Thursday, May 31, 2007

Is it a requirement that they never know proper English?


From: Helen
Date: January 29, 2007 12:23:52 AM EST
To: americablog
Subject: Response to your articles

How can you live with your self-conscious?
To lye people like this, you will burn in Lake of fire for eternity.
You are evil.
Read More......

More reader survey results


Read More......

Former "gay liaison" sues DNC


You may recall I've written about this growing battle before. Here is Donald Hitchcock's earlier statement about the issue, and the Democratic National Committee's earlier response. And this is Donald's statement about the law suit. If the DNC has a public response, I'm obviously happy to publish it as well.
STATEMENT FROM DONALD HITCHCOCK

As a lifelong, loyal Democrat I am filing this complaint against the DNC because the road to social justice sometimes demands that our political family and friends be held accountable when they do not act for the common good.

Respecting the Democrats' opportunity to regain the majority in both Houses of Congress, I remained silent throughout the last year about my illegal termination and subsequent ongoing defamation from the DNC. Prior to filing this lawsuit I tried several times to settle this matter in a reasonable and professional manner, but the DNC refused and continues to attempt to discredit me and my political opinions.

Prior to my position at the DNC, I worked for 10 years advocating for equality for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community. When I was recruited by the DNC to serve as the Director of its Gay and Lesbian leadership Council, I was told that my professional and activist background would be helpful to achieving Governor Dean's goals. Once I joined the DNC, however, senior staff made it clear that they had no interest in LGBT equality. Instead, Democratic LGBT constituents and employees are treated as second-class citizens, whom the DNC tries to ignore unless fundraising is involved –reducing the community to a little more than an ATM. As a DNC employee, I tried to push the organization to treat the LGBT community with greater respect. The DNC ultimately terminated me after my long-term partner criticized the Democrats' lack of a strategy to combat anti-gay ballot measures - a critique made without my input and which the DNC recently admitted was accurate.

It is clear that the DNC fundraisers have no intention of ceasing their personal attacks against me. Their goal is to keep LGBT money flowing to the DNC, no matter what. For some, if truth is not convenient they find it expendable for the cause. They have spent time researching my political and charitable contributions and even claimed publicly that I was not a loyal Democrat since I did not donate a part of my salary back to the party. Social justice is not for sale, nor should it have to be bought.

The LGBT press has rightly criticized the DNC for its failure to recognize and promote basic human rights for the community. Rather than respond to legitimate questions about DNC policy and strategy impacting the LGBT community, the DNC has retaliated against publications and former employees by attacking the messengers personally. The DNC now has fewer openly gay and lesbian members than before the 2004 election. This is not progress.

I expect my party to embody the Democratic values of fairness and honesty. It is important that the DNC be able to acknowledge its failings and live up to its promise to protect the human rights of the LGBT community as we move forward. To help attain this goal, I cannot remain silent on matters of policy and substance.
Read More......

Bush administration negotiating with terrorists in Iraq


The military just said on ABC that they're happy to talk and work out an amnesty for Al Qaeda insurgents and maybe even insurgents who killed US troops - they're actually currently negotiating with a group that attacked US troops only 3 weeks ago. The military spokesman said he thinks 80% of the insurgents can be convinced to lay down their arms, i.e., give them amnesty.

But this doesn't empower the insurgents or Al Qaeda. Uh huh. According to ABC, many suspected insurgent supporters recently negotiated with the US military and indicated they all want jobs with the local police force. Yeah, I bet they do.

I'm not saying this is a bad idea. I just think it stinks that Bush and Cheney and Rudy and McCain and all the rest have the nerve to suggest that any and every Democratic proposal on Iraq "empowers the terrorists" when they're talking about giving all the terrorists amnesty and jobs where they carry guns and enforce the law as they see fit. Yeah, no terrorist victory there. Read More......

50 More Years in Iraq?


Froomkin on the White House's comments about us staying in Iraq another 50 years, just like in South Korea.
It's troubling because American troops have been in South Korea for more than 50 years -- while polls show the American public wants them out of Iraq within a year.

It's flawed because in South Korea, unlike Iraq, there's something concrete to defend (the border with North Korea); and because Iraq, unlike South Korea, happens to be in a state of violent civil war.

It's dangerous because the specter of a permanent military presence in Iraq is widely considered to be one of the most inflammatory incitements to Iraq's ever-growing anti-American insurgency, and may even be destabilizing to the entire region.

And it's telling because it gives credence to persistent suspicions that establishing a long-term strategic presence in the Middle East was a primary motivation for this misbegotten war in the first place.
Read More......

WorldNetDaily: VP's lesbian caption ignites 'sinful' fury


WorldNetDaily, a silly publication that is an important source for right-wing talk radio and FOX GOP operatives, is joining the attack on Vice President Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter, Mary Cheney, and her partner Heather Poe for having a baby. More background on this story here. Read More......

US soldier in Iraq: "When are we going to get out of here? We don't feel like we're making any progress"


These are the troops on the ground. They know better than anyone what the real situation is in Iraq. And they think it's over. Read More......

NH governor signs civil unions law


They had a choice, and they chose to live free.
[New Hampshire] Couples entering civil unions will have the same rights, responsibilities and obligations as married couples. Same-sex unions from other states also would be recognized if they were legal in the state where they were performed.

Several Northeastern states already offer civil unions.

