Power Corrupts & Absolute Power Corrupts.....

"President Hugo Chavez is set to assume unbridled powers to remake Venezuelan society as the National Assembly prepares to grant him authority to enact sweeping measures by presidential decree.

The assembly, which is completely controlled by Chavez supporters, is scheduled to meet Wednesday in a Caracas plaza to approve a so-called "enabling law" that will give Chavez special powers for 18 months to transform 11 broadly defined areas, including the economy, energy and defense.

Chavez, who is beginning a fresh six-year term, says the legislation will be the start of a new era of "maximum revolution" during which he will consolidate Venezuela's transformation into a socialist society. His critics, however, are calling it a radical lurch toward authoritarianism by a leader with unchecked power."

Cut.

"Historian Ines Quintero said that with the new powers, Chavez will achieve a level of "hegemony" that is unprecedented in Venezuela's nearly five decades of democratic history.

She said the effects will be "exponential" because Chavez will wield "extraordinary powers" in a context where state institutions are weakening and the division of powers is not being respected."

Read more here.

Sometimes those old phrases are true for a reason.

The Real John McCain Website

The one person we know who is not going to check this site out is Chris "he deserves to be President" Matthews.

Thanks to Down With Tyranny for the tip.

I don't know about you but after so much "straight talk" I feel like taking a long, hot bath so I can feel clean again.

Dick Cheney Has A Secrecy Fetish

What a proponent of transparency in democracy he is:

"When I inquired about a staffer’s rumored move to the Veep’s office, a Cheney press officer answered sweetly, “If we have a personnel announcement we’d like you to know about, we’ll tell you.”

Read more here.

Dick Cheney Has An Iranian War Fever

"By deploying a second aircraft carrier to the Gulf the United States has sent a "strong signal" that it is in the region to stay and working with allies to deal with an Iranian threat, Vice President Dick Cheney said.

He repeated the Bush administration's stance that the United States seeks to resolve the dispute over Iran's nuclear program through diplomatic means, but that all options are on the table.

"I think most of the nations in that part of the world believe their security is supported, if you will, by the United States. They want us to have a major presence there," Cheney said in an interview with Newsweek magazine, according to a transcript released by the White House on Sunday."

Read the rest of the story here.

This guy really is scary and I don't mean that in some facetious way.

Television - 1880 Or So Live Video

Great live version with extended solos by Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd.

What a great band.

Ted Kennedy - On The Minimum Wage Video

Kennedy: "When does the greed stop?" or "What is it about working men and women that you find so offensive?"

Republicans hate the working class in this country make no mistake about that.

The "maverick" and "independent" "straight shooter" John McCain joined most of his Republican senators in voting against increasing the minimum wage.

McCain will do anything to become President but he won't give workers who earn the minimum wage an increase for the first time in ten years. What a disgusting and very typical Republican creature he is.

Thanks to Crooks and Liars for the video tip.

Do You Want A War With Iran?

No, I didn't think that you did, you are much too smart for that, but it really doesn't matter because you are not the "decider" on this matter.

He is:

"President Bush has authorized U.S. forces in Iraq to take whatever actions are necessary to counter Iranian agents deemed a threat to American troops or the public at large, the White House said Friday. The aggressive new policy came in response to intelligence that Iran is supporting terrorists inside Iraq and is providing bombs _ known as improvised explosive devices _ and other equipment to anti-U.S. insurgents.

"The president and his national security team over the last several months have continued to receive information that Iranians were supplying IED equipment and or training that was being used to harm American soldiers," National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said. "As a result American forces, when they receive actionable information, may take the steps necessary to protect themselves as well as the population," Johndroe said.

Bush referred to the new policy in his Jan. 10 address to the nation in which he announced a buildup of 21,500 troops in Iraq. He said the United States would confront Iran and Syria more vigorously. "These two regimes are allowing terrorists and insurgents to use their territory to move in and out of Iraq," he said in that address. "Iran is providing material support for attacks on American troops. We will disrupt the attacks on our forces. We'll interrupt the flow of support from Iran and Syria. And we will seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq."

While promising tougher action, the White House said the United States does not intend to cross the Iraq-Iran border to attack Iranians."

