Arafat is dead

Reuters. Read More......

Evening open thread

Tanks for the memories. Read More......

They deployed two fucking TANKS to counter an anti-war protest in LA

FURTHER UPDATE: This is for real. I just called the protesters out in LA and confirmed it by phone. And I also just read a NEW excuse the military is now offering. The tanks "got stuck at a traffic light," and that's why they just happened to stop in front of an anti-war protest in the middle of a major US city. Uh huh.

UPDATE: I've just read in the comments to the IndyMedia site that someone spoke to some military folks who claim the tanks were "lost" and simply stopping in front of the anti-war protesters to "ask directions." Yeah, right. They were intentionally using deadly force to intimidate peaceful protesters in violation of their First Amendment rights. This is a big story.

Thanks to MyDD for finding this. This is beyond outrageous. A fucking tank (two in fact). Sent to disrupt an anti-war protests in LA, that by all accounts were acting quite peaceably. You can watch the video, a handful of people chanting, big deal. But then what happens next? Two big fat tank - TANKS people - confront the protesters. They're sending God damn tanks into the streets of Los Angeles. Anyone has a problem with that? What is this, fucking Tiananmen Square?

I am absolutely speechless. We look like China. We look like the Soviet Union. They just sent two tanks to counter a peaceful protest in the second largest city of America. Good God. And where is the media coverage? They just sent TANKS to counter peaceful protesters. That kind of an outrageous challenge to the protesters could have easily sparked violence.

People, please, contact your local media, call any reporters you know, tell them about this. This is a huge story. This is absolutely scary shit. Sending tanks to confront peaceful protesters in an American city in 2004. Who the fuck are we anymore? Read More......

Jerry Falwell to spend the next 4 years screwing gays

No problem. I plan to spend the next four years screwing Republicans. Mary Cheney, Ken Mehlman, and all the rest of you, fasten your seat belts, it's gonna be a bumpy ride.

The Rev. Jerry Falwell is launching a new organization called The Faith and Values Coalition, which he describes as a "21st century resurrection of the Moral Majority."

The new coalition will lobby for pro-life judicial appointments; a federal amendment barring same-sex marriage; and the election of another conservative president in 2008.

Falwell, now 71, said he would serve as national chairman of the new coalition for four years.

"Following the sweeping re-election of President Bush and a new generation of conservative lawmakers nationwide, a new organization, The Faith and Values Coalition (TFVC), has been launched," Falwell announced Tuesday from his headquarters in Lynchburg, Va..

He said the group would capitalize on the momentum of the November 2 elections "to maintain an evangelical revolution of voters who will continue to go to the polls to 'vote Christian.'"

Mathew Staver, founder and general counsel of the Orlando, Fla.-based Liberty Counsel, will serve as vice-chairman of The Faith and Values Coalition. Falwell's son Jonathan will serve as executive director. And theologian Dr. Tim LaHaye will serve as the board chairman.

Read More......

Right-wingers think Falwell endangers their movement

Ok, you know you're in trouble when the freepers think you're too far out there.

Apparently, the very very very far right-wing online community, the Freepers, are extremely worried about Jerry Falwell's resurgence in the party. They fear it could become the "Jesse Jackson" of the Republican party. I.e., the whipping boy the Dems use to paint all the GOP as wackos.

An example of what the Freepers fear:

"Jerry Falwell choking a Tinky-Winky doll will be put forward as representative of all of us."

Let me state publicly, for the record, that this blog will NEVER stoop so low as to publish a picture of Jerry Falwell choking Tinky Winky.

Memo to freepers:

1. We already knew Falwell made you look bad, and I'm already talking to folks about exploiting that.

2. Your comments are going in my proposal. Thanks! Read More......

Why does Zell Miller hate Jesus-Killers?

