- Helen Keller
The Winner! Mrs. Michigan Stephanie Hunt
Mrs. Michigan Stephanie Hunt, the first black woman to win Mrs. United States, has a child with a rare disease, and she works tirelessly to raise funds for the RTS foundation. She also weighed over 250 pounds one year ago, having lost 100 pounds in one year. This is an amazing American woman.
The Silverton Lodge & Casino
I just want to take a moment to acknowledge the amazing women I've met this week. I have the honor of being a judge in the MRS. UNITED STATES pageant here in Las Vegas at the elegant Silverton Hotel, which reminds me of being in a grand lodge in Lake Tahoe. Check out these extraordinary creatures at: MRS. UNITED STATES This is not an ordinary beauty pageant. These women are remarkable for the struggles they've each gone through and their committment to helping the world and their communities through volunteer work. Many have suffered enormous odds, while juggling careers and taking care of families. Some have adopted special needs children, some have struggled with abuse, abandonment, autisim and infertility — and others are taking care of spouses with PTSD. All of them are magnificent women, and all are married. Some have written books and inspire others through being good role models. One is a member of the National Guard. Two of these women are expecting their first child! The age range is 20 to 60. And what I appreciated the most is that some of these women have defied age; they are in better shape and more beautiful over 50.
I had tears in my eyes during their interviews. Not only are they GORGEOUS, but deeply compassionate and intelligent.
Thursday night were the finals and we chose one woman out of 54, representing every state in America plus Guam and the Virgin Islands. Wednesday night we had the difficult job of judging swim suit and evening gown competition. They all have great bodies, but some of them have better abs after having children!
The inimitable Chris Rafael of the Really Spectacular Company produced the event. I love the people I'm meeting. Shannon Devine is Mrs. United States 2006; she's gorgeous, hilarious and down-to-earth. Tony Newton from E-Channel, Talk Soup, VH-1 and Price is Right is the host, and the other celebrity judges are Chris McDonald (Thelma and Lousie; Happy Gilmore) Steve Kaufman, the world-famous pop artist; Lindsay Clubine from "Deal or No Deal;" Andrea Preuss, Mrs. United States 2003; Howard Jochsberger, Boyd Gaming Commission, Benson Lee, Esq.
I want to mention Mrs. Vermont, who needs to get her message out there. For the past three years she has been nursing her husband, who came back from Iraq with PTSD. She has been supporting the family while her husband suffers through night tremors and incapacitating problems. Here is her bio:
Dr. Stephanie Mills is the wife of Sgt. Bradley Mills and the mother of two beautiful daughters, Brooke (8) and Emilee (5). Her family has endured the stress and heartache of Bradley''s 13 month Iraq deployment over three years ago. Stephanie is a volunteer and spokesperson for the national Adopt-A-Platoon Organization and since her husband''s return, Stephanie has founded the Community HEART Program, promoting the importance of "Helping All Returning Troops" and raising awareness of PTSD. Please ADOPT A PLATOON!
Don't forget the Basham and Cornell Progressive Talk Show on Saturday at 9:00 AM PST. You always hear lively talk, excellent guests and your calls are taken.
Glad you are enjoying being a judge Lydia.
ReplyDeletePerhaps this will follow along with your article:
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."
- Helen Keller
"The most precious possession that ever comes to a man in this world is a woman's heart."
ReplyDeleteTimothy Titcomb (J.G. Holland)
"You don't marry someone you can live with - you marry the person who you cannot live without."
ReplyDeleteUnknown
"I am also very proud to be a liberal. Why is that so terrible these days? The liberals were liberators—they fought slavery, fought for women to have the right to vote, fought against Hitler, Stalin, fought to end segregation, fought to end apartheid. Liberals put an end to child labor and they gave us the five day work week! What's to be ashamed of?"
ReplyDeleteBarbra Streisand
Harriet Beecher Stowe:
ReplyDeleteWomen are the real architects of society.
Is this on tv tonight?
ReplyDeleteI think is is being taped for later.
ReplyDeleteBarbara Boxer Said This Today:
ReplyDeleteBOXER: Yeah. I mean, you left out a bunch of things -- spying on citizens without a warrant, going around FISA, on and on. Look, I have always said it should be on the table. Ed, I've always said it. I was on a book tour and I ran into John Dean of Watergate fame. He was on the book tour that I was on, for his book. And it was right after we discovered that the administration was spying on our people without a warrant. And he just said, he looked at me and basically just said, as far as he could see, unless there was some explanation for this, this was impeachable. I've always said that you need to keep it on the table, and you need to look at these things, because now people are dying because of this administration. That's the truth. And they won't change course. They are ignoring the Congress. They keep signing these signing statements which mean that he's decided not to enforce the law. This is as close as we've ever come to a dictatorship. When you have a situation where Congress is stepped on, that means the American people are stepped on. So I don't think you can take anything off the table. Because in fact the Constitution doesn't permit us to take these things off the table.
Barbara Boxer is the only politician with the guts to say Bush is a Dictator!
I tried to post this earlier but it didnt take so Im trying again. I caught a bit of Dubbledum's press conference today, and he said it was time to move on from the whole Lobby thing.
ReplyDeleteMove on? He lied to protect the vice-fuhrer's blowing a CIA operative's identity simply because he didnt like her husband. He lied to protect an administration's lies that lead to thousands of our finest to die and tens of thousands of our finest to be forever crippled. Should we tell the widows and widowers of fallen soldiers to get over it already and move on? Should we tell the crippled soldiers to shrug it off and move on?
I'm sorry Mr Bush but we will "move on" when justice is served ... and WE will be the ones to decide when that is -- NOT YOU! When it comes to crimes your administration has commited in our names, the American people are the deciders!
If I had to choose Mrs. America, my wife would win hands down every single time. Just because of who she is.
ReplyDeleteRobert:
ReplyDeleteNice way to look at your wife. maybe she needs to enter this next year.
Bush Loves Killing:
ReplyDeleteThis is a sobering and shocking number: just shy of 1,000,000 Iraqis have been killed since the U.S.-led invasion began. This estimate was just published by Just Foreign Policy. While most of the focus in this country is on the U.S. casualties--every single one of them unnecessary and tragic--it's important that we remember the devastation brought to Iraq on the part of the president and vice-president and the rest of the gang.
They keep a comin' outa the wood word in the reichwing;
ReplyDeleteLawmaker Quits After Misconduct Allegations
One day after former House Speaker Jim Black was sentenced to federal prison for corruption, a state lawmaker resigned amid allegations of "serious, inappropriate conduct."
Rep. David Almond Jr., R-Stanly, submitted his resignation to the House Republican Caucus Thursday morning after someone leveled misconduct claims against him.
(snip)
The nature of the allegations against Almond, an insurance agent and two-term representative from Stanfield, hasn't been disclosed. However, the lawmaker's legislative assistant suddenly cleaned out her desk last week and left his office, officials said.
The 63-year-old woman was reassigned Monday as a "floater," meaning she is no longer assigned to a specific office.
(snip)
The Republican caucus met twice this week to discuss Almond's situation, and House Minority Leader Paul Stam, R-Wake, described the allegations as involving "serious, inappropriate conduct."
"We became aware of serious allegations earlier this week," Stam said. "The leaders of the caucus asked him to resign if the allegations were true. We don't know the truth."
One question to the reichwingers, you clowns ain't outsourced the making of the reichwing kool aid to china or something like that lately have you?
The wingnuts are breaking out in stupid hypocrisy scandals,(no real greed involved) must be defective kool aid or something.
