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Sunday Open Thread

I'm still working on my taxes which need to get to the accountant tomorrow, and it's a gorgeous day outside so here's an open thread.

Some things to read:

  • The Washington Post reports the Dems are poised to introduce new electronic surveillance legislation./li>

House Democrats plan to introduce a bill this week that would let a secret court issue one-year "umbrella" warrants to allow the government to intercept e-mails and phone calls of foreign targets and would not require that surveillance of each person be approved individually.

  • Law Prof and blogger Ann Althouse has been posting great photos of New York and Brooklyn. Turns out, she's re-located there for the year as a visiting professor at Brooklyn Law.

More...

What are you all reading?

Update: Last night I slacked off while watching the Rockies game and made my first widget. It's on the page with single entries and can be added to other sites. I also signed up as a developer on Facebook and put it there. There's a lot of steps to creating a Facebook application, i had no idea it would take so long.

< Tonight: Inside Our Prisons with Koppel on Discovery Channel | The Death Penalty in NC >
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  • Display: Sort:
    Repugs running from their party label. (5.00 / 1) (#11)
    by scribe on Mon Oct 08, 2007 at 11:51:08 AM EST
    A friend described to me a recent car trip down the back roads of Jersey, heading from the horse country down towards Princeton.  This is a trip through areas which in ordinary times are Republican strongholds.  Seriously red.  Establishment conservatives and money, primarily.  Jersey is one of two states or so which have elections for the State Assembly and State Senate this fall, and the yard signs have started sprouting.

    The friend tells me that, interestingly, the Republican candidates' signs have the word "Republican" nowhere to be found.  My friend also tells me the signs are basically the same in every district and that only the names will change.  The top name will be the candidate for Senate, then the word "Senate", and then below there will be two names for Assembly candidates and then the word "Assembly" below that.  

    And the primary color of the sign is ... (wait for it) ... blue.  A nice medium blue, just like the elephant logo for the 08 convention we all laughed at last week.

    No elephants on the signs, though.

    This tells me, and I told my friend, that it seems the sign design has been imposed from on high inside the Rethug HQ, and that the Rethugs made a conscious decision to run away from party identification.  Moreover, the whole blue color of the signs appears to be an attempt to fuzz the party distinction even more, by appropriating the color most associated with the Democrats.  

    While the friend hasn't seen any TV ads, I wouldn't be surprised if they're all made along the same lines - avoid party identification at all costs.

    It's a bad day in Rethug land when the party name is a word not dared to be spoken....

    Are Assemblymen Hackett and Steele (none / 0) (#12)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Mon Oct 08, 2007 at 03:29:55 PM EST
    running?

    How about Senators Bryant and James?

    Sep 6, 2007 5:40 PM (ET)

    TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - FBI agents arrested 11 public officials in towns across New Jersey Thursday on charges of taking bribes in exchange for influencing the awarding of public contracts, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

    Democratic state Assemblymen Mims Hackett Jr. and Alfred E. Steele were arrested

    [...]

    Two other Democratic state senators, Wayne Bryant of Lawnside and Sharpe James of Newark, are among others facing pending corruption charges.



    Parent
    No idea, but (5.00 / 0) (#17)
    by scribe on Mon Oct 08, 2007 at 05:30:59 PM EST
    one has to remember that the US Attorney for NJ bringing charges the other month was the same guy who made big public shows of dropping grand jury subpoenas all around Sen. Menendez during the run-up to the election last fall, and suspicious leaks of testimony.

    Not that that did the Repug candidate any good, as he got trounced in the election.

    But, it just shows the truth of evolution:  one can tell Republicans are descended from monkeys - they both tend to fling turds when irritated.  You can do better, suo....

    Parent

    Huh?? (1.00 / 0) (#28)
    by jimakaPPJ on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 08:22:10 AM EST
    they both tend to fling turds when irritated.

    Can you say:

    Betrays?

    MoveOn ad?

