Americans are anti-incumbent - they want change

That wave is starting to build. The constituents aren't showing any love for their members of Congress:

Especially worrisome for members of Congress is that the proportion of Americans who approve of their own representative's performance has fallen sharply. Traditionally, voters may express disapproval of Congress as a whole but still vote for their own member, even from the majority party. But 55 percent now approve of their lawmaker, a seven-percentage-point drop over three months and the lowest such finding since 1994, the last time control of the House switched parties.

"That's dramatic," said Republican consultant Ed Rollins, who was White House political director under President Ronald Reagan.

Dramatic will be a Democratic House and Senate.

Last week, Bill Frist said the GOP's message is stay the course. That's a great losing strategy -- because Americans want to change the course. Read the rest of this post...

Did Mehlman give Lieberman the GOP memo about motivating the base?

Ken Mehlman got a memo about what motivates the GOP base:

Steeper concluded that the president's prosecution of the international war on terror -- and worries that Democrats will abdicate that responsibility -- are the single most active motivator for those surveyed. As Steeper wrote in his memo "A huge 87% of the Base expresses extremely strong feelings about one or more of these issues."

What a coincidence. Sounds just like Lieberman.

Lieberman has adopted the Bush/Rove/Mehlman spin: 9/11 = war on terror = Iraq War = War on Terror = 9/11. Yesterday, Joe was trying to distance himself from Bush. Today, he morphed in to Bush.

Only problem for Joe, which he seems to forget, is that the GOP base doesn't vote in the Democratic primary. Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

Oil prices surged today.

I've been driving for 30 years now. Think of all the advances in technology over the past 30 years. Yet, I get irritated every time I buy gas that I still pump gas the same way...and for the most part, my car doesn't run much differently than my parent's car did back then. Oh, sure, there have been some changes, some improvements...but compared to the other advances we've made, cars are basically archaic. And, we all suffer because of it. Read the rest of this post...

Disgraced Republican congressman Bob Ney is trying to pick his successor

Because, after all, who better to pick the person to take over the job of a corrupt politician than the corrupt politician himself. There's a certain poetry to the entire thing, isn't there?

UPDATE: According to Political Wire, there may be a complication in Ney's plan: Ohio's "sore loser" law. Read the rest of this post...

Lieberman says Connecticut voters who oppose him have forgotten September 11 and are soft on national security

How dare he.

Now Joe Lieberman is the only Democrat who apparently cares about national security. Just ask him.

Lieberman said that this race is about whether the Democratic Party “will accept a diversity of opinion” on national security. He defined himself as a Democrat in the mold of John F. Kennedy, Harry S Truman and Bill Clinton – that is, one with “a real socially progressive record, and strong on national security.”

He said a victory for Lamont will send a message to the country: “In the Democratic Party, there’s no room for strong-on-security Dems.” He said that would be disastrous for the Democrats. “You can’t win in this country,” he said, “unless you assure people" that you aren’t going to compromise on national security. He said he has backed the war on terror because he never forgets about the “radical Islamic terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 and want to do it again.”

(Politics TV has the video.) Oh, so folks who are unhappy with Lieberman are soft on national security and don't remember September 11.

What a self-serving, selfish, egotistical piece of Republican trash this man has become. So Joe Lieberman is claiming that everything is going great in Iraq not because he's out of touch, not because he has a seemingly inquenchable desire to pander to George Bush and defend him at all costs. Oh no. Joe Lieberman says that Iraq is going great because HE remembers September 11 and YOU don't. Because he is strong on national defense and YOU aren't.

Remember all those people who died in the World Trade Center? The hundreds who died in the Pentagon? The hundreds more who died in the various aircraft hijacked throughout the northeast?

Of course you don't. You see, you don't remember September 11. Only Joe Lieberman remembers September 11. Only Joe Lieberman apparently lost loved ones on that day, feared for their lives and their country. Yep, September 11 was all about Joe Lieberman. For the rest of us, it was Disneyland.

Who is running for Senate in Connecticut, anyway? Karl Rove?