More of the story here.

Scott Ritter has some thoughts on this subject as well.

If you have been paying attention then you have been getting more and more anxious about this possibility because the neo-con fanatics who are running our government want it. They don't want it in the window shopping it strikes my fancy way, they want it in the obsessed I have been wanting this all of my life kind of way.

Congress doesn't appear to be doing much about it. They seem to sleepwalking through the situation like they did before the illegal and disastrous Iraq invasion.

Truly fucking scary.

David Bowie - The Man Who Sold The World Live Video

A very different live arrangement of this classic Bowie song with Klaus Nomi on back up vocals and "Bowie lift" too.

This is from when Saturday Night Live was good, a long, long time ago.

God, Inc - Episdoe 3

"Friends Of God" Documentary

Mick LaSalle of the SF Chronicle has a review of Alexandra Pelosi's "Friends Of God" documentary up and here are some interesting parts.

"The frustrations and virtues of Pelosi's approach can best be illustrated in her handling of Ted Haggard, who was president of the National Association of Evangelicals at the time of filming. (He was recently forced to resign after being outed by a male prostitute.) When Haggard talks about how wonderful it is that there are more "Christians" than ever in the government, Pelosi doesn't challenge him on the appropriation of the name "Christian" for his particular sect. There have always been Christians in government, after all, and Pelosi's own mother, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is a Catholic and, therefore, Christian too. Yet you can bet he's not talking about her.

Nor does she press him on exactly what being a pro-war, pro-death penalty conservative Republican has to do with the New Testament or anything Jesus said or did."

Cut.

"Along the way, Pelosi shows a variety of odd curiosities, including wrestling for Jesus and skateboarding for Jesus. She gives a lot of screen time to a motor-mouthed "Christian comedian," who complains that no one has given him a sitcom because he's a Christian. It doesn't seem to dawn on him that he's just not funny. He goes onstage ranting about how great the United States is and how awful Europe is, and a whole audience of people -- who shop at strip malls, eat at fast-food restaurants and don't own a passport -- erupts into applause. There's a lot of anger in this documentary, a lot of insularity and us-against-them paranoia taking the form of fellowship."

More here.

Nothing really new here but just a confirmation that there are some very scary people using religion to short circuit thinking.

I would bet there is even a good amount of economic frustration involved with a good portion of this crowd, but instead of doing something about that, they turn towards a dogmatic philosophy that has all the "answers".

Dick Cheney - Now You Know What A State Of Denial Looks Like

"BLITZER: Here's what Jim Webb, senator from Virginia said in the Democratic response last night -- he said, "The president took us into this war recklessly. We are now, as a nation, held hostage to the predictable and predicted disarray that has followed."

And it's not just Jim Webb; it's some of your good Republican friends in the Senate and the House are now seriously questioning your credibility, because of the blunders and the failures. Gordon Smith...

CHENEY: Wolf, Wolf, I simply don't accept the premise of your question. I just think it's hogwash."

Think about someone who can't even accept the premise of the question concerning his credibility with all the blood on his hands.

I guess some of us never, ever make mistakes or have dark hearts of evil either.

I will bet this guy sleeps like a newborn baby.

Unbelievable.

Chris Matthews - The King Of "Unbiased" Pundits

"MATTHEWS (1/21/07): You know, I thought one of the smart things President Carter did as a candidate...was, every time President Carter won a primary, instead of standing on a platform with a bunch of sweaty, yelling people—you know, the scene with the Democratic Party usually, a bunch of crazy people yelling—and you had to have the full potpourri of Democrats present on that stage or someone would be ticked at you—you would meet in a hotel room and it was amazing. You’d sit down one-on-one, it was a unilateral, with some anchor or reporter, a serious reporter."


Read more at the Daily Howler.

Chris Matthews just loves Democrats doesn't he?

Of course, not as much as he loves Republican talking points.

Jim Webb - Democratic Response To State Of The Union Video

Well worth seeing if you haven't already.

