Looks like Bonilla lost because of Latino backlash

Lots of head-scratching among the punditry today about the upset victory of Ciro Rodriquez over incumbent Republican Henry Bonilla. Hotline reports that Bonilla's loss yesterday could be tied to his vehemently anti-immigrant positions. The GOP decided to make immigrants, primarily Mexicans, their group to bash this year. They've paid the price and hopefully that will cost the GOP for years to come:

Rep. Henry Bonilla’s (R-TX 23) loss last night confirms one of the Bush administration’s greatest fears: that a hard-line position on illegal immigration could cause Republicans long-term damage among the growing Latino vote.

Bonilla was a strong supporter of the tough-on-immigration measures sponsored by the Republicans. He voted for the construction of the 700-mile border fence, and supported Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner’s bill penalizing workers who hire illegal immigrants.

Based on the election results, it appears Latino voters – even among his previous supporters – turned on him and supported ex-Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D). In Maverick County (95% Hispanic), Bonilla won a miniscule 14% of the vote. By contrast, Bonilla carried the county in his comfortable 2004 win, and President Bush even performed respectably here in 2004 when he won 40%.

The GOP decided to follow the immigrant-bashing strategy of "Tex" Sensenbrenner. The Republicans can only demonize and beat up on people for so long before they fight back. Of course, that doesn't help explain why one in four gay people vote Republican. Read the rest of this post...

TIME magazine accused of misrepresenting scientific study in effort to demean Mary Cheney and gays

This is what happens when real journalists rely on the religious right for their facts, and are too lazy to fact-check the bigoted assertions being published in their own magazine. They get lies instead. And those lies are disseminated to millions of Americans under the august masthead of a major American magazine.

Time magazine should be ashamed of itself for giving an extremist like James Dobson a platform for bigotry in the first place. And Time should be even more ashamed about publishing Dobson's anti-gay slurs without even questioning Dobson's "sources." The religious right has a long history of simply make up its anti-gay "science." It's not as if it's a secret. Good journalism is better than this, and I thought Time was as well.

Time owes this scientist her own guest column responding to, and correcting, the hateful, bigoted lies Time just negligently spread to millions of Americans.

Wayne Besen, from TruthWinsOut.org, has the story. I know Wayne and trust him. If he says he has the goods, he does.

JAMES DOBSON SLAMMED BY PROFESSOR FOR DISTORTING HER RESEARCH IN TIME MAGAZINE ARTICLE ON MARY CHENEY’S PREGNANCY

'I was mortified to learn that you had distorted my work,' NYU Professor Carol Gilligan Tells Focus on the Family Leader in Blistering Letter

Miami Beach, FLA. - New York University educational psychologist Carol Gilligan, PhD, today slammed Focus on the Family leader, James C. Dobson, for "twisting" and "distorting" her research in a guest column he wrote in this week's issue of Time Magazine. Dobson misrepresented her work in an effort to smear gay families while discussing Mary Cheney's pregnancy. In a pointed letter to Dobson, Gilligan demanded that he apologize and "cease and desist" from quoting her work in the future.

"Dobson's group is a fib factory that should change its name to Focus on the Fallacies," said Truth Wins Out Executive Director Wayne Besen. "This organization habitually lies and shamelessly mangles research to support its anti-gay agenda. Time Magazine should immediately withdrawal Dobson's column because it is so riddled with scientific errors that it is essentially fiction."

In a letter to Dobson, obtained exclusively by Truth Wins Out after the group contacted Gilligan and informed her of the Time article, Gilligan expressed her dismay and demanded that the right wing leader apologize.

According to the letter:

Dear Dr. Dobson:

I am writing to ask that you cease and desist from quoting my research in the future. I was mortified to learn that you had distorted my work this week in a guest column you wrote in Time Magazine. Not only did you take my research out of context, you did so without my knowledge to support discriminatory goals that I do not agree with. What you wrote was not truthful and I ask that you refrain from ever quoting me again and that you apologize for twisting my work.

