Chicago Mayor Luis Gutierrez?

Chicago Mayor Daley political future in doubt with scandals at Chicago City Hall and an ongoing federal corruption investigation, potential candidates are stepping forward. Rep. Luis Gutierrez is a possible candidate for Mayor of Chicago.

"Would I like to one day run for mayor of the City of Chicago? Absolutely," said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, (D)-Chicago.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez calls for Daley administration to come competently clean on hired truck scandal.

Chicago Congressman Luis Gutierrez says he is thinking more seriously than ever about running for mayor in 2007 because the massive corruption scandal raises serious questions about the city's direction and the credibility of a mayor whose administration claims not to know how Angelo Torres, a former gang member with political clout, became the head of the scandal-ridden, $40-million-a-year Hired Truck program.

"How does someone get an $80,000-plus-a-year job, and no one in city government knows how he got it? Listen, no one in the City of Chicago believes that they don't know, and I think that they have to come completely clean," said Gutierrez.

I said it before, Chicago Mayor Daley has to go. Corruption is not a Democratic value and I am not willing to give corruption a free pass if it has a ‘D’ in front of there name. Talking tough is a good start by the Congressman, but it will take more than rhetoric to win in Chicago. If Gutierrez ever want to become mayor the time to run is in 2007 against Daley machine.

The Bush Legacy: Poverty

The first line this AP article should be at the top of any discussion of the Bush legacy.

The nation's poverty rate rose to 12.7 percent of the population last year, the fourth consecutive annual increase, the Census Bureau said Tuesday.

Add poverty, household income and healthcare to the long list of national issues President Bush fail to address or made worst with this corporate friendly agenda.

The number of people without health insurance grew from 45 million to 45.8 million. At the same time, the number of people with health insurance coverage grew by 2 million last year.

The median household income, meanwhile, stood at $44,389, unchanged from 2003. Among racial and ethnic groups blacks had the lowest median income and Asians the highest. Median income refers to the point at which half of households earn more and half earn less.

Regionally, income declined only in the Midwest, down 2.8 percent to $44,657. The South was the poorest region and the Northeast and the West had the highest median incomes.

The South which has given President Bush his most loyal support continues to be the poorest region of the Nation, is it time for Democratic party to embrace economic populism?

The Bush legacy is a legacy of complete failure.

IL-Gov: Governor vs. Governor?

A column in the Daily Illini, independent student newspaper of University of Illinois, by Matt Simmons makes the case to Democrats to continue supporting Gov. Rod Blagojevich re-election, Let's stay blue.

The most important Democrat in the state is in danger of being replaced by a Republican in 2006.

Recent polls show that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's approval ratings have plummeted to 35 percent. A rating so low can only mean that state Democrats have turned against him. But I am clueless as to why Democrats are not behind Blagojevich, especially after considering what he has been able to accomplish in his first term.

Matt Simmons notes Gov. Rod Blagojevich accomplishments in education, health coverage, minimum wage and this strong record on social issues.

Since Blagojevich has been in office, Illinois increased spending on education by $2.3 billion and has sent more than 25,000 children to pre-school. Under Blagojevich, an additional 313,000 parents and children have health coverage and minimum wage is up while taxes are still virtually the same as they were under GOP leadership. These accomplishments are even more impressive when you consider that he inherited huge deficits, a recession and was hit by the President's tax cuts that stripped Illinois of billions of dollars.

Blagojevich's record on social issues is just as solid. He has been a consistent supporter of common sense gun control. His agenda for protecting the citizens of Illinois includes requiring child safety locks on all handguns, background checks at gun shows and protecting laws that allow the state police to track firearm purchases.

Matt Simmons final point is Republican governor will thwart Democratic legislature and continue GOP dreadful governing of states.

Even though the Democrats control both houses of the legislature, a Republican governor could hurt the progress Illinois has made in recent years. A Republican governor will most likely bring irresponsible tax cuts that will increase the state's deficit. A Republican governor would side with the extremist in the National Rifle Association and vote against the safety of the families and neighborhoods of Illinois. A Republican governor could bring the state-sanctioned homophobia that plagues most of America to Illinois. A Republican governor will attack affirmative action and hate crime laws that have protected minorities for so long.

The stakes are simply too high for democrats not to support Governor Blagojevich. Republicans are playing for keeps and will not hesitate to impose their right-wing agenda on the people of Illinois. Republicans rallied around the President to keep control of the country. Democrats need to do the same if they want Illinois to stay blue.

As a Democrat who did not vote for Gov. Rod Blagojevich in the Democratic primary in 2002, Matt Simmons makes a good case for Blagojevich. I am not very ecstatic over the Illinois Governor first term, but I will vote for him again if he is the Democratic candidate.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich advisers assume former Gov. Jim Edgar will run and planning an aggressive campaign against Republican.

Current governor Blagojevich's re-election campaign has a message for former governor Jim Edgar: if you do run against Rod, you'll face the toughest attacks you've ever seen and a review of the old MSI scandal.

'This was something people went to jail for. And at least five of his top staff people were called unindicted co-conspirators. Now does Jim Edgar want to come back from the Rocky Mountains or wherever he's been handing out and face the music? I don't think so,' said Pete Giangreco with the Blagojevich campaign. [..]

'He was a do-nothing governor. I can't think of anything over eight years as a lasting legacy of Jim Edgar,' Giangreco said.

Republicans politicians across Illinois are making plans just in case Gov. Jim Edgar jumps in the race, some republicans voters and tried of Jim Edgar waiting game.

The game-playing by former Governor Jim Edgar on a decision to run for his old office is all too indicative of the utter contempt shown the citzens of this state by the Republican state "leadership."

What will it take for this state's voters to realize that those who deem themselves "leaders" are not part of the solution, but part of the problem.

Mr. Edgar, I call upon you to state, right now, what your intentions are, so that those who wish to try for the Governor's mansion know where they stand and can plan accordingly.

Mr. Edgar, I resent strongly your attempt to set yourself up as some sort of minor diety in Illinois politics. And I demand that the State Republican "leadership" get out of the way, resigning, if necessary to allow the electoral process to happen the way it should.

The time for "leaders" who are for more concerned with their perks and power is past, let the Illinois Republican Party move forward.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich with his huge war chest is planning an aggressive campaign against Republicans, Is current Golden Boy for the Republican party of Illinois Jim Edgar ready for a long campaign? The longer Edgar waits to make up this mind, all the rest of the GOP candidates are going to look like lightweights against Gov. Blagojevich. I only wish the Illinois GOP was in charge or the RNC.

High Cost of College Textbooks

As a college student, the high cost of textbooks is a concern.

$706.57 for 12 textbooks.

After buying textbooks for two years at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Louiza Zouzias has come to expect high prices for the hefty books.

But even Zouzias was shocked Wednesday when the bookstore cash register displayed a $706.57 tab for 12 books she needs this semester, including a $160.15 economics book.

"I still have a few more I have to buy," sighed Zouzias, an accounting major, as she handed over a check. "I never get used to that much money coming out of my pocket."

According to Government Accountability Office:

The GAO, an independent, investigative arm of Congress, found that an average student spends between $850 to $900 on textbooks and supplies, approximately 26 percent of the cost of tuition and fees at a public, four-year college. [..]

The GAO study also found that publishers bundle supplemental materials with books to artificially drive up textbook costs.

Pat Quinn Illinois Lt. Governor propose reform called College Textbook Initiative 2005 to address the growing problems of high price of college textbooks.

Requiring stores which sell college textbooks to make “unbundled” booksavailable for purchase, so students may buy materials a la carte.

Providing a sales tax exemption for college textbooks.

Requiring publishers to provide at least one free copy each textbook per 100 students in the class to the college library for use in its reserve collection.

Urging faculty to consider cost when assigning textbooks for their
students.

Urging students to participate in textbook swapping or rental programs.

All the reforms propose are good steps in reducing the price of textbooks, an other one will be a back-to-school sales tax holiday also proposed by Pat Quinn.

Under the proposal, the state’s portion of the sales tax (5 percent) would be waived on school supplies up to $50, clothing up to $100, and computers and software up to $3,000. County and municipal governments could opt in to the holiday regarding their locally-imposed sales taxes.

The propose reforms by Lt. Governor of Illinois Pat Quinn are common sense measures that should have bi-partisan support in helping reduce the high cost of education. I know this is not a big issue as in Iraq or Social Security but education reform and reducing the cost or higher education should be on all Democratic candidates for office platforms.

Terms Limits Are for Suckers & Rep. John Shimkus

Rep. John Shimkus Republican of Illinois might break this promise of terms limits to the people of 19th district of Illinois and run for congress again for this 7th term.

He had promised to leave House then

As Rep. John Shimkus sees it, he's got a problem: He's an honest man with sincere intentions, and he told his constituents in central and southern Illinois when he was elected in 1996 that he would only serve in Congress through 2008.

That's six terms, period.

