Oh dear! What's a lemming to do?

This is both hilarious and scary. Watch the new GOP web-based video ad. Catch it here at Crooks & Liars in case it gets taken down from GOP.com.

CA-50

This is an unlikely scenario, but fun to consider.

While Francine Busby has a huge lead on her Republican rivals in the latest polling for the April 11th CA-50 special election -- 45% to 14% for the second place challenger -- it will still be a difficult task to get to 50% by Election Day to avoid a June runoff. Howard Kaloogian, who's shown himself to be a complete doofus this week over so many things that came to light -- the "Baghdad" photo that was actually taken in Turkey, ridiculous explanations and followup, falsified endorsements, etc -- is polling in third place with 12%. (For the best place to follow the comedy of errors this week, go to Talking Points Memo.)

As I originally suggested, Kaloogian's support may fall apart, and other Republicans (and Independents and somewhat indifferent Democratics) may see one more reason not to trust Republican candidates this time around, period. That could transform the election into a Busby win outright.

On the other hand, Kaloogian's outlandish claims of being victimized by liberals and the media, as he only made an honest mistake and then owned up to it, may earn him brownie -- gotta love than term now -- points and sympathy votes with the brain-dead from the far right.

If Francine doesn't get the necessary 50%, then I'd love to see KaLULUgian end up second, because she'll be able to absolutely mop the floor with this creep one-on-one.

Francine needs your help to get over the top:

• Contribute or sign up to volunteer at her web site
• Make phone calls from your home to motivate likely Busby voters (organized by MoveOn)
• Sign up for final week (Apr 8-11) get-out-the-vote by contacting BlueHouse@SoCalGrassroots.org

Color Me Shocked

Frist's Senate Leadership Faulted as Self-Serving:

As he prepares to leave the Senate and position himself for a presidential bid, Bill Frist faces mounting criticism that he has proved an ineffectual majority leader whose legislative agenda increasingly is dictated by his White House ambitions.

Complaints about the patrician Tennessean by fellow Republicans intensified this week, sparked by his decision to force Senate debate on illegal immigration. Some GOP lawmakers say his move spotlighted a squabble within the party over a hot-button issue in an election year.

Frist? Ineffective? Self-serving?

Next thing ya know, you're gonna tell me that this whole war thing in Iraq is just a big mess.

Oh. Right.

My Kind of Town...

According to The Chicago Sun Times, that august city may decide not to enforce criminalization of illegal immigrants:

If the great immigration debate now raging in Congress is decided in a way that turns illegal immigrants into criminals, Chicago Police officers and other city employees would not enforce it, the City Council decided Wednesday.

Three weeks after a massive rally in Chicago demanding better treatment of immigrants, Chicago aldermen blazed another trail on the red-hot issue.

They turned a 1989 executive order on immigration into law.

I was born in Chicago nearly 40 years ago, but was a mere babe when my family moved away and have not been back since. I've always wanted to check out the city of my birth. Now I have an additional reason to do so.

I hope Los Angeles follows the same path.

Hear me Rohr--abacher

From AP: "I say let the prisoners pick the fruits," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California, one of more than a dozen Republicans who took turns condemning a Senate bill that offers an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants an opportunity for citizenship.

Little Brother

Click through and enjoy. Buy a shirt. (I bought two.) Wear it everywhere, so people know that somebody else is watching, too.

We print, you decide

Scaliosis: uncontrollable hand gestures. No known cure, highly contagious.

Image from Peter A. Smith, Boston Herald

Go Busby!

In the latest Survey USA poll, Francine Busby is up to 45% (+/- 5% margin of error) in CA-50. 50% +1 vote needed to avoid a runoff. With Kaloogian's (12%) latest flap, that might throw a few more percent from his column up for grabs and also raise additional disdain for any Republican.

Our efforts are paying off. Almost there.... keep it up!

Oh, brother! CA-50

Updates at bottom....

Howard Kaloogian, Bush apologist extraordinaire, is one of the handful of Republicans chasing frontrunner Democrat Francine Busby in the April 11th special election to fill the 50th Congressional District seat.

