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Announcement: Short-content feeds

Phillip Winn — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Sunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding.

Political Tidbits 3/29/06

Patfish — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 10:36:38 EST

Republican or Democrat, American or Foreign, the politicos are fine subject for speculation, rumination and a bit of derision Not Even Feingold Stuck Around One of the biggest giggles these past weeks across the political spectrum is Russ Feingold's attempt to boost his 2008 presidential campaign by offering a suggestion to censure the President for the NSA wiretaps.This is an act for which the American populace offers a collective ho-hum because, silly Americans, they have no problem with intercepting phone calls between so-called American citizens and terrorists abroad.Now Feingold is a Democrat and I watched his boring and politically expedient speech with my own eyes the day he suggested the President be censured. The most galling, the most despicable of all, even beyond the silly actions described below by the WAPO, has to be how Feingold didn't even stick around after his speech! Indeed he ran like the dickens because the beloved cameras were waiting. Democratic senators, filing in for their weekly caucus lunch yesterday, looked as if they'd seen a ghost. "I haven't read it," demurred Barack Obama (Ill.). "I just don't have enough information," protested Ben Nelson (Neb.). "I really can't right now," John Kerry (Mass.) said as he hurried past a knot of reporters -- an excuse that fell apart when Kerry was forced into an awkward wait as Capitol Police stopped an aide at the magnetometer. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) brushed past the press pack, shaking her head, and waving her hand over her shoulder. When an errant food cart blocked her entrance to the meeting room, she tried to hide from reporters behind the 4-foot-11 Barbara Mikulski (Md.). Hillary hid behind my own former Senator Barbara Mikulski? Mikulski's what, maybe four and a half feet tall! What a bunch of cowards.How About Those Saddam Documents?The government, under pressure from the Blogosphere and Congress, has begun putting non-classified documents on a web site available to the public.Government Site for Iraqi Document Release.Already bloggers have circled the wagons and mind-boggling revelations are pouring forth.Like this, from Laura Mansfield: March 17, 2006: Documents confirm Saddam Hussein government knew Zarqawi headed Al Qaeda cell in Iraq in August 2002 Documents released Thursday by the US government show that less than a year after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, Saddam Hussein's government had identified at least one active Al Qaeda cell in his country. Among the Iraqi documents collected by U.S. intelligence during the Iraq war amd released Thursday is a document, released only in Arabic, which the US government describes as follows: 2002 Iraqi Intelligence Correspondence concerning the presence of al-Qaeda Members in Iraq. Correspondence between IRS members on a suspicion, later confirmed, of the presence of an Al-Qaeda terrorist group. Moreover, it includes photos and names. But it gets better.FreeRepublic has an Arab translator, a delightful fellow who was quoted in the Boston Globe, who is working diligently to translate the documents. The site has compiled all of these translations for easy access and major media are checking them out.So far translated documents reveal that Iraqi intelligence officials met with Osama bin Laden in Sudan, that Saddam did have weapons of mass destruction with details on a meeting on how to hide them from U.N. inspectors, and that Russia was passing U.S. intelligence on to Saddam.Isn't it about time we look deep into what Saddam was up to via these documents and stop the teeth-gnashing over a war the vast majority of our elected representatives voted for?These translations are currently flying under the national radar but give it time. The truth simply cannot be ignored. Especially truth recorded, videotaped, and scribed by the enemy.Bloggers in the Cross Hairs of Campaign Finance Reform I cannot stomach John McCain, ever since the man stomped all over my free speech rights with that ridiculous campaign finance reform act, in conjunction with that great American patriot, Russ Feingold, I might add.Now McCain, aligned with Joseph Lieberman, is trying to quash so-called "grass roots" organizations. This would include bloggers.Oh. But only if your blog is read by over 500 people. So my personal blog would be exempt from whatever ridiculous rules the congress critters want to use to cripple ordinary citizens from Internet discourse. But Blogcritics, where I also post, will have to shut down political talk one month before an election. This is if the new law follows the pattern of that unconstitutional campaign finance reform nonsense.From Newsmax.com: The Senate is scheduled to debate lobbying reform shortly after it returns from this week's recess. While most congressional attention has focused on measures aimed at traditional lobbyists and lawmakers, there also have been attempts to impose restrictive new rules on grass-roots lobbying organizations. Senators John McCain, R-Ariz., and Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., are pushing a proposal to require these organizations to register and to report to Congress on their activities. Failure to comply would result in civil or criminal penalties. The proposal has grass-roots organizations understandably nervous. Using direct mail, phone banks and the Internet, these groups hail from all points on the political compass and portray themselves, not always accurately, as outsiders to the Washington scene. The underlying goal for every grass-roots operation is to mobilize an army of citizen activists to support their pet issues. Typically, they encourage the bombardment of congressional offices with constituent communications. Alerted and prodded, citizen activists daily send thousands of letters, e-mails, faxes and phone calls to Congress. Goodness we can't be bothering the vaunted congress critters with our emails and faxes. So they'll pass a law to shut us down.The California Lodi TrialIt's anybody's guess why the mainstream media is ignoring this ongoing trial of terrorists living within the U.S. Maybe these "American citizens" got caught via the NSA intercept program planning their treachery and goodness can't report about terrorists actually being caught by this program.From Little Green Footballs: SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A prosecutor says publications promoting jihad and a Pakistani militant group were found in the home of a Lodi father and son who are standing trial on terror-related charges.Hamid Hayat (hah-MEED' HY'-et) is being tried on charges of providing material support to terrorists by attending an al-Qaida training camp and separate charges of lying to the FBI. His father, Umer (OO'-mer) Hayat is also charged with lying to the FBI.The prosecutor told jurors yesterday that FBI agents found the items while searching the family home two days after the men were arrested last June. The Sound of SilenceDonald Rumsfeld penned his own op-ed recently and it appeared in The Washington Post on St. Patrick's day. So far, well how can anyone argue with the man?They haven't. By Donald H. Rumsfeld Sunday, March 19, 2006; B07Some have described the situation in Iraq as a tightening noose, noting that "time is not on our side"and that "morale is down." Others have described a "very dangerous" turn of events and are "extremely concerned."Who are they that have expressed these concerns? In fact, these are the exact words of terrorists discussing Iraq -- Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his associates -- who are describing their own situation and must be watching with fear the progress that Iraq has made over the past three years.The terrorists seem to recognize that they are losing in Iraq. I believe that history will show that to be the case.Fortunately, history is not made up of daily headlines, blogs on Web sites or the latest sensational attack. History is a bigger picture, and it takes some time and perspective to measure accurately. Democrat to Plead GuiltyScooter Libby lost his job over essentially nothing and this chick from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee pleads guilty to illegally obtaining Maryland's Lt. Governor Michael Steele's credit report.And Chuck Schumer, alleged champion of privacy rights, finds time to comment on everything but has no comment on this?From the Washington Times: A former Democratic operative will plead guilty to a federal charge of illegally obtaining Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele's credit report, the woman's attorney said yesterday. Lauren Weiner, who was a researcher for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) last year when she accessed the credit data, will plead guilty to the misdemeanor offense in coming weeks, said her attorney, Whitney C. Ellerman. She will likely be sentenced to 150 hours of community service with no jail time or fines, and her criminal record will be erased after one year of probation. Mr. Steele, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, said he would be disappointed if the DSCC is not held accountable for the actions of its operatives. "It is a stain on the entire organization and the operations of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee," Mr. Steele said yesterday. "It's the kind of politics that turns people off and demeans the electoral process." Selling Ocean Front Property in the Desert to the NY TimesIf the story pleases them, the NY Times prints it. Doesn't have to be true or anything and if it makes America look bad, well there you have it.In this case, they loved the story about the prisoner at Abu Ghraib pictured with arms extended while standing on a block. During the Abu Ghraib fizzle this picture was featured widely by the mainstream media.Below, heh, the raw and tragic story by this poor soul.The Lie Story Almost two years later, Ali Shalal Qaissi's wounds are still raw. There is the mangled hand, an old injury that became infected by the shackles chafing his skin. There is the slight limp, made worse by days tied in uncomfortable positions. And most of all, there are the nightmares of his nearly six-month ordeal at Abu Ghraib prison in 2003 and 2004. Such prose. This poor fellow has a limp and a mangled hand. All due to the mean American soldiers who so tormented him.Heh.The True Story A front-page article last Saturday profiled Ali Shalal Qaissi, identifying him as the hooded man forced to stand on a box, attached to wires, in a photograph from the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal of 2003 and 2004. He was shown holding such a photograph. As an article on Page A1 today makes clear, Mr. Qaissi was not that man. The Times did not adequately research Mr. Qaissi's insistence that he was the man in the photograph. Mr. Qaissi's account had already been broadcast and printed by other outlets, including PBS and Vanity Fair, without challenge. Lawyers for former prisoners at Abu Ghraib vouched for him. Human rights workers seemed to support his account. The Pentagon, asked for verification, declined to confirm or deny it. Heh.

