I KNOW I'm on quite a few of their lists, as I have been crying out for bush's impeachment since the day he stole the election(s), and also have signed every petition, called and written senators, etc. I actually don't even care IF these criminals are thrown out of office. I won't hold my breath...the Democrats MUST get a clue, or we are all going to wind up in a totalitarian, fascist third-world country (yeah, I know it's already partially here!).
H. Stevens |
03.07.06 - 6:02 am | #
The US Government read my blog yesterday. I suppose if if had been the scary part of the US Goverment, it wouldn't have shown up on the site meter. On the other hand, they are a bunch of incompetents.
sozzy |
Homepage |
03.07.06 - 6:02 am | #
This "paid off their credit card" meme is making the rounds pretty quickly, and no one seems to be bothering to read any of the relevant commentary. Astonishingly enough, this isn't a hoax, but the article which keeps getting quoted almost certainly has the facts wrong. Bruce Schneier has better details:
And it's not DHS, it's FinCEN, which is part of the US Treasury. All the PATRIOT act did was expand the range of financial institutions which were obligated to implement a reporting program for transactions above a certain level ($10K, usually). The person who encountered the problem described in the article probably encountered a company which took a rather aggressive interpretation of the fairly broad latitude the regulations give companies in implementing the reporting requirements.
Sam |
03.07.06 - 6:03 am | #
This is so bizarre. Even if al Qaeda is running around paying off people's credit cards, then what's the problem? How could that possibly hurt America?
Jeannie Z |
03.07.06 - 6:03 am | #
One thing I've noticed for a couple of months now is that every time I do a Google search for anything there's a much longer than usual delay before I get the results.
garyb |
03.07.06 - 6:04 am | #
cspan2 showing a panel on impeachment now hosted by Harper's.
angie |
03.07.06 - 6:04 am | #
I with you ReddHedd that Congress needs to step up and do their job. But for some reason I have this nagging feeling that even if a vote is cast for investigations, it will simply turn into another Phase II debacle. I certainly hope that is not the case but it is still a possibility.
xsociate23 |
Homepage |
03.07.06 - 6:06 am | #
sent a note to Barbara Mikulski asking her for some oldfashioned Bawlimore arm twisting on Olympia Snowe. Let's hope we can get a couple of Republicans on this one. We only need 2!
TiredFed |
03.07.06 - 6:10 am | #
Angie - I'm watching the Bush Impeachment Forum as well and I have to wonder who on this panel has had their phones or emails monitored by the NSA. (My personal guess? All of them).
xsociate23 |
Homepage |
03.07.06 - 6:10 am | #
of that I am very sure.
angie |
03.07.06 - 6:11 am | #
OT re: Libby. Re-reading Plan of Attack (I know, it's gagging, but it's contemporaneous). interesting items keep cropping up:
Libby "kept neat files and notes in careful penmanship." if true, why is Fitz having such trouble with Libby's notes? mebbe Libby rewrote just to show Woodie?
"...Cheney did not have direct operational responsibility for the military, diplomacy, intelligence, -- OR ANYTHING ELSE FOR THAT MATTER..." (yelling mine).
"Libby liked to immerse himself in the details..." but then he forgets them??? doubt it.
Do ya think Woodie is going to be a hostile witness? I'm just wonderin'.
TiredFed |
03.07.06 - 6:19 am | #
I with you ReddHedd that Congress needs to step up and do their job.
Whaaaa??? Is that even constitutional???
Marcus Wellby |
03.07.06 - 6:19 am | #
Just called Senator Levin's office to register my concern over the vote for NSA oversight hearings - got right through! Call your senators, people - tell them you've got their back.
Call now - operators are standing by...
Dave in Livonia |
03.07.06 - 6:28 am | #
today is also the Texas primary. how about some more scandalmongering (why not? the Repubs do warmongering) on Bush's little trip to vote. anyone come up with the price tag yet? what's with the "he'll pay the normal coach fare" crap from the WH? are they kidding? what about Laura's ticket?