From what I understand, this is not the first time you have manipulated research in pursuit of your goals. This practice is not in the best interest of scientific inquiry, nor does bearing false witness serve your purpose of furthering morality and strengthening the family.

Finally, there is nothing in my research that would lead you to draw the stated conclusions you did in the Time article. My work in no way suggests same-gender families are harmful to children or can't raise these children to be as healthy and well adjusted as those brought up in traditional households.

I trust that this will be the last time my work is cited by Focus on the Family.

Sincerely,

Carol Gilligan, PhD
New York University, Professor

"No reputable media outlet should continue using Focus on the Family as a resource because they are chronically dishonest and lack credibility," said Besen. "James Dobson should start to wonder if there is something inherently wrong with his stance on gay issues if the only way he can support his positions is outright lying."

Truth Wins OUT is a non-profit organization that counters right wing propaganda, exposes the "ex-gay" myth and educates America about gay life. For more information, visit www.TruthWinsOut.org.

Read the rest of this post...

Anybody else watching Dick Morris on O'Reilly?

I have a report that he just said George Bush has lost control of the presidency. And considering what a Republican stooge Morris has become, for him to criticize a fellow Republican is quite a move. Anyone else see it and can report on more detail?

As an aside, it must suck for Morris to have knifed the Democrats and now find his new-found Republican buddies falling apart at the seams. Read the rest of this post...

Democrat and Republican Senators head to Syria for high-level talks in defiance of Bush

Wow. A Democrat is there today, and two more Dems and a Republican are headed there before the end of the month. Wow. This is a 100% in-your-face to Bush by BOTH parties. Wow. The message: If Bush won't implement the Iraq Study Group recommendations on his own, then the Congress, in a bipartisan manner, will implement them for him.

We're witnessing an intervention. And it ain't gonna be pretty. Someone just became the un-president. Read the rest of this post...

Senator Johnson's spokeswoman says he did not have a stroke or heart attack

The lastest from AP. Read the rest of this post...

Ambidextrous people are more likely to be bisexual

And what if they drink soy milk? Read the rest of this post...

David Duke calls Wolf Blitzer a Jewish extremist

Oh my God. This is fascinating TV.

I have a friend who is very upset that CNN is interviewing Duke (former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, and probably America's best known white supremacist) and giving him a good ten minutes. Among his concerns, Duke is spewing a lot of anti-Semitism, and he is. It's not just criticism of Israel, it's anti-Semitism (and it is). Also, Wolf Blitzer isn't being very tough on Duke. He's asking some hard questions, but not making him answer them, and he's letting Duke go on for minutes at a time. Then again, you could argue that Duke made a fool of himself, and he did. But he did get his face and words and Web site address out to people, I fear, around the globe.

So, was it right for CNN to interview David Duke or not? Read the rest of this post...

BREAKING: Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD) reportedly suffers stroke-like symptoms

Per Raw Story:

If Johnson were to pass away, or be forced to retire, the US Constitution delegates the task of appointing a replacement to South Dakota lawmakers, who in turn, often turn that task over to the Governor. The Governor of that state, Mike Rounds, is a Republican, and both houses of the state legislature are dominated by Republicans.

Read the rest of this post...

READ THIS: Religious right leader, Republican politician Roy Moore, says American Muslims are not fit for US Congress

I've often said that George Bush's America increasingly reminds me of Germany circa 1933 or so. Not quite full-blown Nazi era, but not quite all honky-dory either. Well folks, Republican hero Roy Moore just moved the cuckoo clock up a notch to 1934.

(Moore is the guy pushing the "Ten Commandments in every courthouse" campaign. No one could have predicted that he'd be exposed as a raging nutjob.)

According to Moore, Muslims have no place in the US Congress. That kind of talk is the kind of thing a Nazi would say. Or the Taliban would say. Or a good Soviet-style dictator would say. It's not the kind of thing an American would say. And it's the kind of thing that would itself get you banned forever from public life in 21st century America. Until now. How much do you want to be that Moore doesn't suffer a lick for proclaiming one of the most racist, un-American doctrines to hit our country in decades?

