Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

Ah, the different things are different argument.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

“Squeaker” McCarthy

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Innocent people don’t delay justice.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

How can republicans represent us when they don’t trust women?

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

You are here: Home / Politics / What is the Fuss?

What is the Fuss?

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I really don’t understand what the big deal about all this is:

The Justice Department’s inspector general has prepared a scathing report criticizing how the F.B.I. uses a form of administrative subpoena to obtain thousands of telephone, business and financial records without prior judicial approval.

The report, expected to be issued on Friday, says that the bureau lacks sufficient controls to make sure the subpoenas, which do not require a judge’s prior approval, are properly issued and that it does not follow even some of the rules it does have.

Under the USA Patriot Act, the bureau each year has issued more than 20,000 of the national security letters, as the demands for information are known. The report is said to conclude that the program lacks effective management, monitoring and reporting procedures, officials who have been briefed on its contents said.

Details of the report emerged on Thursday as Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and other officials struggled to tamp down a Congressional uproar over another issue, the ousters of eight United States attorneys.

So a few bad apples screwed up some forms when issuing a subpoena? Big deal. You don’t have anything to worry about unless you are guily, anyway. Hugh Hewitt said so.

In all seriousness, the problem is not that there were abuses and mistakes made under this system- that is to be expected. There will always be mistakes and errors in every human endeavor. The real problem lies in the expansion of the program post 9/11.

Getting worked up about the ‘mistakes’ is misguided. The bigger problem is that this program exists in its current form, period.

Reader Interactions

108Comments

  1. 1.

    ThymeZone

    Getting worked up about the ‘mistakes’ is misguided. The bigger problem is that this is going on at all.

    Quite true. But in the world we live in, the latter is “old news” while the former is “new news.”

    So the new thing gets the attention.

    It’s why the noise machine is so effective. If you can manufacture “new news” you can make yesterday’s old embarassing news go away.

    Ergo, the “pardon Libby because there was no underlying crime” bullshit. Even if it’s completely fabricated, which is the case here, it’s a “new story” and lets the creator of the story frame the way the event plays out.

    Now all the wags and heads are talking about this “controversy” and not about the real story at all.

    Diabolique!

  2. 2.

    jill

    But Bush told us we NEEDED to be for the Patriot Act in order to nab the evil doers and in order to call yourself patriotic.

  3. 3.

    jill

    The real problem lies in the fact that the Republican congress refused to do oversight.

  4. 4.

    Tsulagi

    Under this honor and integrity administration? In the Ashcroft/Gonzales DOJ? Yeah, this news firmly belongs in the “No Shit” department.

    The bigger problem is that this is going on at all.

    Exactly.

  5. 5.

    Pooh

    What could possibly go wrong with a bunch of political hacks (see US-Atty scandals, Deutsch, etc…) having warrantless access to private information of anyone they chose, possibly including political and/or business enemies?

  6. 6.

    Jake

    But JoooooOoooohn! They want to kill us!! [/pants wetter channeling session]

    The report is said to conclude that the program lacks effective management, monitoring and reporting procedures, officials who have been briefed on its contents said.

    Well gee. Who would have thought making it easier to be sloppy would result in…more people being sloopy! Maybe now thundering “Don’t ask questions, the terraist might hear,” won’t work. Maybe our duly elected representatives can find out…what the hell is going on. I just hope the Administration does not reply by saying “Mistakes were made.” I will lose my fucking rag.

    Nitpick – PATRIOT should be all caps.

  7. 7.

    Richard 23

    I really don’t understand what the big deal about all this is.

    Agreed. So why post about it?

    Didn’t you hear that OJ claims to have sired Anna Nicole Smith’s daughter?

  8. 8.

    Zombie Santa Claus

    Didn’t you hear that OJ claims to have sired Anna Nicole Smith’s daughter?

    Yeah, he’s a pretty funny guy. When will Naked Gun 4 come out? It shouldn’t even have Leslie Nielsen in it, just Nordberg. Box Office gold.

  9. 9.

    28 Percent

    Richard, it is there BDS showing through there sheeps clothes. Clinton did it too, in even more secret because you did not hear about it then, did you? But you do not care about that – it is all just anything to try to embarrass Bush!

    IT WILL NOT WORK, STUPID HATE-FILLED LIBS! WE ARE PROUD OF PROTECTING AMERICA!!! EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT!

    It is a shame that the President has to do so many things in secret just because he looks bad when they are found out. If everybody knew half of what he does in secret to keep our country great, you would know just how lucky you are to have such an honest man taking care of you.

  12. 12.

