Hot Potato Mash

Yacht Party

From the Courage Campaign:

The most extreme high priests of the tax cut cult operate right here in
California. Because Democrats do not hold a two-thirds majority in our
state legislature, a small minority of Republicans is able to hold
Californians hostage to a $20 billion state budget deficit, refusing to raise taxes on the super-rich.

It gets worse. Much worse. While California's future is being put in grave jeopardy, the tax cut cult is refusing to close a tax loophole for yacht and private jet owners.

Schools closing. Social services slashed to the bone. And right-wing Republicans are letting the uber-wealthy off tax-free on yacht and private jet purchases. It's no wonder the California Republican Party has been re-branded as the “Yacht Party” by the netroots.

To increase the pressure on Republicans in Sacramento to close this
yacht tax loophole, we need to make this “Yacht Party” brand stick. That's
why the Courage Campaign and California Nurses Association have just
teamed up to produce a new 60-second TV ad that strips naked the
shocking nature of the California Republican Party's priorities.

“Right Is Wrong: How the Lunatic Fringe Hijacked America, Shredded the Constitution, and Made Us All Less Safe” (Arianna Huffington)

Technorati Tags: Tax cuts, Yacht Party

VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader Says A Close Election Will Be Decided By Political Parties

Presidential candidate Ralph Nader held a press conference in Los Angeles on Saturday where I asked him on behalf of Brad Blog about whether the upcoming election would turn out any differently than the 2004 election which Nader believes was hijacked by the Republican Party and the 2000 election which the Supreme Court decided. The video is above (2:37) and the transcript of our exchange follows below:

Alan: In 2004 you said that the Republican Party was able to “steal the election before election day” and that the “election was hijacked from A to Z”. And in 2000 the Supreme Court decided the election. Do you have any reason to believe that 2008 will turn out any differently.

Ralph Nader: If the 2008 election comes down to one or two states that are very close in the polls between the candidates, the way you can predict the outcome is simply to ask one question – who controls the state government. If it’s the Republican Party or if it’s the Democratic Party. Whoever controls the state government can maneuver a win whether by the distribution or maldistribution of voting machines, deregistering people, all kinds of ways. There are now 50, 100 ways that the state government in a close election can throw the election in the direction of the party that that state government reflects.

And so to answer your question, if it comes down to that close margin, whether it’s Florida or Ohio, they can do it again. But Ohio is now Democrat. Florida is still Republican.

We have a political system that is vulnerable to continual theft, to continual confusion for the voters, to continual failure to keep an accurate paper trail in order to double check.

Why don’t we simply adopt the Canadian system where in that vast country they have a paper ballot, they have small precincts with no more than 500 voters, and by 11pm that night they know who won and who lost. And if there are any questions, the paper ballots are the verifiable material.

Why are we into this huge electronic miasma with different kinds of machines? Why? Because it is big business. Because it is a procurement item that is growing by the billions every four years. And whenever you get a procurement item that interferes with election integrity you have politicians that are crooked and companies that seduce them into this kind of dishonesty.

And it isn’t just taking money. It is dishonesty in not having the best available electoral technology or electoral ways of counting votes accurately.

The entire press conference (31:06) with Ralph Nader and his running mate Matt Gonzalez

“The Good Fight: Declare Your Independence and Close the Democracy Gap” (Ralph Nader)

Cross-posted at Brad Blog

Technorati Tags: democracy, democrats, election, Matt Gonzalez, recession, republican

'GET OUT OF TOWN GEORGE BUSH'

Chris Bennett adds new (fabulous) lyrics to a classic Cole Porter song.

“”Until The End Of Time“” (Chris Bennett)

Technorati Tags: Chris Bennett, George W. Bush

HILLARY'S DOWNFALL

This may be the funniest thing ever!

Technorati Tags: Hillary Clinton

Subdued Hillary Fails To Mention Obama Once In West Virginia Speech

It's all over folks.

Part 1 (9:54)

Part 2

Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton

VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: Gore Vidal And Byron DeLear Conversation

The highlight of Sunday's fundraising event where I interviewed Byron DeLear was a far reaching discussion between Gore Vidal and the Missouri Congressional candidate. Their conversation is broken up into five parts below which is then followed by some remarks by progressive radio personality Bree Walker and Nova M Radio founder Sheldon Drobny.

Part 1

Topics covered include: restoring representative democracy, big money and lobbyists, FDR, Gore Vidal's grandfather and his first experience with racism.