But his party's top leaders, President Bush and House Speaker Dennis Hastert, have repeatedly told him that he is needed in Washington and urged him to break his term-limits pledge.

Politicians promising voters to only stay in congress for a few terms was just a fade popular among the GOP of the 90’s.

John Jackson, a political science professor at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, said it was not clear whether Shimkus would pay a high price for breaking the pledge.

"The term limits movement was very potent in the 1990s and it was heavily used by the Republican Party," Jackson said.

"It has now faded ... mostly because Republicans generally have changed their mind about it. Now that Republicans control the Congress, they don't think it's nearly as good an idea as they once thought it was."

Keeping promises to voters for Republicans is no longer a good idea as they once thought it was, term limits are for suckers.

Shimkus narrowly won his first election to represent his Southern Illinois district, previously held by Dick Durbin, D-Ill., until Durbin ran for the Senate. Shimkus has easily won re-election in recent contests, but the seat could become competitive again.

In the last round of redistricting, Illinois lost one congressional seat - then held by Rep. David Phelps, D-Eldorado - and a chunk of that territory was folded into Shimkus' district.

Jackson said the district leans Republican but "the right Democrat" could win it.

The real reason ignore term limits is to hold on to power, once you win a seat and run for re-election, incumbent win again over 90% of the time.

• John Shimkus has taken $21,934 from Tom DeLay's ARMPAC. No surprise that Shimkus voted with Tom DeLay 90% of the time between Jan. 1 2004 and March 31 2005.

• John Shimkus voted to weaken the ethics rules in a move that many say served only to protect Tom DeLay.

• When Republicans realized it was "impossible to win the communications battle" over the gutted ethics rules, Shimkus flip-flopped and voted to put the old rules back into place.

• When Democrats offered a solution to clean up the House by strengthening ethics rules, John Shimkus voted twice to make sure it never even came to an up or down vote.

You can expect if Rep. John Shimkus wins election in 2006 and runs again for re-election more of voting with corrupted Tom Delay majorities in the House over 90% of the time. Maybe we can do Shimkus a favor and kick him out in 2006 so he won’t have to break this term limit pledge.

Blue Illinois vs. Red Missouri

Illinois and Missouri were at one time bellwether states. 1976 was the only time Illinois did not go with the winner of the Presidential election, for Missouri it was in 1956 in which they did not pick the winner. Time has changed, they are no longer national bellwether states Illinois turned Blue with Gore and Kerry while Missouri is trending Red with President Bush. Jon Sawyer of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes an interesting article about the two states and their politics.

Blue Illinois vs. Red Missouri:

Robert Archibald, president of the Missouri Historical Society, says the roots
of Missouri's conservative trend go deep, back to patterns of settlement the
state experienced in the decades prior to the Civil War.

St. Louis was like much of Illinois, he noted, filled with immigrants direct
from Europe. Outstate Missourians, by contrast, came mostly from the American
south. The rural settlers tended to support the Confederacy, some of them
because they believed in slavery but even more, Archibald said, because of
"their suspicion of government, particularly government as problem-solver."

In the early 20th century those same outstate communities proved fertile ground
for the emergence of modern evangelical churches, sects like the Springfield,
Mo.-based Assemblies of God that reinforced conservative social views.

"My impression is that Missouri has a religious conservative base that's
stronger, an evangelical church base that's stronger, than in Illinois," said
political scientist John Jackson, a former chancellor at Southern Illinois
University Carbondale.

"In states like Missouri it's become almost an auxiliary operation of the
Republican party," he said. "You can't tell where the evangelical churches end
and where the Republican party begins."

Yet a more pronounced religious conservatism is clearly only one factor among
many. Illinois on average is younger, more educated and more urban, for
example, with a higher percentage of African-Americans and Hispanics. Missouri
is traditionally more averse to taxes, even so-called "sin" taxes. Its
cigarette tax is one-fifth that of Illinois and its excise tax on beer
one-third.

The more urban state with higher percentage for Hispanic and African Americans is turning Blue while state with a strong evangelical base is turning red. This might not be new news to many of you, but it does show the politicizing of evangelical churches in support of the Republican party versus Democratic strongholds in African community and essential of the Hispanic vote for the Democratic Party.

John Judis and Ruy Teixeira in their book, The Emerging Democratic Majority notes trends in national elections favor Democrats the future.

The Emerging Democratic Majority persuasively argues a simple thesis, but one with profound implications: Demographic groups that tend to support the ideas and candidates of the Democratic Party are growing rapidly as a percentage of the electorate. Groups that support Republican ideas and candidates are growing slowly, if at all. Not only are traditionally democratic voters such as African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and single women becoming a larger part of the voting public, but democratic-leaning white-collar professionals and the highly educated are increasing as well. At the same time, many blue-collar voters who defected to Ronald Reagan and the Republicans in the 1980's returned to the Democratic Party in the 1990's to vote for Bill Clinton.

The Republican coalitions can not hold much longer, with their evangelical base seeking to push their social agenda while only passing their big business agenda, failure on foreign policy and an unpopular President tough times are ahead for the GOP.

It is time for the vision of Democratic majorities to take place, no longer can the Democratic party wait for national trends to move our way.

GOP 2006: Copying Dems Playbook of 2002?

Is Rep. Tom Reynolds copying the Democratic playbook of 2002 of ignore the war and focus on domestic issues?

Representative Thomas M. Reynolds of New York, chairman of the Republican Congressional campaign committee, said he believed that the war would fade as an issue by next year and that even if it did not the elections would, as typically the case, be decided by local issues.

"I'm not concerned," Mr. Reynolds said. "Fifteen months away is a long time, and I don't see it. It's going to get back to the important issues of what's going on in the district. When it gets down to candidates, it's what's going on in the street that matters."

Noam Scheiber of the New Republic see parallel between Democrats of 2002 and Republicans of 2006.

Reynolds seems to think the path to victory for Republicans is ignoring national security. But, given how unpopular the war is, and given people's concerns about terrorism and how the war may be exacerbating our vulnerability to it, that's a disaster waiting to happen. The only way Republicans can turn this liability to their advantage is to use Iraq as a culture-war wedge issue, a la 2004, wherein they accuse Democrats of lacking the steel and resolve to defend the country. (No permission slips from the U.N., that sort of thing.)

In some respects, Reynolds's plan for 2006 is a mirror image of the Democrats disastrous plan for the 2002 elections, which involved getting the war "off the table" with a quick vote in order to talk about Social Security and prescription drugs, when in fact all people wanted to talk about was national security. We all saw how successful that was.

Republicans are not going to copy the Democratic playbook of 2002, for one thing most of their domestic policy is not popular and they rather keep American people dumb about their corporate agenda but Noam Scheiber is right on with this analysis of Republican strategy of accusing Democrats of lacking the steel and resolve to defend the country. It is there bread and butter.

IL-GOV: GOP Infighting

The Illinois GOP is calling for party unity at the state fair, but someone forgot to tell Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Oberweis.

The unity lasted a little more than 17 minutes.

That was when Aurora dairy owner Jim Oberweis took to the podium and unloaded on top party official Bob Kjellander over the millions of dollars in consulting fees Kjellander has made with the Democrats in control of state government.

In one of the more dramatic and strange moments of the campaign, Oberweis turned to Kjellander, who was seated about 10 feet behind him, and urged Kjellander to give up his positions as Republican national committeeman and treasurer of the Republican National Committee.

"You cannot serve two masters," Oberweis lectured to Kjellander. "You cannot serve the Republican Party while serving the Democratic Party. So Bob, I'd ask you on behalf of the good of the Republican Party to step down and to do it soon."

Bob Kjellander is close ally to Karl Rove and the new RNC Treasurer, claims he did nothing wrong and not stepping down form this party post.

"I just said I've done nothing wrong," Kjellander told reporters after the meeting. "We've followed every rule. We've filed every disclosure. There is absolutely nothing improper here, and I intend to serve my term."

Rep. Ray LaHood slams Jim Oberweis for speaking this mind and poisoning Republican day at the state fair.

Republican leaders are shaking their heads at Oberweis for trashing a fellow republican instead of Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich.

"People are fed up with the negativity that takes place within the party. And if somebody wants to criticize somebody else, they can do that. This was not the place to do it. And this was not the venue to do it. And I think it sort of poisoned the day a little bit," said Rep. Ray LaHood (R), Peoria.

Illinois Sen. Steven Rauschenberger a candidate for governor also slams Bob Kjellander at the state fair, but not as daring as Jim Oberweis.

“Middle class Illinoisans don't believe it's an honest system. When they hear stories about someone making $4 million, just simply introducing people regardless of what the arrangements are, whether they were legal or not, it doesn't pass the smell test,” said Illinois Sen. Steven Rauschenberger, another candidate for governor.

Jim Oberweis, Steve Rauschenberger, Judy Baar Topinka, Joseph Birkett, Ron Gidwitz, and Patrick O'Malley are possible or declared Republicans candidates for Governor. Most of them are lightweights, failed candidates in previous state races or too moderate for conservatives to win the nomination. There best hope is former Gov. Jim Edgar, but he is still undecided.