    Pb

    Glenn Greenwald covered this one today:

    That the FBI is abusing its NSL power is entirely unsurprising (more on that below), but the real story here — and it is quite significant — has not even been mentioned by any of these news reports. The only person (that I’ve seen) to have noted the most significant aspect of these revelations is Silent Patriot at Crooks & Liars, who very astutely recalls that the NSL reporting requirements imposed by Congress were precisely the provisions which President Bush expressly proclaimed he could ignore when he issued a “signing statement” as part of the enactment of the Patriot Act’s renewal into law. Put another way, the law which the FBI has now been found to be violating is the very law which George Bush publicly declared he has the power to ignore.
    […]
    The story here is not merely that the FBI is breaking the law and abusing these powers. That has long been predicted and, to some degree, even documented. The story is that the FBI is ignoring the very legal obligations which George Bush vowed were not obligations at all, but mere suggestions to be accepted only if he willed it. It is yet another vivid example proving that the President’s ideology of lawlessness exists not merely in theory, but as the governing doctrine under which the executive branch has acted, time and again and as deliberately as possible, in violation of whatever laws it deems inconvenient.

    Of course, there’s much more where that came from.

  13. 13.

    Richard 23

    Clinton did it too, in even more secret because you did not hear about it then, did you? But you do not care about that – it is all just anything to try to embarrass Bush!

    Amen. The liberal spin machine always covers for the DemoRats while turning nothing into a big story and blowing it all out of proportion if it can hurt our noble President or other Republicans.

    I think it’s referred to as “speaking truth to power.”

  14. 14.

    28 Percent

    That is right Richard. They just do not like it when we win,because that is all they care about. They do not care about DOING WHAT IT TAKES to KEEP THIS COUNTRY GREAT. It is all just about winning with them. Both sides do it but DemocRats do it more. Maybe if they had the love of Jesus in their hearts they would not just hate so much I don’t know.

  15. 15.

    RSA

    Maybe if they had the love of Jesus in their hearts they would not just hate so much I don’t know.

    On the other hand, some Republicans are so gung-ho they seem to have the love of Jesus in their pants; look where that’s gotten them.

  16. 16.

    mrmobi

    IT WILL NOT WORK, STUPID HATE-FILLED LIBS! WE ARE PROUD OF PROTECTING AMERICA EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT!

    It is a shame that the President has to do so many things in secret just because he looks bad when they are found out. If everybody knew half of what he does in secret to keep our country great, you would know just how lucky you are to have such an honest man taking care of you.

    You forgot, “You have no civil rights if you’re dead!” What happened to Pat Roberts, anyway? Oh, that’s right, people on that committee are actually doing their jobs now.

    I love that line of his. It should be the slogan of the Party of Torture, because it clearly demonstrates how unworthy of this great democracy you all are.
    If you are not a spoof, based on that second paragraph, I’d get to a hospital, you’re having a brain aneuryism.

  17. 17.

    Tulkinghorn

    Didn’t you hear that OJ claims to have sired Anna Nicole Smith’s daughter?

    Am I the only man in north America who has not slept with ANS? Was I supposed to look for a ticket in the mail or something?

  18. 18.

    Dug Jay

    John probably makes a good point here. I mean, can you just imagine if this program had been around when Webster Hubbell was running Janet Reno’s Justice Department, before he got sent to prison, or when Sidney “Scumbag” Blumenthal was running the Clinton White House attack machine?

    Scary.

  19. 19.

    Zifnab

    Am I the only man in north America who has not slept with ANS?

    Hehe. That reads like “anus”.

  20. 20.

    Zifnab

    The story here is not merely that the FBI is breaking the law and abusing these powers. That has long been predicted and, to some degree, even documented. The story is that the FBI is ignoring the very legal obligations which George Bush vowed were not obligations at all, but mere suggestions to be accepted only if he willed it.

    So who’s going to pull the “signing statement” trigger? The BDS in me would love nothing more than to see Bush whip out his signing statement and get completely smacked down by Congress. The reality-based me feels the need to point out that the Dems would just as likely fold faster than Superman on laundry day should El Presidente wave his executive priviledge in their faces.

    But so long as the signing statement part of this whole scandal stays on page 28-D, I suspect everyone can pretend like no one said anything, fix the administrative problem like it was a normal error, and go on about their business. I’m not sure which situation would be better for the nation.

  21. 21.

    Pb

    But so long as the signing statement part of this whole scandal stays on page 28-D, I suspect everyone can pretend like no one said anything, pretend to fix the administrative problem like it was a normal error, and go on about their businesscontinue to be spied on by the FBI.

    Fixed.

    I’m not sure which situation would be better for the nation.

    I am. Also, do you ever wonder what all that spying might be for? Or if it might tie in to the continued politicization of, say, US attorneys, state attorneys general, and judges?

  22. 22.

    Jake

    Didn’t you hear that OJ claims to have sired Anna Nicole Smith’s daughter?

    Yeah, he’s already written a book about it: If I did her.

  23. 23.

    Punchy

    Also, do you ever wonder what all that spying might be for? Or if it might tie in to the continued politicization of, say, US attorneys, state attorneys general, and judges?

