Third Time's a Charm? The Supreme Court Rules That Guantanamo Bay Detainees DO have rights! Again!

Here we go again.....For the third time, the Supreme Court has ruled that foreign detainees at Guantanamo Bay have the right to challenge their detention in civilian courts in the U.S., and that they have been denied their right to habeas corpus, and all that silly stuff that the Bush administration would have us believe is less important than our "safety."

The 270 men held at Guantanamo as suspected enemy combatants have been in limbo, some for over 6 years, as the lack of due process, evidence, and justification for their imprisonment, has created a smokescreen preventing any realistic procedure or outcome. Many of these men have been tortured, and since the evidence gained by such treatment is not reliable, its been impossible for a full case to be made without the issues becoming bigger than the particular case trying to be heard.. But really, according to first hand accounts of the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo have left many of them in such states as to make it hard to release them to their home countries, much less any other country that might agree to take them. The longer this goes on, the more we look like the bad guys, (too late,) and if there ever was a case to be made, we have lost it completely ethically and morally, and we have lost the ability to punish the guilty in any reasonable way.

The emotional and physical fallout from this sort of imprisonment and torture will leave lasting effects that should not be underestimated. I guess that John McCain could be cited as an example of a POW who emerged seemingly unscathed from his ordeal, but then the stories of his vicious temper and his vile treatment of those around him, as cited by Cliff Schecter in his excellent book, The Real McCain, coupled with his seeming disconnect with reality and always changing beliefs and opinions, leads one to think that he is still deeply effected by PTSD, and driven by some deep anger to wage more and more war and to get some sort of revenge. Surely some of the detainees could walk among us with little sign of where they've been; like McCain, they will be time bombs ready to explode at any time.

Without due process, its been impossible to classify these prisoners as true "illegal enemy combatants." With no clear classification and with the republican led congress blocking the last 2 SCOTUS rulings on this by passing laws and limiting judicial oversight, a ripple effect has caused any cases that have made it to a court or tribunal to be sent back to lower courts to sort out the legalities. So, how can we know if this new decision will amount to anything at all before the next administration takes office? Since the designation of the detainees is decided by the president himself and his top cabinet, and is very confidential, its impossible to know what it is based on. Add to that the fear that hovers around the disinformation and/or PR campaign that has painted these prisoners as criminals, terrorists, and enemy combatants, and it's unlikely that they will ever see the light of day in any meaningful way. Its also unlikely that justice will be done or that any deterrence that might be fostered by America's ability to kick the collective asses of the bad-guys, will be evident at all.

America, as it stands, appears to be run by a bunch of heartless, bungling, idiots, with an administration that doesn't even follow our own laws or the rulings of our own court. If they don't like the rulings of the highest court in the country, they just go about circumventing them. With this kind of leadership and the track record of the last 7 years, we have no way ever again to claim the moral high-ground, or to claim that spreading our brand of freedom or democracy is superior to the individual evolution of any country.

The really troubling part of this mess is that the dissenting members of the court, being the usual suspects, joined Alito's written dissent which assumed the guilt of the prisoners and stated a political opinion about the danger that America is in (with the implication being that these prisoners who have not been charged or tried are the reason,) as noted in the Washington Post:

Justice Antonin Scalia took the unusual step of summarizing his dissent from the bench, calling the court's decision a "self-invited . . . incursion into military affairs," and was even stronger in a written dissent joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr.

"America is at war with radical Islamists," Scalia wrote, adding that the decision "will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed."

I thought that the court was in place to ensure the sanctity of American laws and the way that we do things. If the reason why Scalia dissents as he does, (joined by certain of his colleagues,) is that he feels that these prisoners are, in fact, enemy combatants, with no evidence or due process stating such, or even alleging it, then he is stating mere opinion based on gut feelings and stories drawn out of tortured prisoners who have likely not seen the light of day or another human being, except their torturers, for months. Our justice system doesn't work this way and the highest court is not supposed to issue dissents or opinions based on personal feelings about issues that are clearly political, (and unproven, at that!)

I don't believe that the court's job is to tell us that their decision is based on the danger that America is in if certain prisoners happen to be what one or another of them thinks they may be. I believe that they are supposed to comment on whether the information presented and the treatment of those prisoners follows the LAW! isn't the Supreme court the last stop in decision making and a place where the information and evidence is looked at as already revealed and consideration is given to process? If not, then I would like to see where new evidence...real evidence...was introduced that might indicate that these people are combatants of any kind. If not, and if this is purely an oversight of law decisions, then why is the dissent written in terms of political opinion regarding the safety of Americans? The laws of our country are not in place so that we can cringe behind them, but rather so that we can stand boldly and die to protect them...right? This is just more of the Karl Rovian "Be Very Afraid" brand of fear-politics.

We can guess that these prisoners are bad guys. We can know that they are hardened and hateful, and even that some of them have been driven crazy. We can also guess that they come from a place where bad guys hide out, and we can go with the gut feelings of military interrogators that has filtered down through layers and layers of pundits, informers, and gossips, but unless these guys stand before an open court with independent lawyers, we've got nothing.

The fucking Bush Administration, in person as it turns out, have made the world incredibly less safe by not following the law as it stood. If they hadn't had a field trip to Guantanamo to witness actual interrogation techniques and take it upon themselves to shape a policy that has pieces of the TV show 24, and techniques that have been proven to not work within it, then we might have been able to prove if these guys are criminals or not; we wouldn't have to have them walking free among us if they are guilty. But I think that this whole thing really wasn't about combatants, or safety, or the law; it was about being macho and showing the world that they can change and defy American law anytime they want. That probably buys some sorta tough street cred in the higher echelons of power where the real dealing is done, just for the rush of the huge chess game that is Planet Earth.

