Young People Are Hostile to Republicans

"Young people react with hostility to the Republicans on almost every measure and Republicans and younger voters disagree on almost every major issue of the day."

Those We Blamed for 9/11 (Iraq) Defeat Those Who Caused The Carnage on 9/11 (Saudi Arabia) to Win the Asian Cup.

"Iraq won its first Asian Cup soccer title by beating three-time champion Saudi Arabia 1-0 . . . Iraq, Asia's ninth-ranked team, started the championship rated as a 50-1 outsider . . ." The Bush administration's telling truth about the war & why we attacked a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 is still rated as a 50-1 outsider.

Birdsville Bash Only One Month Away.

Japanese Learn More Quickly Than Americans-Reject Abe After Less Than A Year.

"In a devastating rebuke to Abe, voters appeared to have punished him for his mishandling of basic issues and a series of scandals that seemed to leave his government in disarray." ". . . .several of Abe's predecessors have taken responsibility for defeats in the upper house by resigning." Of course, like his buddy Bush, he won't accept responsibility and will linger as long as possible with the same lame blame game. "Shinzo Abe, has decided to stay in his post despite a crushing defeat for his ruling camp . . ."

Healing Cheney's Heart

Michael Brownstein is drumming to heal Dick Cheney's heart. Go to it Michael. It can't hurt.

American Lady Caterpillar

Thanks to What's That Bug?.

Lest We Forget -- or Just Get It Wrong

"This is the 50th Anniversary of the integration of Little Rock Central High School, and you'll be hearing and learning more about it between now and September. Some of it will even be true, but, unlike math, history is not an exact science." - Lest We Forget -- or Just Get It Wrong by Jonah Tebbetts - The Iconoclast

To read the full post click here.

truth always lies between two Truths.

truth always lies between two Truths. The 27%ers are always there on both ends of the spectrum; they are people blinded in one eye or the other. They can see one side of truth with crystal clarity, and found their dogmas on the half they can see. Occasionally such ideologues gain power and are the source of almost all of mankind's avoidable woes. It is frustrating and humbling to think that America, supposedly the most advanced social/political structure on the planet - possessor of five thousand nuclear warheads and half the world Economic activity, finds itself consciously enduring an incompetent, destructive and criminally negligent government without any effective means to rectify the situation. I say conscious because there is no longer any real debate about it. Only those totally blind in their left eye can't seeing it. We are where we are because the Republican party consciously decided to acquire and maintain power through the expediency of fusing monied interest with the darkest most backward aspects of religious fundamentalism that emanates from the backwater poverty of the old south and hill regions of this country (a big part of the 27% on the right), places where the evils of theocracy and illegitimacy and destructiveness of religion in government have never quite been understood. A chicken media chastened by right wing name calling and deteriorating independence from profit interest and declining professionalism (not unique to that profession) contributed to it. A political structure that is too beholden to concentrated money made it a feasible strategy. So here the world sits in a bloody wasting mess with things getting worse by the day. One can understand those who have been manipulated, they are ignorant. The nominally intelligent and educated who have abided this whole process are harder to understand and can only be seen as among the hopelessly one eyed blind. What can't be forgiven is that many who have orchestrated this strategy who have known better and have consciously placed self and partisan interest above fundamental national interest in ways that seem frankly treasonist. The Clinton impeachment surely can more clearly be seen every day as a partisan frolic that did enormous damage to this country and its future for a short term ephemeral benefit to the republican party. However, it remains frustrating to me that the Democratic party has not yet produced leadership that is willing and able to articular root causes for national problems but instead continues to want to quibble on the edges about how to treat various symptoms. If you can't define the problem you should not be consider as having a solution for it and I am not yet seeing a lot clear defining going on. One suspects this is the money again. We really have a one party system in this country, the money party, with two factions. One achieves power by empowering and teasing theocratic impulses and the other working people's perceived economic interests. The rational middle mistrusts both of them and is frustrated. Anyway I am going to get Evans a patch for his left eye.
From James, The Bruce.

