.S. Minerals Management Service estimated that there were 124 separate spills for a total of 743,700 gallons. But why believe an agency charged with keeping track of such things? McCain and McConnell can just keep asserting lies like

"it’s safe enough these days that not even Hurricanes Katrina and Rita could cause significant spillage from the battered rigs off the coasts of New Orleans and Houston."

Maybe they need a picture:

HSA Terrorist List Reaches 1,000,000 Names

2008-07-15T08:42:00.000-07:00

The ACLU says the HSA terrorist watchlist has now reached 1 million names.

I like Goldy's take on it:

At one million strong, this list is either inaccurate and overly broad to the point of being useless… or we as a nation need to do some serious introspection about how we’ve managed to piss off so many people to the point where over one million domestic air travelers have dedicated their lives to murdering American civilians. (Though perhaps, domestic air travel itself these days is motive enough.)

More McCain Flip Flops

2008-07-11T13:43:00.000-07:00

I don't have the time or energy to track all of McCain's flip flops but these really piss me off.

Today McCain held a women's-only town hall event in Wisconsin. He talked about how he's committed to "equal pay for equal work". ARGH! In April this year McCain said that if he had been in the Senate, he would have voted against the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which would have rectified the Supreme Court decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear that made it much harder for women and other workers to pursue pay discrimination claims. McCain gave his reasons for being against it as the bill "opens us up to lawsuits for all kinds of problems." He also dismissed the importance of equal pay, saying that women simply need "education and training".

Earlier this week, Carly Fiorina, often speculated as his presumptive VP choice, brought up how many insurance plans cover Viagra but not birth control. McCain, of course, voted against legislation that would have mandated birth control to be part of insurance coverage. When he was asked for comment,he had a senior moment.

Does the man think we're stupid? Or is he senile? I think the man can't think on his own. He is fed opinions and gets them all mixed up. I'll be looking for the walkie-talkie in his back like Bush had at the Kerry debate so someone can feed him the right answers.

Fibbers, Liars, and Damn Liars

2008-07-10T17:58:00.000-07:00

You've probably all see the scarey pictures this week and if it goes according to Bush's plan -- gotten scared enough to support a war in Iran. BUT it's a FAKE!! Here's Fox's version, Getty's version, from the Herald in the UK, and the BBC:

Isn't Photoshop great?! This is so wrong! When are we going to wake up? The lies are so thick no one can tell what the truth is.

Mission Accomplished, Osama bin Laden!

2008-07-07T14:21:00.000-07:00

September 28, 1998:

Bin Laden claimed that the United States has carried out ‘the biggest theft in history’ by buying oil from Persian Gulf countries at low prices. According to bin Laden, a barrel of oil today should cost $144. Based on that calculation, he said, the Americans have stolen $36 trillion from Muslims…" (Associated Press, 9/28).

From CNN

Commodities
Energy †
Light Crude (NYM)
August 08 ($US per bbl.)
Price 141.37
Change-3.92
High143.10
Low 139.50
Settle 141.37
Last Update7/7 2:19pm

Thank you, George Bush!

Little Noticed BIG Story

2008-07-07T12:53:00.000-07:00

My local paper, The Olympian, had a tiny article on an incident that happened last week. I haven't noticed anyone in the MSM broadcast media picking up this story but I think it has HUGE ramifications for us.

A surge of wind last week jumped far beyond levels forecast by operators of Oregon's burgeoning wind-farm industry, sending more power into the regional grid than it could accommodate.
For the first time, Bonneville Power Administration power managers began calling operators with orders to curtail power generation.

The BPA realized by Monday evening that it could no longer handle the surge without increasing spills of water through hydroelectric dams to levels dangerous to fish. . .

What this means is that a wind storm came up and the windmills started doing their thing sending MORE electricity to the grid than it could handle. If we created most of our power by burning coal, the furnaces could have been turned off and we could have skated on the wind. But we can't turn off the Columbia -- the only way to slow electric production at a dam is to spill more water -- but they couldn't spill more water without harming the salmon.

This story shocks me. I thought the grid was more fungible than this. I thought if one region was producing excess power it could send it out on the grid and another (more expensive) method of creating electricity could be taken down. I had no idea that the regions were closed entities. How did Enron move power around?

