AFTER THE DANCE

That has to be my Favorite Marvin Gaye song. It's off the the I Want You album which has 2 versions, one instrumental. wish my oldies radio played this one.

Thirst for Justice � The Illuminati

oh, there's more out there. i'm going to bed now.

Salon.com Books | How Satan is propping up Bush's war on terror

Interesting topic. from the article:

Ellis also believes that the current belief in Satanic evil (and the Saddam-Osama linkage) is connected to 20th-century right-wing fantasies about the Illuminati, a Jewish-run conspiracy that aimed at taking over the world, often through the United Nations, an international banking consortium or some other nightmarish force. "You did not have to believe that the members of the Illuminati all belonged to the same ideology or ethnic group," he says. "Some would be communists, some would be alleged liberals, some would be terrorists. But they would all be working together in the same diabolically inspired plan."

I'd love to hear anyone else's experiences with this sort of thought. i have been exposed to this all my life. I do have to admit that some of these United Nations hating-afraid they'll take our guns-one world government-black helicopter people are newer to me in the last 10 years. of course, i'm older now and perhaps more exposed. My wife, i know has seen virtually none of this, but i wonder what other folks out there have seen in their lives.

OH MY GOD! LOOK AT THIS!!

I, no joke, found the plans, Modher Sadeq-Saba Tamimi had done for Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction program. This is part of the dangerous plot uncovered by President Bush as his pretext for war. ok, look at this. you can even zoom it in! THIS is our threat? this is DOODLING. i've made MUCH more threatening sketches in my 4th grade math class when i was bored.

it all gets more pathetic everyday.

Someone Finally Says It.

In Jackson Mississippi, we have Dunn Lampton as our local U.S. Attorney. See, Dunn ran for office and he got beat. well, the GOP don't forget anyone that might be crony material. President Shrub makes him the US Atty and guess what? The GOP gets someone to do their bogus indictments against political foes! yay for justice!!

just to leave out any doubts, we get indictments handed down to coincide with elections like the Democratic Primary or various big Democratic Press days. well, one of the accused (Paul Minor) is coming out with something to say about it. Joe Holloman, one of Minor's attorneys:

He was targeted because he is "an active Democrat, an active opponent of civil-justice reform, big business and the Republican Party."

"(That) led to Mr. Minor being singled out and hit with totally unprecedented federal charges for alleged state campaign (finance) law violations and to the U.S. attorney turning the other way from the same type of conduct by those who have ties to the Republican Party," (Notably the identical actions of Dickie Scruggs who is an in-law of Trent Lott and the state's largest soft money contributor to the GOP at $250,000).

further reported in the Sun Herald:

The motion also says that Scruggs paid off a $80,000 loan to Diaz and used intermediaries, or third parties, to pay off campaign loans. Minor's lawyers contend Scruggs' financial and personal connections to the Republican party influenced federal prosecutors.

Citing newspaper reports, the motion also says that Lott appeared to have talked to federal prosecutors about the case in the fall of 2002, nine months before the indictment was issued. Lott is quoted in an issue of Roll Call, a Washington political newspaper, as saying that he had spoken with state and federal authorities about whether Scruggs was involved in the judicial probe. Lott later told The Sun Herald that he had not spoken to authorities about his brother-in-law.

Minor is a Democrat supporter and is being procecuted along with sitting Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz. It just so happens that Diaz defeated Dunn Lampton's friend and chosen candidate Keith Starrett in that race. Now add to this the fact that Lampton replaced a more experience FBI agent on this case with a friend that was also a donor to Diaz's opponent Keith Starrett.

Want more? Minor successfully won multi-million dollar verdicts in cases involving companies owned by Lampton's relatives.

Lesson learned? the GOP doesn't need ethics as long as it has cronyism. one has to wonder if Republicans have ever heard of the word recusal

GREAT JOHN EDWARDS QUOTE (from his website)

Most creative argument: Edwards on tort reform. "What President Bush is proposing about this … shows his philosophy about everything. He doesn't believe in democracy. He hates the idea that six or 12 ordinary Americans sitting in a jury box are going to be able to decide a case. … He hates the idea that his friends and his supporters are going to walk into a courtroom and be treated exactly the same way as a child or a family who have been the victims of fraud or abuse."

AP Wire | 01/13/2004 | McLemore named Jackson City Council President

Funny that a Coast Newspaper covers Jackson city politics best. come ON Clarion Ledger! get your act together!

AP Wire | 01/13/2004 | McLemore named Jackson City Council President

Funny that a Coast Newspaper covers Jackson city politics best. come ON Clarion Ledger! get your act together!

NCAA Basketball - Kentucky nips Miss. St. at the buzzer

DAMN IT ALL! a great game. we'd trail and then have bursts of brilliance. it all kept me hanging on. the last seconds of the game, we go ahead. a few blunders including a turnover that is given back to Kentucky (since when does climbing on our guy who has the ball on the floor constitute a foul on US!?)....anyway, heart pounds and 2.5 seconds left in the game...

we lose at the buzzer. good game though. we'll still be a force for reconning and there is always the SEC tourney for a rematch! still may be MSU's best team ever.

"They didn't wait 24 hours in initiating an investigation on Paul O'Neill," Clark said. "They're not concerned about national security. But they're really concerned about political security. I think they've got their priorities upside down."

Presidential Nominee WES CLARK on the time it took the Bush White House to investigate the security issue related to Paul O'Neill (24 hours) compared to the GOP's alleged outing of CIA opperative this summer (that one took 74 days).

JungleScan.com

Since last week, THE PRICE OF LIBERTY (the book disclosing former Sec. of the Treasury O'Neill's take on bush) has leaped 1,559,060 places to #1 at Amazon.com. WOW.

VP Dick Cheney Interview

He says: "I can think of few times in our history where there has ever been so close a link between what our forces are asked to do overseas and our safety and security here at home."

I wonder if he ever got the message that it was all made up. somebody really should tell him! i feel bad for the guy, making a fool of himself like that.

Weekly Review (Harpers.org)

This is one of my favorites. i read this EVERY TUESDAY. you could know everything interesting that happened in the week by reading this...its also filled with bizarre tidbits. go! read!

Big Fish (2003)

I saw Big Fish tonite. i give it an A-. It was one of the best of 2003, but i don't know if it is THE best. i say it deserves the Art Direction Oscar and maybe Screenplay. i could see it getting bigger Oscar Nods for Best Picture and Maybe Best Actor, but i don't see it winning those (so far). i could be wrong though. need to see more of this year's crop.

Study Published by Army Criticizes War on Terror's Scope (washingtonpost.com)

More steeling from |span| while i'm busy with a big work week. this is from the Army War College in Alabama. I have to wonder if this is going to turn into a bad week for Bush. from the article:

A scathing new report published by the Army War College broadly criticizes the Bush administration's handling of the war on terrorism, accusing it of taking a detour into an "unnecessary" war in Iraq and pursuing an "unrealistic" quest against terrorism that may lead to U.S. wars with states that pose no serious threat.

oh, but there is more...

Currently the anti-terrorism campaign "is strategically unfocused, promises more than it can deliver, and threatens to dissipate U.S. military resources in an endless and hopeless search for absolute security."

Share prices fall on weak government jobs report

Remember that great upswing we were supposed to be feeling? you know, increased spending around the holidays. new jobs, even if short term, bringing in more money to every part of the community? the White House said we'd hit 150,000 new jobs in Dec. and were warned that it would be a modest growth.