These numbers pretty much jibe with what I have heard about the historical Iowa bounce, so for the purposes of this post I am willing to accept them. Also, according to Pollster.com, here are the current estimated standings in New Hampshire:
ReplyDeleteClinton: 35.5
Obama: 20.6
Edwards: 12.1
Richardson: 9.7
I don't see why Hillary is so far ahead.
Popular opinion only translates into political energy when there's a good organizing coalition to intermediate. So it's worth asking how strong the antiwar coalition is versus the prowar coalition? The overall environment is weighted towards the antiwar position; Bush's disapproval is as high as Nixon's at his peak. In late June, Bush's approval rating on Iraq was 23 percent, and the disapproval was 70 percent. That's crazy. And by a 51-17 margin, Americans believe the occupation is creating more terrorists than eliminating them.
ReplyDeleteFor You Clif:
ReplyDeleteKENTUCKY'S SEN. McCONNELL FOR VOTE AGAINST MILITARY READINESS
The largest political group of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, VoteVets.org, today slammed Kentucky's U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell for voting against a bipartisan measure offered by U.S. senators Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) that would have helped guarantee American troop readiness. The amendment to the annual defense authorization bill in the Senate, would have guaranteed that our troops received as much time at home as the length of their deployment, and that National Guard and Reserves received three years at home following one-year deployments.
The GOP Senate minority, led by McConnell, held the bipartisan amendment hostage via filibuster, and McConnell voted against breaking the filibuster, thereby disallowing consideration of the amendment on the floor.
"Senator McConnell is a disgrace to those of us in uniform," said Iraq war veteran Andrew Horne, a Kentuckian and senior advisor to VoteVets.org. "The amendment he shot down was pro-troop, pro-military and pro-national security. It would've helped ensure that we ease the burden on our men and women in uniform, at a time when our military is breaking. It would've helped rebuild our forces, which have far too many units that are not combat ready. And it would've allowed us to retain more National Guard units here at home, to deal with the next Katrina or tornados in Kentucky, or a terror attack.
I wish McConnell would be ousted.
Poll: Bush Approval Hits New Low, Ties Nixon During Watergate
ReplyDeleteIn yet another milestone involving Bush's ever-plummeting poll numbers, a new survey finds that his approval rating has dropped to a tie with Nixon's during the height of Watergate.
The new Harris Interactive poll finds Bush at 26%, the lowest in the survey. That number is the same as Harris numbers taken regarding Richard Nixon in March, June and August of 1974. Jimmy Carter had the lowest approval in Harris's 50 some years of polling with 22 percent in July 1980. [wanna bet bush beats Carters record]
More dismal numbers from the survey after the jump.
Some other results:
* Dick Cheney also hit a new low with 21 percent of respondents giving him a positive job approval rating, down from 25 percent in April.
* Republicans in Congress are at 21 percent approval, also a new low in this category, which goes back to 1995.
* Democrats in Congress have 31 percent approval, higher than most of last year.
* Only 19 percent think the country is on the right track. Harris hasn't reported such a low number in 15 years.
So even NOW the democrats in Congress are more popular then the reichwing either in congress or the white house, or what ever un-disclosed location that exists in between.
Seems 2008 ain't gonna be any kinder to the reichwing then 2006 was.
The more Bush talks, the more his ratings drop.
ReplyDeleteGo figure!
Larry said...
ReplyDeleteThe more Bush talks, the more his ratings drop.
Go figure!"
Bush is to DUMB to realize to keep his mout SHUT so he wont sound as stupid..........I heard him talk this morning and all it sounded like was blah blah blah blah blah blah..........lie, BS.....blah blah blah blah blah blah.....more lies and BS.......blah blah blah blah blah.......
Just like when the grown up teacher talk in Charley Brown/Snoopy!
Do we have any rights left?
ReplyDeleteIn March, the Justice Department's Inspector General revealed that FBI agents had sent a flurry of fake emergency letters to phone companies, asking them to turn over phone records immediately by promising that the proper papers had been filed with U.S. attorneys, though in many cases this was a complete lie. More than 60 of these letters were made public today as part of a FBI document dump in response to a government sunshine lawsuit centered on the FBI's abuse of a key Patriot Act power.
The most striking thing about these expedited letters (.pdf) (made public via the Electronic Frontier Foundation) is that they all use the same pathetic, passive bureaucratese: "Due to exigent circumstances, it is requested that records for the attached list of telephone numbers be provided."
So far they seem to all be coming from the same office: the Communications Analysis Unit which looks to be located in Room 4944 in FBI Headquarters. The "exigent letters" also refer almost exclusively to a "Special Project" and the only name on any of the letters is Larry Mefford.
Mefford was no rookie FBI agent. Mefford was the Executive Assistant Director, in charge of the Counterterrorism/Counterintelligence Division. In English, that means he was in charge of preventing another terrorist attack domestically.
What does that mean? Well, Mefford's name is on documents that requested personal information on Americans. Some of those requests included information known to be false to the agents signing them. That's a federal crime, according to one former FBI agent.
The reichwing re-pubies in congress are as unpopular as dead eye?
ReplyDeleteThat is saying something.
That's bad to be as hated as Cheney.
ReplyDeleteBush Destroys The American Dream:
ReplyDeleteMortgage foreclosures in the U.S. jumped to a record in the first half as rising interest rates and falling home prices battered homeowners.
Almost 926,000 foreclosure notices were filed, 56 percent more than a year earlier and the most since Irvine, California- based RealtyTrac started tracking the data in 2005. Foreclosures were the highest last month in California and Florida, where some home prices have fallen as much as 25 percent, and Ohio and Michigan, where the automotive industry fired more than 50,000 people in the past 10 years.
The jump in 30-year mortgage rates by more than a half a percentage point since May is putting a crimp on borrowers with the best credit just as a crackdown in subprime lending standards limits the pool of qualified buyers. Foreclosures also are increasing as the supply of unsold homes hit a record 4.43 million in May, according to the National Association of Realtors.
October 27, 1947–The Real Day of Infamy?
ReplyDeleteby
Larry C Johnson
Imagine it is October 27, 1947. Why October 27, 1947? Because that date is 2128 days from December 7, 1941 and the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. So what? Today, 12 July 2007, marks 2128 days since Al Qaeda attacked us on 11 September 2001.
Can we envision President Harry Truman holding a press conference to trumpet the progress in the war against Japan while the leaders of Japan remained untouched? Would Truman offer an upbeat presentation if the United States is unable to quell the violence wracking Japan?
Would the press in World War II add insult to injury? One reporter (and only one reporter) would, at the very end of the press conference, ask why the intelligence community believes Japan is just as strong as it was when it attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. President Truman dismisses the report and insists that Japan is in fact weaker and that we must stay the course. However, the United States does not have enough troops to confront the threat and Truman is unwilling to impose a draft or seek additional forces from other countries.
Larry said...
ReplyDeleteDo we have any rights left?
In March, the Justice Department's Inspector General revealed that FBI agents had sent a flurry of fake emergency letters to phone companies, asking them to turn over phone records immediately by promising that the proper papers had been filed with U.S. attorneys, though in many cases this was a complete lie. More than 60 of these letters were made public today as part of a FBI document dump in response to a government sunshine lawsuit centered on the FBI's abuse of a key Patriot Act power.
The most striking thing about these expedited letters (.pdf) (made public via the Electronic Frontier Foundation) is that they all use the same pathetic, passive bureaucratese: "Due to exigent circumstances, it is requested that records for the attached list of telephone numbers be provided." "
They might as well say .................Because the "DECIDER" says so!
Gotcha Moralist Vitter:
ReplyDeleteA woman accused of running a Washington prostitution ring placed five phone calls to David Vitter while he was a House member, including two while roll call votes were under way, according to telephone and congressional records.