BOP News points out that apparently Zell Miller has a problem with Maureen Dowd's "religion," and it has something to do with her having "horns" and living in "New York City." While I read that Dowd is Irish Catholic, it seems that Zell thinks she's a Jesus-killer (I mean she does work for the liberal media, and is uppity, so, you know, she has to be a Jew, by Zell's logic). To wit:

SEN. Zell Miller (D- Ga.) laced into New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd yesterday on the "Imus in the Morning" radio show, saying, "The more Maureen Loud [sic] gets on 'Meet the Press' and writes those columns, the redder these states get. I mean, they don't want some high brow hussy from New York City explaining to them that they're idiots and telling them that they're stupid." Miller also suggested "that red-headed woman at the New York Times" should not mock anyone's religion: "You can see horns just sprouting up through that Technicolor hair."

Now in all fairness to Zell, he might not have been attacking Jews. Sure, he used all the Jew-baiting code words: New York, horns, hussy. But as red state Baptists also think Catholics are Satan worshippers (remember Bob Jones University's great "the Pope is a Satanic counterfeit" quote?), it is possibly Zell was ONLY trying to imply that Irish Catholics are Satan worshippers. Just to clear things up.

I think Bush will give Zell a cabinet appointment in order to stick it to the Dems, while telling the public at large that he's "welcoming" another Dem into the cabinet. Though I have a funny felling that "horn-y" Zell may have just ended his cabinet chances as I write. Read More......

Let the appeasement begin!

Yep, we're only hours into the announcement of Gonzales to replace Ashcroft and already Chuck Schumer and the ACLU are saying "eh, he's not so bad." Lovely. The man wrote a memo authorizing the waiver of the friggin' Geneva Conventions, and this isn't enough for the ACLU to take a position on him? And here's what the usually-very-liberal Schumer had to say, from the same article:

Even before the formal announcement, one Senate liberal welcomed the appointment of "someone less polarizing" to the position. "We will have to review his record very carefully, but I can tell you already he's a better candidate than John Ashcroft."

Well that's a relief. So long as his isn't planning on having Bible sessions in his office and covering up the breasts of statues with curtains, then he's a-okay to head the Justice Department.

What this means is that Bush gets a cakewalk on this one. We don't make him fight for this nominee. We don't make him expend political capital to get Gonzales confirmed - political capital that Bush will need for future confirmations. Oh now, our liberal organization and our liberal senator signal to Bush that the Dems and the left and constitution-defenders are now the Great Appeasers.

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. And hey, that little torture thing only applied to them there furiners anyway. (Or did it?) Read More......

Gonzales wrote the terror memo

From AP:

Gonzales has been at the center of developing Bush's positions on balancing civil liberties with waging the war on terrorism — opening the White House counsel to the same line of criticism that has dogged Ashcroft.

For instance, Gonzales publicly defended the administration's policy — essentially repudiated by the Supreme Court and now being fought out in the lower courts — of detaining certain terrorism suspects for extended periods without access to lawyers or courts.

He also wrote a controversial February 2002 memo in which Bush claimed the right to waive anti-torture law and international treaties providing protections to prisoners of war. That position drew fire from human rights groups, which said it helped led to the type of abuses uncovered in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.

Read More......

What do Mehlman and Gillespie think of this?

Just wondering what our good friends Ken Mehlman and Ed Gillespie think of this (Mehlman is being talked about as the new head of the GOP, and Gillespie is the current head). Do they think gay youth should be ostracized in their schools? Do they think organizations that try to bring gays and straight together are "recruiting grounds" for new homosexuals? Come on Ken. Come on Ed. You started this war. I want answers. Your own Republican party chair in this part of Virginia thinks gays are a threat. Well are they or aren't they?

AP:

HARRISONBURG, Va. The chairman of Harrisonburg's Republican Party is calling for the disbandment of the local high school's "Gay and Straight Alliance."

John Elledge calls the club an advocacy group for homosexuals. He started contacting School Board members last week -- and is urging concerned city residents to contact the school board.

But Harrisonburg High School Principal Irene Reynolds says students have the right under federal law to form the group. The club's adviser, Sheila Antonnicola, says the club emphasizes civic involvement, and its members try to increase understanding.

