ThinkFast: February 20, 2009
ThinkFast: February 20, 2009
Writing in Time, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) lays out “the case for a truth commission.” “People would be invited to come forward and share their knowledge and experiences, not for purposes of constructing criminal indictments but to assemble the facts,” he writes. “If needed, such a process could involve subpoena powers and even the authority to obtain immunity from prosecution in order to get to the whole truth.”
Health care reps — “from big insurance companies to lobbyists for consumers, doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies” — are “inching toward a consensus.” They agree that “comprehensive health care legislation should include a requirement that every American carry insurance.” The various groups have been secretly meeting in a Senate room for months, with the blessing of Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA).
“I’m excited because this president is taking urban America out of the desert it’s been in for eight years,” said Adolfo Carrion, Jr., the new head of the White House Office of Urban Affairs. Derek Douglas, formerly of the Center for American Progress, is headed to the new office as well.
For the budget he will present next week, President Obama “has banned four accounting gimmicks that President George W. Bush used to make deficit projections look smaller.” The move away from budget gimmicks, one of which used to be not including the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, will create “a budget that is $2.7 trillion deeper in the red over the next decade than it would otherwise appear.”
“Demand at food banks across the country increased by 30 percent in 2008 from the previous year,” according to a survey by Feeding America. Even food pantries in upscale communities are seeing an uptick in demand. “These are people who never really had to ask for help before,” said Brenda Beavers of the Salvation Army.
The number of U.S. workers drawing unemployment benefits “jumped to a record high of nearly 5 million,” the Labor Department reported yesterday. It’s the highest number since 1967 when the government began keeping such records.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said it’s time to “take a whack” at climate change and that “he plans to push for Senate action on global warming by the end of summer.” Reid said “the Senate will take up energy legislation in a couple of weeks ‘and then later this year, hopefully late this summer do the global warming part of it.’”
The IAEA has “found that Iran recently understated by a third how much uranium it has enriched” and it has enough low enriched uranium that — with added purification — is sufficient for one atom bomb. But the IAEA also found that Iran is “putting the brakes on key aspects” of its program, which is seen “as a conciliatory gesture in advance of any diplomatic overtures by the Obama administration.”
A classified Pentagon assessment has concluded that “there is a significant risk the U.S. military may not be able to respond quickly and fully to new crises” because of strain from “repeated war tours, persistent terrorist threats and instability around the globe.” This is the third year in a row that the risk level has been set at “significant.”
And finally: Obama’s director of the Office of Management and Budget, Peter Orszag, had a rough first weekend of work. Finding a large marble fireplace stacked with wood in his office on a chilly January day, Orszag lit a cozy fire. “The only problem: The Secret Service had capped the building’s chimneys. Smoke alarms started going off upstairs, and the building was evacuated.” Orszag has suffered the mocking of the White House ever since. “Rahm [Emanuel] asked me to send smoke signals to the Hill,” Orszag told Politico’s Ben Smith.
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Health care reps — “from big insurance companies to lobbyists for consumers, doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies” — are “inching toward a consensus.” They agree that “comprehensive health care legislation should include a requirement that every American carry insurance.” The various groups have been secretly meeting in a Senate room for months, with the blessing of Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA).
So… you want to drive a car, you need insurance, at their “free-market” rates.
If you want to drive that body, you will need insurance (at their “free-market” rates). So…. what do they propose the penalty is for those not carrying health insurance? Repossession? Perhaps jail time?
February 20th, 2009 at 9:08 am“not for purposes of constructing criminal indictments” means no justice. truth without justice is a public relations campaign. it is, frankly, bullshit. what mechanisms are in place to protect the whistle blowers?
this is just another opportunity to sweep criminal actions by the prior administration under the rug.
February 20th, 2009 at 9:09 amWriting in Time, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) lays out “the case for a truth commission.” “People would be invited to come forward and share their knowledge and experiences, not for purposes of constructing criminal indictments but to assemble the facts….
And when those facts point to crimes having been committed, what then? I think I know what Congress is doing here. They don’t want to directly go after the Bush Crime Family because that would cause a huge Republican’t backlash. So they will find out the truth and then they will have no choice but to ask for prosecution. At least I hope that’s what they are doing.