    I'm lol....

    Parent

    Well, Hackett and Steele have resigned, (none / 0) (#20)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Mon Oct 08, 2007 at 06:12:29 PM EST
    (because the charges are false, of course, trumped-up by a partisan hack of a USA, undoubtedly) so I assume their white yard signs with the black stripes are gathering dust in their abandoned offices somewhere...

    Parent
    Your comment (1.00 / 0) (#27)
    by jimakaPPJ on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 08:20:11 AM EST
    wins a Tehehe award.

    ;-)

    Parent

    Iraqi Government: Blackwater out of Iraq now (5.00 / 3) (#13)
    by Dadler on Mon Oct 08, 2007 at 03:56:56 PM EST
    ...and they want the mercenary company to pay $8 million dollars in compensation to EACH of the families of the 17 murdered by Blackwater last month.

    Remember when mercenary types were nutjobs who sneaked around with greasy copies of SOLDIER OF FORTUNE magazine?  Now they're all the rage, baby, Uncle Sam's official not-so-secret thug squad.  Representin' the stars and stripes so well and justly.

    The price of compensation... (5.00 / 1) (#16)
    by desertswine on Mon Oct 08, 2007 at 05:23:13 PM EST
    is certainly going up...

    On July 1, 2002, a U.S. AC-130 gunship attacked and strafed four villages in the Deh Rawud district of Uruzagan, killing more than 60 innocent Afghans and wounding about 120 others. The American troops which occupied the villages offered tents and blankets as compensation.
    A week later, the U.S.-installed and backed Karzai regime offered the Afghan wedding victims $18,500 in compensation, or about $100 per victim -- the payments were $200 on behalf of each individual killed and $75 for each wounded person.


    Parent
    Shoot Em Back (5.00 / 1) (#23)
    by john horse on Mon Oct 08, 2007 at 08:43:43 PM EST
    When the Blackwater story first broke I felt like that character who was playing with his mashed potatos in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  I knew there was something significant about it but I couldn't put my finger on it.  

    Finally, I figured it out.  I was talking about Blackwater to one of my relatives visiting from Georgia.  "What would you do" I asked him "if some foreign mercenaries came to this country and they could not be prosecuted under our law or anyone else's law and they started shooting and killing Americans."

    "I'd shoot 'em back" he said.  

    That in a nutshell is what the main problem with Blackwater is.  Their cowboy tactics are going to get some of our servicemen killed because Iraqis are no different than your average Southern rednecks.  You shoot at them and they'll shoot back at you.  No wonder why the military hates their guts.

    Parent

    John H (1.00 / 0) (#24)
    by jimakaPPJ on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 07:56:09 AM EST
    This is the second time you have told us about your "redneck relative."

    Outside of the fact that I wonder how many other groups within this country that you disrespect by calling them names clearly meant to hurt....

    What is the significance of someone shooting back at "foreign" invaders?

    But as you know, the situation really isn't that simple. Iraq has had elections and has a government. And the "invaders" you speak of would be pleased as punch to leave.

    All that has to happen is for the terrorist bands to stop killing other Iraqis. Stop blowing up car bombs in crowded markets. Stop destroying the country's electrical grid. Stop destroying the schools, the hospitals and mosques.

    And yes, quit attacking US troops. It is a strange thing, but they can get rid of the "invaders" by stopping attacking the invaders.

    But they don't. They have been convinced, by the Demo/Left, that they can win a political battle in the US, and been seen as "having won" a victory over the "Great Satan." So they keep killing Iraqis and destroying infrastructure:

    a. To prevent cooperation with the US by the citizens.

    b. To reduce the government's influence by terror.

    c. To install such fear in the populace that they can install their brand of Islamic radicalism.

    So you owe your relative two apologies. One for insulting a group of people. One for setting up a fake example to lecture him with.