Vitter, a Louisiana Republican now in the Senate, acknowledged Monday that his number was on the woman's call list and apologized for a "very serious sin." The married father of four has remained in seclusion since, missing Senate votes and other activities Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Telephone records released by Deborah Jeane Palfrey indicate she placed calls that were answered by Vitter's Washington phone on five occasions while Vitter was in the House, from 1999 through 2001. On four of those five days, the House was in session and Vitter participated in every roll call vote.
One day was particularly busy in the House, with Vitter's phone receiving Palfrey's call in the middle of the eighth recorded vote of the day, at 5:06 p.m., according to the records.
11 Hours of Nixon Tapes Released
ReplyDeleteBy NEIL A. LEWIS,
The New York Times
Posted: 2007-07-12 19:02:01
Filed Under: Nation, Politics
WASHINGTON (July 12) — The National Archives made available on Wednesday more than 11 hours of tape recordings that show President Richard M. Nixon maneuvering in 1972 to remake the Republican Party in his image, crush South Vietnamese opposition to his efforts to end the Vietnam War and dole out patronage to ethnic groups based on how much they supported his re-election.
The release of the tapes along with 78,000 pages of newly disclosed documents should be a trove of fascinating detail and context for historians, archives officials said. The Nixon library in Yorba Linda, Calif., is now part of the National Archives, as a result of an agreement forged after years of bitter fights between the government and the Nixon family over custody of his official papers.
The most dramatic and revelatory tape recordings involving abuses of government power were disclosed in 1996 and included Nixon’s conversations as recorded by a hidden taping system as the Watergate scandal enveloped and eventually forced him from office.
The newly released recordings provide a fresh glimpse of the political Nixon, especially in the heady moments of his 1972 landslide re-election victory over his Democratic opponent, Senator George McGovern, as the Watergate clouds were just beginning to form.
The documents span a wider period and include a memorandum that may intrigue students of Nixon’s character. In the document, written in December 1970 to H. R. Haldeman, a top aide, Nixon expresses both anger and pain that his aides have not been able to establish an image of him as a warm and caring person. He makes several suggestions about how this could be accomplished, warning frequently in the single-spaced 11-page document that it must appear that the examples of his warmth were discovered by others and not promoted by White House aides.
"There are innumerable examples of warm items," he wrote, saying that he had been "nicey-nicey to the cabinet, staff and Congress around Christmastime" and that he had treated cabinet and subcabinet officials "like dignified human beings and not dirt under my feet."
With regard to the "warmth business," the memorandum says, it is important to emphasize to anyone who may write an article that the president "does not brag about all the good things he does for people."
Shortly after trouncing Mr. McGovern in his re-election bid, Nixon is heard on a Nov. 19, 1972, tape criticizing two men who would go on to be president: Ronald Reagan and the elder George Bush. He tells Charles W. Colson, a senior aide, that the Republican Party is in trouble and needs to be reinforced with a coalition of working-class Democrats. "Basically, your leadership in the states is so bad," Nixon says. "Frankly, in California, it’s Reagan. You can’t do it around him. He’s got to do it, and he is a drag."
Nixon talks in the same conversation about replacing Mr. Bush as representative at the United Nations, saying: "That whole staff up there is violently anti-Nixon, and Bush hasn’t done one damn thing about it. He’s become part of it."
Mr. Colson suggests replacing Mr. Bush with John Scali, a former network television correspondent whom he describes as completely loyal to Nixon. The two men note that naming Mr. Scali would fulfill Nixon’s desire to have an Italian-American in the top ranks of the administration.
A proposal to name Walter Washington, the first black mayor of the District of Columbia, to the post is dismissed during the conversation.
"We don’t owe the blacks a damn thing, anyway," Nixon tells Mr. Colson, who notes that African-Americans had contributed little to his landslide victory.
Nixon responds: "After all, pampering the blacks isn’t good. I think you’ve got a good point there."
Nixon also initially dismissed the idea of naming someone to a high position as "the house Jew," but then says of Leonard Garment, a White House lawyer, "Let him be the house Jew."
In conversations at around the same time, Nixon tells callers including Hubert H. Humphrey, the man he had defeated four years earlier, that Henry A. Kissinger had reached a tentative agreement with North Vietnam a few days before the election.
Nixon is heard in subsequent days expressing sharp anger that Nguyen Van Thieu, the South Vietnamese president, was balking at assenting to the agreement reached in Paris by Mr. Kissinger and Le Duc Tho of North Vietnam.
In one conversation, Nixon raises the idea that the United States might sign a bilateral agreement with North Vietnam, leaving South Vietnam out of it.
Stanley Karnow, a leading authority on the Vietnam War, said Wednesday that Nixon was deeply concerned at the time that Congress would take the reins of war policy if he did not have an agreement to demonstrate his control of the situation.
Allen Weinstein, the archivist of the United States, said the merging of the Nixon library with the Archives made the Nixon administration, "the best-documented presidency in American history."
The collection at the library and online also includes such historical gems as a letter from a Nixon political adviser suggesting in 1973 that John Kerry, then an opponent of the Vietnam, would be a prize recruit for the Republican Party. It also includes a letter in 1968 from former President Dwight D. Eisenhower to Nixon offering advice about whom to appoint to the Supreme Court and another memorandum from Alexander Butterfield, a White House aide, complaining about the difficulties of looking after King Timahoe, Nixon’s intractable Irish setter.
Funny isnt it how the Reich Wing Dictators have to TELL people to like them or they are nice or spin facts to make people THINK they are nice.
ReplyDeleteAlso interesting how the repugs are cleary the party of prejudice, racism and bigotry..........read the previus article to see the REAL Nixon who is only a watered down lite version of GWB!
Nixon says he allready HAS a "house jew" and doesnt NEED another.........he also says he OWES the blacks NOTHING , and essentially says he doesnt NEED a token.............such bigotry, racism and hatred from those hipocritical self professed moral repuggies!
ReplyDeleteBush is prejudice against anyone who isn't ultra wealthy.
ReplyDeleteBush is the Anti Robin Hood Anti FDR/New Deal.........he wants to steal from the middle class and poor and give to the wealthy..........the elitist Reich Wing hippocrites screech about how they loathe wealth redistributions................the TRUTH is not so much when it gets redistributed to THEM!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteNearlyn 1 million Iraqi's have been killed in Bush's war, he has destroyed their country, the economy is falling apart here, and Bush wants extended tax cuts for the rich, and more outsourcing of jobs.
ReplyDeleteI've heard 10% of Iraq's population has fledthe Country......that woul;d be like 30 million fleeing OUR country...........1 million dead and 30 million fleeing the DISASTER...............great JOB Georgie Boy.............you'll have some legacy.......you'll be the BIGGEST LOSER AND WORST PRESIDENT OF ALL TIME!!!!!
ReplyDeleteOh well at least Bush is best at something.......even if it is being the worst.!
The house just passed a resolution to end the Iraq war.
ReplyDeleteIt is binding but Bush will of course just veto it.
But its significant that it passed.
That means cohesion is coming to congress.
Bush is delusional..........Al Qaeda is definately stronger now BECAUSE of Bush's folly and ignorance, we are losing in Afghanistan.
ReplyDeleteFurther Bush keeps flinging out this David Petraus guy like he is some unassiailable God that WE picked or something when the truth is Bush fired, silenced or forced out all the generals who spoke against him and opposed his policies and repeaterdly put in a shill loyal to him to buy time.......Petraus is merely the latest shill.
I'm so sick and tired of him mentioning David Petraus like he is some guy the liberal anti war crowd wanted and he magnanimously conceded and appointed him to appease us.......he's a repug shill loyal to GWB buying him time to run out the clock nothing more!
BARTLEBEE said...