So, forgive me if I am not counting my prisoners before they get their hearings. An administration that bends the law wherever they see fit, and a senate with Joe Lieberman leaning to the right, and that slim of a majority, will stand in the way of this too. Soon it will Be Obama's problem, and a mark on his record that he had this horrible war and had to house these poor guys forever because they had nowhere to go....I like to see as much of this as possible get on the record, but honestly, unless we impeach Bush and Cheney (and indict Gonzalez and Rumsfeld, and do something to Condi Rice, which I haven't figured out yet,) we've got nothing.

...except other secret prisons around the world, most notably in Afghanistan, that are doing the same thing, but reportedly worse....

c/p Brilliant at Breakfast

I

Sunday Morning Nightmares...

Wait a minute...was that just unofficial, buddy-chum, adviser-but-not-really, in a friendly way, you understand, to John McCain, always-subpoenaed-but-never-interrogated criminal, Karl Rove, on my Tee Vee with George Snuffleupagus just now decrying the bad treatment of his man McCain after 50 years of service to this country?...was that real?

Who else in the world gets subpoenaed by the United States government and is immediately given a platform on national TV with which to stump for his own candidate...who was the very architect of the earlier smears against same candidate in this groundhog day-esque, stranger than fiction, circus, that is playing out slo-mo, while tornadoes rip the entire heart of the country out.

The only thing for sure here is that the catch-me-if-you-can Rovian above-the-law tour will likely continue today and on into this week...
Memorial Day...yeah...

c/p Brilliant at Breakfast

McCain's "Spiritual Guide"Speaks....The Real McCain Grows Clearer Every Day

...and what he has to say does not promote any agenda that I want to be a part of. I can guarantee that if the M$M were covering this that McCain would be out on his ass, because this is representative of the worst fringe, hate-speak there is. Thanks to Brave New Films, we have the piece below about the incredible Pastor Rod Parsley who has been and continues to be an important part of McCain's belief system.
Even if this were a way to approach a belief system, there is no human way that we could somehow "defeat Islam," or bring an end to one of the largest religious groups in the world. Rather, shouldn't we think like intelligent people and perhaps try to sort out who is a radical and who is a normal person? I suppose that if we did that we might have to look at Christian radicals like, um, the Pastor Parsley himself!
How could McCain ever be president with people like this around him. Why doesn't he renounce these crazies? This is what we need to start talking about right away!



David Bender interviews Cliff Schecter, author of The Real McCain here:

Buy this book folks...its a must read!
h/t Sam Seder for the audio!

c/p Brilliant at Breakfast

John Hagee Says that the Roman Catholic Church Will be Devoured by the Anti-Christ and John McCain Happily Accepts his Endorsement: Frank Rich

Today Frank Rich covers the mind bending Reverend John Hagee and his ongoing endorsement of John McCain. The fact that this man can even find followers is a testament to the level of desperation out there in the search for meaning and the wasteland of American life. How low does one have to go to find oneself adhering to a life plan set forth by the likes of this twisted man preaching hate from a television screen, and getting rich doing it?



Watching this video makes one wonder how its possible that Presidential contender John McCain could not only welcome his endorsement but continue to welcome it, with little notice of whatever inflammatory statements he has made along the way. Jon Stewart weighed in on McCain...and if you really couldn't make this stuff up, why does it take Jon Stewart to deliver it?:



Today Chris Matthews chuckled with his panel about the other pastor in the M$M's religious endorsement wars being the crazy uncle in the attic who pops out to say odd things. The panelists discussed Obama's every action and reaction to the mistake that was the handling of the Jeremiah Wright debacle and unbelievably, thats it.... Its all just a little hard to watch, and honestly, Ive been turning it off lately; all of it. This primary is basically over. If its not for some reason, then I don't know what thats going to mean, because the truth is that this country has a huge emotional problem, and it may take some sort of huge disaster to get us back to some semblance of what were were supposed to be about.

Meanwhile, over at the Old Grey Lady, Frank Rich managed to lay out something that is so urgent and damaging to our country as to make Obama's passive pew/fence sitting during Wright's inflammatory,(if largely correct content-wise,) sermons, seem mild. The truth of McCain and Hagee is that McCain pursued the twisted fuck for his endorsement and that, even in light of having the possibility of standing on a stage next to the next possible President, Hagee consistently repeats his insane claims. And no matter how it has been approached on the kid-gloves-Sunday-shows, McCain refuses to acknowledge how insane the guy really is. Included in the morass of ideas by Hagee , are such gems as his belief that Hurricane Katrina was sent by God because of homosexuality in New Orleans, that a war in Iran should be started immediately as a "Holy War," and that the Catholic church is "The Great Whore," that is drinking Jewish blood. This is only part of the venom that this man spews regularly, and McCain is still happy to have his endorsement.

McCain claims that he does not accept "anti-anything" statements by Hagee, and dismisses any implication that there is a problem with Hagee's outrageous statements. Its unclear if McCain even is aware of what Hagee is saying, but he clearly seems to think that he can disassociate himself from some things that Hagee says and embrace the fact that the guy is religious at all. There has been incredibly little media coverage of McCain and his relationship to Hagee, but for some reason the media has seen fit to cover Obama and Wright ad nauseum, until watching political programming has become nearly impossible. As Rich notes:

I wonder if Mr. McCain would have given the same answer had Mr. Stephanopoulos confronted him with the graphic video of the pastor in full “Great Whore” glory. But Mr. McCain didn’t have to fear so rude a transgression. Mr. Hagee’s videos have never had the same circulation on television as Mr. Wright’s. A sonorous white preacher spouting venom just doesn’t have the telegenic zing of a theatrical black man.

And I would go further than that, in that what gets wall to wall coverage is transparently aimed at shaping the dialog in this country, and in fact to shape the race itself. Rich's point is that black transgressions get more air time and press than similar white transgressions. In support of this he notes Falwell and Robertson and their wacky take on the reasons for 9-11, and the Giuliani priest, among others. But is this merely a matter of racist coverage rather than pure favoritism towards a party, a candidate, or the status quo? Could it be just this simple, or maybe should we try to look at the fact that the outlets are all owned by large corporations that stand to benefit from the preservation of the status quo, represented by a Clinton or a McCain Presidency.

