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The Liberal Doomsayer
My blog deals primarily with national politics in the U.S. as well as, on occasion, local politics in Pennsylvania. From time to time, I may have something to say about sports and entertainment as well. I try to interpret information that shapes the news and provide context to current events. I am definitely left of center politically, but I believe no one knows everything.
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Patrick And The Dems Keep A Promise
2007-08-01 22:21:00
There is good stuff coming from the Democrats despite that last post, such as acting on the 9/11 Commission’s homeland security recommendations (Patrick Murphy talks about it here)...The ($4 billion) 9/11 bill would require screening of all cargo on passenger planes within three years. It also sets a five-year goal for scanning all container ships for nuclear devices before they leave foreign ports.The legislation shifts money to high-risk states and cities, rather than spreading it equally across the country. The bill expands the screening of air and sea cargo and puts money into a new program to ensure that security officials at every level can communicate with each other.I think the five-year cargo screening bill is a bit ambitious, but it’s definitely worth a try.And to see homeland security funds distributed in a manner that totally disregarded the 9/11 Commission recommendations in typical Repug fashion (as was the case in New Jersey two years ago, a vitally important state i ...
Promise
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Another Profile In Cowardice
2007-08-01 20:53:00
I read this story from James Risen of the New York Times today, and I simply could not believe my eyes.It seems that the Democratic Party “leadership” in Congress has “a new willingness” to work with Dubya on expanding the wiretapping powers of our government, altering FISA law in the process.(In the unlikely event that someone from the Democratic congressional leadership is actually reading this, please click this link to a prior post today that explains how domestic spying has been taken over by Repug corporate benefactors as a reward from the person taking up space in the Oval Office. This isn’t being driven by national security concerns, it’s being driven by money, as usual – or are you guys in on the scam also?).This paragraph was particularly revolting…Democrats appear to be worried that if they block such legislation, the White House will depict them as being weak on terrorism.“We hope our Republican counterparts will work together with us to fix the problem, r ...
Profile
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Keeping The Heat On Abu G.
2007-08-01 19:59:00
The latest from Democracy For America...Congress is beginning to get it.After years of evidence that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is both an embarrassment and a danger to the Justice Department, The Seattle Times reports that Congressman Jay Inslee (D-WA), "will introduce a resolution today directing the House Judiciary Committee to investigate whether Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should be impeached."¹Democracy for America has been pushing Congress to take this action for months. Over 80,000 members have already petitioned their representatives.²Now that we've made real progress on Capitol Hill, will you show your support for the impeachment resolution by becoming a Citizen Co-Sponsor?Click here.As The New York Times wrote this weekend, "Americans have been waiting for months for Mr. Bush to fire Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who long ago proved that he was incompetent and more recently proved that he can't tell the truth. Mr. Bush refused to fire him after it was c ...
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Ending Another "Boys Only" Tradition?
2007-08-01 19:07:00
I’m getting to this a bit late, but Parade Magazine on Sunday featured a story in the Intelligence Report column here about a lawsuit filed against the CIA by women fired from that agency for having foreign fiancées, boyfriends, or relatives (that is claimed in the lawsuit anyway, and the charges seem to be valid – the story appears under “Sexism Among Spies”).This actually is based on an extensive U.S. News and World Report article written by David E. Kaplan last April that can be accessed from Talk Left here. Kaplan’s story discusses a few of the cases, with almost all of the women using aliases to tell their story – Janine Brookner is featured primarily; she is a former agent who was dismissed and subsequently put herself through law school and now represents the 25 (at last count) who have joined the complaint against the agency. The CIA’s Centers for Security and Counterintelligence is the department singled out in the complaint (the equivalent of a police departmen ...
