Weekend Watchdog

Darkness is my ex-friend

Never did this before but hell when in Rome...

FIRST!!!

I just watched the worse movie I have seen in years. I couldn't even watch the second movie. It ruined anything I would have watched after. It was pretentious and stupid. It was preachy and inane. It was confusing and insulting. It ended with several PHD explaining how the concept of the movie went over my head and how dumb I was to not get it. I get it numbnuts. It's just really really stupid.

Who was a pretty good storyteller before this piece of crap will never get another cent from me. I will never watch another movie he has anything to do with. If I must see it because by some miracle he makes a masterpiece, I will pirate it and then nuke my hard drive.

I have never been so insulted by a movie in my life. I then put on the extras and Guy and his editor are sitting there and Guy is talking about how he had to have several editors because Jim (the guy sitting next to him) didn't understand the movie and he had to have other editors because the layers of the movie were too numerous for just one guy. I nearly shot a hole in my TV.

that always sucks...

*

I sat in the moon for a while..with my blanket on...my cat who hardly ever comes indoors, Bitey came up and got under the blanket too...it's perfect outside tonight, no wind, not too cold and all Moonie....

I work tomorrow...good night, mel & Blog... xo

In my rear view mirror
The sun is going down
Sinking behind bridges in the road
I think of all the good things
That we have left undone
And I suffer premonitions
Confirm suspicions
Of the holocaust to come

The rusty wire that holds the cork
That keeps the anger in
Gives way
And suddenly, it's day again
The sun is in the east
Even though the day is done
Two suns in the sunset
Could be the human race is run

Like the moment when your brakes lock
And you slide toward the big truck
And stretch the frozen moments with your fear
And you'll never hear their voices
And you'll never see their faces
You have no recourse to the law anymore

And as the windshield melts
And my tears evaporate
Leaving only charcoal to defend
Finally, I understand
The feelings of the few
Ashes and diamonds
Foe and friend
We were all equal in the end

Enjoy the rest of your evening.

Weekend Watchdog
Submitted by Bill.Scher on Sat, 03/22/2008 - 1:06am.

www.sigzone.blogspot.com

if they would press their Attorney General to cooperate with information requests out of Congress. Would their Attorney General be required to investigate their own department? Would they appoint an independent investigator if asked?

Mukasey 'surprised' by scope of terrorist threats

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Attorney General Michael Mukasey has been taken aback by the scope and variety of potential terrorism threats facing the United States, he told reporters Friday at an informal meeting in his office.

"I'm surprised by how surprised I am," said Mukasey, who as a federal judge presided over terrorism-related trials in New York.

"It's surprising how varied [the threat] is, how many directions it comes from, how geographically spread out it is," he said.

Mukasey issued no warnings, made no pronouncements and offered no suggestion of increased danger or newly detected plots.

He would not discuss specifics of potential threats, which remain secret.

---

Asked about the latest taped comments from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, Mukasey shook his head. "Am I alarmed? I'm alarmed, I guess. I wish he weren't in a position to issue them."

===

chutzpah - being concerned that bin laden is still on the loose because you let him get away

fucking bullshit....now please amnesty for telcoms, please!

White House: Computer hard drives tossed
WASHINGTON - Older White House computer hard drives have been destroyed, the White House disclosed to a federal court Friday in a controversy over millions of possibly missing e-mails from 2003 to 2005. The White House revealed new information about how it handles its computers in an effort to persuade a federal magistrate it would be fruitless to undertake an e-mail recovery plan that the court proposed.

"When workstations are at the end of their lifecycle and retired ... the hard drives are generally sent offsite to another government entity for physical destruction," the White House said in a sworn declaration filed with U.S. Magistrate Judge John Facciola.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080321/ap_on_go_pr_wh/white_house_e_mail

What if the other shoe drops but no one hears?

Standard & Poor's analysts tested the tree-falling-in-an-empty-forest scenario, as it lowered the outlooks for Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers to negative while markets were closed.

Standard & Poor's analysts Scott Sprinzen and Diane Hinton affirmed their AA-/A-1+ rating for Goldman Sachs Group (nyse: GS - news - people ) and A+/A-1 rating for Lehman Brothers Holdings (nyse: LEH - news - people ), pointing to strong underlying businesses and acceptable first-quarter earnings. But S&P also lowered the companies' outlooks to "negative" from "stable" on expectations of 20%-to-30% drops in net sales after write-downs going forward.

The analysts also revised their outlook for the U.S. securities industry at large to "negative," meaning there is a one-in-three chance that there will be a rating change in the next two years.

Goldman shares closed Thursday ahead by $13.14, or 7.9% , to $179.63 and Lehman stock added $6.42, or 15.2%, at $48.65.

Analysts, while acknowledging the Federal Reserve's support for U.S. broker-dealers boosts confidence in capital markets, said negative outlooks for independent securities firms are appropriate since the potential for decreased profitability is still substantial.

The slashed outlook may be especially difficult for Lehman Brothers to stomach. The financial services firm, whose business mix most closely resembles that of virtually collapsed Bear Stearns (nyse: BSC - news - people ), has dismissed recent rumors that it's headed down the same ditch as Bear (See: Financials Fall Into Bear Pit). Analyst Sprinzen says Lehman has done a better job managing its liquidity than Bear. As of Feb. 29, the firm's excess liquidity structure was $34 billion.

"Lehman is among the largest proportionately of the U.S. broker-dealers, and its sources-to-uses ratio is the strongest of the five," Sprinzen said, adding that earnings have held up and Lehman's fixed income business remains profitable despite being directly affected by the economic slowdown and problematic asset-related write-downs.

Sprinzen called Goldman Sachs' leftover mortgage and leveraged finance-related commitments "manageable" and praised the strength of its liquidity position.

"However ... the firm's emphasis on trading activities and its aggressive risk appetite leave it open to the possibility that major missteps could ultimately occur, leading to a change in investor sentiments," Sprinzen said.

Although Goldman is the most profitable U.S. broker-dealer, Sprizen said last quarter's profits were weak, with sales off 35% from the previous year.

Documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday March 20 show that Goldman's President and Co-Chief Operating Officer Jon Winkelried sold some 30,000 shares at about $173.85 each, totaling approximately $5.2 million, from Wednesday to Thursday. Vice Chairman Michael Sherwood unloaded some 7300 shares at a per share price of about $174.85, totaling close to $1.3 million Wednesday. Goldman could not be reached for comment.

http://www.forbes.com/markets/emergingmarkets/2008/03/21/goldman-sachs-c...

Feds to Appeal Ruling in AIPAC Case
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 7:03 p.m. ET

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) -- Yet another delay is expected in the trial of two former pro-Israel lobbyists accused of disclosing U.S. secrets after prosecutors told a judge Friday they plan to appeal a critical ruling on how classified information will be introduced at trial.

The ruling issued this week by U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III is sealed, but a lawyer for one defendant portrayed prosecutors' decision to appeal as the latest in a series of setbacks to the government's case.

Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, former lobbyists with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, were accused in 2005 of illegally disclosing sensitive national defense information. Their trial originally was set for 2006 but will now have to be rescheduled an eighth time -- the latest date had been set for next month.

''It's now pretty clear that the government does not want to try this case,'' said Rosen's lawyer, Abbe Lowell. ''They filed these charges without thinking them through, and there appears to be no one in government with enough authority or courage to admit they made a mistake.''

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney in Alexandria declined to comment.

Even if the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond hears the appeal on an expedited basis, it will likely take at least several months.

The charges against Rosen and Weissman fall under the 1917 Espionage Act, a rarely used World War I-era law that has never before been applied to lobbyists. They are not charged with espionage.

The indictment alleges that Rosen and Weissman conspired to obtain classified reports on issues relevant to American policy, including and U.S. policy in Iran, the al-Qaida terrorist network and the bombing of the Khobar Towers dormitory in Saudi Arabia, which killed 19 U.S. Air Force personnel. The men are accused of sharing the information with reporters and foreign diplomats.

Rosen and Weissman have argued that the information in which they traffic is commonly traded by Washington insiders, and that government officials tacitly support such disclosures.

Over prosecutors' objections, Rosen and Weissman have already won the right to subpoena Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other top administration officials. The defense believes their testimony will support their claim that the United States regularly uses AIPAC to send back-channel communications to Israel.

Lawyers have been meeting for weeks in secret hearings in an effort to take classified evidence and develop unclassified substitutes that can be used at a public trial. The process is frequently unwieldy, but has been especially so in this case.

Ellis has voiced frustration several times at the inability of prosecutors and the defense to agree on the wordings of the substitutions.

Ellis previously rejected an earlier proposal by prosecutors to use a series of secret codes to conduct the trial, in which lawyers would have referred to ''Country A'' or ''witness B'' to keep classified information out of the public realm. Defense lawyers had said the plan would have been tantamount to holding a secret trial.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Pentagon-Spy-Probe.html?_r=1&oref=...

Passport firms' CEOs donated to Lieberman, Clinton and Obama
David Edwards and Mike Sheehan

Contracting firms identified as Stanley, Inc. and The Analysis Corp., both of Virginia

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday apologized to Sen. Barack Obama for a security breach in which three State Department contractors inappropriately reviewed the Democratic presidential candidate's passport file.

CNN also reports, "Hillary Clinton's passport file was breached in 2007, Secretary of State Rice told Clinton, according to the senator's office."

In a statement from her Senate office, Clinton said she had been contacted by Rice. The State Department plans to brief Clinton's staff Friday about the unauthorized breach.

The development came just hours after the State Department fired two contract employees and disciplined a third for inappropriately examining the passport file of Clinton's Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama. The episode raised questions as to whether the actions of the three contractors, two of whom have been fired, were politically motivated.

A state department spokesman informed the press at the Friday afternoon press conference that Senator John McCain's passport file was also breached. The same person that breached Obama's passport on March 14th and was disciplined also breached McCain's, according to State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

snip

The Associated Press later identified Stanley, Inc. as the Virginia-based contractor whose two employees were terminated. One prescient blogger who guessed correctly that Stanley was the contractor in question noted that its CEO is a political donor:

...[O]ne thing that would add to the appearance of impropriety is that CEO Nolan has, according to the Open Secrets database, been a campaign contributor to Sen. Joe Lieberman, a leading supporter of Obama's Republican adversary John McCain. In March 2005 Nolan gave $1,000 to Lieberman's reelection campaign.
The NBC News 'Deep Background' blog has more on Stanley as well as another firm involved in the breaches, The Analysis Corporation of McLean, including the revelation from public records that Stanley CEO Nolan "gave $1,000 to Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign on Feb. 20, 2008" and Analysis CEO John Brennan "gave $2,300 to Sen. Obama on Jan. 28, 2008."

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Rice_apologizes_for_Obama_passport_snoopin...

Pentagon rules out Fallon testimony

Pentagon Rules Out Including Fallon in Iraq Hearing Next Month

ROBERT BURNS
AP News

Mar 21, 2008 15:56 EST

The Pentagon on Friday ruled out including Adm. William Fallon as a witness before Congress when the top U.S. military and diplomatic officials in Baghdad testify next month on the way ahead in Iraq.

Fallon's abrupt announcement March 11 that he was resigning, effective March 31, as chief of U.S. Central Command overseeing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan triggered accusations by Democrats in Congress that he was being forced out for publicly opposing launching a war against Iran.

In declaring that Fallon would not join Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker as witnesses before Congress next month, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said the decision had nothing to do with Fallon's views on Iran or the reasons for his unexpected resignation and retirement.

"I know there have been requests, in fact, from members of Congress to have Adm. Fallon testify with Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker, and I can tell you that Adm. Fallon will not be testifying" with them, Morrell told a Pentagon news conference.

Fallon was at the Pentagon on Thursday to join Gates in a video-teleconference meeting with Petraeus in which Fallon and Petraeus gave their views on troop reductions and other issues in Iraq, Morrell said. He said Gates met Friday morning with the chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps, as well as Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, to hear their views on Iraq.

The White House has said Bush plans to come to the Pentagon next week to consult with the Joint Chiefs, in the same manner as he did last summer and in the fall of 2006 prior to major Iraq war decisions.

Petraeus and Crocker are due to testify on Capitol Hill on April

http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Pentagon_rules_out_Fallon_testimony...

