BartBlog

Frank Rich, The New York Times, April 1, 2007

Elizabeth Edwards’ choice to stay in the political arena despite a Stage 4 cancer diagnosis didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know about Elizabeth Edwards. People admired her before she was ill for the same reasons they admire her now. She comes across as honest, smart and unpretentious — as well as both devoted to and independent of her husband. But we have learned a great deal about the political arena from the hubbub that greeted her decision. For all the lip service Washington pays to valuing political players who are authentic and truthful, it turns out that real, honest-to-God straight talk about matters of life, death and, yes, political ambition, drives “some people” (to use Katie Couric’s locution) nuts.

If you caught Elizabeth and John Edwards in the Couric interview on “60 Minutes” or at their joint news conference in Chapel Hill, you saw a couple speaking as couples chasing the presidency rarely do. When Ms. Couric gratuitously reminded Mrs. Edwards that she was “staring at possible death,” Mrs. Edwards countered: “Aren’t we all, though?” It’s been a steady refrain of her public comments that “we’re all going to die” and that she has the right to make her own choice to fight for her husband’s candidacy even as she fights for her life. There are no euphemisms or equivocations in her language. There’s no apologizing by either Edwards for the raw political calculus of their campaign plans. There’s no sentimental public hand-wringing about the possible effect her choice might have on her children. The unpatronizing Mrs. Edwards sounds like an adult speaking to adults.

Americans understood. A CBS News poll found that by more than two to one, both women and men support the decision to move forward. So do prominent cancer survivors in the media establishment, regardless of where they fall on the ideological spectrum: Tony Snow (before his own rehospitalization), Laura Ingraham, Cokie Roberts and Barbara Ehrenreich all cheered on Mrs. Edwards. But others who muse on politics for a living responded with bafflement and implicit moral condemnation — and I don’t mean just Rush Limbaugh, who ridiculed the Edwardses for dedicating themselves to their campaign instead of, as he would have it, “to God.”

Read More Here

Harold Pinter, The Assassinated Press, March 30, 2007

Earlier this year I had a major operation for cancer. The operation and its after-effects were something of a nightmare. I felt I was a man unable to swim bobbing about under water in a deep dark endless ocean. But I did not drown and I am very glad to be alive.

However, I found that to emerge from a personal nightmare was to enter an infinitely more pervasive public nightmare – the nightmare of American hysteria, ignorance, arrogance, stupidity and belligerence; the most powerful nation the world has ever known effectively waging war against the rest of the world. “If you are not with us you are against us” President Bush has said. He has also said “We will not allow the world’s worst weapons to remain in the hands of the world’s worst leaders”. Quite right. Look in the mirror chum. That’s you.

The US is at this moment developing advanced systems of “weapons of mass destruction” and it prepared to use them where it sees fit. It has more of them than the rest of the world put together. It has walked away from international agreements on biological and chemical weapons, refusing to allow inspection of its own factories. The hypocrisy behind its public declarations and its own actions is almost a joke.

The United States believes that the three thousand deaths in New York are the only deaths that count, the only deaths that matter. They are American deaths. Other deaths are unreal, abstract, of no consequence.

The three thousand deaths in Afghanistan are never referred to.

Read More Here

How did those Brits manage to get themselves captured? I only caught a glimpse of the start, but apparently they left their ship – in hostile waters – and took 4-5 tiny boats to board another boat to search for something, maybe Bush’s missing WMDs. Suddenly, we are told, they were surrounded by Iranian nationals and then taken/kidnapped to Iran.

Where was their ship? Why did the 4-5 tiny boats get so far away from their ship? Why didn’t their ship help them when they got in trouble? Can we assume their ship was a WARSHIP? This ain’t the good ship Lollypop, is it?

Why are sailors and their ships not prepared for action in the f-ing Straits of Hormuz?

And why is Ahmahanjob begging George Bush to turn Tehran into Baghdad?

Whatever the answers are, the BFEE will profit from it.

Jerry Seper, The Washington Times, March 30, 2007

The head of a California company hired by the U.S. government to help build a fence along the Southwest border to curb the flow of illegal aliens into the United States has been sentenced on charges of hiring illegals for the job.

Mel Kay Jr., 64, founder, chairman and president of the Golden State Fence Co., pleaded guilty in December in federal court in San Diego to felony charges of hiring the illegals and was sentenced Wednesday to six months home confinement, three months probation and 1,040 hours of community service.

Michael McLaughlin, 42, manager of the company’s Oceanside, Calif., office, who also pleaded guilty in December to charges of hiring illegals, was sentenced to six months home confinement.