Well it was. 1,000 new jobs. couple that with 300,000 unemployed (for the same month) that officially gave up actively seeking new work, and the picture is not so pretty. One has to wonder if even Bush believes he can dig us out of his hole.

Op-Ed Contributor: The Vital Republican Center

Christie Todd Whitman, one of the moderates that left the Bush White House earlier on writes about the alienation of the Republican Moderate in the GOP. one has to wonder if her new book on this subject along with O'Neil (see below) will have some effect on how the United States voter sees bush.

Is that SO, Condi?

OK, as you may recall, one of the ideas floated around about what ever happened to the WMDs was that they went to Syria and THAT must be why they are missing. well, now 9+ months later, Condosleazza Rice comes clean that there is no evidence that the WMDs were moved there. know why? because, as everyone on the planet now knows, there was no threat of WMDs. it was a lie. Bush made it up. that's it. sorry. no 'selective review of data' no big Hunches. it was made up so that bush could avenge daddy and look good in the polls.

That is why my fellow citizens continue to die now. My president didn't look past where he thought this would take him in the polls.

Am I going off the mark here to say this sounds like the "high crimes and misdemeanors" required for impeachment? More to the point, if this isn't an impeachable offense. all of this...then what is?

DRUDGE REPORT FLASH 2004-AGAIN!

INSPECTOR O'NEILL: THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE OF WMD
Sun Jan 11 2004 08:46:45 ET

New York – Discussing the case for the Iraq war in an interview with TIME’s White House correspondent John Dickerson, former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, who sat on the National Security Council, says the focus was on Saddam from the early days of the Administration. He offers the most skeptical view of the case for war ever put forward by a top Administration official. "In the 23 months I was there, I never saw anything that I would characterize as evidence of weapons of mass destruction," he told TIME. "There were allegations and assertions by people. But I’ve been around a hell of a long time, and I know the difference between evidence and assertions and illusions or allusions and conclusions that one could draw from a set of assumptions. To me there is a difference between real evidence and everything else. And I never saw anything in the intelligence that I would characterize as real evidence." TIME’s new issue will be on newsstands Monday, Jan. 12th.

O’Neill spoke with TIME on the eve of publication of a new book, The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, The White House and the Education of Paul O’Neill, written by Pulitzer prizewinning journalist Ron Suskind which traces the former Alcoa CEO’s rise and fall through the Administration: from his return to Washington to work for his third President, whom he believed would govern from the sensible center, through O’Neill’s disillusionment, to his firing, executed in a surreal conversation with Vice President Dick Cheney, a man he once considered a fellow traveler.

In Suskind’s book, O’Neill’s assessment of Bush’s executive style is a harsh one: it is portrayed as a failure of leadership. Aides were left to play "blind man’s bluff," trying to divine Bush’s views on issues like tax policy, global warming and North Korea. Sometimes, O’Neill says, they had to float an idea in the press just to scare a reaction out of him. This led to public humiliation when the President contradicted his top officials, as he did with Secretary of State Colin Powell on North Korea and Environmental Protection Agency administrator Christine Todd Whitman on global warming. O’Neill came to believe that this gang of three beleaguered souls—only Powell remains—who shared a more nonideological approach were used for window dressing. We "may have been there, in large part as cover," he tells Suskind.

When the corporate scandals rocked Wall Street O’Neill and Alan Greenspan devised a plan to make CEOs accountable. Bush went with a more modest plan because "the corporate crowd," as O’Neill calls it in the book, complained loudly and Bush could not buck that constituency. "The biggest difference between then and now," O’Neill tells Suskind about his two previous tours in Washington, "is that our group was mostly about evidence and analysis, and Karl [Rove], Dick [Cheney], Karen [Hughes] and the gang seemed to be mostly about politics. It’s a huge distinction."

On the eve of the Iraq war, O’Neill tells Suskind that he marvels at the President’s conviction in light of what he considers paltry evidence. "With his level of experience, I would not be able to support his level of conviction." That conviction, he tells the book's author seemed to be present in the administration from the start: "From the start, we were building the case against Hussein and looking at how we could take him out and change Iraq into a new country," he tells Suskind. "And, if we did that, it would solve everything. It was about finding a way to do it. That was the tone of it. The President saying, ‘Fine. Go find me a way to do this.'"

Developing...

You know, it doesn't feel better to be vindicated when there seems to be no consequence for this liar who likes to play dress up on aircraft carriers when our men and women are still dying.

EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON

THIS is from |span| and drudge, but i clip it here. read what's been revealed on last night's 60 minutes as well as this new book. i heard some, but never suspected all this:

FORMER TREASURY SECRETARY PAUL ONEILL SAYS INVASION OF IRAQ WAS PLANNED IN THE FIRST DAYS OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION LONG BEFORE 9/11, IN AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW SUNDAY ON “60 MINUTES”

Sat Jan 10 2004 09:12:37 ET

The Bush Administration began laying plans for an invasion of Iraq including the use of American troops within days of President Bush’s inauguration in January of 2001, not eight months later after the 9/11 attacks as has been previously reported. That is what former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill says in his first interview about his time as a White House insider. O’Neill talks to Lesley Stahl in the interview, to be broadcast on 60 MINUTES Sunday, Jan. 11 (7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

“From the very beginning, there was a conviction that Saddam Hussein was a bad person and that he needed to go,” he tells Stahl. “For me, the notion of pre-emption, that the U.S. has the unilateral right to do whatever we decide to do is a really huge leap,” says O’Neill.

O’Neill, fired by the White House for his disagreement on tax cuts, is the main source for an upcoming book, “The Price of Loyalty,” authored by Ron Suskind. Suskind says O’Neill and other White House insiders he interviewed gave him documents that show that in the first three months of 2001, the administration was looking at military options for removing Saddam Hussein from power and planning for the aftermath of Saddam’s downfall, including post-war contingencies like peacekeeping troops, war crimes tribunals and the future of Iraq’s oil. “There are memos,” Suskind tells Stahl, “One of them marked ‘secret’ says ‘Plan for Post-Saddam Iraq.’” A Pentagon document, says Suskind, titled “Foreign Suitors For Iraqi Oilfield Contracts,” outlines areas of oil exploration. “It talks about contractors around the world from…30, 40 countries and which ones have what intentions on oil in Iraq,” Suskind says.

In the book, O’Neill is quoted as saying he was surprised that no one in a National Security Council meeting questioned why Iraq should be invaded. “It was all about finding a way to do it. That was the tone of it. The president saying ‘Go find me a way to do this,’” says O’Neill in the book.

Suskind also writes about a White House meeting in which he says the president seems to be wavering about going forward with his second round of tax cuts. “Haven’t we already given money to rich people,” Suskind says the president uttered, according to a nearly verbatim transcript of an Economic Team meeting he says he obtained from someone at the meeting, “Shouldn’t we be giving money to the middle?”

O’Neill, who was asked to resign because of his opposition to the tax cut, says he doesn’t think his tell-all account in this book will be attacked by his former employers as sour grapes. “I will be really disappointed if [the White House] reacts that way,” he tells Stahl. “I can’t imagine that I am going to be attacked for telling the truth.”

THE BEST JUDGE IN TOWN

Widely regarded by vertebrates here in Miss. as one of our best judges. Justice Chuck McRae will be missed. one has to wonder who will keep 'the 5' from selling out the judiciary completely. it does not do my heart well to see such loathsome people run our courts into the ground.

