Read: Daily Kos :: While No One Was Looking....

(still do try to have a good weekend though)

- rob 1:32 PM - [PermaLink] -

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When the GOP becomes to mean: God's Only Party

When the GOP enshrines Christianity the official religion of the United Saved States

When elected officials are recognized as being elected by the will of God

If you have a problem with the economy, the environment, defense, justice, and pretty much anything you would generally hold an elected official responsible for...

You'll need to take it up with God (it's his responsibility after all, not the GOP - they're just following HIS orders).

Utah Women Sue Religious Group for Fraud

SALT LAKE CITY - Two women claim they were bilked out of their life savings by an apocalyptic religious group that promised them land and a face-to-face meeting with Jesus Christ.
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Harmston's [Jim Harmston - church founder] attorney, Kevin Bond, said the promises were not to be fulfilled by Harmston, but by God, and that a ruling in the women's' favor would set a precedent for excommunicated church members of any faith to seek repayment of tithing.

- rob 5:36 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Of course we'd give them the contract!

We know their products work.. Americans have killed each other with them after all.

U.S. buys weapons from indicted company

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Army has approved the purchase of more than $29 million worth of weapons for the new Iraqi army from a Chinese state-owned company that's under indictment in California in connection with the smuggling of 2,000 AK-47 automatic rifles into the United States in 1996.

The haul remains the largest seizure of smuggled automatic weapons in U.S. history.

- rob 5:31 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Why I'm glad Helen is still around

Today on Holden's Obsession with the Gaggle [Summary]

Press Secretary Scott McClellan suggested that this evening's press conference will focus on two priorities, Social Security and energy. The White House believes that these are two important issues facing the American people and the President has been focused on both for a long time. McClellan also suggested that the President will speak in specific ways during the press conference about how to make Social Security permanently sound and how to reduce the United States' reliance on foreign sources of energy.

Helen Thomas asked McClellan if the President would be taking questions in a more free-for-all format instead of taking, "only questions that are safe". She commented that this is "getting to be a real pain".

- rob 5:29 PM - [PermaLink] -

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To follow up on the post below about the GOP officially designating Democrat proposed amendments as aiding sexual predators:

Obsidian Wings: Who Left The Kids In Charge?

No doubt, you are thinking to yourselves, this was the work of some rogue staffer, the same sort of person who would think it was funny to change the description to say something like: "Rep. Nadler proposed an amendment to declare that he is a poopyhead." Wrong:

"Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., who authored the panel's report, defended its language, saying the Democratic amendments would not have specifically excluded child molesters from protections.

"Perhaps these amendments were not properly drafted by the authors when they were submitted in the committee," Sensenbrenner told the House. "That's not the fault of the majority, that's the fault of the people who drafted the amendment."

To which Rep. Nadler replied:

"Under CIANA, a father who rapes and impregnates his own daughter can go and sue the doctor or the grandparent or the clergyman who transported his child across state lines for the purpose of getting an abortion. Maybe that wasn’t exactly the intent of this legislation. But according to the descriptive guidelines now laid out by the majority, it would therefore be fair to call this entire bill the Rapists and Sexual Predators Right to Sue Act."

And he's right. If any law that provides people some right or benefit without specifically exempting sexual predators can now be redescribed as the Republicans suggest, the possibilities are endless. The Highway bill, for instance, can now be called the "Helping Sexual Predators Reach Their Victims More Quickly Act". A bill appropriating money for cabins at a National Park could be called the "Providing A Secluded Location In Which Sexual Predators Can Molest Their Victims Act". A new telecom regulations bill might be the "Enabling Sexual Predators To Communicate More Easily With Their Victims Act."

- rob 5:27 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Why is this man smiling?



You'd be too if you led those willing to be deceived down a path of lies which led to a war that toppled an old enemy.

You'd be too if you were wanted by Jordan for banking crimes, if you were alleged to be giving state secrets to Iran, if your sources and promises prior to the war were worth as much as desert sand; and you were rewarded by getting control of the true wealth that lay beneath that sand.

Chalabi to head Oil Ministry in Iraq's new government

In a twist that is likely to raise a few eyebrows in Washington, Iraq's great political survivor Ahmad Chalabi - first the darling and then the scapegoat of the Bush Administration - will take the hotly-contested post of Oil Minister on an interim basis. Mr Chalabi, who is a Shia Muslim, is also one of the four deputy Prime Ministers.

Chalabi is a scam artist who conned an entire administration. I'd say that he was a talented man save for the fact that the administration were easy marks. In fact they willfully participated in being "deceived."

