CA-04 Republican base turns up the heat on John
Doolittle

post from Dump Doolittle on 27 September 2007 06:46:00 AM. © Dump Doolittle

One of the leading conservative websites is strongly endorsing and pushing for contributions to Major Danger Egland's challenge to John Doolittle in the CA-04 Republican primary.

From the Directors at RedState.com:

Eric is running against the corrupt, embattled John Doolittle, the national face of Republican scandal. Doolittle had to step down from the House Appropriations Committee because of the pending investigation against him. The FBI has already raided his home. But Doolittle won't retire because if he gets re-elected one more time he can get his full congressional pension.

Here's a nugget from the comments section:

And the FBI didn't just raid Rep. Doolittle's office or residence or whatever looking for Hershey's kisses. Something doesn't look right, and given the political environment, we have got to rid ourselves of our lepers.

Read The Full Article:
http://solongjohn.blogspot.com/2007/09/republican-base-turns-up-heat-on-john.html

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Cheney And Chums

post from The Newshoggers on 27 September 2007 06:43:00 AM. © The Newshoggers

By Cernig

Dick is on his travels, headed for Wyoming to speak at a reception for new Republican lockstep appointee Sen. John Barrasso. In keeping with Fourth Branch's penchant for extreme secret squirrelhood, the reception will be closed to the public.

But before that - oh, interesting - he'll stop by Salt Lake City for a meeting, again behind closed doors, with the Council for National Policy.

Who?

Here's what SourceWatch has to say about them:

The Council for National Policy is a secretive forum that was formed in 1981 by Tim LaHaye as a networking tool for leading US conservative political leaders, financiers and religious right activist leaders. The group, which meets three times a year, promotes "Educational conferences for national leaders in the fields of business, government, religion and academia to explore national policy alternatives. Weekly newsletters are distributed to all members to keep them apprised of member activities and public policy issues. A semi-annual journal is produced from membership meeting speeches,"[1]

According to ABC News, "The CNP describes itself as a counterweight against liberal domination of the American agenda." [2] The "far right's answer to the Council on Foreign Relations" (Washington Babylon)

Others are not so kind to the organization and its motives. Mark Crispin Miller states that the CNP is a "highly secretive... a theocratic organization -- what they want is basically religious rule" (A Patriot Act). Barry W. Lynn, the executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, told the New York Times about the CNP meeting ahead of the 2004 Republican National Convention, "The real crux of this is that these are the genuine leaders of the Republican Party, but they certainly aren't going to be visible on television next week." [3]

Want to bet Dick's on his way to tell them that he's manouvered the Dems into voting for the events that will lead to The Rapture?

Read The Full Article:
http://cernigsnewshog.blogspot.com/2007/09/cheney-and-chums.html

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Teach Your Childrens Well

post from All Spin Zone on 27 September 2007 06:41:00 AM. © All Spin Zone

Bush makes a grammar gaffe again. He can't pronounce words, he doesn't read, by his own admission, and now we know that even when talking about education he can't form a proper sentence.

Read The Full Article:
http://allspinzone.com/wp/2007/09/27/teach-your-childrens-well/

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MTV, MySpace and John Edwards

post from AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth on 27 September 2007 06:16:00 AM. © AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth

I'm in New Hampshire, courtesy of MySpace (they flew and lodged several bloggers from the left and right up here, attending the first of a series of presidential candidate Q&A's they're doing. It's actually quite interesting. The candidates will be questioned by some MTV and Washington Post folks and then you can vote on how well you like the responses. Then the questioners can incorporate your responses into the next questions. Georgia has a great post on this over at DKos. I can't link via my phone, but you can go to DKos and check it out.

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Americablog/~3/162007303/mtv-myspace-and-john-edwa
rds.html

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Byrd Dive-Bombs Hawk$

post from What Happened to My Country? on 27 September 2007 06:15:00 AM. © What Happened to My Country?