But one frustrated candidate says it is time for Jim Edgar to make a decision and stop "contemplating his navel." Governor Edgar rode into the state fair on horseback in 1997, and a lot of GOP leaders wish it was happening today. At Thursday's GOP pep rally at the fair, Edgar was a no-show as he considered a political comeback. [..]

"The future of the Republican party is in front of us. It's not in the rear-view mirror. You don't build a future by looking for icons of the past," said Steve Raushenberger, Republican candidate for governor.

Steve Raushenberger slams Gov. Jim Edgar, more GOP infighting. Hey, they can always bring back Alan Keyes and stop the bickering.

Do I Hate Freedom?

Do you hate freedom?

“How DARE you imply that we hate freedom?”

That’s what red-faced Liberals say, even as they protest against the war for freedom in Iraq and call our President a war criminal.

Liberals are such hypocrites, and I for one am sick of it. [..]

The answer to all these questions is simple. Liberals don’t really hate war. They hate freedom. It is time for these misguided, guilt-ridden, hypocritical Leftists to ‘fess up and just be honest with the American people.

Here’s the hard truth. Liberals are pro-abortion, pro-death, pro-gay, and anti-American. They don’t love our freedoms, let alone the Constitution that guarantees them. And they don’t really mind the State’s using war to advance their utopian goals of universal peace.

This is the latest rambling of Nathan Tabor the founder and publisher of the Conservative Voice. Nathan Tabor calls the sons and daughters of liberals spoiled, pampered children.

Listen up, Liberals! Why don’t you want the women and children of Iraq to have the same freedoms as you do here in America? If you don’t love freedom, move to Cuba. Then you won’t have the rights you now enjoy, and you won’t have to worry about your spoiled, pampered children having to go to war to defend them.

Nathan Tabor ignores the reality of President Bush as a spoiled, pampered child of a former President who did not want to send this son to fight for the rights that we enjoy.

When Clinton later sought NATO military action in the former Yugoslavia, intervening in behalf of the desperate Bosnian Muslims who were being slaughtered in a ruthless campaign of ethnic cleansing by the Serbs, most Conservatives did not protest - despite the fact that no vital U.S. interest was being threatened in the Balkans. (If you remember, Clinton completely bypassed the UN on this one.)

Again, Nathan Tabor ignores the reality. Leading Conservatives like Rick Santorum, Tom Delay, Trent Lott, Inhofe, Don Nickles and George W. Bush second-guess President Clinton and did not support him during time of war.

The rest of Nathan Tabor article is pure drivel.

Conservatives like Nathan Tabor and Ben Shapiro ignore reality and continue to put GOP above truth and the American people.

Political Power above Troops & American People

President Bush and the GOP apologists are putting their political power above the American people, which lead to hatred.

Such is the hatred of the far right at the dawn of the 21st Century. And my how the optical worm has turned. Today it is the left invoking faith, flag and family, while the right destroys crosses. Today it is the left that honors the war dead, raises up a Gold Star Mother and publicly prays for our troops, while the right viciously attacks a woman who gave her country everything. Today it is the left that patiently and peacefully respects the Office of the Presidency, while the right diminishes the office by claiming it's more important for the President to go bike-riding with a sports hero than comfort the mother of a war hero.

For the last two presidential elections it has been the Democratic Party whose nominee was a Vietnam War veteran, while the Republicans have sputtered out spurious defenses of their candidate's deceitful draft-dodging.

On Thursday, Dick Cheney, who said he had "other priorities" in the Vietnam era, and so helped himself to five draft deferments, will address the 73rd Convention of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. I do not think he will express remorse for the callousness with which he explained his cowardice. Nor do I expect him to apologize for the shocking, mocking Republicans who, at their New York Convention a year ago, sported Band-Aids with tiny purple hearts to mock the blood shed by John Kerry and so many other heroes in that misbegotten war.

No, Mr. Cheney, surrounded by body guards who would gladly give their life for him, will no doubt wrap himself in the flag. A flag Larry Chad Northern wrapped around his axle on Prairie Chapel Road.

This is the perfect example of the hatred on the right, and their loyalty to GOP above anything else.

Partisanship is more important than the sacrifices our men and women in uniform make, more important than respect for the mothers who surrender their sons and daughters to the country.

Partisanship is more important than getting their sorry asses in a military uniform and helping fight the war they'd rather watch from the sidelines. It's more important than getting their daughters and sons to fight, or their readers, or their fans, or their parishioners.

It's elitism. They are too good to fight the war they expect "middle America" to fight. And if someone dares stand up for the tragically fallen, they erupt in partisan rage. Because protecting their president's political fortunes is more important than paying the fallen their due respect. Protecting their president is more important than questioning whether their ultimate sacrifice was made in vain.

They are loathsome creatures. Let it be clear -- it is the GOP and their minions who desecrate war memorials. It is they who mock those who serve. It is they who don't care whether their deaths are worth the sacrifice. It is they who expect others to do the fighting and dying, lest they get their precious little hands dirty.

They are scum.

It is as if Republicans think Democrats and the American people do not have any memories. Conservatives think they can lie, cheat, distort, smear, and sander with out the truth ever become reality to them. Again, reality is no friend to the GOP.

That is the reason why Dick Cheney can give a speech Military Order of the Purple Heart without any shame, and without apologizing for this supporters attacks on fellow veteran.

Kos is right, they are Scum!

Nervous Republicans!

Reality of the Iraq war may hurt GOP in ‘06, New York Times.

A stream of bad news out of Iraq, echoed at home by polls that show growing impatience with the war and rising disapproval of President Bush's Iraq policies, is stirring political concern in Republican circles, party officials said Wednesday.

Some said that the perception that the war was faltering was providing a rallying point for dispirited Democrats and could pose problems for Republicans in the Congressional elections next year. [..]

The other changing factor is the continued drop in Mr. Bush's job-approval rating that could make him less welcome on the campaign trail.

"If this continues to drag down Bush's approval ratings, Republican candidates will be running with Bush as baggage, not as an asset," Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew Research Center, said. "Should his numbers go much lower, he is going to be a problem for Republican candidates in 2006."

Reality and the truth is no friend of the GOP. So, it is up to Karl Rove and this allies to lie, distort and cheat to hold on to their power.

Who's Really Screwing up America?

Robyn Blumner of Salt Lake Tribune gives use this top seven people who is screwing up American, leaving out elected officials and Supreme Court justices and the top two obvious choices, number two - President Bush and number one Vice President Dick Cheney.

• Number seven, Tom Monaghan, founder of Domino's Pizza.
• Number six, John Timoney, Miami police chief.
• Number five, W.J. ''Billy'' Tauzin, former Louisiana congressman and current head of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
• Number four, Roger Ailes, chairman and CEO of Fox News Channel.

Top three are ...

l No. 3: James Dobson, founder of the Colorado Springs-based ministry, Focus on the Family.

Dobson is the country's most influential evangelical leader and has been dubbed a Republican kingmaker for the sway he holds over the party. He controls a Christian Right media empire, with a radio show that purports to have 7 million American listeners - a powerful podium from which to push a radical agenda. How fast can gays and lesbians go from civil unions to civil arrest? Just ask Dobbie.

l No. 2: Kenneth Lay, former CEO and chairman of the now-bankrupt Enron Corp. (He actually makes Goldberg's list as No. 45.)

I use Lay as a symbol for American business gone wrong. He is representative of corporate executives everywhere who would milk personal riches from a dying company - a company they helped kill - leaving employees and shareholders with the worthless dregs. Lay exemplifies the culture of greed that has infected too many American businesses.

l No. 1: Karl Rove, a White House deputy chief of staff and President Bush's top political adviser, also known as ''Bush's Brain.''

Rove took a guy who used family connections to avoid Vietnam, who was a fall-down drunk ne'er-do-well until the age of 40, who failed at business until Daddy's friends came to the rescue, who held so little curiosity about the world that he didn't bother to travel, and made him president - twice. Rove is by far the man who has done the most to screw up America. Goldberg put Michael Moore in the top spot. It's no contest.

James ‘I choice who is really Christian’ Dobson, Kenneth ‘corporate greed’ Lay and Karl ‘Treasonous, lair, without ethics, smear artist, GOP mastermind’ Rove are the top three un-elected people who are screwing up America.

All three men, are members of the Republican Party. Karl Rove used Lay’s money and Dobson’s ‘religious’ supporters and fear to bring us rein of President Bush. It is sad, how these 3 men are connected to each other.

The Terrorist Win ...

...Democrats, Al Jareera, evildoers, and the rest of American enemies win.

According to Kathleen Parker, if President Bush meets with Cindy Sheehan, the terrorists win.

Bush, regardless of what he personally might wish to do, has responsibilities that far exceed the crowd gathering beyond his Prairie Chapel Ranch.

