Beware! The White House wants your Christmas list (especially if you are investigating Karl Rove)!

Special Counsel Scott J. Bloch has the job of investigating Karl Rove's illegal deployment of government employees in Republican political campaigns. Naturally, the White House is battling back in every possible way to protect and defend their boy Karl. We already know how the White House feels about allowing convicted felons to escape responsibility for their felonious acts, right? So, it should come as no surprise that the White House would launch a seek and destroy mission against the Special Counsel charged with bringing yet another Bush minion to justice.

The laptop computers in Special Counsel Bloch's office suffered either a virus or some other network or hard drive malfunction and the hard drives had to be wiped (erased) and operating system reloaded. This was done.

At some point in this process, Special Counsel Bloch asked the "geek squad" tech guys who were handling the laptop business if they could save any of his personal files such as his Christmas shopping list, personal family photos, private communications with Bloch's personal attorney, and so on. The usual non-job-related stuff one might accumulate on a computer.

Whether or not Special Counsel Bloch ought to have been using a work computer to store personal files may be a question to answer at some point.

For this latest installment of the Rove scandal, however, it is enough to say that Special Counsel Bloch was able to transfer some personal files to a "thumb drive" that he now keeps on his keychain.

And because he was able to save his Christmas shopping list, the White House wants to completely derail the investigation of their boy Karl and his illegal activities.

The White House wants possession of those personal files and Special Counsel Bloch refuses to turn them over.

You see, when Special Counsel Bloch began investigating Karl Rove, the White House began a retaliatory investigation of Special Counsel Bloch. The "Office of Personnel Management" has even demanded access to Special Counsel Bloch's personal emails.

This White House agency claims they are investigating Bloch for the very thing Bloch himself is charged with investigating - government retaliation against whistleblowers.

A tangled web indeed...

READ THE STORY HERE.

Highlights from the CNN/YouTube GOP Debate

This is actually quite a good little collection of quips and sound bites and worth listening to if you want to get some measure of who the candidates are. I think the most genuine and honorable of the GOP candidates, as they appear on this video, are Huckabee and Ron Paul. I think Mitt Romney has the looks and style and grace of a Presidential candidate but when he turns sideways, so to speak, there's little substance there. Fred Thompson, while seemingly genuine, does not make a great impression for himself as "President material" and Rudy Guiliani comes off as the uber-slick politico and I think our country is sick unto death of the uber-slick ones.

Ha ha ha ha ha... Bernie Kerik, Character Witness

Bernie Kerik vouches for Rudy on the Shag Fund (from the Times) ...

Bernard B. Kerik, who was Mr. Giuliani’s police commissioner when some of the charges were billed, said in an interview yesterday that the security detail’s travel expenses would normally come out of the Police Department’s budget.

“There would be no need for anyone to conceal his detail’s travel expenses,” said Mr. Kerik, who was indicted earlier this month on unrelated federal tax fraud and corruption charges. “And I think It’s ridiculous for anyone to suggest that the mayor or his staff attempted to do so.”

MORE...

Well, with a character witness like Bernie vouching for you, who needs credibility?

For more info on Bernie's qualifications as an expert character witness, see, "Ultimate Kerik Scandal List."

Rove Can't Claim "Executive Privilege" in U.S. Attorney Scandal

Looks like Rove and others in the Bushbot Gang are going to be on the hot seat:

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Senate chairman acknowledged explicitly on Thursday that President Bush was not involved in the firings of U.S. attorneys last winter and therefore ruled illegal the president's executive privilege claims protecting his chief of staff, John Bolten, and former adviser Karl Rove.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy directed Bolten, Rove, former White House political director Sara Taylor and her deputy, J. Scott Jennings, to comply "immediately" with their subpoenas for documents and information about the White House's role in the firings of U.S. attorneys.

"I hereby rule that those claims are not legally valid to excuse current and former White House employees from appearing, testifying and producing documents related to this investigation," Leahy wrote.

The ruling is a formality that clears the way for Leahy's panel to vote on whether to advance the citations to the full Senate.

The executive privilege claim "is surprising in light of the significant and uncontroverted evidence that the president had no involvement in these firings," Leahy, D-Vt., wrote in his ruling. "The president's lack of involvement in these firings — by his own account and that of many others — calls into question any claim of executive privilege."

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE.

The Rudy Canoodle Mistress Story Keeps Going... and Going... and Going...

In a previous post, I discussed how Rudy bilked New York City taxpayers for the expense of his mistress and that not-so-little item keeps growing. It seems Rudy's mistress really did use New York City Police as a taxi service:

Well before it was publicly known he was seeing her, then-married New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani provided a police driver and city car for his mistress Judith Nathan, former senior city officials tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.

"She used the PD as her personal taxi service," said one former city official who worked for Giuliani.

Read more about it here.

Ex-NY city-mayor Ed Koch says it looks like a cover-up to him:

Koch, who served as the mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989, said that the episode gave off the appearance that Giuliani, who was at the time married to his second wife Donna Hanover, was trying to hide his affair. He also argued that providing Judith Nathan her own personal protection (when she was not a member of the first family) constituted an even more flagrant misuse of taxpayer money.

"I found it strange that his lady friend was given protection," said the long-time New York politico. "That was bizarre. She's not the city's responsibility. Rudy is the city's responsibility. Your wife and his children get protection, and that's understood. But certainly not your lady friend."

As for Guiliani's current run for President:

"I'm just amazed that Giuliani is doing as well as he's doing," said Koch. "He doesn't deserve it."

Read more about it here.

Even the NYC Comptroller states that Guiliani "stonewalled" auditors over his mistress' expenses:

City Comptroller William Thompson said Thursday his auditors were "stonewalled" by the Giuliani administration when they inquired about the unusual billing procedures, which he called "disturbing."