Pat Robertson Video - Frosty Hardison's Kind Of Guy

The Frosty Hardison's Of The World Just Want A Debate

"Frosty Hardison, the father whose objection to the film triggered a moratorium on the movie until someone could scrape up "a credible opposing view," now claims he was only after some healthy classroom debate.

Back when the Seattle P-I first wrote about him and the district's response to his complaint Jan. 11, the father of seven -- who also opposes sex education and supports public school teaching of creationism -- sang from a slightly different hymnal. "Condoms don't belong in school, and neither does Al Gore. He's not a schoolteacher," he said.

With more material ripe for "The Daily Show," Hardison went on to describe mother earth as a rather pubescent 14,000-year-old planet. This apparently is based on the calculations of 17th-century Irish Archbishop James Ussher, whose math was so deliciously derided in the Scopes Monkey Trial play and movie, "Inherit the Wind."

Hardison also believes that the globe's eventual incineration comes out of the Good Book, not out of America's tailpipes and factory stacks.

But, by last week in a Seattle Times story, Hardison was mightily offended that people "think we're just these religious fanatics sticking their heads in the sand." All he had wanted was a broad spectrum of views on the "theory that global warming is a naturally occurring phenomenon."

Read more here.

Gee, Frosty, I wonder how people got the idea you were a "religious fanatic"? It couldn't possibly be from the things you say, could it?

“The information that’s being presented is a very cockeyed view of what the truth is.… The Bible says that in the end times everything will burn up, but that perspective isn’t in the DVD.”

Story here.

Unintentionally hilarity is still the best. Don't you agree?

Joe Biden - Dick Cheney Hasn't Been Right About Anything In Iraq

No matter what you think of Joe Biden, I personally don't think much of him, he certainly nails Dick Cheney about Iraq.

Talk about an easy thing to do. Cheney has zero credibility about Iraq, or for that matter, just about any other subject one can think of. Except, of course, when it comes to shooting someone in the face with a shotgun while hunting.

Then he is very, very credible.

The Rising Tide Of Carbon Dioxide

It appears, from the evidence that is coming in, that global warming, the "hoax" according to Republican Sen. James Inhofe, is happening at a much faster rate than scientists believed.

"Carbon dioxide is accumulating in the atmosphere much faster than scientists expected, raising fears that humankind may have less time to tackle climate change than previously thought.


New figures from dozens of measuring stations across the world reveal that concentrations of CO2, the main greenhouse gas, rose at record levels during 2006 - the fourth year in the last five to show a sharp increase. Experts are puzzled because the spike, which follows decades of more modest annual rises, does not appear to match the pattern of steady increases in human emissions.

At its most far reaching, the finding could indicate that global temperatures are making forests, soils and oceans less able to absorb carbon dioxide - a shift that would make it harder to tackle global warming. Such a shift would worsen even the gloomy predictions of the Stern Review which warned that we had little over a decade to tackle rising emissions to avoid the worst effects of climate change.

David Hofmann of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), which published the figures, said: "Over this last decade the growth rates in carbon dioxide have been higher. I don't think we can plausibly say what's causing it. It's something we're going to look at."

Unfortunately I don't think we as a species are going to do much to change it. It is not in the "interests" of the rich, you could say, to do anything about it. Even though many scientists think it is the worst threat facing the planet.

Do you think this is going to do the job?

"Sen. Barbara Boxer, California Democrat and chairwoman of the committee with broad jurisdiction over climate change issues, called for aggressive caps on US greenhouse gas emissions in an interview with Reuters.

Boxer's committee will hold a hearing Jan. 30, where all 100 members of the Senate will be invited to propose legislation to cut heat-trapping emissions linked to global warming and rising ocean levels.

Rather than combining all the proposals into one bill, Boxer said the issue could be addressed through a series of legislation.

"The consensus bill could be one bill with five parts, it could be five smaller bills," Boxer said. "We don't know."

Panel hearings on the issue could be wrapped up by March and "we'll have action hopefully this year" on a vote, she said.

The "gold standard" for climate change legislation is the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act, a bill she co-sponsors that would cut US emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050 through a series of reduction targets."

Don't get me wrong, I am very happy my Senator is doing this, but it appears as if know one gets how severe the situation really is. And if what we are hearing is correct, that we have a decade to get serious reductions in carbon dioxide, then bills like this are not going far enough to really alleviate the problem.

