Bush claims privilege to withhold CIA leak records

President Bush invoked executive privilege to keep Congress from seeing the FBI report of an interview with Vice President Dick Cheney and other records related to the administration's leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity in 2003.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=2008-07-16_D91VB0G00&show_articl...

Can somebody explain the difference between claiming executive privilege and pleading the fifth. It is not clear to me.

My fav JibJab http://www.jibjab.com/originals/what_we_call_the_news

"Foreclosure Phil" did his part to create a nation of whiners http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2008/07/foreclosure-phil.html

where in the world is karl rove? in the caymen islands, sipping mai tais w/ ken lay?

come home, karl! we won't let them feed you to the wild sows!

Ruthless People @ 11:

bullfrog @ 10:

where in the world is karl rove? in the caymen islands, sipping mai tais w/ ken lay?

come home, karl! we won't let them feed you to the wild sows!

Maybe he's hunting with Dead Eye Dick. Hopefully they'll mistake one another for an old lawyer.

Aren't they both dicks?

8,763 vets died waiting for benefits

The report by the majority staff of the House Oversight and Government Reform domestic policy panel, released Tuesday, concluded that at least 28,283 disabled retirees were denied retroactive pay awards because rushed efforts to clear a huge backlog of claims led program administrators to stop doing quality assurance checks on the claims decisions.

And of the original 133,057 potentially eligible veterans, 8,763 died before their cases could be reviewed for retroactive payments, according to the report.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/07/military_concurrent_receipt_071508/

Priceless.

bullfrog @ 17:

many of us are familiar w/ the rumor that general smedley butler thwarted an american fascist attempted coup against fdr in the early 30's.

does anyone know if there's any evidence fdr died "prematurely" to facillitate the m-i-c devastation of hiroshima and nagasaki..?

it's my understanding truman was pretty clueless when he was sworn in...

I was only four or five years old at the time. Can't recall reading anything. Can't recall reading either.

Ron @ 18:

bullfrog @ 17:

many of us are familiar w/ the rumor that general smedley butler thwarted an american fascist attempted coup against fdr in the early 30's.

does anyone know if there's any evidence fdr died "prematurely" to facillitate the m-i-c devastation of hiroshima and nagasaki..?

it's my understanding truman was pretty clueless when he was sworn in...

I was only four or five years old at the time. Can't recall reading anything. Can't recall reading either.

Gee I don't know: I wasn't even daddy’s little squirt!

FYI:

Privacy / 4th Amendment vs WOT rant update now in place.

Bring a Snickers; you're gonna be a while.

bullfrog @ 19:

obama's in a tough position because he doesn't want to do the easy thing and just knock mccain's yellow dentures to the mat.

he's got to be an old-school gentleman. he's got to be like that black guy in "night of the living dead", the last sane muthaf#cka in america.

The ironic thing about your comment is that, apparently, when Romero and friends made that movie, the black guy got the part because he was the best actor, not for social or political reasons...perhaps just like today!

neat-o

JibJab continues wonderfully...like Pixar!

How does a gas tax holiday equate with national healthcare? ...oh chirst, I could go on, but why? Please God, make it stop. I hate jib jab.

Can we stop pretending this false-relativist hipster garbage is funny? JibJab actively hurt Kerry in 2004 by taking the Nader position, and it will similarly help McCain this election cycle. You should take this shit off the front page.

bullfrog @ 17:

many of us are familiar w/ the rumor that general smedley butler thwarted an american fascist attempted coup against fdr in the early 30's.

does anyone know if there's any evidence fdr died "prematurely" to facillitate the m-i-c devastation of hiroshima and nagasaki..?

it's my understanding truman was pretty clueless when he was sworn in...

I'm also curious about any evidence FDR died "prematurely" ..

It has been said FDR was about to charge Prescott Bush with War Crimes, Aiding the Enemy.

More senseless gun violence brought to you by the Supreme Court. The real reason that Congress and the President care about the banks is that the businesses own them. China is in Holocaust-denial over Sudan.
Our food and fuel demands are killing the forests.

Some good news:
Mayors Make Good Move On Health Care

Rather startling, considering the sabre-rattling:
After 30 years, US to send diplomats to Iran

Ooops!
South Carolina - not 'so gay' after all

Citizens petitioning to use low speed vehicles on city streets:
Town considers allowing low-speed vehicles

shaz @ 28:

Can we stop pretending this false-relativist hipster garbage is funny? JibJab actively hurt Kerry in 2004 by taking the Nader position, and it will similarly help McCain this election cycle. You should take this shit off the front page.