Pat Fish is a pop culture and political pundit. When she’s not working on her own blog she contributes regularly right here on Blogcritics.

Pat lives in Delaware with her husband. They are owned by four cats, two dogs and one adorable granddaughter. Pat Fish is a published author and her books have drawn attention from her fellow reviewers on Blogcritics. Reviews of Memoirs of Josephine Fish and Mystery and Mirth have been conveniently provided for your reading pleasure.

Political Tidbits 3/22/06

Patfish — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 17:16:54 EST

Republican or Democrat, American or Foreign, the politicos are fine subject for speculation, rumination and a bit of derision Dubai Ports Deal-May It Rest In PeaceAlthough personally I think the congress critters could have held off for the 45 days they requested and engage in an enlightening dialogue on this issue. I recall during the Carter era the turnover of the Panama Canal to the Chinese and during the Clinton era the Long Beach ports turnover to the Red Chinese was groused about. To those who lambaste that no one ever said a word about those deals, oh yes they did. Except during those time periods the Blogosphere, email and other methods of easy mass communication had not reached their nadir. Also, America was not actually at war with the Red Chinese.Don't say it because I know it. We are not at war with the UAE either but if the politicos can't get a grip on the fact that a lot has changed in terms of Americans' perspective on these sorts of things than they shouldn't be politicians. Perhaps with a little prodding from the White House, the UAE eventually withdrew from the deal. Below is a snippet from the Wall Street Journal which delineates just such a terrorist incident involving ports that the American public was so concerned about. Experts have long seen ports as a vulnerable target and worried that terrorists might one day use the world's global shipping network to launch an attack. Their fears were deepened in March 2004, when two suicide bombers from the Gaza Strip stowed away in a false compartment of a shipping container bound for Israel. Israeli security officials believe that the bombers were targeting the port's fuel depot when guards discovered them. The bombers detonated early, and 10 people died in the explosion, including the bombers. The attack on the Israeli Port of Ashoda didn't prompt a security crackdown at ports around the world or in the U.S. Line Item Veto-Why Do I Care?One of the widely accepted tricks to get something passed quickly with little debate is to attach it as a provision to a budget package. An example would be to attach a proviso that drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge be banned to a budget bill for emergency funds needed for the Iraq war. So obviously the funds are needed fairly quickly thus the attachment should sail through.It's a problem. As I understand it, there was a line item veto passed during the Clinton administration but it was over-ruled by the Supreme Court as giving the executive branch unconstitutional power over the legislative branch.Well we can't have this but I'd softly suggest that the current rather sneaky practice gives too much power to the legislative branch. In the ANWR example above, the congress critters can essentially pass a law that the executive branch cannot veto due to how it was pushed through.As explained on Powerlineblog.com: In its 1998 ruling striking down the Line Item Veto Act of 1996, the Supreme Court concluded that the Act "g[ave] the President the unilateral power to change the text of duly enacted statutes." The Legislative Line Item Veto Act does not raise those constitutional issues because the President's rescission proposals must be enacted by both houses of Congress and signed into law. Which doesn't really explain much to me except that should the President strike out that ANWR provision, still working on my original example, then both houses of congress must then approve his changes or over-ride his veto.No matter how I mucked up the explanation, something has to be done to stop the practice of sticking desired legislation onto budget packages. It's blackmail, pure and simple. We'll be watching developments on this current Bush-backed line item veto legislation.Slobodan Milosevic Found Dead in Jail CellAs the Wall Street Journal's Online Opinionjournal.com describes the lovely Mr. Milosevic: As Serbian leader after 1989, Milosevic unleashed the ethnic furies that sparked the bloodiest conflicts in Europe since World War II. Yugoslavia was the West's great failure for most of the 1990s. "This is the hour of Europe," proclaimed Luxembourg's foreign minister, Jacques Poos, in 1991 when the Croats and Serbs came to blows. Yet not until after Srebrenica and its 7,000 dead men and boys in 1995 did the U.S. step in and lead an ineffective Europe to stop the fighting. Of course the conspiracy theories abound as with any death of the celebrated. Let us assume Mr. Milosevic died of natural causes. Had his heart not stopped the man would likely have died of boredom what with his war crimes trial going on for almost a decade.Can the United Nations do anything? For sure they can't fight a war. For sure they do nothing to stop human rights abuses what with the UN's own peacekeepers raping and pillaging. For sure, with Milosevic dead, they can't even run a decent war crimes trial. All things the U.N. was formed to do.Be glad the U.N. isn't trying the sweet Saddam.Gale Norton, Secretary of the Interior, ResignsPopular scuttlebutt has it that Gale Norton was not especially liked by the Republican base. First, she was viewed as being too liberal. Lately, with this Abramoff stuff coming to light, we discover that Ms. Norton was knee deep in the designation of Native American "sacred ground" that would allow such as casino money machines to be built upon. I suspect Norton was asked to leave. From KnoxStudio.com: WASHINGTON - Interior Secretary Gale Norton was expected to announce Friday that she is resigning from President Bush's Cabinet, ending a five-year run that included frequent clashes with environmentalists and American Indian tribes. Norton, the first woman ever to serve in the job, was expected to make the announcement Friday afternoon, according to a source who requested anonymity. From the start, Norton, a former Colorado attorney general, has been considered one of Bush's most loyal foot soldiers, using the position overseeing vast tracts of federal land and tribal areas to increase energy exploration. She faced fierce opposition from environmentalists, and in the early days of the Bush administration, it looked as if she would be one of the most divisive figures in the Cabinet. President Bush has chosen Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne to be the new Interior secretary. How Long Must We Be Fooled by CAIR Before We Get a Clue?The acronym stands for the "Council on American-Islam Relations". The popular hype is that the organization is the Muslim equivalent of the NAACP.Indeed CAIR officials are often invited to speak at official events involving Islam, and a CAIR official was part of the solemn ceremony memorializing the victims of 9-11 immediately after the attacks.Which is all well and good and in fact, the existence of such an organization as watchdog of the rights of Muslim American citizens is the sort of thing we encourage here in the melting pot of the United States.This does not mean that we should have to tolerate, in the name of diversity, an organization that speaks out of both sides of its mouth, a group that has members committed to the destruction of this country, a club that regularly raises money for terrorist organizations overseas and serves as a spy circle for their Mid-eastern thuggish leaders.Yes, it's a brutal description but at times