Pepsi Jihad

Name + Pandering - Experience = Republican Candidate

2007-06-22T10:02:00.001-07:00

Sullivan asks

Why would we trust two men who have been completely unable even to articulate a policy on Iraq and whose views on Islamist terror are so crude and ill-informed (they both believe that the Shia and the Sunnis are interchangeable with respect to U.S. foreign policy) that we'd be running a huge risk in electing them.

The answer is sadly pretty simple. The average person, just like George Bush, doesn't do nuance. Why? Well there are several reasons least of which is the lack of critical thinking skills development in schools. People are told to believe what is, is and that their leaders will handle the details leaving the people to go about their daily lives in a near state of "ignorance is bliss".

This is why Paris Hilton is bigger news than the fact that the vice president has declared himself to be a seperate entity withing government. Whereas there were once a teaming crop of intellectuals on both sides of the fence many have disappeared either by throwing their hands up in disgust or succumbing to the general fog that most people walk around in. While others, such as the pundit class, are either blind or have actually joined in the hysteria such as The KrautHammer's and Podhoretz's. Each of these group have become wrapped up in their own bubble, their own group think.

Combined with a Media which reports word for word what someone says with very little investigation into what the words mean we are left with a stenographic sound-bite replay that most swallow whole without thinking twice about it. This has been going on for years, indeed before Bush became president, however it was this administration that has truly capitalized on it and a press that has surrendered to it all in the name of fear.

So when Romney or Giuliani say they'll get tough on terror the "but" that they have no experience in foreign policy is disregarded as noise. The sound-bite that will be replayed is the tough on terror because aside from those of us who read between the lines the rest is lost and seen as small stuff.

The fortunate thing is that it seems that Americans are starting to wake up from their media induced coma, however those that still watch the Fox Sound-bite err News Channel or listen to people on talk radio who hammer home the same sound-bites again and again are still hypnotized by it, sadly that is what the base of the republican party has become, hypnotized zombies that will not look at a candidate with a critical eye unless told to by the religious right and even then as long as the candidate has "swagger" and "machismo" they'll ignore them too. Giuliani and Romney may be total sleeze but they'll "protect us from terrists" and "bomb them there so they aren't bombing us here".

Cases in Point

2007-06-22T09:35:00.000-07:00

Just finished reading this. Some interesting stuff and I definitely recommend the "Cases In Point" series.

Closing Gitmo....Not so much

2007-06-22T08:48:00.000-07:00

Well, now that there was a buzz created about Commander Cod-piece closing gitmo the administration has nixxed those reports citing "legal decisions" that need to be made, it's obviously hard work. I am betting the reasoning is a lot more than it seems. If they were to close Gitmo, as the reports were saying, they would have to move the detainees somewhere. This would most likely involve our military bases outside the country since, as the news pointed out this morning, bringing them onto American soil might give them access to American courts and many of the detainees would be set free because, gasp, there is no evidence they have committed a crime. As it stands most of the detainees have been cleared even by the military but they have not been released.

Personally I have a feeling they will close gitmo only once the prison that is currently being built in Afghanistan is complete (I wish I had a link, I only heard about this, this morning on MSNBC as I was getting ready for work). Once that prison is complete they'd have the perfect place to move the detainees where there would be little to know "peeking" into what went on, after all it would be a US military prison in the middle of a, let's face it, failed state. A complete black site.

This is what we have become and as a REAL American I am ashamed.

Now this is funny

2007-06-22T08:44:00.000-07:00

I am going to be up front about this, I don't like Hillary Clinton, I think she's fake and just as hard headed as Bush is. I am an Obama supporter personally. So that being said I found this Op-Ed in the LA Times right on target and pretty damn funny.

The Shell Game

2007-06-21T15:38:00.000-07:00

Coutesy of TPM, it appearsthat the administration is going to shut down gitmo only to move the "detainees" to military prisons elsewhere. Before they even write the headlines about "shutting down gitmo" the press should be touting the fine print. They're closing down the symbol, but not addressing meaning. They are simply going to transfer these people to other military bases we have in other countries no more and no less.

Don't let them blow smoke up your ass people.

Rent Regulation...my idea of heaven is rent regulation

2007-06-21T15:28:00.000-07:00

Ok so it's a twisted version of the line from Monty Python's life of Brian but it works. Why? I wish we had rent regulation, even a little bit where I am at in So Cal. Forget the race card played in the article Andrew links to (by the way I'm white so uh...high rent affects anyone renting). Let's focus on the nitty gritty of renting apartments. I pay nearly half my income to rent, I also pay for water, electricity, a car payment (public transportation here sucks) and in general everything else a renter pays for, add into that the fact that I am the bread winner due to my wife's disability and money is pretty much tight as can be. Each year my rent is raised and each year I have to deal with it. I don't have the government stepping in to control it, I am completely at the mercy of whatever the property company decides to do.

Oh and by the way, I don't get jack shit in return. The place looks the same as it did when I moved in a few years ago. So forgive me if I don't feel your pain on this one.

A Personal Story As to Why I support Gov't Healthcare

2007-06-21T14:53:00.000-07:00

Recently my wife discovered she has sleep apnea. In fact it is quite severe (in a 4 hour period of a sleep study she stopped breathing over 360 times). Just for background she is disabled and on permanent disability (back issues). As a result she gets medicare/medicaid and it is our fallback since she is on the same insurance as I am that I get through work.

As I was saying my wife suffers from sleep apnea and it has been linked to strokes and heart attacks. In fact she had also had several heart palpitations while she was participating in the sleep study. As a result of this she needed what is called a C-Pap machine which keeps her airways open while she sleeps so she doesn't stop breathing.

Apparently my insurance was not going to cover it. Fortunately Medicare/Medicaid did otherwise I have no idea how much I'd be paying. This coupled with the small fortune I pay for our prescriptions and the fact that my wife is disabled and cannot work are just a few of the reasons why, although at one time I was against it, I am coming to believe more and more in the idea of the government running the healthcare system, after all when you're a for profit company you want to maintain that profit, treating sick people costs you that.

Really Sad

2007-06-21T14:44:00.000-07:00

This is really sad, really really sad. It's bad enough when hatred and bigotry is directed against those of us who are adults, but when it's directed against kids it is just beyond the pale.

You learn something new every day

2007-06-21T13:47:00.000-07:00

Well there's something I didn't know with regard to "Bears" at least those not in Southern California. In fact down here there are a lot of them and they happily identify as such, they are especially active in the Leather Community of which I'm a part.