Massachusetts alone among the U.S. states allows gay marriage. Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey, Maine, as well as California and Washington allow either civil unions or domestic partnerships, and Oregon will join the list with New Hampshire in January. Hawaii extends certain spousal rights to same-sex couples and cohabiting heterosexual pairs.
Read More......

Hillary and Obama trounce Rudy in NY poll


From TPM Election Central. Read More......

White House spokesman Tony Snow acknowledged Mary Cheney and Heather Poe as "parents"


I just happened upon this White House press briefing from last December in which White House spokesman Tony Snow referred to Vice President Cheney's lesbian daughter, Mary, and her partner, Heather Poe, as "parents." At the time, it kind of slipped by me. But in view of the growing brouhaha over the White House Web site officially acknowledging Heather as a "parent" (she and Mary just gave birth to a baby boy), Snow's earlier comment takes on much more meaning.

From the White House Web site:
Q Tony, in an interview with People Magazine, the President was asked about Mary Cheney's pregnancy, and said he's confident -- he believes she'll be a loving soul to her child. In the past, he said that he believes the ideal is that a child be raised in a married family with a man and a woman. Does he still believe that's the ideal?

MR. SNOW: Yes, he does, but he also believes that every human life is sacred and that every child that comes into the world deserves love. And he believes that Mary Cheney's child will, in fact, have loving parents.

Q Does he believe that children who are raised by gay and lesbian parents are at a disadvantage?

MR. SNOW: He does not make comments on that, and nor will I.
Note that Snow also refused to take the bait and knock gay parents. The Web site posting last week takes on a whole new light knowing that Snow acknowledged Heather's legitimacy as a gay parent all the way last winter. Read More......

Tony Snow: We're staying in Iraq 50 years


BUMP: This is rather important, I'm bumping this from last night.

50 years is the current thinking for when we'll complete our withdrawal. Certifiably insane. From AP:
President Bush envisions a long-term U.S. troop presence in Iraq similar to the one in South Korea where American forces have helped keep an uneasy peace for more than 50 years, the White House said Wednesday.

The comparison was offered as the Pentagon announced the completion of the troop buildup ordered by Bush in January. The last of about 21,500 combat troops to arrive were an Army brigade in Baghdad and a Marine unit heading into the Anbar province in western Iraq....

In South Korea, about 29,500 U.S. troops are stationed...
And a second rather important point, the Bushies keep telling us how all the surge troops won't even be all there in Iraq until July, so it's way too early to talk about success or failure. Now we learn that the combat troops have all arrived - it's only May. Yes, another lie. But just as important, it means that September will be ample time to judge the success or failure of the "surge."

More on this from C&L;, CarpetBagger, and TPM. Read More......

US Q1 economic growth slashed to 0.6%


GOP policies hard at work:
The economy nearly stalled in the first quarter with growth slowing to a pace of just 0.6 percent. That was the worst three-month showing in over four years.

The new reading on the gross domestic product, released by the Commerce Department Thursday, showed that economic growth in the January-through-March quarter was much weaker. Government statisticians slashed by more than half their first estimate of a 1.3 percent growth rate for the quarter.
As a side note to the GOP, France was twice this number. Read More......

Religious right furor over Mary Cheney's baby grows


Now a religious right news service is jumping on the bandwagon. The Bushies, with Mary's help, created this religious right monster by happily embracing these bigots into the GOP. Now they'll have to deal with the consequences of their own actions. Read More......

Thursday Morning Open Thread


Good morning.

It's going to be a hot, humid day in D.C. with bad air quality. And Congress isn't even in session. They're all back home -- where any member who voted last week to give Bush the blank check for Iraq should really be hearing about it. Their recklessness has to end.

All right, get it started. Read More......

2,000,000 Iraqi refugees or Lieberman/Cheney


Who are you going to believe? If the war is going so well, why are so many running away from Iraq?:
After months of agonizing delays and withering criticism from advocacy groups and lawmakers, the Bush administration has finalized new guidelines to screen Iraqi refugees, including those seeking asylum because helping the Americans has put them at huge risk.

The 2 million-plus people — the fastest growing refugee population in the world — have left Iraq, but Washington has balked at allowing them into the United States for security reasons.
So Bush creates this disaster and then hides behind the security issue - always a winner with the pro-fear crowd - to block the refugees from coming to America. With Chertoff at the helm, it's true that expectations should be pretty low for managing this process but to accept fewer people than Sweden is simply pathetic. Read More......

Ethanol trickle down continues - expect higher costs


The Big Farm payday from the government continues to have a negative impact, now with the price of dairy rising. Alternative energy research and development makes all the sense in the world but corporate welfare like this, without planning and without researching the full impact, is just another example of the Bush administration hard at work. The GOP has a belief that if you throw millions and billions of dollars at a problem, it will somehow all work out. The fly in the ointment has consistently been that they never think about the full consequences of their policies beyond wads of cash to friends.
U.S. retail milk prices have increased about 3 percent, or roughly a dime a gallon, this year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

But University of Illinois dairy specialist Michael Hutjens forecasts further increases of up to 40 cents a gallon for milk over the next few months, and up to 60 cents for a pound of cheese.
Again, it's the middle class footing the bill for another failed GOP program.
Hutjens and others said higher gasoline prices have increased the costs of moving milk from farm to market, and corn — the primary feed for dairy cattle — is being gobbled up by producers of the fuel-additive ethanol. The USDA projects that 3.2 billion bushels of this year’s corn crop will be used to make ethanol, a 52 percent increase over 2006.

