Final Stretch

The OH-02 special election is going to go down in only a few days and it is incredible how competitive Hackett has become. If you have the time please contact anyone you know in OH and talk to them about the election. If you have the money please donate, any amount is useful, here. If we can win here we can win anywhere, but we have to fight for it.

Yay Democrats!

Way to oppose the Republicans on energy, transport and gun maker liability legislation!

Oh yeah, way to go CAFTA too!

groan.

Bolton Lied

People died. Just kidding. Well, in this context.

Anyway, at this rate Bush will have to make a recess appointment or he will never make it out of the Senate alive.

Link.

The Evangelical Hulk

It's only a matter of time:

In a break with President Bush, the Senate Republican leader, Bill Frist, has decided to support a bill to expand federal financing for embryonic stem cell research, a move that could push it closer to passage and force a confrontation with the White House, which is threatening to veto the measure.

Frist, don't make Dobson angry. You wouldn't like him when he's angry.

Frist presidency? DOBSON SMASH!!!!!!

Link.

Fuuuuuuck

The energy bill has finally been negotiated, and

The tax package -- negotiated behind closed doors by lawmakers -- would award 58 percentof the total benefit over 10 years to traditional energy industries, including oil, natural gas, coal, electric utilities and nuclear power. About 36 percent of the total would go for renewable sources of energy, energy efficiency and cleaner-burning vehicles. The Senate had sought considerably more in tax incentives for conservation and alternative sources of energy in its version of the energy bill approved last month.

We're in a situation where oil is *seriously* running out, we have alternate, cheap, clean energy sources but we're awarding 58% of the tax break to traditional energy??!!

Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, described the tax breaks as "well balanced among renewable energy, conservation and traditional energy sources" and said, "Renewable energy and conservation got a very big slice of the pie."

Energy providers lobbied heavily for the tax provisions, and many were thrilled with the results. But taxpayer advocates and environmental groups complained that the bill would distribute billions in tax dollars to highly profitable companies that do not need government assistance at a time of soaring energy costs.

What does it tell you if the providers are thrilled? I mean besides the fact that your ordinary person is screwed. How often are lobbyists thrilled unless they're getting their way to the letter?

Link.

Good Morning Sunshine

Glad to see you finally realize that Roberts is a right wing hack.

Where were you last week?

Kick 'em When They're Down

Sirota does.

John Roberts, Racist?

With the MSM and many Democrats fawning over John Roberts, his confirmation seemed almost inevitable. Not that some of us were not going to try to fight it anyway, but it seemed that he was going to be confirmed regardless of what we did. Well get your gun, Annie, because the NYT reports that

He defended, for instance, the constitutionality of proposed legislation to restrict the ability of federal courts to order busing to desegregate schools.

On other civil rights issues, he encouraged a cautious approach by courts and federal agencies in enforcing laws against discrimination.

Sounds a little fishy to me... if the courts do not mandate laws against discrimination how will it be eliminated? Maybe discrimination does not bother Judge Roberts. Here's Roberts reasoning:

On the matter of proposed legislation limiting the power of courts to order school busing, such a restriction would not have "an invidious discriminatory purpose," he wrote in a memorandum to Mr. Smith. "Indeed," he said, "the bill would protect all students from transportation to schools distant from their homes, irrespective of their race."

"We do not believe busing is necessary" to ensure equal educational opportunity, he declared.

Well in addition to being a classist and trying to keep those Americans who live far away from schools or do not have the money and time to drive their kids to school (dare I say the poor?) down, Judge Roberts' comments completely smack of that ugly white sheet in the closet some of us cannot help but call racism. I hope Democratic leadership in the senate load their guns with this ammo and aim for Roberts' head.

Traitorgate

The epic continues. New today from the WaPo,

Harlow, the former CIA spokesman, said in an interview yesterday that he testified last year before a grand jury about conversations he had with Novak at least three days before the column was published. He said he warned Novak, in the strongest terms he was permitted to use without revealing classified information, that Wilson's wife had not authorized the mission and that if he did write about it, her name should not be revealed.

