About that "massive intelligence failure"....

Coffin Photo Stirs Debate ~ Fist Dap Galesburg.com

The first question out of  Vice Presidential debate moderator Martha Raddatz's mouth last night was about the so called failure of the Obama administration to call the attack on the Libyan Consulate an act of terrorism right after it happened.  

Congress Critter Paul Ryan (r.  WI), his side kick, I mean running mate, Mitt Romney (r.MA), enabled by Congress Critter Darrell Issa (r. CA) are are quick to use this tragedy for partisan, political gain, but they must have forgotten about the *cough cough* massive intelligence failure that took our troops to war based on DEAD WRONG INTELLIGENCE, to look for Weapons of Mass Destruction, that were NOT there, without body armor or an exit plan.  Talk about a conspiracy.

Vice President Joe Biden made me proud to be a Democrat last night because he proved all the republicans want is all war all the time with other people's sons and daughters, poor women not to have access to a safe legal abortion, gut Medicare,  privatize Social Security, and raise taxes on the middle class.

Psst President Obama...nice guys finish last.

Today's Must Read

Joe Biden throws Paul Ryan off his yard (warning rude)

"Trayvon belongs to all of America. And until you see him as your child too, we all remain in bondage."

Racism is alive, well,  and flourishing in the United States of America

 43 days and counting and still no arrest in the killing of Trayvon Martin, I seriously doubt there will be one.  Why?  Because George Zimmerman was standing his ground with a 9 mm against the unarmed, but  suspicious, black, 17 year old, hoodie wearing, thug, and the majority of white Americans think that's the American Way. 

Another reason I don't believe there will be an arrest is because the  city of Sanford, FL is mobilizing. because white folks are skeered the ni**ers are going to riot when/if it's announced the Prosecutor won't being charges against George Zimmerman, because that's what they do when they don't get their way.  Remember?

What I can't understand is why they are mobilizing against these guys, but not these guys?  Strike that.  Yes I can. Snark

Black folks will be disappointed if charges aren't bought against George Zimmerman, and although the mainstream media is itching for a race war for ratings, black folks aren't stoopid enough to start a war they can't win.  To quote the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr~

God grant that we wage the struggle with dignity and discipline. May all who suffer oppression in this world reject the self-defeating method of retaliatory violence and choose the method that seeks to redeem. Through using this method wisely and courageously we will emerge from the bleak and desolate midnight of man’s inhumanity to man into the bright daybreak of freedom and justice.

No, black folks will not resort to violence, nor will we sit around waiting on the government to take care of us, because we've learned from experience, that just ain't going to happen.  Black folks know how to make a way out of no way.


Wanna know why we African Americans are so upset about Trayvon--aside from the obvious? The obvious being that a child was senselessly slain. It's our history. Probably 85 to 90% of present day African Americans are here as a result of slavery. While none of us are alive that remember being slaves some are still alive who knew slaves and were the children of slaves. More importantly, we have a collective cultural memory of slavery after 400 years of it.

 If you know anything about American slavery at all, you know that black children were taken from their parent and sold far away at the whim of "owners" and there wasn't a damn thing that could be done about it. Black parents had to watch as their children were brutalized overworked, underfed, uneducated, sexually assaulted and there wasn't a damn thing to be done about it, because the law sanctioned it.

 Later, in post slavery years, in the southern states especially, the legal system continued to allow inhumane and differential treatment towards people with black skin until the the 1970s when the federal government finally stepped in again. In between was 100 years of brutal lynching--both north and south-- black men and boys swinging from the nation's trees, or forced to work southern mines with no pay, and locked away for the slightest crime or no crime at all.

The brutal murder of Emmett Till took place in 1955. As you no doubt know, Emmett was 15-year old kid from Chicago, visiting family in Mississippi, who's 'crime' was whistling at a white girl. White men came and snatched him out of his house, and there wasn't a damn thing that his family could do about it, except of course show his hideously battered and disfigured corpse to the nation. Had his mother not insisted on doing so, we probably Emmett Till would have been another nameless faceless murdered black boy. His murderers were tried and acquitted, then later bragged about the killing.
    
        Fast forward to 2012. A black man holds the highest office in the land. Undoubtedly, we've made progress. But 3 weeks ago when Trayvon Martin was chased down and shot for simply walking in his own neighborhood--unarmed and minding his own business-- and now we watch as the law of the sovereign state of Florida shielded and protects his shooter, all of us are instantly plunged back into the dreadful reality that if you have a black child in America, he can be taken away at a moment's notice and the law will not help you. In fact, it will protect the person that harmed your child. Maybe we haven't come anywhere at all. You might get to be president, but your children can still be slaughtered legally. Only this time we're not taking 'no' for an answer. We will see that justice is done.
    
