IMPEACHPAC - Google this term

Help get ImpeachPAC onto the Google Zeitgeist. Go to Google now and search for ImpeachPAC. Then go to the first result and read up. Maybe donate a little. Why?

"Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so. It's important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution." -- George W Bush

Well, we know he's a lying fuck. That's no suprise. But what's the impeachable offense? Well, he didn't get a warrant. And he's bragging about it now, as if he had never lied about it in the first place. I can't help thinking what Refuckingthuglicans would be saying if Bill Clinton or Al Gore had done this. But that's not the point. The point is this:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. -- The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution

Now, when you violate the constitution of the United States (which Bush referred to as a piece of paper), I think that qualifies as a high crime. I just have one suggestion. Impeach Cheney first.

Al Gore's Challenge to America

"We are all capable of believing things which we know to be untrue, and then, when we are finally proved wrong, impudently twisting the facts so as to show that we were right. Intellectually, it is possible to carry on this process for an indefinite time: the only check on it is that sooner or later a false belief bumps up against solid reality, usually on a battlefield." -- George Orwell

"Whenever power is unchecked and unaccountable it almost inevitably leads to mistakes and abuses. In the absence of rigorous accountability, incompetence flourishes. Dishonesty is encouraged and rewarded." -- Al Gore

Bonehead Logic

I just love it when people serve me these slow pitch logic balls.

Ok Bonehead, lets get it right for a change, (1) I have never said who I voted for because it's none of your business. (2) Being a vet and having witnessed your boy Kerry during and since the Viet Nam War I couldn't bring myself to vote for him. (3) I did vote during the primary election (not for Kerry or The Bushwhacker or McCain I changed my registered party affiliation and voted for Alan Keys.

My reply:

Alan Keyes. The most whacky of the Rethuglicans. Thanks. I just want to get this straight. You voted for Alan Keyes, and I'm the bonehead? OK....

And one other thing I want to get straight with you. I just want to make sure I understand. You, a vet, wouldn't vote for a vet who was against a war based on lies, even if it meant the victory of a draft dodging daddy's boy who got in a Champaign guard unit to avoid Nam, and then couldn't even complete his duty to that? Just trying to make sure I got that straight. You support the draft dodger. The one who started another war based on lies. Just trying to follow your logic here....

But, hey, the point was that I don't hear anyone in here defending Bush's TWO TRILLION DOLLAR WAR. Not you or any other fucking Republican is explaining how it's fair that we cut taxes for the rich and make the working class people of this country pay off this debt for the next few centuries. My bumper sticker is right. Ken Lay got the surplus. Thanks to people like you.

What a much better place this would be if the Supreme Court had let the recount of Florida continue in 2000....

New Questions for Christians

I posted some new questions for Christians, but everyone is invited to answer, be they Christian, Jew, or miscellaneous.

"Hindu. There are 700,000 million of us."--Apu Nahasapitapetalan, The Simpsons

The new questions are in the realm of separation of Church and State, and the possible overturn of the Establishment Clause, leading to the establishment of state religions.

"We the people of the great Mormon state of Utah."

Oh, wait. Bad example.

"We the people of the Baptist state of Alabama..."

I was thinking about this today, while the Bush administration was attacking the character of anyone who dared question their precious little war, because the only way I could see that anyone would want to keep fighting this war is to increase the Rapture Index. And, of course, while they're waiting for Armageddon, they want to force everyone to pray and worship like them, or at least belittle and abuse anyone who doesn't.

And if Alito gets confirmed, you can bet we'll be seeing the Methodist State of Texas real soon, because a majority of the court will, for the first time, think that the establishment clause applies only to the Federal government, not the states, thereby freeing state goverments to establish official religions if they want.

"Isn't that special?" -- Church Lady, SNL

Bush lies by omission - fun with quoting Democrats

Some very clever research went into the Rude Pundit's post exposing Bush's fun with taking Democratic quotes out of context: Where Did the President Get Those Democratic Quotes?

Let's be a little bit wonky today: Yesterday, in another one of his pathetic little whines about critics of the Iraq war, George Bush, making a not-unlike-Nixon trip to Asia, stopped in Alaska to say: "Let me give you some quotes from three senior Democrat leaders: First, and I quote, 'There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons.' Another senior Democrat leader said, 'The war against terrorism will not be finished as long as Saddam Hussein is in power.' Here's another quote from a senior Democrat leader: 'Saddam Hussein, in effect, has thumbed his nose at the world community. And I think the President is approaching this in the right fashion.' They spoke the truth then, and they're speaking politics now."

Since Bush dared not speak the names of the Democrats in question or offer any context for their quotes, hey, why not do some good bloggy work here?