Here's the danger -- if the grid can't support the power generated, this will become a great excuse to refuse to allow wind power because of the natural fluctuations and because the power generators are not multinational companies -- they are individual farmers, ranchers, or other investors. BPA wants to handle this in the future by telling farmers and ranchers out there generating power that they have to stop and BPA wants to charge sanctions if they don't. Winds is enough uncertainty for these investors -- now BPA wants to be able to turn them off on their whim and charge them fines?! In BPA's case hydroelectric and wind are both carbon neutral so no harm there, but without assurances that they won't be turned off, how will investors respond to this?

This is important especially in those areas of the country that use coal to generate power. If we want to go to carbonless energy production, we need adequate grid and switching capabilities. And we need some certainty that investors in wind turbines will be able to recoup their investment and not used by power companies to avoid paying them for the power or to ensure their big carbon spewing plants get first dibs at power generating.

This tiny story is a canary coughing in the mine -- we need to pay attention to this and make sure our infrastructure is in place and someone who doesn't make a profit generating power decides who turns the generators on and off. Otherwise companies will have a perfect loophole to close down the wind farms -- just choke them off.

What Does McCain Stand For???

2008-07-01T09:11:00.000-07:00

John Amato documents Keith Olbermann's rant about McCain's flip-flops:

John McCain has flip-flopped on so many subjects that he would feel quite at home in my toddler’s tumbling class. Keith Olbermann recounts McCain’s flip-floppery on Political reform, Immigration, gay marriage, Abortion, Nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Military actions against rogue states, Negotiating with Kim Jong Il, Negotiating with Castro, Negotiating with terrorists (acceptable in 2002 when Powell went to Syria. In 2006, McCain said sooner or later we’ll talk to Hamas, not appropriate now), Unilateral action against suspected terrorists in Pakistan (Confused leadership with Obama, not with Bush) Warrantless wiretapping, Torturing Detainees, Indefinitely holding detainees, Iraq War, Tax cuts for the rich, Estate tax, Privatizing Social Security, Balanced budget, Windfall profits tax, Offshore drilling, Bush fundraisers, Jerry Falwell, Pastor John Hagee, MLK Jr. holiday, South Africa divestment, the confederate flag, and alternatives to evolution being taught at school

Feeling dizzy yet?

I sure am!!

Wes Clark

2008-07-01T07:36:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday Wes Clark was responding to a question about how didn't 'McCain's service prepare him to be President' on CBS and Clark said: "Well, I don’t think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president.”

When I saw it I thought "oops, Wes Clark just stepped in a big pile of shit."

I understand what he was trying to say -- McCain brings up his service ALL THE TIME. Even on such topics as health care -- He reminds us that he wasn't always covered by a government plan -- there were those 5 years in the Hanoi Hilton. It's is answer to everything and he seems to be trying to guilt us into ignoring his other HUGE failings and wrong positions (although who can keep track of McCain's positions? They change daily.)

Bob Schieffer seems to be representative of most reporters -- McCain's service is sacroscant and is the answer for everything. Clark has the credibility to question this but he fell right into the trap and answered in a ham handed way that will give the right all kinds of ammo to hang Clark.

The attacks are commencing and I fear Clark will be the sacrificial lamb. Too bad. I really like Cark and would like to have seen him as a VP candidate. I think that's off the table now.

My Letter to Sen Cantwell and Sen Murray

2008-06-25T11:36:00.000-07:00

Senators:

Sen. Chris Dodd gave an eloquent speech last night and I support his call to deny cloture on the FISA bill. Telecom amnesty and warrantless eavesdropping demolishes the rule of law. What is the difference between a police state and a free society – a free society that respects the constitution and eavesdrops when they have reason to suspect I am doing something wrong. A police state collects all my communication and then decides if I’m doing something wrong. This country is becoming like East Germany in the 1960’s and 1970’s. But YOU can draw a line in the floor and say NO MORE.

We need to defend core Constitutional liberties, enforce the rule of law among the political and corporate elite, and battle the surveillance state. But stopping telecom amnesty -- which means, that the lawsuits will continue, ensures discovery of what the Government did and a judicial ruling as to whether they broke the law. This would be a significant blow to the lawless surveillance regime.

Please support Senators Dodd and Feingold and reject the FISA bill.

UPDATE 7-9-08:
Yeah! They BOTH voted against FISA! Yippie!!

Rep. Brian Baird (WA03) -- EUCK!

2008-06-24T14:03:00.000-07:00

The campaign committee for Congressman Brian Baird e-mailed me with a request for a contribution to his campaign.

HA!

