ANOTHER Nail In bushies Cofin

The accusations were made by Lawrence Wilkerson, a top aide to Colin Powell, the former Republican Secretary of State, in a signed declaration to support a lawsuit filed by a Guantánamo detainee. It is the first time that such allegations have been made by a senior member of the Bush Administration.

Colonel Wilkerson, who was General Powell’s chief of staff when he ran the State Department, was most critical of Mr Cheney and Mr Rumsfeld. He claimed that the former Vice-President and Defence Secretary knew that the majority of the initial 742 detainees sent to Guantánamo in 2002 were innocent but believed that it was “politically impossible to release them”.

General Powell, who left the Bush Administration in 2005, angry about the misinformation that he unwittingly gave the world when he made the case for the invasion of Iraq at the UN, is understood to have backed Colonel Wilkerson’s declaration.

Colonel Wilkerson, a long-time critic of the Bush Administration’s approach to counter-terrorism and the war in Iraq, claimed that the majority of detainees — children as young as 12 and men as old as 93, he said — never saw a US soldier when they were captured. He said that many were turned over by Afghans and Pakistanis for up to $5,000. Little or no evidence was produced as to why they had been taken.

He also claimed that one reason Mr Cheney and Mr Rumsfeld did not want the innocent detainees released was because “the detention efforts would be revealed as the incredibly confused operation that they were”. This was “not acceptable to the Administration and would have been severely detrimental to the leadership at DoD [Mr Rumsfeld at the Defence Department]”.

Referring to Mr Cheney, Colonel Wilkerson, who served 31 years in the US Army, asserted: “He had absolutely no concern that the vast majority of Guantánamo detainees were innocent ... If hundreds of innocent individuals had to suffer in order to detain a handful of hardcore terrorists, so be it.”

He alleged that for Mr Cheney and Mr Rumsfeld “innocent people languishing in Guantánamo for years was justified by the broader War on Terror and the small number of terrorists who were responsible for the September 11 attacks”.

He added: “I discussed the issue of the Guantánamo detainees with Secretary Powell. I learnt that it was his view that it was not just Vice-President Cheney and Secretary Rumsfeld, but also President Bush who was involved in all of the Guantánamo decision making.”

Mr Cheney and Mr Rumsfeld, Colonel Wilkerson said, deemed the incarceration of innocent men acceptable if some genuine militants were captured, leading to a better intelligence picture of Iraq at a time when the Bush Administration was desperate to find a link between Saddam Hussein and 9/11, “thus justifying the Administration’s plans for war with that country”.

He signed the declaration in support of Adel Hassan Hamad, a Sudanese man who was held at Guantánamo Bay from March 2003 until December 2007. Mr Hamad claims that he was tortured by US agents while in custody and yesterday filed a damages action against a list of American officials.

Defenders of Guantánamo said that detainees began to be released as early as September 2002, nine months after the first prisoners were sent to the jail at the US naval base in Cuba. By the time Mr Bush left office more than 530 detainees had been freed.

A spokesman for Mr Bush said of Colonel Wilkerson’s allegations: “We are not going to have any comment on that.” A former associate to Mr Rumsfeld said that Mr Wilkerson's assertions were completely untrue.
The associate said the former Defence Secretary had worked harder than anyone to get detainees released and worked assiduously to keep the prison population as small as possible. Mr Cheney’s office did not respond.

There are currently about 180 detainees left in the facility.
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What Would Nixon Do?

by Steven D

Pretend with me for a moment that the following events, some of which have already occurred and some of which are scheduled to occur this April 19, 2010, might have occurred during the Nixon Administration in the early 70's. Then ask yourself this question:

What Would Nixon Do?

Imagine for a moment it is 1970, not 2010. Imagine further (though as we know this never happened) a large group of radical protesters to the Nixon administration descended on a National Park just outside the District of Columbia, followed by a march on the Capitol. Imagine that these groups stated their intention to hold speeches and rallies to Restore the Constitution from the "tyranny" of the then current President, Richard M. Nixon.

Now imagine that the organizers of this group were encouraging every attendee to bring with them and openly carry their firearms as a signal to their government regarding the seriousness of their purpose. Imagine further that one of the main speakers at this event was to be the leader of a group of individuals dedicated to defying any order by the federal, state or local governments they consider, in their sole discretion, to be unconstitutional. Imagine further, that this rally was scheduled to be held days after the FBI raided and arrested members of a heavily armed anti-government group which had plans to kill and murder thousands of law enforcement officers in an attempt to spark a civil war and overthrow the government.

Now imagine that the date of this rally was the same day a domestic terrorist opposed to Nixon's policies and the policies of his administration, who was considered a hero to many of the individuals planning to attend these rallies, had killed over a hundred people, including children, and wounded hundreds more, by exploding a truck bomb outside a federal office building. Well Nixon is dead, so we can't ask him, but we do know what he did do to unarmed antiwar protesters in Washington in 1971.

He called in 10,000 military reinforcements, canceled a permit the protesters had been granted to hold a rock concert in Washington Potomac Park and in the early morning of May 2, 1971 had police attack the sleeping protesters by knocking down their tents and firing with tear gas causing most of them to scatter and eventually leave Washington, Of those who stayed. some of whom participated in non-violent acts of civil disobedience such as shutting down streets and blocking intersections, the police conducted massive sweeps in which they arrested over 7000 people. Nixon also secretly told his staff that he supported the use of Teamster "thugs" to attack and beat up anti-war demonstrators.

Of course, this was not as horrific as the events of the May. 1970 Kent State and Jackson State massacres in which unarmed civilians had been gunned down by National Guard units at Kent State and by police at Jackson State.

Andn I suppose we don;t need to go as far back as the early 70's to get an idea of how Republican officials might respond to protesters. All we need to do is recall the mass arrests of thousands of New Yorkers and others during the 2004 Republican National Convention at which President Bush was re-nominated.



Continued>>>
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2010/4/7/84530/00988

Remember This When You Vote - republicans Fucked Shit Up Real Good

Made In America

Back in the good old days there were the Ford, General Motors and Chrysler.

All made in America.

I can remember even as a kid we all loved our country and we only bought American made products.Back then we didn't want to purchase products coming out of sweat shops, made by underpaid, unappreciated workers from foreign lands. We cared about human conditions but most of all we cared about America.

Our country.

Our people.

Our neighbors, friends and family.



What got me to wondering about this was over hearing a conversation the other day when a man said that he refused to shop at Walmart because he couldn't find anything he needed there that was "Made in the USA". The vast bulk of the products being sold nationwide at Walmart stores are manufactured outside of American borders.

But in all fairness, most other retailers are just as guilty.

I am part of the problem also Looking around my house looking at he products that I use all have origins from manufacturing plants in other countries.

Laptop comuter- China. And if you have the time to look through the owners guide, and read through all the boring bits, you will find a warning stating that handling the power cables will expose you to lead. No joke.

My suit - Syria. Cowboy boots - Mexico. Hiking boots - China. Sneakers (both pair) - China. Dress shoes (Cole Haan) - Mexico. Wrangler denim jeans - Mexico and Costa rica. My road bike - Taiwan. Mountain bike - China.RCA radio - China. Epson all in one printer, on the box you only see a California address. Could it be? Nope - Thailand. Space heater - Italy.Blender - China. Coffee maker - Mexico. Roller blades - China. Coats/Jackets - China, Mexico, and Qiz Jordan. Digital Camera - Japan. Well here is a ray of hope, the pillow I am resting on was filled in the US. The casing was made in China tho. My Springfield Armory 40 cal. SW.Springfield Armory of Geneseo, IL. On the slide it even says Springfield Armory USA. Made in Croatia.

I thought of what company would represent Amrica the best and I immediately thought of Harley-Davidson. Nothing says "USA" like Harley right?

