McCain booed at commencement address

How's that move to the right working for you?

Front page of the NYT Web site:

Read the rest of this post...

BIG night for Ned Lamont -- BAD night for Lieberman

Ned Lamont got himself on the Democratic ballot tonight in a big way. He got 33.4% of the vote at the state convention. Matt Stoller at MyDD has been live blogging the event.

Lamont needed 15% of the delegates to make the ballot. There was a question as to whether he'd even get there. He far exceeded expectations. This is a major setback for Lieberman and his Bush-loving, Republican-like politics. Read the rest of this post...

Friday Orchid Blogging

Purple cattleyas. I can't grow too many cattleyas because they need good sunlight all year round, and I don't have it. Folks in Florida just slap em up against a tree and there they grow all year round. Here you'd need a really good southern exposure in the sun all day long and then have them outside in the sun during the summer and they'd probably be okay for you. Like I said, for me most catts won't bloom (or live). Though there are some "minis" that are a bit smaller plants and need less light, I'm trying those under fluorescent bulbs right now - so far so good, but no blooms yet.

Enjoy. Read the rest of this post...

Cliff's Corner

The Week That Was 5/19/06

Another week. More preposterousness to report.

Now it’s my turn. Yes, I know it must be psychologically challenging to belong to a family that believes your inherent value to be roughly that of monkey pox or a baby riding shotgun with Britney at the wheel. But is that really enough of a justification for me to have to be constantly assaulted via television, radio, print and web by Mary Cheney attempting to wax eloquent about her “book.” I know, it’s actually a bit sad to watch this pathetic, self-hating, changeling--whose book would read just as well in crayon--try and please mommy and daddy by keeping one femur in the closet while their bordelaise buddies attempt to wreak havoc on the Constitution. And, yet, it is even more angering.

Dear Mary whimpers about how she came sooo close to quitting the “don’t switch primates in mid stream” campaign in 2004. How agonizing it must have been to try to resolve that dilemma of “do I continue to toil on an endeavor that explicitly endorses a constitutional amendment that would render me sub-human, or keep working for these cretins?” I wonder, Mary, were you thinking about that while you were yukking it up in the Cheney family box at the Republican National Convention or was it only while you were speaking out about what a swell guy that walking organ transplant you call a dad is?

At least now I understand how they must get prisoners to talk at Guantanamo. A couple of clothes-pinned eyes A Clockwork Orange-style and that erudite work of yours thrust in their faces must make the most hardened Al Qaeda operative scream like they’re forcing them to watch an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger.

But I digress. It is truly the descriptions of your Carl Spackler-faced father that are most poignant. Although one piece of advice, if I may, Mary. We’ve caught on to the fact that your dad is a man who TIVOs collateral damage in Fallujah for a late night pick-me-up and is probably cooking up the next Tuskegee Experiment.

So when you call him “warm and fuzzy” in your book, you just make me and the other 82% of the country who pretty much thinks your dad is a douche want to puke like we’re a Bush twin whose gone without an opiate for 6 hours.

Reminder Mary: Shotgun. Whittington. Face. Cover up.

Also, maybe can you explain to me, Mary, how John Edwards is a “slime” because he supposedly “outed you” but dad’s just a heckuva guy for outing an undercover CIA operative trying to protect this country by tracking potential weapons of mass destruction proliferation in Iran? You know Iran, the country your dad was making millions doing business with while at Halliburton.

To sum up, if you want to come to grips with your sexuality a bit better Mary, just read one of mom’s books. She seems to have quite a handle on the female avec female encounter. And if it makes you feel any better, daddy has probably known about your predilection for the female form since he attached that implant to your parietal lobe in the 6th grade.

Just remember as Senator Pat Roberts says, “you can’t be a lesbian if you’re dead.” Read the rest of this post...

US religious right rubbish now has a voice in Kenya

Forget about the declining AIDS rate in Kenya because first lady Lucy Kibaki thinks access to condoms ought to be removed and instead, only abstinence is the way. If the first lady wants to promote abstinence, that's fine, but to dismiss the success of condoms and throw it all away is beyond reckless. Since she already is known as a loose canon, I hope that Kenya ignores her and keeps fighting the battle with practical and proven methods instead of the abstinence-only nonsense that the US government promotes in Africa. Read the rest of this post...

Watch Bush waffle....

You created that firestorm, Chimpy, don't go running away from now that you're getting burned. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Friday. Yeah. Read the rest of this post...

GOP Senator Pat Roberts is a big grrrrl

Senator Pat Robert (R-KS) is nothing more than a big girl.

Matt Yglesias over at TPM reports:

"I am a strong supporter of the First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment and civil liberties," Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) remarked at yesterday's Hayden confirmation hearings, "but you have no civil liberties if you are dead."

Patrick Henry once said: "Give me liberty or give me death."

Pat Roberts said yesterday: Take my liberty and spare me death.

You see, among the far-right wingers now running the Republican party, the concept of actually fighting FOR your freedoms, of actually DYING in the DEFENSE of those freedoms, is nuts.

How else to see it when someone like Roberts will send US soldiers to their deaths to defend our freedoms abraod, but then will gladly trade away those freedoms at home in order to avoid getting hurt.

Is there any other definition of "big girl" than that?

