WEEN Kicked My Ass

Oh man, I am getting old. I saw WEEN last night at Sokol Auditorium. It was a brilliant show. The band played for three hours! But I am so hurting today from standing/ jamming/rocking out that I can barely walk. I took the day off from work to recover. Getting old sucks.

Here is an mp3 from WEEN's fantastic live CD/DVD Live in Chicago. This is "Voodoo Lady" (which they played last night). This song will give you an idea of what last night's show was like.

Costly Withdrawal Is the Price To Be Paid for a Foolish War

The following article was written by Martin van Creveld who is a professor of military history at Hebrew University. He is also the only non-American writer who is on the required reading list for U.S. Army officers. This article should give every American a lot to think about. You sheep on the right will probably dismiss this as you always do, but that would be a shame. If this doesn't make you re-think your idol worship of George W. Bush, then you are beyond hope. I think it is beyond debate that the Iraq War was a mistake, and that George Bush will be viewed by history as, perhaps, our nation's worst ever President. How sad.
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Costly Withdrawal Is the Price To Be Paid for a Foolish War
By Martin van Creveld November 25, 2005

The number of American casualties in Iraq is now well more than 2,000, and there is no end in sight. Some two-thirds of Americans, according to the polls, believe the war to have been a mistake. And congressional elections are just around the corner.

What had to come, has come. The question is no longer if American forces will be withdrawn, but how soon — and at what cost. In this respect, as in so many others, the obvious parallel to Iraq is Vietnam.

Confronted by a demoralized army on the battlefield and by growing opposition at home, in 1969 the Nixon administration started withdrawing most of its troops in order to facilitate what it called the "Vietnamization" of the country. The rest of America's forces were pulled out after Secretary of State Henry Kissinger negotiated a "peace settlement" with Hanoi. As the troops withdrew, they left most of their equipment to the Army of the Republic of South Vietnam — which just two years later, after the fall of Saigon, lost all of it to the communists.

Clearly this is not a pleasant model to follow, but no other alternative appears in sight.

Whereas North Vietnam at least had a government with which it was possible to arrange a cease-fire, in Iraq the opponent consists of shadowy groups of terrorists with no central organization or command authority. And whereas in the early 1970s equipment was still relatively plentiful, today's armed forces are the products of a technology-driven revolution in military affairs. Whether that revolution has contributed to anything besides America's national debt is open to debate. What is beyond question, though, is that the new weapons are so few and so expensive that even the world's largest and richest power can afford only to field a relative handful of them.

Therefore, simply abandoning equipment or handing it over to the Iraqis, as was done in Vietnam, is simply not an option. And even if it were, the new Iraqi army is by all accounts much weaker, less skilled, less cohesive and less loyal to its government than even the South Vietnamese army was. For all intents and purposes, Washington might just as well hand over its weapons directly to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Clearly, then, the thing to do is to forget about face-saving and conduct a classic withdrawal.

Handing over their bases or demolishing them if necessary, American forces will have to fall back on Baghdad. From Baghdad they will have to make their way to the southern port city of Basra, and from there back to Kuwait, where the whole misguided adventure began. When Prime Minister Ehud Barak pulled Israel out of Lebanon in 2000, the military was able to carry out the operation in a single night without incurring any casualties. That, however, is not how things will happen in Iraq.

Not only are American forces perhaps 30 times larger, but so is the country they have to traverse. A withdrawal probably will require several months and incur a sizable number of casualties. As the pullout proceeds, Iraq almost certainly will sink into an all-out civil war from which it will take the country a long time to emerge — if, indeed, it can do so at all. All this is inevitable and will take place whether George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Condoleezza Rice like it or not.

Having been thoroughly devastated by two wars with the United States and a decade of economic sanctions, decades will pass before Iraq can endanger its neighbors again. Yet a complete American withdrawal is not an option; the region, with its vast oil reserves, is simply too important for that. A continued military presence, made up of air, sea and a moderate number of ground forces, will be needed.

First and foremost, such a presence will be needed to counter Iran, which for two decades now has seen the United States as "the Great Satan." Tehran is certain to emerge as the biggest winner from the war — a winner that in the not too distant future is likely to add nuclear warheads to the missiles it already has. In the past, Tehran has often threatened the Gulf States. Now that Iraq is gone, it is hard to see how anybody except the United States can keep the Gulf States, and their oil, out of the mullahs' clutches.

A continued American military presence will be needed also, because a divided, chaotic, government-less Iraq is very likely to become a hornets' nest. From it, a hundred mini-Zarqawis will spread all over the Middle East, conducting acts of sabotage and seeking to overthrow governments in Allah's name.

The Gulf States apart, the most vulnerable country is Jordan, as evidenced by the recent attacks in Amman. However, Turkey, Egypt and, to a lesser extent, Israel are also likely to feel the impact. Some of these countries, Jordan in particular, are going to require American assistance.

Maintaining an American security presence in the region, not to mention withdrawing forces from Iraq, will involve many complicated problems, military as well as political. Such an endeavor, one would hope, will be handled by a team different from — and more competent than — the one presently in charge of the White House and Pentagon.

For misleading the American people, and launching the most foolish war since Emperor Augustus in 9 B.C sent his legions into Germany and lost them, Bush deserves to be impeached and, once he has been removed from office, put on trial along with the rest of the president's men. If convicted, they'll have plenty of time to mull over their sins.

Tony Blair Threatens UK Newspapers Over Article on Bush

The Guardian:
The attorney general last night threatened newspapers with the Official Secrets Act if they revealed the contents of a document allegedly relating to a dispute between Tony Blair and George Bush over the conduct of military operations in Iraq.

It is believed to be the first time the Blair government has threatened newspapers in this way. Though it has obtained court injunctions against newspapers, the government has never prosecuted editors for publishing the contents of leaked documents, including highly sensitive ones about the run-up to the invasion of Iraq.

The attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, last night referred editors to newspaper reports yesterday that described the contents of a memo purporting to be at the centre of charges against two men under the secrets act.

Under the front-page headline "Bush plot to bomb his ally", the Daily Mirror reported that the US president last year planned to attack the Arabic television station al-Jazeera, which has its headquarters in Doha, the capital of Qatar, where US and British bombers were based.

Richard Wallace, editor of the Daily Mirror, said last night: "We made No 10 fully aware of the intention to publish and were given 'no comment' officially or unofficially. Suddenly 24 hours later we are threatened under section 5 [of the secrets act]".

Under section 5 it is an offence to have come into the possession of government information, or a document from a crown servant, if that person discloses it without lawful authority. The prosecution has to prove the disclosure was damaging.

The Mirror said the memo turned up in May last year at the constituency office of the former Labour MP for Northampton South, Tony Clarke. Last week, Leo O'Connor, a former researcher for Mr Clarke, was charged with receiving a document under section 5 of the act. David Keogh, a former Foreign Office official seconded to the Cabinet Office, was charged last week with making a "damaging disclosure of a document relating to international relations". Mr Keogh, 49, is accused of sending the document to Mr O'Connor, 42, between April 16 and May 28 2004.

Mr Clarke said yesterday that Mr O'Connor "did the right thing" by drawing the document to his attention. Mr Clarke, an anti-war MP who lost his seat at the last election, returned the document to the government. "As well as an MP, I am a special constable," he said.

Both men were released on police bail last Thursday to appear at Bow Street magistrates court on November 29. When they were charged, newspapers reported that the memo contained a transcript of a discussion between Mr Blair and Mr Bush.

The conversation was understood to have taken place during a meeting in the US. It is believed to reveal that Mr Blair disagreed with Mr Bush about aspects of the Iraq war. There was widespread comment at the time that the British government was angry about US military tactics there, particularly in the city of Falluja.

Charges under the secrets act have to have the consent of the attorney-general. His intervention yesterday suggests that the prosecution plans to ask the judge to hold part, if not all of the trial, in camera, with the public and press excluded.
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Did the US bomb Al Jazeera intentionally? Hmmmmm. According to the Australian media -- yes. I have little to no respect for Al Jazeera. They are a propaganda organization. But, could the US military really be dumb enough to bomb them because they don't like their coverage of Iraq. Watch out CNN!

More from "Mean Jean" Schmidt -- Now It's the Media's Fault

Does this woman ever tell the truth? Congresswoman Schmidt is still denying that she personally attacked Rep. Murtha on the floor of the House last Friday despite video footage to the contrary (which has been replayed all over the news). Now Schmidt is saying that the media is responsible for the impression that she called Rep. Murtha a coward. Here is her newest denial: "I was not implying that he was a coward. The media wants to make me sound like that, but in no way did I imply he was a coward."

Here is what she actually said on the House floor: "He (Rep. Bupb) also asked me to send Congressman Murtha a message: That cowards cut and run, Marines never do." Rep. Bupb denies he ever said Murtha's name -- it is all Schmidt.