        One last thing. To those of you who sit silently watching and perhaps not sensing the same outrage at this miscarriage of justice, because your children are safe, or because you don't feel this is your problem, ponder, if you will, Martin Niemöller's words:
    
        First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out--
        because I was not a communist;
        Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out--
        because I was not a socialist;
        Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out--
        because I was not a trade unionist;
        Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--
        because I was not a Jew;
        Then they came for me--
        and there was no one left to speak out for me.
    
        Trayvon belongs to all of America. And until you see him as your child too, we all remain in bondage.

H/T Edie Lee Harris

Don't Pull the Plug on Hank Williams Jr.

Since when is expressing your point of view about the President of the United States of America a firing offense? I mean, I thought we had this little thingy called the First Amendment to the Constitution which allowed Americans to express their point of view without reprisal. And, didn't we have a Revolutionary War to fight for liberty and justice for all? Aren't our troops currently in Iraq and Afghanistan losing life and limb fighting for our freedoms? Okay, that last line was a snark, but you get my drift.

Before the Hank Williams Jr. has the right to say whatever he wants and ESPN has the right to fire him chorus kicks in full gear, think about it...if expressing your beliefs get you fired do you really have freedom of expression? No.

ESPN is sliding down the slippery slope of censorship.

Censorship is the suppression of speech or other public communication which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or inconvenient to the general body of people as determined by a government, media outlet, or other controlling body.

Do I agree with William's comparison of President Obama to Hitler? Hell no I don't.

Do I respect his right to compare President Obama to Hitler? Hell yes, I do.

"Freedom isn't Free", remember?

Are you ready for some football?

RedEye's Week in Review

What a week this has been. It began with the intruption of Sunday's prime time line up and surprise announcement of the capture, killing and burial at sea of Osama bin Laden.

The Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads were besides themselves, spinning gleefully the narrative of a a fierce fire fight between Osama and The Navy Seals complete with Osama using a woman as a shield. There was just one tiny problem...the narrative didn't fit the facts, so they changed the narrative to one of vindication and justice for for the victims of 911. Let us not forget this is the same media who enabled Bush and Company to send our troops to war based on DEAD WRONG INTELLIGENCE.

Speaking of our troops and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,what about the over 4000men and women who killed in Iraq and Afghanistan fighting the so called War on Terror? What about the thousands who were wounded and maimed for life? What about the countless innocent Iraqi and Afghan men, women, and children who were killed, wounded, or maimed for life? Where is their vengeance?

WASHINGTON — An exhaustive review of more than 600,000 Iraqi documents that were captured after the 2003 U.S. invasion has found no evidence that Saddam Hussein's regime had any operational links with Osama bin Laden's al Qaida terrorist network.

The greatest threat to America is a misinformed public.

When it comes to creating "facts" out of fiction - through repetition in the corporate media and by the right-wing funded echo chamber - the greatest threat to our nation may come from a misinformed public.

While the mainstream media is focusing on Birthers, Deathers and reliving 911 the right wing is busy waging a war on voting rights,a war against unions and a war on justice.

For Alabama to be second in the nation on religiosity (?) we sure do have a lot of Tornado's. Do you think God is trying to tell them something? Do you think they will listen or will they continue their evil ways?

Time will tell the truth because the media sure won't.

Combined with attempts by Republicans to restrict unions from engaging in perfectly legal political activity, House Speaker Dean Cannon’s move to try and pack the Florida Supreme Court to thwart the will of Florida voters who approved the Fair Districts amendments and to try and game redistricting, and their rush to rake in corporate cash through “buy me, I’m for sale” leadership funds, expect Florida to be one of the nastiest hubs of what’s sure to be an ugly 2012 election.

Lord help us.

Redeye's Alabama and Georgia Congress Critter Watch

The Terri Sewell fan club, aka Left in Alabama,makes much hay out press releases touting a Department of Homeland Security grant to the Birmingham Fire and Rescue Department, and an opportunity for high school students to compete in an art contest, but nary a word about Sewell being the only freshman democrat to sign a letter asking for less stringent boiler rules.

A coalition of freshmen lawmakers wrote to Administrator Lisa Jackson Wednesday calling on the agency to issue less stringent final regulations for limiting air pollution from industrial boilers.
The letter was signed by 61 members of the House. Only one Democrat, Rep. Terri Sewell (Ala.), signed on. It builds on a similar letter from 13 Senate freshmen.A coalition of lawmakers and industry groups have railed against the agency’s proposed regulations for industrial boilers, arguing they are impossible to meet. The agency has said its trying to address concerns as it crafts final rules.

Psst Terri! It's not about Y-O-U, remember Shirley Chishom?