What I found was disturbing.

Harley riding boots - China. Harley gloves - China.The Harley key fob my girlfriend bought for me - China. The tee-shirt I got when I purchased the bike - St. Loius?? Nope, thats where the design was put on the shirt. The shirt was made in Honduras.

This is sad.

Is it even possible to have a totally "Made in the USA" household anymore?

So look around and see what is made here. Let me know what and where I can buy American.
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republican Incompetence

If there is anything that the Republicans hate, it's losing. And when it came to the health care bill...Republicans lost big.

They had bet all the marbles on stopping health care reform cold and then convincing voters next fall that Obama's Democrats couldn't deliver. They were practically putting together the TV commercials: "Obama's Democrats promise change and deliver nothing..." "Democrats are all talk and no action..." "Even with big majorities in the House and Senate, Democrats couldn't convince Congress to support Obamacare." To their credit, they knew that if they stopped health care reform, they would cripple Obama's ability to pass anything in his program. But their strategy turned out to be a disaster.

The captains of the Republican ship -- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Minority Leader John Boehner, and the feckless Republican Chairman Michael Steele -- ran the Republican ship right into the rocks. Is it any wonder that the crew is beginning to mutter about mutiny? In recent days I have spoken to a number of Republican members of Congress who are not at all happy with the leadership of their party.

Of course you still hear pundits boldly predicting that the health care bill will be a hard sell with the American people. But I'll bet any one of them a steak dinner that by Election Day a vote for the health care bill will be a big plus in most contested districts. The reasons are simple:

* Because it's passed into law, Democrats are now the ones who will be in a position to demand that Republicans keep their "hands off our health care." And we can be very specific about provisions that go into effect right away.

Does Congressman Boehner really want to repeal the 35% tax credit that helps small business buy health care for their employees?

Does McConnell really want to repeal the provision that prevents insurance companies from denying benefits to children who have "pre-existing conditions?"

Does Steele really want to kick all the recent college grads off their parent's health insurance policies?

Does the Republican caucus really oppose closing the "donut hole" of coverage for senior citizen drug benefits -- or forcing seniors to send back the 250 check they will get this summer as a down payment on making drugs more affordable?

Do Republicans want to side with the big insurance companies and eliminate the provision that will limit the amount of our premium dollars that insurance companies can spend on CEO pay, armies of bureaucrats who do nothing but deny claims, TV ads and limousines full of lobbyists?

Doesn't sound like the high political ground to me - or to an increasing number of Republican Members of Congress.

* By Election Day, voters will understand that the campaign to gin up fear about health care reform was completely bogus. This is particularly true of seniors who will find that the bill did not - as the Republicans claimed -- cut their Medicare. In fact they will find that it has strengthened their Medicare - that the only thing cut was a subsidy to big private insurers.

* Let's face it -- after while it's hard to convince people that the sky is falling if pieces of the sky never crash through your roof.

Of course their management of the health care strategy isn't the only cause of alarm in the Republican cloak rooms. Their political operation is a mess.

Last week's disclosure of political expenditures for private jets and expensive hotels -- and the great bondage club after-party scandal -- are tough to explain for a party that claims to stand for fiscal restraint and "family values." And the return phone number on the Republican mailing that mistakenly went to a sex call-in line just made the RNC into a laughing stock. It's not good to be a laughing stock.

* Last week's PR disaster may turn out to be the tipping point that causes confidence in the Party apparatus to tank. Michael Steele has never been a popular RNC Chairman. He never did understand that the role of a Party Chair is to build the party organization -- not the Chairman's political profile.

Some politicians (think Ronald Reagan) were like Teflon -- nothing would stick. Steele is more like Velcro -- everything sticks to him. This is a real problem for the Party since it takes two thirds of the Republican National Committee to oust him in the midterm -- and it is especially difficult to do because he is the first African American Republican Chairman. All the Republicans need is to oust Steele and give the country one more example of how the Republican Party has been reduced to a narrow regional and racial enclave in a corner of America.

Of course, under Steele the RNC has spent like a drunken sailor (and not just at their favorite night spots). From July of last year to February of this year the RNC spent $78 million while they took in only $63 million. They spent 20% more than the Democratic National Committee over the period and their cash on hand dropped from $23.7 million last July 1st to $9.5 million at the end of February.

The RNC, National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) and National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) all had less cash on hand at the end of February than their Democratic counterparts -- and in the case of the House Committee the difference was enormous. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) had $20 million on hand while the NRSC had only $6.1 million. That's pretty amazing when you consider that Republicans in Congress spend all of their time defending America's wealthiest corporate special interests.

One key explanation is incompetence.

And that's one of the reasons Karl Rove, former RNC Chair Ed Gillespie, and other Republican heavyweights have set up a new, competing organization called American Crossroads.

But Republican disarray also has to do with the lack of skill with which their leaders have been able to hold together the major factions of the Republican base. Just last week Tony Perkins, head of the conservative Family Resource Council called publicly on conservatives to stop giving to the RNC. Referring to the bondage-club episode he wrote: "This latest incident is another indication to me the RNC is completely tone-deaf to the values and concerns of a large number of people they are seeking financial support from..."

The modern Republican Party has always been made up of two very different forces. The dominant partner has always been big business, Wall Street, the insurance industry -- and the wealthiest two percent of Americans. From a policy point of view, they have pretty much gotten what they've wanted when the Republicans were in power -- most notably a massive shift of wealth and income to them from everyone else in the country. They got the deregulation of the financial sector -- no matter that it led directly to the current economic recession. They got policies that reduced the power of organized labor to stop the flow of wealth to the very rich. And they got defense policies that generated hundreds of billions of contracts for their firms.

The weaker partner represented the rank and file of the Party: the conservative "movement" that cared about social issues like gay marriage and abortion, protecting their children from pornography and very often protecting their fragile sense of social status from the encroachment of minorities. The Republicans have done a great deal to give lip service to these groups, but these rank and file Republican soldiers don't feel that the party has really delivered for them. And, of course, like most middle-income Americans, they have lost ground economically in order to satisfy the demands of their big business partners in the Republican coalition.

That helps explain why many of the Tea Party activists are almost as unhappy with the Republican Party as they are with Obama and the Democrats.

As the social and geographic base of the Republican Party has shrunk over the last ten years, the "movement" portion of the Party has become more and more vocal -- especially among Members of the House.

We'll see a spotlight turned on this cleavage when immigration reform moves to center stage in the next few weeks. The business community has reached out across party lines and wants to fix the broken immigration system. And many Republican Party leaders realize that if they fail to compete for Latino voters - the fastest-growing minority in the country -- they will probably doom any chance the party has of ever returning as a national presence.

But much of the radical fringe of the Republican base does not like the growing presence of Latino culture in the United States, and that creates yet another critical problem for Republican leaders.

When it comes to immigration, the forces within the party favoring reform may find help from an unlikely source -- the evangelical religious community. Like the Catholic Church, evangelical churches have a massive institutional interest in appealing to Latinos, since the Hispanic community is the largest source of their own organizational growth. That may help tip the balance on immigration -- at least for some of the Republican leadership, like Senator Lindsey Graham, that understand the importance of this issue to the Party's future.

Of course you could have some sympathy for the difficulties of the McConnell, Boehner, Steele leadership team. Their own past record has saddled them with a very difficult long-term political problem. Increasingly, pundits tell us that the Republican Party has no program - they are just the party of "No." But this is really wrong.

The problem isn't that they don't have a program. The problem is that their programs led us into the worst economic and foreign policy catastrophes in half a century. Their problem isn't that they were unable to enact their policies. The problem is that they did enact their policies - and they were disasters.

The program of the Republican Party is the deregulation of Wall Street; it's the privatization of Social Security; it's doing away with Medicare and replacing it with vouchers. Their program is to stand up for the big Wall Street banks, the health insurance companies, the oil companies, and the very rich. Try running in the midterms on that program.

