The Stashman

The Left- Destroyer of Civilization

2007-02-06T12:41:00.000-05:00

Happy Furry Time- Trolling the bottom of the Rights' Gene Pool.
Thanks for the inspiration.

Boy those Germans have a word for everything.

2006-11-08T08:04:00.000-05:00

After backpedal on every major issue in the world for 6 yrs., the American People finally woke the fuck up. It's not perfect but at least there won't be anymore of those backroom deals where the House and Senate leadership get together and add stuff to bills that haven't been voted on. They will no longer to be able to ramrod all of the Presidents most extreme policies through with out compromising with the Democrats. They won't be able to willfully break the law with out exposing themselves to real investigations and oversight by House Committee's.

Oh, and we have a very real shot of taking the Senate as well. I would love to see Bush try to ram another Scalito down our throats with Reid in charge. It gives me a great deal of pleasure to see the paperless trail of voter records lying before the Republicans in Montana and Virginia. Nope. No chads there.

The Detainee Bill or How I Learned to Live in a Dictatorship

2006-10-06T20:39:00.000-04:00

I can’t figure out why people weren’t up in arms over this assault on the founding principles of this country. Are the people of this country really that dumb? That Cowardly? So much so that they are willing to sell out the fundamental freedoms and principles on which this country was founded?

It has been shown that this bill allows the president to take anyone anywhere at anytime for any reason off of the street and hold them forever, torture them, and never have to explain any of it to anyone. How un-American is that? How can any Congress person have supported such a travesty? Why aren’t there calls from every corner of this country for all of the people who voted for this assault on the Constitution being called to resign? Each and every one of them swore to uphold that Constitution and they abandoned that oath so that they could pretend to protect us.

Why do the people who supported this bill think we fought the War of Independence, the Fascists or the Communists? What were we defending? Capitalism?

Yet, it seems that economic freedom is the only binding principle for the Republican Party. They talk of freedom and morals, but they neither want nor have either. If we as a people sit idly by and let this happen, we needn’t worry about the terrorists destroying our country. We’ll have already lost everything to the jack boots at the door.

R.I.P. United States of America

2006-09-29T09:20:00.000-04:00

Jesus' General has it right.

AKA The Bush War on Terror

2006-09-11T11:41:00.000-04:00

You go to the Dr. because you have a suspicious mole on your right arm. The Dr. says it looks bad and decides that you should immediately have chemotherapy. You protest that you’d like a second opinion. The Dr. questions your desire to become well and has you incarcerated in a mental hospital citing mental illness. Five years later you find yourself strapped to a gurney without legal recourse due to your ‘mental incapacity’, your body has been ravaged by endless doses of chemo and you still have a mole on your right arm. The Dr., meanwhile, claims you are doing better but are not yet well and that you must stay the course if you plan to get better.

Good Luck.

Busy, busy

2006-09-01T08:07:00.000-04:00

Moving, painting etc.
Found an interesting article today about the top 10 government marijuana studies they wish they had never paid for.

Anybody who hasn't seen Keith Olbermann's rant on Rummy needs to watch this now.

Here's another interesting article on who the real fascists are.

If you happen to have a little of what makes my first link interesting (which I don't). Go here.

Back from vacation

2006-08-22T14:10:00.001-04:00

I totally stopped reading, watching or listening to the news for a little over a week. Took the family to Maine and it was good. The Decider continues to ruin this country, and I've got a Weldon supporter at the end of my street. Woohoo.

Speaking of Weldon, I decided to take a little look at his re-election site. Seems the not so Honorable Mr. Weldon would like us all to think that he's not a Decider enabler and is only looking out for Pennsylvanians. Well, I'll let his record speak for itself.

Anyway, while visiting (and noticing no traces of The Decider), I happened upon a curious little blog button. It has only one post in which Mr. Weldon wants to hear our thoughts on today's issues. So I posted this little gem in response to the second (of 11) comments-

That's right, Sestak should've stayed in PA and given his daughter a lucrative lobbying job instead of adequate health care.

Let's just say I'm still waiting for Congressman Weldon's honest and straight forward opinion.

Back from vacation

2006-08-22T14:10:00.000-04:00

Flag Desecration

2006-07-11T20:57:00.000-04:00

Went out to lunch the other day with my family when I stumbled upon this attrocity. Imagine the shame I felt as I had to explain to my daughter how a supporter of the Flag Burning Amendment would desecrate the American Flag in such a manner. It was difficult, but she's a smart little girl so she was able to get her mind around the concept of a hypocrite. Yes, I am proud.