Once he allows himself to be captured in a video clip or a photograph, recoiling from the agony of a bereaved mother, the world is in greater danger. Democrats might be delighted to freeze that image in political time, but so would insurgents planning their next Baghdad ambush.

It is not all about winning the war on terror for Kathleen Parker, meeting with Cindy Sheehan might also help out Democrats and Al Jazeera win also.

He can't because what Sheehan's anti-war supporters want is neither a hug nor a few words of comfort. They want a confrontation - a wrenching, sobbing, high-noon showdown - soon to be a Democratic political ad and Al Jazeera headline for the foreseeable future.

Finally, Kathleen Parker tells us compassionate conservatism was all a lie to win votes.

I wanted him to hug her and to say how deeply sorry he is for her loss. I wanted him to face the cameras and, choking back emotion, to tell the world how much he cares for every single son and daughter serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And then I wanted him to be Tony Blair and say all the right things in just the right way so that Cindy Sheehan could return home to Vacaville, Calif., and begin to heal.

But, Bush is not Tony Blair, as intelligent design would have it. And he's not coming out because he can't, though he might have in that first instant, before the crowds arrived. He probably wishes he had. Then again, he did meet with Sheehan on another occasion, in private with other military parents, but Sheehan wasn't satisfied.

President Bush intelligent design won’t let him show any compassion?

President Bush can go on with this life and continue to ride this bike, show no compassion knowing there is always going to be people out there like Kathleen Parker making excuse for this actions. Hey, it is part of this intelligent design ... the buck does not stop on this desk.

An Other Clueless Democrat: Lanny Davis

Why are Democrats losing elections, Lanny Davis?

A number of Democrats still say the party's best hopes are on the high road. "We have to define the reckless left of our party and differentiate ourselves," said former Clinton aide Lanny Davis, who denounced the NARAL ad. He said such "smear and innuendo" has caused his party to lose recent elections.

The Democratic Party is the party of “smear and innuendo”?

Paul Waldman over at the Gadflyer is right, that may be the single stupidest thing I've heard a Democrat say all year.

We have to define the reckless left? Yes, that's what Democrats need to do, talk about how reckless people on their own side are! There's a great strategy for you. Maybe they should also spend time extolling the virtues of Bush's tax cuts and arguing for Social Security privatization.

But that's nothing. Smear and innuendo has caused Democrats to lose recent elections? Say that again: smear and innuendo has caused Democrats to lose recent elections? My head is spinning.

Indeed, my head is still spinning!

Look, this type of sh** has to end, add Lanny Davis to the long list of Democrats who reinforce right-wing lies about liberals, progressives, and the Democratic party.

When you see a Democrat spit back right-wing lies, it should only remind us of how totally emasculated Democrats have been at the hands of Grover Norquist and the GOP. It is the equivalent of Democrats saying to the GOP "Thank you sir, may I have another?"

Washington D.C. Democrats, just like the DLC do not want to upset the status quo of the Democratic Party being in the minority. During the past years, Republican party and their conservative machine smear Max Cleland, John McCain, John Kerry all war veterans with lies and innuendos. They have ousted a CIA agent for political gain. They have smear a mother who lost a son in the Iraq war.

I could go on and on, but you get the point. Smear and innuendo is standard operating procedure for conservative machine. Weak at the knees Democrats SOP has been take the high road, OMG we have to take the HIGH ROAD. While Conservatives are gutting the New Deal, making homosexual Americans second class citizens, violating voter rights, stealing elections and dividing the county between secular, Christian Americans verses Conservatives Christians while the rich is getting richer and the poor is getting poorer. CLASS FUC***G WARFARE!

No more high road for me, I am going to get in the gutter and defend my values as an American citizen.

This sh** has to end!

p.s. excuse my language.

Grossman Finished Before The Start

Chicago Sun-Times:

When he removed his helmet on a cart in the middle of the field at the Edward Jones Dome, the look on Rex Grossman's face as he sat there with arms folded hinted at the worst.

The news at halftime confirmed it. The Bears saw the 2005 season flash before their eyes Friday night in their second preseason game, a 17-13 loss to the St. Louis Rams, because Grossman, the man the franchise has its hopes pinned on, broke his left ankle after he was twisted down by linebacker Trev Faulk and sat on. Following surgery this coming week, rehabilitation will take three to four months -- meaning if he returns at all this year, it will not be until the final few games.

Standing later with the aid of crutches, Grossman was matter-of-fact.

Man, this sucks! It is going to be an other long season for my beloved Bears.

Well, at least they died for a good cause.

Full Metal Jacket

RAFTERMAN
Well, at least they died for a good cause.

ANIMAL MOTHER
What cause was that?

RAFTERMAN
Freedom.

ANIMAL MOTHER
Flush out your head gear, new guy. You think we waste gooks for freedom? This is a slaughter. If I'm gonna get my balls blown off for a word ... my word is "poontang."

(Hat Tip to the Gadflyer)

Military service isn't for our son. It isn't for our kind of People

They support the war in Iraq only to a point.

Staff Sgt. Jason Rivera, 26, a Marine recruiter in Pittsburgh, went to the home of a high school student who had expressed interest in joining the Marine Reserve to talk to his parents.

It was a large home in a well-to-do suburb north of the city. Two American flags adorned the yard. The prospect's mom greeted him wearing an American flag T-shirt.

"I want you to know we support you," she gushed.

Rivera soon reached the limits of her support.

"Military service isn't for our son. It isn't for our kind of people," she told him.

Personally, I would not blame the parents. But, this is very common they are willing to support the war by waving American flags and with rhetoric; not so willing to support the war with their own son.

(Hat Tip to Eschaton)

Despicable!

To what level will they sink?

Cindy Sheehan returns entering stage right -- this time a left wing media whore in the form of a grieving mother.

. . . But, other mothers have gone through what Mrs. Sheehan has gone through and many are offended by her actions, thinking her deed cheapens the memory of Casey and other fallen soldiers. . . .

One must stand back in amazement at how victimhood can turn a grieving mother into a statesman.

I have no use for Mrs. Sheehan. . . . Sheehan "now appears to be promoting her own personal agenda and notoriety at the the expense of her son's good name and reputation," . . . Mrs. Sheehan's actions discredit and undermine the work so many fallen soldiers works hard for. Those people just do not make the story flow like the left wants.

The remarkably humorous bit of all of this is that while Mrs. Sheehan is using the body of a dead solider to get her fifteen minutes of fame, Mrs. Sheehan is letting that body be used . . . But he did not die in vain. Iraq will be free. And in September we will all go back to forgetting who Cindy Sheehan is, not that we ever cared to begin with, and we will remain in Iraq.

Those comments come from Red State.org. They have no shame.

This is a shameful thing to have on your site. A truly vile and rephrensible thing. Mrs. Sheehan lost her son in combat fighting for this country. To call her a "left-wing whore" will affect how people see you and your site. Even your readers disagree with the sentiments here and their expression.

It is very simple: Mrs. Sheehan lost her son in Sadr City, Iraq as a member of the 1st Cav. She is due the respect given to all mothers of fallen soldiers. Anyone who attacks her personally attacks her son and his service. Nasty words written by a coward on a blog says more about that person than it can ever say about Mrs. Sheehan.

Ressurect her son, and you can say whatever you want.

Failing that, respect her as a Gold Star Mother and respect her sacrifice.

I wrote the following to the "author" of this post:

You should be ashamed of yourself for writing those hateful words.

Mrs. Sheehan, regardless of her politics, lost her son fighting for this country and your disrespect for her and her son's service is revolting. And by disrepecting her, you disrespect her son and his service. If he were alive and you called his mother a whore to her face, do you think he would thank you? But you would never do such a thing, because people like you never, ever do. Cowardice drips from your words.

So if we're winning in Iraq, what have you done to help that process? Serve in Iraq? Work for Halliburton?

If not, you are hardly in a positon to criticize a woman who lost her son in combat, regardless of her politics.

Indeed.

Those despicable words come from a coward, so willing to attack a mother on the internet. But, is he willing to going fight in Iraq?

Update: Erick of Redstate.org apologize for calling Cindy Sheehan a ‘media whore’ but stand by the rest of this drivel.

What Fox News Channel Would Have Done to Rosa Parks?

Cenk Uygur at the Huffington Post.

That made me think of how it would have been in the Civil Rights era if Fox News Channel, Rush Limbaugh, Matt Drudge and the rest of the gang were around back then.

O’Reilly: “Rosa Parks claims she speaks for all of the African-Americans in the South, but in fact, we have found two African-Americans who say they disagree with her. They say she’s just trying to gain publicity and doesn’t speak for anyone in her race. They would know, they’re black.”

Hannity: “Could Rosa Parks be angling for a Senate run? What does she have to gain from her public stand? Coming up next, the incredible story of how this woman might be deceiving the whole country!”