Ethanol has increased the average American's grocery bill $47 since July, and Iowa State University study concluded.
Read More......

Pfizer being sued for testing new drugs on children


The Washington Post has been covering the subject of Big Pharma testing in the developing world for years. In Africa it is not unusual to hear rumors of such testing and distrust of Big Pharma is widespread. If people volunteer for experimental treatment, perhaps, but the allegations in this lawsuit are horrifying not to mention illegal, with a complete disregard for human rights.
The panel said Pfizer administered an oral form of Trovan that apparently had never been given to children with meningitis. It said there were no records documenting that Pfizer told the children or their parents that they were part of a drug trial. And it said an approval letter from a Nigerian ethics committee, which Pfizer used to justify its actions, was a sham concocted long after the trial ended.

"The families of the children who [Pfizer] used as laboratory guinea pigs were led to believe and in fact understood that the Defendants were providing their children with volunteer relief, clearly focused humanitarian medical intervention and nothing more," the lawsuit says.

Parents were not told that alternative treatments were available, it adds.

The suit charges that parents were barred from Pfizer's ward and that the company's own lab tests had shown Trovan's life-threatening side effects. Researchers allegedly administered the comparison drug, Rocephin, in dangerously low doses to make Trovan look more effective.
This is very troubling. Read More......

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Cafferty [hearts] CREW


CNN's Jack Cafferty gave a big shout out to our buddies at CREW today. It's about Dick Cheney hiding the list of conservative religious nuts who have visited him at the vice president's mansion.

Read More......

Bush suddenly worried that immigration debate might be getting a bit bigoted


Gee, you think? It's not like the immigration debate hasn't played out along the typical GOP game plan - if you don't have anything to rally the base, pick on a minority and make them a threat to all of western civilization. The Republicans have already worked their way through blacks, women, Jews, gays, then Muslims, and now Latinos. Perhaps Bush is getting concerned that the bigotry-well is starting to run a little dry - after all, to twist the words of Martin Niemöller, once you've demonized everyone, there's no one left to demonize. More from Froomkin at WashingtonPost.com:
President Bush said yesterday he fears that the backlash against immigration being incited by opponents of his legalization proposal could result in the nation losing its soul.

His comments came in an intense interview aboard Air Force One with McClatchy Newspapers. "I'm deeply concerned about America losing its soul," Bush said. "Immigration has been the lifeblood of a lot of our country's history." He added: "If we don't solve the problem it's going to affect America. It will affect our economy and it will affect our soul."
Oh, honey, we already lost our soul somewhere between the invasion of Iraq and rescinding habeas corpus. Read More......

25 GOP Senators may vote for Democratic Iraq withdrawal timetable in September


Yes, the vote last week was a disappointment, but in the end this war is going to be the end of Bush and the GOP. From the National Review Online:
Iraq--the Coming GOP Collapse? [Rich Lowry]

Was talking to an influential Republican strategist who thinks if Iraq looks the way it does now in September, Bush will lose about 25 Senate Republicans on a bill with some sort of timetable for withdrawal.
Read More......

Concerned Women for America spokesman blasts Mary Cheney and girlfriend as just "playing house," not "real parents," birth of son is "tragedy"


And the far-right got upset that we criticized Jerry Falwell after his death. That doesn't even come close to dissing a newborn baby. But there you have it, Stephen Bennett, a spokesman for the Concerned Women for America, one of the largest religious right groups, today blasted Vice President Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter, Mary, and her partner Heather Poe for having a baby out of wedlock. As we reported yesterday, the White House published a baby announcement on the Vice President's portion of the White House Web site, noting that the Mary and Heather were both "parents" of the newborn child.

(Bennett is the same guy who, only four months ago, was angling for a meeting with President Bush. Funny, I'm guessing that isn't going to be happening now.)

Well, that set the religious right off, big time. Here is what Bennett had to say about Mary and Heather having a baby, then I've posted his press release in its entirety - it's a must-read of venom.
SBM PRAISES parents and individuals - mothers and fathers - who have taken on the noble task of adopting children and giving them a chance at life in the God ordained family unit including a Daddy and Mommy. Every child deserves a Daddy and Mommy. We understand, sometimes through death or divorce, that unit is broken - and parents do the best they could to raise and nurture their child or children. That's where we as the Body of Christ step in to help and be there for the family and child. We celebrate these individuals and families. Sometimes in a second heterosexual marriage, children are adopted. We praise these men and women who do all they could to raise these children. THESE ARE REAL PARENTS. This is NOT playing "house."

Homosexual parenting though is something TOTALLY different. It "mimicks" the real and the natural
....
And here is Bennett's press release. I can't even begin to excerpt it or bold it, it's that bad. Read it:
OFFICIAL SBM PRESS RELEASE 05/30/07:

White House Officially Recognizes Homosexual Unions and Parenting?

Contact: The Parents Group ~ SBM's National Office, 203-926-6960

HUNTINGTON, Conn., May 30 /Christian Newswire/ -- On May 23, 2007, the White House, silently and without any fanfare, released an official White House photo of Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne Cheney, welcoming their sixth grandchild, Samuel David Cheney, into the Cheney fold.

The beautiful little tyke weighed in at 8 lbs., 6 oz. and was born at 9:46 a.m. at Sibley House in Washington, D.C.