This is funny. Here is a quote from Schmidt's first ever speech on the House floor from Sept. 6, 2005: "However, here today I accept a second oath. I pledge to walk in the shoes of my colleagues and refrain from name-calling or the questioning of character. It is easy to quickly sink to the lowest form of political debate. Harsh words often lead to headlines, but walking this path is not a victimless crime. This great House pays the price."
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Schmidt blames media for storm

By Jessica Wehrman

WASHINGTON Rep. Jean Schmidt says her comments Friday on the floor of the U.S. House have been misinterpreted and that she has been made a scapegoat by a media disappointed that Congress didn't vote to withdraw troops from Iraq.

Meanwhile, the Ohio state representative whom Schmidt quoted in the speech has issued a statement saying he was misquoted.

In her first public comments since the controversial speech, Schmidt said the spotlight has focused on her remarks rather than on the 403-3 vote against a resolution that called for the immediate removal of troops from Iraq.

"I have become the lightning rod because they don't like the message," said Schmidt, R-Loveland, who was elected to Congress in an August special election.

"Had the vote been closer, or had it gone down, they would not be talking about me, they would be talking about Congress being less than enthusiastic about this war. We had Democrats and Republicans alike pressing that button, saying basically, 'Don't pull out,' " she said.

Since her floor speech, Schmidt has been lampooned on Saturday Night Live, profiled in The New York Times and become the darling of blogs quick to canonize or demonize her.

The fire storm began Friday evening when she spoke against the troop withdrawal resolution. In the speech, she cited a conversation she'd had with Danny Bubp, a Republican state representative from Adams County and a Marine Corps Reserve colonel.

The resolution, originally introduced by U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., had been revamped and brought to the floor by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.

"(Bubp) asked me to send Congress a message: Stay the course," Schmidt said. "He also asked me to send Congressman Murtha a message: That cowards cut and run, Marines never do."

The comments were met with boos and shouts in the chamber. Shortly thereafter, Schmidt withdrew her words, and later Friday the House rejected the resolution.

Schmidt said she jotted down notes during a conversation with Bubp before her floor speech. (read more)

Happy Iraqis Ask the US When They are Leaving

Another Happy Iraqi

(AP) Iraqi leaders at a reconciliation conference reached out to the Sunni Arab community by calling for a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces and saying the country's opposition had a "legitimate right" of resistance.

A day after the communique was finalized by Iraqi Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni leaders, Washington reiterated Tuesday that the United States would stay only as long as it takes to stabilize Iraq.

The communique condemned terrorism but was a clear acknowledgment of the Sunni position that insurgents should not be labeled as terrorists if they don't target innocent civilians or institutions that provide for the welfare of Iraqis.

The leaders agreed on "calling for the withdrawal of foreign troops according to a timetable, through putting in place an immediate national program to rebuild the armed forces ... control the borders and the security situation" and end terror attacks.

The preparatory reconciliation conference, held under the auspices of the Arab League, was attended by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Iraqi Shiite and Kurdish lawmakers as well as leading Sunni politicians.

Sunni leaders have been pressing the Shiite-majority government to agree to a timetable for the withdrawal of all foreign troops. The statement recognized that goal, but did not lay down a specific time — reflecting instead the government's stance that Iraqi security forces must be built up first.

On Monday, Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Jabr suggested U.S.-led forces should be able to leave Iraq by the end of next year, saying the one-year extension of the mandate for the multinational force in Iraq by the U.N. Security Council this month could be the last (read more)

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Question for Republicans. Are the Iraqi leaders who are asking for a timetable for withdrawal of US troops cowards?

Bob Novak "Loses It" and Slugs a Guy on An Airplane

By Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts

Don't mess with columnist Bob Novak when he's on his way to a Maryland basketball game. Novak, the enigmatic center of the CIA leak scandal, was headed to Hawaii Saturday morning to watch his beloved Terrapins play in the Maui Invitational tournament when he tangled with a fellow traveler.

According to our unofficial mascot on the flight, Novak was boarding an American flight to Chicago when he cut in front of another passenger while entering first class. The guy protested and laid a hand on Novak -- who responded by socking him and threatening to knock his teeth out.

Not mild-mannered Bob? We reached Novak in Maui, just minutes into yesterday's game.

"Some guy pushed me and I pushed him back," he said, shouting into the phone from the stands. "That's all there was to it." Both offending parties were scolded by airline staff and huffed to their respective seats.

And did you learn something from this experience, Bob?

"No, nothing."
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These right-wingers are losing their freakin minds. Novak slugs a guy after he (Novak) cut him in line?! I guess that's the kind of over reacting one might do when your career is going down in flames.

Marine "Quoted" By Mean Jean Schmidt Says He Was Misquoted by the Bitch

Colonel Denies Disparaging Murtha

By The New York Times

WASHINGTON, Nov. 21 - A colonel in the Marine reserves has taken issue with how his views were represented in a Republican attack last week on Representative Murtha.

Speaking on the House floor on Friday, Representative Jean Schmidt, Republican of Ohio, asserted that the colonel had "asked me to send Congressman Murtha a message: that cowards cut and run, marines never do."

But a spokeswoman for the colonel, Danny R. Bubp, said Ms. Schmidt had misconstrued their conversation.

While Mr. Bubp, a Republican member of the Ohio House of Representatives, opposes a quick withdrawal for forces, "he did not mention Congressman Murtha by name nor did he mean to disparage Congressman Murtha," said Karen Tabor, his spokeswoman. "He feels as though the words that Congresswoman Schmidt chose did not represent their conversation."

Asked to respond on Monday, the congresswoman's office said only, "Mrs. Schmidt's statement was never meant to disparage Congressman Murtha."
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Ms. Schmidt, you are a liar. You DID intend to disparage Congressman Murtha, and you ASSUMED it would be okay under the cover of a military person. Ha. You were wrong. The colonel you chose denies he ever said Murtha's name. It was all you. You're despicable.

But what do we know about Col. Bupb? Besides the fact that he has not been active in the Marines for over ten years, he showed up at Jean Schmidt rallies dressed in his uniform. That is his right, but what is his real agenda? He's been working as a Christian Right activist alongside such sleaze merchants as James Dobson and Roy Moore. While running for his seat on the Ohio legislature, he was able to hide his divorce from the public due to a friendly, right-wing judge. What was he hiding? Hmmm.... Read more about him here.

A Note to Duncan Hunter...

Yeah, and fuck you too, Duncan Hunter (R-CA) for lying and saying that HIS "immediate withdrawal" resolution represents the position of Rep.Murtha and the Democratic party. I don't know how you sleep at night, you scumbag. Any negative message to the troops comes directly from you and the other Republicans that put party ahead of country. You care more about George Bush's presidency than the troops. You should be ashamed.

Jean Schmidt (R-OH) Is A Miserable Bitch

This snotty, miserable, lying, despicable excuse for a member of Congress (of course she's a Republican) is Jean Schmidt and she represents -- for the time being -- the 2nd District of Ohio. Today on the floor of the House of Representatives she called Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) a "coward" because he criticized the Bush Administration's handling of the war in Iraq. A coward? Murtha served 27 years in the Marines!! He is a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War! How the fuck can anyone call him a coward?! Schmidt has been in Congress for all of five minutes and now she tries to impune the service, integrity, and patriotism of Murtha and all Democrats? FUCK YOU!!

Schmidt's Congressional website is here: http://www.house.gov/schmidt/ and her DC office's number is: (202) 225-3164. Call her and tell her how much she sucks. And tell her that House rules prohibit member making personal attacks on other members by name. She should be forced to apologize to Murtha, the Democratic party, and the military for this disturbing attack.

And FUCK YOU to every Republican that calls the resolution calling for immediate withdrawal from Iraq as a "Democrat bill." There is not a single Democrat involved in the drafting or sponsoring of the bill. It is a Republican bill! Murtha's proposal did not call for complete withdrawal, and anyone with an IQ above 70 that takes the time to read what he said would know that. His was a plan to force the Iraqis to get down to the business of running their own country. Our objective has been met -- Saddam is gone, there are no WMDs. Under Bush, Cheney, Rumsfield, et al, Iraq is a disaster. There is no strategy for victory or an end to this war. It is clear that the objective for Republicans is to have a permanent presence in Iraq. They want to be there for decades. There is no other rationale for their asinine positioning on this war. The people attacking our soldiers are Iraqis! They don't want us there! We got rid of Sadam, they had elections, and we have been training their army for over two years! We cannot be their permanent safety net. When can they take over? According to Republicans - NEVER. This is a recipe for disaster and failure. But failure is George Bush's middle name after all.

And fuck you to Dennis Hastert and the rest of the Republicans in the House who have now floated the idea of launching an ethics investigation against Murtha. More of the right wing smear machine in full effect.

