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May 31, 2005

SH5

Okay, folks. Nominations are open for next week's SH5. I know we're kinda behind the ball getting this up a day late and all. But hey... better late than never, no?

You know the drill. If it's inane, nonsensical, outrageous or just plain stupid, nominate it (with a link, please).

Posted by Kevin at 08:06 PM |

Texas GOP: Do as we say, not as we do

Houston Democrats point out the demonstrable fact that Republicans Support War, Not Soldiers. At least among those in the Texas delegation to Congress:

THE YELLOW RIBBONS WE SEE ON THE BACK OF CARS ASK THAT WE SUPPORT OUR TROOPS.
And we do. But it seems the US House of Representatives thinks differently. In today’s Houston Chronicle, May 29, 05 you will be surprised to find that the following bills were defeated in the House last week.

**************************************

1) GUARD, RESERVE HEALTH INSURANCE WAS DEFEATED 211 – 218, a motion to qualify National Guard and Reserve personnel for TRICARE, the main military health plan, to the extent that active duty troops are covered. The motion was offered to HR 1815 (the 2006 Defense Budget bill which authorized $49 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan). Present law includes Guard and Reserve personnel in TRICARE for 90 days before and 180 days after mobilization. Full coverage would cost at least $5.8 billion over 5 years. At $50 billion annually, TRICARE accounts for 1/10 of the defense. Backers noted that the Guard and Reserves are supplying 40% of forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Critics said that to include them fully in TRICARE would prompt private employers to cancel medical coverage. A Yes Vote backed the measure.

All Texas Republicans with the exception of Representative Paul voted NO. All Democrats voted YES.

******************************************

VETERANS MEDICAL CARE WAS REFUSED 214-213: to increase spending by $54 million for troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, including $8 million for treating combat trauma; $9 million for prosthetic research; and $6 million for telemedicine to remotely serve National Guard and Reserve veterans. The vote occurred during debate on a bill (HR 2528; later passed that appropriated $85.2 billion for military construction, veterans care, and other programs in fiscal 2006.) The additional funds were to have been taken from the budget for closing military bases. A YES vote was to add $53 billion for the veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.

All Texas Republicans with the exception of Representatives Hall and Paul voted NO. All Democrats with the exception of Ortiz voted YES. Johnson was Absent.

Excerpted from The Houston Chronicle "How Texans Voted"

The San Diego Times has more evidence along the same lines. Click the link above to read the whole post and the additional evidence.

The thing is... it's not just Texas Republicans. It's Republican members of Congress from all over the nation. There are some key exceptions, of course. Like Congressman Ron Paul (TX) as noted in the Chronicle piece. But, by and large it is the GOP that are voting down veteran-friendly and soldier-friendly legislation which Democrats are introducing. Draw what conclussions you will from that.

As Sgt. Friday used to say on Dragnet, "Just the facts, Ma'am."

(via News from Around the World)

Posted by Kevin at 12:55 PM |

You could strike sparks anywhere

Hunter S. Thompson's ashes will be launched from his gonzo fist tower on August 20. Johnny Depp is paying for it. That would be something to see.

PLAYBOY: Do you believe religious things about drugs?
THOMPSON: No, I never have. That's my main argument with the drug culture. I've never believed in that guru trip; you know, God, nirvana, that kind of oppressive, hipper-than-thou bullshit. I like to just gobble the stuff right out in the street and see what happens, take my chances, just stomp on my own accelerator. It's like getting on a racing bike and all of a sudden you're doing 120 miles per hour into a curve that has sand all over it and you think, "Holy Jesus, here we go," and you lay it over till the pegs hit the street and metal starts to spark. If you're good enough, you can pull it out, but sometimes you end up in the emergency room with some bastard in a white suit sewing your scalp back on.

PLAYBOY: Do you think that his resignation proves that the system works?
THOMPSON: Well, that depends on what you mean by "works." We can take some comfort, I guess, in knowing the system was so finely conceived originally -- almost 200 years ago -- that it can still work when it's absolutely forced to.

(snip)
...but in the end, the Nixon Watergate saga was written by mavericks who worked the loneliest outside edges of the system, not by the kind of people who played it safe and followed the letter of the law. If the system worked in this case, it was almost in spite of itself. Jesus, what else could the Congress have done -- faced with the spectacle of a President going on national TV to admit a felony? Nixon dug his own grave, then made a public confession. If his resignation somehow proves the system works, you have to wonder how well that same system might have worked if we'd had a really blue-chip, sophisticated criminal in the White House -- instead of a half-mad used-car salesman. In the space of ten months, the two top executives of this country resigned rather than risk impeachment and trial; and they wouldn't even have had to do that if their crimes hadn't been too gross to ignore and if public opinion hadn't turned so massively against them. Finally, even the chickenshit politicians in Congress will act if the people are outraged enough. But you can bet that if the public-opinion polls hadn't gone over 50 percent in favor of his impeachment, he'd still be in the White House.

PLAYBOY: Is politics going to get any better?
THOMPSON: Well, it can't get much worse. Nixon was so bad, so obviously guilty and corrupt, that we're already beginning to write him off as a political mutant, some kind of bad and unexplainable accident. The danger in that is that it's like saying, "Thank God! We've cut the cancer out...you see it?...It's lying there...just sew up the wound...cauterize it.... No, no, don't bother to look for anything else...just throw the tumor away, burn it," and then a few months later the poor bastard dies, his whole body rotten with cancer. I don't think purging Nixon is going to do much to the system except make people more careful. Even if we accept the idea that Nixon himself was a malignant mutant, his Presidency was no accident. Hell, Ford is our accident. He's never been elected to anything but Congress.... But Richard Nixon has been elected to every national office a shrewd mutant could aspire to: Congressman, Senator, Vice-President, President. He should have been impeached, convicted and jailed, if only as a voter-education project.

PLAYBOY: Do you think that over the course of the Watergate investigation, Congress spent as much energy covering up its own sins as it did in exposing Richard Nixon's?
THOMPSON: Well, that's a pretty harsh statement; but I'm sure there've been a lot of tapes and papers burned and a lot of midnight phone calls, saying things like, "Hello, John, remember that letter I wrote you on August fifth? I just ran into a copy in my files here and, well, I'm burning mine, why don't you burn yours, too, and we'll just forget all about that matter? Meanwhile, I'm sending you a case of Chivas Regal and I have a job for your son here in my office this summer -- just as soon as he brings me the ashes of that fucking letter."

For some hilarious, then sobering, then hilarious again moments with my favorite doctor of journalism, read the rest.

Posted by Jeff at 12:18 PM |

Damn, it's raining weirdness!

It's some weird-wild stuff coming down today:

Dick Cheney is offended by Amnesty International criticism -- and since Cheney is Mr. Opposite -- up-is-down; increased violence in Iraq proves we're winning; Amnesty was right about Saddam's abuses when it was convenient to our case for invasion -- wait, I'm gettin' a headache, and nauseous, too.

Paris Hilton gets engaged to a guy named Paris. Newlywed sur-reality show to follow, no doubt.

Something in the Florida Water Dept. #97: Two men disappear. Each was last known to be with the same police officer.

So, with all this, is it any wonder that even the Mark of the Beast's '666' has been devalued to '616'? Oh, the humanity...!

Posted by Jeff at 10:35 AM |

Breaking News: "Deep Throat" revealed

Deep Throat reportedly comes forward. Vanity Fair magazine reported today that 91 year old Mark Felt, former penultimate chief of the FBI, is in fact Deep Throat.

Undoubtedly there is more to be said on this story as it breaks and the pundits dissect it.

Posted by Kevin at 10:13 AM |

Big Brass Alliance

Our left sidebar has a new addition. It's a logo with a link to the Big Brass Alliance. This group of blogs is in support of a formal inquiry into whether or not President Bush has commited impeachable offenses in the lead up to the Iraq War.

This comes in light of the Downing Street Memo, a memo to British Prime Minister Tony Blair stating that intelligence about Iraq was being shaped to support a policy of invading Iraq. According to this memo, the Bush Administration was cherrypicking and forcing intelligence that would lead us to war with Iraq.

After Downing Street is the main clearinghouse for information on this topic and is dedicated to urging Congress to conduct an investigation.

Juan Cole's stunning piece in Salon Magazine offers up specifics as well:

"Astonishingly, the Bush administration almost took the United States to war against Iraq in the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11. We know about this episode from the public account of Sir Christopher Meyer, then the U.K. ambassador in Washington. Meyer reported that in the two weeks after Sept. 11, the Bush national security team argued back and forth over whether to attack Iraq or Afghanistan. It appears from his account that Bush was leaning toward the Iraq option.

So there was a distinct possibility we weren't going to go after Al Qaida in Afghanistan at all. All along the focus was Iraq. Just as Richard Clarke said. Just as Paul O'Neil said. And now it's apparent that Bush and his people pushed the intelligence community to give them information that would lead to war with Iraq.

Meyer contends in fact that the British dissuaded Bush from ignoring Afghanistan and Al Qaida and going directly into Iraq.

All of this information, if true, is a high crime against the citizens of the United States. It must be investigated.

Personally I find it practically impossible that a Republican Congress would dare investigate this President. In fact Congress has so abdicated it's powers to the Executive and it's leadership so steeped in corruption that it lacks the courage and the will to undertake such an investigation of the current regime. Even with immense pressure from the electorate, their arrogance will remain and they will not conduct an investigation.

But good citizens who love their country will continue to remain vigilant and attempt to hold these individuals accountable for their lawlessness.

