John, Watching Bush destroy our country is hard work.
3.
Wilfred
Pet owners prefer McCain over Obama
WASHINGTON (AP) — If the presidential election goes to the dogs, John McCain is looking like best in show.
From George Washington’s foxhound “Drunkard” to George W. Bush’s terriers “Barney” and “Miss Beazley,” pets are a longtime presidential tradition for which the presumed Republican nominee seems well prepared, with more than a dozen.
The apparent Democratic nominee Barack Obama, on the other hand, doesn’t have a pet at home.
The pet-owning public seems to have noticed the difference.
An AP-Yahoo! News poll found that pet owners favor McCain over Obama 42 percent to 37 percent, with dog owners particularly in McCain’s corner.
Pissing in it, no doubt. First line of the story is a howler.
A bipartisan group that we led, the National War Powers Commission, has unanimously concluded after a year of study that the law purporting to govern the decision to engage in war — the 1973 War Powers Resolution — should be replaced by a new law that would, except for emergencies, require the president and Congressional leaders to discuss the matter before going to war. Seventy years of polls show that most Americans expect Congress and the president to talk before making that decision, and in most cases, they have done so.
The death of the republic makes strange bedfellows. Let’s see if anyone in Congress gets behind this idea.
Congress should repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law because the presence of gays in the military is unlikely to undermine the ability to fight and win, according to a new study released by a California-based research center.
…
To support its contention, the panel points to the British and Israeli militaries, where it says gay people serve openly without hurting the effectiveness of combat operations.
Cue the TalEvan: O noes! Homos fighting in the Holy Land! Red Alert! Red Alert!
8.
gbear
I have nothing to say.
You and Sadly, No. (lack of exclamation point, mine)
9.
CapMidnight
require the president and Congressional leaders to discuss the matter before going to war
As long as George Stephanopoulos and Charles Gibson get to ask the questions.
I guess the War Czar could bring the sprinkle donuts.
10.
Wilfred
Well, at least it’s a shot at checking Presidential Imperium. It’s up to a do nothing congress to re-exert it’s constitutional rights.
Anyone know the difference between an authorization to use force and a declaration of war? I’d be a lot happier if we would just declare war once we decide on actually waging a war. This whole “police action” and “AUMF” seems kinda wishy-washy.
13.
Punchy
Pet owners prefer McCain over Obama
Jesus. Fucking. Christ.
This is what passes as polling? Can I please get the Osama/McGreat voting breakdown among sluts vs. virgins? White women in Colorado who use deoderant on Tuesdays versus those who dont? How about a poll that tells me how the transexual CEO gay abortion-milkshake-drinking Jews under the age of 40 plan to vote?
Not exactly Gallup or Rasmussen. I wouldn’t start bombing the SPCA just yet.
17.
Punchy
Hey John, did you know that it’s ALL OBAMA’S FAULT THAT FISA IS GETTING PASSED?
Big Dick Democrat says so, so it’s obviously true.
18.
LarryB
Wilfred Says:
Here’s a helluva good idea:
A bipartisan group that we led, the National War Powers Commission, has unanimously concluded after a year of study that the law purporting to govern the decision to engage in war — the 1973 War Powers Resolution — should be replaced by a new law that would, except for emergencies, require the president and Congressional leaders to discuss the matter before going to war. Seventy years of polls show that most Americans expect Congress and the president to talk before making that decision, and in most cases, they have done so.
The death of the republic makes strange bedfellows. Let’s see if anyone in Congress gets behind this idea.
Bulls**t. If Congress had a spine they could have prevented the Iraq war from starting or stopped it at any time in the last 5 years. They need new cajones, not a new War Powers Resolution. America needs a better press, too (Insert my standard rant about the evils of consolidated media ownership here).
Barack on CNN.com live video, campaigns in Georgia.
Unlike us, he actually has something to say.
20.
Face
Unlike us, he actually has something to say.
Speaking for yourself, naturally.
Still amazed that not a single reporter, that I could find, dared to ask McCain how ending a war in which we borrowed to finance it would somehow then lower the debt. Seriously, that’s a 4th grade math error. They must recognize the logical fallicy; it’s impossible not to.
21.
rob!
i’ve had to stop reading a lot of the lefty blogs i visit, because they all have their knickers in a twist over Obama’s supposed move to the center (that guy who runs Kos, Melissa Manchester or something: “Obama’s not kissing my ass, so i won’t give him any more money. Waah!”)
i figure, if someone from the future asked these people, what if, in say 50 years, President Obama would be ranked in history alongside, say, FDR or Kennedy? Would you be happy with that? I assume most uber-lefties would give up all their Phish bootlegs for that, since FDR and Kennedy are paragons of the Democratic Party and American history.
yet, FDR had Japanese Internment camps, Kennedy started Vietnam, for chrissakes, both of which are a TAD more right-leaning than voting for this stupid FISA thing, or trying to talk to evangelicals, etc., any of the stuff Obama is doing now.
let’s get Obama elected first!
22.
greynoldsct00
Pet owners prefer McCain over Obama
Jesus. Fucking. Christ.
This is what passes as polling? Can I please get the Osama/McGreat voting breakdown among sluts vs. virgins? White women in Colorado who use deoderant on Tuesdays versus those who dont? How about a poll that tells me how the transexual CEO gay abortion-milkshake-drinking Jews under the age of 40 plan to vote?
What you said… I can’t believe any self-respecting organization would put money and resources toward something so fucking ridiculous. And this cat owner hates McCain.
