Another Loss

Ohio has lost another young person in Iraq. Announcement from DOD:

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Sgt. 1st Class Daniel B. Crabtree, 31, of Canton, Ohio, died in Al Kut, Iraq, of injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV during combat operations. Crabtree was assigned to the Army National Guard's 2nd Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group, Columbus, Ohio.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Crabtree had been a police officer before joining the military. LINK

The American military deaths in Iraq is rapidly approaching 2,500 and still there is no exit strategy.

If you will be in Columbus, Ohio, you may want to stop and view the EMPTY BOOTS:

Ohio Statehouse West Lawn
High St. Downtown Columbus
(from Broad to State Streets)
Opening Ceremony 11:00 am Monday, June 12th, 2006
Exhibition will run through Wednesday, June 14th, 2006

American Friends Service Committee’s widely-acclaimed exhibition on the human cost of the Iraq War, makes a 3-day stop in Columbus as part of a 70 city international tour.

Ann Coulter is the Face of the Republican Party

Ann Coulter is the face of the Republican Party. Remember that every single time you think of Republicans. Here in Ohio, Rod Parsley's World Harvest Church, invited Ann Coulter to speak at an information meeting several months ago. When you invite, schedule, and sponsor someone like Coulter, you are associating yourself with her beliefs. Therefore, it would be safe to assume that most members of the World Harvest Church agree with Ann Coulter. There is a picture of Ann Coulter with Alan Keyes and Rev. Rod Parsley.

With all that Coulter has said in attacking the widows of 9/11, we have not heard any Republican leaders objecting to her views. Do the Republicans agree with her? Do they support her views? Do they agree with the names she has called these widows? I think that Republicans agree with Coulter. By not condemning her views, the Republicans show us that they support Coulter. This is why the Republican Party is so out of touch with mainstream Americans.

Another Day, More Ohio GOP Corruption

There is an interesting article about how the Ohio GOP rigged the 2004 election and this time the names include both Tom and Bernadette Noe. Media Monitors has the story and here is an excerpt:

...The dirty tricks in Lucas Country started long before election day. For instance, the Democratic headquarters was broken into and key voter data was stolen.

In the months before the election, when voting rights activists tried to challenge the Republican Secretary of State, Ken Blackwell's partisan handling of provisional ballots in court, Tom Noe intervened on Blackwell's behalf. Blackwell also served as co-chair for the Ohio Bush-Cheney campaign,

While Tom handled the court business, Bernadette worked to reverse the Ohio tradition of allowing provisional ballots to be cast in precincts other than the one in which voters were registered and helped disenfranchise many inner-city Toledo Democratic voters.

On November 2, 2004, during the election, inner city voting machines broke down and polls opened late. The Toledo Blade reported that the sole machine at the Birmingham polling site in east Toledo broke down at about 7 am, and that per order of Secretary Blackwell, there were no paper ballots available for backup....

And...The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that GOP candidate for governor is trying to discourage voting. Won't these Republicans ever stop trying to interfere with the citizen's right to vote? Will Republicans continue to lie, cheat, and steal in order to keep control of Ohio and the country??? It looks like the GOP will go to any lengths, to stay in power. When will Ohioans throw the Republican bums out of office?

Olbermann and Letterman

Last night both Keith Olbermann and David Letterman had a few things to say about Ann Coulter's book and her recent remarks.

Crooks and Liars has the video from Keith Olbermann of MSNBC's Countdown.

David Letterman (sorry I don't have the video) said the following about Coulter (I'm paraphrasing): Al Gore's new movie "An Inconvenient Truth" is in the theaters. Gore is going to do a new movie about Ann Coulter and it will be called "An Inconvenient Bitch." I guess you can say Letterman has no love for Coulter.

Ohio Republicans Messing With Voting

Ohio's voting fiasco has come to the attention of the New York Times.

