Heh heh.

Or to Madison Avenue admen as: "Watch this space!"

Anyway, now that I've got a free moment, wanted to respond to a few things here, in the hopes that somebody's still reading comments from last Friday.

loslobo -

I personally was stunned when Bush admitted warrantless wiretapping a few years ago, and my comment then was: "Even Nixon didn't go on national TV to admit an impeachable offense!" But since then, not much has happened.

And just a side note, we're an adult site here, with no profanity filters, so please, if you want to say "fucking" then feel free to do so -- there's no need for euphemistic asterisks...

Loved the Caligula quote, by the way.

Please provide a David Ray Griffin link, and I will check it out. Likewise Cass Sunstein.

Michale -

Congress wasn't briefed, the "gang of 8" was briefed. Not even the full intelligence committees or armed services committees were briefed. So while you have a point, it's a limited one. And being briefed is not exactly the same as authorizing. Although they could have made a stink about it and didn't, so point taken.

The law is what Congress says it is, as approved by the Supreme Court. Just to touch second base, as it were. Congress can say slavery is legal once again, but I'd bet the Supes would nix it, for instance.

loslobos -

I think, technically, it's "light, sweet crude." But your point is a good one.

I don't buy into all the 9/11 conspiracy theories, but I myself have never seen a plausible explanation for WTC7 coming down the way it did. No plane hit that building.

Anyway, more comments to answer, gotta run...

-CW

Thank you for informing me that the world is a scary place, if not for your insight I might not have ever known. Your problem is you don’t know who the terrorists are. The insanity you condone in the name of safety is not done to protect you but enslave you. You logic states that we should just lets the adults take care of us because "Oh wow… If ALL these people I trust to represent me are saying that these things are necessary… Maybe, JUST maybe, they are right and *I* am wrong". If that is your position, then it is you who is truly naïve and misinformed.

Its true congress was foolish enough to pass the Patriot Acts, Military Commissions Act, and recently the tragic FISA legislation. But you are seriously misinformed if you think that because a few members were give some information, that somehow changed the laws or gave the administration unfettered power to do anything it pleased.

If you haven’t been paying attention this has been a coup plain and simple. The Neo-Cons instilled a lazy, narcissistic sociopath to head the monster while Cheney was pulling the strings. What does Iraq oil field maps coming from Cheney’s Energy Task Force tell you? It tells me how bad they coveted the last remaining easy sweet crude (Which is what Iraq was set up for by Churchill and friends). Cheney’s problem was how to get it. Conveniently 9/11 was blamed on a paid CIA operative and was morphed to get rid of the failed CIA assassin Saddam. Do you really think the towers fell without explosives? Do you blame KSM for those explosives or the CIA? Have you read that NIST report on WTC7? That’s right there will never be enough BS in the world to let that see the light of day. And what was in that building? CIA? Well again how convenient. So you declare the ambiguous War on Terror. Blame 9/11 on Osama, who you almost capture but let “slip away”, then resurrect him every election to scare the brain dead masses. Ever wonder why the BBC had to edit the Bhutto interview where she said Osama was killed in Dec 2001? Then you subvert basic liberties until you’re caught or the fascist state is in place. No go ahead a tell GW how good a job he is doing.

Educate yourself, then you will realize this world is a hell of a lot more “scary” than you imagine.

Your entire case against Bush falls apart with one simple fact..

Congress was fully briefed and authorized everything that Bush did...

The law is what Congress says the law is...

If Congress says that coercive interrogations are necessary for the safety and security of this country then, guess what?? It's law...

If Congress says that we need to ability to listen in on terrorists communicating with possible American sympathizers, then... Guess what?? It's law...

You elected these people to represent you. Now you don't like what they are doing... OK, fine.. Elect NEW people..

But what if they do the same thing?? Are you going to elect NEW people??

How many new people are you going to want in there that tell you the same thing before you MIGHT just maybe, possibly, think that, "Oh wow... If ALL these people I trust to represent me are saying that these things are necessary... Maybe, JUST maybe, they are right and *I* am wrong"

Has THAT ever occurred to you??

I am guessing the answer is.... NO...

"No country has ever been saved by 'good men'. Because good men will not go to the lengths that may be necessary."
-Horace Wapole

The real world is a scary place.. Are you sure you want a Mr Rogers government in place to handle it???

Michale.....

After long thought, I realize, I am just going to use this as an exercise to organize my thoughts on this unimaginable task of futility. I won’t waste your time belaboring the extensive amount of evidence against this administration or rehashing the fact Pelosi, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), and Jane Harman (D-CA) worked in collusion (Greenwald in Salon). But instead I would like to decipher some of the information you couldn’t track down in Salon, Slate, Politico, or Raw Story.

Although the Nixon impeachment was lasted 14 months till Dick decided to get the hell out of town. And it can be argued that it turned on Dean’s testimony, those crimes are miniscule compared to GW’s. The beautiful thing about GW’s is that he has already ADMITTED he has committed felonies. These could be swiftly prosecuted. Torture for instance. If for some reason the Dems. Are squeamish about being portrayed as defending the worst of the worst (although I just watched the interview-a quick read of My Guantanamo Diary by Mahvish Rukhsana Khan should quell those notions). But by going after the administration on torture, the Dems can re-enforce McCain’s biggest (and most absurd) flip-flop.

