David Corn

DC, it's not about alin or Gingrich. It's about Obama's failed policies. The EU has rejected Obanomics and it ias only a matter of time until the uninformed masses that voted for BO wake up.

Hey freddie I thought conservatives like you didn't care what Europe thought about us.
But I digress;

"People in the Northeast who read The New York Times and went to elite colleges dismiss her, ." I live in the south and went to a state school and I dismiss her!

Remember - to be stupid, ignorant and close-minded means someone is independent, righteous and true to their core values.

GG,

You might dismiss her but 58,000,000 southern rednecks and Hillary supporters voted for her over Barry.......

I don't care what Europe thinks about US. I do get a kick out of what they think about Barry, cuz Palin can now say "I told ya so".

To put it simply, if you are a dumbass and liked dumbass bush, then you love dumbass palin.

hahaha

If it's longer than a bumper sticker, then it goes right over their head.

Hey Alan, so far Palin's made Barry look like a dumbass and the polls are starting to show her correct.

Why is it that libs can't focus on issues like Barry's 9.5% unemployment after the trillion dollar prokulus bill instead of Palins toe nail polish over at Huffington Post? Good thing I'm here to intervene on your addiction of Palin phobia~~~

Even DC old friends at the Nation are starting to wake up from the Obamanomics nightmare:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nation: Obama in big trouble if unemployment rises further

The Obama administration predicted that the massive deficit spending Barack Obama pushed in the stimulus would save the country from runaway unemployment, which they defined as 8.8%. With unemployment racing higher than the doomsday predictions after spending $800 billion on liberal pet projects, even the Left has realized that this presidency could be in serious trouble. John Nichols at The Nation warns that crossing the double-digit mark on unemployment will pin the problem not on Obama’s predecessor, but on Obama himself:

~~~~~~~~~~

As Sarah Palin has said: "I told Ya So"

hahaha

"Barry's 9.5% unemployment"

Nope, it won't work here fredo. We know whose fault that is. Just because you deny it from your bubble, doesn't mean it isn't so. Obama is fighting to refloat this ship that bushies ran aground.
As I've said before, it took Clinton 4-years to correct what reagan/bush screwed up, and Obama is starting out from an even deeper hole... thanks to dubya jr. It's going to take awhile, but the adults will once again fix what repugnican juvenile deliquents broke.
We KNOW you'll deny it all the way, because you want desparately to avoid the blame, AGAIN. You and hannity/rush/chainee have the simple-minded convinced, but that's just a small minority. Therefore, you get a MINUS in "works and plays well with others".
*you're dismissed now

"...after spending $800 billion..."

You're such a simpleton fredo. Obama has only spent $44-billion of that stimulus package. The vast majority of it hasn't been used yet, and unlike bushies, he wants to spend that money wisely.

http://tinyurl.com/nmps2u

Obama admitted his own dissatisfaction with the progress but said his administration would ramp up stimulus spending in the coming months. The White House acknowledged it has spent only $44 billion, or 5 percent, of the $787 billion stimulus, but that total has always been expected to rise sharply this summer.

Barry's 9.5% unemployment"

Nope, it won't work here fredo. We know whose fault that is.

~~~~

Alan, Did Barry promise us that if we passed his porulus bill that unemployment would not go higher than 8.8%. Yes or No?

So if the unemployment is now at 9.5% and by all indications it may go up to 10-11% (already at 12% in my blue state), does this mean Barry's porulus bill work as he promised or was he wrong?

How can you blame Bush when Barry told us his porkulus was going to save us from the Bush disaster?

Do you not even listen to what Barry tells you he's going to do? No wonder the Democrats didn't read the porulus bill before voting for it.