Reading Shelby Foote

I'm now one of those people who read Shelby Foote. I'm not very knowledgeable of this sort of writing, but i do know how to name drop Shelby Foote. I also (knowing nothing prior to this week) have always said that name in reverence. didn't really know why, but i knew i should. Right now i'm reading Shiloh and i hear his voice. its pretty damn amazing. you see a very clear understanding that isn't all romaticized faux dignity. As i'm going through this thing i feel like i'm somehow doing something i'm supposed to do. like reading faulkner...or talk about Eudora Welty like she's the sweetest old aunt i ever had...and i do both of these things...and I like it. just like i like Elvis. i guess it makes me feel proud.

9 Soldiers Dead in Crash in Iraq

Anohter Chopper shot down. are we about to pass the 1 per day average since bush played dress-up soldier and said 'mission accomplished'. maybe he'll explain to the families. they deserve more than i do.

Saddam does Sinatra

interesting history on saddam set to a sinatra song. pretty dead on too. Thanks to Staci for sending this one.

Gephardt Aide Accuses Dean of Caucus Fraud Plan

This is exactly what the Dems need. good god. you know, i've been around the block a few times and i know that primaries can get nasty, but there are NINE of these guys out there and at least 6 or 7 should damn well have enough political experience to know its time to pack it in. sure there's not been one vote cast, but the season is so front-loaded we don't get the same luxury. i'm not fond of seeing this many dems pushing up the negatives of other dems. at some point you have to think of the fall. these things smell like a last ditch grasp. I am very glad to see the real "number 2" guy keeping his campaign level headed.

Vote Clark!

BUSH GIVES UP!

The Bush Administration has (quietly) removed the 400-some odd member WMD seach team from iraq. this is a big deal, right? a "face the music" where we finally see them give up on their charade for going to war? right? so where is this in the news? Brokaw? Rather? got any word on this? of course not. you know the Liberal Media! hell, i only hear about it because of DRUDGE--hardly liberal. is that where we have to get our news today?

SLEAZY DOCTOR!

Can you believe this? seems while he was on his deathbed, George Harrison was getting hassled by a doctor to sign autographs and forced to listen to the doc's 12 year old son play guitar in an impromptu 'show'. seems the doc was also giving interviews while the Beatle was dying and at the same time revealing priviledged info regarding George's health. He's being sued by the estate and i hope he gets cleaned out.

His name is Dr. Gilbert Lederman of Staten Island University Hospital...what sleaze. I hope he's humiliated out of practice.

Clark Cuts the Dean Lead Down to SIZE

Just a month ago Dean lead Clark in national polls but about 21 points. That lead has been cut to FOUR! It seems Clark and Kerry are fighting it out for 2nd place in New Hampshire too. Nationally, Clarks numbers are DOUBLE those of Lieberman and Kerry, which is very telling when you take a Southerner in the Army and do that well against hometown new englanders. I believe Clark stand a VERY good chance once the Democrats get out of the myopia of the New Hampshire/Iowa mindset. on the downside, the same poll put Bush beating Dean in a proposed general election against 59% to 37%. All the more reason i'm pulling for Clark.

Cocaine Blamed for Righteous Death

Word to Yahoo! News, that is an awful headline for the death of Bobby Hatfield, one of the Righteous Brothers. Seems Coke was a major cause, but i think i could have done without hearing about this being a "Righteous Death". I guess Yahoo! News is just some brutal, take no prisoners news outfit.

Bush-Spending

Bush spending by the numbers compared to recent years. keep in mind that while Clinton was spending, we were STILL killing the deficit and then making a surplus in addition to the extra spending. kinda dry but makes you think.

Bush-Spending

Bush spending by the numbers compared to recent years. keep in mind that while Clinton was spending, we were STILL killing the deficit and then making a surplus in addition to the extra spending. kinda dry but makes you think.

MSNBC - The Dean Dilemma

Howard Dean is on the cover of Newsweek and Time this week. Newsweek does a little piece on just how Dean's weaknesses might be exploited. of all of the concerns i've heard, and many i agree with, i have to say that his aggression is not one of them. We know where a lack of aggression got Gore! you just can't rest against the bush team or they will take that inch and make a yard.

xmas with an elaboration coming:

a black fedora.
Lunch for 7 and a half hours.
the only american in america.
the southern badge.
righteous job.
the lettuce man.
10 different kinds of booze.

I saw this on the Drudge Report:

Presidential contender Howard Dean tells Thursday's BOSTON GLOBE that he's a 'committed believer in Jesus Christ' and he expects to increasingly include references to Jesus and God in upcoming speeches... Developing Hard...

now i'm familiar with many old time news phrases, but what the heck does "developting hard" mean exactly?

RUSH LIMBAUGH TURNS OVER A NEW LEAF

It seems Rush Limbaugh no longer believes in his decades long creed of "if you are innocent, you should have nothing to hide" now that the heat is on. An investigation into whether he broke federal laws for doctor shopping (while fueling his habit in the Junkie days) as well as federal law for controlled substances seems to be exploring more than he would like.

This is, of course, a big turn around from the Bill Clinton days when no investigation was baseless or ever went to far. I'm sure they will both be in a celebrity golf tournament togther soon, since they now have so much in common...

What's that?

Mr. Mooch says all of that is wrong, and that rush only really fels this way about himself, whereas everyone else does not deserve this sort of protection from the law.

Is that so?

Hmm... Never Mind. Rush is still a Jerk.

Dateline - Dec. 23....

Its My Birthday and there will be no posts today, lest Mr. Mooch is not feeling lazy.

Happy Holidays!

New Orleans Heartbreaker

For the first time in a while, i've gotten to see hardly a football game this season. Finally i get to see my Saints play for their ONLY chance to go to the playoffs. after falling behind, they pull a BRILLIANTLY EXECUTED play from their own 25 yard line, with no time on the clock. each player laterals the ball to a new runner over and over until they SCORE. the Point after Touchdown will tie the game for overtime...so what happens? the kicker chokes. what may be the best play of the YEAR yields the saints' biggest choke of the year.

sigh...

OH MAN!

Seasame Street Terrorist warnings. haw!

HOLY HELL! SHOULD WE SAY THEY GOT HIM!?!?!?!

Saddam was held by Kurdish forces, drugged and left for US troops

Its being reported that we, the US, didn't actually CATCH Saddam but rather the Kurds did and left him drugged for the US. as early as this morning, i heard US generals speaking otherwise on CNN this morning. this also further confirms the reports by Saddam's daughter that he was drugged...something that was ALSO denied by the general this morning. from the article:

LONDON, (AFP) - Saddam Hussein was captured by US troops only after he had been taken prisoner by Kurdish forces, drugged and abandoned ready for American soldiers to recover him, a British Sunday newspaper said.

Saddam came into the hands of the Kurdish Patriotic Front after being betrayed to the group by a member of the al-Jabour tribe, whose daughter had been raped by Saddam’s son Uday, leading to a blood feud, reported the Sunday Express, which quoted an unnamed senior British military intelligence officer.

The newspaper said the full story of events leading up to the ousted Iraqi president’s capture on December 13 near his hometown of Tikrit in northern Iraq, “exposes the version peddled by American spin doctors as incomplete.”

-------
thanks to |span| for the heads up on this one!

NEW JOB!