That's why they were reduced to being the "Party of No" in the first place. They couldn't very well offer their true policy alternatives, because they were politically radioactive.

But in times of difficulty, organizations need leaders who can rise to the occasion -- understand the building of coalitions -- take advantage of political opportunities -- and make the tough choices that are necessary for success in the long term. Clearly McConnell, Boehner and Steele were not those kinds of leaders. They've bungled every challenge they've faced, and that's why rank and file Republican officeholders are beginning to lose faith in their leadership.

Robert Creamer is a long-time political organizer and strategist, and author

Video U.S. Intelligence Tried to Suppress Reveals U.S. Military Cover Up

In 2007, two Reuters employees — photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen and driver Saeed Chmagh — were killed by a U.S. helicopter strike in Baghdad. The U.S. military’s official response to the killings argued that the attack occurred after security forces came under fire from men accompanying the reporters, and that the rules of engagement were followed in returning fire. Skeptical of the military’s claim, Reuters filed a Freedom of Information Act request for video of the killings, but was unable to get the videos from the military, despite warnings from the Pentagon’s inspector general that future shootings were “likely to reoccur” if the event was not closely examined.


During an event this morning at the National Press Club, whistleblower website Wikileaks unveiled that it has a video, obtained from unnamed military sources, from one of the Apache helicopters involved in the attack. The video, which has now been uploaded to YouTube and placed on a Wikileaks website dedicated to the incident, appears to show that the military’s helicopters attacked the Reuters employees unprovoked, apparently mistaking their cameras and tripods for weapons. The video does not show the victims firing on U.S. military personnel, nor does it show that they were any apparent threat. Watch it (warning — contains violent imagery):



If the video is indeed an accurate portrayal of events, it would appear that the military’s official response to the events is inaccurate and that it has not been telling the truth when it claims that the Apache attack “occurred after security forces came under fire.” Additionally, it would appear that the Apache pilots in question violated the 2007 U.S. Rules of Engagement for Iraq, which permit the use of “deadly force” only against individuals who “pose a threat to Coalition Forces by committing a hostile act or demonstrating hostile intent.”

The Wikileaks’ revelation strengthens the case for a thorough and transparent investigation into the events that led to the killing of the Reuters employees and Iraqi civilians.

UPDATE
Last month, the New York Times revealed that Wikileaks has been targeted by the Pentagon and related intelligence agencies for its cooperation with military whistleblowers. In 2008, the U.S. Army Counterintelligence Center put together a report outlining tactics to suppress whisteblowers, in which it cited Wikileaks by name as one organization it intends to “destroy [as] a center of gravity” for whisteblowing activity. Meanwhile, the Wikileaks founder has alleged that his organization is being intimidated and spied on by American intelligence agencies.

UPDATE
Reuters editor-in-chief David Schlesinger released the following statement: “The deaths of Namir Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh three years ago were tragic and emblematic of the extreme dangers that exist in covering war zones. We continue to work for journalist safety and call on all involved parties to recognise the important work that journalists do and the extreme danger that photographers and video journalists face in particular. The video released today via Wikileaks is graphic evidence of the dangers involved in war journalism and the tragedies that can result.”

The End Of The republican Party

The End of the Republican Party

Posted by saberjet22 in General Discussion

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/saberjet22/38
Sun Apr 04th 2010, 05:07 PM

 

AN EMPTY CAN MAKES THE MOST NOISE

After watching the behavior of the Teabaggers for several months I have come to the inescapable conclusion that they are nothing more than a gang of fourth grade bullies. They are uneducated beyond rudimentary communication skills, which leads them to be bigoted and susceptible to mass delusions. They are easily programmed, as can be seen by their signs (many misspelled) and their chants, which are often ludicrous. (Health Care Equals Tyranny).

Their existence and apparent flourishing are symptoms of the dissolution of the Republican party. This process is not an overnight collapse. It began with Nixon and really hit its stride with the illegal accession to the presidency of George the Stupid in 2000. But it is clear; the Republican party is disintegrating before our eyes. They have no leaders, they have no morals, they have no platform and no constructive ideas. They do have plenty of perverts and hypocrites. Not a week goes by when the public is not presented with a new Republican sex scandal.

The party is desperately trying to hold on to its “base,” which at this point is anyone who’ll vote for them, which is why the Republicans are welcoming the Teabaggers, who have found a home among the desperate and corrupt political hacks, which is all the Republican party has left.

It seems that all the Republicans can do now is obstruct anything and everything Democratic, hoping to prevent any progress from being made, in order to make the claim that the Democrats are ineffective, therefore people should vote Republican in the next election. This tactic wouldn’t fool a five-year-old.

So who do they have left? Sarah Palin (a money-hungry fool), Rush Limbo (an overblown bigot) Glenn Beck (a crazy idiot), and Michele Bachmann (Hahahahaha). I don’t think any of them is capable of saving the Republican party.

What we’ll see eventually is a weakened Republican party, (having finally repudiated the Teabagger Klan) too damaged to do anything, trying desperately to get back to the middle of the road, and the formation of a third party for the Teabaggers and assorted nutjobs, conspiracy fans and tin-foil hatters .
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Words Matter

Words matter to the GOP and apparently they matter even more when they are violent words. and the GOP seems to see it as a chance to turn out votes.

Sarah Palin told her Republican followers to "reload" and "aim for" Democrats, directing GOP activists to her website where they found a map of the country festooned with rifle scope cross-hairs over Congressional districts held by Democrats. Palin's rifle scope map is the kind of image one might expect to see in an ad for a violent, first-person shooter video game.

Chairman of the RNC, Michael Steele, issued a recent call to Republicans to put Nancy Pelosi on the "firing line" because of the health insurance reform bill. By using the phrase "firing line," Steele encourages Republican activists to think of the next election as an execution of the opposition or a violent killing.
These are just two examples of the picture republicans are trying to paint in the minds of those that make up their base, fueled by constant and never ending lies and mis-truths, they prey on the fears, weaknesses and insecurities of groups like the Tea Party or militias like the Hutaree.

An old joke says “The people are revolting” but revolting against what exactly? 

The role of the revolutionary is to have a vision. It is to overthrow a tired status quo, to liberate the enslaved – whether they are physically enslaved or whether they are bound to ideologies that no longer function. The revolutionary tends to be a free thinker, a liberal concerned with a fairer deal for all. The revolutionary wants to move us forward.

The new revolutionaries, however, have emerged from some freakish opposite dimension bizarro world. They are ultraconservatives, fighting for poorer health, poverty, ideological enslavement, wider gaps between the haves and have nots, the pre-eminence of ‘rights’ over needs, unlimited economic growth even if it leads to societal and planetary collapse and most incomprehensible of all believing that McShitstain/Palin was a good direction for America.

Their revolution is based in fear rather than vision. 

This ‘Tea Bagger’ revolution has nothing to do with what is really wrong, nor is it intended to fix anything. It is just a senseless acting out of what Robert Bly called the Sibling Society – a society populated by emotionally inarticulate adults of the late post-war generation who have come to be ruled by consumerism, professional, personal self interest and narcissism.

The end result?

Emotionally stunted or “half-grown adults”, intent on their own agendas, and incapable of fulfilling their parental, nurturing and leadership obligations to the next generation. In short, a society populated by a bunch of pseudo-adolescents who want everything all the time and who can’t think past their own childish tantrums to the damage they are doing.

So where are the real revolutionaries?

The ones who understand the complexity of modern life and the urgent need for change and are agitating to move us forward within that framework. The ones that give the average Joe common man a promise of hope.

