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From TheSmokingGun.com:

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Jack "Off" Ryan Defends His Character Following Sex Revelations

I think this is a new low for politics,' Ryan said Tuesday morning during an appearance on Chicago's WLS-AM. 'It seems to me it's just a new standard, and I don't think it's healthy for our democracy.' - NBC5-Chicago

No, Jack Off, the new low was when you decided to sign on the constitutional amendment making me a second-class citizen because of my personal relationships. Trying to have your cage and eat it too?

Ryan said he was fit for high public office, noting that the court documents reveal no violations of earthly or higher laws.

Ah, so that's the standard of character for Republican candidates nowadays. Don't violate earthly or higher laws, and you're a-ok.

'I think my character has been proven by this because most people expect -- remember the speculation before these were opened were I was unfaithful or I broke laws or I was doing something that was hurtful to others,' Ryan said in an interview on WBEZ-FM. 'And none of that is in there.'

Right, because pressuring your wife to have sex - public sex at that - wouldn't be hurtful to her at all.

'There's no breaking of any laws. There's no breaking of any marriage laws. There's no breaking of the Ten Commandments anywhere. And so I think if that's the worst people can say about me in the heat of a difficult dispute I think it speaks very well about my character.'"

No breaking of the Ten Commandmants? Newsflash, Jack Off, my being gay doesn't break the Ten Commandments either, but you seem to think it's enough of a crime that we need a constitutional amendment to stop me. Read More......

Senator Allen (R-VA) still support Jack "Off" Ryan

Crain's Chicago Business:

The head of the Senate Republican Campaign Committee, Virginia Sen. George Allen, said Tuesday that he still supports Ryan.

Ryan 'has the ability to forcefully articulate issues and ideas that matter,' Allen said. 'His ex-wife Jeri has said he's a good man and he's a loving father, and his in-laws have also talked about what an outstanding U.S. Senator he will be. So we are - I am - strongly supporting Jack Ryan.'

'We are not conceding Illinois,' he said.

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Honey, I shrunk the dead people

Reuters:

The Bush administration on Tuesday more than doubled its count of people killed and injured by international terrorism in 2003 as it revised a faulty report used to argue it was winning the war on terror.

The administration said international terrorism killed 625 people last year, up from the 307 it reported on April 29 but below 2002's 725 fatalities. It found 3,646 were wounded last year, above the 1,593 initially cited and the 2,013 in 2002.

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AP Sues for Access to Bush Guard Records

It appears that Bush is unlawfully still not releasing everything, and the Associated Press has caught him. My God, our little baby media has finally grown up!

There are questions as to whether the file provided to the news media earlier this year is complete, says the lawsuit, adding that these questions could possibly be answered by reviewing a copy of the microfilm of Bush's personnel file in the Texas archives.

The Air National Guard of the United States, a federal entity, has control of the microfilm, which should be disclosed in its entirety under the Freedom of Information Act, the lawsuit says.

The White House has yet to respond to a request by the AP in April asking the president to sign a written waiver of his right to keep records of his military service confidential. Bush gave an oral waiver in a TV appearance that preceded the White House's release this year of materials concerning his National Guard service.

The government 'did not expedite their response ... they did not produce the file within the time required by law, and they will not now estimate when the file might be produced or even confirm that an effort has been initiated to retrieve a copy from the microfilm at the Texas archives,' the lawsuit says.

In the absence of any privacy objection by the president and in light of the importance of the file's release in advance of the November election, says the lawsuit, AP seeks a court order to compel the release of records 'that are being unlawfully withheld from the public.'

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First they kill Jesus, and now this

First the Jews want to be called Americans, next it will be the Muslims, and before you know it, everyone citizen of this country is going to want to be treated equally. What is our nation coming to?

Reuters:

A leading Jewish group on Tuesday asked the Republican Party in President Bush's home state of Texas to stop calling the United States a 'Christian nation' in its platform.

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Bush is against beheadings

Bush is apparently opposed to beheadings.

Perhaps a constitutional amendment to ban beheadings? Or at least same-sex beheadings? Just a thought. Read More......

Korean beheaded in Iraq - Congress responds by holding gay marriage hearings today

Yes, had Massachusetts not legalized marriage for same-sex couples, this man would have been alive today. Perhaps if we invade San Francisco and P-town, we can put a stop to Al-Qaeda terrorism once and for all. Read More......

I called it. They lied about the Al-Qaeda guy supposedly working in the Iraqi army

Ok, I SO called it. They fucking lied again. The Bushies, with the media's help, sent out inflammatory information without even confirming it, only mentioning later in the story that nothing was confirmed, and now we know that the story was probably a big mistake. Of course, that's after it's been broadcasted across the country so the Faux News crowd and the 'Limburger' Ditto Heads all consider it truth ad infinitum. When the hell will the media learn?

Amazing.

An allegation that a high-ranking al Qaeda member was an officer in Saddam Hussein's private militia may have resulted from confusion over Iraqi names, a senior administration official said yesterday.

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"I was physically ill"

Chicago Sun-Times reprints part of Jeri Ryan's court declaration about her husband, IL Senate candidate Jack Ryan, a family values Republican who supports the anti-gay constitutional amendment.

Declaration of Jeri Ryan, dated June 9, 2000:

I made it clear to [Jack Ryan] that our marriage was over for me in the spring of 1998. On three trips, one to New Orleans, one to New York and one to Paris, [he] insisted that I go to sex clubs with him. These were surprise trips that [he] arranged. They were long weekends, supposed "romantic" getaways.