Here's a little more on the 'independent voice' for 'US' Pennsylvanians. (so say signs in window)

Sympathy for the Devil?

2006-07-06T07:16:00.000-04:00

Not really.

Well it seems as if blogger screwed me and the gif won't load properly. Go here, he'll dance.

Fascism in the US

2006-06-23T09:20:00.000-04:00

With freedom in the US now a thing of the past and an unchecked executive along with the propaganda depts running full steam, I have been wondering a lot lately when our democracy will take the last step over the edge into fascism. We've teetered on the brink many times in the past 100 yrs, but I don't know if things have been this well aligned before. Anyway, here are a few sights to scare the shit outta any real freedom loving American.

The fourteen points of fascism. Links galore and chilling to say the least.

A rational revolution looks the rise of nationalism and racial violence post WWI through WWII.

Finally from common dreams:

Vice President Wallace's answer to those questions was published in The New York Times on April 9, 1944, at the height of the war against the Axis powers of Germany and Japan.

"The really dangerous American fascists," Wallace wrote, "are not those who are hooked up directly or indirectly with the Axis. The FBI has its finger on those. The dangerous American fascist is the man who wants to do in the United States in an American way what Hitler did in Germany in a Prussian way. The American fascist would prefer not to use violence. His method is to poison the channels of public information. With a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or more power."

Time for another link dump

2006-06-22T07:47:00.000-04:00

Things have been hopping at work so I haven't had much time for surfing and such, but here are a few things I've dug up in the last couple of days.

Here's an interesting comparison of quotes. I got 12 right.

I also found a bunch of public domain books available for download here. I found an interesting book by Lewis Sinclair on the Australian version called 'It Can't Happen Here'. Haven't finished it yet but it is a fictional account of the rise of fascism in the US from the point of view of a New England newspaper owner. It could've been written yesterday if not for the laborious names and turn of the last century prose.

Oh, if you have AT&T, you're records don't belong to you. [You can also get '1984' on the sites above.]

I've never thought about burning a flag before, but if this dumb ass amendment passes I do believe I'm going to go out and buy a flag for just such a purpose and piss on the ashes.

Anti Gay Amendment

2006-06-07T11:13:00.000-04:00

I was reading this story this morning, and got to the end where Orrin [marry as many as you want] snHatch was lamenting Kennedy's comment about bigotry in the senate.

snHatch responded: "Does he really want to suggest that over half of the United States Senate is a crew of bigots?"

It is at least half Mr. Senator, including you. I suppose it's kind of a hippie dippy sentiment, but I really believe that with all of the hate that we see everyday in this world that we should be celebrating love wherever we find it. Instead, this administration and congress have decided to fan the fires of bigotry and hatred because they can't wrap their tiny little minds around the idea of a family in which two people of the same sex love and support each other like any other couple would.

*Update
Looks like Kennedy and I were wrong. It was just under half of the Senate. Phew. I feel better. BTW snHatch is still an asshole.

Apparently it’s to hell with the widows too.

2006-06-06T15:31:00.000-04:00

It's difficult to get too upset with anything Ann Coulter says. She is after all just a worthless media whore without a shred of decency whose arguments are just lies heaped on hypocrisy. I just go here every once and a while and laugh.

To Hell with New York

2006-06-02T15:35:00.000-04:00

And while we're at it, fuck D.C. too. Them and any other city with a large Democratic base. Better to play politics than protect the country right?

With all the discusions going on about this latest example of gross negligence from Bushco., no one is mentioning that this has been going on for years. That and it seems that monuments are more important than people.

Pat Robertson= Superman?

2006-05-24T12:34:00.000-04:00

I read an article courtesy of AmericaBlog, that points to a claim by Pat Robertson that his health shakes give him the ability to lift 2000 lbs. with his legs.

I know, I was thinking, "Big surprise, Pat Robertson is a lying sack of shit." Researching the story for myself, I found this image. Maybe he's not lying?

Thanks for the link Other Crap.

Neville Bush

2006-05-19T09:11:00.000-04:00

I read a few days back an article (I can't remember where at this point) about how if Bush had proposed this option back before labeling them part of the Axis of Evil, North Korea may not have taken the drastic steps toward becoming a nuclear power.

Now we see the same thing happening in Iran. North Korea has so far been able to avoid any reprisals and is pretty much doing whatever it wishes because it can threaten allies with nuclear attack. Iran's government, clearly interested in self-preservation, can do no different. Add to it that it supplies Russia and China with a great deal of oil they desperately need for economic growth and I think it is virtually assured that Iran will have a bomb as soon as they figure out how. The US will be as powerless to stop it as it was with North Korea.