    Parent

    YYYYYYAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWNNNNNN (5.00 / 1) (#25)
    by aj12754 on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 07:57:50 AM EST
    nother day -- more mindless claptrap from jimpoo

    Parent
    And another demonstration (1.00 / 1) (#29)
    by jimakaPPJ on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 08:23:40 AM EST
    of aj's dauntless ability to debate...

    hehe

    Parent

    Debate is pointless with (5.00 / 2) (#32)
    by aj12754 on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 09:42:28 AM EST
    the intellectually dishonest.  In case you aren't keeping up -- that would be you. But fun at your expense? I've got a little time for that.

    Parent
    aj (1.00 / 0) (#43)
    by jimakaPPJ on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 08:13:26 PM EST
    Having declared his desire to not compete, AJ retires from the field.

    Parent
    Guffaw (none / 0) (#49)
    by aj12754 on Wed Oct 10, 2007 at 09:14:53 AM EST
    This is just loony, Jim. (5.00 / 2) (#34)
    by Dadler on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 12:06:56 PM EST
    The troops do hate Blackwater.  How this is knocking them, which you claim John is doing, I have no idea besides your penchant to react with "patriotic" non-sequiters.  Blackwater are mercenaries who make exponentially more than the soldiers themselves, and have no loyalty to anything but profit.  Why are you happy with private companies waging war merely for profit in your name, with no oversight of any kind, and no responsibility to any jurisdiction?  Why are you happy privatizing profit while socializing risk?  Why don't you want those high wages going to the real US soldiers on the ground?  Why do you disrespect those men and women in uniform by tacitly supporting their neglect so that a private company can line its pockets?  I knew you were fond of the military industrial complex, but come on now.

    Rockies in 6.


    Parent

    dadler (1.00 / 0) (#44)
    by jimakaPPJ on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 08:24:06 PM EST
    I have no doubt the troops don't like Blackwater..

    I remember the problems between naval techs and civilian tech reps. It is first, and foremost a matter of pride and money.

    But that has nothing to do with the methods and strategies of the various terrorist groups, and it has nothing to do with John's "redneck relative."

    Blackwater could be gone tomorrow and nothing would be changed in the activities of the terrorists.

    I also suspect that Blackwater is merely a stalking horse for the anti-war folks, such as John. If Blackwater was gone tomorrow nothing would be changed in his activities and beliefs.

    Parent

    I've heard quite a few (5.00 / 1) (#38)
    by jondee on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 12:37:48 PM EST
    refer to "redneck" as a badge of honor, but nice try Ann.

    Btw, How's that "thyroid condition" or did you finally swallow?

    Parent

    You Just Told On Yourself (none / 0) (#42)
    by john horse on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 07:07:39 PM EST
    PPJ,
    I find it interesting what you get upset about and what you don't get upset about.

    You get upset or act upset about my use of the word "redneck".

    You act upset at me for criticizing an American contractor.  

    What you don't get upset about is that the actions of Blackwater has probably endangered the lives of our soldiers in Iraq.  Not one word.

    By the way, this criticism of Blackwater is also shared by our own military.  Are they part of this Demo/Left conspiracay too?

    Your political blinders have caused you to ignore the welfare and safety of our servicemen in Iraq.  I think you just told on yourself.  

     

    Parent

    Yes..... (1.00 / 1) (#45)
    by jimakaPPJ on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 08:30:17 PM EST
    I do get upset by people using hateful words about groups of people. I also abhor the N word, the Q word and people who refer to women with the B word.

    And before I retired, anyone who reported to me understood that if they broke those rules they were in a great deal of trouble.

    Perhaps you didn't notice my immediate demand that Imus be fired.

    Real liberals don't call people "rednecks."

    You have identified yourself.

    Parent

    Sorry You Feel That Way (5.00 / 2) (#48)
    by john horse on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 11:30:40 PM EST
    PPJ,
    I'm sorry that you feel ashamed of "redneck".  Where I come from its a word that is used with a sense of pride.