What is extremely troubling is the official White House caption that appears underneath the photo on the official White House website:

"... His parents are the Cheney's daughter Mary, and her partner, Heather Poe. White House photo by David Bohrer."

Since when have two homosexual women been able to naturally procreate?

Fact is Mary Cheney, the Vice President's daughter - in one way or another - received a male's sperm. She is the biological mother, parent number one, and some man, somewhere out there, is Samuel David's real biological father, parent number two.

Unlike the official White House photo caption, a man and a woman, a Daddy and a Mommy, are Samuel David Cheney's REAL biological parents.

Then who is Heather Poe?

Heather Poe is Mary Cheney's live-in lesbian lover. She may act like a parent, she may treat the baby as a parent, she may love this baby with all of her heart, but in this reality we all live in, Heather Poe is NOT the baby's real parent. She has NO biological connection to the child whatsoever. Some man, the baby's real Daddy, is the child's other REAL parent.

If the Vice President and his wife Lynne are joining their daughter Mary in playing this homosexual game of "house," then all have chosen their roles and designated lesbian lover Heather Poe as the "Daddy."

Everyone knows there can only be one REAL biological Mommy. We are all grown adults. Playing "house" is a game for children, not for The White House or the Vice President and his wife.

What is so hypocritical of this Administration is its "double-speak."

President George W. Bush held several presses conferences calling for a Federal Marriage Amendment to protect the God-ordained institution of marriage between one man and one woman, while homosexuals pushed for the union of two men or two women to be equally recognized as real "marriage."

However, the President's number two, right hand man, Vice President Dick Cheney, clearly rebels against his superior, makes a public mockery of the President and the current Administration he is supposed to represent, and clearly holds to a different set of moral standards and beliefs.

When President Bush stood on the victory stage several years ago after being elected into office by values voters, Mary Cheney was on stage as well with her lesbian lover, Heather Poe. It was a slap in the face to the values voters who had just elected the duo into office. That wound has never healed.

While this little innocent child Samuel David Cheney deserves every fighting chance at life, the sins of two women, Mary Cheney and Heather Poe, have deliberately denied the Vice President's grandson one of the most basic human rights of all: the right to a Daddy and a Mommy.

I say shame on the White House, shame on the President and shame on the Vice President for allowing such a caption to be "officially" added onto the White House website and such a beautiful photo of two happy grandparents and their new grandchild.

I guess we can tragically and officially say both the White House and Bush Administration have officially recognized the sinful sexual unions of homosexuals, as well as recognized and embraced the tragedy of the social experiment of homosexual parenting.
Read More......

Feds investigating GOP Senator from Alaska


My former boss :-)

Guess who?

Read More......

Another topical political comedy video


From my buddy Andy Cobb and his troupe of friends in LA. It's really good. Not going to tell you what it's about, as that would spoil the surprise.

Read More......

Your TV viewing habits


Some more data from our blog reader survey. Here are your favorite TV shows, in order, along with the percentage of you who "regularly watch" each show. You can check out a more detailed chart here.

Percent of you who "regularly watch" the following shows:
Daily Show - 56%
Keith Olbermann - 44%
Colbert Report - 44%
Bill Maher - 28%
Bill Moyers - 27%
Frontline - 23%
60 Minutes - 22%
Meet the Press - 19%
PBS Newshour - 18%
NOVA - 18%
BBC World News - 17%
C-Span - 17%
Hardball (Tweety) - 17%
CNN Headline News - 14%
SNL - 14%
CNN Situation Room - 13%
Stephanopoulos - 12%
NBC Nightly News - 11%
Anderson Cooper - 11%
David Letterman - 11%
Lou Dobbs - 10%
McLaughlin Group - 10%

% who watch the comedy shows:
Daily Show - 56%
Colbert Report - 44%
Bill Maher - 28%
SNL - 14%
Letterman - 11%
Jay Leno - 5%
Conan - 4%
Kimmel - 1%

% who watch the Nightly News
PBS Newshour - 18%
BBC World News - 17%
NBC - 11%
ABC - 7%
CBS - 4%

% who watch the Sunday Morning Shows
NBC Meet the Press (Timmeh) - 19%
ABC This Week (Stephanopoulos) - 12%
CBS Face the Nation - 10%
CBS Sunday Morning - 7%

% of you who watch the fake news
Scarborough - 7.1%
Tucker Carlson - 2.5%
O'Reilly - 1.4%
Hannity & Colmes - 0.8%
Shepard Smith - 0.5%
Glenn Beck - 0.4% Read More......

Lieberman in Iraq sees "progress," says so-called surge "would start to break the insurgency"


What a coincidence. Two years after Cheney said the insurgency was in its last throes, Joe Lieberman made essentially the same prediction.

CNN reports that Lieberman is on an unannounced "surprise" visit to Baghdad. Paula Hancocks followed Lieberman around. She talked to Lieberman and reported, "He said he was happy with the progress. He was devastated by the fact that May was turning in to the deadliest month since November 2004. But he said he did believe that this surge eventually would pay off and it would start to break the insurgency."

Meanwhile, in the real world, the evidence is to the contrary:
U.S. officials have warned that the strategy of putting more American troops on the streets and in small combat outposts, part of a security plan launched in February, would lead to higher U.S. casualties. But Tuesday's carnage suggested that the effort had not created a safer security environment.

Also, the complex operations launched against U.S. and allied forces Monday and Tuesday demonstrated that the insurgency here also is adopting more sophisticated tactics and weapons.
But Joe Lieberman sees "progress." Check out his rosy assessment in this video of him in full battle gear - priceless:
Read More......