So, thanks to this President and his would be laughable, if not so catastrophic, foreign policy. Worst President EVER.

Bush's Immigration Speech

2006-05-17T09:11:00.000-04:00

What makes me think that anything Bush attempts to do to close the border will look more like this?

Get Out of Jail, Free

2006-05-16T12:14:00.000-04:00

As I eluded to below, I just can't see Karl Rove suffering from any kind of indictment that may or may not be headed his way. This guy has the ultimate Get Out of Jail Free Card. Removing him might actually help Mr. 29% at this point.

If you like the card, get the pdf here.

Rubber Stamp Congress

2006-05-15T09:56:00.000-04:00

Thought I'd have some fun with 40's propaganda. Seemed fitting. The hires version is over here.

While I'm at it. I read about this story this morning with no surprise what-so-ever.

In other news:
Karl Rove is said to be 'unfazed' by the threat of indictment. Well duh. If there's a guy out there with a Get Out of Jail Free Card, it's him. Talk about knowing where the bones are buried.

Thank the Flyning Spaghetti Monster it's Friday.

2006-05-12T11:36:00.000-04:00

Gonna try to keep it light today. I got in a huge arguement today with two former Navy guys about the President spying on everyone and their mothers. They thought it was just fine. I'm wondering what ideals we're supposedly fighting for. Life, liberty the pursuit of happiness? Democracy? Bullshit. Life, maybe. Liberty, no way. We'll embrase any third world dictator piece of shit if he's willing to sell us oil. Wouldn't want to be a woman in South Dakota. Or gay. Or a minority. Or in the path of the next hurricane.

What happened to keeping it light? That's what the links are for.

Otto Man turned me on to Pandora.com. It is pretty cool. You can plug in artists are songs that you like and it will play back those and others that fit that style. You can then rate them, delete the ones you don't like as well as keep a record of all your favorites. On top of all that it's free.

I've had a lot of fun with this.

Daily Surf

2006-05-11T14:25:00.000-04:00

Since I'm not much of a writer and I enjoy reading and discussing politics, news and points of interest, I’m thinking I’m just going to do round ups of interesting sites, stories and images I find while engaged in these pursuits from now on. Occasionally, I’ll be interspersing these finds with ideas and images of my own.

Prez [left] says he’s not trolling. Has millions of phone records of millions of innocent people for the purposes of examination by ultra-secret police, but he’s not trolling. Yeah, dance monkey.

As usual, norbizness has The Rights’ scatalogical critiques of The Left.

Look now. Pay later.

It strikes me that this could be made into somekind of allegory for the Bush Administration.

*Update- AmericaBlog has a transcript of the video Jack Cafferty skewering the president and the new phone record controversy. Crooks and Liars has the video.

Yet Another Fish Story

2006-05-09T08:06:00.000-04:00

Why should he start telling the truth now?
AmericaBlog has the skinny.

Poll Dance

2006-04-28T08:26:00.000-04:00

Yeah baby, I'm going to get tough on oil companies.
Ooooh yeah, I'm gonna give you $100 tax credit for gas.
Oh...ooo, I'm gonna spread democracy around the world.
Uh huh, I'm going to protect you from those nasty Iranians and their Mickey Mouse watches.
Yeah baby, we can go in the back room for yet another $300 billion and a regional war.
Oh yeah ooo, let me nuke 'em and then it cab be just you and me against the world.

Another one bites the dust

2006-04-19T10:17:00.000-04:00

Sorry. This is the best picture of Scott McClellan I could find.

Yes!

2006-04-04T07:56:00.000-04:00

Well, not that good, but still pretty damn good.

Attack of the Left

2006-03-30T08:52:00.000-05:00

Go here. Laugh.

Homeland Security

2006-03-24T10:25:00.000-05:00

It's hard work alright.

Attack of the Strawman

2006-03-20T16:13:00.000-05:00

Our brainless leader sees strawmen everywhere.

New Poll

2006-03-08T13:12:00.000-05:00

This just in, half of all Americans are clinically retarded. I think this helps to explain that 34% in the CBS poll.

Katrina Video

2006-03-02T08:28:00.000-05:00

Am I the only one not shocked by this? Crooks and Liars.

All along the Administration has been saying that the president was "fully engaged at all times." What they are really saying is, "He wasn't negligent. He was incompetent." This video just ends the controversy. I feel much better. Don't you?