The Republican Party is doing a great job in provoking a dangerous episode by making consensual governance impossible in a time of awful practical problems and challenges. They're in the process, right now, of transforming themselves from the party of "no" to the party of no decency, no common sense, no ideas, no conception of the public interest, and no respect for the traditions that they pretend to stand for, like due process of law.

In the days since the passage of health care reform, they've gone as far as inciting mobs to violence against their fellow congressmen and senators -- bricks thrown through windows, death threats made, coffins placed in the yards of their adversaries.






One day soon, somebody with a gun or an explosive device, someone with a very sketchy sense-of-self, and perhaps a recent record of personal failure and humiliation, is going to sacrifice himself by gong one step further to become the Tea Party's first martyr by shooting up a shopping mall or some other hate/fear induced act of violence spurred on by the terrorist republican party.

The consequences could be deadly.

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Let The Arrests Begin!

The criminal NSA eavesdropping program
By Glenn Greenwald

While torture and aggressive war may have been the most serious crimes which the Bush administration committed, its warrantless eavesdropping on American citizens was its clearest and most undeniable lawbreaking. Federal District Judge Vaughn Walker yesterday became the third federal judge -- out of three who have considered the question -- to find that Bush's warrantless eavesdropping program was illegal (the other two are District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor and 6th Circuit Appellate Judge Ronald Gilman who, on appeal from Judge Taylor's decision, in dissent reached the merits of that question and adopted Taylor's conclusion that the NSA program was illegal).

That means that all 3 federal judges to consider the question have concluded that Bush's NSA program violated the criminal law (FISA). That law provides that anyone who violates it has committed a felony and shall be subject to 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine for each offense. 

The law really does say that. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode50/usc_se... Just click on that link and you'll see. 

It's been obvious for more than four years that Bush, Cheney, NSA Director (and former CIA Director) Michael Hayden and many other Bush officials broke the law -- committed felonies -- in spying on Americans without warrants.

Yet another federal judge has now found their conduct illegal. If we were a country that actually lived under The Rule of Law, this would be a huge story, one that would produce the same consequences for the lawbreakers as a bank robbery, embezzlement or major drug dealing. But since we're not such a country, it isn't and it doesn't.

much more:
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/index...
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WTF is There Left To Recover?

Recovery? What is there left to "recover"? - Democratic Underground

Will we recover our domestic manufacturing base?

Will we recover living wage jobs that contribute to society-wide prosperity?

Will we recover a strong unionized work force that guarantees fair wages and protections for all workers?

Will we recover a thriving middle class that not only provides for itself but also makes socio-economic upward mobility possible for those at the bottom?

Will we recover a time when seeking to buying products "made in the U.S.A." wasn't an exercise in futility?

Will we recover a progressive tax system that sees the wealthiest paying a share not less than the working class?

Will we recover a strongly regulated capitalism that guards against the abuses of the greediest among us?

When the powers-that-be speak of "recovery", just what exactly do they think this "recovery" will consist of?

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Thank you, CODEPINK, for pulling the mask off the Turdmaggot

omega minifesto - Thank you, CODEPINK, for pulling the mask off the Turdmaggot

Thank you, CODEPINK, for pulling the mask off the Turdmaggot, at a theater in Beverly Hills. Next stop, Jay Leno Show. Lights! Camera! Treason! Fake Laughs! APPLAUSE on cue!!

Faux News, Meet The Press, corporate-owned cameras have to play along with the farce. Does the public? How would you feel in the presence of the nation's Premiere Traitorous Lying Slimeball, right up on the list with Limbaugh, Gingrich and Luntz? If you haven't seen the video, check out his readymade lies, as he attempts to accuse others of his own abuses, his own tactics.

How would you feel in the presence of this Turdmaggot, knowing how much damage and deceit and DEATH and DESTRUCTION he is responsible for? Ya wanna sit and play nice and wait your turn and ask him to sign your book to your dead wife, your maimed brother, your PTSD'd father, your depleted uranium toxified daughter? Ask if he got any cool looted mementoes from the destruction of The Cradle of Civilization?

Didn't think so.

A Feel Good Story For The catholics???

by John Amato:
Crooks and Liars
 
Bill Donohue seemed very proud of the fact that most child molesting priests weren't actually pedophiles in his words, but only guilty of abusing children who had achieved puberty. Doesn't that make you feel better about the Catholic Church scandals? Facts are facts. And he was very concerned that the Pope had been libeled because he said there was no proof in the case in Wisconsin that the Pope knew anything. Here's a good story about the case.
 
You be the judge. Either Cardinal Bertrone is covering up for the Pope or Ratzinger just couldn't be bothered knowing the what was going on around him. That seems to be the story the Vatican is sticking with. Everywhere the Pope served he really didn't like to be bothered by the small stuff.

As archbishop, Benedict expended more energy pursuing theological dissidents than sexual predators. Already in the early 1980s, one could catch a glimpse of a future pope preoccupied with combating any movement away from church tradition. Vatican experts say there is little evidence that Benedict spent much time investigating more than 200 cases of “problem priests” in the diocese, with issues including alcohol abuse, adultery and, now under the microscope, pedophilia.

Earlier in the show Donohue proclaimed that everybody could learn something good from the Catholic Church now that they are all cleaned up. Hey, they look like all those handsome priests from the Legion of Christ now. Nice and young with their hair parted just right. Larry King's panel was dumbfounded by Donohue's statements as any normal person would be.

Roberts: Bill is good but you cannot link homosexuality to a pedophilia crisis in the Catholic Church.
Bill Donohue: It’s not a pedophilia… most of the victims were post pubescent…
Roberts: You know…
Donohue: You’ve got to get your facts straight. I’m sorry. If I’m the only one that’s going to deal with facts tonight so be it. The vast majority of the victims are post pubescent. That’s not pedophilia buddy. That’s homosexuality.
Roberts: Bill, I don’t think as a person of faith that you really know what you’re talking about when it comes to a victim and a survivor. (crosstalk)
Donohue: It’s not of my opinion. Take a look at the social science data. I never said that most homosexuals are that way.
Roberts: No you just said that cut down homosexuals… (crosstalk).
Donohue: Yes! Practicing homosexuals.
--
O’Conner: Sorry Larry, at what age does somebody become, you know, post pubescent in America as a matter of ages?
King: What is the age?
Thomas: Ah… I don’t know. Let’s ask Bill. He seems to be the authority on post pubescency.
Donohue: 12, 13 years of age. Look, all I’m saying (crosstalk).
King: We’re out of time. We’ve just touched the surface. Now we’ve got Anderson Cooper coming on.

Heather: Good grief. Larry King really has been a worse wasteland than usual these last couple of nights. Tonight's show ended with Larry King allowing Bill Donohue to get away with saying this to a man who was molested by a priest as a teenager.

King: You want to get in? Sinead, go ahead quickly.
O’Conner: Can I just ask very quickly if that gentleman, sir I don’t know your name… just, I’m not quite sure what post pubescent means. You mind explaining that to me?
Donohue: Explain what?
O’Conner: What does post pubescent mean?
Thomas: Post pubescent…
O’Conner: What does post pubescent…
Donohue: Post pubescent means beyond puberty, okay? In other words you’re an adolescent and that’s what homosexuals do and most of them the molesters have been homosexuals in the Catholic Church (crosstalk).
Thomas: So the boys deserved it because they were post pubescent?
Donohue: Now if you want to take that conclusion, I think that’s scurrilous. I never said that. Why would you say that about homosexuals?
O’Conner: Sorry Larry, at what age does somebody become, you know, post pubescent in America as a matter of ages?
King: What is the age?
Thomas: Ah… I don’t know. Let’s ask Bill. He seems to be the authority on post pubescency.
Donohue: 12, 13 years of age. Look, all I’m saying (crosstalk).
King: We’re out of time. We’ve just touched the surface. Now we’ve got Anderson Cooper coming on.