The clubs in New York and Paris were explicit sex clubs. [He] had done research.

[Jack Ryan] took me to two clubs in New York during the day. One club I refused to go in. It had mattresses in cubicles. The other club he insisted I go to. . . . It was a bizarre club with cages, whips and other apparatus hanging from the ceiling.

[He] wanted me to have sex with him there, with another couple watching. I refused.

[He] asked me to perform a sexual activity upon him, and he specifically asked other people to watch. I was very upset.

We left the club and [he] apologized, said that I was right and he would never insist that I go to a club again. He promised it was out of his system.

Then during a trip to Paris, he took me to a sex club in Paris, without telling me where we were going. I told him I thought it was out of his system. I told him he had promised me we would never go. People were having sex everywhere. I cried, I was physically ill.

[He] became very upset with me, and said it was not a "turn on" for me to cry.

I could not get over the incident, and my loss of any attraction to him as a result.

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National Republican Party: Public sex in cages, it's a good thing

"We're not looking at trying to replace Jack Ryan. He's an excellent candidate," said Dan Allen, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. "We feel this race will be decided on the issues." - Chicago Trib

But of course, people's sex lives ARE the issues, and your party made it so. Read More......

"Respondent asked me to perform a sexual activity upon him and he specifically asked other people to watch."

Chicago Tribune:

One prominent Illinois Republican, U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood of Peoria, said he was "shocked" that Ryan would run for public office carrying such baggage and called on him to get out of the race....

In her 2000 filing, Jeri Ryan alleged that after she and Jack Ryan left the first sex club they entered in New York, he asked her to go to another. She said he told her that he had gone out to dinner with her that night even though he didn't want to and "the least I could do in return was go to the club he wanted me to go."

She described the second place as "a bizarre club with cages, whips and other apparatus hanging from the ceiling."

"Respondent wanted me to have sex with him there with another couple watching. I refused," Jeri Ryan continued. "Respondent asked me to perform a sexual activity upon him and he specifically asked other people to watch. I was very upset.

"We left the club and respondent apologized, said that I was right and he would never insist that I go to a club again. He promised it was out of his system."

But later, Jeri Ryan said, Jack Ryan took her to Paris where he again took her to a sex club without first telling her where they were going.

"I told him I thought it was out of his system. I told him he had promised me we would never go. People were having sex everywhere. I cried. I was physically ill. Respondent became very upset with me and said it was not a `turn-on' for me to cry. I could not get over the incident and my loss of any attraction to him as a result. Respondent knew this was a serious problem. I told him I did not know if we could work it out."....

On Monday, a source close to Topinka, who is also the state treasurer, said she felt Ryan had misled her. "She stuck her neck out for him and he assured her nothing in those files was embarrassing to him or to the Republican Party," the source said. "There's a general feeling by a lot of people that they've been lied to."

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Republican Senate candidate in IL accused of liking whips and cages

Mr. Anti-gay "family values" in Illinois is GOING DOWN (and not in the way he allegedly likes). This is the Republican US Senate candidate in Illinois, who is VERY pro family values, supports the anti-gay constitutional amendment, and a few years ago divorced Star Trek's Jeri "7 of 9" Ryan. His just-released divorce records contain some shocking allegations from his now-ex-wife.

Now, if whips and cages and public sex float your boat, more power to you. But don't go telling me that we need a constitutional amendment to protect the world against my relationships when your relationships involve much wilder stuff than mine.

Chicago Daily Herald: Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jack Ryan in 1998 pressured his then-wife to have sex with him in front of other people at a kinky New York sex club, according to divorce and child custody documents unsealed Monday....

Specifically, Jeri Lynn Ryan alleged that Jack Ryan took her to sex clubs in New York, New Orleans and Paris for long weekends that were 'supposed 'romantic' getaways.' She said Ryan had done research and took her to two clubs in New York during the day. One club she refused to go in because it had 'mattresses in cubicles,' she alleged. In the records she then described the other club in detail.

'It was a bizarre club with cages, whips and other apparatus hanging from the ceiling. (He) wanted me to have sex with him there, with another couple watching,' she charged."

Feel free to call the Republican National Committee and ask them why family values only matter when it's SOMEONE ELSE'S family values? (202) 863-8500

Also, feel free to call US Senate Republican Majority Leader, Senator Frist's, office, and ask them why the Senate is voting in July on the anti-gay constitutional amendment when apparently their own party's family values are now in question. Perhaps we should schedule a vote about Jack Ryan's family values as well. (202) 224-3344 Read More......

Let's not forget the Stephanie Herseth's of the world

I still maintain that the Republicans are the real winners of the gay-haters' award, but the Dems still have maturing to do themselves. To wit, from yesterday's Wash Post (I'll get you a URL when I wake up in the morning):

Democratic campaign consultant Bob Doyle said that, like Herseth, most of the Democratic candidates in this year's tight congressional races in the South and Midwest "have taken [the gay marriage] issue off the table" by supporting a constitutional amendment.

Let's face it, the Dems wouldn't feel the need to "take the issue off the table" if their Republican opponents weren't using sexual orientation as a political weapons, so the Repubs still fare worse in my view. BUT, it's still reprehensible for people like Herseth to show her face in this town after kowtowing to such bigotry.

She's a Democrat - not some southern negro-hating bigot. It's time she, and other Stephanie Herseth's out there, started acting like one (a Democrat, that is). Read More......