- rob 11:17 AM - [PermaLink] -

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Abuse of Power thine name is GOP

The most insane, flabbergasting, and frightening thing you'll read all day:

Democrats furious over GOP efforts to rewrite amendments

Democrats in the House are furious over what they see as a deliberate attempt by Republicans to rewrite Democratic amendments to make the Democrats amendments look preposterous, RAW STORY has learned.

The Republican-written rewrites, along with the Democratic description of the amendments, follows.
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The following amendments were offered and voted down by recorded votes in the Judiciary Committee markup of H.R. 748-The Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (CIANA):
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DEMS: a Nadler amendment allows an adult who could be prosecuted under the bill to go to a Federal district court and seek a waiver to the state?s parental notice laws if this remedy is not available in the state court. (no 11-16)
GOP REWRITE:. Mr. Nadler offered an amendment that would have created an additional layer of Federal court review that could be used by sexual predators to escape conviction under the bill. By a roll call vote of 11 yeas to 16 nays, the amendment was defeated.

DEMS: a Nadler amendment to exempt a grandparent or adult sibling from the criminal and civil provisions in the bill (no 12-19)
GOP REWRITE: . Mr. Nadler offered an amendment that would have exempted sexual predators from prosecution under the bill if they were grandparents or adult siblings of a minor. By a roll call vote of 12 yeas to 19 nays, the amendment was defeated.

DEMS: a Scott amendment to exempt cab drivers, bus drivers and others in the business transportation profession from the criminal provisions in the bill (no 13-17):
GOP REWRITE. Mr. Scott offered an amendment that would have exempted sexual predators from prosecution if they are taxicab drivers, bus drivers, or others in the business of professional transport. By a roll call vote of 13 yeas to 17 nays, the amendment was defeated.
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[Rep Slaughter (D NY):] "These amendments were no more about sexual predators then they were about terrorists or arsonists or any other criminal class in our society. These amendments were about the rights of grandmothers and siblings and clergy and innocent bystanders. I asked the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee about this deception yesterday afternoon at the Rules Committee hearing.

"And instead of decrying what I certainly expected would be revealed as a mistake by an overzealous staffer...The Chairman stood by those altered
amendment descriptions.

"He made very clear to the Rules Committee that the alterations to these members' amendments were deliberate.

- rob 5:37 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Terror Attacks Increased Sharply in 2004

But I thought Bush was winning the war on terror?

WASHINGTON - Terror attacks worldwide more than tripled last year reaching a record high, according to government figures released by a senior House Democrat.

Based on a briefing federal officials gave congressional aides, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said Tuesday there were about 650 significant terror attacks last year. He said that was more than three times the record 175 tallied by the government in 2003.

Is this one of Bush's catastrophic Successes?

- rob 5:31 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Monday was days ago

The Top Ten Conservative Idiots, No. 195 - Democratic Underground

2. Frank Luntz
It's a mystery to me why the presumably-savvy media spinmeister Frank Luntz would ever agree to be interviewed by The Daily Show - but it happened last week. Luntz was caught with his pants down by TDS's Samantha Bee, who enlisted his help setting up a fake town hall meeting. At one point in the interview Bee provided Luntz with several words and phrases and asked him to put his own brand of spin on them. So "drilling for oil" became "responsible exploration for energy," "logging" became "healthy forests," and "manipulation" became "explanation and education." That's right - he actually said that. (Luntz was apparently stumped by Bee's next word, "Orwellian.") So there you have it folks - the next time you hear George W. Bush attempt to "explain" Social Security reform, or "educate" you on the reasons for eliminating the estate tax, you'll know exactly what he's talking about.
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5. Tom DeLay
One more quick aside this week to keep Tom DeLay simmering on the front burner - this comes courtesy of David Sirota's blog. Sirota noted that back in 1995, not long after Republicans had retaken Congress based on a promise to clean up Washington, Tom DeLay said this: "The time has come that the American people know exactly what their Representatives are doing here in Washington. Are they feeding at the public trough, taking lobbyist-paid vacations, getting wined and dined by special interest groups? Or are they working hard to represent their constituents? The people, the American people, have a right to know... I say the best disinfectant is full disclosure, not isolation." So I guess that wasn't you at the Three Tenors concert then, Tom?

- rob 5:26 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Keith Olbermann - the last reporter?

