Oh Just Shoot Me Now, Please

"People WANT us to ask questions, so GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE when you come up here"

pcdoc,

Yes, that would be our Secretary of Defense. SO high up on the horse, he could be mistaken for a part of the horse's anatomy...

What an arrogant, shameless bunch of COWARDS!

ROVE COMMENTS ANGER THOSE SERVING IN IRAQ

This story from Daily Kos illustrates just how misguided Karl Rove's comments were.

Apparently, there are a number of service members in Iraq who would like to have private time with Karl to share their feelings...

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/6/24/8621/80662

Bottom line:

If President Bush and Karl Rove put half the effort into fighting the war on terror that they put into fighting the war on Democrats, things would probably look a lot better in Iraq.

We got this cool t-shirt link:

http://www.cafepress.com/6billionamonth

WE ARE SPENDING 6 BILLION A MONTH IN IRAQ.

pass it on...

Rove's strategy was to appeal to his lunatic base, the Ann Coulter wing of his party and get us to spend days answering-defending.That is apparent in the calls to Air America this morning, a fire storm of righties yelling and screaming, that Rove has ignited. That's why its impt that we keep calm and not resort to tit for tat name calling, again to avoid the paux on both party syndrome Republicans are counting on in '06. That's my theory on how they keep control of Congress by getting us down to their level and voters voting for the Status Quo rather than change.

Its also intended as a diversion to W's failures in SS and to set the table on the impending Supreme Ct. firestorm that may be coming next week.

Suz was right yesterday when she said we need to be the stong father figure.

Without using th n word or other inflamatory language we should attack CONSERVATIVES and the DOBSON/COULTER wing of the Republican party show that it is not cool to be an extremist Republican.
They call us weak on security why not swing back and call them weak on SS Weak on healthcare, etc. We can point out that Republicans don't believe in SS, never have and that is why none of them voted for SS when it was created.

We shouldn't let Rove change the subject to 911 something many Americans want to put behind them.

OK--For Senator Durbin, and Democrats and those who think Howard Dean needs to talk nicer about the GOP.........

Notice how not one GOP member is repudiating Karl Rove. Notice how they stick together. Notice how they all easily say the same thing, as though they just left choir practice. They are not going to go out and eat Karl. They know that the rule is to love Karl, applaud Karl, back Karl up. He said what he said without fear that anyone in his own party would be mad about it, because the rules about sticking together are obeyed no matter what Karl says.

They still do it better, gang. They still do the lock-step, we know what we're doing, the pResident is resolute, rah-rah, routine unblinkingly, automatically, without a care in the world. The message can be wrong, but they will stand up and cheer for it. And, they will sleep peacefully at night, too.

Karl will never retract his words, he won't be called on by his party to say he's sorry. He's not going to lose his job. They get to attack and speak outrageous lies, and as long as they ALL say it, it somehow becomes true.

If they get to use nasty rhetoric with impunity, when will Democrats grow that same thick hide and speak up, and then stick by what they say? If you aren't going to do it, you may as well shut up and say nothing, or be prepared to continue wearing the label of being the disorganized, no message party.

NO MORE APOLOGIES!!!!!!!

Posted by: Karen at June 24, 2005 09:54 AM

LOL....indeed :)

Posted by: tutterfly at June 24, 2005 10:08 AM

And Tutt....I couldnt agree more, you have said it exactly right...

While Rove and Bush Battle Democrats, Iraq continues to decline...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050624/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_050624114803;_ylt=ApbT2nKWKdw6JHjtpWeagThX6GMA

Big Bird Lives to See Another Day!

Sign our petition Demanding President Bush Fire Tomlinson!


Late yesterday afternoon, the House of Representatives rebuked Right Wing attacks on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting!

Thanks to your efforts, Democrats and Republicans banded together to overwhelmingly restore $100 million in funding to the CPB by a vote of 284 to 140.

While this will undoubtedly help secure the financial future of independent public broadcasting, its political future is still very much in doubt. Ken Tomlinson, head of the CPB, continues his efforts to turn it into a mouthpiece of the Republican Party. And today his right wing agenda advanced one step further when he succeeded in getting Patricia Harrison, formerly a co-chair of the Republican National Committee, named as president and chief executive of the CPB.