Go read the actual quotes Bush took those little clips from. Then ask yourself, is this a man who is honest and trustworthy? Is this the best the Bushies can do? Are they auditioning for jobs in newspaper movie review sections? Maybe they've been wishing they could write more like Maureen Dowd, who is a master at using elipses...

Or, maybe, with only Mommy, Laura, Karen, and Condi allowed in the Oval Office now, they're running without Karl, so the attacks on Democrats are becoming more, uh, nuanced?

Bush ass-grabbing with Saudi Royals endangers US

Well, Bandar Bush is at it again: Saudis getting waiver for US border security program.

One Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent at Dulles International Airport said he was recently told to waive the US-VISIT requirement for about 70 people arriving from Saudi Arabia who were affiliated with the Saudi royal family.

I'd sure like to hear some of you Arab hating Republicans explain this red carpet treatment for the country that supplied 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9-11... I know all you rabid wing nuts trashed Michael Moore for addressing the Bush-Saudi oil-soaked orgy of money and weapons, but I'd really like to know what you think of letting them in the country without having to go through the US-VISIT requirement that Bush said is going to protect us from the evildoers.

But you won't. You've all crawled back under the rocks Bush let you out from under. Right now, Bush's approval numbers are roughly equal to the number of you who think Adam and Eve road dinosaurs to church (thank you Amy Poehler for the best laugh I've had in years). And the literate ones of that number are just too scared to even argue for this pitiful little coke-head momma's boy you thought would be the greatest president ever. Now, he's making Richard Nixon look good. As Hunter S. Thompson said, "To say that this goofy child president is looking more and more like Richard Nixon in the summer of 1974 would be a flagrant insult to Nixon."

Did Cheney Know Plame Was Undercover?

David Corn has an interesting question I'd like to hear some wing nuts answer: Did Cheney Know Plame Was Undercover? If he didn't, then he's not as great at his job as he likes everyone to think. The Libby indictment tells us that Cheney found out from the CIA that Plame worked in the Counterproliferation Division. Are all you right wingers going to honestly tell me that Dick "Go Fuck Yourself" Cheney didn't know that she was covert? Puleeeeze....

He knew. No doubt about it. He may be a vicious thug, but he's no dumbass. That means he told Libby she was covert.

...on July 12, 2003--six days after Wilson published his op-ed--Libby apparently discussed with Cheney what he should say to reporters, particularly Matt Cooper, about the Wilson imbroglio. The indictment does not disclose what Cheney said to Libby at this point. But the next day, Libby confirmed for Cooper that Wilson's wife worked at the CIA.

Hmmmm... OK, wingers, explain that one.

I'll help you out. Dick Cheney told Scooter Libby to attack Joe Wilson by telling reporters that his wife worked for the CIA. There's a word for that: treason. Those of us who didn't shove our heads up our asses after 9/11 know what went on. And we know that these people don't really give a shit about National Security. They care about their narrow, neo-con agenda for spreading the military industrial complex into the energy and weapons centers of the whole damn world. And if someone like Joe Wilson dared get in their way, they were going to do everything they could to seriously fuck with him.

Well, payback's a bitch, motherfuckers. See you in court.

Another Fascist Appointment...

Yup. GW appointed another Motherfucker to the Supreme Court. Strip search your wife and 10 year old girl, even if they're not on the warrant? Why not? Sell machine guns in America? Hell yeah! Fire people with AIDS for, well, for having AIDS. Shit howdy! Force abused wives to tell their husbands they want an abortion? Better duck fast, honey.

I got a nice e-mail from a libertarian this morning. I'll post the conversation here if he'll OK it. I'm hoping to convince him that the Republican party has become the opposite of libertarians: fascists. Thank you, Dumbya, you fascist fuck, for making my argument that much easier today.

To find out if you're a fascist fuck, take the test at the political compass. If either of your numbers come out negative, you should be voting for Democrats. And while you're there, check out how close GW Bush and A. Hitler are on the chart. But, hey, I agree with Bill Maher. We should stop comparing Bush and Hitler. Hitler was a decorated war veteran who saw front line combat.

Expose the Obscenity

MaryScott, I have an idea for exposing the horrible result of our invasion of Iraq. I've been thinking about your recent diary about the obscenity of child casualties in Iraq.

I remember back before the election, someone here at the KOS encouraged Kossacks to go vote things up or down at Yahoo news. Using my Yahoo username(s), I often vote stories and photos up or down on the Yahoo Recommended Stories Page, which now has a Google PageRank of 8 (same as the KOS). This means that the Yahoo Recommended Stories page has a lot of incoming links, and, therefore, a lot of traffic. Because that page is reader generated, we can actually have an impact there.