Murtha to Dick "deferment x5" Cheney

"I like guys who've never been there that criticize us who've been there. I like that. I like guys who got five deferments and never been there and send people to war, and then don't like to hear suggestions about what needs to be done." -- Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), ranking member on House Armed Services Appropriations Committee, decorated Vietnam Veteran. Funny, this quote could be about almost all of the Bush Administration members

Shocker! It Looks Like I Am A Liberal!

You are a Social Liberal (71% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (23% permissive) You are best described as a: Strong Democrat Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

Former Rock Star, Current Sex Offender Gary Glitter On the Run in Vietnam

Reuters:
Vietnamese police want to talk to Gary Glitter about reports the shamed British glam rocker was seen with girls as young as 15 at a villa he rented, a government spokesman said on Thursday.

The communist southeast Asian nation's official Thanh Nien youth newspaper quoted neighbours in the southern resort town of Vung Tau as saying Glitter -- whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd -- had taken home several girls aged 15 or under.

Residents of the picturesque tourist town on the mouth of the Saigon River had also complained about his singing, the paper said.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung told Reuters police wanted to question the 61-year-old rocker about the allegations, which first surfaced in the British tabloid press.

"If we have evidence of child sexual violation, very strict legal measures would be applied," Dung said, adding that Glitter had since disappeared.

The age of consent in Vietnam is 16 and sex with minors is punishable by up to 12 years in jail.

Glitter was sentenced to four months in jail in Britain in 1999 after being found guilty of storing more than 4,000 images of child pornography on the hard drive of his computer.

After his release, he left Britain for Cuba and then later turned up in Phnom Penh.

Child rights activists managed to get him hounded out of Cambodia twice and have his name put on an entry blacklist, although Glitter filed lawsuits last year fighting the deportation orders.

Thanh Nien reported Glitter had been in Vietnam for about a year.

The Last Decent Republican -- And He's From MY State!!

By Glenn Kessler, Washington Post Staff Writer

Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) strongly criticized yesterday the White House's new line of attack against critics of its Iraq policy, saying that "the Bush administration must understand that each American has a right to question our policies in Iraq and should not be demonized for disagreeing with them."

With President Bush leading the charge, administration officials have lashed out at Democrats who have accused the administration of manipulating intelligence to justify the war in Iraq. Bush has suggested that critics are hurting the war effort, telling U.S. troops in Alaska on Monday that critics "are sending mixed signals to our troops and the enemy. And that's irresponsible."

Hagel, a Vietnam War veteran and a potential presidential candidate in 2008, countered in a speech to the Council of Foreign Relations that the Vietnam War "was a national tragedy partly because members of Congress failed their country, remained silent and lacked the courage to challenge the administrations in power until it was too late."

"To question your government is not unpatriotic -- to not question your government is unpatriotic," Hagel said, arguing that 58,000 troops died in Vietnam because of silence by political leaders. "America owes its men and women in uniform a policy worthy of their sacrifices."

Hagel said Democrats have an obligation to be constructive in their criticism, but he accused the administration of "dividing the country" with its rhetorical tactics.

Hagel supported the 2002 resolution to authorize military action in Iraq, but he has emerged as a strong skeptic of the Bush administration's handling of the war. In his speech, he called for a regional security conference to help invest Iraq's neighbors in the effort to stabilize the country.

At one point, while answering a question from the audience about Syria, Hagel suggested that the Middle East is worse off after the invasion because the administration failed to anticipate the consequences of removing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. "You could probably argue it is worse in many ways in the Middle East because of consequences and ripple effects," he said.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld joined other administration officials yesterday in attacking critics of the Iraq war for attempting to "rewrite" history, warning that setting an arbitrary deadline for withdrawing U.S. troops could "give terrorists the false hope that if they can simply hold on long enough, that they can outlast us."

At the same time, Rumsfeld acknowledged what he called honest mistakes in the Bush administration's prewar intelligence on Iraq. "There's no doubt in my mind that people made honest mistakes in . . . the pieces of that intelligence that were presented at the United Nations," he said at a news briefing.

Rumsfeld described an evolution of U.S. policy toward Iraq embraced by Democrats and Republicans. He read several quotes from 1998 from then-President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright and national security adviser Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger. They predicted that Hussein, if unchecked, would again use weapons of mass destruction.

However, many of the comments cited by Rumsfeld were used to justify continued sanctions on Iraq, not to invade it. Moreover, the Clinton administration officials did not cite the problematic intelligence that formed the core of the Bush administration's case for an invasion, such as allegations that Iraq sought uranium in Africa and tried to obtain aluminum tubes as part of a resurgent nuclear program.

Rumsfeld also pointed to congressional actions in 1998 and 2002 calling for Hussein's removal. But the 1998 law, signed by Clinton, said "nothing in this act shall be construed to authorize or otherwise speak to use of United States Armed Forces" to implement it.

The Rude Pundit on Bush's New "Blame Democrats for Iraq" Strategy

From The Rude Pundit:

Let's be a little bit wonky today: Yesterday, in another one of his pathetic little whines about critics of the Iraq war, George Bush, making a not-unlike-Nixon trip to Asia, stopped in Alaska to say: "Let me give you some quotes from three senior Democrat leaders: First, and I quote, 'There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons.' Another senior Democrat leader said, 'The war against terrorism will not be finished as long as Saddam Hussein is in power.' Here's another quote from a senior Democrat leader: 'Saddam Hussein, in effect, has thumbed his nose at the world community. And I think the President is approaching this in the right fashion.' They spoke the truth then, and they're speaking politics now."

Since Bush dared not speak the names of the Democrats in question or offer any context for their quotes, hey, why not do some good bloggy work here?

The first quote is from Senator Jay Rockefeller, which is the closest to a money quote in the whole thing. Rockefeller said this in the mini-debate over the Iraq War Resolution on October 10, 2002, which Rockefeller voted to approve. Also in the speech is Rockefeller's belief that war with Iraq would lead to greater terrorist threats against the U.S. And he was played for a sucker by the administration when he said, "Preventing a war with Saddam Hussein -- whether now or later -- must be our top priority, and I believe this resolution will strengthen the president’s hand to resolve this crisis peacefully. By my vote, I say to the United Nations and our allies that America is united in our resolve to deal with Saddam Hussein, and that the U.N. must act to eliminate his weapons of mass destruction. By my vote, I say to Saddam Hussein, 'Disarm, or the United States will be forced to act.'"

But that wish for the U.N. to stay involved and for the administration to try for peace doesn't stop the Rockefeller line from showing up on every nutzoid right wing blog and website claiming that Democrats wanted 'em some warrin', too. But Rockefeller has now unequivocally said that he was wrong back then, that he wouldn't have voted for the war if he had seen all the intelligence (and let's be clear here: saying that the Congress saw "the same" intelligence the President saw is not the same as saying the Congress saw all the intelligence the President had access to. It's like seeing your best friend's wife in a thong and your best friend insists that you've seen his wife naked. No, you may have seen her ass, but there's so, so much more that's been hidden. You've both seen the same ass, not the same body).

The second quote is from Senator Carl Levin, who was not really beatin' the Iraq war drums when he said, on CNN's Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer on December 16, 2001, in answer to Blitzer's question about whether or not Saddam Hussein was a terrorist: "I agree, but exactly the way Senator Kyl put it. The war against terrorism will not be finished as long as he is in power. But that does not mean he is the next target. And the commitment to do that, it seems to me, could be disruptive of our alliance that still has work to do in Afghanistan. And a lot will depend on what the facts are in various places as to what terrorist groups are doing, and as to whether or not we have facts as to whether or not the Iraqis have been involved in the terrorist attack of September 11, or whether or not Saddam is getting a weapon of mass destruction and is close to it. So facts will determine what our next targets are."

The third quote is from Senator Harry Reid who was being interviewed by Judy Woodruff on CNN's Inside Politics on September 18, 2002. Reid was asked about Democrats and their approach to the upcoming "quick vote" on a resolution to give the President authority to go to war. Woodruff wondered,"Are Democrats apparently all just jumping on this bandwagon? Or there is going to be a real debate, the kind that the American people deserve on this"

Reid responded, "As you know when his father went into Iraq, we had a very good debate. Some said one of the best debates in the last 40 years in Congress. We're going to have a debate. But I think we have to acknowledge what's gone on in Iraq. Saddam Hussein, in effect, has thumbed his nose at the world community. And I think that the president's approaching this in the right fashion. He's now trying to get the international community to join. Secretary Powell is basically living in New York, working with international community. And we have made progress...Right now, we're kind of speaking in a vacuum. The Democratic leadership and the Republican leadership, House, and Senate met with the president today. They talked in some generalities, but even today, I don't think the administration knows what they want to do. To get to -- to be very direct and specific, if we wanted to invade Iraq, it's going to take months to get that ready, not days, or weeks. So this isn't anything that's going to happen tomorrow. I think we should get this resolution out of the way. Maybe it would help the administration focus on the domestic policy if we did that."

