Open thread

I'm visiting the family in Chicago and didn't bring any orchid pics along. So instead, you get the latest great sunset from my balcony in DC. I've never much loved DC, but the place does have killer sunsets. (Click the image to see a larger version - unfortunately blogger so shrinks the images that neither version is close to the original, but you get the idea.)

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Cliff's Corner - The One Year Anniversary Edition

NOTE FROM CLIFF: So yes Cliff's Corner celebrates its first birthday today. No candles, no party hats, no big cakes with a hooker jumping out - I mean this isn't a Randy "Duke" Cunningham poker game at the Watergate! I thought I'd celebrate in a little more low key manner, by posting the first Cliff's Corner in original form, so we can see how much has changed this past year (you may find yourself frightened by how this reads as if I wrote it today)...Hopefully I have brought a bit of laughter and passion to some of you, while to others, I'm sure this column elicits a similar bodily reaction to that of un-referigerated Taco Bell meat.

Regardless, I wouldn't change a thing. Now on Blitzer, on Prancer, on Foley on Haggard...

The Week That Was 12/23/05

NOTE FROM JOHN: Today we begin a segment called "Cliff's Corner." Every Friday, or so, my friend Cliff Schecter will be writing a post containing his unique take on what's transpired over the past week. Cliff can be quite a pistol, and downright in your face (if any of you remember his appearances on DemsTV). So I think it promises to be amusing, or embarrassing, but unlike conservative Christians I won't deny Cliff, though I may distance myself. Enjoy.

Another week. More preposterousness to report.

This week has been all spying all the time. We found out that President Bush thinks our lives should be an open book (yet, preferably an abbreviated one containing only monosyllabic grunts), so that he and that walking triple bypass of, for and by Halliburton, can snoop into and presumably expose any element of our lives like it's a hooker on a balcony with Dick Morris. (They wouldn't do that, of course, just ask Ms. Plame.)

President Bush, it seems, has been a bad boy, using the National Security Agency in a manner that does not comport with, say, our Constitution, to spy on Americans having phone conversations with suspects abroad. That's the last time I call Roman Polanski.

From where did the President believe he derived such power? From this language: "[Congress grants] all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations or persons [the president] determines planned, authorized, committed or aided" the attacks of Sept. 11, according to Tom Daschle and, well, the actual legislation. So you can see the authorization plain as day in that language... if you are an exceedingly corpulent right-wing talk radio host staring at a pile of crushed hillbilly heroin so high you make Tony Montana jealous.

Our Emperor has been attacked by many prominent conservatives for reading the Divine Right of Kings into our Constitution, with Republicans on the Hill even calling for hearings! They usually don't even think of doing that to one of their own, unless he/she has performed a late-term abortion, while living in San Francisco, while in an interracial relationship with a transvestite who burns the American flag just to light their Cuban cigars. There is even talk of impeachment. But old Charlie Krauthammer won't hear of it, or at least he can't, as he is currently immersed in the pile of rose pedals thrown our way by Iraqis once we liberated them. Better than sex for Charlie.

Speaking of spying -- now make sure to sit down because this is going to be a shock -- The FBI has been secretly looking into those dangers that most imperil us. No, not Ashlee Simpson's singing voice, or Richter-scale-worthy tectonic plate shifts by caused by any movement in Ann Coulter's Adam's apple, but real threats like the Quakers and PETA. Now I know it is annoying to have blood splattered on that new ground-up-rhesus-monkey coat keeping you warm, but getting blown up probably qualifies as a shittier day. So to keep us safe from that danger, we have the Department of Defense spying on law schools that are "objectively" (old Commie term, ask Irving Kristol) pro-gay. Meaning that these universities don't think homosexuals are due a waterboarding any time soon.

So this is what the War on Terror has come to. In Bush's Disneyworld you can, without a warrant, be spied on, plucked off the street, declared an enemy combatant and sent to sunny Syria to meet the locals for a few weeks while shackled to a wall with pins in your finger nails and covered in your own urine. I know, the latter two were Ted Nugent's routine in the 70s, but we don't all want to live like a rock star. And if you don't talk they bring on the heavy guns: They baste you with butter and wall you in the Cask of Amontillado with Jonah Goldberg after he's been denied brunch.