Posted by Carla at 06:54 AM |

May 30, 2005

Something else to be grateful for

Sometimes being a brave soldier in service to the country means going against the government and standing up for what is right.

Iraq Veterans Against The War is such a group. Their service honors us all.

Posted by Carla at 03:31 PM |

A grateful citizen

Today is the day we traditionally remember our war dead. We honor those soldiers who fought and died in service to our nation.

One week ago today while in DC, I spent the entire morning touring the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. I expected to be there for about two hours. I stayed for over four.

The Museum portrayed not just the plight of the Jews and other persecuted peoples of that era and geography...but the elements which led to facism and the rise of Adolf Hitler. It was thoroughly educational and absolutely emotionally devastating to watch. Even though I'd seen much of the footage of Hitler's rise and studied the history..seeing it all laid out in that way was incredibly impactful.

But the most difficult and disturbing of the images was definitely watching the footage of the medical experiments against the captives...and the slaughtering in the concentration camps. I thought I had seen the worst of it before but apparently I had not. The video of the SS officers being forced by American soldiers to drag the emaciated and maltreated dead bodies for burial was wrenching. The piles of dead bodies...thousands upon thousands...these men and women are also war dead.

Seeing such evil is a profound experience. I can't imagine anyone walking through those exhibits and thinking that the Holocaust was a fantasy perpetuated by the Jews (hello Pat Buchanan) or simply not as bad as people say it was (hello Aryan Nations). Last Monday I witnessed the absolute depths of human suffering and evil.

I left the museum utterly exhausted and emotionally wrung out. As we walked up the street to find a place to sit and rest...we were silent. How do you talk about those disturbing images and seeing that humans are capable of such darkness?

And then we did something else that also had a profound effect..we decided to visit the World War II War Memorial:

After having seen the film of the Holocaust that morning it was especially meaningful to view this Memorial.

I've heard that many critics don't like this particular memorial..considering it "clutter" because of it's location between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. I strongly disagree. It's beautifully situated and extremely well done.

The Memorial honors the sacrifice of the various states and territories whose citizens served during WWII from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

It also includes some of the quotations made by the great leaders of that time:

From the depths of human suffering to the soaring height of courage, sacrifice and service.

Each of the stars represents 1000 dead soldiers. They honored us with their sacrifice..we honor them by remembering. Not just their deaths....but the fact that they kept the ultimate evil and suffering from our shores. They protected us. They kept us whole.

Posted by Carla at 09:43 AM |

It's morally wrong to kill embryos. Tossing them in a landfill is just dandy.

Indiana Representative Mike Pence must be very disappointed since House approved the Castle-DeGette stem cell bill. The bill would allow scientists to use donated embryos for stem-cell research. Pence believes it's morally wrong use embryos to save lives and that millions of people agree with him. And if millions of people disagree with embryonic stem-cell research, they shouldn't have to pay for it through federal funding. If they agree with it, they are out of luck since George Bush has said he'll veto it if it passes in the Senate.

Destroying human life is wrong, but the debate is really about the veracity of the research.

Well, Jeffrey, as a pro-life American, I believe that life begins at conception. And I believe it's morally wrong to destroy even embryonic human life for the purpose of research. And -- but really that debate, or the potential promise of embryonic stem cell research, which despite what Ms. DeGette says, there's some real question about -- we'll hear tomorrow on the House floor from many members of Congress who are physicians who genuinely doubt the potential of embryonic stem cell research.

Well, Mr. Pence, not all members of Congress would agree with you.

"These are human lives. When did each of your lives begin? When did your life biologically start? And we should not be researching on that life at any time during the continuum unless we have your consent," [Sen. Sam Brownback] said.

"I am a lot more concerned at this point about when my life is going to end," responded Senator Specter bluntly.

More on Pence's embrace of irrationality:

Adult stem cell research has produced 58 treatments. And even though it's legal in America today, embryonic stem cell research has yet to produce a single treatment in a lab animal.

That is not true. According to the National Institutes for Health, there has been treatment in a lab animal from embryonic stem cells.

For example, paralysis and damage to the central nervous system:

[R]esearchers selected from laboratory culture dishes barely differentiated embryonic germs cells that displayed the molecular markers of neural stem cells, including the proteins nestin and neuron specific enolase. They grew these cells in large quantities and injected them into the fluid surrounding the spinal cords of partially paralyzed, Sindbis-virus-treated rats.

The response was impressive. Three months after the injections, many of the treated rats were able to move their hind limbs and walk, albeit clumsily, while the rats that did not receive cell injections remained paralyzed.

Autoimmune diseases:

Jon Odorico and colleagues have shown that expression of MHC proteins on mouse embryonic stem cells and differentiated embryonic stem cell progeny is either absent or greatly decreased compared with MHC expression on adult cells [ 8]. These preliminary findings raise the intriguing possibility that lines derived from embryonic stem cells may be inherently less susceptible to rejection by the recipient's immune system than lines derived from adult cells. This could have important implications for the transplantation of cells other than hematopoietic stem cells.

And diabetes, an all-too-common problem here in the US:

Last year, researchers in Spain reported using mouse embryonic stem cells that were engineered to allow researchers to select for cells that were differentiating into insulin-producing cells [ 19 ]. Bernat Soria and his colleagues at the Universidad Miguel Hernandez in San Juan, Alicante, Spain, added DNA containing part of the insulin gene to embryonic cells from mice. The insulin gene was linked to another gene that rendered the mice resistant to an antibiotic drug. By growing the cells in the presence of an antibiotic, only those cells that were activating the insulin promoter were able to survive. The cells were cloned and then cultured under varying conditions. Cells cultured in the presence of low concentrations of glucose differentiated and were able to respond to changes in glucose concentration by increasing insulin secretion nearly sevenfold. The researchers then implanted the cells into the spleens of diabetic mice and found that symptoms of diabetes were reversed.

There are others, of course, but you get the picture.

Oh yeah? Well. . .well. . .it's really about funding and consent!

But the debate tomorrow really is about federal funding. Inasmuch as I believe that it's morally wrong to destroy human embryonic life for the purpose of research, I think it's also, Jeffrey, additionally morally wrong to take the tax dollars of millions of pro-life Americans and use it to support research that they find morally offensive. And that's really what the debate is about tomorrow.

When we talk about the consent -- and Ms. DeGette is quite sincere in her effort here, and adding informed consent is a logical and in her mind appropriate addition here -- but I would ask, where is the consent of the American taxpayer who believes, as I do, as millions do, that life begins at conception? Where is their consent about the use of their tax dollars for this research?

Where is the consent of the American taxpayer who believes, as I do, that it's morally wrong to invade and occupy another country, torture prisoners of war, and kill civilians? I hear nary a peep from these so-called pro-lifers about it. Have I mentioned that we are paying for this via our tax dollars? Has anyone mentioned that this dubious project is, well, expensive? Not to mention immoral? I'd rather pay for health care for kids, education, or housing for the poor.

But Pence isn't done yet. Nope, he's gotta tapdance around Godwin's law when it's pointed out to him that we'd be disposing of the embryos (which would be donated) if we don't use them for embryonic stem cell research.

Well, I have to tell you that when you look at the steady march of human history, including, frankly, some very frightening chapters of the 20th century, the human record is not very encouraging when we come across societies who step across that the human life is sacred.

Uh huh. As long as they are embryonic "human lives." They are then sacred enough for disposal. Very logical, that.

And this business of arguing a utilitarian argument, instead of the larger argument that science ought to always back carefully away where human life is involved, would be the position that I would hold, and that millions of American taxpayers believe today.

Except, as Diana DeGette pointed out, that wasn't true either. Millions of American taxpayers have no problem with it. (Can someone tell me why the will of the people is infallible when it comes to denying gays the right to marry, but it's to be ignored when it comes to treating debilitating and fatal diseases and injuries?)

Using donated embryos to further embryonic stem cell research: bad, evil, and immoral. Forcing taxpayers to fund it: horrible.

Throwing away donated embryos to develop effective treatments for ALS, diabetes, spinal cord injuries, and other diseases and injuries: a life-loving act.

Gotcha.

Posted by at 07:41 AM |

May 29, 2005

Giddy-yup

There's a plethora of bloggy goodness out there today. Everywhere I look today there's stuff worth linking. Here's a round-up of some of the juicy tidbits and headlines from the blogdom:

Newsweek was right...see the Pentagon spin at Body and Soul.

Robby Gordon is a whiney crybaby and can't handle the fact that a woman is going to kick his ass.

Reinventing the wheel..or how the Bush Administration is trying to change it's tack on terrorism from posturing to creating a policy. 4 years after 9/11 and we're finally going to get a policy? And Republicans like to crow about how they're the party to "protect America".

Mathew Pruitt embraces his inner liberal. I'm going to make a Red out of you yet, Mathew.

Check your intellect at the door from bobharris.com (via The Cranky Liberal)

Atta J. Turk takes a spin in the Team Bush Twilight Zone of job promotions for the walking incompetent.

How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of the Centrist Coalition? Rick Heller wants to know what you think. (I even got a mention in comments on this post...bragging about how they've "impacted" me..inferring that I've moderated my views. All those who consider me a centrist....please feel free to take your Prozac immediately..LOL)

Posted by Carla at 10:31 AM |

WA Gov Update: Perry Mason it ain't

While I was away last week, the Washington Gubernatorial challenge entered the legal "Chicken Little" phase.

In a nutshell, Team Rossi alledged massive fraud on the part of King County and then admitted that fraud was merely their theory...resting their case without having presented any evidence that fraud occured. Leave it to the Republicans to pretend malfeasance exists somewhere...while ignoring legitimate malfeasance in other places. But I digress.