Flip

2006-02-28T18:50:00.000-05:00

Flop. I really don't know what else to say about this one, other than the fact that Republicans in the house and the Senate love to show their outrage at Bush's biggest political blunders yet never really want anything to do with cleaning it up. It's all about the sound bite. Just show their slack jawed constituents that they are concerned that those evil doers might own those ports, but then bow to pressure from Mr. 34%.

Torture? No! Oh wait, it's OK the pres says so.
End the 4th amendment? No! Oh wait, the pres says he won't campaign for us. It's OK then.
Sell the ports to UAE? No! Oh wait, the pres didn't even know about it, but his people checked them out so, it's OK.
King George? No! Oh wait, it's too late.

In Other News

2006-02-23T12:15:00.000-05:00

The Military reclassifies the Iraq War as Super Happy Fun Time.
I guess they think the red on their boots is from all of the rose petals.

I'm surprised it took this long

2006-02-23T08:44:00.000-05:00

Roe Over?

I agree with Bush?

2006-02-22T08:29:00.000-05:00

Well, I don't know if I'd go so far as to say that I support the president in regards to the UAE company owning US ports but...

It seems to me it doesn't matter what company owns the ports. Security has been and is the responsibility of the US Government. Any company that owned the ports would have to work with the Coast Guard and other government agencies just as the British company did.

The real problem is that Bush and the Congress are not doing anything to strengthen security at those ports. They are spending hundreds of billions on Iraq and military defense, while our ports are basically wide open.

It reminds me of Sept. 10th 2001. I was up watching PBS coverage of Sen. Joe Biden talking about Bush's missile defense program. Biden's point was that it was irresponsible to spend however many millions of dollars on missile defense that may never work when any terrorist with a boat could park a nuclear or dirty bomb in the Chesapeake bay and detonate it.

No significant changes have been made since that day.

Too Depressed

2006-01-31T08:21:00.000-05:00

I thought about writing about what a bunch of cowardly fucktards the Democratic leadership in congress is.

I thought about how these useless sacks of blue blood blubber have just turned over the last independent branch of government to George Fucking Bush, on the very day of his State of the Union Address.

I thought about writing about how all the debate surrounding unwarranted searches of American citizens is now just a lot of useless banter. How, with this lay down, there are no longer any checks to this president's power.

I thought about writing about how that smug SOB will sit there and stutter through all the victories he's had, and about how the whole country is behind him and this landmark vote on Alito is just more proof. He'll go on about the filter and about how they have been distorting his message, yet even so the country is behind him.

I also thought about how he'll trot out all his grand plans for a new Social Security how great a success Medicare is and so on.

I thought about writing about how pundits are claiming that Democrats would be bringing a knife to a gun fight when it comes to the now defunct filibuster. I thought about telling them that if everything you stand for, and everything you love is being threatened by a power grabbing megalomaniac, you fight with anything you have or it's already gone.

I thought about writing about how the Democrats picked a DINO to respond to all the SOTU, and how it's just another sign that they have surrendered everything to the Dear Leader. That they have no soul or fighting spirit.

Yeah, I thought about it, but I'm just too depressed.

Now it's Kidnapping

2006-01-27T15:19:00.000-05:00

Not satisfied with torture, and other basic deprivations of human rights of 'suspected terrorists'. The US is now into kidnapping. Proud, proud day.

From the article:
Iraq's deputy justice minister, Busho Ibrahim Ali, dismissed such claims, saying hostage-holding was a tactic used under the ousted Saddam Hussein dictatorship, and "we are not Saddam."

Will someone please remind the Pentagon that we aren't supposed to be either.

Germany's Slide into Fascism

2006-01-25T08:58:00.000-05:00

With Bush's blatant above the law mentality, I have been wondering about the earmarks of totalitarianism as of late. A little preliminary research led me to this site. The article analyzes a book written by Sebastian Haffner called "Defying Hitler". As you read, I think it is quite simple to draw some rather chilling comparisons to what is happening today.

The Dream

2006-01-16T12:01:00.000-05:00

What real moral character looks like.

Bipartisan Bumper Sticker

2006-01-10T11:56:00.000-05:00

Democrats put it on the back.
Republicans put it on the front.

Christmas Victory

2005-12-29T08:49:00.000-05:00

After declaring victory in the 'War on Christmas', Santa takes a much needed vacation. Said a disgruntled Hillary Clinton,"I think next year we should go after Hanukkah first and then work our way up." Other leftist wackos vowed to continue guerilla combat, but conceded that their forces will be stretched to the limit by the upcoming 'Bunny Battle'. Bill O'Reilly, firing the first conservative salvo, has stated that he will bring the battle to the airwaves and has already started selling Holiday Eggs on his web site.

