Feingold!

Fitz and Feingold again!!! wow

Fitz! Comey! Olberman! Clooney! Feingold!

Err…are you suggesting that unless you vote in favor of a motion of censure of the President, you approve of his conduct in office? This is comparing apples and oranges.

77%?

Is that a typo?

10/44 is 23%

What am I missing?

Pachacutec, 34/44 = 77%, so Jane is right.

And I also think that Jane is right in implying that if you don’t believe that what is contained in the WHEREAS clauses is enough to censure the president, then you are not only not a Democrat, but you shrug your shoulders at the rule of law in government, which, as should be obvious, is descipable.

Just about now it would be real nice to see Feingold show up as a guest on Oprah … talk about being heard.

Do the math the other way.

My connection has improved remarkably.

Donna Brazile just endorsed Feingold’s move on the situation room and — yippee — did not change her mind at all from her rollcall position.

watou — my math sucks, but Greg’s is actually quite good.

Mostly lurking, reading. Thanks Jane for all the work on the new site. FWIW, the time stamp on the comments is ??? from what time zone?

Spineless DEMS strike again

What part of 36 PERCENT DO THEY NOT UNDERSTAND!!!!

Wake up!!!1

Pachacutec >”…What am I missing?”

A grasp of arithmetic story problems maybe ?

under this scenario :

23% of the Senate Dems support Feingold

34/44 = 77% support Bush

“Terrorists do not need pretexts for their barbarism.” - Judge Alvin Hellerstein

Ok, maybe I should take the SAT’s again.

Thanks!

Valley Girl >”…the time stamp on the comments is ??? from what time zone?”

GMT = Greenich Mean Time also known as UTC (basically London)

“There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.” - Niccoló Machiavelli (The Prince, 1532)

MoveOn censure petition:
http://political.moveon.org/ce.....9A&t=2

Valley, iirc, time stamp = GMT, Greenwich Mean Time
http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/

from last thread
2 epu’s at the new digs, i’m on fire !

wonder if rwcole has posted this already

on Lou Dobbs

62% of Seniors said Iraq was a mistake

54% of folks w/ immediate family/acquaintances who have been or who are now in Iraq say it’s time to go

both are big deals, because these are the folks Rove goes after once the bottom 30% are sewn up

The best thing about that poll (and all the other recent ones) is not the disapproval by Democrats but the disapproval by Independents. Thats the target column and this are looking very good for our side.

Jamie
http://www.intoxination.net

Are we in Greenwich yet, Toto?

Thoughtful observations by Bob Johnson regarding Feingold’s strategy:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/3/14/184834/247

Way OT
This avian flu pandemic is quite worrying because I don’t trust this govt to do anything right, but I was thinking in addition to powdered milk, tuna fish (laden with mercury), duct tape, etc. how about just switching over from the poultry in your local grocery store to… marshmallow peeps?! Think about it, they come in multi- packs, your choice of yellow or pink, they’re cute, they are lightweight and last for a reeeal long time. Course, a lot of recipes will have to be adapted, but hey.

Ah, I didn’t click thru before. Sorry for the incorrect attribution.

Demanding accountability for criminal behavior is not a partisan issue, even if we are forced to operate in that frame because all Republican senators are cowards. So if only 10 senators are going to support censure (for example), that leaves 90 who place other priorities above expecting adherence to the law.

The thought that–even after everything we now know–senators from our party would play the role of enabler to a criminal president, is simply beyond disgusting.

Thanks for the link. As far as the “apples & oranges” comment, let’s look at this another way. This censure motion doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of passing and even if it did, it would be a symbolic gesture without any weight behind it. Considering that the President has openly admitted that he broke the law by going around FISA and the Congress, the question in my mind is this :

How fucking cowardly do you have to be if you’re not even willing to offer a ‘yea’ to a non-binding symbolic, vote to rebuke the president for crimes he admitted to?

