PARIS (Thomson Financial) – Leaders of the Colombian FARC rebel movement were paid millions of dollars to free Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages, Swiss radio said on Friday, quoting ‘a reliable source’.
The 15 hostages released on Wednesday by the Colombian army ‘were in reality ransomed for a high price, and the whole operation afterwards was a set-up,’ the radio’s French-language channel said.
Saying the United States, which had three of its citizens among those freed, was behind the deal, it put the price of the ransom at some $20 million.
Kind of makes you wonder about the synchronicity of McShame’s visit and the release…
Jesse Helms–the “Hands” ad wasn’t his whole life in a nutshell, but it’s a good place to start.
9.
kay
I don’t post, but read regularly. I enjoy, tremendously, both the site and the comments. Informative, and sometimes very, very funny.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading.
And, on this Fourth, I’d like to thank you all for that.
10.
w vincentz
RIP Larry Harmon (Bozo the Clown). You were loved by many kids for a long long time.
The other asshole racist that passed today, I’ll just hope you burn in eternal flames, Jesse H. Too bad you lived so long. I’d hoped for your death since the 70’s.
11.
4tehlulz
Leaders of the Colombian FARC rebel movement were paid millions of dollars to free Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages, Swiss radio said on Friday, quoting ‘a reliable source’.
Obligatory Chiquita reference.
12.
srv
The John Coles formerly of the Right and now of the Left are frustrated many of you think for yourselves and have nuanced views, and are completely unrepresentative of the “reasonable” body politic. Certainly, easy to be frustrated when you always thought everyone who wasn’t drinking the pre-Schaivo kool-aide before was attending Fahrenheit 911 afterparties and skull fucking Charlton Heston’s corpse with Osama while wearing a beret.
You really are getting out of touch with your readers. Find that poll that charts political philosophies again and see how many of them fit into that traditional democratic soapbox.
13.
Brachiator
Hey, four posts today and no reflection on the life and times of Jesse Helms? RIP Burn in Hell.
Fixed
mikesdak Says:
The London Times has a good obit….
Great link. One little bit shows how some things never change:
His political views, however, got more exposure through his appointment as executive vice-president of the Capital Broadcasting Company, which controlled radio and TV networks in the state. There, Helms began to write and broadcast daily editorials, lambasting the national television networks for what he called their “consistent bias” — especially in their coverage of the civil rights movement.
It’s noteworthy that Helms came to the Senate as a beneficiary of Nixon’s Southern strategy in the 1972 elections. The best that can be said about Helms is that his obit reminds me of everything that I oppose.
kay Says:
I don’t post, but read regularly. I enjoy, tremendously, both the site and the comments. Informative, and sometimes very, very funny.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading.
And, on this Fourth, I’d like to thank you all for that.
I second, third and Fourth this sentiment. Best wishes of the holiday to JC and all the other posters here.
I’ve perused several of the scarce Wingnuttia comments on Jesse Helms’ passing.
Apparently his greatest achievement was pissing off liberals. Aside from the purposeful and obsessive greed-wanking occasionally passed off as conservatism , this seems to be the main gist of the GOP these days.
Because as someone put it recently, they have the temperament of children.
16.
kate r
Happy fourth of July, John C. I think your indignant rants are a highlight of the blog and more fun than Keith Olbermann’s prissier version of outrage.
You should be getting the big bucks like Limbaugh, who’s going to keep up his gasbag act until every American agrees with him.
17.
Studly Pantload
Speaking of Limbaugh, the NY Times magazine has a story on him and features some good ol’ fashioned gasbag-on-gasbag violence:
Of Bill O’Reilly, Zev Chavets writes, “He hadn’t been sure at the time that he wanted it on the record. But on second thought, “somebody’s got to say it,” he told me. “The man is Ted Baxter.”
Of his former fill-in and current #2 in radio, Sean Hannity, Limbaugh says, “I have no competitors. Hannity isn’t even close to me.”
My guess is the loneliness of being on top is what drove him to visit a country known for its sex trade, Viagra in tow.
Since I got cranky and spoiled all the other ones.