Always good to learn some more history.

The Unitary Vice Executive

2007-06-21T09:27:00.000-07:00

Everyone, by now knows that this Administration operates on the completely bogus theory of the "Unitary Executive". Apparently that is not the only "theory" this admin operates under. Indeed according to Raw Story (Link) the Vice Presidents office is a seperate entity even from the executive branch of government.

Now I remember learning all about our constitution even as far back as the third grade, last I knew we had three branches of government, the Executive, Legislative and Judicial. According to Cheney's office the Office of the Vice President is not a part of the executive so what exactly is it? Since we have only 3 branches of government it is only logical to conclude that Cheney operates the OVP as a sort of Shadow government, not suprising considering he has been known to run shadow intelligence operations going around the CIA and Pentagon.

If that weren't egregious enough, it appears that National Archives went so far as to refer this to the Attorney General and DOJ for an investigation. Of course we all know what that means...the investigation didn't go anywhere.

The problem with Christianity

2007-06-20T14:41:00.001-07:00

Andrew Sullivan (yes I link to him a lot, I like what he has to say and I'm a liberal, deal with it), in response to a readers email makes the argument that the problem with christianity is that it has been used by both the left and the right to further earthly power. Specifically he mentions this in regard to socialism/liberalism and the belief that the state should aid its citizens. He argues that because of this people are robbed of their moral obligations and thus robbed of the resources to be charitable.

I would disagree for several reasons.

First off most churches, themselves, seek to interject their views into politics. While politicians may co-opt religion, specifically christianity, a fair amount of politics in this country has been co-opted by religious organizations and churches. These churches seek donations not to help the poor of this country (which they should be doing) but rather to garner more influence politically in many cases. Does anyone really think the mega-churches swimming in the cash really use all that money for anything but the most cynical and narrow purposes?

This is not to say all churches behave in this manner, but look at the Catholic church and how much money it raises that goes to building cathedrals (the one in L.A. is an eye sore) or, lately, to settling molestation lawsuits. Even the church I grew up in used money gathered in the collection plate, not to help the local poor, but to pay for the upkeep of the church building and cover the costs for things like the annual strawberry festival (note I have long since left christianity behind but was once, as a child, involved in the church).

Examining this even further, and taking into account history, the christian church in its myriad denominations has always sought to exert some manner of control over government. Our country, the U.S. was first colonized by people who were persecuted by their government in conjunction with the dominant "flavor" of the church in England. Upon arriving they, themselves established local governments which the church often had influence in and this continued in some form or another throughout the history of this country although it was, on several occasions, kept at bay by secularists and others. It was this same paradigm that led to the Seperation of Church and state. The fear was not so much the government co-opting the church as it was the church co-opting the government.

Most churches, indeed the churches that would be considered the ancestors of the baptist and evangelical churches were content with this remembering all too well what had happened under the Church in England. As time went by, however, the church fell back to its old habits. Most recently this came about in the form of the religious right. All they needed was someone friendly to them to open the door, they found that in the form and persons of Karl Rove and George Bush. If anything this relationship that they formed was symbiotic, yes Bush assumed the mantle of Christianity in order to court the religionists but the religionists eagerly obliged in the belief that they could control things, at least vicariously through George Bush and the Republican party in general.

This is not unlike the church playing King maker during the middle ages, a part of history we as Americans don't spend nearly enough time learning about. There you had the church co-opting the power of the state in order to control what happened and to whom, none of which was about "the greater good" as laid out in the bible but rather about the acquisition of earthly power by the church. Fast forward to now and it's still the same.

As a result politicians have danced with the devil as well. In fact the Republican party is so wedded to the religionists now that to detach will truly tear the party apart and already is. Sadly this has been monkey see monkey do on the part of the Democrats. Indeed it was rare to hear a democrat talk about faith or frame policy in "faith" because it wasn't necessary, we had a secular government and kept religion out of it. Now, having been forced by the right into talking about "faith" the left is acting like the beaten wife and talking about it. One thing I give people like Obama credit for is that when they speak about faith and frame policy around faith they at least are using it to bring out the best parts of the faith, not the worst which we have been subject to the past 6 years. Indeed it is quite fun to watch the "religion" card thrown right back into the faces of those who have clubbed us over the head with it for these past years.

I still believe the Dems (and any political party for that matter) need to take their mouths off the tit that is organized religion and come back down to earth where reality exists. Hopefully they will sooner, rather than later. One encouraging sign has been the general reflex disdain for religious affiliation after what has occurred over the past 6 years. Perhaps now we'll talk less about having more "religion in the public square" and more about having it back in the private home and the church where it belongs. After all it was the pharisee who most sought to express their faith publicly and if the bible is true we know how Jesus felt about that.

All of that being said, the Churches failure has not been because it has been co-opted by the state as much as it is the Church once again attempting to co-opt the state and the state reacting reflexively rather than reacting logically.

In "Other departments Used to Punish Non-Republicans"

2007-06-20T14:19:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Of course we all remember back in '04 when the Admin sicced the IRS on a church in So California for giving a sermon not supporting the Christianist Champion of the Religious Reich George Bush. We remember that don't we?

Well according to the article it wasn't overly uncommon for the IRS to be investigating people for the most reprehensible sin, criticizing government at least not during this administrations tenure. Of course one has to wonder just how many Evangelical organizations were investigated, how many of the religious right were investigated for handing out campaign pamphlets disguised as "voter guides".

But no, nothing to see here, just go right back to sleep like a good little sheep. It is nice to see, however, that this just might bite the IRS and Administration in the Ass.

Well now here's something interesting...

2007-06-20T13:14:00.000-07:00

According to a report in tha AP, via Yahoo most people who donate embryos to fertility clinics were open to the idea of having the embryo's used for stem cell research if they were not used to have a child.

To quote the Article:

Of 1,020 people who responded by saying they still had embryos in storage, 49 percent said they were likely to donate some or all of them for research. When asked specifically about stem cell research, the portion willing to donate embryos rose to 62 percent.

Now there's an idea. When we die we know we can donate our organs either for research purposes or for the organs themselves etc. Unused embryos should be treated the same way. If Woman A enters a fertility clinic and has some embryos stored in their freezers she should have the option of checking a box saying in effect that were she not to use said embryos they could be donated to stem cell research. Of course there would be a clause in there to say the fertility clinic would contact the woman and see if she wanted to use the embryos before donating them.

