Your donations to Lynne Gobbell got mentioned in Associated Press!

Just wanted to give a little kudos to everyone who donated to help Lynne Gobbell, the woman fired for having a Kerry bumper sticker on her car. The Associated Press just inclued a mention of your donations in their latest update to the story (and they included the blog address, way cool):

"She could receive help from another corner, as well. A liberal Web site, AMERICAblog.org, began raising money for Gobbell on Monday night after learning of her dismissal. John Aravosis, who runs the site, said he collected $1,800 over a 24-hour period."

So thanks again to everyone. Now to only find out how to contact Lynne to give her the darn money! (Actually, I still have folks out there hunting for her - if anyone knows how to find her, please let me know.) Read the rest of this post...

Former secretary confirms content of Bush AWOL memos

A fascinating, and rather confusing new story, from the Dallas Morning News reveals that Col. Killian's secretary at the time says she did not type the Bush AWOL memos that CBS revealed last week, and she thinks they're fakes. BUT - and this is a BIG but - she says they "reflect real documents that once existed."

Ok, I called it. I said the White House was focusing on the fact that these particular documents may or may not be real, but they never responded to the CONTENT of the documents. The colonel's secretary says the content is correct.

She said she did not recall typing the memos reported by CBS News, though she said they accurately reflect the viewpoints of Lt. Col. Killian and documents that would have been in the personal file. Also, she could not say whether the CBS documents corresponded memo for memo with that file.

“The information in here was correct, but it was picked up from the real ones,” she said.

So, the content of the memo has now been confirmed. Killian did have reason to believe Bush was pulling strings to get out of his duty, and Killian did say that Bush was given a direct order. Of course, most of the media so far is focusing on the trees (the memos may have been fakes) and not the forest (but the content now seems to have been correct). Read the rest of this post...

John Kerry hires lady fired for sporting Kerry bumper sticker!

I just read on Slate that John Kerry has hired Lynne Gobbell, the lady who got fired in Alabama for putting a Kerry bumper sticker on her car, and refused to remove it even when threatened with termination.

Well, we raised a little over $1800 for her in 24 hours, which is very cool. I'm going to take the donate button down now, as she appears to have gotten a new job, but will send the $1800 to her in any case as she most certainly deserves it. She had no idea how long she'd unemployed, but she still stood up for her principles.

Now that's a classy lady :-) Read the rest of this post...

Guess I've been a bad boy

Campaigns & Elections magazine is compiling an index of political blogs, and I think I got the blog equivalent of a PG-13 rating!

According to C&E;'s description of AMERICAblog: "The blog criticizes movements made by the Bush administration--harshly. Be warned before reading some of the headlines the author adds to link to other articles."

Geez, you'd think I wrote a blog about ass-fucking, or something :-) Read the rest of this post...

Reagan to blame for the Iraq fiasco

A fascinating little nugget buried in today's Washington Post op ed section. In an article by David Ignatius about Saddam Hussein and the lead up to the Gulf War in 1991, Ignatius drops this little bomb shell about why Saddam felt he could invade Kuwait with impunity:

Hussein was contemptuous of what he saw as U.S. weakness, viewing America in much the same way that Osama bin Laden did. When Wilson met Hussein on Aug. 6, 1990, just after the Iraqis had invaded Kuwait, Hussein explained his belief "that the United States was unwilling to spill the blood of 10,000 of its youth in the sands of Saudi Arabia, or the Arabian Desert. He thought that we didn't have the staying power for the sort of war that he contemplated. He was basing his view on a couple of things: one, his ability to have stalemated Iran for 10 years [in the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s]; two, his understanding of our experience in Vietnam; and, three, his understanding of our experience with the Marine barracks in Beirut and the various hostages in Beirut."

So, let me get this straight. Saddam Hussein himself said that the reason he felt so confident invading Kuwait, and starting off the entire series of consequences that led to today's horribly bloody quagmire in Iraq, was because Ronald Reagan did such a wimply job responding to the Marine barracks bombing in Lebanon and the ongoing hostage crisis during the 80s.

You heard it here folks. Ronald Reagan is one-third of the blame for this entire mess. God bless him. And in a way, I guess that means George W. Bush was right in saying he's following in Reagan's footsteps. Read the rest of this post...

White House tries to black list Kitty's book

Once again, it's fascinating how afraid the White House is of people hearing ANY point of view other than Bush's officially sanctioned lies:

White House officials unsuccessfully tried to persuade NBC executives to cancel Kelley's appearance on the Today show and on Chris Matthews' Hardball. Doubleday publicist Suzanne Herz says that radio talk show host Don Imus backed out of a planned Tuesday interview with Kelley. Fox News host Bill O'Reilly originally planned to interview Kelley today but then decided to poll his viewers to decide whether he should. The no votes won, 58%-42%.