Officials Close Steel Bridge in Minnesota After Bent Plates Are Found
By SUSAN SAULNY
CHICAGO — A 51-year-old steel truss bridge over the Mississippi River in St. Cloud, Minn., was abruptly shut down on Thursday after inspectors found that its gusset places were bending — a problem similar to the one believed to have critically weakened the Interstate 35W bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis in August.

Transportation officials said that closing the bridge, which is similar in design to the collapsed bridge, was a conservative measure necessary until the structure can be repaired or replaced. The bridge carries State Highway 23, one of St. Cloud’s biggest arteries, over the river.

The bent plates were discovered late Thursday after a visual inspection that was part of what Bob McFarlin, the acting transportation commissioner, called an “extensive, systematic and continuous review” of 25 truss bridges across the state. The inspection found that several gusset plates — metal slabs used to reinforce bridge joints — had bent one-quarter of an inch out of shape.

“The bridge was scheduled for replacement in 2015, but even before today’s action, we had begun planning to accelerate its replacement to sometime in the next two years,” Mr. McFarlin said Thursday in a news release.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota said on his weekly radio program that he supported the decision.

“Even though it presents an inconvenience and a challenge, it’s good that MinnDOT erred on the side of caution and immediately closed the bridge, and is working on whether this bridge needs to be reinforced, replaced or other appropriate measures,” Mr. Pawlenty said Friday, referring to the Transportation Department.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/22/us/22bridge.html?ei=5088&en=eb5fa56631...

81% of Americans say government should pay attention to polls.
In contrast to Vice President Dick Cheney’s dismissive attitude toward Americans’ dissatisfaction with the Iraq war, a recent World Public Opinion poll found that 81 percent of Americans believe that “when making ‘an important decision,’ government leaders ’should pay attention to public opinion polls because this will help them get a sense of the public’s views.’” Moreover, in a sharp rebuke to White House press secretary Dana Perino’s recent claim that Americans only “have input every four years” regarding policy matters, the poll also found that “94 percent say that government leaders should pay attention to the views of the public between elections.”

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/03/21/81-of-americans-say-government-shoul...

The French thank John McCain for Airbus contract?
Earlier this month, Northrop Grumman and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS), the parent company of France-based Airbus, won a $40 billion Air Force tanker contract, beating out Boeing, DOD’s usual go-to company for Air Force contracts. Some of Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) presidential campaign advisers lobbied for EADS while actions by McCain himself helped the deal go through. The contract would create thousands of jobs for Airbus and thus the French have a message for McCain: “Merci.” Watch this new video from the Campaign for America’s Future:

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/03/21/mccain-airbus-merci/

Tony McPeak, a retired Air Force general and current co-chair of Obama's presidential campaign, compared former President Bill Clinton to Joseph McCarthy Friday in response to comments Clinton made earlier in the day that appeared to question Obama's patriotism.

"It sounds more like McCarthy," McPeak said. "I grew up, I was going to college when Joe McCarthy was accusing good Americans of being traitors, so I've had enough of it."

Read more about McPeak's response from the AP

-----

Adding a bit of fuel to the political fire, Bill Clinton made a bizarre comment on Friday, leaving the impression that he believed Barack Obama's patriotism would be a general election issue.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/21/another-bill-clinton-mome_n_928...

HALPERIN’S TAKE: Painful Things Hillary Clinton Knows — Or Should Know1. She can’t win the nomination without overturning the will of the elected delegates, which will alienate many Democrats.

2. She can’t win the nomination without a bloody convention battle — after which, even if she won, history and many Democrats would cast her as a villain.

3. Catching up in the popular vote is not out of the question — but without re-votes in Florida and Michigan it will be almost as impossible as catching up in elected delegates.

4. Nancy Pelosi and other leading members of Congress don’t think she can win and want her to give up. Same with superdelegate-to-the-stars Donna Brazile.

5. Obama’s skilled, close-knit staff can do things like silently kill re-votes in Florida and Michigan and not pay a political price.

6. Many of her supporters — and even some of her staffers — would be relieved (and even delighted) if she quit the race; none of his supporters or staff feel that way. Some think she just might throw in the towel in June if it appears efforts to fight on would hurt Obama’s general election chances.

7. The Rev. Wright story notwithstanding, the media still wants Obama to be the nominee — and that has an impact every day.

8. Obama might not be able to talk that well about the new global economy, but she (and McCain) can’t either.

9. Many of the remaining prominent superdelegates want to be for Obama and she (and Harold Ickes) are just barely keeping them from making public commitments to him.

10. She can’t publicly say more than 2% of all the things she would like to say about race, electability, beating McCain and experience.

11. If she somehow found a way to win the nomination, she would have to offer Obama the veep slot, and she doesn’t want to do that.

12. This is a change election, and Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton can never truly be change.

13. Obama is having fun most days, and she isn’t.

14. Even though her campaign staff is having more fun than it has for a long time, there’s hardly anyone there who, given half a chance, wouldn’t slit Mark Penn’s throat — and such internal dissension won’t help her in the home stretch.

http://thepage.time.com/halperins-take-painful-things-hillary-clinton-kn...

Rasmussen: Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) Narrowly Leads Al Franken
By Eric Kleefeld - March 22, 2008, 12:00AM
A new Rasmussen poll in Minnesota shows Sen. Norm Coleman (R) taking a narrow lead over Al Franken. Here are the numbers, compared to the previous poll from a month ago:

Coleman (R) 48% (+2)
Franken (D) 46% (-3)
With this race going from a narrow Franken lead to a narrow Coleman lead, and all within the margin of error, expect this to be a closely-fought campaign with a lot of reversals in the lead from here to November.

MSNBC Reporter: Obama Campaign Didn't Push Story That Hillary Was Behind Passport Files Breach
By Greg Sargent - March 21, 2008, 5:20PM
I noted below that I was going to try to establish whether the Obama campaign really was peddling the story that Camp Hillary was somehow behind the security breach surrounding Obama's passport files.

After checking into it, I can say that it appears that there's no evidence that this actually happened.

Today on a conference call, a top Hillary adviser attacked the Obama campaign, pointing to the fact that it was alleged on MSNBC this morning that the Obama camp was pushing the tale. This claim appears to have been based on this quote from Morning Joe...