ReplyDeleteThe house just passed a resolution to end the Iraq war.
It is binding but Bush will of course just veto it.
But its significant that it passed.
That means cohesion is coming to congress."
I hate to be cynical here, because thats certainly good news and a step in the right direction...........but it SEEMS like political manuvering.......the repugs in the house that supported are likely just posturing to get their votes against the war now so it cant be used against them come election time........they KNOW there is no REAL danger of the war actually ending because right now we dont have enough repug support in the Senate to defeat Bush's veto..........they can hide behind the excuse "I tried" but there wasnt enough support to beat the veto.
I hope that changes this fall........as the pressure ratchets up!
I think that being a Judge is one of the hardest things to do. For me it's very hard to judge people, so I must say good luck and have fun.
ReplyDeleteHey, Lyd? Will this be on TV?
ReplyDeleteAnd if the contestants sasyed in Barbados, why is the judgung being held in Vefas?
AP:
ReplyDeleteConsumer confidence slid to its lowest point in almost a year as worries about job availability, high gasoline prices and the severity of the housing slump weighed on peoples' minds.
Bush has destroyed public confidence in their future. Is that your goal Bush!
Reuters:
ReplyDeleteOil leapt to a fresh 11-month high above $77 a barrel on Friday, lifted by lingering supply concerns and a rush of speculative money into the commodity.
Bush and Exxon are having an OIL PARTY TODAY.
War Lovers and Flip Floppers:
ReplyDeleteThe 223-201 House vote Thursday to withdraw troops from Iraq by the spring was largely along party lines.
Here are those who voted against their party.
Democrats who voted against the bill: John Barrow, Ga.; Dan Boren, Okla.; Christopher Carney, Pa.*; Brad Ellsworth, Ind.*; Tim Holden, Pa.*; Dennis Kucinich, Ohio; Jim Marshall, Ga.; Jim Matheson, Utah; Vic Snyder, Ark.*; Gene Taylor, Miss.
Republicans who voted for the bill: Walter Jones, N.C.; John Duncan, Tenn.*; Jo Ann Emerson, Mo.*; Wayne Gilchrest, Md.
Those with asterisks changed positions from a May 2 vote on a similar bill. That vote was a veto override of a defense spending bill that contained a provision to withdraw the troops.
The Blackstone Group, the big buyout firm, has devised a way for its partners to effectively avoid paying taxes on $3.7 billion, the bulk of what it raised last month from selling shares to the public.
ReplyDeleteAlthough they will initially pay $553 million in taxes, the partners will get that back, and about $200 million more, from the government over the long term.
The plan, laid out in the fine print of Blackstone’s financial documents, comes as Congress debates how much managers at private equity firms like Blackstone and hedge funds should pay in taxes on their compensation
Another example of the Bush economy!
These numbers pretty much jibe with what I have heard about the historical Iowa bounce, so for the purposes of this post I am willing to accept them. Also, according to Pollster.com, here are the current estimated standings in New Hampshire:
ReplyDeleteClinton: 35.5
Obama: 20.6
Edwards: 12.1
Richardson: 9.7
I don't see why Hillary is so far ahead.
It should be remembered that at this point in 1991, a fellow named Tsongas was riding tall in the dem saddle. Nobody was paying any attention to the Governor of Arkansas.
I don't believe Hill is going to hold her lead. As a matter of fact, I'd bet money on it.
Dang, Lydia!! Lucky You. :-)
ReplyDeleteThe winner is almost as pretty as you are!!
The winner from last night is Mrs. Michigan, the first black woman to ever win. We are so thrilled. She has a child with a rare disease and works for this platform.
ReplyDeleteThe runner up is a tall blonde from Wyoming and has six children. Three are "special neeeds" children she adopted. Her oldest daughter is a black girl who was found abandoned in a laundromat dryer. She is now 16 and in Uganda starting a mission for girls there.
This will be on E-Channel or PAX-TV or one of the other channels.
thanks for letting me hijack the thread to talk about this.
Wow, Barbara Boxer really spoke the truth!
CNN does 'reality check' on White House's Iraq progress report
ReplyDeleteCNN reported Friday that the House of Representatives has passed a bill calling for a withdrawal of US troops from Iraq by next April. However, the bill is likely to be blocked by a Republican filibuster in the Senate and if it survives there will be vetoed by the president.
CNN then turned to a "reality check" from journalist Michael Ware in Baghdad on the White House's Iraq report, released on Thursday, which claims progress on 8 out of 18 benchmarks set by Congress.
"The authors of this report are far more generous than I would ever be," said Ware. "For example, they suggested there's been satisfactory progress in the area of sectarian violence It's quite a stunning claim ... Here in Baghdad, they're finding less bodies on the streets each morning tortured and executed. But we're still talking about five or six hundred each month. ... It almost dishonors the suffering of the Iraqi people to say that."
Ware then pointed out a couple of reasons why sectarian violence might be diminishing even without the efforts of American troops. "About 50,000 Iraqis a month have been fleeing this country or have been displaced," he stated. "So there's simply less targets for the sectarian violence. ... The ethnic cleansing has been successful. ... Finally, we're seeing the American military is now allowing some Sunni neighborhoods to have their own Sunni militias. ... If there's a Sunni militia in your neighborhood, the police death squad can't get to you."
"It's an extraordinarily difficult thing to gauge whether the surge is, in fact, working or not," Ware concluded, pointing out that the surge only affects a small part of Iraq and also that Iraqi insurgents have greatly stepped up their own attacks against American forces since the surge began.
So the white House and Pentagon is NOT being honest about the situation in iraq, who'd a thunk they ever would do that?
I want to mention Mrs. Vermont, who needs to get her message out there. For the past three years she has been nursing her husband through PTSD. Her family has endured the stress and heartache of husband Sgt. Bradley Mills' 13 month Iraq deployment over three years ago.
ReplyDeleteShe has been supporting the family while her husband suffers through night tremors and incapacitating mental and nerve damage.
Stephanie is a volunteer and spokesperson for the national Adopt-A-Platoon Organization and since her husband''s return, Stephanie has founded the Community HEART Program, promoting the importance of "Helping All Returning Troops" and raising awareness of PTSD.
Dr. Stephanie Mills is the wife of Sgt. Bradley Mills and the mother of two beautiful daughters.
Exxon Needs To Thank Bush:
ReplyDeleteExxon Mobil Corp. became the first publicly traded company valued above half a trillion dollars Thursday.
Shares of Exxon Mobil rose 2.7 percent Thursday pushing the market capitalization of the Irving-based company to $504.9 billion -- more than the annual economic output of Argentina, Finland and Kazakhstan combined. A 40 percent gain in the past 12 months made Exxon Mobil 26 percent bigger than General Electric Co., the next largest U.S. company.
Perhaps Exxon has thanked Bush will a diversion of profits to a secret trust for him and Pickles.
US retail sales -- a crucial driver of economic growth -- fell unexpectedly in June as American consumers cut their spending amid a persistent housing slump and mounting gasoline costs, a government survey showed Friday.
ReplyDeleteThe Commerce Department said June retail sales declined 0.9 percent, defying most Wall Street analysts' forecasts that sales would remain unchanged.
More of the Bush economy!
I want to mention Mrs. Vermont, who needs to get her message out there. For the past three years she has been nursing her husband through PTSD. Her family has endured the stress and heartache of husband Sgt. Bradley Mills' 13 month Iraq deployment over three years ago.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'll bet cash that the local VA is next to useless.
Heckuva job, Chimpy.
Jolly:
ReplyDeleteThe VA's are stripped down that way everywhere, as Bush and his neoconites could care less about the troops.