February 20th, 2009 at 9:10 amFinding a large marble fireplace stacked with wood in his office on a chilly January day, Orszag lit a cozy fire. “The only problem: The Secret Service had capped the building’s chimneys.
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Didn’t something similar to this happen on a West Wing episode once?
February 20th, 2009 at 9:10 amHey Patrick. Why don’t you grow a pair.
The Bush admin told you to go jerk yourself off for 5 years and this is the best you can come up with.
February 20th, 2009 at 9:11 am“Truth Commission” = “Cover up”
February 20th, 2009 at 9:11 amPresident Obama “has banned four accounting gimmicks that President George W. Bush used’
It’s a good start, Mr. President. Unfortunately there are hundreds of gimmicks needed to be fixed and the President will have his hands full fixing DUBYA gimmicks.
February 20th, 2009 at 9:11 amGod speed Mr. Obama, I wish you successes in your presidency.
The number of U.S. workers drawing unemployment benefits “jumped to a record high of nearly 5 million,” the Labor Department reported yesterday. It’s the highest number since 1967 when the government began keeping such records.
So, in the most literal sense possible, unemployment is now “off the chart”. And this figure is for those COLLECTING unemployment — it does NOT include those whose unemployment has run out, or those who lost jobs but don’t get unemployment.
February 20th, 2009 at 9:13 amHealth care reps — “from big insurance companies to lobbyists for consumers, doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies” — are “inching toward a consensus.” They agree that “comprehensive health care legislation should include a requirement that every American carry insurance.”
Of course big insurance wants a requirement that everyone be required to carry insurance. That’s all the more profit for them. If Obama does go for some kind of a hybrid of government coverage/private insurance coverage they at least deny insurance companies the right to discriminate. They also need to take some control over what premiums the companies can charge and put a cap on what profits they can make. But, most of all they need to deny insurance companies the right to overrule doctors when it comes to determining care for patients.
Of course the quickest and best thing to do would to put every American on medicare and then hire unemployed health insurance company employees to do the paperwork. But, that’s not going to happen until we come to a consensus in this country that health care should be a right and not a privilege for all citizens.
February 20th, 2009 at 9:16 amThey agree that “comprehensive health care legislation should include a requirement that every American carry insurance.”
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I don’t mind a requirement that I carry health insurance, but such a requirement must be combined with forbidding insurance providers from cherry-picking their insureds based on pre-existing conditions, and such insurance must be affordable.
If I had to get insurance on my own in the environment today, I wouldn’t be able to. Nor could many others.
Ideally, we need universal health care, but I’m realistic enough to know that won’t happen overnight. But it would be nice to see any changes go in that general direction.
February 20th, 2009 at 9:17 amFor the budget he will present next week, President Obama “has banned four accounting gimmicks that President George W. Bush used to make deficit projections look smaller.”
And this will be conveniently ignored by the reichwing looneys as they scream and wail (and gnash their teeth) about how much more the deficit is, how it offends their delicate fiscally conservative sensibilities, and things would NEVER be this bad if reichies were in charge (etc., etc.,….).
Since I pre-empted them on this, can they just skip it and move to their next hackeneyed whine?
February 20th, 2009 at 9:18 amBilbo Hussein Baggins Says
February 20th, 2009 at 9:16 am
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I think we said the same thing, but you said it much better. Thanks!
February 20th, 2009 at 9:19 amBut the IAEA also found that Iran is “putting the brakes on key aspects” of its program, which is seen “as a conciliatory gesture in advance of any diplomatic overtures by the Obama administration.”
This will be overlooked by the hysterical right as they attempt to whip us into a frenzy of fear that Iran will have a suitcase bomb (already debunked as being impossible) next year. And Israel will use this as an excuse for a preemptive strike on Iran. And if President Obama approves of Israel’s action and joins in the fight, he will be codifying the “Bush Doctrine” as legitimate.
February 20th, 2009 at 9:19 amCageyCretin Says
February 20th, 2009 at 9:08 am
So… you want to drive a car, you need insurance, at their “free-market” rates.
If you want to drive that body, you will need insurance (at their “free-market” rates). So…. what do they propose the penalty is for those not carrying health insurance? Repossession? Perhaps jail time?