TiredFed |
03.07.06 - 6:33 am | #
I caught C-Span this morning and they do a piece with Hotline, a DC news summarizer. The guy they talked to said the news today is 3 Texas election primaries. That was all that was worth watching. No mention of the NSA vote or Frist's threats. Good reporting.
cathy |
03.07.06 - 6:35 am | #
Jeannie -- it's what al Qaeda would be getting in return that is the problem. Any unusually large financial transaction has always triggered fraud scrutiny. All the major credit card company have fraud triggers (abnormal buying patterns, etc.). After 9/11, those triggers have been used to help ID the flow of money among terrorists (not sure how successful any of those efforts have been however).
AJ |
03.07.06 - 6:36 am | #
What, precisely, are they voting on?
Frank Probst |
03.07.06 - 6:38 am | #
Oh damn. I woke up this morning and all my bills had been paid. Who do I call again?
ccmask |
03.07.06 - 6:42 am | #
Meanwhile, regarding the takeover of the courts . . . .
Where will national NARAL and national Planned Parenthood be when World War III breaks out -- on the front lines with Ned Lamont and others who are trying to prevent the fundies from overrunning our last position with a filibuster -- or in bed again with Joe Lieberman, counting the "access" and the money?
From today's LA Times on the national implications of the South Dakota abortion ban:
Promoters of South Dakota's ban are calculating that one of the liberal justices will retire — and be replaced by a conservative — before their case winds its way to the high court.
Daniel McConchie, vice president of the Americans United for Life, warns that the South Dakota strategy could backfire.
If the public knows an all-out ban on abortion is headed to the Supreme Court, "getting a [conservative] justice through the confirmation process will be like World War III," McConchie said.
I wonder whether NARAL has time, while rubbing Joe's back, to glance over at the LA Times.
I wonder whether they understand that World War III will be fought by real women and men.
Not so much.
Bob, NSA super first shift |
03.07.06 - 6:54 am | #
Today's "Democrats in DIsarray" piece is from the Washington Post.
And surprise, surprise, after reading it, I really don't have any problem with it.
Why?
It seems like pretty good reporting, it tells me things I did not know, it includes quotes from real Democrats and it does not tell the story using Republican adjectives and narratives.
The byline is not by Ryan Cilizza, the GOP hack, but Shailagh Murray (with whom I am unfamiliar) and Charles Babington (whose name I know but whose work has not made an impression on me).
The article tells the story of attempts to create a consensus that includes members of Congress and state givernors, in an attempt to roll out a national message for the '06 elections.
There are some disputes about what core elements shold ben emphasized - what frames - and when to make the rollout.
The rollout has been delayed, with some people wanting an earlier rollout and others faving delay, just to allow more time to attack and increase Republican negatives. Doing that while intorducing a positive, alertantive agenda or set of values, to that faction, is a little muddy.
I think these are all vibrant, healthy debates. This is what the nascent development of a national party should look like.
Now, I don't expect the party to put together exactly the talking points I would favor, nor do I expect them to do the very best job they could. Once we get our winning candidates through in the midterms, we will know more about the messages that persuaded the electorate, and that will refine our publuc presentation.
What I'm encouraged by is the process itself, and the extent to which it seems to be including mutliple constituencies. I'm also encouraged that DC is taking pushback from the states on this stuff and responding, and not just acting in isolation or by fiat.
It's the process of collaboration over multiple election cycles, with rounds of success that teach us lessons, which is so important.
I'm not so persuaded that a big national message is required in this election, as I like the way locals can innovate and experiment without DC interference. But some national themes, to give locals and rookies some headwind and focus, can be helpful, as long as locals don't have to run with it chapter and verse with DC Dem big brother watching and punishing them for any deviation.
I say this kowing that some of these deviations would likely piss me off, and keep me from wanting to donate to some of these candidates. You can support local control and innovation without accepting that some experiemnts will rub you the wrong way.
I saw the headline on this article and fully expected to report back to you what a pile of stinking GOP propaganda it was.