Part 2

Topics covered include: Missouri Compromise, Missouri Senator Jim Reed, Missouri's penchant for picking the president, DeLear's endorsement of Barack Obama, the Missouri primary, gerrymandering, the need for Democrats to become the values party in opposition to the GOP money party.

Technorati Tags: Bree Walker, Byron DeLear, Gore Vidal, Sheldon Drobny

My Interview With Missouri Congressional Candidate Byron DeLear

Yesterday I interviewed Byron DeLear who is running for Congress in Missouri's 2nd District. The current holder of the seat is the ultra-conservative war supporter and Bush crony, Todd Akin (R-MO), who last year infamously argued to keep sending reinforcements to Iraq by invoking Davy Crockett at the Alamo.

I found the intellectual DeLear, who supports the withdrawal of our troops from Iraq and the impeachment of Bush and Cheney, extremely knowledgeable on a wide range of issues including election integrity. DeLear even goes so far as to call for the 28th Amendment to the US Constitution to secure the vote:

“I talk about the necessity for the 28th Amendment to the US Constitution to be securing the most sacrosanct institution of our Republic which is the vote – the cornerstone of our democracy. And how is it that we can allow corporations to own the source code that instructs voting machines how to count the vote? How is it that in our supposedly popular and public owned electoral system can we have privatization occurring where the basic functions of our elections are in secret and are not available to the scrutiny of the American people?

So I think the 28th Amendment to the Constitution should be securing the vote, providing for independent verification of ballot results and I think we should explore the idea of perhaps standardizing the American voting experience. Because when you have 13,000 different methods of counting the vote littered across the landscape of our Republic – that essentially violates the essence of equal protection under the law. And I don’t think it’s fair that you can have African Americans waiting six hours in the rain in Ohio and then other people in other parts of the country just walk in and get their votes cast and there is no problem whatsoever.

So we got to end this kind of unequal, unfair playing field that is occurring in regards to counting our votes and getting our voice heard.”

You can find out more about DeLear and contribute to his campaign at his website - DeLear for Congress.

UPDATE: DeLear also spoke at length on Sunday with Gore Vidal. Below are some of the highlights from DeLear that had me thinking he should be running for President instead of Congress:

Technorati Tags: Byron DeLear

The Great Derangement

Matt Taibbi, for my money, is up there with Glenn Greenwald as the best young political commentators in the country. He is also wicked funny. Check out a couple samplings of his work that I have previously posted here and here and then buy his new book linked below!

“The Great Derangement: A Terrifying True Story of War, Politics, and Religion at the Twilight of the American Empire” (Matt Taibbi)

Technorati Tags: Matt Taibbi, The Great Derangement, puppy

Anarchists Just A Wanna Have Fun

I captured on video a bunch of very young anarchists (I think) clowning around at the May Day rally in Los Angeles on Thursday. And while kid anarchists are certainly entitled to have as much fun as the next person, it still makes for an odd sight. Watch them play tag, leap frog and do handstands in the short video above (0:40).

Technorati Tags: anarchists

YouTube Barracks Video Prompts Call For Change

From McClatchy:

WASHINGTON — Backed-up plumbing, peeling paint and other corrosive conditions in aging barracks at Fort Bragg prompted U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole to propose changing the way maintenance is handled on U.S. Army bases.

The North Carolina Republican said Friday she wants a pilot program that was tested at Fort Hood in Texas to be expanded Army-wide.

Called the First Sergeant's Barracks Initiative, it transfers responsibility for daily maintenance of barracks to a beefed up team dedicated solely to maintenance that would report directly to the base commander.

Now, the units that occupy the barracks must do much of the work themselves, and they often face delays when requesting help from base work crews on more complicated jobs.

Dole introduced a bill late Thursday to expand the pilot program to all Army installations.

“Anything less than safe and clean housing is unacceptable,” Dole said in a phone interview.

Problems at some of the 1950s-era barracks at Fort Bragg in central North Carolina came to light last week when Sgt. Jeff Frawley's father videotaped the conditions and posted them on YouTube.com.

Ed Frawley said he was disgusted that troops with the 82nd Airborne, who had been serving in Afghanistan, came home to such an environment.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that he'd watched the video and found the conditions “appalling.”

“Soldiers should never have to live in such squalor,” he said, adding that “current needs must not be sacrificed to future capabilities.”

