Palin Pulls Me Back

wow... i went the entire month of june without a single post. i guess that shows how busy i've really been.

but wouldn't ya know it? it took sarah palin to bring me back to the blog.

now.... i've watched a lot of press conferences over the past several years. as i dig deeper and deeper into politics, i love a good presser.

governor sanford's "i've been unfaithful to my wife" press conference will go down as, probably, the most bizarre. but palin's announcement on friday that she would not only NOT seek a second term as alaska's governor...but would step down at the end of july... well, that's polling a close second right now.

i don't want to focus too much on the rambling, mixed-metaphor announcement.... but what i now see as her future.

i'm hearing and reading a lot of people saying "don't count sarah palin out." but i'm sorry.... she's out.

she can't even claim she's a one term governor anymore... she will NOT complete her first term. and if you can't handle one term in alaska... you will NOT make it in d.c.

and we could spend some time on why she's getting out now... her lame excuse that she won't be a lame duck... well - then DON'T be a lame duck. but i think we all know that she is probably focused on 2012 and a run for president.

sorry.... but you might as well forget it.

she can spend the next three years fine-tuning her folksy bullshit persona. she can actually learn a thing or two about domestic and foreign policy... but it will always come back to "you couldn't even finish a single term as governor of fucking alaska."

and yes.... she will now be free to tour the lower 48 and she can give speech after speech and start building up her own war chest. but it won't help her.

it's true that palin is very popular among the GOP base. and some of them may buy into this bullshit, "unconventional" move. but beyond that... she came to the national stage as a joke and this makes her even more of a joke.

so let's look at 2012. first up, as always: iowa. she'll do fine in iowa. there's a boatload of evangelicals there. but, of course, she'll have to compete with huckabee to win those votes.

then there's new hampshire...home of the independents. she won't even come close.

she may then take south carolina... after all, they've elected mark sanford so they clearly like 'em crazy. but then she's done.

she does not poll over 50% with independents...who you MUST have to win. she'll remain a national joke if she continues to stay in the news when she stated part of the reason she's stepping down is for her family (and yes, the press has been harsh on her family.... but they're hard on every woman. i give you hillary clinton).

and then....we once again return to: she couldn't even complete her first term as governor of fucking alaska.

i just see this as political suicide. and maybe that's what she ultimately wants. but i do think she's done it to set up a run in 2012... OR...there's something bigger that hasn't revealed itself yet.

but i read the vanity fair article and it was damning. and as matthew dowd said on this week this morning... she can have all the natural political ability she wants... but she doesn't have the discipline to make it on the national stage.

apparently...she doesn't have the discipline to make it on the alaskan stage either.

and, really, a life without sarah palin on my t.v. every day... is a life i welcome with open arms.

R.I.P. sarah palin's political career.

e.

So Much Politics, So Little Time...

oh, i just know this is gonna piss off my friend steven.... but i have to blog about all the political situations that have fallen through my blogal cracks over the past couple of weeks.

two main topics i want to discuss and just some minor ones i wants to touch upon.

first...as a follow-up to the democratic national convention.

well, actually, first.... wolf blitzer just cut off someone from NOLA who was describing a dire situation where it appears some levees might be about to give way. he cut him off.... a man who was passing along some very important information.... so we could listen to laura bush address the republican national convention.

indeed, laura bush must clearly be more important than NOLA going under water again.

jesus.....

but...this does lead me into some aftermath talking points of the DNC.

hillary can't win
as we all know... hillary gave a helluva speech on tuesday night. it did so much to unify the party and move the entire obama campaign forward.

first....how does the rudepundit on tuesday night say, "rarely does one witness someone eating shit with such energy, grace, and aplomb." and then write such a glowing review on wednesday morning? i've lost so much love for the rudepundit.

but back to cnn. i think just about everyone agreed that hillary did everything she needed to do (except, maybe, fox news). but to emphasize the fact that the entire great divide between hillary and obama was driven by the media... a media that is still unwilling to let it go, cnn had the following story on their website:

(CNN) — What did Hillary Clinton's body language give away at the Democratic National Convention?

Dan Hill, a body language expert and author of "Face Time," told CNN that even while the words Clinton delivered offered an unequivocal endorsement of Barack Obama, her body language was much less affirmative.

"When she spoke about Obama, she really did not emote very much," Hill said. "The only thing she showed was a very weak smile, the cheeks didn't tend to lift very much, it was really almost what I would call a 'crocodile smile' where even the slight corners of the lips sometimes raise into a little bit of a smirk."

"I don't think that helped move the 30 percent of her supporters who say they won't vote for Obama," Hill added. "What she did do was appeal to voters at large, that she did more emotionally."

body language? seriously? you guys can't find shit to fault her with in her actual speech so you decide to attack her body language. come one, cnn.... get your shit together.

countdown to forgiveness
keith olbermann continues to make amends for his jackassery during the primary season. he seems to be annoyed by everyone at msnbc and he's doing his best to move the dialogue positively forward.

i'm not ready to forgive him yet... but sunday night football starts soon and i'd like to hear him recap games without a sneer.

separation of church & state, anyone?
i'm sorry... but that rick warren forum on faith never should have happened. i don't give a shit what religion my president subscribes to and his (or her, someday) religion should never make a difference in their executive decision making.

separation of church and state was one of the few things the founding fathers got right. why can we not seem to keep the two separate?

i'm growing more annoyed by the day as religion becomes a bigger and bigger part of our national, political dialogue.

hillary is right
is anyone else amazed that the republican party and john mccain are using hillary clinton in their ads to sell mccain as president? i mean... doesn't hillary represent everything evil in the minds of the GOP? and yet... now they have commercials that say "hillary is right."

really? i mean... i know hillary's right... i'm just happy to hear the republicans finally get it.

did you hear about john mccain?
apparently he was a POW during the vietnam war... i guess for about five years or so.

now... i don't mean to demean this sacrifice.... but when mccain uses the excuse for every fucking thing in the world... he diminishes it himself.

maureen dowd, the fauxgressive of the times, did write a fabulous article about this last week. and i was kind of aware of it... but when mccain was on leno the other night and leno made some joke about "how many houses do you really have?" mccain got all grave and said, "can i be serious just for a minute..." and then went into his years spent as a POW. ummm.... what does that have to do with the fact that you can't even remember how many houses you own?

