Bush climate change conference a complete failure

You know things are bad when you can't even find one other country to say anything good about your big event. Besides Bush's "new approach" which is really the "old approach" that the GOP has talked about for years despite having been rejected by just about everyone outside of the GOP, he failed miserably again in finding anyone to support his half baked climate change plan. When you can't even get China and India to join in, you know you have problems.

The conference, attended by more than 20 countries, including China, India, Britain, France and Germany, broke up with the US isolated, according to non-Americans attending. One of those present said even China and India, two of the biggest polluters, accepted that the voluntary approach proposed by the US was untenable and favoured binding measures, even though they disagreed with the Europeans over how this would be achieved.

A senior European diplomat attending the conference, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the meeting confirmed European suspicions that it had been intended by Mr Bush as a spoiler for a major UN conference on climate change in Bali in December.

"It was a total charade and has been exposed as a charade," the diplomat said. "I have never heard a more humiliating speech by a major leader. He [Mr Bush] was trying to present himself as a leader while showing no sign of leadership. It was a total failure."

John Ashton, Britain's special envoy on climate change, who attended the conference, said: "It is striking here how isolated the US has become on this issue. There is no support among the industrialised countries for the proposition that we should proceed on the basis of voluntary commitments.

Just like Iraq. Just like Katrina. Just like the economy. You name it, everything Bush and the GOP has tried to tackle has become a disaster. Read the rest of this post...

McCain: The Constitution established America as a Christian nation

Oh really? And where is that in the Constitution? Where does the US Constitution once mention Jesus Christ or Christianity? It doesn't. I'd say the man is loopy, but I think, rather, that he's pandering to the religious right again. Being at the bottom of the polls does funny things to funny men.

Oh, and for extra credit, McCain also said that he would prefer a Christian as president in contrast to those shifty Jews and bomb-toting Muslims. Read the rest of this post...

I agree with NGLTF's Executive Director Matt Foreman

Circa 2002, from the New York Times:

Tomorrow was supposed to be a shining moment for gay men and lesbians in the state. For the first time since a gay rights bill first surfaced in Albany 31 years ago, the State Senate plans to bring the measure to a vote, and the bill stands a chance of passing. Matt Foreman, the executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda, called the long-awaited event ''simply extraordinary for our community.''

But at the 11th hour, dissent over the bill has caused some to question exactly who Mr. Foreman means when he says ''our community.''

The bill, which forbids discrimination in employment, housing, credit and public accommodations based on sexual orientation, and which has consistently been opposed by right-wing groups like the Conservative Party, is now under siege by those who feel that it does not go far enough because it does not explicitly protect transgendered people....

Mr. Foreman takes a pragmatic view, saying his organization has done the near-impossible by steering a gay rights bill -- any gay rights bill -- to the floor of the conservative Senate. ''No one's denying that transgendered people need protection. We're certainly not,'' he said. ''We're a political advocacy group. For us this isn't a morality play. This is about winning rights for people as quickly as we can.''

But, he said, it was too late to change the bill, largely because Senator Joseph L. Bruno, the majority leader, had committed only to allow the existing version of the bill to go to the floor, and has suggested that even that is a one-time offer. The Assembly has repeatedly approved the bill in its current form. If the Senate passes Sonda tomorrow, Gov. George E. Pataki has said he will sign it into law.

''The notion that you just suddenly and quickly and easily insert a whole new protected category, and that the State Senate that has clearly been reluctant to act on this would just accept it blindly, is beyond naïve,'' Mr. Foreman said.

Read the rest of this post...

Injured Iraq vet takes on Limbaugh in new ad

From VoteVets:

Read the rest of this post...

Britain plans to pull 1,000 troops from Iraq

We may need to do a musical about them too, now. In case you missed yesterday's news about Iceland pulling its one troop out of Iraq...

Read the rest of this post...

House Approps chair Obey: It's time for a war tax

Halle-freaking-lujah. I've been proposing this for a while. It's time we had a line item on our federal taxes for the war. Let people see what it's really costing them, then see how happy they are about this war.

Obey also came out in favor of Rep. James McGovern’s (D-Mass.) war tax proposal.

“If you don’t like the cost, then shut down the war,” Obey said in a news conference.

The tax would be intended to raise roughly $150 billion for the war. It would be a surtax of 2 to 15 percent of income tax. A 2 percent surtax means that a person who would otherwise pay $100 in taxes would pay $102.

I'd love to see Bush and the Republicans say that they aren't in favor of funding our troops. Of course, I don't believe for a minute that the Democrats have the balls to do anything of the sort. The old David Obey wouldn't have stood for Bush's ongoing shenanigans, the man was a terror to behold (I actually got to debate him once during a House-Senate conference, it was rather weird, I was whispering the words in a Senator's ear as he was repeating them to Obey as his own, very very weird - but I won :-). The new David Obey is just another Democratic sheeple. I miss the old Obey. Read the rest of this post...

If wishes were horses, beggars would ride

From an email just sent out by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (no link in their email, so they don't get one):

Our community must continue to weigh in with every member of Congress, letting them know of our insistence that a fully [transgender] inclusive ENDA must pass the House this year.