Then, Reid added, cutely, now, in retrospect, "Oh, I don't think you're going to see blank check. And I don't think the president will ask for a blank check."

So there it is: one quote from a Senator who now says he's wrong, one from a Senator who said war in Iraq would disrupt the effort in Afghanistan, and one from a Senator who believed that the administration had no plan and was going to take it's time and that there would be a great and mighty debate. Now, tell us again, oh, shiny and wonderful Bush administration, how were you not manipulating these people?
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I know that the right is going apeshit pulling quotes from the 1990s from President Clinton talking about Iraq. This is part of the new "blame Democrats" strategy that the right is implementing. They love finding quotes that appear on the surface to be supportive of Bush. They do this with John Kerry, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, and other prominent Democrats. They then turn around and say "See what they said then? How could they possibly think differently years later -- it must be politics. How could they send such a mixed message to the enemy?"

What they conveniently forget when using this tactic is that these Senators got their intelligence from the White House!! They did not get the raw data from the intelligence services and they did not see the many dissenting views to what was presented. The same intelligence that the Bush people cherry picked for their sales job to the American people was the same intelligence given to the Senate. The Democrats that voted to support Bush trusted the President and Vice President when they said there was "no doubt" that Saddam had re-launched his nuclear program, they trusted them when they said that it was "fact" that Iraqis were involved with 9/11 (the completely discredited meeting in Prague) and they trusted them when they said Iraq had mobile weapons labs that could be used to attack any of the US's allies in the region. All of this was bullshit. The majority of the intelligence community thought this, but somehow, the only information that made it to the Senate and the American people was that all of that was true -- a "slam dunk." Now Bush is attempting to attack Democrats for trusting him. Interesting strategy. Completely disingenious, but interesting.

Sorry, W, but when new facts come to light, holding onto the same opinions and refusing to change strategies, is ignorant. You were wrong, but you won't admit it. Many of the Dems are now admitting they were wrong then. Only an ignorant right-winger would expect people to hold on to the same opinions year after year and completely disregard all new information that contradicts it. Stop blaming Democrats for the failures in the Iraq War. It's Bush's fault.

Right Wingers Sue "Diddy"

A conservative organization has filed a complaint against Sean "Diddy" Combs, contending the hip-hop mogul violated election law in his 2004 "Vote or Die" campaign by promoting Democrat John Kerry and opposing President Bush.

The National Legal and Policy Center, which filed the complaint, said Tuesday that the Federal Election Commission informed the group in a letter that it would review the complaint.

Ian Stirton, a spokesman for the FEC, said the matter would remain confidential until resolved. Stirton said the FEC receives numerous complaints and it would be up to the commission to decide whether to proceed with an investigation or not.

Combs, through his organization, Citizen Change, traveled to several cities last year urging people to sign up and vote. He declined to endorse either candidate during his push to register new voters.

Aboard his private jet, dubbed Air Force Change, he told The Associated Press at the time that "Kerry isn't smart enough" and should be spending more time in the inner city to "see how a young kid is going to school."

As for the president, he said: "You don't see Bush taking the time to go to BET or MTV. Nobody was talking to this community. I deal with them every day." (read more)
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Diddy's voter drive was one of the stupidest, least effective efforts of all of them. If I were a right-winger (and I'm not because my IQ is above 70), I would encourage him to do more. If anything, he turned people off from voting. Way to go, Diddy.

BAD RELIGION's Brett Gurwitz Auctions His Bar Mitzvah Yarmulke

This is totally bizarre. Bad Religion leader/Epitaph Records owner Brett Gurwitz auctioned off a yarmulke from his 1977 Bar Mitzvah on ebay. The auction ended and it sold for $162. Who the hell would want that? (Click on the picture to see the original listing)

Rick Santorum. Guess What? He's a Republican Hypocrite!!

Senator's Wife Sued a Chiropractor for $500,000, Was Awarded $350,000 by Jury
Nov. 10, 2005 — - In recent years many doctors and politicians have complained that frivolous malpractice lawsuits and disproportionate jury awards are a problem in need of reform.

But when "Primetime" did some investigating, it turned out that at least some of the people in favor of reform -- even some of its loudest proponents -- have themselves benefited from the current laws.

Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., says that the No. 1 health care crisis in his state is medical lawsuit abuse and in the past he's called for a $250,000 cap on non-economic damage awards or awards for pain and suffering. "We need to do something now to fix the medical liability problem in this country," he declared at a rally in Washington D.C., this past spring.

But Santorum's wife sued a doctor for $500,000 in 1999. She claimed that a botched spinal manipulation by her chiropractor led to back surgery, pain and suffering, and sued for twice the amount of a cap Santorum has supported.

Santorum declined a request for an interview, so "Primetime" caught up with him at the signing of his new book in Pennsylvania this August to ask if he thinks his stance and history are in conflict.

"I guess I could answer that in two ways," he said. "Number one is that I've supported caps. I've been very clear that I am not wedded at all to a $250,000 cap and I've said publicly repeatedly, and I think probably that is somewhat low, and that we need to look at what I think is a cap that is a little bit higher than that." (read more)
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Yet another "do as I say NOT as I do" Republican. How does someone piss and moan about medical malpractice suits and try to make them more difficult to do, when he has sued for malpractice himself? AND for nearly twice the amount that he proposes as a federal cap! Is there anyone on the right that is not a hypocrite?

More Right Wing Idiocy from Bill O'Reilly

Bill O'Reilly to San Francisco:

"And if al-Qaida comes in here and blows you up, we're not going to do anything about it. We're going to say, look, every other place in America is off limits to you, except San Francisco. You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead."

Why does no one on the right ever condemn the crap that comes out of this fool's mouth. He is openly advocating the murder of millions of US citizens, and none of you say anything? You all are a bunch of fucking hypocrites!! O'Reilly knows what he said is wrong, and that is why he removed that statement from his archives. Thankfully, Media Matters has the full thing on their website.

Bright Eyes and Spoon TONIGHT at the Orpheum Theater

Tonight's the big night, folks. Bright Eyes will be performing for the first time at the Orpheum Theater, along with Spoon, David Dondero, and Willy Mason. I know nothing about the first two artists, other than that they are the bands Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes) selected to be his openers for this entire tour. For tonight's show only, Austin, Texas' Spoon will also be playing. That makes this quite a unique and impressive bill.

Bright Eyes is, of course, from Omaha, but Conor pretty much lives on the road or in NYC these days. It's not much of a homecoming since they have already played here three times this year. Spoon used to be an Omaha staple (they did a single on Saddle Creek and singer Brit Daniels did a record with Conor a few years ago), but haven't played in town for a couple of years. I'm actually looking forward to seeing Spoon much more than B.E. just because I see them much less frequently. If you don't already have a ticket, you are S.O.L. -- it's SOLD OUT. The Orpheum is a beautiful, old theater and should make for a nice setting to see this show. See ya there!!

O'Sexxxy Factor: November 11, 2005

Today on 'The Factor" we have sexy teen Brooke Skye. I have never seen this girl out there before, and if I haven't seen her...she must be new. To see the rest of her pictures go here (NSFW).

Pop Hottie Gwen Stefani Still in No Doubt

Ananova:

Gwen's still in No Doubt

Gwen Stefani says she will make another album with No Doubt - despite her success as a solo artist.

The singer says she intends to go back into the studio with her band but she doesn't yet know when, reports NME.com.

She said: "That's the plan. I really didn't know that it would take so long to make Love Angel Music Baby.

"Then we ended up putting a greatest hits record out and that took up time. We went on tour. It was amazing.

"I never intended for this record to take so long, but I want to ride this wave while it's out there."

The last album the band brought out was Rock Steady three years ago.
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Even though I should totally hate Gwen Stefani, I don't. I kinda like No Doubt. Their stuff is harmless pop music, and Gwen does inject a lot of personality into her lyrics. Her solo stuff is pretty weak (except for the first single "What You Waiting For?" which was excellent). She is also quite the babe. Why the hell would she marry that douchebag from Bush? Well, she was on the rebound, I guess.

The Greatest Documentary Ever Made!

"Heavy Metal Parking Lot", widely considered to be one of the greatest rock 'n' roll movies of all time, has finally been made available on DVD. Filmed in 1986 at a Maryland concert arena parking lot before a JUDAS PRIEST concert, "Heavy Metal Parking Lot" is an unvarnished anthropological study of American metalheads in their mid-'80s glory. It is the quintessential '80s magnum opus, made complete with a vast display of muscle cars, spandex, bleach-blonde frizzy perms, bare-chested dudes, mullets from hell, faded-denim metal chicks, and the largest collection of late '70s Camaros ever seen in one location. Virtually unknown to mainstream audiences for two decades, "Heavy Metal Parking Lot" was a VHS bootleg favorite among musicians, movie stars and cult-video fanatics worldwide. This limited-edition DVD includes a pristine digital-video transfer of the original uncut 16-minute documentary, plus over two hours of exclusive content! Viewer discretion: explicit language, drug references and loud music.