The best blow by blow of the court hearings can be found from TJ at Also Also. TJ does a great job of summing each day's events which are linked to in total here.

If you're looking for the bottom line...go read Goldy, who has a way of boiling things down to their essence...and kicking some ass while doing so.

If you've got nothing else to do on a Sunday and are looking for enough commentary to fill today, tomorrow and the better part of the rest of the week, head to the Pacific Northwest Portal. Andrew has the feed from all the Portal blogs that have posted on case in the recent days.

Posted by Carla at 10:01 AM |

The journey to Mecca

This trip to the DC area for me was somewhat of my own personal Mecca. It's something I've longed to do for quite some time.

My journey actually began outside of Washington proper and into Virginia, near Charlottesville. The landscape was strikingly like that of the Willamette Valley here in Oregon. The main difference was Virginia's red, rust colored soil. But the trees and hills were very much like home.

The highlight of this journey was visiting the home of Thomas Jefferson: Monticello. Jefferson has always intrigued me. Besides the obvious attractions of government and politics...Jefferson and myself are also kindred agrarian spirits. I too love to garden and experiment with it.

Jefferson designed his home and oversaw the construction and re-construction many times. He liked to add on and make changes. He was a self taught architect.

I even managed to pick up a bottle of wine from grapes grown at Monticello. Jefferson tried to grow grapes during his time but couldn't get past the disease and insects. It wasn't until modern day pesticides could grapes take off on his soil.

I didn't get a chance to ask the gardening docent on the property about the growing season in Virginia, but this garden at Monticello is much further along than mine:

And the views from the hill above the garden are spectacular:

This really was very much a spiritual experience for me, visiting this place. I deeply admire Jefferson's ideals and his affinity for finding a wide array of interests...and succeeding at them. He certainly had his raw imperfections (slavery, spending money like water) but he truely believed in the notions of liberty and freedom.

Jefferson is buried at Monticello. And of all his great accomplishments..he wished for his epitath to read:

Freedom, separation of church and state and advanced education. My kind of spirit.

My next stop was Mt. Vernon, home of George Washington. I'll do that in a separate post later.

Posted by Carla at 07:20 AM |

May 28, 2005

Time to vote

Here are the choices:

• Claremont Institute for their diatribe against the media.

  Reeb has the audacity to proclaim his belief that change will come only when the media come to love the truth more than they hate their own country. "Hate their own country" is of course code for not vomiting a partisan pro-conservative spin on a daily basis.



• Dr. Dobson , the child psychologist turned wanna-be Pharisee.

  'Those opposed include Focus on the Family, one of the conservative groups that had made an end to judicial filibusters a top priority. The group's director, James Dobson, said the agreement “represents a complete bailout and a betrayal by a cabal of Republicans and a great victory for united Democrats.”'



• Republican Congressman Mike Pence for his insipid, knee-jerk defense of the irrational and illogical Bush veto threat against the Castle-DeGette stem cell bill in Congress.


• Hugh Hewitt:

  "John McCain -- a great American, a lousy senator, and a terrible Republican-- took himself out of serious contention in the GOP primaries of 2008. The McCain Caucus showed itself last night, and is united not by "moderation" but by enormous, towering ego."
  



• John Hostettler's (R - IN8) bizarre event this week attempting to support Bush's Social Security Plan while plainly insulting the intelligence of his audience.

Posted by Kevin at 08:43 AM |

Ohio Republican's growing "Coingate" scandal

The latest addition to our blogroll is BloggerRadio.com. Like our fine little blog here, BloggerRadio started out as an Oregon blog and has since expanded. CS, the Ohio half of BloggerRadio.com, has been covering the "Coingate" scandal in Ohio of which I had been blissfully unaware of until this morning as I was perusing the posts over there.

It seems the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation has a rare-coin investment fund which is managed by Republican campaign contributor/operator Tom Noe. That is where the lack of controversy ends and the unanswered questions begin.

After being stonewalled by the Bureau, a couple of elected representatives resorted to filing suit before the Ohio Supreme Court to force the Bureau to answer some very basic questions like what is owned by the fund. Lawyers for the Bureau of Workers Compensation have refused to divulge that information on the grounds that it's protected under "trade secret" law. WTF???

Oh, but it gets more interesting. Five of the seven Justices on the court, including it's Chief Justice, have recused themselves from the case because they all accepted campaign contributions from this guy. So now the Court's only Democrat finds herself not only as acting Chief Justice for the duration of the case, but she will have to dip into the state appellate court system just to seat enough temporary Justices to even hear the case.

But, the 2004 vote in Ohio was legit and above board. Right...? Hey, stop thinking independently! Forget Ohio's election. Console yourselves with the knowledge that the same Secretary of State Blackwell whose fingerprints are all over the questionable 2004 vote is independently investigating Coingate. Feel better? Yeah, me neither. BTW, Mr. Noe was also a regional campaign president for Bush/Cheney04. Surprised? Me neither.

Of course what ***.gate story would be complete without missing money? Coingate is no exception. $10 - 12 million out of the $50 million total is missing.

Fortunately, CS is like a dog with a bone on this story. His latest post on it can be found here with a timeline here.

Posted by Kevin at 08:25 AM |

May 27, 2005

Oh the bitch is back

Yup.

I have returned from my week rubbing elbows with the devils in Washington DC. I've much to report, including photos. I'll have several writeups this weekend and (hopefully) several during the coming week as well.

I had two very quick chances to peek at PK during the week and of course it looks great...nice job Kev and Jeff and of course to Sheelzebub...who appears to be fitting in nicely.

I never sleep well when I travel and this week was no exception. I'm exhausted. For the sake of my weary body (despite a full brain that's longing to purge the week's events) I'm off to rest and spend some time with my precious peeps...who I've missed desperately.

Posted by Carla at 05:31 PM |

May 26, 2005

DeLay's PAC guilty

Blogger Radio has links to a variety of news sources for this breaking story.

Posted by Kevin at 12:55 PM |

This day in history (televangelist edition)

From Facing South:

It was on this day 25 years ago -- May 25, 1980 -- that the legendary Oral Roberts claims to have come face-to-face with Jesus in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

And not just any Jesus, mind you -- the Savior described by Roberts (in a fundraising letter, of course) was 900 feet tall.

1987: Oral had to raise $x-million by a certain date or be called home to Jesus, right? As I recall, it was about this time of year when the following joke went around --
"Hey, didja hear? Oral Roberts died!"
"Really?!?"
"Yeah, the check bounced...!"

Posted by Jeff at 09:15 AM |

Oppose the Patriot Act

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is opposing both the renewal of the existing Patriot Act as well as Bush's proposed expansion of it. There is a closed-door mark-up session scheduled for this today. So, now is the time to register your opposition via EFF's personalized message form.

If you are a resident of Kansas, Utah, Ohio, Missouri, Maine, Nebraska, Georgia, Virginia, West Virginia, Michigan, California, Oregon, Indiana, Maryland, or New Jersey, your senator is on the Senate Intelligence Committee. Contact them below.

Hat tip to Jots & Sketches

Posted by Kevin at 06:42 AM |

May 25, 2005

OP/ED Round up

That most venerable and intellectual of conservatives, William F. Buckley Jr., asks WHY STOP -- ANYWHERE? Buckley is the only living conservative intellectual that I can honestly say that I respect. Not because he's the only conservative intellectual - there are others with clearly keen minds. No, I respect and admire Buckley because his first allegience is to logic and intellectual honesty rather than to ideology. And he brings that very allegiance to logic and intellectual honesty to this opinion piece.

Buckley openly asks, why all the fuss over embryonic stem cell research? In the process he eloquently and almost obliquely exposes the illogic and hypocrisy of President Bush's "existing is okay, new is immoral" position on stem cell research. It's a great read!

Ted Rall discusses America's Terrorist Ally, Uzbekistan.

Rall begins with a side-by-side comparison of Uzbekistan's dictator Islam Karimov and Saddam Hussein.

Who is more brutal, Saddam Hussein or Islam Karimov? Reasonable victims disagree. Saddam's goons electrocuted his political dissidents. Karimov, on the other hand, loots so much of his country's oil wealth that his state torturers don't have an electrical grid to draw upon. So his police torturers are forced to resort to medieval methods. They boil their "terrorist extremists"--businessmen who refuse to pay bribes--to death.

Stephen Schwartz and William Kristol of The Weekly Standard offer their own take with Our Uzbek Problem where they try to blame it all on Putin while framing the problem as one for the entire country rather than as the direct result of President Bush's deliberate choice to turn a blind eye to yet another tyrant. As if we collectively chose to work with a brutal dictator...

And The Nation's Ari Berman gets his ducks all in a row and explains why Newsweek Was Right. As much as Bush et al would like for the American public to believe that Newsweek was the only one to stick their neck out and make the Koran desecrating charge, the fact of the matter is that many others have made that very charge. And Berman provides a slew of links to back it up.

Posted by Kevin at 12:44 PM |

Eloquence in political commentary

Police in Germany are hunting pranksters who have been sticking miniature flag portraits of US President George W. Bush into piles of dog poo in public parks. Josef Oettl, parks administrator for Bayreuth, said: "This has been going on for about a year now, and there must be 2,000 to 3,000 piles of excrement that have been claimed during that time."