First, we get an inkling of Moore's extremism in the lead to his column:

Last month Keith (Hakim Mohammad) Ellison of Minnesota became the first Muslim elected to serve in the United States Congress and shocked many Americans by declaring that he would take his oath of office by placing his hand on the Quran rather than the Bible. Can a true believer in the Islamic doctrine found in the Quran swear allegiance to our Constitution? Those who profess a sincere belief in Allah say "no!"

Next, Moore ironically maligns Muslims for, supposedly, embracing a philosophy that is openly embraced by Moore's own religious right supporters - that they want our government and our laws replaced by a theocracy.

The Islamic faith rejects our God and believes that the state must mandate the worship of its own god, Allah.

Then Moore hits us, full on, with one of the most racist screeds I have read in years from anyone, let alone a supposed "leader" embraced by Republicans and the religious right alike:

Enough evidence exists for Congress to question Ellison's qualifications to be a member of Congress as well as his commitment to the Constitution in view of his apparent determination to embrace the Quran and an Islamic philosophy directly contrary to the principles of the Constitution. But common sense alone dictates that in the midst of a war with Islamic terrorists we should not place someone in a position of great power who shares their doctrine. In 1943, we would never have allowed a member of Congress to take their oath on "Mein Kampf," or someone in the 1950s to swear allegiance to the "Communist Manifesto." Congress has the authority and should act to prohibit Ellison from taking the congressional oath today!

Moore is afraid of a jihad? We should be afraid of a pogrom. This kind of rhetoric is sickening and dangerous. Praying to the Quran is the same as sharing the doctrine of terrorists? Praying to the Quran is justification for not serving as a member of the US government?

I am sick after reading this. Moore's career should be dead after writing this kind of un-American, racist garbage - as should the career of any politician, or so-called religious leader, who is ever seen embracing this man again. We need to string Moore around the neck of every Republican and every religious right leader until they totally disavow his racism.

This has the makings of an enormous campaign - our non-profits dedicated to civil rights should be jumping on this. What a better way to define, and exemplify, what George Bush and the Republicans have made of the American dream in just six short years. And what a better way for us to redefine for, and remind, the American people what our country was, and is, really all about. Read the rest of this post...

Religious right leader James Dobson on lesbian parenting

Religious right leader James Dobson is ticked that lesbian vice presidential daughter Mary Cheney is having a baby with her lesbian partner. Dobson has a rather unique, and sexist, perspective on what mommies and daddies do for their children. From TIME:

According to educational psychologist Carol Gilligan, mothers tend to stress sympathy, grace and care to their children, while fathers accent justice, fairness and duty. Moms give a child a sense of hopefulness; dads provide a sense of right and wrong and its consequences. Other researchers have determined that boys are not born with an understanding of "maleness." They have to learn it, ideally from their fathers.

And, as Joe has noted before, Dobson and the religious right Republicans are going to target "divorce" some day soon, outlawing it:

This is a lesson we should have learned from no-fault divorce. Because adults wanted to dissolve difficult marriages with fewer strings attached, reformers made it easier in the late 1960s to dissolve nuclear families. Though there are exceptions, the legacy of no-fault divorce is countless shattered lives within three generations, adversely affecting children's behavior, academic performance and mental and physical health. No-fault divorce reflected our selfish determination to do what was convenient for adults, and it has been, on balance, a disaster.

He's also apparently in favor of women as chattel:

We should not enter into yet another untested and far-reaching social experiment, this one driven by the desires of same-sex couples to bear and raise children. The traditional family, supported by more than 5,000 years of human experience, is still the foundation on which the well-being of future generations depends.