Speaking of war, this week was another bloody one in the War on Christmas. John Gibson was called a liar on television for making up the whole thing, and his head grew to Russertian proportions, and almost popped. Apparently, he threatened the guy who called him a liar over the telephone later. As someone lucky enough to be on air with Mr. Gibson in the past, I can say that this must be false, because all of the times he interrupted me calling me a "left-wing extremist" or "radical" or "Jew who killed Christ and is now trying to execute Christmas," (the last exchange may or may not have happened as I remember it) leads me to believe he could never do such a thing.

But the joke's on him, because on the way back from spray-painting baby Jesus black in every manger display in my neighborhood (that should tick off the folks at Fox TV Carolina) I ran into a fat guy with a beard, and no it was not Brent Bozell. Let's just say I bitch-slapped a few elves and cold-cocked Santa with a rusty wrench. Just because I felt like it. So don't bother staying up on the 25th.

As for Gibson's buddy O'Reilly, he seems to have gone back and forth this week on his Christmas jihad. One moment it's ok to say "happy holidays" the next "secular progressives" are trying to smite Christmas again. It's hard to tie this guy down. In fact, I don't think anybody has done it since Andrea Mackris (ok, I have no actual evidence he used rope, and with the settlement, he'll keep us guessing forever). I guess we'll only find out if we could somehow justify snooping into his personal effects. But how would we justify that?

NOTE: Thanks to all who have read and Happy Holidays. One more thing, I will be hosting a book salon at Firedoglake at 5PM EST on Sunday for my friend Jennifer Abrahamson, who has written a terrific book called Sweet Relief: The Marla Ruzicka Story. Please come by if you are not covered in egg-nog-flavored vomit... Read the rest of this post...

Sundance blog documentary next week

The Sundance channel is going to be showing a documentary next week about political blogs and the election. They interviewed a ton of us on both sides of the political spectrum, and the guy who put it together was very cool and interesting. It should be a good show. You can check it out next Thursday, but also several days after that - check your listings:

Thu 12/28 10:00 PM 118 SUNDAE
Duration: 1 hour Read the rest of this post...

Allstate insurance - no more policies for coastal areas

With the seas warming, it's no wonder they want nothing to do with insuring properties in the danger zone. The storms are getting worse and moving up the coast, but the GOP doesn't believe global warming is an issue. When a Fortune 500 company makes a move like this, you would think some might take notice.

I also think back to the brilliant ideas that the Reagan administration started when they thought selling off wetlands made sense. Building on critical wetlands, whether in the Gulf in Mississippi or Louisiana or up along the Chesapeake Bay was a bad idea twenty five years ago and looks only worse today.

Allstate also decided recently to let thousands of homeowner policies lapse in the Carolinas, New York and Texas, and to no longer write new policies in parts of Virginia and all of Connecticut, Delaware and New Jersey.

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Bigoted Virginia Republican refuses to apologize for saying Americans need to stop Muslims from being elected to Congress

While we're at it, can we stop electing bigots from civil-rights-hating slave states too? More from AP. Read the rest of this post...

Four more "investments" in Iraq today

UPDATE: Our "investment" just went up 25%.

Condi Rice has deemed that the deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq are a worthy "investment":

“I know from the point of view of not just the monetary cost but the sacrifice of American lives a lot has been sacrificed for Iraq, a lot has been invested in Iraq,” Rice said.

Today, four more U.S. soldiers were added to Rice's Iraq investment portfolio:

The U.S. military reported the deaths of four more soldiers as new Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrapped up a two-day visit on Friday aimed at finding a new strategy in a war he has said America is not winning.

The four U.S. servicemen were killed in action on Thursday in the restive Anbar province, heartland of the unrelenting Sunni insurgency against U.S. forces and the Iraqi government and the most dangerous place in Iraq for American soldiers.

The deaths brought the total U.S. death toll in Iraq to 2,959, creeping closer to the 3,000 mark and adding more pressure on President Bush to find a strategy that will allow the eventual withdrawal of 135,000 U.S. troops.

I guess if the sacrifice of the soldiers is viewed as an investment, it's easier to sleep. Otherwise, Rice and Bush would have to live with the fact that almost 3,000 troops have died -- and countless more have been wounded -- because they went to war based on lies and without a plan.

It's just an investment in Iraq. Read the rest of this post...