We would probably need a national effort of sacrifice similar to what was done during World War 2. This would involve a vast change in the American "lifestyle" that would effect every aspect of our lives.

In order for this to happen the public would have to be told the truth and I don't know if anyone really wants to hear it.

Do you?

David Sirota - What They Said & When They Said It

"Pundits and news analysts are employed to expose this sort of nonsense so that our democratic discourse -- and the policy choices that come out of it -- are grounded in fact. But that has not happened. Instead, we have seen a furious stampede by the most prominent media figures to cover their own hides with either more lies, or more out-of-the mainstream bluster.

Time Magazine's Joe Klein, for instance, last week claimed he has "been opposed to the Iraq war ever since 2002." Readers were expected to forget about his nationally televised declaration in late February 2003 -- the critical days just before the invasion was ordered.

"War may well be the right decision at this point," Klein told NBC's Tim Russert. "In fact, I think it probably is."

This followed venerated New York Times columnist David Brooks who, rather than admitting the failure of his Iraq war cheerleading, lashed out at anti-war challenges to pro-war incumbents, writing that "primary voters shouldn't be allowed to define the choices in American politics" (apparently, democracy and elections are no longer an acceptable way to run our country). Weeks later, the Washington Post's Richard Cohen justified his support for the war by flippantly writing that he thinks "the prudent use of violence could be therapeutic."

All of this might be fine if those spewing this rhetoric faced some form of public rebuke that made clear such behavior is objectionable. But there has been nothing of the kind."

More here.

Yes, it is just a coincidence that Sirota is writing about this subject just after Howard Fineman wrote this nonsense.

Dick Cheney Decided He Wasn't Going To Work With The Iranians

"An Iranian offer to help the United States stabilize Iraq and end its military support for Hezbollah and Hamas was rejected by Vice President Dick Cheney in 2003, a former top State Department official told the British Broadcasting Corp.

The U.S. State Department was open to the offer, which came in an unsigned letter sent shortly after the American invasion of Iraq, Lawrence Wilkerson, former Secretary of State Colin Powell's chief of staff, told BBC's Newsnight in a program broadcast Wednesday night. But, Wilkerson said, Cheney vetoed the deal.

"We thought it was a very propitious moment" to strike a deal, Wilkerson said. "But as soon as it got to the White House, and as soon as it got to the vice president's office, the old mantra of 'We don't talk to evil' ... reasserted itself."

Surprised?

Now the question becomes why are we just hearing about this now?

Howard Fineman Of Newsweek - Still The High School Nerd Or Just Another Mainstream Pundit Writing Really Stupid Shit?

Actually, Howard is both, as you can see by reading what this guy apparently gets paid much more than you or me to write:

"You knew Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in high school. At least I did. They were candidates in the student senate election. She was the worthy but puffed-up Miss Perfect, all poodle skirts and multicolored binders clutched to her chest. He was the lanky, mysterious transfer student—from Hawaii by way of Indonesia no less—who Knew Things and was way too cool to carry more than one book at a time. Who would be leader of the pack?

Presidential elections are high school writ large, of course, and that is especially true when, as now, much of the early nomination race is based in the U.S. Capitol. It is even more the case when the party in question, and here we are talking about the Democrats, is not sharply divided ideologically.They have a good chance in ’08 to oust the fading prep/jock/ROTC/Up With People alliance."

You can read more here if you like.

As Bob Somerby has often noted, this is how the pundit class and mainstream media have decided the last two Presidential elections. By coming up with absolutely idiotic and false things to write about Democrats (like Al Gore "invented" the internet, or he is a "robot" and so on) and yet they somehow become "fact" and it is pretty obvious who target number one is.

Never forget that there is a "liberal" bias to the mainstream media!

God, Inc - Episode 2

"A comedy about life in the corporate offices of God. What if all the problems on earth were not caused by a spiteful deity, or karma, or fate, but just office politics and the Peter Principle?"

Written and directed by Francis Stokes.

Quite funny stuff and very well done.

Conservative Epiphany?