Main contact info
Tel. 202.863.8500
Fax. 202.863.8820
Email: info@gop.com

Office of the Chairman and Deputy Chairman
Phone: 202-863-8700 (Ask for Chair Ed Gillespie and Deputy Chair Maria Cino.)
Chairman@gop.com

Communications Office
Phone: 202-863-8614
RNCommunications@gop.com Read More......

Afternoon open thread

What do YOU want out of the DNC over the next four years? Read More......

Fight Club Comes to Life

Well now we're down to it. Fight Club has come alive on craigslist:

Straight male seeks Bush supporter for fair, physical fight - m4m
Reply to: anon-47785163@craigslist.org
Date: Wed Nov 03 19:11:50 2004

I would like to fight a Bush supporter to vent my anger. If you are one, have a fiery streek, please contact me so we can meet and physically fight. I would like to beat the shit out of you.

I guess that we're not far from challenging people to duels. Oh, wait, that already happened. Read More......

I'll take a spanking and a Sno-cone to go

From AP:

Two young women complained to police that they were spanked by their 57-year-old employer for mistakes on the job, and the boss now faces criminal charges.

One of the women told police that on her first day at the Tasty Flavors Sno Biz, before any spanking, owner Paul Eugene Levengood made her sign a statement that said: "I give Gene permission to bust my behind any way he sees fit."....

According to police documents, one of the women reported that on Oct. 30, her fourth day on the job, Levengood called her "into the back room of the store" after she forgot to put a banana in a smoothie drink.

She said that as punishment Levengood "bent her over his knee and spanked her behind 20 times."

She said that was one day after he "snapped a photograph of her behind" as she reached for a flavor bottle on a shelf.

LaMance said one of the women showed him photographs that had been kept at the store. The photos of women were shot from behind and in some cases do not show faces but "all you see are their behinds," he said....

At the company headquarters in Minneapolis, sales manager Tom Novetzke described Levengood as a "very Christian person." He said the company's toll-free number is very visible for employees and customers.

"We've never had a complaint," Novetzke said.

Well, if he's a good Christian, then I guess that settles it. Please don't show any good Christian outrage at the fact that the man is sexually abusing women. Oh no. Simply do what today's uber-Christians always do - use Christianity to defend evil, rather than defending the meek. Read More......

That didn't take long

Bush Looking Anew for Alaska Oil Drilling.

So he's pushing the anti-gay constitutional amendment again and is pushing again to open ANWR. Hell of a way to unite the country, just out of the starting block. The man is going to run over us and destroy us if we don't hit back, hard. Read More......

ALERT: Is a gay man up for RNC chair?

Please contact the RNC: Emails and phone #s provided at the end of this post.
Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman is reportedly a likely candidate for the job of head of the Republican party. There have been lots of questions about Mehlman's sexual orientation, and he won't answer. I for one think the public has a right to know Ken Mehlman's sexual orientation BEFORE he gets that job. And here's why...

Mehlman has REFUSED to answer direct questions from reporters about his sexual orientation. This wouldn't be relevant, except:

1. There have been rumors for years about Mehlman's sexual orientation. Now that he's a very public figure, those rumors gain an importance they didn't have before. Read on...

2. Mehlman has already said publicly that the gay issue is fair game for politics. If it's fair game, then the same rules apply to him.

3. Mehlman has publicly defended the president's anti-gay policies, including the federal constitutional amendment. Were Mehlman gay, he'd be guilty of hypocrisy, and that would justify his outing - again, were he gay.

4. The GOP has made it perfectly clear that gays and lesbians and their relationships are a threat to the fabric of society. As American citizens and voters we have the right to know if Ken Mehlman's so-far-undisclosed relationships are posing such a threat or not. The last thing the GOP should be doing is giving a position of prominence in the party to someone who, for all we know, might have a secret agenda of undermining the family. They can't have it both ways.

5. The Republican National Committee is an organization that makes NO BONES about using gay-bashing to help Republican candidates. There is good reason to believe that any RNC chair, were he not 100% straight, would be at pains to effectively run an organization that relies on gay-bashing to get its way. Don't red-state Americans have the right to know if the leader of their party, whomever it turns out to be, actually embraces the party's prefered lifestyle?

