Incredible News

>>>Hold onto your hats, Pilgrims, because you're going to hear something incredible.
Newsweek: Donald Rumsfeld and Michael Chertoff DO NOT USE E-MAIL! Astounding! I know people, who will remain nameless, who are completely inept around computers. However, they thave learned to do 2 things: Google and use e-mail. Unfortunately, Rumsfeld and Chertoff have not.

The Newsweek article has a reaction from a professor about Rumsfeld and Chertoff's lack of e-mail knowledge:
...Dr. Irwin Redlener, a disaster-preparedness expert at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, expressed surprise that two officials in such critical positions would not be adept at routine methods of modern communication. “This can’t be true,” he said, only half-jokingly. “It’s almost inconceivable in 2006 for officials at that level of government not to be directly connected to systems of communications...”

The next time there is a presidential press conference, I'd like a reporter to ask the president to name his favorite search engines.


>>>Even though the Bush administration doesn't believe in global warming, there is more evidence that it is really happening. It really is sad when so-called educated people don't believe in scientific proof.
MSNBC reports that "Satellite observations indicate that Greenland's glaciers have been dumping ice into the Atlantic Ocean at a rate that's doubled over the past five years, researchers reported here on Thursday. The findings add yet another factor to the long-running debate over the effect of climate change on the world's ice sheets and sea levels...."

Security Risk? They say that the Bush family is very close to these Arab oil companies. Now we have proof that they are willing to trade our security for their friendship:

The Bush administration on Thursday rebuffed criticism about potential security risks of a $6.8 billion sale that gives a company in the United Arab Emirates control over significant operations at six major American ports.
Lawmakers asked the White House to reconsider its earlier approval of the deal.
The sale to state-owned Dubai Ports World was "rigorously reviewed" by a U.S. committee that considers security threats when foreign companies seek to buy or invest in American industry, National Security Council spokesman Frederick Jones said....
....The world's fourth-largest ports company runs commercial operations at shipping terminals in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia.
Four senators and three House members asked the administration Thursday to reconsider its approval. The lawmakers contended the UAE is not consistent in its support of U.S. terrorism-fighting efforts....

David Letterman--"The comic book people have announced that Batman will go after Osama Bin Laden. Looks like Bush does have a plan."

Harris Gaining Ground? I hope not!

Considered by many Democrats as the "Wicked Witch of the South," Katherine Harris is supposedly gaining in the Florida polls. Some people must have forgotten that Harris was responsible for giving Bush the 2000 election by stopping the vote count. This is the same woman who complained that the "liberal" media had altered her photographs to make her look older in 2000. (There is no liberal media. The media outlets are owned by corporations. Besides, her recent facelift and new boobs dramatically changed her appearance.) Harris cannot change the fact that she is a Bush family puppet who denied the votes of thousands of people!!!!!

On a recent trip to Iraq, Harris said all of the soldiers she met wanted the U.S. to stay in Iraq to finish the job. I think she is full of crap. What else were they going to say in front of their commanders and someone, like Harris, that they do not know or trust?

The war in Iraq continues without goals, plans, and without an exit strategy. Our young people are still being killed everyday and there is still only ONE trained Iraqi battalion. Billions of dollars have gone into the Iraq money pit, while our own gulf coast cannot be rebuilt because of a lack of funds (and leadership). The only winners in this neverending war are the Halliburton stockholders. If we are ever going to get out of Iraq, put this country back on the right path, we must elect Democrats like Senator Nelson. The last thing this country needs is someone like Katherine Harris in the U.S. Senate.

(Note: I do not work for Nelson's campaign. I have never met him. Obviously, I don't work for Harris either.)

Getting the Message

Propaganda Pays
The Bush administration has paid for public relations to promote their message on the Iraq War. I'd call it propaganda. The Lincoln Group has made a bundle of money working to push fabricated good news about Iraq. The New York Times has the story.

Cheney
The cover-up on V.P. Dick Cheney's hunting accident is big news. Hunters and gun owners are weighing in on what could have gone wrong on that Texas quail hunt. There is even a suggestion that Cheney should give up hunting and take up golf. From Tim McDonald:

Vice-President Dick Cheney has always promised he'd shoot straight with the American people. He just didn't tell us it would be one at a time.

Cheney needs to replace his hunting hobby with golf. Golf clubs aren't loaded, and it's more humane to bring down a lawyer with a 5-iron than a shotgun....

Until Cheney takes up another sport, he may find it difficult to get other hunters to join him on his next outing.

Dick and Kenny Boy

Vice President Dick Cheney's shooting accident is all over the news. Do you think that Cheney and his hunting friends were drinking before they picked up their guns? What kind of hunting is it when Cheney and pals go hunting in cars? From the WSJ:

Jon Stewart and the Daily Show--
The other player in the drama? Ranch owner and eyewitness Katharine Armstrong.

Katharine Armstrong: "We were shooting a covey of quail. The vice president and two others got out of the car to walk up the covey."

Jon Stewart: "What kind of hunting story begins with getting out of your car? As I sighted the great beast before us, my shaking hands could barely engage the parking brake. Slowly, I turned off the A/C and silenced my sub-woofers…"

David Letterman (go to Dave TV monologue) and Jon Stewart had some great pieces on V.P. Cheney's accidental shooting.

Raw Story has gathered some news: Paul Begala has his say about Cheney's hunting expedition.
Jack Abramoff says he had connections with Karl Rove.


If you are trying to figure out how Ken Lay, Skilling and the rest of the buzzards ruined the lives of Enron employees and retirees, you must watch the video, Enron-The Smartest Guys in the Room.

Republican News

Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot a hunting companion on Saturday. However, the right wing controlled media, did not release this information until Sunday. Just two weeks ago, Cheney was having difficulty walking.

Why do Republicans hate women leaders? Last week, Republican Party chair, Ken Mehlman, attacked Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton of New York. This week, the House Republicans are attacking Democratic Representative Nancy Pelosi of California. Do they just hate any woman that challenges their 'good ole boy' mentality?

The President said that the FISA law was outdated because it was passed in 1978. Following that line of thinking, is this administration considering ignoring any other laws? The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gave women the right to vote, became law in 1920. Do the Republicans think it is outdated because women are gaining too much power?

How can some Republicans know their constituents, when they don't even live in the district/state they represent? Rep. Paul Gillmor (OH-5) lives in Dublin, Ohio, instead of Old Fort, Ohio, which is in the 5th district. (Gillmor uses his son's home address in Old Fort as his address). Sen. Rick Santorum, his wife, and umpteen children, live in Virginia. He doesn't even reside in Pennsylvania. How do these guys get away with it? By living in your district/state, you get to "hang out" with your people. You see them in the market, the gas station, at church, and at community events. You'd get to hear about the daily concerns of your constituents. Obviously, Gillmor and Santorum have forgotten about the regular people who voted for them.

I hope someone in Ohio designs a bumper sticker that supports four more years of having a Republican governor (Blackwell or Petro). It should say: VOTE FOR 4 MORE YEARS OF REPUBLICAN CORRUPTION--Elect Blackwell or Petro!

Bush coming to central Ohio

According to the Dispatch, President Bush will be speaking at the Wendy's International Headquarters on Wednesday, 2/15/06, at 12:15 pm. Please come to greet the President and wave your bankruptcy notices, unemployment checks, high heating bills, tax bills, pictures of Abramoff, "Fire Karl Rove" signs, and other greetings. Wendy's HQ's is located next to the Hummer dealership, on Rt. 161 between Dublin Road and Sawmill Rd. I'm sure that many of our corrupt state/local Republicans will be there.

