Furious George is a bad little monkey...

From Banana Slug. Nicely done. Read More......

IScrewRepublicans

It's a new blog. Read it :-) Read More......

SINCLAIR UPDATE: Who is Mark Hyman?

Who said:

"This is a powerful story... The networks are acting like Holocaust deniers and pretending [the POWs] don't exist. It would be irresponsible to ignore them." (From the Washington Post)

Who said:

"If you use that logic and reasoning, that means every car bomb in Iraq would be an in-kind contribution to John Kerry. Weak job-performance ratings that came out last month would have been an in-kind contribution to John Kerry." (On CNN Tuesday 10/12/04)

Mark Hyman - Vice President for Corporate Relations for Sinclair, the company that plans to air the anti-Kerry movie on TV stations nationwide.

In addition to his flacking for Sinclair on TV today, Mark also happens to broadcast to 4 million viewers on Sinclair stations a daily commentary called The Point. Recent topics?

Kerry And The Numbers
Kerry and The Communists
Kerry And The Medals
Kerry And The Oath
Kerry And The Navy
Kerry And The Three Weeks Of Protest
Kerry And The Winter Soldier Investigation
Kerry And The Purple Heart
Kerry And The Killing

Obsess much Mark?

He even has a "reading" list for his viewers, including works of journalistic integrity such as Unfit For Command - a book co-authored by Jerome Corsi (read all about Corsi's open bigotry here).

So just who is proselytizing to 4 million people a day? Who is this face of Sinclair? From his company biography:

He served briefly in the Army before attending college on an Army ROTC scholarship. He was later accepted to the U. S. Naval Academy from which he graduated in 1981. He served as a naval officer on ships assigned to the East and West coasts and he served in the U.S. Navy's European headquarters in London. He has conducted worldwide travel with extensive time spent in the Middle East. He left active duty in 1989 and became employed as a civilian in the Office of Naval Intelligence, which included assignments with the U.S. On-Site Inspection Agency as a disarmament treaty weapons inspector in former Warsaw Pact countries. A Captain in the Naval Reserve, he has served in leadership positions in CIA's National Warning Staff, the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office and he is currently a Commanding Officer in the Naval Reserve's Space and Network Warfare Program....

The military organizations in which he has served have been awarded four CIA National Intelligence Meritorious Unit Commendations during his service, and he has been awarded the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award, and several Navy and Joint military awards.

Okay, you tell me. An active member of the Naval Reserve, clearly with an intelligence background, is broadcasting commentary to 4 million people a day and now is trying to convince the public they should believe the already discredited Swift Boat people? hmmmm.... Read More......

Evening open thread

Rants, raves, whines... Read More......

TAKE ACTION: Sinclair Broadcasting

John has mentioned this a couple of times, but the site has been down for most of today. It's back up now, with a nifty way to search national advertisers as well as local advertisers:

http://www.boycottsbg.com/advertisers/

Contact the advertiser, let them know you won't be buying their product/service as long as you see ads on Sinclair stations. Be nice, but be firm.

GET SINCLAIR OUT OF YOUR PORTFOLIO:

Does your mutual fund own Sinclair? Tell them to dump it.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/mh?s=SBGI

TOP TEN MUTUAL FUNDS HOLDING SINCLAIR:

Morgan Stanley Special Value Fund

Franklin Mutual Ser Fd-Mutual Shares Fd

Janus Special Equity Fund

Harbor Small Cap Growth Fund

Invesco Sector Funds Inc-Invesco Leisure Funds

Morgan Stanley Inst Fd Tr-U.S. Small Cap Value Port

Van Kampen Small Cap Value Fund

FMI Focus Fd

American Skandia Tr-Gabelli Small-Cap Value Port

Harbor Small Cap Value Fund
Read More......

Cheney links Saddam to terrorists again, after denying it last week

Cheney is at it again. After telling us last week that he had NEVER, NEVER I TELL YOU, tried to link Al Qaeda and Saddam, today he implied the linkage again. Cheney said today that:

"The situation we faced was Saddam Hussein and Iraq presented the most likely place where there could be a nexus between the terrorists on the one hand and weapons of mass destruction."

Really? How so? There was no nexus AT ALL between Saddam and Al Qaeda, so why was Iraq the "most likely place" where WMD could go to terrorists? Iraq didn't even have WMD, so wouldn't that make it a bit hard for them to give WMD to terrorists? I mean, Iran, now they have terrorist ties and are trying to develop nukes. North Korea, they tried to blow up the South Korean cabinet with a terrorist bomb, and they apparently now have nukes and are getting more each day. They certainly have the capacity to nexus with terrorists. But Saddam, how?

And then there's the former Soviet Union. Stockpiles of weapons not very well guarded. Nuclear scientists without work, willing to help the highest bidder? Military personnel who are broke, willing to sell a portable nuke or some uranium to a terrorist? All of the above apply.

