TGIF & Netroots OPEN THREAD (Rant on!)

Hey, with your permission can I move this out of the bridge falling thread and into this one?

Nothing like an open thread during lunch hour.

Cat fight in the House during the dog days of summer in August.

Two best accounts I’ve run into:
House Struggles to Restore Civility After Explosion of Partisan Rancor at Congressional Quarterly
and
Boehner seeks to smooth waves after House ruckus at The Hill

Interesting choice of moments to bang a gavel on, don’t you think? This is just my guess, not what McNulty said, but it seems like he may have estimated that if he let the close voting go on for a while more, the measure to re-commit might have gone either way, so to walk the fence, while still hedging his bet for his own party, he could have tried to end voting at a time when it was tied 214-214. Then he found out his timing was off, which then led to the very ruckus he tried to avoid.

That’s what happens when you have a contentious issue adding to the pressure of everyone wanting to go on vacation. Something’s gotta give.

The vote changing patterns also point to a couple of other things. If you believe in your vote, why change it? The obvious answer is that votes are exchanged like currency in Congress. At the last minute, some realized they no longer had “safe” votes.

BTW – as long as we’re smaccing down the Iraq Parliament for going on vacation while so called “benchmarks” haven’t been met, why not apply the same standard for our own Congress?

Some benchmarks: bring troops home, impeach Bush Cheney and Gonzales. OK, a little unrealistic and over expectant. But how about something they could actually do now, which is instead of endless hot air over non compliant witnesses, they could leave the DOJ and the stacked courts out of it, and enforce their position from completely within their own body, via Implied Contempt? Now that would be a vacation well earned.

Thought readers of No Quarter would be interested that TNT is running a 3-part series on espionage, starting Augest 5th.

http://www.tnt.tv/series/thecompany/

From an email I received:

The story of the CIA during the Cold War is brought to life in The Company, a three-week television event from executive producer Ridley Scott and starring Chris O’Donnell, Alfred Molina, and Michael Keaton. From the rainy streets of Berlin to the shores of Cuba, from secret revolutionary gatherings in Budapest to high-level meetings in the halls of Washington and Moscow, The Company follows a game played over four decades between two super powers across the entire globe.

Stepford woman speaks:

First lady Laura Bush visited the site Friday. “I’m so sorry,” she said upon meeting Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and other officials. “If there’s anything good about it, maybe we can look at other bridges.”

She greeted and thanked police officers, firefighters and Red Cross volunteers. “God bless you all,” she said.

Thanks, Tom. Happened to catch a preview of the miniseries the other night, and set up my DVR to record it. Hoping it’s good! (There’ve been some great new dramas this summer, including Damages, starring Glenn Close as a ruthless top attorney, and “Mad Men,” about the NYC advertising world.)

And now for something completey different.

Harry Shearer impersonates Dick Cheney impersonating a cabaret lounge singer in
“No Cooler For The Scooter”

http://www.mydamnchannel.com/channel.aspx?episode=47

Funny and chillingly realistic at the same time.

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I just turned on C-Span … the House is getting very boisterous!

Just added an update — it’s the latest candidate video, this time “Brownback Girl.” (The link/info is in the 2nd paragraph at the top.)

Wow, the GOP has filibustered that much! Despite GOP obstructionism and Bush vetos, the Democrats have been able to get a lot done to reverse Bush damage. Big thanks are due Pelosi and Reid!

They’ve extended healthcare for kids; passed an ethics bill; they’re going to pass emergency legislation to help Minnesota; they’ll continue to propose bills to end this war and bring the troops home; they passed a bill giving troops more rest between deployments and another bill to improve veteran’s healthcare; they’re working to restore the worst of Bush’s spending cuts; they passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act; they passed the Darfur Accountability and Divestment Act, etc.

Someone want to tell me how there’s no difference between the Democrats and the GOP?

———-

Susan,
FYI, tried a few times to post a comment without success. This is my second try posting this comment, plus tried much earlier to post a different comment. WordPress…#$@%^%$!!!

Oh, just watched Dean’s opening speech at YearlyKos…he GETS IT! He really gets the point of the netroots and what people like Larry and Susan are doing. This is about empowering you and I and everyone to get involved, to speak out, to be heard, and to make a difference!