Quite honestly I approach this whole thing from a pragmatic stand point when it comes to "When does life begin". For me, a fetus is nothing more than a parasite, unable to survive without it's host while it gestates. Even before it becomes a "fetus" with any real shape it is nothing more than a clump of cells, aka stem cells. It has no shape, no feelings, and is best viewed under a microscope. To me life begins the moment the doctor smacks you on the butt to get you to take that first breath (if you haven't already). Until that time, you are, for all intents and purposes no different from the Alien embryo in the Aliens movies. Perhaps not the best reference, but you get the point.

Since mankind has long ago figured out just where babies come from and knows that there is no hocus pocus involved (well if you're doing it right there is a certain "magic") nor are there storks dropping bundles of joy down the chimney, mankind also needs to get over the idea that procreation, and the "miracle of life" is somehow "divine" and created by some supernatural omnipotent being. If that were the case you would suspect he would have come up with a far different manner of achieving the end result that didn't involve lots of grunting, sweat, and/or cramping (even if most of that is the fun part). In other words, humans "Do it like they do on the discovery channel".

To all those who somehow think we're messing with "gods miracle", go out, start shutting down fertility clinics that help people get pregnant, after all by your logic god made them sterile or somehow infertile to begin with.

Def...Def..Definitely the Osmonds

2007-06-20T12:14:00.000-07:00

As I noted the other day, Tagg and company definitely remind me of the Osmonds. Apparently Mr. Sullivan agrees. Now all we need is to find out "who's a little bit country" and "who's a little bit rock'n'roll".

"Persons Of Interest"

2007-06-20T09:25:00.000-07:00

With everything going on within this administration and this country, it's easy to overlook some of the small ways in which the abuses this administration has committed have trickled down to other agencies and local governments. Take for example "Persons of Interest".

After 9/11 the DOJ, notably AG John Ashcroft used this term regarding people the government was interested in detaining/questioning about potential terrorist activity. These people were not "suspects" there was no quantitative evidence that would make them "suspects" therefore a new term was coined, "Person of Interest".

Fast forward 6 years, within the past few days I have hear on at least 3 occasions police or officials being quoted as having "persons of interest" with regard to various crimes. Now having taken Criminal Justice courses and knowing a wee bit about the laws, we don't have "persons of interest" we have suspects, suspects who are either linked with a crime and arrested or are dropped as suspects.

This new "Person of Interest" category puts a large cloud of suspicion over anyone it touches. It puts this cloud over you and over me. Why? Because there is no legal definition for "person of interest". Therefore we all could be "persons of interest" just as this administration has tried to make the case that any citizen can be called an enemy combatant and detained without charge. In fact person of interest, when used, has been eerily similar to "enemy combatant" after all there have been reports where "persons of interest" have been detained for a given period of time without charge, only to be released.

This is what we have been reduced to, this is the real "trickle down" effect. Local authorities and agencies playing monkey see, monkey do with carelessly used phrases that have no meaning. Why? Because the government has allowed it, we the people have allowed it. To quote Susan Powter it's time to "Stop the Insanity".

Tagg Romney...the long lost Osmond

2007-06-18T16:45:00.000-07:00

Andrew Sullivan has this lovely gem of a quote from a fund raising letter sent out by one of Mitt Romney's spawn. Reading the quote I can only shudder and think of Donnie And Marie Osmond and their pure vapidity (is that a word?) that they always seemed to give off. The fake smiles etc. They are all mormons after all...just sayin.

Ugh.

2007-06-18T08:53:00.000-07:00

It's monday, it's early and I am still catching up on news I missed over the weekend. So I am gonna let Henry Rollins talk for me about Halliburton etc.

Preach it brother Rollins!

Hypocrites...complete utter hypocrites

2007-06-16T14:21:00.000-07:00

This article speaks for itself. This administration has spent us into debt which will take a lifetime to pay off, it did so with a complicit congress. Now there's a threat to "veto runaway spending". What a bunch of horse shit.

Keep in mind this money pays for extra border patrol agents and implementing more of the 9/11 commission recommendations all left undone by the republicans and now threatened by them. Yes your republican party really wants to secure them borders and "protect America". Asshats.

Change in the description at the top

2007-06-15T12:51:00.000-07:00

As time has past and as I started writing more on this blog, not just about the Bush Administration but on what passes for a Republican Party and/or conservative movement under the Bush administration as well as other affairs such as the creeping doom that is Christian Fanaticism that has crept into our national politics, I wanted to find something new for the Blog description something that better represents my attitude toward not only my country but those running it and those trying to tear it apart.

As such I chose the quote displayed at the top by Adlai Stevenson. It's one of those quotes that when you read it and think about it you have a sort of epiphany, if your honest with yourself, that our ability to be critical of our government, even our countrymen when we see them as being wrong is, indeed, the highest form of Patriotism.

To stand up and give voice to our concerns and not fear the retribution that doing so may bring is perhaps one of the highest forms of courage. It is not merely a benefit, or even merely a right but a duty in our society. If we have learned nothing the past 6 years we should have at least learned that.

So criticize me if you will for disagreeing. Slander me with idiotic insults, deride me all you like. However I am an American and a Patriot and I will not be silenced.

Rock 'n' Roll God Damn it and Yippe Kai-yay Motherfuckers.

"Your work here is done"

2007-06-15T08:32:00.000-07:00

With little fan-fare last night Commander Cod-Piece signed the law I spoke of yesterday regarding the US Attorneys (Story here on Rawstory). However, as was reported yesterday Abu squeaked in one last "end run" appointment before the law was signed. Of course this has many lawmakers generally peeved and with any luck those appointments will be nullified or will have to come up before the senate.

The take away message here? AGAG's work was done, the appointment was made, one last loyal bushie installed before the law was signed. As Rawstory pointed out there hasn't been a signing statement accompanying this bill...yet. Does that mean there will be one or has Commander Cod-Piece learned his lesson? I doubt he's learned anything and I bet a signing statement will be slipped in, in the not too distant future. Don't hold me to that because I'm not there, nor am I inside the vast, cavernous area that passes for the brain of our half-wit president.

In more Justice department News, this time coutesy of TPM it's good to see that the Civil Rights division has devoted so much time to going after religious discrimination cases while at the same time continuing to push more "charges" of "voter fraud" down in the Carolinas. Of course the odd thing about at least one of the religious discrimination cases, that of the Salvation Army which receives federal funding, was to ALLOW THEM TO DISCRIMINATE. One has to wonder is the Civil Rights division here to protect our civil rights or dismantle them one at a time? Given the last 6-7 years I'd say...as depressing as it is...it's the latter. I have to give credit though, that Massachusetts case with the "candy cane" being J shaped to represent Jesus and the red stripe being his blood while the white his purity sure does give a new meaning to a plain old crooked peppermint stick. Some real imagination there.