also.... the republicans had no problem dismissing john kerry's vietnam service back in 2004 saying "oh...that was forty years ago." ummmm....so was mccain's time in the hanoi hilton.

are we allowed to dismiss it so willy-nilly?

sarah barracuda
so.... how 'bout that surprise pick by john mccain back on friday? pundits on the 24 hour news channels weren't even sure how to pronounce her name.

loyal readers will remember that i mentioned governor palin about a month ago but quickly dismissed her. it looks like mccain should have done the same.

now... i will admit that palin of alaska seems like a great choice.... for about a week. but what does she ultimately bring to the ticket? she's been governor of a state that ranks 48th in population for about 20 months (not even two years). no foreign relations experience (despite fox news' insistence that alaska being right next door to russia gives her experience).

also.... it takes away mccain's main argument against obama: his lack of experience.

all old man jokes aside....mccain is 72. that's not young... and his health has not been great. his veep is much closer to the "heartbeat away from the presidency" than most. does anyone really feel like palin could step in on day one and run the country?

i mean.... palin gets the party excited. she's got a great backstory. she's charming and stunningly beautiful. (obviously, mccain has a soft spot for ex-beauty queens.)

but she won't bring along any hillary supporters. she's hardcore pro-life. she's evangelical. she's a hunter, a fisher... her favorite meal is moose stew... and she wants to take polar bears off the endangered species list. polar bears!

and she's a strong, strong supporter of abstinence only education in school. no contraception. no safe sex education. abstinence only.

and, um, did i mention her unmarried, seventeen year old daughter is five months pregnant?

yeah..... clearly the abstinence only education has worked well for the palin family.

and i'm not even going into what the news channels are already calling "troopergate." all i want to say is... this is a lot of surprises in the first weekend following a friday morning announcement.

can't wait to see what comes out next!

e.

Another One Bites the Dust

"i swear... i was this close."

well, maybe not... which is why republican presidential candidate tom "not a chance in hell" tancredo has dropped out of the race. tancredo, from the rocky mountain high state of colorado, announced his decision to withdraw from the race today while in iowa.

tancredo has put his support behind GOP candidate mitt "flip flop" romney.

no reports yet whether or not this news brought a tear to the eyes of the softer side of romney, most recently on display in iowa and meet the press.

e.

2 Republicans to Call it Quits?

cnn is reporting this morning that illinois congressman, and former speaker of the house, dennis hastert will choose not to serve out the remainder of his term and resign his position early.

denny was the longest-serving speaker of the house in republican history. he held that post from january of 1999 until november of 2006 when he simply could not ride out the embarrassment of the mark foley scandal.

msnbc is also reporting this morning that senator sam brownback (r-kansas) will drop out of the republican race for president this friday.

the GOP field has already seen one casualty with former wisconsin governor tommy thompson dropping out earlier this year.

no word yet on any real pulse from fred thompson....

e.

Conservatives Are Assholes

have you been paying attention to the news lately? i'm not sure what's up with the republicans as of late.... but they seem to be going out of their way to be real assholes lately.

i mean... i'm used to them being dicks. but what's going on?

maybe they know they don't have a shot in hell of winning the white house in 2008 nor capitol hill. so maybe they're going for broke...?

but jesus..... what the hell?

fuck the children

president bush in an unashamed "fuck you" to the children in this country decided to veto a bipartisan bill that would expand SCHIP (state children's health insurance programs) to a wider number of poor children.

"they make too much money," forty-three argues.

well, excuse the shit out of us.....

now. ask any of my friends - i hate the little fuckers. children annoy the shit out of me and they're not much good unless they can mix a mean cocktail.... but i would never be enough of a dick to deny them health insurance.

in a response to why he vetoed the bill, W offered this:

my job is a decision-making job, and as a result, i make a lot of decisions... [i'm here] to explain the philosophy behind some of the decisions i’ve made.

and they say the days of lincoln and douglas are dead.....

so....let me get this straight: you can spend over $460 BILLION on the war in iraq.... but you can't spare $35 billion for children?

sick children.....?

you dick.

oh....but wait. it gets better.....

in response to bush's veto the dems allowed a child on SCHIP to deliver the democratic radio response. graeme frost is a 12 year old that spent a week in a coma after a 2004 SUV crash. his sister's injuries were even worse.

the dems decided to put a face on bush's veto and what did the conservatives do?

they swift-boated the little bugger!

conservative bloggers everywhere have dug deep, deep, deep into the life of graeme frost and published just about every bit of money the family has..... i'm pretty sure they found out how much they spent on toilet paper last month.

they're attempting to paint the family as rich and well beyond the need of government assistance. one blogger went so far as to include that the parent's wedding was announced in the new york times!

well, then yes... surely they have too much money. those fucking liberal bastards... the new york times, no less!

that must've really pissed off the conservatives... maybe if it had been a rupert murdoch how-to-lower-the-public-discourse-even-further-by-creating-more-intellectually-insulting-reality-shows-where-we-pimp-out-our-mates kind of announcement? or maybe just the post?

at any rate... what fuckers. attacking a 12-year old to assist your soulless leader. have they really no shame? at long last, fuckers, have you no sense of decency?

the grand asshole

some people never disappoint.....

i'm pretty sure this story got some press back when it first happened.... but no one could talk about it too much while the case was still underway.

remember shawn hornbeck? the missouri kid that was kidnapped for 4 years when the police finally found him while searching for another kidnapped boy. he was being held by michael devlin who has now plead guilty to 80 counts of child abduction and molestation.

well, back when this all came out... that grand asshole, bill o'reilly, made some rather sweet comments about shawn.

