Open thread

I'm going to bed :-) Read More......

What he said

David Sirota on Terri Schiavo, etc.:

Democratic strategist David Sirota said the Schiavo case creates three impressions. "Firstly, Republicans are zealots," he said. "Secondly, where the hell are the Democrats? And thirdly, well, at least the zealots believe in something strongly. And that's the problem for Democrats right now on this issue, and a whole host of others. The party seems unwilling to stand up for anything controversial."

"The calculus by Democrats is that they don't want to offend anyone," Sirota said. "But in trying not to offend anyone, they lose support from everyone. What many Democrats haven't yet learned from Republicans is that it is better to be loved by some, and hated by others, than try to be liked by everyone. Because when you do that, you are liked by no one."

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Man I'm tired

Adding to the stress of doing four hours of radio (maybe not stress, it's quite fun, but it is exhausting - you're basically performing for 4 hours straight), I had to endure a veritable hurricane of ice and sleet on the streets of New York City tonight. It was downright bizarre. And now I have that warm feeling you have when you've been out shoveling, or skiing, and you come inside and your body is saying "thank you, I almost froze to death." It's the end of March, this is nuts.

Anyway, thanks to Joe and Michael and Chris it's been busy on here today, glad to see. I won't weigh in, I'm just too pooped. Consider this an open thread :-) Read More......

Americans are cranky about this one

The latest CBS News poll has amazing numbers on the Schiavo issue. And, those numbers are not at all good for Bush and Congress....they really stepped in it:

An overwhelming 82 percent of the public believes the Congress and President should stay out of the matter.

Just 13 percent of those polled think Congress intervened in the case out of concern for Schiavo, while 74 percent think it was all about politics. Of those polled, 66 percent said the tube should not be inserted compared to 27 percent who want it restored.

82 percent. Wow. When was the last time 82 percent of Americans agreed on anything? And, especially on a so-called moral issue. The intensity factor, which the GOP was figuring was on their side...well, it's on both sides:

The issue has generated strong feelings, with 78 percent of those polled -- wheter for either side of the issue -- saying they have strong feelings.

This mess has resulted in HUGE negatives for Congress and Bush:

Public approval of Congress has suffered as a result; at 34 percent, it is the lowest it has been since 1997, dropping from 41 percent last month. Now at 43 percent, President Bush’s approval rating is also lower than it was a month ago.

I think this was one issue that Americans understood. Too many people have had to go through a tough family medical crisis....and too many people have their own intra-family issues. The Schiavo case opened a window for the American people on what kind of leaders they really have in George Bush and Tom DeLay. And they don't like what they see.

These guys are power crazed and out of control. Read More......

Open Thread

Busy day...what's the latest? Read More......

Jeb Raises the Stakes in the Schiavo Primary

Not to be outdone by Dr. Frist, who diagnosed Terri Schiavo by viewing a videotape, Jeb Bush upped the ante. He has asserted Terri Schiavo has had the wrong diagnosis all these years, according to the Associated Press. This is clearly the first primary for the 2008 GOP nomination:

In Tallahassee, the state capital, Bush renewed his call for the Legislature to "spare Terri's life." The governor and the head of the state's social services agency also said they have filed a petition with a Pinellas County trial court seeking to take custody of Schiavo. It cites new allegations of neglect and challenges Schiavo's diagnosis as being in a persistent vegetative state based on the opinion of a neurologist working for the state. The doctor observed Schiavo at her bedside but did not conduct an examination of her.

Bush and Department of Children & Families Secretary Lucy Hadi suggested they have authority to intervene on Schiavo's behalf regardless of the outcome of the bill in the Florida Legislature or a myriad of court decisions.

One major development is that, despite Jeb's plea to the Florida Legislature, the Republican-led State Senate this afternoon voted down a measure to reinsert the feeding tube by a 21 - 18 margin. Apparently, public opinion is starting to become a factor for some elected officials. Not Jeb and Frist, however. They are more concerned with winning the hearts and minds....and votes....of the GOP hard core for 2008. Read More......

Open thread

On the radio right now, live online too:

Http://www.siriusoutq.com

Sirius OUTQ Channel 149 Read More......