    Parent
    I do not think you meant what (none / 0) (#53)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Oct 10, 2007 at 01:41:36 PM EST
    you called your relative in a kindly way. I think you meant in a elitist snobby dismissive manner.

    Especially since this is the definition:

    red·neck      ˈrɛdˌnɛk Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[red-nek] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation Informal: Often Disparaging.
    -noun 1. an uneducated white farm laborer, esp. from the South.  
    2. a bigot or reactionary, esp. from the rural working class.  
    -adjective 3. Also, red-necked. narrow, prejudiced, or reactionary: a redneck attitude.

    It might be acceptable, but only then in a very narrow sense, between two old friends who uses the term in a joshing manner.  

    Parent

    Blackwater Timeline (5.00 / 2) (#40)
    by squeaky on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 03:51:54 PM EST
    A few choice moments in their sordid history:

    1988
    Gary Bauer and James Dobson found the socially conservative Family Research Council, funded primarily by the Prince family. Erik Prince interns there, before moving on to an internship in President George H.W. Bush's White House.

    December 26, 1996
    Erik Prince's Blackwater Lodge and Training Center Inc. is incorporated in Delaware.

    2001
    Blackwater's federal contracts total $736,906.

    2002
    Blackwater's federal contracts total $3.4 million.

    2003
    Blackwater's federal contracts total $25 million.

    2004
    Blackwater's federal contracts total $48 million

    June 28, 2004
    CPA Order 17 provides private contractors with immunity from Iraqi law.

    2005
    Blackwater's federal contracts total $352 million.

    2006
    Blackwater's federal contracts total $593 million.

    September 24, 2006
    Blackwater convoy driving down the wrong side of the road ("counter flowing") in al-Hillah strikes an oncoming car, propelling it into a telephone pole. The Iraqi car bursts into flames. Blackwater contractors leave the scene without offering help to the victim, who dies in the fire.

    December 24, 2006
    Drunken Blackwater operator Andrew Moonen shoots the Iraqi vice presidents' security guard in the Green Zone. He is fired, fined, and flown back to the United States, but returns to Kuwait two months later with another private contracting firm.

    2007
    Blackwater's federal contracts total $1 billion.

    link via War & Piece

    Parent

    How The Military Views Blackwater (5.00 / 1) (#46)
    by john horse on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 11:12:26 PM EST
    Here are some of recent statements regarding Blackwater by members of the military.

    "The deaths of contractors from Blackwater helped precipitate the debacle in Fallujah in 2004 and now the loss of Blackwater is causing disruptions in the war effort in 2007," a military intelligence officer said. "Why are we creating new vulnerabilities by relying on what are essentially mercenary forces?"

    "I think the military culture fully accepts these days, rightly or wrongly, that we can't go to war anymore without these contractors," said one Iraq war veteran.

    "Many of my peers think Blackwater is oftentimes out of control," said a senior U.S. commander serving in Iraq. "They often act like cowboys over here . . . not seeming to play by the same rules everyone else tries to play by."

    "This is a big mess that I don't think anyone has their hands around yet," said another U.S. military official. "It's not necessarily a bad thing these guys are being held accountable. Iraqis hate them, the troops don't particularly care for them, and they tend to have a know-it-all attitude, which means they rarely listen to anyone -- even the folks that patrol the ground on a daily basis."

    "This is a nightmare," said a senior U.S. military official. "We had guys who saw the aftermath, and it was very bad. This is going to hurt us badly. It may be worse than Abu Ghraib, and it comes at a time when we're trying to have an impact for the long term."

    "The military is very sensitive to its relationship that they've built with the Iraqis being altered or even severely degraded by actions such as this event," the (US government) official said.

    What these statements clearly show is that our military is upset with Blackwater and that they feel that their actions have made things worse for our servicemen in Iraq.  To me this issue should transcend whether you support the war or are opposed to the war.  