For 5,000 years, whites didn't marry blacks. For 5,000 years, Catholics didn't marry Jews. For 5,000 years, women were their husbands' property, unable to inherit, own, or do much of anything else except sit back and shut up. And for 5,000 years, the traditional family, from Egypt to America, owned black people as slaves. Tell me, oh tell me, why the last 5,000 years of misogyny, bigotry and miscegenation are the good old days?

The world would have been so better off had Strom Thurmond been elected president. Read the rest of this post...

54% of Americans think Bush will go down in history as a bad president

The duck isn't just lame, it's on life support. More from USA Today. Read the rest of this post...

Senior Marine Corps officials says Bush has so weakend the military, he's now jeopardized the war on terror

From the Washington Post:

"We are concerned about gross readiness . . . and ending equipment and personnel shortfalls," said a senior Marine Corps official. The official added that Marine readiness has dropped and that the Corps is unable to fulfill many planned missions for the fight against terrorism.

It seems that our military leaders, who kept telling us that the war in Iraq was not weakening our military, and that we are ready to fight lots more wars wherever they may arise. Well, they were lying.

Now our military leaders want a permanent increase in the size of the military - apparently, we now don't have enough men and women to meet our global needs, all because of the Republicans' wars. But that's not all. The military now wants even more authority to totally screw the National Guard and the Army Reserves. Basically, anyone in the Guard or the Reserves who thought they were already drafted, just wait until you see what they're going to do to you next.

The Army and Marine Corps are planning to ask incoming Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Congress to approve permanent increases in personnel, as senior officials in both services assert that the nation's global military strategy has outstripped their resources.

In addition, the Army will press hard for "full access" to the 346,000-strong Army National Guard and the 196,000-strong Army Reserves by asking Gates to take the politically sensitive step of easing the Pentagon restrictions on the frequency and duration of involuntary call-ups for reservists, according to two senior Army officials.

It is an absolute disaster. Our military leaders are admitting that Bush's war has made us weaker.

And let me just add, I'm really tired of our uniformed military leaders lying to the country in order to cover Bush's ass. They told us they could handle all of these wars. And they lied.

"The Army has configured itself to sustain the effort in Iraq and, to a lesser degree, in Afghanistan. Beyond that, you've got some problems," said one of the senior Army officials. "Right now, the strategy exceeds the capability of the Army and Marines."

Read the rest of this post...

Senator Leahy making privacy and Iraq top priorities for Judiciary Comm.

Finally, some leadership on privacy. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the incoming chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is making the privacy rights of the American people a major concern according to Reuters:

We have a duty to repair real damage done to our system of government over the last few years," Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont said in outlining his panel's agenda for the 110th, Democratic-led Congress, which is set to convene on January 4.

"Americans' privacy is a price the Bush administration is willing to pay for the cavalier way it is spawning new databanks. But privacy rights belong to the people, not to the government," Leahy said.

The Associated Press reports that Leahy is also going to hold hearings on Iraq in his committee:

Justice Department officials can expect stepped-up oversight of the Bush administration's war on terrorism and _ perhaps _ some all-expense-paid tickets to Iraq to help train the corrupt police force there, the incoming chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says.

Sen. Patrick Leahy's agenda includes a look at about a dozen recommendations by the Iraq Study Group to send law enforcement officials from the FBI and other offices in the Justice Department to the war-torn nation to boost a police force riddled with corruption. Leahy noted that over the weekend that Iraqi police allegedly helped Saddam Hussein's nephew, Ayman Sabawi, escape from a prison near Mosul.

The Bush team has a lot of explaining to do. Leahy's going to make them explain.

Senate hearings on Iraq and privacy. Imagine that. Having the majority is just so much better. Read the rest of this post...

So now we're Iraq's puppet

From AP:

The message to Bush, the defense specialist said, is that the U.S. cannot withdraw a substantial number of combat troops by early 2008, as suggested in the Iraq Study Group report, because the Iraqis will not be ready to assume control of their country.