Wes Clark’s speech was great, too, btw

Iraq’s Shia religious politicians again Aim a Raised and Stiffened Middle Finger at the `Smirking Chimp’

Top Iraq MP: No oil law under occupation

BAGHDAD, Aug. 3 (UPI) — A top member of the Iraqi prime minister’s party says a law governing oil reserves should be delayed until occupation forces leave the country.

http://www.upi.com/International_Security/Energy/Briefing/2007/08/03/top_iraq_mp_no_oil_law_under_occupation/7164/

This is quite a read: “Mike Gravel on Ted Stevens”

I think Mike Gravel is a bad joke, and his antics during debates do not amuse me. This Seattle Times story does, however, give some history about both Stevens and Gravel, and the WILD state of Alaskan politics. Including — and I can’t believe this is true but it is — When he and Stevens were Alaska’s U.S. Senators, Sen. Gravel

wanted to use Teflon to cover a town at the base of Mount McKinley so Alaska could have a year-round tourist season. (He made it clear today he’s still ticked at how the press covered that at the time.)

…recent election certifications involving diebold disputes appear to give the GOP 5 seats in the House or help them hold ground…

Three seats alone total just over 1,500 votes, and seventeen thousand were missing in one FLorida country that voted heavy for Democrats…

Again the errors were 100% in favor of the GOP.

Daily Kos is airing the pres. candidates’ forum live on its home page:

http://www.dailykos.com/

Hmmm. I just learned that ERIC EDELMAN had a role in Valerie Plame’s story. Apologies, this is long….but interesting:

http://letsibeledmondsspeak.blogspot.com/2007/08/eric-edelman-key-conspirator-in-sibel.html

Thursday, August 2, 2007
Eric Edelman: key conspirator in Sibel Edmonds case

Until recently, Eric Edelman, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, was the most powerful neocon in the country that hardly anybody had ever heard of, despite his role in outing Valerie Plame.

For one reason or other, Edelman has been making a splash lately. He recently sent Hillary a letter telling her to stop giving aid & comfort to enemies, and earlier this week Bob Novak wrote that Edelman was briefing Congress on plans to secretly assassinate Kurdish fighters in Iraq.

Given Edelman’s low public profile to date, there might be some things that you don’t know about him. For example, did you know that Edelman replaced Doug Feith via a recess appointment? Do you know that he lied and told congress that he wasn’t involved in the Plame investigation? Did you know that he was hated when he was the Ambassador to Turkey?

Oh. And did you know that he is neck-deep in the case of former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds?
**
I became aware of Edelman’s involvement in the criminal activity involved in Sibel Edmonds’ case a couple of years ago (see sibel edmonds, brewster jennings, edelman and grossman and eric edelman bio. part one.)

In March of this year, Sibel and I were jointly being interviewed on a radio show when she said:
“I would like to actually go back and talk about the individuals that Luke Ryland named – for example, Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, Marc Grossman – another individual is Eric Edelman, because most people here already know, and they associate these guys with the neocons and also Israel, but there is another element there that ties all four individuals here.

If you look at, for example, Richard Perle, & Douglas Feith, these two individuals between 1988/89 to about 1995/96, they set up a lobbying firm called International Advisors Inc, and they registered as foreign agents, representing the government of Turkey, this is Richard Perle, & Douglas Feith, and of course we know that they became top guys within the Pentagon after the Bush administration came into power.

And then you look at Marc Grossman – Marc Grossman was the US ambassador to Turkey, from 1993 to 1997, and Marc Grossman became the number 3 guy in the State Department in this administration, and he resigned in 2005 and currently he is hired by one very large Turkish company that is also a front for a lot of illicit activities.

Then you can look at Eric Edelman who, 2 or 3 years ago, took Douglas Feith’s old position at the Pentagon, and Eric Edelman was another ambassador to Turkey until he took this position at the Pentagon, so not only do these guys have Israel in common, they have Turkey in common – and people really should be paying attention to this, and looking into it, and this is why Luke Ryland has been doing this incredible job in terms of piecing these elements together, and packaging it, because this information is public! It doesn’t matter if I’m gagged on some issues, there’s so much out there and so much that can easily be pieced together that our mainstream media has failed us”

If I’m not mistaken, this was the first time that Sibel mentioned Edelman by name, although he had previously made an appearance in Phil Giraldi’s superb article on Sibel’s case.

