The Wannabee

post from Lyle Lahey on 22 June 2008 04:42:00 PM. © Lyle Lahey

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MoveOn to Obama: Keep Your Word, Filibuster
Telecom Immunity

post from Crooks and Liars on 22 June 2008 04:30:46 PM. © Crooks and Liars

I know many readers were upset with Obama’s response to the newly passed Hoyer/FISA bill that granted the Telecoms retroactive immunity. If he brings up an amendment to strip the immunity provision in the Senate next week and it fails–then–what’s the point, right? Greg Sargent said “Why Obama’s Support For FISA Cave-In Is Such [...]

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r-telecom-immunity/

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The "NRB"

post from the field negro on 22 June 2008 04:16:00 PM. © the field negro

I was trying to do some work today and I kept getting interrupted by Mrs. Field's laughter. I got up to see what she found so funny on the television, and it turns out she was watching an old Cosby flick on TVOne. Which go me to thinking: does any black person over thirty even watch BET anymore?

And then there were the comments some of you folks left after my post about the Wares adopting what seems to be a little white baby. And that got me to thinking as well: what if there really was a "Negro Review Board" and I was heading it? Just what would be the do's and don'ts and the the ins and outs for you Negroes?

Well, let's start with the obvious, and what triggered me thinking this way in the first place: Black television. You Negroes would no longer be allowed to watch BET. If you are going to watch a black station on television, it would have to be TVOne.

You Negroes would have to vote for Barack Obama, and would have to donate at least $25 to his campaign. I think that's happening anyway, but that shit would be required, or you would lose your Negro card.

If I ran the NRB Negroes could not have house pets. That is for white folks. Besides, times are tough. We are having a hard enough time feeding the humans in our families.

You Negroes would have to stop driving big ass trucks. We would prefer if you get a nice compact. (Do you know how stupid you look rolling down the highway in your big ass Denali sitting on twenties with gas selling at $4.50 a gallon? Get your ass a nice Honda Civic or some shit like that. There is nothing corny about saving money.

And speaking of driving down the highway: Negroes would have to stop leaning to the side when they are driving their whips. That shit does not look cool. It's stupid. And if you are pushing a whip that costs less than your tires and your rims, the shit is really whack.

Negroes over 21 would no longer be allowed to buy PlayStation's, or any similar video games. Think about it.

The NRB would not allow Negroes to drop another dime into the offering plate unless the pastor could show them where the money is going. (And it can't be a building fund for the church. The building the church is in looks just fine.

Negroes would no longer be allowed to give their children fucked up names from expensive products that they think sounds cool. Names like Porche, Mercedes, Alize, Champagne, Diamond, Jazz....you all know what I am talking about---just ain't gonna cut it in the real world. That shit is seriously fucked up...."Ahh come on field that's not cool to call out people who might not know better. I know, that's why we have the NRB.

And speaking of fucked up things to do to your kids; Negroes would no longer be allowed to use their children's social security numbers for shit. No child should owe over $30,000 for a new car before they are six....

All Negroes would be weighed before entering all you can eat buffet joints. For every pound that you go over 200 you would be charged an extra dollar for your meal. I am sorry to single you Negroes out for this form of food discrimination, but let's face it, we have some serious health issues that other folks don't have.

You Negroes would not be allowed to read Ebony or Jet anymore. Those mags are no longer required reading for Negroes. You would now be allowed to read damn near anything else you want to though. Not that it will make any difference, because some of you Negroes really hate to read. What's that old racist saying? "If you want to hide something from a nigger put it in a book"?

We would allow you to cheer for the Celtics now. They have a black coach and more brothers on the team than the Lakers, so it's cool.

We would prefer if you were out in the open and not on the DL. That DL stuff is having some consequences.

As head of the NRB, I would make sure that my black sisters know that it's cool to continue watching Oprah for now. But that could change. Just listen out for further announcements from the NRB.