The series of incidents was originally thought to be some sort of protest against the US-led invasion ofIraq. And then when it continued it was thought to be a protest against President George W. Bush's campaign for re-election. But it is still going on and the police say they are completely baffled as to who is to blame. "We have sent out extra patrols to try to catch whoever is doing this in the act," said police spokesman Reiner Kuechler. "But frankly, we don't know what we
would do if we caught them red handed." Legal experts say there is no law against using feces as a flag stand and the federal legal experts say there is no law against using feces as a flag stand and the federal constitution is vague on the issue.

Posted by Jeff at 08:06 AM |

NOW look what happened!

Photo From Playboy-Themed Party Grabs Alumni's Attention
Female High School Seniors Show Up Wearing Skimpy Lingerie

HOUSTON -- A racy photo from a high school party with a Playboy theme has sent alumni of the school into shock, Houston television station KPRC reported.

"It doesn't put off the best impression. It doesn't make me want my kids to go there," 1994 Memorial High graduate Sabra Boone said.

Boone said girls wore formals to a similar party she attended during her senior year. She told the station she is disappointed in Memorial High School's 2005 senior class.

"Regardless, the girls are hardly wearing any clothes. I just couldn't believe their parents would let them out of the house like that," Boone said.

Texas outlaws booty-shakin' by cheerleaders. Now they're shocked -- SHOCKED! -- that there's such a thing as lingerie. And that their kids might enjoy sex and fun. Wonder what else is about to be declared illegal, immoral, and treasonous in Texas?

Posted by Jeff at 05:30 AM |

May 24, 2005

God save us from this idiot

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Tuesday criticized as "morally troubling" legislation that would loosen restrictions on government funding of embryonic stem cell research, ahead of a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Setting aside the fact that the legislation in question is specifically targeted at unwanted embryos at fertility clinics which are destined for a landfill under present circumstances. And setting aside the fact that embryos utterly fail the most basic scientific test of human life: no brainwaves, no heartbeat. And setting aside the inherent hypocrisy of Dear Leader's position that it's only "morally troubling" to expand the existing lines of stem cells being used for research. Which is like saying that rape is morally troubling but we're going to allow the existing level of rapes and only resist allowing an increase in that level. But, I digress. Setting that all aside for the moment, let's look at Dear Leader's core argument here.

"Whatever one's view of the ethical issues or the state of the research, the future of this field does not require a policy of federal subsidies offensive to the moral principles of millions of Americans." This according to the White House's statement this morning.

So... if millions of Americans don't support it then it shouldn't be funded? Well now that's an interesting argument. Particularly coming from Dear Leader. Polling shows that their's is a minority position on stem cell research. In fact, recent polling shows that only about 1/3 of Americans oppose stem cell research... just to put his "millions" into it's proper context.

A new poll from the middle of this month shows that 56% of Americans don't support Dear Leader's scheme to privitize part of Social Security. So why is Dear Leader spending taxpayer dollars to hire propagandists to push his SSI scheme if "millions" more oppose it than oppose stem cell research?

Recent polling also shows that just over half (51%) of Americans don't believe that removing Saddam from power was worth the lives of over 1600 American soldiers or "...the financial cost of the war." Surely the deaths of so many of our soldiers is a moral issue. Yet Dear Leader continues to spend taxpayer dollars on something that many millions of Americans have very clear moral objections about?

Let's take another moral issue: Gay Marriage. Recent polling shows that a much larger minority of Americans believe that gay marriages in Massachusetts should be legally recognized in all 50 states than oppose stem cell research. Yet Dear Leader's entrenched opposition to the moral wishes of so many millions of Americans is unwaivering.

Dear Leader actively opposes the wishes of many millions of Americans. He actively spends taxpayer monies on things that millions of Americans morally oppose. Why are those millions of Americans moral wishes not enough in Dear Leader's mind to quash his morally objectionable spending?

Posted by Kevin at 10:31 AM |

Senate saved from precipice, McCain says

Animatronic Senator "nearly believable; downright spooky", observers say

Robotic facsimile of future Presidential hopeful John McCain also features Darth Vader voice-changer effects, saying: "I will destroy Jeb Bush in the primaries."

Posted by Jeff at 05:29 AM |

Refusal clauses only refuse women's humanity

This article shows just how damaging refusal clauses can be to women, and how much power they give crusaders in white coats.

A Wal-Mart pharmacist spat at raped women that they don't kill babies. A pharmacists told a grown woman who needs the Pill to treat heavy and painful periods that he wouldn't fill the perscription unless she brought ber husband (she's single). Otherwise, they might go out and have sex or something. Not that I see these concerns about men who get Viagra.

In fact, when it comes to Viagra, "pro-life" pharmacists aren't refusing them on the basis of immoral sex and telling them to bring their wives with them. They aren't refusing the scrips because there is the potential for rape and they won't promote rape. They aren't asking these men why they need it, they aren't holding the prescriptions until they can run a background check--heck, it's a man's right to get laid whenever he wants.

Even if it's not consensual. We can refuse EC and birth control to women, but convicted sex offenders can get Viagra paid for by Medicaid (hat tip: Psuedo-Adrienne).

A federal agency has begun notifying all 50 states that they don't have to offer Medicaid-funded Viagra to sex offenders, a step taken after it was discovered that more than 400 convicted sex offenders in New York and Florida were reimbursed for the erectile dysfunction drug.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services acted swiftly Monday, one day after the New York comptroller's office said audits from 2000 through March found that 198 rapists and other high-risk sex offenders in the state received Medicaid-reimbursed Viagra after their convictions.

Their crimes included offenses against children as young as 2, Comptroller Alan Hevesi said. The report sent the Bush administration scrambling to find a way to close the loophole.

Rapists can get Viagra, and up until recently they could get it for free. No pharmacists ask them about their intentions when they get it, no pharmacist insists that they bring their wives to prove that they aren't out having random sex or raping people. But rape survivors can't get EC because that's killing babies.

Fill My Pills Now provides more information on the issue of the refusal clause, as well as report cards on state policies and pharmacies.

Posted by at 04:49 AM |

May 23, 2005

SH5

Okay, folks. Nominations are open for next week's SH5. Carla will be back on Friday. So, she'll probably be handling the skewering duties.

You know the drill. If it's inane, nonsensical, outrageous or just plain stupid, nominate it (with a link, please).

Posted by Kevin at 05:51 PM |

Scott McClellan, You're Fired!

If only it were that easy.

Think Progress lays out the basic situation for us:

Finally! Fifteen days after the Downing Street memo broke in a London Sunday Times story, eleven days after Representative John Conyers and 87 other congressmen wrote a letter to the White House asking for an explanation, and ten days after Knight Ridder wrote the first story on the British memo, some courageous reporter finally took the dive and asked the White House whether it disputed the veracity of the leaked memo.

President Bush's "honey do" Scott McClellan fielded the question.

His response: “Flat-out wrong.” Only he admits that he hasn't seen the memo in question and has only seen reports of what it contains. Which of course means that if we are to take McClellan's response at face value, the reporter asking the question probably knew more about the memo than the guy denying it's veracity.

See how that works? Of course this is a familiar pattern with the Bush Administraion.

Recall President Bush's reference to a "mushroom cloud" in his 2002 SOTU address to Congress. There was nothing close to uncontroversial evidence that Iraq was anywhere close to acquiring or manufactoring nuclear weapons. But that didn't stop Bush from making the oblique reference. Of course he never actually said that Iraq had nuclear weapons in that speech. He did make many other direct claims about Iraq which were false.

McClellan has a rather checkered history of telling outright lies on behalf of President Bush.

You know what they say, Scotty... "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice... um... er... We can't get fooled again!" (Dubya's version.) You say you haven't seen the memo, but that it's "flat out wrong." Why should we believe you?

Posted by Kevin at 05:00 PM |

News you might've missed

"MONTGOMERY, Alabama (AP) -- A pregnant student who was banned from graduation at her Roman Catholic high school announced her own name and walked across the stage anyway at the close of the program.

Cosby was told in March that she could no longer attend school because of safety concerns, and her name was not listed in the graduation program.

The father of Cosby's child, also a senior at the school, was allowed to participate in graduation."

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some Mary Kay LeTourneau gossip to catch up on...!

Posted by Jeff at 01:18 PM |

May 22, 2005

A series of isolated incidents

Before the Abu Ghraib torture revelations were known, we tortured and killed people in Afghanistan.

Even as the young Afghan man was dying before them, his American jailers continued to torment him.

The prisoner, a slight, 22-year-old taxi driver known only as Dilawar, was hauled from his cell at the detention center in Bagram, Afghanistan, at around 2 a.m. to answer questions about a rocket attack on an American base. When he arrived in the interrogation room, an interpreter who was present said, his legs were bouncing uncontrollably in the plastic chair and his hands were numb. He had been chained by the wrists to the top of his cell for much of the previous four days.

Mr. Dilawar asked for a drink of water, and one of the two interrogators, Specialist Joshua R. Claus, 21, picked up a large plastic bottle. But first he punched a hole in the bottom, the interpreter said, so as the prisoner fumbled weakly with the cap, the water poured out over his orange prison scrubs. The soldier then grabbed the bottle back and began squirting the water forcefully into Mr. Dilawar's face.

"Come on, drink!" the interpreter said Specialist Claus had shouted, as the prisoner gagged on the spray. "Drink!"

At the interrogators' behest, a guard tried to force the young man to his knees. But his legs, which had been pummeled by guards for several days, could no longer bend. An interrogator told Mr. Dilawar that he could see a doctor after they finished with him. When he was finally sent back to his cell, though, the guards were instructed only to chain the prisoner back to the ceiling.

"Leave him up," one of the guards quoted Specialist Claus as saying.