There were larger and better funded forces at work in 2004 that help sink Kerry. I really doubt a piece of animation did his candidacy in.

And by the way, lighten up.

I agree completely with Shaz. Jibjab tries to pass itself off as clever satire, but it just recycles old, trite, stereotypes. Bill Clinton is a womanizer, Hillary is still mad at him, McCain is old, Obama says change all the time... Is there anything original about that? At least they usually give equal time to lampooning both candidates, which is why I was surprised by this new video. Did anyone else notice that the video actually had the effect (intentional or not) of making McCain look more presidential and strong, by putting him in a tank running over Obama, then surrounded by various weapons of the armed forces. It's the usual trite conventional wisdom that Republicans are strong while democrats are wussies. It even appropriates Bob Dylan's "The Times They are a Changin'" to spoof Obama's change mantra. They are definitely leaning right this time.

Meanwhile, I'm sure the guys behind it are making a ton of dough milking the publicity for all it's worth. IMHO, these guys just don't have much to say. It's not even funny anymore.

corporate free market capitalism economics......
my ass these people talk free market pure
darwin capitalism....bullshxt.............
there socialists in pin strips....bail outs and subsides
and guess who pays and takes the risk we do

Any fake Impeachment hearing they decide to hold will have the same results as this hearing. They are trying to "appease" us after the fisa cave in fiasco

jib jab ,
The most humble ( RIP ) person I ever meet was my ex's father , a grunt in the pacific islands of WW 11 , who walked off , a life time jazz musican , a father . He came back with malaria and later devolped parkensions , he could not walk to well and we always where there to help , my ex worked nights and I spent a lot of time with john . Some nights it was really bad , it was if he was back in the jungle , seeing his friends or what was left of them . He would break out in cold sweats in 100 degree weather and talk in his sleep ,many nights all I could do was listen tears running flowing from my eyes , just trying to understand the horror he saw .
He had a term for it ( his condition ) he called it the jim-jams , I know its off topic , there are times when I have little release , just venting .

dn

JD @ 38:

I agree completely with Shaz. Jibjab tries to pass itself off as clever satire, but it just recycles old, trite, stereotypes. Bill Clinton is a womanizer, Hillary is still mad at him, McCain is old, Obama says change all the time... Is there anything original about that? At least they usually give equal time to lampooning both candidates, which is why I was surprised by this new video. Did anyone else notice that the video actually had the effect (intentional or not) of making McCain look more presidential and strong, by putting him in a tank running over Obama, then surrounded by various weapons of the armed forces. It's the usual trite conventional wisdom that Republicans are strong while democrats are wussies. It even appropriates Bob Dylan's "The Times They are a Changin'" to spoof Obama's change mantra. They are definitely leaning right this time.

Meanwhile, I'm sure the guys behind it are making a ton of dough milking the publicity for all it's worth. IMHO, these guys just don't have much to say. It's not even funny anymore.

BTW, if you look at their pre-production drawings, there were many, many more ideas that eventually got cut:

Jib Jab pre-production boards

What happened to these great ideas? Makes you wonder who was making the editorial decisions. Who owns Jib-Jab?

GNA!

The Spirit of Ronald Reagan Romney is brown-nosing for veepers and says McBush invented the surge. The repugs can start drilling his head cuz that Mittens is one oily sumbitch.

msnbc cheering on the war in afghanistan and declaring the surge a victory

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25707422/

never mind that our wonderful chimp in chief is the one who fucked up afghanistan by never finishing the job

never mind that again the concept that calm means winnig anything...we see that wasnt the truth in afghanistan

never mind that till this day, no one has asked what happens if we stop paying insurgent groups to stop shooting us

never mind that it seems that the msm has ceased reporting civillian deaths

nope...all they are doing is helping to pave the way for a long term occupation, that will continue breaking this country's economy, and will ultimately lead to another osama bin laden being created

Am I the only one that fucking hates Jib Jab's shitty little songs? Political satire is only fun when it's dark, like Jonathan Swift or The Dead Kennedys... or the New Yorker cover. (I mean seriously, anyone who sees the cover, doesn't realize it's satire AND is influenced into thinking Obama is muslim is a fucking moron anyway.)

Crowded shelters are being forced to euthanize healthy animals.

Tequila @ 55:

The crappy economy is forcing one dentist to barter to stay in business.

if eyes and teeth are part of your health, why are they not part of general coverage.

oh yes! PROFITS FOR INS. COS.