'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for April 25 - MSNBC Transcripts

OLBERMANN: As mentioned, the filibuster stretches back not merely to Jimmy Stewart in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” but to the presidential administration of Franklin Pierce 152 years ago. And, as a last measure of the defense of the minority, it has had many supporters over the years, like the very people of faith who sponsored yesterday‘s Justice Sunday, the group Family Research Council.

Yesterday it was opposed to filibusters. Seven years ago, it was in favor of them. That‘s when Clinton and a then-Democratic plurality in the Senate wanted a man named James Hormel to become the ambassador to Luxembourg. Hormel, of the Spam and other meats Hormels, was gay, as the Senate minority bottled up Hormel‘s nomination with filibusters and threats of filibusters, minority relative to cloture, to breaking up a filibuster.

They did that for a year and a half. The Family Research Council‘s senior writer, Steven Schwartz, appeared on National Public Radio at the time and explained the value, even the necessity, of the filibuster.

“The Senate,” he said, “is not a majoritarian institution, like the House of Representatives is. It is a deliberative body, and it‘s got a number of checks and balances built into our government. The filibuster is one of those checks in which a majority cannot just sheerly force its will, even if they have a majority of votes in some cases. That‘s why there are things like filibusters, and other things that give minorities in the Senate some power to slow things up, to hold things up, and let things be aired properly.”

It‘s been said many times, many ways, that was then, and this is now.

- rob 5:16 PM - [PermaLink] -

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In an age where politicians now publicly announce their religious piety - this study is a good reminder that a public pronouncement of a personal issue isn't worth a hill of beans in this crazy world.

Study: Teens Who Make Public Virginity Pledges Just As Likely To Have Sex

The study, conducted by the Prevention Research Center of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in Berkeley and released on Monday, found that teens who had made private virginity pledges or promises that they would wait to have sexual intercourse until they were older or married were less likely to begin having oral sex or intercourse.

But the adolescents who had made formal, public virginity pledges were just as likely to start engaging in sexual behaviors as those who did not take such a pledge.

But this isn't the age of facts. The public pledge is the wave of the future... the results are pointless.


Update: Saw this on slacktivist and thought it was perfect for this post:
And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.

But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
-- Matthew 6:5-6

- rob 5:15 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Damn the party is over
(though it really isn't)

DeLay Woes Prompt Rush to Refile Forms

Lawmakers are paying old restaurant bills, filing missing forms and correcting erroneous ones as journalists and political opponents comb through records and DeLay (R-Tex.) attempts to answer questions about travel financing and his past relationships with lobbyists.

Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) wrote to the Federal Election Commission on April 15 to report that he had discovered that the Washington restaurant Signatures had not charged his credit card -- as he said he had directed -- for a 2003 fundraiser for 16 people that cost $1,846. The event was hosted by Jack Abramoff, a lobbyist and part-owner of the restaurant who is now under congressional and criminal investigation for his handling of millions of dollars in fees from Indian tribes. Abramoff was not at the event.

"Silly old me, I just noticed I didn't pay for an $1,800 dollar fundraiser. You know how hard it is for me to track money. I mean just look at the budgets I approved and you'd know I just have no idea how money works."

- rob 5:11 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Dobson and the family value of tyranny

Tough love and peppers

Satisfied Amazon customers describe their experiences this way, the original edition of Dare to Discipline:

"My father used Dobson's methodology as a license to strike. If you wish to die alone in a nursing home, I suggest you listen to those who worship hate and violence."

"Book should be entitled "Dare to Hit Your Child with Whatever is Handy". Dobsen extols (sic) virtues of his wife snapping their not yet two-year-old with a switch across the shins, can you imagine? He also attests that he received great benefit, as a child, by being spontaneously walloped by his mom's girdle, complete with buckles and straps."

For the new edition of Dare to Discipline:

"It seems to this reader that, at the core, Dr. Dobson has no trust in the abilities of children to learn, to reason, to develop as moral creatures from the example and gentle teaching of their parents. And, through the course of the discipline methods he advocates, he has no compunction about destroying a child's trust in his or her parents."

For the new edition of The Strong Willed Child:

"His methods are mainly those of the schoolyard bully and seem to be contrived to raise kids who are afraid of you. Is that really the result you want?"

Read the whole post and you'll see what evil Facts of Life (the TV show) wrought.

- rob 5:08 PM - [PermaLink] -

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In an age where "The Party" seems to mean more than what is good for America (presently the GOP is the poster child of putting the party before America - I am losing a lot of respect for some repug senators... I may have disliked their ideas about how to make the country a better place, but that was there goal... not any more), perhaps it is time to listen to our founding fathers rather than just invoking them.