Of course this is all par for the course. It's red meat for the base and looking at the hiring practices within the DOJ and the Civil Rights division in particular one can see just how these cases are coming to the forefront, meanwhile other civil rights cases such as discrimination based on race or civil rights abuses by police officers are being dismissed. Even more telling is that with these hirings the qualifications to work at the DOJ must have dropped dramatically. Where once you had top tier law school graduates who worked in prestigious firms you now have graduates of Regent University and other Religious, 4th tier law schools.

I ask you this, if you needed a defense attorney and had the choice between someone with a degree from Harvard and a resume of exceptional standing or a recent graduate of a 4th tier school like regent U who hasn't argued a single case and has no background in the area in which you need defending who would you pick? For that matter say you ran a law firm and the same two candidates came looking for a position in your firm who would you hire?

You would, if you were honest, hire the most qualified. You wouldn't hire the least, the one who's unproven. However that is just what our DOJ has been doing. Meanwhile the AGAG "slow bleed strategy" of replacing long-time carreer attorneys with people who have little to no experience continues. If this was the private sector and it was a business it would be in the toilet by those standards.

Like a Drunk on a bender Gonezo just can't help it.

2007-06-14T09:40:00.000-07:00

Since Shrub has been too busy being adored by the Albanians (What About POLAND!!!) to sign the bill rescinding the Authority of the AG to do an end run around the Congress when appointing USA's good ol Abu is still on his bender according to Raw Story

Yes indeed folks our beloved AG is still appointing USA's without sending them up for confirmation. Since Bush has not signed the bill then it's technically not law but let's face it. Not signing or vetoing the bill in this case should be seen, quite simply, as defying Congress and the will of the people. The bill passed overwhelmingly and the fact that bush is slow walking it while his consigliere uses the power to appoint USA's is dancing on the border of the criminal.

Those who haven't realized it yet should get a clue. Bush thinks he is king, his appointments to positions are not based on competence but loyalty, dare I say fealty. It's time to wake up and realize it. If you want to wrap yourself in the flag and claim to be a Patriotic freedom loving American you'd be knocking on the gates of 1600 right now de-crowning the would be king.

But just keep dreaming, keep watching Fox News which has devoted more coverage to Britney Spears, ANC and Paris Hilton than any other network, keep attending the creation museum where you are told to "Don't think, just believe". Meanwhile your country and the ideals you believed it stood for are being dragged through the dirt and burned not unlike the flag you get indignant about when someone else is burning it.

The GOP, Party Of Projection

2007-06-14T09:33:00.000-07:00

The saga of Lorita Doan continues only now it has taken another twist (Link via Rawstory). In a hearing held yesterday which reviewed an investigation into Doan the Republicans, ever the champions of civil rights and racial equality, used the Race card trying to claim that the investigation of Doan, and the OSC's report were used by the Democrats to target Doan because she was black and a women.

This coming from the same Party who has hijacked the Civil Rights Division at the DOJ is nothing more than projection, it's the same type of thing these idiots have done since day one of this administration, take their oppositions strengths and use them against them all the while projecting their own weaknesses on the opponent.

I guess I should be shocked by this but the reality is one can no longer be cynical enough when talking about the current state of our government and what passes for a Republican party these days.

Just unreal.

A day spent at "Pride"

2007-06-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity this weekend to spend a day at the LA Gay Pride festival. It was really an eye opening experience for me in a lot of ways and, to be honest, I felt more comfortable there even in such a humongous crowd than I have felt elsewhere.

One thing that seems missing from the entire debate on gay marriage, and on homosexuals in general is a real street level view of gays and lesbians. By that I mean many in the U.S.A. just aren't exposed to gays or "gay culture" which makes it easy to swallow the stereotypes and hasty generalizations spouted by those who would attack them.

What I saw at Pride was nothing one wouldn't see at any other big festival. There were booths for food, booths for psychics, and in the area I spent the majority of my day in, "Erotic City", booths for various "adult" activities such as BDSM and the requisite gay porn and sex toys stuff.

Leaving out Erotic City for a moment one could close their eyes and see themselves at any other big fair or festival. There were couples holding hands and hugging, and as I said booths. The difference? Many of the booths were educational, booths talking about AIDs and how to live with the disease, booths containing information on just about anything and everything, topics that don't just affect the gay community but the world in general. Even booths for churches, those who do believe in "judge not".

The other difference? Men holding mens hands and women holding womens hands. Men kissing and women kissing. But that was such a tiny thing, such a miniscule bit of the bigger picture it was easy to just not see it after a while. The overall realization being "Hey they're just like me in almost every way".

If more people were exposed to this, not exposed to it in Hollywood caricatures or in some mocking stereotype perhaps they'd see things differently. Sure the scales wouldn't be removed from everyone's eyes but you have to start somewhere.

The "Veto" threat

2007-04-27T12:39:00.000-07:00

So rumor has it that Bush is planning to have a "Veto ceremony" instead of a signing ceremony when Congress presents him with the Iraq Supplemental. In fact I have heard this will be broadcast live. I encourage everyone to watch this. Why?

Because as you watch this President, the man who never saw a piece of pork legislation he didn't like. The man who issued signing statements rather than veto a measure, is going to single handedly do what he accused Congress of doing, not fund the troops.

As if his petulance towards congress was not enough this will go one further. As you watch, this so-called president will be giving you and the rest of the American people, a majority of which favor the timeline, the middle finger. If you still believe that this pretender really cares about the troops or about what the American people think and want after watching this then I have some ocean front property in Arizona to sell you.

President Bush, in vetoing this legislation will make completely and utterly clear his contempt for the troops, his contempt for the congress and his contempt for the American people. Remember that America, remember despite all of the spin that the noise machine will try and put on this, this is the president of the United states spitting in the eye of his fellow countrymen.

Sullivan On Imus

2007-04-13T15:16:00.000-07:00

I swore I wouldn't do a post on Imus because quite honestly it wasn't nearly as important as the shit going down in Washington. However, Andrew Sullivan makes a pretty good point on the whole Imus fiasco by using a South Park comparisson but there's something he touched on here that is actually quite ironic.

I was a big Howard Stern fan, mainly because he pissed a lot of people off and was as un-politically correct as they came. So being a Stern fan I saw his movie which was pretty damn funny but there was one scene that directly related to Sullivan's analysis.