It’s not like they’re being asked to actually do anything, just agree on the record with a statement that essentially says “Bush broke the law and we think that’s a bad thing”. Seems like common sense to me, but that’s a little much to expect these days.

http://www.intoxination.net/20.....ish-memos/
==We have another leaked British memo showing even a larger history of problems with the Iraq War. The memo is being reported in the Guardian today==

I went to check out Jamie’s site. Thanks for the help you’ve given Jane, Jamie. Found above link, speaking of GMT (I figured, but not why we are in GMT). Thanks Jamie! Def worth a read, all.

Between these approval figures and Glenn’s citing of a Zogby poll in January which said that 52% want the Bush impeached, I think we’re actually closer to apples and apples than John’s first impression (4 above) suggests. It would be great to have a party affiliation breakdown on the 52% figure from Zogby.

mad cow wave file

http://pictures.funnyjunk.com/pages/madmoo.wav

http://online.wsj.com/public/a.....96718.html

holy moly

while bush may be down to 36, according to this one the lowest guy on the board is Harry Reid at 19 and the Congressional Demos at 24 are behind Rove and have the highest net neg at 70..worse than even Cheny at 67

not much comfort there

Wow. Nice new site.

John :

Anybody who doesn’t vote for censure is essentially saying that the President is above the law, that he is not accountable when he does something wrong–which he has clearly done in this case. How far would you or I get if we had broken a law–and gotten caught? How many cops would let us talk our way out of, oh, a murder charge, because we admit doing it (Bush did) to “protect the country.” We’d be locked up–in jail or a mental institution.

If Congress will not do its job and hold this President accountable, or if they’re (worse) willing to rewrite laws to let him do whatever the hell he wants, we might as well give up all pretense of being a Democratic Republic.

I always ask Republicans what they would be saying/doing if Clinton had been President when 9/11 or Katrina happened, if he had been the President accused of spying on people and ADMITTING IT–pick your issue but no referencing Clinton’s so-called “crimes” while in office. Did they want Clinton having the power to spy on them, without a warrant, even to catch suspected terrorists? Did they want that kind of power in the hands of PRESIDENT HILLARY (galls me to even think that, much less say it, but she can get them flying off their rockers, tout suite)?

The Bushies SHUT THE FUCK UP when you ask them these questions and don’t let them weasel out of it with their lame, dated talking point lies. They KNOW what Bush is doing is wrong. Everyone knows it’s wrong. It’s now time to find out who’s willing to support our democracy…and who wants a frickin’ dictator.

PUT UP OR SHUT UP for the REAL America. That’s what I–and nearly everyone else here– expect of every single Senator, as of now.

It seems that the big question for 2006 and beyond is whether Rove can persuade 20% of the middle voters to be more afraid of a gay man marrying someone in their community and making sure women are forced to have babied, than they are worried about the Iraq war.

If people only vote on the disaster which is this republican administration and their minions in Congress who have acted as a rubber stamp, then Dems win hands down. But if they can be scared enough, then we are back to a 50-50 race with Diebold holding all the cards.

‘course this assumes the dems will be unable to stand up straight and talk about iraq. The dem on Hardball was hard put to say why dems don’t have a position. On CNN one dem said all the dems have to do is wait for the republicans to mess it up some more.

Having just read Bob Johnson’s Diary on Daily Kos it occurs to me (I don’t have a clue if things are really thought through this clearly in DC) that Feingold’s move was in some fashion a tacit strategy — to test the water (?) to get things moving while providing cover for the more establishment Dems who are “making no comment” (and covering their asses with the claim that they were broadsided, which of course is ludicrous) — at least for just now.

The point I am making is that this whole thing may be part of a bigger ploy, or is that too hopeful.

The site seems to be working out pretty well now! What a pain it must be, but well worth it when all the wrinkles are smoothed out.

one problem with the dems is that even if they do start getting a spine it will be perceived as just another one of their acts of fumbling opportunism soon to be abandoned.

Just watched James Webb on Tweety.

What I saw I generally liked.

Gee, cowardly Anonymous, maybe if the Dems would STAND UP AND FIGHT, they might have higher numbers. How would we know, when so many of them don’t? As for Reid or any other specific Dem, look at the coverage any Dem manages to get in the media, which isn’t much to begin with. It’s almost always negative. Name positive coverage of one Democrat in the national media over the last–hell, I’ll narrow it down to five years. Name him or her.