For me, voting stories up or down at Yahoo has become a replacement (my family would say obsession), that replaced video games. I can't help it. I get so fucking angry about Bush that I have to do something to make people actually see the truth.

SHOW IT. Goddamn you sonofabitches, it will NEVER STOP until you start SHOWING IT. And yeah, maybe showing it won't make it stop... and then again, maybe it motherfucking WILL, you cowards.

I agree, MaryScott. That's why we should reward Yahoo for posting those pictures: click this heart-wrenching picture. Vote 5 on it (you'll need all your Yahoo usernames and passwords). I often manage to work pictures like this into the top twenty (it only takes ten votes to get listed), but they get pushed right off. People just don't like to be reminded of what these murderous thugs got us into over there. People don't want to face the fact that the neo-con cabal wants permanent war with Eurasia, er, the terrorists, and that the result of that war is thousands of casualties of the young, innocent type, like this young girl.

If the MSM won't help us, we'll have to do it ourselves. Yahoo news has a great section of Iraq pictures, constantly updated. You can rank the pictures, e-mail them (which also gets them ranked on the most e-mailed page), or, as I have done, print them, keep some in your car, and stick them on the windshields of Bush-Cheney stickered cars.

Careful on the last one. I've been assaulted. Of course, I live in a very Republican suburb of LA, and I drive around in this:

Please help. Yahoo News is a great resource that has lots of different news and wire services available, including the AFP. Even if you just spend a few minutes a day there, voting war pictures above anorexic models and panty shots of teenage tennis players, you'll be helping to keep this war in the minds of the people who go there to read news.

Demographics have shown that younger people tend to get their news from on-line sources and Jon Stewart. Yahoo is constantly listed as a high-ranking on-line source. The added advantage of this tactic is that we reach young people, the key demographic to future political success.

Cross-posted at the Daily KOS and My Left Wing.

Treason in the White House

As Josh Marshall points out over at TPM, the indictment gives us a very strong case that Cheney and Libby both knew, on or about June 12, 2003, that Valerie Plame worked in the Counter Proliferation division of the CIA.

Go to page 5 of the indictment. Top of the page, item #9.

On or about June 12, 2003, LIBBY was advised by the Vice President of the United States that Wilson's wife worked at the Central Intelligence Agency in the Counterproliferation Divison. LIBBY understood that the Vice President had learned this information from the CIA.

This is a crucial piece of information. The Counterproliferation Division (CPD) is part of the CIA's Directorate of Operations, i.e., not Directorate of Intelligence, the branch of the CIA where 'analysts' come from, but where the spies come from.

Libby's a long time national security hand. He knows exactly what CPD is and where it is. So does Cheney. They both knew. It's right there in the indictment.

This is very important, since the wingers and their lawyers are going to argue that they didn't know she was covert. Fitzgerald is going to go after more people than Libby, and this key bit of info is probably a good way to tell what and who.

But this points to a much more general issue that I've been experiencing first hand with wingers lately. When they know they've lost an argument, as Cheney and Libby certainly knew they had regarding the Niger Uranium, they attack the person they're arguing with in the most vile and viscious way they can. They attack relatives. They attack wives. They attack anyone they can in order to draw attention away from the actual argument.

So, we can conclude that they knew they were screwed, and their only chance at getting everyone to look at something other than the fact that they lied about Iraq wanting uranium from Niger was to attack Wilson's credibility by saying, perhaps also a lie, that his wife suggested him for the job. That brings up two questions: a) what the hell difference does it make who sent him?, and b) what about Wilson's charge that they were lying about Saddam trying to purchase yellowcake? Through their despicable attack-the-accuser tactics, the bigger question is being lost. Why couldn't they prove that Wilson was wrong? Why did they have to attack him and out his wife? Why have they still not addressed that issue, outside of Bush admitting that he shouldn't have put those 16 words in the State of the Union.

Let's face it. Bush admitted that those words, that Iraq sought uranium from Africa (said in the scariest way he could say it), should NOT have been in the SOTU address. He admitted they were wrong. So what's the point of outing Valerie Plame other than retribution for Wilson proving they were lying?

These, like all right wingers, are viscious thugs. They're in such a state of denial, that I'd be suprised if they weren't committing more crimes as they try to wiggle their way out of all this. They will, most certainly, attack everyone they can. Like a viscious animal, they are even more dangerous when cornered.

And they are certainly cornered now.

