Sneak preview of the newest additions to the AMERICAblog store

I just added a TON of stuff, and just made it live a few minutes ago. Lots of funny Downing Street Memo t-shirts (on the back they say "Ask me about the Downing Street Memo"), some beautiful Friday Orchid Blogging products, and coming soon, Gitmo-wear :-)



And there's lot more. Check it out. Read More......

GOP wingnut in the House says Democrats live to demonize Christians

That would be because - what? - all Democrats are evil horned Jews??? Now who owes who an apology.

Rep. John Hostettler, R-Ind., criticized Obey and Steve Israel, D-N.Y., who offered a similar condemnation of academy officials earlier this year on another bill.

"Like a moth to a flame, Democrats can't help themselves when it comes to denigrating and demonizing Christians," Hostettler said.

No, just the fascist, hate-group kind. Read More......

Time to stop using GoDaddy.com. The president is a pro-Bush, pro-Gitmo, wingnut

This is actually very sad. I love GoDaddy.com. It's a service for registering and hosting Web site, and is incredibly cheap and easy to use. I've used it for years, and have tons of names registered with them. I will sincerely start looking for who else offers a cheap and well-run domain hosting service now.

Their president is, well, a right-wing nut. (This is Parson's original post, that's a bit harsher and attacks Senator Durbin a LOT more, he's subsequently edited it back). And worse yet, the company Web site links to his blog, and his blog has the company logo on the top of it. That is not somebody's "personal" blog when you use your company, a company I give money to, to help direct traffic to this man's uber-right-wing vitriol.

This really is sad. It was such a great company.

Can anyone recommend cheap and good domain hosting services that are comparable? Register.com is one big expensive rip off, and 4 times the price. Anybody else do domain name registration for $9 a year?

Spread the word, GoDaddy.com is run by a loud-mouthed pro-Bush clone who is using his company to promote a pro-Bush message and attack Democrats. Read More......

Great lynching political cartoon

Good stuff Read More......

Open Thread

This was one long Monday.... Read More......

CardSystems improperly used credit card data

Despite violating Visa and MasterCard policies, CardSystems was holding customer credit card data for "research purposes." The spin today is that it had to do with researching unathorized or uncompleted transactions but looking at the history of this mess so far, who really believes anything this bunch of clowns have to say. Either way, they were in violation of policy and as consumers we ought to expect a penalty against CardSystems and it is time we get serious protections and not just re-hashed policy that says and means nothing, as is being proposed by the GOP. I suppose that all of our friends in DC are too busy counting the campaign money from the industry to give a damn about regular voters. Read More......

Andrew Sullivan says Durbin has NOTHING to apologize for

This, among other reasons, is why I'm friends with Andrew. He is a smart, genuinely kind guy, and on occasion his politics just might not piss you off :-) Seriously, Andrew is spot-on with his analysis of the right-wing's crocodile tears over Durbin's criticism of Gitmo.

From AndrewSullivan.com

DURBIN SAID NOTHING WRONG: I've now read and re-read Senator Dick Durbin's comments on interrogation techniques at Guantanamo Bay. They are completely, perfectly respectable. ... I'm just amazed that some can view what has happened and their first instinct is to attack those who have criticized it, rather than those who have perpetrated it. It is this administration that has brought indelible shame on America, and it's people like Dick Durbin who prove that some can actually stand up against this stain on American honor and call it what it is. Good for him. Thank God for him.

(Via, of all places, Atrios) Read More......

Bolton nomination still on hold

Gosh I hate when that happens. Read More......

Demand an apology from the 1 in 4 GOP Senators who refuse to cosponsor lynching apology

UPDATE: I've updated the t-shirt to reflect the 13 GOP hold-outs who we are now calling, on the shirt, "The Lynch Mob."

They've now had a week, there's no way any of these guys don't know about this resolution.

They've had calls, they've had local press inquiries, and they still don't give a damn that the US Senate NEVER passed legislation making lynching a federal crime, nor that it was southern states, like many of the Senators who are now refusing to cosponsor, who filibustered the anti-lynching bill. And it was a southern Senator, Bill Frist of TN, who refused to bring this legislation up for a real recorded vote, and insisted on it being brought up in the late hours of the evening in the hopes that no one would pay attention.