But no. Neither Iran, North Korea, or the former Soviet Union has much of a possibility of getting out of control and helping the terrorists., per Dick Cheney. According to Dick Cheney, the greatest risk of a state giving terrorists WMD was in Iraq, a place where there was no WMD and no real strong ties to terrorists at all. The man is fucking pathological.

And of course, here's my favorite Cheney quote from today's article:

"Looking back on it now, with everything we know today, the world is a whale of a lot better off with Saddam Hussein in jail."

Since I'm not running for president I can ask the obvious question: How is the world better off now that Saddam is in jail? Osama is still free. We find out yesterday that under the US' watch Iraq's nuclear scientists may have now sold nuclear-bomb making materials to terrorists, since they're now unemployed after the US invasion. The US invasion of Iraq has been a boon for Al Qaeda recruitment, and Al Qaeda's top leadership has reconstituted itself. Over 1,000 US families have to cope with dead loves ones from the war. Our military is so over-stretched that if another major conflict arises we won't have the troops to respond without a draft. And most of the world hates our living guts.

So I ask again, how EXACTLY is the world ANY SAFER now that Saddam is behind bars? I just don't get it. And if we had a real media in this country they would ask Cheney that very question. Read More......

Cool, but kind of creepy too

AP:

Laura Hatch's family had almost given her up for dead, and sheriff's deputies had all but written her off as a runaway. Then she was found, badly hurt and severely dehydrated, but alive and conscious, in the back seat of her crumpled Toyota Camry.

A volunteer searcher who said she had had several vivid dreams of a wooded area found the wrecked car in the trees Sunday....

Hatch's parents organized a volunteer search Saturday, and that night Sha Nohr, the mother of Hatch's friend, said she had dreams of a wooded area and heard the message, "Keep going, keep going."

On Sunday morning, Nohr and her daughter drove to the area where the crash occurred, praying along the way. "I just thought, `Let her speak out to us,'" Nohr told The Seattle Times.

Nohr said something drew her to stop and clamber over a concrete barrier and more than 100 feet down a steep, densely vegetated embankment where she barely managed to discern the wrecked car in some trees.

Read More......

GOP House candidate threatened wife with shotgun at dinner party

I think we just lost another family values GOP House candidate. He who lives by family values dies by family values... Read More......

AMERICAblog joins BlogPac

I've just joined the advisory board of BlogPac, a political action committee formed by Markos Moulitsas of DailyKos and Jerome Armstrong of MyDD. Other advisory board members include Duncan Black of Atrios and more.

I'll let the pac describe itself:

Political Action Committees have been the province of the rich, powerful, and well connected.

Once upon a time, the media was a province of the rich, powerful and well connected. But the new blogging phenomenon burst through that barrier, giving anyone with minimal computer skills the ability to be their own publisher.

Politics suffered from the same limitations, where the unconnected and those who lacked wealth were relegated to the realm of stamp licking and envelope stuffing. Yet the rise of the "netroots" -- online communities -- gave regular folks the ability to work together to effect political change. The Dean campaign was catapulted into stratopheric heights, and even following its demise, the strength of the Netroots helped make John Kerry financially competitive with the cash-flush George Bush.

BlogPac follows in that tradition. Borne from those who spend their times online and embrace participatory media and politics (like Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos, Jerome Armstrong of MyDD, Duncan Black of Atrios, and others), we will use online tools and technologies to further the cause of progressive politics in our nation.

BlogPac is, indeed, the first PAC to wage politics entirely online.

You can read about BlogPac's current campaign, and even donate to help out, here. Read More......

Clinton vs. Bush (I'm bumping this back up - now includes your suggestions)

The Republicans, since they have no record to run on, are apparently sending around an email suggesting we all vote for Bush because he's better than... Clinton.

Yes, Bush is still running against Clinton. Among the accusations in the email are that Clinton invaded Kosovo, and that was okay, but Bush invaded Iraq and somehow that's wrong. Like they're somehow the same thing. It's time for a response, and here it is. Feel free to email this to all of your friends - let's get a little viral thing going.

CLINTON VS. BUSH: What a REAL presidency looks like...

Clinton invades Kosovo, zero US combat losses.
Bush invades Iraq, 1,075 US service members dead and rising.

Clinton invades Kosovo and captures Milosevic.
Bush invades Afghanistan and lets Osama get away.

Clinton invades Kosovo, our troops have food and armor.
Bush invades Iraq, our troops are buying body armor on eBay and begging Iraqi civilians for food.

Clinton invades Kosovo, civilians greet us with flowers.
Bush invades Iraq, civilians cut off our heads.

WTC attacked when Clinton is president, only 6 people die.
WTC attacked when Bush is president, nearly 3,000 people die.