The original GW was NOT a party man.

From George Washington's (FAREWELL ADDRESS (1796)

I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally.

This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but in those of the popular form it is seen in its greatest rankness and is truly their worst enemy....

It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against another; foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passion. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.

There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the government, and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This within certain limits is probably true; and in governments of a monarchical cast patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose; and there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be by force of public opinion to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.

It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free country should inspire caution in those intrusted with its administration to confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one department to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism....

GW also pulled a Eisenhower when talking about the importance of unity (this red / blue state crap [which we pull here all the time] would drive him nuts) and warned about the dangers of a military industrial complex.

The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with the South, protected by the equal laws of a common government, finds in the productions of the latter great additional resources of maritime and commercial enterprise and precious materials of manufacturing industry. The South, in the same intercourse, benefiting by the same agency of the North, sees its agriculture grow and its commerce expand. Turning partly into its own channels the seamen of the North, it finds its particular navigation invigorated; and while it contributes in different ways to nourish and increase the general mass of the national navigation, it looks forward to the protection of a maritime strength to which itself is unequally adapted. The East, in a like intercourse with the West, already finds, and in the progressive improvement of interior communications by land and water will more and more find, a valuable vent for the commodities which it brings from abroad or manufactures at home. The West derives from the East supplies requisite to its growth and comfort, and what is perhaps of still greater consequence, it must of necessity owe the secure enjoyment of indispensable outlets for its own productions to the weight, influence, and the future maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the Union, directed by an indissoluble community of interest as one nation. Any other tenure by which the West can hold this essential advantage, whether derived from its own separate strength or from an apostate and unnatural connection with any foreign power, must be intrinsically precarious.

While, then, every part of our country thus feels an immediate and particular interest in union, all the parts combined cannot fail to find in the united mass of means and efforts greater strength, greater resource, proportionably greater security from external danger, a less frequent interruption of their peace by foreign nations, and what is of inestimable value, they must derive from union an exemption from those broils and wars between themselves which so frequently afflict neighboring countries not tied together by the same governments, which their own rivalships alone would be sufficient to produce, but which opposite foreign alliances, attachments, and intrigues would stimulate and embitter. Hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establishments which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty. In this sense it is that your union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, and that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the other....[emphasis mine]

- rob 5:03 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Your government in action: Actively incentivizing (is that a word?) the destruction of the planet

SUV owners get free gas -- courtesy of Uncle Sam

How would you like the U.S. government to send you a check that would pay for five years' worth of gasoline?

Well, it can be arranged.

Not everyone is eligible, of course. But if you use a vehicle 100% for business and purchase it, new or used, from a select list of big-time gas-guzzlers, Uncle Sam is ready to help you out.
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Forty-one domestic and 15 foreign SUVs qualify for this tax break. The Porsche Cayenne, a notably business-like vehicle, is among them. As a consequence, while the depreciation write-off for any passenger car used for business is limited to only $2,960 in 2005, down from $10,610 in 2004, those claiming 100% business use of these SUVs could deduct 100% of the $89,665 price of the Porsche Cayenne Turbo during 2003 and until late October 2004. For those who bought in time, the write-off represented an immediate income tax savings of $31,383, provided the buyer was in the 35% tax bracket. Think of it as a bagatelle for the non-indigent from the Jobs and Growth Act of 2003.
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If you failed to buy your Porsche Cayenne Turbo by last October, don't despair. Uncle Sam still wants to help. The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 reduced the immediate deduction to $25,000. In addition, you can take normal depreciation on the remaining value. Normal depreciation is 20%. That would be about $13,000 for the Cayenne Turbo.

So your total tax deduction would be $38,000. For those in the 35% tax bracket, that calculates to an immediate tax savings of $13,300.

- rob 4:35 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Is FEMA hiring Bush Family and Friends?

FEMA's inspectors included criminals

Federal officials have pointed to the inspectors as their primary defense against accusations of widespread fraud for their payout of more than $31 million in Hurricane Frances disaster aid in Miami-Dade -- a county spared hurricane-force winds.

During a January news conference, the Federal Emergency Management Agency insisted there was damage in Miami-Dade County.

"We know this for several reasons," said Dan Craig, FEMA's director of recovery programs. "Foremost among them is that FEMA's contract inspectors personally inspect and verify the claims. … Our contract inspectors are our first line of accountability."