Cointel:

Kucinich wins hearings but not on impeaching Bush

I don't buy it for a second that the Dems are not considering impeachment at this point. They wouldn't bother placating Kucinich, if they didn't have some gut feeling that they need to do something about Shrub. My opinion is they're cracking. I've said it before, but if he does get impeached, it won't be for breaking the law, but because he's stepped on too many toes.

Tequila @ 56:

Crowded shelters are being forced to euthanize healthy animals.

thats been common since time immemorial for animal shelters, theres always more cats and dogs than prospective owners.
And theres always problems with adopting older animals rather than kittens and puppies.
It took almost three years for our adopted (at 4YO) female cat to come out of the bedroom, we then discovered she was addicted to Pounce DOH! would have been better to discover this three years ago.

Darrell Issa is on Fox News on what is presented as a scandal for Democrats. Evidently, some government appointees got "sweetheart deals," whatever that means, from Countywide's Mozilo and other mortgage company heads. Fox puts up a list of five individuals who got the deals, calling them "Big Names" in "a scandal."

Now get this. Two of the guys on the list of five are NOT even government officials (a former Sprint CEO & a former KB Homes CEO). Another on the list is the current Postmaster General who was appointed by George W. Bush. Only, Henry Cisneros, is a Clinton era appointee and there is Paul Begala.

Issa, member of the House Oversight committee, claims that Democrats are not investigating these individuals because they're Democrats. Issa claims it's a "widening scandal," not being investigated because Waxman only holds hearings on people he doesn't like.

This For News hit piece basically tries to blame the mortgage crisis on Democrats. Amazing.

Never does Fox mention HOW these people are connected to what Fox calls "the lending industry scandal." They do mention Chris Dodd as being another Democrat involved because he got a loan from an allegedly predatory lender!

F-ing amazing! Issa & Fox believe that getting a loan from a failing lender is a "Sweet Heart" deal!

Darrell Issa is lower than pond scum. If you ever needed a poster-child for Republican lying and goose-stepping, Issa is the man.

Thomas Stone @ 64:

This For News hit piece basically tries to blame the mortgage crisis on Democrats. Amazing.

Well, Congress is equally responsible for "the mortgage crisis." Dems believed that owning a house is the prime directive, even for the millions who cannot afford one. So they looked the other way for four year while things melted down. Dems can be wrong, too, and they were bigtime in this case. And just because Fox says it doesn't make it incorrect. The enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my protector. Congress could have prevented this mess in ten minutes any time in 2003 or 2004. Granted, the Dems were not in power then. But they weren't screaming for oversight either! None of them. Zero!

Uncle Joe Mccarthy @ 52:

msnbc cheering on the war in afghanistan and declaring the surge a victory

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25707422/

never mind that our wonderful chimp in chief is the one who fucked up afghanistan by never finishing the job

never mind that again the concept that calm means winnig anything...we see that wasnt the truth in afghanistan

never mind that till this day, no one has asked what happens if we stop paying insurgent groups to stop shooting us

never mind that it seems that the msm has ceased reporting civillian deaths

nope...all they are doing is helping to pave the way for a long term occupation, that will continue breaking this country's economy, and will ultimately lead to another osama bin laden being created

What's Wrong with the Media:

• Once objective networks and papers now sacrifice objectivity to achieve neutrality, while newly risen conservative networks flaunt their biases in the name of fairness and balance.

• Whether a story is newsworthy turns on whether it is sensational, titillating or obnoxious, not on its substance or historical importance.

• When a network adopts a narrative, anything that might support that narrative is significantly amplified, while anything that might detract from it is largely ignored.

• Reporters who convey facts have convinced themselves that their personal opinions and gut feelings about those facts matter.

• The government has relaxed or undone regulations of media ownership at the same time the above problems were growing steadily more insidious, thereby inhibiting potential solutions.

The cumulative effect of the above is a crisis of truth: Truth has been deemed either subjective or nonexistent, and ultimately irrelevant to the purpose of reporting the news.

OK, I'll watch it, but if there's a turban on Obama, I'm turning it off-- satire or no satire.

brandon @ 69:

@64

Yes, Darrel Issa is a scumbag. At least he's not your congressional rep :-P

Even worse though, are the wingnuts around here that keep him in office (~65% for Bush in 2004).

My congressional district for 8 years was, up until 3 months ago, Randy Cunningham's, right next door to Issa. Even after the Cunningham scandal, the "San Diego County" Republicans of my district replaced him with Brian Bilbray, a Republican lobbyist who wasn't even from the district until just before the election when he started using his mother's address (in the district). BTW this is illegal and he still got away with it.

