Sunday, April 01, 2007

HOW TO GET RICH? GIVE TO THE POOR

“Let us serve instead of rule, knock instead of push at the door of human hearts, and allow to each and every one the same rights and privileges that we claim for ourselves.” – Mary Baker Eddy

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds" - Albert Einstein



As we enter Easter and Passover season, let's think about some new ideas. I heard a radical new theory the other day on Thom Hartmann’s Air America broadcast. He said, “Why are we so hell bent on ‘economic growth?’ Why not ‘economic stability?” If economic growth means even one more cancer death, then I am for stabilizing the economy, not growing it. As home prices drop to human levels, wouldn't it be great if the average American could actually afford to buy a home without killing himself — without holding down two jobs, or having his spouse bring in the second income while the children stay in day care until 7 p.m. after a harrowing drive in rush hour?

This got me to thinking about Ted Knight’s favorite expression: “less is more.” He used to advise us not to mug for the cameras — and that there was more power in underplaying a scene. These were his acting tips in the beginning of Too Close For Comfort. I was too scared to look into his eyes, so I'd look at his forehead instead. He kept standing on his toes to get into my line of vision. Ted thought I was doing this on purpose, and the National Enquirer sent spies down to check out the tension on the set. They didn't call me a dumb blonde for nothing. (Actually I was just shaking in my boots with fear.)

'Less is more' could also pertain to this statement from the New Testament: “A soft answer turns away wrath.”

I believe that less truly is more when it comes to quality of life. In fact, lately I’ve been longing for a "pastoral life" (but without the sheep.) Growing our own herbs and vegetables, building furniture, downsizing, shedding excess... I've actually been making my own hand lotion and face cream (olive oil & glycerin) because I'm sick of the chemicals the big brands put in there. Who knows what we're putting into our bodies with 'Aluminum Silicate, Dimethicone, Triethanolamine, Methylparaben, DMDM Hydantoin... (partial list of ingredients in a major label hand lotion.)

Did anyone catch that 60 Minutes report a few months ago on the trend towards American "McMansions?" The new crop of millionaires in Texas and other red states are obsessed with acquiring larger and larger houses. There is nothing wrong with buying a beautiful house if you can afford it, but the couple they profiled lived alone without any children, in an 12-bedroom home with heated toilet seats, gold fixtures and underground parking. It reminded me of Aaron Spelling's 50,000 square foot hotel, er, I mean "home" in Holmby Hills, near Hef's mansion. This kind of conspicuous consumption reeks of "noveau riche" and used to be somewhat embarrassing, Rhode Island aside. It is certainly not something to brag about. What kind of values are we teaching our children? I personally would never again drive a showy or flashy car — and I’d be mortified to live in a huge, ostentatious mansion. It lacks class. Sorry but it's unseemly and selfish in this day and age.

It is also true that abiding by PRINCIPLE really pays off: if you treat your employees well, they will strive for you; they will be more loyal and more dependable. Costco, Best Buy, Starbucks, Trader Joes and Google all pay great benefits and overtime; they have proven that companies who really do the right thing, are rewarded by the laws of the universe. To me this proves there is “goodness in the universe” – and that the Golden Rule works! Honestly, when I walk into Trader Joes or Costco, the employees seem to be dancing with joy! It's contagious. On the other hand Circuit City keeps wages low, somehwere around $8 dollars an hour, just above minimum wage. they fire employees in order to hire new ones at lower wages. Guess what? Circuit city is failing. WalMart uses similar tactics; though they brag they donate more money to charity than any other company, they are not fooling smart people. Charitable donations are tax write-offs; why don't they put all that money into employee health care instead?

I love Stephen Covey’s book “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” which basically proves that in business, if you abide by certain fundamental principles of justice, honesty and kindness — and seek to understand rather than to be understood (in other words, if you do the right thing) everyone is happy, wealth is created and harmony prevails.

To me this principle is most clearly and mysteriously propelled by “giving to the poor” or tithing.

But in a country such as ours, where corporations are given huge tax breaks and executives get million dollar bonuses, hoarding wealth at the top levels does not "trickle down." The government must step in and help the middle class and the poor. We can’t leave it up to the churches and synagogues to take care of the "least among us," as Christ admonished.

The day I started seeing the world through other people’s eyes and feeling other’s pain, is the day I can honestly say I became more progressive, inclusive, democratic, less fearful of the "other." In other words, I was a Republican and then I got sober. I put a toe into the water of compassion and unselfishness because I wasn’t quite ready to be "too good" yet. Narcissism had taken me through the prehistoric era, the heady days of TV stardom, which coincided with the Reagan era while I was drinking heavily — and it was a hard habit to break. But at least I began to suspect other people existed in the universe, and not just to serve me. I began to suspect that there were other humans on earth with feelings, wants and needs. To those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, count your blessings.

Anyway, all sorts of wonderful things opened up when I started caring about others, tithing, giving things away. I even offered to drive my sister to the airport — an unheard of gesture in L.A. in the 90’s. Every time I would give, I would receive. Soon, an abundance of riches flowed into my life. Wayne Dyer, in his bestselling book “You’ll See it When You Believe It,” says that the magic of tithing actually is a law in the universe and works like clockwork. Every single time he sent out 10% to charity of any income that came in, his income rose exponentially.

And now, the deeper my faith in God grows, the more I become a liberal — oops I mean "progressive" (the old word was 'liberal" but that word has been sadly demonized.

By the way, LIBERAL IS NOT A DIRTY WORD; it's a beautiful word! It means "generous, bounteous, freedom loving, protecting of civil liberties."

Courtesy of Carl at SimplyLeftBehind "Liberals got women the right to vote. Liberals got African-Americans the right to vote. Liberals created Social Security and lifted millions of elderly people out of poverty. Liberals ended segregation. Liberals passed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act. Liberals created Medicare. Liberals passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act. What did Conservatives do? They opposed them on every one of those things...every one! So when you try to hurl that label at my feet, 'Liberal,' as if it were something to be ashamed of, something dirty, something to run away from, it won't work, Senator, because I will pick up that label and I will wear it as a badge of honor." -- Matt Santos, The West Wing

Despite thirty years of 'liberal-bashing as blood sport' on AM Talk Radio via Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Michael Savage, Sean Hannity, etc — I believe GOOD CONSERVATIVES ARE LIBERALS AT HEART. Obviously, anyone who's paying any attention knows FOX News should have its license revoked for being a propaganda news network. I don't mean Fox Primetime or Fox Entertainment Network, but Fox News Division. Billionaire owner Rupert Murdoch admitted he tried to use his news channel to sway public opinion for a rush to war. Why isn't it a crime to pretend to be are a "fair and balanced" news broadcast, whose sole purpose is to deceive and manipulate viewers? My radio co-host Doug Basham said something very wise: "If Fox News thinks the media has a liberal bias, why aren't they showing us all the good news out of Iraq and the Bush administration? Why aren't they showing any other pictures, taken by their own "news" team?" BECAUSE THE TRUTH HAS A LIBERAL BIAS, that's why. It's hard to camoflage the truth, but they sure are trying.

The very idea of “conservatism” is antithetical to the Christ idea of loving ones neighbor as oneself, not judging others, blessing ones enemies, turning the other cheek, giving to the poor, giving one’s cloak, washing the feet of the lepers... in other words, 'love conqering fear.'

Conservative means "cautious, restrained, opposed to change." Sounds fear-based to me. And Christ said, "Love casts out fear." If the definition of God is Love, doesn't this mean that if you have faith in God you have nothing to fear? So tell me again, why are we at war with terror if we have faith in God? (The fundamentalist Christian right-wing agenda according to George Bush, Tony Perkins, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, James D. Kennedy, Ann Coulter, Dick Cheney, James Dobson, Ted Haggart and the most dangerous pastor in America - John Hagee - who is advocating war with Iran! (Please read my expose on Hagee in last week's archives.)

I’ll probably get into a lot of trouble for speaking out against the Pharisees, but I have prayed deeply about this and been given a “revelation” of my own. When Jesus said, “I am the way, the path… no one comes to the father but by me,” he meant LOVE is the way and the path. He meant that he who hates his neighbor, can’t forgive his brother, declares war against his enemies, retaliates in the “an eye for an eye” Old Testament way — or who judges others while ignoring his own pride and the plank in his own eye – is not ready yet for the kingdom.

For all the people who use the LaHaye-Jenkins Left Behind books as their bible — the only people who are going to be “left behind” are the ones who think others will be left behind! I don’t say that to be cruel, but here’s how it works: since God is love, the people whom militant “Christians” ostracize and judge so harshly — in other words, the peacemakers, the anti-war activists, the “meek,” the outcasts (even gays and God-forbid, liberals!) and anyone who loves his enemy — will be in heaven before the exclusionists will be. But what I mean is this: since God is Love, and the kingdom of heaven is within, then it’s obvious, isn’t it, that those who don’t have love in their hearts will not be “entering heaven?” To attain heaven means filling our hearts with so much love, love is all we see. Love is God and the Kingdom is within us, as Christ clearly states.

In fact, those who abide in love have already reached the kingdom, because it is within them -- regardless of whether or not they have accepted Jesus "in name" as their savior. He couldn't have cared less if you were Hindu, Muslim or Jewish - or vowed faith in his Jesusness, his personality or name. In fact, he didn't want us to worship him.

There are 70 million Evangelical Christians in America right now, and many sadly believe in the Left Behind revenge fantasy books, which hope to hurry up the end of the world in a blood bath of catastrophic proportions. These books promote the theory that good Christians will be raptured or “caught up” with Christ in heaven, leaving their eyeglasses and everyone else behind — everyone who didn't technically declare Jesus Christ as their savior. I guess that includes the unborn! This theory, believe it or not, might actually be determining America's current foreign policy in the Middle East. The Evangelical market is so big now corporate America doesn't dare ignore it. But I believe this brand of evangelism is not only severley misguided, but dangerous and sophomoric.

The word "Rapture" is not found in the Bible. There is also no single word used by the biblical authors to describe the prophetic factors which comprise the doctrine. A mere human being invented the ‘Rapture’ theory in the 1800s. It is an extremely divisive man-made theory. It was theologian John Darby who popularized the Rapture with the scriptural arguments which seem so convincing to some. But it was a woman named Margaret Macdonald who, in 1830, while ill — had visions of a two-phase Second Coming of Christ. This is where the rapture theory began. Its formulation has come about by means of induction. Certain biblical passages concerning the second coming (and the role that Christians will play in that event) have been inductively blended together to establish the teaching. The modern expression "Rapture" was then invented to explain the overall teaching. It may come as a surprise to many Christians, but the doctrine of the Rapture is not mentioned in any Christian writings, of which we have knowledge, until after the year 1830 A.D. Whether the early writers were Greek or Latin, Armenian or Coptic, Syrian or Ethiopian, English or German, orthodox or heretic, no one mentioned a syllable about it. (More on this in my upcoming essay.)

