We were right in warning Microsoft

The religious right hate groups are now boycotting Ford Motor Company because, among other reasons, Ford offers benefits to its gay and lesbian employees and actively recruits gays.

THIS is what we were trying to tell Microsoft. These pigs aren't attacking you because you endorse pro-gay legislation. They're attacking you, and will continue to attack you, until you revoke your pro-gay INTERNAL policies and until you actively discriminate against gay and lesbian employees.

These are hate groups, they know one thing: hate. They exist for one thing: hate. They will not stop attacking you until you become as bigoted and hateful as they.

My point: Microsoft, you did the right thing, not just because it's the right thing, but because these sick pseudo-religious fucks wouldn't have left you alone until you fired every single gay employee. Read the rest of this post...

Web site details Bush administration lies about Iraq

This is really good. Read the rest of this post...

Lucy, I'm home

View of northern Virginia from the car on the way home from the airport. Home soon.

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On the plane

Just boarded my flight to dc and on the way into security at the atlanta airport there's a display of prohibited items. Included in the display is a big real-life chainsaw. Yes, no chainsaws are allowed in your carry-on baggiage. And who says we don't have great security? In other news, the panel went great. Hinderaker was actually quite nice, though i did have a run in with the "liberal"

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Wash. Post confirms Deep Throat

Woodward, Bernstein and Bradlee fess up. Their "Deep Throat" is W. Mark Felt. Read the rest of this post...

Jeff/Jim is on TV again

Gannon/Guckert, media pig, is on some show called "Lie Detector" on PAX tonight at 8 pm. Okay, never heard of the show...so here's the format:

Each hour-long episode will present three compelling cases with one common thread - they are stories whose conclusions are unresolved for those who tell them. After viewers get a firsthand look at each subject through news footage and taped interviews, Watts goes one-on-one with each participant for an in-depth and candid conversation, giving them an opportunity to tell their side of the story.

Finally, the moment of truth is revealed when the guest submits to a lie detector test administered by Dr. Ed Gelb, a leading polygraph expert in the field who has polygraphed such notables as John and Patsy Ramsey and former LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman, with the very real results all captured on camera! At the end of each segment, Watts reveals to our subjects whether they have been vindicated or branded a liar and gets their sometimes extreme reactions to the test results.

Where to begin...Where to begin....So, I know the possibilities are endless, but what questions would you ask Jeff/Jim Gannon/Guckert? Read the rest of this post...

A Victory for the Pro-Cure Movement in Mass.

The Massachusetts Legislature overrode Mitt Romney's veto of the state's stem cell bill today, AP reports:

The Legislature on Tuesday overrode Gov. Mitt Romney's veto and approved a bill designed to propel Massachusetts to the forefront of embryonic stem cell research.

The bill immediately became law over Romney's objections, after both chambers exceeded the two-thirds vote needed to override a veto. The vote was 112-42 in the House and 35-2 in the Senate.

Under previous state law, scientists who wanted to conduct embryonic stem cell research in Massachusetts needed the approval of the local district attorney. The new law seeks to expand stem cell research by removing that requirement but giving the state Health Department some regulatory controls.

The Republican governor vetoed the bill last week because it allows the cloning of human embryos for use in stem cell experiments - a practice Romney said amounts to creating life in order to destroy it.

And, let's be real here. Mitt's objection wasn't about policy. It was pure politics...pandering to the GOP theocrats politics. But in very, very Catholic Massachusetts, policy won anyway for a change. Consider this a victory for the "pro-cure movement." Read the rest of this post...

Live blogging from our panel

Blogging from the panel itself, live.

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Open Thread

Josh Marshall's new TPM Cafe is open for business.

Now chat please.... Read the rest of this post...

Watching Blitzer interview Musharaff

Watching Wolf Blitzer interview Pakistani President Musharaff via satellite. Our panel is at 2. Hinderaker of Powerline blog is on the panel, should be interesting. Saw Christiane Amanpour in the hallway (ok I admit it, am a bit star struck :~) BTW am typing this on my phone, so necessarily a bit curt.

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Breaking: Vanity Fair IDs "Deep Throat"

CNN and ABC News are reporting on a pretty cool story from the upcoming issue of Vanity Fair. They identify "Deep Throat" from Watergage as W. Mark Felt. He was the number two official at the FBI while the whole scandal was unfolding. This year, at the age of 91, he is admitting he was the key informant for the Washington Post reporters.

ABC actually interrupted the Bush press conference to announce this news. Read the rest of this post...

Bush does a presser: I am not a lame-duck...I have a mandate

This morning, the Washington Post did an analysis that said Chimpy didn't have a mandate anymore (some would say ever):

Two days after winning reelection last fall, President Bush declared that he had earned plenty of "political capital, and now I intend to spend it." Six months later, according to Republicans and Democrats alike, his bank account has been significantly drained.

In the past week alone, the Republican-led House defied his veto threat and passed legislation promoting stem cell research; Senate Democrats blocked confirmation, at least temporarily, of his choice for U.N. ambassador; and a rump group of GOP senators abandoned the president in his battle to win floor votes for all of his judicial nominees.