Hi Lydia:
ReplyDeleteSounds like a lot of fun and you're meeting so many interesting people! :)
Oh, you guys, I have been looking at so many phone numbers and I need a break from that DC Madam's phone list! LOL
ReplyDeleteOh, you guys, I have been looking at so many phone numbers and I need a break from that DC Madam's phone list! LOL
ReplyDeleteLarry Flynt is helping you out with this one ;)
Hi Jolly:
ReplyDeleteYes, he sure is! I've discovered a few things but Flynt probably already has a whole lot more than I do! ;)
Just out of curiosity Suzie-Q, any sign of Herr Cheney yet?
ReplyDeleteHaving It Both Ways
ReplyDeleteHadn't thought of it that way, but, yeah, good point from TPM Reader JM ...
I may have missed any commentary on this, but no one seems to be pointing out that Bush spent the whole press conference say we are fighting Al Queda, then concluded by disagreeing that Al Queda is stronger then it was in 2001. In 2001, they highjacked four airliners using box cutters and today, according to administration spin, they have the entire United States Army bogged down! How do people sit there and not start laughing, I don't know.
--Josh Marshall
Israel 'Approved' to Strike Iran
ReplyDeleteIsrael’s Minister of Strategic Affairs said he has received approval from the U.S. and Europe for an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
"If we start military operations against Iran alone, then Europe and the U.S. will support us,” Avigdor Lieberman said following a meeting with NATO and European Union officials.
Lieberman said the Western powers recognized the Iranian nuclear threat to Israel, Israel Today magazine reported. But military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan are "going to prevent the leaders of countries in Europe and America from deciding on the use of force to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities,” and they are sending the message that Israel should "prevent the threat herself.”
ReplyDeleteTurkey boosts troops at Iraqi border-sources
By Paul de Bendern
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, July 13 (Reuters) - Turkey's army has boosted troop levels in the restive southeast to more than 200,000, most of them stationed along the border with Iraq, security sources told Reuters on Friday.
Those sources, who declined to be named, said the unusually large buildup, which includes tanks, heavy artillery and aircraft, was part of a security crackdown on Kurdish rebels hiding in southeast Turkey and northern Iraq.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates dismissed the estimate of 200,000 troops, saying it was too high.
"I have not seen anything that would indicate there are numbers of Turkey's soldiers along the border of that size," Gates told reporters in Washington.
The Pentagon has disputed reports of increased Turkish troop levels for days. The top U.S. general, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Peter Pace, said Turkey has the capability to fight the rebels inside Iraq without boosting troop levels.
"The truth of the matter is that the Turkish armed forces on their side of the border have always had sufficient forces to be able to take actions without having to be reinforced," Pace said.
NATO-member Turkey has refused to rule out a possible cross-border operation to crush up to 4,000 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels believed to be based in mountains in northern Iraq, despite opposition from Washington and Baghdad.
The military General Staff in Ankara was not immediately available for comment on troop numbers. It usually does not release such figures.
Tensions along the border have soared in recent months following an upsurge in attacks across Turkey that Ankara blames on PKK militants. More than 200 Turkish soldiers and PKK rebels have been killed since the start of the year, a Turkish human rights association said on Friday.
Armed forces chief General Yasar Buyukanit has repeatedly urged the government to allow an incursion into Iraq to target PKK militants. Those statements have drawn warnings from the head of the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq that Kurds would fight back if attacked.
Washington, while naming the PKK a terrorist group, fears any major operation by Turkey in northern Iraq could anger Iraqi Kurdish allies and stoke wider conflict in a relatively peaceful region of the war-torn country.
But U.S. and Iraqi forces have been unable to clamp down on the PKK because they are stretched fighting insurgents elsewhere in Iraq. Both Washington and Baghdad have called for diplomatic means to calm tensions with Turkey.
Surge on Georgie,
Turkey wants to play now also........
U.S. troops from Fort Benning, Ga., are some of the last troops assigned to the surge in Baghdad.
ReplyDeleteIn one post southeast of the capital, the Shiite militia, Sunni extremists and al-Qaida are all gunning for U.S. troops. Al-Qaida operatives play a minor role among the insurgents in that area, so troops must be on the look out for other insurgents.
Our reporter on the ground says soldiers are so busy staying alive, they give little thought to what is going on in Washington, D.C.
Let The Troops Take The Summer Off:
ReplyDeleteThe White House on Friday appeared resigned to the fact that the Iraqi parliament is going to take August off, even though it has just eight weeks to show progress on military, political and economic benchmarks prescribed by the United States.
"My understanding is at this juncture they're going to take August off, but, you know, they may change their minds," White House press secretary Tony Snow said.
"You know, it's 130 degrees in Baghdad in August," he said, sympathetically.
Snow was reminded that U.S. troops will be continuing to fight throughout August in the heat.
Mike said...
ReplyDeleteI hate to be cynical here, because thats certainly good news and a step in the right direction...........but it SEEMS like political manuvering.......the repugs in the house that supported are likely just posturing to get their votes against the war now so it cant be used against them come election time.
You're right Mike. The attachment to defund Cheney's office just got shot down in the Appropriations committee.
I have been trying to be positive, and believe in Congress, but that jobs getting harder and harder every day.
In fact, I've been thinking of quitting.
ReplyDeleteA soldier posted this comment on ThinkProgress.
ReplyDeleteI thought you all should see it.
It was posted in response to the GOP senators calling for a new declaration of war.
------
This is a joke, a ruse, this is just so it looks like some “responsible” Repuppetcan’s were the ones who got the POTUS to reduce the level of troops. There are “troops” who were supposed to be home in JULY 07 but were extended so they will be coming back in Sep-Oct anyway. will that be seen as a reduction NO because the units that they replaced (MY unit) will be replacing them after OUR units were deactivated in one place and then reflagged as another unit and made to look like WE are a new unit therefore= NEW TROOPS.
So WE”RE being recycled and it looks to those who dont know that the POTUS is listening but he is just rotating us from one place to another. Thats how it is without all of the rhetoric, BS, and Bush/GOP-speak.
And where are all the “General’s on the ground” (in my best Bush voice), They’re all somewhere on their knees praying to a life-size George Bush cutout, and the ones who do speak out (the 5-10 who have a pair) are no longer “Generals on the ground” or anywhere else for that matter .
So this is again just political cover so some Repuppetcans come Nov 08 can say they “broke” with the POTUS, if they really cared about “the troops” this would have been done in 05,06.
What the hell did we give the Dems the House and Senate for if all they do is live in fear of LIEberman, MAD-Man MCcain, AIPAC, and a bunch of the most ignorant, incompetent, dishonest public officials and media personalities ever to roam the earth.
This country is falling apart
RIP
SGT Stephen R. Sherman
C CO 1-5 IN (STRYKER)
KIA 3 Feb 2005
Mosul, Iraq
July 16th would have been his 30th birthday, we miss and love you brother
Or as the POTUS, his enablers, apologists, and just followers call him comma #1462
Comment by Tired Of Fighting — July 13, 2007 @ 6:47 pm
I posted this last night.........I completely agree with that post Bartlebe,,,,,,,,,,,,,Bush has fired or silenced ALL the generals opposed to his war........its total BS that he is listening to the gernerals........he's putting shills loyal to him in the media to make it appear they agree with him and thats pathetic.
ReplyDeleteMike said...
Bush is delusional..........Al Qaeda is definately stronger now BECAUSE of Bush's folly and ignorance, we are losing in Afghanistan.
Further Bush keeps flinging out this David Petraus guy like he is some unassiailable God that WE picked or something when the truth is Bush fired, silenced or forced out all the generals who spoke against him and opposed his policies and repeaterdly put in a shill loyal to him to buy time.......Petraus is merely the latest shill.