Wednesday Morning Open Thread


So, on this day in history, May 30, 2005, two years ago, Dick Cheney told us the Iraq insurgency was in its "last throes." Every single thing Cheney has said about Iraq has either been a flat out lie or just plain wrong. This quote from two years ago shows just how out of touch he's been all along:
I think we may well have some kind of presence there over a period of time. But I think the level of activity that we see today, from a military standpoint, I think will clearly decline. I think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency.
Now, if you will, things being as they are, Dick Cheney doesn't have to take any responsibility for his lies. He and Bush just send more soldiers to die in Iraq.

So, with that, start threading. Read More......

Bush requesting additional billions to fund abstinence programs


Spending billions for medicine, nurses and doctors makes sense and should be fully supported and globally, the PEPFAR program is great. Where Congress needs to draw the line is Bush's continuing funding for abstinence programs. HIV rates in Africa are in excess of 24 million people, with some countries in Southern Africa experiencing rates of 20%-30% of the population. Education is obviously important and stressing safe sex is critical but much of the funds for education are for funding the favorite abstinence programs of the US religious right.

The issue today is finding enough medicine to address those in need as well as finding doctors and nurses who can tend to the needs of very sick people. Shortages of medical care workers in these heavily impacted countries are all too common, the end result being overwhelmed staff and people dying unnecessarily. The initial results of the abstinence programs have shown no results whatsoever, with even Uganda (the original case study) showing a resurgence in HIV.

Congress really needs to stand up to Bush and his failing religious experiments that are taking money away from saving people. Let the religious right fund their theories on their own dollar but let's put American tax dollars to work helping people with science, medicine and medical staff. Read More......

21,000 British mercenaries working in Iraq


That is three times the number of UK troops currently in Iraq. Just as the US has lowered the bar for recruiting, low standards are often used when recruiting mercenaries though the so-called security companies are making enormous amounts of money on this outsourcing project and the "security staff" are pulling in $1000 per day, tax free. Running a war with guns-for-hire is a strange way for democracies to win hearts and minds.
Many in the private sector have, however, expressed alarm about the types of recruits attracted by the money. Robin Horsfall, a former SAS trooper and security guard said "former soldiers are working alongside people who have been involved in nightclub security and have very limited experience. It's because a lot of contracts only demand that you can prove you have got six week's security experience".
Read More......

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Ten US troops killed on Memorial Day


Washington Post:
Gunmen dressed in police uniforms kidnapped five Britons from Iraq's Finance Ministry Tuesday, the same day that two suicide bombings killed at least 44 people and U.S. officials announced the Memorial Day deaths of 10 American soldiers.
Read More......

CNN on US military firing gay Arabic-language-speaking service members


This is the video from my appearance on CNN tonight. I was discussing the issue of the US military continually firing gay Arabic-speaking service members even though we have a shortage of such linguists in the military and it is seriously jeopardizing the war in Iraq, let alone the effort to stop the next September 11. My companions in the discussion were Iraq war vet Jon Soltz of Vote Vets, and Mark Smith, an Ann Coulter wannabe (but without the Adam's apple). I researched Smith earlier today and found that in addition to being a winger, he likes to interrupt and keep talking in order to run out the clock when he appears on TV (kind of like his president's approach to winning the war in Iraq). In that circumstance, you simply have to be more aggressive - even though you run the risk of seeming rude and "interrupting", or the aggressive guest owns the show, even if he comes off as a nut. But I knew that Iraq war vet Jon Stolz of Vote Vets was going to be in studio with the guy, so I let Jon handle a lot of the response, especially at the end - and Jon did handle it, with his usual gravitas. (I was especially intrigued by the right-winger feeling the need to tell the audience how much he allegedly enjoys Hooters girls. Look for it.)

Read More......

Yes, in fact, Valerie Plame was a covert agent when the Bush team outed her


The loyal Bushies always put politics before national security. And, despite all the claims from the right wing pundits to the contrary, Valerie Plame was indeed a covert agent. Per NBC's coverage:
An unclassified summary of outed CIA officer Valerie Plame's employment history at the spy agency, disclosed for the first time today in a court filing by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, indicates that Plame was "covert" when her name became public in July 2003.

The summary is part of an attachment to Fitzgerald's memorandum to the court supporting his recommendation that I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Cheney's former top aide, spend 2-1/2 to 3 years in prison for obstructing the CIA leak investigation.
Read More......

I'll be on CNN tonight


Paula Zahn's show, discussing the Pentagon policy of firing American service members who are Arabic linguists simply because they're gay. They just fired 3 more. We should be on around 8:05 or 8:10 PM Eastern. Read More......

Wolfowitz for Mayor -- in Iraq


Republican Congressman Walter Jones from North Carolina has a suggestion for Wolfie's new job. Send him to Iraq:
Paul Wolfowitz may have been ousted from his post at the World Bank, but a free-speaking GOP lawmaker has an idea to keep the so-called "architect" of the Iraq War from standing in the unemployment line.

"I would like to suggest...that maybe we give Paul Wolfowitz a new job and send him over [to Iraq] as mayor," said Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., "since the neocons got us in over there."

As deputy secretary of defense from 2000 to 2005, Wolfowitz helped develop the strategy and public rationale for the invasion and occupation of Iraq. He publicly stated that coalition troops would be greeted as liberators, and the nation of Iraq would be largely capable of financing its own rebuilding through oil revenues.
Read More......