Read the rest of the article here

UPDATE: An indictment of our Army's competence:

The latest outrage is a father’s video of a U.S. Army barracks at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, the home of the famed 82nd Airborne Division.

It shows the quarters where his soldier son and other soldier sons were sent to live upon their return from combat. Mold and mildew and peeling paint are bad enough, but what about a big barracks bathroom ankle-deep in raw sewage?

Scandals like this latest one and an earlier eruption of public outrage over the miserably maintained quarters where wounded soldiers were warehoused at Walter Reed Army Hospital are an indictment of the core competency of our Army.

If the Army cannot afford to maintain minimally decent standards of housing and feeding our soldiers — and treat them with the best medical care and all the loving attention they deserve when they're wounded in combat — then, by God, the Army doesn’t deserve to have ANY soldiers at all.

Read the rest of the commentary

Technorati Tags: citizen media, Frawley, YouTube

Bill Moyers On The Jeremiah Wright Controversy

Bill Moyers eloquent and thoughtful essay (6:26) about the Jeremiah Wright controversy. Note that Moyers references the double standard in the media between black preachers like Jeremiah Wright and white ones like John Hagee with whom I recently spoke to and asked about the controversy surrounding his endorsement of John McCain. When speaking to me at a lunch attended by mostly Jews Hagee blamed everything on his support for Israel. You can read a transcript of our conversation and listen to the audio here.

UPDATE: Frank Rich on the Jeremiah Wright/John Hagee-White Christian Evangelist double standard.

Technorati Tags: Bill Moyers, Reverend Jeremiah Wright

'Boston Legal' Takes On Our Democracy

In this week's episode of Boston Legal Alan Shore (James Spader) shreds our embarrassing excuse for a democracy (2:48). And if you have yet to watch last week's Supreme Court shredding video, do so immediately without passing “Go”.

Technorati Tags: Alan Shore, Boston Legal, James Spader

MAY DAY MASHUP

Some highlights from yesterday's huge May Day rally in Los Angeles in support of immigrants, workers rights and against the Iraq occupation.

Technorati Tags: anti-war, descrimination, immigration, workers rights, puppy

Congress To Subpoena Karl Rove AND Dan Abrams Dares Rove's Lawyer

Technorati Tags: Dan Abrams, Don Siegelman, Karl Rove, Robert Luskin

Lou Dobbs: Bush's Legacy Is 'Stupidity And Disservice To The Nation'

Technorati Tags: bush, lou dobbs

THIS MAN HATES YOU AND YOU COULD BE MAKING HIM RICH!

Jarrow L. Rogovin is the multi-millionaire founder and current President/Chairman of the Board of Jarrow Formulas, a formulator and supplier of nutritional supplements. With an extensive product list - including vitamins, herbal formulas, protein powders, pet formulations and antioxidants - you may well be a customer of Jarrow Formulas. If so, you are more than likely enriching a man who hates you and thinks you are a traitor that hates your country.

Jarrow L. Rogovin, you see, hates liberals, Democrats, Barack Obama (oh does he hate Obama!), the anti-war crowd, Europeans, Muslims (maybe more than he hates Obama) and perhaps above all else -- me!

I know this because over the last five weeks or so, I have traded a number of emails with Jarrow. Below I quote directly from those emails and ask readers, Jarrow Formulas customers and anyone googling “Jarrow L. Rogovin” to ask themselves whether this is someone you want to deal with, never mind enrich.

Patriotic American Jarrow L. Rogovin on liberals:

“Dupes are leftwingers.” “what vicious liars liberals are.” “We are winning the war.  At this point, liberals are traitors. They want America to lose. That is how much they hate the country. It is as horrible as it is revolting as it is tragic as it is despicable. They should never be forgotten nor forgiven.” “demonstrate how truly ridiculous liberals are.”

“At the risk of sounding like Ann Coulter, you come across as a typical liberal:  All sound and fury signifying fecklessness.” “You really are a piece of leftwing shit.” “I smelled a real liberal rat. Now it's like the dailykos.org and a pice of leftwing Nazi shit.” “The point is:  There are brainless fools like you who vote.  It's not their class.  It's your collective stupidity.” “You can't respond to what's on hand. You're a liberal.” “I'm sick and tired of liberal rantings”

“You, however, come across as a bleeting, liberal sheep:  Blathering blah-blah banalities without surcease.” “You really are a piece of leftwing shit.” “I'm sick of you people” “I really enjoy sending the columns to leftists. They hate it. I love it.” “libs are clueless about what's good for Israel.” “Further, you and the leftwing ACLU, and the scum trial lawyers are using the fear tactics” “The point of the NY Times editorials is that liberals -- who are really illiberal in the extreme -- are really completely corrupt fascists.”