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I Smell (More) Trouble
2007-08-01 00:27:00
Karsten Voigt is my new hero (for the moment, anyway); he is identified in this story as the foreign ministry coordinator for German-American relations in Berlin.This is why…Washington is trying to assure Gulf allies, worried by the growing strength of Iran and by the war in Iraq, that the United States is committed to the region and will stand by them, and the (recently announced $43 billion) arms package is part of that process, U.S. officials say.The plan to upgrade Saudi Arabia's missile defences and air force and to boost its navy is at odds with U.S. plans to nurture democratic standards in the region, Voigt said.'The U.S. said a couple of months ago the main problem in the region was the lack of democracy,' he said. 'I do not know how one can support democracy by supplying weapons for Saudi Arabia, which is anything but a very democratic country.'And our "dear friends" the Saudis would never support the insurgents in Iraq – would they? ...
Smell
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Nobody Touches, Sees…Or Thinks
2007-07-31 23:44:00
This takes you to a post from People for the American Way about the “modesty movement” from those dear, oh-so-tolerant hammerheads at Focus On The Family. Quoted is Colleen Hammond, who tells us…'We’ve learned from history that as the morality of women declines, the culture follows with it,' Hammond said."Please do me a favor and take a look at the drawing accompanying this post (and this related news story) and explain to me what separates Hammond and her ilk philosophically from the Islamic fundamentalists who abuse women even slightly uncovered from head to foot; to me, these are two groups of people developmentally immature to the point where they are afraid of the human body in all of its God-given wonder. ...
Nobody
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Played For Fools
2007-07-31 22:44:00
After all that has been written and said about Alberto Gonzales and his parade of lies and evasions before the Senate Judiciary Committee, can someone please explain to my why an organization like the National Association of Black Law Enforcement Executives still allowed him to speak before their annual training conference yesterday?I have no clue as to why that invitation wasn’t withdrawn, so why don’t we access their web site from here and ask them why not (here is a contact Email address). ...
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Today's BoBo Blather
2007-07-31 22:19:00
In his bi-weekly opportunity to offer the literary output you might expect after an hour or so of gazing at your navel, David Brooks finds himself a bit torn today as he decides whether or not to chide the anti-poverty proposals of Democratic presidential candidates John Edwards or Barack Obama (here). He finally decides that he dislikes what Obama proposes less, and here is why…The Obama policy provides more face to face contact with people who can offer praise or disapproval. Rising out of poverty is difficult – even when there are jobs and good schools.Speaking from firsthand experience, I’m sure…It’s hard to focus on a distant degree or home purchase. But human beings have a strong desire for approval and can accomplish a lot with daily doses of praise and censure. Standards of behavior are contagious that way.So…making those in poverty feel like the dregs of the earth and then telling them, “but, really, you’re profoundly important dregs of the earth, and never for ...
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Keeping Iraq (And Us) In The Dark
2007-07-31 19:01:00
This appeared from David Roberts at HuffPo yesterday concerning the Iraq electricity crisis (of course, Bushco won’t characterize it as such, but that’s what it is).Roberts notes that the amount of electricity available to residents of Baghdad, according to reports from our ruling cabal, was about 5-6 hours a day as of earlier this year, but as of last week, Baghdad residents could count on (drum roll, please) a grand total of one hour per day.I’ll let that sink in for a minute – a grand total of one hour of electricity per day.Can you imagine anything approximating normal activity in one’s life when all you can count on is one hour of electricity per day?Well, leave it to Bushco to snap into action on this; as Roberts tells us…(The duration of Baghdad’s electricity is a figure that) has not been sent to lawmakers for months because the State Department, which prepares a weekly "status report" for Congress on conditions in Iraq, stopped estimating in May how many hours of ...
Iraq
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Monday Videos
2007-07-31 05:00:00
Fountains Of Wayne ("Strapped For Cash," otherwise known as my life story, on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" - I would definitely be watching his show if this were, say, 15 years ago)......Happy Birthday to David Sanborn ("Chicago Song")......Happy 71st Birthday to Buddy Guy, performing "I Can't Quit You Baby" with B.B. King (such naughty language, Buddy!)......and Conan O'Brien introduces a retrospective of clips with Tom Snyder and all kinds of guests, cultural icons of one type or another. ...
Videos
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Smerky's Such A Clever Boy!