While saving the financial future of public broadcasting is important, it is even more important that we protect the independence and integrity of its programming. That is why we ask you to join us by signing a petition calling on President Bush to fire Ken Tomlinson and replace him with someone who respects the vital role that independent public broadcasting plays in our society.

....just received from PFAW.......

Tutter,

Staying on message is the main point we need to consider. Ira is right. They want to bring us down to their level. To me staying on point doesn't have to be flowery rhetoric. It can be hard as nails and truthful at the same time. As I posted several times yesterday: Stay on Message. They have no retort to the truth. This is their MO. They want us to respond with acrid comments.

As I also posted several days ago, Durbin had no reason to apologize. As one of his constituents, I called his office and let them know how I felt. They were good listeners-and that was about all of a response I got from the young woman I spoke with.

Posted by: pcdoc at June 24, 2005 09:42 AM

PCDOC,

I SAW THAT ON C-SPAN LAST NIGHT, TOO. WASN'T THAT JUST AWESOME HOW BYRD COMMANDED ATTENTION?
He told Rumsfeld to just sit there and listen to him for a change. He told Rumsfeld he has never seen anyone come in before the Senate like Rummy has and sneer at "Representatives of the People", and talk down to them, the way Rumsfeld had done.
He said "I have been around alot longer than you have, Mr. Secretary, and I am going to tell you a thing or two. We in the Senate represent the people, and the people are asking these questions. We have to be re-elected by the people, and you do not. And I have been re-elected for years. We come here wanting answers to our questions, and so far there have been no answers." That was so uplifting I was applauding in my chair.

Hillary Clinton also gave Rumsfeld a strong piece of her mind about what Rove had said about the Dems yesterday. She let him know that what "they" are doing is despicable.

A tape of it would be so great to have around.

Did you see Ted Kennedy with Rumsfeld as well? He was awesome.

The response to Rove's dribblings is simply this:

"As the White House loses control of the war in Iraq, Rove shifts focus to the war on Democrats."

And that's exactly what it is.

Unfortunately, I've yet to hear anyone say it.

Posted by: NativeTexan4Kerry at June 24, 2005 10:56 AM

I missed Teddy Kennedy. Darn.

My new T-Shirt: (to all the "fake" Christians)

YOU'RE SO HOLY I BET YOU CAN WALK ON WATER

(after all.....*manure* floats.....)

international news this morning....
bu$hcheney's "extraordinary rendition" (sending people to other countries who torture):

Italy Judge Orders Arrest of 13 CIA Agents

By AIDAN LEWIS, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 33 minutes ago

ROME - An Italian judge has ordered the arrest of 13 CIA agents for allegedly helping deport an imam to Egypt as part of U.S. anti-terrorism efforts, an Italian official familiar with the investigation said Friday.

The agents are suspected in the seizure of an Egyptian-born imam identified as Abu Omar on the streets of Milan in February 2003, according to the official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

The U.S. Embassy in Rome declined to comment.

Prosecutors believe the agents seized Omar as part of the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" program, in which terror suspects are transferred to third countries without court approval, according to reports Friday in newspapers Corriere della Sera and Il Giorno.

Investigators traced the agents through check-in details at Milan hotels and their use of Italian cell phones during the operation, the reports said. All the agents are American and include three women, Il Giorno said.

The reports said another six agents were being investigated for helping prepare the operation.
continue~
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050624/ap_on_re_eu/italy_cia

Truth,

I was considering your comments from last night. I have always thought that Bush was being played by his corporate handlers. Is he too stupid to realize that? Yes and No, he has bought into their philosophy. His "I have political capitol and I am going to spend it." comments revealed that. But I believe he has deluded himself into believing that it is his "faith" that allows him to follow the path he has chosen. IMHO, his stupidity is actually a manifestation of his delusions about his role in the geopolitical process.

Paul Krugman NYT today:

"We need to deprive these people of their ability to mislead and intimidate. And the best way to do that is to make it clear that the people who led us to war on false pretenses have no credibility, and no right to lecture the rest of us about patriotism."

The War President

By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: June 24, 2005

snip~
The United States will soon have to start reducing force levels in Iraq, or risk seeing the volunteer Army collapse. Yet the administration and its supporters have effectively prevented any adult discussion of the need to get out.

On one side, the people who sold this war, unable to face up to the fact that their fantasies of a splendid little war have led to disaster, are still peddling illusions: the insurgency is in its "last throes," says Dick Cheney. On the other, they still have moderates and even liberals intimidated: anyone who suggests that the United States will have to settle for something that falls far short of victory is accused of being unpatriotic.