____________________________________________________________
One thing the decision-makers need to consider is that if a person can’t afford auto insurance, they don’t have to have a car. Having a body is less of an option.
February 20th, 2009 at 9:20 ammisshusseinmolly Says:
Bilbo Hussein Baggins Says
Fair enough… except that the premiums (and, in fact ALL details… like deductables and co-pays) should be SEVERLY regulated. Also, the insurance company should not be able to determine the health care provider or method (e.g. if I want accupuncture to treat my illness, that should be MY choice, and covered… etc.).
What they are trying to arrange is, of course, NOT anything close to those lines. I still wonder — what are they suggesting the penalty should be for someone who does NOT have their insurance?
February 20th, 2009 at 9:24 amIngredients for an Israeli Attack on Iran
Mix one part crazy man with ample uranium supplies. Add the right wing of an Israeli hawk and U.S. political lap dogs. Stir using defense industry swizzle sticks. Turn heat on high. Once the bad brew boils, bombs away!
Israel is ready to act. They need to move before Iran can elect a moderate. Removal of the crazy man impacts the brew’s lethality.
For links to Jerusalem Post articles go to:
http://arisfreedomswitch.blogspot.com/2009/02/ingredients-for-israeli-attack-on-iran.html
February 20th, 2009 at 9:24 amNYT reported:
The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve plan to spend as much as $1 trillion to provide low-cost loans and guarantees to hedge funds and private equity firms that buy securities backed by consumer and business loans.
The Fed is expected to start the first phase of the program, which will provide $200 billion in loans to investors, in early March.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/business/20lend.html?_r=1&hp
America’s shadow banking system caused much of the global financial meltdown. Now they get taxpayer subsidies to buy banks? How far down the rabbit hole will America go? The Carlyle Group and their PEU brethren win again. (PEU-private equity underwriter)
February 20th, 2009 at 9:26 amThe case for a Truth Commission? Proof that America is not a nation of laws equally applied. Those in power make the rules.
A pox on their houses…
February 20th, 2009 at 9:28 amI have a friend, who is seperated from her husband, but wants a divorce. She is not going to get one any time soon. Why? Because she has cancer, and therefore, she has a pre-existing condition, and doesn’t dare come off his health insurance. We need care for all, even if you are sick! My goodness, almost everyone has a pre-existing condition. Why does the health care system have to make money? Oh, yeah, because greedy b–tards put money above health.
February 20th, 2009 at 9:28 amTexas has a law requiring drivers carry car insurance. 20% don’t comply. They go bare.
Why do elected leaders believe citizens will follow any legal requirement to purchase health insurance?
Those caught without coverage should ask the judge for a truth commission.
February 20th, 2009 at 9:32 am1. Leahy appears to definitely NOT be envisioning prosecutions, other than those necessary to defend HIS process (ie if someone with immunity lies to him). What the hell good is it if there are no proscecutions at the end?? It’s just navel gazing, very expensively!
February 20th, 2009 at 9:35 am2. Do we really want health insurance lobbyists writing our healthcare legislation? Isn’t that where we got in trouble last time??
3. Make a donation to a food bank today.
4. Somebody please explain how Harry can divorce “Energy” form “Global Warming” and deal with them as 2 separate issues in 2 separate bills??
5. Good Morning all!
Writing in Time, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) lays out “the case for a truth commission.” “People would be invited to come forward and share their knowledge and experiences, not for purposes of constructing criminal indictments but to assemble the facts,” he writes. “If needed, such a process could involve subpoena powers and even the authority to obtain immunity from prosecution in order to get to the whole truth.”
Jeez, Dems – show some spine for a change. Charge in with criminal indictments and do the job right! Quit dancing around the issue and either do it and do it right, or leave it alone. Wimps.
February 20th, 2009 at 9:36 amCageycretin says
February 20th, 2009 at 9:38 amIf you want to drive that body, you will need insurance (at their “free-market” rates). So…. what do they propose the penalty is for those not carrying health insurance? Repossession? Perhaps jail time?
I have 2 words for ya: Soylent Green!
leahy is doing what we suspected…..obstructing criminal prosecution of the Bush crime family.
maybe, after it’s all over, we can talk about our feelings.
February 20th, 2009 at 9:38 amWearechange, Thank you for this phrase!
truth without justice is a public relations campaign.