6. We have been told that part of President Bush's supposed "mandate" in the most recent election was a vindication of his attack on gays. The voting public has a right to know if the next RNC chair plans on subversively undercutting that mandate or actively supporting it.

Now, I have no idea whether Ken Mehlman is gay, bi or straight. But therein lies the problem. In the face of longtime rumors, this 37 year old single man has, oddly, refused to answer questions about his sexual orientation. I can't recall many, if any, straight men who refuse to acknowledge that they're straight - if anything, most are a bit too obvious about it - and that ultimately leads to speculation, caused by Mehlman's own failure to respond to a direct question posed by a reporter.

America is in the throes of a culture war, nurtured by groups like the RNC and people like Ken Mehlman. Americans have a right to know which side of the culture war Ken Mehlman is on, and whether, as RNC chair, he would be a fifth column for those very forces that the RNC tells us are out to steal America's Bibles and jam homosexual sex down its throats and the throats of its children.

Feel free to call the RNC and tell them you want to know why Ken Mehlman won't tell us whose side he's on.

Main contact info
Tel. 202.863.8500
Fax. 202.863.8820
Email: info@gop.com

Office of the Chairman and Deputy Chairman
Phone: 202-863-8700 (Ask for Chair Ed Gillespie and Deputy Chair Maria Cino.)
Chairman@gop.com

Communications Office
Phone: 202-863-8614
RNCommunications@gop.com Read More......

Europe also engaged in a fight for reason and logic

So much for escape to Europe to get away from Religious Fundamentalists. From Bloomberg:

Dutch military special forces laid siege to a house in The Hague after three police officers were injured in a hand-grenade blast during an anti-terrorist raid. Authorities closed the airspace over the city to civilian flights.

Police evacuated the Laakkwartier neighborhood following the raid, at 2:45 a.m. local time today. The grenade was thrown from the house. Suspects remained on the premises, the national crime prosecution unit said in an e-mail, without saying if there'd been arrests. Amsterdam's Schiphol airport stayed open.

The siege underscores tensions in the Netherlands following the Nov. 2 murder of Theo van Gogh, a filmmaker and critic of Islam. A suspect holding Moroccan and Dutch passports was arrested the same day, and arson attacks on at least two mosques and Islamic schools followed. In the past week, an intelligence agent was suspended for leaking information, De Telegraaf said.

"I am very concerned about the hardening of society in the Netherlands,'' Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said in an interview on NOS television. "We all need each other. At the moment, we are acting in a very non-Dutch way.''

I wish we had a leader who would at least TALK like a uniter and not a divider. Read More......

Wed. AM Open Thread

The holy roman empire was neither holy, nor roman, nor an empire. Discuss...
(Bonus points if you know the above reference) Read More......

Delta now cutting up to 6,900 jobs

But all is well and the high cost of fuel will not impact the economy at all. Nothing to worry about because we now control 70% of Falluja so that must mean that we control the entire country of Iraq again.
Read More......

Want to make your voice heard on voter fraud?

There is a petition online to ask Congress to look into voter fraud. It's been set up at Petition Online. PetitionOnline.com provides free online hosting of public petitions for responsible public advocacy. Sounds like a modern version of the town square. It reads in part:

A Petition to immediately and without delay open a joint investigation into potential wrongdoing in the Presidential Election of 2004, specifically to investigate the potential of voting machine manipulation or purposeful malfunction, especially electronic voting machines manufactured and supplied by Diebold, Inc.; Electronic Systems & Software (ES & S); Sequoia Voting Systems, and others, and also to identify and investigate all allegations of improper conduct by election officials, workers, observers, challengers and operatives and employees of both major parties concerning the voting process including intimidation, dissemination of improper information, manipulation of registration records, improper handling of actual voting ballots and, in general, any and all potential improprieties which could have led to improper or inaccurate election results.

If you're interested, sign the petition. Read More......

3 members of Allawi's family kidnapped on Tuesday

Details are sketchy and just coming in but CNN says that two are cousins and one other member of his family. So far, no demands have been made or at least reported.

Update: Reuters now has the same limited report here.
Read More......