The press certainly loves McCain, and regularly accepts barbecue from him, which could be considered to be a bit of a conflict. There is a dearth of real reporting going on anymore, and the specter of Tim Russert or Matthews hosting another McCain lovefest is sickening. When does Rich call his colleagues in reporting on their behavior? Why is this as simple as a racial issue?

Obama sat for years in church and, if you believe his claims, he didn't much pay close attention to what was being said. That is not what anyone would call unusual in churchgoing Americans, though I would expect more of Obama, considering that he is a pretty deep and spiritual guy with a long term plan. John McCain was tickled to have Hagee endorse him over Huckabee, and continued to seek him out and welcome his endorsement even as the incredible sound bytes came out. ...and Obama is the one deserving of scrutiny? Perhaps that is racial, but there is also a programming angle to it that I see as having a much stronger influence on this thing than any white fear of the coming race war.

So, as much as I was happy to see Frank Rich cover this story, I wish he had gone deeper with it. Perhaps one can speculate about the racial thing easier than one can about actual entities making decisions. But this thing being driven by race would indicate that there are ratings being considered, just like when a blond girl goes missing in the Caribbean, and so doesn't that also indicate a decision by management? The question is, who is willing to take responsibility for what is going on? In the long run its easier to blame the ratings, the shareholders, and ultimately capitalism, than to own up to being part of the problem.

So, why is Obama still being questioned about Jeremiah Wright? Oh, its because crazy black preachers are much more Jerry Springer Show than white ones....right? In other words, its our fault.

c/p Brilliant at Breakfast

Person John Hagee

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McCain Watch

Blue Girl (from the Red State) has a great new regular feature: McCain Watch!
I expect to link to this regularly and also to contribute as much as I can. Kudos to the Girl for spearheading what will hopefully be a running conversation on the blogs and in the M$M...There is a truth about McCain that is shrouded in the aura of the war hero, and its a truth that has to get out to the American people before we find ourselves in real trouble, worse than we've seen yet....

The Silence of John and Elizabeth Edwards...New York Magazine's John Heilemann on Who Councils Hillary and Whatever Else About the Rest of It....

This week's New York Magazine has a piece by John Heilemann , and Ive been turning the thing over and over in my head since I found it in the mailbox, and shortly thereafter got a call from my Mom who, upon receiving hers, was excitedly reporting to me about how this little piece contains some answers about the silence of John and Elizabeth Edwards. Mom was saying that clearly he and Elizabeth had had some sort of falling out with Obama and that Elizabeth really, really hates Hillary.

Obviously she had just glanced at it, because the gist was really more about who councils Hillary and who is powerful enough in the democratic party to grab control of what seems to be a runaway train. The fact that Elizabeth Edwards finds Obama's health care plan to be not as good as Hillary's and that Obama had been supposedly "brusque" or rude to the Edwards' immediately following his withdrawal from the race, comes off as the gossipy headline but isn't the real story here. This is the sort of thing that you do find from time to time in New York Magazine, in that it can run with the more lurid lead, even in the face of a more substantial story, and people who do what my Mom does, which is to read the first paragraph and then scan the rest, can miss the point. And this is a kind of misleading journalism that is based on what the journalist can glean through his instant message interviews with party bigwigs, and just his gut, is a little misleading. I like Heilemann, but it seems that he is about opinion. Even as it seems like he is on the inside reporting real news, when you look through his columns, they are really opinion pieces, wrapped in whatever connections he has. I'm not saying hes wrong, but I read New York Magazine with a grain of salt, and I hope that everyone else does too.

Well, today Elizabeth Edwards responded to Heilemann's piece on Morning Joe. In her usual dignified way, she attacked just the gossipy parts and left the rest alone...though if Joe had been a better reporter he might have dug a little. The thing is that I don't think that he wants to go there; not really. Elizabeth stated that she didn't find Obama rude and actually found him quite charming. She did confirm that she doesn't like Obama's plan, and prefers Hillary's, and then she left the question of her storied open dislike for Clinton hanging.

Heilemann's in print guess seems to be that Elizabeth may be the reason that Johnny has not made an endorsement. Y'know, I'm pretty interested in knowing what the hell is going on in the Edwards camp, but this reaching and turning some vague snippets into a story that ends with sentences like "Maybe that's why he...." is a little pathetic. The piece implies, or rather states, that Edwards endorsement has been held up by how nice one or the other of the candidates was to him on the day of his withdrawal. Isn't that silly? Does that make any sense? These people are politicians, and yes they have big egos, but they also have thick skin, and there is no way that an entire strategy could come down to how one or the other acted towards him on that one day.

In going over how badly Obama did with the Edward's, Heilemann pushes the envelope further into concern for his diplomatic prowess, in comparison to the story that Hillary was all over them and was almost, maybe able to win Elizabeth over with her kindness and ass kissing. So, then...he goes on to say that if its true that Obama failed to impress Edwards, he doesn't have the diplomatic skills to run the country! And McCain does? Clinton does? Bush does? I dunno...
I suppose that this is one area that Hillary has more experience than the average politician, because she traveled alot as first lady and was around the necessary niceties in diplomatic exchange, but I'd hardly call Obama a slouch, and certainly not because of this! But Heilemann must know that the art of ass-kissing is a very ass-specific endeavor, and best carried out by people who are very adept and the bend over and twist. I find this all a little embarrassing and rather condescending to the Edwards and everyone else involved in this farce of a democratic process...especially the main stream media.


The real point of this story is that Gore and Edwards are the most powerful people in the democratic party right now and...who is going to stop Hillary??? He eventually wends through the merits of Pelosi or Reid talking to her and how much weight or clout Terry McAuliffe or Stephanie Tubbs Jones might have. But ultimately, it appears, that even here, in the lap of gossip, Hillary listens to no one but herself....and that, my friends, is the real reason for everything that is happening.