Sewell, daughter of Selma's first African-American city councilwoman, noted that she had interviewed Shirley Chisolm for her thesis "Black Women in Politics: Our Time has Come" back in the 1980's. She quoted Chisolm on public service:

"Service is the rent we pay for the privilege of living on this earth."

... and said, "I'm asking you on July 13th to let me make a small deposit toward that rent. You will not, you will not, be sorry."

Congress Critter Mo Brooks came under fire in Eye Rack, for real.

U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville, was part of a congressional delegation that came under fire while visiting Iraq this week, according to the website Politico.com.

Brooks and Reps. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., Chris Gibson, R-N.Y., David Cicilline, D-R.I., and Guam Democrat Madeleine Bordallo were eating lunch with troops at a military base Wednesday when the base came under rocket attack, Politico reported Friday.

No one was injured during the attack.

About a half hour later, the base was attacked again, and the representatives were escorted to a bunker. Again, no one was injured.

“I don’t think any of the members of our delegation experienced any fear,” Brooks, a member of the Armed Services Committee, told Politico from an undisclosed location in Iraq. “We placed our trust in our armed services, and they were very professional. They did exactly what they should do.”

Yeah, and Mo and the rest of the Congressional Cowards did what they do best. They cut and ran as fast as their little privileged legs would carry them to get on a plane back to America and left our sons and daughters over there to dodge bullets and rocket attacks 24/7.

Psst Mo! Are the Eye Rack Eees free yet? I thought the Eye Rack Eees were going to dance in the streets and throw flowers and candy at our troops? I thought Eye Rack Eee oil was going to pay for the W-ar?

Bring our troops home. Now. There are no Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq. Saddam didn't have anything to do with 911. We were lied to. Cut spending in Iraq and Afghanistan, not in America. The poor and the elderly have to give up heat in winter and air conditioning in summer. Cuts to medicare and social security will affect the middle class. WTF are the rich going to give up?

Let's make the midnight train across the state line to Georgia, where Rep. Paul Broun (TeaPublican, gutless coward) is asked, 'Who is going to shoot Obama?' and he didn't say a mumbling word.

Well, I would like to remind people how the media played a clip (out of context) of Reverend Jeremiah Wright saying "God Damn America" over and over again,forced President Obama to reject his church, renounce the man who performed his marriage ceremony and reject the man who baptised both his daughters.

I also want to remind people of the young man being tasered at a John Kerry event for trying to ask a question at a town hall meeting.

Anti War Activist Cindy Sheehan was arrested inside the capital for wearing a T Shirt.

Don't forget the outrage over then candidate Obama's bitter, clinging to their guns remarks (also taken out of context).

So where is the call for elected officials like Broun to reject, renounce and reputiate questions like this?

Crickets

It's the stoopid WAR, Stoopid!

What part of the reason we are broke is because we are spending BILLIONS of dollars per month fighting W-ars in Iraq and Afghanistan don't our *cough cough* elected officials don't understand?

What part of the reason our counties, cities and states are broke is because we are spending BILLIONS of dollars per month fighting W-ars in Iraq and Afghanistan don't our *ahem* elected officials not understand?

What part of all war all the time and giving the rich a tax cut are the reason we are broke don't our elected officials understand?

What part of you can't fit a square peg into a round hole aka balance the budget *snark* by waging W-ar on the middle class (working poor), labor (working poor) and the disenfranchised (poor) don't they understand?

What part of we the people are sick and tired of being lied too don't they understand?

Wisconsin is Ground Zero. Despite the lame stream media spin, Wisconsin isn't about balancing the budget. It's about putting organized labor in it's place. Thank goodness Wisconsin democrats have a spine.

What GuyinMilwaukee said;

Yeah, I love how the Teabaggies are always screaming about how Obama and the Dems are shredding the constitution, but damned if they can come up with a coherent example of it. Someone else exercises their ACTUAL constitutional rights, like the right to peacable assembly and redress of grievances, and they get all pompous about "the people have spoken" etc. Somehow that didn't apply to them when they were disrupting (and sometimes, not peacefully) the townhall meetings. They were mum about the obstruction of the Senate process by the secret holds and requiring everything to get a super majority. Where was the tut-tutting of the corporate media? I don't remember any. But now we get the Villagers, the know-nothings that follow Beck, Limbaugh, Fox News and the Astroturfed mythology of the teabag cult weighing in with their fictional talking points, saying the unions don't even have a right to assemble. Assholes.
The hypcrisy of it all serves to underscore its real purpose: the corporate take over of government, aka fascism.

If President Obama, John Boehner and the TeaPublicans are serious about cutting spending, stop spending our tax dollars on stupid wars! They need to put up or STFU.

