Throwing Money Down The Hole

9:23 pm EST October 31st, 2006 | News | 5 Comments

Great. Your tax dollars at work, throwing more money into the Iraq mess. Stay the course. Stay the course.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Tuesday endorsed a proposal to spend at least $1 billion to expand the size and accelerate the training and equipping of Iraqi security forces.

While the plan still must get final approval from the White House and the money would have to be approved by Congress, Rumsfeld’s support underscores the Bush administration’s effort to shift more of the burden of
Iraq’s security to that country’s forces.

Of course, we’ve been hearing about the “shift” for three or so years now. Yet, all we get is a bunch of Iraqis with guns shooting Americans in the back, as well as Iraqi civilians.

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Time To Really Whip Up The Rubes

9:00 pm EST October 31st, 2006 | News | 15 Comments

President Bush is going to have his toes sucked be interviewed by Rush Limbaugh. Yes, the President of the United States, six days before an election, is going to get his “base” engaged by appearing on the program of a drug addict who thought torture at Abu Ghraib was a joke, made fun of Michael J. Fox’s disease, and regularly slimes blacks, women, and anyone who disagrees with.

Ladies and Gentlemen, YOUR REPUBLICAN PARTY!

 

Bill O’Reilly’s New War

8:05 pm EST October 31st, 2006 | News | 6 Comments

He’s going after horror movies. I kid you not.

Saw 3 made $36 million.
Saw 2 made $87 million.
Saw made $55 million.

Good luck, buddy.

 

Now We Vote

7:25 pm EST October 31st, 2006 | Uncategorized | 2 Comments

The table is set. Our troops are dying and the GOP wants to “stay the course”. We need to fight terrorism and destroy Al Qaeda and kill Bin Laden, the GOP thinks the job is too hard. We need stem cell research to look for possible cures, the GOP wants to block it. We need real middle class tax relief to make an economic boom that lifts all boats, Republicans oppose it. The stakes are high, the opposition a radical sect.

These are the stakes.

The final pre-election NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll suggests that Democrats continue to have a significant advantage heading into the midterms that take place exactly one week from Tuesday.

They hold a 15-point lead — tied for the largest ever in the survey — over Republicans in voters’ preference for control of Congress. President George W. Bush’s approval rating remains mired below 40 percent. And more than 60 percent feel less confident that the war in Iraq will come to a successful conclusion, the largest number ever on that question.

Vote, call your friends and family, tell ‘em to vote. A lot of people have been beaten, killed and worse in order to secure the right to a vote. The least we can do is honor their memory by spending a few minutes next Tuesday to put America back on track.

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GOP Cutting & Running From House Races

4:44 pm EST October 31st, 2006 | Uncategorized | 11 Comments

Again, any wonder why they’re going full-out for the manufactured outrage du jour?

Signaling retreat, House Republicans are scaling back television advertising in three highly contested races, officials said Tuesday, including Rep. Curt Weldon’s bid for an 11th term in Pennsylvania and open seats in Colorado and Ohio.

Some of the funds will be spent to help other Republicans in races that remain competitive.

In contrast to the Republican strategic retreat, House Democrats are expanding the number of districts where they are advertising, an indication of confidence that the election is moving their way. In recent days, they have moved into districts in Kansas and Nebraska that have long been in GOP hands.

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Olbermann Booming

4:26 pm EST October 31st, 2006 | Media | 4 Comments

The efforts of the continually wacky Olbermannwatch (motto: We don’t like Keith Olbermann so we’ll just make stuff up) notwithstanding, Keith Olbermann’s ratings are moving up (an increase of 67% over a year ago). Bill O’Reilly is still the big dog, but he’s lost 22% of his viewers in the last year – to the tune of over half a million people. Long time cable news watchers will remember when O’Reilly was in the ratings doldrums, dominated by Larry King. Fox stuck to O’Reilly and he overtook him. In contrast to their past horrible decisions (like “The Doc Block”) MSNBC should learn the lesson here – Olbermann is an alternative to the GOP’s strangle hold on the rest of cable news, and people are watching.

 

The Real Outrage

4:04 pm EST October 31st, 2006 | News | 3 Comments

It’s amazing that the White House has no anger or shock over this.

The top U.S. military commander in Iraq, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., predicted last week that Iraqi security forces would be able to take control of the country in 12 to 18 months. But several days spent with American units training the Iraqi police illustrated why those soldiers on the ground believe it may take decades longer than Casey’s assessment.