We're fighting for our lives here, people, lets try to focus on McCain and his lies, lies, lies!
Its apparent that this thing is gonna go all they way because the M$M needs to sell soap, and the daytime drama market is just not cutting it.

c/p Brilliant at Breakfast

McCain Boldly Breaks the Law. Are We Just Gonna Let Him? Take Action Here!

John McCain has broken the campaign finance laws by accepting public financing, which comes with a spending limit, and then going over the limit. This is not just unfair advantage, its illegal.
The taxpayer funding was good enough for McCain when he needed it, but recently, when he felt that he could raise more money than the limit, he sent a letter pulling out of the deal. Well, the letter would have to be processed and accepted by the Federal Election Commission and that has not happened yet. So, every bit of money that he goes over the limit, breaks the law.

Considering that this is the most publicized election in a long time, maybe forever, and considering that the entire world is looking at us, including our own country and our children, how can McCain expect to openly break the law without some sort of repercussions. A huge problem that we have in American diplomacy and in American attitude in general, is this feeling that the law doesn't apply equally. We used to have the legal system that other countries would pattern themselves after. We used to be able to be proud of our leadership role in the world. Now we have endless politicians involved in scandals and jails filled to capacity. Worse than that, we are reviled the world over for our lies and deceit. The world is watching this election, and our children will be studying this in school for years to come. What is the answer?

We've been through 7+ years of an administration that shows no respect for the law and makes no bones about their contempt for any institution that might question their pure authority. America is built on laws, and this is one fairness law that has not been thrown out...yet...
We cannot afford another 4 or 8 years of unlawful leadership. We cannot afford to erode our society any further at the hands of another old man who thinks that he knows whats right, and that set of rules seems to apply differently to him than to the rest of us.

Lets let John McCain know that we are not going to consider him to be an extension of the outlaw Bush regime, that he is not above the law, and that he may be able to buy the press with his barbecue and fake swagger, but the American people have had enough.

Daily Kos and FiredogLake have pulled together a group of bloggers and concerned citizens to launch a complaint to the Federal Election Commission, against McCain, and they are collecting signatures here.
If you haven't yet signed the petition, please do and please forward it on to everyone yourl address book...they have had an enormous response in a short amount of time, but they need more. Every voice is important and now is the time to use yours. We cant let one bit of disregard for the American people's laws past us again. It us up to us to take a stand, because its been proven again and again that the system, taken apart as it is, will not work without concerned people powering it.

John McCain is going to have to answer for this flagrant disregard of the law...let's get to it!

John McCain's "Slip" is More than Just That...Its Part of a Talking Points Campaign to Talk Iraq Into Iran. Stop the Insanity! End the War!

We have to nip this kind of propaganda in the bud. This talking points campaign is aimed at the news byte conscious. The retraction is usually on page 20, unless its caught in such an embarrassing light, as in this case.
This tragic week marks our 5th year in Iraq, and the occasion has been used as a propaganda tool for everyone in this administration, from the top on down, to get us ready for the NEXT war! Just as you're thinking that it couldn't be possible, and how could they think that America has the will or strength to enlarge our presence in the middle east, think again. These people don't care what you or I think. They care only for their bottom line and for their own best interest. They will expand this war, lying all the way, until they are stopped. And its up to us, as Americans, to stop them.

John McCain....He Is Old!

Meet President McCain!The Real Danger!

I'm juggling drafts here at the Rooster Ranch and while most of the incoming stuff seems to be of the Hillary vs. Obama variety show, in which the democrats once again shoot themselves in the foot while working out their very dysfunctional childhood tragedies as the repugs sneak in and blow up the Acme surprise box. Look, I know that they've had shit for candidates on the other side, but at least they have coagulated around one turd. Maybe its the batcrap craziest of 'em, and the one least able to maintain his facade, but so be it...the rub is the presentation by the huge advertising machine that has it's big gears turning underground as I type this. While we squabble about tit and tat they are getting ready, as usual...and as usual, we are locked in battle with ourselves.

From the Daily Kos "writer's strike," (h/t Skippy) where Hillary supporters feel overwhelmed by hate comments, to just about every mainstream media outlet, the story is the big fight between the 2 rarities that the democratic party has managed to put up for scrutiny. The story goes that the world will end if one or the other candidate becomes the general favorite and we are all caught up in the spectacle until WE become the story; the split party! This thing has reached the narcissistic stage, and I, for one, am gonna refrain from taking sides until we get to the general or unless something is real news. I'm also gonna encourage all democrats to do the same. Vote in your primary and then shut up except to go after the republican candidates in all races. The party needs to take the reins and stop the insanity now. Until they do we are in danger of a McCain Presidency. There is nothing to see here folks; move on by.

I'll talk about McCain, the general election, other races, and any real news that comes down the pike about Clinton or Obama (and I don't mean he said-she said,) that is progressing towards a conclusion to the primary season, but otherwise, I'm finished with the argument about who would be better for the country. The truth is that John McCain would be disastrous, and I'm frightened enough to want to urge the democratic party to get a move on so that we can all get behind one candidate and stop the McCain machine. If a miracle happened and John Edwards came roaring back with a billionaire backer, I'd be right up front carrying a sign, but its not gonna happen so... back to reality:

President McCain.
Lets all ponder the concept of that for a while. The fact that he is dangerously wrong on the issues is one thing...Oh, maybe he is better than Romnuckabee on one thing or another, and maybe he is a little less planet friendly or less pro-choice here or there, but the main problem that we have from the get-go, before we even begin to sort out the niggling things about spinning into the sun and who is really a real conservative, is the fucking war! McCain's issues page, "Iraq Victory" subsection begins with the following:

A greater military commitment now is necessary if we are to achieve long-term success in Iraq.