The graphic above, borrowed from Jesus' General, is a wonderful parody on a photo that Kaloogian posted on his site. Seems that Kaloogian was in Iraq recently, and in order to demonstrate how peaceful and normal things are in Baghdad he posted this photo:

with this caption: Downtown Baghdad We took this photo of dowtown [sic] Baghdad while we were in Iraq. Iraq (including Baghdad) is much more calm and stable than what many people believe it to be. But, each day the news media finds any violence occurring in the country and screams and shouts about it - in part because many journalists are opposed to the U.S. effort to fight terrorism.

Something not look right about this photo of "Downtown Baghdad"? Seems that a large consensus has developed that this photo was not taken in Baghdad or even at another location in Iraq, but most likely in Turkey. Follow the details under anthonyLA's diary at Kos or at Democratic Underground.

Kaloogian's site has been funky today and who knows how long before the photo is possibly taken down, but you can check it out here.

Kaloogian: Bush apologist.... and apparently he has the same ethics as well.

Support Francine Busby here.

Update! Proof that Howie's photo was taken in the Istanbul suburb of Bakirkoy.

Is Howard a liar? Check here.... and more at TPM Muckraker.

Update 2! Oh, brother. Is that guy a bad/sad joke or what??? See here...

Nothing up my sleeve.... Presto!

Republican Senators Kyl (AZ) and Graham (SC), along with a cameo by Brownback (KS), seem to think that there's nothing wrong with submitting fabricated evidence to the U.S. Supreme Court.


From The Anonymous Liberal:

Today the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld. The Court will be called upon to determine--among other things--whether a provision in last year's Detainee Treatment Act ("DTA") effectively strips the Court of jurisdiction to hear Hamdan's case. The Government contends that it does and in support of this position, Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and John Kyl have filed an amicus brief with the Court.

This amicus brief argues that the legislative history of the DTA supports the Government's position. Specifically, the brief cites a lengthy colloquy between Senators Kyl and Graham themselves which purportly took place during a Senate floor debate just prior to passage of the bill. In the exchange, both Kyl and Graham suggest that the bill will strip the courts of jurisdiction over pending detainee cases such as Hamdan. But here's where the story gets interesting.

Apparently this entire 8 page colloquy--which is scripted to read as if it were delivered live on the floor of the Senate, complete with random interruptions from other Senators--never took place. It was inserted into the Congressional Record in written form just prior to passage of the bill.

Continued....

Timidity is an outrage - track your representative

First off, my apologies for being off the grid for awhile. So let's discuss the failure of many incumbent democrats in both houses of Congress. What is this failure you ask? It is the failure to be both courageous and take advantage of legislation introduced by more stalwart members of either house.

In discussing this type of behavior; let's just look at two bills. First we have the Jack Murtha resolution to establish a time to leave Iraq, build no permanent bases in Iraq, and disengage in an orderly fashion. This bill came from a Democratic Hawk, and his House Resolution should have brought democrats of all stripes out in massive support.
Liberal house members could stand up in support unabashedly; and moderates could use this bill as cover to avoid being called to liberal! If one supports a decorated hero and house member like Murtha; you can argue it is the responsible thing to do. The timidity with which the democrats came on board is embarrassing. Is it the every two years to run for election.

Well then, let's look to the US Senate where two thirds are not running in this coming midterm elections. Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin introduces his bill to Censure the current White House occupant for illegal wiretapping in contravention of the law! Senators rushed to support this timely and appropriate action. Not so,
again the democratic timidity of our nation's democratic legislators was very apparent.

In my next blog we will discuss the myth of incumbency as something sacred!

Fighting back in South Dakota

Ah, the further consequences of passing the draconian anti-abortion bill:

1 . Untouchable planned parenthood clinic. From the blog "Bitch Ph.D.":

Cecilia Fire Thunder, the President of the Oglala Sioux in South Dakota, speaks truth to the white boys who think they run things in her country.

“I will personally establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on my own land which is within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation where the State of South Dakota has absolutely no jurisdiction.”

If you want to support this effort, follow the link...


2. Petition drive to overturn the law has started. From Reuters:

Abortion-rights supporters planned to launch an attack on Friday on a new South Dakota abortion law designed as a direct challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion 33 years ago.

An abortion-rights coalition, South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families, said it would lay out its strategy to take down the law in mid-morning news conferences in Sioux Falls and Rapid City.