I’m going to use it every day!
February 20th, 2009 at 9:40 amOOOhhh, subpoena powers, writes Pat Leahy.
OK. Back it up or shut up. Sorry all, I’m just supremely tired of this performance.
I’ll believe Sen. Leahy’s writing (that someone else undoubtedly edited, proofed, actually wrote?) for him when I see something like firm action on this. Talk & writing is cheap, actions might cost him & others. Will anything happen but this righteous bluster? I’d hate for us all to hang by our ….. waiting for Sen Leahy to make good on his words.
It’ll look like Leahy was trying to DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS in the history books. That his aim? One wonders.
February 20th, 2009 at 9:41 amI cannot attach a link to the text here below, but you can view this video at C&L or DailyKos.
John Gibson comparing Eric Holder to an angry monkey.
Apparently we’re going to need federal legislation to prohibit conservatives from even discussing monkeys, using the word “monkey” or any such thing because for the 2nd day in a row we have a conservative, this times the horrible John Gibson of FOX News, putting his foot into his mouth and down his throat with a comment suggesting that a notable African American is a monkey.
Essentially, here’s what happens. The anchor/reporter are talking about a monkey that has escaped from a zoo in Seattle. The anchor then shows viewers ….a monkey, which, when angry, has a “bright blue scrotum.” … She says “bright blue scrotum” a bunch of times, and this is funny.
She then throws it to John Gibson, who says, and this is a quote, “We were talking about Eric Holder today on the radio, and his bright blue scrotum.”
February 20th, 2009 at 9:41 amRove:
“It was not intentional that we did not list the war cost of 2.7 trillion dollars on the books, it was simply a tabulating error”.
ya ,ya
Cheney:” It happened when the budget was ‘in its last throes’”.
Bush :”Accountants were not sure if they can’ bring it on’”.
February 20th, 2009 at 9:41 amWaPo reported:
UBS Revealed Far Less Than U.S. Sought in Tax Case
One day after the Justice Department claimed to have struck a blow against Swiss bank secrecy, it became clear yesterday how limited that blow was and how much a $780 million fraud settlement with Switzerland’s largest bank left unresolved.
Yesterday, the Swiss president told reporters in Switzerland that UBS had given the U.S. government the identities of up to 300 clients — a small fraction of the information the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service have been seeking.
The IRS underscored the enormous gap yesterday in a fresh lawsuit alleging that as many as 52,000 U.S. taxpayers used secret accounts at UBS to hide money from the tax agency. That number was more than double previous estimates.
UBS donated $505,017 to the Obama campaign and $86,000 to Rahm Emanuel’s Congressional runs.
February 20th, 2009 at 9:45 amthere is a significant risk the U.S. military may not be able to respond quickly and fully to new crises” because of strain from “repeated war tours, persistent terrorist threats and instability around the globe.”
The BushitCo legacy that keeps ramming and ramming and ramming up the collective American rectalia.
February 20th, 2009 at 9:45 am“People would be invited to come forward and share their knowledge and experiences, not for purposes of constructing criminal indictments but to assemble the facts,” he writes. “If needed, such a process could involve subpoena powers and even the authority to obtain immunity from prosecution in order to get to the whole truth.”
Hey pat, I think you can count on the criminals ignoring the invitation too, but nice try.
February 20th, 2009 at 9:46 ammisshusseinmolly Says:
Bilbo Hussein Baggins Says
February 20th, 2009 at 9:16 am
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I think we said the same thing, but you said it much better. Thanks!
Why thank you missmolly. A compliment from you is like receiving an Academy Award.
Another thing about revamping health insurance. There needs to be a requirement for set fees that health care providers can charge for any service and the insurance company needs to be required to pay that fee minus a deductible.
I recently had to make a trip to an emergency room to get a prescription since my doctor had gone on vacation without telling me. It is a class II medication I take for chronic pain. The ER was my only choice since it was Xmas day. Well, I paid my exorbitant $50 co-pay for the visit. Then I got a bill from the Hospital for another $150. It seems that the hospital charged $300 for a 5 minute visit, and since my insurance only paid them $100, I am on the hook for the remaining $150. I was not told this when I inquired about how much it would cost me when checking in. I was told my cost would be my $50 co-pay. Consequently I’m not paying the remainder and will probably see it go to collection, but it will be a cold day in hell before I pay them another $150.