The vast majority of it hasn't been used yet, and unlike bushies, he wants to spend that money wisely.

~~~~

Really, what's he waiting for 11% unemployment?

How wise of him!

Well, he could've just distributed it amongst his rich friends hoping it would trickle down someday. Ahh, but he isn't a bushie, so it has to be spent wisely to help ALL AMERICANS. I know that's too complicated for you to digest, but read slowwww. Hopefully some of it will seep in.

Oh Wait, Obama is using our porkulus money wisely Alan:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Congress Donates Your Money To Themselves!

Monday, June 8, 2009 12:19 PM

By: Fredreka Schouten and Paul Overberg, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — On a mild evening last September, Citigroup lobbyists mingled with South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn at a rooftop reception — complete with miniature putting greens — as the company hosted a party to honor the third most powerful Democrat in the House and raise money for one of his favorite golf charities.

Health insurers and hospitals, meanwhile, are donating millions to help build an institute in Boston to celebrate the career of Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who is attempting to overhaul the nation's health care system.

Despite a ban on gifts to lawmakers and limits on campaign contributions, lobbyists and groups that employ them can spend unlimited money to honor members of Congress or donate to non-profits connected to them or their relatives. The public — until now — had little insight into the scope of this largely hidden world of special-interest influence.

Under ethics rules passed in 2007, lobbyists for the first time last year had to report any payment made for an event or to a group connected to a lawmaker and other top federal officials.

USA TODAY undertook the first comprehensive analysis of the lobbying reports and found 2,759 payments, totaling $35.8 million, were made in 2008. The money went to honor 534 current and former lawmakers, almost 250 other federal officials and more than 100 groups, many of which count lawmakers among their members.

The total cost is roughly equivalent to what the U.S. government spends to operate Yellowstone National Park each year.

Most of the money — about $28 million — went to non-profit groups, some with direct ties to members of Congress. In two cases, USA TODAY found, the donations to non-profits associated with a member of Congress came in response to a personal appeal for funds from the lawmaker.

"It's another example of the many pockets of a politician's coat," says Ellen Miller of the Sunlight Foundation, a watchdog group. The spending amounts to an "end-run" around campaign-finance laws "that are designed to limit the appearance of undue influence," she says.

The money came from companies, trade associations and labor groups that lobby Congress and the government on a range of issues, from Congress Donates Your Money To Themselves!

Monday, June 8, 2009 12:19 PM

By: Fredreka Schouten and Paul Overberg, USA TODAY Article Font Size

WASHINGTON — On a mild evening last September, Citigroup lobbyists mingled with South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn at a rooftop reception — complete with miniature putting greens — as the company hosted a party to honor the third most powerful Democrat in the House and raise money for one of his favorite golf charities.

Health insurers and hospitals, meanwhile, are donating millions to help build an institute in Boston to celebrate the career of Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who is attempting to overhaul the nation's health care system.

Despite a ban on gifts to lawmakers and limits on campaign contributions, lobbyists and groups that employ them can spend unlimited money to honor members of Congress or donate to non-profits connected to them or their relatives. The public — until now — had little insight into the scope of this largely hidden world of special-interest influence.

Under ethics rules passed in 2007, lobbyists for the first time last year had to report any payment made for an event or to a group connected to a lawmaker and other top federal officials.

USA TODAY undertook the first comprehensive analysis of the lobbying reports and found 2,759 payments, totaling $35.8 million, were made in 2008. The money went to honor 534 current and former lawmakers, almost 250 other federal officials and more than 100 groups, many of which count lawmakers among their members.

The total cost is roughly equivalent to what the U.S. government spends to operate Yellowstone National Park each year.

Most of the money — about $28 million — went to non-profit groups, some with direct ties to members of Congress. In two cases, USA TODAY found, the donations to non-profits associated with a member of Congress came in response to a personal appeal for funds from the lawmaker.

"It's another example of the many pockets of a politician's coat," says Ellen Miller of the Sunlight Foundation, a watchdog group. The spending amounts to an "end-run" around campaign-finance laws "that are designed to limit the appearance of undue influence," she says.

The money came from companies, trade associations and labor groups that lobby Congress and the government on a range of issues, from seeking a share of last year's $700 billion financial bailout package to trying to shape the debate on climate change.

The donations cover various activities — from a golf tournament that raises money for a lawmaker's non-profit to gifts to the alma mater of a powerful House committee chairman.

"You can still have a gala or something or the other for a charity and earn some favor with members of Congress, which is what the gift ban was put in place to avoid," says Dan Danner, CEO of the National Federation of Independent Business and a veteran Washington lobbyist.

The spending demonstrates the subtle ways that special-interest groups try to sway lawmakers, without making "something as crass as a payoff," says Kenneth Gross, a former Federal Election Commission official.

He credits Congress for mandating the disclosure of the gifts and giving the public another view of the relationships between lobbyists and lawmakers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Congress Donates Your Money To Themselves!

Monday, June 8, 2009 12:19 PM

By: Fredreka Schouten and Paul Overberg, USA TODAY Article Font Size

WASHINGTON — On a mild evening last September, Citigroup lobbyists mingled with South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn at a rooftop reception — complete with miniature putting greens — as the company hosted a party to honor the third most powerful Democrat in the House and raise money for one of his favorite golf charities.

Health insurers and hospitals, meanwhile, are donating millions to help build an institute in Boston to celebrate the career of Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who is attempting to overhaul the nation's health care system.

Despite a ban on gifts to lawmakers and limits on campaign contributions, lobbyists and groups that employ them can spend unlimited money to honor members of Congress or donate to non-profits connected to them or their relatives. The public — until now — had little insight into the scope of this largely hidden world of special-interest influence.

Under ethics rules passed in 2007, lobbyists for the first time last year had to report any payment made for an event or to a group connected to a lawmaker and other top federal officials.

USA TODAY undertook the first comprehensive analysis of the lobbying reports and found 2,759 payments, totaling $35.8 million, were made in 2008. The money went to honor 534 current and former lawmakers, almost 250 other federal officials and more than 100 groups, many of which count lawmakers among their members.

The total cost is roughly equivalent to what the U.S. government spends to operate Yellowstone National Park each year.

Most of the money — about $28 million — went to non-profit groups, some with direct ties to members of Congress. In two cases, USA TODAY found, the donations to non-profits associated with a member of Congress came in response to a personal appeal for funds from the lawmaker.

"It's another example of the many pockets of a politician's coat," says Ellen Miller of the Sunlight Foundation, a watchdog group. The spending amounts to an "end-run" around campaign-finance laws "that are designed to limit the appearance of undue influence," she says.

The money came from companies, trade associations and labor groups that lobby Congress and the government on a range of issues, from seeking a share of last year's $700 billion financial bailout package to trying to shape the debate on climate change.

The donations cover various activities — from a golf tournament that raises money for a lawmaker's non-profit to gifts to the alma mater of a powerful House committee chairman.

"You can still have a gala or something or the other for a charity and earn some favor with members of Congress, which is what the gift ban was put in place to avoid," says Dan Danner, CEO of the National Federation of Independent Business and a veteran Washington lobbyist.

The spending demonstrates the subtle ways that special-interest groups try to sway lawmakers, without making "something as crass as a payoff," says Kenneth Gross, a former Federal Election Commission official.

He credits Congress for mandating the disclosure of the gifts and giving the public another view of the relationships between lobbyists and lawmakers.

The donations cover various activities — from a golf tournament that raises money for a lawmaker's non-profit to gifts to the alma mater of a powerful House committee chairman.

"You can still have a gala or something or the other for a charity and earn some favor with members of Congress, which is what the gift ban was put in place to avoid," says Dan Danner, CEO of the National Federation of Independent Business and a veteran Washington lobbyist.

The spending demonstrates the subtle ways that special-interest groups try to sway lawmakers, without making "something as crass as a payoff," says Kenneth Gross, a former Federal Election Commission official.

He credits Congress for mandating the disclosure of the gifts and giving the public another view of the relationships between lobbyists and lawmakers.

The money came from companies, trade associations and labor groups that lobby Congress and the government on a range of issues, from seeking a share of last year's $700 billion financial bailout package to trying to shape the debate on climate change.

