Ann being chastised by conservative blogs means diddly. If Ann had been booed off the stage when she said what she said, that’s different. But she wasn’t. And furthermore, everybody who attended knew she’d say something like that, and they didn’t care. Not only did they not care, they cheered her.

Moderate conservatives and moderate Muslims share this in common: they shut up when their most prominent speakers–be they pundits or imams–make irresponsible and ugly comments about groups of people, because they fear being shunned by their community.

There are a large number of provisions in the patriot act that have given the office of the presidency unprecedented powers. Right now he can cart anyone in the US off to prison by declaring them an enemy combatant. They then get no right trial, and their rights as a citizen are stripped from them. In effect, if, say, a waitress at a Stuckey’s in Georgia saw some arabs who looked like terrorists to them, they can call Homeland Security, and those guys will be stopped and harassed (if they’re lucky that’s all they get). They could also get Gitmotized on the spot regardless of their terrorist bona fides, and would in effect be disappeared from the population.

Right now there is extra money in the budget for “detention centers” to be built in the US. As an added bonus, the post at the other end of the link mentions that On Saturday (2/4/2006), the NY Times reported that a subsidiary of Halliburton (the same company that reported that 2005 was its best year ever, and has been caught overcharging taxpayers for its no-bid contract work in Iraq) was awarded a $385 million contract to build “temporary immigration detention centers” in the US for Homeland Security Department. And KBR would build the centers for the Homeland Security Department for an unexpected influx of immigrants, to house people in the event of a natural disaster or for new programs that require additional detention space, company executives said.

Oh, look – we’re giving more government contracts to companies who have cheated the government, and who just happen to be paying a certain vice pResident for his services to their company. Maybe that’s why I am saying that on of the reasons Chimpy is doing what he’s dong is For the huge graft and kickbacks in your basic Halliburton contract?

He wasn t playing the race card here?

Again you try to change the argument made by Curmudgeon.
Who did Curmudgeon use as the example of playing the race card in order to point to the right? Drudge — because he used the headline “Islamophobia?” But Drudge was linking to a Reuters article quoting people using the term in the Middle East.
Point to whomever else you want, Frameone, but it changes nothing about Curmudgeon’s error.

And Bush didn’t say this:

“I think it sends a terrible signal to friends around the world that it’s okay for a company from one country to manage the port but not a country that plays by the rules and has got a good track record from another part of the world can’t manage the port.”

He wasn’t playing the race card here? How tone deaf are you JWG? The fact of the matter is that a good amount of the opposition to this deal is drvien by an inchoate racism on the part of some and an explicit racism on the part of others. Both of which the Bush administration has done an optimal job of nurturing and stoking these last few years. You can practically hear wingnut heads exploding: Should we inter all the Muslims in camps or give them sweetheart deals to manage our ports? Bush used fear and Islamophobia for his own purposes to win re-election (terror alert! terror alert!) but now that he and his cronies want to do little business they find they can’t control what they’ve created. Boo hoo.

Where did I lie?

Personally, I ignored the tax comment because you can always find a tax somewhere that has increased even if overall taxation has decreased for the poor.
Similarly, I let the Halliburton comment pass because anyone can point to any government contract and find waste and/or fraud.
However, since you asked…I have to say that the comment about waiting for a chance to impose martial law is extraordinarily ridiculous. I would love to see how you try to support that “truth” with evidence. Please enlighten me to the “truth” about Bush’s eagerness to impose martial law.

Where did I lie?
You required that I prove my citizenship in an earlier comments thread, and now you’ve called me a liar. Both with no proof of your assertions being true. I don’t think either is true at all, and I would ask that you prove your statements. Or is this yet another standard from the right – you have to prove nothing, but you require everyone else to give you an answer that satisfies your expectations for every piece of every arguemnt that they advance.

As for you commenting on others making unsupprted allegations and ad hominem attacks, I would suggest checking the nearest reflecting surface if I were you. The party who is guiltiest of that trick would be the one staring back at you in the mirror.