Read more from that story here.

Gosh, would that be equivilant to Bill Clinton billing the U.S. taxpayer for Monica's dry-cleaning bill? In other words, if this was a Democrat politician, I do believe we would be hearing the Republican screeching over it from one end of the country to the other.

Where are those upholders of family values now? Lurking in public restrooms? Donning diapers for prostitutes? Masturbating online with children? What's a Republican to do these days? The crowd of viable - and acceptable - Presidential candidates is thinning out. Who'll be the last comic standing?

Prescott Bush and the Nazi Overthrow of America

BBC: Bush's Grandfather Planned Fascist Coup In America
New investigation sheds light on clique of powerbrokers, including Prescott Bush, who sought to overthrow U.S. government and implement Hitlerian policies
From Paul Joseph Watson at Prison Planet

A BBC Radio 4 investigation sheds new light on a major subject that has received little historical attention, the conspiracy on behalf of a group of influential powerbrokers, led by Prescott Bush, to overthrow FDR and implement a fascist dictatorship in the U.S. based around the ideology of Mussolini and Hitler.

In 1933, Marine Corps Maj.-Gen. Smedley Butler was approached by a wealthy and secretive group of industrialists and bankers, including Prescott Bush the current President's grandfather, who asked him to command a 500,000 strong rogue army of veterans that would help stage a coup to topple then President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

According to the BBC, the plotters intended to impose a fascist takeover and "Adopt the policies of Hitler and Mussolini to beat the great depression."

The conspirators were operating under the umbrella of a front group called the American Liberty League, which included many families that are still household names today, including Heinz, Colgate, Birds Eye and General Motors.

Butler played along with the clique to determine who was involved but later blew the whistle and identified the ringleaders in testimony given to the House Committee on un-American Activities.

However, the Committee refused to even question any of the individuals named by Butler and his testimony was omitted from the record, leading to charges that they were involved in covering the matter up, and the majority of the media blackballed the story.

READ MORE...

See? The blatantly anti-American attitude and behavior are in the genes. I don't believe details like over 3,000 American dead in Afghanistan and Iraq hold much meaning for our Decider-in-Chief. Our greatest national treasure, our young people, are spilling their blood to support what effort, exactly?

Did Rudy bill taxpayers for his adulterous trysts?

You can SEE THE VIDEO of Rudy being grilled over who paid the expenses for his private security as he carried on his adulterous affair with Judy Nathan, the woman who now wants to be America's First Lady and representative of Amercan family values.

What's Karl Rove Been Smoking? Dude, you've gone totally batshit insane.

From Paul Abrams who reports on Rove's interview with Charlie Rose:

You are not going to believe this, well, actually you will... According to Karl Rove (on Charlie Rose), the Bush Administration did not want Congress to vote on the Iraq War resolution in the fall of 2002, because they thought it should not be done within the context of an election. Rove, you see, did not think the war vote should be "political".

Moreover, according to Rove, that "premature vote" led to many of the problems that cropped up in the Iraq War. Had Congress not pushed, he says, Bush could have spent more time assembling a coalition, and provided more time to the inspectors.

If you are like me, you have stopped reading/listening, and are rushing to get your anti-emetic.

It is worth remembering that the Senate in the fall of 2002 was controlled, barely, by Democrats. Get it? George Bush, we are being told, wanted to delay, wanted to hold back, wanted to take the time to build a coalition and let the inspectors finish their job, but that damn Congress just pushed him into it.

MORE...

This is actually scary. The lunatics running the country apparently, really are lunatics. Abso-fucking-lutely delusional. And very, very scary. This is the insanity that's deciding our fates. All of us.

Generation Chickenhawk - fun with the College Republikkkans

Max Blumenthal takes us on a hilarious and shocking tour of the College Republican National Convention, where the GOP's next generation cheer on the war in Iraq, then make sorry excuses for why they can't serve.

LINK

Has Blackwater Done Treason Against the United States?

Blackwater Probe Stifled by Conflicts

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department's acerbic top auditor wasn't happy when Justice Department officials told one of his aides to leave the room so they could discuss a criminal investigation of Blackwater Worldwide, the contractor protecting U.S. diplomats in Iraq.

The episode reveals the badly strained relationship between Bush administration officials over the probe into whether Blackwater smuggled weapons into Iraq that could have gotten into insurgents' hands.

...A key date was July 11, when Howard Krongard, State's inspector general, sent an e-mail to one of his assistant inspector generals, telling him to "IMMEDIATELY" stop work on the Blackwater investigation. That lead to criticisms by Democrats that Krongard has tried to protect Blackwater and block investigations into contractor-related wrongdoing in Iraq.

...Krongard, whose credibility was damaged by the recent disclosure that his brother had a business affiliation with Blackwater, has disputed the charge, though he recused himself from Blackwater matters after the potential conflict of interest emerged.

His aide, Terry Heide, who was kicked out of the July 31 meeting, also says she's been unfairly blamed for slowing the Blackwater probe. Her role was to collect State Department documents for the investigators - a job she did well, according to her lawyer. But even Krongard's own staff saw her as a hindrance.

READ MORE

Paris suburbs on brink as riots leave 82 police injured

So Paris is burning again, huh? And why is that? In perusing this article published by the Independent (a British paper), it seems Nicolas Sarkozy is being painted the culprit both in this instance of violence and the previous riots of 2005. It is his fault... supposedly... because he is not sensitive enough to the sensibilities of the rioters.

Paris suburbs on brink as riots leave 82 police injured

Massive police reinforcements, led by the Prime Minister in person, attempted to stem a violent revolt, bordering on guerrilla warfare, on the northern fringes of greater Paris.