So the only way for a Democrat to be "strong on security" is to pander to Republicans and trash his own party while lying to the American people about what's really happening in Iraq. And the only way for a Democrat to show they remember September 11 is to sit back, shut up and let the the Bush administration do whatever it wants, with no congressional oversight, and no dissent when our country begins to head horribly in the wrong direction. That is Joe Lieberman's definition of a Democrat.

Let Lieberman be clear: It's all everyone else's fault that Joe Lieberman is in trouble. It's not that Lieberman has lost touch. It's that he's the only guy left standing who actually loves America.

It sounds more like he loves Big Brother. Read the rest of this post...

BREAKING: Bush's Veteran's Administration loses another computer with personal information of about 38,000 vets in it

You think they'd learn, but don't forget who we're dealing with here. Unimaginable hubris and inestimable incompetence. The Bush administration is right, no matter what they do or what the catastrophic consequences - they don't need to change their way of doing things. They're simply always right.

One definition of insanity, the saying goes, is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result each time. That also appears to be the definition of a Republican.

Another computer with veterans' personal information is missing, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced Monday.

This time, information on as many as 38,000 living and deceased veterans was on the computer, which was lost by outside contractor Unisys.

Isn't it time for Bush to give the VA Secretary a medal or something? Read the rest of this post...

Scalia denies DeLay

You can call him "GOP candidate for Congress Tom DeLay."

Via Hotline On Call:

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia quickly denied a request by lawyers for the Texas Republican Party to stay an appelate court's decision keeping Ex-Rep. Tom DeLay on the November ballot in the 22nd district.

The poster boy for Republican corruption stays on the ballot. Read the rest of this post...

Stop the inanity

This is exactly the kind of ridiculousness that so irritated me just last week.

So, that bastion of pinko commies, the editorial board of the New York Times, began a big ol' Sunday editorial with a searing indictment of President Bush:

As America’s military experience in Iraq grows ever more nightmarish, it is becoming clear that President Bush’s strategy comes down to this: Keep holding to a failing course for the next 29 months and leave it to the next administration to clean up the mess.

Hear, hear! Couldn't agree more. So they're going to follow this up with a call for President Bush to finally present a plan, right? They're going to excoriate the lack of information and the dearth of rational thought on the part of war-planners in the White House and DoD and the Republican Congress, I bet, because, y'know, those are the guys in power, the ones responsible for foreign policy and the war.

Wait, what's that you say? It's not the fault of people in power, the ones who control every single branch of the government? It's really the fault of . . . Democrats??

With the Republican majority in Congress moving in perpetual lock step behind the White House, the job of pressing the issue has been dumped in the laps of the Democrats. Unfortunately, they have their own version of reality avoidance. It involves pretending that the nightmare can be ended by adopting a timetable for a phased withdrawal of American troops.

This is the so-called "liberal media." I will now light myself on fire.

The Times helpfully explains, "The only responsible way out of Iraq involves all the things President Bush refused to consider on the way in." That's simply incorrect. The only responsible way out of Iraq involves all the things President Bush still refuses to consider! The choice isn't between the New York Times Fantasy Plan That Dems Should Make Happen and the Bush Incompetence Initiative, it's between letting Bush continue to ruin everything and trying to bring home the troops so he can't do quite so much damage, both to the military (and its members, obviously) and to Iraq. Dems could propose plans until they're blue in the face, but, and I'm typing very slowly here so Very Smart Editorialists can understand, Bush . . . won't . . . listen . . . to . . . Democrats.

Red plan, blue plan, old plan, new plan; it doesn't matter. President Bush will listen to about three people, and their little group will continue to ruin everything it touches. A Democratic Congress might be able to stem the tide through oversight, hearings, and the like, but a good way to oppose the administration right now is to stop pretending old bipartisanship still exists, and focus on the problem of incompetents in power rather than blaming Dems for not having some kind of shadow government going on. Read the rest of this post...

Anti-gay Christians protests funeral of Senator's nephew killed in Iraq

Read this article, it's heart-breaking. But, let it be clear. This is the cost of war. Anyone who supports this war, who supported this war, shares blame for the death of this young man. The question is, was it worth it? And will it be worth it when it's your nephew, child, husband or brother?