It's high time these 13 Republican Senators, the Lynch Mob as they're now being called, apologize to the Senate, to their party, and their country for taking such a racist stance. They represent nearly 25% of all GOP Senators - nearly one in four, folks - and they refuse to cosponsor a simply resolution making a statement against lynching.

Call them all week and demand they apologize.

202-224-3121 - main Senate switchboard, then ask for your Senator's office

Alexander (R-TN)
Bennett (R-UT)
Cochran (R-MS)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Enzi (R-WY)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lott (R-MS)
Shelby (R-AL)
Smith (R-OR)
Sununu (R-NH)
Thomas (R-WY) Read More......

Open thread

Have we killed any innocents yet today anywhere in the world? Just asking. Read More......

Operation Yellow Elephant

On whom does the yellow elephant pee?

It pees on you.

Read More......

The Senate, to this day, never passed the anti-lynching legislation

I hadn't realized they NEVER passed the law. This puts the importance of the anti-lynching resolution in a whole new light. They NEVER passed the law, while lynchings continued up until the late 1960s (though, I'd argue, what happened to James Byrd in Texas a few years back was clearly a lynching). Read More......

More political pressure in Big Tobacco case

This administration really has an addiction with running everything through the political operatives, no matter what the facts say. And to think these people like to say that they have firm beliefs. Sure, beliefs in holding on at all costs. Just like the lead up to the war in Iraq, just like the global warming (or not) study and just like our pal Bolton, the Justice Department was not happy with facts and pressured people to soften their testimony so it could fit in with their plans to drop the penalty by $120 Billion.

The latest whistle-blower, Harvard professor Max H. Bazerman, came forward after reading about the political pressure in this case as has been reported by the LA times and Post. I wonder if the Democrats are going to jump on this or if they are planning to let the scandal turn cold. Read More......

I'm sorry

Cheney wants an apology to the military and to our vets for those of us who have the audacity to criticize the brutal abuse of international and US law taking place at Gitmo. And Cheney's right, we do owe everyone an apology. Here's mine:

- I'm sorry Bush told us there were WMD when there weren't.
- I'm sorry Bush told us Saddam had ties to Al Qaeda, and didn't.
- I'm sorry Cheney told us that Saddam's agents had met with Mohammad Atta in Prague, when he didn't.
- I'm sorry Colin Powell became so spineless that he threw his principles out the window and lied before the entire UN.
- I'm sorry over 1700 US servicemembers are dead in a war that was based on a lie.
- I'm sorry our soldiers are being told their own parents have to pay for their body armor, because the US military won't.
- I'm sorry the Bush administration lied about what really happened to Pat Tillman, and then lied to his parents.
- I'm sorry Bush demanded Saddam comply with UN inspections, then when Saddam did comply, Bush invaded anyway.
- I'm sorry Bush told us Mission Accomplished nearly 2 years ago, and the bloodshed continues.
- I'm sorry Bush told us the few incidents at Abu Ghraib were only isolated incidents, when they weren't.
- I'm sorry Bush told us 7 months before the Iraq war that he hadn't yet decided to invade, when he had.
- I'm sorry Bush keeps telling us the over 500 prisoners at Gitmo are such bad terrorists that they simply can never be released, but then Bush can't even come up with enough evidence to charge even one of them with jaywalking.

There's my apology. Wonder if Cheney and the GOP will sign on? Read More......

Families of dead US soldiers speak out

Uh oh. You can hide their flag-draped coffins, but you can't hide their parents.

"As a loved one of Joseph Tremblay of New Windsor, who died April 27 in Iraq doing what he considered his duty for his country and fellow Marines, I have feelings of such loss and sadness – and also extreme anger.
"The article (on the Downing Street Memo) has helped me understand my anger towards the President and his underhanded, dishonest and dangerous policies in Iraq.
"I urge every American to demand that President Bush be made to answer these allegations regarding what has become known as the Downing Street Memo. I sent in the petition (demanding a hearing) and called all my family and friends, urging them to do the same.
"I am very proud of Joey and the ultimate price he paid for our country, but if President Bush had not lied and been so determined to invade Iraq, Joey would be here with his loved ones, planning his wedding and looking forward to what a young man with such promise could have contributed to the world.
"My question to President Bush is – how do you look yourself in the mirror every morning with a clear conscience knowing that 1,700 young Americans are dead based on a lie?"