~~~~

Well, he could've just distributed it amongst his rich friends hoping it would trickle down someday. Ahh, but he isn't a bushie, so it has to be spent wisely to help ALL AMERICANS.

~~~

Say again?

What is it, $11-Billion unaccountef for in Iraq? Yesterday we found out that bushies paid KBR to refurbish a hospital TWICE. No sooner had they finished, then they got ANOTHER contract to do it again. That's bushie economics. Tighten up your friends with OUR tax dollars.
Those days are over.

Ahh, but he isn't a bushie, so it has to be spent wisely to help ALL AMERICANS.

~~~

Are you referring to the 95% tax cut that the dems took back from us in next years budget?

*does not compute... no matter how many times you repeat the same article
you dummy

K-Street is doing what k-street does. They should be outlawed. But it's NOT STIMULUS money.

How does it feel to not have a clue about what you read and post?

What is it, $11-Billion unaccountef for in Iraq? Yesterday we found out that bushies paid KBR to refurbish a hospital TWICE. No sooner had they finished, then they got ANOTHER contract to do it again. That's bushie economics.

~~~

Hey Alan, your democrats were in control of the budget and oversight last two years of Bushie so can't spin that one. Hey didn't Barry give a few billion to Acorn that's being investigated for voter fraud?

"...the 95% tax cut..."

There's another example of clueless typing.

DAMN, I WISH we were getting a 95% tax cut! Go back and read again, see if you can get a clue.

"Choosing between Gingrich or Palin? Would you rather have hemorrhoids or shingles? "

ROFL!

Good piece!

K-Street is doing what k-street does. They should be outlawed. But it's NOT STIMULUS money.

~~

Ughhhh!

You poor soul. Acorn got scammed by a few criminals. It wasn't vote fraud either. Noone named Mickey Mouse tried to vote. It was plain old fraud AGAINST Acorn by criminals to pad their paycheck with false names.
I really shouldn't waste my time trying to spoonfeed you the truth. But guess what, it was the bushie administration that cut checks to Acorn. haha

Ok Alan, just so you don't get lost:

Tax cut to 95% of Barry's sheeple!!!!

Ya the whopping $450 a year tax cut Alan - gone - sha bam!

Gore To North Korea? Obama May Send Ex-VP To Negotiate Journalists' Release

http://tinyurl.com/n4spnr

*****

Imagine if McCain was prez? Would he be sending Palin or Gingrich?

lol

You poor soul. Acorn got scammed by a few criminals.

Ya the Democrat party!

Gore To North Korea? Obama May Send Ex-VP To Negotiate Journalists' Release

~~~

Since Gores responsable for sending them there for his TV program, he should go there and demand they take him and release the girls.

Now that would be justice, but he's too much a coward!