Successful businessman and philanthropist Jarrow Rogovin on me:

“sputtering, stammering, incompetent ignoramus” “churlish, childish and wilfully ignorant” “Demented” “pathetic” “deranged” “nuts” “juvenile” “confused” “child” “unwell” “wannabe schoolyard bully” “child” “vulgar grade schooler” “horrid child” “obnoxious brat” “weird” “idiot” “nutball” “schmuck” “illiterate” “too fucking stupid clueless” “ignorant slut” “idiotic” “thick, ignorant slut skull” “naïf”

“SO pathetically IGNORANT” “Ignorant schmuck” “amazingly dense” “sick, shallow ‘mind’” “confused” “useless idiot” “You're an ass, sir, an absolute ass” “stupid, useless, shit-for-brains, fucked up little jackass!” “YOU ASSHOLE.  YOU STUPID LITTLE NINNY SCHMUCK” “you fucking crack pot piece of shit-for-brains idiot” “YOU ARE SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO STUPID!!!!!!!!!!!!!” “YOU STUPID SCHMUCK BASTARD!” “fuck yourself” “IDIOT!”

“The only thing that doesn't get out is the build up of crap in your skull.  Paranoid, leftist idiot. Stupid, pathetic, paranoid schmuck” “infected schmucks like you” “Your insane. Inane but insane” “just go fuck yourself. Put on your AC/DC crap and go fuck yourself. You sick, stupid, pathetic, hopeless little bastard. You're a pathological passive-aggressive twerp. Just go fuck yourself already” “And shove it up your anti-elitist ass” “your stupid, pathetic little shit of a schmuck” “shit you have for brains”

“Right, Fuckhead?” “Passive-aggressive geeky schmuck” “pathetic moron” “Passive-aggressive jerk” “You are way, way, way to pathetically ignorant” “You're an ignoranus, a stupid ass” “may I wish you a heartfelt Drop Dead!” “You're a bore and a fool” “You really are a piece of leftwing shit.  You're a disgusting piece of crap. Period.” “Go fuck yourself. Preferably with a branch from a St. Joseph's Coat rose bush.”

“You're a loser” “You're a total lout” “You're a hateful, disgusting piece of paranoid leftist shit” “you little piece of shit” “a leftwing Nazi paranoiac on your hands who is a crypto self-hating Jew” “You make me puke blood. Go to hell.” “despicable” “a loser and insane” “a pathetic bore” “Another meaningless statement from the anus that speaks” “you're a pig, which is...a pathetic bore. A passive-aggressive, pathological, leftwing paranoiac, self-hating bore. Go bore yourself another one. You're a bore.” “Silly Bore”

“self-loathing” “leftwing” “clowns” “childish shit” “flake” “you act like a clown” “an all-but illiterate fool” “boring” “brainless” “You're a worthless, self-hating schmuck” “You've had nothing to say that takes an I.Q. over 95.” “you can't even really think” “You're just a pathetic, embarrassing, fool -- and a fucked up passive-aggressive twerp.” “Otherwise, you're just full of more of your own shit.  Go take a fleet enema.” “dumbshit” “predictable leftist” “morons” “You're a waste of time. SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM..... ”

“You are an idiot.” “an idiot and a waste” “A leftwing fascist and self-hating Jew” “You're a schmuck, Alan.  Period.” “Jews like you are a Fifth Column. You're dangerous. You're the enemy. You're scum” “a miscreant and a waste” “trash ideas” “blighted fools.” “self-absorbed, inhumane, delusional liar.” “you and your self-deluded ilk” “pathetically stupid” “I wish I could call it naivete.  Unfortunately, it is far worse:  It is a perverse idiocy.” “selfish, sick, self-loathers” “You remind me of the old Hitler-loving peace crowd in the UK.  I have no use, no respect for you. You and your crowd is utterly foul, utterly disgusting.”