Drudge: “We have found three members of the Parks family who say that Rosa doesn’t speak for them. That, in fact, they are very happy with the government of the state of Alabama. The uncle, step-brother-in-law and niece three-times removed all agree that the better route is a dignified, respectful silent deference to authority. Developing …”

Limbaugh: “We have just found information that before Rosa Parks sat in the front of the bus, there were numerous times, she sat in the back of the bus! Ah ha! A flip-flopper!"

Drudge: “More stories on Rosa Parks scandalous history of consistently sitting in the back of the bus before she changed her position and insisted she would only sit in the front of the bus. Developing …”

Malkin: “I think I speak for the entire Parks family, and especially her children, when I say that they are so embarrassed by their mother who is making a public spectacle of herself.”

Hannity: “Rosa Parks has turned this whole so-called civil rights issue into a public circus. We have information that Ted Kennedy might have put her up to this. That amazing story when we come back!”

Colmes: “You’re right, Sean. I’m sorry.”

Go read the whole article.

Conservatives like Bill O’Reilly and Michelle Makin have no shame, they are willing to attack Cindy Sheehan a mother of soldier killed in Iraq for poltical gain. Then they are willing to attack anyone, even Rosa Parks.

Cindy Sheehan, A Voice Crying in the Wilderness

Gary Hart

If democracy only works when there is open discussion of opposing ideas and policies, and if the opposition party, in this case the Democrats, has hand-cuffed, blind-folded, gagged, and hog-tied itself to a failed invasion and occupation in the Middle East, where will the expanding majority of Americans look for a representative, a spokesperson, a voice for their anger, frustration, and distrust at being misled?

The circumstances suggest it should be a Senate or House Democratic leader, a recognized authority on foreign policy constantly seen on the Sunday talk shows, certainly one of the many “leaders” lining up to seek the Democratic Party’s nomination for president in 2008.

Strangely, no one in any of those categories comes to mind. Their voices are silent. Thus, both they and the party they claim or presume to represent look dumbstruck, awkward, pitiful, and timid. Where the single greatest issue of the day, and one of the most potent issues of our time, is concerned, there is no courageous opposition.

Meanwhile, the caskets keep coming home…with no public official to greet them or to respect them. They are the forgotten dead and they represent thousands more of the even more forgotten wounded.

But wait. There is someone to hold the emperor to account. There is someone willing to look ridiculous, to be mocked and made a fool of, to challenge the conventional wisdom of the court.

She, unfortunately, is not a Senator. She is not a party leader. She is not in the regular establishment Rolodex of the Sunday talk producers. Yet, she holds the highest office available in a republic, that of citizen.

And to the embarrassment of both Republican and Democratic establishments, she takes that office more seriously than they—the silent “leaders”—do theirs. When the last Marine leaves Iraq, dead or alive, she can claim more credit than them all. Because of the courage of one brave woman, she quite possible will have had more to do with finally bringing this great nation back to its senses... and to its principles.

Remember her name. It is Cindy Sheehan.

Indeed.

Cindy Sheehan is willing to stand up to Republican/Conservative machine, as one American citizen, the mother for a fallen solider.

She is not standing alone, countless American citizens are standing with her. Hopefully all the crying in the wilderness are heard by emperor and this court.

My prayers are with Cindy Sheehan.

Come heavy: 'Sopranos' Adds Eight 'Bonus' Episodes

'Sopranos' Adds Eight 'Bonus' Episodes

When "The Sopranos" finally arrives next year for its sixth season, fans of the HBO mob drama will get more than they expected.

Eight "bonus" episodes are planned in addition to the 12 previously announced for the series, set to return in March 2006 after nearly two years without a first-run episode, HBO said Thursday.

"When something is as remarkable as 'The Sopranos,' our audience would like to see it continue as long as possible, so we are thrilled that (series creator) David Chase felt there are more stories to be told," HBO Chairman Chris Albrecht said in a statement.

There will be a break between the first set of episodes and the arrival of the extra eight hours in January 2007 but production on them will be continuous, HBO said.

I am going to have to order HBO again for the start of the next season.

Corruption & GOP

FEC Finds Misreporting by DeLay Committee

A federal audit of a political fundraising committee founded by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay found that it failed to report more than $300,000 in debts owed to vendors and incorrectly paid for some committee activities with money from another DeLay-connected political committee.

The Federal Election Commission's report didn't indicate whether it would pursue enforcement action against Americans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee.

ARMPAC's executive director, Jim Ellis, was indicted in Texas in connection with a separate DeLay-connected committee, Texans for a Republican Majority. In that case, Ellis is charged with money laundering and accepting illegal political contributions for state legislative campaigns. DeLay has not been accused of any wrongdoing in the case.

DeLay also has been mired in controversy over his connection to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, whose work for several Indian tribes is under federal investigation.

Fraud Indictment Expected for Abramoff

Federal prosecutors are seeking bank fraud charges against lobbyist Jack Abramoff, a key figure in investigations involving House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, The Associated Press learned Thursday.

The charges stem from the 2000 purchase by Abramoff and his partners of SunCruz Casinos and the alleged use of a fake wire transfer of $23 million aimed at influencing lenders to provide millions of dollars for the deal. Exact details of the charges were not immediately available.

A grand jury, meeting in Miami, could hand up indictments against Abramoff as early as Thursday, federal law enforcement sources said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the grand jury indictment had not been finalized.

This is a culture of corruption.

Tom DeLay the Republican leader of the House is a crook, the whole Republican majorities in Congress is corrupted with Tom Delay and Jack Abramoff tainted money. Find out how corrupt your GOP congressmen is at House of Scandal.

MN-Sen: Rep. Mark Kennedy is Editing News Stories

Rep. Mark Kennedy Republican of Minnesota campaign website for Senate is deleting negative comments from news stories before posting them on their "News" section.

A congressman's campaign Web site, under fire for deleting negative comments from news stories before posting them, will now link viewers to the full text of the articles, a spokeswoman said Wednesday. [..]

In one case, an AP article about Kennedy voting with Democrats on some legislation deleted comments from a political scientist who suggested that Kennedy was breaking with GOP party ranks to better position himself for a Senate run.

The campaign headlined the article: "Kennedy: A common-sense, get things done guy." The AP story was transmitted with a headline that read: "Kennedy siding with Democrats on host of issues."

That article was removed Wednesday; the AP had asked Kennedy to remove AP stories from the site on Tuesday.

Kennedy campaign spokeswoman Heidi Frederickson:

Kennedy campaign spokeswoman Heidi Frederickson said she was responsible for posting the news articles, which named their original sources and labeled the Web site versions as having been "excerpted." She said she believed the campaign was entitled to reprint the articles under a "fair use" exemption that allows limited portions of copyrighted articles to be cited without permission.

"It's just done to get information out," Frederickson said. "It's not done for a commercial purpose."

Frederickson said she was not aware of the AP policy barring candidates from reprinting the news service's articles.

"We will definitely look into our processes and policies, and if anything needs to be changed or modified, we will absolutely do it," she said.

When asked why some articles on the Web sites were changed from their original content, Frederickson refused to comment, except to say: "That's the way we've chosen to do it — to use those news article and present them to the audience."

Just like Fox new, The GOP we decide, we report what we want.

Anti-Illegal Immigration Activists & Novellas

This is getting ridiculous, anti-illegal immigration activists are continuing their ‘we hate Mexicans’ campaign to a Denver public library and protesting Spanish-language novellas.

Opponents of illegal immigration rallied outside the Denver Public Library on Monday to demand the resignation of city librarian Rick Ashton, contending he was accommodating illegal immigrants at taxpayer expense.

The protest was in response to copies of a Spanish-language novella with sexually explicit illustrations found on library shelves last week. Library officials are pulling all 6,000 of their novellas to review them, even though the vast majority do not contain sexual or violent illustrations.

The anti-illegal immigration activist concern is not really about Spanish novellas or their raciness, but scapegoating a segment of the population due to their color of their skin. As David Neiwert point out.

It's called scapegoating, and it is the hallmark of American right-wing extremism. The paranoid mindset always insists on a scapegoat: Jews. Blacks. Mexicans. Gays. In the 1920s, it was Catholics. They always insist that someone is conspiring to bring harm to them and to America. They describe them as vermin, and urge their elimination. It is a story that has repeated itself many times.

This is why, when you hear someone talk about organizing a border watch, you can bet that, if you hang around their campfires long enough, you'll start hearing a lot of talk about Latinos. How they're ruining the country. Causing crime. Crowding the hospitals. Pretty soon the usual slurs come out too.

It isn't about whether they're legal or not. It is, in the end, all about the color of their skin.

Indeed.

I am for effective immigration reform, not rhetoric and immigration bashing.

Does Dick Morris believe Dick Morris Latest Rambling?

According to Dick Morris, Senator Clinton might pull out of the Senate race in New York if Jeanine Pirro make some early gains.