February 20th, 2009 at 9:48 amWaPo reported:
Netanyahu Tasked With Assembling New Israeli Government
Israeli President Shimon Peres formally asked Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday to form the next government.
Several of the far-right parties in the government have already said they would join a Likud-led coalition. But they are demanding that Netanyahu expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank, a move that would put the new Israeli government on a collision course with the Obama administration.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/20/AR2009022000219.html?hpid=topnews
February 20th, 2009 at 9:49 amCageyCretin Says
February 20th, 2009 at 9:24 am
I still wonder — what are they suggesting the penalty should be for someone who does NOT have their insurance?
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Good question. A stiff fine? Yeah, I’m sure that getting somebody who can’t afford health insurance to pay a stiff fine will work well — like getting blood out of a turnip.
Jail? Oh, THAT’S productive. But hey — at least in jail, you can get free health care.
Denial of health care? Um…I think that’s what we have now.
It’s rather obvious that requiring health insurance within the system we have now is unenforcable.
And the system we have now is rather stupid. Think about it — most of us who have health insurance get it through our employers, who put the cost of providing it into their goods and services. This means we all pay for it — when we go to the store and buy a box of cereal, we contribute toward the health care of the people who make the cereal, package it in a box, truck it to the distribution center, deliver it to the store, stock it on the shelf, and ring it up at the register. And everybody in between. Since we’re all ultimately paying for everybody’s health care anyway, surely we can find a more efficient way of doing it?
February 20th, 2009 at 9:50 amI have no problem whatsoever at all with ALL Americans being required to be insured under a single payer, non profit system.
February 20th, 2009 at 9:50 amWhoaaa! Miss H. Molly, you’re making way too much sense here.
February 20th, 2009 at 9:52 amAgain.
As usual.
Good Morning!
Truth Commission = appease those who are calling for justice until the statute of limitations runs out on torture and other high crimes.
tsk tsk tsk! Shame on you Congress ! You CAN do better than that !
YOU MUST !
February 20th, 2009 at 9:54 amrastaman Says:
leahy is doing what we suspected…..obstructing criminal prosecution of the Bush crime family.
maybe, after it’s all over, we can talk about our feelings.
I fail to see how Leahy is obstructing anything. Congress has the ability to investigate. It does not have the ability to prosecute. That ability lies with the DOJ.
I firmly believe that when the Bush Crime Family crimes are revealed in the “Commission”, that the DOJ will have no choice but to prosecute them. The public outcry will be too great and the political fallout of not prosecuting will be devastating to President Obama.
There is a time and a place for everything. So, let’s be patient here.
February 20th, 2009 at 9:58 amWaPo reported:
U.S. Holds Firm on Reparations, Israel in U.N. Racism Talks
The Obama administration on Thursday concluded its first round of politically charged U.N. negotiations on racism, pressing foreign governments to drop reparation demands for slavery and to desist from singling out Israel for criticism in a draft declaration to be presented at a U.N. conference in April.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/19/AR2009021903027.html?hpid=sec-nation
February 20th, 2009 at 9:59 am#27 correction.
The Huffington Post has learned that the video (on C&L and DK)had been doctored. John Gibson never compared Eric Holder to a monkey with a bright blue scrotum.
February 20th, 2009 at 10:01 amTruth Commission = appease those who are calling for justice until the statute of limitations runs out on torture and other high crimes.
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Does the statue of limitations run out on crimes like these?
They’re still hunting down old Nazis and putting them on trial.
February 20th, 2009 at 10:03 am#34 mm
February 20th, 2009 at 10:03 amAs usual your comments are very reasonable and logical — however, too many people do not seem to be able to think to the next step, focusing only on their initial gut negative reaction to health care.
misshusseinmolly Says:
One thing the decision-makers need to consider is that if a person can’t afford auto insurance, they don’t have to have a car. Having a body is less of an option.