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Turmoil Worsens In Iraq

Hundreds of young men risked their lives to line up today in Baghdad and apply for the new Iraqi police force. Unfortunately, many of them lost that gamble when a car bomb exploded. 47 were killed and more than a hundred were wounded.

And Iraq is supposed to be Bush's strong suit?
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I called it

You'll recall I wrote last night about Drudge's little document he posted to defend Bush on the AWOL story? Well, it's now bitten Bush in the ass. Read the rest of this post...

New U.S. Offensive Could Backfire in Iraq

Gee, ya think? Iraq is quickly turning into a major disaster. And one that we created.

Fierce guerrilla attacks in Iraq and U.S. assaults on rebel bastions have unleashed a new wave of bloodshed that threatens to discredit the interim government and undermine prospects for fair elections in January.

Analysts said the U.S. military drive might simply alienate more Iraqis, without eliminating insurgents who this month pushed the American death toll in the Iraq war beyond 1,000.

"Mere force is not enough to calm the situation. You need wisdom and vision, not just muscles," said Ghassan al-Attiyah, director of the Iraq Foundation for Democracy and Development.

Yeah, good luck. Read the rest of this post...

Does this mean we can bring guns into Congress now?

Among other things, the GOP wants to "cancel criminal penalties for... carrying a handgun in one's home or workplace." I wonder if that means it will be okay for staff and members to bring guns into the Congress. Or is their "workplace" exempt? And if so, why? If anyone has the right to protect himself on the job I'd think that would be a member of Congress and their staff? Who faces a greater threat on the job than they? Perhaps we need a campaign to urge Congress to repeal any criminal sanctions on carrying guns in THEIR workplace? It'd make a great press conference.

From today's Wash Post:

A majority of the U.S. House of Representatives is supporting legislation that would repeal virtually all of the District's gun restrictions, targeting one of the nation's most stringent handgun bans while the presidential candidates are battling over gun limits.

Rep. Mark Edward Souder (R-Ind.) said House Republican leaders have promised him a vote before the Nov. 2 election on his proposed D.C. Personal Protection Act, which would end a ban on handguns in the nation's capital; remove a prohibition against semiautomatic weapons; lift registration requirements for ammunition and other firearms; and cancel criminal penalties for possessing unregistered firearms and carrying a handgun in one's home or workplace.

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British Lawyer: U.S. Torture in Iraq Spread to Mosul

Glad to hear it was only an isolated incident at Abu Ghraib:

"One said he had seen a 14-year-old boy bleeding from his anus."

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Bush supporters filled with hate

Listen to what Bush supporters on a very popular conservative Web site had to say about Lynne Gobbell, the woman who was fired from her factory job for having a Kerry sticker on her car.

She seems to be on the same diet Gore is on.

Gobbell said she consulted a lawyer, but then changed her mind about going to see him. She said she has cried about the incident and must do without income for three weeks while the state unemployment commission decides if she is eligible for compensation. Typical dem doesn't even think about looking for another job.....

The Kerry sticker says it all she is an Idiot.

I believe anyone who has a Kerry sticker can be legally let go for "integrity" issues.

Maybe we freepers should contact the company and offer our support/business.

Better she be fired then thousands of us lose our jobs under a John Kerry failed economy.

Probably got fired for being stupid. That's a bumper sticker, lady.

Sad day in a American, when you can play some stupid "liberal card" to keep a job you are goofing off on, just like their leader John Kerry..absent from his senate Job ....80 percent of the time.

Is that Edwards wife? The body is the same but the face is throwing me off :)

Oh Boo Hoo, go sign up for welfare.

Send him a big THANKS!!

The Kerry Victim Brigades are unleashed. Perhaps she can apply for a job in the ministry of propaganda

Sporting a sKerry sticker not only shows poor judgement, but substandard intelligence - both valid reasons for dismissal.

Gimme a break. She was probably a poor worker. Anyway--maybe if she spent some time looking for a job instead of crying to the press, she might be re-employed. If she's employable. OTOH, maybe she can get a job as a professional crybaby for the Kerry Campaign--the Massachusetts senator seems to be constantly using them.

Well no wonder she's mad. She'd rather be unemployed, sitting home eating bon bons.

Just`from looking at her, I'd fire her too...

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PLEASE HELP: Woman fired from factory for having Kerry sticker on her car

FINAL UPDATE: John Kerry called Lynne today and hired her on his campaign. We raised a total of over $1800 for her in 24 hours, which is very cool. Thanks everyone.

UPDATE: We've raised $1507 so far to help this woman out. Let's raise some more! And apparently the ACLU has already looked into her case - she's toast. No law that says you can't fire someone for their political views. How crazy is that?

I kid you not. This story is horrendous. The woman had a John Kerry sticker on her car and got fired for it. She now has no income for 3 weeks while the state decides if she can get unemployment.