To watch the original 16 minute movie, go here and use the drop down menu. To purchase the DVD, try FilmBaby.com.
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Forget 'Fahrenheit 9/11' or whatever else you consider to be the best documentary. Heavy Metal Parking Lot is much better. I first saw the original 16 minute version in the early 90s, and even then, it was freakin' hysterical. It really is unintentionally hysterical, because the "stars" of the documentary aren't trying to be funny. I lived through the 80s and saw more than my fair share of hair metal shows. I met plenty of people just like those in the movie. One of the funniest parts is when some of the headbangers are talking about how much they love Judas Priest. One of the big haired girls says that if she saw Rob Halford (singer) that she'd "jump his bones." One of the guys says, "Dude, he's a fag" (which he is but this was not known at the time), and they all argue with one another over that "insult" to their idol. Halford came out of the closet in the mid 90s, many years after this film was shot. Buy this DVD. You will crack up.

Snoop Brand Hot Dogs? You Bet.

From Aversion:
My hot dog has a first name, it's S-N-O-O-P.

Because Lil' Jon's Crunk Juice and Nelly's Cola were such smashing successes, Snoop Dogg will enter the junk-food market, lending his name to a new hot dog brand. Foot-long Snoop Doggs will pack all the lips and assholes of regular hot dogs into a wrapper that bears the Snoop’s likeness. The endeavor, a partnership with a former hot dog manufacturer.

If Snoop Doggs take off, expect a line of J. Lo’s huge buns to surface in the near future.

O'Sexxxy Factor: November 10, 2005

Today on 'The Factor' we have the gorgeous blonde Ana Hickman. See more pictures of her here.

More Out of Control Hysteria From Right Wingers.

"The real bad thing that's happened has been this horrible, Stalinesque persecution -- not prosecution, persecution -- of Scooter Libby, this putting the White House on trial for politics as usual, criminalizing defense of the president's policy in Iraq. It's just shameful...It is standard business as usual to pass out leaks to reporters in Washington. This prosecuting business as usual in Washington is just a way to break the political process down and make it into an illegal, criminal process." -- Ben Stein, former speechwriter for Richard Nixon and star of TVs 'Win Ben Stein's Money'
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Ben, these are last week's taling points, man. But it's nice to see that you are just as much of a hypocrite as the rest of the Republican party. Let's see if I can make this simple for you...Leaking the name of a covert CIA operative to a reporter is illegal, unethical, and subject to criminal prosecution. Everyone that works in the White House signs multiple pledges NOT to disclose classified information. Also, lying to a federal grand jury is called perjury. That is illegal. It's not Stalinesque. It's called the law. I understand that since you worked for the most dishonest and corrupt President ever - Nixon - these might be difficult concepts to understand.

The Right is Running for Cover

"Thus, in March, 2003, Bush, in perhaps the greatest strategic blunder in U.S. history, invaded an Arab nation that had not attacked us, did not want war with us, and did not threaten us—to strip it of weapons we now know it did not have.

Result: Shia and Kurds have been liberated from Saddam, but Iran has a new ally in southern Iraq, Osama has a new base camp in the Sunni Triangle, the Arab and Islamic world have been radicalized against the United States, and copy-cat killers of Al Qaida have been targeting our remaining allies in Europe and the Middle East: Spain, Britain, Egypt and Jordan. And, lest we forget, 2055 Americans are dead and Walter Reed is filling up. " - Patrick J. Buchanan November 10, 2005

This is just one quote from Buchanan's newest article from Human Events (a very right wing magazine). Read the entire article here.

Slayer Hits the Studio. New Album in 2006

According to a band spokesperson, US thrash gods SLAYER will "go into the studio MAYBE December, possibly January to start recording" their long-awaited followup to 2001's God Hates Us All. The album will feature original drummer Dave Lombardo who rejoined the band in early 2002. The album will surface on American Recordings' new home, Warner Bros. Records, sometime in 2006.
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Slayer's last studio album, God Hates Us All, was released on September 11, 2001. How's that for frightening!

Is This The New Republican Talking Point?

Right wing blowhard Bill O'Reilly is now blaming the bungling of the Iraq War on...France. Yes, that's right. Even though France said they did not believe the evidence presented by the Bush Administration, supported allowing the weapons inspectors to continue their work, and refused to send troops to topple Sadam based on questionable intelligence -- it's France's fault that the war is going so badly. Here's his ridiculous argument (add this to his many ridiculous arguments):

"If Jacques Chirac had stepped up and looked Saddam in the eye and said, 'You either let those U.N. inspectors do their job unfettered, or I'm going with the U.S.A. and Britain,' Saddam would have blinked. There wouldn't have been an Iraq war. This Iraq War is on Chirac. It's right on his head. That's where it is." -- 11/7/05 Radio Factor

This may be one of the stupidest things ever uttered. Jeezus. I thought the Republicans were supposed to be the party of "personable responsibility"? How about taking some. The Right is going into a "blame everybody but Bush" frenzy of late. Now the new line is that it's the Democrats fault for going along with Bush -- they are responsible for the problems in Iraq for not raising their questions back in 2002. Anyone with any memory knows that everyone who questioned the Bush Administration was eviscerated in the media as some sort of anti-American crank. Dissent was either criticized as un-patriotic or was ignored completely. There were plenty of people raising questions back then. The right-wing and the media wanting nothing to do with it. Phil Donohue even lost his show on MSNBC for publicly questioning the Bush Administration's war policy. Don't re-write history. This is a Republican War and a Republican failure.

Have You Tried This Yet?

Don't know if you have heard of this or not, but I thought I'd pass it on. There is a new website called Meebo that lets you connect up to most of the various instant messenger services through one place. If you are like me, you have IM accounts on numerous ones, but tend to use one over the other because it is a pain to log in to three or more different services. Meebo works with AIM, Yahoo!, MSN, ICQ, Jabber, and GTalk. It doesn't have all the functionality of the actual IMs themselves, but in a work environment, it is pretty good. Click on the picture to go to the site (you do not have to sign up for anything to use it), or just go to www.Meebo.com.

A Classic Headline

WASHINGTON (AP) - Iraq, Katrina, CIA leak, Harriet Miers. Things couldn't possibly get any worse for President Bush.

Wait, they just did.

Bush put his wispy political prestige on the line in the Virginia governor's race and lost Tuesday when the candidate he embraced in a last-minute campaign stop was soundly defeated. While there are many reasons for Jerry Kilgore's defeat, chief among them his poor campaign, giddy Democrats said the Virginia race as well as a Democratic victory in New Jersey prove that Bush is a political toxin for Republicans. (read more)

Indictment in Bush Administration Hits Major Nerve: 79% of Americans Say It is Important

WILL LESTER , Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The recent indictment of Vice President Cheney's top aide has struck a nerve with the American public. Four in five, 79 percent, said the indictment of former Cheney aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby on perjury and other charges is important to the nation, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. Pew noted that in September 1998, 65 percent said President Clinton's lies under oath were important. Clinton was impeached over his handling of an affair with Monica Lewinsky, but was acquitted by the Senate on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.

Libby was charged with lying to investigators and a grand jury during an investigation of his role in revealing the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame, wife of an outspoken critic of the war against Iraq.

Most Americans, six in 10, say they do not think the news about Libby's indictment has gotten too much coverage.

The concerns about Libby's case come at a time that a growing number of people, 43 percent, now say U.S. and British leaders were mostly lying when they claimed before the Iraq war that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, while an equal number said they were misinformed by bad intelligence.

That's up from 31 percent who felt in February 2004 that the leaders were lying, while 49 percent said they got bad intelligence.

Two-thirds of Democrats say U.S. and British political leaders were lying about weapons of mass destruction and half of independents feel that way. Only one in 10 Republicans said that was the case.

The telephone poll of 1,201 adults was taken Nov. 3-6 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
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Don't believe the spin on the right that no one in America cares about this story, or that Libby was "working alone" and this is some sort of isolated incident. The Bush regime is crumbling, and this is the beginning of it. They started this war on a lie, they lied about the lies they originally told to hype the war, and now they lied about leaking classified information to the media. How the right respond? They start a bogus investigation about a "leak" regarding the revelation that the US has been operating secret, illegal prison detention centers in various European countries. This story will go nowhere since nothing illegal was done. The sources' only requirement for publication was that the countries were not specifically named (for fear of retaliation). There was no crime. The article exposed illegal activity, and did not hide illegal activity as in the Plamegate scandal stories. See the difference? If you're a Republican...probably not.

KISS To Release New Live DVD Dec. 13

By Greg Prato

Make-up clad rock icons Kiss will on December 13 release a double-disc concert DVD, "Rock the Nation Live!," which aims to distinguish itself from countless Kiss videos on the market with an abundance of rare songs and special features.