But I was pleasantly surprised.
Maybe there's more in this story that has not been printed. Maybe DC is trying to be more controlling than it should. Maybe the establishment is being wimpy and incompetent, afraid to have a fight, and that would piss me off. In fact, that much I am sure is happening. These people are veal on the farm. But at least we do have some fighters in the mix, and they are pushing for aggression. And from what I know, the hungriest, most aggressive ones are at the local level, and they are not going away.
That's why building the process is important. It provides a better vehicle through which to reform the party over the longer haul.
Who's watchin' the man who's watchin' the man who's watchin' the man who's watchin' me?
randium |
03.07.06 - 6:56 am | #
Just called Senator Levin's office to register my concern over the vote for NSA oversight hearings - got right through! Call your senators, people - tell them you've got their back.
Call now - operators are standing by...
Dave in Livonia |
03.07.06 - 6:57 am | #
I just called my Senator, Dianne Feinstein, and urged a vote for oversight at the Intel Committee meeting today.
Her aide asked if a particular article or email had caused my call. This, of course, resulted in my telling her about firedoglake, which she seemed not at all aware of. She asked for the website address, which I happily gave to her, carefully spelling it out.
Then I gave her Unclaimed Territory's address as well. Do you think they really know so little about blogs and what is being said on them?
Thanks for such great work, ladies. I always start my mornings off with firedoglake!
Linda Bacon |
03.07.06 - 6:59 am | #
Some foes of abortion — fearful that South Dakota has moved too far, too fast — now find themselves reluctantly opposing efforts to protect all fetal life from the moment of conception. They are even angling to block another abortion ban that seems likely to pass in Mississippi.
Why is that? Why are some fundies worried about the victories of the fundiers?
[A]nalysts on both sides say Roe is secure for now. Even if President Bush's new Supreme Court appointees — Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. — prove to be opponents of Roe, a slim majority of five justices is on record as backing Roe.
A slim majority indeed. Justice Anthony Kennedy, conservative on many issues, nonetheless voted to preserve Roe v. Wade in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. John Paul Stevens, at age 85 is staying on at the Court in the think hope that he can save this nation. But anything can happen when someone is 85 years old. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has had breast cancer. Anything can happen. The 4th and 5th are David Souter and Steven Breyer.
What happens if women and men in this country wake up to the re-enslavements of their uteruses going on in South Dakota, Mississippi and elsewhere before this November, and work to defeat those who vote to end filibusters?
Mary Kay Culp, executive director of Kansans for Life is quoted as saying: "As a pro-lifer, I feel guilty saying this, because people are out there all excited, but a ban is actually counterproductive," she said.
Counterproductive?
She and others argue that their movement needs more time to turn society firmly against abortion. . . . Until then, they're reluctantly advising legislators in Georgia, Indiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee not to pass the bans under consideration in those states.
I say this with regret, but it's important that near-total abortion bans be enacted in those states -- including in Indiana and Ohio with their middle-America image -- after hard battles by women and men trying to save their independence.
Then maybe we'll be ready for World War III.
And maybe NARAL and others will get out of bed and help us.
Prof |
03.07.06 - 7:00 am | #
Keith Olbermann is the canary in the mine. We need to get his back. If he goes down, we can pretty much assume night is falling.
seesdifferent |
Homepage |
03.07.06 - 7:00 am | #
victories of the fundiers should have been victories of the fundies in my post.
Prof |
03.07.06 - 7:06 am | #
Linda Bacon - what a fab idea! tell em where you heard it first: FDL! going to amend my note to Mikulski right now (will include URL).
TiredFed |
03.07.06 - 7:06 am | #
Freaky. I just realized I dialed the number to Senator Levin's office from memory...whodathunk I would ever get to know my Senator's number by heart?