2007-07-31 00:26:00
Yesterday, Michael Smerconish claimed credit for inventing a new word in yesterday’s Philadelphia Inquirer, and that would be “hatriolic” (if you choose to punish yourself by reading his column and finding out why he thinks it is important, feel free to do so here if you’re registered, thought I’m sure it will be cross-posted at HuffPo shortly).The only comment I will make on the substance (what of it there is) of his column is to say that I did a Google search on his word, and all kinds of links came back that showed nothing but profanity, intolerance for anything democratic/progressive/liberal in any way, shape or form, and tons and tons of bad spelling. Why anyone would claim credit for anything that causes these results is something I cannot imagine.Actually, Smerky (and the Inquirer also), I have my own word for all of you idiots, and here it is: cancellation. My subscription officially ends tomorrow.See ya’. ...
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General (President Someday?) Nonsense
2007-07-30 23:49:00
Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, said last month that the Iraq war, which he views as a counter-insurgency operation, could last as long as ten years (a nested, linked story notes that Petraeus also said that we would need to maintain a presence in Iraq such as that we have maintained for over 50 years in South Korea…I don’t recall any counter-insurgency activity between North and South Korea over that time – I always thought that the purpose of our presence was to stop encroachment along the 38th parallel).And here, Petraeus said that a recent wave of suicide bombings in Iraq was intended to create a “mini-Tet.”After hearing all of this, am I the only one who thinks Petraeus doesn’t know what he’s talking about any more concerning the war?And another thing; I think it’s high time for myself and anyone else to get over the impulse not to respectfully question a member of our military concerning the conduct of the war (a proper impulse to be sure, under or ...
Nonsense
President
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Patrick, Dems Keep College In Reach
2007-07-30 21:40:00
The following Guest Opinion appeared in the Bucks County Courier Times from Patrick Murphy yesterday.Students and parents today face the harsh reality of rising costs. While students are going to class and working hard, far too many still worry about how to pay for their higher education.Parents also face this challenge when their kids eagerly open their college acceptance letters. A college or technical degree is vitally important for a high paying job yet more expensive than ever.In my case, I worked my way through Bucks County Community College, graduated from Kings College and then earned my law degree from Widener University. I worked long hours after class and received ROTC scholarships, but still worried about the debt I would face and how I would pay for it. Now, 16 years after I started, I am still paying off my debt.More kids from Bucks County are enrolling in two- and four-year colleges and universities than ever before. Those students, unfortunately, are met with rising cos ...
College
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What's The Frequency, Dubya?
2007-07-30 21:21:00
Staying with the secret spying and FISA abuse for a minute or two, we have this item from CNN that appeared over the weekend, in particular this excerpt (regarding why President Clouded Vision thinks FISA should be gutted in the manner he wants)…Bush said terrorists now use disposable cell phones and the Internet to communicate, recruit operatives and plan attacks -- tools that weren't available when FISA passed nearly 30 years ago.Hmmm, disposable cell phones; is that also supposed to mean, by association, disposable cell phone numbers?(This point is probably too obvious to post about, but it should be mentioned considering the life form who brought it up.)I’m sure this has happened to you also, but when I bought a digital phone because my old, clunky but reliable analog one wasn’t supported any more, my service provider (Verizon) deactivated my old phone. I don’t know the particulars about the diagnostic checks performed by a cell phone when it is powered up, and I certainly ...
Frequency
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Sending Abu G A Message
2007-07-30 19:24:00
This New York Times article describes the latest goings-on with our truth-impaired U.S. Attorney General who can’t seem to make up his mind on much of anything. Watching Gonzales perform his act in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee last week constitutes a burlesque of anything remotely related to candor and even a passing familiarity with how the checks and balances of out government are supposed to function, even by Bushco’s admittedly low standards.So Abu G.’s razor-thin, legalese-filled defense seems to be that the program for which he was seeking John Ashcroft’s signoff from the former Attorney General’s hospital bed had to do with data mining (retrieving “meta data” details of communications) as opposed to actual surveillance (with the data mining program having been acknowledged already, even though former NSA director – and now CIA director – Michael Hayden denied it)?Well, I think Glenn Greenwald pretty much blasted that nonsense to pieces here.And also, ...
