strong

enough of the stupidity

Biden is on fire

This

is the full CBS 60 Minutes (2004) interview of Former Secretary Of Treasury Paul O'Neil and reporter Ron Suskind that discusses Bush asking his National Security Council to "find a way" to invade Iraq during their first meeting in January 2001.

January 2001, Bush Sought to "Find A Way" to Invade Iraq
by BadKitty

Reporter gets pwned

Boo ABC

Yes the 21st debate between Barack and Hilary was horrid. ABC should be ashamed. The questions were asinine. Here is Barack talking about that:

Everyone should read this

Some have said that Barack Obama's opposition to America initiating the Iraq war is a "fairytale" and that his position on the war has been "inconsistent." But on October 2, 2002 at the Federal Plaza in Chicago Senator Barack Obama, then an Illinois state senator, delivered these remarks:

"I stand before you as someone who is not opposed to war in all circumstances. The Civil War was one of the bloodiest in history, and yet it was only through the crucible of the sword, the sacrifice of multitudes, that we could begin to perfect this union and drive the scourge of slavery from our soil.

I Don't Oppose All Wars
I don't oppose all wars. My grandfather signed up for a war the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, fought in Patton's army. He fought in the name of a larger freedom, part of that arsenal of democracy that triumphed over evil. I don't oppose all wars. After September 11, after witnessing the carnage and destruction, the dust and the tears, I supported this administration's pledge to hunt down and root out those who would slaughter innocents in the name of intolerance, and I would willingly take up arms myself to prevent such tragedy from happening again.

Opposed to Dumb, Rash Wars
I don't oppose all wars. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other armchair, weekend warriors in this administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne. What I am opposed to is the attempt by political hacks like Karl Rove to distract us from a rise in the uninsured, a rise in the poverty rate, a drop in the median income, to distract us from corporate scandals and a stock market that has just gone through the worst month since the Great Depression. That's what I'm opposed to. A dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics.

On Saddam Hussein
Now let me be clear: I suffer no illusions about Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal man. A ruthless man. A man who butchers his own people to secure his own power.... The world, and the Iraqi people, would be better off without him. But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors...and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history. I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a U.S. occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda. I am not opposed to all wars. I'm opposed to dumb wars. So for those of us who seek a more just and secure world for our children, let us send a clear message to the president.

You Want a Fight, President Bush?
You want a fight, President Bush? Let's finish the fight with Bin Laden and al-Qaeda, through effective, coordinated intelligence, and a shutting down of the financial networks that support terrorism, and a homeland security program that involves more than color-coded warnings.

You want a fight, President Bush? Let's fight to make sure that...we vigorously enforce a nonproliferation treaty, and that former enemies and current allies like Russia safeguard and ultimately eliminate their stores of nuclear material, and that nations like Pakistan and India never use the terrible weapons already in their possession, and that the arms merchants in our own country stop feeding the countless wars that rage across the globe.

You want a fight, President Bush? Let's fight to make sure our so-called allies in the Middle East, the Saudis and the Egyptians, stop oppressing their own people, and suppressing dissent, and tolerating corruption and inequality, and mismanaging their economies so that their youth grow up without education, without prospects, without hope, the ready recruits of terrorist cells.

You want a fight, President Bush? Let's fight to wean ourselves off Middle East oil through an energy policy that doesn't simply serve the interests of Exxon and Mobil. Those are the battles that we need to fight. Those are the battles that we willingly join. The battles against ignorance and intolerance. Corruption and greed. Poverty and despair.

The consequences of war are dire, the sacrifices immeasurable. We may have occasion in our lifetime to once again rise up in defense of our freedom, and pay the wages of war. But we ought not – we will not – travel down that hellish path blindly. Nor should we allow those who would march off and pay the ultimate sacrifice, who would prove the full measure of devotion with their blood, to make such an awful sacrifice in vain."

Barack Obama delivered his powerful speech at the Federal Plaza in Chicago October 2, 2002

Kucinich highlights

Oversight

Waxman has become the Bush administration's worst nightmare: a Democrat in the majority with subpoena power and the inclination to overturn rocks. But in Waxman the White House also faces an indefatigable capital veteran -- with a staff renowned for its depth and experience -- who has been waiting for this for 14 years.

article

Impeaches and cream

By a margin of 52 to 43 percent, citizens want Congress to impeach President Bush if he wiretapped American citizens without a judge's approval, according to a new poll commissioned by AfterDowningStreet.org, a grassroots coalition that supports a Congressional investigation of Pres. Bush's decision to invade Iraq in 2003.

The poll was conducted by Zogby International.

from Boston Legal

James Spader is en fuego

Pelosi is taking a phone poll on impeachment of Bush Cheney.