Enough already with calling Iraq a mistake

The Iraq war was treason. Stop calling it a mistake. Meteor Blades of the Daily KOS hits the nail, not the thumb, with this one:

A mistake is when you hammer your thumb instead of the nail. A mistake is when you choose c) instead of d) on the SAT. A mistake is when you put too much garlic in the minestrone. Invading Iraq was no damned mistake. And calling it a mistake is more than a mere slip of the tongue. It sets a precedent. Pretty soon, everybody will be saying invading Iraq was a mistake. And in 20 years, your grandkids will be studying out of textbooks that call it a mistake.

Instead of calling it what it really was. Sedition.

Send this one to your lists. Tape it on cars with Bush stickers. Nail it to your Church door (even if you're not Lutheran). Staple it to your Bush voting neighbors head, er, door. Read it out loud at the City Council meeting. Slip it into Bush-loving books at your library. Send it in to your newspaper. Or, just send it out to your e-mail lists.

The Iraq war is Bush treason.

Iraq was not a threat. The Bush Administration systematically and premeditatively lied about that fact. That is fraud. That is treason. That is sedition.

But it's worse. The real threat is getting worse because of the Iraq war. There was a reason we left a strong-armed dictator in highly controlled "charge" of that country. It's a hellacious place to try to control.

And even the real threat we face, Al Qaeda, gets blown out of proportion. These third world thugs aren't a threat to our freedom. Your sons and daughters aren't over there protecting my rights. They're over there doing the bidding of some coalition of theocratic-petro-plutarchs. And they're creating more terrorists who are a threat to our lives, but not to our way of life. The only power on this planet capable of ruining our way of life now is the Republican party.

Through their court stuffing, Patriot Act, fear mongering power grabs, they are turing this great country into a police state run by theocratic rich people who are going to force us all to live the way they say is right. Remember that James Dobson, who has strong ties to Republican leaders, believes gays should be given the death penalty just because they're gay. But more practically, almost the entire Republican party believes that if you can't pay for your own health insurance, you and your family should just die.

How long before James Dobson thinks YOU should be killed? How long before he becomes President? How many lives from these Christo fascists will the voters believe? And even if we don't believe them, how many pre-programmed voting machines will we let them put in swing states? How long will we allow Bill Kristol and Fox News to say that people without health insurance are just lazy welfare queens who don't want to work for a living? Don't those of you who work, but still can't afford health care or a house or a car or even a pot to piss in, don't you get ANGRY about this? If not, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?

Bush and his neo-con cabal committed TREASON. Plain and simple. Where are the prosecutors? Perhaps more importantly, where are the Republicans willing to save their party from this treacherous path they're protecting? And perhaps most importantly, where is the leader of the opposition party?

"...if there is going to be an indictment that says something happened, that it is an indictment on a crime and not some perjury technicality where they couldn't indict on the crime and so they go to something just to show that their two years of investigation was not a waste of time and taxpayer dollars." -- Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Republican of Texas, 10-23-05

"I do not hold the view of our Constitution that there must be an actual, indictable crime in order for an act of a public officer to be impeachable. It is clear to this Senator that there are, indeed, circumstances, short of a felony criminal offense, that would justify the removal of a public officer from office, including the President of the United States. Manifest injury to the Office of the President, to our Nation and to the American people and gross abuse of trust and of public office clearly can reach the level of intensity that would justify the impeachment and removal of a leader." -- Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Republican of Texas, 2-17-99

"Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt that he is amassing them to use them against our friends, against our allies and against us."--Vice President Dick Cheney

When he said that, the CIA was trying to tell him there was doubt. That makes Dick Cheney a treasonous liar. That means that he ignored evidence contrary to what he already thought, as if he could know more about Iraq's weapons than the CIA or Scott Ritter.

Mrs. Alan Greenspan is a treasonous liar

Yup. Andrea Mitchell, aka Mrs. Alan Greenspan, who still makes me laugh with her serious journalist act, is still lying to America in her obvious attempt to protect Vice President Vader, er, Cheney. TPM Cafe's Larry Johnson has a great pice on Andrea Mitchell's lies today, worth reading, because she is still trying to protect the liar Dick (I'm meeting you tonight for the first time Senator Edwards, and we know exactly where the WMD are) Cheney by calling Joseph Wilson a liar. And that really pisses me off, because Joe Wilson is a great American who was trying to make sure that this government told the truth, and learned the truth, before killing thousands upon thousands of people over a fantasy more fantastic than the tooth fairy.

Oyster Shots

Ever try one? It's a little bloody mary with an oyster in it. My wife and I have one every time a Republican gets indicted. Don't bother calling me tomorrow. If Fitzgerald gets busy in the morning, I'll be out of it by noon.