Your Chamber of Commerce At Work

On a related issue, see,
Bush Administration is insisting YES to Permanent Dividend and Capital Gains Tax Cuts and NO to Spending on Children's Health

Osama bin Laden. Bush bin Stupid. Osama Played George Like A Drum.

“. . . Al Qaeda's terrorist activities in Iraq not only serve to bolster the group and recruit more members, but may also be the nexus for another planned attack on U.S. soil. . . . the Iraq war has provided a theater for training and testing terrorist capabilities. . . .al Qaeda is regrouping and remains intent on attacking the United States. The report also notes that al Qaeda has set up a safe haven in Pakistan's tribal areas near the Afghanistan border from which the terrorist organization's leaders can operate.”

Chick Abuse Causes Bad Karma. They Have Feelings Too, You Know.

Stop the Latest Assault on Our Wolves

"The Bush/Cheney Administration has announced two proposals to jumpstart the killing of hundreds of wolves in the Yellowstone area and elsewhere in the Northern Rockies.

Officials in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are now seeking public comment on the agency’s proposal to accept Wyoming’s disastrous wolf management plan and to give Idaho and Wyoming vast new powers to kill wolves -- even while these magnificent animals remain listed under the Endangered Species Act.

The deadline for comments on these two flawed proposals is Monday, August 6th. Please fill out the form below to send your message to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service right now."

CLICK HERE TO COMMENT

Anne Rudloe Speaks-Thanks for the Tough Stuff.

The Answer Is: Barry Bonds, Gibraltar, and Bush’s Iraq Policy.

The question is: Name a Jock, a Rock, & a Crock.
“The Republican revolt against President Bush's war strategy accelerated yesterday as two of the party's most respected voices on national security proposed legislation envisioning a major realignment of U.S. troops in Iraq starting as early as Jan. 1." Two GOP Senators Defy Bush On Iraq-Warner, Lugar Propose Troop Redeployment By Shailagh Murray and Robin Wright

Kites

Guess Which City Was Designed By College Graduates and Which Was Designed By Pirates.

Thanks to Cap'n Bruce.

Giving Someone With Narrow Views A Hat Which He Thinks Makes Him Infallible Is Dangerous and Irresponsible.

"THE VATICAN has described the Protestant and Orthodox faiths as 'not proper Churches' in a document issued with the full authority of the Pope.
Anglican leaders reacted with dismay, accusing the Roman Catholic Church of paradoxical behaviour. They said that the new 16-page document outling the 'defects' of non-Catholic churches constituted a major obstacle to ecumenism.
The document said that the Orthodox church suffered from a ‘wound’ because it did not recognise the primacy of the Pope. The wound was ‘still more profound’ in Protestant denominations, it added.
It was ‘difficult to see how the title of `Church could possibly be attributed to them’, said the statement from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Roman Catholicism was 'the one true Church of Christ.'"

Happy Birthday Robert the Bruce, John Quincy Adams, Sally Rand Williams, Yul Brenner, E.B. White, Tab Hunter, Cousin Jim, Leon Spinks, & Lil' Kim

All the above are 7/11 babies. Two of them are pictured here.

Domenici And Other Republicans Spit Out Bush Kool Aid.

"In the last two weeks, three GOP senators — including one of the party's leading voices on foreign affairs and one of Bush's strongest allies — have urged the president to change course now so U.S. troops can start to withdraw."
A GOP discord on Bush's Iraq strategy A growing number of Republican lawmakers are dissenting from the administration and urging for a change of course. By Noam N. Levey

Fred Thompson Was Nixon's Mole, But Nixon Thought He Was "Dumb As Hell."

"The Boston Globe reports that while Fred Thompson loves to bill himself as a Watergate hero, it just ain't so. It turns out that while playing the role of Senate Watergate Committee minority counsel, Fred was acting as a mole/spy for Richard Nixon. The Republican actor was reporting highly confidential information directly to the White House! [via TPM Cafe]"
And there's more.
" The alleged pro-life conservative Fred Thompson worked as a lobbyist for the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Assn. in the early 1990s, reports the LA Times.