Well, I just got an offer for a New Job! i need to go to the P.O. Box and sign the contract today. I just got to add another title on the resume. Attorney, Political Consultant, and now Lobbyist. I start ASAP after the holiday and need to register myself.

Saw Gorj Friday nite. he calls me out to a cocktail party where i need to meet a few dozen ppl for my new job. now i'm so tired i can only drive 5 blocks before i have to get coffee. i show up and i'm barely able to smile and nod. seems it went ok because everyone seemed to very pleased and i got at least 5 people i've never met offering to work with me. not too bad. Talked to a classy lady in a fur coat that nite. she commented that i should work with her, and i thought to myself 'that's EXACTLY the place i'd like to work'. not a bad evening, plus Gorj floated my Bourbon and Coke. not bad at all.

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The (2003)

OK. went to go see this on Thurs. at 9:30. evidently the local theatre has a problem where the e-tickets don't get deducted at the box office and they oversell. the midnight showing on tues. oversold by 600 tickets!

My showing oversold by about 25-30. of course no one tells us this until we get inside, get our food and walk to the door where a crowd is standing!. as it ends up, they give us 4 free passes, let us watch another movie until one of the theatres got free and let us watch another movie while we waited.

not bad.

saw SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE which wasn't too bad.

As for the Last Lord of the Rings. i thought it was very very good. i don't think it will sweep the oscars, but it was exciting and really nice to look at. one thing that stood out was the sound. OUTSTANDING! there is a creature in this movie who's cry/scream is supposed to strike fear in those that hear its, and you know...when it came on the screen i thought "jesus! that IS terrifying!" Go see it...however, i still pick Last Samurai as the best pic of the year.

Your Scorecard, or How i see everyone roll-playing in 2004

Kerry is Al Gore
Gephardt is Bob Dole
Clark is John McCain
Edwards...Edwards is somebody's VP.
Lieberman is a non-entity
Dean...Dean is a coin, with Reagan on side and McGovern on the other. its been tossed, but it hasn't landed.
everyone else isn't even in the room.

AP Poll Finds 37% Firmly Against War in Iraq

I dunno if dean can ride this to victory.

CBS News | 9/11 Chair: Attack Was Preventable

Oh My. a panel appointed by bush, headed by a republican (former New Jersey governor Thomas Kean) and stonewalled by the bush administration now seems to lay the blame at bush's feet. 9/11 declared preventable. Kean went so far as to say some CURRENT members of the administration blundered to such a degree that he cannot understand why they have their jobs now.

From the article:

Asked whether we should at least know if people sitting in the decision-making spots on that critical day are still in those positions, Kean said, "Yes, the answer is yes. And we will."

Kean promises major revelations in public testimony beginning next month from top officials in the FBI, CIA, Defense Department, National Security Agency and, maybe, President Bush and former President Clinton.

New Poll Shows New Pollsters are Needed!

Um, if your poll shows Al Sharpton in front of Edwards and Kerry, just how worthless IS IT?

Bush suggests he may accept homosexual civil unions

See! in the same interview where he pandered the idea of a Const. Amendment against Gay Marriage, he opened the door to the Howard Dean style civil union. I was shocked by this strategy (or lack of) from the king-master pander-er. I would go so far as to say that you could have a const. ban AND civil unions simultaneously (legally, if not sensibly).

CNN.com - Material Girl covers Clark with praise - Dec. 16, 2003

Seems Madonna endorses Gen. Clark.

Bush would back constitutional ban on same-sex marriage

Well, they talked about it last week and it seems to have begun. White House Aides commented that the Admin. believed Dean to be the likely Democratic Candidate and were deciding on how to start working against him. this, of course could work too well and knock him out of the Primary (GO CLARK!) before it even starts, but we'll have to see.

as you can see from the recent TV interview, Bush talked about banning Same Sex Marriages by CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT (a VERY difficult and ill advised proposition). This, of course, is a DEEP pander to his base as well as a first little taste of what is to come in a Dean Nomination. you can be guaranteed that bush will be blasting Dean as a Gay Marriage advocate ad nausium in the next year.

The Suprise...!
If you look close at the interview itself, you see that Bush is actually infavor of STATE (chosen) protections of Gay couples' economic and social rights. he is vague on this but repeats it and won't call it marriage. the thing is, this is basically what Dean is saying as doesn't call it marriage and doesn't want the federal government to pass a law providing it. the difference? Dean doesn't pander a const. amendment to the religious right. this MAY be an opening, depends if anyone in the press wants to push bush on this. with their track record...i think the 'liberal press' has hung up its pen.

Harper's Weekly Review

click here. everything, and i mean EVERYTHING you could wanna know about this week.

CLICK HERE!

Can't wait to see this.

Clark: Howard Dean can't win

Man, i told all you Nay Sayers: Clark won't take a VP slot under dean. if Dean gets the nod, we're looking at the Dem special interests getting their chance to put up or shut up. seriously. I've long contended that deep pandering to many of our (esp fringe) special interests is done at our peril because they don't have the numbers or don't put out the votes to win races (btw, i don't consider black people a special interest). if dean gets the nod, we see if i'm wrong bc this election will be about 3 things. national security, gay marriage, and abortion. that's it.

Hell, if Lieberman is saying this about a fellow dem: "If Howard Dean had his way, Saddam Hussein would still be in power today, not in prison, and the world would be a more dangerous place." what do you think BUSH will be saying?

TIME.com: TIME Exclusive: Notes from Saddam in Custody

Worth taking a look. asked about if he had WMDs..."Of course not" he says.

Natchez Sheriff--the end of a long line of racists gets a nice CL send up

The clarion ledger did this story about outgoing Natchez Sheriff William "Tommy" Ferrell, who followed his dad into office stretching the line into the 50s. Ferrell's father was one of the sheriffs from the 'bad ole days' when civil rights or the mention of it could get you killed. His father was one of the ones that would look the other way when a racist handed out a beating to someone that was to 'upity' or was an 'agitator'...well, that was, if he wasn't helping out himself.

So here we have a guy that took over, did change from his daddy's ways (as the earth had moved). read below from the paper:

Ferrell believes sheriffs' races should be nonpartisan. "I don't make decisions based on party," he said. "I based them on professionalism and the law."
-----------

See, this is where the heartwarming article starts letting the sewage slip in. If Ferrell believes this, he would not have been part of one of the most racially divisive campaigns in the state. The Races in Natchez and surrounding Adams county were some of the most racially charged in the state. If this were his true feelings, he would not have switched parties. if they don't matter (or shouldn't) why would he join the party that, with the supervisors race there, went into the heavily african american precincts to have 'monitors' challenge as many votes as possible. this was the story all over the state, but here, it was one of the worst spots. I dealt with this in the weeks leading up to the election and it made me sick.

I had to personally dispatch attorneys down to the precinct level there on election day just to TRY and stave off these vultures who think voting and liberty is no long a right. the article quotes Johnny Junkin of the Adams county GOP:

"We weren't able to convince African-American voters to vote Republican," Junkin said. "Party affiliation doesn't change anything about the way he handles law enforcement."
-----

well, you know what? it does. if you run as a dem and change parties just after you win, it effects how we see you because you are a no good, rotten liar. you would put yourself before the public to say 'this is who i am. elect me' and then you'd reveal you were lying the whole time. Now when that lie puts you in this little cabaal that is actively working to keep black people from voting...in YOUR ELECTION...it says a lot. it says a lot about a man who claimed to want to change the image of the Miss. Sheriff (from what his daddy shaped it to be). Mr. Ferrell failed at that, but you know what? you could have guessed it. there's a place for him at Haley Barbour's table. He's been offered a job.