Blackwell and Petro
Ohio Republican candidates for governor, Jim Petro and Kenneth Blackwell are going around the Ohio trying to gain voters' support. Both candidates offer nothing to get Ohio out of this dismal economic funk that we have been experiencing for years. Besides, isn't it possible that both of these guys had some hints about all of this corruption in the Ohio government? How would they not know? Ohio needs a fresh start, and neither Petro nor Blackwell have the capacity to do that. The election of either of them would bring us more of the same and we cannot allow that to happen.

More Republicans Tied to Abramoff

AP story reported by Breitbart:
Three More Republicans Lawmakers Tied to Lobbyist Abramoff: Steven LaTourette, Don Young, Shelly Moore Capito

Three members of Congress have been linked to efforts by lobbyist Jack Abramoff and a former General Services Administration official to secure leases of government property for Abramoff's clients, according to court filings by federal prosecutors on Friday....

...Two of the elected officials referred to in Friday's filings have been identified in published reports as Reps. Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio, and Don Young, R-Alaska. According to Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, the two representatives wrote to the GSA in September 2002, urging the agency to give preferential treatment to groups such as Indian tribes when evaluating development proposals for the Old Post Office.

LaTourette maintains he did nothing improper by advocating special opportunities for certain small businesses in areas known as HUBzones, or Historically Underutilized Business zones. His spokeswoman, Deborah Setliff, said that the letter was reviewed by Young's chief of staff and counsel and that it did not advocate any particular business over another....

...Friday's filings by prosecutors refer to a third member of Congress, Rep. Shelly Moore Capito, R-W.Va. Her name appears in e-mails that suggest she was trying to help Abramoff secure a GSA lease for land in Silver Spring for a religious school....

WILL THESE SCANDALS EVER END? Here is more information on LaTourette. LaTourette is another Republican family values guy who is a hypocrite. He voted to impeach Clinton, but Steven is no "altar" boy.

Jack, Leaks, and Layoffs

Poor Jack Abramoff used to rub elbows with President Bush and other high-ranking Republicans. Abramoff gave them political donations and introduced his clients who also gave checks for these Republicans. Now Abramoff feels disrespected because no one wants to acknowledge their friendships, photographs, and business associations. It just makes you want to cry. Boo hoo!

Cheney gave the okay for Scooter to leak classified information.

Unemployment claims are lower in other states----except in Ohio. The Sun News has this quote from an article:
.......The rise in layoffs was led by Ohio, followed by Georgia....

>>>>Our state is #1 (in layoffs). Thanks, Ohio GOP, for working on filling your campaign chests instead of filling our state with jobs opportunities. We'll remember all you've done for us in November while we are standing in a voting booth.

****This just in from Raw Story-----Montana's news station reports about something the president said while meeting with Republicans:
....Bush made a brief public speech to lawmakers at their retreat on Maryland's Eastern Shore. He then shooed out reporters and photographers, saying, "I support the free press, let's just get 'em out of the room."Once they were gone, Bush -- not realizing he was still audible -- said, "I expect this conversation we're about to have to stay in the room." He added, "I know that's impossible in Washington..."

Democratic candidate Duckworth (IL-6)

Iraq war veteran, Tammy Duckworth, is attracting a lot of positive press and the all important campaign contributions. Duckworth is a Democratic candidate for the 6th congressional district of Illinois. Here are some excerpts from an article about Duckworth:

An Iraqi war vet and a veteran state senator are off to a fast start collecting campaign funds for the 6th District congressional race to succeed Republican Henry Hyde, according to their staffs.
Tammy Duckworth, the Iraqi war veteran and neophyte political candidate, is running as a Democrat. Her campaign people say she raised more than $120,000 in the two weeks between Dec. 18, when she declared her candidacy, and Dec. 31, calling that an "incredible accomplishment."
"(The contributions) were generated by people who have seen or heard Tammy and agree with her stance on health, education, retirement security and the environment. It's an incredible accomplishment and puts us on track to be competitive against the presumptive Republican nominee, Peter Roskam," said Billy Weinberg, Duckworth's campaign spokesman....

"I take a back seat to nobody...."

Who said that? Senator Hillary Clinton had a few things to say to the Republican attack squad: North Jersey Media Group:
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday accused Republicans of "playing the fear card" of terrorism to win elections and said Democrats cannot keep quiet if they want to win in November.

The New York Democrat, facing reelection this year and considered a potential White House candidate in 2008, said Republicans won the past two elections on the issue of national security and "they're doing it to us again."

She said a speech by presidential adviser Karl Rove two weeks ago showed the GOP election message is: "All we've got is fear and we're going to keep playing the fear card."

In that speech, Rove suggested Republicans can prevail in 2006 by showing Democrats had undermined terrorism-fighting efforts by questioning Bush's authority to allow wiretapping without getting court approval first.

Clinton said at a convention of United Auto Workers that Democrats should not be afraid to question Bush's handling of the war.

"I take a back seat to nobody when it comes to fighting terrorism and standing up for national homeland security," she said.

Referring to fugitive al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, Clinton said, "You cannot explain to me why we have not captured or killed the tallest man in Afghanistan."

She added, "Since when has it been part of American patriotism to keep our mouths shut?"

Read the rest of the article. To Sen. Clinton: You go, girl!

Republicans and Their Family Values Scandals

Right wing hypocrites on the march:
New addition to our collection of Republican corruption: I found this at Raw Story. They found it at Tennessean.com
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and House Speaker Dennis Hastert engineered a backroom legislative maneuver to protect pharmaceutical companies from lawsuits, say witnesses to the pre-Christmas power play.

The language was tucked into a Defense Department appropriations bill at the last minute without the approval of members of a House-Senate conference committee, say several witnesses, including a top Republican staff member....

I'm not surprised at this level of corruption. It just makes me sick.

>John Spencer, former mayor of Yonkers, New York, is a Republican candidate for Senate from NY. Spencer has some problems. Here is some info from the Daily News:

....Critics accused him of padding the city payroll with pals and made hay of the $1.1 million in retroactive raises he gave top managers on his way out the door.

The biggest controversy of his tenure was his highly paid chief of staff, Kathy Spring, a savvy political operator who became his mistress.

Spencer, a devout Catholic who was married with two children, lived with Spring for five years and had three children with her before divorcing his wife, Eileen Looney, in 2003. He married Spring a month later.

For years he wouldn't answer personal questions but now simply says, "I have nothing to be ashamed of. I went through a separation and then I remarried."

...After an arrest in the early 1970s for drunken fighting with cops, he went on the wagon and has been sober since....

>Looks like Karl Rove is feeding the Spencer campaign some lies about Sen. Clinton. With Spencer's background, he should not be throwing mud.

>The Toledo Blade has an update on the Republican County Commissioner, Steven A. Baden, who was arrested after an abduction attempt.

>However, Baden is not the first Republican county commissioner to be arrested in Ohio. From the News Journal March 4, 2004:
Former Richland County Commissioner David Swartz is under investigation after being accused of sexual involvement with a second child for five years, according to the sheriff's department.

Swartz, 66, ..., pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual battery Feb. 2 and awaits sentencing that could land him in prison for up to 10 years.