In case you don't know them by heart yet, contact info for the Dems on the Senate Special Committee on Intelligence:
Sen. Rockefeller, ranking Dem
Phone: (202) 224-6472
Fax: (202) 224-7665
Sen. Dianne Feinstein
Phone: (202) 224-3841
Fax: (202) 228-3954
Sen. Ron Wyden
Phone: (202) 224-5244
Fax: (202) 228-2717
Sen. Evan Bayh
Phone: (202) 224-5623
Fax: (202) 228-1377
Sen. Barbara Mikulski
Phone: (202) 224-4654
Fax: (202) 224-8858
Sen. Russ Feingold
Phone: (202) 224-5323
Fax: (202) 224-2725
Rayne |
Homepage |
03.07.06 - 7:07 am | #
Criminy! And in the think hope should have been in the thin hope
Prof |
03.07.06 - 7:07 am | #
randium,
"Who's watchin' the man who's watchin' the man who's watchin' the man who's watchin' me?"
Dick Cheney.
Bob, NSA super first shift |
03.07.06 - 7:07 am | #
and italics mess. I am going to find my coffee.
Prof |
03.07.06 - 7:08 am | #
Hi All,
Don't just call the Senators on the Intel commitee - call your own Senator as well. Let them know this is important to you...
anotherpawn |
03.07.06 - 7:10 am | #
cbl-- you're welcome. it was good and i especially liked the way it ended with the fact brought up by Ms. Holtzman that there is no statute of limitations on the 1996 torture law and that a lot of people should be very worried for a long time.......... it is too bad that only cspan covered this and then 5 days after the fact.
Here are members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, who hold the power to put some brakes on the spying:
REPUBLICANS:
Pat Roberts, Kansas, Chairman
Orrin G. Hatch, Utah
Mike Dewine, Ohio
Christopher S. Bond, Missouri
Trent Lott, Mississippi
Olympia J. Snowe, Maine
Chuck Hagel, Nebraska
Saxby Chambliss, Georgia
DEMOCRATS:
John D. Rockefeller IV
West Virginia, Vice Chairman
Carl Levin, Michigan
Dianne Feinstein, California
Ron Wyden, Oregon
Evan Bayh, Indiana
Barbara A. Mikulski, Maryland
Russell D. Feingold, Wisconsin
You might tailor your persona when you call -- remember the importance of both the Second Amendment and the Fourth Amendment if your Senator's a Republican.
Prof |
03.07.06 - 7:15 am | #
The main Senate switchboard is 1-888-ELK FLUTE, you can ask to be transferred to any Senator.
Professor Foland |
03.07.06 - 7:15 am | #
OT: Christopher's widow, Dana, age 44, died today of lung cancer.
ccmask |
03.07.06 - 7:17 am | #
Looks like a job for FDL. RH and Jane -- that looks like the batsignal in the clouds (or is it a red dog). Need to churn out the list again.
TiredFed |
03.07.06 - 7:18 am | #
I'm baffled. The New York Times somehow neglected to publish the letter I sent them yesterday...
To the editor:
Your editorial is spot-on. Arlen Specter's retroactive alterations to FISA can no more negate the Bush administration's violation of that law than the removal of a pubic hair from a bar of soap can erase the fact of where the soap has been.
ralphbon |
03.07.06 - 7:20 am | #
Where does Rush Limbaugh and his 30 some odd withdraws of just under $10k fit into all of this? Can the President vow for people to ward of an investigation, and say it was within his authority?
the Fly-Man |
03.07.06 - 7:22 am | #
Pachacutec - I'm behind the optimism of your post, and also (cautiously) find the WaPo article hope-inspiring.
But I'd be inclined to put less emphasis on "let-the-local-parties-devise-their-own-messages" which, in the worst case, could lead to political babel. Single, clear, national messages are critical. Bush ultimately "won" 2004 (voting irregularities aside) on essentially one message: "Bush, strong, safe. Kerry weak, dangerous." Likewise, Clinton got in, in 1992, by staying largely on topic: "It's the economy, stupid."