    Uh, it’s pretty easy to entice a US Atty to shut his cake hole when he’s canned if you’ve got 3+ years of his most private dirt on him.

    None of those US Attys have a mistress? None of them told their wife they were going to a movie when they went to a poker game instead? None of them paid off a bookie?

    All part of the plan. Shut up, or we will unload every secret ever emailed/phoned/texted/charged/mailed/downloaded or banked.

  24. 24.

    Zifnab

    I am. Also, do you ever wonder what all that spying might be for? Or if it might tie in to the continued politicization of, say, US attorneys, state attorneys general, and judges?

    That’s not really the issue I’m worried about. Dems can always repeal the dumber, eviler portions of the Patriot Act after Bush leaves office. But there’s a question of how many times you want Bush and Congress to bump heads. If the FBI can just stop breaking the law, we don’t need to have the fight over whether Bush’s signing statement makes Congressional law null and void.

    Sometimes its nice to just fix the problem without going into a Constitutional Crisis.

  26. 26.

    Pb

    Zifnab,

    That’s not really the issue I’m worried about.

    So you know that the FBI is doing a lot of spying without oversight, but you aren’t really worried about who they’re spying on, or why, or what that information is being used for?

    there’s a question of how many times you want Bush and Congress to bump heads

    As many times as is required.

    If the FBI can just stop breaking the law

    And you’ll know that they’ve stopped because…

    Sometimes its nice to just fix the problem without going into a Constitutional Crisis.

    That’d probably require an impeachment, then, for starters.

  27. 27.

    dreggas

    Sometimes its nice to just fix the problem without going into a Constitutional Crisis.

    I would agree if it wasn’t for the fact we’ve been in one for years now and this FBI shit along with the Attorney firings is just the tip of the ice berg. Just look at how the admin describes itself, “Unitary Executive”.

  28. 28.

    Steve

    The real problem lies in the fact that the Republican congress refused to do oversight.

    You’re wrong about this, Jill, and Greenwald is right. Congress included oversight requirements in the bill. Bush issued a signing statement that said he was going to ignore them because he, and only he, has the right to supervise the Executive Branch – and then he didn’t do any supervision, obviously. The blame for this one goes straight to the top.

  29. 29.

    Zifnab

    I would agree if it wasn’t for the fact we’ve been in one for years now and this FBI shit along with the Attorney firings is just the tip of the ice berg.

    There’s a Constitutional Crisis and then there’s a Constitutional Crisis. All I’m saying is that we’ve got to keep our eyes on the ball in Iraq and on the Attorney firing scandal. If this can be rolled in, that’s fine. But since you can only pass so many pieces of Republican-filibustered legislation in a session, its sometimes nice to get the FBI straight from the inside rather than sending Congress around with the legislative hammer.

  31. 31.

    BarneyG2000

    But the Conservatives told us we have nothing to worry about? They even laughed at our absurd obsession with “rights”:

    Andy McCarthy NRO on Re-Authorization of the PA:

    So how did the ACLU react to this relative non-event? By characteristically going straight to DEFCON 1. Lisa Graves, the organization’s senior counsel for legislative strategy, railed that Congress was meeting in secret to “rewrite our Fourth Amendment rights.” Americans, she pined, were being threatened with the loss of what she described as their “reasonable expectation that their federal government will not gather records about their health, their wealth and the transactions of their daily life without probable cause of a crime and without a court order.” Shocking as this must seem after four nonstop years of such drivel, it turns out that Graves’s every hysterical utterance was, to put it charitably, grossly misleading.

    http://www.nationalreview.com/mccarthy/mccarthy200506130739.asp

  32. 32.

    Tulkinghorn

    OT, but I love how Rove, who dropped out of his second part-time year at U of Utah, so charitably referred to Obama, who was editor at the Harvard Law Review, as being ‘articulate’. Dipshit ipsa loquitur!

  34. 34.

    Chuck

    I know I shouldn’t feed the trolls, but I hate it when people try to get away with false equivalency. For the record:

    President Clinton thought he could wiretap people without a warrant in certain situations. When he was told he couldn’t he…

    Went to Congress to get a law. Congress passed FISA establishing a court to review requests for secret wiretaps…

    To which the Republicans objected. It was HORRIBLE to think that the president could go to a secret court to spy on citizens. Despite Republican protests, Congress passed the law and…

    President Clinton followed the law, getting FISA authorization when his government needed to use a secret wiretap. In 2000…

    Bush was selected president. In 2001 we were attacked. President Bush decided he could wiretap anyone he wanted, in secret, without asking permission from the FISA court. To which …

    Republicans applauded, and anyone who objected was branded a terrorist sympathizer and a possible traitor.

    So both Presidents Clinton and Bush used secret wiretaps. The difference is President Clinton got a warrant as the law required and President Bush said “Warrant? I don’t need no stinkin’ warrant.”

  35. 35.

    Richard 23

    Am I the only man in north America who has not slept with ANS? Was I supposed to look for a ticket in the mail or something?