The Sioux Falls local newspaper [ed. Argus Leader] reported that the group would announce a petition drive to overturn the law through a referendum in November. The group has not publicly detailed its strategy, but participants in the campaign have said that a referendum had advantages over a lawsuit.

"When you take things to the courts you don't have the opportunity to engage the public in the process. You don't have the ability to build a movement," said Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Kate Looby.
.
.
.
A petition drive would fly in the face of the expectations of abortion opponents, who have been counting on a legal challenge to the law in the hopes that the case would eventually make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

With two conservative justices recently appointed to the high court, abortion opponents believe they have an improving chance of overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that established the right to abortion.

Reuters link.....

A license to do something or other

I've mentioned my car before in this blog: a 1991 Acura Integra LS, 232,000 miles.... Not too many of those fine cars still around -- at least once a year somebody leaves a note on the car asking whether I want to sell it -- so I took notice upon spotting one (same deep red color too) in the Sherman Oaks Trader Joe's parking lot this afternoon. But I had to do a doubletake when I saw the license plate:


Perhaps a dancer, but could be a life-long Democrat too.

So while I was staring at the car, a woman noticed my sorta peculiar behavior and we started talking..... and I ended up recruiting another grassroots volunteer.

Remember to always keep your salesperson hat on!

License plate image created at ACME license maker.

Nancy Pelosi's Grassroots Campaign Fund 2006

I just got this email from Nancy Pelosi, via the DCCC. Did you?

Dear randy,

In the next few days we cannot win the 2006 elections, but we can lose them.

And, what you do in the next few minutes will be a critical factor in determining which outcome will occur.

You can simply hit the "delete" button and read the rest of your emails. Or, you can stand up and say enough is enough! America cannot take three more years of one-party Republican rule in Washington, D.C. Join with millions of Democrats across American in our 2006 Grassroots Campaign Plan for victory.

And, in eight days the all important end-of-quarter fundraising deadline will be upon us. Political pundits and the media will assess our strength and commitment by how much money we raise. We know you have stood [sic] on many campaigns, such as us [sic] when we battled the Republicans and demanded oversight, accountability, an end to the culture of corruption and I would like to thank you. But today, I am asking you to take the next step with us and consider making a contribution.

blah, blah, blah....
(emphasis in original)

But aha! I came up with a third option that Nancy didn't consider. I replied with the following:

Grasssroots campaign.... funny!

When you start listening to the grassroots, then you can ask for money from the grassroots.

Supporting censure -- right now

Nothing is driving me crazier this week than the cowardice of some Democrats on censure. (And given everything the Bush administration is up to, that's saying something.) So I was delighted when moveon.org emailed me about their electronic letter-writing campaign to national, regional, and local newspapers. It's simplicity in itself to get moveon's wonderful letter-writing campaign

It took me, I guess, three minutes to write and email the following to three newspapers. If you haven't done so yet, please take action now. And I've got to tell you, I had to choke hard to type "President Bush." First time yet that I've done it.


Dear Sirs:

President Bush's recent response to Senator Russell Feingold's effort to censure him sounds suspiciously like more "bring it on": braggadocio laced with ignorance.

Feingold's attempt to censure Bush for illegal wiretapping isn't about terrorism -- although the Bush administration would like to make it so. It's about not flouting the law. The Bush administration would like to believe it is above the law -- that it can subvert the law -- even when the administration could legally seek the wiretapping authority it desires.

The administration's actions are unconstitutional and illegal, and its wiretapping to date is probably far more widespread than it admits. If no one is willing to stand up to them then clearly we do live under an imperial presidency. We should all support Feingold on censure, and shame on his fellow Senators -- especially Democrats -- who don't.

Gay marriage becoming more accepted

Though more than half of Americans still oppose gay and lesbian marriage, opposition is dropping noticeably.

In the latest Pew Research national poll: 39% support, 51% oppose. In the comparable Pew poll from February, 2004: 30% support, 63% oppose.

In the California Field Poll, 43% support, up from 39% in 1997. (Statistically non-significant, but at least hinting in the right direction.)

More from Pew....

All idiots in Wisconsin, please raise your hand...

... but be careful not to knock your blinders off in the process.

The RNC has started running radio ads in Wisconsin attacking Russ Feingold over his call for censure. Here's the text. (If I come across a link to the audio, I'll update.)