We need to deprive these people of their ability to mislead and intimidate. And the best way to do that is to make it clear that the people who led us to war on false pretenses have no credibility, and no right to lecture the rest of us about patriotism.

The good news is that the public seems ready to hear that message - readier than the media are to deliver it. Major media organizations still act as if only a small, left-wing fringe believes that we were misled into war, but that "fringe" now comprises much if not most of the population.

continue~
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/opinion/24krugman.html?ex=buzzflash.com

the unsinkable Molly Ivins
on Republican Culture of Corruption:

Super Senate sweep?
Graft runs rampant on Capitol Hill

Molly Ivins Creators Syndicate 06.23.05

Seriously, this administration is starting to look like that old television show in which contestants lined up their shopping carts in a grocery store and, on the signal, began running around throwing every valuable item they could find in their carts. Whoever grabbed the most high-priced items won. The contestants here and now are corporations and lobbyists.
snip~
The R's have passed an energy bill that increases our dependence on foreign oil by 85 percent by 2025, according to a 2004 report by the Energy Information Administration. No wonder the White House has to keep changing the science in these reports.

One striking feature of the bill is a nifty little waiver for the manufacturers of MTBE that lets them avoid liability suits filed since September 2003. MTBE is a toxic substance now working its way into various water supply sources. The waiver is worth billions to the manufacturers of MTBE, who happen to be clustered in the home districts of Majority Leader Tom DeLay and Texas Rep. Joe Barton, who is chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Surprise!

continue~
http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=19248

Some pretty funny stuff on the Rove Implosion from the Moose:

http://www.bullmooseblog.com/

Iraq news:

Five Female Marines Feared Dead

June 24, 2005

(CBS/AP) A suicide car bomber slammed into a U.S. military convoy in Fallujah, killing two Marines, a Pentagon spokesman said Friday. Three Marines and a sailor were missing after the attack.

CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin reports that five female Marines are said to be dead, according to officials. They are members of a supply unit who were being driven into Fallujah to assist in searching local women for hidden weapons when their vehicle, which was equipped with armor, was struck by the bomber.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said another 13 Marines were wounded in the Thursday night attack and said some women were among the casualties.

The car bomber targeted troops assigned to the II Marine Expeditionary Force, an earlier military statement said. Fallujah, the Anbar province town 40 miles west of Baghdad, was the scene of a large-scale campaign in November by U.S. troops to rout militants.

An earlier report also had said six Marines were killed.
continue~
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/24/iraq/main541815.shtml

9-11 widow, Kristen Breitweiser answers Rove:

Kristen Breitweiser

Karl Rove's "Understanding of 9/11"

snip~
It was only after your invasion of Iraq, that Bin Laden's goals were met. Because of your war in Iraq two things happened that helped Bin Laden and the terrorists: al Qaeda recruitment soared and the United States is now alienated from and hated by the rest of the world. In effect, what Bin Laden could not achieve by murdering my husband and 3,000 others on 9/11, you handed to him on a silver platter with your invasion of Iraq - a country that had nothing to do with 9/11.

Which leads me to my final questions for you Karl: What are your motives when it comes to 9/11 and are you really sure that you understand 9/11?

read entire article~
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/archive/kristen-breitweiser/karl-roves-understandin_3103.html

John Kerry calls for Rove's resignation:
=======================
I hope you will join me right now in signing an open letter to the President urging him to thoroughly reject Karl Rove's purposeful attack on the patriotism of those who dare ask the tough questions that best protect American troops. Sign our open letter to President Bush now:

http://www.johnkerry.com/petition/rove.php

International Edition CNN

http://edition.cnn.com/
Created: Thursday, June 23, 2005, at 20:48:49 EDT
Do you think the insurgency in Iraq is:

Getting better .... 12% ..... 794 votes

Getting worse ..... 63% .... 4006 votes

No change ......... 25% .... 1569 votes

Total: 6369 votes

US Edition CNN

Created: Friday, June 24, 2005, at 12:36:10 EDT
Which new movie are you most likely to see this weekend?