...The latest sign that Republicans have an election-year strategy to shut down voter registration drives comes from Ohio. As the state gears up for a very competitive election season this fall, its secretary of state, J. Kenneth Blackwell, has put in place "emergency" regulations that could hit voter registration workers with criminal penalties for perfectly legitimate registration practices. The rules are so draconian they could shut down registration drives in Ohio....

...But there is one clear way that Ohio's election system is corrupt. Decisions about who can vote are being made by a candidate for governor. Mr. Blackwell should hand over responsibility for elections to a decision maker whose only loyalty is to the voters and the law.

Ohio is a shining example of Republican corruption. Congratulations, Republicans, for corrupting everything you touch!

Raw Story: Ohio's two Republican Senators DeWine and Voinovich wanted to bring the ban on gay marriage to a vote. DeWine and Voinovich must feel like their being attacked by gays so much so that they would waste valuable time to vote on this Republican political ploy. Shame on DeWine and Voinovich! Don't they know there are more pressing issues in this country than banning gay marriage???? For heaven's sake, Ohio has lost 110 young men and women in Iraq. Why aren't they debating the reason for the war? What about doing something for the gulf coast? How about those Ohio jobs we don't have? Why aren't they talking about rising college tuition?

A.M. Horror Show

It was like watching a horror show---right wing skank, Ann Coulter, was on the Today Show. Coulter was her usual frightening self. She looked a little hung over and the dark roots of her hair needed a touch up. She seemed unable to comprehend some of the questions Matt Lauer asked. I did hear the Today Show crowd boo her a couple of times.

Is Coulter the only woman who still supports the Republican Party?

Operation: Wasting Time

You know things are tough for the Republicans when they start having debates on topics that only distract people from the tough issues of the day. All the Republicans are doing now is wasting time, money, and energy. As Senator Reid of Nevada said today, according to Raw Story: According to Reid, the Republicans will be debating...

A new energy policy? NO.

Will we debate the raging war in Iraq? NO.

Will we address our staggering national debt? NO.

Will we address the seriousness of global warming – NO

Will we address the aging of America? NO.

Will we address America’s education dilemma? NO.

Will we address rising crime statistics? NO.

Will we debate our county’s trade imbalance? NO.

Will we debate Stem Cell Research? NO.

But what we will spend most of the week on is a constitutional amendment that will fail by a large margin, a constitutional amendment on Same Sex Marriage—an effort that failed to pick up a simple majority, when we recently voted on it. Remember, an Amendment to our Constitution requires 67 votes.....

It is no wonder that the Republicans have lost the support and the respect of the American people. They are clearly out of touch.

My husband and I have been married for over thirty years. During those years we've never ever felt like our marriage was being attacked by gays. (Where the heck do these Republicans come up with these issues????) All the Republicans are trying to do is distract us from the real problems in our nation. These Republicans are trying to appease the far right religious extremists in this country. Shame on the Republicans.

Republicans: Incompetent

Today President George W. Bush and his Republican Party will start attacking gays. Will Vice President Cheney be in the Rose Garden when Bush gives his speech for an amendment to ban gay marriage? It is clear that the Republican Party and their leadership just don't understand the real problems facing Americans today. The Republicans would rather fly flags and attack gays instead of showing real leadership by working on problems this nation faces. Shame on this Republican administration and their elected officials. Yesterday, Democratic Senator Joe Biden of Delaware said it best as he spoke with Tim Russert about the Republicans. Here are some excerpts: (Transcript from Meet the Press, June 4, 2006)

MR. RUSSERT: The president used his radio address yesterday, and tomorrow in the Rose Garden, to talk about a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

SEN. BIDEN: You know, think about this. The world’s going to Hades in a handbasket. We are desperately concerned about the circumstance relating to avian flu—we don’t have enough vaccines, we don’t have enough police officers—and we’re going to debate, the next three weeks, I’m told, gay marriage, a flag amendment, and God only knows what else....

and....