Tea-baggers, Republicans, and Blue-Dog Democrats in Congress use their convoluted “values” and the deficit as excuses to slash and burn social safety net programs ... witness Planned Parenthood. Social Security and Medicare appear to be next on the chopping bloc, never mind that “we the people” have actually paid for these “entitlements.” So, I suggest we actually test their resolve and commitment to reducing the deficit by demanding they implement a “Deficit Reduction Tax.” It goes something like this:

All elected and appointed officials of the US Government will have 10% of their gross monthly earnings deducted and paid towards the deficit reduction.

All retired elected and appointed officials of the US Government with federal retirement benefits exceeding the US median household income (approximately $50K) will have 10% of their federal retirement income in excess of the US median income deducted and paid towards deficit reduction.

The TeaPublicans don't have a problem spending tax dollars rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan, but they want to cut spending in America. Go figure.

The new tea party-backed freshman class came to Washington to cut spending. Period. And they’ve joined forces with old-line conservatives in the Republican Study Committee to form an immovable bloc on the issue.

As a whole, that dominant faction of the GOP doesn’t like government much. So if the choice is to keep the same government running at the same rate or to shut it down briefly, some are sure to pick shutdown.

Orange Boehner is finding it takes more than a big gavel to heard cats. Snickering

Cats are scurrying all over the damn place…and rumor has it they turned the GOP legislative plan into a litter box and told Speaker Boehner to put his fucking gavel to use and get to scoopin’!

Bring our troops and our tax dollars home. Cut spending on all war all the time.

We were lied too

The nimby pamby, tree hugging, latte drinking, Birkenstock wearing, hybrid car driving, long haired hippy, anti war protesters were right (no pun). Defector admits to WMD lies that triggered Iraq war

The defector who convinced the White House that Iraq had a secret biological weapons programme has admitted for the first time that he lied about his story, then watched in shock as it was used to justify the war.

No stuff Sherlock?

The admission comes just after the eighth anniversary of Colin Powell's speech to the United Nations in which the then-US secretary of state relied heavily on lies that Janabi had told the German secret service, the BND. It also follows the release of former defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld's memoirs, in which he admitted Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction programme.

So let me see if I've got this right (pun intended), our sons and daughters were sent to Iraq to look for WMD that was not there and they are still there. Billions of our tax dollars were spent looking for WMD that was not there and are still being spent there. Our sons and daughters lost life and limbs based on a big WMD L-I-E.

OK, let's flip the script as the young people say. President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said they had proof of tons and tons of WMD in Iraq and Saddam was about to use them on us.

Remember Cindy Sheehan?

Cindy Lee Miller Sheehan (born July 10, 1957) is an American anti-war activist whose son, specialist Casey Sheehan, was killed during his service in the Iraq War by the Mahdi Army on April 4, 2004. She attracted national and international media attention in August 2005 for her extended anti-war protest at a makeshift camp outside President George W. Bush's Texas ranch—a stand which drew both passionate support and angry criticism. She ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2008. She is a vocal critic of President Barack Obama's foreign policy, saying: "I don't think much has changed since the Bush administration."

Only in America would the mother of a dead United States soldier be subjected to treatment like this from her fellow Americans.

I received an email today that had this subject line: "Throw the Bitch in the Ditch." The writer accused me of "throwing dirt" on Casey, himself and his son who all have served the country. I have NEVER said anything to disparage the honorable service of Casey or the others who have signed up to be in the military, only to be abused by the leadership of this country. This writer didn't even blink an eye at calling the mother of a war hero "bitch." I wonder how the email writer feels about his own leadership "throwing dirt" on the service of actual military men like: John Kerry; Jack Murtha; Max Cleland, and yes, even John McCain? I have never questioned people who try to stay alive fighting in the dishonorable wars of the old men. Who I appreciate even more, though, are the people of courage who resist killing innocent people and become conscientious objectors. I wish Casey had. I am hoping that would have happened. He told everyone before he left for Iraq that he didn't think he could "kill anyone."

This is the human cost of the big Weapons of Mass Destruction L-I-E. Read it and weep. republicans need to be reminded daily they supported the big lie lock step when they start talking about big government spending and reducing the deficit on the backs of the poor and the middle class. The mainstream media needs to be reminded daily they enabled the big lie when they start talking about John Edwards lying to supporters about an extra martial affair. The birthers need to be reminded daily our sons and daughters are dying and being maimed for life on foreign soil when they argue President Obama is perhaps not eligible for the office he holds.

It's not wise to blog about Terri Sewell

Strike that, it's not wise for ME to blog about 7th District Congressperson elect Terri Sewell, nor is it wise for me to link to my damn own stuff at Left in Alabama.

Is it a coincidence that once again, almost a year to the date, I'm banned from logging on and linking to Left if Alabama after posting several posts critical of Terri Sewell?