Novak definitely sang like a canary being roasted alive in a garlic and white wine sauce with some shallots and thyme. On top of this, it is clear that the CIA is not happy about the situation, as they rightly should not be. We all know what happens to people who get on the CIA's bad side. When you consider the size of the net that Fitzgerald has thrown out in this investigation you cannot help but think that he has some large fish to fry, and lots of them.

DLC Blues

For those of you who have not yet heard, Hillary was at the DLC convention on Monday, pushing a tough, centrist image and calling for a truce within the Democratic party in an effort to shore up support for her 2008 presidential bid.

Make no mistake about it: Hillary is the DLC's candidate in '08, and if any other Democrat wants a chance at the nomination, he will have to take the grass/labor/progressive/netroots approach.

Personally while I am ok with Hillary as a senator from NY (although her voting record is nowhere near as progressive as it could be from this state - probably because she has been angling for the presidency) I do not want to see her win the Democratic nomination in '08. A lot of this has to do with the DLC's platform and talking points; searching for an ever-changing center will get you nowhere except abandoning any principles and positions you have, which Hillary personifies in this DLC let's play nice with everyone playbook. My other reasons are that I think the wingnuttery would come out of the woodwork to campaign and vote against her, as well as we have just had 1 Bush, 2 Clinton and 2 Bush administrations. It is time for a change.

However even excluding those last two concerns, I still do not feel that Hillary represents the party. She may be very liberal on several issues, but that has nothing to do with being a partisan Democrat. Standing by Bush as he committed the nation to a false and failed war in Iraq and continuing to support it in his terms is not a Democratic stance. Well, I guess since 51% of the nation voted for Bush that means that she has to woo them. Do you see what I am getting at? Needing to cozy up to big business to get money for the party while selling out your base economically is not a Democratic stance. For those of you who believe that the Democratic party cannot compete without big, powerful business lining their pocketbooks, I would encourage you to visit Paul Hackett's ActBlue page, where you can see that he has raised 172K from approximately 3500 people, The average donation is $50 and most of this occurred over the past week. Not too shabby.

It is no longer 1992 and Bill's triangulation is not going to work for Hillary in 2008, yet the DLC continues to cling to this failed vision because they see it as the only way to win. If the DLC wants to position itself as a middle of the road, hawkish, good for the rich organization then it can form its own middle of the road, centrist party, because it does not represent the mainstream of the Democratic party.

These are just my concerns with the DLC's policies and prescriptions. Still, the main reason that myself and many partisan Democrats hate the DLC (take note that there is a difference between thinking someone has the wrong idea, as per above, which does not entail dislike, and hatred) is because they spend so much time bashing their own party. I have said it before and I will say it again: if you use Republican language to bash a Democrat you are not a Democrat. This is exactly what the DLC does when they try to make themselves look 'tough' on defense and belittle the progressive base of the Democratic party because the DLC always shifts away from the partisan line toward the center at the expense of what they consider to be the 'left.' Kos has a rebuttal to this call for peace, I recommend it as well as the other articles he links to at the bottom, especially Digby's and Steve's.

Let me end by saying that if Hillary gets the nomination the grass/netroots will close ranks behind her and support her. I would hardly expect the same of the DLC, who would probably defect to the Republicans and spend their time bashing a progressive and partisan candidate. Hillary's nomination is not inevitable and I urge everyone to work towards getting a more progressive and partisan candidate the nomination (Clark or Feingold for me at the moment).

Knowing When To Take a Mea Culpa

Apparently the failed GOP talking point of "Valerie Wilson was just a desk jockey" was not enough to convince the GOP that it is being hung out to dry. So as a follow up we are now getting

The Senate Intelligence Committee will conduct hearings on American spy agencies' use of cover to protect the identities of intelligence officers, the committee chairman said on Sunday...

"I must say from a common-sense standpoint, driving back and forth to work to the C.I.A. headquarters, I don't know if that really qualifies as being, you know, covert," Mr. Roberts said. "But generically speaking, it is a very serious matter."

If you do not like the rules and you are in power, change them!

Your GOP, making the country less safe dozens of CIA agents (and therefore the national interest) in one shot.

Link.

Iraq Checkup

Just in case you thought things *might* be going better in Iraq,

A suicide attacker slammed a truck loaded with explosives into sand barriers outside a Baghdad police station Sunday, killing at least 22 people and wounding 30, police said.

they're not.