Loyal Citizen's Form

2005-12-21T14:09:00.000-05:00

Ripped entirely from the Rude One, I made a little pdf form Loyal Citizens can fill out and mail into the President if they so choose.

Update:
It seems a few people are having trouble with the link above, so I'm trying the GeoCities route. Please forgive my general lack of web knowledge, I hope this works for everyone.

Whatever Happened to the Constitution?

2005-12-19T09:14:00.000-05:00

I may be way off base here, but doesn't the President and every one who serves in the Congress swear an oath to uphold and protect the constitution?

How is it that a President can stand up and say that he instructed the NSA to violate the 4th Amendment repeatedly, and no one call for his resignation or dismissal? Really puts that stained dress in perspective doesn't it? Crooks and Liars has a clip and transcript of Jack Cafferty summing up this administration.

Supporters of Torture. Corrected.

2005-12-15T08:57:00.000-05:00

The house has acted to support the budget bill with the McCain amendments to restrict the use of torture. Here's a list of pro-torture douche bags.

It was the nays that supported torture. In the previous post I accidentally lumped Rep. Weldon from Pa. into the wrong category. He's about to get an angry letter he didn't earn for this incident.

I still believe however, that torturing and confining people with no recourse is a slap in the face of every soldier who fought and suffered against oppressive regimes which ignored the basic conventions of human dignity. We used to stand on the side of right. We stood against the Fascists, Communists, and other Dictatorships. Now we sell our souls to anyone willing to pretend to be on our side. Fear drives the fearful in this administration and they seem more than willing to throw away everything that this country once claimed to stand for in order to protect it and thereby destroying it.

Not in a Bubble

2005-12-13T12:03:00.000-05:00

Bush claimed the other day that he doesn't live in a bubble. In a related story, Nixon claims he's not a crook.

40%!? Are you kidding me?

2005-12-09T12:16:00.000-05:00

I have been wondering about how 40% of people polled could think that Bush is doing a good job when I found this on Yellow Dog Blog. This is a great site and well worth a daily read.

Democrat in Name Only

2005-12-08T13:08:00.000-05:00

Funny that this man once thought that he was opposed enough to run against the current administration, but is now considered one of its stalwart allies. If I had wanted Bush to be president, I would have voted for him. I think it's time we kick these closet republicans out of office.

Good Luck Ann

2005-12-08T09:11:00.000-05:00

Ann claims to enjoy conversing with people stupider than her. I'm thinking that is quite a short list and that the president probably has more important things to do, but is on line one anyway.

In a related story. This might be the best blog ever.

Victory Plan for Iraq

2005-11-30T10:48:00.000-05:00

1. Put up shiny new banner.

2. Print a shiny new "plan" booklet.

3. Give substanceless speech in front of people who can be ordered to shut up.

4. Pretend things are going well enough to bring home some troops in time for '06 elections.

ScHmIdT

2005-11-23T13:21:00.000-05:00

A little late, but I saw the unedited version of this pic, and thought it bore a passing resemblance to Edvard Munch's "The Scream"

So glad I'm not Catholic anymore.

2005-11-23T08:35:00.000-05:00

How about, Priesthood Not Welcome Outside Vatican. That sounds better to me, and safer for my kids. Note for Pope Dummkopf, pedophilia is not homosexuality! Pedophilia is just wrong and evil. Just like covering it up and protecting the abusers from prosecution.

On another note, I know priests must take a vow of celibacy. So, shouldn't any sexually active priest be unwelcome? Instead they single out homosexuals and try and lay all the blame for these atrocities at their feet. The church and it's leaders are a disgrace.

National Healthcare?

2005-11-21T09:25:00.000-05:00

I just read in an article from the NY Times that GM is closing 12 plants and cutting between 25 and 30,000 jobs. Most of the reason for this is that the company cannot be profitable with $60 billion in healthcare costs. According to Jerry Dubrowski, "The company is at a particular disadvantage against foreign competitors, especially those based in other nations where health care is federally funded." (excerpt from the Detroit News)

With all the corporate tax breaks and so called economic incentives the Bush administration and Republican Congress have handed out over the years, no one has talked about the crushing burden of high healthcare costs on American businesses. All we get is a lot of talk about how we need to limit the recourse of victims of malpractice.

All we can do is wonder what would happen if Congress were to look at the problem seriously. I am left to wonder, what if the were to institute a tax exempt buy in similar to what is allowed under 401 K?