Is it a coincidence that after an exchange with an anonymous poster accusing me of obsessing over Terri Sewell, not having an original thought just a lot of links to LiA and told to find my own voice, I'm banned from logging on and linking to Left in Alabama?

This isn't the first time someone(s) have tried to silence me and It probably won't be the last. It's a shame our sons and daughters are fighting, dying, and being maimed for life-fighting for Freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan, but some us are fighting for equal rights and civil rights right here in the U.S.A.

I swear to the Lord
I still can't see
Why Democracy means
Everybody but me.
"The Black Man Speaks," from Jim Crow's Last Stand (1943)

Langston Hughes

Let America Be America Again, from A New Song (1938)
Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed —
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.
O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.
I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek —
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.
For all the dreams we've dreamed
And all the songs we've sung
And all the hopes we've held
And all the flags we've hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay —
Except the dream that's almost dead today.
O, let America be America again —
The land that never has been yet —
And yet must be — the land where every man is free.
Sure, call me any ugly name you choose —
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people's lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!
O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath —
America will be!
Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain —
All, all the stretch of these great green states —
And make America again!

Freedom isn't Free, Shock and Awe, Shock and Shame

Major combat operations are officially over in Iraq and the majority of our troops are coming home. But we still have over 50,000 troops in Iraq and President Obama just sent more troops to Afghanistan. IMHO the W-ar on freedom just changed locations. Our sons and daughters are still in harms way on foreign soil. Billions/Trillions of tax dollars are being spent and for what noble cause? Anybody know? How many more of our sons and daughters have to die on foreign soil? How much more of our tax dollars are going to be spent on all war all the time? What's the strategy? What's the end game? When are the American people going to say enough is enough? I'm just asking...

Note there is nary a peep out of the right wing about our troops coming home from Iraq today.

For us on the left, today is a day to celebrate the start of the end of this war. For the right, it’s a sad day in which their favorite national pastime is coming to an end.

Yep the right loves some all war all the time and they don't mind spending money bombing people, but they have a real problem with feeding hungry people in the United States of America. Go figure.

National priorities are determined by the manner in which a nation allocates its limited resources; how and where it spends its money. At the end of July Congress passed a $33 billion supplemental war bill for President Obama's troop surge in Afghanistan. This past Tuesday the president signed a multi billion-dollar bailout bill for cash-strapped states but cut $12 billion from future food stamp funding to help pay for it. Proponents of this measure argue that using food stamp funding in order to save public sector jobs such as teachers, police officers, and firefighters at the state level is a valid trade-off.

Meanwhile in the land of the free and the home of the brave, the number of Americans who believe Obama is a Muslim has doubled. I wonder why? It's not like the media hasn't done everything it could to set the record straight. *Snark* Do ya think the media made Mosque controversy has something to do with the numbers?

Given that white Christian supremacist Tim McVeigh bombed the Oklahoma City Federal Building, shouldn't we ban white churches from Oklahoma?

As New York City's indigenous Lanape Natives died at Ground Zero by the thousands when overrun by Christian colonists, shouldn't we ban Christian churches from their sacred ground?

If a mosque near Ground Zero is bad, then why not ban all Muslims from downtown New York? For this to work, should we require all Muslims in the city to wear yellow crescents?

And thanks to The Supreme Court ruling that corporations have the same rights as people Faux News Came Out of the Closet. I thought Faux News was fair and balanced? If they were fair and balanced they would donate $1 Million to the Democratic Governors Association.

Mission Accomplished. Freedom isn't Free. It's shocking and awful.

Support Obama or Else!

Support Obama and STFU!
Support Obama or leave!
Don't think, support Obama!
Stop whining, Support Obama!
Give him credit for what he has done!
Give him time, he's only been in office 18 months!


There shall be no criticism of President Bush, I mean Obama. Deja Voodoo all over again? One thing that gets my goat is people who don't have problem with President Obama's policies and who don't want to criticize his actions bashing those of us who do

 If you support Obama blindly, that's fine. If you don't want to question Obama that's fine. But don't try and suppress dissent or dissenters. That's something that happens under evil dictatorships and under gop administrations. Remember?

For the record I am a strong supporter of President Obama's, but I have serious and strong objections to some of his policies. It's not the CHANGE I HOPED and VOTED for.

I voted for our troops coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan.
I voted for restoring honesty, integrity and justice to the Justice Department and an end to Scooter Libby justice and Brownie incompetence.
I voted for closing Gitmo.
I voted for health care reform that included a public option.
I voted for public education reform.
I voted for jobs.

Now, the way Obama is heading he will be a one term President because his base, aka The Professional Left will stay home in November (can you say Scott Brown?).