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Not to some… you could always be parted out…
February 20th, 2009 at 10:06 amThinkFast encapsualtion:
Flaccid, toothless Leahy commission,
Insurance monopoly wants submission,
Urban affairs finally gets focus,
Government stops accounting hocus-pocus,
Food bank demands,
Unemployment expands
Spineless Reid wants climate whack,
Iran has bigger uranium stack
Military under bush almost broken,
Peter Orszag’s first days really smokin’!
(Howzat?)
February 20th, 2009 at 10:11 am“Not to some… you could always be parted out…”
Can I have your fenders, TROS?
February 20th, 2009 at 10:13 am;)
misshusseinmolly Says:
Since we’re all ultimately paying for everybody’s health care anyway, surely we can find a more efficient way of doing it?
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Eliminating the middle man (the the insurers) and the profit incentive therein would be a good place to start.
February 20th, 2009 at 10:14 amAs you said in your excellent post Miss H, it is very inefficient and costly for all the private employers and their employees to be to be paying haphazardly to multiple companies. Plus the added expense for the time spent by all those companies having to deal with the additional paperwork.
Even more ridiculous is the idea that roughly a third of every dollar spent goes to companies who have absolutely nothing to add to health care. Health insurance companies, HMO’s and their ilk are to health care what Wall Street is to investing. Leeches getting fat while producing nothing of value.
February 20th, 2009 at 10:14 amNevar Says:
Can I have your fenders, TROS?
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No! Humpf… but you can kiss my back bumper…
February 20th, 2009 at 10:18 amwatchdog Says:
I believe this site has uttered the phrase that republican have a monopoly on poor ethics in government.
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If it helps you deal w/ your self-pity, you can keep telling yourself “this site” uttered the phrase, but it didn’t.
Spitzer and Blago? Hate to disappoint you, but they’re both old news and GONE…. unlike, oh, Vitter the Shitter…
February 20th, 2009 at 10:23 amI’ll pass, too many stickers…
February 20th, 2009 at 10:24 amwatchdog Says:
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Geez… you forgot your Clinton Did It Too™ moment this morning…
Off your game, Li’l Feller? Partying w/ Drew3rd and Timmy last night night?
February 20th, 2009 at 10:25 amwatchdog Says:
I believe this site has uttered the phrase that republican have a monopoly on poor ethics in government.
Maybe they don’t have a monopoly but they are fast cornering the market on being proud of it.
February 20th, 2009 at 10:29 amwatchdog Says: I believe this site has uttered the phrase that republican have a monopoly on poor ethics in government.
No – we’ve just said that GOP has more of it and it’s usually stuff far worse than two consenting adults having sex for money…
February 20th, 2009 at 10:30 amwatchdog Says
February 20th, 2009 at 10:19 am
I believe this site has uttered the phrase that republican have a monopoly on poor ethics in government.
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No, not a monopoly — just a dominant piece of the pie. You can look in any direction and find somebody who’s corrupt.
The difference is that you won’t find too many people here defending political corruption, even if it’s a Democrat. Did you see a whole lot of sympathy here for Blagojevich? Or for Spitzer? I think most people didn’t care if he got his rocks off with a hooker (other than the harm that did to his family), but condemned his doing it with taxpayer money.
There will be enough Democrats with shady records that you will be able to cobble together a list such as the one above, as if that makes some sort of point. I’m not sure you really want to play that game, because even though most of us will ignore you, somebody here will provide you a much longer list of corrupt Republicans. You don’t want to get into that sort of p!ssing contest — you’ll lose every time.
February 20th, 2009 at 10:30 amOh… watchdog, you clever little creature…. you got us with your fireball “gotcha” moment there. Boy are our faces red on THIS one, eh? Egg on our face? Taken to the woodshed? Silly, silly us. Yes, the truth is that the republicans are ALL extremely moral and righteous and holy, and they never, ever are involved in anything illegal or immoral, and those filthy dems and libs, well, they are just a collection of Calligula admiring devils intent on the destruction of the good, moral, christian nation.
Boy… you sure got us on that one. (sheepishly kicking at the dirt). Thanks for making that all clear.
The previous message was brough to you by snarkity productions unlimited, a byproduct of intestinal gasseousness and the gibbering moon, and the mome raths who outgrabbe.