    Parent

    The operative word is "want.." (1.00 / 2) (#30)
    by jimakaPPJ on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 08:26:17 AM EST
    He's a cultural warrior (5.00 / 3) (#36)
    by jondee on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 12:23:50 PM EST
    What's laughable about the wedge-issue-clowns who comcocted "The Culture Wars" is that they're the very same ones that insist the most upon zero accountability and complete, lasse faire rein for the very corporations that exploit to the nth degree the very "secular" culture that social conservatives claim to oppose.

    The stream of disengenuous b.s these people have is endless. Sometimes you dont know whether to laugh or cry.

    Parent

    Try YYYYYAAAAAAWWWWWNNNNNNing (5.00 / 1) (#39)
    by aj12754 on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 01:13:15 PM EST
    Truth Be Told (5.00 / 2) (#19)
    by squeaky on Mon Oct 08, 2007 at 06:04:36 PM EST
    Brown explained that since British forces "handed over our base in Basra City in early September, the present security situation has been calmer." As evidence, he noted, "In the last month, there have been five indirect fire attacks on Basra Air Station compared with 87 in July."

    Indeed, Reuters reported last week, "Residents of Iraq's southern city of Basra have begun strolling riverfront streets again after four years of fear, their city much quieter since British troops withdrew from the grand Saddam Hussein-era Basra Palace."

    think progress

    It is time to leave. We are clearly not helping Iraq, we are only helping US corporate interests aka neo colonialism.

    Security guards... (5.00 / 1) (#33)
    by desertswine on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 12:02:16 PM EST
    kill two more women.

    Nice to see we're cracking down on the violence. These women were guilty of driving.

    Parent

    Heckofa Job (5.00 / 1) (#50)
    by squeaky on Wed Oct 10, 2007 at 11:50:30 AM EST
    A small private intelligence company that monitors Islamic terrorist groups obtained a new Osama bin Laden video ahead of its official release last month, and around 10 a.m. on Sept. 7, it notified the Bush administration of its secret acquisition. It gave two senior officials access on the condition that the officials not reveal they had it until the al-Qaeda release.

    Within 20 minutes, a range of intelligence agencies had begun downloading it from the company's Web site. By midafternoon that day, the video and a transcript of its audio track had been leaked from within the Bush administration to cable television news and broadcast worldwide.

    The founder of the company, the SITE Intelligence Group, says this premature disclosure tipped al-Qaeda to a security breach and destroyed a years-long surveillance operation that the company has used to intercept and pass along secret messages, videos and advance warnings of suicide bombings from the terrorist group's communications network.

    WaPo via HuffPo

    Haditha update? (1.00 / 2) (#3)
    by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Sun Oct 07, 2007 at 06:59:00 PM EST

    Will there be any cleansing here of the smear on the Marines?

    Just in (1.00 / 1) (#6)
    by jimakaPPJ on Mon Oct 08, 2007 at 08:16:06 AM EST
    FNC reports that Hillary has hired Sandy Berger...

    Payback for not telling what he took from the archives?????

    Smoking gun (5.00 / 1) (#37)
    by jondee on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 12:29:53 PM EST
    -- no pun intended -- evidence of who was behind the Vince Foster murder, the Mena cocaine ring and Hillary's involvent in certain pagan Spotted Owl worshipping cults with cells in many blue states.

    Eh, Jim? Or havnt you received this months Spectator yet?

    Parent

    Notes (1.00 / 0) (#8)
    by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Mon Oct 08, 2007 at 10:25:47 AM EST

    Are you asserting that the hand written notes on the paper copies were on hard drives as well as the originals?

    Have another glass of Koolaid... (1.00 / 1) (#10)
    by jimakaPPJ on Mon Oct 08, 2007 at 11:50:26 AM EST
    I hear the lemon-lime is very refreshing today.

     

    initially led The Wall Street Journal to editorialize against the allegations.

    Nifty qualifier.