    Although I only got to second base with her, she will definitely be missed. :-(

  36. 36.

    Richard 23

    The BDS in me would love…[but] The reality-based me feels….

    Was I the only one who flashed on those annoying Frosted Mini-Wheat commercials? “The adult in me appreciates the shredded wheat, but the kid in me loves the SUGAR FROSTING!”

    Yeah, probably. I know, I lead a sad sham of a life. :-(

  37. 37.

    ThymeZone

    ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) — Kroger Co. said Friday it was reiterating its drug policies to all of its pharmacists after a Georgia woman claimed she was denied the “morning after” pill at one of the company’s stores.

    The Cincinnati-based grocery chain said if its pharmacists object to fulfilling a request, the store must “make accommodations to have that prescription filled for our customer.”

    “We believe that medication is a private patient matter,” said Meghan Glynn, a Kroger spokeswoman. “Our role as a pharmacy operator is to furnish medication in accordance with the doctor’s prescription or as requested by a patient.”

    Remember the good old days (year and a half ago) when we used to argue with the InsaneRighties about this kind of thing?

    Looks like all the major pharmacy chains are hurrying to assure customers that they will dispense to prescriptions as required by proper pharmacy practice.

    Asshole manipulator-pharmacists who want to “make a statement” by denying prescribed medications are just pissing into the ocean, then, after all, eh?

    I hope they end up without jobs.

  39. 39.

    Rome Again

    Asshole manipulator-pharmacists who want to “make a statement” by denying prescribed medications are just pissing into the ocean, then, after all, eh?

    I hope they end up without jobs.

    I don’t hope that they’re without jobs, I just think they ought to get involved with something more along their line, perhaps at Waste Management?

  40. 40.

    demimondian

    I just think they ought to get involved with something more along their line, perhaps at Waste Management?

    Please, no. WMI collects some of the trash up here — I don’t need trash among their employees as well as in the bins.

  41. 41.

    Rome Again

    Please, no. WMI collects some of the trash up here—I don’t need trash among their employees as well as in the bins.

    Shouldn’t a collection of trash collect trash?

  42. 42.

    Richard 23

    Asshole manipulator-pharmacists who want to “make a statement” by denying prescribed medications are just pissing into the ocean, then, after all, eh?

    Uh huh. People who follow their religious beliefs (ie, “making a statement”) == “asshole manipulator-pharmacists.” Wipe the foam off your mouth and try again.

    Why do you hate G-d? Shouldn’t you be trying to get closer to Him, you belligerant old fogey? The Angel of Death approaches and yet you shun Him. I wonder why that is.

    Oh yeah, because you’re part of the unhinged “reality-based” community. Good luck with that, Mr. Zone.

    Why do you hate womb babies so much?

  43. 43.

    demimondian

    Shouldn’t you be trying to get closer to Him, you belligerant old fogey? The Angel of Death approaches and yet you shun Him. I wonder why that is.

    Perhaps He’s offended by the men who claim to speak on His behalf, and is enlightening other men about your lies?

    I’m sure, you know, that TZ live and dies by the approbation of the members of your Church of eugenics, discrimination, hypocrisy, and murder. I know how much it means to me, anyway.

  44. 44.

    jake

    “We believe that medication is a private patient matter,”

    Non-statement of the hour. Patient privacy is protected by the damn law. As with most things related to medicine, personal (or corporate) belief registers about a .002 on the relevancy-o-meter.

  45. 45.

    ThymeZone

    Shouldn’t you be trying to get closer to Him, you belligerant old fogey

    How close do you think I should get? In inches, I mean?

  46. 46.

    grumpy realist

    Especially since a lot of the stuff (birth control pills, etc.) has other usages, such as treatment for certain brain cancers….

    And I’ll believe in this “clause of concience” stuff when they pass one allowing vegetarian waitresses to refuse to serve meat and still keep their jobs.

  47. 47.

    Richard 23

    I’m sure, you know, that TZ live and dies by the approbation of the members of your Church of eugenics, discrimination, hypocrisy, and murder.

    What does “approbation” mean?

    How close do you think I should get? In inches, I mean?

    About 120 inches. Minimum.

  48. 48.

    Richard 23

    How close do you think I should get?

    Oh, I thought you meant to me. You should get as close to the Lord as possible. Obviously. Was this a trick question?

  49. 49.

    ThymeZone

    Was this a trick question?

    No, I meant it literally. How close to Him should I get?

    Is there a fee for additional closeness?

  50. 50.

    Richard 23

    Is there a fee for additional closeness?

    Send $10 to R23 Corp Ltd and I’ll send the requested info to you. Include $7 shipping and handling because I’ve got to handle the thing and ship it off myself. If you add $5 to your order I’ll send you a prayer cloth ($10 for a prayer rug if you bow to Allah).

    You have my address. What I want is your cash.

  51. 51.