'Bewitched' ............... 19% .... 243 votes

'Herbie: Fully Loaded' ..... 3% ..... 42 votes

'Land of the Dead' ......... 6% ..... 78 votes

None; I'd rather rent a DVD of something good .......... 72% ..... 946 votes

Total: 1309 votes

Ontovictory: these points were articulately stated by Ms Breitweiser and need to be publicized:

Karl, you say you "understand" 9/11. Then why did you and your friends so vehemently oppose the creation of a 9/11 Independent Commission? Once the commission was established, why did you refuse to properly fund the Commission by allotting it only a $3 million budget? Why did you refuse to allow access to documents and witnesses for the 9/11 Commissioners? Why did we have to fight so hard for an extension when the Commissioners told us that they needed more time due to your footdragging and stonewalling? Why didn't you want to cooperate so that all Americans could "understand" what happened on 9/11?

Since the release of the 9/11 Commission's Final Report, have you helped bring to fruition any of the commission's recommendations? Have you truly made our homeland safer by hardening/eliminating soft targets? Because, to me rebuilding a tower that is 1,776 feet tall where the World Trade Center once stood seems to be only providing more soft targets for the terrorists to hit. Moreover, your support for the use of nuclear energy seems to be providing even more soft targets. Tell me, while you write your nifty little speeches about nuclear power, do you explain to your audience how our nuclear plants will be protected against terrorist attack or infiltration? What assurances do you give that nuclear waste will not find its way into terrorist's dirty bombs and onto our city streets? And, how do you assure your audience that the shipment of radioactive material will not become a terrorist target as it rolls through their own backyards?

Fine Karl if the GOP is so strong on fighting terrorism then why did the GOP oppose the 911 Commission and why have they not followed up on the recommendations of the 911 commission. We know their patterns. If the Democrat Senate were to actually convince the GOP to fully fund port,oil facilitities and nuclear security Rove would then be taking credit for that and claim Dems opposed it. In otherwords they are trying to tell us when it is is day it is night and Rove presumes we are all to stupid to understand that.

Casey, can we post the original sponsors of the 911 Commission and Lieberman's bill and signatures to the original Homeland Security Bill? We need to get word out that it was Lieberman and Dems that originally created the Homeland Security office, the 911 Commission and legislation on funding security for our ports, oil and nuclear facilities. As long as we leave a vacuum out there as to what Dems have actually done to promote homeland security, there will be a void left that McClellan and Rove get to fill in with their own imagery.

Posted by: oncall at June 24, 2005 11:17 AM

Oncall, see that is just the thing. I don't see that it matters alot in the long scheme of things whether he is aware of what he is doing, or if he is too stupid and deluded to know. But it is something I am puzzled over, mostly because it is "stranger than fiction". If we can see it, and he is alot closer to it than we are, you would think he would know the simple fact that what he is promoting is not in people's best interest. He has to know he represents big business. And I have come to the conclusion, from my own perspective of course, that he does know what he is doing. He is a good politician, and plays the game.

I mean, wouldn't you think his conscience would bother him?

I saw him in an interview one time, and when asked if he thought God had put him in his position, said "No".

Most people call you the elite. I call you my base. - G.W. Bush

We should help find a competitive Congressional New Jersey seat for Kirsten to run for office from and encourage her to run for public office. She was a voice of clarity and sanity last November and would make a great Congresswoman.
Her presence in the Halls of Congress would be a welcome site.

Bu$hCheneyRumsfeldRove tactics of attacking Dems can't hide the breaking news of more nonstop carnage in Iraq today:

Marines killed in Falluja attack
Some of casualties are women, U.S. official says

Friday, June 24, 2005;
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A suicide bomber in a vehicle killed two U.S. Marines and left four troops unaccounted for when it exploded near their convoy in Falluja, the volatile city west of Baghdad, a U.S. military official said Friday.

Thursday night's blast wounded 13, the military said.

Some of the casualties were women, the official said. The troops were assigned to the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force.

A Marine statement confirmed the deaths of two Marines and listed three Marines and a sailor as "duty status whereabouts unknown."

Earlier reports said as many as six Marines were killed.

The attack came at the end of another particularly violent day in the Iraqi capital. Four car bombings killed at least 17 people and wounded as many as 60 others in the city Thursday, the Iraqi Defense Ministry said.

A suicide attack near an old mall in Baghdad's Karada area killed seven civilians and wounded 10 others, the defense ministry said, while the Iraqi police put the death toll at 12 civilians and three police officers, with 50 wounded.