"I had a heretical thought for a conservative - that I have got to teach my kids that they must never, ever take Presidents and Generals at their word - that their government will send them to kill and die for noble-sounding rot - that they have to question authority.

On the walk to the parking garage, it hit me. Hadn't the hippies tried to tell my generation that? Why had we scorned them so blithely?"

This is an excerpt from an commentary by a conservative author named Rod Dreher. Glenn Greenwald has some more of his thoughts and some good comments on it.

It is fascinating to see conservatives admit this, but what is really strange is that they ever got to where they are in the first place. I always thought the basics of conservative philosophy was not to trust the government and to always be critical of those in power, which is the reason they are always for "small" and "limited" government, don't want to meddle in others affairs and don't want to get involved in foreign "entanglements" and so on.

Can Right Wing Authoritarianism explain what has happened to the conservative movement?

I will let you be the judge.

Ann Coulter - Trouble With The Law

"Added to the previously known allegations of Voter Fraud when Coulter used her realtor's address instead of her own on her Voter Registration Application, is the allegation by the Palm Beach Police Department that Coulter seems also to have given that same, incorrect address when applying for a drivers license after moving to the tony Sunshine 'hood where her fellow GOP propagandist, Rush Limbaugh, has recently had his own troubles following the rule of law."

Only conservative, Republican fanatics are above the law.

Didn't you know?

All Hail The Second And Final Season Of Rome!

Absolutely loved the first season of Rome, which I watched on dvd and no, I don't have HBO, but I just read a great article by Tim Goodman of the SF Chronicle about the second season which starts this Sunday.

"Few television series have benefited from a handy Web site, timely reruns and even Google searches more than "Rome," HBO's ambitious, sometimes untidy but superbly nuanced epic.

Given that Season 1 aired in 2005, that should hardly come as a surprise -- it's hard enough mentally recapping an episode of your favorite series from last week. But there's also the issue of whether Americans know their history (or more accurately, Roman history beyond the whole Brutus-Caesar thing). Given our notorious attention spans (and possible lack of education), the HBO time lag between seasons and the mixture of fiction with history (and the historical inaccuracies and dramatic liberties that go with it), who can blame a viewer for needing guidance?

HBO will kick off the second -- and final -- season of "Rome" on Sunday, but the pay cable channel has been leading up to its return with reruns from the acclaimed first season (which featured 12 episodes as opposed to this season's 10). Those reruns should be jumped into immediately if you want to fully enjoy the bloody fabric of this tale. And don't forget to visit www.hbo.com for what may be a mandatory brush-up on key players (there are many) as well as the occasional Web search about how much of "Rome" is historically accurate. (To save you the hassle, the consensus is that when in Rome, all is well; when in Egypt with Cleopatra, not so much. And it helps to remember, if you're feeling scholarly and uptight, that "Rome" may be a sprawling, impressive costume drama, but it's also not a documentary and, in the interest of drama and getting on with it, some liberties were indeed taken.)

By the way, if you're curious as to why this is the final season -- diehard fans will certainly want more than they'll be given -- "Rome" was originally intended as a miniseries, but HBO liked the quality of the first episodes it saw and immediately gave the green light to a second season; however, even as a co-production with the BBC and others, "Rome" cost more than $100 million. "

Rest of the article here.

Why do I get the sinking feeling that the British get to watch this series on the BBC and here it has to be shown on a cable channel so as not to hurt the delicate sensibilities of the population?

Probably because it has too much sex and not because it has too much violence.

Mercury Rev - Holes Live Video

A completely rearranged version of Holes, off the brilliant Deserter's Songs album, due to not having a string section.

Still great though.

Global Warming - Will It Take More Sacrifice Than You Think?

I have read a couple of articles by George Monbiot and now he has a book out called Heat: How to Stop the Planet from Burning. Here is an article talking about his book, Al Gore and what needs to be done to combat global warming.

"We wish our governments to pretend to act," he writes. "We get the moral satisfaction of saying what we know to be right, without the discomfort of doing it. My fear is that the political parties in most rich nations have already recognized this. They know that we want tough targets, but that we also want those targets to be missed. They know that we will grumble about their failure to curb climate change, but that we will not take to the streets. They know that nobody ever rioted for austerity."