September eleventh changed our country.

And it changed how America responds to terrorists.

President Bush is working to keep American families safe.

Passing the Patriot Act which has disrupted over one hundred and fifty terrorist threats and cells and making sure the US is monitoring terrorist communications.

But some Democrats are working against these efforts to secure our country, opposing the Patriot Act and terrorist surveillance program.

Their leader is Russ Feingold.

Now Feingold and other Democrats want to censure the President. Publicly reprimanding President Bush for pursuing suspected members of al Qaeda.

Some Democrats are even calling for President Bush’s impeachment.

Is this how Democrats plan to win the War on Terror?

Call Russ Feingold and ask him why he’s more interested in censuring the President than protecting our freedom.

Glenn Greenwald tears a big one in both Democratic and Republican arguments: "Myth-making and excuse-making on the Feingold Resolution". Well worth reading.

(Note on "some Democrats": Is the mainstream media finally getting wise to the Bush/Republican/Fox News, etc. straw man argument?)


Update: The audio is at the RNC web site. What a load of crap.

Unions vs. Arnold (redux)

Unions Protest Gov's Fundraising
Labor groups say Schwarzenegger is seeking
special-interest cash for his reelection.

LATimes:
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's drive to raise tens of millions of dollars for his reelection has set off a backlash by organized labor, with unions trying to ensure that his hunt for money remains a prime source of political trouble.

In Beverly Hills on Monday, unions held their first major protest of the year against the Republican governor's collection of campaign money. About 200 nurses, bus drivers, school clerks and other union members marched outside a private Schwarzenegger reception and dinner for donors, who paid up to $100,000 for seats near the governor and his guest speaker, U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

As Schwarzenegger was ensconced with top supporters inside the Beverly Hilton, sign-waving protesters shouted from the sidewalks outside at rush-hour traffic on Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards.

"Money in, favors out, that's what Arnold's all about!" they yelled.

Just before the dinner, police ejected several dozen nurses from the hotel lobby as they shouted "Shame on Arnold!" and "Stop the corruption!"

The scenes were similar to the dozens of protests that organized labor held last year during its successful battle to kill Schwarzenegger's November ballot initiatives. This year, of course, the target is his reelection.

The unions' core message on Monday — that Schwarzenegger broke his campaign pledge to shun special-interest money — is part of a broader effort by labor and its Democratic allies to cast the governor as a standard politician who fails to keep his word.

Continued....

Eeny Meeny Chili Beany

Making predictions. Oh, so difficult. Especially when they're about the future.

But our prescient president has the perfect workaround: let the other guy worry about all the messes that he creates. (OMG, he slipped up and admitted the truth!)

Asked if there would come a day when there would be no more U.S. forces in Iraq, Bush said, "That, of course, is an objective. And that will be decided by future presidents and future governments of Iraq."

On terrestrial and extraterrestrial oaths

For the most part, I don't have anything against anyone else's religion unless it's about, say, blowing up other people.

If your religion tells you that there's an alien creature secretly controling you from inside, that's fine with me. At least it explains some of your behavior.

If you believe the Earth is an egg laid by the turtle god, I'll disagree. I may even laugh. But I won't get all worked up.

If you think it's God's will that you are president, clearly I can't talk you out of it, so that doesn't bother me either. Well, it bothers me because it says an awful lot about you, but there's nothing I can do about it.

It's when you put your religion before your sworn Constitutional duty that I get bothered. I don't put the Constitution above "God" -- whatever your notion of that is. But I do prize duty and truth, and when you swear to uphold an oath, you should do it. People whose religion demands that they countermand an oath of office shouldn't take that oath.

It's that simple.

And every once in a while, someone cuts to the truth of that matter, as with this recent anecdote, provided by a friend:

On Wednesday, March 1st, 2006, in Annapolis at a hearing on the proposed
Constitutional Amendment to prohibit gay marriage, Jamie Raskin,
professor of law at AU, was requested to testify.

At the end of his testimony, Republican State Senator Nancy Jacobs said: "Mr.
Raskin, my Bible says marriage is only between a man and a woman. What
do you have to say about that?"

Raskin replied: "Senator, when you took your oath of office, you placed
your hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution. You did not
place your hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible."

The room erupted into applause.