Anyone with a job could say allocate 5% for single coverage or more for those with spouses or children to a National Health Care Plan, similar to what every member of Congress gets for free. Companies big and small would probably need to match employee funds, but even with that their costs could be potentially cut in half. The remainder could be reallocated towards expansion, new jobs, modernization or any number of other benefits. More health care costs would be shifted to the employees but they would come off of their gross tax for income purposes. In addition, a new tax revenue stream would help to shore up Medicare.

I don't know if my example is viable or not, but I am sure all we will get from the current administration is more empty rhetoric, tax cuts for the wealthy and Iraq war propaganda. When, if ever, will they start to care about America?

Please, Oh Please, Oh Please

2005-11-18T15:51:00.000-05:00

Fitzmas Redux?

Torturer in Chief

2005-11-18T09:05:00.000-05:00

What a great graphic from http://patriotboy.blogspot.com

Mommy. The people are mad at me.

2005-11-16T08:12:00.000-05:00

Seems Georgie boy has run home to mamma so to speak. There has always been a void at the top in this administration, but this is truly scary.

Smart Kid

2005-11-15T10:25:00.000-05:00

One day a fourth-grade teacher asked the children what their fathers did for a living. All the typical answers came up--fireman, mechanic, businessman, lawyer, and so forth.

But little Justin was being uncharacteristically quiet, so the teacher prodded him about his father's livelihood.

He replied, "My father's an exotic dancer in a gay cabaret and he takes off all his clothes in front of other men and they put money in his underwear. Sometimes, if the offer is really good, he will go home with some guy and make love with him for money."

The teacher, obviously shaken by this statement, hurriedly set the other children to work on some exercises and then took little Justin aside to ask him, "Is that really true about your father?"

"No," the boy said, "he works for the Republican National Committee and helped re-elect George Bush, but I was too embarrassed to say that in front of the other kids."

How could 51% of America have been so blind?

2005-11-15T08:28:00.000-05:00

Try to imagine an alternate universe in which most Americans weren't Fox News lemmings.

Yep. This guy would be president. Maybe not the greatest thing in the world, but at least we wouldn't be facing the Scalito theocracy right now. We'd be impementing his plan to get us out of Iraq. We'd be attempting to balance the budget without increasing taxes on poorer Americans and cutting benifits as proposed by the Republican House. People would actually be looking into failed/fixed intelligence blunders and holding those responsible accountable.

Instead, this country is being run by a chucklehead with an agenda dictated to him by fanatics and crimminals.

"We do not torture." G.W. Bush

2005-11-15T08:20:00.000-05:00

Thanks, Mr. 37%. Keep up the good work!

Write Your Senator

2005-11-01T09:40:00.000-05:00

Fortunatley for me, mine is also the Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary. I got my information and clipped or paraphrased from Americablog, ThinkProgress and People for the American Way.

The Honorable Arlen Spector, Chairman
Committee on the Judiciary
711 Hart Building
Washington, DC 20510

Mr. Chairman,

I am writing you to express my concern over President Bush’s nomination of Samuel Alito. I do not feel that this nominee should make it out of your committee. His proven hard line right record shows him to be an activist himself, only in this instance he works to undermine the civil liberties, religious and reproductive rights of all Americans.

I call your attention to Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, 1991 in which Judge Alito supported the restrictive abortion-related measures passed by the Pennsylvania legislature in the late 1980’s. He went further to state that the majority was wrong to strike down a requirement that women notify their spouses before having an abortion. Judge Alito also chose to allow racial discrimination in Bray v. Marriott Hotels, 1997 by voting to protect racist employers from the reach of Title VII if the employers believed that they had selected the best candidate as a result of a conscious racial bias. In Chittister v. Department of Community and Economic Development, 2000 Judge Alito acted to overturn the Family Medical Leave act for state employees. He was later overturned by the Supreme Court in Nevada v. Hibbs, 2003 thanks to center leaning Justices like Sandra Day O’Conner.

Chairman Spector, please help to force the President to name someone who will act in the interests of all Americans. Someone who will respect their rights and religious beliefs. Someone who will protect their rights to free speech. Someone who will protect them from unreasonable search and seizure. Someone who will respect their reproductive rights. Someone who will help us protect or families and jobs. Someone else.

So, So, So many more to go...

2005-10-28T13:42:00.000-04:00

Why wasn't he fired?

