November 10, 2007 08:12 AM
Sunday Talking Head Thread
Some Oleta Adams to start your day. Love her voice...
The Sunday Talking Head line-up is up and ready for reading. One wonders if Blitzer will bother asking Armitage about his outing of Valerie Plame Wilson and what he coughed up to keep his ass out of the indicted chair. But I'm not exactly holding my breath on that one. Other than that, it's a Presidential candidate-o-rama on most of the shows: Dodd, Paul, Huckabee, Richardson, Biden, McCain and Obama.
What's catching your eye on the blogs or in the news this morning?
Hillary Clinton, more like Bush then you would like to admit. Look at how your next peznet runs for office.
Time to send Ron Paul some money.
Ron Paul? Um, no. Thanks.
Just came back from a walk on a chilly sunny Florida morning. The early birds flying around in the neighborhood caught my eye. It's too nice a day to muck it up with politics. :)
I don't think I'd heard Oleta Adams before. Yes she has a very lovely voice!
I'm waiting to hear that OBL is still free because of a deal between "w" and the bin Laden family...
Are you starting a "C&L Early Morning Music Club"?
If yes, I'm totally in!
Betcha that bush, cheney, and others have hefty Dubai bank accounts for their role keeping OBL free...
Richardson didn't really land any good body blows in his interview with Wallace on FnS.
When asked why he wants to pull the troops from Iraq "just as the Surge appears to be working", Richardson correctly pointed out that *Political* progress is not being made, but failed to point out "reduced violence" is the natural result of years of Ethnic Cleansing, that the violence began to diminish *before* the Surge, nor did he go after Chris when he brought up those few Sunni tribes that "have abandoned al Qaeda and are fighting with us instead of against us"... a perfect opportunity to point out that we are now arming the Sunni's, which make up 75% of the insurgency.
actor212 @ 2:
That article leaves out the fact that Ron Paul was literally begged to run for President, and was eventually convinced to do so.
Mugsy @ 8:
Why do perfectly intelligent people leave out glaring responses and not call bullshit on the interviewers when their questions are falsely framed or based on intel that has proven false? Because they agree to cooperate before the show. It's the only reason I can come up with.
curtilingus @ 10:
I wish I knew. Personally, I think it is because their advisers don't spend enough time on blogs like this to stay informed. :)
THAT was fun!
On FnS, when the subject turned to Barack Obama, the ONLY member of the Fox panel asked to comment was the black guy, Juan Williams. Funny that. :)
In the news:
Broken Supply Channel Sent Weapons for Iraq Astray in the NYTimes
When commenting on Liebermann's "Retreat & Defeat" speech, Hume acknowledged the lack of "political progress", Kristol conceded that Democrats may have had a legitimate point opposing the Surge originally on the grounds "more good troops after bad", but nothing derailed the Liebermann Love Train.
But I find those concessions completely dishonest and self-serving,
It's not that "The Surge" is working, but the main reason the lower death tolls of civilian and American Military, is a direct result of Muqtada al-Sadr's 6 month cease fire, which began Aug 29.
http://www.therealnews.com/web/index.php
Hey everyone Karen posted this last night and I think its worth a look. The Real News is User funded news (no advertising or government dollars). This could be the only thing that will save us from the crooked press we all bitch about every day. One warning: it does take about ten minutes to adequately discuss some of the heavier, complex topics of the day, so bring your attention span.
Its either The Real News or The Onion.
Obama is discussing "raising" the "payroll cap" to cover the shortfall in Social Security. But only "raise" the cap and not remove it completely.
I have yet to understand how some people (not Obama) can argue in favor of a "flat tax" on the grounds "everyone should pay the same percentage of their income in taxes", yet OPPOSE lifting the payroll cap to fund Social Security. S'plain that one to me.
Think about it. News is funded by big business. The elections are funded by big business. (Government funds only kick in when the candidate gets enough big business dollars). What influence do the people have over the choice of the candidate and the selection of stories? Is it any wonder we always end up with a candidate that a majority of americans don't like and who does not act in the best interest of the people?
Obama says, "If we pull out all our troops, whose goingto protect our embassy?" Edwards has said this too.
GIVE UP THE EMBASSY! If the Embassy is the only thing keeping you from pulling out all troops, hand it over to the Iraqi government. They'll need it, we don't. It's not an "embassy", it's functionally a "military base" in the heart of another country with its own airstrip.
In response to the question, "what's catching your eye on the blogs or in the news this morning?", I would like to offer what caught my eye the other day.
We all know, those of us who get our real news from the blogosphere, that the msm will not cover the relevant topics and events. Just like the Republican failure to attend the hearing where the CBO figures of a 2.4 Trillion dollar cost for the war is a distinct possibility with China buying all those securities.
