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Laptop Heaven and Open Thread

Last week I put up a request for a new laptop. 24 hours later, an incredibly generous reader of TalkLeft purchased the exact one I had asked for. It just arrived this afternoon. It is so awesome, just 2.8 pounds and it's got everything I could want.

I am going to spend the next several hours getting acquainted with the new laptop. To my generous donor, thank you so much, and I'll be sending you a handwritten thank you note in the morning.

For the rest of you, here's an open thread.

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    Re: Laptop Heaven and Open Thread (none / 0) (#1)
    by Dadler on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:09 PM EST
    Just sent in a well-earned contribution. As always, thanks for a great site, J (and co-conspirators).

    Re: Laptop Heaven and Open Thread (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:09 PM EST
    You're welcome! B careful not to drop it or anything. A handwritten thank you note? It's amazing any of us can still write w/o a keyboard! I haven't gotten a note in years...

    Re: Laptop Heaven and Open Thread (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:09 PM EST
    Hey Jared. Thanks! I didn't know if you wanted me to identify you, but now that I see it's okay, I'm adding a link to your foundation so everyone can know the great work you do, particularly for kids and education here in Colorado. And since I don't have an e-mail address for you, I'm still sending you a hand-written thank you note.

    Re: Laptop Heaven and Open Thread (none / 0) (#4)
    by profmarcus on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:09 PM EST
    i really like that chuck hagel is dumping on george, and in front of the cfr, no less... *"Suggesting that to challenge or criticize policy is undermining and hurting our troops is not democracy nor what this country has stood for, for over 200 years. The Democrats have an obligation to challenge in a serious and responsible manner, offering solutions and alternatives to the Administration’s policies."* imagine that... a bush-era senator defending the democrats right to question and dissent... somewhere, across the pacific, bush's ears are burning... And, yes, I DO take it personally

    Re: Laptop Heaven and Open Thread (none / 0) (#5)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:10 PM EST
    Woodward knew about Plame early on.
    But it now seems that Woodward -- who has long been publicly critical of the Fitzgerald investigation -- has been part of it from the beginning. Literally the beginning.
    TPM WaPo via Josh Marshall

    Re: Laptop Heaven and Open Thread (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:10 PM EST
    Well TL, I was about to warn you that if the laptop was donated by a Conservative that you should immediately take it to an expert to have the spy programs eradicated and the GPS locator beacons disabled. But the link looks legit from a friendly source, so you're probably good. The sad part is, I'm only half kidding. Congrats on the score.

    Re: Laptop Heaven and Open Thread (none / 0) (#7)
    by roy on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:10 PM EST
    The implants have rendered GPS beacons obsolete anyway.

    Re: Laptop Heaven and Open Thread (none / 0) (#8)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:10 PM EST
    Prof - Someone needs to tell Hagel that Bush's speech specifically said that dissent was okay. What he attacked was the lies and attempts to re-write history by the Demos. Shame on Hagel.

    Re: Laptop Heaven and Open Thread (none / 0) (#9)
    by Dadler on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:10 PM EST
    Jim, He SAID that dissent was okay? Hmm, sounds a lot like daddy's "Read My Lips". The developmentally disabled and dysfunctional Dubya can say all he wants, his actions speak much much louder. East Germany used to SAY they were German Democratic Republic, and we all knew better. As Hamlet said, "Words, words, words..."

    Re: Laptop Heaven and Open Thread (none / 0) (#10)
    by kdog on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:10 PM EST
    I feel so much better now. The president said it's ok to be an American in America. What a relief!

    Re: Laptop Heaven and Open Thread (none / 0) (#11)
    by Dadler on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:10 PM EST
    Jeralyn, Just noticed in the margin that your blog is now "worth" over a million. Congratulations, when does the check clear? If only.

    Re: Laptop Heaven and Open Thread (none / 0) (#12)
    by Edger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:10 PM EST
    He [Bush] SAID that dissent was okay? ... As Hamlet said, "Words, words, words..."
    High sounding words, but it seem that no one has let the Secret Service know... How the Secret Service protects Bush from free speech:
    When President Bush travels around the United States, the Secret Service visits the location ahead of time and orders local police to set up "free speech zones" or "protest zones," where people opposed to Bush policies (and sometimes sign-carrying supporters) are quarantined. These zones routinely succeed in keeping protesters out of presidential sight and outside the view of media covering the event.