Lynne Cheney doesn't understand the fuss about Mary's baby

Come on, Lynne. Are you kidding? You don't understand the fuss? It's coming from your people, Lynne. The GOP is built on gay-bashing -- and bashing single mothers comes in handy for them, too. Did you ever meet Sam Brownback or Rick Santorum? How about Tony Perkins or James Dobson? In 2004, beating up on gays and lesbians was one of the top tactics of your husband's campaign. You and your husband condoned that -- and now you don't understand the fuss?:

Vice President Dick Cheney's wife, Lynne, is dismissing the fuss over her openly gay daughter's pregnancy, which has rankled conservative groups.

"Well, I think that it's just very lucky for me that I enjoy being a grandmother and I get to do it for the sixth time," Mrs. Cheney said. Their daughter, Mary, and Heather Poe, her partner of 15 years, are expecting a baby in late spring.

"Dick and I both very much looking forward to this new baby," Mrs. Cheney said in an interview to be aired on Fox News Sunday.

She said her daughter will be a "great mom."

Don't forget that the Vice President's wife is a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. She works among the right-wing "thinkers" every day. They are Lynne's people. Lynne Cheney completely understands the fuss about Mary's baby. Read the rest of this post...

Big Oil welfare - big rip off for American taxpayers

It's no wonder the federal government did not want to release details for a year, because once again, it's all handouts to Big Oil who set new records in profitability while sticking the middle class with the bill. Good grief, can we re-set priorities and worry about the middle class again and quit giving more welfare and handouts to the richest?

If Exxon can give half a billion dollars to the CEO, I see no reason why taxpayers should have to fund their business since they seem to be doing pretty well without taxpayer handouts. These are not small companies who need help to get started, but very mature companies who bathe their executives with lavish compensation packages and then pass on the bill to governments around the world, rich and poor alike. I don't know what is worse between them asking or governments actually giving over the money.

The study, which the Interior Department refused to release for more than a year, estimates that current inducements could allow drilling companies in the Gulf of Mexico to escape tens of billions of dollars in royalties that they would otherwise pay the government for oil and gas produced in areas that belong to American taxpayers.

But the study predicts that the inducements would cause only a tiny increase in production even if they were offered without some of the limitations now in place.
It also suggests that the cost of that additional oil could be as much as $80 a barrel, far more than the government would have to pay if it simply bought the oil on its own.

"They are giving up a lot of money and not getting much in return," said Robert A. Speir, a former analyst at the Energy Department who worked on the report. "If they took that money, they could buy a whole lot more oil with it on the open market."

Oil closed Thursday at $62.66 a barrel in regular trading.

Despite all of the claims by the GOP that we have to drill in coastal waters, the end result for consumers and taxpayers is limited. The GOP continues to give away public natural resources, well above international standards.

In the United States, the federal government'?s take -? royalties as well as corporate taxes - is about 40 percent of revenue from oil and gas produced on federal property, according to Van Meurs Associates, an industry consulting firm that compares the taxes of all oil-producing countries.

By contrast, according to Van Meurs, the worldwide average "government take"? is about 60 to 65 percent. And that figure, of course, excludes countries that do not allow any private ownership in oil production.

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Friday Morning Open Thread

Big holiday weekend starts today. But, there's still news swirling around. What do you know? Read the rest of this post...

Romney faces skeptics who now are even more confused

Would the real Mitt Romney please stand up?

"When I first heard his answer about his journey of becoming prolife, I began to feel better about the questions being asked of him lately," said Shannon McGinley of Bedford, N.H. "After talking with him in person, though, it is hard to figure out what he does believe."

Not a good sign for someone trying to win over the right.

"The proof is in the pudding," he said. "People will have a chance to look at my record as governor of Massachusetts and see what I've done there. Talk is cheap, but action is not."

Indeed. Read the rest of this post...

Bozo, Gar and Ray: WGN TV Classics

Sunday night and Monday morning on WGN Channel 9, Chicago:

A look back at three of WGN's most beloved television series, "Bozo's Circus," "Garfield Goose and Friends" and "Ray Rayner and His Friends." The classic TV trilogy starred Chicago television legends Bob Bell, Frazier Thomas, Ray Rayner, Roy Brown and Ned Locke among others. 1950s holiday favorites "Hardrock, Coco and Joe," "Suzy Snowflake" and "Frosty the Snowman" are also featured. WGN's Dean Richards hosts.

I was on Bozo's Circus when I was 8. I didn't get to play Bozo Buckets, but I was selected to play the game at the end of the show. I don't remember if we won or lost, but I got a game anyway, it was called Googol. Man what I would give to get a copy of that day's tape - God only knows how. Read the rest of this post...