JOE SCARBOROUGH: It's hard to say. It's probably not going to be that big of a story except for the fact that it really helps Barack Obama get some bad news off the front pages of the paper going to the weekend. I think what you're going to see, and already it seems the Obama camp is trying to push the narrative that the supervisor in this episode was a Clinton appointee. They are going to try to point their fingers towards Clinton and make it political.
This appeared to be a reference to a story that MSNBC's David Shuster did yesterday reporting that the former chief of consular affairs received an ambassadorship from Bill Clinton.

But Shuster, who is MSNBC's lead reporter on the passport files story, indicates to me that any reporting suggesting that the Obama campaign pushed this story to him is false. Shuster emails me this:

All of my reporting on the passport story has been based soley on State department and Department of Justice resources. I have received no tips, ledes, contacts, guidance, spin, or anything else from any political campaign.
The story I broke last night about the former chief of consular affairs, Maureen Harty, having received an ambassadorship from Bill Clinton in 1997, was obtained by (1) researching state department web sites and other data bases for the names of current and former consular affairs chiefs, (2) finding a state department biography for Maureen Harty, (3) confirming her ambassadorship via a Clinton foundation web site that had the 1997 press release.

Presuming that Scarborough (who didn't return a call) was basing his assertion on the work done by MSNBC's lead reporter on this story, which seems quite plausible, it appears that Scarborough had this wrong.

CBS Poll Has Mostly Good News For Obama On Race Speech
By Eric Kleefeld - March 21, 2008, 8:24PM
A new CBS poll shows Barack Obama receiving high marks for his speech on race relations.

The poll shows 69% of registered voters saying Obama did a good job of addressing race relations, and 71% said he did a good job explaining his relationship with Jeremiah Wright. The poll also showed 63% saying they agree with Obama on race relations.

Among voters who have followed the Wright controversy, only 14% said they were less likely to vote for Obama as a result — with an equal 14% saying they were more likely to vote for him, and 70% saying it would make no difference.

One bit of lasting damage appears to be on whether voters believe Obama can unite the country, a theme that has been one of the cornerstones of his candidacy. On that question he is at 52% Yes to 35% No, a decline from his score of 67%-25% last month.

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/03/cbs_poll_has_mos...

Richardson calls out Clinton adviser

(CNN) – Bill Richardson criticized a Clinton campaign adviser Friday for suggesting his endorsement of Barack Obama is insignificant.

"I resent the fact that the Clinton people are now saying that my endorsement is too late because I only can help with Texans — with Texas and Hispanics, implying that that's my only value," the New Mexico governor told CNN's John King.

"That's typical of some of his advisers that kind of turned me off."Earlier Friday, Clinton campaign senior strategist Mark Penn said he thought Richardson's endorsement came too late to make an impact.

“The time that he could have been effective has long since passed," Penn told reporters on a conference call. "I don’t think it is a significant endorsement in this environment.”

In the interview Friday, Richardson also said he called Hillary Clinton Thursday to inform her of his decision to back Obama, a conversation he described as "painful."

"It was painful and it wasn't easy," he said. "I've spoken to others who have had that same conversation and they say at the end, it’s not all that pleasant.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/03/21/richardson-calls-out-cli...

Mukasey Urges Passage of FISA Reform Bill
Citing daily terror threats and briefings, Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Friday once again urged Congress to pass an electronic surveillance bill that grants telephone companies retroactive immunity for their past cooperation.

"The folks who are out there, who I hear about every morning, have a very long attention span," Mukasey said in reference to terrorist groups. "Fatwahs and other directives do not have an expiration date, and the only weapon we have is intelligence."

The House and Senate have passed competing bills to reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a portion of which expired last month.

The House version offers a case-by-case judicial review of lawsuits against the telephone companies suspected of having aided the government's warrantless surveillance program after Sept. 11, 2001. The Senate legislation gives blanket retroactive legal protection to the companies.

"We need to stay engaged here because the stakes are tremendous," Mukasey said. "We're willing and happy to work with Congress on a workable bill. The Senate passed a workable, bipartisan bill that contains some compromises. The House passed a bill that was neither bipartisan nor workable."

While Mukasey offered no hint that a compromise is in the works, he said the House proposal does not offer guarantees to the communications industry.

"The people we work with need to know that they can be secure in working with us," he said. "That would introduce the same level of uncertainty that would be introduced by having litigation go on in public...If you tell somebody that you've received assurances, but the propriety of your conduct is now up for grabs, that's not exactly reassuring."
http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2008/03/mukasey-urges-p.html

Former Top CIA Official May Face New Charges In Corruption Case

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Prosecutors said Friday that they may obtain a new indictment next month against a former top CIA official accused of corruption, but that the core allegations will not change substantially.

Kyle "Dusty" Foggo has pleaded not guilty to the current charges, which include 30 counts of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering. Specifically, Foggo -- who as executive director held the CIA's No. 3 rank before leaving in 2006 -- is accused of accepting gifts from friend and defense contractor Brent Wilkes in return for help winning contracts.

Foggo was in court Friday for a status hearing, the first since his case was transferred to U.S. District Court in Alexandria from San Diego.
http://www.nbc4.com/news/15667159/detail.html

Craig keeps promise to retire
By Jeffrey Young
Posted: 03/21/08 07:32 PM [ET]
Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), encumbered by a scandal since last summer, did not file for reelection by his state’s deadline Friday, keeping a promise he made and officially marking the end of his congressional career.
Craig’s political future has been in doubt since his arrest and guilty plea on disorderly conduct charges filed after an incident in a men’s restroom at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport last June.

The three-term senator, who previously served five terms in the House, denied the charges that he solicited sex from an undercover police officer conducting a sting operation to crack down on alleged gay sexual liaisons in the airport’s bathrooms. Craig said he pleaded guilty in hopes of quelling a scandal, a decision he said he regretted.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/craig-keeps-promise-to-retire-2008-0...

Pakistan to Talk With Militants, New Leaders Say

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Faced with a sharp escalation of suicide bombings in urban areas, the leaders of Pakistan’s new coalition government say they will negotiate with the militants believed to be orchestrating the attacks, and will use military force only as a last resort.

That talk has alarmed American officials, who fear it reflects a softening stance toward the militants just as President Pervez Musharraf has given the Bush administration a freer hand to strike at militants using pilotless Predator drones.