Cut.

"The implications of biospheric equity are so profound and so disturbing, that it is understandable why American environmentalists shy away from discussing the issue. Currently, global carbon emissions are about 7 billion tons, roughly, 1 ton per person. But the average American generates, directly and indirectly, some 10 tons per capita. Thus, to save the planet and cleanse our resource sins, Americans must go far beyond freezing greenhouse gas emissions. As a nation, we must reduce them by more than 90 percent, taking into account the sharp reductions in existing global emissions necessary to stabilize the world's climate."

This is the kind of sacrifice that, I can safely say, most people will not be willing to make. We are talking a great social, economic and "lifestyle" change that would be drastic and spartan compared with the past.

What do you think?

Healthcare In The USA - We Do It The Best! Right?

This Modern World has an excellent cartoon on the subject of healthcare, which is a personal crusade for me, due to a major health issue I had ten years ago. While I was going through my treatment for this illness the business I worked for was basically going bankrupt and in fact closed down during this time. So I had to do a couple of months of Cobra and pay a large amount of money that I really didn't have while being on disability and feeling like crap most of the time just so I could keep my insurance and not end up owing about $10,000.

We have no healthcare "system" in this country. It is a bunch of private insurance and drug companies and hospitals who are in the business of making money on your health. Nothing is integrated it is a chaotic half-assed thing. Of course, the rest of the world has no problems with national, single payer healthcare and they don't pay as much for it either. Plus, our health statistics are horrible compared to other industrialized, advanced countries.

As Warren Beatty put it so well in his brilliant film Bulworth:

Bullworth: Yeah, yeah / You can call it single-payer or Canadian way / Only socialized medicine will ever save the day! Come on now, lemme hear that dirty word - SOCIALISM!

Republican Jack Kingston - Just Another Conservative Hyprocite

When it comes to a minimum wage hike he has this to say:

"During the House debate, Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., said Democrats would celebrate the bill's passage because "it's going to be good politics for them."
But he warned that people would not escape poverty through mandated wage hikes. If, instead, people would marry and work longer hours, "they would be out of poverty," he said. "It is an economic fact."

When it comes to Congress being in session five days a week he has this to say:

"Keeping us up here eats away at families," said Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), who typically flies home on Thursdays and returns to Washington on Tuesdays. "Marriages suffer. The Democrats could care less about families - that's what this says."

What a horrible, disgusting creature he is.

Think about what kind of mind can come up with this stuff?

Crooks and Liars has more information about the creature.

Watch the creature in action.

Keith Olbermann Special Comment

Another brilliant Special Comment by Keith Olbermann, concerning Bush's speech last night, is posted over at Crooks and Liars. Do yourself a favor and check it out.

Can you imagine what the impact would be if Keith could do this on the NBC Nightly News?

Some Of The "Brains" Behind Bush

"When President George W. Bush's unveils his long-awaited new strategy on Iraq Wednesday night, he will be relying heavily on the counsel of one J.D. Crouch II, perhaps the most hard line -- if most obscure -- of his hawkish advisers.

Over the past 15 years, the generally low-profile Crouch has taken any number of controversial positions, from advocating military action against Cuba and North Korea to blaming the 1999 Columbine High School student massacre in Colorado on "30 years of liberal social policy".


J.D. Crouch II, deputy national security adviser, says "circumstances have changed" since he advocated returning U.S. nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula 10 years ago.
Photo Credit: By Robert A. Reeder -- The Washington Post
As deputy national security adviser, Crouch, who has held three posts in the Bush administration, chaired the inter-agency group charged with mapping out Bush's new Iraq strategy, whose main feature, it is expected, will add some 20,000 new U.S. troops to the 140,000 already there in hopes of stabilising Baghdad and rebellious al Anbar province.

Crouch, whose substantive expertise is in arms control -- or, more precisely, how the U.S. can evade or undermine international efforts to promote arms control -- has long been a favourite of Vice President Dick Cheney, whose own national security adviser, neo-conservative John Hannah, has reportedly played a key role in the deliberations over Iraq."