Clinton lies about a blowjob.
Bush lies about a war.

Clinton was elected by the people.
Bush was selected by the court.

Number of US planes hijacked while Clinton was president: Zero.
Number of US planes hijacked while Bush was president: 4

Clinton creates a record budget surplus in 8 years.
Bush creates a record budget deficit in 4 years.

Price of gas during Clinton presidency: $1/gal.
Price of gas during Bush president: $2/gal.

A big Clinton scandal: Firing some travel office employees.
A big Bush scandal: Abu Ghraib

Clinton held 42 solo news conferences.
Bush held 15 solo news conferences.

Number of new words invented by Clinton: Zero.
Number of new words created by Bush: A lot more than zero.

Number of gay family members betrayed by Clinton-Gore: Zero.
Number of gay family members betrayed by Bush-Cheney: One.

Clinton created the largest economic expansion in over 40 years.
Bush created the largest job loss since Herbert Hoover.

Clinton likes his fried chicken.
Bush likes his liquor.

Clinton tried pot.
Bush used cocaine.

Clinton's daughter has grown into a lovely young woman.
Bush's daughters get publicly drunk and arrested.

Clinton's wife never killed anybody.
Bush's did.

Clinton reads the newspapers.
My. Pet. Goat. Read More......

Some early results reported against Sinclair

Talking Points Memo has feedback from one reader who followed the advice of contacting the local sales manager and over on Daily Kos someone else has received a call back from an advertiser who says they are pulling their advertisements. Excellent news! Keep up the pressure! Read More......

Oy!

Bubbie strikes back. Read More......

Is the Pope the great Satan?

A number of Catholic bishops certainly don't seem to care, since they're throwing their weight AGAINST Catholic John Kerry and for evangelical Christian George Bush. You'll recall that Bush's top supporters in the radical right believe that the Pope is a "satanic counterfeit."

It eludes me how it's in the best of interest of the Catholic church to get a guy elected who probably feels the same way about them as his religious buddies. But then again, you'd think those same Catholic bishops would have a problem with raping small children. Why expect them to stand by their principles now? Read More......

Six years ago today Matthew Shepard died

You might like to read what his father had to say at the trial of Matt's murderers. Read More......

The latest from Zogby - it's still a tie

From Zogby:

Pollster John Zogby: "A good polling day for the President. A close race got closer. I am not expecting anyone to pull away in this one -- at least not yet.

“Bush leads solidly among investors (53%-39%), military families (55%-38%), married voters (51%-38%), and in the Red States (51%-38%). These are all improvements for him and where he will need to be to win.

"Kerry still holds on to 80% of Democrats, and leads among single voters (57%-34%), union voters (51%-38%), moderates (56%-34%), and in the Blue States (49%-40%).

"The two candidates are tied among Independents -- an improvement for President Bush. Fifteen percent of Independents remain undecided.

“Newly registered voters lean toward Kerry (49%-42%), while those who have already voted give a slight edge to Bush (48%-43%).

"But among the 7% undecided only 12% now say the President deserves to re-elected, while 37% say it is time for someone new. Among this same group, Bush only receives a 35% positive job rating, while 50% give him a negative rating. Kerry continues to lead the President on the economy (49%-41%), education (53%-30%), Iraq (53%-36%), and the war in Iraq (50%-37%). Bush holds a huge 71%-25% lead among those who cite the war on terror as the top issue."

Read More......

Pull the FCC licenses for Sinclair's stations

TalkLeft raises an excellent point. We ought to start challenging the renewal of the FCC licenses for Sinclair's stations that plan on airing the anti-Kerry attack film. Check out her analysis here. And make sure you join in the Sinclair boycott site - find the local advertisers for those stations and tell them to drop that station or you will NEVER use their products again. Having run the wildly-successful StopDrLaura.com Web site myself, I can tell you that this actually works. And at the local level, it doesn't take too many phone calls.

Finally, Atrios has a great pic of the Sinclair stock price over the past week (it's heading south). Just imagine what that stock price is going to be when all of their advertisers are forced to leave. Read More......

Bush says he "wasn't happy" that Saddam didn't have WMD

So, Bush would be happier if members of the Axis of Evil actually HAVE WMD. Imagine if Kerry had made this litle gaffe:

"I wasn't happy when we found out there wasn't weapons," Bush said [at the last debate].

And another thing, what the hell language is this man speaking? "There wasn't weapons"? Putting aside for a moment that it's "weren't" and not "wasn't," what happened to "any" as in "ANY weapons"? The man is an imbecile. Read More......

New record for oil, up $0.81 to $54.45. Japan Finance Minister warns of trouble

The IMF also is saying that world economic growth will drop 0.7% because of the oil increases. Who has been asleep at the wheel with this "surprise" jump to record levels in oil prices? Nothing to see here, keep moving.
Read More......