we must open our eyeballs and see things for what they are. CAIR is no more an organization for "moderate Muslims" than the American Nazi organization is for conservatives.From the Middle East Forum: CAIR: Islamists Fooling the Establishment by Daniel Pipes and Sharon ChadhaThe Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), headquartered in Washington, is perhaps the best-known and most controversial Muslim organization in North America. CAIR presents itself as an advocate for Muslims' civil rights and the spokesman for American Muslims. "We are similar to a Muslim NAACP," says its communications director, Ibrahim Hooper. Its official mission-"to enhance understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding"-suggests nothing problematic.Starting with a single office in 1994, CAIR now claims thirty-one affiliates, including a branch in Canada, with more steadily being added. In addition to its grand national headquarters in Washington, it has impressive offices in other cities; the New York office, for example, is housed in the 19-story Interchurch Center located on Manhattan's Riverside Drive.But there is another side to CAIR that has alarmed many people in positions to know. The Department of Homeland Security refuses to deal with it. Senator Charles Schumer (Democrat, New York) describes it as an organization "which we know has ties to terrorism." Senator Dick Durbin (Democrat, Illinois) observes that CAIR is "unusual in its extreme rhetoric and its associations with groups that are suspect." Steven Pomerantz, the FBI's former chief of counterterrorism, notes that "CAIR, its leaders, and its activities effectively give aid to international terrorist groups." The family of John P. O'Neill, Sr., the former FBI counterterrorism chief who perished at the World Trade Center, named CAIR in a lawsuit as having "been part of the criminal conspiracy of radical Islamic terrorism" responsible for the September 11 atrocities. Counterterrorism expert Steven Emerson calls it "a radical fundamentalist front group for Hamas." It's time to stop fooling ourselves and to stop giving these people legitimacy. They are not on our side.Wow. This Is Big NewsFor what could be more important than one's very time of day? So next year Daylight Saving Time beings in March? And ends in November?Seems a good notion to harness as much daylight as possible but I also learn to keep watch under the political radar. This one crept up on me quicker than the UAE Ports deal.From Timetemperature.com: Currently, in the United States, Daylight Saving Time begins at 2:00 a.m. local time on the first Sunday in April. On the last Sunday in October areas on Daylight Saving Time return to Standard Time at 2:00 a.m. Daylight Saving Time Extended On Monday August 8, 2005 President Bush signed into law a broad energy bill that will extend Daylight Saving Time by four weeks in 2007. The provisions of the bill call for Daylight Saving Time to begin three weeks earlier on the second Sunday in March and end one week later on the first Sunday in November. Currently Daylight Saving Time starts on the first Sunday in April and ends on the last Sunday in October.In 2007 when the provisions take effect Daylight Saving Time will begin on March 11 and end on November 4, 2007. Talk About Flying Under the RadarI suppose Salon.com thought they had the scoop of the century. Seems a staffer to a Republican congress critter has been formally reprimanded by the military for his role in the abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison. The reprimand was based on the testimony of the most infamous of the Abu Ghraib offenders, Charles Graner. Of course Brinson is denying everything in Graner's testimony and has filed an official protest with the army against his reprimand. What's odd is how quiet the media has been about this. Abu Ghraib being one of their pet causes and all that. Read the whole article. Because if nothing else, it illustrates the army is following through with the investigation on this matter even without the media spotlight. From Salon.com: Mar. 10, 2006 | A senior staffer to a Republican congressman revealed Thursday that he has been formally reprimanded by the Army for his role in the Abu Ghraib detainee abuse scandal -- and that he is fighting the disciplinary move. He says that higher-ups were responsible for the treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib. U.S. Army Reserve Capt. Christopher R. Brinson, who in civilian life works as the deputy chief of staff for Alabama Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, was directly in charge of some of the military police later prosecuted for abuse at Abu Ghraib during the notorious autumn of 2003. Brinson received the reprimand in January 2005, but it had not been revealed publicly until his attorney, David P. Sheldon, confirmed it to Salon Thursday, noting that Brinson has since submitted a rebuttal to the Army. The attorney would not reveal the exact reason for Brinson's punishment. Tom Daschle for Prez?It's that time when those who dream for a shot at the top job on the planet tentatively make the soft suggestion. One such potential Democratic candidate testing those waters is Tom Daschle, former Senate majority leader, then Senate minority leader, then defeated in the most recent South Dakota election by the Republican challenger.There's a low-down and dirty story on Mr. Daschle. Which involves the mighty Native American reservations in South Dakota and the election shenanigans practiced there for too many years. The GOP put Daschle directly in their crosshairs and sent many wing-tipped Republican lawyers to Dakota land to monitor just why so many South Dakota Native Americans voted several times, even if they were dead! During this time there was plenty of media attention but it mostly fell under the radar. Almost every day yet another abuse of the "recruitment" of Native Americans for voter registration was revealed. With a little more honesty in the voting process restored, Daschle lost the next senatorial election as he likely should have a few times before.Now he wants to be President? Daschle has as much chance of being elected President as I do being the next superstar model. As for his chances of being the Democratic nominee, his chances might be a bit better. Soon the Democrats will realize that Hillary is not going to fly in flyover country, then who knows who might be plucked from the crowd? My own Delaware Joe Biden is too looking at that top post. Biden has a way better chance to clinch that nomination than Daschle. In my humble opinion, of course. From Yahoo.com: "I haven't ruled anything out or anything in at this point," Daschle said in an interview Saturday night after a hometown dinner in his honor."I'm encouraged by the strong support many people have voiced for my candidacy around the country and in South Dakota. I'll make a decision at some point later on this year," he said. The SupremesSo if you are a college that takes federal money than you must allow the military to recruit on your campus. To not allow military recruiters on your campus is not a protection of your collegiate free speech rights. At least that's the crux of the recent Supreme Court ruling on the matter.Many college campi did not allow military recruiters on site in protest of the military's treatment of homosexuals. Which would be the vaunted "don't ask, don't tell" methodology.The other side of the coin is why on earth the federal government should keep supporting these same institutions with this position.Consider the matter decided. From Fox News.com: The Supreme Court agreed to hear the government's appeal after a U.S. appeals court in Philadelphia ruled the law could not be enforced because it infringed on the constitutional free-speech rights of the universities. The justices reversed that ruling....