With his approval ratings in public opinion polls at the lowest level of his presidency, Bush has been stymied so far in his campaign to restructure Social Security. On the international front, violence has surged again in Iraq in recent weeks, dispelling much of the optimism generated by the purple-stained-finger elections back in January, while allies such as Egypt and Uzbekistan have complicated his campaign to spread democracy.

So, this morning, Bush did a press conference to let us know he's not a lame-duck. More on that in a bit as we sort through to see if he said anything that was either true or relevant. Unlikely, I know. Sounded like the same blah, blah, blah to me. Read the rest of this post...

NY Times puff piece on the loving Cheney family

Christ, not bad enough that Jim West was on the Today Show. The Times has a total puff piece on the "loving" Cheney family.

But, New York Times...one question....funny thing that kinda contradicts the whole "loving" family facade you construct. It's in your photo with the article...the one from the Republican Convention last August. Here's a hint: who is missing from your Cheney family photo?



Since it wasn't obvious in the puff piece, we'll spell it out: the lesbian and her partner are missing. There was an oblique reference to that in the article, "She and her longtime partner, Heather Poe, sometimes did not appear at big celebratory moments." Why was that? Maybe because the GOP base had been whipped in to a gay-bashing frenzy by the Bush-Cheney-RNC team?

But in case you had any doubts about Mary willingness to join in on that GOP gay-bashing agenda, we get confirmation from another GOP team member, Kenny:

Ken Mehlman, who was Mr. Bush's campaign manager last year, said Mary Cheney's influence had also extended well beyond working with her father. "She also understands and weighed in on almost everything we did in the room when we were planning our message, our surrogates, our travel schedule," he said.

So Mary was in on the whole strategy. Despite all her years as a professional lesbian, Mary joined the gay-bashing. In today's suck up story, that's kinda glossed over. Although they did note, Mary

drew sharp fire from many gay rights advocates for declining in last year's campaign to address contentious topics like same-sex marriage (or Mr. Bush's support for a constitutional amendment to ban it, which her parents opposed).

Sounds like she not only didn't address those issues, she helped craft the strategy. To think that people questioned John Aravosis when he launched www.dearmary.com last year. Leave her alone, they said. Not fair, they whined. She was intent on destroying our rights....she's a major hypocrite, too.

And she thinks we're going to buy her book. Ha. Read the rest of this post...

Six miles (yes, miles) of street vendor shacks burned down in Zimbabwe

It's amazing that this is who the US is keeping company with these days in terms of human rights. Mugabe is continuing his crackdown on voters who supported the opposition MDC in the recent election and destroying their homes and vendor shacks.

And protests from foreign governments for this latest attack? Still waiting on that. Read the rest of this post...

Mayor West: Not anti-gay, not guilty, not sure about his sexuality

What a creep.

Matt Lauer did the interview with anti-gay, but not gay, Jim West, the Mayor of Spokane.

There was a pretty tough intro piece detailing all the lurid details of Jim's escapades...and a very heavy emphasis on his anti-gay record.

Stealing a page from Jeff Gannon, Jim wouldn't answer the question about his sexuality. Like Jeff, he invoked the pain this was causing his family. He said this whole mess was especially difficult for his 79 year old family, his other relatives and his ex-wife. Matt asked him how he characterized himself and he saide he wouldn't on national tv.

But we learned during the interview that Jim was not an anti-gay leader. He just voted the way his constituents wanted...that's what it was. It wasn't his fault. Hmmm. LIAR. Remember this tidbit from the Spokesman-Review:

As Spokane's incoming mayor in November 2003, West said he's opposed to extending City Hall benefits to domestic partners, citing the cost. In April 2005, the City Council approved domestic partner benefits in a 5-2 vote, enough to withstand a mayoral veto.

Jim wasn't just a legislator when that happened. He was the Mayor. And, the most of the elected officials in his city supported the measure.

Basically, Jim West hasn't ever done anything wrong so stop being so mean to him. He denied any criminal activity and was adamant that he is a CONSERVATIVE. He kept telling us that.

So, to sum up the interview, he is a CONSERVATIVE man of unclear sexual orientation who never committed any -crimes and was never an anti-gay elected official.

WOW. Read the rest of this post...

Chirac appoints de Villepin as PM in government shuffle

Being the spineless wimp that he is, Chirac has appointed Dominique de Villepin as the new Prime Minister. I'm going to brace myself for street marches because this guy is so establishment it's not even funny. I thought that it would be a long shot for up-and-coming Sarkozy to get the nod but I just don't see Chirac's choice as doing anything to settle the rage against his blundering government. What I heard from the massive failure of the EU referendum was a strong rejection against the political establishment who has un-democratically rammed political decisions down the throats of France (and Europe) and de Villepin has yet to ever be elected to a political position.

With this announcement at least it might actually speed up the departure of Chirac and his looming corruption trial which will start after he's out of office. Read the rest of this post...

Update from CNN conference in Atlanta

Pretty cool cnn reception. Met alessio vinzi, ceo of all cnn, nic robertson, saw ted turner, and a slew of the cnn international crowd. Our blogging panel is apparently going to be attended by everyone at the conference. Oh yeah, also met christopher allbritton of time magazine - he's the guy who raised money online to go to iraq on his own and blog the war. Very cool guy. Off to bed, John

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