I'm so sick and tired of him mentioning David Petraus like he is some guy the liberal anti war crowd wanted and he magnanimously conceded and appointed him to appease us.......he's a repug shill loyal to GWB buying him time to run out the clock nothing more!
BREAKING NEWS:
ReplyDeleteBush is AGAIN invoking Executive Privilege in the investigation into the shooting of Pat Tillman.
i'm so sick of that sack of pus and human excrement we call a president.............it sickens me to see or hear Him!
ReplyDeleteWe were wrong!
ReplyDeleteThat is the answer to any right wingnut who asks the question was it wrong to depose Saddam, because we simply did not have that right. We did not have the right to force the Iraqi people to change, plain and simple. We took that choice from them and decided we knew better then they did what they needed in their country. That is wrong, ask any conservative if it is right to take the choice away from people and decide for them.
We were wrong to jazz up the intelligence to make the best case for war. The WMD’s did not exist, and if George Bush had given the inspectors more time that would have become apparent. We were wrong to interfere with an United Nations inspection program in our rush for war. We were wrong to decide that we had the right to over rule the United Nations in a foreign country. We were wrong to demand the United Nations meet our criteria or we would ignore them and attack anyway.
We were wrong to use the situation in Iraq as our excuse for not catching Osama Bin Laden, but it was. The federal government under George Bush diverted assets from Afghanistan for the invasion of Iraq and that was wrong. The Bush Administration used the crimes of Osama Bin Laden to foment crimes against the people of Iraq.
We were wrong for claiming that Iraq was responsible for 9-11. Yes I understand quite a few frustrated people wanted to “put a boot in your ass, cause that’s the American way” in 2003 and the war in Afghanistan didn’t assuage that anger enough. But attacking Iraq and falsely blaming the people of Iraq for 9-11 was wrong. We wanted revenge on anything arabic after 9-11 so some could dishonestly use that anger to hype up the reasons for an attack on Iraq and that was wrong.
We were wrong to send young men and women to die, because some in the United States decided they knew better that the Iraqi people, what was good for them. We were wrong to try to make forged documents the basis of sending US citizens to kill Iraqi citizens. We were wrong to silence opposition to this war as unpatriotic while claiming to be spreading democracy in Iraq.
We were wrong to allow Donald Rumsfeld to inhibit the generals from telling the truth to congress and the American people as General Shinski tried to do. We were wrong to allow George Bush to silence Lawrence Lindsey as he tried to tell congress and the American people the truth about what this war would really cost. We were wrong for allowing George Bush to send Colin Powell to deceive the UN. We were wrong to allow the white House to orchestrate the outing of a CIA covert agent working on non proliferation of nuclear weapons, then orchestrate a cover up.
We were wrong to allow Douglas Feith, Scooter Libby, Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Armatige, Condolleezza Rice, Steven Hadley, John Bolton, Stephen Cambone, Eliot Abrams, David Addington, to undermine the constitution and the laws of this country to make a dishonest case for an illegal war.
We were wrong to allow George W Bush to stay the course for four long years as up to 1,000,000 Iraqi civilians and 3611 US soldiers, 159 British soldiers, 128 soldiers from other countries, over 1000 civilian contractors and untold civilians from other countries have been killed in the war we were wrong starting on April 9th 2003. We were wrong for listening to anything Richard Cheney has said about Iraq, because he has been so wrong for so long, it has to be either delirium or intentional, which would be criminal.
We were wrong for allowing George Bush, Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Condolleezza Rice to deny the insurgency as it grew for three years. We were wrong for they to make the false claim the insurgency was “al qaeda in Iraq” when the vast majority was former Baathists, and Saddam loyalists using the weapons we failed to secure to attack us as Saddam planned when he allowed the Iraqi resistance to collapse on April 9th 2003 and go underground to regroup, and attack US troops as Afghanistan insurgents had done to Soviet Troops in the 1980's.
We were wrong to allow George Bush to force more troops to kill and die in Iraq with his surge. We were wrong to allow him to make a dishonest case after he knew the truth but didn’t want to hear it. We were wrong to continue to force the Iraqi people to live like this, claiming our benchmarks have to be met before we give control of their country back to them....
We were as wrong in invading Iraq in April 2003 as the Iraqis were in invading Kuwait in Aug 1990. We were as wrong for deciding we could force the Iraqi people to change as Saddam was when he tried to force the Kuwaiti people to change. We have no right to claim our version of democracy is the only option the Iraqi people had.
We were wrong for taking the right of self determination away from the people of Iraq. If the people of Iraq wanted Saddam gone they needed to do as every other oppressed people did and overthrow him from the inside. We were wrong to force the Iraqi people to write a constitution that we had to approve. We were wrong to force the Iraqi people to change how they developed their oil and who they could sell it to.
This is all of ours country, and we were wrong to allow it to be hijacked in this illegal immoral war. We all bear responsibility for this, we need to make those who lied to get it, lied to keep it, and lie to us today to force it to continue, to stop the war. Other wise we are wrong once again.
We were wrong in almost everything we have done in Iraq after March 19th 2003.
How wrong will we allow the United States to be about Iran?
Pat Tillman was an American hero.
ReplyDeleteOne of the best we had to offer.
Bush invoking Executive Privilege to cover up the circumstances of his death and stifle the investigation, is DISGUSTING.
And it does something else.
It proves my theory that Cheney or someone high up at the White House had him killed, because he was such a vocal and visible and popular opponent of the war in Iraq.
Sorry Lydia, but GODDAMN Mr Bush.
ReplyDeleteGODDAMN him to HELL.
Just like they killed Paul Wellstone.
ReplyDeleteI told Lydia this when I met her in person last year.........When I first saw Bush and Cheney after they won the 2000 election........my initial impression was on some guteral viceral level I couldnt quite place they reminded me of Nazi's.........ever since 2002 that initial impression has been reinforced 100 fold by their actions, talk mannerisms......there very essence screams Nazi.
ReplyDeleteMy gut instincts of people are almost NEVER wrong.........of course I tried to be open minded and give them a chance but their actions have proved those instincts far more correct than I EVER wanted to be!
Mike, the night I saw Chimpy making fun of Karla Tucker, I knew he was an inhuman piece of sh*t who didn't belong in any position of authority. There was never any rethinking for me.
ReplyDeleteBartlebee -- That Bush is doing this is BIZARRE AND SICKENING!
ReplyDeleteClif - great post "We Were Wrong"
TomCat- thank you for the compliment.
Mike, Susie, Larry, Carl and everyone else -- thank you for all your great comments
Went to see the Beatles LOVE tonight at the Mirage, with my father-in-law.
ReplyDeleteThis was so great, it blew my mind, and transported me out of all the stress I'm under...
A great parachute lands over the entire audience for Strawberry Fields, and...
The Beatle's hits set to Cirque du Soleil and entire sets moving and changing colors and every song interpreted brilliantly.
I am so glad I know the words to every Beatle song.
Can anyone deny this:
ReplyDeleteBill Clinton accused President George W. Bush on Friday of having "forgotten about our hunt for bin Laden," and told Newsday the president's Iraq policy had spawned swarms of new terror recruits.
Speaking during his first New Hampshire appearance with his wife, Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former president agreed with a recent intelligence report indicating the al-Qaida terror organization has regrouped to pre-Sept. 11 levels.
As Usual Cheney Gets His Way:
ReplyDeleteIn the Senate Appropriations Committee, the panel approved an amendment by Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., to strike language in the Financial Services Appropriations bill that would have barred funding for Cheney's office until he complies with an executive order Democrats argue compels him to provide information on classified data.