More here.

It is a public service to spread information about nutty neo-cons and their crazy fucking ideas.

In The Not Too Surprising Category

"President Bush promised on Thursday to veto Democratic-drafted legislation requiring the government to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices under Medicare.

The House is to debate and vote Friday on the bill, which is one of a handful of priority items for Democrats who gained control of Congress in last fall's elections.

"Government interference impedes competition, limits access to lifesaving drugs, reduces convenience for beneficiaries and ultimately increases costs to taxpayers, beneficiaries and all American citizens alike," the administration said in a written statement.

Further, it said, competition already "is reducing prices to seniors, providing a wide range of choices and leading to a more productive environment for the development of new drugs."

Read more here.

Their lies know no bounds.

Oh, By The Way

In case you didn't get the message last night, I know I did, George Bush wants war with Iran and Syria.....now.

I don't know about you but I have this horrible feeling in my stomach, most of the day, about this.

And yes, I do think the picture above is perfect for this post.

Talking Points Memo has more.

The "Surge" Is Going To "Escalate"

You might ask what is going to escalate?

Death, destruction and chaos.

It is not going to stop one thing.

This was doomed from the start when they invaded Iraq for those elusive WMD.

Remember them?

The Black Heart Procession - You Got Lucky Live Video

Tom Petty meet The Black Heart Procession!

God, Inc Episode 1

"A comedy about life in the corporate offices of God. What if all the problems on earth were not caused by a spiteful deity, or karma, or fate, but just office politics and the Peter Principle?"

A very funny show written and directed by Francis Stokes that I thought you, my vast and wide audience, might like.

I highly recommend it for all your evangelical friends.

Fox News - Ted Kennedy Is A "Hostile Enemy"

First Sean Penn is an "enemy of the state" and now Ted Kennedy is a "hostile enemy".

You have to ask, who declared Fox News the national Commisar of the U.S.?

Or as I like to say it...who the fuck do you think you are?

Thanks to Crooks and Liars for the tip.

The Big Secret Of Today

Well, it's not exactly a "secret", but I have the inside scoop that President George Bush is going to "surge" the troops in Iraq.

Keep it down, no one is supposed to know.

A Joe Klein Blogging Update

After Joe's first attempt at being a "screeching" pundit blogger he now has aroused quite a response that is worth reading.

Ah, those Washington talking heads just know so much more than everyone else.

Didn't ya know?

Rick Santorum Has A New Job

"Yet he hopes to remain in the public spotlight as director of the EPPC’s brand-new America’s Enemies program.

“It’s a stark name,” says Santorum. “But we wanted to be candid about the fact that America really does have enemies and to point out that the nature of these enemies is much more complex than what people realize. It’s not just Islamic fascism, but also Venezuela, North Korea, and, increasingly in my opinion, Russia.”

More insanity here.

Joe Klein - A Frothing, Screeching Blogger

"I'm afraid I'm going to get cranky about this: The Democrats who oppose the so-called "surge" are right. But they have to be careful not to sound like ill-informed dilettantes when talking about it."

Read the rest of Joe's fatuous post on Time's new online blog called Swampland.

It seems the perfect name for Joe Klein's keen, inside the beltway insight.

Sean Penn: Enemy Of The State!

According to right wing authoritarian and propagandist Sean Hannity.

I like the part about Penn being a "bad actor".

Let me guess, Hannity, Arnold is a good actor eh?

Sean Hannity wins my new unintentional hilarity award for today.

What a fucking idiot.

Thanks to Talking Points Memo for the youtube post.

Attention: All Iraq War Supporters Age 18-35....Your Country Needs You!!

Glenn Greenwald nails it:

"One of the two principal architects of the "surge" strategy about to be adopted by the President is Frederick Kagan of the American Enterprise Institute. He recently appeared at an AEI event with the other surge architect, Ret. Gen. Jack Keane (along with surge advocates Sens. McCain and Lieberman), to detail and defend his plan. Kagan thereafter issued an "Executive Summary" to accompany a report detailing what the "surge" plan requires in order to succeed (h/t Chasm).