Taped in summer 2004 in Washington, D.C., and Virginia Beach, the Image Entertainment release features core members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons flanked by guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer.

"We were playing a lot of songs that Kiss hadn't played in years, or haven't played at all," Thayer told Billboard.com. "One day, Doc McGhee, the manager, came into the dressing room, and said, 'We really need to film and record this show, because it's so good. It's probably the best Kiss performance I've seen.' So we said, 'OK.' That was the spark that got the whole thing going."

"Rock the Nation Live!" boasts the "Kiss Powervision/Select-A-Kiss" option to hone in on an individual member as well as candid behind-the-scenes vignettes.

"At any moment, a viewer can choose what they want to see, and use different camera angles," Stanley said. "So if you happen to have the good taste to see me, you can watch pretty much solely that. It's really your mix and your version of the show. I don't think we can forget that the band is really in peak form, and that's really shown on this DVD."

Stanley said he was thrilled to air out such Kiss oldies as "Christine Sixteen," "She" and "Parasite" during the tour.

"To be able to go out and play every and any Kiss song was very freeing," he enthuses. "We reached a point where a lot of the tours after the reunion tour were virtually the same set list, and it wasn't because we didn't want to play other songs. Once Tommy and Eric came in, on any given night, we could change the show, and really dig deep into our catalog. A band that's been together this long not only should be able to play 'Rock and Roll All Nite' and 'Love Gun,' but (also) 'Two Timer' or 'Got To Choose."'

Still, fans continue to await a vault-clearing visual release, a project that Stanley said is closer to reality than ever before.

"Yesterday was the beginning of planning really the ultimate Kiss experience," he said. "That Scorsese/Dylan piece ('No Direction Home: Bob Dylan') was eye opening, at least to me, in terms of how you can be immersed in a time capsule, and not only see the music and be part of the crowd, but also get a sense of who Dylan was then. There are times when I'm much more interested in actual footage of somebody in the moment than somebody reminiscing 20 or 30 years later. It's fascinating to see where somebody was at, and what their mindset was in the midst of storm, as opposed to looking back on it. That set a really high bar, and I think that is more likely our approach at this point."

For now, it is unknown when Kiss may return to the road. "There's definitely talk," Stanley said. "I had a hip replacement a year ago, and that unfortunately didn't go as well as it should have, and they did it again, and that also didn't go as well as it should have. So the recovery from that has been longer, although about six weeks ago we did a corporate show for 15,000 people, in Columbus, Ohio. The band is as good and ready to go as ever. The difference is that I have to make sure that I can commit 100% of my energy for a tour, and not just a show."
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This DVD will feature the "fake" KISS (no Ace and Peter), but I most likely get it anyway.

Bella Lea Back in Omaha Tonight

Bella Lea comes to Omaha once again. They have already been here twice this year, and were amazing both times. If you live in the area, head down to O'Leavers (50th & Saddle Creek) to see this great band. Singer Maura Davis is easily the most attractive woman in rock today, and she's no barbie doll. Maura is a skilled songwriter, guitar player, and keyboard player. At this time, the band has no official releases. However, they have been selling CDs at their shows. Here is a track from their forthcoming CD called "Seconds 'Til Midnight." Bella Lea is opening for instrumental rock band Tristeza. See you there.

The lovely Ms. Davis.

Virginia's Turnin' Blue!! Dems Win in VA and NJ

By ROBERT TANNER, AP National Writer

Democrats swept both governors' races Tuesday, with Sen. Jon Corzine easily winning New Jersey and Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine taking Virginia despite a last-minute campaign push for his opponent from President Bush.

In Texas, voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional ban on gay marriage, while Republican Mayor Mike Bloomberg surged ahead in his bid for a second term in heavily Democratic New York. Voters also picked mayors in Detroit, Houston, San Diego and Boston.

Kaine had 860,719 votes, or 51 percent, to Kilgore's 789,273 votes, or 46.8 percent, with 88 percent of precincts reporting.

In New Jersey, Democratic Sen. Jon Corzine trounced Doug Forrester, pulling in 54 percent of the vote to the Republican's 42.8 percent, with 55 percent of precincts counted. Corzine had 605,915 votes, and Forrester had 480,477.

In California, several government-overhaul measures on the ballot were seen as a referendum on GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who campaigned hard for them

Fox News Gets Sued for Sexual Harassment

From Newsday:
NEW YORK (AP) The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a sexual harassment lawsuit on Monday against News Corp.'s Fox News Network on behalf of a female former employee.

The lawsuit charges that the company discriminated against Kim Weiler and retaliated when she and others complained. The discrimination resulted in the "constructive discharge" of Weiler and others, court papers say.

The complaint, filed in the Southern District of New York, names Fox News Vice President Joe Chillemi, who is accused of denigrating women by using obscenities when describing them or their body parts. The suit charges that Chillemi specifically denigrated pregnant women.

"At a department discussion about a segment on sexism in the workplace, Chillemi said that in choosing who to hire `if it came down between a man or a woman, of course I'd pick the man. The woman would most likely get pregnant and leave,"' the court papers say.

A Fox News lawyer said the claims in the lawsuit were unfounded.

"Fox News fully investigated the charges and allegations and found them to be baseless," lawyer Steven Mintz said. "We question the motivation behind the litigation."

The complaint contends that Fox News Network LLC discriminated against Weiler and others by assigning them primarily to freelance positions, which paid fewer benefits and had less job security and less potential for advancement.

The lawsuit asks the federal court to order Fox News to institute new policies providing equal employment and to compensate Weiler by an amount to be determined by the court.

The EEOC is a federal agency responsible for enforcing laws involving civil rights and anti-discrimination.

The Iraq/Al Queda Connection = Lie Since 2002

Just like those of us on the left have been saying for years, the Bush Administration simply used 9/11 as their excuse to attack Iraq. There never was any connection between Iraq and 9/11, and Bush, Cheney, Rumsfield, Rice, Libby, et al have known this all along. They used the nation's understandable anger about 9/11 and used it for their political gain. They should all be tried. What's that you say, right winger? Proof? OK:
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2002 Report Doubted Iraq-Al Queda Informer
Washington -- A top operative of al Qaeda in American custody was identified as a likely fabricator months before the Bush administration began to use his statements as the foundation for its claims that Iraq had trained al Qaeda members to use biological and chemical weapons, according to newly declassified portions of a Defense Intelligence Agency document.

The intelligence report from February 2002 said it was probable that the prisoner, Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, "was intentionally misleading the debriefers" in making allegations about Iraqi support for al Qaeda's work with illicit weapons.

The document provides the earliest and strongest indication of doubts voiced by U.S. intelligence agencies about Libi's credibility. Without mentioning him by name, President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell and other administration officials repeatedly cited Libi's information as "credible" evidence that Iraq was training al Qaeda members in the use of explosives and illicit weapons.

Among the first and most prominent assertions was one by Bush, who said in a major speech in Cincinnati in October 2002: "We've learned that Iraq has trained al Qaeda members in bomb-making and poisons and gases."

The newly declassified portions of the document were made available by Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Levin said the new evidence of early doubts about Libi's statements dramatized what he called the Bush administration's misuse of intelligence to try to justify an invasion of Iraq. That is an issue that Levin and other Democratic senators have been seeking to emphasize in recent days, in part by calling attention to the fact that the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee has yet to deliver a promised report, first sought more than two years ago, that was to have focused on the use of prewar intelligence.

A White House spokeswoman said she had no immediate comment on the Defense Intelligence Agency's report on Libi. GOP senators have been arguing that Republicans were not alone in making prewar assertions about Iraq, illicit weapons and terrorism that have since been discredited.

Libi, who was captured in Pakistan at the end of 2001, recanted his claims in January 2004. That prompted the CIA, a month later, to recall all intelligence reports based on his statements, a fact that was recorded in a footnote to the report issued by the Sept. 11 commission later in 2004.

Libi was not alone among intelligence sources later determined to have been fabricating accounts. Among others, an Iraqi exile whose code name was Curveball was the primary source for what proved to be false information about Iraq and mobile biological weapons labs. And American military officials cultivated ties with Ahmad Chalabi -- head of the Iraqi National Congress, an exile group -- who has been accused of feeding the Pentagon misleading information in urging war. (Read more).

Bush Keeps Dossiers On Over 10,000 Political Enemies

By DOUG THOMPSON
Publisher, Capitol Hill Blue
Nov 8, 2005

Spurred by paranoia and aided by the USA Patriot Act, the Bush Administration has compiled dossiers on more than 10,000 Americans it considers political enemies and uses those files to wage war on those who disagree with its policies.

The “enemies list” dates back to Bush’s days as governor of Texas and can be accessed by senior administration officials in an instant for use in campaigns to discredit those who speak out against administration policies or acts of the President.