Seventy percent of the Iraqi police force has been infiltrated by militias, primarily the Mahdi Army, according to Shaw and other military police trainers. Police officers are too terrified to patrol enormous swaths of the capital. And while there are some good cops, many have been assassinated or are considering quitting the force.

“None of the Iraqi police are working to make their country better,” said Brig. Gen. Salah al-Ani, chief of police for the western half of Baghdad. “They’re working for the militias or to put money in their pocket.”

Republicans: Look, over here, shiny thing!!!!

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John Kerry Responds

3:19 pm EST October 31st, 2006 | Uncategorized | 184 Comments

It’s no surprise that the party of Iraq, Katrina, and 9/11 is worried about the coming election and has resorted to yet another attack on John Kerry to rile up the con base. What is surprising is how strong a response Sen Kerry has put out. I’m reproducing it in full, because if he had been this tough in ’04 he would have won. And the Democratic campaign that is this tough in ’08 will win.

Senator John Kerry issued the following statement in response to White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, assorted right wing nut-jobs, and right wing talk show hosts desperately distorting Kerry’s comments about President Bush to divert attention from their disastrous record:

“If anyone thinks a veteran would criticize the more than 140,000 heroes serving in Iraq and not the president who got us stuck there, they’re crazy. This is the classic G.O.P. playbook. I’m sick and tired of these despicable Republican attacks that always seem to come from those who never can be found to serve in war, but love to attack those who did.

I’m not going to be lectured by a stuffed suit White House mouthpiece standing behind a podium, or doughy Rush Limbaugh, who no doubt today will take a break from belittling Michael J. Fox’s Parkinson’s disease to start lying about me just as they have lied about Iraq. It disgusts me that these Republican hacks, who have never worn the uniform of our country lie and distort so blatantly and carelessly about those who have.

The people who owe our troops an apology are George W. Bush and Dick Cheney who misled America into war and have given us a Katrina foreign policy that has betrayed our ideals, killed and maimed our soldiers, and widened the terrorist threat instead of defeating it. These Republicans are afraid to debate veterans who live and breathe the concerns of our troops, not the empty slogans of an Administration that sent our brave troops to war without body armor.

Bottom line, these Republicans want to debate straw men because they’re afraid to debate real men. And this time it won’t work because we’re going to stay in their face with the truth and deny them even a sliver of light for their distortions. No Democrat will be bullied by an administration that has a cut and run policy in Afghanistan and a stand still and lose strategy in Iraq.”

THESE ARE THE STAKES: You can vote for a party that gets mock outraged at twisting someone’s words, but doesn’t bat an eye at 3,000 Americans dying for no good reason – or you can vote for the Democrats.

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Allen Campaign Goes Unhinged

2:42 pm EST October 31st, 2006 | Uncategorized | 4 Comments

What happens when you’re hiding something and down in the polls? You set your campaign goons on people to beat them up.

The person in question is Mike Stark – a blogger and law student at UVA. Oh, he also served in the Marines.

Senator George Allen, (R) made a campaign stop in Charlottesville Tuesday morning and it was met with controversy.

As Senator Allen was exiting a ballroom, coming to talk to the media, a protestor started yelling and asking, “Why did you spit on your first wife?”. He wasn’t able to get near the senator as he was tackled by three men wearing Allen stickers, presumed to be staffers. He was pushed and manhandled and ended up on the floor, near windows at the Omni.


This is not the first outbreak of anger from George Allen:

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Rubes, Redux

12:19 pm EST October 31st, 2006 | News | 1 Comment

Con bloggers crack me up some times. Today, many of them are heralding the story that Wayne K. Curry endorsed Steele as some sort of repudiation of the Democratic party in Maryland. According to these folks who don’t have a clue about anything here, this is the nail in the coffin, the killing blow, because – once again – black voters are too dumb to make up their own minds.

Here are the facts, Curry was a frontrunner to be Bob Ehrlich’s running mate. Yes, Republican governor Michael Steele. Does that strike anyone as a salient point? This supposedly Democratic county executive was inches away from being part of the Republican ticket (and it’s no surprise he was being heralded by the DLC).

Then there’s also the question of how effective Curry’s endorsement is. In the Democratic primary, Curry endorsed Rushern Baker for Prince George’s County Executive. Yet, his opponent Jack Johnson won by 6%. So, a Wayne Curry endorsement didn’t move the needle in Prince George’s county, but it’s supposed to move the black vote to Michael Steele across the entire state?

I’m sorry, but while I know the stereotype that people believe – especially conservatives – black voters are not the dummies you think they are. They see deeper than skin color and they actually have been listening to Michael Steele and who he hangs out with.

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