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Monday Passings
2007-07-30 18:45:00
R.I.P Ingmar Bergman (my introduction was “The Seventh Seal,” which I watched in an auditorium with a bunch of eighth graders who were as confused at the time as I was – as depressing as it was, “Wild Strawberries” may have been the most beautifully photographed black and white film I ever saw, and “Fanny and Alexander” is a favorite also; a humorous – I hope – appreciation follows)......and Tom Snyder; I’m not sure exactly why he never caught on as a media personality. I guess it was because he was trained as a journalist but couldn’t quite find that Letterman/Leno appeal to make a large audience gravitate towards him.It’s a shame because he conducted some really interesting interviews, such as the one with John Lennon while his deportation hearings were going on (and Snyder’s show after Lennon’s murder was memorable also), and even the one with Wendy O. Williams of the Plasmatics during the ‘80s. Snyder always dove head first into some edgy stuff and som ...
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Some Saturday Fun
2007-07-28 18:45:00
Hat tips to Kagro X at The Daily Kos for this......and this; background is here - Lowe's is a much better store than Home Depot anyway. ...
Fun
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Friday Videos
2007-07-28 06:25:00
To make note of the fact that the charges against the assailant of Ray Davies were dropped today (two hearings had been scheduled for the guy who shot Davies in the leg; the guy was also charged with snatching the purse of Davies' date - next time, let the guy have the dough, OK Ray?), here's "Till The End Of The Day" from the '60s (sorry about the quality, but I think this is one of their best songs).Kaiser Chiefs ("The Angry Mob")......Elvis sings "Viva Las Vegas" of course, from the legendary songwriting team of Mort Shuman and Doc Pomus; the latter would have been 82 today......Thompson Twins ("Doctor, Doctor" - actually, based on the way the stock market has been acting sick over the last couple of days, I think it needs a "house call" in whatever form that may take)... ...
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Mitt's "Chain" Stupidity
2007-07-27 23:36:00
I have to pick my spots when it comes to saying anything about Willard Mitt Romney, I know; he just provides so much nonsense to refute that I can’t possibly answer all of it.Instead of refuting his idiotic criticism of the tax proposals of John Edwards in this story, though (a “new bike”?), I want to take issue with what he said about illegal immigration, to wit…"I ... don't think it makes sense to have an immigration policy that says that if an illegal couple — a couple that comes across the border illegally — has a child here, that child becomes a U.S. citizen, that then the whole family gets to come in, if you will, through 'chain migration'," he said.I conducted numerous searches using the terms “chain” and “migration” in the context of illegal immigration into this country, and I found nothing, which isn’t surprising (the term actually reminds me of that scene in the Woody Allen movie "Take The Money And Run" where the members of the work gang are all try ...
Chain
Stupidity
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Get Something Cheap From Costco
2007-07-27 22:15:00
A thought for today, based on this story…Why is it so apt that this person requires some kind of mechanical device to assist or replicate the function of what otherwise would be performed by a normal human heart? ...
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Where The Rubber Meets The Road (7/27/07)
2007-07-27 22:01:00
As reported in last Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer, here is how Philadelphia-area members of Congress were recorded on major roll-call votes last week.(Back after a one-week hiatus...)HousePolice, firefighter unions: Members granted, 314-97, limited union rights to police, firefighters, corrections officers and other public-safety personnel in all states. It authorizes bargaining over wages and benefits but which bars strikes and lockouts.A yes vote was to pass the bill (HR 980).Voting yes: Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.), Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.), Michael N. Castle (R., Del.), Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.) Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.), Tim Holden (D., Pa.), Frank A. LoBiondo (R., N.J.), Patrick Murphy (D., Pa.), H. James Saxton (R., N.J.), Allyson Y. Schwartz (D., Pa.), and Christopher H. Smith (R., N.J.).Voting no: Joseph R. Pitts (R., Pa.)Not voting: Joe Sestak (D., Pa.)So just remember – in addition to everything else Joe Pitts opposes, he also opposes the right of al ...