If this is freedom, what is fascism like?

For all of the folks who will take this as a cue to start bleating about terrorists and how they don't care about our lives, how this guy was probably waging jihad against us, how he probably was building bombs in his basement cackling evilly in the dark of night, read on.

Several hours passed before an emergency room doctor finally saw Mr. Dilawar. By then he was dead, his body beginning to stiffen. It would be many months before Army investigators learned a final horrific detail: Most of the interrogators had believed Mr. Dilawar was an innocent man who simply drove his taxi past the American base at the wrong time.

Read the bolded line again. He was innocent, and the interrogators themselves believed it.

I do not want to hear any blathering about how we are fighting for freedom, okay? We aren't. I don't know what we are fighting for besides access to oil pipelines and the chance to imitate Rome in its decline. Or maybe we're trying to bring about Revelations by playing the part of the anti-Christ. I don't know.

What I do know is that our talk of freedom and democracy, our screeching and preaching about human rights and liberty, our insistence that this war with no end is to protect us from terrorism is just so much crap. I am tired of the administration and their yapping lap dogs insulting my intelligence.

Predictably, this has been called an isolated event. We seem to have an awful lot of isolated events, don't we? From keeping prisoners in wire cages in Gitmo to suffocating POW's in Afghanistan to secret prisoners and outsourcing torture, we've been quite busy with our isolated events.

We invaded Afghanistan to get "the terrorists." We were going to smoke them out of their holes, according to Shrub. Instead, Afghan POW's were suffocated in containers and indignant letter writers decried our compassion for "terrorists." Even if those people hadn't been proven to be terrorists. Even if this logic mirrored Osama Bin-Laden's--your nationality makes you worthy of death. (By the way, anyone see that spineless snot-nosed mass murderer? Nah, I didn't think so. He's not a concern to us. Innocent taxi drivers apparently are, however.)

We're taking this oh-so-seriously, saying that there is no excuse for torture. And there isn't. Problem is, we say this every time a new case of torture comes up. We insist that it's because of a few badly trained soldiers, that this is isolated, that the victims were combative, oh, whatever. We dodge and twist and make excuses while saying that there is no excuse.

It's time we stopped blaming bad apples and started looking at the tree the apples came from.

Posted by at 08:24 PM |

May 21, 2005

Slaughter House Five

Alrighty... as usual the ball is now in your court. You pick 'em, we slay 'em.

The five nominees are... (drum roll)...

• White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan for suggesting that he can chastise Newsweek because he knew something but can't comment on the Rycroft memo.


• Glenn Reynolds for proffering the notion that somehow the Newsweek story is the press' Abu Ghraib.


• Pentagon spokesman Larry DiRita for rejecting the Newsweek story because it's "unsubstantiated" then turning around and offering his own unsubstantiatedtheory that Muslim detainees are the ones desecrating the Koran.


• Mike's America for uncritically regurgitating rightwing disinformation on the Newsweek story.


• George "Dubya" Bush for citing a group that the State Department says is a terrorist group and Human Rights Watch says is a cult as a reliable source of intelligence on the alleged Iranian nuclear weapons program.

The one with the most votes wins... er... loses on Mondays.

Posted by Kevin at 09:57 AM |

May 20, 2005

Will Oregon go nonpartisan?

OPB has the scoop on a very intriguing political development here in Oregon.

A coalition of Democrats and Republicans in the Oregon Senate voted Friday to make most statewide offices in Oregon nonpartisan.

SB161 would make all of the legislative positions non-partisan. It would also make the Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, and Attorney General all non-partisan positions as well. But only those positions would be affected by this bill. State representatives to the federal government would remain partisan positions.

OPB quotes Grants Pass Republican Jason Atkinson: I think that this bill does two things: 1) it might start to heal the black eye that this body has with the rest of Oregon. And 2) it gives a great opportunity for the little guy to get back involved. Isn't that what we're all here for?

Currently Nebraska is the only state with a non-partisan legislature. SB161 would exceed even that by including the statewide offices listed.

As a long-time Independent I am highly intrigued by this. Of course it came from the narrowly Dem-dominated Senate and now goes to the GOP-dominated House. So it's far from a done deal. I don't know whether Gov. Kulingoski has a position on it and if so what that position might be. But it's exciting that it's gotten this far. And I very much agree with what state Senator Atkinson said.

What do you think?

What kind of pratical implications do you think would result from this bill if it becomes law?

Could it hurt Oregon? Kulingoski and future Governors would still have the Western Governors Association to participate in. But, I don't see how they could join either the Democratic Governors group or the Republican one. Could that hurt Oregon?

Posted by Kevin at 07:42 PM |

Who actually believes this stuff?

Bush issues what is widely believed to be a tooth-less veto threat on stem cell legislation. Empty because he has yet to put pen to paper and actually veto anything. As they say in Texas, he's all horn and no steer.

Recently Bush also threatened to veto a highway spending bill because he said it would cost too much.

We've dumped billions and billions of dollars into attacking and defeating a nation which posed no meaningful threat to us. And Bush's hand-picked man to run the Coalition Authority, Paul Bremmer, apparently lost nearly $9 billion. But Bush is worried about spending money right here in America?

Does anyone seriously believe Bush has the cajones to veto anything?

He only seems to find his cajones when he is hiding behind the Secret Service (and even then is halfway around the world from guys willing and able to fight back) when he's issuing schoolyard bully bravado like the infamous "bring 'em on" quip.

Does anyone seriously believe that Bush gives a flying rodent's backside about throwing away taxpayer dollars, much less actually using some of them to keep our economic infrastructure humming?

Ask Paul Bremmer. Or better yet, ask Dick Cheney.

Posted by Kevin at 12:40 PM |

NRO fundraiser sputters out

James Wolcott has a hilarious post from Tuesday about National Review Online's failed online fundraiser.

It seems their goal was $100,000. They managed just over $20,000. Being a neighborly kind of guy, Wolcott offers some fiscal advice:

The top of the thermometer was $100,000. If they were hoping for $100,000 and only pulled in somewhere in the neighborhood of $25,000, that's a helluva shortfall. They may have to cut back on reimbursing David Frum for all the lipstick he purchases to add color and vibrancy to his submissive ass-kissing of President Bush. That'll save a couple thousand a year right there.

LOL Wolcott can certainly string a sentence together.

Posted by Kevin at 07:38 AM |

May 19, 2005

"The Mother Of All Smokescreens"

"Senator, in everything I said about Iraq, I turned out to be right, and you turned out to be wrong, and 100,000 people have paid with their lives; 1,600 of them American soldiers, sent to their deaths on a pack of lies. Senator, this is the mother of all smokescreens."

TomPaine.com and a PK reader, nikita, both point us to video of British MP George Galloway , testifying at a Senate hearing about the Iraqi oil-for-food scandal.

Posted by Kevin at 09:07 AM |

Edlestein hearts Revenge of the Sith

As I will be off in our nation's capitol basking in the afterglow of the "nuclear option", I will miss the opening of Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith. I hope to see the film upon my return.

Until then however, David Edlestein offers up this review of Lucas' link to one of the greatest movie trilogies of all time.

On the flip side, David Walker of Willamette Week absolutely hated it. But from the review, I don't think he's particularly fond of any of the films in the franchise.

The freaks are already out noting comparisons to the Bush Administration and the Empire. Given that this film was written before the invasion of Iraq...those comparisons seem little more than projection.

But in case you thought the comparisons were completely invalid, Jonathan V. Last of the uber conservative Weekly Standard disabuses the notion.

Posted by Carla at 07:06 AM |

Blaming the messenger

Even Ann Applebaum gets it.

Newsweek may have bungled the story...but that doesn't mean it didn't happen.

Posted by Carla at 06:56 AM |

May 18, 2005

Will the real patriot stand up?

Those of you who have read my bio know that I prefer to vote for moderate Republicans, all else being equal. Even moreso, I dig voting for mavericks like Senator McCain who exhibit a strong independent streak.

Our friend Matthew Pruit over at Blog from the Hip has found just such a politician: "Independent-Republican candidate for Virginia Governor, Senator Russ Potts."

Matthew quotes from The Post:

As Northern Virginia business leaders downed muffins and coffee yesterday in a Tysons Corner conference room, Sen. H. Russell Potts Jr. (R) railed against what he called the "free lunch bunch" and "flat-earth crowd" in the Republican Party that he said have not acknowledged how much it will cost to improve the state's transportation network.

That pretty much sums up the national Republican party too. President Bush is threatening to veto a recently passed bill because it includes funds for... transportation networks in several states because he says we can't afford it. I say we can't afford not to! Our national economy would implode in short order if business can't ship stuff and employees can't commute to their jobs. Our transportation network is what facilitates our entire economy.

Apparently even though Russ Potts is a Republican, he is running as an Independent. Which just makes me admire him all the more. This country needs more independent-minded politicians who care more about this country, or their state in the case of Mr. Potts, than they do about some political party or fantastical ideology. In short, we need more patriots like Mr. Potts.

Cross-posted at Indie Castle

Posted by Kevin at 12:37 PM |

May 17, 2005

Save Our State "discovers" 12-year-old art, finds it offensive

The anti-immigration forces aren't just upset about the prospect of Mexicans sneaking over the border and working at jobs no one else wants for a pay rate that no one else would take. Now they've got their tighty-whities in a twist over public art they deemed as anti-American.

The artwork, called "Danza Indigenas," has a 20-foot-high arch with inscriptions that read, "It was better before they came and "This land was Mexican once, was Indian always and is, and will be again."