“You're scum of the lowest order” “think you're despicable” “We used to call it treason” “You lack even the wilted fig leaf of 'pacifism' for your evil views.  You are so obsessed with Bush Hatred that you are willing to see even millions die.  You are not only a traitor to the U.S. but to the very 'humanity' you feign to be protecting. You are foul, corrupt and evil, a useless idiot if there ever were one. ”

“You wallow in the sty of your self-imposed ignorance” “Hey Schmuck” “putrid, toxic waste” “Fuckheads like you would revel in the problems an arrogant fool like Obama would cause” “a clueless idiot who will never get it” “You're an empty suit.  A nothing.  Your obit would be a question mark after 'Who cares.’” “you're a lying piece of crap” “Go fuck yourself.  Traitor.” “morons” “pathetic puke” “schmucks” “sickos”

And my personal favorite Jarrow Rogovin quote:

“As a parent, [your father] is a miserable failure”
--

And, believe it or not, there are plenty more where those came from!  You can also check out more Jarrow in the comments section to a Joshua Pundit post:

“Limiting Muslim immigration might slow things down but I understand that the percent of under age 18 French that are Muslim is 30%. That is a horror. Europe should have brought in Indians and Chinese for labor because they adapt well to their new countries and are value added. The Arabs are destructive parasites to any culture but their own...

The Europeans really are miserable cowards and have no stomach for a fight. They really don't care enough for their own culture to defend it. In fact, many of the Euroleft are Arabophiles so that compounds the problem even more.”

Also see Jarrow L Rogovin's letter to the L.A. Business Journal criticizing the LA City Council for requiring hotels to (God forbid!) pay their workers a living wage.

UPDATE: This exchange between Jarrow and a customer who wrote him regarding the Israeli Flag on the Jarrow Formulas website is simply not to be missed!

Technorati Tags: Jarrow, Jarrow Formulas, Jarrow L. Rogovin, Rogovin

Tony Snow: Fox News 'Has Enough Conservatives'

Saw former Fox “News” anchor Tony Snow speak last night. While Snow spent most of the night shoveling typical right wing propaganda he did manage to say at least one truthful thing about his former news channel which leaves little question about whether it's “fair and balanced”.

Technorati Tags: Fox News, Tony Snow

Hurricane Katrina: A GOP Success Story

The New Orleans Times-Picayune has a front page story today on the shifting demographics in Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina:

A new study by a political scientist confirms what election-watchers have suspected since Hurricane Katrina: The number of voters in the New Orleans area has fallen sharply, with African-Americans and registered Democrats losing the most ground...

Losses weren't borne equally by racial and party-affiliated groups, according to the analysis by University of New Orleans political scientist Ed Chervenak. For instance, a disproportionate loss among black voters across the region helped drive up white voters' share of the electorate, from two-thirds in 2003 to nearly three-quarters last year.

Democrats also lost ground, with their participation sliding from 58 percent of the electorate in 2003 to 51 percent in 2007, the report shows. Republicans, meanwhile, saw their share of the voting population jump from 28 percent to 33 percent during the period...

“It has really important implications for the redrawing of districts -- congressional districts and all the way down,” she said. “Presumably, when districts are redrawn, Orleans Parish could lose clout. That said, the suburban areas probably will gain some clout, especially Jefferson and St. Tammany.”

And just in case anyone thinks this a coincidence, lest we not forget the Bush administration's response to hurricanes in Florida where the demographics were far more favorable to the Republican Party.

Technorati Tags: gop, Hurricane Katrina

'Boston Legal' Takes On The Supreme Court

This is freaking great. Watch it fast before it gets pulled from YouTube.

Technorati Tags: Boston Legal, Supreme Court

Tavis Smiley Interviews Don Siegelman

Part 1 (9:55)

Part 2 (1:56)

Technorati Tags: Don Siegelman, Karl Rove, Tavis Smiley

Inside Pennsylvania

My politically active friend Todd Cammarata, who teaches Government, weighs in from Altoona, Pennsylvania late last night:

“I've spent many, many hours canvassing over the past 6 weeks and I'll be taking the day off work tomorrow for GOTV. 

The good news is that I continue to be impressed by the Obama campaign.  We've had an office here in Altoona since mid-March with a paid staffer and LOTS of volunteers.  Keep in mind, I've NEVER seen a paid staffer for a national campaign in this town - democrat or republican.

The campaign has been very organized and the calling and canvassing very targeted.  Much better than Kerry was for the general in '04 or Casey for Senate in '06. 