Still amazed that not a single reporter, that I could find, dared to ask McCain how ending a war in which we borrowed to finance it would somehow then lower the debt.
i haven’t seen that either.
this little paragraph, in an article about McCain’s new airplane, grabbed my attention:
These days the bus trips are usually short hops between airports and campaign events, and most of the seats are reserved for local reporters. Interactions on the bus are more likely to be focused on news, sometimes to Mr. McCain’s discomfort — as when he was pressed on a recent ride through Pennsylvania on how he thinks he can hope to pay for his tax cuts by eliminating pork barrel projects worth much less.
a great question! exactly the kind of thing we should all be asking. has anyone heard the answer ?
The guy who runs Kos is Markos, which is where the name Kos comes from.
Markos is a wicked smart lad, but he and the “netroots” zealots have missed the biggest point in American politics:
You win at the national level only by building coalitions. You cannot extrapolate local politics and parochial interests into large coalition building without reaching out to voters whose views are not all the same as yours.
Where netroots has failed is in understanding that simply providing a forum — the blogs — for people to work up and work out their interests, doesn’t provide a way for them to reach out to people whose interests are not the same as their own. For a good example, look at the way the Hillabots have used the internet to reject, rather than embrace, unity in the Democratic party.
Coalition building is an art, and it is not understood or practiced at the roots level. At all.
The netroots have become an anti-unity mechanism. This is anathema to successful national politics. Unless the smart kid Markos and a few other bloggers figure this out, they will marginalize netroots politics on the one hand, and damage the national political structures that they need to be supporting.
Unintended consequences are a bitch.
25.
The Moar You Know
Wilfred Says:
Here’s a helluva good idea:
A bipartisan group that we led, the National War Powers Commission, has unanimously concluded after a year of study that the law purporting to govern the decision to engage in war — the 1973 War Powers Resolution — should be replaced by a new law that would, except for emergencies, require the president and Congressional leaders to discuss the matter before going to war. Seventy years of polls show that most Americans expect Congress and the president to talk before making that decision, and in most cases, they have done so.
The death of the republic makes strange bedfellows. Let’s see if anyone in Congress gets behind this idea.
Gosh, here’s a better one:
Section 8: The Congress shall have power
To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
To borrow money on the credit of the United States;
To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes;
To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;
To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;
To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States;
To establish post offices and post roads;
To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;
To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;
To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations; To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;
To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;
To provide and maintain a navy;
To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;
To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings;—And
To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.
The damned President doesn’t declare war.
James Baker and Warren Christopher are just attempting another end-run around the Constitution. SOP for Baker, who never met a Republican he wasn’t willing to help ruin the country.
Just because Congress is too scared of public backlash to do their jobs doesn’t mean we should be passing laws enabling them to duck out on their responsibilities.
26.
The Thinking Man's Mel Torme
My cat has hated Dubya all along. I got him a GWB chew toy, and I have to keep it hidden, as when I bring it out he goes berserk and kicks the crapola out of it. He’d probably bury a McCain chew toy in the litterbox.
Big headline on Drudge goes like this:
“IRAQ INSISTS ON WITHDRAWAL TIMETABLE”
Similar headline yesterday afternoon but the language has now gone from “may set timetable” to “insists on withdrawal”.
I’m biased anyway, but wouldn’t this simply destroy McCain’s candidacy? His whole premise is he was “right” on the surge. Frankly, I’d rather my president have been “right” 6 years ago before we were up to our ass in sand.
Anyway, shouldn’t this be the biggest story out of Iraq since…ever?
I checked CNN and FoxNews…not a word about it. CNN has some BS about gambling problems and Fox has the following gem:
“Iran Begins War Games, Warns U.S. Against Attack”
Selling the propaganda like good little soldiers…trying to get us from Ass-deep to Neck-deep.
28.
rob!
The guy who runs Kos is Markos, which is where the name Kos comes from.
i know, i’m just being a smart ass.
i had a whole bunch of silly alliterative substitute names for him, like Manfred Mann, Martian Manhunter, Moms Mabley, Marilyn Monroe, etc.
29.
Wilfred
has anyone heard the answer ?
Why it’s basic McMaverickmatics: Take the square root of the cosine of Iraq, multiply by 100, add the hypotenuse of the quadratic equation of Vietnam, factor out the odd numbers, take the cube root of how many reporters are in the bus and add 1.
30.
4tehlulz
has anyone heard the answer ?
Probably not, since Bob Scheiffer jumped out of the lavatory screaming “ARE YOU QUESTIONING JOHN MCCAIN’S INTEGRITY?”
31.
The Thinking Man's Mel Torme
Gosh, here’s a better one
Sadly, no. the Article 2, “I’m King of the Forest!!!” powers trump all, including that quaint T.P. known as “the Bill of Rights.”
As for renewable energy, if we hooked a generator up to Thomas Jefferson’s corpse, we could light up Virginia.
Of course not, assuming McCain gave an answer in the first place, because those are local reporters, and local reporters don’t count in the national narrative.
“Our stance in the negotiations underway with the American side will be strong … We will not accept any memorandum of understanding that doesn’t have specific dates to withdraw foreign forces from Iraq,” al-Rubaie said.
He provided no details. But Ali al-Adeeb, a Shiite lawmaker and a prominent official in the prime minister’s party, told The Associated Press that Iraq was linking the timetable proposal to the ongoing handover of various provinces to Iraqi control.
The Iraqi proposal stipulates that, once Iraqi forces have resumed security responsibility in all 18 of Iraq’s provinces, U.S.-led forces would then withdraw from all cities in the country.