U.S. District Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz in San Diego also ordered Kay to pay a $200,000 fine as part of a plea agreement, while McLaughlin was fined $100,000.

“Prosecution is long overdue in this area,” Judge Moskowitz said at sentencing. “Honestly, the government’s efforts have been at the border, not with the employer. Obviously, the government has signaled a change with this case.”

Read More Here

Jim Davenport, The Associated Press, March 29, 2007

BLUFFTON, S.C. – Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney on Thursday dropped some names of potential running mates in the 2008 race, but added such speculation is a bit premature.

Among those Romney mentioned for the second slot on the Republican ticket were three Southerners: South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

“There’s some wonderful people right here in this state, as you know, Governor Sanford being one of them,” the former Massachusetts governor said to a round of applause after being asked about vice presidential picks by a member of a crowd of about 400 people gathered for his campaign stop in this early voting state.

“I have to be honest with you, I haven’t given a lot of thought to that, so I don’t want to put any names in that hat right now,” Romney said, but also gave a nod to Bush, calling him “quite a guy.”

Read More Here

BuzzFlash.org, March 29, 2007The U.S. Attorney Scandal has struck a new victim: the American taxpayer. A judge ruled Wednesday that an epic blunder by federal prosecutors in the largest tax prosecution ever means that the treasury can’t recoup at least $100 million in restitution.

Telecommunications entrepreneur Walter Anderson pled guilty to tax evasion, but U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman said the binding plea agreement listed the wrong statute. This problem could have been overcome had prosecutors not failed to include any discussion of probation as is routine in such deals.

Because of the technicality, Judge Friedman said, “I’ve come to the conclusion, very reluctantly, that I have no authority to order restitution. . . . This is a very poorly drafted agreement.”

The case was prosecuted by the office of the interim U.S. Attorney for D.C., Jeffrey A. Taylor. Taylor was appointed directly by Attorney General Gonzales without Senate confirmation in November 2006 under a provision of the Patriot Act that Congress has recently voted to reverse.

Sure enough, Taylor came straight from the Bush Administration. He served as Counselor to Attorney Generals John Ashcroft and Gonzales for four years prior to his selection. Before that he worked as an aide to Sen. Orrin Hatch, where he actually participated in the writing of the Patriot Act.

Jeffrey Taylor has also given hundreds of dollars to the Republican National Committee and to George W. Bush.

As the acting U.S. attorney for D.C., Taylor has the sole authority to enforce House or Senate subpoenas through citations for contempt of Congress. Even if Taylor actually chooses to prosecute an administration official for refusing to testify – which is highly unlikely – could we trust him not to screw it up?

Read More Here

Ye Olde Scribe’s Links to Oblivion
“Surfing the net at the speed of intellect.”

“Watch your back,” warned the voice on the phone. “You know what can happen around here,” said another man, paying a visit to her workplace. “I don’t want to read about them finding you in a ditch.”

For some people, elections are serious business. For some citizens, democratic elections are a serious matter too.

Ever since Nov. 2006, Kentucky’s Kathy Greenwell has been trying to verify the election results, and like all citizens, she should have that right.

“Every time they brought in a satchel of the tapes, in goes the granddaughter with two clerks to a filing room. Then they’d come back out and announce the results,” says Kathy. “But when they gave someone a total Tuesday night, the first total they tried to make everybody believe that 6,000 people voted. They acted like it was the final count. People raised Cain, they went back and checked, then said it was 13,000 votes. Then a day or two later, it was 17,000 and now it’s supposedly 20,000 votes. Each time they said it was the final. We were also told there were missing votes and they couldn’t find them.”

Dems better be ready for 2008. 2006 may have been the equivilent of a fake in football. The big, important, prize is 08. Anyone want to guess who the machine companies, the gerrymanderers and the DOJ want to skew 08 in favor of? Hillary? O’Bama? Edwards? RIGHT.

Read more about this specific story by clicking on THIS LINK.

Unspinning the Spin Machine
“Dedicated to destroying the Reich Wing’s ALL Spin Zone.”

(Yes, Bill, Scribe was referring to YOU too. Liar.)

Current spin? That being political incorrect: going after those who agree as well as disagree with you, means a prosecutor wasn’t doing a good job. Only if you believe Uncle Adolph’s SS, or the KBG, and “justice” are synonyms.

The Latest Adventure

This recent excerpt from The Official Diary of Lemmiwinks is brought to you by Cheesy Poofs, Eric Cartman’s favorite snack. Cause even Lemmiwinks knows the mouth is the only proper portal for Cheesy Poofs, although they do, eventually, make an interesting Pu Pu Platter.