Former White House Press Secretary  Robert Gibbs showed his true colors (pun intended) when he attacked The Professional Left.  Like former Mississippi Senator Trent Lott , he told us us how some in power in this administration really about the base. It also explains why President Obama's agenda is what it is (not) and why his poll numbers are tanking enabling republicans to get their hands on the car keys in November.

Was Robert Gibbs in cahoots with Rush Limbaugh to make sure President Obama failed? How many more Robert Gibbs are there in the Obama administration? Hmmmmm....

Gibbs re "Professional Liberals":

"They will be satisfied when we have Canadian health care and we've eliminated the Pentagon. That's not reality," he added. "They wouldn't be satisfied if Dennis Kucinich was President."

Wrong Mr. Gibbs. I would be perfectly satisfied if Dennis Kuchinich was President. For one thing, our sons and daughters would be coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Our tax dollars would be used to rebuild America. We would have health care reform that included a public option. As a matter of fact Mr. Gibbs, Dennis Kuchinich has been right (no pun) about everything.

What The Rude Pundit said, all the damn way! Warning, contains raw, language.

So, let's get this straight, Bobby G. We on the left warned your boss and the Democrats that every time you reached out your hands to the Republicans, those f&^kers would just gnaw on 'em. But you kept on with the effort of bipartisanship, watering down bills and watering 'em down. Anyone with a lick of sense knew that the GOP was just setting you up: force 'em to compromise and then make sure that what gets passed does just a scintilla of what could have been done. On bill after bill these mad negotiations occurred, and now you're accusing us of not living in reality? No, really, truly, f&*k you, man.

And all of you who don't have a problem with President Obama's agenda STFU. Really, truly.

Redeye's Week in Review

Who Shall Represent the Pettus Bridge in Congress, Corporate Attorney Artur, I mean Terri Sewell or Jefferson County Commissioner Sheila Smoot? That is the question voters in AL CD 7 will answer in the democratic primary on July 9. It's no secret I consider Terri Sewell to be the female version of the previous CD 7 Congress Critter and after reading the concerns raised in this informative diary I have agree with the author:

unless I were to see some solid answers to the concerns I have raised, my gut instinct is that Smoot would be a more loyal member of both the Democratic majority, and the Congressional Black Caucus, and would thus serve her constituents better.

Welcome to my Blog roll Wanted Alabama Democrats.

Speaking of the soon to be former ex CD 7 Congress Critter, Artur Davis wants to become a white collar criminal defense lawyer.

U.S. Rep. Artur Davis, D-Birmingham, said that after he leaves Congress he wants to practice law as a white-collar criminal defense lawyer, possibly in Washington, D.C.

I think it's important to define white collar crime just to be clear;

lawbreaking by salaried worker: theft, fraud, embezzlement, or some other nonviolent lawbreaking act perpetrated by a salaried employee or senior manager of a company or organization

I think it's also important to identify some infamous white collar criminals

Speaking of white collar criminals, what do Enron's Jeffery Skilling and former Democratic Alabama Governor Don Siegelman have in common? Well, the Supreme Court just ruled prosecutors *ahem* erred;

MONTGOMERY — Attorneys for a former Alabama governor convicted of bribery and other charges say a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on a white collar crime law could lead courts to throw out at least some of counts against him and a former Health South CEO.

The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that prosecutors erred in using the "honest services" law in the prosecution of former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling.

Ex-Gov. Don Siegelman and Richard Scrushy were convicted in 2006 of bribery and other charges in a federal government corruption case.

Siegelman attorney Vince Kilborn said the "honest services" law was also used in the prosecution of both men and that the ruling might encourage the court to look favorably on their appeals.

Karma is a b$%ch isn't it? Isn't is ironic O-I-L is washing up on the shores of all the reddest of the red states and they are crying out for some big guvermint aide? What happened to drill baby drill and personal responsibility? I wonder if voters who live on Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida smell the coffee and will stop voting republican to bite off their nose to spite their face?
Naaaah. That would be too much like right. :)

Speaking of those crazy republicans, they KILLED the BILL extending unemployment benifits last night. I don't get it, republicans are anti extending umemployment benifits but don't have a problem funding never ending W-ar. What do they expect people to do? Desperate times make sesperate people do desperate things.

President Obama finally found some a$$ to kick, but I think we need to get our sons and daughters a$$es out of Iraq and Afghanistan before more are killed, wounded or maimed for life. Bring our troops home. NOW. Send the tea baggers, republicans and the media to stop the momentum of the Taliban, stay the course, fight em over there so we won't have to fight em over here blab blab blah blah.

Today marks the first anniversary of the death of Michael Jackson, I haven't figured out how to em bed video yet (hint hint) but I want to close with words from one of e Micheal Jackson last songs,
They don't really care about us.
Gone to soon, RIP Michael Jackson.

