Open Thread

What do you know? Read the rest of this post...

Frist: For GOP, Min. wage still tied to Paris Hilton's tax cut

As long as the GOP is in power, they are determined to prevent the minimum wage increase. Almost as determined as they are to give Paris Hilton her estate tax cut:

Frist also reiterated that the GOP will not split the minimum wage apart from the estate tax, and that future votes on the pay increase will be linked to cutting taxes on multimillion-dollar estates.

"These issues must be addressed as a package, all or nothing," he said.

$5.15 an hour is practically nothing. Read the rest of this post...

RNC to Republicans: Don't defend Bush

Tacitly acknowledging the failure of Bush and the Republican Congress -- that's some strategy, Ken Mehlman. Read the rest of this post...

Cliff's Corner

The Week That Was 8/04/06

Another week. More preposterousness to report.

Well the dog days of August have begun with the heat-level rising slightly above deadly to a previously unreachable level: Logical Pat Robertson. Yes, the fire-and-brimstone preacher, for the first time pulling an idea out of an organ not located in the direct vicinity of his ass, has finally come up with the idea that the Earth may be "warming" a bit.

This is Pat Robertson. This is Pat Robertson's brain on the relative humidity of Sierra Leone. Got any questions?

But with the calendar change, we can also feel the fall campaigns beginning to heat up. Which means, assuming there isn't any more treason he can find a way to perpetrate, just to cement his place in history as a jerk with a 9.75 out of 10 on The Robespierre Scale, Karl Rove is busy finding ways to smear Democrats who had the courage to do crazy things, you know, like actually fight in wars they believe(d) in (or possibly didn't).

And nobody has made that sebum-stained, politburo-brained, globular forehead sweat more than one of the more honorable men currently serving in our mucked up political system. That would be Jack Murtha.

Rove hates Murtha because he everything that Rove isn't. He is well-liked and trusted by people who actually understand war and therefore, when he speaks, Rove knows much of what Murtha's saying is coming from non-political types at the Pentagon and the ranks of military men. Truth-tellers who realize what a disaster he and Cheney and David Brooks' weekend paintball-team partners have wrought in Iraq (yeah, Rove wasn't part of the planning, my ass). Murtha also has hair. And doesn't shed his skin four-to-eight times per-year.

So it seems Karl's reassembled the gang, including his old buddy and fellow slime-merchant Houston homebuilder Bob Perry (and what a wonderful job he's done with that breathtakingly beautiful urban Shangri-la) and the rest of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truthiness under the new banner "Vietnam Veterans for Truth," so they can try and lie their way to another political victory.

Sadly for them, however, Jack Murtha, who responded to attacks in the past on his patriotism by reminding us of "Karl Rove's fat backside sitting in an air-conditioned office in Washington and saying stay the course" (as disgusting as that thought is) isn't going to take it. And neither are the rest of us this time.

So if you six-fingered, mullet-topped, back-stabbing, corporate-harlots, led by lifetime-loser, Nixon-suck John O'Neill think you are going to take a stroll through the mud without getting caked this time yourself, you have another thing coming.

Shockingly the RNC is directly involved with a Web site (sorry, I will not link to trash, though I will go through it, Ken. "Inches"?) most likely put up by Little Kenny Mehlman, who's likely been cutting and running from his sexual orientation (whatever that may be) for the better part of his adult life. And nice try with your Paula-Jones-rerun lawsuit.

Sorry guys. Much like VH-1, I know you loved the 90s — with no AMERICAblog, no Stewart or Colbert, no Olbermann with some editorial control. No Air America and no Young Turks and no CREW. You had the playing field almost exclusively to yourself. In 2004, when you savaged Kerry, much of what I just listed was still not in existence, or just barely so.

But we're ready this time. And we'll be pouncing like Rush Limbaugh at an all-you-can-eat buffet of hillbilly-heroin mashed potatoes with Viagra-engorging gravy.

So, while a bit hackneyed, for lack of a better phrase: Bring it on.

(- Weekly Young Turks Appearance - Copy and Paste mms://youngturks.wmod.llnwd.net/a591/o1/8-3Cliff.wmv
- Joe Lieberman's Neocon Friends and Wacky Quotes) Read the rest of this post...

Friday Cat Blogging

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Sen. Lautenberg (D-NJ) thinks Lieberman will drop out of general election race if he loses decisively to Lamont this coming Tuesday

I agree. The tide is not going well for Lieberman, and if he loses by as much as polls are now suggesting - note to self: never trust polls - then it will be a rather major career-ending embarrassment for Lieberman. The only thing more embarrassing would be to continue fighting after such a decisive defeat.

Lautenberg also said he'd support whoever is the Democratic nominee - further bad news for Lieberman. Read the rest of this post...

GOP party chairman has nothing left to say

One of the saddest parts about watching the Republican party whither on the vine is seeing them cart out the same tired slogans and policies over and over again simply because they have nothing left to say.