    ThymeZone

    If you add $5 to your order I’ll send you a prayer cloth ($10 for a prayer rug if you bow to Allah).

    Either one is fine as long as it’s colorfast.

  52. 52.

    Krista

    People who follow their religious beliefs (ie, “making a statement”) == “asshole manipulator-pharmacists.”

    If religious pharmacists want to make a statement, they’re welcome to state their beliefs all they like. What they are NOT welcome to do is to deny a patient prescribed medication, because it conflicts with those religious beliefs. Emergency contraception is very time-sensitive, and by “making a statement”, these people are messing around with a woman’s life, when she is at one of her most vulnerable times. If a pharmacist has that much of a problem with contraception that they cannot fulfil their job duties, then they should leave their job.

  53. 53.

    Richard 23

    Either one is fine as long as it’s colorfast.

    Well just don’t try to wash either. Ever.

    As a bonus, the prayer cloth contains the dried tears of Robert Tilton.

    That’ll get bank on eBay.

  57. 57.

    Krista

    What about a Ted sHaggard Prayer Towel?

    Dude, we don’t know where that’s been!

    Oh wait. We do.

  58. 58.

    Richard 23

    What about a Ted sHaggard Prayer Towel?

    Sorry, but that’s only available as a drop cloth. But it comes with 6oz of Anal Lube.

  59. 59.

    Ron Beasley

    Give the government a power to abuse and they will abuse it.

    If Lao Tzu didn’t say that in the Tao Te Ching I’m sure it was an oversight.

  60. 60.

    Richard 23

    OK, here’s a challenge, dummies. You far left moonbats think you’re all so smart and probably think conservatives are a bunch of slack-jawed drooling inbred morons with no teeth who never passed the eighth grade. Am I close?

    Well, let’s find out how smart you wackjobs really are! Can you pass this simple 8th grade test from Sam Brownback‘s home state of Kansas? Of course this is a test from way back in 1895, but I’m sure all of you elitest college graduates and generation x slackers will have no problem with this. After all, what’s the matter with Kansas is a joke to you people, right?

    Here’s a brief sample from the Grammar section (each section is a mere 10 questions):

    Grammar (Time, one hour)

    1. Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.

    2. Name the Parts of Speech and define those that have no modifications.

    3. Define Verse, Stanza and Paragraph.

    Who cares about grammar? Try math, nerds.

    Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)

    1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.

    2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?

    3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50 cts. per bu, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?

    Pretty easy, huh? Follow the link to see all the questions on Grammar, Arithmetic, US History, Orthography and Geography. 50 questions in total.

    You have all weekend to complete your homework. Send your answers to R23 Inc and I’ll have your grades ready shortly.

    I look forward to ThymeZone’s paper. ** giggle **

  61. 61.

    The Other Steve

    The big news now appears to be a Fox News Presidential debate has been canceled.

    Apparently Roger Ailes threatened Democrats who refused to show up, claiming he was going to give them bad news coverage.

    That threat was enough to push all the rest of the Democrats out of the debate.

    Nice of Democrats to stand in unity against stupidity for once.

  62. 62.

    Punchy

    Emergency contraception is very time-sensitive, and by “making a statement”, these people are messing around with a woman’s life,

    Yeah, and I’m guessing they wouldn’t make good shoe salesmen, either. Other half of the “barefoot and pregnant” and all….

  63. 63.

    bago

    You know, anyone who actually has to use measurements uses metric measurements.

    An arbitrary base 10 system to describe a base 4 division of a base 12 measure is just retarded. Of course as a programmer I move between base 10, base 2, 8, 16, 32 and 64, but at least 4/5 are all factors of each other.

    Bitshift FTW!

  64. 64.

    bago

    Yeah yeah, that’s 5/6, but I’ve only really been doing 64 bit pointers for a year or two, and the whole 8-16 and near and far pointers fiasco really paved the way for this shift to be rather painless.

    In the CLR, if you compile to MSIL the runtime re-reflects the image pre-jit with the pointers automatically adjusted. The only bitness factors you have to worry about are your registry hives and if you are actually hitting win32 or wow64 for your dll linkage.

  65. 65.

    Tulkinghorn

    Apparently Roger Ailes threatened Democrats who refused to show up, claiming he was going to give them bad news coverage.

    What I love is the Drudge headline:


    WAR: DEMS PULL OUT OF FOXNEWS DEBATE…

    Way to give the game away, drudgie! You bastards really are at war against the Democrats. So stuff the debate. And while the White house is barring access for ‘liberal’ journalists, why can’t the Democratic party pull a consistent snub on Fox? Treat ’em with the contempt they deserve.

  66. 66.

    Zifnab

    And while the White house is barring access for ‘liberal’ journalists, why can’t the Democratic party pull a consistent snub on Fox? Treat ‘em with the contempt they deserve.

    No surrender and no quarter till Helen Thomas gets her set back and Bush gives a one-on-one interview to John Stewart!