We’ve been sitting out in the back shooting at rabbits and coyotes, AND we’re on our second bottle of tequila anejo (plus some very beer from Ommegang Brewery). I had to read your thread four times before I realized you had not soiled the other threads. I blame it on my Liberal Education. All that education and I still mix guns and booze. (Please don’t take my Liberal Card away!) Just hope you aren’t writing about me tomorrow. You know, dumbass gets drunk, shoots self while stumbling around trying to put house fire out started by illegal fireworks.
Have a good’un. I gotta run and take ol’ Glory down before the thunderstorm gets here.
19.
1jpb
Kate r,
You’re right about Rush. And it’s amusing to hear him deride the “messiah.” Er, who exactly has a messiah complex? Funny how he unknowingly pins his own flaws on BHO.
Not many here probably listen to Savage, but I’ll tell you that he destroys Rush (“the golfer”) among other wingnuts. I’ve always wondered why sycophantic dittoheads can’t see Rush for what he is.
20.
gbear
Government buidlings in MN are doing as well as our bridges. The MNDot building, just down the block from the State Capitol, has scaffolding with a protective roof all around the base of the building and entry is restricted to one door because the clips that hold the stone facia panels to the building have rusted and the stone is in danger of falling off. Tim Pawlenty, one of the top picks for McCain’s VP, has been the go-to guy for cutting the budgets that make sure the state infrastructure is in good shape. He’s full of fail.
Public buildings aren’t the only thing that’s been allowed to go to hell. Dams everywhere are aging and wearing out. It’s only a matter of time before we have a non-coastal Katrina in some river town.
21.
gbear
…but of course that last comment would have been more interesting if posted on the correct thread.
22.
jrg
Hey, four posts today and no reflection on the life and times of Jesse Helms? RIP.
The quotes they selected from him on NPR have not been flattering. It’s kind of odd that there has not been more reflection on what he did do right, like when he came around to the AIDS problem *(Starting in 2002 and in Africa exclusively).
His church (Hayes Barton Baptist) is down the street from my house. I’ll bet there will be tons of politicians there on Monday or Tuesday. On the light post outside the church, there is a big blue sign with a bucking donkey that says “Help kick the Republicans out of Washington”. I hope it’s still there on Wednesday.
23.
daphne
Happy 4th John!
It rained here and the youngster who used to set off fireworks in my hood have all grown up and don’t threaten my house anymore.
It’s like living in a real neighborhood.
Happy 4th — my house didn’t burn down — better yet, the kids are purning somewhere else — or not burning at all.
We had a really nice 4th. I live in a small town, just north of Dallas, and we have a little parade every year.
The fire department color guard with the flag. The High School marching band. The World War II vets in an old convertible.
And new this year, the mothers of soldiers who graduated from our High School and have now died in Iraq.
This year, the election is about something real. It is time to end this war, right away.
25.
Just Some Fuckhead
A rainstorm blew in this afternoon which gave us a respite from our white trash neighbors exploding shit into the wee morning hours.
I think July 4th is my least favorite holiday because of our national predisposition to marring the day with noisy and garrish explosives.
26.
mcd
Just hope you aren’t writing about me tomorrow. You know, dumbass gets drunk, shoots self while stumbling around trying to put house fire out started by illegal fireworks.
Speaking of which, anyone seen the Hunter S. Thompson docu this weekend? Let’s all hoist some pharmaceuticals and guns to a great author!
27.
El Cid
Those of you recollecting the classic Helms “White Hands” ad (“You needed that job, but they had to give it to a minority”), try to remember that the next time CNN’s “Best Political Analysts On TV” team features Alex Castellanos, Republican Strategist — he’s the guy who wrote that commercial.
Castellanos’ valuable, insightful, Helms-experienced “analysis” on CNN as Barack Obama won North Carolina’s primary:
CASTELLANOS: [Obama] was a much broader-reaching candidate when this process started. And now, I think it’s fair to ask would the people that you see in Barack Obama’s life be the same people you see in his administration? You know, would you see Bill Ayers? Would there be people like Reverend Wright? The answer may be no, by the way.
