Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

Museums are not America’s attic for its racist shit.

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, door #2)

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it is not glory.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

Trump should be leading, not lying.

It’s possible to be a liberal firebrand without crapping on the party.

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

The only way through is to slog through the muck one step at at time.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

How stupid are these people?

Celebrate the fucking wins.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

If you’re gonna whine, it’s time to resign!

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Holiday Goodness

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Just took my Thanksgiving turkey carcass out of the freezer this afternoon and made some delicious turkey rice soup. Ingredients:

1 lb carrots
1 lb celery
2 onions
1 bag frozen peas
1 lb mushrooms
turkey carcass
2 cups wild rice

I assume you all know how to make soup, so I will not waste time giving you specific instructions. Iwill say this, though- yuou need very little salt and pepper to make a grreat soup. After you boil the carcass for a while, pull it out of the pot, let it cool, and you will have a great broth for your soup already. Pick the meat off the carcass, throw it in the put with the other ingredients, and that is really it. Super simple, and I will be able to eat it for over a week. Just warm, tasty goodness for cold days. For dessert I am making baked apples stuffed with cinnamon and raisins.

For some good Holiday Cheer, I recommend visiting this website, F**k Christmas, which takes on the chowderheads pushing this tedious ‘War on Christmas’ crap. I can’t figure out who annoys me more- the folks who try to remove every manger from a public place, or the folks who are fighting this mythical ‘War on Christmas.’

Personally, I just want some nog with rum.

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No Clemency for Tookie

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I don’t find this surprising at all:

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has denied clemency for convicted killer Stanley Tookie Williams, who co-founded the Crips street gang.

Schwarzenegger announced the decision Monday shortly after a federal appeals court refused to block Williams’ scheduled Tuesday execution.

The court made its decision about nine hours before Williams is to receive a lethal injection.

I have a lot of reasons why I dislike and oppose the death penalty, and not one of them has to do with a concern for the fate of guilty men. I dislike the death penalty because it is irreversible, it is arbitrary, it is seemingly enforced in a haphazard manner, it seems to be more about race and class than guilt, it does not seem to prevent crime, and because I see no need to have a system that could kill one innocent man when we could keep them all imprisoned and avoid that risk.

Like I said- my opposition to the death penalty is not based on guilty men dying, and that is what Tookie Williams is. He probably had a hand in far more than just the four murders for which he will be executed, is responsible for who knows how many deaths and how much violence with the formation of the Crips (and some believe he was involved with them well after his incarceration), and I really feel little to no sympathy for him.

I am glad he ‘reformed’ after a while in jail, and I am glad he managed to do a few good things after being sentenced to death for his unspeakable crimes- maybe his God will take that into account tonight. But personally, I have a really hard time getting worked up over this case, and think there are far better cases to champion for those who dislike the death penalty than a multiple murderer who still refuses to admit his own guilt.

*** Update ***

Arnold’s official response is here, and here are some key aspects (.pdf):

he basis of Williams’ clemency request is not innocence. Rather, the basis of the request is the “personal redemption Stanley Williams has experienced and the positive impact of the message he sends.”4 But Williams’ claim of innocence remains a key factor to evaluating his claim of personal redemption. It is impossible to separate Williams’ claim of innocence from his claim of redemption.

Cumulatively, the evidence demonstrating Williams is guilty of these murders is strong and compelling. It includes: (1) eyewitness testimony of Alfred Coward, who was one of Williams’ accomplices in the 7-Eleven shooting; (2) ballistics evidence proving that the shotgun casing found at the scene of the motel murders was fired from Williams’ shotgun; (3) testimony from Samuel Coleman that Williams confessed that he had robbed and killed some people on Vermont Street (where the motel was located); (4) testimony from James and Esther Garrett that Williams admitted to them that he committed both sets of murders; and (5) testimony from jailhouse informant George Oglesby that Williams confessed to the motel murders and conspired with Oglesby to escape from county jail. The trial evidence is bolstered by information from Tony Sims, who has admitted to being
an accomplice in the 7-Eleven murder. Sims did not testify against Williams at trial, but he was later convicted of murder for his role in Albert Owens’ death. During his trial and subsequent parole hearings, Sims has repeatedly stated under oath that Williams was the shooter.

Based on the cumulative weight of the evidence, there is no reason to second guess the jury’s decision of guilt or raise significant doubts or serious reservations about Williams’ convictions and death sentence. He murdered Albert Owens and Yen-I Yang, Yee-Chen Lin and Tsai-Shai Lin in cold blood in two separate incidents that were just weeks apart.