Swartz resigned his position as commissioner Jan. 19, the same day he was forced to make an initial court appearance to face those charges. He was accused of sexually abusing a now-17-year-old girl for more than a decade....

Believe it or not, there will be another probe of illegal Ohio Republican donations. The Columbus Dispatch is reporting that...
The executive director of the Ohio Elections Commission expects to recommend today that a complaint against a former governors’ aide involving illegal campaign contributions be referred to prosecutors.

H. Douglas Talbott, who previously worked for Govs. George V. Voinovich and Bob Taft, took cash from former Maumee coin dealer Thomas W. Noe in 2004 and made contributions in his own name to three Ohio Supreme Court justices, according to a complaint referred to the commission by investigators.....

These scandals within the Republican Party are just disgusting: adultery, cronyism, attempted abduction, sexual involvement with a child, and illegal contributions. How can they talk about family values with this list of scandals and arrests?

Republican County Commissioner Arrested

Awful stuff. The Toledo Blade has the article:

Henry County Commissioner Steven A. Baden was arrested in the commission office today on a warrant from Toledo police for attempted abduction of a 14-year-old girl in Toledo on Jan. 31.
“This is a first,” Henry County Sheriff John Nye said of the arrest of a county official during his 25 years in the sheriff’s office.
Mr. Baden, 39, of Hamler in southeastern Henry County, was turned over to Toledo police and held in the Lucas County Jail, sheriff Nye said.
Mr. Baden is accused of following two teenage girls who were walking home from school in SouthToledo. He allegedly waited in his car until one of the girls was alone and then chased her on foot. She ran to a friend's home and called 911...
...Mr. Baden was president of the county commission last year and had been a commissioner since 2003 when he was appointed by the Henry County Republican Central Committee to replace Richerd Bertz, who resigned because of ill health.
Mr. Baden was previously mayor of Hamler from 2000 to 2003. His term on the county commission expires in 2008.

Will we ever get the truth about anything?

Republican Rep. Henry Hyde doesn't want to investigate if the Bush administration is torturing anyone.
Why does Kansas Republican Sen. Pat Roberts still refuse to finish the 9/11 inquiry?
Why does Wisconsin Republican Rep. Sensenbrenner refuse to allow Democrats to use hearing rooms for meetings? Why did he get up and take his gavel in a June 2005 committee meeting? Does he have an anger problem?

Don't you think it is time to vote out these Republicans who refuse to do their jobs?

This just in from the Chicago Tribune:
Claude A. Allen, the president’s domestic policy adviser, turned in his letter of resignation today at the White House, the Bush administration acknowledged tonight.
This may have been an inauspicious week for the highest-ranking African-American staffer in the White House to call it quits - the day after the president appeared at the memorial service for Coretta Scott King, and at a time when Bush is attempting to improve his administration’s relations with the black community.....

Is my representative on the take?

In the coming months, incumbent Republicans will be out there in communities doing some meeting and greeting. They'll be letting the audience ask questions. If you attend one of these sessions, go ahead and ask a question. What type of questions? Here are some samples:

Are you on the take?
Do you receive money from lobbyists?
How often do you dine and travel with lobbyists?
This week, how many lobbyists met with you?
Did you dine at Jack Abramoff's restaurant? How often? Have you met Abramoff?
Have you ever attended an event with Tom DeLay?
What special events (sporting events, concerts) have you attended as a guest of a lobbyist?
Do you have any registered lobbyists working on your staff?

It is a shame we have to ask these questions. However, as constituents, we have the responsibility to ask anything of our elected officials.

Republicans Representatives Drunk with Power

Republican Rep. Bob Beauprez of Colorado said today that all of his seniors love the new Medicare Drug Benefit. Rep. Beauprez needs to hear from you on your opinions. Beauprez also likes to appear in military uniforms even though he had 3 deferrments. Apparently, Beauprez has appeared in a military uniform in 2003 and 2004. You may want to share your opinion of him appearing in military uniforms.

The administration's new budget calls for the elimination of the $255 social security death benefit. Why does this administration hate senior citizens? Why is Beauprez supporting all these cuts to senior citizens?

Republican Rep. Phil English of Erie, PA, certainly likes to travel, as long as someone else is paying. Which lobbyists are paying for his trips? Here is some information about English's travels:

U.S. Rep. Phil English, a six-term Republican from Erie, Pa., ranks eighth among 637 current and former federal lawmakers who have traveled the globe at private expense, according to the campaign finance experts at politicalmoneyline.com, who have compiled lawmakers' travel records for the past five years.

English has accepted more than $160,000 worth of free travel and lodging for 28 different excursions since 2000, including trips to Paris, Istanbul and Casablanca.

Holy cow! Shouldn't English be spending more time with constituents than lobbyists?

Republican Rep. Nancy Johnson of Connecticut: Why is she so hostile? Doesn't she want to hear the truth about the failures of the Medicare Drug Program?

Where is the outrage?

I'm just wondering about things.

If the law forbids the importation of Cuban cigars, how is it possible that right-wing, draft dodger, former pill popper, Rush Limbaugh smokes Cuban cigars?

What has happened to Chris Matthews? Matthews, who once worked for Democrats, now criticizes Democrats every chance he gets. Why does he have to put in a dig to Senator Hillary Clinton nearly everyday? Why does Matthews support former NY mayor, Rudy Guiliani (a 3 time married, adulterer)? How is it possible that Matthews does no research on his topics?

Why haven't we heard Republicans cut all their ties with lobbyists? All this talk about reform, doesn't get it done. Doesn't anyone see a problem with Republican Rep. John Boehner's relationship with a lobbyist.

Why aren't we seeing a release of information on the number of visits Jack Abramoff made to the White House?

Who did fake reporter/male escort Jeff Gannon/Guckert visit in the White House almost 200 times?

Ohio and Georgia Politics

Swiftboaters to help Blackwell

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer: GOP gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell has teamed up with Jerome Corsi, author of the Swift Boat veterans' book that attacked Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, to write a new book blasting the welfare state. Though it promises to provide a blueprint for a new war on poverty, Corsi could be a liability to Blackwell.

Although he has since apologized, Corsi once referred to Muslims as "ragheads," to Islam as "a cancer that destroys the body it infects," to the late Pope John Paul II as "senile" and to Hillary Clinton as a "fat hog" who could not keep her husband satisfied. Corsi told The Washington Post that such comments "were written to be provocative, to stimulate debate," and did not reflect his true beliefs.

The new book is called "Rebuilding America: A Prescription for Creating Strong Families, Building the Wealth of Working People and Redeveloping Our Cities."

Ohio
The battle begins for the Republican governor candidates---Petro vs. Blackwell. Hopefully, after they are finished tarnishing each other's image, they'll be out of money for the general election.

Blackwell picked his lt. governor running mate. According to the Cincinnati Post, Tom Raga is from the more conservative southwestern part of the state. This in itself could be a problem. Northeastern Ohio is more Democratic, and central Ohio, particularly Franklin County, has been going more Democratic. (The Democratic Party growth in Franklin County scares the hell out of supporters for Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce OH-15).

Georgia
Republican Ralph Reed, friend of gambling, is have some difficulty in his bid for lt. governor of Georgia. It appears that Georgians do not like his association with gambling concerns. According to the Walton Tribune: Thirty-eight percent of Republicans had a favorable view of Ralph Reed, with 42 percent viewing him unfavorably.