"there was an element here that this kid liked about his circumstance," bill-o said. he goes on to say that shawn had "more fun" with his abductor than his parents and that he probably liked not having to attend school. when greta said "some kids like school" bill quickly replied: "well, i don't believe this kid did."

because they were such close fucking friends....

bill o'reilly.... tonight's worst. person. in the world!

i mean....can you believe this shit? implying that shawn hornbeck, at age eleven, liked being held prisoner, molested and pleading for his life.

why, bill, you piece of human waste.

the parents of shawn hornbeck now want an apology from o'reilly... now that the case is over we can talk about everything. but wait for it....

bill-o is saying he doesn't want to put the kid through anything further now that this awful nightmare is behind him.

unanimously please: FUCK YOU, BILL!

speaking of cunts....

have you heard about ann coulter.....?

ann was on the donny deutsch show promoting her most recent book of instructions on how to be a soulless slag when the she suggested the united states would be a better place without jews and that they should be perfected into christians.

ann....mahmoud. mahmoud....ann. may you both rot in hell (if there is such a place, which there probably isn't.... so fuck you both anyway).

when deutsch attempted to give her an out she replied, "no, we just want jews to be perfected, as they say. ... that's what christianity is."

really....? can i get a ruling on that?

i mean.... i hate christians as much as the next person.... but i give them a bit more credit than this douche bag. and with the complete understanding that there's a whole conservative following out there that eats up every pearl of shit ann pinches out and they believe this whole-heartedly.

and really..... that's why conservatives are assholes.

can i get an "amen"?

e.

p.s. meet the press quote of the week

my grandest apologies, o' loyal readers.... but bill cosby was tim's guest for the entire hour this sunday and....in all honesty....i just couldn't listen to the man for an entire hour.

forgive me. i promise to be better next week.

GOP Update - or - Why I Love Them So

secrets & lies

the ny times is reporting that shortly after gonzo came to lead the justice department in february of 2005, a secret document was circulated that permitted "an expansive endorsement of the harshest interrogation techniques ever used by the central intelligence agency."

according the the times:

the new opinion...for the first time provided explicit authorization to barrage terror suspects with a combination of painful physical and psychological tactics, including head-slapping, simulated drowning and frigid temperatures.

...

the classified opinions, never previously disclosed, are a hidden legacy of president bush’s second term and mr. gonzales’s tenure at the justice department, where he moved quickly to align it with the white house after a 2004 rebellion by staff lawyers that had thrown policies on surveillance and detention into turmoil.

that W is a real fucker....

this one will have legs, my friends. mark my words.

happy feet

senator larry "wide stance" craig (r-idaho) was once again denied pleasure today. a minnesota jugde denied craig's request that his guilty plea be withdrawn. for those of you who may not remember (but really, how could you not?), craig had plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct as a result of his tap, tap, tapping in a minneapolis airport mensroom.

he's such a naughty, nasty, dirty, little boy.......

hennepin county district judge charles porter ruled that the guilty plea was entered "accurately, voluntarily and intelligently." i.e. too little, too late.

from cnn:

in a sharply worded, 27-page order, the judge found the idaho republican had freely given his plea after extensive discussions with prosecutors and after waiving his right to an attorney.

"The defendant, a career politician with a college education, is of at least above-average intelligence," porter wrote. "he knew what he was saying, reading and signing."

back to his beard in idaho, i guess.....

on a side note: congressional republicans canceled a press conference they had planned for today because they knew every question would concern craig.

you can run..... but you can't hide.

oh, snap! update: just read that larry craig has vowed to serve out his current term in the senate and not resign. good, good, good.... stay in the senate. stay in the news. make the GOP squirm.

craig is the best thing to happen to the republicans since jim jeffords!

domenici's degeneration

the AP is reporting that senator domenici intends to announce that he suffers from "frontotemporal lobar degeneration, a progressive disease that in some forms can cause dysfunction in the parts of the brain important for organization, decision-making and control of mood and behavior."

in domenici's prepared statement, the senator will say:

the progress of this disease is apparently erratic and unpredictable. it may well be that seven years from now, it will be stable. on the other hand, it may also be that the disease will have incapacitated me. i am not willing to take a chance that the people who have so honored me with their trust for 40 years might not be served as well as they deserve in the united states senate.

of course, there's also that big cloud of controversy surrounding his involvement with the firing of prosecutor david iglesias.

but ya know..... this excuse flies too.

another side note: dems dream candidate to replace domenici in the senate? governor bill richardson. of course, his camp says he's dedicated to winning the white house. but - well - let's be honest with one another.

of course, i was somewhat predicting richardson would be hill's candidate for veep. especially since she and barack don't seem to get along.

then again....my ideal ticket: clinton/obama 2008.

i'm just saying.....

anyway - keep up the good work, republicans. you're making 2008 look all shiny and bright for the dems.

e.

Domenici to Depart

breaking this evening: senator pete domenici (r-new mexico) is set to announce he will not seek a seventh term when his sixth ends next year. domenici has served in the senate for 35 years and is one of the most senior republicans in congress.

as chris cillizza of the post reports in "the fix":

domenici has struggled with health problems over the last several years and has been dogged by questions about the role he may have played in the firing of u.s. attorney david c. iglesias in albuquerque. as a result, he had long been rumored as a potential retirement. domenici's senate office did not return a call this afternoon, but sources close to the senator say he will fly home to new mexico tomorrow to make the announcement that he is retiring.

with domenici's retirement looming, he makes the fourth republican to jump the GOP sinking ship this year. earlier this year, republican senators john warner (virginia), chuck hagel (nebraska) and wayne allard (colorado) also announced plans to not seek re-election.

do you think bush and the remainder of the GOP field might be getting the hint?

the party has lost its way. no more are the days of reagan (thank buddah). but hey..... what we got ain't any better.

by the way.... domenici was one of the republicans to condemn bush's iraq war policy earlier this year. hmmm......... there appears to be a trend.

oh....and for those keeping score at home: republicans must now defend 22 of the 34 senate seats in 2008. the dems only have 12 seats up for re-election.....

i'm feeling better already.....

e.

Post Vacation Catch-Up

it was not an easy ten days, my lovelies.... little time for news. no time to blog. my parents still have dial-up, for chrissakes.

but i'm back.... and there's a shitload to talk about. where to begin?

the grand ole party hates black people

or they at least have written them off as being worthy of inclusion. only 6 out of the ten GOP contenders for president bothered to show up at the tavis smiley forum on minority issues the other week. the top four contenders were those absent: giuliani, romney, thompson and mccain. they all claim scheduling conflicts.

but as buchanan pointed out... african american voters only make up ten percent of the electorate. only about 10% of that 10% vote republican. so why show up?

it's just insulting all around............. and embarrassing all around to the GOP. shit, even bush spoke out about it. and we know he doesn't care about black people. just ask kanye west.

what's most surprising in this....despite pat's reasoning..... bush won ohio in 2004 in large part because of the 16% african american vote he carried. that 16% won him the election.

who is running these campaigns? at least attempt to be competitive.