My significant other lived in Issa's district for 20 years so I know it and him well. Basically all of San Diego county, except for a few areas (Bob Filner, for example), votes the right-wing nut job ticket.

The major reason that San Diego County is so off the charts to the right is because 99.99% of radio, TV, and newspapers spew Republican propaganda night & day. It's Limbo, Savage, Hannity, Levine, and hundreds of others that fill the brains of San Diegans over and over about "a Liberal Socialist conspiracy to destroy America" - and San Diegans believe it and vote it. Republicanism is like religion here. Believing or speaking anything else in San Diego County can get you hurt.

Issa is a key benefactor of this, as well as Bilbray, and other Fascists such as Bill Horn and Ron Roberts, two SD County Board of Supervisors.

Air America was on the dial for a short while in San Diego on a very week antenna (could only get it in the morning, barely in the afternoon, not at all in the evening) but it was replaced just before I left by a sports channel. I used to love to listen to Al Franken. Politically, living in San Diego County was like dying of thirst in Death Valley with 120 degree Republican heat pounding on me every day and Franken & Stacey Taylor were just drops of water of reality on my lips.

No, San Diego County is a perfect example of the enormous power of the U.S. Republican Corporate Fascist propaganda machine and how it successfully influences the outcome of elections in its favor.

I have not seen a Jib Jab in months, great work though, the animation is superb and I agree with Jeff, what the New Yorker did was not on.

Peter G @ 4:

Can somebody explain the difference between claiming executive privilege and pleading the fifth. It is not clear to me.

GW must claim executive privilege, because "pleading the fifth" to him means drinking a fifth of whiskey.

Peter G @ 4:

Can somebody explain the difference between claiming executive privilege and pleading the fifth. It is not clear to me.

After claiming executive priviledge your not hung over.

27 @ Dave Latchaw

So Barack Obama is gay and McCain’s imprisonment is funny? JibJab sucks big time.

No, I don't think that they were trying to say Obama is gay. They are playing off the very old-time stereotype of Democrats as pie-in-the-sky utopian dreamers. My right wing father used to always hit me with this chestnut when I was little, "A liberal has both feet firmly planted in the air." It's a stupid thought, of course. But, hey, what do you expect from Republicans? Thoughtful commentary?

That's the joke JibJab is doing here with Obama riding the unicorn through the fairytale skies.

This effort from Jib Jab is a bit weak, derivative of past efforts and WAY overproduced. Plus the song choice, while pertinent (to those who get it) is so bland and not at all catchy the way "This Land is Your Land" is. Swing and a miss on this one.

Daily Reading pt 1...

Drilling is not the answer (another reason among the hundreds): In addition, new hydrocarbon fields are increasingly found in deep-water regions that are arduous to exploit. The paucity of the specialized equipment needed to extract oil from such new reserves has created a bottleneck in future offshore production.
The world's current fleet of specialized drill ships is booked until 2013. The price of building such a vessel has taken a five-fold jump to $500 million in the last year. The cost of crucial materials -- such as steel for rigs and pipelines -- has risen sharply. So, too, have salaries for skilled manpower in the industry. Little wonder then that while, in 2002, it cost $150,000 a day to hire a deep-water rig, it now costs four times as much.

FIGHTING THE RIGHT FIGHT: NYT: For Pelosi, a Fight Against Offshore Drilling - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/17/washington/17pelosi.html?th&emc=th
Her voice carries considerable weight because Ms. Pelosi, who is now House speaker, can prevent a vote on expanded drilling from reaching the floor.
And she and Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, appear intent on holding the line against calls to approve drilling in areas now off limits. They argue that the oil and gas industry is not aggressively exploring large expanses it has already leased on land and offshore. They have also urged Mr. Bush to pour some fuel from national reserves into the commercial supply chain in an effort to lower prices.
Trying to demonstrate that Democrats are not opposed to drilling in acceptable locales, the House is scheduled to vote on Thursday on a proposal that would deny oil companies any new leases unless they can show they are diligently exploring existing holdings. In the Senate, Democrats are pushing a measure to curb speculation in oil markets. Leaders of the Blue Dog coalition are openly pressing for drilling in the Arctic refuge and elsewhere. Blue Dogs = Republican Lite/Republican (they are not Democratic reps)
FOR A CHANGE, I'm happy with Pelosi & Harry Reid...finally sticking up for a better energy future (see below where reduced driving from Americans, ie 'demand' has lowered prices DING, DING - lightbulb going on yet?)