Jim Wallis of Sojourners says, "What’s so astounding is that conservative religious groups see no reason to help the poor in America, if it competes with their abortion issue."

It's not a question of the poor not being important or that meeting their needs is not important," said Paul Hetrick, a spokesman for Focus on the Family, Dobson's influential, Colorado-based Christian organization. "But whether or not a baby is killed in the seventh or eighth month of pregnancy, that is less important than help for the poor? We would respectfully disagree with that."

Jim Wallis is not buying it. Such conservative religious leaders "have agreed to support cutting food stamps for poor people if Republicans support them on judicial nominees," he said. "They are trading the lives of poor people for their agenda. They're being, and this is the worst insult, UNBLIBLICAL."

A couple of years ago, I hosted a Bible study at my house for a group of couples from my church. I was the only Progressive in the bunch. I asked the men why they were Republicans. They mentioned the abortion issue as being the most important issue when picking a president. I was astounded. One said that Republicans believe churches should help the poor, but government should stay out of it. They said this helps people take responsibility for their own lives. To an extent I agree, but a system that outsources its labor force, and gives huge tax breaks to wealthy corporations — virtually shutting out the lower and middle classes — so they cannot survive, cannot afford medical insurance or rent without two incomes, seems un-American! The government is slanted toward corporations, who own the media. The rich are not creating wealth according to Reagan’s trickle-down theory. But aside from all this, helping the poor is Christ’s most vital commandment. He is unequivocal about this.

Here’s how it works: the more you help the poor, you increase the goodwill of your citizens. It's a moral and spiritual principle. It does not make for a stable economy to have such a large gap between the rich and poor. Helping the poor would actually make our country wealthier, because everyone would prosper. There is enough to go around.

And on a Christian level, the more you are doing the will of God, according to Christ’s law to “take care of the least among you” the more you are rewarded, according to the Bible. Tithing is a law of the universe that pays for itself triple-fold. If we are going to mix church and state, at least let it help people, not take away from them and give tax breaks only to the rich!

I wrote this right after Katrina: "The news footage of looting in New Orleans gave certain right-wingers, "the haters," fuel for their bigotry. Can't they see that the economic system that creates such a wide chasm between “the haves and the have-nots” actually creates Les Miserables! A culture that constantly advertises salvation through Nintendo, i-Pods and Plasma TVs creates an insatiable craving for stuff. Yes looting is bad, but looting pension funds is worse. And looting votes through Gerrymandering is worse. And to think the minimum wage is still only $5.75 an hour, while Congress votes lifetime pensions for themselves into the six figures! Again, Reaganomics and the trickle down theory didn't work because of the greed of the corporate executives, who take such a large slice of the pie they have to eliminate the actual workers! Ford and GM outsourced thousands of jobs to make their corporate owners more wealthy. Churches are not tithing enough to support the needy. A society must take care of the "least among us." Then we will see amazing things begin to happen. And I'm not talking about a welfare state, by the way."

Ray Dubuque of Liberals Like Christ.com says: "When Hitler came to power and started to do his worst, his aides asked how he'd keep the German churches from protesting. ( Keep in mind that if, instead of siding with Hitler, the Christians of Germany - who represented some 96% of the population - had joined with the Jews, Jehovah Witnesses, handicaps, homosexuals and the "Liberals", there would have been no war and no holocaust !) But Hitler responded: "I have the churches in my back pocket." He then proceeded to arrange for the Nazi government to pay for the support of the clergy, their churches and their schools, so long as they didn't get in his way. That is just one of the many reasons why so few of the Christian clergy dared to speak out against Hitler, no matter how heinous his policies became!

When asked how to fulfill the second of his two great commandments, Christ replied that his followers should model their lives on non-believing "Good Samaritans" who show pity on the downtrodden, rather than follow the lead of ministers and church people who don't: { Luke 10 : 25-37 }

In this time of unimagined prosperity in countries like America, in contrast to unimaginable misery in many other parts of the world, how many "Christians" are being taught what Jesus actually taught, as opposed to the pablum passed off as his teaching? Instead of being concerned about taking and passing the test of salvation which Jesus gave to the "Rich Young Man” millions of "Christian Conservatives" much prefer Paul's incredibly easier test of “salvation by faith alone.” (Compare and contrast the teaching of Jesus to that of Paul -- in their own words -- on this most important subject at http://www.LiberalsLikeChrist.Org/ForSalvation.) How many churches in America take Jesus' teaching seriously when it comes to telling their members -- who are rich, by the Bible's standard -- that "It is almost impossible for those who are much more prosperous than others to be saved," unless they are willing to share their extra shirts and food (and everything else) with those deprived of even the most basic of necessities of life..

How to get rich? Give to the poor! In other words, there is nothing wrong with wealth, as long as you share it. This is an abundant universe!

The remarkable thing is that we really love our neighbor as ourselves: we do unto others as we do unto ourselves. We hate others when we hate ourselves. We are tolerant toward others when we tolerate ourselves. We forgive others when we forgive ourselves. We are prone to sacrifice others when we are ready to sacrifice ourselves.
– Eric Hoffer

Easter is the time of all things new. Let's strive to see the best in each other. If it can work with my family, it can work with anyone!

This is the first in a series of articles on how to apply the ancient metaphysical truths of 'THE SECRET' to everyday life. These are basically Christ's laws. And by the way, "getting sober" means turning your life over to a power greater than yourself, shedding the petty ego... and it starts with taking a leap of faith and deciding there is a benevolent force of goodness in the universe. To simplify: PRAY. But pray by focusing so overwhelmingly on the good in life, that the "bad" is extinguished — forced our of your thoughts by neglect. In other words, what you focus on GROWS. Prayer does not mean begging some anthropomorphic deity outside of yourself. It's realizing the beauty within us all, and within our fellow man.


518 comments:

  1. Peace be with you today, Lydia.

    And I find it rather amusing that April Fool's Day and Passover would fall on the same day. Jesus would laugh at his own expense.

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  2. Oh, and Palm Sunday.

    Jesus! I need mroe coffee...

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  3. more coffee...

    See what I mean?

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  4. Anonymous5:45 AM

    My lovely and charming wife (who works evenings) called me up to tell me that somebody had caved in the back of my Outback, and then driven off.

    She finally reminded me what day it was slightly before the blood vessel in my brain exploded. There will be vengeance....

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  5. Jolly Roger - I am so sorry that happened to you. Sounds like some drunk punks.

    Carl - how bizarre!

    Hey, I just posted an entirely new article called HOW TO GET RICH.

    Sorry, I wasn't awake before.

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  6. Anonymous6:58 AM

    Amazing post. I am blown away.

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  7. Anonymous7:34 AM

    You are a true Christian Lydia.
    thank you.

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  8. Great article Lydia!!!!!!

    BTW you and Doug had a great show yesterday as well, I agreed with everything you guys said but the hour went way to fast, I was hoping you guys would get into solutions as to how we can take back our media and restore the objectivity and remove the bias, as well as field and respond to a few questions but regardless it was a great show.

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  9. Getting back to the Gonzalez scandal though, i'd like to know why virtually no one in the MSM is pointing out the fact that Bush claimed he knew NOTHING about these firings and wasnt involved in them at all.

    Now since these attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president and only the president can hire or fire them that means :

    1) Either Bush lied and did have knowledge of and a role in the firings or

    2) They were fired illegally and unconstitutionally and everyone involved needs to be removed from their positions and held accountable.

    But regardless I think Congress needs to get Bush under oath as well because what these people are saying doesnt make sense or add up either Bush is lying or the law was violated take your pick.

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  10. Also I found it interesting that Kyle Sampson essentially stated he was pressured to let those attorneys go.........but that he KNEW it was wrong and wouldnt do it again if he could do it over.

    Also they claimed Lam was a poor performer but yet...........she had letters commending her stellar performance on the very issues the lying spinmeisters were attacking her on......like I said it doesnt add up the repugs are desperate and are grasping at straws.

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  11. Hey Jolly and Lydia, April Fools game quick this year huh.........I didnt ealize today was April till a few minutes ago either.

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  12. Lydia, as usual your post was stellar. It perfectly embodies my own views, as you probably knew from my Religious Left series. Jesus met people at the point of their need. The view from today's Pharisees and Saducees, to meet people at the point of their own greed does not follow His way.

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  13. Updated:2007-04-01 00:56:12
    Ex-Aide Details a Loss of Faith in the President
    By JIM RUTENBERG
    The New York Times
    AUSTIN, Tex., (April 1) -- In 1999, Matthew Dowd became a symbol of George W. Bush’s early success at positioning himself as a Republican with Democratic appeal.


    'Not the Person I Thought'


    A top strategist for the Texas Democrats who was disappointed by the Bill Clinton years, Mr. Dowd was impressed by the pledge of Mr. Bush, then governor of Texas, to bring a spirit of cooperation to Washington. He switched parties, joined Mr. Bush’s political brain trust and dedicated the next six years to getting him to the Oval Office and keeping him there. In 2004, he was appointed the president’s chief campaign strategist.

    Looking back, Mr. Dowd now says his faith in Mr. Bush was misplaced.

    In a wide-ranging interview here, Mr. Dowd called for a withdrawal from Iraq and expressed his disappointment in Mr. Bush’s leadership.

    He criticized the president as failing to call the nation to a shared sense of sacrifice at a time of war, failing to reach across the political divide to build consensus and ignoring the will of the people on Iraq. He said he believed the president had not moved aggressively enough to hold anyone accountable for the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, and that Mr. Bush still approached governing with a “my way or the highway” mentality reinforced by a shrinking circle of trusted aides.

    “I really like him, which is probably why I’m so disappointed in things,” he said. He added, “I think he’s become more, in my view, secluded and bubbled in.”

    In speaking out, Mr. Dowd became the first member of Mr. Bush’s inner circle to break so publicly with him.

    He said his decision to step forward had not come easily. But, he said, his disappointment in Mr. Bush’s presidency is so great that he feels a sense of duty to go public given his role in helping Mr. Bush gain and keep power.

    Mr. Dowd, a crucial part of a team that cast Senator John Kerry as a flip-flopper who could not be trusted with national security during wartime, said he had even written but never submitted an op-ed article titled “Kerry Was Right,” arguing that Mr. Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat and 2004 presidential candidate, was correct in calling last year for a withdrawal from Iraq.

    “I’m a big believer that in part what we’re called to do — to me, by God; other people call it karma — is to restore balance when things didn’t turn out the way they should have,” Mr. Dowd said. “Just being quiet is not an option when I was so publicly advocating an election.”