He doesn't mean have a draft and then send in a quarter million troops and get this thing over with...no he means the same old crap of trying to train the security forces there and stay until they can totally take care of themselves in a democratic way, whatever that is when filtered through the Haliburton/Blackwater government that's been in charge.There is really no need to read further at this point because there are just too many active and former military specialists who have been saying that our military is stretched too thin and that we cant possibly continue like this, much less start another one. The fact that McCain seems oblivious to the very real problems faced not only on the front lines of this war, but stateside, should be enough to make any thoughtful American reconsider a vote for McCain. The fact that the war is impacting our economy in such a devastating way is more cause for worry, and for the more self centered of Americans, that should be enough....see, even if we currently don't have to make personal sacrifices for this war, the financial difficulties caused by it are going to find each and every one of us on one level of another. If gas prices are bad for the average American now, just wait! $4 per gallon is right around the corner, and with it comes higher prices for everything that relies on fuel. The truth is that under a McCain presidency, or any Presidency that will continue the existing war and compound it in any way, we will likely be forced into a draft, a war tax, and sacrifices the likes of which we haven't previously seen. If this war doesn't touch you now, it will shortly. In order to follow McCain's plan we have to have a draft.

McCain admits himself to being a bit weak on economic issues, even as he tries to tap dance out of that admission, while at the same time aligning himself with the dawn of Reaganomics. Its enough to make your head spin.




A quick look at McCain's own issues page, reveals a troubling pattern of corporate economic incentives that seem to be more of the same old thing. He pays lip service to tax cuts for the middle class, but what is apparent is that his focus is still on the trickle down, but does not address the loss of jobs to outsourcing and the CEO payout. How does McCain think that the health care system should be reformed? Increase competition between providers, of course!
Its all some sort of fantasy, as far as I can see; promises that don't have any concrete plan. How would one increase competition between medical providers exactly? In what world can you mess around with the content of provider's care in medicine without serious regulation, (the type which that McCain is completely against...or is he?)

With a 10 percent corporate tax cut and the dream that it will result in a raise in American wages, (complete with footnotes!!)McCain is all over the place. Cut, cut, cut...and where is the money coming from as we fight on in the middle east until we're victorious? Add to that his pie in the sky plan to strengthen our borders and stop illegal immigration, with some nod to America being some "shining city on the hill" to the rest of the world, and NO PLAN.

Its all there, or not there, as I've said, and we don't have the luxury of letting another crazy work out his mommy or torture (take your pick) problems on the country. Americans who insist on believing the unfounded line that we can somehow pull off a victory in Iraq, bomb Iran, and/or somehow help Colombia with their growing problems, without a huge change in our current lives, are dreaming. The fact is that our version of "help" tends to create more problems, unless we begin with a quick hit and run plan, and a huge amount of troops. We also usually throw alot of aid at 'em immediately, as I recall from previous strikes. There is no doubt that we have created more terrorists with our "War on Terra" just by how it has been carried out, and that we are in much bigger danger from the toll of continuing our activities in Iraq than of the terra itself. Hell, if some other country did to us what we've done to Iraq, I'd be joining the rebel army myself!

If the idea of a full blown depression and a broken military doesn't give you pause, try this:

John McCain agrees with retired Army General Jack Keane that there are simply not enough American forces in Iraq. More troops are necessary to clear and hold insurgent strongholds; to provide security for rebuilding local institutions and economies; to halt sectarian violence in Baghdad and disarm Sunni and Shia militias; to dismantle al Qaeda; to train the Iraqi Army;



So, I'm assuming that this is on top of the surge troops that are "working."How long have we been trying to train the Iraqi forces and clear and hold strongholds? This is a war without end, and the longer we stay in it, the more we self destruct. There is hardly a passage in McCain's Issues section that doesn't spell some sort of destruction of whatever American way of life is left when thesewingnuts are done with us. Instead of Issues, why not call them Delusions?

Deluded is what John McCain is. He has some incredible deficit in his emotional control, with that about to blow persona, and who knows what resentments are hidden there after his failed election bids, not to mention his actual real-life torture, that he seems to use when its convenient and dismiss when its an issue of possible mental health concerns. Any of us can Google this and get many, many different stories and ideas about McCain's fitness to take the highest office in this
country, but it seems like it is very obvious that he is someone who does not have a good grasp on his emotions some of the time, and perhaps that should be something that we consider carefully.

I suppose that it would be politically incorrect to say that McCain also has cancer. Malignant Melanoma is an aggressive and deadly form of cancer, as the the New York Times reported when McCain had his first major relapse in 2000. According to statistics, melanomas caught in stage 1 or 2 can be cured pretty easily, but later stages along with thickness/size of tumors and recurrence sites, along with the general fitness of the person, make the survival rates fall. This is measured in 5 and 10 year increments. Because McCain is someone who has had recurrences and those recurrences were spreading of original cancers along with new cancers, it may be impossible to figure out his exact chances for long term survival unless he comes out and talks about it beyond the "I'm cured" line. He may be "cured" of those particular cancers, but he really cant say that the next one, and there will be a next one, wont be more aggressive that the ones before. I guess I'm saying that the republican party had better look hard at McCain's running mate...harder than usual.

The folly of running John McCain for President is something that we dems haven't had a chance to revel in because of our own problems. At some point we have to set aside our differences and start chipping away at this guy. He is so full of faults that ...well, I imagine still that if there is a way to hand the election to him, we will...but lets surprise ourselves, one soul at a time, and turn away from the propaganda about the left and towards the task at hand.

Welcome to the general election, in which we are at war with John McCain, and our candidate, whoever that may be, is as good as we can do right now...lets get to work!

c/p Brilliant at Breakfast

Broken Government? More like Broken Health Insurance Industry...The Billary Campaign Trail..One Kennedy Endorses Obama...Heed Frank Rich's Warning!