It's awful that we've come to this, but the sad fact (understood by every Republican, and few Dems) is that candidates and their platforms have become products, and must be sold as appealingly, effectively and simply as coffee, housepaint and toilet paper.
percy |
03.07.06 - 7:24 am | #
Another article on the politics of the South Dakota Rapist's Bill of Rights abortion ban from USA Today
Some Republican abortion opponents say they would prefer to continue the incremental approach that has resulted in increasing restrictions on abortion. They worry South Dakota's frontal assault could scare away moderates, light a fire under liberals and even set back the anti-abortion cause.
"I am very purely pro-life, and I would not have undertaken this strategy," Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway says. She says it plays into "somewhat hysterical claims of extremism" by the left and "seems to give a largely dying, discredited (abortion rights) movement a little bit of gas."
and
Democratic strategist Steve Hildebrand predicts the law will be "a huge benefit" for his party as it wends its way through the courts. He gives a preview of the case abortion rights supporters could make: If a murderer gets out of prison and rapes a woman, she's forced to have his child. If a father brutally rapes his daughter, she is forced to have his child. "You present those arguments to women voters, they are going to be outraged," he says.
He wants the line item veto now, next he'll want to expand pardoning to include dinner guests.
the Fly-Man |
03.07.06 - 7:27 am | #
I just saw the reruns of 3/2 CSPAN where John Conyers had a panel hosted by Harpers Magazine on Bush Impeachment. John Dean was on the panel as well. Room full of 1,500 very angry people. It's been obvious for some time that Bush's actions make him impeachable. What was different about this group was they were collating a plan of action.
mainsailset |
03.07.06 - 7:28 am | #
percy | 03.07.06 - 7:24 am | #
I'm behind no one on the whole set of party branding issues, and I understand your perspective. However, comparisons to '04 are not apt. Presidential electio years are different from midterms.
The question is one of balance. Less unanimity of message is required in an off year. What's more, centralized DC control, given the party in DC, will likely be stifling is strongly enforced. They lose and fuck up everything.
I'm inclined, at this stage of our development, and with an eye toward encouraging progressive innovators and stars, to want some lattitude for the grassroots in this cycle.
Some national statement of principles is necessary. The real question is whether DC will force local campaigns to spend money on commercials with only DC approved talking points, DC approved speechwriters, etc. That's death.
Pachacutec |
03.07.06 - 7:29 am | #
There is a woman from Lafeyette who lost her son in Iraq. There is a web site called carryabigsticker that is selling a t-shirt that lists the names of all the fallen soldiers in Iraq.
The Lafeyette Mom is now trying to get legislation enacted to prevent her son's name from being used this way. The website owner says this:
"I think of this product as both a scathing indictment of George W. Bush and a memorial to the brave young soldiers who gave their lives in Iraq on behalf of their country," the statement read.
"The First Amendment to the Constitution protects these products, and all such similar examples of free speech."
I looked at Human Events Online, the national conservative weekly, so you wouldn't have to.
Its right-wing editor thinks the South Dakota abortion ban is a political mistake.
Prof |
03.07.06 - 7:32 am | #
Off topic and I'm sorry. I promised to update my experience calling to report Dole's NRSC fundraiser to the powers that be. I have filed a formal complaint with the Attorney General's office in North Carolina. The woman I spoke with was very friendly, but I couldn't jump to the head of the line. I will follow through.
I have called the FEC this morning a couple of times. All of the investigators (I think that's what she called them...maybe it was specialist) are in a meeting. I'm to call back in a few minutes.
If you want to recommend my diary at DKos I would appreciate it. I hate to ask, but this needs attention. Thank you for your patience as I work through my anger over this. I know there are issues today that are a lot more pressing.
B. Muse/Southern Dem |
Homepage |
03.07.06 - 7:35 am | #
Nuts, I forgot to include Senator Levin's info on that list above!!
Senator Carl Levin
Phone: (202) 224-6221
Fax: (202) 224-1388
Anybody got the main Senate switchboard number handy? I'm going to have to memorize that one next!