    Mr. Dowd’s journey from true believer to critic in some ways tracks the public arc of Mr. Bush’s political fortunes. But it is also an intensely personal story of a political operative who at times, by his account, suppressed his doubts about his professional role but then confronted them as he dealt with loss and sorrow in his own life.

    In the last several years, as he has gradually broken his ties with the Bush camp, one of Mr. Dowd’s premature twin daughters died, he was divorced, and he watched his oldest son prepare for deployment to Iraq as an Army intelligence specialist fluent in Arabic. Mr. Dowd said he had become so disillusioned with the war that he had considered joining street demonstrations against it, but that his continued personal affection for the president had kept him from joining protests whose anti-Bush fervor is so central.

    Mr. Dowd, 45, said he hoped in part that by coming forward he would be able to get a message through to a presidential inner sanctum that he views as increasingly isolated. But, he said, he holds out no great hope. He acknowledges that he has not had a conversation with the president.

    During the interview with Mr. Dowd on a slightly overcast afternoon in downtown Austin, he was a far quieter man than the cigar-chomping general that he was during Mr. Bush’s 2004 campaign.

    Soft-spoken and somewhat melancholy, he wore jeans, a T-shirt and sandals in an office devoid of Bush memorabilia save for a campaign coffee mug and a photograph of the first couple with his oldest son, Daniel. The photograph was taken one week before the 2004 election, and one day before Daniel was to go to boot camp.

    Over Mexican food at a restaurant that was only feet from the 2000 campaign headquarters, and later at his office just up the street, Mr. Dowd recounted his political and personal journey. “It’s amazing,” he said. “In five years, I’ve only traveled 300 feet, but it feels like I’ve gone around the world, where my head is.”

    Mr. Dowd said he decided to become a Republican in 1999 and joined Mr. Bush after watching him work closely with Bob Bullock, the Democratic lieutenant governor of Texas, who was a political client of Mr. Dowd and a mentor to Mr. Bush.

    “It’s almost like you fall in love,” he said. “I was frustrated about Washington, the inability for people to get stuff done and bridge divides. And this guy’s personality — he cared about education and taking a different stand on immigration .”

    Mr. Dowd established himself as an expert at interpreting polls, giving Karl Rove , the president’s closest political adviser, and the rest of the Bush team guidance as they set out to woo voters, slash opponents and exploit divisions between Democratic-leaning states and Republican-leaning ones.

    In television interviews in 2004, Mr. Dowd said that Mr. Kerry’s campaign was proposing “a weak defense,” and that the voters “trust this president more than they trust Senator Kerry on Iraq.”

    But he was starting to have his own doubts by then, he said.

    He said he thought Mr. Bush handled the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks well but “missed a real opportunity to call the country to a shared sense of sacrifice.”

    He was dumbfounded when Mr. Bush did not fire Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld after revelations that American soldiers had tortured prisoners at Abu Ghraib.

    Several associates said Mr. Dowd chafed under Mr. Rove’s leadership. Mr. Dowd said he had not spoken to Mr. Rove in months but would not discuss their relationship in detail.

    Mr. Dowd said, in retrospect, he was in denial.

    “When you fall in love like that,” he said, “and then you notice some things that don’t exactly go the way you thought, what do you do? Like in a relationship, you say ‘No no, no, it’ll be different.’ ”

    He said he clung to the hope that Mr. Bush would get back to his Texas style of governing if he won. But he saw no change after the 2004 victory.

    He describes as further cause for doubt two events in the summer of 2005: the administration’s handling of Hurricane Katrina and the president’s refusal, around the same time that he was entertaining the bicyclist Lance Armstrong at his Crawford ranch, to meet with the war protester Cindy Sheehan, whose son died in Iraq.

    “I had finally come to the conclusion that maybe all these things along do add up,” he said. “That it’s not the same, it’s not the person I thought.”

    He said that during his work on the 2006 re-election campaign of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, which had a bipartisan appeal, he began to rethink his approach to elections.

    “I think we should design campaigns that appeal not to 51 percent of the people,” he said, “but bring the country together as a whole.”

    He said that he still believed campaigns must do what it takes to win, but that he was never comfortable with the most hard-charging tactics. He is now calling for “gentleness” in politics. He said that while he tried to keep his own conduct respectful during political combat, he wanted to “do my part in fixing fissures that I may have been part of.”

    His views against the war began to harden last spring when, in a personal exercise, he wrote a draft opinion article and found himself agreeing with Mr. Kerry’s call for withdrawal from Iraq. He acknowledged that the expected deployment of his son Daniel was an important factor.

    He said the president’s announcement last fall that he was re-nominating the former United Nations ambassador John R. Bolton, whose confirmation Democrats had already refused, was further proof to him that Mr. Bush was not seeking consensus with Democrats.

    He said he came to believe Mr. Bush’s views were hardening, with the reinforcement of his inner circle. But, he said, the person “who is ultimately responsible is the president.” And he gradually ventured out with criticism, going so far as declaring last month in a short essay in Texas Monthly magazine that Mr. Bush was losing “his gut-level bond with the American people,” and breaking more fully in this week’s interview.

    “If the American public says they’re done with something, our leaders have to understand what they want,” Mr. Dowd said. “They’re saying, ‘Get out of Iraq.’ ”

    Mr. Dowd’s friends from Mr. Bush’s orbit said they understood his need to speak out. “Everyone is going to reflect on the good and the bad, and everything in between, in their own way,” said Nicolle Wallace, communications director of Mr. Bush’s 2004 campaign, a post she also held at the White House until last summer. “And I certainly respect the way he’s doing it — these are his true thoughts from a deeply personal place.” Ms. Wallace said she continued to have “enormous gratitude” for her years with Mr. Bush.

    Mr. Bartlett, the White House counselor, said he understood, too, though he said he strongly disagreed with Mr. Dowd’s assessment. “Do we know our critics will try to use this to their advantage? Yes,” he said. “Is that perfect? No. But you can respectfully disagree with someone who has been supportive of you.”

    Mr. Dowd does not seem prepared to put his views to work in 2008. The only candidate who appeals to him, he said, is Senator Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois, because of what Mr. Dowd called his message of unity. But, he said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if I wasn’t walking around in Africa or South America doing something that was like mission work.”

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  14. The Rovian Era


    Turn over a scandal in Washington these days and the chances are you’ll find Karl Rove. His tracks are everywhere: whether it’s helping to purge United States attorneys, coaching bureaucrats on how to spend taxpayers’ money to promote Republican candidates, hijacking the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives for partisan politics, or helping to organize a hit on the character of one of the first people to publicly reveal the twisting of intelligence reports on Iraq.

    Whatever the immediate objective, Mr. Rove seems focused on one overarching goal: creating a permanent Republican majority, even if that means politicizing every aspect of the White House and subverting the governmental functions of the executive branch. This is not the Clinton administration’s permanent campaign. The Clinton people had difficulty distinguishing between the spin cycle of a campaign and the tone of governing. That seems quaint compared with the Bush administration’s far more menacing failure to distinguish the Republican Party from the government, or the state itself.

    This was, perhaps, the inevitable result of taking the chief operative of a presidential campaign, one famous for his scorched-earth style, and ensconcing him in the White House — not in a political role, but as a key player in the formation of policy. Mr. Rove never had to submit to Senate confirmation hearings. Yet, from the very start, photographs of cabinet meetings showed him in the background, keeping an enforcer’s eye on the proceedings. After his re-election in 2004, President Bush formally put Mr. Rove in charge of all domestic policy.

    In that position, as David Kirkpatrick and Jim Rutenberg reported in The Times, Mr. Rove took a lead role in selecting federal judges and the hiring — and firing — of United States attorneys. Mr. Rove’s staff maneuvered to fire the prosecutor in Arkansas and replace him with a Rove protégé, and also seems to have been involved in the firing of a United States attorney in New Mexico who refused to file what he considered to be baseless charges of election fraud against Democrats.

    Mr. Rove’s efforts to maintain one-party rule go deep into the government. Last week, we learned about a meeting set up by Mr. Rove’s staff with officials of the General Services Administration that was wildly inappropriate and perhaps illegal. The aim, as outlined by Mr. Rove’s deputy, Scott Jennings, seems to have been to take advantage of the billions of dollars in contracts put out by the agency every year to return Republicans to the majority in Congress in 2008. It included PowerPoint slides on vulnerable House and Senate seats.

    This sort of behavior should not be all that surprising. It was not that long ago that the Bush White House embraced the priorities of the Republican governor of Mississippi and virtually ignored the far greater needs of Louisiana’s Democratic governor after Hurricane Katrina.

    Mr. Rove retreated a bit from the public eye in the heat of the Lewis Libby trial, but after avoiding indictment, he seems to have regained his confidence. Take a look at YouTube to see his bizarre, humor-challenged gyrations as “MC Rove” at an annual media dinner in Washington the other night.

    The investigation of the firings of the United States attorneys seems to be closing in on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who should have been fired weeks ago. But Congress should bring equal scrutiny to the more powerful Mr. Rove. If it does, especially by forcing him to testify in public, it will find that he has been at the vortex of many of the biggest issues they are now investigating.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous9:09 AM

    Less is more. I admit to having a short attention span, and you lost me after the paragraph where Costco, Best Buy etc. prove that you can prosper while treating employees fairly.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous9:48 AM

    Britian needs to enlist Jimmy Carter to solve thier hostage situation with Iran.....after all the pussy did such a good job back in 1980.

    ReplyDelete
  17. The Republicans and right-wingers are losing in numbers and power anyway. Their hateful, insane, and suicidal policies are truly hurting their own ranks. They are only capable of winning the vote of white male evangelical Protestants and nothing more.

    They consistently lose the votes of women, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, immigrants, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Atheists, and anyone who makes less than $100k annually (which is like 90 percent of America).

    Why should we care if they harm each other with their suicidal policies? Just let them do what they do best, to harm each other.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Jolly Roger - I didn't realize YOU WERE JOKING! That's a good April Fools your wife played on you.

    Mike and TomCat - thank you!

    Clif - I know you posted this Dowd article first, the insider who felt betrayed by Bush.

    Amazing story, thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Elmo - I will keep my articles shorter. Actually this is a combination of two pieces, plus several quotes from LiberalslikeChrist.org.

    I will leave the second piece intact, but can't reveal the title or funny parts yet.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Great post, Lydia. The world's second richest man, Warren Buffet, is a strong opponent of Bush's tax cuts for the rich and screw the poor policies. Like virtualy all rich people, his wealth is derived from stocks. As long as the poor and middle class prosper, they will be able to buy more and raise the value of stocks.

    ReplyDelete
  21. sailerfraud - EXACTLY! I love Warren Buffet for setting this example.