In this scene Pig Vomit (the manager of WNBC radio) was giving Howard pointers on how to be funny and how not to offend by doing so. He used, of all people, Imus as an example (mind you this was a scene back when Howard first started in NY). He said that Imus was funny and wasn't overly "offensive" because his off color humor was done in characters, in other words it wasn't Imus saying these things, it was one of Imus' characters. Of course Howard being Howard took this to the extreme (not to mention he hated the manager and coined the name pig vomit for him).

I don't have much to add to this, I agree that South Park is funny because it does just what it's supposed to do, Lampoon every sacred cow and every mock outrage out there. Why? Not only because it is funny but because it's holding a mirror up to the society we live in and showing just how silly it can sometimes be.

This is not to defend Imus, he reaped what he sewed with regard to his remarks. This was more of an Irony I noticed in Sullivan's take that I figured I'd post about.

In other words let's include a "Fishing expedition" clause

2007-04-13T13:39:00.000-07:00

So the geniuses who gave us the domestic spying scandal are at it again and want to modify FISA with the following category:

"It adds a new category of individuals to the non-U.S. person-agent-of-a-foreign-power definition to include people who we believe have significant foreign intelligence information but where the relationship between that person and the foreign power is unclear," said one official. (AP Report)

Now being an American Citizen I shouldn't have to worry about this right? Wrong. Given this administrations track record I wouldn't trust their judgement in diagnosing a cold let alone trust them to use this in any responsible manner.

They are basically saying that they want the ability to spy on anyone they damn well please and not have to get a warrant for a week. This means they can spy ON YOU and don't have to tell a court about it for 7 days and under current rules (this will be an extension of the current 3 days) they don't have to tell a court unless they want to continue monitoring this information.

Honestly I don't see how people don't get this. This is the government of the United States acting just like those they used to rail about in so called "dictatorships". Spying on the populace was something that conjured images of the Soviet Union, not the United States but unless people start really waking up and taking these people to task that's what's going to happen here.

Fortunately it doesn't look like Congress is going to fall for it, that being said it's time this country, the people of this country, started doing something about this shit. Forget Don Imus, forget Anna Nicole's baby-daddy, forget the tabloid trash passed off as news and wake up to the fact that this administration wants to keep you dumb, they want to keep you uninformed, they want to keep feeding you horse shit in the hopes that you will just remain complacent. Illegal Immigration? It's a fucking smokescreen people. Yet the right would posit it as some great threat. With over a quarter of a billion people in the U.S. and rapidly approaching half a billion 12 million illegal immigrants are a drop in the bucket.

They are nothing more than a smokescreen, a scapegoat to keep you distracted from the ones who are really taking your jobs and bending you over a barrel. The real problems in this country aren't being caused by those coming here to make a better life, legally or illegaly. They aren't caused by a dried up old radio hack making a stupidly sexist and racist remark. They're caused by these fuckers who are running the show.

You want to know the reason why people come here for a better life and why life is so shitty in their own country? It's because their country has been run by the equivalent of the assholes in power in this country. Parties controlled by business and/or religious interests that promote an elite aristocracy while exploiting the rest of us to do their bidding.

So if your fine with being exploited by those in power, If your fine with being mislead and misdirected, if your fine with tabloid news then please go back to sleep. If not wake the fuck up and do something about it. It's your country, it's my country, it's time to start acting like it.

The difference between Action and Words

2007-04-04T09:40:00.000-07:00

He insisted that "I've taken this issue very seriously. I have said that it is a serious problem. I recognize that man is contributing greenhouse gases."

This was what Dear Leader(TM) said yesterday with regard to global warming and greenhouse gasses. Well Dear Leader perhaps it is time for another one of those common sense lessons which you still refuse to learn. There is a big difference between words and actions.

I am sure you have heard that old saying "Actions speak louder than words?" Well Mr. Preznit what actions have you taken to address the fact that we are the cause of pollution? Oh that's right, none.

You backed out of Kyoto, you stacked science advisory boards and agencies with political hacks who stifled much of what was sound science in order to keep the blinders on about warming and now you are even planning to use a recess appt to put even more hacks into regulatory positions.

Let's face it you take a lot of things "seriously" and I am sure somewhere deep within that thick skull of yours you even "think" about things seriously but when it comes to backing up your "deep thinking" and "seriousness" you have flip-flopped on more occasions than can be counted.

I like satire as much as the next person but please, someone, wake me when this nightmare I have come to call "satirical reality" is over.

Show me a fool proof system...

2007-03-28T12:02:00.000-07:00

...and I will show you a better fool.

That's advice that Atty Gen Gonzales (who reminds me of tatu on Fantasy Island every time I see him) and the administration should be learning. For years now they have managed to pull the wool over everyone's eyes about their inner workings and what they are really doing. However the curtain is pulled back even more each day.

Via TPM it's now been revealed that one thing the bushies learned from the Clinton's is to never use the gov't email system since those emails can be subpoenaed. The end result? They were using RNC funded emails to conduct obvious government business which in and of itself would violate the Presidential Record itself. But there is some good news especially for those running investigations into how these fucktards operate vis-a-vis the atty purge, namely all correspondence on an outside email address would not be covered by executive privelege. TPM and others have brought this up and I hope the Senators and House members are paying attention.

With Gonzales running scared, one of his close advisors and white house liason's pleading the 5th and Sampson testifying tomorrow things must be feeling really hot over on Penn Ave. This much is shown in how much petulance Bush displays in speaking. Not only is he gonna get screwed in the attorney purge but both houses of congress have passed, if narrowly, resolutions setting a deadline to get us the hell outta Iraq.

Now from my perspective is where the fun starts. See Bush is against the ropes on this one, he has an AG who he is fiercely loyal to, who is nothing more than a crony, he is facing a real challenge from a congress he used to treat like a punching bag and he doesn't know what to do. Now smart people in these situations find a clever way to get out of these things (or they hire good lawyers to do so) Bush, he's not so high on the clever scale and like his party I am looking for him to implode soon. Now granted his head will not spin around and he won't be vomitting pea soup or anything but the one thing this admin has been known for, despite press indicating otherwise, is covering one misstep/lie/mistake up with an even bigger misstep/lie/mistake. Of course now they are getting caught but since they know no better they are repeating themselves.

This is their achilles heal. The atty scandal is just the tip of the iceberg so get the popcorn kids because one day in the not to distant future I expect Bush to publicly, on live television have a melt down and when he does it's going to be a big one.

Spineless Spectering.

