2000

3:10 pm EST October 25th, 2005 | News | 60 Comments

Why did these guys have to die? There’s no real answer.

The U.S. military announced the death of an American soldier wounded in Iraq on Tuesday, bringing to 2,000 the number of American service members killed since the war started in 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

Earlier, the military announced the deaths of two Marines in fighting with insurgents last week in a village west of Baghdad.

Just before the toll hit 2,000, President Bush warned the nation to brace for an even higher casualty count as the mission there has more work remaining to be successful.

Yeah, cause it’s not like he or his kin has to fight those wars or anything.

According to the right, 2000 soldiers dead in Iraq isn’t news, while Michelle Malkin claims that 2,000 dead is of no significance.

Topic: Iraq

Honor The Fallen

2:10 pm EST October 25th, 2005 | News | 14 Comments

On page one

Two-thousand American Troops have now been killed in Iraq. As we pass this grim milestone, the media will briefly turn their attention away from celebrity diet fads, and on to the human cost of the war.

But for over two years, the media have failed to adequately honor the sacrifice of America s Servicemembers. Putting the names of the fallen on the back pages is an insult to America s Troops and to the families of the fallen, and is yet another example of poor media coverage of the war.

Consider that in the Oct. 13 edition of The New York Times, the day after six Americans were killed in Iraq, the names of the dead were relegated to Page A-10 in a tiny box at the bottom of the page, about one-quarter the size of a Bloomingdale s ad on the same page.

Topic: Iraq

Da People In Your Neighborhood

2:10 pm EST October 25th, 2005 | Politics | 1 Comment

Oh, please tell me the way to Schwarzenegger Street. Hahaha!

Majority Killjoys

11:10 am EST October 25th, 2005 | Politics | 29 Comments

I think its funny that with their majority in the government and in the media, the cons seem to have nothing to do, nothing of real substance to be upset about. So the issue of outrage right now is… Al Franken. Michelle Malkin dissects a skit (along with her tag-team partner Brian “Talk Radio Isn’t Right Wing Enough” Maloney) promoting Franken’s book Zapruder style (you can just hear her mumbling “back… and to the left… back… and to the left”) and the gang over at MRC’s Newsbusters (when will they add Bill Murray to the cast?) is outraged that Franken would make a joke about treason being a crime punishable by death and the left wing enabler David Letterman just…. lets him do it! And now Drudge is exposing the entire thing on his homepage.

Where’s the outrage, America?

This is surely having an effect, as Franken’s book comes in at #8 on Amazon’s bestseller list.

Al Franken: The Truth (with jokes)

Taking Back Maryland: O’Malley, Cardin Up

11:10 am EST October 25th, 2005 | Democrats | 4 Comments

Bob Ehrlich ain’t doing so hot for an incumbent governor, and Michael Steele is behind the likely candidate for the senate. It’s going to take a lot of work, but it’s got to be done

The poll by Gonzales Research & Marketing Strategies showed that a year before the 2006 general election, Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley is leading Gov. Robert Ehrlich 48 percent to 42 percent with 10 percent undecided. A matchup between Ehrlich and the other major Democratic contender showed him almost tied with Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan, who was favored by 45 percent of those responding to the poll compared with 44 percent for the governor.

In the Senate race, Democratic U.S. Rep. Ben Cardin had a nine-point lead, 47 percent to 38 percent, over Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, who was expected to announce his candidacy for the Republican nomination Tuesday. Steele, Maryland’s first black lieutenant governor, held his own in a matchup with the only black Democrat in the race, former U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume. Steele was supported by 42 percent of people polled and Mfume by 40 percent, and the lieutenant governor was leading four other Democrats.

(via political wire)

The Broken Record President

11:10 am EST October 25th, 2005 | Politics | 8 Comments

How many times will the cable networks run Bush making the same old arguments again and again? They weren’t true before we went into Iraq, and aren’t any more true now that almost 2,000 people have died for Bush’s ego.