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The Drug Isn't The Only "Pill" Here
2007-07-27 21:11:00
I don’t think I’ve ever posted on this topic, but I honestly don’t understand how pharmacists are allowed to get away without selling the Plan B “morning-after pill” that has about an 89-percent success rate in preventing conception when taken within a 72-hour timeframe after intercourse.Oh, I’m very familiar with the religious and moral beliefs on the part of people who object to Plan B. And that’s a little surprising to me, actually, since the people who feel this way are usually anti-choice zealots who believe that a woman’s uterus is community property. They of all people should be happy to hear about something that reduces the possibility of an abortion.I was reminded of this by this story of a lawsuit by pharmacists in Washington State who object to filling prescriptions for the pill on moral and religious grounds (I don’t know of anyone in any occupation, by the way, who has ever filed suit for being told to do their job unless some kind of discrimination or ha ...
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A Lesson In Right-Wing Bias
2007-07-27 18:39:00
The photo above is of a scenic spot in the Cayman Islands, a favored location for corporate cheats who wish to dodge paying U.S. taxes. It definitely pertains to this article from Dan Morgan of the Washington Post that appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer yesterday.The story has to do with a bill sponsored by the U.S. House that ran into a host of objections from Republicans and ended up facing the inevitable veto threat from President Clouded Vision (who just seems permanently attached to that veto pen any more, by the way...and here's more).As the Inquirer notes…In addition to paying for traditional farm programs, the bill provides billions of dollars over the next decade for conservation, research on biofuels, and nutrition programs such as food stamps. There is new money for organic farmers, fruit and vegetable snacks for schoolchildren, and rural development.At a Capitol Hill rally Tuesday attended by dozens of farm-state lawmakers, lobbyists and representatives of advocacy gr ...
Lesson
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The Expert In "Clouded Vision"
2007-07-27 17:42:00
Here’s a test…“Now, I know that the car bombs that take place tend to cloud people's vision.”I don’t have to communicate to you the name of the person who uttered that brainless quote, do I?Despite that, I’m actually going to look seriously for a minute or two at one of Dubya’s familiar refrains when he speaks in front of typically sympathetic audiences (or, in the case of some of our military, audiences who have no choice but to listen and go along with the blinkered musings of this intellectual pigmy).That quote and other typical partisan nonsense (along with his typically lame attempts at humor and endless acknowledgements of his friends) can be found in the transcript of his speech at the Marriott Downtown in Philadelphia yesterday, but he also spoke about the apparent success that has transpired from “the splurge” in Anbar province.This New York Times article confirms that the preznit has a little something to crow about here (of course, give him an inch and he ...
Vision
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Wednesday Videos
2007-07-26 05:42:00
Collective Soul (Ed and Joel from the band, anyway, performing an acoustic version of "Heavy" at a promotion for WMMR here in Philadelphia)......Happy belated birthday to Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth ("Dirty Boots" - ah yes, the "club days" live again)......Happy belated birthday also to John Hall, former lead singer of Orleans and now a U.S. House rep from New York's 19th district (appearing in the following clip with former president Bill Clinton; click here to learn more)......and 42 years ago today, Bob Dylan "went electric" at the Newport Jazz Festival with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, driving some folkie purists into hysterics, and with that in mind, here's "Idiot Wind" live from 1976 (a tune from "Blood On The Tracks"; hard to find something live from 1965 to put up, but this shows Dylan in good voice - well, for him; many great things about the man, but let's face it, there are better singers out there). ...
Videos
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Gimme Some "Factor" Friction!