You gotta love him. At last, a senator is expressing the outrage the country feels over the failure of the White House and their Defense Department to end the Iraq war.

Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV), who is chairman of the Appropriations Committee, lost it when he heard the new funding request for the Iraq war from Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Peter Pace... a total of almost $190 billion in all for 2008 alone.

"All of fthis or a war -- a war! a war! -- that General Petraeus, two weeks ago, could not say had made Americans safer!

"A long-term presence could cost well in excess of 2 trillion -- 2 trillion! Yes, you heard me -- 2 trillion!"

Including the audience into his outrage-along, Byrd asked if we are really seeking progress toward a stable, secure Iraq?.... "No!" the demonstrators shouted.

He asked if our continuing occupation is encouraging the Iraqi people to step up?.... "No!" they boomed.

The charged-up anti-war group Code Pink continued heckling until Byrd had to suspend the hearing in the midst of Sen. Tom Harkin's (D-IA) challenge to Pace's view that homosexuality is immoral.... "counter to God's law" Pace self-righteously intoned.

During the melee that followed, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) turned on Harkin for raising the subject.... "You should be ashamed" Gregg scolded.

Harkin huffed, "I don't need any lectures from you!"

But, it was a day for lectures, and Byrd was in fine lecture fettle. He chided " 'Mission Accomplished' has turned into a commitment to have our grandchildren patrolling Baghdad into the middle of this century!.... Instead of a coalition of the willing, what we really have is a coalition of contractors.."

And so it went until Harkin asked Pace about his views on gays in the military and Pace's reply created such an outburst of "boos" that Byrd finally cleared the room.

But not before Byrd's point was made.... we're mad, and we're not going to give the White House's big-spending Iraq-war agenda a free ride anymore!

Read The Full Article:
http://whathappenedtomycountry.blogspot.com/2007/09/byrd-dive-bombs-hawk.html

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Bush amused about Blackwater

post from The Newshoggers on 27 September 2007 05:48:00 AM. © The Newshoggers

By Libby

This is obviously an old YouTube but it's still timely and speaks volumes. Bush is speaking at a university and a student asks this.

My question is about private contractors. Uniform Code of Miltary Justice does not apply to military contrators in Iraq. I asked your secretray of defense a couple of months ago what law governs their actions?

Bush giggles. He giggles and interupts her to say, "I'm going to ask him. Help."

Watch it for yourself. A transcript won't convey the president's amusement and utter cluelessness.

Maybe it's time to amend the constitution to allow for a little direct democracy. Like allowing the electorate to remove a clearly incompetent leader when the legislative fails in its duty to do so.

Read The Full Article:
http://cernigsnewshog.blogspot.com/2007/09/bush-amused-about-blackwater.html

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What a Surprise!

post from Ratbang Diary on 27 September 2007 05:29:00 AM. © Ratbang Diary

This morning the New York Times reports: ?The American security contractor Blackwater USA has been involved in a far higher rate of shootings while guarding American diplomats in Iraq than other security firms providing similar services to the State Department, according to Bush administration officials and industry officials.?

The NYT also states a bullshit total of 850 Blackwater USA mercenaries that have been employed by the US State Department to guard the US diplomats. No one except the Bush administration knows the exact number.

The fact is, no one but the Bush administration knows exactly how many Blackwater thugs are fighting alongside US troops. Estimates are as low as 20,000 and as high as 50,000. The estimates for the total number of mercenaries from all private US militias in Iraq--Blackwater USA, DynCorp, and Triple Canopy, to mention three?are as high as 160,000. Only the Bush administration knows the actual number.

The number of mercenaries in Iraq is a state secret.

The NYT article said: ?The State Department would not comment on most matters relating to Blackwater, citing the current investigation. But Sean McCormack, the department?s spokesman, said that of 1,800 escort missions by Blackwater this year, there had been ?only a very small fraction, very small fraction, that have involved any sort of use of force.?

Boloney!