Cars and shops were set alight late last night but there was nothing like the massed attacks on police seen on Monday evening when 82 officers were injured, some by pellets from shot-guns and light hunting rifles.

...The town's library and two schools were burned to the ground on Monday night in running battles between police and a mob of 150 to 200 youths.

...Why should an accident produce such an explosion of violence? Why should boys, aged 14 to 17, some as young as 10, burn a library? What depths of hatred and anger would persuade them to fire hunting rifles and shot-guns at the police?

Two years after the suburban riots of 2005, France finds itself confronted with all of the same questions. Or, perhaps, even harder questions.

The evidence of the second night's rioting – more than 80 policemen injured by shotgun and airgun pellets, including four seriously – suggests that the level of urban violence has ratcheted up alarmingly. Few guns were used during the three weeks of nationwide riots in 2005.

On Monday night, the youths, mostly teenagers, but with some older leaders in their 20s, attacked the police head on. In 2005, there were thousands of incidents of arson but few direct confrontations.

READ MORE...

Dick Morris Strikes Out BIGTIME!!!

Bridges Burned in U.S., Political King Maker Hits Africa

Political consultant Dick Morris, who rose to prominence as a key adviser for President Bill Clinton and then fell from grace after a scandal involving a prostitute, has surfaced as a political consultant in an unlikely place -- Kenya.

Leading presidential candidate Raila Odinga has brought Morris on as a consultant to help him beat incumbent President Mwai Kibaki in next month's elections. Last week Morris arrived in Kenya on a tourist visa and held a press conference saying he believed Odinga was poised to win the election.

MORE...

Poor little dick. I mean... Dick. Having lost all credibility here in the United States, he'd been reduced to becoming a Fox News commentator. Then it seems he sought to sell his vast expertise (on what? Toe-sucking?) to a political candidate in Kenya.

Dick's not-so-little problem was that he entered Kenya on a tourist visa, not a work visa. This ought to have been a clue to his Kenyan bosses that Dickie wasn't exactly the brightest bulb in the drawer.

So, rather than keep a low profile like most undocumented workers try to do, what does Dickie do instead? He calls an international press conference - starring himself - to announce his new job appointment. LOL.

The poor candidate and his qualifications (or lack thereof) for the job are positively drowned out in the ensuing national scandal played out in the Kenyan media all about Dickie's kinky predeliction for sucking the toes of prostitutes and his failure to pay income taxes in the USA.

And the Kenyan government, after taking the time to be offended that anyone would be so brazen in violating their immigration laws, decides to arrest Mr. Morris.

So one day after announcing at an international press conference that he has come to change the future of Kenyan politics, Dick is skedaddling out of town on the next flight out, just ahead of the law. Kenyan authorities have promised to arrest him should he return.

Poor little dick. What's a boy to do for a career these days?

RELATED STORY ON DICK MORRIS: Dick Morris: I’m Leaving if Hillary Wins - "Political strategist Dick Morris is so disgusted by the prospect of a Hillary Clinton presidency that he’s announced he’ll leave the country if she wins the Democratic nomination..."

Resign-O-Rama: GOP Woes Worsen

Lott's Departure Precedes Ethics Restrictions
Veteran Republicans Opt Out, Making 2008 a Tougher Fight

Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., is calling it quits only one year into his six-year term, giving Republican leaders one more headache as they head into an already tough 2008 election cycle.

Lott announced in Pascagoula Monday that he would resign from the Senate before the end of the year, becoming the latest in a string of prominent Republican lawmakers to leave Congress.

In the Senate, GOP veterans John Warner of Virginia, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Pete Domenici of New Mexico and Wayne Allard of Colorado have all, for various reasons, already decided not to seek re-election.
Those departures are more troublesome than Lott's for Republicans because Warner, Hagel, Domenici and Allard are all from battleground states.

Lott and Sen. Larry Craig, R-Ida., who opted not to resign after an embarrassing scandal but will not run for re-election next year, are both from states considered reliably Republican.

LINK

I think some of this Republican exodus is due, in part, to people trying to preserve a "personal legacy" as a lawmaker or prominent American and nobody wants their name and their body of life work to be intimately associated with Bush or even the official tie-in to the Republican Party at this time in our country's history. They have some realization that history will not be kind to Bush and his bots.

Well, and in ol' Trent's case he's got a fat lobbying career ahead of him and he has to skedaddle out of Washington to beat a deadline in order to transition to lobbyist.

The Next Rat Off the Sinking Ship?

Cheney Found to Have Irregular Heartbeat

ABC News' Jennifer Duck Reports: After a doctor's visit this morning to check up on a lingering cough from a cold, Vice President Dick Cheney was found to have an irregular heartbeat.

"During examination he was incidentally found to have an irregular heartbeat, which on further testing was determined to be atrial fibrillation, an abnormal rhythm involving the upper chambers of the heart," said Cheney spokesperson Megan Mitchell in a statement released this afternoon.

The Vice President will visit George Washington University Hospital for "further evaluation and, if indicated, cardioversion, delivery of an electric impulse to the heart, which is a standard treatment for atrial fibrillation."

The visit is expected to be an outpatient procedure; Cheney is expected home on Monday night. His spokesperson said this is the first incidence of atrial fibrillation since the device was installed.

In July, Cheney had minor surgery to replace the battery that powers his heart pacemaker.

LINK

Hmmm... maybe he should go have a little rest and recreation break. Maybe he should go hunting. With Bush.

Seriously, this may be Dick's free pass off the Titanic, his Do-Not-Go-To-Jail Card.