Many Pakistanis, however, are convinced that the surge in suicide bombings — 17 in the first 10 weeks of 2008 — is retaliation for three Predator strikes since the beginning of the year. The spike in attacks, combined with the crushing defeat of Mr. Musharraf’s party in February parliamentary elections, has brought demands for change in his American-backed policies.

Speaking in separate interviews, the leaders of Pakistan’s new government coalition — Asif Ali Zardari of the Pakistan Peoples Party and Nawaz Sharif, head of the Pakistan Muslim League-N — tried to strike a more independent stance from Washington and repackage the conflict in a more palatable way for Pakistanis.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/22/world/asia/22pstan.html?_r=1&hp&oref=s...

so catch up later.

Have a great day, Sederites!!

On the campaign trail, Mrs. Clinton has on several occasions said she “helped to bring peace to Northern Ireland.” In an interview with National Public Radio this month, however, she seemed to go a step further when she said that the role she played was “instrumental” in ending the decades-long conflict there between Catholics and Protestants.

The Obama campaign has responded by accusing Mrs. Clinton of exaggerating her specific role and general experience. Some of the sharpest language has come in a memorandum written by Greg Craig, a foreign policy adviser to Mr. Obama who like Ms. Vargo is a former aide to Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, and who also served as the director of policy planning in the State Department during the Clinton administration.

“It is a gross overstatement of the facts for her to claim even partial credit for bringing peace to Northern Ireland,” Mr. Craig wrote in the foreign policy memorandum, which has been distributed to reporters. Though Mrs. Clinton traveled abroad as first lady and had some contact with Irish women’s groups, he added, “at no time did she play any role in the critical negotiations that produced the peace.”

Visiting the United States this week, Ireland’s prime minister, Bertie Ahern, offered a view more nuanced than either of the Democratic campaigns. In Lackawanna County, Pa., on the eve of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, Mr. Ahern said Mrs. Clinton had been “hugely helpful” in the peace process, but he stopped short of crediting her with a central role in the negotiations.

“She was the first lady of the United States, not a party leader in Northern Ireland,” Mr. Ahern, who has been in office since June 1997, told The Scranton Times-Tribune. “No one would expect her to get into the nitty-gritty of the process.” But, he added, “any fair observer would find that both Hillary and Bill Clinton made peace in Ireland a priority while they were in the White House and after.”

Representative Peter T. King, Republican of New York, was one of several members of Congress who tried to encourage the peace talks. Mr. King described Mrs. Clinton as “definitely a player and not just along for the ride.” He said it would be accurate to describe her as “a knowledgeable and very effective go-between” whom he recalled often seeing “huddled off to the side at receptions,” talking with the Irish parties to the peace negotiations, “trying to break down as many barriers as possible.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/22/us/politics/22irish.html

who goes to work in the snow? get back to bed!!

Bush Silent, but Others Speak Out on Tibet

WASHINGTON — China’s violent crackdown on protesters in Tibet is having powerful political reverberations in Washington, where the White House is weighing how far to go in condemning the Chinese government, even as it defends President Bush’s decision to attend the Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Times Topics: China | Tibet Mr. Bush has long said the United States and China have “a complex relationship,” and that complexity was on full display this week. While his administration has called for an end to the violence, and his secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, phoned her Chinese counterpart to urge restraint, Mr. Bush himself has remained silent.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/22/world/asia/22prexy.html?ref=washington

Confessions of Fox's Black Boogeyman

Min. Paul Scott

As the spotlight beamed down on my face, I could hear the producer counting down. Ten seconds to Armageddon; my first encounter with Fox New's epitome of evil, Sean Hannity. As I sat there waiting for the big showdown, I asked myself,

"What's a militant, Afrocentric, radical dude, like me, doing in a place like this?"

It started off on a whim. I had watched Hannity and Colmes a few times and developed a strong dislike (OK, bitter hatred) for Sean Hannity before he even opened his mouth. (Something about that permanent smirk on his face makes me wanna slap him.) So, one morning in 2002, I called ABC radio and asked to speak with the producer of his talk show.

"Hold on," the receptionist said. "Too easy," I thought. "She must be new."

I was expecting to talk to an answering machine but, to my surprise, someone picked up the receiver!

Being a seasoned community activist, I knew the drill. You get 10 good seconds to pitch a story idea before a snooty producer, who is up against a deadline, rudely cuts you off midstream and tells you to fax him your info at (212) 555 -"click..." So, before the producer guy could finish saying hello, I had already given him my entire bio.

"Good, no click, yet. Now for the story pitch..."

"I wanna tell Sean Hannity, that Jesus was black !"

After a second of awkward silence, the producer said that he liked the idea and would get back with me soon.

I told myself that I wouldn't hold my breath.

Two weeks later, the phone rang. It was a producer from the Hannity and Colmes tv show who had run across my info. She wanted me on the show that night.

"Let me check my schedule," I said, pausing to shadow box with the giant poster of Sean Hannity with scripto horns drawn on his head that hangs on my living room wall.

"Cool." Ready for prime time.

A few hours later, I was rollin' through the 'hood in an expensive town car with a white chauffeur, courtesy of Rupert Murdock on my way to some secret Fox News bat cave satellite studio.

As I got mic-ed up, the producer made small talk while he adjusted the audio.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/1/opedne_min__pau_080320_confession_of_...

Mr. Clinton helped elevate Mr. Richardson to the national stage by naming him his energy secretary and ambassador to the United Nations. And Mr. Clinton left no doubt that he viewed Mr. Richardson’s support as important to his wife’s campaign: He even flew to New Mexico to watch the Super Bowl with Mr. Richardson as part of the Clintons’ high-profile courtship of him.

But Mr. Richardson stopped returning Mr. Clinton’s calls days ago, Mr. Clinton’s aides said. And as of Friday, Mr. Richardson said, he had yet to pick up the phone to tell Mr. Clinton of his decision.

The reaction of some of Mr. Clinton’s allies suggests that might have been a wise decision. “An act of betrayal,” said James Carville, an adviser to Mrs. Clinton and a friend of Mr. Clinton.

“Mr. Richardson’s endorsement came right around the anniversary of the day when Judas sold out for 30 pieces of silver, so I think the timing is appropriate, if ironic,” Mr. Carville said, referring to Holy Week.