Dick Morris writes that against Pirro, Sen. Clinton will be "disarmed of all her best issues" and that if Pirro posts some early gains, particularly upstate, where it is cheap to do early advertising, Hillary and Bill may read the handwriting on the wall and she may pull out of the race."

Oh really, lets take a trip to the past predictions by Dick Morris about Senator Clinton.

My god. Words fail me. This guy is supposed to be some kind of political savant?

Dick Morris is a man who confidently predicted - no, not predicted, said with certainty - that Hillary was going to enter the 2004 presidential race. Then he said that Wesley Clark was a stalking horse, who had been retained by the Clintons to muddy the primary waters so that Clinton could rush in at the last moment and get the nomination. Then he said that Hillary was going to demand that Kerry give her the VP nomination.

Paul Waldman over at the Gadflyer ask the following question, Is Dick Morris stupidest columnist alive?

Well, Dick Morris is right up there with Michelle Malkin and Ann Coulter.

Does Dick Morris believe Dick Morris latest rambling? Yes

Paul Hackett & Rush Limbaugh

Before the election, Rush Limbaugh called Iraq war veteran Paul Hackett staff puke, repeatedly.

Paul Hackett is not backing down from Rush Limbaugh.

That's typical for that fatass drug addict to come up with something like that. There's a guy ... I didn't hear this, but actually when I was on drill this weekend, I've got to tell you, he lost a lot of Republican supporters with his comments. Because they were coming up to me, telling me, "I can't believe he said that! Besides that, he called you a soldier. He doesn't know the difference between a soldier and a marine!"

So generally, the consensus is Rush doesn't know squat about patriotism. He's typical of the new Republican. He's got a lot of lip and he doesn't walk the walk. The fact of the matter is, I went to Iraq to serve my country. I left my nice house, my nice wife by my choice because I thought it was the right thing to do. And man, if I was good enough to be able to see into the future that Rob Portman was going to step down from Congress, I mean I should actually be running for something a lot more than Congress. I went to Iraq because I wanted to serve my country and be with my Marines.

I think it probably says more about Rush Limbaugh than it does anybody else that he comes up with those thought processes. And I think it's indicative of today's Republican party, which is patriotic lite translated to anybody who serves their country who truly who truly serves their country and demonstrates it by their actions as opposed to their flapping gums.

They want to attack us. But the fact of the matter is they can attack me, but I punch back just as hard as I get. Ask Rush how come he wasn't taking phone calls for the two days when he was on the attack with me. Ask him why his phone lines were clogged up. That's because he was getting thousands of calls from veterans from this war and other wars who were clogging up his phone lines, giving him an earful.

Rush Limbaugh is a Chicken Hawk.

A person enthusiastic about war, provided someone else fights it; particularly when that enthusiasm is undimmed by personal experience with war; most emphatically when that lack of experience came in spite of ample opportunity in that person’s youth.

These people have no shame.

Rev. Jerry Falwell: Vote Christian in 2008

It is no longer the “vote for the GOP” for Rev. Jerry Falwell, now it is “Vote Christian”.

As part of a bid to revive his Reagan-era conservative powerhouse, the Rev. Jerry Falwell, Moral Majority leader, is urging Americans to "vote Christian" in 2008.

"As national chairman of the Moral Majority Coalition, I am committed to lending my influence to help turn out at least 40 million 'faith and values' voters in 2008 to assure that Sen. Hillary Clinton, or someone of her ultra-liberal ilk, will never be president of this nation," Falwell wrote in a recent mass fund-raising letter.

The letter comes with a car window sticker declaring "I Vote Christian."

Falwell wrote that his goal "is to utilize the momentum of the sweeping conservative mandate of the November 2, 2004, elections to maintain a faith and values 'revolution' of voters who will continue to go to the polls to 'vote Christian' and call America back to God." He added, "Everyone now knows that the stage is set for the church of Jesus Christ to turn this nation back to the faith of our fathers and the Judeo-Christian ethic."

Rev. Falwell and this evangelicals supporters claim the Republican party as their own political party for Christians.

"The Republican Party does not have the head count to elect a president without the support of religious conservatives," Falwell said at an election training conference of the Christian Coalition.

Falwell said evangelical Christians are now "by far the largest constituency" within the Republican Party, their route to dominance beginning in 1979 with his founding of the Moral Majority, a precursor to the Christian Coalition.

"I tell my Republican friends who are always talking about the 'big tent,' I say make it as big as you want to, but if the candidate running for president is not pro-life, pro-family . . . you're not going to win," he said.

Religious Conservatives like Rev. Jerry Falwell now have the power to rename the GOP as the Christian Party. It is no longer the Party of Lincoln, now it is the party of ilk of Falwell, Robertson, and Dobson.

As a Christian, this is truly disgusting.

NJ-Gov: Doug Forrester Is An Other Example of Republican Sleaziness

Doug Forrester the Republican candidate for Governor of New Jersey, he is running as good-government conservative.

Scott Shields over at MyDD points out Doug Forrester might have a problem running as politician for good government.

It's awfully hard to claim the reform mantle when you're a millionaire who's gotten rich off of government contracts and then illegally use those millions to self-finance a run for governor. Even by New Jersey standards, that's pretty sleazy.

Sleaziness is standard operating procedure for the Republican party.

GOP: Party of Worn-out Ideas, Flat Tax

The Republican party loves to argue they are they party of ideas, vision and leadership, while the Democratic party is the party of No.

This is pure propaganda, the GOP is the party of worn-out ideas.

Michael Kinsley:

IT'S TRUE that the Republicans are the party of ideas and the Democrats are the party of reaction. Republicans set the agenda, and Democrats try to talk the country out of it.

But the Republican Party is hardly the Institute for Advanced Studies. The GOP uses ideas like seasonal sports equipment - taking them out when needed then scraping the mud off and stuffing them back into the garage until they are needed again.

Remember term limits? The flag-burning amendment? The balanced budget amendment? Each of these has had a moment or two of glory, when Republican politicians, conservative TV and radio hosts and The Wall Street Journal editorial page all decided simultaneously that implementing this idea was vital to the survival of Western civilization. Polls soon showed a majority of Americans agreeing with them. The idea seemed unstoppable. It had the winds of history behind it. And then the wind died and the idea went away.

The next worn-out idea the conservatives are pushing is the flat tax. Steve Forbes is out with a new book, Flat Tax Revolution: Using a Postcard to Abolish the IRS and this allies are already promoting the flat tax as the solution to all of our problems.

In his new book, Flat Tax Revolution (Regnery, a Human Events sister company), magazine publisher Steve Forbes again explains the virtues of fundamental tax reform. I hope someone at the tax commission is reading it.

Michael Kinsley continues:

The so-called flat tax is another hobby horse of the right that swept the nation, then vanished.

But someone forgot to tell Steve Forbes, the amiably blank-faced magazine heir who ran for president on the issue in 1996 and 2000. Now he has a book out, Flat Tax Revolution: Using a Postcard to Abolish the IRS. It's getting the full fair-and-balanced treatment - that is, unashamed open-throated puffery - on Fox News and other conservative outlets. So even though the idea looks pretty dead right now, a stake through its heart might still be prudent.

The flat tax is a game of three-card monte that deliberately confuses the issues of simplicity, fairness and the total tax burden on society. A simpler tax system would be a very good thing: good for the economy and good for all of our sanity. But progressive tax rates - higher taxes on higher incomes - aren't what make the current system so complicated. It's as easy to multiply by 40 percent as it is to multiply by 17 percent.

The complications come in defining and calculating income. Some of the complications are unavoidable, because people and companies have complicated affairs. The day may come when you can file your income tax on a post card (millions come close even today, with the sorta-simple 1040EZ), but that day will never arrive for Steve Forbes. As for the unnecessary complications, most of them were not put there by people or interest groups pushing for higher taxes and bigger government. Quite the opposite: The complications are mostly special rules for people or companies trying to lower their taxes. [..]

Mr. Forbes figures that almost everybody would pay less under his proposal than under the current system. And just to make sure, he would let you opt to calculate your taxes under current rules if you prefer. So everybody would pay less. That is swell. But it has nothing to do with the flatness or otherwise of the tax system.

Kevin Drum of the Washington Monthly is right, Republicans do have big ideas but they are same big, dumb ideas they've been recycling for decades.

I am willing to bet, when the GOP loses their majorities in congress term limits, flag-burning amendment, and balanced-budget amendment will suddenly become very important to conservatives politicians again.

Minutemen Rally

More proof that the minutemen core members are a gang of right-wing extremists and including many outright racists, take a look at a minutemen rally with Nazi flags.

An Other Example of Out-of-Touch Republicans

Republicans can not figure out why a person making $15,000 per year is struggling and President Bush poll numbers are dropping.

Ella

Jose Alfredo Jimenez

Me canse de rogarle me canse de decirle,
que yo sin ella de pena muero,
ya no quiso escucharme si sus labios se abrieron,
fue pa' decirme ya no te quiero.