Well, it's true. Europeans were illegal immigrants here. If the Native American nations just enacted some stringent immigration laws, we wouldn't have the problems we do today. But no, they had to be all welcoming and crap, and look where it got them. The place just went to the dogs, and now we're overrun by self-indulgent yuppies on cell-phones.

The Ventura-based Save Our State organization, formed seven months ago, said it wants the inscriptions removed before the Fourth of July.

"I find it incredibly offensive," said Joseph Turner, the group's executive director. He said the inscription "is seditious in nature. It essentially talks about returning this land to Mexico."

Since Turner thinks the art is "seditious," I would love to hear his take on the very anti-American Westboro "Thank God for 9/11" Baptist Church.

I won't hold my breath. . .

The artwork was created 12 years ago by artist Judy Baca and commissioned by the city. Baca said the structure is a "layered history piece" that honors American Indians, immigrants and other groups who have lived for centuries in the area.

Baca said that Save Our State's complaint was misguided. She said the quote, "It was better before they came," was originally uttered by a "white man from Arkansas," who was complaining about the arrival of Mexican-Americans after World War II.

"When it went on the arch, its ambiguity became profound," she said. "The 'they' could be any 'they.'"

That was my take on it.

But what struck me is that the monument has been there for 12 years, and the SOS folks didn't notice it until now. They discovered something people knew existed. Sort of like Columbus.

Posted by at 07:43 PM |

How sinful are you?

Your Deadly Sins

Sloth: 40%

Envy: 20%

Gluttony: 20%

Greed: 20%

Lust: 20%

Pride: 0%

Wrath: 0%

Chance You'll Go to Hell: 17%

You will die while sleeping - and no one will notice.

This is actually pretty accurate. I've got a definite lazy streak, am almost always very easy going and enjoy self-deprecating humor... to a point.

Posted by Kevin at 05:19 PM |

Galloway bitchslaps Coleman

Kevin has a great synopsis of the dubious Senate Committee investigation of the UN Oil For Food program. The investigation is led by Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) in what can only be described as a desperate attempt to get attention from someone...anyone.

Today's committee testimony included a raucous slapdown by British lawmaker George Galloway. Galloway is accused of being rewarded lucrative allocations by Saddam Hussein under the Oil For Food program. At today's hearings, Galloway went on offense:

"The difference is Donald Rumsfeld met him to sell him guns and maps - the better to target those guns. I met him to try to bring about an end to sanctions, suffering and war," he said.

The biggest sanctions busters were American companies "with the connivance" of the US government.

Mr Galloway denied being an apologist for the former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

He said he had been a long-term opponent of Saddam, and had a much better record of opposition to the Iraqi leader than members of the American or British governments.

The problem with Coleman and his "investigation" is that it isnt' an investigation at all. It's a fishing expedition to try and deflect the truth: the US was in the middle of the vast majority of corruption involving the UN Oil-For-Food situation.

Update: America'sedition has the a transcript up of Galloway's remarks.

Damn. Too bad we can't vote for Galloway.

Posted by Carla at 10:25 AM |

Scott McClellan should resign

Susan Hu has an outstanding series of diaries over at Daily Kos outlining the stench eminating from the White House on the Newsweek retraction.

Stories of Koran desecration have come from detainees at Guantanamo. A simple Google search yields 11,800 hits on the topic. Newsweek's story came from a US government source, which made it more weighty. That source has since come back and said that he remembers reading about the abuse but not in the particular report he first cited.

Detainees claimed Koran abuse happened. The Pentagon has paperwork saying it may have gone one. But what does McClellan do?

Deflect, blame and cast aspersions:

"The report has had serious consequences," McClellan said. "People have lost their lives. The image of the United States abroad has been damaged."

"Been damaged"??? I've got news for you Scott..it was damaged a long time ago. And it wasn't Newsweek that damaged it.

Keith Olberman is looking for McClellan's resignation. And while he's not likely to see it any time soon, he very eloquently states the reasons:

Last Thursday, General Richard Myers, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Donald Rumsfeld’s go-to guy whenever the situation calls for the kind of gravitas the Secretary himself can’t supply, told reporters at the Pentagon that rioting in Afghanistan was related more to the on-going political reconciliation process there, than it was to a controversial note buried in the pages of Newsweek claiming that the government was investigating whether or not some nitwit interrogator at Gitmo really had desecrated a Muslim holy book.

But Monday afternoon, while offering himself up to the networks for a series of rare, almost unprecedented sit-down interviews on the White House lawn, Press Secretary McClellan said, in effect, that General Myers, and the head of the after-action report following the disturbances in Jalalabad, Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry, were dead wrong. The Newsweek story, McClellan said, “has done damage to our image abroad and it has done damage to the credibility of the media and Newsweek in particular. People have lost lives. This report has had serious consequences.”

Whenever I hear Scott McClellan talking about ‘media credibility,’ I strain to remember who it was who admitted Jeff Gannon to the White House press room and called on him all those times.

Whenever I hear this White House talking about ‘doing to damage to our image abroad’ and how ‘people have lost lives,’ I strain to remember who it was who went traipsing into Iraq looking for WMD that will apparently turn up just after the Holy Grail will - and at what human cost.

McClellan's series of sham press conferences are for no other reason than to intimidate the media into no longer reporting stories that are unfavorable to the Bush Administration.

With so much blathering out of both sides of McClellan's mouth, it's a wonder he doesn't completely meltdown from the spin. This is the man that has spent the last year babbling in defense of the current administration's missteps, mistakes and outright lies about Iraq. These missteps/lies/mistakes have cost thousands of lives...which McClellan apparently has no problem with.

This shameful and disgusting display of hubris from McClellan is the last straw. He needs to step down. His credibility is in tatters. He should escape with what little morality he has left..but his soul is completely lost to the black hole.

Posted by Carla at 09:50 AM |

Demagoguing Oil-for-Food II

Four months ago I blogged on American government culpability in the much maligned, UN-administered, Iraqi Oil-For-Food program.

Republican Senator Norm Coleman's subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs has slammed European and Russian government individuals for having helped Saddam acquire ill-gotten funds by circumventing the UN program.

British lawmaker George Galloway is scheduled to testify before the subcommittee on charges that he too was involved in circumventing the oil-for-food program.

As he got off the plane in Washington on Monday night, Galloway again denied the allegations and said the evidence against him was forged.

"It's Mr. Coleman who's been all over the news and he's a lick-spittle, crazed neocon who is engaged in a witch hunt against all those he perceives to have betrayed the United States in their plan to invade and occupy Iraq," Galloway told Associated Press Television News.

True to form, Senator Carl Levin (D) has issued a minority report detailing the American oil firm Bayoil's involvement in that same circumventing of the UN program.

What we have yet to hear is detailed questioning of witnesses concerning the Bush administration's involvement in facilitating illegal oil shipments from Iraq to various of our allies in the region. One would think that if the Republicans really are incensed that Saddam was enriched in violation of the oil-for-food program's requirements that they'd not just focus on evil foreigner's like the French and Russians. But of course that would be completely beside the point of Coleman's exercize. What this is really about is diverting attention away from the Bush administration's malfeasance while whipping up popular sentiment against the UN.

Posted by Kevin at 08:47 AM |

I'm leaving on a jet plane

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go!

This Friday I will be taking my first trip to Washington DC.

This is (thankfully) not a business trip. I'm going with my mom and brother. We'll be sightseeing in Virginia over the weekend and then DC proper during the week.

I'm hoping to get some good inside information on restaurants and shopping in the DC metro area. Please feel free to comment here or drop me an email on your inside scoop on the best eats and shopping in our nation's capitol.

I'd also love to know anything on the "must see" list. We're already planning to see the Capitol, Supreme Court, National Archives, National Gallery of Art, the monuments on the Mall, the Holocaust Museum and the Kennedy Center. We're trying to get into the White House...but George won't let us in so far.

I'll also (probably) be taking a vacation from the blog. Unless there are computers with internet access available at our hotel, I won't be able to blog. My computer is staying here.

So make sure you're extra special nice to Kev, Jeff and Sheelzebub while I'm away.

Posted by Carla at 07:20 AM |

Slaughterhouse Five: Week 4

Welcome to week #4 of your chance to nominate the bizarro freakdom of the internets (better late than never). Link us up to the best of the worst of political commentary.

Please keep your nominations to articles, columns or blog posts that can be found in their entirety on the internet...and don't forget to provide the URL.

And in case you missed it...here are last week's "winners".

Posted by Carla at 07:13 AM |

May 16, 2005

Methinks they doth protest too much

It appears we have a tie for S5 this week.

The playmates of Ogre came over en masse to vote for his hatchet job on the judge who overturned the Nebraska judge's ruling against gay marriage. The boys at Powerline also win, with their dubiously written rant which pretends that all liberals have gay fantasies.

There's an eerie common ground between these freakazoid conservatives: they're obsessed with all things gay. Their homophobia borders up against a paranoid pathology.

A few years ago, a study out of the University of Georgia found that 80% of homophobes (such as Ogre and the Powerliners) have secret homosexual feelings. It seems that those who shout their homophobia the loudest are in fact homosexual themselves.

Anecdotal evidence on this issue is startling.

Trinity Broadcasting Network's Paul Crouch has been cited in mulitple sources as being gay.

Evidence has mounted (no pun intended) against Congressman David Dreier, a virulent homophobe who has been outed as a homosexual.

And of course there's the gay Spokane Mayor Jim West. West was another with a hardcore anti gay record. Smith was recently outed as a homosexual who was offering jobs for sexual favors.