Sotomayor Hearing Dates Set, Democrats Pleased

http://tinyurl.com/n84toa

****

So the unelected GOP mouthpieces have made fools of themselves and their ilk again.

President Obama gets what he asked for.

Jon Stewart Continues To Hammer Fox News For Obama Coverage: Calls Out Hannity For Unfair Editing, The Rest for Irresponsible Insinuation (VIDEO)

Last week Jon Stewart took on Fox News for their coverage of Obama's speech in Cairo calling their personalities "extremists" and saying, "What a torture it must be for such pretty people to see such ugly things."

Last night, Stewart continued to pound the cable network for biased insinuations, and showed a clip of Hannity editing Obama's words to unjustly make him sound like a 9/11 apologist. This practice, as our own Jason Linkins has pointed out, is not unique to Hannity, but endemic to Fox as a whole.

To keep things fair, Stewart also looked at the other big two cable networks: MSNBC and CNN. He mocked the former for mentioning Rush Limbaugh at every turn, and CNN for being desperate to win the social networking wars. (Note: That might not actually be a thing.)

http://tinyurl.com/l5ajkn

******

TDS is an equal opportunity mocker! I saw the show and it was very funny.

CIA Urges Judge To Keep Bush-Era Documents Sealed

http://tinyurl.com/lzkux9

These are documents describing the 92 tapes of torture they already destroyed. Risking contempt of court charges, the CIA destroyed them anyway. Now they don't want these to be released to the public because they are almost as bad as actually seeing the tapes.

http://www.dccc.org/page/-/images/stakeholder/invite-narrow-800w.jpg

Lieberman And Graham Threaten To Shut Down Senate Over Detainee Photos, House Dems Want Hearings

http://tinyurl.com/lgbjyu

****

The law of unintended consequences?

Congress should hold hearings. Get this torture crap out in the light of day and get it over with already.

Fleischer: No Back to the Future

See former Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer damn Palin and Gingrich with faint praise.

--Josh Marshall

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mSadbHJaW8

*****

Ari letting a little truth out?

lol

Obama’s Reverse Nixon-To-China Syndrome

[...]

Fifty-nine percent approve of his handling of foreign affairs, with 55% approving of his handling of terrorism and the Mideast.

In a sense, this is almost like a reverse Nixon-to-China syndrome. Conventional wisdom in DC has long had it that Presidents who are perceived as hawks are better equipped politically to shift the paradigm when it comes to relations with hostile foreign powers. By these lights, the last President who would be able to do this would be one who’s black, has the middle name Hussein, and is still suspected in some quarters of having a secret Muslim past.

Yet Obama has, in fact, pressed forward with his paradigm shift. Though his approach to Bush-era legal policies has disappointed some liberals, he is pressing forward with plans to close Guantanamo despite withering criticism. He hasn’t backed off negotiating with Iran. As Matthew Yglesias notes, Obama is also not backing off his basic idea that Israel’s security will be rooted in its willingness to halt the settlements. Indeed, he hasn’t wavered from an insistence on real concessions from both sides of the Israeli-Arab conflict that appears to be genuine.

And there’s no indication that his foreign policy numbers are doing anything other than holding strong. It’s striking.

http://tinyurl.com/m27n93

George H.W. Bush -- Private Stimulus Package

http://www.tmz.com/2009/06/09/george-h-w-bush-bikini-lapdance/

Tens of Thousands Rally for Mousavi in Tehran

The damnedest thing happened in Tehran on Monday.

A massive rally estimated by Farnaz Fassihi of the WSJ at tens of thousands sprang up all along Vali Asr Street, the capital's longest thoroughfare, stretching 12 miles across the city.

The scene reminded Fassihi of the enormous crowds that came out to protest the shah in 1978! They chanted angry slogans and adapted old, banned, nationalist and communist anthems. They attacked Ahmadinejad as a dictator and a tyrant.

http://www.juancole.com/

*****

Good news!

Biden Goofs On Cars Using Hudson Rail Tunnel

Tuesday, June 9, 2009 2:55 PM

TRENTON, N.J. -- Vice President Joe Biden is off track about the nation's largest transportation project.

When questioned by The Record of Bergen County about the Hudson River rail tunnel during a conference call on Monday, Biden told the New Jersey newspaper the tunnel "is designed to provide for automobile traffic."

However, the tunnel will only handle commuter trains that shuttle passengers between New Jersey and Manhattan.

Biden's office said Tuesday the vice president misheard the question.

Biden's press secretary, Elizabeth Alexander, says the vice president is a big proponent of rail and worked hard to boost funding for the project.

Officials broke ground on the $8.7 billion project on Monday.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This guys in charge of keeping track of porkulus and Alan calls Palin a dumbass?

Now that's funny..

Poll: Third of Republicans view party unfavorably

WASHINGTON — In thinking about the Republican Party's troubles, consider this: One-third of Republicans now say they have an unfavorable opinion of their party.