  67. 67.

    Pb

    bago,

    In the CLR, if you compile to MSIL

    I’ve identified the problem… :)

    registry hives and if you are actually hitting win32 or wow64 for your dll linkage

    Ye gads, it’s worse than I thought!

  68. 68.

    BarneyG2000

    Yesterday I wrote this:

    BarneyG2000 Says:
    But the Conservatives told us we have nothing to worry about? They even laughed at our absurd obsession with “rights”:

    Andy McCarthy NRO on Re-Authorization of the PA:

    So how did the ACLU react to this relative non-event? By characteristically going straight to DEFCON 1. Lisa Graves, the organization’s senior counsel for legislative strategy, railed that Congress was meeting in secret to “rewrite our Fourth Amendment rights.” Americans, she pined, were being threatened with the loss of what she described as their “reasonable expectation that their federal government will not gather records about their health, their wealth and the transactions of their daily life without probable cause of a crime and without a court order.” Shocking as this must seem after four nonstop years of such drivel, it turns out that Graves’s every hysterical utterance was, to put it charitably, grossly misleading.
    http://www.nationalreview.com/mccarthy/mccarthy200506130739.asp

    March 9th, 2007 at 5:29 pm

    I just checked the Corner, and Andy has acknowledge these earlier comments and kind-of apologized.

  69. 69.

    Jay C

    Richard 23 @ 12:45a:

    OK, here’s a challenge, dummies. You far left moonbats think you’re all so smart and probably think conservatives are a bunch of slack-jawed drooling inbred morons with no teeth who never passed the eighth grade. Am I close?

    No, not at all, Richard, not at all!

    I, for one, am sure you have most of your teeth!

  70. 70.

    Richard 23

    I, for one, am sure you have most of your teeth!

    The problem is that they’re in a jar on my bedside table. :-(

  71. 71.

    Nick Kasoff - The Thug Report

    People who follow their religious beliefs (ie, “making a statement”) == “asshole manipulator-pharmacists.”

    The solution to this is very simple: Any pharmacist who doesn’t want to vend particular medications for moral reasons should be entitled to not do so. And, any business which employs a pharmacist who exercises this right, should be entitled to use this as grounds for termination of employment. But if an anti-contraception businessman does not want to sell the pill, and employs a pharmacist who agrees with them, the government shouldn’t be able to force it, any more than they should be able to force a Mormon-owned business to sell liquor.

    Nick Kasoff
    The Thug Report

  72. 72.

    ThymeZone

    But if an anti-contraception businessman does not want to sell the pill, and employs a pharmacist who agrees with them

    Nope, wrong. We’ve had this discussion before here, and you missed it by at least a year.

    Pharmacy is not “pill selling.” It is a defined practice, like medicine, and has a rather thick layer of regulatory and practice standards on top of it. Pharamcy owners don’t get to decide “what to sell.” By opening a pharmacy and agreeing to abide by the laws and regulations, and by applying for and getting a license or certificate to operate the facility, they are agreeing to provide a place for pharmacy to be practiced according to those regs and standards. That includes a responsibility to dispense to legal and proper prescriptions. The dispensing itself is the added value.

    As soon as pharamacists start deciding what they will dispense, they are no longer adding value, and no longer performing their duty. The first thing that will happen is that they will risk their own jobs and careers, even in a job market that is desperate for pharamacists. However, if the situation worsens, what will then happen is that pharmacy as we know it will go away.

    Doctors and patients are not going to stand by and let asshole posturing “pharamcists” obstruct the dispensation of legal and proper medicines under legal and proper prescriptions. The practice will be damaged, or eliminated, if that happens. And that is exactly what should happen.

    If these “pharmacists” want to tell people what medicines are morally acceptable, then let them say in church, or on streetcorners. But they won’t fuck up the practice of pharmacy doing this, unless they want to change, or eliminate, the practice altogether.

    Keep in mind that most of pharmacy is grounded in compounding, and only a tiny percentage of pharmacists actually compound any more. They are mostly pill counters, a job which can be done by a machine.

    The world can get along fine without people making pharmacist salaries (high) telling folks what laxative or eyewash they recommend.

  73. 73.

    mclaren

    You subversive comsymp radiclib pinko. How DARE you say the Patriot Act is unacceptable?

    This is America, buddy, and you’re going to be dragged off the streets in a black hood, locked up naked in an ice-cold concrete cell without charges, subjected to electric shocks and waterboarded by merciless interrogators while your gentials get fried with electricity UNTIL YOU FEEL COMPLETELY SAFE AND SECURE!!!

  74. 74.

    Richard 23

    I knew ThymeZone would chime in. Like one of Pavlog’s dogs, ring the dinner bell (mention one of his hot button issues) and he starts foaming at the mouth!

    Don’t even think about denying TZ his pharmaceuticals!