From Karen Meredith of Mountain View, Calif.:
"My only child, Lt. Ken Ballard, was 26 years old when he was killed in Najaf, Iraq, on 5-30-04. My son saved the lives of 60 men that horrible night – they all got to go home to their families. He was one of three soldiers in his battalion killed after they were extended with the First Armored Division.
"After I read the notes from the meeting at Downing Street, I knew that his fate was decided and he was a dead man in July 2002, when that meeting took place.
"How sad that I didn't know then – just two months after he was commissioned an officer in the U.S. Army, just two months after he took an oath to obey the orders of the President of the United States – that his fate was already determined by a corrupt administration. Members of the Bush Administration lied repeatedly to this country when they told us time and again that no decision to go to war had been made.
"And how devastating to know that if the administration had planned for more ground strength, my son might be alive today.
"I belong to a group called Gold Star Families for Peace. The most difficult thing we encounter when we speak out against the war is that most of us are not anti-military and would never malign the soldiers or their service to this country. My son was a fourth-generation Army officer.
"But our members provide witness to the lies that resulted in our children being killed. We are all trying to put some sanity in this world gone mad. "

Read More......

Bush's war worries growing

And the MSM begins to show signs of life. Read More......

Who's attacking Dick Durbin? A closer look

I just got a series of emails from a guy running an online petition demanding that Durbin resign, he wanted me to link to his petition (I am not posting the link to his petition). When I wote him back to ask why a liberal blogger would want to help him hurt attack Durbin, I got a series of email in return that only so well demonstrate what the GOP has turned our country into:

First, here's what he sent me:

Can you please post a link to this petition to dump Dick Durbin? We have almost 200 signatures already. With your help, we can get to 1000 in no time at all.

Here's how I responded:

Why in God's name do you think I'd sign on to that? I'm a liberal blogger. It's outrageous what we're doing in Gitmo and Abu Ghraib and elsewhere.

Then he wrote me this:

Just be grateful that you are not Nick Berg. He didnt get filet mignon and a free torah before they sliced his head off for Al-Jezeera audiences throughout the middle-east. Im sure that he would have loved to be a prisoner in Gitmo rather than dead like he is now. If you need a reminder of who Nick Berg was, and what happened to him go to www.michaelsavage.com. And, if you have the stomach for it watch the video of Nick Berg getting his head sliced off while his captors praise ALLAH. Dick Durbin is a LIBERAL IDIOT - probably a lot like you John. Keep supporting Durbin and the DNC, and you will be facing MECCAH 5 times a day that is if they let you keep your head! Happy Blogging John!

So I wrote him this:

Have fun, little child.

Then I got this from him:

Hey John,

Did you watch the video of Nick Berg getting his head cut-off by your terrorist buddies, or are you too scared to watch it?

Nick Berg didn’t have Dick Durbin coming to his defense on the floor of the senate. Nick Berg didn’t have people like you and the ACLU fighting for his rights while they sliced his head off and chanted to ALLAH! Go ahead! I dare you! Watch the video of Nick Berg’s execution! I dare you to watch it! You probably do not have the guts! Watch the video and then get back to me!

Happy blogging,

US CITIZEN and PROUD OF IT!

Yes, well at least one of us is proud that you're a US CITIZEN. Read More......

US Military telling recruits to have their parents buy them armor

What's next, a bake sale?

Good God, what has George Bush done to our military? And you, the 70% of US soldiers who reportedly voted for Bush in 2004, do you military folks out there realize that the ONLY candidate and the ONLY media and the ONLY grassroots talking about the body armor problem in Iraq were LIBERALS? FOX News wasn't on Bush's case for not giving you the armor you needed. But Dan Rather was. Candidate Bush said you had all the body armor you needed. Candidate Kerry said that was a lie.