2007-03-23T08:46:00.000-07:00

One thing that seems to be a recurring theme over the past six or so years is that whenever a republican stands up and shows a bit of willingness to buck this administration, and by proxy the republican party they appear the next day cowed and humbled as if they were brought before some hidden tribunal and dressed down for whatever it was they said.

Thus is the case with Arlen Specter and presidential "hopeful" John McCain. Both men every now and then have stood up and spoken against some of this admin's behavior only to be cowed the next day. With the Torture Act it was McCain, someone who knows what it is like to be tortured but the very next day he turned around and voted for it. In Specter's case it has been ongoing especially with regards to the judiciary committee and its role in the NSA scandal and the US Attorney scandal.

During the Senate hearing yesterday where the committee decided to authorize the issuance of subpoenas for white house officials Specter waffled back and forth only to timidly back the administrations "offer". As if it were an offer that couldn't be refused from the Mob Family that is the Bush administration.

Not two days ago Specter seemed to have shown a bit of a spine, indeed he "appeared" to be as upset as Schumer and Leahy. Then the Administration offered a "deal", white house officials would "meet" off the record, out from under public scrutiny and without a record. Furthermore they would not be subject to further testimony.

After this and during the hearing suddenly Specter is changing his tune. He is saying they should accept the admin's offer and bow down before the "king" basically. He even went so far as saying they could be brought back under oath and subpoena. Clearly he was trying to mislead the committee and I am sure he hoped fervently that they wouldn't remember the exact details.

Specter acted similarly when he headed the judiciary committee and the NSA domestic spying scandal broke. He "acted" like he was completely pissed about it, then after a few days, said he would take the admins word for it and take what the admin wanted to provide. That is not executing oversight, that is capitulation pure and simple.

This leaves one to wonder, just what does the administration have on Specter? Or is he just another typical spineless republican unwilling to forego party in favor of country while trying to maintain a false image of "moderation" and "independence".

I for one find it completely despicable to see a grown man bow down before these people in the white house and all but kiss their hands begging forgiveness for what can only be seen as forgetting their place. It's no wonder the republican party is beginning to be viewed with such contempt. I only hope the dems do not back down and continue showing the same kind of spine Leahy showed yesterday.

Gonzales...protecting our kids?

2007-03-22T09:47:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading a brief article here in which Alberto Gonzales says he's not going to resign but is going to be focused on "protecting our kids". Now anyone who has been paying attention to "purgegate" knows that once again this is a political ploy.

See after Gonzales was confirmed as AG he sent out a memo basically stating that the focus of the justice dept and investigations would be on cases of pornography and "obscenity" focusing on adult material depicting "sado-masochistic" behavior among other "depictions". The reason? Well Gonzales believed that these would get easy convictions given that the depictions could "easily offend people". Well I happen to participate in "sado-masochistic" behavior, we call it BDSM and it's an alternative lifestyle.

This ties in to my previous post regarding 2257 but how does it tie in to purgegate? Well it appears that two of the US Attorney's were let go because they weren't pursuing enough obscenity cases. It seems the head of the puritan police had complained about these two attorney's and their unwillingness to go after cases he presented mainly because they were...gasp...legal. Rather than going after child pornographers and pedophiles the head of the FBI's dept for pursuing such cases decided to go after legal pornography in order to silence people producing it.

When the USA's refused these cases they did so with good reason. However this issue was more meat for the base. The base being the religious fundamentalists. This was a politically calculated move on the part of Gonzales and the DOJ. It had little to do with prosecuting real criminals and everything to do with suppressing free speech. It was a waste of tax payers money and a distraction from the pursuit of public corruption, espionage, and perhaps more importantly Terrorists. As one FBI officer put it "I guess we won the war on terror".

The politicization of the DOJ has gone far beyond the US Attorney issue. This rot runs deep. Hopefully Congress can help get it cleaned.

Thoughts on "Purgegate"

2007-03-22T09:26:00.000-07:00

Not like it hasn't been covered enough but purgegate is starting to get even worse with the Washington Post reporting today that there was political interference in the big tobacco lawsuit. Of course this should not come as a suprise after all big tobacco is one of the cash cows of the Republican party.

This sounds to me like another dominoe falling. However for me the eye popper was the interview this morning on CBS by Tony Snow. Snow himself has been covered extensively over at Salon by Glenn Greenwald. Just reading that post you can see the extent of Snow's shillitude but his interview today was even more egregious given that he denied that this country has a system of checks and balances when he said:

MR. SNOW: Well—(break in video)—the perception is that you’re trying to badger me into creating a fight between the White House and the legislative branch. And what we’re trying to do is something pretty extraordinary. The legislative branch has no oversight responsibility over the White House.

This is perhaps one of the most blatant denials of the constitution and our system of government I have seen since the repeal of Habeus Corpus. Here on national television we have a political hack who is the white house mouthpiece thumbing his nose not only at the public but at all of the ideals we were taught our country was based on in our earliest history classes.

The amount of contempt this admin holds, not only for government and the rule of law, but also for the American public is truly astounding. Frankly I am suprised ANYONE can still defend these people.

Snow goes even further suggesting that the administration, despite damning evidence of their involvement in this matter, does not have to do "anything" speaks to the total hypocrisy that is the republican party at this point. As Greenwald points out it was Snow calling for Congressional testimony from top Aides to Bill Clinton during the Lewinsky "scandal". Further as Snow tries to hold the specter of "executive privelege" over everyone's head it was he who disparaged Clinton for attempting to do the same.

The other argument I have been hearing is this will force a constitutional crisis. Well ladies and gentlemen we have been in one, we have been in one since 2000, we have been in one since 2001 when the congress passed the patriot act. We have been in one since the president authorized the illegal wiretapping of people within the United States. We have been in one since the signing of the Military Commissions act which not only authorized military tribunals for non-military people but also suspended the writ of Habeus Corpus.

To use Bush's own words "Bring it on." It's time the curtain was pulled back and the light of day cast on this administration and the asshats in it.

An Open Letter to America

2007-02-15T15:39:00.000-08:00

Dear America,

Please listen to the house floor debate regarding opposing the latest presidential premature ejaculation in Iraq known as the "Surge". Listen well to those who oppose this. Listen to them use Debunked quotes attributed to lincoln. Listen to them say that if we leave Iraq that "In Muhammad We Trust" will replace "In God We Trust" on our money. Listen to them quote Dinesh D'Souza, quoting from articles where he says that the right should make common cause with Al Qaeda because Al Qaeda hates liberals as much as they do. Listen real well.