"well, he's not standing here"

perhaps the best moment during last wednesday's democratic debate in new hampshire came when that ole rascal tim russert surprised hillary with a quote from her hubby bill about a possible exception to using torture. she answered per her convictions. when russert revealed the speaker of the quote, hillary's response:

"well, he's not standing here right now."

"so there's a disagreement?" russert pressed.

"well...." hillary demured. "i'll talk to him later."

it was a beautiful moment and the one most discussed from the debate. my only concern for hillary: she needs to start being more direct in her answers. people are starting to really take notice and you can only dance around topics so long. i know she's afraid of pigeon-holing herself before the general election.... but people are tired of non-answers. we get enough of that from republicans.

giving props where props are due

i know john "hope is on the way" edwards has become my favorite punching bag as of late... but he did have a brilliant moment on wednesday. when discussing hillary's vote to list the iranian military as a terrorist entity (why the FUCK did you do that, hill?), johnny boy talked about the danger of conceding any territory to bush that might lead to more possible conflicts in the future.

quoting edwards:

we learned a very different lesson from that. ... what I learned in my vote on iraq was you cannot give this president the authority and you can't even give him the first step in that authority because he cannot be trusted.

amen, and bravo.

january 1, 2013

not one of the three front runners in the democratic field would promise to have all combat troops out of iraq by january 1, 2013 (the start of their second term). kiddies, i'm afraid we're in it for the long haul.

third quarter dollars

for the first time, senator clinton has out raised superstar barack obama. with estimated third quarter earnings being reported this week, obama raised $19 million in primary cash. a very impressive number.

hillary raised $22 million.

for the first time ever, hillary's individual number of new donors also topped obama's.

up, up and away........

on the GOP side, well, it's pretty pathetic really:

flip flop romney raised $10 million. "i spent more time at ground zero" giuliani raised $9 million. and fizzlin' out fred thompson raised only $8 million in his first quarter of official fundraising. mccain only raised $5 million.

perhaps the biggest surprise? texan congressman and all around anarchist ron paul raised $3 million. that is more than other, considered more serious candidates: biden, dodd and huckabee.

great obama quote

again...in the spirit of giving props where props are due:

some now seek to rewrite history. they argue that they weren't really voting for war, they were voting for inspectors. or they were voting for diplomacy... you need to ask those who voted for the war how can you give the president a blank check and then act surprised when he cashes it?"

it's a great quote... but why is he so hesitant to name clinton by name? or even edwards? he's real tough on the campaign trail... but then sits on the back burner during debates. it's possible obama's campaign of hope has limited what he can do in terms of attacking other democratic candidates and really distinguishing himself from the rest of the field.

i know the attacks have hurt edwards.... and you have to be careful with them. but at some point - he needs to be more forceful if he wants to take this thing.

the forgotten war

the media is reporting that overall violent attacks in iraq were down in the month of september. violent attacks are up 20% in afghanistan. the highest since the war began.

just thought you should know....

$190 billion

the bush administration has asked congress for another $190 billion for the iraq war.

wow.

a new abc/washington post poll asked if congress should approve this latest request? 27% said yes. an overwhelming 67% of americans think they should not.

the poll also asks the all important job approval ratings.

while bush's approval rating stands at 33% (equal to its lowest point in this poll), congress continues to bottom out with an approval rating of only 29%.

what's behind this number? 55% of respondents feel the democrats in congress have not gone far enough in opposing the war.

i've heard a lot of talk about democrats wanting leaders in washington. they may or may not understand that the dems do not have enough votes to end the war.... but at least lead the discussion. bob herbert of the ny times said it was time for the democrats to stand up. he describes the dems as a "timid party."

make some noise, nancy and harry! hold votes. make the GOP accountable. do something. anything. just show us you're trying and you understand our frustration.

don't just make calls to clear channel. which brings us to....

comedian rush limbaugh

to steal a title from keith olbermann. ole blow hard limbaugh is in a heap of trouble after he called iraqi war vets who have returned to speak out against the war "phony soldiers."

and before anyone wants to defend rush... if there's nothing wrong with what he said - why did he edit out the phrase before it was rebroadcast on armed forces radio? as general wesley clark said: "he knew he made a mistake."

don't attack the soldiers, rush.... your party doesn't like it. nobody likes it. have we learned nothing from "nappy, headed hos"?

what really amazes me is watching the pundits dance around the question of "phony soldiers" vs. "general patraeus or general betray us."

that uber-dunce heidi harris made the comment that she's upset harry reid would take time on the floor of the senate to condemn limbaugh's comments. that she pays for that time....

well..... what about john cornyn and moveon.org? he introduced a goddamn senate resolution to condemn the patraeus ad.

of course....ask a democrat if what limbaugh said is wrong in attacking a soldier... was the moveon ad wrong in attacking an acting general. dems dance pretty well, too.

in the spirit of nonpartisanship. which i think is bullshit - but there ya go.

as ted rall once wrote.... we don't vote in candidates to be bipartisan. we vote in people because they hold our views and we want them to fight for them.

iowa

newsweek has some interesting poll numbers out. we'll take them one party at a time.

2008 iowa causus - republicans

all republican voters break down as follows: romney 25%, thompson 16%, giuliani 15%, mccain 7% (my, how the mighty have fallen) and huckabee 6%.

of likely caucus voters: romney 24%, thompson 16%, giuliani 13%, mccain 9% and huckabee tops mccain at 12%.

dan balz of the washington post describes any type of support for a republican candidate in iowa as "soft." he also agrees with me that there's an interesting potential for huckabee in iowa. a lot of people reference the high howard dean numbers before he bombed out in iowa and want to make that argument for the dems. but why not the republicans? could huckabee be the spoiler? he performs very well in debates. he's a true christian conservative and thompson has not skyrocketed as people had hoped. he also scored very high in the straw poll.

however....having said all this. i'm about ready to put my GOP prediction in print. i think it will be romney for president. but i'm not ready to quite stand by that statement 100%. not quite yet.

pat buchanan thinks somebody will have to take down romney and only rudy will have the cash to do it. thompson's only shot it in south carolina. if he doesn't win there - he's out.