The vote was 15-14 after Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., switched his position from earlier in the week and backed Brownback after a letter from White House Counsel Fred Fielding Thursday clarified the administration's position.
Never forget the two faced Democrat Ben Nelson for his Lieberman actions.
Leaving The Poor Behind:
ReplyDeleteGrowing numbers of the nation's poorest households are using more than half their earnings for rent while waiting years for federal housing assistance that may never come.
The phenomenon is largely playing out in urban and suburban locales, but has exploded recently in rural areas as coveted rental assistance becomes harder to get due to high demand and scant funding from Congress.
The lack of affordable homes for poor families is the nation's No. 1 housing problem and undermines the stability and security of families and communities nationwide.
A new report by the Department of Housing and Urban Development describes the startling growth of the problem since 2003. It found that 6 million impoverished households used most of their monthly earnings for housing or lived in substandard conditions in 2005. That’s an increase of 16 percent, or 817,000 families, since 2003.
The number of rural families facing this dilemma grew by 51 percent to nearly 1 million households over the same two-year span.
Thanks Questiongirl!
Hey peeps.
ReplyDeleteRemember FF, Volt and TT all agreed that when the Iraqi's says its time to leave, we should leave then?
ReplyDeleteIraq PM: Country can manage without U.S.
BUSHRA JUHI,
Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 5 minutes ago
BAGHDAD -
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Saturday that the Iraqi army and police are capable of keeping security in the country when American troops leave "any time they want"
Well there ya go.
We can leave "ANY TIME WE WANT".
ReplyDeleteAfter all, he's only the Prime Minister of Iraq.
And by the way. We should not let this story go unnoticed.
ReplyDeleteTroy Davis, a man clearly falsely convicted in a kangaroo court trial in Savannah Georgia of shooting a police officer is about to be executed by a the State Of Georgia, irregardless of the fact that 7 of the 9 witnesses against him have already RECANTED their testimony, and its believed that the states star witness, the man who originally accused him, is actually the real killer.
Troy Davis was a good, decent upstanding citizen, who was a Coach for the Savannah Police Athletic League, and who at the time of the shooting, had just enlisted in the Marines.
Because of a law introduced by Newt Gingrich (that Clinton was dumb enough to sign), the ability of Federal courts to oversee State Court death penalty rulings and apppeals, was restricted, and this guy is being railroaded right to the lethal injection table.
He has already spent half his life in prison, for a crime he clearly didn't commit.
The courts convicted him on the word of seedy character, and 8 other indirect witnesses, 7 of which have since RECANTED their testimonies.
The police had NO evidence whatsoever. No physical evidence at all. No gun was ever found anywhere near Davis or his home or car, and no bullets, no powder marks on his hands, NOTHING.
Just the word of a seedy character and now the guy has spent half his life in prison, and is about to be murdered by the State of Georgia.
For being a good citizen.
Lydia and Doug should mention him on the air. Georgia should not be allowed to kill this good man.
Troy Davis needs your help and your prayers.
TROY DAVIS STORY
ReplyDeleteAnd for those who feel Bush's strategies have made us safer, read this.
ReplyDeleteRussia suspends participation in treaty
MARIA DANILOVA,
Associated Press Writer
59 minutes ago
MOSCOW
Russia on Saturday suspended its participation in a key European arms control treaty that governs deployment of troops on the continent, the Kremlin said, a move that threatened to further aggravate Moscow's already tense relations with the West.
President Vladimir Putin signed a decree suspending Russia's participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty due to "extraordinary circumstances ... which affect the security of the Russian Federation and require immediate measures," the Kremlin said in a statement.
Putin has in the past threatened to freeze his country's compliance with the treaty, accusing the United States and its NATO partners of undermining regional stability with U.S. plans for a missile defense system in former Soviet bloc countries in Eastern Europe.
Under the moratorium, Russia will halt inspections and verifications of its military sites by NATO countries and will no longer limit the number of its conventional weapons, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Remember I said if we don't leave Iraq, Russia and China might help us leave?
ReplyDeleteWell this signing statement by Putin opens the door for just such a scenario.
It ends NATO inspection of Russian ground forces in the region, and permits Russia to do a quick, and massive military build up to meet with our forces.
Putin says its over the missle sheild, and while that is the straw the broke the Bears back, its clear our presence next door in Iraq, is driving the decision.
The time to leave Iraq, is now.
Suzie-Q (S-Q) said...
ReplyDeleteOh, you guys, I have been looking at so many phone numbers and I need a break from that DC Madam's phone list!
As we discussed, you'll forget that my number is on that list, right?
Yea Suzy, and maybe you'd better not mention mine either.
ReplyDeleteIts the one with the footnote "Stallion".
Lydia, I am now officially jealous. I'm dying to get out to Vegas to see "Love".
ReplyDeleteWhite House: "Equal Justice?"
ReplyDeleteBy Paul Kiel - July 5, 2007, 2:27 PM
Sometimes it's just too easy. From this afternoon's White House press briefing:
Q Scott, is Scooter Libby getting more than equal justice under the law? Is he getting special treatment?
MR. STANZEL: Well, I guess I don't know what you mean by "equal justice under the law."
no, most repugs wouldnt know equal justice if it bit them on the ass!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Carl said...
ReplyDeleteSuzie-Q (S-Q) said...
Oh, you guys, I have been looking at so many phone numbers and I need a break from that DC Madam's phone list!
As we discussed, you'll forget that my number is on that list, right?
9:37 AM
-------------------
Carl:
Oh rats! I forgot! Your name is at the top of the list!
LOLMAO
BARTLEBEE said...
ReplyDeleteYea Suzy, and maybe you'd better not mention mine either.
Its the one with the footnote "Stallion".
10:44 AM
--------------------
Bartlebee:
"Stallion"? I see one that says "Stick Pony"... Is that you?
ROFLMAO
You are pretty lucky to be a judge on the pageant not just because of the beautiful woman but knowing beauty does in fact come from within , those woman truly are remarkeable, beautiful and exceptions.
ReplyDeleteSuzie-Q (S-Q) said...
ReplyDelete"Stallion"? I see one that says "Stick Pony"... Is that you?
ROFLMAO
Look lady, I'll make the jokes around here...
Suzie-Q (S-Q) said...
ReplyDelete"Stallion"? I see one that says "Stick Pony"... Is that you?
Oh all right.
Yes, that was my cell phone number.... but I'd just gotten out of the pool.
Lately I've been hearing the "surrender monkey" phrase that I believe was coined by Ann Coulter.
ReplyDeleteThe right wing is accusing anyone who is considering withdrawing from Iraq, of wanting to "surrender".
I would like to diffuse this bogus argument once and for all.
Withdrawing, is NOT surrendering.
Look the word up in the dictionary.
Surrender, as it pertains to war, means laying down your arms and turning your soldiers over as prisoners of war.
Withdrawing from an engagment is NOT surrender. Period.
Surrender is when soldiers, nations, or other combatants stop fighting and become prisoners of war, either as individuals or when ordered to by their officers. A white flag is often used to surrender, as is the gesture of raising one’s hands empty and open above one’s head.
ReplyDeleteWikipedia.org
In WW1, there was a famous story, of a German ace, who had a british pilot, who’s guns had jammed, in his sights. If memory serves me correct, the german pilot was Oswald Boelke, the mentor to Manfred Von Richtofen, (the red baron), in his Albatross DII, and the Englishmen I don’t recall, although as best as I remember he was flying an old british FE2, “pusher”, and the observers Lewis gun had jammed, leaving the british plane at the mercy of the german ace.
ReplyDeleteAs the story goes, the german banked off to one side of the little pusher plane, and the german turned to the observer and pilot, saluted, and then, after both the observer and pilot returned the benevolant salute, turned and flew off towards the german lines.