Then please contact your congressman, your local and state reps as well and urge them to push for more funding for public education. Barring that push them to fund a program of mandatory sterilization for these republican dipshits so they can no longer breed and no longer pollute the gene pool of this country.

Sincerely,
Abu Mtn Dew

Absolutely despicable

2007-02-13T08:40:00.000-08:00

The New York Times ran an article today detailing reaction to the briefing about Iranian involvement (or at least the involvement of Iranian explosives) in Iraq. Overall the piece was fairly balanced. While they noted that there is little doubt some of the pieces of evidence were convincing they provided a healthy dose of skepticism as to whether or not the Iranian Gov't was actively involved. Then I read this:

Philip D. Zelikow, who until December was the top aide to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said American politics and the increased unpopularity of the war in Iraq is obscuring the larger issue of the Iran evidence, which he described as “abundant and so multifaceted.”

“People have lost their moorings,” Mr. Zelikow said. He said the administration was trying to overcome public distrust by asking, in essence, “Don’t you trust our soldiers?”

Is this the new angle for not trusting this government anymore? Mr. Zelikow is in effect saying that in addition to the belief that not supporting the war is equal to not supporting the troops, he is now saying that to not believe this administration when they cry wolf, again, that not believing them is tantamount to not trusting the troops.

These people really have no shame, no shame whatsoever. The sheer audacity to say that because we are not going to be as easily bamboozled into another war we now don't trust our soldiers should be, for any but the most ardent die hard bushites, a slap in the face to the rest of us.

Mr. Zelikow, with all due respect, shut the fuck up. You can try to imply whatever you want but the bottom line is that, after 6 years of lies, cover-ups and half-truths we are not going to be fooled again. It's people like you, your former boss, and the rest of this cabal of liars who should be locked up in Gitmo and beaten repeatedly, not just for your lack of conscience and morals but for your purly cynical use of our troops as a shield to hide behind when anyone calls you on your bullshit.

You sir can fuck off and die as it is you who have come off your moorings.

Parsing words

2007-02-12T16:36:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend some sort of "smoking gun" evidence was provided to the press that Iran is providing weapons to insurgents in Iraq. This information was provided anonymously to protect someone in the DoD who refused to give the presentation if they had to give their name. Now that in and of itself is fishy. However there is something far worse behind this war of words and all one has to do is look at how words are used by the Administration regarding Iran and what is currently happening.

The administration is hellbent right now to do two things. One link Iran to attacks against us in Iraq and Two to prove to the world that we do not have plans to invade Iran.

Read point two again, most notably the constant repetition by the administration that we have no plans to INVADE Iran. Now that's something we can hopefully breathe a sigh of relief about (don't hold your breath). But to do so would be to ignore the fact that we have two Carrier groups deployed to the Middle East now and a third on its way. Sure we won't be invading Iran, we don't have the troops to do so, but given the language used and the so-called "situation on the ground" it seems to me we are planning to bomb the living piss out of them. The end result? Fully predictable.

The Iranians will launch counter attacks and most likely move their armies into Iraq or have them deployed along the border. Ahmadinejads popularity will go through the roof and the people of Iran, ever nationalistic, will be united against us no matter how much they hate their government. This is yet another lesson we can learn from history. Unfortunately with an Administration too intellectually lazy to do the research or learn anything from the past I have a feeling we're in for yet another repeat of 2002.

May whatever deity help us all. My one hope is those ordered to carry out the strikes refuse to do so and turn on this Admin. Further I hope the ginned up Gulf Of Tonkin 2 that is all but inevitable is exposed quickly for what it is, a lie.

Understanding the current Republican party

2007-01-22T14:46:00.000-08:00

In responding to a post over on John Cole's Balloon Juice today. I believe I have figured out just how the current republican party became what it is.

Through their purge to get rid of any dissent within the party, the use of loyalty oaths and other hallmarks of the republican party for the past 6 years they have, in effect, removed all hope for diversity among the party. This in and of itself is obvious but when looked at through the prism of nature it's pretty clear that the lack of diversity leads to several problems.

I recall a program broadcast a few years ago with regard to African lions, specifically a small subset of 6 prides that lived within the crater of an extinct volcano. Now anyone with at least a small amount of biology education knows that genetic variation is the so-called "spice of life" that allows for growth and change within a species.

If we look at the republican party as a species, it's easy to see just why the collective amount of intelligence among them has dropped so radically to the point where they are frothing at the mouth and pissing themselves. They have driven out the moderates among them that provided new ways of thinking and therefore variation of the party gene pool.

The end result a president with one of the lowest IQ's who nearly choked to death on a Pretzel and still can't comprehend the fact that Iraq is a fuck up of epic proportions. Thus ideological purity within the party is nothing short of ideological incest with regard to the end result and with predictable repercussions, that is no strengths born of diversity while the lowest common denominator traits rise to the surface.

Basically picture it as a bunch of buck toothed, cross-eyed people with the IQ of oh...50 breeding with each other. The end result is more buck toothed, cross eyed people with low IQ's simply because no other, dominant progressive genetics have been injected into the ideological gene pool.

Shorter Sen. Warner - But the President Promised!

2007-01-22T14:37:00.000-08:00

So Sen. Warner is offering a counter proposal to the Dems proposal to offer a resolution against the surge. In response to a reporters question, with regards to why he thinks the president will even listen when he won't listen to anyone else he, in effect, said "Because he's my BFF and said he welcomed input from Congress".

Sen. Warner is of course saying this about the same president who said he'd listen to Weapons Inspectors, he'd listen to the will of the voters, and...well you get the point.

Senator warner...give me a fucking break. You see how shitty things are going in Iraq and are coming out with a resolution that you think the president will listen to when he hasn't listened to jack shit.

Warner was joined by Democrat Bill Nelson from Florida and Susan Collins from Maine. Listening to the two of them they are obviously seeing ponies too and that they've completely ignored the results of Nov. 7 which was the American people telling Washington to come back down out of the fucking clouds and bring our people home.

Un-Fucking-Believable.

How hard is it for these people to get this? Were these the same people, who while growing up, tried pounding square pegs in round holes and in effect ruining toys for the rest of the kids in kindergarten?

This is just further proof that in order to qualify to be a member of todays republican party (excluding Nelson who's just being a kiss ass) one needs to have a full frontal labotomy.

The money shot here? Warner says, in the spirit of true partisanship, I won't vote for the other proposal no matter what. So Sen. Warner I guess the question for you is: Why are you willing to play politics with the lives of our troops?

The Rightwing must be envious....