2254

As I watch these national news programs, I've noticed that less and less is being reported about events in Iraq. It might be that there are fewer reporters on the ground there, or is it just that networks have lost interest in the war. This administration would prefer that we ask no questions about the war, the injured, and the fatalities. This is why we do not have pictures of the coffins coming back home. They think that if we don't see the coffins, we will forget about it, and they can do what they want. In case you are interested, according to the Iraq Coalition Casualties site, 2254 Americans have died in Iraq.

Hillary Clinton Smacksdown Mehlman

NO OATH
Today Attorney General Gonzales is talking before the Senate committee on NSA Surveillance and Presidential Wartime Powers. However, he is NOT TESTIFYING because he WAS NOT sworn in under oath to tell the truth. Republican Senator Arlen Specter said it wasn't necessary for him to be sworn in under oath. Do you know what I think of this? It is a waste of everyone's time. The Republicans are just letting this entire administration and their friends (like the oil executives who were not sworn in by Stevens) get away with lying. I am extremely disappointed in Specter, but I guess I am not surprised. This is absolutely disgusting.

CHENEY TOLD LIBBY
According to the UPI---A legal opinion in the Valerie Plame leak case includes new information about how I. Lewis Libby learned she was a CIA officer.

Libby, the only person charged so far, told prosecutors he heard about her from his boss, Vice President Dick Cheney, the New York Times reported.... (My comment: Told ya!)

OHIO'S SEN. DEWINE
Republican Sen. DeWine might be a nice person, but his "questions" today in the Gonzales talk/hearing were weak, at best. How the hell was this guy elected? I did not vote for him.

SENATOR CLINTON SMACKSDOWN Mehlman
NYT: ..."I would suggest that the Washington Republicans worry about these devastating budget cuts, the confusion and bureaucratic nightmare in the prescription drug benefit — that that's where they should be spending their time and energy, instead of trying to divert attention away from their many failures and shortcomings," Mrs. Clinton said...

...Mrs. Clinton said at the news conference that Mr. Bush's budget, if approved, would force layoffs of teachers and new limits on enrollment of children in Head Start programs like the one she visited today at University Settlement, where most of the 300 children are Asian and Hispanic and live in working-class homes.

"The message to children and families could not be clearer: you're on your own," Mrs. Clinton said.

She said the budget would result in $1.24 billion less money for New York under the No Child Left Behind Program and $404 million less in special education money, which, she warned, could lead school districts to try to raise property taxes to cover shortfalls. At the same time, she assailed giving more money for a small-scale program that would provide government assistance for students to attend private schools...

Right on, Hillary. We have witnessed a smackdown!!!!!

The American People are Angry at Republicans

I just don't understand the Republicans. They are always attacking women who speak out. Now Ken Mehlman, chairman of the Republican National Committee is attacking Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton. (In my opinion, this is just Mehlman's way of trying to take our focus off the overwhelming corruption growing like a fungus throughout the Republican Party, especially here in Ohio. It is another example of "don't look over there at the problems, look over here at the pretty sparkles" mentality.) Here is an excerpt from the New York Times:
The chairman of the Republican National Committee, Ken Mehlman, offered a broad attack on Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York today, describing her as a Democrat brimming with anger and a representative of the far-left wing of her party.

Mr. Mehlman disputed the suggestion that Mrs. Clinton had moved to the center of her party. And while he declined to say, in response to a question, if he thought Mrs. Clinton, a former first lady, would be the Republicans' "dream candidate or the Democrat you must dread," he left little doubt that Republicans had settled on new lines of attack on one of the party's leading contenders for the 2008 presidential nomination.

"I don't think the American people, if you look historically, elect angry candidates," he told George Stephanopoulos on "This Week" on ABC....

Mehlman and his party are hurting. They have many candidates with ties to Tom DeLay, Jack Abramoff, Scooter Libby, Duke Cunningham, Bob Ney, Tom Noe, lobbyists, and scandals. Mehlman, has to go on the attack because they don't want people to discuss the Republican Party's lack of ethics.

The American people are angry at the Republicans. Republicans are cutting aid to college students, raising interest rates for college loans; cutting aid to single moms, the elderly, the sick, foster parents; scaling back conservation programs and environmental clean up operations; cutting research in agriculture; cutting medical research. This is all being done because they want to keep those tax cuts in place for the rich. The Republicans also want to keep the war going in Iraq. Republicans think that building roads in Iraq seems to be more important than helping Americans along the gulf coast.

----------------------
Raw Story has the headline from The Guardian: Britain defies US with funding to boost safe abortion services

The British government will today publicly defy the United States by giving money for safe abortion services in developing countries to organisations that have been cut off from American funding.

Nearly 70,000 women and girls died last year because they went to back-street abortionists. Hundreds of thousands of others suffered serious injuries.

Critics of America's aid policy say some might have lived if the US had not withdrawn funding from clinics that provide safe services - or that simply tell women where to find them.

The "global gag" rule, as it has become known, was imposed by President George Bush in 2001. It requires any organisation applying for US funds to sign an undertaking not to counsel women on abortion - other than advising against it - or provide abortion services.

The UK will today become the founder donor of a fund set up specifically to attempt to replace the lost dollars and increase safe abortion services.....

Approximately 70,000 women and girls died because safe, clean, medically supervised abortion clinics were not discussed when the women needed help. These 70,000 women and girls suffered and died needlessly. This is just awful and it is this administration's fault.

Rolling Stone Magazine: Cuts Hurt Us All

Rolling Stone Magazine has an excellent article that shows how the Republican budget cuts are really going to hurt regular folks while saving those tax cuts for the rich. The article explains who will feel the impact of the cuts: College students, single moms, sick, foster parents, and the working poor. The article is worth reading.

Republicans Against Personal Rights and Privacy

OHIO

Republican candidates for Ohio governor, Jim Petro and Kenneth Blackwell, have come out firmly against a woman's right to choose. Women do not need Petro and Blackwell involved in their life changing decisions, but apparently, they both want to be there. Here are some excerpts from the Columbus Dispatch:

...Long an opponent of abortion rights, Blackwell would preclude abortion even if the life of a mother is at stake. In his 2002 re-election campaign, Blackwell took a position to permit an abortion if it were necessary to save a mother’s life.

Petro, who in 2000 switched from favoring abortion rights to opposing them except in cases of rape or incest or when the life of a mother is threatened, now would oppose it in all circumstances except to save a mother’s life. When he ran for attorney general in 2002, Petro retained the three exceptions....

....Blackwell acknowledged this week that he had changed his position, contending that medical advancements have rendered making a choice between a mother’s or a baby’s life extremely rare.

"Medical science proved that doctors don’t make that decision," Blackwell said in an interview Wednesday. Doctors "don’t make decisions, ‘Do we take the mother’s life or do we take the baby’s life?’ The fact is, they make decisions on how to save both lives......"

Blackwell is wrong and he has no medical evidence to support his opinion. There are some rare instances when a woman's pregnancy could endanger her own life. This might include a woman getting pregnant when she has been diagnosed with cancer or women who have had severe complications with previous pregnancies, and have been told not to get pregnant again.

What if your daughter was brutally raped? Your sister? An abortion in a clean, safe, medical center might save her emotional well-being, and her life. Blackwell and Petro are so removed from a typical person's life, they have no business telling us how to live. No one likes abortion, but it must remain safe, legal, and available for women who need it.