Call this number:

1-202-225-0100

A human will answer or a message

just say

“i wish to register my support for the impeachment of Bush Cheney”

they will say okay

hangup

Grandpa Sam goes to Washington...

Di worked as a nanny in San Francisco for the Fox family. Great family. They came to our wedding and everything. Grandpa Fox, Sam, is a very rich and powerful player on the political stage. Grandpa Sam has recently been in the news...

The White House announced this morning that it was withdrawing the nomination of Sam Fox of Clayton, Mo., to become ambassador to Belgium amid controversy over Fox’s financial support for Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in the 2004 presidential campaign.

The White House issued its statement with no explanation a half-hour before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was scheduled to vote on Fox’s nomination.

Fox, a wealthy businessman and one of the national GOP’s most reliable political donors, contributed $50,000 in the last election to the group that vigorously attacked Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic nominee, alleging that Kerry did not deserve the medals he had won after his service in Vietnam.

Kerry allies branded the campaign a smear and some Democrats believe that it cost their party the election.

Kerry, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, aggressively questioned Fox about the contribution as well as about European politics during Fox’s initial appearance in front of the committee last month.

Kerry said this morning: “Sam Fox had every opportunity to disavow the politics of personal destruction and to embrace the truth. He chose not to. The White House made the right decision to withdraw the nomination. I hope this signals a new day in political discourse.”


Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., said he was very disappointed, especially given Fox’s sterling reputation in Missouri. "The man is extremely well-respected in the community, very generous and gives to a lot of problems."

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., also spoke critically of Fox during the hearing and Tuesday, Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., declared Tuesday that he would oppose Fox’s nomination.

Obama said this morning that he had "serious concerns about Mr. Fox’s candor, judgment and qualifications for this important post, and I am pleased that the Bush administration acknowledged that it would not be able to muster the votes to confirm his nomination."

Former Navy veterans who served with Kerry had initiated an anti-Fox campaign, sending letters to Capitol Hill and making appeals to members, among them Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.

"The bottom line is that what was done to Kerry was unconscionable. I served with John Kerry; I know what he was made of," Wade Sanders, a former assistant secretary of the Navy, said in an interview with the Post-Dispatch this week.

McCaskill and Bond said they had not wavered in their backing of Fox.

Fox, 77, who is national chairman of the Jewish Republican Coalition, has contributed over $1 million to Republican campaigns since the 1990s.

When Kerry pressed him on the contributions to the Swift Boat group, Fox declined to apologize or to explain in a fashion that mollified Kerry and others on the committee.

"When I’m asked, I just generally give," Fox said at the time.

By Bill Lambrecht
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/28/2007

Dorks

Thanks Eli

Will we miss him??

Here is a selection of recent Rumsfeld verse about the fundamental human question: What is life?

These poems are the exact words of the defense secretary, taken from the official transcripts on the Defense Department's Web site.

On NATO
You may think it's something
I ought to know,
But I happen not to.
That's life.
(July 9, 2003)

On Reporters
If you do something,
Somebody's not going
To agree with it.
That's life.
(Feb. 19, 2003)

On the Budget
If you do anything,
Someone's not going
To like it and
That's life.
(May 7, 2002)

On Leaks
Look bumpy? Sure.
But you pick up
And go on.
That's life.
(May 17, 2002)

On Democracy
People elected
Those people to office.
That's what they think, and
That's life.
(Feb. 20, 2003)

On People
They're going to have
Some impact on
What happens in that country
And that's not wrong.
That's life.
(Nov. 16, 2001)

On Criticism
It makes it complicated.
Sometimes, it makes
It difficult.
That's life.
(Sept. 11, 2003)

slate

Webb wins in Virginia. So Dems take the Senate as well.

Fun night. Yeah. It's my idea of fun.

In case you haven't heard, I'm a bit of a political junkie. I'm not too proud of that. Although, this is a pretty entertaining night to be said junkie. There is a fury of online activity currently. And what's really interesting for me, is the ability to, essentially, watch the results of this election in real time. A process which heretofore has been behind closed doors is now very visible. Before the internet, people cast their ballots and had to wait until the evening news brought the results. After the hocus pocus magic wand was waved over ma and pa's tv set, they would be told who the winners of the race were. That scenario has changed forever. Now, thanks to many very smart and inspired bloggers, those of us who have an unhealthy obsession with politics can witness the slash and burn carnage/upheaval in congress. Tonight is a direct referendum against the current inept administration and it's policies. Hm, policy. That is what powers politics. Hence the name. When the policies fail, so must the politicians. Tonight, the US is following the rules of the government. The fair rules. Of the people and by the people.