The reason gender identity (i.e., transgendered people, e.g., transexuals) got dropped from ENDA wasn't because Dem leaders didn't want trans in there. It's because we don't have the votes to get ENDA passed if it includes job protections for transexuals. No amount of "insistence" is going to change that fact; all the pressure in the world on Democratic leaders isn't going to convince Republicans and conservative Dems to support transexual rights. Pressuring Dem leaders to add the T back into ENDA is addressing the symptom but not the cause. The Dems dropped the T because we don't have the votes when we include the T. Forcing them to put the T back in does nothing to change the vote count.

And, once we succeed in getting the T added back to ENDA, what's the plan for convincing the Republicans and conservative Dems to endorse transexual rights, to vote for a trans inclusive ENDA?

[crickets]

I haven't noticed a massive pro-trans ad campaign, TV campaign, op ed strategy, or anything else over the years. We debate gay issues all the time publicly, and it's still taken us 30 years to get to the point where we have a shot at passing ENDA for the gays. And now we're expected to easily pass it with gender identity added on (ENDA has been around for 30 years, while gender identity got added to it for the first time this year) when there's been no real education of the American people or the Congress whatsoever (and yes, I know the transgender organizations have been lobbying congress since the early 90s, at least, but that is not the same as a national education campaign such as we've had on gay issues - and even then, we still have an awful time when gay issues come up for a vote, especially when the congress turns Republican (and there's no guarantee it won't again sometime soon)). It's just my gut, and I hope I'm wrong, but I fear that anyone who thinks the US Congress is going to pass a "transexual civil rights in the workplace bill" any time soon is deluded. I'd love to see it passed, I support its passage, but wishing (aka "insisting") doesn't make it so.

So insist away that the Dem leadership put the T back in to ENDA, but please don't call it a victory when ENDA goes down in flames as a result of your actions, and 25 million gays and lesbians are told to wait a few more decades for their civil rights (assuming they live that long, don't lose their jobs in the meantime, etc.). If losing is your definition of victory, then we can all pack our bags and go home, because we can achieve that victory - have been achieving that victory for decades - without lifting a finger or donating a dime to a knowier-than-thou gay group. Read the rest of this post...

Clinton raised $22 million, Obama $19 million in 3rd quarter

Got the e-mail from the Clinton campaign trumpeting their $27 million cash haul for the third quarter. But, had to read the AP article to get the real number:

Clinton's total includes $22 million that she can spend on the primary race. She has to save the rest for the general election and will have to return it if she doesn't win the nomination.

Obama's total included $19 million for the primary, meaning in total this year he's still outraised her in primary dollars _ $74.9 million to $72.6 million.

Money raised for the general election can't be used for the primary. It's good spin to include it in the total, I guess. But, it's actually annoying. Read the rest of this post...

Forget global warming, illegal immigrants are what's really destroying the environment

This explains why the Bush administration isn't worried about global warming. According to the head of Homeland Security, illegal aliens are the biggest threat to the environment:

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on Monday defended the construction of a fence along the southwest border, saying it's actually better for the environment than what happens when people illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico line.

"Illegal migrants really degrade the environment. I've seen pictures of human waste, garbage, discarded bottles and other human artifact in pristine areas," Chertoff said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "And believe me, that is the worst thing you can do to the environment."

So in that fight to save the environment and bash illegal aliens in one fell swoop, Rudy was pandering at an infamous cheesesteak stand:

Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani campaigned Monday at a landmark South Philadelphia cheesesteak stand that grabbed headlines when it posted signs telling customers to speak English.

In June 2006, Geno's Steaks garnered national attention for posting two small signs stating, "This is America: When ordering 'please speak English.'"

The Republicans can't find enough ways to alienate the minority vote. Read the rest of this post...

Tuesday Morning Open Thread

Note to the Today Show: Waking up to Ann Coulter is an extremely unpleasant way to start the day.

I'm going to have coffee and try to get her image out of my head.

Anyway, let's get it started. Read the rest of this post...

British courts reject media consolidation

What a novel idea that keeps popping up in Europe. The courts across Europe are promoting competition instead of consolidation. In this particular case, the Murdoch media empire had bought a significant minority position in a competing television broadcaster despite cries of outrage by competitors who believed this was unhealthy and uncompetitive. Not so surprisingly, this deal occurred during the Blair years, who remains cozy with Murdoch.

Ah yes, I can almost remember the days when competition existed in the US instead of the sorry system that currently exists. The two continents are moving in opposite directions at the moment with regards to business and that does not bode well for US business nor consumers in the long run. Is the US really served by just a handful of media outlets? Is it really in the best interest of American consumers to have a few telecom operators? Are bigger banks even interested in the average customer? When did competition in the US become such an outdated and old fashioned idea? Read the rest of this post...

Australian Anglican church to alllow women bishops

The Anglican church is being pulled in many directions around the world these days with some supporting positive (and long overdue) change and others preferring to stay in the past. It's puzzling to understand why so many faiths around the world continue to treat women as second class people in this day and age but even more bizarre to understand the position of those who are against basic terms of equality and who want to block change. Yes, a "significant day" indeed. Read the rest of this post...