After that, the country’s security situation would be reviewed every six months, for three to five years, to decide when U.S.-led troops would pull out entirely, al-Adeeb said.
So far, the United States has handed control of nine of 18 provinces to Iraqi officials.
“This is what the Iraqi people want, the parliament and other Iraqi leaders,” said al-Adeeb.
Adding to my earlier post. Here’s what our White House had to say when Maliki first brought this up yesterday:
President Bush has said he opposes a timetable. The White House said Monday it did not believe Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was proposing a rigid timeline for U.S. troop withdrawals.
35.
The Moar You Know
As for renewable energy, if we hooked a generator up to Thomas Jefferson’s corpse, we could light up Virginia.
Or just jam a hydropower turbine in my head; my brain damn near exploded when I heard that story this morning. Did no one in this entire country pass high school civics?
Freaking news radio shouldn’t be playing those kinds of stories when I’m driving to work – it’s gonna get me killed one of these days.
The Moar You Know . . . I too had a little problem squaring Baker’s and Christopher’s proposal with that thing you quoted (which was from, um, let me see . . . the Constitution, was it?)
We believe our proposal is good for the presidency because it would eliminate a law that every president since Richard Nixon has treated as unconstitutional, while giving the president the political benefit of forcing Congress to take a position on going to war. And it would do so without insisting that the president get the consent of Congress.
So, we need a new law that insists that the President talk to Congress before he declares war, and they have to either approve or disapprove, but if they disapprove, then he’ll just go ahead and declare war anyway.
Sure, why not, it’s not like we’ve been using that Constitution thing anyway. Because, as you said,
. . . Congress is too scared of public backlash to do their jobs . . .
Yes, I figured that. But my point was about coalition building, which is the one essential imperative in a national campaign, and one which Markos does not seem to understand. He forgot, while dreaming up his Netroots concept, that roots politics is about me me me, while coalitions are about us us us.
Your national candidate has 100 days to fashion a coalition of voters whose interests, in and of themselves, would not seem to draw them together. Unless the netroots contributes to the together part, it will fail at the national level. It’s powerful at the congressional district level. So far it appears to be a push at best, and destructive at worst, at the national level.
If you want an example of how zealous interests at the roots level turns into disunity at the national level, you need look no further than the comments sections at DKos and here at BJ over the last six months. And in case this point is missed, which it surely will be here, reluctantly saying “I’ll vote for …..” is not coalition building. Coalition building is about teaming up with someone you don’t like to accomplish a common purpose. Before the election, not reluctantly at the last minute.
For a grotesque example of a coaltion of wolves and sheep, look at the GOP and its coalition of moneyed interests on the one side and christian-right interests on the other. The sheep braying for the wolves. It’s a magic act, and a damned good one.
Our sheep just want to bray over FISA when they should be braying over what a fuckhead John McCain is.
38.
The Moar You Know
President Bush has said he opposes a timetable. The White House said Monday it did not believe Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was proposing a rigid timeline for U.S. troop withdrawals.
Oh, this will go well:
Maliki (to Bush): I want you out Tuesday at noon.
Bush (to gullible public): Maliki has no deadline for us to leave.
Maliki (to Bush): I mean it. I have a gun.
Bush (to gullible public): Maliki is a strong ally in the war on terror.
Maliki (to Bush): Goddamit, asshole, I said LEAVE!
Bush (to gullible public): Bein’ the prerznit is hard work!
Hell, I only hope withdrawl goes as well as Saigon, 1975. I have a feeling this could be a lot bloodier.
Anybody got a link to the video of the McCain appearance where a woman who sounds like the Countess Chocula rants about taxes and exclaims, “get off my back!”
40.
smiley
UPDATE! The list is up to 62. Pass it on to your favorite journalists.
James Baker and Warren Christopher are just attempting another end-run around the Constitution
No, the end run was pulled off at least 60 years ago. See Truman, Dulles Brothers, Eisenhower.
The entire cold war was conducted on an illegal foundation. Result: Korea, Vietnam, Gulf War, etc etc.
Once the government had a taste for doing whatever it wanted without having to read the Constitution, it became an addict. The ship sailed a long time ago.
Somebody said it the other day here, if you want a great example of how far away and long ago that ship sailed, just Google for National Security Letter. That will give you the flavor.
42.
Wilfred
So, we need a new law that insists that the President talk to Congress before he declares war, and they have to either approve or disapprove, but if they disapprove, then he’ll just go ahead and declare war anyway.
I think the point of the Baker plan is to force Congress to do what it should and has not been doing. The War Powers act has NEVER been challenged.
But you’re right, let’s do nothing and criticize any attempt at changing things.
. . Congress is too scared of public backlash to do their jobs . . .
You will get the McCain government you deserve, Wilfred, unless you figure out a way to channel your energy toward electing his opponent and quit spending your time tilting at windmills.
Just a suggestion. You have about 100+ days to help out. The sooner you start, the better.
The pentagon is telling Maliki to go cheney himself on timetables. However it is good to see the Iraqi’s telling us to leave since it calls out bush and the rest on the whole “we’ll stay until they want us to leave”.
Face it, Iraq is now a beach-head for launching a war with Iran.
Oh and in other “that’s not surprising” news, Howard Wolfson is joining Fox News. Guess they were impressed with his ability to lie…er…spin.
46.
Mark
You could always talk about how the Westin Peachtree still looks like it belongs in Iraq and not downtown Atlanta.
When are they going to fix that sucker?
47.