Three police officers and seven civilians died in a second suicide blast targeting an Iraqi police patrol near a gas station, the ministry said. Ten civilians were wounded.

Car bombs also went off near two Shiite Muslim mosques -- Albu Jumaa and Abdul Rasool Ali.

On Wednesday, five car bombings rocked Baghdad, including three nearly simultaneous blasts that killed 18 people and wounded 46 others in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood, police said.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/06/24/iraq.main/index.html
------
Cheney: Iraq will be 'enormous success story'
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/06/23/cheney.interview/index.html
---------

General, Cheney at odds on Iraq
http://www.freep.com/news/nw/iraq24e_20050624.htm
-----------

Monthly Tally of Car Bombings in Iraq
By The Associated Press Fri Jun 24

There have been 480 car bombs in Iraq since the handover of sovereignty on June 28, 2004, according to an Associated Press count. At least 2,174 people have been killed and 5,520 have been wounded.
http://tinyurl.com/dztvp

Grilled Rumsfeld Anyone?

John Nichols Jun 23,2005

Rarely in recent years has Washington seen so dramatic a clash between the legislative and executive branches as was witnessed Thursday, when U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, D-Masschusetts, went after Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on the question of whether the Pentagon chief should resign for mismanaging the war in Iraq.

"This war has been consistently and grossly mismanaged. And we are now in a seemingly intractable quagmire. Our troops are dying. And there really is no end in sight," Kennedy said, as the Secretary of Defense sat opposite him during an appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Arguing that "the American people, I believe, deserve leadership worthy of the sacrifices that our fighting forces have made, and they deserve the real facts," Kennedy told Rumsfeld, "I regret to say that I don't believe that you have provided either."

Rumsfeld was clearly shocked by the aggressiveness of the senator's comments.

"Well, that is quite a statement," huffed the Secretary of Defense, who pointedly told Kennedy, "The suggestion by you that people -- me or others -- are painting a rosy picture is false."

But the Massachusetts senator, who has been one of the most ardent Congressional critics of the war, wasn't buying the secretary's line. Nor was Kennedy cutting Rumsfeld any more slack.

"In baseball, it's three strikes you're out," Kennedy told Rumsfeld. "Isn't it time for you to resign?"

Rumsfeld, who was evidently shaken by the question, paused briefly before saying, "Senator, I've offered my resignation to the president twice."

President Bush rejected Rumsfeld's offers, which came at the height of the scandal over the abuse of detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. The Secretary of Defense told the committee he would defer to the president on the question of when he should step down. "That's his call," Rumseld said of Bush.

The intensity of Kennedy's questioning illustrated a shift that has begun to take place in Congress in recent weeks, as more and more Democrats, and a growing number of Republicans, have begun to bluntly challenge the administration's inflated claims about the "success" of the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

In fact, even Rumsfeld distanced himself from Vice President Dick Cheney's absurd assertion that the insurgency in Iraq is in its "last throes."

After General John Abizaid, the commander of the multinational forces in Iraq, told members of the committee that he believed "more foreign fighters (are) coming into Iraq than there were six months ago," Rumsfeld was asked whether it sounded to him like the insurgency has entered the "last throes" stage.

Noting that he had not uttered the "last throes" line, an obviously exasperated Rumsfeld said of Cheney's choice of words: "I didn't use them, and I might not use them."

continue~
http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20050624/cm_thenation/13811/nc:742

Oncall and Ira,

I think you are both right. I think that the Democrats need to walk and chew gum at the same time, meaning that they need to tie thing together for people. Such as the $1 billion dollars a week spent in Iraq is causing the fiscal problems in social security. And the carnage in Iraq, but they can't afford veteran healthcare. Such as Karl Rove talking about the importance of 9-11, then why did they leave the hunt for Osama bin Laden and attack Iraq, We KNEW he wasn't there.

I think the point maybe is that each time they try to move the message, we bring it BACK on message by using whatever THIER language has been about. Sort of like a political ju-jitsu.

Bu$hCheneyRumsfeldRove tactics of attacking Dems can't hide the breaking news of more nonstop carnage in Iraq today:

Posted by: on.to.victory4Dems at June 24, 2005 01:30 PM

Photos of survivors of the fallen, at funeral after funeral: scroll down, almost to the bottom.

http://patriotboy.blogspot.com/2005_05_29_patriotboy_archive.html