Plus Obama actually visited here (the infamous bowling stop - which I just missed getting into by just a few minutes).  I took 35 of my students up to the rally  at PSU- it was crazy... 22,000+ people packed onto the lawn at Old Main!  Yesterday Sen. Casey was back in town and I got to meet him.  It's been fun to matter for the first time ever!

Hillary, on the other hand, has had no paid staffers here at all and she didn't even visit central PA until last night.  I really can't understand it...this is supposed to be one of her strongholds and she basically ignores the area until last night.  Word is she only got about 1,000 people.

So things on the ground look great, but I realize that we're up against an aging demographic here so I'm not about to get too overconfident.  The way I look at it, so long as we can keep any Hillary win in the single digits I'll consider it a victory. 

I did take a break today to go see Bill.  I had to.  He was in Ebensburg - a little town very close to where I grew up.  I've got to say it was pretty cool and very weird seeing one of the most famous people on the planet in my little corner of the world.  I shook his hand and got my copy of his autobiography signed.  It was an honor to see him.  It's too bad how he's tarnished himself in this campaign...but I can't help being a little bit in awe of the first and only winner I've ever supported.

Anyway, wish us luck tomorrow.”

Late today Todd adds:

“The neighborhoods that I hit today were a bit disappointing.  That coupled with the talk I'm seeing on some blogs about a late Hillary surge has got me feeling a little down right now.  I'm just hoping it stays in the single digits.  There's just too damn many old people in this state.  Forget about race, forget about gender, imo it all comes down to age...I think this is a struggle between the past and the future of the party, and while I think youth will eventually win the war, I'm feeling like it just might lose the battle in PA today.”

Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Pennsylvania Primary

Dan Abrams Responds To Karl Rove's Angry Letter About His Siegelman Coverage

Technorati Tags: Dana Jill Simpson, Don Siegelman, Karl Rove, MSNBC

A BETTER FUTURE

Voting has begun for the MoveOn.Org Obama In 30 Seconds ad competition. I have already watched a number of terrific citizen created commercials and encourage all to visit the site and vote. Also check out the two submissions below which I had a hand in making.

I put together and submitted, “A Better Future” (above), which stars Stacie and the adorable Kent Rasmussen. I recorded Stacie's impassioned and heartfelt reason for voting for Obama outside of the Democratic debate in Los Angeles on January 31, 2008. Natalia Abrams also contributed to making this video.

“A Better Tomorrow” (above) was written and directed by my friend Rob Pearlstein who also wrote, directed and starred in the hilarious Matumbo Goldberg which I posted last month. My major (cough) contribution to the video was giving feedback to Rob on the script.

Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, MoveOn.Org

VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: ABC News Democratic Debate Protest In Los Angeles

UPDATE: Face The Nation's Bob Schieffer on Patriotism and Flag Pins (h/t Think On These Things)

Technorati Tags: ABC News, Barack Obama, Charlie Gibson, coporatism, Disney, George Stephanopolous, mashup, media, msm, news, Propaganda, public opinion

MUST WATCH: Glenn Greenwald On Democracy Now

Part 1 (9:53)

Part 2 (8:02)

Democracy Now mashup of ABC debate questions (3:09)

“Great American Hypocrites: Toppling the Big Myths of Republican Politics” (Glenn Greenwald)

Technorati Tags: amy goodman, democracy now, media, Glenn Greenwald

Karl Rove Now Claiming Executive Privilege In Siegelman Case?

This is a short (2:34) but interesting “Bush League Justice” update to the Don Siegelman case. First, Dan Abrams reveals that Karl Rove sent him an angry five page letter where he listed questions he felt the MSNBC host should have asked former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman and other guests regarding the case.

Talk about chutzpah! Rove is quick to offer up his own questions and appear on friendly networks like Fox “News” to spout his propaganda, but won't let Abrams interview him or testify before Congress about his involvement in the Siegelman affair.

Per the latter point, Rove's attorney is now claiming that the decision about whether or not Rove will testify is up to the White House and that executive privilege issues may preclude him from cooperating with Congress. This is odd to say the least since Rove has repeatedly claimed that he had nothing to do with the Siegelman case and held no conversations with the White House. Thus, executive privilege could not apply.

Unless, perhaps, maybe, possibly, he lied.