Mary
Obama has a response to the RNC’s energy ad up in MI, OH, PN and WI.
An AP-Yahoo! News poll found that pet owners favor McCain over Obama 42 percent to 37 percent, with dog owners particularly in McCain’s corner.
“I think a person who owns a pet is a more compassionate person — caring, giving, trustworthy. I like pet owners,” said Janet Taylor of Plymouth, Mass.
Taylor, who described herself as a retired stay-at-home wife, owns two cats, Lady Jane Taylor and Mr. Tommy Katz.
Richard Powell, 79, of Spokane, Wash., whose dog passed away last fall, said if a person owns a pet that “tells you that they’re responsible at least for something, for the care of something.”
Apparently for these narcissist morons, owning a pet tells you more about a person than freakin’ raising children successfully.
49.
Face
Let’s look at the fine print, y’all:
The Iraqi proposal stipulates that, once Iraqi forces have resumed security responsibility in all 18 of Iraq’s provinces, U.S.-led forces would then withdraw from all cities in the country.
After that, the country’s security situation would be reviewed every six months, for three to five years, to decide when U.S.-led troops would pull out entirely, al-Adeeb said.
Sounds reasonable, right? But wait, there’s this:
However, it also would provide the United States some flexibility on timing because the dates of the provincial handovers are not set.
Get it? When Iraq gets power of attorney in all 18 provinces, we’re gone. But the US determines when they get that power. I’m betting it’ll be AT LEAST 20 years, or until the oil runs out, before Anbar is “good enough” to be transfered, wink wink wink.
It’s like me telling my 16 year old kid, “hey, you can drive the new car as soon as pass Drivers Ed! But I’ll be controlling the keys, and please ignore my past statements about us not wanting you to drive until you’re 52”
50.
The Briscoe Kid
61-year-old librarian ticketed, threatened with arrest for holding a sign that said “McCain = Bush” at a McCain event
Well: he needs to given his own view of religion in politics. Here’s the president’s citation from Jefferson in his speech at Monticello on July 4:
In one of the final letters of his life, he wrote, “May it be to the world, what I believe it will be — to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all — the Signal of arousing men to burst the chains, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government.”
Here’s the original:
May it be to the world, what I believe it will be, (to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all,) the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government.
The White House has apologised to Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi for a briefing describing him as a political “amateur” who is “hated by many”.
The “insulting” biography was included in a press kit distributed to reporters travelling with President George W Bush to a meeting of world leaders in Japan.
54.
Zifnab
Richard Powell, 79, of Spokane, Wash., whose dog passed away last fall, said if a person owns a pet that “tells you that they’re responsible at least for something, for the care of something.”
Wait, so now that Mr. Powell’s dog is dead – presumably due to gross negligence on his part – can Obama count on his vote in November?
The family of one of the men who was shot by a retired United States Marine while they attempted to rob a Subway sandwich shop said the customer shouldn’t have pulled the trigger.
[…]
“He should not have taken the law in his hands,” said Rosa Jones, Gadson’s grandmother.
Questioning this Black grandmother’s loss due to gun violence?
That has absolutely nothing to do with “the law” or who should be abiding by it. Obviously Ms. Jones grandson had no use for the law as demonstrated by his actions and he certainly wasn’t abiding by it. But she insists that Mr. Lovell’s job was to do so.
The White House has apologised to Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi for a briefing describing him as a political “amateur” who is “hated by many”.
Switch the names and change “amateur” to “stumbling bumblefuck” and it seems like the truth to me.
58.
Glocksman
61-year-old librarian ticketed, threatened with arrest for holding a sign that said “McCain = Bush” at a McCain event
The event was one of the ‘Town Hall’ meetings the McCain campaign is so fond of.
Apparently McCain likes the format because he can pack it with his supporters and knows won’t be called on his bullshit by either the audience or the fluffers media accompanying his campaign.
59.
The Moar You Know
Paul L. Says:
I’m sure that the Other Steve will excuse this.
A “good” shooting
The family of one of the men who was shot by a retired United States Marine while they attempted to rob a Subway sandwich shop said the customer shouldn’t have pulled the trigger.
[…]
“He should not have taken the law in his hands,” said Rosa Jones, Gadson’s grandmother.
Questioning this Black grandmother’s loss due to gun violence?
That has absolutely nothing to do with “the law” or who should be abiding by it. Obviously Ms. Jones grandson had no use for the law as demonstrated by his actions and he certainly wasn’t abiding by it. But she insists that Mr. Lovell’s job was to do so.
Not sure what your point is, but from your previous retarded posts I’m sure it’s something stupid.
A good shooting?
Let’s quote from your own link:
According to Plantation police, two armed men barged into the Subway at 1949 Pine Island Road shortly after 11 p.m. Wednesday, demanding money from the employee behind the counter. When they tried to force John Lovell into the bathroom, he pulled out a gun and shot both men, police said.
Well, usually the way this goes down, a victim is forced into a bathroom or walk-in and then shot in the head. Lovell didn’t do anything to these guys until they took an action that any reasonable human being would find, to say the least, threatening. So yeah, that’s a good shooting.
Questioning this Black grandmother’s loss due to gun violence?
What the fuck does her race have to do with anything? Christ, no wonder you post here – you can’t even frame a coherent enough argument for Stormfront.
60.
grandpajohn
and most of the seats are reserved for local reporters. Interactions on the bus are more likely to be focused on news, sometimes to Mr. McCain’s discomfort — as when he was pressed on a recent ride through Pennsylvania on how he thinks he can hope to pay for his tax cuts by eliminating pork barrel projects worth much less.