:::crickets chirping:::

Go back to your Republican enablers.

obviously the senate dems know what is best for us ignorant voters.
.

CBS Evening News just announced we (the US of A) are INCREASING troop levels in Iraq to deal with growing unrest/insurgency/civil war

Not Vietnam?

I am switching my registration to Independant tommorow. I will not vote for a single dem who does not support Feingold. I am done giving them money and would rather vote for a third party or stay home than vote for another one of these cowardly assholes.

Funny, this is the exact talking point I’ve used when calling my Dem Senators. “I just don’t understand why the Senator would choose to stand with President Bush on this issue.”

Jane, thanks for passing this along. It truly is pathetic.

Grrrr. Democrats need to be kicked in the arse.

I just wanted to say that I have three sites and like 8 blogs on bluehost and have had them for years, and have never had the problems you talk about. Just to be fair. But I do not use Wordpress. Maybe that’s it? Anyway, I hope you work out all the bugs soon. I know how frustrating that can be.

Sorry to comment here on it, but the relevant post is messed up, someone left a link open and the whole page is now a link, so when you try to type into text field, it clicks over to another site.

Per EPU above
Posted on Tue, Mar. 14, 2006
“U.S. troop levels in Iraq may increase”
LOLITA C. BALDOR AP WASHINGTON - “Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld hinted Tuesday that U.S. troop levels may increase slightly in Iraq in the coming days because of pilgrimages connected to the holiday of Ashura….”
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld.....097488.htm

Donna Brazile just endorsed Feingold’s move on the situation room and — yippee — did not change her mind at all from her rollcall position.

having been one of those who have said some nasty things about her public commentary, i must say the past few times i’ve seen her on teevee, she’s dramatically improved her debating skills.

I am not happy with your change in the first day. More to follow.

OH and I love the new look!

About the Dems’ numbers in the WSJ poll: on the one hand, an opposition party has a hard time getting good numbers, since all they can do is block the other guys or sit on the sidelines; on the other, the one exception to this rule is when the opposition party actually takes a principled stand.

I don’t know which is worse: the fact that Democrats in Congress (and the consultants they listen to) don’t understand that taking a principled stand for a highly unpopular measure is still far better than letting your principles slide, or that they don’t realize that the a stand against the NSA program would actually be wildly popular even before the Democrats started parroting their message (which, if done often enough, would totally obliterate almost all remaining support for a program that essentially no Americans favor once they get it).

RagingGurrl - Kick em HARD.

Harwood on O issue is ‘competence’

i agree, that’s the area that can get the broadest range of agreement..that the Bush outfit is incompetent to an astonishing agree..that’s what some Demo ought to be hitting on now, instead of some tenuous censure resolution.

Rovian counterpoint to Rumsfeld’s statements:
“Bush Sets Target for Transition in Iraq
Country’s Troops to Take Lead This Year”
By Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 14, 2006; 11:36 AM
“President Bush vowed yesterday to turn over most of Iraq to newly trained Iraqi troops by the end of this year, setting a specific benchmark as he kicked off a fresh drive to reassure Americans alarmed by the recent burst of sectarian violence…”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....00657.html

Just saw James Webb on Hardball. It was a real short visit, but he’s good.

puzzlement says:

March 15th, 2006 at 1:10 am

“Harwood on O issue is ‘competence’”

And that was about the Moussaoui Trial! ;)

CBS Evening News just announced we (the US of A) are INCREASING troop levels in Iraq to deal with growing unrest/insurgency/civil war

Wasn’t General Pace on Press the Meat just this last Sunday telling us how “Swimmingly” things were going in Iraq?

Wasn’t Chimpy just telling us today how Civil War in Iraq was just a delusion we were all having?

Incidentally, expanding on Bob Johnson’s thoughts on the censure resolution (linked by Pach above), I would note that even if the resolution fails to get a single supporter, at least the Democrats will be forced to push harder for a real investigation, since that is their cover story for not voting for censure at this point. And when, as will probably happen, the Republicans finish blocking every possible avenue for holding one, a lot more of the Democrats will get publicly angry, and the issue, which was at risk of stalling, will take on more importance.

