Republicans using gay-bashing to help presidential election

The Wash Post reveals that the Republicans are intentionally promoting gay marriage bans in the states to help Bush in the November election. The idea is that slapping gays appeals to the conservative base and thus helps increase their turn out in the fall election (i.e., offer anti-gay ballot initiatives and the fundies turn out in droves). It really is an incredibly crass position by the Republicans. I mean, it's bad enough when they gay bash because they hate gays, but at least you can respect them a little bit (kind of) for doing something based on conviction, however bigoted that conviction is. But these marriage bans are coming up for votes in the states because Republicans know they increase turnout when they bash gays. Why the hell isn't this causing a bigger stink?

A judge ruled Friday that Missouri's secretary of state does not have to set a vote on a same-sex marriage ban for August -- a victory for Republicans hoping for a November date.

The ruling could complicate campaign efforts for Democrats, including senator and presidential candidate John F. Kerry (Mass.) and Gov. Bob Holden, in this swing state....

Some political observers believe that a large turnout of conservative voters drawn to the polls by the ban on gay marriage could provide Republicans with the winning margin in Missouri.

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Who's to blame for Chalabi? Time to name names

A very interesting Washington Post article from Nov. 24, 2003 reveals those who loved and those who hated Chalabi. Time for some heads to roll:

LOVED HIM

Cheney, Wolfowitz & Perle"Our biggest allies and friends in Washington," says Chalabi, "are [Vice President] Cheney, [Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul] Wolfowitz and [Defense Policy Board member Richard] Perle."

Perle is Chalabi's most vociferous supporter in Washington....

Frist During coffee, Chalabi sits on the right of Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.). Afterward they meet a phalanx of reporters to make statements about how valuable the relationship is and how much they admire and respect each other.

McCain "He's a patriot who has the best interests of his country at heart," says Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

Woolsey "He's a class act," says former CIA director Jim Woolsey.

HATED HIM

Biden Biden says that Chalabi is "a guy nobody trusts over there"

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Michael Moore's 'Fahrenheit 9/11' Wins Cannes' Top Prize

Excellent. Read the rest of this post...

Pentagon punishes Abu Ghraib whistleblower

Land of the free...

The Army on Friday disciplined a military intelligence analyst who told The Tribune about the mistreatment of a 16-year-old boy and other abuses by interrogators at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq....

A lawyer familiar with the case said Provance also was ordered Friday not to discuss abuses at the prison with other government agencies, which the lawyer said appeared intended to bar him from giving information to congressional investigators....

This week Provance described how interrogators abused the 16-year-old to end his father's resistance to questioning. The teen was stripped naked, thrown in the open back of a truck, driven around on a cold night, splattered with mud and then presented to his father, he said.

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More homophobic crap from the GOP in NC

Atrios just posted this text of an ad being used by a homophobe running for a Republican congressional seat in North Carolina (you'll recall I wrote about this creep earlier). Man that state seems awfully busy tripping over itself to see who can be the bigger homophobe. And, let's not forget, it's the home of Jesse Helms. What gives?

HOST: This episode of Congressional Jeopardy is paid for by Vernon Robinson for Congress . Today's topic -- homosexual rights! This feminist voted to create special rights for homosexuals and took money from the radical gayPACs.

CONTESTANT 1: [Rings in] Alright, it's a, who is Senator Hillary Clinton?

[BUZZER] HOST: Oh no, I'm sorry. We were looking for Senator Virginia Foxx. Virginia Foxx did that. As a Wake Forest Trustee, this bankrupt businessman let two lesbians get married in broad daylight in the campus church.

CONTESTANT 2: [Rings in] That's Jay Helvey. Who is Jay Helvey?

HOST: You are correct! This other bankrupt businessman brags that he's a tolerant Republican - a code word for gay-friendly. As an Appalachian State Trustee, he let the school sponsor a transvestite drag show.

CONTESTANT 3: [Rings in] Ugh. Who is Ed Broyhill?

HOST: That's right! When the United Way attacked the Boy Scouts for their ban on gay scoutmasters, this courageous conservative successfully defended the Boy Scouts.

CONTESTANT 4: [Rings in] Vernon Robinson. Everybody knows that. Who is City Councilman Vernon Robinson?