I am highly insulted that these men are telling women what they can/cannot do with their bodies. What if I asked personal questions of Petro and Blackwell: Have they taken Viagara, or Cialis? If they have, how often? Have either of them had vasectomies? Have the vasectomies been successful? I think both men would squirm a bit if I asked them those highly personal questions. However, they can't see that they are doing the same thing to women. Democrats must emphasize that Republicans are taking away our rights and our privacy.

KANSAS

Another story in today's Dispatch is about some extreme right wing Kansas Attorney General who wants to investigate the records of abortion clinics. We live in an electronic age. It is possible that this Kansas Atty. Gen'l is fishing for information that could ultimately result in the release of names of abortion patients by "accident" and those names would end up on the internet.

The Kansas Supreme Court yesterday temporarily stopped the state attorney general from looking at records from two abortion clinics, saying such a review could violate patient privacy.

The court ordered a lowercourt judge to make sure that Attorney General Phill Kline has the right to see the documents in his investigation of potential violations of state restrictions on abortion and suspected rapes of children.

If Judge Richard Anderson determines Kline does have that right, the attorney general still must ensure that the patients’ privacy is protected, the court said.

In 2004, Anderson issued subpoenas at Kline’s request for the records of a clinic in Wichita operated by Dr. George Tiller and one in Overland Park, a Kansas City suburb, operated by Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri. The records involve 90 women and girls.

The Supreme Court said the subpoenas could infringe on the patients’ rights to maintain privacy about personal and sexual matters, to receive confidential health care and to obtain a lawful abortion without an undue governmental burden....

What the hell is the matter with Kansas--they promote intelligent design in their schools and now they are trying to get personal medical records of abortion clinics?????? Is there something in the water???

Don't overheat the shredder!!!!

Spotted at the Democratic Underground: From Rock River Times ---
A source inside the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation told Insider magazine that Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has ordered the shredding of documents and public records, a clear violation of Florida law.

The department has oversight and approval of state gaming licensees, slot machines, dog and horse tracks, and jai-alai games.

The source, who asked to remain anonymous, said the governor also has brought in personnel from Texas to replace key members of his staff in Tallahassee. The Texans are overseeing the destruction of state documents, according to the source....

Paper shredding must be a favorite of Republicans: Iran-Contra had paper shredding. G.W. Bush's national guard records allegedly shredded. "Kenny-boy" Lay, of Enron, had documents shredded to cover the company's illegal activities. Now Jeb is shredding.

Air Quality, War Money, and Boehner

Former director of the Environmental Protection Agency, Christie Todd Whitman, was criticized by a federal judge for her "misleading statements of safety" about the air quality near the World Trade Center in the days after the Sept. 11 attack and may have put the public in danger. NYT

Bush will request $120 billion for war funding: Yahoo News What if the Senate and the House refused to fund the war and only provided enough money to bring our service members home? We know that won't happen with the corrupt Republicans in power.

>>>>Fun facts about the new Republican leader, John Boehner:

(1) Rep. John Boehner (R), the Ohio Congressman who is seeking a leadership position among Republicans on Capitol Hill, leads members of Congress from both parties in the number of trips taken since 2000. The trips, paid for by private foundations, companies or organizations, are at the heart of the Jack Abramoff/Bob Ney lobbying scandal. Abramoff pleaded guilty to using free trips in an attempt to get official favors. Ney is believed to be under investigation for trip to Scotland to golf, paid for by Abramoff. Boehner has logged thousands of miles on 39 trips to resort communities like Rancho Mirage, CA, Scottsdale, AZ, Boca Raton, FL, Pebble Beach, CA, West Palm Beach, FL, and St. Petersburg, FL.
Boehner has also traveled extensively overseas to places like Rome, Venice, Paris, Barcelona, Brussels, and two trips to Edinburgh, Scotland. See Boehner's trips here: http://www.politicalmoneyline.com/cgi-win/x_PrivateMember.exe?DoFn=H0OH08029

(2) Boehner thinks "intelligent design" should be taught in Ohio's schools.

(3) Boehner has promised to move a human cloning ban, the Marriage Protection Amendment, and a fetal pain bill through the House if he gains the post...

Summary: Republicans are doing their part to totally mess up our air, our national debt, and our future.

Bush Cutting Budget for Bureau of Indian Affairs

I just saw this posted at Daily Kos. It originated at Indianz.com.
The Bush administration has made an across-the-board cut to the Bureau of Indian Affairs budget, blaming the reduction on the Cobell trust fund lawsuit.
In an unprecedented letter to tribal leaders, associate Interior deputy secretary Jim Cason announced a $3 million cut to the BIA budget. He said the administration failed to plan for attorney's fees awarded as part of the Cobell case even though the request for fees was pending for more than a year.
As a result, Cason said the BIA forked over $2 million from an account used to "reimburse tribal attorney's fees" and an additional $1 million came from an across-the-board rescission of tribal programs.
Additionally, the Office of Historical Trust Accounting and the Office of Special Trustee -- whose budgets have exploded since the start of the administration while BIA funding has remained flat -- contributed, Cason said. But their share only amounted to $2.3 million, according to the January 26 letter.
Finally, the Department of Treasury -- a named defendant in the suit whose officials were found in contempt of court and whose actions violated the trust responsibility -- contributed about $1.8 million, leaving the BIA to bear the brunt of the administration's failure to plan for the attorney's fees, which totaled $7.1 million....

These cuts just keep coming: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Medicaid, college loans, help for the elderly, etc., etc. This administration and their appointees have no heart or common sense.

Horse Lovers Don't Love Conrad Burns

Everybody LOVES horses, except Conrad Burns. Republican Sen. Conrad Burns has a reputation that puts him solidly against horse lovers. Just do a GOOGLE search with the terms conrad burns horses, and you'll find a wealth of information. Check here and here and here. Tell Burns, who is running for re-election in Montana, your opinions by visiting his contact page.

Republicans Pay Republicans for Votes

Things are so desperate in the Republican House leadership, that candidates have to pay other representatives for their votes. I find this incredible. Apparently, the Republicans have to be paid to vote for their leader. Why aren't they voting for the best qualified person? Where the heck are they getting all this money? The Hill has the story and you may wish to read the entire article. Here are some excerpts:

Acting House Majority Leader Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Education and the Workforce Chairman John Boehner (R-Ohio) gave nearly $270,000 to colleagues from their leadership political action committees less than a month before Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) renounced his claim to the post of majority leader....

...Boehner gave $150,000 to 30 Republican colleagues on Dec. 15, according to his filing for the Freedom Project, his leadership PAC. He also gave contributions of $5,000 each to Republican candidates John Gard of Wisconsin and Jim Jordan of Ohio....

...And 14 Republicans receiving money from Boehner have declared their intention to vote for him. They are Reps. Gresham Barrett (S.C.), Charles Boustany (La.), Steve Chabot (Ohio.), Melissa Hart (Pa.), Joe Knollenberg (Mich.), Steve LaTourette (Ohio), Thaddeus McCotter (Mich.), Steve Pearce (N.M.), Porter, Pombo, Dennis Rehberg (Mont.), Jean Schmidt (Ohio) and Lee Terry (Neb.)....

Got money? Meet the Republican Leadership!