Keith O revision…Shock and Aww, Crap

Call (or fax or e-mail) your Senators and register your support for the Censure Resolution. If they get a flood of calls from their voters…maybe they’ll be emboldened and
do the will of the people like they’re supposed to. Sheesh!

This is the website for all the Senators
(I’m sorry I don’t know how to make it a link)

http://www.senate.gov/general/.....rs_cfm.cfm

Just a note:

I do like the new format, I am sure the bugs will all get ironed out in a few days. I just wish I were enough of a techy to do all the fun stuff. As it is, I am barely a typist:)

:-)

Oh Darn!

I miss the Red! But pretty cool nonetheless.

Keep calling these spineless Dems. It’s our job after all as citizens. It’s gonna be a long haul to replace all the ReThugs and all the Dems but it’s gotta be done. This nation will not survive economically, politically maybe not even physically with the abysmal, ignorant stupidity our “leaders” are showing at present.

It would seem that the entire country is in the grip of a new pandemic….

Stupidity.

Dru says:
March 15th, 2006 at 1:19 am

Keith O revision…Shock and Aww, Crap

exactamundo!

Watched some of Tweety and some of KO.

Tweety had a segment designed to discuss the political consequences of Iraq- but the slip gooper changed it into a discussion of why the dems had no policy on Iraq- and the dem consultant (Hillary something) was inept..two points for the goopers–and Ed- whassis name. Have to admit that the guy’s pretty good.

Both shows featured the new book Cobra 2- outlining the mistakes made in Iraq. Major contention is that the Pentagon over-rode the advice of commanders on the ground- White House denies it- since it is 180 degrees away from Clusterfuck’s habitual message- but of course it’s true..

Most interesting was the contention by the authors that the original plan- signed off on by Clusterfuck himself- was to keep the Iraqi military- but that Bremer decided to scrap the plan- and did so- and that no one even told Clusterfuck what was goin down..

The more you learn about these guys- the worse you realize they are.

It’s too early to castigate Democrats regarding the Feingold issue. Although I’d prefer that they be standing in solid support, as I have indicated to the Democratic Party on its blog, they aren’t done talking yet. Donna Brazile is standing tall. There may be many more. Do not trash Democrats while the fascists are in office except to the Democrats themselves - it just gives the fascists ammunition.

rwcole says:
March 15th, 2006 at 1:26 am

sounds like the Ken Lay defense rather than the Truman acceptance of responsibility.

According to Mystery Pollster all the major polls asked about censure during the Clinton impeachment. Will they ask about Feingold’s censure resolution this time around? If not, why?

At the time of impeachment 57% of the American people supported censure of Bill Clinton - this while Clinton enjoyed 70% job approval ratings.

My guess is that people are rebuked by authority ALL THE TIME and don’t see why politicians should be any different. It’s not as dramatic as the Tess Truhearts of both parties make it. It’s like giving the President a D on his Presidentin’ report card. He already got an F from the 9/11 commission. What’s a D from the Senate?

I’m not happy with the comment colors either, I’m going to ask Monk to tweak them. And I’ll try to do a comment preview, thanks for whoever left the link for the plugin.

Just as soon as we get on the new server.

*sigh*

James Webb on Hardball–

He’s running in the VA Dem primary because he thinks the government is incompetent and has wasted our military in Iraq when that had nothing to do with 9/11. Also we have squandered our the international good will that we had right after 9/11. [note: no one can win VA without the military vote] If Webb wins the primary, he could go on to defeat George Allen. This is the guy who could help give us back the Senate.

Olbermann prize quote: the Republican strategy is to scare people by saying, vote for us or else somebody will kill you.

Usu I don’t watch tv but tonight I made an exception, esp w Olbermann being one of the four sex deities. He is available???

rw, Ed Rogers, a former White House advisor for President George H.W. Bush, graduated with honors from the Mary Matalin school of spin.