February 20th, 2009 at 10:34 amNevar Says:
I’ll pass, too many stickers…
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Oh… so you’ll take my fenders, but my rear bumper isn’t good enough for ya…
February 20th, 2009 at 10:37 amThe Republic of Stupidity Says:
——————————————————————————–
Truth Commission = appease those who are calling for justice until the statute of limitations runs out on torture and other high crimes.
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Does the statue of limitations run out on crimes like these?
They’re still hunting down old Nazis and putting them on trial.
Yes. As unbelievable as it sounds ! Torture – in the United States of America – has a statute of limitations of 8 years!
Internationally, it’s a different story. I’m resting my hopes on the World Court. I don’t think there’s the “cojones” in this country to punish these “evildoes”.
February 20th, 2009 at 10:38 amNot much of a watchdog are ya? While your pals were destroying our country, you cretins applauded. Why weren’t you watching out for America under the BushitCo regime?
February 20th, 2009 at 10:48 amwatchpuppy thinks dems are as corrupt as republicans……not even close. The republicans in America are the most corrupt people on the planet and it includes almost all of them..
Many of these crimianals have actually gone to jail….watchpuppy doesn’t include any dems in that catagory because there aren’t any……
short list….still adding:
Colin Powell
Douglas Feith
George Tenet
Scooter Libby
Donald Rumsfeld
John Bolton
John Ashcroft
Paul McNulty
Monica Goodling
Kyle Sampson
Tom Delay
Duke Cunningham
Jack Abramoff
Robert E. Coughlin II
Jeff Gannon/James Guckert
Bob Ney
Mark Foley
Katherine Harris
Scott McClellan
Ari Fleischer
Michael Brown
Paul Wolfowitz
Tony Blair
Dan Bartlett
Tim Griffin
Alberto Gonzales
Dick Cheney
George Bush
David Addington
Karl Rove
oh watchpuppy……please check out this list of criminals, thier convictions and jail time….they are all republicans:
http://www.republicanoffenders.com/Bribery.html
So you see, all you have done is point out that democrats are basically very honest people when you compare them to republicans……thanks for contributing to the progressive cause.
February 20th, 2009 at 10:56 amAnother stray cat, doggie…
February 20th, 2009 at 11:20 amOoooohhh, watchdog….
thank you for posting that instance. That makes it clear to all, the depths of lawlessness to which those filthy dem libs will stoop. There is no, I repeat, NO comparison when looking at the republicans going back at least that far. Those nasty, horrid little demlibs are just the most evil, selfish group there is. How dare they? Those lazy never do well scumbags who think that medical and pharmacueticals should be rights — what a load of crap. They just want to leech off of other people’s money, unlike the hard working corporate executives who earn their pay, and the hardworking stockbrokers and investors who shift paper around for money: it is they who keep the system alive by producing… umm… well, more paperwork to move around, and, most importantly, they make lots of money for their shareholders (who don’t have to work for that money, but it is a risk to invest, so they earn it through that risk…. and if the risk goes bad, they can recoup their losses through the federal government, which keeps the government working, so it is one of those “win/win” situations).
Man, those dirty demlibs and their dirty tricks: they are “the man” trying to keep down the hard working, productive, oppressed, and misunderstood wealthy types.
Oh, and as a good friend of mine once said, “There are no such thing as “basic human rights”. Same fellow was very vocal that the solution to 9/11 was to “nuke the entire middle east off the planet”. well, I don’t know what that makes him, since he did not show the proper republican deference and allegiance to the great nation of Israel (seig heil!).
I think my indignation is showing (I’ll get a towel….).
February 20th, 2009 at 11:23 amwatchfleabag quotes Senator Shelby. The dumb leading the dumber.
February 20th, 2009 at 11:28 amIf Leahy said they’re going to investigate with the INTENT of prosecuting that would be labeled a witch hunt. How can assert that there are prosecutable crimes before investigations have taken place and witnesses have testified.
February 20th, 2009 at 11:29 amHere’s one for you fleabag:
February 20th, 2009 at 11:31 am
But watchflea, I’ll give you the link so you can post them all yourself. In the interest of fairness of course:
February 20th, 2009 at 11:33 amREPUBLICAN OFFENDERS
watchdog Says:
I believe this site has uttered the phrase that republican have a monopoly on poor ethics in government.