Unbelievable. Bill Donohue is so desperate to bash gays and defend the Catholic Church that's he's willing to pretend that people who are attracted to 13 year old boys aren't really child predators. They're just gay.
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teahadist Redneck Douche-Nozzle Defends Michigan Militia

What an ass clown.

Check out the overalls and the condition of his trailer.

Then you have that dumb inbred cunt Sarah Palin telling teabaggers to pull over anyone with an Obama bumper sticker.

These people are out of their fucking minds.
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The REAL Threat To America

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THIS IS WHAT ARMED INSURGENTS LOOK LIKE
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The Lunatic Is On The March

The FBI arrested at least seven people throughout the Midwest this weekend, including one in Chicago's western suburbs, in what several reports are calling an apparent crackdown on a militia-like group of religious fanatics.

The suburban Chicago arrest happened in Clarendon Hills, where a person wanted by the FBI in Detroit was taken into custody Sunday morning.

The FBI raided a home in the 1900 block of Calumet Avenue in Whiting, Ind. Saturday evening looking for the same person, but it was not until early Sunday that the arrest was made, according to the FBI.
FBI agents shut down the street for several hours while executing their warrant, according to an employee of nearby Gusto's Pizza, who requested anonymity.

"They wouldn't even let us leave, wouldn't let us get no orders in or out," he said.
An FBI agent said the home's resident -- a caucasian man who lived there with his brother -- was suspected of making bombs, according to the employee. He said he saw FBI agents took several boxes out of the home, and take away at least two dogs.

The dogs "had been trained to do bodily harm," said the employee.
FBI officials would say only that the arrest warrant is sealed, and more information is not currently available.
However, the AP is reporting that raids were also made in two Michigan counties near the Ohio border this weekend, and two people were also arrested in northwest Ohio.

WXYZ-TV reported that one of the raids centered on a Michigan property where suspected members of a militia live. The station also reported that other militia groups are saying the raids are all connected -- but the FBI has not confirmed that.

The Detroit News is reporting that the FBI raids are targeting a Christian militia group called the Hutaree. Members of the group describe themselves as "Christian soldiers who are preparing for the arrival and battle with the anti-Christ," the paper reported.

There seems to be some confusion about who the FBI is seeking out. Mike Lackomar, who's involved with a group named Michigan Militia, told the paper neither his organization nor The Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia were involved in any way.

Lackomar called the Hutaree "a religious cult," which is not involved with the Michigan militia community, the Detroit News reported.

According Lackomar, members of the Hutaree group allegedly made violent threats toward Islamic groups, which may have prompted the raids.

Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/Reports-FBI-Arrest-in-Suburbs-Connected-to-Michigan-Cult-Hutaree-militia-89361672.html#ixzz0jX5la0jG

Start Your Grassroots Organization And Become Involved NOW!!!

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In the GRASSROUTE GUIDE Paul lays out a practical format to apply insightful, self-balancing principles of “high-energy” grassroots community organizing. Empower your grassroots group today!

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Oh The Hypocrisy!

The Washington Post today has a profile of Mike Vanderboegh, the 57-year-old former militiaman from Alabama who last week posted a call for people to throw bricks through the windows at Democratic offices around the country to protest their votes for Health Care Reform…

A radical libertarian, champion of getting big government off the people’s backs, his day job? Vanderboegh lives on government disability checks down outside of Birmingham, Alabama.

A few weeks ago, NPR did a fawning profile of Keli Carender, aka “Liberty Belle,” one of the founders of the tea party movement. Steve M. over at No More Mister Nice Blog digged into “Liberty Belle’s” background, and came up with some interesting tidbits:

Carender is an actress and improv comic — here she is in the cast of her sixth show for Seattle’s Wing-It Productions. And, gosh, what’s this? Why, it’s a list of arts grants issued by Washington State in 2009 — including $3,750 to Wing-It Productions! In order to fund that, Washington State had to take from some people in order to give to the other people!
But Carender’s never asked about that — or about the National Science Foundation-funded research project she worked on in 2000.

So, two anecdotes, which doesn’t amount to data. For that, try Bloomberg’s new poll (HT: TPM):

More than 90 percent of Tea Party backers interviewed in a new Bloomberg National Poll say the U.S. is verging more toward socialism than capitalism, the federal government is trying to control too many aspects of private life and more decisions should be made at the state level.
At the same time, 70 percent of those who sympathize with the Tea Party, which organized protests this week against President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul, want a federal government that fosters job creation.

They also look to the government to rein in Wall Street, with almost half saying the government should do something about executive bonuses. Supporters are also conflicted over whether private-enterprise elements should be introduced into government programs like Social Security and Medicare.

As an aside, watch for that euphemism for privatization, “private-enterprise entitlements” — it’s a new one to me.

Anyway, this all goes to illustrate a point I’ve made many times before: A central rule of the American political economy is that people are attracted to the idea of “limited government” in the abstract — and certainly don’t want the government intruding in their homes — but they really, really like living in a society with good, fully-funded services. They like what government does in the specific, even if they have an inherent suspicion of the idea of “big government” (the phrase itself was coined to counter liberal attacks on “big business”). That’s the reason the Right can’t argue honestly for its preferred policies. They can win votes by shouting about “government tyranny,” but when they try to mess with a program like Social Security, or cut the budgets that put cops on the beat, firemen into shiny red trucks or offer health-care to children or the elderly, they get clobbered.

They understand this very well, which helps explain their completely unhinged freak-out over a decidedly centrist approach to HCR.

Waiting To Inhale

The Open University of the Left will be screening the 74 minute documentary Waiting to Inhale on Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 2:30 PM.  This will happen at the Lincoln Park Library Auditorium Room located at Fullerton & Racine  Chicago IL 60601

Waiting to Inhale examines the heated debate over marijuana and its use as medicine in the United States. Twelve states have passed legislation to protect patients who use medical marijuana. Yet opponents claim the medical argument is just a smokescreen for a different agenda-- to legalize marijuana for recreation and profit. What claims are being made, and what are the stakes?

Waiting to Inhale takes viewers inside the lives of patients who have been forever changed by illness—and parents who lost their children to addiction. Is marijuana really a gateway drug? What evidence is there to support the claim that marijuana can alleviate some of the devastating symptoms of AIDS, cancer and multiple sclerosis? Waiting to Inhale sheds new light on this controversy and presents shocking new evidence that marijuana could hold a big stake in the future of medicine.

How Low Class Can bush Get?

It's a classy move on the part of the former president. While greeting Haiti citizens as part of the Clinton Bush Initiative for Haiti relief, watch carefully as GWB shakes hands with a Haitian and then wipes his hand off on Bill Clinton's shoulder.

I guess that's better than turning around for a squirt of hand sanitizer by a waiting assistant.

Maybe.

Sort of.

Not Feeling Well? You Can Be Marijuana Deficient

Scientists have begun speculating that the root cause of disease conditions such as migraines and irritable bowel syndrome may be endocannabinoid deficiency. 

 

 

For several years I have postulated that marijuana is not, in the strict sense of the word, an intoxicant.

As I wrote in the book Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink? (Chelsea Green, 2009), the word ‘intoxicant’ is derived from the Latin noun toxicum (poison). It’s an appropriate term for alcohol, as ethanol (the psychoactive ingredient in booze) in moderate to high doses is toxic (read: poisonous) to healthy cells and organs.

Of course, booze is hardly the only commonly ingested intoxicant. Take the over-the-counter painkiller acetaminophen (Tylenol). According to the Merck online medical library, acetaminophen poisoning and overdose is “common,” and can result in gastroenteritis (inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract) “within hours” and hepatotoxicity (liver damage) “within one to three days after ingestion.” In fact, less than one year ago the U.S. Food and Drug Administration called for tougher standards and warnings governing the drug’s use because “recent studies indicate that unintentional and intentional overdoses leading to severe hepatotoxicity continue to occur.”