Pat Fish is a pop culture and political pundit. When she’s not working on her own blog she contributes regularly right here on Blogcritics.

Political Tidbits 3/15/06

Patfish — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 11:04:13 EST

Republican or Democrat, American or Foreign, the politicos are fine subject for speculation, rumination and a bit of derision New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin Imitates General HonoreGeneral Honore is some poobah in the National Guard who captured the whimsy of the country after storming into New Orleans with his tough words and in-charge attitude. He also made one of the more popular phrases of this year part of the national dialogue.I speak specifically of Honore's famous "stuck on stupid" comment that resonated, if ever, during the mess that was the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.From Sweetness and Light.com, we have a picture of the fine Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans, all dignified looking as he rides his horse down the streets of his city. How handsome is this fellow who left his citizens to drown as school buses sat up to their wheel wells in water, unused for an evacuation Louisiana politicos did not want to enact? Does riding that horse give Nagin the respect of General Honore? We thinks not. It only makes him look "stuck on stupid".Here's An Interesting Tidbit on AP's Famous Nothing Katrina Tape StoryRecall yon reader, if you will, Dan Rather, CBS, and those "fake-but-accurate" documents about Bush's National Guard service. Move on now to the recent AP story that had "secret tapes" (heh) of the weather service advising a group of administration types that the coming Katrina storm might "overtop" the levees.The "overtop" word being critical here. Because Bush had stated, before this big secret tape was suddenly "discovered" by the AP, that no one suspected the levees would be breached. First, that tape was nowhere near secret. Indeed a viewer can see before their lying eyes a whole bunch of news people in the room. If my ageing memory serves me right, I believe I saw that same news clip myself during all the Katrina brouhaha.Second, the AP called Bush a liar and they had this "secret" tape to prove it. Only the weather guy, who knows nothing about breaching at any rate, said the levees might be "overtopped".A breach is when you fill a bowl with water and suddenly a hole breaks in the vessel. All of the water inside will drain out. Overtopping is when too much water is poured into the bowl and the excess the bowl can't contain will flow over the top until at a level the vessel can contain.I'm no weather guy and I've no degree in engineering. But I can understand the difference between breaching and overtopping.Here's a video of that famous secret tape.From Wizbangblog.com, we discover some interesting connections between the bogus AP story and CBS.Note the authors in the quote below. By MARGARET EBRAHIM and JOHN SOLOMONWASHINGTON (AP) - In dramatic and sometimes agonizing terms, federal disaster officials warned President Bush and his homeland security chief before Hurricane Katrina struck that the storm could breach levees, put lives at risk in New Orleans' Superdome and overwhelm rescuers, according to confidential video footage. So Wizbang does some more investigating, God Bless America for Google searches. Tada! Guess who was a producer on 60 Minutes II. Read for yourself, copied from CBS' own web site. Margaret Ebrahim (2003) Producer CBS News, 60 Minutes IIWho is this woman and why is she always involved in such lies against this administration? And what kind of name is "Ebrahim" anyway?Speaking of the APFrom the Drudge Report, let us document for posterity that the AP did make a retraction. It's almost criminal that they lied like they did to begin with. In a March 1 story, The Associated Press reported that federal disaster officials warned President Bush and his homeland security chief before Hurricane Katrina struck that the storm could breach levees in New Orleans, citing confidential video footage of an Aug. 28 briefing among U.S. officials. The Army Corps of Engineers considers a breach a hole developing in a levee rather than an overrun. The story should have made clear that Bush was warned about floodwaters overrunning the levees, rather than the levees breaking. The day before the storm hit, Bush was told there were grave concerns that the levees could be overrun. It wasn't until the next morning, as the storm was hitting, that Michael Brown, then head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Bush had inquired about reports of breaches. Bush did not participate in that briefing. Dave Gregory Drunk on ImusWell I don't know if he was drunk, although Imus himself labeled him as such. Gregory was in India covering the president and hey, don't they have water pipes to use with interesting intoxicants in that country? The PA Bouncing ChecksFrom Little Green Footballs we learn that the Palestinian Authority is having money troubles. JERUSALEM (AFP) - The private Israeli firm that provides gasoline to the Palestinian Authority said a check for more than 22 million dollars bounced last week and announced it has stopped deliveries."A check for 103 million shekels (22.4 million dollars) made out to Dor-Allon was returned unpaid last week and we have stopped deliveries because the Palestinian arrears are accumulating," a Dor-Allon spokesman told AFP Monday.Amid the threat of a fuel crisis in the Palestinian territories, an Israeli official questioned by AFP said the "government cannot intervene in a matter involving a private contract." Heh.Elect a terrorist government. That's the ticket.Not to worry. The EU covered the check.Newt for Prez?From the times I've seen Newt Gingrich out and about the man has been anything but coy about his presidential ambitions. By me Newt has a chance to beat John McCain for the Republican nomination because so many conservatives are disgusted with "moderate" McCain.Below, Newt, founder of "Contract With America", waxes on about this administration's PR battle. Assuring us, we must assume, that Newt's the man to make it all right.From Opinion Journal.com: Here, flush with the recollection of his own accomplishments, impatience sets in. "So if you're asking me, is it possible to be inarticulate, confused and uncertain and win a major policy battle, the answer is no. Do I think the president, the House and the Senate -- if they systematically went to the country and laid out a positive plan that would make more sense -- could they win? The answer is yes."