Link.

Cheney: Torture A-OK

Nothing surprises me any more. You could tell me you were moving to Mars tomorrow, and actually be serious about it, and it would not faze me one bit. So when something like this comes up,

The Bush administration in recent days has been lobbying to block legislation supported by Republican senators that would bar the U.S. military from engaging in "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" of detainees, from hiding prisoners from the Red Cross, and from using interrogation methods not authorized by a new Army field manual.

Vice President Cheney met Thursday evening with three senior Republican members of the Senate Armed Services Committee to press the administration's case that legislation on these matters would usurp the president's authority and -- in the words of a White House official -- interfere with his ability "to protect Americans effectively from terrorist attack."

all I can do is sigh. Think about Cheney's logic here. We need to torture prisoners to protect Americans from terrorists. I'll let you connect A and B for yourself. Feel free to use paper, pencil, pen, knife, club, gasoline, rope, wire, electrocution, water, extreme temperatures, drugs, dogs, sodomization, guns and even murder if you want. If you still cannot follow it you can even use the cheat sheet (the quote) above. If Cheney thinks that torturing prisoners, who are locked up and no longer a threat, is the best way "to protect Americans effectively from terrorist attack," then he has no clue on how to fight terrorism.

As for all the Americans out there, and do not deny it because they are and there are a lot of them, who think that it is ok or good to torture terrorists, let me meet you so I can punch you in the face. Yes we are at war. This war is the most untraditional war ever fought. Our opponents are willing to kill themselves along with innocents on both sides to accomplish their goals. I personally find this nothing short of disgusting. However, the minute you cease to see your opponent as a human being and start to think of him as something less, or demonize him, you have taken your first step toward losing your own humanity.

Time To Change Horses

I can't believe it, but I can.

Egypt, July 23 - The death toll from a series of three bombs at this Red Sea resort rose sharply on Saturday, and the Egyptian authorities said that between 85 and 95 people had been killed in an attack strikingly similar in design to one that struck resorts up the coast at Taba nine months ago.

You don't stick with a horse (or grand strategy for a war on terror) that you know is losing.

Link.

Rovegate

There was some damning testimony given today in the Democratic Policy Committee meeting, but I think Jim Marcinkowski summed it up best when he made the connection that exposing Plame at home means that foreign information operatives will not place as much trust in U.S. guarantees for their own safety, thereby ruining our human intelligence operations around the globe.

Your friendly G.O.P. - destroying one intelligence officer... er, many intelligence officers... no, not quite... the entire country's security because they were caught with their pants down.

Patriot Act Redux

I was just watching the passing of a data-mining amendment to the Patriot Act on C-Span, and one of the callers they had in support of the bill stated his reason as (paraphrasing):

We need it to spy on the Democrats because they're always up to no good.

While you are trying to stomach the mind-bogglingly deranged thought process that produced that comment, let me state that although I hate (make no mistake about it) reactionaries and people who would try to take away my liberties for ridiculous reasons, I find the flip idea of creating a double standard in this country by spying on Republicans, who are almost always up to no good, nothing short of disgusting. We live in a democracy. Everyone is (ostensibly) equal. If you cannot stomach that idea then you can get the hell out of my country.

I would also like to point out that most of the supporters of the Patriot Act cited safety as their chief reasons. In response to this I would kindly ask such supporters to read the Act, H.R. 3162, in its entirety and think long and hard about whether the Patriot Act will really make them safer and at what cost. Furthermore, it seems to me that if people are living in such a state of fear that they need the passage of the Patriot Act then the terrorists have already won. These people see an enemy around every corner and are living their daily lives in such fear (otherwise why need passage of the Patriot Act?) that it has reached the point of paranoia. Who is fueling these fears? Why our own good little Republican run government. Bush is not creating a culture of life and freedom, he is bent on creating one where Americans are kept in a perpetual state of fear so he can get away with doing whatever he wants.

My land is the land of the free and the home of the brave. Not the land of the closely monitored and the home of the afraid.

Let the Dollar Dump Commence!

I know I've used this title before, but it's not my fault different countries keep deciding to dump dollars in favor of currency baskets and pegs in favor of bands.