All the jokes about Bush being stupid…well, it’s just not that funny, anymore. There are real consequences when you elect bad leaders. How many times have we heard that the President was not aware of some important issue, or policy? How much water are people going to hold for Bush before the weight of it all is so heavy, that it comes crashing down? Nothing is transparent with this administration. Whether it’s Katrina, Cheney “Gone Fudd,” or this latest policy gaffe…they feel that they never owe the American people an explanation, or reason for what they do. All of the left-wing crazies screaming “King George” after the 2000 election are now vindicated.

I don’t say that lightly. I do have a respect for history. George W. Bush is the most ill-prepared, ineffectual leader to ever hold the office. I may think differently 10 years from now, but I can’t imagine how.

I can easily rattle off 20 Republicans I’d rather see in that office.

And was summarily chastised by most bloggers on the right for her remarks.

Or did you just happen to miss that, Frame?

Funny you ask ME for facts and figures after you post three outrageous lies without a shred of evidence.

I hope I wake up in a democracy some day that has this fantastical concept of “free press” and freedom of speech . . . is that just a legend?

And why does the White House insist on claiming 6 ports in this deal when there is actually 8?

British Shipping newspaper Lloyd’s List reported yesterday (Feb. 20) that 2 more ports are up for grabs in the deal which are actually major U.S. MILITARY shipping ports, apparently granting Dubai agents access to MILITARY SHIPPING MANIFESTS.

Their contract with the United States Surface Deployment and Distribution Command would provide stevedoring [loading and unloading] of military equipment at the Texan ports of Beaumont and Corpus Christi through 2010.

According to the journal Army Logistician “Almost 40 percent of the Army cargo deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom flows through these two ports.”

White House spokesman, Scotty, LIED TODAY IN HIS LENGTHY PRESS CONFERENCE . . . .AND ALSO failed to state the $708 million allotted for maritime security over the past four years amounted to only one-fifth of what the port authorities had identified as needed to properly secure the ports. At least according to that the president of the American Association of Port Authorities.

Ask Glenn Reynolds.

As per BD, that would be the statement of one, one who was invited to be a featured speaker at the largest and most significant meeting of Conserative leaders in the country.

You’ve even got Pedro on this very thread asking the rest of us liberals to denounce the speech of some anonymous blog poster and yet you blithely dismiss the hate speech of a leading public figure of conservative opinion as representative of just one person. The hypocrisy is laughable.

Yes, please remember Mr.Curmudgeon, the Right doesn t consider Muslims or Arabs to be  fuckheads. They consider them to be  ragheads, as most recently demonstrated by Ann Coulter.

Nice twist away from Curmudgeon’s statement. Now, let’s get back to the original comment:
Curmudgeon accused the right of playing the race card when in fact it is Arabs complaining about perceived “Islamophobia.”
So either:
1) Curmudgeon needs to correct his original outburst, or
2) Curmudgeon is accusing Arabs who complain about Islamophobia as being “fuckheads”

Which is it?
And either way, it was a nice example of a knee-jerk reaction automatically blaming “the right” without knowing what you’re talking about. Bravo.

You wouldn’t have any facts and figures on that bs you’re planning on calling, would you? Instead of just some sort of random outrage because my statements did not conform to the standard Publican talking points? What a surprise that a (supposedly) well-minded, well-meaning conservative would immediately try and slime someone who pointed out that the reality of the government’s actions over the past five years has caused a severly increased level of destitution amongst the poor, decimated the middle class, and put record profits in the hands of the corporations and the rich elite!

I could never have conceived in my wildest dreams receiving such a prompt and enlightening response to my sound byte talking point summaries. Even though it apeears you consider them almost Coulter-like in their virulence…

Josh Marshall just pointed out this interesting law that mandates an investigation which has not yet occurred, and which might not have if the story hadn’t come to light.

But then again, what’s the law? The administration can’t be bothered with “laws.” It can’t even be bothered to go through the process of changing the laws, if the current laws don’t suit them.

Yes, please remember Mr.Curmudgeon, the Right doesn’t consider Muslims or Arabs to be “fuckheads.” They consider them to be “ragheads,” as most recently demonstrated by Ann Coulter.

The Bush adminstration and its supporters have been working in concert doing a brisk business in Islamophobia ever since 9-11. Now that the administration wants to just do business it has to confront the monster that it helped let out of the bag. Too damn bad for them.