Kagan makes it absolutely clear that an increase in the number of available troops and American military volunteers is critical to the success of the surge specifically, and for "victory" in the war in Iraq generally, and he therefore emphasizes how urgent it is for more Americans to enlist in the military if we are to Win:


Victory in Iraq is still possible at an acceptable level of effort. We must adopt a new approach to the war and implement it quickly and decisively. . . . This approach requires a national commitment to victory in Iraq:
. . .

The president must request a substantial increase in ground forces end strength. This increase is vital to sustaining the morale of the combat forces by ensuring that relief is on the way. The president must issue a personal call for young Americans to volunteer to fight in the decisive conflict of this generation."

Cut.

"According to the surge planners, a failure to provide at least 30,000 troops will doom the U.S. to defeat in Iraq, but we do not have the troops to send. Both this Op-Ed, as well as Kagan's new report, leave no doubt that a shortage of willing warriors is a real impediment to American War Victory, and that Victory over the Terrorists -- as this worldview sees it -- requires that more "young Americans" volunteer to fight."

As I have been urging for a long, long time, it is time to put up or shut up about the "glorious" war in Iraq. If you are able to and young enough join up to help the U.S. to "victory".

Read the rest here.

What Was Good For GM Was Good For Nazi Germany

this isn't surprising at all. IBM, GM...business is business.

"James D. Mooney thrust his arm diagonally, watching its reflection in his hotel suite mirror. Not quite right. He tried once again. Still not right. Was it too stiff? Too slanted? Should his palm stretch perpendicular to the ceiling; should his arm bend at a severe angle? Or should the entire limb extend straight from shoulder to fingertips? Should his sieg heil project enthusiasm or declare obedience? Never mind, it was afternoon. Time to go see Hitler.

Just the day before, May 1, 1934, under a brilliant, cloudless sky, Mooney, president of the General Motors Overseas Corp., climbed into his automobile and drove toward Tempelhof Field at the outskirts of Berlin to attend yet another hypnotic Nazi extravaganza. This one was the annual May Day festival. "

Cut.

"General Motors World, the company house organ, covered the May Day event glowingly in a several-page cover story, stressing Hitler's boundless affinity for children. "By nine, the streets were full of people waiting to see Herr Hitler go meet the children," the publication reported.

The next day, May 2, 1934, after practicing his sieg heil in front of a mirror, Mooney and two other senior executives from General Motors and its German division, Adam Opel A.G., went to meet Hitler in his Chancellery office. Waiting with Hitler would be Nazi Party stalwart Joachim von Ribbentrop, who would later become foreign minister, and Reich economic adviser Wilhelm Keppler.

As Mooney traversed the long approach to Hitler's desk, he began to pump his arm in a stern-faced sieg heil. But the Führer surprised him by getting up from his desk and meeting Mooney halfway, not with a salute but a businesslike handshake.

This was, after all, a meeting about business -- one of many contacts between the Nazis and GM officials that are spotlighted in thousands of pages of little-known and restricted Nazi-era and New Deal-era documents."

Cut.

"A few weeks later, in May 1941, a year-and-a-half after World War II broke out, with newspapers and newsreels constantly transmitting the grim news that millions had been displaced, murdered or enslaved by Nazi aggression and that London was decimated by the blitz bombing campaign, Sloan, then in his mid-60s, told his closest executives during a Detroit briefing: "I am sure we all realize that this struggle that is going on through the world is really nothing more or less than a conflict between two opposing technocracies manifesting itself to the capitalization of economic resources and products and all that sort of thing."

Full story here.

Have You Heard?

John Edwards has come up with the perfect phrase for the "surge" of troops in Iraq that George Bush is going to announce as his new "strategy". Edwards called it the "McCain Doctrine" because John McCain is so gung-ho for it. I mean he could have called it the "Lieberman Doctrine" as well, but somehow, this fits better.

The "maverick" of the Republican Party is so "independent" on this issue of sending more troops to die in a war based on lies. When in doubt, escalate baby. Who, in their right mind, thinks this will work? Unless the goal is to kill more people and cause more damage and then it will work beautifully.

How sick can you be?

Thanks to Crooks and Liars for the tip.