In today's installment, China is no longer pegging to the dollar.

China's shift was followed swiftly by announcements from Malaysia that it would move to more flexible exchange rate rules. Singapore's central bank was expected to announce similar measures.

Let's get this straight, this is a very mild move, but it is reflective of the growing discontent in East Asia with the U.S. economic situation as well as the move toward a more cohesive East Asian trading bloc.

Roubini's site does not have a piece on China's new policy up yet (I will post it when it does), but here's a couple sentences snatched from an article in Foreign Affairs.

In March, a former manager of China's currency reserves questioned China's current development strategy, asking why it should seek out foreign investors looking for a 15 percent return on their investment only to have the central bank lend these funds back to the United States at 4 percent. China will conclude that rapid accumulation of dollar reserves no longer serves its interests sooner than optimists think.

At the same time, Brad Setser has the facts behind him when he argues that the Fed's prediction for a decade of economic stability is a load of crap.

Face it, you cannot trust Republicans with your money.

It's Alive!!!!

Washington Post, page A1.

A classified State Department memorandum central to a federal leak investigation contained information about CIA officer Valerie Plame in a paragraph marked "(S)" for secret, a clear indication that any Bush administration official who read it should have been aware the information was classified, according to current and former government officials.

Nice try, Bush.

Justice For Whom?

Bush finally slipped his nominee for the Supreme Court in at just the right time to draw the heat off of Rove.

Here is all you need to know about Judge Roberts, and these are the frames we should all be aware of during this ongoing travesty that dear Leader calls his leadership.

Yes, he's anti-roe and labor laws as well as a Bush toadie.

Under no circumstances let Rove out of your targeting sights. If Roberts comes up in conversation, don't hesitate to link in Rove and Bush's culture of corruption and lies. He sits on a throne of lies.

The Scalia and Thomas Lovechild

She sure ain't pretty.

Volger v. Blackmore (pdf): wrote the majority opinion drastically reducing the award to the family of a mother and daughter who died in a car accident, in part, she asserted, because there was not enough evidence that the daughter had experienced pain and suffering before dying. ( A fellow Fifth Circuit Judge criticized her for violating the deference to jury verdicts rule).

Get the lowdown at DKos.

Appreciated

It's nice to be appreciated, especially when it's for things like, oh, I don't know, healthcare and social welfare, that are usually taken for granted.

Part of the problem with today's Democrats is that people assume that these programs are there just because they are and don't credit the Democrats for them. Democrats need to remind the electorate that they're responsible for these programs and the Republicans want to take them away.

Thank you, E. J. Dionne.

Link.

Healthcare and Bankruptcy

This dkos diary is about why the healthcare situation in this country sucks and (by my inference) why the recently passed bankruptcy bill is disgusting.

Read on.

Good Morning

Headlines:

Reporter Says He First Learned of C.I.A. Operative From Rove

Reporter: Rove Told Him of Plame's CIA Tie

It's good to have the press back on their feet. Especially the NYT since Miller's in jail. Rove's both a dirty liar and has endangered our national security. We know he's getting indicted, now he also needs to be convicted, or the rule of law will be dead in this country.

Read more.

Damn

The WaPo is finally on.

Two days after Wilson went public, columnist Robert D. Novak told Rove that he was hearing that Wilson had been sent on the mission at the suggestion of his wife, who was working in the CIA, a lawyer familiar with the conversation said. "I heard that, too," Rove replied, according to the lawyer. Rove said Novak had told him Plame's name and that that was the first time he had heard it, the lawyer said.

This could be seen as being at odds with Rove's comments to CNN on Aug. 31, 2004, when he said, "I'll repeat what I said to ABC News when this whole thing broke some number of months ago. I didn't know her name. I didn't leak her name."

and

As for the Bush administration, the investigation has exposed how an administration that publicly deplores leaking has engaged aggressively in the practice to advance its goals.

This isn't even an op-ed. Daaaamn.

Context

Cooper's paraphrased grand jury testimony is out. You can read it at kos, but here's the important bit:

The 'wingers will excerpt just one line from this article -- out of context, and without the subsequent damning statements:

So did Rove leak Plame's name to me, or tell me she was covert? No.