    By the way, you have a great blog. Thank you for posting all those articles on Ann Coulter awhile ago too.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Carl, great post on your blog today.

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  23. Anonymous4:28 PM

    Hey I work at Best Buy and you're right, they treat their employees very well. I'd rather work at a place where I'm appreciated than at a place where I know they don't care about me.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Lydia,

    Thanks for the compliment.

    There's more to come. ;-)

    I see you have filled in your post since I saw it first thing this morning.

    Funny. I had a funeral to attend today (a friend's mother succumbed to pancreatic cancer). I hadn't been to a Jewish funeral in quite sometime, and the rabbi made note of the deceased and her strength of will, and reminded us that, if not for strong women in Moses' life, Judaism (and by extension, Christianity) would not be what it is today.

    You might throw that in hubby's face later if he gets rowdy....but I digress.

    Why is it funny? Because I've been reading this "parody" of Christ's life, "Lamb: The Gospel According To Biff, Jesus' Best Friend" and so many of the topic the author (Chris Moore) touched on were echoed in your post and in TomCat's reply.

    He did spend an awful lot of time speculating about those missing 17 years in the canonical Gospels....wrote a fine book, too. It actually makes more sense than most evangelists I've ever read.

    ReplyDelete
  25. R. Lee Ermey's POV on the fired US attorneys

    I wouldn't mind he Sgt. Hartman ran for president.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Lydia Cornell said...
    Jolly Roger - I am so sorry that happened to you. Sounds like some drunk punks.


    (Best Homer Simpson whisper)

    *psst, Lydia...it was a prank his wife pulled...*

    ReplyDelete
  27. TalllTexan said...
    R. Lee Ermey's POV on the fired US attorneys

    I wouldn't mind he Sgt. Hartman ran for president.


    And some of us wouldn't mind if you ran for Inmate Of The Year at Guantanamo, Texasshole.

    Who gives a living shit about Ermey's thoughts on anything? He's a fascist washed up has-been gunnie who couldn't carry my ammo clip.

    ReplyDelete
  28. He did pretty well as a former D.I.

    Jealous, Carl? What TV shows or movies have you been in, other than YouTube?

    ReplyDelete
  29. Looks like Tiny the Liar crawled out from under the rock where he hid;

    Gonna HONOR the BET YET SON?



    Wanna bet Carl, he was vacationing at the "ski" resort in Indiana again?

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anyone see Newt Gingrich last night basically say Spanish is the language of the ghetto and all the poor riff raff should learn to speak English.

    And you honestly think the repugs have a chance in 2008 Troll Tex................I guess fools will never learn.......the repugs have become the party of racial intolerance, corruption, pedophiles, torture, and the enemy of freedom, privacy and the US Constitution.

    ReplyDelete
  31. You would think you would have learned from the last ignorant bet you made ond welched on Troll Tex............but just like your hero GWB your still delusional about 2008...........you'd be wise to keep your mouth shut so theres room for your foot or the crow your going to eat in 2008.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Well speak of the devil.


    How's life in the last lane TT?

    ReplyDelete
  33. sailerfraud said...
    Great post, Lydia. The world's second richest man, Warren Buffet, is a strong opponent of Bush's tax cuts for the rich and screw the poor policies. Like virtualy all rich people, his wealth is derived from stocks. As long as the poor and middle class prosper, they will be able to buy more and raise the value of stocks."

    I've posted about this many times as well, Warren Buffet and Bill Gates are richer than any of the Neo Cons or repugs yet they are more than willing to pay their fair shore of taxes and support laws and policies that help those far less fortunate than themselves.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Anonymous9:36 PM

    Johnny moo moo said...
    Anyways, although my transmissinos are encrypted my proxy server has systems installed that detect illegal activity such as hacking.

    Also, Worf is a liar or he doesnt know his business very well coz I have never posted anonymously to this day.....not once!
    I dont need to hide to confront those pussy's and will face them everytime only using my handle.....period!

    I also have the option to anonymize my e-mail, but Ive never used it coz thats a little to sneaky for me."



    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    better watch it pinocchio or your nose will cross the american border.

    boy was this one a whopper.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Anonymous11:30 PM

    Lydia-it was one of her standard "April Fool" routines. She switches them every year, and I buy into them, every year...

    "Rapture" Christianity and "Strauss" Conservatism. In truth, Rauture is almost heresy, and Strauss was a flat-out Fascist. But we can see how some perversion of something can take on the name of something else, and eventually become an accepted part of said something else.

    Kind of like Chimpy's "Freedom" as applied to America.

    We all need to step up and renmind people of what words really mean, instead of letting liars and fringe nuts redefine the words.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Larry, you're an Imus fan; you think his rare absence today is just a ruse for him to go to Iraq in a surprise visit?

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  37. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  38. Worf, I've been trying to stay out of the fast lane lest I get another speeding ticket, but otherwise things are good.

    ReplyDelete
  39. One said that Republicans believe churches should help the poor, but government should stay out of it.

    Lydia, we tried that for the first 175 years of this nation's existence and to our great shame, we had citizens dying in the streets of our cities of hunger, and in the mountains of Appalachia and in the breadbasket of this bountiful nation who can feed the world if it puts its mind to it.

    No. Sorry. "A Thousand Points Of Light" is utter bullshit. it needs to be organized and it needs to be able to focus its attention where it can do the most good and that size task demands government.

    Period.

    I'll talk more about that in my campaign for NotPresident.

    ReplyDelete
  40. TalllTexan said...
    Worf, I've been trying to stay out of the fast lane lest I get another speeding ticket, but otherwise things are good.


    See? A criminal.

    ReplyDelete
  41. TalllTexan said...
    Jealous, Carl? What TV shows or movies have you been in, other than YouTube?


    Are you able to offer me work?

    If not, it's none of your business. If you are, you can speak to my agents.

    ReplyDelete
  42. clif said...
    Wanna bet Carl, he was vacationing at the "ski" resort in Indiana again?


    You mean MOUNT PILEOTURDS?

    BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!

    He probably rode up in reVolting's Tonka truck...

    BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    ReplyDelete
  43. Mike said...
    Anyone see Newt Gingrich last night basically say Spanish is the language of the ghetto and all the poor riff raff should learn to speak English.


    Has any party ever controlled 100% of the seats of either house of Congress?

    I'd say we'll come damned close with morons like this as "GOP Leaders"....

    ReplyDelete
  44. Johnny moo moo said...
    Anyways, although my transmissinos are encrypted my proxy server has systems installed that detect illegal activity such as hacking.


    BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    You keep thinking that, boy. X-originating IPs are too easy to find out.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Thanks for that, Lydia.

    I prayed for quite awhile last night. I think it cleansed my soul, actually.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Jacq, thank you. Prayer is the only thing that can cause a soul change or character change.

    It really works.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Anonymous7:52 AM

    If you like what these Jesusistan charlatans are doing for Christianity, I am certain you'll just adore what they're doing for civil rights in America.

    Chimpy and his pals are doing for Christianity what Osama and his buddies are doing for Islam. A toxic face has overtaken some admirable principles.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Wow, that was an incredibly great post - I hardly know where to start. So, I'll just take a go from the top. So many economic pundits tout the 'grow or die' theory. What's needed is a simple measure of economic stability - rather than economic growth. It could be on the newscasts all day, much like the change in the Dow, or quarterly growth reports.

    Also, your discussion of the rapture was very informative.

    --Ron

    http://revolttoday.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  49. Mike said Anyone see Newt Gingrich last night basically say Spanish is the language of the ghetto...

    I saw that. I wonder what Cervantes' opinion on that would be.

    ReplyDelete
  50. Ron - thank you!

    TomCat, yes, I wonder what Cervantes, Galdos, Borjes would think.
    I speak Spanish, and read all the great literature in Spanish, and it is the most lyrical of the Romance languages.

    Newt Gingrich should apologize. These people are responsible for so much bigotry and for the dumbing down of our country.

    ReplyDelete
  51. What more can anyone expect from Newt Gingrich when the only language he speaks is hatespeak?

    ReplyDelete
  52. Rudy Giuliani's current wife once demonstrated surgical products for a medical supply company that used dogs, which were later killed in operations, for which the sole purpose was to sell equipment to doctors, according to the New York Post.

    Another example of a "compassionate conservative."

    I bet there won't be any dogs in a Giuliani White House.

    ReplyDelete
  53. 9000 more troops will be redeployed to Iraq.

    More than half of the 9000 are being sent back earlier than scheduled.

    Guess that means that "surge" thing is working, at least for McCain.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Mitt Romney raised $23 million in the first quarter while Giuliani raised $15 million.

    It takes a lot of money to buy Repug votes these days.

    ReplyDelete
  55. John (left behind) McCain strolled the street of Baghdad with over 100 U.S troops, a bullet proof vest, helmet and helicopters hovering all around him to show America, just how safe Bush's war has made Baghdad.

    At the same time, on the outskirts of Baghdad 6 U.S soldiers and 25 Iraqi's were killed.

    How safe is Iraq McCain?

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  56. Bush is skipping the traditional Washington Opening day of throwing out the first pitch, a custonm of U.S Presidents for 65 years.

    The White House is denying that Bush is skipping for fear of being heavily booed.

    Sources say otherwise.

    ReplyDelete
  57. Harry Reid announced today that if Bush vetoes the supplemental bill, that includes a timetable for withdrawal, then he will sponsor legislation to cut off funding, and redeploy the troops.

    It's about time.

    ReplyDelete
  58. Anonymous said...
    Lydia, why not just follow your husband's plan on how to get rich.


    Dude, 2st century. Women's lib. Catch up, please.

    ReplyDelete
  59. Larry said...
    Harry Reid announced today that if Bush vetoes the supplemental bill, that includes a timetable for withdrawal, then he will sponsor legislation to cut off funding, and redeploy the troops.


    He doesn't even have to do that much. Just drop it entirely. How's Bush going to pay for his war?

    ReplyDelete
  60. Larry said...
    Bush is skipping the traditional Washington Opening day of throwing out the first pitch, a custonm of U.S Presidents for 65 years.


    Twice in two years. He's the only President to do that.

    ReplyDelete
  61. Larry said...
    Mitt Romney raised $23 million in the first quarter while Giuliani raised $15 million.


    I'm waiting for the final reports to be filed before I analyze this, just like I am with the Democratic fund raising announcements.

    I suspect Romney's money is a few large donors, where Wudy has a lot of smaller donors, meaning Romney is sprinting, while Wudy is running a slower pave for a longer run.

    ReplyDelete
  62. Larry said...
    Rudy Giuliani's current wife once demonstrated surgical products for a medical supply company that used dogs, which were later killed in operations


    Which explains what happened to Husband #2....

    ReplyDelete
  63. The White House is denying that Bush is ramping up rhetoric for a war with Iran.