2008 iowa causus - democrats

the breakdown for all democratic voters have clinton leading at 31% with obama at 25%, edwards at 21% and richardson bringing up the rear at 6%.

funny side story: my dad decided not to watch the debate last wednesday... not the majority of it, anyway. when i told him that richardson continued to make his grand, verbal mistakes and referred to barack obama as the "n" word.... i thought he had ignored me. but no.... he believed me. just goes to show what a verbal fuckup richardson can be. even a richardson supporter thought he was dumb enough to use the "n" word. ugh....

likely caucus voters is much more interesting. clinton drops to 24%. obama wins at 28%. edward remains steady at about 22% and richardson rises to 10%.

it's really interesting that obama leads with likely voters. as i've said several times before: iowa is the basket edwards has placed all his eggs. if he doesn't win iowa - he's out. but could obama win?

balz made an interesting point that bill clinton never had to run in iowa in 1992. harkin was running for president so everyone skipped the iowa caucus. so the clintons never really developed a network in iowa the way they did in new hampshire. and, according to balz, there's not a great affection for hillary in iowa the way there is in n.h.

david gregory of nbc news says "this should really show people that this is still a race and not hillary clinton running away with it."

yes....she is WAAAAAAAAY ahead in all national polls. (by the way - she's polling way ahead of the entire race in arkansas - dems and republicans alike. even against arkansas governor huckabee.) but you have to win those early states.

which brings us to.....

meet the press quote of the week

yes, yes...... i have been neglectful of my meet the press. two sundays ago - too busy in chicago. the sunday before that... prepping for my vacation.

but i return with a surprising choice. i never thought i'd see the day i would quote this gentleman, but i already have once or twice in this entry... so why not give him the grand honor?

i can't stand the man's politics.... but there's no arguing his political savvy.

this week's quote comes from former GOP candidate for president and current msnbc pundit, pat buchanan. allow me to preface this with his belief...and i tend to agree.... that obama has to win iowa or it's over. apparently, he agrees with michelle on this one. i would argue that edwards is in the same boat. says pat:

if hillary wins [iowa], she rolls right through new hampshire and the game is over. hillary is in the finals. these two are fighting to get into the semifinals, or get into the finals. and i don't think edwards, if he wins, can go the distance. i do think obama can go the distance but he can't get beat in iowa.

what's happened to my texans?

i know they're riddled with injuries.... ahman green is out. andre johnson is out.... but we looked like shit on sunday against atlanta. we lost to an 0-3 team! this week... we face miami. an 0-4 team.

please don't let the texans give miami their first W.

i hope our injured players are back.... and our defense can regain their mojo. the once hopeful playoff dreams are quickly fading from my friends (and from me). show us you got what it takes......

besides.....my dad's team is 4-0. i can't take his cowboys winning much longer. he gloats.

my boyfriend

by the way.... jake is hurt in carolina so david carr started for him on sunday. three sacks. lost the game.

come to mamele. i'll make it all better......

e.

The Petraeus Report & Other Farces

well, september is here... and that can mean only three things:

1) football season begins and my sundays are booked.

2) the rest of the country is getting cooler and i just have to sit and wait.

3) the long fabled petraeus report has finally been delivered to congress.

yes, my lovelies, general david petraeus has sat before congress and the world and delivered the bush address. i'm sorry - his address. any surprises........?

ummmmmm............. no, not really.

the real fireworks seemed to revolve around a moveon.org ad appearing in the new york times. titled "general petraeus or general betray us? cooking the books for the white house" - the article tears apart the tiny stitches that barely hold together the bush administration's assertions on the success of the surge.

yes, the good general said everything the white house wanted him to say about the drop in violence and blah, blah, blah.... but what numbers are we really looking at?

let's go down the list here (and i freely admit that i'm borrowing heavily from moveon.org, but they have links to back up their statements so go to http://pol.moveon.org/petraeus.html).

most every independent report from the gao report to the nie states that the situation in iraq and the surge have failed. but the numbers out of the white house are all based on some fuzzy math that the times reports come out of some odd thought process used by the pentagon to bend the facts to their needs. (wow - there's a new strategy for the bush administration.)

examples: deaths by car bombs don’t count. ummm...really? the washington post reports that assassinations only count if a person is shot in the back of the head...not the front. sorry....... i guess maybe those are executions?

and all this talk of a decrease in violence in certain neighborhoods has only come around because they have been ethnically cleansed. it's easy to end sectarian violence when one sect has obliterated another sect from their territory.

abercrombie vs. ros-lehtinen

there was a fabulous moment during the hearings on monday when rep. ileana ros-lehtinen (r-florida) tried to get democrats on the committee to use part of their q&a time to "disassociate themselves" from the moveon.org piece.

rep. neil abercrombie (d-hawaii) shot back: "point of order. nobody has to distance themselves from something they weren't associated with."

as politico reports: ros-lehtinen glared at her democratic colleague, sitting on the other end of the top dais. "take it easy," the florida republican muttered.

"i don't know, actually"

the most telling moment on tuesday came when retiring senator john warner (r-virginia) asked petraeus about the effects of the iraq war on america at home and whether or not it was making us safer.

"sir, i believe that this is indeed the best course of action to achieve our objectives in iraq," the good general recited.

"does that make america safer?" warner asked again.

answered petraeus: "sir, i don't know, actually."

wow.... wow! as howard fineman of newsweek said "if he could've said it, he would've said it. the fact that he didn't say it...is absolutely stunning." clearly, if petraeus thought is was making us safer, he would have said "yes." but he knew he couldn't.....

so what are we fighting for? chris matthews made a wonderful point this evening that the president keeps arguing that we must fight because our soldiers are there... "but what is often overlooked is that they're there on orders."

so soldiers are over there dying and it's not even to make us safer here at home. how can the president even defend his "dead certain" stance on the war?

well, that brings us to our next farce.......

the idiot speaks

yes.....bush addressed the nation in primetime tonight for the 8th time since the invasion of iraq. his opening remark: "in iraq, an ally of the united states is fighting for its survival." and then it went on for another 17 minutes and 20 seconds of very short, choppy sentences. easy enough for bush to recite and understand.

and since when were any of these guys are allies? does anybody over there really want us there anymore?

there was a lot about anbar, anbar, anbar. apparently, iraqis no longer need to fear beheading for supporting the united states. no - they only get blown to bits like the sheik that was assassinated earlier today. yeah.....he was one of the top tribal supporters of bush during his visit. sure...bring that up. great way to win an argument W.

and apparently we've done away with the lines of "it'll be a cakewalk" and "as the iraqis stand up, america will stand down." oh, and the line made famous by the prince of darkness: "we're in the final stages of the insurgency."

no..... now we have "return on success." the more we succeed in iraq, the more american troops will be able to return home. so.....to clarify: the more we succeed? not the more the iraqis succeed?

but don't think the ole decider didn't have a ray of sunshine for all of us. petraeus has assured him that we can maintain the current security in iraq with less troops. so bush has announced troops will be coming home!