I'm so glad Bush ordered everyone to cooperate fully with Fitzgerald's investigation. One more proof that this paper president has no real power even in his own White House. Between the religious right smashing his Miers' nomination and the out right disregard these charges represent toward his internal directives (if ever actually given), there can be no doubt who is running this country. If Bush wanted to even pretend to be president, why didn't he demand his resignation personally. Instead, his chief of Staff takes it and then tells him about it.

I just hope that all of the obstruction just pushes his eventual conviction (hope and pray) past the end of Bush's term so a president facing re-election will have to decide whether or not to pardon him or others who should follow.

You can read the indictment on Fitzgerald's official page. (link to pdf format)
This should put a nail in all those RNC talking points.

Maybe she should stop taking the yellow ones?

2005-10-28T12:37:00.000-04:00

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/42136

friday playlist

2005-10-21T13:07:00.000-04:00

Norbizness does a friday morning critique of the 1st 10 songs that come out of your mp3 player in the morning. It's fun to see what you have on there and why. So's here's what came out of mine today.

1. "Cripple Creek" The Band- a bona fide classic. 8/10

2. "Lie Detector" Reverend Horton Heat- He's pretty new to me. I've been missing out. 7/10

3. "South Hampton Dock" Pink Floyd- Really Roger Waters' first solo album. This is just pt 2 of about 100 of the my daddy died in the war jag. 3/10

4. "Julius" Phish- I really like this one. The thing I like about Phish in general is it seems that they just love to play. I get the feeling they would play the same way whether they were in a bar, basement, or major arena. 9/10

5. "Still Remains" Stone Temple Pilots- The Purple Album is just great. One of the last albums released in vinyl as a collectors item. 8/10

6. "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" Pink Floyd- I just sat down at my desk at work when this came on. Need some corn flakes. 8/10

7. "Obvious" Janes Addiction- I always thought that Ritual de lo Habitual was WAY ahead of it's time. 8/10

8. "The Final Cut" Pink Floyd- Seems my ipod is on a Pink Floyd spree. 4/10

9. "Baby Gotterdammerung" Monster Magnet- eh... 4/10

10. "A New Machine Pt. 1" Pink Floyd- from there fist "We're old now. Pay us." album. 2/10

11. "Maggie's Farm" Rage Against the Machine- I love to compare this version to Bob Dylan's original. Just funny. Plus Rage's version totally f**kin rocks when you've got it turned up as loud as it goes and the whole back office is shaking. Yeah! 9.9/10

6.89- those last few killed me, and I tossed out #10

It just keeps getting better

2005-10-20T08:49:00.000-04:00

Here's a more gas to throw on the possible Cheney indictment fire.

I can only hope it's true. I don't think that Bush would nominate McCain though or even if he did, McCain accepting. I think he would only take it if he thought it could benefit a possible presidential run in '08. I'm not so sure being associated with this administration would be any more helpful to him than it was for Gore with Clinton.

The other possibility would be that with half his staff indicted and record low poll numbers, Bush ends up resigning. Or, dare I hope, impeached by a democratic resurgence in the House/ Senate in '06? We could have a new Gerald Ford on our hands in '08. (only president never elected as VP or president)

CronyJobs.com

2005-10-13T08:16:00.000-04:00

A funny job application for the Bush White House from the folks @ whitehouse.org

Good Times

2005-10-12T08:34:00.000-04:00

You know things are bad when it's Matt Lauer working over the president on what was supposed to be a fluff piece on a morning magazine show that's usually more interested in who the next James Bond is going to be than creating or breaking a story.

I haven't the vocabulary or the writing skills to articulate just how fun it is to see the Republican establishment in so much trouble. It would be better of course if they weren't destroying the country and selling out our futures to the oil companies, but maybe this'll slow them down some.

My dream coming true?

2005-10-06T08:07:00.000-04:00

Write your Rep. and get them to support the Senates version of the bill.
With this and an apparent fight with conservatives looming over his pick of Meiers, things could be shaping up nicely.

Push Bush to Obsolescence

2005-09-30T16:35:00.000-04:00

I can only hope that Democrats force Bush to veto the next defense bill as threatened. They should point out that it's because he is trying to cover up the abuses in Guantanimo, Iraq and Afghanistan. They should point to the fact that we're spending cash like we're Condolezza Rice in a shoe store. Or how about the millions being spent on missile defense when all it took to perpetrate the worst attack on US soil was a few $4 box cutters and a fucking plane ticket. Somehow our spending 400+ Billion isn't gonna do it.

The best thing that could happen though is if moderates like McCain can get enough Republican support to override the veto. House Repubs are ducking for cover now and are looking for ways to distance themselves from the administration. Who knows? But a blow that severe would finish this administration and then the democrats could look to make headway in '06. Dare I dream?