On the unapologeticmexican site, posted on November 7th, is a great expose by Rep. Jose Serrano, (D) New York, of the Republican and fringe wingnut attempt to make Central and South America into an ally of Iran, and you know what will be next if they are successful. It is also a wonderful contradiction of those jingoist and xenophobes flamed fears of a "brown" enemy within (which is what should be expected in a country that is racing toward fascism.)
I would urge you to take a look. I, for my part will urge the readers of the unapologeticmexican to pay attention to this site.
Sunday mornings are for babbling brooks, not babbling boobs.
personally i like brenda russell's version of this song better...
in other news, all the candidates can jump in the lake as far as i'm concerned.
hide your files C&L! you all know if push comes to shove, the gov't of the future will try to track all of those with a counter opinion! :-P shhhhhh! big brother is watching
actor212 @ 2:
I read your blog. you cite Wikipedia as a source for Ron Paul's alleged racism? LMFAO
Come one, wikipedia is a fanboy hackmess. It's unreliable as a source, which is why many universities and colleges don't let their students cite it.
Also to the alleged racism...
after the minority forums that Ron Paul has attended, NOT ONE of them has ever asked Paul about this, not even in the mainstream media debates - the ones where the establishment has been trying to marginalize him and exclude him - if this is racism is true, then why haven't the other candidates or the inquisitors asked him about it? I mean, if surely its on wikipedia that he's a racist and wants to wipe out womens rights, etc., then why arent the media jumping all over this? surely the death blow to his campaign could have already been delivered. Right?
Do you know what "dirty-tricks" are?
Here's a real gem. People interviewed on the TeeVee News in San Francisco complaining that their shopping, partying, and sports have been disrupted by the oil spill.
Truth Be Told @ 23:
I think that people who focus on Paul's alleged racism are missing what's important.
No question Paul is of a generation where subtle racism is innate in their character. They say and do things that you or I might think is obviously inappropriate, but that generation doesn't notice.
No, what people SHOULD be concentrating with with Paul is his Libertarian political philosophy. He's try to disband every successful government program, from Social Security to public education, and oppose any future funding for those programs.
Paul with be a bureaucratic nightmare as President. If you think "prvatization" and "contractors" have devistated Iraq, multiply that times 100 if done here.
Another Gem.
2 hours, 4 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - A top intelligence official says it is time people in the United States changed their definition of privacy. Privacy no longer can mean anonymity, says Donald Kerr, a deputy director of national intelligence.
Fast Forward ...................................................................>
The central witness in a California lawsuit against AT&T says the government is vacuuming up billions of e-mails and phone calls as they pass through an AT&T switching station in San Francisco.
Mark Klein, a retired AT&T technician, helped connect a device in 2003 that he says diverted and copied onto a government supercomputer every call, e-mail, and Internet site access on AT&T lines.
With Hillary planting questions in her audiences, I have a question I want to plant:
The so-called "watch list" that the DHS keeps now contains the names of 800,000 American citizens with thousands added each month. These "potential security threats" are made up of peace activists, environmental activists, civil rights activists, academics, journalists, and simple citizens who have had the gall to question the actions of Bush/Cheney or the direction they have taken our country. Just recently, a woman with Code Pink was barred from entry into Canada because the FBI placed her name on the list as a "criminal" - for simply being arrested at a peace protest. This has GOT to stop. Americans enjoying their absolute rights to question their government and speak their minds must NOT be used as an excuse to marginalize them and tar them "criminals". My questions: What will YOU do (Clinton, Obama, Edwards, etc) to fix this situation? Will you pledge to open up the list for all to see and setup a process by which citizens can easily contest their placement on the "watch list"? Will you pledge to no longer allow the list to be used to squelch political voices, whether popular or not?
There. That is my plant. Who will take up this plant and ask the candidate(s) when/if they get the chance?
Mugsy @ 25:
No, you have it wrong. First, that is his philosophy. It would be very hard to put it into practice, especially with a Democratically controlled Congress and Senate
Secondly, he has suggested a weaning process for many of those so-called "successful" programs. I don't know if you noticed or not, but Social Security is going to be insolvent very soon (if not now already, given the gov't bookkeeping methods, and off budget shell games). For those that are currently dependent on those programs, he proposes keeping them on it, but weaning off them. As he has stated - he's not going to throw anyone out into the street, or to the wolves.
As for public education - why should the Federal Govt be in charge of that? Seems to me, and to the Constitution, that it should be a state and local matter. Have you seen the effects of Federal intrusion into the Educational system (other than desegregation), for example, NCLB?
And for all the other government agencies you may be worried about - WHO staffs them now? The foxes of industry who are supposed to regulated themselves and their buddies?
If you selected Paul for President, you would get that so-called Peace-dividend because he would withdraw US forces from nearly all spots on the globe - saving billions if not trillions in US taxpayer money. You would get a dollar that is more stable, you would get rid of the IRS,
and you would enable someone who would get rid of every signing statement, executive order, etc that has built this emerging police/surveillance state. You will not get that with any other candidate - excepting Kucinich.