Something Strange is Happening at the Coldest, Driest Place on Earth (warning, frozen baby penguins in story) - http://www.desmogblog.com/something-strange-is-happening-in-the-coldest-...
I've never seen anything like this mate. I don't know what to make of it, but whatever you do, don't move"
Of course I moved, I needed to move, I was running short of food... Struggling over the ice, blinded by fierce white, I began to wonder what had caused this. Could this be an isolated event, or was it part of a bigger system? Could this be part of larger phenomena - like Global Warming?
Last year I was wondering, but now I know for certain that even in the coldest, driest place on earth something just isn't right.
On November 8, 2008 Todd Carmichael will attempt to become the first American in history to reach the South Pole, solo and unaided.

Wilson Statement on Bush’s Invocation of Executive Privilege to Protect Cheney - http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/07/16/wilson-statement-on-bushs-i...
Today the president took the unprecedented step of asserting executive privilege to thwart congressional efforts to review Vice President Cheney's interview with Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald concerning the betrayal of Valerie Wilson's covert CIA identity. We agree with Congressman Waxman that the position taken by the president is ludicrous.

Bush claims executive privilege on CIA leak - http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080716/ap_on_go_pr_wh/cia_leak;_ylt=AvzDK24...
He invoked executive privilege to keep Congress from seeing the FBI report of an interview with Vice President Dick Cheney and other records related to the administration's leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity in 2003.
The president's decision drew a sharp protest Wednesday from Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of House Oversight Committee, which had subpoenaed Attorney General Michael Mukasey to turn over the documents.
"This unfounded assertion of executive privilege does not protect a principle; it protects a person," the California Democrat said. "If the vice president did nothing wrong, what is there to hide?"

Price of Oil about to drop (we'll see if that translates at the pump): Can this be for Real in the Bush Administration? Report in London Guardian: "US plans to station diplomats in Iran for first time since 1979" - http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/17/usa.iran
Why just last night on Fox Noise, the banner read: "McCain firm on Iran, no negotiations - Obama wants diplomacy with Iran"...hmmm...perhaps their 'news' department conveniently left this out of their telecast...

Truckers Strike plan - http://209.85.215.104/search?q=cache:F-NT2gSAvUAJ:www.opednews.com/artic...
Truckers Plan Strike on September 11th This message is to all people who don't think they can do without trucks and trucking in general. If you don't already know trucking move 95% of the items you buy in the store everyday. The rising fuel costs and the lower rates that some "brokers" give to carriers is the reason behind the strike.
If you think that you don't need trucks...imagine how hard it will be to get gas from the corner store if there isn't any. Show you're support for truckers...if you see a driver ...thank him for bringing the stuff he hauls to your store. Our causes are many but it's time to make our voices as one.

The Use of Executive Privilege Must Be Reined In: Problematic Claims Privilege Regarding the U.S. Atty Firings, Torture - http://writ.news.findlaw.com/commentary/20080714_kmiec.html
Last Thursday, July 10, former White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove refused to honor the subpoena of a House subcommittee looking into whether or not wrongful pressure was brought upon U.S. Attorneys in connection with the prosecution of a former Democratic governor of Arkansas.
The subcommittee had subpoenaed Rove in May to explore what, if any role, he played in the prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman or in the unexplained dismissal of US Attorneys.
In spurning the subpoena, Rove indicated that he was following the instruction of the White House not to appear before the committee on the grounds that this would interfere with the president's internal communications. The full committee and ultimately the full House must now decide whether to hold Mr. Rove in contempt.
It is smugly assumed by the Bush administration that the awkwardness and difficulty of resolving an inter-branch dispute over executive privilege will mean that the case will linger past the national election and the next January when the matter can be declared moot. The rule of law deserves better.

NYT: "Slowdown Fears Push Oil Prices Down; Stocks Soar" - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/17/business/worldbusiness/17oil.html?_r=1...
The fall in oil prices comes as the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben S. Bernanke, provided a bleak assessment of the American economy over two days of testimony before Congress. It was also ignited by fresh evidence that Americans were reducing their energy use.
A weekly report by the Energy Department showed that commercial oil inventories, which were expected to fall, rose unexpectedly on Wednesday as more oil went into storage than expected instead of being refined and sold.
Ta da! DRILLING SOLVES NOTHING WTFU!

US inflation in biggest monthly jump since 1982 - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/50a1ad98-5336-11dd-8dd2-000077b07658,Authorised=...