KO gave emphasis to the story that Clusterfuck has decided to only pay personal attention to Iraq and to the midterm elections and has “delegated” everything else according to a conservative magazine..

This is bizarre- on the one hand- the president delegates EVERYTHING- so if there is a real story here- it’s not that he delegated everything else- it’s that he has NOTHING AT ALL TO DO with anything else. Clusterfuck’s version of delegating is “don’t bother me with it”.

He’s the poorest excuse for an executive I’ve ever HEARD of. Incredible.

Now we learn that a massive strategic change was made by Bremer in Iraq and that Clusterfuck wasn’t even informed.

This is BAD shit! VERY bad shit!

Ooops sorry, 5 sex deities.

Forgot Comey.

:0

Jane and Redd, you are the best and i just wish this had gone more smoothly for you.

John- thanks- that’s the guy- he’s MUCH better than Mary–

I saw him a few weeks ago where he did a great job of attempting to spin the issues- but then at the end- when asked what the White House should do differently- he said:

“They’ve got to quit screwing up”

Sorta slipped out I think.

Pachacutec will thrust something at you for not including him: the original Incan sex deity !

FYI, folks: I won’t be online much tomorrow. Have business in the morning then have to drive to NY. Will be able to check in again later tomorrow night, though I’ll still be around for a bit tonight.

wilson:

I missed it. Was I supposed to be mad at somebody?

:}

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States may want to keep a long-term military presence in Iraq to bolster moderates against extremists in the region and protect the flow of oil, the Army general overseeing U.S. military operations in Iraq said on Tuesday.

While the Bush administration has downplayed prospects for permanent U.S. bases in Iraq, Gen. John Abizaid told a House of Representatives subcommittee he could not rule that out.

Abizaid said that policy would be worked out with a unified, national Iraqi government if and when that is established, “and it would be premature for me to predict.”

Many Democrats have pressed President George W. Bush to firmly state that the United States does not intend to seek permanent military bases in Iraq, a step they said would help stem the violence there.

Abizaid also told the Appropriations subcommittee on military quality of life that while an Iraqi civil war was possible, “I think it’s a long way from where we are now to civil war.”

Oops- someone let the cat out of the bag.

Can’t say I like the new format much. Sorry. Maybe it’ll grow on me. Hope so. Too much space/scrolling. Also, comment numbers might go better top left and smaller/bold so posters could refer to numbers not names. Looks a little washed out too. I know, I know. I’m nitpicking. Should be happy FDL is still here. I’ll shut up now. Thanks for listening. :)

btw, has anybody noticed that the time is set correctly on this new server system? While we are still slavishly bowing down to our former Limey overlords by using GMT, at least the minutes are correct. Unless constantly electronically synchronized, built-in computer clocks will drift relentlessly. The old servers were about 8 minutes off.

Roll Call

March 14, 2006 Tuesday

SECTION: STIRRING THE POT

LENGTH: 913 words

HEADLINE: Don’t Ignore the Feingold Resolution. Embrace It

BYLINE: Donna Brazile

BODY:

The progressive blogosphere is on fire right now. Web loggers are pumped up about the effort by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) to censure President Bush for breaking the law on domestic surveillance and taking matters into his own hands.

Feingold, a potential 2008 presidential contender, announced the controversial resolution Sunday on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.” (Full disclosure: I was a participant in the show’s roundtable conversation.) Since then, this topic has activated the party’s base online and generated an onslaught of babble on talk radio stations across America.

Feingold hadn’t even left the studio when Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) condemned the proposal as “a crazy political move.” I disagree. It’s a desperate political move to save our democracy.

I am sure that this censure resolution - which states that “the president authorized a program that illegally wiretaps American citizens, on American soil, without a court order” - will be unwelcome news on Capitol Hill and, in particular, for members of the Democratic Caucuses in both chambers.

On the House side, lawmakers are struggling to decide where they stand on legislation introduced by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) that would create a select committee to investigate allegations relating to Bush administration misconduct and to report any potentially impeachable offenses to the House Judiciary Committee.