There's no such dyspepsia among Democrats. Just 4% have an unfavorable view of their party.

The findings of a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll underscore the perilous state of the GOP. Over the past three years, Republicans have lost control of the White House, the House of Representatives and the Senate, and they're now struggling to forge a unified response to the popular new Democratic president.

More results from the survey — including Americans' views of who speaks for the GOP — will be unveiled online later tonight at USATODAY.com.

The survey of 1,015 adults, taken by landline and cellphone on May 29-31, has a margin of error of +/— 3 percentage points for the full sample and 6 percentage points for the subsamples of Republicans and Democrats.

Asked by Gallup "what comes to mind when you think of the Republican Party," 25% of those surveyed said "unfavorable" and another 1 in 4 offered negative assessments including "no direction," "close-minded" and "poor economic conditions." Sixteen percent said conservative and 7% "favorable."

For the Democratic Party, the most dominant impression was "liberal," mentioned by 15%. One in 3 used positive phrases such as "for the people" and "socially conscious." The most prevalent negative judgments saw the Democrats as "big spending" (8%) and "self-centered" (4%).

http://tinyurl.com/neelz8

*****

The other two thirds suffer from the ID-Ten-T virus . . .

State firms cry foul over stimulus projects
Federal approach to contracting tilts toward bigger players

By MICHAEL JAMISON
Missoulian

KALISPELL - Across the nation, local firms can expect to lose billions of economic stimulus dollars to large multinational corporations, thanks to a government contracting scheme that puts paperwork speed ahead of community recovery.

In Montana, that means qualified building firms are out of the loop, while many millions in federal construction funding will go to a California company that recently earned a stern rebuke for its failures in Iraq - a war-profits scandal that cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

"It's a farce," said Dewey Swank of Kalispell's Swank Enterprises. "It stinks of politics and big special interests."

Over the past several years, Swank has teamed with Montana-based CTA Architects to successfully design and build four federal border stations. Several more ports now are being built along the Montana-Canada line, thanks to the massive stimulus bill, but this time Swank and CTA didn't have a chance to bid. That's because the government is using a controversial contracting method that speeds bidding but also tilts the playing field in favor of mega-companies. It's called IDIQ contracting, which is shorthand for "indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity," and it's essentially
~~~~

Alans trickle down stimulus bonaza...

‘Big tent’ no more: RNC’s Steele says GOP is a hat

Here’s more evidence that the GOP is still struggling to find fitting metaphors to talk about itself. The party was likened to a miffed Eminem by Gov. Tim Pawlenty at the College Republicans’ national confab over the weekend, while at another of the convention’s sessions, RNC chair Michael Steele was coming up with imagery of his own. Steele told the audience that “no one knows what the hell it means” when the GOP refers to itself as a “big tent.”

So he offered another analogy: The GOP is a hat.

Some people wear a hat frontwards, others cocked to the left, he explained. Some wear it backwards, he added, echoing a past statement,”because that’s how they roll.” But “the strength of the party is in this: … the fact that you’re willing to put the damn thing on… The problem we’ve had as a party is: too many of our friends, neighbors, colleagues are taking the hat off, because we’ve decided we don’t like the way they wear it… The GOP is not about how you wear the hat, but the fact that you want to wear the hat.”

A tent large enough to fit all kinds of people seems a more compelling idea than a hat that can be worn as personal preference dictates. But maybe the new metaphor has less to do with how the cap fits than with how the old metaphor doesn’t.

When longtime Republican Sen. Arlen Specter left the party to become a Democrat in late April he used the metaphor: “Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right.” And many news outlets picked up the lingo. The San Francisco Chronicle said the “‘big tent’ shrinks“; The Week ran a cartoon showing an elephant-shaped tent flying a “Conservatives only” flag; and The Hill wrote that the “giant swishing sound you’re hearing is the GOP’s ‘big tent’ being folded up and packed away.”

Hats off to the new branding.

http://tinyurl.com/lekoro

******

"You can dance if you want to . . ."

There's no such dyspepsia among Democrats. Just 4% have an unfavorable view of their party.

~~~~

Why would they have an unfavorable opion? They have no problem with ethic problems, corruption, greed, lying, stealing or pandering when told what to do by a politician.

It's time for a second American revolution in the spirit of perestroika

[...]

Washington will have to play a special role in this new perestroika, not just because the United States wields great economic, political and military power, but because America was the main architect, and America's elite the main beneficiary, of the current world economic model. That model is now cracking and will, sooner or later, be replaced. That will be a complex and painful process for everyone, including the United States.

However different the problems that the Soviet Union confronted during our perestroika and the challenges now facing the United States, the need for new thinking makes these two eras similar. In our time, we faced up to the main tasks of putting an end to the division of the world, winding down the nuclear arms race and defusing conflicts. We will cope with the new global challenges as well, but only if everyone understands the need for real, cardinal change - for a global perestroika.