Joe Biden just gave Wolf Blitzer the smackdown when Blitzer tried to manufacture a man-spat between Joe and Obama. Good for Joe!
I love Joe Biden. I don't think he would make the best president, but whoever wins the presidency would be a fool to pass him up for SOS
I hate our media. Blitzer is about a dense as aged cheddar.
No. Wrong. Social Security is NOT going to be "insolvent soon". It wont begin running into any problems until 2047. There is NO need to make some huge "fix" now and certainly not try to "fix" it by tying people to the volatile stock market. Oh, that would be swell...force profits for Wallstreet so they can collect fees on all the erstwhile SS "investments" AND tie people to a crashable market. How would YOU like to get to retire and count on market-based SS at a time when the market tanks? Too bad eh?
What needs immediate fixing is Medicare, NOT Social Security...and the answer is NOT to privatize Medicare. Privatization is THE problem in our broken healthcare system. Privatized medicine means insurance companies denying you coverage or treatment or drugs because it would hurt shareholder value - the idea that said treatment might well save your life or vastly improve the quality of your life doesn't go into the equation. ONLY maximizing profits by maximizing denials is how privatized healthcare works.
And don't even TRY to claim "but our system is the envy of the world!" No, it is NOT. It is considered a monstrosity by ALL developed nations because it is. We spend more per person in our "privatized" system for worse outcomes top-to-bottom than ANY of the so-called "socialized medicine" developed nations. Privatization MUST cost more than the government doing it correctly. Why? Because you can NEVER get a company to do what salaried government employees do for the same price. They ALWAYS cost more. They ALWAYS pay higher wages, from CEO down to their workers, than government employees make doing the same thing. It costs MORE to do the same thing. Look at Blackwater, for shit's sake. Superbly trained US soldiers with strict rules of engagement and ethics get paid 1/2 or less than the pay Blackwater thugs get paid to the the same job only much more poorly. Where US soldiers don't, as a matter of practice, go in guns blazing, spraying bullets and grenades 360 degrees at any and all - dogs, donkeys, old women, children, families, shadows, etc - that is PRECISELY what "great" private contractors do. More money for a MUCH worse job!
You CANNOT get retirement insurance (which is the entire focus of what Social Security is, NOT a risky investment or even a "safe" investment tied to vagueries of the ever-changing market) more cheaply to everyone via privatization at anywhere near the cost savings you can get it when the profit motive for shareholders or CEOs is the ONLY concern with the retiree's concerns a distant second. Can't be done.
Pauliacs can be forgiven, to a certain extent, for not getting the entire point of Social Security. Not a single one of them lived during the Great Depression, they grew up getting whatever the hell they wanted from mommy and daddy, including their college edumacations. They have NEVER wanted for anything...and worse, they feel entitled to easy riches and think, "I go mine so fuck you loser! Die by the side of the road! Social Darwinism baby!" If not for Rosevelt's Social Security (and other social programs) this country likely wouldn't exist at all today in the form it does. It would LIKELY have fallen to communism - we were this close to losing the entire system because it is NOT sustainable for a huge underclass to be forever held down while a few individuals make out big as robber barons. We already went through the fruits of Libertarian Hell: it was the 19th century and the Great Depression. Charles Dickens wrote all his stories skewering the libertarian nightmare that was the 19th century with people dying in poverty with NO government aid or support of any kind and the wealthy getting ever more wealthy. We will NOT be returning to that unregulated nightmare again. We will NOT be returning to that pollution and poverty hell again. We will NOT be returning to that "I got mine so fuck you" system again.
Hype-jersey - yes! Old Joe smacked Wolf good!
Joe Biden should be our nominee.
I hate Hillary. I have no clue as to why the media portrays her as our nominee. She's poison. It's like we are being set up to lose.
I think Joe Biden would make a great Harware Store Manager.
I had the pleasure of hearing Oleta live at a music conference many years back performing as a trio. She played piano with feeling and conviction and sang beautifully. Last I heard she was embarking on a Gospel career.
For what it's worth, I dont think this bloated corrupt government can be "fixed", only disassembled and reconstructed so Im leaning toward Ron Paul these days.
Kucinich is a man of integrity with the others too pitiful to mention. I thought well of Obama until I realized he belongs to the banking cartel's CFR. To me, they are at the root of war and fascism now and in the past.
xoites defends Constitution @ 32:
Or perhaps a "Greeter" at Wal-Mart or Home Depot.
Praedor Atrebates @ 30:
[cheers and whistles]
Thank you and well-said.