One of the big mysteries about Edelman was why he was moved from the heart of the OVP as Cheney’s principal deputy national security adviser to become the Turkish Ambassador in 2003, immediately after the Iraq invasion when tensions with Turkey were at their peak. It’s an odd career move. Jim Lobe sheds some light on this in a blog post on Tuesday:
“Cheney obviously thought highly enough of (Edelman’s) work (and ideological tendencies) to name Edelman as his principal deputy national security adviser under Scooter Libby in 2001 and worked with Libby in the run-up to the Iraq invasion after which he was named ambassador to Turkey (on the strong recommendation, according to one knowledgeable source, of Richard Perle, who has long-standing interests in Turkey).”
Fancy that.

Edelman failed as an Ambassador in Turkey, at least by any of the usual metrics. A typical observation in the Turkish press was:
“Edelman is probably the least-liked and trusted American ambassador in Turkish history, and his reputation is not likely to recuperate. Edelman’s actions have exceeded his diplomatic mission. His ‘interest’ in nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), the Turkish media and ethnic minorities make him go beyond his role as an ambassador. His presence here has never contributed to Turkish-American relations, and it never will. If we want to address the reasons for anti-Americanism, Edelman must be issue one. As long as Edelman stays in Turkey, the chill wind disturbing bilateral relations will last.”

‘Despite’ Edelman’s ‘failures’ in Turkey, Lobe reports:
My understanding is that both Cheney and Perle played a role in persuading Rumsfeld to take on Edelman at the Pentagon after Feith announced his departure.

Again, fancy that.

Now, why are Perle, Feith, Grossman and Edelman desperate to hold key positions in embassies and the Pentagon? Here’s Giraldi:
“Sibel Edmonds, the Turkish FBI translator turned whistleblower who has been subjected to a gag order could provide a major insight into how neoconservatives distort US foreign policy and enrich themselves at the same time. On one level, her story appears straightforward: several Turkish lobbying groups allegedly bribed congressmen to support policies favourable to Ankara. But beyond that, the Edmonds revelations become more serpentine and appear to involve AIPAC, Israel and a number of leading neoconservatives who have profited from the Turkish connection.
[snip]
Some of (the bribes) may come from criminal activity, possibly drug trafficking, but much more might come from arms dealing. Contracts in the hundreds of millions, or even billions of dollars provide considerable fat for those well placed to benefit.”

Indeed. Keep that in mind while you try to process the recent announcement that the Bush Egadministration has just announced $30bn in new weapons sales to Israel, and $20bn in sales to Saudi Arabia. And don’t forget the recent $15bn in fighter-jet sales to Turkey.

Oh – and when Eric Edelman’s name pops up in the media again, remember, he’s not just a guy who wrote Hillary a nasty letter. Eric Edelman is a key conspirator in the Sibel Edmonds case.

Valerie Plame — like Sibel Edmonds (and others) — is not being allowed to speak.

So much for “democracy”.

Instead, we have the COVER-UPS and widespread corruption of a true banana republic.

Thanks!
This link is being shared…

I can always find good info from http://www.bradblog.com/
California has some good news about fighting the wingnut hackers: Debra Bowen’s actions!

So this morning, the gentlemen running for president on the republican side gave a debate in Iowa. The WAPO had a pregame spreadsheet on it. WAPO is coincidentally in dire need of handicappers. ABC and Druge ran “tales of the tape” after the debate ended. ABC uses IP filtering on its poll so you can only vote once per IP. Drudge uses a cookie so you can clean your cookies cache and vote as often as you wish. I don’t suppose I even need to link to the results, in the WAPO pregame handicappers sheet None of the Above won, in the after action polls there was a winner but since he wins all those pesky online polls he whose name shall not be mentioned shall not be mentioned by name. He was in his birth state of PA yesterday about 2000 people showed up to hear him speak. His appearance went unreported in the dead tree media but was well covered on those pesky intertubular things.
There was a pas de deux between He who must not be named and Mr Romney regarding Iraq. HWMNBN said bring the troops home now, it was and is a stupid and illegal war. Mr Romney asked if HWMNBN had ever heard of 9/11. The moderator then moved on to some other area of marginal interest. It was enlightening. Here endeth the Sunday Report on the Other Guys.

tedst

The Black Sites A rare look inside the C.I.A.’s secret interrogation program.
by Jane Mayer http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/08/13/070813fa_fact_mayer?printable=true

You people do realize that the Republicans are laughing you off of the internet for giving Bush More wiretap authority with NO OVERSIGHT. All that whining I had to listen to just to be stabbed in the back by Dem’s wanting to go on vacation. Disgusting.