This one little blurb is the defining comment on the big boys of the national media. If the interactions on the plane carrying the national media is not about news or mpolicies then what is it on? Planning the next bar-b-que? And when is the last time one of the inside the beltway boys actually asked a question relating to policy or for McCain to explain how one of his pie in the sky scemes was going to actually achieve its stated end.
61.
Brachiator
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford Says:
Anybody got a link to the video of the McCain appearance where a woman who sounds like the Countess Chocula rants about taxes and exclaims, “get off my back!”
John McCain held a rousing and sometimes raucous town hall meeting on Monday, fending off calls to impeach President Bush and getting passionate praise for opposing tax increases.
Georgette Haddad drew laughs when she applauded McCain for his tax stand and criticized Congress, shouting “Get off my back.”
McCain jokingly offered to take her on the campaign trail.
Joby Weeks, an alternate delegate to the Republican convention, told McCain he was disappointed that he refused to support impeachment for Bush. McCain said it isn’t warranted.
Weeks, a Ron Paul supporter, said McCain ignored a petition listing 10 potential articles of impeachment for Bush.
The woman was not let in to the town hall meeting not because of the content of her sign, but because signs are not permitted as they are a security threat. That is why the Secret Service escorted her out. They would do the same thing at an Obama event.
According to Plantation police, two armed men barged into the Subway at 1949 Pine Island Road shortly after 11 p.m. Wednesday, demanding money from the employee behind the counter. When they tried to force John Lovell into the bathroom, he pulled out a gun and shot both men, police said.
I abhor gun violence but I’ve run some chain restaurants myself and I do think what Lovell did was somehwat reasonable. Unfortunate, sad, of course…but they may very well have killed him…and the color of the man’s grandmother has nothing to do with any of this.
The woman was not let in to the town hall meeting not because of the content of her sign, but because signs are not permitted as they are a security threat. That is why the Secret Service escorted her out. They would do the same thing at an Obama event.
Signs aren’t permitted at Town Hall meetings but they are allowed at rallies holding far more people? That’s pretty dumb if you ask me.
67.
smiley
The woman was not let in to the town hall meeting not because of the content of her sign, but because signs are not permitted as they are a security threat.
That’s interesting. How is a sign a security threat? Because something can be concealed behind it? Or are you being sarcastic again. It’s so hard to tell sometimes…
What the fuck does her race have to do with anything? Christ, no wonder you post here – you can’t even frame a coherent enough argument for Stormfront.
When I visited Chicago on July 7 to march with Reverend Jesse Jackson at a protest outside a gun store that was the source of numerous guns traced to crime, it was obvious that I was seeing something larger than just an isolated event. Many Chicago neighborhoods have been seeing their streets flooded with guns and their children shot down in random acts of violence. Chicago was demanding action.
But the gun violence didn’t end, and neither did the outrage. Reverend Jackson has called for a National Day of Protest Against Gun Violence, to remind our leaders that this is not an inconsequential problem, and that steps need to be taken to stop the violence.
69.
Glocksman
When they tried to force John Lovell into the bathroom, he pulled out a gun and shot both men, police said.
When I worked 3rd shift at a local ‘Stop-n-Rob’ chain, I carried a legal (Indiana CCW laws for teh win :) ) concealed handgun despite the policy of immediate termination if you were found carrying a weapon.
My policy in dealing with a robbery would have been to hand over all the cash I could and otherwise be cooperative in order to get the SOB out of the store as soon as possible.
That’s company policy and it makes sense as I’m not willing to kill in order to protect the company’s cash.
That said, the instant the robber orders me to a back room or bathroom, the big ‘intends to kill me’ sign starts flashing in my head so then I’d react accordingly and use the 9mm under my vest.
Not to thwart the robbery, but to save my life and the lives of any customers who would be herded to the back and killed alongside me.
Did that gun make me 100% safe?
Of course not, as a robber could just shoot me without warning as he walks in the store at the register right in front of all the cameras, but having that weapon gave me options I wouldn’t have had if I were unarmed.
IMHO, Lovell had a ‘good shoot’ in that he came out of it alive, uninjured, in no legal jeopardy and that the only people harmed were the would-be murderers.
Georgette Haddad drew laughs when she applauded McCain for his tax stand and criticized Congress, shouting “Get off my backlawn.”
Fixed.
I’m using it to illustrate the logic of a subset of those who match against “gun violence“.
No. You’re going O/T on whatever pet issue you stumbled on in the back alley dens they call right wing blogs. Now quit dodging and answer the key question. What does this have to do with the Duke Lacross Rape Case?
Speaking after signing, Ms Rice said that the US and its allies faced “a growing missile threat that is getting ever longer and ever deeper” from Iran.
cleek
you say it best when you say nothing at all
AK&US
JL
John, Watching Bush destroy our country is hard work.
Wilfred
Pissing in it, no doubt. First line of the story is a howler.
cleek
this cat owner prefers Obama.
Wilfred
Here’s a helluva good idea:
The death of the republic makes strange bedfellows. Let’s see if anyone in Congress gets behind this idea.
cleek
going to war is always presented to the public as an emergency.
jake
In other news: Water is wet, fire is hot.
Cue the TalEvan: O noes! Homos fighting in the Holy Land! Red Alert! Red Alert!
gbear
You and Sadly, No. (lack of exclamation point, mine)
CapMidnight
As long as George Stephanopoulos and Charles Gibson get to ask the questions.
I guess the War Czar could bring the sprinkle donuts.