SEN. BIDEN: A fascinating thing Katrina did. Katrina not only blew away the Gulf, it blew away the illusion that these guys were competently able to deal with the real problems that Americans face. And I think this just highlights the fact they have no intention, they have no plan, to deal with health care. They have no plan to deal with our national security. They have no plan to deal with the energy crisis. They have no—I mean, gasoline’s going up an incredible amount. I’ve got a bill, along with others, saying, look, make every single automobile company—by the year 2008 or 9, depending on which one you pick—have flex-fuel automobiles. Make every gas station in America have to have a flex-fuel pump. That would fundamentally begin to alter importation....

Incompetent: The word accurately describes the Republicans. The control the entire federal government and the state of Ohio and they've achieved absolutely NOTHING.

Republican Hypocrisy

1. Republican Sen. Norm Coleman voted against port security 5 times. What a jerk! LINK

2. This week both the Republican controlled Senate and the House will debate protecting marriage and flag burning. These are the top two most important items on the Republican agenda. Are they nuts???? The country is going down the tubes with rising interest rates, loss of jobs, lack of funding for No Child Left Behind, a senior drug benefit program that rewards drug companies, rising college tuition, poor port security, a plan to cut air traffic controllers and hire people at minimum wage, rising gas prices, a heavy dependence on imported oil, an FDA that is controlled by right wing zealots, a failure to assist in the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast, etc, etc, etc. No wonder 70% of Americans believe this country in on the wrong track.

Need more info about GOP corruption? Try these sites:
http://www.slate.com/id/2110601/
http://www.benfrank.net/nuke/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=304
http://liberalslikechrist.org/about/gopcorruption.html
http://www.campustimes.org/media/storage/paper371/news/2005/11/17/Opinions/Gop-Corruption.Threatens.The.Nation-1107929.shtml?norewrite200606041431&sourcedomain=www.campustimes.org
http://www.politicalcortex.com/keyword/GOP%20corruption
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/06/04/MNGAKJ85GJ1.DTL&type=politics
http://www.rushlimbaughonline.com/articles/republican_corruption.htm
http://www.opednews.com/votergate2004.htm
http://corruptrepub.blogspot.com/2005/08/target-corrupt-republican-ohio.html
http://www.columbusdispatch.com/news-story.php?story=166155

Get a Daily Dose of Stephanie Miller and Keith Olbermann

I start my day by listening to the Stephanie Miller Show. Stephanie's radio program is part of the Jones Radio Network. If Stephanie's show is not available in your area, visit http://www.stephaniemiller.com for more information.

Keith Olbermann's Countdown on MSNBC is part of our regular viewing habits in our house. Last night, Keith, put the smackdown on Bill O'Reilly. Apparently, O'Reilly continues to blame WWII American troops for a massacre that took place in Malmedy, France. The massacre was done by the Nazis. O'Reilly, who professes to not spin, is just plain lying about Malmedy. Why does O'Reilly hate American troops? I think that every VFW branch in the USA should write and call O'Reilly and force him to correct his mistake. To view the Keith Olbermann tape from last night, visit Crooks and Liars: Olbermann exposes O'Reilly on Malmedy.

Did Ohio Republicans Fix Elections in 2004?

The article, Was the 2004 Election Stolen? has been posted at the Rolling Stone website. As a person living in Ohio, the center of Republican corruption, I believe that it is very possible. Here is an excerpt from the article:

....The reports were especially disturbing in Ohio, the critical battleground state that clinched Bush's victory in the electoral college. Officials there purged tens of thousands of eligible voters from the rolls, neglected to process registration cards generated by Democratic voter drives, shortchanged Democratic precincts when they allocated voting machines and illegally derailed a recount that could have given Kerry the presidency. A precinct in an evangelical church in Miami County recorded an impossibly high turnout of ninety-eight percent, while a polling place in inner-city Cleveland recorded an equally impossible turnout of only seven percent. In Warren County, GOP election officials even invented a nonexistent terrorist threat to bar the media from monitoring the official vote count....