By contrast, the therapeutically active components in marijuana — the cannabinoids — appear to be remarkably non-toxic to healthy cells and organs. This notable lack of toxicity is arguably because cannabinoids mimic compounds our bodies naturally produce — so-called endocannabinoids — that are pivotal for maintaining proper health and homeostasis.

In fact, in recent years scientists have discovered that the production of endocannabinoids (and their interaction with the cannabinoid receptors located throughout the body) play a key role in the regulation of proper appetite, anxiety control, blood pressure, bone mass, reproduction, and motor coordination, among other biological functions.

Just how important is this system in maintaining our health?

Here’s a clue: In studies of mice genetically bred to lack a proper endocannabinoid system the most common result is premature death.

Armed with these findings, a handful of scientists have speculated that the root cause of certain disease conditions — including migraine, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, and other functional conditions alleviated by clinical cannabis — may be an underlying endocannabinoid deficiency.
Now, much to my pleasant surprise, Fox News Health columnist Chris Kilham has weighed in on this important theory.

Are You Cannabis Deficient?

If the idea of having a marijuana deficiency sounds laughable to you, a growing body of science points at exactly such a possibility.

… [Endocannabinoids] also play a role in proper appetite, feelings of pleasure and well-being, and memory. Interestingly, cannabis also affects these same functions. Cannabis has been used successfully to treat migraine, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome and glaucoma. So here is the seventy-four thousand dollar question. Does cannabis simply relieve these diseases to varying degrees, or is cannabis actually a medical replacement in cases of deficient [endocannabinoids]?

… The idea of clinical cannabinoid deficiency opens the door to cannabis consumption as an effective medical approach to relief of various types of pain, restoration of appetite in cases in which appetite is compromised, improved visual health in cases of glaucoma, and improved sense of well being among patients suffering from a broad variety of mood disorders. As state and local laws mutate and change in favor of greater tolerance, perhaps cannabis will find it’s proper place in the home medicine chest.

Perhaps. Or maybe at the very least society will cease classifying cannabis as a ‘toxic’ substance when its more appropriate role would appear to more like that of a supplement.

republicunt Bullshit About HCR

The Monday after Congress passed historic health care legislation was a dark day for the right wing. Wouldn’t you be upset if you were doomed to live in a communist dystopia? Is there even a point in living once Nancy Pelosi kills every baby in America and your grandmother?

And by "upset," we mean certifiably insane. Here are the 10 most awesomely overwrought right-wing freakouts spurred by the passage of a bill that promises to extend coverage to tens of millions of the uninsured and curb some of the most inhumane abuses of the insurance industry.

1. Last week, Rush Limbaugh swore he would move to Costa Rica if health reform passed. Instead, he heroically decided to stay behind and fight for freedom, by telling his listeners they're in a death match with Hitler. “America is hanging by a thread. So we have to see what we can do with a thread. At the end of the day, our freedom has been assaulted. This is the kind of change that people did not think they were going to get when they voted for Barack Obama. Freedom must win the day."

Limbaugh goes on to slam Rep. Bart Stupak, whose decision to vote yes on the bill after squeezing an anti-abortion executive order from Obama helped Dems clinch the needed votes. "Stupak is no different than Neville Chamberlain, who came back with that little letter from Hitler: 'Oh, yeah, Hitler says no war between his country and ours.'"

Limbaugh followed up his outrageously offensive (but by this point run-of-the-mill) comparison of Obama to Hitler by mourning our democracy. It no longer exists, Limbaugh concluded, identifying the cause of its demise: our democratically elected Congress and president, of course. "They won because they held Congress and the presidency, and therein lies the lesson: We need to defeat these bastards. We need to wipe them out. We need to chase them out of town."

History is sure to smile on his selfless stand.

2. Glenn Beck, who warns that we're on the cusp of a socialist/fascist takeover on a daily basis, had to reach to do justice to the drama of the occasion. He didn't disappoint, wielding his vast historical knowledge to (unfavorably) compare the vote to the Gettysburg Address, Iwo Jima and the moon landing, Civil Rights and the heroism of the 9/11 first responders, before landing on a more appropriate set of analogies: the attack on Pearl Harbor; the St. Valentines massacre ("when the mob stepped in and cleaned things up!"); Chamberlain's meeting with Hitler; AND THE HINDENBURG!!!! "You see, being historic isn’t always a good thing," he somberly concluded.

3. Shock Jock Neal Boortz took to Twitter to make an even more wildly offensive comparison. “Nancy Pelosi will be grinning and laughing this afternoon. Today will do more damage than 9/11.” Think the people who sometimes pose as responsible lawmakers will denounce Boortz’ (and Beck's) outrageous exploitation of 9/11? No, because they're too busy doing stuff like this.

4. Anti-abortion terrorist Randall Terry is using his pull with the Pope to get Nancy Pelosi excommunicated, because helping pass a bill that will extend health care to more than 30 million uninsured Americans does not obviate her role in unleashing a vast fetus Armageddon. Terry and some other crazy people held a one-minute protest on the outskirts of St. Peter's Square outside the Vatican, bearing signs asking for Pelosi to be denied communion and excommunicated.

5. Operation Rescue’s Troy Newman channeled Glenn Beck and Boortz, comparing the bill to the moon landing, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Gulf War (he thinks it's not like those things), and the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the Clarence Thomas hearings, Pearl Harbor, and, of course 9/11 (he thinks it is like those things).

Then he says that passing a health care bill in a democratically elected Congress is tantamount to Soviet invasion, and calls for revolution: "March 21 did indeed change life as we knew it ... I won't forget the events of this day and while they heralded a change for the worst, I vow to be part of the revolution to unravel this mess."

6. Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association also offered a solution: shooting people.

... The last remedy left -- other than bloodshed -- is the 10th Amendment, which reserves to the states any power not delegated to the federal government. The central government is exercising a power that it does not have, and can only exercise by usurping that power from the states. State governments can legitimately and constitutionally decide not to cooperate with the central government on the legal ground that Congress has transgressed the boundaries marked out in our founding document. The central government is trespassing on the sovereign territory of the states, and the states have every right to throw them off their property.
Trespassers can be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Squatters can be evicted. If they won't leave, they can be tossed. And in the worst case scenario, if they won't surrender peacefully, they can be shot....

It's not as if in our divided, overheated political environment – where large segments of the population are armed and believe the government hates freedom -- calls to violence could go wrong.

7. FoxNation.com somehow resisted the temptation to dress Obama up like Dr. Giggles, and instead opted for this slightly classier hyperbole:


(click for larger version)

 

8. Matt Drudge splashed this headline across his site: “A day that will live in infirmary!" -- going for a combo of offensively uncalled-for historical analogy and really awkward pun.

 

9. As legislators prepared to vote, Sean Hannity wondered if that hour was when America turned on the path "completely towards" socialism. (Actually, you'll know for sure when Van Jones and Cass Sunstein knock on your door in the middle of the night and drag you to a gulag.)

 

10. John McCain, though, sketched out the scariest scenario of all: a lack of GOP cooperation going forward. "There will be no cooperation for the rest of the year," he threatened. "They have poisoned the well in what they've done and how they've done it." Oh shit, what if the GOP starts a campaign of mindless obstructionism, stalling Congress and making it next to impossible to pass legislation?

End republican Hate

The hateful acts that occurred at the tea party rally in Washington this weekend were not isolated incidents -- they are part of a growing pattern of violent rhetoric, racially charged imagery, and paranoid conspiracy theories emerging from the Republican party's grassroots supporters.





Republicans officials have contributed to this atmosphere with fear-mongering and coded racism, and they have actively courted this element of their party. It's time that Republican leadership is forced to address what it's helped to create.