The State Department won?t make its incident reports public re Blackwater?s use of force and killings. And Blackwater has refused to provide its own data on Blackwater?s continued use of unnecessary force.

The NYT went on to say, ?Blackwater, based in North Carolina, has gained a reputation among Iraqis and even among American military personnel serving in Iraq as a company that flaunts an aggressive, quick-draw image that leads its security personnel to take excessively violent actions to protect the people they are paid to guard.?

Blackwater USA is the brainchild of Erik Prince. Prince and his family are far-right religious fanatics. The Prince family bankrolled James Dobson, founder of ?Focus on the Family.

Dobson and George W. Bush have regular meetings to discuss the future of the United States. Dobson has said, ?I stand in a long tradition of Christians who believe that rulers may forfeit their divine mandate when they systematically contravene the divine moral law. We may be rapidly approaching the sort of Rubicon that our spiritual forebears faced Choose Caesar or God. I take no pleasure in this prospect, I pray against it. But it is worth noting that such times have historically been rejuvenating for the faith.? Dobson wrote and Erik Prince has said he agrees that the United States was heading for ?a showdown between church and state? and a ?morally justified revolution?.

There is no deadlier human being than one who believes he is morally justified to kill, rape, murder and maraud. Blackwater hoodlums have been inculcated with that belief from their leader Erik Prince. And Prince shares George W. Bush?s belief that God wants them to engage the Middle East in a holy Christian war.

Of course George W. Bush is an idiot and a dupe. But the neocons in the Bush administration are using his jihad mentality to further their designs on controlling the Middle East and its oil. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has just said the US needs to be in Iraq for many years to come.

Make no mistake; the only reason the US needs to be in Iraq for years and years is to be able to control Iraq?s oil. That?s it. That?s the reason American troops are dying.

Read The Full Article:
http://ratbangdiary.blogspot.com/2007/09/what-surprise.html

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A Veteran in Kennebunkport

post from Hick With A Master's Degree on 27 September 2007 05:16:00 AM. © Hick With A Master's Degree

video details and more

Read The Full Article:
http://hickwithmasters.blogspot.com/2007/09/veteran-in-kennebunkport.html

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Thursday Open Thread

"If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of
servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home
from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms.
Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; and may posterity
forget that ye were our countrymen. "

Samuel Adams
September 27 - October 2, 1803

Read The Full Article:
http://www.myleftwing.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=18961

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Another $190 billion for the endless war

post from AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth on 27 September 2007 05:00:00 AM. © AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth

Let's review George Bush's week: 1) Bush won't spend a couple billion on health care for kids; 2) Bush now wants another $190 billion for his endless war; and 3) We seen more evidence that Bush's endless war is destroying our military capacity.

This war is getting more costly in both human lives and financially every year. The $190 billion is the largest request so far:

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates asked Congress yesterday to approve an additional $42.3 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, bringing the Bush administration's 2008 war funding request to nearly $190 billion -- the largest single-year total for the wars so far.

The move came as Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the Army chief of staff and former top U.S. commander in Iraq, warned lawmakers that the Army is stretched dangerously thin because of current war operations and would probably have trouble responding to a major conflict elsewhere. "The current demand for our forces exceeds the sustainable supply," Casey said yesterday. "We are consumed with meeting the demands of the current fight and are unable to provide ready forces as rapidly as necessary for other potential contingencies."

The administration's funding request -- which came on the same day that the Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of a nonbinding resolution calling for the split of Iraq into three semiautonomous regions -- would boost war spending this year by nearly 15 percent and would bring the total cost of both conflicts to more than $800 billion since Sept. 11, 2001, according to the Congressional Research Service. The request comes two weeks after President Bush announced a limited troop drawdown from Iraq starting in December and the continuation of the "surge" troop increase through next summer. In the days since, Democrats have failed to force a shift in policy on troop rotations or the adoption of withdrawal timelines, but the debate over war funding offers them another chance to push for a change in course.

We need a change in course, desperately.