Simplified tax code? Follow the actions, not the words

Furious George is on the stump talking up his plan for a simplified tax code in a second term. He's talking about the current tax laws which are over one million pages long. Keeping that in mind, why is he preparing to sign the new special interest boondoggle that is coming his way? The new bone being tossed out to special interest groups is a 633 page whopper that helps those poor struggling businesses such as Oracle, HP, Eli Lilly, oil companies, accounting firms, tobacco farmers and on and on. Forget about what Bush says, look at what he does.

"It is the worst example of the influence of special-interest groups I have ever seen," said Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, who denounced a decision to include a $10 billion buyout program for tobacco farmers, but drop a provision that would have put the Food and Drug Administration in charge of regulating tobacco products.

All of this also reminds me of how Reagan wanted to simply the tax code. How long did that venture last before special interests jumped all over it and made it even more complicated than it was? Why should we expect anything different this time?
Read More......

Lazy bastards

Why can't they just allow their daddies to give them a company or at least a job? At a minimum, can't they swindle taxpayers for $135Million worth of corporate welfare to build a baseball stadium? Spongers.

One in every five U.S. jobs pays less than a poverty-level wage for a family of four, according to a study by the nonpartisan Working Poor Families Project.

Read More......

Broken promises and changing US strategy in Iraq

If you accept that the recent weapons-for-cash plan disarmament program is a good thing (and perhaps it is) you have to wonder about its potential for success when on the first day the money men fail to show. Instead of handing out money, as was promised as part of the deal, IOUs are now being handed out when weapons are brought in. That could explain why the numbers so far have been more of a trickle than a flood. If this was so critical for bringing peace with al-Sadr, someone really botched this program.

Meanwhile in the fighting, or shall I say "precision strikes", there is a noticeable change in US policy. Remember how cautious the US previously was when they were fighting near a mosque? Yesterday in fighting, that caution was thrown out the window. Again, we're seeing a lot more air power and brutal "precision" strikes in order to keep keep casualties low during this election cycle. The Iraqis must be wondering what kind of democracy we're bringing. It's a good thing that Furious George is not allowing US politics to impact the war because he clearly told us that he is against such policy.
Read More......

Cheney's Energy Task Force looking at Iraq in MARCH 2001

Iraq is all about the war on terror. Oh yeah, I'm SURE it is now. From AP:

Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force appeared to have some interest in early 2001 in Iraq's oil industry, including which foreign companies were pursuing business there, according to documents released Friday by a private watchdog group.

Judicial Watch, a conservative legal group, obtained a batch of task force-related Commerce Department papers that included a detailed map of Iraq's oil fields, terminals and pipelines as well as a list entitled "Foreign Suitors of Iraqi Oilfield Contracts."...

The papers were dated early March 2001, about two months before the Cheney energy task force completed and announced its report on the administration's energy needs and future energy agenda....

"Opponents of the war are going to point to the documents as evidence that oil was on the minds of the Bush administration in the run-up to the war in Iraq," said Fitton.

These guys were carving up Iraq well before 9/11. There is no doubt that the reason that the President can't admit a mistake in Iraq is because there WAS NO MISTAKE. We were going to war with Iraq regardless of what happened on 9/11. We were going regardless of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Regardless of "Weapons of Mass Destruction Program Related Activities" (my personal favorite). I guess I can now add corruption in the UN Oil for Food Program as another reason we went to war.

But there is no mistake? If there is no mistake Mr. President, then when are you going to tell the American public what, deep down, you believe going to war in Iraq was all about. Nothing you've said about Iraq to date even comes close to the truth. Read More......

A Great Drinking Game For Wednesday's Debate

Paul Krugman of the New York Times beats Bush to the punch by detailing the distortions and lies he believes Bush will repeat on Wednesday night. He details seven items, so any college students (who aren't driving) can have fun taking a chug every time Bush repeats one of these lies anyway. Then Krugman writes almost word for word the argument I've been repeating to my brother all this week.

"By singling out Mr. Bush's lies and misrepresentations, am I saying that Mr. Kerry isn't equally at fault? Yes.

"Mr. Kerry sometimes uses verbal shorthand that offers nitpickers things to complain about. He talks of 1.6 million lost jobs; that's the private-sector loss, partly offset by increased government employment. But the job record is indeed awful. He talks of the $200 billion cost of the Iraq war; actual spending is only $120 billion so far. But nobody doubts that the war will cost at least another $80 billion. The point is that Mr. Kerry can, at most, be accused of using loose language; the thrust of his statements is correct.

"Mr. Bush's statements, on the other hand, are fundamentally dishonest. He is insisting that black is white, and that failure is success. Journalists who play it safe by spending equal time exposing his lies and parsing Mr. Kerry's choice of words are betraying their readers."
Read More......