Please join us in confronting Republican leaders and demanding that they take responsibility for tamping down the bigotry and hate among their supporters, and that they disavow the fear-mongering that leads to it. And please ask your friends and family to do the same -- unless we take a strong stand against this kind of hate, it will continue. We need as many people as possible -- of every race -- demanding that it stop.
Our members are calling on Michael Steele, John Boehner, and Mitch McConnell to do two things:

1. Unequivocally condemn bigotry and hate among your supporters, and make clear that those who embrace it have no place in your party and that you reject their support.
2. Make clear that you will not tolerate fear-mongering and coded appeals to racism from officials in the Republican party, at any level.

Here's the message we sent to our members today:

Dear ColorOfChange.org member,

It's time to hold the Republican Party accountable.

You've probably heard about Tea Party members shouting "Nigger!" at Black Congressmen during a protest in Washington, D.C. last weekend. One of the protesters spat on Congressman Emmanuel Cleaver, while another called openly gay Representative Barney Frank a "faggot" as the laughing crowd imitated his lisp.1
But Saturday was just the most recent example of the intolerance and hate coming from right-wing extremists this past year. At times it's been instigated by Republican leaders. When not, it's usually condoned and seen as part of a strategy to score politically. Either way, it's completely unacceptable and has to stop.
It's time to confront Republican leadership and force them to take responsibility for the atmosphere they've helped create. Join us in drawing a line in the sand, and ask your friends and family to do the same:
http://colorofchange.org/hate/

We're calling on RNC Chair Michael Steele, House Minority Leader John Boehner, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to publicly do two simple things:

1. Unequivocally condemn bigotry and hate among their supporters, and make clear that those who embrace it have no place in their party.
2. Make clear that they will not tolerate fear-mongering and coded appeals to racism from officials in the Republican party, at any level.

Republican leaders publicly denounced Saturday's ugly scene, but they failed to acknowledge that this is only the latest incident in a pattern of violent rhetoric, racially charged imagery, and paranoid conspiracy theories at Tea Party rallies.2 Many Tea Partiers aren't simply about dissent -- they use fear and hatred to assault the very legitimacy of our elected leaders. It's the worst America has to offer.

Despite this, Republican leaders court the Tea Party movement while methodically supporting, exacerbating and exploiting their fear and anger for cynical political ends.3 This is nothing less than a betrayal of American values, and it's up to us to force the Republicans to stop aiding and abetting this enterprise:
http://colorofchange.org/hate/

The Tea Party movement has been marked by racially inflammatory and violent outbursts since its inception a year ago. GOP leaders are trying to pass off this weekend's assaults on Congressmen Lewis, Cleaver, Clyburn and Frank as isolated incidents. But when so-called "isolated incidents" crop up again and again, a pattern starts to emerge. The examples are numerous.

At rallies held to protest tax day last year, Tea Partiers carried signs that announced "Obama's Plan: White Slavery," "The American Taxpayers are the Jews for Obama's Oven," and "Guns Tomorrow!"4 The Republican National Committee had endorsed the rallies, and RNC Chairman Michael Steele encouraged Tea Partiers to send a "virtual tea bag" to President Obama and Democratic Congressional leadership.5 After reports of the fear-mongering signs surfaced, Steele did nothing to distance his party from the lunatic fringe. He has even gone so far as to say that if he didn't have his current position, he'd be "out there with the tea partiers."6 Some Republican governors even planned a "Tea Party 2.0" for the following month in an effort to build on the rallies' momentum.

The Tea Party's venomous rhetoric picked up steam over the summer, when angry mobs flooded town hall meetings legislators had organized as sites for rational, civil debate on health care reform. After one meeting in Atlanta, a swastika was painted on the office of Congressman David Scott (D-GA), who had also received a flier addressed to "nigga David Scott." 8 Some protesters showed up at town hall meetings carrying guns, including at least one man who was armed at an event where the President was speaking 9. Again, Republicans responded to these tactics with silence, doing nothing to denounce them.

Similarly, there was no public outcry from Republican leadership when Mark Williams, a leader of the Tea Party movement, was exposed for having described the President as "an Indonesian Muslim turned welfare thug and a racist in chief" on his blog.10 Instead, members of the GOP continued to show up to and endorse Tea Party rallies. And as recently as Sunday -- the day that the historic health care bill passed the House -- Republican members of the House riled up the same Tea Party crowd that had earlier harassed their fellow members with hate and bigotry.

Our country deserves better than this. No matter what party one supports, we should all take strong action to support civil, honest, and respectful public debate. Can you take a moment to call on Michael Steele, John Boehner, and Mitch McConnell to denounce the racist rhetoric and fear-mongering that have been ongoing, significant characteristics of the Tea Party movement, and tell those who embrace these divisive and un-American beiefs that they have no place in their party, as members or leaders? And when you do, please ask your family and friends to do the same:
http://colorofchange.org/hate/

Thanks and Peace,
-- James, Gabriel, William, Dani, Milton and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team

   March 23rd, 2010
1. "Tea Party Protests: 'Ni**er,' 'Fa**ot' Shouted At Members Of Congress," Huffington Post, 3-20-2010

http://huff.to/atRmru
2. "10 Most Offensive Tea Party Signs And Extensive Photo Coverage From Tax Day Protests," Huffington Post, 4-16-09
http://huff.to/9Sgf3S
3. "Memo Reveals GOP Plan to Exploit Fear of Obama," AOL News, 3-4-2010

http://huff.to/c4ZOH4
4. See Reference 2
5. "Tax Day Tea Parties Officially Endorsed By Republican Party," Huffington Post, 5-15-2009

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/14/tax-day-tea-parties-offic_n_186788.html
6. "Steele: I'd join the tea parties," Politico, 1-15-10
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31177.html
7. "GOP govs plan Tea Party sequel," Politico, 5-12-2009

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22436.html
8. "Rep. David Scott's (D-Ga) office spray-painted with Swastika," Daily Kos, 8-11-2009

http://bit.ly/8YInIb
9. "Armed and Dangerous?" Talking Points Memo, 8-11-2009

http://bit.ly/LV1wb
10. "Tea party leader calls Obama a welfare thug," The Loop, 9-15-09

http://theloop21.com/news/teaparty-leaders-calls-obama-welfare-thug

So Now That HCR Has Passed - When Does rush Leave?

Back on March 8, Rush Limbaugh promised that if health care reform passed he would "leav[e] the country" in five years if "all that stuff" Limbaugh's been lying about starts happening.

So, now that the bill has passed, when does the El Rushbo "leav[e] the country"countdown clock officially begin?

President Obama and Dems FINALLY Kick Some republicunt Ass!

Reconciliation Package/"Fixes" passes 220-211. Goes back to Senate. Senators need to keep agreement to accept fixes. No public option.

House Passes Historic Health Care Reform Bill

House sends health care bill to Obama's desk
President to sign reforms into law; "fixes" still require Senate action

BREAKING
msnbc.com staff and news service reports
updated less than 1 minute ago
WASHINGTON - After well over a year of negotiations, setbacks, and political wrangling, the House has approved President Barack Obama’s top domestic policy initiative, sending a bill to massively overhaul the nation’s health insurance system to his desk to be signed and enacted into law.

The climactic chapter in a century-long quest for near universal coverage concludes with the House's approval of a bill to extend coverage to 32 million Americans who lack it, ban insurers from denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions and cut deficits by an estimated $138 billion over a decade.

Republicans voted unanimously against the bill, which they say constitutes a government takeover of the health care system, financed by a trillion dollars in higher taxes and Medicare cuts combined.

UPDATED AT MSNBC:

WASHINGTON - Summoned to success by President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled Congress approved historic legislation Sunday night extending health care to tens of millions of uninsured Americans and cracking down on insurance company abuses, a climactic chapter in the century-long quest for near universal coverage.