Black folks would be told that it's no longer cool to listen to R-Kelly. I know I know, that one is hard. --I was just rocking "Hair braider" on my IPod myself-- But damn it, we must take a stand.

Speaking of music: all line dancing would be banned from future black events! NO EXCEPTIONS!!

Black folks would be told that we don't have a clear cut leader, so it's still cool to call Rev. Inc. if they get in trouble.

Black folks would be told that it's still alright if they run a little late for appointments. It's called CP time. That's a built in hook up that we have. The NRB does not believe in taking away hook ups.

Finally, dissenters like some of the smart alecky commenters here could be thrown out of the race. You would have to petition the NRB to be reinstated, and that could take awhile. Trust me, you don't want to spend years of your life looking like a Negro but not being a part of our race....although I suspect that many of you living in A-merry-ca already know that feeling.

**FYI, the picture used for this post is not meant to be a true representation or likeness of the NRB. It's just a stock photo of some brothers looking important. **

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Midday Open Thread

post from Daily Kos on 22 June 2008 04:06:00 PM. © Daily Kos

Tom Brokaw will be moderating Meet the Press through the November election.

Washington Post ombudsman Deborah Howell responds to David Broder's massive hypocrisy in taking money for speeches after having denounced others for exactly that activity. Ken Silverstein of Harper's dissects her response and finds it "not as disappointing as I had feared," but still inadequate. LithiumCola has a recommended diary exploring the irony of Broder's latest column taken in this context.

Gail Collins on VP picks:

Other than that, picking a running mate is — no disrespect intended — like picking a pet. How much time are you planning to spend with the little fellow? How much exercise will he be getting on an average day? On one extreme, you have the William Wheeler model (“There’s the living room. Go find a corner and sleep in it.”) On the other end, there’s the Cheney version in which the pet takes over the checkbook, diversifies the family investment portfolio and starts strafing at the neighbor’s cat.

A couple years old, but still relevant: pico's Five arguments against gay marriage. (h/t TheBlaz in DHinMI's wake for the old Daily Kos server)

Katha Pollitt:

Are there feminist Hillary supporters who hate Obama so much they'll vote for McCain just to show the Democratic Party how ticked off they are? Yes, and I get e-mails from all five of them. Seriously, I'm sure there are female Hillary Clinton voters who will go for John McCain in the general election, but I don't think too many of them will be feminists. Because to vote for McCain, a feminist would have to be insane. Let me rephrase that: she would have to believe that the chief--indeed the only--goal of the women's movement is to elect Clinton, not to promote women's rights. A vote for McCain would be the ultimate face-spiting nose-cutoff. Take that, women's equality!

Good news for the flooded Midwest -- the Mississippi river has crested in St. Louis.

Taking off from the New York Times article on Amtrak I linked yesterday, Calitics' Robert in Monterey looks at intercity rail in California.

Republicans are worried that Bob Barr could play Nader to McCain's Gore. Of course, full application of the analogy would entail McCain winning the popular vote, which isn't going to happen, but, you know.

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http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/317595384/66838

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Quote of the Day

post from THE LIBERAL JOURNAL on 22 June 2008 03:44:00 PM. © THE LIBERAL JOURNAL

Mr. McCain asks us to believe that the only judgment that matters is who was ?right? about the surge, not who was right about our reckless plunge into war. That?s like saying he deserves credit for tossing life preservers to the survivors after encouraging the captain of the Titanic to plow full speed ahead into the iceberg.