Heh heh... Bush forced to honor Al Gore as Nobel Prize Winner

Bush to Welcome Gore to White House
Former Political Rivals Meet as Nobel Prize Winners are Honored

Forget the Mideast peace talks. A meeting that may require even greater diplomacy will take place Monday in the Oval Office, when President Bush receives America's Nobel Prize winners — including his one-time rival, Al Gore.

A lot has happened to both men in the seven years since the 2000 election. [NO SHIT, SHERLOCK.]

The president has faced terrorist attacks, natural disasters, and war; the former vice president left politics to campaign against global warming.

But while Bush saw his popularity plummet, Gore's star has been rising of late — with his Oscar-winning movie "An Inconvenient Truth," and the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on climate change. So, when they meet in the Oval Office on Monday, will they finally bury the hatchet? Don't bet on it.

READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE

Quotes from the Right Wing of American Politics

David Barton (Wallbuilders): "There should be absolutely no 'Separation of Church and State' in America."

Star Parker (Coalition on Urban Renewal & Education): "Anybody that believes in separation of church and state needs to leave right now."

George Bush Sr. (President of the United States): "I don't know that atheists should be considered citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God."

Gary North (Institute for Christian Economics): "The long-term goal of Christians in politics should be to gain exclusive control over the franchise. Those who refuse to submit publicly to the eternal sanctions of God by submitting to His Church's public marks of the covenant–baptism and holy communion–must be denied citizenship."

Robert T. Lee (Society for the Practical Establishment of the Ten Commandments): "Democracy originated in the mind of a rational being who has the deepest hatred for God."

Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin: “George Bush was not elected by a majority of the voters in the United States, he was appointed by God.”

Randall Terry (Operation Rescue): "I want you to just let a wave of intolerance wash over. I want you to let a wave of hatred wash over you. Yes, hate is good...Our goal is a Christian nation. We have a biblical duty, we are called by God to conquer this country. We don't want equal time. We don't want pluralism."

Keith A. Fournier (Catholic Way): "We need a legal strategy which protects the rights of those of us who hold Christian convictions which will afford us the opportunity to contend once again for the mind of this culture."

Gary Bauer (American Values): "We are engaged in a social, political, and cultural war. There's a lot of talk in America about pluralism. But the bottom line is somebody's values will prevail. And the winner gets the right to teach our children what to believe."

James Dobson (Focus on the Family): "Those who control the access to the minds of children will set the agenda for the future of the nation and the future of the western world."

James Kennedy (Center for Reclaiming America): "The Christian community has a golden opportunity to train an army of dedicated teachers who can invade the public school classrooms and use them to influence the nation for Christ."

Robert Simonds (Citizens for Excellence in Education): "We'll take away their power and their money. Money comes from students. We'll break their backs by taking 24 million kids out of the public schools."

Gary Potter (Catholics for Christian Political Action): "When the Christian majority takes over this country, there will be no satanic churches, no more free distribution of pornography, no more talk of rights for homosexuals. After the Christian majority takes control, pluralism will be seen as immoral and evil and the state will not permit anybody the right to practice evil."

Fob James (Governor of Alabama): "Behind this judicial wall of separation there is a tyranny of lies that will fall... I say to you, my friends, let it fall!"

John Whitehead (Rutherford Institute): "The [Supreme] Court, by seeking to equate Christianity with other religions, merely assaults the one faith. The Court in essence is assailing the true God by democratizing the Christian religion."

Beverly LaHaye (Concerned Women for America): "Yes, religion and politics do mix. America is a nation based on biblical principles. Christian values dominate our government. The test of those values is the Bible. Politicians who do not use the bible to guide their public and private lives do not belong in office."

Joseph Scheidler (Pro-Life Action League): "I would like to outlaw contraception...contraception is disgusting – people using each other for pleasure."

Kay O'Connor (Kansas Senate Republican): "I'm an old-fashioned woman. Men should take care of women, and if men were taking care of women today, we wouldn't have to vote."

ANN COULTER: "We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. We weren't punctilious about locating and punishing only Hitler and his top officers. We carpet-bombed German cities; we killed civilians. That's war. And this is war."

Pat Buchanan (Presidential Candidate): "Our culture is superior. Our culture is superior because our religion is Christianity and that is the truth that makes men free."

Jay Grimstead (Coalition on Revival): "We are to make Bible-obeying disciples of anybody that gets in our way."

Joseph Morecraft (Chalcedon Presbyterian Church): "Nobody has the right to worship on this planet any other God than J******. And therefore the state does not have the responsibility to defend anybody's pseudo-right to worship an idol."

Bailey Smith: "With all due respect to those dear people, my friend, God Almighty does not hear the prayer of a Jew."

Pat Robertson (Christian Coalition): "You say you're supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that, and the other thing. Nonsense, I don't have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist."

Jerry Falwell (1933 - 2007): "If you're not a born-again Christian, you're a failure as a human being."

Rush Limbaugh: "There is only one way to get rid of nuclear weapons... use them"

Now, a question... if you are an American reading this, is this the philosophy that's been good for our country or do you think we need a change? Think about it.

G-d bless America.

Hypocrisy on Parade: The Brothers Paulk

Another Sex Scandal for the Brothers Paulk

Bishop Earl Paulk founded the Chapel Hill Harvester Church outside Atlanta in 1972. In the decades since, at least nine members of his flock have confessed to extramarital affairs with the religious leader or his sibling, Reverend Don Paulk. Several Sundays ago, the brothers stood at the pulpit and added a new name to the list.

The 80-year-old bishop admitted to fathering a child with his brother's wife. That offspring, D.E. Paulk, is now head pastor of the church. The disclosure so bowled over the Associated Press that the news agency called it "a sex scandal of biblical dimensions."