5,700 troops by christmas. another 21,000 troops by next july.

but wait a minute.... as norah o'donnell points out: the return of those troops is already scheduled as part of a normal troop rotation. and even with those troops out of iraq, there will still be 12,000 more troops in iraq than there were before the surge.

fuzzy math.........

for the record

bush made his first reference to 9/11 about 13 minutes into the speech. probably a record.

15 minutes into the 17 minute speech, bush mentioned "reconciliation." the argument for the surge was to give more time (breathing room) for the iraqis to reach a political reconciliation. good to know it still ranks so high in the argument.

the vitter farce - or - how he likes it

yes....that ole hooker-lovin' david vitter is back in the news. apparently, he was playing patty-cakes with a nola prostitute several times a week over a period of several months. so far... no calles from the hill for senator vitter (r-louisiana) to step down.

meanwhile....senator larry "happy feet" criag (r-idaho) continues his slow march into infamy.

it just goes to show.... if you're gonna fuck up as a republican - fuck up with a woman.

meet the press quote of the week

this one was hard.... i have two i like so much but i swore i would only do one. well.... maybe i'll do one now and save the other one for another day.

this week's quote comes from that ole pistol, senator joe biden - democrat of delaware and presidential candidate. and really - it ties into our whole discussion on W and iraq and his total ass-raping of the situation:

"this president has no plan how to win and/or how to leave. all he's doing is putting american forces in the middle of a civil war to maintain the status quo. that is unconscionable and he's wrong."

biden for secretary of state '08.

e.

Another GOP Departure

senator chuck hagel (r-nebraska) announced today that he will not run for president in 2008. but hagel, an out-spoken opponent to the president's war in iraq but otherwise a true-red republican, will also not seek another term in the senate when his current term comes to an end.

just another republican jumping ship and increasing the likelihood that the dems could widen their majority in congress once all the ballots are counted in november of next year.

hagel, who initially voted to support a possible invasion of iraq, has been front and center in now defending the view that we need to get out. quoting hagel:

the war in iraq has pushed the u.s. military to the breaking point...our troops are being deployed longer than they should be, more frequently than they should be, and without full training and equipment.

we are eroding our military power at a time when our country faces an increasing arc of challenges and threats across the globe. we are abusing our all-voluntary force in a dangerous and irresponsible way.

hagel, 60, is another high-ranking republican in the senate and a loss the majority of the GOP will not want to see...despite his current stance against bush.

but really....who still stands with bush these days?

e.

p.s.

the texans defeated the kansas city chiefs 3-20 on opening day. could the possibility of a playoff game or two be in the stars....?

The Gift That Keeps on Giving

oh, larry craig.... where have you been all my life?

our favorite closet case and republican destructive machine, senator craig (r-idaho) has not disappointed me once in eight days. the boy is back and he's ready for a fight.

much to the dismay of the GOP in congress (and a very befuddled mitch mcconnell), craig has made it clear that he just may not resign come september 30th.

now....i blame myself for not catching this, but craig did say it was his "intent" to resign at month's end. not that he would resign or that he is resigning....but that he intends to resign.

i guess it depends on what your definition of is is.....

it's kinda brilliant, really.... and it explains why he didn't immediately step down. and apparently, all of this has been egged on by ole rascally rabbit himself - arlen specter of pennsylvania. he went on the sunday talk shows and told craig he should fight for his job.

howard fineman has an interesting theory that this is specter's payback to the GOP brass for threatening his leadership position on the judiciary committee if he didn't play ball with all of their court nominees. i do love it when the repubs stick it to each other.

shit....the dems really just need to sit back and enjoy the show for the time being.

all of this, of course, depends on whether or not craig can get his guilty plea overturned in minnesota. and whether or not he can survive an embarrassing hearing in front of the senate's ethics committee.

whatever it is....i'm sure the republicans love having ole twinkle toes tap around the capitol building every day.

i wonder if they scatter when he enters the washroom.....?

GOP curse?

has anyone noticed what has happened in minneapolis lately? the republicans announce they're holding their national convention there in 2008. they will crown their nominee for the next president of the united states in minneapolis.

then the bridge collapses.....

then twinkle toes craig taps his way into infamy in the minneapolis-st. paul airport mensroom.

i think maybe the republicans are cursed.......

and just this morning.....representative paul gillmor (republican of ohio) was found dead in his d.c. apartment.

what is going on with the republican party?!?!

ya know, ole mitt "flip-flop" romney....i bet those days as a democratic governor of massachusetts are suddenly looking awfully sweet. are you sure you don't want to change your stance on reproductive rights just one more time......?

before it's too late.......

e.

Bad Week for the GOP: A Wrap Up

can you believe it was only a week ago that attorney general alberto gonzales resigned? jesus - that was one helluva day for the current administration. and - it didn't really get much better. all in all....it has not been a fun week for the republicans.

let us review.....

gonzo resigns

yes...it all began when al gonzales decided he just couldn't lie any longer and would step down as attorney general. amazingly enough - W let him. so much for loyalty, i guess. it's just another defeat for this administration and the first of many rats to abandon ship. al's last day will be september 14th.

i'm not sure the justice department has ever been more politicized. the department is meant to serve the people. obviously, this department served the white house only. perhaps most surprising (and telling) is that a replacement candidate has not been announced.

i think that speaks of more trouble to come for the white house - and they know it. they're looking at a fight with congress....so they need to find someone congress will support. i doubt bush has many cronies left that would even stand a chance. maybe he'll try ole harriet again.....?

my favorite homo

well......he's not my favorite homosexual, but i do love what senator larry criag (r-idaho) has done for the republican party this past week. the allegations surfaced midweek - by saturday he had resigned. although....honestly.....why september 30th? does he really think the GOP wants the spectre of his bathroom shenanigans haunting them all month long? i thought his resignation was graceful, but what's that bullshit?