Cooper gave the right wing spin machine a gift with that one. The next sentence:

Was it through my conversation with Rove that I learned for the first time that Wilson's wife worked at the CIA and may have been responsible for sending him? Yes.

Kossacks, the DLC, and good people everywhere need to be prepared to respond with that follow-up sentence when the 'winger spin kicks in.

I did not have sexual relations with that woman, anybody, anybody?

Traction

The SCLM finally wakes up. (took them 2 years. that's why they're the SCLM)

Going to California

I'll be out on the west coast for the week so I probably won't have much of a chance to post, but I'll see if I can pick up on anything while I'm out there.

But before I go, feast your eyes on this. It'll make your day.

Damn Harold.

Neanderthals

Apparently letting sleeping dogs lie is not good enough for everybody.

The cardinal, Christoph Schönborn, archbishop of Vienna, a theologian who is close to Pope Benedict XVI, staked out his position in an Op-Ed article in The New York Times on Thursday, writing, "Evolution in the sense of common ancestry might be true, but evolution in the neo-Darwinian sense - an unguided, unplanned process of random variation and natural selection - is not."

Come on. Either everything is random or nothing is random. Either way it does not affect our lives, so just let us get on with them and stop picking stupid fights.

Pity

My heart bleeds for you, Judy.

But, as Ms. Douglas noted, it's still a jail and "it's still no fun." Ms. Miller has to wear a green or brown jumpsuit with the word "prisoner" on the back. She can receive visitors only on weeknights except Friday and during the days on weekends.

Sounds like fun to me. She gets to choose between green and brown as well as receive visitors 6 days out of the week. Why don't you compare notes with the prisoners in Gitmo and see how much fun they're having there.

Stupid bitch.

London

My deepest feelings and sympathies go out to the citizens of London, who were the victims of multiple terror bombings today. Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility and it is probably in response to both Iraq and the G-8 summit.

London was struck by a series of four apparently coordinated terrorist explosions in subways and buses during the morning rush hour today, which killed at least 33 people and wounded as many as 1,000 others. The explosions ripped apart several subway trains and at least one double-decker bus and caused officials to close and evacuate the entire subway system.

The final death count will be much higher than that, they're still doing triage so it's still unclear. The one thing that is clear is that this is indicative that we are on neither a correct nor sustainable course of action, in regard to our 'war on terror' in Iraq and elsewhere, global and national energy policies and the implementation of globalization. It's time to really start thinking about these issues.

Link.

Two For One

Rove and Miller.

Sweet vindication!

So Stupid

Why???

President Bush vigorously defended his foreign policy today as he headed toward a summit meeting of the big industrial nations, and he signaled that he would not budge on one of the most contentious issues dividing the United States from its allies, how best to address global warming.

Apparently it's his birthday today. I'll send him a pack of pretzels.

Democrats Stand For

Economic and social responsibility.

How's that hypocognition for ya?

I really can't think of a better way to sum it up. It's as concise of a response as "Republicans stand for small government (lie) and lower taxes (mushy lie)." Economic and social responsibility covers the laundry list of Democratic policies such as progressive taxation, social programs, civil liberties, the environment and a multilateralist approach to foreign policy. I know I'm leaving out lots of issues, but I think most of them are covered under that catchphrase.

Plus, this catchphrase comes with added benefits. (and all for a super low price of free. you can't get a better deal than that) The word responsibility carries a whole lot of connotations with it, most of them good ones. A responsible person is a good person while an irresponsible person is a bad person. Everyone in society has responsibilites of one form or another. Everyone has responsibilites to his family that he must fulfill. Democrats are just as much for strengthening individual nuclear families as they are the greater family of the nation. As Democrats we realize that we have that responsibility to our neighbors and fellow citizens. In order to be responsible for oneself and others one must have strength and discipline. By asserting that we are for economic and social responsibility we can demonstrate that we are both strong and disciplined.

We are assuming a good moral value by asserting our responsibility. Whether it's our responsibility to guarantee low energy prices or the right to privacy, it's something that we will deliver and Republicans won't.

I think keeping it short and sweet is good, but any modifications or suggestions are welcome.