Pat Fish is a pop culture and political pundit. When she’s not working on her own blog she contributes regularly right here on Blogcritics.

Political Tidbits 3/8/06

Patfish — Wed, 8 Mar 2006 06:44:13 EST

Republican or Democrat, American or Foreign, the politicos are fine subject for speculation, rumination and a bit of derision How Many Katrina Victims Could the Fitzgerald Investigation Help?It's a simple as this. Millions of dollars have been spent on the investigation into an administration leak of Valerie Plame's identity - an investigation based entirely on a bad premise, the premise being that a law was violated in that exposing the identities of CIA secret operatives, if knowingly revealed, is a crime. Only problem, Valerie Plame was not classified as a "secret" operative at the time her employment at the CIA was revealed, nor had she been a "secret" spy for five years prior. This is like the police investigating me for not putting oregano in my spaghetti sauce. Even if I should lie and swear I add oregano each and every time, and I am caught in that lie which is a crime, the original investigation was bogus and based on no law being broken.Couldn't we just investigate anyone for anything at all, hoping that they'll slip up and commit a crime during the investigation?This whole thing is silly, but frankly I blame George W. Bush for openly endorsing such an investigation when, boom, right from the start there had been no law broken. And if revealing that someone works at the CIA is more a breach of ethics than broken laws, then should we be spending millions investigating the matter? Are there ethics committees for such thing or dare I suggest that the voters decide is such behavior is proper? Of course Bush was right in the middle of an election campaign when the situation arose, flamed by the hysterical media. For political expediency, Bush agreed to the investigation.Every day we see pictures of the still-broken Gulf coast. We hear about Katrina victims being evicted from hotel rooms and we mourn the torn and wrecked former homes. Wouldn't it be nice if all that money fueling this stupid investigation could go to where it is really needed?The Fitzgerald response to Scooter Libby's request for justification -- based on the current law -- for the investigation, is arrogance that knows no boundaries. Just because it's mentioned in the indictment is no reason the defense has any right to it, or so goes the flawed Fitzgerald response.This case is going nowhere. Time to shut Fitz and his money machine down and give Libby his job back.From National Review: Last December, Libby's lawyers asked Fitzgerald to provide "all documents, regardless of when created, relating to whether Valerie Wilson's status as a CIA employee, or any aspect of that status, was classified" in the time period before the Novak column was published. Fitzgerald refused, saying that "We have neither sought, much less obtained, 'all documents, regardless of when created, relating to whether Valerie Wilson's status as a CIA employee, or any aspect of that status, was classified'" during that period.Later, Libby's team repeated the request. Fitzgerald again refused, saying, in effect, that the information was none of Libby's business: The defense also seeks all documents "relating to whether Valerie Wilson's status as a CIA employee, or any aspect of that status, was classified at any time between May 6, 2003 and July 14, 2003." Mr. Libby predicates his request on a single reference in the indictment to the fact that Ms. Wilson's employment status was classified during the relevant time. The defendant overlooks the simple fact that Ms. Wilson's employment status was either classified or it was not. If the government had any documents stating that Ms. Wilson's employment status was not classified during the relevant time - and we do not - we would produce them though not strictly required to under the doctrine of Brady v. Maryland. The defense is not entitled to every document mentioning a fact merely because that fact is mentioned in the indictment. How About That Crazy Colorado Teacher?Jay Bennish is his name and if he was teaching my kid I'd be out and marching to demand that this idiot be fired immediately. This guy's lecture was all over talk radio this past week and the more I heard the madder I got.Two things. First, as I think back long ago to my school days, I cannot ever remember a teacher acting like this guy. In fact, my memories of teachers are fond and happy. They taught their subject fluidly and hey, I learned. Now we have a nation of teachers educated in public schools, a minus right there, with mighty unions that protest against any educational standards that might prove their students actually learned something.Second, the United States of America is not a perfect country. But why is it all of a sudden some noble thing to hate, despise and propagate lies about it? Presenting an alternative point of view is one thing. Lying to impressionable young school kids is quite another.From the American Thinker, here's just one outrageous quote. Teacher Jay Bennish: Who is probably the single most violent nation on planet Earth?! Bennish: The United States of America! By whose standards is the United States of America the single most violent nation on the planet Earth? This is brainwashing, pure and simple. Don't we condemn Saudi Arabia and Pakistan with their extreme madrasses for creating the culture of hatred that will take at least a generation to un-do?The fine Mr. Bennish, teacher of our children I remind again, has been put on permanent leave. He should be fired. Immediately. Nothing in his hateful lecture had a thing to do with Geography, the subject Bennish was supposed to be teaching. Kudos to the kid, Sean Allen, who taped this nut.You know what really makes me smile about this whole incident? From now on teachers across the country are going to have to wonder "Are these kids taping me?" An act which is, until the mighty teachers' unions stop it, perfectly legal. Maybe these propagandists and liars disguised as teachers will, heh, actually teach the subject if they consider that their words might be heard that evening by concerned parents.A Funny Tidbit Were It Not So PatheticI've had this little tidbit in my in-box for quite a while. Seems the United Nations held a summit recently in New York. Seems one of the attendees spent quite a bit of dough while attending. Note the money amounts are in British pounds, which is almost half again in American dollars.Bono should read this story. For if ever there was an indicator of how poorly these African nations are led, it is the following.From the Times Online: Congo leader's �169,000 hotel bill Tony Allen-Mills, New York The leader of one of Africa's poorest countries paid more than �100,000 in cash towards a �169,000 hotel bill run up by his entourage during last year's United Nations summit in New York, according to court documents obtained by The Sunday Times. Aides to President Denis Sassou-Nguesso of the Republic of Congo startled staff at the Palace hotel on Madison Avenue by pulling out wads of $100 notes to settle a bill for 26 rooms. Sassou-Nguesso, who is chairman of the African Union, representing all the continent's governments, is negotiating with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to cancel many of his country's debts on the grounds that it cannot afford to repay them. Yet the president spent a week last September in the Palace hotel, one of Manhattan's most prestigious addresses. He paid $8,500 (about �4,875) a night for a three-storey suite with art deco furniture, a Jacuzzi bathtub and a 50in plasma television screen. His room service charges on September 18 alone came to more than �2,000. More than 70% of the 3m people in the republic - known as Congo-Brazzaville to distinguish it from its larger neighbour, the Democratic Republic of Congo - live on less than �1.15 a day. Our "Friends" in the U.N.I'm not enamored of this United Arab Emirates port deal, in particular the surprise with which is was sprung on the unsuspecting American public. So let's see just how great an ally the UAE is to the United States. How they vote in the United Nations: Below are the actual voting records of various Arabic/Islamic States which are recorded in both the US State Department and United Nations records: Kuwait votes against the United States 67% of the time Qatar votes against the United States 67% of the time Morocco votes against the United States 70% of the time United Arab Emirates votes against the U. S. 70% of the time. Jordan votes against the United States 71% of the time. Tunisia votes against the United States 71% of the time. Saudi Arabia votes against the United States 73% of the time. Yemen votes against the United States 74% of the time. Algeria votes against the United States 74% of the time. Oman votes against the United States 74% of the time. Sudan votes against the United States 75% of the time. Pakistan votes against the United States 75% of the time. Libya votes against the United States 76% of the time. Egypt votes against the United States 79% of the time. Lebanon votes against the United States 80% of the time. India votes against the United States 81% of the time. Syria votes against the United States 84% of the time. Mauritania votes against the United States 87% of the time. U S Foreign Aid to those who hate us: Egypt, for example, after voting 79% of the time against the United States, still receives $2 billion annually in US Foreign Aid. Jordan votes 71% against the United States and receives $192,814,000 annually in US Foreign Aid. Pakistan votes 75% against the United States receives $6,721,000 annually in US Foreign Aid. India votes 81% against the United States receives $143,699,000 annually. Take a gander at those other nations who take our money then stab us in the back. Ambassador Bolton's working on it but it's a tough row to hoe.Howard Dean Lie? Say It Ain't So!I heard the man with my own lying ears say, I paraphrase, "No Democrat has ever take a dime from Jack Abramoff".Heh.Now we discover, oh no, that not only have plenty of Democrats taken money from Abramoff or his associates, but that Howard Dean himself was also a recipient. From the American Thinker: Even the Washington Post has admitted that Abramoff did not work in a vacuum on the controversial Indian tribal accounts. The Post went so far as to publish a chart of what it called the "A Team." Among the recipients of campaign contributions from A Team members: Howard Dean.FEC contribution number 23991382452 lists a $1,000 donation to Dean by Greenberg Traurig lobbyist Ronald Platt, a member of the Post's A Team, on June 30, 2003. At that time, lobbyist disclosure forms show Platt as working with Abramoff on two of the controversial tribal accounts: the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, and the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana . The forms show that Platt worked on a third controversial tribal account, the Sandia Pueblo, with other A Team members but not Abramoff. Condi and ChavezHugo Chavez, another dictator "elected" and now enamored of Venezuela's oil wealth, is very angry at Condoleezza Rice. He warns her not to mess with him although one wonders what "mess" means and what ol' Hugo plans to do about it.We can thank Jimmy Carter, who never met a despot or dictator he didn't love, for verifying this guy's election. Once they get power, these thugs, they don't want to leave. I agree with Condi, such people are impediments to democracy.You think?From Captains Quarters: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez launched a new verbal attack against US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, bluntly warning her "don't mess with me, girl." Responding to remarks before the US Congress last week in which Rice called Chavez a "challenge to democracy" in Latin America, Chavez warned the top US diplomat to back off."She messed with me again," he said in his weekly "Hello President" television show, deliberately mangling her name as "Condolences." "Don't mess with me, girl."Last week, after her US Congress testimony, Chavez dismissed Rice as "the imperial lady." What, No Riots?Goodness one would think the British would be burning cars all over the place over the comments by London's Mayor Ken Livingstone. Who browbeat a Jewish reporter with accusations of being a concentration camp guard and worse.The Mayor was suspended. He should be "fired" although I suppose he was elected. Such inflammatory accusations are totally not necessary.From Powerline: London's Mayor Ken Livingstone, who exemplifies the curious affinity of the far left for Islamic extremism, has been suspended from his office for four weeks for asking a Jewish reporter whether he had been a "German war criminal," since he acted "just like a concentration camp guard." Livingstone refused to apologize for the incident. He also called the reporter's employer, London's Evening Standard, "a load of scumbags and reactionary bigots." On the SupremesCame across this tidbit and it struck home. For I once lived on a small cove off of the Chesapeake Bay, a beautiful spot of water that I loved with all my heart. And for which I cared for and cherished, taking my responsibility as a lessee of such natural beauty quite seriously.Put some self-important bureaucrats on the job and boom, we couldn't even plant greenery to prevent the erosion of the land which would, go with me here, add silt to that water where the waterfowl bred and fed.Even so, the biggest Supreme Court news this week is the Anna Nicole Smith hearings.Heh.From Sfgate.com: Future of nation's rivers, wetlands hinges on two key cases. Samuel Alito will make his Supreme Court debut with a splash this week when the justices hear two cases that could determine the future of the Clean Water Act. The cases, both from Michigan and scheduled for hearing on Tuesday, could have an enormous impact. For property-rights advocates, an unfavorable ruling could spread the shadow of federal regulation over every tiny stream and rivulet in America, stifling development. Federal agencies would be powerless to prevent "the discharge of sewage, toxic pollutants and fill into ... the large majority of our nation's rivers, streams and other waters," said clean-water agencies from two-thirds of the states, including California.