Mikhail Gorbachev

http://tinyurl.com/mhy77c

Obama seeks fiscal responsibility mantle

Tue Jun 9, 2009

By Caren Bohan

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sought on Tuesday to show he was serious about improving the U.S. budget picture as he called on Congress to pass new limits on tax cuts and spending programs to avoid adding to deficits.
~~~

Damn, this was sooo dang funny I thought he was doing another promo for Conan!

World Does Not End as Gitmo Detainee Finally Brought to Face Justice

[...]

While Conservative argue that closing Guantanamo will harm Americans, in reality, closing Guantanamo actually will most directly hurt Al Qaeda.

A bipartisan panel of former Secretaries of State made up of Secretaries Kissinger, Albright, Powell, Baker, and Christopher agreed. As James Baker, Secretary of State for George H.W. Bush, said: "Close Guantanamo...we all agreed, one of the best things that could happen would be to close Guantanamo, which is a very serious blot upon our reputation."

And Guantanamo has not just damaged America's image - it has also directly cost American lives. Retired Air Force major who goes by the pseudonym Matthew Alexander - the interrogator who used legal means to locate the notorious terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi - says that these programs are responsible for thousands of Americans' deaths, "I listened time and time again to foreign fighters, and Sunni Iraqis, state that the number one reason they had decided to pick up arms and join Al Qaeda was the abuses at Abu Ghraib and the authorized torture and abuse at Guantanamo Bay... The number-one reason foreign fighters gave for coming to Iraq to fight is the torture and abuse that occurred at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo."

http://tinyurl.com/lm8492

*****

Fearmongering can only be effective for a short time.

Sarah Palin Mystifies and Annoys the Republican Establishment

Some say she needs to decide if she's running for president surreptitiously or overtly

http://tinyurl.com/nttrac

*****

Palin is the best and brightest in the GOP. She helped so much in 2008 and I hope she does so again in 2012.

Obama repackages stimulus plans with old promises

Associated Press Writers – Mon Jun 8, 7:59 pm ET

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama assured the nation his recovery plan was on track Monday, scrambling to calm Americans unnerved by unemployment rates still persistently rising nearly four months after he signed the biggest economic stimulus in history.

Obama admitted his own dissatisfaction with the progress but said his administration would ramp up stimulus spending in the coming months. The White House acknowledged it has spent only $44 billion, or 5 percent, of the $787 billion stimulus, but that total has always been expected to rise sharply this summer.

"Now we're in a position to really accelerate," Obama said.

He also repeated an earlier promise to create or save 600,000 jobs by the end of the summer.

Neither the acceleration nor the jobs goal are new. Both represent a White House repackaging of promises and projects to blunt criticism that the effects haven't been worth the historic price tag. And the job estimate is so murky, it can never be verified.

The economy has shed 1.6 million jobs since the stimulus measure was signed in February, far overshadowing White House announcements estimating the effort has saved 150,000 jobs. Public opinion of Obama's handling of the economy has declined along with the jobs data.

For the first time, the administration admitted the economic forecasts it used to sell the stimulus were overly optimistic.

"At the time, our forecast seemed reasonable," Vice President Joe Biden's top economic adviser, Jared Bernstein, said Monday, explaining that the White House underestimated the scope of the recession. "Now, looking back, it was clearly too optimistic."

~~~~~~

In other words "WE LIED" but 65% of the sheeple believed us!

Sarah Palin: Letterman "Pretty Pathetic" For "Slutty Flight Attendant" Joke

David Letterman used Sarah Palin's recent trip to New York as inspiration for a top ten list in which he described her look as "slutty flight attendant." Fans of the governor are up in arms -- and Governor Palin herself responded to the joke by calling it "pretty pathetic."

The second "highlight" of Palin's visit according to Letterman: "Bought makeup at Bloomingdale's to update her "slutty flight attendant look."

http://tinyurl.com/kufxmb

Whoop's - add this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB6UHs_id_Y

lolololo

You betcha!

Sarah Palin Snubs Washington Insiders at Senate-House Dinner

Dissed by the McCain campaign last year and now by the Republican establishment, it's a wonder that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin , the 2008 vice presidential nominee, still has any national standing in the GOP. But as her East Coast tour this week—capped by a controversial appearance at the House-Senate GOP fundraising dinner last night—showed, it's not the Washington big shots she's wooing: It's her grass-roots backers outside the Beltway.

Several Washington Republicans contacted by Whispers said that Palin was quick to leave the Senate-House Dinner, apparently ignoring a line of those who wanted to meet her. (Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, in contrast, stayed late to shake hands.) "She came, she stayed the entire event, then at the end, a buddy and I headed to her table—my buddy actually set eyes on her—and then, poof, she was gone," said a GOP source with ties to House and Senate conservatives. "There were 40 people standing around her, just wanting to say hello and wish her well, and she just ran out the back door."