    Then why doesn't he shut up?

    ReplyDelete
  64. Carl said...

    I suspect Romney's money is a few large donors

    Legally the most anyone can contribute to a Presidential candidate is 2,300 dollars so it must have been a lot of people who all had 2,300 bucks to blow.

    I think Romney being a Mormon is enjoying unprecidented support from Mormons around the country.

    If only half of the church members in the US donated 100 bucks each, he'd have 200 million dollars.

    ReplyDelete
  65. How many corporations give the maximum donations through each of their employees? This would add up.

    ReplyDelete
  66. iWorf,

    Good point, and one that will be exploited by Giuliani and McCain in the primaries.

    Those Mormons are almost Scientologist-like in their weird factor.

    ReplyDelete
  67. McCain raised $12.5 million in the first quarter.

    Those neocons and "religious right" are getting stingy.

    ReplyDelete
  68. National Association of Broadcasters and the Consumers Union are both asking the FEC to reject the XM-Sirius merger.

    ReplyDelete
  69. Buried within the Iraq Accountability Act legislation is a hidden clause that if the Iraqi people receive revenue sharing, 4/5 of their petroleum reserves in Iraq will be available to Exxon/Mobil, Chevron/Texaco, BP/Amoco, Royal Dutch/Shell.

    ReplyDelete
  70. Larry, where did you read that about the oil companies?

    ReplyDelete
  71. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  72. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  73. Carl here is the full link.
    commondreams

    ReplyDelete
  74. Victor Gold a friend of George H W Bush has a new book forthcoming in which he slams the Bush administration.

    The book is titled "Invasion of the Party Snatcher: How the Holy Rollers and the Neo-Cons Destroyed the GOP."

    Gold writes in the book that George W Bush has been in comparison a hapless Jimmy Carter , the weakest, most out of touch president in modern times.

    Gold also calls Bush a Dan Quayle in cowboy boots.

    ReplyDelete
  75. Carl said...

    Those Mormons are almost Scientologist-like in their weird factor.


    Well, I could see how they might look that way to some people. Temples, special underwear, polygamy etc. But its all taken out of context.

    Mormons are really just very fundamental Christians, much like the Amish in their focus on family and community.

    Mormons are mainstream, suit and tie or hardhat and lunchpail Mormons are workers. Industry is central to Mormon theology. In fact, the Utah state symbol is the mormon behive or "Deseret" as it is referred to in Mormon theology.

    Mormons believe in clean Clark Kent lifestyle living, everybody gets married, lots of babies and strong community spirit. Those are the cornerstones of the Mormon religion.

    Everything centers around those principles, as well as several spiritual principles, most solidly founded in the Old and New Testaments, like Free Agency, our pre-existent state, full immersion baptism, a lay clergy, the second coming of Christ, and Temple worship as well as others.

    Polygamy was done away with over 100 years ago in the Church and they excommunicate anyone practicing it.

    If you saw a Mormon, he'd look like Mitt Romney. They all look that way. Clean cut, White and in a suit.

    ReplyDelete
  76. Damn even Henry Kissinger turns his back on Georgie's idea of "victory" in Iraq;

    Iraq Military Victory No Longer Possible, says Henry Kissinger

    F
    ORMER US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who helped engineer the US withdrawal from Vietnam, said Sunday the problems in Iraq are more complex than in the Vietnam War, and military victory was no longer possible.He also said he sympathised with the troubles facing US President George W. Bush.

    0401 03“A military victory in the sense of total control over the whole territory, imposed on the entire population, is not possible,” Dr Kissinger said in Tokyo, where he received an honorary degree from Waseda University.

    The faceless, ubiquitous nature of Iraq’s insurgency, as well as the religious divide between Shiite and Sunni rivals, makes negotiating peace extremely difficult, he said.

    But Dr Kissinger, who has also advised Mr Bush on Iraq, warned that a sudden pullout of troops or loss of influence could unleash chaos.

    Dr Kissinger said the best way forward was to reconcile the differences between Iraq’s warring sects with help from other countries.

    He applauded efforts to host a conference bringing together the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Iraq’s neighbours, including Washington’s longtime rival in the region, Iran.


    You know when a wAR CRIMINAL says you can't win, maybe Bush should listen, after all Kissenger helped start the Fiasco which exploded in Cambodia, and destroyed Chile for a decade, along with helping set up both Israel and the Saudis as allies of the US in the middle east, and we all know how well that has turned out.

    ReplyDelete
  77. Kissinger was telling Bush to stick it out and now he is like all the rest and is suddenly ready to withdraw.

    Is this phony or funny?

    ReplyDelete
  78. Check out Alicia's latest post.

    lastleftb4hooterville

    ReplyDelete
  79. Giuliani is telling reporters to attack him all they want, but leave his current wife alone.

    Both have so much ammo to use.

    ReplyDelete
  80. Lydia, your words are music to my ears! You've got it exactly right. It is only when we can let go of 'gimme gimme gimme' and start giving, is when we truly receive. And that is the Jesus message. Love God, love one another, care for the poor and sick and lonely. That is what makes us rich - the kind of riches that can never be taken from you.

    After fruitlessly looking for a Christian church that actually espouses - and practices those values, some musician friends and I decided to start our own church. One of us is an ordained minister, and the rest of us play in the band and bring doughnuts. It's really small - we're lucky if we get 15 or 20 people, and most of us are in the band - but it is a treat to be able to go somewhere every Sunday morning and talk about the things that really matter to us, and be a part of a church family that truly loves and accepts and embraces everyone the way Jesus asked us to.

    I'm hoping that more people like you will speak out about their faith and how it works in real life, so that people won't think that 'Christians' are only the far-right fundamentalists who have dominated the national dialogue on faith so far.

    ReplyDelete
  81. Anyone hear about the Supreme Court verdict today the slapped GWB down and told him that global warming is real and that Al Gore is right that we NEED to do something about global warming.

    ReplyDelete
  82. Wasnt Kissinger one of the original fools advising Bush and Cheney to invade iraq and Iran...................now he's what a FOOL like troll tex would call a surrender monkey.

    ReplyDelete
  83. Larry said...
    National Association of Broadcasters and the Consumers Union are both asking the FEC to reject the XM-Sirius merger."

    exactly larry we need to stop all the media consolidation to insure more diversity of opinion and unbiased facts.

    ReplyDelete
  84. Kissinger was telling Bush to invade Iraq, then to stick it out.

    Either he is as delusional as McCain or just babbling again.

    ReplyDelete
  85. Al Gore scares the crap out of the repugs, they KNOW that Gore beat them when they were at the peak of their power and the top of their game, and now they are mere shells of what they were.

    ReplyDelete
  86. Is Kissinger a flip flopper Larry!

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  87. Matthew Downd's sudden turn from his promotional war-mongering ways is an example of that.

    Dowd decided against Bush and his war when his son was deployed there.

    Funny how things work that way.

    ReplyDelete
  88. Kissinger is a bigger flip-flopper than John Kerry could ever be accused of.

    ReplyDelete
  89. Larry, that is kinda interesting how virtually none of the repugs or their children are putting their asses on the line for what they "CLAIM" to believe in.

    ReplyDelete
  90. Warming ruling squeezes Bush from both sides
    Justices say government must explain refusal to act on car emissions.

    MSNBC and NBC News
    Updated: 4:58 p.m. MT April 2, 2007
    WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court ordered the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday to explain why it has refused to regulate greenhouse gas pollution from cars, putting the Bush administration under pressure from an unusual coalition of environmental groups and leaders of the auto industry to move quickly on global warming.

    In a 5-to-4 decision, the court rejected the administration’s argument that it had no legal authority to limit carbon dioxide released from new cars. In a ruling described as a landmark victory for environmental activists, it decided that the EPA does have such authority and that it must give better reasons for not using it than the “laundry list” of “impermissible considerations” it has offered until now.

    “We have ended the administration’s denial of reality and defiance of the law,” said Richard Blumenthal, attorney general of Connecticut, one of 12 states that joined a similar number of environmental groups in suing the Bush administration for its refusal to regulate emissions tied to global warming.

    In essence, the court handed the administration power it insisted it did not have and did not want. And the administration came under immediate pressure to use that power from an unlikely source as the nation’s biggest automakers joined the chorus of environmental groups and climate scientists calling for the EPA to get moving on greenhouse gases.

    New tactics for auto industry
    For the automakers, the ruling means a shift in tactics. With the Bush administration having lost the argument that it could not regulate carbon dioxide emissions, automakers now hope that the EPA will enact an industrywide standard before the states enact a patchwork of differing regulations or before the Democratic-controlled Congress can revise the Clean Air Act to include even stronger restrictions.

    “The EPA will be part of this process,” said Dave McCurdy, chief executive of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, an industry trade group representing General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., DaimlerChrysler AG, Toyota Motor Corp. and five others.

    “There needs to be a national, federal, economy-wide approach to addressing greenhouse gases,” McCurdy said in a statement, which acknowledged that changes in environmental regulations were probably inevitable. He said the auto industry was eager to work with Congress and the EPA to make the changes uniform and “constructive.”

    The Bush administration had argued all along that Congress never gave it the power to decide whether carbon dioxide was a pollutant as defined in the federal Clean Air Act, but in an opinion written by Justice John Paul Stevens, the court said it did have such authority.

    More important, Stevens sided in unusually strong language with scientists who say that U.S. car emissions do contribute to greenhouse gases, leading to global warming. In doing so, he rebutted the contention of some energy industry officials and Republicans in the administration and Congress that there is no proof of global warming.


    Click for related coverage
    NBC: California leads the nation in going green


    The contribution of American cars to global warming is so significant, Stevens wrote, that strong regulations “would slow the pace of global emissions, no matter what happens elsewhere in the world.”

    White House: ‘See where it goes from here’
    The administration reacted noncommittally to the ruling.

    “We questioned whether we did have the legal authority,” said Dana Perino, a White House spokeswoman. “Now the Supreme Court has settled that matter for us, and we’re going to have to take a look at it and see where we go from there.”

    But environmental activists hailed the ruling as a landmark and urged Congress to quickly pass tough new limits on emissions.

    “This puts the spotlight on EPA and its foot-dragging and really puts Congress at the center of the debate,” said Fred Krupp, president of the nonprofit activist group Environmental Defense.

    David Hawkins, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, agreed that if the EPA still refused to act, lawmakers would have to step in.

    “This case is going to send a signal to Congress that it’s time to act,” Hawkins said. “It’s going to send a signal to states that it is OK to act on global warming pollution.”

    Opponents of new limits said the EPA could still claim that limits would be too expensive or might make other kinds of pollution worse.

    “We may have years into the future before a finding today — that carbon dioxide is a pollutant — actually results in a regulation,” said Scott Segal, director of the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, which represents power utilities.