Mr. Richardson said he called Mrs. Clinton late on Thursday to inform her that he would be appearing with Mr. Obama on Friday to lend his support.

“It was cordial, but a little heated,” Mr. Richardson said in an interview.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/22/us/politics/22richardson.html?_r=1&adx...

A US judge has ordered Starbucks to repay its California coffee-makers more than $100m (£50m) in tips that were paid to shift supervisors.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Patricia Cowett said the coffee-makers - "baristas" - were entitled to $86m in back tips, plus interest.

She issued an injunction banning supervisors from sharing future tips.

She said the practice broke a state law barring managers and supervisors from obtaining a share of employee tips.
[...]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7308233.stm

Submitted by toniD on Sat, 03/22/2008 - 8:08am.
...“Even though it presents an inconvenience and a challenge, it’s good that MinnDOT erred on the side of caution and immediately closed the bridge..."
----------
In Missouri, the Department of Transportation is known as MoDot.

So-o-o-o...we got's a MinnDOT and a MoDot. If Oregon has an OrDot, I'll write a song (which might conclude as a WashDot).

Campaign contributions correlate with House votes on FISA bill
Submitted by Sean Tanner on Fri, 2008-03-21 21:12.
BERKELEY, CA—MAPLight.org’s research department reveals that the telecom industry gave, on average, $10,660 to members of the House of Representatives who voted “no” as opposed to $7,085 to those who voted “yes” on the House amendment (to the Senate amendment to H.R. 3773), to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA).

The amendment, which passed on March 14, rejects retroactive immunity for phone carriers who helped the National Security Agency carryout their wiretapping program without proper warrants. It does, however, give federal courts special authority to decide whether lawsuits against the phone companies should proceed. According to the Washington Post, “about 40 lawsuits have accused AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc., and Sprint Nextel Corp. of violating the privacy rights of law-abiding Americans swept up in the electronic surveillance of phone calls and email. Damages could total in the billions of dollars.”

“Like many issues in Congress, money closely correlates with votes,” said Daniel Newman, Executive Director of MAPLight.org. “This finding raises the question… What is the link between the thousands of dollars in Telecom PAC contributions and members of Congress who voted to give Telecom companies immunity?”

213 members of the House voted Yes (all Democrats), 197 voted No (185 Republicans and 12 Democrats), 20 Not Voting (13 Republicans and 7 Democrats) and 1 present (Democrat). The amendment imposes tougher restrictions on National Security Agency eavesdropping than the Senate version, and states that court approval would be required for wiretapping procedures to take place prior to action. It also enhances oversight over the Administration’s surveillance activities. For more on HR 3773 visit, Whip Pack.

“Our findings are based on the aggregation of contribution data from the Center for Responsive Politics and voting data from THOMAS via GovTrack.us,” said Sean Tanner, MAPLight.org’s Research Manager. “We looked at PAC donations associated with three major players in the Telcom industry—Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint—from January 2005 through September 2007 to determine our results.”

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/linkframe.php?linkid=55012

It's my long day at work
Submitted by toniD on Sat, 03/22/2008 - 9:55am.
so catch up later.
-----
Submitted by Lucille on Sat, 03/22/2008 - 9:59am.
who goes to work in the snow? get back to bed!!
----------------
In outdoor Chicago space, no one can hear you scream.

Iraq Slogger has published a Pentagon Report that they hoped to keep secret.

Critics are questioning a Pentagon decision this week to reverse plans to post on the Web the results of an exhaustive Defense Department-sponsored probe that found the Saddam Hussein regime never had links to al Qaeda.

The Defense Department decided, instead, to provide the report to the press and the public only in response to individual requests for the report to be sent via U.S. snail mail.

Two key sentences from the report's executive summary:

This study found no "smoking gun" (i.e., direct connection) between Saddam's Iraq and al Qaeda. Saddam's interest in, and support for, non-state actors was spread across a variety of revolutionary, liberation, nationalist, and Islamic terrorist organizations.

here is the nine-page executive summary: PDF

Here is the report's first of five volumes (volume one is 97 pages): P_4287_Vol_1.doc

Here is volume two of the report (571 pages): P_4287_Vol_2.doc

Here is volume three of the report (458 pages): P_4287_Vol_3.zip

Volume four of the report (469 pages): P_4287_Vol_4.zip

Volume five of the report (259 pages): P_4287_Vol_5.zip

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/32000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38tryJyMnVY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwmzMBeZIW0

Italy judge clears way for CIA "rendition" trial
Submitted by davidswanson on Thu, 2008-03-20 20:25. Criminal Prosecution
By Reuters

An Italian judge on Wednesday ordered the resumption of a trial against U.S. and Italian spies accused of abducting a terrorism suspect, in a blow to efforts to halt a case that Rome says violates state secrecy rules.

The trial in absentia against 26 Americans -- almost all believed to be CIA agents -- is the first anywhere over the U.S. practice of "extraordinary rendition," whereby terrorism suspects are secretly transferred to third countries.

Italian spies, including the former head of Italy's military intelligence agency Nicolo Pollari, are accused of helping the CIA team abduct Muslim cleric Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr in 2003 and fly him to Egypt. There, Nasr says he was tortured.

Judge Oscar Magi had suspended proceedings shortly after they began in June last year, saying the criminal trial should wait until Italy's highest court ruled whether prosecutors had broken state secrecy rules when building their case.

But after months of high court delays, Magi decided the trial in Milan could go forward regardless.

"The measure suspending (the trial) can be removed," Magi told the court. "It will not cause any harm to the defense."

Prosecutors say a CIA-led team grabbed Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, off a Milan street, bundled him into a van and drove him to a military base in northern Italy.

He was then flown to Egypt, where Nasr says he was tortured under interrogation with electric shocks, beatings, rape threats and genital abuse.

Nasr was freed from prison in February last year and lives in Egypt. He faces an arrest order in Italy on suspicion of terrorist activity.

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/31992

grrr.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031908J.shtml

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKBlz_6Y-U4

American Public Says Government Leaders Should Pay Attention to Polls
Submitted by davidswanson on Sat, 2008-03-22 00:39. Media
Eight in Ten Say Public Should Have Greater Influence on Government
By World Public Opinion

In sharp contrast to views recently expressed by Vice President Cheney, a new poll finds that an overwhelming majority of Americans believe government leaders should pay attention to public opinion polls and that the public should generally have more influence over government leaders than it does.