I guess they really are short on turncoat, lying, race-baiters. i'd have thought he had plenty.

Saddam has been captured--quick thoughts

I'm very curious about how this is going to play out. I am also curious if Time/Newsweek will do a special edition or squeeze this into the Tues. mag. usually they do very in-depth coverage and i'll enjoy their take on how it happened.

My take? i'm curious as to how it happened and what he has to say. Maybe its my nature, but equal to 'what does he have to say?' in my mind is "what sort of political hay will Bush make out of this". I am not one of those people that want america to Fail so that by proxy bush can fail, but i am someone that is sick of his ability to shrug off all things that he had no business doing, yet did.

I am glad this is one year away from the election and not playing out next september or october. i'm curious as to what the guy has to say about WMD. it would be very very good for the administration if he came clean about something. on the otherhand, captured, facing trial and execution, if he called the US on it. claiming he had notihing it could prove politically interesting.

Probably the most important issue, short term, is whether the attacks on US soldiers will be minimized. The coming weeks will be telling as to who was doing the attacks.

Loyalists? If so, do they have a reason to continue on?
Al Queda? If so, the stories of Bin Laden moving more emphasis in Iraq may be true.
Someone else?

Hopefully the attacks will fall off to a trickle, but i'm not that optimistic...Though, I hope.

NOTE from Polly: It should be mentioned that Mr. Mooch should have entered this as i should have been asleep. however, my lovely wife woke ME up at 6am to see this and not him. he is still asleep, so thanks to my wife for keeping me abreast of all the latest news.

DICK CHENEY IN OUR MIDST

My pal just called. seems the Dick is in town for a fundraiser and blocking off virtually all of central jackson. my pal is now off work and stuck away from home for god knows how long. he's also sworn off republicans because of this.

heh.

A Baghdad Thanksgiving's Lingering Aftertaste

BOY! wasn't that thanksgiving trip to Iraq a morale builder!?! i mean, weren't they all thrilled to see the president cared enough to see them on T-day?....um...well, if you count the fact that they were all screened, so that only the pro bushies were around the president, it all seems to make sense.

I know what you're thinking. what LIBERAL CRAP PAPER are you looking to for this swill. well my friend, none other than STARS AND STRIPES, the official paper for the US armed forces. you know what liberals they are!

Our president lives his life like the boy in the bubble, unaware of the world around him and informed by his handlers. Bush has already admitted that he doesn't follow the news but rather relies on his aides. Its like having a leader that is willingly lead by handlers and campaign donors building a fantasy world for him.

i know only contempt.

Op-Ed Columnist: No Will to Win?


From the NY Times:
"But like the Union general George McClellan, the Democrats have been too timid to take full advantage. It's a party for the faint of heart. The Republicans are hijacking elections and redistricting the country and looting the Treasury and ignoring the Constitution and embittering our allies, while the Democrats are — let's see, fumbling their way through an incoherent primary season and freaking out over Al Gore's endorsement of Howard Dean."

...and i agree. you know, as each day goes by, i see more and more need for Gen. Wes Clark.

Doctors Sue Insurers

They're suing for hundreds of millions of dollars....um...what happened to the tort reform you guys were so hyped up about? don't you guys wanna sue for $250,000 like the CAP you've asked for? i mean, certainly that would be enough to teach the insurance companies a lesson...and you're not in it for the money...right?

BS. shoe is on the other foot and these folks want the very same access to civil justice they wish to deny to others. I'll tell you what. you wanna see where the loyalties lie? ok Doc's, make your GOP pals decide between you and the Insurnace companies. you'll be waiting at the alter.

IF YOU LIKE DEAN

If you like dean, you should read this and think about it, esp. the numbers.

POLLY ON TV...or at least ETV.

Somehow i've been drafted to go on a live political show here in Mississippi where we'll discuss/debate the new Medicare bill/law. i have no idea who'll be on with me. i'm officially 'against' it, so there. it seems
you can listen online, on the radio, or on TV on Mississippi public radio/Television. Just for godssake please don't call in with some impossible question.

i should probably study this some more, being that its the biggest change to the law in ever.

MR. MOOCH REMINDS ME:

US forces are starting to use razor wire to surround villages, demolishing homes and buildings associated with attacks on Americans, and imprisoning the relatives of suspected guerrillas. Mr. Mooch points out that, over time the US should have seen how well this calmed the water in Israel.

NEWT GINGRICH (on Sunday):
"We've gone off a cliff in Iraq."

"Uncovered: The Whole Truth About The Iraq War" DVD - A BuzzFlash Premium

i read a great article about this documentary on salon.com. now i want a copy!

Bin Laden's Iraq Plans

Seems Bin Laden is moving his Al Qaeda forces to Iraq because of the success in killing americans thus far. he said this is the best opportunity to do more damage, according to Sharafullah, who claims to be at the meeting where this was decided. US officials brushed off the idea of this happening, but had no comment when asked if they think the meeting actually occured

Great. Iraq may become the central front for the war on terror in the end. hope this pans out to be true or unsuccessful. read the article and tell me what you think.

YOU CAN'T SPELL BUSH WITHOUT BS

On the way to Iraq, Airfoce One comes across a british airways jet that sees the President's plane.
The British Airways pilot (Dan Bartlett) radioed in:

'Did I just see Air Force One?,'
(pause)
Air Force One pilot: 'Gulfstream 5.'
(longer pause) (the gulfstream is a much smaller plane)
British Airways pilot: 'Oh.'

see, he realized he was 'in' on the top secret flight of the president going somewhere ultra secret! neat huh?

well, too bad it didn't happen. seems british airways didn't have any planes contacting airforce one in flight.

SO THE WHITE HOUSE HAS TO CHANGE THEIR STORY--the pilot actually contacted the traffic control tower back in london. still cool though, huh?

NOPE, that was a LIE too!! British Airways confirms THAT never happened either.

so finally the white house comes clean, Scott McLellan explains:
"what we always try to do for you all in the press corps is to provide you a little color of important events, because we believe that's helpful to you for your stories, and to do your reporting to the American people."

UM...so you just LIE if it doesn't sound good enough? that it? glad we got that straight.

RUSH LIMBAUGH in 2003 AMERICAN CENTURY CHAMPIONSHIP

OK, the cops when to Rush's house to get some evidence for possible crimes he committed. when confronted about whether or not Rush was Doctor shopping (which is illegally going to diff docs to get more Rx drugs than you are allowed--you know, like JUNKIES do), he stated: "What these records show is that Mr. Limbaugh suffered extreme pain and had legitimate reasons for taking pain medication."

this was on his show.

so, if he was in so much pain, how was he playing in these golf tournaments?

ELEMENTARY my dear Watson! I'll tell you how. he was in the painless bliss of a hopped up junkie on his chosen high. pain pills. that's how!

Award denial angers Congressman Gene Taylor

Uh oh, you got the most conservative Dem in congress mad now! seems that one of our Mississippi boys was hurt by an Iraqi booby trap but denied a Purple Heart by the Administration. see, you give purple hearts to soldiers wounded in combat. seems they think if you cut the # of people getting them, you can cut the official number of 'wounded'.