Memorial Day Musings

At it's inception Memorial Day was known as Decoration Day,originating after the Civil War to honor , it originated in the years following the Civil War to acknowledge the brave Americans who fought in the Civil War and to decorate their graves. Ironically the red, republican, confederate,slave states hold a seperate holiday to honor soliders who died fighting against the United States of America. They can't honor soldiers on Memorial Day with the rest of the nation, that would be too much like right (pun intended), they have to have a *ahem* seperate holiday.

Columnist Leonard Pitts notes they have never been on our side.

“They” meaning social conservatives. “Our” meaning African-American people.

They were not there in the century after the Civil War, as conservative Southern Democrats violently repressed would-be black voters, made a shadow government of the Ku Klux Klan, turned a deaf ear to the howling of lynch mobs and lynch victims. They have not been there in the half century since, as conservative Southern Republicans fought affirmative action, poverty programs, and attempts to ban the American swastika, i.e., the Confederate battle flag, from public lands.

I hate to tell Linda Chavez, but Rand Paul and Russell Pearce are the ugly face of the gop.

Are the likes of Rand Paul and Russell Pearce becoming the face of the Republican Party? Let's hope not. Paul, an ophthalmologist who recently became the Senate nominee from Kentucky, has already embroiled himself in controversy over his comments about the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Pearce, the Arizona legislator who sponsored the state's tough anti-illegal immigrant law, has now decided to target not only illegal immigrants but their U.S.-citizen children as well. Both men represent the soft underbelly of the populist movement that catapulted them to fame —and a danger to the future of the Republican Party.

The time to celebrate and remember Memorial/Decoration Day is on election day because for military families , the day is compounded by far more than sleeping in, grilling and beer. It's a day to honor the lives of the soldiers who put themselves into the hands of the officials whom we as a citizenry elect, the soldiers who say "I'll follow your orders" whether they want to or not, for the country.


Remember when you go to the polls and pull that lever you are giving elected officials the authority and the power to send our sons and daughters to war. Remember that pResident George W. Bush sent our troops to Iraq based on DEAD WRONG INTELLIGENCE. Remember that President Abraham Lincoln sent our troops to war to preserve the Union. Remember all the wars and rumors of wars when you pull that lever. Remember our troops are fighting in the name of ALL Americans, regardless of race, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation or economic circumstance. Remember they aren't laying their lives and limbs on the line for the red states or the blue states but the United States of America. With liberty and justice for ALL.

George R. Nixon said it best in a letter to the Editor in today's Huntsville Times
GOP knows all
Well, the election is here and it looks to me like the Republicans will win it all. It must really be nice to be a Republican at this time. You know all the questions; just none of the answers.

If anyone questions you or disagrees with anything you say, they are un-American, socialist, and worst of all, a liberal.

You care little about the working man so long as he keeps voting to support Big Business and the rich.

You say you believe in God, but that is only on Sunday, while the rest of the week, you don't practice what he teaches.

You talk about cutting government spending, yet all you do is cut those programs that benefit the poor and uneducated.

Most of all, you know you have the money and backing from Big Business and corporations to outspend anyone who runs against you.

You say you don't want the federal government in your business, yet I haven't seen one Republican turn down or give back any money the federal government has given him.

Finally, you can blame everyone else and claim you had no hand into getting us into any of the problems we now have. Yes, it must be nice to be a Republican.
George R. Nixon



Redeye, tiptoeing away from the computer to go pray voters remember Memorial Day today and on election day tomorrow.

So much hypocrisy, so little time.

The War on Terra Continues. A NATO airstrike mistakenly killed 28-30 people today. I'm with StevenD, How much longer is this madness going to continue? When will enough killing and bombing be enough? Bring our troops home. Bring them home now.

So why are we repeating the same mistakes made by other "super powers" of the past? In a time of extraordinary economic decline for most Americans we continue to pour precious resources into a conflict that we cannot "win" whatever "metric" one uses to measure "winning."

Congress should immediately reinstate funds to ACORN. This knee-jerk action by Congress was a travesty. It's been proven the whole Pimp story was a right wing funded set up and lie. ACORNS only crime was being a community organizing group. They need to go after the real Pimps, but of course they won't. That would be to much like right(pun intended).

O'Keefe got big accolades from a lot of the CPAC speakers and of course ACORN got ripped up one side and down the other.

Sometimes I think some of the elected people in DC never read anything and instead rely on each other regarding what to think. They jumped all over ACORN without really looking into the whole case.

I thought I read somewhere that a judge had said the govt. had to give ACORN the money they had already been promised.

Instead of going after ACORN they need to go after stuff like THIS.