But just on principal, Conyers has to move on not misleading, but fu*king lying about taking this country into the heinous of all war crimes, a war of aggression. As Vincent Bugliosi clearly showed the white paper given congress and the actual report from which it was derived was significantly altered. Thereby blowing out the water of Rep. Dan Lungren’s defense of “intent”.
“There is an essential deference between a miss statement and an intentional miss statement. Allegations or assertions of criminal misconduct or misconduct are easily made. And the distance between an assertion and proof and conviction (or this case impeachment) is a long road.” He goes on to defend the administration with the “fog” of intelligence, “slam dunk”, and British and Israeli “intelligence”. The best quote goes to George Mason University School of Law professor Jeremy Rabkin "The tone of these deliberations is slightly demented," Rabkin said. "You should all remind yourselves that the rest of the country is not necessarily in this same bubble in which people think it is reasonable to describe the president as if he were Caligula."

He has no idea how true that statement is. My question to you Chris is, do you? Although I won’t ask you to commit journalistic suicide by publishing anything, but give David Ray Griffin a read, I could never explain it better.

Let me say one more thing, if you listen to Dennis at the end, the impression I got was that he washed his hands of this now that is was in Conyer’s lap. Which I found truly sad. “It is the proper role of the judiciary committee given that (we) congress received a resolution that made representations that all turned out – that most turned out to be categorically false, it would then seem to me, that it would be appropriate to commit an inquiry so you can get at the truth. Then if the truth backs up that the administration made misrepresentations then it would be up to the committee to decide to forward that in a form of a report to the full house, and weather the House then as individual members would act up it.
The only reason I’m here and the only reason I have been pushing for a moment like this, were in a six hour hearing now, is for members of the judiciary could have things laid out in front of them and get to the truth, let’s find out what the truth is. Was congress presented with a case for war that was not based on the truth, and if that happened, there has to be consequences.”

Thanks always

Ps. Thoughts on Obama adviser Cass Sunstein's and his UNwillingness to pursue Bush crimes.....

He seems to be pinning all of his hopes on negatively defining Obama. The latest volley being his "troop hater" comments. Hoping this comes off as "obvious spin." It's so over the top (kind of like the terrorist fist jab comment) that I can't understand how anyone who isn't a diehard Republican would believe it.

But I've been surprised before by GOP propaganda.

The part of your post that made me laugh out loud, however, was the NFL scheduling conflict. Maybe they just don't want people to watch? Truly brilliant!

- David

I take it yer not caught up in the Obama Euphoria, eh? :D

Me neither. While I support him (even more so after his FISA vote) and do intend to vote for him, I do not worship him as many do (Present company excepted, of course. :D)

It would be kinda kewl to see a Democratic President and a 60+ Democratic Majority in the Senate...

I bet you I can predict with a great degree of certainty exactly what will happen..

The COMPLETE Democratic Government will do many of the same things that the Bush Administration is doing for the exact same reasons..

And the hysterical Left will simply go ballistic..

The hysterical Left and their Democrats reminds me of a high school couple in love.. They preen their "real" "deep" and "meaningful" love all over school, so much so that you just want to take a bazooka to them.. Or yourself... They go on and on about how "great" the other is and how they are "soulmates" and will be together thru eternity..

Then the first disagreement, they suddenly become "scum of the earth" and "evil" etc etc etc ad nasuem..

That same situation can also be applied Obama and the Obamabots and Clinton and her PUMA crowd...

Just makes me sadly shake my head...

For the record, I don't think the hysterical Right have this problem in general. Those on the Right seem to approach their relationships a bit more pragmatically and cynically...

Anyways, I digest... :D

Michale.....

I'll tell you what - if Senator Obama comes back from his trip thinking he's King Shit of Turd Island and picks his VP accordingly then I'll give you a debate alright. And, I won't care where my arms end and your nose begins!

I really can't scare up a good debate..

Oh wait.. There IS this: :D

"The right to swing your arms ends where someone else's nose begins"

The simple fact is, the hysterical Left has brought this action upon themselves..

They simply see ZERO difference between rational dissent, which IS protected, and violent irrational and intentional disruptions which is not.

If people act like animals, people are gonna get caged... If people act like rational human beings, people will be treated as such..

Personally, I see no problem in that and I am amazed that anyone else would.

"The right to swing your arms ends where someone else's nose begins."

It also seems that the dynamics of this general election campaign have changed dramatically from what we have become accustomed to over the course of the last two election cycles, especially in comparison to what happened with respect to the Kerry campaign in 2004 - the same political tactics used against Kerry do not seem to have any traction this time around. And, events seem to be conspiring before all of our eyes to make it clear that this election campaign is going to be different - new tactics, it seems, are the order of the day for the successful candidate.

I also found it amusing that China is setting up "free speech zones." Nothing like the US showing the world the way...

loslobos -

Hey, I gotta write these things SOMEtime! While I'm writing, there's kind of a news blackout here. I've missed late-Friday action before, and I'll miss it again, but I try to make up for it later when I do...

-CW

Why no mention of what was happening in the house today? I caught the last two hours and now watching it again. Your west coast right? I guess you could still watch some of it (or T vo it assuming you have a life)

manifesto to follow......

I am glad that you pointed out that the minimum wage is going up. It is important to highlight the positive as well as the negative.

Speaking of negatives, when the DNC behaves like China (and the Republicans)to curb free speach it makes it very difficult for the US to then chastize countries such as China for doing what we are doing.

...Stan