Sam Seder will be covering for Randi Rhodes on Air America Radio on Monday, January 28th...The Maron V. Seder Vodcast will be broadcast on live Tuesday, January 29th, and there is a possibility of a live Sammy Cam session to chat our way through the State of the Union Speech...or a possible Young Turk-a-thon (not my favorite thing, but desperate times call for desperate measures!) All this and more at Sam's Blog. Check back often for updates on all the stuff that's going on! He's busy!

So, CNN is advertising a special report, after the debate on Thursday, that is being billed as SANJAY GUPTA Reportsssss...Health Care in America: Broken Government!
Anyone with Medicare or Medicaid knows that the government healthcare programs work very well. They are probably the least broken parts of this screwed up country...Though one big problem with them is that when people like Rudy Giulliani are cutting the budgets of their fiefdoms, a good way of cutting bottom line services that should be immovable is by making social programs more difficult to find, fill out forms for, provide proper documentation for, and recert over and over, until people just leave the fief for a kinder and gentler state where one can sleep outside more comfortably, or a place that is more friendly to the poor. If you can get on them, the government programs are the most accepted, by law (and Medicaid needs some work in that area,) and pay providers pretty fairly. They operate with tiny overheads, compared to private insurance companies, and run rather smoothly, considering that they are part of the government bureaucracy.

I'm trying to find the commercial on CNN's website about Sanjay and his Gupta reportage, but since its not up yet, I'd like to suggest a rephrasing of that tag line. How about Broken Insurance Industry, (or how about,

This is what you get from outsourcing, you idiots!!

) Because I know from the commercial, its all about horrible medical crisis' that could have been prevented if only the Government wasn't Broken!Whats broken here is that we cant all get on Medicare and pay what we can. Its just that simple and will provide jobs, even as the insurance industry loses jobs.
This is not the first time that Gupta has used an inflammatory tag line and made sweeping generalizations about medical issues that he is not really qualified to speak to. He is an MD, not a political scholar. And its questionable how smart of an MD he is too. But, I'm all ears, Sanjay...have at it!

The difference between me and Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg is one of having faith in human nature and hope that the American system and/or the American people are strong enough, at this point in history, to fall behind an idealistic young candidate and go through with what will be necessary to turn this ship around before it hits ground. I keep imagining the moment that, in the midst of a terra alert, we put McCain or Romney into office just to be "safe." Hey, Its happened before! Don't rule it out!

I don't know what rosy colored glasses the Kennedy's look through to maintain their hope in the face of tragedy, and as political insiders who have seen their share of the gruesome details, but its sort of heartening and lovely in a way...and a little unreal. I also think that it has something to do with being raised in an extended family of public servants who are steeped in being able to promote change. They are told this from the moment they hit the ground running, and they have the support, even in trauma and dysfunction, of their extended family and religion to keep going. They also are from money; not that they all have riches beyond compare, because there are so many of them, but operating from a platform of upper classiness, they are educated and prepped for a life of great privilege, and a life of service to balance it. Religion has something to do with it too. They are Catholics, and it seems that having a higher reason behind what the aim is, helps with all those questions of why.
A coy Obama as much as admitted that Teddy Kennedy is on board as well. Breaking News: Tomorrow comes the endorsement.
Do they know the real think when they see it just because they are Kennedy's? Because everything about Obama seems to rely more on the feeling that he gives people than actual substance. I'd like to see more substance and less positioning.

Granted, I would be the virtual Woody Allen neurotic New Yorker to any Kennedy hope filled spiel about this young candidate being of the flesh and the body of the father. It must be nice to feel like you've found the reincarnation of hope, but I'm not quite there yet, to be honest, I'm doubtful about the whole thing. America does not have a very good track record at successfully letting hopeful leaders make their way into office. Surely, if Barak Obama is going to be brave enough to throw himself out there, I'm willing to listen, but it took me four years and an in person meeting to make me start to think that John Edwards really means what he says, and I have some very concrete reasons why I like him.

Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg's reasoning about Obama had less to do with the specifics of what Obama might do, than with things that people have told her about how he reminds them of her father. See, she doesn't really remember her father, but I'm sure that she knows everything he ever did, and the concrete reasoning behind it all, so why this wishy-washy endorsement? It sounds to me like " He moves the American people and makes them feel good.." and people say that he reminds them of my father, so lets trust him to try to dig us out of the worst hole we've been in, maybe ever?

Whoever gets the job is bound to look bad pretty quickly if not right away. There is just too much to clean up, and even the most experienced politician is gonna have to get their hands really dirty, offending alot of people along the way, meanwhile trying to fix the diplomatic mess that they are going to be left with. I think that whoever is the winner of this contest is going to end up with the short end of the stick, and the war is going to be his/her's, thanks to the democratic majority's inability to get itself to act, even in the interest of getting some information on the record to protect the next president.

I've been a little shocked at the reaction of a few people in the blogosphere to Edwards not dropping out of the race when he didn't win South Carolina.
I see no reason for him to drop out, and in fact, I urge him to stay in...I sent him money, and will send more after the 1st of the month. I guess that the best thing about this race has been the discourse. Some of it has been insane and some of it has been upsetting, but mostly, it's been good to see everyone allowed to talk out loud about whats been going on for these years in what seemed like a virtual gulag, as the terra alerts went from yellow to red, and we were told the best way to duct tape ourselves into a room in case of attack. Remember all that? Some woman around here actually killed herself and her kid because she sealed them into a room too tightly at a time when they had to use a generator or heater or something.

Remember not being able to buy duct tape because that asshole director of homeland security, Tom Ridge, said that all Americans should have these things...and survival food...doesn't it seem like a fucking dream? How did they successfully carry out all of the lies? How is it that they wont have to pay somehow? And isn't it crazy that any of these fools wants the job at all?