Hassan M. Fattah, The New York Times, March 29, 2007

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia told Arab leaders on Wednesday that the American occupation of Iraq was illegal and warned that unless Arab governments settled their differences, foreign powers like the United States would continue to dictate the region’s politics.

The king’s speech, at the opening of the Arab League meeting here, underscored growing differences between Saudi Arabia and the Bush administration as the Saudis take on a greater leadership role in the Middle East, partly at American urging.

The Saudis seem to be emphasizing that they will not be beholden to the policies of their longtime ally.

They brokered a deal between the two main Palestinian factions last month, but one that Israel and the United States found deeply problematic because it added to the power of the radical group Hamas rather than the more moderate Fatah. On Wednesday King Abdullah called for an end to the international boycott of the new Palestinian government. The United States and Israel want the boycott continued.

In addition, Abdullah invited President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran to Riyadh earlier this month, while the Americans want him shunned. And in trying to settle the tensions in Lebanon, the Saudis have been willing to negotiate with Iran and Hezbollah.

Last week the Saudi king canceled his appearance next month at a White House dinner in his honor, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. The official reason given was a scheduling conflict, the paper said.

Mustapha Hamarneh, director of the Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan, said the Saudis were sending Washington a message. “They are telling the U.S. they need to listen to their allies rather than imposing decisions on them and always taking Israel’s side,” Mr. Hamarneh said.

Read More Here

David Cay Johnson, The New York Times, March 29, 2007

Income inequality grew significantly in 2005, with the top 1 percent of Americans — those with incomes that year of more than $348,000 — receiving their largest share of national income since 1928, analysis of newly released tax data shows.

The top 10 percent, roughly those earning more than $100,000, also reached a level of income share not seen since before the Depression.

While total reported income in the United States increased almost 9 percent in 2005, the most recent year for which such data is available, average incomes for those in the bottom 90 percent dipped slightly compared with the year before, dropping $172, or 0.6 percent.

The gains went largely to the top 1 percent, whose incomes rose to an average of more than $1.1 million each, an increase of more than $139,000, or about 14 percent.

The new data also shows that the top 300,000 Americans collectively enjoyed almost as much income as the bottom 150 million Americans. Per person, the top group received 440 times as much as the average person in the bottom half earned, nearly doubling the gap from 1980.

Prof. Emmanuel Saez, the University of California, Berkeley, economist who analyzed the Internal Revenue Service data with Prof. Thomas Piketty of the Paris School of Economics, said such growing disparities were significant in terms of social and political stability.

“If the economy is growing but only a few are enjoying the benefits, it goes to our sense of fairness,” Professor Saez said. “It can have important political consequences.”

Read More Here

Marty Kaplan, The Huffington Post, March 28, 2007

The oddest role reversal has occurred in the culture wars: we have switched sides. Those on the right — the supposed defenders of moral absolutes, eternal truths and personal responsibility — are now singing the postmodern anthem, “Everything is political.” Those on the left — long denounced by the right for secularism, relativism and moral decay — are now saying that truth is more than merely “my truth,” that the rule of law is more than some arbitrary social construction, and that people should be held accountable for their actions.

Who would have thunk it?

Example: the Administration’s defense of its firing of US Attorneys. Their argument has two pillars. One: Butt out — this is politics, these are political appointments, and we have the pleasure of exercising our power. Two: Everyone does it. The first sounds like something you might learn from Nietzsche or Dostoevsky, but surely not in ethics class at Regent University, alma mater of Fifth-pleader Monica Goodling. The second — “But Bill Clinton did it, too!” — is hardly the kind of moral warrant that you’d expect conservative values vigilantes to invoke.

By contrast, it’s supposedly permissive progressives who want prosecutors to weigh the evidence, and to keep the political hacks’ thumbs off the scales of justice. It’s the liberals, not the conservatives, trying to conserve the tradition of prosecutorial independence. It’s the left, not the right, rejecting situation ethics and demanding personal accountability.

Example: science. In the last part of the 20th century, it was avant-garde lefty theorists who called for an end to the “privileged” position held by science; they claimed that scientific knowledge was no less tribal than shamanism, no more free of politics than politics. It was conservatives — “reactionaries,” “hegemonists,” they were called — who contested the demotion of science to the realm of opinion.

But today, it’s the left that invokes the scientific consensus on climate change, evolution, mercury pollution, abstinence education. It’s the right that funds conflicting theories, floats outlier data, confects one-percent dissent, and urges us — in the name of scientific openmindedness — to “teach the controversy.”