but again - what i love the most - is he's shed light on a great deal of hypocrisy in both himself and the grand ole party.

maybe craig is gay and maybe he's not.... but the fact that he so openly fights against any type of gay rights and the fact that he may be gay..... only makes this all the more ugly. it is this non-stop attack on homosexuality by the religious right that perpetuates the need for people to remain in the closet. it's sad.... in this day and age.

people are afraid to come out simply because of this behavior. quote after quote from the GOP concerning craig this week included words like "disgusting" and "perverted" and "disappointing." they can wrap it up as "protecting our family" all they like - but it's homophobia.

by the way, republicans, here's a hint: don't be a fag. if you're gonna fuck around on your wife - best to do it with a woman. if this week has shown us anything...it's that you can fuck a hooker and survive in the republican party.... but proposition a man - and you're outta there.

side note: it's smart of the GOP to file this under "he plead guilty" and needs to go. that's the way to play it in the media and it's working. but i think we all know the truth.

after all....craig is gone. vitter remains.

the 'mos marry in iowa!

it's true that the ability for homosexuals to marry in iowa was halted far quicker than it was temporarily allowed - but that was a bad day for the GOP. i mean.... homosexuals. marrying. in iowa!

now....allow me to sidetrack momentarily and bring up a bad moment for the dems: this will hurt them.

and it hurts me to say that as a man who happens to love men. but this brings gay marriage back into the limelight. anti-same sex amendments were on a lot of ballots in 2004 and it brought out the religious right. we are in trouble of the same happening again.

i predicted immigration would be the wedge issue used by the right this year - but iowa Has brought back the GOP's favorite boogieman: gay marriage.

i want this right....but this could hurt in a presidential election year. the religious right is not happy with their current choices. romney and rudy could keep them from the polls. but gay marriage - that will bring them out in droves.

so, i worry..............

but that won't stop me from sending out my heartfelt congratulations to sean fritz and tim mcquillan - the only gay couple that recited their vows to one another before gay marriage was again halted in iowa. i ask everyone to look at the picture of those two embracing one another. imagine - these two men have loved each other for a long time....never believing they could express that love to the world by virtue of marriage. that expression - that is happiness. pure and overwhelming happiness that they were able to marry one another. the man they love.

what an amazing thing.... i'll never understand why love frightens so many people. and on that note - i think i'll move on before i start sounding like kucinich at an lgbt forum.

the walls come crumbling down

what happens with the architect leaves the project? karl rove, bush's brain, stepped down on friday and ding dong, the witch is dead.

this clearly signifies that bush's final two years is going nowhere. rove doesn't even see the point of sticking around. just another bush loyalist reading the writing on the wall: game over.

the loss of a good man

not surprisingly, on friday senator john warner (r-virginia) announced his plans to retire next year. warner was old school congress.... a good man. a conservative, yes, but an honest straight-shooter. and he was a respected voice in the republican party and his opinions carried a lot of weight.

this is not someone they wanted to lose. but i think when he had to go public with his concerns on iraq.....his concerns that the president would not listen to...he also read the writing on the wall. his party has been highjacked by a moron. why stick around......?

the increasingly blue state of virginia (or "trending purple" as mary matalin says) has a good shot at electing another dem to the capitol. first webb.... now another warner, perhaps. ex-virginia governor mark warner is very popular there....and his name is being tossed around as a candidate.

from what i understand - there are about 22 republican senate seats in play next year. i doubt they wanted warner's to be one of them. there are only about 12 democratic seats. and with the way the nation is viewing the republican party right now.... there should be a larger majority for the democrats in 2009.

tony snow falls

press secretary and evil fucker extraordinaire, tony snow....bush's current press secretary and former fox news hack....announced his resignation on friday. he too shall step down on september 14th. is everyone trying to get out before petreaus reports to congress?

anyway....i say, "good." snow is a fucker.

and yes, yes.... i know he's suffering from a relapse of his cancer and i hope he pulls through. i wish him no harm. but come on - the man is a fucker. his sheer pompousness as he openly lied to the press corps day in and day out. does anyone remember his excuse for allowing the iraqi parliament to take off the month of august? "it's hot." um, yeah - can our military also take off the month then?

another loyal bushie.... the face of the administration most often to the press - is jumping ship. he says he needs more money. he earns six figures as press secretary. um, yeah - we should all need more than that.

to me....it just shows how out of touch the administration is from the rest of the world. to honestly face the nation - the poor - and say....sorry, six figures is not enough for me. but hey - i'll keep supporting tax breaks for the rich but not a minimum wage increase for the poor.

fuck you, ya douche bag.

meet the press quote of the week

this has to do with not a current bad moment for the GOP - but a potential problem down the road. fred thompson has decided to finally declare his intent to run for president. gee....what a shocker. he will do so thursday....via web. ummm.......okay.

but he has waited so long that he has mucho added pressure on him to succeed - and to out perform all expectations.

and as bob shrum said this morning on press: "he (thompson) almost became the first non-candidate ever to implode."

i sense problems...... but hey - i'll take ongoing GOP problems every day of the week. this past one - just happened to be a doozy.

almost makes me believe in a god......

e.

The Rough Road for Republicans

i can't deny the fact that i'm eating up all the shit the GOP is going through these days. we're looking at 16 months of lame duck.....and their field for the 44th prez is not looking good. wow....there's so much delicious bad news to talk about i'm not even sure where to begin.

maybe we should start with the grand dumbfuck himself?

georgie's ready for bed

there's a lot of talk about what karl rove's departure means for the bush presidency. and many people are asking if bush can function without his brain. but as wayne slater, co-author of bush's brain, put it: "sure he can...because there's not much to do."

even uberconservative pat buchanan said "the bush second term is shaping up as a very big, and possibly historic, failure."

this makes me moist, i have to tell you........

howard fineman summed up the next year and a half, perhaps, best: "it's all defensive now. no more agenda. it's all about turf...he's counting the minutes until he gets out of town."

unfortunately.....at sixteen months - that's still a long countdown. fineman goes on to say, "i've always felt about george bush that he wanted to win desperately. i'm not sure he really wanted to be president."

well, fuck..... why couldn't he have spared all of us.....?!?!