The buzz is certainly of Old Testament proportions. Over the past week, we've been flooded with queries for "earl paulk," "archbishop earl paulk," and "bishop paulk." Interest surged for the bishop's brother and the newly revealed son. Demand flashed upwards for the church itself.

But the search that reaps the most attention is perhaps the most damning of all: "bishop earl paulk scandal." The query soared on Monday and doubled its numbers yesterday. In the age of the Internet, Bishop Paulk and his brother may find it all the harder to go about their usual ways.

» Read full article on[Yahoo! Buzz Index: Buzz Log]

Senator: U.S. has become haven for war criminals

This certainly isn't new. Our American government has been providing refuge for war criminals for decades. We shielded many Nazi war criminals after WWII. Only recently has our government admitted to that one and to the fact that the "intelligence gathering value" of said criminals wasn't so valuable, after all.

Donald Rumsfeld (on behalf of President Ronald Reagan) gave WMDs of the chemical and biological kind to Saddam Hussein so that he might commit crimes against his own people, his neighbors and all humanity. A war criminal if ever there was one. So... what does that make the government (ours) that enabled Saddam to do his war crimes?

During the full-on boycott against doing trade with Saddam, Dick Cheney's Halliburton was doing trade with Saddam.

That the current occupier of the White House is into full mouth kissing with a Saudi prince in spite of Saudi Arabia's crimes against humanity beginning with the human sex slave trade should come as no surprise when one considers George Jr. is the spawn of George Sr. whose White House was used for sex parties with children.

Daddy Bush, after all, was being very supportive of good pals the bin Ladens as he watched the events of 9/11 unfold while in the company of Osama bin Laden's brother. No, Osama was not the atypical bad seed of a family of good and pure and sweet people. That very brother who stood next to Daddy Bush and watch 3,000 murders take place is himself a sponsor of terrorism and crimes against humanity.

But, hold on there, Daddy Bush is himself the spawn of Grandpa Bush - Prescott Bush - whose company was found guilty of violating federal law as regards betraying our nation by doing business with Adolph Hitler.

So that this government would give shelter to war criminals and the lowest scum of humanity ought not to be a surprise at all.

Senator: U.S. has become haven for war criminals

WASHINGTON — More than 1,000 people from 85 countries who are accused of such crimes as rape, killings, torture and genocide are living in the United States, according to Department of Homeland Security figures.

America has become a haven for the world's war criminals because it lacks the laws needed to prosecute them, Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said Wednesday. There's been only one U.S. indictment of someone suspected of a serious human-rights abuse. Durbin said torture was the only serious human-rights violation that was a crime under American law when committed outside the United States by a non-American national.

"This is unacceptable. Our laws must change and our determination to end this shameful situation must become a priority," Durbin, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law, said at a hearing of the subcommittee Wednesday.

READ MORE OF WHAT YOUR GOVERNMENT IS DOING IN YOUR NAME

9-11 families hope to deflate Giuliani's heroic image

WASHINGTON — Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign was supposed to be toast by now, imploded by his hot temper, autocratic ways, tumultuous personal life and moderate views on social issues, which would turn off traditional Republican voters once they got to know the "Real Rudy."

Or so many of Giuliani's critics thought.

Instead, he remains atop the Republican presidential pack in national polls, powered in large part by his image as the steely hero who guided New York through the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

A small but vocal group of New Yorkers will try to puncture that image Monday when they host a town hall meeting at New Hampshire's Dartmouth College to discuss New York's disaster-preparedness under Giuliani before 9-11.

They say that Giuliani's administration failed to address firefighters' radio communication problems, which first surfaced in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing; didn't provide proper equipment for rescue workers at Ground Zero; and showed poor judgment by putting the city's $13 million emergency center on the 23rd floor of 7 World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the attack.

They claim that Giuliani was callous in November 2001 when he limited the number of firefighters searching Ground Zero for the remains of nearly 300 fallen comrades. They also accuse him of expediting the cleanup of the site and sending rubble mixed with human body parts to a Staten Island landfill.

READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE

Perhaps we ought to listen to the families...?

Some Political Resources

From McClatchey Papers:

MONEY
Federal Election Commission
Center for Responsive Politics
Political Money Line

POLLS
American Research Group
Mason-Dixon Pollings & Research
Pew Research Center
Real Clear Politics

MEDIA
Council on Foreign Relations
Media Matters For America
Media Research Center

DEMOCRATS
Sen. Joe Biden profile / official site
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton official site
Sen. Chris Dodd official site
Former Sen. John Edwards official site
Former Sen. Mike Gravel official site
Rep. Dennis Kucinich official site
Sen. Barack Obama official site
Gov. Bill Richardson profile / official site

REPUBLICANS
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani official site
Former Sen. Fred Thompson official site
Rep. Duncan Hunter profile / official site
Sen. John McCain official site
Former Gov. Mitt Romney official site
Rep. Ron Paul official site
Rep. Tom Tancredo profile / official site
Former Gov. Mike Huckabee official site

U.S. astonished by Saudi rape sentence

U.S. astonished by Saudi rape sentence

WASHINGTON - The State Department expressed astonishment Tuesday about a Saudi court's sentence of six months in jail and 200 lashes for a woman who was gang raped.

...The decision by the Qatif General Court more than doubled the woman's sentence after she was convicted of being in the car of a man who was not a relative.

The woman initially had been sentenced to 90 lashes after she was convicted of violating rigid laws on the segregation of the sexes. The Saudi court said the woman's punishment was increased because of "her attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media."

...The seven men convicted of raping the woman were given prison sentences of two years to nine years.

MORE...

We know whose side Bush and Cheney are on.