Yeah, so, like, we need a smart guy on CNN to wonder if the next President will nominate a former Weather Underground admitted attempted bomber to an important cabinet position, ’cause, you know, ‘we just don’t know’.
28.
Digital Amish
I think July 4th is my least favorite holiday because of our national predisposition to marring the day with noisy and garrish explosives.
I don’t mind the displays so much as long as they end at a reasonable hour. Was in (small) town for the daughter and s-i-l’s anniversary/4th party. I wondered, as I watched what must have been hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of fireworks go up, if anyone else was struck by the ironic juxtoposition of celebrating our freedom with illegal Chinese fireworks bought from a sovereign Native Americans.
29.
Corner Stone
if anyone else was struck by the ironic juxtoposition
Irony is dead. The Republicans murdered it along with Hypocrisy. They then framed Reality to take the fall.
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gbear
I blame obama.
gbear
Baking done. Scooter calls. Perfect weather in St. Paul today. Happy 4th everyone.
RSA
Hey, four posts today and no reflection on the life and times of Jesse Helms? RIP.
Libby Spencer
Aw, not to worry. You’re cute when you’re cranky. Not to mention damn articulate. I wish I could master that combo.
TheFountainHead
Now I have this strange image of a small toddler wielding a baseball bat and spewing hate at Dana Perino with excellent diction.
Pretty cool, actually.
mikesdak
Ah Jesse Helms…..suppose the idea of a black man with a good chance at being President did him in?
The London Times has a good obit….
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article4271733.ece?token=null&offset=12
Libby Spencer
Forgive me if this has already been posted, but I thought it somewhat amusing. Maybe it will cheer JC up.
Kind of makes you wonder about the synchronicity of McShame’s visit and the release…
Incertus
Jesse Helms–the “Hands” ad wasn’t his whole life in a nutshell, but it’s a good place to start.
kay
I don’t post, but read regularly. I enjoy, tremendously, both the site and the comments. Informative, and sometimes very, very funny.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading.
And, on this Fourth, I’d like to thank you all for that.
w vincentz
RIP Larry Harmon (Bozo the Clown). You were loved by many kids for a long long time.
The other asshole racist that passed today, I’ll just hope you burn in eternal flames, Jesse H. Too bad you lived so long. I’d hoped for your death since the 70’s.
4tehlulz
Obligatory Chiquita reference.
srv
The John Coles formerly of the Right and now of the Left are frustrated many of you think for yourselves and have nuanced views, and are completely unrepresentative of the “reasonable” body politic. Certainly, easy to be frustrated when you always thought everyone who wasn’t drinking the pre-Schaivo kool-aide before was attending Fahrenheit 911 afterparties and skull fucking Charlton Heston’s corpse with Osama while wearing a beret.
You really are getting out of touch with your readers. Find that poll that charts political philosophies again and see how many of them fit into that traditional democratic soapbox.
Brachiator
Fixed
Great link. One little bit shows how some things never change:
It’s noteworthy that Helms came to the Senate as a beneficiary of Nixon’s Southern strategy in the 1972 elections. The best that can be said about Helms is that his obit reminds me of everything that I oppose.
I second, third and Fourth this sentiment. Best wishes of the holiday to JC and all the other posters here.
srv
Here’s what real patriots do on the 4th of July.
phobos
I’ve perused several of the scarce Wingnuttia comments on Jesse Helms’ passing.
Apparently his greatest achievement was pissing off liberals. Aside from the purposeful and obsessive greed-wanking occasionally passed off as conservatism , this seems to be the main gist of the GOP these days.
Because as someone put it recently, they have the temperament of children.
kate r
Happy fourth of July, John C. I think your indignant rants are a highlight of the blog and more fun than Keith Olbermann’s prissier version of outrage.
You should be getting the big bucks like Limbaugh, who’s going to keep up his gasbag act until every American agrees with him.
Studly Pantload
Speaking of Limbaugh, the NY Times magazine has a story on him and features some good ol’ fashioned gasbag-on-gasbag violence:
Via TVNewswer:
My guess is the loneliness of being on top is what drove him to visit a country known for its sex trade, Viagra in tow.