  75. 75.

    grumpy realist

    Also the Libertarian “well, just open another store that does sell the stuff” or even “order it by mail” doesn’t quite work when you’ve got a deadline of efficiency breathing down the back of your neck

    I’ll believe the pharmacists’ yammering about ethics when they start demanding all men who want Viagra show them their marriage licenses.

  77. 77.

    Tulkinghorn

    Nick-

    You have the Mormon analogy wrong here. The whole issue turns on the license, which compels the pharmacist to follow the law when using the license to distribute drugs.

    A more apt hypo would be a Mormon buying a liquor store and then refusing to sell alcohol, as a way of making alcohol unavailable in a given market. The result of this would be the loss of the liquor license, which would then be granted to someone willing to provide the service to the public.

  78. 78.

    Rome Again

    I knew ThymeZone would chime in. Like one of Pavlog’s dogs, ring the dinner bell (mention one of his hot button issues) and he starts foaming at the mouth!

    Don’t even think about denying TZ his pharmaceuticals!

    I had no idea TZ was taking birth control.

    Richard, are you telling me that if one of your hot button issues came up, you’d be able to keep your mouth shut? Somehow I don’t think so.

  79. 79.

    ThymeZone

    he starts foaming at the mouth!

    This is Dickhead23 lexicon for “stating a coherent argument.”

    Gee, Dick, maybe you should lay off the Cutty Snark and try actually writing a thought once in a while?

    Just saying.

  80. 80.

    Rome Again

    Gee, Dick, maybe you should lay off the Cutty Snark and try actually writing a thought once in a while?

    Ouch! I’m under the impression that could also apply to me. Well, at least I’m open to the possibility of self-improvement.

  81. 81.

    ThymeZone

    Ouch! I’m under the impression that could also apply to me

    Hardly. But Our Dick has gone All Snark All The Time.

    Not very useful when talking about real issues like religio-pharmacy.

    Maybe Dick should look into opening a combination Baptist Church – Pharmacy?

    Today’s Sermon: God’s Will: Don’t Take That Pill.

    Catchy?

  82. 82.

    Richard 23

    Richard, are you telling me that if one of your hot button issues came up, you’d be able to keep your mouth shut? Somehow I don’t think so.

    Uh —

  84. 84.

    Rome Again

    Today’s Sermon: God’s Will: Don’t Take That Pill.

    Catchy?

    Who the hell are you, Rhymin’ Simon?

  85. 85.

    ThymeZone

    Who the hell are you, Rhymin’ Simon?

    That’s Pastor Simon, young lady.

    Jesus NMYM is telling us to Step Back-ah …. From Emergency Contraception.

  86. 86.

    Rome Again

    That’s Pastor Simon, young lady.

    Jesus NMYM is telling us to Step Back-ah …. From Emergency Contraception.

    I see, so, where are the pews? I had no idea I’d walked into a fucking church!

  88. 88.

    Rome Again

    ThymeZone seems more like Simpleton Simon! LOL.

    Really? Well, as I see it, his posts take a hell of a lot more thought that this little gem!

  89. 89.

    ThymeZone

    ThymeZone seems more like Simpleton Simon! LOL.

    Well, if you want to declare that you are getting your ass handed to you by a Simpleton, that’s up to you, Big Dick.

    You said, it, I didn’t :)

  90. 90.

    Rome Again

    Well, if you want to declare that you are getting your ass handed to you by a Simpleton, that’s up to you, Big Dick.

    You said, it, I didn’t :)

    Oooooooh!

    “OINTS”!

  91. 91.

    demimondian

    I have this image of Pastor Herb singing “Fifty ways to keep her baby”.

    Just put up a shack, Jack //
    And lock her in back. //
    Hold on to the key, Lee //
    She’ll never get free.

    Pardon me, now, while I go bleach out my brain.

  92. 92.

    ThymeZone

    I have this image of Pastor Herb singing “Fifty ways to keep her baby”.

    Pastors know how to preach to congregations full of unwanted children, sonny.

    You tell them that life begins at masturbation, and they say “Praise Jesus!”

  93. 93.

    demimondian

    You tell them that life begins at masturbation

    I assume you then ask them if the blindness and hairy palms are worth it, and then you launch into your pitch about why they, too, should be looking forward to cooking up -unwanted- -unplanned- _divinely-inspired_ children of their own?

  95. 95.

    Rome Again

    I assume you then ask them if the blindness and hairy palms are worth it

    What bunk. Demimondian, I expected better of you than this sort of disinformation.

    Masturbation is a perfectly normal behavior and hairy palms are NOT a result of it.

  96. 96.

    demimondian

    I assume you then ask them if the blindness and hairy palms are worth it

    What bunk. Demimondian, I expected better of you than this sort of disinformation.

    ha! Gotcha! (Although TZ, blast him, didn’t fall for the trap.) Look carefully at what I wrote. Did I say anything about whether masturbation actually caused hairy palms? Not at all — I merely asserted that he would *claim* they did.