Wilfred
Well, at least it’s a shot at checking Presidential Imperium. It’s up to a do nothing congress to re-exert it’s constitutional rights.
Zifnab
BATMAN!
Garrigus Carraig
Anyone know the difference between an authorization to use force and a declaration of war? I’d be a lot happier if we would just declare war once we decide on actually waging a war. This whole “police action” and “AUMF” seems kinda wishy-washy.
Punchy
Jesus. Fucking. Christ.
This is what passes as polling? Can I please get the Osama/McGreat voting breakdown among sluts vs. virgins? White women in Colorado who use deoderant on Tuesdays versus those who dont? How about a poll that tells me how the transexual CEO gay abortion-milkshake-drinking Jews under the age of 40 plan to vote?
Phoenix Woman
Punchy says it so I don’t have to.
Meanwhile, in real news, can you smell what Barack is cookin’? McCain sure can’t — not after Obama knocked the taste out of his mouth today:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/7/8/91059/06768/34/548123
ThymeZone
You just summed up the new McCain campaign theme.
Zifnab
Not exactly Gallup or Rasmussen. I wouldn’t start bombing the SPCA just yet.
Punchy
Hey John, did you know that it’s ALL OBAMA’S FAULT THAT FISA IS GETTING PASSED?
Big Dick Democrat says so, so it’s obviously true.
LarryB
Bulls**t. If Congress had a spine they could have prevented the Iraq war from starting or stopped it at any time in the last 5 years. They need new cajones, not a new War Powers Resolution. America needs a better press, too (Insert my standard rant about the evils of consolidated media ownership here).
ThymeZone
Barack on CNN.com live video, campaigns in Georgia.
Unlike us, he actually has something to say.
Face
Speaking for yourself, naturally.
Still amazed that not a single reporter, that I could find, dared to ask McCain how ending a war in which we borrowed to finance it would somehow then lower the debt. Seriously, that’s a 4th grade math error. They must recognize the logical fallicy; it’s impossible not to.
rob!
i’ve had to stop reading a lot of the lefty blogs i visit, because they all have their knickers in a twist over Obama’s supposed move to the center (that guy who runs Kos, Melissa Manchester or something: “Obama’s not kissing my ass, so i won’t give him any more money. Waah!”)
i figure, if someone from the future asked these people, what if, in say 50 years, President Obama would be ranked in history alongside, say, FDR or Kennedy? Would you be happy with that? I assume most uber-lefties would give up all their Phish bootlegs for that, since FDR and Kennedy are paragons of the Democratic Party and American history.
yet, FDR had Japanese Internment camps, Kennedy started Vietnam, for chrissakes, both of which are a TAD more right-leaning than voting for this stupid FISA thing, or trying to talk to evangelicals, etc., any of the stuff Obama is doing now.
let’s get Obama elected first!
greynoldsct00
What you said… I can’t believe any self-respecting organization would put money and resources toward something so fucking ridiculous. And this cat owner hates McCain.
cleek
i haven’t seen that either.
this little paragraph, in an article about McCain’s new airplane, grabbed my attention:
a great question! exactly the kind of thing we should all be asking. has anyone heard the answer ?
ThymeZone
The guy who runs Kos is Markos, which is where the name Kos comes from.
Markos is a wicked smart lad, but he and the “netroots” zealots have missed the biggest point in American politics:
You win at the national level only by building coalitions. You cannot extrapolate local politics and parochial interests into large coalition building without reaching out to voters whose views are not all the same as yours.
Where netroots has failed is in understanding that simply providing a forum — the blogs — for people to work up and work out their interests, doesn’t provide a way for them to reach out to people whose interests are not the same as their own. For a good example, look at the way the Hillabots have used the internet to reject, rather than embrace, unity in the Democratic party.
Coalition building is an art, and it is not understood or practiced at the roots level. At all.
The netroots have become an anti-unity mechanism. This is anathema to successful national politics. Unless the smart kid Markos and a few other bloggers figure this out, they will marginalize netroots politics on the one hand, and damage the national political structures that they need to be supporting.
Unintended consequences are a bitch.
The Moar You Know
Gosh, here’s a better one:
The damned President doesn’t declare war.
James Baker and Warren Christopher are just attempting another end-run around the Constitution. SOP for Baker, who never met a Republican he wasn’t willing to help ruin the country.
Just because Congress is too scared of public backlash to do their jobs doesn’t mean we should be passing laws enabling them to duck out on their responsibilities.
The Thinking Man's Mel Torme
My cat has hated Dubya all along. I got him a GWB chew toy, and I have to keep it hidden, as when I bring it out he goes berserk and kicks the crapola out of it. He’d probably bury a McCain chew toy in the litterbox.
Neal
Ditto. I have two…and I’m with Barry.
Here’s some fun for everybody…
Big headline on Drudge goes like this:
“IRAQ INSISTS ON WITHDRAWAL TIMETABLE”
Similar headline yesterday afternoon but the language has now gone from “may set timetable” to “insists on withdrawal”.
I’m biased anyway, but wouldn’t this simply destroy McCain’s candidacy? His whole premise is he was “right” on the surge. Frankly, I’d rather my president have been “right” 6 years ago before we were up to our ass in sand.
Anyway, shouldn’t this be the biggest story out of Iraq since…ever?
I checked CNN and FoxNews…not a word about it. CNN has some BS about gambling problems and Fox has the following gem:
“Iran Begins War Games, Warns U.S. Against Attack”
Selling the propaganda like good little soldiers…trying to get us from Ass-deep to Neck-deep.
rob!
i know, i’m just being a smart ass.
i had a whole bunch of silly alliterative substitute names for him, like Manfred Mann, Martian Manhunter, Moms Mabley, Marilyn Monroe, etc.