Bush now banning photo journalism of wounded troops


From the NYT
“They are basically asking me to stand in front of a unit before I go out with them and say that in the event that they are wounded, I would like their consent,” he said. “We are already viewed by some as bloodsucking vultures, and making that kind of announcement would make you an immediate bad luck charm.”

“They are not letting us cover the reality of war,” he added. “I think this has got little to do with the families or the soldiers and everything to do with politics.”

....Until last year, no permission was required to publish photographs of the wounded, but families had to be notified of the soldier’s injury first. Now, not only is permission required, but any image of casualties that shows a recognizable name or unit is off-limits. And memorials for the fallen in Iraq can no longer be shown, even when the unit in question invites coverage.
We quite literally have a government that no longer believes in the very freedoms it claims our troops are dying for. Read More......

Bush lying about polls, claims public supports his policy on Iraq and opposes withdrawal. In fact, all polls agree that public wants a withdrawal.


What a surprise, Bush is lying about the war in Iraq. What's disturbing is how blatantly Bush is now lying about public opinion on the war. Either he has decided that lying to the public is, again, the best strategy for a president to take with his people, or he truly believes the lies he's telling, which means that he's not just an idiot, he's also crazy.

From AP:
The president says Democrats have it all wrong: the public doesn't want the troops pulled out — they want to give the military more support in its mission....

Bush said: "I recognize there are a handful there, or some, who just say, `Get out, you know, it's just not worth it. Let's just leave.' I strongly disagree with that attitude. Most Americans do as well."

In fact, polls show Americans do not disagree, and that leaving — not winning — is their main goal....

Independent pollster Andrew Kohut said of the White House view: "I don't see what [the White House is] talking about."

"[People] want to know when American troops are going to leave," Kohut, director of the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, said of the public. "They certainly want to win. But their hopes have been dashed."

Kohut has found it notable that there's such a consensus in poll findings.

"When the public hasn't made up its mind or hasn't thought about things, there's a lot of variation in the polls," he said. "But there's a fair amount of agreement now."

The president didn't used to try to co-opt polling for his benefit. He just said he ignored it.
Read More......

Moscow police sit by as far-right extremists violently attack European members of parliament at gay pride rally


This is what Russia is becoming again - or still is - as George Bush and Condi Rice sit idly by. Eastern Europe, from Moscow to Warsaw, is still struggling to understand freedom and democracy, and not doing so well it would seem, as we ignore them. Rather than rely on the reports of gay advocates present at the event, let's read what the independent mainstream media had to say - it's hideous.

From Germany's Deutsche Welle:
Police detained Russian gay community leader Nikolai Alexeyev and several European lawmakers in central Moscow at the start of the demonstration by dozens of homosexual rights activists campaigning for an end to sexual discrimination.

Dozens of Russian right-wing extremists converged on the group, shouting insults like "fags," "perverts" and "death to homosexuals," throwing eggs and punching and kicking gay demonstrators in front of riot police who intervened much later.

The police also systematically arrested both the attackers and the assaulted. The gay rights activists were also assaulted by ultra-nationalists and Orthodox Church hardliners....

Also detained were Volker Beck, a member of Germany's parliament; Marco Cappato, an Italian member of the European Parliament, and veteran British gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell. The politicians have since been released.
Yes, the police sat by while European members of parliament were violently attacked. The police then proceeded to arrest the members of parliament and others who were victims of the violence.

More from AP:
Marco Cappato, a European Parliament deputy from Italy, was kicked by one opponent as he spoke to journalists. Cappato began shouting "Where are the police? Why don't you protect us?" and officers hauled him away as he struggled....

Thirty-one people were detained and most were later released, Moscow police spokesman Yevgeny Gildeyev said. He said two Italians were detained for jaywalking and a German was taken away by police to prevent him from being beaten....

No gay rights opponents were seen taken away by police, though Gildeyev said a man was detained after attacking a Briton, presumably referring to Tatchell.
And more from Reuters:
Richard Fairbrass, a gay singer with the pop group Right Said Fred, was punched in the face and kicked by anti-gay activists while speaking to Reuters in an interview.

"We understand this is a gay event and so we came down here today," Fairbrass said before being hit. Blood dripped from his face after the attack. Gay rights activist Peter Tatchell was knocked to the ground and kicked twice. When he got up he was punched in the face again and taken away by two riot policemen....

Volker Beck, a German Green Party politician, was hit in the face with eggs before being detained by riot police. "We didn't do anything," he told Reuters as he was led away.
There is also growing concern about the status of Russia's gay civil rights leader, Nikolai Alekseev:
Alekeyev and two other organizers of the march - dubbed the “Moscow Gay Pride Three” were detained overnight Sunday awaiting a court hearing and sources close to them told UK Gay News that they feared he may be sent to prison: "We really fear that Nikolai Alekseev will be sent to prison for 15 days as the 'figurehead' of the Gay Pride organising team...Unofficially, we received confirmation that this is what the General Prosecutor already asked. We are not very optimistic about the result of the court hearing. We can say that all three have been provided with legal assistance."

The sources allege: "[It is] becoming very clear that orders are being given to court and militia directly from [the] Kremlin."
Sadly, these are countries that want to be treated as equals. They want to become a member of the civilized, developed world (the EU, NATO), yet in many ways, they are not yet civilized, they are not yet developed. They're slipping back into the sort of violent totalitarianism that made them our mortal enemy for 70 years.