I'm a Law and Order fan. No, I'm not a closet Rethuglican who thinks the best thing for a guy busted with a little weed is to go to murder and mayhem school (prison). I'm actually for the legalization of drugs, like this former police chief.

I'm a fan of TV's Law and Order, and all of it's spin-offs, all season-passed on our Tivo. I've seen so many Law and Orders that I can sometimes quote case law used on the show.

I'm not a lawyer. I don't play one on TV. I can't stand Fred Thompson. But, I watch anyway.

I've learned that a good prosecutor could indict a ham sandwich, but it has to have a little meat on it. Fitzgerald has followed all the rabbit holes he can before the grand jury, and I bet we're going to have to wait until some people are actually frog-marched before the plot twists untangle themselves.

By then, Bush will probably just pardon these treasonous theocratic plutocrats. Maybe we should have a martini for every pardon? Stirred.

Karen Hughes is a fucking idiot...

"Many people around the world do not understand the important role that faith plays in Americans' lives," she said. When an Egyptian opposition leader inquired why Mr Bush mentions God in his speeches, Hughes asked him whether he was aware that "previous American presidents have also cited God, and that our constitution cites 'one nation under God'."

Furthermore, Karen Hughes is actually helping Bin Laden. Sidney Blumenthal's article in the guardian points out that religion is a secondary consideration for the terrorists. Their biggest driving force (and recruiting force) is a foreign army on their holy lands. From Mecca to Karbala, nothing pisses Muslims off more than having foreigners in their land. The fact that those foreigners have a different religion is just an added bonus. And when you start waving around the fact that our "president" is a ferverent believer in a God different than theirs, well, that only helps them.

Futhermore, there is no mention of "one nation under God" in our constitution. Maybe we could get a smart Muslim woman to try to improve our image over there. Sending an idiot Christian woman who supports having our troops stationed over there might not be the best thing for our "image" right now.

ASSHOLE

The Rude Pundit: "Totally Black" in New Orleans

"...the Bush adminstration has broken the basic social contract in New Orleans, the one that goes all the way back to Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, the one that says we adhere to laws because you agree to protect us, and thus the city and its citizens have returned to the state of nature, which is to survive, motherfuckers, just survive."

When you break the basic social contract, isn't that treason? Or is it something much worse: something so vile and cruel that one can only describe it as the viscious fire-cracker pranks from the adult-stage spoiled rich kid who used to torture small animals?

Hurricane Damage Will Be Worse, thanks to Bush

Yup. Bush has cut the budget for New Orleans' hurricane and flood protection efforts every year that he's been in office.

In 2001, the New Orleans district spent $147 million on construction projects. When fiscal year 2005 wraps up Sept. 30, the Corps expects to have spent $82 million, a 44.2 percent reduction from 2001 expenditures.

Shameful. But, hey, sorry all you liberal Orleaners. The rest of your state voted for him.

Oh, and where's the Louisianna National Guard? Bush will never be able to wash the blood off his hands.

Quotes from when Clinton committed troops to Bosnia:

"You can support the troops but not the president."
--Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)

"Well, I just think it's a bad idea. What's going to happen is they're going to be over there for 10, 15, maybe 20 years."
--Joe Scarborough (R-FL)

"Explain to the mothers and fathers of American servicemen that may come home in body bags why their son or daughter have to give up their life?"
--Sean Hannity, Fox News, 4/6/99

"[The] President . . . is once again releasing American military might on a foreign country with an ill-defined objective and no exit strategy. He has yet to tell the Congress how much this operation will cost. And he has not informed our nation's armed forces about how long they will be away from home. These strikes do not make for a sound foreign policy."
--Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)

"American foreign policy is now one huge big mystery. Simply put, the administration is trying to lead the world with a feel-good foreign policy."
--Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)

"If we are going to commit American troops, we must be certain they have a clear mission, an achievable goal and an exit strategy."
--Karen Hughes, speaking on behalf of George W Bush

"I had doubts about the bombing campaign from the beginning . . I didn't think we had done enough in the diplomatic area."
--Senator Trent Lott (R-MS)

"I cannot support a failed foreign policy. History teaches us that it is often easier to make war than peace. This administration is just learning that lesson right now. The President began this mission with very vague objectives and lots of unanswered questions. A month later, these questions are still unanswered. There are no clarified rules of engagement. There is no timetable. There is no legitimate definition of victory. There is no contingency plan for mission creep. There is no clear funding program. There is no agenda to bolster our over-extended military. There is no explanation defining what vital national interests are at stake. There was no strategic plan for war when the President started this thing, and there still is no plan today"
--Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)

"Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is."
--Governor George W. Bush (R-TX)