Feingold surely knows how to stir up a hornet’s nest just when the party is riding high after blocking the controversial port deal with the United Arab Emirates government-owned Dubai Ports World. Democrats and Republicans alike should be praised for doing the right thing even though it could hinder our ability to maintain alliances with moderate Arab nations.

As for the resolution to censure the president, why not call for a real investigation rather than rushing to put forward legislation to cover up any potential violations of the law?

Many bloggers say they want Democrats to be bold and decisive when it comes to protecting the Constitution of the United States and the rule of law. For those who worry that this issue will create more tension between the progressive “net-roots” types and the party’s base, I say fear not. Let’s use this resolution to talk about what’s really troubling so many Democrats and other astute Americans: the lack of Congressional oversight and accountability.

No sooner had Feingold made his announcement than Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) was on CNN’s “Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer” urging caution. In other words, hold your powder - wait until the investigation, if any occurs, is completed before urging action.

As a Beltway insider, I am convinced that we cannot continue to tell those who have loyally supported our Democratic leaders to wait. Wait for what? Wait until our pollsters give us the green light to speak up? Should we continue to wait, hoping that the Republicans will finally invite Democrats into the room when important decisions affecting our national security are made?

All I know is that people outside the Beltway have grown deeply impatient with our focus-group style of politics. They want to see some bold changes and some new leadership.

It’s time to break with the same-old, same-old and use the Feingold resolution to force the Republican-controlled Congress to commit to serious oversight of the controversial, but increasingly popular, surveillance program.

The message from the left-leaning blogosphere is clear: Democrats should understand the real issue. The point is not censure or impeachment; it is Congress’ lack of oversight and its failure to hold anyone accountable for major mistakes or missteps. And especially, it’s about clearly misleading the American public.

From faulty pre-war intelligence to the negligent response to Hurricane Katrina and the unjustified cost for Medicare prescription drug benefits, there has been no meaningful oversight by the GOP-controlled Congress. It is doubtful whether they would be willing to hear evidence against the president.

While the Feingold resolution is not going anywhere given the full Republican control of Washington, D.C., a change in leadership in the fall would make this a ripe item for conversation and action in 2007 and beyond.

Both Feingold and Conyers have tried to put action behind this growing frustration with a president who has repeatedly pursued bad policies that have made America less safe, only to be aided by a rubber stamp Republican Congress that refuses to do its job and hold the president accountable.

Oversight is a fundamental responsibility of Congress, which until the Republicans took over was a coequal branch of government. It’s long past time for the Republican Congress - and in particular the House and Senate Intelligence committees - to stop protecting the administration and start doing more to protect the American people.

The 2006 political campaign season, which is under way across America, will truly come down to a test of wills. If my party’s leaders, whom I admire and respect, cannot figure out three things this electoral season that the GOP will use as wedge issues to distract and divide - Iraq, the war on terror and national security, and cultural issues like abortion and same-sex marriage - then my party finally will have earned its minority status.

Donna L. Brazile, the campaign manager for Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore in 2000, runs her own grass-roots political consulting firm.

Pach; hope your Dad is doing okay; safe drive to NY.

Pachacutec - Wait, who’s gonna fill in for ya?

somebody had noticed the 4 hotties from last night and wanted to add a fifth: Comey. Pachacutec was there before them all.
Personally, I so enjoy seeing Rob Marciano on CNN all in wet clothes … (yum, yum!)

Maybe we should all go to http://www.democrats.org/a/200.....comments=1 and give Tim Tagaris some love. His statement isn’t as strong as I’d like it to be, but with the knowledge that so many of us have his back, he’ll come around, and so will the other Dems. If they won’t lead us, we have to lead them. Democrats are good people - they just need a shot of courage. From us!

Dear Senate Dems: what part of ‘the Bush Cargo Cultists aren’t going to vote for you anyway’ do you not understand.

Oh, and remember the origins of ‘radical left-wing group’ MoveOn.org? It was that they wanted to censure Clinton, and move on.