--Frank Rich in today's NY Times

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Epstein On Habeas And Boumediene

post from TalkLeft on 22 June 2008 03:44:00 PM. © TalkLeft

Richard Epstein does not often write things I agree with but he did today about the Boumediene decision, where he echoes my consistent critique of the DC district court and DC circuit court decisions:

Enemy prisoners of war are never granted [habeas], either in the United States or abroad. What matters is whether a prisoner is or is not an enemy combatant. The defendants in Eisentrager, German war criminals, admitted being enemy combatants. The six plaintiffs in Boumediene, accused of plotting an attack on the American Embassy in Bosnia, claim they are not. They should be entitled to challenge both the government’s definition of an enemy combatant and the factual basis of their arrest. And they should be able to do so, as the court stressed, under standard habeas corpus procedures that allow them to present evidence and confront witnesses, and not under the paltry procedures outlined by the 2006 Military Commissions Act.

(Emphasis supplied.) Precisely.

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ComputerWorld GETS Optomize McCain
Project--Slashdot, Not So Much... But It's The SAME Author!

post from Open Left - Front Page on 22 June 2008 03:35:18 PM. © Open Left - Front Page

(H/T Katerina by email for this)Don't let the headline,"Blogger Launches 'Google Bomb' At McCain"[...]

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OpenLeft-FrontPage/~3/317602997/showDiary.do

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DNA Exonerates Another TX Defendant

post from TalkLeft on 22 June 2008 03:26:00 PM. © TalkLeft

Can you imagine spending a quarter century in prison for crimes you didn't commit?

DNA testing last year showed Steven Phillips was innocent of a 1982 sexual assault and burglary. In January, additional testing found that DNA evidence from the rape matched another man, Sidney Alvin Goodyear, who died in prison about a dozen years ago.

Can you imagine, after being convicted despite your innocence, having to decide whether to maintain your innocence on related crimes, a stance likely to result in life imprisonment, or to plead guilty just for the chance to die outside of prison walls? [more ...]

Phillips, who is on parole and lives in a halfway house as part of his probation, still has an extensive criminal record because he pleaded guilty to nine related sex crimes over fear that he would receive a life sentence if convicted, his lawyer said. Prosecutors now believe those sex crimes were also committed by Goodyear.

The Innocence Project again deserves our gratitude for its tireless efforts to free the innocent.

Among those crimes to which he pleaded guilty was a string of assaults in which the perpetrator went into aerobics classes and at gunpoint forced women to undress and perform sexual acts.
About two years ago, an Innocence Project staffer found a 20-year-old newspaper story about a man who committed similar crimes at fitness centers. That man was Goodyear, who died in a Texas prison while serving a 45-year sentence for burglary of a habitation with intent to commit sexual assault with a deadly weapon.

A DNA test last summer excluded Phillips as the rapist from the May 1982 assault and subsequent testing earlier this year on a blood sample from Goodyear's autopsy revealed a match to the dead felon.

The Innocence Project "accuse[d] Dallas police of improperly focusing on Phillips and ignoring evidence that pointed to Goodyear, originally a suspect before police targeted Phillips."

DNA testing has proven the innocence of 18 Dallas County men since 2001, which is a national high, according to the Innocence Project. Texas leads the nation with 32 such exonerations.

This is a too-unusual instance in which the District Attorney's office deserves praise for its willingness to recognize a mistake.

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How George Bush lost the war against Iraq: a
preview of the historical judgment

When it comes to the War on Iraq, President Bush repeatedly has indicated he’d wait for history’s judgment after his present critics have quieted down. Yet I consider that to be as predictable as it was that he’d fail in Iraq before he sent our troops in. When I read of the tragic open, festering [...]

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gainst-iraq-a-preview-of-the-historical-judgment/

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Meet the Press: Graham flip flops on off shore
drilling: Biden: Youre entitled to your own opinion, not your own facts

On Meet the Press, Sen. Graham flopped on his original positions on off shore drilling in his neck of the woods and Sen. Biden laughs at his phony argument at about the 2:40 mark of the clip and cuts his flipped positions into itty, bitty pieces. Most of us know that we can’t drill [...]

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http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/22/meet-the-press-graham-flip-flops-on-off-
shore-drilling-biden-youre-entitled-to-your-own-opinion-not-your-own-facts/

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