Here's my response:

I was extremely disappointed in your vote this week on FISA. You are not fulfilling your oath to protect the Constitution. So in the future, please don't request campaign contributions from me -- you don't work for me. Get your campaign money from AT&T and the other telecoms you decided to protect instead -- you obviously work for them.

And I sent his primary challenger some money. Cheryl Crist is struggling in her campaign but I'd prefer her to have my bucks than Blue Dog Baird. If you want to join me in supporting a worthy progressive Democrat -- go to her Act Blue page.

shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker and tits

2008-06-23T11:34:00.000-07:00

George Carlin died this morning.

(HT to http://www.fromthevaultradio.org for the pix)

My Congressman Enables Bush's FISA Immunity

2008-06-20T10:52:00.000-07:00

The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution states:

“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.

Congressmen Baird and Smith both ignored this Amendment and voted this morning to pass the FISA Amendments Act of 2008. The FISA Amendments Act provide legal immunity to telecommunications companies who helped the federal government with a warrantless surveillance program during the Bush administration, which gathered information about the phone records of American citizens.

According to a May 11, 2006 report by USA Today, "The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime." ... 60 Minutes did a segment on Mark Klein, a veteran telecommunications technician and computer network associate at AT&T, who described a secret room he says the National Security Agency had set up on the sixth floor of an AT&T building in downtown San Francisco. Klein said his employer was colluding with the federal government to siphon a copy of billions of domestic Internet communications into that secret room, every second of every day -- and all without a warrant.

Proponents of the surveillance program say it is in response to the attacks on 9/11, they only eavesdrop on terrorists, and it’s necessary to combat terrorism. However, the Washington Post reported on Oct. 13, 2007 that former Qwest executive Joseph Nacchio said in court papers, "the NSA approached Qwest more than six months before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks."

Qwest is the one telecommunications company who reportedly refused to cooperate with the NSA on the grounds they believed doing so would have been illegal.

Thanks to Congressmen Baird and Smith we will never have a private conversation again. They will claim that “new” exclusivity provisions in FISA mean no president will ever be able to ignore the established surveillance laws ever again. But these “new” provisions do not really differ from the old "exclusivity" provision of the old FISA law that was on the books when George W. Bush instituted his illegal programs:

[P]rocedures in this chapter or chapter 121 and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 shall be the exclusive means by which electronic surveillance, as defined in section 101 of such Act, and the interception of domestic wire, oral, and electronic communications may be conducted.

Bush’s lawyers -- people like John Yoo -- said Bush that the president had the "inherent power" to ignore the FISA provisions in the name of "national security." So Bush did it -- despite the existence of the exclusivity provisions.

I think we now can see why they have both been against the impeachment of George Bush – they have been complicit by enabling and covering up Bush’s crimes and that might come to light if there was a real impeachment inquiry.

Shame on you Congressmen!

McCain's Betrayal

2008-06-16T13:23:00.000-07:00

BarbinMD over at Daily Kos has a great post about the hypocrite McCain who pretends to support the troops but all the while is stabbing them in the back. Here's the money quote:

But as the saying goes, "facts are pesky things," so instead of relying on McCain's rhetoric, let's look at some of those facts:

McCain has repeatedly voted against amendments in the Senate that would have...covered such important services as improving care at veterans’ hospitals, providing mental health services to soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse problems. [2006 Senate Vote #7, 2/2/2006]

In 2006, McCain voted against the Kerry amendment that would eliminate increased fees and co-payments for veterans in the TRICARE health care program by raising the discretionary spending limit by approximately $10 billion. The provisions would have been fully offset by eliminating creating corporate tax breaks. [2006 Senate Vote #67, 3/16/2006]

McCain was one of only 13 Republicans to vote against an amendment that added over $400 million for inpatient and outpatient care for veterans. [2006 Senate Vote #98, 4/26/2006]

McCain voted against increasing funding for veterans health care by $2.8 billion in 2006. [2005 Senate Vote #55, 3/16/2005]

McCain joined his Republican Senate cohorts in opposing exempting all military personnel and veterans from means testing in bankruptcy cases. [2005 Senate Vote #13, 3/1/2005]

McCain opposed an amendment that would reduce from 60 to 55 the age at which certain members of the National Guard and Army reserves could receive retirement benefits. [2004 Senate Vote #136, 6/23/2004]

Senator McCain opposed $322 million in funding for "battlefield clearance and safety equipment for U.S. troops in Iraq." A reduction in Iraqi reconstruction funds would have funded the additional protection for troops in the battlefield. [2003 Senate Vote #376, 10/2/2003]

McCain voted against an amendment that would increase spending on the veterans health care program TRICARE by $20.3 billion over 10 years to members of the National Guard and Reserves. The increase would be offset by a reduction in tax cuts. [2003 Senate Vote #81, 3/25/2003]

McCain opposed an amendment that would have increased veterans spending by $13 billion from 1997-2002 to be offset by closing corporate tax preferences and reinstating expired taxes. [1996 Senate Vote #115, 5/16/1996]

The reality and the rhetoric of John McCain are at complete odds, yet the fact that McCain is a champion of the military is the unchallenged, conventional wisdom in the traditional media.