A big deal? Yes, for the Washington crowd that likes to control the party. "For a 'woman of the people,' she has got some learning to do," sneered the insider. "Heck, she has a whole lot to learn. And get some decent staff around her. Most of the mistakes since November are not people out to get her. They are 99 percent self-inflicted by her own staff who are simply not up to the job of effectively serving a national political figure, which is what she has become."

http://tinyurl.com/mvfqdn

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Note to Sarah - get it together girl we need ya in 2012 to stop the socialist Muslims from palling around with the terrorists!

lol

Kucinich Secures Good Government Victory

Amendment Would Open the Books of the Federal Reserve’s Recent Intervention in Financial Markets

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today won adoption of an amendment to H.R. 2646, The Government Accountability Office (GAO) Improvement Act of 2009. The Kucinich amendment would grant the GAO the authority to audit the Federal Reserve’s response to the financial crisis. The amendment was adopted unanimously in a committee markup of H.R. 2646 by the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

“The Federal Reserve’s unprecedented response to the financial crisis reached a peak of nearly $2 trillion of new credit facilities. But not a penny was subject to oversight and scrutiny normally applied to large government programs. This amendment will finally provide some transparency by giving the GAO the authority to conduct detailed reviews of the Fed’s crisis-related interventions in financial markets,” said Kucinich.

http://kucinich.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=130872

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Go Dennis!

Obama speech quoted jihad verse from Quran
Address to Muslims used Islamic text urging war against nonbelievers

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Aaron Klein
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

JERUSALEM – In his major address to the Muslim world last week, President Obama quoted a verse from the Quran that is interpreted as urging Muslims to follow Muhammad in waging jihad against nonbelievers.

The context of the verse – first noticed by Robert Spencer of the Jihad Watch website – was confirmed by Quranic experts.

"I have pointed to this section of the Quran as showing the importance of jihad and to follow the prophet (Muhammad) in jihad even though a war may be difficult," Abu Abaida Al-Ahmed, the imam of a central mosque in Gaza City.

Obama quoted the verse in question during a section of his speech where he was stressing a "new beginning" between the U.S. and the Muslim world, and the need for a "sustained effort to listen to each other."

Obama continued: "As the Holy Quran tells us, 'Be conscious of God and speak always the truth.' That is what I will try to do – to speak the truth as best I can, humbled by the task before us, and firm in my belief that the interests we share as human beings are far more powerful than the forces that drive us apart."

Obama was reading from chapter 9 verse 119 of the Quran, which deals with the theme of not abandoning Muhammad.