Raw Story has an article about how one Abramoff client met Republican leaders, including Bush, and gave big money. There are pictures this time! Here are some excerpts:

Abramoff firm gave $50,000 more to GOP congressional campaigns seven months after visits

Eleven million dollars can buy a lot of access in Washington. Especially if your lobbyist is Jack Abramoff.

Take Beningo Fitial, the current governor of the Northern Marianas Islands, a U.S. territory in the Pacific. He and his company, along with their trade lobby and funds doled out by the islands at his prodding, spent $11.5 million dollars lobbying Washington between 1995 and 2002. Now he says he wants his money back -- but he continues to maintain that Abramoff protected his island's interests...

In January 2001, Fitial enjoyed the inauguration of President George W. Bush.

Three months later, in April, Fitial met Bush a second time. He also met then-Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS). Then he stopped in for visit with Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL).

In other words—Abramoff seems to have arranged for a non-head of state for a tiny island in the Pacific to meet with the three most powerful men in the United States of America. But that’s not all: Fitial also met with then-Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-TX) and Senate Interior Department Appropriations Chairman Conrad Burns (R-MT). Fitial appears in photographs with Burns and Delay....

...Six months after his visit to Capitol Hill, Fitial’s family’s companies donated $50,000 to the National Senatorial Campaign Committee...

Here is another little story about DeLay.

My take on all this: The Northern Marianas Islands bring in workers, mostly women, from the Philippines and South East Asia. The prospective workers pay a finders fee for the jobs, up to $7,000, and are told they are going to work in the United States. Unfortunately, the workers are brought to the Northern Marianas Islands where they work long hours seven days per week and are housed in substandard barracks. Women have been forced into prostitution and have been forced to have abortions. These conditions have been supported by Tom DeLay and every person who met with Fitial. Why haven't we heard from the far right Christian conservatives about the plight of these workers?

Senator Obama

There is an excellent article in the American Prospect about Democratic Senator Barack Obama. Here is an exceprt from the article:

...Obama wants nothing less than to redefine progressive values, make them more universal, and unite the country around them. His staggering 72 percent approval rating in Illinois -- a number that reflects strong support not only in and around Democratic Chicago, but from Republican downstate as well -- shows he may be figuring out how to do that. His first year in the Senate suggests a man on a long, ambitious, and intricate journey. It’s not too much to say that the future of the Democratic Party, and maybe even the country, could be profoundly affected by where that journey ends...

.....And other stuff-----
The following comments about the president's speech are from The Akron Beacon Journal:

"A former oil executive telling us we are addicted to oil is like a tobacco company executive complaining that their employees take too many smoke breaks. Exxon made almost $11 billion last quarter, while Americans are paying surging prices to fill their gas tanks and heat their homes." - Paul Hackett, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate

"The economy is not good, and I don't know how anyone can say it is." - 29-year-old Angela Newberry of the middle-class Dayton suburb of Huber Heights; Newberry is a Democrat and union member who works at auto parts supplier Delphi Corp. along with her husband, Shawn

(**Note: Bush was an oil executive before he was elected to office in Texas.)

Norm Coleman

After Republican Senator Norm Coleman met with the Australian Ambassador, an investigation of an Australian wheat exporter was stopped. The Daily Telegraph has the story. I wonder what the Minnesota wheat farmers think of their senator lobbying for Australian wheat?

Exxon-Mobil

Exxon-Mobil's profit was $36 billion. Amazing. I don't own any of their stock, but I do have a suggestion for Exxon-Mobil. In order to improve their image, they should take $1 billion of their money and help to rebuild the 9th ward of New Orleans. They could rebuild a few schools, several thousand houses, a couple of libraries, and maybe throw in a community center. (They could call it the E-M Community Center, for Exxon Mobil). This type of philanthropy in the face of their obscene profits would really be a good deed that they could brag about in the news. If they had money left over from their $1 billion, they could work on another neighborhood in Louisiana, Mississippi, or Alabama. The Exxon-Mobil people would inspire other corporations to do similar good deeds. Do I really think Exxon-Mobil would do anything like this proposal? No. They are too greedy.

Coretta Scott King

It was sad to hear about the death of Coretta Scott King. Mrs. King, and her husband, Dr. Martin Luther King, made many sacrifices in order to work for civil rights for all Americans. Our thoughts and prayers are with the King family.
Articles about Mrs. King: NYT ABC MSNBC

Weasel

Republican Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina reminds me of a weasel. He is full of bravado because a member of the majority party. DeMint follows the Republican leadership without question. He says Democrats stand for nothing and have not proposed anything. The Republicans control both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Many times, Democrats have been locked out of committee meetings. When Democrats ask to have a bill brought to the floor, the Republican leadership will not put it on the agenda. Republicans only work on bills that favor their lobbyist friends, not their constituents.

Democrats stand for people. Do you think if Democrats were in power that we would have invaded Iraq? NO! Our young men and women would be alive, not injured and fighting for their veterans medical benefits. If a Democrat had been in the White House, we would not have had the catastrophe on the gulf coast following the hurricanes. Why? A Democratic President would have reacted immediately to the crisis and had a competent FEMA director in place (not someone like HECKUVA JOB, BROWNIE ) organizing help/rescue/recovery. If the Democrats were the majority party, we would not have our elderly confused and befuddled by the Medicare Drug Plan which rewards the large pharmaceutical companies. We also would not have teachers dealing with the unfunded No Child Left Behind federal mandate.

DeMint, you are ridiculous----but that is only my humble opinion.

Who knew?????

This morning, Rachel Maddow was talking about Toby Keith on her radio show. Toby Keith is a Democrat! Whoa! Here are some excerpts from an article about his political beliefs:

...I'll never be ashamed of that song ("Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue"). That song was written about 9-11 and the Taliban and al Qaeda. That had nothing to do with the Iraq war. I got lumped in with that. There's nothing I can do about that. I'm not gonna run around and try to put all those fires out. There are so many of those ignorant rants about that that you just have to...

This is my favorite one. I'm a lifetime registered Democrat. That completely freaks people out. I helped to campaign in Oklahoma (for Democratic Gov. Brad Henry)...

...I always vote for the guy who can get it done. And it ain't nobody's business who I vote for, but I voted for Clinton twice. And that just blows people's minds when they hear that. And here's the thing. Just because you're pro-troops doesn't mean you're pro-war. And just because you're anti-war don't mean you're anti-troops.

Just because you don't support the war people think you're anti-troops and you're a bad guy. And just because you go support the troops and rah-rah the troops up all of a sudden you're pro-war. Those are the two biggest misconceptions of the whole thing.

The lifetime card-carrying Democrat, that kills 'em. The guys who hammer me would give anything if I would just turn coat; they want me so bad to be a Republican that it just kills 'em. But I'm not. It would make it so much easier to hate me, you know what I mean. It just destroys their attack on me when they find out I voted for Clinton twice and that I'm a Democrat."

I suggest you read the entire article because it will enlighten you.

Nobody Saw It Coming

Because this administration has failed to do the homework, they've screwed up again. From the New York Times:
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice acknowledged Sunday that the United States had failed to understand the depth of hostility among Palestinians toward their longtime leaders. The hostility led to an election victory by the militant group Hamas that has reduced to tatters crucial assumptions underlying American policies and hopes in the Middle East.
"I've asked why nobody saw it coming," Ms. Rice said, speaking of her own staff. "It does say something about us not having a good enough pulse..."