    Re: Laptop Heaven and Open Thread (none / 0) (#14)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:11 PM EST
    Darkly - And maybe he was thinking about Senator Rockefeller's melt down Sundany on FNC:
    WALLACE: Senator Rockefeller, I want to play another clip from your 2002 speech authorizing the use of force, this time specifically on the question of Saddam's nuclear program. Here it is. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ROCKEFELLER: There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years, and he could have it earlier. (END VIDEO CLIP) WALLACE: Now, by that point, Senator, you had read the National Intelligence Estimate, correct? ROCKEFELLER: In fact, there were only six people in the Senate who did, and I was one of them. I'm sure Pat was another. WALLACE: OK. But you had read that, and now we've read a declassified... ROCKEFELLER: But, Chris, let's... WALLACE: Can I just ask my question, sir? ROCKEFELLER: Yes. WALLACE: And then you can answer as you choose. That report indicated there was a disagreement among analysts about the nuclear program. The State Department had a lot more doubts than the CIA did about whether he was pursuing the nuclear program. You never mentioned those doubts. You came to the same conclusion the president did.
    Don't you just hate it when some Demo Senator gets his head handed to him? I mean, this just proves beyond a shadow of doubt that Rockefeller is playing politics with national security, and is trying to rewrite history. That, Darkly, is damnable and a shame. Now. You love to whine about Repubs and classified information... Consider this from the same interview:
    WALLACE: Now, the president never said that Saddam Hussein was an imminent threat. As you saw, you did say that. If anyone hyped the intelligence, isn't it Jay Rockefeller? ROCKEFELLER: No. I mean, this question is asked a thousand times and I'll be happy to answer it a thousand times. I took a trip by myself in January of 2002 to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria, and I told each of the heads of state that it was my view that George Bush had already made up his mind to go to war against Iraq, that that was a predetermined set course which had taken shape shortly after 9/11.
    Read the above, again. Here we have a US Senator going out to three countries and just passing out information on the state of mind of the President. Said state of mind must have been derived from classified information available to the Senator. Where is a Special P when you need one?

    Re: Laptop Heaven and Open Thread (none / 0) (#15)
    by jimcee on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:11 PM EST
    If the Idiot Prince could fool the hapless Senators who exactly are Americans supposed to put thier faith in? If Bush is an inbecile but was clever enough to fool the likes of Kerry, Kennedy, Reid et al (and thier supporters) then that makes them more imbecilic than he. If Clinton, Albright and virtually all of the Dems said that Saddam was a WMD danger in '98, '99, '02 were/are they lying as well? Or were they persuaded by Texas Gov. Geo. W Bush's case against Saddam in '98? This lair, lair pants on fire game is not only junvenile but futile as well. If you support stupid ,gullable, prevaricating Senators then you are the same thing.... Stupid, gullable and prevaricating.

    Re: Laptop Heaven and Open Thread (none / 0) (#16)
    by Dadler on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:12 PM EST
    Jimcee, You can add Colin Powell to the list of the deceived, so I guess he must be pretty stupid also. Bush as the head of a lying beast does not require him to be smart or dumb or anything but a figurehead. We know who was the force behind this mess, the same neo-cronies we've been seeing for years. A person lying face to face is not the same as a lie perpetrated through the twisting and manufacturing of intelligence.

    Re: Laptop Heaven and Open Thread (none / 0) (#17)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:13 PM EST
    PPJ, that Wallace asked a question doesn't mean that his question was legitimate, and you cut it off before the Senator's answer:
    Because that — first of all, that National Intelligence Estimate was not called for by the administration. It was called for by former Senator Bob Graham, who was chairman of the Intelligence Committee, and Dick Durbin. We didn't receive it until just a couple of days before we voted. Then we had to go read it and compare it to everything else that we thought we'd learned about intelligence, and I did make that statement. And I did make that vote.
    Also:
    Read the above, again. Here we have a US Senator going out to three countries and just passing out information on the state of mind of the President.
    I told each of the heads of state that it was my view that George Bush had already made up his mind to go to war against Iraq, that that was a predetermined set course which had taken shape shortly after 9/11.
    He told them his view, he didn't tell them something that was told to him in confidence, something that was classified information. That you can't tell the difference between these two concepts tells us a lot about your thinking, or lack thereof. If you go back to that period of time, I'm sure that you can find folks who shared the same view publicly. Should they be prosecuted for 'revealing the presidents' thoughts about Iraq'? TTFN, Whizzy.