The Grand Panjandrum
We’ve been sitting out in the back shooting at rabbits and coyotes, AND we’re on our second bottle of tequila anejo (plus some very beer from Ommegang Brewery). I had to read your thread four times before I realized you had not soiled the other threads. I blame it on my Liberal Education. All that education and I still mix guns and booze. (Please don’t take my Liberal Card away!) Just hope you aren’t writing about me tomorrow. You know, dumbass gets drunk, shoots self while stumbling around trying to put house fire out started by illegal fireworks.
Have a good’un. I gotta run and take ol’ Glory down before the thunderstorm gets here.
1jpb
Kate r,
You’re right about Rush. And it’s amusing to hear him deride the “messiah.” Er, who exactly has a messiah complex? Funny how he unknowingly pins his own flaws on BHO.
Not many here probably listen to Savage, but I’ll tell you that he destroys Rush (“the golfer”) among other wingnuts. I’ve always wondered why sycophantic dittoheads can’t see Rush for what he is.
gbear
Government buidlings in MN are doing as well as our bridges. The MNDot building, just down the block from the State Capitol, has scaffolding with a protective roof all around the base of the building and entry is restricted to one door because the clips that hold the stone facia panels to the building have rusted and the stone is in danger of falling off. Tim Pawlenty, one of the top picks for McCain’s VP, has been the go-to guy for cutting the budgets that make sure the state infrastructure is in good shape. He’s full of fail.
Public buildings aren’t the only thing that’s been allowed to go to hell. Dams everywhere are aging and wearing out. It’s only a matter of time before we have a non-coastal Katrina in some river town.
gbear
…but of course that last comment would have been more interesting if posted on the correct thread.
jrg
The quotes they selected from him on NPR have not been flattering. It’s kind of odd that there has not been more reflection on what he did do right, like when he came around to the AIDS problem *(Starting in 2002 and in Africa exclusively).
His church (Hayes Barton Baptist) is down the street from my house. I’ll bet there will be tons of politicians there on Monday or Tuesday. On the light post outside the church, there is a big blue sign with a bucking donkey that says “Help kick the Republicans out of Washington”. I hope it’s still there on Wednesday.
daphne
Happy 4th John!
It rained here and the youngster who used to set off fireworks in my hood have all grown up and don’t threaten my house anymore.
It’s like living in a real neighborhood.
Happy 4th — my house didn’t burn down — better yet, the kids are purning somewhere else — or not burning at all.
Chris Williams
We had a really nice 4th. I live in a small town, just north of Dallas, and we have a little parade every year.
The fire department color guard with the flag. The High School marching band. The World War II vets in an old convertible.
And new this year, the mothers of soldiers who graduated from our High School and have now died in Iraq.
This year, the election is about something real. It is time to end this war, right away.
Just Some Fuckhead
A rainstorm blew in this afternoon which gave us a respite from our white trash neighbors exploding shit into the wee morning hours.
I think July 4th is my least favorite holiday because of our national predisposition to marring the day with noisy and garrish explosives.
mcd
Speaking of which, anyone seen the Hunter S. Thompson docu this weekend? Let’s all hoist some pharmaceuticals and guns to a great author!
El Cid
Those of you recollecting the classic Helms “White Hands” ad (“You needed that job, but they had to give it to a minority”), try to remember that the next time CNN’s “Best Political Analysts On TV” team features Alex Castellanos, Republican Strategist — he’s the guy who wrote that commercial.
Castellanos’ valuable, insightful, Helms-experienced “analysis” on CNN as Barack Obama won North Carolina’s primary:
Yeah, so, like, we need a smart guy on CNN to wonder if the next President will nominate a former Weather Underground admitted attempted bomber to an important cabinet position, ’cause, you know, ‘we just don’t know’.
Digital Amish
I don’t mind the displays so much as long as they end at a reasonable hour. Was in (small) town for the daughter and s-i-l’s anniversary/4th party. I wondered, as I watched what must have been hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of fireworks go up, if anyone else was struck by the ironic juxtoposition of celebrating our freedom with illegal Chinese fireworks bought from a sovereign Native Americans.
Corner Stone
Irony is dead. The Republicans murdered it along with Hypocrisy. They then framed Reality to take the fall.