    Big difference.

    That said, I notice that you didn’t speak to the issue of blindness. And, seriously, how many adults who develop any of the great eye diseases? I’ll bet that it’s a negligibly small fraction.

  99. 99.

    Darrell

    Pharmacy is not “pill selling.” It is a defined practice, like medicine, and has a rather thick layer of regulatory and practice standards on top of it. Pharamcy owners don’t get to decide “what to sell.”

    Ah yes, self proclaimed “libertarians” screaming for govt. intervention to tell pharmacists what they can and cannot stock and dispense. Phony and hypocritical as hell. Hell, what if it wasn’t a moral decision, but a financial one? If there is low demand for a particular drug, must pharmacies be forced to carry it? The answer from libs on this site is: yes, big-daddy government solves all.

    And btw, pharmacy regulation laws vary by state.

  100. 100.

    Sojourner

    Darrell is hilarious. He’s perfectly okay with the Bush administration taking away basic civil rights (habeas corpus, anyone?) but G-d forbid the government impose on a corporation’s “rights.”

  101. 101.

    Darrell

    Darrell is hilarious. He’s perfectly okay with the Bush administration taking away basic civil rights (habeas corpus, anyone?)

    What have I ever written that could be possibly construed as me “perfectly okay” with taking away basic civil rights? I realize that it sounds good to accuse me of such thing for dramatic effect, but you simply lied and made that up.

  102. 102.

    28 Percent

    That is right Darrell and it is awful and hypocritical of liberals to try to make doctors and pharmacists check their religion at the door. A very good friend of mine was a receptionist for a doctor who was a very good doctor but then he became a Jehovah’s Witness and then the liberals were all over him because he introduced so many patients to God. I am not a Jehovah’s Witness myself but they are very nice people and good potlucks, its just the liberals hate everybody who loves Jesus.

  103. 103.

    Zombie Santa Claus

    And btw, pharmacy regulation laws vary by state.

    In which states is it okay for the pharmacist to fill a prescription from a legitimate doctor? I want to know so I can avoid them, except on Christmas.

  105. 105.

    Write Me In for President

    jill said:

    But Bush told us we NEEDED to be for the Patriot Act in order to nab the evil doers and in order to call yourself patriotic.

    March 9th, 2007 at 1:23 pm

    Wow, he really said that??? I didn’t know his vocabulary was that extensive. I especially like his creativity. he deemed 9-11 “Patriot Day”, he wants to shoot down those ICBM’s (you know, the ones with the NUCULUR warheads) that are going to be coming from N. Korea, Venezuela and Cuba with a newer version of the “patriot missle” they used in the Gulf War. Yes, a very creative man there. Maybe it comes from his flexibility and his ability to admit when he’s made a mistake or done something wrong. Also, one ISN’T considered “patriotic” and a terrorist if they even question one remark or policy or idea Bush has, especially if you’re not wearing your “patriot pin”. We wouldn’t have to jugde who is patriotic or not if we weren’t in that damn war in the first place. “But we need to stay there ’cause Al Keida is there’. You know WHY they are there (not to mention the Iranian Elite forces, Haamas, Hezbolah and every other Muslim extremist group)? It’s because WE’RE there… DUH! By the way, “THE VOTE” was NOT whether to go to war, it was to give Bush and the rest of the hawks the OPTION (or should I say excuse) to go to war and should have only been used as the very very last option. We should have pushed diplomacy months and months more than we did and made damn sure our intel was 100% correct. he had getting Saddam on his mind before we even went into Afghanistan. Didn’t anyone learn anything from Nam and Korea?? Here we are with the most technological, very well trained, organized, battle-tested armed forces in the whole world and we are getting our asses kicked by a few people who know how to make good “IED”‘s. when people first heard that acronym, they probably thought it was a new kind of birth control for Christ’s sake! O.K, I’ll stop the slamming right here and step back and take some deep breaths.

    Don’t get me wrong, it was such a shame that a horrific tragedy like 9-11 is the only thing that can bring dems and repub. together. it sure didn’t last long which is very sad. Those people on those planes and our men in uniform are dying in vain if we all can’t get together as a SINGLE country again under one bi-partisan leader and be the strongest country in the world again; lead the world in all categories and QUIT FIGHTING AMONGNST EACH OTHER DAMN IT; ESPECIALLY THE IN FIGHTING GOING ON WITH THE DEMS. We should just disolve the political parties and everyone can be independent. It’s funny how we value our independence so much but are all afraid to be labeled one politically. Actually, I would like it if we could quit fighting at all. It would sure save a lot of $$$ and lives which could be used for more constructive things here at home. We, the USA, actually need help for the first time in a long time and it’s humiliating. Let’s all try and work together after this damn election is over… no matter who wins. We’re all American’s aren’t we? (some of you living here illegaly might not want to answer that).

    Thanks for listening
    Curly

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