Daily Reading pt 2...

Key to mortgage crisis can be found with McBush's 'economic' adviser: The House That Gramm Built: Marie Cocco - http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080714_the_house_that_gramm_built/?ln
The seeds of the meltdown were sown over decades, and there is no way to avoid reaping the harvest now. The public may not trust John McCain to fix things—he famously admitted once that he doesn’t know much about the economy.
Of all people, the person we should be paying attention to is Phil Gramm. The former Texas senator, a close friend and campaign adviser to McCain, made a fair mess of things politically last week when he declared that the state of the economy really isn’t so bad. It’s just that Americans are in a “mental recession,” and we’ve become a “nation of whiners” with unceasing complaints.
Why should we listen to this guy’s poppycock? Because Gramm is the embodiment of the economic philosophies and misguided policies—embraced by Republicans and far too often by Democrats—that have gotten us precisely where we are today.

Barack Obama has outraised Republican John McCain in Florida by $339,000 -- and he's done it with half as many big-money ''bundlers'' kicking in at least $50,000. - http://www.miamiherald.com/548/story/605942.html

USA! We're #!, umm...not so much: "The US finds itself ranked 42nd in global life expectancy and 34th in survival of infants to age." - http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/american-inequality-hig...
The United States of America is becoming less united by the day. A 30-year gap now exists in the average life expectancy between Mississippi, in the Deep South, and Connecticut, in prosperous New England. Huge disparities have also opened up in income, health and education depending on where people live in the US, according to a report published yesterday.
Gee...imagine that, states in the South with right wingnutty laws have a poor quality of life (higher murder rates, higher divorce rates, higher suicide rates, etc) My, My, My...what a little utopia being built here by the Republican state leglislatures and big corporations...(psst..this is a lesson to other regions...don't let this happen to you)

Countrywide Deals Exposed - http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/national-news/portfolio/2008/07/16...
This is why you don't run the world like its a corporation, this is why privatization is BS, this is why right wingnut 'fiscal' policies are magic beans...

Economic Fears Slice Oil Prices for Second Day - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/17/business/17econ.html
The drop in oil was also caused by new evidence that Americans were driving less because of gas prices, which hit a record of $4.11 a gallon, according to a nationwide survey by the motorist group AAA.
DRILLING SOLVES NOTHING....its a house of cards built on BS...NON ISSUE

Naomi Klein: Bush Sees Crises in Fuel, Food, Housing and Banking as Chance to Exploit Us More - http://www.alternet.org/workplace/91656/?ses=e734ed46eb84bb9ee3a8aee8607...
People are desperate for solutions but instead they're handed policies that don't solve the crises, and are highly profitable for corporations.
Just another MUST READ article confirming that drilling is BS...its very simple folks, see...Bush & Cheney = Oil men, they are taking the country for as much as they can for their oil buddies before they leave office, because Obama will start an Apollo program for renewable/sustainable energy (which will scare the pants off of OPEC, and Big Oil), thereby reducing the price of Oil...

Obama Adds 20 Va. Offices In a Big Push To Win State - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/16/AR200807...

Gotta Love California! LATimes: Field poll says things are getting worse for McCain in California - http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/07/field-poll-says.html
The latest statewide poll, conducted by the Field organization, shows Democratic nominee Barack Obama extending his lead in the state and now trouncing Republican John McCain by 24 points, 54% to 30%. In May, Obama’s lead was a smaller 17 points, and in January, an even slighter 7 points.

Here Comes the Afghanistan Surge - http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080717/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_afghanistan;_yl...

A new group of activists protesting on behalf of the environment:

http://gmy.news.yahoo.com/v/8853124

JD @ 38:

I agree completely with Shaz. Jibjab tries to pass itself off as clever satire, but it just recycles old, trite, stereotypes. Bill Clinton is a womanizer, Hillary is still mad at him, McCain is old, Obama says change all the time... Is there anything original about that? At least they usually give equal time to lampooning both candidates, which is why I was surprised by this new video. Did anyone else notice that the video actually had the effect (intentional or not) of making McCain look more presidential and strong, by putting him in a tank running over Obama, then surrounded by various weapons of the armed forces. It's the usual trite conventional wisdom that Republicans are strong while democrats are wussies. It even appropriates Bob Dylan's "The Times They are a Changin'" to spoof Obama's change mantra. They are definitely leaning right this time.

Meanwhile, I'm sure the guys behind it are making a ton of dough milking the publicity for all it's worth. IMHO, these guys just don't have much to say. It's not even funny anymore.