Scottish Episcopal Church -- Gay Priests Fine

The schism in the Episcopal Church grew wider today. Gay UK.com reports that the Scottish Episcopal Church said today it saw nothing wrong in ordaining actively gay priests and admitted it had blessed gay unions. This is what is known as doing God's work, so naturally they will be attacked on all sides for showing love and compassion for gay people who want to serve God and commit to faithful, loving, monogamous relationships.

Compounding their idiocy and hatred: a bishop in teh starving, beleagured country of Uganda is reported in the same article to have refused a donation of about $300,000 to fight AIDS from the US diocese of Central Pennsylvania because it has links to the recently ordained gay bishop Gene Robinson. Yes, better his people should die from lack of medical care than accept money from people who don't hate gay people as vehemently as he does. Read More......

Bush Playing Politics With Social Security...Again

What a shocker -- just as Bush's plan to dismantle Social Security faces bleak poll numbers and cynicism from average voters around the country, Treasury Secretary John Snow and the trustees for SS and Medicare suddenly decide to issue a new report saying the crisis is even worse than they feared. Yep, SS is going to start paying out more than it takes in come 2017, instead of 2018 and the reserves (depleted by Bush) will run out in 2041 instead of 2042. One year is a tweak in far-future projections, not a dramatic new development.

The NYT does say the trustees are "not entirely devoid of politics." But was this report scheduled? How and why did the numbers change (and not very dramatically)? Did new numbers come to light or did they just add them up differently to force a headline about an increasing "crisis?" Thanks to Bush having Social Security officials play partisan politics by stumping for his changes on the taxpayer's money, it's hard to trust anything coming out of any branch of the government without a big grain of salt. Read More......

Worried Social Security Won't Be There For You? Join The National Guard!

Thanks to the backdoor draft, the abuse of the National Guard (45% of the troops in Iraq are reserves) and a million other reasons (Bush's lack of respect for the troops by refusing to go to a single military funeral, etc.) recruiting is a disaster for our military.

The latest Band Aid solution? Raise the age the Army Reserve and National Guard can recruit soldiers 5 years from 34 to 39.

The age for the regular Army is 34 and set by Congress and can't be changed without its approval. This means another 22 million poor people can be targeted by recruiters to join up. My favorite quote in an earlier version of this New York Times article said that fighting war was a middle-aged person's job now -- there just isn't that much hand-to-hand combat anymore.

Think of it as a jobs program being extended to more Americans. And maybe if they keep raising the age you can join up when your Social Security checks disappear after being "privatized."

This is sad if it weren't so funny and another example of how Bush is abusing the military and the National Guard and Reserves in particular in ways that are going to make it harder and harder to defend America for decades to come. Read More......

The Dark Ages in Taliban America

Incredible. The IMAX film "Volcanoes of the Deep Sea" will not be shown in the Carolinas, Georgia and Texas because the movie makes references to evolution. Read More......

On the air in a few minutes

Feel free to call in, but make sure you have a question or a comment - praise is nice, but my producer will get ticked if everyone calls in just to say they like the blog :-)

Http://www.siriusoutq.com Read More......

Open thread

Off to the studio, will try to check in during the day. Toodles. Read More......

Poor wimpy Democratic congressmen upset that a Dem think-tank criticized them for being spineless

Well, screw you. Far too many Democrats in Congress are wimps, or Democrats in Name Only (aka Lieberman), and the Center for American Progress is one of the ONLY Democratic organizations in this town with the balls to do something about it. How dare the wimps in Congress try to silence one of the only real voices we have.

I suggest someone comb through this article, get the names of the members of Congress who critized CAP, their phone numbers and emails, then post them in the comments - I'll then repost them higher up, but please double check that the phone, etc are correct. Then let's blast them with calls. They're nuts if they think we're going to let them bully one of the only gutsy voices in town.

John Podesta, president of the progressive Center for American Progress (CAP), faced pointed questions from lawmakers at last Thursday’s New Democrat Coalition (NDC) meeting about an inflammatory e-mail his organization sent to liberal activists and bloggers.

In a March 9 e-mail, David Sirota, a fellow at CAP, accused 16 pro-business Democrats of supporting bankruptcy-reform legislation because they received political contributions from the commercial banks and credit-card companies that stand to benefit if the legislation becomes law.