Voters trying to cast ballots in Lower Oxford Township East stood in lines for so long that TV crews showed up to capture the scene. Some of those waiting ordered out for pizza. Sympathetic neighbors brought water and coffee. When the last vote was cast shortly before 11 p.m., polls were officially closing on the West Coast and Barack Obama had already been declared the winner.

Some of the 1,440 who voted there that day waited for seven to eight hours in the rain, queuing up close enough to working railroad tracks to reach out and touch passing freight cars. The tiny community center they waited to enter could accommodate only seven booths and one optical scanner. The adjacent parking lot was big enough for a dozen cars.

This wasn't a mistake. It was deliberate. It was the clearest example you could hope to find of partisan politics trumping common sense and civic duty.

Listen up Democrats! Bipartisanshop=Appeasement. When are you going to learn that appeasement doesn't work? It's not wise to appease republicans. It's how they turn the winners into the losers and the losers into the winners.

The theory is that if Democrats make a show out of reaching out to Republicans, but Republicans slap Democrats down every time and obstruct for the sake of obstructing, then Democrats will gain politically.

The reality is that Republicans gain in the polls if Democrats fail to pass legislation that improves people's lives, no matter the political theater of obstruction.

Thanks to the democratically controlled Congress, President Obama is afraid to lead. Seriously. They've made him afraid of the far left liberals, who have been right about everything from the war to the deficity in favor of the so called moderates and independents. The President's Healthcare Bill and What is Missing is proof.

There’s no public option in the Prez’s proposal which is a shame since polls show that the majority of Americans want a public option (such a dumb phrase), as good as say… Medicare or VA health benefits or even the government-sponsored program in which Sarah Palin’s son Tripp is hypocritically enrolled. The audacity of that woman — what’s good enough for her son is evidently not good enough for other Americans, it would seem.

Sarah Palin is the Hypocrit of the Decade.

As we all know, Sarah's suffering for her family is boundless, but this must be the worst of all. What is difficult to understand is why she doesn't use this most personal example of the horrors of government run health care in her public cries to prevent Obamacare. She normally isn't one to suffer in silence; maybe someone in the media will ask her to share the nightmare that her daughter must endure knowing, all day every day, that her son will receive health care regardless of her ability to afford it. Or maybe not.

Tiger Yoo? While the MSM was breathlessly parsing every word of Tiger Woods apology they totally ignored the story about John Woo and the Massacre Memo

In John Yoo's vision of executive power, the president can legally order a village of civilians "massacred," according to the internal Justice Department report released Friday.

The MSM calls Glenn Becks wild eyed rant *cough cough* Brave Criticism of the GOP. Give me a break.

Take a look at these headlines.

WaPo: “At CPAC, Glenn Beck scolds the Republican Party.“
MSNBC: “Beck criticizes Obama and the GOP.“
The Atlantic: “Beck Thumps GOP, Puzzling Conservatives.”
L.A. Times: “Glenn Beck to Republican Party: Repent.“
And on and on. If you only skimmed those headlines, you’d think that Beck went boldly into the belly of the beast, and had some kind of Sister Souljah moment.

Except Beck didn’t do that. He blew smoke up the CPAC audience’s white asses by simply reciting, verbatim, exactly the same tired spiel Republican leaders have been parroting nonstop since they lost control of Congress in 2006.

Are we in trouble yet?

All War All the Time, UNfair and Unbalanced

War with a new name is still war, or as mcjoan says, A Rose by any other name..... The Iraq occupation started of as Operation Iraqi Liberation until the warmongers figured out the acronym spelled O.I.L (go ahead and laugh), so they changed the name to Operation Iraqi Freedom (are the Eye Rack Eees free yet?), as of September 1 when combat troops leave it will be called Operation New Damn, I mean Dawn. Who the heck comes up with this stuff?

George W. Bush told us he was sending our sons and daughters to Iraq because he had proof of tons and tons of Weapon of Mass Destruction and Saddam was about to use them on us, remember? So where are the WMD?

Remember how Bush and Dick told us the Iraqis would greet as liberators and throw flowers and candy at our troops and Iraqi oil would pay would pay for the war. So, did the Iraqis greet us as liberators? Nope. The only thing the Iraqi people are throwing at our troops are bombs and bullets, and we aren't even going to talk about the 4 billion dollar a month price tag for the W-ar.

Can you imagine the outrage if Bill Clinton had sent our troops to war based on dead wrong intelligence? I mean he was impeached for trying to conceal a private sexual affair for Christ sake. The teabaggers are upset at President Obama's "out of control spending for domestics issues" but don't say a mumbling word about the price tag of the war and it's negative impact on the deficit.

The mantra from the right said our troops couldn't come home until we (they) win in Iraq. Win what? A mistake?

Operation New Dawn My Donkey.