You hit the nail on the head. I don't trust them.

If I remember correctly, Jib Jab actually had Al Gore as a homeless guy at one point. WTF?

89 General_Rennenkampf

Is Climate Change a change Obama believes in?

What you guys should be asking yourselves is not what the possible political persuasions or intents are of the guys over at JibJab.com are. But, rather, why our mainstream media, and now blogs, are paying so much attention to what is, in the end, a flash cartoon on a website.

Think about that for a bit. Then maybe you'll see what could have been something you stumbled across that makes you think about the flaws in all the candidates has now been turned into the centerpiece for the attention. The flaws that are parodied are ignored. Rather, the news is the actual cartoon. It's pretty pathetic if you get sucked into that.

Peter G @ 4:

Can somebody explain the difference between claiming executive privilege and pleading the fifth. It is not clear to me.

Pleading the Fifth is a constitutional right. Executive privilege is made-up bullshit.

Tequila @ 32:

More senseless gun violence brought to you by the Supreme Court. The real reason that Congress and the President care about the banks is that the businesses own them. China is in Holocaust-denial over Sudan.
Our food and fuel demands are killing the forests.

Ah, so China's supporting a genocidal dictator and we have the moral authority to say something about that in your eyes? I'll give you a hint, sweetcakes, we supported Saddam, the Shah, Batista, Franco, Rhee, and Jiang Jieshi. We Americans ain't in any position to criticize the Chinese without looking like hypocrites. And humans destroying forests is no big surprise, but remember, Western humans created the forests of the 19th Century and the big bison herds, they weren't there prior to 1492.

Ah- the bit with Hillary and the frying pan's just the best. Made me howl!!

That is a great video. And they hit it right on the head.

General_Rennenkampf @ 91:

ysbaddaden @ 90:

89 General_Rennenkampf

Is Climate Change a change Obama believes in?

I'm pretty sure he does. Yet, it seems mystifying how people can talk of Climate "change" when it is an unstable force, and Nature is not obligated to give Mankind guarantees of a good life (witness the Tsunami or the California fires or the chaos resulting from the Year Without a Summer.) The last 10,000 years have been at some level an uninterrupted warming spell, as the great glaciers of Eurasia and North America have vastly receded, but Terra Australis still remains covered with ice.

Yet, for all this quibbling about semantics, the level of population sustained today and many other things of present-day humanity are irretrievably connected with the sustaining of present-day temperatures. We (meaning industrial civilizations as a whole) are effecting it, speeding up an already ongoing process dating back to maybe 15,000 years, which will be utter fuckupdness for most of the planet. The facts like that are undeniable, but it needs a better semantic presentation.

Who cares if its called climate change or global warming - as long as it cleans the air and cleanses the planet I don't care if they call it climate douche.

GREG @ 102:

General_Rennenkampf @ 91:

ysbaddaden @ 90:

89 General_Rennenkampf

Is Climate Change a change Obama believes in?

I'm pretty sure he does. Yet, it seems mystifying how people can talk of Climate "change" when it is an unstable force, and Nature is not obligated to give Mankind guarantees of a good life (witness the Tsunami or the California fires or the chaos resulting from the Year Without a Summer.) The last 10,000 years have been at some level an uninterrupted warming spell, as the great glaciers of Eurasia and North America have vastly receded, but Terra Australis still remains covered with ice.

Yet, for all this quibbling about semantics, the level of population sustained today and many other things of present-day humanity are irretrievably connected with the sustaining of present-day temperatures. We (meaning industrial civilizations as a whole) are effecting it, speeding up an already ongoing process dating back to maybe 15,000 years, which will be utter fuckupdness for most of the planet. The facts like that are undeniable, but it needs a better semantic presentation.

Who cares if its called climate change or global warming - as long as it cleans the air and cleanses the planet I don't care if they call it climate douche.

It matters because dishonest semantics is everywhere these days, and somebody has to be honest, scientifically and culturally for a change.

bullfrog @ 19:

obama's in a tough position because he doesn't want to do the easy thing and just knock mccain's yellow dentures to the mat.

he's got to be an old-school gentleman. he's got to be like that black guy in "night of the living dead", the last sane muthaf#cka in america.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIWsMKZt3Eg

General_Rennenkampf @ 91:

ysbaddaden @ 90:

89 General_Rennenkampf

Is Climate Change a change Obama believes in?