The e-mail coursed through the blogosphere and generated angry phone calls from liberal activists to the offices of the 16 centrist Democrats. Sirota, a former minority spokesman for the House Appropriations Committee, criticized 16 of the 20 Democrats who wrote Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) March 7 urging him to bring bankruptcy reform to the House floor.

“And a look at campaign finance records shows why — the House Democrats who signed the letter pocketed a combined $750,000 in their two-year campaigns for Congress in 2004. To put that in perspective, that’s the equivalent of the industry giving these members $1,000 every single day of the last two years,” Sirota wrote, relying on figures from opensecrets.org.

The bill has yet to be voted on this year in the House.

Nearly every lawmaker who arrived at Thursday’s meeting with Podesta, former President Clinton’s last chief of staff, voiced concern about the Sirota broadside, calling it overtly personal and unhelpful to the two organizations’ shared goal of helping the Democratic Party grow.

It was unclear if Podesta was invited to the centrist group’s meeting as a result of Sirota’s e-mail, but the invitation came after the missive was sent March 9.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who did not support the bill in committee, told The Hill that he found the e-mail “personal and inappropriate.”

“The center [CAP] could have made the argument on the merits, but it chose to do so in a personal way,” said Schiff, one of roughly a dozen lawmakers who attended the meeting.

“The [NDC] wanted to say, ‘We’re all under the same flag here, and let’s not forget that,’” he said, adding that he felt the meeting ended on a positive note.

“There was a recognition that we’re going to have a difference of opinion,” he said.

Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the 41-member NDC, said, “I strongly disagree with Dave Sirota’s attack against Democratic members, but last week’s meeting with John Podesta and the Center for American Progress was a success.”

She added, “We are united in finding opportunities to work together on issues like tax policy and national security.”

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A note about judges for the fundamentalist idiots

Pay close attention. The two judges opposing reinserting the feeding tube, Carnes and Hull, are Clinton and Bush 41 appointees. The judge who wants to reinsert the feeding tube, Wilson, is a Clinton appointee. So do NOT let the republicans and America's Taliban continue to use this case for their own political gain about judges, liberals, etc. The courts are doing their job, regardless of who appointed the judges, regardless of the judges' political stripes, and it's high time the republicans started supporting our democracy and the democrats starting finding some balls.

In a 2-1 ruling early Wednesday, a panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta said the parents, who have battled with their son-in-law for years over the woman's fate, "failed to demonstrate a substantial case on the merits of any of their claims" that Terri's feeding tube should be reinserted immediately.

"There is no denying the absolute tragedy that has befallen Mrs. Schiavo," the ruling by Judges Ed Carnes and Frank M. Hull said. "We all have our own family, our own loved ones, and our own children. However, we are called upon to make a collective, objective decision concerning a question of law."

In his dissent, Judge Charles R. Wilson said Schiavo's "imminent" death would end the case before it could be fully considered. "In fact, I fail to see any harm in reinserting the feeding tube," he wrote.

Wilson and Hull were appointed to the appeals court by President Clinton, while Carnes was appointed by former President Bush.

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"Washington, it's clear, is a place where Republicans run scared of the religious right and Democrats just play dead."

Carol Marin is one of the most respected journalists in Chicago. And I too have really had it with the Democrats. Supportive statements on this issue are nice, but where the hell is the strategy? This party blows. It has no blows. And people need to railroaded out of town until we get leaders who know how to stake out an opinion and fight back:

Washington, it's clear, is a place where Republicans run scared of the religious right and Democrats just play dead.

To blatantly disregard and disrespect the considered rulings of state courts, to pass 11th hour legislation that allows one single, wrenching case to be re-done in federal courts, and to invoke due process when the real motive is to just delay is beyond shameful. Do the administration and those who agree with it only consider the work of state courts when they agree with them? Do they only believe in state's rights when they decide a state is right?

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Open thread

So what's the news of the morning? Read More......

GOP Infighting Percolating -- Shays calls Party a "Theocracy"

This is a very interesting article in today's NY Times, "G.O.P. Right Is Splintered on Schiavo Intervention." Apparently, there is a growing schism in the GOP over how the Schiavo case was handled (hmmm....for the politicians, does this have anything to do with the poll numbers?)