Whatever happened to the lie that our top generals, and Bush and Condi and Rummy and Cheney, kept selling us that Iraq could be ready to stand on its own in 6 months? Now we find out from Bush's carefully orchestrated "listening tour" that in fact that Iraqis won't be ready even in another year and a half. So what do Bush's carefully selected listenees tell him? That we must STAY in Iraq EVEN LONGER. Quelle surprise!

But just as importantly, the reason the Iraq Study Group suggested we start pulling out combat troops in early 2008 is two-fold. First, to give the Iraqis some impetus to get their act together. And second, I believe, to put a finite measure to this horrendously gone-wrong mission in Iraq. Part of the reason we're talking about leaving is expressly BECAUSE we've failed (well, Bush and the Republicans failed - we had nothing to do with this). We don't stay in Iraq even longer because we've failed. We get the hell out.

So what Bush is really telling us, via his carefully orchestrated experts, is that the longer Iraq fails, the longer the US will stay. If I were an Iraqi, I'd make damn sure I kept failing so the US soldiers could keep taking the bullet for me.

Now who's a puppet? Read the rest of this post...

Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Bush must be so exhausted. He's really had to work hard this week. Really hard. See, he's got this war going on -- and he has to make some decisions. And all of his little flunkies keep running around telling people how hard he's working and thinking. They want us to all be very impressed. Instead, most of us are horrified.

Okay, that's my early morning rant. What's yours? Read the rest of this post...

382,000 Boeing IDs lost

Another stolen laptop incident that carried hundreds of thousands of records. Boeing has not mentioned whether or not the laptop was encrypted, which suggests that it probably was not.

"In the first week of December, a laptop was stolen from an employee's car," Boeing spokeswoman Kelly Danaghy said. "That laptop had files that contained Social Security numbers for about 382,000 past and present employees, and in most cases it also included a home address, phone number and date of birth."

What is worse is that this is not the first such incident at Boeing.

In April, the personal information of about 3,600 employees was compromised when a laptop was taken from a Boeing human resources employee at an airport. In November 2005, a similar theft put the personal data of about 161,000 employees in jeopardy.

Last month, a Boeing online memo warned that another computer with "old, unencrypted salary planning files containing personally identifiable information on 762 individuals" had been taken from an employee's home. "This incident underscores the importance for all Boeing employees to either use encryption or rid their computers of old, unused files, particularly those containing personally identifiable information," Boeing said in the memo.

Uh huh, don't worry about implementing corporate IT standards and tell those employees to encrypt their data. Now how does one do that again? How does someone ditch unused files since they never really go away? Interesting IT strategy at Boeing. Read the rest of this post...

Skilling's free pass canceled after one day

Pity that his hopes were so high. The beds won't be quite as comfortable but now he will have plenty of time to get to know his other roommates.

Judge Patrick Higginbotham of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in his two-page order Tuesday that "Skilling raises no substantial question that is likely to result in the reversal of his convictions on all of the charged counts."

Read the rest of this post...

Saudis say if US pulls out of Iraq, they may aid Al Qaeda led insurgency

I am speechless.

Saudi Arabia has told the Bush administration that it might provide financial backing to Iraqi Sunnis in any war against Iraq’s Shiites if the United States pulls its troops out of Iraq, according to American and Arab diplomats....

The Saudis have been wary of supporting Sunnis in Iraq because their insurgency there has been led by extremists of Al Qaeda, who are opposed to the kingdom’s monarchy. But if Iraq’s sectarian war worsened, the Saudis would line up with Sunni tribal leaders.

Saudi Arabia is George Bush's good buddy. They're the same people who screwed us with high oil prices, and who were the majority of the hijackers on September 11, and who financed Al Qaeda's attack on the WTC and the Pentagon, and who secretly snuck the bin Laden family out of the US before we could fully question them. It is beyond astounding how badly George Bush and the Republicans have screwed up the world and betrayed our country.

And to think I was worried there'd be nothing to write about if the Democrats ever took back the Congress. It's time to be very afraid for our country, folks. The Republicans have mortgaged our entire future. Read the rest of this post...