    Boost for state regulators
    As part of its decision, the court ruled that the 12 states did have standing to join the lawsuit, deciding, in effect, that state regulators can challenge federal environmental regulations if they can show that their states are harmed by the federal rules.

    California Attorney General Jerry Brown said the decision bolstered the state’s efforts to implement the world’s toughest vehicle-emission standards. The state has been asking the EPA for authority to limit tailpipe emissions since 2005, but the agency has yet to grant the state a waiver to do so.

    “This case explicitly states that the Clean Air Act permits regulating greenhouse gases ... and the court has now clearly said that carbon dioxide is a pollutant,” Brown told The Associated Press. “That paves the way for California’s waiver.”

    Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also called on the EPA to grant the waiver.

    “We remain hopeful that the EPA will soon determine, as California has, that vehicle greenhouse gases must be reduced,” Schwarzenegger said in a statement.

    ReplyDelete
  91. So It looks like The US Supreme Court said Al Gore was right and once AGAIN said GWB and his administration of inbred fools were wrong.................how many times has Bush and his cronnies been wrong now.

    They have essentially been wrong on EVERYTHING!

    ReplyDelete
  92. God even a war criminal thats made a carreer out of getting us into unwinnable quagmires says Iraq is unwinnable............is Kissinger a traitor who hates his country and hates our soldiers.........that would actually be an interesting question to ponder and discuss.

    ReplyDelete
  93. Clif I think whats going on today is like the 73-74 period, the economy and stock market is about to tank and enter severe recession and a presidential administration is about to be brought down by corruption.

    Gonzalez will soon be gone!

    ReplyDelete
  94. Alicia, thank you so much. Your words really mean a lot and are very appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
  95. Warren Buffett and Bill Gates seem to strongly disagree with the Bush/Neo Con economic strategy........or lack thereof!

    They both seem to think the wealthy can afford to pay their fair share of taxes and that we need a healthy and robust middle class with good paying jobs and we need to take care of the less fortunate.

    Who do you think knows more about creating a strong economy and creating wealth "AND" creating a better society, the two richest most successful guys in the world or a pack of greedy corrupt incompetent fools who have been dead wrong about EVERYTHING they do and say????????????????

    ReplyDelete
  96. Hey Rusty do Gates and Buffet two captains of industry who could buy and sell the whole pack of Neo Con Fools 20 times over hate their country, are they traitors?????????

    ReplyDelete
  97. John McCain continues his dodge and dive tour throughout Iraq today, with another entourage of more than 100 U.S soldiers, gunships, helicopters and bulletproof vests covering his every move.

    Iraq, land of safety.

    ReplyDelete
  98. Housing futures index forcast will be down 5.1% by January 2008, according to the Chicago Merchantile Exchange.

    More of the Bush economy.

    ReplyDelete
  99. Thanks for boosting my post count Cliffy but I wish you'd thrown in a few bible quotes too.

    ReplyDelete
  100. Cheney says the self-appointed strategists in Congress are not the solution to military problems, but Bush is the answer.

    That sure has worked out so far.

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  101. McCain says the market in Baghdad where he and all thr U.S troops went shopping was "like an outdoor market in Indiana in the summertime."

    I didn't know Indiana markets had daily bombings!

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  102. Merchants where McCain went shopping with 100 U.S soldiers in Baghdad, say McCain doesn't know what he is talking about, that it is not safe.

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  103. Larry said...
    McCain says the market in Baghdad where he and all thr U.S troops went shopping was "like an outdoor market in Indiana in the summertime."

    I didn't know Indiana markets had daily bombings!


    You've clearly never felt the bite of an Indiana mosquito.

    ReplyDelete
  104. Voltron said...
    Thanks for boosting my post count Cliffy but I wish you'd thrown in a few bible quotes too.


    Why? You clearly aren't familiar with the Book...

    ReplyDelete
  105. Mike said...
    Anyone hear about the Supreme Court verdict today the slapped GWB down and told him that global warming is real and that Al Gore is right that we NEED to do something about global warming.


    Think it has anything to do with political cover?

    I do. This legitimizes a burr under the neo-con saddle: the fact that the planet is burning up around us, but for the chase of profit, we will do nothing.

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  106. iWorf,

    I don't claim Mormonism isn't "Christian".

    I claim it's "anti-Christian," which means it's the flip side of the coin.

    They believe their church is closer to God than even the Catholics, because their messiah, Joseph Smith, Jr, delivered them to Utah with the promise to roll back Christianity to 1st Century BCE principles (funny how they left same-sex marriage out of the mix, but I digress).

    The, um, "Book" of Mormon, had it been written in the 1980s, would have been mocked as a cult pamphlet, and Mormons would have been (in fact were) as outcast as the Manson family or Heaven's Gate.

    They may outwardly appear fairly normal, probably after 150 years they've learned mechanisms to fit in, but they're f*cking inbred loons.

    ReplyDelete
  107. Gas prices rose another ten cents this week.

    More of the Bush economy.

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  108. Dolty boy it was not me, I don't go slumming on the tubes like YOU do son.

    Guess again moron.

    ReplyDelete
  109. GOP Presidential candidate Tom Tancredo says he is controversial and says outrageous things, but he should be President.

    Which GOP candidate isn't controversial?

    Which GOP candidate doesn't always say outrageous things?

    ReplyDelete
  110. GREAT NEWS! Pentagon is considering canceling Halliburton's contract.

    But will Cheney put a stop to this???

    The Pentagon has taken an important first step by canceling the contract for Halliburton 's military logistics contract in Iraq and putting it up for open bid. Halliburton has only itself to blame for shoddy management, over-charging and thumbing its nose at military investigators. In our three alternative annual reports on Halliburton , I have uncovered innumerable cases of incompetence and corruption: for example torching brand-new $85,000 Mercedes trucks and charging $100 for a bag of laundry.

    U.S. taxpayers have paid Halliburton some $20 billion for such work supporting the administration's "war on terrorism" over the last five years. At the end of the day, they have been cheated out of hundreds of millions of dollars in unsupported costs and overcharges that the military auditors have disputed, but that the Pentagon has paid anyway. If the administration's sudden change of heart is really about fiscal responsibility, it should demand that money back.


    Iraq After Halliburton
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/constitutionalcrisis/

    We've been following Halliburton 's contracts for years. To learn more, check out our three Alternative Annual Reports.

    ReplyDelete
  111. By the way, the cryptic comments here about me and my husband are posted by sinister people who know nothing about the law or our suffering at the hands of very evil people.

    We will do everything in our power to see they are prosecuted and put in jail. It's time now, and the truth is coming out.

    ReplyDelete
  112. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  113. And that goes for their enablers too, the people who have helped them. We now have evidence of your taunts and malicious activity with this blog.

    ReplyDelete
  114. Bush will deliver yet another rosy speech shortly about how great things are in Iraq.

    Will Bush show footage of McCain and his 100 U.S soldier, gunships and helicopter entourage, on their springtime "safe" shopping spree?

    ReplyDelete
  115. Talking about the truth coming out Lydia;

    And Now, It Will Be Tenet’s Turn to Dish

    We’re just a month away from what could be the biggest storm yet over who knew what before 9/11 and about those weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, as former CIA Director George Tenet finally tells of those troubled days. We hear vaguely that in At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA, out April 30, Tenet takes responsibility for intelligence shortcomings but also isn’t shy about naming officials in the Bush and Clinton administrations who share in the blame. It’s not all bad: The “DCI” tells of some amazing intel successes, too.

    Allies say the 511-page book-300,000 in the first printing-isn’t a rant: Tenet spent a year and a half researching it, reviewed tens of thousands of documents, and conducted dozens of interviews with key players to fill in the gaps of his story, the first by a true Bush insider involved in making war policy. Then he had to win CIA approval. To speed that, he submitted chunks of the 25-chapter book, getting the green light in mid-March.

    How big will the Tenet storm be? Several foreign publishers are negotiating the rights for it. And his P.R. rollout includes a rare two-segment 60 Minutes appearance, a magazine deal, the Today Show, and Meet the Press. “Many books, many articles, and many talk shows have discussed George,” says his lawyer Robert Barnett. “Now George will have the opportunity to tell his side.”

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  116. The only other person at Tenet's level who has written a book to expose the Criminal behavior of Bush ET Al was Paul O'Neil....

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  117. Clif - WOW, I can't wait to read Tenet's book.

    The house of cards is falling...

    But listen to Bush right now! He glosses over all pertinent facts, and sounds like he actually believes his bizarre vision, totally leaving out the fact that over 650,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed. What kind of democracy is he forcing on these poor souls, who have lost 1 in 4 of their family members?

    We are not showing democracy "by attraction"

    He won't "let go" of Iraq (let go and let God) and therefore can't ever achieve the success he envisions, because his agenda is wrong. His motivations are wrong: fear-based desire to position our selves in the Middle East; desire to obtain the oil.

    When you are not producing any fruits but death and destruction in 4 years time, THIS CANNOT BE GOD'S WILL.

    ReplyDelete
  118. Lydia,

    Don't kid yourself. Halliburton has moved its headquarters out of the US, knowing full well that it had tainted dealings here, and will have to lay low for a few years. That's why the Pentagon is cancelling deals with them.

    ReplyDelete
  119. Lydia Cornell said...
    By the way, the cryptic comments here about me and my husband are posted by sinister people who know nothing about the law or our suffering at the hands of very evil people.

    We will do everything in our power to see they are prosecuted and put in jail. It's time now, and the truth is coming out.


    You go girl!

    ReplyDelete
  120. See, GooGoo?

    I told you there was more to come...

    ReplyDelete
  121. I enjoyed reading this post, Thanks.

    Nothing to disagree with, that's for sure.

    Peace! ; )

    ReplyDelete
  122. GREAT NEWS! Pentagon is considering canceling Halliburton's contract.

    But will Cheney put a stop to this???


    Lydia, he almost has to put a stop to it.

    The wingnut punditry always like to hold up Shooter's business "prowess" as some kind of validation for his elevation to the VP position. The truth of the matter is, of course, far different. Cheney is every bit the failure Chimpy is.

    The FACT is that while he was at Halliburton, Shooter approved an acquisition that left Halliburton on the hook for billions upon billions of potential asbestos liabilities. Shooter's no-bid contracts are payoffs to Halliburton in an attempt to undo the damage he did them. You can take that to the bank.

    ReplyDelete
  123. By the way, the cryptic comments here about me and my husband are posted by sinister people who know nothing about the law or our suffering at the hands of very evil people.

    We will do everything in our power to see they are prosecuted and put in jail. It's time now, and the truth is coming out.


    That's why I like owning Reconstitution. I can see where everything comes from, and I can do what I want to about the offender(s.) I find that redirecting their traffic to whoever their local County Sheriff is causes them to go away, every time.