Wilfred
Why it’s basic McMaverickmatics: Take the square root of the cosine of Iraq, multiply by 100, add the hypotenuse of the quadratic equation of Vietnam, factor out the odd numbers, take the cube root of how many reporters are in the bus and add 1.
4tehlulz
Probably not, since Bob Scheiffer jumped out of the lavatory screaming “ARE YOU QUESTIONING JOHN MCCAIN’S INTEGRITY?”
The Thinking Man's Mel Torme
Sadly, no. the Article 2, “I’m King of the Forest!!!” powers trump all, including that quaint T.P. known as “the Bill of Rights.”
As for renewable energy, if we hooked a generator up to Thomas Jefferson’s corpse, we could light up Virginia.
Incertus
Of course not, assuming McCain gave an answer in the first place, because those are local reporters, and local reporters don’t count in the national narrative.
Neal
(giggle)
Neal
Adding to my earlier post. Here’s what our White House had to say when Maliki first brought this up yesterday:
The Moar You Know
Or just jam a hydropower turbine in my head; my brain damn near exploded when I heard that story this morning. Did no one in this entire country pass high school civics?
Freaking news radio shouldn’t be playing those kinds of stories when I’m driving to work – it’s gonna get me killed one of these days.
Janet Strange
The Moar You Know . . . I too had a little problem squaring Baker’s and Christopher’s proposal with that thing you quoted (which was from, um, let me see . . . the Constitution, was it?)
So, we need a new law that insists that the President talk to Congress before he declares war, and they have to either approve or disapprove, but if they disapprove, then he’ll just go ahead and declare war anyway.
Sure, why not, it’s not like we’ve been using that Constitution thing anyway. Because, as you said,
ThymeZone
Yes, I figured that. But my point was about coalition building, which is the one essential imperative in a national campaign, and one which Markos does not seem to understand. He forgot, while dreaming up his Netroots concept, that roots politics is about me me me, while coalitions are about us us us.
Your national candidate has 100 days to fashion a coalition of voters whose interests, in and of themselves, would not seem to draw them together. Unless the netroots contributes to the together part, it will fail at the national level. It’s powerful at the congressional district level. So far it appears to be a push at best, and destructive at worst, at the national level.
If you want an example of how zealous interests at the roots level turns into disunity at the national level, you need look no further than the comments sections at DKos and here at BJ over the last six months. And in case this point is missed, which it surely will be here, reluctantly saying “I’ll vote for …..” is not coalition building. Coalition building is about teaming up with someone you don’t like to accomplish a common purpose. Before the election, not reluctantly at the last minute.
For a grotesque example of a coaltion of wolves and sheep, look at the GOP and its coalition of moneyed interests on the one side and christian-right interests on the other. The sheep braying for the wolves. It’s a magic act, and a damned good one.
Our sheep just want to bray over FISA when they should be braying over what a fuckhead John McCain is.
The Moar You Know
Oh, this will go well:
Maliki (to Bush): I want you out Tuesday at noon.
Bush (to gullible public): Maliki has no deadline for us to leave.
Maliki (to Bush): I mean it. I have a gun.
Bush (to gullible public): Maliki is a strong ally in the war on terror.
Maliki (to Bush): Goddamit, asshole, I said LEAVE!
Bush (to gullible public): Bein’ the prerznit is hard work!
Hell, I only hope withdrawl goes as well as Saigon, 1975. I have a feeling this could be a lot bloodier.
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
Anybody got a link to the video of the McCain appearance where a woman who sounds like the Countess Chocula rants about taxes and exclaims, “get off my back!”
smiley
UPDATE! The list is up to 62. Pass it on to your favorite journalists.
ThymeZone
No, the end run was pulled off at least 60 years ago. See Truman, Dulles Brothers, Eisenhower.
The entire cold war was conducted on an illegal foundation. Result: Korea, Vietnam, Gulf War, etc etc.
Once the government had a taste for doing whatever it wanted without having to read the Constitution, it became an addict. The ship sailed a long time ago.
Somebody said it the other day here, if you want a great example of how far away and long ago that ship sailed, just Google for National Security Letter. That will give you the flavor.
Wilfred
I think the point of the Baker plan is to force Congress to do what it should and has not been doing. The War Powers act has NEVER been challenged.
But you’re right, let’s do nothing and criticize any attempt at changing things.
Then we got the government we deserve.
ThymeZone
You will get the McCain government you deserve, Wilfred, unless you figure out a way to channel your energy toward electing his opponent and quit spending your time tilting at windmills.
Just a suggestion. You have about 100+ days to help out. The sooner you start, the better.
cleek
it’s all the way to 404, for me!
Dreggas
The pentagon is telling Maliki to go cheney himself on timetables. However it is good to see the Iraqi’s telling us to leave since it calls out bush and the rest on the whole “we’ll stay until they want us to leave”.
Face it, Iraq is now a beach-head for launching a war with Iran.
Oh and in other “that’s not surprising” news, Howard Wolfson is joining Fox News. Guess they were impressed with his ability to lie…er…spin.
Mark
You could always talk about how the Westin Peachtree still looks like it belongs in Iraq and not downtown Atlanta.
When are they going to fix that sucker?
Mary
Obama has a response to the RNC’s energy ad up in MI, OH, PN and WI.