Widely viewed as dead two months ago, the Senate-passed bill cleared the House on a 219-212 vote. Republicans were unanimous in opposition, joined by 34 dissident Democrats. Obama watched the vote in the White House's Roosevelt Room with Vice President Joe Biden and about 40 staff aides. When the long sought 216th vote came in — the magic number needed for passage — the room burst into applause and hugs. An exultant president exchanged a high-five with his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel.

A second, smaller measure — making changes in the first — also passed later in the evening. It will go to the Senate, where Democratic leaders said they had the votes to pass it. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the legislation awaiting the president's approval would extend coverage to 32 million Americans who lack it, ban insurers from denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions and cut deficits by an estimated $138 billion over a decade. If realized, the expansion of coverage would include 95 percent of all eligible individuals under age 65.

For the first time, most Americans would be required to purchase insurance, and face penalties if they refused. Much of the money in the bill would be devoted to subsidies to help families at incomes of up to $88,000 a year pay their premiums.

AP:

updated 3 minutes ago
AP Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Summoned to success by President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled Congress approved historic legislation Sunday night extending health care to tens of millions of uninsured Americans and cracking down on insurance company abuses, a climactic chapter in the century-long quest for near universal coverage.

Widely viewed as dead two months ago, the Senate-passed bill cleared the House on a 219-212 vote, with Republicans unanimous in opposition.

Congressional officials said they expected Obama to sign the bill as early as Tuesday.

A second measure — making changes in the first — was lined up for passage later in the evening. It would then go to the Senate, where Democratic leaders said they had the votes to pass it.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35961584/ns/politics-health...

---

"Many are now speculating that the Republican MTR this evening will be a motion that offers the anti-abortion amendment from Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), the onetime leader of the key bloc of holdout votes. The Stupak amendment received support from 64 Democrats when the House first voted on it in November."

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/03/what-time-i...

Republicans tried to embarrass anti-abortion Democrats with reintroduction of Stupak Amendment. Motion to Recommit (MTR) failed, vote moved to the "fixes."

Stupak argued against Republican's motion strategy - said motion is not a "pro-life" motion, but a motion against health care reform. STUPAK: "For the unborn child, his mother will now be able to have pre-natal care... Vote NO on this motion to recommit."

Motion to recommit failed.

MSNBC reporting GOP House member yelled "baby-killer" at Stupak while Stupak was speaking.

I AM A FIghting Liberal - I AM Fed Up American

ORIGINAL SOURCE

You know, I've studied history, I've read about America and you know something, if it weren't for liberals, we'd be living in a dark, evil country, far worse than anything Bush could conjure up. A world where children were told to piss on the side of the road because they weren't fit to pee in a white outhouse, where women had to get back alley abortions and where rape was a joke, unless the alleged criminal was black, whereupon he was hung from a tree and castrated.

What has conservatism given America? A stable social order? A peaceful homelife? Respect for law and order? No. Hell, no. It hasn't given us anything we didn't have and it wants to take away our freedoms.

The Founding Fathers, as flawed as they were, slaveowners and pornographers, smugglers and terrorists, understood one thing, a man's path to God needed no help from the state. Is the religion of these conservatives so fragile that they need the state to prop it up, to tell us how to pray and think? Is that what they stand for? Is that their America?

Conservatism plays on fear and thrives on lies and dishonesty. I grew up with honest, decent conservatives and those people have been replaced by the party of greed. It is one thing to want less government interference and smaller, fiscally responsible government. It is another thing entirely to be a corporate whore, selling out to the highest bidder because the CEO fattens your campaign chest. They are building an America which cannot be sustained. One based on the benefit of the few at the cost of the many. The indifferent boss who hires too few people and works them to death or until they break down sick. Cheap labor capitalism has replaced common sense. "Globalism" which is really guise for exploitation, replaced fair trade, which is nothing like fair for the trapped semi-slaves of the maquliadoras. In the Texas border towns, hundreds of these women have been used as sex slaves and then apparently killed, the FBI powerless to do anything as the criminals sit in Mexico untouched by law.

For the better part of a decade, the conservatives made liberal a dirty word. Well, it isn't. It represents the best and most noble nature of what America stands for: equitable government services, old age pensions, health care, education, fair trials and humane imprisonment. It is the heart and soul of what made American different and better than other countries. Not only an escape from oppression, but the opportunity to thrive in land free of tradition and the repression that can bring. We offered a democracy which didn't enshrine the rich and made them feel they had an obligation to their workers.

Bush and the people around him disdain that. They think, by accident of birth and circumstance, they were meant to rule the world and those who did not agree would suffer.

Liberal does not and has not meant weak until the conservatives said it did. Was Martin Luther King weak? Bobby Kennedy? Gene McCarthy? It was the liberals who remade this country and ended legal segregation and legal sexism. Not the conservatives, who wanted to hold on to the old ways.

It's time to regain the sprit of FDR and Truman and the people around them. People who believed in the public good over private gain. It is time to stop apologizing for being a liberal and be proud to fight for your beliefs. No more shying away or being defined by other people. Liberals believe in a strong defense and punishment for crime. But not preemption and pointless jail sentences. We believe no American should be turned away from a hospital because they are too poor or lack a proper legal defense. We believe that people should make enough from one job to live on, to spend time on raising their family. We believe that individuals and not the state should dictate who gets married and why. The best way to defend marriage is to expand, not restrict it.

It was the liberals who opposed the Nazis while the conservatives were plotting to get their brown shirts or fund Hitler. It was the liberals who warned about Spain and fought there, who joined the RAF to fight the Germans, who brought democracy to Germany and Japan. Let us not forget it was the conservatives who opposed defending America until the Germans sank our ships. They would have done nothing as Britain came under Nazi control. It was they who supported Joe McCarthy and his baseless, drink fueled claims.

Without liberals, there would be no modern America, just a Nazi satellite state. Liberals weak on defense? Liberals created America's defense. The conservatives only need vets at election time.

It is time to stop looking for an accommodation with the right. They want none for us. They want to win, at any price. So, you have a choice: be a fighting liberal or sit quietly. I know what I am, what are you?

Of course, if Mr. Brooks wants to find some actual villains who actually smashed America-- real, live monsters enough to populate a 1,000 columns -- let him go read Barbara Ehrenreich or Richard Sennett on the subject of the relentless, shattering pressure that his beloved unfettered Capitalism’s remorseless race to the bottom has brought to bear on the American Middle Class.

Let him them leaf through David Brock and Frank Schaeffer to find a whole menagerie of his fellow Movement Conservative travelers who have risen to prosperity and power by pissing on the rubble of the American Dream left in the wake of Capitalism’s economic bulldozers. All while daring to call their treachery and fear-mongering Godly and Patriotic.

Of course, Bobo fucking well knows the truth; he just cant bear the way he looks when it stares back out at him from the mirror in all its wretched, horrifying glory.

So instead -- week after week, year after year -- David Fucking Brooks spends his tenure at one of the most powerful positions in American journalism making little Centrist finger paintings of imaginary hippies which somehow always end up miraculously absolving people like David Fucking Brooks.

Teabagers Are Such Pussies

Damn straight. While Jim DeMint is lauding the disgusting, bigoted teabaggers getting their hate on:

Republican Senator Jim DeMint tweeted that he was "grateful for the thousands of patriots who are storming the Capitol today protesting government healthcare and defending freedom." The tweet came at around the same time the racist and homophobic comments above were reported.

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH17) went on the House floor and soundly denounced the teabaggers and their full bigoted, homophobic, hate-filled display on Saturday.

Now I think it's time for all those congresspeople feeding into this frenzy to step in and denounce hate. Bachmann? Tancredo? Demint? Boehner? Pence? Foxx? King? Come forward now, and denounce the scary result of your fear-mongering.