***

Is Williams’ redemption complete and sincere, or is it just a hollow promise? Stanley Williams insists he is innocent, and that he will not and should not apologize or otherwise atone for the murders of the four victims in this case. Without an apology and atonement for these senseless and brutal killings there can be no redemption. In this case, the one thing that would be the clearest indication of complete remorse and full redemption is the one thing Williams will not do.

Clemency decisions are always difficult, and this one is no exception. After reviewing and weighing the showing Williams has made in support of his clemency request, there is nothing that compels me to nullify the jury’s decision of guilt and sentence and the many court decisions during the last 24 years upholding the jury’s decision with a grant of clemency.

Therefore, based on the totality of circumstances in this case, Williams’ request for clemency is denied.

Hard to disagree with that.

More reaction from frequent commenter Mr. Furious.

Jeralynn at TalkLeft disagrees, and this link will provide you with all of the past talk Left Tookie coverage.

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Worst Quotes of the Year

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I was perusing the 40 most obnoxious quotes of 2005 (Right Wing Edition– someone send me the left-wing edition if someone has done one), and I saw this quote:

Absolutely (I had sex with animals). I was a fool. When you grow up on a farm in Georgia, your first girlfriend is a mule.”

First off, BLECH!.

Second, that is batshit-insane anti-abortion advocate Neil Horsley on Hannity and Colmes:

Colmes: “You had sex with animals?”

Horsley: “Absolutely. I was a fool. When you grow up on a farm in Georgia, your first girlfriend is a mule.”

Colmes: “I’m not so sure that is so.”

Horsley: “You didn’t grow up on a farm in Georgia, did you?”

Colmes: “Are you suggesting that everybody who grows up on a farm in Georgia has a mule as a girlfriend?”

Horsley: It has historically been the case. You people are so far removed from the reality…Welcome to domestic life on the farm…”

Horsley is the guy who looks like a mildly retarded Abe Lincoln in the HBO documentary Soldiers in the Army of God, which follows the lunatics around as they plot their anti-abortion schemes and debate the relative merits of Eric Rudolph and bombing abortion clinics. I didn’t think there was anything out there that could make these creeps any ickier, and I was wrong.

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The Hysteria Continues

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And in this case, the hysteria is both mine and the governments. Mine, because my biggest fear about power grabs like the Patriot Act is that they will not be used for the limited role of combatting terrorism, but will simply be used to broadly expand government power. The government, because they are using the hysteria over meth to do just that:

Sens. Jim Talent, Missouri Republican, and Dianne Feinstein, California Democrat, said the Combat Meth Act — together with anti-meth measures championed in the House — were included in the Reauthorization Conference Report filed Thursday.

Mr. Talent and Mrs. Feinstein worked with leaders in both parties to push for the legislation, which is expected to be debated this week. The proposal, passed unanimously by the Senate, also includes treatment funding to help those affected by meth.

Law-enforcement authorities said meth use nationwide has increased by as much as 300 percent in the past decade.

“The Combat Meth Act is the toughest anti-meth bill ever considered by the Congress, and it will help people in neighborhoods all across Missouri and the country who are threatened by meth,” Mr. Talent said.

Mrs. Feinstein said the legislation “strikes a blow” against an ongoing meth epidemic.

“The heart of this legislation is a strong standard for keeping pseudoephedrine products out of the hands of meth cooks,” she said. “There were some who wanted to water down this legislation, but Senator Talent and I stood firm.”

The conference report also authorized several contentious provisions of the Patriot Act, including roving wiretaps, “sneak-and-peek” searches, and secret warrants for books and other records at businesses, hospitals and libraries.

Passage of the agreement is expected to be hotly contested, and one Democrat, Sen. Russell D. Feingold of Wisconsin, has threatened to filibuster the bill. He vowed to “do everything I can, including a filibuster, to stop this Patriot Act conference report, which does not include adequate safeguards to protect our constitutional freedoms.”

The provisions in the middle would simply restict what medical products are sold, and does not constitute any major action or power grab. It does, however, demonstrate to me the willingness of those in goverment to use the Patriot Act for whatever they want. The war on drugs existed before the war on terror, and as a never-ending source of funding and power, it will exist long after people are no longer sufficiently scared of terrorism.

And people- go read Jack Shafer on Crack v. Meth and The Meth Mouth Myth. And John Tierney.

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Iraq Poll

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ABC has a poll of the Iraqi population, with some interesting results:

An ABC News poll in Iraq, conducted with Time magazine and other media partners, includes some remarkable results: Despite the daily violence there, most living conditions are rated positively, seven in 10 Iraqis say their own lives are going well, and nearly two-thirds expect things to improve in the year ahead.