I'm pretty sure he does. Yet, it seems mystifying how people can talk of Climate "change" when it is an unstable force, and Nature is not obligated to give Mankind guarantees of a good life (witness the Tsunami or the California fires or the chaos resulting from the Year Without a Summer.) The last 10,000 years have been at some level an uninterrupted warming spell, as the great glaciers of Eurasia and North America have vastly receded, but Terra Australis still remains covered with ice.

Yet, for all this quibbling about semantics, the level of population sustained today and many other things of present-day humanity are irretrievably connected with the sustaining of present-day temperatures. We (meaning industrial civilizations as a whole) are effecting it, speeding up an already ongoing process dating back to maybe 15,000 years, which will be utter fuckupdness for most of the planet. The facts like that are undeniable, but it needs a better semantic presentation.

I'm not sure that I completely understand your point re: the semantics of 'Climate Change'? Are you saying that, because climate is always in a state of flux, the term 'change' does not effectively distinguish between normal global climate fluctuations and the current human-caused climate change? If so, what would be a more exact term in your opinion? Human-Related Climatic Disruption? Planetary Fever?

joeedugan @ 108:

General_Rennenkampf @ 91:

ysbaddaden @ 90:

89 General_Rennenkampf

Is Climate Change a change Obama believes in?

I'm pretty sure he does. Yet, it seems mystifying how people can talk of Climate "change" when it is an unstable force, and Nature is not obligated to give Mankind guarantees of a good life (witness the Tsunami or the California fires or the chaos resulting from the Year Without a Summer.) The last 10,000 years have been at some level an uninterrupted warming spell, as the great glaciers of Eurasia and North America have vastly receded, but Terra Australis still remains covered with ice.

Yet, for all this quibbling about semantics, the level of population sustained today and many other things of present-day humanity are irretrievably connected with the sustaining of present-day temperatures. We (meaning industrial civilizations as a whole) are effecting it, speeding up an already ongoing process dating back to maybe 15,000 years, which will be utter fuckupdness for most of the planet. The facts like that are undeniable, but it needs a better semantic presentation.

I'm not sure that I completely understand your point re: the semantics of 'Climate Change'? Are you saying that, because climate is always in a state of flux, the term 'change' does not effectively distinguish between normal global climate fluctuations and the current human-caused climate change? If so, what would be a more exact term in your opinion? Human-Related Climatic Disruption? Planetary Fever?

GREG @ 107:

General_Rennenkampf @ 104:

GREG @ 102:

General_Rennenkampf @ 91:

Who cares if its called climate change or global warming - as long as it cleans the air and cleanses the planet I don't care if they call it climate douche.

It matters because dishonest semantics is everywhere these days, and somebody has to be honest, scientifically and culturally for a change.

What do you suggest?

@GREG and joeeduggan:

I would suggest the term used by the scientists, Anthropogenic Global Warming. "Climate Change" is too vague, and it doesn't distinguish between such changes in geological history as the Snowball Earth and the global tropical climate change that would lead to the Mesozoic era and today's much milder change that still sees the Antarctic ice sheets, and hence, geologically, still an ice age. Anthropogenic Global Warming captures nicely that this already ongoing process of warming since the Holocene Glacial Maximum and Younger Dryas snaps has been given the equivalent of a steroid injection (it's worth noting that many objectors to this note climates heating up elsewhere in the Solar System, but the rate is much faster on Sol III than elsewhere, indicating another factor, namely, mankind,) and that it is global.

As for the most precise term, it would be 'Anthropogenic-Origin Interglacial Enhancement' but that's too much of a mouthful and too technical for most people.

That shtick with Bill Clinton & the cigar still slays me........

and I'm FUCKIN DEAD!!!!

I have always loved the political humor of the guys at JibJab. Like I said in my post on the campaignin' video from them, the pokes at McCain were right on but the shots at Obama made no sense. LOL

Democrats in the House are about to vote in favor of a bill that effectively declares war against Iran.

Why can't there be more libertarians in office? They will not vote for war or for corporate bail-outs, which makes them better than both republicans and dems.

I think the JibJab cartoons are kind of dumb. In their effort to be even-handed, then end up putting all transgressions on the same level. And it just comes off as cynical satire without a point. (Or if there is a hidden point, it's to market JibJab while painting a pointless picture about politics).

Rennenkampf: Cheap, sweatshop labor was obviously the real reason we've opened trade with China. I imagine if either Castro offered up that kind of opportunity, then we'd lift the embargo with Cuba immediately. But we were hoping a fringe benefit of doing business with the big "C" is that capitalism would give them better values; and, unfortunately, they've only adapted them the worst values of our system.