The next Quranic passage continues: "Neither the dwellers of the city, nor the Arabs around them, shall seek to stay behind the messenger of Allah (when he mobilizes for war). Nor shall they give priority to their own affairs over supporting him. This is because they do not suffer any thirst, or any effort, or hunger in the cause of Allah, or take a single step that enrages the disbelievers, or inflict any hardship upon the enemy, without having it written down for them as a credit. Allah never fails to recompense those who work righteousness."

~~~~

So much for Barry's IVY league creds!

Matthews Calls Gingrich Comments Xenophobic, "Anti-World" (VIDEO)

On "Hardball" Tuesday Chris Matthews criticized Newt Gingrich for comments he made at a GOP Senate-House fundraising dinner Monday night, saying his statements exhibited "xenophobia" and an "anti-world mentality."

At the fundraiser Gingrich declared proudly that he was not a "citizen of the world" and that 'the entire concept is intellectual nonsense and stunningly dangerous." (Gingrich also used the occasion to declare that President Obama had "already failed.") The former House Speaker then went on to list a number of countries that he would not want to be a citizen of under any circumstance.

Matthews, who had began the segment by asking if Gingrich could be the figure to lead the GOP's comeback, made it clear he found nothing to like in Gingrich's worldview : "If that's gonna lead the Republican Party out of the wilderness, maybe they should just stay in the wilderness, because he looks like the enemy."

http://tinyurl.com/llwzt9

Palin Still Doesn’t See How “Socialist” Alaska Really Is?

Found this on Political Wire and it’s typical of the nonsense we heard from her during the campaign…

Palin: We are the only state with a negative tax rate where we don’t have any income, sales or property tax statewide, and yes we have a share of our oil resource revenue that goes back to the people that own the resources. Imagine that.

Hannity: And it went up higher since you’ve been the governor and you negotiated with the oil companies. That all went up so people get a bigger check.

Palin: There was a corrupt tax system up there and we had a couple of lawmakers end up in jail because of the tax system that was adopted so we cleaned it up and said we wanted a fair and equitable share of the resources that we own, and the people will share in those resource revenues that are derived.

Haha, yeah, imagine that! The people collectively owning the land and spreading the wealth derived from it between everybody.

Why, that’s just good ole, Alaskan capitalism!

http://tinyurl.com/n9j9t9

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But it's good socialism if it is Alaskan socialism - you betcha!

I swear…it’s like a comedy routine.

"As the Holy Quran tells us, 'Be conscious of God and speak always the truth.'

Oh yeah, that certainly sounds 'jihadish' to me. LOL

Only an idiot would say that, and only idiots will believe it. So yeah, that means they will be repeating it amongst themselves by rote.

Meanwhile, Freddie is singing another verse of that familiar favorite, "Onward Christian Soldiers."

Obama wins an election in the Middle East

Lebanon's voters gave the White House the victory it wanted -- with a lot of help from Hezbollah.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/06/10/lebanon/

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I said it before - I'd hate to try to out-politic Obama. He is a stellar politician if ever there was one. Agree with him or not - he gets things done without begging to have shoes thrown at him.

Gingrich and Voight and the GOP's gun to its temple

[...]

Obama's economic recovery plan has, in less than 150 days running, "already failed," declared Newt, while also "blast[ing] Obama on everything from health care to national security."

Big Idea man? More like hit-man Joey "The Animal" Barboza, whom I hasten to distinguish from Dick "The Animal" Cheney, whom Newt was "happy" to call a good Republican. Look, Mr. Gingrich, I appreciate that in your mind you were only addressing 2,000 fellow gangsters, and that a certain malevolent esprit de corps is always nice to whip up at these events, but you've simply got to remember there are always microphones present.

The increasingly unpleasant and quite possibly senile actor Jon Voight was there to complement Mr. Gingrich's big ideas, which he did with alarming imitation, blurting that he was "embarrassed" by President Obama, whose leadership would be our country's "downfall," because "We are becoming a weak nation" under "Obama oppression."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said afterward that he "really enjoyed that" -- that, being Voight's public unhinging; Senator John Cornyn said it was "refreshing"; and Gingrich, again according to the AP, hailed it as "a rallying cry until the next elections."

Can it -- this, their entire muddle of clueless confusion and unquenchable hatefulness -- get any worse? Can it transmogrify any more hysterically? Can it, I dare ask, even survive till the elections after next? At this rate of downhill acceleration, I have my doubts.

http://blog.buzzflash.com/carpenter/411

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Please more and more Gingrich, Palin AND senile actors!

Freddie,

I wish you could sit back and read your posts in the eyes of people who never met you, as I do, since we have never met.

You start these comments off with several references to "Barry", whom I infer is the President. It's very kind of you to establish a practice of 3rd grade name calling right off the bat like that, because it tells me and anyone else to ignore whatever else you have to say.

If name calling is all you have, then your comments are not worth my time. Please remember, some of us here are no longer in 3rd grade.

Half-Baked Alaska

Sarah Palin's Dysfunctional Organization May Be Her Undoing

http://tinyurl.com/ltdg7c

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Some pols have bundlers - Palin has bunglers!

lol

Incred -

Read past the piffle. I'm certain it is the best he can do.

Poll: Even Republicans Say Limbaugh, Gingrich And Cheney Speak For GOP — But No One Names Palin!

[...]

One other interesting tidbit: There’s one Republican who would perhaps like to be seen as speaking for the party more than anyone else right now. And she wasn’t named at all by either national adults or Republicans and Republican leaners, even though she was on the national ticket less than a year ago.

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/

Barry is his real name before he changed it to Hussein.

Don't you people know anything about the guy you voted for?

CLASSIFICATION AND THE "DESCENT INTO TORTURE"

The public has been significantly misled and misinformed concerning the practice of abusive interrogation by the U.S. government and the resulting damage to American political institutions, said Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) on the Senate floor yesterday.

"I am very sorry to say this--but there has been a campaign of falsehood about this whole sorry episode. It has disserved the American public. As I said earlier, facing up to the questions of our use of torture is hard enough. It is worse when people are misled and don't know the whole truth and so can't form an informed opinion and instead quarrel over irrelevancies and false premises. Much debunking of falsehood remains to be done but cannot be done now because the accurate and complete information is classified," Sen. Whitehouse said.

"I want my colleagues and the American public to know that measured against the information I have been able to gain access to, the story line we have been led to believe--the story line about waterboarding we have been sold--is false in every one of its dimensions."

He itemized several statements he said were demonstrably untrue, beginning with the declaration by President Bush that "America does not torture."

http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2009_cr/s060909.html

Graham and Lieberman Have a Tantrum for Torture

On June 8, crybabies Joe LIEberman (I-Party of Joe) and Lindsey Graham (R-Torture) called a press conference to announce their tantrum for torture. Because their stealth amendment to the Afghanistan spending supplemental was being removed from the conference bill, these two went straight to their tantrum. The amendment attempts to block courts from continuing with their insistence that an ACLU FOIA filing to release more torture photos from US prisons in Iraq must be honored. As reported by CQPolitics:

http://oxdown.firedoglake.com/diary/5697

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Cry babies . . .

Freddie wrote:
Barry is his real name before he changed it to Hussein.

OK. I will bite. When did he change his name to Hussein?