Read More Here

Chris Frates, The Politico, March 28, 2007

Bob Barr, who as a Georgia congressman authored a successful amendment that blocked D.C. from implementing a medical marijuana initiative, has switched sides and become a lobbyist for the Marijuana Policy Project.

But that doesn’t mean he has become a bong-ripping hippie. He isn’t pro-drug, he said, just against government intrusion.

“I, over the years, have taken a very strong stand on drug issues, but in light of the tremendous growth of government power since 9/11, it has forced me and other conservatives to go back and take a renewed look at how big and powerful we want the government to be in people’s lives,” Barr said.

Aaron Houston, the project’s government relations director, said Barr brings a “great deal of credibility, particularly among people on the Republican side of the aisle.”

“He certainly would not have been the first person I would have expected to sign off to us, but I’m very pleased that he has,” Houston said. “I’m very pleased that he has come around, and I hope he serves as an example to his former colleagues.”

Read More Here

Gary Kamiya, Salon, March 27, 2007

Democrats should give two cheers for George W. Bush. He and his political mastermind, Karl Rove, dreamed of achieving a permanent Republican majority. Instead, his disastrous presidency has dealt a devastating blow to the GOP, one from which it may not recover for many years.

That’s the inescapable import of a major study of American voters’ values and attitudes by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, released March 22. The study finds that voters have turned dramatically away from the GOP since Bush took office. Iraq, of course, is the single biggest reason for this. (A separate Pew poll, released on March 26, shows that 59 percent of Americans want their congressional representatives to support a bill calling for U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq by August 2008, with only 33 percent opposed.) But even more troubling for Republican strategists is the fact that underlying attitudes and beliefs are trending against them. The study’s implication is that the GOP, especially in its current far-right incarnation, was facing serious structural, long-term problems anyway, and that Bush delivered the coup de grâce.

To Democrats and left-leaning independents who were preparing to either commit suicide or move to Provence after the 2004 elections: Put down the gun and back away from the baguette. America may not be the Bush League, after all.

Read More Here

Before our main feature, a few of Scribe’s featurettes…. (Is that what they call the munchkins who greet the John and warm him up for the ladies in an Oz-based house of ill-repute?)

This JUST In!
“Highly suspect and unscientific studies that still ring true.”

Anecdotal evidence indicates that the current, up and coming generation suffers from imbecile-icitis: a sometimes terminal disease passed on by cell phones. Honest to God, TRUE, anecdotal evidence includes…

1. Young driver, so focused on conversation, she trips and almost falls as she gets out of her car, runs into door instead of opening it, trips over doorsill and then knocks over goods at the counter with her purse as she prepares to prepay for her gas. The phone never left her ear. The conversation never stopped. Hopefully her girlfriend finally advised her what color shoes to buy or she’s probably driving down the road, still talking, and pointing her car right at YOU.

2. Young driver yaks it up, while speeding through a parking lot, and then slams into driver who had just put his transmission in forward after backing out of his parking spot. She jumps out of car and screams, “What did you hit me for?”

3. 20 cars behind young motorcyclist going down road, slowly, and then turning at the speed of a snail into a Honda dealer. YUP… on a cell phone.

4. Young thing talks her way into a Hess station after her boyfriend pumps gas while he too is on the phone. Acts angry when the cashier says, “That will be $23.50, Ma’am.” Apologizes to her fellow conversationalist about the “rude intrusion.”

These are only four anecdotal cases. There are an infinite number of them. Please feel free to share yours with Scribe. If your son or daughter has a cell phone and has been struck by this disease, you have both Scribe’s sympathy and ire. Take the damn thing away before it’s too late. Spanking at that age is probably useless, but that might give you a good idea where to shove their phone, right?

Wonder What They’re Saying Now?
“Musing about not so amusing Nazis are saying.”

John Edward’s wife, Elizabeth, has just been diagnosed with cancer… again. It cannot be cured. What a DAMN shame. Wonder what filthy, cruel, insensitive comments Lush Dimbulb will have, as always? He certainly is filled to the brim with them most of the time. If he were an outhouse he’d be so full he’d be worse than useless. Of course… he’s always been that anyway.

Now, finally, the main attraction…

The Trap

I think he’s going to announce that she’s sick again and that he’s dropping out.

I mean, why call a press conference to say, “All is fine?”

I wish the best for them both and I wish John was still in.

BartCop.com Volume 1947 – Nothing to hide?

• RICO-Style Abuse
• War with the Senate
• President Madman
• What is Bush hiding?
• Troops want out
• Cheney: Iranian Mole?
• Obama rocks Oklahoma
• Hunter-Beyonce Feud