[BELL] HOST: Yes, the real conservative! Vernon Robinson: I'm Vernon Robinson and I approved this message because I will fight for our conservative values in Congress just as I have at City Hall.

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Lugar criticizes Bush on terrorism/diplomacy

Good for him. I "knew" Lugar when I worked on the Hill (meaning, I'd been to a slew of meetings and foreign trips with him, so he knew me by name). He's a very good guy, and smart. Particularly impressive, of late, is that he's not been afraid to publicly criticize the Bushies on their abysmal foreign policy.

Reuters: The United States risks "catastrophic terrorism" unless it repairs international alliances, expands trade and encourages global economic development, a top Republican lawmaker said in remarks to be delivered on Saturday.

U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, criticized the Bush administration and Congress for failing to take diplomatic and economic steps to deter terrorism and focusing on military force instead.

Lugar said the Sept. 11 attacks "jarred the United States out of its complacency toward foreign threats."

But he said the "ability and will to exert U.S. leadership outside the confines of military action have been eroded by inattention, budget incrementalism, and an increasing partisanship that afflicts foreign policy decision-making."

He said the country must "commit itself to a sustained program of repairing and building alliances, expanding trade, pursuing resolution to regional conflicts, supporting democracy and development worldwide, and controlling weapons of mass destruction."

If not, he said, "we are likely to experience acts of catastrophic terrorism that would undermine our economy, damage our society, and kill hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people."

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GOP Infighting Rises, Poll Standings Fall

What's particularly interesting here is that the GOP NEVER airs their dirty laundry in public. Hell, they almost seem never to even HAVE dirty laundry. They are always in lockstep message-wise, and vote-wise. Whereas it's usually the Dems who are sniping at each other. Not anymore:-)

One lawmaker lectures a second about the need for sacrifice in time of war. A third accuses others of preening for television cameras rather than working on Iraq.

And that's just the Republicans, scuffling out of the Capitol for a 10-day break, legislative accomplishments hard to come by and their own election-year poll ratings in a slump that rivals President Bush's.

'They have no new ideas and no new answers for the American people,' jabbed N.J. Rep. Robert Menendez, third-ranking Democrat in the House.

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Russert subpoenaed in CIA leak probe

Interesting. Read the rest of this post...

US extends sanctions against Myanmar (Burma)

Sorry, but I don't believe this. I personally witnessed a massive US Air Force transport jet in Yangoon and saw countless signs of US military presence in Myanmar, despite publicly cold state relations and regular sanctions. The US military is so incredibly stretched worldwide, including places like Myanmar, a draft is surely going to happen if Bush wins a second term. To me it looks like any country in the world can yell out "al Qaeda" and the US will immediately send troops like they did during the Cold War with communists. It is questionable whether or not the threat is real or false, or if the money/support actually goes anywhere except into the pockets of politicians like the ones running Myanmar. The current US military numbers can not be maintained without a considerable influx of new soldiers and it is going to be expensive, in many ways. Read the rest of this post...

Bushies duped by Iranian intelligence via Chalabi

Oh dear, Chalabi is falling fast and is now going to get blamed for just about everything by the administration. I hope he enjoyed his days on the top of the heap because he's the new whipping boy. Let's see Cheney and Rummy talk their way out of buying everything the guy had to offer, at taxpayers expense of course.

"...there is evidence Chalabi met with a senior Iranian intelligence official described as a "nefarious figure" who has played a direct role in activities against the United States. This information was first reported on CBS News.

Meanwhile, government sources said the FBI is investigating who may have passed on the classified information to Chalabi." - CNN

Who passed on classified information? They must be joking!

This article from the Seattle Times also suggests that the relationship between Iran and Chalabi goes back a few years. What a good thing we have so many clever experts in this administration who can not be duped by smooth talking hucksters.

"Patrick Lang, former director of the DIA's Middle East branch, said he had been told by colleagues that Chalabi's U.S.-funded program to provide information about weapons of mass destruction and insurgents was effectively an Iranian intelligence operation. "They (the Iranians) knew exactly what we were up to," he said.

He described it as "one of the most sophisticated and successful intelligence operations in history."

"I'm a spook. I appreciate good work. This was good work," he said." - Seattle Times

This Washington Post article even says that the INC "received advance notice of U.S. plans to search the INC intelligence building and removed their computers weeks ago." This is all very strange and very suspicious. Read the rest of this post...