The computerized files include intimate personal details on members of Congress; high-ranking local, state and federal officials; prominent media figures and ordinary citizens who may, at one time or another, spoken out against the President or Administration.

Capitol Hill Blue has spoken with a number of current and former administration officials who acknowledge existence of the enemies list only under a guarantee of confidentiality. Those who have seen the list say it is far more extensive than Richard Nixon’s famous “enemies list” of Watergate fame or Bill Clinton’s dossiers on political enemies.

“How is that you think Karl (Rove) and Scooter (Libby) were able to disseminate so much information on Joe Wilson and his wife,” says one White House aide. “They didn’t have that information by accident. They had it because they have files on those who might hurt them.”

White House insiders tell a disturbing tales of invasion of privacy, abuse of government power and use of expanded authority under the USA Patriot Act to dig into the personal lives of anyone the administration deems an enemy of the state.

Those on the list include former Ambassador Joseph Wilson and his wife, former covert CIA operative Valarie Plame, along with filmmaker and administration critic Michael Moore, Senators like California’s Barbara Boxer, media figures like liberal writer Joe Conason and left-wing bloggers like Markos Moulitsas Zúniga (the Daily Kos). (Read the rest)
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This is a frightening story. Everyone knows the Bush Administration has a thin skin and seeks to punish those who disagree with them. But, 10,000 enemies!! Jeezus, not even Nixon had that many made up enemies!

Are Jews Responsible for the Greatest Comic Book Characters?

I saw this on a good blog called Superlertive and wanted to re-post it.
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Look up in the sky: It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No, it’s a minyan of comic book superheroes and their geeky Jewish creators.

From its inception, the modern comic book has been a friendly domain for Jews, from Marvel’s Stan Lee to Maus’ Art Spiegelman. Hawkman, the Flash, Thor, Superman and Batman were all created by overactive Jewish imaginations.

But like some dark secret held until the last cryptic panel, the Jewish connection to comics has only recently gotten any serious ink. (Read on).

GOP News

More GOP news -- This stuff would be funny if these psychos didn't run the entire country!

The Swift Boat Liars are back! This time, they are targeting Independent candidate for Senate from Vermont, Bernie Sanders. The group's "leader" John O'Neill has listed a number of outright lies about Sanders' record.

Has a Republican told you the lie that The Patriot Act has never been used to spy on ordinary American citizens? As with most conservative assertions, this is not true.

Senator Coburn (R-OK) claims that his skills as a physician make him a human lie detector. No shit! He is actually ridiculous enough to make this claim TWICE on national television! Strangely, his detector doesn't seem to work since he still believes there are WMD in Iraq!

GOP top criminal Tom DeLay is asking to have his money laundering trial moved to a different county. Why? Due to his unethical and (probably) illegal gerrymandering of Texas voting districts, the county in which is trial is to take place is now predominately "liberal." Karma's a bitch ain't it Tom? Well, it would be if what DeLay was saying were true. Talking Points Memo has a good post about how DeLay is simply making up his claim about the country being too liberal. It is actually quite Republican.

Have you heard about the new conservative "think tank"? This one -- The Center for Equal Opportunity -- is seeking to cancel the Voting Rights Act. You know, because more people voting is a bad thing. I love it when racism is disguised as "thinking."

More Republican corruption? Yes. This is not new Republican corruption, though. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA) is on the hotseat for a number of things, not the least of which is his accepting of bribes from a defense contractor -- "Time and the seemingly ceaseless litany of Washington political disgraces have arguably been kind to U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham. In June, the veteran North County Republican lawmaker was the key attraction in the nation's scandal spotlight over a questionable real estate transaction with a defense contractor." -- This is from his home district's newspaper.

All the Bush Administration's Lies on Iraq in One Easy to Read Article!!

(It is really sad, but almost every Republican/conservative actually believes this stuff!)

A history of the Iraq war, told entirely in lies
Posted on Monday, November 7, 2005. All text is verbatim from senior Bush Administration officials and advisers. In places, tenses have been changed for clarity. Originally from Harper's Magazine, October 2003.

By Sam Smith.
Once again, we were defending both ourselves and the safety and survival of civilization itself. September 11 signaled the arrival of an entirely different era. We faced perils we had never thought about, perils we had never seen before. For decades, terrorists had waged war against this country. Now, under the leadership of President Bush, America would wage war against them. It was a struggle between good and it was a struggle between evil.
It was absolutely clear that the number-one threat facing America was from Saddam Hussein. We know that Iraq and Al Qaeda had high-level contacts that went back a decade. We learned that Iraq had trained Al Qaeda members in bomb making and deadly gases. The regime had long-standing and continuing ties to terrorist organizations. Iraq and Al Qaeda had discussed safe-haven opportunities in Iraq. Iraqi officials denied accusations of ties with Al Qaeda. These denials simply were not credible. You couldn't distinguish between Al Qaeda and Saddam when you talked about the war on terror.

The fundamental question was, did Saddam Hussein have a weapons program? And the answer was, absolutely. His regime had large, unaccounted-for stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons--including VX, sarin, cyclosarin, and mustard gas, anthrax, botulism, and possibly smallpox. Our conservative estimate was that Iraq then had a stockpile of between 100 and 500 tons of chemical-weapons agent. That was enough agent to fill 16,000 battlefield rockets. We had sources that told us that Saddam Hussein recently authorized Iraqi field commanders to use chemical weapons--the very weapons the dictator told the world he did not have. And according to the British government, the Iraqi regime could launch a biological or chemical attack in as little as forty-five minutes after the orders were given. There could be no doubt that Saddam Hussein had biological weapons and the capability to rapidly produce more, many more.

Iraq possessed ballistic missiles with a likely range of hundreds of miles--far enough to strike Saudi Arabia, Israel, Turkey, and other nations. We also discovered through intelligence that Iraq had a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas. We were concerned that Iraq was exploring ways of using UAVs for missions targeting the United States.

* * *
Saddam Hussein was determined to get his hands on a nuclear bomb. We knew he'd been absolutely devoted to trying to acquire nuclear weapons, and we believed he had, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons. The British government learned that Saddam Hussein had recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa. Our intelligence sources told us that he had attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear-weapons production. When the inspectors first went into Iraq and were denied-finally denied access, a report came out of the [International Atomic Energy Agency] that they were six months away from developing a weapon. I didn't know what more evidence we needed.

Facing clear evidence of peril, we could not wait for the final proof that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud. The Iraqi dictator could not be permitted to threaten America and the world with horrible poisons and diseases and gases and atomic weapons. Inspections would not work. We gave him a chance to allow the inspectors in, and he wouldn't let them in. The burden was on those people who thought he didn't have weapons of mass destruction to tell the world where they were.

We waged a war to save civilization itself. We did not seek it, but we fought it, and we prevailed. We fought them and imposed our will on them and we captured or, if necessary, killed them until we had imposed law and order. The Iraqi people were well on their way to freedom. The scenes of free Iraqis celebrating in the streets, riding American tanks, tearing down the statues of Saddam Hussein in the center of Baghdad were breathtaking. Watching them, one could not help but think of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Iron Curtain.

It was entirely possible that in Iraq you had the most pro-American population that could be found anywhere in the Arab world. If you were looking for a historical analogy, it was probably closer to post-liberation France. We had the overwhelming support of the Iraqi people. Once we won, we got great support from everywhere.

The people of Iraq knew that every effort was made to spare innocent life, and to help Iraq recover from three decades of totalitarian rule. And plans were in place to provide Iraqis with massive amounts of food, as well as medicine and other essential supplies. The U.S. devoted unprecedented attention to humanitarian relief and the prevention of excessive damage to infrastructure and to unnecessary casualties.

The United States approached its postwar work with a two-part resolve: a commitment to stay and a commitment to leave. The United States had no intention of determining the precise form of Iraq's new government. That choice belonged to the Iraqi people. We have never been a colonial power. We do not leave behind occupying armies. We leave behind constitutions and parliaments. We don't take our force and go around the world and try to take other people's real estate or other people's resources, their oil. We never have and we never will.

The United States was not interested in the oil in that region. We were intent on ensuring that Iraq's oil resources remained under national Iraqi control, with the proceeds made available to support Iraqis in all parts of the country. The oil fields belonged to the people of Iraq, the government of Iraq, all of Iraq. We estimated that the potential income to the Iraqi people as a result of their oil could be somewhere in the $20 [billion] to $30 billion a year [range], and obviously, that would be money that would be used for their well-being. In other words, all of Iraq's oil belonged to all the people of Iraq.

* * *
We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories. And we found more weapons as time went on. I never believed that we'd just tumble over weapons of mass destruction in that country. But for those who said we hadn't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they were wrong, we found them. We knew where they were.

We changed the regime of Iraq for the good of the Iraqi people. We didn't want to occupy Iraq. War is a terrible thing. We've tried every other means to achieve objectives without a war because we understood what the price of a war can be and what it is. We sought peace. We strove for peace. Nobody, but nobody, was more reluctant to go to war than President Bush.