Rayne |
Homepage |
03.07.06 - 7:38 am | #
Included the following in my faxes this morning - It's from the committee's own Web Site: (emphasis mine)
JURISDICTION
Created pursuant to S.Res. 400, 94th Congress: to oversee and make continuing studies of the intelligence activities and programs of the United States Government, and to submit to the Senate appropriate proposals for legislation and report to the Senate concerning such intelligence activities and programs. In carrying out this purpose, the Select Committee on Intelligence shall make every effort to assure that the appropriate departments and agencies of the United States provide informed and timely intelligence necessary for the executive and legislative branches to make sound decisions affecting the security and vital interests of the Nation. It is further the purpose of this resolution to provide vigilant legislative oversight over the intelligence activities of the United States to assure that such activities are in conformity with the Constitution and laws of the United States.
btw, vigilant legislative oversight made me spew the mocha
also included highlighted excerpts in my LTE's to their hometown newspapers
cbl |
03.07.06 - 7:38 am | #
South Burkota
Hidden Faces-Straight Laces
South Dakota Governor Rounds Announces PR Blitz to Combat Tourism Boycott_diary by Dood Abides
Human Events Online..."It's right-wing editor thinks the South Dakota abortion ban is a political mistake."
It's a mistake alright, he is looking at it from the perspecive of the upcoming elections and probably would have preferred it to come up AFTER the Nov. elections.
So many hypocrites, where do we start?
Apple Canyon 2 |
03.07.06 - 7:41 am | #
On the banking/money intrusions-what ever happened with the search to discover who benefited from stock trades on 9/11. Was it the Carlye Group?
Dennis |
03.07.06 - 7:41 am | #
did WAPO change the title of the article about Dems this morning? Did it first say 'Dems in Disarray' and now says 'Dems Divided on Strategy'? one in our favor for a change.
TiredFed |
03.07.06 - 7:43 am | #
Thank you ccmask....oh and anyone worried about me getting in trouble for opening my husband's mail....I'm thinking for some reason he isn't going to file a complaint against me.
B. Muse/Southern Dem |
Homepage |
03.07.06 - 7:54 am | #
Anonymous' poker analogy made me think of the David Mamet/LA Times Op/Ed piece of 9/16/05 - right around the time of the Katrina/Harriet vortex
thought I'd saved it to favorites and now can't find it - has been deleted from LAT archives - anyone with better than my primitive skills feel like trying to find it ?
Poker Party in L. A. , sure would like to read it again.
cbl |
03.07.06 - 8:00 am | #
Mississippi is apparently poised to join SD in an abortion ban. Ohio, Missouri, and a couple of other states are also lining up..
Ohio and Missouri are both crucial. Bans in those states could lead to a "sweep the fuckers out" attitude come November- hope they do it- but they may be having second thoughts.
The religious right is divided between those who want to make the push for glory right now- and those who think that moving this aggressively this soon will create a "Shiavo" type backlash. Very interesting times.
rwcole |
03.07.06 - 8:03 am | #
The Agency that does this is FinCEN -- a part of Treasury -- but it reports to the FBI and HSA. The vehicle is called a SARS -- Suspicious Activity Report and the regulators have been instructed to apply EXTREME pressure to financial institutions to fill out SARS -- It's working -- see http://www.fincen.gov/sars/
sars_...numb_issue5.pdf
The number of SARS submitted went from 62K in 1996 to 800K in 2005. Regulators are instructed to force financial institutions to report every little thing -- currency smelled of drugs, deposit to account is not routine amount, frenquent deposits, etc.
Here's the REAL scary part -- you'll NEVER know if a SARS was filled out on you or who did it. This has already been tested in the courts. See http://www.fincen.gov/whitneycase.pdf
Sorry to make you paranoid -- but you know what they say: Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that they're not out to get you.
seajane |
Homepage |
03.07.06 - 8:03 am | #
Agree with Pacha on the "national agenda" issue for the dems. It's not necessary for midterms- if there is to be one- it will- of necessity- be pretty plain vanilla. Don't think it's a big issue one way or the other.