Yeah, you have to be pretty sure of yourself to think that you might be able to fix this mess up...even with a full staff of advisers, I cant imagine that anyone wouldn't have some trepidation. And I guess that I don't feel like Obama has the experience to run the entire country ...but I'd prefer to take a chance with him than to go with what I know will be business as usual with Billary. One way or another, we're bound to take a bit of a dip before we start to rebound. The dip might last what seems like a long time in our short sightedness, but historically it will be a blip. It's what we deserve for getting too lazy to pay attention and vote, and the turnout speaks loudly to the fact that its going to be a long time before people become that complacent again.

Frank Rich wrote in the New York Times today about the dangers of a Hillary Clinton general election. He pretty much warned that while Hillary may consider herself vetted, Bill has not been vetted on whats happened since he left the White House. Apparently there is much there to make hay of, and if Hillary is running against McCain, a swift boating or even an attack grounded in fact could land us with a President McCain. The sudden heavy use of Bill Clinton to pull Hillary's numbers up could have a devastating effect on this country if he has not been squeaky clean over the last 8 years. Surely there is a danger in just the perception of going back to the same old water carrying that was a huge part of how we got here.

For the Republicans, that means not just a double dose of the one steroid, Clinton hatred, that might yet restore their party’s unity but also two fat targets. Mrs. Clinton repeatedly talks of how she’s been “vetted” and that “there are no surprises” left to be mined by her opponents. On the “Today” show Friday, she joked that the Republican attacks “are just so old.” So far. Now that Mr. Clinton is ubiquitous, not only is his past back on the table but his post-presidency must be vetted as well. To get a taste of what surprises may be in store, you need merely revisit the Bill Clinton questions that Hillary Clinton has avoided to date.

Rich seems to think that Obama is a contender...more than Hillary is anyway. When he writes like this it is usually because he knows something, and the only way to figure it out is to try to catch him on the TV machine, as he no doubt will be appearing here and there this week, (or so I hope.) What seems clear is that polls at Real Clear Politics already show Hillary running neck and neck with McCain in the general. They also project the rest of the democratic field the same with McCain. I don't know about you, but I'm not gonna make it through another tight race in which we have questionable vote counting. Make no mistake, the aim of this thing as to be to win, and we can only hope that the Republican nominee isn't old John McCain, because he seems to have some legs in this thing. Where are the fundies when you need 'em?

I don't believe that Don Skeletor Imus is a racist anymore than any of these guys are. Maybe thats not saying much...I do believe that he is a dinosaur, disgusting, and pretty anti-woman and sexist....but he is not a racist, as far as Ive ever heard. The problem with these neocons in disguise, like old Don, is that he is a little too in touch with the reptilian layers of his brain...and for old farts like him, that racial slur is in there just waiting to come out. You see it alot in old folks. Some of them are the most liberal and empathetic people, but somehow as they age, a little of what they heard growing up, before they decided how to live their lives, is in there just waiting to pop.
Here is the crazy part: Imus has been putting down just about everyone in a disgusting way for years and years....He hosts the supposed top journalists in the world and somehow they are cowed into his simplistic, blunted, format, as he and "Charles" chuckle and joke about one thing or another, and never really seem to say much of anything....And Imus chooses who he supports depending on who scratches HIS back: case in point is the horrible Rick Santorum who bought Imus' support by putting through a bill on autism. So Imus went on and on about what a great person Santorum is, with no reason except that he was supportive of this bill. It was the same thing with Joementum Lieberman. Imus liked him because he just "made some sense" and he showed up on the show. He had no idea what Lieberman was doing or the details of Bush's butt boy and his psychotic support of the Iraq war, except that he just "liked" him. He didnt know nothing about that stranger Lamonte, and he felt no need to find out.
So, I don't like Imus (even though I grew up in a house where he was on the radio all the time,) because I think that he supports the basest of the very human ability to turn a deaf ear to what is clear and right in front of you. Why does this guy have such a big platform to say...um... not so much? And, by the way, Mark Green and David Bernstein, in case you're reading this, Imus is NOT funny...this show is not comedy!!

Well, David Gregory, in for Chris Matthews on Hardball tonight, fielded a lineup with the likes of ...ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS (he of the local NYC Air America Mornings lineup, and the secret paid shill of Bush's No Child Left Behind program, acting as if he was "reporting" on it when he was a White House employee...uh-huh,) who was saying over and over that MSNBC is the white man's station with no Latino or black hosts...to which Gregory kept trying to drive home that Allison Stewart is on staff (and a woman to boot!)...but I think that he was more after an actual HOST job, and not a fluffy newscaster with a day slot and fill-in work. You tell 'em Army!

Breaking News!!! MSNBC suspends Imus' simulcast for 2 whole weeks!!!!! As if soldiers aren't dying in Iraq and Bush and Cheney aren't criminals, THIS is the big news of the day.
Well hell...tomorrow we will also find out who the real father Of Anna Nicole Smith's baby is....and THIS is what they are gonna spend an entire hardball on? This is what makes the media look at itself? What a joke!
Imus is a sexist, neocon, who has some sort of good streak that allows him to straddle the fence on enviornment and sick kids, but he has done the country and the children who will live till tomorrow no favors in his complicity in this administration's disinformation program...and his cowed "friends" in the media are "dismayed" as Gregory said, because it is so troublesome to think that they might be associated with that sort of language...huh? Lets discuss how to change Imus' show...lets discuss whats wrong with Imus....I'm bored....

Into the middle of this walks Lionel....well, nevermind...LTR again has the lingo down so well. "...slides into Sam's spot" eh?...pretty seamless, all this shuffling round, huh? Some people have an interest in this thing because what is LTR without LTR? Im afraid to even say it, but it may very well be over. Time to change that LTR to NPR-ish Nightmare.....maybe they can give Imus a slot when Sharpton marches on CBS radio and forces them to fire him. Oh the uppity disbelief that the radio station has not yet removed him... yet....just give the Rev a day or so to assemble the troops and you never know...maybe old Don will be available yet. And I know who can afford him too!
Oh, and to the person in the comments on LTR who compares this to "not quite as bad as Danny Gold-schmuck," I must say that I find it worse, because they have the hindsight of those mistakes and the damage that followed an egotistical pseudo-bottom-line choice that didn't listen to the fans, and now they are doing the same thing over again.