The homophobic language at both Powerline and Ogre's blog, as well as their very clear anti-gay agenda is highly suspect. They protest waaaaaaaay too much.

Posted by Carla at 02:06 PM |

Caption this

Posted by Carla at 01:42 PM |

Candidate Jesus Himself would laugh at this.

"On this day, W. was highly agitated when the Democrats nominated Jesus Christ of Nazareth to run against his hand-picked ticket of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jeb Bush."

Hat tip to Real Live Preacher.

Posted by Jeff at 10:55 AM |

A little context is in order

via TomPaine.com

via What Attitude Problem?

Posted by Kevin at 10:23 AM |

Fun with Politicians/Feets Don't Fail Me Now Dept.

Hey, good quality shoes are a good investment. But be careful where ya shop:

Frist Picks wrong neighborhood for shoe shopping

My favorite part? Frist said he "supports the president's plan" but also "agreed with one of our staff members that privatization was not a solution for solvency." Okay -- that's probably one of the 1st things politicians learn: say anything to keep protesters calm so you can make your getaway.

Just call him Tyrone Shoelaces; Dr. Scholl; the new Patron Saint of Quality Footwear.

Posted by Jeff at 08:16 AM |

Damn you, Tom Burka!

Mr. Opinions You Should Have, I bow to your boundless satiric skill:

Report Links Bolton To Mafia, Elder Abuse, Prostitution; Sure To be Confirmed, Sources Say

Also A Crack Addict, Senators Admit

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee reported yesterday that nominee John Bolton has ties to organized crime and worked as a "crack whore" as recently as last Tuesday. "That being said," said Senator George V. Voinovich, "the committee is sending Mr. Bolton's nomination on to the Senate floor where he will almost certainly be confirmed."

Or maybe this IS an actual news story. Hard to tell these days.

Posted by Jeff at 05:58 AM |

May 15, 2005

Democracy for some. Maybe.

But the freedom we're exporting hasn't reached the women.

[E]ven as the constitution writers begin their work, Iraq's multitude of factions are laying down their demands. Many of them expect the final product to rehash the language of the TAL, which spells out that Islam is the "official religion" of Iraq and that its tenets should be "a source of legislation."

The language matters to secular Iraqis, who are concerned that the Shiite majority will try to impose more Islam on their lives than they are willing to accept. Already, women last year protested a proposed Resolution 137, put forward by religious conservatives on the Governing Council, transferring from civil administrators to clerics decisions on marriage, divorce, and inheritance.

This time, groups of the Iraqi Women's Network are gathering to map out their demands. Azhar al-Sheikhly, minister of state for women's affairs and a Sunni, promised members everything from women's training to rural education.

"We're fighting to keep our rights," Ms. Sheikhly said in an interview. "It's a struggle, a struggle, and a struggle."

The women's issue is just one example of the deeply felt passions swirling around the constitution, from concerns about deeper Islamic rule to Kurdish demands for regional autonomy and control of the oil city of Kirkuk - a constant source of friction between Kurds and the central government.

That struggle for women is already evident on the streets, with secular women reporting that they are being forced to wear more conservative clothing. Women attending university are told at the gate that their skirts are too short, or asked why they are wearing jeans. Headscarves are increasingly frequent on national television.

"The pressure comes from Islamic parties like Dawa [Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jafaari's party] and SCIRI, because these parties now control government," says Isra Hassan, a member of the Iraqi Women's Network. "They consider us an agent organization, a terrorist organization. I adore my God, but I don't want pressure on this."

Frankly, Iraqi women could use some power right about now, as it has been taken away ever since our invasion and occupation liberation of Iraq.

Amnesty [International] said women's rights activists and political leaders had. . . been targeted by armed insurgent groups.

Women continued to suffer legal discrimination under laws that granted husbands effective impunity to beat their wives and treated so-called "honor" killers leniently, the group said.

"Within their own communities, many women and girls remain at risk of death from male relatives if they are accused of behavior held to have brought dishonor on the family," Amnesty said, noting some attempts by religious zealots to make the laws even more repressive against women.

Do you remember the speech Laura Bush gave about how horrible the women in Afghanistan had it, but were now free thanks to us? They aren't. And it's the same with our liberation of Iraq. Let's just drop the fiction that we are bringing freedom to the Middle East. The President, the First Lady, and an assortment of talking heads go on about women's rights in the Middle East and how we're freeing these poor unfortunates. They aren't free, and the groups who would toss third-class citizenship status to women are the ones who are gaining power post-Saddam.

Posted by at 04:37 PM |

May 14, 2005

Slaughter House 5 - pick yer poison

Okay folks, as usual... you nominate, we pick 5 of them and then you choose which one gets slaughtered. Here are the 5 to choose from:

• Novak via NewsMax for referencing Herr Otto Reich as a credible person to defend Bolton's character despite his own extremely checkered past.
• Power Line for proffering the amusing hypothesis that Lefties all have homosexual fantasies.
• John Tierney via the New York Times for suggesting that the media shouldn't be covering suicide bombings in the Middle East because the country needs a respite from violence.
• Ogre for his hatchet-job on an "activist judge" who struck down a recent same-sex amendment to Nebraska's state Constitution.
• Pastor Chan Chandler of Waynesville, North Carolina who set the stage for 9 members of his flock to be excommunicated for not supporting Bush. One of his former professors offers this defense on Chandler's behalf.

We have a couple early votes already. Both are for the Power Line post.

Posted by Kevin at 11:39 AM |

Tickling Kevin's fancy

Kevin is a big fan of political quizzes. He's got some listed over on our right hand side bar. Being the queen of unclutter I thought we should ax them when we set up PK..but Kevin wanted them so they stayed. Now I'm rather fond of them and they've actually been an asset to us. We've had folks comment that they've used them.

So in that spirit when I ran across this Pew Research Center quiz I decided to give it a whirl. Here are my results (duh):

Liberal
Based on your answers to the questionnaire, you most closely resemble survey respondents within the Liberal typology group. This does not mean that you necessarily fit every group characteristic or agree with the group on all issues.

Liberals represent 17 percent of the American public, and 19 percent of registered voters.

Basic Description
This group has nearly doubled in proportion since 1999, Liberals now comprise the largest share of Democrats and is the single largest of the nine Typology groups. They are the most opposed to an assertive foreign policy, the most secular, and take the most liberal views on social issues such as homosexuality, abortion, and censorship. They differ from other Democratic groups in that they are strongly pro-environment and pro-immigration, issues which are more controversial among Conservative and Disadvantaged Democrats.

Defining Values
Strongest preference for diplomacy over use of military force. Pro-choice, supportive of gay marriage and strongly favor environmental protection. Low participation in religious activities. Most sympathetic of any group to immigrants as well as labor unions, and most opposed to the anti-terrorism Patriot Act.

Who They Are
Most (62%) identify themselves as liberal. Predominantly white (83%), most highly educated group (49% have a college degree or more), and youngest group after Bystanders. Least religious group in typology: 43% report they seldom or never attend religious services; nearly a quarter (22%) are seculars. More than one-third never married (36%). Largest group residing in urban areas (42%) and in the western half the country (34%). Wealthiest Democratic group (41% earn at least $75,000).

Lifestyle Notes
Largest group to have been born (or whose parents were born) outside of the U.S. or Canada (20%). Least likely to report having a gun at home (23%) or attending bible study or prayer group meetings (13%).

2004 Election
Bush 2%, Kerry 81%

Party ID
59% Democrat; 40% Independent/No Preference, 1% Republican (92% Dem/Lean Dem)

Media Use
Liberals are second only to Enterprisers in following news about government and public affairs most of the time (60%). Liberals’ use of the internet to get news is the highest among all groups (37%).

hat tip: Grupo-Utopia.

There's also this time waster quiz that told me nothing especially useful. But it killed 10 minutes.

Postmodernism is the belief in complete open interpretation. You see the universe as a collection of information with varying ways of putting it together. There is no absolute truth for you; even the most hardened facts are open to interpretation. Meaning relies on context and even the language you use to describe things should be subject to analysis.

Postmodernist
75%
Cultural Creative
69%
Idealist
50%
Modernist
44%
Existentialist
44%
Romanticist
38%
Materialist
25%
Fundamentalist
13%

Found via Bitch PhD

Posted by Carla at 07:15 AM |

May 13, 2005

Thune up

During the Senatorial debates in South Dakota last year, Republican candidate Tom Thune claimed that he'd be able to represent the interests of South Dakotans better than Democratic Minority Leader Tom Daschle. Specifically, Thune claimed he'd be closer to Bush and do a better job of keeping Ellsworth Air Force Base off the chopping block.

Nope.

The SD rightwing blogosphere is scrambling to come up with excuses for Thune's inability to protect the base that Daschle managed to keep open:

While Sen. Thune campaigned that he would have the President as an audience when it comes to base closure, he did not go so far as to promise Ellsworth's future. Although what he did claim may have been exaggerated in its own right, it was a no more obnoxious claim than Daschle's dubious claim that he single handedly had Ellsworth removed during the last round of closures.

So Thune exaggerated and your side used this to claim that Thune would better represent South Dakota. You supported him. You voted for him. And now that he's shown he can't hold up his end of the bargain (as opposed to Daschle)..he "exaggerated" and therefore it's no big deal?

Republican "ethics" are getting shadier all the time. And the excuse making is pathetic.

Posted by Carla at 02:42 PM |

Last chance to nominate...

... someone for next Monday's Slaughter House 5 award.

So far we've got:

Frist for finally admitting that he's been slaughtering the US Constitution.