    ReplyDelete
  124. So are you and Cliffy sharing a alias now Carl?

    I believe Cliffy made most of them, but there's a couple that have your flair...

    ReplyDelete
  125. Paranoid, TonkaBoy?

    ReplyDelete
  126. Lydia,

    I also find that, with Haloscan, a lot of the troll problem disappears almost instantly.

    ReplyDelete
  127. The Second Coming of Christ is a real event that will take place in our lifetime.

    Don't be fooled by certain people that it won't occur.

    ReplyDelete
  128. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  129. schmendrick said...
    HEY JACKASS, PASSOVER IS ON THE THIRD OF APRIL....STOP BEING ANTI-SEMITIC


    Hey, dorkwad?

    Technically, it's all week and started last night, mmmmmmmmmmmmmK, Leila? Only a Jewhater would claim that Passover is one day long....or a self-hating Jew

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  130. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  131. schmendrick said...
    The Second Coming of Christ is a real event that will take place in our lifetime.


    Some of us believe He's here already....and He's a bit pissed at the Religious Right for taking His name in vain.

    At least, I am.

    ReplyDelete
  132. Poor Johnny GooGoo...have to log in anonymously so you don't get caught out...

    ReplyDelete
  133. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  134. schmendrick said...
    Carl.

    BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

    Carl got yo temper flo


    Is this the best you can do?

    I'm not angry, hell, I'm not even up to taking you down a notch.

    You're a pitiful little troll, GooGoo....

    ReplyDelete
  135. Carl Jesus will return, but NOT for you.

    Sorry loser.

    ReplyDelete
  136. schmendrick said...
    Carl Jesus will return, but NOT for you.


    No, I can safely say He's here for Me....

    ReplyDelete
  137. Um, but you might want to go to church a few hundred times this week...

    ReplyDelete
  138. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  139. schmendrick said...
    Sounds to me Carl, that temper is a flaring. Whew boy.


    What's the word I'm thinking of?

    Oh.

    "No"

    Sorry!

    ReplyDelete
  140. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  141. Damn, you're getting fast there, Admin.... ;-)

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  142. Hm, now most schools I know of have Spring break this week, except of course the parochial (read that as: church) schools.

    So I'm guessing Schmendrick the Flatulent here must be in parochial school. Mommy must have picked him up and he has no homework because, well, "The Sex Passion of the Christ" is playing at teacher's house, who invited the local motorcycle gang down for...assbolution....

    ReplyDelete
  143. Carl said...
    Hm, now most schools I know of have Spring break this week, except of course the parochial (read that as: church) schools.

    So I'm guessing Schmendrick the Flatulent here must be in parochial school. Mommy must have picked him up and he has no homework because, well, "The Sex Passion of the Christ" is playing at teacher's house, who invited the local motorcycle gang down for...assbolution....



    Not angry are we?

    ReplyDelete
  144. Carl, take a few deep breaths.

    ReplyDelete
  145. Bush said in his press conference today that Congress should get off their vacation and get back to work.

    Bush didn't mention he was going on another extended vacation hmself.

    Maybe they should all get to work!

    ReplyDelete
  146. McCain has saved his "best footage" of his shopping spree for 60 minutes this Sunday.

    The military cut off a McCain press conference when the questions turned to his 100 soldier entourage, and why if it was so safe he needed all that.

    ReplyDelete
  147. Alberto Gonzales postponed his vacation to "train" for his upcoming testimony before the judiciary committee.

    I didn't think you had to "train" to tell the truth!

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  148. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  149. Lydia, me espanol esta muy pobre, porque he olvide muchas palabras, pero a una vez, podia leer Cervantes. No esta ghetto.

    Entonces, caiga toda la mierda de los elefantes de Anibal in la cabeza de Newt. ;-)

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  150. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  151. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  152. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  153. The posts at 3:13, 3:16, and 3:20 are not from me. Someone is playing games.

    To verify that it's me, compare the blogger account numbers.

    Worf, I'd appreciate it if you deleted those posts. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  154. Damn dolty boy you really THAT paranoid?

    I said I didn't write anything in your little circle jerk romper room, cause I don't want the crap you use to track people's ISPs son, I just avoid cess pools like your widdle man love site.

    It was not me son, get a grip.

    ReplyDelete
  155. Carl Jesus will return, but NOT for you.

    Sorry loser.


    Here be the reason I have absolutely no use for Jesusistanis.

    No Christian would say something like this. Christ's own words on who will do the judging are clear. Therefore, the person who wrote this could not possibly be a Christian.

    It just ain't right to be claiming that your stupidity or hatred is based on the teachings of a man who spent his life arguing vociferously against everything you embrace.

    ReplyDelete
  156. schmendrick said...
    Carl, be like everyone else here, when insults are hurled at you, be a man and turn the other cheek.


    Why?

    it's much more fun showing you up and making you look stupider than you already look!

    ReplyDelete
  157. schmendrick said...
    Hm, now most schools I know of have Spring break this week, except of course the parochial (read that as: church) schools.

    So I'm guessing Schmendrick the Flatulent here must be in parochial school. Mommy must have picked him up and he has no homework because, well, "The Sex Passion of the Christ" is playing at teacher's house, who invited the local motorcycle gang down for...assbolution....

    Not angry are we?


    Nope. Just pointing out your immaturity...

    ReplyDelete
  158. TalllTexan said...
    The posts at 3:13, 3:16, and 3:20 are not from me. Someone is playing games.

    To verify that it's me, compare the blogger account numbers.


    Yea, cuz it would *never* occur to someone who wants to learn how to use proxies (by buying software from CompUSA...BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAH) to phony up another identity or a sock puppet, no siree!

    BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH

    ReplyDelete
  159. Larry said...
    McCain has saved his "best footage" of his shopping spree for 60 minutes this Sunday.


    Shoe shopping for the adultress he married?

    ReplyDelete
  160. looks like Moo Moo is spamming his retarded gibberish under multiple handles AGAIN.....your days of being the blog idiot are soon coming to an end loser!

    ReplyDelete
  161. Also interesting Moo Moo and Troll Tex are back and all the sock puppets are back as well.

    ReplyDelete
  162. BTW Volt, how do you know who everyone is and whats going on, are you some kind of PI or FED?

    ReplyDelete
  163. Also I dont know who is posting at Volts so called "blog" or if anyone even is other than the 7 alias's of Moo Moo.

    But Clif, Carl or any other decent person I would strongly advise you not to go there Volt is obviously pushing tracking cookies or some kind of trojan onto your computer if you post there.

    I have not nor will I ever post there, hou thugs have hacked me before your not going to get the opportunity again.

    ReplyDelete
  164. Jolly said "It just ain't right to be claiming that your stupidity or hatred is based on the teachings of a man who spent his life arguing vociferously against everything you embrace."

    Great post Jolly.

    ReplyDelete
  165. Larry said "Alberto Gonzales postponed his vacation to "train" for his upcoming testimony before the judiciary committee.

    I didn't think you had to "train" to tell the truth!"

    For these liars and hippocrites its hard work Larry........they arent used to telling the truth.

    ReplyDelete
  166. Larry said "Bush said in his press conference today that Congress should get off their vacation and get back to work.

    Bush didn't mention he was going on another extended vacation hmself.

    Maybe they should all get to work!"


    Like i said Larry they are a pack of hippocritical fools.......With GWB its do as I say not what I do.

    ReplyDelete
  167. oops Clif I just read your post, so you dont go to the hackers cesspool either..........smart move, it does make for amusing reading at times though....they call that discussion LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  168. No Mikey, I'm not a PI or a fed.

    I'm just very observant and very curious. I've seen some comments that were posted and I've seen Lydia's replies to them. Early on her replies were more in depth. She even once posted a thread about that subject in particular. That and add some Google and stir in a little Zabasearch and there you go.

    I might add that one time you and Lydia came in when I was having a conversation with one of them. Did anything I posted seem like I was encouraging or helping them to cause trouble? (and what you witnessed was the only conversation I've ever had with them)

    And as far as my blog goes, I am not currently nor do I have any plans to monitor IP's. That's what you guys do. And evidently you're not all that good at it if you think any of these anon comments are from me. And to the best of my knowledge there are no tracking cookies either unless google/blogger does it, in which case you're getting them here too.

    ReplyDelete
  169. Mike wasn't Bush looking weak and old in his press conference today?

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  170. I might add as well Mike, reading or entering a blog,(like Lydia's for example) where the main page is hosted on a personal server would be the easiest way to get a malicious program or "trojan". Not saying Lydia does this mind you, I'm just saying it would be easier.

    The comments section however is exclusively on google/blogger and can't be (that I know of) tampered with. So you're actually safer posting than you are entering the main page and merely reading.

    Also, since I don't have my own server, my blog is ENTIRELY on google/blogger. And while there may be a way to host a malicious program on blogger it's never even crossed my mind to attempt it.

    ReplyDelete
  171. If I'm wrong there, I'm sure Worf will point it out...?

    ReplyDelete
  172. Like he usually does to you dolt.

    ReplyDelete
  173. Pakistani rogue groups that have been making attacks inside Iran are being encouraged and financed by the U.S.

    Is this the beginning of World War III?

    ReplyDelete
  174. Voltron said...
    If I'm wrong there, I'm sure Worf will point it out...?


    Ok you're wrong.

    :|

    What were you talking about?

    ReplyDelete
  175. Pakistani rogue groups that have been making attacks inside Iran are being encouraged and financed by the U.S.

    Is this the beginning of World War III?



    Nope, just another chapter in the encyclopedia of hypocrisy.

    "We will hunt down turrists wherever they may be-unless we're arming and training them, of course.

    ReplyDelete
  176. John McCain is delaying his announcement for President to revamp his campaign, due to poor fundraising.

    McCain will also give a speech to "explain" his lust for war.

    ReplyDelete
  177. New Century Financial Corp the nations second largest mortgage lender has filed bankruptcy.

    More of the Bush economy.

    ReplyDelete
  178. Bush says the democrats have been irresponsible on the Iraq war.


    Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?

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  179. Harry Reid says Bush is President of the United States, not King of the United States.

    Too bad they didn't realize this five years ago.

    ReplyDelete
  180. Monica Goodling has been told by the judiciary committee she will not be allowed to plead the 5th in her upcoming testimony.

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  181. AP:

    Six killed in an ambush west of Kirkuk today.

    A suicide bomber and a mortar attack hit a police station in Sadr City wounding both police and civilians.

    Bloodshed and violence has increased outside of Baghdad as insurgents moved outside of Baghdad once the "surge" began.

    600 were killed in Iraq last week.

    Bush must be elated!