Its like the haunted look in John McCain's eyes...the empty stare of realization that maybe everything that your house of cards is built on is just so much shit, sliding away through the Gaza.... Trying to salvage his political career, McCain was heard to say that so much did he believe in his own belief that Baghdad is safe, that he would be willing to walk solo through the market anytime.
Maybe he could ask Mitt Romney to come along with his "varmint" rifle....
But really, I hear McCain also say that he can fly...somewhere around when he was last seen with the angel dust dealer round the side of the rug stand. Fly Johnny, fly.....I hear Sanjaya is gonna join the campaign as official singer just as soon as he wins American Idol....

If everything runs in some sort of cycle, I suppose it may be time to start the run of Air America Radio from its inception and hope for better days sometime in the next 2 years (and I have just the archive to do it)....or maybe the angel dust thing is something to consider. Maron and Garafolo are playing NYC for a week, beginning tomorrow night, and I feel like going every night...with the angel dust and maybe some drinking thrown in! Too bad I have no tolerance for chemicals or drink anymore...too bad....


Meantime, just watching the nestbox...my father is back in the hospital in Cape Cod, after one night at his hotel, and trying to get home to LA somehow...maybe figure out what the problem is...and the rest is just complicated....very complicated....

Drowning in Shit, Literally and...Oh Never Mind....Sam Seder on the Ball or in Front of the 8-ball?...John McCain Has Really Lost It This Time!

Not to be indelicate here, but what sort of planetary alignment has provided us with such a literal illustration of the state of things in much of the world, than the sewage flood in Gaza yesterday. A sewer collapse caused foaming putrid waste to flood into towns full of tin shacks, many of which remain up to their roofs in the stuff?
Apparently the sewer (and many others) cannot be upgraded because of fighting. Indeed, when authorities rushed to the scene to check out the damage, they were fired upon by locals.
If it really was only 5 people that died, I'll be very surprised...and what a way to go!
I read about this in my local paper, where it was a back page international blurb story. As I sat in a waiting room making some interesting ewwwww/yuck faces, it occurred to me that this must be one of the most particularly bad ways to go...or survive and have to clean it up in the middle of a war zone. It adds insult to injury, the poo.... Yeah, you can have your Katrinas and Tsunamis and mudslides; I'm guessing that the earthen wall that is all thats standing between your tin shack and smelly oblivion...well, lets just say that it was probably pretty smelly to begin with and you run fast when you have to pass it on your way to market.
I don't want to step into the Israel/Palestinian poo at all, but it seems like somehow there has to be some humanity in this crisis that lets these people, on both sides, at least build a sewage treatment plant. What if disease there was gonna come here, for instance? If there is a total dearth of empathy on both sides that extends even to poo-poo, then maybe the self centered and selfish on both sides can try to focus on the down-side of this for themselves....?

I hadn't heard much of the sewage in the news, but was pretty enthralled with how spot on and fantastic Sam Seder was today. I podcast the show later on in the afternoon, so I missed the moment on the Sammy-cam where, I hear, Sam mentioned that he was about to get fired.
I just want to repeat to any Air America employee or suit who might happen by here via a Google search or whatever, that if you fire Sammy, I'm done with AAR and all the crap that you've put your loyal listeners through!

John McCain handed us the best story of the week with his crazy echo of the crazy president, and his butt-boy Joe Lieberman, (and their little dog too,) about how fucking great things are in Iraq.
Even Wolfie Blitzer had to go to, correspondent on the ground (and one of my personal heros,)Mick Ware, who put McCain's story where it belongs, in the poo heap of talking point nonsense.
This is a must see piece of film:



Its not just McCain, though I wonder about him as he seems to fade to white, more every day....he is merely talking the talking points, and this is, incredibly, what they expect us to believe! Someone has to tell these people that the American people are tired of the lies and that even the stupidest of us are startign to wise up. What part of neverland are they talking about?
Sam cuts to the 'World of Pure Imagination' song or his daughter's music, which is so funny (yes, I can say it now because my kid is 13, but its Sam's own fault if he doesnt get her something deeper like the Muppets or Dan Zanes...or even Paul Westerberg's Open Season...hell, the pathos of Cookie Monster alone is enough to bring back all that abnormal psych stuff from your old pot smoking days in college)....If you believe in a land of marshmallow skies and candy cane lamp posts, then clap your hands children....
Even though the wall of shit is rolling towards you...the earthen wall is breaking as we speak...believe hard enough and we will achieve VICTORY!
I really wonder how McCain sleeps at night, knowing what he knows.

I guess its a gift to Olbermann, Stewart, Colbert, Sammy, Maron (wherever he is performing tonight,) and even Wolf Blitzer, at this point, to have these wackos out there spouting nonsense every day, but its more than a little unsettling that Bush is so out of control and no one is able to do anything substantial about it.
I think we gotta start the impeachment thing right away....immediately...

I have to hand it to Mick Ware for his 4 long years in Iraq and his spot on, no holds barred, reporting of the truth that he sees with his eyes. He has been exasperated with the Liebermans and McCains of this thing all along, and hasn't been afraid to say it. Maybe its because he hasn't been tied up too tightly by any one network and is less American (I think he is Aussie, but I don't actually know what his citizenship is.)He is a real old fashioned reporter, and I imagine that like so many others, he has suffered for it. I cant imagine how anyone can work out of that area and in those circumstances without somehow getting wrecked...but then, the citizens of these places have no choice, not to mention the soldiers, and the brave reporters who act as our eyes and ears out there while carrying the burden of documenting history, which is no small job.

Every day has to be bringing us closer to some sort of resolution in this mess. I can't face it otherwise.