Novak via NewsMax for referencing Herr Otto Reich as a credible person to defend Bolton's character despite his own extremely checkered past. There are other sources on this. I believe Free Republic did their own piece on it. Take your pick... it's all the same basic story with the same exact flaw.

The very first recipient of the SH 5 Award, Bronx Pundit nominating... Preemptive Karma.

The National Review for yet another example of rightwing slaying of the "Liberal Media" straw man.

Power Line for proffering the amusing hypothesis that Lefties all have homosexual fantasies.

John Tierney via the New York Times for suggesting that the media shouldn't be covering suicide bombings in the Middle East because the country needs a respite from violence. As if the American media somehow has the capacity to send vibes back in time to make Bush Inc. lie their way into attacking Iraq in the first place. Not sure Tierney needs an SH 5 as much as he needs a padded room with 24/7 supervision...

And two from Spyder without links... (hint, hint):

First nomination to the Rev Chandler near Ashville, North Carolina who finally revealed what it really is all about. Casting out the unclean, who had washed their dirty political hands in the same fount as the blessed faithful.

Second nomination to the speech writer for the president, who should have known better, but encouraged the one person who is completely clueless about world and US history to suggest that FDR screwed eastern europe at Yalta. This can't be Bush's fault this time, cause we know he doesn't read, never passed a history class at Yale, nor succeeded in understanding even the most rudimentary forms of international diplomacy.

Posted by Kevin at 11:39 AM |

Sorry, must be a different Bible... Dept.

School punishes teacher for getting pregnant before married

Bright side: she's on paid leave. And they didn't stone her. I got $10 says at least one member of this school's board has parents who got hitched at a shotgun wedding.

Jury finds landlords discriminated based on race
Property manager's reliance on Bible fails to sway jurors

Obviously the all-white jury is going straight to hell.

And finally, a voice of reason amid the madness:

"We must say it again and again until it is heard and understood: God is not partisan; God is not a Republican or a Democrat. When either party tries to politicize God, or co-opt religious communities for its political agenda, it makes a terrible mistake."

Posted by Jeff at 07:33 AM |

She gets letters

As part of my effort to beautify America, I attempt to visit rightwing blogs and correct misinformation and set them on the path away from the dark side.

Sometimes my efforts are appreciated. Sometimes they aren't.

This morning I received email from one of those who underappreciates me. (I commented on several Chrenkoff posts yesterday at various places so I have no idea where this one stems from) Enjoy.

Date: Thu, 12 May 2005 22:49:06 -0700 (PDT)
From: James Breznik (chillinsicilian@yahoo.com)
To: carla@preemptivekarma.com
Subject: Re: Chrenkoff Post.

Dear stupid, left wing, moron: You get the Joe
Goebels propaganda award! It was nice of you to show
your hatred and mental illness in your post. How
conveeeeeeenient of you to equate "right wing
conservatism" with terrorism! Take note that
socialist, communist, "left wingers" like you, have
murdered more souls in less than 100 years than
throughout known history. THat number is well over 100
million. Mcpuke was actually linked to the neo nazis
of elohim city. Nazis, or National SOcialists, like
their dead god hitler, are SOCIALISTS! Socialists,
like demorats, are LEFT wingers you moron! Your head
is firmly placed up your ass. It's so nice to see
demorat, socialist, jackasses, like yourself show your
true mental illness and literal hatred of
conservatives based on nothing but lies and insanity.
YOu twist the truth, or LIE to support your
propaganda. Next time spew your joe goebels propaganda
to your idiot, left-wing, fascist, socialist maggots
who actually think you know what you're talking about.

Dear James:

Thank you for your email. I always enjoy hearing from the fans.

You might want to start taking something to help with that projection issue, though.

Love,

Carla

Posted by Carla at 07:25 AM |

(insert news leak/urinate joke here)

Kentucky Congressman Wants to Get His Hands on Fake Penis: Jocks Worry, Will Whizzinator Company Dare Name Names?

Charles Dickens couldn't make up this kinda stuff.

Posted by Jeff at 07:06 AM |

Vandalism at Montgomery high school

The senior prank is apparently a tradition at Brewbaker, as with lots of other schools nation-wide. So, these seniors set out to hang a banner on the building. Apparently other kids came out to see it happen, and vandalism occurred. Some spray painting, eggs, condiments, etc. thrown.

Now the parents of the banner-hangers are upset that everyone's facing the same punishment.

Not reported in the Advertiser link, but mentioned prominently on last night's NBC-affiliate newscast: all the banner-hangers are white; all the other "vandals" are black (they said black, not African-American).

Jeff will now channel his father (career military, later a school principal): "Parents: Your kids were there. Tell 'em take the punishment. Quit yer whinin'. Blaming the school board and superintendent doesn't change the facts."

Posted by Jeff at 06:52 AM |

May 12, 2005

It couldn't just be that the plan SUCKS.

The biased liberal media is submarining Bush's plan to privatize Social Security.

Or so says Herman Cain.

In a sniveling, whiney, crybaby piece of fluff for National Review, Cain opines:

According to a recent Washington Post/ABC poll, President Bush's plan to restructure the Social Security system has lost public support. What the poll doesn't tell you is that the network news has focused so much on the liberal side of this debate that the result isn't a surprise. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Oh please. There was never any support to lose in the first place. It's a crappy idea that by Bush's own admission won't fix the problem. That's not ABC's fault. It's Bush's.

Cain goes on to blubber about a new study by the Media Research Center (a conservative media watchdog group) claiming all sorts of liberal bias in the media.

If only the study by the Media Research Center could actually hold up to scrutiny.

Media Matters for America gives the acid test to the MRC's "study" and finds it full of shit.

According to Media Matters, since the election conservatives have been afforded more TV face time on Meet The Press,Today, the Chris Matthews Show,CBS Evening News and Face The Nation.

If conservatives can't convince the public that their President's plan is a good one when they're getting massive more time to make their case (notice I didn't mention Fox at all...where conservatives virtually own the airwaves) then it's definitely time to look at the plan.

Which incidentally...sucks.

Raise the cap, George.

Posted by Carla at 02:40 PM |

Is Tom DeLay the Anti-Christ?

Okay... probably not. But, his is the face of pure evil. Anti-Christ is probably a station which he merely lusts for but will never attain. Probably...

Lou Debose connects some more dots between Tom DeLay, his best bud Jack Abramoff, and immorality run amok with Two Amigos And Their Gulag Archipelago.

A short teaser:

At a New Year’s Eve banquet at the Hyatt, DeLay toasted “one of my closest and dearest friends, Jack Abramoff, your most able representative in Washington, D.C.” He then warned the factory owners and elected officials about the Clinton administration.

“You are up against the forces of big labor and the radical left. Dick Armey and I made a promise to defend the islands’ present system. Stand firm. Resist evil. Remember that all truth and blessings emanate from our Creator. God bless you and the people of the Northern Marianas.” - Rep. Tom DeLay

Sounds like run of the mill rightwing rhetoric, huh. Now go read Debose explain the background behind DeLay's outrageous statement: Two Amigos And Their Gulag Archipelago. Be warned, though. You'll probably have an irresistable urge to bath after reading the filth that passes for Tom DeLay being himself.

Update: Mark Shields brings the hammer down on DeLay for the same issue.

The National Journal uncovers more juicy details on this story.

Posted by Kevin at 12:58 PM |

Jim Stelling is pissed off.

Stelling is the Seminole County, Florida GOP County Chairman. He's claiming that he's the victim of a smear attack by former GOP executive committee member and has gone to court to clear his good name.

So what's the smear?

The executive committee member alledgedly sent out a letter that, among other things, accuses Stelling of being married six times.

Married six times?!!? How could they say that? Stelling says he's most certainly not been married six times.

It's only five.

It's a good thing that Republicans out there working so hard for the sanctity of marriage. What an ass.

And speaking of asses, I wonder how he feels about farm animal sex?

Posted by Carla at 07:27 AM |

May 11, 2005

Remedial Reading Comprehension 010

It seems that Evan thinks that I misread his post when I critiqued it earlier today. In essence Evan appears to be saying that I created a Straw Man.

Kevin at Preemptive Karma makes some very good points, and I'm inclined to agree with him. The problem is, he's arguing against a point I didn't make. I was discussing the impression left by a set of words, not the precise definitions of the words in the set. To make that point, I wrote:

If you didn't know what the words meant, how would these Roget's entries mold your perception of each word?

Here's the thing, Evan. The entire point of a Thesaurus is to compile and publish perceptions which are already in existance. Each of those words got listed precisely because those perceptions already exist. You're getting mad at the mirror for reflecting an image you don't like.

Evan tries to get around the disconnect by suggesting a word association game to illustrate the perceptions that Roget's listed synonyms for "liberal" and "conservative" evoke.

Here's a word association game for you Evan. It's one that the very large majority of your male peers will grasp instantly:

Using Roget's third grouping for the word "liberal"... instead of politics or ideology, think BREASTS.

Make more sense now???

Okay... where were we? Oh yeah...

Evan then goes on to agree with me that he mixed inappropriately used synonyms. But, he says that his disclaimer explained it and thus somehow made it appropriate:
I guess my disclaimer might have been easy to miss, considering the font size was exactly the same as the rest of the post:

Obviously, the terms liberal and conservative have meanings beyond the political. Still, from the inclusion of the word left in the liberal entry, we can tell that politics was at least considered by the editor when compiling these entries.

I have a hard time believing that Evan typed that with a straight face. Of the three groupings for the word liberal in Roget's, only the first one