War is not necessarily wrong, in my view. But it comes with a price - something far too many Americans forget, I fear. Read the rest of this post...

During trial of US troops accused of raping 14 year old girl, US military lawyer blows bubbles while client/soldier licks red lollipop

This is sick. In a US civilian court, I doubt that a defense attorney would be permitted to sit in court, during testimony, and blow chewing gum bubbles for very long, nor would his client, the defendant, be permitted to lick a red lollipop during that same testimony.

This is military justice? This is how our troops and their military lawyers treat a rape case? Are we all sick enough now of what has happened to our country as a result of this war? We are talking a 14 year old girl was allegedly brutalized, and these guys are blowing bubbles and licking lollipops in court? Unbelievable.

A U.S. military court in Baghdad heard graphic testimony on Monday of how three U.S. soldiers took turns raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl before murdering her and her family....

Special Agent Benjamin Bierce recalled that Barker described to him how they put a couple and their six-year-old daughter into a bedroom of their home, but kept the teenage girl in the living room, where Barker held her hands while Sergeant Paul Cortez raped her or tried to rape her.

Barker then switched positions with Cortez and attempted to rape the girl but said he was not sure if he had done so, Bierce told the hearing.

Barker also told the special agent he heard shots from the bedroom and shortly afterwards Private Steven Green emerged from the room, put down an AK-47 assault rifle and raped the girl while Cortez held her down....

Defense Attorney Captain Jimmie Culp was blowing chewing gum bubbles while Yribe, sitting to his left, began sucking on a red lollipop during the testimony....

After the rape and murders, [Specialist Barker] wrote that he began to grill chicken wings.

Read the rest of this post...

Republican public relations firm creates fake "amateur" anti-Gore video to trick YouTube visitors

The Republican public relations firm created a YouTube video attacking Al Gore and attacking global warming, and the PR firm just happens to have Exxon as a client. They made the film seem very amateurish, and didn't disclose that they were the ones who made it, making it seem like the YouTube video was made by just some regular guy like all the other YouTube videos.

Yes, the Republicans are now abusing YouTube to push their misinformation and propaganda at unsuspecting Americans, and especially America's youth. And it appears that Exxon may be complicit, even though they denied it to ABC.

Aren't you glad that Republicans control the entire US government? Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

By popular demand, we're giving you a few more open threads throughout the day, to chat amongst yourselves. Read the rest of this post...

Rick Santorum thinks gay marriage is an important election issue for Americans

Let's ask Pennsylvanians if they agree with Santorum that gay marriage is one of the top issues they should be concerned about in America, alongside, oh, finding Osama, stopping another September 11, health care, the economy... Read the rest of this post...

Rep. Ney not running for re-election

Jack Abramoff's pal, Bob Ney, is dropping out of his congressional race. Another one bites the dust.

Is there an indictment in Ney's future? Read the rest of this post...

British Petroleum to close Prudhoe Bay, Alaska oil fields indefinitely - eliminating 8% of US oil production

Jesus. Watch gas prices go through the roof. I think the Democrats just won the House and Senate.

The Republicans are going to bring up drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) again. (Would oil from ANWR have to go through the pipeline, or would it miss the parts that are now going to be shutdown?). Anyway, the Dems need to offer ONE CONCRETE PROPOSAL - something clear, succinct, and obvious - to fix the problem. Not a 100 point plan, ONE THING. The Republicans offer drilling in ANWR. The dems need to offer something just as clear cut.

Release more oil from the strategic petroleum reserves? Major alternative fuel research initiative? Drop a billion dollars into solar power, ethanol production? Something concrete guys, come on. Read the rest of this post...

ABC's Good Morning America covers story of gay Arabic speaker kicked out of military

ABC says that he was one of the few Arabic speakers in military intelligence. The military launched a witch hunt against him, in violation of the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy, and kicked him out.

To the Republicans running our government, finding gays is more important than finding Osama. George Bush is jeopardizing the war on terror, risking another September 11, in the pursuit of the Republicans' far-right cultural agenda. Is this what Americans really want to vote for in November? Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Walking down our block yesterday I saw a small plaque on a small hotel saying that Gaugin used to live there. That's pretty cool. Read the rest of this post...