Pat Fish is a pop culture and political pundit. When she’s not working on her own blog she contributes regularly right here on Blogcritics.

Political Tidbits 3/2/06

Patfish — Thu, 2 Mar 2006 08:47:28 EST

Republican or Democrat, American or Foreign, the politicos are fine subject for speculation, rumination and a bit of derision Early 2008 ContendersCame across this CNS article regarding a straw poll for the two contenders in the 2008 presidential election. I am surprised although so far I like George Allen of Virginia. Don't know much about him, which would have to change come time to vote. I do know about Hillary and that's enough.My money's still on McCain as the GOP nominee.From Chuck Muth's archives: GEORGE VS. HILLARY "The 2008 presidential election will pit Republican Sen. George Allen of Virginia against Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, according to a straw poll conducted among conservatives over the weekend. The straw poll was conducted at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C."- CNS News, 2/13/06 Maryland Politics and Willie Don William Donald Schaefer is a very important politico in Maryland politics. He was mayor of Baltimore and Governor for two terms. Now he is the state Comptroller.All politics are local I understand but if ever a political sideshow is happening for the rest of the country to marvel at, it is in my home state of Maryland. Save perhaps the rush to get a GOP contender up against Beau Biden-yes, son of Senator Joe Biden- here in my new home state of Delaware. Where husband and I moved to get away from ...Maryland politics.Now I've always liked Schaefer and indeed, voted for him whenever he ran. He's a no-nonsense tough guy who cut his teeth on the Maryland political scene and now it looks likes he's going to die still fighting and wrestling for his beloved state.Indeed Schaefer is almost single-handedly responsible for the revitalization of downtown Baltimore, first bringing that city's vaunted "Harbor Place" to fruition then converting an old train station into Camden Yards, home stadium of my beloved Orioles. At times when the Camden debate was going on I wanted to throttle Schaefer. I worked in downtown Baltimore and Camden Yards was a big mess. "Move the Oriole stadium to the suburbs," went the mantra, mine included.Now Camden Yards is a beautiful inner-city stadium, right across from Harbor Place and has been the boost that dying city needed.We always called Schaefer "old light bulb head" as the man had a skull shaped amazingly like a, well a light bulb.What surprises me most is the recent flap over Schaefer's alleged untoward remarks directed at a female assistant of Maryland's Governor Ehrlich. The riff between Republican Ehrlich and Maryland's mostly Democratic legislature is the stuff of legends and I must wonder if this constant spat has anything to do with making a mountain out of a molehill.Because I know something about Schaefer that perhaps a lot of the world, at least the world outside of Maryland, does not know.I was married once to a Baltimore city police officer. Indeed I was and he told me that the Baltimore police regularly drove Schaefer's "gentleman friend" around for errands and delivered him to the home he and Willie Don shared.Williams Donald Schaefer has never been married but I know that doesn't mean anything. Still, it's like the worst kept secret in the world about Willie and his friend.Which, I must emphasize, does not or did not matter a whit to me. Schaefer was all for Baltimore, loved Baltimore, and once upon a time I too adored the city of my birth. Willie Don's personal relationships were never important and to his credit it was never an issue in Schaefer's politics.I mention this because I must wonder, surely, that Schaefer is likely "innocent" of the hysterical charges being bandied about by Ehrlich's people. Although he did ask the young lady to walk some more so he could watch her butt and that's hardly a nice way to behave.According to the Baltimore Sun, Schaefer did "apologize" to the young lady. By me, she doesn't have a thing to worry about. Seeking to put an end to an episode that made national news, Comptroller William Donald Schaefer acknowledged yesterday that he had embarrassed a young state employee whom he ogled during a crowded Board of Public Works meeting this week. Schaefer did not concede, however, that he had done anything improper in a barely legible, handwritten note he scrawled on official stationery and had delivered to Elizabeth Krum, 24, an executive assistant to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. "Embarrass you intentionally - never," Schaefer wrote in the note, which had to be deciphered for reporters by his communications director. "You have handled the 'affair' as a trooper. Sorry you were put thru this ordeal." He signed the letter, "Don Schaefer." Earlier in the day, Schaefer, 84, told television reporters that he did not have to apologize to Krum, who had just brought him tea, for telling her Wednesday to "walk again" as he appeared to admire her backside. He also chastised the news media for making a fuss over the incident. More McCain/Bush MoneyI mentioned the mighty movement of the McCain money machine in the last "political tidbits" column and now there's another indication of money gathering.For it seems that the McCain people got a hold of the Bush money list. And he's using it. And he's telling former Bush contributors to "please update your list".This is John McCain's last chance to run for the presidency. He's now a little over seventy and if he doesn't cast the gauntlet in 2008 he might well have to wait eight more years. By then he'll be close to 80. A bit too old for the American electorate, I would argue, and McCain has been fighting skin cancer.The fuel of politics is money and it looks as if McCain is stoking the monetary flames.From Robert Novak: Major political contributors to George W. Bush who have never given a dime to prospective 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain received letters, dated Feb. 8, asking for donations to the senator's Straight Talk America political action committee. Obviously using President Bush's direct mail list, the letter signed by McCain asks for $1,000 or $1,500 to support candidates agreeing with McCain on "key issues." It specifically lists "limiting federal spending, immigration reform, military readiness, global climate change, Social Security reform, reining-in lobbyists, reducing the power of the special interests and putting an end to wasteful pork barrel spending by Congress." Each recipient received a card to be filled in for McCain's files. "I'm asking you to update your file card," requests the letter, though the Bush contributors had no previous card in the senator's files. Washington Post Not Amused by Prize Writer Dana Milbank's TV CostumeI saw Dana Milbank the night he showed up dressed in bright orange hunting gear on MSNBC. It was a smirk and I didn't feel particularly offended.However, is this really the way an "impartial and unbiased, 'just the facts, ma'am'" reporter should be presenting himself. May I remind that Milbank's get-up was worn shortly after the weekend of the Cheney shooting when questions, logistics and timing were still unclear? In this case, Milbank's little wardrobe joke was totally inappropriate given his alleged unbiased reporter standing, but it was also displayed some poor timing. That orange shooting getup would have been very funny at least a week beyond the accident, when the victim was stable and known safe. Milbank does his little joke thing right around when Whittington had that small heart attack.Not to mention his ha-ha lends credence to the meme going all around that the Washington press corps were a bunch of crybaby prima donnas.Milbank presented himself as the benchmark for crybaby prima donna press corps behavior. We understand the Washington Post, Milbank's employer, was not happy. Dana Milbank can be controversial with readers. The Post reporter has his fans -- and I can be one of them -- but I think his appearance on MSNBC last week was a mistake in judgment.Milbank wore hunting gear -- an orange stocking cap and striped vest and gloves -- on Keith Olbermann's show Monday night and made several meant-to-be-humorous remarks about Vice President Cheney's hunting accident. Iranian Mullahs Raking in the DoughFollow the Money. It's as simple as that.For I've believed right along that the tremendous oil wealth of the Mideast is the very reason we've had nothing but trouble from that region lo these many years.Note that in Iraq, under its new constitution, the country's oil wealth is to be use for the general good of the country. This rather than allowing sweet fellows like Saddam to have control of this big money.Which is why I'm not surprised that the Mullahs of Iran have managed to amass such wealth as reported by KRSI.net.The quote below includes the Mullah at eighth and seventh place. Click the link for the rest of the list.These Mullahs arranged for the "election" of President Ahmadinejad and it is these Mullahs putting him up to his shenanigans on the international stage.Would these wealthy Mullahs nuke the world to protect their money? Who knows? - Iran Focus has obtained exclusive information from a reliable source in Iran throwing light on sleaze at the senior echelons of officialdom in the Islamic Republic. The source has provided Iran Focus with a list of senior officials of the clerical regime and the personal fortune each one has amassed. Most of these officials have risen from lower middle class backgrounds to fabulous wealth gathered through corruption and embezzlement. At eighth place is Ali Jannati, son of powerful cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati and a senior official in Iran's Interior Ministry. The Jannati family's private wealth is estimated at two trillion Rials, the equivenlt of $220 million. Senior cleric Ahmad Jannati is the head of the powerful Guardians Council and a close advisor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. At seventh place is Ayatollah Abolghassem Khazali, former member of the Guardians Council. The powerful council whose members are handpicked by the Supreme Leader is comprised of six clerics and six senior judges and has the power to veto any Majlis legislation. Khazali's estimated wealth is 2.5 trillion Rials, the equivalent of $275 million, coming mostly from sea trading, paper imports, and book sales. Getting Ready for Impeaching BushBecause any minute now Bush is going to make a mistake. Not to worry. We can count on 25 members of the House of Representatives being on the ball and ready to go.They've been wanting to impeach Bush since he was elected. Maybe this port deal will give them cause. After all, impeaching and removing a lawfully elected president from office is what they were born to do.From American Chronicle.com: APN) ATLANTA-25 US Representatives-including two members of the Georgia delegation-have now signed on as co-sponsors of H. Res 635, demanding a probe which could recommend Bush's impeachment, including the initial sponsor, US Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Atlanta Progressive News has learned. The current 25 total co-sponsors are Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA), Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO), Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA), Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA), Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI), Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN), Rep. Major Owens (D-NY), Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ), Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Rep. Fortney Pete Stark (D-CA), Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), and Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA). Ten Most Endangered House ImcumbentsSince we're speculating on the 2008 presidential race, let's reel backwards to an election coming up right soon.I refer to the 2006 midterm elections. From Political Wire.com: we've copied a list as compiled by wise political pundits.Note most of the endangered incumbents are Republicans. Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) Rep. John Hostettler (R-IN) Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-PA) Rep. Rob Simmons (R-CT) Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT) Rep. Mike Sodrel (R-IN) Rep. Clay Shaw (R-FL) Rep. Melissa Bean (D-IL) Ending On a Happy NoteWell at least I'm happy. I like Lynn Swann personally. Word is that the Pennsylvania GOP has endorsed Swann to run against PA Governor Ed Rendell.We hear Swann is a teary eyed at the prospect. From Yahoo.com: HARRISBURG, Pa. - Pennsylvania's Republican Party leaders endorsed former Pittsburgh Steelers star Lynn Swann for governor Saturday, virtually guaranteeing that he will be the candidate to face Democratic incumbent Ed Rendell this fall. "I haven't cried this much since I was inducted into the Hall of Fame," Swann told the applauding crowd as he wiped tears from his eyes.Swann, 53, was unopposed for the endorsement, which came in a unanimous voice vote during a meeting of the 300-plus-member Republican State Committee at a downtown hotel. Pat Fish is a published author and her books have drawn attention from her fellow reviewers on Blogcritics. Reviews of Memoirs of Josephine Fish and Mystery and Mirth have been conveniently provided for your reading pleasure.

Pat Fish is a pop culture and political pundit. When she’s not working on her own blog she contributes regularly right here on Blogcritics.