Praedor Atrebates @ 30:
I completely agree. If Ron Paul supporters would take a moment to look past his anti-war stance, and instead look at the corporate run hell that he supports, their opinon of him would change. Privatization, deregulation, and cuts in social spending have always destroyed countries, and benefit only the rich. If you have any doubts about this, please read *The Shock Doctrine* by Naomi Klein.
Hype-Jersey @ 35:
more better to die on your feet defending your generation from the rich and criminals then live beneath the feet of traitors!
Gorgeous cross between Anita Baker and Natalie Cole.... Thanks.
That voice can make an old man weep.
Sniff
This sister can sing her ass off.
We hadn't heard Oleta Adams, either. Great voice, great song. Thanks!
The comments I'm reading here regarding Ron Paul are a bit shallow and misleading. Granted, he is not a champion of social security under a federal program yet he professess to believe in the US Constitution and if that is what the people demand or desire, that is what they get.
He has stated many times he would abolish the IRS and take away the issuance of our currency from the Federal Reserve which is unConstitutional. I believe this is why JFK was gunned down and not Vietnam as many think. He also believes in returning many rights back to the states thus decentralizing the power of the federal government from this bunch of cut throats and gangsters running our country in the ground.
My father was a FDR Democrat and believed in Social Security for all and this attempt to create a social net is a noble pursuit. He was also wise about not letting the Federal Gov enter into too many aspects of our lives. Right now, the gangsters running our Federal Gov has robbed the Social Security trust fund and blames the system for its shortcomings. Social Security has turned into an all knowing system where an identifying number is assigned to every man, woman and child. The abuses of such a system are always dangerous to our basic freedoms and create a dependency on government which can be an avenue to lose personal freedoms. I stated in an earlier thread, I dont think this over-bloated federal government can be fixed. It has become a threat to the world and the citizens it proclaims to protect. I wouldnt confuse Ron Paul with the crooked "privatization crusaders" making up the World Bank and IMF. They are clearly in opposition to each other.
VIDEO: Bush I Calls Leakers “Most Insidious of Traitors”
GEORGE H.W. BUSH: “I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the name of our sources. They are, in my view, the most insidious of traitors.” [Speech at CIA, 4/26/99]
http://thinkprogress.org/2005/07/28/video-bush-i/
BTW - Treason, during a time of war, is punishable by death. Time for the bushies to line up for trial.
Oleta is an amazing talent. She was discovered by Curt and Roland of Tears for Fears and featured on their The Seeds of Love album, singing and playing piano on several tracks. I recommend going to YouTube and watching her "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" cover video, and Tears for Fears' "Woman in Chains" video featuring Oleta. Both of them are underrated artists.
Oh, and right on FOIA!
Blog Clogs on so called "progressive" blogs.
Firedoglake's Christy Hardin Smith and Jane Hamsher direct their laser like attention and sometimes locker room language on critical issues that face our nation. But I stand by my claims that there are very serious and smelly blog clogs at Firedoglake and with the bloggers at Firedoglake when it comes to tackling the Israeli Palestinian conflict and the Aipac espionage investigation and trial.
Oh they will make endless excuses as if the few participants at that website willing to bring these issues are enough of a focus on this critical issue (how many times do we have to hear that the I/P issue is the main thorn in the side of most nations in the middle east). Few at that site will stand up to the personal attacks and intimidation that some of the participants at that site use and the trolls who jump on when the topic comes up. They will claim that those who do bring it up are self involved, off topic (although the off topic police at Firedoglake never object when folks are talking about their storm window problems, their kids, recipes, sports, etc etc. They claim they are buidling a progressive community. What they are building are fan clubs! Not unlike what they claim goes on in side the beltway.
They somehow think that when participants are brave enough (very very seldom) to bring up the Israeli Palestinian conflict, the Aipac espionage investigation and upcoming trial (that is if the new Attorney General Mukasey does not dismiss of undermine this trial) that somehow addresses the disproportionate amount of influence that Israel and the I-lobby have over US foreign policy in the middle east. It is not.
I believe the very same self censorship that we have witnessed in the MSM in regard to these critical issues is taking place on Firedoglake and other so called "progressive" blogs. But especially Firedoglake.
I believe Firedoglake has allowed themselves to follow the MSM's lead on this. Which is not to challenge. The I-lobby have been attacking on line anyone who is willing to challenge. Firedoglake bloggers are in line with the MSM on these critical issues, they are unwilling to truly challenge.
"-The Israeli students, on their part, are running a battle of their own. In an international effort they launched a campaign called "Take three minutes." Starting Friday, some 500 students and activists of the Israel at Heart organization will start different type of war: The talkback offensive.
The students are set to log onto different websites considered hostile to Israel, with the goal of visiting few sites every day and flooding the different polls on the legitimacy of Israel's operation with pro-Israel answers and points of views.
Each student sends the poll to his/her email list with a request to take three minutes and send the link to that poll to each person's own email list, thereby hopefully creating a positive public opinion regarding Israel in the world. "
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