Brachiator
More on the Pet Lovers Poll (Pet owners prefer McCain over Obama)
Apparently for these narcissist morons, owning a pet tells you more about a person than freakin’ raising children successfully.
Face
Let’s look at the fine print, y’all:
Sounds reasonable, right? But wait, there’s this:
Get it? When Iraq gets power of attorney in all 18 provinces, we’re gone. But the US determines when they get that power. I’m betting it’ll be AT LEAST 20 years, or until the oil runs out, before Anbar is “good enough” to be transfered, wink wink wink.
It’s like me telling my 16 year old kid, “hey, you can drive the new car as soon as pass Drivers Ed! But I’ll be controlling the keys, and please ignore my past statements about us not wanting you to drive until you’re 52”
The Briscoe Kid
61-year-old librarian ticketed, threatened with arrest for holding a sign that said “McCain = Bush” at a McCain event
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/07/08/the-more-things-change/
4tehlulz
MICHAEL VICK 4 VP
cleek
freedom of speech = freedom to listen to the speech, not to make one of your own
Brachiator
Good Times. Good Times. Bush Farewell Tour Highlights
Hat Tip to Andrew Sullivan
From the BBC
Zifnab
Wait, so now that Mr. Powell’s dog is dead – presumably due to gross negligence on his part – can Obama count on his vote in November?
Paul L.
I’m sure that the Other Steve will excuse this.
A “good” shooting
Questioning this Black grandmother’s loss due to gun violence?
Stooleo
Fun article on McCain’s infidelitys.
The Moar You Know
Switch the names and change “amateur” to “stumbling bumblefuck” and it seems like the truth to me.
Glocksman
The event was one of the ‘Town Hall’ meetings the McCain campaign is so fond of.
Apparently McCain likes the format because he can pack it with his supporters and knows won’t be called on his bullshit by either the audience or the
fluffersmedia accompanying his campaign.The Moar You Know
Not sure what your point is, but from your previous retarded posts I’m sure it’s something stupid.
A good shooting?
Let’s quote from your own link:
Well, usually the way this goes down, a victim is forced into a bathroom or walk-in and then shot in the head. Lovell didn’t do anything to these guys until they took an action that any reasonable human being would find, to say the least, threatening. So yeah, that’s a good shooting.
What the fuck does her race have to do with anything? Christ, no wonder you post here – you can’t even frame a coherent enough argument for Stormfront.
grandpajohn
This one little blurb is the defining comment on the big boys of the national media. If the interactions on the plane carrying the national media is not about news or mpolicies then what is it on? Planning the next bar-b-que? And when is the last time one of the inside the beltway boys actually asked a question relating to policy or for McCain to explain how one of his pie in the sky scemes was going to actually achieve its stated end.
Brachiator
Apparently, the outspoken lady’s name is Georgette Haddad (McCain Answers Tough Questions at Town Hall Meeting in Denver)
A video of this incident can be found here.
John Cole
The woman was not let in to the town hall meeting not because of the content of her sign, but because signs are not permitted as they are a security threat. That is why the Secret Service escorted her out. They would do the same thing at an Obama event.
Dreggas
Looks like McCain is learning from W.
along with McSame’s security throwing a 61 yr old librarian out of a rally.
Dreggas
Looks like McCain is learning from W.
Neal
I abhor gun violence but I’ve run some chain restaurants myself and I do think what Lovell did was somehwat reasonable. Unfortunate, sad, of course…but they may very well have killed him…and the color of the man’s grandmother has nothing to do with any of this.
Dreggas
Signs aren’t permitted at Town Hall meetings but they are allowed at rallies holding far more people? That’s pretty dumb if you ask me.
smiley
That’s interesting. How is a sign a security threat? Because something can be concealed behind it? Or are you being sarcastic again. It’s so hard to tell sometimes…
Paul L.
I’m using it to illustrate the logic of a subset of those who match against “gun violence“.
Glocksman
When I worked 3rd shift at a local ‘Stop-n-Rob’ chain, I carried a legal (Indiana CCW laws for teh win :) ) concealed handgun despite the policy of immediate termination if you were found carrying a weapon.
My policy in dealing with a robbery would have been to hand over all the cash I could and otherwise be cooperative in order to get the SOB out of the store as soon as possible.
That’s company policy and it makes sense as I’m not willing to kill in order to protect the company’s cash.
That said, the instant the robber orders me to a back room or bathroom, the big ‘intends to kill me’ sign starts flashing in my head so then I’d react accordingly and use the 9mm under my vest.
Not to thwart the robbery, but to save my life and the lives of any customers who would be herded to the back and killed alongside me.
Did that gun make me 100% safe?
Of course not, as a robber could just shoot me without warning as he walks in the store at the register right in front of all the cameras, but having that weapon gave me options I wouldn’t have had if I were unarmed.
IMHO, Lovell had a ‘good shoot’ in that he came out of it alive, uninjured, in no legal jeopardy and that the only people harmed were the would-be murderers.
Zifnab
McCain 08!
Zifnab
Fixed.
No. You’re going O/T on whatever pet issue you stumbled on in the back alley dens they call right wing blogs. Now quit dodging and answer the key question. What does this have to do with the Duke Lacross Rape Case?
Paul L.
Let me fix this.
clussman
On a non-political note, John, I thought you’d like this.
Face
Posted without comment
myiq2xu
When has that ever stopped you before?
ThymeZone
Irony now is not just dead, all traces of its existence have been expunged forever.
OriGuy
The AP story never mentioned that the reason the Obama family doesn’t have pets is that his daughters have allergies.