Political Tidbits 2/15/06

Patfish — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 11:00:36 EST

Republican or Democrat, American or Foreign, the politicos are fine subject for speculation, rumination and a bit of derision Funerals and PoliticsThis is the second funeral attended and orchestrated by mostly Democrats that I watched with my own disbelieving eyes.First was the infamous Wellstone funeral when all the Democrats in attendance (Wellstone was a Democrat congressman) carried on in a manner most inappropriate for a funeral. At least by my definition of a funeral which would be a solemn event for benefit of the deceased.The Coretta King funeral, just recently, was another. Although for this funeral I give some allowances. For many of the speakers at this King funeral were colleagues of King, or political buddies, as the case may be. While I might disagree with a lot of the sentiment expressed I can understand on some level that Mrs. King herself shared the passion and idealology of many who pontificated at her funeral. Mrs. King would probably approve, I surmise.I'm not at all sure about an ex-president spouting about wire-tapping, an obvious slap at the current president uttered at the politically opportune moment what with the NSA flap still rustling in the political winds. I must take a moment here and document for posterity the story of Jimmy Carter's sad presidency. I am old enough to remember it quite well. At the time I was a daring and dashing liberal. Carter's policies changed me forever.Let us document:-long gas lines-if your license plate ended in an even number than you got gas on even numbered days. Same with license plates ending in odd numbers.-mortgage rates upwards of 15-20% ladies and gems. I sat and listened to tears of those who dreamed of owning a home, who finally had the money for a down payment, who couldn't possibly afford such high interest rates. It was terrible.-let us not forget the mad bunny-the Iran-Hostage crisis. What a debacle. A failed rescue attempt. They held our American citizens for over a year! On the day that Ronald Reagan was inaugurated the hostages were released. Figure it out.-Carter himself bragging how he liked to start a fire in the fireplace then turn on the air conditioner. Wow, what a flap. Here we were sitting in gas lines for endless hours and this guy's wasting energy like this.-oh...and don't forget, no Christmas lights. Yes indeed. No Christmas lights the year of the gas lines to save energy. It was dismal.-non U.S. participation in the Olympics. They practiced all their lives for the moment, but U.S. athletes could not participate because of Jimmy Carter's failed foreign policies.-the man actually got on TV, in front of my lying eyeballs, and complained that Americans were victims of a "general malaise." Sure we were. Because of HIM.-voters across the fruited plains booted this man out of office first chance. By a huge majority I might add.Thus whenever I see Jimmy Carter pontificating I remember those "good old days." I get bitter as hell. What an utter failure.Back to the funeral. There was also that little tidbit between Hillary and Bill. Bill said, I paraphrase, "It's an honor to be here with past presidents (meaning Carter and Bush the elder), and the current president (meaning Bush the younger), and ..." At this point Bill faded off. The unspoken words were "and the future president," meaning Hillary standing by his side.Now this, yon readers, is an obvious political campaign ploy and by me it was in the poorest of taste at the King funeral.Hillary is entitled, by golly, to this country's presidency. Everyone knows that.It gets old.Preachers Protest SuperbowlHeld in Detroit this year, it was the first time this major uniquely-American sports event was held in a colder clime for many years. Some, it would seem, had issues with this.Birmingham activist lawyer, James Leonard Elsman arranged a "protest" of sorts outside of the stadium the evening before the event. More telling is the list of grievances the city of Detroit had with the event. "1. Few Detroiters, or even Michigan citizens, will attend. This is not an ostentatious wine-and-caviar town."2. Detroit is a failed city, with a 'Bling-Bling' immature and corrupt Mayor for a poor role-model, as it nears bankruptcy. Even Seattle and Pittsburgh have their own unemployment and social problems."3. Detroit does not have a team worthy of the name -- but a long record of failure under current ownership and management. What is there to celebrate?"4. The Michigan economy is at its lowest ebb in years, with the recent GM $9 Billion 2005 loss, Ford downsizing, and several companies in bankruptcy, e.g. NW Airlines, Delphi, and Kmart."5. Everyone knows that the homeless have been hidden away in Detroit shelters for the weekend, and that false-fronts have been put on many buildings, like a "Potemkin Village" in Czarist Russia. Real phony! Over $1,000,000,000 has been spent to earn $300,000,000 for private business and not one person has been helped. You just watch the local businesses complain about their losses after Sunday. False-fronts are not Detroit!"6. Detroit is plagued with AIDS, crime, drugs, and a high school educational system that will not be world-competitive for many years, because of generational problems. The city is full of Aid-to-Dependent-Children women and abortion-on-demand -- plus the suburbs as well."7. Sunday is the Sabbath for Christian Churches, yet many have had to close or shorten their programs -- for this heathen event. Super Bowl weekend will also affect Muslim and Jewish services."8. Porn stars like Jenna Jameson and Playboy Magazine will be hosting large parties. Prostitutes from the USA and Canada are flocking here. It is one big bacchanal -- a Roman feast to the heathen god of football, an excuse to get drunk and carouse and gamble."Elsman's list might be correct as concerns Detroit. Sounds a lot like New Orleans. So I must ask, just who is in charge of Detroit?Scooter Libby's TrialBy me the Valerie Plame fuss is a nothing thing and a waste of time and money. The woman was not under-cover so folks could talk about her all day and her job at the CIA and no law would be broken. Now we find out that Libby's trial won't happen until a whole year from now. This for a basically nothing charge having nothing to do with the original investigation. Let us not forget the monkey wrench Bob Woodward threw into the matter when he came forward and said that he'd been informed about Plame's status long before those dates mentioned by the reporters Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald bothered to interview.A nothing leak, with nothing consequences from which nothing can come from it. I note conflicting dates and pre-scheduled trials are part of the reason for the delay. I suspect Fitzie knows he's got a loser and is waiting until some time when the dust settles to drop the charges.From the Guardian: A federal judge on Friday set former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's trial date in the CIA leak case for January 2007, two months after the midterm congressional elections.The trial for Libby, who faces perjury and obstruction of justice charges, will begin with jury selection Jan. 8, said U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton. Walton said he had hoped to start the trial in September but one of Libby's lawyers had a scheduling conflict that made an earlier date impractical.Walton said he does not like "to have a case linger" but had no choice because Libby attorney Ted Wells will be tied up for 10 weeks in another case. Democrats WorriedScuttlebutt has it that Democratic party leaders are fretting that what with so many opportunities to jump on the problems of Republicans, especially with the Abramoff flap, they still failed miserably. The president's approval ratings did plummet with all the beatings but folks, go with me on this. Polls are most accurate during election years. Phone me up on a busy day two years after an election and hey, I'll tell you - yeah, I'm mad at the president. Approval ratings in non-election years are very subject to the mood of those polled whereas voters polled during election years know that soon enough they will be in that voting booth to put their money where their mouths are.Even with that, as these sorts of misleading polls are apt to do, the president's approval ratings rise the next time he makes a speech or any other positive. The Democrats are looking to pick up seats in the House and Senate during these midterms and are now lamenting that their attacks did not work. In fact, the approval ratings of congress is in the basement, a tidbit they never mention.What's more interesting, from Captains' Quarters, quoting the NY Times, is the difference in the success of the attacks as perceived by different factions within the Democratic party.Democrats described a growing sense that they had failed to take full advantage of the troubles that have plagued Mr. Bush and his party since the middle of last year, driving down the president's approval ratings, opening divisions among Republicans in Congress over policy and potentially putting control of the House and Senate into play in November. Asked to describe the health of the Democratic Party, Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said: "A lot worse than it should be. This has not been a very good two months.""We seem to be losing our voice when it comes to the basic things people worry about," Mr. Dodd said. Now get a load of Nancy Pelosi, Democrat minority leader in the House of Representatives, and how she perceived the current Democrat status.Heh. Ms. Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader, did not dispute that argument. But, pointing to the Democratic strategy in defeating Mr. Bush's Social Security proposal last year, she said there was no rush."People said, 'You can't beat something with nothing,'" she said, arguing that the Democrats had in fact accomplished precisely that this year. "I feel very confident about where we are."Remember Coleen Rowley?Rowley was, until the hearings by the Senate Judiciary Committee on 9/11, basically a nobody. Now she is a Democratic candidate for Minnesota's second district for the House of Representatives.I couldn't stand the sight of the woman as she testified with an off-putting smarminess. Rowley had written a letter to the head of the FBI regarding the Muslims in this country suddenly taking flight lessons. When this letter came to be known, Rowley was considered an "expert" on failures in our system.While Rowley deserves kudos for doing her job, and while her testimony on any failures in our bureaucracies was helpful, that's pretty much her only qualifications for any sort of elective office.Now she's proven herself to be a nasty candidate by putting a doctored photo of her opponent on her campaign web site. She took her opponent's picture in his army uniform and clothed him in a "Colonel Klink" Nazi outfit.Her opponent, John Kline, objected.From Powerline: Dear Mrs. Rowley, It has come to my attention that you have placed on your campaign website a doctored photo of me in which my military uniform has been replaced by a Nazi uniform. I demand that you immediately remove from your website that outrageous and disgusting insult to me, my family, and every man and woman who has ever worn a military uniform in defense of our country.No one knows better than I the rough-and-tumble of a political campaign, but we owe it to the voters not to cross the line of civility, respect and common decency. With regard to each of these, you have clearly crossed the line by portraying me as a Nazi. I demand a personal apology from you, as well as an apology to every veteran.Your attempts to smear my good name and 25 years of honorable service in the United States Marine Corps by equating me to a Nazi shows a lack of perspective, a lack of seriousness, and a lack of good judgment. You should be ashamed of yourself.Sincerely,John Kline Member of Congress - Minnesota's 2nd District. What a complete and silly lack of class.Saddam's Weapons of Mass Destruction From the Captain we learn that the House of Representatives will be investigating the matter of Saddam's missing weapons of mass destruction. For it seems that as a result of our invasion of Iraq there is a bounty of documents that for now, remain un-translated. Scuttlebutt has it that there's evidence aplenty about Saddam's weapons programs.The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence wants to reopen a question on what it calls "postwar" intelligence that both Congress and the administration would prefer to remain closed -- whether Saddam Hussein had WMD in late 2002. Its chair, Rep. Peter Hoekstra, says that mounting evidence and testimony point to Saddam's possession of the banned weapons prior to the final UN debates on the invasion, and that untranslated documentation holds the answer:Seethe Fatigue From Yahoo.com: KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Thousands of Muslims have vented their anger in seething protests around the world over satirical caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed, torching flags and effigies and clashing with police.From Nairobi to Kuala Lumpur, Istanbul to Islamabad, protesters took to the streets after traditional Friday prayers while political leaders scrambled for answers to a crisis that has exposed cultural and religious divisions. "Seething protests" is the current jargon to describe the very orchestrated rage as exhibited across the planet by Muslims allegedly angered by some cartoons published four months ago. Now we're not going to let this issue of Political Tidbits go by without at least one picture from the offending cartoons. And if the above cartoon hasn't caused enough seething, below is the cartoon published by the Washington Post that had so many Americans up in arms.The Americans didn't seethe enough to march and burn, however.Coming Up This WeekExecutives from Google Inc. and other Internet companies head to Capitol Hill next week, where they will become feature players in an awkward debate: Are U.S. companies giving in to China too easily?Last month, Google announced an agreement with the Chinese government to censor search results from its Chinese site. It was the latest Internet company to accede to the Chinese government's censorship restrictions, following Cisco Systems Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. Pat Fish is a published author and her books have drawn attention from her fellow reviewers on Blogcritics. Reviews of Memoirs of Josephine Fish and Mystery and Mirth have been conveniently provided for your reading pleasure.