I just sent e-mails to Dean and Harry Reid begging them to use their leadership to support Feingold and twist some arms. I’m feeling the same wayas others here–I’m about to say we should form a new party–if I knew the first thing about how that works…these wankers are really starting to piss me off. I was loyal, even past all the other crap, but this is the last straw. No wonder the Republicans are just doing whatever the fuck they want. They know no one’s going to stop them. Truth is that neither party represents constituents, voters,the “people” anymore, do they? It’s all about getting into power and staying there.

Liberte! Egalite! Fraternite! Anyone for a few verses of La Marseillaise??

John Casper @#49: What I found interesting about that article:

The lead sentence of that WaPo article says Iraqis will take over “most” of Iraq security. But the Bush quote conveys a different meaning.

“As more capable Iraqi police and soldiers come on line, they will assume responsibility for more territory with the goal of having the Iraqis control more territory than the coalition by the end of 2006,” he said in a speech to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

I was surprised by this, because the optimistic statements from the WH over recent months suggested that the Iraqi forces were already in charge of security for more than 50% of the country. But apparently that hasn’t happened yet.
These guys mislead even when they tell the literal truth.

off topic, but a good one;

http://www.thememoryhole.org/state/future_of_iraq/

that’s the memory hole;

Reports From the Future of Iraq Project

Over 1,200 Pages of Previously Unavailable Reports From State Dept Planning for Post-Saddam Iraq

Warnings and Recommendations by Experts and Iraqi Exiles Ignored by Administration

hey jane, anyway to get a “preview post” button?

also a button to chose to “open links in new window”

thanx in advance

Apologies for posting the entire Bazile article above. I found it via Nexis/ Lexis, and since Roll Call has a lot of subscription stuff, I didn’t think it would be available online. Sorry for not checking before. Here’s the link http://www.rollcall.com/issues.....511-1.html

It’s the only other anthem that I can sing verbatim!

Aux armes, citoyens !

Formez vos bataillons !

Marchons, marchons !

Qu’un sang impur…

Abreuve nos sillons !

GW Clusterfuck was using the gooper “count the cows” strategy in outlining his message.

His plan is that the Iraqis will be in charge of security in the 50% of the geography WHERE no one lives..The US will still be in charge of the rest..

Them sheep are gonna be VERY secure- well maybe not.

I was temporarily insane earlier today when I was wondering if Feingold was checking with the “party” (read: Democratic mafia) before making his censure statement..

I am SO FUCKING TIRED OF SPINELESS DEMOCRATS and TRIANGULATION. Here’s a man who calls ‘em the way he sees them, is DEAD ON correct, and we still have to babysit the rest of the party.

You have to hand it to those great folks in Wisconsin.

FEINGOLD/CONYERS ‘08

Iraqis will guard the date palms, the US troops will control the oil fields …

i don’t think there are any date palms left after the bombing…………

http://www.ajc.com/opinion/con.....ke0310.gif

Don’t mind me, just testing…This site loads FAST now, even on dial-up. Don’t have to block images anymore. Can go back to blocking Javascript.

I am a universe unto myself, I never have bandwidth issues.

But Evil….even a universe is not immune to bandwidth issues.

BullGoose - Evil is tapped into that great switch in the sky.

One of the things I wonder about is whether, like pre-Iraq with the amazing-flying-east-coast-bio-drones, the Dems in the Senate are be locked down by briefings about a major impending AlQ threat. You could see how that might work. Big intel says big threat of attack. So, if you come out for censure and then two days later something happens you get blamed. “You came out for the weakening of our defenses.”

Sadly, if Americans prefer security over freedom then there really isn’t much anyone can do to save the Constitution most of us have ancestors who fought and often died for.

Franklin, Jefferson and all the others would have been left of Howard Dean on this issue.

pseudonymous in nc, thanks for the etymology, I did not know that about “Move on.”

What grade should we give our friend, Harry Reid for his leadership in the Senate? He has done many good and smart things in the last few months, and there are many things we don’t know about his strategic plans. At the very least, it doesn’t seem like he is in front of us much these days.

I just wish we knew more. Is Feingold’s resolution coincident with bigger plans? I feel like a decent-enough observer to have a sense of this, but I don’t. Any ideas?

wilson46201 - Girl Scouts gonna guard the roads?