Makes you proud of President Bush doesn't it?

The Last Samurai

Saw this movie opening nite. I think its quite possibly the best film i have seen all year. I've read reviews that maligned the ending and i just don't see it. i thought it was good throughout. we should definately see oscar nods for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best supporting actor, cinematography, art direction, and costume design. by the end, i could hear many people openly weeping in the theatre.
Highest Recommendation.

I DON'T BELIEVE IN SMOKING BANS

I can understand if people do not like smoke. i'm also fine with the operators of any building instituting a 'no smoking' policy of their own in any place. HOWEVER, we don't need a law banning it everywhere. basically you have non-smokers not wanting to have to bother with avoiding smoke. if you don't like smoke, go where they don't allow it!

while i'm at it, where are all these places around the state that non-smokers to suffer everyday? my local florists are smoke free. so's Target. all the grocery stores. the mall. the movies. can't smoke in the government buildings. or at the tire store. or the gas station. hell, you can't smoke at many (most) restaurants.

so what is it? Bars & Restaurants? i'm not saying no ones ever been annoyed by smoke in bars or restaurants, but you cannot honestly tell me that this has become a significant problem for the bulk of the people of this state. its relatively rare, to my experience. certainly not common enough to require a government ban. but you know, that's not what its about, is it? its about having your way 100% of the time.

I almost never sit in a smoking section of a restaurant. i'm not a big fan of cigarette smoke, but if i told you that it was such a problem that we need a new law...i'd be a liar. its not. let businesses decide for themselves, just like they have in virtually every aspect of our lives (regarding if smoking is allowed). as you can see, non-smokers are doing just fine on that score. if you aren't happy with their decison.

let them know and then vote with your feet.

Suha Arafat's fantastic voyage

seems arafat's wife is living pretty well on a $100,000/month allowance in paris. too bad the $$ they have largely comes from the Palestinian Authority bank book. i have a feeling their country (to be) could use the money to, eh?

White House criticizes Kerry's use of the F-word

Kerry uses a swear in a Rolling Stone magazine interview. I myself was a little suprised. even more so to see that white house Chief of Staff Andrew Card said "That's beneath John Kerry," as the official white house line.

you have to wonder if he gives the same rebuke to his boss, the shrub, over these gems:

F**k Saddam. We're taking him out.-George W. Bush, March 2002, as reported in Time.

You no-good f**king son of a b***h, I will never f**king forget what you wrote.
-George W. Bush, to journalist Al Hunt in front of his 4-year old daugher, 1987.

oh, and don't forget that time in 2000 on the campaign where he and Cheney forgot the mic was on.

the pot and the kettle my friends. the pot and the kettle.

One Thousand Reasons

i can't count this high.

WATCH THIS

One of the Strongest Presidential ads i've ever seen.

GOP wants Reagan to REPLACE FDR on the Dime

It seems that the GOP cannot get enough of Ronald Reagan. they are wanting to replace FDR with Reagan on the dime. Even Nancy Reagan says its a bad idea. i guess i'd like him too if boring IKE was as good as it got for the GOP in that stretch between Teddy Roosevelt at the turn of the century and Reagan 80 years later.

Ah heck. lets reflect. FDR only pulled us out of the depression, and guided our nation through WW2 after we were attacked.

hey, you know, Reagan was pres. when our Marines were attacked in Lebanon by Iran back terrorists. Thank god Reagan was there to bold move us out of Lebanon asap and then begin a series of secret arms deals with Iraq. now THAT's how you handle terrorists! ah, at least he lied about it to the American people. (Heck, the nice ole dems didn't even try to impeach him!)

um... I'll keep FDR thank you very much.

The French Report our Casualties when the President Will Not

If its not rosey, this administration doesn't want you t know it exists. i found this about our soldiers.

7,000 soldiers have left Iraq due to psychological problems.
2,200 sustained serious injuries including loss of limbs.
1,700 US Troops have deserted thus far.

I have to wonder if they'll get the same treatment bush got when HE never showed up to his Ala. gig in the national guard. we call that desertion, he calls that...'um, lets move on to the next subject'.

Newly elected Rankin prosecutor arrested on DUI charge

This GOP DA David Clark promised to be tough on criminals...um...so does that mean he is gonna be extra hard on himself?

this sad sack beat the other republican and THAT GUY sued to reverse the election because he felt Clark wasn't mentally stable enough to have the job. then he sued to stop Clark from getting the job because he claimed Clark couldn't practice law in Miss. (he can).

talk about a sore loser!

SHOTGUN WEDDING

An interesting article about the GOP wooing the AARP to (historically) support the GOP "Pill Bill" outlined for you below.

I'M LOOKING FOR THE QUOTE FOR CONTEXT...

In an ominous accessment, General Tommy Franks, interviewed by a Cigar Aficianado Magazine, stated that if weapons of mass destruction were ever used on the United States, we could become a military dictatorship.

KNOW WHAT I HATE ABOUT DVD's?

how they are starting to do fullscreen and widescreen versions of the movies. several times i almost got a damned fullscreen abomination because i wasn't looking close enough to the packaging! you know, they used to spend the extra 2 cents and put BOTH versions on the same disc, and that was fine. now? noooooo! bah. this crap is just a pain.

d

d

d

saw the matrix 3 tonite.

i liked it just fine. it was about 1000x better than part 2. it had virtually none of the stuff i hated from part 2 and that's a damn good start. it was MUCH more of sci fi movie than a kung fu, shoot em up, mind bender like before. it seemed to lack a lot of what made the 1st one unique, a lot of what made the 2nd one suck, and still wasn't too bad.

what was too bad was the freezing cold theatre we were in. my nose and ears were cold and the door handle was cold to the touch. despite my complaints, it never got better.

strangely, Neo (Reeves) seemed to be barely in 1/2 the movie. Trinity in less than that. gorjus complained that the lines were like a book of cliches, but i thought they were at least delivered well. it was fun to watch and i'll likely not see it again, but i had a good time.

NEW MOVIES
Lately, i've been wanting to see the new Lord of the Rings and wanna see the Two Towers again on DVD.

anyone see the runaway jury? TX Chainsaw Massacre? Bad Santa?

it seems that there were a ton of movies i wanted to see 3 weeks ago. now there are 3. i missed the sneak preview of The Last Samurai tonite (one showing) we were one of a few hundred theatres across the nation that got the sneak preview. this coming after the opening date was brought back 1 week earlier (12/5) b/c of the RAVE reviews it got. i guess they smelled a winner.

OH, one last question. anyone know when the Oscar dates are? meaning when must your movie have been released to be in contention for the oscar? is it w/in the calendar year being considered?

PILL BILL

the main complaint is that it's very expensive and pays for very little, BUT helps Drug companies on every step of the way. they do need government handouts, don't they?

The real problem? it pads the bill for anyone, no matter how rich they are. its not just a payment for those that cannot afford it. that's where the big cost jumps...oh well, gotta pay those drug companies back for the campaign dough i guess. the actual cost of drugs does not go down PLUS...

we get a ban on drugs from Canada by requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services to guarantee the drugs are safe...something i guarantee will not happen. Drug companines wouldn't like that, now would they?

Oddly enough, Trent Lott and i agree about disliking this bill for the same reasons. hmm....

In an Odd Turn of Events, the vote was held open for an amazing 3+ hours, as the count was 218 to 216, defeating the bill. the house leadership wouldn't close the vote on the bill until they could twist some arms to get the votes switched.