...A review of the available data reveals that in Ohio alone, at least 357,000 voters, the overwhelming majority of them Democratic, were prevented from casting ballots or did not have their votes counted in 2004(12) -- more than enough to shift the results of an election decided by 118,601 votes.(13) (See Ohio's Missing Votes) In what may be the single most astounding fact from the election, one in every four Ohio citizens who registered to vote in 2004 showed up at the polls only to discover that they were not listed on the rolls, thanks to GOP efforts to stem the unprecedented flood of Democrats eager to cast ballots.(14) And that doesn?t even take into account the troubling evidence of outright fraud, which indicates that upwards of 80,000 votes for Kerry were counted instead for Bush. That alone is a swing of more than 160,000 votes -- enough to have put John Kerry in the White House (15).....

Do yourself a favor and read the article at Rolling Stone.

Is Santorum Tanking?

It appears that all the fuss about Republican Sen. Rick Santorum's residency might be contributing to his falling poll numbers. According to Angus Reid, Democratic candidate Bob Casey has widened his lead. Here is an excerpt: Democratic Party candidate Bob Casey has extended his advantage in Pennsylvania’s election to the United States Senate, according to a poll by Rasmussen Reports. 56 per cent of respondents in the Keystone State would vote for Casey, while 33 per cent would support Republican incumbent Rick Santorum....

Bruce is Still the Boss

Last night I had privilege of seeing Bruce Springsteen in concert at the Germain Amphitheater. Bruce is currently on a world tour to promote his new album, We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. One of his most moving songs was "Bring Them Home" and I don't think there was a dry eye in the audience. Although I've seen Springsteen in concert many times before, I can honestly say that this was definitely one of my favorites. Bruce was inspiring, fun, and absolutely phenomenal.

To get a real review of the concert, read Curtis Schieber's piece in the Dispatch. Pictures from the show can be found here. If you are interested, the Dispatch also has a story about the rise of protest songs as President Bush's failures increase.


****With the Bush administration cutting more funding for research, it is important that we as citizens do our part to help promote science and research. If you are interested in providing support for the American Cancer Society, I'd suggest you visit the website for the Columbus Cattle Baron's Ball and see how you can help this important event.

Santorum Story Won't Stop

Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) has his panties in a "frist." Apparently, Santorum and his family call a small home in Penn Hills, PA, as their Pennsylvania residence. However, the Penn Hills house is empty, with tall grass growing around the house. Santorum wants to know how someone found out that there was no furniture in the house. He is accusing Democrats of trespassing on his precious property. The Santorums even had the Capitol police dispatched to check on his empty house.

However, the point is, Santorum does not reside in Pennsylvania. His huge, huge, huge home in Leesburg, Virginia is the Santorum family's home. Santorum cannot and should not represent Pennsylvania.

Santorum's house stories: Post-Gazette
WTAE KDKA 2.KDKA Penn Hills Philadelphia Daily News San Luis Obispo Trib Philadelphia Inquirer

Kenny, Jeff, and Bill

We were doing some happy dancing here when the guilty verdicts were announced for Enron's Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling. Although I hope they serve long, long, prison sentences, I have a bad feeling that President Bush will pardon his old friend, 'Kenny boy.'

Bill O'Reilly is very ignorant. Of course you knew that. O'Reilly said that young people don't know what is happening in the world. Media Matters has documented O'Reilly:

Here is an excerpt:
...During the May 23 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, Bill O'Reilly asserted that "[m]any Americans ages 18 to 24 have no idea what's going on," stating that they "get their news from [Comedy Central host] Jon Stewart and their point of view from bomb-throwing entertainers." In fact, studies have shown that viewers of Comedy Central's The Daily Show with John Stewart are consistently better informed about current events than consumers of other media, and Daily Show viewers are considerably better educated than viewers of The O'Reilly Factor. Further, consumers of Fox News in general have been found to be significantly more misinformed about current events than consumers of other mainstream media.