That first line of accountability, the newspaper found, includes:

James A. DeWan, 46, of Texas. Known by the nickname "Mad Dog," he has a rap sheet that includes marijuana possession, three drunken-driving convictions and four citations for public intoxication.

Lots more fun folks in the article. Drug dealers, robbers, probably even an Enron executive.

- rob 12:57 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Hey isn't it time for some Gannon news to lighten the day?

Secret Service records raise new questions about discredited conservative reporter

The documents, obtained by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) through a Freedom of Information Act request, reveal Guckert had remarkable access to the White House.
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Guckert made more than 200 appearances at the White House during his two-year tenure with the fledging conservative websites GOPUSA and Talon News, attending 155 of 196 White House press briefings. He had little to no previous journalism experience, previously worked as a male escort, and was refused a congressional press pass.

Perhaps more notable than the frequency of his attendance, however, is several distinct anomalies about his visits.

Guckert made more than two dozen excursions to the White House when there were no scheduled briefings. On many of these days, the Press Office held press gaggles aboard Air Force One—which raises questions about what Guckert was doing at the White House. On other days, the president held photo opportunities.

On at least fourteen occasions, Secret Service records show either the entry or exit time missing. Generally, the existing entry or exit times correlate with press conferences; on most of these days, the records show that Guckert checked in but was never processed out.

- rob 6:31 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Most-favored contractor - sacbee.com
KBR's big payday raises questions

KBR successfully insisted that the Pentagon black out parts of an audit report - mostly figures comparing initial bids with amounts finally billed - before it was sent to a United Nations-appointed board of auditors.

One stunning example, courtesy of figures later supplied by Rep. Henry Waxman, senior Democrat on the House Committee on Government Reform, was a bill for $27.5 million to deliver liquefied petroleum gas purchased in Kuwait for $82,100. War situations can produce unforeseen costs, but an auditor said that in this case the gap was "illogical," a characterization that belongs in the Understatement Hall of Fame.

Pentagon auditors also accused KBR of billing for meals served to U.S. service members based on projections that turned out to be inflated. But they were overruled: The Army agreed to pay KBR 30 percent more than the actual cost of meals on the assumption that most soldiers probably ate more than a normal portion. The government even agreed to pay KBR a bonus that nearly doubled its profit margin. Not surprisingly, a company spokeswoman called that "fabulous news."

You know... in the day's of our grandparents the whole lot would've been arrested for war profiteering.

- rob 6:28 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Delay and Dobson rail against Scalia

Dems Note 'Most Outrageous Things Conservatives Said' on Justice Sunday

"The majority on the Supreme Court are unelected, unaccountable, arrogant, imperious, want to redesign culture according to their own biases, are out of control, and I think they need to be reigned in...I agree with Majority Leader Tom DeLay." -- Dr. James Dobson, Founder and Chairman, Focus on the Family.

Sounds like they're talking about Scalia to me... doesn't it?

Yesterday was "Justice Sunday"... It's kind of like "Must See Thursday" except its funnier.

Religion, politics intersect in 'Justice Sunday'

Earlier yesterday, some other church leaders continued a days-long denunciation of the event. They warned of a growing "Republican theocracy" that twists God's word to fit the GOP agenda.

"Despite the fact that no one has yet to find references to the filibuster in the Bible, Republicans and their religious allies are saying that God is on their side," said the Rev. Jim Wallis, editor of Sojourners Magazine.

At Highview, the made-for-TV event was part prayer rally and part civics lesson. It was designed to reach the conservative, Christian, Red-state base that the GOP relied on for victory in the November election.
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At Louisville's Central Presbyterian Church yesterday afternoon, several speakers stood in front of bright TV lights and a banner with the words "Freedom and Faith."

They said Justice Sunday was an attempt to "hijack Christianity" for political gain.

The Rev. Canon Lucinda Laird of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church described Justice Sunday as an attempt to portray right-wing conservative Christians as victims of persecution.

"There are people around this world dying for their faith, but not the radical Republican right," she said.

Of course you'd hear that from those of the fake religions like the Episcopal and Presbyterian churches as a DKos post notes this quote from the type of people were dealing with these days:

You say you're supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that, and the other thing. Nonsense. I don't have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist. I can love the people who hold false opinions but I don't have to be nice to them.
-- Pat Robertson, The 700 Club, January 14, 1991

The fact is, none of these extremist Christians will be happy if we officially become a "Christian nation," because they'll begin the fight of whose Christianity America represents. Is it "Dancing is a sin" Christianity of Ashcroft, is it that cool snake handling Christianity, or is it that hippie dippy commune Christianity?