Girl Scouts with burkas

Sources close to the administration said that over the last year, Mr. Bush has chosen to focus on two issues, leaving the rest to be decided by Cabinet members and senior aides. They said the issues are Iraq and the Republican congressional campaign in the 2006 elections.

“Lots of important issues that deal with national security are never brought to the president because he doesn’t want to deal with them,” a source familiar with the White House said. “In some cases, this has resulted in chaos.”

watou - He must be doin things behind closed doors. Or maybe nothin at all. Dems just can’t stick together on anything.

Jane, not to dump on you but just to inform, the right column of ads cuts off the table in this post after the “Rep” column. Sorry the move is such a hassle for ya, but I really do like the new look. Why don’t you just pour yourself a nice stiff drink? You deserve it after today.

Dru says:
March 15th, 2006 at 1:42 am

Thanks. The reason I’m heading to NY tomorrow is that Dad will be released from the rehab on Thursday.

Gonna help mom get him home, cook him a nice dinner to celebrate his birthday (belated, it was the 12th).

He still does not walk well, needs a walker at best, a wheelchair at worst, but his spirits are good. He’s really homesick and bored in there.

Thanks for asking!

Feingold: “No one questions whether the government should wiretap suspected terrorists. Of course we should, and we can under current law.â€
I just want to make sure Feingold gets his due for covering the Democratic ass on this one.

So GW Clusterfuck is only working on two issues- the war and the election. One has to imagine his day:

6 am Rise- breakfast work out

8 am– Review troops assignments for the day in Iraq- correct the places where the generals got it wrong- review causalty lists- and call next of kin..

10 am review candidates list for gooper elections- interview candidates- arrange for funding- approve ad buys–line up speaking engagements

12 lunch

1 pm work out

3 pm Call generals in Iraq and tell em ta get the hell out of bed- there’s a war goin on!

5 non cocktail hour.

me to me - try right click on the link and pick “open in new window” from the dropdown menu.

how sad is it that Feingold gave democrats the opportunity to stand up be counted and all they can do is prove the republicans right, that democrats stand for nothing.
.

All you people who are trashing Dems: Don’t do it. Stand up for, and behind, Russ Feingold with all your heart, as I am. But don’t trash the Dems. We are the Democratic Party. We’ve won wars against fascism and we’ll do it again. If our leaders lack courage we will give them the strength with our numbers and our hearts! Parachutec’s posts are wise. Listen to him!

california_reality_check: watou - He must be doin things behind closed doors. Or maybe nothin at all. Dems just can’t stick together on anything.

Hard to speculate, really. The Rule 21 Gambit was very smart and did make a big impression, and Reid’s obviously a very smart and shrewed fellow. But there is not much reason to speculate that there is a master plan for Democratic senators to breech the wall against oversight.

Of course, I could be part of the master plan, to throw people off of the existence of a brilliant master plan! Mwahahahaha….

The institutional Democratic party is trying to make what is essentially a loyalty oath to the Constitution go away.

Pathetic.

Right up there with the the German Socialists supporting the loans needed to fight WWI.

They salved their consciences by changing the last sentence of the resolution.

It originally called for a hoch! for the Kaiser.

They threw caution to the winds and amended that to a hoch! for the Kaiser and the German people.

I really like the new navigation bar at the top, PREV/NEXT posts.

Wow, who cleaned up the living room??? Where am I????

Gorgeous place, people! Thanks to our hosts for all the hard work migrating this puppy!!

Really love this piece, Jane. You really know how to make a point!!

Wow, this place is cool.

Firedoglake is SO on top of things that it’s TOMORROW already!

saw the new sight, and i don’t really likie

had to say it

Sorry for the long post but I’m amazed that anyone is amazed at the Demos at this point.

I really think that one of the factors in the Senate Demos inexplicable behavior is that they have all had veiled threats of violence against them or their families. You know, along the lines of their planes having ‘avonics’ problems a la Wellstone or envelopes full of anthrax or some other pathogen showing up in their mail boxes.

Please, if any one thinks this is foil-hat territory, speak up, I’d love a frank discu