In 2004, the nonpartisan Annenberg Public Policy Center released its National Annenberg Election Survey, which found Daily Show viewers to be better informed on campaign issues than consumers of other late-night television programs, newspapers, network news, or cable news. In a press release, Annenberg senior analyst Dannagal Goldthwaite Young said: "Daily Show viewers have higher campaign knowledge than national news viewers and newspaper readers -- even when education, party identification, following politics, watching cable news, receiving campaign information online, age, and gender are taken into consideration."

So there, Bill.

Santorum's Pennsylvania Residence Status in Question

Wonkette has an interesting post about Republican Sen. Rick Santorum's so called residence in Penn Hills, PA. Really? How can Santorum claim that this clearly abandoned 2 bedroom house in Penn Hills is his official residence???? There is another link from Santorum Exposed that puts into question Santorum's claim of his residence. Pittsburgh television station KDKA even has a story about the so called residence.

Immigration Debate

Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator Chuck Schumer, and other Democratic Senators are supporting a practical solution to the immigration problem. Here is the plan as described by the New York Post in the following excerpt:

Sens. Chuck Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday joined other Democrats in a push to let all 12 million illegal aliens become citizens - but it was decisively defeated.

Only Democrats voted for the full-legalization measure, which lost 61-37 as the Senate struggled to hold a bipartisan coalition in favor of legalization for most - but not all - illegal aliens.

Schumer said he backed the full-legalization measure because it sets "a very tough path to citizenship" and requires "learning English, working for 10 years and only missing 45 days [of work], paying a fine and staying on the straight and narrow."

However.......

Rep. Mike Pence (R-Indiana) yesterday proposed a possible compromise that would allow illegal aliens to apply for temporary jobs without the possibility of citizenship - but only if they return to their home countries to apply.
House Homeland Security Committee chairman Pete King (R-L.I.), who opposes any legalization, yesterday said Pence's approach "is certainly worth considering."

In my humble opinion, Pence's suggestion does not seem workable. I think the plan is idiotic. How do illegal immigrants apply for a temporary job? Do they go to a special location? Who will handle the paperwork? Who finds the jobs? Will Pence find them temporary jobs? Pence believes that everyone who is here illegally would just go home????? Pence needs to come back to reality.

Which plan do you think is practical? Has anyone else noticed that everything the Republicans touch or try to fix just turns into a bigger mess?

Here is an interesting post at Daily Kos. Lies told by the Republicans and this administration (the list is quite long!):

Tom DeLay is like Jesus Christ.
No one could have anticipated that the levees would be breached.
We do not torture.
There is no global warming....

Lobbyists $$Love$$ Republicans

The Ohio Republicans in Washington certainly know how to rake in the big money from lobbyists. Although some Democrats have taken money from lobbyists, it is a pittance compared to the Republican money. The Cleveland Plain Dealer has the story. Here are some excerpts:

House Majority Leader John Boehner of West Chester, Ohio, got $734,868...

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Michael Oxley of Findlay ranked seventh in the House of Representatives with $711,494...

Mike DeWine of Ohio ranked 24th in lobbyists' donations, with $474,363. George Voinovich ranked 67th with $209,970....

The top political donor among lobbyists, H. Stewart Van Scoyoc, gave $339,132 to members of Congress. The wife of Rep. Steve LaTourette, a Concord Township Republican, works for Van Scoyoc's lobbying firm but wasn't listed as a big donor. LaTourette, whose $134,877 take from lobbyists ranked 111th in Congress, didn't get money from Van Scoyoc, Federal Election Commission records show...

Wow! Those Republicans certainly know how to bring in the dough. I wonder if it influences their votes. What do you think?