Gonzo

Alright, I know Gonzales has been coming under fire from left and right. It seems that no one wants him for SC justice except Bush (Senate Republicans do not count because their argument is the President gets his man, which does not reflect their own desires).

I have to say that I do not know about Gonzales. I would do everything to stop him from getting appointed to the court because of his involvement with (approval of) torture. You cannot do something like that and get away with it. To hell with his support of torture making him a second class jurist, it makes him a second class human being.

That said, if he got appointed to the SC (not like I could stop him) he does not strike me as being a hardcore conservative or strict constructionist. The problem is that I think he would be Bush's lapdog. The reason Bush keeps Gonzales close and likes him is because Gonzales does whatever Bush tells him to do. The real question is once Bush leaves office would he still be able to pull the puppet's strings or not.

Sigh

I agree with Atrios, this is a godawful piece of shit.

I'm sure you can figure out why.

Happy Independence Day

In Congress, July 4, 1776.

Interesting

I can't believe this is a year old, and I'm wary about the CIA coup d'etat thinking, but this is a hell of an article. Read it, burn Judith Miller in effigy, and keep reading.

Cool

Go Portland.

From Kristof, to boot.

The Ayes Have It

It's Rove.

Why Cornyn's Wrong

In a WaPo op-ed piece today, Sen. Cornyn (R-TX) states that

I will not be asking for commitments as to how he or she will rule on cases involving such contentious issues as abortion, affirmative action, same-sex marriage, the war on terrorism or any other specific issue on which the nominee might eventually rule. To ask a judicial nominee how he or she will rule on future cases is to force the nominee to prejudge these cases.

Now just a second. If during an interview a senator were to ask a nominee how he would decide a case based on some facts, then we're dealing entirely with a hypothetical. The point is not only to see what the end result is (although that does matter because if a judge decides against something that has been previously ruled and upheld as constitutional, like the commerce clause, a senator would be making a reckless decision in confirming a judge who is so far off from practiced legal philosophy) but also to see how the judge thinks out a position and comes to a conclusion. It is an exercise in thought, something that I am sure Senator Cornyn is loathe to think of, much less actually do.

If a judge comes to a conclusion with a faulty thought process or no train of thought whatsoever, that is a judge governed by his bias and not by the law. However, if a judge comes to a decision that, although a senator might disagree with its politics, has a solid thought process and is grounded in the law, then he is governed by the Constitution and deserves to be confirmed. To further explicate this point, one need only look at the differences between Justices Thomas and Scalia. While most progressives disagree with most of their decisions, we tend to begrudgingly respect Scalia while we spit on Thomas. This is because Scalia's reasoning is very well thought out and logical. Thomas, on the other hand, legislates from the bench without solid reasoning.

In conclusion, seeing a judge's thought process is a decent, if not necessary, litmus test to stand by. If Senator Cornyn does not think this is appropriate and that President Bush is entitled to his man just because, (great reasoning there) then he is ignoring the advise and consent clause as well as not doing his job of examining the nominee's thought process, to which I say if I am paying your salary with my taxes you had damn well better do your job. Justice for your country is more important than justice for a justice.

DSM Authenticated By Blair

Suck it Powerline. Suck it Tom DeLay. Suck it Dennis Hastert. Suck it Sensenbrenner. Suck it Dick Cheney. Suck it Condi, like we know you like to. Suck it Bill Frist. Suck it Karl Rove. And suck it George W. Bush, suck it long and suck it hard.

Link.

The Crazies Are At It Again

Apparently the 10 commandments decision was not good enough for the Christian fundamentalists in this country. So,

"This Congress is just not going to sit by and let an unaccountable judiciary make these kinds of decisions," said Representative Tom DeLay of Texas, the House Republican leader.

Why don't we get something straight right now. The judiciary is accountable. Not to any legislator or the public, but it is accountable to the Constitution. That is the highest law in the land and the one that every legislator takes an oath to uphold. Just because DeLay and a group of small but powerful fundamentalists want to remake this country in their own image does not they can get away with it. To challenge and trample the Constitution is tantamount to treason and we are not going to sit by and let an unaccountable Congress make these kinds of decisions.

Link.

Let the Battle Begin

O'Connor retires.