>> Majority of Americans Say Military Action in Iraq Was Wrong, Poll Finds

What Am I Not Seeing

12:10 am EST October 25th, 2005 | Politics | 20 Comments

I don’t understand the logic of the folks, in this case, largely my fellow Democrats – who voted against the legislation to shield companies from lawsuits brought by folks who gained weight. It’s just kind of ridiculous.

Nicknamed the “cheeseburger bill,” the measure stems from lawsuits accusing McDonald’s of causing obesity in tens of thousands of children. The food industry has asked Congress and state legislatures to protect it from liability, and so far, 21 states have agreed.

The Second Richest Man In America On Taxes

12:10 am EST October 25th, 2005 | Politics | 25 Comments

I was reading Fortune (yeah, I read Fortune) and I found these comments by Warren Buffett (aka the second richest man in America to his friend Bill Gates, the richest man in America) to be fascinating:

On the idea of a flat tax
I wouldn t support it. We have, in my view, a taxation system that s much too flat already. If you look at the payroll tax which is over 12% now, and that applies on the first $80,000 or $90,000 of income Bill and I pay practically none of that in relation to our income. For the people that work for us, their tax rate in many cases is the same or even higher than my own, since the rate on capital gains and dividends was cut to 15%. What has gone on in this country in recent years is a huge benefit to the very rich and not that much relief to people down below. Frankly, I think that Bill and I should have a higher tax rate on the income we get. We pay less than half the rate that I was paying 25 years ago when I was making a lot less money. They have really taken care of the rich.

(emphasis mine)
Again, I would like to note that Warren Buffett is the second richest man in America with a net worth estimated to be $40 billion and is a hell of a capitalist.

Trailblazer

10:10 pm EST October 24th, 2005 | News | 7 Comments

Won’t ever be forgotten.

Civil Rights Pioneer Rosa Parks Dead At 92

Civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks has died, Local 4 has learned.

Parks, 92, reportedly died around 7 p.m. Monday at St. John Hospital on Detroit’s east side.

Parks’ refusal to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Ala., in 1955 landed her in jail and sparked a bus boycott that is considered the start of the modern civil rights movement. The bus is on display at the Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn.

Parks, was born Feb. 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Ala. She lived in Detroit.

Topic: History

The Vice President, With The Candlestick

9:10 pm EST October 24th, 2005 | News | 28 Comments

As Sam Beckett used to say, “oh boy”.

Cheney Told Aide of C.I.A. Officer, Notes Show

I. Lewis Libby Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney s chief of staff, first learned about the C.I.A. officer at the heart of the leak investigation in a conversation with Mr. Cheney weeks before her identity became public in 2003, lawyers involved in the case said Monday.

Speculation: Cheney told Libby/Rove about Plame, Libby/Rove leak it to the press (Novak, etc.) then when the investigation gets instigated they freak, start lying to keep their stories straight and conspire to keep it quiet. But then the notes unravel the whole thing for Fitzgerald.

Or not.

Addendum: Even if no specific law was broken, shouldn’t it be cause for removal or resignation if the vice president used the power of his office to uncover classified data as fuel for a political vendetta? Spiro Agnew, anyone?

Questions
Have the president or the vice-president been aware that either they or their top staff were the leakers of Mrs. Wilson’s identity, yet have claimed otherwise for two years?

Are the vice president and his subordinates in the business of using classified data to fuel personal attacks on citizens? Is the president aware of this practice and does he condone it? If the president is unaware, why and for how long?

Of the following people and their families, have any of them been investigated by the president and vice president using national security assets to fuel political attacks – John Kerry, John Edwards, Bill Clinton, Howard Dean…?

Which other journalists and pundits have been the recepients of classified leaks from the president’s or vice-president’s office?

Since January 21, 2001, please detail each and every instance of the president, vice president or other White House staff that has given out data gleaned from classified sources to attack political opponents.

Topic: Dick Cheney