Pat Roberts is a coward. And unfortuantely, he's not alone. Numerous GOP Senators have used this bizarre and incredibly yellow talking point to justify giving Osama exactly what he wants, to take away our freedoms.

GOP Senator Jeff Sessions referring to the rightness of Bush's domestic spying after 9/11 declared melodramatically:

"Over 3,000 Americans have no civil rights because they are no longer with us."

On February 3rd, Kansas Senator Pat Roberts similarly claimed:

"You really don't have any civil liberties if you're dead."

Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, said on December 20, 2005:

"None of your civil liberties matter much after you're dead."

So Republican Senators think America and freedom are worth dying for?

Roberts is representative of the cabal now running the Republican party. They don't understand our freedoms, let alone appreciate what it means to be willing to give your life to protect and preserve them. They have no concept that some things really ARE worth dying for. And that's a very scary thing indeed, coming from the party that is in charge of all three branches of government in Washington, DC while our nation is at war against an enemy who is after those very freedoms these Senators are so happy to give away.

Josh has more. Read the rest of this post...

Iraq was the first "wired war." And we lost.

Good article on how we were supposed to win this 'wired war' in Iraq and we got our hats handed to us by the heathens. Read the rest of this post...

Would you like a little Bush administration disinformation with your morning coffee?

UPDATE: Well, it's now appearing the little story about Iran making Jews and Christians wear badges might just be a little George Bush disinformation to try and provoke a war. I have to admit that I didn't think they'd lie about a law being passed, since you'd think that kind of thing could be easily verified. Then again, perhaps in Iran it's not easily verified. Anyway, this is rather annoying. Bush may be fabricating evidence, yet again, to provoke us into a war. The guy never learns. Then again, we let him get away with it last time...

It's hard to know who's a bigger idiot in this whole debacle. Iran or George Bush. Both sides seem intent on forcing a war. That doesn't mean we have the ability to actually launch a successful war, what with our military bogged down in Iraq, Afghanistan, on the Mexican border, in Korea waiting for the north to go ballistic (quite literally), and on and on and on. And, no matter how belligerent Iran gets, nothing will change the fact that Donald Rumsfeld will be preparing any military operation against Iran, and George Bush will be implementing it. And that means, we lose. Read the rest of this post...

The Dukester is going to sing after all

Fun fun fun. Read the rest of this post...

Republican controlled US Senate votes to confirm that Americans speak English

Phew, I'm glad they cleared that up. Maybe now they can finally focus on issues that matter, like gas prices. Oh no, sorry, the next issue up is gay marriage.

You voted for the Republicans to control Congress and this is what you get. Read the rest of this post...

Right winger upset Couric isn't a gay basher

Katie's grievous mistake? Her daughter liked "Will & Grace" and she thought the show gave an understanding of different types of people. To the right wingers, that's a bad thing:

Anyone who expected a fair and balanced anchorwoman at CBS on the hot-button social issues, shred your illusions now.

Because for the National Review/Right wing types, tolerance of gays is a negative.

Do they hate all the reporters who have been interviewing that famous GOP lesbian Mary Cheney? Read the rest of this post...

UN to US: Close Guantanamo, Stop torture

These days, the United States only listens to the United Nations when we need a resolution to start a war. But, the U.N. has other roles -- like monitoring torture. We've now reached a new low in our international relations. The United States of Ameica has to be told not to torture. Seems George Bush isn't quite complying with the Convention Against Torture:

The United States should close its prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and avoid using secret detention facilities in the war on terror, the U.N. panel that monitors compliance with the world's anti-torture treaty said Friday.

The Committee Against Torture also said detainees should not be returned to any country where they could face a "real risk" of being tortured.

The criticism, contained in an 11-page report, followed a hearing in Geneva this month on U.S. adherence to the 1984 U.N. Convention Against Torture. The criticism carries no penalties beyond international scrutiny, but human rights observers say it could influence U.S. public opinion and hence the government.

Did you ever think you'd see the day when the United Nations had to admonish the United States on torture? Seriously. Bush, Cheney, Rummy, Powell and Condi must be so proud. Read the rest of this post...

Friday Morning Open Thread

Woke up to Bush being interviewed "at the border" on the Today Show. Listen, the American people don't dislike him, they're "unsettled" over the war. But, he has a PLAN FOR VICTORY in Iraq. Yes, that man in the dune buggy claimed again that he has a PLAN.

So, any factual news out there from overnight? Read the rest of this post...

EU to Blair: human rights in UK before criticizing others

Hmm, I'm noticing these patterns with Bush and Blair. Can we really be sure that they actually are two different people because the issues are always the same.

Britain's human rights record has been heavily criticised in an EU report which calls on the government to sign key international conventions before lecturing other nations on their failings.

Tony Blair's government is singled out for not falling into line with international commitments on efforts to curb human trafficking, on the protection of migrant workers and concerning child soldiers.

Read the rest of this post...

Bush wants $2 billion?

Putting aside the issue of immigrants and whether it is a fabricated issue, custom built for an election year by a party in decline, just where in the hell is $2 billion going to come from? Any market observers will have noticed that Wall Street and global markets were hit hard this week because of inflation signs. Now the GOP can't wait to spend another $2 billion that we don't have. Where are the cuts to fund this program? Where did Bush learn budgeting? From Robert Mugabe and Zimbabwe where they just print money? To think the GOP still likes to think of themselves as fiscal conservatives. Read the rest of this post...