    ReplyDelete
  182. Also, since I don't have my own server, my blog is ENTIRELY on google/blogger. And while there may be a way to host a malicious program on blogger it's never even crossed my mind to attempt it.

    By Voltron


    Um, yea, we'll take the word of a self-confessed right wing liberal-hating thug who lies at the drop of a hat...

    ReplyDelete
  183. Voltron said...
    No Mikey, I'm not a PI or a fed.

    I'm just very observant and very curious. I've seen some comments that were posted and I've seen Lydia's replies to them. Early on her replies were more in depth. She even once posted a thread about that subject in particular. That and add some Google and stir in a little Zabasearch and there you go.


    So you're a cyberstalker.

    ReplyDelete
  184. Larry said...
    Bloodshed and violence has increased outside of Baghdad as insurgents moved outside of Baghdad once the "surge" began.


    This is why Bush cannot win this war: he's too stupid to realize that you can throw hundreds of thousands of "forces" at this enemy, they will find places to hide and create trouble.

    I have the answer, of course, but I'm charging a lot to read it...

    ReplyDelete
  185. Larry said...
    John McCain is delaying his announcement for President to revamp his campaign, due to poor fundraising.


    Buhbye! Don't let the door hit your candyass on the way out!

    ReplyDelete
  186. From Juan Coles blog;

    "Al-Bayyinah al-Jadidah carries on the front page a 370-word report citing a senior Iraqi official source saying that the Saudi King has rejected an offer from President Bush to visit Saudi Arabia because the king wants to cooperate with US democrats. . .

    when the King of Saudi Arabia is willing to give a Bush the cold shoulder to work with the Democrats, I guess you could say Georgie is truly a "Lame Duck", and he's just gonna get more and more irrelevant to the foreign policy of the US.

    ReplyDelete
  187. Are George W Bush and the republicans “officially” burnt toast on the world stage?

    What a difference an election can make, remember last summer how “tough” the republicans tried to sound, when they were denying the Iraqi situation had devolved into a civil war and they were backing the Israeli invasion and Bombing of Lebanon? Remember how they tried to attack the democrats and everyone else who disagreed with their position of more deaths and violence in Iraq as “surrender monkeys”? Remember stay the course, and the insurgency is in it’s last throes? Well I guess they republicans have sound bitten and spun themselves into a corner they don’t know how to get out of.

    So the rest of the world and a majority of this country is turning to the “other” party to try to find a way out of the numerous fiascoes and failures of foreign policy of this clueless administration.

    From Juan Cole;

    "Al-Bayyinah al-Jadidah carries on the front page a 370-word report citing a senior Iraqi official source saying that the Saudi King has rejected an offer from President Bush to visit Saudi Arabia because the king wants to cooperate with US democrats. . .

    When the King of Saudi Arabia is willing to give a Bush the cold shoulder to work with the Democrats, I guess you could say Georgie is truly a "Lame Duck", and he's just gonna get more and more irrelevant to the foreign policy of the US.

    This is the same Saudi Arabia, Nixon made his famous deal with, the one where he pledged the US military protection for the monarchy in exchange for the Saudis only selling their oil in US dollars. This is the same Saudi Arabia, George H W Bush sent over 500,000 US troops to defend from Saddam. This is the same Saudi Arabia which had some of it’s elite including members of the Bin Laden family owning shares of the Carlyle Group along side with members of the Bush family. This is the same Saudi Monarchy only a few years ago went strolling hand in hand with George Bush at his Crawford “all hat no cattle” ranch.

    Something must have changed.

    Could it be the fact they have had far too much of the clueless idiot from Crawford? Could it be that Georgie’s brother Marvin went begging for money their one too many times? Could it be the fact that the last two US republican president have been named Bush and they ain’t done so great, so the Saudi monarchy is deciding on trying the other party, the one which gave the US a moderate democrat president who presided over a time of peace and prosperity and was and still is respected around this planet.

    Well the Saudis are not the only middle eastern country turning to a democrat to aid them in resolving their foreign policy dilemma. To wit; (from Haaretz)

    http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/844730.html

    Israel's political and military leadership has been preparing in recent weeks for the possibility of a Syrian attack on the Golan Heights that will start as a result of a "miscalculation" on the part of the Syrians, who may assume that Israel intends to attack them.

    Israel, however, has delivered a calming message, and has no plans to attack its northern neighbor.

    According to information Israel received, the Syrians are concerned that the United States will carry out an attack against Iran's nuclear installations in the summer, and in parallel Israel would strike Syria and Lebanon.

    Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who visited IDF forces in the North last week, heard an intelligence assessment and was informed of the dangers of a Syrian "miscalculation."

    Following his visit to the forces in the field, a decision was made to publicly address the concerns of a possible deterioration with the Syrians, and to send a message that Israel has no intention of attacking Syria, nor is there any coordinated plan with the U.S. for a joint attack against Iran.

    The speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, is scheduled to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus today, and will deliver a message of calm from Israel.

    "We hope the message will be understood," political sources in Israel said yesterday. "The question is whether Assad is looking for an excuse ... so that he can carry out an attack against Israel in the summer, or whether this is a mistaken assessment."

    So the Israelis trust Nancy Pelosi MORE then they trust Condi Rice to carry a sensitive message to Assad in Syria....but, Bush attacked Nancy Pelosi for her trip to Damascus, at the very time the Israelis are reportedly using her to pass a message to Bashar Assad to help avoid a possible conflagration with the Syrians. Soon, Bush will be attacking Bibi Netanyahu or Avigdor Lieberman calling them wimps, and to hang Crawford tough against the 'Palis' or such. This is all would be so pitiable, if we didn’t already know what a buffoon Bush was. How many more months left of this bungling amateurism and fake machismo do we have left? I suspect a Kissinger or Baker would have gotten Damascus to make the Iraqi-Syrian border less porous years ago now--probably in one meeting that would have run 6 or so hours. And this without giving up the store on the Hariri investigation...

    Seems the era of re-pubie machismo is about over, but then again it was a democrat who was able to get Israel and two of it’s neighbors to sit down and agree to settle their differences at the bargaining table and that agreement has held for almost 30 years, Jimmy Carter set a excellent example that Bush should have followed in that region, instead Bush has us in a total military meltdown and even has the largest two US allies in the region turning to the democrats to solve their problems;

    Heck of a job Georgie.....

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  188. Clif,

    That was sort of the premise of my post this morning on my blog: Pelosi HAD to go in order to establish some sort of American legitimacy in the Middle East and by extension, the world.

    ReplyDelete
  189. Carl, I see a pattern where the world is turning away from the "cowboy juvenile antics of some idiot from Crawford Texas and looking for the grown up position which at this point only the democrats hold.

    At one time Kissinger and James Baker were seen to be adults, but Bush ET Al seems to have ignored their example and set suck a stupid example even the Israelis and Saudis are willing to cross party lines to get what they want to happen.

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  190. BTW it's interesting the Iranians can issue amnesty to the British navy and marines for entering their territorial waters and RELEASE them unlike some foole we all know and how he treats people that get swept up in his war on terra.

    Might also be why the people of that region is spurning him and turning to the other party.

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  191. Voltron said...
    No Mikey, I'm not a PI or a fed.

    I'm just very observant and very curious. I've seen some comments that were posted and I've seen Lydia's replies to them. Early on her replies were more in depth. She even once posted a thread about that subject in particular. That and add some Google and stir in a little Zabasearch and there you go.

    I might add that one time you and Lydia came in when I was having a conversation with one of them. Did anything I posted seem like I was encouraging or helping them to cause trouble? (and what you witnessed was the only conversation I've ever had with them)

    And as far as my blog goes, I am not currently nor do I have any plans to monitor IP's. That's what you guys do. And evidently you're not all that good at it if you think any of these anon comments are from me. And to the best of my knowledge there are no tracking cookies either unless google/blogger does it, in which case you're getting them here too.

    7:02 PM"


    Well Volt, I do remember that conversation from last summer, you seem more informed than me on that topic however.

    As for your blog Volt, several people, myself included have deleted cookies after going there, while i wont call you a liar , I'll play it safe and stay away, as i've had my computer hacked once too many times by Reich Wing shmucks like TT and Moo Moo.

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  192. Larry said "Larry said...
    Mike wasn't Bush looking weak and old in his press conference today?"

    I thought the same Larry, he KNOWS he's a beaten man and the jig is up for him and his cronnies............all Bush is now IF HE"S LUCKY is a discredited lame duck president that the world cant wait to see leave.........if he's unlucky and we get true justice Bush will be impeached ASAP.

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  193. clif said...
    Carl, I see a pattern where the world is turning away from the "cowboy juvenile antics of some idiot from Crawford Texas and looking for the grown up position which at this point only the democrats hold.

    At one time Kissinger and James Baker were seen to be adults, but Bush ET Al seems to have ignored their example and set suck a stupid example even the Israelis and Saudis are willing to cross party lines to get what they want to happen."

    The tide is turning Clif, and its a Tsunami Bush and his imperial faction will get swept right out of office in 2008 and will be irrelevant for at least another 20 years........he'll bring most of the repug party down with him as well.

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  194. Rush Limbaugh noted that Nancy Pelosi, a defender of womens rights, was more or less forced to wear a burka. Nice going.

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  195. Anyone see Russ Feingold on Olberman last night, he was great.

    he clearly stated that 70%, i've heard as high as 80% of America wants the war over and has lost confidence in GWB and his incompetent ignorant policies.

    Feingold also called Bush a hippocrite because he is attacking Congress for going on vacation when not only he is going on vacation as well, but he has gone on vacation MORE than any president in our history that I can recall.

    Also how dare this fool, this monkey masquerading as a president attack Congress for doing what they are SUPPOSED to do, and that is represent the will of the people who elected them to represent them and when close to 4 out of every 5 Americans want the war over maybe Bush should wake up and realize that him and his party of criminals and cronnies are there to serve the people who elected them not serve himself and if he continues to defie the will of the people him and his imperial faction of thugs and cronnies will get another wakeup call in 2008 when the imperial faction is drummed out and cleansed from our government and many repugs as well for suppoting these thugs and criminals.

    Certainly the Neo Cons and possibly the entire repug party will be irrelevat and impotent for the next 20 years or so thanks to GWB's folly, incompetence and criminality.

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  196. Rush and Coulter are becoming more irrelevant everyday as well Troll Tex, Rush the drug addicted liar lost half of his viewership last year.........is that alot TT??

    I wonder what an ad exec or media analyst would say about someone who lost half of their audience in a mere one year time.

    BTW Troll TEX, where has that hasbeen Coulter been, havent seen much of the lying slandering idiot have we, by 2008-2009 Coulter will be finished as well.

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  197. You and your cabal of extremist loons are out of touch with America TT, and your time is over, YOUR FINISHED!

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