Eighty-one percent say when making "an important decision" government leaders "should pay attention to public opinion polls because this will help them get a sense of the public's views." Only 18 percent said "they should not pay attention to public opinion polls because this will distract them from deciding what they think is right."

When ABC News correspondent Martha Raddatz cited polling data showing majority opposition to the Iraq war, Cheney responded, "So?" Asked, "So--you don't care what the American people think?" he responded, "No," and explained, "I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls."

Americans also roundly reject the position put forward by White House spokeswoman Dana Perino in an effort to explain Cheney's comments. Asked whether the public should have "input," she replied, "You had your input. The American people have input every four years, and that's the way our system is set up."

When Americans are asked whether they think that "elections are the only time when the views of the people should have influence, or that also between elections leaders should consider the views of the people as they make decisions," an extraordinary 94 percent say that government leaders should pay attention to the views of the public between elections.

These findings are part of a larger international poll conducted by WorldPublicOpinion.org, an international research project managed by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland. The poll of 975 Americans was fielded from January 18 to 27 by Knowledge Networks. The margin of error was +/-3.2 percent.

The focus of the study is the principle expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that "The will of the people should be the basis of the authority of government." Presented this statement, 87 percent of Americans say they agree with it.

However, Americans are not satisfied with the extent that the will of the people does govern. Asked, "How much is this country governed according to the will of the people?" and asked to answer on a scale with 0 meaning "not at all" and 10 meaning "completely," the mean response is 4.0. Asked how much the country should be governed according to the will of the people, the mean response is 7.9.

Eighty-three percent of respondents say that the will of the people should have more influence that it does.

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/32028

and wash various parts of my body....later!

Do you remember Al Gore? Anyone remember how the republicans tore him apart? They said Al Gore claimeed he created the internet. And there were many more comments like that.

Look above at what Lucille is posting. Its all the same kind of republican attack but aimed at Hillary. Hillary claims she had a major role in the Ireland peace process. All throughout the campaign the Obama dems have been using republican talking points.

The sad thing about it all is this is done by people who know that their candidate has actually never done anything to help anyone but himself. Obama has certainly burnt the midnight oil writing speeches to save his own ass but when did he ever lift a finger to help the public. Go ahead Lucile-you seem to be a know it all-tell us what you know.

Submitted by wolf on Sat, 03/22/2008 - 10:47am
...their candidate has actually never done anything to help anyone but himself. Obama has certainly burnt the midnight oil writing speeches to save his own ass but when did he ever lift a finger to help the public.

OMG Wolf, you are a "dumb-ass". Keep drinking that 'kool-aid' and spinning your Oppositional Research. Key word is RESEARCH. Try it sometime.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/02/20/obama_got_start_in...

As the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, Obama had his pick of top law firms. He chose Miner's Chicago civil rights firm, where he represented community organizers, discrimination victims and black voters trying to force a redrawing of city ward boundaries.

Like many lawyers, Obama never took part in a trial. He spent most of his nine-year career working as part of a team, drawing up contracts, briefs and other legal papers.

The firm of Miner Barnhill & Galland, many of whose members have Harvard and Yale law degrees, has a reputation that fits nicely into the resume of a future presidential candidate.

"It's a real do-good firm," says Fay Clayton, lead counsel for the National Organization for Women in a landmark lawsuit aimed at stopping abortion clinic violence. "Barack and that firm were a perfect fit. He wasn't going to make as much money there as he would at a LaSalle Street firm or in New York, but money was never Barack's first priority anyway."

you fucking cunt...its Lucille--- now there! you sneaky barstid...you wait for me to leave, just like you wait for us to move to a new thread than post on the old one...a wolf without balls thats what you are!

I hope the "cunt" will forgive me for abusing it on this msunu!

with my sweet daughters!

make shit up.

"I think it would be a great thing if we had an election between two people who loved this country and were devoted to the interests of the country and people could actually ask themselves who is right on the issues, instead of all this other stuff that always seems to intrude itself on our politics."

while using them. Typical nonsense.

Digging out again today. We have LOTSA snow here if you

need some. Come and get it!

Thanks Peter Dragon.... we have enough here.
Your generosity is overwhelming though. Thanks again.. LOL

I hate to report the beautiful day here..but... :) And the moonlight..dreamy luscious lovliness...

NIN My Violent Heart, mp3

Some places don't have any of this precious stuff and I will

be happy to share it. If you live in the Sunbelt and would

like to experience the joy of sparkling white snow...

We are up to our asses in it here. Free to all takers. The

very best of it is in my driveway so I think you should

take that first.

why is there foam all over your car and driveway?

It's all sunny and the flowers are everywhere here. That foam would wreck my freshly planted peppers and tomato.

Does anyone know what THIS idiot is talking about? I can't decipher.

He was a lawyer who worked at a law firm....Ok.

Ok. Now what did he do to help the public-I'm still waiting. Who has benefited from this guy? Why aren't there people coming forward saying how he helped them?

As a congressman or a lawyer or a senator-tell me-who did he help?

You people like to tear down what Hillary has done now tell me what Obama has done.

go to his site. Why do you come over here, insult people and then ask us to help you out? Wasting time on you is not anything anyone should do. You don't want to see him as a better candidate and you won't no matter what evidence people put in front of you. We have laid it out so many times that you have shown yourself to be motivated by feelings not facts. And I for one question your feelings. Are you a racist or a feminist or both?

Fenando -
I am very jealous that you have planted your garden already.
Won't be able to do that till May (hopefully) we did have a freeze late in the
month of May last year. everyone up here had to cover all their plants.
My nasty next door neighbor is snow-blowing her driveway - I don't know
why she just doesn't wait - we are going to get 40/50 degree weather by Monday.

I can't imagine living that way. I'm in shorts. My daughter is planning on spending her day sun tanning while reading her homework by the pool.

We get a few cold days. I don't like them at all, especially if its cold and wet. Damn it. Now I'm getting the urge to fire up the blender and make Margaritas. Why don't you run and get toniD out of work early and come over? I have a great red pepper/pineapple pork recipe I can grill.