You know what to do:

Russian embassy, Washington, DC: (202) 298-5700, (202) 298-5701, (202) 298-5704, (202) 939-8907, (202) 939-8913, (202) 939-8918

russ-amb@cerfnet.com, rusun@un.int, nyvisa@ruscon.com, waconsru@prodigy.net Read More......

White House officially recognizes legal status of gay couples and parents


Something rather historic happened this past week. The White House, for the first time ever on its Web site (that I know of), recognized the legitimacy of gay couples as both married and as parents. It was done, innocuously enough, when the White House published a photo of Vice President Dick Cheney's new grandson, the child of the VP's lesbian daughter and her lesbian spouse. The White House not only published a photo of the child with the VP and his wife, but the caption was even more telling:
Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne Cheney, welcomed their sixth grandchild, Samuel David Cheney, Wednesday, May 23, 2007. He weighed 8 lbs., 6 oz and was born at 9:46 a.m. at Sibley Hospital in Washington, D.C. His parents are the Cheneys’ daughter Mary, and her partner, Heather Poe. White House photo by David Bohrer


Did you catch that last sentence? The White House officially recognized a lesbian couple as co-equal parents of a child. That not only is a recognition of the legitimacy of gay parents - i.e., if one person is the birth mother and the other the mother's partner, both are the "parents" of the child, per the White House - but the White House is also, implicitly, recognizing the legitimate couple status of two gay people in love, i.e., they are not simply two unrelated gay people, they are parents, akin to your parents, akin to a married couple. Why do I say that the White House is de facto recognizing gay marriage? Because either Mary or her lover, or both, are not the biological mom of this child - with two women, only one can be the biological parent. For the White House to recognize both as parents means that they are recognizing the legitimacy of the two women as one entity, the parent. Anyway, it's a hell of a statement by any White House, let alone one of the most conservative in history, and one that prides itself on being so anti-gay.

JSpot asks a very good question about why the baby's photo is on the White House Web site:
So now a question for grandpa: Isn’t it just a bit disingenious to say that your daughters’ family is private & off limits and to get so pissy with reporters for being “out of line,” and then you’ve got this photo on the home page of an official government website?

Hey, its not like we think you are personally a homophobe, and your love for your daughter is obvious. But given your role in an administration that denies your grandson a legal relationship with the mom who you credit as a parent on the White House website, isn’t it time to explain this incongruity?
Read More......

Eight soldiers killed on Memorial Day in Iraq


Updated from MSNBC:
At least eight U.S. soldiers were killed in restive Diyala province north of Baghdad on Memorial Day, two of the victims in a helicopter that went down, the military reported Tuesday.

Reuters:
Six more U.S. soldiers were killed by bombs in north of Baghdad on Monday, the military said on Tuesday.

The U.S. military death toll rose to 112 in this month, making May the deadliest for 2007.
Bush said the war is going to get bloody in August. So what's this? Read More......

Tuesday Morning Open Thread


Okay, long weekend is over. Time to re-focus. Read More......

Swimming at the North Pole


Can you imagine? Besides the polar bears drowning, Inuit hunters are also now falling through the thin ice after thousands of years of hunting on the ice. With the G8 summit arriving soon and Bush digging in to block any and all efforts to fight global warming, it's time the EU steps up and isolates him. Unfortunately the EU powers can never find the backbone to stand up to Bush's bullying ways, just as they never stand up to the knuckle-dragging extremists in Poland. And people wonder why there is such limited enthusiasm for the EU as a political organization. Read More......

DNA samples for everyone


Not to worry, Big Brother is (probably) not watching. Not too much at least. Then again...
Civil liberties groups are warning that the details of every Briton could soon be on the national DNA database, raising fresh concerns of a 'surveillance society'. Controversial plans being studied by the government would see the DNA of people convicted of even the most minor, non-imprisonable offences, such as dropping litter, entered on the national database.

The proposals are part of a wide-ranging government review of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (Pace), which campaign groups warn may have profound ramifications for society. 'The danger is that if we start adding the details of people convicted of these sort of minor offences to the database we'll come to a tipping point,' said Gareth Crossman, director of Liberty. 'The government will say: "Actually it's a bit unfair some people aren't on the database; maybe everyone should be on it."'

The DNA database is already proving controversial with some politicians and police officers raising concerns about its use. Liberty claims that, per head of population, the UK has five times as many people on the DNA database as any other country. The government estimates that even if the database is not expanded to include the details of minor offenders, some 4.5 million people will still be on it by 2010.
Read More......

Open thread


I'm watching the movie "Elizabeth I" with Helen Mirren. Wonderful movie. It's kind of bizarre, I've always hated Elizabethan England - well, rather, I never cared much for that period of time in history, it just never interested me. I was always an ancient history (Greece and Rome) buff, and a modern post-war history (America and Europe). And now suddenly I'm getting interested in other time periods. Getting older is weird. Read More......

Monday, May 28, 2007

Charles Nelson Reilly dies


Sad. Read More......

Who visited AMERICAblog over the past 3 days


I'm trying out another service that shows the location of people visiting the blog. This map is of people who visited over the past 3 days or so.

Click image to enlarge.
Read More......