Yo senti que mi vida se perdia en un abismo profundo
y negro como mi suerte, quise hayar el olvido al estilo Jalisco(coro: no te rajes)
pero aquellos mariachis y aquel tequila me hicieron llorar.

Me canse de rogarle. Con el llanto en mis ojos alze mi copa y brinde con ella,
no podia despreciarme era el ultimo brindis de un bohemio con una reina.
los mariachis callaron.

De mi mano sin fuerza cayo mi copa sin darme cuenta
ella quizo quedarse cuando vio mi tristeza
pero ya estaba escrito que aquella noche perdiera su amor.

Wish You Were Here

Pink Floyd

So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from Hell,
Blue skys from pain.
Can you tell a green field
From a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?

And did they get you to trade
Your heros for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange
A walk on part in the war
For a lead role in a cage?

How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls
Swimming in a fish bowl,
Year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have we found?
The same old fears.
Wish you were here.

Truly Disgusting

Anti-Homosexuality Group Protests at Soldier's Funeral

This veteran said it best.

When Portage Veterans of Foreign Wars Commander and Vietnam veteran Wayne Williamson heard of the group's plans to picket, he picked up the telephone.

"They are no different to me than the religious zealots that are bombing our troops in Iraq," said Williamson, who has called various local and state veterans organizations to rally as many veterans as possible to attend today's services to show support for Harting and his family. He is expecting hundreds of veterans to attend from as far away as Indianapolis.

Those protesters are truly disgusting.

Presidential Visit to Dennis Hastert Congressional District

U.S. House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert is my representative in House.

Next Wednesday, August 10, 2005, House Speaker Hastert is going to bring President Bush to my neck of the woods.

Kane County not only came out a big winner by getting more than $306 million in the federal transportation bill passed last week, but also its biggest city may play host to the president as he officially signs the bill into law.

The $286 billion highway bill includes a dozen or so major funding items for Kane County, including a far western, north-south expressway and a new regional bridge crossing the Fox River.

U.S. House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), whose district includes all of Kane, is credited with gaining much of the funding, saying the bill "is exactly what was negotiated with the president."

So it's no surprise that President Bush is expected to be in Aurora on Wednesday for the ceremonial signing.

Go read more about here. I welcome the President to Kane and Kendall counties, I would like to meet him. But, I am a liberal democrat and only people who see the President are this supporters.

An Other Clueless Democrat: Sen. Evan Bayh

As many of you already know, Sen. Evan Bayh is preparing for a presidential run in 2008. Sen. Bayh is off to a good start with fundraising but off to a bad start with this rhetoric on the campaign trail. David Sirota points out Sen. Bayh is just reinforce the most dishonest lies about Democrats and progressives with is rhetoric.

Sen. Evan Bayh:

"Many Americans wonder if we're willing to use force to defend the country even under the most compelling of circumstances," Bayh said. "The majority of Democrats would answer that question that, yes, there is a right place and a right time. We don't get to have that discussion because many people don't think we have the backbone." [..]

Bayh said his electoral success in heavily Republican Indiana and moderate views are a model for Democrats to end their recent electoral failures. Summing up those failures are polls that show voters overwhelmingly trusting Republicans on national security, he said.

"We've got a few voices out there who would be a little bit more on the fringe," Bayh said. "Unfortunately, too often they define the entire party."

The Senator think this type of rhetoric and this voting record will shield him from GOP cries of "weak on defense" or "liberal".

Bayh's team "believes his voting record will shield him" from GOP cries of "weak on defense" or "liberal," reflecting "his conviction that Washington's ideological divides ill-serve the American public."

As Paul Waldman over at the Gadlfyer points out, the Senator is wrong.

Let's cast our minds waaaay back to 2004. Remember when the Democrats nominated a guy because there was just no way that a couple of chickenhawks like Bush and Cheney would attack the patriotism of a Vietnam veteran, right? Right? Right?

There is no line on a resume, no matter how impressive, that will keep Republicans from attacking Democrats as weak on defense and unpatriotic. The only question is whether the attack works or not. And whether it does has nothing to do with your resume. It's about whether you're strong and tough in the way you act, talk, and campaign. I haven't seen enough of Bayh to say whether he is tough or not, but if he thinks his votes in the Senate will insulate him, he needs to wake up and smell the slander.

Wake up Senator, the GOP will attack you no matter what. You are truly clueless if you believe your Senate record will not be attacked. One more thing, your DLC rhetoric will not win you the Democratic Nomination.

Seriously, What Is Wrong With You Two?

Two jurors on the Michael Jackson trial now think he is guilty.

Two jurors who acquitted Michael Jackson of child molestation charges now say they think the pop star was guilty - and they are penning tell-all books about the jury's deliberations, the Daily News has learned.

"Guilty As Sin, Free as a Bird" is the title of 79-year-old Eleanor Cook's tome, according to Larry Garrison, president of Silver Creek Entertainment.

He will co-write the book with Cook's granddaughter.

And Ray Hultman, 62, will pen "The Deliberator" along with former Jackson family friend and author Stacy Brown. He co-wrote the successful "The Man Behind The Mask" with Jackson's former publicist Bob Jones.

"These books are going to rock the nation," said Garrison, a film and TV producer.

"Elly and Ray are two of the three jurors who [initially] voted for 'guilty'" Garrison said, referring to the early balloting in the jury's deliberation process.

Steve Gilliard is right.

This is vulgar in the extreme. These people couldn't wait to trash the kid and his mother, while letting a man who has paid $27m to children walk out of the courtroom free. Now they think he's guilty?

No shit. Who would read a book about an innocent Michael Jackson.

They should have voted that way and hung the jury instead. Not stick their hand out for cash. Now they believe the child was a victim of sexual predator? Nice.

They should go fuck themselves.

Those two jurors let a child molester walk away a free man, just to sell some books to make themselves rich. Truly disgusting.

What is wrong with you two?

Say it anit so, Charlie Murphy

What?! "Chappelle Show" Kaput?

Charlie Murphy, a writer and actor on the funnyman's top-rated Chappelle's Show, dropped a bombshell to the New York Post Wednesday, saying that, to his knowledge, the hit Comedy Central series has officially run its course.

"I don't think Dave is going to do it anymore," Murphy told the Post. "We shot about eight shows for the third season, and they're hilarious. They'll be released on DVD, I'm sure. But that's it." [..]

According to Murphy, all was "fun, very normal" during shooting. One new skit they did for the new season was one of the funniest bits they ever came up with.

"It was hilarious," Murphy recalled to the Post. "I was Frankenstein, Dave was the Wolfman, Donnell [Rawlings] was the Mummy. We were living together and experiencing problems, because we're monsters. But I thought it was because I was black that all these things were happening, not because I was Frankenstein."

My favorite clip is Black Bush. Mars, bitches!

Paul Hackett, Daily Kos & The New Republic

Michael Crowley of the New Republic online writes a skeptical article about Paul Hackett run for congressional seat in Ohio and the roles of blogs in politics.

Within hours, national Democrats were already spinning Hackett's close defeat as a sign that they are poised to win back Congress in 2006. Rahm Emanuel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (dccc), argues that "these are the early vibrations on the track." Hackett, he says, was just the sort of "change agent" that malcontented voters fed up with Bush, Iraq, and Washington corruption are looking for.

That may be true. But Democrats shouldn't assume a Hackett victory ordains a massive comeback for their party. His opponent was an uncharismatic, washed-up ex-state representative. And his candidacy combined two elements--his stirring Iraq service and the full firepower of the liberal blogosphere--in a way that few other Democrats will be able to replicate come fall of 2006.

The article mentions Bob Brigham of Swing State Project helping Paul Hackett post diary on Daily Kos.

On Election Day, the bloggers' "war room" consisted of a dark corner of the Goldminers Inn, a dank dive bar in Batavia, Ohio, where four twentysomethings quaffed cans of Miller Lite and ruminated about their growing role in Democratic politics. The leader of the group was Bob Brigham, who blogs for a site called Swing State Project. After raising a six-figure sum for Hackett, Brigham had flown in from San Fancisco and "embedded" himself in the campaign, riding in Hackett's small convoy from event to event in baggy blue jeans and faded red canvas sneakers. "We're three times as relevant as the dccc. And you can quote that!" he told me between sips of beer. [..]


On the Monday before the election, Brigham convinced Hackett to make a guest appearance on the militantly liberal website Daily Kos. The candidate sat with him in a darkened restaurant, squinting quizzically at Brigham's laptop. At one point, after Brigham relayed some slangy reader commentary, Hackett turned to him and deadpanned, military style: "Translate." It seemed that some of Daily Kos's more paranoid readers wanted proof that it was really Hackett posting. Hackett rolled his eyes. "What do they want, my Social Security number?" Then he dictated to Brigham at the keyboard: "It's me. Quit being a typical Democrat and get off my ass." Inevitably, someone took offense: "If exercizing [sic] critical thinking skills and healthy skepticism makes me a 'typical Democrat,' I'm proud to be one," harrumphed one reader.