Add to the list his opposition to Webb's Veteran's bill, torture votes, etc.

Beer!

2008-06-12T13:19:00.000-07:00

McCain, speaking about his use of the veto pen to eliminate wasteful spending, declared, "I will veto every single beer, um, bill with earmarks."

Well that locks up the beer drinker vote for Obama!

tee hee

Why did Hillary Lose

2008-06-06T16:56:00.000-07:00

I wasn't a Hillary fan butto begin with the reasons I had to oppose her didn't seem to matter to the other voters. So what happened?

From my perspective she had a poor strategic plan. It was a huge mistake to ignore the caucus states. I the days before the WA caucus, I had numerous calls from Obama people but none from Clinton. The caucus site was plastered with Obama posters and there were a number of folks in Obama t-shirts available to answer questions. Nada from Clinton. Maybe it was due to poor advisers. Maybe she just felt she was inevitable and therefore didn't have to try. But it was a HUGE mistake.

The other thing did wrong was poorly manage her money. Other candidates dropped out when the money dried up. I am insulted that she expects us to bail out her poor money management situation but maybe her die hard supporters feel they owe it to her but to me it seemed poor form to still be trying to raise money last Tuesday.

They can blame Bill, blame women supporters, blame misogny -- but she was a poor strategic and financial manager.

The Terrorists are Obviously Winning

2008-05-28T09:49:00.000-07:00

Yes, they are winning. They have successfully recruited Dunkin' Donuts and Rachael Ray -- you and I will be powerless against the subliminal messages Al Quida is placing in our media!!

We should just put the white flag up now!

Here's from the Boston Globe:

Does Dunkin’ Donuts really think its customers could mistake Rachael Ray for a terrorist sympathizer? The Canton-based company has abruptly canceled an ad in which the domestic diva wears a scarf that looks like a keffiyeh, a traditional headdress worn by Arab men.

Some observers, including ultra-conservative Fox News commentator Michelle Malkin, were so incensed by the ad that there was even talk of a Dunkin’ Donuts boycott.

‘‘The keffiyeh, for the clueless, is the traditional scarf of Arab men that has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad,’’ Malkin yowls in her syndicated column.

...
The company at first pooh-poohed the complaints, claiming the black-and-white wrap was not a keffiyeh. But the right-wing drumbeat on the blogosphere continued and by yesterday, Dunkin’ Donuts decided it’d be easier just to yank the ad.

Michelle Malkin is an idiot. She was the same idiot when she howled about the Pennsylvania monument to the 9-11 deaths because the observation deck looked crescent shaped to her. She says these outrageous things to get attention. I'm ashamed Dunkin' Donuts listened to her instead of laughing at her idiocy.

Next thing we'll have to ban Persian carpets, sandals, cell phones, sand, olives -- all things used by those hated "terrorists" -- what about clothes? Don't terrorists all wear clothes? ARGH!! Hurry STRIP or you'll be recruiting for the terrorists and they'll WIN!!

I suggest the better solution is to boycott Malkin and have a iced coffee from Dunkin' Donuts.

What an idiot!

Lieberman and Harry Reid

2008-05-14T14:07:00.000-07:00

Senator Reid said on Kieth Olbermann's Countdown show: “Senator Lieberman of Connecticut supports us on virtually everything except the war.” That struck me -- is that true?

So I went over to the Senate's web site and checked out most of the significant legislation our Senate has dealt with over the past 3 1/2 years. What I found surprized me. Harry is right -- a few notable exceptions:

Confirmed Gonzales
Class Action Fairness
Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act
Confirmation of Roberts
Webb amendment on minimum time hope for the service men /women between Iraq assignments
Protect America Act
Confirmed Murkasey

But they voted alike to confirm Alito, restrict abortions, trade agreement, Patriot Act, funding for the war, cut taxes, and lower SCHIP.