UPDATE: Larisa Alexandrovna, the great investigative journalist who has broken many of the Karl Rove/Don Siegelman stories, imagines what Rove wrote in his letter to Dan Abrams:

Dan, I am outraged at your assertion that I did anything wrong, ever. You can ask George and Dick and they will both tell you I was a very good boy, not a naughty, nasty boy. Everyone is lying but me because they are all green with envy at my abilities as a super hero in my own mind. I won't stand for this defamation. We are in a war on terror and you are emboldening the terrorists. We are fighting them over there, so we don't have to fight them over here. All of you are flip-floppers. I did not help out Valerie Plame, err, frame Don Siegelman. I am not a monster!

Read more at at-Largely

Technorati Tags: Dan Abrams, Don Siegelman, Justice, Karl Rove

HARDBALL Slams Obama For NOT 'Taking Down His Opponent' During Debate

Much has already been made about the horror show performance of ABC News moderators Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos who spent the first 42 minutes of last night's democratic debate pummeling Obama “entirely on specious and gossipy trivia”. The two alleged newsmen spent half the debate on such pressing issues as Obama's “bitter” comment, the patriotism of Obama's pastor, Obama serving on a board with a member of the Weather Underground and Obama's decision not to wear a flag lapel pin.

With the above absurdity in mind, it was particularly refreshing to see Obama refuse to attack Clinton for her sniper fire lies despite being baited repeatedly by Stephanopoulos:

“I think Senator Clinton deserves the right to make some errors once in a while”

Refreshing that is unless you are a member of the mainstream media which clearly takes offense to Obama's above the fray tactics. For evidence of this one need not look any further than Chris Matthews, Chuck Todd and Bob Herbert's inanity on Hardball this afternoon.

One hopes that Obama learns a lesson here and next time slams Clinton or McCain or whoever for completely superficial non-issues in order to please our media whores!

Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, hardball, Hillary, MSNBC, Chris Matthews

RFK, Jr. Interviews Don Siegelman

Technorati Tags: Don Siegelman, rfk jr

HOW REPUBLICANS QUIETLY HIJACKED THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TO SWING ELECTIONS

“Loser Take All: Election Fraud and The Subversion of Democracy, 20002008” (Ig Publishing)

Steven Rosenfeld's contribution the new Mark Crispin Miller anthology on “The Subversion of Democracy” can and should be read at AlterNet:

Jim Crow has returned to American elections, only in the twenty-first century, instead of men in white robes or a barrel-chested sheriff menacingly patrolling voting precincts, we are more likely to see a lawyer carrying a folder filled with briefing papers and proposed legislation about “voter fraud” and other measures to supposedly protect the sanctity of the vote.

Since the 2004 election, activist lawyers with ties to the Republican Party and its presidential campaigns, Republican legislators, and even the Supreme Court -- in a largely unnoticed ruling in 2006 -- have been aggressively regulating most aspects of the voting process. Collectively, these efforts are undoing the gains of the civil rights era that brought voting rights to minorities and the poor, groups that tend to support Democrats.

In addition, the Department of Justice (DOJ), which for decades had fought to ensure that all eligible citizens could vote, now encourages states to take steps in the opposite direction. Political appointees who advocate for stringent requirements before ballots are cast and votes are counted have driven much of the DOJ's Voting Section's recent agenda. As a result, the Department has pushed states to purge voter lists, and to adopt newly restrictive voter ID and provisional ballot laws. In addition, during most of George W. Bush's tenure, the DOJ has stopped enforcing federal laws designed to aid registration, such as the requirement that state welfare offices offer public aid recipients the opportunity to register to vote.

Continue reading the article at AlterNet.

Rosenfeld's piece goes into great detail about the role of the Civil Rights Division of the Voting Rights Section at the DoJ in disenfranchising millions of voters. The recent head of the department, until he was forced to resign after I captured him on video making racially inflammatory comments which I posted at Brad Blog, was John Tanner. In the video below The Washington Post's Dana Milbank repeatedly credits the one line (from my video) for Tanner's downfall.

Technorati Tags: abrams, Bush League Justice, election integrity, Elections, John Tanner, Justice, JIm Crow, voter ID, voter suppression, Voting

CONDI MUST GO!

Please sign the Condi Must GO petition.

See my earlier post -- The Condi Rice VP Craziness -- which includes a video from Real Time with Bill Maher of WaPo's Dana Priest and former terrorism czar Richard Clarke calling Rice the worst Secretary of State and National Security Advisor ever.

“The I Hate Dick Cheney, John Ashcroft, Donald Rumsfeld, Condi Rice. . . Reader: Behind the Bush Cabal's War on America (The ”I Hate“ Series)” (Clint Willis)