That one event has been played out over and over in movies and stories for 100 years as one of the most honorable examples of civilized combat.
But by RNC logic, that germans salute constituted a surrender.
:|
Go figure.
The Iraqi Prime Minister who we stood up told us today that they can take it from here.
ReplyDeletePerhaps its time America tossed the Iraqi people a benevolant salute, and headed for home.
Remember I said if we don't leave Iraq, Russia and China might help us leave?
ReplyDeleteWell this signing statement by Putin opens the door for just such a scenario.
If we hit Iran, it's a guarantee that Pootie will come see us, one way or another. And our Beijing bankers will snap shut the purse.
And by the way. We should not let this story go unnoticed.
ReplyDeleteTroy Davis, a man clearly falsely convicted in a kangaroo court trial in Savannah Georgia of shooting a police officer is about to be executed by a the State Of Georgia, irregardless of the fact that 7 of the 9 witnesses against him have already RECANTED their testimony, and its believed that the states star witness, the man who originally accused him, is actually the real killer.
I know the story. Jesusistan justice at its finest.
Ann Coulter is the biggest sack of pus i've ever seen her and all her little troll minions came in here..............(before they got their little asses booted out the door) spouting that retarded "Surrender Monkey" BS and they looked like the inbred retarded fools that they are.........Rusty and TT pull used that stupid catch phrase and idiotic retarded talking point all the time and all it did is show how moronically stupid they are.
ReplyDeleteThe example I used is if I kicked in that idiot TT's door entered his home against his will and proceeded to bash his brains in pre-emptively of course with a baseball bat till he was unconscious ........then came to my senses stoped and left......................would THAT be surrendering?
Because THATS equivalent to what leaving Iraq would be. Why do idiots like Coulter and Cheney even get a pulpit to spew their nonsense thats the equivalent to giving Charles Manson copious airtime on Fox news and treating him like a brilliant and knowledeable political pundit.
Surrendering would be if an occupying force were trying to conquor or attack OUR country on OUR soil and we laid down our weapons and surrendered..........the aggressor cant surrender jack ass!
BTW Patriot, I left you a response on your blog!
ReplyDeletePutin has to laugh at what a complete Moron Bush is........if I were putin i would love to humble that idiot and it wouldnt be that hard.......we need a smart president..........Putin is a chess player, he's a poker player.........bush is the sucker at the table or the one who gets fools mated in 3 moves while bragging how good and tough he is.
ReplyDeleteWe need a president we can be proud of like Clinton!
Remember how much Bush tried to spin the report of the catastrophic failure which is his surge to save the fiasco he created in Iraq?
ReplyDeletewell at least he is consistent.....
Failure in Afghanistan risks rise in terror, say generals
Military chiefs warn No.10 that defeat could lead to change of regime in Pakistan
Britain's most senior generals have issued a blunt warning to Downing Street that the military campaign in Afghanistan is facing a catastrophic failure, a development that could lead to an Islamist government seizing power in neighbouring Pakistan.
Amid fears that London and Washington are taking their eye off Afghanistan as they grapple with Iraq, the generals have told Number 10 that the collapse of the government in Afghanistan, headed by Hamid Karzai, would present a grave threat to the security of Britain.
Lord Inge, the former chief of the defence staff, highlighted their fears in public last week when he warned of a 'strategic failure' in Afghanistan. The Observer understands that Inge was speaking with the direct authority of the general staff when he made an intervention in a House of Lords debate.
'The situation in Afghanistan is much worse than many people recognise,' Inge told peers. 'We need to face up to that issue, the consequence of strategic failure in Afghanistan and what that would mean for Nato... We need to recognise that the situation - in my view, and I have recently been in Afghanistan - is much, much more serious than people want to recognise.'
Inge's remarks reflect the fears of serving generals that the government is so overwhelmed by Iraq that it is in danger of losing sight of the threat of failure in Afghanistan. One source, who is familiar with the fears of the senior officers, told The Observer: 'If you talk privately to the generals they are very very worried. You heard it in Inge's speech. Inge said we are failing and remember Inge speaks for the generals.'
Looks Like Bush surged the troops into the wrong war... the one that does not include Osama Bin Laden or those who protected him.
Here are the words of Lord Ashdown who explains why Afghanistan is the war we should be worries about;
ReplyDelete'The consequences of failure in Afghanistan are far greater than in Iraq,' he said. 'If we fail in Afghanistan then Pakistan goes down. The security problems for Britain would be massively multiplied. I think you could not then stop a widening regional war that would start off in warlordism but it would become essentially a war in the end between Sunni and Shia right across the Middle East.'
'Mao Zedong used to refer to the First and Second World Wars as the European civil wars. You can have a regional civil war. That is what you might begin to see. It will be catastrophic for Nato. The damage done to Nato in Afghanistan would be as great as the damage done to the UN in Bosnia. That could have a severe impact on the Atlantic relationship and maybe even damage the American security guarantee for Europe.'
Ashdown said two mistakes were being made: a lack of a co-ordinated military command because of the multinational 'hearts and minds' Nato campaign and the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom offensive campaign against the Taliban. There was also insufficient civic support on, for example, providing clean water.
Ashdown warned: 'Unless we put this right, unless we have a unitary system of command, we are going to lose. The battle for this is the battle of public opinion. The polls are slipping. Once they go on the slide it is almost impossible to win it back. You can only do it with the support of the local population.
'There is a very short shelf life for an occupation force. Once that begins to shift against you it is very very difficult to turn it round.'
It was a pleasure to met you and your family your son was so darling always getting us water. Please tell him thank you again.
ReplyDeleteGod Bless,
Christine Warembourg
Mrs. Colorado United States 2007
“A man should be proud of the country in which he lives, but he should live in such a way that his country be proud of him. "
Mrs Colorado United States 2007 said...
ReplyDeleteIt was a pleasure to met you and your family your son was so darling always getting us water.
Some guys will do anything to be around pretty women...
Carl said...
ReplyDeleteSome guys will do anything to be around pretty women...
-------------------
Spoken like the pro that he is!
LOLMAO
Ok I am Jealous I would love to be there! Enjoy all the Great Fish and Beautiful Water!!! Beats the heck out of doing Laundry! I can’t wait to see your Photo’s. Have a great vacation.
ReplyDeleteChristine
Lydia,
ReplyDeleteIt was a pleasure meeting you and having you be one of our judges for Mrs. United States. I would love to stay in touch. My website is http://www.americasfitmrs.5u.com with links to Mrs. Delaware. Hope you contact me.
Regards
Laura
Mrs. Delaware United States 2007
Lydia,
ReplyDeleteIt was a pleasure meeting you and having you be one of our judges for Mrs. United States. I would love to stay in touch. My website is http://www.americasfitmrs.5u.com with links to Mrs. Delaware. Hope you contact me.
Regards
Laura
Mrs. Delaware United States 2007
Lydia-
ReplyDeleteIt was such a pleasure meeting you. You have a heart of gold and it shows. Thank you for also sharing your political views. As a military wife, we are not always permitted to have views but regardless we support our soldiers immensly.Please log on to www.americasupportsyou.mil when you have a chance. There are over 200 grass roots organizations that serve as a support system for our military personnel and their families. As I said in my interview, regardless of someone's personal or political feelings, I hope we never loose touch of the humanitarian side of this war.
Thank you for doing what you do.
With warm regards and many blessings-
Deanna Maria Linz
Mrs DC United States 2007
Hi Lydia! Thank you so much for enjoying the experience with us! It was a pleasure meeting your family! I love your blog and views!! Best Wishes to you!!
ReplyDeleteKeri Schmelmer
Mrs Ohio US 2007