77% of Americans say America is on the wrong track

NOTE: Poll of 2,230 adults; 1,049 Democrats; 827 Republicans; taken Nov. 2-12, 2007; margin of error ± 2.1 percent for all adults; ± 3.0 percent for Democrats and ± 3.4 percent for Republicans.

There is a widespread unease—shared by 77 percent—that the country has meandered off in the wrong direction. Nearly all Democrats and more than six in 10 Republicans think the country has taken the wrong course. And although almost half express interest and hope in the upcoming elections, a third voice frustration—particularly Republicans.

The AP-Yahoo! News survey will track voters' perspectives during the run-up to next year's election, interviewing more than 2,000 people repeatedly about their lives and views about the country, candidates and issues. The polling, conducted by Knowledge Networks, will let the AP and Yahoo! track how and why opinions form and change during the campaign.

SOURCE

I do understand how the spinmeisters will go to work on this one, spinning as fast and furious away from the truth as they can get or twisting actual bad news into a hooray for their side. Of either side, actually. You all do it. A curse on all your houses.

America Always Knew They Were Lying

Pssst... feel free to copy and use graphics but PLEASE DO NOT DIRECT LINK TO THEM HERE. Download them to your own computer. Thanks.

Hate crimes rose 8 percent in 2006

Hate crimes rose 8 percent in 2006

Horrible headline, isn't it? Gee, I wonder why it is that the right-wing fanatics (so similiar to the Islamofacists) are so adamant there is no such thing as a hate-crime but if there was such a thing, white people would be the only victims and all peoples of color (but, especially Mexicans and blacks these days) would be the only perps?

Yes, I've seen it posted daily on the Bully Pulpit Forum at Delphi Forums and once, I actually posted a link to a news story about a horrific gang rape, where the victim was tortured and all manner of nasty indignities perpetrated against her and I noted at the end of my post, "Guess which race these 'subhumans' are?"

NOTE: "Subhuman" is white racist codespeak for a black person. So, if you use that word, you're tipping off your audience what color to expect.

They clicked the link to the story in gleeful anticipation of yet more "evidence" of the subhumaness of anybody not the same skin pigmentation as them, and they were ABSOLUTELY HOWLING WITH OUTRAGE when they discovered it was the victim who was black and the criminals who were white.

They whined over and over, "What's race got to do with it?" "It's the crime that matters, not the race," and so on.

My point exactly. I did thank them for expressing my view in such strong fashion. Now, about those articles they posted...

The Religious Right vs. The Religious Right

Ha ha ha... you just know it's not going to be pretty for the radical right-wing haters when all the little bots have lost their way and they scurry about looking for someone to program them but the Programmers-in-Chief (that would be Dick Cheney and his Dubya sock puppet) are a bit preoccupied with other matters like trying to squirm out of culpability for their crimes against the American people and humanity.

It seems the religious right wing is not going to break in a solid voting bloc for any of the Republican candidates. They're each going their own way as what passes for leadership of what used to be a powerful force in American politics has run out of juice. It is no more. The dark days are coming to an end. Hallelujah.

Pat Robertson and Rudy "I Swear I Didn't Know My Partner Was in Bed with the Mafia" Guiliani make strange bedfellows indeed.

So here's an article on the theme of "Religious Right vs. Religious Right" for you to peruse: New concerns crack unity of religious right - a story of the *gasp!* diversity of opinion to be found at Liberty University.

Are the students at Jerry Falwell's "university" not swallowing their talking-point-daily-vitamins? Who let them know they had their own minds and a right to exercise them? This is NOT ALLOWED in Right-Wing Extremist World.

Oh my... 2008 is not going to be a good year for the haters and the greedy ones.

An Ad to Make Homophobes Cream Their Jeans

This video is dedicated to all the hatred-spewing homophobes and racists of the Bully Pulpit Delphi Forum who don't like you very much if you won't join their circle-jerk of rabid right-wing hatred.
OLD Homosexual Warning Video - Funny bloopers R us

Well, this explains a lot... no global warming, huh?

They really don't care if they destroy the world. These monsters are consumed with greed and lust for power. What good will it do them if there is no world left for them or anyone to play King of the Mountain?

They are insane.

US power company linked to Bush is named in database as a top polluter
By Leonard Doyle in Washington
Published: 16 November 2007

An American power company with close financial links to President George Bush has been named as one of the world's top producers of global warming pollution.

The first-ever worldwide database of such pollution also reveals the rapid growth in global-warming emissions by power plants in China, South Africa and India. Power plants already produce 40 per cent of US greenhouse gas and 25 per cent of the world's.

But it is the enormous carbon footprint of Southern Company – among the largest financiers of Republican Party politicians – which has raised eyebrows. Southern's employees handed George Bush $217,047 to help him get elected twice, and they and the company have contributed an extraordinary $6.2m to Republican campaigns since 1990 according to the Centre for Responsive Politics.

A single Southern Company plant in Juliette, Georgia already emits more carbon dioxide annually that Brazil's entire power sector. The company is in the top two of America's dirtiest utility polluters and sixth worst in the world.

Apart from vague promises by the Democratic presidential hopefuls, there is no pressure on this or any other power company to clean up their act and cut back on CO2 emissions.

Politicians from both parties fear the influence of Southern, which spends huge sums both on lobbying and on political campaigns and is among the biggest power players in Washington. It has seen off numerous attempts to impose controls on the amounts of pollution it pumps out.

The link between massive cash contributions by America's power companies and political arm-twisting in Washington has rarely been put into such sharp relief. Environmentalists have long suspected that President Bush's dogged refusal to sign up to international agreements to control global warming was linked to campaign contributions.