Remember the found fathers stated in a ratified treaty:

As the Government of the United States...is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion--as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity of Musselmen--and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.
- Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the United States of America and the Bey and Subjects of Tripoli, or Barbary. Ratified unanimously by the Senate (the third time in our history the Senate had a unanimous vote) and endorsed by President John Adams (1797).

- rob 6:23 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Why it sounds like they have problems with Rummy's planning and Bush's war?

Why do our Marines hate America so? Our fearless leader almost gave up candy in support of our troops (hey actually did... for a time)

Six Months in Ramadi: Bloodied Marines Sound Off About Want of Armor and Men

The four were returning to camp in an unarmored Humvee that their unit had rigged with scrap metal, but the makeshift shields rose only as high as their shoulders, photographs of the Humvee show, and the shrapnel from the bomb shot over the top.

"The steel was not high enough," said Staff Sgt. Jose S. Valerio, their motor transport chief, who along with the unit's commanding officers said the men would have lived had their vehicle been properly armored. "Most of the shrapnel wounds were to their heads."

Among those killed were Rafael Reynosa, a 28-year-old lance corporal from Santa Ana, Calif., whose wife was expecting twins, and Cody S. Calavan, a 19-year-old private first class from Lake Stevens, Wash., who had the Marine Corps motto, Semper Fidelis, tattooed across his back.

They were not the only losses for Company E during its six-month stint last year in Ramadi. In all, more than one-third of the unit's 185 troops were killed or wounded, the highest casualty rate of any company in the war, Marine Corps officials say.
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"As marines, we are always taught that we do more with less," said Sgt. James S. King, a platoon sergeant who lost his left leg when he was blown out of the Humvee that Saturday afternoon last May. "And get the job done no matter what it takes."

The experiences of Company E's marines, pieced together through interviews at Camp Pendleton and by phone, company records and dozens of photographs taken by the marines, show they often did just that. The unit had less than half the troops who are now doing its job in Ramadi, and resorted to making dummy marines from cardboard cutouts and camouflage shirts to place in observation posts on the highway when it ran out of men. During one of its deadliest firefights, it came up short on both vehicles and troops. Marines who were stranded at their camp tried in vain to hot-wire a dump truck to help rescue their falling brothers. That day, 10 men in the unit died.

Sergeant Valerio and others had to scrounge for metal scraps to strengthen the Humvees they inherited from the National Guard, which occupied Ramadi before the marines arrived. Among other problems, the armor the marines slapped together included heavier doors that could not be latched, so they "chicken winged it" by holding them shut with their arms as they traveled.

"We were sitting out in the open, an easy target for everybody," Cpl. Toby G. Winn of Centerville, Tex., said of the shortages. "We complained about it every day, to anybody we could. They told us they were listening, but we didn't see it."
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"I'm checking out," Corporal Winn said. "When I started, I wanted to make it my career. I've had enough."

He wanted to serve our country, and we sent him to a needless war without the materials he needed... he saw his friends die....

Did I mention Halliburton's stock is doing great?

- rob 5:33 PM - [PermaLink] -

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So the mortgage interest tax break made it possible for you to buy that new home.
A home it which to raise a family

So the property tax break allowed you to afford the property increase to pay for the school addition
A school your children go to

But did you ever stop to think that your tax breaks are at the expense of tax breaks that could instead be given to the rich?

So they could buy their daughter a breast implant at age 16
All her friends are doing it

So they could buy a vacation home in the Caribbean
A home to use as a tax haven

Did you think about that?

You selfish bastard

Taxpayers get too many breaks, panel concludes

To help taxpayers deal with college costs there are two different kinds of tax credits, a deduction for student loan interest and tax-advantaged savings plans. Urban and rural tax zones encourage investment and job creation. Dozens of other tax benefits help families raise children and save for retirement, encourage adoption, nudge drivers toward hybrid cars and push businesses to invest in new equipment.

``We have lost sight of the fact that the fundamental purpose of our tax system is to raise revenues to fund government,'' according to President Bush's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform.

The White House budget office ranks the cost of a deduction for businesses that provide health insurance to employees as the top tax break, worth $126 billion next year. Also high on the list are the popular mortgage interest deduction, a capital gains break for home sales, a deduction for charitable contributions and the child tax credit.

Perhaps Bush has lost sight that the fundamental purpose of our government is to serve the people and not to raise revenues for Bush family and friends.

- rob 5:26 PM - [PermaLink] -

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