I am not going to speak for the rest of you, but I am militantly liberal in my views. A better description would have been passionately liberal democratic website.

The Michael Crowley article also includes pressure of the national media on Paul Hackett and how he dealt with it. Go read the whole article.

Is Michael Crowley right to be skeptical?

And his candidacy combined two elements--his stirring Iraq service and the full firepower of the liberal blogosphere--in a way that few other Democrats will be able to replicate come fall of 2006. [ ..]

Whether this spirit means a 2006 Democratic sweep is another matter. While the bloggers who sustained Hackett are certainly around for the long haul, the midsummer timing of the race allowed liberals to focus on Hackett's campaign with an intensity that won't be possible when dozens of other races are competing for attention in the November 2006 midterms. And, while Democrats are trying to scare up more Iraq veterans to run next year, the list is likely to be a short one.

Can the liberal blogoshere replicate what blogs did on a national scale in 2006?

YES!

SAIEWDNBIFSW HTUTAAWTTTSTCOTFW

President Bush

We actually misnamed the war on terror, it ought to be the struggle against ideological extremists who do not believe in free societies who happen to use terror as a weapon to try to shake the conscience of the free world. 8/6/04

It is no longer War On Terror, now it is SAIEWDNBIFSWHTUTAAWTTTSTCOTFW

Or it is, Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism

G-SAVE?

Nope, it is now back to WOT.

"Make no mistake about it, we are at war. We're at war with an enemy that attacked us on September the 11th, 2001. We're at war against an enemy that, since that day, has continued to kill..." GWB 8/3/o5

WOT, sound more scarier than G-SAVE or SAIEWDNBIFSWHTUTAAWTTTSTCOTFW

What ever happen to the straight taking Texan?

Hey, I Might Give Golf a Try

Residents: Golf outing included strippers

A recent gentleman's club outing in which scantily clad women performed provocatively for male golfers on a Naperville course has embarrassed the town's mayor and prompted a criminal investigation.

Naperville police said Wednesday they have reviewed a videotape recorded by a woman who lives near the Country Lakes Golf Club on the city's north side but found no evidence that crimes were committed. The golf event was sponsored by Blackjack's Gentleman's Club in South Elgin.

Come on. Can those guys just go to the Strip Club at night rather than bring stripper to an golf outing, this happen around townhouses where children live. Personally, if I ever get a lap dance I rather get in a smoked filled, dark club with liquor on the table than in the day light on a golf course. The strippers look way better in the dark, anyways.

Dusty Baker, Cubdom, Responsibility & Racism

I am a diehard Chicago Cubs fan every since I can remember, I bleed Cubbie blue. I acknowledge their is racism in sports in the past and currently, but to use racism as an excuse to defend a Dusty Baker from criticism is wrong.

Scoop Jackson of ESPN.com sees racism as the motive of some Chicago-area columnists' suggestion that Dusty Baker's time as Cubs manager should end. Scoop Jackson claims a white-only Chicago media is scheming to vilify Dusty Baker out of a job.

They come from certain members of the 312 area-code media who quietly would like to see someone else at the helm of the organization that best reps America's national pastime. Someone who looks and acts more like them. Someone who won't make the comment: "We were brought over here to work in the heat. Isn't that history?" as you did two years ago, talking about us people.[..]

I noticed how none of the other above-the-fold columnists came to Dusty's defense. Not Rick Morrissey, not Mike Downey or Carol Slezak or Greg Couch, not even my good friend Rick Telander. Not that they're supposed to, but ... they ain't we.

They don't feel your struggle, Dusty.

Don’t feel your struggle? Please, Dusty Baker is one of the highest paid coaches in Major League Baseball, making about $4 million a year. The only struggle in Cubdom is winning the World Series.

Scoop Jackson continues:

Yes, Dusty, you have the second-best player in baseball in D. Lee, and Aramis Ramirez is doing some damage; but you don't have one Cub pitcher who is in the top 10 in victories, ERA, saves or innings pitched (Carlos Zambrano is seventh in strikeouts).

Yet ... still ... in spite of ...

You are four games out of the wild-card race. Playing .500 baseball. In contention.

Yet ... still ... in spite of ...

They expect you to be better than the Cardinals and the Astros.

Yet ... still ... in spite of ...

The Cubs have manager issues ... according to "a citywide debate."

And the color of your skin, Dust, has nothing to do with this, right?

Cool.

If so, then I apologize.

But in the words of the great racial philosopher Charles Barkley: I may be wrong ... but I doubt it.

It is not about color, Scoop. Go ask Jim Riggleman or Tom Trebelhorn.

If Dusty thinks he's being treated unfairly for reasons beyond wins and losses, he should call Jim Riggleman, who often was booed for trying to protect the arm of a young pitcher named Kerry Wood by removing him early from games. Or Tom Trebelhorn, who almost caused a riot when he foolishly called a 'town meeting' by the Wrigleyville firehouse during a particularly rough stretch."

This is not the first time a columnist use racism to defend Dusty Baker, Scoop the and other columnist are wrong about Cubdom.

Let me explain why most of us Cubs fans as less than impressed with Dusty. He let Sammy run wild all last season. He allowed Sammy to dictate where he hit in the order. He made comments about not moving a slumping Sammy out of the 3rd spot because Sammy was "sensitive." Do you think Tony LaRussa or Joe Torre care about the sensitivity of their players in determining where they hit in the lineup? Dusty did nothing when the bullpen started calling the announcers during the game and complaining about their color commentary. Players were taping up nasty notes to each other in the clubhouse. Two players physically confronted our announcers (including the beloved Steve Stone on a team flight. Stone has since left the club). Dusty wasn't even willing to tell Sammy to turn his stupid salsa music off. Many, many people who had access to the clubhouse will tell you that it was absolute chaos in there through most of the season. There was no discipline. In the midst of all of this, all we got from Dusty by way of explanation was "I don't know anything about that. I hadn't even heard that. I can't comment on that, I don't know what you're talking about." The fact that he had no idea what was going on in his clubhouse was even more of a reason for not liking him.

Last season, for the first time in Cubs history (probably), Cubs fans had a winning team that they didn't like. I even knew life-long die-hard Cubs fans who didn't want this team to go to the playoffs because they didn't like the way the players were behaving.

Let me tell you something, Cubs fans want to win a world series so badly, they wouldn't care if the guy managing the team had purple polka dots.

Scoop Jackson claims, If it were Bobby Cox and not Dusty Baker, would I have ever had to write this column?

Yes, true Scoop. Bobby Cox is a creditable coach who take responsibility for his actions, while Dusty is letting columnist like you make excuses for this failure as a coach of my beloved Cubs.

Bill O’Reilly & Gitmo

In Bill O’Reilly America...

I don’t give them any protection. I don’t feel sorry for them. In fact, I probably would have ordered their execution if I had the power.

Bill O’Reilly solution to the problem of foreign detainees at the prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is execution.

The United States is holding more than 500 foreign detainees at the prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. These men have been deprived of basic legal and civil rights, and reports of abuse, torture and grotesque mistreatment are rampant. Many, if not most, of the detainees have been there nearly four years, yet in all that time, only four have been accused of any crime. And even then, military prosecutors recently charged the military trials against those four have been rigged.

In Bill O’Reilly America, we execute people who haven't been charged with any crime.

Is Pat Robertson Praying for Deaths on the Supreme Court?

Pat Robertson is urging this supporter to pray to GOD for death on the Supreme Court.

In a televised prayer on Tuesday for Judge Roberts's confirmation, for example, the television evangelist Pat Robertson asked his viewers to pray: "Take control, Lord! We ask for additional vacancies on the court." (A "prayer point" on the Web site for Mr. Robertson's "Supreme Court Freedom Project" includes "additional vacancies" as well.)

Take control, Lord? What does that mean?

John Aravosis...

So that means instead of praying for the speedy recovery of Chief Justice Rehniquist, Robertson hopes he dies or gets so ill that he can't continue. Or Robertson hopes some other justice (Please Lord, thinks Robertson, let it be that traitor Kennedy or that turncoat Souter or that she-devil Ginsburg) also gets ill or dies. How Christian. Of course, Robertson insists he's only praying for retirements. But since Rehniquist is gravely ill but clearly wants to continue at his job if possible, Robertson hopes the Chief Justice stays too sick and has to retire. So how can he possibly pray for retirements in good conscience when he KNOWS a justice is battling a deadly illness? Again, how Christian.

Click on the link to read the Pat Robertson ‘prayer points’.

To be fair and balance, one of Pat Robertson ‘prayer points’ is ..

Pray for the physical protection of Supreme Court justices, the current nominee, the Senate Judiciary Committee members, and all those involved in the confirmation hearings.

An other pray point is..

Pray that the person God desires would be appointed to the Supreme Court.

Again, what does Pat Robertson mean when he said, ‘Take control, Lord!’?