Dems need to win races in very red states to take back congress. We aren't going to see anything very stimulating coming out nationally- Dean has a "50 state" strategy- so he won't push the envelope either.
rwcole |
03.07.06 - 8:05 am | #
Regarding Washington Post reporters - who's good, who's not - you can learn a lot about them from the daily politics chat. Each of them is on every two weeks, I think. The chats are kind of stupid, but the reporters let their guard down when chatting and some of the prejudices and biases shine through. I first discovered that John Harris was an asshole from a chat, way before the Dan Froomkin flap. Shailagh Murray seems good and balanced to me. Charles Babington leans toward the red a bit. I tend not to read his work if he's the only reporter. Tom Edsall is great. Beware of Peter Baker.
The chats are 11:00 every day.
sozzy |
Homepage |
03.07.06 - 8:05 am | #
Chris Bowers disagrees with my assessment of today's WaPo piece.
Read it for another point of view.
Pachacutec |
03.07.06 - 8:09 am | #
Gosh, I wonder where all those false alarms came from that ran the FBI ragged chasing down ordinary folk? Wonder how that kind of thing ever happened? I sure do feel safer now.
Wesgpc |
03.07.06 - 8:13 am | #
Prof, on a side note, it is very reassuring to the rest of us that prof's can have typos. Just saying I feel much more normal now.
GrandmaJ |
03.07.06 - 8:14 am | #
More WaPo bashing because of today's article from ThinkProgress.
Actually, I agree with both Chris and ThinkProgress.
I got into the details of the story, its substance and virtual lack of GOP frames, and they got into the editorial choice to run the story at all, and attack its headline, which is not written by the authors of the piece.
Democrats in Congress are being systematically spied on by the Administration, which has successfully blackmailed them. If the Dims call the neo-nix bluff, dancing dominatrices will be wholesome compared to the other things destined to float into public view.
But BushCo is at a breaking point of their own making, and everyone knows it. The thing is, they have to keep going, because the alternative is jail. They've already passed the point of disgrace.
First comes fear. Then comes ANGER.
MarcLord |
03.07.06 - 8:19 am | #
Two points I'd like to share from my catch up reading today.
WRT Mike Stark's phone call. He got tangled up in the issue of does life begin at conception. He should have pointed out that the egg and sperm are both alive before conception. If they weren't you have conception. So life doesn't start then. It's already there.
They have the potential to create a life, so does a fertilized egg. "A life" and "life" are not the same thing. That's why a sane person would grab the two year old.
===
The point that I haven't seen raised, and apologies if it has, but I have often read that the most dangerous time for a woman is when she is pregnant. The murder rate for pregnant women is far higher than for nonpregnant women. Many of them are murdered by their partners/the fathers of their unborn babies.
What provisions has South Dakota made to protect women now that they will be forced to carry all babies to term? How many women will die because they had to stay pregnant? Will there be some sort of compensation fund to provide for any dependants such a woman leaves behind?
What sort of notice have they given the male population at large that getting rid of their unwanted children by destroying the incubator will be treated far more harshly than other forms of murder and assault?
Bionic |
03.07.06 - 8:21 am | #
WP has the mandatory- "goopers in the crapper but dems can't capitalize" story up- here's a snippet from it:
We should take a page from their book" and have "an overarching theme" similar to the 1994 contract, said Sen. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.).
Many of his colleagues agree, but not Reid. "We're not going to do a 'Contract With America,' " Reid said in an interview. He noted that the GOP document received scant attention when it was presented a few weeks before the 1994 election, and political historians say it played a minor role in the outcome. "There's a great mythology about the contract," Reid said.
rwcole |
03.07.06 - 8:22 am | #
Bionic | 03.07.06 - 8:21 am | # If they weren't you wouldn't have conception
Damn it, proof read this too!
Bionic |
03.07.06 - 8:23 am | #
I've been a Democrat for 40 years. They'll never get a clue. If they already had one, they'd be yelling and screaming every day as one.