Yesterday's report has finally identified the impact these power companies are having on global warming.

MORE...

Search the Top 20 U.S. Newspapers

Search Top 20 US Newspapers

Another rat deserts the sinking ship

All the rats scurrying off the poopdeck leave me with the image of a President, depressed, distraught, feeling isolated and wandering the rooms of the White House, talking to the portraits. Oh wait, that was Richard Nixon. Got my crooks mixed up there for a second. Heh heh...

Add up the Bush deserters with all the squawking about preemptive immunity for this or that, and I see a whole bunch of scumbags trying frantically to cover their asses ahead of the indictments they are absolutely terrified will come.

And, who knows... you might actually get an Alice who fell down the rabbit hole into hell and found themself associated with some very bad people and now that the time is ripe to get out of Dodge, that's exactly what they're doing.

Bush homeland security adviser resigns

WASHINGTON - Fran Townsend, the leading White House-based terrorism adviser who gave public updates on the extent of the threat to U.S. security, is stepping down after 4 1/2 years.

Her departure continues an exodus of key Bush aides and confidants, with his two-term presidency in the final 14 months. Top aide Karl Rove, along with press secretary Tony Snow, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and senior presidential adviser Dan Bartlett, have already left.

Townsend decided it was time to take a break from government work — only a break, not an end, she insisted — and look for a job in the private sector.

She hopes to work in global risk management for a large bank or financial services company. Townsend also said she has now changed her mind and would consider running for public office someday. MORE...

Political Blogs

So... being the political junikie that I am, I am constantly looking for new political blogs to explore as well as revisiting old favorites. So, I decided to see what I could see at Google Blog Search and here are a few of the blogs Google says answer to the tag of "politics":

Real Clear Politics
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: Polls Show Tight Race For Hastert Seat; Kerry Vows to Disprove Swift Boat Claims; Looking Ahead To 2010; Barry Bonds indicted on perjury and obstruction of justice charges in steroid case.

The Caucus (New York Times Political Blog)
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: Politics, Vegas Style; Sunday’s Breakfast Menu, Nov. 18; Behind Clinton’s Diamonds and Pearls; All Politics Is Local; Turning the B-Word Into Cash

Chris Pirillo
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: How to Make Games; Instant Messenger Virus; Open Source Backup Program for Windows; The Internet is Shaping Politics - Ron Paul

Politics Blog
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: Straight Reggie Bushin'; Herschel: "Once again, you are using your public office as an appendage of your political campaign." ; Mud and Guts

Burma Sitmone Weblog
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: Chinese Communist hate Freedom Of Burma!; Burmese bloggers are united; Life under Military Boots, Latest News from Burma at MoMakha

Politickles - jokes and political cartoons
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: George Bush on “We’re going to have the best educated American people in the world”;

Pakistan Politics
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: Govt Notifies Newspapers Not to Discuss Geo TV Shut Down; Background on Hardline Islamists Who Beat Up Imran Khan; Letter From Activist Lawyer in Karachi;

Politics Junky
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: But the Dems are cutting earmarks in half...; Rudy's New Ad - I Kicked New York's Ass; Ron Paul's voting record; 25% of homeless Americans are veterans; Clinton Caught with Planted Questions; early Guiliani political ad with Donna Hanover

Politics & Funk
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: Does Pat Robertson Hate You? ; Don Vito, Ralph Nader, and My Green-Fringed Jacket Listen to Simon and Garfunkel Together on Halloween and Marvel at the Cold, Moonless Night

'08 Roadies (Salon.com)
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: Why Britney Spears should be a campaign reporter; Politics ain't beanbag

Daily Kos
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: Sunday Talk: Gobble Gobble Up Those Savings Edition; Blackwater : The Great Dismal Swamp Part II ; the whores of war; Distorting the IAEA report on Iran; Antibiotics, Evolution, and Creationism

Hang Right Politics
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: The Candidates on Illegal Immigration: Mike Huckabee; Disgrace In Cambridge; CNN - Even Libs Think They’re the Clinton News Network; Unstoppable Farce; The continual perpetuation of BDS.; Examining BDS: Is Reason The Real Enemy?

Future Majority
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: YDA Day 2: Building Consensus; CNN Gets it Wrong Wrong Wrong... Again; Obama in Iowa: Pro and Con; Blitzer You Ignorant Slut

YP4 (Young People For)
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: The Right's Attack on the Black Church; Olga Reyes: Victim of "Pro-Life" Politics; Expunge Neoliberalism; water is a human right, why is it so elusive?; Senate fails to help DREAM of immigrant students

ChronWatch
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: "No Child Left Behind" Should Be Left Behind; Pin the Noose on the Honky; FISA Football; Politics, American Style?; Success in Targeting Terrorists

Radical Left
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: Clip: Fox News Porn; The Pharmaceutical Industry: Creating Mental Illness for Profit; Economy: America Is a Beached Whale; Facing Economic Collapse: Hedge Fund Managers Jump to Their Deaths; American Men Want Their Women to Be Weak; Fox News: Sex, Hamburgers & Hypocrisy; At Last! Bush Receives Treatment for His Psychotic Attacks

Politics and Christianity
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: Al Sharpton, Hate Crimes, and Justice; How Did The Truth Hold Up In The Democratic Debate; NY Firefighters Considering Swift-Boating Giuliani; John McCain and the 13th Imam; Clinton Said To Have Scandalous Information On Obama; Clinton Tags Romney As A Flip-Flopper

Undernews
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: JUDGE BULLIES PARENTS OVER VACCINATIONS; NBC Fires 90% of Saturday Night Live Production Staff; HOW JOHN KERRY SWIFTBOATED HIMSELF; Obama Responds to Alleged Clinton Rumors of Scandal