Paul Bremer said the same thing about the insurgency in Iraq. ABC News:
Paul Bremer, who led the U.S. civilian occupation authority in Iraq after the 2003 invasion, has admitted the United States did not anticipate the insurgency in the country, NBC Television said on Friday.
Bremer, interviewed by the network in connection with release of his book on Iraq, recounted the decision to disband the Iraqi army quickly after arriving in Baghdad, a move many experts consider a major miscalculation.
When asked who was to blame for the subsequent Iraqi rebellion, in which thousands of Iraqis and Americans have died, Bremer said "we really didn't see the insurgency coming," the network said in a news release...

This phrase, 'nobody saw it coming,' must be one that this Republican administration likes to use.
1. They said that the didn't see the attacks of 9/11 coming despite the August 2001 PDB (presidential daily briefing) that said: Bin Laden determined to attack U.S.
2. They used the phrase when the levees failed in New Orleans. They had been warned before, but did nothing. (Media Matters)

Why can't they do their homework? Why didn't they plan for problems? These people need to read, study the problems, research solutions, plan extensively, discuss, evaluate, and have strategies/resources available to respond. (They didn't do any of these things before, during, or after the gulf hurricanes.)

I like these two quotes (even though I don't know their origins.)
*******The failure to plan is a plan for failure.
*******Plan for success.

Even now, while our young men and women are in Iraq, they still have not planned an exit strategy.

Of Cars and Hurricanes

With the prospects of higher gas prices, Americans seem to be staying away from the SUV's. The hybrids are a great way to save gas and they're good for the environment. The Honda Civic Hybrids are available at most Honda dealers, and the Toyota Prius might be available in larger numbers soon. As a proud owner of a Honda Civic Hybrid, I can tell you that I am getting great gas mileage (45-51 mpg highway/35-44 city).

Another alternative to the current line up of cars, is the Smart Car. These cars are made by Daimler-Chrysler, and were expected to be available this year in the USA. The Smart Car is available in Europe.

Did you know that hundreds of thousands of cars were damaged during last year's hurricanes? Be very careful if you plan to buy a used car.

A New York Times article paints a confused, slow to respond White House just before and immediately after Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast. The article may leave us wondering if this administration has the ability to respond to any emergency. Some excerpts follow: The White House was beset by the "fog of war" in the crucial days immediately after Hurricane Katrina, leaving it unable to respond properly to the unfolding catastrophe, House investigators said Friday after getting the most detailed briefing yet on how President Bush's staff had handled the events....
...The White House, Mr. Rapuano said, finally received confirmation about the levee breach about 6 a.m. on Tuesday, the morning after it occurred. But even then, it does not appear that word got immediately to Mr. Bush, who was on vacation and who later said that he had had a "sense of relaxation" and had thought the city had "dodged a bullet."

"We are left with a picture of a White House that was plagued by the fog of war," said David Marin, the Republican staff director to the House committee investigating the government's response to the hurricane. "The committee is likely to find a disturbing inability by the White House to de-conflict and analyze information — and that had consequences..."

Bush Presidency is a Failure

Bloomberg is reporting this latest poll:

A majority of Americans said the presidency of George W. Bush has been a failure and that they would be more likely to vote for congressional candidates who oppose him, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll.

Fifty-two percent of adults said Bush's administration since 2001 has been a failure, down from 55 percent in October. Fifty- eight percent described his second term as a failure. At the same point in former President Bill Clinton's presidency, 70 percent of those surveyed by Gallup said they considered it a success and 20 percent a failure.

In a poll conducted in January of 2002, after Bush was president for one year, 83 percent of those surveyed said his presidency was a success.

In the new poll, conducted Jan. 20-22, fifty-one percent of those surveyed said they would be more likely to vote for congressional candidates who do not support Bush's policies.....

Let me sum up the poll---
Bush = failure
Clinton Presidency = SUCCESS

----------------------
Right wing writer and Republican anorexic, Ann Coulter, suggested today that a Supreme Court Justice should be poisoned. Now before you read the entire article, I want you to imagine what would happen if a regular American said the same thing. The article can be found HERE. Is there a penalty for this? Will there be domestic spying started on Ann Coulter? Will Sean Hannity, her puppy dog, rescue Coulter from the FBI and Homeland Security?????

Government Spying on Vegans

Why is our government wasting time and money doing domestic spying on VEGANS????? ( VEGANISM may be defined as a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as possible and practical, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose.) According to Channel 11 News, in Atlanta, there are pictures (shown at the Channel 11 website) and documents available that show the extent of the government's misguided domestic spying:

The ACLU of Georgia released copies of government files on Wednesday that illustrate the extent to which the FBI, the DeKalb County Division of Homeland Security and other government agencies have gone to compile information on Georgians suspected of being threats simply for expressing controversial opinions....

...The government file lists anti-war protesters in Atlanta as threats, the ACLU said. The ACLU of Georgia accuses the Bush administration of labeling those who disagree with its policy as disloyal Americans.

"We believe that spying on American citizens for no good reason is fundamentally un-American, that it's not the place of the goverment or the best use of resources to spy on its own citizens and we want it to stop. We want the spies in our government to pack their bags, close up their notebooks, take their cameras home and not engage in the spying anymore," Gerald Weber of the ACLU of Georgia said during a news conference.

"We have heard of not a single, government surveillance of a pro-war group," Weber said. "And I doubt we will ever hear of a single surveillance of a pro-war group..."

Incredible! I guess a citizen's right of freedom of speech no longer exists.

Oprah Winfrey Rules the World!!!

Today I watched Oprah Winfrey sit on her tan-colored leather chair and keep her anger under control. Any regular viewer could notice that Oprah was not happy. James Frey, the author of a book titled, A Million Little Pieces, was on the hot seat about the authenticity of his book. The book was labeled as a non-fiction account of Frey's problems with substance abuse.

Frey's book had been on Oprah's "book club" selection. Initially, she had felt moved by the book. Unfortunately for Mr. Frey, Oprah discovered that Frey's account was exaggerated and fiction. Several sources (like The Smoking Gun) were able to track down the lies in the book. The hour was amazing. Oprah Winfrey took apart major events in the book and got Frey to admit his lack of accuracy.

Gawker has some good pictures and comments.
The New York Times has an article about the program.

MSNBC has article that says in the first few paragraphs:

In a stunning switch from dismissive to disgusted, Oprah Winfrey took on one of her chosen authors, James Frey, accusing him on live television of lying about “A Million Little Pieces” and letting down the many fans of his memoir of addiction and recovery.

“I feel duped,” she said Thursday on her syndicated talk show. “But more importantly, I feel that you betrayed millions of readers.”

Frey, who found himself booed in the same Chicago studio where he had been embraced not long ago, acknowledged that he had lied....

It was clearly the best show I've seen in a long, long time. I hope that every reporter who covers our government saw that and learned something from it.

If you have seen the Open Letter to Chris Matthews blog, you must visit. There are ways for you to participate. Today, Matthews insulted Latinos.

Thin Green Line and Domestic Spying

Domestic Spying
The President does not want people to call the domestic spying he is doing "domestic spying." Oh. Well, I don't agree.
I am against domestic spying. I am against domestic spying. I am against domestic spying. I am against domestic spying. I am against domestic spying. I am against domestic spying. I am against domestic spying. I am against domestic spying.