1. Cut taxes! Been there, done that.

2. Ban abortion! Ditto.

3. Bash the gays, the Mexicans, the Muslims, the Iranis, the North Koreans, the Syrians, the Clintons. Check.

4. Attack random country. Check.

5. No more ideas? Start over again at #1.

The Republican party has run out of ideas. They've destroyed our foreign policy, have lost Osama, derailed the war on terror by invading the wrong country and botching the war, and are slowly destroying the American economy with a massive budget deficit brought on by Bush's never-ending tax cuts.

We are living in conservative nirvana, the entire government is run by Republicans, and they've gotten every policy wish they've always wanted - and it's destroying us. Is this really what people want to vote for all over again this fall?

Fool me on, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Read the rest of this post...

Justice Dept. threatens to sue Maine to stop domestic spying lawsuit

The Bush administration is threatening to take Maine to court if they even investigate whether Verizon broke the law:

The Bush administration is threatening to sue if Maine regulators decide to investigate whether Verizon Communications illegally turned over customer information to the National Security Agency.

Verizon customers in Maine have asked the state's Public Utilities Commission to investigate whether the telecom giant violated privacy laws by cooperating with a domestic surveillance program. The PUC is expected to decide Monday whether to open such a probe.

In a July 28 letter to the PUC, the U.S. Department of Justice cites national security as a key reason for its opposition to a state investigation. The seven-page letter suggests a lawsuit is likely if Maine regulators decide to investigate.

"We sincerely hope that, in light of governing law and the national security concerns implicated by the requests for information, you will decline to open an investigation and close these proceedings, thereby avoiding litigation over the matter," the letter reads.

Verizon sure has a lot of power within the Bush administration. What comes after the lawsuit? An invasion? It is about national security after all. Read the rest of this post...

The view on the way to the Musee de Quai Branly

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Rising tensions with Shia in Iraq

Any scuffle between U.S. troops and Shia in Iraq is extremely worrisome -- especially when it involves Sadrists, like yesterday. Now that the U.S. has finally acknowledged the "possibility" of a civil war, it's imperative that we not get in the middle of it. The most likely way to increase anger on all sides is for the U.S. to act as a proxy for one side or the other (or both, which I wouldn't put past this incompetent political and military leadership).

It's also nice to see Senator Clinton catch up with noted liberals such as Bill O'Reilly, William Kristol, and Andrew Sullivan in calling for Secretary Rumsfeld's firing. Better late than never, I suppose. But everybody in America -- everybody -- should be calling for his departure. I've never understood the analogy of "not changing horses in the middle of a race." The job of SecDef is to keep the U.S. safe through a series of events, and his incompetence, with by far the best military in the history of the world, is really quite shocking. Imagine if the Yankees (biggest payroll and best talent, just like our military) had a .500 record for three straight years (and I'm being generous; I think the Secretary, on balance, is worse than .500, but for the sake of argument). Think the manager would still be around? Heckuva job, Rummy. Read the rest of this post...

I think Bush is preparing the American people for an all-out disaster in Iraq

You don't get two top generals warning of a possible "civil war" in Iraq on the same day unless their words were scripted. These are not folks known for their spontaneity, or honesty, particularly as it pertains to this war. So the fact that they're even talking about a civil war - when we all know that Iraq is already in a civil war - tells us something.

And what it tells us is that Iraq is lost, Bush now knows it's lost, and his generals are throwing out trial balloons to the American people, slowly getting us accustomed to the idea that Iraq may fail. Sure, it already has failed, so the generals are lying like the good banana republic generals they are, but still, there's movement in their message, and that is most certainly not a coincidence. Read the rest of this post...

If Joe Lieberman isn't George Bush's poodle, then make him say categorically that he will NEVER accept a job in the Bush administration

Andrew is right. Well, in his analysis that Lieberman is gunning to be Bush's next Secretary of Defense. That's why he's being so nice to Bush about the war. And it's pretty disgusting, since it has nothing to do at all with the reason he was elected Senator in the first place.

Lamont, the Democrats of Connecticut, and the Connecticut media need to demand immediately that Lieberman state categorically that he will NEVER accept any job in the administration of George W. Bush.

And how much do you want to bet that Lieberman won't answer the question definitively? I.e., none of this "If I'm re-elected I won't take a job in the Bush administration" hedging garbage. What if you're not re-elected? The fact is that Lieberman wants to work for the Republicans.

And that should tell you all you need to know about Joe Lieberman and his loyalties. Read the rest of this post...

Another rubber-stamp Republican candidate fleeing Bush's record

The problem is, he comes from a state where the local press is actually a real newspaper that asks questions. In this case, while Republican member of Congress Mark Kennedy, who is a candidate for the US Senate, is trying to spin himself as anti-Bush and not-very-partisan in his TV ads, in fact the guy is one of the most lock-step pro-Bush Republicans in Congress.

Must be terrible to have a president who is so incompetent that not only the rest of the world hates him, but his own party is loathe to be associated with him. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Another gorgeous day here, like 68 degrees :-) Read the rest of this post...

Pro-farmer activist in China "broke his own neck"

Uh huh, as you do. Nothing suspicious at all with the investigation run by the people who had been harassing him since he began his activism against the Three Gorges Dam. Read the rest of this post...