American soldier in Iraq: We could stay 10 years and it won't fix anything


From the International Herald Tribune
But in Safstrom's view, the American presence is futile. "If we stayed here for 5, even 10 more years, the day we leave here these guys will go crazy," he said. "It would go straight into a civil war. That's how it feels, like we're putting a Band-Aid on this country until we leave here."
Read More......

Polish government investigating whether Tinky Winky is gay (not joking)


It's time the European Union started getting tough with Eastern European governments that aren't ready for prime time. If they want to rejoin the civilized world, they should start acting like it. This is just embarrassing for Poland, and it's sad that the country hasn't learned from its experiences with the Nazis or the Soviets; the dehumanization of your citizens is a bad thing. It's also a harbinger of the problems European integration faces when some of those wanting to integrate don't live in the same century as the rest of us. Will the EU water down its commitment to civil rights and human rights to appease the lowest common denominator of hate and backwardness in its midst? If Poland isn't ready and willing to join the modern era, it shouldn't be permitted to.

PS It's nice to see that the hate and bile of now-dead bigot Jerry Falwell lives on. And actually, I'll bet that the Poles learned the news of Tinky Winky's homosexuality from the increasing evangelizing religious right extremists are doing in the former Eastern bloc. These countries have no idea who they're dealing with, and thus accept the religious right's hate wrapped in God at carte blanche. Well, it's now biting them in the ass. Read More......

"Why are we still here?", soldier asks about Iraq


Because the Republicans would rather have you die than admit that they made a mistake by supporting this war. Oh yeah, and also because the Democrats don't have enough spine to say "no."

From the International Herald Tribune:
"I thought, 'What are we doing here? Why are we still here?' " said Safstrom, a member of Delta Company of the 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry, 82nd Airborne Division. "We're helping guys that are trying to kill us. We help them in the day. They turn around at night and try to kill us."

His views are echoed by most of his fellow soldiers in Delta Company, renowned for its aggressiveness....

"In 2003, 2004, 100 percent of the soldiers wanted to be here, to fight this war," said Sergeant First Class David Moore, a self-described "conservative Texas Republican" and platoon sergeant who strongly advocates an American withdrawal. "Now, 95 percent of my platoon agrees with me."
When American troops are willing to give critical interviews, and use their names rather than go off the record or anonymous, that means things are really bad - why, because these guys are going to get in real trouble for speaking out. Too bad their bosses don't have the same courage. Read More......

A soldier in Iraq asks in despair: Why are we here?


He's a member of the famed 82nd Airborne. Read the essay he just published. Then ask yourself why we have an increasing number of low-level soldiers willing to risk their careers by speaking out - and they are risking their careers, this guy is going to be in serious trouble - while his bosses, his commanders on the ground, his commanders at the Pentagon don't have the courage to say boo. Yes, a number of retired generals have spoken out about the war, but nobody active duty that I can recall. The arm-chair generals, with David Petraeus in the lead, don't want to risk their careers by telling Bush and the American people the truth about the situation in Iraq. While the troops these commanders are sending to their deaths for a lost cause suffer no such fear of the truth. It's an amazing contrast.

My name is Donald Hudson Jr. I have been serving our country’s military actively for the last three years. I am currently deployed to Baghdad on Forward Operating Base Loyalty, where I have been for the last four and a half months.

I came here as part of the first wave of this so called "troop surge", but so far it has effectively done nothing to quell insurgent violence. I have seen the rise in violence between the Sunni and Shiite. This country is in the middle of a civil war that has been on going since the seventh century.

Why are we here when this country still to date does not want us here? Why does our president’s personal agenda consume him so much, that he can not pay attention to what is really going on here?

....I would just like to know what is the true reason we are here? This country poses no threat to our own. So why must we waste the lives of good men on a country that does not give a damn about itself? Most of my friends here share my views, but do not have the courage to say anything.
I omitted the portion about him watching his roommate die in flames - read the entire piece. Read More......

The appropriate response to GOP candidates when they use "Bush-style fear-mongering"


On Memorial Day 2007, it's well-established that George Bush led us into war based on lies. Bush, Cheney and Rove used terrorism and war for political advantage to win elections in 2002 and 2004. Politics was always more important than policy for the Bush team. The current crop of GOP candidates for President are using Bush's political scare tactics -- invoking Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden. Paul Krugman explains what should be the appropriate response:
The truth is that the nightmare of the Bush years won’t really be over until politicians are convinced that voters will punish, not reward, Bush-style fear-mongering. And that hasn’t happened yet.

Here’s the way it ought to be: When Rudy Giuliani says that Iran, which had nothing to do with 9/11, is part of a “movement” that “has already displayed more aggressive tendencies by coming here and killing us,” he should be treated as a lunatic.

When Mitt Romney says that a coalition of “Shia and Sunni and Hezbollah and Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Qaeda” wants to “bring down the West,” he should be ridiculed for his ignorance.

And when John McCain says that Osama, who isn’t in Iraq, will “follow us home” if we leave, he should be laughed at.

But they aren’t, at least not yet. And until belligerent, uninformed posturing starts being treated with the contempt it deserves, men who know nothing of the cost of war will keep sending other people’s children to graves at Arlington.
Every time the GOP candidates invoke Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, they are also highlighting Bush's failure to defeat the actual enemy who attacked the U.S. on September 11, 2001. And, they must be held accountable for the reality that Bush's Iraq war has created a terror training ground in Iraq. Read More......

Monday Morning Open Thread


Memorial Day, 2007. Read More......