I'm afraid this just confirms what I've been saying for some time. The level of our fuckedness is radically higher than most people realize and is increasing exponentially because the INSTITUTIONS OF GOVERNMENT are broken. That's why blogging and emailing are probably just pissing into the wind, as much as I hate to say it, and I hope it's only as embarrassingly benign as that.
We need to think outside of any boxes that we've ever been in before. Something totally fresh, creative, and EXCITING. (Obviously peaceful, too, in case that needs to be said.) My two cents...
Juan del Llano |
Homepage |
03.07.06 - 8:41 am | #
The traditional greeting at my olde BBS (which used to have a couple of hackers as frenz) to those in clandestine law enforcement:
HI, FED LURKERS!!!
A citizen might as well have pep, don't ya know....
cgeye |
03.07.06 - 8:53 am | #
Pachacutec | 03.07.06 - 7:59 am
Heh. That's why I ponied up the $85 for a year's worth of eFax Plus when they offered a deal 4Q2005.
Rayne |
Homepage |
03.07.06 - 8:59 am | #
First comes fear. Then comes ANGER.
then comes Karl w/ a doppelganger
sorry, couldn't resist. I'll be over here
cbl |
03.07.06 - 9:44 am | #
Hey Frank Probst,
Are you the Pentagon renovations guy that saw the plane crash on 9/11?
"I was standing on the sidewalk (parallel to the site of impact)...and I saw this plane coming right at me at what seemed like 300 miles an hour. I dove towards the ground and watched this great big engine from this beautiful airplane just vaporize," said Frank Probst, a member of the Pentagon renovations crew commented. "It looked like a huge fireball, pieces were flying out everywhere
Reading one of Bruce's links more closely, it is erroneous to claim that the threshhold is $10,000. It's actually much lower and in many cases discretionary in the extreme.
And I quote:
In the United States, money laundering was made a separate federal criminal offense in 1986. The primary anti-money laundering laws are the Money Laundering Control Act and the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). Since 1987, federally insured depositary institutions and credit unions have been effectively deputized in the effort to counter money laundering and terrorism. They are required to maintain anti-money laundering programs and to file reports with the Department of Treasury, such as:
· Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) and Reports of International Transportation of Currency and Monetary Instruments (CMIRs) for currency transactions of more than $10,000, and
· Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) describing suspicious transactions occurring in the United States, which may be transactions of lesser amounts, e.g., aggregating to $5,000.
Other regulations specify record-keeping requirements, such as logs of fund transfers of $3,000 or more, and of the cash sale of monetary instruments between $3,000 and $10,000.
Notably, up to the passage of the USA PATRIOT Act only a subset of financial institutions have been required to file SARs under the BSA or requirements of federal regulators, e.g., banks, savings associations, credit unions, certain money transfer businesses, and certain registered securities dealers and brokers. The Act requires the extension of SAR reporting requirements to all registered securities dealers and brokers, and these requirements may be extended to other financial institutions.
Penalties for engaging in money laundering can be severe. For example, substantial fines can be imposed. Property traceable to criminal activity (including loan collateral) is subject to seizure and forfeiture. Certain financial institutions also risk losing their charter, and employees may be barred from the industry.
So, at the "bottom end" (and it's not absolutely clear that it is the bottom) $3,000 is a drop in the bucket. A big-screen plasma TV can cost more, much more. That leaves all of us vulnerable to snooping in the name of protecting national security. Furthermore, it is my understanding that the language of the Patriot Act had been drafted quite some time prior to the events of September 11th and that Ashcroft rolled it out within days.
So clearly, Abu Gonzales has some additional questions to answer, and I hope the cowards on the Senate Judiciary Committee hold his feet to the fire and demand answers. Perhaps they could have one of those "restraint chairs" shipped up from Gitmo. If "restraint" is good enough for the detainees, then it should be good enough Abu, no?
SherAn |
03.07.06 - 1:48 pm | #
Russ Feingold is speaking on floor of Senate Now.......hardhitting!!!!!
alice |
03.13.06 - 1:36 pm | #