2007-01-19T16:28:00.000-08:00

The Right wing must be drooling over This.

Just a choice quote:

The bill, currently being debated in the Nigerian National Assembly, is focused on the prohibition of same-sex marriages. In addition to provisions banning the participation in or attendance of events celebrating gay relationships, the law bans almost every expression, affirmation and celebration of gay identity and sexuality, and prohibits the provision of sympathetic advice and welfare support to lesbians and gay men.

Violations would be punished with an automatic five year jail sentence.

We all know just how much the Right hates teh gay, they must be furiously jotting down pointers and will probably send a "learning" committee to Nigeria ASAP. After all can't have all the Homo-sectuals marryin or even flirtin for that matter.

Shorter John Conyers

2007-01-19T14:52:00.000-08:00

Your public testimony wasn't satisfying enough, time for a private one out behind the woodshed Gonzalez

The great Whiner-birds are chirping

2007-01-19T12:23:00.000-08:00

So the Republicans are on C-Span whining about the 100 hours agenda being passed successfully. Their whine now? The poor freshmen didn't get a say. Of course these are the same people who told the minority to bend over and take it for the past 6 years.

As I right this they are trying to say that because the House has not worked a full forty hour week...yet...that they somehow are bad people. I find it completely amazing that these people are bitching yet all of the bills passed with large majorities.

Of course they are smarting from the fact that someone actually got something done. They are trying to say that the legislation is bad blah blah blah and crying hypocrisy. Sorry if the rest of America doesn't believe you and if we start seeing you as being shrill.

In the words of the new guy "Who's the Bitch Now?"

Hey Orrin I got your porn right here!

2007-01-19T10:26:00.000-08:00

I would like to say that I am surprised that one of the senators on the Judiciary committee, in a hearing regarding the administrations pursuit of the war on terra (Scarlet O'Hara is in deep shit) would be asking that the Atty Gen. should be going after "obscenity" on the internet. Oh wait it's Orrin Hatch...

Figures a prude from Utah would ask this but let's get to the real point behind this witch hunt. This is not about Child Porn, this is not about the Adam Walsh Act (Pushed by none other than Mark Foley..oh the irony) this is about a scarlet letter on adult entertainment business that operate on the internet.

One of the tools being used by this administration is Section 2257 which requires adult entertainment companies to maintain physical records of the people appearing in their films/pictures regarding their age etc. It further requires that a physical address be listed for where these records can be viewed.

This is a big red target for the Justice Department and the prude police currently running it. By this law I can find out the location of an adult entertainment business operating a web site and use that information to protest them, even worse the Feds can use this to raid these businesses and bring in the owners with the intent of trapping them in a legal merry go round that will put most of them out of business.

This has been happening in several instances one of the more notable being AdultFriendFinder. Now Adult Friend Finder had the funds for a legal defense, most do not. This is, plain and simple, a case of the government using intimidation, both physical and financial of legitimate business since most of the businesses are covered by the 1st ammendment. Further not a single case of "child porn" has been uncovered under 2257 with the exception of one case in which the makers of Girls Gone Wild did not ID a couple of girls in one of their videos.

While Osama Bin Laden remains free, and terrorists are supposedly hiding in the shadows here at home, it is good to know this justice dept is focused on tacking scarlet letters on people who peddle adult material on the internet.

Shorter Abu Gonzales - I'll get back to you

2007-01-19T10:05:00.000-08:00

I'm listening to the replay of Atty Gen. Gonzales on before the senate judiciary committee currently being played on CSpan radio and I have to ask. HOW IN HELL DID THIS MAN BECOME AN ATTORNEY? I mean really, this guy seems totally unprepared to appear before his staff let alone a Senate Committee.

Further, is it just me or is this guy one of the most thickheaded literalists on the planet? He testified (and I caught this part yesterday) that the Constitution does not grant the right of Habeus Corpus to citizens of the United States. Now considering just how pissed off I was when Congress passed the MCA of 2006 I had done some research regarding this and found that the constitution does say in Article One, Section 9:

"The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it."

Now I could be mistaken but doesn't that say that we have the right to Habeus Corpus? I think so but in trying to see things through Gonzales eyes I guess it would have to say:

Everyone has a right to Habeus Corpus

Since it DOESN'T say that then we don't have a right to Habeus. This is where people like Gonzales and those of his ilk on the right just piss me off. They are so literalist that, since the constitution doesn't say I can take a piss they feel they have the right to tell me I can't.

Yet when it comes to the supposed powers of the President, under Article 2, these same dipshits say that he has near unlimited authority to do whatever the hell he wants. Now last I knew the president was limited in his authority since he is not a king. The powers of the presidency are enumerated under Aritcle 2 in 3 clauses.

These clauses are as follows:

Command Of the Military.

The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

Treaties, Senior-level and Judicial nominations

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

Recess appointments

The President shall have power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

Now per Gonzales somewhere in here the President has the ability to conduct surveillance otherwise prohibited by law during a time of war. However none of these clauses says that. So if Gonzales is such a literalist then he has shot himself in the foot on this as well as other ideas of just what power the president has.

Further, and I highlighted this, he claims that we are in a time of war. Now a real time of war, as specified in Article one, is a time when Congress has issued a declaration of war. Not only has congress NOT issued a declaration of war none of the country with the exception of the military has been on what even resembles a war footing.

How this guy ever passed the bar, served on the supreme court in Texas or was approved, even by a lap dog congress, for atty gen is beyond me.

All Your Coke Are Belong To Us!!!!

2007-01-18T16:37:00.000-08:00

Greetings fellow dissidents and welcome to Pepsi Jihad.
You might be wondering just what the name of this blog means (or maybe you don't) but I'm gonna tell you anyway.
See according to Philip Mudd, a senior official in the FBI's National Security Branch has determined that the domestic U.S. threat is a "Pepsi Jihad". Further according to Washington Post is, and I shit you not dear reader, :

"an outgrowth of extremism he said has spread among young people over the past 15 years and has been popularized by the Internet." "We see in this country on the East Coast, on the West Coast and the center of this country _ kids who have no contact with al-Qaida but who are radicalized by the ideology,"

Now see I fall into this set over the past 15 years because I was a "young person" and have had the internet for most of these 15 years. I guess you'd call me "radicalized" by this administration since I am now a *gasp* Democrat and self avowed liberal as well as a dissenter when it comes to this administration.
And according to dear leader I am just as bad as a terrorist. So there you have it folks, welcome to the Pepsi Jihad I am Abu Mtn Dew and I will be your host.