YES!!

2005-09-28T16:15:00.000-04:00

DeLie steps down!

Happy Dance.

Now let's get this dog pile and I'd say we're turning a corner.

How to pay for everything Pt. 2

2005-09-28T08:43:00.000-04:00

A little follow up on my rant about the drug war.

An interesting autobiographical account

and an activist site for ending the war on drugs

It's time to play the blame game

2005-09-27T11:21:00.000-04:00

Is anyone surprised that an investigative panel made entirely of Republicans are letting "Drownie" point the finger squarely at local and state officials, specifically the Democratic governor and mayor of New Orleans?

In the end "Drownie" claims that FEMA is getting a bum rap. Excerpt from CNN:
[Brown said: "Those are not FEMA roles. FEMA doesn't evacuate communities. FEMA does not do law enforcement. FEMA does not do communications."]

No? What does FEMA actually fucking do then? Lets see...

1) Award money to churches

2) Huge no bid contracts to... Halliburton

3) Play the blame game

I've got a finger I'd like to point at them.

The Steaming Turd that is the BCS

2005-09-26T08:52:00.000-04:00

The ranking system in NCAA Div. 1 football is the biggest joke in all of sports. What about the Temple Owls you say? Not even close. Football is supposed to be a sport. Not a popularity contest. Yet teams are ranked not by there abilities and victories, but rather by the whims of sports writers, fans and coaches. I can't understand why it isn't better for the sport to have teams play in a championship round robin until only one is left standing. You simply take the top 2 or three teams in each conference, ranked by WINS, seed the top versus the bottom through a random draw and watch the frey. That would always give us a true champion and a shit load of bowl games which would now be a championship series. The fans would get a better product. Bowl stadiums, TV and teams would still get the cash.

No more subjective bullshit. LET THEM PLAY!

...Oh, and Joe Paterno is a God. GO PENN STATE!

A little quiz I found on about.com

2005-09-23T22:52:00.000-04:00

The Republican Loyalty Quiz
10 Questions to Test Your Allegiance to the GOP

My results-

Your score is 0 on a scale of 1 to 10. You are a pure, unabashed, die-hard Democratic loyalist. You are appalled by the way Republicans are transforming America into a theocratic, corpo-fascist police state, and you'd walk through a furnace in a gasoline suit if it meant casting a deciding vote for a Democratic president. In your view, there is no higher form of patriotism than defending America against the Republican Party and every intolerant, puritanical, imperialistic greed-mongering, Constitution-shredding ideal for which it stands.

....sounds about right.

terrorists or right wing extremists?

2005-09-23T08:52:00.000-04:00

saw this fox news clip on crooks and liars and thought the "news alert" strange. Are they sure they didn't mean the Bush Administration, or their religious zealot overlords?

How to pay for everything.

2005-09-22T16:27:00.000-04:00

How will we pay for the War on Terror, Iraq, the National Debt., Katrina, Rita, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security? LEGALIZE DRUGS!! Let's look at some statistics shall we?

Value of confiscated drugs in FY 1998= 20.9 billion (year for prices given)
Law enforcement budget for the war on drugs FY 2000= 17.7 billion

This is only an example of what we know. Some estimates place the value of the illicit drug trade in the US at $400 billion That's Katrina and Iraq. Covered.

If the US government was to legalize the importation of these substances, it would cut out one of the major supplies of funding for terrorists as well as provide a reliable source of income for farmers in Columbia, Mexico, Afghanistan and others. It would also allow for the realocation of forces, both law and military, into fighting actual terrorism at home and abroad. It would also allow for the cutting or realocation of funds being spent in these countries for fighting the drug trade. Instead they would become a source of revenue from the new taxes on importation.

It would also cut the legs out from under every major gang in the country. No more Crips, Bloods or Kings. The money saved from fighting urban gangs could be respent in shoring up education in blighted cities. Give these kids a chance to make a real life for themselves and a future and I think they'll take it.

"What about the problems of drug users?" you ask. We already have a huge problem with drug users. The millions we currently spend incarcerating non-violent offenders could easily be spent in education & rehabilitation.

Instead we are pissing away billions upon billions of dollars for a war on drugs that is unwinable.
Puritan ethics. You can fucking have 'em. I'll take real freedom any day.

Oh, and here's what the Republicans in the House think we should do to pay for everything.
Raw Story

Enter the Stashman

2005-09-22T10:19:00.000-04:00

Shouting into the emptiness.