Pat Fish is a pop culture and political pundit. When she’s not working on her own blog she contributes regularly right here on Blogcritics.

Political Tidbits 2/8/06

Patfish — Wed, 8 Feb 2006 07:57:50 EST

Republican or Democrat, American or Foreign, the politicos are fine subject for speculation, rumination and a bit of derision George Galloway-It's Serious NowGeorge Galloway is a British politician who, as revealed by this post on the man, likes to make a fool of himself.Besides his silly antics, the man is a liar and a thief. The United States government has the goods on this fellow and his involvement with the lovable Saddam Hussein. Galloway was hip deep in Saddam and Kofi's oil-for-palaces scandal and George lied brazenly in front of an American congressional committee looking into the matter.Thanks to Instapundit we find out that British investigators obtained many documents that are alleged to be proof of Galloway's complicity in keeping the Iraqi people under Saddam's oppression.This guy is such a jerk. May he spend many fine years in jail. George Galloway faces the prospect of a criminal investigation into his activities by the serious fraud office, which has collected evidence relating to the oil-for-food corruption scandal in Iraq.A four-strong SFO team returned from Washington with what a source close to US investigators calls "thousands of documents" about the scandal. The team is expected to produce, within the next four weeks, a report for the SFO director, Robert Wardle, as to whether a full criminal investigation should be mounted into UK individuals and companies involved, including Mr Galloway. Google and PornI watched Dateline on several occasions when child predators got caught. On camera and in living color.In every instance, as one might imagine, the predators were sickening.Yes they were lured by a decoy and a user posing as a child in various Internet chat rooms. But they thought it was real.There is a law on the books to protect children against these predators, the 1998 Child Online Protection Act. That law, however, is under challenge by the ACLU. Tough job, defending child predators.This administration is requesting that several of the major search engines provide a random sampling of one million searches over a one-week period.It's not clear, at least to me, what this sampling would provide or how it would help defend the law. I'm guessing the sample would illustrate, by the volume of searches for child porn, how serious the problem is. But it's just a guess.As for the random sampling, it's not as if anyone specific is targeted. Although it would probably be small matter to obtain email addresses from such a list. Google vows not to turn over any such thing and will fight the request vigorously.I can understand, on some level, Google's position. To willy-nilly turn over search requests would be a dangerous thing for a company whose main business is, well, Internet searches. People would not trust a search engine that they knew might turn over their search requests to authorities, even if on a random basis.On another level, there's nothing more precious than the children. They are our future. If they are in danger of being molested by strangers in their naiveté, it's up to the adults to protect them.According to the Dateline series on child sex predators, part of the problem is the perverts frequent those very web sites where children and adolescents hang out.One must marvel at how the ACLU manages to come down on the anti-American side of every issue. Now they're protecting child molesters.As for Google, well we shall see. From Zdnet.com: Feds take porn fight to Google Federal prosecutors preparing to defend a controversial Internet pornography law in court have asked Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and America Online to hand over millions of search records - a request that Google is adamantly denying. In court documents filed Wednesday, the Bush administration asked a federal judge in San Jose, Calif., to force Google to comply with a subpoena for the information, which would reveal the search terms of a broad swath of the search engine's visitors. Prosecutors are requesting a "random sampling" of 1 million Internet addresses accessible though Google's popular search engine, and a random sampling of 1 million search queries submitted to Google over a one-week period. Google said in a statement sent to CNET News.com on Thursday that it will resist the request "vigorously." The Bush administration's request is part of its attempts to defend the 1998 Child Online Protection Act, which is being challenged in court in Philadelphia by the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU says Web sites cannot realistically comply with COPA and that the law violates the right to freedom of speech mandated by the First Amendment. The search engine companies are not parties to the suit. Why Have a War When It's Easier to Kill Just One Guy?Iran's new slightly nuts President Ahmadinejad better watch his back. Because recently this fine fellow almost lost his head.Somebody wants Ahmadinejad dead. Make that a whole planet full of somebodies. I suspect this was an inside attempt. Lebanon's al-Manar Television, run by the pro-Iranian Hezbollah terrorist group, announced today that President Ahmadinejad canceled his trip to Iran's southern city of Ahvaz on Monday after a security tip warning him Arab dissidents planned to assassinate him with a series of bombings, World Net Daily reported.Two separate bomb blasts went off in the restive southern city of Ahwaz on Tuesday at the time when President Ahmadinejad was expected to give a speech:It Was Bound to HappenCindy Sheehan, mother of a slain soldier and darling of the anti-war left, announced her plans to run against current California Senator Diane Feinstein.This was before the great State of the Union debacle that had Cindy kicked out. Now she's really a hero.Of course and as expected, a web site has been created to promote Cindy Sheehan for Senator. Visit and contribute to the cause.Rumors on ReidI saw the show referenced in the quote when my own fine Senator Joe Biden acted all coy when asked about rumors on Harry Reid. Reid, the Senate Minority Leader, is rumored to be under pressure to step down from his position due to his contributions from the infamous Jack Abramoff.For now matter how often DNC Chairman, Howard Dean, declares that Democrats have never accepted a penny from lobbyist Jack Abramoff, campaign finance records show this to be a lie.This is a particularly juicy tidbit and, if true, will put the Democrats in a position where nothing they say will ever be believed again. Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE) failed today to address rumors that Nevada Senator Harry Reid will step down next month as Senate Minority Leader. Reid has been stung by revelations that his political action committee (PAC) accepted more than $60,000 in contributions from Indian tribes linked to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Appearing on CNN's Late Edition, Biden avoided discussing either the Reid situation or any upcoming changes in Senate Democratic leadership. Pat Fish is a published author and her books have drawn attention from her fellow reviewers on Blogcritics. Reviews of Memoirs of Josephine Fish and Mystery and Mirth have been conveniently provided for your reading pleasure.

Pat Fish is a pop culture and political pundit. When she’s not working on her own blog she contributes regularly right here on Blogcritics.