Watchdog, why don’t you stay and debate instead of just posting dubious links and being dishonest? Oh yea, those are the only things you have going for you!
February 20th, 2009 at 11:46 amSee watchdog run!!! Biggest cur of them all…
February 20th, 2009 at 11:46 amFYI, spitzer got burned because he had the goods on Bush adminstation colusion with predatory lenders and was preparing a case that would
February 20th, 2009 at 12:27 pmhave tied the administration directly to wide spread
fraud and criminality in the lending business.
Paul Wolfowitz, chairman of the State Department International Security Advisory Board:
http://www.state.gov/t/isn/isab/115215.htm
Paul is chairman of the committee advising the Secretary of State on nonproliferation. He and Dennis Ross make a pair on neocons. Iran’s heating up in the Jewish press.
February 20th, 2009 at 1:42 pmNO! NO! NO! NO!
February 20th, 2009 at 2:57 pm.
Q U E S T I O N:
If Leahy is dead set on a “TRUTH COMMISSION” that is not out to seek indictments, then why the need to assemble people to testify under the guise of immunity of prosecution…
… NO INDICTMENTS = ALREADY IMPLIES IMMUNITY!
.
February 20th, 2009 at 3:54 pmThat article about the food banks is incredibly irritating. In a country where people will line up around the block for a free mini Slushee at 7-11 or a single free taco at Taco Bell, and go through the line again and again, and then hit every other store they can get to and do it all day long, now those same people are hitting up food banks for way WAY more than a taco or slushee. $55,000 a year, you have a multimillion dollar place to live all to yourself, you already have one kid and you got yourselves knocked up AGAIN, and you’re still grabbing food out of a food bank?? Gold earrings and a designer purse, and a brand-new car? The people in that article sound like they’re just there because hey, it’s entire bags and boxes of free food, why the heck not?
They all sounded like a bunch of obnoxious, greedy, entitlement-minded twats. How can anyone have the GALL to show up at a food bank dripping with gold and jewels and driving a brand-new car? Sell some of your useless crap and feed yourselves for months, you greedy grasping chuckleheads.
If nothing else, they should realize they’re probably going to be followed home and robbed, or just flat-out mugged before they even get that far.
The worst part is that this is going to cause people and companies to stop donating.
February 20th, 2009 at 11:20 pmAfghanistan and Iran are the hot spots in the Middle East. Obama said he would add troops in Afghanistan and talk to Iran.
It took nearly a month to call President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan. Obama made his troop decision without talking to the Afghan President?
On Iran, Obama has a Special Adviser on Iran, neocon Dennis Ross, but no envoy. The Jersualem Post reported:
“The United States views Iran acquiring an illicit nuclear capacity as a grave threat to ourselves, to the region and indeed to Israel,” Rice told National Public Radio in an interview airing on Friday and Monday.
“Our aim is to combine enhanced pressures, and indeed the potential for direct engagement to try to prevent Iran from taking its program to fruition,” she said.
Also on Friday, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that the international community must work together to urgently address Iran’s uranium enrichment activities.
Gibbs called Iran an urgent problem that has to be addressed. “We can’t delay addressing it,” he said.
What’s the more immediate threat as it would take 2 to 5 years to enrich the uranium to weapons grade? It’s the prospect of the Iranian people electing a reformer this summer.
Israel/U.S. can’t attack without a boogey man. Israeli newspaper are aflame regarding the Iranian threat. Bombs over Bushehr.
February 21st, 2009 at 12:51 amMy apologies, the article is in Haaretz, not the JP:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1065810.html
February 21st, 2009 at 12:51 amLeahy is very courageous in pursuing action against Bush’s wrongdoings.
Submitted by Andrew Yu-Jen Wang
B.S., Summa Cum Laude, 1996
Messiah College, Grantham, PA
Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, PA, 1993
“GEORGE W. BUSH IS THE WORST PRESIDENT IN U.S. HISTORY” BLOG OF ANDREW YU-JEN WANG
ONLINE, ANTI-BUSH, EDUCATIONAL, SCHOLASTIC RESEARCH: LISTING OF MAJOR ISSUES
http://andrewyu-jenwang.blogspot.com/ 2009/ 01/ online-anti-bush-educational-scholastic.html
February 23rd, 2009 at 8:27 pm