From the Decatur Daily:

Lynne Gobbell never imagined the cost of a John Kerry-John Edwards bumper sticker could run so high.

Gobbell of Moulton didn't pay a cent for the sticker that she proudly displays on the rear windshield of her Chevrolet Lumina, but said it cost her job at a local factory after it angered her boss, Phil Gaddis.

Gaddis, a Decatur bankruptcy attorney, owns Enviromate, a cellulose insulation company in Moulton.

Gaddis did not return phone calls from THE DAILY about the alleged Thursday firing.

Gobbell said she consulted a lawyer, but then changed her mind about going to see him. She said she has cried about the incident and must do without income for three weeks while the state unemployment commission decides if she is eligible for compensation.

Gobbell said she was averaging 50 to 60 hours a week on the plant's bagging machine.

"The lady there (at the unemployment commission) said that she has never heard of a firing like this before," Gobbell said.

Gobbell gave this account:

"We were going back to work from break, and my manager told me that Phil said to remove the sticker off my car or I was fired," she said. "I told him that Phil couldn't tell me who to vote for. He said, 'Go tell him.' "

She went to Gaddis' office, knocked on the door and entered on his orders.

"Phil and another man who works there were there," she said. "I asked him if he said to remove the sticker and he said, 'Yes, I did.' I told him he couldn't tell me who to vote for. When I told him that, he told me, 'I own this place.' I told him he still couldn't tell me who to vote for."

Gobbell said Gaddis told her to "get out of here."

"I asked him if I was fired and he told me he was thinking about it," she said. "I said, 'Well, am I fired?' He hollered and said, 'Get out of here and shut the door.' "

She said her manager was standing in another room and she asked him if that meant for her to go back to work or go home. The manager told her to go back to work, but he came back a few minutes later and said, " 'I reckon you're fired. You could either work for him or John Kerry,' " Gobbell said.

"I took off my gloves and threw them in the garbage and left," Gobbell said.

Though she is unemployed and uncertain if she will get her job back, Gobbell said, she doesn't regret her decision to keep the sticker on her windshield.

"I would like to find another job, but I would take that job back because I need to work," she said. "It upset me and made me mad that he could put a letter in my check expressing his (political) opinion, but I can't put something on my car expressing mine."

She was referring to a flier that she said Gaddis placed in employee envelopes to remind them of the positive impact that President Bush's policies have had on them. An employee at the plant who would not identify himself confirmed the contents of the letter.

Gobbell provided a copy of the flier. It says:

"Just so you will know, because of the Bush tax (cut):

I was able to buy the new Hammer Mill
I was able to finance our receivables
I was able to get the new CAT skid steer
I was able to get the wire cutter
I was able to give you a job"
It further says:

"You got the benefit of the Bush tax cut. Everyone did."

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Retail sales drop, trade deficit hits new record

How the hell are we losing to Bush with this steady stream of bad news?
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Oil jumps $.58 per barrel to $44.45

With analysts now predicting a trading range of $40-$60 per barrel for the foreseeable future, economic recovery is going to be increasingly delicate. The excuse today is a combination of Hurricane Ivan, saboteurs in Iraq, capacity drilling by most oil producing nations and an increased demand by China. Ivan will pass, but what about the other issues?

Four more years?
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Iraqi police attacked in Baquba, 12 dead

CNN claims two police buses were attacked north of Baghdad. Details coming.
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A "tired, pathetic" international policy: car bomb kills 47 in Iraq, Bush thinks we're winning

It gets worse every day and the Bushies think this is a success story.

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Cha-ching! Bu$h programs to cost over $3,000,000,000,000 (yes, trillion!)

Mr. Conservative plans to blow the bank for years on end. It's soon going to be time to pay the piper and the piper isn't going to be Halliburton or Bush's friends. The piper is us.

Bush's pledge to make permanent his tax cuts, which are set to expire at the end of 2010 or before, would reduce government revenue by about $1 trillion over 10 years, according to administration estimates. His proposed changes in Social Security to allow younger workers to invest part of their payroll taxes in stocks and bonds could cost the government $2 trillion over the coming decade, according to the calculations of independent domestic policy experts.

And Bush's agenda has many costs the administration has not publicly estimated. For instance, Bush said in his speech that he would continue to try to stabilize Iraq and wage war on terrorism. The war in Iraq alone costs $4 billion a month, but the president's annual budget does not reflect that cost.

Bush-Cheney campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said the new proposals "are affordable, and the president remains committed to cutting the budget deficit in half over the next five years," although last week's CBO report indicates that goal may not be attainable.

The White House put government agencies on notice this month that if Bush is reelected, his budget for 2006 may include $2.3 billion in spending cuts from virtually all domestic programs not mandated by law, including education, homeland security and others central to Bush's campaign.

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