So maybe our problem isn't Lieberman -- maybe it's Harry.

Can Obama Win Pennsylvania?

2008-05-02T15:19:00.000-07:00

Hillary and the talking heads would like you to think it's in doubt that Obama can win in Pennsylvania in the general election. I keep hearing that maybe 40% of Hillary's voters will either stay home or vote for McCain -- ooooh! Scary!

Let's work the numbers -- from the Commonwealth's website:

Democratic Primary

Candidate Votes Percent
CLINTON, HILLARY (DEM)
1,260,937 54.6%
OBAMA, BARACK (DEM)
1,046,822 45.4%

Republican Primary

Candidate Votes Percent
HUCKABEE, MIKE (REP)
89,581 11.3%
MCCAIN, JOHN (REP)
574,779 72.8%
PAUL, RON (REP)
125,604 15.9%

So OK -- I doubt that people who today support Huckabee & Paul will suddenly hold their noses and switch to McCain in the general -- but let's say 1/2 do -- and let's say all of those folks who said they'll either vote for McCain or stay home rather than vote for Obama all show up for McCain -- that theoretically would give McCain 997,606 votes or 49 thousand less than Obama got in the primary.

Remind me again -- why does the MSM keep talking about McCain / Obama like it's a real match up?

My Letter to ABC "News"

2008-04-17T10:44:00.000-07:00

ABC "News" should be ashamed of your performance at last night's "debate" -- it is obvious that your talents are better suited to hosting a humiliating game show. In case some politician is stupid enough to ever come on ABC again, please let me suggest some topics that are of immensely greater interest to us viewers:

Afghanistan
China
Civil liberties and constraints on government surveillance
Declining housing values
Decline of American manufacturing
Decline of organized labor and the working class
Domestic financial crisis
Education
Energy
Enhanced Interrogation Techniques
Global warming
Habeas Corpus
Health care
Immigration
Pakistan
Supreme Court
Terrorism
Trade
Torture
Value of the US Dollar
World food crisis

We are not the idiots you think we are. Flag pins!!? Are you crazy?

ABC Debacle

2008-04-17T08:10:00.000-07:00

The so called "Clinton vs Obama" "debate" was too painful to watch -- I turned it off. I am so ashamed of the MSM. To say 'we have to ask you these ridiculous, nonsense, non-material, no-issue questions because the Republicans will' is asinine! Why couldn't we have seen an issue oriented discussion instead of this 'rumble-in-the-democracy-birthplace' freak show?

I say we go back to the League of Women Votes holding these things and get rid of all these idiotic game show hosts.

HOW DARE STEPHANOPOULOS question the patriotism of a US Marine who signed up again after his tour in Korea, tended to President Johnson when he was recovering from surgery, held off his own education and goals to serve his country?!! Reverend Wright has done more for this country that idiot Stephanopoulos ever will.

Hunter over at Daily Kos is less hysterical than me and therefore says it better:

What a contrast. Only a few weeks ago, we were presented with what was considered by many to be a historic speech by a presidential candidate on race in America -- historic for its substance, tone, delivery, and stark candor. Last night, we had an opposing, equally historic example -- and I sincerely mean that, I consider it to be every bit as significant as that word implies -- of the collapse of the political press into self-willed incompetence. You might as well pull any half-intelligent person off the street, and they would unquestionably have more difficult and significant questions for the two candidates. It was not merely a momentarily bad performance, by ABC, it was a debate explicitly designed to be what it was, which is far more telling.
. . .
If a media organization set out to intentionally demonstrate themselves to be self absorbed and ignorant, they could not have accomplished it better. It was not just a tabloid debate, but the tittering of political kindergartners making and lobbing mud pies. It was politics as game show. The moderators demonstrated that to them and their supposed "news" organization, the presidency of the United States of America is about the trivialities of_politics_, which were obsessed over ravenously, not about the challenges of American governance, which were fully ignored.

THANK YOU Chloe Marshall !!!

2008-04-16T17:09:00.000-07:00

Chloe Marshall doesn't look like your average beauty queen. And she couldn't be happier about it.

The trainee beautician has become the first size 16 to make it to the finals of the Miss England contest.

Yesterday the 16-year-old beat a host of slimmer hopefuls to be named Miss Surrey, and hopes to win the national competition in July.

See more pictures at the Daily Mail.

Yeah!! An average woman!!! And she is BEAUTIFUL!! What a great role model for young girls!!