Democraps = Repubican light.

I am about convinced that the Bush family is Russia’s revenge for the American sleeper cell that was Gorbachov. Russia gets state capitalism and the USA gets warmed over stalinism with a souçon of
entertainment technology. Get all the venom out of your system by the 13th of this month because after that there is no USA anymore.
Any utterance after the 13th that may be held to be impairing the efforts to rebuild Iraq ( defeating the neocons will qualify ) can result in complete asset forfeiture without any prior warning. Anyone who assists someone whose assets have been forfeited is also subject to immediate asset forfeiture. So no handouts, no legal aid, no loans to anyone. It’s what you all wanted, safety, no need to think, blind obediance, silence, braindeath. It is always good to get what you deserve.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/07/20070717-3.html

Couldn’t have said it better….:
“LETTER WRITTEN BY A HOUSE WIFE FROM NEW JERSEY

Written by a housewife from New Jersey and sounds like it!

This is one ticked off lady.

“Are we fighting a war on terror or aren’t we? Was it or was it not started
by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001?

Were people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not brutally murdered
that day, in downtown Manhattan, across the Potomac from our nation’s
capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania? Did nearly three thousand men, women
and children die a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or didn’t
they?

And I’m supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was
“desecrated” when an overworked American soldier kicked it or got it
Wet?…Well, I don’t. I don’t care at all.

I’ll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for
incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11.

I’ll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East
Start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere possession of which is a
Crime in Saudi Arabia .

I’ll care when these thugs tell the world they are sorry for
Hacking off Nick Berg’s head while Berg screamed through his gurgling
Slashed throat.

I’ll care when the cowardly so-called “insurgents” in Iraq come
Out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by
Hiding in mosques.

I’ll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in
Search of nirvana care about the innocent children within range of
their suicide bombs.

I’ll care when the American media stops pretending that their
First Amendment liberties are somehow derived from international law
instead of the United States Constitution’s Bill of Rights.

In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave marine
Roughing up an Iraqi terrorist to obtain information, know this: I
don’t care.

When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners who
have been humiliated in what amounts to a college-hazing incident, rest
Assured: I don’t care.

When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is
Told not to Move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to
the Bank: I don’t care.

When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a prayer
Mat, and Fed “special” food that is paid for by my tax dollars, is
Complaining that his holy book is being “mishandled,” you can
absolutely believe in your heart of hearts: I don’t care.

And oh, by the way, I’ve noticed that sometimes it’s spelled
“Koran” and Other times “Quran.” Well, Jimmy Crack Corn and -you
guessed it -I don’t care ! ! ! ! !”

Sandy- the reason turkey comes up so often in neo con circles is that they are Israels only ally besides us. Their relationship goes back to before the founding of israel when the first zionists went to israel. Abe Foxman of the ADL recently petitioned our government NOT to recognize the armenian genocide because it woul affect relations with turkey. this ( the ADL) is an organization allegedly dedicated to human rights and recognizing the holocaust, calling for a denial of a mass genocide.

Most people in turkey hate us and israel though. the progressive wealthy types in the urban centers excepted.

omg Susan…
It’s good to read your postings..
Be strong..We are there for you..
The Hoopster

jerome..
Just wait till we own the White House, Congress and the SC..There will be little laughter from the right wing then..everything changes..
to every thing..turn turn turn..
We just need the votes and the power of the executive branch..
Then talk..

How i may contact the administrator of a site? I have a question.

Hi! Do you want to improve my shiny distress Do you want a fresh joke from net? What do you call a monster with no neck? The Lost Neck Monster.

Be sure to get support from family and friends Refute the negative thoughts that you have. ,