It was Thompson's job to lobby the H. W. Bush Administration 'to withdraw or relax' the abortion 'gag rule' -- a rule that 'barred abortion counseling at clinics that receive federal money."

When you are a 'Gucci-wearing, Lincoln-driving, Perrier-drinking, Grey Poupon-spreading millionaire Washington special-interest lobbyist who poses as a country lawyer driving a red pick-up truck -- in order to fool the people into voting for you -- well, there are bound to be a few surprises."

Pema Said It. I Believe It. That Settles It.

“The difference between theism and nontheism is not whether one does or does not believe in God. . . . Theism is a deep-seated conviction that there’s some hand to hold: if we just do the right things, someone will appreciate us and take care of us. It means thinking there’s always going to be a babysitter available when we need one. We are all inclined to abdicate our responsibilities and delegate our authority to something outside ourselves. Nontheism is relaxing with the ambiguity and uncertainty of the present moment without reaching for anything to protect ourselves. We sometimes think that dharma is something outside of ourselves–something to believe in, something to measure up to. However, dharma isn’t a belief; it isn’t dogma. It is total appreciation of impermanence and change. The teachings disintegrate when we try to grasp them. We have to experience them without hope. Many brave and compassionate people have experienced them and taught them. The message is fearless; dharma was never meant to be a belief that we blindly follow. Dharma gives us nothing to hold onto at all.

Nontheism is finally realizing that there’s no babysitter that you can count on. You just get a good one and then he or she is gone. Nontheism is realizing that it’s not just babysitters that come and go. The whole of life is like that. This is the truth, and the truth is inconvenient.
For those who want something to hold on to, life is even more inconvenient. From this point of view, theism is an addiction. We're all addicted to hope-hope that the doubt and mystery will go away.”
When Things Fall Apart, by Pema Chodron

To Angus McGregor, The Finest Bar Tender In All Of Scotland.

But do they call him McGregor-the-Bartender? Nooo, Laddie they don’t.
Many of you have doubted my story about Angus McGregor. The worst of you have even doubted the existence Angus, his bar, and his, lovely wife, Nanny. Now what say ye?
Thanks to Stuart for the proof.

Neither Compassionate Nor Conservative-No Respect For The Law and No Moral Compass.

When You Sleep With a Prostitute, You Sleep With Bin Laden.

After Scooter, we now know that Republicans are:

(A) Soft on crime;

(B) Soft on international security;

(C) Soft on morality; or

(D) All of the above.

Ken S.

“A president who lied us into a war and, in so doing, needlessly killed 3,584 of our family and friends and neighbors; a president whose administration initially tried to destroy the first man to nail that lie; a president whose henchmen then ruined the career of the intelligence asset that was his wife when intelligence assets were never more essential to the viability of the republic; a president like that has tonight freed from the prospect of prison the only man ever to come to trial for one of the component felonies in what may be the greatest crime of this young century. Our fifth story on the Countdown, President George W. Bush has tonight, by means of a matter-of-fact prepared statement, commuted the prison sentence of Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby, former chief of staff to the infamous Vice President Dick Cheney." Kieth Olbermann

"Today's New York Times reminds us of the character of the Texas Governor who occupies the White House. 'Thug' comes to mind." NY Times: Bush Feared Libby Would Talk

"This (the Libby decision) was clearly an effort to protect the White House. ... There isn't any doubt now, what we know is that Libby was carrying out the implicit or explicit wishes of the vice president, or maybe the president as well, in the further effort to stifle dissent." Hillary Clinton

Click here to sign Petition: Stop Executive Overreach

Thanks for the Music Beverly. Crosby, Nash, & Young Couldn't Have Made It Without You.

Beverly “Bubbles” Sills nee Belle Miriam Silverman (1929 - 2007)