Surprisingly, given the insurgents’ attacks on Iraqi civilians, more than six in 10 Iraqis feel very safe in their own neighborhoods, up sharply from just 40 percent in a poll in June 2004. And 61 percent say local security is good — up from 49 percent in the first ABC News poll in Iraq in February 2004.

***

There are positive political signs as well. Three-quarters of Iraqis express confidence in the national elections being held this week, 70 percent approve of the new constitution, and 70 percent — including most people in Sunni and Shiite areas alike — want Iraq to remain a unified country.

Interest in politics has soared.

Preference for a democratic political structure has advanced, to 57 percent of Iraqis, while support for an Islamic state has lost ground, to 14 percent (the rest, 26 percent, chiefly in Sunni Arab areas, favor a “single strong leader.”)

Whatever the current problems, 69 percent of Iraqis expect things for the country overall to improve in the next year — a remarkable level of optimism in light of the continuing violence there. However, in a sign of the many challenges ahead, this optimism is far lower in Sunni Arab-dominated provinces, where just 35 percent are optimistic about the country’s future.

***

Other views, moreover, are more negative: Fewer than half, 46 percent, say the country is better off now than it was before the war. And half of Iraqis now say it was wrong for U.S.-led forces to invade in spring 2003, up from 39 percent in 2004.

The number of Iraqis who say things are going well in their country overall is just 44 percent, far fewer than the 71 percent who say their own lives are going well. Fifty-two percent instead say the country is doing badly.

There’s other evidence of the United States’ increasing unpopularity: Two-thirds now oppose the presence of U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq, 14 points higher than in February 2004. Nearly six in 10 disapprove of how the United States has operated in Iraq since the war, and most of them disapprove strongly. And nearly half of Iraqis would like to see U.S. forces leave soon.

The entire poll can be found here (.pdf).

Seems to me there is broad improvement in attitudes about a number of things, and I am not that distressed by the higher numbers who want troops to leave. I would worry if they didn’t want us there. Would you like a foreign Army roaming your neighborhood?

It will be interesting to see how the elections play out this week.

*** Update ***

If you want some sober analysis of Iraq, check out the always excellent Belgravia Dispatch. Key things to pay attention regarding the elections this week:

One of the key dangers in all of this, it might be pointed out, are false declarations of victory (that, in turn, help lead to too rapid deadlines that, despite attempts to conceal any linkage, are often really more related to American political calendars than actual conditions on the ground in Iraq). Come December 15th, if the elections move forward without catastrophe (which they will), there will be much euphoria about what a massive step has taken place, and there will be declarations of victory aplenty. But these triumphalist notes are dangerously premature indeed, as serious observers well realize. To be sure, who but the greatest cynics can remain unmoved at the specter of the veritable birth of modern, post-Saddam Iraqi politics, with myriad political parties sprouting up, and even formerly hostile Sunnis being urged to take up the ballot box rather than the gun (if only temporarily)? But still, minimizing the endemic violence, the myriad perils still facing Iraq, and just speaking breezily about a normalization of Iraqi politics (bombings happen a lot in the Arab world, after all!) is just bunk. Yes, it is irresponsible in the extreme to have already declared victory.

More here from Cathy Young.

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Plame Update

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Viveca Novak recounts her involvement and testimony:

A reporter for Time magazine said Sunday that a lawyer for Karl Rove, the senior White House adviser, was surprised when she suggested to him in the first half of 2004 that Mr. Rove had probably been a source for the magazine’s July 2003 article that discussed the C.I.A. officer at the heart of the leak case.

The reporter, Viveca Novak, wrote in a first-person article published on the magazine’s Web site that she met with Robert D. Luskin, a lawyer for Mr. Rove, on three occasions in early 2004. She said it was likely in one of these meetings that she hinted to Mr. Luskin that Mr. Rove had discussed the C.I.A. officer with a Time colleague, Matthew Cooper.

Ms. Novak’s conversation with Mr. Luskin has been under scrutiny by the special counsel in the leak case, Patrick J. Fitzgerald. In her article, Ms. Novak wrote that Mr. Fitzgerald sought to question her about the matter after Mr. Luskin told him of their conversation about Mr. Rove, in the belief that the information would help his client.

Ms. Novak said that before she spoke with Mr. Fitzgerald on Nov. 10, a discussion in which she was not under oath, she hired a lawyer, Hank Schuelke. “I didn’t tell anyone at Time,” she wrote. “Unrealistically, I hoped this would turn out to be an insignificant twist in the investigation and also figured that if people at Time knew about it, it would be difficult to contain the information, and reporters would pounce on it – as I would have.”

I was already confused before a second Novak got introduced into this case (and I still don’t know what the role of the first Novak was). This seems to just muddy things.

Jeralynn weighs in.

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