Charlotte Gore
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: BBC Bring Up Dirty Campaigning; The Big Unanswered Question

Gun Legislation & Politics in New York
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: Schumer’s pandering part 3; Tom Tancredo at NRA’s Celebration of American Values Conference; Police: Robber shoots himself during home invasion

Politics and Pigskins
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: Ed's Sunday Sermon: Religionism vs. Deism (Part 1)

Heavy-Handed Politics
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: Judicial Watch Lawsuit: No Driver's Licenses for Illegal Aliens; Palestinian National and Former Colombian Detective Plead Guilty to Conspiring to Support the FARC And Alien Smuggling: Jersey's Counterterror Farce

Davenetics
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: An Open Response to Halle Berry; 80s Overdrive; History Goes Through Afghanistan; Falling Out of Love; Rubber Duckies on a Fantastic Voyage; Tom Cruise and Hitler

Wonkette
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: Hollywood Moguls Hate Christmas; Bob Allen Sentenced, Resigns; Karl Rove Has Advice for Obama?; Get This Look: "Hillary Does Las Vegas" Eyes; Iraq to Attack Arizona

The Decembrist
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: Of Coups, Their Plotters, and the Next Era of Politics; It's All the Liberals' Fault, or Maybe George Soros's; The Pure Centrists of America / Go Crazy; The Last Refuge; Who is "Serious" About Terrorism?

Poliblog
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: Yet Another Narcosub Found in Colombia; The Pending Changes in Venezuela; Court May Have Derailed Early Primary in Michigan; From the “Not all Systems of Morality are Equal” File

The Raw Story
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: TUCKER: Why isn’t Dennis Kucinich a frontrunner?; Renters are losing their homes without missing a payment; Pro-waterboarding professor: 'Sometimes torture works'; Lebanese spy to return to CIA despite lies to Gov't?; Fox's Chris Wallace: CNN debate made me 'even stupider'

Think Progress
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: Kos, Rove columns debut in Newsweek.; Hume: Bush Is Bringing The Troops Home, Time To ‘Declare Victory’ In Iraq; IPCC report warns of urgent need to act on global warming. ; Coburn removes secrecy measure from transportation bill.; Bush nominates judges who donated to his campaign.

Little Green Footballs
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: Jacobsen: 'Suspicious Incident' on Flight to Milwaukee; Fjordman's Obsession; US Pressuring Israel; New York Times Reveals Pakistani Nuke Secrets; Steyn: The World Should Give Thanks for America

Huffington Post
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: Giuliani Jets To Campaign Stops Using Casino Kingpin's Plane; Benazir Bhutto Slams Musharraf In New CNN Interview; Another Shot Fired In NY Times Op-Ed War Over Reagan And Racism; Student Says CNN Made Her Ask Hillary The “Diamonds vs Pearls” Question

Instapundit
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: IRAN SURRENDERS IN IRAQ: I credit the new Democratic congress!; HOW YOU CAN HELP Bangladesh cyclone victims; BILL O'REILLY spotted in Afghanistan.; REP. WILLIAM JEFFERSON accused of two more schemes.

Eschaton
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: Suck On This; Wanker of the Day; Rudy's Their Guy; Beautiful Loserdom; War Is the Solution to All of Our Problems

Crooks and Liars
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: The Shock Doctrine - Firedoglake Book Salon Hosts Naomi Klein; Face The Nation: Congressional Gridlock; FNS: Hume says Democrats want to lose the war; John Edwards at the Global Warming Debate

Common Dreams
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: VIDEO OF TASER DEATH SPARKS PROBE, ANGERS CANADIANS; TOP POLLUTER ALSO TOP GIVER US ENERGY CO. LINKED TO BUSH; Invaders and Allies Ignore Iraq’s Humanitarian Crisis; On the Verge of Democracy Collapse Disorder; Sudan: Civilians Driven Into Camps, Then the Bush

AMERICAblog
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: A disturbing story that only the immigrant bashers could love; Mediterranean Sea is in serious trouble; When pop culture starts dissing the dollar, we're in trouble; Dems embrace blogosphere for next year's convention, Repubs not so much

Andrew Sullivan
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: Reminiscing About Mailer; Goodbye To All That; The Waterboarding Artist; The True Cost Of The War; CNN's Rigged Debate?

Powerline
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: Lawyers for Fred; Israel rescues England; Barack Obama, Neocon; Blogworld, the Video;

Hot Air
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: Blogging the Qur’an: Sura 9, “Repentance,” verses 6-14; Audio Bombshell: Vilsack admits SCHIP is a Trojan Horse for socialized medicine; New Jihad Watch: The Islam is Peace Campaign’s Government Angle; Videos: Hillary denies, then plays the gender card and Edwards gets booed

Captain's Quarters
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: The Swiss Option; Right Question, Wrong Questioner; Note To Post: Some Subtlety Required; Define 'Undecided'; The Altered Calculus Of Risk

Talking Points Memo
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: Ted Olson makes a funny; FEMA Trailer Dwellers Seeking Court-Ordered Safety Tests; Buzzy Gives Dirt On Cookie To Waxman; Friedman envisions Obama-Cheney '08; Why Regan matters to Rudy

Jesus' General
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: Fox News: Values Network for Adults Only; Department of Book Reports 42: The Sex Club; Duck Hunting with Dick and Dancing Liberally; A march, a boy, his calf, and Jesus; Glenn Beck, Commie Hunter

The Unapologetic Mexican
SAMPLE HEADLINES/STORIES FROM THIS SITE: Tucker on Bizarro Tube; You Are a Declining Empire...; Bangladesh Cyclone Kills Thousands; Overtaking the Joneses