Senate approves more offshore drilling in off-limit waters

Stewards of the earth? Try stewards of the oil companies. Read More......

An unconscionable attack from Jim Talent in Missouri

Not that anyone ever accused any Republican of having a conscience -- but you have to read Roy Temple's latest post at Fired Up Missouri. Jim Talent and his campaign are sick. Read More......

Frist say no min. wage increase unless Paris Hilton gets her tax cut

The GOP is making sure that there will be no increase in the minimum wage -- unless the really, really rich get another tax break. They do love screwing over poor people, those Republicans:

The only opportunity this year to increase the minimum wage and renew popular tax breaks will be linked to a reduction in the estate tax, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said Tuesday.

The Republican leader said he would schedule a Friday vote to see whether a bill combining the three items, already passed by the House, can win the support of 60 senators. Without that backing, the bill slides off the Senate's agenda.

"It's now or never," Frist said.

What Frist means is that there will never be an increased minimum wage as long as the GOP runs Congress. Read More......

Proof that the Republicans are trying to steal the Senate race in Pennsylvania

At some point, will someone do something about this? We are beyond the point of looking like some banana republic here. Our entire electoral process has been in doubt for 6 years. To even have to think that elections are thrown in America is sickening. For the love of God, would some politician please finally embrace this issue? Read More......

Open thread

1. It's Joe in DC's birthday. Give him a big happy bday.

2. This "Mel Gibson reaching out to the Jews" crap is just that - crap. He did the same thing to the gays ten years ago when he went all psycho-vicious on us too. He's not a first offender, he's not a second offender. He's a repeat offender. The man is a bigot, a violent bully, and a creep. And he's already done his mea culpa's on the Jewish thing time and again - and not very well, I might add.

Who can forget this little ditty, from just two years ago:

Pressed further to go on the record and say the Holocaust happened, Gibson said: "Yes, of course. Atrocities happened. War is horrible. The Second World War killed tens of millions of people. Some of them were Jews in concentration camps. Many people lost their lives. In the Ukraine, several million starved to death between 1932 and 1933."

6 million Jews is "some"? I wonder what a lot of dead Jews is in the Gibson family? Not to mention "atrocities happened"? Ya think? Is that like "Shit Happens?"

This man doesn't deserve yet another chance to yet again squirm out of yet another bigotry eruption. Gibson is now supposedly looking for the "appropriate path for healing."

I'll give him a path all right, over the next cliff. Read More......

Nephew of Montana Democratic Senator Baucus killed in Iraq

The Iraq war hits the family of a Senator. Another tragedy. Read More......

US political guru Charlie Cook says to expect "an electoral rout" in November

Good reading. Read More......

Disney/ABC drops Mel Gibson Holocaust mini-series, yet still manages to wimp out

God forbid Disney/ABC actually did the right thing for the right reason. Oh no. They're saying they dropped the mini-series because they haven't seen a script.

Jesus people. Would it kill you to say you dropped Gibson because it would be inappropriate for you to have a vicious anti-Semite produce a TV show about the Holocaust? Read More......

Mug shot of Disney/ABC's favorite racist drunk

Read More......

Bill Frist is dreaming of clambakes

Bill Frist has has a busy -- and bizarre day. Fortunately, the Senate Majority Project has been keeping tabs on him.

We always knew he was out of touch, but this is just an outrage from the GOP Majority Leader:

“I’d be hard-pressed to say we’re not addressing the issues that mean something to the average hard-working taxpayer out there today.”

Those average hard-woring taxpayers would be harp-pressed to think of any issue the GOP has addressed for them.

Later, Frist started ruminating about "clambakes,' yes, clambakes:

“Others in the minority argue that they can return to conference on pensions to haggle further over the pensions and change this or that or talk about the taxes, and I don't know exactly what we would do if we went back to conference with that. Arguments such as where's the best place to have a clambake.”

“Mr. President, for the record, I'd like to have my clam bakes in New Hampshire -- clambakes in New Hampshire.”

Maybe, he's pre-occupied by yet another ethical violation -- this time involving his family foundation:

Majority Leader Bill Frist hasn't been following all the Senate's rules when it comes to disclosing details about his finances.

Frist and his wife are the sole trustees in charge of a family foundation bearing the senator's name, according to Internal Revenue Service forms. However, he has not been listing that position on his Senate disclosure forms, which are made public every year.

It's always something with Dr. Frist. Read More......

It's about sex, not science

Bush's nominee for the Commissioner of FDA got kicked around today during his Senate confirmation hearing. He's playing games with the contraceptive called "Plan B." The Senate has already been duped by the FDA once on this issue...they need actions, not words this time. The bottom line in this debate is that the Bush administration will do anything to prevent Americans from having sex:

Contraceptive advocates and doctors groups say easier access to Plan B could halve the nation's 3 million annual unintended pregnancies. Opponents say wider access to the pill could promote promiscuity.

"Promote promiscuity" is theocratic code for people having sex. The Bush/GOP theocracy is anti-birth control -- and, they're anti-sex (for the little people, not for themselves, of course). The Bush administration opposes birth control and endorses abstinence. But, you know, we've never heard if that's the policy for the Bush family or the Bush staff in the White House or over at the RNC. We should know if they all practice what they preach. Read More......

AP: Bush Mideast stance may flop

Gosh, what a surprise. Another Republican failure that ends up in more war, more blood, and more people hating America.

Had enough yet? Read More......

Republicans are trying to steal the election in Pennsylvania

Apparently they don't think Santorum can win without cheating. Read More......

Lieberman's challenger Ned Lamont on the Colbert Report

Read More......

So what about an AMERICAblog cafe meet-up this Thursday in Paris?

We seem to have enough people. Two questions - when and where? I'd say this Thursday, before vacation kicks in, and probably night time rather than day time, so that folks can make it. Yes?

Also, where?

One friend suggested the second floor of Deux Magots. I adore Deux Magots and the second floor is large and has great ambience. Yes, it could be warm, but with the weather the way it's being this week, it should actually be nice. Any much better suggestions than that? Read More......

Fidel Castro temporarily cedes power to brother while undergoing surgery

Great, more foreign instability on Bush's watch. Read More......

EJ Dionne has a good take on Lieberman v. Lamont

EJ Dionne in the Wash Post:

Like the earlier generation of conservatives, today's Democratic activists are impatient with accommodating the powers that be. They demand that Democrats stop trying to chase a "center" that has veered ever rightward since 1980. Instead, they want to haul that center back to more progressive terrain. That's why so much of the political energy in Connecticut seems to be with Lamont.

Lieberman's core problem was not even his support for the Iraq war. It was his eagerness to challenge the legitimacy of fellow Democrats who have called attention to the administration's mistakes. Lieberman, confident of Democratic support, seemed to crave the affection of Republicans most of all....

A Lieberman loss next week could also create distracting problems for Democrats. Lieberman has said he would run as an independent if he lost the primary. This would divert national attention from the Democrats' central goal of making this fall's elections a referendum on Bush and the Republican Congress.

As for this primary, the lesson already is clear: A Democratic Party that has been on defense since the 1980s desperately wants to go on offense. Lamont understands that. If Lieberman is to survive this round, he needs to make clear between now and next Tuesday that he's gotten the message.

Read More......

Open thread

Joe wakes up in a few minutes on the east coast where it's a balmy 81 degrees, preparing for what we believe may be Washington, DC's first ever "excessive heat warning" day. Aren't firsts exciting? We're number one, we're number one (as the tides roll in...). Read More......

Good Morning Paris

Bizarre French Metro ad




Chris and me on the Metro.




And a small store window down the block that caught my eye late at night. Read More......