"This is a clash between the social conservatives and the process conservatives, and I would count myself a process conservative," said David Davenport of the Hoover Institute, a conservative research organization. "When a case like this has been heard by 19 judges in six courts and it's been appealed to the Supreme Court three times, the process has worked - even if it hasn't given the result that the social conservatives want. For Congress to step in really is a violation of federalism."

Stephen Moore, a conservative advocate who is president of the Free Enterprise Fund, said: "I don't normally like to see the federal government intervening in a situation like this, which I think should be resolved ultimately by the family: I think states' rights should take precedence over federal intervention. A lot of conservatives are really struggling with this case."

That Stephen Moore is the same guy who ran the Club for Growth. So when he weighs in, it means something.

The article also quotes Senator John Warner (R-VA) who voted against the Schiavo bill, "It looks as if it's a wholly Republican exercise," Mr. Warner said, "but in the ranks of the Republican Party, there is not a unanimous view that Congress should be taking this step."

Then, there are the money quotes from Chris Shays (R-CT):

"My party is demonstrating that they are for states' rights unless they don't like what states are doing," said Representative Christopher Shays of Connecticut, one of five House Republicans who voted against the bill. "This couldn't be a more classic case of a state responsibility."

"This Republican Party of Lincoln has become a party of theocracy," Mr. Shays said. "There are going to be repercussions from this vote. There are a number of people who feel that the government is getting involved in their personal lives in a way that scares them."

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Court of Appeals Denies the Parent's Appeal in Schiavo Case

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, widely viewed as the most conservative court, denied the Schiavo parent's appeal, the Associated Press is reporting:

In a 2-1 ruling early Wednesday, a panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta said the parents "failed to demonstrate a substantial case on the merits of any of their claims" that Terri's feeding tube should be reinserted immediately.

"There is no denying the absolute tragedy that has befallen Mrs. Schiavo," the ruling said. "We all have our own family, our own loved ones, and our own children. However, we are called upon to make a collective, objective decision concerning a question of law."

So, does this make them activist judges? Or, not? Will Santorum, Frist and DeLay start trashing them, too? Damn, this is confusing. Read More......

More propaganda from Iraq

What are the odds that the AP article about the shopkeepers and residents in Baghdad fighting off insurgents is solidly making the rounds in the press. With this administration and their love of propaganda to cover up ugly realities, it's hard to say if this is fact or fiction. It's a bit funny that this is obviously being pushed hard just after a Congressional delegation visited Baghdad (obviously, no field visits) where Senator Barbara Boxer commented that soon-to-be Iraqi PM Ibrahim al-Jaafari was not very enthusiastic or positive about the Iraqi defense forces.

Now thinking back to those crazy election days, I am pretty sure I remember hearing about how well that process was going and the tens of thousands of forces who had been trained. Surely after all of this time and money we should be expecting some local results. Please don't tell me we were lied yet again. Read More......

Cheney defends wingnut appointment, uses false statement again

There is a gross distortion of reality in the US that the US is the largest contributor to the UN so the US can dictate the rules. The fact is, the EU member states give more to the UN than the US. Even just using the the numbers from the top 15 contributors, the wingnut numbers crumble:

• US - 24.447%
• Germany - 8.361%
• UK - 5.934%
• France - 5.836%
• Italy - 4.720%
• Spain - 2.428%
• Netherlands - 1.618%

So using only the top six EU member states, the EU contributes 28.927% compared to 24.447% by the US.

I would still like to see the Blue States use this tactic against the Red State spongers and demand that they pay out only as much as they receive, if only to make the Red State spongers think twice about their perceptions about who is giving and who is taking. Read More......

Why does Rick Santorum hate our democracy?

Also, it wouldn't hurt if he studied how an injunction works, before spouting off like an idiot. Just because you ask for one doesn't mean the court per se grants it. You have to meet certain standards, including showing a subsantial likelihood to win the case on its merits. The family didn't show that, so they don't get their injunction/restraining order. Of course, little Ricky would rather spout out and endanger more judges' lives, and more generally, help denigrate even further the entire basis of our democracy. Read More......

Open thread

I saw the series finale of Battlestar Galactica tonight, both parts - na na na na na :-)

It's good to have friends who are TV critics. :-) And I'm not saying a thing. It's quite good, though. Great ending. Read More......