It is not right to assume that any current problems in Iraq can be attributed to poor planning. The number of U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf region dropped as a result of Operation Iraqi Freedom. This nation acted to a threat from the dictator of Iraq. There is a lot of revisionist history now going on, but one thing is certain--he is no longer a threat to the free world, and the people of Iraq are free. There's no doubt in my mind when it's all said and done, the facts will show the world the truth. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind.

Cheerleader Fight!!!

Two NFL Cheerleaders Arrested at Tampa Bar
Tampa, Florida – Two Carolina Panther cheerleaders spent the night in jail after a rough night in Channelside. The Panthers were in town to play the Bucs Sunday afternoon.

Witnesses say Angela Keathley and Renee Thomas were engaged in some type of sexual activity inside a bathroom stall at Banana Joe's around 2:20 am Sunday. Another woman waiting to use the bathroom got into an argument with the pair.

Police say Thomas punched the woman in the face. When Thomas was arrested, she gave police the name of another Panthers cheerleader.

Thomas could face additional charges for lying to police, once they confirm her identity.

Keathley was charged with disorderly conduct and obstructing or opposing an officer, while Thomas was charged with one count of battery.

The two women were taken to Hillsborough County jail, where they both bonded out later Sunday morning.
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Is it wrong to think this story is hot?

Bush Administration Uses the IRS to Attack Liberal Churches

I am not surprised by this story one bit. It is very Nixonian, and that is the usual M.O. of the Bush Administration.

Antiwar Sermon Brings IRS Warning

All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena risks losing its tax-exempt status because of a former rector's remarks in 2004.

By Patricia Ward Biederman and Jason Felch, Times Staff Writers

The Internal Revenue Service has warned one of Southern California's largest and most liberal churches that it is at risk of losing its tax-exempt status because of an antiwar sermon two days before the 2004 presidential election.

Rector J. Edwin Bacon of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena told many congregants during morning services Sunday that a guest sermon by the church's former rector, the Rev. George F. Regas, on Oct. 31, 2004, had prompted a letter from the IRS.

In his sermon, Regas, who from the pulpit opposed both the Vietnam War and 1991's Gulf War, imagined Jesus participating in a political debate with then-candidates George W. Bush and John Kerry. Regas said that "good people of profound faith" could vote for either man, and did not tell parishioners whom to support.

But he criticized the war in Iraq, saying that Jesus would have told Bush, "Mr. President, your doctrine of preemptive war is a failed doctrine. Forcibly changing the regime of an enemy that posed no imminent threat has led to disaster."

(Read More)

When Talk Shows Are Desperate For Ratings -- Tyra Banks Pretends to be Fat

LOS ANGELES (Nov. 2) - Tyra Banks has gone undercover as a 350-pound woman. Banks wore the fat suit to experience what it's like to be obese.

"It seemed like the last form of open discrimination that's OK, and I decided to put on a 350-pound suit myself and live that life for a day and see what happens," the 31-year-old former supermodel told AP Radio in a recent interview. "And it was one of the most heartbreaking days of my life."

Banks said she was shocked at the reaction.

"I started walking down the street and within 10 seconds, a trio of people looked at me, snickered, looked me right in my eye and started pointing and laughing in my face," the talk-show host said. "And I had no idea it was that blatant."

The segment will air Monday on "The Tyra Banks Show."

Banks, who had a sonogram on her show in September to prove that her breasts are real, is also planning a Nov. 18 segment on pursuing "a beautiful booty."

She will reveal her own "dimpled butt" and receive endermologie treatment on the set.

I want my supermodels to be skinny and oblivious. They should stay that way. Don't watch this show as a protest.

I Sleep Soundly at Night Because I'm a Democrat -- I Know None of This is My Fault

Whoah! Sorry I have been M.I.A. for the last few days. I was the sickest I have probably ever been. Don't ever get the stomach flu. It sucks. I completely missed Fitzmas! Well, it wasn't much of a holiday anyway. I'm not going to get too into the indictments (or lack thereof) because it is an "ongoing investigation," and that would be inappropriate. Ha!

But I will talk about the absolutely genius move the other day by Harry Reid! Man, it is about freakin' time that the Democrats got their balls back and played hardball with the GOP. All the conservative whining about this being so unfair, and how Bill Frist took it as a "slap in the face," just shows how disingenious and thin skinned they truly are. My God, I thought Bill Frist was going to cry! What a baby.

Let's face it, "Phase Two" of the investigation into the origins of the Iraq War would never happen if it were up to the Republicans. This is the part that was supposed to investigate how the Bush Administration (selectively) used the intelligence to make its case for this pathetic and unnecessary war. Senator Roberts (Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee) said numerous times on television that he did not want to do the second part of the investigation before last year's presidential election so it would not be politicized. That, of course, is politicizing the investigation. He held off doing the investigation because he knew that any honest look into how the Bush Administration sold the war to the American people would effect the election -- people would see how they were lied to and vote against Bush. That is politicizing the investigation right there! To put it simply, Senator Pat Roberts is a liar!

I watched Roberts with my own eyes say that as soon as the election was over, he would begin the second phase of the investigation to see if the Administration did anything wrong. Once the election was over, he changed his tune: "I don't think there should be any doubt that we have now heard it all regarding prewar intelligence. I think that it would be a monumental waste of time to replow this ground any further." (March 31, 2005). Now, after Reid's call for a secret session in the Senate to push for the investigation that Roberts promised, Roberts claims he has been working on the investigation all along, and that Democrats are making an issue out of nothing. There is no other word for this other than BULLSHIT. Roberts wanted nothing to do with the investigation because he now knows what many of us on the left have been saying for years -- this war was was started on false pretenses. The extent of the falseness can only be determined by the Congress exercising its oversight authority. The GOP Congress has refused for the last five years to launch a single investigation into anything Bush-releated.

During the Vietnam War, while LBJ was President, a fellow Democrat -- William Fulbright (D-AR) -- launched an investigation into the origins of the Vietnam War and whether or not the American people were being told the truth. Is there a single Republican that would do something like that today? Absolutely not. The current Republican party is so concerned with keeping their hold on power, that will turn a blind eye to all the rampant corruption in the Bush Administration and to all the lies told about Sadam's so-called waepons of mass destruction. The White House yesterday even took to blaming Bill Clinton for the intelligence! Bill Clinton?! Give it up. Start taking responsibility for your own actions and stop looking for 10 year old quotes from the former President. He did not start this war - Bush did. Own up to it.

Bush wanted to be a wartime President, and he made himself one. It is his war. I can say that I never supported the war, and never believed the administration's case. This is not 20/20 hindsight. At the time I simply did not believe the "evidence" used to justify the war. Sadam was contained. Saudi Arabia, North Korea, and Iran were much greater threats -- and they still are. I took all the shots from right-wingers who said I was anti-American, hated the troops, loved Osama Bin Laden, etc. And whenever other vile right wing attacks were made against me, I took comfort knowing that someday I would be proven right. I had hoped it would be before the last election, but Scooter Libby's obstruction of justice and Pat Robert's delaying tactics ensured this would not be looked into until after the election. Nevertheless, I was right.

I support the troops, but I do not support the Commander in Chief and his war of choice. Is that so hard for you right-wingers to understand?

"Scooter" Arraigned! He Pleads Not Guilty.

By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer

Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff pleaded not guilty Thursday in the CIA leak scandal, marking the start of what could be a long road to a trial in which Cheney and other top Bush administration officials could be summoned to testify.

I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby entered the plea in front of U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, a former prosecutor who has spent two decades as a judge in the nation's capital.

Once the charges were read and the judge asked for his response, Libby said: "With respect, your honor, I plead not guilty."

Libby, who is recovering from a foot injury, leaned his crutches against a podium from which lawyers normally question witnesses or address the court. As the charges were read, he stood with his recently expanded legal team at the table reserved for the defense during trials.

During the 10-minute hearing, Walton set Libby's next court appearance for Feb. 3 and learned from the lawyers they had no idea when they would be ready for trial.

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald estimated it would take two weeks for the government to present its case against Libby, and the timing would depend on pretrial motions by his attorneys. (Read more).

Jessica Simpson's Cleavage Voted Best in Showbiz

From Ana Nova:
Jessica Simpson has been named the celebrity with best cleavage in Hollywood.

Jessica topped the poll for In Touch weekly magazine reports The Sun.

Carmen Electra, Mariah Carey and Halle Berry all made it into the top 10.

The magazine said: "With a pair of perfect double Ds, Jessica sets the standard for busty bombshells."
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I have to say that I completely agree with the voters on this one. Horray for democracy!

In a somewhat releated story, a Dutch lingerie designer has created a wall of fake breasts to sell his products. This way men can compare and find the perfect size.