How do they know the telephone numbers of terrorists? If you've made a phone call to a relative overseas, how are we sure that it wasn't wiretapped without a warrant? This administration has lied to us before (medicare drug plan, rebuilding the gulf coast after the hurricanes, war in Iraq would be short, the tax cuts would boost the economy, Plame leak case, protecting our troops with armor, they had no warning before 9/11, etc.) and why wouldn't they lie to us again?

>>The Thin Green Line
A new report indicates that the Army is stretched to the limit. MSNBC quotes the Associated Press. Here are some excerpts:
Stretched by frequent troop rotations to Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army has become a “thin green line” that could snap unless relief comes soon, according to a study for the Pentagon.

Andrew Krepinevich, a retired Army officer who wrote the report under a Pentagon contract, concluded that the Army cannot sustain the pace of troop deployments to Iraq long enough to break the back of the insurgency. He also suggested that the Pentagon’s decision, announced in December, to begin reducing the force in Iraq this year was driven in part by a realization that the Army was overextended....

...Rep. John Murtha, the Pennsylvania Democrat and Vietnam veteran, created a political storm last fall when he called for an early exit from Iraq, arguing that the Army was “broken, worn out” and fueling the insurgency by its mere presence. Administration officials have hotly contested that view....

Hmmmm. It appears that Democratic Rep. John Murtha was correct!

On the other hand, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, disagrees with the report. (Unfortunately, I caught part of Rumsfeld's news conference today. He was rude and he tap-danced around answers. All we want is the truth! Can't this administration tell us the truth?)

The Mercury News has the story:
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Wednesday rejected two new reports - including one ordered by his own office - warning that the Iraq war has strained the Army to the breaking point.

In an "interim assessment" of the Iraq war commissioned by the Office of the Secretary Defense, former Army officer Andrew Krepinevich said the strain of keeping large numbers of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan has reduced the Army to a "thin green line."

...Rumsfeld rejected their conclusions, saying the Army had met its goals for recruiting in each of the last seven months even though the goals were raised as part of a plan to boost the size of the force by 30,000.

He added that the Army exceeded its goal for retention - the number of soldiers re-enlisting and officers extending their commissions - in fiscal 2005, which ended Sept. 30.

"The force is not broken," Rumsfeld declared. Moreover, he said, "It's battle-hardened. It's not a peacetime force that has been in barracks or garrisons."

The Army fell 6,667 troops short of its fiscal 2005 recruiting goal of 80,000 and the Army Reserve missed its goal by 4,626....

http://icasualties.org/oif/: 2237 Americans have been killed in Iraq. Also, during this same news conference, Rumsfeld managed to blame the Clinton administration. Can't this administration take responsibility for anything?

>>New Orleans
It looks like that Orleans will not get any special help for rebuilding. Are you surprised? I'm not. The Times-Picayune has the sad news:
In a severe blow to state and local plans for rebuilding hurricane-devastated areas, the Bush administration Tuesday came out against a homeowner bailout proposal that many Louisianians say is the key to economic recovery and the rebirth of a redesigned New Orleans...

The administration's opposition to the Baker bill drew sharp criticism from Louisiana officials who say the Community Development Block Grant financing isn't enough to cover the state's critical housing needs.

"Clearly the $6 billion isn't enough," Baker said. "It ignores the vital recovery in the parishes of Orleans, St. Bernard, Cameron and parts of Plaquemines. That is unacceptable."

The Louisiana Recovery Authority, the panel established by Gov. Kathleen Blanco to oversee the state's recovery plans, estimated that 217,245 homes were destroyed during Katrina and Rita. Baker's bill would have drawn on federal financing to pay owners of flood-damaged property at least 60 percent of the equity in their homes and also would have paid off their mortgages....

This administration believes that rebuilding Iraq is more important. Overpaying Halliburton is more important than helping Americans.

Jean Schmidt: Out in Right Field

Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt (OH-2), the sweetheart of the Ohio Republican Party, is obviously not dealing with reality. She had a guest column in a little local newspaper and her comments were over the top, and wrong. Here are some excerpts:
...As the year draws to a close our economy is strong, and growing stronger. I was very encouraged by a recent report from the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics that pointed to the creation of 215,000 new jobs in the month of November alone. In fact, in the past 12 months, the economy has created nearly 2.2 million jobs...
Fact: Ohio's unemployment is 5.9% (up from 5.7%).

...I was pleased that my colleagues in the House could work together to support a bill, called the Border Protection, Antiterrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005, that among other things, enhances Border Patrol operations, confronts the problem of alien gangs and promotes both international and domestic policies that will deter further illegal entry into the United States...
Fact: This bill is considered by many as anti-immigration, and anti-Latino.

...Other accomplishments include passing a comprehensive energy bill that helps ensure America's energy security, a class action fairness bill that curbs frivolous lawsuits and a bankruptcy reform bill that protects consumers and small businesses...
Fact: The Oil and Gas companies are making billions of dollars, and our gasoline and heating bills are going higher. The lawsuit and bankruptcy bills just help the corporations and banks squeeze every last dollar out of the American family.

Conclusion: Jean Schmidt has done nothing except to be the mouthpiece of the corrupt Republican leadership.

Bill, Harry, and Sam

FORD---
From MSNBC: Newsweek indicates that Ford has gotten tax breaks while they've cut jobs. You'd think that someone at Ford with some morals would say, "We don't deserve this tax break because we aren't holding up our part of the requirements." Nooooooo. Once again I must say that I have sympathy for the workers but not for the directors, owners, and managers. We haven't owned a Ford since the 1970's. Sorry, Bill Ford, we will never buy a Ford again.

SENATOR HARRY REID sets the record straight with his speech about this administration. Raw Story has the speech. Give 'em hell, Harry! Some of that speech:

..Watching the video earlier, I was reminded of another lesson from college, this one taken from George Orwell and his book, 1984.
In that book, Orwell spoke of “doublespeak” - naming something just the opposite, in order to cover how unpleasant it is in reality.
As we saw in the video, the President has been giving us doublespeak for years. He utters platitudes about helping Americans, when he’s really helping his special interest friends.
When he wanted to let energy companies release more pollution into the air, he called it the “Clear Skies Initiative.”
When he wanted to give tax breaks to his special interest friends – even though it meant adding more than $50 billion to the deficit, he called it the “Deficit Reduction Act.”
His “Leave No Child Behind Act” is leaving children behind every day because he refuses to fund it. And his new Medicare drug benefit hardly resembles a “benefit” for seniors....

ALITO
The Alito vote is coming soon. Will there be any Republicans who will vote no on his nomination? We can only hope. The Mercury News has an article that indicates that Alito on the court could bring significant changes. Here are some excerpts:

The Senate Judiciary Committee moved Samuel Alito one step closer to a lifetime seat on the Supreme Court on Tuesday, where he could immediately shift the court's stance on high-profile issues such as abortion, the death penalty, religion and executive power.

Yet it is Alito's vision of judicial restraint and a limited role for courts - a vision he shares with new Chief Justice John G. Roberts - that could produce an even more fundamental change in the high court...

Alito won't likely see the partial-birth abortion ban the same way O'Connor did in 2000, when she cast the deciding vote to strike it down because it lacked a health exception...

As the court begins to consider challenges to the Bush administration's bold assertions of executive authority, Alito's record suggests strongly that he'll be more deferential than O'Connor was.

"I don't think there's any question that Alito, like Roberts, will be voting an awful lot with Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas," said Garrow, referring to the court's most conservative jurists....