Can someone explain why Sen. Brownback (KS-R) would be so obsessed with shoes????? According to The Hill:

Late last week, Brownback introduced a total of 17 bills to suspend temporarily the duties on different types of footwear.

Among the offerings: S. 2847, to “reduce temporarily the duty on certain footwear with open toes or heels,” and the more catchall S. 2845, affecting “certain women’s footwear.” S. 2837, for the leather lover, would reduce the duty on “certain leather and textile footwear,” while S. 2838, affecting “certain rubber or plastic footwear,” keeps the pleather lover pleased.

Stay-at-home moms aren’t left out either: S. 2850 would “reduce temporarily the duty on certain house slippers.”

And on it goes, to cover certain footwear for men, certain other work footwear, certain athletic shoes and certain athletic footwear for men and boys...

Just asking...

Republican candidate for Ohio governor, Kenneth Blackwell, was interviewed this weekend on TV. I noticed that Blackwell had a cross in the lapel of his suit jacket. Why would any candidate wear a religious symbol in his/her lapel? Is he campaigning for the religious leader of Ohio?

Why would former coin dealer and Republican contributor Tom Noe want the location of his trial changed? Is this a measure to just try to delay his trial? Just because the Toledo Blade has documented his theft, corruption, and scandal, doesn't mean he can't get a fair trial in Toledo. I honestly believe that Noe can get a fair trial any place in Ohio. I sincerely hope he goes to jail for a long time. By the way, has anyone heard him apologize for his law-breaking? Has anyone heard his wife say she was sorry for fixing the voting machines in her county?
I'm just asking.

Raw Story indicates that Republican Rep. Marilyn Musgrave of Colorado is adored by the KKK!!!! Musgrave can't pay for this type of publicity.

Did you happen to see the HBO show Baghdad ER last night? It told the story of our brave men and women in Iraq and the wonderful medical care they get from American doctors, nurses, and EMTs who are stationed in Iraq. It was very heartbreaking. Our death toll in Iraq is now at 2,454 and we have had over 17,000 wounded American military. We need to bring our men and women home from Iraq now.

Religious Right Against Cervical Cancer Cure

The FDA Advisory Board approved a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer. Now it goes onto the FDA for, we hope, final approval. Here is the story and excerpts from the Courier-Journal:
A vaccine with the potential to greatly reduce worldwide deaths from cervical cancer, the No. 2 cancer killer in women, should be approved for sales in the United States, a federal panel said yesterday.

A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee voted 13-0 to endorse Merck and Co.'s Gardasil as safe and effective. It blocks viruses that cause cervical cancer...

...Worldwide, 400,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year and more than 200,000 die of it.

The virus, commonly called HPV, is the most common sexually transmitted disease in this country, with about 20 million people infected.

The FDA panel stressed that Gardasil does not eliminate the need for cervical-cancer screening, such as the Pap smear test, because the vaccine does not protect against all HPV strains....

HOWEVER....

...Some conservative religious groups have expressed concerns about the vaccine, arguing that it may send an implicit message to young girls that sex is OK for them....

One of those groups is the Family Research Council. I find it absolutely amazing that that anyone could be against a vaccine that could save hundreds of thousands of lives each year. The vaccine not only would save lives, but it would save women from the pain and suffering they could endure with a cancer diagnosis. As mothers, we need to make sure that our daughters and their daughters have this vaccine available. Speak up and support its use.

**On another note.... Did you see the President riding in a dune buggy at the U.S.-Mexico border? Apparently, this is part of Josh Bolton new strategy for photo ops. Unfortuntely, Bush looked rather silly, especially since he was sweating profusely under his armpits.

**Republican Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania has an empty house in Penn Hills, PA. There is no evidence that he lives there because the home is empty. Santorum spends most of his time in Virginia. KDKA has a story and video about the empty house. Perhaps people should start sending registered letters to his Penn Hills home to prove he doesn't live there.