I'm serious about this. The GOP has screwed our military and put our troops at risk, while denying the problem from day one. It's now gotten so bad that they need to have these kids' parents buy the armor themselves, like these are their school supplies (I wonder if they make those cool yellow raincoats in kevlar?) Read More......

Salon's Eric Boehlert takes 6 months leave to write new book

While we're glad for Eric to be writing a book, we're going to miss his aggressive reporting style.

His book will be titled, "Lapdogs: How Bush Got the Press to Heel." And it will be published by free press in the fall of 2006. Read More......

Did Howard Stern get censored this morning?

I'm still trying to get the facts on this one, but am putting this out to the public in case anyone has more info, contacts with Stern's show, etc. In a nutshell, a friend of mine was listening to the show this morning on radio in DC. The conversation turned to discussing a young woman's pregnancy, Howard opined that she should have an abortion, and the show went dead. It was replaced with other programming.

Now, perhaps someting went wrong technically. I don't know. But I'd like to knows if others listened to the same thing happening, and if anyone can get me a contact at Howard's show, phone number for someone, or just get this to him. If they cut him off for being pro-choice, then this is a story - BUT we don't know yet. All we know is the show got cut off. I'd like to know why. Thanks, JOHN Read More......

TIME magazine mentioned our lynching t-shirts too

This is almost getting funny.

TIME
Blogwatch
Jun. 27, 2005

LAW DORK and other left-leaning blogs spent last week shaming a few G.O.P. holdouts into joining the majority of Senators in co-sponsoring a resolution that apologized for not passing antilynching legislation decades ago. As the laggards added their names to the resolution, AMERICABLOG removed them from a T shirt it is selling that says, "My Senator went to Washington ... and all I got was a lousy lynching." Among the dozen who declined was Tennessee's Lamar Alexander, who condemned lynching on the floor but refused to co-sponsor the measure, saying, "I prefer to look ahead."

We also got a mention in the Sunday New York Times, and today's Roll Call (THE paper on the Hill) also covered the lynching story in depth, though Roll Call doesn't mention the t's, but that's fine, it's a good article. Read More......

Oil reaches for new high

But don't worry about the price impacting the economy at all. Greenspan and the administration keep telling us that it's OK and they are never wrong so we're all set now. As soon as we pay off the war in Iraq, the corporate welfare and the trade deficit everything will be fine. Pass me the Kool-aid, I'm gettin' low. Read More......

If it looks like a lame duck, and quacks like a lame duck...it's a lame duck

Today's NY Times has an analysis about how Bush is setting the record for becoming the fastest second term lame duck in history:

Five months after President Bush was sworn in for another four years, his political authority appears to be ebbing, both within his own party, where members of Congress are increasingly if sporadically going their own way, and among Democrats, who have discovered that they pay little or no price for defying him.

The whole piece is a pretty good read, but I especially liked this segment:

The cumulative effect of his difficulties in the last few months has been to pierce the sense of dominance that he sought to project after his re-election and to heighten concerns among Republicans in Congress that voters will hold them, as the party in power, responsible for failure to address the issues of most concern to the public.

"The political capital he thought he had has dwindled to very little, and he overstated how much he had to begin with," said Allan J. Lichtman, a presidential historian at American University in Washington.

Remember last November when Bush proclaimed his mandate despite the small margin of his victory? The media just accepted the statement and treated him like a conquering hero. Wrong.

Bush's approval ratings are collapsing. The media is finally grasping that this is a failed presidency. Read More......

"Last throes" campaign continues

This time 20 people dead, 100 wounded. Yes, they are really crumbling right before our eyes Mr Cheney. Read More......

Biden in 2008?

Gee, how surprising. After his latest blasts against Howard Dean, perhaps he ought to stick with the traditional Democrats and go after their support because he sure as hell isn't getting any Dean supporters, myself included. The old line Democrats have done such a fine job and served the party so well, so go ahead and see how far it gets him. It's a new game out there but the old line just doesn't get it yet. Read More......

Open thread

And I'm off to bed. More lynching news coming in the morning... Read More......