    From Berger's lips:

    Mr. Berger said he placed the documents under a trailer in an accessible construction area outside Archives 1 (the main Archives building)." Berger acknowledged that he later retrieved the documents from the construction area and returned with them to his office.[24][25]

    Of course the documents were of no importance. When he buys a newspaper he hides it behind a shrub until he can come back in the dead of night and retrieve it.

    Tehe

    LOL

    Rumour has it (5.00 / 0) (#15)
    by jondee on Mon Oct 08, 2007 at 05:06:45 PM EST
    he had a list of names of all the social liberals that rendezvous at the Minneapolis Airport Mens Room.

    Tehe. Yuk Yuk. etc etc

    Parent

    Maybe that's where/how Sen. Craig (5.00 / 0) (#18)
    by scribe on Mon Oct 08, 2007 at 05:41:23 PM EST
    (Allegedly) got the name of the same male escort who was involved in the Ted Haggard crash, crater and burn.

    Seems the escort was on a talk [radio] show and, when the show was in break, got to discussing [ahem] other clients.  The camera was still rolling....  

    While promoting his new book during a radio interview with KNWQ-AM in Palm Springs Wednesday night, Mike Jones hesitated from making the allegation on the air.

    Management for the radio station says Jones told them he would reveal something about Idaho Senator Larry Craig on the "Bulldog Bill Feingold Show."

    While he hesitated doing so on the air, a NewsChannel 3 camera was rolling when he made the accusation during a commercial break.

    Feingold asked whether the Senator had seen Jones in a hotel room.

    Jones responded, "No, he came to see me."

    Jones then added, "His travel records to Denver have been documented. That's what I wanted to say."
    * * *
    Jones is not alleging that he has had sex with Senator Craig but that he is alleging the senator came to see him.
    * * *
    "Did he look similar to Senator Craig?" Feingold asked.

    "I've been with many politicians and all I can tell you is for a fact, that Larry Craig is a hypocrite."

    Something about word of mouth being the best advertising, probably....

    Parent

    What was Berger trying to hide? (1.00 / 1) (#26)
    by jimakaPPJ on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 08:18:36 AM EST
    Your defense of Berger is expected. And I am sure the Repubs are hopeful he remains closely associated with Hillary.. especially through the first week of 11/08...

    And your comment to Abdual was correct. It is very simple to turn hand written notes into jpeg files and store them.

    But that is trivia.

    The real question though remains. What was he stealing? What was so damning that he would:

    Mr. Berger said he placed the documents under a trailer in an accessible construction area outside Archives 1 (the main Archives building)." Berger acknowledged that he later retrieved the documents from the construction area and returned with them to his office.[24][25]

    Those are acts that required very high motivation.
    What drove him? What was he trying to destroy?
    What was on those handwritten meeting notes that are so embarrassing to the Clintons?

    That is the question that is going to be asked time and again. It was pure arrogance by Hillary to bring him back as a reward. He comes with a high price tag. Maybe as high as the Presidency.

    So snicker and keep trying to confuse. It is what you do best. In the meantime, I'll just stay focused on the facts.

    Tehehehe

    Parent

    You keep trying to change the subject... (1.00 / 1) (#35)
    by jimakaPPJ on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 12:21:50 PM EST
    What does any of my alleged sins have to do with Berger stealing documents from the National Archives, and Hillary bringing him back into Government??

    Those two items are things called "facts."

    Tehehe

    Parent

    You can try and change the subject but (none / 0) (#52)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Oct 10, 2007 at 01:33:09 PM EST
    you can change the fact that he stole from the archives, hid is loot at a nearby construction site and sneaked back to retrieve it when no one was around.

    Rational people do no do such things without a very pressing reason.

    tehe

    Parent

    President Forbes (none / 0) (#1)
    by koshembos on Sun Oct 07, 2007 at 03:10:54 PM EST
    Forbes with his flat tax would have made you life much easier. (Don't laugh, he is better than Bush.)

    Brooklyn Law (none / 0) (#2)
    by aj12754 on Sun Oct 07, 2007 at 06:09:33 PM EST
    will rue the day...