OK, Here's your crib notes on the new bill, courtesy of the NYTimes. the $$ we're spending roughly on Rx drugs for our elderly is roughly 1/2 of what we are spending yearly on Iraq.

Under "standard prescription drug coverage," defined in the Medicare bill, a beneficiary would be responsible for the first $250 in drug costs each year. Of the next $2,000, Medicare would cover 75 percent and the beneficiary would pay 25 percent, or $500. The beneficiary would then be responsible for all of the next $2,850 in drug costs.

The beneficiary would thus pay $3,600 for the first $5,100 worth of medicine in a year, and that does not include the premiums, estimated at $420 a year. Beyond that, Medicare would cover 95 percent of the cost of each prescription, after the patient had spent $3,600.

CNN.com - Schwarzenegger paroles another Murderer

Tough on crime! i read that this is the second murderer he's paroled in the last month. yay.

Woman Knocked Unconscious By Wal-Mart Shoppers

Ummm. its Wal-Mart. their sales aren't THAT good.

I'm serious.

They aren't.

The GOP's Richard Perle Problem -or- The Truth Comes Out...again

Well, looks like War Profiteer/Pentagon hawk(er) Richard Perle's been talking more than he should. he's been talking about how the war was set in motion on illegal grounds AND a little bit on how iraq made and offer to avert war, but we kept it secret and tossed it. great. i hope this GOP crap finally starts to catch up with them.

ORRIN HATCH staffer hacks Senator's Computers

Seems his staff is hacking into confidential Dem. Senators' computers. when questioned about it previously, he made a joke that some 'conscious stricken' dem probably leaked the secret files.

uh huh.

MOVIE NEWS...

ASTRO CITY will become a movie.

Michael Caine is in talks with Warner Bros to play Alfred in the new BATMAN movie.

DAY-LEWIS AS AL GHUL?
-
According to Batman On Film, the name most often
being bandied about for the upcoming BATMAN 5 role
of Ra's Al Ghul is Daniel Day-Lewis, most recently
of GANGS OF NEW YORK.

THE SOPRANOS return March 7, 2004.

George Lucas is rumored to be messing with the original STAR WARS trilogy again, to bring it in line with the prequels.

Editor's Cut

This is an interesting article from The Nation which asks why people in Ala. (and elsewhere) will vote against their own intersts, as when the they will stick to the GOP when the clearly are not helping them. in response there are a few emails linked up top. i produce one here in its entirety because i think its warrants a read. I really believe this, and it does not matter if the democrats like this or not, they better understand it because underestimating this vote will not help us.

I am a white male born and bred in Leon County, Florida, eighteen miles from the Georgia line. I don't drive a pick-up truck with a gun rack in the back and I have never shown the Confederate flag but I wear a Seminole baseball hat, hoop and holler every fall for the FSU football team and would defend to the death the red clay foothills of the Appalachians that form this corner of what is known as the "South."

I just read "Alabama on my Mind" by Katrina vanden Heuvel in the November 10 edition of Editor's Cut. I do not have a direct answer for why people in Alabama voted against what vanden Heuvel considers their best interest but I hope to offer a clue as to why vanden Heuvel and others of her political persuasion remain perplexed by the voting ways of southerners, westerners, hunters and other residents of "red" America (Bush country).

After Howard Dean's recent reiteration of his aspiration to bring under the Democrat's tent the guys who drive pick-up trucks with confederate flags in the back windows, I heard vanden Heuvel on MSNBC's "Hardball."

She described the confederate flag with the same terminology as Mr. Dean as he tried to recover from what he called a clumsy attempt to appeal to voters. "The confederate flag is a loathsome symbol," she said.

Now, ain't that a sure fire cure for clumsiness?

This choice of words reveals a misunderstanding of white men in the South and of people in general, a misunderstanding that speaks volumes about why Democrats, the party of the people, have performed so abysmally since Nixon first adopted the Southern Strategy, in leading and maintaining the prominence in Presidential politics of Republicans, the party of the rich.

I do not dispute that the flag is justifiably rejected by many African-Americans whose ancestors suffered terribly under it and who encounter daily the legacy of slavery in their lives today. They stand on proven ground when they advocate that the Confederate flag not be flown over their state capitols. Nor will I argue that those who show the flag do not have tendencies, or worse, toward racism.

But southern white men do not normally put that flag in the back of their truck to recruit Ku Klux Klan members, advocate racist policies or proclaim that they are white supremacists.

They show the Confederate flag to make the statement "I am a man." "Look at me," they demand. "Look at my pick-up truck, my gun-rack, my flag that symbolizes as few symbols can: DEFIANCE."

"The South will rise again," they say. "And the federal government will never, ever be able to extinguish its spirit, a sprit worthy of honor because it is associated with being a god-fearing man who protects his wife, takes care of his children and makes sacrifices for the good of his family."

Conversely, that flag in the back window says of the truck owner you can tax my property, my income, charge me fees to hunt and drive my truck, educate me and mine poorly, deny me good jobs, regulate me to death, and demean me every which way but it will not work. Because you cannot rob me of my manhood."

That flag says something else, too. It says, "whenever a politician (or a pundit on television advocating for a group of politicians) tells me that my manhood is "loathsome", you can bet your bottom dollar, he'll never get my vote. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER."

Unfortunately for Democrats, George W. Bush and most of the Republicans have an intuitive grasp for what those who wave the Confederate flag intend to communicate.

And like it or not - no matter vanden Heuvel's intellectual or emotional take or Howard Dean's instinctive appeal compromised by offensive apology - their intuition will continue to attract votes.

Barring failed Bush economic policies or handling of Iraq to propel a Democrat into the Presidency, the office will remain an elusive goal for Democrats if they cannot read the obvious central message of a flag from a war that ended more than a century ago and refrain from labeling as loathsome its messenger.

Ain't it the truth?

Trent Malone, Tallahassee, FL

THIS IS IT!

If Dean wins the Nomination, you can expect this to be the campaign issue of the year. I don't know if we can win this kind of fight.

Mr. Mooch needs a lid.

Mr. Mooch told me that he wants to get a fez for the swinging parties we hope to be having soon. I hope to have some photos up here...i'm hoping to have a few done in somewhat of a "Blue Note" style. We'll see. As some of you know, i'd like to put together a Flash Animation of the 'opening credits' for POLLY & THE MOOCH. If you know someone that would help on that project, please feel free to buzz me.

Three U.S. Troops Killed in Iraq

I don't think its all rosey in Iraq when children are dragging american soldiers through the streets and pummeling their bloody bodies with concrete. these were KIDS, not organized soldiers for saddam. If Bush thought we were going to be loved by the basic citizens in Iraq when we started the occupation...well, maybe he should explain it more completely to these boys' parents. Sickening.

ORRIN HATCH IS A JERK

Discussing the recent GOP Protest filibuster, Orrin Hatch argued that the democrats, in blocking 4 of bush's judicial nominees, were playing politics in a way that was unheard of and unconstitutional. except....(from the Wash. Post):

(In 1980) Senate Republicans mounted a filibuster against President Carter's nominee for general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board -- a man who had served as a career attorney at the board for 27 years.

The senator leading the filibuster said it was his "unfortunate duty to challenge the nomination" because, although he "personally liked" the nominee, he was "too pro-labor" and other qualified nominees would be "acceptable to business."