2007-07-25 23:48:00
(By the way, no posting tomorrow, in case I forget to mention it later.)With this post title, I mean to restate my loathing and disregard for Bill O’Reilly (yes, I know; take a number and sit down).Not because he is a shameless, abusive propagandist. Not because he is a pompous, intellectual wastrel of a human being. Not because he is a falafel-abusing egomaniac (link here - #4 on list).No, no, no.It is because, despite my attempt to goad him (here) into decrying me as some type of liberal vermin in his demented eye, he has steadfastly refused to do so.Gosh, I almost feel insulted.Well, would it help if I published a list of his advertisers (here; hat tips to kos and Prof Marcus…what a shame; I thought favorably of Dell computers up to this moment – you can also click to a petition telling these folks what you think of their support for this nematode).I should probably back up a bit here and note that this latest dustup started when O’Reilly and fellow traveler Michelle Malkin ...
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Giving Progressives A Bad Name
2007-07-25 21:43:00
This column by Mark Schmitt appeared in the New York Times yesterday; I wasn’t familiar with Schmitt, but the bio with his column states that he is a senior fellow at the New America Foundation.The group (as noted here) is, “a nonprofit, post-partisan, public policy institute that was established through the collaborative work of a diverse and intergenerational group of public intellectuals, civic leaders and business executives” that seeks to “bring exceptionally promising new voices and new ideas to the fore of our nation’s public discourse” (and the fact that the group is to be headed by the fine New Yorker writer Steve Coll is promising).Given all of this, it sounded as if Schmitt’s column would be worth my time. Unfortunately, it was not (and here are some dubious excerpts)…While the absence of policy detail in the Republican presidential campaign is remarkable, Democrats go too far in the other direction. Their campaign has entered the season of plans, the period ...
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Get God Out Of The Picture
2007-07-25 20:27:00
(When it comes to the Iraq war, that is…).I bring you this excerpt from today's New York Times in an article by Jim Rutenberg and Alissa J. Rubin (try not to gag)…In sessions usually lasting more than an hour, Mr. Bush, a committed Christian of Texas by way of privileged schooling in New England, and Mr. Maliki, an Iraqi Shiite by way of political exile in Iran and Syria, talk about leadership and democracy, troop deployments and their own domestic challenges.Sometimes, said an official who has sat in on the meetings, they talk about their faith in God.“They talk about the challenges they face being leaders,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss private conversations. “They, of course, also share a faith in God.”I don’t know about you, but I don’t know of anyone who “share(s) a faith in God,” who also initiates a pre-emptive war based on lies that ends up getting over 3,600 of our people killed as well as many more than that in ...
God
Picture
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Edwards Marginalized Again
2007-07-25 17:08:00
For someone who runs a political/news blog (primarily) like this one and supports the Democratic Party, I’ll admit that I probably should have been watching the YouTube debate on Monday night among the Democratic presidential candidates. However, it is practically impossible for me to watch prime-time TV of any kind for a variety of reasons, so I have to rely on other sources.So to try and determine what exactly went on, I first read this blog post from Dick Polman of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Aside from noting that John Edwards was asked a question about gay marriage, I could detect no other mention of Edwards in Polman’s summary.Polman’s post, aside from that, belabored the point that Hillary Clinton didn’t define “liberal” in a way that satisfied him somehow, and also noted again that she is somehow emerging as an anti-war hawk in the eyes of our august corporate media despite the fact that she mistakenly voted to authorize the war (though she had a lot of company, incl ...
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Dumbya Alert
2007-07-25 00:06:00
As noted here, President Brainless is scheduled to appear in Philadelphia this Thursday at the Marriott to speak at the “Thomas Jefferson Freedom Break- fast” (the real Jefferson, no doubt, would have no time for Dubya whatsoever).The Marriott Downtown is located at 1201 Market Street (you would be a few blocks south of the Convention Center and the Reading Terminal Market if you want to get there to protest…just a thought).Should be a nice day, but hot, so bring lots of fluids so you don’t get dehydrated.(And I’ve been falling down on my quota I know, so I’ll try to make up for it here: Impeach Bush/Cheney and Impeach Bush/Cheney.)(And of course, if President 25 Percent Mandate somehow finds himself in need of porn – hard to want to imagine that, I know – he should thank Mitt Romney for that, as noted here and here. ...
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