i really think bush will go down as one of the worst, if not THE worst president in history. forget hoover and grant.... fuckup #1 goes to george w. ("w" stands for "why don't i fuck over everyone?"). luckily, everyone agrees he will accomplish nothing over the remainder of his presidency. he will spend all of his time on defense: defending this awful war he's put us in.

and even that's getting harder for him......

if i've lost warner....

i heard both brian williams and eamon havers of business week make a john warner/walter cronkite comparison tonight. president lyndon johnson famously said of his support for vietnam: "if i've lost cronkite, then i've lost middle america." senator john warner, republican of virginia, is incredibly well-respected. he was chair of the armed services committee when the GOP ran the show on capitol hill and his voice carries a lot of weight with the republicans in congress. today, warner further broke ranks.

senator warner said in a speech that bush should announce the withdrawal of some troops from iraq in mid-september with a goal of having about 5,000 troops home by christmas. "In my humble judgment, that would get everyone's attention...the attention that is not being paid at this time," said warner. he went on to say, "i really, firmly believe the iraqi government, under the leadership of prime minister al-maliki, let our troops down." this is the same maliki of which bush said on tuesday: "prime minister maliki's a good guy, good man with a difficult job and i support him."

of course, he also supports gonzales and miers and.... aw, hell. the list is too long.

another bad report card

all of this comes with the release of the latest national intelligence estimate which spells even more bad news for bush. from the new york times:

A stark assessment released Thursday by the nation’s intelligence agencies depicts a paralyzed Iraqi government unable to take advantage of the security gains achieved by the thousands of extra American troops dispatched to the country this year.

The assessment, known as a National Intelligence Estimate, casts strong doubts on the viability of the Bush administration strategy in Iraq. It gives a dim prognosis on the likelihood that Iraqi politicians can heal deep sectarian rifts before next spring, when American military commanders have said that a crunch on available troops will require reducing the United States’ presence in Iraq.

oops.... still supporting maliki? still think the surge can work? jesus....how long before petreaus makes his appearance before capitol hill? oh, that's right. bush and his team will be meeting with and preparing the general prior to his testimony (in about 20 days, by the way). didn't bob gates say something about all iraqi progress reports should come from someone other than W? isn't his credibility shot?

and by the way, a recent cnn/opinion research corporation poll found that 64% of americans now oppose the war in iraq (welcome to the party) with 72% percent saying the petraeus report will have no effect on their opinion. the poll also found 53% do not trust the general to give an accurate assessment of the situation in iraq.

i'll say it again.....oops.

none of the above

in light of the "none of the above" box still being checked more than any other name on the potential GOP ballot for president - the boys are out and fighting. romney and thompson are attacking guiliani's leftist social views. romney's being attacked for flipflopping on the issue of abortion.

thompson still hasn't declared. i mean, seriously.....what is this guy waiting for? a third wife? he's about to be so unfashionably late i'd swear he was gay.

and it appears i'm not the only one over the waiting game being played by fred.

recent polls from both cbs and gallup show thompson's support waning. the cbs poll has thompson at 18% now as opposed to 25% in july. gallop shows him dropping from 21% in july to 19% currently. i think the GOP is tired of waiting. get in the fucking race already. if you want to save us....get to work.

i'm speaking as a republican here.... i could give a shit. all i care about is that the current quinnipaic poll still has hillary beating rudy 46% to 43%.

yes....there's just not a lot of good news out there right now for the republican party. and really....in all honesty.... i wouldn't have it any other way.

e.

The Republicans: They're Trying (Bless 'em)

results of the iowa straw poll are in. mitt romney, not surprisingly, won with 32% of the vote. of course, romney spent the equivalent of rhode island's annual budget to win. as chris matthews put it, it's the golden globes of politics - if you spend enough money, you're guaranteed to win the ames straw poll. mind you - the other top tiered candidates didn't even bother to show: guiliani, mccain and the yet to announce fred thompson.

the big story, everyone would agree, is the surprise silver medal recipient: mike huckabee with 18% of the vote (brownback received 15% and trancredo bought 14%). ole huck has little money and didn't run any t.v. campaigns. hell, there was a negative ad being aired against huck - but he made it to second place. perhaps his conservative credentials are beyond reproach?

meanwhile, tommy thompson should make an announcement about the future of his campaign within 48 hours. i believe we'll have the first casualty of the GOP primary compliments of the former governor of wisconsin.

waiting for thompson
i heard a fascinating comment from fareed zakaria this morning on this week. as we all know, nobody is enthusiastic about the GOP field this year. polls show more interest in "none of the above" than any of the actual candidates. but there seems to be this hope of salvation from a knight in red pickup. but zakaria sees the waiting and waiting and waiting for fred thompson more as an act of desperation than any type of real enthusiasm for thompson's campaign. interesting.....

guiliani's gaffe
if you're running your entire campaign around 9/11, try not to piss off the real heroes, rudy.

while campaigning in ohio on thursday, rudy said the following:

I was at Ground Zero as often, if not more, than most of the workers….I was there working with them. I was exposed to exactly the same things they were exposed to. So in that sense, I’m one of them.

ummmm.....i don't think. as paramedic marvin bethea said:

I personally find that very, very insulting.…Standing there doing a photo-op and telling the men, ‘You’re doing a good job,’ I don’t consider that to be working.

oh, rudy, you knucklehead. you already have the firefighters and police officers pissed because you didn't supply them with the needed communications equipment prior to the 11th. don't go dismissing their ground-zero affected health issues now just because you seem to be fine.

shame, shame, rudy.

but that does bring us to our............

meet the press quote of the week
thank you margaret carlson for providing the quote, and for doing a fabulous job thursday night hosting the lgbt debate. in response to guiliani's comments (and ego) concerning his time spent at ground zero, carlson said it's become clear that "guiliani now believes his own rhetoric...maybe there was a third tower that he kept from falling down. that's how much he's made 9/11 part of his campaign."

yeah...but you keep pissing the workers off, rudy.

chicago vs. houston
no....it's not the republicans, but it's just as disconcerting. my beloved houston texans blew a 7-19 lead going into the fourth quarter last night to lose to the chicago bears 20-19 after a bears field goal with 36 seconds left on the clock. my hottie carr wasn't behind center last night - but the team still felt the same.

i understand it's only preseason and nothing counts - but we need to get the fans excited again. and last night didn't do it.

e.