That senator was Orrin Hatch. does that mean he now hates himself, thinks he was out of line, and should be ashamed!? don't hold your breath.

U.S. General Says Bin Laden 'Out of the Picture'

THE BALL HAS BEEN OFFICIALLY DROPPED

After the "sideshow" of iraq (Wesley Clark's words), diverting our time, ability, and emphasis away from the Afganistan-based terror organization that attacked our country--we get this.

It seems a Senior US General has stated that finding bin laden is not a top priority anymore. It fills me with a great anger to think that we are searching for Saddam with such zeal, and we are dropping the one terrorist that actually attacked us and promised to do it again. Is this what we are to expect from a Bush Administration? Before we started the job in Afganistan (let alone finish it), we find a deversionary war in Iraq. All the while, our President plays a shell game with our soldiers and the good will this nation has built over generations in order to put aside two facts--This administration has hardly completed its task in either country and had not the planning to properly succeed in the first place.

We can only be told to look elsewhere, or told that things are better than the reality bares out, for so long. We are clearly no safer now than before invading Iraq. The risk Iraq was made of as much fabrication and truth stretching as it was weapons of mass destruction. Never in the last century has this nation been held in lower regard. I am curious to know when, in the history of our nation, has a president and an administration been held so low in world opinion.

This contempt is no mystery. it is born out of our own actions, which have over and over been shown to be the product of medacity. There were no credible ties between the Taliban and Iraq. There was no imminent threat of attack from WMD's in Iraq. And, finally, we have this article here. Richard Perle, has served as the chairman of the Defense Policy Board, an advisory panel to the Pentagon. Here he puts it in simple words. when the Bush administration (the administration he advised to go to war) said that we had the Authorization of the UN to attack Iraq, he was lying. it was widely claimed by Bush, Rumsfeld, Powell, Rice, and a host of my republican friends that we had all the authorization we needed in previously passed UN Resolutions. he states, "international law ... would have required us to leave Saddam Hussein alone."

SO WHY DID WE DO IT?

Partly due to the paranoia of Dick Cheney. our VP that has spent the bulk of his time in office (since 9/11) in hiding. He hides from public view and scrutiny, consumed by 2 issues--his fear that the twin towers attack was a preamble and the need to 'complete' the job of the first gulf war. Our own President has the conviction to do what is right--stay the course--but not the mental compass to set the course himself. Enter our cabal of Hacks. men culled from the GOP administrations past. hand picked unilateralists that need no assistance from anyone on earth...that would mean that decisions and spotlights and victories would have to be shared.

Shared victories are not savored by a party that courts the isolationist. War profiteering is not as lucrative if there are other nations in on the action. In every instance the president has wanted as little oversight or input as possible at every juncture. To his suprise, the presidential will did not find acquiescence, and this clearly seemed to shock him. it was as if the mode and tone of international relations, as developed over the last 50 years, was lost on him. It has always been the case that you can act without approval, but there is a cost. Bush's minders did not care because they held these institutions in contempt. Bush was left wondering, clearly wondering why there was no rush to agreement.

"Why did the world not see Iraq in such clear black and white?" "Do we need proof in the form of a mushroom cloud?"

The evidence was not convincing because it did not exist. the exaggerations place before the world were believable to leaders that wore blinders, or sought American aid or acceptance into NATO. Bush called them the "Coalition of the Willing". None of this mattered much because most every party involved needed Iraq. One needed the massaging eyes that military power provides the ego (Rumsfeld). One needed to sooth his paranoia over this terrorism blunder (Cheney, see previous writing on this matter). Finally, one needed to be a leader in action, not just talk. He needed to strap on his holster and show he wasn't just in the fight, like he said at ground zero, but prove he'd WON the fight. He needed the military fortitude he did not himself have in Vietnam when he used his father's strings for safety--stateside. The problem is that he hasn't truly won a war that we did not have to fight in the first place. we have not been made safer. our very nation is held in contempt by former allies. Our President needed to stand tall, but he could only do that on the backs of our dead soldiers, fighting not for truth, but rather his mendacity. Our soldiers swore to fight for our nation and our freedom. they did not pledge themselves to our president's mendacity. I am tired of watching our president spit on our soldiers and tell me i am not patriotic for agreeing with it.

My nation needs protecting, Iraq needs direction, and my president is sorely unqualified for the job.

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | War critics astonished as US hawk admits invasion was illegal

wow.

Here Is the Breakdown

...of how the Michael Jackson story developed.

Russian dies after winning vodka-drinking contest

Poor guy, he wins the contest and what does he get? A Coffin! several runners up had to go to the ER.

"The competition lasted 30, perhaps 40 minutes and the winner downed three half-litre bottles. He was taken home by taxi but died within 20 minutes,"

YEESH! i usually avoid vodka myself.

Listening to ATLANTIC CITY tonite

This is probably my favorite Springsteen song, but I really only listen to it when I'm in a very serious mood. It's powerful in many directions and pulls thoughts out of my head. It starts:

Well, they blew up the chicken man in Philly last night
Now, they blew up his house, too
Down on the boardwalk they're gettin' ready for a fight
Gonna see what them racket boys can do
Now, there's trouble bustin' in from outta state
And the d.a. can't get no relief
Gonna be a rumble out on the promenade
And the gamblin' commission's hangin' on by the skin of his teeth.

Its a vague talk about some sort of muscle (gangland?) getting out of hand. those lines are a strong pull to this song for me. the song often helps me focus on my work, which is often fighting people or fighting for people, in one way or another. i find the stark and serious nature of the words gripping.

Well, I got a job and tried to put my money away
But I got debts that no honest man can pay
So I drew what I had from the central trust
And I bought us two tickets on that coast city bus.

I have no explanation for you. but there have been several times in my life when my whole world was literally up in the air. if a few things didn't fall just right--and much of it was down to luck as much as anything else--every inch of my life and the furture i'd planned for myself would have crashed. the hopelessness of those words are painfully clear. you have yourself behind the 8-ball and you've got to cling to the desperate chances you find. often it's the only one that you can find. Finally, the chours (in part):

Well now, ev’rything dies, baby, that’s a fact
But maybe ev’rything that dies someday comes back

perhaps the best string of words Springsteen ever strung together...at least if you felt like you were losing everything. always some hope, even if it sounds wrenchingly out of reach. what ever gets you through the nite, you know?

good song.

AS IF YOU DID NOT KNOW ALREADY...

There are already some polls out concerning former justice moore's possible run for governor. he'll likely challenge the sitting gov. in the primary which may leave an opening for the DEMS if they have anyone, particularly w/ how weak the gov. is at this point. After watching that film AGAIN of Moore pretending to install the 10 commandments monument and then praying before it like an alter, his face tight, as if in anguish...its sickening to this christian. the sad part is that people don't mind this man stepping on our freedoms AND our/my religion as a publicity stunt to get votes. what scum.

Poor Alabama, they get tricked into voting against shifting the tax burden off of backs most of the public, in favor of thestatus quo which can no longer pay for basic services like roads and schools. i'm anxious to see how all this pans out when the GOP types REALLY get what they want in hard times. lets see how it works out.

YOU HAVE TO WATCH THIS NOW!!

HERE WE GO! i think this guy can win. General Wesley Clark goes OFF on the FOXNews anchor calling them on their conservitive slant--ON AIR!! AMAZING. now THAT is the sorta thing i've yet to see from ANYONE this high up in the game. kudos for Clark.