    Americans calling Clinton's BS, Bush/Der Führer (none / 0) (#4)
    by Aaron on Mon Oct 08, 2007 at 06:34:16 AM EST
    Clinton's Iran Vote Prompts A Harsh Back-and-Forth

    I think this guy in Iowa was confused as to the substance of this proposed nonbinding resolution, just as I was confused when I first read about it.  Doubtless many other people are confused by a proposal that is little more than some vague pointless political gamesmanship, which will ultimately amount to nothing.

    Clinton, like most of the other Democrats in Congress seem to simply want to appear to be doing something about Iraq and this rogue White House, while continuing to do what they've been doing since the last election, absolutely nothing.

    The American people are fed up with this disingenuous garbage, it's transparent and infuriating.

    Hillary says that she's working on legislation that will prevent the president from taking military action against Iran, good luck getting anything like that passed with this Congress.  Even if she managed it, Bush would just veto it, and if by some unbelievable turn of fortune which allowed the house and Senate to override the president's veto, George which simply ignore it and go ahead with the invasion of Iran anyway claiming that the Congress was infringing on executive power.

    This whole thing is making me sick, as I watch the United States of America being hijacked by one man, one man who has an insane messianic belief that he has been called upon by God to invade the Middle East and liberate us all from constitutional democracy.

    I greatly fear what is ahead for this country, I suspect it will be far more horrible than we can possibly imagine.

    If we don't remove this president soon, there may be no United States of America come 2009. Our country will be renamed the Bush Republic.  George will dawn a military uniform and seize direct control over our country's armed forces, much like his friend Musharraf.  The White House won't call it a coup, they'll just claim that the commander-in-chief is exercising his newly defined executive power and take a more hands-on role in the management of the military.

    The troops will begin calling him General Bush, and he'll have a special uniform made up with six stars on the collar.  After that the arrests and purges will begin, political enemies first, the disloyal Democrats next, then the Republicans, followed by the Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, the disabled, Jehovah's Witnesses etc.

    Americans will witness the rise of the Fourth Reich, with Bush as Führer, while Hillary and friends will sit back and fantasize about passing nonbinding resolutions declaring the president an unconstitutional Meany.  She'll wind up president of the barracks committee at a concentration camp on the outskirts of DC.

    Thank goodness (1.00 / 0) (#9)
    by jimakaPPJ on Mon Oct 08, 2007 at 11:35:55 AM EST
    Whenever I think the Left might win the culture war I read something like this and smile, knowing that it will never happen.

    Good rant Aaron. Keep it up.

    ;-)

    Parent

    The culture war (5.00 / 2) (#14)
    by jondee on Mon Oct 08, 2007 at 04:32:49 PM EST
    Just another "social liberal" worried about the Left winning the culture war. lol

    What b.s.

    Parent

    YYYYAAAAWWWWWNNNNNN (none / 0) (#22)
    by aj12754 on Mon Oct 08, 2007 at 07:11:04 PM EST
    aaron, i fear you're a very confused person. (none / 0) (#5)
    by cpinva on Mon Oct 08, 2007 at 07:38:13 AM EST
    on the one hand, you castigate sen. clinton, and all democrats in congress, for failing to do anything. then, in nearly the same breath, you point out the reality that they are hamstrung, by both the republicans in congress, and the bush veto.

    you can't have it both ways. at least breathe again.

    koshembos, the "flat tax" idea has been around for decades, here and abroad. it fails to ignite, once people realize it would be far less fair than even our own current, muddled system.

    mr. forbes certainly likes the concept, because his taxes would drop dramatically. the rest of us, not so much.

    PANAMA CITY, Fla Boot Camp Death Trial (none / 0) (#41)
    by Aaron on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 04:54:56 PM EST
    The reason.... (none / 0) (#51)
    by Edger on Wed Oct 10, 2007 at 12:33:02 PM EST