So great posts ! :)
Thanks !

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2...

I take it then that you are unable to defend your position Ferdy.

As I predicted Obama is starting to fall.

He's starting to remind me of that guy-what was his name-oh yeah

Humpty Dumpty

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humpty_Dumpty

I hate this weather actually. I didn't mind it growing up... now I just long for summer.
I think that toniD & I would love to come on over and do some fellowship with you & the family.
My 3 BIG dogs hate the summer - to hot for them. They love this winter crap.
The red pepper/pineapple pork recipe sounds delightful. Wish we could be there! :)

How do you do it smcgee43?
new
Submitted by Fernando on Sat, 03/22/2008 - 12:48pm.
I can't imagine living that way. I'm in shorts. My daughter is planning on spending her day sun tanning while reading her homework by the pool.

We get a few cold days. I don't like them at all, especially if its cold and wet. Damn it. Now I'm getting the urge to fire up the blender and make Margaritas. Why don't you run and get toniD out of work early and come over? I have a great red pepper/pineapple pork recipe I can grill.

It's the light bb

~`~`~`~`~`~
Jamesbennett

The AP reports that yesterday in federal court, the White House disclosed that older “computer hard drives have been destroyed,” the latest revelation in the controversy surrounding missing White House e-mails from 2003-2005. The White House said that a court proposed e-mail recovery plan stemming from lawsuits brought on by the National Security Archive and CREW would be worthless because “[w]hen workstations are at the end of their lifecycle and retired … the hard drives are generally sent offsite to another government entity for physical destruction.”

http://thinkprogress.org/

March 19, 2008 : 7:06 PM ET
Here’s something that Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain all agree on: the need to protect horses from being slaughtered.
Although the last horse slaughter facility in the U.S. was closed several months ago, the horrific butchery has simply moved across our borders. But there is a solution at hand; it just needs one final boost to be put in place.
As one of the country’s top no-kill horse rescues, Best Friends has joined with other advocates to push for passage of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act currently under consideration by Congress.
The bill has 196 cosponsors in the House of Representatives and 38 in the Senate, including presidential candidates Clinton, Obama and McCain. And those are just the numbers of cosponsors; many other legislators would no doubt vote for the bill if given the chance.

http://news.bestfriends.org/index.cfm?page=news&mode=entry&entry=C98D053...

Tear someone down by repeating a hollow talking point.

Never offer your own proof for what your chosen candidate has done as an argument for your case and why you support them. Just accuse others of spreading lies and distortions about them.

Demand proof from the other candidate's supporters without bothering to do the research yourself and creating an argument for your case on that research.

Most here have done our research on both Democratic candidates, and I can fairly say most have leaned towards Obama (now that their primary candidate has dropped out) based on that research.

I was an Edwards supporter. And my thoughts on his delay in endorsement is simple. He's waiting to see who comes out on top of this squabble. He has time.

I do find it disturbing that many journalists have written Hillary's obituary already as that is not their job. We have a ways to go yet. The Wright kerfluffle will dissipate. In the end, whatever momentum Hillary gets and rides in to the convention isn't enough to win. If the superdelagates choose to ignore the numbers, even if she has the momentum from the primaries, it will be mayhem. Tables turned, I believe Obama would accept that defeat. Hillary won't. I base this observation on my perception of their public character. It shows in what her husband just said yesterday, slyly questioning the patriotism of his own party's other candidate.

Bill and Hillary will be solely responsible for finally putting the last nail in the Democratic Party's coffin.

This scenario was also discussed at great length on The Verdict with Dan Ahbrams and on Race For The WH w/ David Gregory.

Have a good day all. :)

Many American Conservatives pointed to Sarkozy's election as proof that France had swung toward the superior ideology of America's militaristic Conservatism.

I haven't read similar claims touting Sarkozy's announcement that France will reduce its nuclear arsenal by half.

Re: Polls

It's a given after the Wright controversy his numbers would slip. Hardly the death knell.

Or, I could pull a Cheney and just say... So?

*snark*

later - beauty of a day here.

~`~`~`~`~`~
Jamesbennett

wolf. I at least have respect for them. Instead you prove you are the other, pointing to the great success of the Southern Strategy. I hope that works for you but I doubt it. I bet it must be hard for hard core skin head types to accept a man who is half black and President of the United States of America.

US air strike kills 'Iraq allies'

Awakening Council members at the site of the air strike near Samarra
Six people have been killed in a US air strike near the Iraqi town of Samarra, with some reports suggesting they were US-allied anti-al-Qaeda Sunni fighters.

It came as four more US soldiers were killed in Iraq, bringing the death toll since the 2003 invasion close to 4,000.

Three soldiers died when a roadside bomb hit their vehicle near Baghdad on Saturday, the US military said.

Another US soldier died after a rocket or mortar attack on Friday, bringing estimated US fatalities to 3,996.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7309292.stm

http://www.sodahead.com/poll/63992/

~`~`~`~`~`~
Jamesbennett

Is that what you are hoping will happen?

That people will forget that Obama has been listening to his racist minister for twenty years?

You Obama people really are hopeful!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88827049

War Fades as Issue for Altoona, Pa.'s GOP Voters
by Linda Wertheimer

Weekend Edition Saturday, March 22, 2008 · Altoona, Pa. — a state where the next Democratic presidential contest will take place — is solidly Republican. GOP voters there say the Iraq war has faded as an issue for them, but their party ties have not.
-------------------
I listened to the above report this morning on NPR. A few of the people who were interviewed lamented that the Iraq War should never have been waged, that it is too costly in lives and treasury, that it might be impacting the U.S. economy, etc. The same people said that they are going to vote for McCain.

This is an example of cognitive dissonance in all of its illogical glory. It is also an example of placing party above country.

Buffalo Tom-Sodajerk

A good tune.......
"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

I heard it several times, never entirely listening but each time finding more baffling statements.

It's gonna be a long haul and after it is over...

"President Nicolas Sarkozy has said France will reduce its number of airborne nuclear weapons by one third."

?

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

http://www.sodahead.com/question/64014/

4 votes so far

I'm the only one that voted yes

mmr
: )

~`~`~`~`~`~
Jamesbennett

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."